Ideas...Frustration...Opinion...ALL MINE

Science... Jainism...

2011-09-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

Discovery of Neutrinos, in CERNs Large Hadron Collider, being faster than light by 20 parts per mn raises a lot of anxieties in mind. Over a 100 years, we strongly believed that light is the fastest traveller. That belief been shaken. The barrier has been broken - the barrier of our minds! And somehow this discovery brings out a lot of topics afresh, apart from various laws like e=mc^2. I would rather talk about Jainism rather than Physics as I have lost hang of Science after 2 years at Infosys, 2 at B-school, and more than 1 in Business - after my engineering.

Jainism* has mentions of 'અનંતા' and 'અસંખ્યાતા' (Infinity) in its scriptures as existing reality in nature, whereas Science describes it only as imaginary and meaningless. Neutrinos does point out the limitations of Humans when it comes Science knowledge. I would never say that Jainism beats Science, with discovery of Neutrinos. In fact, Jainism can help Science to progress. It can show the way, point to the right path, direct scientists to the right line of thought!

Discovery of neutrinos, as I said, breaks the barrier of mind and it tells us that Neutrinos may not be the limit. There could be something beyond Neutrinos- faster than that, may be infinite times faster, has infinite power, may neither be matter nor antimatter - a 'matterless omnipotent' , as described in Jainism as Soul!

*Jainism is just one representative of the Spiritual thoughts in my mind, and there are various philosophies/religion that have mention of Soul and other theories that I mentioned above.

Feel sad when JanLokPal will benefit Those…

2011-08-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Those who told Anna’s movement is holding government to ransom and Anna should take a more rational approach, without knowing how long is 42 years of time for a bill to pass. Most, who told so, were not even 42 years old.

Those who told Anna’s movement is undemocratic, without knowing the numbers that make up for a win or a lose in a democracy. Did they know that UPA hardly got a vote of 25% of the total voting population, whereas at least a 50% of whole India supported Anna?

Those who told that Anna’s JanLokPal is extreme without having any significant knowledge about What Government’s Lokpal is, What Jan LokPal is or the implications of both!? Or for that matter, did not even know what they wanted from a certain Anti-Corruption bill.

Those who told Anna’s movement will set a wrong precedent of going on Fast, without knowing that there are hundreds of Fast Protests all around India for different causes and hardly anyone got the strength that Anna got. Did they really think that everyone who wants something from country will go on a fast and will get that kind of support? If I’d go on a fast to abolish Income tax, did they think I will get a 2 lakh people supporting my cause? Did they even think twice before making such a statement?!

Those who told Anna is very rigid, without knowing that it was Anna team which compromised in April to a great extent. And what did Anna get – A Lokpal bill! (ohh, I am sorry, how would they get it. Hardly any of Those have actually read the Lokpal Bill). And it was Anna Team which was more than ready to get into Dialogue again in August and again what did they get – A typical Congress Hypocrisy: Promise on one day and a U-turn on the very next- twice in 4 days now.

Those who told that Anna’s Lokpal was 5 member bill, without knowing that Anna’s Team travelled the length and breadth of India meeting 3000 officers, scholars and experts on bureaucracy to gather the points on draft. Every effort was made to make the draft strong, feasible and foolproof (But wait, they have not even read the draft!)

Those who told that Anna’s being unreasonable and should give some more time to parliament to discuss the JLP without knowing that No Bill Ever passed in Parliament has taken more than 4 days of debate! Anna and Team gave them 14 days!

Those who told vehemently that Anna is not being fair, without even realizing that they were indirectly supporting the government in saying so. That government which was set out to ruin India.

(And I feel sad because I am selfish, with a feeling of revenge, and that's what makes Anna different than all of us.. coz, he is fighting for future of unknown Indians)

Support Anna Hazare-Powai Movement - 21st Aug '11

2011-08-21T09:01:00.001-07:00

Rally in support of Anna Hazare's fast at Ramlila maidan demanding JanLokPal bill to be put up and passed in parliament. A procession was carried on 21st Aug 2011, in and around Hiranandani Gardens, Powai starting at Powai Plaza and taking a full circle to eventually end at Powai Plaza.

At the Beginning (Powai Plaza)

'Me Anna Hazare' :)

Reached Galleria (6.30 PM)

Galleria again

pass karo, pass karo.. Janlokpal Pass karo :)

VIDEOS

Support Anna Hazare-Powai Movement Part 2

2011-08-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

19th August was a little better than 16th Aug. Probably due to two reasons - weekend eve and Anna Hazare going strong even on the 4th day of his fast. It looks like Anna checkmates government on every move that the government takes and then gives the government one more life. Anna surely has some superb political advisers.

Getting back to the movement at Powai, we reached a little late at Galleria and the group had already gone ahead with the rally. There were 7 of us with a lot more candles. Still, we lit as many candles and shouted some slogans. Many passer by gave a look at us, acknowledging our effort by slowing down in their walking speed. However there was that shyness among people to join us, so I would like to let people know that this FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION is not Private or limited to any class or caste of people. It is For all Indians, By all Indians.

It took some effort from our side to invite people in our protest (slogans), and when we parted there were 40 people at the end.

Support Anna Hazare - Powai Movement.

2011-08-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

We moved around Hiranandani holding banners today at 9AM. Starting from Lake Castle Stone fountain, we walked towards Dmart. We stood there for half an hour, shouting slogans in support of Anna Hazare-ji and against Corruption. We also burned the government's copy of Toothless Lokpal Bill (Jokepal).

Though the response was meek to begin with, a few people joined in as we moved around, including Job-goers, daily wage workers and auto drivers. We had started spreading the message only a night day before, so there was not enough strength in number of people. We are planning a more organised morcha in a couple of days.

Visit this space for more info or contact me.

my twitter id - @malaylakhani

'Communal', 'secular' - politicians' fooling weaponry

2011-07-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

(please read it till end)

I have always maintained in past that 'all Indian political parties thrive on being communal' against a 'general view of only one party being communal!' and 'You do not define someone communal only when he blames minority. Same holds true for majority.'
However, Politicians and Media (somewhat controlled by Politicians) always try to feed our mind with an idea opposite of what I mentioned in the first paragraph.
They somehow make us feel, that majority will benefit by bullying minority or vice versa. Well, 'Its wrong'. Not just because its fashionable to say 'Its wrong!'. But because we fighting among ourselves makes it very easy for ill-wishers (outsiders, and sadly politicians) to use it for their advantage. Like ISI's Fai gaining Indian information and manipulating Indian public via Kuldip Nayar, rajinder Sachar, Arundhati Roay, Dileep Padgaonkar, and probably other so called 'secular bandwagon' and 'human rights activists' (I wonder how Medha Patkar and Barkha Dutt missed out on Fai)

Also, a not so old incident about Digvijay singh. Please go through Digvijay Singh's statements over last one month*. He has been constantly and persistently blaming RSS and coining Hindu Terrorism over and over again! What do you think he is trying to achieve?! He is purely trying to polarize Hindu community against Indian Muslims. And if you think, he is a loose canon and congress leadership doesn't necessarily endorse his views, then I think you are being either biased or letting yourself being manipulated! (Stop being Naive, for gods sake, Diggy is a General Secretary of congress!). If CON leadership had not endorsed his view, he'd never be a GS of Con!

Think again, are you being biased when you call someone communal or secular. You are non-communal and secular only when you are equi-distant from all communities and treat everyone equally irrespective of their color, cast and creed! (tell me one party which fits in this description)

*
1)Hindu-terror-remark-createsfurore-in-mp
2) digvijays-osama-statement (What was he thinking here! That Indian Muslims will like him for that. Rascal!)
3) congress backs digvijay singh statement on 13/7 terror attack

South Mumbai : Biggest Graveyard

2011-04-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

(I was disturbed when I started writing this after reading about CSR in newspaper, so could not think in a rather straight manner, but I would really appreciate your views and anger)

The Child Sex Ratio in Mumbai City is 838 in age group of 0-6 years old. This does not include Mumbai suburbs. The location which is supposed to be the most posh area in India has less number of girls than in any location of India. My hearty Congratulations to all parents of South Mumbai for committing homicide and getting away.

This probably means one thing that there will be more number of Guy Homosexuals in South Mumbai 15 years down the line. I wish all those Homosexuals start hitting on all the present fathers who decided to have only Baby boy as their child. Also, South Mumbai will not be a safe place for straight guys to wander around.

It may also mean that there will be a rise in taboo called 'Dowry' in society, though the parties will switch then. Guys parents will give dowry to Girls parents.

I really pity everyone living in South Mumbai, and at the same time I will pray to God that next time if there is a tsunami anywhere in world, let it obliterate that part of world.

In 26 years of my life, this is probably the first time that I can Proudly say that ' I don't live in the biggest graveyard of earth: South Mumbai' .. and anyway, which guy would like to live in a place where there are no chicks.

Utter Shamelessness, Mr. PM

2011-02-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Manmohan Singh today said we have to learn to live with corruption and that there has to be a compromise! How can a standing PM say something like that. My blood's mercury level shot up by a couple of degrees and heart beat rate rose while I heard him talking like that on a national television channel. It's like a doctor who says 'you have a cancer but I am sorry, you have got to learn to live with it.'
This particular incident has made sure that Manmohan Singh, though intelligent (academically), is as incapable as our first PM, Chacha Nehru was. Even Nehru, unlike his daughter and grandchildren, was himself not corrupt (I suppose). But simply impotent(, politically).
This also reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi's post-independence wish - INC be dissolved, form a new party, with new name, and capable and willing members. I do not know how important was dissolving INC then, but right now.. ? Because when a doctor says that nothing can be done about a cancer, its generally third degree and only thing the person has to look forward is to Die. Does Manmohan Singh mean same to happen to INC?

Congress History.. (Graphic Novel by Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Delhi Calm, HarperCollins)

2010-12-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Politicians : Citizens

2010-11-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

For USA,
the relation is analogous to Parents : Children

For India,
Boss : Exploited Worker

For China,
Master : Slave

In USA, a politician would do whatever he can to save the citizens from all the bad, just like a parent would do to their children. A parent would lie, cheat and steal from world so that his child can lead a normal life. Similarly, an American politician would do everything that he can do (involves igniting wars and going on war) to make sure that people back home are safe, and sound.
This is evident from all American citizens being very straightforward, sincere and nice to other people. Just like a child who has been kept away from the dirty world.

In India, a politician would be good to all the people from other countries but will suck everything out of its Citizens and at the same time behaves like a Godfather to the citizens. Just like a boss who not only pays no heed to the demands of his labor, but also makes the labor feel that he is the anna-daata, however he will be all nice and polite to his clients and suppliers.

In China, a government treats its citizens like slaves. They literally command them to do whatever it wants. They refrain from increasing labor wage rates because they want to be in a more respectable position to world. China might have high GDP, 2.5 trillion worth of US securities, etc. but people have no security. When you compare it with USA, its like a parent who feeds himself before his child. (Its one in a million possibility, but that's China)

Michami Dukdam.. Do we really mean it?

2010-09-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

Michami Dukdam - two words which mean 'I ask for forgiveness for any words I might have said or any action, in past (this life or previous lives), knowingly or unknowingly, and which might have hurt other lives and also that I forgive other life forms for any words or actions which might have hurt me.'
(Forgiving someone is always more difficult than simply asking for forgiveness.)

Nowadays, however, Michami Dukdam has simply become a formality, that you say within a weeks time after Sanvatsari (last day of spiritual eight day Jain Festival, Paryushan) gets over. Its like replacing a Hello, or a Jay Jinendra or a Namaste with.. Michami Dukdam. Most people do not really mean it. That includes me.
I am pretty sure that hardly any person would say Michami Dukdam to people with whom they are not in talking terms because of some untoward incident in past. Well, isn't he/she the person to whom you should say it first?! and actually mean it! i.e. first forgive him in your heart, before asking for any forgiveness.

If you have a feeling that you have hurt someone in past, then please mention that incident, say it was your mistake and then ask for forgiveness. That is what makes the whole process effective and meaningful. That, I feel, is the true meaning of Michami Dukdam. Please for God's sake, it is not something like Good Evening or Good Night.

And finally, please do not wait for Sanvatsari to say Michami Dukdam to anyone you feel you must say it. You never know what might happen tomorrow. Don't carry that heavy weight of Guilt on your head for too long.

Gujarat - really against Minorities?!

2010-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is not my own post. Surprisingly this report came up in HT, known to be purely anti-Narendra Modi. However, they did try to negate the view at the end of report by quoting some Modi-jealous politicians and BJP opponents.

Two BJP-governed states—Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh —have raised eyebrows by robustly implementing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s key measures for minorities, which are overseen by the Minority Affairs Ministry.
In a Cabinet appraisal chaired by Singh on Thursday, Gujarat, along with nine other states,was found to have put in place standard operating procedures to prevent and actduring communal riots. BJP-ruled Karnataka, prone to communal tension, has also implemented the procedures,as has Goa. Most Congress-ruled states, including Maharashtra, have not.
Madhya Pradesh earned a good rating for implementing a Central initiative to modernise madrassas.
“The PM had called for quantifiable evidence on minority welfare.He expressed happiness over the minority affairs ministry’s steps to implement his programme,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
Not everyone thinks the ‘improvement’ is incredible.“In Gujarat, a distinction has to be made between paperwork and ground work. Minorities there remain vulnerable,” said human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, who works extensively in the state.

Well, it seems our PM's party only knows how to talk about giving minorities the priority, when it comes to speeches at Red Fort on Independence Day, and polarise the community.
Albeit, I am still against giving opportunities to some group of people, purely on the basis of caste. We, Gujaratis, never asked for Opportunities. We always created Those.

Picked the italicized text above from here (the original report in HT)

From Crest to Trough

2010-08-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Rahul Gandhi. I had really started gaining respect for him, trying to forget all the deeds by his father like an outrageous Sikh riots*, Bofors Case, etc. Rahul Gandhi hardly ever spoke negatively about any of his counterparts and almost never threw mud at other. He pulled off a brave thing by travelling in Mumbai local against the will of Raj 'bol-bachhan' Thackeray. This was probably the crest of the admiration that I had for him.
But why the hell is he quiet over various events happened in last 3 months or so?! In fact, not only silent, he has disappeared totally from public.
Kashmir is boiling, CWG corruption nothing short of utter shamelessness#, Railway accidents touching an all time high, Inflation accompanied by lakhs of tonnes of food grains being wasted in FCI compounds, ... and so on. Now, where is our 'Oh so brave' Rahul Gandhi. Even our 'Oh so Good and clean' PM Manmohan Singh is quiet on these issues. What are they busy with? Is Rahul Gandhi busy with Veronique?! Is Manmohan Singh busy diverting party funds from Swiss banks?!
The silence and invisibility over all the events by Rahul Gandhi has only managed to pull down my respect for him from a Crest to a Trough.

*Just read a document which quoted Rajiv Gandhi on arrival at Palam airport in 1984 after Indira Gandhi's murder, "My mother has been shot dead, What are you doing here? Go, and take revenge. .... "
# A 4,000 rupees toilet tissue paper roll for CWG Village? .. I would rather settle with Constipation!!

Tips for people who are thinking of suicide!

2010-07-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

(Vivek Babajee's suicide and 3 idiots movie suicide made me think quite a few points about Suicide)

First of all, suicide is a crime. So its better you plan really well in advance to make sure that you don't be unsuccessful, unless you are prepared to be jailed.

Now, when you write a suicide letter, and want to blame someone for your situation, don't just 'Name' the person! I know you must be really depressed and want to take revenge on each and every person who has been even slightly bad with you. Even on your servant maid who did not come to work the previous day. Your position is anyway hopeless. As a matter of fact, you are a big loser. There cannot be a bigger one!
Now, diverting from your loser point. When you want to name someone for your miserable situation, give examples and anecdotes of why was that person cruel to you, with approximate time line and place. So that he/she can be rightfully pinned by law. If you do not have any significant reason or examples against that person, then do not just write a Name, you are committing a double sin - suicide and ruining someone's life. And in fact, if you do not have a significant reason, you might want to re-think as to why you want to kill yourself.

And on second thought, if the person has really made your life so horrible that it made you think of dropping to a loser level, I mean, made you think of committing suicide, Why not kill that person?! .. See, he might have a very good chance of escaping Indian law system. And in any case, he is not gonna be hanged because you committed a suicide. By killing that person, you will obviously have a risk of getting caught, but again, even if u get caught, Indian law system applies to you too. You have a bright chance of going free! Killing yourself is obviously not the option, you loser!

And finally, spiritually speaking - If you are committing suicide because you are in a deep 'trouble' (psst.. I wanted to write s*** here but I wanted 'family ratings' for my blog :P) because of your own actions, Suicide is just procrastinating your problems. If you think you are running away from your ruins, then you are not. You are gonna be Reborn and Suffer for all the deeds you did in this life and also for killing a human - Yourself!

Bandh losses estimates : nothing but Amusing!

2010-07-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

I really find it amusing reading the news about estimates of losses to economy of more than Rs. 13,000 crores. Well, I think there are some real morons out there in media who make such calculations and poor ignorant readers and viewers also believe in them. (Click here for related news)
Lets do a simple calculation. India's annual GDP is around 50 trillion rupees. So, when we divide that by 365 days, i.e to calculate the GDP per day, it comes out to a touch more than 13 thousand crores rupees.
Do you really think that one day (rather, 12 hours) of Bandh will actually mean that GDP of that much amount will be lost, totally!
The figure of 13000 Crores sounds really stupid to me.

If this theory has to be true, then

Everyone who was gonna buy food items on the day of Bandh will not buy those items and observe fast for one day. (or are they gonna buy more food items on previous day / later days?)
People who were planning to buy clothes and accessories will drop their plans of buying them altogether just because Monday was declared Bandh and they had planned to buy the items on Monday and only on that Monday!
Some IT companies claiming that they had a loss of 50 crores rupees in a day. Well, it means that they are not gonna compensate for all the man-hours lost by making their employees work on a weekend?!
and so on...

I think its really absurd to estimate the losses for one day of Bandh that was observed. People are just gonna delay their purchases or compensate for their production by working more hours later on. However, I dont mean to say that Bandh had no effect on commerce and economy. There is a loss to economy but I think its negligible compared to the amounts being mentioned in news channel and newspaper. The figures and estimates about loss to the economy are simply absurd according to me.

(Well, the people who really suffer because of Bandh are the ones who work on daily wages. Their one day of wage was wasted. Many others did make loss, but nothing hurts as much as it does to daily wage laborers)

Any comments or argument?! you are most welcome! :)

A Day Not to Remember...

2009-04-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

I am generally one of the biggest advocates of Mumbai as the best place in India to live in.. rather, one of the best places in World to live in... but today, probably for the first time in almost 25 years of my lifetime, I was disappointed with way she behaved.. Today was the third phase of the 13th lok sabha general elections and the voter turnout in almost all the constituencies in Mumbai was abysmal... and being a Gujarati, I am associated with Gujarat too... so it was even more disheartening for me as Gujarat too showed lacklustre voter turnout with only 50% of voters reaching out to election booths...

This election was the most impressive when it comes to use of media and marketing to urge people to participate in this biggest democracy of world... I was of the feeling that Mumbai being high tech with majority of people having access to Television, Internet, Newspapers, etc., would break all the records.. News in morning said 10% voting till 10 AM.. I tried to be positive, and I felt like shouting out loud 'Mumbai, 7 more hours to go. Get out. Get your nails painted blue' .. I waited and waited, but it was in vain... Mumbai didn't respond to my cry..
I did try to make a difference by volunteering for Jaago Re movement (by ever responsible Tata group), and persuading people to VOTE.. This was the first time in last 6 months that I woke up at 7 in the morning.. so that I could vote and then get along with related work! ... I am also happy that my society and areas surrounding had a hefty turnout.. I feel proud to be a member of the society* in which I live :) .. but Mumbai as a whole did let me down big time... especially the youngsters... It really keeps me thinking what should we do to make youngsters vote as youngsters were the ones who did not turn up... I got reason that it was a long weekend (today, 30th... 1st may being a labour day... 2nd and 3rd being weekend), so people went out on a 4 day trip!... Guys, booth starts at 7 AM... you could have easily voted and then gone for the 'still left 4 days' for a trip... then second reason was hot weather.. hmm.. youngsters sweating out in mumbai sun for hardly 30 minutes will dehydrate them, make them fall sick?!!... losers!...

Mumbai was vociferous, out on streets when terrorists attack happened... now when time to do something that really matters... to vote in someone who obviates the need of those candle light morchas.. nothing happened! ... but i think mumbai has no right to do that now... ignorance and short term memory loss at its best..

Well, the biggest rival of Mumbai as a city in India is Delhi, when it comes to argument of best cities... and I want Mumbai to win in all aspects.. but in this case, I really want Delhi to win... Delhi has got its voting day on 7th May,... so Delhi, go out and vote.. you got golden opportunity to beat Mumbai here... you won't get it often! ;) ... and for a change make me proud by doing that...

Politics is not a swear word.. VOTE!

2009-03-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

India is the biggest democracy in world by far and we surely don't take a back seat in talking about that, but when it comes to being a part of that record, you say 'mujhse akele se kya fark padta hai'.. we can'tt get any more cynical than that.. well, I am not asking you to go out and fight for elections... that is not as easy... but at least 'VOTE', my friends.... people refrain from voting by saying 'NO CANDIDATE in my constituency was good enough to get my vote.. '.. we say that very boastfully, trying to portray ourselves as smart, but in my view, we are simply irresponsible... as most of us never tried to know the candidates just because we wanted to sleep on a holiday (i.e a voting day) .. if we ever took pains to know, we can at least go and vote for the better amongst the candidates, rather than none.. at least we will make it a point that whoever comes into lok sabha/vidhan sabha will do less harm than others will, if not good...

Chandrababu Naidu said this when he was at his peak in politics during NDA rule, "Politics need not be a swear word. Politicians can be good for people. Politicians can be business managers. Running the state like it is a company. Where change is a number that has to be achieved. A politician can know how to use a computer and turn a backwater into a technology and an industry hub. He can be a fanatic, but about the common man's prosperity; Stay in power by the surrender of power; By representing people, not ruling. Politics and governance can be transparent. People will be able to hold a politician responsible for his actions. Starting now, politicians should stop asking for people's support. They should support people. politics should not come in people's way. It should be, the way."

This is possible only if we participate in democracy. We can raise voice to our representative only if we have participated in electing

him.

I know that most of us and especially the fairer sex have 'Ignore' state of mind whenever they hear anything distantly in relation to politics. We love to hate politics and blame everything on politicians. Its fashionable to curse the politicians. But we hardly realise that we are actually cursing ourselves as we are the ones who elect the politics. And at the same time, if we are not participating in the democracy by not voting, we are also proving that we are stupid.

I remember this saying by George Bernard Shaw .. "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve" ... Its only us who is responsible for whatever things that politicians do, because they are OUR representatives.

Note :

1. Please vist http://www.jaagore.com and register.. They take up various initiatives (elecotral registration, voicing grievances, etc)

2. One more interesting website, http://www.politicalcompass.org/test ... test what kind of political ideology you possess... so that you know which political party's ideology matches yours

Are we really Jain (vegetarian) ?

2008-12-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

I have seen most of us Jains opposing abattoirs (slaughter house) by protesting against government policies using various means like online petitions, news paper reports, silent morchas, etc. I am not particularly against this practice but do you ever wonder why government is doing something or not doing something before opposing the steps of government.
I have tried to analyse this situation a bit.
The first table (2005-06 data) shows that India exports 1.5 billion dollars worth of Marine products and more than 1 billion dollar (second table) worth of livestock products. So in all, 2.5 billions of dollars of exports is something we rate as Non-vegetarian.

Now, if u see from the 3rd table, it is clear that India has net imports of 10 billion (i.e imports is 10 billion dollar more than the exports) and amongst this, 7.5 dollars is due to petroleum products (7.5 billion more of petroleum imports than petroleum exports).
This is the kind of consumption that India has when it comes to petroleum and its related products.
Now, assume India stops all of these slaughterhouses, that means India's balance of payments is more negative by 2.5 billion dollars. Do you have any idea how much loss does that mean when it comes to India's international trade (things like increased trade deficit,etc.. don't want to get too technical here). But it simply means that we are selling less than what we are buying, and this means loss in terms of business.
Well, by this time, you must be cursing me on the point that I am supporting slaughterhouses.
What I intend to convey by this blog is that other than all the steps mentioned above against government , we must also reduce our usage of
petroleum products. This predominantly involves 'Judicial use of personal vehicles'. I know the use of cars is sadly regarded as social status in our society, so I don't intend to say that Stop using cars. But find alternatives whenever possible (I cant think of ways that we can do that, but comments section is open for that).
So if we really think that we are vegetarian, we must first reduce the use of petroleum products, which can have cascading effect on the stoppage of slaughterhouses... Give this a thought, my fellow Jains/vegetarians.

Also, as day by day fuel consumption is going up, the global worries of fuel shortage has forced people to generate fuel by alternative methods. Tyson foods (largest producer of meat) has proposed and doing a reasearch on turning animal fat into fuel, to tackle the fuel demands. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19420483/)
So, one more reason to un-petrofy** your daily uses, if you think you are against killing animals and not just against eating animals...

*4500 Cr rupees ~ 1 Billion dollar

** un-petrofy - reduce the use of petroleum and related products (this is not a dictionary word, purely my vocabulary :D )

Mumbai terror attack makes me wonder....

2008-11-28T03:06:00.000-08:00

when will India eradicate terrorists in India rather than just reacting to their attack...

where are Raj thackeray and his MNS sevaks hiding during the battle in Mumbai...

when will the criminals/terrorists be prosecuted in time...when will Mohammad Afzal be hanged...

when will India's defence intelligence give some information Before some attack happens...

when will some politicians kin die in these attacks, which will make them take some step...

what will happen to Congress in the upcoming Union elections after the horrible last 5 year report on countering terrorism, inflation, reservation (in the name of secularism), etc...

and to end with, what exactly is the real terror.. illiteracy, ill literacy (mark the difference between two), unemployment/non-inclusive growth, or the jehadi attacks...

this blog is open to all... convey your points as a comment... it will be appreciated... :)

MBA ke pehele 3 mahine!

2008-09-27T13:35:00.001-07:00

This time, unlike my last few blogs, I am playing with myself and keeping politics, economy, etc away.. well, that doesn't mean that I got rid of my contentious nature.. :P...

MBA journey so far... It all started in Chennai. Yes, Chennai. I was frustrated to the core. The factors adding to the frustration was Chennai , IT, and everything else linked to me, and that was when my resolve to go for MBA became steelier. I applied for CAT and started preparation. At snail's pace. And then, I experienced one of the most happiest moments of my life. I was leaving Chennai for Pune. Redemption... back home (almost home.. just 3 hours away from home) ... and that slowed the preparation even more. Preparation was pushed into oblivion. Because of pressures from parents, I started preparing again for MBA.. this time it was GMAT and not CAT...as I had given up on CAT thinking it was too late...

and the pressure from parents that I mentioned was not the pressure of studying, it was that of 'talks of marriage'!... yes, it sounds weird, but I would say that my motivation to go for MBA was

'To not get married'.. I mean not getting married this early in my life!.. am not a misogamist! ... so all you eligible spinsters, do not lose hope ! :P

and there it was, CAT was ready to get out of the bag on 18 November, 2007 .. that same old 3rd Sunday of November.. and with it, starts the MBA season of India... I was one of those few people who went to the CAT centre with least expectations on me but contrastingly, with IQ more than anyone else in that 'least expectation' group (hope you will appreciate the sarcasm here) ... I was by this time, scoring decently on GMAT mock tests, so was all set to go for it and fly abroad... But voila!, that was not what was destined for me.. I did well in CAT (if you are not laughing here, there is something seriously wrong with your sense of humor.. this was a joke.. a real life joke) .. one important lesson here...

'IT IS NEVER TOO LATE (to start prep for CAT), YOU CAN ALWAYS RIDE ON YOUR LUCK' ;) ...

I hurriedly applied for IMT (one of the lasts in premium B schools of India :) ).. and expectantly, I got a GD/PI Call from IMT... and again, riding on my luck, I cleared GD PI ... the interviewer, poor thing, got foxed by my pseudo-innocent and pseudo-confident looks..

After coughing up dad's hard earned money on the exorbitant fees, landed in IMT, Ghaziabad,UP... UP, land of one of the behemoths of Indian politics right now, Mayawati ! ...

I was warned by myriads of people before coming here about how NCR has become National Crime Region from a National Capital Region, and how I needed to be careful when dealing with people... I really pity myself thinking I wasted my time listening to those people, as I hardly get out of campus here and deal with external world! ... the only connection to external world here is 'economic times' and Internet! ...

Its been one helluva roller coaster ride for 3 months which formed my first trimester. Ingredients of first trimester were hundreds of exams, thousands of lectures, millions of quizzes and relatively minuscule amount of sleep!

The most interesting part was though the part after the trimester. Finance world was going berserk after Freddie, Fannie, Lehman and other cartoon character like named Mortgage funds / Investment Bank firms on the verge of becoming kangaal !

MBA studs doing the coveted Finance course were all depressed. Then one of the IB firms came and recruited a couple of guys and a girl for summer intern. Though they wanted only 3 out of 120!, everyone was basking in the glory. But that did not last long as 3 days later after they appointed 3 studs, the firm went bankrupt and 3 more days later, the appointment was cancelled. The state of depression was back, aggravated!. Well, I am one of the Marketing species of MBA student and I get a feeling here that I am taking sadistic pleasure while talking about Finance guys. But then, to say, even we marketing guys are not far behind. Every company coming to recruit summer interns has an appetite of a pauper. The companies come, they shortlist 200 people, then they interview a few 10s of them. They smile all the way through the interview and you think that, 'WOW, what an interview', but the problem is that so does everyone else who gives an interview, and so your exuberance is only ephemeral. And that turns into disappointment for majority as they end up taking 1 or 2; the number may go to 5, if you are lucky!.. and the number goes to 10 if company is Unlucky ;-).

Okay, enough of my memoirs.

My opinion about current market situation:
Well, this meltdown of economy triggered by US Sub prime crisis wont last long. According to me, there is always a 'slack' which comes after every 7-8 years. And there is one 'crisis' which is a bit more in magnitude after every 5-6 such 'slacks'. Many of my colleagues are a bit bogged down by this. But, if you get rid of this cynicism, and give the situation a rational thought, then you may arrive at conclusion that this is the time to give your best as the others who were claimed to be best, are in doldrums. As my friend put it 'sab kachra saaf ho jaayega'. The market will be clear for fresh, new and young minds to enter in. Competition is washed away! There isn't a better opportunity for Indians. Buck up my friends, its our Time! Lets show the world what we are made of!

To end with,

I would like to share what NRN Murthy said (2001) -

'Wake up India. It's time to NOT go to work. It's time to get people to work for you. Don't be an Engineer just because you have a degree. Do what you think you're good at. And you'll be Good at what you Think.Start something that's your own. Where you can't be Sacked. And you certainly can't Quit. Start something for as little as Ten Thousand. You don't need much more than that. You don't need references, politicians, or the police. ALL YOU NEED, IS YOU. Start. And Ten Thousand could become billions. It's true. You can do it. You, simple, regular guy. Like it happened once, to a simple, regular guy. Wake up India. And start dreaming.'

Rock On :)

US Meltdown for dummies

2008-09-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer : The matter contained in first part of this blog is purely fictional and i do not mean to offend any economics-lover! apologies to VJ Sebastian, our economics professor.

US Meltdown? Confused?

As Ozone layer on top of US is rupturing caused by various profligate-ory activities practiced by US, temperature is rising and all the matter present in solid state is turning into liquid state...

But why the hell is India worried. It is because of melting down of US, there will be rise in sea level and coastal regions of India are in danger of getting wiped out... and that is why people in south Mumbai (Nariman point, etc), Chennai,etc. are in danger...

(Surprised?! or, pissed off?! .. whatever, must read ahead... )

Well, that was a mixture of information overload that has happened in my mind because of 'Physics' I studied in school, ubiquitous 'Global warming' issue and of course, being an MBA student, 'Obligatory reading of Economic Times'...

Well, on the other hand, if you see a positive side of it, the final conclusion was not too far from reality too...

Nariman point being financial centre of financial capital of India, is in danger because of US (economy) meltdown..

The derivation I gave would have led to suicide of Adam Smith*, had he been alive... Though my derivation would surely make the likes of Galileos**, Al gores (and RK Pachauris), etc. proud... so I expect Galileo's spirit to act as my guardian angel from the potential wraths of Adam Smith's...

Now, if any of your explanation of 'Effect on India of US Meltdown' was anywhere close to the line of reasoning given above, you seriously need to read ahead (it will give you at least some hope)

Ok, now to give some solace to Adam Smith, US meltdown actually means US economy screwed up and this time around it is primarily triggered by Sub-Prime crisis. Sub prime crisis is due to lending of too much of money to people who are Lukkhas***. Lukkhas bought houses with that money (say, for 10k $), then after spending some time in bought house and paying EMIs for the same time (say 1k $ in total), they showed their back to lenders when it came to giving back the money!, and ready to let go their house! Why?

There could be various reasons behind it. One could be that the market prices of house fell (say, to 7k $) below the total amount of EMIs left to pay (i.e 10k-1k = 9k $).

Second reason could be that 'they were just bored of staying at one place'.

So, banks were left with the house, recovered from lukkhas, with market price way below the amount left to be repaid by lukkhas. The problem was aggravated to heights because the number of lukkhas in USA is an astronomical figure. And hence, the Crisis (read Catastrophe, if you are Finance guy).

Hope I took you out of the hopeless situation.

* Adam Smith is the father of modern economics

** Galileo is the father of physics.

*** Lukkha is an Indian slang used for sub prime borrowers. Sub prime borrowers simply mean borrowers who are renowned for being... well, Lukkhas (perpetually kangaal, when it comes to returning someone's money) :D

Inflation... so what?

2008-04-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

It has become a fad in news channel nowadays to talk about inflation. And people are taking it as a just another masala news. I too did not see much repercussions of inflation figures flashing every week as 'breaking news' other than the protests of opposition party in different forms like dharna , havans, etc ... but now as the time goes on, I have been observing steady rise in crimes. My cousin was robbed off his Ipod shuffle, another woman being held at point blank gun range for her gold chain, and one of the guys in our servant maid's colony killed for 200 rs! Now that's what you call the effect of inflation. People are feeling the pinch of their inability to buy basic necessities which is making them to take the paths of earning money which are rated as illegal in the books of law. I normally think about a solution to a problem but in this case, I don't really know how exactly we can change things around (In fact, if I had known, I would not have been here in Infosys).
If we refrain from spending leisurely what we earn*, we might help in reducing the demand and then supply and demand balances out a bit, which in turn checks the price rise. But then 'not spending' is like discouraging manufacturing sector and hence growth. So the point is we can not really check inflation by sacrificing on development. Inflation goes parallel with development** and we can avoid ill effects of inflation only by achieving inclusive growth, making it a point that even people at low level get the share of what growth India is getting :) .. I know its easier said than done, and one step approach towards that is education and hence generation of quality employment!.. simple?! .. nah, not at all... that's a pretty big step to achieve in Indian circumstances but somehow, I feel there is no other way out.. or is there?!

*almost every IT employee ends up getting at least around 20 k at the end of month, with not much responsibility towards family when it comes to bachelors and females (spendthrifts ;-) ), so they spend freely and there must be at least 4 lakh IT employees in India, which is quite big number.

**China's GDP growth as on March 'O8 is more than 10% YoY with Inflation 8.3% YoY! ( China's inflation in prices of vegetables during same period is 21 % !! )

SC questions effectiveness of quota policy

2008-04-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

source : TIMES OF INDIA (report on 11 apr 2008)

This is the first time that i am copy pasting a blog from a source other than my brain :)

NEW DELHI: Even though the Supreme Court allowed 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in Central educational institutions, it has raised questions on the effectiveness of such a policy for bringing equality in society. "There is no deletion from the list of other backward classes. It goes on increasing... is it that backwardness has increased instead of decreasing? "If the answer is yes, as contended by the respondents (Centre and other pro-quota parties), then one is bound to raise eyebrows as to the effectiveness of providing reservations or quotas," Justices Arijit Pasayat and C K Thakker said. "The inequalities are to be removed. Yet the fact that there has been no exclusion raises a doubt about the real concern to remove inequality," he said while pointing out that since the concept of OBC came into picture there has been no deletion of any caste from the category. The SC asked the Centre to deliberate whether the reservation policy followed since Independence had been effective in achieving the desired result. "If after nearly six decades the objectives have not been achieved, necessarily the need for its continuance warrants deliberations," the Court said. "It is to be noted that some of the provisions were intended to be replaced after a decade but have continued. It directly shows that backwardness appears to have purportedly increased and not diminished," the judges said, adding that the affirmative action had got somewhat complicated in India on account of caste politics.

Holi hai.... aur bahut kuch hai...

2008-03-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

HINDU. MUSLIM. CHRISTIAN. We rate these 3 religions on the basis of number of followers and you would get these 3 religions on top 3 positions* (in a reverse order though). And may be that is why we see lot of heat and friction between the people of these 3 religions. We have had many great personalities asking us to live in harmony but there efforts have been in vain against the politicians effort :) . Well, it seems now even nature has stepped in against the politicians (read 'power greedy'). We had three festivals of these three religions on one day. 21st march 2008 was the day when Holi, Id and Good Friday fell. I think all who read this would know what I meant to say by mentioning this point. The same old 'please unite' ka naara. Bhai log (and behen log too), even nature is urging us to stay united. What else do we need?!

One more thing which was sort of ironic coincidence - Dhuleti (one day after Holi) and World water day fell on the same day. Holi has transformed from festival of colours to festival of colours and WATER (and I think it won't be too long before we add Noise to it, with DJ business flourishing). I got a forward email which gave a shocking fact (not sure if its a fact) that the quantity of water that will be wasted in Mumbai on the day of Dhuleti will be equal to what is used for irrigation in Rajasthan in ONE YEAR! I did not believe that fact and dismissed that as exaggeration. But when I went down for holi celebrations in my society, I saw arrangement of rain dance! What a profligacy?! I was forced to restore that forwarded email fact from the recycle bin folder of my brain and give it a second thought. What made me even more sad specifically was that the World water day had to fall(22nd march) on the same day as Dhuleti.

* For people who are interested in stats christians form ~33% , Muslims ~20% and Hindus ~14% of the world population

Life Stages of India - an analogy with Human life

2008-03-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

A wise man once said that status of a man in his different phases is dependent on different factors. The status of a man when he is 20 reflects the position of his parents in society; at the age of 40, person’s status is majorly a reflection of his own achievements and at the age of 60, it’s the achievement of his children that defines his status in society. I wondered if same applies to our country, India. And I found a very interesting analogy (though not sure whether someone else would find it interesting :) ). Analogy that I can think of goes like :
India(as a person) <-> Government of India.
Parents of India <-> Freedom Fighters.
Children of India <-> We, the people.

India is 60 years old now (considering she was born on 15th August 1947). When we see the prestige of India in world around 1967(20 years old), I think people across the world admired our culture and it was seen as a country with bright future. This was what our freedom fighters had sacrificed their lives for.
Then, comes the mid stage of India's life i.e. in 1987 (40 years old now), Indian economy was in dire straits. License raj, bureaucratic corruptions, ever declining Forex reserves, labour strikes etc. had taken indian economy to ransom. India was still called ‘Developing’ nation. The use of word ‘Developing’ was euphemism I suppose, because Indian economy was nothing more that ‘Stagnant’, rather ‘Un-Developing’ would have been the perfect choice of word. Well, we cannot blame only the Government for this as we are the ones who elect them, but I feel Indian public was still too nascent to know the powers of democracy.
The last stage(by last, I mean the latest :) ) of India’s life : 1987-2007(60 years old,..actually 60 years YOUNG). This is the period when Children of India made their mark. In almost whatever fields people have ventured into, we have done beyond expectations. Government did take a step of liberalising Indian economy in 1991, but that was more of a forced step than a well thought one as government treasuries were nearing bankruptcy. (Again, taking nothing away from PV Narasimha Rao, who really hurried up the whole process). And about the present status of India, I think I need not say much about it. sone ki chidiya aa rahi hai *!

(i would love to have your comment on this.... if you have some additions to this analogy or even if you can find an audit in my way of thinking.. i am sure there are many cases which i have missed out here... I would love to get those from you)

*took the liberty of taking that from a TV commercial of Future Group

Is history for textbooks only?

2008-01-19T05:04:00.001-08:00

Will we learn from our history or it will be limited to textbooks only?
Any one who knows a bit of post independence Indian history and has given it a thought to it will agree to a point that Sardar Vallabh-bhai Patel should have been preferred to Jawaharlal Nehru for the first prime minister of India (Don't mean to say that Chacha Nehru was incapable, but only the best should be doing the job). If Sardar had been PM, one significant change that would have been for sure, is that we would have never known any region like PoK. Rather, there was every possibility of having IoP*. This was one faux pas which is still haunting us, 60 years after, and will probably do so for ages. The point is that we have been longing for such an aggressive PM since then. We got Indira Gandhi, but she inherited her father's socialist ideology and helped sabotaging Indian economy even more by undoing the process of liberalisation, which Lal Bahadur Shastri had initiated one month before he died in Tashkent.
The point i made about learning from history is because we do have one man in India now, popularly known as NaMo in his native... Narendra Modi. Well, he has been marred with the controversies (Post-Godhra incident riots) . But who has not been!?, even senior leaders of present Government were involved in 1984 sikh riots (the only reason why they are let-off is because of lack of media reach in 1984). But, the development in Gujarat is Astonishing, to say least. Whether it be infrastructure or education, whether it be reduction in corruption or improvement in over-all administration.. Gujarat has been awesome! and all this in span of mere 5 years!
so will we acknowledge Narendra Modi and much needed aggression that he cultivates, and work towards making him a country's head or will we allow another iron man to melt down and fade away!?

*IoP - Indian Occupied Pakistan ;-)

2001 v/s 1984

2007-12-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

As the Gujarat elections come nearer and nearer, we see more and more coverage in media criticizing Modi government and congress rallies targeting Modi for his way of handling Post-Godhra riots. But the only thing which pinches me is why only Modi is being targeted? Why not congress leaders who were the main culprits in 1984 sikh riots? How can media allow congress to get away with criticizing Modi’s acts, and doing nothing about carnage of Sikhs. On the other hand, Congress has never been able to do the kind of development in decades of being in power which Modi govt has done in just a matter of 5 years, and it is quite evident!
I have a feeling that TV media is being too pro-congress in this issue and I have started losing respect for it.

2020 SUPERPOWER?!!

2007-09-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today I read in headlines in Economic Times 'INDIA superpower in 2020' … well, who expected India to win the 2020 world cup?!, but they WON !…
and who expects INDIA, as a economy, to really become superpower by 2020,.. People say it's a bit far fetched dream of Abdul Kalam (our Ex-President had quoted that INDIA will be superpower in 2020, during his 5 year stay at rashtrapati bhavan)
one thing I am sure about is that its not only 11 men's job as it was done yesterday in a cricket 2020….
it's a job of more than 50 crore young Indians!!! … so can we prove it !? .or we will simply be a spectator of others' achievements,… bask on hardwork done by someone else and keep waiting for INDIA to become superpower…
well, INDIA will become superpower, but now it's a matter of how soon.. whether in 2020 or 2050!?.. that answer has to be given by us!! .. not just by talking, but by DOing!! .. as SRK says in LEAD INDIA advt.… DOMINATION starts with DO…

well, coming back to lighter mood.. the T20 WC was indeed a fairy tale journey for team india , and for that matter, Pakistan too.. both teams miserably knocked out of the WC of bigger version of the same game… both teams in the hands of a young captain… both teams devoid of experienced minds (rather slow legs) … so much in common.. but there was one more thing in common about this whole event .. INDIA has never lost a WC match against PAK.. and thankfully, law of averages didn't catch up yesterday!!, YES, INDIA won .. team who had bid farewell to the top 3 contenders of WC, that's England, SA and Australia…
and also corroborated one thing yesterday… 'The probability of winning is inversely proportional to the expectation of people ' .. well, I did end on a sarcastic note about INDIA.. but sarcasm is my middle name (again, taking nothing away from my DAD, who officially forms my middle name .. hehehehe) … ;-)
thanks for reading guys… had just written this for fun, by the time I wait for my INFY service desk to install some stupid software tool on my PC …

Home Sweet Home

2007-09-11T01:40:00.000-07:00

The moment I stepped out of an airplane in Mumbai this time … I felt the tickling of cool breeze flowing across the airport fields (mumbai and cold breeze sounds a bit of a paradox, but i was back from chennai, so talking on relative terms )… the aroma of the Mumbai air, which had made me a big time complainant till 1 and half a year back, gave a mesmerising feeling to my nasal senses…
Embarking out of airport on mumbai streets, took an auto and started towards home sweet home… enroute to home, I saw the common sight on andheri-kurla road.. thats the the sign boards, warning you to ‘Go slow. work in progress’ ... I have always and seriously felt that they have misplaced a punctuation mark, the more apt message is ‘Go. Slow work in progress’… anyways, each instance of that sight used to resurge the frowning half of me, when I frequented that road in my college days...but this time it brought a bright smile on my face, as many times as it made me curse then! …
The beggars, the stink of mithi river (which was known only as one big gutter before 26th july rain made it famous), the rash driving of auto drivers... all gave a feeling of homeliness and made me Blissful :)....
back home.. however tired you are, somehow miraculously, all weariness disappears ...

And the moment I entered my home, I saw the most beautiful face…mom standing in front of me with a beaming smile and loads of satisfaction clearly evident on her face…HEAVEN! ...

Janma Din Mubarak Ho, Bharat Mata !!

2007-08-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

Happy independence day guys! so it's been 60 long years since we have had our freedom.. even if we have not seen a fight for the freedom, we surely know the pain that our great grandfathers have undergone, just for the sake of a place where we can live the way we want, .. the freedom of speech, freedom to move around, or for that matter, freedom to do whatever we want, irrespective of our religion and color!... isn't that great... but have we ever given a thought what have we given them back?!!! ...Don't worry, I am not blaming anyone here.. just requesting you to ask this question to yourselves... question yourself 'What have I done and what will I do to give back those freedom fighters, so that wherever they are, they will feel proud of having great grandsons like me?' ... No need to measure sacrifices or the charity one does for country, ONLY by the amount of money or time you spend... Most of the things that you can do to help our motherland are often in our day to day life .. like not wasting the resources... for instance, how many of you switch off the lights/ fans/monitors while leaving office... its not that difficult to do that.. we just have to be a bit more conscious and it could be of great help as we are facing acute shortage of electricity (we wont notice that, living in big cities and high tech offices, but it's a huge problem that we are facing rite now in India)..the same thing goes for water also... the amount of water people waste is just outrageous.. I am not asking you to stop taking bath, (that will cause problems to people around you .. ;-) )... but use it judiciously!! These things are easy if you consciously try!!
The other thing which I really find disturbing amongst us is people's attitude towards participating in our democracy.. it is surely the biggest democracy in the whole world, but I think we can do it better and easily break our own record... again I am not asking you to go out and fight for elections... that is not as easy... but at least 'VOTE', my friends.... people refrain from voting saying 'NO CANDIDATE in my constituency was good enough to get my vote.. '.. you say that very boastfully, putting yourself in a portrait of a smart person, but in my view, you are the most irresponsible person ... as most of you never tried to know the candidates just because you want to sleep on a holiday (i.e a voting day) .. if you ever took pains to know, u can at least go and vote for the better amongst the candidates, rather than none.. at least u will make it a point that whoever comes into lok sabha/vidhan sabha will do less harm than others will, if not good...
I remember this saying by George Bernard Shaw .. ' Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve' ... so its us who can make things happen!!.. thats the beauty of Democracy!!
we are awarded with a citizenship of a FREE COUNTRY, we never had to fight for our freedom, ... Well, we will surely have a happy independence day by feeling proud of what our ancestors have achieved by sacrificing their lives, but ever thought of making our grandsons and great grandsons also proud of what we do today...we dont even have to sacrifice our lives.. only be more responsible...a few things which u can easily adopt in your life... nothing extravagant, is it?!
Thanks for reading it... don't just appreciate and forget it ... give It a thought...Let us all contribute towards an AMAZING INDIA :-) ..
And happy birthday to our mother-land who is 60 years YOUNG now.....

Hail Supreme Court ... & ISRO too

2007-04-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

24th April 2007 was one of the most interesting days I had reading newspaper. No, it was not about some war raged by west on Middle East, nor was it another boring article on birthday boy, Sachin Tendulkar(well, he is God of cricket, no doubt, but just leave him alone) or a cowardly terrorist act, but it was about Supreme Court’s decision and commercial success of ISRO.
I, along with many other Indians have indeed gained back trust on Indian judiciary when they thwarted government on reservation policies reiterating the point that government has to be more practical and reasonable when they decide on imposing any policies. And then it was the remarkable achievement of ISRO, when they launched an Italian payload with a pricing twice as any other space center around the world would. The preciseness with which ISRO has launched recent satellites in an orbit is worth receiving a huge applause.ISRO could indeed become one of the most profiting government units in a near future. Move over NASA, ISRO is here!!

Update : For ISRO(29th Apr '08): http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/PSLV_launches_India_into_space_history/rssarticleshow/2993110.cms
Supreme Court (Reservation, 11th Apr '08) : http://malaylakhani.blogspot.com/2008/04/sc-questions-effectiveness-of-quota.html

Infy Special (dedicated to all my infy batchmates)

2006-12-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

I was in an examination hall and surprisingly I was answering to all the questions, fired at me by IIMs puzzle-masters' brainteasers. Thought came into my mind that this tie, I m surely going to make into the biggest of BIG B schools and then suddenly a harsh cacophony hit my ears, and shockingly I fell down from my bench and vroom … Off I came out of my dream, and that sound I heard was nothing but that of an alarm clock in my mobile phone…
Well, 6 AM in the morning and looking forward to another day of monotonous work along with 70000 odd other people all around the globe working for Infosys and of course , far far away from that IIM-A dreams ;-)…. had a long weekend as Christmas fell on Monday giving me 3 consecutive ALARM-CLOCK less sleep…
Still in my sleep mode, I reach FC of MCity, take a coupon for idly wada and coffee (what else)… hmmhmm… that’s the best meal of a day… those crunchy medu-wadas, fluffy idlies, delicious coconut chutney, and the aroma of filter coffee gives a kick start to the day, but doesn’t last for long as after that breakfast, when I push my body resting on those poor legs towards my office, I wonder how legs get heavier and heavier as I approach nearer to my desk.
Finally, after that marathon walk (at snails pace) from FC to my desk, I turn on my PC to see that my account is over its size limits, thanks to all the workless fellows or rather euphemistically speaking, all of my colleagues who are in bench phase of their SJLC (software job life cycle)…
Well, being a part of that flock of 1250 odd herd of donkeys (or is it Software Engineers, .. well, not much difference, both are made to work like mad) taken in Infy on 26 June, breaking all sorts of world record...Most of the mails which choked up my account were greeting happy half-anniversary at Infosys. I was wondering how these 6 months had passed so quickly because of the wonderful friends I had made and I really cherish my time being with them. I am really grateful to all of them and especially our very own Amey Kelkar...urf ‘baba’, ‘ keli’,… etc, who used to always remind me of completion of office hours at sharp 5:45 and force me out of the training room by saying, actually shouting his trademark sentence 'Chal Malay, nikalte hain…' (man , I am longing to hear that again,,,,heheh) … Arguing with him was always futile because of his quick laconic reply…
Well, coming back to 26 Dec 2006, it was also a 2nd anniversary of that disastrous catastrophe called Tsunami that hit the eastern shores of India… 2 yrs (24 months) of Tsunami and 6 months of our stint at Infosys… Statistically, calculating 24 months to 6 months , the result concludes that we are 25% as dangerous as Tsunami. So you can imagine the fate of Infosys few years down the line...(I advise all shareholders of Infosys to sell all Infy shares off… ;-) ) … I was really sympathetic towards directors and stakeholders of Infosys…
But that fear didn’t last long as I looked around me and observed all workaholics, south Indian engineers persevering …
Suddenly a thought of bearish run of infy transformed into a bullish one (ok… I take back my advice…. U can hold onto ur Infy shares) … and I Don’t think any things going to happen to Infy in a near future too, because the way engineers are getting manufactured here in the colleges (found at every nook and corner on the outskirts of the city) ,that if one extrapolates the growth of these technical professionals, by 2030, 90% of the south Indian population will be engineers ( I have left 10 % because they would be those kids looking forward to become engineers).
That day is not far when you will see ads in news-paper, where they will show requirements for electronics engineer to fill up an electrician’s place, a mechanical engineer for tightening wheels of the car, and a civil engineer at a building site for mixing cement and water…
That’s all for this blog of mine guys, or else my PMs gonna make me measly paid computer repairman, demoting me from a fairly paid\nlife of a software engineer… well, it wouldn’t be that bad either(may be I will have some challenging thing in that job.. ;- ) ) …adios…

Chennai Rocks!??!

2006-11-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hey guys….
Its been 3 weeks I have been in Chennai.. so I think I know quite a few things about Chennai now… so just thought of writing it down , in case you are curious to know about one of the most happening places on this earth...
Well... for people who live in Mumbai.. I would like to say that its very much like Mumbai, except a few hundreds of things, which are different from Mumbai… if u try and ignore those things, you will feel like living in our very own Mumbai… but the problem is that, I tried to ignore those things and I was like left to do nothing other than going to office and coming back..

People here have real obsession with their mother tongue… TAMIL… even in Infy here, people talk in their beloved language when they find some alter-ego of their (alter-egos, because I find them all same), irrespective of how formal the discussion is… :) …. It’s really funny how they forget that the people who are not from Tamil Nadu wont even get a single word of this alien language…
The other thing I have concluded is that people here sleep pretty early... roads are deserted after 10 pm… Rarely, you will see some state transport buses running around… auto drivers will ask for night charges after 9.30 pm!!… and on that, arguing with them in language other than Tamil is a task more difficult than passing an Infy training… the auto fare-meters here are there for only cosmetic purpose, not to show fare…
The other funny thing I have noticed is when you ask someone for a direction to a person…. He will look around 360 degrees to search, as if the place has suddenly moved overnight, and would give an expression on his face as if he is calculating some complex mathematical expression to get a solution of some dreadful equation in his mind to figure out where the place exists… and then finally, tired of waiting for answer from him, you ask him ’whether he really knows of that place??’ he would say with a smiling face ‘illai’ (that is ‘No’ in Tamil)…
Then came the turn of radio stations... I was really looking forward to some good music after having a frustrating time from Locals here…but it didn’t change much…. There are 5 radio stations here including radio-mirchi and radio-one…. But all A$&#*=$ play TAMIL music all day.. only 2 hrs in a day in some radio station which has boring RJ plays Hindi-English music… :-( ….. I was really angry by this time….but then had some positives too, which relieved me a bit….
Beaches here are good… I have rented a house near a beach here.. a bit expensive, but beach is where I can go ALONE, … actually, there are many here who are Non-Tamil (thanks to IT industries :P).. so on weekends its us who roam around here in Chennai at places where you don’t find too many typical Tamils and a place called Spencer plaza/citi centre, where you find some Cosmo crowd … so that’s a solace for us… we get to hear a language other than Dravidian-origin languages here…
Coming to the most important point of Chennai.. my work at Infy… I m in ANA dept .. that’s automobile and aeronautics dept…our client is Boeing.. on the new airplane by Boeing.. B-787 (Dreamliner),which is launched by Boeing against A380(Airbus ka bada wala hawai-jahaaj) … hmmm, sounds great, hey na?.... but it has nothing related to rocket science or similar topics…an Application to help customers of Boeing to get proper instructions on the plane they order , using some weird programming language called Java… that’s all I know about my project… for more information please contact my team leader Subramanian (Tamilian again, but don’t worry he knows English)…..

Well, that’s all... thanks to all people who are still reading this and are awake…. To others ‘GO TO HELL !!! ‘….

Best regards,

Malay Manoj Lakhani
Sof....... professional (too shy to write about my profession )
Infy (also known as an army of IT pros)
Chennai-Mahindra City - which is exactly 0.74964556245 light years away from Chennai .. though my room mate claims it is 0.8139785 light years away ... well, it seems so, as you complete half of your sleep while travelling
cell - +91-9940071502 (that’s my number, if you have any party to attend in Chennai, do let me know... I‘ll attend it on your behalf :) … no need to thank me for that)