Impedance Mismatch over HTTP..

test

2005-04-09T00:30:00.000-05:00

codebase="http://www.freejavachat.com/java/"
name=cr
code="ConferenceRoom.class"
width=500
height=300>

This application requires Java suport.
This server also available via IRC at:
irc://irc.ircstorm.net:6667/

Blog moved to http://clorange.com

2005-02-28T22:33:00.000-06:00

I no longer post on blogspot. new blog @ http://clorange.com

The Cosmetic Brainwash

2005-02-13T19:33:00.000-06:00

Someone named Venki posted the link to an article at Sulekha Newshopper, and I am impressed with it's details. What we have is an article which successfully manages to provide a panoramic snapshot of the mindsets of young upper and middle class Indian Women. This write-up is supposedly an extract from a PhD thesis.

My short stint in Mumbai as an employee was an education in itself. It offered me a contrast between the attitudes and lifestyles which differ vastly from Thane to Chruchgate. This write-up investigates this exact difference through a microscope. Unfortunately, this article limits it to to women and beauty. I wanted to know more about the entire spectrum of social groups in general. Afterall, back in 1998, the demographic discussed in the article was a tiny fragment of what it is now.

It is an interesting read, provides a good update on whats happening back home. Especially, if you feel like a certain discontinuity in the Indian experience due to life abroad.

Interactive Yellow Pages

2005-02-11T22:58:00.000-06:00

Amazon's version of Yellow Pages allows you to navigate a street via photographs to find the business location or find landmarks around a place of interest. Very interesting indeed. However, I don't understand the true value add due to such a service. At a fundamental level, the person conducting the search has acquired all the information necessary to navigate from A to B. If the franchises look cookie-cutter style and can be easily identified, what additional benefits does such a image based Yellow Page listing offer? How hard is it to locate McDonald's golden arches?

It appears that Amazon got a fleet of SUVs retrofitted with video cameras and GPSes to roam around business localities. The video was correlated with GPS data and this information is injected into the results based on a business/location search criteria on Mapquest.

I guess this is a precursor to the next version of Mapquest (or Google Maps?). Probably, one day we will see Google's engine actually allowing us to double click a particular location on the route from A to B and bring up saved pictures or 5 minute delayed images corresponding to coordinates along the path.

Downtown Chicago

Cannot wait for a web based Notepad from Google

2005-02-09T20:37:00.000-06:00

Google should add a notepad feature to it's services, it would be very helpful to jot down things you want to refer to irrespective of where you are located. It's smart use of DHTML has already won accolades. Notepads should be pretty easy. Yahoo's notepad serves the purpose but it needs speed.

20 years later, SAARC delivers zilch

2005-02-03T13:43:00.000-06:00

I still don't get it, 20 years have passed since SAARC's inception the goal of SAARC appears to farther away now than it was 20 years ago. The whole SAARC business is a huge waste of time, money and resources. I cannot recall a single outcome benefitting its member countries consisting of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan since its inception in 1985.

The objective of SAARC is to "provide a platform for the peoples of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding. It aims to accelerate the process of economic and social development in Member States."

Friendship, trust and understanding:
As long as Pakistan continues with Cross Border Terrorism and Bangladesh drops on all socio-economic scales not to mention the rise of militant Islam via figures such as Bangla Bhai, there is no point of SAARC. Every SAARC meeting ends up being a squabble with the other nations trying to push their agendas or gang-up against India. It also becomes a stage for the likes of Musharraf to portray melodrama.

If you really look at the members, who are we dealing with? we are dealing with a couple of nations who aren't exactly living up to the spirit of SAARC. The rest of the nations more or less go along with the flow. We should shut down SAARC immediately and scrap everything. Let us not pretend that we can get 3 different countries with totally different ideologies and strengths to work with each other to create a level playing field. It is not going to happen in the nearest future. As long as the mindset of the populace in Pakistan and Bangladesh is driven by militant Islam, there will be no progress. I wish we were next to Iran instead of Pakistan. Iran is an interesting place at the moment. It is an interesting laboratory for subversive thought.

SAARC nations should instead set aside funds and resources to forge relationships with Singapore, China, Taiwan and Japan. Singapore should be a model which states in each of these SAARC countries should aspire to replicate as much as possible within their frameworks.

Economic and social development:

I do not see any acceleration of socio-economic development either. Pakistan seems to latch on to India's momentum due to geography but can barely sustain it due to the conflicting ideas driven by capitalism. Infact, I see the reverse, disparity will grow at a socio-economic level as Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot keep up with India's momentum. The best option for these countries is to dump SAARC and forge relationships with other countries east and west of them.

SAARC consists of a bunch of people in the "nodding-head" business who eat biriyani, stay in AC hotels and come back home empty handed having done nothing. zilch, nada.

Latest Developments:

Podcasting + Skype = Skypecasting

2005-02-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

What on earth is happening out there, this is amazing. This will probably be the technology that will complement the current slew of messaging tools. Kids will love it. Its akin to Launchcast on steroids, personalization at it's highest and purest form.

Today, personalization is mostly avatars, environments, and emoticons at best. Along came podcasting and then it was Skype.Now it is a combination of Skype and podcasting termed Skypecasting.

I will go home and leisurely dig into Henshall's Blog but for now, it seems insanely cool.

Creating an iPod radio on skype (pdf).

However, considering that messaging tools have failed to make their mark in a corporate environment, we will have to wait and see how far tools such as Skype go.

More fragmentation, more support systems, more individualism where are we headed? You know, if all of us on CH skypecasted, it would be one hell of a party. Skype+iPod adds so much room to add one's personality.

All eyes on Paraag Marathe

2005-01-23T15:26:00.000-06:00

This is nothing short of a sensation. In some areas, this is more like a Barrack Obama version of the story in management, albiet in American Football, the last place you could ever imagine an Indian presence. This is big folks..
I will spare you the googling efforts, without further adieu, here are the details

This guy is one of four people choosing the 49ers' next coach and establishing the direction of the 49'ers Franchise.
In his current role, Marathe is responsible for the management of the club’s salary cap as well as multi-year forecasting at both the indivdual club and league level. He works with the CFO in the coordination of cash versus cap compensation
Marathe has developed new systems within the football operations department to better understand and predict market trends on player contracts and their salary cap ramifications. He has also developed new methods and systems for evaluating and acquiring players for the College Draft and at the NFL professional level.
Born in Sunnyvale, CA, Marathe received his bachelor’s degree with high honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and received his masters in business administration from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He resides in Santa Clara, CA.
Marathe befriended Jed York, John's eldest son. Seemingly, as the 23-year-old Jed became more visible at the 49ers' headquarters, eventually joining high-level meetings, so did Marathe.

Comments about Paraag:

Now, this could do a world of good to the morale of desis in leadership roles.Considering the reach of football and it's potential as a conversation starter, It offers them more visibility. According to a Silicon India report, a large number of startups founded by desis do not have desis as CEOs and CFOs once the company grows large enough to have a board of directors. I guess people shouldn't read too much between the lines. This could be because they are conservative, once they see proof, it should give them ideas.

Don't be mad if some radio host starts using words such as, "Who is this parag ding-dong?". I found that the ding-dong is mostly associated with Manoj Knight Shyamalan.

Thanks to rmh for posting the sfgate link on Newshopper. I would not have come across this if not for Newshopper.

Streamload offers 10GB of free space.

2005-01-15T00:22:00.000-06:00

Small online storage locker company Streamload tries to one-up AOL, other Net giants.

They aptly named the free account "freeloader", probably to induce guilt. This is perfect for me. I can take work home, assuming my data wont be held ransom one fine morning with an email asking me to payup to retrieve my files.

Renu's Poem

2005-01-14T21:56:00.000-06:00

A while ago someone named Renu posted this poem on Coffeehouse, I never knew words could be this raunchy. Renu, whoever you are, the one who ends up with you is one lucky SOB.

Go- be a Hero, be a Saint,
even a God, if u so incline.
but tonight - this one time,
be mine and only Mine.
hold me tight as your own
and let me swirl in sweet sin
as your breath turns unsteady
and lashes out at my skin.

take me to the balcony
and undress me slow,
ignore the winking stars
for what do they know.

lay me down on the floor
but hold on to my eyes,
the moon will shyly swim away
amidst the moans and the sighs.

let your finger trace down,
down to that tiny mole,
pause, taste and cajole-
me, my ego and my soul.

Go- be a Hero, be a Saint,
even a God, if u so incline.
but tonight - this one time,
be mine and only Mine.

The making of a brilliant basket case

2005-01-09T12:08:00.000-06:00

Just read the news on yahoo..

Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Tuesday said the state would get a loan of Rs.13.80 billion from the World Bank for slum development in urban areas.

The rot has started, and things will only go from bad to worse.

First, this guy wins with a false promise of free power at the expense of the taxpayers, now he wants more money citing development. Very soon there will a power shortage giving him an opportunity to collect kickbaks from private power establishments.

3 years later, who is gonna pick up the tab and bail him out? Obviously, the central govt as he is gonna hold them at ransom. The states like Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab bring in money and people like YSR keep stealing.

Why isn't there a simple rule of getting a consensus from all other states before a Chief Minister of a state goes out and starts begging for money? This is insane. Maybe I am missing something, could someone elighten me how people get access to World Bank funds?

This pathetic style of governance at a state level is bound to leave us far behind in the race against other countries. There are just too many holes to plug.

Amazing Aashna

2005-01-09T01:27:00.000-06:00

Source: Aashna sets an example

Aashna Lucas is only 12 years old but she has taken on the massive job of helping educate youngsters left homeless by the tsunamis that lashed India's remote Andaman Islands. Aashna teaches about a dozen Nicabarese tribal children poetry, English and arithmetic, officials at the shelter said.

Google Has Really Arrived!!

2004-12-13T16:23:00.000-06:00

Hope people won't crucify and carve a pinto outta me. This picture was stolen from Sudhakar Sadasivuni's blog.

The Office

2004-12-01T10:58:00.000-06:00

Watched the first 6 episodes of The Office and I must say I am hoooked. Office comedies are difficult to make and even if they get accepted, the shelf life of these episodes is very limited. Ricky Gervais is a genius, it is almost a one man show. He acts, directs and finally manages to pull it off convincingly. The character of David Brent as a creepy, energetic, sexist, chauvinistic, pragmatic and insanely funny Regional Manager of a boring paper supplier had to be played by Ricky alone as some of the subtle nuances could never be conveyed had it been someone else.

I am not gonna rave any further, You have to watch it.

The Office

It's Official, Socialism is back!

2004-09-09T20:41:00.000-05:00

Congratulations everyone, the government has successfully managed to bring everything to a grinding halt and that includes the glimmer of hope for an Indian revival.

The 2000-2004 era seems more like a distant dream that never happened.

Here are some excerpts:

PSU Sale Halted
The sale of the government’s stake in public sector undertakings (PSUs) has been totally buried. In the beginning, it was the communists who were crying foul using the same arguments which have been discarded by almost all nations except the likes of North Korea and Cuba. Even the Prime Minister has asked rhetorically what is the crying need to sell profit-making government companies, making one wonder if there is any real difference between PM and the CPI(M)! This is the language of socialism and does not stand detailed scrutiny.
Grab profits of one PSU and pay for the loser PSUs, now how fuc*ed up is that? If your dad works his ass off in a PSU, no matter how much money and profits he brings, it will all be drained by some SOB in a loser PSU, Laloo's Wheel and Axle plant for example. Now where is the motivation for workers here??

Just when everyone had reconciled himself to this disastrous scenario, a formula was evolved saying marketing companies will not have to bear the whole burden and some other PSUs (also under the same ministry) will share the burden. Overnight, the profits of every public sector company in the oil and gas sector — IOC, HPCL,BPCL, IBP, ONGC,Oil India, Chennai Refineries, Kochi Refineries, Bongaigon Refine-ries changed dramatically. Peter was robbed to pay Paul
Inflation Control, Miss Cleo Style

Under fire on inflation, the government changed the profit dynamics of all the companies in the oil and gas sector yet again by playing with the duty structure. And all this drama in just 100 days. If anyone says that HPCL should not be privatised because it makes profits, am I not justified in asking who makes the profit? HPCL or the section officer in the petroleum ministry? And the companies which I have listed above — along with the other controlled government monopoly GAIL — contribute 50% of the profits made by PSUs.
Reservations in private sector not the same as Affirmative Action

There is now talk of reservation in the private sector and already a senior Group of Ministers has been formed to take it forward. This has been condemned by business and industry — the people who have to implement it! The Manmohan Singh government doesn’t seems to understand how this will affect foreign investment and the global competitiveness of India. Some meaningless statements are made that it is happening in the US also by persons who have not understood the affirmative action programs in the US that are very different from the reservations that the UPA government is planning to carry out.

Complete article here

Belsan through Anna's eyes? What are Mikhalkov's thoughts?

2004-09-07T19:39:00.000-05:00

I was watching the documentary "Anna" by Nikita Mikhalkov the other day, and I found the documentary to be one of the best works ever, it is poetic, subtle, political, purposeful and has an inescapable sense of realism. It is even more interesting because many of us on Sulekha are contemporaries of Anna, the central character of the documentary. Anna would probably be 25 years old as of today.

I liked the idea of this documentary, essentially, Mikahlkov uses Anna, his daughter as the pivot, a common thread for the movie, a central reference point for his narration. Instead of making a laundry list of world events that shaped Russia in between 83 and 93, Mikhalkov views the changes in parallel to his daughter's childhood years and suddenly the events carry tremendous weight. He makes us look at the changes through his daughter's eyes. This is an awesome idea and a a great way to tell a story. If not for a pivot in the form of Anna, the documentary would be akin to a dull and dreary BBC documentary sans the British accent.

This compilation of events is sure to make you nostalgic, albiet through Indian eyes, I for one recollected my teens, the day I watched the Berlin wall come down on the news and "World this week" with Prannoy Roy, the powerful image of a Chinese national obstructing a tank in Tiennamen square, the treaty with Mikhael Gorbachev and Bush, the tense moments when Boris Yeltsin took power etc etc.

Mikhalkov asks his daughter Anna a few questions every year, starting at the age of 5 till Anna is 16 years old and records her responses on camera. This documentary is a result of years of film making, and it grows with Anna. Mikhalov successfully hid the documentary from the communist regimes of the yesteryear when comments about the govt were almost prohibited in any shape or form.

I may not be entirely correct but his questions were ..

How are you?

What are you feeling right now.

What do you like most?

What do you dislike most?

If there is one thing you could have right now, what would it be?

The documentary fluctuates in between documentary, poetry, clippings of real events, commentary and Mikhalkov's thoughts.

I would really like to know Mikhalkov's thoughts and reaction to the recent Beslan massacre. Had his documentary extended to 2004, what would it contain?

That said, I think the Chinese have carefully observed the Russians and were smart about their style of communism. Perestroika was a disaster, democracy and liberty should have been introduced slowly as participation in a democracy takes time and experience. The Chinese were quick to learn this and they engineered a new communist concoction, with a communist core and a capitalist mindset. This is probably why China exists as a single piece today.

I was surprised to find that there are a number of Chinese follow Islam. My own colleague from China is a Muslim and one of my other colleagues' father was Muslim. I guess communism with a capitalist outlook was a very effective way of clamping down on the urge to separate and break China, harness the religious separatism, clamp down on the misuse that would have been casued if China allowed a true democracy on it's impressionable population.

My comments should not be misconstrued as an attack on Islam, I was trying to make a point that impressionable minds could have been swayed had the Chinese govt been lenient and went from communism to true democracy overnight. In a way their style of communism has cut down on the terrorism factor.

After Life

2004-09-02T09:24:00.000-05:00

Saw this Japanese movie yesterday, as it's name suggests this is a movie set in an imaginary time-frame after death.

People who die have to go through a kind of consulate where they stay for a week and get to choose one single favorite memory of their life and once they choose it, the scene will be recreated and instantly all their other memories about life will be wiped out. They will live with this memory till eternity.

This is about people analysing their lives after death as if they were alive in a different plane and the complexity of life itself. Some keep searching for life's persistent questions after death and are unable to find that single fond memory.

Very interesting indeed.

Tarantino is somewhat lost

2004-08-23T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Japanese girl band 5,6,7,8's Jayne Masnfield number is ringing in my head. It is extremely catchy and it grows on you, and man do these women rock!. How did these barefoot asian women in Japanese attire pull it off? I am really surprised.

I guess I am the last person on this earth who hasn't watched Kill Bill -1 and that was until Saturday when I sat down and watched the movie in a single sitting. Generally, when I watch movies, I rewind, slow things down and savour it slowly like a delicacy. I do that with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction as if to recite the dialogues with them. The scripts for these 2 films are simply out of this world.

I guess Tarantino is lost, Kill Bill is not him, the movie has flashes of high exuberance and suddenly it loses momentum, grows cold and commonplace. Granted Tarantino loves Japanese Samurai TV but was there a need to spend 20 minutes on the sword? secondly, all that action with flights to Okinawa and Tokyo were so ordinary and cartoon like. I think he should have tried something interesting there, for example, Guy Ritchie does an amazing job in Snatch where Dennis Farina goes to London from US in a sequence of shots, in 3 seconds flat with a gulp of liquor, the sound effect and some really smart editing. It looked comical but it was catchy.

Tarantino builds up good momentum leading to the showdown in Tokyo but then loses it completely, the Lucy Lu confrontation was so candy-ass. The sequences were also badly done.

However, the movie scores high on some aspects. The killer bride concept is amazing, it seems this was Uma Thurman's idea, it blends the tenderness and all the niceties of feminity with the viciousness of an avenger. The opening sequence where Uma and her adversary hide knives just when the kid shows up is an amazing spectacle, it might well be the trademark and a demarcation in time where femininity is being redefined.

Finally, Tarantino is trying to someone he is not, he should stick to his Americana, he excels with it, right now he seems to be imitating someone.

Prefontaine Moment

2004-08-23T03:56:00.000-05:00

J J Shobha lies on the track following the last event the 800m run in the heptathlon at the 2004 Olympic Games on Saturday in Athens. AP

Doctors had ruled her out of competition, ``She can't even walk for a week at least,''

Shoba's Moment

History Lessons at Indian Restaurants

2004-08-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

This is it, may be its my bad luck, every Indian restaurant I go to, I end-up sitting next to some desi folk lumped with some amrus, now there is absolutely nothing wrong with the picture. Problem starts when the entire lunch session ends up being a mini history lesson with a bunch of pedants tugging each others unmentionables.

Introduction to food: Allright, this is a Samosa and that is Tandoori chicken. Now quit being a culinary historian and get the fuck outta my way. The lines are incredible, people just don't move for hours together even with the serpentine growing behind them. People absolutely, vociferously have to explain and inculcate the very essence of Indian culinary magnificence right there at the impending lines and tables. Yes it is eggplant, that is lotsa cabbage, this is chickpeas cooked to a nice boil and is adorned with spices and it gives out a great aroma. Move on you oversized, middle-aged windbag with a comb-over!!...
Tangents at Tables : People get back to their tables, I hear American accents, some Hindi, some "na-ghar-ka-na-ghat-ka" lingo , verbally challenged teenagers going "I am like..she is like.. like..like..", women start with jewellery, men start with food. People discuss, I hear words IT, engineer, doctor, village, cousin, wedding, clothes, grocery, spices, cooking, calories... crap, whizbang, widget, wankpot, dongle, doodle, kaboom, and ling-ling. By now my head is exploding at the decibel level near my ear and the fappery before my eyes, an experience akin to watching the intensely disgusting Hindi remake of an already horrible "BattleField Earth".
The Orgy: By now, seconds are done and its "Enter the Dragon" time, people start talking religion, Mahabharata and Yoga. We suddenly have a Tandoori Chicken eating Krishna and a Sambar Slurping Arjun giving it to them long and hard. Yes..., yes..., yes..., yes........, they all cry in unison and then 2000 theories, dissertations, arguments, counter-arguments later, they decide its time to give their guests a break.
I like Kulfi : It's Kulfi time, the amrus take this opportunity to exhibit their McKnowledge and ask for Mango Kyulfee and Lassi. Desis are still fired up with funda while their teenagers look famished for some fresh air. People discuss some more, decide to meet and thankfully the check arrives. They are done gulping their sinfully blissful calories.

"I hope I never..never sit beside these fartknockers again" I think as I walk out.

Blogger Blues

2004-08-13T15:50:00.000-05:00

Whatever happened to Blogger's promise of upgrading its interface to allow categories.Considering Typepad's ability to categorize blog content, I am tempted to move my blog there. Right now, the only way to categorize on Blogger is to create 'N' blogs with the same template, so that they look as if they are all part of the same blog and cross link them.

Technically, a blog should display the latest blogs irrespective of the category they belong to. Currently with Blogger, each blog is isolated with its own topics. I need to monkey around to figure out how to grab the permalinks from the remaining (N-1) blogs to mimic categories. Some work this.

Google Groups Beta 2

2004-08-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

Google has released it's beta 2 version and I am not complaining, call it force of habit if you will but I still cannot bring myself to like browsing newsgroups via a web interface. But I am a sucker for simplicity and I am sure google groups will grow on me over time. My only complaint right now is in regards to their "starred" topics. There needs to be more categorization, considering that these "starred" topics can grow in number over time.

The Document Black hole.

2004-08-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

I am disgusted by the use of the word document, so much to the effect that I might turn green one of these days, a la Hulk and tear the whole place down. We need to declare the word document an expletive, and ban it from meetings. To me, a document is an all consuming black hole, almost all meetings end with someone creating some kinda document or other. When you hear the word document more than 5 times in a single minute, you know that the discussion has come to an end and has been officially sucked into the blackhole. The rest of the (n-1) members will look forward for that document in their email. The document takes the next stone/ice age to get drafted and finally when it appears, 50% of the members of the group will have either been relocated elsewhere in the corporate heirarchy or have no fuckin clue about when the meeting took place or what it was about. Everyone places the blame on the guy who setup the meeting on a Friday afternoon after an offsite outing/lunch.

I guess we should reverse this and ask people to document only if one has useful, comprehensible results. People should stop documenting crap. Some morons don't even bother to take their documents after a meeting and we have people getting their panties in a bunch crying "information theft" from the rooftops. On a tangent, this will literally make the tree-hugging liberals cry in ecstasy over entirely different reasons.

9/11 Commision's Technology Recommendations

2004-08-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

The following is the text of the 9/11 commision's technology recommendations.

Sources:

The surveillance camera in my head

2004-08-04T17:42:00.000-05:00

Conscience is a funny thing, to me the practical way to look at conscience is to imagine yourself in a room looking at a screen playing a video from a camera in the same room. Being able to imagine the camera watching you in your head is being conscious.

I see things in camera frames these days, as I walk across a hallway to go from one cubicle to another after a bout of successful troubleshooting, feeling victorious, the live telecast of my walk from different angles plays in my head. The most prominent is the shot with the camera firm across my face, rolling over at a walking pace, oblivious of the hustle and commotion in the room, it feels good, I think I am inspired by the Starburst commercial and NPR's "This American Life" audio documentaries. I find the mix fascinating, one interesting aspect of the Starburst commercial is the way the characters walk, a seemingly oblivious walk, characterized by the explosions and vehicles turning upside down all around them. The background music is beautiful.

Now, speaking of "This American Life", this documentary asks the very basic questions about mundane yet profound things in a very naked format. No inhibitions whatsoever, this is one program that is very original, non pretentious and beautifully narrated with the right kind of music, drama injected at the right instant. The creators are careful not to inject too much of drama or exaggerate it. Now episodes of nonchalant Starburst characters in a "This American Life" mode of documentary would be what I see in my head.

Kodak Moments

2004-07-18T13:24:00.000-05:00

Sheriff's Deputy Rick Miller works his way down a line of five of eight Corvettes he stopped on July 14 for speeding near Lake Crystal, Minnesota. The drivers were en route to the Black Hills Corvette Classic in South Dakota. Miller had clocked them on Highway 60 going 95 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Cops can be such party-poopers sometimes.

Seth Garcia, 7-months-old, resists tradition as he gets his first haircut at Bob's Barber Shop on July 13 in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Seth represents the fifth generation in his family to get his hair cut at Bob's. Bob Cartwright, left, opened his barbershop in 1958.

Bingo!

2004-07-12T00:24:00.000-05:00

B K Mahal talks sense
Some excerpts:

"And whenever you see an older Indian on TV, he's always the extra in EastEnders, sitting alone in a turban in the Queen Vic."

Mahal says she is fed up with seeing the same handful of actors - people such as Om Puri and Parminder Nagra - in almost every drama about Indians. "They're great actors, but why are they the only ones? It's as if the industry has found its Asian actors, said: 'There are your role models', and left it at that."

"Every single one is like Dallas. There's still a very large section of the Indian community that isn't being heard or represented - where are the immigrants who came here in the Fifties? The Asian underclass just doesn't have a voice."

"Somebody has to talk about these things, because they exist and if you don't address them, Asian children will feel more alienated."

Mahal remembers that when she was a teenager, she was constantly trying to fit into other people's moulds. "I felt I didn't fit in here. I would think: Do I like Britain? Do I like that I am Punjab? But I have realised that you don't have to belong."

Some thought provoking quotes:
Does she feel that she belongs now?

"I wouldn't want to belong. I think it would make me feel very one-dimensional. I don't think that your identity has to be fixed. You just have to accept that your own way of being British is different from somebody else's way of being British."

Personally, I think the Spanish speaking community has done well by successfully launching their own channels in the United States. This provides a great example for others to emulate.

Individuality and Incompetence

2004-07-11T14:20:00.000-05:00

Sandilya created a great thread @ Individualism and Society. This is very interesting in the sense that it forces us to analyse the current definitions of morality, religion, ethics and individuality.

Individuality, in my personal opinion could run into the danger of creating a delusional individual if the conscience takes a nap. There is a need to keep the conscience awake and have the status of ego checked periodically. Once the ego stays in control, your mind is open to more knowledge and that atleast leads to analysis if not to a solution.

Here is a great Social Psychology paper that sheds more light on how humans overestimate their abilities in intellectual and social domains.

Incompetence when coupled with the demerits of individuality results in a recipe for disaster.

Thread:Sulekha

Congratulations, your ancestral women were screwed by Khan

2004-07-08T03:30:00.000-05:00

A London restaurant is offering diners the chance to learn whether they are descended from the rampaging Mongol ruler Genghis Khan -- and win a free meal if they are.
Source: Restaurant offers DNA test for link to Genghis Khan

OK, this one takes the cake...

"These ancient conquerors lived in a very different world to us, and where they got was because of their own hard work," he added. "We can't really judge them morally."

Sure, why not, kinda serves multiple purposes, its a freakin win-win

British royalty can now say, we don't have to apologize for colonizing different countries.
By glorifying the mongrel, it's another way of saying, "you all exist because the dude forced himself on women like a dog on heat".

Wait a minute, by the same token can I now say, [whoa..whoa... (gasps all around)]

Slavery should not be judged?
Hmm.. may be Hitler was right too.
May be Osama is a good dude, albiet living in a parallel universe a thousand years behind us in time. Maybe we should not judge folks in parallel universes.

Cheap Aids pill from India as good as Pricey Brands

2004-07-03T17:52:00.000-05:00

It is Official now, welcome to the brave new world of Indian Pharma. The desi pharmacists are all set to wage a price war.

If you think about it, the states in USA buying prescription drugs from Canada for a lower price would be tempted to buy them from India now. Not everyone in the USA can buy these Canadian drugs even at these relatively low prices. Thats a huge market for Indian Pharma. However we have the South African companies breathing down our neck.

This by no means is a post with a jingoistic flavor but an attempt to draw attention to a huge issue facing the American Population. Most of the people reading this post will themselves will face these healthcare issues in the future.

Huge changes are about to happen in the Health Insurance Industry especially with the high cost of prescription drugs and the deluge of baby boomers loooking to retire within the next decade. Alternatives such as India will only fan the fire.

The justice system in this country has been bastardized, courtesy the lawyers. High malpractice insurance, frivolous lawsuits combined with aging population have forced doctors to leave the profession or migrate to states where the medical malpractice insurance costs are low. This migration is bound to result in loss of expertise in hospitals. It is hard to believe that people have to drive 2 or 3 hours in the United States of all countries to get to a hospital where there are experts to treat certain cases. Call it irony, people in the USA have to eat less to live longer and travel 2 or 3 hours to save their lives.

Health insurance has become too complex for its own good. Too many people need to get paid and too many people exist in between the patient and the treatment. Essentially, the focus is lost. The larger the population in between the doctor and the patient, the larger the costs. As simple as that.

Some activits believe that doctors simply do not want to give up their standard of living. This applies to lawyers too. The cost of education is also to blame for these expenses. As long as medical education is not affordable, the number of sudents who can afford medical education will remain extremely scant and expertise will stay scarce.

I guess we are on an a tangent here but anyway, lets see what happens.

Link: Indian Aids Pill

Bill Gates, the newest Blogger?

2004-06-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

So there you go, true democracy exists on the internet. Your blog gets the same treatment as Bills. The engine/software that evaluates, processes and transmits the blogs is ignorant of the blogger.

Bill Gates could join the ranks of bloggers

(Read bill's comments at a recent symposium where he spoke exclusively about the power of an internet voice.)

Imagine reading another "The Road Ahead" as soon as Bill gets an idea and posts it.

Brewing Issues

2004-06-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

Iraq handover during early hours of 28th June. This was to surprise the Iraqis and catch the terrorists offguard. The timing could not have been worse, Bush was in Turkey, Moore has just released his film and Republican Jack Ryan was kicked out in IL. With an increasing number of people angered by the prolonged war and the neverending stream of coffins flying into the country, it is just a matter of time before people run out of patience.
Republicans hunt for Kerry's blood. Ever since the salacious Jack Ryan story broke out, people all over the nation have gone nuts. I was listening to Matt Drudge yesterday and he wants Kerry's divorce files revealed. Welcome back to the late 90s. The market is loking good, Clinton is in the news and there is lots of talk about sex.
Michael Moore's film got rave reviews and the best part about the movie is that it got people thinking. This year saw 2 great experiments. Passion of Christ and now Fahrenheit 9/11. The common theme amongst the 2 movies is that they managed to do what thousands of individuals devoted specifically to create interest in politics or religion could not do. Such is the power of the visual medium. It would be interesting to see how the republicans divert the negative attention that they have been getting now that the movie is finally in theaters. Thanks to the Founding Fathers of the US constitution and thanks to the Law Enforcement Personnel in the United States, you guys have set a brilliant example for the world to follow.

I listen to the late night radio and how often do you hear people saying
- "Ever since I saw the movie and the suffering of Christ, I feel guilty and I want to be a good person"
- "One important takeaway from the film is that the American middle class does not have any kith and kin amongst the kids who died during Combat. That goes on to say how poverty is driving these kids to the armed forces."
That indeed is a powerful revelation. Gone are the days when America mourned the death of its soldiers, people have gotten used to watching coffins arrive home everyday, apathy is brewing and it will not be long where the media turnsout to be like the one in India. For example, Times of India did not even acknowledge the death of the 34 citizens who died due to a terrorist attack in Jammu a few weeks ago. It wasn't even news to them. Such is life and the power of choice. All you need to do is beam an electromagnetic signal towards a piece to electronic equipment using your remote to take your eyes off the stress causing images and news so that one can get into a softer state of mind.

Bloggers Meet Back Home

2004-06-21T02:16:00.000-05:00

India and Iran are probably the two countries which are witnessing interesting and exciting changes today, especially in societal norms.

The Blogger Conventions are getting popular in India, especially in the metros. Sooner or later, it was bound to happen, the proximity and the ease with which people can congregate at a place increases the probability of success even further.

This is a welcome change and more importantly, people are planning these events, showing up and are having fun. It is extremely difficult to get a bunch of desis to show up, we lug around too much cultural baggage.

Checkout Past Events

Women in floral dresses

2004-06-16T17:29:00.000-05:00

May be it's summer, or may be it's because I haven't seen the light in the evening for many days now, it's beautiful out there. Perfect weather, perfect temperatures and humidity.

I am extremely fortunate to work at a place where there is no dearth of beautiful women. They are simply a work of art. In fact this concentration of beautiful women is one of the motivations to go to work. When you feel like killing someone, all you have to do is walk to the cafeteria and watch these beautiful creatures walk to soothe your mind.

Come summer and it's festive out here. Thank the designers, the floral dresses are everywhere, and trust me, I can never get tired of watching women in floral dresses walk by with their free flowing hair sailing in the wind and the fluttering floral dresses delclaring their youthful curves and the flora/fauna in full bloom. Somehow, a woman in a floral dress is so in unison with nature, it cannot be more perfect. Everything looks bright.

I wish someone made a 2 hour movie and let their camera roll to capture women in Spring/Summer. Nothing more nothing less, just capture women going about their lives in different places of the city. I would pay 30 bucks to watch it. Hey anyone up for an arts project? This is it.

Wiring Google and Amazon Web Services

2004-06-07T20:07:00.000-05:00

Anacubis has wired Google and Amazon services to create a new web application that loads an applet which takes in search parameters. When executed, brings a set of results from Amazon. When clicked for more information about the the director and actors, the Google Web Service API is invoked and results presented in an user friendly manner. Cool Demos :

Resources

Spelling Bee Protesters

2004-06-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

I am not a native speaker of English and by no means claim to be of spelling bee material but I make my best effort to spell accurately. I guess most of us fall into the same category.

Who on earth would be distressed enough to picket at a spelling bee? if you think none, you are wrong. Ironically, a group of 7 American Literacy Members protested at the 77th annual spelling bee against the "illogicality of English spelling".

"The protesters contend that the illogical spelling of English words makes dyslexia more difficult to overcome and helps explain why one in five Americans are functionally illiterate"

"If these people were able to read and write with a simplified spelling system, they would be able to fill out a job application, stay employed, and stay out of prison," said Sanford Silverman, 86. The retired accountant from Cleveland was handing out copies of his book, "Spelling for the 21st Century: The case for spelling reform."

Essentially, the protesters want to promote laziness in the name of dyslexia so that people who do not make an effort to spell right don't feel left out. This is a brand new chapter in the "Dumbing down of America" series.

"I can't believe people are picketing against something this ridiculous," said Steven Maheshwary, 14, of Houston, who successfully spelled "Zoroastrian" in the bee.

Source: USA Today
Thread: Sulekha

Some notable comments from the Business Week article.

2004-06-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

Khurshid talks about boosting the savings rate, cutting wasteful spending, and encouraging private investment, but the party has been very vague about where the extra billions will come from. The obstacles are daunting. India's public finances are precarious, both at the central and state levels, with an alarmingly high fiscal deficit of 10% of GDP. So Singh must find a way to pay for new programs without steep tax hikes that will kill new investment. Even if he can mobilize funds for more schools, roads, water projects, and clinics, programs must be efficiently implemented -- a hard task given the country's dysfunctional, corrupt bureaucracy.

In addition to the above, Singh must scour the barrel to find enough money to pay Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu if the leaders of these states fail to balance their budgets and start seeking financial aid. The leaders of these 2 states have already made lavish promises to the tune of millions of dollars. While the CM of AP has led to a horrifying chain of 100 suicides as of today, the CM of Tamil Nadu has gingerly backtracked on certain issues, revitalizing the ability of govt. workers to strike, subsidies to farmers, and finally, free power. None can match the blatant display of dereliction of values.

Congress' job also will be complicated by its fragile coalition in Parliament. Congress and about a dozen allies have a majority in Parliament. But Congress itself has only 145 of 539 seats. So it may have to appease the communists, key allies that control 53 seats. That could force Singh to slow or halt further sell-offs of state assets in sectors like energy and food distribution. Such moves could deprive the government of badly needed revenues, curtail growth, and dampen new private investment. It was Communist Party General Secretary AB Bardhan who helped spark the post-election crash by declaring, "Let privatization go to hell." Singh vows to press ahead with privatization, but a full-blown revolt could bring down the government. Leftists also oppose reform of labor laws that stifle new manufacturing investment by making it hard to hire and fire as needed.

Another reason why this coalition is doomed from the word go.

Nearly 40% of Indians remain illiterate. Miserly government spending and poor management of rural roads, electrification, irrigation, health care, basic education, and sanitation have left most of this population behind. Indeed, through the hot growth years, the gaps between rich and poor and between urban and rural areas grew dramatically wider.

What gives? For one, the government's farm subsidies lead more to market distortions than higher incomes. Big, politically connected farmers get half of the free fertilizer, water, and power the government hands out, as well as minimum guaranteed prices for certain crops. As a result, farmers often use too much fertilizer and cultivate water-intensive crops, even in drought-prone states like Maharashtra in the West and Andhra Pradesh in the South. These practices have depleted the water table in much of India, says Arun Kumar, chairman of the Center for Economic Studies & Planning in New Delhi.

The poor allocation of resources largely explains why China, with 60% of India's cultivable land area, produces 40% more food. The lack of infrastructure, meanwhile, partly explains why India lacks a food-processing industry, which could create badly needed jobs in the countryside. A 2003 McKinsey & Co. report says food processing could be a $50 billion annual industry for India by 2008 if the government improved roads and storage facilities and lured private investment.

The real problem is with primary education. When they were at the same stage of development as India is now, Asian tigers like South Korea, Taiwan, and China focused on elementary and secondary schools. As a result, they achieved nearly universal literacy among youth -- the educated workforce that fueled economic takeoffs. But until a decade ago, India spent less than one-third of its education funds on grades one through eight, and still spends less than 4% of GDP on education. That's a big reason India's literacy rate of 62% lags behind China's 85%. "You don't get sustained high economic growth rates unless you have the human capital upon which to build them," says UNDP economist Santosh Mehrotra. What's more, 97% of education spending goes to teacher salaries. "That leaves little left over for anything else."

Pamphlets need to be printed and distributed with the above two penultimate paragraphs in bold. Excellent piece of information.

And Congress has recruited new talent such as Milind Deora, 27, a business graduate elected to Parliament from Bombay. Deora says he'll spend part of his constituency's $444,000 budget on a computer project in the poorest schools. "We want to fill the gaps that existed under the old guard," he says.

Thank You Milind.

Striking the balance between meeting the demands of the markets and the restless poor will be India's toughest challenge since the 1991 financial crisis. But if Gandhi's Congress party can survive the critical first months and keep the economy on track, it could set the stage for the developing world's next dramatic economic takeoff

Manjeet and Pete, Thanks for the analysis.
Source: Business Week

Militants will be identified, located and neutralised ~ Ajay Raj Sharma

2004-05-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

The news about the death of 33 people killed in the blast in Kashmir was conveniently forgotten and ignored by the media and the coalition in Delhi who never bothered to release an official statement condemning the acts. It's a shame, they didn't have to die, anyway, here is a brief update:

Describing it as a "cowardly act", BSF director general Ajai Raj Sharma on Monday said the militants responsible for the highway blast "will be identified, located and neutralised".

He said the blast in no way affected the "high morale of the security forces" engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the Valley. Sharma said, "We have already pressed into service all the field agencies and contacts to identify the militants who actually took part in the attack. Though the Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the blast, we have to first satisfy ourselves before going all out against the group."

Manmohan needs to rent some balls!

2004-05-24T20:49:00.000-05:00

No points for guessing who is reporting this news and yes, you guessed it right folks, It is our own Times Of India, "Manmohan open to soft borders with Pak" blares a headline. All this erstwhile, 33 BSF personnel, some with wife and kids in tow had been killed in a blast just 36 hours prior to this report. This news is however conveniently ignored during the editorial process.

Manmohan really needs to grow some decent balls, learn to talk tough and use the press conferences to deliver a sharp, diplomatic message and not appear like a pushover and a lame duck.

Call me immature but it is infuriating, the Times Of India, with it's agenda to whitewash the nation in haste with liberal hogwash coupled with a soft spoken Prime Minister doesn't sit well with me.

Jonathan Powers: "How far would you would accept a compromise with Pakistan over Kashmir."?

MMSingh: "We need soft borders - then borders are not so important. People on both sides of the border should be able to move freely"

Manmohan.., we are talking borders and LOC here this ain't Holi across the Wagah border. Also, did you hear the word "Compromise"? Jonathan is essentially asking you if you would "Bend Over!". Vajpayee or Nirupama Rao would have stopped the turd right there and omitted the word "Compromise" from the question. Or is Times Of India playing games?? Move Freely?? You mean free to create another Akshardham and attack at the Assembly? You know what, I think that would serve us better. We should allow the terrorists this time as no one in the coalition is worthy of police protection. The terrorists should be sent in with directions pasted across the walls of the assembly.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan:

Musharraf: "He showed a complete desire to resolve all disputes with Pakistan and to have an excellent relationship with Pakistan. We reciprocate that feeling and I did,"

"This is the way forward. We want to resolve our disputes insha Allah and the core issue is Kashmir of course and we must resolve it"

In other words, "Manhoman showed complete desire to open borders with Pakistan, handover Kashmir and has literally agreed to bend over."

So this Jonathan Powers, most likely a British guy isn't happy with the answers, he simply wants to expose wounds and rub it in., he goes on to ask about plebiscite.

Jonathan Powers: "What about Nehru's promise of plebiscite in Kashmir"

MMSingh: "A plebiscite would take place on a religious basis. It would unsettle everything. No government of India could survive that. Autonomy we are prepared to consider. All these things are negotiable. But an independent Kashmir would become a hotbed of fundamentalism"

"we have to find a way to stop talking of war with Pakistan," the PM said. "This is stopping us realising our economic potential. Two nuclear-armed powers living in such close proximity is a big problem. We have an obligation to solve this problem"

Here is what Vajpayee or Nirupama Rao would have said:

"We have conducted free and fair elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since independence inspite of the presence of Kashmiri militants. The people of Kashmir have ventured and risked their lives to vote for a democracy. This enthusuaism clearly reflects the will of the people and in each of these elections your question of plebiscite has been answered, people have chosen, as in pure free will. Moreover, for plebiscite to be a reality the Kashmiri militants had to withdraw completely as per the agreement which has never happened since the resolution".

During the entire episode, neither, Jonathan Powers, Manmohan Singh nor Musharraf commented on the 33 people killed in Kashmir 36 hours ago. Now, I wonder, is this a sign of things to come? What has the journalist got to do with this? Why is he here? Who assigned him to interview Manmohan and raise these questions? Is this journalist using this opportunity as a field trip? Even if he asked, why isn't Times of India thinking twice before publishing such sensitive information? Why is Times Of India so enamored with any Firangi on any given fucking day??

Times of India tops the Dhakkangiri List!!

2004-05-24T20:09:00.000-05:00

People at Times of India must be wearing under-garments over their heads with garlands of garlic around their necks. Are these editors so pathetic that they will publish any article, I repeat any article without even considering if it holds any merit.

A headline reads, "Aditya, Shreya top Indian baby names in US". So this is what reporting has come down to. What is wrong with people at TOI? Who is running the show? Some wannabe named Pat Patankar??

Or is this disgusting sycophancy??

When pearls are cast before swine...

2004-05-24T06:44:00.000-05:00

Laloo Prasad Yadav - Minister Of Railways:

Currently on bail.

Chargesheeted and jailed for 1000 Crore fodder scam, Congress slammed him hard then but is now OK with him somehow and in consequence has awarded the leech the portfolio of Minister of Railways. All those who pass the Railway Recruitment Board examinations, Civil Services Examinations, techies heading the IT department of one of the largest Rail Network in the world will now take orders from this illiterate parasite.
In total, there are 61 cases linked with the fodder scam.
Disproportionate assets case: Stole 45 Lakhs from the Bhagalpur treasury. (1991-1996)

Mohammad Taslimuddin - Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise

At least 10 cases of dacoity, extortion, rape and forgery
Hilarious as it may seem, he apparently earned bite marks on his genitals while trying to force himself on a girl. The issue created such a ruckus that he was suspended from his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal

Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav - Minister of Water Resources

Fake B. Ed degree racket during his tenure as a Minister of Education in Rabri Devi's government.

Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi - Human Resources

Criminal cases pending with the CBI

Santosh Mohan Dev - Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise

Bailadila mine sellout, kickbacks from Mittal.

The United Progressive Alliance, a champion of the left is now silent, rolling over and acting dead. 5 Criminals in the Nations Cabinet!. I cannot digest the fact that these parasites are going to be the newest face of the nation.

Sources:
TheEconomic Times
Indian Elections
The Week
Swindler's Nest
Hindustan Times
Profiles

Merill Lynch Downgrades India

2004-05-24T04:38:00.000-05:00

"Merrill Lynch has downgraded India to "market weight" category and said the near term disappointment could accelerate selling that has until recently been rather modest."

"we do not question Congress' reform credentials but rather those of its coalition partners"

Someone should gag the likes of Yechuri and not allow him to attend press conferences. This is what happens morons meet the media and when democracy becomes the weapon against the very people it tries to help. It almost appears to be a parody of "Meet The Press". Just that in this case, its called "Meet the Morons".

"Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific - India strategy report asked investors to cut exposure to the Indian stock market. "

"Change in the government leaves the reforms process, fiscal and monetary situation, in question. Valuations are not compelling enough given the outlook for the risk premium and India remains overweight amongst international investors"

More work for Chidambaram as he has to wade through a pile of shi* on every turn. We need a change in the constitution to set a limit on coalition members. Haven't we heard, "Too many cooks spoil te broth?" Back in desh, we could say, "Too many Communists and pseudo-seculars stink up an otherwise clean zoo".

"We sense it would be vulnerable to further downslide whilst the issues above are worked through"

"we prefer to wait and see what the new government does over the coming months"

Chidambaram, needs to tread carefully

Source: A site with a shi* load of popups

CBSE results on SMS

2004-05-23T15:44:00.000-05:00

Very interesting, one can now know their CBSE exam results over a SMS message by messaging a certain number provided by the Service provider. 1250 for Spice, 2004 for Airtel, 48 to Indiatimes, 6388 for NDTV and 4545 for all GSM cell networks with the message stating 'CBSE {Roll Number}'.

Resources:
Class X Syllabus
Class XII Syllabus

Classify email into categories

2004-05-19T15:29:00.000-05:00

Not that we don't have the email clients doing the categorization and spam filtering at the moment but this tool is advanced in the sense that it has to be trained to differentiate between different categories of mail. So in effect, this can be a great tool to segregate email and weed out spam especially if you use an email client at home and download mail from various POP accounts.

According to their FAQ, "...The classification is done using a naïve Bayes algorithm. In other words, POPFile uses statistics to track which words are likely to appear in which messages. This means that POPFile will adapt to the kind of mail you receive and needs to be trained. Out of the box, it doesn't know anything about spam or how messages from your mother differ from those your friends send you. However, if you train it, it will soon learn how to tell these different kinds of messages apart. "

Download the tool @ POPFile

...and the drama continues

2004-05-19T01:25:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for the Indian populace and diaspora spread across the globe. Emotions and passions flared and the likes of Yechuri only fanned the flames. The market nosedived, Sonia offered to step down citing her free-will and suddenly, it is an entirely new game. It cannot get any more perfect and no script writer can even dream of such a politically charged script. No art can be this perfect but this is life. It surprises you just when you think its predictable and mundane.

If Sonia had no intention to seek the top position, why was she willing to bear the brunt of the opposition and the numerous tirades against her and her children and all the while maintaining her silence? Was this predetermined? Or could it be that she was setting a stage and creating a launch pad for her children? Considering how ugly the coalition looks at the moment with contrasting manifestos and vested interests of the left, may be she wanted to act as the unifying power? If so, she has done her job pretty well. It goes on to prove time and time again how vulnerable the party is and how badly they need the legacy of Nehru and Indira behind them. The Congress politicians are more or less lost sheep at the moment. There is so much infighting that they need someone as bland as Sonia to act as glue.

Of particular interest is the world media reaction. It was indeed a perfect story, it had all the ingredients of a serious drama crossing ethnic lines intertwined with concepts of family, tradition, responsibility, romance and stuff fairy tales are made of. Too bad fleeting reality did not leave much room for all these journalists across the world to spell check and proof read their drafts. They all go directly to the shredder. It will be hilarious to see editors spouting old news and with the current level of plagiarism across editors of the zines, the comedy component is expected to scale new heights.

May be this is a blessing in disguise, this election has brought to light the error correction that needs to be applied for reforms to really impact on a larger scale instead of inflated volatile numbers on the sensex. I guess much of the electronic media driven populace (including me) had lost perspective amidst the deluge of encouraging economic news. Yes, it is resoundingly clear, the reforms need to be more constructive, wider-reaching in terms of effect and need to be communicated well. This single declaration can well be the biggest take away from this election. "we are all in this together....".

To sum everything up, here is a quote from one of the commentators on the message board, "If India emerges from this as a country that continues to reform, it's growth will be virtually unstoppable. It will, quite literally, be the first developing nation to turn the corner on getting both poles of its polity aligned for economic growth."

Couldn't agree more..

Immune System of the Indian Elephant

2004-05-18T13:06:00.000-05:00

The discussions on the message-board have reiterated the fact that India is much akin to an elephant with a weak immune system. As the youth of the country dreams of scaling new heights unto prosperity, there is a vast sea of people who either do not understand how to understand the new changes being brought in technology and innovation or simply try to avoid change altogether. This result is a great example of what happens when two worlds collide. Cynics might ask, "Whats New? Hasn't this been done before?". Of course No, we have not seen improvement of this magnitude and more importantly with so much confidence. Just when we thought we were emerging from the colonial, self-deprecating mindsets, it had to happen. It ain't Sonia, It ain't laloo that would cause us discomfort in the immediate future, the worst thing that morons like them could do is embarrass themselves and a billion people on live National Television. We can swallow our pride and live with it. It will be the commies and their ilk who would leave no stone un-turned until they have bastardized the reforms and put the elephant to sleep. It is these people we should guard ourselves from.

In addition, it is resoundingly clear that the Immune System needs some immediate fine-tuning. In a matter of days, everything went astray

The Commies: The commies arm-wave furiously and tell us they will take us back in time, dissolve disinvestment, stifle competition and drive away foreign investment. Essentially, they are saying they will take us back to the days when you and I had to bribe or know people really high up the ladder to get a phone connection. Commies say they want to revive the agrarian sector? to do what? there is surplus grain production in the country. It is the netas that are locking this grain out of the reach of the poor. Instead, the moron Yechuri wants to revive the agrarian sector?
The Slave Gene: It is shameful and downright disgusting when some women think Sonia is good for the nation because as a firang she chose to stay in the country and must be rewarded handsomely with the nation's crown for doing so. This is a perfect example of the Women's movement gone astray. Doesn't political acumen, intelligence, drive and education mean anything to anyone anymore? In fact, the Women's movement simply cannot survive without globalization. It is appalling that some women on the board decided to voice their protests on entirely useless agendas. Some women said it was Male Ego!! That is the last thing I want to discuss during days like these. I am all for someone like Nirupama Rao who is dynamic, made it through Civil Services Examinations and knows how to pack a punch with the least amount of words. Anyone who remembers her during the press conferences discussing pakistan can attest.
The Liberals :Most interestingly, one woman said, "Everyone deserves a chance". Gimme a break, this is not the time to experiment, this is a time for proven and tested leadership. It is now or never, if we screw up, we will have squandered one of the rarest opportunities in history to improve our own lives and the lives of our families, not to mention the loss of a safety-net for the next generation. I find it hard to believe that one was willing to take chances and hand the reigns to an amateur. The vision of the Nuke Button in Sonia/Laloo's hands sends chill down the spine.
Reforms without Responsibility : During late last year, I remember hearing a news story on BBC about Chevron milking an African Country for oil. The contrast of poverty around the well manicured lawns of the Chevron Corporation drew angry crowds demanding compensation for the use of their land and oil. The government officials of the country received kickbacks from Chevron for oil exploration permits and obviously, the officials got rich. Women disrobed themselves before the gates of the company as a mark of protest. Chevron woke up, realized its responsibility and has setup basic utilities such as schools and hospitals in its location. This is exactly what was missing back home. There was construction all around and I must admit it was offensive and inhumane to see the glass buildings coexist with slums painting a grim picture of apathy.

Infosys is one company that has shown true leadership in this arena. Their Infosys Foundation has lead by example and has established a blueprint for companies to follow. Acts like these reduce the disparity or atleast convey the message that "change is good". When ignorance about these efforts stalks, it hurts everyone. That's exactly what happened in these elections. People felt left out and they sought revenge.

Personally, this election has made me more wary of people and perceptions, more wary of human behaviour and more wary of change in general. It is difficult to promote change in a chaotic environment such as India but that that is the nature of the beast, India is chaos by definition and we will have to create order out of chaos. The simplest answer possibly lies in the simplicity of our parents and the fundamental principles of living in a society with the intention of making it worthwhile for everyone.

This too shall pass, we have one important attribute that no election and no politician can take away from the youth of the country, it is their acumen and the drive to improve their lives. The country has tasted success and has started to believe in itself, and success can be extremely addictive. This desire to succeed will be the sole driving force.

Coalitions have become a joke.

2004-05-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

If parties A and B publish their manifesto and if A and B disagree on certain grounds with two completely different and contrasting views, For example, Yechuri Vs. Manmohan Singh. Then they should not be allowed to form a coalition in the first place. This is because the people elected them based on their manifesto. If they collaborate and nullify the manifesto, it is akin to cheating the voter. If they indeed decide to form a coalition, they should seek consensus at an issue level. Whoever has more seats officially dominates the decision. For example, Yechuri should simply be asked to shut up. The Supreme Court or an independent body should officially oversee the manifesto of the coalition. Issues such as these should be discussed via a live debate and if they do not agree, Coalition should never be allowed to form.

Forming a coalition to stop the third party from coming to power benefits none. It's even more shameful if the coalition compromise on their promises to the people and take it easy because they got what they wanted, a chance to fill in their own pockets.

Love XML, Love bloggar

2004-05-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

I hate opening Sulekha Coffeehouse at work, I find the bloggar tool to be more convenient. It's a simple, notepad style, I can write all I want, save it if I want and then in one HTTP Post, I can publish all the content to my blog. I can then open Sulekha sometime in the day, type in the appropriate subject line and post a link to my blog. No more of this pasting stuff and no more worries about Sulekha Filters. I can later in the evening, copy a link to the root of the Sulekha discussion thread and paste it on my blog. One other attractive feature is the ability to update the blogs you have posted in the past. The tool downloads your previous blogs and you can selectively update them. I am updating this post right now.

I wish I could publish directly to Sulekha Coffeehouse, wonder when that will happen. bloggar is so cool, I can publish to multiple blogs at the same time. I can also change the identity to blog to jRoller. Awesome!!

Swallowing My Pride

2004-05-18T01:44:00.000-05:00

It is finally sinking into me that the dream team consisitng of Sonia, Laloo and the likes of Yechuri are going to grace the sanctimonious space in Delhi and are indeed moving in to replace Vajpayee. When the news broke, it was disgust and mindless rage in the beginning, numbness and anguish came in next and then after a lull, I am finally able to think rationally.

Where do we go from here?

As I wander at work and at home with news of the market nosedive and irresponsible remarks by Yechuri pouring in, the faces of youth of my generation and those in Universities and Colleges across the country cross my mind. I suddenly shudder at the memories of late 1996 when I graduated and was without a job. It was gloomy and scary, not to mention the cold verbal jabs at interviews and at places where you least expect, your home. I was extremely happy with things looking up in the last 3 years, there was a renewed confidence amongst the graduates of the nation and I was glad that everything was coming together. and then it had to happen.

The inertia due the poverty, illiteracy, greed and gullibility of the electorate in the country is just too large to shake off and it should be quite clear to policy makers that for every reform an equal measure of effort must be in place to eradicate this illiteracy and poverty for reforms to really bear fruit. If not, the divide will continue to increase and it will consume the entire nation bringing both the reforms and the nations economy to their knees. More importantly, governments must do a better job of communicating and validating their investments so that the people know that investment in infrastructure leads to wealth and job creation in the long run.

Right now, Sonia the trophy widow(?), and Laloo, the cattle herder are neither the nation's immediate threats nor they are the immediate priorities, these two clowns will however continue to put up a show and cause severe embarrassment wherever they go with their apathy or lack of knowledge. Imagine Sonia on PBS with Jim Lehrer. I don't even want to think about it. However, people like Sitaram Yechuri are the nations #1 threat at the very moment.

More importantly, why is the national media hell bent on depleting the nations reseves? cannot they put a stop to the barrage of speculative news with news sources such as Yechuri who cannot find the way to a restroom in a building? don't they know that during this period of uncertainity, before the cabinet is declared, it is not wise to cause commotion and divulge speculative news stories like the interview with Yechuri? The media folk know Yechuri is a commie who has absolutely no regard for privatization why did they have to go and specifically interview him? Couldn't they wait until some stability is seen at the center?

The nation has lost Rs 1,22,921 crore in a space of 24 hours. Why? Why should the media pundits divulge stupid speculative statements which cause more harm than express any kind of coherent opinion. Imagine losing Rs 1,22,921 crore due to a infinitesimal/nonentity like Yechuri spouting nonsense. Our nation's youth had helped bring in every single rupee of that Rs 1,22,921 crore, it is indeed a slap in the face of the nation's graduate who had been mercilessly robbed of that money and potential employment. The moronic media deserves to be blamed too.

Let us live with shame with the 2 monkeys at the top and let them remind us of what we have done wrong every single day and every single minute for as long as they hold fort.

Drive-Through and Book Drops at Libraries

2004-05-08T00:50:00.000-05:00

A Drive-Through restaurant or a Drive-Through ATM, I can understand. Whats with Drive-Through book drops at libraries? Personally, I don't think one can religiously read Feynman or Stephen Hawking and then drop the book at a book drop as if it were a disposable item or some kind of trash. How hard is it to get out of a car, take the books to the counter and return them in a proper manner? No only do the books undergo wear and tear due to book-drops, more importantly it is a disgrace and an utter lack of conscience. Hope we don't endup with McLibraries.

Powerful Radio

2003-11-27T21:38:00.000-06:00

I was half awake this morning at around 8:30 AM as I searched for the remote to flip a few frequencies on my radio. I like to lay in bed, half awake, in that transient stage where reality seems so far away but you are not in oblivion either. It's a great state to be in. The brain's CPU cycles are available in abundance to process the information through your sensory organs other than the eye. It's a great change especially if you are someone who works in front of a monitor 8-11 hours a day.

WBEZ Chicago 91.5 FM is broadcasting the prize winning and notable documentaries selected in the 2003 Third Coast International Audio Festival. The program is laid out as a series of award winning audio documentaries interspersed with interviews and comments from their creators. The layout and presentation of the program discussing the documentaries itself can win a prize. It is that good.
Creativity, especially when the medium is radio, photography, film or documentary really arrests me . Documentary and photography are more "in your face" as they are snapshots of real events frozen in time and they tell stories of the human condition. The definition of documentary has blurred in the recent years as documentaries come in different shapes, sizes, hybrid media and presentation formats these days.
The following are my favorites and I will be tuning in for the rebroadcasts this weekend.

Come Back to Afghanistan, Susan Burton and Hyder Akbar
Hyder Akbar is a 17 year old from California who decided to go to Afghanistan for the first time in his life. His father hails from Afghanistan and had moved back to Afghanistan a few months before his trip to work for the Afghan Government. Since his father worked for Karzai, the kid had unprecedented access to a variety of events. This documentary is impressive in terms of originality and spontaneity. The only equipment he had was his tape recorder and himself. He probably didn't realize it would turn out to be a documentary of this scale either. You might have seen Afghanistan through the eyes of CNN, ABC, NBC and others but you might have never heard a very personal rendition of this sort. Interestingly the teenager is reporting too alongside the newscasters but his perspective is totally different. The teenager is confused, overwhelmed, shocked and is trying to make sense of the situation. During his stay, he falls ill, he witnesses bomb blasts, AK 47s, war-lords, assassination attempts on Karzai and its aftermath.

The Sonic Memorial Project, The Kitchen Sisters with Ben Shapiro and The Sonic Memorial Team
First of all the photograph on the left is simply brilliant with the twin towers in the background. The photograph almost seems to have a soul. The Sonic Memorial project is a mosaic of voice mails which were received in response to a call for recorded experiences in audio/video relating to the twin towers. The project gathered memories through narrations from architects, engineers, sound technicians, local businessmen, construction workers and created a symphony of sound recordings consisting of elevator music, revolving doors. cries of babies, tourist elevator announcements, priests conducting marriage ceremonies atop the tower, giggles of newly wed brides, tourists atop on the highest deck, advertisements, concerts outside the center, 1960 interview with the WTC architect, sounds of the oscillating building during its construction, radio newscast @ 8:00 AM on the morning of 9/11, recording of the panic on 9/11 which fades into a soulful melody, voice messages of people calling their loved ones from the tower and the hijacked planes.
The editing and background music is awesome too. Poetry, voice messages and announcements fade into prayers @ mosques which further fade into hip-hop, soul and music from CDs which people burnt for their friends and family. Extremely intense!.

>
Joe Frank
I have not heard much about Joe Frank, may be because I started listening to radio only in 1998. It appears that he is a radio personality who experimented with monologue, talk radio and drama and as he mentions in his speech, he was fluid as his material drifted from one form to another. His technique is widely copied today everywhere. Excellent speeches below on the occasion of his lifetime achievement award.
Introduction
Speech

Embittered Slovenliness

2003-11-22T21:35:00.000-06:00

I read this brilliant article in the Spectator about "Wannabe Yanks", a description of Britian's youth that is caught up in a vicious cycle of watching Americanized TV to quell boredom. Boredom makes them watch more TV and they endup even more bored. Boredom basically feeds on itself.

Since day-to-day life isn't as exciting as TV, the youth is forced to extract drama out of real life instead of passively absorbing from it. He (Theodore Dalrymple) rightly says that social pathology is born out of a desire to avoid boredom in our lives.

In one of his examples, the author cites the incident of a 11 year old girl dialing "911" for emergency instead of "999" which, is the British Version of the American emergency number. He further goes on to quote the use of "You guys" as a form of address at a bar and "highschool" during a conversation with one of the prison inmates. Apparently, the British School System does not have Highschools.

I remember watching a documentary about the Israel-Palestinian crisis on PBS. I was shocked when I heard an Israeli teenager speak in English. The kid spoke with an American accent, replete with the "like...like....like.." that is so characteristic of verbally challenged teenagers in the USA. The kids made the Israeli adults look like they were from another country. It was bizarre. I have heard Dr Drew (of LoveLine fame) talk about Italian radio stations replaying daily American Morning Talk-Radio just because it sounds cool. We Indians aren't far behind either. I read a blog which described the teenage offspring of the Mumbai Elite chatting away on their latest Nokia Models at a snobbish/pretentious Jazz concert with a gazillion "like...like..like.." strung into every sentence.

The author rightly calls them "consumers of Virtual America" who are fixated on the American externals which largely depict lavishness and affluence but hide the elitism and the value system that created the wealth. Very true indeed. "America is simultaneously demotic and elitist, but only the demotic is communicated to consumers of Virtual America" he says.

Finally, he touches upon the topic of "too much self esteem". Bang on Target!!. The MTV/pop-culture version of "Self Esteem" is an exceedingly dangerous one. The "do your thang" philosophy works great if there is a desire and an effort for personal improvement. If not, it essentially equates to lazy living lards of fat.

The author was more civil, here are his words.

"When the demotic culture is not combined with or ameliorated by a belief in personal striving for material improvement, but rather with the idea that affluence is delivered by the government through confiscation and redistribution - that is to say by the promotion of 'social justice' - a uniquely horrible, new culture is forged, the culture of embittered slovenliness"

Speaking of the "consumption of Virtual America", almost all the kids in Mumbai quote Coldplay and John Mayer. Serves well I guess, it can build a bunch of pop culture literate kids who can work their way into becoming call center associates with fake names. Add a tinge of racial longing with bollywood actors prancing around with blondes on American roads and you have managed to create a more determined "Virtual America Consumer" who is ready to blow up money on a 200 Rupee Burger and watch MTV Grind till dawn.

Virtual America is what is known as an "Off-the-Shelf" product, a video tape, a time slot on a cable channel in another country which generates revenue. But sadly the product hides the real America, its hardworking people, people with mortgages, hunger, failing schools, high cost of education, racism and in essence fails to provide "a day in the life of ..." picture.