Dec 29, 2006

Sayonara 2006...



Another year too coming to close.. Time is marching on. How was 2006 ? It had its own highs and lows... This year was very special to me ... It taught me a lot..I've begun to analyse myself much more...I've begun to appreciate the value and meaning of life much more...

It had its own highs and lows... Jan - 2 was a high for me after eking out a call from B ..

May - 9 was a low for me as I slipped out of their waiting list ... Another Jan - 2 in the reckoning.. I hope the ladyluck will be with me this time...

Happy New Year to all... ( In Malayalam : Ellavarkkum ente Puthuvalsaraashamsakal )

Have a Gr8888 2007...

Ajith

Dec 26, 2006

Fleecing Autos at B'lore



1. Have you ever come across an auto driver who demands exorbitant rates for the ride ?

2. Have you ever seen the auto's meter running faster than the auto ?

3. Have you ever faced abusive behaviour from Auto drivers ?

4. Have you ever seen an auto's meter running even if it is stopped at a signal ?


If the answer to atleast one of the above questions is in affirmative , then checkout http://watch-auto.blogspot.com/
Move on if you don't care or feel nothing can be done ...

Ajith

Dec 15, 2006

Empty!!!!






There seems to be a big void or vacuum in my life after CAT.. Till Nov-19 , I had lots and lots to prepare .. Now for the past one month, it has been nothing but reading some arbit books...Planning to get a Lappy soon. Any suggestions on how to go through the season till Jan - 2nd ? Every alternate day or so, I get back to the threadbare analysis of verbal questions and think about which institute has provided the right key..I've had enough of that. Now got to do something different...

Ajith

Dec 5, 2006

Ambedkar Statue & Mob Hysteria



Back to my favorite blogging topic -- Politics --

A sequence of events highlighted in media

Date : Nov:29 : Baba Ambedkar's statue vandalised in Kanpur. Media reports indicate that it was beheaded. Immediate protests in UP, but police able to control the situation.. The detailed reports of the incident splurged across the nation by media.

Date : Nov:30 : Angry protests rock Maharashtra. Stone pelting and rioting across the Marathwada region. Four dead, more than 60 injured as per the official estimates.

Date : Nov:30: Four coaches of Deccan queen torched by protesters. The burning coaches fuel disgust among the general public.

Dates : Dec 1,2 : Blame game. .The uppermiddle class points the finger at police, Police blame the media, some people blame Dalits for getting into this hysteria ( if u can call that ), some blame politicians..This goes on.

-- These are the main events that everyone came across..However, there is a backdrop to this. which was not highlighted very much by the media (atleast the national media )--

Those are ...

Date : Sep-29 : At Khairlanji in Bhandara district , Four Dalits of a family including two women are killed ..Reports indicate that two women ( Mother and daughter ) were gang-raped and killed .Subsequent cover-ups by the police and politicians led to mass protests..Supposedly owing to political pressure, the IGP at Nagpur made a premature public statement that the killings did not involve rape. But, the regional media highlighted it and protests began to mount..Some sanity into the probe was restored. The preliminary probes by the Government indicted a top cop. The case is finally with the CBI. Some of the related news links are 1, 2 , 3 , 4
And manymore if u search in Google ..


My take
-------------
I firmly believe two wrongs cannot make a right. But thats not the case with everyone.Think about why rioting took place in Maharashtra ...Is it because the state has more Dalits -- No, Uttar Pradesh has the most..Is it because opportunist politicians wanted to exploit the Dalit votebanks ? - No, because the elections are not impending in Maharashtra, its coming up in U.P.. And there are equally good opportune politicians in UP and Bihar ...Then why did the riots happens there ? In reality Dalit anger was simmering in Maharashtra over the past two months or so over the Khailranji killings and subsequent attempted cover-ups. Coupled withthe already deteriorated agrarian crisis and the routine farmer suicides, this was just an outlet of frustruation..If not the desecration of statue, some other incident would have comeup over that..It could have been done by someone in U.P to incite a mass protest there and polarise the votebank before the elections ( As per the U.P police , a person in an inebriated state vandalised it and no politcal motives were attached to it ) . I would say , its time to treat the root cause , rather than symptoms..

Even after decades of Dalit mobilization and Mandal politics, the condition of bulk of Dalits remain the same ..To get a feel of that, take a journey through rural Andhra / Karnataka.. Illiteracy,poverty, insanitation and much more will make you wonder where the money spent for Dalit upliftment has gone to..
The purported 'saviour of Dalits' - the Republican party of India is splitting and forming new groups every now and then..As per the latest stats, there are six groups claiming to be the real representatives of R . P . I , not to speak about the numerous factions. These goes on , and nothing other than votebank politics result from these...Unimaginative politicians fight for quotas in higher education for a populace which doesnt have primary education. And, none of the much 'acclaimed' upliftment plans of various Governments reach the needy people..

For the bulk of the high-class Indian citizens, the images of burning Deccan Queen would have added nothing but disgust and hate towards Dalits..At first I too was shocked by seeing the images..Only a few would have really looked into what the actual picture is. In couple more weeks, the media would get a new issue and the old ones will be relegated, atleast thats what has been the sacrosanct tradition of Indian Media.

An angry and discontent populace produces sporadic incidents like this..It'll destabilize the democracy. If not now, it'll lead to bigger troubles.. Its high time that we focus and bring the needed focus into the neglected masses., the other side of 'shining India'...Dedicated work in the field of education, housing , employment etc has to happen...The big Q is, " Is anybody bothered about that ??? "

Ajith







Nov 24, 2006

Movie Review - Casino Royale



Rating -- Just above average

Daniel Craig -- Not as suave as Brosnan..But certainly good..

Plot -- Good, but by the end it goes into a typical Bollywood style ..

Style quotient -- Not upto the mark..

Dialogues -- Classic.. Perhaps the best since Moore and Sean Connery..

Bond Gal -- mmm, should have been more exciting..But neverthless, was OK..

Direction -- Could have been better.. No match for the action sequences in "Tomorrow
Never" dies or "Golden Eye".

New urge -- I want to learn playing Bridge... With that, may be I would have been able to
enjoy those better..

Locations -- Good .. The Montenegran splendour is a perfect backdrop to gambling .

Overall view --
Perhaps the first Bond movie in which Bond puts his papers and get emotionally attached to a girl. But neverthless it was better in one more aspect that it didnt display any technological insanities ( remember invisible car -- Die another Day ) .. I was really impressed in the first half, if not by the Bond, but atleast by the storyline and the dialogues... But in the second half, the storyline takes an unhealthy turn which is perhaps a bit unfitting in a supposed to be spythriller... But it was certainly watchable...


Ajith

Nov 20, 2006

-- An update --



I think I've done well...The keys speak so .. [:)] Now fingers,hands,legs crossed till Jan-2nd .

Ajith

Nov 3, 2006

First week @ b'lore..



Learnings

1.
Kingfisher Airlines is haawt!!!!!

2. Understanding the traffic routes at b'lore is a pain..

3. And, be prepared to ride for one hour for a distance of less than 10 KM..


Experiences

1.
Venue :- ShivajiNagar Bus stand ..

A kid of about 13 yrs of age with good uniforms,bags etc comes to me and asks "Sir, I lost my money to go to school..Can u giv a 10/- for bus-ticket.." I was about to give when another young man alertedme.."Brother, this is his daily job..Every day he comes here and says the same thing to strangers..I once fell prey to guy and gave him 10..Dont give.." ..We both cross questioned him..and he acknowledged thats his daily trick..And then ran away..
The very next day at the same place I saw this boy asking the same to another person at a distance.Before I could intervene , he collected the money and ran away from there...


2. I'm into a team that deals with something that can be described in layman's language
as a software implementation of banking business....Basically, a software to play around with
money..Highly analytic..Long ago believed that this kind of an industry is basically worthless
as what they do is just make more money with their money without doing anything
productively , though indirectly it is highly productive...And now I'm into this.. But the way
they have done the coding has attracted me..And, at this point of time, it seems to be good.

3 . "I'm habituated to change" -- One of my friends told me some time back..Whatever be the
case, its a bit tough to manage with a shift compared to the comfortable life I had there..
And I'm going through the vagaries of having to find a house ( I took one at Madiwala ) ,
shifting things, and lot of other stuff...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ See u all after Nov-19 ..I'm on a two week vacation and going to Calicut ++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Ajith
















Oct 27, 2006

Bye bye Hyderabad...



This is my last weekend of my 2-year stay here at Hyderabad.. I'm leaving this city for Bangalore on monday night.. It has been an enriching experience here .. So, dedicating this post for the good old mystical city of Nizams...

Increasingly cosmopolitan, good people to interact, reasonable cost of living , a blend of history and modernity ranging from the good-old forts of Golconda to the ultra hip-hop pubs, Hyderabad has everything.. More than eighty percent of the people know Hindi..So, not much problem on the language front..

If any of you are visiting Hyderabad, Dont miss these places...

1) Golconda Fort

-- Easily the most captivating place that I've been here in Hyd.. The ruins of the fort has a great charm. The sound & light show at night in which the history of the fort is narrated by Amitabh Bachchan is really a lifetime experience...





One photograph from our visit ( a bit old though )







2) Eat street

-- I haven't ever come accross a better place to hang around with friends..This place with lot of restaurants has a great atmosphere..It is just by the side of Hussain Sagar offering you a calm breeze and an awesome sight...

I don't have any photographs of this place with me now...Will putup one soon..


3) Ramoji film city

-- The quintessential Hyderabadi tourist spot.. A wonderland with excellent settings for movies.. Lot of movies including Sarfarosh, Udayanaanu thaaram ( Malayalam ) and many more are shot there... It takes one full day at the bare minimum to visit this place..










And , no visit to Hyderabad is complete without going to the famous Charminar.. Nothing extra-ordinary , other than the historical significance.

( With my parents and brothers @Charminar )

.. A very crowded place..Dont go there in your vehicles..Take a bus and go..Or hire a taxi.
There are other good places like Durgam Cheruvu ( the secret lake --- basically a place meant for couples ..and also singles like us for bird-watching :) ) , Salar-jung museum ( A statue called 'Veiled Rebecca ' -- one of the best architectural beauties that you can see ) , Runway-9 ( go-karting place ) etc.. etc..

Now letme see what Bangalore has in store for me..

Ajith

Oct 20, 2006

Bribes..Bribes..Bribes..



For the last few days, I've been extremely busy...A sudden increase in the workload with all those transfer pending matters, it was a bit hectic. This week also marked the first time when I gave bribe to a policeman :((

Till now, I've never had come across such a situation..But this guy proved to be a tough nut to crack..

For all people who are thinking of transferring the vehicles from one state to another , please don't run behind this procedure unless u know someone in police ..Its better to sell it off before you move.. The procedure to get NOC (No objection Certificate ) for transferring your bike from Hyderabad to another state is ..


1) Make sure that RC card has 'self-owned' ..i.e, if you have taken loan for buying car/bike, either close it or get a no-objection certificate from bank and change the owner to yourself rather than 'Hypothecated to ICICI bank' -- This costed me 700

2) Go to Police Control room, and you have to get a traffic police clearance certificate -- 120/- ( don't know what part of this was bribe and what was fees..but found that to be OK.. )

3) Commissioner's office -- Take xerox of RC,license,pollution certificate and write a request..They'll issue two papers - a) User-charge control b) telephone message -- Dont ask me what are these.. 100/- -no bribes here..

4) Go to local police station ( Madapur , near hitec city ) and ask them to do a verification....Here's where the trouble comes..

I went, filled all the forms and requested for verification.

A policeman, he seemed courteous enough helped me through this..In between he mentioned 'Kharcha lagega iske liye'... I said OK, expecting it to be minimal..After everything was done..he started talking about the rates..

Policeman ( PM ) : Minimum paanch sau to dena hai..
Me : (( Wtf ?? )) Sir, passport verification ko bhi sirf teen sau hote hai..
PM : Aisa kuch nahi hain..Paanch sau se kam nahin honge..
Me : Sir please...teen sau pe adjust karo..
PM : Nahi Ajith..Nahi Chalega..
............................................
.............................................
This went on for a while..

By then, i knew it was a waste of time..

Multiple options came to me 1) Make a big noice and alert the inspector..But what if he too turned out to be of this type ?..
2) Leave all at that point, sell of the vehicle at Hyd and move off..
3) Pay it ....

Ultimately I paid..as I love my bike..not because its great, but its very comfortable to ride and I dont want to part with it quickly...

All said and done, the process is not complete yet..Got to go back to the commissioner's office and get to the next stage..After that, got to RTO.. I hope I dont have to come back to this Madhapur police station..

Running cost -- 1420/- + petrol + my valuable time ...

I hope I get it sorted out tomorrow :((

===========================
Update:
===========================
Finally , I got the NOC for bike..
last place was RTO office, which I did through an agent..

Expense in the last lap of the process : 730 /- ..I dont know which part
is a bribe ,which is the actual fee / how much went to the agent..Was too tired by this
stage to fret about that..

Total expense : 2150/- plus the cost of xerox of lot of papers plus petrol plus my time...


Ajith

Oct 7, 2006

Hyd == > B'lore.



Two updates..

1) Upgraded to blogger beta..No Issues till now. Very much satisfied with the 'label' feature for the blogs..I dug up almost all the posts and assigned labels. For my best posts, click on the label 'My take' The editing of templates is remarkably better.


2) As the title indicates, I got a transfer ( rather..managed to eke out ) to B'lore..So, will be moving to the Garden city of India from the city of Nizams by this month end.. And yeah,lemme see if any response comes via this route..My office will be at Prestige Blue Chip, opposite to Christ college..So, if anyone in that area is looking for a well behaved, well mannered, etc etc roomie ( I know, a bit exaggerated....but, chalega ) in a 5 - 6 Km radius of that area ..( Koramangala, Madiwala, BTM etc ) , please let me know... :)


Ajith

Sep 30, 2006

Six things about me; habitual, common yet weird!



This seems to be a tough tag from sreejith..I had to think a lot before writing this..


Weirdo 1: ) I hate jackfruit like anything.. I can't even stand its smell.. I've tried many times to tide over this.. This smell itself gives vomiting tendencies to me...I dont know why ..

Weirdo 2: ) I can solve Rubik's cube in under 4 minutes consistently and, if luck favours it'll be done within 3 minutes..I dont think its a great feat..but then, solving it is thrilling

Weirdo 3: ) I tend to make silly calculation mistakes very often..Though I'm reasonably good in maths, I've made blunders like 39 + 14 = 43 , 2+1 = 2 etc even recently..

Weirdo 4: ) I tend to realise some things in life a bit late.. Often, the learnings have made me to think like "If I knew this before, my life would have been different "..

Weirdo 5: ) I tend to win silver medal at almost all the times... Through out my school & plus two life, there was some girl/guy who used to score a few marks above me and pushed me to second place..( In REC, I was never in the top 10 ..so this didnt bother me there :) ) . Most of the quizzing prizes that I've got are second..Very few firsts there.

Weirdo 6: ) Ppl say that I've two contrasting personalities.. Some say that I'm very jovial, others say that I'm very philosophic. ..I think I'm a mix of both.


Passing this tag to Sanjiv, Deepak and Dutta .

Ajith

Sep 25, 2006

Interesting Signatures..



These are a few of mail / forum signatures that I've come across in the recent times..
Hope u find it interesting..

1. Nobody can create or destroy a bug. A bug can only be transformed from one form to another
2. Hard work has never killed anybody..But why take a chance ?

3. There are only 2 kinds of ppl in the world: those who hv watched LOTR and those who haven't

4. 99% of the girls in this world are beautiful. The remaining one percent is in my college :)
( This is an old one ..was in some T-shirts during our final years.. )

And, the best one ........

I think am gay.. Wanna prove me wrong ???

Readers are welcome to contribute more to this list.. :)

Thanks,
Ajith

Sep 8, 2006

Books@mylife



The craziest Harry Potter fan has tagged me to write on books .. Now , literature is a field, where I'm very poor..My old quizzing partners know, I sulk at the mention of a literature round. I'd prefer magazines over books anyday.. Still, I'd give a try on this in a light way


1) One book that has changed my life

Hmmm...I dont think till now any book that I've read has influenced me to this level..Maybe, 'Godfather' has influenced me a lot..But , no..no book has changed my life yet..
About 'Godfather', Mario Puzzo rocks..its really great..But I would recommend you to read it only after attaining a certain amount of maturity in your life..The values imbibed by a 15 year old boy by reading this book will be completely different from those imbibed by a 23- 27 year old guy. To me, the greatest learning from that ... "Its contacts and obligations towards you that'll help you in life the most and succeed in it " .. courtesy, Don Corleone :)


2) One book that you have read more than once.

Well, it is a malayalam book.. "Dharmaraja" .It came as a part of our std 10 syllabus..But, yeah...I really enjoyed it .. Have read it many times..partly for studying, partly for enjoyment..

3) One book that you would want on a deserted Island

"The best from Bobanum Moliyum " -- By Toms..
Mallus know about it.. U can't write comics better than Toms.. On any day, his works score higher than Calvin , Dilbert or any of those. But ofcourse, U have to know malayalam.

4) One book that made you laugh

Obviously, the one mentioned in the above section will always make laugh.. But another entry that qualifies to be put here is not a book, but a blog .. For people who haven't been to Abhinav Jain's blog, take a look at it..one of the best humorous blogs.


5) One book that made me cry

Hmmm..tough one...Can't think of anything here.

6) One book you wish had been written

Autobiography by Osama Bin Laden.. Just for academic interest :)

7) One book you wish had not been written.

A definite first --- Theory Of Computation by Harry R. Lewis,Christos H. Papadimitriou --- Computer science people know about this..Sigh!..how I passed this subject..This book has almost all kinds of printing symbols that you can make.. And tons of theorems which is incomprehensible for an average computer science student .. Software engineering by Ian Somerville comes a close second in this category for the boredom that it imparted to us during the fifth semester.

8) One book that you are currently reading

-- CAT Preparation materials from TIME, CL and some old material from IMS ( My last attempt..so got to be serious enough ) .


9) One book that you have been meaning to read

Have kept couple of books ready for reading from Nov-20 ( Billi is on Nov-19 ) , which includes "To kill a mocking bird" by Harper Lee and "Son's of fortune" by Geoffery Archer...Anybody who has read these , please comment on them..


-- Well.. Time to pass this tag to some people.. I hereby tag

1) Flyawaymind
2)Sanjiv
3)HitchHiker
4)Silverline
5)Sreejith
6)Maya
6++) -- Anybody who'll take this tag is also welcome -- any bookworms out there ??

Ajith


Sep 4, 2006

Missing my third consecutive Onam..



"Is there any place here at Hyd where I can get a good OnaSadya on this tuesday ?? " .I've popped this question to many people, but still stuck up with a negative answer. Eitherway, the spirit of Onam survives..I'm far away from Kerala, but still I can feel the rhythms and celebrations there..Asianet relays some Onam special programs which gets me nostalgic.

Those were the days when we roamed through our village seeing and participating in many programs like Pulikali , Vazhumarakayattam, thalapanthu.. etc..

Those were the days when we got to see most of our relatives spread far and wide across the nation ..

Those were the days when we collected flowers and laid laid pookkalams in front of our ancestral home..

Those were the days of Ona Sadya with kaalan, aviyal , pappadam , pazham paalpayasam .....

Those were the nights when we sat throughout to see the local club celebrations cheering, mocking , making fun ...and enjoying...

Those were the days when we used to wonder looking at the 'thumbapookkal' on the road side and gardens..

Those were the days when we used to see the famed 'Kaikottikali' and 'thiruvaathirakkali'

( Sigh ) Those days have gone by....


Ajith

Aug 23, 2006

Reservation , Creamy Layer And Politicians..



Hmmm...finally the s*#king politicians are bringing up this stupid thing in Parliament even without the rider of Creamy Layer which will enable the wards of all politicians to get the benefits..This was not unexpected though...No party has the credibility or courage to put atleast the funda of creamy layer into this OBC reservation. I wonder what happened to the case that was filed in Supreme court challenging this legislation...To tell how sinister and undeserving this is, I can quote some incidents that I've come across..

Scene 1: NITC counselling Yr - 2000

Kerala is a state which has implemented OBC reservation. But,as it is, the benefits are always cornered by the affluent in the society. Being the premier college, the seats in our college used to fill up after the IITs.Fortunately or unfortunately I managed to hang on to the last csc seat in open category .On that day, I witnessed people coming in ultra-luxury cars and claiming seats under OBC quota showing income certificates that defied logic..Ofcourse,It is true that some deserving people also bagged seats under this . Neverthless, the day exposed how deserving people are subjugated and how income certificates are manipulated to obtain seats under the name of quota.


Scene 2: NITC counselling Yr-2001.

Had some of my friends attending the session.So just went there..Things were no different. Over the 2 - 3 batches that I know at NITC , there are people who regularly go abroad for vacations and run mobile bills in excess of thousands per month claiming OBC reservation and bagging seats with income certificates showing BPL incomes...Being born into a caste or community would automatically allot you a seat in one of the coveted colleges.


Scene 3: An attestation..

One of my neighbour's son came to my mother for getting the copies of marksheets attested as he was about to attend the engineering counselling. In the set of certificates , he had an income certificate from a village officer showing the occupation of his father as "Koolivela"( Manual labour ). In truth, his father is one of the richest in our locality with a very big house , multiple cars and herds of servants... I was really perplexed by all this.


Scene 4: GATE.

This actually happened in a party..I was talking to my classmate ( One of the very few dedicated souls to computer science ) .He had a good GATE rank which would have got him admission to one of the IITs..He said he was not applying this year as he had GRE plans..and because of another reason -- If OBC quota comes in , as GATE score has a validity of 2 years , he may very well get into IISc next year --
I don't really know if that argument was meant to be sarcastic or serious..But then, in all probability if he studies well for another year he may get into IISc in general merit..Why..oh why abuse quota in this case..?

========================

The problem with reservation in India is the inability to effectively filter out the creamy layer..In a country as corrupt as us, an income certificate or an OBC certificate can be obtained for a few bucks. Even if the rider of creamy layer is incorporated into the present bill, public would have found ingenuous ways to circumvent that..But then, in such a form the bill would have had a bit of decency...Hearing the esoteric and unimaginative arguments of the OBC politicians, I can only say..."God Save This Nation" .

Ajith

Aug 11, 2006

Copy-paste :: An NRI Engineer's story



Really, really touching one .. This is a cut and paste from a thread posted at

http://www.egiridih.com/Forums.aspx.


As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in software
Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and
opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come
true. Here at last I was in the place where I wanted to be. I decided I
would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I
would have earned enough money to settle down in India. My father was a
government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he
could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.. I wanted to do some thing
more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed.
I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap
international phone cards.

Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and
discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy
whenever the Rupee value went down. Finally I decided to get married.

Told my parents that I have only 10 days of holidays and everything must
be done within these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest
flight. Was jubilant an was actually enjoying shopping for gifts for all
my relatives and friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be
talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through all the
photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to
select one candidate. In-laws told me, to my
surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3 days, as I will not
get anymore holidays soon and they cannot wait for long.

After the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some
money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we (I
was lucky and managed to get the visa of my wife early) returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she
started
feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a
week sometimes 3 times a week as she also has to call her parents. Our
savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have
kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us by
the
almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked me to come to
India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India. But part work, part monetary
conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant
dream.Then suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were
seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and was stuck
up
in the procedures and thus could not go to India. The next message I got
was my parents were passed away
and as there was no one to do the last rites the society members had
done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents passed away
without seeing their grand children.

After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and
my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for
a suitable !
property,
but to my dismay my savings were short and the
property prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to
the USA. My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to
stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my
wife I would be back for good after two years.

Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my
son was happy living in USA. I decided that enough is enough and
wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to
buy a decent Two-be droom flat in a well-developed locality.

Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the
routine visit to the nearby place of worship. My faithful wife has also
left me and gone to the holy abode. Sometimes I wondered was it worth
all this? My father, even after staying in India, had!
a
house
to his name and I too have the same, nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned
cable TV has spoiled our new generation and the!
se
children are losing
their values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my
children asking I am alright.
Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will be
performing my last rites, God Bless them. But the question still remains
'was all this worth it? I am still searching for an
answer................

There's no need to become defensive when your opinions are challenged.
Instead, let the challenges help you to further refine and clarify
your
own thinking.



-- Somehow, very much touching..Dont really know if it is fact or fiction..But somehow, the way it has been described really touched me..

Ajith

Aug 1, 2006

The Sabarimala Controversy.



Usually when I start writing an article,I usually think a bit about the issue, base my stand and then argue about the points..But then, I really couldn't arrive at a conclusion over this issue even after a considerable amount of thought..

Ok, lets get into the matter..A group of women lawyers have filed a PIL (public interest litigation ) against Sabarimala's ban on women . The women are taking on the Travancore Devaswom Board that has held that women between the age of 10 and 50 years are impure and hence cannot enter the temple .. Quoting Prerna Kumari , one of the advocates who gave the PIL -- "It's unfair that in this age women should be treated with such discrimination."

A little bit background about the case

A proper pilgrimage to Sabarimala means, 41 days of "Brahmacharya" , which means total abstinence from all kinds of pleasures. In its strictest sense, the men who are on the "Vratha" should lead a life of a sage desisting from non-veg food, games, comforts,sexual pleasures etc extending to various levels...Ofcourse, it is highly debatable as on who actually prescribed these.. Or are they mere human interpretations and re-interpretations of beliefs that has evolved over more than 2000 years.. It is also another matter as on how many of the men who take the pilgrimage actually go by the proper norms.. I've taken the trip twice. To be true to myself, I didnt take the 41 day course..I took it only for about 20 days properly.But whatever be it, the Sabarimala trip has been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life so far...The divinity that engulfs you when you hear the song "Harivarasanam..." at Sannidhanam is so pristine that it calls me again and again to make another trip..

I talked to some people about why the ban on women was enforced..There were many explanations..Two versions are,

1) The history of Swami Ayyappa who remained a bachelor ...It is said that he's not to be disturbed by the sight of young women. Let me add here that as per the legend, Ayyappa in his life killed Mahishi ( a demon ) and freed her soul and kept here in a temple just outside the sreekovil as "Malikapurathamma". The story further goes on saying that he made a promise to her that he'll marry her at a time when "Kanni Ayyapas " ( first timers to Sabarimala ) doesnt come.. And, that obviously wouldnt happen .

2) As per the temple laws / scriptures, women having their periods are considered 'impure' to the sanctity of the temple. But then, why no other temple bans women ? Well, I got a explanation to that question too.. Women are supposed to abstain from all temples during their periods..and a vast majority of them do so .But as per the norms or scriptures at Sabarimala, anybody who wants to go there should take the 41 day 'vratha' ( penance ).. And , obviously , if a woman having periods is considered impure, then 41 days course will definitely be broken.... This rule seems to be the like the promise with the rider that Swami Ayyappa gave to Mahishi.

Aren't these unnescessary bans enforced for male hegemony ??


Arguments supporting the Ban..

"Our stand is clear. This is an age-old practice based on religious belief and it should be allowed to continue. This cannot be changed through a decision because it is based on belief."

"The temple exists on this belief. So it cannot be seen as denial of women's rights or attempt to curb their rights," said Punalur Madhu, Travancore Devaswom Board...

That too sounds convincing..

Consider what'll happen if women are allowed..

How many men can suppress an inkling of carnal desire when he interacts with a beautiful lady.. Tough.. Even if 80 % or more of the men who come at Sabarimala doesnt take the 'Vratha' in its true sense , the atmosphere there is divine..people actually turn pious there. Such is the atmosphere.. If women are allowed, then I feel, this divinity or divine atmosphere might get eroded, not because of the 'impurity', but because of natural attraction towards opposite sex from both sides.


A conclusion from my side

I dont think it is blasphemous to allow women's entry to Sabarimala..Neither do I think that periods make her impure. Tantri's who bring shame ( I dont really know if it is true or just an allegation ) to the shrine are committing sacrileges by that standard...But the point is that if entry is allowed to them, I feel the atmosphere on Sannidhaanam might get a bit troubled..Ayyappa is a God who is to be seen after taking Brahmacharya vratha..To help devotees to attain that , its nescessary that women are prevented. Just going there and seeing Ayyappa wouldnt allow you to enjoy that pristine moment..Take the Brahmacharya Vratha.The more rigorous it is, the more beneficial it is..And then go there, enjoy the divinity..


Ajith

Jul 19, 2006

Paradoxes -- The Ultimate Ironies Of My Life



1. I hate to chase cash, but I can't take my eyes off a Cheverlot Optra.

2. I hate to compare myself with others, but I thrive in a competitive world.

3. I can't help but admire the concepts of Leninism and Marxism, but I'm convinced that market rules.

4. I hate leaving my home @Calicut, but I can't help it.

5. I love music , but I'm one of the worst bathroom singers and best back-bench singer.

6. I'm reluctant to give up the comforts of this software life, but the joy of bunking classes, copying assignments and sleeping in backbench morethan anything else attracts me towards college life again..

7. I hate politicians like Arjun @#$% Singh, but I love politics.

8. I'm all for idealism, but I'm very much convinced that its not pragmatic.

9. I love India very much, but the splendour of Eurpoe beckons me for a visit.

10. I convince myself repeatedly that past is past, but my inner-self brings back those memories again and again.

11. I'm convinced that path towards God is by helping others, but the suave feeling of Sabarimala trip calls me to go there again.

12. One day I want to leave all this and work in some good NGO...but not sure as on when that day will come.


-- Stopping because of "Triskaidekophobia" :)

Ajith

Jul 4, 2006

Worldcup Roundup ( to be updated )



Almost a month of soccer frenzy which has really altered my biological clock.I wake up at 9, reach office by 11, and after the soccer matches, sleep almost at 3 .AM...

This worldcup has not been really great, but it has been far better than Japan-Korea 2002. As usual my favourites Dutch and Czech crashed out early, but after playing some entertaining soccer.. Stage is now set for the semifinals..
Germany Vs Italy
France Vs Portugal
-
- an all European affair since 1982. Lets go through some of the best matches that has happened so far in this tournament..


1) Argentina Vs Mexico ( IInd round )

Maxi Rodriguez -- A name that the Mexican wouldnt forget for some time. His was perhaps the best goal of the tournament. Mexicans true to their fighting spirit really stretched Argentines ...
This game brought back the memories of Mexico Germany prequarter in 94.

Awesome game with flowing football. Latin American soccer rocks.










Rodriguez about to take his shot to
fame

2) Germany Vs Argentina ( Quarter Final )


Germany is always a tough team when it comes to soccer. With an even mediocre team, the mannschaft reached final last time..and surely would have given Brazil a tough time had Ballack not been suspended. Add to German fighting spirit the home advantage too..Germans really took the game to Argentines. In the end, Pekerman's substitutions seemed to have taken the game away from Argentines. If he had the sense to bring on Aimar /Messi, it would have been a different game..Agreed referreeing was a bit partisan, but in the end it was Ballack's composure , Jens Lehmann's saves and the injury to Abondozierri that won the match for Germans




Klose , heading home from Ballack's
free kick
3) Brazil Vs France ( Quarter Final )

Zinedine Zidane --
The magic repeats. French seem to have a special affinity for the Brazilians at the WC. After having a rather subdued worldcup, Zidane was at his supreme best once again.Controlling the game in midfield, orchestering moves, slick passes....you have to admire this man. Though the game was a dull affair in the first half, after the French strike in the 57th minute , it really picked up. This match really exposed the lack of training as a unit on the side of Brazil.In addition to that, French youngsters Ribery and Malouda also played with purpose.

The master returns -- Zidane in a joyous mood



4) Czech Vs Italy ( First round )

Pavel Nedved --
Another great footballer goes down in history without any major international achievements. However, i feel the injury to the star players undid the Czechs.
Buffon was simply outstanding in this match bringing multiple saves from Nedved , Rosicky and Co.. This was a match Nedved really wanted to win..but the Italian defense marshalled by captain Cannavaro and Goal keeper Buffon were simply imperious. The tactic of going into the match with just one forward against the meanest defense also backfired. The gap between two teams were not that big as suggested by the margin, with the second Italian goal coming in the dying stages of the match with all Czechs attacking was a stroke of luck.Had any of the earlier attempts by Nedved gone into the net, it would have been a different game altogether.As they did in Euro - 04, Czechs again go out without luck.






Vanquished and Winner.
Nedved and Buffon



5)Netherlands Vs Portugal ( IInd round )

16 yellow cards + 4 red cards-- a world record. Here too, the tactic of playing with just one forward backfired against Dutch. Though Dirk Kuyt's performance cannot be termed bad, they really missed the predatory skills of Van Nistelrooy in the penalty box. And Robben was throughout kept in check by the resolute Portuguese defense. Being said, if they had a bit more luck Cocu's / Van Persie's shot would have easily gone into the net. But thats football.Things dont happen the ideal way.





A rather common sight in the match






6)Netherlands Vs Ivory Coast ( First Round )


Van Persie's Freekick goal
African teams surprise as usual. Ivory Coast and Ghana carried their flag this time.But the professional approach of Netherlands was a tad over the African flair. I hope, I pray that this young crop of talented young players from Netherlands achieve something big..Let them not falter the way VanBaste,Gullit ,Rjikkard trio did after the 1988 Euro. VanPersie's freekick goal is perhaps the best executed one in this WC. Cocu moving off Ivory Coast's wall to give VanPersie a perfect slot to shoot was simply too good.This was one of the 'matches' of first round.Full credit to both the teams.




8) Portugal Vs Mexico (First Round )

Latin American teams have a natural flair to their game.And Mexico is no different.Its one of the few teams which still play something that can be called "A Beautiful Game". The game was really close. Bravo's missed spot kick finally gave Portugal the victory over a Mexican side handicapped by the injury to Borgetti. About Portugal, its Deco and a crop of young players that rule their game. ..But really, Fonseca and co gave them a run for their money.





Jun 26, 2006

Two long,long years @Oracle Hyd



Well, I dont know what feeling should accompany this. Last week, I completed 2 years of cubicle life. Dont know whether to be happy or sad about that.. It has been a roller coaster ride. That last two years were definitely not the best, but at the same time not the worst.. Can't call it mediocre too. At times I feel I'm not made for this cyber life, but then, I havent found another avenue for myself. I hate to chase cash..but in the end, i may endup doing that. Life is twisting and turning from one phase to another.

Even though I havent saved a huge amount or anything like that,I'm at a much better position financially than I was when I left NITC. Thats one aspect upon which I should thank Oracle.Honestly, I feel the salary to effort ratio is pretty high here.

About Hyd -- a great city.. U have something here for all kinds of people. From great historical museums and forts to the marvellous hitec city and Imax , the list is very long.
I'll put up a detailed post about Hyd sometime..Only minus point that i see is the distance to Kerala.

I'm all set to join the rat race again..mock tests, studies,analysis... the list is long.Hope that something better comes out of that this year...

Ajith

Jun 10, 2006

The Planet's Greatest Show begins





World cup...Nothing encompasses its spirit. It breaks all barriers of human civilization. Where else could you see Iran playing against United States ? Where else you see legions of fans wearing different colours cheer their favourites ? What else unites people across obscure nations in Africa to the hitec world of Japan ... The spirit of this festival is simply indomitable.



My memories of this event ---

1990 --
Saw my first worldcup as a kid..I didnt know the true significance or the size of this . But that spirit was unique. The still lasting memories of this worldcup include Cameroon's play, Walter Zenga diving in vain to save Maradona's penalty, and finally Germany winning the coveted trophy.

1994 -- By this time, I had begun to read a lot on sports..And saw this worldcup acknowledging the true spirit . The memories include Andres Escobar's self goal and his subsequent murder, Diego playing magnificently against Nigeria and failing the drug test after that, Branco's free kick which helped Brazil to sail over the Netherlands in the quarterfinal, Baggio's heroics..and his subsequent missed penalty in the final..

1998 -- My quizzing career till plus two had really enriched my knowledge on soccer. This was another magnificent cup..The Paraguayans holding down France till minutes of extratime,Argentina - England second round match with the theatrics of Simeone, Davor Suker taking the golden boot, Bergkamp's magnificent goal against Argentines in the quarter final, Dutch losing out on penalties against Brazil, and finally, France getting to the podium in front of their home crowd and Didier Deschamps holding the trophy..

2002 -- The best place to see a soccer match if you cannot go the stadium , is a hostel common room. Whoah..I still relish those memories in NITC hostel..The best being Ronaldinho's lob from the halfway mark to fool David Seaman. But, somehow I felt , this Worldcup lacked good contests except very few..Most of the good teams where knocked out initially itself.Anyway, the spirit of football ruled..and Brazil won..

2006 -- I like cheering underdogs, and true to that my teams are Netherlands and Czech Republic this time..Though both of them doesn't look a cup winner material,I wish they reach atleast Semifinals. Whatever, its the victory for the ultimate human spirit..


Worldcup is an event which taught me one good lesson in life..No matter how good you are,sometimes things doesnt come to you. Truth and justice are two different things..You must not argue for justice unnescessarily to anyone.If justice to talent was to happen in the soccer field, Hungary under Puskas would not have lost the 1954 final, Holland under the magnificent Cruyff would have won the 1974 cup ..like that so many examples...Its not the so called 'fate',in which I dont believe. It is because that nobody would get all the things in life that he wants, everyone loses some..and sometimes those loses are more visible.

-- I wish on one day I could go and see a world cup match live..That would be simply superb.

Ajith

May 21, 2006

Reservations - The Past, Present and Future (Updated)



Most articles that I've come across over this issue of Reservations trace their origin to Dr.B.R Ambedkar and the framing of our constitution. However, in reality the concept of reservation in India was introduced by the Victorian British Government.Let us look into the reasons why it was introduced, what are the results, how it is abused, and what will be the future..

The Past - A caste ridden India

Discrimination In India based on birth existed from pre-historic times. Being born in a Sudra section would automatically mean that the individual is denied of further avenues of education regardless of his merit.In 1850's based on a study by a British administrator - Monstuart Elphinstone ,various presidencies (Bombay,Madras etc ) decided to open the English education sector to people of deprived classes. Needless to say, the upper class people resisted this move. The very thought of education and jobs to people whom they have ruled like slaves as if it is their birth right was unbearable to them. However due to some dedicated reformers and supportive Maharajas , by 1940s reservation was already in place in some areas like Malabar,Mysore,Madras and some places in North India.

After Independence, at the time of framing of our constitution our administrators realized that still most of the population is denied of their rights.Even though our leaders like BR Ambedkar and Nehru despised the usage of caste, they had no other option but to use the nescesary evil as a means to implement reservation so as to uplift the down-trodden.Reservation was never regarded as a divine pill or one stop medicine for removing the inequality.A slew of measures including housing,mass education,sanitation etc where envisaged by them.But, thanks to the Indian bureaucracy and lackadaiscal political administration, none of those measures where implemented..The result - people who enjoyed reservation began to regard it as their birth right.Some people who benefited from this amassed wealth and power and some emerged as powerful forces in politics based on caste votebanks..Infact the direct result of this reservation in post-independence era was the creation of caste based vote banks which no political party could ignore.

When Mandal commission was constitued to study the current situation in our nation , the case was not at all different..Still lots of people were suffering and something had to be done to uplift them. Inspite of having seen a medicine failing, he recommended the same medicine in an increased dosage, however with the rider of 'Creamy Layer concept' which no political party had the courage to implement for the fear of antagonising the votebanks.The decision of whether a particular caste is OBC or not is determined by the state Government and this has led to a big misuse of that power.

The Present - Rampant misuse of reservation and the disgusting votebank politics.
I know people who have centralized A.C in their house and who fly abroad for vacations getting into medical and engineering colleges using the SC-ST tag.If it is not abuse of reservation,then what is it ?There are deserving people who have benefited from this.However,the majority of people ( infact about 90% ) who benefited from this are from the Creamy Layer. States like Tamil Nadu have implemented 69% ( yes ,sixty nine) reservation.
I agree, merit alone cannot decide who is the more deserving candidate when one studies in candle light and another one studies in the comfort of a luxurious home. But then, why caste is a parameter now ?If reservation has to have any meaning, it has to be in the basis of financial capability. India needs big investments in the primary education sector.Once that is done,results will naturally come.

The smug look on Arjun Singh's face while announcing his proposals to the media epitomises the depths to which caste based politics have sunk.. The MPs of a party which is supposedly formed under the ideals of Ram Manohar Lohia protesting against Anti-quota protesters, the proteges of Jaya Prakash Narayanan ( Perhaps the mastermind of greatest ever intellectual reformist movement in India ) supporting caste based quotas...Indian politics is stooping into greater depths.

Update : Read transcript of Arjun Singh's interview by Karan Thappar at
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/decision-on-quota-is-final-arjun/11063-4-0.html


Quoting from that..

Karan Thapar: Absolutely, Parliament has taken a view, I grant it. But what people question is the simple fact - Is there a need for reservations? If you don't know what percentage of the country is OBC and if, furthermore, the NSSO is correct in pointing out that already 23.5 per cent of the college seats are with the OBC, then you don't have a case in terms of need.


Arjun Singh: College seats, I don't know.


Karan Thapar: According to the NSSO - which is a government appointed body - 23.5 per cent of the college seats are already with the OBCs.

Arjun Singh: What do you mean by college seats?

Karan Thapar: University seats, seats of higher education.

Arjun Singh: Well, I don't know I have not come across that so far.

--- If he doesnt know the facts and figures how come he reached at this magical percentage of 27 ?

---------------------

Update : Just read a news in The Hindu about PMK campaigning across nation for support to reservation .

Their demands are

1) Creamy Layer should not be excluded ( so that their wards too will get reservation )

2) Reservation should continue for ever. It should not be phased out
( birthright ?? )

3) We are not happy with 27 %. We need more . ( how much ?? 100 ? )

--- WTF ?? Though expected from a political party which draws support from a highly caste based vote bank, This is the extreme that any party can demand for..
Shame on these stupids..



The future - Have the courage to oppose

Right from the time of admission to school, the caste factor is entrenched in our lives.We will break the shackles only when the usage of that disgusting word is banned by the government. Increased government investment in the fields of primary education,health,housing and public welfare is the key to future. Let us hope India sees the rise of some politician who has the credibility and courage to do that...

Ajith








May 12, 2006

The Left Surge in Elections



Over the past one month, state elections were happening in Kerala,TN,West Bengal..And the results came yesterday. As expected, Left won in Bengal and Kerala..Tamil Nadu went to DMK.
Lets go through what factors were at stake and what influenced the electorate in each of those states

Buddha Smiles In Bengal

Taking this caption from one of the news paper reports that I read today..In the absence of a credible opposition, the victory of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was never in doubt..But the brutal majority of 230+ in a house of 294 is simply awesome..Whatever be the usual allegations of rigging,Bangladeshi voters etc, people in Communist heartland has given a strong thumbs up to
the rule of Buddhadeb.. Touted as the modern Deng XiaoPend of India, the reformist agenda enacted by Buddhadeb against the backdrop of old patriarchs of communism has really gone well with the middleclass of Bengal..Backed up by a team of dedicated ministers and an acqueiscent Politburo, he's leading Bengal firmly to the path of development..And the people are behind him. This is a case of an individual's charisma rising above the party principles.. And it ultimately goes well with the society.His popularity is now at such a level that even the diehard Marxist idealogues doesnt have any say against him..True, Buddhadeb is not preaching communism ..he's just doing what needs to be done regardless of those antique principles. Hope this will bring more benifits to the nation.

Amma shown the door in Chennai

Now
I'm not some one who admires this lady very much..I pity people who fall at her feet and pray as if she's the God. But whatever, I was a little bit impressed by the changes that have been brought about by the Rule of Jayalalithaa in Chennai..Most of the roads in city are remarkably clean, the drinking water problem at Chennai has been solved atleast to some extent, and my friends say that the peace has been remarkably restored by the strong police administration. The tsunami relief efforts were also commendable.. And on the eve of elections, she did a deft political manoeuvre by bringing in Vaiko. Then why did she loss against an ever quarelling DMK? Perhaps it can be traced down to some among the following reasons..

1) The colour TV effect
Well, Karunanidhi's offer of free color TV to the households under poverty line has been said to have caused some effect.. If that is true, then I can just pity with the people who went and voted for someone who played such a cheap political gimmick.

2) The 'Govt employee' effect.
Large parts of Tamil Nadu still remain very much traditional. For them a govt job really means a lot. It has a very high value and safety factor associated with it.. In her initial years, Jayalalitha tried to mow down the organized bargaining power og govt employees by strong arm measures like suspensions..Even though they were reinstated just before the elections, this could have been a deciding factor there.

3) Muslim votebank..
I hate votebank politics..But I guess Jayalalitha's proximity to the BJP has been regarded as a strong reason by a big section of muslim population to vote against her. And her inability to speed up Trial in Coimbatore blast cases has also not gone well with that community.

4) Vijayakanth Effect
Tamil Nadu is a state where people view film stars like Gods.. Annadurai,MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajni ...the list goes on. Movies are an integral part of their life. And Vijayakanth is the latest entrant.Although the party floated by him just won only one seat ( Vijayakanth himself ), the vote share garnered by him across Tamil Nadu is 8 %.. Now thats a sizeable figure..Whose voteshare they have eaten into is a debatable subject..But, that swing has certainly caused a difference.

Kerala painted in Red.

"Gods own Country..Devil's own people..And we are among them " ..The congress in Kerala really deserves to carry that caption.. I'm not a leftist..But I've been extremely happy with the mandate that kerala has handed out .. In most constituencies, the deserving candidates won.
Many heartening things happened in this election..

1)The loss of Muslim league.
"
BJP is communal, but muslim league is not" -- that was argument put forward by congress ..Muslim league is a party which restricts its primary membership to muslims only. The brutal majorities that it enjoyed in select constituencies only in the name of religion are a thing of past. The rise of Kunjalikutty as the most detestable politician in kerala coupled with the awakening of educated muslim youth really turned the tables..Perhaps , if u ask me to pick out the most heartening triumph of this election in kerala, it has to be the victory of K.T Jaleel against Kunjalikutty..People have given them a strong message that politicians can no longer rule them just in the name of a religion. However, the loss of Muneer is a bit paining.He's perhaps the minister the last kerala cabinet who performed the most.

2) Karunakaran's antics silenced..
The party floated by him - DIC(K) ( Perhaps the most embarassing name a political party can have ) was wiped out..It just won one single seat among the 17 or 18 it contested. That includes the loss of Muraleedharan in one of the supposedly safest constituencies for Congress in kerala.. People have given Karunakaran a clear message that such ridiculous political somersaults does not go well with the educated and politically aware people in kerala.

3) The fall of Oligarchs
The loss of TM Jacob and R Balakrishnapilla in their hometown constituencies also echoes the message..You have to perform.Otherwise you are out.

A sideline view..
If instead of a useless , non performing A K Antony, Oommen Chandy was made the CM initially itself, things could have been far better. People will retain politicians who perform. People have given the left front and VS Achuthanandan a clear victory...If they show some credibility and courage to rise over the dogmatic ideologies of left that are only of historical value; and lead the most educated state firmly into path of development , the people will reelect them like in Bengal.I doubt if that would happen..But the message is clear

" People in an educated and politically aware society doesnt bother about ideologies..Its performance that matters "

Ajith








May 9, 2006

Negative..Negative..Negative



Hmmm..Wonder why this happens again n again to me.. First it was NTSE , then IIT , then another one and now IIMB ..the last one like slipping between cup n lips.. Anyway , got some good lessons out of this...

Ajith

Apr 28, 2006

Is this really worth it?



When I chose engineering as my career option against the wish of my mother who wanted me to take medicine, my reason was " Look , I'm good in maths, I dont like bio that much..and a good engineering degree would get me a good job very quickly ".. I slogged through the 4 years @NITC, got what everybody said was a dream job. Now I'm here in this silicon jungle of India , typing obscure code in this system, well paid and doing something for somebody..I wonder what will this add to my life other than money.. Ppl say that I'll have a great career, great life etc..They say,with this profession I'll get a beautiful girl as my wife, lead a well settled life...I really wonder whether I'll get somebody to marry me understanding me as an individual rather than looking at my degree and money. My mother gave me a short lecture yday on how I should treat my wife citing the example of another software couple in our family..Whatever be it, I feel every individual is distinct in his own right and trying to imitate somebody in our life would not be good.. Anyway, I'm faroff from such matters now..

I feel the need to do something different in this life, rather than leading a monotonous software life.Now I can describe my life as "software,friends,movies,net,books and occassional trips to home".I need to add something to this set..something meaningful and satisfying..That search is on..

Coming back to the topic..I'm standing today at the threshold of a potential 'big break' in corporate life.Whether it'll happen or not is still not clear.I'll have to wait for some more days.
But If I get, I'll take it earnestly..Not with an aim of amassing big wealth or hi-fi corporate career ; but with an aim of living my life differently, to discover myself and to do something good for the society.


Ajith

Apr 18, 2006

The Third Wait



Well, well, well...

I hope this one will give a positive answer. A borderline case infact.. No other way,
Got to Pray n wait . Verdict on May-9th.Have got lot of stuff to write about this..But not now..

Ajith

Mar 13, 2006

Blogging off temporarily



Have been a little bit over-indulged in blogosphere during the last week..Read lots of blogs..Many of those weird, many good ones.. The next week is special to me.Got to do some work for that..Got to balance my office work with that...Perhaps its the most crucial point in my life. So for the time being , blogging off....

Ajith

Mar 4, 2006

Give or not to give ?



Morning 6.30 : alarm in my cell rings... i get up ..I tend to wake up at the faintest of the sounds..Oh..its saturday.. Snoozes the alarms and again curled in the bed..

This went on for some time and finally I managed to get up at 8 ..
Have been thinking of going to a temple for some time..So quickly finished the ablutions and went to a nearby Hanuman Swamy temple..

Prayed...Somehow my prayers are sort of different...When I pray with good concentration, I tend to ask questions at myself..These questions are not predetermined. They tend to come out in random.. And I do get most of the answers from my inner self ..The questions can vary from what should I do for some particular problem to whats the purpose of life...Today, it didnt go that way....This time I prayed for something which I really want. I've been giving my best efforts to this....Something which'll greatly influence the rest of my life.

I came out...And the usual crowd of beggars were there..This is something which puzzles me ..Whether I should oblige them and give something or not..Earlier I used to give , but then the stories of this shitty industry really affected me... Here in Hyd'bad, I've seen one man begging by showcasing a kid whose one hand has been chopped of..Looking into his eyes, u can't help, but then giving him would drive him to further such acts..It has been one situation which I really repented later..I should have called some child helpline and informed abt that..But then, at that moment, it wasnt the dormant social animal in me which prevented from taking action..It was the horror of that sight which made me stale..It really took some time to get over that....

Coming back to the question, give or not to give...After seeing today's group of beggars, I didnt give anything..I've decided to trust my instincts..I'll give if I really see a need in their eyes...

Ajith

Feb 19, 2006

Wikipedia - taking the place of google ?



I've got stuck to wikipedia for some time as I'm in search for a vast variety of topics these days..Ranging from Probability distributions to Indian history, i've been reading a lot .. Compared to google, if u know the exact phrase to be searched, wiki is a better option. 99% of the searches in wiki will get the correct pages. If it doesnt have info , it clearly says that. And many of the google searches invariably lead to wiki. I think this is perhaps the tool which will challenge the hegemony of google once it gets popular among the average user...
A bit busy, so an abrupt stop to the blog today...

Ajith

Feb 17, 2006

Political parties & Principles ? Mutually exclusive terms



True to the spirit of being world's largest democracy, you can find political parties of all sorts of names and fashions.... Whenever a split comes in a political party, ppl tend to form new parties taking bits and peices from the list of words which goes like this -- 'Nationalistic, Democratic,Rashtriya, Congress,Samaj, Dal,socialist....It goes on' .You can find parties which do sense or have no knowledge about their names....

The party formed on the ideals of erstwhile Ram Manohar Lohya, perhaps the greatest socialist India has produced indulging in caste based politics..The parties bearing a religion's name and even restricting the primary membership of that party to one particular religion claiming to be a secular party, people who were brought to the forefront by the great JayaPrakash Narayanan organising perhaps the second biggest corruption scandal in India ( The first place goes to Abdul Karim Telgi ,undoubtedly ), the so called NCP allying with congress compromising the very basic principle under which it was formed....., politics nowadays is all about opportunism, capturing power and making money..

Well, ever thought about what could be the worst name to a political party ? Come to my home state , the God's own country...U can see in most places banners heralding the new political formation in kerala --- DICK -- yes , thats the name.. It has been there for about 5 months.. It reads "Democratic Indira Congress Karunakaran" ..Still wondering , how could they choose such a name..In the coming months, u'll be able to see the banners bearing this name multiplying in numbers as the assembly elections near... And the latest news is that they are seeking alliance from AIADMK .. Thats another opportunistic pole vault...

Perhaps one good news is the growing popularity of Paritrana . A group of people passionate about reforming the system...Hope they'll succeed.

Ajith

Feb 14, 2006

V-day , marketing of human tendencies..



There are two basic things that an average human being tends to strive for ..

1. To acquire money, position, fame ...

2. To find a companion of opposite sex ...

I would say, these are complimentary. When the seriousness of career gets into one's head, the second tendency will subside... And once u find a companion, the first tendency will be very limited..

As today's globalised world implies, there is competition and marketing in all the segments. You cannot blame Archies or for that matter anyone , who popularised this concept in India. Its their right to do whatever business they want... But the bad point is that, this has influenced even children . Yesterday, i phoned home to find that my brothers( they're in 8th ) are excited abt these celebrations..They say that entire class ..mind you, 8th std ... is excited.. Isnt it a little bit early.. "The fourth estate doing too much ?? " . I dont advocate moral policing, because I'm a firm believer that the childhood and teenage experiences plus education should develop one's individuality...And this development is often filled with failures... If you learn out of those, tomorrow is yours..

Its good to go through these emotions..love,sentiments,solitude,companionship...etc. They teach u a lot. They really make you a better person. But there is an age and an occassion for all these..If u get caught in this before you are mature, u may fall. And if these fall comes too early, where u dont have the composure to get out of that pit, you may endup really in a trying life..

It is a false notion spread by media so as to make you believe that unless u have a lady/guy with you, you are not complete....Countless movies prophezing the glory of love in an immature way has added up to this. Life is VERY VERY much different from these silverscreen sops.

The ideal life partner should be some one with whom your frequencies of thoughts and interests match...And its not possible to identify him/her unless you have identified yours.. So the first step is in defining yourself..Identify what you want in life? And to get to that answer itself it takes some time..It is far from saying that I want to earn money/ I want to be CEO of something or anything like that. Identify your path..Put yourself firmly in that path .. And then , try for your other half...

There are people who question the significance of having a day like this.. But, then I would say,I've no objection to that..Why do we have independence day ? To make us aware of our history and all that we enjoy now are the result of the efforts of those great people..Symbols like that play a great role in imparting the right kind of values... But V-day celebration, is definitely imparting a wrong perception in youth about love.. Read the history of Valentine's day.

To stop on a funnier note .. One SMS i read today "Dont overdo Valentine day celebrations..Children's day comes exactly nine months after this"...

So, for those who believe in this ...
"Hope u had a good valentine's day"

Ajith

Jan 28, 2006

The real battle begins.



A sea of information infront of me...It looks a bit intimidating at the first sight. It depends on how much I grasp, how well I present and above all, yes ..the divine factor. This is certainly more challenging than the first round.. The odds are heavily stalked against me in one aspect. Except that, everything looks OK..but, thats certainly a critical factor. Anyway, lets see..I've got time and talent and this is perhaps the best chance that I can ever get. Got to make the most out of it.

Ajith

Jan 3, 2006

Meowwww...............



Felis Domesticus has given me a slim chance to make it big..
Got to work hard for that..Just an out of the blue happening :)
And the next verdict on friday.
Anyway, lets see...

Ajith