Saturday, February 24, 2007

Extra-Marital Weekend!!

Would start this post with two convincing statements….

“If a Social Foreign national film, is dubbed in an Indian language, and still holds a lot of relevance and significance amongst the Indian audience it just means that ,both the cultures match.”

And the statement No.2 is one I heard someone say recently,

“Every other happy family has almost the same reasons for happiness to share, But every unhappy family has reasons unique to their own sufferings”.

After watching one of the subtle romances like Mr. and Mrs. Iyer last weekend, this weekend I watched two movies. A startling coincidence being that, both dealt with Extra-marital relationships. I somehow convinced myself after watching the first, that the culture portrayed was far different from what prevails in India. The movie had a lot of false intimacy portrayed and the desperation the heroine showcased, was not justifiably pluralistic and quite unwarranted. No prizes for guessing , the name of the movie was Murder!

The second was the one I watched in Satyam, yesterday night show. This was a movie based on an English film and yet the concept didn’t look western to me at all. The story is about a female who flirts with married men and takes him for a ride. Takes him to a difficult situation and from there cunningly brings in her own husband to the scene. The husband poses as a stranger and starts to rob the guy of all his money. I didn’t want to narrate the movie but justify(in next few paras) as to why I made two convincing statements right at the beginning. When I said convincing I also wanted to convince you :)

Now I would cite some real life instances I have experienced myself, and one that was told to me by my friend….

One of my close friend lives in US and her husband works for a leading SW company. Her husband is working, for his employer’s client at Onsite. They had a friend who had also come to US through the same channel and for same reasons. This guy was in love with a Girl in US. This girl also happens to be a Indian immigrant into US..This cunning chap had been to India for few weeks and after he returned he was quite hesitant to invite his colleagues to his home. Suspecting some problem 2 months after (this is the frequency at which people meet each other in US), his friends sleuthed into his house, and to their shock they found a girl in his house. After talking to the girl the true story opened up. This guy is in love with a girl in US and when he had been to his village in India he was forced into a marriage, and he married this girl and brought the innocent girl to US and left her stranded inside the house. Just about when the girl could have done something silly, due to the loneliness she was through they found her. When they tried to talk with this guy it didn’t work and when they tried even talking to the girl whom he was in love with, she also refused to give up (American culture already in). Finally without any choice the girl was sent back to India.

Now the second incident where I was myself taken to a toss. I am used to be signed in from office in Yahoo. One such day I received an invite from someone who was already in my list. This person X when I asked told me, that her old id was hacked and this is her new id. She pulled me into a really usual conversation, and got quite some information about me. I was under no clue that I was being fooled by someone. After sometime this person told me that she/he didn’t have any contact id’s since her messenger was hacked and asked me to type in all the friends id’s I had in my messenger. I didn’t develop any suspicion even then! Thank God I was busy and I told her that I would take screenshots of my messenger and send it to her id. She insisted she wanted them immediately, but I was too busy for that job! Now innocently some 2 days later I took screenshot of my messenger and sent it to my friend’s corporate id. Must thank God again for this. This female replied with saying why I was sending screenshots of my messenger. Only then I realised from her that someone was picking all her friends messenger id and getting all information about her. And the database for all this is ORKUT. I was shocked at the cunningness and how intelligently I was victimized.

This blog is already lengthy I would end with this last para. The purpose I posted this blog was 1)to ridicule my optimism about this Indian culture and 2) To warn the readers. The Indian youth is as ogling, as any other youth around the world. I definitely know I can’t change the youth. If I cannot change one of my closest friends, who had been through torrid times because of a girl, and is now behind some other girl, I am quite sure I cannot change this youth of today. But I wanted to warn the society of so many cyber crimes and intelligent , cunning crimes that are creeping into the society these days.

Be Aware and stop ogling!!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Indian World Cup Team- A critical Analysis!!

Before I get into any judgments I want to present the statistics I have collected about the current team selected that will represent India in the coming World Cup at West Indies.

1)Virendar Sehwag
Runs Scored: 4787
Wickets Taken: 71
2)Saurav Ganguly

Runs Scored:10412
Wickets Taken:93
3)Robin Uthappa
Runs Scored::203
Wickets Taken:0
4) Sachin Tendulkar
Runs Scored:14783
Wickets Taken:147

5)Rahul Dravid

Runs Scored:10044
Wickets Taken:4

6) Yuvraj Sigh

Runs Scored:4317
Wickets Taken:42
7)MS Dhoni
Runs Scored:1891
Wickets Taken:0

8)Dinesh Karthik
Runs Scored:145
Wickets Taken:0

9) Ajit Agarkar

Runs Scored:1240
Wickets Taken:270
10)Zaheer Khan
Runs Scored:490
Wickets Taken:170

11) Munaf Patel
Runs Scored:6
Wickets Taken:22

12) S Sreesanth
Runs Scored:7
Wickets Taken:34

13) Irfan Pathan
Runs Scored:1006
Wickets Taken:115

14) Anil Kumble
Runs Scored:938
Wickets Taken:334

15)Harbhajan Singh
Runs Scored:687
Wickets Taken:168
Total of Runs scored by the all the players in the team = 50956
Total of wickets taken by all the players in the team =1470
My Analysis

First Thoughts:

Any Reader who would even after a glance at the figures I have posted above, agree to the fact that this team is the strongest team that comes in to the World Cup.

Pros:

I am sure (although I haven’t analysed other teams stats), that no other team that comes in to this world cup(even in the past) would have a aggregate of 51000 runs being scored by all of its players in ODI’s. I bet it wouldn’t be even close to 40k. And I wouldn’t even agree if someone posted a comment that all these runs came in the subcontinent. Nobody can deny the fact that Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and Sehwag have dominated or at least proved there stature in almost all the countries they have toured around the world. As always the bowling looks a little crippled. But then we have the best spinners in the world. Our two spinners together have 500 wickets. Again I want to challenge this figure against any other team.

Cons:

I will start with the word “Consistency”. This is where, the figures 51000 and 1470 look SMALL.
Batting

Top Order: When Saurav is in form, Sehwag isn’t and the vice-versa.
Top Order: When Dravid is in form, Sachin isn’t and the vice-versa.

Middle Order: When Dinesh karthik is in form Yuvraj isn’t.

Middle order: When Dhoni is in form he is required to play a slow innings since all the above perished :).

Bowling

Top Order: When Zaheer is consistent Sreesanth is not and the vice versa.

Top order: When Ajit agarkar is in form he is denied a team place and when Munaf is in form he
is out of the team as well. Alternatively when Ajit agarkar has lost his touch he is into the team and when Munaf is injured he is the striking bowler. Striking to him means lazy :).

X Order: I didn’t know if Irfan is a top order bowler or a middle order bowler or a batsman or a hitter. Dear reader please help me :)

Spinners: This is were India rocks. Irrespective of the track Indian spinners always bring in wickets. And hardly I have seen Bhajji or kumble give more than 6-7 runs per over even in crunch matches around the world.

Verdict:

On paper as always India has the best team. In batting we have the cushion to ignore the form of players. But in bowling I will want to advocate two spinners for all matches. Sachin or sehwag can add if spinners are exceedingly successful in a game. Zaheer and Ajit agarkar need to be two static seamers and the fifth spot for bowling can be Irfan/Sreesanth/None.

To finish I would say “If Indians cannot win the World Cup with this team they can not win the World cup for another 12 years atleast”.

Final words: Rely on Experience and aim for Consistency.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Celebrating Silence-Part2-The Finale.

As always I had two motivating forces behind sitting down and finishing this blog. One was a movie, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, I watched yesterday night and other was the excellent thought I read yesterday in Orkut. As the previous one I will start this one, with a thought as well.

“Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought”

Simplicity breeds character. Many great people are admired for their simplicity. Simplicity erodes the Ego within the self. Great Saint’s living in this country, start cultivating this trait, and slowly start to realize one by one of the worldly truths and end up believing in nothingness!! A paradox -Realisation leads to nothingness. :)

Money is the source of Egotism. A man feels insecure without money, feels slightly secure with little money, plans for more security with more money, and again starts to feel insecure with more and more money. It’s an interesting circle with no specific radius. The more is the radius the more is the hollowness. The least the radius(dot) the more is the focus.

I remember an article I read about one of the leading Businessman in India. His market capitalization is around 10b$. And for all those who aren’t amazed at this figure, I am talking about an individual born and living in this country and is worth 45000 crore rupees. But his man still doesn’t believe in profligacy. He is one guy who will fit very well in the ambit of this topic “Celebrating silence”. When someone asked him how does he feel when someone quotes he is the Richest Indian? He replied instantly that “It means Nothing”. It means Great or Ordinary only to one who keeps this thought running through his mind Day In Day Out.

Only when someone thinks profoundly he would realise this world and his duties. And to think profoundly you need to simple. You need to shed all your Ego. Of wealth, position etc. Simplicity comes from Maturity, Maturity of thought. Maturity comes from Experience. Experience come by Age, it comes by realization and by shedding your Ego. And age isn’t fixed. Certain people feel matured in their age of 20’s like Swami Vivekananda, certain people feel it after grihastha, like Saint Thiruvaluvar, many people feel it in their 60’s. But sadly few don’t feel it until their death. And what would I say about them? Just that they didn’t shed their Ego. They didn’t grow to become experienced, Matured, Simple and above all Noble.

Thanks for your Time. Remember

"Keep money in the banks and not in your Mind..."

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Spurious Inflation

Spurious Inflation

Recently for the past one year there has been a lot of debate about Inflation hitting the economy hard. While it’s been heartening to note that the country’s GDP is growing at 9-10%, inflation is slowly inching towards 6-7%. So effectively it’s not a good symptom of growth. Even naïve economists will accept that a 2-3% difference in GDP and Inflation is not healthy signs. We can to some extent comment that the economy is effectively growing only at 2-3% !!!

To dig a little further I want to get down at basics. Basics meaning essential common man’s understanding of Economic growth. I was born in 1983 and since 2000(When i was 17 and in my first year of engg.) I am aware of what is the economic scene in India.I want to breakdown upon what was the cost of essential commodities in 2000 and what is the cost today….

Food

1)Since 2000 a litre of aavin milk in Chennai, has not gone up by even a single rupee. It remains static at 13 rupees. A period of time when inflation has been around 4-5% on an average Year on Year(YOY). Even private milk is sold at the same price. Means, they are definitely not incurring losses.

2) The cost of a kilo of ponni rice (one of the finest quality of rice) in 2000 was around 15 rupees. The same is now available for 18-20 rupees.

3) The cost of wheat today is 18 rupees per Kg, again a marginal increase over 6 years.

4) Sugar is now costing 22-23 rupees against 15-16 rupees in 2000. Also most of dhall varieties haven’t had substantial price rise.

5) Even today a kilo of tomato is around 10 rupees, a kilo of lady’s finger is 10-15 rupees, a kilo of onion is around 15 rupees. A week’s vegetable cost for a family of four wouldn’t cross 50 rupees(1$) for sure.!!!

Caution: I am talking about a period of 6 years where the economy has had inflation of 4-5 % YOY and hence let the reader not assume I am presenting a biased opinion in the above statements. I am just comparing the prices relative to the inflation and time.
To Sum Up: Almost all the above mentioned food items, are not cost controlled by the government. And neither has there been a scarcity for procuring them by and large over the years.

Clothing

1) Clothing is one sector which has burgeoned both in terms of choice and availability. Cotton is still cheap and plenty in availability with few takers. Polyester rules and today in Chennai you can buy a Men’s formal wear from 500 to 50000 or even more. We are not bothered about 50000. Still at 500-600 you get decent clothes that will satisfy the middle class.

Shelter

1) This is my focus area!. In year 2000 you could get a rented house in suburb for 1000 rupees a month. In the city it was around 2000-2500. Reminder: I am writing everything with a middle class family outlook. Today in 2007 the same house in suburb will cost you 3000 and in city will cost you 10000. A classic 300% increase in suburb and 1000% increase for city. And should I talk about real Estate?? All my readers know the worsening trend. A nice opportunity for me to write a separate article about this.

I will stop here. Till now I wanted to really understand if the inflation has hit the economy hard. For me inflation w.r.t economy hits only the middle class and hence iam writing only about them. The rich class always lived rich. Why bother about them?

I will continue in my next article but I will end the article with few things that have inflated in price enormously over these 6 years. This will perhaps give a cue to what I am driving to when I say “Spurious Inflation”.

What has increased substantially in cost

Cinema tickets in multiplexes, Petrol/Gas, Real Estate, Restaurants, Automobiles, Gold, Swanky Gadgets, to name a few.

Hope my mood is caught :). But I want each of my reader to accept or criticize my views. I will publish my closing blog for this, next week.

Till then Happy Reading. !!!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Think Complicated

Think Complicated

One of my closest friend recently asked me, “What is the most fascinating thing for you about life?” I immediately said it’s the Human thought process. Reasoning out I said “For me the human thought process is the most diverse, innovative, impulsive and hence the most fascinating creation in a human. After all a software engineer will always enjoy only virtual things and not physical/real :).

I thought about writing under this topic after a series of movies I have watched recently. I must say I loved all of them just for the complicated thought process of its maker. I am calling this complicated thought because it’s quite out of common for me. Almost all of us have some thinking patterns oriented towards our fellow men. But only few men stand out, and think bizarre. This, is complicated thought process for me. It’s creative, credible and compulsive.

The films were Page3, Corporate and my ever famous evergreen Kamal haasan’s Anbe Sivam. All the films dealt with one social aspect or the other. But the intricacy of handling was ingenious. I want to express my fascination for each of the films in my subsequent para’s. Meanwhile I want my reader to think about these words in sync with this blog. Complicated, Controversial, unilateral. All these words drive me towards forming one opine which might be correct. The complicated thought process occurs when one challenges a system and tries to portray the system in a negative way, and in the process sow seeds of thought for a tree. This tree can either shower shadow through its branches above the ground or it can also spread its branches under the ground(roots) and destruct the constructions in its neighborhoods. How complicated was that ? :) .

To finish I wanted to express my fascinations at the films. Page 3 was an out and out heroine based movie. Something seen once in a decade in Indian cinemas. A thorough bioscope into the party animals of the high class society and try to hint at their false pretence living. And Corporate, again an madhur bhandarkar movie was hitting at the other upper class, not in society but in the corporate level. The movie was trying to expose the only intention with which corporate’s live, MARGINS!!. They can compromise on anything and everything to ensure their margins are intact and increasing…The third movie is one I have watched for 9th time in succession. A movie which will be among the best movies I have watched in my life time. I will definitely dedicate a separate single blog for anbe sivam when I watch it the next time. Still I wouldn’t be able to express my fullest fascinations for this masterpiece by Kamal. The movie out and out tries to criticize the society that believes that it is God, who does everything and we are just dolls in His puppet show. All along the movie tries to prove a theist wrong and tells him, what is true to him might be false and what is false to him might be true. Communism personified. But Alas not all Communists are Atheist’s :) .

Before I finish this thought struck my mind. Why was such an excellently crafted movie like anbe sivam an utter flop. Was it because it was too complicated for the mass to digest? Or was it because the movie was against the mass feeling of theism? Or as usually said was it because, Kamal or for that matter Lakshmi movie makers weren’t lucky? Luck is a mystical word. More so a divine word :) . Someone who does not believe in God cannot use this word.

Think about this!!! And don’t miss to watch these movies. Thanks for your time. Remember, Think Complicated :).