Changing Times

Times are changing for sure, else I wouldn't be writing this blog at 8 in the morning before even starting off with other things. Facebook & Twitter comes to my mind first. It started off as an almost innocuous little social networking forum but they are turning out to be one of the most powerful identities. Both have equally proved their worth in complementing media activism and gathering populist sentiments against unjust regimes and oppressive rulers. Facebook is proving to be a platform for the self propounded gods. It is an all new world parallel to the one we live in. It has its own microcosm and societal structure. But the problem I foresee is that Facebook is defining the new social strata that might then carry on to the real society. The popularity of a person on Facebook is a non linear function of many aspects such as sex, education, number of friends, time spent on Facebook, frequency of response to other's post, how opinionated a person is etc. And it is non-linear because there are many intangibles that add on to it. Twitter has a different meaning for different users. It is used as a very good platform for social/media activism. Some use it to post minute by minute update of their life. Maybe they find their life really interesting for others. But all said and done, both Facebook and Twitter shall just become more powerful in the coming years. After all it is the basic human nature to seek popularity and recognition to stabilize their atomic configuration.

My little tribute to GOD and his men

In these 28 years, our nation has come a long way. Today, as the first 30 minutes of Indian innings progressed, I found uncanny similarity between my first faint recollection of the 1996 match between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens. As our innings faltered and Kambli put up the sole resistance against the mighty Ranatungas and De Silvas, I sat at a corner and cried the night out. Today too the situation had an eerie similarity. The Ranatungas and DeSilvas were replaced by Jayewardene’s and Sangakaraas. The Indian chase faltered in a very striking fashion. Everything looked the same except for one thing, India and its Indianness. We have really come a long way. The coyness has been replaced by aggression. Optimism has replaced struggle. "Can we do it" has been replaced by “We can do it". No matter the initial fall of the precious wickets, we were witness to some of the finest innings in the history of cricket. What swept me off was the patience and mental strength that was displayed by both Dhoni and Gambhir under pressure. Many of us spend a lifetime to live up to the expectations of a single person. Imagine living up to the expectation of a billion plus people. For the 3 hours of Indian innings I was stuck to the same position without flipping. Almost petrified initially then later held back by the crept-in superstition about retaining the status-quo as our innings was built brick and mortar by Gambhir and Virat. How often have we discussed and written off Dhoni in this World Cup criticizing his batting. We often raised this question that, “Is it really that Dhoni is so good a captain or just that he has landed a very good team to play with?" Today, the most understated captain of all time simply silenced a generation by coming up the order and taking the responsibility on his shoulders. He took it on him and he did it in style. How often do we fail to see the genius of a person behind the veils of our ignorance? Today they proved them all wrong. Today they rescripted the World Cup Final history. Never before a team with a player's hundred in the finals have lost the finals. Today they did. In the end, I still cried, but this time and probably for the first time ever, I was happy to let my tears flow by. We have arrived. This goes out as a tribute to our little master. The GOD himself!!  

Life's Like That.

They, in fact all so called, self-declared greats and the actual greats, say that as you grow so does your clarity on life. But in my case, I find things getting hazier than ever or that my perspective on things has changed so much in the last six months that instead of getting clearer they are getting hazier. After all it leads me to think every time I compare myself with what I was six months back. Not that I have changed but my thinking has. Being born in a conservative Hindu family brings along a set of unasked baggage. Some of them worth carrying throughout your life and others best disposed as soon as you find a suitable place to. Naturally, things we learn in childhood are in black and white, either Good or Bad. It is only life’s experience that has taught me why some good things are bad and some bad things are good at times. This has caused all the blurring and with life's so called uncertainty which is fairly far from Heisenberg’s realm, things don’t get any sweeter. One thing that I have learnt and maybe one of the most intangible and yet valuable lessons outside my MBA classes is that there is no point trying to steer your life because no one can. The best we can do is to shape things up as things shape up.  I do not know how much sense it makes for am writing after a hiatus of nearly 8 months. With the sun outside shining bright and humidity getting the better of you in Mumbai, it makes sense for me to be indoors and revive my stupidity and the vestigial intellectual remnants through my blog. Will keep it updated.

Inception of a New Genre of Movies

Could barely get a breathing space today after a hectic weekend full of quizzes and assignments. Well this is by no way a sign of resignation from the mores here as we have our mid term coming up at a break neck speed. But today we finally decided to let go off our procrastination and watch Inception, something we have been waiting on for long. The four of us finished off our submissions and hit out of the campus for the 9:30 show at a nearby theatre. I have hardly critiqued a few movies till date which includes the likes of RDB, Lakhsya and few others. But I can't help myself from sharing my views on Inception.

Brilliant! To say the least. The writer-director, Christopher Nolan, has conceptualized the movie in his mind so well that on screen it merely seems as a seamless rendition of his thoughts, rather dreams. Dream sharing or multi stage dreaming has only been spoken of very randomly till date but Inception is a breakthrough in this genre of movies. Unlike Matrix and other movies, Inception though equally complex manages to keep the audience engrossed till the end and ensures complete flow of understanding throughout each events as they transpire in the movie. Moving from dream extractor to dream implanter,Rob- the main protagonist has done a very sharp role. I do not think I am qualified enough to comment anymore. Nolan is one director, whom I admire and especially more after Inception. Having watched Matrix, Hypercube, Cube, and others, Inception has everything blended into it. I am sure, we would have more of this to come. The wait would definitely be worth it!

The first day of the PGP Program

Blogging in the unearthly hours is real fun, especially when some fizzy drink and some cookies are there to provide you with some company. The first day of the PGP program started in the morning and I am just 2 hrs from being awake for 24hrs. The day took me across many interesting facets of life. To hear some of eminent speakers here and to try and understand their perspective of looking forward to our economy and socio economic development is something I have longed for these many years. The awesome performance came from Shashank Subramaniam, a reknowned flautist, who almost swept us completely with his mellifluous and soul stirring percussionist flair. Well, for us the day started at night. Meeting up with the seniors here at IIMB was an amazing experience. It surely tells you the standards that have been set by the seniors here and the expectations from us to live up to it.

Welcome !!

Isn't it Ironical?

It's been a few days since I have been bitten by this so called Facebook bug. Not so long ago, when I didn't have a call from IIM B, I was too reluctant to log into FB and check the happennings there. Was there a way I could have escaped the clutches of modern day social networking contagion? No, I believe, but you don't want to be left behind either. So it has been my sincere, reluctant yet dedicated effort to at least give my profile page a visit daily. And now I have started enjoying some of the links and messages being posted there. One such status that I read was, "We live in a country where pizza gets delivered before the police." Later on I found that it has been picked up from some online source with due credit to the original author, I believe. I then had this eagerness to write more on this State of Affairs of our nation.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read the news about children dying of hunger and politicians blaming the monsoon for lack of food
When millions of tons of foodgrains are getting wasted in our granaries.

Isn't it ironical ?
I see the street dweller divide his only bread amongst his children and go hungry himself
When the glass pane of the luxury car's window is rolled down and food is disposed away in the dustbin for the dogs to eat.

Isn't it ironical ?
I and my friends talk big things about poverty alleviation and the importance of food
When we order our food and without any remorse throw away the extra food that we ordered.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read about the ultra luxurious wards in private hospital where people book a place for medical excuses
When a government hospital is in complete shambles without anyone to attend to the dying patients.

Isn't it ironical ?
I read aplenty about the entrepreneurs who have shaped our country and their achievements
When I find only a few of the youngsters even willing to go that way

Isn't it ironical ?
I go on a shopping spree and spend 10k on a set of clothes
When I find a person happily telling his fellow commuter how he plans to manage a family of six with his 4k income

Isn't it ironical ?
I see my food home delievered any time of the day
When the guy who delivers my food waits till the night to have the food by the street side for a few bucks.

Isn't it ironical ?
I see and read about hundreds of children dying for they cannot afford food for even a single time a day
When I see thousands of obese people wasting another thousands on the gym to bring down their weight

Isn't it ironical ?
I sit in the air conditioned confines of my car and discuss how fast my city is developing
When I see hundreds hanging out in the bus, holding on their breath and stampeding to get to their destination

Isn't it ironical ?
I blame each and every political outfit just before elections for the shoddy performance they put up
When I, for myself, don't bother what I do for the society

Isn't it ironical ?
I read each day about the property rates shooting up
When the value of human lives are falling at a much faster rate

Isn't it ironical ?
I speak about creating millions of dollars from a new business plan
When I do not understand the value of a single rupee

I don't think this world is too complicated to live in. If there is any complexity in this world and the way it runs it has been introduced by us. At times I wonder, can't we make our living a bit simpler so that at least no one sleeps without food, a roof under the head or a blanket to protect from cold weather. I am not an advocate of socialism because my belief in capitalism is far deep entrenched. I am a firm believer in entrepreneurial skills and I think that is the only way to take our country forward.

Instead of hunting a million dollar job, I shall rather create an avenue for hundred others to earn and make a living.