Bharatstan

Wal-Mart daddies

2011-10-30T07:21:00.004+05:30

You would've met them, especially if you had any opportunity in the past 20 yrs to attend a wedding in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi. 'Wal-Mart daddy' is the term I use for parents who have their grown-up kids settling overseas leaving behind their parents in India. No offence intended, I very well understand that in majority of the cases the parents choose not to settle abroad with their children 'sighting' reasons as 'We will not be comfortable there', 'Nothing like OUR country', 'We will miss our relatives and participating in the good and bad events of the extended family', etc.

Why the term 'Wal-Mart daddies'?

First of the two main things that make me pity such parents is when they show up at functions/gatherings generally observed when they attend weddings wearing a T-shirt or a sneaker that would be a perfect misfit both to the occasion and their trousers, accessories, hairdo and jewels. Though a misfit, you could pitifully observe the pride they bear in their looks which announces 'My son/daughter/brother/sister/nephew/niece got this for me from Dubai/London/Sydney/New York/Chicago/California/Boston...', still why Wal-Mart? I guess by now you would've figured it out...generally such t-shirts would've been bought at apparel outlets during their best SALE season at a steal deal OR as a last last minute rush buy from the nearest departmental store at a throw away price...and who could beat the logistics experts Wal-Mart chain at it? Their tagline till 2007 used to be 'Always low prices' that got changed to 'Save Money. Live better'.

Secondly, though being happy for their children to have settled well [an ambition that they would've spent all their working life to achieve] and doing very well overseas [a dream come true for the children] you could still notice how much the parents miss them while living away. The way they use the opportunity of such gatherings to get things done by the youngsters of the extended family/friends errands that could have been done through their own kids anytime IF they were around is a tell tale sign of their loneliness which none of them would come out to admit about but I am sure will have it lingering in their mind when they toss around in their 12th floor air-conditioned bed room alone and physically deteriorating as the inevitable aging catches-up.

Who created the favorite books of our school days?

2011-02-26T18:30:00.017+05:30

...first, did we have anything called a 'favorite' book when in school? I think most of us were allergic to 'books'...for sure I was.

Now, let me spin the time machine anti-clockwise and help you remember the days we lived in. If you are someone who grew up in India between late 70s and early 90s, when we had the joy of playing 'gilli-danda' with just wooden sticks not needing joy-sticks to play any game. Days when we rented bi-cycles to learn cycling, when our living room was NOT invaded by a zillion TV channels. We did not have favorite news channels but news readers Tajeswar Sigh, Minu, Komal GB Singh, Sashikumar...and sports encyclopedia called Narotam Puri. When the sound of the tri-wheelered mobile kulfi waala's brass bell cooled down the heat of our sweltering summers, when the Television sets were Black and White and Cricket was played in white and white...we exchanged comic books with our friends not CDs.

If these sounds familiar and makes you visualize yourself in these settings then tell me how could you forget the favorite books we had. Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle, the comics that are part of our childhood which had characters like Supandi, Shikari Shambu and the Indian mythological stories illustrated with vivid colorful cartoons. Asides to our grandmas, we owe whatever little we know about the great epics of this land to Uncle Pai.

Anant Pai a.k.a Uncle Pai who died on 24-Feb-2011 came up with the idea of Amar Chitra Katha when he saw that school children in a quiz competition couldn't answer the question 'In the Ramayana, who was Rama's mother?'. He decided that it was time to re-introduce to the children of India the good stories of our heritage in an enjoyable form and he succeeded. He had to ensure that the stories were done without hurting the feelings of any community as it will have great impact when shaping young minds. Later he introduced Tinkle which is more driven by the stories from it's reading community that is how our Shikari Shambu, Kalia the crow and smiling Supandi were born. If you noticed, Shambu though a comical timid hunter was never shown as hurting or killing any animal. So is the passion that it generated that some of the readers and contributors grew up to become part of the Tinkle publication staff.

On behalf of all the children who were benefited by your creation and had their characters shaped by it but who would never know the man behind it, I thank you Uncle Pai, to me the Walt Disney of India.

Rupee symbol and my sour grape syndrome

2010-08-30T00:55:00.010+05:30

I like a lot of things about the new Indian Rupee symbol except for the line in the middle that almost looks like an imitation of euro or Yen.

Well, it is also a story of the fox crying 'sour grapes' for me. As everyone would know at least by now that there was a competition announced by the Govt of India for the public to submit designs for the symbol. The Govt should have outsourced this entire event to a private company, the public hardly knew about such a competition. Even the announcement and the winner were not well publicized or celebrated...I still remember the way Euro's symbol was announced.

I came to know of the competition just about a few weeks before the last day and tried my imagination on it, of course trying to follow the rules published in a little pdf file in the governemnt's web-site still available here. One of the confusing guidelines was #5 "The symbol should be applicable to standard keyboard. The symbol has to be in the Indian National Language Script or a visual representation.". Not many (I did talk to others who read this or forced a few of my friends to read and interpret it to me) understood this and the general thought was that it wanted the design to use keys available on the standard keyboard...so with these mis-understandings, me on the drawing board came up with my symbol and write up, see below how close/far it is from the winner.

Constraining my imagination for the guidelines, my version used "R", "\" and "." of standard keyboard (of course must need some Fn/Ctrl software control to place them right)

My key points on my design write-up were:

R - stands for 'Rupee' with the "\" tail when seen ignoring the vertical left leg resembles the hindi 'Ru' for 'Rupiah'
The vertical leg of 'R' stands for 'I' or India, together it is Indian Rupee.
The dot on top has the deepest meaning.This dot is a salute to all the women of India who have been the little finance ministers of every home for centuries as a wife, mother, sister or granny. They indirectly run the nation. Coincidentally, the country has a woman as the President when this symbol is released. So it is appropriate to salute our women in a symbol that will represent our country everyday all over the world henceforth.

Though I kick myself for losing the opportunity but there's no one to blame it on but me. This went down like an untold Love. Yes, I never submitted my design, it was my laziness to run around visiting banks for the Rs. 500 demand draft to be sent that made me not send this entry. A great lesson, one among many others to remind me that you cannot expect the fruit unless you move your feet and participate first...lest end up crying 'sour grape'

Indian Police-Terrorists/Beggars in uniform?

2010-06-14T02:13:00.002+05:30

I am not happy with this title of this blog post but neither am I happy about the state of the custodians of Law and Order of the country.

We all talk of rooting out corruption in all the government functions and have a clean country and for decades have not even identified where to start with it. My take, it is the Police department that should be fixed at first.

Generally only when there are concentrated issues going out of control, the home minister or the Prime Minister convenes a meeting, re-iterates the importance of clean Police department to the states and ask them to work on it...no action plans, no deadlines, no accountability neither is there any transparency in the progress. It just feeds the media of a few weeks of debates and articles in print about 'Police reforms'.

Are we really serious about it?

If we look back in history for the origin of the present Police department. It is during the colonial rule, to be specific, post 1857 the 'first war of independence' or my preferred term for it 'Sepoy mutiny' that the British established the police Act of 1861 which is till date the official Act of the Indian Police. It is apparent that the Police force was created to protect the people in power and definitely not the public in distress then. True to it's original purpose, the department still is loyal and works for the people in power though we have moved from feudal age to 'democracy'.

Corruption is so rampant in the force that the term 'honest-police officer' is seen as a great example of oxymoron.

Almost everyone in the force when they join are ambitious and strive to do good and correct all bad things they saw from outside. However, the saturation of corruption in the system swallows their motives like a black hole. The corruption career starts with not minding little gifts, turning a blind eye to wrong doings of superiors and graduating to deliberately breaking the law for personal gains from when on the vicious circle acts on its own into bribery, fake encounter, illicit use of weapons, sexual harassment and custodial crimes...list not complete. Major part of it goes to the reason that the Police is still controlled by our 'very able' politicians who misuse their power to appoint or transfer as a reward or punishment to help them for their or the ruling party's selfish purposes. This goes back to the Police Act and why it was formed.

At times it makes one feel that the town is better off without the police, than with them. It definitely applies to places around the country's capital. Some of the official surveys shows that up to 80% of people who interacted with the police reported them to be corrupt. Over 60% have to either use illegal means (commonly, pay money) or use political or other influence to get things done. It is a common sight on the road that when 2 vehicles are involved

in minor accidents the parties involved decide to sort out the issue before the traffic police officer arrives. They know that their financial loss will be in multiples if the police is involved. I know of a an incident first hand where the traffic police had stooped to the level of accepting a 'coffee-bite' chocolate, yes, remember the 'coffee-bite' toffee OR coffee ad...? (a real good toffee) to let go one of my friends who made a 'U' turn where he was not supposed to. If not for the uniform, I really find it difficult to differentiate between the beggars in the traffic signals who put their hand in front of you and the traffic cops who put their hands in front of every truck or auto-rickshaw for a petty amount. It's a bit scary to see that they no longer try to even hide it and its become a part of their job.

The basic mindset of the police force must be changed. They no longer exist to protect the crown by crushing the crowds but to serve and protect the crowd (public) who is now scared to talk to a police man, forget visiting a police station to register a complaint voluntarily. Filing a FIR (First Information Report) the basic official police complaint required to take the case forward is legally is a nightmare task in any police station for the common man.

Our policemen are so under trained, ill equipped and out of shape that they cannot command respect from the people. We must have regular rigorous training exercises mandated for all policemen to have them in shape and fit to fight the ever growing bad forces failing which they must be moved to other jobs in the force or any appropriate area. Strict physical fitness levels must be expected and tested for once every 3-5 years.

Citizens are expected to complain to the police if they have problems but are lost when the problem is the police itself. Unless the care takers of the Law are not fixed, the Law will be left uncared for and the system will erode from inside which will not be visible until the entire structure collapses.

NOTA - None of the above

2010-04-11T23:27:00.012+05:30

For a system to be effective there must first be a high level of participation. To see good participation, there must be good clarity of the benefits. Our election process is more a "must hire" process than really giving people the power to register a clear NO to all of the candidates running the race. We call it the process of choosing the "lesser evil" and it leaves us with no better option.

By implementing the "None of the Above" (NOTA) option in the ballot paper/voting machine we can definitely take a big step towards getting a more eligible representative. The inability to express and register their disappointment of all the candidates is why the common man refrains from stepping into the polling booth. We even have a flawed system of recording the details of people who go to the booth but do not want to cast their vote to any candidate. In such situations, for accounting purposes the officers are supposed to write down the details in a separate register. This procedure goes against the basic rule of 'secrecy of ballot' and gives away the voters preference (to refrain). Some choose to pick their ballot paper, go to the covered area and not mark on any of the candidates but drop a fresh paper into the box giving opportunity for malpractice during counting.

It works like, if NOTA option which is proposed to be the last option in any Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) or ballot paper gets the majority, there will be re-election and the candidates must be changed by all parties. The rejected candidates cannot contest for that term in the constituency.

Let us see some of the good things possible with this option enabled.

Improves participation by getting more voters to the voting stations on election day.
People can decide the party's choice of candidates instead of the current form where the parties decide their candidates based on their internal process, which again is based on a simple highest bidder process. There are different prices decided by each party for each election.
Even an unopposed candidate must get the voters consent.
Voters will have the power to decide the number of terms the same person can be in power
Lesser blank votes reduces election malpractice by whatever possible percentage

Of course, it comes with a cost of re-elections until an acceptable candidate is chosen but tell me if you are ready to incur losses for the entire term with an incapable "lesser-evil" politician in power than pay a premium to find a better one ?

I am not saying that this is the one solution to solve all our woes but will definitely be one step in the right direction for democracy.

Financial Literacy

2010-03-28T20:43:00.009+05:30

"Experience is the lesson that nature gives us when we are bald" - Chinese proverb

This perfectly fits when we think about the financial literacy of our countrymen. A traditionally conservative culture. The default wisdom passed on for generations is that education leads to stable job which demands hard work resulting in a decent salary that needs to be spent with great prudence and 'savings' is the mantra. Nothing more than this piece of mind is given to the thousands of fresh graduates who pass out of our colleges joining the lakhs of worker ants already in the field hard-wired in their brains with again nothing but, the same thought.

I discount for a moment the very few who graduate with a degree in subjects related to economics and a few who postpone plans to participate in the job race and take-up higher education on these streams.

Everyone saves money for future needs but the approach is to save surplus money without preparing household budgets, without prioritising personal financial goals, without properly allocating investments in different asset classes and without understanding the real rate of return,after adjusting for inflation. Well, how many who earn a salary really understand the term 'inflation'? India has one of the highest savings rate in the world - our gross household savings rate, which averaged 19% of gross domestic product (GDP) between 1996-97 and 1999-2000, increased to about 23% in 2003-04 and has been growing ever since. Unless the common person becomes a wiser investor and is protected from wrong doings, wealth creation for the investor and the economy will remain a distant dream. We need to convert a country of 'savers' into a nation of investors.

Thankfully, the landscape is changing, though very slowly starting from Urban India. At least 'savings' is no longer seen as the tool to financial growth. The younger generations are more savvy about the opportunities in the marker at least lured more by the ability of equity market to pay higher returns at a shorter term. Urban population is very comfortable with credit cards and gone are the days when you are looked down upon if you owe money to someone else. The social status now is gauged by how much one owes to others, in other words how many credit cards one flashes and the life style one could purchase from borrowed money. While these avenues are encouraged, along with it comes the know-hows of the right ways of using these. Not many who use credit cards understand how it works. Not many who purchase a car on credit understand how the system works. With many private players in the fray, aggressively marketing personal loans, credit cards and the growing demand for money has increased the importance of Financial literacy.

Indian Government, just like many other countries like UK,Malaysia or Singapore has come up with various methods to improve the financial literacy of its citizens. One such effort is credit-counselling. Many banks have dedicated centers focusing only on educating people. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is stepping up efforts to provide enough information to investors not just about the benefits but also about the risks and costs involved in every medium of investment. One of my favorites used to be RBI's initiative to explain things in very simple terms http://www.rbi.org.in/FinancialEducation/

Financial literacy is the ability to know, monitor, and effectively use financial resources to enhance the well-being and economic security of oneself, one's family, and one's business.

Financial literacy can make a difference not only in the quality of life that individuals can afford, but also the integrity and quality of markets, product offerings by financial institutions. I even foresee that it will go to the extent of regularizing things like our most corrupt real-estate market by demanding greater transparency so that mortgage backed securities (MBS) could be packaged as retail investment products. Knowledge is power, it will help consumers demand better quality products that will benefit them and also help them make informed decisions and not get carried away by sugar coated pills, ending up in something like the recent notorious mortgage crisis of US, the consequences of which rocked the entire world.

In my opinion, the final 2 years of all streams of under-graduate studies MUST have one subject on financial literacy. A medical practitioner has no need to know the internals of a microprocessor so does a civil engineer does not need to know the chemical composition of the liquid fuels used in a ballistic missile, but all of them being active participants of the economy MUST be equipped with the knowledge of economics.

AB family and the C grade gesture

2010-02-21T14:51:00.004+05:30

This happened when Amitabh Bachchan and family came out of the polling booth during the past election. It is a common practice for celebrities and wannabe celebrities to pose with their ink mark showing their support to the election process, democracy and also to encourage their followers to participate in the election. I stress here on the word 'followers' for the reason these VIPs having a crowd, I must say a huge crowd of followers, it is expected of them to act responsibly in public places and in front of the press and cameras. Every move of theirs is published and talked about and their existence thrives on the same popularity. It is not a comfortable place to be but it is something the celebrities longed for once and worked hard to reach, once there they must learn to be responsible to the society that took them to the top.

First blame goes to the election commission who chose the tall finger instead of the traditional index finger to paint the indelible ink when one cast their vote. I am still looking for the reason why this suddenly changed. But the gravity of crime is proportional to the damage done. A huge list of VIPs gave the birdie that day but they didn't even get a glance, includes the Chief Minister of the state and his wife. Unless I had mentioned it here I would have left everyone who read this post guessing about who this other couple is. If someone says that the AB family didn't know what this gesture meant otherwise, it will make me roll in laughter...for God's sake don't give me that.

I AM a fan of Amitabh, Jaya and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ONLY for their on-screen talent but it doesn't mean I will support for all that they do off screen too. I definitely expect more responsible behavior by the first family of Bollywood.

Is Madame Tussauds watching this? With two of the individuals in the picture already in the Tussauds' gallery, this will come out to be a great clebrity family statue in wax on display world over with the father, son and daughter-in-law gesturing to the world and the mother having a great laugh.

Brand Gandhi

2009-10-10T19:48:00.031+05:30

If you are in India at this time and you can read/write any of the languages of this country I bet you will know what 'Mont Blanc' is or learnt about it in the past couple of weeks. If your answer is 'yes', which I am sure it is then it proves the capability of the scientific-art called 'Marketing'. Though there are many definitions, I like this which simplifies it: Create the customer, keep the customer and satisfy the customer.

On Oct-2nd-Gandhi's birthday,Mont Blanc sold a limited edition of pens with Mahatma Gandhi's image engraved on the solid-gold rhodium plated nib,and a saffron-coloured mandarin garnet on the clip costing a whopping Rs1.1m ($23,000, €15,800, £14,400).

Transliterating a proverb in Tamil, 'An elephant is worth 1000 gold coins, dead or alive'. This proverb points out that elephant when alive is worth well for the work it does both during peace or war and when dead, the money it fetches out if it's ivory, bone and other parts considered rare and important. I see that this also fits well for the Mahatma.

His name sells, that's all, be it 'Munna Bhai' or 'Mont Blanc' the mention of Gandhi's name sells. I think Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan stand only next to the Mahatma as a brand. He is our only genuine international brand so far. In fact, it was again the Mahatma who pioneered capitalizing brand power in India. He used to raise money for Harijans through autographs and photographs.

Tushaar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson is often involved in most of the commercialization of Gandhi even though he hardly has any legal rights on his great grandfather's work. The copyright to all of Mahatma Gandhi's writings is with the Navjeevan Trust, which was established by Bapuji himself. His inheritance went to the Trust. Film footage of Gandhiji is owned by the Gandhi Film Foundation, the Government of India's Films Division and some international networks. The copyright for photographs is owned by Kanu Gandhi's descendants, the Vithalbhai Jhaveri Trust and others who took the pictures. Prasar Bharati, the Broadcasting Corporation of India, owns the audio tapes of his speeches.

NOTE: The use of any national figure's name for commercial purposes is prohibited under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. The statutory period of copyright to his writings and images expired in 2008.

A few ads that already uses him:

Telecom Italia (I like this ad)

Undated paper ad for hair oil and inscent sticks

Danish news paper

Al Balad

It is long since the people have...errr, cannot say so. It's long since the politicians have forgotten his ideals (“Men say I am a saint losing himself in politics. The fact is that I am a politician trying my hardest to become a saint.” - MK Gandhi). We neither have fulfilled his vision of self-reliance, communal equality and upliftment of poor. Also, I myself doubt if his thoughts about swadeshi, anti-mechanization would hold good these days. If he had lived till now he too would've changed his thoughts keeping pace with the world and definitely come up with greater thoughts for the current situation.

Saluting Baapu, here are a few of my crazy ideas to promote more products (mis)using his image,name and quotes.

There are people who are proud of their watches and there are watches that are proud

of its owners...Our watches, are always proud of you

-RG time machines, your time keepers.

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." - MK Gandhi

"Our erasers will take care of your mistakes, celebrate your freedom" - RG traders

Future is here

2009-05-31T15:47:00.004+05:30

I just noticed that its almost a year since I wrote anything light. It does not mean that I stopped enjoying ligher things around.

Recently, I was waiting for my bus at my regular stop in front of a bakery run by Malayali (In Bangalore, if it is not an Iyengar's bakery then it is most likely a bakery run by Malayali brothers). Malayalis a.k.a Mallus attract mallus and so you get to see nice chit chats in native tongue. That day, I saw a man in his 50s, one in about late 30s and a couple of 20s who run the bakery in a very serious discussion. Thanks to Mohan Lal and Mammooty I can understand about 70% of a casual conversation in Malayalam.

The topic of discussion was cooking a particular dish with tomatoes. The 50s person with a beedee in his mouth explained his recipe and the method of preparation, the person in his 30s gave a twist to it and a variation using some lentils which the 20s guy debated as a seperate dish prepared a little differently and called as somethign else. They were damn serious of their discussion and confident of their recipes. As the discussion ended, they went their way before which each of them invited the other for lunch that was either politely declined or moved for a later day.

The above episode which lasted for just about 10 minutes before they dispersed reminded me of the numerous futuristic plays and movies made under a couple of decades ago when I was in school with a comical sense with the theme of men becoming 'house husbands' and women becoming the master of the family.

In the world of 'house wives' such discussions were common across fences of row of houses or at the gate meetings of neighbours but one difference that was striking to me was the end, the gesture when they part. While the women folk used to share, teach and guide neighbours on recipes at more length and detail, I have never ever seen one invite another for lunch or dinner as they part away from the discussion. Either it never occured to them or it was a social expectation that inviting neighbours and friends for lunch or dinner is the 'mans' duty.

Maybe it was one of the reasons that inspired such plays where people wanted to see themselves in the other gender's shoes or slippers.

Indian Betting League

2009-05-12T00:29:00.012+05:30

IPL (Indian Premier League) er IBL is what I would like to call the latest money machine of India.

A brain child of

Lalit Modi a scion of a conglomorate, IPL caught the market within no time. With Cricket as the youngest religion of the country, involving modern day gods and goddesses (in term of

their followers) like Sachin, Sourov Ganguly, Yuvraj and flamboyant brands like Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay Mallya, failure was not an option. It is money, money, money all over the place.

Betting is not new in cricket especially in the shorter versions of it and 20-20 format provides good volume and more interest on this business due to its shorter duration. We have seen great stars of the game have a shameful exit by getting involved in betting

and match fixing scandals. The recent announcement of competitions through SMS adds an official version to the underground betting racket.

SMS

competitons are common in the Indian TV arena, more and more programs invite participation through SMS but the reason why I see the IPL SMS competitions dangerous is because it has the potential to burn a deep hole in a poor man's pocket before he realizes it. It is like stealing someone's money and in such a large scale of small pockets. The options are so tempting even for a person like me who hardly follows the game that it will ensure multiple transactions from each mobile phone of the nation.

The nailbiting finishes of every match being played which invariably drags till the last over last ball scenario plants a doubt in my mind that these are all orchastrated moves. Similar to WWF, one goes boom boom boom and once there's a pause the other takes on. At times the doubt almost gets confirmed when some insignificant part-time bowler gets surprise valuable wickets while the professional experts get beaten-up.

With these we get to see, read and hear of off the ground tantrums of team owners, team politics, sponsorship money and of course not the least the sizzling cheerleaders. Indeed a good entertainment, it is...!

As I generally say, where there is more money and Indians, there must be corruption. I see the idea is being over exploited to maximize everyone's earnings in a short time and I fear that the golden egg laying goose will soon be killed out of greed.

P.S: My post when the idea of leagues for cricket was implementedinitially : http://indiaeveryday.blogspot.com/2007/08/india-vs-india.html

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-03-14T13:46:00.009+05:30

I watched Slumdog on the Saturday before I watched it bagging 8 oscars on Monday morning.

To me it's not an Oscar material from India, but wait, it's neither an Indain movie. It's just a movie made in India with Indians participating. There are much more good films churned out each year from Indian production houses, especially from the south. These opinions does not stop me from congratulating the team escpecially AR Rahman who deserves such a big recognition for his talent.

I don't say the movie is bad too. In fact, it does not even deserve any of the cricism that was voiced in India about it showing the country in bad light. When people of most regions use their version of 'dog' commonly to abuse people why the big ho-ho when used as a movie's name? It has more positive things in it than any such negative depictions which was not mere fictious but were closer to the truth. I like the way the story is spun around the questions of 'Who wants to be a millionaire'.

Though for their talent both Gulzar and AR Rahman deserves such honour but this is not the song which shows their talent. The lyrics is not special, to me it just is a collage made out of the national song 'Vande mataram' and anthem 'Jana gana mana' even the 'Jai Ho' is a modified version of 'Jaya he' of the national anthem. So is the music. It sounds so much similar to the 'Vande Mataram' composition that AR Rahman did for Bharatbala about a decade ago.

My postive take away is that it shows how in a colourful country like India you have so much opportunities to learn so many things than just by poring through volumes of books. No other movie has shown the begging racket of Bombay in such a clear way.

The only part I did not like in the movie is the way the game show host ridicules the chai waala participant. I think that was exaggerated and unlikely to happen in such a show.

Many would say that you need good luck to win such a game show, be it a slumdog or a millionaire. Maybe the same with Slumdog-millionaire with the Oscars too.

Flag story

2009-01-26T17:10:00.026+05:30

Wish all fellow Indians a very Happy Republic Day, this day every year excites me.
I wanted to present a little hsitory of the Indian Flag as I was able to gather. I wish soemday I could display the complete set of flags dating back to stone-age.

For now I start with the Mughals - early 15th century to early 18th century. The dynasty lasted till early 19th century.

Flag of the British East India Company of 1700s

Flag of the British East India Company of 1800s

Believed to be the first tricolour unfurled. The flag was first used at an anti-partition rally in Calcutta 7 August 1906. The stars are actually half open lotuses (eight in all). Also known as 'Calcutta flag' or 'Lotus flag'.

This flag of Dr. Annie Besant's and Lokamanya Tilak, associated with the Home Rule Movement of 1917 and hoisted during the Congress session in Calcutta. This has seven stars arranged in the form of the constellation saptarishi the other name of this flag. The presence of the union jack in it made it unacceptable

1916 - The flag had two colors and a 'Charkha' drawn across them but Mahatma Gandhi did not approve of it as he said that in red color Hindu community finds representation and in green Muslim, but all the other communities of India are not represented in this flag. This was the flag approved by Gandhi in 1921. However, the colours are white, green and red, with the charka in dark blue set all over close to the hoist. This flag was not formally adopted by the Indian National Congress, but nevertheless widely used.

1931 - Some people were not at all happy with the communal interpretation of the flag. Keeping all this in view a new flag was designed which was of "Ochre" color. This color signified combined spirtit of both the religons as saffron was the color of Hindu yogis as well as Muslim darvesh. But Sikh community also demanded separate representation in flag or the complete abandonment of religious colors.

This flag was passed at the meeting of Congress Committee in 1931 at Karachi and was adopted as the official flag of the Committee. The colurs were interpreted as, saffron: courage, white: peace and truth, green: faith and prosperity. Charkha symbolized the economic progression and industriousness of the people.

In world war II Indian prisoners of war in North Africa were released to form a Waffen-SS unit, the Azad Hind Legion. Their Colour was a yellow-white-green horizontal tricolour, with the white stripe twice the size of the others and containing a "springing tiger". Lettered in white in the yellow stripe: Azad, and in the green stripe, Hind. They were captured in southern Germany at the end of the war, and shipped back to India to be tried for treason. The Azad Hind (also known as Indian Infantry Regiment 950) took an oath of loyalty to Hitler, Bose and "free India" in September 1942, at which time the Colour may have been presented

While the freedom fighters were working together in designing their independant national identity the country was still under the British rule. This flag Star of India was the flag used for most official purposes. The Star of India had a star with the words Heaven's light our guide around them, and was the badge of the Order of the Star of India, a chivalric order of knighthood.

The Star of India was replaced by the Tiranga (tri-colour) after Independance on the 15th of August 1947 in the independent Republic of India. The spoked Ashoka Chakra (the "wheel of the law" of the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka) replaced the Gandhian spinning wheel of the 1931 INC party to add historical "depth" and separate the national flag from the INC party .

I just realized that I've travelled across about 4 centuries of the evolution of the Indian flag. It scares me to think of the efforts it would take compiling the flags created within free India in just the past half a century to represent various national and regional parties. But, isn't this what we call, Unity in Diversity ?

जय हिंद !!!

* Any misinterpretation of facts is regretted, this is just my compilation of public material

Taaazaa Nilgiris

2008-12-06T01:40:00.005+05:30

With the New Year's eve approaching, a question to the dwellers of the concrete jungles of urban India. Given the below choices to go on a year end vacation to welcome the New year, what would you choose ?

1. A smoke filled pub in the heart of Bangalore

2. An all-night celebrity show at a 5 star hotel in Chennai

3. The prestine cool slopes of the Nigiris

Well, unfortunately I have not added a check-box and a submit button against this question but I can hear you scream, threee!!!

The name 'Nilgiris' just does not bring to mind the serene mountains but to all Bangaloreans its the delicious pastries of Nilgiri's that immediately tickles the taste buds.

Imagine, come Christmas you pack your bags, slide into hiking shoes and head towards the mountains leaving behind the chaos of the cities and bike at your leisure, yes just tour around and not race across the beautiful bounties until you reach the next year. Sounds like a dream...? This exactly is what a bunch of friends are about to undertake.

The TOUR OF NILGIRIS (http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/)

Ranging from age as close as half a century to as low as 13, biking enthusiasts are getting together to make this dream come true. It's a merger of passion than skill as they range from regular busy engineers to reasearch scholars and even long distance cycling specialists. Despite their busy lives they've been working hard to train themselves to reach the finish line of this tour.

This little trip to some could be the beginning of a great journey towards bringing awareness to the couch potatoes about fitness and mother nature.
More such initiatives needs to be encouraged and publicized for the message to reach out loud and clear...It would be appropriate to say ...यह दिल मांगे more

Time to discipline our bad old neighbour

2008-09-21T02:49:00.004+05:30

I did not write such a comment when Pakistan was injecting terror all these years through the porous boundary we share with them. It is because I was sure that they had control of what they were doing, bad (not good) or bad that I hoped of a middle ground someday with them. It's all a hope you can have with them when no sanity has worked all these years. I write this when I see a terrible terrorist work in the Pakistani soil (today).

Terrorist attacks within Pakistan has increased a lot since Musharaff's political graph turned south. Until then, he at least seemed to be in control of their private/unofficial army along with the official one. As long as the flow is controlled by a single tap there is always an opportunity to sometime shut the flooding. Now, it looks like the pipe line is leaking in many areas and is under high pressure - it's dangerous.

Terrorist attacks in India has increased to alarming proprtions. US has lost patience and intruded into Pakistan's space to flex their muscles. In my opinion it was a good opportunity for Indian diplomatic machinery to have worked with the US and jointly send a strong statement to Pakistan by simultaneously stepping into it's territory and demonstrating a short burst of fire works.
It's a known secret that the 'D' of the D-company who is needed for the biggest terror attack on us is in Pakistan. It is also suspected that the man in demand for the biggest terror attack of the only superpower too is hiding there. It gives a reason for us to work together and send a message to the people who help them.

I am not a war monger and I believe that war solves no problem but I also believe in disciplining my rogue brother with the required strong action. If the situation continues, it'll not be too long for Pakistan to become an extension of pre-9/11 Afghanistan and it is quickly moving in that direction.

ABC of 123, Indo - US (-IAEA) nuclear deal

2008-07-20T05:20:00.023+05:30

I have to first say that I don't know the ABC of this, still it doesn't stop me from trying to form an opinion when the ruling coalition of the central government is at the brink of falling from power.

Why is this called the 123 agreement?

Section 123 of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, titled "Cooperation With Other Nations", establishes an agreement for cooperation as a prerequisite for nuclear deals between the US and any other nation. Such an agreement is called a 123 Agreement.

Background:

History:

1974, India conducted nuclear test for first time in Pokhran. Although the ripples of energy was well controlled, the political energy that followed affected the planet forever. India's nuclear test demonstarted that non-weapon nuclear technology could be readily turned to weapon development, this caused the nuclear super-powers to get together and create NSG-Nuclear Suppliers Group. Along with USSR, USA, China, France and UK, Japan and Canada were a part of the group/cartel. They provided guidelines to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency-1957) for the export/import of nuclear technology to non-nuclear nations. Over years many nations have become members of NSG.

India's stance so far:

Since 1974, for decades India has managed and overcome pressure from the nuclear super powers to succumb to their NPT regime. India has been saying that it is unfair for the 'haves' to stop the 'have-nots' from acquiring nuclear power. It will be fair only if all work towards a complete non-nuclear (weapons) world.

Current situation:

India growing at a rate of about 8% per annum is in dire need of better infrastructure. Electricity, the basic need of industries is very much in short. With the soaring oil prices and speculated fossil fuel dry-up, it is time to think of a better energy source that is also not adding to global warming. The world says that as of now nuclear is the way to go. Though non-convetional and renewable energy is consdered the safest they are seen to be too expensive.

The agreement:

At a very high level as I understand as per the IAEA agreement India will have to declare and enlist the civilian nuclear installations it wants to be brought under the agreement. These installations will then be closely monitored for all the inputs that goes into it like the fuel and equipments being imported, consumed, disposed, transferred, etc. India is obliged to keep an account of all these and report back periodically. Nothing could move from the enlisted installations to a non-listed installation without IAEA's approval. Once this is agreed, the 45 and odd IAEA member countries and US's friends will be ready to ensure a constant supply of fuel for the listed installations and technology as needed.

The doubt:

India recently submitted a draft of the safeguard agreement (http://www.armscontrol.org/pdf/20080709_India_safeguards.pdf) to IAEA and its member's for review. India has raised the question of what if once the deal is done and there is for some reason no constant supply of fuel as agreed? A particular clause added by India has raised debate by members that it is unclear of what India means by saying "India may take corrective measures to ensure uninterrupted operation of its civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies."

IAEA says that the agreement must not be approached with doubt but with 'trust' which I think is quite applicable to IAEA on India too.

Questions:

Though this is a question to be clarified before going ahead the agreement is seen to still have many loose ends that could be a trap into which India would fall if we are not clear about it. The questions being raised by the opposition (or the Left party who are opposing) are:

• In case the U.S. or other countries in the NSG renege on fuel supply assurances for imported reactors, will we have the ability to withdraw these reactors from IAEA safeguards?
• If U.S./NSG countries renege on fuel supply assurances, can we withdraw our indigenous civilian reactors from IAEA Safeguards?
• If we have to bring nuclear fuel from the non-safeguarded part of our nuclear programme for these reactors in case of fuel supply assurances not being fulfilled, will we have the ability to take it back again?
• What are the corrective steps that India can take if fuel supplies are interrupted by the U.S./NSG countries?
• What are the conditions that India will have to fulfill if the corrective steps are to be put into operation?

Other questions that needs to be known are:

What if India for some reason breaks the agreement?
123 agreement will be withdrawn and the favors could be demanded to be returned back. Can India return the fuel and technology acquired until then? If the agreement fails, can it sustain the installations built purely depending on the IAEA supplies?

Is this agreement a dolled-up version of NPT which India has consistently refused to sign since the 70s?
By going for this is India about to hand over the control of its deterance to the west?
With China being a part of the NSG and Pakistan a close ally of US, will this be a disaster?

There is a clause in the agreement:

'An essential basis of India's concurrence to accept Agency safeguards under an India-specific safeguards agreement is the conclusion of international cooperation arrangements creating the necessary conditions for India to obtain access to the international fuel market, including reliable, uninterrupted and continuous access to fuel supplies from companies in several nations, as well as support for an Indian effort to develop a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel to guard against any disruption of supply over the lifetime of India's reactors.'

In the absence of these 'international cooperation arrangements', isn't the India-specific IAEA Safeguards agreement itself legally invalid?
Wouldn't to vote on a nuclear deal without the above two crucial documents (the Additional Protocol and international cooperation agreements with key NSG members) be a charade?

Finally, Is it all worth the trouble?

There are many argument and counter-arguments about the effectiveness of nuclear energy. There are reports that shows that the number of nuclear power plant orders and proposals have dwindled. The majority of installations was between 60s and the 80s. Even US has not built a reactor in the recent past.

The environmental hazard and risk of human life is too high than any other option. Can India stand a Chernobyl?

Economics:

Nuclear power currently accounts for 3.10% of our total energy output. If the 123 Agreement is signed, that figure will crawl up to 6% (around 16,000 mw) by 2020. (Remember: over 25% of India's power output is lost in transmission and distribution). In return for the miniscule accretion of 2.9% to India's total energy output over 12 years, is the country about to surrender its independent nuclear deterrent?

In particular the World Bank states:
"Bank lending for the energy sector requires a review of sector investments, institutions and policies. Nuclear plants in the power sector would not be economic; they are large white elephants".

The Asian Development Bank as a policy does not finance Nuclear power projects because of the political and safety risks involved.

Safety:

The problems of reactor safety are three fold:

Reactors approaching the end of their design lives are a recognised hazard which is not being addressed.
The poor safety management appears to be endemic in some national industries and an ongoing problem.
The safety of current and future reactor designs cannot be demonstrated to the necessary degree given the serious consequences of a nuclear accident.

Can India protect its installations from the constant and growing terrorist activities?
Would more nuclear reactors mean more risk to human life in case of an accident given the population density of India which is very high compared to other nuclear nations?
Have we done all the home-work ?
Has Dr.Manmohan Singh and his coalition done all the home-work and research before passing the bill?

I personally feel that it would be useful to have more nuclear power plants but safety is the biggest concern.

If the government goes down fighting then the failure will be seen as one of the weaknesses of a coalition government whereas if the government gains majority and signs a deal which if is a sugar coated trap. The government will be remembered forever for the wrong reasons.

It is not at all an easy job but it is a responsibilty to be done well by whoever reached the seat by all means.

Eunuchs/transgenders - is it time to think about them?

2008-05-12T07:49:00.002+05:30

'They say they cannot reproduce then how is their population growing?'

This is a nasty joke I saw in a TV show. Though nasty, it made me think for a while. Aren't they being discussed more nowadays? Aren't they spotted more in many places?

Most of us know them as people looking like men dressed in women's clothes who go around crowded streets demanding money. In some places they are hired to visit weddings and naming ceremonies of babies believing that their blessings brings good luck.

Generally, they are people who due to harmonal imbalance find it very difficult to know their sexual identity. When their physical appearance starts showing up they are chased away from home to avoid emarassment or run aways.

Looking back, world history has many transgender characters playing important roles in different civilizations like chinese, european and Indian. They were generally regarded as loyal and honest people because they cannot have biological heirs. Due to this they will not be impartial and greedy to plan to have a dynastic rule. They occupied posts close to the throne as ministers, doctors and personal assistants of the king and queens.

Is it time for us to give a serious thought on how to help this group?

We must admit that they are looked down in the society and denied (unofficially) equal opportunity in education and employment. But for a few exceptions who struggle against odds to live a dignified life, many live on prostitution and beggary. There are a few groups that fights for reservation in parliament. Ridiculous, they need help to first support themselves without begging and educate themselves which is when they will have a chance to be compared with the rest or understand if someone is using them.

Education: As we know, they are groups of adults (which ever gender it may be). So it begs better education for grown-ups which is neither 'education for the aged' nor primary (kids) school and it is difficult to put them in regular schools for obvious reasons. The challenge is, even for such good reasons if they are isolated for their improvement we will see politicians and activists mushrooming, even some of us here will open discussion threads saying it is discrimination, its a legacy of untouchability, etc, etc,...

Employment: Police force is a good suggestion. Why not defence and police force?
I agree that something needs to be done but I have a feeling that they have become lazy. When they could earn well for 2 claps why would they think of working hard. I am against beggars (young healthy ones) and this is nothing different. I've seen them being given Rs.5 for 2 claps in the signals, anything less they throw it on you. I know many of these groups live in good apartments in pretty good localities.
When migrant labourers from Bihar and orissa walk kilometers on the ring roads to do construction work every day they(Eunuchs)dress-up and run shifts to stand in the traffic signals and pool the collection to have a comfortable life.

Attempting a little calculation:
Assume Rs.5 for a vehicle, on an average say 5 vehicles per stop => 5*5= Rs.25 every 10 mins. Assume 10 of them per signal=> 25*10=Rs.250 per 10 mins => Rs.1500 per hour per batch. Assume one batch does a 4 hr shift per day=> 4*1500 => Rs.6,000 per batch per day. Assume 5 days per week considering traffic variations => 30,000 per week => 1,20,000 per 10 people per month => 12,000 monthly per head tax-free.

Reservation:We misused it earlier. Reservation is not the only way to bring equality. You cannot slow down the leaders for the trailers to catch-up. You must train and strengthen the weak ones to catch-up and beat them. This is the mistake happening now in the country.
Reservation with an expiry date is another option. Our reservation system or be it any other policy is brought in without dead lines so no one bothers to set targets on what is to be achieved by when, it's taken for granted.

I agree transgenders need help for better living and earning respect but not by reservation as we know it today.

New Year - 2008

2008-01-02T20:04:00.000+05:30

I wish my fellow NETizens a great new year.

I have resumed writing after 4 months. This is the time it takes for one to get an internet connection done in the Silicon valley of India. I realized that the so called 'city limits' does not mean the same for infrastructue yet. I had to deal with the state owned service provider (BSNL) pulling strings in vain just to realize that it would take more than 3 months to get a telephone cable laid in my street though they have about 100 applicants waiting in the same locality. Then I tried our modern private providers, Airtel, Reliance, et al and the responses were no different. At last, one of them was able to provide a wireless connection finally as I am in the 'city limits' ;)

India vs India

2007-08-24T00:30:00.000+05:30

I couldn't think of any other title when I write about the war between the cricket leagues(Indian Cricket League-ICL and Professional Cricket League-PCL) being formed in India and they cannot have better leaders to lead the battle (Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar). This will be interesting to watch than any of the matches played by the team.

I am happy about the formation of these:

The false association of patriotism with the game will fade away and hopefully it will be seen as just a game. It will set the importance of the game's position amongs other games right.It is sad that now the common man, next to the Indian Army, considers the Indian cricket team as the pride of the nation and as the ones who hold the Indian flag high.
This will bring to light more talents and stars which earlier used to fade out before being noticed
Break the monopolistic behaviour of the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI)
Bring more opportunities to retired cricketers and reduce the involvement of people who are miles away from the game.
Make the cricketers millionaires to billionaires
Popularize 20/20 form of the game and thus saving a lot of viewers time that is SPENT in watching either 8 hours or 40 hours versions of the game.
Roll-in MORE money into the game. In fact, the whole chain of events is all nothing but a media-war. The root-cause lies in the tussle of broadcast rights between Zee network and BCCI.

And every coin has a flip side. There could be a few risks:

Our dear politicians could pounce on the opportunity and completely colour the field with party poilitics
Betting and match-fixing could increase as more money is involved
Cricketers could easily be manipulated to speak and work against the interest of the game
Use of performance enhancing drugs could creep in to meet the competiotion

Indian cricket is getting more interesting off the field than on the field which in the past few years is nothing unusual.

(In)tolerance of expression

2007-08-12T14:40:00.000+05:30

The physical attack on Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad made me think about the deteriorating tolerance amongst Indians for the expression of others. Or is it so...? Let me consider a small list of recent incidents :

Andhra MLAs, 20 MIM(Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen)activists manhandle Taslima Nasreen.

Neeraj Jain of VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), barged into the fine arts department of Vadodara's Maharaja Sayajirao University, vandalised paintings that weren't even up for public exhibition but meant for internal assessment.

M F Husain's gallery in Ahmedabad was vandalised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal, part of a chain of events that forced one of India's greatest living artists to live abroad in exile.

Information and broadcasting ministry issues periodic bans on TV channels like AXN and FTV.

Can you spot one common thing in all the above incidents which I've picked at random at different points in time? Each of these news item is attached to some political faction. We don't see any news either in television or the dailies where the general public has initiated a protest against some form of art. This is truly encouraging.
We know that all (no exceptions here) political parties and extremists group live on and wait for such opportunities to gain popularity. The sincerity of these protests are understood by us without any specific mention. Truly, these are entertainment and mere entertainment to me a momentary highlight on these groups and we forget them soon.

On the other side, I have seen that these incidents has benefited the victims on a long term. Salmaan Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen, MF Hussein, Mallika Sherawat and FTV just to quote a few would have been less popular without such incidents in their career.

Vishy - The unsung Indian emperor of the 8 X 8 matrix

2007-06-23T20:04:00.003+05:30

For 20 years the growth curve is upwards, no points to guess that it's not about the performance of the Indian cricket team. Oh! it could be true for the growth of the assets of the cricketers but I am talking about the performance of Viswanathan Anand the super achiever who has silently conquered the world of chess. As I write this blog, he is holding the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Rank#1.

How many of his wins have appeared on the front page of the Indian dailies? How many of the Indian cricket losses have not appeared on the front pages?Of course, I understand that there is a difference between a team game and an individual's brilliance. We must accept the fact that the cricket TEAM is also a group of brilliant individuals who fail to work together.

I remember it (the news snippets) so well like yesterday when he landed in India after becoming the World Champion, it was just about 50 people in the airport. About a couple of dozens cheering him the next day or when there was a celebration procession in Chennai with him in an open horse drawn charriot. I don't have to remind anyone of the crowd and security that throngs cricketers whether they win or loose.

I would like to highlight A FEW of his achievements which just went past in time even without many of us even realizing:

1984-85 - Asian Junior (under 19) Championships - Earned the title of International Master at 15, the youngest Asian to achieve this distinction

1987 - World Junior Chess Championship - First Asian to win the World Junior Title

1987- Became India’s first Grandmaster and the Youngest Grandmaster in the World at that time

1989 - 4th International Games Festival, France (Veterans vs. Youth Tournament) - A special triumph in beating 2 former World Champions, Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky

1990 - Manila Chess Interzonal, Manila - Placed 3rd and became 1st Indian to qualify for Candidates Matches leading up to the World Championships

1991 - Beat Alexey Dreev to be the first Asian to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the World Championship

1992 - Alekhine Memorial (Category 18), Moscow - Won the tournament ahead of Karpov. Attained a 2700 rating, only the 8th person ever to do so in the World

1994 - Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco - Won ahead of stalwarts like Karpov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk

1994 - PCA Grand Prix, Moscow - Won ahead of Kasparov

1995 - World Championship, World Trade Center, New York - Lost the match after a see-saw 3rd week. First Asian to play the World Championship. Attained the World No. 2 position in the PCA Ranking list

1996 - Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva - Beat World Champion Garry Kasparov in the final.

1997 - 6th Melody Amber Tournament, Monaco - Finished overall first, and individually first in blindfold and rapid. . The first player in the history of the tournament to do so.

1997 - Exhibition against 6 computers at the Aegon Man Vs Computers chess event. - Won 4-2 - One of the few players to play 6 computers simultaneously and win.

1998 - Torneo International De Ajedrez, Linares - Won the strongest tournament ever, in the history of chess.

1998 - Viswanathan Anand wins the Chess 'Oscar' for 1997 !

1998 - "Siemens Nixdorf Duell",Frankfurt - Won the strongest rapid tournament of all time

1999 - Anand wins the coveted Chess Oscar for the second straight year!

2000 - FIDE World Championships, Teheran and New Delhi - Beat Alexei Shirov in the Final (3.5 - 0.5) to add the Crown Jewel to a glittering career and ascend the very pinnacle of game.

2003 - 12th Amber Chess Tournament, Monte Carlo - Became the first player ever, to win 3 unshared titles beating Kramnik's record of 2 unshared and 2 shared titles.

2004 - Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz - Won his 2 major titles on successive Sundays by beating Alexei Shirov 4.5 - 2.5, to don the Black Jacket for the 4th straight year. Anand has now been Champion at Mainz an amazing 7 times in total.

2005 - Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz - Took the title for the 5th year in a row, by beating Alexander Grischuk 5-2 in the Final, in an utterly dominant and professional display

2006 - Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk Aan Zee - Made history by becoming the only player ever to win this tournament a record 5 times! Anand beat Boris Gelfand in his final round game to share top honours with Veselin Topalov. Anand was however awarded the trophy for having won more games with the black pieces. This win also gave Anand a vital 13 ELO points taking his ELO rating to 2805, thereby crossing the magic 2800 ELO point marker, a summit achieved before by only Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov

2006 - Grenkeleasing World Rapid Championship, Mainz Chess Classic, Mainz - Beat Radjabov twice on the final day to win his 6th Title in a row at Mainz, his 7th in succession and his 9th Classic win overall, setting a record that is unlikely to be surpassed.

2006 - Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament, Moscow - Anand scored a whopping 23 points out of a possible 34 and won 11 out of 17 mini-matches to claim the strongest Blitz tournament in the history of the game, beating his nearest rival, Levon Aronian of Armenia by a comprehensive 2 point margin.

2007 - Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament, Linares - Took and early lead and hung onto it right upto a final draw with Vassily Ivanchuk, to not only take the Title at Linares for the first time since 1998 but also to take the FIDE World No.1 Ranking for the very first time ever!

While the media was busy chasing the money machines Indian Government did recognized his mastery early and did not miss to honour him.

Arjuna award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess in 1985

Padma Shri in 1987

The inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour in the year 1991-1992.

Padma Bhushan in 2000

Vishy is a great example of silent success, a person who believes in performance and not publicity. I am sure his records will set the bar high for the game and also inspire the younger generations. His story is of a normal Indian middle class school kid achieving the sky just through hard work, parental support and encouragement of close ones.

Looks like he is just in the middle of his career and will not stop until he tests the limits of limits.

Good Luck Vishy !!

NO VOTE for THE TAJ

2007-06-23T20:04:00.002+05:30

Wah Taj...

No wonder it's a wonder. No one can dispute the fact that its a moon on earth...

I am getting poetical, why not, the very sight of this marvel can turn a dud like me to Wordsworth. I had visited the Taj a couple of years back, a dream I had since childhood.

By now, you must be wondering why I titled this post as 'NO VOTE...' ? It's just to make sure that I have the Taj to visit after a few decades too, to make sure that we have the Taj for coming generations too to admire.

We have seen terrorist threats to the Taj in the recent past and earlier too. The threats are because its a world wonder. A sore in the eye of destructive minds. The moment it enters the list of 7 wonders, the threat will increase. Am I scared of terrorists, no, I am scared of losing the fragile beauty. No technology can re-construct it. As Navjot Sidhu would say, 'It's better to prepare and prevent than repair and repent'.

This is just one of the reasons, the second is because I think we(Indians) are not as keen and serious in taking care of the monument as much as we are keen on winning the race to enter into the top-7 wonders. Yamuna on which's banks the Taj glows is now almost an industrial drainage. Not many know how important the health of the river is for the survival of Taj Mahal not aesthetically but scientifically. There are some architectural reasons behind it. I have seen permanent inscriptions by our modern Shah Jahans who visit the Taj expressing their love on the floor/walls (I am sure and hope long back and not anymore) of Taj Mahal.

Finally, VOTE, I think we must learn to vote right at the right moment to the right people than just participate and jump into the bandwagon of 'yes' votes. I am pointing to the current government that is ruling the state of Uttar Pradesh where Taj Mahal is. The CM, Mayawati was accused and almost proved guilty on the Rs.175 crore Taj corridor case, which like all other high profile accusations died a natural death.

All these made me decide not to vote to make our beloved Taj as one of the 7 wonders.

Let us all make sure we preserve and protect it so that the world for a long time to come have an opportunity to say......वाह ताज (wah Taj!)....

India's next president

2007-06-23T20:04:00.001+05:30

March this year, I wrote that Narayan Murthy of Infosys as my favourite as next president. Subsequently, his response to the question on why he did not play the national anthem in Infosys made me change my mind. I would never vote for a person who wants to downplay his national anthem for the convenineance (perceived) of foreign guests. In whichevere country this happens, its not good. Though my Utopian earth is a single nation without any boundaries dividing it; until then, every one must respect their own nation and others too.

Coming to the contest between Prathiba, Bairon and Kalam.

In the same blog post mentioned above I wrote that Kalam's potential must not be wasted by staying in the post for the second term. Today, he has bailed out of the fray which I am happy about. Long back, he came up with suggestions for a few states to improve and a vision 2020. I think he must work on it and try to take it forward. With the admiration and respect he has won, the whole nation will back him for any such effort.

I had heard of Bairon Singh Shekawat as the VP and a little before that and Prathiba was someone whom I had not heard of until 3 weeks back. I know it's not popularity which is needed for presidentship else it'll be Amitabh or Shah Rukh Khan who'll occupy the chair without any doubt.

If India wants to claim to have a woman president before the mighty US had one, then it's an opportunity. Again, is this what we look for? Are we in a race to set records with the post of a president? Do we have any eligibility criteria otherwise? What is the roles and responsibilities of a President? It's the country's supreme seat, the emperor throne. I think a lot must go into it.

I am not comfortable with the pattern being followed for filling the position.

1. KR Narayanan - dalit minority*
2. Abdul Kalam - Muslim minority*
3. Prathiba (probable so far)- woman*

* I hold my opinion about the reservation system, I might blog about it later.

Is the post being politicized ? Next, will it be rotated amongst each caste, religion, state or any other classification in the country? Is it healthy?

Have we lost the ability to identify the likes of great statesmen who occupied the seat earlier?

Have we changed our minds?

Are we in the right path?

A sensation called Sivaji

2007-06-23T20:04:00.000+05:30

Honestly, I don't know of one south Indian who doesn't like Rajni(kanth), some may not be a fan of his but they don't hate him too. It's mainly becaus most of his movies are simple, entertaining, which has good action, comedy, drama ending with a 'good over evil'.

As everyone says, this must be the maximum publicized, highest budgeted movie so far in India.

It was a kind of frenzy here in Bangalore for a week after the release of this movie. I did not seeany other discussion happening in public places and in office water cooler points other than about this movie.

It must be a scary month to the people who've invested in the movie. They definitely would have done their home-work but the Indian box-office is just like the Indian cricket team, you never know... If it succeeds it's a jackpot if it flops you are on the streets. Biggest bet ever for most or all of them, maybe for both Rajni and Shankar too.

Couple of first hand comments I got from people who watched the movie are:

'Great...!'

'Good one for Rajni's fans'

'Good to watch once'

I am yet to hear what I expected.

I have not watched it yet, and I will post my comments once I watch it.

I leave a few stats I found on the web to mull upon for now:

Releasing worldwide in 27 countries on same day with about 2900 theatres. (Earlier Record-- Krrish in 14 countries in 1200 theatres).

India -2200 theatres China-211 theatres Japan-130 theatres Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong-100 theatres Saudi Countries-100 theatres USA-80 theatres UK-70 theatres And this release is only behind Casino Royale which is released in 36 countries in 3200 theatres.

Rajnikant's Remuneration in his last 3 movies: Baba----20 crores Chandramukhi-----25+ crores Shivaji-----40+ crores Rajnikant is only behind Jackie Chan in terms of remuneration in Asia.

This movie is planend to be dubbed in local language of Turkey, Gonga(tribal language of South Africa) and Kshinola( Tribal language of Argentina)

India everyday: Dog killing spree in Bangalore

2007-04-08T17:15:00.000+05:30

India everyday: Dog killing spree in Bangalore

Beating a dead snake (Indian cricket team)

2007-04-01T00:36:00.000+05:30

Hold-it!

India had a shameful exit from the cricket world cup in just the first round. The media is full of criticism of the team, the individuals (ex-heroes) of the team, the coach, selection process and what not. Some of the cricketers' private property were damaged. The same properties were seen as temples just a couple of weeks earlier. Poojas performed for the success of the 11 gods (Indian team).

In the country, cricket is news and money, good or bad. Its like, as they say 'Love it or hate it but you cannot ignore it'.

This team had lost even before they started from India. There's nothing surprising about it. Just because it's our national team doesn't mean that it must win the cup. The championship is for champions and we all know that we don't have a champion team, so why do we beat this snake now when it had died long back. In past several months the Indian team occupied the headlines for every reason other than the game.

Spare the players, they are just a part of a bigger conspiracy. Ad campaign, selection committee, betting racket are the major players. It's difficult to digest the fact that we exited so soon losing against much inexperienced teams like Bagaladesh. There are lessons to learn, never take your opponent lightly. Everyday is a new day, be sensitive to the regional beliefs while imposing forign tactics (Chappell), be yourself and don't try to mimic others (Dravid) and much more...

It's time Indians put Cricket at it's right place, ignore it for a while and see it as just another game. It is a good time to promote games like football, hockey, tennis and athletics and grab public-interest and the money enjoyed by cricket all these years.

Narayan Murthy as President of India

2007-03-19T01:31:00.000+05:30

Today I read in a news paper if I am not wrong it's Shoba De's column where she had suggested of Infosys chief mentor Narayanmurthy as next president.

I think it's a good idea. I have a few reasons:

1. Abdul Kalam's potential as a scientific research leader can be tapped still, as a President for the second term I think his knowledge will not be used efficiently later he will be quite old to be more effective.

2. I don't support the idea of the Big B occupying the first citizen's seat. I admire him for his talent, his perseverence and the way he bounced-back and is considered the face of India. But still I don't see him clean enough for a President.

3. Narayanmurthy is known to be frank, clean and at times a little blunt with his articulation. Now that he is retiring and his instincts will not, its good to put that to a better use. His neutral (or cat on the wall) stand on politics will also help him as he is still not alligned to any party. All the more, when IT has made India the beacon on the world map, his contribution was not small. He deserves a Bharath Ratna too for it.

Unless I see a better candidate he will be the next able President according to me.

Dog killing spree in Bangalore

2007-03-11T10:42:00.000+05:30

Just to set the context: Bangalore had a few cases of children mauled to death by stray dogs. Based on the reports (facts), the corporation has increased and is working day and night to capture and put to sleep as many dogs as possible. They are also working on closing down butcher shops without permits which act as fast foods for the stray dogs.

I was wondering if this is a long term soultion? Not at all. This is a quick fix.

1. Assembly elections are close by and long term plans never impressed(understood) by masses.
2. When it is a debate on human vs other species our decisions are always biased - naturally.

Bangalore has always lived with a great number of dogs for dog years. Its my strange observation that its just in this city that I see that dogs live and move in packs. Average-5, I can say. I have seen groups of 12 to 15 dogs and another peculiarity they had (not much anymore) is the dogs here climb walls and prefer to walk on it than on the roads.

Few years ago the corporation stopped (credit goes to various NGOs) killing them andinstead sterilized. The population still is growing, thanks to our efficient garbage disposal planning and hygenic food services available in every street corners. Free food, in abundance good climate lots of chics around, even I would multiply like rabbits/cockroaches.

Reading my comments will depict me as tilted towards anti killing. Yes, I am. I hate to see dogs being caught and killed but I will support if there is an epidemic of some sort (say bird-flu/rabies, etc) but this is not so. The law written for human in this country says that 'everyone is innocent until proven guilty' and even proven cases of terrorists and homicides walks away without capital punishment. The same country is trying to target and execute all the members of a species where there were isolated incidents.

This is the same mentality that causes incidents like Godhra and other community targetted violences.

We must step back and think of a long term solution to this problem than quick-fixes. I see:

1. Eductation
2. Good garbage management
3. Strict food inspection and permit system
4. Sterilization of dogs

as some good workable (difficultly enforcable) solutions but no pain no gain. If we are not ready to sweat let's stop dreaming of greater Bangalore, shanghai plans, singapore tidiness, etc. They are just fiction for us.

TATA Corus takeover

2007-02-01T23:58:00.000+05:30

Fantastic TATA camp, congratulations India.

This takeover is generally seen as the second geat steel takeover by India in this financial year. People miss out the fact that Mittal Steel is not an Indian company though Lakshmi Mittal is a proud Indian (we are proud of him too). So the real biggest takeover is this, the Corus by TATA.

It is really a proud moment for the nation to have won a stiff competition in an international market. There's a doubt if TATA paid a bit more than the worth but knowing the management efficiency and undoubtable track record of TATAs we can be assured of this to be a success.

It is also a moment for India to think why we exapnd and such acquisitions happen. TATA could as well have invested the money in India and expanded. This would have increased employment and overall money circulation.

A few questions for understanding such acquisitions...

Is it because the work force is too complicated in India?
Is it because the necessary skills is not available here?
Is it because we have a long entangled red-tape blocking fast impementation of any plan that people look out?
Is it because India does not have enough infrastructure to support such an expansion?
Is it because they are looking out for just another location in the world with adequate capacity to serve the market?

Who's going to answer these...?

Shilpa - Celebrity Big brother

2007-01-29T23:32:00.000+05:30

If I see it just as a competiton which was finally won by a fellow citizen, I must congratulate Shilpa for it. But, what is the competition all about? What is the skill/talent that was tested in this competition? Some of the questions I couldn't answer myself. If I get it right, its about celebrities living completely under the camera for 3 weeks and sharing living space. It's funny to note that this concept has become so populor. I am very sure that with Shilpa's victory this will inspire similar programs both at regional and national level TV channels, one of them I guess is the Big Boss recently won by a one-movie star Rahul Roy.

The racist row - Jade Goody's behaviour and other things that followed greatly helped Shilpa's chances. I am sure it wouldn't have been easy to be there facing the situation all alone for Shilpa afterthe celebrity life-style that she's used to back in India. Though a few days it must've been a good experience for her to remember for a life time.

Whatever the reason, its celebration time for Shilpa and I hope her experience will help in improving her acting skills.

Republic Day & telecast

2007-01-26T15:14:00.000+05:30

Our republic day is a spectacle that I always don't miss. It's a great display of India's ability to organize such an event every year consistently. This is not as easy a job as it sees on TV for acouple of hours. It almost takes a year long planning and execution added to it is the security concerns.

Every year when I see the tabs and different regiments march it makes me feel good and proud. I was lucky enought to be there as a spectator twice. Watching the parade live despite the weather and security checks the amplification of pride and thrill in being there is manyfold.

The DD coverage is generally criticized and this year I watched the telecast by CNN-IBN and NDTV. It made me consider DD the best when it comes to commentory. In fact I didn't like the NDTV's interview running parallel to the parade commentory as most of the things discussed were disappointing, pessimistic negative thoughts. It could be genuine as they are thoughts from distinguished achievers but I don't think RD parade is a place for it. The media must understand the intellect level of the audience of any program while they plan for it.

CNN-IBN had an innovative way, they ran a parallel quiz for scholl children on India which was both interesting and informative.

It's good to have private players taking on the telecast of the parade as consumers benefit out of their technological superiority and it will also force DD to improve their standards. I am sure the viewership will also increase and thus getting more sponsors and money. If I let my imagination wander, someday we can even have a ticker at the bottom of the screen saying 'This regiment is sponsored by XXX' and hope it will not go to the extent of the marching troops pinning the labels of sponspors on their sleeves and the tabs, tanks and Sukhois painted with the sponsors brands.

There were a few disturbing observations on the regional celebrations. It's sad to know that it was just 150 people in Srinagar's parade and Gauwhati had less than 100 including the officials. It's not a good sign at all. We cannot accept it as a celebration when the security guards are more than the participants in any place. The state must take it as serious as I feel and try to improve the conditions immediately.

Though many countries are richer and powerful than India, I don't think there is any one country that can match our diversity and variety in culture which we MUST show case at least once a year to the world.

Ever proud to be an Indian...Jai Hind

KBC with Shah Rukh

2007-01-22T23:28:00.000+05:30

I watched the first episode of Kaun Banega karodpathi hosted by Shah Rukh Khan. It was as per my expectation, good. I like Shah Rukh for the energy he radiates and intelligence though I don't consider him to be a great actor. He's back to small screen after decades to where he started. Such quiz shows circulate big money in the economy and it's also good that it makes people think for an hour of General Knowledge unlike the Saas bahu soaps.

Come back of the Prince

2007-01-21T22:31:00.000+05:30

Though I am not a cricket fanataic it's been interesting to watch Sourav Ganguly's come back. His efforts needs due credit. He went out of the national team with shame but he had the grit to perform in domestic cricket and get back to the national team. With the stiff competition and the abundance of talents available to choose from, it's a great feat to be in again. Today he again proved his worth by scoring 98 runs against WI, a match that India ultimately won. Its too late to say this, but I always had a feeling that he will get back to the team. I put him in the bowl of fight-backers where I hold legends like Monica Seles, J.Jayalalitha and Andre Agassi.