Who are we?

There has been a recent change in central leadership of India. With the change in leadership, a new debate (an unfortunate, but not surprising one) has begun. People have started to comment on the uprising of Hindu right in India. This got me thinking. Thinking, not to take this debate further and not even about participating in the debate.

My thoughts were about a more fundamental question, or rather “The” fundamental question here.

Who is a Hindu?

Simple isn’t it? A follower of Hinduism is a Hindu?

But then what is Hinduism?

Let me explain. E.g. Christianity is a religion which in a broader sense follows the teachings of Jesus Christ through his voice – The Bible. Similarly, Islam is a religion which follows the teachings of the Prophet via the Holy Quran.

But what about Hinduism? Whose teachings do we follow? There is no such central book. There are various books. Geeta, the most famous book of Hindu religion was, and is, not the most revered book of most of the Hindu’s even today. It gained fame only when it was praised by various westerners about its contents on ways to live life. There are various other books of Hindu religion. But there is no one guiding light like The Bible, Quran or Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Taking the same thought further, all the Hindus unlike all other religions across the world, do not worship one God. Yes, we do believe that we all are part of one greater being, but there are worshippers of Vishnu, Shiva, Devi and ……….. (Take your pick from the 33 crore God figures).

So theologically, Hinduism cannot be defined at par with other religions.

So does the answer lie somewhere else?

Let us look at the word “Hindu”. Hindu is not how we are defined in any of our religious books. Our ancient ancestors never called themselves as Hindus. We were Aryas, Dasyus, Dravids etc. but never Hindus. Hindu as a word has foreign origins. People from Greece and other ancient civilizations called the people living beyond River Indus (Sindhu) as Hindus. This is from where the word Hindu has derived.

So the origin of this word has nothing to do with religion, but with the geographical area. (It is befitting that many religious texts of our religion forbid crossing the seas.)

However this presents another problem. By the time, the word Hindu would have been used, other religions like Buddhism & Jainism had already started to evolve in India (some would claim that Christianity had also found its roots by then, but it is a different story altogether). So going by the earlier definition, anyone living in Indian subcontinent was called Hindu.

But then Hindu is being used to describe a religion and if I stick to this particular definition, then I would have to call all residents of India as Hindus and then the main stream media and many secular people will question my secular credentials and consider me as khaki-nikkar wala.

Actually the usage of word Hindu in India may have actually started with the introduction of Islamic religion in India. The Islamic invaders might have started to describe the natives as Hindus. Thus it might have actually started to differentiate between the believers and non-believers of Islam. So that is just to differentiate and thus does not answer the question – How can we define Hindu religion?

Supreme Court tried to define us and in simple words, simply said - Those who do not belong to Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and other religions are Hindus.

Yeah, right.

So the basic question still remains the same – What do me or a Tam Brahm or a Bengali or an Adivasi from Jharkhand share to be called as Hindus?

We do not worship the same God, we do not follow the same lifestyle, our religious texts are different, even our customs are different.

So what/ who are we?

Or does the answer lie in the statement – “Every Hindu hole has at least two exits”. i.e. everything in Hinduism has more than one answer to it and does that mean even its definition and existence?

Thank You, Mr. Digvijay Singh

"We are much better in comparison to Pakistan." said Diggi Raja.

You are right sir,THE King of Bullshit in our country. But you forgot to add that we are better than Syria, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan (North & South both), Ethiopia, Azerbaijan(... probably) & the list is endless...

But Sir, unfortunately, we would want it to be a little better. But you see, we are spoiled brats and would want a few luxuries in life e.g. say the liberty to roam about in our country without the fear of being killed in a bomb blast.

I know... I know, I'm being too unreasonable. I understand you, your party, & your govt. is too busy in serving a few "guests of Indian Legal System" (& I am not talking about the terrorists only), making some money for your retirement, kissing that A** of Mr. Gandhi etc.

On one of the TV shows, one of your MP's, Ms. Priya Dutt said "It is time to move beyond anger. Everytime this happens We show our anger, we debate on a few TV shows, but then it is back to square one. But this time we need to move beyind anger and do something about it" & guess what, she is right. We do need to do something about it. But there is just one glitch, till I today thought that it was the job of the govt to do it. If I think hard, really hard, I remember being told this in my Civics class. Am I wrong?

Or am I misinterpreting her comments? (Why does this happen so often with politicians?)
Does she mean to say, that we (meaning common people) need to move beyind the anger towards politicians and do something on our own? A certain Mr. Gupta from Delhi also said something in the same manner about ladies a few days back. I guess that makes more sense.

As I write this, I realize that I'm not angry at you at all. I'm angry at myself & my countrymen for "electing" people like you time and time again. They are right when they say "People get the ruler they deserve".

But please Mr. Singh, please don't tell this to the families of the dead please (or to anyone in this country). Why? No, No... the reason is not emotional at all, 'cause you are probably incapable of having emotional thoughts. But, 'cause we already know this. We know that we are better than Pakistan since we understand the difference between India & Pakistan. But (& here is that dreaded word again), we don't dream to be Pakistan, our aim lies in other direction. I hope yours is too.

Please excuse if you think these are the rants of another member of RSS, BJP, Bajrang Dal etc. 'cause It is not a Hindu writing this, this is angry Incoherent Babbling of an Indian.

Dialing for the bottom of the pyramid

This is an article written by me which appeared in Idea's in-house magazine !-Pratibimb around february/march 2009. Just reproducing it here as well.
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Scene 1: Abhishek Bachchan portrays a Sarpanch and is holding a village meeting in a Village background.

Scene 2: Abhishek Bachchan trying to impart education to students from far off villages using mobile telephony.

Scene 3: Abhishek Bachchan trying to include villagers in the decision making for running a government.

What is the similarity in these three ads? Of course, Abhishek Bachchan for one. But there is something more to it. All the ads are set in the rural background. This represents the changing mindset of the companies in India today. Today more & more companies are trying to woo the customers from rural segments. This love started brewing since Mr. C.K. Prahalad discussed the fortunes at the bottom of the pyramid in his book in the year 2004. But the seriousness of this affair has come to the helm recently. In the last one quarter, the growth in various sectors in rural India was more than growth in urban India by quite a margin. Telecom was one such sector. Well, it could have been a one off event due to the economic downturn but the tremors are being felt.

So what could be done by any company to strengthen its foothold in the rural market? The basic commercial infrastructure suggested by Prahalad and Hart (2002) for the bottom of the pyramid markets constitutes of four things, creating buying power, improving access, tailoring local solutions and shaping aspirations. They also talk about 4As model.



Availability: Availability does not talk only about providing the service in rural market. As a basic rule of marketing, one also has to insure that that the service being provided is beneficial for the user. E.g. If a company is providing “Mandi Live Rates” to the users in a village in western UP, but the information is being provided in English language, it is of no use to the user.

So considering the facts that there is still a major difference in the customer behavior in rural and urban India, it becomes imperative to modify the offerings to suit rural Indian user.

Awareness: Continuing with the example of the VAS given above, such VAS is being provided by the telecom service providers in India for a long time. However, the usage of such services is still very low. Only in places like Punjab & Haryana etc. these services are being used by the customers. In other places, people are not aware of such services at all.

Another aspect to this factor is how easily this service can be used. Is the graphic interface helpful to the customer? If we look at the present scenario, the answer is negative. Handset companies like Nokia are working on this aspect, but the support also has to come from the service providers.

Affordability:
Fact 1‐ India telecom service providers are among the least cost service providers in the world.

Fact 2‐ Majority of the consumers in rural India can still not afford the mobile services due to the high initial costs.

As stated earlier, service providers need to work more closely with handset providers to design handsets which can suit the needs of a villager and also easily affordable. In this aspect, major progress has been made by handset companies; however there is still a lot of room for improvement. Service providers can be of real help because they are closer to the customer and are in a better position to understand their needs & demands.

Acceptability: Mobile telephony as a source of communication does not face the challenge of acceptability now. However, it is the new services which are being launched by the service providers which face the challenge of acceptability. Today a major issue for service providers is the falling ARPU’s. This problem can be sorted out, if people start using more VAS’s and other services. However, in rural India, the acceptability of these services in not very high. To increase the acceptability, the companies need to improve on their communication with the consumer and as well, try to educate the consumer about the benefits & usage of the service regularly.

Around the world we have seen, mobile telephony playing a major role in the development of rural areas. Mobile telephony played a major role in the success of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh as well. There have been many such cases around the world e.g. in Chile, Philippines & Africa.

Thus for success in rural telecom operators have to be innovative in both product which they offer and the ways in which they tackle the challenges posed by rural markets.

So let’s follow what Mahatma Gandhi once said and try to find the real Indian markets in rural India.
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I will love feedback from my friends especially from friends in the telecom sector.

Business of Laughter...

Alright, this blog is a result of a night long debate. We flatmates spent a whole night debating the best 10 comedy movies from Hindi cinema. 9 movies were unanimous choice & these 9 are as follows:

(There movies are not in any particular order)

# Andaz Apna Apna
# Chupke Chupke
# Golmal (Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee)
# Hera Pheri
# Chameli Ki Shaadi
# MunnaBhai MBBS
# Jaane Bhi do Yaaro
# Namak Halal
# Naram Garam

The one remaining spot we could not agree upon. My flatmate insisted that he would chose Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi to complete the list. However I am sure he says so because he has not seen Khosla ka Ghosla as of now (You cann't believe it right?? Neither could I when I heard that).

Please let me know what you think about it. Any movie we missed?

P.S: When you are as vehla as I was for the last few weeks, you will also push your flatmates to these levels of uselessness. Believe me ! !

To pray or not to pray??

vande mātaram
sujalāṃ suphalāṃ malayajaśītalām
śasya śyāmalāṃ mātaram
śubhra jyotsnā pulakita yāminīm
phulla kusumita drumadalaśobhinīm
suhāsinīṃ sumadhura bhāṣiṇīm
sukhadāṃ varadāṃ mātaram

English Translation:


My obeisance to Mother India!
With flowing beneficial waters
Filled with choicest fruits
With cooling breeze
Green with the harvest
O mother! My obeisance to you!
Ecstatic moonlit nights
The plants blooming with flowers
Sweet speaker of sweet languages
Fount of blessings,
Mother, I salute you!

Now let me get some points cleared here:

# This is the part of “Vande Mataram” which is accepted as the national song of India. Now would somebody please tell me, how could this be offensive to anyone? Seriously, I want to know. To me it seems to be a prayer in praise of your motherland. Now how could that be against any religion? I understand if you say that your religion allows you to worship to God only. But religion does not stop you from giving respect to your parents or your motherland. Or does it?

# Somebody comes out with a fatwa against the “National Song” of our country. Is this not going against the constitution? If it is possible, can somebody come out with a religious decree against Ashok Chakra tomorrow, saying it is against their religion?

# When courts have ruled that nobody can be forced to sing this song, what was the logic & need behind coming up with a fatwa against it?

# Though I am not in any position to question the judgment of courts of India, though when they say that one may or may not sing “Vande Mataram”, is it also implied that it is also a personal choice whether to stand up to pay respect to national anthem? Then why did we raise hullabaloo when a similar (not same) thing happened in Infosys a few years back?

# This fatwa was reportedly supported in the presence of our “Honorable Home Minister”. Even if it wasn’t & if all my above concerns are valid, why hasn’t the GOI reacted to it till now? Or are they waiting for some other extremist group to react and then they would rise from their slumber?

No, I’m not just babbling incoherently, I would really appreciate if somebody could answer these questions for me.

To my Parents

“Father! To God himself we cannot give a holier name.” said William Wordsworth.

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.” goes a Jewish proverb.

This one has been long due. So I wanted to write more, I wanted to write lot. At least that was the thought when I started. But I realized that all I may write, I would never be able to describe parents or get better & appropriate words. So I will not get into any incoherent babbling et all.

Love you Mom & Dad…

& thanks for everything (also for things you never said…)

A confession

Reasons why any person continues in his job, though he may want to do something on his own:
--> Fear of failure?
--> Risk of uncertainty?
--> Financial obligations?
--> Inertia (i.e. you are too comfortable in your current situation and don’t want to make any effort to change the situation)?
--> Lack of a right opportunity? (Though on a personal note, I think this is just an excuse. I have used it long enough)

I recently quit my job and decided to become a partner in a thriving business. This offer was made to me about three years ago. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur; I loved the work; the time spent there is the best time of my professional life; People involved are like a family to me. Still I did not accept this offer right away. Why?

From the reasons mentioned above, financial obligation was definitely a reason. & for most of would-be-entrepreneurs, the reasons mentioned above should sum it up. But my personal experience forces me to add two more to the list.
# Greed
# Ego

The offer, made about three years ago, was to do my MBA and then decide. But then as one of the guest speakers in an entrepreneurship meet said “These b-schools don’t prepare you for entrepreneurs; they prepare you to work under them.” I believe no school does it knowingly. But then, the dreams of hefty pay packets, opportunity to work with big names in big cities & glamorous job titles make you greedy & you simply stop thinking about it seriously. You talk about it because it is trendy. But:
- Who wants to go back to Patiala, when I can spend the rest of my life checking out swanky restaurants of Pune?
- Why bother when a job in HUL or ITC or Citibank etc. will be offered in a platter?
- Who would want to leave the “opportunity” to be a CXO, VP or GM in an MNC?
The greed clouded my eyes and I walked over.

But I had forgotten that nothing is offered in a platter; came the time of placements midst the worst economic times of our era and all I saw was companies coming to campus and moving out without my name in their recruitment list. I knew I was not the brightest but I could not accept that no company wanted me. Somewhere down the line, it became an ego issue for me to get a job from campus. Though the offer was made again, my ego had inflated too much for me to look beyond it.

Now 6 months down the line, I have realized that this corporate life is not for me. The companies which were not selecting me were doing me a good. They were pushing me towards what I wanted to do. They realized that I was not made for them. I hope that this is “Better late than never” moment of my life.

P.S.: This is post is only meant for those, who want to do something on their own. There are many very knowledgeable, qualified and successful people, who have their calling somewhere else. When I talk about greed, ego and other reasons, it is only for people like me. For some the same corporate life, I couldn't adjust to is the real life & that is where there calling is.

Wo Pal...

Dedicated to those few who made those two years worthwhile...
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• First day of induction in Vishwabhavan
• First day in flat 12 (The guy at the roof of house facing our flat)
• First flat eat out at Peppinos
• Placement team presentation… vrooooom… or was it the pillars? (& a name Vineet will never forget again )
• Midnight GD’s over college politics, tea, maggi & who forgot to wash his plate??
• The (in) famous kiss – Identity of the people involved will never be revealed & I request my readers (if there are any) to not to post any hints/ direct references/ pointers of any kind towards them in the comments section.
• The pre-fresher’s party and the auto ride which followed
• Council/Associate teams interviews (& stories told during interviews  )
• First hour in ASR room
• “Mere facts alag hain or tere facts alag hain...”
• Adi’s Mumbai trip & Vineet’s alarm services
• Delhi Kitchen (Beta, ye to aapki problem hai…)
• (10)Grand ASR induction party at Flags
• SIRP, GD’s, Interviews & my Wipro Interview
• SIRP Day Zero & the drunken CS champion who later became a pilot…
• Daily CS competitions in Flat 12 & 13
• Me, My bed & My Laptop
• McD orders
• METALMELON still rocks ;-)
• Adi pukes & Anna watches (& almost does a ‘matrix’)
• Preparations for “SIBM LIVE”
• ASR sessions over “Coffee with SIBM”
• Dinners at China Gate
• “Last Man Standing” (by the end of which none of us was standing)
• The whole admission process for Juniors
• The day ASR got that email from Council President and the days leading to it.
• Hussain’s one song i-pod, Chintey’s temper, Reenu’s pranks, Sid’s HR skills (with some special people on 4th floor), Pranav’s resourcefulness & Innova, Dipti’s cheerfulness
• Varun’s jokes, DeeDee’s passion, Purna Bhai’s balance of mind & coolness
• Declaration of Senior Council Teams
• Ovation for ASR on Management Day-2008
• Play at Alumni Meet
• Tea in the evening in front of mess along with a lot of views for eyes ;-)
• Monsoon in Lavale
• Extra-curricular activities of Marketing B
• PMC ke nazare (PMC doesn’t stand for Pune Municipal Corp)
• Symbiosis Premier League
• CRP (Bas naam hi kaafi hai…)
• Early morning movie shows
• Last few Breakfasts, Lunches & Dinners

Heads or Tails???

We all want to be free, liberated and not bound by any rule or regulation. There is varying level of independence in each country and society, but one can be assured that the level of ‘freeness’ has increased over last few years/ decades around the world. Many things have moved from the societal arena to personal arena. Issues which were important on societal level are now being dealt at personal level & any interference by society is not welcome. & we all relish the thought of being free birds.

But really what is the difference between a human society and animal kingdom? Is it not the same laws, social rules & bonds? Take these out of our system and will we not be thrown back to the dark ages?

There is a very important law in Physics – Law of Entropy (also known as II law of thermodynamics). In simple words, this law states that everything in this universe will keep trying to achieve the state of complete randomness & will not stop till that state has been reached. This state will be of complete chaos.

On similar lines, if we continue on the path of liberation, would we also achieve the state of complete randomness/chaos? Let me take an example (Example taken is just for the sake of argument)

“Supporters of homosexuality claim that nobody has the right to comment on what goes inside the bedroom of two consenting adults. In that case, if some consenting adults, hundreds of miles away from any kind of flora, fauna or humans (so that they are not in a position to do any harm to anybody), decide to build a nuclear bomb in their bedroom, should we react or not?”

But we have already seen the other extreme as well, e.g. Taliban, Shri Ram Sene etc. This is the other side of the coin, another dark age.

So if both the extremes are dangerous, where do we draw the line & who draws that line? Or do we even realize that we need to draw a line?

Is it making any sense or is it just adding to incoherent babbling?

Sho(e)w of Democracy....

Yup, you guessed it right, it's abt the latest attack on Chiddu yesterday by one of the journalists. It made me think.

• It made me think abt the situation of our democracy. Where have we reached in our quest for "people's govt."? Today to make ourselves heard we have to throw a shoe at the "Home Minister" of India, otherwise the voice of a common man keeps fallinf on deaf ears of CBI, who even after being given the proof of something chooses to ignore it. What else do they want??? A VIDEOTAPE?? But naah it may be doctored as well. (As claimed by many of the young guns ! ! !)
• Before I go ahead, I must acknowledge the thought of my dear friend, Yuvraj Singh(my roommate during my MBA) . Yes UV, you were right abt Narendra Modi.Today when i think abt Tytler or Sajjan Kumar, I can feel your anger.
• Next is it right for a person to show his emotions even if they go against wht he is supposed to do? I think, in some conditions YES. There are times when you have to do something extraordinary for what you are passionate abt. I pity those who criticised Jarnail Singh for he did, 'cause they are unable to understand the emotions & passions of a person.
• Praises were showered on Chidambram on his restrain and composure after the event. Wht other options he had? Considering the fact that there is an election around the corner what else would a politician do? Press charges against the member of a minority which could decide elctions in atleast two states, Punjab and Delhi? (I'm sorry to use the word minority)
• After the show was over, BJP demanded that Congress shud withdraw candidature of Tytler and Sajjan Singh. Then shouldn't Narendra Modi, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others be measured on the same yardstick? or how are they different?

Will love to hear the comments of my follow Indians on my incoherent babbling of this empty mind(Empty, since i joined my MBA

Au Revoir...

Thanks Himanshu

This is a poem written by one of my friends Mr. Himanshu Bhagat.
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Ramesh told Lord Ram,I am a good Hindu
I pray to theeAnd abide by your rules.
For a 'Ram Rajya'I'll do anything they say.
I even burnt that Muslim man,Who prayed in the mosque in your land.
I promise you my Lord Ram,
I'll even kill a Hindu,If he even touches the Ram-setu.
I am your true disciple O My Lord...Tell me I am...
And Lord Ram just looked at him...

Asif told Allah,O Allah...I bow to thee.
Your holiness sets me free...
May the Prophets be blessed..
And I will spread your word to the rest.
I won't spare a single soul,Who doubted your holiness, I will maul.
But I didn't like that John,He killed your men and mocked your reign.
So I killed him, for your glory, I redeem.
I don't like that Hindu and that Jew too,
Coz one is a Kafir and other kills and hold your Prophet's Abode.
Tell me O Allah!I am your true disciple.
And Allah just looked at him...

Eric went teary eyed to Christ,
Coz yester his father John had died.
He first asked why this had to happen,
And then in anguish he says that it was that Mos-lem.
O Christ, I won't leave those dorks,
Who kill in the name of their God,
I will kill all of them,O Christ, give me the strength.
Another Crusade I will start,
And flush them out from their mountains, those farts!
Tomorrow, I march with my army,
I promise I won't leave a Mos-lem in sight,
Be it that little girl and mother in penury and plight.
And Christ just looked at him...

Manav a.k.a. Human, then went outside his home,
Accompanied by the bright open skies along.
He saw an old lady crossing the road,
And with no second thoughts, helped her in her trod.
Lady touched his head and blessed him for his deed.
And this fed manav's souls need.
He stood for a while, overwhelmed and said
"I don't really pray and don't know if you are there,
I don't really know you, and I seriously don't care.
All I do is be a human being,
And help people around and be as good as I can be.
I don't care for a religion and I hate to kill,
But I don't really know why everyone does that still.."

And suddenly, there was a fine drizzle,
On that bright sunny day,
A rainbow rose and the twittering birds began to play.
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Very true words indeed......

UCB's bold AD campaign...

After a few serious posts, lets come back to a topic which is not very serious in nature. The advertisements....

Well, today I will upload some ad's by United Colors of Benetton(UCB). These ads are very distinct from the ads we see. No ad talks about the products which are being offered by UCB, not even distinctly. All the ads, talk abt some social, political or general cause. This ad campaign has been one of the most controversial ad campaigns ever. Some of the ads are so shocking in nature that it will not be possible for me to put them on my blog.

This ad campaign was started by a photographer named Oliviero Toscani. Thought process behind the ad campaign suggested that some might love it and some might hate it, but everyone will remember it. One of the directors of UCB put it more diplomatically when he said "We try to get close to our consumers by telling them that we also think about the same problems as they think abt".

Now enough of gyaan, lets talk some business.

1.

This first ad shows faces of people from different nationalities and talks abt the human rights as in US constitution. Hence speaking about human rights and racism.

2.

This is one of my favorite ones. It shows the accepted descriptions of good (angel)(represented by the boy on left) & bad (Satan)(represented by the boy on right). It is a very apt satirical ad on the way we look at the color and hence assume the kind of person he will be.

3.

This ad again talks about the racism and the inequality shown in treating them. It talks about treating all the wrongdoers equally irrespective of their creed.

4.

This ad represents the domestic violence. If you read it carefully, it mentions "Colors of Domestic Violence" and not the usual "United Colors of Benetton".

5.

This one was released just before Beijing Olympics, 2008. It shows a Buddhist monk(Tibetan Monk) and a chinese soldier. Both seem to be acknowledging each other and in the backgound, you can see the word "VICTIMS" written. I think this ad is their own way to show that both of them, the monk and the soldier, are fighting against each other on the streets of China, but actually both are a victim of the politics of the country.

6.
Another ad showing the equality between different human beings. It shows the hearts of different people and shows how they are similar inspite of belonging to people of different creed.

7.
This ad is their take on the religious conduct and behavior. This shows a priest and a nun kissing each other. I guess the question here is "Is the wrong always wrong and is the right always right?"

Think.....

God's men???

What's happening to this country? or should I say what's happening to this world?

just when we thought, the problems India is facing cann't increase, we face another problem in Orissa. People forcibly trying to convert others back to their own religion. Well, in a country where every one has a right to decide the religion he wants to practice why should any one have any problem with religion conversions.

Aaahhh...., you say that conversions are being done by bribing them or forcing them.... hhhmmm.... that is certainly wrong.

But then what else are you doing in return. Aren't you or rather I should say WE are using the same tactics to get them back. Where is the free will of a person? My religion, Hinduism has taught me to let a person do whatever he wants till he is not posing a harm to anyone. So I don't think by changing his religion by his choice he is harming anyone. So where is the problem?

ohh....they say the problem is with bribing and allurements for conversions?

But isn't it a situation caused by your own people?

When WE cann't educate those people, when WE cann't provide them proper jobs, when WE cann't provide them proper infrastructure to save their crops from floods or draughts every year, when WE cann't provide them security from the attacks of terrorists and their foes, when WE cann't save them from dying from hunger when foodgrains are rotting down in godowns of some other state, How do we expect them to act rationally? and when they don't act rationally WE humiliate them and/or kill them.

HOW BRAVE OF US.... ! ! !

If we look around, where do we have problems with these forceful conversions? Each area where we have such problems is a backward area. Ever heard of such a problem in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore? I haven't.

So brothers and friends, don't kill them for refusing to come back in ur religion, don't humiliate them for practising some other religion..... lets provide them proper living conditions where a person is not humiliated/disgraced by himself everyday.

& if we cann't do that..... lets stop these killings, this mayhem and our incoherent babbling about religion, which no one understands. Because my religion is a way of living not a symbol.

But then, as they It takes two to tango..... although I have condemned the ways being used to force the people back to Hinduism, but this doesn't mean the methods being used by other communities/religion are justified. Most of the allegations being laid on them are correct & none of them can be justified anytime, anywhere in the world. Still, two negatives don't make a positive.
& the media is not helping et all to solve the situation.
Just a few days back, one of the commentators in the editorial of one of the leading newspaper had this to say "If it is legal to advertise by saying one free if you buy one, then why cann't same be done for conversions?"

URGHHHHHHH........where is your logic? or lets talk about more simpler things, where is your common sense and respect for a human being? You compare some articles on sale with a human changing his religion....??? One must be very sick in his mind to do that. & this is happening in the editorials of the most famous English daily of India. GOD, please save Indian media.

Area GREY

It has been a few days since I have posted on my blog. Well, thanks to MBA, never got enough time to write something new. (You might not work, but it is fashionable to say "ufff, I have truck load of work")

neways, for the last few days, I knew what I wanted to write on the blog but due to the time constraints, could not.....

A few days back, during my retail mgmt class, the class discussion drifted towards a very unlikely topic - Indian Mythology & Science. How much are they related? Generally, as soon as we say Indian mythology, people create a picture of following mindless rituals and rites without any logic or scientific proof.

I will say that they are not scientifically proven because of the lack of research & surely cann't agree to the fact that these are not logical. Think about them, study about them and they start to make a lot of sense, logically. Don't believe me???? Let me give a few examples

1. The first written proof of knowing speed of light was not given by Galileo in 17th century but you can find it in our own "Rigveda"
2. If you have studied holy "Shiv Puran" and know about the Big Bang theory about the creation of Universe, then you will realize that both of them are pointing finger in the same direction.

& this is not the end. There are many things in Hindu myths for which a logic can be provided. All you need to do is LOOK AROUND. There are many books (& books well researched ,and by well known authors and a few by some scientists as well) which talk about the same thing.

Once a friend of mine asked me"If there is so much knowledge in these books/myths, then why don't WE understand it or why is it written in such a cryptic form? & If our ancestors were so knowledgable, why did we loose there knowledge?"

The reply to the first question from my point of view was that

• They must have written it in the form they knew the best. We understood it originally, but with the passage of time, we no longer understand it. Because instead of practising them (as was told in these texts) we started to preach them.

But I didnot have any answer to the second question, till a few days ago. During the same class, I mentioned above, my teacher said "To start something new, the old has to come to an end"

Is it possible, that to start a new civilization (of which we are a part) the old civilization disappeared and their knowledge was lost?

Definite answers??? NO......

Logic ????? May be.....

Faith???? Possibly.....

Science??? Will love to prove that.......

Adieu

Ankush Singla

(De)Part of Life????

Yet another bomb blast in Delhi, capital of India.

5th city to suffer from serial blasts in last month or a half......

Reminds me of a dialogue on one of the recently released hindi movie. The gist of the dialogue is that it seems for our coming generations, bomb blasts will be a way of life. When I heard this dialogue, I didn't think much about it. But today when I think about it, it sends a chill down my spine.

Living in a 'normal democracy', where the bomb blasts are as regular as a country under a civil war, today for the first time I feel afraid to live in this country.

Till now, I always thought this is something which will pass. I was just beginning to understand this world when terrorism was its peak in my homestate Punjab. What I actually saw was the decline of terrorism. For me, It was like the break of a vicious circle. I thought, we have been able to curb it in one state so following it should not be an issue in other states.

But, how wrong I was. In those time states affected were, J & K, Assam & Punjab. Look at it today. Every other state has a security problem of its own. If there are foreign terrorists in J&K, then there are Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh. 

If there is any state, which is not affected by such 'terrorists', then its own people are disturbing the peace of their state/city. 

What are we coming to? Is there a solution to it? 

I know a lot of people will say why do you only speak? why dont you do anything?

Well, this is where the ethical dilemma lies.

From the past personal experience, I have realized that the politics of this country is too dirty and too dangerous to be part of. One my close relatives, who is an active politician had a near death experience when he was attacked by goons of a member of the party he was opposing.

& as I don't want to be the part of the system, I have no moral right to condemn it.

However, I have a very simple question to ask.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION?

& this time it is not incoherent babbling of a disturbed mind......

(de)spirited????

Watched movie "Black Friday" today, A movie based on the very famous serial blasts in Mumbai. To be precise, 1993 blasts of Mumbai, 'cause in the last few years the town has been a target of so many blasts that a few more may make the citizens of this city insensitive to the agony of the blasts(if they haven't become insensitive to them already)

This same point brings to me the famous "Undying spirit of Mumbai".

This spirit is saluted each and everytime there is any threat on the city, may it be bomb blasts, floods, electricity failure or anything. Each time the way the Mumbaikers get up the very next day and get back to work has been hailed by many as the ultimate salute to the undying spirit of humanity.

It really is different from other cities. After 9/11, New York was not normal for many days. London shook for many days even after the blasts. But Mumbai, UP & READY THE VERY NEXT DAY.

But, being an outsider, having never lived in Mumbai, to me this spirit does not seem to be a salute to the humanity. (I might not be the right person to comment on this topic, but you can say that I am misutilising my right of speech)

So is this really the undying spirit of Mumbai or is it something else.....

Is it the resignation to the fact that to survive in this city you have to behave normally or otherwise you will not survive?

or is it the resignation to the fate itself by the mumbaikers?

To me it seems a combination of both. The way the Govt's after Govt's have failed in providing basic necessities to the city, it is but natural that the citizens will resign themselves to the fate that whatever is being provided is all they can get.(It is not that other govt's of other states have performed any better) & to improve your living conditions all YOU can do is work day in and day out.

So, you cann't avoid getting up everyday and being a part of the rat race again irrespective of the environment around you.

So I come back to the original question. "Is it the undying spirit of Mumbai?"

May be or may not be. I guess citizens of Mumbai are in the best position to answer this question 'cause they are the ones who understand this city better than anyone else. However I can just continue my incoherent babbling......

Sayonara.....

Ankush Singla