eXPerience called L!FE

...Contd from the last post

2007-12-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

2.6 billion USD was spent on the last general elections in India that happened in 2004. How does the President of CPI-M, have the audacity/guts/balls to say to the Prime Minister of the country that either quit discussing nuclear deal or face elections in the beginning of 2008?

These people are allowed to spend tax payers money so that they come to Delhi and stay there for 5 years building the country. One, they are not building the country and second, they don’t even want to stay there for 5 years. The Indian constitution should probably be amended to include that if any political party forms a coalition and comes into power, either they stay there for 5 years or reimburse the total spending of the elections. This is the only way of ensuring stability of Governments in our country. I don’t think a common man (who voted for CPI-M) even knows about the deal (or what is the CPI-M objection to it) or even wants another election. I am sure everyone would enjoy another day of holiday (or would they, at this cost?).

It’s such an irony in my country. Everyone takes things for granted. The best case practice is Mr. Narendra Modi. The whole country knows that he is wrong, yet no one does or can do anything. Last weeks, I have followed the reports on election campaigns in Gujarat. From banning movies of an actor because he supported a drive against the state government (don’t know what happened to freedom of speech here) to openly announcing that killing a person in broad daylight/encounter (maybe fake) was fair and if someone thinks otherwise, can hang him for it. The best thing this guy could do was to walk out of an interview when being asked about the Gujarat riots of 2002. And let’s not even talk about the political gibberish these guys talk about almost humiliating each other publicly.

Is this the kind of example we are setting for the young generation?

While writing this, I just saw the RSS feed that Taslima Nasreen (an estranged Bangladeshi writer in asylum in India since 1994) has been asked to either stay in Delhi (and not go out in public) or leave India. This is what led to the situation:
11 people were killed in police firing at Nandigram in West Bengal (ruled by CPI – Communist Party of India). The casualty, West Bengal’s worst in 30 years of Left Front rule, left the state stunned. Till today, the army is uncovering graves near Nandigram believed to have human remains from the massacre. In Calcutta, angry mobs burnt over a dozen vehicles in protest against the developments in Nandigram, and the continued presence in the city of Taslima Nasreen. Some believe that Taslima’s issue was raised by the Government as a cover up for Nandigram and the events that were unfolding in the last months. To give another controversial issue to think about was enough for people to forget Nandigram. So the writer was asked to leave Calcutta because of security reasons and sent to Jaipur, only to be sent to Delhi from there the next day.

No wonder, the Tourism department changed the slogan from ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is God) to !ncredible India. Sure, there is no other word to describe the Rising (or did you read Shining) & resurgent India of today.

I feel sorry for the state of affairs of our great nation. No, actually, I AM ANGRY. VERY ANGRY. No, I don’t want to vote in the next elections, whether they are early next year or in 2 years time. I remember about 8 years ago, during a family dinner, general election was one of the discussion points. The conclusion was – we have right people in the wrong party, and wrong people in the right party.

Today, I think there are no right parties or right people, we just have political parties who bend their backs to gain power (no respect for their own values) and people who go against their own parties if given power. It’s much like the call centre street in Bangalore where the young execs do job hopping every month to get an extra 100 rupees, without worrying about company loyalty or aligning individual values and vision with company values and vision.

We are building a great nation. Indeed. And thanks for leading the way, dear politicians.

2007 - Sum up 1

2007-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

2007, for me will be remembered as the year of Politics. I have tried not to show disgust on the current state of affairs, but sometimes it’s just too much and the frustration has to be vented on someone, something, somewhere…

If you just start reflecting on some of the significant elections (complete list) that have taken place in this year, there is Ukraine, France, Belgium, Russia, Pakistan, Argentina and Gujarat (in India).

Now, I don’t know much about most of these countries and there is no point in copy/pasting from web pages, hence I will not comment on some of them.

Belgium (I am currently living here) – It’s been 6 months since election and no government has been formed yet. Reason – The Flemish and Waloon can’t agree on common terms and hence the dispute. The current dispute is complicated - how should an electoral district which includes suburban Flanders and parts of Brussels be split up between the country's Flemish and French-speaking political parties?

Pakistan – The least said the better. This is how a friend has been blogging about the Emergency and post Emergency events. I remember a conversation in my office, when one of the EU lobbyist asked me about what I thought on Emergency in Pakistan. My sincere answer was that I don’t care. There is nothing new in it for me. What will happen eventually is that a new judiciary (Musharraf’s men) would be set up. Musharraf would become President again and Benny Bhutto (love this name for her) would become PM. The last part still has to unfold though. Fingers crossed.

Russia (I lived there couple of years ago) – The biggest shocker. Not the results, but the drama before it. BBC and CNN, out rightly showed how Russia was not developing because of Putin’s government. A friend had these thoughts on the same “People may say what they want- Russia has been growing. I also don’t understand those political games. Putin put himself into the list of United Russia party. That's ok. He is finishing his president term. He can’t apply for 3rd term. So what should he do? Being a part of Duma, lower chamber of Parliament, he still will be in control and ruling Russia, yeap, in different ways. There are lots of things being said now in Russia. But more than 50% voted for United Russia! Many many people believe in Putin.” And it’s a fact, no matter how good or bad (I think bad overall) the country is growing and developing.

Argentina – Christina Fernandez took over from her husband as the President of the country. Guess Hilary Clinton should go and take some advices from her.

India – When I talk about India, I don’t mean that there was any national election, I am just generally referring to the “politics” part of it all. So you take the Indo-US nuclear deal (Explained here for a layman) in a jar, add some people from CPI-M (Communist Party of India- Marxist), definitely add some of those honcho’s from BJP – who since losing elections don’t have anything to do except oppose anything NDA (read Congress) proposes, and shake it all up. What you get is a disheartened Prime Minister, who doesn’t have support within his team and for sure outside it. How the hell is he supposed to develop India???????

...to be continued

Due...

2007-12-12T01:13:00.000-08:00

A big post is due from my end...and it would be here before the week finishes.

Arghh

2007-10-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Bored and Tired, today

2007-09-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Breaking the tradition, i am making a second post in as many days. But couldnt resist posting these news feeds from Indian news channels, which today are highlighting the same thing i mentioned in my blog yesterday.

NDTV Correspondent
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 (New Delhi)
Chak de has become the theme song for victory but while the cricket team is basking in its glory the hockey team feels orphaned.Upset at the step-motherly treatment meted out to the Indian hockey players by the central and state governments compared to the rewards lavished on the cricket team some members of the Indian hockey team have decided to go on a hunger strike.Chief Coach of the national team Joaquim Carvalho asked "Why are our hockey players being treated like orphans and why are our politicians biased against hockey, the national game?"

So is the resentment of the hockey players justified? While the cricket team won cash rewards and luxury cars, the hockey team that won Asia Cup got a paltry in comparison.For winning the Asian cup each player got Rs 50,000 and an incentive of Rs 1,000 for every goal scored and Rs 2,000 fine for every goal conceded.

CNN IBN had a similar story

"I am okay with cricketers winning. I am proud of their achievements but where were the state governments when we won the Asia Cup? I am upset about that," a visibly upset Carvalho said on Wednesday.

Formula Chak De

2007-09-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

It all started when i walked out of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. There standing on the right side of Exit was a McLaren car, just next to a Vodafone shop. That was enough to announce that it was the Grand Prix weekend in Istanbul. I have followed F1 for about 4 years now, but nothing seemed more exciting then being in a city where F1 was happening. Throughout the bus ride (1.45 hours) going from one part of Istanbul to the other, F1 flags, banners, posters, hoardings kept me excited.

Add to that, saturday evening ING brought a Renault car to the venue along with a realtime simulator. I dont know how many delegates were excited about it, i was. And i gave in to the temptation of getting a picture done.

Unfortunately, couldnt watch the race. But was happy to hear that Massa won. Or rather was more happy to hear that Alonso didnt win. I dont know what is it about Alonso, that makes me hate him.

Back in Belgium and its time for Belgian Grand Prix. I had asked a friend from Bridgestone to arrange tickets if possible. Lady luck shined on me and Spa Francorchamps became a reality. Although was a little sad that we couldnt manage tickets for the race itself, but only for the Qualifying on saturday. But trust me, even that was amazing specially as it was followed by a Formula 2 race. I didnt in my wildest dreams had imagined that those cars are THAT loud. They are just simply LOUD. You can hear every gear change as if a fire cracker is bursting nearby. Listening to cars slow down at the curve and then pick up speed - 4 gears changed by each car, was just AWESOME.

Kimi won the race the next day, Alonso didnt.

And then came the Ferrarigate controversy. And by the time it finished, Alonso was right there in the middle of it. All have voiced their anger at the double world champion’s attempted blackmailing of McLaren team boss Ron Dennis and have echoed sentiments that were he to win the championship this year, it would be a sad day for Formula 1. In just a couple of years Alonso has transformed himself into a self-centred egomaniac. It has almost brought down the entire team.

Anyone should win the championship but Alonso.

Two days ago watched the recent bollywood hit "Chak De India". Brilliant movie. Shah Rukh Khan has done another great movie after Swades. And the girls team has done justice to their roles. The movie was brilliant because it showed the root cause behind India's degradation in hockey. The system. The good thing about the story was that it was not about a 'hero' singlehandedly changing the system. It had its moments of patriotism and it had its moments where hockey players find themselves lost in a country of cricket fans. All said and done, i think Chak de India, has been a great effort to bring hockey in some limelight in India. This is the first movie by Bollywood talking about a sport, which has stayed in the school books as the National Sport of India.

I dont know when will Mr. Gill will finally hand in his resignation. Or someone in the Government comes to his/her senses and throws him out.

The only thing which could kill the passion for hockey generated by the movie, was India winning the Cricket Twenty20 World Cup. Suddenly, out of nowhere India defeated Pakistan to win the championship. Great performance. Great team effort (rarity). Great passion. Brought cricket fans back to their TV sets for a busy season ahead. And money is pouring in for the players. From BCCI to state governments everyone is pouring in cash rewards, and all those 20 somethings are getting richer by the hour.

I wish someone would have given some rewards to those 'men in blue' who play with sticks and brought the Asia cup recently to India. But i guess that's too optimistic.

Ramblings

2007-08-12T02:10:00.000-07:00

Got up on this Sunday morning and instantly switched on BBC to check whats going on in the world. Yes, i still prefer TV to Internet for this. Anyways, what was on was a program called 'Hunting Hezbollah'. Since, my knowledge about this particular topic and that region overall is quite restricted i kinda decided to watch the program and postpone the morning rituals.

As an Indian, i am a Israel supporter as Israel and India have always been allies when it came to Military power and counter terrorism activities. I have always heard that Israel is so strong/powerful/cool that it is surrounded by Islamic countries yet is it managing to hold its fort. For such a long time.

I discovered the contradictory part of it some months back when i was talking to a lebanese girl (AIESEC member) in Brussels while on an apartment hunting spree. I dont know why but i asked her the question about her thoughts on Israel and Lebanon conflict. I should have guessed the answer even before asking it. If anyone would ask me on India and Pakistan conflict, what would i say.

Another time some weeks ago, (again on a sunday morning) me and Katya got into the discussion of Middle East as she had recently visited Armenia and shared space and time with people from Iran. Some of her questions to me, challenged my views on the region again. And some of them actually brought me to the same conclusion as the conclusion of the program today.

There were a lot of contradicting points in the program regarding the Lebanese goverment, Hezbollah as the single largest party, Guerrilas of Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, the UN peace keeping force and then of course Israel and the US. As all of these war driven program, this one also showed how civilians had died in the recent fighting. It also showed a Hezbollah leader claiming that the preparation for the next war is on in full swing.

The person who was taking the journalist around Lebanon asked a few interesting questions to the journalist, specially "If US supports Israel by giving 10 billion dollars every year, why cant Iran support us?", "If you are not with us, you are against us, is this policy of US fair?"
The journalist didnt have answers to these questions. I dont either. And i am not searching for it. I still dont know too much about the region or about the problem at hand. My only concern is, why does the discussion always stop on USA. Or why there are unanswered questions on US.

Later, went online to IBNLive to check on whats happening in India and found out a series on the 10 moments in the last 60 years which shaped today's India.

1. Gandhi's assasination
2. The making of the Indian Constitution
3. First General Elections
4. The division of the states
5. Nuclear tests
6. Imposition of Emergency
7. Mandal Commission report
8. Demolition of Babri Masjid (Mosque)
9. 1983 Cricket World Cup win
10. Economic Liberalization in 1991

Looking back at India, i can only say that in 60 years of self rule, India has truly become a super power in the global arena. I am proud of being an Indian. Totally agree, that there are lots of flaws that still need to be rectified, but India as a nation is 60 years YOUNG today. And we should wait till it celebrates its 100th birthday.

What do you get..

2007-06-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

If you add 10 hours of work for 5 days, FY ending - so too much to finish off, no physical activity apart from 2 hours of salsa, food options getting limited to pasta and pizza and sandwich and durum (oh what would i do without them), soggy weather, and she was travelling.

1 Tired Body.

Bring on the Birthday dinner and then the farewell party tonight. Bring on the cricket bats and pads during the weekend. I have had enough of lazyness and bad weather. I am gonna have fun.

This is what came today

2007-06-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Celebrating 10 years of Success

Naukri.com, India's No 1 Job Site has over 48 offices nationwide and a strong team of 1,200 people who work round the clock to address the needs of both, job seekers and recruiters.

Tip of the week:
Don't miss out on great job offers. Keep your
Resume Details Updated

Yeah, it took them 10 years to give such an amazing tip.

Guess, i am back to scribbling on my blog.....

Want a breather

2007-03-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

Just want sometime for myself...a few days.

Lot has been happening and its keeping me constantly busy and occupied. I thought the concert celebrating 50 years of European Union featuring Scorpions, Lou Bega, las ketchup and the rest would be a good breather, BUT it turned out to be highly disappointing.

Have met some good people over the last weeks as i participated in a reception weekend in a small city called Mons. And later during the concert and an activity called brussels in pictures. Though i didnt participate in the event itself (read the reason below) but went to meet some friends after the event. By the way, after 1 and a half months here, finally managed to eat Chocolate Waffles. Frankly, i dont think they are as great as people say, but i want to try it at a few more places before i make a final decision.

I also managed to sneak in to Delirium. This is quite a place to be in as it serves 2004 varieties of beer from all over the world. YES 2004. So someone who loves beer and has lot of money, this is your place. But for non drinkers, its still a great place to enjoy the ambience and chit chat with friends.

Work has taken most of the time, as there is a Regional conference and i needed to prepare a few documents for it. And yes there is always AIESEC work which keeps things tight.

And here i am sitting in my hotel room in Hilton La Defense in Paris, with all my docs ready and hopefully will post this tomorrow while the sessions are going on ;)

Things are set...

P.S. A meeting in Rotterdam has been fixed for mid May. I hear someone singing "this could be rotterdam or anywhere"...

What a beauty!!

2007-03-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

BMW is one car that i always wanted to own. I dont know much about cars, but there is only one brand that always attract my attention, and thats BMW.

Last 2 days were spent at European Business Summit, the biggest gathering of Corporate world in Europe. The Gala Dinner on the first day had around 2000 guests. At the entrance, there were a couple cars on display and one of them was my very favourite BMW. BMW Hydrogen 7. Yes, a clean car which runs on Hydrogen. I stood there for 20 minutes just looking at the car, thinking one day i would have enough money to buy one of these beauties.

After the dinner, we were waiting for a cab when one of the oragnizers offered us to take the shuttle. And guess which car was it?
It was a black BMW Hydrogen 7. And what a drive home was that. Its an absolute beauty in performance, comfort and gadgets.

I want one of these!!!

Paris

2007-03-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Paris was amazing. Cant wait to go back there :)

Thanks Katya (calling you Lusha seems strange suddenly) for showing me around and being the perfect host. It reminded me of our times in moscow :)

8 o'clock

Me and the Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triumph

The Louvre

Me and Katya

Paris.. en route to Louvre

time has gone by

2007-03-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Cant believe its already been 3 weeks since i came to Brussels. Time flies...

I am a little tired actually. Havent settled down completely. Only last sunday finally found a place to live and moved in. The whole week went in making the contract and then going through the procedures of Registration.

Just as i am writing this post, i am on a train to Paris :)

Paris here i am.....

Brussels

2007-02-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

7 hour Turkish airlines flight from Delhi to Istanbul, 5 hour wait at the Airport in Istanbul and another 3 hour flight from Istanbul to Brussels. I arrived on Sunday, in the land of the Waffles and the Fries.

Evening was spent at a Thai restaurent in the Thai neighbourhood having dinner with my manager from Microsoft. Nice food, nice discussions and most important of all, nice start to the experience.

Brussels as a city is very different from any other city i have been to, but definitely i feel very comfortable with things already. Today evening i came home from office alone without making any mistakes. And its just my third day here.

My search is on for finding an accomodation for myself, i want it this week so that i could get myself registered within the limited days, i frankly dont know what will happen if i dont manage to apply for the residence permit in 8 days from my arrival, so fingers crossed.

BTW, thanks to Kevin, Joyce and Priscilla from AIESEC ICHEC for picking me up at the airport.

Hi again

2007-02-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

I have realized in the last months how things are destined, how things are connected and how things eventually work out in the end. I remember this speech by Steve Jobs, in which he was talking about "connecting the dots", and i think in the last few months, all i have done is wait for the "dots to get connected". And in the end, all i have said is "Its all destiny", or as the Alchemist said "maktub".

Since i left my job, i have been in an intense hunt for something which would be exciting to do, day in and day out, and which is something that i have never done before.

The search finally paid off during the end of January, and after arranging all the documents i need (which in itself is a story to be told) i am heading to Brussels, to work with Microsoft EMEA in their Community Affairs department as an Assistant. Also, my jobrole includes Coordinating the Microsoft - AIESEC Global partnership.

All i can say is that i am excited and scared to a certain extent.

Next post from Brussels :)

2007 is here

2006-12-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing each one of you an amazing 2007. May you achieve more success and happiness in the coming year.

cheers and beers guys.

2006-11-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Fauji is here again, Abhimanyu Rai and co are back on TV.

I say chaps, its gonna be amazing.

2006-10-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Faith = Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence

Belief = Something believed or accepted as true

If someone told my father, that he/she is religious, my father would always ask a question to that person. Are you religious by virtue or by birth? Most of us are religious by birth. Because I was born in a Hindu family, I am a hindu and I follow all the religious festivals and know the mythology and names of Gods and Godesses. Sometimes I question hindu mythology and theosophy because some of the things don’t make sense and sometimes I am simply surprised by the facts and relevant things it throws at me. Sometimes I just simply give in to what I see, without questioning it.

Most of the Hindu families have a family temple (Kul Devi). And these temples are generally of Goddess Durga and her different incarnations. There are a few occasions when we have to definitely go to this temple, but we can go there whenever we want. The times when we have to definitely go there are:
- When a boy child is born, his first haircut has to happen in this temple. So if earlier times when transportation was hard people used to have long hairs as they would go to this temple 5 to 10 years after their birth. Now its much more easy. I got my first hair cut at the age of 1.
- When a boy gets married, he has to go to this temple with his wife to offer prayers.
- When this couple would have a boy child.

So the incarnation of Godess Durga which my family worships is "Fire" called Jwala. The temple itself is called Jwalaji located in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Why my family has the temple in HP is another story, as mostly all the Marwari’s (a group of people who come from the Marwar region of Rajasthan) have their family temple in Rajasthan itself.

Most of the Hindu temple’s have a statue which is worshipped. But at this temple there is no statue. What we worship there is Fire. Its Natural Fire which comes out of the ground from a few places. This is the surprising thing or nature’s magic that there is no storage of Natural Gas or Petrol which is making the fire burn. Its absolutely natural. A lot of scientists have tried to do researches in the temple and under the temple to find something which is keeping the fire burning but have been unsuccessful. This fire has been burning there for thousands of years. Mughal ruler Akbar, around 700 years ago, did not believe in this natural magic. So he brought a river alongwith him to stop the fire from burning, but the fire came on top of water. He then tried to put seven slabs of Iron so that the flame subsides, but again the fire came on top of the iron sheets. Once he was satisfied that there is something divine about this fire he offered a plate made of 50 kilograms of gold. But the goddess did not accept it and turned gold into a metal which is unknown. Its density and atomic value is still of gold but it’s not gold. Again, a lot of scientists tried to find what metal it is, but were unsuccessful. This plate is still in the temple.

Some of the other strange things about the temple is that if you put your finger in the fire, it doesn’t burn. Similarly, ants very easily go near the fire and bring food (prasad) from there. The most stunning thing is that priest’s take a small cup of water and actually show you how the fire comes on top of water.

There is another interesting thing about the temple. At one place there is a huge pot of water lying for centuries on top of fire. It was put on fire by a Saint Gorakhnath, as he went to beg for rice he prayed to the Fire Goddess and asked her to safeguard his Pot of water till he returns. Unfortunately, the ‘Yug’ ( a time cycle which has four tenets according to Hindi theosophy), changed and this Saint didn’t return. It is believed that he would return when the same Yug comes again. This pot of water is still boiling on fire. When you look at the pot and the water inside it, you can see bubbles coming up. But when you take the water out of it, it’s absolutely cold.

There are people who would question this existence of natural fire. But there are people like me, who would just take it as a combination of Faith and Belief.

Click here if you want to read about how these temples came into existence. Also known as “Shakti Peeth’s”.

2006-09-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

This is for all the people who understand cricket. An example of what happens when a player gets involved in sledging:

- Rod Marsh and Ian Botham: When Botham took guard in an Ashes match, Marsh welcomed him to the wicket with the immortal words: “So how’s your wife and my kids?”

You can check the link for more

Link taken from Tom's blog..

Think India! Think China

2006-09-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

"When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me: ʻFinish your dinner—people in China are starving.ʼ I, by contrast, ﬁnd myself wanting to say to my daughters: ʻFinish your homework—people in China and India are starving for your job." - Thomas Friedman

That just made me stare at the blank ceiling till my eyes closed and i slept. Contented.

2006-08-31T03:52:00.000-07:00

I always find it enjoyable...

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Somebody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Ahh typical! :)

2006-08-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that we want to do every now and then. And every now and then there are so many things that dont let us do those things that we want to do every now and then. Hmm..

I have been thinking about writing to some of my friends from High School, just to check where they are and what they have been upto. So as there was nothing much todo at work, i finally decided to search through my mailboxes and somehow find their email id's. Success came and i wrote to 6 of them. Guess what, 24 hours later i have 3 responses already. Unfortunately all of them are in different cities right now. New York, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, three of them studying, and three of them working.

Reunion meeting seems difficult and visiting each one of them even more difficult. However its Diwali when atleast 5 of them would be in Bhilwara. And if i am in India till that time, i will definitely join them. We have a lot of catching up to do. Its been 9 years....

2006-08-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

Mera Bharat Mahaan

2006-08-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

This post can be a continuation of the last post. Actually No. The only connection here is that its related to TV.

So after writing the post i go home for lunch. First thing i used to do when i used to reach home from school was switch on the tv, so here i do the same. And considering that i have already cribbed about all the satellite channels, i decided to switch on some news (which by the way add up to this nuisance of channels).

News 1. Doctors in delhi are again protesting against the Reservation bill. This time they are marching towards the Supreme Court, and are stopped by water and tear gas (Though half of India is in flood, mind you half of India will face drought in 6 months, i never really understood the idea of throwing water. Something called Conservation?? But thats a separate story altogether). So the doctors are stopped as apparently they are threat towards the law and order and cops dont want to take any chances. For all the discussions i have watched on TV (not just news channel but MTV as well) about the Rang de Basanti effect on youth of today, i am quite surprised that it hasnt had any effect on the way administration works in India.

News 2. This is super pooper. MP's in Lok Sabha get down to fist fighting. Jackpot. This is the beautiful journey of 60 years of Democracy, where every one has a right to fight. Not against injustice, poverty but against people who have a different opinion. The main deal is not the issue on which they fought. The bigger issue for me is THAT THEY FOUGHT. Some years back, a State Legislative met the same fate when the MLA's started throwing mikes, chairs on each other. Someone rightly said, in todays world there are no leaders, only politicians. No wonder, millions of walls have adorned SRK and Aishwarya in place of Gandhi and Nehru.

Just a thought, Shouldnt the police stop MP's and MLA's from entering Parliament and Legislative Assembly for being a threat to Law and Order?

Mera Bharat Mahaan = My Great India

2006-08-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays post got lost in some technical hickup. Dont feel like writing the whole thing again. As anyways i think by the end of today i would have similar feelings and would end up writing the same kind of post.

Lately, i have realized that investing in books after all is not a bad idea. I mean not just money investment of buying them but also time investment of reading them. This does not mean that i dont like reading. I like reading. All sorts of things, from The Economist to Newspapers, to novel's to general management and leadership development stuff. The issue actually is that i like to read when i have nothing to do. And since after reaching home every evening, i have lot of things to do (read watching tv) i dont feel like reading.

Since the time me and my brother reduced playing sports (becoz of several reasons) we started concentrating our attention on watching Tv. At one time, both of us were walking encyclopedia on what every channel was showing and what program comes at what time. It went on to such an extent, that sometimes we would receive telephone calls from our relatives asking us to narrate what happened in a particular episode of a television soap, as hamare ghar mein light nahi thi (they dindt have electricity in their house).

But of course the 60 odd channels that come today (excluding all the DD and ETv channels, which in itself can create a record for highest number of local language channels) its hard to keep track of whats happening. But does anyone really want to keep track of whats happening on various channels today. I dont think so. From Saas-Bahu dramas to same movie airing for 4 times in a month on the same channel, to the highest level of disgust, 3 channels showing the same songs one by one, every morning (looks like SRK wants to re release KAAL).

And so i am thinking, isnt it time i got back to books? Nastya, thanks for the book. Dont promise but i will try to read it till the last page.

On a separate note, IC starts in Warsaw today. Still remember the opening ceremony of IC last year in Agra. I wish i would be at one of the IC's in the coming years...who knows next year in Turkey maybe.