Lost in Comments

Today on television I saw some debates and discussion on the forged mark sheets produced by pilots to get their licenses. This piece is however not about that. I went back to net to read more about the news item and casually scrolled down to the comments section. Surprisingly there was none!!

The Tendulkar getting angry with his team mates had 184 comments. The Mao Killings had zero comments. Narendra Modi being praised by an army official had 39 while the Japan earthquake had 27.

I was quite amazed by these facts and it does reflect on us and who are we as people. The icing on the cake was of course when I read the comments on Japan. There was hardly any sympathy or concern in most of them. Rather everybody was talking about how Japan will recover in 2 years. No comments on the dead and missing now, the crazy humanitarian efforts required to battle the issue, etc.

The serious issues had less comments and whether Vidya Balan should sue for the bikini pics had more than hundreds of hits with a sizeable percentage being derogatory in nature.

And we talk about culture. Have we lost it already or are we losing it rapidly?

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New Year Resolution

I see him everyday at the 4th Ring Road crossing, he is out early morning sweeping the roads and collecting the overnight garbage. Coincidentally on three occasions I found an unknown car owner stop by him and giving him some money. I reckon this must be a regular affair and would be happening every day. The man I am sure is from Bangladesh working in Kuwait. If I ask him he would tell me that he would have been in this country fro many years now and does not have the savings to visit his family. On further questioning I would come to know that he would perhaps be earning about 50 KD a months which is just about good enough for him to cover his local expenses.

I was listening to BBC Radio and there was this conversation with a Bangladeshi Janitor working in Baghdad Airport. Its the same story with him. They work every single day, no savings, no money to go home, et al.

In our office every month we collect some money from the floor and give the collected sum to the office boy who serves tea. His story is the same as the others. There are thousands like him in the region and we just take them for granted. we take them for granted for the service they provide and we cannot do without.

So when you get your next pay check would you donate/give some money to the needy whether in person or through an institution. That would be one good New Year resolution for all us. Sphere: Related Content

Proving the Rule

A theory or a theorem is a rule. It’s a sort of dictates that all actions under the relevant umbrella must follow the same set of behavioral definition. On the contrary when you become an exception you are said to be proving the rule. That’s because your occurrence is a minor aberration over the general rule.

Now it would not be perhaps incorrect to say that average as a concept is a fair indication mathematically of the type of occurrences. Average socially however connotes a different sort of meaning. It sort of means that you are not up to the mark and therein lies the confusion. Most promotions, incentives, recognitions, rewards in the world especially in the “mankind” scheme of things are not for the average kind. They are, rather, for the exceptions that are not part of the rule.

This means that we do not want to care about the averages and take them for granted but actually only deal with the higher level aberrations and keep rewarding them. So the averages finally take over the exceptions and we come to a situation where nothing seems to be satisfactory and everything reaches a level of mediocrity.
So logically the natural rule is therefore on the average rather mediocre. So my question is that why prove the rule since the latter is rather average and does nothing for your self esteem.

On the other hand, if you desire to increase the volume of say happiness all around you have to deal with the average. And society at large (the average) would not really lend a shoulder to support you. This is turn means that the average human being is actually against the average human being.

And that is so confusingly true.

P.S. Read this at your own risk. The average reader won’t!! or would? Which one is the exception? Sphere: Related Content

Kuwait Vs Dubai

Oil vs. NO Oil
Money vs. No Money
No Glitz vs. Glitz
Friendly Locals vs. Unfriendly Locals
More Educated vs. Less Educated
Bangladeshi Taxi Drivers vs. Pakistani Taxi Drivers
Fewer Restaurants vs. More Restaurants
Prohibition vs. Alcohol Availability
Less Criminals/Mafias vs. More Criminals/Underworld Dons
India Friendly vs. Pakistan Friendly
Fashionable Local Residents vs. Conservative Local Residents
More Traffic Accidents vs. Less Traffic accidents
Good winter vs. No winter
Pajero vs. Prado
Corolla Taxi vs. Camry Taxi
Take it easy vs. Efficient
Short Work Hours vs. Long Work Hours
Low Traffic Congestion vs. Traffic Jams
No Desert Safaris vs. Desert Safaris
No apparent prostitution vs. Open
No Night Clubs vs. Night Clubs
No Tourists vs. Tourists
Easy Life vs. Rushed
Dust Storms vs. Reasonable Dust Storms Sphere: Related Content

The Unprincipled Me!!

In my first job with a corporate entity (a large IT company) I learnt how to sell their products and services. But that was only one part of the customer relationship process. The other part is coming to an agreement in terms of the commercial arrangements and that’s where I learnt about speed money or loyalty money. Speed Money is of course typically paid to grease the hands of lowly officials or peons to get your work done. Loyalty money is involved when your client would need to show special preference to your products and services.

I was specifically trained on these because a) one needed to identify the takers b) you needed to develop along term relationship and c) sometimes you are playing catch 22 in terms of the “taker’s” relationship with your competitor. Most Public sector companies that were my clients had the “loyalty money” concept as a given. In the pure Government departments it used to be a mixture of Speed and Loyalty money. This syndrome did not even spare the Defence(pure) and Defence allied departments and concerns.

Now this is like complaining about our clients but I am sure we were to blame too for the malaise .i.e. us and our competitors.

There were happenings inside the company too. Over invoicing, under production in the factory, empty product boxes addressed to customer names (who never placed orders in the first place) being carted out during sales target period ends, were all a matter of common accepted behavior rather than the exception.
Mind you, that these things were not restricted to my first establishment. I later was involved in Telecom and in Software too and they all did it and mind you still do.

So it is not about just Government and Public Sector being corrupt but the Private Sector is equally part of this hidden black system. In fact I would say that in terms of corruption the ways of the Private Sector is a bit more sophisticated and polished. That’s about it. They are equally corrupt. Now that does not mean 100% and I do not have the data to prove otherwise. But I know and you know too. In fact talking about Public vs Private one of the biggest Private sector establishments has one of the most corrupt Purchase Departments you could think of (no prizes for guessing). The money generated through Loyalty Money Process is used in reverse when you want work done from the Government or elsewhere. It’s a nice non-taxed black money generation system that helps run the hidden agenda and transactions.

These days the CWG is in the news and maybe other topics of corruption too. But please think twice even about the Press. In my telecom days I had to ensure that reporters come and write good things about us and the way to ensure that is Cash, Gifts and Spirits!! The PR firms I am sure do use a lot of creativity in whatever they do, but this is one other aspect that they have to learn and actively practice.

The first passport I made in Mumbai years back was without any documents, no address proof, etc. It was all about loyalty and speed money. The 50 bucks I paid to the Inspector when I crossed the red signal in Jaipur is the same thing.

It is obvious that I have been a contributor to the dark sin. Have you been? If the answer is no…I salute you…but heart to heart..between you and me..perhaps I will win the bet. Make me lose from now on!!! Sphere: Related Content

Letter post-Delhi Trip

The Eid holidays were a welcome break and since the family was already in Delhi it was a good opportunity to cross the seas. I landed in the new swanky Delhi aiprort( I hope they maintain it) and the ordeal of passport control was quick and fast. The conveyer belts reminded me of Brussels and were impressive. All this fine and then you come out and take a prepaid Radio Cab (they charge almost double since its prepaid - beyind logic though) and reach home safe and soun

The next few afternoons and evenings were full of Goat, Pig and Single Malt, the latter prohibited in Kuwait. I had to make up for the same and therefore that was the instruction to friends too.

The CWG coming up people were having mixed feelings. Given a chance most people would have liked to strangle Suresh Kalmadi while none had a kind word for the others. The sympathy wa sure for the sportsmen and given the intellect of Delhi nobody really appreciated both Mani Shankar Aiyar's jokes and the serious comments.

The press still behaves like pimps of sensational news and nothing else. Variety is the spice of life for sure but just like the public even the press suffers from short memory. In fact when did we last talk about Lalit Modi and IPL. Even Maoists are feeling the pinch. All eyes are now on Kashmir and a sham of solutions. I know all the "NO"s for that place. No autonomy, no giving in to anything, no nothing.

Delhi roads have become disasters. Unruly traffic, potholes, muck, et al.... the drawing room of India is throwing up. Terrible!!

I never liked Delhi. I hope I don't land up hating it. Sphere: Related Content

Woody Allen's Reverse Wish!!

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