6th Dec:
After the hectic morning with CAT, evening was also equally busy. I had to pack up for ettimadai. I had a placement process to attend the next day. I packed the best of clothes in my wardrobe, hoping to wear them for the interview if I made it through the apti round. I was ready bu 6 PM. Left hostel by 6:30 pm for the station keeping in view the frequent traffic jams in Bangalore. I picked up my friend on the way and reached station by 7 pm. I had my dinner at comesum and waited for the train. The train arrived on time. But it left after a half hour delay. I slept around ten PM. Thanks to my sony zapper, I had a sound sleep. Later I came to know that my friends couldn’t have a sound sleep as an old lady was crying all through the night.
7th Dec:
The train reached Coimbatore at 6 AM. We got a taxi and reached ettimadai by 7 AM. I got ready by 8 and reached the panthal(a tenthouse for 1500 people) by 8.30 Am. Every participant was given a bar code. It was funny to have a bar code. Bar code is usually given to a commodity. Here we were being identified as commodities and CTS was out on jumbo shopping spree. A lady in suit and boot came up with a boring one hour long pre placement talk. It touched upon all the important points that would woo the prospective candidates. I wasn’t interested in any of them as in the first place I have no plans of taking up a job and secondly I can never work in a company like CTS spending hours together in crammed up offices. Surprisingly the presentation was without a vision or a mission!! Probably they were too interested in wooing us the students than talk about their company in detail. The talk went on till 11 Am and then we were packed off in buses to IT block. We were allotted classrooms in IT block to take up the test. Over there we had to wait for another one hour during which we were told to fill up a sheet of questionnaires. It had the following questions.
Name, tenth and 12th percentages and B.tech aggregate percentage.
Q: strengths and weaknesses
My Ans:S: Will power,perseverance, Adaptability
W:Impatience
Q: What do you think are the requirements for a software engineer?
My ans: I don’t remember the answer
Q: What are your short term and long term goals with CTS?
My Ans:
Short term goal: To continuously upgrade my skills and be part of many a successful projects
Long term goal: To consistently deliver quality services and build a strong and dynamic CTS
And a few more question which I don’t remember.
The test started at 12 PM and went on for another 70 minutes. It comprised of three sections called as
Quantitative aptitude
Verbal ability
Attention to detail
It was not all that difficult to crack but one had to be quick to go through all the questions. We were told the results would be out by 3 PM. About 1500+ people wrote it . Their claim that they would be out with results by 3 PM was impossible. We went to the mess and had our lunch and spent time at cafeteria hoping results would be out by 3 PM. We waited till 4 PM and then went back to our rooms. People had already started preparing for interviews but I was in no mood to study after the gruelling CAT prep . I went around the campus enjoying the cool breeze and scenic surroundings. If CTS recruits me it would most probably be my last trip to this beautiful campus. I still regret not taking up a course at ettimadai. The results were out at around seven thirty in the evening when we were about to leave for dinner. Long namelists(like the ones in railway waitlist) were stuck up on the hostel notice boards. There were hoards of people all around it. I could get a glance of a few sheets but I couldn’t find my name on any of those. But most of my friends found theirs and were enjoying their moment of success. I decided to check my result after dinner. After a quick dinner , we rushed back to the hostel to check if our names were up on the list. Thankfully the crowd had reduced and i could easily skim through all the lists and finally I found mine . I was on panel 29 at 8 in the morning. I was happy that I got a morning slot as I didn’t want to spend nervous moments waiting for my chance. But later I realized that I was the last one in the panel. So I had to endure the long wait. However I would have the advantage of knowing the interviewer and type of question by the feedback I got from people going before me. We got back to our rooms . I spent an hour going through the interview questions to get a feel of the questions being asked. The questions being asked were very basic and sometimes the answer was too obvious. That gave me a lot of confidence. I decided to just go through basics of the subjects which I had stated as my areas of interest.
I spent about three hours with my interview prep. I went to bed by 1 Am
8th Dec:
I got up at 5:30 AM and was ready by 7. I arranged my file ,polished my shoes and left for breakfast by 7:45. The breakfast comprised of distasteful idlis.After the breakfast we proceeded to the IT block. There were in total 50 panels for interviewing over 900 people. The interviews were going to take place in classrooms itself.
It took me sometime to find out where my classroom was. One of my classmate was also on the same panel. Each panel interviewed 9 people per slot. The interviews started 1 and half hour late. Once interviews started , all that we were waiting for was the feedback from people about how their interview was.
The first one to go in was an ECE girl from Coimbatore. She was asked about VLSI and some easy HR. I was happy that he was asking about VLSI as I was quite comfortable with that subject. Next in was an MCA guy with a red tie!! He was asked about the projects done so far. Each interview on an average lasted 10-15 minutes. By the time my turn came I got a fair idea about the interviewer and sort of questions being asked. I hoped that he didn’t change questions for me. And thankfully he didn’t. Herez how my interview went on:
Me: May I come in
(Interviewer(I) gave a slight nod with his head and I walked in as dignified a manner as possible)
He extended his hand for a shake hand.Initially I thought he was asking for my file.After the shake hand I sat down.
He went through the answer sheet and my response to questionnaires and noted down some info from that into another sheet.
I:Okay vaishnov. Tell me about your life so far ie I want to know your family background,schooling,extracurriculars,how u ended in amrita, what did u do in dese 3 years,ur projects etc.
Phew that was a really long question and I had already forgotten what were the points he wanted.
I started framing up the starting sentence.
I wanted a punchline to start with
However that didn’t happen. It was a boring start
Me:
I am from Andhra Pradesh. My dad works in an Public Sector undertaking and hence gets transferred frequently. So I got a chance to do my schooling in different parts of country like kerala,tamil nadu,Andhra and delhi. This gave me an opportunity to understand the different cultures and work with different kinds of people. Coming to amrita errrrrr happened something like this. I saw an advertisement in the newspaper and decided to apply for it and on the basis of my AIEEE rank I got a seat in Amrita Bangalore. My three years at amrita have been wonderful. I got opportunities to interact and work with great minds. I have been to many fests, seminars, workshops and recently I organized Rubik’s cube workshop. It was pretty successful with around fifty people attending it.
I:What workshop you organized?(I guess he didn’t know what a rubik’s was)
Me: Rubik’s cube sir. Its a logical puzzle involving a cube with different colours.
(I guess he didn’t understand what I blabbered)
I:tell me what subjects you studied in your previous sem
Me:Sir. In 7th sem we had subjects like Cellular, management,embedded,biomed,microwave etc.(I purposefully left out VLSI as I didn’t want him to ask any technical questions)
I: Management! What did u study in management?
Me: Sir, management course plan was something like this. It starts of with basics of economics and then goes onto analyse relationship between price demand and supply. We also learnt various HR fundamentals like motivational theories,leadership skills etc.
I: U have one more management subject next sem?
Me: Yes sir.
I:okay. I think you had VLSI last semester. Can you tell me how to detect faults ?
Me: I told all diffrnt types of faults and causes for a few of them. He seemed satisfied with my answer
I: can u explain me chip’s life cycle?
Me: (I didn’t understand what he wanted)Sir u mean the fabrication process??
I:yes yes
Me: I explained something something.
I: Where is silicon wafer used in the process?
Me:Sir, In making silicon layer on substrate.
He asked the question again and I gave the same answer
I: Okay. Now u can leave. All the best for result
Me: Thanks to you and cognizant for giving me this opportunity
I left the hall and phew! it was a great relief.
I went to mess at around 1. Couldn’t find any of my friends. Had lunch and went to my room for a short nap. In the evening went for a stroll. The results were out at around 9 PM. 541 people were selected. The registration numbers were being announced in alphabtcl order. First Amritapuri CSE,ECE,EEE,EIE,MECh. It was a really tense moment for me. Next up was BANGALORE CSE. There were heck a lot of people from CSE and my wait prolonged. Then came ECE. I had to wait a bit longer as my reg no was after 73 people. And alas my number was announced. It was a cakewalk for me as at no point of time I felt I was tested . It was just a matter of getting through the process with a cool mind. That’s how it was for me.
Friday, December 11, 2009
CAT experience
6th Dec ’09:
After a year of start stop preparation, here I was to write CAT. My centre was RVCE. It is one of the prestigious colleges in Bangalore with state of art infrastructure. Hence I chose it as my centre. I arrived at centre at 7 AM. My dad had arranged for a cab to make my journey to the centre smooth and comfortable.
The security guard informed that entry opens at 8:30. So I spent a boring 1 and half hour in the car. I wasn’t even allowed to explore the sprawling campus. At 8:30 we were allowed to go to the computer centre where our test was going to be administered. There were four labs in which were allotted for the tests. My lab was on the first floor. After a half hour wait in queue a prometric guy allowed us to get in after checking our credentials. I deposited all my belongings at the security and moved to the lab. At the lab, there was a problem with my ID proof. I had taken my college ID as ID proof. My DOB was wrongly printed as 240588 instead of 89. This caused a problem and I was asked to get another id proof. Luckily I had my driving license to prove that I was born in 89. This brought in some nervousness . After that, I had to go through some biometrics and verification for the 3rd time!!
After the three layered check in process I was allotted my seat(S 15). I switched on my PC and there were over a dozen passwords which were keyed in by the proctor before the test interface came up flashing my photo that they took at check in. For another half hour I had nothing to do except for staring at my photo on the screen. At 9:45 were allowed to go through a tutourial video about the test interface.
At 10 Am , the test started off. We had to agree to the customary NDA before we started with our test. The first set of questions were from quant. It was a mixed bag ranging from sitters to complicated questions. It took me around 55 minutes to get throught he quant section. Next up was DI but I decided to skip it and move to verbal as I was tired of calculations that I had done in quant. But verbal gave me no respite. The RC were at its best and to make things difficult , the options were too close to eliminate. None of the options I was sure of. I had to go with a few guesses. Other than that, Parajumbles and Fill in the blanks were of moderate level giving me an opportunity to rush through and make up for the lost time in RC and quant. By the time I was done with verbal section I was left with around 40-45 minutes for DI. The DI however had a lot of sets and required much more time. I had to let go a few sets involving complicated calculations. However the remaining sets were direct and it wasn’t difficult to arrive at an option. On the whole , my CAT experience was like a roller coaster with certain highs and lows. Jan 22nd will determine what were in majority..highs or lows?
After a year of start stop preparation, here I was to write CAT. My centre was RVCE. It is one of the prestigious colleges in Bangalore with state of art infrastructure. Hence I chose it as my centre. I arrived at centre at 7 AM. My dad had arranged for a cab to make my journey to the centre smooth and comfortable.
The security guard informed that entry opens at 8:30. So I spent a boring 1 and half hour in the car. I wasn’t even allowed to explore the sprawling campus. At 8:30 we were allowed to go to the computer centre where our test was going to be administered. There were four labs in which were allotted for the tests. My lab was on the first floor. After a half hour wait in queue a prometric guy allowed us to get in after checking our credentials. I deposited all my belongings at the security and moved to the lab. At the lab, there was a problem with my ID proof. I had taken my college ID as ID proof. My DOB was wrongly printed as 240588 instead of 89. This caused a problem and I was asked to get another id proof. Luckily I had my driving license to prove that I was born in 89. This brought in some nervousness . After that, I had to go through some biometrics and verification for the 3rd time!!
After the three layered check in process I was allotted my seat(S 15). I switched on my PC and there were over a dozen passwords which were keyed in by the proctor before the test interface came up flashing my photo that they took at check in. For another half hour I had nothing to do except for staring at my photo on the screen. At 9:45 were allowed to go through a tutourial video about the test interface.
At 10 Am , the test started off. We had to agree to the customary NDA before we started with our test. The first set of questions were from quant. It was a mixed bag ranging from sitters to complicated questions. It took me around 55 minutes to get throught he quant section. Next up was DI but I decided to skip it and move to verbal as I was tired of calculations that I had done in quant. But verbal gave me no respite. The RC were at its best and to make things difficult , the options were too close to eliminate. None of the options I was sure of. I had to go with a few guesses. Other than that, Parajumbles and Fill in the blanks were of moderate level giving me an opportunity to rush through and make up for the lost time in RC and quant. By the time I was done with verbal section I was left with around 40-45 minutes for DI. The DI however had a lot of sets and required much more time. I had to let go a few sets involving complicated calculations. However the remaining sets were direct and it wasn’t difficult to arrive at an option. On the whole , my CAT experience was like a roller coaster with certain highs and lows. Jan 22nd will determine what were in majority..highs or lows?
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
BHARATH-A 20Yr Sojourn
CHAPTER:4
Cochin was a wonderful place right from people to the weather. One good thing about cochin was most of them knew English. Even a butcher knew English! Yes , kerala was truly a highly literate state.
My school "chinmaya vidyalaya" was located in vaduthala. Malayalam was a compulsory subject. However the school authorities relaxed the norms for me. I was allowed to study 1st standard Malayalam in the first sem following which I was supposed to shift over to 3rd standard Malayalam in the next two sems. The school had a semester system,where in we had 3 semsters. Each semester ended with a term exam. Once that exam was over the next sem exam didn’t test on the portions that were already tested in 1st semester. This made things lot easier. The workload was reduced to a great extent. Even the school ended by two. This allowed me to take up some extra curriculars. My dad arranged for a music teacher, though I don’t remember having any keen interest for music. We had to get a harmonium as the music master wanted that as a pre requisite for teaching.
Daily five to seven, I had music classes. It was a big bore. I just went through the moments. I learnt a few ragas and songs for a couple of months and gave up after that. One of my dad’s associates owned a theatre. He used to arrange for movie tickets on weekends. I remember seeing Jurassic park over there.
At school I was completely at ease, Thanks to the cosmopolitan nature of my class. There were people from different places in my class. I had a friend by the name of Abhishek. His father was owner of “Bheema jewelers”. He used to come in chauffeur driven fiat car.He called me amul baby as I was pretty chubby those days. One more good friend of mine was Kartika. She helped out in completing my notes whenever I was absent and helped out a lot during exams.Then there was ameena who I admired for her beauty and brains . She was the topper of the class.
One of my best friends at cochin was shankhar. My mom was strict with regards to my performances in exams. I always feared the results. It was Shankar who used to come to my rescue, most of the times making me understand that I had actually done better than a section of class and there was no need to worry. There were times when he went upto my mom and told her not to scold me. He was one nice guy I regret losing contact with.
Apart from the regular subjects we had crafts, drawing , PT and bhagvad gita. I struggled with drawing and bhagvad gita. Drawing classes were a nightmare . The drawing sheets and crayons were horrifying images for me. In craft class we made various decorative pieces which I still preserve. PT we mostly played dodge ball. Cricket and football were out of bounds for us. It was only for high school.
My mom took great pains in learning Malayalam and then teaching me. She learnt it from the doordarshan teaching channel!! And it began yielding results. I got decent marks in the first semester exams and I made a smooth transition to 3rd standard Malayalam. Bhagavad gita was really tough. There were 18 chapters and we had to by heart the whole thing and recite the ones the teacher asks. That was a daunting task.
My mom kept herself busy by teaching in a school for mentally challenged. She also learnt car driving though my dad was reluctant to let her drive. We got a sunny and my mom used to drop me at school on that. I enjoyed the drive along the railway track to school.
On independence day, I got my first opportunity to venture into extra curriculars. Having learnt carnatic music for sometime I sang well. So I got a chance to sing “Hind desh ke niwasi”. There was also a fancy dress show and I dressed up as Nehru.
I made couple of friends at HPCL quarters. But I didn’t get to spend much time over there. Occasionally we ventured to the marine drive. The scenic backwaters was a view worth a watch. There was a floating restaurant over there. My other hangout spot was driving park, where I got to drive pedal jeeps and scooters on real roads. It was like real life complete with signals and zebra crossings.
My dad made frequent trips to pune for attending training programs. He got me chocolates from the famous nathu’s sweets over there. I relished them a lot. My pet collection widened with a mini aquarium comprising of fishes and snails. My dad also got a special kind of birds which didn’t fly. We could hold it and play around and they made no fuss about it. But over a period , their wings got strengthened and they managed to fly away.
The love birds met a sad end. One of them died due to ant bites(Bloody ants..i hate them!!). After a few weeks the other one died when a cat attacked and devoured it and left only bones(sob..sob). The fishes were often attacked by the snails. The snails squeezed the fishes to the walls and the fishes died of suffocation. All these were sad moments and we decided not to have any more pets.
My dad wrote CAT and various other MBA exams. He managed to get a seat in Philippines to do MBA. But he let it go as he didn’t want to leave me(love u dad ).
Two years on there was a sudden change in mindset of my dad. Those days I was pretty dependent on my parents and I guess most of them would be at that stage. But probably I was a bit too dependent. I didn’t know how to tie lace(I still don’t know :P), how to wear a shirt and other silly stuff. This made my dad think of putting me in hostel so that I could learn to do things on my own.
One of my dad’s colleague's son was studying in 8th standard at vijnana vihar in vizag. The friend(jobless fellow!) suggested my dad to put me in the same school as it gave good value education and was disciplined.
There was an entrance exam to be written for getting into the school. And believe it or not .. there was a crash course to crack that exam!! Amazing! people make money out of every damn thing. After my fourth standard I left my great school and friends at cochin. I moved over to vizag and underwent the crash course for half a month. It was a horrifying experience. We were packed into small dark classrooms and made to attempt loads of questions from dawn to dusk. I had made up my mind to fail the test at any cost. But god had different plans I guess. As even my worst performance got me into touching distance of getting admission. I just missed the cut off. My grandfather was Assistant police commissioner at vizag. He put some influence and got me a seat in that dreadful place. I was disappointed as all my plans failed and I had to stay away from my parents for 1 year. It was something I had never imagined of.
My hostel experiences and stay at vizag shall come up in next blog
Sunday, November 8, 2009
THE SUNDAY THOUGHTS
Its been two days since I have seen the sun. There’s been a constant drizzle that’s been knocking my mood off. With three days to go for my end sems to kick off, here I am with nothing else to do but blogging.
Here are a few thoughts of mine that I want to share with u people out there.
I happened to go to a one year old’s birthday party. The joy and happiness that was there over there still lingers on. First birthday is always a special occasion for a child’s parents and family members. I am glad that I got an opportunity to share the joy.I wish there was a flashback option in life to go back and relive all the wonderful moments.
Moving on, this is with regards to the mad football maniacs. I don’t understand the point behind supporting clubs/teams which they can no way connect with in their lives. Being a cricket Fan is a different thing as it is very much part of our life in India and we have people hailing from our places representing the team. But in football you have people from unknown countries playing it out endlessly year after year all for nothing. The intense fan rivalry that is prevalent just irks me. I have no qualms with international football, but club football is something that I hate.
Last but not the least, I came across this startling fact that google keeps tab of all our online activities of not just 1 day or month but 4 long years!! This is a blatant invasion of our privacy and can prove to be serious security threat in case of internet banking and other online transactions. Here are some more details about it. Google has this feature called dashboard where it keeps track of recent visited sites, downloads, mails etc. This it claims it does to show the users relevant advertisements. But it can be misused if it gets into the wrong hands. This is something google must stop.
Friday, November 6, 2009
SACHIN-THE MILESTONE MAN
"Cometh the hour, cometh the man"
And the man is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Whenever India has been in deep trouble, its often SRT who comes to the rescue. His two decade stay in International cricket has caused no dearth in thirst for runs. He still dismantles the most lethal bowling attack with ease. His 9 centuries against the best team in the world bears testimony to this fact.
On 5th December 09, the whole world was waiting for the 17000 th run fom sachin's blade. And the moment came when sachin went past the 17k mark. On the other end was Suresh Raina with 1700 odd runs. Such has been sachin's vast experience. He is the messiah of Indian cricket. Even the young blood aren't able to replicate what sachin has done so consistently over the years.
Once sachin went past the 17k mark, people were out planning celebrations. But sachin had his own way of celebratin and that is do what he likes most ie score runs. He scored at a phenomenal rate and the aussies were left gaping at the marvelous strokeplay. He paced his innings perfectly and shifted gears seamlessly.
On a pitch that looked flat as a carom board, Scoring runs was not a problem . But what made sachin special is his meticulous planning of the innings. He made sure the required run rate always hovered around the 7 mark even though wickets were tumbling at the other end.
In 1999 at Chennai , sachin played a similar innings and took India almost to the finish line but his mates faltered and ended up gifting sachin a defeat. I am sure those memories were back haunting him during the last four-five overs. Ten years down the line nothings changed. Sachin departed and his teammates marched behind their great commander.His consistency in giving his wicket off to debutants also remained intact as he paddle scooped a gem of a delivery into the safe hands of Mike hussey.
The 175 will remain a memorable one for the hyderabadis. We are lucky to live in this sachin era. As he moves into the twilight years of his career, I wish him all the luck and hope to see him score a double ton in ODIs.
ATB Sachin!!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Nuclear Disarmament
The world today is ravaged by wars and terror attacks leaving thousands of earthlings’ grief stricken. It has had a humongous impact on mother nature. During the cold war era, there was a race towards stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction which included nuclear war heads. U S and Russia were the two heavy weights in this nuclear arms race.
In due course many other countries like Britain, France developed nuclear technology. In order to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT) was proposed by Ireland and finland .It was opened for signature in 1968, 189 countries signed it. India, Pakistan, Israel and North korea are not parties to it. India did not sign the treaty as it was discriminatory in nature. However india’s nuclear policy shows that India has no intention of waging a nuclear war.
India’s nuclear policy states the following
• Maintaining a credible minimum nuclear deterrence
• No first use
• Non use on non nuclear weapon states
• Voluntary moratorium on further nuclear tests
The contemporary world has become perilous and the threat of nuclear conflict has intensified. Nuclear technology in countries like Pakistan which is among the top ten countries in failed state index, should ring the alarm bells world over. In a country where government doesn’t have strong control on its territory could easily be a safe haven for terrorists. The commingling of terrorists and nuclear weapons will be a deadly mix to handle world over. It could lead to nuclear terrorism(NT). NT denotes the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in acts of terrorism. The situation in Pakistan merits immediate international attention. The whole world must come together and persuade Pakistan to forego their nuclear technology else all wear efforts to curb nuclear proliferation will turn into a damp squib.
Nuclear weapons in Iran could lead to opening up of doors for the Middle -east to nuclear technology.
The first step towards disarmament should start with US and Russia which together have nearly 5000 deployed nuclear war heads. Many steps have been taken in the past for reduction and regulation of nuclear warheads. Prominent among them are
• SALT(Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) in 1972 to freeze ICBMs and SLBMs
• START in 1991
• SORT(Strategic Offensive reduction treaty) in 2002 to reduce nuclear warheads to 1700-2200 by 2012
However with the Bush regime(2000-2008) gave no heed to the treaties between US and Russia. Tensions heightened when US supported the NATO backed Georgia to confront Russia. However Obama seems to be making amends to the mistakes made by Bush. His visit to Russia (6-8 July 09) reignites the hopes that we are heading towards nuclear disarmament. Their respective leaders agreed to limits their warheads to 1675 respectively. As aptly said by Obama that every seed knows its time, the seed has been sown for nuclear disarmament and hopefully it begins to show results soon.
In due course many other countries like Britain, France developed nuclear technology. In order to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT) was proposed by Ireland and finland .It was opened for signature in 1968, 189 countries signed it. India, Pakistan, Israel and North korea are not parties to it. India did not sign the treaty as it was discriminatory in nature. However india’s nuclear policy shows that India has no intention of waging a nuclear war.
India’s nuclear policy states the following
• Maintaining a credible minimum nuclear deterrence
• No first use
• Non use on non nuclear weapon states
• Voluntary moratorium on further nuclear tests
The contemporary world has become perilous and the threat of nuclear conflict has intensified. Nuclear technology in countries like Pakistan which is among the top ten countries in failed state index, should ring the alarm bells world over. In a country where government doesn’t have strong control on its territory could easily be a safe haven for terrorists. The commingling of terrorists and nuclear weapons will be a deadly mix to handle world over. It could lead to nuclear terrorism(NT). NT denotes the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in acts of terrorism. The situation in Pakistan merits immediate international attention. The whole world must come together and persuade Pakistan to forego their nuclear technology else all wear efforts to curb nuclear proliferation will turn into a damp squib.
Nuclear weapons in Iran could lead to opening up of doors for the Middle -east to nuclear technology.
The first step towards disarmament should start with US and Russia which together have nearly 5000 deployed nuclear war heads. Many steps have been taken in the past for reduction and regulation of nuclear warheads. Prominent among them are
• SALT(Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) in 1972 to freeze ICBMs and SLBMs
• START in 1991
• SORT(Strategic Offensive reduction treaty) in 2002 to reduce nuclear warheads to 1700-2200 by 2012
However with the Bush regime(2000-2008) gave no heed to the treaties between US and Russia. Tensions heightened when US supported the NATO backed Georgia to confront Russia. However Obama seems to be making amends to the mistakes made by Bush. His visit to Russia (6-8 July 09) reignites the hopes that we are heading towards nuclear disarmament. Their respective leaders agreed to limits their warheads to 1675 respectively. As aptly said by Obama that every seed knows its time, the seed has been sown for nuclear disarmament and hopefully it begins to show results soon.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
It’s Time for India
9/11 shook the world for US. It changed the complexion of USA. All of a sudden they went into a shell. Lakhs of people practicing Islam in US were detained as terror suspects and their self-respect was destroyed by their inhumane tortures violating all the human rights. Moving ahead , they launched a full fledged assault on Afghanistan and extended their war to Iraq and are now threatening to unleash another carnage on Iran.
India stands in complete contrast with US. We have weathered umpteen number of attacks and still have patience to wait for Pakistan to make amends. Though we have enough evidence to pin point the culprits we still refrain from taking stern action. Its time we change our foreign policy and take a aggressive stance. We are one of the leading economies in the world. We have the largest armies in the world. But still we keep our armies tied to their bases.
We are in a corridor of high risk. With two volatile nations(Pakistan, Bangladesh) at our door step. Its time we strengthen our entry points. We have been on the defensive for the past six decades. China’s string of pearls strategy threatens to isolate india from the world and can turn dangerous if not tackled. The fragile srilanka is just a stone’s throw away from our southernmost tip and we can expect any retaliatory attacks from factions like LTTE.
In these times, it’s imperative that India show its might on the army front. We need to showcase our military power to the world in order keep nations like china and US at bay. One of the best and apt ways is to attack Pakistan. This would help in capturing all the terror camps in Pakistan and bring the cross border terrorism to an end.
To take such tough decisions, we need to have young and dynamic people in the defence minister’s chair. People like A K Anthony are good for presiding over ceremonies. I am sure he will be found wanting in case of a war.
India stands in complete contrast with US. We have weathered umpteen number of attacks and still have patience to wait for Pakistan to make amends. Though we have enough evidence to pin point the culprits we still refrain from taking stern action. Its time we change our foreign policy and take a aggressive stance. We are one of the leading economies in the world. We have the largest armies in the world. But still we keep our armies tied to their bases.
We are in a corridor of high risk. With two volatile nations(Pakistan, Bangladesh) at our door step. Its time we strengthen our entry points. We have been on the defensive for the past six decades. China’s string of pearls strategy threatens to isolate india from the world and can turn dangerous if not tackled. The fragile srilanka is just a stone’s throw away from our southernmost tip and we can expect any retaliatory attacks from factions like LTTE.
In these times, it’s imperative that India show its might on the army front. We need to showcase our military power to the world in order keep nations like china and US at bay. One of the best and apt ways is to attack Pakistan. This would help in capturing all the terror camps in Pakistan and bring the cross border terrorism to an end.
To take such tough decisions, we need to have young and dynamic people in the defence minister’s chair. People like A K Anthony are good for presiding over ceremonies. I am sure he will be found wanting in case of a war.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Taliban Resurgence
The Taliban was founded by Mullah Mohammed Omar. It was formed at a time when Afghans were being tormented by the Mujahideen warlords. As a result Taliban enjoyed enormous support among the afghans initially. Taliban managed to alleviate afghans by subduing the influence of Afghan warlords. However they later revised their goals and decided to overthrow the afghan government as they were against the secular nature of the government.
Taliban got a major impetus from US during the cold war era when US used Taliban as a shield to prevent soviet union from occupying Afghanistan. This was the period when Osama bin laden rose in stature. Osama came down from sudan and forged relationship with Omar. Thus Taliban and Al-qaeda came together. US poured funds and arms into Afghanistan and by 1987, 65,000 tons of U.S.-made weapons and ammunition a year were entering the war. With the help of their burgeoning resources thanks to the backing of CIA and ISI they managed to capture Kandahar in 1994 and Kabul in 1996 and thus took control of government in Afghanistan. The Taliban implemented one of the "strictest interpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world".
After the cold war, US deserted Taliban and left Taliban to fight out on its own. The aid stopped coming and this irked the leaders of Taliban. They decided to wage war against the western world through al-qaeda. This resulted in attacks on US and various other countries by way of attacking establishments, abduction and execution of citizens. The flash point in US Taliban relationship was when an al-qaeda attack bulldozed world trade centre which was the heart of US business world.
The Taliban refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden who was believed to be the mastermind behind the attack. US along with its allies launched a major offensive against Taliban in 2001. The stated intent of military operations was to remove the Taliban from power because of the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden for his alleged involvement in the 11 September attacks, and disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations. On 14 October 2001 the Taliban offered to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to a neutral country if the US halted bombing, but only if the Taliban were given evidence of Bin Laden's involvement in 9/11. The U.S. rejected this offer as an insufficient public relations ploy and continued military operations. The war resulted in decimation of Taliban cadres in Afghanistan and the disappearance of Osama bin laden. Following this war against Taliban , a democratic government was established with Hamid Karzai as the head of government. The strength of Taliban in Afghanistan was reduced drastically.Despite the complete dismantling of terror infrastructure in Afghanistan, Taliban managed to cling on by way of guerilla attacks on various government establishments.
After the invasion, the Taliban managed to regroup by drawing in new recruits from the madrasas in pashtun dominated regions. The Taliban resurgence had begun. This has been confirmed by the ground forces at Afghanistan who claim that they are losing control of their respected areas. The most notable sign was the rioting in May after a street accident in the city of Kabul. The continued support from tribal and other groups in Pakistan, the drug trade and the small number of NATO forces, combined with the long history of resistance and isolation, leads to the observation that Taliban forces and leaders are surviving and will have some influence over the future of Afghanistan.
The pashtun dominated SWAT valley in Pakistan had provided greener pastures for Taliban. The Taliban has managed to groom many terror organizations like Let, Jud which are a major threat for our nation. The complete implementation of Sharia law in SWAT is a sign of the presence of Taliban in Pakistan.
On February 11 2009, the Taliban struck at three government buildings, including that of the Ministry of Justice, in the heart of Kabul, killing 20 persons. More than 50 were injured in the attacks, in which explosives and Kalashnikov rifles were used; eight gunmen were killed by the Afghan security forces. The February 11 attacks, hoodwinking all the security deployment in most of Kabul, cannot be viewed in isolation. There have been indiscriminate kidnapping adventures by the Taliban and its associates in the neighbouring regions of Pakistan, especially in the Swat valley of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), which is virtually under militant control despite a huge Pakistani Army presence.
Pakistan has apparently launched an offensive against Taliban in SWAT valley and is believed to have made some progress in SWAT. However these reports can’t be trusted consider the dubious nature of Pakistan. Taliban though had no hard feelings against India in the initial years, the recent suicide attack on Indian embassy shows the growing growing hostility between India and Taliban. It’s time we step up and make ourselves well equipped to fight Taliban as we can’t afford one more Mumbai.
Taliban got a major impetus from US during the cold war era when US used Taliban as a shield to prevent soviet union from occupying Afghanistan. This was the period when Osama bin laden rose in stature. Osama came down from sudan and forged relationship with Omar. Thus Taliban and Al-qaeda came together. US poured funds and arms into Afghanistan and by 1987, 65,000 tons of U.S.-made weapons and ammunition a year were entering the war. With the help of their burgeoning resources thanks to the backing of CIA and ISI they managed to capture Kandahar in 1994 and Kabul in 1996 and thus took control of government in Afghanistan. The Taliban implemented one of the "strictest interpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world".
After the cold war, US deserted Taliban and left Taliban to fight out on its own. The aid stopped coming and this irked the leaders of Taliban. They decided to wage war against the western world through al-qaeda. This resulted in attacks on US and various other countries by way of attacking establishments, abduction and execution of citizens. The flash point in US Taliban relationship was when an al-qaeda attack bulldozed world trade centre which was the heart of US business world.
The Taliban refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden who was believed to be the mastermind behind the attack. US along with its allies launched a major offensive against Taliban in 2001. The stated intent of military operations was to remove the Taliban from power because of the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden for his alleged involvement in the 11 September attacks, and disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations. On 14 October 2001 the Taliban offered to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to a neutral country if the US halted bombing, but only if the Taliban were given evidence of Bin Laden's involvement in 9/11. The U.S. rejected this offer as an insufficient public relations ploy and continued military operations. The war resulted in decimation of Taliban cadres in Afghanistan and the disappearance of Osama bin laden. Following this war against Taliban , a democratic government was established with Hamid Karzai as the head of government. The strength of Taliban in Afghanistan was reduced drastically.Despite the complete dismantling of terror infrastructure in Afghanistan, Taliban managed to cling on by way of guerilla attacks on various government establishments.
After the invasion, the Taliban managed to regroup by drawing in new recruits from the madrasas in pashtun dominated regions. The Taliban resurgence had begun. This has been confirmed by the ground forces at Afghanistan who claim that they are losing control of their respected areas. The most notable sign was the rioting in May after a street accident in the city of Kabul. The continued support from tribal and other groups in Pakistan, the drug trade and the small number of NATO forces, combined with the long history of resistance and isolation, leads to the observation that Taliban forces and leaders are surviving and will have some influence over the future of Afghanistan.
The pashtun dominated SWAT valley in Pakistan had provided greener pastures for Taliban. The Taliban has managed to groom many terror organizations like Let, Jud which are a major threat for our nation. The complete implementation of Sharia law in SWAT is a sign of the presence of Taliban in Pakistan.
On February 11 2009, the Taliban struck at three government buildings, including that of the Ministry of Justice, in the heart of Kabul, killing 20 persons. More than 50 were injured in the attacks, in which explosives and Kalashnikov rifles were used; eight gunmen were killed by the Afghan security forces. The February 11 attacks, hoodwinking all the security deployment in most of Kabul, cannot be viewed in isolation. There have been indiscriminate kidnapping adventures by the Taliban and its associates in the neighbouring regions of Pakistan, especially in the Swat valley of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), which is virtually under militant control despite a huge Pakistani Army presence.
Pakistan has apparently launched an offensive against Taliban in SWAT valley and is believed to have made some progress in SWAT. However these reports can’t be trusted consider the dubious nature of Pakistan. Taliban though had no hard feelings against India in the initial years, the recent suicide attack on Indian embassy shows the growing growing hostility between India and Taliban. It’s time we step up and make ourselves well equipped to fight Taliban as we can’t afford one more Mumbai.
Friday, May 29, 2009
POETIC RUMBLINGS
hi ppl. Takng a break frm my autobiography as i am busy travelling. Howeva i have made up a poem and here it comes
I lived a life of single ready to mingle
Until I met u at the Christmas jingle
When you walk past fore
U usher in a freshness never felt before
U leave a fragrance behind
That ll remain long to remind
u are the most beautiful person
That I have stood to see under the sun
I might seem drunk
But the truth is I am sunk
In the ocean of Love
For you my dear dove
Friday, May 22, 2009
BHARATH-A 20yr Sojourn
CHAPTER 3
After 3 years of schooling(UKG-2nd) at ARLM , I adjusted to the new place and people . I enjoyed my schooling @ cuddalore. Though my home was near the quite and deserted sea shore I did not like venturing near the shore. I used to watch only English movies in the only AC theatre over there. For some unknown reasons I feared the waves and never dared go close to it. However I did garner courage and venture into the shores with some of my relatives when they came down to my house. But I slipped and fell down and the waves completely overwhelmed me. I thought I was drowning but it was just a high tide. This scared me out of my pants and my fear heightened.
My dad got me lovebirds from Pondicherry. We got a large blue customized cage for the two birds. I enjoyed watching them play around and fight among each other. Apart from that I liked torturing the Ants(Both red and black). I liked trapping them in transparent boxes and feed them with sugar and other eatables. I then poured water into the boxes and saw them drowning to death. With the black ants it was much more fun. The black were aggressive then the red ants and i used to force them to fight against each other. I used to play around with gi-joes which I had bought on my trips to Chennai. During my summer holidays after my 2nd standard I went on my first flight(Air India) from Chennai to hyderabad. Though a short flight the experience was exhilarating. Today after som many flights , that first flight still remains special .
After 1 month into third standard, I got a jolter. My dad got transfer orders to move to Cochin. I was shocked by this sudden change that was going to come in my life. The fact that I had to leave the wonderful place and people should have saddened me. But somehow the joy of moving to a new place was more than the sorrow of leaving of Cuddalore. I packed my things and set out on a journey to my new residence. I forgot to mention about the vehicles that we had. When we came to cuddalore we had a customized maruti car with a wonderful AC and power windows making it one of the very few luxury cars in town. After a few years we bought a second hand Fiat(premier padmini). It was a car that was used by Rajiv Gandhi during his campaigning in Tamil Nadu. We drove all the way from cuddalore to Cochin in our new fiat car. The AC was so powerful that after a few hours ice particles started coming out of it during our journey to Cochin. We reached Cochin after a 14 hour long journey. As the academic year had already started, getting seat in a school was tough. However my dad managed to get me a seat in one of the prestigious schools in City. My school was Chinmaya Vidyalaya. It was a school run by Chinmaya Mutt . It was mutt formed my H H Chinmayananda Swamiji. We managed to get a home near the school. My school was in vaduthala. My home was in SRLM cross roads near pachalam market. The area where we were staying was known as Ernakulam. I believe Cochin was far from there.
The House we were staying in was a two storey house with a slanted roof which was characteristic of houses in Kerala. We stayed in the first floor. Our owners stayed in the ground floor . The birds enjoyed seemed tired after the long journey and didn’t chirp much for the first few days. My school was just a few meters away from my home. So not much travelling had to be done. Even my dad’s office was nearby but he had to go through a railway crossing which was closed most of the time which resulted in him being late most of the times.
In the next chapter I will discuss about my schooling and the exciting times that I spent at cochin.
After 3 years of schooling(UKG-2nd) at ARLM , I adjusted to the new place and people . I enjoyed my schooling @ cuddalore. Though my home was near the quite and deserted sea shore I did not like venturing near the shore. I used to watch only English movies in the only AC theatre over there. For some unknown reasons I feared the waves and never dared go close to it. However I did garner courage and venture into the shores with some of my relatives when they came down to my house. But I slipped and fell down and the waves completely overwhelmed me. I thought I was drowning but it was just a high tide. This scared me out of my pants and my fear heightened.
My dad got me lovebirds from Pondicherry. We got a large blue customized cage for the two birds. I enjoyed watching them play around and fight among each other. Apart from that I liked torturing the Ants(Both red and black). I liked trapping them in transparent boxes and feed them with sugar and other eatables. I then poured water into the boxes and saw them drowning to death. With the black ants it was much more fun. The black were aggressive then the red ants and i used to force them to fight against each other. I used to play around with gi-joes which I had bought on my trips to Chennai. During my summer holidays after my 2nd standard I went on my first flight(Air India) from Chennai to hyderabad. Though a short flight the experience was exhilarating. Today after som many flights , that first flight still remains special .
After 1 month into third standard, I got a jolter. My dad got transfer orders to move to Cochin. I was shocked by this sudden change that was going to come in my life. The fact that I had to leave the wonderful place and people should have saddened me. But somehow the joy of moving to a new place was more than the sorrow of leaving of Cuddalore. I packed my things and set out on a journey to my new residence. I forgot to mention about the vehicles that we had. When we came to cuddalore we had a customized maruti car with a wonderful AC and power windows making it one of the very few luxury cars in town. After a few years we bought a second hand Fiat(premier padmini). It was a car that was used by Rajiv Gandhi during his campaigning in Tamil Nadu. We drove all the way from cuddalore to Cochin in our new fiat car. The AC was so powerful that after a few hours ice particles started coming out of it during our journey to Cochin. We reached Cochin after a 14 hour long journey. As the academic year had already started, getting seat in a school was tough. However my dad managed to get me a seat in one of the prestigious schools in City. My school was Chinmaya Vidyalaya. It was a school run by Chinmaya Mutt . It was mutt formed my H H Chinmayananda Swamiji. We managed to get a home near the school. My school was in vaduthala. My home was in SRLM cross roads near pachalam market. The area where we were staying was known as Ernakulam. I believe Cochin was far from there.
The House we were staying in was a two storey house with a slanted roof which was characteristic of houses in Kerala. We stayed in the first floor. Our owners stayed in the ground floor . The birds enjoyed seemed tired after the long journey and didn’t chirp much for the first few days. My school was just a few meters away from my home. So not much travelling had to be done. Even my dad’s office was nearby but he had to go through a railway crossing which was closed most of the time which resulted in him being late most of the times.
In the next chapter I will discuss about my schooling and the exciting times that I spent at cochin.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
BHARATH- A 20yr sojourn
CHAPTER 2:
1991-1995
I had to undergo some tough times at NSM with the strict regimen in place over there. The bad handwriting that I possess, I have to put the blame on the teachers of NSM. However the times I spent at home was wonderful. My mama(Mom’s brother) who was doing his engineering at Nagpur used to bunk his classes and kept coming back to Vijayawada to spend time with me. I enjoyed the times I spent with him. Eventually he ended up discontinuing engineering and a part of the blame has to be taken up by me. Having toiled for two long years at NSM I moved out when my dad got transferred to Cuddalore. A small town with an amazing sea shore. I got myself admitted into the best school over there. It goes by the name of Arcot Rama Linga Mudhaliar public school. It was a school that reflected the sorry state of the place. Small rooms covered with thatched roof made up the class rooms. I resumed my schooling over there and started off with UKG. Those were very long days at school. I was at school from 8 Am to 4 PM. My home was pretty large and had a large back and front yard. The backyard was a regular visiting place for frogs and snakes. I was brave enough in those times as I used to roam around in backyards all alone even at nights. At times frogs managed to creep into the bathroom and I enjoyed killing them by pouring some hot boiling water on them. My neighbors were very kind and helpful. I spent most of my evenings in their homes. I learnt how to play carroms from them. My mode of communication with my friends was English and I don’t know how much they understood of what I said. In classrooms every bench was occupied by a boy and a girl. I ended up sitting beside a fat girl. I don’t remember her name, however I remember the nickname(Jayalalitha) that I gave her. We used to fight with each other and frequently disturbed the class and ended up most of the times out of the class. At home, my mom forced me to sit down and study daily.
As a result I ended up with some impressive report cards which I still preserve.I studied over there till 2nd standard. Since Tamil was a compulsory subject at school. I ended up learning Tamil. During weekends I forced my dad to take me to Pondicherry(now puducherry) which was around 20 Kms from there. I enjoyed my weekends at Pondicherry. I spent most of the time at boat club where I got a chance to ride a speedboat. It was wonderful to zip through in the high seas of bay of Bengal. For diwali holidays I went to hyderbad to celebrate diwali with my cousins. Celebrating diwali with my cousins was a customary and I enjoyed de diwalis at Hyderabad. For summer holidays I ended up most of the times at ooty or kodaikanal. Kodaikanal was a boring place for me as there was nothing over there for me to play or enjoy. Ooty was a place I still enjoy. The resorts over there were amazing and the weather in those times sans global warming was cool. I enjoyed the rides in the toy train over there.
Occasionally I made visits to madras. I hated the weather and traffic over there. However toys available over there were nice, my favourite being the remote controlled cars. Also I started off with a hobby and that was stamp collection. I also went for some tennis coaching though never mastered the game. I am not able to recollect the names of my friends however they were all very nice people .
Monday, May 18, 2009
BHARATH –A 20yr Sojourn
So far I have talked about general topics in my blog. Today I am going to start off a series of osts about me and my life. Hope it makes an interesting read.
I am dividing it into 3 parts:
Ancient Bharath(1989-1995)
Medieval Bharath(1995-2001)
Modern Bharath (2001-present day)
Ancient Bharath is a period which I don’t remember. Whatever I know is by way of what my parents told me.
Ancient Bharath:
1989-1991:
I am dividing it into 3 parts:
Ancient Bharath(1989-1995)
Medieval Bharath(1995-2001)
Modern Bharath (2001-present day)
Ancient Bharath is a period which I don’t remember. Whatever I know is by way of what my parents told me.
Ancient Bharath:
1989-1991:
On 24th may 1989 I was born In Kakinada at a hospital whose name I don’t remember. Kakinada being the place where my great grandparents were staying. After a week of my birth I set off on a journey to Vijayawada to my home sweet home. I have been told that it was a long difficult journey in a stormy weather.
In fact after a few days the road which we came by was completely inundated. After a few months I shifted to an apartment where I became connoisseur of all eyes. All my neighbours made regular visits to my house to play around with me. Unlike most toddlers of present day I was fond of milk. This earned me de nick name of Milk Tanker.
My first birthday was celebrated in a grandway on a rooftop restaurant. All my far, near and dear came down to celebrate my completion of first revolution around the fireball called sun.
My second year was spent in playing around with toys and breaking stuff at home. I was giving my parents tough times. As they say idle mind is devils workshop. Probably I was behaving devilish. This made my parents decide on putting me in school as early as possible.
This was how my 1st bday party invitation looked like:
"Dear uncle,
As i am completing 365 days of my arrival on 24th May 1990. I am inviting you to my birthday party along with aunty and my sweet little friends at Vijaya Krishna roof top restuarant .
I promise not to wet your clothes
Note: I do not like gifts
Bharath Vaishnov"
Monday, April 6, 2009
THE ELECTION FESTIVAL
Its election time again. The banners are out, all roads are decked up with placards of different parties vying for space on the sides of roads. The netas are busy trying to woo their voters and at the same time their high command to secure a ticket for themselves. The people of lower strata are all busy going from one meeting to another earning the dearest thing FOOD and alcohol. There is no better time for the poor in India than in election time. It opens up a plethora of opportunities to make money. Every party woos them by way of money or morsel. It is truly festival for the poor. I am sure they must be hoping for elections to be held every day .
Thanks to our lethargic middle class and biased upper class who stick to their own parties irrespective of the prevailing situation, the only segment left out to exploit is the poor. Its amazing to see how the life of people changes come election season. My parents stay at Anantapur , a place 250Km off Bangalore in Andhra Pradesh. Usually whenever I go home , I return back by cab. This cab guy always used to crib about getting no business in anantapur. But with elections at the helm , he is completely busy chauffeuring nethas and attending their functions.
There are many more instances where people who were jobless are now juggling between various election works for various parties. The cropping up of myriad parties has done them a world of good as their value is heightened. The poor have become items of auction with various parties throwing in their bids by way of promises and perks.
The alliance dynamics has brought on a new dimension to this already vibrant elction season. The various permutations and combinations that are coming up has left people in a discombobulation. The coming together of yadavs and paswans in UP-BIHAR segment is a classic example. The traditional rivals have all of a sudden forged friendly ties. This election for sure is turning out to be a colorful canvas. But my only worry is will this canvas give us clear picture ?. Come 16th May we will get to know what the canvas has to show us.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
SLUMDOG:A dilemma for India
Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscars. Congrats to both Rahman and Rasul for winning the same. It was a well made film and good creativity was seen in the entire film. It’s also possibly the best marketed film but the question is how did the film project India?
The moment I think about SM, the scene that strikes my mind is the kid jumping into the shitpool for the autograph of an actor .It is completely absurd and it clearly shocked me not because it doesn’t happen here but how it shows India in poor light. The film’s entire narration seems like the germination of a terribly sadistic and complex mind with the sole aim of satisfying the western idea of India – and its new found growth instincts at their cost - and it is done through a combination of illogical happenings in order to show everything in a disgustingly negative vein. The accolades of the Oscar projecting the movie as “the world taking note of India”. Is this what we wanted to show them? doesn’t a country with leading space technology, nuclear power and IT excellence deserve more?
In truth, about 65 million Indians live in slums around India and this includes migrants from neighbouring countries. It is a sad reality, and undoubtedly something to be moved by and ashamed of. But, taken in the context of a billion Indians, it is easy to see that India has a lot more to it than abysmal poverty and mindless villainy that the movie uses as a leitmotif.
In the past we were the land of maharajas,philosophers and sages. Now we have a new status. We are land of beggars, stealers and child racketeers.
So if a foreigner tomorrow asks me whether children swim in shit-ponds in India what can I say, for it is the image created in the western world.
Surely we can take pride of Rahman who is extremely talented and Rasul too. But was this the right way to win an Oscar? Danny Boyle’s film had brought some cheers to the foreigners reeling under recession and wanting to blame India for all their worries.
Director Danny Boyle’s tributes to the Mumbai spirit and the Indian artists in the movie has been generous. His career and those of the lucky winners will be star-studded. And as the flavour of the season, Bollywood itself is living its own “Bollywood dream” at the moment – of making it big in Hollywood.
But for the little Indian “slumdogs” who have given the movie its soul, this is a fleeting moment. For when the clock strikes midnight, these people who have helped create many millionaires around the world will return to their tarpaulin-roof homes, to take their usual place beside their colleagues, too proud and too dignified to “ask for more”. City of Joy has done little for Kolkatta (Calcutta), and Slumdog Millionaire will do little for Dharavi.
The moment I think about SM, the scene that strikes my mind is the kid jumping into the shitpool for the autograph of an actor .It is completely absurd and it clearly shocked me not because it doesn’t happen here but how it shows India in poor light. The film’s entire narration seems like the germination of a terribly sadistic and complex mind with the sole aim of satisfying the western idea of India – and its new found growth instincts at their cost - and it is done through a combination of illogical happenings in order to show everything in a disgustingly negative vein. The accolades of the Oscar projecting the movie as “the world taking note of India”. Is this what we wanted to show them? doesn’t a country with leading space technology, nuclear power and IT excellence deserve more?
In truth, about 65 million Indians live in slums around India and this includes migrants from neighbouring countries. It is a sad reality, and undoubtedly something to be moved by and ashamed of. But, taken in the context of a billion Indians, it is easy to see that India has a lot more to it than abysmal poverty and mindless villainy that the movie uses as a leitmotif.
In the past we were the land of maharajas,philosophers and sages. Now we have a new status. We are land of beggars, stealers and child racketeers.
So if a foreigner tomorrow asks me whether children swim in shit-ponds in India what can I say, for it is the image created in the western world.
Surely we can take pride of Rahman who is extremely talented and Rasul too. But was this the right way to win an Oscar? Danny Boyle’s film had brought some cheers to the foreigners reeling under recession and wanting to blame India for all their worries.
Director Danny Boyle’s tributes to the Mumbai spirit and the Indian artists in the movie has been generous. His career and those of the lucky winners will be star-studded. And as the flavour of the season, Bollywood itself is living its own “Bollywood dream” at the moment – of making it big in Hollywood.
But for the little Indian “slumdogs” who have given the movie its soul, this is a fleeting moment. For when the clock strikes midnight, these people who have helped create many millionaires around the world will return to their tarpaulin-roof homes, to take their usual place beside their colleagues, too proud and too dignified to “ask for more”. City of Joy has done little for Kolkatta (Calcutta), and Slumdog Millionaire will do little for Dharavi.
Friday, February 13, 2009
LOVE*
Tomorrow happens to be the Valentine's Day. It's a day dedicated to the goddess of love. Love certainly is a wonderful thing. It brings immense pleasure and joy. The feeling of love flows through all living beings. It's one of the few traits that can be observed in all sorts of beings. The interesting thing is this feeling can be expressed across different species. It's a well known fact that dogs show their love and affection to their masters in a very animated manner. Love apart from air is a pre-requisite for any creature. Without love and affection it's impossible to endure the tough challenges in life.
When I say love, I mean the unconditional love(The love that a mother shows to her child) Unfortunately such love is rare to come by in this present scenario. As we get more mechanical day by day wearing different masks of expression we are also losing our natural ways of expressing emotions- A boon bestowed on humankind. Today there is selfishness everywhere. Every act is scrutinized from the angle of profit and loss.
Even the religion that is supposed to spread love and peace across the width and breadth of human race is getting diverged from its motives and purposes due to some vilifying agents. People are fighting among themselves in the name of religion. Religion has become a medium to fragmentize the society.
Much to the chagrin of our society, people like Pramod Muthalik keep cropping up who take upon themselves the task of moral policing and vandalizing the youth of our country. Youth are very important part of our yet to be developed society. Times have changed and so have the customs and traditions. Clinging on to the obsolete standards of society and trying to compare with the present day is senseless and flawed. Mr. Muthalik needs to realize that Hinduism is a very tolerant religion that has space for everyone and anyone. Our manuscripts are humongous and one requires a complete understanding of it to get the essence of Hinduism. Reading a part of it and formulating own opinions may prove detrimental and disastrous.
*No conditions applied
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