Ever since I visited the US I have dropped many of my misgivings about the country and its people. Ofcourse the fact still remains that I think Bush is the biggest enemy to world peace next only to Osama himself. But what I am talking about here is the people side of it. I have come to hold them in very high regard for a few reasons. I will talk about one reason which holds a lot of relevance to India;
Outsourcing-this is one word that has generated more heat in the 21st century that anything else and I should say I am truly impressed by the way Americans have accepted outsourcing as a fact of life: it is painful today, but ultimately it brings a level of competitiveness to their companies and hence to their economy which will be really difficult to be surpassed by anyone in the foreseeable future. Trust me, operating on a global scale with countries like India (with a 12 hour time difference) is not an easy task-and the American companies have just begun to master it. There have been huge layoffs-in the order of tens of thousands of people. There were ofcourse loud noises-that is natural-but the point is that there were no draconian "populist" measures to pacify these noises. The politicians were still able to “sell” the idea that outsourcing is good for the Americans and the people accepted it-this is true democracy-where leaders don’t look for the impulses of the people and be carried away by that-but are able to think long term and “lead” their people to success and prosperity.
Well, just imagine this scenario-some time in the future an "Indian" company in Mumbai is laying off five thousand people to stay afloat amidst tough competition. What do you expect would happen the next day? My guess is atleast 10 buses will burn the next day. The communist parties would be marching all the way from Kerala to 10 Janpath, from Kolkata to Mumbai, creating havoc disrupting public life. Newspapers would highlight the fact that this company could just as easily closed down its branch in Kenya (which was by the way operating at half the cost). Then all public attention would have been diverted to the fact that the evil Kenyans were ultimately responsible for all of these. Then the government would chip-in and make laws which prevent any company from opening divisions in Africa-just protecting the locals they would say. Then the communists would hail it as a victory and parade it in the next elections to come back to power now to include along with Africa, other parts of Asia as well in the list of “prohibited” areas. Soon these businesses would be chucked out of competition by smart American firms who have by now established a firm foothold in Africa and Asia. And our communist babus will be flying in airplanes (as cabinet ministers ofcourse) to US and other countries begging them to establish centers in India-all the while wondering what was so wrong with this country that noone wants to invest here!!!
This might be a bit far-stretched, but this is not very far from reality-I bet in another 25 years we will be facing something akin to that-will we be mature enough by then?
Friday, August 26, 2005
Sunday, August 7, 2005
Flying without Wings...
Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by train journeys-thanks to my father's transferable job, I must have traveled in train atleast a hundred times. I love the journey so much that I almost pounced on my classmate who innocently asked (he was traveling for the first or second time in train) "Why are there only four berths while there are 6 people assigned to a cabin!!"
The first and foremost thing about these journeys is the peeking out thing...initially I used to be the good-boy resisting my temptations and peeking out only through the grilled window. That itself used to be so much fun. After I gained independence (!!!read started traveling alone), I started doing the "cooler" thing-standing on the doorstep with the wind blowing on your face gives you a really amazing feeling-one of the "freedoms" that we enjoy by being in India-in most advanced countries the door locks automatically.
Then there is the meeting of people, I have been guilty of not getting to know my neighbors in my building (everyday I meet new faces in my flat and move on uncaring), but in train, there is this joy of talking to strangers and not having to worry about seeing them the next day. The mix of people in my bay (cabin) has always been highly variegated, from cute children to ravishing girls to interesting youngsters to reminiscing elders...infact during college days, I had a friend from Madurai and we used to go in the same train to home and Though this fellow was reserved with outsiders, he (and I:)) harbored fancies of meeting the Miss.Gorgeous and striking up a (life-long::)) conversation with her. But every time, I repeat EVERY TIME (we did this almost 7 times) we used to have people over 60 in our compartment-not even youngsters of our age-it was always the same:). It was like Railways had a built-in rule to redirect people over sixty to our cabin!! We used to blame each other for our extraordinary luck. Still it was fun as we heard some of them talk about their children who lived in US (does every child live in US??), the antics of their grandchildren and so on..
Definitely trains in India, inspite of their delays and inconveniences is one awesome thing about this country and I love it:).
The first and foremost thing about these journeys is the peeking out thing...initially I used to be the good-boy resisting my temptations and peeking out only through the grilled window. That itself used to be so much fun. After I gained independence (!!!read started traveling alone), I started doing the "cooler" thing-standing on the doorstep with the wind blowing on your face gives you a really amazing feeling-one of the "freedoms" that we enjoy by being in India-in most advanced countries the door locks automatically.
Then there is the meeting of people, I have been guilty of not getting to know my neighbors in my building (everyday I meet new faces in my flat and move on uncaring), but in train, there is this joy of talking to strangers and not having to worry about seeing them the next day. The mix of people in my bay (cabin) has always been highly variegated, from cute children to ravishing girls to interesting youngsters to reminiscing elders...infact during college days, I had a friend from Madurai and we used to go in the same train to home and Though this fellow was reserved with outsiders, he (and I:)) harbored fancies of meeting the Miss.Gorgeous and striking up a (life-long::)) conversation with her. But every time, I repeat EVERY TIME (we did this almost 7 times) we used to have people over 60 in our compartment-not even youngsters of our age-it was always the same:). It was like Railways had a built-in rule to redirect people over sixty to our cabin!! We used to blame each other for our extraordinary luck. Still it was fun as we heard some of them talk about their children who lived in US (does every child live in US??), the antics of their grandchildren and so on..
Definitely trains in India, inspite of their delays and inconveniences is one awesome thing about this country and I love it:).
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Are you happy?
This is part of a mail I received on Art of Living mailing list and it made a lot of sense...hence wanted to share it here...
What is your commitment in life? You may say you are committed to happiness. Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power or sex, you get into it for the sake of happiness. Some people even enjoy misery because it gives them happiness!
To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, you already know what he will say! He is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own. Ask those who are retired, are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.
All of one’s life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It’s like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.
How many minutes, hours and days have we spent our life being happy from within ? Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.
There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, “I'll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying that “I am happy come what may!”
Which one do you want to live?
What is your commitment in life? You may say you are committed to happiness. Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power or sex, you get into it for the sake of happiness. Some people even enjoy misery because it gives them happiness!
To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, you already know what he will say! He is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own. Ask those who are retired, are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.
All of one’s life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It’s like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.
How many minutes, hours and days have we spent our life being happy from within ? Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.
There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, “I'll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying that “I am happy come what may!”
Which one do you want to live?
Sunday, June 26, 2005
God is subtle, but he is never vicious:)
I decided looong back that I will have this status message on Yahoo,the day the High Court delivers the verdict quashing the dim-witted fancies of the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu-rendering entrance exams obsolete purely for electoral gains uncaring for either the students nor the universities who are the actual stake holders. That day is today. I will write about my experience in driving an opposition to this (which I felt was the right thing to do) in some other entry. As of now, anyone who cares to ask me will get an icecream treat today:).
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Baby one more time
I often ask myself-which was the happiest time of my short and sweet life so far...there are immediately a flurry of events which come to mind. Then I wonder why are non of these feelings permanent? Ofcourse when I think about it now I am happy-but along with it comes a tinge of dissapointment which says-"Things are'nt the same anymore". Is it necessary to have some disspointments in life to really realise the happy moments?
When I dig a bit deeper, I find a commmon thread that runs through all these events-they were all in one form or the other some event of social acceptance, some "acheivements" (I am using this term purely in the way the society defines it), time spent with friends...and so on. Each of these satisfied atleast one of the basic human cravings-acceptance,recognition,desire to be part of a community and so on...
But wait, there was one other time when I was happy, so happy that I dont even remember it, how many of you remember the time you were a small kid, I am talking about a really small one maybe one-two years old. Well at that time I didnt care about what people thought about me, I didnt care about how eloquent I was, I couldn't just hurt anyone's feelings, I had no expectations of myself and didn't just care about whether or not others had one for me. I never judged anyone because I knew noone. I was a great listener and a great observer primarily because I couldn't just talk, there were simple ways of expressing myself-crying when I was hungry and laughing when people made faces at me. I didn't just care about how rich the guy next door was, nor was I concerned with Bush's pursuance of hapless nations. I was so so happy with the current state of things that I didn't even care to remember those things.
But there I made the mistake, I didnt bother to remember...I have totally forgotten the meaning of being happy and today even if I want to go back it is well next to impossible. I have allowed myself to be conditioned so well that now the society beleives (and so do I) that I am happy for all the preconditions to be happy (family, work, friends etc) are all met. But my question is where did this precondition come in the first place!!!
When I dig a bit deeper, I find a commmon thread that runs through all these events-they were all in one form or the other some event of social acceptance, some "acheivements" (I am using this term purely in the way the society defines it), time spent with friends...and so on. Each of these satisfied atleast one of the basic human cravings-acceptance,recognition,desire to be part of a community and so on...
But wait, there was one other time when I was happy, so happy that I dont even remember it, how many of you remember the time you were a small kid, I am talking about a really small one maybe one-two years old. Well at that time I didnt care about what people thought about me, I didnt care about how eloquent I was, I couldn't just hurt anyone's feelings, I had no expectations of myself and didn't just care about whether or not others had one for me. I never judged anyone because I knew noone. I was a great listener and a great observer primarily because I couldn't just talk, there were simple ways of expressing myself-crying when I was hungry and laughing when people made faces at me. I didn't just care about how rich the guy next door was, nor was I concerned with Bush's pursuance of hapless nations. I was so so happy with the current state of things that I didn't even care to remember those things.
But there I made the mistake, I didnt bother to remember...I have totally forgotten the meaning of being happy and today even if I want to go back it is well next to impossible. I have allowed myself to be conditioned so well that now the society beleives (and so do I) that I am happy for all the preconditions to be happy (family, work, friends etc) are all met. But my question is where did this precondition come in the first place!!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Reservations
This was a mail I had sent to my group in reply to a mail on the subject of reservations in private sector and I still hold these views.
Hi,
I have always believed that our constitution makers were great people with a very high degree of far-sightedness and insight. But the only issue where I felt they slipped (or should I say misjudged...) was in this reservations issue.
One fact have to recognize and accept with a pinch of salt is the inevitability and indestructability of having a caste system( I wonder how many of us, "progressive people" would dare to marry an "outsider"...for instance!!!). At the point of independence the caste system was much more stronger. We know the stories of untouchablity and cruelty people inflicted on the so-called "lower castes". (The sad part is that we still keep hearing such incidents after 55 years of "independence").
Now to break this kind of a jinx our constitution makers(CM) had no choice but to accord them special treatment. This is because at that point of time even if our CMs had opted for reservations based on economic status they would have run into two problems- 1. Putting in place a fool-proof system for judging economic status is in itself very difficult. 2. The so-called higher-castes held all the important posts in all the administrative bodies and they would have ensured that their position was not compromised by issuing false certificates or by any other fair/foul means. To avoid this our CMs envisaged this caste-based reservations.
So all along they have been doing the right things...where did they go wrong? The only mistake was in misjudging the role of a politician. They believed that a politician was a person with high moral standards who has sacrificed his life for the cause of public-service and they gave the powers of this reservation systems to the politicians. What actually they must have done is to give these powers in the hands of an independent commission formed in the model of the Election commission or the Judiciary. But now we find politicians coming to power and clinging to it by openly giving promises of reservations. Secondly, we find that people who enjoy the benefits of reservations form a chain. The father takes the benefits gets a good government job, settle down well, the son again uses the benefits gets an engineering seat settles down well..his son again....the story goes on while there are thousands of so-called low castes who still do not know that there are reservations available for them and they can make use of it. They are probably too busy waiting in queue outside the loan-shark's house for a paltry sum to save his crop without knowing that he is pledging his life on it. This is ridiculous..a family should be allowed to enjoy the benefits of reservations only once...say once for a college seat once for a government job and probably once for an MP/MLA seat!!!
Privilege once give can never be withdrawn. So the reservation system which was supposed to be phased out in 25-40 years has grown and taken deep roots in our society. Now we hear about reservations in private sector...well I can only say one thing-"Long Live Democracy...Longer Live the Bloody Politicians..."!!!
Yours,
Arvind Sharma.
GK wrote:
Hi everyone,
Having discussions to make the grps lively is a good
idea but mere participation of 2-3 people wud be an
argument rather than a discussion.
Rather than discuss about the earlier topic which is
sure to have no ending, why not dicuss on the
reservations which the UPA government headed by left,
sorry ManMohanSingh is planning to implement shortly
in private sector too.
This was the topic of last week's BigFight too in
NDTV.
Infy chief Mr.NarayanaMurthy, Bajaj grps, Godrej ,
Proctor & Gamble all have protested against it.
Reservations of anykind shud be opposed. Whats the
need of reservations? Does it mean that all those who
get preference are very poor and those who doesnt very
rich. If at all there need to be reservations, it shud
be based on economic status of people , which albeit
is difficult to implement can be done.Such a thing can
bridge the economic disparities in r nation.Morover
physically challenged people can get reservations.
Worst of all seculars like Mulayam and Karunanidi
spoke about reservations to minorities before the
Lokshaba polls.Such a thing will only spark communal
tensions. If reservations are totally banned there is
no need for either religion or caste in r
certificates.
Dr.Ambedkar while framing r constitution has given
provisions for reservations only for a time period but
r political parties has used them as their poll weapon
and want to continue for eternity.
My aim is not to offend any particular community.
Urs,
S.G
Hi,
I have always believed that our constitution makers were great people with a very high degree of far-sightedness and insight. But the only issue where I felt they slipped (or should I say misjudged...) was in this reservations issue.
One fact have to recognize and accept with a pinch of salt is the inevitability and indestructability of having a caste system( I wonder how many of us, "progressive people" would dare to marry an "outsider"...for instance!!!). At the point of independence the caste system was much more stronger. We know the stories of untouchablity and cruelty people inflicted on the so-called "lower castes". (The sad part is that we still keep hearing such incidents after 55 years of "independence").
Now to break this kind of a jinx our constitution makers(CM) had no choice but to accord them special treatment. This is because at that point of time even if our CMs had opted for reservations based on economic status they would have run into two problems- 1. Putting in place a fool-proof system for judging economic status is in itself very difficult. 2. The so-called higher-castes held all the important posts in all the administrative bodies and they would have ensured that their position was not compromised by issuing false certificates or by any other fair/foul means. To avoid this our CMs envisaged this caste-based reservations.
So all along they have been doing the right things...where did they go wrong? The only mistake was in misjudging the role of a politician. They believed that a politician was a person with high moral standards who has sacrificed his life for the cause of public-service and they gave the powers of this reservation systems to the politicians. What actually they must have done is to give these powers in the hands of an independent commission formed in the model of the Election commission or the Judiciary. But now we find politicians coming to power and clinging to it by openly giving promises of reservations. Secondly, we find that people who enjoy the benefits of reservations form a chain. The father takes the benefits gets a good government job, settle down well, the son again uses the benefits gets an engineering seat settles down well..his son again....the story goes on while there are thousands of so-called low castes who still do not know that there are reservations available for them and they can make use of it. They are probably too busy waiting in queue outside the loan-shark's house for a paltry sum to save his crop without knowing that he is pledging his life on it. This is ridiculous..a family should be allowed to enjoy the benefits of reservations only once...say once for a college seat once for a government job and probably once for an MP/MLA seat!!!
Privilege once give can never be withdrawn. So the reservation system which was supposed to be phased out in 25-40 years has grown and taken deep roots in our society. Now we hear about reservations in private sector...well I can only say one thing-"Long Live Democracy...Longer Live the Bloody Politicians..."!!!
Yours,
Arvind Sharma.
GK wrote:
Hi everyone,
Having discussions to make the grps lively is a good
idea but mere participation of 2-3 people wud be an
argument rather than a discussion.
Rather than discuss about the earlier topic which is
sure to have no ending, why not dicuss on the
reservations which the UPA government headed by left,
sorry ManMohanSingh is planning to implement shortly
in private sector too.
This was the topic of last week's BigFight too in
NDTV.
Infy chief Mr.NarayanaMurthy, Bajaj grps, Godrej ,
Proctor & Gamble all have protested against it.
Reservations of anykind shud be opposed. Whats the
need of reservations? Does it mean that all those who
get preference are very poor and those who doesnt very
rich. If at all there need to be reservations, it shud
be based on economic status of people , which albeit
is difficult to implement can be done.Such a thing can
bridge the economic disparities in r nation.Morover
physically challenged people can get reservations.
Worst of all seculars like Mulayam and Karunanidi
spoke about reservations to minorities before the
Lokshaba polls.Such a thing will only spark communal
tensions. If reservations are totally banned there is
no need for either religion or caste in r
certificates.
Dr.Ambedkar while framing r constitution has given
provisions for reservations only for a time period but
r political parties has used them as their poll weapon
and want to continue for eternity.
My aim is not to offend any particular community.
Urs,
S.G
One Memorable incident-Redmond Continued..
This was a mail I wrote to my cousin when I was in Redmond about one unforgettable incident...
We went to Mt.Reinier (about 3 hours drive from here) on Sunday and it turned out to be an unforgettable day in many respects. We reached a point 5400 feet high in car and climbed for 2 hours to reach a point 7200 feet high!!! There was almost noone there and we had snow all around. We were so close to the peak. We played there for almost an hour. It was the best adventure I ever had.
Finally at 8.30 we decided we need to go back and started the descent. It took almost an hour and finally when we reached the car all exhausted and drained, I found that I had left the headlights on and the battery had completely drained!!! Then we found that the visitor's
office and all such places were closed as it was sunday night!! Finally there was a hotel there and we went into that and made a call to the Emergency services of the rental agency (Avis) and they arrived in about 2 hours and we waited patiently.
I should say Mt.Reinier is quite a sight in the night with the clear sky and countless stars in the background (though the temperature must have been around 10 degrees or lesser). Infact we took a few pictures of our incredible car with the night sky in the background!! The mechanic finally managed to jump-started the car. Finally we started at 11pm and bingo!! we didnt know the proper route back as the maps we had taken had some road named incorrectly.Also since I didnt want to risk a half-filled tank, we stopped at a petrol bunk and my friend went and filled the fuel. Then just before we left I noticed the name on the fuel station and it was written-DIESEL FUEL. I was totally dismayed.
We kept driving hoping that the diesel part would not enter the engine until we reached home. Finally in the darkness of the night (with occasional bursts of fog) we finally managed to get back through three freeways and reached home by 1.30am.
It was an unforgettable day in many respects and now, I am more confident of my driving than I have ever been in my life!!!
Yours,
Arvind Sharma.
We went to Mt.Reinier (about 3 hours drive from here) on Sunday and it turned out to be an unforgettable day in many respects. We reached a point 5400 feet high in car and climbed for 2 hours to reach a point 7200 feet high!!! There was almost noone there and we had snow all around. We were so close to the peak. We played there for almost an hour. It was the best adventure I ever had.
Finally at 8.30 we decided we need to go back and started the descent. It took almost an hour and finally when we reached the car all exhausted and drained, I found that I had left the headlights on and the battery had completely drained!!! Then we found that the visitor's
office and all such places were closed as it was sunday night!! Finally there was a hotel there and we went into that and made a call to the Emergency services of the rental agency (Avis) and they arrived in about 2 hours and we waited patiently.
I should say Mt.Reinier is quite a sight in the night with the clear sky and countless stars in the background (though the temperature must have been around 10 degrees or lesser). Infact we took a few pictures of our incredible car with the night sky in the background!! The mechanic finally managed to jump-started the car. Finally we started at 11pm and bingo!! we didnt know the proper route back as the maps we had taken had some road named incorrectly.Also since I didnt want to risk a half-filled tank, we stopped at a petrol bunk and my friend went and filled the fuel. Then just before we left I noticed the name on the fuel station and it was written-DIESEL FUEL. I was totally dismayed.
We kept driving hoping that the diesel part would not enter the engine until we reached home. Finally in the darkness of the night (with occasional bursts of fog) we finally managed to get back through three freeways and reached home by 1.30am.
It was an unforgettable day in many respects and now, I am more confident of my driving than I have ever been in my life!!!
Yours,
Arvind Sharma.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)