Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Future Foretold

New Year is approaching. We all would be eager to know what the future would hold for us. 2008 being a very worst year, in terms of economic recession and financial meltdown globally, I am sure everyone would welcome 2009 with the hope that it would be full of the joys of spring.

Leave 2009. I wonder what India would be in the year 2050. My mind wanders. Come; let us see how it would look like……

It’s the New Years Eve. Year 2050 is about to begin. India is a developed country. People are planning to celebrate the new year on high rise buildings, most of which is 100 storied. The highest building is in India is 7500 ft high (three times the height of the Burj dubai building).

Every city in India is connected. There are bullet trains which could go at 1000 kms per hour. People travel from Delhi to Chennai for work and go back and vice versa as well. There are high speed expressways (20 lanes). There is no pollution anywhere in India. All the vehicles run on green technology.

Infrastructure is fantastic. All the infrastructure projects get completed before time. There is always Time under runs and cost under runs for all the infrastructure projects.

And all this is possible because our Gandhi family decided in the year 2009 not to contest any elections. Henceforth other good parties ruled the country, which made this change possible.

Let us hope this becomes true….Hey 2009, We welcome you. Bring us all the joy and development in the year 2009 and beyond.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Cartoon Attitude

“When will you stop watching the Cartoon programs? Are you still a kid? When will you grow up? If you keep watching this you won’t pass your exams.” My mom hollered a warning, which still reverberates in my ears. I wondered “What’s wrong in watching a cartoon program? How does it determine whether a person is grown up or not?” I had never bothered to listen to anyone in my life. What effect would the whoop and the holler of my mom would have on me.

Years have passed by. I have stopped most of the cartoon programs. But I do still watch Tom and Jerry. The best part is, nowadays, my mom also enjoys Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Irrespective of age or gender, most of us like cartoon programs, especially Tom and Jerry if not other cartoon programs. I wondered what could be the reason for that. How can a program be successful and make us feel happy when there are only two characters which fight always? Is it because they keep fighting with each other? Is it because it is very funny?

There could be n number of factors which make it interesting. But I realized one unique feature of all the cartoon programs. None of the characters in the cartoon programs die or get hurt. Even if Jerry shoots Tom with a gun, or throws a bomb on Tom, its face would at most turn black. Again the next second it would become the original Tom. Even if Tom is cut into pieces, it will come back again. Even if Tom hits Jerry with a hammer, at the max Jerry’s face will become flat. The next moment it will become normal.

I feel this unique feature of the cartoon programs; give us a feel good factor. Since none of the cartoon characters die, I sometimes wonder whether the term “Never-say-die attitude” is derived from this feature of the cartoon programs.

In our lives, we should be like Tom and Jerry. We should come out of all our problems and shed negative thinking as soon as possible. I have given a new term to this: “Cartoon Attitude”.

Friday, December 5, 2008

The antithesis of my opinions – About movie, music and politics

After checking the gmail and orkut for umpteen number of times, with no new mails or scraps, I thought enough was enough. So for a change, I watched the movie “No country for old men”. The film was pathetic from the beginning. There was no momentum in the movie. But the last 20 minutes was excellent. In my opinion the last 20 minutes of the movie makes it worth watching. Kelly Macdonald looked pathetic in the movie. I hate her.

Once I finished watching the movie, I downloaded the songs of “Yuvvraaj”. If you have to explain the music in one word, I would say its “horrible”. I was wondering why A.R.Rahman is still composing music. He is the worst Music Director this country has ever produced. Can A.R.Rahman ever compose music like Anu Malik (the greatest music director of all times, with a wonderful voice).

I really felt sad reading the news item that Shivraj Patil has resigned and P Chidambaram would be taking over as the home minister. How can Shivraj Patil be held responsible for a terror attack on Taj Hotel? He is just the home minister. And the attack was on the hotel. Not on anyone’s home. Also, he is not a hotel minister right? Since the hotels would be governed by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Ambika Soni should have actually resigned. I think it’s a conspiracy by the BJP to remove him from power.

I read a report that India is considering attacking the terrorist camps in PoK. How can we attack terrorist camps? How stupid!!! Terrorists also form part of minority community. The government should actually send them thousand roses instead of attacking them. Also they should be given some reservation in our educational institutions and government jobs. The government should also consider the release of Afzal Guru as a goodwill gesture!!!

It’s time for me to pack up guys. See you in India soon.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Mahabarat and Management philosophies

“You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself”. Modern businesses can learn various management principles from the historical information available with us. After all, what is the use in studying history if we do not learn from the mistakes of past generations?

India has a long history. There have been several rulers and there are several success stories and failures. However the two great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata stand apart from the rest. (Well…these two cannot be strictly considered as history, as these are referred to as a part of Hindu mythology. But for the purpose of this post we would assume that it is a part of our history).

Of the two epics, Mahabharata in particular, can be taken up by various management institutes to study the management philosophies. For example if Kauravas (read Kaurava Inc) had taken up lean management seriously they would not have ended up in a disaster. Had Dhritarashtra (read “The Chairman”) taken up production planning seriously, he could have had control over his family. How can a person manage 100 kids (read “Employees”) when people cannot manage 1 or 2? If you have 100 kids you would feel like kicking all of them out instead of disciplining them. Moreover top management needs to have some vision. Dhritarashtra naturally did not have vision. Gandhari, wife of Dhritarashtra (read Managing Director) had vision but decided not to use it. On top of all this, Shakuni is the advisor (read consultant……..he is a bad consultant unlike me…OK) for Kauravas. On the contrary Pandavas (I don’t understand how can they be called Pandavas considering the fact that Kunthi used the Mantra with the help of so many gods to get herself pregnant!!!) were small in number (5 in number is quite manageable right). And they had a right person like Krishna (He is the real consultant like me) who helped in their strategy.

Drawing analogy to the current business scenario based on the mythical masterpiece, General Motors (like Kauravas), and other car manufacturers in US, has grown in its size without adding any value. They have been begging to various governments (this is heights of begging….call it the transatlantic begging) without any success. Their downfall seems to be quite imminent unless the various governments decide to use the tax payer’s money to save these behemoths. On the contrary, smaller automobile manufacturing companies like, Suzuki and Honda though affected by the recession severely need not beg for their survival…hopefully.

The last thing, which the Big three beggars of the automobile industry could do, is to get the funds infusion from various governments and then request me (just like how Pandavas requested Krishna) to help them in their revival strategy. I know you guys are up in arms now…..or may be not. Appreciate or abuse by giving your comments.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Melting Moments

When it comes to the choosing between watching Dostana and going to Bradford for the weekend, there is no need to beat your brains out. The storyline of the film, is about the love that dare not speak its name, did not appeal to me. Also the fact that I have to spend 7 pounds for the movie made my decision easier.

On a cold Saturday morning, when the temperature was a degree below the freezing point, I set out to travel to Bradford. The train journeys in UK are normally a treat to the eyes. The lush green fields and the beautiful landscapes are a sight to watch. But this being a winter season, there was a lot of fog which made it impossible to view anything beyond 10 meters. I am sure Wordsworth would not have loved the winter season with the trees doing the bare act, and the visibility at its minimum.

The return journey was not much different. It was pitch dark when I started at 4.30 pm from Bradford. There was a teenage couple sitting before me in the train. They had a physics case study spread before them and they started discussing the same. The guy was explaining the physics case to the girl. But the girl never seemed to be interested in the case. Her cursory looks at the case and the seductive looks at the guy made me feel that she was more interested in chemistry than physics. When the subject matter moved from physics to the physical chemistry I thought it would be better to recap the melting moments of my life rather than watching their melting moments. If life had rewind button some of us would go back to the wonderful moments that we had lived. Memory is the only time machine known to us to take us back to the blissful days.

My thoughts drifted to my early employment days during which I had watched innumerable number of movies, discussions, fights (esp. with Srinivas), to the college days during which we had bunked the classes and played cricket mindlessly for hours. Truly these are golden moments which require separate blog posts. I wondered whether there will be some scientific advancement which would make us relive those wonderful moments.

When the announcement was made in the internal speaker system in the train, my attention came back to the couple in front of me. The couple had already mastered various topics of science like forward thrust, acceleration, speed, angular momentum (physics) to bonding (chemistry). Hey wait…don’t think otherwise. I am not writing a Mills & boons novel here. Go and check your physics and chemistry books. These topics are really there.

If only all the schools in the world follow coeducation system, it would be easier for students to master various topics in science. Co-education truly helps students to keep the scientific temper alive and kicking. Before the couple could move to master the biological concepts like evolution theory, I took a quantum leap as the train was approaching the Manchester station.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Right steps……Hope we keep the momentum!!!

We were spot on. All the major points discussed in the previous updates have been considered by the government.

1) Removal of the incompetent home minister
2) Forming a federal agency (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Election_Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080074719&type=News)
3) Strengthening the legal framework. (May not be return of POTA, but still its a good step)

Though the steps are in the right direction, quite often we seem to lose the momentum half way through. I hope this time we would not lose the momentum.

Thanks for all the valuable comments posted. More comments are welcome.

Friday, November 28, 2008

The imputation of Blame

Taking cue from the comments (or was it just a single comment….yes it is!!) that have been made on my earlier post; I would like to address the two major points raised in that comment. One point that has been mentioned is to stop blame game that is being played by the politicians and the other point is about unity and support (Just like what the US opposition parties did after 9/11).

First of all, drawing parallels between the 9/11 event and Mumbai massacre is fundamentally flawed. 9/11 is a single event. Mumbai massacre is a continuation of a series of terror attacks. There has been innumerable amount of terror attacks and bomb blasts which has killed lots of innocent people in the past two years. However, since 9/11 there has been no such incident in US. The security measures were tightened, lots of arrests were made, movement of funds to the terrorist organizations was curbed – In short US did everything that is necessary to prevent any such attack in future. However, there are no such efforts made by the current incumbent government. If we had blamed the current government for inaction after the 2006 blasts, I would say the argument would have some logic. But that is not the case.

Since the government has not taken any steps to curb terrorism (US government had done after the 9/11), I would not blame the opposition parties for finger pointing. I do understand, in a situation like this, every one in the country should support the government in its anti terror measures. However since the government is not taking enough steps, to address this issue (other than giving statement to the media, which doesn’t help anyway), it is better to finger point and remind the government, that it is supposed to take some measures to stop this menace. After all, opposition has the fundamental right and the duty to do so, in a thriving democracy like ours.

I am sure every Indian (irrespective of the party to which he is ideologically inclined to) would support the government, if it had taken some efforts to curb terrorism. Even the current outburst is just an effort to inject some sense into the otherwise torpid home ministry. Will the government wake up? Let us hope so.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

How to prevent “India Burning”?

By now, many of us would have written articles about the Mumbai massacre deploring the attacks, expressing anguish, sympathizing with the victims etc.

Does anyone bother to find out the root cause of these terrorist attacks? Does anyone try to take steps to prevent such terrorist attacks?

There are some people who foolishly blame the BJP for such attacks. This includes some staunch supporters of the congress party. They also realize that their argument is very foolish. But they have no other choice, as they know that it is the inefficiency of the incumbent government which is the root cause of such attacks. It’s their inability to accept this bitter truth, which makes them make such foolish statements.

Our beloved home minister behaves as if he is the Minister for public statements. He does not do anything other than giving public statements through the media that the terrorists would be punished etc etc. He has become a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. Now we know that if there is another terrorist attack (pray to god that such a thing does not happen) the media would not ask for his opinion. Instead they can publish the same statement which he has been repeating for the past 2 years. We can have a tape reorder as a home minister instead of the current occupant.

On the question of prevention of such terrorist attacks, much needs to be done. At least we should ensure that adequate measures are taken.

What is meant by adequate measure? As a home minister a lot could be done. But there are two major things which we must do to prevent such attacks.

1) Create a Federal agency which could look into such terrorist related activities
2) Enact sufficient laws to give more powers to the investigating agencies.

Lack of a federal agency in our country is a stumbling block in the investigation of terrorist activities. In a country like ours, where there are a number of state intelligence units are functioning, it is essential to have a federal agency to take up coordinated and effective measures to investigate the crimes and take measures to curb these crimes.

Repealing a law which was in force, just to prevent misuse of the same, is a stupid decision. Would we decide not to have any police force just because there are a few policemen who misuse their powers? We repealed POTA and now we pay the price for the same!!! Its time we realize that we need more law like POTA to prevent terrorist activities. But our beloved home minister defends the repealing of POTA sitting in an air conditioned office and without understanding the ground realities.

At least BJP at the end of their rule could run a campaign named “India Shining”. Going at this rate Congress would only be able to run a campaign named “India Burning”.

Funny Flight story

Traveling is fun. You get to meet different people, learn about new culture etc. All my international travel till now to US or UK was by Lufthansa airlines. The Lufthansa crowd is generally well educated, but it gives me nightmares, as I have to keep repeating the same old stuff like the purpose of the visit, which technology I am working on etc. This time for a change, I booked the tickets in emirates airways, which goes to UK via Dubai.


On boarding the emirates flight I was relieved to see that the crowd is of working class. Thankfully there would be no discussions on project, work etc. The guy who sat next to me (Lets name him X), looked uneducated and I guessed he should be traveling to Dubai to do some labor job.


The flight was for 4 hrs. Normally flight journeys are boring. I do sleep for most of the time except when the hostess wakes me up for having food. Emirates flight was not an exception. As I woke up from deep sleep I was not in a mood to eat immediately. So I was watching X have his food. And this made the flight journey really interesting.


The flight menu had Croissants, fruits and South Indian breakfast items (idli sambar etc). X started his meal with the fruits. He looked at me as if to ask something, then he decided not to. He took out the fruits using his hand and swallowed it at one go. Not bad. After all, when we are really hungry we swallow everything. Then he tried to open the cover in which the croissants were kept. It was sealed at one end and opened at the other. Before I cud tell him that it could be taken out of the open end, he took out the fork, tore the sealed portion of the cover and ate the Croissants. Then he turned towards me, saw the croissants cover in my hand, and told me that I could use the fork to tear the cover. I thanked him for the wonderful idea and kept watching him as he continued having his breakfast.


Once he finished the croissants, he opened the creamer that is kept for adding it to the coffee and gulped it at one go. And his eyes conveyed a sense of achievement. Well it is. I used to wonder whether someone would use the creamer in the coffee, because I feel, it tastes really horrible. But this guy proved me wrong.


The spread was too big for him to handle. The next thing his radar eyes looked at was the after mint. I thought his brain would give him signals to have the after mint at the end. No!!!. It did the other way. He opened the after mint and swallowed it immediately as if I was going to ask a portion of it. Now its for him to enter his familiar turf i.e idli sambar stuff. Once he finished the idlis he had a look at the butter and the jam. He could not understand the purpose for which it was included in the menu. And we have a tendency not to waste anything which comes for free. Butter and jam suffered the same fate as that of fruits.


Now, it was tea time. As soon as the black tea was served, he added sugar in it. I was wondering whether he would at least use the spoon now, for stirring the contents. To my surprise he opened the cover of the toothpick, used it to stir the contents and gulped it. Then he threw the toothpick. Once he had his food he started listening to Arabic songs (with full sound....even I could listen to it) and slept.


Quite often we worry what others (and the society) would think about our actions. But this guy did not bother about anything. Sometimes, not being educated has its own advantages. Don’t you think so?