Gloria Gaynor made the song "I Will Survive" immortal with the kind of energy and decisive rendition which takes us listeners to a different level. The theme of this song was a resolute reply to the boyfriend who left her for good.
There are a lot of times when we find human resolve and spirit triumph over the widespread gloom and shadow of misery.
Indian public has spoken and has come out strongly saying that we will not go down without a fight and that we will survive.
Democracy has got a shot in it's arm amidst the chaos through out the Indian subcontinent. Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka are all experiencing internal turmoil and it would have been disastrous for the region in case Indian public had gone for a hung parliament.
Through out this great ballad of democracy, the only prayer from me was to have a good, stable government and the people of India has for once granted my wish. This could be a government that could go the distance and hopefully will bring about lots and lots of positive reforms which will help us prosper. I hope that the prosperity comes for urban as well as rural population.
Dr.Manmohan Singh, now there is no one to put shackles on your plans, so keep the reforms going and take India to more than what it can achieve...
Cheers India, I am really proud to be a part of this great country!!!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
IPL - Indian Political League?
For god's sake, please don't mix politics also with cricket!
IPL, as rightly pointed out by our Home Minister, is already a good mix of Cricket and Business. It even has glamour quotient added by all the business minded Bollywood stars. Why do we need to bring in Politics also into it?
Even someone as prominent as BCCI President did not have to try and take political mileage out of this!
I, for one, will always stand by the decision of Home Minister as Elections are more important for us, rather than holding IPL. And I am sure the security forces would have found it very very difficult to cope with both of these at the same time.
And, if some unfortunate incident was to happen during the elections/IPL because of the lack of proper security, all blame would have come to Home ministry and the security forces. None of these IPL stakeholders would be willing to take the blame! More than this blame game, it would have virtually killed this golden egg laying goose!
And, the worst thing about this is that, even the IPL administrators know about this. If a layman like me can think like this, I am sure those people have considered all this. And they smartly decided to hold it outside India. But, there are not only smart, they are crooked. That's why they are trying to gain political mileage out of this!
I hope that the common man is smart enough to see through their hidden agenda's and realize that Election is of primary importance than anything else at this point of time! It would be a shame is some people vote based on this incident!
IPL, as rightly pointed out by our Home Minister, is already a good mix of Cricket and Business. It even has glamour quotient added by all the business minded Bollywood stars. Why do we need to bring in Politics also into it?
Even someone as prominent as BCCI President did not have to try and take political mileage out of this!
I, for one, will always stand by the decision of Home Minister as Elections are more important for us, rather than holding IPL. And I am sure the security forces would have found it very very difficult to cope with both of these at the same time.
And, if some unfortunate incident was to happen during the elections/IPL because of the lack of proper security, all blame would have come to Home ministry and the security forces. None of these IPL stakeholders would be willing to take the blame! More than this blame game, it would have virtually killed this golden egg laying goose!
And, the worst thing about this is that, even the IPL administrators know about this. If a layman like me can think like this, I am sure those people have considered all this. And they smartly decided to hold it outside India. But, there are not only smart, they are crooked. That's why they are trying to gain political mileage out of this!
I hope that the common man is smart enough to see through their hidden agenda's and realize that Election is of primary importance than anything else at this point of time! It would be a shame is some people vote based on this incident!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Indian Parliament Election 2009
Hmm, so the UPA government was able to complete five turbulent years at Delhi under Dr. Manmohan Singh. Congratulations, first of all! Because, Indian Political scenario is so complicated and made of so many strong regional parties and leaders with a multitude of agenda that it is really becoming a big balancing act to form a stable government in India...
As per me, the government has not done too badly under his leadership. I have a lot of respect for Dr.Singh as he was one of the chief architects for the liberalization which helped India to achieve the kind of growth that we have seen over the years. And I think, he is as highly qualified and capable as anyone, if not more, to be the Prime Minister of this great nation.
But, one major argument against Dr.Manmohan Singh has been the fact that he was a Member of Rajya Sabha and not a Lok Sabha Member. He has never been elected by the people of India. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha all the time.
Now, is this a fault of Dr.Singh or a reflection of the fact that we, the people of this great nation does not have the common sense to elect a highly qualified man to Parliament? And to think that he contested the election from South Delhi where it is supposed to have more of an urban population than rural, it is quite unbelievable.
Of course, it was in 1999 and there was a lot of sentiments for Vajpayee and hence the BJP because his government was thrown out of power by one single vote. Still a person like Dr. Singh would always be a great addition to Indian Parliament as he is so much respected in all circles, at least more than Mr. VK Malhotra who defeated him. Obviously the people of South Delhi thought otherwise.
Now, why did I want to blog about this old story? Well, a story like this might just repeat itself, no where else than in God's own country, Thiruvananthpuram, to be specific.
Shashi Tharoor, erstwhile UN Under Secretrary general is contesting this election and his credibility and qualifications are immense. His ability as an author and a diplomat while at the job that he did in UN are very well documented. I would be really disappointed if he is going to bite dust in this elections. In fact, he is the only one person that I really want to see getting elected in this exercise. I would love to see the kind of things that he is able to do for his constituency and for country if given a higher responsibility.
I hope that the common sense prevails...
As per me, the government has not done too badly under his leadership. I have a lot of respect for Dr.Singh as he was one of the chief architects for the liberalization which helped India to achieve the kind of growth that we have seen over the years. And I think, he is as highly qualified and capable as anyone, if not more, to be the Prime Minister of this great nation.
But, one major argument against Dr.Manmohan Singh has been the fact that he was a Member of Rajya Sabha and not a Lok Sabha Member. He has never been elected by the people of India. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha all the time.
Now, is this a fault of Dr.Singh or a reflection of the fact that we, the people of this great nation does not have the common sense to elect a highly qualified man to Parliament? And to think that he contested the election from South Delhi where it is supposed to have more of an urban population than rural, it is quite unbelievable.
Of course, it was in 1999 and there was a lot of sentiments for Vajpayee and hence the BJP because his government was thrown out of power by one single vote. Still a person like Dr. Singh would always be a great addition to Indian Parliament as he is so much respected in all circles, at least more than Mr. VK Malhotra who defeated him. Obviously the people of South Delhi thought otherwise.
Now, why did I want to blog about this old story? Well, a story like this might just repeat itself, no where else than in God's own country, Thiruvananthpuram, to be specific.
Shashi Tharoor, erstwhile UN Under Secretrary general is contesting this election and his credibility and qualifications are immense. His ability as an author and a diplomat while at the job that he did in UN are very well documented. I would be really disappointed if he is going to bite dust in this elections. In fact, he is the only one person that I really want to see getting elected in this exercise. I would love to see the kind of things that he is able to do for his constituency and for country if given a higher responsibility.
I hope that the common sense prevails...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Taken for granted!
America is still the biggest economy in the world! But, things are not that rosy for everyone here. If hundreds of thousands of people can lose jobs within weeks, it cannot be the best place to live on in the world.
There are multiple reasons why this happened. I am not an economist to point out the pitfalls that lead to this depression.
America is still considered to be the land of opportunities. And, it was not an overnight phenomenon which took America to the place that it is. A lot of migration happened from through out the world pursuing American dream and those who came in had the talent, determination and passion to do anything for their dream. And when each and every person started doing what they can to embrace and multiply the untapped resources of this vast land, it lead to the creation of wealth like no where else.
But has it reached the top and started the journey downwards? I don't know and I am no one to predict! But the current slump could be because of the fact that they started taking things for granted.
Kerala, my home state in India is blessed with fantastic flora and fauna and a temperate climate till few years back. But, global warming is starting to have it's toll on our small state. The average temperatures have started rising through out this thin strip of land. Palakkad is having drought which threatened crops and we have to request additional water from Tamil Nadu, imagine that! And it is only beginning of March!
Electricity board is trying it's best to give electricity without too much of power cuts. But, our reservoirs are already below half their capacities. And we are only at the start of what is going to be a gruelling summer. They are not even able to buy electricity too much from Central grid as the demand/price for it increased manifold after two coal mines in Northern India shut down, bringing down thermal electricity supply.
And, I read somewhere that of the 100 samples of water from different part of our state, only 13 samples are consumable.
If we don't buckle up, plan well and govern our state properly in coming years, we might be staring down the barrel!
There are multiple reasons why this happened. I am not an economist to point out the pitfalls that lead to this depression.
America is still considered to be the land of opportunities. And, it was not an overnight phenomenon which took America to the place that it is. A lot of migration happened from through out the world pursuing American dream and those who came in had the talent, determination and passion to do anything for their dream. And when each and every person started doing what they can to embrace and multiply the untapped resources of this vast land, it lead to the creation of wealth like no where else.
But has it reached the top and started the journey downwards? I don't know and I am no one to predict! But the current slump could be because of the fact that they started taking things for granted.
Kerala, my home state in India is blessed with fantastic flora and fauna and a temperate climate till few years back. But, global warming is starting to have it's toll on our small state. The average temperatures have started rising through out this thin strip of land. Palakkad is having drought which threatened crops and we have to request additional water from Tamil Nadu, imagine that! And it is only beginning of March!
Electricity board is trying it's best to give electricity without too much of power cuts. But, our reservoirs are already below half their capacities. And we are only at the start of what is going to be a gruelling summer. They are not even able to buy electricity too much from Central grid as the demand/price for it increased manifold after two coal mines in Northern India shut down, bringing down thermal electricity supply.
And, I read somewhere that of the 100 samples of water from different part of our state, only 13 samples are consumable.
If we don't buckle up, plan well and govern our state properly in coming years, we might be staring down the barrel!
Extending the same logic to me and my career, I think I have been taking my position in the company for granted for long. But I am getting signals from everywhere that things are not that great especially with the whole economic slowdown and all. I need to pull up my socks and be on my toes.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thirakkatha - The movie!
A lot of times, I tend to live in the wonderful life of past. At times I worry about what future is holding for me, how am I going to survive if this goes wrong and that goes wrong etc etc. And when I am fed up of living in the past and worrying about the future, I try to find my Neverland. I try to forget everything and be part of a dreamland. I watch movies, an unbelievably high number of them!
Netflix and Youtube are like bread and butter for me, or should I say "Kanji and Payaru" or "Dal and Roti"! :-)
Today, as soon as I came back from office I changed clothes and started watching the movie "The Butterfly Effect". It is a movie based on Chaos Theory which states that even a small movement of a butterfly wing can trigger a cyclone in another part of the world! It was a pretty complex script and I was in awe of that script!
By the time I finished the movie, both my roommates were hungry enough and we went out for dinner. We went to a Pancake House and had lots of coffee and sugar. So my plans of hitting bed early went for a toss.
I came back and started browsing and the name of movie "Thirakkatha" caught my eye. So, as usual I opened Youtube and started searching for Thirakkatha movie and to my utmost delight, I could find a very good copy of that movie in Youtube. I decided to ignore the moral problems about violating the copyrights of the movie for a moment as I wanted to watch this movie from the time I heard about Ranjith directing such a movie.
I started watching the movie and found it a bit slow at the beginning and found the narration a bit too complex. Even some of the scenes seemed to be amateurish.
But the second half of the movie was outstanding. Ranjith has come up with a gem of a storyline, even though some of the dialogues were a bit dramatic for my taste. But, finally he was able to conquer my feelings and my heart became heavy towards the end of it.
As soon as the movie finished at around 12:15 AM, I went to the kitchen, had a glass of water. I wanted to get my emotions out somehow and I started writing this blog!
A must watch, if you are a movie fan!
Netflix and Youtube are like bread and butter for me, or should I say "Kanji and Payaru" or "Dal and Roti"! :-)
Today, as soon as I came back from office I changed clothes and started watching the movie "The Butterfly Effect". It is a movie based on Chaos Theory which states that even a small movement of a butterfly wing can trigger a cyclone in another part of the world! It was a pretty complex script and I was in awe of that script!
By the time I finished the movie, both my roommates were hungry enough and we went out for dinner. We went to a Pancake House and had lots of coffee and sugar. So my plans of hitting bed early went for a toss.
I came back and started browsing and the name of movie "Thirakkatha" caught my eye. So, as usual I opened Youtube and started searching for Thirakkatha movie and to my utmost delight, I could find a very good copy of that movie in Youtube. I decided to ignore the moral problems about violating the copyrights of the movie for a moment as I wanted to watch this movie from the time I heard about Ranjith directing such a movie.
I started watching the movie and found it a bit slow at the beginning and found the narration a bit too complex. Even some of the scenes seemed to be amateurish.
But the second half of the movie was outstanding. Ranjith has come up with a gem of a storyline, even though some of the dialogues were a bit dramatic for my taste. But, finally he was able to conquer my feelings and my heart became heavy towards the end of it.
As soon as the movie finished at around 12:15 AM, I went to the kitchen, had a glass of water. I wanted to get my emotions out somehow and I started writing this blog!
A must watch, if you are a movie fan!
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's Tina Fey time again!
Before going to Tina Fey, here is a proud moment for us!
Keep it rocking, ARR!!!
Cheers!!!
And here goes our own Indian Contingent!
Finally, back to Tina. Yep, She did it! She won the Golden Globe Award 2009 for best actress (Comedy/Musical) in TV, apart from winning the best comedy series award. And here is her acceptance speech! Incredible! :-)
Keep it rocking, ARR!!!
Cheers!!!
And here goes our own Indian Contingent!
Finally, back to Tina. Yep, She did it! She won the Golden Globe Award 2009 for best actress (Comedy/Musical) in TV, apart from winning the best comedy series award. And here is her acceptance speech! Incredible! :-)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Raising the Bar!!!
Hmm, here I am going to use this post to do some soul searching and will be trying to generalize some of my personal traits as something which comes with being a human being! So, please do get offended as I am including you also into my group and in case you don't feel like getting offended, then join the club!
I guess, that is a good enough preface to what is going to be written now. Wait a minute, am I again trying to go around the bush! OK, just for a moment I forgot that we all are done with Mr.Bush, am so am done with this precursor too... (That was a joke, and you are supposed to laugh when someone says a joke!)
What I want to write about is the feeling of satisfaction. Yes, that is the big topic today! How often have we (See, I told ya'l I will be generalising) felt a complete sense of satisfaction without any craving for more and be blissfully happy?
I must say this now itself that, I am not including people who earn a livelihood by doing what they love the most. For example, people like artists, sportspersons etc will be getting a lot of satisfaction because they love doing that the most. So I am not counting in those people!
Tricky, eh?
I know, when we think about it hard, we can realize that there are very few such occasions.
I want to associate this phenomenon with something else, other than not doing what you love. I would say that it is because we keep raising the bar for us to feel satisfied!
Here, let me explain! And now, I am going to give my example and will not be accusing all human beings for a while. So, sit back, relax and enjoy! (As if you people were afraid and tensed. Whom are you kidding, Arun?)
Before getting a job, even during the college days, all I wanted was to get a 9-5 job which pay decent salary so that I can help dad run the family. So I was in a state of ecstasy when I got the appointment letter from Infosys, which was ready to pay me far more that what I had wished for. And that was one of those moments when I was feeling so happy and satisfied.
Then, days, weeks, months and years passed by! Started knowing about the salary levels, living standards etc of IT comrades(just a gentle reminder that I am from a communist governed state), I started feeling restless inside.
After a while, I was not satisfied with the kind of work that I was doing. Support project, no way! I need high end development in the most high flying technologies of the time. I say,"There is discrimination, while few of us slog day and night to do some job that anyone can do, while some others are enjoying development/design projects etc".
It did not stop there. Then the thought process went like this, "Why am I being paid these peanuts compared to some of my peers/friends in other companies?".
Then, working on weekends! "Hello, am a software engineer, am not supposed to work on a saturday!". Just think about it! For someone who grew up seeing your dad, uncles, cousins all going to work 6 days a week, can't get adjusted to the fact that he has to work on a couple of saturdays so that the project can be delivered on time. Funny, ain't it?
There I was slowly raising the bar and started yearning for more, in terms of life style, kind of work, the money that is paid to me etc. Even the slightest increase in the height of the bar, created waves of dissatisfaction in the ranks!
And one day, I hear that a friend is going onsite. Ah, the evergreen dream destination of a greenhorn software engineer. During the irritating onsite calls, I used to think, "Hmm, stop showing of bro! Agree you are onsite now, but I will also be there at some point and then I will show you how to behave with your offshore counter parts!".
But the main attraction was $$$$$$$ and the pleasure of traveling and seeing places! Remember that these things were not even in the wildest dreams of a daydreaming engineering student who always dreamt of representing his country in a multitude of sports(Even in Tennis wherein he hasn't even seen a real tennis racquet till then). So now you know how wild my day dreams where. But the onsite $$$ and travelling was not really a part of those dreams!
So, there again, I started yearning for more. Before this happened, I used to smirk at the colleagues who used to have fights with Managers asking them to be send onsite. But at some point of time, I also joined their league and started raising voice.
Again I was not satisfied by what I was having. Never even took time to look back and listen to that simple guy who found joy in simple things.
So, I think it is time for me to realize that the key to having a truly satisfied life is to keep your aspirations to a limit. This will mean that you can remain satisfied through out your life, rather than being dissatisfied and restless chasing the bar that you yourself was taking out of you reach with each positive step that you take towards it!
Too much thinking for now, let me have some cold water to cool it off!
CIAO!!!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
My Music!!!!
Hey, check out a short and sweet collection of ma favourite songs on the right hand side playlist. Listen to the Solo in Sultans of swing, priceless! Mark Knopfler, take a bow!!!
Hot tip: Pop out the player and play the songs, so that you are not disturbed in case you want to move around the blogosphere!!!
Enjoy!!!
Hot tip: Pop out the player and play the songs, so that you are not disturbed in case you want to move around the blogosphere!!!
Enjoy!!!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Happy New Year, Folks!!!
Being new year and all, I just thought I will do a complete make over for my blog! Some envious neighbours might say that I am doing this to compensate the lack of creative writing skills! Well, you guys know the truth, don't ya?
What? No... I am not trying to evade an answer to that question. That is a ridiculous question as the answer for that question is so obvious!!! :-)
Hope the new look is not too severe on your eyes! If yes, do let me know... Do let me know in case you like the new look too!!! :-)
What? No... I am not trying to evade an answer to that question. That is a ridiculous question as the answer for that question is so obvious!!! :-)
Hope the new look is not too severe on your eyes! If yes, do let me know... Do let me know in case you like the new look too!!! :-)
Thursday, January 01, 2009
A New Year Wish!!!
You know what, I wanted to write another blog and post it just before the end of 2008. And it was mostly because of couple of news items that I saw today which triggered the following thoughts! And I felt it would be apt that this post comes before the end of 2008:
1) "What more proof does Pakistan need before handing over the non-state actors to Indian Judiciary even after Kasab's father acknowledged that Kasab was his son" - Honourable Defense Minister P.Chidambaram
2) "Dhoni's family gets extortion letter from D' Company. He asks for additional security" - The Times of India.
Two completely different stories, we might initially think. But, there is a far more deeper connection to this than the obvious 'D' word, if we can spare ourselves to reflect a bit more deeply.
My immediate questions are as given below:
1) Is Dawood and LeT the only threats to the peaceful being of our people?
2) Just by taking Dawood to trial, are we going to put a complete stop to these extortions, drug mafia, bomb blasts from happening in the future?
3) When we are talking about dismantling the terrorist hideouts/training centers in PoK, when are we going to dismantle the Underworld that has been eating into the lives of millions across our country? I am sure it is not going to crumble after Dawood. But, we should cripple him by tearing his network in our country apart.
Well, I think we, including our politicians, ought to take a deeper look at these issues and come up with a solution which can answer the above questions!
I am sure this can be achieved. But for that we need a new Iron Man for India. I just wish from the bottom of my heart and pray to lord to give me one great leader who thinks of national interest above himself and his party's interest and is strong willed to carry out whatever it takes!
But, if it is not going to happen anytime soon, then let's suffer, fight and survive if we have to, until our piedpiper comes and leads us into a peaceful tomorrow!
I wish all of us Indians a very happy and peaceful new year!!!
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