Perfect Misfit!!!

This was the second time i saw it. The machine operator at my office who looks after our photocopying requirements, was drawing something with his pen on a rough printed sheet... and believe you me, he was good at it! Although i thought of going to him to appreciate his skill and may be encourage him to further pursue his interest rather than churning out copies of useless reports and documents that nobody will ever benefit from, i didn't do it.

Why? Because the simple fact came upon me that he might pose to me a question i would not be able to answer and take the discussion further. The simple question that how pursuing this hobby of his will ensure his two square meals and sustain his family!

This small incident made me think about the broader picture. Why is it that most of the people in India do not pursue their interest as their career. Why is that a kid who dreams of becoming a cricketer kills his dreams somewhere in his adolescence and goes on to become a CA or a Doctor or worst of all an Engineer (Every 2nd person who pursues Science these days becomes an engineer. Pure demand-supply mismatch with engineering seats going vacant. More on that in the future blogs).

And i am not saying that these people who do not pursue their dreams become bad professionals out of lack of interest. Almost all turn out to be pretty decent in whatever they do. And most do not regret their choice citing reasons like- 'oh i was a kid at that time/i didn't knew about the world/I am a happy man/woman today!'

This primarily can be attributed to our habit of keeping everything 'safe'. We tend to be a very non risk-taking nation. And I could think of a very strange reason behind this non-risk taking culture that we Indians seem to have believed in (Engineering is evergreen/ Doctors will never be out of work, blah, blah, blah)

The reason i have in mind is believe it or not- 'the British rule in India'! Even though i am not a historian (not even distantly related), i could see some trend that suggest to this reason. India was a great source of knowledge and enlightenment prior to the foreign invasions (i am talking somewhere about the Dravidian civilisation). Even during the Mughal period, we had notable scholars, musicians, artists and architects. It was only after the Europeans started coming to India, it became tricky!

In order to rule India, 'free thinking' had to be curtailed. And the right kind of education leads to 'free thinking'. The agenda of the British raj was to propagate an education culture which would effectively churn out not anything more than 'Babus' and 'Clerks' for the British Raj, so that these could be used by the white folks. I suppose that was the time, rote learning became the base of education. So, memorise hard, pass some exams and you are in line to become a babu for a Gora Sahib. Logic and analytical thinking which form the basis of any learning and development were taken 'out-of syllabus'. And most importantly 'risk- taking' as a process had to be brutally killed. And the result is the present education system that we see in India. 'Herd-mentality', 'knowledge free, 'exam oriented', 'logic-less', are some keywords that define the education system now. The result is fairly well-known, most Indian graduates and MBAs today are non-employable, have poor communication skills, can't reason and think analytically, and so their career and growth has a upper-limit.

The way forward is not to wage a war against UK, neither will cursing the system make any sense. The only way forward is that the government takes gigantic steps towards ensuring a paradigm shift in the present education system, rather than concentrating on 'enrollment figures' and number of graduates/MBA/Engineers India churns out. And we as parents or guardians or influencers need to encourage kids to pursue their dreams. To make sure that they fail and learn and are not afraid to fail again.

To end, a quote i had learnt a long time back-
"A ship is safe in a harbour, but that's not what ships are for" (William Shedd)

The shocking truth behind CWG...

Well, i am sorry to add up to the already gigantic pile of stories on Common Wealth Games 2010. But this one is much more than a story. It's a brilliant and thought provoking attempt to uncover the truth behind the mess called CWG. Is CWG a self inflicted wound? Yes, if you believe these conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theory no. 1
According to this theory the CWG 2010 was deliberately made a mess by none other than our sports ministry. They planned it out from the start. Right from bribing the international officials and presenting lowest quotations for getting the CWG 2010 awarded to India; to ensuring that the preparations are slower than a 150 year old drunk snail. All was planned. Why, they had to. The objective is that of deep emotional and patriotic value. To ensure that Indian players win all the medals in the games and make us all proud! However, even after making dogs poop on athletes' beds and ensuring that most of the bridges are faulty and fall down just 10 days before the games, some athletes have started pouring in with no intention of going back. The ministry has convened a meeting to tackle with this unforeseen situation and hopes to at least land 50% of the medals for India.

Conspiracy theory 2.
Well, it could be a shock to most economics students and scholars but according to this theory all this was planned by the planning commission in consultation with the finance ministry. It makes simple economic sense. For the uninitiated, we get awarded the CWG 2010, our politicians and VIPs make a fortune out of substandard infra, poor execution and planning, bribes for contracts, etc. etc. Then where do they spend that money? In a shopping mall near their home, or on a new car, or may be a helicopter, fifth marriage of their 8th son and so on. Only this demand driven economy is something that can take us ahead of China. (And yes every politician & official involved had to sign an undertaking that they will not spend more than 5% of their booty outside India, and that too not in China, at any cost)

Conspiracy theory 3.
For those of you who are die-hard Rahul Gandhi fans, it's time to switch to theory no. 4. NOW! Yes you guessed it right, the whole planning (or the lack of it) was a crop that nurtured in the young MP's fertile mind. He, very cunningly planned and executed this, of course without coming into the limelight and using the PM and his cabinet to achieve his goals. (Yes Smt. Gandhi tutored rahul on this tactical approach). The aim was to create widespread employment for the population of India. It was also necessary to do this to ensure success of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). So, bridges were built at exorbitant labour fees and it was ensured that they fall in due course of time, to be rebuilt again, by the same laborers at double the fees. You could not imagine how much employment this has generated across various strata. Right from a labor who tills garden to the Swanky Babu who is the project head for the common wealth games 'village'. What an idea sirjee!

Conspiracy theory no. 4
All this was the vengeance motivated work of our bollywood superstars, who formed a consortium to ensure that the infra being built for the games is not upto international standards, and that Delhi does not become a global destination with pedicured lawns, hi-end transport system, superb infrastructure and brilliant locales. Imagine if this would have happened, all the producers would have wanted to shoot their next blockbusters in Delhi, giving places like Switzerland, Australia, New York, London a miss. That would be a huge loss to the celebrities who like these destinations and like to travel there to shoot. The locales add to the (non-existent) storyline and help gain eyeballs (apart from of course the micro-minis the actresses have to flaunt). And believe it or not the consortium was led by the two people whom no one ever can think to be united on something- Shah Rukh and Salman.

Conspiracy theory no. 5
And this one is just too easy to understand. It was the Indian media channels and newspapers behind the mess. why? Imagine who would have seen their channel if everything had worked on well. The careers of many journalists and editors was at stake. The modus operandi was simple. They used to go out in the night, get the labor to eat, drink and enjoy the camaraderie and report the next day that work was still not complete. Some even took things in their hand by cutting bridge wires, mixing sand in cement, importing dogs, and themselves defecating in the CWG accommodation.

HAPPY CWG to ALL
(This is a light hearted take on the CWG mess. To anybody hurt by whatever i have written, please note that i don't care a damn!!!)

positive always?

Being positive isn't always good. Just to explain my point, let me narrate a short story.

Once i was not in the best of spirits and was feeling low about my personal life, my career, in all everything. One of my friends, whom i was sharing the problems with, concluded very surgically- 'it's all upon you maddy. You can feel bad and miserable or feel positive in spite of everything and smile and be happy and not anyone know that you are unhappy. These kind of problems come always, but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going!!!'

"Wow", i thought, yes i should be positive. In spite of everything that has happened i should chose to be happy. So that whole day, i was very cheery, happy, and motivated to face the problems head on! However the bad mood returned by the end of the day. I tried to be positive again, from deep within, but could not.

Since then i have this theory, that try to remain positive, but do not do it because you ought to. Do not do it because people around you will think that you are not strong enough. When situations are bad it is ok to be sad. Do not take everything upon yourself. Yes to some extent it depends on how you think, but do not try to think positive about something that is not positive. That is sheerly cheating yourself.

Let me tell you, why you should not be positive always and not blame yourself for everything. Suppose you go to a movie, and the movie sucks big time (think of any recent RGV movies). Now the movie is bad and that's the fact. You do not need to be 'positive' and see anything good about the movie. The movie is bad and that's how it is. There is no point saying 'yes it was not upto expectation, but there were some positives, blah, blah blah.' Just say 'it sucked and was a waste of money'

This might be easy to think in case of a movie but do that for life also. All of us appreciate the fact that life has ups and downs. So when it is down, we should acknowledge it is down. Do not fake it! And beware of friends, acquaintances, self-help books that tell you to be positive and blame yourself for anything negative around you. Do not take the crap- 'it is how you see it, my boy'.

There will be bad times, but they will pass by and good times will come. Till then just be strong, but acknowledge that it's not all good. And it happens, nothings wrong with your attitude.

So, forget about positive or negative, just be yourself. And it is ok to feel sad sometimes. Do not force yourself to be positive when you can't!

Innovation!!!

Recently came across this innovative thing which was a spoon-cum-fork. I am proud to be in India where people think out of box! Take a look at the pics...

Subsidising petrol prices- My take!

No dilly dallying here. I will straight forward come to the point here. I am with the government (or the policy makers) when they are wanting to reduce (or even do away with) the subsidy on petrol and diesel! I know you would frown at this but i have my share of reasons for it which i have tried to list down:

1. It's good for the environment! Till the time petrol and diesel becomes exorbitantly dear, people will not even notice the alternatives to these fossil fuels. This is true both from the customer perspective and the automobile companies perspective.

Most people are not aware of electric technology used for automobiles which is absolutely emission free. Even if they are slightly aware they will sideline it with ridiculous logic like- 'what happens if i run out of electricity while on road?' Don't you have to plan accordingly for any other fuel? And electricity is actually easy to 'refill', at the convenience of your home or office.

The companies are oblivious of the environment friendly technology because of demand mismatch (the customer is not interested so why should i) and of course because if they plan to introduce new technologies they have to invest in R&D and new production lines etc. So 'we will think about how to cross the bridge when it comes'. Though companies which are smart know this new technology is going to be the future and thus have started working on the alternative fuel technologies for their cars. Many cars now come with factory fitted CNG kits and other will have electric versions of existing models in another couple of years.

2. My second point is very simple. Why should government pay for the fuel you and me use in our vehicles? And when they are withdrawing it we are raising such hue and cry over it! We don't expect government to subsidise our food items, our restaurant bills, our property and real estate, our designer dresses etc. Then why petrol? It is not our constitutional birthright to ask our government to cover us from the global price rise in petroleum products. And please understand, our government does not subsidise these prices by taking a cut from the salary of our minsters or IAS officers, it is our money, that we pay through various taxes to government. So whichever way (through government subsidy or paying directly for dearer fuels), it's your and my hard earned money! I feel it's wise to switch away from Petrol.

3. This is the only way we will realise the value of petrol! And I feel we are still miles away from realising it's value. So we see people at traffic signals not wanting to switch off their engines even if the light is for 3-4 minutes. People do not switch off their engines while they get out of their car, to buy a cigarette or to buy flowers or for that matter anything else. The other day i saw a man park his scooter on a street, engine on, and go in to a store to buy apples! And he had no compunction in doing so. Once the same petrol becomes Rs. 250 a litre, i am sure he will not dare to even think leaving his scooter with engine on!

4. Only when the people and thus the government realise that petrol is not a viable option anymore will they start investing more money and efforts in R&D for alternative fuels. And the sooner this research happens and results start pouring the soon we can implement them. Because accept it or not, alternative fuels are the only options for the future, so better start early. Although i can not quote exact figures, but many countries around the globe have already started to use alternative fuels for their own good.

5. When was the last time you travelled in a public transport bus or Metro? Yeah, i know, it's not that viable because the metro station is a little far from your office and you will have to walk to office from the metro station. What the environment requires is not for you to plant a tree once an year and feed it with water on every weekend, but something more serious, some thing more sacrificing, like resting your car and taking public transport (Metro or Bus) and walking those 5-10 mins to reach office from the Metro station or Bus stop. When executives in China and Japan can cycle to work why can't Indians even take a bus or Metro? I think even cycling isn't too bad an option for people who have offices close to their homes. You save the environment, help us reduce our dependence on Petrol and cycling can help you stay fit!





6. Last but not the least, we need all this simply because we are not an oil producing nation. We need to import oil to meet our demands and the price of everything we buy revolves around petrol and diesel prices. That is why every price goes for a toss when the petrol prices increase. Imagine if we reduce our dependence on these petroleum products we could kind of detach our economy from whatever happens in UAE, Iraq or US (to some extent). We would not have to worry about the price of vegetables increasing, if petrol prices rise. We as a country would be more self sufficient than we are today.



This is what i think!!!

An incident and a learning

Let me start by narrating a small incident. The other day while coming back from office, i saw a group of 'Kanwariyas- saffron clad, Shiv worshipping Sadhus, who travel to different Shiv temples on foot carrying poles across their shoulders which hold small water-pots (kanwars)' on a road side stall set up for them. At the stall, which was amidst a very busy road, they were being offered free food, water and a air cooled resting place (which was playing hindi bhajans 'inspired' by popular bollywood songs). Now if you have already perceived them to be old, abstinence loving, docile creatures, let me describe them for you.

This group was young, most people seemed to be in their 20s or 30s. They were riding their bikes (oh yes, they were on their path to moksha on their two-wheelers), were wearing sunglasses and carrying what seemed like imported backpacks. It seemed amusing till what happened next!

As they were on their bikes, they reached the traffic signal (where i was also there), which was red and the traffic from the other side was speeding. Once they formed a small group of about 10-12 riding on their 7-8 bikes, they suddenly barged into the opposite traffic and by signaling by their hand to stop, put the opposite traffic in a mess. When a couple of cars and buses stopped to save them from being crushed under them, they sped on their bikes yelling- Bam Bam Bhole, with a sense of victory in their war cry.

Although, luckily nobody was injured and everything went normal in a few seconds, it made me realise how we in India do not perceive religion to be a personal thing at all. These kanwariyas seem to take participation in religious groups because they get empowered by this participation. Empowered enough to take the law of land in one's hand and jeopardising the life of other fellow human beings!

Imagine a scenario where even one of the these kanwariyas might have been hit by a car from the opposite side and injured. I can imagine what would have happened. They would have called their group and thrashed the poor driver of the car without any mistake of his. In a worse case they would have become violent, stopped all traffic and done gruesome harm to public property (which has happened in past too). And could the police and administration have done anything, i think not!

And they could have done all this just because they represent a particular religion and sect and have to be treated above the law or bear the wrath! I think, as people out on a religious mission, they surely should be treated with all due respect and care that we can, but nobody can be above law and their life is no more worthy than of anybody else on that road.

May lord shiva help us and all the kanwariyas realise the fact that religion does not provide someone to be above law or become violent, it is just a way of connecting with the almighty.