Lungi

This piece was posted by Shantanu Aditya in our Yahoo Group. The source unknown. Do read It. Before you do that some terms would need explanations:

Kerala: A coastal province in the Southern Part of Indis
Lungi: The lungi, also known as a sarong , is a garment worn around the waist in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula . It is particularly popular in regions where the heat and humidity create an unpleasant climate for trousers.
Mallu; Mallu is a person from Kerala, A person whose mother tongue is Malayalam.


Just as the national bird of Kerala is Mosquito, her national dress is 'Lungi'. Pronounced as 'Lu' as in loo and 'ngi ' as in 'mongey', a lungi can be identified by its floral or window-curtain pattern. 'Mundu' is the white variation of lungi and is worn on special occasions like hartal or bandh days, weddings and Onam.

Lungi is simple and 'down to earth' like the mallu wearing it. Lungi is the beginning and the end of evolution in its category. Wearing something on the top half of your body is optional when you are wearing a lungi. Lungi is a strategic dress. It's like a one-size-fits-all bottoms for Keralites.

The technique of wearing a lungi/mundu is passed on from generation to generation through word of mouth like the British Constitution. If you think it is an easy task wearing it, just try it once! It requires techniques like breath control and yoga that is a notch higher than sudarshan kriya of AOL. A lungi/mundu when perfectly worn won't come off even in a quake of 8 on the richter scale. A lungi is not attached to the waist using duct tape, staple, rope or velcro. It's a bit of mallu magic whose formula is a closely guarded secret like the Coca Cola chemicals.

A lungi can be worn 'Full Mast' or 'Half Mast' like a national flag. A 'Full Mast' lungi is when you are showing respect to an elderly or the dead. Wearing it at full mast has lots of disadvantages. A major disadvantage is when a dog runs after you. When you are wearing a lungi/mundu at full mast, the advantage is mainly for the female onlookers who are spared the ordeal of swooning at the sight of hairy legs.
Wearing a lungi 'Half Mast' is when you wear it exposing yourself like those C grade movie starlets. A mallu can play cricket, football or simbly run when the lungi is worn at half mast. A mallu can even climb a coconut tree wearing lungi in half mast. "It's not good manners, especially for ladies from decent families, to look up at a mallu climbing a coconut tree"- Confucius (or is it Abdul Kalam?)

Most mallus do the traditional dance kudiyattam. Kudi means drinking alcohol and yattam, spelled as aattam, means random movement of the male body. Note that 'y' is silent. When you are drinking, you drink, there is no 'y'. Any alcohol related "festival" can be enjoyed to the maximum when you are topless with lungi and a towel tied around the head. "Half mast lungi makes it easy to dance and shake legs" says Candelaria Amaranto, a Salsa teacher from Spain after watching 'kudiyaattam' .

The 'Lungi Wearing Mallu Union' [LUWMU, pronounced LOVE MU], an NGO which works towards the 'upliftment' of the lungi, strongly disapprove of the GenNext tendency of wearing Bermudas under the lungi. Bermudas under the lungi is a conspiracy by the CIA. It's a disgrace to see a person wearing burmuda with corporate logos under his lungi. What they don't know is how much these corporates are limiting their freedom of movement and ex-pression.

A mallu wears lungi round the year, all weather, all season. A mallu celebrates winter by wearing a colourful lungi with a floral pattern. Lungi provides good ventilation and brings down the heat between legs. A mallu is scared of global warming more than anyone else in the world.

A lungi/mundu can be worn any time of the day/night. It doubles as blanket at night. It also doubles up as a swing, swimwear, sleeping bag, parachute, facemask while entering/exiting toddy shops, shopping basket and water filter while fishing in ponds and rivers. It also has recreational uses like in 'Lungi/mundu pulling', a pastime in households having more than one male member. Lungi pulling competitions are held outside toddy shops all over Kerala during Onam and Vishu. When these lungis are decommissioned from service, they become table cloths.

Thus the humble lungi is a cradle to grave appendage Sphere: Related Content

The Weaver, the Princess and Goldman Sachs

A friend forwarded this story to me. I thought I should preserve this!!

Everyone knows that we Indians invented the zero. Without zero and the decimal number system, writing and calculating really large numbers would be very difficult.

This would be awful for people in the financial industry, whose work depends on having really big salaries. Fortunately Brahmagupta came to their rescue.

Another thing which is crucial to the financial services industry is the concept of being too big to fail, which has been put to good use by Citigroup, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs over the past few years in sucking money from American taxpayers. This beautiful concept was also invented by an Indian - Vishnu Sharma, the author of the Panchatantra, in the story of the Weaver and the Chariot Maker.

The story of the weaver and chariot maker is one of the Panchatantra stories that usually doesn't make it to primary school textbooks or Amar Chitra Katha, mostly because it's full of sex, war, and moral hazard. Since you probably haven't read it, here's a quick summary.

A weaver sees a princess during a festival and falls in love with her. As a weaver, he has no chance of marrying her, so he sinks into depression. His friend, a chariot maker decides to help him out. He designs a flying chariot in the shape of Garuda, dresses the weaver up as Vishnu, and tells him to fly the chariot into the princess's room, tell her that he is Vishnu and wants to marry her Gandharva style. That is, the wedding is kept a secret from everyone except the princess and the faux-Vishnu. The princess agrees, and the weaver comes back every night to consummate the marriage.

Eventually, the maids notice that the princess is spending her days in total bliss, suspect that she's in love, and tell the King. The King asks her what's going on, and she tells him that she's married to Vishnu himself. The King is absolutely delighted, and decides that there's no point in paying tribute to the Chakravarti now that Vishnu himself is on the kingdom's side. The next night, he catches the weaver as he enters the princess's room and asks him to fight the Chakravarti' s army.

The weaver is horrified. Pretending to be Vishnu was fine when it allowed him to make sweet, sweet love to the princess, but taking on the role of Vishnu to face an imperial army single-handed is another thing altogether. On the other hand, if he confesses to the King that he is not actually Vishnu and has been boinking the princess under false pretences for the past month, he will have his head chopped off. So he decides to get on to the battlefield and do the best job he can, while the King is whipping up enthusiasm in the population by telling them that Vishnu himself is going to do all the fighting.

By this time, Garuda (the real one, not the mechanical one) has tipped off Vishnu about what's going on, and warned him that if the fake Vishnu doesn't win the battle, the people of the kingdom will lose all faith in him. Vishnu doesn't want to see this happen, so on the battlefield he enters the weaver's body and annihilates the Chakravarti' s army. The entire army. Every single soldier. After this, the weaver marries the princess, everyone goes on worshipping Vishnu, and the king becomes the new Chakravarti.

The moral is that you should conduct your affairs in such a way that if you fail, it will lead to someone or something even bigger or more powerful failing too. This lets you get away with anything. The weaver got away with having sex with the princess on false pretences (this is rape under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code), pretending to be a god (awesomely enough, this too is a criminal offence under Section 508), and annihilating an entire army that was fighting a just war - after all, it was the king who broke the treaty (you could make a case for this being genocide under Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide).

American banks and financial institutions were very good at absorbing this lesson, and leveraged themselves up to such an extent that if they failed they would take the global economy down with them. And just as the weaver lived happily ever after with the princess, banks have lived happily ever after with taxpayer-funded bailouts.

But no matter how hard American investment banks try, Indians still remain the masters of this art. If the whole truth surrounding Lalit Modi is revealed, big politicians might be trapped. Modi is, thus, likely to get away lightly -- as is A Raja, who might have given away spectrum at bargain basement rates, but whose sacking would lead to the government collapsing. All this goes to show that no matter what the anguished elderly gentlemen who write letters to the editor feel, Indians are still in touch with our ancient and glorious culture Sphere: Related Content

Death and Propriety - Death Penalty for Kasav (26/11 Mumbai Terrorist)

Last week Kasav (26/11 Mumbai terrorist) was given the death penalty by a special Mumbai court. We perhaps, in fact did know the outcome and when the actual judgement came out it was just some sort of a validation of our thoughts.

Undoubtedly we hate him and we hate all the others too behind the crime. But given the nature of our species I am quite disgusted with us that we do not know how to respect and honour the judgement. I would have thought. Dancing in the streets, lighting fireworks was no way to celebrate the conclusion.

We should have rather held candle marches or prayers or somber functions that would honour the death of the innocent that would honour the trial and its judgement that would honour the families affected by the death of innocent civilians.

The judgement does not celebrate the death of Kasav. The judgement upholds our rights to justice and also sends a message to society. We should rather pay our homage once again to the men, women and children that we lost.

We keep losing propriety on issues at regular intervals and that’s sad. Sphere: Related Content

Immature Attempt to Simplify India - III (Written for SAKAI - University of Rhode Island)

In India Pop Music would typically mean Movie Based Music/Songs, Individual Artist Modern Songs, Bands and Groups. In fact there is a term named Indi-POP where songs could be in Indian Language but are highly influenced by Western Rhythm. Indeed we do find a lot of influence of African Rhythms and Melodies too. Lately we have instances where Indian Pop is also influenced by music from the other Asian countries in the South East.

Indian Film Music is a concept that needs to be understood. In the West you had these musicals where acting and the story is based on music and songs. In India it would be a variation of this Most Indian movies would have a story and at regular intervals the actors and actresses will break into song and dance sequences that may or may not be relevant to the main story. Hard core fans would tend to believe that they do enhance the film!

Film Music in India could be based on Classical Music for melody or they could be based on Indian Folk that given the geography of the country is very diverse in nature. They would also be influenced by or sometimes tunes could be directly lifted from other genres or countries,

The majority of Indian Film Music is created in Mumbai (Bollywood) in Hindi the national language of India. The other major film producing centres are in Chennai (Tamil or Tollywood), Hyderabad (Telugu) and Kolkata (Bengali). There would be films in other Indian languages too but ALL of them without exception follow the concept of incorporating song and dance sequences in their respective productions. There are directors who do not follow this format but that are a minority. There is extensive public demand for Film based music. In fact there would be a rare Indian who would not be appreciative of Film Music.

Indi-POP is however sometimes restricted in their appeal and face major competition from Film Music. These types of music evolved in the late seventies but still have not been able to garner a major pie. There are exceptions as usual and a few artistes have done very well for themselves.
Music Bands are very rare and have very little sustaining power and that’s the statistics. In elitist educational institutions they have these rock festivals that most often than not are head banger balls. These bands typically die but some of them continue on. However the more successful bands are definitely the regional ones singing in the local languages.

Please do post questions and then one could answer in detail and specifics. Sphere: Related Content

Immature Attempt to Simplify India - II (Written for SAKAI - University of Rhode Island)

I am no scholar in music and therefore this would be purely an attempt to put forward to you a canvas that you could further explore. Indian music is surely diverse but this comment would need explanation.

Broadly, I personally would divide Indian Music into three categories:

1. Classical Music
2. Pop Music
3. Folk Music

Classical Music

The Free Online Dictionary describes Classical Music as “traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste”. I somehow like this definition since it is sort of limitless and can apply to any distinctive society. The Indian Classical Music scenario could be divided into two parts. We have the Hindustani Classical Form while the other is the Carnatic Form. The former has evolved from the North while the latter is has typically evolved from the South of India. Before explaining the differences we need to explain some associated concepts.

The Indian Classical Form is based on Ragaas. Ragaas are unique, single combinations of notes and are typically monophonic. Western Classical Music on the other hand could be a multiple combination of notes played in harmony. The composition in the latter form could be polyphonic or monophonic or a combination. Am I making any sense? If you listen to the two, I am pretty sure you would discern the difference.

The difference between Hindustani and Carnatic essentially are in rendering styles. They also have different Ragaas. Again after listening to a Hindustani piece and then a Carnatic piece, you would sort of immediately recognize the difference in terms of the instruments, the style of music, etc.
Classical Music is said to be practiced in India for more than 3000 years and there are famous musicians from both the forms in the vocal and Instrumental categories. In the West I think my namesake, “RAVISHANKAR” had a major influence with his Sitar (originally a three wire instrument but later modified with more wires).

These days you have Ustad Amjad Ali Khan with his Sarod and there are many more. I just gave a sample and depending upon choice and perceptions there could and would be more famous musicians whom I have not named, since that was not the purpose. If you however would want some suggestion, I could produce a ‘suggested’ list of artists and their works!!

Typically Indian Classical Music, vocal or instrumental goes through a few stages when an artist is rendering a composition. To begin with the artist would warm up in the form of an ALAAP where the tempo is slow. Later the percussion players join in, the tempo increases and the artist starts rendering variation in the same form of the Raaga. In the end we sort of reach a crescendo in terms of tempo and variation. There could be situations where the artist and the percussionist have this musical tete-a-tete in terms of back and forth responses. In Jugalbandis (two artists with same or different instruments playing together) they would have similar back and forth responses.

There are instances where Indian Classical Musicians have also played along with Western counterparts e.g., Ravishankar playing with Yehudi Menuhin. There are also instances of Western Philharmonic Orchestras playing Indian Ragaas.

The most popular instruments used by Hindustani Classical musicians are the sitar, sarod, tanpura, bansuri, shehnai, sarangi and tabla. Instruments typically used in Carnatic music include venu, gottuvadyam, veena, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam and violin.

In my next post I will deal with the other two genres of Indian music.

3uhsa4rk7d Sphere: Related Content

Immature Attempt to Simplify India - I - (Wriiten for SAKAI - University of Rhode Island)

Typically what you want to see in a picture depends upon your perspective. So when I paint a picture it could have diverse connotations. First is my own perspective and then it would be yours. So ideally there would be no true picture but it would be all about what we perceive of the picture. Without complicating matters let me start of with my comments or commentary if you may name this one

The first thing that comes to your mind (here you would mean an average Urban American) when you think of India would be perhaps as follows and not necessarily in that order

Large Country

Lots of People

Lots of Poverty

Many IT Professionals

Taxi Drivers

Large democracy

Corrupt

Dirty , Dusty and Crowds

Call Centers

Now let me add a few more from my perspectives:

Many languages

Mix of extremely diverse cultures each of them rich in culture and tradition

Rich Classical Music along with the Popular Music

Natural Beauty in terms of mountains, seas, flora and fauna

Classical dances and other Art Forms

Culinary Diversity

Diverse Literature and Films

There would be more and we could go on and on but that’s not my intention. Of course I did not mention one more aspect that fascinate Westerners : The Indian Spiritual History, Practices and Quest.

When you mix up all these attributes you get a heady mix of confusion and perhaps you would lose perspective of what it’s all about. My first endeavor therefore would be to segregate your perspectives and then sort of clear the issues so that you get a clearer picture. I therefore cannot promise that one note like this would do the job and perhaps my off and on word paintings would be better for this gallery.

Let me dwell on the languages to begin with. There are 22 official 'scheduled' languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei, Nepali, Oriya, Eastern Panjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. The National or official languages: Hindi and English.

The Indian Sub Continent was ruled by the British and since our Independence in 1947 the Republic of India was divided into states/provinces that was based on languages spoken, Now whether scientific or logical this was a rather populist move. It had it’s positives and negatives and today we are living with it and perhaps meshing well too. As far as the constitution of India is concerned an Indian is free to settle in any part of the country at any point of time. In other words one has a right to move anywhere, speak any language and follow any religion of your choice and belief

There is no language that we could say is Indian, technically that is. Like in the US we have a Central Government with certain rights and responsibilities and you have the State Governments with their own laws and administrative machinery. So the Central Government official languages are English and Hindi which means that official correspondence, reports and workings are a lot of times conducted in English and Hindi and sometimes both. Some of the states do carry out their official work in the predominant language of the region but when it comes to State – Center or Inter –State communication, English would be the prevalent language.

So typically in most urban areas in slightly better shops and establishments English would get you through with communication. In terms of Police, down the line traffic constables may have difficulties with English. However in the Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, etc English is quite prevalent

As you travel and go to the rural parts, you would see that communication in English will gradually deteriorate. Exceptions will prove the rule here too

In urban areas the middle class and other upper classes would be normally sending children to English medium schools. These days due to the IT and Telecom penetrations even in remote towns people are realizing the strength of learning English and mind sets are changing. Its also not just about mindsets but also about opportunities and we still have a long way to go

Most regional languages are extremely rich in their home grown literature. I myself come from a Bengali family (my mother tongue is Bengali) and its literature like others are pretty developed and have world recognition. Tagore the Nobel Prize winner was a Bengali Poet and renowned literateur.

I am sure you would find detailed state wise language descriptions for each of the state in Wikipedia, and for that matter, The Lonely Planet Country Books would fill you in with quite an amount of detail

I would be glad if you could ask questions too and surely they would be answered. There is a lot to talk about. If you have the inclination, I have the time!! Sphere: Related Content

Brownie's Points

Like anything else in the world there are good and bad apples in a truckload. More good than bad I would like to believe since most of the latter would not have left the orchard. So when an Indian gets beaten up in Down Under I wonder and sorry folks for thinking like that, was there an issue behind the violence or was it plain robbery? The recurring events however is proof that the violence is focused and perhaps there is a n element of racism in all this.

But racism is a strong word and can have different dimensions. When an Australian beats up an Indian its white vs. brown. When a Lebanese student beats up an Indian in Australia what would you term it to be? Brown vs. Brown. Or say if a African Australian beats up an Indian it would be Black vs. Brown.

Pardon my perpective, but I feel a lot of times its we Indians who perhaps bring this on to ourselves. This could stem from a variety of reasons. Decades have gone by where we have been ruled by foreigners giving rise to some sort of an inferiority complex. Then on Television the other day I heard Prasun Joshi saying that nowadays Indians are more confident and perhaps that's coming in the way. Would it be a case of misplaced superiority complex?

The fact of the matter is that we Indian do not understand cultures beyond our boundaries and therefore most often than not we are not able to mesh in an alien society, keeping our individual cultures and traits intact. Somehow we are not able to project ourselves as equals. Hard Kaur an infamous rapper said that we Indians are more intelligent than others!! In the software industry, I often come across discussion with the same trail of thought amongst developers and engineers. I find similar traits in other industries too where there are plenty from the sub continent. We do suffer from extremes!!

A lot of times I feel that we Indians are perhaps more racist than most of the other cultures. Maybe I am wrong, but we have divides in terms of language, the way we dress, what we eat, whom we marry and more. The matrimonial colums in newspapers or websites is a prime proof of us being racial. Castes, Tribes, Skin Color, Vegetarians vs Non Vegetarians, Marathi vs Bihari, Hindu vs Muslim, Delhiite vs Madrasi, we have it all.

So when on Television shows respected people come and talk a lot of sense while the same sensibility is not practiced in their own backyard, I have this wierd feeling. I think we need to understand that we are not holier than thou. The day we understand this, our debates, discussions and actions would be a bit different.

In our own country we are not mixing with others, and we have the gall of complaining against others. Charity starts at home, but we seem to be always looking for donations and sympathy. I am not justifying the OZ incidents. It's just that I have strong feelings against hasty unfounded conclusions. Sphere: Related Content

IPL Final

For some funny inexplicable reason IPL did not tingle my nerves so much as a world cup or one day series would. True to its philosophy it was a circus and perhaps I am no longer a child, though I would still love an actual circus.

At the end of it, I still find the setting rather impersonal and I could not find myself to be attached to any particular team…whether the sweety Zinta or the pompous Shahrukh…they did not appeal. Though I am from Kolkata, I just hated the KKRs and it was largely due to Buchannan and the team’s egoistic owner. A lot of times I wished doom on them and they were playing in to my hands every time.

In some way, I always wanted the underdogs to come up the curve and they did it in style. Deccan Chargers were the winners and thank God for the same.

The stars perhaps need to polish up their fire engines for next time with an overdose of hydrocarbons!! As far as KKR is concerned perhaps they need to change the coach or the owner. I would love it however if both goes. Just like in the liquor industry, Mallya perhaps can manage two competing brands albeit owned by the same company. But then who am I in the scheme of things!! Sphere: Related Content

Variable Captain, Kolkata Knightriders,John Buchanan, Cricket and bits of Shame!!

I somehow like Sourav Ganguly but that’s not what this is all about. A press conference was held today at Kolkata where John sort of spelled out the KnightRiders Team’s captaincy plan.
I understood that for every match there could be a different captain. Also, while the matches are on there could be more than one player directing different aspects of the play like fielding, bowling and what have you.

Let me draw up some analogies. So in a concert you would be having a multiple conductors; one managing the violins, the other perhaps percussion and depending upon the mood of the crowd that day it could be Zubin Mehta or somebody else as the main conductor. There could be more examples but I guess you get the hang of it.

This smacks of overworking minds in an ivory tower trying to take control over the game. Managing communication, keeping up the morale are going to become key issues. I am not old fashioned but stupid changes in formats just for trials is not my concept of good governance A leader is a leader; period. Let’s not undermine the leader and there can only be one.

Shame on you John and Shame on you Sharukh! Sphere: Related Content

TATA launches NANO while I cook some thoughts about Safety!!

We Indian are all so glad that finally the Nano has been launched. The first 100000 bookings have a guarantee on the promised price of 100000 INR. The TATAs have mentioned that the project is profitable. On second guess I have this funny notion that the price guarantees in other words mean that after the last car from the current lot rolls out the selling price will definitely go up.

We all know that TATA Cars to begin with have too many teething problems and I only hope that the “common man”’ consumer is not at his wits end if he has to keep visiting the workshop. So far so good!!

I also heard another piece of newsbyte that apparently there is a Nano Europa that is scheduled for a launch in the European Countries sometime in 2011. We have been informed that the new incumbent will have a more powerful engine and will adhere to European Safety and Emission standards. This leads to a nagging thought in my mind.

Why are Indians compromised whenever it comes to the question of safety? The automobile companies and the Government, both are to be blamed for this. The Government is lazy in introducing laws and the auto companies unless pressurized will never do anything on this. Of course the man on the street is also not absolved because given a chance the subcontinent habit ingrained in our genes is to break the law especially traffic or vehicular.

I remember the days when Bajaj vehemently opposed the introduction of indicator lights on their two wheelers. Unless police started taking serious actions helmets were avoided if possible. Using mobile phones while driving in Delhi is a for sure NO NO. I am not so sure about other states. Seat belts were never fitted in vehicles by the Auto Companies on their own until there was a law. Emission standards also came in to play after a lot of hue and cry. I cannot think of any single instance where the Auto Companies did something for the environment or safety on their own. Unfortunately and this trend continues.

Is it that the companies are to be blamed? We Indians are too shallow on certain crucial basic aspects of life. The Government, the business sector and anybody else in the game are after all manned by us. Where does the buck stop?

Sphere: Related Content

Cirque de BJP, Varun Gandhi, Election Commission, et al

This is an interesting state of affairs. Somebody gets up on a dais on a public forum and makes anti people statements. The political party backing him is anyway not bothered. The Election Commission is advising on issues where they have no locus standi. The media is happy since they have lots of feed of whatever is going on.

Criminals proven or non proven are present in all the parties. So this holier than thou approach by most political parties are hilarious and frightening at the same point of time.

The EC has never risen earlier against anybody else like this and there are scores of other hopefuls waiting for the elections who would have been guilty like Varun albeit on different counts.

Unfortunately as always the common man is at the receiving end of all these antics where nothing fruitful finally happens. I will be amazed if it does. So would you!!!

Sphere: Related Content

Varun Gandhi ‘and his Hate Speech

Like many others I was also appalled to watch Mr. Gandhi speaking against Muslims from that political dais in Pilhibit

I hope that young politicians do not take inspirations from him and start hate campaigns.

Coming to think of it other than his surname I find nothing in him that should inspire us. He has never done any distinguished social service, nor has he gained fame on any area other than publishing a poetry book that nobody bought.

So with the blessings of senior minds in the BJP, he went ahead for his two minutes of fame so that he can be the talk of the town.

I wish he does not win the election. Like somebody said in a movie..I have nothing against him; it’s just that I cannot tolerate the things he does Sphere: Related Content

IPL (Cricket) goes out of India

On television tonight I was watching the frustrated face of Lalit Modi screaming on television rather proudly on how IPL will now be played in South Africa or England this year. Some other BCCI staffer announced that due to the rather negative attitude of the Government this was inevitable.

My points are as follows:

1. The BCCI was stupid to have planned for this date clash with the elections. Knowing reality and taking action is prudent rather than take the stupidest form of risks. Security is about spectators too.

2. The Home Ministry was rather sedate in its approach to resolve issues. I think we did not try enough. It is apparent that the Sports Minister in the Government has no say, nor can he contribute.

3. I still feel that IPL could have been held in India and in some form or the other, maybe with reduced matches or some other way.

4. Sometimes money and pride make human beings vulnerable and this is also another example of the same.

5. I feel sorry for ourselves that we did not work as a team to make this happen. The Government and the BCCI; both are at fault.

Sphere: Related Content

Shameless Truth

Indian companies are prone to fraud and do succumb to unethical practices at different levels. So when Narayan Murthy said that it was a shameful affair referring to the Satyam case, I was not really amused. Either NM lived in a world of his own or perhaps I am plain stupid. The latter perhaps is not so true.

By the way, and why should I pin point only Indian Companies. This is a global phenomenon. Frauds are invented and implemented by intelligent people whether company executives, owners or bankers or the small trader down the lane. What about us? We are also into it. That extra bribe to get a passport quicker, Mr. Devil is ever ready to extend his hands and we gladly embrace them.
I am not sure what dawned on Mr. Raju to confess his deeds. Was he threatened by somebody? Did God appear in his dreams? Was he in the brink of a mental breakdown? The answer to these question can be answered by none other than him and no amount of investigations would able to resolve the questions we have in mind.

Do we expect more such confessions? Who knows? Till such time we will keep exclaiming about the blunder Raju has made.

My question is - When will YOU the reader, confess about your own sins? Or perhaps resolve to be truthful and act where there is no shame attached. Sphere: Related Content

Mumbai Terror 26/11/2008 – A Week After

We now know that the US, British and the Australians are helping India, specifically Mumbai Police, to investigate the macabre event. We also know that one terrorist has been captured and he is under arrest and that he is being questioned.

Now I have been thinking as to why snippets of the investigations are being leaked to the media. Who is that person in the government that is giving away this privy information since investigations are not over as yet? I would have expected that after completion of the investigation a joint report that is signed off by the team is made public. It would have been difficult then for our friendly brothers to keep doing the chameleon act and making divergent, irresponsible and deceitful statements. But then, as someone said that after all it’s a failed state.

A lot of people think that War is a solution, but I reckon that’s not the answer. As Ms. Rice pointed out the other day, the world now has to fight this in financial and logistics terms. For doing this we need cooperation from a strong Pakistani government and therein lies the fallacy. The government there is still under ISI and army influence and it suits them from time immemorial to keep trying for an unstable India. The thinking is beyond logic but then that’s what the British did to the sub continent. They made us hate each other so much that this went to our genes and especially when you work for the government or armed forces. When you work with a any ordinary person from that country, you would find to your pleasant surprise that he thinks like you, likes the same music, eats the same type of food and you would completely feel at home.

I have been seeing these candle light meets and most places other than Mumbai or Delhi are quite chilled out and life and mind is normal and as usual. The media of course refuses to go interior, where bulk of the voters are, and find their reaction. So we see the same bunch of faces again and again on Television telling us on how to get together.

As usual, the problems are in dealing with specifics. For change you need leadership. If that leader is the same one who you are cursing now, what else could you deserve and expect? Specific plans and specific implementation targets and how would they be implemented are the questions that need to be asked. Sphere: Related Content

Sounds of Silence ; Mumbai Terror Aftermath

People have gone back to work. Trains, taxis, buses are back on the tracks and roads as per schedules. Radios and televisions have gone back to playing the normal peppy songs, serials and entertainment shows. Comedy serials are desperately tickling the viewers in order to emanate some laughter. Charges and counter charges are being hurled at each other by political parties. Some resignations here and there have taken place. Some grandiose plans have been announced by the government here and there. Debates on televisions by the same old faces continue. Symbolic fights and protests are on here and there. Investigations are on and press keeps reporting at regular intervals some snippets that some stupid source divulges to them. Page 3 people are fighting on words like resilience and strength. Poets are writing poems. Artists are possibly painting some pictures. Writers are writing and Film makers are planning. Bloggers are blogging. Offices and factories are open. The brokers in the stock market are screaming. Its normal time folks!!!

In the meantime there is silence. There is silence in the homes of the men and women of the forces and civilians who died. There is silence at the home in a small village at Uttar Pradesh where a waiter of Leopold Café used to hail from. The village is silent.

Major Unnikrishnan’s house was silent other than some partial disturbance by some politicians, Sabina Saikias children are not asking any questions that her husband Santanu has to answer.
Hemant Karkare’s house is silent.
The police constables who died on duty, their homes are silent.
So many foreigners who died, their homes overseas are silent.
I can hear this silence and its bursting my ear with its deafening noise. Sphere: Related Content

Mumbai Terror 26th November 2008 - What Next?

Last few days I was glued to the television broadcast and it was all about the Mumbai Terror Attack. I have been thinking of writing my thoughts on it but then the developments at South Mumbai kept my desire at bay.
The operation was over yesterday and I will not delve into what exactly happened since there is anyway enough in the media and the net. I just wanted to capture some thoughts here for the sake of myself given the extremely poor readership of my blog.

The Background:
Terrorists came by sea route from Karachi to Mumbai. Entered two luxury hotels and a building where Jews were staying. Kept people on hostage, killed them, damaged property and managed to keep Mumbai out of action for 3 days. Finally the commandos captured one of them while the balance were shot. More than 200 innocents dies while scores were injured.
My thoughts on the issue:
What should the authorities do?
1. Sack the Home minister (This has been done).
2. Sack the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister (This is yet to be done).
3. Make the police professional autonomous bodies without ANY political interference in their work. A zero interference policy needs to be followed.
4. Make crime/terrorism related laws same all over the country. This different strokes for different folks does not work and created confusion.
5. Create a National Anti Terrorism squad with a Hub and Spoke concept throughout the country. They should own and have full control over logistics.
6. The security cover for politicians and dignitaries should be a state and center subject for their respective state and Central Government. NSG should be transformed into the agency suggested in Point No. 5.
7. Have civilian participation in policing. Community policing with prpper training and methods and ammunition should be given.
8. Have a proper communication channel for all the intelligence units. Maybe have specialized units for terror related intelligence.
What should the media do?
1. Have regular debates and discussions on terror related issues.
2. Have journalists follow up on all the old promises to soldiers, policemen and others who have shown bravery and follow up on those cases. The delivery is important and not the promise.
3. Create chapters and forums in each town where media meets civilians and account for the deliveries the local politicians have made.
4. Be impartial while showing, printing and moderating.
5. Do not play the religion game and fall flat on your face and be careful.
I am sure we will change and lets change now. Sphere: Related Content

Six Questions - Market Crash - (On the spur of the moment)

1. Would we get some money back from the investment banker/s, own personal equity, who advised the good banks on sub prime related investment?

2. Would'nt you like to meet the Risk Heads and Managers of these banks and ask them to give a talk on Risk Management?

3. Would'nt you like to meet up with the mathematical and statistics graduate analysts researching stock markets and ask them there views on how to predict a recession?

4. Would'nt you like to know as to how Dubai spends on the Atlantis party the same day when Citibank was collapsing?

5. Would'nt you like to know why such a hyped hotel now does not get guests to stay and have had to reduce prices?

6. Would'nt you like to know as to how most private business have no concern for human assets capital whenever business is low?

Sphere: Related Content

Follow the Leader - NDTV India

I chanced upon this program broadcast by NDTV yesterday. The TV Journalist was not just following the leader, they were going along with the leader. The camera was not concerned with what's the feedback from the gentry around the leader.

The Leaders love this proposal from NDTV since its after all using TV Time for their own campaigns for FREE.

The bonus for the viewer was that we knew how Sheila Dixit can sing songs from Taare Zameen Par and how Uma Bharti loves and hates LK Advani.

Rest was free publicity of the election campaign. What a waste of time!!

Sphere: Related Content

India for a Korean : An Inconsequential Chat

A simple conversation:

Korean: Where are you from?
Me: India
Korean: Indo?
Me: Yes
Korean: Gandhi?
Me: Yes
Korean: Indira Gandhi? Your President?
Me: No. She was the Prime Minister, once upon a time. Our President now is Dr. Abdul Kalam and our Prime Minister is Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Korean: You speak good english.
Me: "SMILE"
Korean: So, you can speak Indian?
Me: Umm..uhhh...I speak Hindi and Bengali
Korean: Meaning?
Me: You see I am from West Bengal that is towards the east of India and my mother tongue is Bengali. I also know Hindi because it’s our National Language.
Korean: So your friend, he speaks Hindi? Bengali?
Me: No he speaks Tamil. He is not a Bengali. He can’t speak Hindi.
Korean: You are confusing me.
Me: We have many languages in India, depends upon where you are from.
Korean: Oh I see, but Hindi is your common language.
Me: Yes, but we talk in English with him.
Korean: I give up!! Lets have a drink!!
Me: Lets!!
Korean: So what language do you speak at home?
Me: Bengali
Korean: So English is at work and Bengali at home. When do you speak Hindi?
Me: With friends!!
Korean: Sorry?
Me: I mean with friends who are from the Northern, Central and Western Part of India.
Korean: So in those parts of India, they speak Hindi.
Me: No. I mean Yes and No.
Korean: What do you mean?
Me: I mean there are languages other than Hindi, for example Gujrati in Gujarat, Marathi in Maharashtra, Punjabi in Punjab.
Korean: They are different provinces?
Me: Yes, we call them states.
Korean: But in English State would also mean country..
Me: That’s right, they almost are.
Korean: What are you trying to say?
Me: Never mind, I am just joking.
Korean: So all your prov...er...states and your language name is similar.
Me: NO!
Korean: Oh!!!!!
Me: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the North use Hindi. In the South we have Kerala using Malayalam. There are other examples
Korean: OIC! So each province....ohhhh...states have different governments?
Me: Yes, true.
Korean: So what is the official language?
Me: Each to their own.
Korean: Now I understood. So they communicate to each other in Hindi.
Me: NO, not always.
Korean: Are you trying to confuse me?
Me: No. While they use their own language, when communicating with others they also translate them to Hindi.
Tamil Friend: NO!!!
Korean: What?
Me: Some do and some don’t.
Korean: I had enough of this.
Me: Oh sorry. We must have bored you to death. It’s rather confusing. Oh by the way. Why do you guys have English Headings in Posters and Books but all other content in Korean?
Korean: HUH??? Sphere: Related Content