My Experiences

IF

2010-03-01T21:20:00.001-08:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling

Another Good one

2010-02-12T04:23:00.000-08:00

If successful people have one common trait, it's an utter lack of

cynicism. The world owes them nothing. They go out and find what they

need without asking for permission; they're driven, talented, and

work through negatives by focusing on the positives.

Good One

2010-01-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

3 Qualities of Leaders Without a Title: 1. Obsessive focus 2. Relentless Passion 3. a Refusal to Lose

Quotes

2009-10-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

These are some of the quotes that are different from the run-of-mill variety that we come across everyday. They are quotes on LOGIC/DATA ANALYSIS/KNOWLEDGE etc, quite relevant. Read it from many Sherlock Homes stories that i have read over a period of time. Excellent work by Sir Doyle.

His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.
You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.
What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence," returned my companion, bitterly. "The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done?
I never guess. It is a shocking habit — destructive to the logical faculty.
I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.
How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.
"Data! Data! Data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay."
Education never ends Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.
We must look for consistency. Where there is a want of it we must suspect deception.

The boiling frog

2009-07-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Slow change in organisations and even in personal life are more easily absorbed than sudden changes which are resisted. An interesting metaphor to explain.

If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.
—Version of the story from Daniel Quinn's The Story of Boiling Frog

Myopia and Amnesia

2009-06-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Myopia and Amnesia are two problems that plague leaders worlwide.

Workers

2009-06-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is dedicated for professionals who work their guts out to make sure that their bosses get hefty pay hikes and bonusses. I read it in class X and found it apt in professional set-ups.

जो पुल बनायेंगे वोह इतिहास में पीछे ही रह जायेंगे,
पार हो जाएँगी सेना, विजयी होंगे राम, मारे जायेंगे रावण,
जो पुल बनायेंगे वोह इतिहास में बन्दर कहलायेंगे.

Meetings

2009-06-15T03:08:00.000-07:00

Questions and Answers

2009-05-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

Just when i think i have answers to life's questions, the bloody questions change.

Performance Appraisals

2009-04-04T04:22:00.000-07:00

In March every year comes that part of the financial year when everyone either gets appraised or is doing a performance appraisal. This is one time of the year when everyone from your boss to his boss has to conduct what they find least pleasing. Nevertheless, being a necessary evil, everyone has his or her own style of performance appraisals. I have myself been appraised by very good and pathetic bosses during the course of my banking career and have thought of some things that one must keep in mind while carrying out an appraisal.

Time-This is probably the only time of the year when someone reporting to you has a chance to voice his or her own opinion about various things in the organization/department. It is important that rather than your tongue doing overtime, the appraisee talks more. Listen to him/her; cajole him/her to speak out. If the appraisee agrees with what you are saying then either you or your department is perfect or they don’t have confidence in you to speak out. Since the former is an illusion, the latter is true in most cases. Ultimately, it is your failure as a boss.

Importance- It needs to be made very clear to each and everyone that the Performance appraisal is not a form filling exercise and that you mean business.

Direction- The performance appraisal is also a time when you give/get directions for the next year. It is important that the appraiser is very forthright and clear in what is required from the appraisee in the coming future. While change is certain, broad guidelines will remain the same. A performance appraisal is not a fault finding exercise and should not be treated as one.

Objectivity-Try and remove any element of subjectivity from the entire exercise, the more objective a performance appraisal is, more meaningful and less painful it becomes. While it may not be possible to remove all subjectivity from the process, it always helps if you are ready with numbers, both as an appraisee and as an appraiser. Even in case of soft skills, be ready with e-mails etc to make it clear of the guidelines given by you at times/alarms raised by you at times. Try and remove your likes and dislikes about the person as much as possible in the process. While this may sound clichéd, however the more it is adhered to, the better is the appraisal process.

Rating: In most of the cases in my professional career, the final word in the appraisal exercise is not the last one. Words like ‘moderation’ ‘bell-curve’ exist in every organization. While it may not be possible to give exact ratings for fear of embarrassment in front of the appraisee at a later date, you need to broadly tell and update the appraisee of where he or she stands. If you have reasonable amount of intellect, this is not a very difficult thing to do.

Finally, this is the time the poor guy after working his guts out throughout the year has been waiting for, it is important that he is reasonably satisfied at the outcome of the process. It is not humanly possible to satisfy everyone at the same time, if you are rational and objective; in most of the cases the objective is achieved. Finally a boss is only as good as his team; the converse is not true, if you need to run your business for the next year as well, try not to de-motivate the poor chap to death but to encourage him to do better.

The Financial Year-2008-2009 in retrospect

2009-04-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today the financial year 2008-2009 comes to an end. This was the most difficult year at least in my banking career and resulted in a lot of changes both positive and not so positive both in personal and professional lives of bankers across. I try and recollect some of the things that happened in this financial year.

Recession became the key word to be used in every party/meeting/discussion.
Most of the professionals became experts in the macro economics of not just the country but globally.
People reconciled to the fact that they will not get increments and bonus, no one cribbed when the banks/companies declared that they will not pay anything this year, owing to the recession. Everyone, on the contrary was happy that they are still on the company role.
The hardest impact came when no mutual fund gave diaries/calendars on Diwali and New Year and no-one even asked them.
Husbands and boyfriends saved a lot of money claiming to be victims of the global recession.
The household savings increased as the fear of job-cuts loomed large.
Men started spending more quality time at home, there was nothing to watch on CNBC and going out was expensive. Fights over the remote were less and women-folk were happy to watch their choices on TV.
Ladies had to sharpen the culinary skills, not used for years now, as the family dinners at posh restaurants came down sharply.
Suddenly every ‘sale’ mattered. Everyone wanted to buy things in one sale or the other. No one wanted to miss this great opportunity to save money. A weird example of company offers ‘buy one-get three free’ ‘buy two get 3 free’ etc.
Even pubs and bars have been having strange schemes to encourage recession drinking.
Business became even more difficult. Third party became zero and bottom lines were hit heavily.
Good old banking that had Current and Savings accounts suddenly became popular. Something that made every seasoned banker happy. Bankers became less of equity brokers but unfortunately became more of Life Insurance sales guys since that was the only source of quick revenue.
Everyone just started wondering who is next, more rumours circulated the market than even before.
People who were working in the wrong industry were shown the way-out by their bosses. This will in turn help them in finding their calling in life.
Indian banking system came out to be better and more robust than banking sytems of the so called advanced nations of the world.
Business news channels and the technical and fundamental analysts who apparently were the only people other than god almighty to know how the stock market shall move made a fool of themselves and were last found looking for alternate professions.
Suddenly loans and credit cards were out and usage of debit cards increased. Credit card companies that were reckless in issuance of cards to every Amar, Akbar and Anthony showed some restraint.
Suddenly everyone was hit by recession, if you were not crying about it, people concluded that you definitely had a clandestine source of income. Even my presswala was hit by recession and started asking for advance more often.
Real Estate prices saw a correction and what a correction it was, suddenly the broker turned builders were on the verge of collapse and the neighborhood broker who in wake of 5 years started traveling in Mercedes from Maruti was cut down to size. Properties in a godforsaken part of NCR that was selling at atrociously high prices was somewhat regularized. The great Indian real estate tamasha seemed to end.

Thus ended this financial year that caused more pain and suffering in the financial world than any that we have seen in the recent past. It had its own gains and in the longer run will result in settling down of the economies of the world, made people more financially responsible and for an economy on the path of development, will be helpful in the longer run.

Good bye 2008-2009

A salute to George W Bush

2009-03-01T22:48:00.000-08:00

Like the entire planet i was watching the swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama and couldnt help but notice one of my favorite global leaders Mr. George W Bush being escorted to the chopper that would take him to his ranch in Texas. The man who shaped the history of not just people from his own country but of many nations across the globe for the worse, was all smiles, sat in the chopper with his wife, smiled, waived and left leaving his imprints in the history of the modern world.
A truly great man as is explained from some great quotes and photographs below. I salute the great man.

"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." --Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." --as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake." --on his best moment in office, interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006

"I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it...I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet...I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't -- you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one." --after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." --Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." --Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!" --joking about his administration's failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents' Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." --to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008

"We're kicking ass." --President Bush, on the security situation in Iraq, to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile

And now some memorable photographs of the truly great man.

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-09T00:37:00.000-08:00

Read somewhere and found it interesting. This is from a short story called Quantum of Solace which is a part of For Your Eyes Only

"I’ve seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I’ve seen crimes and even murder foreign by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and other forms of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster - all of these can be overcome. But never the death of common humanity in one of the partners. I’ve thought about this and I’ve invented a rather high-sounding title for this basic factor in human relations. I have called it the law of the Quantum of Solace.
Bond said, "That’s a splendid name for it. It’s certainly impressive enough. And of course I see what you mean. I should say you’re absolutely right. Quantum of Solace - the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it’s obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You’ve got to get away to save yourself."

Thoughts

2008-09-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

"The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them”

Thoughts

2008-07-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

Expecting the world to treat u fairly coz u r a good person is like expecting the lion not to attack u coz u r a vegetarian. Think about it.

Beauty isn't measured by outer appearance and what clothes we wear, but what we are inside.So, try going out naked tomorrow and see the admiration!

Some thoughts on leadership

2008-05-20T02:02:00.000-07:00

Any important leadership decision will piss some people off. The bolder the decision, the more it will impact the status quo and the more it will piss people off.

Three important things everyone wants to know from the leader :

1. Where are we going?

2. How are we going to get there?

3. What is my role?

A thought

2008-03-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

To stick to what you stand for in life is the most difficult thing you can do.

Lessons from Tough times.

2008-03-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

While tough and extremely tough times take a long while to go away, they do leave a lot of learning's. Some of what i have learned :

You learn how to best make use of your finances. The credit card of course is your best friend in these trying times.
You suddenly realize that fuel is more costly than it has even been. A thousand rupees seem to get you less of gasoline than it did when you had enough moolah at hand.
You realize that your friend list seems to shrink everyday, this is the best time to say good-bye to most of them, they were not worth it anyways.
The electricity bill seems to be more than ever before and seems to come at too quick a frequency.
Eggs and not pizza is the best food ever created.
Suddenly your entire set of relatives want a job in your organisation, if not that, nearly all have something to do with the organisation that you just quit.
The electricity pole just outside your house seems to have developed a fascination for your car and seems to move just as to hit it while you are engaging the reverse gear.
The bathroom sink and electricity fitting suddenly give up and you realise that inflation has actually increased when you pay a huge amount to the friendly neighbourhood electrician.
All your younger relatives seems to get married at this time only and your family wants them to given the most expensive gifts.
Every meeting or party that you attend has to be in Gurgaon, if you are living in Noida.

JRD, Ratan and the Nano

2008-01-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

The year was 1989 or maybe 1990 and these were the pre-cable days when at 9.50 there used to be program on DD where a dude called Rajeev Mehrotra(hope the name is correct) a bearded guy used to interview celebrities. Most of these were boring oldies in whom no one was interested, but then, there was very little choice. It was between studying and watching TV and i always preferred the latter. In one of these shows our dude was interviewing JRD. I cannot forget this interview even after close to 20 years. Here was a man who was supposedly one of the richest in our country, wearing slacks and t-shirt, with a half filled crystal glass filled with scotch. Apart from the general talk about what are your future plans and all that crap, a number of things impressed me about JRD.

The fact that during the half hour he took very very small sips from the glass(unlike tanks like us). I found this most elegant. Even when the interview ended the glass was about 25% full.
JRD had two regrets in life 1) not having been able to speak or write Hindi and having no permanent residence. The latter he added was a matter of convenience as most of the places he went, there was a Taj hotel and he need not be bothered with stupid things that he couldn't handle like maids and cooks etc. I was mesmerised as i had never heard of anyone who did not have a permanent place to stay.

JRD passed away sometime later and the man who succeeded him was Ratan Tata. The man was most non-impressive. He did not have the enchanting personality like JRD, the world was abuzz of his 'different' sexual preferences, he was failure in whatever he had done till date(Voltas and Nelco Blue Diamond TV) and was succeeding JRD just because of his DNA.

Life continued after that and Ratan Tata fought with the world just to be where he was. The fact of the matter was that JRD was a Sultan of his empire and the world treated him like one. The Russi Modies and JJ Iranis of the world were his Satraps who were just loyal to him and resisted change, never realising that the world around them was already changing completely and these old men should hang their boots now. They were irritated by this new Tata who treated them as his equals and had completely different ideas to do business. The junior Tata fought with each one of them till they realised that JRD is happy in his grave in Paris and his history and so will they be if they don't walk in line with the new guy. Most of them walked out with the prophesy that Tata group is doomed. The Buddha was smiling. The status of the group was thus : Tata Steel was ranked 100+ in the worldwide ranking of steel companies and was not doing well at all. Tata Motors could never think beyond TATA 1612 and TATA 407, those old model Merecedes trucks that were of the 1947 variety but were still loved by drivers, again, the raking being nothing to speak about. Ratan later launched a new company called TCS which was into an unrelated field of software etc. Overall a bad sign for the group. Buddha was still smiling.

Tata Motors then planned launch of the first Indian car and the world (including yours truly) thought it would be a disaster as other of Mr. Tata's projects had been. The world couldn't have been more incorrect. Indica sold like hot cakes and became a success story. TCS then became one of India's best IT companies. Ratan Tata, unlike his counterparts at Reliance /UB/Birla was never seen in parties, never agreed for interviews and remained a recluse for the media.

Tata announced the launch of a car which was priced at Rs.1 lac. The world laughed, Suzuki's of the world said that this was a impractical and the Buddha smiled. One fine morning there was news that Tata Steel had decided to buy Corus, a steel major from Europe. The country stood up and noticed the fact that RatanTata, despite being media shy had done more for the economy of the country then some of his more brash and media savvy industry cousins. The Corus deal made TISCO one of the top 10 steel companies in the world.

Jaguar and Landrover, the iconic brands were up for sale and both the owner of the brand as well as the unions, who had been a pain the ass for buyers agreed on only one name : TATA Motors.

2008- Ratan Tata drives Nano, the Rs. 1 lac dream car that he had promised that he will launch, the world takes notice. This is the cheapest car in the world. The Suzuki's of the world are feeling stupid, Bajaj decides to follow suit and no one can understand how this technological miracle happened. Tata still remains the media shy guy that he has always been, even, though both CNN and BBC dedicated enough time to the product and company then probably both the Ambani brothers combined. The news channels of the nation went gaga over the great technological feat and the country was proud of Ratan Tata and his vision.

Hats off Mr. Tata for giving the dream car to the nation. Whether our screwed-up infrastructure will be able to handle this or not is not for you to decide. The nation has agreed to the fact that your vision, foresight and business acumen is par excellence,probably far more than your father. That you have decided to call it a day is sad news for the country, may we have many more unrelenting visionaries like you. The country is proud of you and your vision.

The judicial system

2007-10-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

In 1991 as a seventeen year old i entered the city courts of Agra for the first time, till then my idea of a court was taken from hindi movies with Muraad as the judge and some side-kick as a well dressed advocate. I was aghast at what i saw in the court of Munsif 1, the judge was shabbily dressed and would have slept anytime had the poor single fan that was trying its best to perform a miracle been a little quicker. The advocates present were chewing gutkha, giggling and treating the court as a dustbin. The bailiff was charging Rs.3 for services rendered , and ,as i understood later, the total of this collection was distributed to all in the hierarchy from Judge Saab downwards.

After my first experience all respect for the judiciary flew out of the window and i understood why middle class individuals shudder at the very thought of entering the Indian court. I jokingly asked my advocate one day as to how many honest judges will be there in Agra( the total number was 31 if i remember correctly) and i was informed that their is just one and the advocate lobby is trying its best to get him transferred ASAP.

My advocate was an expert in under-the -table settlements and as expected he told me that the case will be decided in my favour, with a judgement written by us, signed by His majesty for a payment of Rs.12000.00. I agreed and lo and behold, the learned Judge did just that.

You can understand what respect i had for the community when i came to Delhi in 1997. As far as i was concerned, all judges were corrupt, the system rotten and all Judges should be thrown into the Arabian sea to save the country.

I was in for a shock again. I realised that while most of the judiciary is rotten at the district levels, the High court and the apex court are the saviours of the Indian judicial system. With cases like Jessica Lal, reservations to the creamy layer and many others having been highlighted off late, the faith of the people in the Judicial system has been established again to the level that most of the people now feel that it is the Supreme Court that is running the country with the total failure on part of the Executive and the people who are supposed to make the laws of the land. While I understand that the Judiciary also tends to overdo things at times, Aaamir Khans and Mallika Sherawats of the world will agree, it is still the only system in the three wings of the Constitution in which we have any faith left.
What is needed is some amendments in the draconian Indian Penal Code, swift judicial process and a need for a infrastructure overhaul of the courts. The number of civil suits pending in courts is appalling to say the least and need a quick solution. This may happen only with time, but hopefully for the country will happen sooner than later.

Effigies, Traffic Jams and Democracy

2007-09-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday there was a traffic jam on all the major roads of Delhi. The jam was called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and like all others was accompanied by violence, destruction of public property and of course disruption of traffic, inconvenience to commuters to say the least. This is a unique way of putting your point across and is by and large unique to our democracy. Frankly, i have never heard of effigies being burnt anywhere else in the world(i may be wrong) than in India and that too with amazing frequency. I am sure that some creative mind thinking out of the box would like to start a new business of making good quality effigies of important politicians and make a lot of moolah out of it.

Protests of any nature are an integral part of any democratic set-up and a democracy where the citizens cant raise their voice is no democracy at all. We as a race are very argumentative and believe in putting our point across strongly. I was wondering where this form of protest actually start and realised that the cow-milk drinker Mahatma started all this, with very noble intentions indeed. The idea probably was a peaceful protest that was completely non-violent. Burning of effigies, disruption of traffic and damage to public property never formed a part of this. I was having food at a road side joint near Jantar Mantar and thought of asking some people protesting against 'americanisation' of India what was wrong if Wallmart were to come to India, after all a guy called Ratan Tata has also acquired a company called Corus, nine of the ten guys had no clue as to why they were there. Majority of the people were either the poor who were brought by buses with the offer of a good lunch and transportation or students who wanted to please some neta ji who was a part of the protest.

The sheer agony of people waiting to go to office, the ill in urgent need to go to hospital, the sheer amount of fuel wasted while people abuse the protesters is amounting to crores. I am sure that none of the people who went through the agonizing wait a Akshardham etc would have any more to do with the Ram Setu somewhere in Tamil Nadu that I have to do with the love life of Queen Elizabeth.

The number of people who go to vote decreases with ever election, the apathy amongst the middle class of anyone who is a politician is immense and these instances just add fuel to the already burning fire. No wonder someone said recently that all politicians of our country should be thrown in the Arabian Sea with their hands and legs tied for our great nation to prosper.

Childhood Pals

2007-09-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

While I have always been extremely critical of Sanju Baba and have thought of him as just another criminal who is getting sympathy he does not deserve, the fact that a gentleman called Yousuf Nulwala and he have been friends for 35 years came as a surprise to me. How many people can claim to still be friends with guys that they met during their school days?

It invariably happens that guys who were our friends branch out later in life. This may be attributed to a number of reasons, geography, paradigm shift, fall-out due to petty issues etc. The fact happens to be that when we make friends during our school days we are neither as calculative in our relationships nor are we as mean and opportunistic as we later become.So an individual becomes our friend due to the sheer delight in the company and there is no calculations of caste, creed, religion, social status etc. Later in life we filter individuals due to these criterion and then decide whether a particular relationship is viable or not.

Also, when we move higher into either academics or professional life we get specialised in our skills as well as attitude. So as a banker while I may still like my friend, the fact that he is into trading of commodities in the Agra market may not gel with my outlook and thus there is little in common between us. Another friend of mine who has strong religious beliefs may be too boring for me now.

Does this mean that all such childhood friends get lost in time? Well, in most cases yes, but then if you make an effort and the other person is as willing then yes. The differences that were given above notwithstanding.

I am today in touch with at least one of my friends who has studied with me from class 4 onwards which in effect means that we have been friends for good 23 years now. The funny part is that in the last ten years we must not have met each other more than 5 times. Well, the fact is that we still connect. He is someone who is not my friend due to my position in the society, make sure he calls me to share good and bad news all the time. Calls me when drunk and remembers the stupid things we did in school, the girls we were horny for and I do the same. In case of some others this is not the case. The simple reason is that, in them the innocence of a relationship is missing. So you have a guy who calls you up for advice on his own professional life and puts it across as if he is asking it for another colleague. This in effect reflects on the trust that he has on the friend that has studied with him from 1978. Others our plane jealous or high headed and are just there as an e-mail id, nothing else.

In the end, I am proud of my friends which are few in number but nevertheless are there for me, always.

Shantaram

2007-08-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Purchased the book out of sheer curiosity and got hooked to it. One of the most amazing things that the book does is to keep your interest alive. The spiritual discussions between the protagonist and his mentor in India are amazing.

Worth a read anyday and a true value for money book.

Baba

2007-08-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well this is not about Baba Ramdev, it is about the more famous baba, Sanjay Dutt. Heaven only knows why a 48 year old guy is called this but nevertheless. This is about the sentencing of Dutt in the 1993 bomb blasts case. I have been keeping track of the trial from what I could see in the newspapers. I am amused at the support that baba is getting in the country especially from the industry where he works and where his dad and mom worked before him and of course from the electronic media which has found a new cow to milk for TRPs.

What I don't understand is why should there be sympathy for a criminal? The guy had three AK-56 rifles( which I am sure he was keeping to amuse his girlfriends), 25 hand grenades( they were to used on Diwali) and a petty 9 mm pistol. This is in addition to 3 licensed weapons that the poor, holy soul kept at home. How can someone in his sane from of mind say that Baba is a criminal? I apologise for that. That baba had friends called Anis Ibrahim, Abu Salem is of course coincidental. As per the trial documents, Sanjay Dutt spoke to Anis on 11the March, a day before the blast. They were of course discussing new ways of masturbation and nothing else.

Baba when realising that all hell has broken lose asked two of his friends to seek the gun from his car destroy it and melt it to make sure that the evidence is destroyed. The melting was done to make sure that there is a Sai Baba statue made out of all the iron that came out and of course not to circumvent the process of law. Law unfortunately took its course and the criminal was awarded 6 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The country then went berserk of whether the sentence is correct or not. I feel that the fact that his sheer involvement with Anis ibrahim and Abu Salem, not to mention the parties that he attended with Dawood make him the 'enemy of the state' and he should be tried for that and not left scot free under any circumstances.

Tomorrow every criminal will plead that while i have lived a life of a good, innocent man on bail, i should be set off. What exactly are we talking about?

I feel that the CBI should even appeal in the TADA case where he has been sent off. Hats off to Justice Kode!!!!!

Death of a relationship

2007-08-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

The death of a relationship is like the death of a loved one from a disease wich is terminal. You try your bset to keep it alive doing your very bst though you are aware of the fact that the writing is on the wall.

Its like being in an overloaded sinking boat, you are trying to keep afloat. As the boat starts to sink, you throw your ego first, then goes your self-respect,your friends are next, then your family. Its only then that you realise that the chances of the godforsaken boat surviving are nill.

It hurts, after all you did whatever was possible, but then such is life. It leads to a lot of pain and misery and you get into introspection, what was the mistake? Where did it all go wrong?

While there are no readymade answers to this question, I feel that it is again the comparison to the the dead man earlier. The man could have survived had there been an early diagnosis. Every relationship gives you tell tale signs of what it is leading to. "I love you" fifty times does not serve the purpose unfortunately.

Better to get out when you are still sane rather than waiting to die.

Agra : The city of the Taj

2007-07-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

The amount of money that was made by Mr. Weber in creating a drama about the new seven wonders of the world prompted me to write this. Having lived in Agra for more than 20 years I feel that some expression should be made of the amazing state of affairs now.

Was in Agra for a couple of days and was happy that the city truly follows what the creators of the constitution expected, freedom. Freedom to spit gutkha wherever you want, freedom to take a leak whenever and wherever you desire, freedom to park your vehicle wherever you want, abuse anyone and everyone and no one would take offence at it. Truly amazing.

The city should erect statues of the Late Sanjay Gandhi as there is one road in Agra which is the equivalent of the Ring Road in Delhi in importance, and was created by him in 1977. The road is the lifeline of the city and the truly amazing part is that while the number of vehicles have increased by at least 100 times, the road has shrunk actually. This results in complete chaos on the road. The human being driving cant be blamed as he is still caught in a time wrap and is unaware that there is something called a 'red-light' also and of course zebra is an animal and not a traffic signal. Incidentally there is not a single zebra crossing in the city, it is useless as the human being who crosses the street expects the person driving to take care of him.

You should then have a look at the state of hygiene in the city, the smog is so high that it reminds me of the ITO crossing 10 years ago. There is so much filth on roads(wherever they exist) that you can probably die of dengue before you reach your destination. Chewing paan/paaan masala/gutkha is like people have water in other cities, of course you have the right to spit where you feel like. So much for democracy.

It is sad site to see as I have seen the city degrading itself from what it was some 10 years ago to what it is now. The cheerful city of the past has been converted to an overgrown village, thanks to the various people MPs/MLAs who have raped the city again and again. Incidentally the current Member of Parliament is known to do this in movies. Alas, he has done it to my city.

Creating a blog

2007-07-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

This blog is the creation more of the desire to express than anything else. I am too lazy to write and would have made a good typist