Mundane Musings

The myth of investing in small companies and hitting the jackpot

2011-11-12T23:03:00.003+05:30

Most people have heard about the story of, if you had bought Infosys shares at the time it went public and just held them, it would have made you x lakhs through dividend, stock splits / bonuses and appreciation. Example here

It is the traditional rags to riches story. However, I have a few major issues with the argument.

1) What never gets told is the number of companies that never made it big. There are lots of statistics that most of the start ups fail. I have a few friends who bought into small companies and the companies have just gone bankrupt. Unproved companies can go both ways. That is exactly why they are "Unproven"

2) The romanticizing of the story has people convert Rs 10,000 in today's terms. If I had 10,000 to invest in a unproven company in 1980 I would have already been in the top 1% of the country's earners. In 1980 people still talked in 4 annas and 8 annas. In 1992, we still had 5ps and 10ps coins. I remember saving them for Bubble gum and other small stuff. 10,000 was a princely sum.

Extending the idea above, to make any meaningful returns on 200% or 300% increases, the initial capital commitment is high. The 10,000 in 1982 (noted for Wipro) is 78,500 now. The 10,000 in 1992 for Infosys is approximately 60,000 now. ( For the mathematically inclined, the inflation index I used is here

3) As anyone who has traded in the market will tell you, the moment your investment doubles or triples, it is a little difficult to stay unemotional. We think of the spectacular crashes that have happened and cash out with handsome gains of 200 - 300%. The problem is that seeing the investment go to 600% causes us to look back at 300% with disdain. No matter that 300% bought us 3 times as much as what we could have hoped to buy. We feel stupid and foolish at missing out 600%

Thus take a closer look at numbers offered to you and don't blindly follow the herd. Definitely aim for the stars. But realize the dangers lurking along the way. While I am a staunch supporter of the buy and hold strategy, I think the investment in small companies is over rated.

mGinger and opt in Advertising

2011-08-22T17:12:00.004+05:30

Most people I know end up having a lot of SPAM in email and SMS advertising. While email filters in Gmail and Yahoo do a pretty good job in moving them where they belong SMS is a completely different ball game. You end up opening that message and looking at it before realizing that it belongs in the trash bin or realizing that the event / item is not available in your city. It was during a time like this that I wondered what would happen if advertisers had to pay for each of the emails / SMS's that they had to send. Would this reduce the amount of SPAM that all of us are grappling with? What if we took this to the next level and the money that the advertisers paid got channeled to your pocket?

Well, it isn't a wild fantasy anymore. mGinger actually does the same with opt in advertising. You sign up and provide your preferences. Advertisers then have to pay per sms in order to provide targeted advertising. In an ideal world, this kind of targeted advertising thus means that you would not have to receive advertisements from products you are not interested in.

What I liked about mGinger is that they have taken a page out of the book from sites like Groupon, Snap Deal and My Dala. Imagine that instead of just getting deals in your city emailed to you, get deals in your city based on your preferences emailed to you.

CNBC TV 18 covered mGinger sometime ago and has a lot of explanations for the doubting Thomas in you. The amount per ad is pretty small (Rs 0.20). But like my primary school teacher used to say "Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land"

P.S. If you decide to sign up please use this link and I will be able to make a little money at no extra cost to you.

Power of Choice

2011-07-17T13:00:00.003+05:30

I have always been a staunch supporter of choice. I have felt that it is better to educate people and let them make the choice rather than push it on to us like we are kids. Previous post title Grow up here

However, as per Psychologist Barry Schwartz this might not be the best idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

Another blog post that I came across was on the freakonomics blog on whether it is better for the Government to behave like a Kind mother or a Big Brother here

What do you guys think?

Spamming by so-called MBA Colleges

2011-07-10T14:00:00.001+05:30

In a recent discussion among friends I heard that a lot of them were getting sms's / emails from second and third rung colleges from last years admission process. Several of them have their numbers on the national Do Not Disturb registry. (You can check if your number is on the DND registry here )

I find this trend disturbing. I have also noticed sites where their terms and conditions state that they can send sms's even if registered under DND. While most people do not really read the terms and conditions, I find that a lot of people are still being spammed without consent.

I was given to believe that there exists a market for people's personal information. Email addresses and Cell phone numbers are being bought by colleges / agents and are used to harass students. Authorities are reluctant to crack down since it is not worth their time.

What can we do to make it worth their time? A protest fast at Jantar Mantar manages to grab eyeballs but is difficult to organize. Thus I have an idea for our media folks. Can you get a separate cell phone number and email address and register for the CAT in November 2011? The total cost would be about Rs 2000 (SIM + Registration). The total time investment would be about 10 hours (Register the sim, create and email address, obtain the CAT form, give the exam, etc). However, at the end of July 2012 you have a full page story with a lot of hard facts. Any body interested?

Facebook's Zuckerberg now richer than Google founders - No. Not Really

2011-07-03T13:02:00.003+05:30

A friend posted this on FaceBook today.

Zuckerberg now richer than Google founders

A quick Google search showed me that almost all the news papers were running this story (Money Control, Times of India, The Hindu, Business Today etc). It being a lazy Sunday morning I decided to do some math on it and it went as follows

If GSV bought 225k shares at $29.28 that is hardly an investment of 7 million. To say that this implies the company is worth 70 Billion is just a play with numbers. It means that because I bought 0.009% of the company at that price I am willing to pay that much for the full 100%.

Facebook is not publicly traded. So using the premium that someone might have paid to obtain shares can hardly be used to justify the price for the remaining 99.991% of the company.

Anyway, Going further into Price to Earnings ratio's I found that it is now beinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif dubbed the Tech Bubble 2.0 since they are trading at a P/E ratio of over 100+ when the average P/E should hover around 20. More details are present at this NASDAQ story

I have to also add that the $2 billion in revenue is again just a estimate. Is it an estimate like the $70 billion worth of the company or is it more solid? I do not know.

With Google+ Being launched, GSV may end up being the poster boy for the slogan there is a sucker born every minute.

New Year Resolutions

2011-01-03T01:49:00.002+05:30

One of the forums I visit regularly had a long post on New Year Resolutions. It does seem pretty similar to the Wikipedia entry for New Year resolutions. (Links below)

Anway, After going through it I feel that I should update my blog more often. (Possibly once a week). Considering that I usually watch a movie or two over the weekend, there should be enough food for thought.

What are your New Year Resolutions?

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/chit-chat-your-interests/61047-whats-your-new-years-resolution.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year_Resolution

A New Year's resolution or a commitment is done to make your new year a better one. If someone makes resolutions to reform a habit, then there are people who want to make changes in their lifestyle. These promises are made on New Year's Day, the first day of a brand new year. These resolutions are supposed to be either fulfilled or abandoned by the end of that year.

The list of resolutions in New Year never ends. Different people come up with thousands of innovative resolutions every year. Some remain abandoned, while some get fulfilled. The New Year resolutions help plan for the next year.

These resolutions made during the New Year have a religious connotation. This secular tradition started during Judaism's New Year, Rosh Hashanah, when one was supposed "to reflect upon one's wrongdoings over the year and both seek and offer forgiveness." This ritual helped in one's self-improvement annually. Following this tradition, today everyone makes their own resolution every New Year, be it on the 1st of January or by late January, and set their goals.

Megamind (3D)

2011-01-01T20:30:00.005+05:30

One line review - Watch in 2D if you like witty one liners and don't mind cartoons.

Long Review: I ended up watching this by accident. However, I was pleasantly suprised at the movie story. There are well written dialogues and sequences. 3D hardly makes an impression. There are hardly two or three sequences that actually make you realize that it is a 3D movie.

Not for the faint of heart

2010-09-14T15:19:00.004+05:30

I got a complete shock when I opened Money Control just now. Market Crash of 17000 points?

It took me a few minutes to read the +150 points headline and the realization to dawn that circuit breakers would have halted trade for the day.

The Karate Kid

2010-06-20T23:48:00.000+05:30

Watch Karate Kid only if
- You are a Jackie Chan fan and will watch even his worst movies
- You want to see capitalism at its best. Pay money (Producer) to have your son play the lead role.
Utterly disappointed to say the least

Knowing an opportunity when you see one

2010-05-30T00:46:00.005+05:30

As I was driving around Pune today, I saw a Elephant and its mahut ambling along the side of the road.

It made a pit stop outside Big Cinemas Gold Adlabs in Kalyani Nagar. People and kids around were excited and giving the elephant stuff to eat. I noticed a bannana seller doing a brisk business on his Bannana Cart

I didn't pay too much attention to the crowd and scrambled to get my tickets for a future show. After confirming number of people coming for the show, the customary line to pick up the tickets etc I set off for home. That is when I noticed the elephant ambling along Koregaon Park with the bannana seller in tow. After all, who can resist the urge to feed the adorable pachyderm?

Disclaimer:

Didn't get to actually take pictures at that time. So linked them from elsewhere.

Source:
http://www.life.com/image/83051430

http://thumb1.visualizeus.com/thumbs/09/10/04/banana,id,mag,india,kela,man,mumbai,rural,street,vendor,wallah-e28eeb770b6da240e4a87f9bf8344e28_m.jpg

Iron Man 2

2010-05-09T21:49:00.002+05:30

Went for Iron Man 2 today. The reasons I would recommend it to someone else

1) Scarlett Johansson

2) You enjoy vicarious excitement

Lot of action. Not much of a story line. Tony Stark's life being what we would all probably give an arm and leg for are about all the movie has to offer.

Disappointed

Google Buzz - Thumbs down

2010-02-18T12:35:00.004+05:30

I agree with a lot of Priya's comments in this post. Mainly the amount of time that I could spend doing more productive stuff.

So I decided to go ahead and delete my Buzz account as described in this post at life hacker. (Updated to remove the link since it is no longer available)

The worst part of this is that it deleted all the people who I used to follow in Google Reader. Sucks big time.

Google Buzz

2010-02-11T02:43:00.002+05:30

Why is it that Google Buzz seems like Google Wave in a new Avatar? Feels like after all the hype about wave, not too many people ended up using it. Buzz might be an attempt to get people more familiar with all the features of Google Wave.

Haven't seen it yet?

http://www.google.com/buzz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio

When do we draw the line?

2009-11-16T12:40:00.002+05:30

Between Twitter and work I have been neglecting my blog. So when I came across this, I just had to post.

While I admire Intel sticking to its stand and not being intimidated by protests, I feel both are taking extreme views. The middle ground is simple. Intel: When scheduling work, understand the sentiment and budget for it. Employees: If your other colleagues are working, when you are observing the Sabbath, it only makes sense that you work when they are on holiday (like Sunday)

Go PC

2009-08-29T02:30:00.003+05:30

It has been a long time since I blogged. But this recent headline got my attention.

VIPs removed from X category security. More removals in the coming days. In a follow up to my previous post this is a great development for India. Let us respect these brave men and women rather than making them some ornaments of display. Let us have them working to protect the tax payers from 26/11 like incidents rather than being a status symbol for over blown egos.

Go Chidambaram!!!

Elections are around the corner.

2009-03-14T12:19:00.003+05:30

Well, every time you put on the news there is talk about elections. There was an article the other day about how a majority of the countries in the world will be holding elections in 2009. While an overdose of news channels has made us insensitive to many issues, this was one thing that seemed to linger in my head.

We crib; we curse; we complain that the government doesn’t do anything. But if you really go to look at it, nothing will change until we change. An awesome video on the subject was brought out by the TOI lead India team.

Another effort in this direction is the Jaago Re campaign . Started by Tata tea they help you deal will all the bureaucracy surrounding registering as a voter. They are people on a mission. So much so that they got a video made by the band Thermal and a Quarter. Nothing great but still a step in the right direction.

However, it reminds me of two videos the power of one and Micheal Jackson’s Man in the mirror.

As MJ (who, by the way, is on a comeback tour in England) says in the song:

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change

So what are you waiting for? Jaago Re .

Is this the beginning of the end?

2009-02-21T20:07:00.002+05:30

Obama managed to push through his $ 787 Billion stimulus plan. Lots of people are talking about this being the beginning of the end of the recession.

But, according to this link his approval ratings are falling. While I have a problem with the sample size being a little too small to make such conclusions, I can't help realize that this might also be the beginning of the end of the media's love for Obama.Hate to say "I told you so"

Latest in Reality TV

2009-02-12T21:05:00.003+05:30

Guess who wins the prize of best reality show? Why our news channels after all. First Raj Thackeray. Now Mutalik. They have made stars of these little known people.

Is there nothing that you will stoop to in order to increase your TRP ratings?

Well. The recession is here. Jobs are disappearing and everyone is talking about how the internet generation is learning to live the way people did before the arrival of the dot com. Can we hope for the same in the media space that reverts us back to the age of 20 min news updates twice or thrice a day?

Democracy In India

2009-02-11T18:12:00.001+05:30

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/000200902111674.htm

Hyderabad (PTI): The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday plunged into turmoil after 46 MLAs, including TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, were suspended from the House and some of them clashed with marshals leaving two members injured.

The two injured members were among the MLAs belonging to the TDP, TRS, CPI and CPI(M) who faced disciplinary action after they continued to persist with their demand for a debate on the alleged money laundering by Sandur Power Company and 12 other subsidiaries promoted by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan Reddy.

When the suspended MLAs refused to vacate the House, marshals (plain clothes policemen) tried to physically remove them resulting in TDP MLA Vem Narender Reddy sustaining an injury on his right wrist while his party colleague Payyavula Keshav suffered a head injury when the marshals pushed him on to a glass door that broke in the melee.

Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister K Rosaiah, however, later told the Assembly that the two TDP MLAs did not receive any injuries and they were only trying to cover-up their crime of assaulting the marshals in the House.

The Uttar Pradesh assembly had witnessed similar unruly scenes on Tuesday. Trouble began on Wednesday when some TDP MLAs rushed to the well of the House and pleaded with Speaker K R Suresh Reddy to allow a debate on the money laundering issue.

The Speaker adjourned the proceedings twice to restore normalcy but to no avail. He then named the protesting members and asked Legislative Affairs Minister to move a resolution for their suspension. Accordingly, Rosaiah moved the motion which was carried by voice vote.

By the time the resolution for their suspension was passed, the protesting TDP MLAs resumed their seats but the Speaker asked them to leave the House. As the TDP members stayed put, the Speaker called the marshals in to evict the MLAs.

At that stage, TDP MLAs Vem Narender Reddy, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Ch Ayyannapatrudu, Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Sayanna objected to their physical eviction from the House and tried to push the marshals away.

The marshals used force to remove some of the MLAs and then tried to evict senior MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy. At one point, they surrounded Opposition Leader Chandrababu Naidu as well but the TDP MLAs stood as a shield and prevented his eviction.

Chief marshal Gajapati Raju pleaded with Naidu and other MLAs to leave the House but the TDP MLAs tore the agenda papers and flung them in the air. As the marshals increased force to evict the TDP MLAs, TRS MLA Harish Rao joined his colleagues and pushed the marshals aside.

With the marshals unrelenting despite pleas by the MLAs that they would leave the House after a protest, senior TDP MLA Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar attacked the chief marshal. Former deputy speaker K Harishwar Reddy uprooted a mike and tried to hit the chief marshal and others but his colleague K Atchannaidu prevented him.

As the unruly scenes continued, Speaker Suresh Reddy first ordered discontinuation of the live telecast of House proceedings and later adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

Even after the House was adjourned, the marshals tried to continue their operation but all the opposition MLAs protested in unison forcing them to retreat. The opposition MLAs then sat quietly inside the House. Panchayat Raj Minister J C Diwakar Reddy went to CPI floor leader Ch Venkat Reddy and urged him not to precipitate the situation.

As the protest continued inside the House, floor leaders of opposition parties met the Speaker in his chamber and condemned the marshals' high-handedness.

Meanwhile, the Assembly security personnel vented their ire on mediapersons who were recording the scenes in the lobbies by trying to forcibly disconnect the camera cables as the incident was being telecast live.

As the marshals forcibly tried to disperse the mediamen, they strongly protested and the issue was taken to the notice of the Speaker.

Meanwhile, the chief marshal mobilised a strong posse of marshals drawn from the city task force and all of them rounded up the suspended MLAs inside the House. With folded hands, Gajapati Raju pleaded with Chandrababu Naidu to leave the House. He also had a word with former Speaker and TDP senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu following which the Opposition MLAs walked out on their own.

Enough said.

Eulogy

2009-02-06T15:02:00.002+05:30

The following is the text of the eulogy given by one of my cousins at the passing away of my Grandmother a few days ago. It is more to preserve her memory than anything else. However, it is a nice read when you have the time.

When I was asked to speak about Aunty Maggie this evening, I was faced with two choices.
One, I could mourn her death.
Two, I could celebrate her life.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I have chosen:

To celebrate her life;

To rejoice at the warm, loving and large-hearted person she was;

To treasure her perfectly played out roles of wife, mother, grandmother, relation and friend;

To revere the memory of her 85 years of life and 60 years of married life;

To cherish her small army of 7 children and 17 grandchildren;

To applaud her great love for both human beings and animals;

To recall the wonderful cook and gracious hostess she was;

To marvel at her monumental memory, which would readily recall not just dates of birth, but also weights at birth;

And to venerate her noble attitude of holding no grudges, and letting bygones be bygones.

Words, however finely crafted, can never pay tribute to someone like Aunty Maggie. So let me share with you some vignettes of Aunty Maggie’s life, that reveal the kind of person she was.

Aunty Maggie was a great teller of ghost stories. ‘Paulu’ and ‘Foka’ were the names of the principal ghosts who kept her grandchildren simultaneously enthralled and terrified!

Aunty Maggie’s skills at finance and bargaining were truly formidable. Her children have fond memories of how she would sit at her window at ‘Holy Cross View,’ the Empress of All She Surveyed. Along would come this fisherman and place his basket by her window. Aunty Maggie would run a critical eye over the catch, and then ask him to quote for it. He would mention a figure, say Rs 400/-. Now you or I would probably counter that with something like Rs 200/-. But Aunty Maggie was made of sterner stuff! She would come back with, hold your breath, 5 rupees! Then the hard bargaining would start, and it would end with Aunty Maggie getting the fish she wanted for the kind of price that we could only dream of. Let me just say that, had Aunty Maggie been in charge of Wall Street, there would be no global financial crisis today, except perhaps for some slight recession in the fishing industry!

One of Aunty Maggie’s outstanding features was her radiant smile. She was one of the few people who would not just talk to you, but would sit you down, hold your hand, smile at you and then speak. But let me tell you about the only recorded occasion when she did not smile! I had a small part in this episode, and as usual, played villain! A cousin of mine and I were supposed to drop Zina back to ‘Holy Cross View’ by 10 p.m., after a function. Unfortunately, we were ten minutes late. Aunty Maggie would neither smile at us nor speak to us that night. We reached Zina to the door and fled the scene furtively like two guilty culprits. Zina was thoroughly embarrassed and asked Aunty Maggie, ”Ma, why didn’t you smile at them and talk to them?” The answer was vintage Aunty Maggie: “Kashen thanchekade ulovnchen putha? Haven mujhen set galuvnk na!” (How could I talk to them child, I haven’t put my dentures)

I do not mean to be flippant, but I am sure that, more than anyone else, Aunty Maggie would not want any of us to sit in a corner with a long face today.

After Zina’s children Akil & Zara were born in Mangalore, Zina recounts how they made the journey to Bangalore on each occasion, with Aunty Maggie in the car, clutching the infant lovingly to herself, not willing to put the child down, throughout the seven or eight hours it took to reach their destination. I am quite certain that until then, and since then, no two infants have had a more comfortable journey from Mangalore to Bangalore!

Let me recite a poem, which is appropriate for today’s situation. It was written by a woman who was close to her mother who had passed away. It goes like this:

Missing Mamma

The sun came up this morning;
It wasn't very bright.
My dark mood casts a shadow;
It's hard to see the light.

We all have just one mother
Now her life on earth is done,
The emptiness and loss we feel
Make it hard to see the sun.

Gone is not forgotten;
Her love remains behind;
She's traveled a new direction -
Love knows no space or time.

We will always love her.
She’ll care for us above.
She’ll send starlight and rainbows
To remind us of her love.

Tomorrow is a brand new day;
May the pain and sadness lighten.
We will remember all her love,
And then the sky will brighten.

Let me end quoting the celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, who constantly exhorted his musicians: Play with your hearts, not your instruments.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I unhesitatingly proclaim, that in the sweet symphony that was Aunty Maggie’s life, she played only with her heart.

Thank you.

My Grandmother
By Victoria L Payne

In my Rose Garden of memories
I see you standing there
An angel in disguise
Who taught me how to care.

I long to hear your voice
For real, not in my dreams.
I miss you so much these days
How empty my world seems.

People say time heals all wounds
Some day the pain will subside.
But Grandma I can tell you
I think they must have lied.

The days go by without you
So dreary and so bleak.
The emptiness I’m feeling now
Is strong and I am weak.

In my Rose Garden of memories
I know you’ll always be
For though you’re gone from this mortal world
In my heart you’ll always be.

Chidambaram leads from the front?

2008-12-16T13:41:00.003+05:30

Many people talk about PC with awe about his dream budget. Every year for the last 5 years people were expecting him to work miracles in the Union budget. Things weren't as flashy as '97 but did improve considerably.

In the wake of the ruckus over the Mumbai Attacks PC got relieved of the finance portfolio and was given the home ministry. As home minister he is entitled to Z class security but has politely turned it down. Full Article. Political ploy before the elections to appease the hoi polloi or serious reforms in the offing?

Only time will tell. But I know who I will be voting for during the next elections.

P.S If you have finally decided to stop your wining about the situation and start doing something productive like exercising your franchise this is a good place to start

Facination for Roll numbers

2008-12-03T00:19:00.003+05:30

The past few days my instant messenger client seemed to go crazy. It was showing a number in a majority of the status messages of my online friends. When I finally decided that it was not a program bug and asked people about it, I realised that people had posted their college roll numbers as their status messages.

Someone, somewhere started it either out of sheer boredom or as a witty conversation starter. The magnitude with which it caught on was insane. Bout of nostalgia ? Possible. But to with the number of people doing it increasing rapidly a poem by W. H. Auden comes to mind.

(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)

He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,

For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.

Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found

That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.

Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.

Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.

Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

Obamania sweeps the world.

2008-11-07T12:53:00.001+05:30

There seems to be no other topic of conversation the last few days. Everyone is talking about him. He seems to have won over the media and everyone is swooning over him.

I admire his charisma and the way he has the media lapping at his feet. I admire the fact that he got to be president of the country which was infamous for racial discrimination without the help of any reservations (India needs to take a few pointers here). However, I am not completely convinced. The anti-incumbency factor seems to have worked in his favor considering the mess that the financial system is. Fear seems to have been the prime driver IMHO.

I also want to see what happens once he isn’t the media blue-eyed boy. The media is fickle.

Till about 2 months back all Indian public figures were going on on how India is decoupled from the rest of the world economy. How the Indian growth story is still intact. How we should still be confidant and cheerful. How we should not fear.

In the short span of two months this “feel good” comments on TV have changed to dire predictions of recession. Of job cuts. Of how to protect your family and loved ones in times of crisis. Of how to prevent being laid off. Etc etc.

When the miracle that people are expecting doesn’t happen, that’s when we will see what Obama is truly made of. Till then lets enjoy what George Bush has been reduced to in the media.

Make sure you read the captions

Brisingr and the shattering of Myths

2008-10-09T14:28:00.003+05:30

I got my hands on a copy of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini a few days back and was half way through the book.

However, I was struck by the way he described Eragon choosing a new sword. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. And guess what? It looks like the Wikipedia entry lets him off very lightly with the talk of influences. Pixie Dust has ground him into the dust with this post over two years ago. (Her poems are pretty awesome also). Reading it I cant believe I used to actually encourage people to read his works.

Surveys and Statistics

2008-09-19T13:50:00.005+05:30

It has been said that 85% of all statistics are made up on the spot including this one.

For example consider this one

But this one from The Hindu Online edition is the real winner.

Majority of Indians prefer smoke free zones.

92%, 96%, 95% on various counts are just unrealistic. Not that I am for smoking in public places, but falsifying data to push for reforms?

The first rule for a survey is that it take a representative sample. If you go to a anti smoking convention and ask the attendees for their opinion that isn't really a survey. Unfortunately the only fine print available is

"Around 1030 persons aged between 15-64 were interviewed between August 9 and August 24, 2008, the survey added."

By the way, what does AROUND 1030 people mean? Do you not even know the sample population size?

What does the sub prime crisis and MLM's have in common?

2008-08-27T14:39:00.003+05:30

Disclaimer: This is not a well researched post. It is just something that wandered across my consciousness the other day.

If you had anything to do with the financial markets till date, you would have definitely heard of the sub-prime crisis and its fall out on the financial markets over the last few months. What struck me was the fact that low grade mortgages were broken up and put with other securities to get AAA+ rated financial instruments.

And if you are not into financial markets but wish to be wealthy I am sure you would have heard of one or the other MLM (Multi – Level – Marketing) schemes. MLM schemes like Amway, Goldquest, etc are commission based schemes, were the person higher up in the chain gets a part of the cash that the person joining the chain pays. While there are many posts arguing for and against MLM’s (example ) I couldn’t help but wonder about the biggest MLM of them all.

Which one? The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in India. Why? Well let us see,

The people joining the workforce are always more than the people leaving the workforce. The government rules make sure that this will always be the case. Consider the fact that the latest rule is that a company as small as 10 people should have contributions to a provident fund.

The contributions to EPFO or PPF (Public Provident Fund) are part of an EEE regime. (Exempt from Income tax on Deposit, Interest and Withdrawal). The tax implications make a lot of people deposit their cash with the provident fund. Not to mention that the history of the rate of interest being offered was so high that people kept investing.

If we look at withdrawal part there are very few conditions where an individual can withdraw this money before his retirement which is usually after a period of 30 – 40 years. During this entire time the corpus is just growing. Now there is talk of changing the structure to EET, where in the amounts are not added to income tax on deposit and interest accrued. But they will be subjected to tax upon withdrawal. If such an amendment comes into effect, the withdrawals from the corpus will decrease even further.

The corpus is just a figure on paper. I don’t think the money is actually held physically. So then it comes to the question of valuations. A piece of land, if held by the organization, can be valued differently by different people. There is no dearth of people who will manipulate numbers to make things look much rosier than they actually are. This is what happened during the sub-prime crisis.

So in effect, I have money coming into the organization and restrictions on its withdrawal. The numbers mentioned in reports are just figures which may or may not be completely backed by assets. The only way we could ever know how sound financial institutions are, is when there is a run on the deposits. With the Government of India standing guarantor the chances of people making a run on the EPFO are minimal.

But this is seems to be a logical contradiction. Ask any person with some amount of experience in dealing with bureaucrats and he will say the babus are not to be trusted. Is that money still there? Or has the money been used by the board to buy some property that couldn’t be sold on the open market? Made investments at questionable levels?

As you probably have realized, there are too many ideas about it running through my head. It hasn’t been organized very well, but maybe I’ll get around to rewriting this piece some other time. Till then, comments about where I am right or wrong would help me organize my arguments better. So keep those comments coming.

Note to self: Keep posting regularly otherwise the organisation and quality of posts are going to go for a toss.

Be a part of a Guinness world record

2008-06-17T12:24:00.000+05:30

Firefox 3 is slated to be released on June 17, 2008. It is hoping to set a world record in the number of downloads in a 24 hour time span. Their target? A whopping 5 million. So far around 1.5 million people have pledged to download the browser on D day. You can do so here

It is kind of redundant to pledge right now since D day is only hours away (coz of difference in time zones). The objective was to send a mail to everyone reminding them to download FF3.

I am actually a little apprehensive. I initially shifted to FF because viruses were tailor made for Internet Explorer and FF was stated to be a better choice. But if they are targeting a 24 hour download record of 5 million, isn’t that just asking for trouble? I mean advertising the fact of a browsers popularity might help hit out at Microsoft and make a statement for open source. But what about the unwanted attention from hackers and virus writers? Will more people accepting FF lead to more attacks on FF? Will vulnerabilities that went unnoticed earlier be in the spotlight?

Well, until the vulnerabilities come into the spotlight, I’m more than content to scream from the rooftops that fire fox is infinitely better than internet explorer. An added bonus is the Ad block plus plugin It just eliminates downloading all those pesky ads that seem to chew up my bandwidth.

Guess you probably realized it. I’m already a pledged downloader. Time to go help create history. Wanna join?

Eco Friendly Vehicles: A Case of Misplaced Emphasis?

2008-05-12T17:52:00.002+05:30

In this year’s budget, the Government reduced the excise duty on electric cars from 8 per cent to nil. Recently the Government repeated the same with 2 and 3 wheel electric vehicles. (Full article here) Why? Well, if one were to believe the advertisements, this is because the Government wants to promote these “eco friendly”, “zero pollution” vehicles. Just open any electric vehicle manufacturer’s website and you will see these words laced all over the site.

Well, that might be true if one were to compare electric vehicles with carbon dioxide emitting vehicles. However, I seem to have been bitten by the recent bug of measuring everything by its carbon footprint. Considering that most of the power produced in India is from hydro carbon fuels I fail to see how these vehicles are eco friendly. Just because you choose to be blind to the technology that brings the electricity right to your doorstep it does not cease to exist. Add to that the fact that we are an energy deficient nation, I fail to see the rationale in promoting electric vehicles.

I see a lot of similarities between ethanol blended fuel and these electric vehicles. Ethanol blended fuel was supposed to be environmentally friendly since it used natural component that could be regenerated. However, this has a hand in the spiraling food prices as food crops like corn were diverted to produce ethanol. Similarly agricultural land meant for food crops began to grow crops that were in demand to produce this “bio-fuel”.

As and energy deficient nation and one that meets its electricity needs primarily through fossil fuels can we really afford to promote electric vehicles?

Also posted at http://desicritics.org/2008/05/11/140745.php

Whats in a name?

2008-05-11T18:15:00.001+05:30

I recently came across an article that referred to India Held Kashmir. Now while many Indians are familiar with POK or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir I’m not sure how many have heard this term.

There is a saying that history doesn’t determine who is right. It determines who is left. It is the winner who writes the history books. With both sides claiming their own victory and scripting their own histories, can one really blame the people for their mutual distrust of each other? If your whole life you were raised to believe that America was your number one enemy, would you be able to accept any help from them without worrying about the fine print or the possibility of a Trojan horse?

If a name can cause enmity between nations or people, I guess there is a lot in a name after all.

Microsoft can be such a pain in the ***

2008-05-01T11:35:00.002+05:30

Just in order to publicize your search engine you are making me go through an extra bloody step when I typed the link in correctly?

No wonder you are lagging Google in terms of search queries if you have such a lousy publicity team that doesn’t have a pinch of creativity. Wait a sec. Did I just say “number of search queries”? Guess with the battle for Yahoo going to get bitter there is a need to boost the actual number of “search clicks” that Live Search is getting.

P.S on a similar note check out this post

I believe in God. It is his fan following that I cant stand

2008-03-13T16:37:00.001+05:30

“I believe in God. It is his fan following that I can’t stand.”

A powerful statement. One that refuses to get out of my head due to a recent incident where a friend berated me for eating meat on a day that you weren’t supposed to for religious purposes.

Ok. Let’s face it. I see some glaring inaccuracies in the catholic faith.

1) How can Jesus be of the line of David when Joseph is a descendant of King David and his wife Mary was a virgin mother?

2) How can you descend to the dead to rise again on the third day and promise the thief crucified along with you that “tonight you will be with me in paradise”?

There are a few other minor ones like:

How can you say that you “believe in Jesus, the ONLY son our Lord” and then go on to say “Our Father” and

How can the New Testament tell you not to swear by anything when the Old Testament specifically tells you that God swore upon himself?

But they do point to some inconsistencies. The fact is that with the discovery of the Gospel of Judas one cannot but help wonder about the authenticity of “facts” as claimed by the other Gospels. In fact while reading this article about the New Testament Apocrypha you will come across,

The works that presented themselves as "authentic" but did not obtain general acceptance from within the churches are called New Testament Apocrypha.

So how does the church get to decide about what is right and wrong? According to recent news bulletins their ranks might even be filled with perverts and child molesters. While it is wrong to paint the whole church for the short comings of a few, it should bring about the realization that they too are human. Need I point out the famous case of Galileo and his heliocentric point of view that went against the church’s interpretation of the “scriptures”?

This is not restricted to Christianity alone. A religious organisation became infamous some time back because it declared a Fatwa (religious edict) against a particularly popular Indian lass’s sports attire. Government bans on books are common. Bans on films are the latest rage (excuse the pun). The list goes on.

While we can go on and on about the pros and cons of religion, why can’t people just live and let live? In a democracy everyone is free to their own opinion. Just because you have an opinion it doesn’t mean that you have to shove it down other people’s throats. I have an opinion and I am posting it here. I am of the opinion that the church and other bodies that claim to be the embodiment of various religions may have lost sight of what the original message was. I’m not forcing you to accept it. You can accept it or reject it. One of the characteristics of an adult is to be able to THINK. After using it, we can agree, disagree or agree to disagree with any stated opinion. As the Bible says “who are you to sit in judgment over your brother?”

P.S. IF you are still upset over the way this has been written, remember that the bible also says that “The Devil can quote from the bible to suit his needs” and go on your merry way. Peace be with you.

Appearances can be..... what?

2008-02-27T10:04:00.000+05:30

I was in the canteen the other day waiting for my order when I noticed this waiter wearing plastic gloves while serving food. The only problem was that he wasn’t wearing gloves only while serving food. He was wearing it while doing everything else too. Dusting his shirt, moving vessels and DOING HIS LACES!!!!

Kind of defeats the whole purpose of wearing gloves doesn’t it? But then again, does it? The only reason I was hanging around was that they were out of something that I had ordered for and were waiting for the same to come in. Other people were eating blissfully unaware of the level of hygiene that had gone into the preparation of their meal. (We are talking about him touching rotis with the same hands. It is needless to say that I lost my appetite.) What is the point of giving the employees gloves if they are not taught to change their behaviour? Or is the purpose to just make the customers believe that there are getting clean food? Well then the purpose was served, wasn’t it?

While these thoughts were running through my head a colleague came up and asked me if I had finished filling out my appraisal form. You know that little form where there is a lot of big talk on your “achievements” through out the year. The one that everyone adds “a little extra” so that it “looks like” you have done a lot more than u really have……

And the banks came tumbling down

2008-02-17T18:05:00.001+05:30

Recession seems to be the new buzz word. Every one seems to be throwing this word around now-a-days. Guess that’s what happens when news channels keep bringing up the losses to the banking sector and the bad loan write offs. But while everyone seems to know about the real world banking problems anyone seen what has been happening on second life recently? Well I guess if you were regular players you would know that Linden labs pulled the plug on some financial institutions in the game. People not too familiar with the game might be tempted to say big deal its all part of the game. Sadly my friend, that was a long long time ago. With an exchange where you can change your real dollars into Liden Dollars, there have been lots of stories of people making their fortunes on second life. Of people giving up their real lives and careers to pursue the same on second life. A Google search on “making money in second life” threw up a mind blowing 30 MILLION results

So how do you draw the line between what is real and what is make believe? Is there a distinction between the two? I think that disappeared when real money went into the game. It was no more a game meant for fun and recreation. Events there were as real we wanted them to be. Why does that cause a shiver to run down my spine? I guess it reminds me too much of a Matrix like universe.

Google everywhere

2008-01-24T03:31:00.000+05:30

I recently received the following picture in my mail. It reminded me of this post that I had written more than a year ago. With you tube, picasa and others under its belt now, there are more areas where Google has penetrated and penetrated our lives. With Google phone that is rumored to have text ads and free subscriptions on its way, need I say more?

The Cost of a Medical Degree

2007-12-31T18:11:00.000+05:30

I was recently reading an article in “The Week” ( A weekly magazine) that claimed a 5 year MBBS degree (A basic degree in medicine after 12th standard) in China with an additional 1 year internship cost a total of 7 to 11 lakh only. This it claimed included tuition fee, boarding, lodging, flight charges, and hostel rooms that boasted of broadband connections, washing machine and microwave ovens.

Naturally I was skeptical. As far as I know, the average cost of a medical seat in India was much more than that per year. And many places don’t have even half the facilities listed here. My first thought was that these were some little known colleges. However, the article stated that these were top of the rung colleges in China.

Though there are several questions about whether these degrees will be recognized in India I couldn’t help thinking about the supply and demand equation here in India. Around 6 years back I had heard of a friend’s family who paid 43 lakh for the first year MBBS course (management seat). What justifies these prices? Why are parents willing to shell out so much for their kids to become doctors? Is it a investment whose returns are well worth the initial capital?

I am inclined to think that we are obsessed with our kids becoming engineers and doctors. The emotional attachment of the same makes parents blind to the other considerations. Even if the child is not cut out to become a doctor or engineer the parents push their ambitions onto their kids. While this isn’t true in all cases, it certainly holds good for a majority of the cases. The mushrooming of hundreds of engineering and medical colleges around the country which churn out non employable graduates is being documented by numerous surveys. One such survey stated that hardly 25% of the engineering graduates in Karnataka were employable. They didn’t have the soft skills and / or the knowledge to be hired in companies.

While the figures might be debatable, I feel that there is no smoke without a fire. The demand is much more than the supply. Fly by night operators and sub standard colleges are cashing in on the irrational demand. Whether the Chinese colleges belong to this category or are really providing quality education only time will tell.

In the meantime maybe we should take a good long look at our beliefs. In this day and age, with so much information available and the numerous career options open to people, one cant help but wonder why such an irrational demand persists. Is it because we wax eloquent on this topic to others and THEIR kids, but heart of heart want OUR kids to be doctors / engineers?

FM radio comes to town

2007-09-25T12:31:00.000+05:30

Recently I noticed one of my colleagues on the bus to work fiddling with his phone through out the journey. Being my usual naïve self, I asked him if he was facing some problems with his phone. After he managed to stop laughing he told me that he was listing to the radio. Yes. FM radio has come to Surat.

There are presently 5 channels:
Radio City 91.1
Big 92.7
My FM 94.3
Radio Mirchi 98.3
Akashvani 101.1

Personally I prefer Radio City and Radio Mirchi. My listening is mainly to and from work which is roughly 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM and 5 PM to 6:30 PM. The songs are pretty popular Hindi numbers. However, the commentary is in Gujarati. For the poor people like me, who would like to listen to the radio and don’t follow the local language, all I can say is this is your chance to pick up Gujarati. English songs seem non existent, though there was a global top twenty on Saturday night at around 9 PM.

That apart, a strange thought struck me today. While flicking through the channels, I suddenly felt like a scientist twiddling with a Geiger counter. Call me crazy, but the thought refuses to get out of my head. The similarity is striking. I didn’t know that FM radio had launched in Surat, until recently. Similarly, you never know the radiation that you are exposed to without the help of a Geiger counter.

We have hundreds of studies on the effects of a modern lifestyle on our health. Have we ever considered the number of radio waves that we are being subjected to? I mean I just realized that I am being bombarded by five more types of man made radiation on a daily basis. My miniature Geiger counter (read as cell phone) shows me 5 FM channels, and four mobile networks (Hutch / Vodafone, Idea, Cellone, Airtel) are bombarding me with their signals. The signals of Reliance are out of its range I think. So exactly how many more of these man made radiations am I being subjected to? How much can my body take? Is there any law governing them? Am I being paranoid? Is the work load getting to me? Am I being incoherent? Guess I should take that break now.

World cup for World peace?

2007-09-24T21:13:00.000+05:30

Finally a world cup comes to the billion strong country after what seems like ages. India lifted the world Twenty20 world cup. But in my jubilation i couldn't believe my ears when I heard Shoaib Mallik, Captain of the Pakistan cricket team state, ' I would like to thank my country, Pakistan and all the Muslims around the world...'

He didn't thank anyone else. Not fans. Not supporters. Not well wishers. Not..... I am stunned. I mean, I know cricket is a religion for many people, but to thank only people of your faith???

With the following that cricket has and the surge in viewership for today's finals between India and Pakistan, I feel he should have chosen his words more carefully. After all "world cup" events are meant to celebrate harmony and understanding between people of the world.

Big brother

2007-09-17T09:53:00.000+05:30

Be scared! Be very scared!!!

In continuing with my previous post on matters of convenience take a look at big brother watching you

I think that we are giving in too much for this "increased surveillance against terrorism". There are more people dying of diabetes and heart ailments than those dying due to terrorism. Do we see the government enacting compulsory morning walks or gym sessions?

Grow up

2007-09-05T14:25:00.000+05:30

Ok. I’m pissed and I need to vent some steam. My room mate had borrowed my helmet and I needed to go to a close by (not close enough that I could walk) shop. This traffic cop stops me and slaps a nice big fine for riding without a helmet. Ok. So I broke the law. But my question is why should there be a law?

I know the benefits that wearing a helmet gives. It was just that I took a conscious decision due to the prevailing circumstances. Is that a crime? “Yes, it is” says a friend of mine. Criminals are not born. They are made, goes his argument. Ok. Maybe I cant generalise the statement. Let me rephrase. The government says that I am an adult since I am over the age of 18. But it refuses to treat me like one. If I chose to not wear a helmet, though it is for my own safety, why should they bother? Why should I be fined for CHOOSING to disregard my own safety? I am not a child that needs to be taught what is right and what is wrong.

Ah…. There in lies the problem. Everyone tells you to grow up and behave like an adult, but they refuse to actually believe that you could. How do you expect people to behave like grown ups if you keep treating them like kids?

A friend of mine is attending one of the reputed coaching classes for CAT. He was telling me how half the students in his batch are attending the class only out of fear of the coaching center calling up their houses. Our future managers are not considered mature enough to take their own decisions AFTER having paid close to 15,000 to 20,000 for the course?

No. this is not a isolated incident. A friend of mine is studying at IIM – Indore. He was narrating how there is a ten o’ clock in time. Though we might be tempted to brand it as just “one of those rules” which no one takes seriously, it wasn’t so. Two students came in late one night and gave the guard a name of two of their classmates who were in another country taking part in an exchange program. The whole final year batch was called in and were told that placements would be on hold until the culprits confess.

“Culprits”???? If faculty at the premier Indian Institute of Management Indore cannot trust their students to decide how to manage their own programs, how do they trust them to take decisions that will affect not just corporations but the society at large? And if this is the attitude of IIM – I, I can’t even begin to imagine how the other “Management” schools treat their students.

Yeah. I guess I need to grow up to the fact that the rule makers will never be able to treat me like a grown up since they haven’t grown up themselves to know the difference.

Independence Day

2007-08-15T11:47:00.000+05:30

August 15th : Independence day is being celebrated all over India. Since it is a national holiday, I am sitting at home doing nothing in particular when I decide to Blackle (Google with a black background that saves power with each search) Independence Day and related topics. Through all of the pages the concept of “being free from the influence of others” seems to come through.

Am I really independent? Am I free from the influence of others? Am I free? Well, when I start my day I have to brush my teeth and do my morning dailies. Right? I mean my dentist has told me if I don’t do that I will have bad breath, bacteria will eat into my tooth enamel and I’ll lose my teeth early in life. If I don’t have my bath then my mom told me that I’d develop body odour. I open my wardrobe and pull out my uniform since my company says that they wouldn’t like to discriminate between employees……And this is just the start of my day.

Ladies are free to choose what they want to wear but advised not to wear “revealing” or provocative clothes. Religious fanatics attack others on the flimsiest grounds. So we are “advised” not to provoke them by stating opinions. We are told not to make adverse comments against old people or the disabled. They are to be called the elderly and the gifted.

Yes we are free. Free to our opinions. That is as long as we keep them to ourselves. Free to move into any part of the country or other countries as long as we get the required travel documents and permissions. Free to drive whatever vehicle we wish to, as long as you have the license, insurance papers, pollution under control certificate, etc. Free to accumulate wealth, as long as we pay our income tax, wealth tax, service tax and other taxes.

Oh man. I feel so free on Independence Day that I think I’ll make the best use of my freedom to curl up in my blanket. [The other option of celebrating is out of the question since there is a ban on the sale of alcohol today] Happy Independence Day everyone.

Of counter and trackers

2007-08-11T12:32:00.001+05:30

Some time back I decided to add a counter to my blog. I reached a site called Stat Counter . I am just over the moon with this site. The features that it offers are just amazing. I found out that if u type

lagae raho munna bhai

"Esop fable" grasshopper

naresh gupta ndtv video

ndtv tamasha political satire

"dinesh hinduja"

Into a google search, my blog shows up in the top ten hits. There are a few others keywords which were probably in the top ten then but don’t work now. As I explore this site I am amazed at all the services it offers me for FREE. I now know that I have a few hits from Latvia and USA. It is very very flattering to say the least.

The site also allows me to lookup the IP address of every visitor to my blog. It can also be configured to send a weekly report of page load activity to your email address. It also has features that would have a computer geek going bananas. The operating system the computers were running on, (Gotee, I know the number of times you have visited since the Linux OS could only be you :-P) , the screen resolution, which search engine sent me what traffic, the length of stay of each visitor, which part of the world each visitor came from etc.

“Where is the catch?” is the most common question. “Such services cost real money, you know”. Yes. I know. The answers to those questions can be found here. I very highly recommend the site.

Taslima Nasrin and the order of democracy?

2007-08-10T10:21:00.000+05:30

Taslima Nasrin attacked during a press release for her “anti – Islamic” views. The scores of 24x7 news channels bring you first hand the visuals of this “breaking story”. Breaking is right. They seemed hell bent on breaking everything in site. To top it all they went on to interview the people who “stood up for what they believed in” and comments of “she deserved it” were emanating from the idiot box.

Hello! ‘Freedom of speech’ ring a bell anywhere?

“Yes”, the news channel seems to reply. That is why the John Doe got his 30 seconds (more like 30 minutes with all the reruns and multiple channels) of fame to explain his point of view.

Thank God for small mercies that they were at least arrested. But did the fact that three of them were MLA’s (Member of Legislative Assembly) surprise anyone or has it become so common place that it hardly roused a flicker of interest?

full story

Cash

2007-08-04T02:22:00.000+05:30

Just got back from Adlabs after watching "Cash". I have one statement for it Waste of CASH

Story line is convoluted and crazy. Scenes are disjointed. Movie is mainly so-so stunts, catchy jingles and badly botched up skin show.

Director: Anubhav Sinha
Producer: Sohail Maklai
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Zayed Khan, Arjun Rampal, Esha Deol, Shamita Shetty, Diya Mirza
Music: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani

Crezendo

2007-06-23T13:19:00.002+05:30

There is a lot of hue and cry about this new condom by Hindustan Latex. It basically consists of a normal condom with a vibrator ring. The ring is supposed to increase the pleasure during sex. (You can now buy them online here )

The moral brigade says that it is a sex toy and should be banned. That it is unbecoming of a government owned company to “pollute” their culture. I have listened to all their points and find that it is all a farce. They say condoms are meant for family planning and not pleasure. * One tight slap * If the pleasure aspect of it is going to cause more people to use it, isn’t it an added incentive to use it? When you come out with all sorts of subsidies and policies to promote family planning, why are you making a fuss when there is a natural incentive to use these condoms?

They say it is a western influence and polluting our culture. *One tight slap* Our culture created all these temples with erotic figures sculpted on them. Our own culture came out with the Kamasutra. Our culture is also the one that created the caste system. Hence, our culture is already very very polluted by the same definition. Thus either go destroy all the temples and abolish the caste system, or shut up about it “polluting” our culture.

Ban it?? What is your problem with what I do in the privacy of my bedroom? Are we going to become a police state? Where you tell us what we can do even in our own homes? We don’t have any privacy?

I could keep on ranting and raving but a thought suddenly overtakes me. Who got hurt in this whole exchange? The sales of crezendo have shot through the roof. The MP who brought up the whole issue is looking forward to a posting in the RSS. The media got something to fill their 24 hour news channels with. Some Jane and John Doe’s got their 30 seconds of fame. I got you to read my blog. Guess there is no point in complaining because there is no such thing as bad publicity.

The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

2007-06-14T23:42:00.000+05:30

We often hear recruitment ad’s say that they want people who think out of the box, creative thinkers, etc etc. Well, if you want a crash course in the subject or are a fan of out of the box thinking you should get your hands on this amazing book called “The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams.

You might have heard about the “Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy”, which is only one part out of the “Ultimate …..guide”, since it has been made into a movie. Now while I haven’t seen the movie myself I don’t think any movie could do justice to his style of writing. I do plan to watch the movie at the first opportunity I get. But I seriously recommend this book.

I went crazy with this book. I mean he can take the most mundane fact and create a whole new dimension to it. For example, more often than not, when we book a table at a restaurant we turn up much later than the time we specify. He takes this to the extreme of saying that the time we specify is the exact time that we will not turn up at the restaurant and hence became the basis for metaphysical calculations that should take place on a waiter’s notebook. Or mice being the most intelligent species on earth and they are actually observing us while leading us to believe that we are observing them. Ok. I am getting ahead of the story here.

Basically the book revolves around a book (please note the irony here) called the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. DON’T PANIC is printed in bold on the cover page because you would probably only refer to the book when you run into trouble on your inter stellar travels. Inter stellar travel. Mr. Arthur Dent is the lone survivor of the demolition of earth for an Inter Galactic Hyper pass and is thrust into this journey with a humanoid alien life form.

The story line itself is vague and contradicts itself in places. So if you are the kind who likes a well defined story line and slow build up of facts and figures to a definite conclusion you shouldn’t really consider this book. You would find it a waste of money. But if you are looking to expand your horizons of thought and are ready to laugh at the idiosyncrasies of the human race, pick up your copy the next time you see it in a book store.

Counter

2007-06-10T11:10:00.000+05:30

Well, I just realised that I haven't done any blogging in like a month. So in an effort to revive my blog I have added a counter at the side. Lets see whether this helps me put regular posts.

On the topic of the counter, this site seems to be amazing. The guy offers pretty advanced tracking and counting options for FREE. Yes. You heard me right. FREE. There is no catch. Read more about it here Best of all there are no Advertisements associated with this free service.

Shame on the media?

2007-05-01T23:54:00.000+05:30

This came to me in my mail. Thought I would share it with you all :

Shame on Indian Media??? Really what a shame...

By the time u guys read this news, the body of Major Manish Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with full military honors.

On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels 'Sanjay Dutt relieved by court'. 'Sirf Munna not a bhai' '13 saal ka vanvaas khatam' 'although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh of relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn' Then many personalities like Salman Khan said 'He is a good person. We knew he will come out clean'. Mr Big B said "Dutt's family and our family have relations for years he's a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek". His sister Priya Dutt said "we can sleep well tonight. It's a great relief"

In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad; Greg Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC and other such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt's "phoenix like" comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges. Surfing through the channels, one news item on BBC startled me. It read "Hisbul Mujahidin's most wanted terrorist 'Sohel Faisal' killed in Anantnag , India . Indian Major leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four others are injured.

It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels, but Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded to the court saying 'I'm the sole bread earner for my family', 'I have a daughter who is studying in US' and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was not wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and also how he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months. A suspect in Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act...was being transformed into a hero.

Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; sure he did not do any terrorist activity. Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist community and also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a pistol so that again is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to all the temples;

Sure he did a lot of Gandhigiri but then........ ...

Major Manish H Pitambare (who is from our very own city Thane,was residing near makhmali talao,who was just like one of us some years ago a former student of maharashtra Vidyalay,Thane) got the information from his sources about the terrorists' whereabouts. Wasting no time he attacked the camp, killed Hisbul Mujahidin's supremo and in the process lost his life to the bullets fired from an AK47. He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt) who's only 18 months old.

Major Manish never said 'I have a daughter' before he took the decision to attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never thought about having a family and he being the bread earner. No news channel covered this since they were too busy hyping a former drug addict, a suspect who's linked to bomb blasts which killed hundreds. Their aim was to show how he defied the TADA charges and they were so successful that his conviction in possession of armory had no meaning. They also concluded that his parents in heaven must be happy and proud of him.

Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest of their lives without their beloved son. His daughter won't ever see her daddy again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero, someone who laid his life in the name of this great nation.

So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows which news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army Major's death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!

Ash Abhi

2007-04-28T21:33:00.000+05:30

In the last few days I have had tons of Ash and Abhishek pictures flood my mail box. And I am talking of each mail being in the 2 to 4 MB. Add to that people re forwarding the same mail and it makes for a clogged inbox. My poor colleague even had his official email id barred since it exceeded the 50 MB mailbox limit in the two days that he was away.

Add to that 24 hour news channels broadcasting the wedding for well, 24 hours of the day and one wonders what this country is coming to. What is with this fascination? Could anyone enlighten me? I have seen it happen when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie came to India too. Hundreds of photographers hounding them to give the mob what it so desperately wants.

Culture in shambles?

2007-04-27T11:49:00.001+05:30

Richard Gere kisses Shilpa Shetty. Mob goes on protest. Court registers a case and issues a warrant. Richard Gere is a wanted man in India.

The list goes on. But I think you get my drift. In the land of the Kama Sutra, a peck on the cheek has outraged the “moral brigade” so much so that our courts (that are already over burdened with pending cases) have time to issue warrants? Couples relaxing together on the Bombay beaches are hauled to police stations for indecency? Kissing in public, they say, is a Western phenomenon that is “polluting” our culture. Is it really? Is our culture so really weak and pathetic that a few public displays of affection are going to leave it in shambles?

Well, I guess so. Since this same moral brigade are the first ones to glorify western medicines, western sciences and send their kids to the west for a “good” education and “good” job. In the midst of this all, the AIDS awareness campaign that they were running seems to have been forgotten. On a parting note, I’ve attached the “offending photos”. Do you really really think that it deserves the amount of attention it has got?

Virginia Tech

2007-04-21T20:50:00.000+05:30

The recent killings at Virgina Tech University shocked the world. Images of the victims and the killer have dominated the headlines and writers columns for the last few days for the want of a new “shocking” headline. One can only hope and pray that some other crazed maniac doesn’t see this and go “Hey, I can do better than this nobody”

While I sympathize with the family of the victims I was really intrigued by the question “which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?” This seemingly innocent question posed by Stephen and Steven in FREAKONOMICS is the best answer to all those screaming for tighter gun control laws.

This “rogue economist” has analyzed the number of deaths occurring due to guns and those due to unfenced swimming pools and gives you a very startling answer. You guessed it. Gun deaths are much lesser than the number of drowning deaths in swimming pools.

So in this context, all these calls for tighter gun control laws are hogwash. I’m not campaigning for ‘guns are needed for personal protection’ I’m just trying to state that at times you need to look beyond the media hype.

If you are really interested in looking beyond what is being thrown at us, you should read this book. A great read for breaking the false notions that most of us carry

Apocalypto

2007-04-06T17:40:00.001+05:30

I was totally freaked by this movie. Though it hardly a story line, the acting is simply superb. The emotions and graphics are superbly portrayed. Mel Gibson has a knack for these displays of emotion and raw graphics. If you liked Passion of Christ then you will probably enjoy this movie. If you felt Passion of Christ hurt your sensibilities, you should forget about watching this movie.

World cup mania

2007-03-21T17:51:00.000+05:30

For future reference: the situation is that Pakistan is out of the world cup after losing to both Ireland and West Indies. India has lost one match to Bangladesh and won one against Bermuda. It has a match on Friday against Sri Lanka which it must win in order to reach the next stage of the world cup.

This was first sent out by a friend:

X is very upset and does a reply all

Hi Y,

Please be Optimistic…..

Indians will win the world cup…. And please don’t send such anti-national mails; it hurts people who love India and Indian sport….

Please don’t take this mail personally….

Regards,
X

Y isn’t a person to take this lying down. So he does another reply all:

Hi X,

Optimism is one thing. And criticism is other. Right now was writing as a critic. That mail was referring to the “mind blowing” performance against Bangladesh.

You say I am anti national.

Now tell me, there are millions of people in India who say criticize the Indian military / air force / navy /system etc etc… You call them anti nationals???

No they are critics.

A critic speaks out when something performs badly. Perhaps it’s a message for something / someone to perform well. There is a huge difference between a critic and traitor.

You say Sehwag should be thrown out of team. Isn’t that from a critic’s point of view?
Now you may say. Didn’t you watch India’s match against Bermuda? I will say “didn’t you watch Sehwag go against Bermuda?” It is individual perspective.

Hope you have not forgotten the news that Dhoni’s house was destroyed after the Bangla upset.
They were your so called OPTIMISTS, SUPPORTERS and FANS. That doesn’t hurt Indians and Indian sport fans right?? They destroy a private property but that’s out of their love for sport.

Even they weren’t “anti-national”.

They were just speaking out for the bad performance.

So now what do you see dear “FAN OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM”.

Oh ya almost forgot… Please don’t take this mail personally.

Freedom

2007-03-09T09:38:00.000+05:30

“Parzania, the movie about the Gujarat riots has had some spectacular reviews. Unfortunately I don’t think I will get to watch it. The movie is not going to be screened in Gujarat out of “fear” of offending sentiments. What happened to the freedom of speech?”

“Duh. That died a long time ago dude. Go get a life. The mobs rule.”

“What about blood diamonds? The diamond traders here actually went on record saying that they would like to watch the movie.”

“Doesn’t make economic sense man. Don’t you see the serious lack of audience for English movies? Big ticket movies like Spiderman and Harry Potter were released with subtitles. Others were dubbed”

“(Sarcastically) Ah. So that is how they expect to have a command over the English language while cracking exams like the CAT.”

“SHUT UP. A statement like that will cost you dearly”

Silence

Guess the same thing goes for the theater owners.

life matters

2007-03-07T12:59:00.000+05:30

Clichéd though it may seem, one wonders what life is coming to. Seriously! I open the paper today to see a news report on fakeyourspace.com. The guy is actually making fake model (obviously female) profiles and will add you to this profiles friend list / scrap you for 98 cents per month per “friend”. If you are saying that’s weird or gross consider that he has such a huge clientele that a modeling site from which he lifted the photos has sent him a legal notice to remove those profiles. If that still doesn’t give you an idea on how big this thing is consider that he has hired two people to do this all day long.

Is impression everything? I mean, I have come across people padding their resumes to land that job but to fake your friends? To fake your social life? Is there no limit to the lies we will tell? I mean, the other day there was a review about a book titled “How to speak on books you haven’t read”. Ironical though the book may be titled it does make one wonder, what is the need to behave like you have read the book if you haven’t? Maybe we will have a book soon on “how to speak on the book that teaches you to speak on books you haven’t read”

Seems like a person who doesn’t have a life or personality of his own is seeking recognition and self worth in other people who probably doesn’t have one either. WIERD

Plugging for the malt march

2007-02-20T21:36:00.001+05:30

Recently newspapers around here seem to have been plugging for relaxation of prohibition laws. The last week has seen daily articles in The Times of India (Gujarat edition) on various items related to the prohibition laws. From relaxation of prohibition in Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) in Gujarat to whether a middle path of sale of only beer and wine is feasible. Articles from old timers to the hot blooded youth on the sale of hard drinks and the freedom of choice

Today was no different. They managed to unearth a 1975 study by the government (I wonder who supplied this to them) taking the winds out of the sales of most pro prohibition lobbies. This “detailed study” seems to have found no correlation between the poor being vulnerable to temptation and remaining poor due to alcohol.

While I am all for relaxation of the ridiculous laws, I cannot help but wonder about this daily front page occurrence. Looks like someone up there really likes Mr. Dinesh Hinduja. No. I don’t mean our numerous Gods and Goddesses. I mean someone in the Modi government pulling such a stunt in the election year.

Has it really dawned on our “enlightened” politicians that over regulation is stupid and a waste of time and resources or are there more skeletons in the cupboard? Has Mr. Hinduja managed to awaken something among the masses or does he have some good friends in The Times of India? Guess I’m an eternal cynic. Only time will tell. Till then lets all lift our glasses in toast to these new developments.

The Malt March Strikes

2007-02-03T14:47:00.001+05:30

A reader had commented on my previous entry as to how long can Gujarat live with this hypocrisy of prohibition. As if on cue, Mr. Dinesh Hinduja, leader of THE MALT MARCH decided to prove this hypocrisy. Union textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela went on a hunger strike under full media glare to protest against the governments liberal policies towards alcohol. Unfortunately, he forgot that he is not the only old hand at manipulating the media. Mr. Hinduja walked up to him and asked him to swear on the Bagwad Gita that he had never broken Gujarat's prohibition laws under the same media glare. Caught unawares, all he could tell Mr. Hinduja was to put the book away. He later tried to explain it away saying that he has drunk in other places etc etc. All I can say is three cheers Mr. Hinduja. Let us hope I can say it many more times to him and to my friends in the days to come.

GO AIR

2007-01-24T13:54:00.000+05:30

Mr Wadia Nusli, promoter of GoAir was found to be carrying a revolver with 30 round of live ammunition at the Dubai Airport when he disembarked from an Air India flight. Am I surprised? Not really. What would surprise me would be when a high jacking takes place and we say, “How could they have got the weapon on board?” “How did they manage to get past security?”

Getting past security is easy, because the security check is just an eyewash. Personally I have been through the Bangalore airport with a toothpaste tube in the top most pocket of my hand luggage. This was after the London scare and there was a huge notice saying that deodorants, toothpastes and other such tubes / canisters were not allowed aboard the flight. We behave in a total lackadaisical manner and expect everything to fall in place.
Guess now we know why there was such a commotion when George Fernandes got strip searched in the U.S. Going from not being searched to a strip search would have definitely been a very unsettling experience.

Read the whole story here

Moving?

2007-01-22T19:18:00.000+05:30

I'm trying out wordpress at http://mundanemusings.wordpress.com I will be posting on both blogs for the time being. Depending on my experiences there i will decide which blog to continue with.

Shilpa the CELEBRITY

2007-01-22T13:36:00.000+05:30

Last week if I had said Shilpa, I would have been greeted with a Shilpa who? But today, I’d probably hear, “Oh! That poor thing. We should really teach these Brits a lesson.”

30,000 highly skilled Indian workers are facing expulsion from Briton because of their proposed new immigration laws. But our foreign minister prefers to talk to Chancellor (prime minister in waiting) Brown on “racism” on a TV sop!!!! Dude. It is a DRAMA series. NOT an intellectual discussion determining the fate of our country.

Heaven help us. When Shilpa decided to take up the offer, the news was buried somewhere in page 10. Now it is front page news. We even know the name of a previous Jane Doe. Guess it just goes to prove that there is no such thing as bad publicity. More and more eyeballs are glued to the idiot box tuned to “Celebrity Big Brother”. Viewer ship ratings of channel 4 have gone up along with the number of complaints.

Get a life people. I mean, its not like she didn’t know what she was in for. She is being paid 350,000 pounds for it!!!! But that would be pittance compared to what she can earn in the future. She has become a household name in England. Sponsors will be a mile long the moment she gets out of that Rat Hole. Why do I think so? Simple. 82% of the voters on the show voted to oust Jade Goody. And if this is any response to go by, Shilpa will probably win the episode on the wave of sympathy factor alone. If that isn’t enough, one well placed barb in Hindi from Shilpa and she will be able to milk this non issue for all it is worth.

And for the record, aren’t all of us moral cops racists? Have you never bad mouthed a neighbour or friend? Never called another person names? Caste, class & religious politics and policies are all racist. Stop venting your moral frustrations on a non issue. If you really feel so bad about the subject, then try to do something useful like fighting caste and other grounds of discrimination in your neighbourhood.

Utharayan the Kite Festival

2007-01-20T14:57:00.000+05:30

From riding at 90 kmph to traveling at a speed of 5 kmph over a distance of 3 kms is not something that occurs everyday. But with the kite festival kicking off in full swing on Utharayan, there was no other option.

Utharayan or the kite festival is one of Gujarat’s most touted tourist attractions. It is celebrated on the 14^th of January every year. It basically consists of all and sundry getting on to the top of the nearest high rise and flying kites. No. It doesn’t end there. The kite fights start next with each person trying to cut off the next person’s kite string. It gets very competitive. Cutting free the most number of kites with a single kite becomes an ego issue with people refusing to get off the rooftops even after dusk. The number of kite fights can be guessed by the fact that a week after the event, broken kites can still be found on the roadside, stuck on telephone or electric lines.

It goes to the extent that people have kite strings laced with glass pieces. I can just imagine the plight of the poor birds that have to fight with the kites for space. I walked instead of taking my bike when I went out that day. But that didn’t prevent me from getting cut by one of the kite strings. If while walking at 5 kmph I can get a minor cut, one can just imagine what would happen to birds or two wheeler riders. To give you the enormity of the situation, for a week before the event we had newspapers advising people to wear helmets and mufflers while riding two wheelers to prevent injuries. What the cops couldn’t manage to enforce in a year with fines, the festival managed to do in a matter of days.

Other than that the place comes alive with kites in various colours and styles. You get to see people making kites, kite threads, dying threads and selling them. You don’t need to go to a remote location or factory to see it. It happens on the foot paths besides the road at intervals of 500 to 800 meters. Kites are sold in pieces or sets. The sets can consist of anywhere between 5 kites to 100 kites. The prices of kites vary from Rs 2 to Rs 1000+. While the 2 rupee kites are similar to the ones you might have made when you were in school, the more expensive ones are made fabrics in a variety of shapes. You can get a silk ‘miniature airplane’ kite for the right price. Need I say anymore?

As with any festival, it is also an excuse to socialize. Til ladoos, gilabies, chikki etc are some of the sweets made in huge quantities on Utharayan. These sweets are freely distributed to all friends and neighbours. If you think that people will get bored with 15 to 20 recipes of the same sweets, you haven’t experienced the Gujarathi sweet tooth yet. Gujju’s are renowned for their love for sweets. So much so that they decided that this excuse to binge on sweets and fun, for only one day in a year, was inadequate. Thus began Vassi Uthran which literally is the day following Utharayan.

It is pretty much a two day festival right now. But what has been done once can always be done again. I don’t think it will take long for the people here to make it another Navrathri or nine day festival of colours, fun, a little competition and lots of sweets. After all, how many of us could turn down an excuse to spice up our mundane lives?

The Mob

2007-01-11T13:56:00.000+05:30

It has been stated that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Some times when I reflect over 2006 I remember stuff like, “Angry mobs” burnt the Deccan Queen when Ambedkar’s statue was allegedly desecrated. “Angry mobs” entered Kaif’s house and vandalized it during his poor performance at South Africa. The killing of a college lecturer because of delayed elections by “the mob” caught on television.

“Angry Mobs” ???? Who is this “mob”? Who gave some one the right to kill or damage the property of another person just because they felt hurt? Is it that they are safe in numbers? I mean, causing 7 crore worth of damage to the Central Railways on an allegation. Barging into another person’s house and destroying his property just because he was out of form and our “Indian Cricket Team” lost. Are these valid reasons for causing damage to life and property?

Doesn’t it sound strange that a bunch of people who were upset about a rumor could organize for enough petrol to be poured over a bunch of railway carriages and set them on fire? I don’t think so. It sounds more like the handiwork of some people wanting to gain political mileage or letting his sadistic side loose by hiding behind the safety in numbers.

Who is this “mob”? But it seems that we would rather pay a million dollars in taxes to pay for the repairs than try ask the million dollar question.

A matter of convenience

2007-01-04T21:41:00.000+05:30

I’m sure all of us have heard of one way streets. But, have you heard of a one way street for pedestrians???? Well, guess what, it exists. Or rather it existed for a day. On New Year’s Eve, Bangalore’s Brigade road was sealed off for traffic and made one way for pedestrians!!!

While the reason given by the administration is convenience and prevention of XYZ, one wonders to what extent are we willing to go for convenience.

We have given up our freedom of speech for fear of hurting religious sentiment. We don’t mind being strip searched at airports for “better” security. We agree for the U.S. government to go through our credit history and email inbox if we book airline tickets into the USA online. We agree to Google going through our mail for content driven advertisements since they give us a 2 GB mailbox. I could go on and on. But what is the use? People aren’t going to fight for their rights. It is just convenient for us to look the other way.

Corruption, rape, murder, terrorism, poverty, hunger, AIDS are happening around us. It is CONVENIENT for us to allow the government to look after these issues. We look the other way as long as it doesn’t affect us.

One cannot help but wonder, “How much is too much?”. Will we only wake up and scream when the monsters knock on our door step?

The bidding war

2006-12-22T13:09:00.000+05:30

The Tata CNS bid for Corus has dominated business headlines for days. The price war started with the TATA’s offering 455 pence per share (company value at 4.3 billion pounds) The present offer is 515 pence a share from CNS compared to 500 pence per share from the TATA’s (company value 5.7 billion pounds and 5.1 billion pounds respectively).

The media has been awash with speculations of what the TATA’s might do and what CNS might do. Theories and counter theories of market dynamics. About which company would be a better suitor. Which company would be able to synergise with the company better and what not. Some people have even gone as far as saying that Corus felt it was undervalued by the TATA’s and wanted to increase its valuation by getting CNS to offer a better price.

But there is one important statistic that has hardly been talked about since the first report. Since CNS already hold a 3.8% stake in Corus, even if they fail to win the price war they will still laugh all the way to the bank. 3.8% of 0.8 billion pounds (difference between the two TATA offers) is a comfortable 30 million pounds.

A related article on Canary Warf that had the same price war

Malt March

2006-12-20T15:15:00.000+05:30

After being a NITwit four years, people regularly ask me how do people from Surathkal manage to live in a place like Surat. When asked to define what they mean the answer is usually to the effect "Emmm, u know, dry state and all."

Well, for the ignorant out there, Gujarat is the only state in India where the sale of alcohol is illegal. The reason given for this is that it is Gandhiji's home state. "So what?" you may say. Well, the government took it upon itself to impose Gandhiji's philosophy through the rule of law.

But as we all know, when you tell some one don't touch something, it exponentially increases the chances that the person will actually touch it. Bootlegging is as common here as it was in America during the Prohibition. Incidentally it is idea that is said to have fascinated Gandhi (Prohibition, my friend, not the bootlegging)

With prohibition miserably failing to attain what it set out to, many people are questioning the government's policy. One enterprising group has actually come out with the idea of a MALT MARCH. To imitate Gandhi's salt march with a difference. Will it succeed in creating a wound and rubbing salt on it? Only time will tell.

P.S. I plan to post more about this Malt March as and when I get details. So stay tuned.

Black or white?

2006-12-19T11:06:00.000+05:30

Rs 50 lakh were paid as ransom for the release of Anant Gupta, the son of Adobe India Chief, who had been kidnapped this Monday. This was revealed on late Friday night with STF launching an operation at Kakod Near Bulandshehar.

Naresh Gupta admitted that he had paid Rs 50 lakh to secure his son's release, a fact that even the Noida police were not told about.

full article

I guess most people assumed (like the kidnappers did i'm sure) that the head of India operations of Adobe would have that much to spare. On the other hand, it looks like our Income tax Department had no idea that there was that much money involved in the business.

The Income Tax Department has slapped a notice on Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta, who had allegedly paid a huge ransom to kidnappers for release of his three-year-old son Anant in November. Additional Income Tax Commissioner Amar Vir Singh has asked Gupta to appear before him on December 28, informed sources said.

The department has sought from Gupta details about his property, bank balance and other things to determine that the alleged ransom amount was not part of any hidden income, the sources said.

full article

While the media kept portraying the helpless family during the 3 day ordeal the second news item was buried somewhere inside. Black money or white money? Your guess is as good as mine.

Who gets to decide what is good for us?

2006-12-18T13:59:00.000+05:30

A blanket ban on junk food and colas in school and university canteens countrywide and mandatory yoga classes in schools — that’s Union health minister A Ramadoss’s prescription to fight rising obesity among India’s youth.

"Colas with or without pesticides are harmful for health and should not be consumed. We want all forms of junk food like pizzas, chips, samosas and burgers banned from canteens," Ramadoss said here on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference on nutrition.

And, it’s not merely a statement of intent. The minister is aggressively pushing the proposal. He has written to state health ministers, asking them to plan and implement the ban on junk food — seen as one of the main causes of the rise in heart disease, diabetes and cancer among India’s 300-milion-strong, and increasingly wealthy, middle class.

Man. This is like we are NIT wit's (excuse the pun). That we cant decide what is good or bad for us. That we need someone else to take care of us. Teaching us is one thing. Forcing it down our gullets is something else

Winning is everything

2006-12-18T13:27:00.000+05:30

Indian athletics plunged into further gloom and embarrassment as news came through on Sunday that S. Santhi, who won the silver medal in the women's 800 metres in the Asian Games, had failed a `gender test' at Doha.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to withdraw the medal from the Indian athlete and was in the process of officially intimating the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Click here for full story

When i was growing up, i often heard statements like "It doesn't matter who wins or loses. It matters how you play the game" Looks like that was just a load of trash since cut throat competition seems to rule the stage.

How far are we willing to go? I mean, sports and games were meant to be means of relaxing after a hard day's work. But with competition on the sports field hotting up (not just olympics or asian games) ; seems that the only time a person rests is when he is 6 feet under.

Chalk one up for the MODERN way of life.

Pesti Cola round 2

2006-12-15T14:15:00.000+05:30

When the CSE went public with "its findings" of pesticide in cola's it was on the front page of almost every newspaper in the country (did i say almost? more like ALL)

Ditto, when the court asked them to reveal their ingredients

Coke and Pepsi told to spill secrets or face ban
INDIA’S highest court yesterday demanded that Coca-Cola should reveal its secret formula for the first time in 120 years.

But yesterday, the Supreme court made a statement during the PIL hearing to the effect "who is asking you to drink it (the colas)? If you have a problem with it, stop buying it!!" The small text of this news article was buried on page 8 of yesterday's Times of India. I thought I would post the whole text here. But guess what???? After half an hour of trying different combinations on google, I still can't get the text.

Am I suprised? I guess not.

Dhoom 2

2006-12-14T15:27:00.000+05:30

I watched this much hyped movie yesterday and I can sum it up as mission impossible + a vin disel movie + Bollywood love masala. Oh. i forgot, you will have to divide it by three to get the average.

I agree that the stunts are awesome from a Bollywood perspective. However, the story line that connects these stunts will leave you scratching your head like an ape. Possibly that is what they expect; you to behave like your most primitive ancestors and go "goo gah" over the skin show that happens. Many scenes in the movie seem to be just fillers in between its stunts, the Hrithik - Aishwarya kiss and the figure revealing costumes. If you want to watch this movie, I would recommend leaving your brains outside the theater.

Guilty until proven innocent???

2006-12-12T17:42:00.000+05:30

Mr Periera and his car crash have been talking points of the media for weeks now. How the cops have been galvanised to action is commendable. But isn't there something called as overdoing it? Judges are also human and can get influenced by the media if they aren't careful. If the judge can go to the extent of making him pay 35,000 to each of the legal heirs of the dead (in addition to a bail bond on 25,000) before the case is tried, isn't it already assumed that he is guilty?

I quote:

The Bombay High Court today granted bail to Alistair Pereira, accused of killing seven persons when he ran his car over them while they were sleeping on the pavement in Bandra on November 12.

The court, which granted bail for a surety of Rs 25,000 to 21-year-old Pereira, directed him to pay compensation of Rs 35,000 each to the heirs of the dead within a week.

Pereira was charged under Section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), while the other five were booked under the Bombay Prohibition Act and released on a bail of Rs 5,000 each.

Full article

Much ado about nothing

2006-12-06T12:41:00.000+05:30

Well, well, well. What have we here?

Rajasthan Chief Minister has come in for scathing criticism from several quarters for posing with Biocon's Kiran Majumdar Shaw in a 'lip lock' position at the India Economic Submit in New Delhi. But what really happened? Was it a deadly embrace in front of the cameras or just some trick photography???

Either way i feel the media and opposition have blow it totally out of proportion. It is her life. She is allowed to do what she wants. Doesn't she? Or as a public figure she has to behave as the masses want her to behave? Those faceless souls who have no life of their own but feed on the ups and downs of celebrity lives.

Lazy britons?

2006-12-02T10:37:00.000+05:30

The Mayor of the London borough of Newham recently made a comment that the Britons are too lazy to work. His comments came as most of the 50,000 jobs created as a result of the 2012 Olympic Games to be held there were being given to foreigners. Not just the ones already in London, but hired in Europe and being brought over.

What relevance does this have to India? Well, his reasoning on why such a situation has occurred is that most people are mediocre in school and then tend to live on the unemployment benefits that the government gives. They are not employable and don’t have the motivation to work or the skills to work. This is a very interesting observation since it states that such schemes along with providing “dignity of living for its citizens” also promotes mediocrity.

Makes one think if reservations in schools and jobs in India which are supposed to “uplift the downtrodden and the marginalized” is really good for India in the long run

Surat - Part I - Autorickshaws

2006-11-29T11:18:00.000+05:30

OK. I know I have spent three months in Surat and no news about the place. So in an attempt to answer this, here goes the first of many posts on the topic.

People used to exorbitant rates for auto rickshaws will love this place. I used to pay 30 rupees in Bangalore to travel distances as short as a km. Here I travelled 12 kms from my residence to the railway station paying only Rs 12.How? Read on.

Running on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), these auto drivers charge you at around 3 rupees a km. It gets better. Tell him you want to travel to a place with “share” system and it goes down to Re 1 a km. It basically works that the auto driver will load “any number” of people moving in the same direction into the rickshaw. All paying at re 1 per km. Usually, they take up to 5 persons in the rick (one person sitting on either side of the driver and three at the back) it works out for the drivers too. However, if you are in a penny pinching mood you can load as many people as you are comfortable with. At one point of time 7 of us have squeezed into a rick. The cops are all too happy to look in the other direction as long as they get their cut. However, come the end of the month and then the share system drops to only three people in the rickshaw as the cops are out with their fine books.

One must be warned though. Auto drivers seldom have their eyes on the road. No. They aren’t looking at the pretty young thing making out on the side of the road with her boyfriend; (more about this in my next post) they are looking for possible customers.

City buses are specimens. In three months here I haven’t seen a single one. But my friend tells me I should be thanking my lucky stars. He had the “experience” of travelling on one. He recalled it as having spit, pan stains etc all over and worth of being preserved as a specimen of the “I don’t give a shit about anybody else” policy. His experience also included an elderly gentleman taking off his shirt to dry it on the bus window as he was sweating so much. Considering that he wasn’t born in the generation of deodorant users, none of us have had the guts to attempt a bus ride again.

With a bus system nearly non existent, the auto rickshaws are crawling all over the place. With disco lights, loud Hindi / gujarati music blaring, etc they come in all hues and colours. But you have to be on your guard. If they realize that you have no idea of the fares or the distance, instances of charging 150 rupees for a 10 to 15 km journey are aplenty. So make sure they don’t take you for a ride in ways other than you intended.

The FIRST

2006-11-20T13:50:00.000+05:30

Over the past one week I have kept hearing the phrase “the FIRST democratic congress in the last 12 years”. I can’t seem to fathom the idea behind “the FIRST”. Wouldn’t it rather be “a democratic congress AFTER a gap of 12 years”? Ahhh…. But that doesn’t sell you see. Artificial hype like this is necessary for the media to survive and maintain its viewer ship ratings. Whatever happened to just presenting the cold, hard facts and letting the viewer form his own opinion? Guess it has got buried under sensationalism that brings in the moolah.

Beauty is only skin deep

2006-11-11T12:19:00.000+05:30

Most people (especially the fairer sex) are very beauty conscious. There have been a lot of studies on people aspiring for model like features. This shows you that model like figures are just that. "Models". Not real.

The first time I did IT

2006-11-09T17:10:00.000+05:30

“The first time I did it!!!” No you pervert. I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about the U.S. advertisements to get voters out of their offices and homes to vote in the mid term congressional elections. As in India voter turn out is very low. So this time they came up with an ad campaign that had celebrities talk about the first time they did “IT”. If that wasn’t enough they had a lottery attached to voting!!! One lucky voter would get a cash prize of $10,000.

Can u go any lower??? To exercise ones franchise and to take part in the democracy of the country we need money and sex???? We can’t take an active part in our “modern civilization” without it having to appeal to our most primitive instincts???

Team players?

2006-11-03T21:49:00.000+05:30

The BCCI has made a statement that the players would be give performance incentives. That their pay would depend on their performance in the match. Does anyone else find this corny??? I mean in a team game like cricket you want to introduce individual incentives? How are you going to stop someone from getting the other person out just because he can continue to play? Or wasting 20 balls to score a half century etc?

seems to me that the BCCI is trying to cover up the fact that they cant select a good team. They can always add and remove players on their performance. And the match fees are incentive enough don't you think??

freedom????

2006-11-02T20:39:00.000+05:30

Had written this sometime back. But worth a read anyway.

There has been a recent furor in the papers about pope benedict the 16th's comments. Certain groups have denounced the statements and called for the killing of all worshippers of the cross.

I say certain groups because I don't believe it is the opinion of all people of the faith. Nor do I believe that they are the representatives of all the people they claim to speak for. The freedom of speech has always been the corner stone of democracy. I agree that even these groups are entitled to freedom of speech. But is it sane for someone to incite murder just for another's opinions?

Women's voices have always been stifled in these nations. Now they are crossing barriers and asking even others to shut up??? And "THE CHAMPIONS OF DEMOCRACY" are saying we are sorry?????? Cant they see the foolishness of allowing these people to dictate terms????

The pope actually went all out to issue and apology???? Heads of state were fence sitting???? Has terrorism become so real that we are afraid to stand up for in front of them???

doesn't this mean that we are slowly degenerating into a civilization where might is right??? One can only hope not. Because as this continues it is the innocents who suffer. (Attacks at churches that weren't even roman catholic)

Really makes one think about where we are headed.

google it

2006-10-01T20:31:00.000+05:30

Google it!!!! I was Orkutting at office. Sound familiar???? I’m sure that for most active internet users this has become a part of their vocabulary. Google that derived its name from Googol, (which was the name given to the highest named number, ten to the power of hundred ) has become an integral part of the World Wide Web. After their search engine which became very popular, Google started with an email service called Gmail. It offered 1GB of storage space that was unimaginable at the time, since most of the other free email service providers were giving hardly around 10MB. Users rushed to obtain Gmail ID’s.

However, this came at a price. There would be content specific advertisements (ads) next to the mail. A lot of hue and cry was made about Google being able to go through our “personal” mail. When Google released a statement that it would be done by filters and not human intervention most of the privacy debates subsided.

After this technology was tweaked, it transformed into ads at sites. A web site administrator could add code to his site that would perform the same function as delivering content specific ads. To promote its use the administrator was given a percentage of the profits which the site generated for Google. Earlier only very popular sites would get paid advertisements. Now it was open to everyone. With the advent of the blog craze, Google ads began appearing everywhere.

Then came Orkut. An online community which has everyone hooked for its ease of use and aesthetic appearance. A networking site whose popularity has grown in leaps and bounds.

“Yeah, yeah!! I know all this. What is your point?? Where are you going with all this?” well, as I was thinking about the popularity of these and many more Google products a strange idea passed through my head. That of Big Brother is Watching you. I know this may sound crazy. But humor me for sometime. Suppose, heaven forbid, some scrupulous person was to become the head of Google. What would be the amount of personal information that he would have about us?

I mean, I was recently invited to join a program on the net where every click you make surfing the web generates money for charitable causes. You guessed it right, it’s a Google venture. Now one wonders what they would gain out of doing this. I know it is said that they will gain good will. And that the agreement says that they won’t collect any identifiable data. But just for a second assume that one person who wrote the code is. He would know whatever we do on the web. He would be able to see what are friends think of us and what we think of them (Orkut). He would know about the correspondence that we share with our friends and relatives (gmail). He would know how we respond to advertisements at sites we visit. He would be able to understand our personal choices and what affects us the most. Pretty much everything that makes us who we are. Our decisions, choices and preferences are out there. In other words our whole virtual profile is out there and can be potentially exploited.

Am I insane??? Ok. Let me put it this way. Many of us have used Google Earth or heard about it. It can show us any place on Earth in fine detail. This includes our military and naval bases. The American government forced them to remove the white house from Google Earth and many governments followed the precedent. But I myself have seen the whole layout of the Rastrapathi Bhavan (The President of India’s official residence) and the two houses of parliament. It may not be available to the general public now. But say it is still available to a select few. Say maybe me. Imagine then if I were also able to find a way to show every person on this map. I could pretty much have everyone under my thumb

Not really you say. There are other modes of communication like phones. Ok. So what I will do is I will offer a service where people get a percentage of my profits for calls received by them on such phones. Won’t a majority of the people opt for this???? Also supposing I were to offer a banking service that provides superior services and lesser charges. I could then have the financial details of a huge number of people too.

Sound too much like a work of fiction???

Well, let me redefine my assumptions then. What if the scrupulous person were the government? Recently I have seen people give up more and more of their rights. In the war on terror, one can be detained for an unlimited period of time for being a suspected militant. Companies have to cough up confidential information like bank statements of people. Reporters are made to reveal their confidential sources “in the interest of public safety” by court orders. One can be made to undergo a strip search at the airport for “suspicious” behaviour. Freedom of speech has been curtailed for fear of violent repercussions.

Am I being paranoid? I am not sure But when I think of it, Google has expanded so much into so many different important spaces that it is unsettling. We used to rely on other human beings for information on various products and places. Now we look it up on the net. Our human relations are being reduced to the bare minimum for the emotional aspect that has yet to be duplicated. More and more people are looking at the internet for doing everything in their lives. This includes education, classes, novels, movies, reviews, shopping, banking etc. It could reach a critical level that without the internet we would be at a loss of how to go about things. In such a scenario I shudder to think of what the consequences of one group having a controlling interest in every ones lives could do.

Still sound like fiction?? Well let us hope it remains so.

Noa Haviv

2006-09-25T21:03:00.000+05:30

You haven't heard of Noa Haviv???? Well guess u haven't been following the papers recently. There are rumors of her being tried for conspiracy to her being a secret agent.

for the uninitiated she got into a El - Al flight from Israel to India. She got out of the flight. Cleared customs and security and went to the jet airways counter for her onward flight. There the security person sounded the alarm as there was a clip of bullets in her suitcase. Today's paper claims that the ammunition is legally registered to her brother. She had "borrowed" his suitcase, dumped her clothes in it and had no idea about it.

While there are lots of angles being discussed one point has been skipped in all articles I have read. HOW DID SHE MANAGE TO CLEAR CUSTOMS AND SECURITY while boarding and disembarking??? I mean after 9/11 we had a bunch of "extra security measures" that make us have to report an "extra' hour in advance. So is this to say that the extra security measures are all an eye wash? That they are plainly harassing us in the name of security? I mean, my dad's suitcase was broken because he had locked it when traveling from USA to India. Supposedly "for the security of all on board".

Makes one wonder doesn't it??

link to article 1

link to article 2

lagae raho munnabhai

2006-09-22T19:36:00.000+05:30

After a lot of delays we were really determined to watch this movie that has been so talked about. I'm generally not a fan of prequels because they fail to live up to the original. It is usually cashing in on the fame and name of the first.

But i was presently suprised to watch the movie. The script is amazing. I rank it as one of my favorites. I mean, how easy would it be to come up with a script that is hilarious but still delivers a social message? It is really amazing. I was reminded of the tamil movie Annyan. However, since i hardly know any tamil i could just about follow the course of the movie with the help of some tamil speaking friends.

The movie is a must watch. It has awoken people to gandhi once again. There are reports of gandhi clubs spouting all over the place. Whether you like gandhi or just a good laugh I highly recommend the movie.

Pyar Ke side effects

2006-09-18T20:15:00.000+05:30

Ok. One week in Gujarat and after daily training from 9 to 5 (which includes catching the company bus at 8 and similarly returning at 6) we needed a break. So we all went to the theater to watch Munna Bhai – Lagae Raho. But since it was a Sunday and it’s a big hit, we didn’t manage to get tickets. Thus we ended up at a Pritish Nandy production “Pyar Ke Side Effects”.

Starring Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat, the movie line is predictable and seemed to have borrowed heavily from “Meet the Parents” (Robert De Niro, Teri Polo and Ben Stiller – 2000). Though Mallika’s acting leaves a lot to be desired it was an amazing adult comedy. It had us rolling over the aisles. This is totally a guy’s perspective. I’m not sure if the fairer sex will find it as hilarious. It may not be worth a 100 or 150 buck ticket, but it still is a bundle of laughs.

A much ado about stem cells

2006-09-06T23:41:00.000+05:30

Since time immemorial people have always dreamed of living on, of becoming immortal. Stem cell research has been directed towards this dream. Of being able to cure diseases like Alzimers, ParkinsonÂs, nerve damage etc, that are fatal (at least for the time being).

While the debate rages on about how ethical the practice of storing stem cells I cant help but wonder about this cycle of diseases and cures.

Around ten years ago TB(tuberculosis) was the number one killer. It was fatal to those who contracted it. Cancer and AIDS weren't even heard of then. When we cured TB, cancer took over as the leading killer and more and more people succumbed to it. Now as we "control" and "cure" cancer with chemotherapy and broad spectrum drugs, AIDS has gained more victims. I feel that however much we try to evade this disease and that disease nature will always find a way to keep the population in check.

If anything, this will just increase the gulf between the haves and the have nots. And some other disease will come up that will attack the "haves". When we are born, we have already been sentenced to die. Sooner or later we WILL bite the dust.

The philosophers of old mentioned that men will come and go. But stories of their exploits; their words and deeds will endure. While we spend huge amounts into research to combat diseases, maybe we should learn to spend some time in simple things like making a difference in the lives of people around us.

Healthy paranoia?

2006-08-29T16:55:00.000+05:30

It so happens that a bunch of family friends come down from the US of A and we go out for lunch. As we are ordering, the waiter asks whether we want "mineral water" or ordinary water. Now ordinarily, ordinary water is fine. But no. We need "mineral water". When it comes it is religiously put into glasses and drunk for good etiquette. Wait a sec. Were these glasses washed in "mineral water"? Yeah. I guess so. Tap water in India should have lots of dissolved minerals in them!!!!!

Have we gone a little too far with this safe, clean, healthy meals? I mean, look at a daily wage labourer digging the side of the road. The construction site labourers. Muscular and fit. Working in the sun for hours together and back at work the next day. Do they even know what a balanced meal is? Do they have any idea what proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates are? Yet, I believe they have more strength and stamina than we "healthy" people who complain of having to sit for eight hours at work.

2006-08-12T02:05:00.000+05:30

George Galloway Vs. Sky News - SKY NEWS KO'D!!!

The media has always been a means of generating and moulding public opinion. "Who will gaurd the guards? " is an often asked question. Biased reporting has been a problem for a long time. Sky news had this one coming and boy, oh boy, GG really knocked out this pathetic reporter

Pesti cola

2006-08-04T21:11:00.000+05:30

Head for the hills!!!! The aliens have landed !!! They seek to wipe out our entire race by poisoning our most widely consumed brands!!!!!!!!!

Thats the kind of impression one would get if you were to read into the news reports on how there has been an increase in the amount of pesticides in Pepsi and Coke over the last three years. I mean, the way it was being reported made me visualize a big vat where these people are making a big cocktail of these pesticides and then spraying it into each bottle before it left the factory!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds ridiculous? Yes it is ridiculous. A normal cola has water, sugar, carbon dioxide and essence. Logically, if they aren't spraying a pesticide cocktail into the drink, it has to come from the raw materials. So where does that leave us?? The ground water and the water used to make sugar cane (from which we get the sugar) has much higher levels of pesticides.

Hence the CSE and citizens like us should first find out what is the pesticide content of the water that is being supplied to us.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post is dedicated to my bro-in-law as it is the result of a conversation with him.

Chupa rustum

2006-07-28T18:30:00.000+05:30

Well, well, well. I switch on NDTV 24x7 today at 5:30 pm and i see a new program called chupa rustum happening. Expecting to see something like the political satire (called the great indian tamasha or double take) that they run i watch it.

What do i see? i see a remake of MTV bakra in action. This guy goes out with a scooter that doesnt have a stand or petrol. He asks a passerby to hold it (as it doesnt have a stand) while he goes to pick up some petrol. The quick five minutes turns into more than an hour and there is still no sign of the guy. When the guy decides he has had enough and wants to leave he comes around trying to get him to HELP him out for some more time. Only when the guy is fed up does he admit that he is on candid camera.

Well, for myself, i would rather suffer the fires of hell for the rest of my life for not helping a person in need, rather than be made a laughing stock on national telivision. Not to mention the waste of my valuable time.

24 hour news channels were a bad idea from the start. But when reporters star acting like Cyrus Broacha one wonders where we are headed towards.

BOMB - BAY

2006-07-13T16:27:00.000+05:30

I was reading a friends blog and he asked what can we do about terrorist attacks.

It is actually kind of funny. Because every time I hear about some attack like this, I hear about security being beefed up and all that. why couldn’t that be done earlier? does it take a disaster to show us what a farce our “security” system is? And if security is beefed up how does it help after the attack has been committed? are they going to attack the same place again?

What is the point in putting security at Bombay airport on red alert? shouldn’t they always be on high alert? If terrorists were going to attack they are going to give us 8 warning blasts and then launch an attack on the airport?

Is it just a sham to make us feel that "the government is doing everything in its power to ensure that the innocent people are safe?"

One common excuse mentioned is that security guards are human. they get bored by the routine nature of work. Then why don’t you do something about it? keep mock drills or something to keep them on their toes. Give incentives for being found alert and punish for being slack. The traditional carrot and stick approach.

This is what the security forces SHOULD be doing in the first place. It is their duty. And if they are slacking it is because we are slack in pulling them up when they don’t do their duty. After a major attack there is the usual transfer of officials, to Timbuktu and other God forsaken places. Is that enough? I feel it is a eye wash. Nobody is asking for how long is the transfer. One week later the person maybe back in another plush job and the public is none the wiser.

We shrink from doing what we should. Come elections and even though a holiday is declared at most workplaces, the turnout at election booths is poor. Elections seem to be won by the lack of ballots ‘against’ rather than that ‘for’ the candidate.

What can we do you ask? I say we have everything to do with it. We are the ones who complain that the system is flawed but are too lazy or scared to do anything about it. We are the ones who think that terrorism is the governments problem and not ours. When the terrorists attacked the world trade centre what did we do? when they attacked the London subway what did we do? Now that it has come to Bombay what are we doing? We are the ones who are not bothered about it, till it affects us. It is this careless attitude of ours that has cost us lives. Their blood is on all our hands, but we prefer to live in blissful ignorance till it takes something dear to us.

Are we ready to wake up?

An expected Nuclear attack!!!!???

2006-07-11T22:46:00.000+05:30

Though i wish i this post were mine, i actually got it from a friend of mine.

During the Cold War, if USA launched a nuke-loaded missile, Soviet satellites would inform the Soviet army in 3 seconds and in less than 5 seconds Soviet counter missiles would be on their way.This was their scenario.................

But if there is a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistan army decides to launch a nuke-missile towards India.

They don't need any permission from their government, and promptly order the countdowns.

Indian technology is highly advanced.

In less than 8 seconds, Indian army detects the Pak Countdown and decides to launch a missile in retribution.

But they need permission from the Government of India.

They submit their request to the Indian President. The President forwards it to the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister calls an emergency Lok Sabha session. The LS meets, but due to several walkouts and severe protests by the opposition, it gets adjourned and adjourned indefinitely.

The President asks for a quick decision.

In the mean time, the Pak missile failed to take off due to technical failure. Their attempts for a relaunch are still on.

Just then the Indian ruling party is reduced to a minority because a party that was giving outside support withdraws it.

The President asks the PM to prove his majority within a week.

As the ruling party fails to win the confidence vote, a caretaker government is installed.

The caretaker PM decides to permit the armed forces to launch a nuclear missile.

But the Election Commission says that a caretaker government can not take such a decision because elections are at hand.

A Public Interest Litigation is filed in the Supreme Court alleging misuse of power by the Election Commission.

The Supreme Court comes to the rescue of the PM, and says the acting PM is authorized to take this decision in view of the emergency facing the nation.

Just then one of the Pak missiles successfully took off, but it fell 367 miles away from the target, on its own government building at 11.00AM.

Fortunately there were no casualties as no employee had reached the office that early.

In any case, the nuclear core of the missile had detached somewhere in flight.

The Pakistan army is now trying to get better technologies from China and USA.

The Indian Government, taking no chances, decides to launch a nuclear missile of its own, after convening an all-party meeting.

This time all the parties agree.

Its three months since the army had sought permission. But as preparations begin, "pro-humanity", "anti-nuclear" activists come out against the Government's decision.

Human chains are formed and Rasta rokos organised.

In California and Washington endless e-mails are sent to Indians like Kalingaa and all of you, condemning the government and mentioning "Please forward it to as many Indians as possible".

On the Pakistan side, the missiles kept malfunctioning. Some missiles deviate from target due to technical failures or high-speed wind blowing over Rajasthan.

Many of them land in the Indian Ocean killing some fishes.

A missile (smuggled from USA) is pressed into service.

Since the Pakistan army is unable to understand its software, it hits its original destination: Russia .

Russia successfully intercepts the missile and in retaliation launches a nuclear missile towards Islamabad.

The missile hits the target and creates havoc.

Pakistan cries for help. India expresses deep regrets for what has happened and sends in a million dollars worth of Parle-G biscuits.

Thus India never gets to launch the missile.

Pakistan never gets it right.

And

we live happily ever after!!!!

Zidane controversy

2006-07-10T02:08:00.000+05:30

Ok. If u weren’t watching the match live like I just did, u will probably see it some time soon. I predict that this is going to be played over and over and over again on international telivision.

Zidane, who has long since announced that he wont play football after the world cup, just executed a amazing stroke. He is going to have people talking about this for weeks to come. It will get him more publicity than what he has had over his whole career. And if he refuses to come clean about it soon after the match, his autobiography will be a bestseller.

Looks like I’m doing just what he expects everyone to do. Howl over it and gain him even more publicity.

electricity

2006-07-09T00:27:00.000+05:30

I switched on the news to day to find people in Delhi breaking into a power distribution station and setting cables on fire to protest against the power cuts that have been occurring in India’s capital. People are complaining that what kind of capital is it, if power cuts like these happen.

I couldn’t help but wonder, have we become dependent on electricity so much that we cant live without it? I know that when I don’t have power at home and I’m without my computer, I become extremely fidgety. I feel uncomfortable not having a computer that’s playing music. So I switch on my mobile phone that can store and playback mp3’s. Why, just the other day, at 12:50 AM power in our apartments went. When the generator did not come on for 15 minutes, I walked down 10 floors (as the lifts don’t work without power) to find the watchman sleeping. Boy, did he get a piece of my mind.

Electricity has so become a part of our lives that we have almost taken it for granted. Can you imagine life without electricity? Imagine that for a day, there is no power anywhere in the world. Our cell phone batteries and laptop batteries would die and we wouldn’t be able to recharge them. That would mean that all the contacts that we have stored wouldn’t be accessible. No computers to work on and get the data either. No share markets to trade on. No lights to do any work after sunset. No television!!!! No telephone lines working. No mixers, grinders, microwaves to help with the cooking. No lifts to carry us up the multistory buildings we have built.

Hold on. We have generators and inverters. Yes???

What happens if they are also destroyed? How long do u think we will survive if all over the world we don’t have sewage treatment plants, water purifiers, hospital services that depend on electricity?

Do u think I’m being paranoid? That such a thing cannot possibly happen? Well, think again after reading this article and this one

Makes you want to think about what things in life are really valuable.

edit: another interesting link

knee jerk reaction?

2006-07-04T10:00:00.000+05:30

Some time back an uncle of mine was in a bad accident. It resulted in him being paralyzed from the neck down. In the following weeks, as news slowly spread among family and friends, we got a number of calls from well wishers. While a few offered to help in their own small way, most were at a loss for words and just said that they would pray for him. As a way of offering support, people who seldom talk about God and were in the least bit religious were promising to offer prayers on his behalf to God.

It made me ponder over what my science teacher, in primary school, once told us. He said that what man couldn’t explain, he attributed to God. Our ancestors are believed to have worshipped fire, rain, solar eclipses, volcano eruptions, lightening etc to various Gods and their activities because they were at a loss to explain them scientifically.

Does this hold true even today? Do we remember God only in times of need or difficulty? Or is God the name for the unknown? For a power that we are yet to understand completely? Or is God an excuse when we feel inadequate in dealing with certain situations?

Thoughts like these keep recurring in my mind. So I would like your opinion. Also, if such a calamity were to befall someone you know, how would you go about consoling them or helping them out?

ant and the grasshopper

2006-06-13T00:56:00.000+05:30

Got this from my sis

The modern version of ant and the grasshopper

The old esop fable:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MODERN VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

BBC, CNN, EURO-NEWS, NDTV, FOX NEWS show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper.

Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Bush Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by BBC,CNN, AAJ TAK and NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice".

Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly...

Got The Answer...???

YES... You Got It Right...

Some call it RESERVATION n some call it QUOTA!

The nonsense file

2006-05-30T23:50:00.000+05:30

Well, here I am watching the news and I see the court telling the students to stop striking, ministers telling the students to stop agitating, the Prime Minister and President of India appealing to people to stop agitating .................. But I don’t see anyone telling Arjun Singh to stop talking nonsense!!!!

Why do I call it nonsense???

He says we will make it 50% reservation. When we strike he says we will increase the number of seats so that the general merit students are not losing out. New seats are being created, but we are told that "NO!!! You can't have that seat. Its reserved." So if we aren’t losing out who is?

We complained that the quality of education would decline, he says he will hire more staff. Well, I have a different opinion. I have personally seen in my branch, back in KREC/NITK that even though we have a sanctioned staff of X members, we are much below that value, since the GOVERNMENT HASN'T GIVEN THE GO AHEAD TO ADVERTISE for those vacancies. I'm not talking about a week or a month. I'm talking of it being delayed for more than a YEAR.

Also, the original constitution envisioned only ten years of reservation to help the lower castes escape the atrocities that had been committed towards them. This has been extended for more than 50 years now. If it hasn't been possible in 5 times the set time limit, isn't it a valid point that the whole idea itself is inherently flawed???

However, I have a larger complain. Over the last few weeks of this controversy, I have seen thousands of chain letters and article FORWARDED against this reservation. But, I haven't seen this translate into more people actively working against this. Does our responsibility end with saying, no this is wrong???????

I see a lot of communities springing up all over the place like its the dot com boom. Everyone is saying this is wrong, we will do this, we will do that. But are we going to be able to sustain this???? I see medical students taking on the ridiculous policy, but I hardly see any engineering students take part in this. Are we also not going to be affected by this??? Or are we just going to sit back and say, no I’m on holiday, I’m not going to ruin my vacation on it???

Our very future is at stake and we say to hell with it, let me enjoy my holidays??? This, I believe, is the very reason why our country is going to the dogs. We expect divine intervention to sort out all our problems.

Arise, my friends. Its still not to late. Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.

The Generation Awakes?

2006-05-15T19:59:00.000+05:30

Sometime back I watched an amazing movie called Rang De Basanti by Omprakash Mehra. I'm sure many of you would have too. Considering that it was one of the hit films this year catch line rang "The Generation Awakes" and I believed that it was just that. A catch line. Where will any one of us take on our politician?

Well, I guess am not the only one. Come elections and I have seen my own friends say, who will go and stand in the hot sun to vote? What will my one vote do? Elections? I haven't even enlisted myself on the electoral rolls. Let alone waste my time choosing between The Devil and The Deep Sea.

Guess as we sow, so shall we reap. Since we are not willing to clean up the mess, its only getting messier. Though everyone is busy playing politics in his or her own small way, no one is interested in entering mainstream politics that decides the fate of our billion strong country. Thus we ended up with a political "LEADER" coming up with the reservation of 50% of the seats in the IIM's and IIT's.

The furore that this has caused is amazing. Suddenly students everywhere seem to have woken up to defend our coveted portals of higher education. The demonstrations, the articles, the slogans, the interviews its mind boggling. Has the generation finally woken up? Our we going to try the clean up this mess in the corridors of power? Or am I just getting carried away by the media hype that I, oh so recently, criticized? I hope it is the former. I dream that maybe we can recreate the situation in Nepal where the autocratic rule was brought to its knees by a powerful public outcry. Or am I just dreaming ????

P.S. If you would like to check out what you could do to help, u might want to take a look at project coffee

Media Hype

2006-05-11T13:16:00.000+05:30

Have u ever noticed how every disaster "Is the WORST EVER disaster to occur since *insert a period of time here*"? Do they fully comprehend the meaning of EVER?

I find it ironic when the media complains that people have become insensitive to the suffering of others. Tell me, everydays headlines talks about so many people have died, so many people injured, so many people killed etc etc and u expect them to react?

With 24 hour news channels having nothing to show and competing with a thousand other channels haven't they ended up losing the essence of what they are? I mean, they are supposed to be the watchdogs of the society and the ones forming public opinion. But right now they seem to be only interested in ratings, gaining a greater audience and hence greater revenues.

Front pages of newspapers showing starving kids and mutilated bodies. Is that what we wish to get up to? Start each morning with the horrors of the world we live in?? Wouldn't it be better if we got up to news of how someone helped making the world better? Some act of courage or bravery? Inspiring stories rather than depressing ones?

I'm not saying don't report whats happening. Just present it better. With these pictures of dead terrorists buried deep inside a paper or at the end of a broadcast ( why have pics at all?). Can't we have stuff like Readers Digest's Everyday Heros or people trying to make a difference? Am i asking for too much???

edit: A friend of mine sent me a link to another blog that has a related post.

mundane musings

2006-05-07T21:33:00.000+05:30

Passing out of the county's "top colleges" in three weeks and thinking what were the people who gave this ranking thinking?

Its been 4 years of lots of ups and downs. Its been filled with interaction with a wide cross section of people. From Kashmir to ........"yada yada yada". But what have i learnt?????

Well. If u allow every Tom, Dick and Harry to put meaningless nonsense into your head, your going to end up worse than a robot.Most of the stuff in the syllabus can easily be accessed at any time from the internet. But there have been the exceptional gurus who have taught me to think. To think, to create my own own thoughts and to confidantly express them. And what better way than to blog????