Sad demise of moral principles...

Not very long ago there was a man who successfully led his country through its greatest constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. This mile stone accomplishment had paved the way for every race in the world to live unitedly in the American society. Duh Uh! Flash News: Looks like it has all flown down the toilet drains as far as Morality is concerned.

Funnily when I type the word 'Americans' on the Google search engine, the very first option that pops out is 'Americans are Dumb'! lol ! NOM, but the recent Gurdwara Shootings at Wisconsin is a sad proof. Simply flying the Stars and Stripes at half-mast will not resolve the issue. If a similar incident occurs tomorrow, is Obama going to extend the duration of the half-mast or is he going to give out some concrete orders about an Indian's safety in the US? If you are an Indian... I have a question for you... Is jeopardizing your life and your family's well being for the sake of some extra money actually worth it? Think Think Think!

If an American Citizen is not broad enough to accept a person from some other race as his/her fellow citizen, then immigration should be completely stopped! No kidding! Why have such a complex demographic phenomenon to boost your population if balancing is so tough? For centuries together India has welcomed foreigners into her heart and has retained them safely. We don't feel alarmed or threatened by the presence of a person with an unusual skin-tone or facial features. No I am not saying that WE ARE PERFECT! But the crimes in my nation at-least MAKE SENSE! There is a genuine purpose behind a gully shooting. Nobody randomly shoots at people in the broad daylight just because he/she has a super idiotic racist mindset. Why are the Americans so confused about differentiating a Sikh with a turban from a Jihaadi? Its no rocket science! Or is it something about the race that irks? I wish they caught the shooter alive. I would have flown down exhausting all my savings just to knock some sense into his head with a good thrashing (Oh of-course I can manage one when I am fuming!).

Trying to understand and further analyze the psychology of such gunmen or any other racist person is a tough job. But creating awareness can resolve the issue. Are the American 'Whites' still racists deep down within? Has Lincoln's attempt gone futile? Its really funny because the land that they live on actually belonged to a different Mongolian race altogether! And today they want the so called 'colored mass' to scoot from 'their' land else there is no mercy! Atleast this is the message that I got from this incident - ' LEAVE THIS NATION OR DIE!' Am I scared? Nope! Am I angry? Yes, a lot. Am I going to do something about it? Yes! I will blog on this topic again and again and again and again till my fingers ache.

Away...

I thought things have finally changed,
I thought it was all afresh,
A whole new horizon to look upto.
You came, you spoke, you bowled me over,
But now you speak in an alien manner.

No calls, no mails, no messages await.
My phone seems to have died out too.
I was excited about certain things,
Sweet topics are but rare these days.
Whatever comes up is a buzzkill to you!

You seem to be so far away...
Please dont change...I'll always pray.

An Entrepreneur in Modern India

The title is introduction enough.

Who is an  En`tre`pre`neur´ ? The Webster Dictionary says that one who takes the initiative to create a product to establish a business for profit: generally, whoever undertakes on his own account an enterprise in which others are employed and risks are taken.

Your question -Why the hell did she choose this topic out of the blue?

My answer - Err.. nevermind... ;)

India has churned out some of the best Entrepreneurs of our time.

I have listed down a few eminent ones below with their approximate years of establishment in parenthesis.

ü  Brijmohan Lall Munjal (1923- ), founder of The Hero Group, which owns Hero Motors(1956)

ü  Dhirubhai Ambani (1933–2002), founder of Reliance Industries(1966)

ü  Ghanshyam Das Birla (1894–1983),Birla family(1947- Starts off with Grasim weaving plant)

ü  J.R.D. Tata, founder of Air India and Chairman of the Tata Group for 52 years.(1946)

ü  J. C. Mahindra, co-founder of the Mahindra Group(1945)

ü  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (1953- ), founder of Biocon, the first biotechnology company in India(1978)

ü  N. R. Narayana Murthy (1946- ), co-founder of Infosys Technologies(1981)

ü  Sabeer Bhatia (1968- ), co-founder of Hotmail(1996)

ü  T. V. Sundaram Iyengar (1877–1955), founder of the TVS Group(1911 :))

ü  Kasturbhai Lalbhai (1894–1980), textile baron, founder of Arvind Mills(1931)

ü  and many more.

Do you observe a pattern here? Well most of these pioneers came up with their ventures in the post-independence era except for a few like Biocon, Infosys and Hotmail. NOM. :P. Very few have come up in the recent past (2000s) and have survived to make a mark in the Global Market. What crosses my mind is that there could be a dearth of free-thinkers in the society. Are people these days scared to reject authority and dogma?  There might as well be some other reason. The Economic Times reported recently that there is a shortage of skilled workforce which is why the mushrooming Entrepreneurs are not exploiting the benefits of Globalization.

The Indian Society traditionally has been divided into four castes: The scholarly priests, the warriors, the traders and the people doing lowly jobs. Today the Indian Society is by and large divided into three categories :

1.The well-established business families, such as the Mittals, Tatas, Ambanis, Birlas and the like. Most of these companies have a strong management team, and are now going global. World trust in the Indian corporate sector is increasing like never before because of them.

2.The young graduates. With information technology and multinational corporations on the rise in India, these youngsters serve as the backbone of many flourishing enterprises. In fact they constitute of the rolling workforce. The problem with them is that, they like ducking underneath a domineering boss and are happy being followers all life long.

3.The small business entrepreneurs. You will find them in every big city, town, or village in India. They rely on sheer entrepreneurship ability that include training, experience, customer service skills, networking, hard work, and innovation. The only drawback with them is that they do not pay much heed to a formal education. 

But when a person from Category 2 ultimately makes up his 'entrepreneurial' mind, builds up some courage finally, and approaches a bank to get some finance sanctioned, all his/her pleas go unheard. Most of the Small Business Loans get denied even if a proper business plan is provided. Sadly, there is ample willingness to invest capital in a well-established enterprise but there is little willingness to fund start-ups. 

Moreover the brand monopoly by Category 1 type businesses is actually shunting the chances of smaller business ventures to make it large.

Mera Bharat Mahan!?!

Jai Hind anyway :/

Love vs Ego

Hey all!
Came across a kiddish story but actually liked it... So thought of adding it onto my blog for future reference...


"Once upon a time....there was an island far far away, called the Home of Feelings. 
Joy, Love, Ego, Care, Shame, Hatred, Magnanimity, Generosity, Kindness, Shyness, Audacity, Disgust, Frustration, Jealousy and all the feelings that we can think of lived on that island. They had been staying together on the same island for centuries and were all having a great time with each other. Each feeling played its role in a indefatigably glib manner, never drifting from its own role. 


It was just another regular pleasant morning that this island was seeing, 'Jealousy' was the first one to get ready, as it was jealous of everybody else, so wanted to be numero uno at everything. 'Care' was taking care of everything and everybody. 'Love' was loving everybody and spreading smiles. 'Hatred' was abusing everybody and hating everybody for unique reasons. 'Ego' was sitting in one corner not mingling with anybody, lost in its own world, for it felt it was better than everybody else. Activity was busy doing active-stuff as every other day, It was then that all of a sudden 'Panic' alarmed everybody by jumping up and down and running all over the entire island screaming - "Tsunami" "Tsunami" ...!!! 


Love and Care took notice of this and immediately arranged for boats to set sail towards the next island. They sent everybody on them. Jealousy was the first one to get on, while hatred still hated this happening. But things went on, everybody was busy saving their own lives, while love and care were sending everybody. What nobody took notice of, but 'love' did take notice of, was that someone was sitting in one corner and not getting on any of the boats. 'Love' reached out to him, to see who he was, it was 'EGO'. 'Love' said, "my dear friend come with me, else you will die here." After all, it was 'ego'. It kept refusing, while love kept forcing him to come along. 'Ego' kept rejecting. 'Care' tied the boat to the shore, waiting for these two to come. Unfortunately, 'careless' was on the same boat, it broke the string by mistake, which tied the boat to the shore. 'Love' did not get scared; it still loved careless, while it still kept forcing 'ego' to come along. The last boat left, Tsunami arrived, taking away the last two lives on the Island." 


Might sound tacky but the jist of the story is that, lets suppress our ego, as much as possible and start enjoying a much better life. For, ego kills love along with itself. Every relation starts looking more beautiful, when EGO gets eliminated. Let's make sincere efforts to kill that element in us from this moment onward. 


Loads of Love ...

OMG! Its love season again!

I am not trying to play cupid . I was just sitting idle and all of a sudden came up with some ideas. Here are some tips to please your sweetheart this love season.

But before that, let me tell you a little something...
 this year, celebrate your valentine's day with great romantic and gregarious fervor, and flying colors! 
Express your promising feelings of deep and genuine love. 
Make a special and everlasting commitment to your love relationship.

Try to surprise him/her with a customized gift. Don't stress upon the gifting-thing. Take it easy... If you don't want to gift your love with something special... well then spend some nice time together :) It shouldn't cost you a fortune. But it surely will catch his/her attention... forever :P 
Still for the gift lovers-cum-givers, some easy options that I came up with are as follows...

• A personalized message on a coffee mug
• A romantic message in a bottle { this one's my favorite ... :) }
• Personalized tag-necklaces
• Lots of heart themed sweets n a plush toy with a message card
• A doodled white T-shirt!
• A watch case for a collector with a message card
• Personalized Valentines jar with chocolates
• An album full of your couple pics n doodles
• A finger ring with a message inscribed
• A simple candle light dinner where you serve a 3 course meal cooked by you!
• A relaxing spa-package for the two of you :)
• A photo locket key chain 
• A desk accessory for your computer nerd! ( and a message card)
• A personalized carved heart-wood cut plaque
• A heart shaped pizza snack for the two of you - (cut out the regular pizza into a heart shape n enjoy!)
• Play a round of scrabble with love related words only!
• Guys like flowers too! You can gift him a customized bouquet this time 
• A book cover case in case your love is a bookworm 
• A polaroid Z340 Instant digital camera... just go click-click-click! :D (A lil expensive but its worth it)
• A custom 4 liner 'Be my love' Poem ... print n frame it :)
• Bake him/her a cake ... take a relative's help :P
• Go on a shopping spree
• A 'word of love' paper-weight
• A laptop backpack ... (dont forget to stuff it with secret messages in every pocket!)
• If he/she is a pet lover... buy the pet a treat!
• A stole with your initials woven on it ... (again grandma's help needed this time :P )
• A relaxing sound-machine (ipod/mp3 player... fill it with love songs!)
• Watch a romantic comedy DVD together... else hit the theater (don't forget to have a pop-corn fight!!)
• Sip on some red wine this time around ;)
• A silver tie clip for the guy or a silver bracelet for the girl (don't forget to inscribe the message on it)
• Driving Gloves for him/ Warm knit gloves for her... make him/her wear it with 'your' help
• Pay them a surprise visit... will have her/him jumping up n down all along :D
• If you are married and have kids... take a day off... send the kids to your mom's
• Pack his/her room with 3 dozen helium balloons with some help from friends :P
• Go for a couple photo shoot... Fashion portfolio sorts ;)
• Play a round of bowling ... the love bubbles will go flying here and there :D
• Take a salsa lesson together (will elongate the valentine's experience!)
• Is there a water park/amusement park around? Hit it!
• Read a Nicholas Sparks novel ... together 

Well loads of more ideas are flowing all over the world wide web...

But hope the ones i suggested will help you out this time around :)

Have a crazy happy valentine's week! 

Keep loving ... :)

Back to School ? No Way!!!

The most complicated education System in the whole wide world pushed solely by money and social status ... welcome to India where money alone drives the chariot of success. Here the poor go to 'easy schools' where they study in their respective vernaculars and finally drop out all perplexed; and the well-heeled go to the affluent Schools where money does the homework trick! Taa-daa!!!

Rich School Scenario: I feel angry at times thinking about it. No one is sitting idle. Mr.Sibal has done a great favour by introducing the Grading System in CBSE schools. At least till 2008 a student used to study sincerely for the fear of exams.Now, an entire year of being a bum pays you off with a 10point CGPA in 10th and 12th grades! That is really unfair to the hardworking ones. Moreover if such a system has come into play, it should have been applied onto the ICSE and the Regional Schools as well. Thankfully it didn't, atleast some kids still study sincerely and 'earn' their marks.

Poor School Scenario: Calamitous state of affairs prevail at the regional school level. Tribal education as usual remains dead-neglected. Records collected in schools in some areas indicate continuing high "dropout" rates among tribal children. A major reason for this is that in most states the medium of instruction is the regional language. Most tribal children do not understand the textbooks, which are generally in the regional language. The appointment of non-tribal teachers in tribal children’s schools is another problem: the teachers do not know the language the children speak and children do not understand the teacher’s language!

There are over 193million children in the age of 6-14 in India. Out of which hardly 20% are getting a hassle free childhood and a proper 'paid' education. What about the rest? As i figured out, some steps like providing textbooks in the mother tongue for children at the beginning of the primary education cycle, when they do not understand the regional language; a suitably adapted curriculum for later classes and the availability of locally relevant teaching and learning materials for the backward children etc. can be easily taken up by the Government to be implemented on a 'fast-track' basis so that the book reaches the child when he is 4 and not when he is 40 and tilling a field somewhere :-/


Another question that arises is that why can't a young mind be trained to study English? Research proves that if a child is in a stimulating environment, he/she can have upto 25% greater ability to learn. After all humans are 'born' with the ability to learn any language, and learning more languages help in cognitive development. A 3-year-old toddler's brain is twice as active as an adult's brain. Then why can't a uniformly structured education system be provided in all schools across the country? In simple words, make all schools English Medium. A child can opt for 2 more languages depending on his/her own choice. Give more stress on language. Once his foundation on all three languages is strong enough, divide the classes based on what other subject the child wants to take up viz. Sciences and Mathematics,the Social Sciences, Technical training or combinations of these.


If structuring the existing complicated system is so difficult, at-least a revised version adopted from elsewhere should be implemented on the new entrants (4yr olds) for a 10 year period to identify the outcome which i bet will be thousand fold better than what it is now! A very evident example is the German Education System which undoubtedly is the best in the world. In German Schools, education from ages 6-14 is mandatory and free as well. (Of-course, providing free education for all in our nation is out of question as the Ministry will be deprived of filling up their coffers with the spills from corruption, duh!) Never mind, as I was telling, In Germany all the children enter the same program at age-4, but at age 10 the real 'branching out' happens where their track record determines which type of school they ought to enter and further on whether they can opt for a university/technical education/trading. This is a fair way of judging a child's capabilities; a uniform grooming and evaluation filters out the ones which are meant for  University Qualifications irrespective of their family s' status as the child has an option of training and part time schooling right from age 11.

Whats gonna happen to our children? In our times, we were confused only after 12th as Medical and Engineering seemed to be the only decent options for the Science stream kids. I don't know what kind of confusion the current 12th pass outs are going to face. I am worried. :-|

Gosh I need to zip it and shut up right now! Enuf of nibbling your brains. Buh-Bye and Keep thinking ...

The Art of Giving!

Simple things that make us crave,

Prolonged yearnings that never go away,

Polite wishes or harsh wants,

Come what may, we want them all!

Stop and think, just for once,

Don't we have enough at all ?

Day in and day out, we keep pondering,

'Is that it?', we keep wondering...

I am no saint with exceptional holiness!

Nor have I been deprived of tender emotions,

Can't we see, the penniless ones?

Turning a blind eye, isn't it what we do?

What if he was one of me or you?

Give it a thought, and you will see the truth.

Share some, if not much, just a slight.

Once you are done, you will feel the might,

to bring a change, to start an inveigh,

for the world which is yours, and had been always...

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a noble venture. To find out more, click here...

http://www.akshayapatra.org/

Fight hunger, Feed minds...Give some, receive a zillion fold. :)

heavy... o so heavy!

i donno y m havin a really bad mood swing today.. i feel so depressed...
i feel guilty...for neglecting our bond...

its almost a year since... nevermind.

i still remember, 19th december 2009... dat was the last day we were together...
it was such a happy day... we even went out for a movie... wid the gang... i got to meet you after suchha long gap ... thanks to a common friend... who was then, your 'best friend'...

it'd been 9yrs since you'd left school... you were my first 'best friend'...n i guess i was the same to u... and all of a sudden ... on this beautiful day.. i thought that you were back in my life ... once again... i was ready to push out all the others and give you that special spot of a best pal once again... i wish i didn't leave the city in march...
i wish i was here all along...
i wish those 9yrs never came in between... i wish we were 12 yr olds again...

You had so much more to do... you had a whole life lying in front of you...
you had so many unfulfilled dreams... you were just a girl... my best girl...
i wish time would turn its tide... and things would be normal again...
it all happened so suddenly... and i wasn't even here... i feel so ashamed of myself...
i am sorry... i wish i cud be a better friend to u... please forgive me...
i silently pray for you every now and then...
and deep down within.. i believe... that wherever you are...you are happy and content...
God Bless...

IT IS LOVE SEASON AGAIN!

Hello! Its time yet again to fall in love... embrace the sweetness that fulfills your heart... This is the Valentines Week... Come fall in love!
The link i provided here has beautiful lines about situations where love doesn't rest in your favor.
There can be 3 such cases...
1)You love him/her but he/she doesn't
2)Some one loves you but you are unable to reciprocate
3)You both used to love each other, but things aren't the same anymore

Darlings, one thing that I have to say is Love cannot be tamed, if you two are destined to be together... not even the almighty can stop you two from staying apart,doesn't matter if the pair is incompatible...with time, things tend to become easier. But if the cosmos is against the bonding... however hard you may try... love will not play in your favor.

So this season.. you need not 'find' your love. If love chooses you, he/she (your Miss/Mr Right) will bump into you when you least expect it. And if things do not happen that way, dear, there is always next time!!!

As I already told you... Love knows no bounds! Bounds include age,tinge,culture,community,country...not even planet! Here's a poem.. a subtle one... (stupid though, but I a good enough read I guess...)

So many thoughts,
I don't know where to begin,
I'll start from my heart,
and what I feel within.

I still have feelings,
which haven't changed,
because when you left me
my life was re-arranged.

I used to cry
so many times a day,
but lately those tears
have been fading away.

I am hoping that
my brighter day soon will come,
and maybe, just maybe,
I'll find that special someone.

Yes, it's been hard,
but I'm getting back my life,
I've even managed
to put away the knife.

I will find someone
who's right for me,
who loves me
and lets me be all I can be.

Yet the thought of you and her,
is tearing me apart,
because you will always have a special place
in my broken heart.

Do I still love you?
Yes, I do,
but another part of me
is getting over you.

I never thought I would say this,
but I simply have to confess,
with each and every day that goes by,
I love you less and less.

I just wanted to be with you,
but now you're gone,
and the time has come
for me to move on.

You meant so much to me,
in fact, you still do,
from the bottom of my heart,
I loved you too.

William Shakespeare had rightly said that
"Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs,
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes,
Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers' tears.
What is it else? A madness most discreet, 
A choking gall and a preserving sweet."

Love comes with an equal dose of happiness and sadness. If you are ready to accept love, You should be prepared to face all its side effects as well.

Once you learn to live with it... things will become as beautiful as ever... All the sweet memories will remain.. and do let go of the bitter ones.
This will help you sustain your on going relationship. And if its over and you feel its too late... the sweet memories will be reason enough to give you a lifetime of happiness. The mistakes that you have committed this time... will surely help you learn and you can build up an even better, stronger than ever bond, next time. All you need to do is love yourself as much as you love your love :)

Do not ever gamble with your feelings...If you do so... there may come a time when you feel that you are completely burnt out and you do not have any romance left in you for any other person. Trust me... its too painful. Give love in breaks and gasps, control your emotions... give as much as you receive. Keep the rest to yourself.. save.. for a special occasion when you are showered with emotions.. so that you can shower it back ... sighs* :)

This day .. I swear will be a 'Once in a lifetime' moment for you both!!!

Okay I am signing off...Keep loving.

Less, Lesser ... Least !

A very Good Morning People (In India) and for others.. Good Day, Good Afternoon or Good Evening. (Please feel free to select your type!)

I had created this blog for a selfish need i.e. to post poems (self composed) and mostly love poems, because it would be embarassing to have such things written in a secret diary at hostel/home. There is no guarantee that somebody/anybody at all would never read it... such is my privacy.Duh!

Anyway, lets not stray away from the main reason why, the first time in 5 yrs, I am blogging like a normal person. The reason is very vexatious... infact so much, that i got up at 9 today in the morning instead of my usual 10am :P (i am a sleepy head, please pardon me). I just couldnt bear to see this early in the morning (remember, early morning for me)...

...Somebody rung the doorbell, Mum was probably in the puja room (when she is in there, nothing, not even an earthquake registering 8.8 on the Richter Scale can distract her, leave alone a meager door bell!), so i was left with no choice but to drag myself out of my cozy bed, which almost is like a corporal punishment being afflicted on an innocent soul (sobs!), just so that the door would get answered. I imagined it must be the paper-boy asking for his monthly due. So i scanned my room (with my half open sleepy eyes) and spotted the purse, kept it ready just in case. But I was wrong. When I opened the door, i saw the sweeper outside the grill gate, Subro(name changed so that he dosen't sue me some day, if at all he becomes literate and a millionare). He had been ringing the doorbell constantly, for the past 20 minutes... and still he looked so calm! As usual, he was waiting for us to open the door and hand him the daily garbage packets. Inspite of me being late and making him wait for such a long time, he still bowed, smiled, folded his hands to greet me (in a namaskar) and said ... 'Didi Garbage please'... as if its one of the best things given for recompence under the sun! Like a nugget of gold or a traditional delicacy. I never ever in my life of 22yrs did enjoy taking out the garbage to the front door because the idea of holding filth in my hands (wrapped in double covers) for 10 steps would churn my insides and almost make me puke! But this guy, Subro, works with filth so casually, its his bread and butter after all! He's been taking out people's garbage, daily, for 365 days (366 in case of a leap year), some thing that he has been doing for the past... wait a second... i dont even know how long he's been our building's sweeper! That is so irresponsible of me! I do not deserve to write a post on a person about whom I do not have the least requisite data!!! But what to do... i was moved... to the core man!

The economic pundits boast that our GDP will cross $1trillion by 2010. We have achieved a remarkable rebound from the global financial crisis. There is a swift turnaround of economic fortunes. Okay, allright, I get it! Economics was never my favorite subject in school. I had a 10 marks economics portion in my 10th grade.(for which I had to slog like a one legged man in an arse kicking competition!) Some how I glided through and secured 96/100 in social science. (I bet i lost 4 in Economics only. But thanks to my Mum who knew all of it by heart and who drew me pictographs and wrote me notes and charts to help me memorize all that crap! Pardon me...but I told you.. I hated Economics!!!)

Damn where was I? Oh yeah! India's growth and developement. How is it actually affecting Subro and his family??? When there was a smooth increase in per capita GDP, he was collecting garbage and was getting paid a scanty amount. He managed somehow as he was a bachelor then. When there was recession, he got married! When there was inflation, Mom and other ladies gave him basic provisions. Okay, he is surviving through all of it, just like us. But he dosent even have the least freaking idea about what is going on at the 'ACME' and how things are supposed to affect him! Poor guy dosent even know that I am writing all this about him. (Sorry Subro.)

Am I beating about the bush? Well, what I am trying to say here is that Subro is a poor man. (Which you must have already figured out!) No I am not asking for any kind of help for him or his family. That will be taken care of. (Thanks to Mum and the ladies.) But my point is, how far are we (the lazy youngsters) trying to help them, people like Subro? We were born in affluent families, still we run after jobs with a good pay or a degree that promises an even bigger job with a higher pay. We spend 25 years of our lives studying, other 25 years, probably doing a job and raising our kids! (DAT WAS TOO MUCH!:P) And by the time we will be 50, it'll be too late to do something/anything at all!

Are they (Subro and Co.) the children of a lesser God? Please Give it a thought... My next article will be solid and heavy... Till then... Keep thinking... Please (for a second atleast.)