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.