Ridiculous

Looks like Indian Law Makers have nothing better to do. While most of our laws are archaic with bulk of them a legacy from the days of the Raj in their intent, content and language, the one they are trying to amend takes us back even further.

Having realized that it takes 2 to commit adultery the government is intent on passing a bill which will punish the women also for indulging in out of marriage relationship. Adultery will invoke criminal proceedings and term of up to 5 years.

First, by very definition the act is between 2 adults who are doing it on their own consent. It can result in a divorce, that is acceptable; but a criminal proceeding is like taking it back to the days of Manu. It is a socially unacceptable behavior and can cause considerable anguish to other people is agreed upon, but it being a criminal case simply doesn’t seem right.  At best it can be a civil case where in it involves a breach of trust between a husband and wife.

With courts having such a huge back log and the Supreme Court chief justice not having enough time from his foreign trips do we need these added set of cases?

Thought for the day

Following the crash in oil prices from 140USD to 43 USD, there is a thought which comes to my mind: MG Rocks.

How right he was when he said: There is enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed.

Musing

My mind keeps going back to two points:
1) In the civics class I learnt that just as I have my civil rights, I also have my duties. While today I am demanding my rights am I doing my duty or what is expected out of me as a citizen.
2) This line from a sang geet: जागरूक जनता के केन्द्रों से होगा अमर समाज

The Taj

Taj Mumbai ad in Times of India today touched a chord; it symbolizes the very spirit of this great metropolis. It might be symbolic or just a gesture but whenever Taj opens up again I want to be there, for the magnificent structure is the very image of Mumbai for me.

Here's a suggestion

Why don't we make Dawood Ibrahim the Home Minister of India. Ever since I can remember anything and everything which has happened in India cna be blamed on Dawood. Since our ministers, administrators don't have any clue as to ways the system can be breached lets get in someone who has done it time and time again: - Dawood.

When will we look inwards for the problems that plague us rather then trying to find someone on whome everything can be blamed?

Numb and no not comfortably

11:00 pm Wednesday night message from Kunal: Terrorist attack at Colaba, CST, blast at Vile Parle. Pls check before leaving for office tomorrow.

For once was glad for the 24 hours news channel as I watched the horror unfold - first with a sense of fear and numbness and then with growing fury. Through the night as I was watching the drama questions such as:- how were they able to get in Taj / Oberoi with so much of ammunation, what was the level of planning and many more where pushed to the back of the mind as was waiting for the drama to end.

News of death of 3 high profile Mumbai police officers come out bringing to light one fact - Mumbai police were neither prepared nor did they accurately assess the extent of the situation at hand.

Thursday morning its a mad scramble. PwC Mumbai office is closed. I make a trip to railway station to see whats the scenario like. The usual packed to the brim railways are running empty as most of the schools, colleges and offices are closed. The drama in South Mumbai still continues as couple of good things come out on TV :- No mad rush by politicians to grab the headlines and make senseless comments, most surprisingly TV pundits hold back their analysis and just stick to the news at hand. Though it may be too good to last and in a couple of days we will see what sorts of theories thrown in by so called experts.

Thankfully my entire team is accounted for and hoping and praying that the same is the case with all the other teams.

Thursday afternoon: A bastard going by the name "Imran Babar" calls India Tv claiming that he is from Hyderabad and all this was done to alert the people of India that Muslims are ill treated in India and Muslims can also live with their heads held high. What is very apparent from his accent is that he is definitely not from Hyderabad, if anything his accent is the same as that of the Punjabi Pakistani's. Even in all this I want to believe that an average Muslim has nothing to do with this and Islam like all other religions will be the first to condemn this hideous act.

What is this then: Probably an effort by our great neighbours to try and divide the society further. As it is there is so much of social unrest and an act like this will increase the divide.

What is also becoming increasingly clear is the amount of planning involved, there must be some insiders who helped these people and lack of any information on part of our intelligence agency.

Navy Vice Admiral from Western Command is talking on Star News claiming that his Marco's (Marine Commanders) have come against an extremely determined and well prepared group and are finding it tough to break them. My understanding is Marco's are the best prepared commando force in the country and they should have more determination then the terrorist to safe guard the nation.

4:30 PM Prime Minister addresses the nation. The most irritating thing which I find about his address is that it’s in "English". Why can't the PM communicate with the nation in our national language at such grave times? Are there more people in India who understand English then Hindi? What will the common man who is terrified and still believes that the government will protect him understand Hindi or English? Anyways the honorable Prime Minister makes all the usual noises alleging Pakistan, we will punish every individual. I will believe him only when I see concrete action. Bloody if the plan was made in Karachi – wahan jake maro, ghar main ghus ko maro unko.

Imran Babar claims: - Ki usko uski maa ney isi din kay liye dudh pila kay bada kiya tha. Use to maro aur aise haram kay jane ko paida karne wali maa ko bhi.

24 hours since the news broke and our NSG is still fighting to take control at all the 3 places where terrorist are actives. The fighting at Taj seems to be nearing in ends, but enough damage has been done to this iconic landmark of Mumbai. Meanwhile I am wondering how is it possible for terrorist to make the calls to TV channels. There is also news of finding a mobile phone which was dropped by one of the terrorist and is constantly ringing with incoming calls from Pakistan. I wonder why mobile jammers aren’t placed near these buildings to cut of all means of communications. Won’t Taj and Oberoi have central air conditioning why can’t we induce nerve gas through them to immobilize the terrorist? So many questions but no answers.

I am spared the image of Shivraj Patil in his crisp safari making statements which may trivialize the whole situation.

Friday morning as I get ready for office TV is still broadcasting the images of operations undergoing at Oberoi and Nariman House. The best commando force in the country is not able to crack a few determined blokes for over 30 hours now. Just highlights the fact that we are simply not prepared for such kind of scenarios - Hostage situations in urban landscape. Thankfully the Taj operation is completed.

Travelling in the train I mull over a disturbing thought: - what if the there are more such terrorist units in the city at other places or in other cities and what will happen if they get into action as soon as this gets over.

But more disturbing is the thought that what can I as a common citizen do in such situation: - I generally go through the security at malls or other public places without much fuss, but I see a lot of people treating the security as unnecessary nuisance. Next time when there is security or delay I will be more tolerant. As a citizen I may have to give way to some of my freedom and I will be ready for it. Be more alert on road and notice if something is out of usual. In a nation like India there is only so much which administration can do, but as a citizen I need to be more alert and proactive.

Whether the administration does its duty is something which we have to see, else the lives of Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Kamate will be wasted. Closing the piece with a tribute to these fearless leaders of men who walked in the hands of death and hoping against hope that their sacrifices will not go in vain.

निर्मिला हा मंत्र ज्यानी आचारिला झुन्जुनी

ते हुतात्मे वीर झाले स्वर्ग लोकी जवुनी

गा त्यांच्या आरतीचे गीत वंदे मातरम

Crystal Ball Gazing

Considering the assumption in previous post holds i.e. its a way India should go. Now Indian government can't do the development on its own, in which case the way forward can well be PPI-BOT model. If thats the case does it make sense to invest in Infrastructure companies during the times when markets are down???

Should India follow China's lead

From Wall Street Journal: As more of the world falls into financial turmoil, China is hoping that an infrastructure spending spree can help sustain its long record of expansion and rising prosperity. Much of the $586 billion stimulus package China unveiled this week will go toward building highways, railroads and airports. 

For the complete article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122635482375915243.html

Does it make sense for Indian government to follow suite and invest aggressively in infrastructure development? It might be a simplistic way to say government should spend more in the times when markets are down and the expenditure should be of capital nature. The last major Pan India stimulus from the government came in form of the National Corridor – a pet project for then Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpyee. It was one of the major stimuli for steel, cement and heavy vehicles industry in India and one of the factors for getting India out of its Hindu Rate of Growth. Thanks to change in government and with Congress at helm of matters the project met with the same fate as many other things in India – go slow. With the external markets drying up for some time shouldn’t we look at growth from domestic markets? With the nuclear apartheid gone India can seriously look at major investment in nuclear power sector, which alone will propel growth in other industry sectors like road, construction, heavy engineering.  But with elections round the corner is the government in mood to take far reaching decisions?

Analysts yet again

I seriously don't understand the markets and the analysis.

Yesterday whent he market went up by 500 points the analysts say that it was because of strong global cues.

Today the market has opened 200 points in red and again its because of weak global cues.

Are the global cues so fickle that they change daily basis?

So long Jumbo

And finally curtains on the career of the greatest match winner India ever produced.  There may be many a batsmen with gifted timings but must say that Kumble timed his lost shot to perfection. Cricket scribes will be busy writing eulogies about him but for me some of the memorable kumble moments are:

1)     6 wickets against West Indies in Hero Cup finals. I remember was in 11^th std and our college had given us a half day so we could see the finals and what a bowling display it was

2)     10 in an innings against Pakistan at Kotla

3)     Kumble bowling with a bandaged jaw to get rid of Lara

4)     His maiden and only century against England

5)     The numerous Kumble bridges he built while trying in vain to stop a ball. Well one could fault his technique but not his commitment

6)     His captainship during the last tour of Australia

7)     And the parting shot. If only he would have got a wicket…

There might come a leg spinner who is able to spin the ball more, someone who is a better master of the craft but will there be any with a heart as big as Jumbo?

And TOI did capture a perfect image:

PS: Was reading through all the tributes to Anil Kumble and most of them ended with one word "Dignity". Something not just the next generation of cricketers but everyone else can learn from the great man.

On Stock Markets !!!!

While people are worried that the Sensex is at lowest level in 2 years the situation is actually more worse. The PE ratios at which the stocks are trading are at 2002 levels, so the sensex is at 2002 level and not at 2006 level, more cause for concern right?

Days of Raj or GoondaRaj

In all the hulla over the deplorable tactics employed by Raj Thackeray and MNS to make its point the real point is lost. Why is that people in Bihar are aware of the exams to be held for Western Zone recruitment and people in Maharashtra have no clue about it. If the exams were meant to be centralized and open for all then they could have as well held them in one of the major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Patna. The very fact that the exams are held in such far flung places suggest that there needs to be a local flavour to the candidates applying for the exam. Why isn't railway ministry and Laloo Prasad not able to show a single instance when the notification for the exams was published in local news papers? And the instace is not isloated to Maharashtra similar complaints have been made in Orissa, Punjab why even in Delhi.

Will someone address this point and hold Laloo Prasad responsible for it?

As for MNS it needs to get its approach right. If they were aware of the exams being held why didn't they make sure that local people were made aware of the times when the forms for such exams will be distributed. Raj talks about having a blue print for maharashtra having a cell addressing issues of people. Can't he have a cell which keeps tracks of all such government openings, publish them in right media and train the youth so that they are ready for the exams. But but but, have the days of constructive political activity in India long gone by??

Another milestone

Having made the habit of crossing milestones with regularity Sachin Tendulkar crossed two today:'

1) Becoming the highest run scorer in test match cricket

2) First batsmen to score over 12000 run in test match cricket

Not so long ago the mood of India was determined by the kind of innings Sachin played. Not today though, how will the market like to see Tendulkar's test aggregate on the BSE index, even better his ODI aggregate. Or probably thats the reason it was to happen today, to take India's collective physche away from the financial turmoils and yet again celebrate the many achievements of little genius.

Bored with the daily headlines of financial gloom, I can take solace in the fact that atleast half of tomorrow's front page will celebrate Sachin's achievement.

As he did countless time in 90's the master has yet again provided an escape from the realities of the world.

Liquidity crisis explained

Came across this easily understandable explanation for the current liquidity crisis

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7670313.stm

and if one has enough patience this:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/10/05/stories/2008100550010100.htm

But all this is hindsight which always happens to be 20/20

For now the Sensex is flirting with 4 digit levels and will be interesting to see where it bottoms out. My guess 8k

मन मनास उमगत नाही

Yesterday came across this beautiful marathi song by Sudheer Moghe:
मन मनास उमगत नाही, आधार कसा शोधावा
स्वप्नातील पदर धुक्याचा, हाथास कसा लागावा
मन थेम्बंचे आकाश, लाठानी सवार्लेले
मन नक्षत्राचे रान, अवकाशी अव्तार्लेले
मन गर्गाराते आवर्त, मन रानभूल, मन चकवा
आधार कसा शोधावा, मन मनास उमगत नाही
मन कालोखाची गुंफा, मन तेजाचे राउल
मन शैतानाचा हाथ, मन देवाचे पाहुल
दुबल्या, गल्क्य झोलित हा सूर्य कसा झेलावा
आधार कसा शोधावा, मन मनास उमगत नाही
चेहरा, मोहरा याचा कुणी कधी पहिला नाही
धनि अस्तित्वाचा तरीही, याच्याविना दूसरा nahi
या अनोल्खी नात्याच्या, कुणी कसा भारवास घ्यावा
आधार कसा शोधावा, मन मनास उमगत नाही

On reservation

Yesterday the SC asked government to fill up the vacant seats of 27% OBC quota from general category students. HRD ministry made an interesting argument in the court: Since the quota's were to be fulfilled in the phased manner given the lack of adequate infrastructure any vacant seats should be carried forward to the next academic year.

I am still trying to make sense of these recommendation by HRD ministry, wondering about the intellectual levels of the people who within and can this ministry ever achieve constructive human development in the country.

Anyways better sense prevailed and SC thrashed the government recommendation and passed an order to feel the seats from General category. 

From Bulls to Bear

Is the time series analysis the only tool at the disposal of analysts?

When crude was at 140 USD per barrel, analyst had predicted a price of 220 USD per barrel and now with markets in turmoil it predicts a price of 50 USD per barrel.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Crude_prices_may_fall_to_50_barrel/articleshow/3588871.cms

To my mind 50 USD scenario is as unlikely to play as the 220 USD per barrel scenario.

New tools of Agriculture

I am of the opinion that India doesn't seem to invest enough money in agriculture research. Well 2 people seem to have taken a note of it:

KOZHIKODE: Air Customs seized 59 handguns from the baggage of two passengers who landed at the International Airport at Karipur. The passengers, identified as Shakeel Ali Mohammed Salim and Rafeeq were coming from Germany via Dubai. They had reached the airport at Karipur by an Emirates flight on Thursday. While Rafeeq said he belonged to Bhat Nagar in Mumbai, Shakeel Ali Mohammed Salim claimed he was from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. An official said the guns, which included 29 pistols and 30 revolvers, had been seized.

The passengers were being produced in court. The two claimed the guns were meant for "agricultural purposes".

http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/10/stories/2008101052520400.htm

Surpisingly not many of my IIM batchmates are blogging about the current crisis. Is it an effort to not acknowledge an inconvinent truth or they are too much in shock to reflect and post on it?

A bribe by government

Yesterday morning was surfing through the channels and read this headline: "Maharashtra Government to give 1 lakh compensation to the families of the kids who died due to improper vaccination."

My general understanding of the compensation given in tragedies was to make up for the lose of income or for resettlement of the families. There is no such case in a minor death. The grief of the family in case of child death is immense which cannot be reduced by any amount disbursed to them. And especially in this case when they are trying to do the right thing, trying to make sure that their child grows into an healthy individual and then facing such results. 

What is the government trying to achieve by disbursing money in such cases? Do they feel that they have done with their responsibilities by giving money to grieving families? I see it as a bribe given by government to these families so that they don't question the inefficiency of the people in charge. Won't the money be better used in research & development, testing so that these cases don't happen again? But then do we live in an era where the government is concerned about doing the right thing

Joke of the day

Kenichi Ohame author of the book "Mind of the strategist" has this solution for the current financial problems:

http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/23231153/5-trillion-cash-pool-needed-t.html?h=A2

Why do proponents of free markets want them only when the going is good? Taking risk means that you are also ready for the downside risks, why should government bail them out in these scenarios?

The mighty fall

Was just wondering, did all the people who didn't get an Investment Bank posting at their B School are they deriving some sort of sadistic pleasure in seeing the I Banking world virtually disappear from Wall Street ;)

Does the end of Investment Banking as we know means that we won't have subjects such as "Financial Derivatives" in the B School Curriculum? How I hated that subject :-)

Mission to Moon

What new things to do Indian space scientist wish to uncover on their mission to moon that the Americans and Soviets haven't discovered so far?

Can't the money be put to better use in research which is more relevant to our society and times, rather then these flights of fantasy?

It happens only in India

While the world worries about more pressing issues, the political top brass in the state of Maharashtra is worried about getting the Maratha caste registered as an Other Backward Class. Maratha's who pride themselves on being the decendents of The Great Maratha - Shivaji and have been the ruling community in the state for last 300 years now want the privileges of OBC reservations. Well where else but in India can people tower over each other to declare themselves backwards. If Maratha's are backward it will be of their own doing rather then oppression by other communities. With 15 of 25 cabinet ministers in the state belonging to Maratha community the reservation might be a reality with the impending elections in the state. And that may be the only thing the incumbent government has to show for its 5 years in power

Valley of Flowers

Finally the much awaited trip is over and must say that it was one of the most satisfying experiences. The 60 km walk in 3.5 days also gave a good indication of the state of physical fitness, which I must say while not good is not bad either :-)
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhananjays02/ValleyOfFlowers
Link to the photos of the trip. Will add captions in due course of time.
Border Roads Organization: - The road from Rishikesh onwards is under the control of BRO and it’s a commendable job they are doing. Himalayas, the youngest mountains on the planet is in a state of constant flux with land slides happening all over the place. Yet it’s the tenacity of the BRO which keeps these roads operational with as little delays as possible.
Faith: - Have always heard and read that a little faith can do wonders. Saw it first hand during the trip. How else do you explain 60 plus people scaling to the heights of 4800 meters without any aid? The only reason I could come up was Faith and belief.
Indian Tourist: - While as a nation we have progressed a lot in many areas, civic manners is something which we lack. A NGO worker told us that they clear 60 tonnes of plastic garbage from Valley of Flowers and Hemkunt Saheb every year. Considering that the entire area is open only during a 3-4 month window and is not easily accessible the amount of garbage cleared is staggering. Was walking down the last 14 mile with a pilgrim, a really warm human being, but he tossed his empty bottle of Limca in the valley without a second thought
Many faces of Ganges: - The Ganges which is calm and serene in Allahabad showed its many different faces during the journey. The entire journey is along one or other tributary of Ganges. Pushpavati in Valley of Flowers was playful taking small jumps enjoying its path through the valley. Laxman Ganga from Hemkunt was eager to move on jumping huge heights to meet Alaknanda in GovindGhat. Alaknanda was a torrent, constantly churning, gurgling ravishing anything that came in its way, yet beautiful. And, finally the Ganga at Rishikesh, forceful in a calm collected way.
On Human Nature: - The nature showed its many faces during the journey. Himalayas the sentry on our north can turn hostile within a flick of a eye and unleash hell. Ganges is always eager to take in, anything that comes its way. We heard of an accident which washed a car into Ganges containing a father and a daughter. Yet in such conditions life survives and survives well. Roads which were built yesterday can be broken by a land slide overnight. But it’s the human tenacity which clears them the next day. In the end the trip told me a lot about human endurance courage and determination then about the natural beauty.

A Trip

And finally time to start a trip which I have been planning for some time now : Valley of Flowers.
Starting tonight a week long adventure with Ketan and the way he has gone about planning, it sure will be an adventure. We still don't have a place to stay in Ghangharia where most of the action will be. I dread at the thought of sleeping out in open after a 10 mile trek.
But I am eager and so is my Nikon D80 :-)

Back Home

After a year and half down under I am back to the place where I belong :-) Feels so good to be back in Amchi Mumbai, to once again breath the air (agreed its polluted and all), still this is the only place where I feel at home. And I came home to this :-)
And this

WTF

http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/10235758/Centre-puts-squeeze-on-Chinese.html?h=A1

The most interesting part of the story is this:

The power ministry, in a 24 July letter to the coal ministry, seen by Mint, said, “...Ministry of Power recommends coal linkage for such projects (less than 200MW) subject to the condition that the main plant equipment for such projects will be ordered from reputed domestic manufacturers.”

The article claims that this is to stop Chinese entry in the energy market in India. While it makes sense some way to stop China's entry in such critical sectors as energy, but do our domestic manufacturers have the technology know how and capacity to meet India's growing energry requirements?

To the best of my knowledge there are only 2-3 domestic players in this area: BHEL, L&T and Suzlon. Now if these domestic manufacturers are competitive on price, quality and delivery promises as international one, why the need for such protection? When our companies are trying to compete the global markets does it make sense to have restrictions of these kind on our domestic market?

Wild guesses

Since I belive most of the stock market analyst make wild guesses, I will also make one of mine for the week. The stock markets will be positive for the week and close around the 17k mark by the end of the week with gains in Banking, IT and Reality sectors.

Now to see how good or bad these wild guesses are :-)

A call for economist to help me understand this

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/aug/04infla.htm

What the article goes on to say is that government is thinking of having Rs 4000 CR fund to fight inflation. My understanding of macro economic is very limited, but if I remember correctly, inflation occurs when there is a surplus money supply in the economy. Isn't the government doing just that, without any addition of product or services, just adding money which will further drive up the prices? On a similar note, how much impact did the multi billion dollar bail out of US financial institutions have on global inflation

Kaun kahta hai

One of the pleasures of playing iPod in shuffle mode is you never know what you are going to hear next. Came across this gem from Jagjit first thing in the morning:
कौन कहता है मोहब्बत की जुबान होती है
यह हकीक़त तो निगाहों से बयां होती है

जिंदगी एक सुलगती सी चिता है साहिल
शोला बनती है ना जलके धुवा होती है

Tuscan Apple & Lemon Cake … Ah !!!!! The Aroma of Freshly baked Cake :-)

Yesterday we had a project party and all of us got a small gift, mine was a cook book: Slow Food Bible.
A word about Slow Food: Slow Food means taking the time to enjoy good food – choosing seasonal ingredients and sharing the results with family and friends. While the book contains many simple to make recipes with ingredients found in the local market, the simplest - Tuscan Apple & Lemon cake. The cake is just out of the oven but I don’t feel like eating it on my own and then Slow Food, means sharing with friends, so will devour it tomorrow in office.
But that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the aroma. The 45 minutes when the cake was baking in the oven …. Forget the exotic cats or wild flowers, this is the best aroma of all … a cake baking slowly in an oven ;)
Pity I can’t share the cake, but I can share the recipe:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
200 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 golden delicious apples

Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Grease a cake pan and line with baking paper
Sift flour and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl. Add sugar, eggs, butter, milk, lemon zest and nutmeg with an electric beater until thick and smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Peel, core and slice apples, and arrange in a circular pattern on top of batter. Place cake in preheated oven and bake it for 1 hour. Check after about 50 minutes: if apples are beginning to burn, cover with baking paper or aluminium foil for the last 10 minutes. Cake is cooked when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove cake from oven and let it cool slightly before removing from pan. Dust lightly with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

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One may ask what to do for the hour when cake is baking – just kick back, relax and enjoy the aromas ;) I just did that :)

A myth called Job Satisfaction:

Of late I am of the opinion that Job Satisfaction is a myth. Having run after trying to find a job which I would enjoy doing and give me a sense of purpose at the end of day for nearly 8 years now, I have become almost a cynic about it. First I wanted to be in IT, once in IT I wanted to be in Java Development. Then realized na its not challenging enough, need to be on the management side of things, so did my MBA and now 4 years after MBA I am still wondering what will be a job that will keep me excited about doing it. No, not all the days but at least the days when I enjoy should be more then the days when I am indifferent or plain sick of it.
Going through that thought process, my latest take is Job Satisfaction is a myth and there is no point in running after that. There are far too many variables which are beyond myimmediate control to render it as an effective source of satisfaction or purpose in life. Plus the biggest variable of money is always there. Will I be able to take a job which pays me half my current salary but is 10 times more challenging, probably no.
This brings me to my next summarization that I should look for my satisfaction outside of my job. Job becomes just a means to provide for the activities which I enjoy doing and want to do without any consideration of money. It may mean that the times I am doing the activity I like may be much less but that time will be free of any considerations. I enjoy my photography the way I do it right now, without any considerations about quality of picture, the kind of message I am trying to convey or any deadlines. If tomorrow I take it as a full time job will I enjoy it that much when I have to work against deadlines and someone will be constantly judging the quality of my output?
Sanskrit has a nice word for job: upjeevika, to split it in 2 words, it becomes “up” which means “sub”, jeevika means “source of life”. Put together it means that job is something which is a sub of my life a secondary part of my life. I do my job so that it allows me to do things which form the main part of my life. It provides me with means and tools to do what I really enjoy doing and want to do. At best its an enabler for the better things in life. Since its my own view, I have to agree on it: If I take the example of my current assignment. I absolutely hate the kind of work I am doing, but still stuck with it for a year. It gave me an opportunity to see this wonderful country: Australia and gave me enough money to buy my Nikon D80. Now that the purpose of visiting down under and buying my Digital SLR is over, I am heading back
And yeah there is one more benefit. Spending time onsite entitles me to some leave which is not part of my annual leave, so I can use it to go on a trip which I am planning for a long time. Doing Data Mapping for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week probably a small price to pay

Looking towards the future

Two of the most telling remarks on Nuclear Deal came from 2 young leaders in Parliament.

1) Instead of worrying about how the world will impact us, we should start thinking about how we will impact the world .... Rahul Gandhi

2) This is a deal between two countries. It is a deal between, we hope, two countries that in the future will be two equals .... Omar Abdullah

For me one of the highlights of the second day was Omar Abdullah's speech. It is one of the finest comment made by an Indian leader in parliament, bringing to head the issues that really matter and not just religious or political rhetoric which was dispensed out by Advanis of the world. For full text of Omar Abdullah's speech:

http://mutiny.in/2008/07/24/text-of-omar-abdullah-speech-in-parliament-unedited/

PS: Reading through India After Gandhi, the closest India came to having any solution on Kashmir was during the time of Pt Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah. A strange thought stuck my mind, with the grandson and great grandson now making their way towards the centre stage of politics in India and Valley, will we be able to get a solution?

Concluding remarks by PM while addressing the No Confidence Motion in Parliament

I have often said that I am a politician by accident. I have held many diverse responsibilities. I have been a teacher, I have been an official of the Government of India, I have been a member of this greatest of Parliaments, but I have never forgotten my life as a young boy in a distant village.
Every day that I have been Prime Minister of India I have tried to remember that the first ten years of my life were spent in a village with no drinking water supply, no electricity, no hospital, no roads and nothing that we today associate with modern living. I had to walk miles to school, I had to study in the dim light of a kerosene oil lamp. This nation gave me the opportunity to ensure that such would not be the life of our children in the foreseeable future.
Sir, my conscience is clear that on every day that I have occupied this high office, I have tried to fulfill the dream of that young boy from that distant village.
The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities. As it is said in our sacred texts, we are responsible for our actions and we must act without coveting the rewards of such action. Whatever I have done in this high office I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart. I have no other claims to make.

Lamhon ney khata ki thi

Years back when the current prime minister presented his budget signalling a change in India's economic policy and move towards free market he had used a urdu couplet to highlight the mistakes of the past:
कुछ ऐसे भी मन्जार है , तारिक की नजर मैं
लम्हों ने खता की थी, सदियों ने सजा पाई है
As the 540 odd highly capable members of the lower house decide on the fate of Manmohan Singh government are we standing at a similar epoch?

It happens only in America

Sample this:

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/12yearold-wins-car-for-perfect-school-attendance/67749-13.html

"A Chicago Public School (CPS) student won a 2008 Dodge Caliber for three straight months of perfect attendance and some luck. The car was an incentive that CPS officials were offering to children as a reward for attending school daily."

I fail to understand the rationale behind it. How can you give something as an incentive which one is not legaly permitted to use? Is it okay for 12 year old kids to drive in US? And then it is being given by school officials itself. Its one thing parents pampering the kid but the government agencies doing so. Aren't there any better incentives to be given to school kids, heck give them a Playstation 3 or a Wii if you can't think of better options, why give something which is not legal. Probably there in lies the tale of consumerist america, catch them young.

Unnatural Selection

Surfing the net came across this: Honoring those who improve the species...by accidentally removing themselves from it!

http://www.darwinawards.com/

Why so serious .. A Joker in the pack

My only regret about watching Dark Knight on Wednesday was to watch it in one of those old theatres in Melbourne which are now converted into Movie halls. The sound system was okay and the screen was simply not big enough. But enough about the movie hall, this is about the movie.

Dark Knight is one of those movies which justify the price of admission you pay (even though it is in dollars). I was slightly apprehensive before the movie due to all the hype and been in Australia the hype around late Heath Ledger was even more. But must say half an hour into the movie and you realize that its worth all the hype and the Oscar buzz surrounding it. Right from the moment Joker enters the screen he feels the screen with a mad energy. It’s a joker show all the way: - his lopsided gait, the serpentine manner in which he roles his tongue, “Why So Serious” everything sends a shiver down the spine. I sat with anticipation wondering what was Joker onto next.

Every hero needs a villain and a hero is as big as his Nemesis. As far as this movie is concerned Joker is bigger then Batman. In a lot of ways he is the dark side of Batman. The kind of fear joker creates is different from the ones we see in other super hero movies: - he brings out the dark side in you and makes you question your own motives and the ability to choose between good and bad. His weapons are more psychological then physical.

This performance by Heath Ledger is of the same level as Daniel Day-Lewis in last years Oscar winning ‘There will be Blood’. And by no means should the nomination be for ‘Best Supporting Actor’, it must be a ‘Best Actor’ nomination. Batman and everyone else are just incidental to this Joker story

So go and catch the Dark Knight at a cinema near you. As for me I will make up for the regret by catching up the movie in a better cinema hall yet again.

L = S + AoG

Some days back in one of the chat sessions with Ketan, got into a discussion about God and what it means to people. Most of the other details of the chat session are sketchy but we did come up with an equivalent of the equation for complex numbers to our understanding of things around us.
Going back to high-school maths complex numbers are written as:
a + bi, where a and b are real numbers called the real part and the imaginary part of the complex number, respectively
Borrowing from Da Vinci Code if we use the same equation:
L = S + AoG
L - Life – which happens to be a complex thing
S - Science / Our understanding of the World we live in
Life = Our Understanding of the World + Acts of God
Acts of God = God * Nature

What I was trying to think of was, how the idea of God must have occurred to Man. To the primitive man without the current understanding which we have, everything must have been a mystery. Why does it rain, why the lightening, the cycle of life, diseases many such things. Not so long ago diseases were seen as a curse by God rather then caused due Virus or Bacteria.
There were (rather are) a lot things which our senses or reason can’t explain to us. That’s why we must have created the idea of God to make sense of the things which can’t be explained by reason or our senses. Just like a mathematician uses an imaginary number "i" to make sense out of his equations, people use god to make sense of the world. Similarly philosophers, religious masters created "God", so that they can make sense of the universe which for now is beyond there comprehension.
What happens as our understanding of things around us increase does the value or complexity of AoG diminish. Interestingly the more questions science answers the more questions it is faced with. For instance once we determined that earth moves around the Sun, we were faced with a bigger problem what is Sun moving around? And that is without even asking why is it moving in first place ;-)

Disclaimer: - The thought process was to fit God in the equation of a complex number. It’s not to say whether God exists or not. On that question I will take refuge in the response to the same question by a philosopher: The question is too complex and life is too short

Random thought

Had some time on my hand, so decided to check what the Honorable Member of Loksabha from my constituency one Mr Ahuja, Govinda Arun was upto:
In the last 3 sessions of parliament, Govinda found time only to attend one session.
In his over 4 years in parliament he didn't participate in a single debate or raised a single question.

Would very much like to see Govinda's IT returns to check if he is filling his income for being a member of Parliament. Is there a provision in the consitution where a Member of Parliament can be charged for negligence of duty?

To the Party with a difference

Can BJP once prove to itself and everyone else that its really a party with a difference by supporting Manmohan Singh on the Nuclear Deal. It has a lot to gain and little to lose. Look at the present scenario:- Manmohan Singh has staked the future of his government for a deal which was initiated by BJP in first place. None of the original architects of the deal : AB Vajpyee, Jaswant Singh or Brijesh Patel have said anything negative about the deal which the present government brokered, which means that its consistent with what they have in mind. So in effect UPA govt is carrying forward the work done by NDA. Yet the moment the Left withdraw its support BJP was the first to ask for the government to prove its strength on the floor of the parliament. In a way they have joined hands with the Left to bring down the government.

If India wants to see itself as future economic power with the benefits of development reaching the lowest of the society, it needs to secure its energy future. And the way to do that is through Nuclear and Non Conventional sources of energy, especially with crude prices hovering over 140 USD there is no other way. Not signing of the deal means India won't get any assistance on Nuclear Energy for civilian usage not only from US but from all the other 45 NSG countries. Australia had agreed to provide India with Uranium but has changed its stand to say - Not unless India agrees to sign the deal. As much as India would like to tout its scientific powers in this area, let’s be honest - we haven't seen anything worth mentioning. So at some stage or other we need to join with US and other NSG countries in this. Why not do it now when the situation is not of present desperation but of securing the future?

If BJP supports Manmohan Singh on the deal, it sends a strong signal to the world community that both the major political forces in India are for the deal. So it’s not dependent on who is in government. Today the Indian middle class understands the need for the energy and subsequently of the deal. This is the same class which forms the major vote bank of BJP. Again the deal is to be done with US, which is more a friend of the right winged BJP then the Congress.

What does BJP gain if the government doesn’t survive the no-confidence motion - A chance to embarrass the government and bringing upon early elections? With its confidence riding high after the recent electoral benefits it may be thinking it’s a chance worth taking, but how much of a time does it get. With the motion scheduled in early august, even if the elections are to happen they won’t happen before the flag end of the year. On the other hand if the government doesn’t fall, it will be completing its term in May and we may still be seeing elections held in early part of next year. At best this gives BJP a 2 month period – with a price of putting shallow political gains ahead of larger national interest and embarrassing a good man (how many people will be ready to risk the PM’s post for something they believe in)

With supporting the deal, it sends a signal to the world community, can tout itself as a party with a difference – opposition is only of the ideology and use the 2 months to prepare itself for the larger battle of Lok Sabha elections.

A comment about the RSS leadership in Nagpur – In some ways it’s similar to the Communist leadership. Blinded by the prejudices of the past and not able to see what the present holds. Communist are blinded by everything American and RSS by everything Congress.