An old story that reminds the importance of updating skills periodically!

Bangalore Metro by 2010/11? Think again!

I relocated to namma bengalooru in April '07. The big news here at that time was that metro rail system was in prorgess and the reckless traffic would dissolve into a peaceful ride in the air-conditioned coaches of the metro by early 2011! Its an year since then and I have only been seeing false promises, mismanagement and endless public land acquisition hearings; the reality is that NO progress has been achieved in this regard.

The initial phase was supposed to end at the beginning of 2008 and this included completion of the foundation work forthe rail line in MG road (Anil Kumble circle to Trinity circle -> as far as I remember seeing it on the Metro's information board placed at MG road!). I witnessed the beginning of the work myself. They raised barricades on either side of the road, halving the width of the arterial MG road! Though agonised by the traffic & pollution caused by these changes, the people were happy that the work for a better transportation, long overdue in bangalore, has begun.
Now, well past the deadline for completing the foundation work, the metro line in MG road has nothing to boast of; it has only increased the traffic woes. The BMRC has just started to put the pillars in place (view the pic i clicked just a month ago!) The workers were still struggling to place the pillar in the proper place and position. And to top it all, this was the first of the series of pillars to be erected on the MG road!! After months of starting the work, the BMRC has slowly coming up with different reasons for the delay - resource scarcity, land acquisition etc.

When they were handed over such a huge, didnt they had to plan and anticipate the troubles at the very start itself? With all these issues, the BMRC is still promising to complete the work in 3-4 years time!! I really wish they do. Afterall, no one can stop me from wishing!

Shaaz.

Where is the sense?

It was "Rama Navami", one of the very few functions that I celebrate. I got up early in the morning, took my bath and dressed up to pay a visit to the nearest temple. Luckily, the temple was not much crowded and I had a great darshan of the Lord. Once done with my prayers, I sat in one of steps (as was the practice after darshan) and watched the people who were queing up for something. "What is there?", I enquired one of those people. "We are registering our names for the special pooja for Rs.250" replied an elderly person. I was happy that the pujaris were making some money in this regard. I was in for a thought provoking incident outside the temple.

I had parked my vehicle a few hundred meters away and hence had to walk until there. On my way, I saw a young girl, visibly poor, holding a white polythene cover with "mallige" flower in it. She failed to notice me as I passed by and I could realise that she was totally lost and was desperately looking for something. A couple of seconds after I reached my vehicle, she approached me.
The following conversation ensued (translated kannada-->english):

Her:Please buy some flowers.
Me:Sorry. I really dont need them now.
Her:Please Sir. I have been trying to sell them off to people going in and coming out of the temple. But no one is interested in buying and the temple staff are chasing me away. (I vaguely remembered seeing this happen when I was at the temple)
Me:Ok. Fine. But I dont want flowers now.
Her:(With little tears in her eyes) My sister has to appear for her exam. I could not pay her exam fee. I am falling short by 100 rupees. I have been telling this to many people since an hour but not even a single person lent an ear to this. I dont tell lies and swear by God that I want to raise money!
Me:(I somehow get a gut feeling that the female isnt telling any story to me and has been desperate to raise 100 bucks) Ok. I trust what you are saying. Where does your sister study and what is her name?
Her:(tells the school name etc. and she is totally in tears now)
Me::(I am aware of it..) I hand out her a 100 rupee note in return of some flowers and leave the place with some disturbing thoughts in my mind!

Though I am a religious person, I fail to understand the way people think! I understand that people give importance to the rituals performed in the temple. But when it comes to helping poor people why do they back out? They readily shell out hundreds and thousands of rupees in the name of religion but not ready to spend even a small percentage of that amount for the community they live in!

I understand that every religion in this world promotes "Kindness and respect for fellow human beings". Hence the Gods would probably be much more happier if the "sevaks" helped the needy rather than chase them away!

I wish all people acquire greater "sense" in this regard.

Signing off,
Shaaz

India - The Proud Triumphant!

Sitting at the place I hate the most, my desk at the office, I was staring at the monitor!
"India requires 13 runs off 6 balls" read the comment on a famous website....! In the next 5 mins, I was frantically refreshing the page to know the outcome of the match! All of a sudden, someone shouted "Chak Diya India!".....ALAS! I knew it was all over and India has clinched the series against all odds!

This win was very special..not because Indians beat the "sledging"Oz, but that they handled the pressure really well than most teams have (in australia) and came out at the top! It would be an understatement to say that the aussies, well known for handling the pressure of a "final" match, were in shambles in both the ODIs, more so in the first match! They never expected a young Indian team to stand upto their challenge and thrash them in the own back yard. Probably their over-confidence ate them up and they realized it a bit too late in the second ODI!!

As I said in an earlier post.......CONFIDENCE was the key to India's over-whelming success run at the finals of the CB series. I'ver never seen Sahin Tendulkar bat with such fevour in recent times......he seemed a changed man......and the aussies had no way to stop him! While Praveen Kumar, who has played only in 5-8 ODIs, showed his capability by ripping through the australian top-order with amazing ease, Piyush Chawla marked the arrival another fielding sensation with one 'brilliant' catch in each of the finals! These youngsters 'believed' in their capabilities and when one possesses self-belief, nothing can deter one from achieving the goals!!!

People may speculate that the two "sharmas" (Ishant and Rohit) are the find of the series.....no wonder they are.....but they have to be watched closely in the upcoming series against South Africa, another tough opponent, before going overboard and making them heros..!

The real find of the series, in my opinion, is the aggressive nature and the confidence of the players combined with a great team spirit...

I saw numerous debates on news channels on whether "India is the new champion in world cricket"....I feel this is ridiculous.....to be a world champion...a team has to be consistent atleast 80 percent of the times and at all venues it plays....Remember, it took a decade for the australian team to reach where they are today!

Indian cricket team, I feel, is only at the beginning stages and has a really long journey, before it can be crowned the ultimate king in the gentleman's game!! What do you say??

India should WIN the 2nd final!

Predictably, the OZ are under immense psychological stress after their stunning defeat at the hands of the adorable Indians in the CB series final (1st ODI). Just a day before the match, Ponting, in one of his columns, mentioned that "Third final won't be needed"!! All he meant was that the team winning the first ODI would inevitably win the second one too. He, probably, was super-confident that his "champion" team could overcome the young Indian side with amazing ease, which was not to be so!

With India winning the first final, the OZ now realize that they need more than their sledging to come back in the series. Perhaps this is the reason the aussie spectators, who are not used to enjoy their team losing (in the recent times), and the aussie media, which is trying every possible 'tactic' to distract the Indian players, have pitched in to help the Oz, but in vain!

They criticized Sachin Tendulkar for his inability to score a ton in Australia......little did they expect him to fire all cylinders against the hosts, that too in a final!! Next, they targeted the 'turbanator' bhajji with reports claiming him showing "monkey gestures" at the crowd!! If Sachin silenced them with a magnificent hundred at the SCG (they should re-christen it as 'Sachin's Cricket Grounds' -- LOL), the ICC gave the blow by dismissing the harbhajan episode without even a hearing!

That the Oz are un-sportsmanly and desperate to win is evident from all the incidents that has happened so far in the series down under. The belief of the aussies is already in shambles and the Indians have a great chance to give it all to the team that has been the worst behaved unit in the cricketing history I've known so far!! If it was Symonds who cheated a catch in one of the Test matches, it was Mathew Hayden who sledged the 'kid' Ishant Sharma!

I am sure the aussies will try to do every damn thing in this world to win the 2nd final of the CB series. But the Indians now posses the ultimate weapon - "CONFIDENCE" to dethrone the aussies from the numero uno position and one of the 'steps' towards that goal is sealing the CB Series 2-NIL!!

Helpless......Can we DO something?

Today being a saturday, I decided to 'grab' a little rest, as I have been keeping myself busy for the last one year (yeah....almost....very little breaks)!! I didn't want to do ANYTHING! But plans are broken by sudden, uninvited events!

Earlier in the week, I had contacted the senior health inspector of my ward to thwart the menace of diseases that could be spread by the wastes of cows that are tied in a close to the place I stay. Since a piece of land was unoccupied for a reasonably long time, certain uneducated people have let their cows graze in that land. These animals make the street the worst place to walk/travel on, all beacause their owners are not bothered by the disturbance caused to the residents of the locality and those using the street!

Coming back to the issue, this was the umpteenth time I contacted the health inspector to take appropriate action, which he promised so many times. I phoned him more than twice each day in the last week. May be, he thought to do away with my request rather than answering the same question everytime. Hence, he phoned me this noon and said that he was at the 'site' and it would be good if I could make it there.

I reached the place in the next 10 minutes and found an elderly lady shouting at the health inspector! 'Ridiculous', I thought as I entered the argument.....The discussion....no.....the fight rather...went on for 15 minutes....when a younger person intervened and said that its their "social rights" to behave in the manner they felt!! Now the argument was getting bigger......all I was demanding was...."Clean the wastes yourself everyday since the animal is yours!".....the health inspector seemed disinterested in solving the issue..he was staring at his "gold plated wrist watch" every now and then...! I asked myself "Why this person had to come over if he really wasn't interested"...which is when I realised that his intentions were to put an end to my un-ending calls to him...

But I could not pass orders to punish the responsible people....hence there I was standing.......helpless......as those people were yelling at this now disinterested so-called "health inspector".......

I really wished to arrive at a 'consensus' over this 45 minute argument....but it wasn't to be....

The inspector calmed the fuming cow owners and let them off with a "Strict" warning that they should clean the place!

He then took me to a corner and said "Though I have the powers....these people are arrogant and I could do very less in this problem..hence I request you to go around and collect signatures form each of the residents and then we can give it to the corporation to take appropriate action!"....

When I came back home....i was asking myself....."What is this health inspector for?..."...being a government officer he is afraid of people living in the next street!
"Has the time come for citizens to take actions themselves?...."Should I myself go to the corporation and fight this issue?"....The problem may seem small....but if an epidemic breaks out......the people in my street could be victims even before knowing of the disease..

Or should I BRIBE this officer to get even such a small work done?
I have to go to bed now.....But my mind is full of thousands of such thoughts right now....

I am feeling helpless.......can we do something to put things in place without these babus?!!!

DO something!!

DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 's Speech in Hyderabad when he was President of India.

Why is the media here so negative?Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat.We are the second largest producer of rice.Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the dayafter a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of aJewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary.

It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in thenewspaper, buried among other news.In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture,when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of MahimCauseway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore youdon't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah . YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop,'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and NewZealand .Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be thesame here in India ?

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage allover the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food andtoiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related towomen, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego mysons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and thegovernment. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run toEngland . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a greatdeal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIAAND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Learning thru TV! - An intellectual initiative

India's first curriculum-based TV channel

Greycells18 Media on Monday announced the launch of India's first curriculum-based education TV channel 'Topper' which is a part of the "Topper Integrated Learning System".

From the moment this headline of the article caught my eyes, a series of thoughts went around in my mind.
1.How can this be used as a medium in the first place?
2.How can such a channel make its presence felt amid glittering dance, comedy and other reality shows?
3.How much of help will this be to our country's children? and many more questions...

The article says "The educational channel being launched in English will be accessible to viewers through digital television and Internet, and will initially cater to higher secondary classes." In this hi-fi age of advanced telecommunications & internet facilities, DTH operators (TATA SKY & DishTV) have come up with interactive games that enable children to have fun while at the same time improving their IQ. Given the increase in the number of subscribers to DTH , the difficulty in one-dimensional education, increase in the tuition costs and shrinking free-time of children, more parents would definitely want their children to improve IQ while at the same time enjoying respite from the hectic schedule they are expected to undergo. Also "Statistics show that there are approximately 300 million kids who enrolled in schools across India. Thus there is a significant opportunity to supplement the existing school system for children to make the best of their secondary education". Therefore, I feel that this medium has a great potential and scope in the next 5-10 years. Though there is a mention that the Topper TV will "initially cater to higher secondary classes" we nee to wait and watch how the rural children would be able to take advantage of such an offer!!


The article also mentions "The channel will telecast six fresh episodes daily, with four episodes based on the regular course and two episodes on the exam specials, pertaining to the upcoming board exams." This means that the programmes would be designed to meet the educational needs of the students and anything, which the students can relate to, that can help them achieve higher success in education has an opportunity to sideline the reality shows. But, an important strategy that the founders of this initiative should keep in mind is that the courses should combine education and entertainment (something like an infotainment) in the proper ratio if they wish to really help the children and succeed in this venture.


"Topper will provide validated curriculum-based content that will comply with CBSE and other related state boards." says another line. Relevance, as I said earlier, is going to be the key factor and if the Indian students are offered courses that they learn in schools, then the need for those special classes and tuition would be reduced greatly. This would save a lot of money and the time spent by the students.

Some of my concerns apart from those expressed in between the paragraphs above:

1. Learning at home can be fun, but for younger children and those children who require personalized attention, this does not seem to be a promising option to improve their learning unless the parents are educated enough or have sufficient time to spend with the kids!
2. Different kids have to be explained the concepts in different ways! - with a course content and presentation that is unchanging there could be a difficulty in this aspect!
3. Last and the most important concern - I have a strong feeling that the students located in major cities already have access to the best of supporting courses to supplement their classroom coaching. It is the rural mass that is yet to see the best of teaching techniques and learning resources. Hence there is a long way to go before this "new medium of education" can be termed a milestone in Indian education society!!

Nevertheless I should give full credit to the founders who have come up with such a great idea!

For those interested in knowing more about this; please log on to : www.topperlearning.com

Signing off

Shaaz!

Lion of the desert - A great movie!

When I switched on the TV just up from my nap, this noon, I found some unusual movie being screened in one of the tamil channels....it was the movie "Lion of the desert"(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081059/)....

Since I have affinity towards offbeat movies and documentaries, I sat on the couch staring at the TV screen....trying to figure out what the movie was all about....!!

To my surprise, the movie started with the disclaimer
"All the characters in this film are based on REAL characters. The movie is based on historical facts"!.....yes...this was the disclaimer(?!!) that caught me by surprise...and hence i decided to watch this movie...The movie was set in the 1930's and started with Mussolini posting orders to one of his colonels "Graziani"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Graziani) to suppress the rebel leaders in LIBYA (which was under the Rome's iron-fisted rule).....in particular to arrest or even kill OMAR MUKHTAR, leader of one of the rebel unuions, which has been successfully fighting the Italian forces for close to 20 long years!!!

The following reels of the movie bring out the struggle of Omar mukhtar and his band of men to prevent the Italian army from taking over Libya.....and also show us the fight between these two forces...it is really hard to believe that a teacher-turned-rebel(Omar) forced 5-6 Rome appointed governors to go back with shame.....! As you watch this film, you develop a sense of admiration for Omar Mukhtar for his confidence, determination, tactical prowess, dignity and intelligence. You would also sympathize for the lacs and lacs of native libyans who were denied rights in their own land and killed just to scare others...

The movie has been sculpted.....the sheer devotion of the director can been seen in the way the barbarian acts of the Italian forces are depicted! People killed in masses.....women kidnapped in front of their fathers and brothers to work as slaves, all the grocery burnt because the local people helping Omar Mukhtar......everything has a sense of naturality attached to it.....be it locations,people or costume....though the movie was dubbed in Tamil, the emotions displayed by Anthony Quinn (as Omar Mukhtar) and Oliver Reed(as Graziani) are more powerful than the dialogues....

I wished that Omar Mukhtar won the battle of rights.....but predictably...he is hanged in full public view..!!

A must watch....I loved it..!! A great movie after a long time....

Long wait is over!

Had a great cuppa tea and was thinking of my to-do's for the evening when I remembered that I have waited long enough to open a blogging account!!

So here's the one...

Hoping to contribute to the blogging community....