Posts

Finding our SUNSHINE...

Image
Shakespeare maintained that this world is a stage and we are merely the actors who come and then go away GOD knows where. Perhaps this is a reason why no one wants to take the ownership of this stage, that we call the Earth. Money and power continues to win over governments & people . Exploiting and destroying the ecology and environment continues unabated. We are becoming our worst enemies. This earth is our home yet we allow it to stifle with carbon poisoning. The EARTH is struggling under the weight of 7 billion people . The temperatures are rising, cyclones and massive devastation of land is occurring. Whether we realize it or not, it remains a fact that we are today living on the edge.. Are we heading for a doom or are we there already..? Let us leave that for the year ahead to answer. For now we know the year 2011 was full of life and for which we are the living proof. I have the gut feeling that year 2012 will be a great year for all of us...Because I know we

Thank you GOD for keeping me beating...

Image
I am a STAR today. Never mind if the 362 days that I leave behind does't recognize me even as a spot boy . In this computing age it is what you see is what you get(WYSIWYG) Nobody today is interested to check your yesterdays. It is a busy world. We all remain so busy that most of the time we don't know where everyday our 84000 seconds fly away. In this fast moving time we can't pause to check how we spend our 84000 seconds. Time has never been money for us. Most of the time we remain notoriously liberal in spending it. Be it a political movement, a civil right movement or an NGO shout,we simply flock behind without even pausing to know whose cause we are fighting.. We value money because we can make use of it to keep ourselves happy, prosperous and at times arrogantly powerful. Where as time for most of us simply is about good time, bad time and well spent time. We never give it a money denominator. Had we be doing it so we may be feeling aghast in seeing our IST Sc

I am STUPID!

Image
One area that I plan to cover more frequently in the future is books. I have never been a book worm and my DU mark sheets are a raw proof to that. I don't regret about it. Instead I am happy it has saved me from burning midnight oils. Anyways I was never interested in the idea of being a night owl cramming all those Economics. Imagine how awkward I would look in that group of owls called parliament. Today I would have been a point of ridicule both for Anna & the Aam Aadmi . In my DU days the professors bragged about Economics being a social science. However now with receding gray matters and graying hairline economics for me has proved more of art and nothing of science. Economics today is an art for hoodwinking people in accepting that poverty is a matter of mind not body. Therefore I would have been going around asserting that a common man can live with Rs 32/per day even in this era when gravitational force has no pull over inflation. Not only that I wo

Anna beating 'Nokia'..in..?.

Image
"CORRUPTION" remained a passing point of reference in the beginning of a free India. With passage of time it went on to become a handy subject to cut ice and keep conversations rolling. Then as years rolled by it started becoming a matter of discussion for everybody from Rickshaw puller to cyclists, from auto drivers to Taxi Drivers, from Maid servants to Memsahibs and from Baboos to the Bosses. Then came the millennium and with it came along mighty SCAMS. Very soon Madu Koda, Adarsh Society , Raju's Satyam, Kalmadi, Raja& Radia spectrum all became household names. The country started seething with suppressed anger.... Come year 2011 and enter "Anna Hazare" who went on to become the face of the people. His War cry against Corruption became mightier than the sound of Bofors Anti tank guns. As a true Gandhian he promised to train not trigger the guns on evil called corruption.... Overnight "Mai bhi ANNA", "Tu bhi ANNA" becam

A crisis of Capitalism & Democracy

Image
The basic intent for incorporating Companies is to make money and create wealth & economic well being for the stakeholders. In the process it helps the growth of the country’s economy and creates meaningful employment for the people. Behind the corporate doors it may be termed as incidental to the core corporate mission. However in Democracy it is the fundamental corporate social responsibility to provide growth, employment and economic well being for both the state and the people. Therefore the Government is expected to be a watchdog to monitor & regulate corporate houses. “Transforming CAPITALISM. Improving the world for everyone” is a book written by Arun Maira. He is a member of the planning commission chaired by the Prime Minister of India. He is a frequent speaker at international forum on the future of India . His widely acclaimed leadership and consulting experience is definitely a source that makes the book interesting and path breaking. The book is refreshingly a lig

Meri Dilli..! and that too Dil Se..!

Image
We are in the final lap of bringing down the curtains on year 2011. Significantly the year also marks the completion of 100 years of DELHI as the CAPITAL of modern INDIA . This city also happens to be my HOME for over 50 years now. The city has seen me growing up from being an "SCHOOL KID" to become an "OLD MONK". I have traversed the entire length & breadth of Yeh Mera India and still continue my hip hopping to all the metro cities . However I am always in a hurry to be back home to Meri Dilli. This city is my eternal love... I have watched her transforming from being a big urban village to a chity chity bang bang metropolitan. This city has walked her way from being a citadel of political power to being a Jantar Mantar of Collision politics. From the fortress of Babudom to being kingdom of Corporate czars. From a city of monuments to a city of Millinium Malls and from being Maverick to coming into Mainstream Way back in 60's & 70

Anna..the "SWOT" of our politicians...

Image
Neither any politician nor any political party can survive and thrive without the convenience of corruption. Therefore corruption will always remain an integral part of all political system. If this was not so, the Jan Lok Pal would have been instituted way back 40 years, when it was first mooted. The fight & squabble over Jan Lok Pal bill that we are witnessing today is a political gimmickry. It is helping to keep the masses and the political parties engage in warring for wearing out time ,energy & attention from crucial economical and political upheavals that remains eroded for want of parliamentary focus and debate. My intent is neither to discredit Anna Hazare nor direspect his war for JAN LOK PAL. My intent is to opine my views on this. To my mind it looks that if and when the JAN LOK PAL will take shape it will become a maze of complicated govt manual with clauses, annexures that can support interpretations which can help the clever heads & seeking

Tapping my feet when in the showers...

Image
Switch on the TV and start surfing channels. Don't we feel bored to the bone... watching all those Sas Bahu serials and those stupid Rakhi & Sawant shows. Besides this I wonder how much can one endure seeing those Nobody & Anybody murdering time & values in the reality shows called Big Boss. These all being not enough we continue to get heavy doze of scribe elites, politicians and socialist debating common man and his never ending encounters with price,petrol & panic without value adding any work around solutions. We also remain slapped with never ending bytes on 3 G scams & political parties and politicians gimmicks. Though on rare occasions we do come to see one odd brave heart slapping politicians and reminding us of People power. Anyway it hardly helps us in making our thick skinned Parliamentarians do the job they are paid for. These lust & power greed politicians continue to use the tax payers money as a privy purse for financing their

SLAPPING on the FACE

Image
India is a welfare nation. This means govt role is not limited to collecting tax and protecting life and property It has also the responsibility of overseeing the growth of the people by ensuring that adequate food, shelter are provided to them. Also implementing proper Health and education program to ensure general health and literacy of the people. In short it is the responsibility of the state and central government to see that all welfare measures are implemented and monitored. We the people therefore elect our government under parliamentary democracy to ensue we as a nation as much as people remain a story of growth, development and prosperity(GDP) However the stark reality is an altogether a different story..A story of horror,plight,pain and insecurity. We are today the nation that has become politically bankrupt. Politicians and political parties are lost in fighting out for power, greed and vengeance. Our Parliament remains paralyzed with non performance. The country

If you don't mind it doesn't matter...

Image
I have been so engrossed with my anxiety of being a sixty plus that I almost keep forgetting every year the arrival and departure of Children's Day (14, November) . I still remember my those childhood days when I used to runaway and hide every time I broke some costly ceramic tea set or other valuable items. Being the youngest and the only son among the four children I would always cry without reasons after fighting with my sisters... I also remember my nutty and  naughty school days. I still remember my English teacher explaining William Wordsworth Poem "The Rainbow". However for some strange reasons I am still not remain convinced with Wordsworth's famous line "Child is the father of man". Well those were the wonderful days that keep lingering in my mind and memory. Whenever I get bitten with the complexity of present day living , I always revisit my school days and feel like the man who finally flew over the cuckoo's nest.. I am now

Engaged & engrossed chasing Mirage

Image
This is India. Here Cricket is a religion that will continue to bond together people cutting across their faith,caste, customs & gender. How else you explain the fanatic followers of cricket that keep swelling in number and remain dotted across the length and bredth of the country. Again this is India. Here corruption is an institution that will continue to play a lead role in restoring people's faith in Democracy. This is why we the people keep electing same tainted political parties and politicians back into parliament or into power at every election. For instance politicians responsible for Bofors, Fodder & Hawal scams continue to remain today either in power or in the parliament. It is not that the largest parliamentary democracy in the world does not have systems & process in place to check corruption. We have CAG, CVC, CBI which are government bodies responsible for overseeing government transactions, extracting accountability and enforcing criminal charg

The Race where competitors matter...

Image
On the tracks after that very quick & cracking Happy Diwali break. We have just arrived to the beginning of a very exciting and a gonna be a memorable week-end. That's how I see the Friday for all us F-1 enthusiasts... The 17th race of 2011 Grand Prix flags off at Buddh International circuit at greater Noida (India) These big names of F-1 team RBR Renault,McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari will be pitting each other so also India's Force ONE. The great F-1 drivers that we will be seeing in action will include Michael Shcumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Seabastian Vettel and Jonson Button. The competitor's cars are so well matched that individual vehicle performance can differ by only tenth of a second per lap. Therefore a straightaway overtaking of car is just not possible. The most common means of overtaking will be out-breaking the other at the bends. It's a tricky maneuver. If the passing car is not careful it could overshoot the turn and lose time or spin out

Puch dala,to life Jinga la la..

Image
At one part of the time, I was the part of the herd. A herd that heard and flocked behind the stakeholders of a movement that was nationwide. It was a call for the people to war against corruption. In spite of my political awareness and despite my well stack knowledge bank, I simply drifted into the movement. Now looking back I feel how stupid I was. This was not a discovery. It was simply a confirmation to the self that being a common man one is bound to be nothing but stupid. Let us not live in idealism. It will take some more light years for us to prove that waging war against corruption is a workable solution. For now this war against corruption is simply a means to pit one against the other for a defined political agenda. The masses and the media are simply the tools to achieve a desired political effect. Now should we be stupid enough to remain stupid that we are. Why not we wise up for a change and kick start a movement to demand that we are OK with corruption as long as

Excitement of F-1 live and roaring

Image
F I racing may never be a popular sports in our cricket crazy India. However that will not stop the excitement of watching on our home track the Formula-one racing ."Buddh international Circuit at greater Noida is all set to flag off the GRAND PRIX on the 28th . This October is all set to be a greatest festivity season. So let us get set and get familiar with the Big picture of Formula one Racing. This post is a walk through on all about TEAMS.. The field of competitors are broken into teams. with each team running two cars. Some are manufacturer's team and others are independent teams. The example of manufacturer(called constructors) in F 1 language are Honda, Renault,Toyota. The independent team imply that the entire car is manufactured except the engine, which is procured from major engine suppliers such as BMW, Mercedes and Honda. In either case the teams have to get the sponsorship from Global corporate giants who remain eager to get their logo in front of the world

Flagging your ..F1 dreams...

Image
I am sure we will remain one among the millions of F1 enthusiasts at the moment gearing up to watch the F1 GRAND PRIX. We have almost reached the last leg of our wait. Time to swipe some knowledge about the F1 racing.. Well let us flag off our knowledge sharing and start on taking home some good learning on all those flags that are crucial for all those cruising speed over those curvy tracks. These flags are part of the life line of the RACE...Here we go..... Blue flag A blue flag warns the driver that he is about to be lapped and to let the faster car overtake him. If a driver passes three blue flags, without complying, then the driver risks being penalised. Blue lights are also displayed at the end of the pit lane, when the pit exit is open and a car on track is approaching Black flag A black flag accompanied by a car number, directs a driver to return to his pit and is most often used to signal to the driver that he has been excluded from the race Black with orange circle f

Steering on top gear...stay tuned !

Image
Its truly more than whiff of fresh air for me, when I set my mind to write home something that is not about decaying politics, cluttering scams, vacillating Hazare movements and the crazy cricketing of course.. Speed,velocity and acceleration that may be just physics for us but they are a whole lot of very life and more for Micheal Schumacher and for the growing dare devil tribes of F1. This is also known as Formula 1,which is the highest class of world's single seater auto racing. It consists of series of races known as Grand Prix . The Geography that this series of race cover are spread across from Monaco the play ground of world's rich & famous to oil rich Abu Dabi & Bahrain to Shanghai the world's newest economic strong hold. The 2011 series of races for World championship kick started about last week of March This seasons race have so far covered over 16 locations which includes among others Kuala Lumpur ,Shanghai,Monaco,Istanbul & Budapest.

Let's accept.."Ravana" is indestructible..

Image
They don't need a handle bar moustache to prove their arrogance. They neither need ten heads to reveal their lust for power and fame. All the 365 days they remain hungry for more money,more power and very more arrogance.They come in all sizes and shape,some are savvy, some are outright rustic,some pretend simplicity . However each of them continue to be a rouge of a being ,pretending concern for the welfare of the gullible people who keep voting them to power. Like "Ravana" some of them are scholars too, having read in Oxford & Harvard. It's been now sixty four years since we are trying to slay "Ravana" and we will continue to do that for centuries to come. Does this mean he is invincible ? No not at all... You see we have just one "Dussehra" in a year and on date we have about 522 young & old Ravanas' moving around with folded hands hailing the devil's Democracy. So my dear Common Man have heart and pray that we will be able

Would miss you..RIP Steve Jobs..

Image
You don't have to live long to live behind a rich & inspiring legacy. Some people short live their life , yet live behind a rich and inspiring legacy for generations ahead. You only live once but if you work it right once is enough. Steven Paul Jobs proved that to one and all. Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox's PARC's mouse driven graphical user interface which led to creation of Macintosh. From here unfolded the story of "APPLE" . This is the one company that stands out for forging ahead on innovation. When Apple released i pad, people lined up for hours to get their hands on the latest shiny techno-gadget stamped with Apple logo. This cult like following for "APPLE" is enough to tell us what Steve Jobs was for the ipad & i phone generation in particular and to the gadget loving world at large. Steve.... you said, " time is limited"..... You for sure did not waste it living someone else's life

Montek feel "poverty" is molehill issue

Image
If asked, the Oxford literate Montek Singh Alhuwalia can defiantly prove that cribbing is the second nature of the common man in India. The advantage of being a glorified economist is that they can use their fancy statistical tools to bring out figures that can make a gloom & doom situation look like a happily livable environment. These perhaps are the major reasons why they dominate the National Planning & Economic commissions & committees in this country. Montek surely is a politically blessed economist. No doubt he has bagged a 'Padma Vibhushan'. India is still the only nation where the largest number of poor people live. It is the only nation in the world where you can find the tinniest of children picking through huge rubbish piles for a bit of morsel . At an age where most of the children of the affluent are pampered and showered with ice creams and chocolates, the children of these poor are forced to become "chotoos" in dhabas' and tea

The Tiger will Live on....

Image
I still remember climbing the tree in the little hillock adjacent to Feroz Shah Kotla ground. It was 1964 and I was something of 13. I with couple of my friends had bunked the school to watch the India-England Test match that was being played in Delhi. It was last day of the Test. I was seeing a Test match for the first time live on the field. It was also my first time watching the cricket from a tree top. I was seeing Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi with just one eye driving and pulling the ball all over the field. I still remember that magnificent drive when he was at199. It left everybody glued to their spot as the ball sped the boundary. Pataudi's score moved to 203. It was the first double century by an Indian against MCC. The excitement of that historic moment can never be written. It was simply thrilling. For a moment I did not realize that I was perched on top of a"Tree". Thank God that day I was back home with all my limbs in the right place. It was one won

Start believing in political fairy tales..

Image
I know I will not be at my honesty best if I say our Prime Minister is an honest person. I will also be grossly committing a judgmental error if I say that in politics honesty is the best policy. Well does this make our current Prime Minister the right man for the job..? The answer is no. I don't think we should feel guilty about it since we never elected him in the first place. Now here are some basic expectations that the country and her people expects the Prime Minister to deliver. For instance : a)The Prime Minister is not expected to keep blinking when confronting national issues instead he should be able to demonstrate his ability to take independent decisions when needed. b)If the Prime Minister has magnanimity in accepting the responsibility for the misdeeds of his cabinet members, he should also have the manliness to reprimand and take them to task. c)The Prime Minister is expected to lead and engage the nation for enhancing productivity and economic gr

When the earth quakes...

Image
When the earth moves beneath our feet they say it is because Atlas shrugged.? The ground can open up and swallow the people. Earthquake is becoming frequent. Only a week or so back we had a bomb blast followed by earth quake. The govt has already proved it can't do anything to prevent terror attack and now the nature is keeping us reminding that we can't do anything to prevent earthquake. So why worry about something that we can't help..... Never mind we all still love our life dearly ...so why not remain prepared in case earthquake comes knocking without ringing our door bells. I am sure NATURE will not let us down yet...we have lot to work on.. like winning our war against corruption, seeing Kassab swinging on the ropes and other blah blah. So here I go keying in what comes to my head without waiting to pause and hear my heart beats. Delhi just rocked.. .My desk top digital is showing its 6.15 PM and its a Sunday evening on the go...so start on ... with tips

God doesn't but politicians do.!

Image
Secularism is a menace used to create a divide within our democracy. It has become a battelfield for political manipulation and for injecting communalism into the community that left to itself has always remained in harmony. Again using label of minority & majority is a sheer political strategy for garnering vote and engineering discord and disharmony among the people. The upheavals of communal riots and the carnage it lives behind are the toll tax that the common man pays for up keeping the political systems of our democracy that thrive on a divide & rule policy. The plight, anguish and misery of riot victims and their family members are kept alive for decades in the form of judicial inquires. These inquires seldom probe the truth, yet pretend to give hope for punishing the real perpetrators of the carnage. Be it 1984 anti- Sikh riots in Delhi, be it Godhra train burning or be it Gujrat riots of 2002, no truth has ever emerged inspite of long drawn judiciary process and

Mercifully spares.."we the people"

Image
America is not having a jolly good time. It is going through some worst economic & financial crisis. Such crisis however never steals away her priority for the safety of her people. US security officials are increasing their efforts by hour to thwart any possible act of terrorism in advance of the 10th anniversary of September 11th 2001. Post 9/11 America relentlessly went after 'Al Qaeda' and hounded out Osama bin laden and gave him his watery grave. Post 9/11 no terror outfit dared to hit their shores. Naturally therefore Americans have every reason to feel safe in their country. The politicians in our country may perhaps never tire themselves from criticizing America and at the same time they neither may ever tire of their frequent tripping to America for pleasure pain & politics. However the saddest part is that they never bring home any learning from them except for the art of being bay watchers of bold & beautiful. Therefore it will not be an all lie on

Pain of their plain truth..

Image
Patriotism surely will continue to remain the last resort of the scoundrels but not politics. In today's independent India Politics seems to have emerged as the first and the only resort of the scoundrels. Our parliament has overwhelmingly a greater percentage of criminals than the world outside the parliament. How can we therefore hope for leaders to emerge from such parliament to lead us and the country. The politicians are frankly the only tribe enjoying to the hilt the freedom that we won from the British. Over the years they have perfected their art of yarning stories of growth amidist scheming scams, plotting scandals & brewing venom. To-day the entire nation is behind Anna Hazare's movement against corruption. Every one of us are standing up and speaking for Anna & his team and his war against corruption. Initially the politicians grossly under estimated this movement. Now they see in it a serious and devastating threat to their dynasty & t

hooked to the politicians mercy....

Image
We accepted it as part of our living. Gradually we started grumbling about it. We also then tried to cry about it in groups & forums. We then became so frustrated about it that we started making noise. However nothing changed for "we the people" We continued to remain unheard, un responded and ignored. Fretting & fuming we continued to live on... Then in April 2011 a man walks into Delhi's Jantar Mantar and decides to roar in public. His war cry against corruption was no less than the roar of a lion. It was this sound that compelled each of us to stand up and listen. In matter of days this roar echoed through the entire nation. The man behind the roar was 73 year old who went to prove to the world that old age can never be a sign of infirmity unless one willed it to be so. This was Anna Hazzare. In him for the first time in post independence era pan India gets her true people's leader. For the first time ever 'we the people ' are face to

Waiting for our bones...!

Image
India is virtually hit by a tsunami called "people-emotion".Their total outburst against the unstoppable avalanche of political & governmental corruption makes absolute sense. The huge sea of humanity pitching in with Anna Hazare for his war against this corruption is ' verylogical ' and not 'illogical '. Our wafer thin trust on the political system of our democracy has surely reached a point of breaking. Our politicians and our economists generally remain concerned about the upheavals & unrest in Libya,Egypt & other nations.They never fail to show their concern about the economic meltdown in America & Europe. However when it comes to our domestic economy and the magnitude of corruption at home, they instantly get into the game of using statistics and playing monkey and making us ride a crocodile to nowhere. Today the politicians and political parties have made our parliament a den for conspirators, for arm twisting & tongue

our right to say what's wrong...

Image
Not any time before in the history of independent India did we see the bureaucrats , the politicians and the very governance vandalising the integrity and the very trust of the people. Their unbridled power & greed is eating into the very texture of our economy that is supposed to be globally vibrant & investment friendly. They truly have emerged as Modern India's Muhammad Ghaznis' and Muhammad Ghauris'. Be it the power heads at state level, be it the powerful s' at the center, they all keep creating & exploiting opportunities to nurse their greed, grudge and remain obsessed to self grandeur. It is very rare to have an intellectual Prime Minister whose honesty & integrity is totally scratch free. However his lame & limping leadership is tormenting. How can a nation tolerate a leader who neither speaks up nor speaks back. To add to the woes of our democracy we have also a leader of the opposition in the parliament who always remain be

The "Belly" of our politicians

Image
'Belly' is an important part of our anatomy. It can give us energy to fight for what is right. It can also starve us to death. It can also remain a power house of our greed. Having said this, I do have to say however that it seldom energies the aam aadmi enough to fight for what is right. Also an aam aadmi's 'belly' becoming his powerhouse of greed is an absolute myth. For an aam aadmi, more than often his belly becomes the cause of his death due to starvation...... The following immortal lines from the verse of one of the most significant poet of modern Hindi poet late "Suryakant Tirpathi Nirala" very aptly describes the fate of aam aadmi's belly...... . "पेट पीठ दोनों मिलकर हैं एक , चल रहा लकुटिया टेक , मुट्ठी भर दाने को-- भूख मिटाने को मुँह फटी पुरानी झोली का फैलाता-- दो टूक कलेजे के करता पछताता पथ पर आता। भूख से सूख ओठ जब जाते दाता-भाग्य विधाता से क्या पाते ?-- घूँट आँसुओं के पीकर रह जाते। चाट रहे जूठी पत्तल वे सभी सड़क पर खड़े हुए , औ

Walk talk and live our fear

Image
The UPA & NDA along with tattered group of other political bodies remain busy using Democracy and vote banking for their own individual party interest. Neither at her youth nor in her past 60s, our Democracy has ever delivered any national or regional leadership that could rise up from party and politics to fight elements that become a threat to the very integrity and security of the nation. This failure of our democracy has made terrorism a vicious monster that remains fed and pampered for money,power and lust.The perception that terrorism is an off shoot of a religion and a faith is simply a manifestation of vested political interests. Mumbai has become a preferred target for terrorist attacks.Every one of us believed that Post 26/11, politicians and political parties, will help and work alongside regional and central govt agencies to prevent and save Mumbai from terrorist and terrorism. The last week terror attack that left 21 people killed and many orphaned is the bl

Amul Walk for buttery "democracy"

Image
Like 'Dalda' is synonyms to 'ghee', "Amul" remains a synonyms to 'butter'. In Indian politics ghee is referred in context of instigating people for political gains and butter is referred to sweet talking the people again for political gains.Well ghee or butter politically the gain always remain an'advantage' to party & politics and a "five set" straight defeat for the people & democracy. The political honesty in this country has reached its lowest ebb. The people have painfully realized that a clean and an honest prime Minister is a rudendent force if he cannot prevail over the bunch of free flowing scams-esters in his team. The UPA government may be in the verge of dismantling . A mid term election may after all not remain a far fetched notion. However what is fearful is that we have no political party to turn to for restoring our optimism. When we look around the Kurukshetra of politics, all that we see are bunch