Power hungry

Some people want all the power... they still live in the la-la wonderland of yesteryears, which, alas, is quite far from reality. That, is indeed the case with a beloved(??) former Prime Minister.

Undisputed fact: The IT revolution in India happened in spite of the government, not because of it. The hands off attitude of some of our former Heads of State did help. And hence, you now have an industry, where the criteria for an individual's success is his ability and not what caste he is born into or what language he speaks. But, whats good for Peter, isn't good for Paul. That is exactly what has happened now.

This former PM is now trying to instigate a battle, which I think (and hope), he'll lose. What he hasn't realized is that he is not attacking one person, but the whole knowledge community, which tries to mind its own business and also lives (mostly) by principles. Check Shekar Gupta's article for more reasons. What makes the episode worse is this guy is trying to give the episode a political dimension - again, a sick thing to do. Why can't any battle be fought on principles?

That is exactly what Mr. Narayana Murthy has now done. He has provided a point to point rebuttal of accusations against him. I am sure, any reasonable person would agree - you won't get a more upright, principle driven person than Mr. NRN.

I hope people who are following this episode, will not be put off by the happenings. I hope they judge the worth of the knowledge community in India by its actions and not by some old politician's brain fart.

Damn Socialists

Thought Lags and Amnesia

Here is a (late) realization - I suffer from a mild case of amnesia.

Most of the thoughts about what I want to write about, crystallize about 5 minutes after I switch off the light, close my eyes in anticipation of a good night's sleep. I think of the topic, make mental notes and decide to put it down the next day.

However, there are a few problems:

• In most cases, I don't remember the said topic the next day
• I don't seem to find the time (yes, its a lame excuse) to write the thoughts down

I can think of a few other problems too:

• My thought process is too haphazard. I switch topics too frequently - even in the head. I am sure my friends may have noticed this during our conversations
• Somehow, pages from my brain's RAM doesn't get sync'ed with the persistant storage. I blame it on:

• "limited capacity" of the persistant storage
  
• the other well known fact - I am dumb

Here is where my Palm Treo comes into play. I started making notes on the Treo just as the thoughts occur. That, is how technology works for me :)

How successful will this be? Only time will tell.

PS: I want to make this blog more interactive. Expect posts in the future which'll request your opinions on various topics. But hey, why not start off with this post itself? Am I the only person suffering from the kind of amnesia described above? Do write back...

More on RTI

Check the article here

The RTI Act

In case you haven't noticed, the Honourable President of India ratified the Right to Information Act, which has now come into force (since 12 October 2005 to be precise). According to this law, we Indians now have the right to demand access to most information (except of course, sensitive ones), which till now, was technically "off limits". The hope is to make public servants more accountable.

Anybody who knows the extent corruption in India will appreciate the ramifications of this Law, if properly enforced. Passing the Law is just the first step; the critical issue is to educate the masses of their new Right. Here is where I think the role of organizations like Janaagraha, BATF comes into focus. I also hope that the youth of the country take it upon themselves to try eradicate the rabid corruption that has percolated every facet of Government and public service in the country. I'll have to check with my buddy Chinmay if the Rotract have plans to spread the word about this as part of their great voluntary work.

You may ask why I am making this big a deal about the new Right. My experiences in the days following the retrieval of my stolen bike has left a bad taste about law enforcement (both the police and judiciary). I am yet to accept that these agencies, along with the other obviously corrupt Government departments and politicians (most of them) are any good to the country.

Of course, the expectation is that the enforcers of the RTI Act are upright officers. Guess the world lives on Hope.

Bangalorebuzz

I've been following bangalorebuzz for a few days now. Its just an aggregation of all news Bangalore from the various sources.

A must read for any hard-core Bangalorean.

Sad...

Some days are etched in memory for ever. Yesterday was one such.

It started off not so well 'cos of a feverish feeling that had been persisting since Sunday. The sinus problems din't help either. I gathered myself up and headed to the office through the unusually dense New England morning fog. I open up the inbox to find news of, perhaps one of the most significant achievements of my professional career. Just as I was reading the mail, my spirits soaring, I get a call from my sister. And thats when I got the devastating news that my beloved Kavu Ajji (my granny - mom's mom) passed away. She was 85, getting weaker by the day. The last I saw her was in February just before the assignment.

Ajji lived with us for quite some time.. up until couple of years ago. She was a pillar of strength to our family during the difficult times. I'll miss her wisdom, her inimitable style of cheering people up. I miss the "very happy" (yes, in English) that she'd have said when I'd mention to her about the mail. I'll just miss her. Thank you Ajji for everything.

May Her Soul Rest In Peace

Later in the day, my good friend Prarit gave us news of the potentially fatal accident he was involved in on Monday. As he was driving home that day along I-495N, two cars in front of him veered to avoid a tyre that slid on to the road from the back of a truck that was going in front. Before he could realize, the tyre smashed against Prarit's Bug, leading the vehicle over the tyre, spinning a full circle before coming to a stop. Luckily for Prarit, the gentleman driving a semi behind him braked hard, just in time to avoid crashing in from behind. I am happy that except for a hard jolt and minor backache, Prarit is doing fine! That his Bug was totalled and may not be worth the repair, is all but a small price to pay.

Tense days in Red Sox Nation

Baseball, as I have mentioned many times before, is a religion in New England. The Red Sox had gone without silverware for 86 years till 2004, something they partly blamed the Yankees for (Check out the Curse of the Bambino for an interesting read).

The current state of the MLB, 1 game to go in the regular season, is something like what we have with cricket during the World Cup. Imagine 3 teams are tied on points, tied on net run rate too. That was pretty much what it was yesterday, before the start of a 3 game series between the Sox and Yanks. After 2 games its 1-1. But here is the irony, with today's win, the Yankees took the American League East title (since the Cleveland Indians are 2-0 down at home against the Chicago White Sox). All this at the home of the Red Sox. Result: the Yankees are in the playoffs, the Sox.. not yet. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

Now, if the Red Sox win tomorrow, they are into the playoffs on a "wild card". If you are confused by all this, don't worry, you are not alone ;-) But do hope that the Red Sox to win tomorrow.

Tickets for any Sox-Yankees game is always a big deal. A $40 ticket is going for upwards of $400. There was talk of someone paying $2050 for two tickets ($1025 apiece!!). To top it all, selling tickets in "black" isn't illegal here - there are no regulations/tabs over prices.