Friday, December 12, 2008

काँच की बरनी और दो कप चाय - एक बोध कथा

काँच की बरनी और दो कप चाय - एक बोध कथा

जीवन में जब सब कुछ एक साथ और जल्दी-जल्दी करने की इच्छा होती है, सब कुछ तेजी से पा लेने की इच्छा होती है , और हमें लगने लगता है कि दिन के चौबीस घंटे भी कम पड़ते हैं, उस समय ये बोध कथा , "काँच की बरनी और दो कप चाय" हमें याद आती है ।
दर्शनशास्त्र के एक प्रोफ़ेसर कक्षा में आये और उन्होंने छात्रों से कहा कि वे आज जीवन का एक महत्वपूर्ण पाठ पढाने वाले हैं...उन्होंने अपने साथ लाई एक काँच की बडी़ बरनी (जार) टेबल पर रखा और उसमें टेबल टेनिस की गेंदें डालने लगे और तब तक डालते रहे जब तक कि उसमें एक भी गेंद समाने की जगह नहीं बची... उन्होंने छात्रों से पूछा - क्या बरनी पूरी भर गई ? हाँ... आवाज आई...फ़िर प्रोफ़ेसर साहब ने छोटे-छोटे कंकर उसमें भरने शुरु किये, धीरे-धीरे बरनी को हिलाया तो काफ़ी सारे कंकर उसमें जहाँ जगह खाली थी , समा गये, फ़िर से प्??ोफ़ेसर साहब ने पूछा, क्या अब बरनी भर गई है, छात्रों ने एक बार फ़िर हाँ.. कहा अब प्रोफ़ेसर साहब ने रेत की थैली से हौले-हौले उस बरनी में रेत डालना शुरु किया, वह रेत भी उस जार में जहाँ संभव था बैठ गई, अब छात्र अपनी नादानी पर हँसे... फ़िर प्रोफ़ेसर साहब ने पूछा, क्यों अब तो यह बरनी पूरी भर गई ना ? हाँ.. अब तो पूरी भर गई है.. सभी ने एक स्वर में कहा..सर ने टेबल के नीचे से चाय के दो कप निकालकर उसमें की चाय जार में डाली, चाय भी रेत के बीच में स्थित थोडी़ सी जगह में सोख ली गई...प्रोफ़ेसर साहब ने गंभीर आवाज में समझाना शुरु किया - इस काँच की बरनी को तुम लोग अपना जीवन समझो.... टेबल टेनिस की गेंदें सबसे महत्वपूर्ण भाग अर्थात भगवान, परिवार, बच्चे, मित्र, स्वास्थ्य और शौक हैं, छोटे कंकर मतलब तुम्हारी नौकरी, कार, बडा़ मकान आदि हैं, और रेत का मतलब और भी छोटी-छोटी बेकार सी बातें, मनमुटाव, झगडे़ है..अब यदि तुमने काँच की बरनी में सबसे पहले रेत भरी होती तो टेबल टेनिस की गेंदों और कंकरों के लिये जगह ही नहीं बचती, या कंकर भर दिये होते तो गेंदें नहीं भर पाते, रेत जरूर आ सकती थी...ठीक यही बात जीवन पर लागू होती है...यदि तुम छोटी-छोटी बातों के पीछे पडे़ रहोगे और अपनी ऊर्जा उसमें नष्ट करोगे तो तुम्हारे पास मुख्य बातों के लिये अधिक समय नहीं रहेगा... मन के सुख के लिये क्या जरूरी ह? ये तुम्हें तय करना है । अपने बच्चों के साथ खेलो, बगीचे में पानी डालो , सुबह पत्नी के साथ घूमने निकल जाओ, घर के बेकार सामान को बाहर निकाल फ़ेंको, मेडिकल चेक- अप करवाओ..टेबल टेनिस गेंदों की फ़िक्र पहले करो, वही महत्वपूर्ण है... पहले तय करो कि क्या जरूरी है... बाकी सब तो रेत है..छात्र बडे़ ध्यान से सुन रहे थे... अचानक एक ने पूछा, सर लेकिन आपने यह नहीं बताया कि "चाय के दो कप" क्या हैं ?प्रोफ़ेसर मुस्कुराये, बोले.. मैं सोच ही रहा था कि अभी तक ये सवाल किसी ने क्यों नहीं किया... इसका उत्तर यह है कि, जीवन हमें कितना ही परिपूर्ण और संतुष्ट लगे, लेकिन अपने खास मित्र के साथ दो कप चाय पीने की जगह हमेशा होनी चाहिये ।

अपने खास मित्रों और निकट के व्यक्तियों को यह विचार तत्काल बाँट दो..मैंने अभी-अभी यही किया है.. :)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

An interesting read on rediff...

Taken from : http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/dec/10mumterror-8-things-india-inc-govt-must-do-against-pakistan.htm

The three-day-long terror strike on the country's financial capital was devastating in terms of its reach and impact. It has left Corporate India badly shaken and the elites numb.

It is no more about bombs being thrown at bus stations or trains getting blasted. It is no longer about only Nagpada or Govindpuri residents losing limbs and lives. Terror has now climbed up the value chain.

As the new age entrepreneur Kiran Majumdar Shaw told a Bangalore newspaper, "So far, the terrorists targeted common people. Now the society's elite, the business sector, is the target. What happened in Mumbai is a loud wake-up call for all of us to do something to protect ourselves."

Corporate India did not bat an eyelid when Mumbai train blasts took place, or when Sarojini Nagar was burning on a Diwali day, or Hyderabad was weeping two years before.

  • Light a candle for the fallen
  • Terror strikes at Mumbai's heart
  • But today, every corporate captain is angry, and so are the celebrities who people Page 3 of newspapers, due largely because the attacks on the three top hotels were directly aimed at those who frequent these places, for business or pleasure (contrast this with the scant coverage of the carnage at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, for example, where commoners were involved).

    All the same, the bleeding-heart liberals would be back to their routine ways after a few days. They will lament that the captured terrorist has not been given his favourite food and not allowed to watch TV or use his cell phone; they will say his human rights are violated. Just wait for the chorus.

    Of course, this time it will be between Page 3 and the jholawalas (activists) and that should be an interesting match to watch, but that's another story.

    In the last ten years, not a single session of any seminar sponsored by the CII or Ficci or business/general journals has focussed on terrorism. When this writer once broached the importance of talking about it, a senior business captain said it is for the government to deal with.

    Many of those seminars gave importance to Musharraf and now Zardari, as if they are going to provide any solution when they are a part of the problem.

    Now, at least, terrorism is being realised as a problem facing the country.

    Let us summarise what the real situation is and what the corporate sector should do if we are serious in fighting terrorism on our soil.

    1. Recognise and treat Pakistan as a terrorist state. The state policy of Pakistan is terrorism and their single-point programme is to destroy India. This needs to be internalised by every business baron including the owners of media.

    2. Now, the elite of Pakistan are more angry, since India is growing at 7% and they are given CCC rating and stiff conditions for borrowing from the IMF.

    Many an academic from that country, who I have met in global conferences, has openly lamented that nobody talks about Indo-Pak relations anymore, but only Indo-China or Indo-American, etc. They want to be equal but they are in deep abyss.

    3. Pakistan is the only territory in the world where an army has a whole country under its control. This is an important issue since studies have found that a large number of corporates in Pakistan are ultimately owned by the Fauji Foundation (FF), Army Welfare Trust (AWT) Bahria Foundation (BF), Shaheen Foundation (SF) all owned by different wings of armed forces (See paper presented by Dr Ayesha Siddiqa-Agha on 'Power, Perks, Prestige And Privileges: Military's Economic Activities In Pakistan' in The International Conference on Soldiers in Business -- Military as an Economic Actor; Jakarta, October 17-19, 2000).

    Hence, do not try to think of Pakistan without its army, irrespective of who rules that country temporarily and nominally. At least 70% of the market capitalisation of the Karachi stock exchange is owned by the army and related groups.

    4. There are three groups in India, who are obsessed with friendship with Pakistan. One is the oldies born in that part before partition and who are nostalgic about the Lahore havelis, halwas and mujras. The second is the Bollywood and other assorted groups, who look at it as a big market. The Dawood gang has financed enough of these useful idiots. The third is the candle light holding bleeding heart liberals (BHLs) who cannot imagine India doing well without its younger brother taken care of.

    All three have been proved wrong hundreds of times, but they are also opinion makers. Shun them, avoid them and ridicule them.

    5. We should categorically, unambiguously, unequivocally boycott Pakistan in all aspects for a decade or more. Be it art, music, economy, commerce, or other hand-holding activities. That army-controlled state has to realise that it has done enough damage to global civilisation.

    More than 100 acts/attempts of terror recorded in the world since 9/11 have had their roots in Pakistan. More than 40% of the prisoners in Guantanamo are Pakistanis.

    6. We should recognise that it is our war and nobody in the world is going to wage it on our behalf. What the Americans are thinking, or what the Britishers are going to do, will not help. A determined country should have a sense of dignity and independence to fight its war.

    We should stop interviewing leaders from that country who mouth the same inanities that "you have not produced any proof." The Government of India should perhaps create a museum of proof between India Gate and North Block.

    I am amazed that a country of a billion is required even to furnish proof. If one-sixth of humanity says that the terrorist state of Pakistan is the root cause of global terrorism -- it is factual. Let us not fall into the trap of providing proof to the culprits.

    7. We should realise that a united Pakistan is a grave threat to the existence of India. Hence, we should do everything possible to break up Pakistan into several units. This is required to be done not only for our interest, but for world peace.

    8. We have made a grave blunder by suggesting in the international fora that "Pakistan is also a victim of terror." That is a grave error and it will haunt us for decades. They are perpetrators and our government is in deep illusion if it tries to distinguish between organs of power in that country thinking it is like India.

    There is only one organ, namely its army (with ISI as a sub-organ) in that country, which owns and controls at least 70% of the GDP in that country.

    If we want the world to treat Pakistan for what it is, then we should start practising it. Always call it the 'terrorist state of Pakistan' and never have any illusion that it is going to be any different.

    If corporate India, including electronic/ print media, starts practising this, we should see results in a few years. Are the elites listening?

    The author is professor of finance and control, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, and can be contacted at vaidya@iimb.ernet.in. The views are personal and do not reflect those of his organisation.

    Wednesday, April 16, 2008

    DigitalRev.com : Electronics hardware reviews

    I was looking for buying a new handycam and googling for reviews on the products I had in mind.

    This site provides nice youtube based video reviews.

    Sony Handycams Review - HDR-SR12E, SR11E & SR10E - DigitalRev.com


    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Monday, April 14, 2008

    How India 'Colonized' Britain - TIME

    A very interesting article... :)

    How India 'Colonized' Britain - TIME

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Tuesday, April 8, 2008

    Termites feast on Bank Deposit Vault...

    From a conventional belief in India (may be elsewhere too), the bank lockers (or vaults if you wish to call them) are the safest possible locations to keep your valuables.

    Given the crime rate here and there, the bank lockers have long since been the preferred choice of people to put up savings, especially the jewellary and precious metal collections.

    I can very well imagine the plight of Mr Dwarika Prasad, as to how would be feel after losing all of his savings thanks to the negligence of bank employees. And the better part is, they have enough courage to say that they are not responsible ?

    Well, if not them, who is responsible for the loss that Mr Prasad has suffered ? I wonder if the corporations are going to improve and own up to their responsibilities, especially when the consequences are as devastating as in this case.

    Though, I feel one awkward thing in the story, the fact that he chose to put currency notes inside the bank locker. He must had a very good reason to put currency notes in the locker, given that he's going to lose on value after each passing day.

    Hard luck Mr Dwarika Prasad. :(

    Termites feast on trader's money:
    "'I'm shattered. I do not know what to do as I had kept the money for my old age,' Mr Prasad said."

    Tuesday, April 1, 2008

    Timeline : Sub-prime troubles in US

    The Sub prime lending troubles in US have been the trigger of quite a few financial issues/situations as we face today.

    Here's a timeline of what happened when :

    BBC NEWS | Business | Timeline: Sub-prime losses

    A BBC news website analysis of the Sub Prime Issue

    Global credit crunch, facts and figures

    Monday, March 31, 2008

    Pay panel, an attempt to destabilise India

    An excellent article...

    Pay panel, an attempt to destabilise India : rediff.com

    Reproduced from rediff.com as it is I hope that the reference to the original article is credit enough to the author, none of the following is my work in any way, whole credit goes to the original author and rediff.com.

    March 31, 2008

    'Till 1947, we were ruled by the aliens. Since 1947 we are ruled by the alienated.' -- Arun Shourie

    The 6th Pay Commission report was submitted to the government on March 24. It has once again brought the issue of a grand design to keep India poor by subsequent governments back to the fore.

    The issue does not merely concern the finances of the government, as it is being argued in many quarters. In fact, it is much more than that.

    To explain what is stated above let me at the outset seek the indulgence of the reader to some personal experiences.

    My father was posted in the mid-seventies in interior West Bengal. Accompanying my father to the local market, I distinctly recall that rice then would cost approximately two-and-a-half rupees a kilo. The same quality of rice today costs approximately Rs 20. That implies an eight-fold increase in three decades.

    Our family got our first colour television in the mid-eighties for Rs 10,000. That was replaced in mid-nineties by another one at virtually the same price. This in turn was replaced this year at approximately the same.

    The point I am trying to make is that the prices of manufacturing items have been falling steadily in the last two decades.

    I am sure that readers would recall that the prices of cars, refrigerators, computers or for that matter any other consumer durable item have either been stagnant or have registered a fall. This is due to the opening of the Indian economy, arrival of newer manufacturing technologies and, of course, the need to be cost conscious and competitive in a globalised world.

    No wonder, when compared with the manufacturing sector, the prices of farm products have risen consistently. And this particular piece of statistics is often held against our farmers to tell them that their farm produce is more than adequately remunerated by our governments.

    But what is the truth of the matter?

    To understand the bluff of the government, one must compare the price of rice with something more stable, reliable and more comparable -- like, say gold. Elders in my family tell me that that the value of one quintal of rice in mid-sixties was equivalent to one sovereign (8 grams) of gold.

    Today the price of gold is highly skewed for various reasons. To that extent it may distort comparison. So let me take the price of gold in 2006 and compare its price with that of rice. Experts point out that one sovereign of gold was six times the value of a quintal of rice in 2006.

    Crucially, the salaries of government officials have gone up about 12 to 16 times in the same period. The impact of this increase on the Indian economy has never been the part of any substantive debate.

    This fall in the value of rice to a sixth when compared to gold and one-twelfth when compared to the salary of a government officer in this period is central to the issue at hand.

    Naturally, all these have their side effects. In most states, farmers complain that today they do not get farm workers as most of them have migrated to cities to seek some employment.

    But the worst is yet to come. Farmers complain that today they are unable to get brides for their sons. Young girls do not want to marry farmers and face the prospect of penury.

    It is natural for farmers to want their sons to be educated and then migrate to cities. In effect, education is a means in India to get away from the farm sector -- not get into it. And this proposed hike in the pay of the government officials would only act as an incentive to the farmers to become employees in government offices.

    In the process it would convert employers into mere employees. But crucially, who would man our farms? What would happen to our food security? Who would produce food for the nation of a billion plus?

    All these problems stated above repeatedly point out to the de-legitimisation of the entire farm sector in India in the past four decades. And as explained above this is not an issue that concerns the economics of the farm sector or the finances of the government. Rather this is a socio-economic-employment problem.

    What is farcical to note here is that governments have put in place an elaborate charade of subsidies, successive loan waivers and grand promises to the farm sector. And on a superficial examination of the issues at hand the media, analysts and economists have been pointing out to the fact that we are excessively subsidising our farmers, without fully understanding the crux of the issue -- farming is a losing economic proposition in India.

    And our meagre subsidies (including free colour TVs [Get Quote] and the Rs 60,000-crore loan waiver) keep farmers in a subsistence mode -- neither can they quit nor can they continue farming. And that is the tragedy of the farm sector in India.

    And this pay panel is part of this grand design

    Ever since India as an economic entity was designed, our polity has been under a belief that India cannot be a viable, vibrant and prosperous nation for her entire population. It would seem that we had come to the conclusion that India had to be built for a small set of elite, with the rest kept in mere survival mode.

    In fact, this is the extension of the idea of the British who thought that the nation had to be kept poor for the British Raj to be economically viable. The Pay Commission falls in this genre -- keep rural India poor to sustain the India of the elite.

    Readers may note that the net impact of the Pay Commission recommendations for a full financial year is approximately Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion). This is not a paltry sum as it seems.

    In contrast to the 4.5 million beneficiaries, this amount is equivalent to the amount budgeted for the mid day meal scheme for 140 million students all across India for the entire academic year of 2008-09. 140 millions students versus 4.5 million government employees! And that puts things in the correct perspective.

    But if experts are to be believed, the net impact on the economy would be anywhere between Rs 60,000 croe and Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 600 billion and Rs 1,000 billion) because the increase in the net pay for our central government officials would translate into a concomitant increase in the wages for state government, PSU sector, teachers, banks and other related sectors.

    The net beneficiaries would be a mere 2 percent of the population while the rest have to foot the bill.

    What has the relevance of the combined failure of the farm sector got to do with this 6th Pay Commission? That requires explaining the other part of the grand design.

    Obviously, all this increase in pay artificially distorts the availability of talent. The low earning potential in the farm sector when compared to that of artificially high earnings of a government officer significantly influences the flow of talent from the villages to the cities, from the farm sector to the others.

    In effect, that is a subsidy by the farm sector not to it. And that is the complete grand design for you -- our farm sector has to be made uneconomical and unviable to make India politically unstable.

    A case for decrease not increase

    Remember the oft quoted cliche -- our IAS officers are the best. And the logic of recommending this pay hike has been by pointing out to the fact that in comparison the pay packet in the private sector is significantly higher.

    If that were the case why are there no largescale migrations from the government to the private sector? The answer to that is simple -- power and pelf available to our government officers are a huge incentive to remain in the government. Yet, we seek to provide them higher salaries.

    Naturally all these have turned India into a country of shortages, especially on the rural side. A country with a substantial section of her population caged, hungry and in abject poverty cannot be fancied to become an economic superpower. Yet this is what we believe little realising that we are sitting on a time-bomb that is waiting to explode.

    In short, a farmer's son can become a chartered accountant or for that matter a government officer, but why is it that a chartered accountant's son or a government officer's never becomes a farmer? The answer to this question is crucial. And we, being a democracy, cannot force our people to work in farms. Needless to emphasise, the only solution is to make our farms economically viable, implicitly and explicitly.

    And that means that the government needs to reverse it policy of creating India for the elite. Ideally, the government needs to lower pay packets for her employees while simultaneously looking at appropriate policies to make the farm sector economically viable.

    And that would at once explicitly and implicitly make farming economically viable. That would also address the issue of urban-rural disparity, which is fast challenging the very political viability of the country.

    But by suggesting a substantial hike for government employees, the 6th Pay Commission, like many before it, has indeed been an honest attempt at destabilising the nation. And for that reason the nation need to consign it to the dustbin.

    The author is a Chennai-based chartered accountant. He can be contacted at mrv1000@rediffmail.com


    Monday, March 24, 2008

    Radika gori se.. lyrics

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    उमर तेरी छोटी रे, नज़र तेरी खोटी रे
    कैसे करायदऊँ तेरो ब्याह ।

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    जो न ब्याह कराये,
    तेरी गैया नाहि चराऊँ,
    आज के बाद मेरी मैया,
    तेरी दहली पर नाय आऊँ,

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    चंदन की चौकी पै
    मैया तोहे बैठाऊं

    अपनी राधा से में
    चरण तेरे दबवाऊँ

    और, भोजन में बनवाऊगो
    छप्पन प्रकार के । ।

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    उमर तेरी छोटी रे, नज़र तेरी खोटी रे
    कैसे करायदऊँ तेरो ब्याह ।

    छोटी सी दुल्हनिया
    जब अंगना में डोलेगी

    तेरे सामने मैया
    वो घूंघट ना खोलेगी


    दाऊ से जा कहो, जा कहो
    बैठेंगे द्वार

    राधिका गोरी से....

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    उमर तेरी छोटी रे, नज़र तेरी खोटी रे
    कैसे करायदऊँ तेरो ब्याह ।

    सुन बातें कान्हा की,
    मैया बैठी मुसकाये

    लेके बलाइयां मैया,
    हिवडे से अपने मैया

    नज़र कहीं लग जाए ना, लग जाए ना

    राधिका गोरी से, बृज की छोरी से,
    मैया करा दै मेरो ब्याह,

    उमर तेरी छोटी रे, नज़र तेरी खोटी रे
    कैसे करायदऊँ तेरो ब्याह ।

    राधिका गोरी से,
    बृज की छोरी से
    कान्हा करायदऊँ तेरो ब्याह ।

    Sunday, March 23, 2008

    Holi Photos...from people who actually had fun...

    Here are some of Holi photos I found on Flickr... Gives me a feeling of how Holi used to be.... :)



    IMG_2573, originally uploaded by Kapil-Garg.


    DSCN3663, originally uploaded by spread_smiles.


    DSCN3634, originally uploaded by spread_smiles.


    kya bola re?, originally uploaded by Vinu.


    IMG_2055, originally uploaded by Vinu.


    here it is!, originally uploaded by Vinu.


    We are being attacked, originally uploaded by mksfoto.

    Holi...2008

    BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Holi festival


    Well, Being away from home on Holi is the one of the most painful days I have experienced. This is one full day of fun, being with friends, all colourful and removing all social barriers... I love Holi.

    Described mostly as "Festival of colors", Holi is pretty significant socially as well. Many foes turn friends today (and hopefully stay on as friends), the social boundaries are broken rather easily today than any other days, spring "officially" start from the Indian calendar's perspective and on and on and on... I cant name them all, not so good with history.  Though, one might always go to wikipedia

    I have liked holi as long as I can remember it, and have almot always tried to be home for Holi, because its at home that you can actually enjoy the most. Old friends, elders, youngers.. everyone comes home for holi. 

    I remember how we used to gather at one friend's place to start our *rounds*. We'd pick up a "gujhia" or two, stuff them into our pockets. Move on to our next destination, which could be a friends' place, or someone's place only one of us might know. But that doesnt matter, on Holi's day, everyone is welcome everywhere.  So, we greet people, bow to elders, hug others, and pat youngers, exchange gujhia's that we picked up at last stop, and pick more here for next stops.  And this continues till afternoon...

    And, now, its the third consecutive year that I have missed Holi at home and I miss it terribly.  I hope the next years bring better luck. :)

    Happy Holi... :)

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Wednesday, March 19, 2008

    Man auctions his life in Australia

    Aint that crazy ??

    Man auctions his life in Australia | Oddly Enough | Reuters

    I wish getting out of bad situations was just as easy as Mr Ian Usher things around there...

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Alternate Power sources : India

    Lately, there has been discussions on global warming, and effects of consuming petrochemicals on our environment.  Among other things, this has generated a new buzz in the area of alternate sources of engery.

    There is talk about wind power, solar power etc. more than ever.  There are practical reasons to look for that and potential upsides as well.

    When I look at India, I feel these two sources (others are not discounted) can and should play a major role in fulfilling India's energy needs.  India has ample resources to generate power from both wind and solar sources.

    There are already examples around the world, where the heat in desert has been tapped to generate solar energy. Check this on wikipedia, Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert,
    a perfect example of how the Indian desert (one of the larger ones around the world) can be tapped to generate some huge amounts of solar power.  Well, I am no solar power scientist, and therefore cant comment on the technicalities and details around that, but I would very much like to know  the reason that comes about and suggests that it cant be done.

    On wikipedia, there is a very interesting and encouraging page about situation of solar power in india. Also, checking the website of the Ministry of New and Renewable Resources shows that they have plans to expand in both wind and solar areas. Though this clearly show govt is thinking in this direction, I am sure people like me would love to see this happen in real life and not see these plans replaced by just another set of plans a few years later, without realizing much on the ground.

    India also has a long coastline, and I believe this could be utilized for generating some wind power. Geographically speaking, both eastern and western coastline of Indian peninsula has hilly regions,  and I think these could prove to be interesting areas for installation of windmills.

    The idea is not really new for India, since India already is developing wind power generation faster than any other country around the planet. As this article on wikipedia mentions, Wind power in India, India is already the fourth largest host of wind power generation installations.

    When I tried to check how would it look like for an individual to install a solar panel or a windmill to fulfil his own energy needs, without relying upon the govt to provide for, google did come back with a few pieces of interesting information. 

    Here's one page about how a family fought with administration to set up their own windmill, but eventually gained from it in long run.

    This page talks briefly about how to set up such a system for alternate source of energy and provides a few links here and there.


    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Monday, March 17, 2008

    Indian Automobile Industry... what happened there...

    Suddenly, there is a boom in the auto innovation sector, and I have to say very proudly, its coming from Indian companies.

    Few weeks back, Tata announced "Tata Nano", then the cheapest car in the world, and today I hear another Indian auto company is launching a car cheaper than the famous "Tata Nano". Apparently its a small outfit called Tara automobiles, from/around Kolkata in West Bengal, and the car is called "Tara Tiny". Here's a link to the article, I found in my lunch break...

    rediff.com: Tara Tiny @ Rs 99K is the world's cheapest car!

    I wonder, where was all this innovation till a few months back.  For long long time, only news in auto innovation was coming from the bigger western players like Mercedes, GM, Ford, BMW etc.. or from Japan, where the likes of Toyota, Honda were leading.

    Suddenly, there is news after news from the Indian manufacturers, and I cant hide my happy surprise. Way to go, guys.

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Sunday, March 16, 2008

    यशोमति मैया से बोले नंदलाला...

    मेरे सबसे पसंदीदा गीतों मैं से एक -

    यशोमति
    मैया से बोले नंदलाला,
    राधा क्यों गोरी, मैं क्यों काला
    राधा क्यों गोरी, मैं क्यों काला

    बोली मुस्काती मैया,
    ललन को बताया,
    कारी
    अंधियारी आधी रात में तू आया
    लाडला कन्हैया मेरा,
    लाडला कन्हैया मेरा,
    काली कमली वाला,
    इसीलिए काला

    यशोमती मैया से बोले नंदलाला,
    राधा क्यों गोरी, में क्यों काला,
    राधा क्यों गोरी, में क्यों काला।

    बोली मुस्काती मैया, सुन मेरे प्यारे,
    बोली मुस्काती मैया, सुन मेरे प्यारे,
    गोरी गोरी राधिका के, नैन कजरारे
    काले नैनों वाली ने हो..
    ऐसा जादू डाला,
    इसीलिये काला

    यशोमति मैया से बोले नंदलाला,
    राधा क्यों गोरी, मैं क्यों काला,
    राधा क्यों गोरी, मैं क्यों काला

    इतने में राधा प्यारी आयी इठलाती,
    मैंने ना जादू डाला बोली बलखाती,
    मैया कन्हैया तेरा हो
    मैया कन्हैया तेरा जग से निराला
    इसीलिए काला
    यशोमती मैया से बोले नंदलाला
    राधा क्यों गोरी मैं क्यों काला

    Saturday, March 15, 2008

    moved to my own domain

    Its one special day for me, when I got my own domain name => sraghav.in

    Now, I can claim to have an official presence on the cyberspace. I feel very very good about this. Before this, I have been using free services from blogger, wordpress or others like them to host my pages/writings.

    Now my blogs will primarily be known as :

    tech.sraghav.in
    photography.sraghav.in
    memoirs.sraghav.in

    More on this in technology

    Friday, March 7, 2008

    Shivaratri in Winterthur

    Its been sometime since I have been home on one of these festivals. For example, I love Holi and I haven't been home for Holi in last 3-4 years. :( And, Holi is not the only one. All the biggies in the annual Hindu festival list are the same.

    This time though, we had a chance to be at the local temple in Winterthur for शिवरात्रि (Shivartri). The temple is an ashram established by Swami Onkarananda. They have a similar ashram in Haridwar as well.

    The place is now entirely run/managed by local swiss devotees. All of them have spent at least some time in the ashram in Haridwar. They seem to have excellent knowledge of Sanskrit, not so much of Hindi.

    When they were performing the Shivaratri abhisheka, I was stunned to listen to them chanting original sanskrit shlokas and mantras, quite perfectly. I really really liked it.

    There I met one more person, Bhaskar (भास्कर). Born a Swiss, he has been educated in haridwar and here in Switzerland as well. He had an excellent pronunciation of the sanskrit Shlokas.

    It turned out that he had studied sanskrit in Haridwar for a long time (few years I guess). He claims knowledge of Vedas (वेद), and I dont think he's lying. With the kind of knowledge he was showcasing there, I could easily imagine him knowing some of it.

    Later I learned that he's teaching people Sanskrit from the temple premises. A very nice thing in my opinion. Also, that he's starting (or already started) classes for kids on Veda in general.

    In my view, a very very nice thing to do, especially that the knowledge about Vedas etc is not so much present in normal Indian's life.

    All in all, the Shivaratri trip to the temple, turned out to be very interesting.

    हर हर महादेव :)

    Monday, March 3, 2008

    Short films on India : Images

    A friend mentioned that he watched two short films about India in some local theater here in Winterthur. He was telling me about the impression he carried from the two films and was telling me about it.

    First film was sort of documentary, showing some things. Out of what was shown, a roadside dentist was fixing a lady's tooth. They were showing his tools which were not hygenic. Well, there were other gory details, which I dont really like to recreate here, but the overall idea was that the example situation portrayed a very very bad, poor image of India.

    I would have to agree that, yes, thats also a piece of India. But it would be incorrect to see only one part of situation. India is a developing country, and lets not forget that we are on the path of progress for only 60 odd years. In a developing country, one always finds such inconsistent situations. There would be images where you will find affluent people, with money, high tech, in sync with Western styles, And on the other hand, you would find poor people, no money, no food.

    Thursday, February 28, 2008

    Currency conversion Vs. purchasing power parity in articles

    I am an subscriber in Switzerland (English version), and has read National Geographic Magazine (NGM) for a few years on and off. Its great magazine with stunning photographic content and research.

    However, one thing has always troubled me. The way the writers/editors look at the other countries economic situation with an outsider's view. I would imagine that a publisher of their stature would go another level and get the local view.

    For example, in an article on Hazara people of Afghanistan in Feb 2008 issue, there is a reference to two people working as labours and earning $1.2 for toiling hard. Fair that $1.2 looks like a very lowly sum when looked in USD, but, converting it to local currency brings out the fact that its equivalent to about 59 Afghanis.

    And, by averaging that if a person earns 3 USD per day, he would end up with about 150 Afghanis. Now, what I expect from NGM is that they get to the reality and figure out what's actually possible with that amount. Whether its enough to buy food for the family, pay for the shelter stuff like that.

    Well, its sort of given that there is poverty, but leaving the numbers in USD does not give a local image of the place. It rather leaves the reader perplexed, "Only $1.2, I spend more than that of money on cigerettes",or something like that.
    In my view, its more important to show the purchasing power of the money that is being earned by the poorer people. Only then, the real extent of the poverty and the crisis they are facing will show up.

    In another instance in the same article, one man is photographed with a caption that says that he works 12 hr days and earns about $65 a month. Again, I would expect the localization of the info here. Is it a norm that people in that region work 12 hr days. What good is 65$ in local currency, what can that money buy...

    These numbers in USD or Euros or Pounds dont make much practical sense unless mapped with ground reality of what they are worth.

    Tuesday, February 26, 2008

    When I miss India

    Yesterday evening when I was returning home from office, a lady boarded the bus. She looked very much similar to a south Indian native.

    I knew by instinct that she was a Sri Lankan, thats because there are a lot more Sri Lankan people living in Switzerland than South Indians. However, I couldnt deny myself the possibility that she could very well be an Indian. Somewhere I wanted her to be an Indian, and then there was this urge to go upto her and speak to her. About where she is from, what does she do here, how long is she living here and all that.. kind of small talk..

    There are times when living overseas you feel like getting back in touch with homeland. The people, the culture, the food, the mindset, local issues, scenarios.. things like that. And when you come across someone strange, where there is a possibility that he/she is from your homeland, the urge goes higher.

    Another exponent for me are few hindi songs. Whenever I happen to listen certain hindi film songs, I feel very homesick... Take for example, "ऐसा देस है मेरा" from Veer Zara. Few more in the same genre would be...

    1. ये जो देस है तेरा, स्वदेस है तेरा... फ़िल्म स्वदेस
    2. घर कब आओगे - फ़िल्म बॉर्डर
    3. चिट्ठी आयी है - फ़िल्म नाम
    These are some examples of songs that make me feel nostalgic about home. There is a strong urge of leaving all the overseas business and just move back home. Close to parents, family members, old friends everything...

    I hope I am depicting the emotions correctly.

    Saturday, February 23, 2008

    Residence Permit renewal in Switzerland

    In first week of November 2007, I submitted an application to renew my residence permit based on a work permit renewal request from my employer.

    At that time, they said that the new permit would arrive in two weeks time. When I contacted them back, it was told to me that it normally takes 6 to 8 weeks, and the 2 weeks date that I was given was incorrect. Well, now, its more than 3 months and there is no permit in my mailbox.

    The real problem behind this is, being a foreigner in Switzerland, this residence permit is part of "travel documents". So, for example, if I plan to visit Greece and apply for a visa at the embassy here, I would have to produce the right kind of travel documents. Not having a valid residence permit means that I cant apply for a visa anywhere.

    Furthermore, embassies issue visas only for a period that is a month lesser than the validity of the residence permit. For example, if I would have a valid residence permit today in my hand, and I apply for a visa, I would get a visa starting tomorrow and valid till a date which is derived from residence permit's expiry.

    Now with this permit already late by more than a few weeks, and the next extension to be applied within a few days, its pretty clear that there is no chance for me to be able to visit any european country for the immediate future.

    Thanks for all the restrictions on Indian citizens.

    Wednesday, February 20, 2008

    Jodhaa Akbar in Zurich

    On the 16th of Feb, we enjoyed Ashutosh Gowarikar's new epic "Jodhaa Akbar" in Zurich. A particular cinema, that seems to have some ties with Indian movie distributers was screening it for a few days. The same cinema had already screened "Welcome" in past.

    Before the movie was released, we have seen quite a few reports about the movie's correct depiction of historical facts about the emperor Akbar and his Rajput wife Jodhabai. It was so clear that people were trying to gain publicity out of nothing. People and groups that nobody has ever heard of were now on TV news talking about history and correctness or incorrectness of the movie's depiction of historical facts.

    This is typical of populists in India. Give them anything that can be cashed upon, and they will. Arranging demonstrations, publishing press releases, breaking stuff at cinema halls screening the movie and what not.

    I am no historian, but ever since I remember, we were taught in history classes in schools that Akbar married a Rajput princess "Jodhabai" in order to start diplomatic relations with Rajputs and avoid un-necessary bloodshed. It was depicted as a rather intelligent trait of the ruler.

    I dont quite know where did they get to know something different about Akbar or Jodhabai and are furious upon.

    Now, given all that background of weeks before release of the movie, the antipication was high. At times I feel that the movie produces try to enrage such sentiments in people, just to get their movie the same sort of anticipation that I felt. It gives a feeling to people, "Lets see this movie, what the hell is all this agitation about".

    As it turned out, the movie is a result of brilliant effort. Being a costume drama set in a different time slice, it was always going to be difficult for the director to produce the same feelings and effects of that time. However, in my personal opinion, he came out pretty good. The movie has great visuals, fantastic costume design and the two lead actors, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Roy, have not given their director anything to complain about.

    At 3 hours 30 minutes, its a bit on the longer side of movie spectrum, but we didnt fell bore in there. Perhapy it was relatively easier for us since we knew certain parts of historical facts, but otherwise also, the movie is pretty engaging.

    Congrats to Ashutosh Gowarikar on such a nice movie. :)

    Tuesday, February 19, 2008

    बाल कृष्ण की आरती

    ॥ श्री कृष्ण : ॥

    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ,
    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।

    श्री यशुदा कौ परम दुलारो, बाबा की अँखियाँ कौ तारौ ,
    गोपिन के प्राणन कौ प्यारौ, इन पै प्राण निछावर कीजे ।
    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।

    बलदाऊ कौ छोटो भैया, कनुआ कह कह बोलत मैया ,
    परम मुदित मन लेत बलिया, यह छवि नैनं में भर लीजे ।
    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।

    श्री राधावर सुघर कन्हैया, बृज जन कौ नवनीत खिवैया ,
    देखत ही मन लेत चुरैया, अपनौ सर्वस इन को दीजे ।
    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।

    तोतर बोलत मधुर सुहावे, सखन मध्य खेलत सुख पावे ,
    सोई सुकृति जो इनको ध्यावे , अब इनकू अपनौ कर लीजे ।

    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।
    आरती बाल कृष्ण की कीजे, अपनौ जनम सफल कर लीजे ।



    Tuesday, February 12, 2008

    महाराष्ट्र के हालत

    यह महाराष्ट्र में क्या हो रहा है ? क्या किसी को दिख नहीं रहा कि कुछ नेतागण अपने किन्ही स्वार्थों के कारण सीधे-साधे नागरिकों में मनमुटाव पैदा कर रहे हैं।

    इन श्रीमान नेताजी की बातों से पहले तो लोगों में कोई मन मुटाव नहीं था। इन श्रीमान ने कुछ अच्छा बुरा कहा और लोगों में मनमुटाव पैदा हो गया। बहुत बार ऐसा लगता है के हमारे नागरिकों में इतनी समझ तो होनी चाहिए कि इन नेताओं कि बातों का तत्त्व निकाल कर सोचें। बहुत बार ऐसे ख़याल भी आते हैं कि हमारे नेताओं को भी बुद्धिमानी दिखानी चाहिए और सोच समझ कर बयान बाजी करनी चाहिए।

    सोच कर देखें...

    Sunday, February 10, 2008

    Ice Skating

    Saturday was a very sunny day... one of those really clear sunny days when everything is shining and you cant ignore the beauty scattered around.

    We were just being lazy at home, basking in the sun coming in from the window when the call came. It was a friend from work and he suggested going for ICE Skating.

    I like such adventures, though I am not good at most of them. But the very idea of something outdoor excites me. Its the same for my wife as well. And so, it didnt take him much to convince us to join him despite the fact that both me and her have not done it ever in our lives.

    As expected, the weather outside was as good as it looked from the windows. Sunny with light breeze on, its that kind of sunny cold feeling that I love.

    We had to rent the skating shoes and that turned out to be the least interesting part of the adventure. They didnt had her right size and therefore she had to settle for one bigger. That gave her constant pain the feet. :(

    And, when we finally hit the rink, it was wonderful. Despite the fact that we didnt know ANY ice skating, the whole atmosphere was lovely.

    We were so bad with the skating thing, that we couldnt even stand on ice without holding onto something. The side railing came to our rescue even for the slow walking across the ring. I cant say it was skating because it was not. We were literally, dragging ourselves through the place, making a mockery of ourselves (not that bad though). We saw little kids doing lot better than us. I was overwhelmed... really...


    The Rescuers, Railing and Friends

    Before yesterday, I had only seen ice skating on TV (on those ice skating championships, that they air even in India) and loved the way these sportsman sort of float on ice...those movements, gyrations... just wonderful. I always felt it to be like a piece of art.


    An Expert at Work

    Now that I was there myself, in person, it came to me in reality. There I was, looking at all those people moving on the ice, the kids, the teenagers, the couples, the experts, the novices, the first timers (like me). Before that moment I had only imagined this thing, never set foot on that surface myself. I loved it from the heart.

    Besides the fact that I loved the sport already, the weather was proving to be a perfect companion. It was sunny, the rays bouncing off the surface, somehow made it look unreal. It was later afternoon, and so the shadows were getting longer and the sun turning orange. All of it gave the situation a very romantic perspective.


    A glimpse of sunshine on ice


    While we were there, a truck came on to the ring to clean the surface. As it was going about the ring with the cleaning bit, the surface behind it was gleaming. I couldnt stop thinking, "Where in India would I find such a place, with all that infrastructure, all that care, attention to tiny details".

    I like the way the western countries maintain what they have built. The infrastructure they have, the system they have in place for building that kind of community structures and maintaining them.

    There were some learning aids for ice skating। An steel bar, a ice-man etc using which you could get a head start with skating. We tried to use some, but didnt get much out of it. Where I managed a few stints with the aid, my wife didnt like it so much (perhaps it was her shoes, hurting so she couldnt enjoy much anyway).


    Steel Bar - The Learning Aid

    After about about two hours we came back. It turned out to be pretty tiring. We didnt feel it right away, but the effort to skate showed up with legs, specially ankle aftwards.

    We had planned to go to the local town carnival parade, but skipped give the tiredness.

    Will write about that sometime later.

    Friday, February 8, 2008

    हिन्दी में पहली ब्लोग एंट्री

    पहली बार में हिन्दी में ब्लोग पर कुछ पोस्ट कर रहा हूँ । बहुत अच्छी फीलिंग हो रही है। मेरी भाषा को इतना सम्मान मिल रहा है, मेरे लिए यही बहुत बड़ी बात है।

    मैंने हमेशा से यह महसूस किया है कि हिन्दी को बड़ी भाषाओं कि तरह कंप्यूटर क्षेत्र में सम्मान नहीं मिलता, काफी हद तक इसलिए कि इसकी लिपि (script) बिल्कुल अलग है, बाकी पश्चिमी भाषाओं की अपेक्षा।

    मैंने पहली बार हिन्दी भाषा में कोई कंप्यूटर ऍप्लिकेशन देखा था, Ubuntu, Unix जैसा दिखने वाला operating system. फिर उसके बाद काफी कुछ और आया है बाज़ार में।

    लेकिन आज गूगल पर हिन्दी में ब्लोग करने कि क्षमता को देख कर मैं बहुत ज्यादा खुश हूँ।

    धन्यवाद गूगल।

    राघव