Dear Indian media, there are others apart from US elections

This post is born out of frustration. About reporting in the Indian web and electronic media. With the US election scheduled in November, everyone was busy reporting on the tiny details of the two candidates. Where Obama spoke, where did Romney have dinner, how their wives felt, etc. Hell, on the last two days, the reporters went into a kind of frenzy, reporting every step the two candidates took, that Obama cried during his final speech and many more. Now, most of the netizens will not be able to point out on the map, any of the cities or towns these two campaigned in. So, why are these elections so important to hog a major portion of the news space in India? Do we have no other newsworthy matters in hand?
Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, chose to visit India at perhaps a wrong time. Because our media was not interested in bringing to us what Harper had brought for the country. Our media felt that it is of more importance for Indians to know who the next US president is! So, nothing was in the prime time about Harper's visit to India. Nor was anything reported about his security personnel rejecting Indian measures and shipping in their own security limousines for Harper. Who is going to find out the truth of why this happened? When a visiting dignitary has to bring in his own security vehicles, is he being snobbish or is our government guilty of inadequacy? But of course, this doesn't matter to our media. What is more important news is how Obama cried in his last campaign speech.
Forget this negative part. The Harper government signed a few agreements with the Indian government. Of these, one was setting up a research programme with three Canadian universities and the IITs in the area of clean water technologies. But we know nothing of that! More importantly the two governments signed an agreement where temporary Indian employees working in Canada and temporary Canadian employees working in India and their will not have to contribute towards their social security or pension plans. This allows both, the companies and their employees, to save costs incurred on things whose benefits they wouldn't have ever received. Do we know of this? No, but we do know that Obama cried during his last speech. Doesn't matter if many Indians working on-site have been crying for years on the unjust contributions they have to make to the US social security system, when they are not eligible to receive any benefit from it.
We cheered Obama when he came to India and hailed him to take the nuclear reactor deal forward. But nuclear reactors run on uranium, which will not come from USA, but from Canada as it has one of the largest reserves of uranium. But we do not yet know at what stage is a deal for uranium supply with Canada? And what did Harper's visit achieve in that direction? We will have to read Canadian newspapers for that because our dear media was busy dissecting why Romney lost and Obama won! More importantly Canada wants to sign a free trade agreement with India. What will this agreement cover? What is the Indian government's view about this agreement? No we won't know of that till our media finds time from reporting how democrats and republicans will never reach any agreement because each controls one house of the US government.
Seriously, I am tired of this minute-by-minute updates of all that doesn't matter to our country. How do these affect India? In almost no way. Romney or Obama it doesn't matter to us. They don't do us any favour. While India has been purchasing military equipment from the US firms through its tax payers' money, the same are given to our western neighbours as part of aid to "fight terrorism". And why cheer Obama who has, during his campaign, talked of India only as a job stealer through outsourcing? More importantly, why not cheer Harper, who has given Indian employees on Canada their fair dues?  What I am seriously tired of is the Indian media. They have their own ideologies and iron-cast agendas. They won't budge from that. The nation's interest is secondary. That's why we saw more headline space for Sandy, compared to Nilam. In the web media it appeared as if Nilam had just kissed the Indian coast while Sandy rammed through the USA. New York's preparations where highlighted throughout, but not Tamil Nadu's. And of course, they conveniently missed the fact that the same Sandy had caused far more devastation in poor countries like Haiti and Cuba, which face crop loss too. But alas, they weren't having elections where the state was ruled by an opposing party to the president.

Indian media and the National Film Awards

Considering some of the free time I have got now-a-days, I have begun spending some of it to analyse some of the views of Justice Katju and P. Sainath. "Why so?", would be your question. That is because they both present a view that is many a time completely ignored in mainstream media, especially the electronic one. The more I view news channels, the more am I beginning to believe that the Indian media lacks the necessary depth, rigour and commitment to educate the Indian public in issues relevant to India.

While there are a lot of isses, which the media doesn't give proportional coverage, I will restrict myself to the field of cinema. The Indian National Film Awards are a tribute to the best of Indian cinema, which spans across more than eighteen languages (excluding local dialects). Awarded every year, by the President of India, these are considered a pinnacle of achievement by many in the industry, as the nominees have to compete across the entire spectrum of Indian cinema, rather than be restricted to a particular language(s).

The regional Indian cinema has been at the forefront of meaningful entertainment, frequently combined with conveying important social messages and practices. Especially, cinema in Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali (or Bangla) and also in Tamil, Telegu and Kannada, has been active in these areas. What Bollywood (or mainstream Hindi cinema) considers as 'parallel' or 'experimental' cinema is a proven track for good (and reasonably commercially successful) cinema in regional languages. The enormous variety of such cinema provides a huge opportunity for the media to build products around this cinema and improving the knowledge of the general public about this area. But the media still basks in the glory of Bollywood. New, for the media, could range right from Vidya Balan winning the National award to whether Salman and Katrina are still together.

The media, which devotes a lot of time running programmes about the Oscars and give a minute-by-minute update of the ceremony, has done nothing to bring forth the procedures of the National Awards. The task of the jury is not yet known to us. How do they judge cinema of languages which they may not know at all? What movies are nominated for the awards, how is the nomination and elimination procedure? How is the jury selected, in the first place? For the media, their task begins only after the awards have been announced. If anyone from Bollywood has won an award, then run endless programmes about that person and the movie for which (s)he received the award. But, at the same time, regional cinema winners are completely ignored after their name and award has been announced. E.g., Vidya Balan winning the award (and she deserved it) received extensive coverage in the print and visual media. But, what about Girish Kulkarni, who won the best actor award? How much mention did he get, compared to Vidya? That too, when his movie (Deool) has showcased the dark (and economic) side of religion and religious beliefs. The movie has also won the President`s golden lotus award and award for best dialogue. Similarly of other films like Byari and others. While the media gave extra wide coverage to A. R. Rahman receiving the Oscar, how much do we know of Neel Daat and Mayook Bhaumik, who won the National Award for best music direction? Or about Anand Bhate and Rupa Ganguly, the best playback singers?

I do not intend to say that news media should screen such movies. But the print and electronic media can definitely bring forward the artists who have at least been nominated for such awards. Of course, Bollywood has a marketable value, far higher than regional cinema, but then shouldn't the media help in furthering the cause of regional cinema and also, help inculcate and improve interest in good regional cinema? Similarly, the government of India to is at a fault that it hasn't been able to create an environment and viewer interest like the Oscars have done. The government should also pro-actively help develop interest and curiosity in the National awards so that the 'market' for such cinema improves.

Denouncing Hindu traditions is ticket to being "cool" and "progressive"

While the debate and outrage about the Khap panchayats in Haryana banning same-gotra marriage continues, many of the so-called neo-, liberal-Hindus have jumped on to the Hindu tradition bashing wagon. What the Khaps do, or prescribe is not appreciable at all, but why start bashing Hindu traditions on a whole, even without trying to understand it?

I came across this article by "youth icon" Chetan Bhagat.

What's Gotra Got To Do With It?

The great literary genius of today opens the article by saying, "I don't know why it was invented, or why it is still relevant. As if it wasn't good enough to divide people on caste, we needed one more level of sub-caste slicing to ensure as many Indians hate each other as possible." Well, honourable Chetan Bhagat, if you do not know, why are you commenting about it. Even Wikipedia has an explanation about the gotra system. If you do not believe in Wikipedia, it has a set of references given at the end of the articles, which you are free to explore. But no, you choose to bash the Hindu traditions left, right and centre. Because, that is what makes you the "modern", "progressive" and "cool" person that you are. That is what makes you the "youth icon". And it is you, who is making a baseless claim that by sub-dividing into gotra, we are making humans hate each other as much as possible. No sir, we do not "hate" any person from other gotra.

Remember, Hindu religion is the only one which gives mere recommendations and guidelines to its followers. You can be a Hindu even if you do not believe in Ram. But, if you openly express disbelief in Mohammed, you'll be persecuted. Or, in the Christian world, be thrown out of the church.

The gotra system was devised to identify people according to a set of genetic composition. How did this system evolve, may still be a mystery, but it doesn't mean that it was born out of thin air to satisfy someone's ego. There is a rationale behind it. Try to explore that. But, you do not have the time to do it. It is easier to bash the tradition rather than explore the logic behind it. And marriages within the same gotra were avoided so that the diversity of the genetic pool is maintained and there is less chance of aggravation of the weaknesses that people belonging to the same set of gene pools would have.

Sir, in the kind of social circles that you live, you might be meeting wildlife activists and conversation experts. If you sit and talk with them, they would tell you how dangers inbreeding is. That is, the dangers of allowing a pride of tigers to breed amongst themselves. The mother of the pride forcibly kicks the young ones out of her zone so that they do not inbreed with the females. You see, nature too has its own way of ensuring genetic diversity. And this is why, when a tiger and two tigresses were transferred into Panna National Park, they were chosen from different sanctuaries. So, let us leave all your mathematics and calculations of only 0.1% of DNA may be sibling like. All the mathematics and computer simulations of your fellow MBAs and investment bankers couldn't prevent the financial recession.

Many of the ancient Indian customs and religious activities have a reason for existence. The responsibilities of "educated" people like you is to try to search the reason behind it and weed out all that is not correct. For e.g., the ghungat system, dowry, etc. But, you choose to bash and berate every tradition of the Hindus. To add, you are an IIT engineer and an IIM-A MBA holder. You should be scientifically decimating the theory that same-gotra marriages are harmful, but you choose to play with emotions. And you play to the gallery of the neo-Hindus.

I would have liked your article if it was against the dictator-like rule of the Khaps. That is completely unacceptable. That high-handed rule of the Khaps has got nothing to do with the gotra system. It is just that this is one of the issues they are using to flex their muscles. But you choose to centre your article around "regressive ideas" of the Hindus.

Shouldn't journalists be only reporting?

Before writing this post, I was just checking the definition of a journalist. Wikipedia says

A journalist collects and disseminates information about current events, people, trends, and issues.

This means that a journalist should convey the train of events in a manner that they have occurred. A journalist should not be colouring the report with his or her own opinions or political leanings. That, I guess would be the forte of a good journalist. And the job of colouring events with opinions should be left to analysts, is what I feel.

But now-a-days, journalists are trying to become analysts themselves. News channel reporters go over the top in making conclusions in less than 30 seconds. The Times of India is known for its pro-Congress stance. Being pro-Congress is fine, but it is anti-BJP. And hence, its reporters, and probably editors too, try to paint every reaction of a BJP leader in a way so as to prove that Congress is much better than the BJP. Just see this headline-

Congress did not initiate anti-Sikh riots in 1984: Gadkari

The headline meant to say that the BJP has exonerated the Congress from its role in the anti-Sikh riots. Subtly, it means that the BJP is withdrawing from its earlier stand, which maintained that the Congress party members actively supported the riots. And hence, trying to show that the BJP is a party which flip-flops on its stand.

But, read the interview carefully, and you will realise that Nitin Gadkari has never made such a statement. The statement Gadkari made, in reply to a question was

"Look, some people might be involved in those riots but it would not be entirely correct to say that the riots were initiated by the government."

This statement never ever has the same meaning as the headline. While the journalist writing this report may feel that the headline justifies the content, it is his/her opinion. And that is precisely what a journalist should not be doing. That is a columnist's job. Leave that to them, else they will have to find new avenues to work. But will our media, affected by the "breaking news" syndrome, ever improve? They do not have to go too far. Just read BBC's website and see how they write their headlines. No sensationlisation at all. And the same is true about BBC News. The reporters are one of the most objective ones, the news readers never take sides. But our media is trying to model itself along the Fox-News type of reporting. More sensation than content. And the print media too, is going along the same lines. The fourth estate of the democracy should not be influenced by political leanings, but should be objective in its work. Let people form their opinions. You need not force yours onto them.

Prepaid or Pre-failed cards?

"Yes sir, your documentation is now complete. Here is your SIM card. The connection will be activated within 48 hours." The sales person across the counter assures the customer. "Why 48 hours? Why not in the next few hours?" Asks the customer. "Sir, your documents will be handed over to the company, only then can the connection be activated. Government rule, sir," comes the reply. Since the customer is vaguely aware of such a rule, (s)he resigns to the fact, that nothing can be done about that. "But then, are the documents correct? There will not be any problem about that, right?" A concern expressed by the customer. The sales person once again assures, "No sir, there won't be any problem. If anything happens, give me a call, I will take care of it." And the customer walks out of the shop, waiting for those 48 hours to end, so that (s)he can be reconnected to the rest of the world.

A typical conversation with a sales agent in a shop that sells prepaid phone SIM cards. After 48 hours, the connection is duly activated. And the customer is happy talking and sending SMSes to everybody informing them about the new number, new place, etc. Until one week later, when (s)he receives an SMS from the cell phone company to submit the documents at the nearest customer service centre or else face disconnection.

The subscriber frantically calls the customer care number. After getting through the labyrinth of the IVRS, (s)he finally gets to speak to the customer care "executive". This "executive" is actually the one who only executes orders. They are not allowed to think or deliver practical or long term solutions. "I've submitted my documents in the shop from where I bought this SIM card," says the harried and worried customer. "What documents did you submit, sir?" The executive asks in a voice that sounds as "cool" as ice. "I submitted a copy of my _____ as photo id-proof and _____ as my address proof." "Sir, the documents are fine, but they haven't reached us. Can you submit them once again?" asks the executive, as if it is as easy as drinking a glass of water. "How can it happen that the documents haven't reached you?" The subscriber tries not to lose cool. "Sir, many times the shops take documents and do not submit it," the executive. "But then, I was told that my connection would be activated only after the company receives my documents. So, how did you activate my phone, if you hadn't received the documents?" With a rising anger, the customer poses a tricky question. But the "executive" is trained to bluff the customer. "Sir, sometimes the shops get the connection activated through their contacts in the company."

What?? How is that possible? Company employees breaking rules and regulations, not only of the company, but those of the government of India. What the customer care "executive" is also telling, is that the shop that sells pre-paid cards is not submitting the documents to the company. So, what do they do with it? They have my photo-id, phone number and my address. They can easily sell it to some tele-marketing people for a few hundred rupees.

In the meanwhile, the "executive" offers the subscriber a solution. "Sir, why don't you go to our company store and submit your documents there? We will activate the phone immediately after you submit those there." "But then, what about the documents that I have already submitted?" The subscribers anger is slowly increasing. "Sir, they haven't reached us, so you will have to re-submit the documents. It is a government rule, sir." "Yes, but then it is a government rule not to activate phones without verifying documents." The subscriber is justifiably annoyed at the dumb answers of the "executive". "I'll report this to the consumer courts. That you disconnect phones, even after all the documents have been submitted," thunders the customer. "Sir, one moment please. I'll transfer the call to my supervisor, who will try to address your concern."

And after a few moments, the supervisor comes on phone, who has to do nothing but just supervise whether the "executive" below him has given the correct answers. "Correct" as per their manual, not whether answers are actually correct. And this person, who is supposedly in a position above the "executive" and hence empowered with some more decision making powers, replays the same answers that the "executive" had given. With, a sweetener added, "Sir, next time this won't happen again." "Hell", says the customer,"next time I am not going to buy a card from your company." And the poor customer repeats the process of documentation, just for the sake of having the number that was painstakingly conveyed to all the acquaintances.

This is where the failure of these mobile phone companies lies. It cannot ensure a smooth service for its customer from the point its SIM card is bought. Why should the customer be penalised for the sloppiness of the phone-shop? The mobile company has a record of which SIM card was given to which shop. So, can't it warn the shop and bar it from selling its products? The company won't do so because the more number of shops that stock its products, the more will the sales be. One consumer is insignificant in terms of revenue. And since, once the subscriber has a number, (s)he has to stick with it, to avoid all the efforts of updating records everywhere, it is advantage the phone company. And it cannot (and will not) regulate its own employees who illegally activate phone numbers. Since it gets revenue as soon as and as much as a customer uses the phone. And it also cannot answer what happened to the documents that the subscriber had submitted earlier. They have no respect for the sanctity of the data that was handed over to their agent. Their common answer is that they are third party persons, and we have no control over them. How is this possible? You cannot control your own contractors? Then what kind of a company are you running?

All in all, mobile phone companies are more interested in earning revenue, more than providing a good experience to the customer. As they say, caveat emptor! That's the only thing we can do.

Do we still respect our teachers?

The last few weeks had a sad series of events, which went unnoticed in the mayhem of the swine flu scare, the euphoria of the Ganesh Utsav. Faculty from all the IITs resorted to an unprecedented action which, till now, has been attributed only to unionised employees and many government employees only. In order to get a fair deal in terms of pay and career benefits from the Sixth Pay Commission, they first went on a mass casual leave. This was a huge event in itself. Never in the history of IITs have classes been cancelled except under extreme emergencies, like the swine flu scare. In IIT Bombay, classes were running even in the immediate aftermath of 26th July 2005. Such has been the dedication of faculty towards maintaining the teaching schedule.

Considering the wealth of knowledge and understanding of a subject that a IIT faculty has, he/she can get a corporate job easily, which would pay much more than IIT does. But, they have taken it onto themselves to work for the advancement of their field and develop the next generation of engineers, researchers and scientists. They are not those people who couldn't get any other job and hence took the IIT job. While they are not demanding astronomical salaries, like IIM-A faculty, they should be treated with dignity. The Sixth Pay Commission has inflicted huge blows to their career path in terms of growth and monetary compensation, as well as robbed them of their status of "national importance". More details of how the Pay Commission has degraded the IIT faculty's position can be found here.

The Ministry of HRD is on a path that would lead to sequential erosion of quality of faculty at IIT. Suddenly, out of the blue, they have accepted a report which states that Assistant Professors should have a work experience of atleast 3 years, which does not include the experience gained during their Ph.D. Now, how many would want to join IIT after 3 years of working elsewhere? If that was not enough, IITs have been asked to hire people with Masters' degree at Lecturer positions. IITs have long ago scrapped the Lecturer position and have hired only Ph.D. holders directly at Assistant Professor level. Instead of raising the bar to improve quality, why is the government hell bent on lowering it? In a knee-jerk reaction, it has already ordered to increase the number of students (through reservations), without caring to improve the infrastructure in the IITs. Even the basic facilities like hostel and messes are already overloaded due to lack of construction of new ones.

The government's continuous negligence of this matter forced the IIT staff to go on a one-day fast, that too on Teacher's Day! What appalled me is that this is the same government and Parliament which passed an enormous increase in the salaries and facilities of its MPs in a jiffy. But is reluctant to give the IIT professors their due. The previous Speaker Mr. Somnath Chatterejee had correctly mentioned that it is not correct for MPs to appraise themselves about their salaries. Is this the way we treat our teachers? And that too, in the country's advanced and coveted places of learning and development. IITs have been one of the most impartial institutes when it comes to admitting and grading students. That is the reason for their ability to produce technology greats who have proved their talent not only in India, but around the world too! If this is the way IIT teachers are treated, I shudder to think of the treatment meted out to primary and secondary school teachers.

People ask what have the IITs done for the nation, so that the government should extend and continue its largesse towards them. Well, there can be counter questions to this. What has the DRDO done till date, that the government should continue supporting it? For the past 25 years, they couldn't build an effective tank. Time and again, their tank has been rejected by the army. None of DRDO's projects have been completed without a huge time and cost overrun. So, is the case with the GTRE. They haven't been able to develop the engine for the LCA since the inception of the LCA project. Same with BARC and AERB. Where are those fast breeder reactors that use thorium and could free India from dependence on foreign technology? Nobody asks the effectiveness of these organisations. But still, the government has increased the grade of scientists in these organisations as compared to IIT professors. The only successful organisation that comes to my mind is the ISRO, which has fulfilled India's programme of space technology.

When will this country give the teachers their due? They are the true builders of society. When our parents are at their work place or mothers take care of our homes, these teachers are the ones who develop and blend our personalities. They are the ones who can ignite our interests in various subjects. They have the greatest impact on the development of our thought process. A teacher with highest regard for ethics and greatest interest in teaching is an asset which needs to be nurtured with care, so that he/she can positively influence the lives of generations to come. Why did the situation come to such a level where IIT teachers had to protest? Even before that, there were protests by college teachers in Maharashtra, demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission for them too. Why can't they get their dues, without having to resort to such protests?

We always recite the prayer

गुरु: ब्रम्हा, गुरुर्विष्णु, गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः|
गुरुः साक्षात परब्रम्ह: तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ||

But, do we realise the disservice we are doing to these teachers, who will be shaping the future of this country? How many times, do we look back to our school or college days and say, "Yes, it was because of these teachers, that I am what I am!" And when we realise this, will we force the government not to rob the teachers of their dignity.

The perennial dilemma

I often wonder, when membership to an organisation is voluntary and there are apparently no tangible benefits at the end of the volunteering period, what do most people think about the organisation and volunteering for it? My answer is that people are apathetic or indifferent. But, they still expect the organisation to keep working for their benefit. On top of that, their expectations from that organisation is as if they are paying it to see that the organisation represents them effectively.

There are many such examples. Students' bodies, co-operative societies, housing society committees, and many more. Despite of hundreds of request, very few students turn up for volunteering and staying with the organisation for a year. But then, if some problem crops up, there will be hundreds of them hounding this organisation to get the problem resolved. Here comes the dilemma. When people look at the organisation with not too much interest, do not participate in its activities and still expect the organisation to take care of them, what should the organisation's stand be? Show the same apathy to the people? Tell them that since none from your group are participating, your group doesn't deserve our support? Teach them a lesson, once and for all. Or keep persuading people to participate and reap the likely benefits? And still work for them, stating that see, you don't participate, but we are still there to help you! The dilemma continues...

Leaderless India?

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link has been thrown open to use for the general public. On 30th June 2009, Sonia Gandhi found time to do the honours. A good question to be asked is, what post does Sonia Gandhi hold? She is free of all constitutional responsibilities (except those that are thrust upon her while she is an M.P.) and hence not liable to any actions in case of government failure. But, the Congress likes to give her the credit of every "success" that either the central government or a Congress-ruled state government achieves.

An engineering marvel like the Sea Link should have been inaugurated by someone who holds a Constitutional post. The President was in Mumbai two days ago, she could have done the honours. Or the Prime Minister, who is the captain of the team that shapes the nation's future. But no, the government of Maharashtra felt that Sonia Gandhi has a standing that is higher than the President or Prime Minister. But, we have not protested against this. We are silently accepting all this. Why is there no protest? Why aren't there any protests visible? If the BJP would have called the RSS chief to inaugurate such a facility like this, imagine the uproar that would have taken place. But then, Congress is secular, while BJP is communal.

And the old wily fox, Sharad Pawar, also an off-shoot of the Congress culture sucked up to Sonia Gandhi and requested Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to name the bridge after Rajiv Gandhi. The CM, being a second generation Congressman, promptly agreed to the suggestion, in a bid to please his 'high-command'. The arguments put forward by Sharad Pawar to support his request were equally ridiculous. He said that Rajiv Gandhi was a 'son-of-the-soil' as he was born in Mumbai. Rubbish!! Mr. Pawar, are you forgetting the other leaders who have worked tirelessly for the benefit of the state of Maharashtra. Those 105 people who were killed when this very Congress wanted a bilingual state of Gujarat and Maharashtra have contributed more than Rajiv Gandhi. The only thing that I agree about Rajiv Gandhi was that he ushered in a technological revolution and had recognised the necessity of modern technology. But, he is the same Rajiv Gandhi who infamously agreed to amend the constitution to annul the Supreme Court's judgement in the Shah Bano case. He is the one who made the statement 'when a big tree falls, the earth shakes', thus backing those Congressmen involved in the anti-Sikh riots.

I would say, there were more worthy leaders than Rajiv Gandhi after whom the bridge could be named. Going back in history, there is Kanhoji Angre, the famous commander of the Maratha fleet. He tormented the English and Portuguese with his attacks on their ships. Since this bridge crosses the sea, his name should have been a favourite. Then there were Lokmanya Tilak, Acharya Atre, Shankarrao Chavan, Yashwantrao Chavan, Ahilyabai Rangekar, C.D. Deshmukh, and many more from politics. J.R.D. Tata from business. Homi Bhabha from science. Tata and Bhabha have been pioneers in their fields. Air India was Tata's baby. Homi Bhabha kick started atomic energy research. Both were Mumbaikars. There are many more social activists, famous cricket personalities, litterateurs who have contributed to the well-being of the people of Maharshtra. Anyone of them could be chosen. But no, the Congress doesn't know anybody beyond Nerhu and Gandhi. Thankfully, they aren't naming anything after Sanjay Gandhi now-a-days.

An India that dreams of becoming a super power, doesn't look at leaders apart from the Nehru-Gandhi family as worthy to be remembered through engineering and technology marvels. This picture doesn't look good. Though, it would have been nice if the sea-link was simply called Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

Laptop blues

Finally, the verdict is out! My laptop has been reduced to a piece of junk, as the circuit on the motherboard that handles the power supply has blown off. Unless, I invest around 16k to get a new motherboard and get the laptop running. The person who repaired my computer suggested me otherwise. He says, instead of investing in a new motherboard, dispose this laptop off, and buy a new one.

What he doesn't understand, or probably the entire supply chain doesn't understand, is that I would need to invest more than Rs. 30k to get a laptop with performance specs that I already have. So, this means, I have to invest around double the motherboard cost to get a new laptop. And what will he pay me to dispose the old laptop? Only Rs 4k. It is simple economics. If you keep aside the uncertainty of the motherboard failing again, then investing Rs. 16k for the motherboard, is a much sensible investment compared to buying a new laptop. People do say that now the latest ones have come, they are at much cheaper price, etc. But then, the laptop was never bought with an intention to make money when I sell it. It was bought to augment my research and entertainment tool set.

Also, what sense does it make in buying a new laptop? What is this about the latest features? Over my existing laptop (configuration: 1 GB RAM, 1.6GHz AMD Turion X2 processor, 100 GB HDD, dual layer DVD drive) what is the value addition that the latest model would provide? A year's warranty instead of the 3 months that the motherboard replacement would give. What is it about the higher HDD capcity and say the latest processor? For the kind of work I do, I think this configuration would be way over the top.

After a lot of deliberations, I decided to repair my motherboard. But I am unhappy over one aspect of the design. The design of the motherboard is so integrated, that I have to replace the entire board, just because the power supply blew off. Why can't the design be modular. It would have been much easier for me to replace the burnt out part at a far lesser cost. But, companies have almost stopped thinking about the repair aspects of the product. For them, it is more profitable if someone junks away the old piece and buys a new one. Now-a-days, for all such companies, profit is first, shareholders are second and the customer is last. Integrated design may help in achieving material and cost savings, but why do they never factor in the possibility of failure? Engineers are taught this very aspect so that they can include safety features to avoid failure and easy replacement procedure after a failure has taken place. Engineers are now probably more driven by the principles of management and economic objectives rather than the principles of engineering.

Unfair competition

With the government being lawmaker, it can decide the rules of the game and make the others play according to those rules. Many times, these rules are in favour of the minority stake holders of the government. For e.g. government employees form a minuscule percentage of the entire workforce. But most of the employment and labour rules are in favour of these minuscule minorities, thus stifling many business plans.

Off-late, the government wants greater participation of private industries in the non-core areas of the government operated institutes, businesses, etc. But, here too, it is not ready to give the private sector a fair chance for competition. One glaring example is the case of fuel retailing. While the government has offered oil bonds to state-run oil industries in order to offset their losses, it has not provided any help to Reliance and Essar, who have to dig in their own pockets to absorb the loss due to under pricing of petrol and diesel. As a result, Reliance announced the closure of several of its petrol pumps, resulting in job loss to all those directly and indirectly employed in those pumps.

In IIT Bombay, which is a government run institute, the government slowly wants to pull out of non-core areas and instead deploy private companies to take care of those works. The institute's house keeping staff is being replaced with people from private professional house-keeping companies. The messes in new hostels are being operated by private caterers instead of government employees. But, here comes the hypocrisy in the government's intentions of privatisation. While the institute authorities have permission from the Petroleum Ministry to use domestic gas cylinders (cost = approx. Rs. 320) in the government operated messes, the private messes are asked to operate on commercial gas cylinders (cost = approx. Rs 1000). The messes require around 10 cylinders everyday (for inmate strength of around 400). In spite of this, the private mess operators are able to provide food to the hostel residents at cost that is lower than government operated messes, with better service, of course. But the private messes have to operate with a lot of constraints. For e.g., while in government operated messes, sweet, in dinner, is served with no restriction on the amount, in the private mess there is a strict restriction. The caterers running these messes themselves acknowledge that if permitted to use domestic cylinders for cooking, they could further reduce the costs. This move is beneficial to the students as it reduces the expenses on food by some extent. It also provides a fair platform for comparison of the government run messes and privatised messes. But the institute authorities have done nothing to take up this case with the Petroleum Ministry authorities. As a result, one of the most important inputs in cooking is available to the private caterer at thrice the price at which it is available to the government run messes. This is nothing but bullying by the government authorities. So, while the institute-run messes get a lot of subsidy (approx. 600*20 = Rs. 12000 per day for every mess), the privately run messes have to live with the ever fluctuating (read increasing for the past 1 year) prices of commercial cylinder. This is unfair, both, on the caterer as well as the students who are members of these messes. The students have to pay more because of the use of commercial cylinders and the caterer loses his margin because he can't go beyond a particular price he charges for the food.

Senseless FM

What do FM channels use to play songs throughout the night, when there is no RJ? I guess they have something like Winamp with a play list of over thousand songs, with the "shuffle" toggled. That's because, this automated song player springs up songs which are completely out of sync with the time at which they are played.

Today morning at 5:45 AM, I tuned into Red FM, a popular FM channel in Mumbai. It was the automated song player that was in charge, as no jockey was heard blabbering for the next 15 mins. And at exactly 6:00 AM, the automated song player started playing- "Dekho, d, yeh shaam badi diwani", from the movie Om Shanti Om. Come on, the first song of a morning show, shouldn't be from an opposite end of the day. As it is, in the morning, people would prefer light music as they are just readying up for the day or just setting out for the day's chores. And here, the station plays a disco-like song that too describing the atmosphere in a party at evening. God bless the radio channel's wisdom.

This is where I prefer Akashvani (All India Radio). They are in-sync with the time of the day. Their first programme is generally devotional songs, before they switch on to old melodious songs and then move on to the contemporary songs, which have a lot of beats. I do not know, if private radio channels take feedback and act upon them, but if they do, they will find a fairly large audience that would like this kind of start for the day. Even contemporary songs with slow music and low beats would be preferred over disco as the first song of the day. Till then, enjoy evening disco at morning 6:00 AM !!

ITC or DOW Chemicals: The bigger picture

Disclaimer: I am not an advocate for Dow Chemicals. I hold Union Carbide solely responsible for the Bhopal Gas Disaster and support all efforts to persuade Dow Chemicals, the current owner of Union Carbide, to clean up the entire area in and around the site of disaster and make it a safe place for the future generations. However, in this process, we must not forget the people who are dying daily due to consumption of tobacco in any form.

Tobacco related deaths in India for citizens between the age group of 25-69 hovered around the 600,000 mark in 2006. In the cigarette market of India, ITC has a 70% share by volume. Thus, out of every 100 cigarettes sold in India, 70 are manufactured by ITC.

Now let us look at the Bhopal Gas Disaster. The worst of all claims put the number of deaths due to the gas leakage and in the aftermath at 20,000. The number of chronically ill and suffering due to disorder is around 150,000. These deaths have happened over a period of more than 20 years. The owner of the factory, Union Carbide India Ltd. sold its assets to Eveready and part of the proceedings from the sale were pocketed by Union Carbide, the parent company of UCIL. In 2001, Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.

Now that Dow Chemicals has setup its shop in India, it wants to tie up with local academic institutes for recruitment purpose as well as for carrying out research work. Many people associated with the Bhopal Disaster movement, plus IIT faculty, students and alumni are opposing these tie-ups, on the grounds that Dow Chemicals should first, own up for the mess in Bhopal and second, either clean up the existing mess or pay for cleaning the site and decontaminating the ground water. Some groups have been successful in stalling Dow's efforts of campus recruitment.

At this juncture, I would like to pose the following question to people who claim to be fighting for justice to the humankind of Bhopal. If Dow Chemicals is being banned from recruiting people from IIT campuses because it is responsible for the death of more than 20,000 people and the injury and illness of more than 150,000; why isn't the same law applicable to companies like ITC? ITC has a major cigarette business. It earns a lot of revenue from sale of various kind of cigarettes. Cigarette smoking has killed and is killing a lot more people than those who died in the Bhopal Tragedy. Yet, we see IITs welcoming ITC with open hands for placements. ITC recruits talented young B.Tech./Dual Degree students from IITs who might someday end up working to increase profit from cigarette sales. The company usually gets a slot in the first two days of placement, which indicates the kind of pay it offers to the students.

Do we fail to realise that ITC is as big (if not more) a killer as Dow Chemicals? Or as Freakonomist Steven D. Levitt says, our reaction is based more on the perception of threat rather than its actual impact. We do not feel threatened when someone smokes a cigarette standing next to us. But just the very idea of MIC hanging around our neck makes us feel that Dow is threatening to human kind. Can we get beyond the perception of threat and see the actual one? Also, can we evolve a sustainable path (the golden-middle path) so that all parties involved get maximum benefit at least costs to them? Is the government willing enough? Are the people willing enough? What is the golden-middle? These are the questions that need to be answered by the stakeholders- the people, the activists, the industry and above all, the government.

The Great Indian Cricket Tamasha

With India winning the T20 World Cup in South Africa, came to an end two weeks of good cricket. It was good because teams were able to beat the Aussies, who were unbeatable in the ODIs, we beat Pakistan twice, and are the current World Champions. The same Indian team which was isolated for all the criticism in the world five months ago, is now the darling of every Indian. If you adored the team six months ago, you were a good-for-nothing fellow. However, today if you do not adore the Indian team, you are not patriotic. The same fans who demolished Dhoni's under-construction house, burnt effigies of players and bayed for their blood are now running around to get a glimpse of them. The players now find a place in every nook and corner of the house and nobody gets tired drooling over them.

The media had endless hours of news time dedicated to how World Cup 2007 (50-over version) has spelled dooms-day for Indian cricket. The same media is now drooling over the Indian team, again devoting endless hours of news time to every minute detail about the players' off-field life during and after the T20 Cup. Details to the extent of where did a particular players kith and kin position themselves during the final game were presented elaborately with the anchors and news-reporters dramatizing the entire piece of news. And at the end of all this, we came to know a lot lot lot more about players like Joginder Sharma, RP Singh, etc. But what did we come to know? We were enlightened about what Joginder likes to eat, where did he play in his bachpan, etc. The unimaginative media-- both print and electronic-- hijacked Chak de India, the slogan meant for the hockey team and used it as if it was their own creation.

The sponsors, who were rethinking about their committement to cricket, are now back with their full financial might. Ready to pay unimaginable amounts to be associated with the Indian cricket team for a few seconds every day. Ask these sponsors to spend some money on research for the betterment of their company, and they will come back saying that they have not much funds to carry out research.

Finally, the BCCI. This governing body of cricket should be working for the welfare of the game and players. However, time and again it seems to be working for its own welfare. After the first round exit from the World Cup, it sought to discipline the players in an innovative way-- restrict their endorsements. They thought of scratching off the centralised contract system and pay the players on a per match basis, with bonus thrown in for every win. Now, after the team has won the T20 World Cup, it has announced centralised contracts for the team members with enhanced retainorship fees. A u-turn on its own position in less than six months.

The attitude of everybody-- fans, media and BCCI-- in this incident lacks professionalism. The fans do not professionally respect the players and the fact that they (the players) too can have a bad day in the office (exit from WC-2007). The fans get emotionally outraged-- if the team doesn't perform as per their expectations-- and get into a rioting mood. However, once the team wins a series or a major tournament, the same fans transform the devils into Gods.

The media too plays into the hands of fans' emotions. Instead of professionally reporting any cricketing event, they report it as if the tournament is an equivalent of World War 3. For e.g. WC-2007 used to be reported as War in the Windies. They report a single defeat as if Yudhishthir lost his kingdom to Duryodhan and every victory as if Arjun has killed Karna. Then there are those endless chat/debate shows, where even a player who has played just a single test match or ODI starts ranting on what the players feel, what should the BCCI be doing its job, how should Tendulkar play the hook shot, etc.

And finally the BCCI. Well, the less said about its professionalism, the better. I need not say anything as the over-enthusiastic media has already spent lot of air time and newsprint on this issue. But, after the T20 World Cup, nobody is bothered about the BCCI's method of functioning.

In the end, we all should understand that after all cricket is a game. Yes, I love it when India wins a match. I do not like to see India losing. But let us accept, this is a game, sometimes India will lose, sometimes it will win. However, we fans and media should not get to the extremes of adulation or rioting to prove our point. Congratulate the team on winning, support them when they lose. After all, the team is also made of humans. They have put in a lot of efforts to reach at that stage and are continuously putting in more efforts to remain there and progress to better stages.

Who rules this country?

"Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people"

-Abraham Lincoln

This is what everybody was brought up to believe. However, an interview by the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh might change the definition of democracy. In India, especially in the Congress ruled states, democracy is the government of Sonia Gandhi, by Sonia Gandhi and for Sonia Gandhi. It is she, who chooses the Chief Ministers, she who dictates state policies and she who decides which projects a state should undertake. A few excerpts from the interview of the Arunachal CM would reveal how the Congress-men (and women) strive just to keep 'Madam' pleased and remain in her good books.

"Q: Strange things are happening in Arunachal. The whole cabinet recently shifted its loyalties to you.

A: It happened due to the allegations of huge corruption charges against the former government.........

..................

..................

Hence, the MLAs were unhappy and chose me as their leader. (Congress president) Soniaji (Gandhi) is completely against corruption and wanted a clean and result oriented Congress government. "

So, the people of independent India will get a corruption free government only if Sonia Gandhi wishes so. Couldn't the MLAs of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Party change the government because the people desire a result oriented and corruption free government? What is the CM trying to convey? That he headed the cabinet only because it was Sonia's wish to have a clean and result oriented government. Isn't the CM and every MLA answerable to the people of the state?

"Q: What have you done so far?

A: My first priority is to improve the Public Distribution System.........

..........

..........

With Soniaji's blessings we have also started a mid day meal scheme for poor tribal students.

.........."

The mid-day meals scheme was an initiative taken by the central government way back in 1995, when Sonia Gandhi was not even participating in active politics. Providing mid day meals to poor children in school is the responsibility of every government. Why, then, does Mr. CM require Sonia's blessings to start this programme, which is not her initiative at all. And if she does not 'bless' this project, it means that it will not be implemented. This means that the state government has to seek Sonia's permission for implementing projects. Is the approval of the state legislature not enough to implement programmes? If Sonia's 'blessings' are sought on implementing projects, this means that extra-constitutional powers are governing the country rather than the people who have been elected to do so.

Sonia's high-handedness is well known. In Maharashtra, she directed Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to not demolish the hutments that had come up between 1995-2000. This is a straight violation of the court order that has declared the cut-off date for rehabilitation as 1995. Are the governments of the day supposed to take directions and 'blessings' from the lady at 10 Janpath, who does not even hold a constitutional position, so that she can issue 'orders' and 'bless' projects. Or are the governments supposed to implement what has been decided by the law of the land? While suggestions are always welcome, and should be encouraged, why is Sonia trying to govern the country as if it is her fiefdom? Political parties are known to indulge in glorifying a particular person and worshipping him/her. The Congress has this culture right since Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. So, the Congress cadre always looks up to Sonia as their queen and saviour. Why can't these 'leaders' take their own decisions and act as per the law of the land? If this continues unabated, tomorrow we might have Sonia deciding the number of acres that should be allotted to a particular crop.

Orkut: Some funny communities

Disclaimer: This posting is meant for humour. I am not responsible if you are offended by the post after reading it.

Just came across a community on orkut- GSBs in IIMs. Was just thinking what purpose would this community serve? It would end up having the same topics that go on in other communities, viz.

1. Let's introduce ourselves.
2. Why did you join IIM?
3. What do you think of the above profile?
4. IIM vs. Wharton

IIMs do not have more than 2000 students at a time. Include alumni and even then, the strength of GSBs in IIM would measure upto 2%. Of those, how many would care to join the community?

It then occured to me about this ghettoisation, forming communities to become the elite self. Probably trying to look for something that distinguishes oneself from the others. While I was trying to control myself from taking a stand, Naina posted an appeal for joining the community. That was it. I just couldn't control. I let myself off. Came up with a humourous list of communities and put them online.

But then, decency prevented me from taking further potshots directly. And why target one person/community, when everywhere on orkut there are stupid communities which serve no purpose except giving its members some distinguishing feature to cling on to. The Pepe Jeans community, with more than a thousand members, has no single discussion thread. So, with imagination at work, I came up with a list of communities that might find their way into orkut. Well, some might be already existing-

1. People who use their Citibank credit card to pay their Hutch plan-xyz bill.
2. People reading newspapers, starting with Sports page first.
3. People who use their yahoo id while looking for a job.
4. People parking their bikes on the main stand only.
5. People boarding the local at Kalyan and exiting CST from the BMC side door.
6. People ordering butter chicken and naan at a particular restaurant.
7. People who are angry about idiotic communities on orkut.


The list goes on... People are free to add to this list.

This is outrageous

The media is at it again. It always loves to make heroes or villains out of nothing. For the media, anybody who has been along with the Shiv Sena or BJP is communal and therefore a villain and menace to the society. Whereas those who are not affiliated to the two organisations or are Dalits/poor are the underdogs who need to be made look like heroes. Sample these two pieces of news from rediff.com-

1. Enraged over the alleged desecration of a statue of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's late wife Meenatai on Sunday morning, Shiv Sainiks went on the rampage in Mumbai and other cities and towns in Maharashtra throughout the day. (click here to read the article).

This was rediff's comment on the incident that took place when Meenatai's statue was defiled. Portray the Sena as villains who cause nothing else but nuisance and damage.

2. Atrocities on Dalits
As Indians, we often gloat about our glorious ancient wisdom. We harp on the modernity of our ancient forefathers.
And then, we skim through news snippets about some woman being paraded naked, or some people being killed -- because they are Dalits, the lowest strata of the caste hierarchy.

This is the introduction to the killings in Khairlanji and the protest. To emphasise the effect of the protest, rediff shows the image of Deccan Queen burning. Now, here the rioters are projected as if they were freedom fighters. These rioters caused more loss than the Sena did during their 'protest'. Yet, none were booked, no venomous protests from the so-called secularists or socialists.

The media has always been known to take sides with 'under-dogs'. However, why should they sacrifice the neutrality of a situation? I personally do not like riots of any kind, but the portrayal of Hindu rioters has always been as if they are villains, while the so-called 'underdogs' such as the Dalits involved in burning the Deccan Queen are shown as a people who vented out their frustration against the oppressors of the upper-caste.

On a finishing note, the most foolish and senseless comment made by an "intellectual" Dalit poet, Mr. Arjun Dangle-

"For many decades the Deccan Queen was the symbol of Pune, seat of the Peshwa Brahminical rule. There is a meaning behind the burning of train."

Now, the Peshwas are out of the rulers' seat for the past two centuries. So, they are trying to say that we burned the Deccan Queen (which is a property of the tax payers) to as a protest against the upper-caste Brahmins. Now, that should win the best logic of the year 2006 award. The rioters burned national property, causing damages running into several lakhs of fixed capital and operational revenue.

The media should rise to the occasion and take a stand against such damages, whoever causes it. And please, stop publishing such useless and senseless comments. They are good enough to instigate those who have not received much education, but do not stand ground in an educated society.

Mr. Narayan Murthy aptly said-- "India is perhaps the only country in the world, where people fight to be called backward."

Of caricatures and paintings

A few days ago there were two protests that made news in India- a) The caricatures of prophet Mohammed and b) The potrayal of Bharat mata in the nude by M.F. Hussain. However, it is the reaction of the people to these protests which surprises me. While all of us would agree that it is wrong to hurt religious sentiments of Muslims by potraying the prophet in the manner he was, but isn't it true for all those who regard this country as their motherland? Please tell me which person in this world, who believes that clothing is essential for decency, would like his mother to be potrayed in the nude? Will M.F. Hussain himself ever paint his mother in the nude? Nafisa Ali, in an interview to CNN-IBN, said that Hussain's potrayal of Bharat mata is depicting the woman in her purest form. Well, then will Ms. Nafisa Ali herself start roaming around nude (although none of us would like this disgusting sight), or tell her female relatives to do so?

Another point to be looked out over here is the role of the media. On the issue of the Prophet's caricatures, the media is outrightly showing people making statements who say that it is an insult to Islam, etc. However, in the case of Hussain's painting, media is questioning it by saying that should art be censored and who has the right to decide what is correct or wrong? I ask why is the media not asking this question to the Muslims?

The last point worth noting is the kind of protests that went on. While Muslims all round the world rallied against the caricatures, and mostly staged violent protests, the protests of the Indians, not only Hindus, was very much muted. It was heard in the news for one or two days and then completely forgotten about. Hussain issued an apology, which the media made look like as if it was a very sincere one, and then no questions asked. What does this signify? Don't the Indians feel like making their protests known? I do not support violent protests, but should this not be made clear to people like Hussain that we would not tolerate any insults (whether subtle or direct) to any of our Gods/Godesses? It is question that all Indians should answer and respond by the best possible means they have