Monday, May 29, 2006

Aag

Ho gayi hai peer parbat si, pighalni chahiye,
Is Himalaya se koi Ganga nikalni chahiye,
Sirf hungama khada karna mera maksad nahin,
Meri koshish hai ke ye soorat badalni chahiye,
Mere seene me nahi to tere seene me sahi,
Ho kahin bhi aag lekin AAG JALNI CHAHIYE.

हो गयी पीर परबत सी, पिघलनी चाहियें
इस हिमालय से कोई गंगा निकलनी चाहिये
सिर्फ़ हन्गामा खडा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं
मेरी कोशिश है कि यह सूरत बदलनी चाहिये
मेरे सीने में नहीं तो तेरे सीने मे सही
हो कहीं भी आग, लेकिन आग होनी चाहिए

Friday, May 26, 2006

Will Watch "Fanaa" Twice

Aamir, (and I say this, to quote the great George, with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality), I am a fan.

I like your movies (except Tum Mere Ho and Mela and have not watched Mangal Pandey) but do not care if you are for or against Narmada Bachao Andolan and what your personal views on the matter are. I hope the thick headed Bhajyumo members in Gujrat understand this - but do not worry. Even if Fanaa turns out to be a typical Yash Chora movie, which I generally hate, I will watch it twice - once for myself and other on the behalf of a poor fan of yours in Gujrat who cannot.

Can someone liberate Gujrat from this goondaism?

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Geese Extermination

There was a goose that lay golden eggs - one egg per day. The owner of the goose got greedy and killed the goose to get all the eggs out in one day. The goose died and owner could do nothing but repent. This is the story all of us have read and memorized. And we are expected to learn from this story such that we do not find ourselves in a similar situation.

But the Government of India does not seem to have learnt anything from this old tale. It kills one golden goose after another and would probably continue to do so till such geese are extinct in India.

After India became independent, it killed the aspirations of people. Ordinary people like your and my grandfather were expected to be like saints - don't ask, don't question and don't aspire. A very negative connotation was applied to word ambition and if someone became successful, they tried to tell the common man that it would only be through wrongdoing and corruption.

The second goose the government killed comprised of the industries and public sector units. There was no global competition and complacency gripped these PSUs through and through. The recruitment procedure in all these industries became a way of money making by corrupt with a tacit support of local MLAs and MPs. There were no rewards and no recognitions for the real hardworkers. Promotions happened only based on time and sifarish. The more well connected you are, the smoother would be the path to the top.

In late 80s and early 90s, something happened that the goverment had absolutely no control over. Inspite of the over regulation, some enterprising people brought a technical knowledge based revolution to India. A lot of jobs were created and hardworking and talented people brought a lot of name and much needed foreign currency to India, in short became a goose that is laying golden eggs. This, along with the educational system is the latest set of geese that the government intends to kill by bringing in reservation for SC/ST/OBCs.

The intention behind reservation is utopian, but the implementation is draconian. The government is trying to hide its utter failure in bringing the downtrodden to the mainstream of Indian society. Now it is trying to forego its responsibility of social justice by trying to push reservation down the throat of Indian industry.

Reservation was meant to be in place only for the first 10 years after independence, but it has not been able to achieve the goal of social justice even after 55 years. Do we not need to look back and try to see why we failed so badly? Does failure not call for a review of this system? How long are we, as a society, going to carry this baggage only because our government is not honest about bringing in true social justice?

These decisions are totally one sided. Few days back there were voices within the government about taking care of the general category of students and improving infrastructure in educational institutions. Today, nothing, nada, zilch. The proclamation just said that the reservation in educational institutions will happen from June 2007. If you read between the lines, it means that there would be no new IITs, no new AIIMSs, no new law colleges and nothing will be done at the level of primary schools because the goverment has neither any intention nor any money for doing so. The bright students who belong to general category can go to hell, or to the US if their parents have sufficient money.

If reservation has not worked for the last 55 years, there is no guarantee that it will work in next 355 years. If we do not do something about it now, it will be too late. The story of India is just becoming interesting. The goverment is trying to end it here by bringing in an anticlimax.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Four Years

It will be four years since I moved back to India. Not that I was in the USA for such a long time, but still, it is a country with a wonderful idea called an American Dream. This idea has an instant appeal and who can not but get infected by it. I was one of the victims of the dot com bubble burst and leaving USA was one of the hardest decisions I have made. However, I stuck to it as it seemed right at the time.

The next year in Bangalore was the worst. Although I started my career in Bangalore, I was in for a shock in the second innings here. I used to look for similarities with USA everywhere. I looked for a Starbucks in baristas and cafe coffee days, a Safeway in foodworlds, nilgiris and fabmalls, Century Cinemas in dilapidated theaters of Bangalore (no, PVR and INOX have opened fairly recently) etc. I had the same feeling when I left home at the age of 17 to join IIT Bombay - homesickness. I just wanted to run away.

Things were not bad jobwise. I had a decent job, somewhat exciting, but definitely not of the sucky variety I had in the US. Money was never a problem. I was just married and had found a wonderful companion in my wife; parents were around and family life was good. I survived the first year. A Maruti Zen is no replacement for a Mustang GT convertible, but things have been better since then.

I have not yet grown to like the situation here. No one can get used the traffic situation and the daily commute in Bangalore. There is no explanation for the way people behaved when Dr. Rajkumar passed away. I cannot, for the love of God, understand the psyche of people like V. P. Singh, Arjun Singh and Ramvilas Paswan and hate the fact that I have to share my country with these morons.

But, I have definitely changed - I am once again comfortable purchasing vegetables in the local market. I do not ask for mineral water bottles in hotels and restaurants (those who have seen Swades, the transformation of the hero revolves around the bottle of Aquafina, very true!) and I love eating rice bath and set dosa for lunch. I have finally managed to purchase an apartment. The transformation has not just happened; I have worked towards it.

In this post, I will not include methods to cope with India on your way back, because I am planning to open a consultancy for relocation advice. Coz one thing that I have learnt really well after coming back here is that NRIs are there to fleece.

I am still living the American Dream... ;-)

Da Munshi Code

Every Indian who claims to be well read should protest against Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi. He did not do anything when Dan Brown's book was released in India and became bestseller almost immediately. Every person who read the book immediately went online to find out more about the new theory or Jesus's marriage being put forward. Nor did he do anything when both Discovery and National Geographic showed TV programmes on the book and on the Gnostic Gospels. Then why this furore now?

Is normal public in India really that dumb? Why would they react only when something is shown on the big screen and not when it is broadcast on television in prime time? Why not ask National Geographic to be banned in India?

Comments?

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

One More Move

You must be wondering what happened to the astrology posts. Well, there has been one more move. I have finally moved all the astrology specific articles to the new website on my service provider's account:

http://www.planetarypositions.com/notes

I am also hoping that Google picks up these pages as soon as possible. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I am sure you would understand that it is for the best...

I request you to spread the word around and let as many people as possible.