Be a bit slow, Mr. Chidambaram

Prakash Karat has lambasted P.C for his aggressive stance to deregulate India's financial market.,d despite the fact that the entire world economy is plunging into crisis. At a time when economists all over the world agree that there must be a rethink on the current strategies, worldover it is really worrying to see some of the bills that are being discussed in Indian parliament. The most sensitive one is the Pension Regulatory Development Authority (PRDA) bill which seeks to allow the pension funds in capital markets. With the entire financial world running on speculation, I think it is not a good idea to allow pension funds to invest in financial markets, especially derivatives, futures and stocks.

I believe a detailed discussion must take place before any action is taken, let's hope Chidambaram doesn't act in haste. One thing which worries me a lot is the fact that BJP are also neo-liberal and this could prove a boon for P.C. It is upto each and everyone of us (Indians) to make sure that we follow the progress of Pension Regulatory Development Authority Bill, Banking Regulation Amendment Bill and the Insurance Amendment Bill.

This was how A.I.G. went down

I came across an article in NY times by Morgenson regarding how the insurance giant A.I.G went down.

The article gives an immaculate picture of how Joseph J. Cassano and his 376 member AIG financial group, stationed at London, bought about the demise of the parent company via Collateral Debt Obligations(CDO).

I am still unsure whether the $85 billion bail out by Fed is enough to sustain AIG, because with the number of home mortage defaulters increasing, the CDO liablity of AIG to its clients is bound to increase.

From latter part of the 20th century, the way economy is running has become incomprehensible to a common man. I believe if we want to improve this world, knowing economy is one of the most important things. Time to buckle up and do some reading.

NSG's approval, a step foward

The past few months have been a roller coaster ride for Manmohan singh and his cabinet collegaues. Manmohan Singh's persistence towards signing the nuclear deal had almost robbed him of his prime ministerial post. His hard work has paid off with the unconditional waiver by Nuclear Suppliers Group at Vienna on 6th of September.

Nulear Suppliers Group (NSG) has agreed to waive the restrictions for the supply of Nuclear fuel, reprocessing for India without any restrictions on our Nuclear Arms programs. Any ban or revoking of fuel supply, reprocessing techniques, in case of India restarting Nuclear arms programme, be based on the consensus of 45 member NSG. Consensus is highly unlikely since India can bank on some nations like Russia, France for help.

The unconditional waiver by NSG is certainly a significant achievement for India as a nation. Let's not forgot the fact that NSG formed as a response to the Nuclear tests conducted by India, at Pokhran, in 1974. Also one of the primary motives of Warsaw plenary of NSG in 1992 in adopting the full safeguards agreement was to deprive India of nuclear fuel. The diplomacy and negotitations carried by Foreign Secretary Shiva Sankar Menon, Chairman of Atomic energy commission Anil Kakodkar and his team has been comendable.

NSG waiver doesn't no mean that we are going to have a cake walk, instead it is actually a path treaded with lot of landmines like Berman.

What irks me is the blatant criticism from all quarters that the waiver surrenders India's sovereignty. For those who pose a question like that, please answer the below questions,

1. Did the atom bombs possessed by us in any way deter the Terrorists attacked Indian parliament on December 11, 2001. We didn't even retaliate by destorying the terrorist camps in POK and the fact which has to remembered was that BJP was in power then.

2. Has our nuclear arsenal made China to withdraw from the Indian territories occupied during the 1963 Indo-China war? Or has it made China recognize Nagaland as a state of India?

3. Has our nuclear arsenal helped to solve the internal problems like Maoists, ULFA & Naxals? (I will not criticize these groups, will discuss about them in a separate post).

4. Or has the principles of left made West Bengal one of the prosperous states in India? I am not against the principles of a socialism, I am indeed one of the most ardent socialists. The fact is I believe the CPI(M) is not a proper representatives of the socialists.

One thing which the so called communists tend to forget is that the NSG waiver is an absolute neccessity to procure fuel from any country, including Russia.

In our country millions of people are living without proper food, water and shelter. At this time, do we really need to test more nuclear devices and announce to world that we are a nuclear power house? Just ask yourself..

Girl who slapped the entire mankind on face

Severn Suzuki, at the age of nine, along with a group of children founded the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), which was dedicated to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. In 1992, at the age of 12, Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO, to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and gave this speech which is a Slap in the face for the entire mankind. Simply superb, it is not enough that we watch it, but we must think about it also.

The transcript of her speech is below,

Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki speaking for E.C.O. - The Environmental Children's Organisation.

We are a group of twelve and thirteen-year-olds from Canada trying to make a difference:
Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money ourselves to come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.

Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come.

I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard.

I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. We cannot afford to be not heard.

I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it.

I used to go fishing in Vancouver with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear about animals and plants going exinct every day -- vanishing forever.

In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterfilies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.

Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my age?

All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realise, neither do you!

• You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer.
• You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream.
• You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct.
• And you can't bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert.

If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!

Here, you may be delegates of your governments, business people, organisers, reporters or poiticians - but really you are mothers and fathers, brothers and sister, aunts and uncles - and all of you are somebody's child.

I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact, 30 million species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil -- borders and governments will never change that.

I'm only a child yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal.

In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid to tell the world how I feel.

In my country, we make so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and yet northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share.

In Canada, we live the privileged life, with plenty of food, water and shelter -- we have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets.

Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent some time with some children living on the streets. And this is what one child told us: "I wish I was rich and if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection."

If a child on the street who has nothing, is willing to share, why are we who have everyting still so greedy?

I can't stop thinking that these children are my age, that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born, that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio; I could be a child starving in Somalia; a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India.

I'm only a child yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this earth would be!

At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us to behave in the world. You teach us:

• not to fight with others,
• to work things out,
• to respect others,
• to clean up our mess,
• not to hurt other creatures
• to share - not be greedy.

Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?

Do not forget why you're attending these conferences, who you're doing this for -- we are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we will grow up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "everyting's going to be alright" , "we're doing the best we can" and "it's not the end of the world".

But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My father always says "You are what you do, not what you say."

Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown ups say you love us. I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you for listening

Rs.200 can change the life of this guy....

Last week, I met a boy named Soundrapandian in a village called Elanthugudi, near Mayiladuthurai. My friend’s dad who is a school headmaster bought Soundrapandian to my notice.

Soundrapandian finished his MCA with First Class in 2005. So, what is so special about him? He might have passed the exams, but still has got many difficulties which need to be addressed. This guy is crippled with Polio to an extent where he cannot walk even with crutches. Worse still is his parents who were taking care of him are no more. He was under the care of his elder brother who also passed a few years ago. He has got a younger brother who also is crippled with Polio. Though his younger brother can walk, he cannot climb stairs, not even board a bus. Being the eldest son in the family, Soundrapandian needs to look after his younger brother, his brother’s wife and children.

So, what to do? He had enrolled himself in Tamil Nadu Government’s employment exchange which gave recommendations to some IT companies for enrollment. But multinational companies rejected citing they don’t need work force at the moment (Good joke indeed).

During his college years Soundrapandian worked part time in a computer center called Tamil Nadu Software College in Mayiladuthurai. After completing his MCA, he had worked full time also. But now, there is no one to take him to the institute, which is ready to offer a job at a decent salary.

So, what can we do?

A tricycle for the disabled costs Rs.3, 800 (Three thousand eight hundred rupees), if 19 of us can shell out Rs.200 each, we can get him a tricycle. You see this amount which is not very large can change the life of the family. If you are willing to contribute Rs.200, kindly please mail me at sathishmayil@gmail.com

Click here to view his certificates

Do remember the Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Though i am in a NGO I cannot help via it, since it serves only education.

Please don’t forward this mail and make it a mail chain.

Media is a tool to dispense information, but it has ..........

I wrote this post at Human All Too Human Blog. Gautam helped me in editing this blog. Do leave your comments at Human All Too Human and not here.

Yesterday, I had been to a meeting with some friends regarding the challenges facing the IT industry, the story shifted to the traits of media in India.

Lets take a typical example of what they are doing now. When Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to jail, all the tv channels ran a live coverage of his movement from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the Yerwada Jail in Pune. In the same state, Maharashtra that is, where thousands of people who are committing suicide, they did mind covering this. The hot discussion was whether Dutt will celebrate his Diwali incarcerated or free?

Worse still, Times Now conducted a SMS poll on whether Sanjay Dutt should be acquitted or not? Crazy indeed. I don't understand why there is a court then? Some ran a story asking whether Sanjay deserves prison after imparting Gandhijiri to the people after Munnabhai. Isn't it completely insane? For the sake of TRP, they are just telling whatever they want. Times of India ran an article whose purpose I am yet to understand.

Whenever a natural calamity or accident happens, TV channels race to show the debris and injured. They believe showing people dripping with blood is an excellent coverage which precisely isn't. Never do they make an analysis of why it happened. Constructive journalism has almost vanished off in Indian Media.

In the events of 2007 listed by CNN IBN, one of the events was Bipasha Basu kissing Ronaldo, Sanjay dutt getting sentenced and lot of other crap. It seems the development of high-speed interceptor missile, Advanced Air Defence by our DRDO is a lesser achievement compared with Bipasha kissing Ronaldo. There is not a single event which shows the challenges faced by India. They seem to show all is well, which is were the purpose of Media fails.

These days they are even influencing the decisions by the court by conducting sms polls on what the people think and putting pressure on the judiciary itself. Why do these people give an opinion provided they don't know the facts about the case.

It doesn't end there, the stories which deserve a mention, issues which require attention are never mentioned. For a state to be successful, media must be rational, it must act as a tool to dispense information not as an entity to influence decisions.

Lets thank our teachers........

Everybody knows the social problems facing India. Today I was talking to my friend regarding the same during lunchtime. We were trying to get deeper into the problem to find out what actually is responsible for the mayhem that we are seeing around.

One of the things that usually crops up during these kinds of discussions is politics. Though politics is a major factor, there is another thing that is more critical. It is the education everybody receives. If, each and everyone learn good ideas, ability to think and self-reasoning, this world will become a very beautiful place to live in.

Thus teachers play a very important role in a society. There are a lot of teachers who inspire students and probably every one of us must have certainly come across one. A good teacher isn’t a one who teaches a great deal of things, he (or she) is a one who makes us believe that we can scale new peaks, invent things, makes us realize the potential in us. In short a good teacher is a one who ignites the spark in our minds.

Though the quality of teaching is slowly and steadily facing a downhill in India, the primary reason for decline is mainly it is a non-lucrative job. These days, persons who aren’t able to find a proper job become teachers. With time, the breed of good teachers is slowly ebbing out.

What can we do?

Do we need to forgo our careers and take teaching? Anyone will call it absurd. It is going to be very difficult to give up this cozy life we are enjoying. So, what can be done?

We should at least encourage, compliment the teachers who are doing a good job. Just think about the best teacher whom you have come across in your life. While you are well enough to read this article in a computer, odds are high that he/she might be leading a pretty normal, some even struggling for the same.

Remember we fume at not given a proper bucket in appraisal after six months of hard work, we abuse our team leaders saying that they have not thanked us for the work we have done.

Have we ever thanked our teachers who are responsible for the lives we are leading now?

I haven't, I don’t think a lot would have. Let us do one thing for this New Year. We will find out the address of our favorite teachers and send out a New Year card thanking him / her.

Just imagine the happiness in their faces when they see the card. I bet many will cherish it and it will motivate them more to wield more responsible citizens. This might be a little thing, but I believe little things like these can change the society.

Sending cards is not only a way of thanking them, but also making them feel that are responsible for the society’s well being.

Quarter-life Crisis

My friend had just sent this, really good, made me think, oho I am not alone. Also is of the same genre post.

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere but that they are as confused as you.You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life.

You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try to cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Musings of a Confused Mind

When I first started this blog, I had called it 'My views.' After a long time only it stuck to my mind that everybody express their views only in their blogs, hence having a title "My views" is as good as not having a name. After understanding that I changed it to the Rene Descartes's quote "I Think Therefore I am". Though I knew that it is just a statement of what I am and doesn't give a glimpse of what I am going to write, my mind which doesn't have much of creativity couldn't think of another appropriate name for my blog.

If I tell that "Today evening when I was driving in the pleasant, cool road of IIT, Chennai the words 'Musings of a Confused Mind' stuck my mind", I myself would laugh at it. Because I know my limits.

Actually one of my friends who knows me quite well had sent a long mail regarding the state of India in response to my previous post. Its subject was title "Musings of a Confused Mind". On reading the subject, I was confused, because I didn't know that there existed a word called Musing. Then as usual I Googoled and found out the meaning of Musing. As I was thinking about his mail today evening I felt that, those words are apt for my Blog.

I am really confused and cannot understand this world. I cannot understand why the world has become so much materialistic. I am confused why nobody cares about others in this world. I am really confused why people don't even have basic ethics. I don't understand why many youngsters don't understand there a lot of things beyond Money and Sex in this world. A lot more can be asked.

I generally try to figure out why everything is happening, the reason is "Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life" just as Neo says in Matrix.

Anyway I would like to thank Gautam (he was the one who sent that mail) for giving me this title. Also I would like to apologize to him for not asking permission to use this title. Gauthi, hope you don't mind this.

Believe the musings will continue..............

It is really beautiful

I happened to see the trailer of Saawariya. Though I don't know Hindi, I enjoyed it. The camera, lighting, costume, music seem to be good. Lets hope the film would be a good one. Ravi.K.Chandran has proved that why he is a leading cinematographer in this country.

There are thousands, other than orphans and old aged who need help in this country

One day, last week, I got down from my Office bus and was walking along the Valluvar Kottam High Road, to buy some stationaries. While I was walking along, a few feet in front of me, a cyclist fell down in the midst of road. The way he fell almost everybody, including myself, in that place easily figured that he was drunk. Though I hesitated a few seconds whether to help him or not, my inner sense told that he must be helped first, and luckily it prevailed.

I took his cycle from the road, parked it on the sidelines, and that guy silently followed me. Meanwhile my mind had made up that I should not talk to him as he was drunk. Hence, I just started walking without a look. He called back saying thanks, which promoted to advise him not to drink and drive. (I believe a majority of Indians enjoy giving advice and I am no exception).

On hearing me, he started blabbering some thing. I thought to myself, "If this kind of stuff had happened to some of my friends, I wouldhave sat down with them and heard their story. Poor guy, lets hear what he says for some time." (The reason is many Indians drink mainly because they are sad, though there is no logical reason behind that.) So, why not patiently hear what this man has to say.

He said many things, (I feel they are not necessary to be mentioned here) which I don't know are true or not. I listened to him for about four minutes, after that I remembered my routines, hence gave him some consoling words and left. (Had it been one of my dear friends, maybe I would have talked longer. I am selfish indeed).

His life would have been different had he got a friend who would have corrected him. Majority, almost 99% of the people in this world are what they are, because of the environment around them.

I am no exception, I am writing a blog titled "I Think Therefore I am" not just because I knew Rene Descarates right from my birth. It is because my bringing up, friends acquaintances made me to think about Western Philosophy a bit.

It is really sad that, these days youngsters don't know what Marx said? Or what Bertrand Russell said? Or what J.Krishanmurthy said? Or what our Periyar said?

You may ask the question, why I need to know these guys If I am getting my food and I am living happily without knowing them.

The reason you must know these things, or at least have social awareness is because you are reading this in a computer just because 1 USD = 40 INR. Other wise we would have been in some town or village toiling hard for getting at least single meal a day. And the irony is majority of Indians are still experiencing it. Just because we are reading this sittting somewhere in an expensive laptop or a cosy office chair or an internet cafe doesn't mean that we have developed a lot. And what is happening to millions of Indians, humans might happen even to you some day, if the Dollar crashes. Beware that anything is possible in this capitalistic and materialistic word.

If people like us who are educated don't do things, it will be difficult to change things in this country.

I am not asking to discuss the Communist Manifesto or Dravidian Principles with your friends. I am not asking you to donate some hefty amounts to a NGO. But you can do small small things by not drinking a coke and drink a fruit juice. It will make a difference to an agriculturalist living somewhere.

I am not asking you to not go to onsite remain in India and be a swadeshi, bla, bla, etc. But you can donate 1% (or a fixed amount of say Rs.1,000) of your annual income to some organization in India which does some social service. It will certainly make a difference in the life of many.

I must thank that guy whom I met that day, he reminded me that there are thousands of persons other than orphans, old age people who need attention in this country.

Arise, Awake and lets stop not till the goal is reached.

BJP, please act sensibily

The Ramar sethu issue has been the food on which Indian news channels are feasting upon in the past few days. The most comical thing about the issue is that the party which initiated the study regarding this project itself is vehemently opposing this project.

Do they think that every one in this country is foolish enough not to see this truth. BJP are making themselves a comedy act these days. First their blind opposition to 123 deal with US was really annoying. At no point they were prepared to discuss regarding the deal in Parliament nor they agreed to an all party meet, instead they just stalled the the entire proceedings of the Legislature.

They need to act as a more sensible opposition instead of just trying to make news.

Regarding the Sethu Project, a more detailed study needs to be done regarding the ecological damage. Otherwise the project can be executed.

They have just won a World Cup

The winning of the inaugural ICC World Twenty Twenty championships has sparked celeberations across the entire country. A victory like this not only invokes celebration, it lifts the entire spirit of the nation. You can see the spark in the stride of a milkman doing his work in the wee hours, the delight in the persons assorting the newspapers in the early hours, the eagerness of the kids to go to school for discussing the beautiful moments, every where around us we can feel it.

Certainly these kind of triumphs lift the entire nation, but the question is whether BCCI & politicians are giving it too much of a hype. The bounties being announced for the players bemuses me.

Does Yuvraj deserve two crores and a porsche car when the domestic cricketers have not got their salaries and the coaches have earned only pennies when compared to the players.

If the Indian team needs to do consistently then, the domestic cricket must be strengthened. New pitches must be laid, academies must be created in every state, stadiums and ground staff must be properly maintained. It is not just the players alone who must reap the benefiets, the entire cricketing fratenirty must live.

If a player plays (just in squad, no need to play) an entire season, he will earn a minimum of 50 lakhs as match fee alone. Apart from that sponsorship deals, prize money for tournaments, etc. So, there is no need to worry about these players, instead attention must be shown on the relentless coaches and passionate grounds men who toil hard to create players.

Maybe BCCI can announce prize money for players, since it is making huge profit in the recent years, but I can't understand the logic in which the state governments are announcing prize money when a lot of more things require immediate attention in this country.

We need to realize that we have just won a world cup, lot of people in this country are still struggling for a single meal a day.

Manmohan, atleast reprimand Anbumani

At last Anbumani Ramadoss has agreed to sign the degree certificates for AIIMS students after Delhi High court stepped in.

I still cannot understand the logic behind which Anbumani had threatened the suspending the doctors if they fail to come back to work. Years and years of handwork of the doctors were stopped just because of the prestige problem for Anbumani.

I think the correct way of showing that everybody si equal before law is by removing him from the Union Cabinet. This will not be done by this boneless government. Hence, at least give a public reprimand to him.

Sen , should he be recalled?

Some fuel was added to the already flaming nuclear deal fire by Ronen Sen's interview to Rediff Abroad. Sen was quoted in Rediff Abroad as "It has been approved here (in Washington, DC) by the President, and there (in New Delhi) it's been approved by the Indian cabinet. So why do you have all this running around like headless chicken, looking for a comment here or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?"

Though he has given out a statement today that he was quoted Out of Context, the remarks by Rediif Abroad's editor Afiz Haniffa seem to contradict his statement. Haniffa has categorically stated that these comments were given by Sen when he was contacted.

The Remarks undermine the legislature, most important part part of any democracy.
Sen must be called for an inquiry before a parliamentary committee. If the Sen's comments are true, then he must be recalled immediately.

It is really amazing to find that the protest against Sen have ebbed out slowly. In India just like the media, the politicians also keep on shifting their focus daily?

If you have 10 lakhs, you can rape a girl

Seems ridiculous isn't it?

But this what High Court has decided on a case.

A man committed a rape and he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a trial court . He was acquitted by the High court after he proposed to pay Rupees 7 lakh as compensation.

It is absurd t0 see this judgment.

The person is Mansoor Ali Khan, a Tamil actor.

For more details read this article.

Don't where this country is heading towards. A rapist must be punished at any cost.

This case seems like bribing the judiciary straight away.

The judge should have secured that 7 lakhs for the girl and sentenced him to prison also.

I am back..........

I had dreamed of blogging on a daily basis when i wrote my last blog, but now it has been almost 13 months (to be exact 478 days) since i wrote my last post.

It is quite easy to visualize things, but thats not how things are actually are.

One of the main reasons is the work i have been doing. It has been really hectic out there at office, for some time i even forgot that i have a family and many friends.

Sometime back only, i realized "work is just a part of life, not life".

Then didn't have a proper net connection back at home. If you ask, when did you move into this house? The answer is 3 months, i have become bloody lazy over the past one year because of working in this damned IT industry. Maybe we can talk about IT some time latter.

Signing off now, hoping to put posts more frequently from now on.

Should I be really proud of this government?

When dawn arrives on the 22nd of this month, it would mark the end of two years in power for this Manmohan Singh led government. So, I thought let's sit back and see what has happened in this two years of his tenure.

I will never call this government, a congress government. Congress may be the the political party with the maximum number of MPs (145, 15 more than BJP) but I really don't understand how the Congress at times brags that Sonia has been given the people's mandate. It has got a representaion of just above one fourth in Lok Sabha.

One of the note worthy achievements of this Manmohan led government is our relationship with US. What an achievement it has been, though we had to pay a little for it like our ties with Russia, our prestige, etc. These things doesn't matter when we compare it with the cordial friendship of the Super power. Great job Manmohan ji.

Many may have forgotten the efficient way in which our honurable home minister Sivaraj patil handled the killing of Thangjam Manorama in Manipur by 17 Assam rifles. It was an event which must have made any Indian proud, if you had forgotten it, just read this.

The best of it has been voting against Iran at IAEA. It was the first time in our history, we were voting against a fellow Non-aligned Movement (NAM) country. I believe Nehru would have savored the occassion.

And now the the reservation issue and the way medical students have been handled in the most efficeint way by the delhi police.

And lets not forget the ever increasing petrol prices since they have come into power.

Manmohan Singh's government is worser than a puppet government, because for a puppet there will be only one person controlling it, but here quite a lot. Manmohan may be highly educated or qualified but he is worse when comes to leadership qualities.

Shivraj V. Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad, P. Chidambaram, S. Jaipal Reddy in this list, if you find a single person who has got good leadership qualities, please do tell me, I will be the most happiest man on this earth.

In the end of two years of UPA rule, please don't forward the mail "Do you know whose resume is this? " which was doing rounds some time back.

Just ask yourself, Should I be really proud of this government?

Sit back and think a moment about it

"But you see," said Roark quietly. 'I have, let's say sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I have chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I'm only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards – and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one." - The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand, 1943

You will realise the meaning of this quote by the end of this blog, I believe, If not mail me.

Tonight at around 9 o Clock, I was surfing through the TV channels to idle away some time. When I was surfing, I happened to see Nasser's (For those who don't know Nasser, he is a Tamil artist, acts, writes and directs films, tele-films, drams, a superb creator) face in Vijay TV. Being a fan of Nasser, I decided to watch the drama believing that it will not be yet another idiotic sentimental Tamil drama which is a common site these days. My belief was not dashed, what I saw in the next forty of minutes of the drama, made me not only to take a walk through my Adayar neighborhood and but revisit the days right from my childhood.

The story of the drama titled Manam (Mind in English, hope I got it correct, I am not a great translator) was this,

"There is a boy, aged around 12, from an upper middle class family. He is quite passionate about football (like me, but I never fancied a career in it), he enjoys playing and watching the sport and hopes to make a career out of it. He is taking tuitions from one of his school teacher, whose husband turns out to be Nasser. He tells Nasser about his passion. Nasser encourages that boy, makes him believe that he will go on to become a great player and would don India team colors some day.

The boy's inclination towards football impacts his studies a bit. He his exam scores take a dip. His father and mother, just like any other South Indian parents don't like this. They ask him to abandon football and look into studies which alone they say will give him a good future. The boy argues, begs but of no avail. He withdraws from his school team due to his father's wishes, but clandestinely plays football then and there.

On the eve of an important match for his school, a player in the team gets injured and the coach asks whether he will able to play that match. The boy pleads with his father to allow him play that match alone, but his father doesn't budge. He is confused, he would love to play for his team but his father won't allow it. Finally he decides to play without his parents knowledge, but his parents somehow sniff something is wrong. On the day of the match, they lock him in the house and go out. He desperately tries to come out.

Finding no alternative to come out of the house, the poor kid jumps out from his apartment in the first floor (I believe, not sure) into a lawn. As they say, fate has its own piece of irony, he fractures his spine and his lower part of the body becomes immobile."

After that how Nasser inspires him to lead his life is a different story.

When I saw this drama, I just traveled back to my school days. I have seen a Volleyball player, a Violinist, a football player, a dancer who all would have gone to build a great career, now working or studying unrelated to what they would have loved to do.

I also wondering, how many of us are doing the job we were doing without love?

Studying well, doing a B.E. or M.B.A and getting salary in thousands don't mean that a person will be happy, why people don't realise this?

I have seen many who are earning thousands, but still leading a restless life.

I will not assure you that a person if he or she pursues the career will go on to become a legend in his domain, but he will enjoy his life. For those who love only money and lavishes, I don't have an answer.

I would like to tell a small story, my friend Kani told when I went to Bangalore last week.

Hope everyone knows the Fox and the sour grapes story, here it is retold,

"Once in a forest a young Fox saw a vine yard. Hanging high were bunches of grapes which would appeal to everyone, the Fox was no exception. On seeing those grapes hanging beautiful all over, its mouth watered. It tried to jump and have a taste of those grapes. After a number of repeated attempts, it still could not make it. It gave up and went off, saying that the grapes are sour.

On the way, it met an old Fox, the old Fox asked "Where are you coming from?"

The Fox answered, "I saw a vine yard with a lot of juicy grapes. I tried to eat some, and then I realized the grapes are sour and hence I started off".

The old Fox said, " You young fool, don't say that the grapes are sour, say that you are lazy, hopeless and you didn't try your best. The grapes are really tasty, go and try it if you want to see it for yourselves".

The young fox was pumped up, it wanted to prove it can but above that, it wanted to taste the grapes.

So, it went back, tried, tried, went on trying for days, months and years. Almost half its life span had gone, when it did it.

The news spread around the forest like fire. Everybody was amazed about how the fox jumped and plucked the grapes which were so high. Newspapers, media persons, photographers, animals thronged to catch a glimpse of the fox.

One media person asked, "Hi Mr. you have did it at last, congratulations. I have a small question for you, how were the grapes? "

The fox without expression said, "The Grapes were really sour".

The media person asked, "Then, why are you so happy?"

The fox smiled and said, "The grapes were sour indeed, that is a different issue. For all these years, I had just one notion to taste those grapes, I kept on trying and trying. I enjoyed each and every moment of the challenge, and I am satisfied over it. I don't care how the grapes taste. I am happy that I tried my best. I can't worry about an issue which I don't have control."

That is life, if a person does what he likes, he will enjoy the defeats and victories equally. To him, competing will bring pleasure than anything else.

The person cannot become a person like Sachin Tendulkar, Pete Sampras, Napolean and a Senna who all have natural talents. He can become a Rahul Dravid, Andre Agassi, Martin Luther King, Damon Hill who all become great through hard work, dedication, passion for their careers.

It may be too late for persons of our generation to restart our careers (I reckon, it still can be done), at least lets allow the future generation to have the career they like.

I love writing blogs, but there is no point in expecting my kid to write a blog when he doesn't even like to read one.

You might have wished to become a doctor or some other, but it doesn't mean your Kid also must like doing it. They will have their own liking, let them do that.

If I marry(Certainly don't know who she isas of now) and if I have a child, I will allow my kid to become a cricketer or a footballer or a pianist or a cartoonist or an actor or a model or a writer or an orator, anything my kid would wish to do. I don't care whether my kid will become a legend, I don't want it. I want my kid to be happy, thats it.

I and my wife will be happy if my kid is happy.

Every child loves to do something, remember even you did it.

At least allow your child to do what they love.

The day everyone in this country do what they love, I will call that day, India has become a developed nation.

Only you and I can do it, sit back and think a moment about it

Do you know, What God is thinking now?

He will be thinking about how M.Karunanidhi, D.M.K party president will fufill his electoral promises, if he comes to power.

Have you heard the recent electoral promises of M.Karunanidhi, President of D.M.K. for the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

For those who have not heard about that, here are they

We will provide

• Quality rice at two rupees per kilo

• FREE colour TV for all households that do not have one

• FREE gas stoves to poor women

• MATERNITY assistance of 1,000 rupees for three months before delivery and three months after delivery

• WAIVER of all co-operative loans to small and marginal farmers

• FREE power to weavers

• TWO acres of land for each poor farmer

• THREE hundred rupees per month to every unemployed person.

If DMK after coming to power tries to implement even 50 per cent of its promises the State will coffers be empty in a jiffy.

Giving rice at Rs. 2 alone will add a deficit of 3000 crores to the state budget. How are they going to manage it?

Then giving TV to all households without one is another absurd promises I believe. The manifesto states like this "Provision of colour TV sets to every family for women's recreation and general knowledge". How providing Television sets will improvknowledgege?

It is just a stunt to expand the penetration of the party's cable channel Sun TV.

The list doesn't end there, another most glaring fact is providing two acres of land to poor farmers. Where will Karunanidhi get lands for so many people?

At no point in the manifesto there is a mention of how the finances are going to be handled.

Does Karunanidhi think we are idiots?

I am not saying Jayalalitha is a one of the honest persons on this world. I am also not campaigning against D.M.K., just venting out my thoughts. Please do sit back and think about it.