LOGICAL DICHOTOMIES: AN INTERESTING TAKE

It has been more than a couple of weeks that I have been having a churning of multiple thoughts for putting my pen to paper (finger to the keyboard, rather). And I was simply devoid of any ideas. Today is the first day of the Bengali New Year 1421 and as we say Shubho Noboborsho, I thought why not try and make an attempt. And what better place than a peaceful chair at 35000 ft above MSL, up in the air.

I started blogging in 2006 with an account of my experiences of going back to school at the ripe young age of 30. 6 months down the line, I started another blog to capture the experiences and happenings with a new arrival in the family. The first blog ended as I finished the school after a year. So started two new blogs to capture my thoughts: one on cooking and the other was for "rest of the nonsense in my mind". Fortunately I have been able to somehow maintain these, though with extremely sporadic updates.

Now that I have crossed the initial cold feet of writing a post, let me come to my story for the day. I like to talk and I do that with multiple variety and cross section of people as, when and whom come across. I like to know people and experience their thought process. These days the flavour in this part of the world (and I am sure in many parts of the Western world), are the general elections, Mr Narendra Modi (NaMo) and Mr Rahul Gandhi (RaGa). And no this is not about NaMo or RaGa. This is about the conversation I had with the gentleman driving the car on my way to the airport. He is a frequent service provider for my journeys to and from the airport and keeps sharing his anecdotes / thoughts. As usual we got talking and we ended up to the flavour of the season - elections. And he had an interesting lot of dichotomies to share. As per him that NaMo is going to win the elections is a given; India needs a strong administrator. But Sir, Congress is the oldest party in India and they know the Indian political game inside out. RaGa will have an edge. I responded that RaGa has hardly any experience and is bumbling. He retorts that RaGa has the experienced team at his disposal and when a team is good, it is always the Captain who gets the credit. And then he posed a dichotomy, in Maharashtra, the current incumbent has drained and spoilt the state and will have no chance to get back to power (Incidentally the state is being run by the same party as at the centre). The conditions become further complex. He comes up with another observation. The local leader of his area (belonging to the incumbent party) has been in position for almost 20 years. So I ask him what does he do to garner that kind of long term support. He shares that the leader has lot of empathy for people of his constituency. If there is a marriage and he is invited, he will make it a point to visit even if it is for 10 mins. In this part of the world, that makes a huge difference. If there is a death in the family, he will be there at the head of the pall bearers. If the bereaved family do not have the resources, he provides. And then comes the punch. One month before elections, he starts a community lunch home, providing ample delicacies, twice a day. And he ends the session with "sir, still it will be NaMo"; and the oft repeated repartee these days "Ab ki baar Modi Sarkar" (this time it is the govt of Modi).

And I come to the moot question playing in my mind. What drives the Indian electorate? In developed economies (read Western countries) do you see such dichotomies? How much does the development plank and GDP growth rate really matter for the people at the lower base of the pyramid? And as the juggernaut of NaMo and RaGa rolls across the country in the pre-electoral drive, I am eagerly waiting for the verdict on 16 May when the election results will be announced.

This post was not about the Indian elections or the electoral strategy. That requires a separate treatise, which I am frankly not equipped to write. This was more an attempt to capture the simplicity with which people with much less educational degrees perceive life and analyse the trends. That the requirement of life can be so basic, may be astounding to many. But then that is how life is, in the vast GDP growth machine called India.

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: HUMOR IN UNIFORM - CRUSH-AND-SQUEEZE “FAUJI” STYLE...

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: HUMOR IN UNIFORM - CRUSH-AND-SQUEEZE “FAUJI” STYLE...: HUMOUR IN UNIFORM CRUSH-AND-SQUEEZE “FAUJI” STYLE HUMAN RESOURCE (HR) MANAGEMENT Do you like sugarcane juice? They say sugarcane jui...

Hypocritically Utopian

Came across an article yesterday about a young Flight Lieutenant of the Indian Air Force being chucked out (summarily dismissed) from Service and I realise that I often have a nagging question about our civilisation: are we utopian when judging others character and not for ourselves? And are we really in a time warp when it comes to morality?

The young officer in question, a promising SU 30 pilot, supposedly had an affair with a senior's wife and hence this has been construed as sacrilege and the reason for his dismissal from Service. It's a different tragedy that the lady had committed suicide.

The comic part is however the technicality of the guilt (in case there was actually any) 'stealing the affection of a brother officer's wife'. Was the brother officer's wife a juvenile or mentally stunted that she did not know what was happening as her affections were being stolen? And why is it always the fault of the man who was only one of the parties in the affair? And since Service rules apply equally (supposedly) to women, it should apply to the other party as well in case the lady is a service officer. Such cases are observed across Services and this is not to say that the Services are a bunch of over zealous, carnal pleasure searching group. Services are only a reflection of our society, only a tad bit better due to some existing scruples and values. Extra marital affairs in our society are today commonplace across office spaces and social circles. While we take it in our stride in the civilian society, when it come to the Armed Forces, we tend to take a high moral ground.

It is time the Services come out of the time warp they exist in. World over Armed Forces are adapting their rules and policies to the current times while we continue to follow archaic British founded policies. Add to that our Honourable Defence Minister who has given the directive that any such dalliance in the Armed Forces are to be dealt with the severest of actions. He probably needs to have a reality check. It is a personal space of an individual and we as a country need to respect that. It is between two partners and the solidity of their partnership which stands in the way of such dalliances.

On a practical note, I as a tax payer is worried that another bright young fighter pilot with all the money spent on his training has been lost due to our stupidly utopian thought process.

Let us learn to respect the personal space of an individual and honour his or her choices in their personal life.

Airline Inefficiencies: An Observational Litany

24 hours is a good record when you don't post for almost a year. And what better opportunity than one of my favourite topics: organisation efficiency and airline companies in India. 

My experience of course limits me to the Indian geographical boundaries unlike a multitude of my friends and colleagues. And something that I observed on my way to Delhi from Pune on the flight, made me really wonder what drives organisations to gradually or in some case inherently have inefficiencies in service. And by quality one would ideally like to think of JRD's penchant for exemplary service standards - from the air hostesses to service on board, to punctuality. JRD'S biography, Beyond The Last Blue Mountain, is a fantastic testimony to process excellence on a personal as well as business level. And it has a good part dedicated to his favourite business Air India.

When we started travelling by air almost a decade ago, our travels were pampered by jet airways. I remember on one of the flights from Mumbai to Kolkata in the January of 2003, the menu had an introductory note by Jiggs Kalra and the menu was designed by him. In the last 2 years, the airline has definitely had a tremendous decline in service standards. Incidentally on the flight today morning, we had a bun in the menu which was overheated and hence next to rubbery though burning hot! And topping it I had an interesting companion in form of two small cockroaches (!!), 35000 ft high in the sky and without a ticket and I was feeling cheated since I paid almost 10k of my company's precious profits!

Thankfully we were still on time for our meetings. And that brings me to the other end of the spectrum of inefficiencies. I had the good misfortune of flying one of my most avoidable options, Go Air, which I frankly do not comprehend where it is going. The 3 times that I have flown on this airline, 2008, 2012 and 2013, have been interesting. The airline is never ever on time. My mean count of delay has always been in hours and surprisingly I get an intimation generally at least 6 - 7 hours before the actual flight. That makes me wonder if the entire team of this company starts on a handicap on time in the morning! And probably gone are the days when a service company used to apologise and inform the reason (how so ever stupid) to a customer. It's take it or leave it with some of them. My first trip on this airline was hilariously painful. On my way back from Kochi in 2008, the flight seemed to be about 2 hours late. After much prodding the staff was kind to inform that the incoming flight from Bangalore was delayed (2 hours is a little preposterous). After its August arrival and turn around, we were herded to the flight and we realised that the air conditioning was off and even the air blowers / circulatory were not working. People started making noise and requesting for the blowers to be switched off and this was followed by wailing children due to the suffocation. But guess the Bombay Dyeing group recruits hardy staff who can face challenges and maintain a stoic semblance in the face of crisis. Take off was a veritable discotheque environment with flashing lights (due to defective fluorescent lights) and vibrating appendages. And once we were airborne, the air conditioning was probably linked to the outside ambience to give the passengers a feel of space. It became bone chilling cold and we landed shivering in Mumbai. The last two trips has been a significant improvement since they have got new Airbus A 320s. But the punctuality meter has been probably trashed somewhere over the Indian Ocean along with Bin Laden. And a funny observation: while a large chunk of my co passengers are from the Maratha heartland and probably would comprehend Hindi, the crew insists on speaking only in English ... And a tad bit accented.

And in the extremes are the examples of extremely efficient airline in blue.

And as I cruise back home and contemplate the reaction on ringing the door bell home at the wee hours, I can't help but try to comprehend what drives organisations to inefficiencies? Is it complacency about the market? Or is it the sheer DNA of ineptitude? And in the cases of the later, how does the organisation exist in the market? Is it simply because of the high demand vs the low supply of seats in the air? Or is there something more to it? What would have been the driver for Jet to gradually degrade its service quality Or make the fares extremely uncompetitive? My experience of using the other LCCs - Indigo or Spice jet has been extremely positive barring few rare instances. Better food, extremely efficient, good service and fantastic on punctuality.

My friends with B School degrees and in exotic sectors like business / strategy consultancy can actually throw some educated and valuable view on this paradox. On a lighter note, no power points and theories, since we may not comprehend them either ;)

Out from the comfort zone, into the happiness zone

I started writing this blog way back in 2007 and the frequency of the posts have been dwindling exponentially until it became an annual event leaving aside the intermittent sharing of some interesting article I came across. And the discomfort of reading Mr Amitabh Bachchan posting on his blog with alacrity only makes the guilt worse.

The motivation to restart posting on this blog is ofcourse a major change in our 'timelines'. We have finally relocated out of Mumbai, to a small town (or gaon, as some of my friends refer to as) on the outskirts of Pune, Talegaon. The impetus to shift has been multiple, starting from the fact that the most important members of the family - wife and daughter, likes the place; our irritation with Mumbai as a city had reached its peak (we probably are not comfortable with the big city life); the driving is half of my erstwhile driving and quarter of the time i used to take one way; and at the end I did not have to add to the attrition census of my organisation.

And some of our key objectives of shifting: spend quality family time; give more time to your self and wellbeing (read physical exercise, which we are yet to get into the groove); and enjoy the pollution free environment. It has been almost 3 weeks that we relocated and we are enjoying the place. We had the peak of summer when we had to use a wrap in the wee hours of dawn, the air conditioner is really redundant (mine is lying in packed state). The monsoons have set in and it's pretty cold. And today we went to the Sunday farmer's market. While getting the fresh produce was the main wish, I realised that in a way this also contributed to reducing my carbon footprint :). And I really hope that am able to give time to some creative activity to keep the emotional fluids balanced.

So let me hope that I am able to think enough to pen some relevant thoughts in the coming months and years (weeks may be a little too much of an assumption) as well as keep my recipes blog alive as well.

Would like to leave you with a link to the World Environment Day theme for 2013: Think, Eat, and Save ... http://www.unep.org/wed/infomaterials/downloads/WED-Booklet-2013_En_Final.pdf  

..... Interesting how we take many things in our life for granted ..

Thank you for taking time to read through ...

India Can Do It!!

This article written by Claude Arpi (Claude Arpi is French-born author, journalist, historian and tibetologist born in 1949 in Angoulême who lives in Auroville, India), was written after the PSLV launch.

A country that can launch a 229-tonne rocket with seven international satellites into space does not need to import trucks, howitzers or helicopters, says Claude Arpi, who was present at the PSLV launch in Sriharikota on Monday.

In recent months India has been a depressing country to observe. One scam follows another; the latest being the chopper scam for the procurement of 12 AW101 helicopters from the Anglo-Italian firm Agusta-Westland. Choppergate is the symptom of a deeper malady; 'indigenous' corruption is increasing by the day.

I was in this dark mood when I got an invitation to attend the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C-20 in Sriharikota, 100 km north of Chennai.

Having followed President Francios Hollande's visit to India earlier this month, I thought that, if successful, this would be the cherry on the Indo-French partnership cake.

Apart from the Indo-French collaborative effort, Saral, which is to study the ocean surface and environment using two French devices -- ARgos and ALtila, the Indian Space Research Organisation was to put into orbit six other satellites, UniBRITE and BRITE from Austria, AAUSAT3 from Denmark, STRaND from the UK and NEOSSat and SAPPHIRE from Canada.

A couple of hours before the launch, Yannick d'Escatha, the president of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, ISRO's French counterpart told me how important the cooperation with their Indian partner has been for the CNES, particularly after the Megha-tropiques project initiated in 2003.

On February 14, President Hollande and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh witnessed the signature of a statement of intent for long-term cooperation in space between ISRO and CNES; d'Escatha said a third joint mission will soon be planned, again in the field of environment and climate change.

For me, the launch of PSLV C-20 rocket (weighing 229 tonnes with a height of 44.4 metres and carrying a payload weighing 668 kg), was a 'comforting' experience.

One hour before the expected time of ignition, one could feel the tension (if not the anxiety) mounting among the French, Canadian and Indian engineers gathered in the special gallery above the control room in which five giant screens were installed.

On each screen were given details of the countdown, including the IST and GMT timings. Several cameras focused on different parts of the rocket as well as the control room.

As the hour approached, a silence descended even as the thousands of flamingos, herons, egrets or pelicans populating the Pulicat Lake seemed to know that the time had come.

The full moon was a bonus for ISRO's Indian and foreign guests.

As the '10 minute' countdown was announced, the remaining tasks (shown on the screens), one by one turned from red to green when successfully completed; the silence was then complete.

A Canadian scientist who had worked for 12 years on the NEOSSat satellite and who witnessed several launches at Baikonur (in today's Kazakhstan) or at Kourou, in French Guyanna, advised me to stay outside during the first two minutes (the separation of Stage I occurred after 113 seconds after the initial ignition).

I did not regret heeding him; later I felt sorry for President Pranab Mukherjee and the poor VVIPs inside the enclosure who could only see the screens. Outside, it was grandiose, as twilight descended, the PSLV majestically rose; first in a leisurely manner, then the rocket took a slow turn towards the south.

As the Stage I and II separated, one could see the Stage I slowly being left behind (before falling into the Bay of Bengal); all those present started clapping enthusiastically. Then, everyone rushed into the gallery to follow the rocket's trajectory on the radars. After each announcement, visible on the screens: The separation of a stage, ignition of the next one and then separation of each successive satellite, the scientific staff (including ISRO's chairman who had abandoned the President to be with his scientists) and the other lucky witnesses would applaud.

Our hands were red after 22 minutes when it was announced that the launch had been a success; all the satellites had been placed in their proper orbits. Then everybody started to congratulate his or her neighbours. Some even congratulated me, just because I happened to be born in France? The tension was then transferred from ISRO to their partners whose job was to link their respective satellites with different earth stations. For Saral, it happened immediately; but the poor Canadian of the SAPPHIRE project had to wait two hours for confirmation that the link was established; they could then join the celebrations.

It was a great success for India. No question of bribery, of 'cheating' the system here, of replacing 'cement by sand' to cut down the cost. One can't cheat at this level of technology.

I thought to myself, India can do it! Why does one still need Czech trucks or Swedish howitzers?

India can do it!

Kishori | Apathy in Aiims | Photos India | - hindustantimes.com

Kishori | Apathy in Aiims | Photos India | - hindustantimes.com

And people in our country makes billion dollar homes, billions squandered away in scams (list unending) and we talk big nos for our GDP and IIP growth ... what a dichotomy of a nation's growth story ...

Freedom of Creativity in Qatar

The last few weeks the various media forms have been agog as to how MF Husain will be giving up his Indian citizenship for Qatar’s and now about his decision to return the Indian passport.

Mr Hussain for all his creativity chose to paint the Hindu religious figures in the buff and I wonder what stopped him from using his liberties with religious figures of his faith or other faiths of this world. Or why did he never seek the liberty with people from his known and close proximity. I doubt if depicting a much revered Hindu Goddess in a sexually pervert and derogatory posture can be a case of artistic liberty.

A pool of our so called intelligentsia has been ranting about how we Indians are becoming less tolerant about artistic and literary liberties and how Hindu extremism is rising. They miss the point that Hinduism is actually not a religion but it’s actually a way of life. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma (a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law"). Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Among its roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India, and as such Hinduism is often called the "oldest living religion" or the "oldest living major tradition". Hinduism also happens to be the most accepting faiths of the world. The history of the Indian Subcontinent is ample proof to this. There are examples in abundance when the Hindu religious characters has been misused as motifs for labels of alcoholic drinks, lingerie, as well as swimwear during fashion shows. It is because Hinduism is overtly tolerant faith and does not propagate aggressive behaviour declaring Jihads and Crusades.

I personally, feel relieved that we do not have Mr Hussain playing truant with our faith, in our country and disturbing the already fragile peace. As for all the liberty activist, my heartfelt request would be for them to travel to Qatar, alongwith family and friends and avail of all the artistic liberties of Mr Hussain!! And I am eagerly waiting to see the instances of his artistic liberties with members of the royal family of Qatar! I am sure he will not disappoint!

A Busy Hiatus in New Delhi!

Many of you might be wondering how can a hiatus be busy when it is supposed to be a break from the daily humdrum of life. The daytimes were extremely hectic because of work while the night was a period of gastronomic binge to take away all the tiredness!! And what more does a Bong need when you serve him meat in its purest form.

Am just back from 12 long and hectic days in New Delhi and am still unwinding from the after effects of conducting an event like DEFEXPO 2010. DEFEXPO is a biennial, International Exhibition, held under the aegis of the Indian Ministry of Defence. The event has grown over the years and the strategic importance of India in defence circles is amply demonstrated with the number of participants and the countries vying for space. This year me and 2 of my team mates were entrusted with the responsibility of executing the entire event right from the planning till the curtain dropping! And a marvellous experience it has been bringing all the diverse teams from various location together, planning to effectively use a 8000 sq ft stall space and standing your high ground amidst the global giants in the business, and the logistics of it all. We made a big impression by showing three live, frontline Weapon Systems made by L&T. And the faith in L&T was demonstrated by the number of high level dignitaries, right from the Defence Minister to a flurry of Admirals and Generals. It was ten 12 hour days, spent mostly standing, but a time worthily spent.

The icing on the cake, however, was the gastronomic binge that Delhi provided alongwith temperatures dipping to almost single digits on a daily basis!! The first day was Nathu's at Bengali market with an array of chats, chhole bhaturas, tikkis, lassi and sweet. And all this at an excellent value for money. We also discovered a chain of stores called "Sandoz" which specialises in kababs and everything meaty. One of the stores was close to our hotel and hence became our dinner joint. Run by a sardarji, they make the kababs fresh for you and what a heavenly flavour. So our staple dinner menu was variety of kababs and roti. One of our group suggested that we should avoid gravy as it has lots of spices and therefore just rely on plain, burnt meat. And what a marvellous meaty experience it has been! I have rarely experienced such fresh and succulent meats here in Mumbai. And all this was topped by the brashy warmth of the Delhi-ites which is incomparable.

It is now back to work and am still unwinding, but looking ahead to a visit to Delhi!

The Sunday Gastronomic Binge

Yesterday was a "heavy" Sunday!

For the last week I have been thinking of having some good grilled Pomfret and the local sellers are exorbitant at Rs 120 - 150 for 2 small pieces. And thankfully we have a foodie in Anu, who resides in SoBo (South Bombay!). So asked her to try and see if she can get some good catch from the whole sellers at Crawford Market. She informed on Saturday that she could get a good load of Pomfrets as well as medium to large sized prawns.

Sunday morning started with our usual round of fresh & crispy home made dosas with coconut chutney. And finally our "fisher woman" arrived with the promised fish load. After putting in a few hours of effort through the day, our menu of Sunday was a gourmand's delight.

The lunch comprised of Peyajkoli (fresh & crispy version of spring onions) lightly sauteed with slivers of potato (Aloo Peyajkoli bhaja in Bengali) - courtesy my wife, Dr D; a yum dry preparation of duck eggs with baby potatoes (courtesy my mother, flown down from Kolkata!!); and "simple" Bengali style prawn curry by me. And we had our lunch the typical Bengali way - at 1500 hrs or 3 pm!!

The dinner was much simpler (numerically!!) and had Grilled Pomfret and "meaty" fried rice.

My tryst with FB and my venture at teasing my friends following me on FB, resulted in continuous messages and updates through the mobile, expressing friendly anger and consternation at being swamped with menus. With messages coming well past midnight, led to the wife commenting at midnight: "these networking sites and the mobile has taken away the slightest privacy"

For all those who would be keen to experiment with the palate, you can get the recipes on the hyperlinks.

Spoils of the Red Bastion

Last week I had visited Kolkata on an official trip. In fact, a week before that I was in Kolkata for vacation. Nothing unusual in it. But what made me think of this post was my experience last week and the Rajdhani hijacking incident by the Maoists.

The Communists are supposedly a believer of equality and grass root growth / elevation. They are also the one who bandied about with the term "bourgeois" from the late 60's onwards (when they were not in power). They took over the reigns of Bengal in 1977 and continue to rule Bengal. But it appears that their days are now numbered. You talk to any Bengal / Kolkata resident, and in majority cases, you will see the disgust glaring. I carry the notion that they are a group of utter hypocrites and having no connection to the reality of the 21st century. Over the years, they have decimated the industrial prowess that Bengal had and they have broken the backbone of the famed Bengal education system.

The Rajdhani hijacking incident 2 weeks back is a testimony to the fact that they have "lost it". The Maoists in the 60's were part of the Communist movement and broke away only in the late 60's. The current rebellion of the Maoist is against the years of neglect and deprivation of the most common facilities due to a human being, from a democratically elected government. The fact that the protests have turned violent and barbaric is a testimony to the utter disregard of the people in power to pay heed to the common man. This coming from the Communists is much more surprising.

The other incident is far more interesting and a personal experience. During my official trip last week, I had to visit a large Govt PSU organization. When I first visited this organization more than a year back, my colleagues cautioned me about the work culture and the pathetic status of utilities. Initially I brushed them off as overzealous criticism but was proven wrong. During the lunch hour, my host asked me if I would prefer a working lunch. He then went to the pantry and told the “old, scrawny” pantry man to give a lunch. The scornful look and the cornier reply can be only displayed and not described! The Bengali readers would understand when I draw an analogy to Manoj Mitra in one of his scornful looks and one liners in any of his shows. The working lunch part was more interesting – 4 slices of bread, a mango cut into cubes, a cucumber and 2 rasogollas. I remember my working lunches whilst serving in the Indian Navy – a 4 course affair, all miniaturized to make it convenient to eat. In my current organization, we generally go for pizzas / sandwiches with a coke. Hence, it is definitely nice to know some more variety! But what was a shocker was not the menu, but the way a pantry guy can have the audacity to reply back / question a senior staff member. This was early 2008. Cut to 2009 Oct and I was visiting another office of this largely spread organisation. During my visit, I had to wait for some meeting scheduled post lunch. Unfortunately, the coordinating officer was away and could not arrange for lunch. So I took the chance and requested the pantry guy in this office (expecting it to be different) for some lunch. It was the most blunt and rude refusal that I had ever heard. On trying to be more cajoling (remembering all the tactics of subordinate management!!), I was met with the blunt explanation that there is no helping hand and he does not have time. And I backed off. It was then that me and the driver set out for our quest for some decent place to have food and it ended after travelling almost 10 kms. Many of you may be thinking why I am making such brouhaha over some lunch. The point is ATTITUDE. When you have a location immediately surrounded by ghettos and shops selling beef, and you invite people from distant places, the minimum one can do is arrange for some basic utilities of food and drinking water. The apathy and boredom is distinct. When one has to tell “No”, one can do it in a nicer way than to give a rude reply. Years of immense clout and power of trade unions has led to a situation where a person today has no positional authority when it comes to disciplinary issues. So what have we ended up with? Have we made the working class “heard” or have we created a vortex of indiscipline? 
The red bastion continues its run. God knows how long we have to continue on the "bungee jumping" drop to inefficiency and apathy!

Birds of the same feather flock together

These days the gaps between my posts are increasing by GP (geometric progression). The items of interests are many and equally significant are the points in mind. But probably the laziness, domestication and professional pursuits are more dominant than the literary pursuit.

However, one topic which caught my amused attention is the current penchant of the privileged members of the society to shun the privileges. The biggest limelight seeker is the ongoing debate on austerity. The Govt has advised that the MPs should lead by example and hence shun public display of wealth. Whilst avoiding display is fine, what happens to the stashed away stuff, is a question no one is going to answer. Two of our ministers were staying in 5* hotel suites for more than a month and paying to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 per day. They clarified that they were staying on their own funds. But they probably has a huge stash of funds, though they get paid paltry amounts as MPs.

But what is interesting is the way the entire political spectrum has come together to protest against the Govt request. There are raging debates on the news channels. There are news pieces all over the media regarding how the political leaders are taking austere measures / against austerity measures.

But the most interesting is the kind of stupid logic that the opposition politicians, including the Communists, are putting forth justifying there travelling first class by air. This reminds me of an old saying in bengali about the communists. It is said "nenin nebu kheto na" (Lenin never used to have lemons). The reason was that Lemons were an expensive fruit in USSR. But it is said that he used to wear dresses made from the best and most expensive fabric and imported from Europe. This was a satirical take on the hypocrisy of the Communists. The current debate and the logic is similar.

I was watching a debate on this issue on one of the leading english news channels of the country, the other day. Mr Gurudas Dasgupta, a CPIM MP, said on TV "We are not dictated by the Govt. We are under the orders of the Speaker. Hence, Govt dictums are not worth enough." The BJP MP, Rajiv Rudy, on the same debate was talking such gibberish logic, I could not comprehend what he was saying. And the Congress MP, Manish Tewari, contended that if the compere gets him permission, he will hereafter travel in the cargo hold!!

But some of the nagging questions / issues in my head are:

1. Collateral expense (a la collateral damage): While travelling by economy is fine, what about the expense for security, vehicles, mass deployment of security personnel etc. Does anybody check the expense that these MPs and their cronies do on account of electricity, water and telephone? Does anybody check the amount of money spent on maintaining and redoing their plush bungalows in Lutyens Delhi? Not to mention their porpoerties in their constituency!
2. The other point that is poking me is more factual. In a study of the total expense, it has been found that the total expenditure on travelling is 0.01 - 0.02 % of the total expense. Probably the total travelling expense would be akin to that of a large corporation.
3. But why this sudden austerity in travelling only? Why is not being implemented as rule rather than an advisory for a year only?
4. Why are we not curbing on the unnecessary security apparatus that is used for guarding people like Mulayam Singh and Behenji Mayawati?
5. What are we doing to curb expenses on the fleet of vehicles that is used by Govt babus and in many cases smoothly diverted to use by family and spouses? The maintenance of such vehicles and the fuel expense would be pretty significant.

These are all patchwork solutions and probably gimmicks! As someone said "these are all but band-aid solutions". Nevertheless, lets enjoy the hypocritical debate and the news items. We are being fed items on how Rahul Gandhi refused special cutlery onboard the Shatabdi express and how Sonia Gandhi flew economy, how the External Affairs minister is travelling by commercial flight and spending 4-6 hrs more in transit. We also now know that some miscreants pelted stones at the train Rahul gandhi was travelling in and it hit coaces C4, C5, C6. But Rahul was in coach C3!!!

What a circus! Am I sounding cynical ...... let me know.

Happy to help you - Vodafone

Got this in the mail today from a friend ..

"The 99 Club"

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.
One day the King came upon a Servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy. The King asked the Servant, "Why are you so happy?"
The Servant replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a Roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies." The King was not satisfied with that reply.
Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted Advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the Servant's story, the Advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."
"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. The Advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is place 99 Gold Coins in a bag and leave it at this Servant's doorstep." When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many Gold Coins!
He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 Coins. He wondered, "What could've happened to that last Gold Coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 Coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final Coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that Gold Coin and complete his collection.
From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th Gold Coin. He stopped singing while he worked.
Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his Advisor's help, the Advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."
He continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra "1" telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life."
We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.
That's what joining the 99 Club is all about."

Experience & Expertise

Came across this small piece a few days back:



The error of youth is to believe expertise is a substitute for experience.
The error of age is to believe experience is a substitute for expertise (in IT, social networks and latest gadgets)
When Experience & expertise work together towards a common goal, great things can be achieved.

An interesting article by Sam Pitroda

The Magic of teamwork

View more documents from Amitabha Ghosh.

Exercised my franchise

Whoah .... we finally exercised our first vote today.

A school in our neighbourhood was the nominated voting centre and our Company gave us the day off after lunch to enable voting.
It was a simple process and hassle free. A counter to check your name on the list before you enter the voting room. Details checked and sent ahead. You enter the nominated room. A person checks your identification, checks the master list, sends you ahead. The next person takes your signature on the register, applies the voter's ink (an indelible mark on the middle finger to ensure one does not re - vote) and sends you ahead. The next person activates the electronic voting machine and directs you to the voting counter where you exercise your vote. And its done. The whole process took us less than 20 mins.

Yippeee!!!

Pursuit of the Franchise

Me and wife have finally been successful in getting ourselves registered as “voters” for the current parliamentary elections. But the pursuit of this goal has been long and interesting .

Our pursuit of the franchise started way back in 2003. Being in the Armed Forces, we were sent forms from the Headquarters in New Delhi. Everyone had to fill up the forms and send them back for taking up with the Election Commission. A part of it was to be sent to your representative in the hometown. We did all that, my father went to the local electoral office and tried to register our name, but nothing happened. The entire exercise turned out to be a damp squib with lot of wastage of precious government money and bales of paper and of course increasing the carbon footprint drastically.

Inspite of the uselessness, the incident triggered my father to continuously pursue me to get myself registered as a voter and get myself an EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card or the Voter’s Card). While he started on the primary premise that it is an important and valid identity proof, I countered that my Armed Forces Identity Card and Passport was good enough. He was smart. He changed his tack and chided me no end that being a responsible citizen of the country I cannot afford to be lackadaisical about something as important as exercising my franchise. His efforts came to a peak when the West Bengal state election machinery swung into action in 2005. Forms were taken, couriered to Mumbai with clarifications and important places to be filled up marked in pencil. We (me, my wife and sister) filled up the form, prepared the certificates required and sent it back. My father dutifully deputed my mom to deposit the form. The photo clicking session was on in phases and it coincided with our visit home. So I had no option but to visit the local school which was the epicenter of activity. One old, typically Bong Govt babu saw my slip and asked me to go to someone else. The next babu saw the slip and gave me a thick bunch of papers and directed with the well known gruffness “find out if your name is there”. After scanning a few sheets, suddenly I spotted my grandmother’s name followed by my parents and sister. But the list didn’t have me or my wife on it!! On pursuing it with the babu regarding how everyone but we are there, we had this interesting conversation:

Babu: Why are you trying to register now when you are 28 years old?
Me: I have been studying outside and have been serving in the Armed Forces since I completed my studies. I tried registering for the postal ballot last time but nothing happened.
Babu: Then if you have not felt the need to register to vote in the last 10 years, why are you bothering now. Go to the district headquarters and try your luck there.

I was flummoxed. But I was not cowed down. Next I went to the District Headquarters and it turned out to be an experience in being shunted from one desk to another. And that was enough for me to give up any attempts to exercise my franchise.

Cut to 2008.

NGOs and groups have been highly active and I came across the mass campaign by Tata tea – Jaago Re. Registering on the website was a cake walk with the exact address for form submission provided on the electronic form generated by the website. With all proof documents, photographs and the forms, I went to the designated office. People were courteous and helpful. The form was accepted, another guy checked it out on his computer database and gave me the relevant ID nos and it was done! I was still skeptical as the last couple of weeks my searches on the Maharashtra Election Commission website was coming to naught. And then yesterday I saw that my name was there. So yippee! We are finally going to vote. And we are excited.

Those of you who think the pursuit has ended are a little mistaken. Our names have some hilarious errors. My name has now my father’s name as my middle name and it is going to be an exercise to convince that we do not use our father’s name as our middle name. My father in law has been changed from Subhendu Bhusan Dasgupta to someone called Subhendu Ghosh and my wife has now become Devasree Subhendu Ghosh! Ofcourse getting this corrected would be much easier. Thanks to technology and changing mindsets.

So let’s go vote and be part of the choice!

Taking Stock - Oindrilla

Its a year now that there has been any post on Oindrilla’s blog which was set up to chronicle her birth and growing phases for the huge group of Uncles & Aunts, Grandparents, Grand Uncles (& Aunts) and cousins spread all over the place. Days have been zipping past with us and not leaving enough time to chronicle the happenings on a regular basis. She has been growing fast (very fast I guess) and too many things have been happening. And therefore definitely busy to get back to blogging. Hence, I thought about shifting our experience chronicle to the main blog.

Just after we were back from our Durga Puja holidays (Oct 2008) Oindrilla made her first steps to interact formally in the external environment. She had to start playschool from 10^th Nov 2008. It started with visiting the studio and getting her mug shot clicked!! In fact we also had to get ourselves clicked for her school records. The Playgroup it appears has given her a much needed outlet for social interaction. She had her first sports day on 14th December. She participated in the "Mother Daughter race". All spirited, at the starting line, when the referee blew the whistle, she was bored to her gills and not keen to walk. After a few pulls, she reluctantly strolled towards the finishing line!

Jia became 2 in Jan 2009 amidst a big birthday treat for herself at the local Pizza Hut outlet. The major anomaly of the birthday party was that there were only 6 kids and 26 adults in attendance. On the family front, apart from her parents, she had both sets of grandparents, grand uncle & aunts, and a set of great grandparents too. The organizing guys never had such a scenario and had a tough time thinking of games to arrange to include elders!! But overall we had a blast. Once most of the guests had left, she and her friend Sharanya kicked off their shoes and ran amuck all over the place. And the aftermath was a bout of fever, coughs and cold for a few days. But with grandparents available to pamper her and use their innovative grandma’s medications alongwith the usual prescription meds, she was back in action in no time.

The other significant event was the Annual Function of Jia’s school. It was held at Gadkari Rangayatan – a cultural hotspot of Thane, the venue for theatres (plays) and such events. She had been showing her dance moves to us quite often but we could never make out what it was all about. They had a group dance to the rhyme “London Bridge is falling down”. Have a look at the video. One of the groups (senior class) also had a dance number against Rehman’s Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire). And then we realized the reason as to why she always broke into a jig whenever this was playing.
So now we have a smart lady, who is highly decisive in when and what she wants to have. Ofcourse, she is mostly on a dietary binge these days with lot of juices and less of solids ;). She is attracted to Tom and Jerry & Ben 10 shows on Cartoon Network. She also knows Ben’s “Granpa” and asks for “cartoon” whenever the TV is on. So all this has made us both, highly innovative cooks (to cater to her variable palate) and innovative excuses like “Ben has gone for dinner” or “Tom has gone sleepy”.

It is fun to experience the daily surprises and the wonderful challenges of parenting. Hope to be more regular in putting posts now that the blog is on the main site.

Amazing Team Work 2