If you believe these are lines from a congress spokesperson, think again. These are lines that I have gathered from either FB messages or from discussion with my learned friends some of whom come from the best of the best institutes of this country. Strangely none of the criticism is aimed at the arrogant group of pot bellied (all the pun intended) congressmen. I am presenting here my two cents on phrases mentioned above.

Jingoism means extreme nationalism primarily driven by aggressive foreign policy. In the absence of foreign policy element in the discussion we can safely assume that jingoism charge means that people are showing strong nationalistic fervour. Is it blasphemy to show excessive patriotism? Is it a sin that a nation on a rudderless path to oblivion has suddenly got direction even if for a short shift? And let me tell you there are people in our society, not sure if its the same set or not, who strongly advocate, or desist from active discouragement, of freedom of expression when it comes to showcasing nude paintings of hindu goddesses or rampant inclusion of vulgar vocabulary in all sources of entertainment today.

Media is creating frenzy. People please bother to see what media usually reports during prime time in India. Half the channels show some reality stuff or stand up comedy. Most of the remaining are clear propogandists with anchors whose credibility has been called into question several times in the past. Barring from a couple of news channels Indian media is usually a sham.

 Tune into any channel today, all you see is debate about right and wrong of all that is happening. Isnt this what media is supposed to do?Arent they supposed to mobilize various opinions in a democracy? Provide a platform for people from varied walks of life express their views on issues of national importance? Even India TV is doing it for a change!!

 Now to the point of Anna’s protest and its validity. First of all parliament is chosen for a period of 5 years only because we cant chose them on daily basis. But if a situation so arises which asks of us to let the elected representatives know what we feel; Is it wrong to do so?

 Secondly lets revisit the first agitation Anna staged in April which had wider acceptance but lower visual support. As part of the resolution it was agreed that joint drafting committee would make the draft and on some occassions the civil members were really happy that there is consensus on most of the issues. However when the finalized draft was forwarded to the standing committee of parliament it didn’t contain previously agreed provisions. Isnt it a breach of trust?

What was congress thinking, first GoM on lokpal had Mr Pawar who was removed after perfectly justified public embarrassment of UPA. Then when Anna started his protest some genius in the government played a master stroke, finish this mobilization ASAP, get these guys on discussion table and then finish them on the table, and this is what they did in terms of the final draft.

And now the same hounds in the goverment are asking civil society team to go to parliamentary standing committee and discuss. What a farce? How can they be trusted? And howcome a distrust for the members of ruling party amount to being unconstitutional? What is it that civil society is really asking for? Look deeper and its amply clear they are taking a hardened stance (both in terms of provisions of jan lokpal and the verbal hammering) just to let the same morons know that please come to discussion if you are serious about it and then we can thresh out the finer details.

 Anna is himself steeped into corruption. How much corruption? Rs 2 Lakhs and in a case where the complainant has already withdrawn his complaint and chief charity commissioner has tendered a written apology to Anna. Surely if there was any fuel to this fire there would be no dearth of Anna baiters to sabotage his image of cleanliness.

Now on to the most funny argument. Nothing will happen. Hum nahi sudher sakte. Hum sab corrupt hain. This will only increase the expenditure. What kind of logic is this. Dont start something just because it will not be successful. Seems like people already know the future. 

And yes any lokpal will not solve the problem of corruption but it will give hope to millions who walk on face of this once great nation in condition of absolute hopelessness. It is a chance for us all to feel what a truly vibrant democracy is. It will create the explosion that Bhagat Singh so wanted to do to make the deaf hear. It will create an indelible impression on those who are sent to parliament, to courts, to government offices to keep in mind the most important pillar of democracy and that is WE THE PEOPLE.

A shayar once said “Dil hai to dhadakne ka bahaana koi dhoonde…patthar ki tarah behiso bejaan sa kyun hai”.

 Why have we become such pessimists, it was 1947 when after a long gap of 1000 years we got back the chance to write our own destiny. And we are lucky to have realised our mistakes since then in just 64 years. We should be optimistic about the future because we still have someone who is ready to put his life on the line to ensure we dont loose sight of the ideals that we should live for. Lets not give into cynicism when we can ourselves become better human beings by taking a dip in this ganga of redemption.

However, one thing that is granted for such entities is the opportunity to take on the world at its own terms. Gargoyles are in any case not expected to act as harvesters.

What can be those terms? They can be, as is the nature for all of us, to have the feeling of belonging; which it has been deprived since its birth. Why I say deprived is because the concept of birth is something that we all have to experience without any self conscious desire and yet have to owe up whatever destiny throws at us; no questions can be asked no justice to be expected. Or it can be the feeling of proving oneself as an equal to those who don’t need to prove their rights that they are bestowed with out of their still intact affiliations. There is another desire that should take shape, a desire to maintain the quintessential dignity of being a human being; a desire made more profound by the sordidness that is associated with the word ordinary. In fulfilling such desires in part or in full, the subject endures endless scrutiny. Its own life becomes an altar for testing its own purity which often the ones with better endowments escape.

Those who have endured scrutiny would understand how being tested by another human being, who on the merit of individual prowess needs to show respect that we should show to someone with superior achievements. However owing to the arrogance that lesser mortals seek to associate with factors that they are born in rather than born with leads to one of the gravest cases of justice denied as well as injustice accepted. This humiliation of will and soul doesn’t stop, it is not easy to understand and accept the unacceptability.

Its said “Veer Bhogya Vasundhara” but such is the travesty that the Veer continues to seek legitimacy to be called a Veer. What is more disconcerting is that he seeks acceptance from very people who had they been in a world where humanity, for the first time, starts to decide upon rules to establish rules and laws based upon strict adherence to natural principles of meritocracy and honesty would have willingly accept him as the alpha. However in this case he proposes to be disposed, he cares to care but is asked to beware. This collective attempt to erode can never go unpunished, for the creator of the world wanted the world to be a Libra, forever trying to redress balances, moving between excesses, sowing fear and hope, delivering injustice and justice. And so was the justice finally met out to our twig. For all that he yearned for while living, the future ever since has been yearning equally hardly to bestow on him. His greatness lies that while he had his chances to change which he din’t, his debtor, the time wants to change and it can’t. He lives and shines as the mark of the famous father who begot an even more famous son.

Came across a news item with headline “48 required by Chaminda Vaas to become 4^th all rounder….”….baah humbug. Vaas an all rounder!!

I did a quick search on cricinfo to find out what exactly the cricket writer, or rather statistician, meant – 309 ODI’s 1962 runs 390 wickets. Having worked as an analyst cum statistician I could see the orgasmic high such a statistic combination would have given to him. But I had been taught to look at statistics as a means to justify an end so I again sought help to verify my limited knowledge of what exactly an all rounder means. This is what wiki yielded “An all-rounder is a cricket player who excels at both batting and bowling”.

Chaminda Vaas for all his intelligence, and not necessarily skill of late, would go down as Sri Lanka’s lone seamer of note and repute. But to call him an all rounder is nothing but a sacrilege on what an “All rounder” means (disclaimer: as per wiki). Other illustrious “All Rounders” that he might share space with are Shaun Pollock, Kallis and another one. Then a thought occurred to me that I may be overreaching my self by getting into the circuitous logic of statistics myself. May be statistics do tell something that makes business sense. So let’s analyze the business (cricket) sense of the inference that the writer had drawn.

Imagine Brett Lee bowling at 150 to an “All Rounder”, playing with number 10, with match as tight as the knot binding couples during Hindu marriages! Who would I trust to save my neck? Or rather if I am sounding a bit too egotistical by quoting my “trust” who would Lee not want, out of the league that Mr Vaas is going to belong? It’s a million dollar question who wouldn’t he want between Kallis and Pollock? Oh did I forget Senor Vaas, Mr. writer? I am sorry for being selectively amnesic but then cricket is about making million dollar calls and not decisions that even I and you can make.

Actually I think it’s a bit too harsh to comment with such impunity about Mr Writer’s inference. In a country where marketability of a film star determines the suitability for candidature of presidency, atleast for mass media and a lot of “sms“ voters, and it actually lands up in the lap of a respectable elder woman says a lot about the kind of logic that drives Indian mass and elite. Our writer has atleast taken refuge in something that has statistical sense to it.

Singapore Diary

After the growingly insipid days at Inductis, doing the stuff that I had been doing for the past 1 year, came the opportunity that every fresh engineer craves for in the first year of his career but few actually get. I got an 8 month posting to Singapore for an onsite project.

The day was made as there were a lot of worthy candidates to choose from.

However the reality soon struck hard as I realized the import of the decision, an eight month long deputation away from home. “Home” a place which seems so ordinary, not in terms of its value but the necessity and the regularity of that necessity, that you never imagine life away from it. All the initial euphoria gave way to a sick feeling of pregnant nostalgia that I were to experience in the coming days or should I say months.

May 18^th 2006, Changi Airport

9:30 AM the Indian Airlines flight landed on the world famous Changi aerodrome.

One of the first things that one notices about Singapore is the amount of green this city boasts of, although a city no bigger than one third of our Delhi the city houses 4 million people and yet the green cover is maintained with much fastidiousness. So through the green and woods our caravan reached the Redwood, a service apartment near the south western harbor of Singapore and from now on our home for the next 15 days.

After accommodation now was the time to visit the place where we were to spend most of our time away from home, so we arrived at the PBTP(PLAZA BY THE PARK) the SCB office in downtown Singapore, one thing you notice about the place is the weirdness of the name of the place as the park after which the square was christened was non existent, later we came to realize that the park had given way to a management university, although I don’t like green to be sacrificed at the altar of development, this sacrifice didn’t really perturb me as later it became a sort of favorite hanging spot for me during the lunch breaks. More on that later as I don’t want my favorite spot on the PBTP to have a fleeting mention.

If anyone is planning to stay in Singapore for considerable length of time it doesn’t take long to realize the necessity to acquaint oneself with the public transportation as you are likely to realize the diabolic ERP, Electronic Road Pricing, a penalty if you want to help the cause of employment of the local taxi drivers, though its applicable only during the supposedly the peak hours of traffic and not to mention the peak hour surcharge that is levied on top of that.

If you somehow are able to convince yourself to take that hit on your pocket the most basic existential reality hits you i.e. the possibility or the impossibility of getting a cab, therefore you have to pay another surcharge to “call a cab”. So to cut the long story short – the govt of Singapore can’t see the taxi drivers or the people using them happy, so be prepared to drag yourself to the closest metro station and travel to your destination surveying the bounties of Singapore. Not that I mind that too much.

Not too bad is how I would describe my first impression of Singapore. The only thing left to survey was the food. The first day we’d lunched at a small Indian joint just across the road at redwood, though not exactly tasty the food was quite palatable, which appeared to be quite a surprise as the area was predominantly Chinese or malay or just non Indian.

The quest for true tasty tangy Indian food led me to my -would be- the most favorite spot in the whole of Singapore, LITTLE India. A completely familiar milieu suddenly sprouts up in the middle of awe inspiring yet tastelessly done Singapore. The crowd, shops, houses, restaurants and the component that is the quintessence of any culture, its people, all seemed so likeable, so familiar and helped quite a few times in partially bridging the disconnect, which occurs when you are detached from your comfort zone and put in untested waters.

Apparently this in one of the few places left that has somehow maintained its old world charm to some extent amidst the frenzy to expand horizontally and vertically that has caught the imagination of the local gubernators. You can find the pavement stalls selling coconut water, vegetables, incense, flowers just about everything and like back home. Although Singapore has traditionally been known more for south Indian settlers amongst the Indian expats yet the trend is changing with a more cosmopolitan look to its Indian expat community that was well reflected in the number of north Indian food restaurants the place boasts of and even the south Indian places offer quite a reasonable platter of north Indian dishes.

My favorite joint became “Khansaama”, a Punjabi restaurant run by a dozen of Punjabis. My taste buds after dipping into half a dozen other Indian restaurants across Singapore still vouch for the taste of khansaama as their lengthiest and most consistent passion. However in the heady days food was usually cooked at home by my competent colleagues.

Days starting passing with monotonous regularity, morning – to office, evening – back from office and then follow the same routine again. The work was not something to lose sleep over or be overly excited about but it did gave me an experience which if I look back has helped me both professionally and personally the most.

Better part of the year back with a decent posting in Singapore, ample amount of money, time and avenues to spend it in tow I had made peace with my childhood dream of getting through to THE B school, dream it was when one fine day I recall, seems almost prophetic now but ludicrous till before “now”, telling or rather announcing to my teacher that I am thinking of doing my MBA from IIM-A. Lack of success for two year running, repeated failure to repeat the mocks success at the big stage had made me do a capability vs desire balancing check. It was decided that one last shot would be given to CAT and in case of a repeat performance life should move on with other pursuits independent of MBA. Plans were made to catch on things that I had always wanted to do, once I had enough in my pocket, but were in limbo owing to obvious reasons.

Its one thing to think beyond your dream but to live beyond it is destiny’s call.

With absolutely no expectation, sleep (owing to sinusitis) and preparation of conventional sorts (AR and SS to vouch for that) 19 November was greeted with a strange sense of relish that a prisoner should know of on the day before his release. Exam was remarkably different, with extra time, as if to compensate for the killer English section which would have tested even the progenitors of the language. Rest of the day along with the whole of evening passed in analyzing the results as announced by the various reputed institutes.

It’s said success depends upon how someone performs under pressure, I cannot. Shouldn’t it be how someone performs without pressure?

Came New Year and came along with it interview calls. A twist in the tale, a new chapter or just a momentary distraction? The answer made its appearance a few months later to confirm the former. At that time it felt surreal, almost devoid of any emotion, a feeling of numbness that hits you when something that you hoped, once, comes true. Destiny again seemed to be playing with me, as if saying “Hello sir who decides where the hell you land up, I do”.

Script has been written, die cast what you do or think matters little, and it’s futile. Is it?

This experience helped me learn one thing and that is flexibility is an alias for change and change is what is constant. When chips are down the worst you can do is mow yourself down and the best to mow the expectations down. Expectations are like a dead burden that lend little help in acheiving the goal while physchologically disintegrating the beholder. That’s education which no coaching institute provides and honestly that’s the first thing that should be taught in this competitive world. Sounds a bit like “Bhagvad GITA” but then great men across ages think alike .

Journey began millennia back, it will continue like quest for Atlantis.

In life as in death one thing is common, the eternal question remains. The question, I believe, is strictly idiosyncratic. They say we find answers to questions the whole life, what actually we need is that one question that defines all answers, what an irony?

For now the new course carries the journey forward, the idiosyncrasy remains, the question remains which only destiny can answer.