Day 113-2011 : There Is Hope!

What's he got that I ain't got!?!?!? The answer to this, these days, could well be : An 'Anna' cap!  Wearing an 'Anna Hazare' cap is the latest 'cool' thing all over the place.

The Anna Hazare Cap - Hep!

Trendy!

It has been fascinating to watch Anna Hazare and his group of crusaders orchestrate the campaign against corruption over the last few weeks.  The first time I heard about the campaign was...on Facebook, on Meera Sanyal's wall!  I had, at that moment, no idea of how big this will become.  This was 'Gandhigiri' revisited!

The core elements were the same as the original methodology.  A lone man, frail and old, using non-violence and fasting as a means to protest against the wrong-doings of all the bad men.  Anna was protesting against the political class' incestuous attempt to rig the drafting of the Lokpal Bill, which would in effect give immunity to them.  The nation exploded in spontaneous anger.  Demonstrations and protest marches and meetings were held in multiple cities across the country to support the movement.

In many senses, this was 'Gandhigiri', 21st century style.  The campaign was all over the internet.  Social networking was leveraged wonderfully! The team also came up with a novel way of enlisting support, by making a missed call!  It looked like the politicos had grossly underestimated the enduring power of Satyagraha remixed with lightning speed communication.  The government finally gave in to all the demands of the protesters, the main one being the inclusion of civil society in the committee which is drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The real battle, however, begins now.  The political class, which was taken aback by the spontaneity of the campaign, is slowly regrouping and trying to hit back.  Almost every day, there is a news report of an allegation of graft or other wrong-doing against the panel members from the civil society.  What the politicians fear is not just a one-off campaign.  They fear the radical ideas of the young group of Anna's supporters.  Anna is just the mascot.  The ultimate goal of this motley group of born again crusaders like Arvind Kejriwal, the Bhushans and Kiran Bedi, is 'Direct Democracy'.  A radical concept which would empower the civil society at the lowest common denominator.  What's more, it proposes the 'Right To Recall', which could be used by the voters of a given constituency if they think their representative isn't doing a good job or is corrupt.

I think some of the ideas related to the 'Direct Democracy' concept are too extreme.  They have in fact the power to destabilise civil society.  There will need to be some moderation before these could be sold to a country as vast as India.

But this is a great start!  One of the things that I firmly believed in the past was that, a revolution can never happen in a country like India.  This campaign has done enough to change that view.  Looks like a revolution is possible. 

There will be a time when the despair, desperation and frustration swelling within the consciousness of a gagged nation will result in a revolution against all that has caused it.  There is hope! 

Take care!

Day 94-2011 : The Cup of Joy!

I have always wondered as to why, when we won the Prudential World Cup in 1983, no one told me about it.  The hype and the celebrations over the win were not very apparent, at least to me.  There was one household in our locality who had drawn the pictures of some men on the front outer wall of their house, but I did not know who the men were.  No one was dancing, no one was asking me to participate in the celebrations and nobody was hysterical.

28 years down the line, I realise that it is a very different world!  Yes, India won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 yesterday and the scenes of celebrations had to be seen to be believed.  Not that I saw any of them live.  But the news channels on the television have been going on and on about the celebrations that ensued across the nation throughout last night!

India was being tagged as the favourites to win this tournament even before it began.  The No.1 status in Test Cricket, the fact that we were the hosts and the team's recent form meant that everyone was expecting this team, with a mighty batting line up and a not so strong bowling and fielding side, to win the tournament.  Yesterday, Team India delivered on that.  In spite of the pressure of the expectations of a 1.21 billion strong country, playing at home.

My view is that Team India, though very strong due to an unending stream of solid (and explosive) batsmen, was not necessarily top draw because of the bowling attack.  The bowling attack consisting of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and the other part timers was not exactly a strong one.  However, this spirited group of people put on a great show on the bowling side in almost all of the matches.  They understood their limitations, bowled to their strengths and within themselves.  Zaheer and Yuvraj were the stars!  Each time Dhoni needed a wicket he called upon Zaheer...and he invariably delivered.  He has made amends for 2007, and how!

Yuvraj  is a completely different story altogether.  Criticised for his temperament, lack of focus and fitness, the 'Prince' came back from the brink!  To win the Player of the Tournament award!  It was very evident that a lot of work on the mental conditioning side has gone into this turnaround.  He was imperious with the bat and bowled with guile!  His fielding, especially in the final match, was top class!  The Prince had arrived...again!

The 'GOD' was at his usual best.  Scoring almost each time he went to the crease, he finished second best in terms of the number of runs scored by batsmen in the tournament.  He got closer to the 100th century but could not quite get there.  He however, has a World Cup medal finally!  The dream has been fulfilled.  The entire team wanted to win it for Sachin.  To me, it doesn't really matter what Sachin does with his cricketing career from now on.  He is a living legend and there will be no one like him...never ever! 

Last but not the least, was the captain.  Dhoni was in a class of his own.  He has now won all the major cricket tournaments as a captain.  The 20-20 World Cup, IPL, The Champions League, No.1 Test Ranking for India and now the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011!  We need to create some more tournaments to whet his appetite, I guess.  Evidently, he has shown great leadership skills over the last four years, since he took over as the captain of Team India in all forms of cricket!  Take a bow!

When Dhoni hit the winning runs with the six yesterday, we were shouting, jumping and hugging each other.  A spontaneous release of all the built up tension over the last few weeks while following the team.  The tournament itself was not devoid of controversies.  From the controversy on the allotment of tickets to that of match fixing allegations during the semis and the final.  I do not know if the match-fixing allegations were true...and now, I do not care.  I have realised that something which can give joy and happiness to so many people is best enjoyed at face value.  I love the feeling.  There is a spring in my step.  I am walking on air.

Enjoy the sense of achievement, India.  Enjoy the victory!

Take care.

Day 87-2011 : Back to Fiction

There was a time when I would be borrowing a novel from a circulating library in the morning, finish reading it during the day and exchange it back for another one the next day in the morning.  This was during the summer vacations in my school and college going times.  Life then was a complete joy ride without a worry in the world.

Over the years, with the daily drudgery of earning your grub and tending to the family, the reading habit was put on the back-burner.  I could never find the time nor the inclination to pick up a book to read.  Even if I did so, I would find it very hard to finish reading it!  One of the resolutions that I made at the start of this year was to improve on my reading.  I am happy to report that I have met with reasonable success with it so far.  The kick-off was with Andrew Ross Sorkin's pseudo-fictional plot on the financial turmoil at Wall Street in 2008; Too Big To Fail.  I finished reading it within a month.  What I did however realise, was that, a generous dose of fiction is what might get my reading going again.  The fast paced, the better.  Hence, once I finished this, I read fiction with a vengeance.  I came across a bunch of Agatha Christie murder mysteries / thrillers, which I think was gifted by my colleagues at ACES.  I am now done with two of those titles and thoroughly enjoyed reading them!

I remember the first book that really ignited the interest in me for reading.  It was Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel, and of course, its sequels.  Over the years he has been one of my favourite authors.  Hence, I recently read his latest novel, Only Time Will Tell. 

I read this one entirely on the flights to and back from New York.  The impression that I got after reading it was that the author is probably not at his best.  His efforts here seem very laboured.  He painstakingly tries to recreate a plot which is similar to a Kane and Abel, and in my mind, fails to do that.  The characters are not very well fleshed out at all.  Mind you, as a story it is a good read, but I have higher expectations from an author like Jeffrey Archer.

So, here I am now, back to the murder mysteries.  But this time, it is not Poirot but Miss Marple.  Three months down and I am on my fifth book now.  A couple of others are in the queue, including Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and the more technical, Securities Operations, by Mike Simmons.

As of now, fiction seems to have done the trick!  Take care.

Day 80-2011 : Mother Nature Strikes...And How!

I haven't been able to post anything over the last couple of weeks.  I haven't been lazy; just did not get the time to pen down my thoughts, due to a number of circumstances.

The main culprit has been my travel schedule.  Looks like March is turning out to be as hectic as the previous two months on the travel front.  I have been now to Shirdi, Nashik, New York and Ahmedabad in this month.  The incident at Shirdi was of course a shocker.  By the way, we have been able to make some headway into the matter after I wrote the letter on the 9th of March.  Since then the SP of Ahmednagar District has taken interest in the matter and has promised strict action against the guilty cops at the Shirdi Police Station.  The visit to Nashik was wonderful as well.  One of my uncles, Ramesh Iyer, is a nature enthusiast, and specialises in terrariums. All of us like the place, especially the kids.  The weekend after Nashik, I had to travel to New York and then the following weekend was Ahmedabad.

This post however is not about my experiences during all of these trips.  It is about nature.  And its fury!  On Friday, I had taken the day off to prepare for my New York trip.  I was however, looking up the BB every now and then. Sometime during mid-morning, I got a note from one of my colleagues that he was on a conference call with Tokyo and the colleagues in Tokyo mentioned that they thought they were experiencing tremors. After that, there was only a flood of emails about the natural calamity striking Japan.  It has since been confirmed that all my colleagues in the firm based out of Japan are safe and there has been no loss of life.  Now, considering the scale of the disaster, this must be some sort of a miracle!  I am told this is purely because of the fact that buildings in Japan, especially in the urban areas are built to withstand very high intensity earthquakes.  This earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the history of the country with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale.

But then, there was more to come!  The earthquake triggered of a Tsunami which hit the coastal areas of North-Eastern Japan with a vengeance.  Some of the pictures on television were horrendous and heart wrenching.  The sheer size of the Tsunami waves was literally washing away anything that came in its path.  Houses, cars, planes, ships and everything else was washed away through fields and villages.  Just watching it made me shiver, I cannot even begin to imagine what people in Japan must be going through.  The calamity is also a setback to Japan's attempts to come out of a recessionary economic phase.  Some might argue that the resultant reconstruction activity would boost the economy.  There is, however, no proof of it from past such events. 

The twin disasters have also opened up possibility of another monumental disaster occurring.  The overheating and the resultant fires at the nuclear power plants in Japan is a huge worry across the globe.  People are fearing another Chernobyl like calamity.  There are reports of traces of radiation being found in nearby areas of the power plants.  This has, of course, triggered another debate around the usage of nuclear energy, which I am sure, is likely to continue for a while in the foreseeable future.

While all of this is happening, my thoughts go out to the thousands of people who have lost their lives, those who have lost their near and dear ones and those who have lost their livelihoods.  We should do all we can to help the Japan and its people at this critical juncture. 

Mother Nature provides.  But just like your real mother, sometimes Mother Nature pulls out all the stops to remind you who's the boss!

Take care.

Day 68-2011 : Letter to DGP, Maharashtra (Abridged)

To,

The Director General of Police
Maharashtra.

Dear Sir,

I wish you to bring to your notice an incident that happened on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at Shirdi. I and my family members, names and ages attached, had travelled to Shirdi for Darshan on that day.

During the visit jewellery from my aunt’s purse was stolen. The jewellery was kept in a yellow pouch, in the purse carried by my aunt. The list of items stolen and their approximate value are attached herewith.

Following is the sequence of events:

1. We reached Shirdi and joined the queue for Darshan at 13.00 IST.
2. We reached the Sai Samadhi at the end of the queue at approximately 14.15 IST.
3. All of us came out and went to the donation office opposite the exit from the Sai Samadhi.
4. We realised that the jewellery has been stolen at the donation office at approximately 14.20 IST.
5. We immediately lodged a complaint with the temple Security Office.
6. When asked to review the footage from the CCTV cameras, the temple security office control room advised that we should lodge an FIR at the Shirdi police station, only after which we could see the CCTV footage.
7. We went to the Shirdi police station at approximately 16.30 IST to lodge the FIR.

On reaching the Shirdi police station, my aunt was first of all rebuked by the constables on duty for carrying the jewellery to the temple. When asked to lodge a FIR, we were told that ours is not the only such case that has happened; 10 such cases of theft are reported on a daily basis. When we still persisted on registering the FIR, we were told that nothing would come of it and it would be a futile exercise. Moreover, the authorities at the police station did not want to register a FIR because we were outsiders (from Mumbai) and they assumed that we would not come back to follow up on the case or when summoned. When this did not work, the officials on duty started threatening us by saying that we were asking for trouble and if we do not turn up when summoned for a follow up on the case, even warrants could be issued against us! We were also told that the FIR will not be lodged till the Police Inspector of the Shirdi Police Station comes back to the police station from his rounds, for which the ETA was not known. This was another delaying tactic used by the officials in the hope that we would abandon the thought of registering a police complaint. All along, the officials on duty were rude to my aunt, who is a senior citizen, and the rest of us. There was no empathy for the fact that a 68 year old lady had lost her jewellery and she would be mentally distressed due to this.

I would like to escalate this matter to you in your position as the head of the state’s police force. Instead of helping people in distress, the police force is being rude to them and do not have the sensitivity to deal with such cases. If the police force of the state behaves like this, I ask you, what is the recourse for the common man?

I request you to please intervene in this matter and help us find the stolen items of jewellery. I would also like to request you to please look into the matter of the misconduct of the police officials on duty at Shirdi Police Station on that day and take the appropriate action against them.

I hope to get a favourable and swift response from you.

Thanking you,

Yours Truly.

CC: The Superintendant of Police, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra

CC: Shri R. R. Patil, The Home Minister, Maharashtra

Day 66-2011 : The Artist In Her

The lady is just unstoppable!  And the kids are loving it! 



She has been eyeing the walls for some time now.  Ever since we moved into our new house, my better half has been wanting to paint the walls in the children's room by herself.  Sensing that I might have no objections in using the walls as a canvas, she went for it.  And the result is an oil painting of Tom & Jerry in the children's room.  Quite apt, I would say.

 

Tom & Jerry @ Mumbai!



The walls are her canvas!

Noddy & Co. @ Chennai.

I think Priya is very good at this.  Of course, she has always been a performing artist, having been trained in Bharatnatyam for a number of years.  But this is fine arts and that is a completely different ball game.  I guess she has a knack for this too.  And this is not the first time that our walls have borne the brunt of her artistic expressions.  She had converted the whole length of a wall in our previous house at Chennai into Toyland! With crayons!

The children are imploring her to do Spiderman next.  Warli painting on another wall is on the cards next, I think.  She has been talking to me about it for some time now, to test the waters, I guess.

I think it is time to invest in a proper canvas!

Take care.

Day 58-2011 : Long Live The Pen!

I write this as the Indian bowlers are getting clobbered by the English batsmen.  Who would have thought that the Englismen would chase a large total like 338 so ferociously!  But then that is the nature of modern day cricket. Nothing is impossible!  I have to however, admit that I had to take a couple of breaks writing this post, as India turned around a defeat into a one pointer tie.  Team aise hi nahi jeetti, jeetana padta hai! Problem is, team jeeti nahi aaj...The match has however livened up a damp squib of a World Cup so far.

Along with the nature of modern day cricket, a lot of other things have also changed.  One of them, I realised today, was writing.  Yes, writing.  Earlier in the day, I tried writing this post (to be frank, the topic at that point of time was completely different) with a pen on a notepad.  Strangely, I found it terribly difficult to pen down my thoughts.  What I think I was not very happy about was the speed at which I was able to write, or the lack of it.  I noticed that the pace of my writing was not able to keep up with the pace of my thought processes.  Come to think of it, I realised that in the last 10 years, I haven't really written much by hand at all!  The pen has been used most only for signatures and maybe for filling out some forms.  Almost everything else has been 'written' by the keyboard.  No wonder!

Will they survive?

I am sure that others, before me, have also experienced the same.  The reason is very simple.  We no longer 'write'.  We type.  We do all our documents on a computer with a keyboard.  And nowadays on mobile phones and tablets as well.  We no longer write letters; we type out emails and send them.  They are delivered instantly.  Why use a pen?  For signatures?  Well, I think this reason will also be obsolete in a few years when everyone might be using digital signatures.  Already, a lot of official documentation is concluded with digital signatures.

So, will there be any reason to use pens 20 years from now?   Maybe....maybe not!  Will the saying 'The pen is mightier than the sword' still be relevant or will it be 'The keyboard is mightier than the sword'?  Will our children learn the written word with the help of keyboards and not pens and pencils?  Will the pen die a lonely death? 

I hope not.  Take care. 

Day 48-2011 : The Cup That Counts!

Sounds a bit tacky, doesn't it?  The Cup That Counts.  Somehow, it just doesn't sound quite right.  And given that there are many like me who think there is too much cricket being played, I am not sure if it really counts!

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is here.  The sub-continent is the host.  All the competing teams are here.  A couple of practice matches have been played.  The opening ceremony today at Dhaka was a big spectacle.  We are all set...for the cricket extravaganza of the year!

Or maybe not.  I thought the hype leading to the event itself has been a bit subdued.  It might be the result of the ambush advertising ban enforced by ICC.  Basically, ICC, with an Indian politician at its helm, knows the value of money and the fact that it can milk its exclusive rights over the tournament.  Thus the ban on cricketers appearing in advertisements of competing brands of ICC's main sponsors.  The cricketers, who know the value of money as well and the fact that they can milk the fan following for the game in the sub-continent, tried their best to hop, skip and jump the ban.  It is, after all, all about money, honey!

Whatever be the case, I am going to enjoy the games, even if the one day game sometimes tests our patience.  Thanks to 20-20 cricket.  There has been a lot of talk about India being the favourites.  Australia, with their recent success over the Poms and the Proteas are also strong sides.  I think they are equally good compared to the Indian team.  And then, there is the mercurial Pakistan team, which on its day, can make mincemeat of any team in the world.  Like a true patriot, I am rooting for the Indian team.  With a captain who is an expert at absorbing the pressure with his ice cool demeanour and a team that believes in itself, I think they can actually do it.  But, who knows!  Cricket, as they say, is a game of great uncertainties.  Maybe one of the minnows, most likely to be Bangladesh with its home advantage too, might spring a series of surprises.  They did so at the last World Cup in 2007.  I doubt if many of the minnows will do well like in 2007, but at least one or two of them are likely to make a mark.

I am also looking forward to the event very keenly due to the presence of some of the biggest stars of the game in the same event.  I am hoping that Sachin Tendulkar, who is most certainly playing his last World Cup, might put up a special show for us all.  Ponting, Gayle, Brett Lee, Afridi, Malinga, Yusuf, Sehwag and many many other exciting stars.  The other exciting part would be the discovery of some new stars which the tournament might throw up. 

Lastly, one of the things that I wanted to do this time was go and watch a match in person at the stadium.  A quick peek at the ticket prices and availability put paid to that wish.  I am much better of watching all the matches that I want at home on the idiot box which provides the luxury of action replays, highlights, quick access to key statistics and views of expert commentators.

Enjoy the game.  May the best team win.  Play!

Take care!

P.S.: The tag line, though, still doesn't sound right.

Day 41-2011 : Time Out

It is an interesting fact, but it is true.  In the five and a half years that I lived in Chennai, I did not even once go to the Marina Beach, supposedly the world's second longest beach!  I must have gone to the famous shopping area of T-Nagar maybe a couple of times in that time.  I did not ever go to the Vandalur zoo.  Actually, I lived in Adyar for a couple of those years and in spite of wanting to, never visited the either the Theosophical Society or Kalakshetra!  And by the way, in the almost two years that I lived in Bengaluru, the city of gardens, I did not find the time to visit Lal Baug!  In fact, I could possibly come up with some places in my home town, Ahmedabad, as well, where I haven't been in my lifetime.

I am reminded of all of this because of a chance visit to the Chowpatty in Mumbai recently.  Yes, you probably guessed it right.  I did not go to Chowpatty specifically; I just happened to be in its vicinity.  However a strong urge to stop the car and to go and have a look overtook me.  And there I was, at 11 AM in the morning, savouring the bright Mumbai sunshine on Chowpatty beach.  I like the vast expansiveness of the sea; with the South Mumbai and Walkeshwar backdrops, the landscape was even better.  This experience however triggered a curious train of thought in my mind.  Why did I not do those things which I mention above in the first paragraph?  Why, even after more than a year of coming back to Mumbai, I haven't been to the Chowpatty, or the Gateway of India, or closer home, even the Juhu beach?



@Chowpatty after a long time!



I feel like I have lost out on the opportunity to intimately get to know these places by not being more adventurous.  Yes, driving in our cities these days is adventurous!  I can think of many reasons though, for not having explored these cities more.  And I am sure, I am probably not the only one who feels this way.

First and foremost, I think is the antipathy to crowded public places.  I hate crowds.  I guess T-Nagar is explained now.  Second, and it is related to the first one, is the lack of convenient public transport and the lack of available parking spaces.  I hate to be driving in circles trying to find a parking space.  If I do find one, the need to squeeze the vehicle into a buttonhole turns me off.  If I do indeed get there, the constant fear of a traffic policeman with a greasy palm makes me a nervous wreck!  Third, is time; or the lack of it!  I haven't had the time to think about visiting all these places in the last few years.  Even if I did think about it, I could never get down to actually doing it.  Modern urban life keeps one busy at work and even at home!  On the weekdays, you are trying to get things done at work.  In the weekends, you are trying to get things done at home!  Work, home, spouse, kids, friends (and yes, social networking sites too now) occupy all our available hours. 

Come to think of it, I haven't had a proper vacation since 2006, when myself and Priya went to Goa for our babymoon.  Even that trip came about because we had to attend a friend's wedding there!

However, now that I think I have missed out on these things all these years, I am determined to correct it.  I am going explore some of the interesting public places in the city in the next few months.  And I am definitely determined to plan a family vacation (or maybe even two!) this year!

Take care.

Day 30-2011 : A Nomadic Month

We are already at the fag end of the first month of this year!  Time is flying!

This month was full of hectic travel, largely on the personal front, but also for work.  The month started with me and the family flying back to Mumbai from Ahmedabad where we spent the last week of December and brought in the new year.  The very next day, we drove down to Pune.  Priya and the kids were going to spend the week at her mother's place and I was left to fend for myself in Mumbai for the week.  Life without wife; for a week!

I did get through the week by spending most of the time at work.  Food was on 'Delivery' mode, from a few restaurants nearby.  End of the week I travelled to Goa for an offsite meeting spanning the weekend.  An early morning flight (5 AM!) after a late night the previous day set the tone for the offsite.  The first day of the offsite was hectic and very productive.  The evening was spent having dinner on the beach along with some enthusiastic singing (mostly Amitabh Bachchan / Kishore K songs!) by the gang.  Some of the gang carried on the drinking on the beach after the dinner till very late in the night.



Sea food on offer @ Goa; none for me though!

The next day, after attending the reminder of the sessions at the offsite, myself and a few others were on our way back.  The others, of course were staying for the night as well, which I had to miss, as I had to pick up

the family from Pune on Sunday.  Hence I was back in Mumbai and on my way again to Pune the next day.  The highlight of this trip was opportunity to meet Rajee, Ashwath and Anjali, who are here for a vacation from Estonia after a long time.  We dropped them at Panvel on our way back from Pune.

@ Pune with the family. 

Lastly during the middle of the month, all of us went back to Ahmedabad for Rashmi's Seemantham.  A rush rush affair this time.  But it was great to see a lot of people in the family make it to Ahmedabad for the ceremony.

The Seemantham ceremony @ Ahmedabad.

It is said that whatever you do on the first day of any year, you are bound to keep repeating it throughout the year.  Though I am not a great believer of such superstitions, the evidence so far in January suggests that it might just be true.

Take care.