Long story Cut Short

“Mom, Where is Saumya?”, I asked as I entered into the house. “She is in her room son but why do you seem to be in haste”, she replied. Nothing Mom. It’s just I have got a surprise for her. I went inside the room. She was reading something.

“Saumya, come here I have something to show you”. I said.
“Hey Bro when did you come?” , she said and ran towards me. she was elated. I gave her a box decorated with coloured plastic.

“What is it?”, she asked. She was beaming with joy like a small child. I opened the box. It was a small aquarium having four coloured fishes. It was my sister’s 12th birthday and I knew how much she was interested in fishes. Every day she used to ask me about fishes. Sometimes it was too difficult to answer her questions. I had to search on Internet to answer his questions. Nevertheless, It was so much pleasure replying to her questions. My sister was the best thing I could have in my life. “We were to celebrate her birthday at night” and I had to make arrangements for that. Suddenly I heard a scream. It was my sister’s voice. I Ran towards her room. She was lying on floor unconscious. I and my mother took her to the nearest nursing home. After a few hours she was normal again. I asked doctor about her condition and he told me not to worry. We took her home. Days passed as usual but there was a marked change in her behaviour. She was less cheerful now. She had started confining herself into her rooms. She remained silent most of the times and It was me who always tried to cheer her. Most of the times she was irritated. She also started bunking classes. It seemed she was not interested in anything.

I was unable to understand what had happened to her. I Was perplexed in fact. I thought of helping her. But how? Finally we took her to a psychiatrist who told us that Saumya was suffering from Schizophrenia. It was a big shock for me and the family. We all loved her so much. How would she cope with it. This was the first question that came to my mind.

Her condition was deteriorating day by day and one day that happened which changed my life. She committed suicide! I don’t know What forced her to do so? . It was so painful. Perhaps, she couldn’t bear the stress and how could she! She was only fifteen when she did this. Ever one was weeping in the house. But, I was silent. My soul had been taken away and I was now just flesh. I was shattered from inside. I took refuge in alcohols and drugs. My mother carried herself somehow but I knew she was dying everyday. My father tried to convince me. But I know he had no more interest in life. We all had lost hope in life. One day when I was away, I don’t know where I was because I was drunk, my father shoot my mother and then himself. When I reached home, I saw a suicide letter again. It was jointly signed by my mother and father. Every reason for my existence was finished.

Today is 26th Jan 2010, Our 60th Republic day. I have decided I would drink less today. I don’t know how many more days I have in my life. But, I won’t suicide. I won’t let circumstances rule over me. I’m a strong man, very strong.
There was a loud noise. Neighbour rushed to my room to see what happened. I was lying on floor with a revolver in my hand and blood flowing everywhere. I was dead.
Perhaps, I was not as strong as I thought.

!Perplexed!

I do not understand bullying others to gain,
I do not understand helping friends to cheat
I do not understand taking treat for this,
I do not understand the need for majority
When even one can be right.

I understand the need to protest
When our elders are wrong
I understand the need to help
The downtrodden and the weak
I understand why we do not understand
It’s we who can change
The society, the country and the world.

No one wants to be Chatur!

Chatur chamatkar, no one wants to be like him. Everone is in love with Phunsuk Wangdu, the holder of five hundred patients. And why not? He is the real educationist, the show stealer. He taught the right way to study.  But, did we even analyse what was Chatur’s fault.Forget about his physical habbits and concentrate on the rest.  He was born a child like anyone else and perhaps was intelligent too. But, he was afraid, afraid to take on the world, a world which appreciated continuity over innovation. He preferred to carry on himself in the way the entire world wanted from him. It was a systemic failure which encouraged him to follow the traditional lines of learning and eventually made him the culprit.

Do we ever realize there is a Chatur and a Wangdu both residing in all of us. But, most of the times it is Chatur which prevails in our mind over Wangdu and this is not so because we want it. But, because we are too afraid to do things differently. I suspect those who criticise Chatur, are perhaps in  actual like him or are forcing someone to be the same  for otherwise they would have known the root of the evil. Remember, no one is born Chatur. It’s the system that makes someone so.

Instead of criticizing Chatur for the way he is, we must work to revamp the system. Let’s conquer our fear and make this world a better place for the innovators and the unconventional thinkers. Shiv Kheda was absolutely right when he said, “Great people don’t do different things. They do things differently”. One day,the world will be full of Wangdus if we start acting like him, that is, working differently.

Ram............ Forrgive me if You Can

Ram and Anit were good froends.. Both of them liked each other. They had a very similar thinking. They wanted to do something for the society,  for the country where they were born. Ram used to say, “I would make my country a living paradise”. Shyam always nodded in agrrement. They went to the same school and again to the same college. Infact, they had to leave their hometown for study but they also lived together at the new place. Ram was a little aggressive kind while shyam was always cool. Whenever Ram engaged in any duel, It was shyam who controlled the things preventing the situation from getting blown out of proportion. But, one day Shyam left Ram. He went without saying anything. Ram searched him everywhere but couldn’t find him. Ram was very upset. A few days passed and one day he got a letter. It was addressed to him but nowhere the name of the sender written on it. He opened it and read. Tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t stand up any furthur. He read the full letter numb. The letter was like.............

Dear Ram

You would be wondering who has sent you this letter. I won’t strain your mind and without any gusseses you should know It’s me, Shyam. I’m sure you would have been searching me frantically. But, you must stop because I’m far from your world. I’m at a different place. I left you because I couldn’t bear the pain your love brought to me. You were so caring. You were like an angel to me, protecting always from the adversities. I remembered when I was hurt playing football. It was you who looked after me all the time, preparing food, bringing books  and tendering me in all the possible ways one can. I cannot forget the anger you felt towards Raj, your cousin, when he had abused me. You wanted to hit him hard but stopped when I asked you to forgive him. How could someone be so nice in this world. I always wanted to be like you, free and joy loving. Your love to me was pure, unconditional free from any predisposition.

We shared all our joys, our sorrows and there was nothing that I didn’t know about you and the same you thought about me too. Still there is something I didn’t tell you. Infact, this is something I hid even from myself. Five years ago, My brother who was just a few years elder to me had passed away. He was suffering from brain tumer. You wouldn’t have forgotten the day when I had gone to my home after quarelling with you. You were surprised, why was I going home. You apologised several times but I didn’t care. I went. I know you consider yourself responsible for that. But, let me tell you, you were never the reason behind my decision. I went because my brother was living his last days. Doctors were exhausted treating him. I couldn’t stand to see my brother. I was crying like a new born.He was the most precious to me. How could god do such things! But, my brother was smiling. He said, “Bro, what if I would be dying in a few days. I would always be with you, in your heart, in your memories. He kissed my forehead. My brother was my life. God was preparing himself to take my life away. I asked ma to allow me to return. I told her, If I stay here I won’t be able to sustain the pain. I had returned after four days and you were so glad to see me back. You were almost weeping when you asked me to forgive. My brother died a few days after. But, I didn’t go to my house. I was happy with you. Your presence never let me think of my brother. You made me laugh, made me happy. I never felt the agony. But, my brother’s memories were inseparable. I wept when you were not around. I tried to forget everything associated with him but they kept coming back.I used to wake up in the dreams.

After a few years to my surprise my dreams stopped hounding me. I almost forgot my brother. It thought, I would be happy again like I used to be. But, Oh, god! You can’t be so cruel to me. It was the start of another misery, a tormenting ache in my soul. Oh! I forgot my brother because my heart accepted you as my brother. You took his place. I statred viewing you like him. Your care, your affection your everything to me was like my brother’s way. But, Ram I wanted to forget my brother. I wanted to move on and living with you never let me do so. Everyday, It brought me closer to my brother, closer than I could think. I’m a human and I couldn’t bear so much love. I had heard that too much love sometimes become unsurpassable. I never thought It could happen to me. I told my mom about you and she asked what did I want. I told her I wanted to forget my brother. I was weeping and she was too. I decided I must go home. I must take care of my mother, my fathert. I never thought how much painful It would have been for them to lose their young son.

I can’t fight with my destiny. Still, I can try. By the time you would be reading this letter, I would have already left my old home and shifted to a new place. Forgive me for what I did to you. I know I am your culprit. I’m a sinner but plaese do me one more favor. Never try to find me or try to contact me for any such attempt on your side will break the fragile determination that I have to look things beyond. I hope you will always be happy.

Yours Brother in diguise

Anit

Ram stood up and looked here and there. On the wall, there was a photograph of Anit. He smiled and said, “May god always keep you happy and help you find your peace”. He opened the door of his house and went to address his friends. It was his first speech after winning the college President’s election.

Education & Health: the Pioneers of Any Future Transformation

When I was studying economics, I was always fascinated by macro economics. The fiscal policy, the monitary policy, international trade all this seemed like heaven to me. But, micro..... I didn't give a care. And, why? because it doesn't have scale! For me, the Trickle Down Theory was the most exciting. I had always this belief that growth would tricke down to the lowest strata of the society. But, never I bothered about the duartion in which it would occur.  But, life is not so easy and so is Economics. Otherwise, India would have been the world leader by now.

There is nothing wrong in the theory but a country like India can not wait to see things happening in due course. Rather, It has to make things happen for otherwise discontent would grow and assume dangerous proportions. we are already witnessing this to some extent  in the form of Maoism in large parts of our country.

If change is to be brought about early and fast in this country, we need to focus on micro aspects of the economy. Here, I see the role of education and health in  vivifying the economy. Now-a-days, we talk about demographic dividents our country is enjoying over the others. Population explosion which was a curse a few years back is now a benefit for us. But, do we think about the fact that India still has a large percentage of illiterate people and had we educated them in the past  our demographic dividents would have been much better by now. It sounds nice to hear that India is a big consumption market, our middle class is earning much to spend and most of the companies are heading towards it. But, won't this demographic divident be a problem if we do not decelerate the rate of population growth. Is anybody pondering over how India would be able to feed  and provide shelter to the 1.5 billion people in the next 30-40 years!

An average Indian do not care about where the stock market is headed towards. He cares about food prices, healthcare services and  the quality of education available. Yet Indian government spend a meagre proportion of GDP on health and education. The primary aim of any government is to provide basic amenities to its citizens. How much wealth our economy  loses due to poor health conditions in our country? Remember, these are indirect costs but they do override the total expenditure the government bears on providing the healthcare services. I ask, what does it take to develop quality schools, universities, medical colleges and hospitals for I have a strong feeling that It's really possible in our country.

There was one article recently written by a Professor of MIT Sloan school of management about education as the real differentiating factor between Indian and Chinese growth. He strongly advocated for a greater emphasis  on basic amenities by India. Very few people know that in the 1980s Chinese infrastructure was poorer compared to that of  Indian. But, they focused on eduaction and this led to the demand for infrastructure growth. The ultimate result, everyone knows. Few may argue it was because they introduced reforms in the 1980s where we started almost a decade after. I  agree with them but education did really play a vital role in making China what it is at present.

            

Imagine India starts providing better and inclusive education and healthcare facilities to its citizens. Education would remove People's ignorance and superstions and make them competitive. Better healthcare facilities would ensure they do not suffer from decrease in productivity due to bad health. The country would be able to tackle population explosion effectively due to greater awareness among the people about its negative fallouts. Although, some legislative measures like fixing the number of children would still be required for stricter emphasis on population control. Good education and healthcare facilities will be a win-win situation for the government too because it would help in increasing their vote banks as satisfied people would naturally vote for the ruling party.

The real essence of this article is not to assess which policy is right and which is wrong but to emphasise the fact that countries who have given greater preference to health and education sector have outgrowthed those who haven't. The onus is upon the policy makers to decide what do they want, a country taking decades to make its citizens happier or a vibrant and dynamic India within a few years from now!!!!
 

TEN QUESTIONS THAT HOUND ME EVEN IN THE DREAMS

Why is India unable to find 545 people out of 1.2 billion population to run the country who are honest, secular, decisive, broad minded, incorrupt and without any criminal rcords?

Why do we still believe in killing in the name of religion?

 Why don't we follow 'One child policy' strictly?

Why is India so slow in reforming healthcare and  education sector?

Why do we resort to corruption?

Why don't we promote sports other than cricket in our country?

 Why do we discriminate against women?

Why is government reluctant to tackle Maoist problem?

Why do we hesitate to talk about AIDS?

why is there such a hype over our projected transformation in the next ten years based on some assumed data  when we still have millions of people below the poverty line?

'QUOTES' Our Own or .......................

Most of the one liners frequently encounterd on social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Myspace etc. are quite catchy. They instantly grab attention. But do we ever think from where have they come from? Perhaps none of us. We actually feel they are conceived by the persons using it. But the truth lies elsewhere. They are actually the creations of poets and authors who died  years before. The advent of social networking sites has popularized their quotes but unfortunately not them. For e.g. "Common sense is not so common" is a quote from Voltaire, a great Frencn philosopher and writer. We use it so many times without  knowing the person who actually said this!!!!

There is nothing wrong in quoting other's materials but we must admit the original creator. It would help in popularizing those who though were creative geniuses but are unknown to the present generation.  Social Networking sites may play a pivotal role in doing this and we all must work together in this endeavour. 

Below are quotes of some of the famous person-

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  

                                                                                                               

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players".

"Brevity is the soul of wit".

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once".

"Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt".

OSCAR WILDE

“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

“A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her”

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.”

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”

“Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.”

“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.”

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.”

“Choose silence of all virtues, for by it you hear other men's imperfections, and conceal your own.”

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

“Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”

“People exaggerate the value of things they haven't got: everybody worships truth and unselfishness because they have no experience with them.”


VOLTAIRE

“Common sense is not so common.”

“Prejudices are what fools use for reason.”

“He who thinks himself wise, O heavens! is a great fool.”

“Poetry is the music of the soul, and, above all, of great and feeling souls.”

“It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.”

 EINSTEIN

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

“You can't blame gravity for falling in love.”

“Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

“There's a Genius in all of us.”

GIMP & ORKUT

                  

This is an amlgamation of an Orkut application and the GIMP use. The orkut application tells the meaning of one's name while GIMP is an image manipulation programme like Photoshop although it is free unlike photoshop which comes with an associated cost. GIMP is a product of OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGY and is in the public domain for use. Let's promote GIMP and the OPEN SOURCE.

नव वर्ष की अभिलाषा

अज्ञानता मिटायेंगे, ज्ञान का दीपक जलाएंगे

शिक्षा का होगा प्रसार, खुलेंगे विद्यालय नए बार-बार

स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं का अभाव मिटायेंगे

हम नव वर्ष भारत का खुशहाल बनायेंगे ।।

महिलाओं को करेंगे जागरूक,

हरित क्रांति पुनः लायेंगे

गाँव-गाँव खुशहाल करेंगे, आपसी भाईचारा फैलायेंगे

हम नव वर्ष भारत का खुशहाल बनायेंगे।।

नेताओं को नैतिकता सिखलाएंगे,

अच्छे शासन के पाठ पढ़ाएंगे

भय, लोभ, तृष्णा सब त्याग करेंगे

हम नव वर्ष भारत का खुशहाल बनायेंगे ।।

होगी शांति चारो ओर,

न होगा कोई अनुचित जोर,

सामाजिक क्रांति लायेंगे, दीन-दुखिओं का दर्द मिटायेंगे

हम नव वर्ष भारत का उज्जवल बनायेंगे ।।

BOOM BOOM MOVIE TIME: My last Days of 2009

 Movies and movies only: this is how I spent my last days in 2009. An awakening experience indeed, I learnt why is it important to watch movies. Movies are reflection of society. Basically, hollywood movies truly depict the prevailing conditions and the upcoming situation. While there were movies like The Great Debators, the inglorious basterds, 3 Idiots, Fire and the Shawshank redemption made with delicate precision and asking serious questions on the other hand movies like the terminal and American Pie- The book of love were full of fun.

I would categorise these movies according to their genre:

*Fun & Romance- The terminal, American Pie- The book of love, The Twilight saga, 500 days of summer, Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, HUm Tum, Sathiya, Pulp fiction

*Suspense and thrill- Silence of the lambs, The departed, Sin city, LA confidential, Godfather

*Intellectual- The Great Debators, The Shawshank Redemption, Gandhi, The hurt locker, The inglorious basterds, Fire, 3 idiots, V for vendetta, Good Will Hunting

*Weired- Mulholland drive, Savage grace

Their Ratings are-

9-10: Silence of the lambs,The Great Debators,The Shawshank Redemption, Gandhi, 3 idiots, The terminal, Godfather

8-9:  Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, The departed, LA confidential, V for vendetta, The inglorious basterds

7-8:  Good Will Hunting, HUm Tum, Sathiya, Fire, Pulp fiction, Mulholland drive, The Twilight saga, The hurt locker

6-7:  American Pie- The book of love, 500 days of summer, Sin city, The hurt locker, Savage grace

The last week of 2009 was the most entertaining week in my life. There are however lots of works ahead and I would miss this week badly in my life.

!!DEMANDING RESPECT!!

  Respect is a mischiveous thing. I have been taught for years to respect my elders. But, most people say I am not good in showing respect to others. I do not wish them properly and talk to them like an idiot.  'ARROGANT' is what they say I have become. Well I do not deny this fact completely but who else is not!!!!!!  I  have a  quote for them: "Respect is not demanded, it is commanded".

Few days back I was chatting with a relative (Name & identity withheld otherwise I don't know what would happen). I asked him a few things and suddenly he became furious. He told me that I had been trying to be oversmart and disrespectful. I was  perplexed. I thought what the hell did I do to let him think so. But then, I realised It was not his fault. Although there was nothing vulgar in my talk he assumed the other way because it was a perceptual error on his part. He had already framed a negative  perception about me and whatever culminated in his mind was a result of it.

It's not that I am worried about what he thinks of me. So many people think lots of  things about others. I cann't be an exception. But I am definetely worried about the reasons he cited for the dislike he  has for me as these are the reasons cited by most of the immature elders as an excuse to curse their youngers. It's my duty to tell them to correct their stands, stands which have been founded on medieval world principles and which have no significance in the present day world.

I have always held this belief, "The way you think, the way you become." If you live in a conservative environment, It is most likely you will become conservative. You will start thinking about the trifle things like why someone doesnot bend his knees to touch your feet everytime he meets you. I always wonder there are so many topics to think about for these elders but all they care about is that why ain't a woman covered his head when she is in front of them. Such people try to act like  moral police telling others what to do and what not to do in life. They try to take charge of our lives thinking as if we are the puppets and they can dictate us in any way.  But all I say to them is why don't they care about global warming, illiteracy, healthcare, hunger deaths, women emancipation, criminalization in politics. etc.  for these are the burning problems in front of us and if they contribute, we all would be more prosperous and happy in the days ahead.

But,Will they ? No way man. They will tell us not to stand for the rights because they have never stood themselves. They will tell us to let other children suffer the curse of illiteracy because they are not ours, let the women in other houses suffer because it is their fate and let the earth warm up because It's not our job to take care of it. In their views the only noble job they have  is to find faults in the youngsters and they do it with full precision.

 Well, all I can say to such people is to wake up. The world has moved very fast in the last few decades. If you do not catch up with the rest you would soon become irrelevant. The coming generation is not going to listen to  the hypocrites.

                   My Dear Elders: When would you grow up!

Childhood again!

Hatred, contempt, complex, disgust

Who is happy anyway?

Hope fades like evening sunshine now and then

I wonder would I be child again!!

Growing loneliness with each passing day

Dreams scaring me every night

Ugly competion breeding ill will

Prepared to sabotage me with full force,

Living these fear moments now and then

I wonder would I be child again!!

But, wish of childhood again?

Isn't a run from life's strains

The inability to change,

and above all a non sense in true sense?

Knowing all these simple and plain,

I wonder still, would I be child again!!

REMINISCENCE

Creativity trickles during exam time. Sounds strange but is absolutely true. I bet. Now the exams are over head and so is my overbusy mind churning stories of diverse and passionate experiences. The life, full of ups and downs is one of the most amazing things ever happened to man kind. The pleasures of future and the lessons of past together make the greatest cocktail one may ever experience. I’m delighted that I was born human. But being an engineer is utterly monotonous. It makes us totally unhuman. The same thing being taught for decades by the same faculties who have refused to change themselves. Always basking in the glories of their past they do not realise that this present is entirely different from the past. But whatever be the case, all that is required at present is something natural, something totally different. Is this possible?

HEY WHAT ABOUT A CHILDHOOD STORY! THIS WILL BE THE RIGHT THING TO TAKE AWAY THE BOREDOM..............................................

When I was in class eight, there was a girl named shreya. A damshell in every sense, she was very down to earth, a quality very rare in beautiful girls. Boys were like anything but mad after her. But she was not interested in all these things. She always said, “We have got such a small life. Why to waste it in such silly things ”. I just loved watching the way she carried herself. Ah! It was an amazing experience that childhood, I wish I could live it again, She was just immaculate. There was not a trifle fault in her creation. Perhaps god too would have been amazed after what he created. We used to go to schools together, her home being just a few metres away from mine and I loved this period more than anything else I wished in those days. We used to talk a lot about so many trivial things, she telling me her dreams and wishes and I just watching her, her smile, her composure, everthing being at its best. It was just awesome. I don’t know what it means to be in love. But during those days, whenever I read any book, its words looked like forming her image and I lying on my bed thinking what she would have been doing now. I wrote in my diaries at nights- what I felt about her, how much she excites me and how her presence fills me with a new passion a new desire to see good in everything. Even her voice was complimentary to her face. Now a days those diaries are in the possession of my mother and whenever my sister has to get some undue advantage from me she just brings out this diary thing in front of my father.

There are so many happy memories of her, everytime I close my eyes and they flash in my mind. One day I was in my school and a boy suddenly proposed her. I was also at the same place where this happened. She just said pointing her finger towards my side, “If you could be like him I would accept your proposal”. I asked that boy to just try some other day as she didn’t seem in the mood to accept his offer. The boy told me that she wanted me. I just laughed and said to him. “You have gone mad”.I was too dumb at that time to even think that this could happen to me. My soul was just not prepared to accept that she could even think of me in her moments. Now when I talk to some of her friends, thery say that she really liked me but couldn’t say this to me. How can I tell them that the same case was with me too.

I remember the last day we talked was when she had to know something about Shymali, three years back. I took admission in NIFFT and changed my number. I didn’t give her my number because I was unable to handle the pain I always got when I talked her. Unfortunately, she also changed her number after sometime and now I am sitting in front of my notebook writing stories about her without knowing where she actually is. Recently I heard one of my friend telling that he met her and she was asking about me, how I was and she was glad to know that I am about to be a responsible person, the only pinch she had was why didn’t I prepare for the IITs again.

IT HURTS

Standing in front of all is a person who wants to understand people but each time he tries, his life slaps him right on his face. Each time he thinks it to be the last time, he is betrayed again. Unable to defend himself he sits in the corner of his room, but the ghost of dejection never stops hounding. Is it his fate! He cannot speak his mind and people take advantage of that. He tries to be nice to everyone but ends up facing hostility from them. But he will not understand this because he is a stubborn idealist. He believes people will understand him someday honour him for what he is. But isn't it a belief only which cannot be real. Just like some people believe in utopia doesnot mean it will ever be. It is not worrying what he believes in but he continues to believe in the same. May better sense prevail in him!!!!!!!!!!!

LOST TO A FRIEND

 

Stabbed in the back, it was hard to believe

But, true to see.

History repeated itself, only the actors changed

A friend betrayed another friend.

He Promised tall and conspired back,

was the real threat unnoticed.

And now when the pain is annihilating

Unable to resist, I lost,

Lost to someone as close as my friend.

A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

Sleeping birds, sleeping trees and myself at night

cold breeze blowing slowly,

simmering down tired souls

The trees shine gold in vapour light

And so the grasses,

holding cold water in their arms.

Watching all this amidst edifice,

I rejoice in ecstasy

marvelled by the night deep

wondering when would I sleep!!

OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGY: THE NEXT BIG THING

 'Open source Technology' is the hot favourite topic of debate among the digital technocrats of 21st century. Relatively less heard in our country, this concept has gained substantial recognition in recent times in developed countries with both its supporters and opposers equally contributing in its spread. It originated due to the reckless behaviour of a few monopolistic technological giants who started taking undue advantages of the technologies they developed by making them their proprietary rights. The propagators of open source technology believe that human knowledge belongs to the world and one of its primary aim is to provide the users its source code so that it remains in the public domain for modifications which will ultimately help in improving them.

With governments all over the world recognizing its existence, its use is bound to increase very rapidly over the next few years. Our Indian government has also initiated a number of steps to incorporate it in our system. Government run agencies are using them in full. Days are not far away when open source technology will take over the proprietary technology paving the way for a technologically better and prosperous human future.

COMMUNALISM – THE DEVIL INSIDE

One of the most important and unfortunate discoveries of current election campaign going all over the country has been Varun Gandhi, a Gandhi less written about and less known to us a few days back. He was the other Gandhi, a not so prominent one, a Gandhi with the political identity crisis in the renowned Nehru-Gandhi family.

He had been there in BJP recognized by his mother Maneka Gandhi's identity. The Present election brought before him a chance to create his own identity when he got the opportunity to contest the Parliamentary election. Devoid of the Gandhi Karishma which his cousin and the past members of Nehru Gandhi family had, He found himself unable to carry an election campaign to victory on his shoulders alone. He required to produce something different within himself which could instantly bring him in limelight and take him to new political heights. Faced with a dearth of options he produced that extra thing in the form of speeches he delivered while addressing election rallies in his constituency.

The venom he spitted against a particular community was not new to our country where eve after living together for six decades after independence majority of the people of different communities still see one other with suspicion. But, the magnitude and the manner in which he did it was unprecedented and shocked every responsible citizen.However what followed next was equally shameful with every political party trying to gain political mileage over others. Instead of arguing now over whether he said such things or not and whether it was a political conspiracy to malign him as alleged by him, everyone should look within himself . Even after such unfortunate incident there were many people who were trying to project his theory as the right one. Any such attempt was absolutely ridiculous. Now, time is ripe for a thorough honest introspection finding out if interstices of our mind contain the dangerous seeds of communalism.

A careful analysis of such introspection will surely reveal a dangerous trend of such seeds being already converted to plants in our mind. People should also assess the fact that given the same opportunity we won't commit the same mistakes as those committed by the likes of Varun Gandhi.

The constituent of our country declares it to be secular and majority of us take the pride in calling ourselves secular. But It is sarcastic to say Incidents like Varun Gandhi get so much attention and support. This shows the height of hypocrisy of our thinking. The hyperactivity of pseudo seculars which form the masses ensure that such incidents constantly remain in People's attention while the basic governing issues take the sidelines.

The cause of such uncivilized behaviour are hidden in the way the present society exists and the solutions are there in itself too. The present myopic viewpoint and the increased intolerance in our society due to historical reasons and some present unfortunate incidents are not only hindering our present progress but also blocking our future prosperity. The society is threatening to go from where it began. The solution to counter such trends lie in the opening up of society and increasing amalgamation among people of different communities. Intellectuals will have to come forward strongly taking responsibility for the welfare of people and promotion of tolerance among the people. The society requires complete makeover with focus on collective well being. Somebody has rightly said, “United we stand divided we fall”. If everybody stands together for harmony there is no doubt it will never be lost.

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECESSION--when is it going to over

SCENE-1:
April 18 2008

I was reading frequently about the US sub prime crisis in the leading newspapers. I asked my Economics teacher if he could explain me what that fuss was all about. He said, "People are defaulting on the home loans they took from the banks and this is pushing a lot of banks into very uneasy situation where they may also go bankrupt although the chances are very unlikely. By the way don't think too much about this as it's not a big deal for our country. There are a lot more important economic problems in our country to discuss".

SCENE-2:
October 18 2008

A friend to me: Yaar, when is this recession going to end. Look what has happened! Companies are not coming for campus selection any more. Besides, existing employees are losing their jobs, while some people are saying that it may continue for the next 2 or 3 years. Do you have any idea how serious is this?
I Said, " Look, Whatever information I have at present It seems that the situation is quite horrible and may get worse in the coming months if appropriate measures are not put in place. Besides about when this will end, how can I say when the leading economists of the world are in confusion about its duration ".

SCENE 3:
April 18 2009

Lying in my bed I was recollecting my past memoirs. Suddenly something struck my mind. On September 15 I was walking through the corridors of 3rd year hostel. A friend came from behind and asked, "Did you hear the news?". "What happened?", I replied. He said, "Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy and Bank Of America is going to buy Meryll Lynch". I knew that Lehman Brothers was an investment banking company dealing with some kinds of financial products and the dream company of the post graduate students of the prestigious IIMs of our country. So, It was a little interesting for me to know exactly what happened. I went to my room and checked the latest news on Google. The first news was about the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. The news had some other interesting informations but I didn't read further. At that time I was completely unaware of the implications of this event. The very next day the newspapers were full of articles about how this was going to affect the global economy. They also contained some uncommon economic terms and the most used among them was 'Recession'. I thought recession! But, How could the fall of a single company bring it. For me it was as if the situation was being presented in a graver manner than what it was. But, sooner I realised that the situation was really worrisome. I searched about recession on Internet although I had a little information about this owing to my association with Economics some time back. I found some useful facts. One of them was the Keynsian theory put forward by John Meynard Keynes in which he had described the necessary measures to check recession. According to him in the time of recession monetary measures do not work. The government requires to put fiscal measures in place to tackle it. Further I found some relatively new economic theories stating that the Great depression of 1930s was actually the result of mistakes committed on part of the governments and the economists and that the recession could not come now. Also some economists had suggested that if the recession came the developing countries would be the least affected because of their relative insulation from the world economy and any upcoming financial crisis could be handled with carefully adjusted monetary policy. Some highly enthusiastic economists had even discarded the Keynsian theory saying it was not more than a bundle of craps.

But as we all know now, recession has come and in full force. It has affected both the developed and the developing economies. The monetary measures are not working and the governments of different countries are opting for the large fiscal incentives and the bailout plans. I sometimes wonder how within a month's time the money went out of the market and the entire financial system crumbled. But a thorough examination of back events clearly shows that the seeds of present crisis was sown a few years back and it unfolded only when it became impossible for the corrupt and the greedy financial institutions to handle it. Those who created it, it took their lives first and then spread elsewhere. So, it was more than a month's affair. But, now as the different bailout plans and monetary measures have been announced, money has reached to the market and the credit squeeze is no more as dangerous as it was a few months back. Still ther is not much economic activities going around in place and that is only because of the fear of loss which is preventing the extra cautious banks to lend making it difficult for the cash strapped industry to survive. The recession infact now symbolises the the loss of trust among the bankers and the businessmen with both of them equally responsible for the present mess.

In the recent days, some glimpses of hope are being seen on the financial front with some people looking pro optimistic however as the noble laureate Paul Krugman puts, "History shows that one of the great policy dangers in the face of severe economic slump is premature optimism ", I think we should not be seeing too much positive at present and instead work more aggressively to take the economy out of the slump.

In case of India it has been hit more severely than expected. Still our economy will grow but at a slower pace. Recently, some good news have come forward. Prices of oil have gone down substantially and Sensex crossed the psychological mark of 11000 a few days back. Rural demand is still strong and a normal monsoon season is furthur going to work in our favour. Thus, things are looking positive on the Indian front too. But all things are not showing the signs of recovery. Industrial production growth is still negative . Job cuts are frequent and business groups are reporting losses everyday. Both the good and the bad elements are present in the economy and it is very difficult to decide which one is more strong. However there is little doubt about the fact that India and China would be the fastest recovering nations in the coming days and will be among the best placed to take advantages of the improved situation . So, may be in a few months from now, we would be able to see the clear signs of recovery and the stabilization of financial system torn apart by the recession. Till then the concerned authorities will have to put efforts tirelessly without losing hope. It will be a matter of time as to when their efforts pay the necessary dividends.