Suggest a book...

Though my reading has gone for a toss thanks to endless streams of assignments and projects, the following are a few books I've managed to read in the following months. They are strictly unrelated to business, strategy, management, finance and the works... (those don't count anyway)

Shadow of the wind
Catch 22
The alchemy of desire
vertigo (uggh...)
Joker in the pack (uggh... uggh...)
The hitchiker's guide to the galaxy (and the three other books that follow)
Sea of Poppies
Fight Club
Vernon God Little

(books in the pipeline... a brave new world, 1984 (reread), Choke, the curious incident of the dog in the night time)

I am thirsting for a good book which is not dark, sinister, nihilistic, fatalistic, slap-stick, chick/cock-lit, preachy (please not the paulo coelho / robin sharma types) etc...
can i have a simple and light book (an equivalent of 'Little miss sunshine') which is not trash??

Help Help!

Tanker

I've been through the motions of the infamous placement procedure in an Indian B-School, for the internship - which is a farce in more than 90% of the cases. Most companies come to campuses to either trap prospective employees by giving them a PPO etc. and a few come to outsource work which they deem unworthy of their employees (a case in point: one of the world’s largest software companies). Anyway, yours truly had a fairly unmemorable internship placement routine what with no companies wanting to shortlist a mechanical engineer who hasn’t taken Investment Banking as an elective and I took up the first one which came my way. But that opened the gates to another psychologically draining experience called tanking.

tank -
1. a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas: tanks for storing oil.
2. Military. an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread
3. go in the tank, Boxing Slang. to go through the motions of a match but deliberately lose because of an illicit prearrangement or fix; throw a fight.

In the interest of all those who had not been placed, the others were to go in to an interview and convince the panel that the best candidates were the others. Early morning, on the D-Day, the first company was an Ing-Bank, a rarity nowadays, given the way Lehmann is sinking and threatening to take Merrill along. The fact that I am the first candidate makes the work doubly troublesome, as I can’t fuck up badly, which would damage the whole process. So in I go, and speak for half an hour, weaving stories about my life, the city of Mumbai, the Indian Power Sector, NTPC: the guy is visibly impressed till I drop the bomb: Sir, I want to work in a ‘proper’ company, learn the ropes in corporate finance and then join an I- Bank. The guy’s face shrank a few inches... But he was cordial and all and wished me well (I was sure he must be cursing my intelligence or the lack of it thereof under his breath)… but nevertheless

Next in line was a young consulting company, who wanted to meet me, despite the fact that my name was not in the shortlist. And in there I met one of the most enlightened souls, who knew about my previous work experience and he grilled me on the whole thing… actually which was a piece of cake. And then the same stuff about Mumbai and what you’ve been doing (heavens! If I knew that, what would I be doing in this muck?)… till it was time to drop the bomb… The guy asks me: so where would you like to join us? (gawd… did I really speak that long?) and then I go into a drawl… why I would like to join a bank and learn finance before joining consulting blah blah and more blah…

There were a few more over the course of the day, and then came the GD, in a world famous indemnity company. There was me, Amu and ambiga seated next to one other, and a few more guys: to push 4 out of 12 into the interview. The topic was “will twenty-20 replace one day cricket?” ; another reason for hating the shorter format of the game. In the end, it was the most focused GD that could be seen on earth, with each one of us (the tankers) avoiding eye contact with the rest of the world, speaking the same thing time and again, and overacting, (remember the scene in Munnabhai when Sunil Dutt comes visiting his son in the hospital?).

Opening Statement: One day cricket didn’t replace Test cricket and same will be the case with T20. I repeat the same three more times in the GD. The panelist asked me to summarize: Kerry Packer couldn’t end Test cricket and neither will Lalit Modi. It’s a different issue that I don’t care a hair what happens to Modi or his sycophantic tranche.

So drained I was by the whole thing that I refused to participate the next day, for two more I banks who wanted to see me… to hell with them, there’s only so much I can lie.

(This writer’s block is racking my nerves for a few months now and hence the dullness)

Keeping Quiet

if we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death

- Neruda, Pablo, highness

Dead Man Beat

He laid still, hair aflutter

The only sign of life, his eyes aglow;

The fear of death, dark and bitter

Was a veil that shrouded his morose face

Many a pebble had rolled down the slopes

Of the very mountains he had once furrowed

The same flowers, the familiar faces,

All had passed; flown around

Circumventing him and what was theirs

The haze was clearing, the mists tearing

And there they stood out in the clearing

All of them, all that he had ever cared for

Hark away! She was shouting, all of eighty one

Run! they’re all dead and you are the one

‘If they ever meant anything

Revenge shall be thine’, he dreamt that night

And thus started the journey

Of a million war and fight

The first kill is the most difficult they say,

For it’s the psychosis, the belief in virtue

That stops the trigger

Beyond which it’s only a matter of time

Today, as he lay numb,

For, the amphetamines were working

All the murders, the killings started seeping

Mutilation, rape, maiming perdition,

The horrors of his crimes had come a full circle

Streaming snapshots of life

All the women he had widowed, girl, mother, wife

And a few good men too…

Damnation had arrived, a marksman who seldom missed,

Like father, like son, hell

‘Twas the same stolen gun

We deliver your health!

I have never been fussy about food. Be it at home or outside, I have always managed my culinary problems admirably, so much so that mom always used to comment that I could survive anywhere in the world, as far as food is concerned. It is a different issue that I have never lived outside home (my parent’s home that is,) for more than a month at a stretch, in all the 23 years of my existence. Both my engineering college (VJTI) and my first job at Uhde India Ltd. were based entirely out of Mumbai and thus I easily lost the chance of migrating from Mumbai, and from home. When the rules at SP stipulated that you had to stay on campus all through, I was happy, in a quiet way that finally, I would stay away from home. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s just one of those ‘I have grown up and want to prove my independence’ thing that makes teens in the US with barely visible moustaches move out of their parent’s homes. It is a different issue altogether, that nowadays parents in the US throw them out of their homes forcing them to become independent.

But it didn’t take me more than a week to come crashing down back to the earth. Initially it was the mess food, which recycled the same gravy through various channels into your system, and then the food at Vrindi near the college. End of week one, I was back at home on Wednesday evening, hungry for amma’s tried and tested drumstick sambar and rasam. It was not just me, but everyone was dying for the familiar sights and sounds of home food. Initially, I was the home food provider to the guys, ferrying large boxes of pongal, idli, thayir sadham and sambar to the boy’s hostel. Then the guys themselves discovered Matunga and Mani Iyer’s mess. If there is one hotel in Mumbai which can match a Tam home feast, it has to be Mani Iyer’s mess. So every Thursday was spent travelling all the way from Andheri to Matunga, spending hours in and around Arora theatre and Anand Bhavan. Over time, I found a way, (rather, it was Amu who started it), out of this entire mess, through the famed Mumbai dabbawallah network, applauded by supply chain giants and celebrities such as Prince Charles etc. The dabbawala network is more important to Mumbai than the BMC or the suburban train network and keeps its gastric juices flowing, at more than six sigma efficiency. The biggest reason why fancy new restaurants in Mumbai continue doing good business is because the dabbawala network keeps its tummy safe during the week days. Anyway, as I was saying before, I thus didn’t miss home food even after coming to the hostel. Of course, I eventually did come to miss mom’s kai pakkuvam and that too in a short period of one month when I went to the hills of Tehri Garhwal for the internship project. In fact I missed it so much that we started cooking there itself. But that is the subject of another post.

Bottom line is that the Mumbai dabbawala network does yeoman service in ensuring that the city doesn’t trip on gastro-enteritis and hepatitis regularly, and is so much a part of the life of the average Mumbaikar, that many don’t even realise it. Jai Maharashtra!

this post was written in a bored-to-death presentation session in a derivatives class (that too the fifth class of the day) and hence may be just as boring! but what the heck, it is possibly the truest ;)!

Q

The more things change, the more they remain insane.

Pen Fight Club

No one and I dare say, no one would ever dispute the fact that school was when we lived and our existence changed for the worse when we crossed the courtyard of class 10.

School was also the time when were impressed upon the virtues of self righteousness and the importance of being earnest. A phase, where the whole world revolved around home works, sports, and as time went by, on gossip about whose hormones were trying to impress whom. Well, this post is not an ode to Cheran’s Autograph or some such and was inspired by Krish Ashok’s post on book cricket; in reminiscence of another game that was played out in all its glory in Model English School, Dombivli. We used to call it pen fight.

Well, even before we had seen Fight Club, we had framed the commandments of the PFC. Somehow, David Fincher hadn’t heard about this game of ours, for why would some one want to get beaten up to the bone marrow, when a simple pen could do the same? And no one could quite kill the concept of brands and celebrity as we did, for the pen is mightier than the Knight R(a)iders’ sword. (By the way, why are they called the Knight Riders and not the Night Raiders? I mean why on earth would a team bristling with testosterone, Akhtar and SRK’s Looney tunes want to ride medieval knights? Or is SRK sending a message to the Queen, demanding his Knighthood, a la Sir Sean Connery? Or is it out of respect for polity and humanity that they decide to do all the riding at night? Anyway, I am digressing too much…it never made any sense.)

That the PFC was an underground movement was a foregone conclusion the day it was formed, being banned by all the teachers and the class prefect as well (self righteousness, get it), for as per Hindu mythology, Goddess Saraswathi resides in every pen, pencil, rubber, scrap of paper, sharpener and the myriad things that have anything to do with literacy and so she would poke your eyes out if you used her instruments of knowledge for such destructive past times (Ummachhi kannai kutthum… get the groove). And in a way, it was a great leveller as well, for no one had much previous experience or any special skills for the game.

There was no such thing as brand consciousness, for the design of the pen or its robustness was not half as important as one’s ability to hit the sweet spot of the opponent, though, I vaguely remember Raveena Tandon becoming a superstar with her Rotomac brand of pens, (yeah, the likhte likhte love ho jaaye one) for they were supposed to have an excellent grip on the wooden bench were the combats were played out. But as I said before, the game outlasted Raveena in popularity, with new pens such as the Cello Gripper, with rubberised grips, negating the home advantage that the pens gave (that Raveena’s love moved on to Akshay and other things is another story altogether).

Initially, all the matches were one to one combats, played during the classes, when Anita teacher would be waxing eloquent about Tanaji Malusare’s Houdini Act at the Sinhagad fort or when Mini teacher (Minnie would have been more apt a name) would be shouting her head over Pythagoras’ infallible treatise on right triangles. Soon the game became a rage, with every one and his one-dropped younger paternal uncle jumping onto the bandwagon. Individual combats gave way to tournaments, and soon became a weekly event that filled the lunch break, the time between two classes, and for some even the time in their tuition classes. So much so that the neighbouring Swagat stationers started making enquiries about the weekly fixtures and the pens that were performing well, so that he could stock them up as per demand.

Over time, the usual Reynolds, Montexes and Rotomacs gave way to pens which were four times the normal size, and were made of wood, steel and some pancha dhatus. One chap called Rohan made his debut with his dad’s super sleek steel Cross fountain pen and to everyone’s surprise won that day’s lunch time super bowl and the admiration of almost half the padips girls in the class. His happiness though was short lived, for immediately after the class we had Anita Miss’ test on moundaens, pladuus and plains (yeah, a sing-along Mallu accent) and as luck would have it, when he opened his Excalibur, it had a split tip and was bubbling with royal blood, which spoilt both his and his bench mate Rahul’s white and white PT uniform. Soon after some blackmailing by the teacher, the self righteous prefect came out with the truth behind the Excalibur’s twisted nib and for the first time the whole class witnessed Anita Teacher going hyper. In fifteen minutes we were all kneeling outside the Head Mistress’ cabin, we the champions of the inaugural pan – Dombivli Pen Fight tournament, and the bald PT master, Murali, caned us so hard, that the very padips girls who had air-kissed Rohan on his maiden triumph were half wet with fear. Those were the days when caning a wayward student was perfectly normal, and when bald PT masters were sadistic, especially when it came to punishing boys in front of whimpering nubile girls.

That moment, was our moment of truth, and from there our PFC went on to become a major underground tournament, with even local rowdies settling their fights over a cup of cutting chai and a pen fight game on the banks of the Reti Bunder. Like all good things, the PFC was decimated slowly by its more rugged counterparts such as gully cricket, UNO cards, WWF etc… and the introduction of the Lexi 5 at Rs. 5/- was the death blow, for it was the worst pen one could play a pen fight with and hope to win. The parents of the kids, to their credit, hastened PFC’s death by buying the Lexi 5 in dozens for the hapless kids.

Many attempts to reintroduce the game at High School, Engineering College and even the B-School have failed, due to numerous constraints, including Snake 3, certain knowledgeable professors and a certain lady whose name is frequently confused with a green leafy vegetable in Hindi.

In case you are wondering what role yours truly played in all this, well, it is a little known fact that I was a part of the first pen fight combat to be ever played, and ended up as a winner. A pity, though, that the girl I had a crush on, refused to believe this and the opponent who was white washed, refused to acknowledge his defeat. To that I blame my bachelorhood…

Oh and talking of plagiarism, does the Dombivli Leaders’ Forum sponsored Indian Pen-Fight League sound vaguely familiar? Well, it seems Lalit Modi’s son was the college mate of the Brutus faced class prefect of class VI-A.

Home Away

Sure indications that you have been away from home for too long!

• Your society watchman asks you for the house number you are visiting.
• The dog that’s been lolling in your building compound since birth starts barking at you
• You bump into one hell of a chick at and have no idea about her whereabouts
• You find it difficult sitting cross legged on the floor and having dinner
• You are informed that your cousin’s Seemantham (the Tamizh equivalent of a baby shower) is due early next month.
• Every third person you meet on the street comments on your having lost a lot of weight (while you can swear that it’s the opposite that’s true)
• You have stopped asking Amma whats for lunch / dinner / breakfast... you just wolf down wotever's on the platter
• The songs 'Sweet home Alabama' and 'Mama, I'm coming home' start taking an altogetherly different perspective
  

Julius Caesar – Redux

It's been a long time since I posted in here and nothing other than laziness can stake a claim to this. Yeah MBA does this to you.... anyways here's an article which made me double up when i saw the alacrity with which it was published. And pardon me for the language... I am rusty.

January 28^th 2008 was indeed a black day (kari-naal) for civilization.

The extract from Outlook India reads “Amid thumping of desks by DMK members, Karunanidhi moved 'The Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration) Bill, 2008,' which he hailed as "historically significant”.”

The Bill was about changing the Tamizh New Year from the first day of Chithirai to Thai Maasa Pirappu or Pongal. This is apparently a victory for the pro-Dravidian junta, a departure from the traditional Sanskrit (read Aryan) calendar. Forget the fact that people in the Southern TN celebrate it as Chithirai Vishu. Forget that the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Chithirai thiruvizha starts on that day. Forget the fact that the entire calendar has been designed keeping in mind the planetary movements and the solar cycle. Forget the fact that this very day is celebrated as New Year in Assam, Bengal, Burma, Cambodia, Kerala, Manipur, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab, Sri Lanka, Tripura and Thailand. And of course the fact that whether you like it or not Aryan influences on Tamizh culture will never disappear.

How does it matter you ask? Well it probably doesn’t… not to the scores of Tams all over the world (Mylapore, Mambalam, Mumbai, Madrid and all Agrahaarams included) who will continue celebrating it the way they used to. Not to all those who are used to starting the New Year with the Vishu Kani, the visit to a temple and the traditional feast (avial, chakkara pongal, mangai pachhadi included). Not to the age-old panchangams (Tirunelveli, Thanjavur and Naga) which will continue doing brisk sales in the run up to April 14^th. And most of all not to me, who, despite living all his life in this city of dreams continues to long for his roots. However what it does reflect is the sheer audacity with which the DMK government has decided to run amok with its Dravidian agenda without considering the public viewpoint.

Unsurprisingly, except for the VHP and Tughlaq owner and political satirist Cho Ramaswami, no one has come out opposing this move. A few years ago, the DMK and ADMK used to play with Chennai bus routes (JJ vs KK), then came their leaders arresting themselves, and invoking new schemes to promote their popularity such as 2 rupees rice and color TV for all. The latest medium for proving their one-upmanship is the Tamizh culture which has been flourishing despite and not because of such antics inflicted upon it.

Yeah, really, the powers that be believe that this change has brought justice to the down-trodden brethren of the state for whom Dravidian culture is more important than two square meals a day. More so, the architect believes that this soul saving benediction of his can absolve him of a century of misgivings and will promote rationalism amongst his bloodied blood (pun intended). And what’s the rationale behind all this? Thiruvalluvar, the patron Tamizh saint, was born in this month and hence it is the most logical choice for this auspicious occasion. However, how certain are we that it is indeed so, when the saint is supposed to have lived some 2000 odd years ago, without any written records for the same? It is indeed a matter of shame that most Tamizh scholars endorse this view.

This is no doubt a kind of sadism, one that makes me cringe. Who on earth gave governments the power to change calendars? Well Caesar did do that on an ego trip and made himself immortal. But he was a person who respected his people’s wishes and did not make Romans flee their nation and settle in droves in the United States in search of a ‘good’ life. And Italians still love their last names (Corleone, Capello, anyone?) for he did not make his people conscious enough not to include their own surnames in their names. (Strangely this is observed only in TN I guess). But Caesar's wife (?singular?) must be above suspicion you see.

I can clearly see someone desperately trying to play Zeus here, but in the long run people’s beliefs are stronger than governments. To put things in perspective, there is actually no harm in this change of dates, for no government can ever change people’s emotions and beliefs through legislation as long as they don't serve as hindrances to peaceful human existence and the more atrocious the government behavior, the harsher the backlash, and the farther the alienation . The autocratic behavior of the architect only insulates him further from the so called Tamizh culture of which he believes he’s the supreme commander and protector. Legacies and heritages are things that outrun Emperors and Empires – the British Government will vouch this for sure. Emperor Ashoka learnt it the hard way in Kalinga. Perhaps the only place this blunder will make a difference is in government records, and the poor (!!) government servants will enjoy one holiday less.

Trail Caesar!

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Moon shine

Aachooo!!!..sniffle.. Here i am, on a wednesday evening, (which is to us like what saturday night is for the normal world), sitting and wasting my time on this sweet blog 'o mine ( this is probably the only original thing I do now-a-days), not knowing what to do. Three months into a B-School (amongst the top 10 mind you) and I am still wondering what am I here for.
As i start doodling, the theme of the 'Dark side of the moon' struck me, and how!! Every song in that album is filled with gems. When I was in engineering college, the album had a different 'context' and altered my 'behavior' forever. When I started working, it had a different meaning in itself making me understand the fact that the world is too dangerous a place for non-conformists like me.
And now that I am in a B-School each and every song makes sense; to the core. I am increasingly convinced that Roger Waters wrote DSOM seeing the plight of a HBS student (since our college was not around then). Now let me elaborate on this using pieces from DSOM

a) Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.......
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

This is a song which remains true for each and every moment of my life... and I think of more than 99% of the ppl around me... how many hours do you waste thinking that the time will come when you will spread your wings and soar... only to be pushed back into lassitude with another one of those endless assignments, group works, presentations et al. Time to sleep is much less than the time to do hat swapping or a movie analysis for that matter. Did I mention how they murder a fantabulous movie in here?? I'd rather not!! When we can' t get beyond the mundane, where is the time to fly?? I leave the reader to interpret the rest of the song... i can't commit sacrilege here...

b) Run, rabbit run.
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one.

For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave.

Again self explanatory. Those who think of doing quality work are generally the ones derided and who become frustrated at the apathy and fake sympathy of others. Trying to be honest with your self is next to impossible, forget with others. And need I say more about the work we do? ?

c) Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.

This is perhaps the only motive of the whole MBA populace... (and I have this feeling that I am kinda falling into their gameplan too)

Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.

Yeah right. And here we can't pay our Vrindy bills. Having your home in the same city as your B-School is a blessing in disguise no doubt; given that your parents give you a weekly allowance for all and sundry ;)! And who would not have come to this place without a similar dream like the one above??

d) Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside.

"I mean, they're not gunna kill ya, so if you give 'em a quick short,
sharp, shock, they won't do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off
lightly, 'cos I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really...I mean good manners
don't cost nothing do they, eh?"

Us - Me and like minded souls who have been sacrificed in this so called 'altar of knowledge' for wanting to understand business
Them - I would like to call them as Max and MadMax and i hope everyone understands who they are. By the way don't even bother to understand why they are... it's one of the world's biggest unsolved mysteries: bigger than sighting an UFO or Osama Bin Laden or both...
Also, don't forget to listen to the whole song... you will understand it a lot better!!

The remaining songs will not have any explanations for they are very vivid and hit the hats on the head!

f) The lunatic is in my head.
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane.
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.

g) "I've been mad for fucking years, absolutely years, been
over the edge for yonks, been working me buns off for bands..."
"I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the
most of us...very hard to explain why you're mad, even
if you're not mad..."

h) and possibly the only saving grace; the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel (did i hear some one say it could be that of an oncoming train??..well it could be one for all that you know !!)

All that you touch...
...All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark.!!"

Thank you ladies and gentleman... for going through this post!!
Floyd and Zep will continue to rock the world till apocalypse.
Anyone who shares my feelings, please do comment. I don't like publicity and so would depend on you people for bringing together like minded-people who feel as concerned as I do!!

PS: I wonder why a running nose is possibly the only inspiration for me to blog??

And who said man doesn't care??

Source: The BBC

So who needs to be more thankful?? the monkey who clambered upon the man for safety or the master for whom the monkey waited??
point to ponder, huh?

The circus!!

I frigging hate the Indian media, more so the ones based in Mumbai and Delhi.

Having lived in this city of dreams for 21 years now, I still fondly remember the days when the TOI was still the Old Lady of Bori Bunder and the newspapers had a lot to look forward to early in the morning.

Compare this with what we have today: reams and reams of newsprint talking about news which is possibly irrelevant to a majority of the public.

Well you say this is what the majority of the earning populace (read: yuppies) want; well you are mistaken. I am sure not all of today’s youth is so interested in seeing blown up photographs of nubile young ladies who possibly don't have a living or a moral or both. You call me boorish; well may be I am, but more than that I am concerned about where we as a society are being pushed to by these so called partners in nation building.

Is it necessary that any developed society be unabashedly hedonistic?? Materialism is alright but does it include narcissism too?

Maybe I am confused as always but I am getting increasingly confident that it's the truth.

Consider the newspaper and media reports of the past few days. (To admit the truth, I have been kind of insulated from the news channels for the last month or so as there isn't much time for TV in a 'Top Ten B-School' but I do follow their websites regularly (oh by the way we have a great IT infrastructure in place in here J ...)

The main preoccupation of the ToI and HT, Mumbai seem to be freeing their demi-god Sanju baba...He is innocent they say. He erred then but has more than made up for it. Poor Sanju baby can't eat jail food and sleep on the floor there. And the restaurants in the city are so very excited that they have a chicken sanju baba on their menu. How truly innovating!! And another article goes on about how so much publicity is actually bad for his case...Guys do you even think outside Bollywood? What about all the others who were also held guilty and hence given heftier punishments than him? Do they not have a family? Don’t they repent? And to top it all someone says Gandhiism (and not -giri) has gone to jail... Bapu (God bless his soul) must be turning in his grave.

Another article that came in today's paper was how the chief minister of Maharashtra is coming to Cafe Samovar's rescue. What’s so imposing about it you ask? Well apparently this hotel or lodge or whatever it is, is just outside Jehangir Art Gallery and is where our film luminaries have spent their worst and best times mulling over coffee and hence is important, the Gateway of India restoration plan be damned. Also this was the place where AB and his wife dated for the first time...Think about it guys, replace the Unknown Soldier’s gun and cresting helmet at India Gate with AB's bib... after all he is our national hero right?

I am not personally against the film stars or their hedonisms... but I can't take the media making a hue and cry about it.

The function of the media should be humanitarian. Consider the continuing floods in South Asia. The UN calls it the worst flood in living memory. 1200 lives lost in India alone, 11 million affected, 6,000 villages flooded and at least two million living outdoors. The BBC, the UN, Reuters, all major international media houses cover it with a sense of urgency that is palpable. And our glorious world's No. 1 English daily doesn't find it worthy of mentioning in its first six pages. This is nothing short of a pathetic and ridiculous attitude to titillate the senses of the common man, so what if Bihar becomes an antithetic Atlantis?

The Economic Times (same media house as the ToI) reports the same tragedy on its front page.Why? Is it that the economic effects of a flood are much higher than the human loss?? Or is ET a better newspaper in terms of news content?

This attitude represents the highest form of apathy to a tragedy that is unimaginable in magnitude. And I am sure that these media houses are going to come out with a national donation program to help the flood affected once all is hunky dory…After all you are contributing to a natural cause... imagine how much public frenzy can be worked up... after all aren’t we a caring corporate?

As long as such short sighted media centric issues continue to dominate our psyche through the media, it is very difficult to build a proactive public opinion on issues of national importance.
I have this sinking feeling that they are taking us back into the western culture of the late '80s when the world grooved to the sound of money. Well money is still important and pleasant and will always be but what is not is the attitude of voyeurism that prevails in here. If such newspapers are to play their self-proclaimed role of nation building through the idea of building public opinion, then we are way off course. Who do you think will have the courage to steer this rocking ship back to its charted route?? To unquote Queen,

“God save the people”!!!
At night 12.00 'o clock with a nose that is overflowing like the Bhagmati in Nepal... this is all that I could manage. Maybe I'll correct the errors later...

Sez who?

Ok. i am in a lull right now...
so for the time being i'll try to put up a quotable quote every day...and maybe my comments too
I'll start with the Shaman himself

28.07.07

Some people surrender their freedom willingly but others are forced to surrender it. Imprisonment begins with birth. Society, parents they refuse to allow you to keep the freedom you were born with. There are subtle ways to punish a person for daring to feel. You see that everyone around you has destroyed his true feeling nature. You imitate what you see.

- Jim Morrison - band member, the doors~

The Peace frog was always right!

When i look at the people around me (yours truly included), all bright, ambitious young lads and lasses with the fire for success burning (in) them - i realise the meaning of all this: somewhere down the line you lose your innocence. Why o why should everyone be a winner??? Is it not normal to play the game, well, just to have fun?? Is winning more important than playing itself??
Do you have to cheat for a game as simple as 'Treasure Hunt' ??
Why on earth should I not enjoy my Sunday?
Why is a B-School made out to be the monster that it never was, is or will be?? Will the hype ever phase out??
Or will I phase out faster?? ( will I - the eternal rebel, play straight into their hands??? Only the master of them all - Time, will tell.)

An ode to a boy band - I

This is no ordinary listing but then the subject ain't ordinary either. Welcome to the world of music of Jones, Bonham, Plant and Page – the inimitable quartet that changed the meaning of the word rock music and were the true fathers of crossover music, much before the Beatles and other Johnny-come-lately types. Anyone who has seen the live performance video of the Stairway will testify that no one could match them for the sheer energy of their performance in the drug filled haze that was everywhere- on stage and off it too.
In this limited space I have tried to come up with what zeppelin means to me as a band, as a breathing and living entity in itself years after its demise, as a tool of emancipation for all who care to lend an ear or two and a piece of their soul. Given below is an alphabetical listing of a few songs of zeppelin (I am still discovering the music you see…) that I have to come to love and will continue all through my life.

Achilles’ last stand

This is one helluva energetic song what with the drum beats that break into a frenzy.
This song also helps one go on an ego trip with ‘the mighty arms of the Atlas hold the heavens from the air’ line. Awesome solo piece towards the end… all in all a great number.

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

Led zepp prove that they are equally adept with the folksy kind of songs. The foot starts tapping and soon breaks into a stomp!! One of the best crossover songs to ever come out of mainstream rock music!!

Black Mountain Side:
Whoever says that an acoustic guitar doesn’t suit rock needs to listen to this. Catch Page at his best with the lilting yet arrhythmic rhythm. The tabla in the background makes it difficult to believe that this one too is from Zeppelin’s stable. However variety has always been their trademark… and this one just takes it one notch higher!!

Carouselambra –
Carousel == drunken revelry. Need I say more? One of the very few songs in which jimmy, using his Gibson EDS-1275 is very muted and underplayed. The song is characterized by the heavy synth-work of Jones. The song almost reaches progressive proportions and is characterized by the three sections each being distinctive in tempo and sound.

The Police Story!!!!

Excerpt from www.in.answers.yahoo.com

Dr. Kiran Bedi:

About Me: I am a serving member of the Indian Police Service (IPS). As destiny would have it I became the first woman in India to join this service, in 1972. I have believed in Policing as a 'Power to Correct and the Power to Prevent'. Therefore my whole approach to policing has been around this belief. Be it in district police, or prison management.
Without working for rewards, many came my way. The most coveted being the Magsaysay Award in Government Service, also called the Asian Noble prize. My belief in the concept of 'Welfare Policing' made me institute two non-profit organisations, namely, Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation which reach out to thousands of children and women in education, training and counselling in slums, villages and prisons. Besides also running residential drug rehab center for drug addicts. I am a Doctorate from IIT delhi, A Law graduate and a Nehru fellow. I have authored five books besides being a regular columnist in national dailies. http://www.kiranbedi.com...

Her Question :

What measures would you like to see to make the Police Forces more accountable to citizens?

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?

My Answer:

The sense of cynicism and fear, both are not misplaced, mainly due to past experiences and media reports. Also I think if even if a morally upright and honest police offer wanted to be that way, he wouldn't be able to last very long, especially if he happens to be from the lower rungs of the constabulary, mainly due to peer pressure and due to insufficient monetary compensation.

To improve the accountability of the police forces, a few measures could be,

Insulate the forces from the bureaucracy and the politicians. This would include bringing about an enhanced level of professionalism

Make the policemen people friendly, change the image of the everyday policeman we meet on the streets by making him aware of the people's problems in approaching him. Equip the police force with more soft-skills and lots of sensitivity in handling matters which are emotional to the people. Also needed is a change in the attitude towards women especially the vulnerable ones.

Some sections of the society such as prostitutes, eunuchs, street urchins need to be looked at not as just another case but as people who are really disadvantaged socially and otherwise.

These skills need to be followed up with more serious and important activities of reducing crime rates, faster action in cases involving homicides, rapes etc… where evidence collection is extremely time-bound.

Another important aspect to be addressed is the removal of corruption by effective self-redressal mechanisms (the ACB not being as effective as it should be).

Lastly an increase in the remuneration to the policemen in keeping with the current inflationary trends should be provided if necessary so that a policeman can also provide a decent life to his wife and children.

Blank Noise Project!

AVI supports the blank noise project people.
http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/

news...

At last as fiat and tatas have formed a JV I believe the tata cars will sport a better engine than the truck engines they have right now. ( no offense meant but thats a fact..)

Did you know that the state bird of Maharashtra is the green pigeon??
or that Nagpur and the surrounding areas have almost 7-8 places of interest for the wild life lovers..

In view of the current controversy regarding statues... I think the security of the statues must be the responsibility of the very people who deem it necessary to have one in the first place..
Or else how about a law to remove all statues from the country...??

Ain’t you greedy Billy**?

This week I had an interesting conversation with Billy… it revolved around his aspirations; how he wanted to pursue further studies in Engineering, how he liked quantum mechanics and non-linear dynamics so much, and he was wrong in trying to enter the IIMs through the CAT… he felt that doing so was to indulge in greediness and that the end result of a high profile MBA would be piles of money.
Well as much as I would like myself to believe that Billy’s aim in life was to indulge in technological game play and invent something that would be a life saver for human kind… my mind wasn’t able to comprehend his so called philanthropic version of leading a life. I mean thinking of dedicating your life for the good of society is not a bad thought at all… but is it really so easy to defeat all your desires and is it as easy to throw yourself above that harbinger of industry, that feeling that makes you aspire for another man’s butter, that base instinct that makes you want more….
If you look at the life process and the straitjacket thinking that engulfs an average human being from youth to old age... it would involve something like this. If the young man fresh out of college is from a background that has seen a lot of poverty and squalor, his immediate aim would be to earn money, oh yeah lots of it and somehow or the other bring his family out of the hellhole that they have been residing since eons. Further down the line it would go on getting modified but the nature remains the same… the same old materialistic desires
A roof to cover your head, a decent life for your parents and one for your own…. (They need not be the same; read vinay’s post on the same), further getting materialized into a new house, a car, a this and a that; a cycle which would go on and on within itself….
What starts as a simple wish of seeing your loved ones live a better life (and this I agree is a fundamental one and a person who does not have this is not fit to live in this society) degenerates into something much more potent and fallible: greed.
My argument that day in our conversation was that human being by nature is greedy (you call it by any other name, the song remains the same:)) and what varies is only the target of his greed. Consider the example of a business tycoon, a member of the Forbes Power List, who decides that he has had enough of all the money and good will that he has earned/ inherited and so is going to start a new venture… Is he doing it because he wants to further his business interest and increase his bank balance? Or is he doing it because he feels that this venture would offer employment to hundreds and thousands of individuals and would help them endear themselves to their individual greed? I mean is the guy really philanthropic after all… if he were, is starting a new venture really necessary? Couldn’t he have doled out the money to those individuals himself (as loans of course people)? Or is it because, as Billy said again, he is so very adventurous that he doesn’t mind playing such a high stakes game with a few billions of his money (not only his, of course…) and just the thrill of accomplishing a gargantuan feat? Or is it simply because Mr. Moneybags wants to that just a wee bit of extra pocket money and that dinner with on the plush yacht on the Riviera with the swish set…
So what is it if not materialistic desires (a milder way of putting greed to the champions of humanity…) that drives the world and its entire baggage … May it be societal, economic, political, geo-political, socio-economic etc.
I am not to say that materialism is wrong for that would mean we have been barking up the wrong tree since the inception of humanity and without it there would possibly be no reason for economics as a subject and consumerism as a byword to exist; but pray tell me, does a real philanthropist (the like of whom Billy claims himself to be) exist??

** Name changed to protect the subject’s identity :))


P.S. Take hope from the heart of man, and you make him a beast of prey.

9 year old on the Stairway

Am Speechless.. hope this is not a fake!!