SC Encroachment on Traditions

I am actually dazed at the way some NGOs and then the activists act against the Indian Traditions, whereas they do hell lot of marketing of western culture to prompt Indian Youth to bank on Western Culture.  Consider the way these Liberal Activists just stand in support of Valentines Day, Rose Day, Friendship Day etc when the western world isn't sure why to celebrate those days.  Isn't that a strange case that most of the western celebrations are based on the lowly values carried with them and no logical base other than strong marketing by certain set of companies?

More so, with the recent turn of events, it has come out to be a big blow to some of the Indian traditions specifically with these rights activists leading to the doors of SC and getting verdict in their favor.  They were successful in getting ban on #Jallikattu in Taminadu, Reduce the height for Dahi Handi events and may be a few others.  They are even eyeing on getting a ban on may be crackers during Diwali and may be promote Wax candles than earthen lamps.  Well, isn't that strange that both fire-crackers and earthen lamps production help many families run their livelihood.  It is pretty much a foul attempt to let on Vehicular and Industrial pollution ruin our lungs and our health on the name of industrialization round the year and then seek ban on crackers that was used only for 5 days.  It indeed is the irony of the case that puts me in dilemma on how a oil based earthen lamp causes more pollution than a wax lamp, when the oil based earthen lamp is more environmentally friendly than the wax lamp; in both cases be when it burns v/s when it is to be disposed.

There are may reasons where these so called activists stand up on certain ill attempted education with certainly NO base and logic.  They use some Photoshopped images with their articles with no base and with no legitimate proof on what they say; in-effect there is none actually. The logic and the words used by them simply make me laugh at their naive attempt to serve the purpose of their masters.

Specifically coming to the #Jallikattu, it is a display of row power and highlight of the cattle breeding industry. This is something that aligns with the overall Cattle Industry and trade that keeps local healthy breeds in shape with regular rotation. This tradition has a scientific base of rotation to avoid inbreeding and ensure continuity of healthy cattle raising.  A ban on this also calls for a ban on Pushkar Mela, the largest Cattle show / market on this planet (Yeah doesn't sound logical; yeah because it indeed is a illogical statement).  However, these activists would come in support of Pushkar mela (may be not) siting that it is a Cattle Market not a celebration.  However, if they ever stood against Pushkar Mela, they would have to bow down because that wouldn't be possible for them to sustain against in SC with their illogical demands.  They succeeded in case of #Jallikattu because they could produce some gory Photoshoped images and the justice bench of SC didn't do any fact check.

Now coming to the role of SC in these judgements that delivered nothing but a blow to Indian traditions, I am appalled at the way they were even considered.  SC could have defined certain conditions to be met for these traditional sports rather than banning them outright.  Somewhere they played in the hands of these activists supporting the ulterior motive of some western manipulators.  SC could have actually looked at the Tomatilo Festival of Spain that #Peta like organizations couldn't ban.  More so, #Peta like organizations work as typical marketing companies for promoting certain vested interests of certain organizations.  They live on double standards where killing the animals to eat meat is fine for them, but killing the same animal to get leather for shoes, jackets and belts is wrong.  

I would actually call for a fact check by SC to ensure that they understand the true essence of the Traditional Indian sports before passing a judgement. They need to go out their to first witness the reality rather than passing a judgement on certain gory images and idiotic logic by the #Peta like marketing organizations.SC should stop encroaching  with traditions specifically when they do not step in with other religious traditions. Just because an average Indian (or do I still need to specify HINDU) has a higher degree of patience, doesn't mean that other religions get liberty to do things on their whims and fancies for their festivals with even prayers broadcasted through loudspeakers; and the hindus' keep facing bans after bans that serve the ulterior motive of some organizations to eradicate Hinduism from this planet.....

Does that Ring Bell with SC?? and with those jokers acting to be activists??

Growing up with Age

We all certainly grow up in age, but that also results in us growing up on ego and attitude.  There is no harm to have ego and attitude, but that needs to be in the right place, not everywhere and not with everyone.  It is important and while we grow in age, we also come to age and accept the politeness and courtesy as demanded by the world.  Indeed, the world would neither accept our ego nor would it honor our attitude, if both were in wrong place, for the wrong reason and with wrong timing.

Having attitude is indeed a good thing if we are able to control the expression and aggression associated and ensure that the attitude is put to right use at the right time and to achieve the right results.  It is always suggested to ensure that our attitude doesn't rise to our head and guide us on the path of self destruction.

With respect to ego, well everyone has ego, some conquer it and many lose out to it.  those who conquer ego come out as shining and successful in their life.  They might at times get offended, get hurt and get bowed down, but in the end it is they, who we call victorious.  For those who get conquered by ego, they bite the dust down the lane of life and are always out there to insult and hut others. Ego is once again somewhere related to respect, so in my view, where there is respect & self respect, there is no ego and where there is ego, there is no respect.  So we do have to conquer our ego for the purpose of being respected, being successful and be victorious in our lives.

However, it is important to also ensure that Ego should not die and the Attitude should not vanish, they are important for our survival.  A right mix would always help in defining our persona and character to get there, where we want or where we desire to be.

प्रेम के बदलते स्वरुप

"प्रेम" एक ऐसा शब्द है जिसे सुनते ही हर किसी की बांछे खिल जाती है। फिर वो कोई बच्चा हो, युवा हो, युवती हो या कोई अधेड़ या वृद्ध। लेकिन यहाँ पर हर कोई एक ही गलती करता है और वह है प्रेम की परिभाषा को समझना और प्रेम शब्द को केवल एक ही रिश्ते से बांधना!!

प्रेम की अगर परिभाषा की बात करें तो प्रेम सच, विश्वास , आदर एवं सम्मान का समागम है। प्रेम सत्यता का प्रमाण है और उसमें कुटिलता का कोई स्थान नहीं है; प्रेम विश्वास का अथाह सागर है जिससे आप जितना चाहे रिश्तों ना गागर भर सकते हैं, बिना विश्वास  के प्रेम का औचित्य नहीं है; बिन आदर एवं सम्मान के भी प्रेम का टिकना असंभव है। अतएव अडिग एवं अटूट प्रेम में सत्य, विश्वास, आदर एवं सम्मान का समागम होता है। 

अब यदि हम रिश्तों की बात करें तो रिश्ते बिना प्रेम के असंभव है। वैसे ही मित्रता का विश्लेषण करें तो प्रेम के बिना मित्रता भी असंभव है। इसीलिए उस भोज को जिसमें आप रिश्तेदारों एवं मित्रजनों को बुलाते हैं, उसे प्रीतिभोज कहा गया है एवं रिश्तेदारों एवं मित्रजनो को "स्नेहीजन"। 

अब आप सब सोचेंगे की इस सबमें प्रेम किस स्वरुप में बीच में आया? जी मैं अब आपको प्रेम की मझधार से बाहर निकाल कर प्रेम के अलग अलग स्वरूपों में गोटे लगवाता हूँ -

1. माता पिता द्वारा बच्चे को जन्म देकर इस संसार में लाना, उसे हर कदम पर सम्भलना एवं उसे बड़े होते हुए देखना; माँ का अपने बच्चों को हर मौके पर अपने आँचल में समेटना; पिता का उन्हें अपनी छाँव में सम्भालना; और हर ऐसा कार्य जो माता पिता अपने बच्चों के लिए करते हैं जिसमें त्याग भावना भी सम्मिलित होती है, वह उनके प्रेम से परिपूर्ण होता है । 
2. बच्चे का बड़े होकर मित्रों से मिलाना; मित्रजनो के साथ अठखेलियां कर क्रीडांगन में क्रीड़ा करना; मित्रों संग घनिष्ठता से रहना, ये सभी प्रेम का दूसरा स्वरुप है । 
3. और बड़े हो कर बच्चे का नौकरी पर जाना, वहां अपने सहकर्मियों के बीच सम्मिलित होना, सहकर्मियों की सहायता करना, ये भी प्रेम का एक स्वरुप है । 
4. फिर बच्चे का विवाह होना, विवाह उपरांत पत्नी संग घर बसाना, अपने बच्चों के भविष्य की चिंता करना, यह भी प्रेम का एक और स्वरुप है । 

इस प्रकार यदि आप देखेंगे तो परिस्थितिवश प्रेम केवल अपना स्वरुप बदलता है, प्रेम कभी समाप्त नहीं होता। मैं कर बार सुना है कि बेटा माता पिता के प्रेम में पत्नी से पक्षपात कर रहा है, या पत्नीप्रेम में माता पिता को भूला जा रहा है, किन्तु इसमें हो क्या रहा है? यही कि बेटा अंधत्व की ओर अग्रसर है। उसे प्रेम के विभिन्न स्वरूपों का ज्ञान नहीं है एवं वह अपने प्रेम को सही समयानुसार ढाल नहीं पा रहा है। कई बार लोगों ने यह भी प्रश्न किया की माँ और पत्नी में से किसका प्रेम ज्यादा महत्वपूर्ण है?  इसका कोई उत्तर नहीं है एवं इसका कोई एक उत्तर देने वाले ने दोनों प्रेम की महत्ता नहीं समझी। यदि आप भी इसके उत्तर में माँ  या पत्नी में से किसी के उत्तर पर जाते हैं तो आप निष्पक्ष नहीं हैं। माँ एवं पत्नी दोनों ही बलिदान का स्वरुप हैं। माँ जिसने हमें जनम दिया उसे लिए कष्ट उठाये, ९ महीने पेट में रखा और ना जाने कितने और बलिदान दिए क्या उसका प्रेम अपनी जगह महत्वपूर्ण नहीं है? पत्नी, जो अपने पीहर में सारे रिश्ते, मित्र, सखी सहेली, सब छोड़ कर आपके घर आई, जिसने आपके परिवार एवं वंश को चलने के लिए सारे कष्ट उठाये, आपके बच्चों को जन्म दिया, क्या उसका प्रेम अपनी जगह महत्वपूर्ण नहीं है? यही बात सास, ससुर, बहन, ननंद, साली पिता, भाई एवं पति के लिए भी लागू होती है। हर रिश्ते में अलग प्रेम भावना होती है एवं है प्रेम भावना का अपना महत्व होता है। 

यही हमें कुछ करना है तो हर प्रेम भावना का औचित्य समझ उसे सम्भालना है। यही एक कार्य हम कुशलतापूर्वक कर लें, तो जीवन में काफी कठिनाइयाँ समाप्त हो जाएंगी। 

To Do Right or To Do What Right I am Supposed To Do

Often in our life we get stuck with a dilemma to do the right thing or to do what is right for you to do. This is a very peculiar situation for us to get into both in personal as well as professional life.  It is a situation where most of us either have an internal clash or clash it out with the other parties that are involved in the decision making process.  Such situation often lead to depressing situation where we give it out and then we give it in aka we surrender.  But is that what we are supposed to do?

There may be several possible solutions and may be several ways to deal with the situation.  But then the dilemma that persists is Whether to do the Right thing or do the things that are right for you to do?  On one side is your own self esteem and often self pride hidden behind your passion to do right things.  You as a professional love your profession and job and want to do every bit to add to your bucket of achievements. Who gets benefited is not your immediate concern because that for you is a micro level result.  On the other side is your position with the other decision makers and other impacted parties if you do the right thing.  They would always want to ensure that you do what is supposed to be right for you to do.  Expectations clash that actually start the game and you get caught up in that game.

I often wonder on what could be the most apt and win win solution for all the parties?  and trust me, until I discussed this situation with my colleague / friend who is my "Go-To" person, I was not able to arrive at the solution myself.  

According to my colleague / friend, the best thing to do in such a situation is to "Cut-off" or "Backout" from the decision making. Stop thinking about the situation that is raising the clash inside you. Once you do that and put that at the back of your head and move on with your regular work.  Don't stress yourself for that decision as it is anyways not going to work out either in favor or against you.  The clashes in that case would also rest in peace and the sanity would prevail for you to be able to be in the driver's seat.

Clashes in this case as well as in any case only waste time and divert the attention of people from your work & aptitude to your attitude and other behavioral aspects. So, let go of the clashes and let sanity prevail!!!

Being Vegetarian is Human

If you have a weak heart, I would suggest you to skip this presentation.

This presentation shows why we the Vegetarians are better off and why we should promote vegetarianism. The truth behind the way they raise, and slaughter animals to make their living would definitely bring on you feelings to stop slaughter houses. This is Barbaric act....

Those who promote meat and who support mean as a vital source of protein also need to see the way they promote the Barbaric acts as highlighted in the presentation by @peta.  They should also note that the unhealthy and unhygienic ways including GMO chemicals that are induced in the animals are one of the reason why the overall health of a human being is deteriorating. It is important to know the pros and cons of meat consumption and for me, I see that the cons outweigh pros by a huge margin.

I am happy to say I am a Vegetarian and have been happy to be so all my life.

Cooking Gas Subsidy

Just in very recent times there has been a lot flutter in the Indian Political circles as well as the normal human being's life in India. This flutter has been due to the "Subsidy" involved in the overall scheme of Cooking Gas supply.  I saw the advertisements as well as the message from the Prime Minister of India issued to the Residents / Citizens of India to give up the subsidy to help ensure that those households that still use the Cooking oil or wood or charcoal get benefited with the supply of Subsidized Cooking Gas.

Now, here the Prime Minister, his advisers and the entire team working on this campaign has failed miserably to do their research first and then start this campaign.  If they ever wanted this to be a 100% success, they should have started from taking the measure from their level.  The step 1 must have been taken at the canteens in the Parliament and the Ministerial offices. When you expect the masses to join the campaign to make it a success, the representatives of the masses need to act first.

The MPs, the MLAs, the Ministers and the Senior Government Officials should be the first one to give up the subsidy.  They are supposed to be the Super influential cadre who certainly do not need the subsidy whether at work or at home.

The big question that certainly is making round in the social media is - Why should I give up subsidy when the Super Influential Cadre doesn't do that? and certainly that is a question that must be answered by the Campaign planners.

If our "Leaders" do not want to lead an effort by expect us to still fall in line, then I am certainly NOT with them to this effect and I would certainly not support the agenda or the campaign.

Dear Prime Minister, if you want us to walk the path you show us, then ensure that the Law makers of the country are marching ahead of us.

Secularism in India = Minority Appeasement

Time and again at various discussions, I have said as well as maintained that Secularism in India applies only to the Hindus. The history of "Secular India" highlights that the entire tactic of Secularism is nothing but Suppressing the Hindus and appease the Minority community.  Interesting point is that it is only in India that we witness the grants and subsidy for pilgrimage of minority community.  No where in the world other than India does it happen.  Isn't that a BIG evidence of minority appeasement?

It is very interesting to see that how these Secular NGOs and Individuals hoard together to shout against the atrocities on the minority community.  I am actually surprised at the whole Secularist Drama that unfolds every time there is someone convicted and is from Minority community.  Be it Ajmal, or the Professor from Delhi or the Latest Edition - Yakub Memon.

The way the Drama has unfold for the Delhi Professor and the Politics that was played then was well understood for it was Congress regime and Congress is well known for its Pseudo Secular face.  When we look at the present case of Yakub Memon, there was a lot of melodrama that unfolded in recent days. A lot of pleas and petitions were filed by those Pseudo Seculars.  They even went on to have the session of Supreme Court set at wee hours of the morning.  What were these Peudo Seculars trying to prove? What did they achieve?

Weren't these Pseudo Seculars aware that he is a culprit of humanity? Why did these Pseudo Seculars state that he was lured by CBI to come back to India and hence he should not be hanged? Don't these Pseudo Seculars realize that he was lured by Not so Seculars on the name of revenge and jehad and that he himself willingly walked into their trap??

Certainly these Pseudo Seculars want to ensure that their Shops and Political Establishments keep on with Business and that their money wheel to keep churning enough for them to create unnecessary disturbances in the national politics and communal (dis)harmony.  

My open questions to the likes of Prashant Bhushan - 

1. Did you ever wake up at 2 in the night to go and check on the victims of terror attack?  
2. Did you ever walk in to the house of that Constable who was injured in a terror attack? 
3. Where were you when those terrorists attacked the Dinanagar Police Station in Gurdaspur? (oops I should have skipped this question as the answer is obvious "Busy preparing for saving Yakub)

I am sure there wouldn't be enough for them to explain as they would surely say "It is NOT a case that matters to Humanitarian cause!!!! It is a terrorist attack and matter for government to solve." Yeah why not These people would get up to shout the slogans only when one of those terrorist would be caught and sentenced to be hanged. Their money making NGOs would get the money churning case!!!

Government should seriously look at the way the Monetary Transactions would have moved for these Pseudo Seculars and ther NGOs during this period of time that the Pseudo Seculars were moving all the strategies to save Yakub.  There is a lot of stinking Hawala smell in this case!!!

Also, With All Due Regards to The Actor from Minority Community, I wouldn't be surprised to hear from someone that he got Convicted because of his name and religion and he didn't mow his car on those pavement dwellers!!! I have already heard some of these for Yakub linking his punishment to his religion and not his deed...and some even went to state that they would prepare for Jihad!!!

My serious request to all the sane and true seculars - get things straight and make them understand that clap sound comes only when to hands meet with certain force.....and for India to be Secular, efforts from all the corners would need to be made.....appeasement is actually more communal than being secular!!!!

भारत का कटु सत्य

आज कुछ सन्देश मिला और उस सन्देश को पढ़ मन भारी सा हुआ। सन्देश के पड़ते हुए मेरी अपनी सोच को बल मिला जिसके अनुसार मैंने पहले कभी कहा था की भारत में धर्मनिरपेक्षता केवल हिंदुओं पर लागू होती है। धर्मनिरपेक्षता के नाम पर हिदुत्व का शोषण होता है। अगर भारतीय राजनीतिक गलियारों में झाँक कर देखेंगे तो आप भी पाएंगे कि भारत वाकई में। धर्मनिरपेक्ष राष्ट्र नहीं है क्योंकि धर्मनिरपेक्षता के नाम पर सारी पाबंदियां केवल हिंदुओं पर लगती है। अभी पिछले दिनों दिल्ली में जो पुलिस वालों को मारा वहीं अगर धर्म बदल दिए जाते तो क्या होता?? दंगे होते और दिल्ली जलता

मैने किसी मुस्लिम को होली दीवाली की पार्टी देते नहीं देखा है, पर हिन्दुओं को इफ्तार पार्टी देते देखा है |

मैने कश्मीर में भारत के झंडे जलते देखे है, पर कभी पाकिस्तान का झंडा जलाते हुए मुसलमान नहीं देखा है |

मैने हिन्दुओं को टोपी पहने मजारो पर जाते देखा है, पर किसी मुस्लिम को टिका लगाते मंदिर जाते नहीं देखा है |

मैने ISIS का विरोध करते किसी मुस्लिम को नहीं देखा है, पर RSS का विरोध करते हुए लाखो हिन्दू देखे है |

मेने हिन्दूओ को भगवान पर जोक्स बनाते देखा हे पर
मुस्लिमो को अल्लाह पर चुटकले बनाते नही देखा।

मैने मिडिया को विदेशो के गुण गाते देखा है, पर भारत के संस्कार के प्रचार करते नहीं देखा है |

मैने करोड़पतियों के माँ बाप को वर्द्धा आश्रम में देखा है, पर किसी करोड़पति के घर में अनाथ आश्रम नहीं देखा है | 

मैने साई के दरबार में लाखो चढ़ावे देखे है, पर साई के दरबार वालो को कभी गरीबो की भलाई करते नहीं देखा है |

मैने विदेशी गाडियो में विदेशी कुत्तो को घूमते देखा है, पर उनके घर के बाहर कभी गाय को रोटी खिलाते नहीं देखा है

अपना देश समाज बचाओ,

इन्डियन नहीं भारतीय बनो
------  वन्दे मातरम् ------

Travel Tale - Another Mess-up by Another Airlines

Sometimes we wonder, why does it happen and specifically to me.  Something similar happened with me when I was traveling this time.  The ordeal began on Wednesday May 27, 2015 morning with a disturbed sleep that made me wake up at 4 AM EST just after roughly 3 or 4 hrs of sleep.  The day went by relatively smooth, but then the evening when I headed to the airport to catch my flight at 6, I was greeted with a 19 minutes delay announced at the kiosk at the Gate.  But that 19 minutes went up to almost 4 hrs and 30 minutes to actually board the flight and for the flight to take off.

They said the incoming aircraft is delayed and hence the delay, so I searched on Google for the Flight details and it said there was another flight with the same number (WHAT!!!) that was in air and that was delayed by few hours.  I thought may be that's why!!! But a fellow passenger then enlightened me that the aircraft for this flight was coming from Chicago and then I checked on the Mobile App of that airlines.  What I see that the aircraft which we were supposed to be boarding would be coming from Chicago then original that I thought coming from Fort Lauderdale. So, I thought, no worries let's wait a bit. That a bit (originally 19 Minutes) went to half an hour and then an hour and then an hour and half.  All the time the attendant kept on announcing that the aircraft is in the air and will be landing shortly, but due to the inclement weather it can't land and has been told to circle around Newark Airport.  I guess he forgot that the passengers can actually see through the Glass walls of the terminal where the flights were regularly taking off and landing too.  The movement was visible.

Then finally at around 8 they announced that we would board and the flight would take off at 8:20 almost 2 hrs 10 minutes later to the scheduled departure.  We were happy as they started boarding too.  But as every one settled in the seats, we could overhear Captain talking to someone (Through the PA (Public Announcement) System and heard something like "Taking off at 10:20" and yeah everyone was deplaned for another 2 hours.  Reason given - Inclement Weather!!!! When we could see flights taking off and landing at regular intervals.  For all the time other flights were taking off and landing at the Newark airport except for this one flight.

After moving back to the terminal, while talking to fellow passengers, I suddenly realized "There was another flight with same number which was airborne". So was that flight the reason for our flight to not take off? Was it that the two flights with same number would create security issues?  And I checked about that flight and was shocked that the same flight number is being used for Chicago - Fort Lauderdale - Newark - SFO.  Now that's quite alarming from overall security perspective too.  It can actually convey negative information to the friends and families.

The mess up was something that delayed all of us by 3.5+ and we finally reached SFO around 1:30 AM PST Thursday rather than Scheduled time of 9:47 PM PST and the First Officer was saying "We covered 30 minutes from the scheduled delay"....Well does he understand the loss that we had for those 4 hours 30 minutes that we were waiting for the aircraft...something totally unproductive hrs!!!

And certainly it was less of weather more of their own mismanagement and irregular practices!!!!!

Management Lessons from Jokes

I was reading those old forward jokes that once used to be on our emails and have now found their way to BBM and whatsapp and other instant messaging platforms. Generally that's the way for me to unwind myself before heading to sleep. But today two of the forwards actually ignited my thoughts about the embedded Management Lessons in them. Incidentally both of them are related to Microsoft.

The first joke is about the incident where Microsoft CFO was conducting an interview for a junior position and as he was impressed with this guy who was a fresh graduate, he asked him "do you have an email where we can contact you?" The guy was puzzled and looked back asking "what is that? I do have a mailing address but don't know nothing about email address!!" Microsoft CFO looked at him and said "well then you don't exist for us. Sorry, but contact us the day you have an email address." The young guy leaves and moves out thinking what to do to earn the livelihood. He looks at his pocket and finds $50. He sits in a park and identifies that if he spent those $50 on food he wood be out of money in 4 days. Just at that time he sees a vendor selling Popsicle. He evaluates the idea and decides to use $10 for his food and rest $40 to buy some meat & vegetables that he can sell from door to door. As he does that, he makes a profit of $15. So the next day he starts with $55 and again with the same split and sales he makes a profit of $20. Soon he buys a bike and that way he could carry more vegetables and cover More distance. The efforts were yielding results for him and he ended up owning a chain of stores with door to door selling and free home delivery concepts. With success he decided to have an IPO and his company got listed on NYSE. He became one of the "Most talked about CEOs who were self made entrepreneurs too." He then bumps into the same old Microsoft CFO who was impressed with this guys down to earth attitude and asked him if he had an email ID?  The guy simply replies "If I would have had an email address, I would have been working for Microsoft!!!"

The management lesson as hidden in this story is about being able to utilize absence of something as an opportunity to excel without it. There is no scope for ruing the lost chances. Its about doing what you do with determination along side the will to succeed. Lack of not having something is not actually a handicap rather is a big opportunity for you to work on your strength areas!!!

The second joke is about an incident where Microsoft organized a Walk-in from all over the world to select the best candidate to nurture as future CEO.  So there were thousands of candidates who flocked in.  At the venue, the Microsoft HR head walks in and says "Those who do not have Engineering and Management Background may please leave" and almost 60% of the candidates left. Then walked in the CFO and said "Those who do not understand Expense Statement, Balance Sheet and P&L may please leave." Another 50% left.  There was this candidate who was thinking all the time, "Though I don't know anything, what the hell, I would see what happens next".  At the end of all the elimination rounds, Microsoft CEO walks in and says, "Those who don't understand and can't converse in Swahili may please leave" and there was this guy and another guy left.  They were then told to speak to each other in Swahili and the first one asks the second one - "Kit kas sein" and the Second one replies "Faridabad".

In this case the lesson that we get is never leave the competition just because you think you don't qualify.  It is not you who should be quitting.  You must ensure that you stay in the competition and you might be the winner.  Just walking out midway is not the right thing, walking till the end is!!!

Where are those Glorious Days of Indian Army

Normally I write my own articles and seldom do I post something that is shared. But the two incidents on the Indian Army motivated me to move them from my email fwds to my blog.  I am not the author of those two incidents nor do I own the narration.  However, as a mark of respect to Indian Army and to support bringing their glory back to what they were and the respect they commanded, I am posting these two incidents as below. No Edits and they are being posted as they were written by the original author...read on...

_____________________________________________

Some Instances of Kairon's time and Army actions then
( As sent  by a very Sr. navy veteran)
Incident 1:
A major's wife and her sister went to see a movie. As the movie started, two goons came and sat next to them and started misbehaving. They left in disgust and told the major about it. He met the stn cdr. It was decided that they'll go and watch the same movie the next day. About five or ten minutes after the movie started, the movie was stopped and the lights came on. The major, accompanied by jawans, came in and picked up the two goons. One of them was the cinema owner and the son of CM -- Partap Singh Kairon. He was a very well known goonda. Outside the hall, these two were bashed up, put in the military ambulance and taken to MH. Panic calls were made to the CM. He rushed from Chandigarh to Amritsar. He, fully escorted by police and press etc, went to see his son in the MH. At the entrance to the cantonment, the caravan was stopped by the sentries. They were told that the CM wanted to go to the MH to see his son. They replied that they had orders that 'this person' was not to enter the cantonment. The CM had to eat a humble pie and make a statement to the press that what his son did was very wrong and he fully deserved what he received. When this news came out, everyone in the Punjab was very happy. 

Incident 2:
There is another story worth repeating. 
The bridge on river Satluj near Phillaur was a narrow one and for big vehicles it was a one way bridge. A military convoy was cleared to enter the bridge from Ladhowal side. When they were nearly half way through, they found a caravan of official cars coming from the other side ( from Phillaur ). Both sides met and stopped. A police officer came over and told the convoy commander that the CM ( same fellow Kairon) was in a hurry and the convoy had to move back. He was told that it was very difficult for the trucks to reverse all the way. Also, they were cleared first and the cars should not have entered the bridge. The polce wala said in a very cocky manner that either they cleared the way or he would arrest the convoy commander. The convoy commander called out his troops and brought them to 'stand to'. He told the polce wala that if the convoy did not move out forthwith he would shoot the whole bloody lot. Needless to say, they obeyed at full speed. 

I think I was living at Phillaur when the first incident took place. My father was a police officer posted at PTS Phillaur. 

Fauj ke woh acchhe din kahaan gaye ??

Adjust, Shift or Change

Be it personal or professional life, each one of us is often plagued by a decision to adjust, move or change.  Sometimes it is our nature and sometimes it is driven by the circumstances that we put ourselves in such a situation where we get in dilemma or we over-weigh our capabilities. And it is not often that we come victorious in such a situation, though we may believe, but no we don't win in such situations rather we shift our comfort zone and adjust ourselves to meet the circumstances.  

For instance take this age old saga of a frog and boiling water that goes like - 

Put a frog in a vessel of water and start heating the water. As the temperature of water increases, the frog adjusts its body temperature accordingly and it keeps adjusting with increase in temperature.  Just when the water is about to reach the boiling point, the frog is not able to adjust anymore and it decides to jump out.  The frog tries to jump out but is unable to do so.  Why? because it has lost all its strength in adjusting with the rising temperature.  Very soon the frog dies...

So, if we have to evaluate the story and answer the question - What killed the frog? Most of us would say - The Boiling Temperature...But is that the truth?  No, because the frog died due to its own inability to decide when to jump out and not because of the boiling water.

Similarly in our lives, we all try and adjust to the people and circumstances and forget the option of jumping out until its too late and we start getting stagnant or suffocated in our position.  We often need to ensure that while we do adjust and while we do shift, we also keep the option to Confront and Jump live. And we need not just keep it live, we need to decide to Jump when it is still time and we still have strength to do so.

Most of the times, we let people and organizations to exploit us mentally, emotionally, financially or physically while we try to adjust. They will continue to do so once they start to exploit us and it is totally on us when to tell them "NO", "ENOUGH" and decide to put an end to it and Jump out.  We may need to sacrifice our Comfort Zone for the same, so be ready, don't hesitate and Jump, when it is still time!!

Think and Act!!!

Passenger Security and Cab Services

With the recent incident that unfolded a whole case of irregularities in the way Cab services in India operate, it has become critical for important for the Government to set down basic guidelines for the Cab Operations and bring it under organized sector.

Currently, there is no defined requirement for anyone to own a cab service.  There is a strong requirement to drive following improvements - 

1. Ensure that every cab has a GPS unit fixed into it to help track where the cab is
2. Ensure that every cab has a CCTV camera installed reporting the incidents inside the cab live to the Police Control Room or any other central location for that city.  These CCTV footage need to be securely stored
3. Every Cab should have a distress call button that should immediately raise alarms with the Cab Service provider, Police Control room as well as the nearest surveillance unit 
4. Ensure that every cab undergoes re-certification for the above units every 3 months
5. Ensure that if any cab is not reporting onto the GPS map as well as camera console and distress call button is not working, the cab is declared unfit for operations. 

These are just a few pointers that would help thwart the issues as we have witnessed in case of Uber.  There may be many more that can be explored to help ensure safety of the travelers and government as well as the cab operators have to not just evaluate, but enforce these steps.

Additionally, it needs to be noted that the cab services need to be more diligent with following steps: 

1. Conduct Independent Background Verification of the Cab Drivers they employ
2. Conduct immediate review of all the complain received with a turn around time of 16 working hours.
3. Immediate action needs to be taken to revoke duty of the driver against whom a complain has been received. This revocation may be turned over in case Driver is identified Not Guilty
4. Report all incidents of serious nature to the nearest Police Station to ensure that the Driver if guilty is reported to Law and appropriate action may be taken against erring driver

If the above steps are taken and if the cab companies also conduct due diligence for the women safety measures, I would presume that there would be a sharp decline in the overall issue from cab services perspective and where cabs could be probable point of abuse.  It would only the time that would tell how much success would these measures see for this also would need to see honest and fair job delivery by the reviewers without resorting to corruption practices...

Rohtak 'Braveheart' Sisters and Social Media

With the recent news on the reaction of two Rohtak sisters (aged 22 & 19), against a guy reportedly trying to molest them or engaging in eve-teasing, the social media went abuzz with praises for them.  The video showed them beating the guy in a bus with all they could gather - belts, slaps etc etc.  They were praised by everyone with rewards announced for them.  But hold it there, the same social media went abuzz criticizing them when the second video surfaced with them beating another guy in showering kicks and punches at him.

So why this sudden change in the stance by the Social Media?  Simply because Social Media was not the witness of the case, rather they were only the second hand recipients of the video footage that were shot in each case.  Funny questions that were raised included - why didn't bystanders capture the eve teasing?  Well, well, well doesn't the Social Media understand that the folks who record those videos are the bystanders who prefer to enjoy the "FUN" rather than broker the peace.  These bystanders do not know the background of the fight that they record, they record because they find it funny and nothing else.

I have a quick question to all the Netizens and the Social Media folks - If you were passing by and see couple of girls beating up a guy - would you be interested in knowing the reasin or would you sand their to enjoy the show...and may be record that scene to share with your followers and friends?  I would guess you would all opt for no.2 that is what happened in #rohtaksisters case and that is what we got to see in the two videos is and that is what the half truth is. 

Why do we the Social Media as well as Netizens get influenced by presumptions and live in a prejudice?  We don't know the complete truth and the complete case, still we ensure that we pass a judgement.....why that so? 

I think we all need to first know the truth from those who know it - the #rohtaksisters, the guys who got beaten up and the bystanders who were there watching the show live....and those who shot those videos.  I am sure there would have been something that would have lead some verbal bashing before the two girls chose to hit the guys....it would be better to know the pre-cursor to know the complete story  before jumping the guns and jumping to conclusions

Raising Kids and Quality Time

The idea to this post can be attributed to one of the discussion that I had with this colleague of mine.  It was just a casual discussion that I had with him on having the kids and raising them.  Incidentally while talking about my daughter, he asked if I would like to have another kid or may be few more.  My answer was straight forward may be another one to make it "Hum 2 Humare 2 (we two and our two)".

As i made my point, he looked quizzingly as if asking "Why only 2 or if I had any logic behind restricting myself to raise 2 kids?" As I sensed that I happened to elaborate on the reasons for my decision that can be well defined as - 

1. I would want to provide quality time to my kids as they grow up.  just think of it this way - you have 24 hours in a day, you work for say 10 hrs, showers and getting ready take another 1 hour, Food etc take another 1 hour and you sleep for say 8 hours.  Now you are left with only 4 hours to spend with your kids.  So more the number of kids that you have, more is the division of these 4 hours of you by the number of kids.  This directly relates to Student to teacher ratio in a school.  If you would want to admit your kid in a school with better student to teacher ratio, then you should also ensure that you start from your home with good and quality time allocation to your kids.  Every kid needs your time and attention...plus you can't forget your wife who would also need her "ME TIME"
2. I would like to do justification to each of my kid with respect to education and upbringing. These are directly related to the economies of scale where I would want to have more spend ability per kid rather than having too many kids and trying to balance my expenditure between them and still fighting to survive and meet their basic expenditures.  That mean with the limited income that one would have there is a need to do justice to ownself by helping oneself with limited commitments and liabilities.
3. I would want to provide them their own space and their own independence by reducing the unrequired crowd at home. More the number of kids, more chaotic it could be and no one would get own time and space.  So the limit...

Though there had been another pointer by him that in US more kids mean more rebate in the income tax, but to counter that, the question that comes in - "How much do you save per kid from your income tax?" At the end, expenses for a kid are always more than what Income Tax rebate that you get. There has to be a proper balance between the money you can save v/s the expenditure that you would have towards the upbringing of the kid.

He seems to have bought my points and stated I do this article to have a wider debate on pros and cons of having too few or too many kids....

Clean India - Modi's Drive

It's pretty impressive step that Prime Minister of India has taken a pledge for Clean India.  When he had declared his intent on the Independence Day, I was a actually not convinced that he would be acting so fast.  But with the declaration coming on this week where he cancelled the National Holiday of October 2, and declared that this would be the day when he would start the Clean India Drive, I was impressed.  Truly impressed for the selection of the day and the selection of the task to start on that day.

Apparently I was updated about the news by my wife when she said "Modi mein Dum Hai" and I was surprised as she was never a supporter of Modi.  But then the way she elaborated on the "Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan", I was convinced that she was not being sarcastic for her statement.

After that discussion, when I searched on the news on this topic, I thought, the clean India Drive would not be complete unless the weed in Bureaucracy and the weed in society is cleaned.  The statement that made me think this way is "Remove Unwanted stuff from Government Offices".  So if I have to look at the literal meaning of the statement, I would see throwing out any unwanted "stuff" including corrupt officials and those lazy buggers who would n't want to move things at the speed they need to be.  Identifying the corrupt officials is nothing tough, just that you would have to identify the pending files in the government offices and then work with the respective claimants, Business Houses or the parties to get the required support.  This drive may seem to be tough, but then the Parties who cooperate would be assured that their files would be processed faster.

There could be two impacts of this Drive with the steps I am suggesting, either the government officials would fall in line to follow clean work ethics or they would pave way for the youngsters providing employment opportunities for them. This would also set precedence for the rest of the officials to "Either Work or Go".  

Cleaning the Weed in Society would be a more uphill task and we all know that unless we rise above the Castism, Regionalism and Religious Fanaticism, none of the Government with even the most able Governance mechanism may be able to help clean the society and make our nation a better place to live.  Here, we all would have to stand and pledge to ourselves -

"We the Law Abiding Citizens of India stand by our Prime Minister and the Law Enforcement Agencies to help clean the Societal Weed.  We promise to our Motherland that we would help make our nation a better place to live by standing tall against societal injustice. We would not be afraid of harassment by the hands of Law Enforcement Agencies and will duly report such harassment to the Authority Designate.  We will work our level best to ensure that our contribution results in a secure and safe living environment for our future generations."

Terrorism - Jihad - Sex

This article is a bit bitter in the nature and hence if you feel you might be offended by the content, please do not read further.

Terrorism has been in a rise for ever. Earlier we had regional terror outfits and now it so seems that the terrorism has become just another profession with the terrorists getting certain amount of salaries to carry out their duties. Interesting point is the way they talk about post martyrdom payments and money that is paid to the families should they die. The phenomenon is not just limited to one or two regions, it has actually propagated across the globe.  

Another factor that has been on a rise has been the terrorist outfits declaring starting of their operations in a specific geography - ref: Al Qaida declaring Indian Outfit to operate and spread terrorist activities in India.  It seems as if one company is aspiring to open its overseas branch and hence has given an advertisement of recruitment and their intent of defining their business charter.  Seems that these guys are now becoming more business savvy and want to operate Terrorist outfits as business organization.

Today at lunch, I was having an interesting conversation with my colleagues where they were speculating why the terrorism has cropped up like cancer in society? If God created mankind then why on the name of God some religious fanatics call for Jihad and then call it as their duty to serve God and save religion? Don't they think that what they are doing is actually destroying the beauty of the Creation of God? Some of the very interesting comments came around during the discussion and I am trying to quote them here for the readers to think on those lines - 

1. In Shrimadbagwad Geeta, Shri Krishna had said that you are only the means and the actual cause of all the misery and then death is me the God.  So if we go by that, the terrorists have been created by God to bring say the ecological balance (LOL). Yeah they kill the innocents and then they are in turn killed by the Security Forces.  Its like Chicken is first raised to get egg as well as the source for chicken dishes, but when they overgrow, they are butchered....So Terrorists can be compared with God's means to cause mass massacre and then as chickens that outgrow the numbers to then be butchered
2. Al Qaida may not as such be successful in India as there are way too many terror outfits already present in India. Also, with the failure of those terror outfits and after seeing the fate of associated terrorists, the youth seems to have been losing their interest in joining terrorist outfits.
1. My counter to this was, even if .0001% of youth proceed on the path of terrorism, in India that would mean roughly 1270 youth and that's hell lot to create some serious trouble
2. Even though Al Qaida may fail to recruit fresh blood, they may go ahead and replicate the M&A strategy of business and actually end up merging IM and other similar smaller operatives with Sleeper cells. Result availability of Larger set of sleeper cells.
3. Al Qaida though may have had a fall out with ISIS, but that would not mean that Al Qaida may not replicate the Jihadist Sex strategy of ISIS. 

My third point triggered another branch of discussion and my colleagues were a little not too amused with the concept of Jihadist Sex.  But that is a very interesting development initiated by ISIS from the time ISIS occupied geography in Iraq has been declared as Caliphet.  Apparently ISIS has been able to recruit quite a sizable number of women operatives to sexually serve the ISIS male operatives. They have been reported to have recruited these females through their targeted social network contact points on twitter etc.  And most of the females as they have targeted have been from Western World.  Though as per the reports they have also forced the households in their occupied territories to bring all unmarried females to them to help them in Jihadist Sex.  

It so seems that these religious fanatics behind the propagation of concept of Jihad might have realized that most of their terrorism operatives have not reported back to them after execution on the "72 Virgins" and hence they have devised this new strategy to lure the youth to resort to terrorism.  Money, Martyrdom and Women, what else those guys would need? For after death, they wouldn't be witnessing whether they are seen as heroes or villains......

But the nexus of Terrorism and Jihadist Sex is certainly a cause of concern as if the reports are to be believed, the females are lured in for Monthly salaries against their services....that is no good as that is doing nothing by increasing the counts of Flesh Trade in the name of Religion....yeah these females need to understand that they are subject to exploitation in name of the God and Religion and that they would get nothing in the ends except for lost identity....

Writing - Passion or Inspiration

Writing is an art, a skill and a form of expression that we all love. Some of us resort to it for our passion to write, some write to impress, but writing is something that certainly pleasures the both the writer and the reader.

Some write with a flow of thoughts whereas some write as they get inspired by others. But writing certainly is an art that follows the saying "the show must go on"

So, whether you write for passion or write as you are inspired by whosoever your inspiration is, do write.  Someone who reads or somewhere who admires your writing, would be elated. Writing never turns your history but surely remains your skill. 

Writer and writing never depart from each others company. The face of passion or inspiration may change, known may become anonymous but the art of writing must stay and it must produce something that people love to read.

Joy of Sharing

A test that was conducted as part of social experiment and that asserts that those who have more don't wanna spare as they think they would then have less than what they have at current......

And those who don't have anything or those who don't have much are not afraid as they are the ones who dig when they are thirsty...they know they have nothing to loose.....and they believe in god and sharing....they know that sharing is divine....

Joy of sharing is something that many of us modern day people don't know....we are too conservative and selfish to share anything from our joy to our food to our knowledge.....Most of us have forgotten the older saying - Sharing increases your portion......people now actually have started completing the saying by adding their own perceptions....

It's high time for us to Learn to Share and Learn to earn the Joy of Sharing.....

Walk Together

Walking on the path to success, One can't afford to walk slow. The competition is smart today and has added pace to the path to success.  Today, one has to really walk and work with a pace that was never seen before and to add to the complicity, one has to walk with the team. The success today does not depend how hard you worked, it now depends on how effective you were with you work and Communication.

Yes Communication today holds the key to success as the tasks are completed by the teams and success is achieved together.  So that would mean that you have to ensure that you walk and work together with the team as one unit.

They rightly said those famous lines - "If you want to walk fast, Ensure you walk alone, But to cover a long distance walk together". 

In today's context many would challenge the stuff and ask how is that possible? How can we walk fast as well as together?  

But look at the aspect that you can walk fast if the team can match the speed.  For the team to match up to the speed, every team member needs to help and support each other and get things going seamlessly for others.  You don't leave anyone behind when you are working as a team and you don't dump who are slow enough in their work.  What you rather do is help them complete their jobs and tasks in an efficient manner. 

So if all in the team would work in harmony and in synchronous manner, the speed wouldn't be lost and you would be walking fast...as a team.....as a unit....and since to tread the Success, you need to walk a long way....certainly you would be walking together...ensuring that if one is tired or is feeling exhausted the rest are their to support...

The essence of the lines quoted above doesn't change, though the context may change.....

Walk together....