Doordarshan [Alive]

               Ask anyone of my age (29 now), about the best soap he saw and pat comes a pick from the good old days. He would choose at least one from the list: Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Chandrakanta, Tippu Sultan, Discovery of India, Byomkesh Bakshi, Tehkikat, Hum Paanch, Mungeli lal ki haseena sapne, Nukkad, Surabhi, Shanthi and UGC. There was creativity, thought, meticulousness and quality in the stuff made in bygone-era. That was the Doordarshan era.

               Ask anyone in his teens about Doordarshan, the only time he might have watched it might be during an accidental flip of the channel. Why the channel is buried deep under? Everyone is still synonymous with brand and quality, so what is the Government doing with it? The Ministry of IT and Broadcasting should spend some time reviving it rather than waiting to wane away its sheen. (IT is not the only thing which survives in the country, Mr. Minister).

               In this day of launch-a-channel-everyday, how can Doordarshan stand out? More importantly how can it help the Government and People of India which it serviced in past (after all the tax payers should reap some benefits from this)? How can it be be trendsetter again? What can be the "evolved form" of the Doordarshan?

               So here is my take on how this channel can evolve to become another trendsetter. In this day of so many local, vernacular channels, there is no need of another soap-channel. Where it can do more justice is a place where India's voice is to be heard and heard louder. It can speak vehemently in US about the jobs created by Indian companies in US and how outsourcing has helped an average Joe get all his home products at such economical prices. It can showcase how Indians are helping the Oz-nations get their doctors in hospitals and software in working. It can showcase in Afghanistan how Indians are no different for Afghan brothers, after all both of us like Bollywood. We can show in Nepal, how India's growth is creating opportunities in their country. It should show in Srilanka and China how Buddhism came from India to other nations and how closely connected we are culturally. It can showcase in Israel, Iran and other places, how we support their cause and extend our empathy to them. It can showcase in Kashmir how a Muslim majority region like Hyderabad has made a mark on the world by accepting the integration into a rich and prosperous nation.

               So how do we do it. First it requires a strong vision and commitment from the Ministry, and I believe if it is clubbed with the IT ministry it cannot achieve this. Rather there should be a separate ministry for this with aid from External Affairs Ministry. After all, BBC programs are part funded by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So why not Doordarshan? The second aspect is to do aggressive marketing both in India and abroad. (uggh..my sales and marketing gene is in play now). They should pitch aggressively in the countries of interest, after all our consulates are pretty active there. Then they should also take on the private channels with all aggression. These channels have made a mock of the TV transmission and news. There is no quality or dignity in delivering the news. Peepli [Live] has expressed my thoughts on today’s private channels. I would have been most happy had Doordarshan sponsored/funded the movie. 

Games I play on Bangalore roads

Bangalore roads are the best test for patience. To cut down boredom, to have some fun they are some petty things I like doing. Anirudh is the best company to travel with and most of these games we devised as a joint effort. Read on:

1. Deriding your boss: The rules of the game are simple, keep exposing the stupidity of your boss before the other player. The winner of the game is the guy who has the most stupidest boss.

2. Overtake the finger: This is the most recent addition to our games. We have devised it just today. Show your middle to the vehicle which is trying to overtake you. The person will be shocked and taken aback and would stop overtaking. If someone still has the guts to overtake... kudos to him, he has something serious to attend.

3. Insult Infy: I believe this game can be played only in a major South Indian city, as these are the places where one can find too much about Infosys. Bangalore is one such place, which is filled with Infy buses, Infy buildings, Infy employees, Infy news. So this has become our peev. Keep scolding, insulting and deriding it and get the sadistic pleasure. So you can comment on Infy buses how they ply on the road, the number of infy employees in the bus stand and the shape of the building of Infy. The best comment was that on the conference building overlooking the Hosur road in Electronics city. Anirudh commented on its saying "It looks like a MRI scan machine" referring to the weird circular shape at the center of the structure.

4. Identify the Chutiya: Once upon a time there was a Chutiya clan, the members of which are the most idiotic of the human race. Unfortunately they got mixed up in today's population. So the mission is to identify and name these members of the clan. They have weird characterstics and the names are according to their weirdness/acts. So if someone puts a left indicator and turns right he is a "Left-Right Chutiye". If he skips a signal he is "Lal Bathi Chutiya". If some attempts to get on a running bus he is a "Running Chutiya". The winner of this game is identified by his innovative names he suggests.

5. Analyse her: The rule of the game is to spot a gal and analyse her as quickly as you can. The winner is the guy who identifies and analyses most number of gals. Remember the other person always has the right to question your analysis, so you need to have enough reasoning/justification for that.

6. Chase: Remember the main requirement of this game is that the road should be pretty empty. Because there is a very good chance that you might get lost or get stuck and delayed unexpectedly by playing this game. So the best time to play this game in Bangalore is late in nights/early mornings or during day time play it in your locality. Unlike the previous games, this is a group event and requires cooperation between all the passengers in the car. According to the game one of you will pick a random person from the street and you would start following her/him till the destination is reached or all the passengers decide to call it day. So you take left when he/she takes and you rev when he/she does. This is a fun game and if played quite well, might also scare the person whom you are chasing. That increases the pleasure. This is also the best way to know about the different routes and explore new places which one has never explored before. But since there are very few occassions in Bangalore when there is no traffic even I got to play this very occasionally. Once we stopped at Mc Dies drive-thru and there was this lady at the back who was honking repeatedly. I got so irritated that I thought I will scare her and started following her. Thanks to the co-passengers, Nivi, Meenu and Manoj, we followed her for more than 5kms and scared the hell out of her before we gave up. In another such occassion, I started following a "phirangi" lady, I followed her in my car, while she was walking and finally we reached her home. She was so hell scared that as soon as she reached her place, she ran in and closed the door with a "Thud". :P

See Bangalore roads can drive people crazy, now you dont believe that?

Sorry!! Not interested!!

Being in Business Development one gets to attend big conferences, wine and dine lavishly in luxury hotels, meet who-is-who of the city and if lucky get some media coverage too. Sooner or later one gets so used to all this that it does not lure anymore. The meetings get so predictable. One can see through what is the rationale and outcome from those.

I am a big fan of NASSCOM organised meetings, because they are professional in nature (when compared to CII, FICCI and other trade associations). But in the last fifteen days I have ignored four of their invites. In hindsight when I contemplate about a reason for ignoring these sessions, a simple one liner flashed: This yet another cash dried developed nation seeking to invest in their country, what do I get out of attending that session. Thats not weird, is'nt it? Wait a minute did I say a developed nation? Did I say cash dried?

Twenty years ago on TV, I remember seeing the current prime minister in London and New York pledging all the gold assets and begging to get some money to run the country. I hear, ten years ago NASSCOM used to take trade missions to USA, UK, Japan to showcase the Indian talent and get those companies interested in India. So what happened now? What are the embassies and trade associations from USA (Fairfax county), UK (Scotland), Canada, Japan, South Korea, Finland, Denmark, Germany doing here? Why are they begging Indian companies to pump in money into their countries. Are they not supposed to be the big guys? Don't they still have the "Developed" nations tag? Is it that the developed nations no more signifies that they rank high up in the caste systems of countries?You know all about the recession and stagnation stories.
I will not repeat those. But I felt a boost of my Indian-ego when I had to smirk at a white Danish guy and say: "Your country is not worth investing. Sorry!! Not interested!!". It gave a sadistic pleasure.

Kaapi Tales

As an orthodox South Indian, I hold in all high regard the God of Filter Kaapi. It is steaming, pure frothy, dark and thick. The taste is next to elixir. I dont remember when I had my first coffee... but I remember that even at an age of 11yrs, I used to have it once in a month, a saturday evening/sunday morning special.

Coming from a traditional South Indian Brahmin family, I hear about the Kaapi stories from generations. Once in my ancestral home, my paternal grand mom showed me two tin boxes, sized around 15cms, with a circular opening. She proudly proclaimed that these boxes are "Staines Coffee boxes from London (actually England). Your grandfather used to get them imported when he was alive. (circa 1930s). We used to drink it daily in this glass (showing me a steel glass of with a capacity of around 500ml)". In another story my dad once said that he used to milk the cow and with the fresh frothy milk, he used to drink the coffee. My mom still complains how she was ill-treated in her in-laws place, because she never used to get a bed coffee. She had to finish her morning ablutions, and then ignite the stove to get that chaste cup of coffee. Coffee is considered to be divine form of food. During fasts, two things are allowed to be gulped... fruits and coffee. Then there was a story of a distant relative how he survived his fifteen days of fever by eating bread dipped in coffee.

There are several arguments on figuring out the best number of times a coffee should be had in a day. For my maternal grand-mother, a coffee should be had three times a day (just as the meals) but should be had atleast 500ml each time. for my (late) maternal grand father, coffee is like a water, one keeps drinking it in little quantities every one hour. everyone has devised their own magical number for the day. It may vary from zero (that's my sister... coffee is only for some special occassions) to eight. (one of my uncle, who has vowed to take coffee every time a cigarrette is lit).

Then the discussion on right mix of chicory. Luckily South Indians are habituated to Robusta. So atleast the discussion on Arabica or Robusta seeds does not arise until one goes to the Coffee bars. But still there is always a discussion on the right mix of chicory to coffee. For my family it is 20% of chicory. Personally I prefer something less than 10%.

Then there is the treatise on how to make coffee for the occassion. For the morning first sip, the coffee decoction should be freshly brewed, milk without dilution should be added a thick dark coffee had to be made. As the day progresses the milk and decoction should also be diluted. Kids should always be given a diluted version perhaps a child-lock facility so as not to get addicted. Servants also get the diluted version perhaps cost-cutting. Guests also get the diluted version perhaps because they have already had their meals or tiffins.

Then the reasons for drinking a filter kaapi. There are several hundreds of them. They might be everything from scientific to illogical, from articulate to contracdicting, from facts to myths, but everyone has their own reason to drink one. Here are a few:

My mom for her morning cup: " It is an energizer, it wakes up from morning slumber." My dad for his morning cup: " It keeps you running for hours together without hunger". My dad for his night cup of coffee "It makes you sleep easily". My brother "Drinking coffee is a best form of killing time". Me " I keeps hunger away". One of my maternal uncle for his morning cup "It helps in morning ablutions". My grand mom "How can one think of not having a morning cup of coffee?".

My list....

My list of ten most admirable heroines in Tollywood:

1. Savitri: If you have not seen her in acting, then you have not seen the best actress in world. The split personality action by Vikram in "Aparichitudu" (or "Aninyan" in tamil) is nothing when compared to her split personality portrayal in the song "Ahaa Naa Pelli anta..." in "Mayabazaar".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_(actress)

2. Soundarya: Very few actors can portray humour, emotion, sensuality, vileness and innocence in one character. But a real-life character demands all this in one personality. We are comical at one instance while serious the next. We are kind hearted at one instance and stoic the next. And a heroine who could portray all this in one movie can just be a super women. And that is what she is. There was no role where she compromised on her acting. If I can compare her then she is as best as Savitri. Though she died a six years back, she will be remembered by all the telugu house holds for generations to come. Her best movies as per my rating are "Pavitra Bandham" (*ring Venkatesh) and "Ammoru"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundarya

3. VijayaShanthi: Even more than a century of Indian films, there are very few Heroines who can take the burden of the entire film on their shoulders. These league of ladies completely dominate the hero's characterization by their's. Grapevine says that they could not find a suitable heroine in Bollywood when they were remaking "Kartavyam" in Hindi. She is one star with whom Male counter parts had feared to act, because of her dominance. She excelled in portraying revolutionary woman characters ( "Pratighatana" or "Osey Ramulamma") and glamorous characters ("Challenge" and "Gang Leader"). Currently she is an incumbent MLA and a strong supporter for Telangana.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayashanti

4. Radha: If there was any one heroine who could match to the speed of Chiranjeevi's dance steps, then she was the only one lady.She filled the void where Vijaya Shanthi, Bhanupriya, Jayapradha, Radhika failed when it comes to acting on par with a Mega Star like Chiranjeevi. Watch her steps in "Kondaveeti Donga" or "State Rowdy" or any other Chiranjeevi star movie and I am sure you find no match for dance tunes. By the time she entered telugu Industry she was almost in her late 20s and was plump but her steps are unmatched even by the most young and athletic dancers of that time. She is 44 now and owns a few businesses in Mumbai.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radha_(actress)

5. Jayaprada: I think there will not be a single Indian who do not know about her. That indicates how she gripped audiences all over India. But frankly speaking I should say that her Bollywood affair did not bring out the acting prowess in her. If one compares her performance across Hindi and Telugu movies, there will be no ambiguity in the fact that her best movies are from Telugu. Her best movies are "Adavi Ramudu" (Remember NTR and her in the song "Chettuchattu aaku tadise... titum titum...:P) and "Sagar Sangamam". She is presently an incumbent MP.

6. JayaSudha: Forget about her acting in her prime years, if you see her in "Bommarillu" (2006)... you would appreciate her acting prowess. When she shouts at her husband or chides her son, you would see your mom in her. That was the depth of her talent. If you have seen her acting as an angry young teen in 1970s/80s you would agree with me that there is no other actress who could fit in the role so well. (Sridevi is just a hype before her). These days she is Corporator of Secunderabad and I would miss seeing her in filmi action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayasudha

7. Kanchana: If you thought she is an impostor of Julia Roberts in a sari, I can excuse you. Because in my yester-years even I used to think the same. She is not only the most beautiful, most talented but also most richest Tollywood actors of yesteryears (She used to own a Cessna Flight in 1960s). Her performance in "Avve Kallu" staring Krishna is an indisputable example. There are roles which were etched for her, which Savitri or Gemuna cannot portray.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanchana_(actress)

8. Rajani: She ruled the roast as a comedy queen. Her innocent face but a heavy dialog delivery made her an inevitable choice for a few characters she portrayed. Her career best movies "Majnu" (*ring Nagarjuna) and Ahaa Naa Pelli Anta (*ring Rajendra Prasad) says it all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajani

9. Suhasini: In "Leader" (total duration of two and half hours, released in 2010) she enacts a character for less than ten mins. But ask anyone about the movie, there should be a comment on her. That shows her mark on the audience when takes up a character. Ideally I would have expected her to have done more telugu movies (telugu are the ones which have zoomed her into limelight), but her interests in Tamil, Malayalam movies have made her concentrate less in Tollywood. Anyways, I am happy that she still picks up roles of her caliber in telugu industry and does them. Must watch under her tag: Challenge and Chantiabbai.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suhasini_Maniratnam

10. Shobana: Surprisingly most of Shobana's hits came with Chiranjeevi. ( though she did a couple with Rajendra Prasad, Bala krishna)Probably because other actors did not want to do movies with her as she was a trained dancer. Her dance steps were so fluent and adept, that I could imagine the plight of an average South Indian Heros (with bloated up personalities) in matching up to her. Not only her dance was enthralling, but so was her sensuality and charm. Rudraveena or Rowdy Alludu are just the tip of iceberg. She is 40 and acting. So I am eager to see a couple of master pieces from her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shobana

Disclaimer: This is a list made out of my personal perception or preference. So please feel free to differ. I would like to view your top ten list. Please scribble here in the comments section below. I am aware that I have to leave out a few popular personalities like Gemuna, B.Saroja, Radhika, Sridevi, Nagma, Tabu, Ramya Krishna. I had my own reasons to feel they did not fit the list. The main reason being that they could never stand out from their contemporaries or made a void which cannot be filled.

Diplomatic Strategies ..

I am sure every one might have come across a passing reference of following activities:

1. Ample availability of Bollywood movie CDs/DVDs in Afghanistan. In fact these days all the visitors to the Indian embassy in Afghan can pick as many CDs/DVDs as they need for free.

2. Sudden attention in building Buddhists temples and organizing Buddhist festivals/get togethers. There has been a Buddhist Univ in MP near Sanchi, a Buddhist get-together in Amaravathi, AP, a world class Buddhist research institute near Takshashila, Bihar, Display of Budhist artefacts (including ash remains of Gautam Budha) in Singapore.

3. Indians purchasing Tea gardens and Flori-cultural lands in Africa. In fact this year has been a record year for FDI out of India to Africa for owning these lands.

4. Hosting IIFA (film awards) in countries outside India. The last one was in Colombo, Sri lanka. The previous were in cities including London, Dubai. The next will be in Toronto, Canada.

5. Encouraging Afghan and Iraq cricket teams to play cricket.

6. Issuing a no-Australia decree to Indian student community.

All these events seem to be out of place discrete events characterized by a happenstance. A deep though actually reveals a hidden intent of the activities. Indian is trying to build its clout and doing it in a refined way. These are the hidden intentions and will surprise any budding strategist (me included).

1. Taliban seems to be anti-India. The only way they can veer them towards India is by luring them to a favorite Indian Dessert - The Bollywood flicks. The Afghans like them because they understand the language easily and they can co-relate to the Indian culture unlike Hollywood. Using this as a bait, India is trying to enter their leisure list and eventually their good list. I am sure in a few years from now Afghan entertainment hunger can be satiated only by a diplomatic engagement with India for the flicks to be aired in cinemas. Thats when the fruits are bore.

2. China is trying to lure the Asian economies like Japan, Singapore with their "Mongloid-race" card. The only way India can connect here is at a religious/spiritual level: Buddhism. There is no denial of the fact that the roots of Buddhism are deeply implanted in India and passed to the ASEAN countries via the silk route. Now India is strongly exploring this route by inviting diplomats, leaders to Buddhist spiritual/religious activities. India also hinting at its association with these countries that existed for centuries.

3. China has already built massive projects in Africa. There is no way India can beat it at its scale of infrastructure projects. But it has MEA officials has realised one thing, that once the project is completed Chinese influence on these countries might go down. So the best way to build a clout there and influence is to own up land. Indian tea gardens and flori-cultural lands are already internationally renowned. Now extending them to own up land in Africa and become permanent influencers there is a logical extension.

4. Awareness and acceptance of India as a country with constant presence is thrust by missions like IIFA. People throng to see SRK, Salman, Katrina and leave a mark in their minds. This increases acceptance and tolerance towards India and Indians.

5. Iraq and Afghan cricket teams are constantly engaged by visiting India or India's B-Teams visiting these countries. They are trying to portray an image showcasing India as a Big-Bro who can aid them to get a decent place in the Global eyes.

6. India has passed silently threatened a developed nation to face the consequences if they follow a No India policy. Around 11K seats in the Oz-universities are going vacant this year. That shows a potential loss of for-ex money into Australia. It also indicates how they will fall short of skilled labor in the years to come. This threat is not just directed towards Australia but towards US and UK too. Now we need to see how can Oz-land cope up with this back lag.

Wet Pleasures

With rains all around, I thought I list the ten things which I like to do when it rains. These are things I really enjoy doing while it is raining outside (and not another do-it-in-future-wish-list).

1. Have a really hot cup of green-tea and chat with Manoj. Hot tea and hot gossip will ward away the chill factor.

2. Eat hot chat and mirchi bajjis. Nothing can beat a spicy taste in mouth when the weather is cold.

3. Go on a long drive with "Illayaraja" or "Kishore Kumar" music in the back ground. Depending on the mood driving alone has a comfort feel. Drive on NICE road or Devanhalli Airport road or even out of the Bangalore.

4. Race with the rain and speed the car till I beat the rain. Crossing the rainy region and savoring the victory by lighting a "Davidoff Lights" just finishes it off.

5. Drive under the flyover from where water is gushing heavily. Its like a shower to the car. The first time you do, you are really scared as though you are getting wet with the splash. But as you get over the fear the real thrill lies.

6. Its awesome to get drenched in the first rain. Real ecstasy is when you recollect your memories of childhood, schooling or lost love and savor them.

7. Splash the water collected in small ponds. Best if you can get some strangers and wet them. It comes with a caveat that not every one will appreciate it.

8. When it is drizzling go for a jog. Nothing like slow jogging in mild rain. Just did it yesterday.

9. Watch people scurrying in rain. It will give a sadistic pleasure. :P. Also watch kids play.

10. Make a cocktail specially a vodka based one. Gulp it while standing in balcony. The heat of vodka in throat nullifies the chilliness of weather.

Finally one suggestion from me. Ever tried making paper boats and leaving them in the water ponds of rain? Try it. Remember every man has a child in him.

Do include your fav list or wish list too in the comments belows. Tx

Four things a Banglorean should know

My earnest request to all naturalised Bangaloreans:

1. Houses are meant to protect you and all your things. Please provide car parks. I dont want to park my car on a public road.

2. Surprisingly, arranged marriages are still legal in India. So please cut all the gyan on why you did not object for your son or daughter's love marriage. I am not interested nor sympathetic. I know better on what to do.

3. A human voice exists not just for office teleconference calls but for arguing with autowallahs and police wallahs. Please do. You do not want to spend so much money.

4. Sightseeing list in Bangalore should include places like Bannerughatta, Hulimavu, Lepakshi, Nandi hills and not Forum, Garuda, Mantri Square.

Four things a Bangalorean girl should know..

To start with I took the advice of a well wisher and changed my lucky number to 4 going the ekta kapoor style.

Four things which a Bangalorean boy (like me) wants to convey to Banglorean girls:

1. Wearing western dresses not only needs money and attitude (both these all Bangaloreans have in plenty) but also some sense. Please shave your armpits. How much ever skin you show, it puts any guy off.

2. No... not all guys want you to run into them while walking on MG Road. Please maintain some distance. In case we are really interested in you we would let you know.

3. Drinking and Smoking does not make you hep. Probably it used to be that way when you are in college. But here now while working it is just a stress reliever. So drink responsibly and not to show how western you are. Believe me no guy will be aroused because you smoke or drink.

4. Stop giving cheeky looks while with your boy friend or husband. If you are really interested for a one night stand, come speak to us outrightedly. But I believe if you are hungry so is the guy standing beside you, talk to him he has the first right.

And finally, for the all the new/wannabe mothers, babies are not born into the world to generate employment for the "aayas". They are your responsibility, please nurture them yourself and spare us your gyan on how you taught your aaya on rearing a child.

Thoughts on Religion

I still remember the uproar created (including media) when L.K.Advani said that Hindutva is not a religion but a way of life. They twisted and turned the meaning and tossed banters across "pundits" and "politicians". Any sensible dweller in hinduism outrightedly appreciate Advani's boldness and frankness. After all we cannot claim Hindutva as a religion. It is a way of life... some generally accepted religious principles (GARP!! :P).

Unlike some other religions, Hinduism is never binding nor enforcing. Atleast from the vedas there is no way in which one can be converted into a Hindu. He is a born Hindu. There is no way that you can restrict definition 'Hindus' to followers of few Gods. There are many. The Vedas mention about 3 crore Gods present in this Holy land. It does not even bind saying a Hindu should believe in God. Hinduism is the only 'religion' which can have non-believers of God (nasthik) as patrons. Then if we have non-believers in God, then how can Hindutva be a religion? An accepted definition of religion is 'an institution to express belief in divine power'. So if an institution accepts people without any belief then it cannot be a religion in strict sense.

Does that mean the Hindutva way is just a life style rather than a tradition? I think so. It can also be considered a highly evolved religion. It is a more tolerant religion, where there is a tolerance even towards the non-believers, other religions, off shoots of hindu based religions and an ever increasing list of Gods and saints. If we dont accept this definition, then we do not have an explanation for one religion being so tolerant towards others, while by definition religion means propogating ones Gods?

How do a religion reach a higher stage of maturity? Because, it gives the flexibility for its patrons to execute the day to day work without much interference. It does not dictate which job to do, whom to trade with, what to trade, what to eat, how to live, when to seek God, when to visit temple. Though a few norms exists there are well defined work arounds for each of these. This gives the flexibility of following the rules normally or seek the help of work arounds when needed. In case of hindutva: if a Brahmin is forbidden eating meat, there are enough examples of sages killing and eating. If there is a rule forbidding eating or drinking certain things, there are enough venerable examples to take an alternate view. If someone looses his identity/caste/religion by travelling the seas, there is a way in which a prayer can be offered and get back lost identity. My general observation is that wherever this kind of flexibility exists, religions became more tolerant. To quote a few examples, Christianity is more tolerant and thrives even today compared to Judaism, though both are based on same principles. Buddhism survived in other parts of the world as it was twisted and made flexible, while here in India it is diminished because of its rigidness.

Why I write this? Today I see a video on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeCdIfkSbzE . This video protrays an Islamic priest claiming intolerance and hatred are the best way to cleanse the world. The video shows how some followers try to spread and tarnish an entire religion. Islam was born as a tolerant alternative to the brutal and violent christianity that existed in 500AD. People needed a more tolerant and peaceful religion and thats what the Prophet has advised. But soon with the Islamic wars (with the then dominance of christianity) at peak, they have manipulated the definition of the religion, as a means of propogating hatred and violence. Over the ages, Christianity became a more peaceful and friendly religion but some Islamic views are still lingering in the medivial times. I am surprised, that to this day in some lands Mullah's and so called religious guardians preach to treat, women as mere objects of pleasure and use, than humans. It is likely impossible that such a view carries weight or deserves audience in this age except for some brute force method of making people accept. This anarchaic rules will slowly and eventually fade away. If this doesnt happen people start avoiding such religions and they surely have to meet with obsolescence.

Run Maadi!!

A 10k run is a huge personal achievement. Each runner has his/her own story to tell. And here is mine

Pre-race:

At 740am I reached Kanteerva stadium. Entered via Gate 5, did some warm ups and stretches. As I entered the stadium. it was evident, the mood inside was electric. There is a huge crowd cheering the professional race participants. There was ten min lag between the professional race and the 10K race. At 8:10am there was a big announcement of start of race. Every one was excited to start. There were hordes of participants who jumped the fence to enter the race arena and start off immediately. I was more cautious. I did not want to get hurt before the big run. So took the gate and entered the field. Once on the field started a slow jog. As I stepped on the mat (which has the detectors), the clock showed 8:21am.

Race: (Map: http://images.photogallery.indiatimes.com/photo/5917754.cms?)

8:22: Raghu (my engineering friend, who came from Hyd specially to run the race), handed me a bottle of water which can come handy.

8:23: As the crowd passed through the exit gate of the stadium there is a decrease in pace (also for the fact it is a steep climb for the exit gate). I slowly walked, criss crossing and dodging the crowd. Raghu and myself begin our journey on road with a war cry.

8:25: Pass through Mac Donalds on Kasturba road and the board showed completed 1km. Raghu shouts "Hurrah!! done 1, 9 more to go!!".

8:26: Enter onto Queens road, beside Chinnaswamy stadium. A volunteer sounds and instruction "Turn right ahead. You can also find some water there".

8:28: Passes through the 2km mark. Small disappointment. Ran for so much time and it is only two kms.

8:30: Overtook Sreekar (my neighbor at BTM). All three of us started together, but he paced ahead while at the exit gate. So finally caught up with him.

8:32: Took the off-shoot 1. which touches the Bible house on MG Road. The way back was a steep road. Had to slow a bit.

8:34: The bottle in hand was turning heavy. Now that I can see that water is being distributed all through the way, wanted to discard it. Took two sips and threw the bottle away (All environment conscious guys!! please be assured that the organizers have arranged to pick all the used bottles from the race track. So don't blame me.). Even the two sips had a affect on me. I can feel the water shaking in my body. :P. With that discomfort slowed down my pace for a few mins.

8:36: Now there was suddenly a bout of tiredness. Initially my idea was to run 7kms at a stretch without break. I could not keep myself on running mode any more. It was necessary I break my pace. I started walking. Next four mins I kept walking. Walked through off-shoot-2. This touched Cauvery emporium and brigade road.

8:40: Finished my first break, resumed running. Crossed the 4km sign post. Happy to see that. 6 more to go. I need to pace a bit.

8:42: A couple of guys cheering from the right side building ( I presume it is a military establishment). They gave enough strength to keep me going.

8:45: Touched the Manipal center (end of Cubbon Road). Turned on way back.

8:46: By now a lot of faces have become familiar. I know who had the same pace as me. They are ahead of me sometimes and then I pace ahead of them sometimes. But because of same speed there are always together. Now a bit of humour. I hear a girl speaking on her mobile saying her parents are in town for next one week and she will talk to them soon. But right now she is running. I did know what it actually means, but brought a smile on me the fact that she is in a race and she is happily chitchatting. :P.

8:50: A group of policemen keep cheering. I thought what would have happened to me if there is no cheering. Encouragement is much needed when on such an arduous task. It does not matter from where it comes from: an acquaintance or a stranger.

8:52: See a lot of participants queuing for water. Way to go. My time to race ahead.

8:53: Just about to turn on the offshoot-3 suddenly I trip over an empty water bottle. I ran into someone. Apologised and continued running.

8:55: Enter the cooling area. There is a spray mist of water and perfume. I also believe they had something to energize us.

8:57: Touch infantry road and turn back on the offshoot. I see the carpets again. I wanted to stamp on them for making me run like this.:P. So I bang them hard.

8:59: Touch the 6km mark. Time to relax for a while. After entering the Cubbon road, i relax. Started walking for next four mins.

9:02: Hear a lot of cheering from Military men dressed in civilian clothing. Some say "Po Da!!"... some say "Bolo Bharat Matha Ki Jai". The way they shout puts a lot of energy in one. I resume my running all inspired. Now I would not stop till I hit the 8km mark.

9:04: The anchor with the mike announces: "Quarter of a race to go.. you have come all the way ... now dont give up here".... I mumble to myself..."I wont give up here... I will do it asap". He then gives a slogan "Lets go.. Bangalore!! Lets go Bangalore!!". Now I got a new chanting mantra... "Lets go Bangalore".

9:06: I keep chanting "Lets go Bangalore" and cross the 7km mark. 3more.

9:07: Two kids energetic and enthusiastic look at me and say "Go!! Go!!". So I need to "Go!! Go!!". I come to hit the Queens road again. and then run towards the GPO.

9:08: The anchor here says "Give me a Hi-Fi and Go. Don't let away at this moment. You have come here so complete. Only quarter of a race.". I say to myself " I heard that before. Run that quarter... you will know...dont just keep saying." :P.

9:09: Turn left to enter the Vidhana Soudha road. Here a mom and her kid look and say "Run..Run..".. so i keep running running.

9:10: A police truck passes through, followed by another. These guys are clicking pictures. Wow!! I wave my hands for them.

9:11: I pass through the 8km mark. Time to break. Plan to walk next one kilometer and run the next. Turn towards High court and Cubbon Park area.

9:14: Saw a kid vommitting out of dehydration. Just hope someone is there to take care of him. Hear two photographers comment on him. Thought it would be more helpful if they could help the kid.

9:16: Reaching almost the end of Cubbon Park. I see an ambulance with the emergency lights on. Just felt sad for someone to come almost close to 9km and could not complete the race.

9:18: Complete the longest strecth of walk. Lasted for 8mins. But it is a well needed break before i dwell on the last patch of the race. Now started running with all rigour. I am doing it

9:20: Cross the 9km mark. Hurrah!! 1 more to go. See a lot of people crowding at the water stall. A few steps ahead also saw volunteers giving glucose powder to all participants. Some were taking it in water bottles, some in hand and eating it directly. Thankfully i need not break now. Time to pace.

9:22: Enter Kasturba road again. I know I am close. Just a matter of mins. I motivate myself saying, run for next ten mins come whatever may. Keep going.

9:24: I can see the stadium. Hurrah!! I am there. I am nearing. Now time to focus and not to loose on pace. Keep going. Here a lot of senior citizens from CRY, stood on both sides of the road to give Hi-Fis. It is a much needed motivation. Last minutes are always crucial. Anyone can give up anytime. Thanks for them I enter the stadium

9:26: I stamp on the carpet. Hurrah!! I just completed a 10K run and I am still alive. Best part finished 10kms in 1hr 15mins. Thats a record for me.

After race:

I collect the refreshements. Drink gallons and gallons of water and sit to relax. The entire day today, my legs are aching but this is nothing before what I have achieved. Enjoyed every step of the race. Looking for more such now.

Update on this post:

1. The race timing can be viewed at

http://www.timingindia.com/results_page.php

bib number: 2958

2. my pic while at race:

http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2010/Bangalore+10K&new_search=1&match=2958

A Book Worth Reading ..

Every time I buy a book there is a persistent concern if the book will live up to my expectations. (In MBA jargon it can be codified as "if the book fetches enough value for the money i pay... RoI"). I believe this is a concern shared by all the readers. In countries like India (of course China is also on the list) where piracy is quite rampant, their should be enough conviction and justification to categorize and buy, a 'rare' book from Crossword or Landmark. (rather than from a road side vendor).

The best way is to figure out reading the blurb. Any sane and literate man on Planet Earth would vow along with me that all the "Best Seller" tags are good for nothing. (All species who differ please do let me know :P). Luckily for me in last one year, all the books I have picked after reading the blurb have turned out exceptionally well. Though my conscience argues with me, I believe this is more of an expertise I gained rather than pure luck. And to convince my stupid brain (which actually does a superb job unknowingly), I pen this blog on how I pick the good ones:

Non-fiction

1. Facts: A non-fiction should provide a lot of facts and supportive arguments on why the fact is the way it is. If the blurb does not give indication that it discusses any of this it might be a sugar coated fact book or a fiction-in-guise.

2. Articulate: The best authors are very logical in the way they present the facts. They do not create a surge flow of 'gyan' but give them one at a time while connecting/sequencing each of them in a way. This way of writing makes sure that the 'gyan' is well assimilated and remembered for lifetime. If there is no sign of this logical flow in the blurb or in the initial few pages then the book is just an album of all facts relating to that topic.

3. View point: By end of the blurb reading, the reader should be able to point out on which side of the line the author is. Remember objective view is also a stance, and need not necessarily be left or right of the line. But the author should pick one of these stance. If you cannot make it out by reading the blurb, do not waste your time in reading the book, the author himself does not know what the theme is.

Fiction

1. Language: Though colloquial language is quite easy for comprehending, it is cannot capture all emotions/feelings. Avoid books which use a lot of this. Most Indian authors (including Chetan Bhagat) have succumbed to this temptation. Such authors can be a hit, because of other factors, like gripping storyline but they can never be repeatedly successful like a Rowling, John Grisham or Jeffery Archer.

2. Depth of description: Read the sentence "Wind is blowing and I cannot see beyond three feet from where I am". Now read "There is a whirl wind across the street. From the ground, the dried yellow leaves of the mango tree and the dust are picked. They are swirled in circular tantrums. I try hard to keep open my eyes but the dust and force, shut my eyelids. From in between the eye lashes I squint to see through the opaqueness a few feet away. But forces of God are more powerful than will of a man!!". The same idea is conveyed through two sentences. In fact there would have been a flash of same image in front of your eyes when you read both of them. But when you read later, the image is recalled and restored before the eyes for a longer time. It is zoomed in and zoomed out for the details. This creates a lasting impression and a plays the story before you.

3. Storyline: This is last, because every reader would read it from the blurb without fail before deciding on the purchase.

So now the factors a reader should consider are before us, the immediate question is how an author can realize the importance of these and connect with the readers. Anirudh and myself had a long discussion on a book "Immortals of Meluha", which is a fiction based on Lord Shiva's life. The only positive point about the book was a compelling storyline. The rest two factors were sidelined. So though this book was an amazing read, it was not as fun as a 'Harry Porter' or 'Rainmaker'. We then argued out which is 'the way' an author can build his capability of becoming an adorable author. I might sound cliche here... but you have to bear me.... We figured out that being an avid reader for themselves is the only way out.

Kashmir... India.. not India...India.. not India..

Last week, I finished reading "Kashmir" by M.J.Akbar. It was a fact filled book with lot of data thrown at the readers. (Though I did not like the presentation, I liked the idea of getting a lot of info). After reading the book my admiration for Nehru has increased by leaps and bounds. I am astonished the way he single handedly integrated Kashmir into India.

Kashmir is strategically located bordering Russia, Afghanistan, China. It is also guarded by the Himalayas from all the sides, giving limited access to its mainland, the gold mine. The beautiful habitat and fertile ground (Jammu) make it a treasure trove which for centuries many foreigners (everyone outside Kashmir) wanted to annexe. This list included the Huns, the Mongols, Afghans and Persians. But because of the extreme weather conditions none of the rulers could keep the captured kingdom. The first foreigner ruler who controlled the kingdom is Akbar. He has controlled the kingdom with his representatives in the Dongra rulers. After the Mughal empire has seen the sun set, Kashmir was taken by independent and fragile rulers, who never had the integrity nor the gut to keep the state in order.

In 1940s when Jinnah was demanding for a separate state, independent states started to align with the two sides of the fence. The thumb rule for alignment was simple in some regions. Regions like east bengal where the majority population was Muslim was bound to go to Pakistan. But some states like Deccan, Kashmir and Jodhpur had a difficulty in making a decision. Kashmir had a majority Muslim population (70% at that time) but was ruled by a Hindu ruler. This caused the oscillation. One major force which biased the swing in terms of Kashmir deciding to join India was the friendship between Sheikh Abdullah and Nehru.

Nehru's ancestors belonged to Kashmir. His forefathers were Kashmiri Pandits who migrated to Allahabad. So his association and empathy with Kashmir is natural. But this was not the case with Mahtma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Lord Mountbatten. Mahtma Gandhi had never in his lifetime commented on which side Kashmir should be associated with. In fact he never did with any of the independent kingdoms post independence. His argument was that, his duty was to get India rid of a foreign rule. But after removing the British crown from helm he never fore saw the anarchy. He thought once the Britishers left, India could as well be governed by small kingdoms as was done 400 years before. Nehru is true statesman in this regard, he not only saw what problems India would face long before Britshers left India but also knew how to solve them. In fact Lord Mountbatten once commented that India could not be integrated without Nehru and Patel. However Patel was never in favor of integrating Kashmir in India because of the majority Muslim population. He has forced the state of Hyderabad and Jodhpur to join India by a military coup. He could have done that even on Kashmir, but his blind eye towards Kashmir was the route cause of all evil. (even after repeated requests from Nehru). For Pakistan immediately saw an opportunity and with the trend set by Patel in annexing Hyderabad and other states, Pakistan wanted to annexe Kashmir.

But there was one major hurdle: Lord Mountbatten. As a Governor General and head of states of India and Pakistan, his permission is needed for any military action. And the newly formed Pakistan was aware he would not give permission for any such action on Kashmir. So they have formed a dummy army, with the army officials and the local tribesmen (as in current day Afghanistan). This did not need any official approval. This ad-hoc army was mobilized to annexe Kashmir. The then King saw the dangerous implications of the state and quickly agreed for integrating with India. (on advise from Sheikh and Nehru). Now as an integral part of India, Kashmir borders has to be protected. In this effort, (on Nehru's advise), Lord Mountbatten has ordered the army to preserve the sanctity of the borders. The Army could successfully thwart the movements of the militia and succeeded in not only driving them away from Srinagar but also push them towards Pakistan. But here the weather paid an antagonist role. The winter of 1948 was cruel and the both sides of the army froze at the battle positions abruptly. This posts which they held jointly is now called the LoC. Sixty years passed since this war and there is still no clarity on what happens to LoC.

It would have been solved by now had it not for the machinations of the political parties both at Srinagar and Delhi. Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah fell apart immediately after the integration of Kashmir to India. There 20 years of friendship was made sour by the political ambitions. Nehru wanted referendum in Kashmir to decide. While Sheikh Abdullah wanted to be in India with a lot of autonomy. The machinations were so cruel that the second mistake an India politician did was to blow up the issue of Kashmir and this time by Nehru himself. Pandit Nehru decided to take the issue to United Nations. He thought Russia would support him at UN, as India would be able to share its border with Russia furthering trade. Russia did, but not the extent US supported Pakistan. This made the balance of power equal.

Sheikh Abdullah was imprisoned for next eight years starting from 1951. This is the third mistake. He was one politician who was eager to integrate Kashmir into India hook or crook, if the conditions of autonomy were accepted. Nehru not only denied accepting the conditions but also suppressed him by moving him to a jail in Delhi. This has lead for some anti-India forces to raise in Kashmir. Though Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi tried correcting the mistake, the damage was already done and it has caused a lot of bleeding.

Indira Gandhi as her father, is stalwart. She was not only a stateswomen but also a daring decision maker. Her decision to encourage rift between East and West Pakistan, her decision to declare war on Pakistan, her decision for Nuclear tests, have made Pakistan weak at their knees. Had she lived for a couple of more years she would have solved the problem. But fate is not an easy task master. It not only killed Indira Gandhi but also Sheikh Abdullah immediately after. Farooq Abdullah, though was anointed by Sheikh Abdullah, was naive and new to power machinations. He along with Rajiv Gandhi tried patching up the work but both of them were not as experienced or visionaries as their prior generations were.

The final and the most expensive mistake was done during the V.P.Singh government. If Indian political history is scanned and if the worst phase of India politics is to be picked, , personally I believe, it would be V.P.Singh's two years. The damage created in those two years is higher than what was done during emergency. He opened a Pandora's box including reservations, financial crisis, Kashmir, Hindutva et al. When Dr.Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was kidnapped he showed his cowardliness. He has agreed to sacrifice India's pride, courage and bargaining power in exchange for life of a minister's daughter. He did not wait for Kashmir's then CM, Farooq Abdullah, to come and take part in the decision making process. (At that time the CM was in London on a vacation). Nor did he pay heed to his suggestions of not trading India for a women's life. This not only showed India's weakness but also encouraged terrorism in Valley.

The B-Factor

The conversation was set on one Saturday evening, just outside a cinema:

Subhash: So vishnu is not coming? What happened?

Murali: He has already been to a movie in the morning.

Subhash: This movie is good... really hilarious, he should have come what if he has been to one in morning. BTW which one did he see?

Murali: SIMHA!!!

The moment he uttered the movie title, we could not control laughter. For next ten minutes we were laughing incessantly. It dawned to both of us unspoken that he must be in shock for at least a day. :P

Thats the impact, Balakrishna, the Telugu star has on the common man. I do not know if he no one advises him about his image or he feels proud with that image. But good or bad he captures the mass market with his super hero stunts.

Two days ago in an conversation with the auto driver, I realized the recall value of his movies. I asked him a passing question what was the movie on screens worth watching. Spat comes reply "Simha". With the above background, I ask him what makes the movie so special. He tells me that the dance sequences are amazing and so are the fights. Curiosity gripping, I ask what is so special about the fights, he answers ... he kills 2500 people in the 3-hour story. :P.

'Barberic' conversations

It is very surprising to see the places where interesting conversations teem up. These places are those where work takes its own time (with no deadlines or pressures), where conversations are to kill time or just to boost one's ego that one can also blabber. These conversations are just not aimless conversations with no real motivation, but sometimes even involve fact based and also supported by theories. Some of these places can be a day flight (yeah yesterday i had a pretty lass, next to me... and we discussed on 'MS in US'. :P) , a bus stand, a queue en-route to the electricity counter (online payments had brutally murdered this prospect these days), book stores (crossword... Gosh!! how can I forget him. he was pitching for Amway.). I want to leave all the embarrassing stories and talk about one place which has been my fav spot for interesting conversations.

If you have not guessed the place till now (from the title...), it is a barber shop. This sets the ambiance of a 'conversation friendly eco-system'. So here are the conversations i overheard and participated in my last three visits:

1. I was not reading newspapers off late and so I had no clue of the latest happenings. The comb started chaffing my scalp and the scissors almost comes kissing the comb, suddenly there are fowl words uttered with a bang. I look at the barber in the mirror. For a minute I thought it was my stubborn dandruff which is the object of his despise. He smiles at me and says "Is there an ashram at Hyderabad too?" (he knows that I am from hyd). I brush aside the conversation saying that there are a lot of ashrams trying to gauge the most appropriate place that he should start cropping. He says "He has an ashram near mysore and still he does this.". Now his eyes direct me to the TV screen while his fingers nimble at work. I turn my eyes from his reflection in mirror to the TV screen. I see a orange clad man but before I can see what he is up to there is a brutal force on my neck which twists it to the other side as though it was something I am forbidden to see. But soon I realized the intentions of a barber is to tweak the erring strands of hair and not be my moral police. The barber on the next chair now comments: "Why is that heroine....." it fades away as though I am not privy to those words. Now buoyed by my curiosity (or ignorance) I yell at him "What happened?". He looks at me with a pale face as though condescending on to me 'you dont know this... you dull head?' and speaks for me "Nityananda Swami... he is a rogue. He has two ashrams near Bangalore.. one near bidadi and one in tamil nadu. He has an affair with the actress. Now he is caught red-handed. This guy must be hanged. He got so much money also.". (As though, having money is a crime in India). The next half an hour was an open discussion on all the Swamiji's in India and how faithful they are.

2. I always thought career planning and networking was for white collared jobs. Well educated spoiled brats plan their careers and live by the dreams. But that day I was proven wrong. The guy with a scisscors in hand and comb on my scalp was a novice. I know it, the moment he laid his hands on me. Not that he does not know the skill, he does. But he is brimming with excitement and enthusiasm which is not always good when someone is holding a razor to your neck. So I eased him a bit describing how I would need my style of craft and asking him some personal questions. In mid of the conversation there is an entrant into the room. Suddenly the big barber turns in all appreciation to him. He smiles and exchanges greetings and asks "When are you coming back?". With all earnest, the reply comes "Dont know... but soon". He then leaves nodding his head. Now the novice turns to his master and asks who it was. (As though he should know everyone walking in from that door). The master says that he was with him for last two years. Now he went to his village and started his own shop. (probably inspired by Billu Barber :P). He keeps coming to city to take novice barbers to work in his shop. As an 'alumni' of the present shop he comes here. (Alumni meets :P). The novice now very much into this story asks if he can join that shop? (and did we hear that poaching is only in IT companies?). Spat comes the reply "I will tell him to take you if you do well here for next one year." :P.

3. Going on an overseas assignment is always fascinating for Indians. In fact that day even I was thinking of picking up a job with a US or European company and relocating. But this conversation gave a different perspective. As I raised my head to have a glimpse of the craftsmanship applied on my scalp, I see a person walking in. He was pretty heavy built, dark and strong. The master barber welcomed him with all respect. I initially thought it was a local 'pehalwan'. During their conversations I came to know the guest has just returned from Dubai. He is a driver who migrated from Bangalore to Dubai. He is respected because of his foreign stature. The master barber wanted to check the prospects of migrating to dubai and pursuing his profession. Can you guess what the reply was? The guest comments "Its a bad idea for a profession like barber because the sheikh's dont shave their beards". :P

ENU: European Non Union

Even for an observer like me, it is a big disappointment to see a debate whether EU would continue or not. The economies of scale which it brings, were not only considered profitable for Europe but also for the nations they transact with. But today when this discussion on continuity of EU has to be chastened, here are my thoughts on what went wrong.

The concept of economic union is quite slippery. Because every member wants to participate in it for an economic benefit and when there is an economic benefit, staying away they would rather prefer that. Thats what is now happening with Germany which does not want to help Greece because there is no potential benefit from helping a 'lazy' member. They are not very keen on concept of one currency now as it carries no economic sense in trading in a single currency. From Germany's side, out of all its peers, they are the only country which can have positive growth rates this year while rest of Europe wrangles to come out of recession. So why would they give all their money to a laggard economy and cut down their fruits of growth?

Next the fact that the economic union is headed by a powerless governing body, which has no authority to obligate or punish erring big boys, is a big pull back. The only aspects which the EU controls or rather overlooks are trade, research and some common activities. It has no power to dictate the governing finance laws. It has no defense body. It has no taxation authority. So how can it enforce a wealthy member subsidize a poor member? To analyse how this affects, I extend the analogy in the Indian context. India is formed from 565 princely states and a British Raj. The integration was possible because, the federal government, controlled the central taxes through which it can collect money from wealthier states, it had a standing army to punish erring states, it had the authority to control all incoming wealth into member states through foreign affairs policies. Because of this a state a wealth generator like Gujrat cannot prevent central government from using its money in a state like Bihar. Through this it can always improve the conditions in states like Bihar from the wealth generated in other states. This is also the same parent-child relationship pattern among the federal and state governments of United States of America. This control is absent in EU.

The cultural impact is apparent. Even with a free migration in between member states, the schengen visa, fast connecting infrastructure Europe cannot be considered one entity. The cultural differences are huge and langauge is surprisingly the biggest barrier. Here they should pick a few lessons from USA and India about cultural tolerance, acceptability, respect and non-racist behaviors. Until they feel that their neighbor is equally intelligent and capable, irrespective of their language they speak or the traditions they follow, they will not be able to accept the 'Others Europeans'. And until they start accepting 'Other Europeans' as their peers/friends they will not sacrifice to help them.

Last, but not least, countries like Greece rushed in to embrace Euro. Here UK has shown its maturity in maintaining the relationship with EU but sticking to its currency. The fact that there are countries within Europe which are not same in terms of transparency should have been given a better thought and worked upon. What remains to watch is, what happens when more countries start joining the union and shifting to Euro. There were already some apprehensions while discussing Turkey.

I am confident that Euro for all practical purposes will be continued as a single currency for atleast a decade. After all it took almost a decade to shift to a new currency they would not now shift back to their previous currencies (whose transition will take another decade). But for the future success of Euro all this should be factored in.

P.S: Some thoughts are borrowed from "Will Debt do them Apart" by Sanjaya Baru from today's Business Standard.

Copy Masters - Perfecting what we copy

Indians are always known to be adaptable and quick learners. We quickly adapt to the social conditions and needs by imitating and copying what is acceptable (to society) and fetching (monetarily). A peep in the past and I can quickly list a few striking things which we "inherited" or copied:

1. The constitution from the British and US system

2. The strict regulatory form of government, again from the British

3. A Western education system. Mainly from British and off late from the US system (like the IT and MBA education)

What is striking is that though we have copied a lot of these just like most other nations/countries/geographies, we have perfected each and every aspect of this to such an extent that now we can claim to be pros in these. Our constitution is robust and unbreakable. We have a robust regulatory system that the finance system in India stood the litmus test of global recession without deterring much. Our telephone regulatory system is now the ideal case study for countries who want to correct their course. We have mastered the western education that IIXs produce the best brains in the world.

After figuring out that we are masters of what we copy, I wanted to know which is the best practice/system which we have copied from others. And a bit of deep thinking and I was stunned on what I realized. I am sure any compatriot of mine would be equally surprised to tag this system as something alien. Guess what is the system? ... "Democracy". Democracy is a system which Indians are never exposed to. Since the recorded history of more than 5000 years, there was no democratic form of government in India. It was introduced by the British in the 19th century, but with limited scope. A true exposure to democracy has actually come in the last 65 years. (Since the formation of interim government in 1944). In this short span of 65 years we have mastered this alien concept so well that it is hard for any of us now to believe that India can be run in an monarchy or autocratic form of government. We just cannot accept that democracy has originated in Greece(before 300BC) and came to India eons after. Though it is a very short time frame, the passion and vigor with which we have embraced, made it the soul of our society. Here we should remember to credit our cultural and societal values which make India accept the best and reject the bad. Since democracy gives a voice to every individual (however feeble that voice may be) and lets things settle in the best accepted way of the society (with whatever delay it injects) it reflected the philosophy of Indian. That is one reason we have scored well ahead of all independence peers (like Pakistan, Srilanka and others) and also have a convincing story for future (unlike the uncertain Communist China). It is no wonder we are one of the youngest but largest democracies of the world.

Instability to 'in stability'

I was wondering for last ten days that the newspaper front pages started revolving on issues. The real issues. Corruption. Naxalism. Terrorist threat. Engagement with China. Afghan, US and Nuclear agreements. Did we not have these issues for more than a decade now? Did we not always feel the necessity for these actions? Why suddenly did these issues started occupying headlines these days.

To analyse this, I recollected from past what the headlines used to be like. The late 90s and early 2000's was the NDA era. The headlines were predominantly BJPs doings and more than that defense of the actions. Each action of BJP was subjected through an acid-test of "secularism". Then it also has to pass through the sieve of "national versus regional interests". The first stint of UPA though had less filters but even it had stringent filters. The sieves were in form of "non-capitalist inclinations" and BBB - "Bihar-Bengal Benefits". Kudos to both the lead parties, they could safely pull off a five year stint. They could manage the tight rope walk by safely brushing aside most controversial issues (like communal violence in Gujrat) or ignoring important issues (like disinvestments of PSUs). In this drive with focussed attention on managing the coalition partners they have compromised on the business of government.... resolving issues.

Last six months is a different story altogether. There is no news about imminent threats and that gave enough peace of mind for Congress led coalition to focus on real issues. I now see a good finance bill, a prospective railway budget (including Public Private Partnership deals), focus on internal security, border issues, recognition in security council, bargaining power on nuclear issues, afghanistan and all. This is no Abra-Ca-Dabra. This is all to do with the majority we have given to a group of individuals. I am no great supporter of Congress, but i always felt that if there is a government which can act boldly then it is a fully empowered Congress and Gandhi family. A lot may disagree, arguing government could do much better. I agree Governments can do much more with this kind of power and freedom. But we live in democracy... which is notoriously characterized by snail pace and corruption. So thinking practically if I have to identify on a better alternative to Congress, I can see no option in current day Indian political parties. (i reiterate... forget close alternate; there is no one in fray). BJP has its own internal issues: identity and leadership. BSP and others have no clue what should a government do apart from erecting statues and weaving innovative garlands. So kudos to each one of us... we have brought some sense in governance of the country by moving it from instability to a country basking 'in stability'.

Definition of Pleasant surprise: Trip to Chikmanglur

How can one create pleasant surprises? Expect the worst... and when those are continuously exceeded... event after event... one gets amazing experiences.... the pleasant surprises.

Behind The Scenes
As the trip was planned three weeks ago, we were expecting a big gathering. As usual, there were a lot of drop-outs, and we were five of us... the darbaris (sumu, manoj, me), Meenu n Dilip.
Personally, for two reasons, I am pretty happy that Dilip joined the trip. First the last trek we (darbaris n dilip) did was almost two years back (to the Himalayas). Second, he needed a break, given all that he has been through off late.
Only at Friday 8pm we got back to the drawing board to freeze the plan. (We had to wait till we get all the confirmations of who are not coming). Then we were discussing two options: a night stay at Chikmanglur or a day trip to Sravana Belagola. We then decided to continue with Chikmanglur as planned, even though it meant a pinch to the pockets. After all we do not get time. We did not have a hotel booking but we have taken note of few hotel ‘prospects’. That’s the only prep we did.

Drive to Chikmanglur:
The next morning we planned to start by 8:30 but got delayed by an hour. The first thing we did was to get the flat tyre done. I had it over the last weekend. We did not want to take a chance on the highway and wanted to have the spare tyre handy. Then followed it with a big cruise to Yeshwantpur which took an hour. Next was a stop for breakfast. We stopped at Agarwal bhavan, near the Jalhalli circle on Tumkur road (a suggestion from Murali). It was awesome. You should taste the ghee filled Dosas and the curd vadas. Yummy!! We also got a few Kachoris and mini-samosas packed for the short-eats in the journey.
We started at 1200pm. The route we took was Peenya-Nelamangala-Kunigal-Chanarayapatna-Hasan-Belur-Chikmanglur. Till Nelamangala it was Tumkur national highway. The road is horrible because of the flyover construction. That’s one reason we did not touch the shimoga-chikmanglur route. From my past experience (with the former route), we preferred it. This is a state highway but is really good. Till Kunigal (80 kms from bangalore) the road is dotted with diversions and speed breakers. After that it is a zip through. There are only a few villages in this route, so not much of pedestrians crossing the highway.
Just after Chanarayapatna, we had a scare. Most of the highways in Karnataka have no indications of humps. We were caught unaware of one such hump, and Sumesh (For a change, this time I drove less. He was behind the steering of A-Star for most part of it.) had to bring the car to a screeching halt. Literally screeching, we also smelt burnt rubber from the tyres, while coming down to 0 from 120. The worst part is that the cars without ABS will start skidding at such great force. You need to experience, to understand how helpless a driver can be when car starts skidding away. Only two things can actually help in those situations: dirver’s skill and luck. And we had both coming to our rescue. We cleared that one off safely.
After crossing Hasan (200kms from Bangalore), we took a break at Kamat Upahaar/CCD at 2pm. We stretched our selves, then had the Kachoris and discarded the idea of having food at Kamat. One advise to those who plan to stop at this Kamat. The wash rooms are at least a one kilometre away from the actual entrance . So suggest you to stop after the CCD or the BP petrol pump, so that you can escape the long walk. We decided to sip some cold coffee from CCD. One interesting thing we found is a pedestal fan. The big fan had a mist blower. So the breeze which it was blowing was cold. I liked the idea of blowing some water mist from a fan. Despite all our efforts we could not figure out the make of the fan.
Anyways, we resumed our journey. We crossed Meenu’s fav windmills just before Belur. (Last time, in our trip to Manipal, we stopped here n took a lot of pics and videos.) By this time we came to know that the Hotel Grendale Stay was completely occupied for the night and had no rooms available. So we wanted to check the next one on our ‘prospect list’: Nature nirvana. Manoj had read a few negative reviews about this and wanted to be sure we are not heading for a wrong one. So he did some more research on web and found out that the approach road to this resort is not good. I then called them to check. The price they quoted was Rs1600 per head. This included the stay, three meals, trek n pickups. We thought it was a good deal given the cost of other hotels. (Grendale was charging 2000). However as a sales guy i cant help haggling and so I asked if they can give it for Rs. 1200. That guy did some calculations and enquiries and finally gave for Rs1200. Probably I should have asked for Rs.1000. :).
Our next scare was somewhere after Belur. We had to get the vehicle to another screeching halt. I do not remember now what happened exactly. Anyways all the way, it was pretty hot in our drive and we never realised we were in Western Ghats. As we neared Chikmanglur, suddenly there were showers. It suddenly dawned to us that we were in the hills. We rolled down the window panes and there was the rain. We have experienced the first rains of 2010. :). We went drenching to an ATM in Chikmanglur n I liked it. After experiencing the Bangalore summer, the nice heavy shower was the first pleasant surprise we had.
The resort was one of the bababudagundi hills.(check the story on wiki about him). So we took the Datta peeta road, in direction of kemmanagundi hills. We religiously followed the route which the hotel manager has sent. The message read “Reach Kaimara 7kms from chikmanglur, take left to Attingundi 16kms, reach Sampige katte 5kms”. Two things which are worth mentioning here: the western ghats are awe inspiring - every visit to them is always new. Next, a blind man telling us the way to Sampinge katte. We reached the village only to find out that there was no jeep waiting for us as promised. And there is also no signal to call the manager. Luckily Dilip’s BSNL number came handy. Remember to take a BSNL mobile if you are hitting Western Ghats next time around. After intimating the manager, it took more than 45 mins for the jeep. We were disappointed with that. But then our usual debates kept us occupied. We had a big discussion on Indian behaviour habits (I just came out from a Belgian delegation conference the previous day), the movie ‘Leader’ ( a new telugu movie) and other things.
Finally the jeep arrived, to take all of us to the resort. We requested for that as the next 7kms was a private road of the estate and is muddy, stone filled and can prove fatal with five people in the car. So except for me and the resort manager everyone went in the jeep. Both of us, cruised the next half an hour over the winding, dusty, stone filled, dangerous road. But I had an interesting conversation with him. Here are the few points which can be useful. A coffee estate would cost Rs. 6 to 10 lakh per acre. The amount to invest for seeds, pesticides and labour are Rs. 30,000 per year per acre. An acre would produce around one ton of coffee. It would fetch Rs. 70,000 per ton in market. So it 60% gross margins, better than IT businesses. :). An optimal business would be to have around 10 acres with around 30 labour. The peak time labour will go up to 90 in that case.

Stay at Nature Nirvana
The first glimpse of “Nature Nivrana” is itself a pleasant surprise. You would not imagine such a nicely made resort in middle of muddy roads, thick forest and plantations. It was quite good. Our welcome coffee was relaxing and rejuvenating. (They brew it for themselves). Then we started with Volley ball. I am playing this almost after a year. I liked the very thought of playing the game which i perfected in my engineering. For next 20mins, everything was going fine in the game until Meenu hit the ball over a fence into the dense plantations. Next ten mins we spent searching in the thick dark plantations, but to no avail. We gave up and started off with basket ball. The first, short, match we (manoj and me) scored two against zero (Sumu n Meenu). For the next match Dilip joined Sumesh and Meenu. Three of them scored better off.
By this time the snacks were ready. Pakodi/bajji. We savoured all of them and ordered for more. There was also a bigger group in the other side of the resort. These people were playing nice, loud music. So we spend sometime over there. Then back to business, we had a long discussion sessions over nice cocktails (vodka with mixed fruit and ice). A few things which I discovered over the conversations:
1. How Dilip avoided ragging in his college days?
2. Why Sumu never been into drugs and Manoj not been to drinking?
3. Meenu’s Engineering days at manipal.
I would leave it for you to find out the secrets from them.
After dinner we had a long session of “Hearts”. It is always fun to play cards. And when it is next to bon-fire it is just a pleasant surprise which you never think off. Sumu smoked for first time. At least i have not seen him do till that day. Gosh!! No wonder, I felt short of cigarettes that night.
Next morning we woke up early for a trek. We climbed through the thick plantations, through the steep slopes, crossing the streams. After a half an hour trek we reached the top sun-set point. From there we got a nice glimpse of the Mullanagiri mountain. We heard different versions, and one version says this is highest peak in Western Ghats. On our climb down we saw a mango tree witha height of more than 200 feet high. And the rest of the journey back was a discussion on can mango wood be used for making furniture.
We played dumb-charades as we waited for breakfast. That is again one game which I mastered in my college days, but now lost touch. We then had a heavy breakfast and set on our next expedition. We wanted to do some boating and get into the water falls. Unfortunately the boating was already occupied by the other group and we decided to go with our trek to waterfall. Though we had an option of a safer route, we preferred wading through the stream. We slowly trotted our way through the slippery rocks until I finally crashed. I was about to climb a big rock and suddenly my left foot slipped and I had a fall into the deep waters. Worst part is that I had a towel hung on my neck which absorbed water and bloated to weigh almost 2.5kgs. It did not allow me to come up and instead kept pulling me into water. After taking the towel from my neck, I could finally manage to come out. Then I realised I hurt my chest badly with the crash. Fortunately, no broken ribs. :). Finally we reached the water fall.
There is always this fear of getting into cold water, until one takes a plunge. That’s what we finally did. And then it was fun. The water, when it falls with a great force on the back, gives a feeling of soothing massage. And we experienced it for the next one hour. One always falls short of time when in water. Here I need to mention about this creep behind the water falls. It was so big and so dark that sumu invented this story of an anaconda hiding in the creep. The water fall experience is our final and big surprise. We never expected the resort to have such a nice and small private water fall.
We dried our selves basking in the sun and then walked our way back to the room. We then had a carom board session. First game, I beat Sumu. I should admit that the way I won the game was just out of the luck. I am never good with the striker. Next game Dilip too had a lucky hand at beating another pro, manoj. Now the final between Dilip and me is still pending. :).

Journey Back
We had a sumptuous lunch session, packed our bags and started on our journey back. We thanked and tipped the manager and the helper. It was because of them we had a very wonderful time. I would advise to stay at the resort to anyone who plan a trip to chikmanglur. On way back, dilip and myself drove back while Manoj, menu and sumu came in the resort jeep. Back on the highway we took a short break. The jeep-takers had to wash of themselves off the red-dust. I should here mention that the whole area is filled with iron-ore and hence has a lot of red dust around. You need to see to believe the dust which Manoj piled up on his hair or his shirt. Since the jeep ground clearance is high, the wheels, throw a lot of dust tangentially into air. This makes a jeep journey always a dirty experience. Literally. :).
I was behind the steering till chikmanglur so that sumesh can have a nap before gearing up. I missed the route somewhere in middle and got on to a road to mullanagiri (remember we saw it in the morning on the trek). Luckily we realised before it was too late and then retraced back. We reached Chikmanglur by 4:00pm (started at 2pm at resort). We wanted to buy coffee at Vijaya coffee traders or Panduranga. But both of these were closed as it was a Sunday. We filled fuel at the Indian oil pump immediately after crossing chikmanglur. It can come handy if you are planning a trip there.
On way back we had a few scares as well. Sumu tried overtaking a vehicle on a curve and he nearly gave heart attack to the Maruti 800 who was in opposite direction. :). We did a marathon driving session to cover the maximum distance before the sun sets. We reached Kunigal (120kms) by 6:20. We took a break at a small tea shop and had our fill. We resumed the last leg at 7 and reached Nelamangala by 8. This is the most difficult part of the journey since the highway was under construction and we had vehicles coming in opposite direction in the same lane. This was aggravated by lack of proper signs to indicate humps or diversions. We then had another scare, after that. There was Toyota corolla before us and he paused for a speed breaker pretty abruptly. This time around I was behind the wheel and had to get it to screeching halt. The wheels skid, but experience and luck again saved us. We took the NICE road to reach bannerughatta road and from there reached BTM. It was around 45kms from there and took 40 mins and a toll tax of Rs.60.
Overall the trip was awesome. The resort was lavish and as usual our conversations made it exciting.