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.

Slumdog Millionaire-My assessment.

Let me not figure out how many awards this movie manages to get. Also, let us not, for a while, look at the other aspects of the movie like acting, technical details,etc. The movie grabbed my attention for other reasons. It is one of those instances when a movie maker has entralled the audience with a gripping story, drama and all the masala that we so yearn for. Although, most of us mumbaikars have a fair idea about the city, we continue to get startled when a new dimension or angle has been fairly presented. There are plenty of places that are still left undiscovered. Even though we know that they exist, it is good for our blinker state not to visit them entirely.The city is romantic in its essence and this aspect has been beautifully captured by the director.
The movie is about five things:
1) It does not require you to be a genius to make a million;
2) Education does not imply only classroom study but that life has it's own lessons to offer;
3) Finding love goes much beyond money, fame, risk and success;
4) Follow your dreams-the path clears itself in front of you &
5) Even in the most depressing circumstances, there are enough reasons for you to be hopeful.
Mumbai has a strange way of rewarding people who believe in themself and the city. Your education, economic background, etc doesn't matter. Hopefully we all will make the best use of all the resources offerred to us. That is what a movie is all about. It is about life. It should inspire you, entertain you and also make you think. Most importantly, it should touch your heart. Like this one did.

Thriving on Boredom.

Why do we get bored? Is it because we have very little to do or plenty of things on our 'to do' list?
Boredom usually comes from choices. Our ancestors never got bored. There is no real evidence or anecdotal claim of boredom in their life. Boredom is a more metronomical, urban phenomenon that makes us wonder about itself in all its depth.
Kids never get bored. They have no idea what it means to be bored. Ignorance. They are so ignorant about their surroundings that boredom never creeps into their dictionary. Also, curiosity plays a very big part. As adults, we feel that we have lived, experienced everything that is out there. Nothing really astounds us, thrills us or overwhelms us to the point of exuberance. One day, even gamblers become so jaded with the rush of blood that comes with gambling that their addiction is just another mundane addition to their daily chore.
Perhaps as we all go, our world is filled with so many things to do. We have hundreds of things that attract us and hence our attention time span has diminished. We try to seek pleasure into things but over time something else attracts our attention. This mind churning makes us bored.
We intend to do a whole lot of things but end up doing nothing. Not because we don't have many things to do or don't want to do them, but we are too confused to know which ones are important. Maybe priorotizing would help. Maybe ignorance would help. Better still-sit in a closed room. Think about nothing and do nothing. Maybe that should help.....