The big shakeup - Unedited

The world stood at the edge of the cliff in Q4 2008. I remember that day, we were driving back from North Caroline after a bad loss in the playoffs, although I had a decent day with the ball. We were lucky to have Sirius in our rental car, when we happened to switch on to Fox radio, it was blasting about Lehman brothers. Big banks were brought down to its knees, it was hard to imagine all the speculation and all the half hearted appeal by the president of the companies that everything will be okay. Well in hindsight it wasn't.
How I wish things were different. Life is tough! There is this perennial doubt about the future. Don't know when will the next big nuke fall and then you need to rethink your plan of action in life. Darn those 5 year and 10 year plans, if the plan survives a year, you need to be grateful.
I stand by the embers of the bridges that are glowing behind me. How I wish that bridge never burnt! How I wish I could walk that path back, enjoy the humor, the care free life!
And now wait, I seem to live a cyclic life, its a heterogeneous mixture that I want. The luxuries of the life that I have right now and the carefree life that I led with all those hopes and dreams. Sitting around those stalls and talking about those dreams. I was sick of the stereotype and wanted change. I got the change only to discover a new stereotype. Now, I am sick of the new stereotype. I feel like my quest for that something has not ended, I only wish I knew what that something was. It is like searching for the pot of gold that is promised to me in neverland.
No matter what, I have had a good life. I live life today on what I earned yesterday, only to keep working for a better tomorrow.
I am not sure if this plan entails in working for a better world for everyone or just me/us! I guess that is the first SOMETHING i need to figure out. Oh well! you never know! This doubt gives you a sneak preview into my mind of indecision! Do you want blue or do you want red pill. That question will kill me, not because its my destiny, but because I will spend all my time figuring out and weighing the positives and negatives.

Fair trial

The age of the maid went from 15 to 20 years old, he is no saint but he is a person with money and will do anything to manipulate the law. The girl is not going to get a fair trial, if she was doing it for money, it wouldn't have come this far. This is one of the half billion cases (every one below the poverty line) of exploitation. You can never have a near perfect justice system but at the same time you need a justice system that does not look at the world from the eyes of the rich and the influential.

The comment based on the article in TOI

Formula 1 not a sport worth investing?

Fair enough that F1 is not a sport worth investing. I am a big F1 fan but not at the cost of $37 MM a year, in Rupees its a lot of money which can be properly utilized for encouraging other sports. But, if its entertainment, I am sure that it can generate a lot of revenue at least in the form of tourism.

Its a business case that I would love to skim through to see the rationale for it. There there are a lot of countries that are not seeing its true value, my guess is that the cost of hosting the event is very high and if they need to get people to come and watch the race, the ticket cost should be made affordable. F1 has a lot of interest in India but what is the price of this interest? I see that there is a lot of promotion of late, but one race in a year... how much cash flow can that generate in a day?

If the revenue will come over time in the form of sports tourism, I dont think India is a preferred destination for the elite.

End of the day its not cricket and it will never come close to IPL.

The link to the TOI article

Foundation for reform

Article from NY Times

More than the article what particularly interests me are Krugman's opening lines of how an academician's proposal on health care is now the center of national debate in the USA.His lines
"The idea of letting individuals buy insurance from a government-run plan was introduced in 2007 by Jacob Hacker of Yale, was picked up by John Edwards during the Democratic primary, and became part of the original Obama health care plan."

Its fascinating to see the power of the academics influencing reform. India clearly lacks a strong foundation in generating academics and their influence on growth and reform. I don't have any doubt in our country's intellectual strength, but have big doubts in educational institutions that can develop and maintain that talent. Many people have tried, but sadly the focus always shifts to science and math but never on policy and other matters that concern the country's development and future sustainability.

In a country that has a history of great thinkers (Chanakya to name a person), we have moved away in every form of research and heavily depend on the West and import ideas in the area of administrative reform and ultimately end up with archaic reform practices that are developed for population segments in different class and needs.

The solution to the problem is a near term fix of our educational system. Reduce the mass production of engineers and make universities and research more lucrative than moving towards educational systems that generate labour for sweat shops (yes, I refer to our plethora of engineering colleges in every nook and corner).

Under currents in our society

I am glad with India's stance on racisim... first Australia and now the whole Shahrukh Khan episode, for years we have been mute spectators of Racisim to our people in foriegn lands... in school I remember listening to stories of how openly Indians were victims of racist jibes, banners were held in Australian cricket grounds that clearly were racist and derogatory.. although the retaliatory acts in India may seem melodramatic it is serving its purpose...
Indians are not going and showing their dissent by carrying acts of violence, we are doing it the same way we drove the Britishers away... by voicing our disapproval.
Kudos to the government and the people of India.

Communalism and India

The country needs a law to cover citizens for equal opportunity that binds every aspect of life. Job, housing, etc. It is wrong for any application form to ask for caste, creed or religion where the decision will be made by a small set of people. We fight for justice in other lands like Australia, Europe and Americas for racial profiling when our own backyard itself is filled with all kinds of weed. Agreed that celebrities like Emran are using this a stunt for his next upcoming movie, but at the same time we cannot deny the underlying animosity between every creed. Emran is not creating a new issue but is only tapping into an existing current that we all in India deny its existence.

The transformation of the "common man"

Every morning, I wake up and grab the morning paper to read about the "Common Man" a cartoon by R K Laxman. It is my morning cup of tea. Refreshed, I pack my bag and go to school. Now and then, I discuss the cartoon with friends.

Always with a smile on my face, pass by the wrongs with an opinion and a gentle shake of my head only wishing it were be better. The potholes, the inefficiencies of the bureaucarcy, the corruption, the red tape all with a non-controversial opinion of the wrong. I am resiliant, I am indolent, I am carefree, I am the common man.

I walk with my bag, I walk with a smile, now I drive to work. I make enough to have a good living. I come home to the family. I turn on the news, the channels blast about bollywood, cricket, the potholes, the corruption, the bureaucracy, I shake my head and give my opinion. I am the common man.

I save for my family, I work hard, I want see the happiness for my loved ones. Now, I have internet at work. I read about the world, I read about their opinion, I see what they see, I see the pain, I see the unlawfulness, I see corruption, bureaucracy, I shake my head. I am the common man.

Then comes "A wednesday". The common man now has a voice. Opinion now is followed by an action. I hear you my friends, this is a democracy and we are a civil society. The power lies in our voice, we will stay united. The nexus of politicians, criminals and terrorists should not break us apart. We take pride in our culture, but every culture needs to adapt. Lets adapt and fight this weed that is growing into our society, which is tearing us apart. The country that united to fight the Britishers needs to unite again to fight the weed that has choked our will, our force and our unity.