Send gifts to India this Valentine's Day!!

I have recently started a gifitng portal called http://www.buygiftstoindia.com/. The portal hopes to cater to the growing demands of people who wish to send gifts to their loved ones based in India. Although the current focus is on NRI’s wanting to send gifts to their friends, relatives and loved ones in India, the company is also looking at the resident Indians to use the service to send gifts within India. The site has relationships with many vendors and gifts can be delivered in over 500 cities in record time. The site targets primarily people who send gifts during Diwali, Dassera, Christmas, Raksha-Bandhan, New Year, Valentine's Day, anniversaries and also occassions like weddings and birthdays.
Ensuring the growing demand of the Indian community, the site has an array of products like toys, cakes, perfumes, sarees, sweets, flowers, gourmet baskets, electronic products, candles, handicrafts, cosmetics, mens and womens apparels, leather products, etc.
Internet forms an unique opportunity for Indians staying abroad to send gifts to India. The early apprehensions in internet security transactions have been deftly taken care of by the site with it's robust security system. We have also selected the best products from various proficient vendors. Prompt delivery of products and the best quality is ensured by us.

A thing or two about Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day has so many times been usually misunderstood. Especially in India. There have been controversies over it and the situation usually starts boiling when major political parties even hear about Saint Valentine. Yes, he was a saint. And like many saints in India, he did what he did for a just cause. And I reckon, we respect saints.

There have been many instances where we have found reasons to hate each other. To hate, the reasons are plenty; to love-not one in twenty. We hate over religion, over caste, over colour, over language, over territory, over class,etc. We might find zillion more reasons to show our affection for hate. But then, hate becomes symbolic of our character. It can consume us totally. It only allows us to see the world as a bad place.

Maybe the Valentine's Day teaches us and reminds us that there is a day for love after all. So obnoxiously bad that we need a day to celebrate love. It should be a festival of life-to love people, to be loved by people. What else is so important than be truly consumed by the richness, the diversity and the incredible journey of love? Every living organism craves for love. That is also how our species survives, prospers and thrives. Money, status, fame are drivers for a superficial state of happiness; it is only through love that we reach a higher state of living.

Whenever people or the society have lost their faith in love, the civilisation has been dealt a severe blow. But why is love such a good thing and why am I emphatically harbouring it's merits? See, if we all hate and kill each other-nobody would remain on this earth. We would destroy and be destroyed. On the other hand, if we love each other-we would only be making this world a better place. Things like passion, intensity, crativity, innovation, etc are 'byproducts' of love. Because love allows us the strength to make the best of our existing resources.

So this Valentine's Day-share your love with your neighbours, relatives, parents, office colleagues, proffessors, teachers, children, people on the street......and possibly that special someone. Send Gifts to them, love them, shower them with presents, spend time with them. You wouldn't regret....I bet!!

The irony of it all!!!

U.S.A. and Australia are very well known for their sports talent. They have athletes who have excelled in most sporting activities on earth. They have also been consistent performers in the Olympics and all International sports arena. Their sportmen have broken many records. Even inside their country, these players have a huge fan following. They regularly attend the games, events and even travel outside where their teams are participating. But have you watched closely? Closely enough!

These very countries have some of the highest number of obsesity rates, problems like diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Even the sports fans share this sad figure. How do nations with such huge fan base and sports craziness not translate into equally efficient people; exercising people, fit people? Therein lies the irony! Why can't the sport fans be so inspired that they give up on fast food, beer and start exercising, so as to emulate their heroes?

Similar is the case with the Indian film industry. Most of the stars in the main arena like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan,etc have thir girl friends, former girl friends or wives from a different caste or religion altogether. These stars have a huge fan following; the kind of fans who are crazy over their every move. The cross-community-cross-religion barricades is a big thing in India and the who's who of Bollywood have religiously broken those barriers by coupling outside their very religion or community. But that isn't the case with their fan base or the country. Which is the reason why even now inter-caste or inter-religion marriages are such a no-no scenario. Why is it that although every aspect of their life is emulated in their country; when it comes to marrying, the diversity ceases to exist. The fans don't really follow their heroes after all.

Herein lies an underlying message. The onscreen heroes or the sport stars live a very different life. People want to be so like their hereos and hence like to see their own image in their stars. They would emulate to the point where it becomes comfortable. Thats why there are stars and there are the common Tom, Dick, Sita and Sachin.....the commoners..

Carpenter dreams!

What makes a good carpenter?? Although there is a certain skill involved in carpentry, one expects some benchmarking standards from a practitioner of this art. But then comes a case where all the carpenters of all the world do similar work. Then who is a better carpenter? Someone who maintains standards? Naah! The one who exceeds it. How does one exceed standards? By design. By innovation. By creation. By ideation. A mundane carpenter would make a table with four legs. A skilfull one would perhaps have three legs on his creation. It is not only about creating something for the sake of creation but also it's usefulness. An application of an idea to it's complete useful state of execution makes a carpenter a genuis. Therein lies the human engine of change and possibilities. Nothing would come if all carpenters took the same tools to make the same final product that performs the same functions. It is at this point that change is required, demanded from the artist of his kind. The skills of a carpenter applies to everybody. The only way to know is to keep trying and fulfilling your dreams. Your sketchboard could be different. Your tools could be handpicked ones or made by your own self but the dreams are all your. The world is all yours. Because you are the artist and you are one.

The democratic republic called India.

Handling crime is an important indicator of a socialist democratic republic. India is a democratic country. There are various ways of testing our democracy but it manages to remain very strong. Democracy is more generally defined as something which is 'for the people, by the people and of the people'. This specifically pertains to our own version of things. India has many democratic versions. Similar to all the software versions that our companies seem to churn our so regularly.
Here in India, every individual has his or her right to commit his or her quota of crime. People from all strata of society have the democratic right of expressing themselves when it comes to performing crminal activities. In countries like the USA, only people in the high end of society with deep pockets and taste can commit crime of any respectable stature. But, very proudly shall I say that, my country is liberated. Every beggar, struggler, student, teacher, middle-class man, lady, minister, police, doctor, bureaucrat, employee, business tycoon, movie celebrity, etc can remain involved in criminal performances with equal glee.
India does not remain biased against any individual. This is the hallmark of our society! People can spit on the road, throw waste, jump ques, cheat, create ruckus, go on hartals, travel ticketless, jump traffic signals, hit and run, rape, molest, avoid paying taxes, smoke in public places, murder, loot, rob, do scams, steal, pollute, destroy, bribe, commit forgery and fraud, beat, vandalise, arsonise, hooliganise, scandalise,etc. We even regularly allow our neighbours to conrtibute to the above tally by free -invitation- open- access-open source attempts on us. These and many more hoaxes might be illegal everywhere else but here; we have legalised it. Deregulation of crime is thus the best way of dealing with it. We have shown this to the world.
When every individual gets the freedom to express themself through such mass action, inaction becomes ruled out. Fools are those that think otherwise. Democracy is all about when every human being gets himself to act in a way that contributes to the society. Hence there is absolute individual liberty, fraternity and equality amongst us all. No other country would allow so much freedom to perform tasks such as those mentioned above. Thats why businesses thrive here. Whoever said that starting something was bureacratic. Our affinity for 'jugaad' is legendary. After zero, discovery of jugaad is the biggest contribution of India to the world. Here, everything is possible, for everybody, anybody; as per your own abilities.
We call this the festival of life in doing as we please. There is no other place like India.
Protecting crime and criminals of all characters is in the nature of a liberal democracy.

The Satyam Fiasco.

Why would you start a company from scratch, take it to billion dollar dreams and then throw it all away? India wasn't a place for starting a new business, that too in software services; way back in 1987. Mr. Ramlinga Raju did just that. When he spoke to the media yesterday, his company, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., had grown to 53k people with 185 fortune 500 clients and operations in 66 countries.

Those were the times, in 1987, when getting a phone connection took months, foreign travel was a luxury, foreign goods looked with jealousy from neighbours and a four wheeler was big status symbol. Staring a software company took guts, intense passion, hard-work, firm commitment and a dying resolve to attain something. This risk taking adventure was a rarity during times when a secured government job was considered to be a life-long responsibility. Our own license raj was shattered when the new-age companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Satyam and several others made a paradigm shift in the way businesses were managed. India started to make it's mark and the economy shifted gears. Change took place. The world took notice and the country filled with a young generation willing to believe in their abilities and take their chances.

But then, when you start something from nothing, make global footprints, you are a visionary, aren't you? Yesterday we lost a role model, a change leader and a thinker. Is it just greed that allows us to fudge accounts and take the stakeholders for a ride? Let us not argue about who all are invloved.

Corporate frauds have happened at Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, Xerox and several other multinationals in many countries across the world. Let us hope that the concerned authorities manage to do their jobs and take suitable actions. But in all the companies stated above, the frauds were performed by individuals who had come as outsiders in their company. Satyam Computers might be the few instances when the creator itself has destroyed it's creation.