Tryst with Destiny II

Freedom at Midnight agian... but how many more to follow?

India and its tryst with midnight destiny continues 62 years since our Independence. The midnight celebrations in the regions set to form the new Telangana State, being carved out of Andhra Pradesh were the most disheartening scenes ever. How can people of the country be happy and, worse, celebrate, when we are bifurcating our own country on the basis of neglecting a region????

A single person's agitation, compared to Gandhiji's fasting, has led to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, which itself is no stranger to such preposterous history. What you sow is what you reap. Andhra Pradesh itself was carved out of Madras state when a politician went on a fatal hunger strike in 1956. But when the whole world is having graver issues like fighting terrorism and saving earth from impact of climatic changes, how can we be so primitive in our thoughts??

Where did the momentum gain for this statehood after so many years? A single man's waning political image and the greed to be on top of people's mind is all that I can think of. An entire state has been brought to standstill and going by the last assembly election results, a separate state is the last thing in mind of the people in the region.

And kudos to the Congress government at the center, what a vision they have!!!! At this rate, India will soon need to be called The United States of India. Now how are they going to address the needs of Gorkhas, Nagas, Ulfas etc? Give them a state and let the future generation battle it out?

We all can see the results of having carved out Chattisgarh, Jharkandh and Uttaranchal. What little development could have happened in these regions have vanished and instead stands a billion dollar business empire of the likes of Madhu Koda. The politicians cannot be blamed in this entire episode. We, the people are to be blamed. If we can be held to emotional ransom by such nitwits and imbeciles then what right do we have to call them names?

If we cannot express our solidarity in choosing a strong candidate, we have no rights whatsoever to answer Barkha Dutt as she barks her views across India on prime time TV. Soon we will have debates and SMS polls and TRPs on which channel broke the news first.. but for the Mango people... oh sorry Aam Aadmi, its just another tamasha until election comes next time.

Tata tea couldn’t have come out with a better ad campaign. Jaago Re!!

I seriously believe all of us are in a deep state of slumber. Come on India... can’t you see that it’s our country that is being done to death by these plunderers?? Can we do anything to stop this from happening??

Yes we can!!

Write to the President
Write to the Prime Minister.. mail the UPA Chairperson.. Ask them not to commit a major treason!!!
And please somebody talk sense to the person who wants the state cut out!

If nothing works, let’s file a Public Interest Litigation in Supreme Court asking for a stay order before they table the Telangana State formation bill.

We have to brand these self-styled pricks as traitors of the country and banish them once and for all from our Motherland.
Wish we had a mass movement to awake the senses of this generation!!

Democracy has gone to the dogs!!

Systematic Chaos

The pinprick of numbness overrides any other pain. Sitting inside the Yoga Insitutue, a 90 year old organization, I tried to re-establish the connectivity with my inner soul. The nagging doubt in mind about the way we are leading our lives manifested in me after the discourse. I was on a soul searching mission this week end. A lot of thoughts were going on in my mind, for which I had no answers. In short, it was pretty chaotic. Like the Brownian Movement of particles in Physics. Random, chaotic, yet with some predetermined outcome.

Yeah Right.

Individual life is the perfect example of Chaos theory and Butterfly effect. We tend to relate this to fate, naseeb etc. If we dwell deeply, we will understand that each and every thing that occurs to us is infact determined by ourselves years ago. A simple decision to stop cycling to soak in the pleasures of a 100kmph drive on a motorbike, will have its effect 10 years down the line in the form of elevated blood pressure. We miss the cue. We blame it on work tension. But the fact remains that its our decision to stop cycling, thereby becoming unfit, is the main reason.

We seek explanation for everything that happens in life, little realizing that we have the explanation in our mind. It doesnt need a spiritual awakening to understand this fact. The journey of life is all about self realization. It doesnt necessarily need to follow the beaten down path of spirituality. Belief in self is the best way forward. My current turmoil is largely due to lack of self belief. Faced with more than one problem at a time, mind tends to jump from one problem to another, concentrating on none of the issues. Therein lies the mistake. It will make the situation more chaotic. We have to pick up the threads(fibre) of our lives one by one.

Personal space is of utmost importance in these days. When we start paying more attention to what we do instead of why we do, life will be a lot more easier. Compartmentalize our thoughts. Prioritize the events. Enjoy what we do. May be these are the keys to a happy life. I dont say successful. Success is a mere state of mind. Happiness is what matters most. The more I think, more I realize that life is mostly cosmetic and materialistic. It is not supposed to be as serious as I thought it to be.

I can feel a slight thaw in my numbness. The warmth of blood flowing through my veins. I now believe that life is not very chaotic and I am able to find reasons for my utter helplessness. My mind is light now. If Brownian movement can help predict the way stocks behave on the exchange, self inflicted chaos should help in interpreting life in a better way.

The threshold of the Stairway to Heaven is quite within sight.

(End of Part II)

Comfortably Numb

40 months of working my arse off I realize that I am oblivious to the pain it causes.I do not contradict that many others have had theirs drilled down and riveted to the office chairs.This is neither a smear campaign nor about cribbing about one's job. Its about the Paradise Lost. I remember once I began writing on this topic and didnt bother to complete it. I now know why. The puzzle was incomplete then.

As a boy matures into a man, a man with responsibilites, there is hardly anything that interests him. I can now empathize with my father. God knows what all ambitions he had. What all he has sacrificed to just hold the moral fibre of a famliy together. The fibre has turned into a fine fabric, ready to be of help to someone.

A chat with a friend last weekend brought back some memories flooding back. This was a totally unprecedented conversation which suddenly shook me out of deep slumber. I have lost interest in a lot of things I used to do back in school/college.May be my dark overbrooding comes right from the ill-lit alleys of numerous hospitals we visited 4 years ago. Patience is something which I exhibit these days with many things. Being a full-blood libran, I am prone start an argument. Surprisingly, these days, I find myself not interested even in these arguments.

In short, I have lost the connectivity with my inner soul. A vibrant, happening, rolling stone (No no. Not reed/grass)attitude that is visibly absent. Some say this is an indication of having matured over years. I dont know. I dont know.

I would say I am comfortably numb today.

And I realize with numbness that I am trying to run away from the serious side of life.

(End of Part - I)

UID - Unique Identification Number

Mr.Nanden Nilekani will lead the special team for creation of UID. I know Mr.Nilekani would have hardly heard about our KEIS.That was my dream project from 1st year in college,which my friends helped me realize in my final year. Its a biometric, finger print recognition based security system for vehicles. That was the just the starting point.

The plan was to create an application that would act as the single, all-encompassing ID like the SSN number in USA, with which the entire citizenship details of a person can be ascertained within moments.It was also aimed to help the Police department as the finger prints from the ID cards will act as a Repository, which could help them in indentification of criminals or in case of an untoward incident, inform a victim's family. We also decided to add the personal medical details to the ID card system so that it could help every hospital to diagonise a person's status without referring to lengthy medical procedures incase of emergencies.

Innova Lab in my company was audience to a lengthy demo from myself and promised to look into possibilities with in. But that was 3 years back. A start up, by IIT-M students, have requested time to analyse the product,so that they could incorporate the code into their own products.

And I ran for a year, from pillar to post to file a patent for it.I couldn't get it done. The talks of UID has revived my interests again. Hope for an audience with Mr.Nilekani!

I am Imagining my India.

Pictures from my trip to Kerala

1. A beautiful mansion that caught my eye.

2.Not the over crowded Mumbai local.. but a real calm morning shot:


3.The sprawling lake, ever present coconut trees and dark clouds, impressive scenery from my train seat!