GARBAGE DISPOSAL - MUNICIPALITY vs CITIZENS

Of late there have been quite a few incidents in Bangalore and others major cities, wherein children have been washed off in overflowing open drains and in some cases, unfortunately, died.  Every time, you see a standard response from the public and the TV channels start blaming the municipal authorities about what they have not done and how this could have been avoided.  Almost unanimously, every citizen blames the municipality for virtually any accident of this sort.  I agree with them to some extent but not always.  While viewers are stuck to their TV monitors, TV channels are minting money with sensationalism, SMS polls, and other such activities.  But let us introspect a little bit. Is the Municipality solely responsible for this? Are we to say that the citizens have no role to play in this?  I have my own opinion on this.

Most Municipalities usually has two ways of garbage collection. First is the local garbage collection places, where the municipality builds a small chamber for people to throw garbage into.  Second is the door-to-door collection.

Let us evaluate the first one, local garbage collection.  Ironically, the chamber is  always always empty, not because there is no garbage in the area, but because very few people throw garbage inside the chamber.  Most people just throw garbage around the chamber.  Those who carry garbage in carry bags, try to shoot the bag into the chamber (fans of Michael Jordan of NBA).  Sometimes, it does end up inside but mostly hits the post and falls out.  Now that the garbage is all over the place, some people find it convenient to convert it into an unofficial public toilet.  Every time people pass this area, they spit on the road because "of the stench in the area".  After having done all this, people in the locality complain that the municipality is not doing its job.  Excuse me!!!

Let us evaluate the second method of door-to-door garbage collection.  Many houses, people do not make use of this fantastic facility, because they realize that during festivals they might come asking for some small money (as token of appreciation). Well, talk about cost cutting.  Instead of using this facility, these households find a convenient time-tested garbage disposal method, throw it on the roadside or the open drainage late in the night, so no one would notice them throwing.  Fact is, everyone knows, but nobody cares or dares to stop it.

Why I am telling you all this?  Well, did you notice that every time people complain that the open drains are overflowing and the municipality sends men to clean the drains, they invariably remove tons of GARBAGE.  Firstly, drains are meant for sewage and not garbage.  But who put the garbage in the drain in the first place?  You know the answer.

So, when an accident happens, no matter how tragic, please do not jump the gun and start blaming the municipality for everything.  Realize that citizens are equally or more responsible for such accidents.

Moral of the story: Please do not throw garbage into drains, else when it rains, it can kill.

Disclaimer: As on October 8, 2009, I am not an employee of any Municipal Corporation.  I do not have any friends, relatives, or any near and dear working in any Municipal Corporation anywhere in the world. I do not wish to ignore the responsibilities of the Municipal Corporation, but at the same time I also do appreciate the work that they are doing currently.

GOD HAS PLANS FOR EVERYONE

Once there was a small kid on earth. One fine day she came to know that god is distributing apples to humans in his place at heaven. The kid was so happy to receive that news and she went with lot of enjoyment to heaven to get the apple from god. There was a big queue standing to get apple from god and this kid also joined in that queue. While she was standing, she was fully excited and thrilled for the fact that she is going to receive in person from god's hands. Her turn too came and the kid showed her both the hands to receive apple. God gave the apple but unfortunately the tiny hands couldn't hold that big apple. Apple fell down and got wasted in mud. The kid got so disappointed. The ministers near the god informed that if the kid likes to have an apple from god again then she has to again follow the queue. Having waited for so long the kid didn't want to return back to earth with empty hands so she decided to wait again in the queue.

This time the queue has become even longer than the previous one.  While waiting in queue, the kid could see lot of people who returns back with apple in hands and utmost satisfaction on their faces. The kid was so much disappointed and thought why me alone didn't get the apple in hand when all others were easily able to get it. What is the sin I did that I alone should suffer like this. Now the kid was so scared that she should not miss the apple again.

Again her turn came and god gave  the apple to the kid's hands and after giving the apple god spoke to the kid. "My dear child, last time after giving you the apple only I noticed the apple I gave to you was a rotten apple and that's why I made that to fell down from your hands. Having given you a rotten apple, I felt bad for you and I wanted to give you the best apple in the farm and that time the best apple in the farm was growing and that's why I made you to wait such a long time in the queue. Here it is. Now the apple that you have in hand is 'The Best' apple in the farm till to date. Enjoy."

MORAL:
Friends, sometimes it so happens, as even after we put our 100% dedication and commitment things may get delayed or things may go wrong. Believe that god has something great for us and that's why this has happened. Always say, 'Gratitude & patience is absolutely the best way to bring more in one's life'.

Source : Email Received from a friend of mine

INDIA - CHINA RELATIONS

General: Sino-Indian relations have always been of uncertainty and suspicion, though not as volatile as that of Indo-Pak relations. The Chinese government does not let go of any opportunity to pull India down, be it in United Nations, ASEAN, ADB, or elsewhere. Every time India tries for a permanent seat in UNSC, China opposes it with its Veto power. Today, except China, all other members are okay with India having a permanent seat in UNSC.

Politically Anti-Indian Actions: China is meanwhile building its relations with all the countries surrounding India. Pakistan was always its ally, as it was against India. Bangladesh does not have a hard political stand against India, but there are forces within Bangladesh that are pro-Pakistan if not against-India. This helps China get closer to these forces. Sri Lanka has been geographically placed in such a place where it sees an advantage being pro-India. However, during the war against LTTE, when India stopped military aid to Sri Lanka, due to the internal politics in India, China saw an opportunity to get closer to Sri Lanka by offering military aid. Nepal was a pro-Indian country until the Maoists took over. Maoists in Nepal have been of late behaving in a way that is more so anti-India than pro-China, but that is not too far in the future.

Militarily Anti-India Actions: China has also been doing certain things that are not very good for the South-East Asian region. It is well known that the so-called nuclear deterrent of Pakistan is a technology transfer from China. China is also providing Pakistani military with guns and other weapons, even though the military aid from US is still several times more in terms of value. China has also been actively training the militant organizations in the North-East region of India. The Maoist factions in Nepal were also funded and trained by China, maybe not as openly as Pakistan is in Kashmir.

India-China Border Activities: I do not believe that China is in a mood to have an all out war with India, at least not at the moment, when its economy is growing and it would want it that way for some time to come. However, I would also have to mention that its military is leaving no stone unturned to prepare itself for such an eventuality. In the last few years the Chinese military has built roads and permanent structures all along the border regions. This will help China, in the eventuality of a war with India, to mobilize forces and weaponry immediately. India on the other hand has not done any major work on this side of the border. In the past one month, there have been several incursions of Chinese army into India territory and even writing "China" in Mandarin on stones and rock faces.

India needs to safeguard its interests in the region. Even though I do not see a Sino-Indian war in the near future, it is better for India to be safe than sorry. India's preparedness will be the biggest deterrent against a Chinese misadventure.

Stop the Illegal Treatment of Indian Cows

Animals used by the leather industry are transported to states where they can legally be killed. Forced to walk through the heat and dust for days without food or water, many of the animals collapse. Handlers pull the cattle by ropes through their noses and twist their necks, horns and tails or rub chilli peppers in their eyes in order to keep them moving.

Cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep are crammed onto lorries to be taken for slaughter in conditions which are so crowded that many are gouged by the horns of others or suffer broken bones from being crushed. Many of them die en route – often from suffocation. Once at the abattoir, it is common for animals to be dragged inside and cut open with dull knives – often in full view of one another, which is illegal. Some animals are skinned and dismembered while still conscious.

Please submit your petition to our Prime Minister to stop this illegal inhuman activity.  Please click on the link below:

http://action.petaindia.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=111&ea.campaign.id=2889

Courtesy: Peta India

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE THE MOON

Humans have always looked at the Moon and admired its beauty.    You would rarely find a person who would not disagree with me on this.  About 3000 years ago, the Egyptians looked at the Moon and made their conclusions about this large object in the sky.  Romans did the same during their golden era.  Indians did the same much before all of them and included it as a part of their science of Astrology.  The Moon has always been a fascinating object in the sky.  People bask in the moonlight.  People want to view it up-close using a telescope. Writers wrote stories about how people settled down on Moon and visited their relatives on Earth.

In the 1960s, when the Moon expeditions began people could finally see the Moon up close.  People saw the large craters, scores of them, that have been caused by meteor strikes.  There was no atmosphere to really talk about.  Humans would suffocate to death without the pressure suit and oxygen tank.

People realized that what looked so beautiful and magnificent from a distance, could only be admired from a distance.  You could not stay there.  Once we look at the Moon up close and see the craters, we realize how dangerous it is to live there if at all we decide to do so.

It is amazing to know that this characteristic applies to people too.  How many times has it happened that you are attracted to a person, but once you start knowing that person, they are not as attractive anymore.  How many times has it happened that you found this person very attractive, humorous, sensitive, likeable, lovable, almost perfect.  This is true in almost all the cases where a man and a woman fall in love with each other.  It somehow happens that they never seem to find anything wrong with the other person. Even if they do find something wrong, it just seems such a small thing that it would not hurt anyone. “So what?  No one is perfect”, they say to themselves.  This is the “Admiring the Moon from the Earth” phase.

However, all this changes once they get married.  Those small teeny weenie little things simply blow out of proportion.  All of a sudden they are the worst habits a person can ever have.  The theory of “no one is perfect” goes out of the window.  Fights, arguments, disagreements, …(I need some help with words here).  This is the “Living on the Moon” phase.

This makes me realize that some people after all are like the Moon.  They seem so perfect to others from a distance, however, you just cannot live there.  But then it occurred to me that the Moon never actually changed.  It was as barren as it is today.  It was as cold as it is today.  What really changed the whole scenario is our viewpoint.  Our over-expectation from the Moon led to our disappointment.  Now, would you blame the Moon for your disappointment?  Well, some people do but we cannot change them.

BLACKY BOY - We Will Always Miss You

                       December 1995 to May 14, 2009

You were and will always be a family member to all of us. We hope that you are in heaven right now. You have always loved us unconditionally. Every time you saw us, you waved your tail and expressed your affection towards us. You came to us as a one-week-old puppy and left us as a 13 1/2 year old. Your leaving us has created a vast emptiness in the home that can never be filled. You are an inseparable part of our family. Every part of the house reminds us of you. Everything we do, we remember you. Every time, I come back home from office, I remember you coming towards me waving your tail in affection and trying to play with me.

Forever you will remain in our hearts. One of the things that stands out about you is the fact that you have never even hurt a cat. We have had so many cats in our house, and you have never hurt them, although sometimes you have chased them away just to show them who's the boss. I still remember the image of you and one of our cats having lunch together from the same plate. You were generous enough to share your food with a cat. No one can beat this. You have actually set an example for us human beings. If you can share your dinner with a cat, supposed to be your arch enemy, can we humans be kind enough to share some of our food with other unfortunate stray animals on the streets.

Cricketers Attacked in Pakistan

Terrorists are gaining strength. The ISI and Army of Pakistan are still not waking up to the fact that they are riding a blood-thirsty tiger and they cannot control it beyond a point.  In my opinion, this attack was not to say that they do not like the cricketers from Sri Lanka, but to emphasize the fact that they can strike at will. This attack has happened in spite of that fact that Pakistani establishment provided adequate security to the cricketers.

I sincerely hope that people of Pakistan force the authorities to wake up and wipe out the Taliban and the likes before the terrorists wipe out Pakistan.

First Black President of USA

The day has finally come when a Black President leads the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America. He is the 44th President of USA.  It is a great victory for those who have really suffered the ugly side of racism in USA until the late 1930s and 40s. He definitely seems to be a charismatic leader and the world hopes  that he can bring about a change in the sentiments of the American people and turn things around.  The largest market in the world has got a new Positive President whose mantra is "Yes We Can".  We all hope that he can deliver what he has promised.

We wish him all the best in succeeding in his mission and get the world economy on track once again.

Terrorism and India's Reaction

Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attacks have again brought out our inability to deal with an enemy that is obviously working hard on his strengths.  We all know for sure that terrorists have nothing to lose.  When someone is ready to die, no law can be a deterrent.  Laws come into picture only when you catch these terrorists alive, which happens only once in a blue moon.  What is most required is our defense establishments to increase surveillance and plugging the gaps in our porous borders.

What happened on 26/11 was nothing less than a grim reminder of what we lack with respect to our defense shield. How can 10 men cross over into our country from Mumbai, and that too through the Gateway of India.  How can three levels of security be breached by terrorists, especially when our forces had intelligence reports of a possible attack.

Corruption is rampant in every part of our life, and our security forces have also been a victim of the same.  It is an open secret now that the bullet-proof vests that were worn by the top cops of Mumbai on that fateful day was of substandard quality.  The fact that the bullets fired by the terrorists could penetrate the so-called bullet-proof vests shows how much we compromise on things.  Of course, there is nothing new about how much we compromise on our national security.  During the Chinese aggression in 1962, our brave soldiers at the Chinese border realized the substandard quality of the guns that were handed to them to guard the national borders.  Most of the guns did not work in extreme weather conditions.  This is how much we care about our soldier who is guarding our borders.  Of course, we are definitely much better of today with respect to the guns at the border.

On the one hand the terrorists and gangsters have upgraded themselves to AK series and M series of automatic machine guns, and on the other hand, our government expects our policemen to counter them with 303 rifles, a technology which the west discarded after World War II.  Remember this was the same rifle the British used during World War I.  Our politicians want "Z Level Security" for themselves.  Of course, for 75% of them it is more of a status symbol than a security need.  However, the security they provide to the general public is policemen with .303 rifles.  During 26/11, at the CST, the CCTV video clearly showed the constable trying to fire at the terrorist, but the gun did not work.  He had no other choice but to throw the gun away and run for cover.

Even after all this has happened, some of our politicians still shamelessly demand high security for no rhyme or reason.

For almost a decade our defense forces have been screaming at the top of their lungs that they need to upgrade their weapons system.  Our fighter jets are dying (and killing our precious pilots along the way), our submarines and ships are dying, yet our politicians do not feel it is high priority.  One might say that some of our ships still have a decade of life more in them; however, what we need to remember is that defense deal is not like buying a TV and getting a home delivery the next day. It takes almost a decade for delivery of the consignment after the order is placed.  If we order today, we will get the delivery after 10 years.

I am proud to be an Indian and I love my country a lot. It pains me a lot that our politicians are so selfish in their motives.  For them their party and power is paramount and everything else comes later.

In hopes of a safe future, I pray to God that in the New Year, they all wake up to the fact that there would be no power without a safe country and happy citizens.

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009.

Positive Thinking

It all started after the day we saw a video named The Secret, a video talking primarily about thinking about the right things.  When I say the right things, I do not mean morally right, but what I mean is thinking only of things that we want to happen and those that give us pleasure, and not think of the opposite.  If we analyze, we would realize that most of our thoughts are not what we want but they are what we do not want to happen.  In the morning, most of us are thinking "I do not want to be late", "My boss will kill me if I .....", and so on.  If you look at these closely, these are not things which we want, but what we do not want.  What really happens is somehow you end up late to office or you somehow end up making your boss angry at you. I am not saying that this is bound to happen but it happens most of the time.  I am sure you will agree with me.  There are days where you wake up and are feeling great about everything and somehow end up having a good day.

I don't know how many of you are aware of Murphy's Law.  The Murphy's law, in a nutshell, states that "If something can go wrong, it will."  Also "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way".

All along, I have been a great believer of the Murphy's Law, and believe me it worked perfectly for me.  After watching The Secret, I realized that I was focusing on the negative rather than the positive.  Could be one of the reasons why I have not enjoyed my life in the last few years, in spite of career and financial growth.  After watching The Secret, I started forcing myself to think positive no matter what and now (after two weeks) I somehow look at things in the positive sense.  Just to give an example, when we were discussing about some business strategies, one of my colleagues quoted someone as, "Differentiate yourself or die".  It somehow just came on to my lips and I said "Differentiate yourself and thrive".  This might look like boasting but believe me it was spontaneous and I stated this just a couple of seconds after my colleague stated his statement .

In keeping with the essence of The Secret, I have decided to only think of what I want to happen. Everybody wants only positives to happen in their life, so just focus on those.  The fact is Negative thoughts come easy and Positive thoughts need to be forced until they become a habit.  Eight Olympic Gold Medals did not come easy to Michael Phelps, right? It would have been so easy for him to give up swimming when all his friends were having fun at the pool table with their girlfriends on their side and a beer in their hands.

I believe in The Secret, and you also will after you watch the video.  TRUST ME.

Reservation - Will it really work?

India sees one more politically-motivated circus related to reservation, this time for Other Backward Castes (OBC).  When India got liberated from the British, little did we realize that the British are leaving behind their crooked ideology in the minds of "Indian" politicians. The ideology was "Divide and Rule."  The British had been doing it for 300 years before they left India.  They divided us in the name of Religion, Caste, Kingdoms, Regions, among others. Whey they left, they left behind this bug in the minds of the "Indian" politicians.

When India got liberated, there was a huge divide among the masses in terms of economic and social growth status.  To bridge this gap, it was felt that the socially and economically downtrodden needed a shot in the arm so they can also be uplifted and brought on par with the others.  The vision was that if all Indians were equally educated and had equal opportunities, India would grow faster in the generations to come.  The original plan was to have reservation for 10 or 15 years, and then to get rid of it. While the idea looks fantastic on paper, it is not so easy to implement as the biggest thing we as a country lacked was the will to implement.

The question is will reservation work at all.  The answer is that it will if implemented properly, that is if the real people who need this get the benefit and also to what extent you want to stretch this so-called benefit. Do you want to extend reservation till school, till college, or till job, or till they die?

In today's scenario it is more of a vote bank politics.  Lets consider one thing, if Reservation was the only solution to the problem, then why are we having to increase the percentage even after 60 years of having it? This shows that Reservation is not the right solution.

At the primary school level, if every child, in both urban and rural regions, gets good English Medium education, then you can expect them to be competitive at the higher education level.  Human mind is very adaptable, but laziness also creeps around the corner.  When someone is used to driving around in an air-conditioned car, he/she will not like to drive around in a bicycle, because it involves hard work.  The same way, if a child has been drugged with reservation the entire childhood, they become addicted to it and want reservation in everything even whey they grow up and are very well capable of achieving it with hard work.

The only reason why some group of students excel more in studies or otherwise is because they are programmed that way right from childhood.  Their parents have been telling them "if you do not get higher marks, you will not get a seat in college".  This way the mind is programmed from childhood to struggle and study hard and be competitive.  Most pro-reservation activists misinterpret this as "General category people do not think Reserved category people are intelligent." This is not the fact, and actually it is the other way round.  If two people have the same intelligence, then why be partial to one. Nature does not differentiate between a Reserved category student and a General category student, but we have programmed our minds that way.  We have programmed our minds to look for the easy way out.

If at all politicians really want change, then they need to stress on quality education at Elementary and Primary school levels.  Today, we have thousands of government run schools in rural areas and even towns without proper facilities or faculties to teach the economically poor students who cannot afford the fees in private schools.  Without good education at this level, these students face a Herculean task of competing with students from cities at higher levels of education.  We are planning to build a multi-storey building on weak foundation.

It is often seen that whenever we talk of good quality education, politicians come up with statistics showing what they have done to increase the literacy rate in their respective constituencies and states.  I feel that someone needs to show them the dictionary and make them understand the difference between LITERACY and EDUCATION.  Literacy is only the start line for a never-ending race called Education.  The problem lies in our politicians treating Literacy rate on par with Higher Education rate.  We have always had "Rashtriya Saksharata Mission", but we should have had "Rashtriya Vidya Mission."

One more reason for lack of education in some communities is the number of children in the family when the income earned is only enough to one or two children.  A family with one or two children can afford to give good education to them and can secure their future.  But with too many children (I actually know families with 11 and 12 children), how can you provide higher education to all the children.  So most of these children end up looking for jobs as soon as they finish high school because there is "financial problem" in the family (no wonder).

Trip to Nandi Hills on November 18, 2007

It was a cold Sunday morning (really cold).  Still we were excited to go to Nandi Hills.  The other three  had been to Nandi Hills before but it had been quite a while, and this trip was different in a way since this was with friends and the earlier one was with family when they were kids.  The plan was that we all would meet at Madhavan Park circle by 7 am, and start from there.  We had to reach Nandi Hills before 9 am, as we wanted to feel the clouds.  The summit is around 1200 meters above sea level, so when you reach the summit, you actually are above the clouds. We all were excited about this trip.  I had recently purchased a new digital camera, and I was all excited to take pictures, which has always been a dream for me to take artistic pictures. Still pictures somehow have a feel to it than a movie, as you capture the moment.

I woke up at 6 in the morning and got ready for the trip.  By 7 am, I was at Madhavan Park. After waiting for nearly 15 minutes, I started calling others.  Shyam was to pick up Kiran on the way, and he was there at Kiran's place by 6:45 am, only to find him still in his pajamas. Shyam and I were trying to call Rizwan, but to no avail, he was not picking up the call.  This was unusual as Rizwan is a guy who would keep his word.  Well, since we could not reach him, we decided to go without him.  By the time Kiran and Shyam reach Madhavan Park, it was 7:30 am, then it was time for our breakfast (cannot go hungry, right), so it was pit-stop No. 1 at Adigas.  It was already 8 am by the time we started from Adigas.  As we started driving, Rizwan called stating that his phone was in silent mode so could not answer the calls, when he saw the phone there were 23 missed calls.  Of course, what he could not see or hear was all the names we called him (censored).  So, now we had to go to his house and pick him on the way.  By the time we reached Hebbal, it was 9 am. Since Rizwan had not had his breakfast yet, it was pit-stop No. 2 at Hebbal. It was already 9:30 am when we started from Hebbal, and Nandi Hills was still 60 Km away.  Our dreams of watching the clouds up-close early in the morning before it melts away went down the pits (two of them).

The drive to Nandi Hills was extremely good on the Express Highway.  Huge wide roads, six-lane highway primarily developed for the massive Hyderabad-Bangalore intercity traffic. So the drive was extremely pleasurable.  I gave my camera to Rizwan who was my co-pilot (my bike is my plane). He was holding a digital camera in his hand for the first time (just like me), and he was click on everything that he thought was picturesque, including a wedding hall, our shadow, my helmet,....and the list goes on.  Out of the 294 pictures taken that day, 90% was garbage.  The picture on the right is one of them, but it is my sheer brilliance that I am able to put it to good use.

After driving 40 Km on the Express Highway and 22 Km detour along villages, we finally reached the foot of Nandi Hills.  The drive upward (take off) was 7 Km long along the cliffs.  It was a beautiful drive along the mountains, the freshness of the air was so tasty, I do not have words for it. The view was just amazing.  Watching the hills up close makes you realize how beautiful our world really is - the real beauty of this world is not in man made structures but the ones created by nature.  The greenery around you gives you a sense of happiness and pleasure that is beyond words.  It can only be felt.  Soon we drove the 7 Km and reached the top.  As you enter the huge gate built centuries ago, you realize how difficult it would have been to construct those walls on this terrain.  The walls are almost hanging on the edge, yet they have been this way for centuries and still standing tall welcoming you.  Once inside, we could not drive anymore, as two wheelers are not allowed to drive any further.  The rest of the way up was by foot.

As we went up climbing the hill on foot, we saw Tipu Sultan's summer guest house, Tipu Drop, Swimming Pool, among others. As we went along, we realized that we were as high as the clouds, it not above them. If only we had reached before 8:30 am, the view would have been magnificent.  As you can see in the picture, there is a thin layer of cloud surrounding us. At the top of the hill, you have three beautiful centuries old temples. Of course, you also have alongside, ultra-modern mobile towers - nice combination.  Once you cross the temples, you have a commercialized park, and alongside a Bar & Restaurant.  After having lunch, it was time for us to get back.  We stayed at the park for some time, and started our climb down the hill. As usual, Rizwan was busy clicking pictures.

On our way back, the drive down the hill was very pleasant, we took deep breaths of the pure air.  The return drive felt much more tiring.  By the time we reached home it was around 5 p.m. - we did not want to drive back after sunset, as we would be in real trouble if there is a flat tyre or something.  Overall, it was an enjoyable day, tiring but really enjoyed it.  My advice is that if you can spare one day out of your busy schedule, do visit the place, it is worth the day spent.

My First Visit to the Stadium

India had just had a dream run at the T20 World Cup, and all of India was still celebrating. As teams India and Australia came to Bangalore for the first of the seven match ODI series, we all in our office decided that we must witness some of the magic. Two days before the match, our Director told us that he knew someone at the Stadium and could get a couple of tickets. But a couple of tickets was too less for the number of people who wanted to watch the match. So, we all decided that we will contact as many people as we know to get as many tickets. Finally, the day before the match, we could manage only four tickets. Then on the morning of hte match, with some more PR effort, we were told that we could get two more tickets through someone, but since there was no time, we were asked to collect the tickets at the stadium near the entrance. We were asked to call on the mobile once we reached the stadium.

The match was to start at 2:30 pm but we decided to start by 11:30 am. There were two reasons for starting three hours early. The first reason was that since it is very difficult to get a parking space anywhere near the stadium, we need to park somewhere safe. We had decided to park at an office parking lot where our Director had previously worked, and since the security staff there knew us pretty well, our vehicles would be safe. But this office was a good distance away from the stadium, so we had to walk for almost 30 minutes to reach the stadium. The second reason for our early start was that for us to have a chance to get the seats of our choice, we need to be there before others arrive. So, we decided to start early. And we had made a good decision, we got seats just 10 rows from the boundary. As we sat there, we realized that we were next to the practice nets of the Indian team. For the first time in my life, I was inside the Stadium with an audience of about 50,000 watching an international ODI match, LIVE, and I had made up my mind that I will enjoy this as much as I can.

We were sitting next to a group of a dozen college girls and boys who had come with their parents, basically they were a big family. The entire stadium was making so much noise screaming, you got it, "Chak De India". As the Indian team was practicing at the nets near our stand, we were all screaming the names of players who came near the boundary. Sometimes "Sourav, Sourav,...", sometimes "Sachin, Sachin,..", and sometimes "Rahul, Rahul,..." But the best of it all was when Romesh Powar came closer and all of a sudden the crowd started shouting "Ganpati Bappa Moriya, Ganpati Bappa Moria". That was very funny but to be honest with you, all he lacked was a tusk to disprove what we all were shouting.

Watching the match at the stadium means that you do not get to hear any expert commentry, the pitch report, or even what the captains say at the time of the toss. All you get to see on the giant electronic screen is "Australia has won the toss and decided to bat". Till about 2 pm, we saw the players playing their shots and bowling at the practice nets. Finally, at about 2:30 pm, we saw the umpires and the Indian fielders walking out on to the field. As they entered the ground, the stadium just erupted with everyone screaming. And then Gilchrist and Hayden entered. The match started. I do not want to talk about the scores or the scoring shots as I am sure you would have seen the match on TV. All I want to express here is the atmosphere in the stadium, as Ravi Shastri puts it, it was electrifying. Just then Gili hit a square cut and Yuvi dived at it and caught the ball. It was really amazing to watch it, and as you expect, the entire stadium erupted with people screaming "Ya", "Ooooo" and what not, someone brought a bugle and was making more noice than music, some had whistles. All in all, it was just fun to make so much noise and no one would tell you to keep quiet. Then the match just progressed with batsmen scoring runs and wickets falling every now and then. One thing I realized is that when I watch the match on TV at home, we have a sense of what the score is, which team is in control, and stuff, but when you are at the stadium, you are celebrating every effort put in by the Indian team without realizing that the batsmen are also scoring at a run rate of 6 per over. Every now and then when we looked at the electronic score board, we would see that it was 50-60 more than the last time we saw it. At home, on TV, we would track every run scored by the team, but at the stadium, no one really cared. We just enjoyed the match screaming, shouting, and whistling.

Finally, the Australian innings was over and just before that we had managed to get some nice lunch at the stadium Snack Bar. Then came the Indian innings, and as Sachin and Gambhir walked in, you got it, the stadium erupted again. We all were on our feet, screaming "Sachin, Sachin,.." Sometimes I wonder, how can they concentrate on batting with all the noise around, but I guess you just get used to it. Well, as fast as he walked on to the pitch, Sachin departed, declared LBW, it was plumb in front of the wickets. Even now, the stadium was not as quiet as you would expect, maybe less noisy but still noisy. Just then it started raining and players walking back into their dressing rooms. During the time it was raining, someone decided that it was too boring to watch the rain and threw a huge balloon in to the air. As it came down on to the crowd, it would be punched back up. It kept going up and down. But then, there was a police guy who did not like all this, and he just grabbed it and blew it. Well, they were given the job of protecting against bombs and stuff. But seriously, what threat is a balloon? And definitely, the way it was flying in the air, it could not have had any bomb inside. Now, the real fun started. As the police guy was relaxed that the balloon was out of his radar, someone threw another balloon, and this time there was such a roar in our stands punching the balloon that the everyone wanted to join the party. As people punched the balloon, the police guy returned wanting to get hold of it, but everyone in the crowd ensured that the balloon is away from this guy. Even some of the other police constables were punching it away from him, it was so funny. We were just screaming and screaming all the time.

Luckily, the rain stopped and drying machines came on to do their job. It was a great effort on the part of the groundsmen who did a great job of drying up the ground, but sadly the captains decided not to play and the match was abandoned. The elecronic screen said "The match has been abandoned due to wet outfield." After this, we all started moving out. By the end of the day, after all the screaming that we did during the afternoon, we were exhausted and totally dehydrated, with severe headache. And the worst part was that our vehicles were a long 30 minutes away and we had to walk till there. In the afternoon, it did not look like much of a distance to walk, but now it felt like a very long distance away.

All in all, my first experience at the stadium was amazing. Given a chance again, I would be there screaming and shouting the same way I did on September 29, 2007.

If reservation does not stop....

Sun is rising as usual in the east; I'm standing here outside the school, waiting for my 10 yr kid. He studies in class 2. Only this year he could get admission into the school. For the last 5 yrs, admissions were closed for the general category students. School bell rings. I can see a lot of happy children coming out of the gate, I waited for half an hour and my kid came at last after other children. General students are not allowed to cross the gate unless other OBC/SC/ST students have crossed the gates. OBC/SC/ST fathers drive away their children in classy cars. But I have to walk back home with my kid a 5km stretch. I lost my car some years back when Govt. came with a rule that general people have to deposit a tax equal to cost of their cars. Failing which I had to sell the car. As far as buses are concerned, the seats in buses are reserved for OBC/SC/ST. So no place there also.

After walking some 5km in scorching heat I finally reached home. It was Wednesday ... shit no electricity. Every Mon, Wed, Thus and Sat is power cut in the houses of General category population. So that SC/ST/OBC can be uplifted by providing them with every opportunity and in that consideration electricity is an important factor.

Its 10:00 pm in night no electricity at home. It’s very hot inside the four walls of home, so I dare to step out in park with my wife and kid. I get seated myself with my family on a secluded bench in garden. It was hardly 5 Min ... a guard came to us strolling in the park. He asked me what caste you belong to. I said with some hesitation... G..General. He asked me to pay a fine of Rs.200 and get out of the park. My Fault... The bench I was sitting on was meant for again the SC/ST/OBC. For their upliftment, peace of mind is an essential thing. So Govt. came with this decision to reserve benches for them. Kudos to them...

It’s early in the mrning .the newspapr wala just knockd the door. I took the newspaper and started reading, its independence day. I never used to forget these days some 20 yrs back. My kid hardly knows what 15th August is, because I never told him any stories of greatness of our country or anything related to country. I don't feel like telling him the failures after freedom. On front page of newspaper, in a corner their is a news about a OBC member getting 6 months imprisonment in "BAL SUDHAR GRAHA" from a juvenile Court for murdering and raping a six year old girl. Yes the rules have been amended, since the last 5 years. The Culprit was a 25 year old OBC so age relaxation was provided for trial of crime. So he was taken to juvenile court, since there is an age relaxation for OBC/SC/ST. About 11 am some one gave me the BAD news about demise of one of my neighbor and friend Mr. Mehta. I went to his house for condolence next day; his body was lying there still rotting in the heat. I asked his son about the Cremation .His son told me “Many reserved category have died yesterday so we are not getting entry to cremation ground ". This rule is the latest from Govt. Where the seats in cremation ground will be reserved for SC/ST/OBC for their upliftment. Finally next day Mehtaji was creamted. I could see the sun setting through the Flames burning a libarated Body, liberated from caste n creed. I was surprised sun still sets in the west?

It was about 9 pm, I was about to sleep in my bed my son came to me with innocence in his eyes, inquisitively he asked me the question: "what is reservation?" I asked me where u listened that. He suddenly burst in tears... I asked him to keep.. Quiet. But I could listen through his sobs "mujhe bhi reservation chahiye". How can I convince him it’s no other toy in the market I can get for him? He kept crying that night, claiming many of his classmates have got reservation". To make him quiet I said ok, I'll buy u reservation at your next B' day. HOPE he understands the bloody concept.

TV News shows:
Today, Parliament passed laws for the following for upliftment of OBC/SCs/STs.

1. No punishment for up to three murders and three rapes.
2. Fraud up to Rs. 1 lakh will not be treated as fraud at all.

Medium of Education

We recently had a big mess by our honorouble Education Minister derecognizing 2000 odd schools for teaching in English medium when they were licenced for Kannada medium. While legally this is right, what was apalling was that the govt was reluctant to convert the licence to English medium by probably imposing a penalty. The govt insisted that they have to function as Kannada medium only. The parents of each and every student wanted the school to function in English medium, but the Education Minister was quoted as saying that the students will not lose anything by studying in Kannada. I bet they will. How many times has it not happened that during an interview a person with better English communication gets through while the one who does not fails. We have Kannada poets stating that this move by govt was important to preserve Kannada language. Agreed, but at what cost, the entire career of thousands of students? Students coming out of non-English medium school and college struggle to fit into the corporate world. What we need to remember is that not every student plans to become a poet or a teacher. Most want to get into the corporate world and earn high salaries. When you want to go global, you have to have the competitive edge. Today the reality is that there are more jobs than the number of skilled people, but ironically there is still unemployment. Those who do not fit in, thanks to our politicians and beurocrats, stay unemployed.

But there is a solution. Even I feel that our mother tongue needs to be preserved. The solution I would suggest is that let the medium of education be English, but let there be a compulsory local language being taught in school.

Hate Communities on Orkut

The other day I received a mail in my inbox stating that I report abuse about a particular community on Orkut (I do not want to name it). This was a hate community against a country.

Just like any other community, there are people who are in favor of and people who are against it. Obviously the mail I received was from a user against it. Before I report an abuse, I just wanted to take a look as to what the whole community was all about. As I was going through the views expressed by members, I realized that the name of the community was misguiding people, and the views expressed by most of the members of the community was against the name of the community. It was a hate community but surprisingly a majority of the views expressed was of peace and love, and in fact, some of the members was questioning the hatred.

Well, it is quite possible that this might not be the case with all the hate communities, but it was certainly refreshing to know that there still are people in this world who can see the bigger picture of life.

The bigger picture is that the common man does not have time to hate someone, as he has his own responsibilities and duties to fulfil. It is only the politicians and religious leaders, who for their own personal gain, manipulate the minds of people and instigate hatred in them.

In my opinion, all the terrorist groups are nothing but organizations led by brilliant psychiatrists who are misguiding volatile minds into doing something that they otherwise would not do. Imagine if these brilliant psychiatrists were to work for world peace or for the good of the world. It is wishful thinking. The fact is that these brilliant psychiatrists are the real misguided mentalities. They feel that others blood can wash away their sins, the fact is that they are committing sin by killing others.

The People's President

The Presidential Elections 2007 once again proved that the elected representatives of the people DO NOT care about what people really want. It once again proves that Indian Democracy is not OF THE PEOPLE but of the so-called representatives who go by their party leaders' whims and fancies.

The Presidential Elections 2007 was far from being democratic, definitely not OF THE PEOPLE. If there had been a General Election for this, Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam would have won it with a whopping majority. Unfortunately for the Indians, this did not happen, simply because their "so called" representatives did not care about what their people really want. All they care about is the whims and fancies of their party leaders. The President who really was an inspiration, loved by every Indian (I am not considering the corrupt politicians' views), who dared to speak the right things, who was not simplyl a puppet of the ruling party, was not elected by the "people's representatives".

This is another proof that politicians are not people's representatives but party representatives. They do not truly represent us.

President Kalam, we Indians love you. Forget what our politicians have to say, but given a chance we would want you to be our President once again.

President Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad...

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.


Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.


YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....


'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'



Let us do what India needs from us.

...and we talk about mercy

Ever wonder how many times in our life all talk about the word Mercy? We use this word a lot of times but we hardly know what it means because we are so narrow minded. We assume that this word is meant only for human beings and not for innocent animals.

Pigs are roasted alive in many parts of the world. Does it not feel pain?

In Norway, baby seals are killed by smashing its head with an iron rod. This is a 'Winter Sport' and there are some heartless tourists who visit Norway only to "Murder innocent Baby Seals". Shame on them.

Animals are murdered in the name of religion (by the way this is prevalent in all religions).

Lobsters are boiled alive in a cooker. Imagine yourself in a Sauna for more than 15 minutes, which is 1/1000 the intensity of the cooker. Does it not deserve MERCY?
In Goa, there is a popular sport, where a piglet (baby pig) is skinned alive. They first tie all four legs of the piglet, and then they rip open its skin by their mouth (piglet is still alive). Imagine when you were trying to cut vegetables and the knife cuts the edge of your finger, how much you cried in pain. Now imagine the amount of paing the piglet (a child) endures when people are biting it and skinning it alive.

In the so-called developed world, where even murdering animals is automated. In the "modern" slaughter houses, the cows are suspended by their hind legs and a machine slits the throat. Even before the cow is dead, another part of the machine starts to remove the skin off. We call ourselves civilized, but we are still as barbaric as our ancestors were.

Crabs are killed by frying them alive on a hot frying pan with oil in it. Imagine when a drop of oil fell on your forearm while you were cooking. You cried in pain and applied the cream to heal it. Now imagine the pain the crabs suffer while their whole body is being burnt with burning hot oil.

It is a shame that we do all these inhuman acts and still expect God to forgive us. Talking about Mercy is not what matters, but what matters most is to practice it. The word Mercy does not apply only to humans but even to the innocent animals around us.

Some Truths

READ THIS WHOLE THING. IT'S SO DAM TRUE*
1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. If not for you, someone may not be living.
8. You are special and unique.
9. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
10. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
11. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.
-- Found on the Internet