The Whole Spectrum

Dam, Politics, Media...

2011-12-08T11:13:00.001-06:00

The media attention and coverage of the mullaperiyar dam is rather extensive... especially, the national media. It's almost like the perfect storm... Dam 999, Shashi Tharoor voicing concern, the respective Chief Minister's registering their protest, PM's involvement. All good.

Rewind 18 months, the Babhli dam issue on AP-Maharashtra border. The issue did receive a fraction of the media attention available to the Mullaperiyar dam issue today. Even that was limited to how the timing of the TDP agitation coincided with the by-elections. Strange, the national media failed to see beyond that and did not the debate the merits of the issue. The facts behind Babhli are that it affects 18 lakh acres of arable land ( 6 times that affected by Mullaperiyar ), the Maharashtra govt blatantly violated the Supreme Court order to not install gates on the dam, the AP govt put up a spineless defense, the TDP mlas who registered a protest on the border were arrested, lathi charged and sent home.

I still don't get why the national media completely downplayed the real issue on hand, wrt Babhli.

Disturbia

2011-05-08T08:57:00.002-05:00

The kadapa, pulivendula by-elections just ended and the trend is rather disappointing. It was a triangular fight between a lifeless administration, a family whose middle name is "corruption" and a spirited opposition. Now that I think about it, the opposition played this by the book, a strong no-no for AP politics these days.

What does one do when the voters are corrupt? The intellectuals don't vote and the low income voters, who form the vast majority don't care a damn about fiscal policy, corruption, character. For the majority period of Independent India, politicians have promised a lot but done little to alleviate poverty. They have plundered the country, far more than Aurangzeb maybe. YSR, the smartest of such politicians, gave a little of the loot to people in the form of freebies. I know what you are thinking, Robin Hood!!! Hell no! Robin stole from the rich and gave to the poor, YSR stole from the poor and gave back some, and made the rich... richer.

Back to our voters... to a certain extent I guess they cannot be held responsible. Wealth creation, wealth distribution is probably a decade long process, if not longer. How can one wait for that long when today's meal is in doubt? Enter, YS *Corruption* Reddy, who offered free power, 2kg rice, free education etc. While this takes my hunger for today, it also ensures that I don't aspire for more and am stuck in this endless poverty loop. Don't get me wrong, the govt must help the poor. But there are ways to do it, like create jobs, subsidize some staples ( not all! ).

It's all good, but the burning question is what about today's meal? Hope we find an answer... for all of our sake. :(

A day with "The Boss"

2010-04-09T23:08:00.009-05:00

Populist schemes, freebies, random speeches that don't address the issue at hand... he has nothing in common with any of this. He is Nara Chandrababu Naidu. Sadly it seems, the uneducated population hold the above traits in high regard!

After much request and insistence by a person very close to him, we got to spend a day with the man and observe his life very closely, some parts of which were captured on camera even. And it was nothing short of exhilarating and hair rising... I know, not what you would expect from the tough task master. :D So here goes...

The day started at 4.30am. The team which included a driver, 3 camera men, a production in-charge, an interviewer and myself were ready and raring to go. At 5am, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) arrived. He agreed to allow one camera man and our interviewer in the VIP vehicle for 100kms. The rest of us traveled in a sumo, with the convoy. His only instructions to us were "trail the jammer very closely, if you let anyone in between, you will lose us". Simple enough, right? NOT REALLY. You will know why, later. Meanwhile the drivers, security team were getting ready for the road-trip. Cleaning the cars, checking fuel gauges, checking the ammunition...

Somewhere inside, the switchboard was buzzing with activity. People calling to find out about the status of the travel party and various other things.

At 6am, the entire team of drivers fell in line. The CSO addressed the team. Great to watch actually, the drivers lined up in the order in which the convoy would travel. The instructions were rather simple, "follow your lead and stay tight, compact. SAVDHAN!!". His deputy gave them some more specific instructions. We obviously couldn't attend the security team briefing. :)

At 7am finally, we departed. At the last moment we were told that a back up vehicle would also join the convoy and we were to follow it. But we still followed the jammer and within 50mts, the back up vehicle pushed us aside in a not so subtle way. A sign of things to come...

Our interviewer and camera man traveled with Delta-1. Can't get myself to say his name, shoot me! Supporters joined us right from his home. One leader brought 50 snack packets, a great gesture I thought. Less than a minute into the journey, the cars behind us tried to get ahead us. Our driver had very clear instructions, even if we ram into anybody or break a glass, we will at NO cost give up our position behind the back up vehicle. And believe me, it was a challenge. All credit to Naresh, our driver. He did not budge an inch.

The peripheral view was fun actually. Vehicles shuffling around, police jeeps keep adding on to the convoy for their police station limits and the next team takes over. Like a relay. Supporters lined up along the road to get a glimpse of their beloved leader. We all know he shows the "v" sign everywhere, but supporters did it to him this time!! I asked our camera man to capture that.

Frequently we would pass by a village with a large number of supporters waiting to garland him. A "rope party" would run along and setup a perimeter around him. In one such village, the Sub-Inspector ran upto the CSO and explained how the supporters were not in control... "then quit your damn job" barked the CSO.

From time to time, I would try to check with our interviewer on the progress of the interview. I need to look at the videos, but our interviewer told me they went back in time and recollected the good old memories. We crossed our 100km interview limit and raced past it. Boss did not want to be interrupted, he was rejoicing the chance to share his take on his amazing journey. :) How I envy the interviewer?!!

On one pit stop, the CSO put his foot down and asked us to end the interview. They wanted to focus on getting to the destination in a tight formation. Now, in hindsight I realize he knew what lay ahead!

Anyway, our entire team was now in our sumo. Naresh, kept us close to the back up vehicle. The rest followed us. And then it hit us!!! A tsunami of bikes, cars with yellow flags and photos. People even had yellow bandannas!! We waded through it all and stuck to the back up vehicle. Hard right, then a hard left and to our astonishment... the convoy was gone!! The back up vehicle and us were left with the waves of supporter vehicles! It was crazy. I gave it a few minutes and then told our driver to forget about the vehicle and drive like mad! Literally, he followed me word for word. I am amazed that not a single accident took place in that madness, vehicles to our right and left trying to race past us... bikes all over. That stretch of 20kms which took us 40 minutes was so crazy, truth be told... it had more kick than a full bottle of whiskey. "5 bottles of whiskey" remarked our interviewer! :)

I never knew this side of a politicians life. Does this happen to movie stars even??

We finally caught up with the convoy after the police started doing their job for a change. Naresh was simply superb through all this.

The VIP convoy arrived at the prakasham barrage. Someone on the stage announced that boss had reached and the place was deafening... whistles, claps, mayhem! Another team of camera men already took positions before we arrived, so we stayed back and let the VIP get to the stage. After things settled down slightly, we made our way to the stage. It was hot as ever, sweat pouring down our faces. Probably not the best time for a protest, but had to be done! The audience was getting impatient, other leaders were speaking but they only wanted to hear boss. :) Then he spoke, the crowd roared!! Whistles, they shouted our his name and wanted him to look their way. It was beautiful! Makes me wonder why the party lost the elections with someone like him at the helm? It has to be a great team effort I presume.

We got to the airport by 2.30pm and waited for him. Our interviewer and camera man got seats a row in front of him, I took the seat in a row behind him. Our team boarded the flight at 3.45pm, he arrived minutes later. We requested an interview in the flight, but he politely declined. We let him be. :)

The average middle-class, me included, thinks a politician's life is all luxury. A big home, lot of money, AC cars etc. This was far from any of that!!

On our flight back, I sat next to someone who spent the last fourteen years with boss. Very closely, let us call him D2. I asked D2 in all the time he was with boss, when was boss most elated and also low. He quickly remarked that the time around Lokesh's engagement and wedding was when he saw boss most excited. All the little rituals really excited him. It's nice to know the man has this side to him. About sorrow, he said boss never lets it into his life. At least, he never showed it. I asked D2 to share his thoughts about boss. "The man has stunning motivation and will power to work for the people" he said. People generally have a spike in energy, but this man has an insane amount of energy. "It is probably cosmic energy" he said.

From the airport, the VIP convoy rode away to their next engagement and us back to the office.

It is hard to not be attracted, intrigued, mystified by this great man. Why people did not elect him? Their loss. Fight on!

An amazing experience!!

Start a discussion

2009-05-28T11:12:00.002-05:00

This seems to be my approach towards everything these days!!

I was thinking about dealing with an issue at work and I thought I would start a discussion with my manager and I realized I use the phrase a lot and also practice it! :) I guess there is no harm in a discussion.

Things are getting interesting by day, the market scenario, new business opportunities, reviving old businesses, meeting customers, taking on new responsibilities at my current job!

Dealing with incompetence

2009-03-17T12:25:00.006-05:00

Am I demanding too much if I ask for a structured email report, for a day's work? I even laid out the structure, so it's almost just fill in the blanks. Apparently, I am!! What will it take to setup a competent team? People tell me it can't be done! I refuse to believe that. There definitely seem to be mistakes on my end, the way I handle it.

I am sad to admit, this is the scene in the few companies I have seen and heard of in India. I remember a friend trying to get her company website up and running, she contracted it out to a local company. They wouldn't deliver anything on time, actually not even a week after the committed deadline! When I asked her why she put up with it, she said everybody is like that. :(

When I was discussing this situation with another friend, he said "Why do you think there are a million one man shows in India?". If that is really the case, can't these *efficient* people join hands?

I am connecting the dots now. Banks, grocery stores and other places where demand is far more than supply the term customer-service has no meaning. They know that alienating one customer is much cheaper than providing that customer with some service. Even the people have accepted this as the standard now! If that wasn't the case, things wouldn't be like this.

The exciting market that is India

2009-03-09T19:22:00.002-05:00

I am reading reports that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is at 2005 levels and then I read this article on Times Of India that says car sales increased 21% in Feb '09, as compared to Feb '08. 21%!!! That is phenomenal! I did not bother to analyze where the money is coming from etc. but look at GM, Ford in the US. They are down, almost out. Car sales are at record lows in the US.

And then I look at the millions being spent on Airline MROs, greenfield airports coming up, Airtel getting a good chunk of it's revenue from rural India, I can't help but have a smile on my face and be proud! Look at these facts, 70% of the 1.1 billion Indians is part of rural India and only 9% of them own mobile phones AND their incomes are rising fast.

So the market is there, the volumes are there. Invest in improving rural India and make a buck in the process! Sounds like a dream to me!!

It is the politics that needs thorough cleansing, everything else is almost in place.

Fact buster 1

2009-01-28T16:01:00.004-06:00

I initially titled the blog Fact Buster but changed it to Fact Buster 1 'cos I am sure I will bust more facts. :)

Fact: You learn more at a small company and have restricted options at a large company.

BUSTED!!!

I have been at HP for almost 7 months now and there have been no restrictions. In fact, I grown in many ways due to the options provided to me here. It's true that I learnt a bulk of my technical knowledge at NewTek and I made some great friends there. But HP gives me an opportunity to interact with so many more people. The number of professional organizations, the knowledge base, the sheer number of people!

When it comes to professional growth, it is limited to your manager and your drive. That's it. If one has both, then a big organization is a great place to grow.

How did I grow you ask? I am spending more time worrying about customers. I am spending time thinking about our marketing strategy. I am leading a team. I thought I was a born leader! :) But I must admit, leading a professional group is tough. At the core, I am still a software engineer and will continue to be for a bit. But it's probably only 60-70% of my job and I like that.

Abhee goes skiing!!

2008-12-28T15:12:00.007-06:00

This trip to Tahoe has its roots in the last trip to Tahoe this past summer, when I decided I was going to come back and see the place covered in snow.

There were many firsts in this trip. First time skiing, first time snowmobiling and first time winning big in gambling! :) Oh yeah, $400 profit baby!!

Day 1:
Nikhil, Rakshit, Sri Ram and I took off later afternoon wednesday and had some anxious moments driving in the snow, but we had the snow chains installed in time. The place was just so white, so covered in snow. We checked in to our hotel, grabbed some dinner and were soon at the blackjack and let it ride tables. End of day 1, $80 loss.

Day 2:
A heavy snow storm limited our skiing options. But we decided to go for it, we didn't drive 230 miles to sit in the hotel. I was well prepared to battle the cold conditions, I was following the weather reports online which recommended 4 layers of clothing. Next, we rented all the snow gear. Boots, skis, poles, helmet, face mask... oh yeah, spared no expense! The boots were so f***ing heavy, they hurt. All set, we waited for the shuttle to take us to the base camp, the low level mountains. It took me about 30-40 mins just to get the skis on and make some progress, must have fallen 10 times in that period. We then took the tiny cable car to the top of the slope... by the time I got down, I fell at least 20 times. Believe it when people tell you, skiing is tough and take lessons!! And did I mention the boots hurt? Any time I would be going a little too fast for comfort, I would just jump and fall. And getting up was so tough! Luckily, it was snowing... so the fresh powder ensured that it didn't hurt much. Best time to go skiing is when it's snowing. By my third attempt, I only fell twice (proud of myself). We were ravenous by the time we got back to the hotel, we ransacked the buffet. The hotel had a jacuzzi and steam room... felt like heaven after our day! Later that night, we went gambling again. End of day 2, $100 loss.

Day 3:
I really wanted to go snowmobiling. Not just randomly in a closed circuit, but in the mountains. So the I coaxed the gang into coming along. We booked a tour in the mountains. I saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever. The snowmobiling itself was alright, couldn't go too fast because we were in a group. And it was so amazing around, it sucked that I had to concentrate on driving on the surroundings. But am glad I did. :) When we got back, we repeated the jacuzzi and steam room routine. Gambling time! This time, I covered my losses and ended in a modest $50 profit. I decided to call it quits, but my friends were still gambling. So I hit the Let it ride table with my $50. After a couple of rounds, lady luck smiled and I made $400 in one hand!! I cashed out immediately and walked away. Smart eh? :)

Day 4:
We drove back. I was glad to leave all the snow behind and see some different colors.

A great experience!

Financial mess

2008-10-08T16:53:00.002-05:00

That we are in recession is common knowledge. Sub-prime mortgages, bailout plan are probably the most popular search strings online.

I read the draft proposal of the bailout plan on NY Times here. Of course, it has been signed into law now, but that proposal is good enough to get a feel for the plan. Basically, the govt. is going to buy most of the toxic mortgage-assets. I guess this means the banks will no longer be liable. This also means they are being let off the hook, right?

I keep reading headlines such as "AIG execs spent $440k at Spa resort after Bailout". Such headlines will continue for a while. But what bothers me is that, everybody wants to blame just the banks. Let us not forget, banks are in business to make money just like every other company. Agreed, they did cross certain ethical lines while lending. Why don't the presidential candidates or the press talk more about the millions of people who bought a house they couldn't afford to start with? Low interest rates is a great thing, but they were part of ARMs... by definition, adjustable!!

They must share the blame too. It's only fair, but no one wants to say much about this. So those responsible American tax payers who were smart with their money and bought a small house seeing through the ARMs are now paying for the irresponsible ones.

The end result: Since the govt. buys the bad mortgage assets, it can lower the interest rates and reduce the principal etc. and the people who bought a big house even though they couldn't afford it, will be fine.

The middle class screws middle class as opposed to the classic, rich screw the middle class.

She was beautiful...

2008-09-24T19:28:00.003-05:00

No, this not one of my fantasies! I am talking about the BMW M3. I could well be talking about the Audi A5/S5 but the salesman wouldn't let me test drive, so this post is about the M3.

I couldn't stop smiling for about 20 minutes after the test drive, I found all my friends online and told them about it. And now, I am blogging about it... clearly, I was impressed! :)

Anyway, as I pulled out of the parking lot this morning, my sight fell on the elegant S5 parked right next to me. That's all it took for me to google the heck out of the A5/S5 models, look at their photos and speak to the dealer about a test drive. In my defense, any car lover would have done the same thing.

So I went to the Audi dealership and since they only had 4 A5/S5s in their entire lot, and since they are so rare on the market, I was refused a test drive. That's the worst logic I ever heard. How can I buy a $65,000 car without knowing what the drive feels like?? And I really did go with the intention of taking it, on a lease at least. Disappointed, my friend and I were driving back to work. I told him how impressed I was by the looks of the car and he remarked that while it was indeed a hot car, a new car always is tempting. So he suggested we stop by the BMW showroom. The rest, as they say, is history! Smart thinking... Sri Ram!

We walked up to the BMW coupe models on display and Scottie approached us, offering to help. After talking about the different models and features, we decided to test drive the M3.

Scottie drove first. We were being mellow as we got onto Stevens Creek Blvd, and when I pointed that out, he gave me a 3 second sample of the beast's raw power. It sounded and felt amazing. We got onto the freeway and Scottie didn't need any hint from me, he let loose the beast. My friend in the back seat and I had a smile on our face through out the test drive. We accelerated to 120 in what felt like 7 seconds, slowed down to 80 in 2 seconds, changed lanes in a fraction... it was all happening! To top it off, Scottie showed us the amazing control the M3 has by making a near U-Turn at 85. I have not been in a car that handled the turn at such speed, with such absolute control. Hair raising!

Next up, my turn. I had to try this one. So I accelerated to 90 in second gear, slowed down and raced again. It felt amazing! Manual transmission cars have a satisfying drive that we will never get in Auto transmission.

So there, my afternoon of fun. The BMW M3 is a splendid drive, great control, lot of power... but expensive I think. Do give it a try! You will thank me for it. :)

Dealing with terrorism

2008-09-15T13:26:00.002-05:00

The recent Delhi blasts has made me revisit the issue of terrorism. The first question that comes to mind is, what can we do as citizens? I don't have an answer.

I am more interested in how our leaders are choosing to deal with terrorism. Broadly, the options are dialogue or brute force. I don't see our leaders pursuing any option. The intelligence does seem to be doing it's job or a part at least, but the powers that be refuse to act.

For many years I believed in a fitting reply, I am not sure now. How will we be any different from the terrorists if we do that? I strongly believe we need to protect our sovereignty, which can be done with good intelligence to help prevent attacks. The movie "A Wednesday", a brilliant one I might add, offers an interesting perspective. The theme is people's wrath!

Why are there terrorist attacks in the first place? These people don't seek money. They are attacking people because someone did a similar thing to them. Only it wasn't a group of mercenaries, it was the US/Russian military. These terrorists are seeking revenge for Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir. Unless we find solutions to these problems, they will not relent. If history tells us anything about Muslims, they will fight till the end. So it is in our best interest to act quickly.

I am not sympathizing with the terrorists, I am not saying that Osama and his supporters shouldn't be arrested. They should definitely be brought to justice. I am just saying we probably need to look at how we deal with them. The attacks on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border are killing civilians, this only gives the terrorists more material for their fundamentalists lectures. Since when has civilian causalities become acceptable? How would we react to this, if we lived along those borders or if our kin died in those attacks? So, in their minds... we become terrorists!

Silverlight streaming ahoy!

2008-04-24T17:16:00.002-05:00

I used the free trial version of Microsoft Expression encoder and setup some simple silverlight streaming!

Check it out here...

I think it's pretty cool, comments?

Movie reviews

2008-04-19T23:45:00.003-05:00

Hello People! I have started a new blog for movie reviews, do check it out @ http://nowplayingnearu.blogspot.com/

I have the link under favorites. :)

I would love to read your comments on it.

NAB 2008

2008-04-19T17:57:00.005-05:00

My blog factory has come to a grinding halt, but this time I will try not to let this be a prolonged one. You see, work has been really crazy with some cool product releases coming up at NewTek.

I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Vegas at the NAB show and boy was it fun!! Being part of a huge event, the adrenaline rush... you have to feel it to believe it. I know too well, back from my days at the Association of Indian Students at USC and IEEE Hyderabad.

NewTek's products got some great response at the show as you can see from the photos. Live virtual sets, Flash streaming, Instant replay... what's not to love about these things!!!

NAB 2009 starts on April 1st, you know where to find me! :)

The playoffs are here!

2008-04-18T23:46:00.002-05:00

I am a die-hard basketball fan and the playoffs are the most exciting part of the season! Win or go home. The regular season is great and all but now we mean business, it's the best pros fighting it out.

Au contraire the regular season this year has been nothing short of amazing, the west especially.

Before I talk about the playoffs, I was really glad to hear that the Knicks fired Isiah. The club was on a downward spiral. They need new energy there.

Here are my picks...

Lakers vs Nuggets: Kobe & Gasol! Need I say more! The Nuggets are not clicking as a team.
Hornets vs Mavericks: I am going to pick Dirk and Kidd over Chris Paul and David West.
Spurs vs Suns: This is unfair. The team that wins this may well go on to be the conference Champion. Suns in 7 games, Shaq will come good here. He must!
Jazz vs Rockets: Jazz in 6. TMac still won't see the daylight of round 2.

Celtics vs Hawks: Celtics should sweep this one. Al Horford is one of my favorite rookies.
Pistons vs 76ers: Pistons in 5. This can be tricky.
Magic vs Raptors: I pick the Raptors to upset Orlando.
Cavs vs Wizards: Make way for King James!

So let's see how well I do!

Ave Maria

2008-04-07T19:08:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I am not into opera... but you have to listen to this amazing german version of Ave Maria. It is supposed to be a prayer too, but I just love how it sounds.

It's funny how I stumbled onto this. I heard a different rendition of this song in the movie Hitman, so I googled it.

Looks like opera isn't that bad after all. :)

Added some stuff to the blog

2008-04-04T14:32:00.002-05:00

I just added links to some interesting articles I found on the web. I also added links to some friends' blogs and my company website.

Getting back into this blogging thing has made me see how web technologies and the internet have pretty much taken over our lives. I hardly ever go to the post office, the bank, the DMV or to pay any bills. Everything is just a few clicks away.

Online video is really blossoming right now, Hulu and Veoh pretty much have all the latest TV shows for free and what's more, it is HD content. If you want to make your own news channel or broadcast stuff for free, check out mogulus. It is super cool!

Keeping up with technology

2008-04-03T12:14:00.002-05:00

Today everything is about shortcuts, well almost everything ;).

Usability, speed, cost are probably the biggest factors in designing any gadget.

There was the iPhone and then the Nokia, Samsung & LG iPhone Killers. Rest assured, no single phone will have all the features and meet all your requirements. But watch out, if you find something that does meet your requirements today... there will be a paid software upgrade with better features tomorrow. That's just the way it goes.

Check out the video below on cell phone evolution.

I love my gadgets and with all the options out there it is so tough to not go buy something I just don't need. Lack of finances is the only thing keeping me from doing that! :)

Ease of use

2008-04-02T17:04:00.003-05:00

One of the products I work on at NewTek is called the TriCaster. For those of you interested in making television ready video or want live broadcasting/streaming capability, this is a great fit.

Check out the demo below.

For years, I used to think that products that are very easy to use were probably easy to make as well. BIG mistake! And I only realised my mistake when I saw the above video. The product is so easy to use, but I know how much effort went into it to make it that way. :)

I guess folks at Apple, who arguably have the best user interface designers, know exactly what I am talking about.

It's election time in India too!

2008-04-02T01:21:00.002-05:00

Well, can't sleep so I thought I would write about something funny and sad at the same time.

I was trying to get my fill of the latest movie updates and stumbled on this. For those who follow Telugu movies, I am talking about Chiranjeevi and for those who don't, he is a really big movie star.

Given that his entry into politics is imminent, politicians are leaving nothing to chance and trying their best to appease him. For example, lawmakers ( MLAs ) have booked movie theaters that will screen his brother's upcoming movie Jalsa for weeks to make it a grand success. That just cracks me up!! Here is the article I found this out, don't judge me.

Since I am on the subject, recently a few Members of Parliament fighting for Telangana statehood resigned in protest 'cos the government did not fulfill it's promise. Interestingly their resignations come a few months ahead of the general elections. If these politicians thought they could get support or sympathy from the public by relinquishing power conveniently a few months before it would go away anyway, they are partially right! There are some really stupid people out there who fall for this!!! That is so sad.

How can an educated person ever trust these people? How can an educated person not feel that there isn't much hope for our current system? Something needs to be done here.

Healthcare sucks

2008-04-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

I am not really talking about the mammoth health insurance problems, my complaints are about much simpler stuff.

I had an 8.30am appointment with an allergist yesterday and he finally saw me at 9.30am. This has been the case for as long as I have had to make a doc's visit the last few years. I make at least 10 visits a year, that is another story. But this really sucks! Why don't they mean 8.30am when they say 8.30am? I may have just been very unlucky too because a friend tells me his doc sees him within 15 minutes of the appointment time.

Another thing is picking up your prescription. Why don't they just give us the medicines right then and there? Why are they so backed up? I actually thought they had some generic pills and they mix chemicals and make your medicine, so that takes time... like the homeopathy procedure ( though you get the medicine right away there ). But I found out, all they have to do is count the number of pills and put them in a box!! 2 hours for just that!! sigh.

India is way ahead in these aspects! :)

The Blog factory!

2008-04-01T00:54:00.002-05:00

So in an hour, I have churned out 3 blogs... my grand total before today! :D

I realise the topics might be very upsetting for many people. I will talk about some other subjects that take up a lot of mind space, like marketing etc. soon.

ciao

War on terror

2008-04-01T00:21:00.003-05:00

This is probably one of the most widely used phrase. But it is a very important discussion.

Is it really too late to admit a mistake? Ideally the answer would've been no, but this can be an exception. Just for the record, I am convinced it is a mistake.

I used to see almost everything in black & white, I probably still do on a sub-conscious level. But wresting control from the Taliban made perfect sense to me and if it was the only war being fought, I feel far greater success levels could have been achieved. Fundamentalism of any kind is bad IMHO.

Now, the Iraq war. It started with taking control of the weapons of mass destruction and now it is about helping Iraq stand on her feet. What happened to the WMDs? And why is there no progress in Iraq? How did a war against Saddam Hussein turn into a war on Al-Qaeda? All this for oil?? I refuse to believe that!

This is one big mess and the consequences are endless.

Billion's of dollars of the people's money, that could have been used to rescue the sub prime crisis maybe. Maybe there wouldn't have been a housing crisis. Innocent people losing their lives, soldiers losing their lives and being crippled for life. If you haven't seen the movie Stop-Loss, go see it. It really puts things in perspective. Very touching, the dilemma of a soldier who doesn't believe in the war.

I am not absolving Osama of his wrong doings. I mean, what can you say to a man who asks the whole country to convert to Islam? I am proposing a dialogue but I am not sure how it can be done. A modified version based on the "Quit India Movement"? I feel like the India-Pakistan conflict is probably more resolvable than this.

I don't know the solution, but the current one sure as hell isn't working.

Who am I?

2008-03-31T23:35:00.002-05:00

Well, this is a question I try so hard to answer. I am sure many people out there deal with this every day.

Here is a list of things that makes us who we are:
1.) Family and loved ones
2.) Friends
3.) Job, career aspirations
4.) Personality

Each factor affects the other and it is one really complicated equation. As I have come to realise over the last four years, nothing comes easy in life. It takes a lot to keep everything together, take something for granted and you will have hell to pay.

Actually, right now, I am focussed on the personality and social responsibility of a person. What do we want to me remembered by? What defines us as a people? More importantly, who am I?

I am talking about giving something back to the society, our society. Not just on a grand scale, but simple little things. I guess we all do it unknowingly. I work in a video software company and the software our company makes helps people in the broadcast & web stream world. This affects high school sports and pro sports, so it helps many people. A journalist creates awareness among other things, researchers find solutions to tomorrow's problems, business consultants save companies from making blunders and thereby saving our jobs and the list goes on. All this counts, right?

Now for the larger picture. Can we do more? Of course we can! I don't want to sound like a preacher, but I just wanted to ask this very important question that some of us shy away from.

I'm here now!

2008-03-31T23:06:00.002-05:00

I'm embarrassed to admit that I fled the scene after just a few blogs, hopefully my stay is longer this time. Not many people would've missed me, so it's all good. :)

Sadly, this attitude seems to creep into every aspect of life though. Is looking for new challenges a way of running away from the current ones? On the one hand, looking for new challenges probably means one is ambitious and that's a good thing. But how soon is too soon? I guess it depends on the issue at hand.

Society today

2006-08-27T13:29:00.000-05:00

The movies end with the bad guy killed or lovers united. Political parties claim in their election manifesto that they will eradicate poverty from the face of earth! Religion and manuscripts a thousand years old, decide what we can and cannot do today.

We live in a world of make believe. Movies, politics and to some extent religion, all tend to lean towards an imaginary world that never exists. The only good I see in this, is a sense of hope when everything around us is going wrong. Some might it even call it false hope!

It appears that people do not want to even consider reality.

Take a moment to reflect on our society. Homosexuality is looked down upon. Why do people even care? Doesn’t life give you a decent share of issues and problems to deal with? I am not a big fan of the homosexual concept and I fail to understand why people choose to be so, but I am mature enough to not disrespect them or scheme against them. They are human beings like us. This issue came up when I was talking to a cab driver on the way to a desi restaurant. The US army doesn’t allow gays to enlist for service and his nephew happened to be gay. So they were organizing a huge demonstration outside the capitol (akin to our state assembly) building. Both of us concluded in unison “Why do they care??”. Religion without doubt is to be blamed for this although people should know better.

Consider the term “divorce”. The dictionary will define it as the formal separation of husband and wife. In the Indian society however, divorce is almost treated on par with the death of a person. If a couple go through divorce, people start judging not just the couple, they scrutinize the whole family tree! A single parent is seen as the most unfortunate person ever. The unsaid rule is no matter what torture a person is enduring, no matter how defunct the marriage, divorce is not an option. Why is it so difficult to understand that two people can really not work things out? A parent who watches without taking action as his/her daughter is tortured, and doesn’t bail her out should be prosecuted on similar lines as the guilty.

We need to be strong enough to think about life after the failure of a relationship. If a person can recover from a mid-career crisis, he/she can also recover from a failed marriage/relationship.

It’s ironic, but I sign off by saying that “happily ever after” is possible. But you’ve got to be bold.

Pro bono: A noble cause (continued)

2006-08-21T12:14:00.000-05:00

I aim to keep this a weekly blog, but the comments have prompted me to explain myself. That's good, I say.

The idea is not to bridge the poor-rich gap, atleast not yet. The aim is to empower the poor, give them a fair chance to make a decent living.

The governments (past & present) have introduced a few schemes to serve the poor. The ration facility, the subsidized electricity rates, the free food program etc. So far, so good. But the Mandal Revenue Office (MRO) or whoever is responsible to implement the scheme, act like royalty when approached by the people. They are sent from pillar to post to prove their income status and for each paper that needs to be signed in the process, a rupee note has to be attached.

The blame, I believe, should be placed squarely on the govt. Why are these people taking bribes? 'cos their income will push them below the levels of poverty.

A lawyer, can accompany these people to the MRO office, or send a clerk and get their papers and claims processed in time. Any hesitation and a legal notice should be served.
Maybe the press should be involved as well. Things will move quickly.

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Can we pay a lawyer to work for us part-time?

Is it practical to hire a decently powerful lawyer, who knows his judges and can win cases for our clients? The clients are the poor and needy btw. These can be simple cases, like adding a name in the ration card or getting admission in the local zilla parishad school for their kids. They can also be hit and run accident cases etc.

Ofcourse, I will need help if this needs to be implemented. But it will be good to find out what a good lawyer charges for his time.

The problem, if we get things in place is, we will need to go out and tell people that we can help. Which will get us unneeded publicity. I am more for getting about my business unnoticed. If not, we will be under real pressure to perform and there is only so much we can do while starting off our careers.

Thoughts please?
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Pro bono: A noble cause

2006-08-20T13:45:00.000-05:00

Why do I choose law? Because the difference is staggering! People sue people left, right and center in this country. The first thing that I thought of when I wanted to start blogging is, I need a disclaimer!! That's how paranoid I am. A Google search for "blogging laws" was proof enough that my fears were not unfounded.

My main issue is something else actually. It is about the rights of people. For mere academic purpose, I shall state that the rich have more rights than they will ever need. :D And it is the same in India and The USA. When it comes to the middle and lower income sections of the society, the story is appalling. In The US, everyone has rights and there are lawyers willing to fight for them. Thanks to the pro-bono rules of the American Bar Association. But in India, the middle income group are constantly harassed and the low income group, well they do not have any rights. No one will fight for them or help them. I have been away for over two years now but I am quite certain that their plight is no different now than what it was a couple of years ago.

I believe that the jury system in America is quite brilliant. You do not have access to them and hence cannot buy them out. On the contrary, bribery is rampant back home. Judges can be bought. And it is much simpler, 'cos that's all you need to do to win your case. Clearly, the non-rich folk won't be able to do any such thing. So they will have to go through the rigors of a lengthy legal process. One they will most likely lose.

The rights of the lower income people I am talking about are pretty basic; Getting free education, a job in a government office, subsidized rates for utilities. Every government promises these facilities but fails to deliver without doubt.

There is obviously a lot that can be talked about, but I limit myself to this one issue. Politics is an issue for another blog. :)

I guess it's easy to say the system is faulty. I am for sure going to do my bit a few years from now, when I feel my voice will be heard.

To start with, I plan to post my idea(s) on bringing about a few changes in the system on a separate website. It will be up soon and a link shall be posted here.