Are the heavens smiling?

Still Chasing the American Dream

The Berlin wall goes down, cold war ends with America victorious...operation desert storm confirms that the US is the only super-power in the world.

Technology backed industries grow which makes the 90's the golden time for America. Economy is doing great; no major enemies. India opens its economy and minds. From being a country which hovered somewhere between neutral to anti-America, becomes an ally.

For someone growing in India during the 90's, suddenly is inundated with the exposure to US way of life, movies, music, fast food, freedom,.... the list goes on. As a teen you just want to be there, living life large. This generation had embraced the American life in the 90's and in the new millennia, when they started working in the new-age BPO, tech industries increase consumer spending and changed the general psyche from saving to spending.

Unfortunately, some (like me) are still stuck in the 90's. The world is a different place. Terrorism, America's wars, rapid spread of technology, tremendous growth of Asian economies etc. Even with out the financial crisis (predominantly in the western world), it is widely accepted that the coming years India and China will be the spearheads of growth. All job creation, value creation will be in this region. But the generation that grew being curious about baseball but still loving cricket is misplaced. They still want to be in the US of 90's. They want to be there. Today’s generation knows that the future is here and they have their dreams here. But the generation which aspired and fixed their ambition in the 90's is little confused, they want to be there but there isn't a long term future in the dream.

I guess this is what is called as the 'American Dream'.

high o!l prices at the right time?

It all started with katrina some say the hurricane that opened the eyes of the world (read Americans) to the plight of the environment. Most climatologists blamed it on changing weather patterns due to Global Warming. This followed by a report by influential British economist Nicolas Stern, on economics of climate change. Then came the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a panel of leading world scientists. Their findings convinced them indeed global warming is happening and they released a barrage of statistics spelling doom for the planet.

Alas! Even after numerous studies (I have listed above only 3 studies/events, there have been many more) the world never seriously thought about how as individuals, communities, states the problem should be tackled. Now everybody is heeding to the call of evil harbinger. Nobody other than our beloved traders of commodities, our dear speculators (by the way this can be argued). A barrel of crude has now shot upwards of $140 and is staying there firmly.

Luckily economic recession and high inflation have been bestowed upon us at the same time. Americans have to deal with high unemployment figures and the tough task of electing their new president. EU is reeling under the pressure of rising euro vs. dollar, hurting their exports. Continental Europe anyways was facing lot of unrest due to lack of employment. And then there is the omnipresent terrorist. All this sounds rather gloomy, but as per some recent study the world has never been much happier! (yesterday's TOI).

Given the backdrop, humanity is now finally ready to embrace the green revolution. There are talks of completely getting rid of the carbon cycle! High oil prices have forced the US consumers (maximum per capita consumption of oil in the world) to switch from gas guzzling SUVs to more efficient small cars. In India every now and then I find people seriously discussion the option cycles and junking the concept of automobile.

Alternative fuels are in the news again. Every other week a breakthrough is reported. Last week it was the highly improved solar cell. Week before there was a concept of generating power from ocean waves. Today there is a news item on the new London club, Surya. It is a green club, that is to say it uses solar energy and the 30 million dollar state of the art flooring which generates power when people dance on it!

In India Nuclear deal has never been so hot (no pun intended). Left has been junked. Capitalists are in full force to prove their might at building green organizations. Apparently Wipro is now the only manufacturer of green computers in the World! Organizations are reducing their energy spending by cutting of supply to air conditioning units. Removing power hungry water coolers from pantries and then rationalizing the moves by conducting health seminars in which some whackos proclaim drinking cold water is bad for health. I wonder why they don't remove the ubiquitous smoking zones.

Last not the least air travel is back to normal. Last few years domestic air travel in India had lost its sheen. It became the defacto mode of travel for the junta. Capt. Gopinath and other low cost operators created a ripple which saw 2 iconic mergers (Air-India+Indian Airlines and Jet+Shara). Vijay Mallya put an end to common mans dreams, bought Air Deccan and now the high jet fuel prices have ensured that dreams are only dreams but infusing spirits from United Breweries. Train travel is in fashion once more. (By the way airlines have a huge carbon footprint, rail is much better off).

So think once again is oil price hike so bad? Mother Nature is happy.

Is it the bowler's game

Consider this, at the beginning it was a 7 day game. Then reduced to 5 day. Reason primarily would have been that seven days was a long time.

The five day game was dominated by the bowler. The only way to win the game is to bowl out the opposition twice in the five day period. Only the blowers can really win you the game. The batsmen can set it up. Or chase a target which got set due the lack of effectiveness of the bowlers.

The five day game gave way to the 6o over and subsequently the 50 over, One Day International format. This enlivened the game. Lot of excitement. A format which hugely supported the batsmen. Go and fire at the bowling. Over time this format matured, and I would consider that the balance got restored. The bowlers learnt new techniques. Some became specialist of bowling at the death. Some learnt a new art - reverse swing. Thus a new format was created - Twenty20.

Twenty20 and specially the IPL (Indian Premier League), glorify cricket and the art of whacking the ball around the ground. The hitting has been brutal and savage to an extent. Flurry of runs and matching steps of the cheer leaders have created an atmosphere never seen before in cricket. It is as if it is a party of cricket.

But, the bowlers are getting on top again. They have a strategy to bowl out the other side in mere 20 overs. The other day Mumbai Indians bowled out the Delhi Daredevils to win the match. The Punjab's King XI has just blowed out the Banglore Royal Challenges in under 20 overs. The bowlers are gaining the edge again!

What will happen next I wonder to ensure that the entertainers (batsmen) gain an edge. In cricket the batsmen gets a single chance, where as the bowler can run in again the next ball after being hit for a six to take the wicket.

Just a thought!

Addiction to coffee or free spirit...

Where does one have coffee at 12:30 am in Bangalore? Well you have a choice of either heading to a five star, for 200 rupees coffee; or run down to Mysore!

Well there is a 24 hr Cafe Coffee Day outlet on the Bangalore - Mysore highway. So was the desperation for coffee that we traveled 80 km one way of a cup, finally costing 200 rupees each. But ten times more interesting!

5 of us started the newly acquired santro (by my room mate) and started from home without even knowing the way to Mysore. We just had a general idea. At that time of night it is very difficult to find a single soul to guide us. But as luck would have it we were absolutely on the right path. The highway had excellent roads, the only trouble was the on coming traffic had high beam lights which made the visibility very poor.

Once we reached the Cafe Coffee Day it was jam packed. It is really difficult to understand that in the middle of no where there was this congression of people. The mix of people was really interesting.Most of them high on alcohol and may be drugs. This seemed to be the natural hideout once bars/pubs would shut down in Bangalore. Just a few kilometers away from Mysore a bright lights and coffee, trying there best to drive out the impending hang-over. Since the cafe was a self serve while ordering coffee I realized most of the people were college students trying to make the most of their weekend.

I was at the drivers seat on the return journey. Freshly woken up by the coffee the ride was a breeze. Ziz-zaging the mostly truck traffic in pitch darkness, the speed and darkness making the headlights quite ineffective. Good I just had a coffee! Just not enough to remind me about a crucial turn, which I missed and had to take a much longer route back home. Finally reached back at 3:30 at night!

I guess the biggest question in mind was how does regulation help. Bangalore is shut down early to avoid such places. Expecting people to sleep early. But as they say when there is a will there is a way! People will find places like these. If this is shut down a new one will be found, may be much further, but then you cage a bird but how do you cage the youthful spirit?

Who says Failure is for loooosers? - Part I

Failure....such a negative word isn't it? Funny part - every single person has to go through it some time. But it is just the way you look at it. There are thousand of examples when someone faced this great difficulty in life and came out stronger. I haven't yet completely surmounted all my challenges but I guess somewhere in the middle! So here is my story so far -

Well where should I begin....hmmm....lets begin from the end of engineering. After a gruesome 4 years, those who have faced it with me will vouch for it; I started my career in Wipro Technologies, one of the success stories of the Indian IT services sector. Extremely elated I took those first steps and joining the organization. Pretty soon I realized that this was not what I was looking for. So began the hunt. Like many of my peers the lure of MBA, caught me. I got myself transfered to Pune so that work would be slightly less and I could prepare for CAT. Pune was a great experience, I made very close new friends and re-forged the friendship with many. It was an experience worth cherishing. Most of my roommates were also preparing for CAT, hence it was a complete college environment, in office and outside.

After preparing extremely hard and hoping for a good result I looked forward to the exam day. Alas, I fell very sick 2 days before the exam. The real blow came when the doctor said forget about your exam, give it next year. 6 months of hard work just eroded! Against his advice I did go the examination center only concentrate for half the duration, then started nausea, etc. So ended the CAT saga. Bitter end, failure, despair. Followed up the slew of other entrance tests with half hearted attempts at best.

Frankly after the outcome I was in no mood to sit and prepare for CAT again. Instead I set out earn my MBA from a US university. This first meant I had to prepare for GMAT. Somehow the cobwebs of CAT and various exams given before, I wasn't confident and just wanted to get this right once and for all. I started the prep, but soon hit a road block. In the mean time I transferred back to Bangalore. I joined a class for some professional help I started the prep in earnest. With a help from a friend I scored decent. Now began the hard part - Applications!

By no stretch of imagination it is simple. It is one of the hardest parts of the entire process. There are numerous blogs just devoted to it. Anyway, I aimed high, saddled and sent out applications to the best schools. I knew it was going to be very tough and in cognizance completed the applications, which gave so many sleep less nights! I mean you are asked to tell your past, present and what you see in future! Are they looking for students or crystal balls!!!!

Well, soon enough I got an interview call from one of the universities. Happy and confident, I felt I aced it. It was great, and I was hopeful to get many more calls. In the mean time a got a couple of rejects, ppsssst....I kept on with my application schedule. Then the long wait. One by one rejects kept pouring in. The number finally reached a whopping 12. 12 rejects! Completely damned, dejected and de-motivated.

No clue of what to make out of it and what to do next. I kept talking to people, some said less experience, some say weak profile. What ever the reason I got screwed! Someone put it to me as, may be this is the preparation for something. There a lot of things left to be accomplished and may be God is preparing me it. Felt good. Few days passed by, but then again I was scratching my head; what do I do now. Job hunt not going great, the timing of the recession not helping a bit. But I guess I have to just stick to a plan.

One thing is clear it is not simple, it is hard. Imagine it to be very hard and it is harder still. But this is life - meant to be hard ;). But I learnt a lot in the process and surprising I learnt a lot about myself. What I really want to do etc.

Still hoping for the best I move on. Preparing for the next round. People say success is sweet, failure is bitter, but is it? Failure to me has nothing in it. No odor, color or taste! Nobody wants it. And once it is over you don't want to think about it, forget the taste. But Failure gives success its sweetness. There will be no joy in success if not failed attempting it. I haven't yet tasted the sweetness of success but hope to soon. Part II of this blog when it happens!

I'll end by this: "If a paper flies it is by luck, but a bird flies by effort...." Tried to be the paper (failed there), now trying to be the bird!!!

Doomsday?

A routine, mundane chit chat over lunch suddenly got interesting today. All started by discussion over the glorification of the biggest spectacle which is going to unfurl today evening...The World cup! But suddenly things got serious and drifted to discussing how terrorists should be dealt with.

I shocked to hear the views of my peers. All seemed to fervor decisive and ruthless approach towards terrorism. According to them they should be shot at point-blank range, even if he is willing to surrender. The reasoning was that terrorist are being asked to surrender all the time and if the thought of surrender is genuine then he should have done it before the time for encounter came. But what I want to ask is that from when did humans start to respond soft measures? Only when the going gets tough for a criminal only then can he even think of surrender.

A lot of animosity got reflected in the fervor with which they spoke. Haven't the terrorist won the propaganda war here? They have successfully infiltrated the minds of highly educated people and have change the liberal thinking into radical right-wing thoughts.
We all belong to one of the most liberal nations which recognizes the rights of every individual, of any caste or religion. And yet, people just want to kill each other at the first possible instance. "inhe toh bas moka milte hi khatam kar dena chahiye!". We have become on of them. As cold-blooded as them. No compassion. Unforgiving, and inhuman.

Imagine, a group of terrorists who have taken refuge in a temple/mosque/church are under siege. The security forces angrily the bleeding, no exit points. The commander then gives them a last warning. Ignoring this they start firing indiscriminately, from their vantage points in the building at the security forces. The forces rightly moving with an all out attack, taking down militants one by one. 10 militants perish and 2 of the security personnel are wounded badly. Near the end of the siege just one terrorist survives, Aseem. Aseem was a normal boy until the age of 7, when hunting for militants in the Kashmir valley his entire family was killed by the bullets of police and terrorists. Aseem was left alone in the world, and all in the name of wiping off terrorism. Aseem is then taken away by one of the terrorists to a training camp, where for 10 years he is brain washed and trained to become a hard lined terrorist. And now after 10 years he returns to a familiar sight, all his companions are killed in the battle with security forces. What should Aseem do? For him it is now a case of taking revenge. You tell me what should be done with Aseem if he surrenders as 8 commandos enter in to the room in which he is hiding. Under gun point he is willing to surrender. Should he be shot? Was he really wrong if at the tender age he was pulled into a battle which is been played by some religious fanatics? He is just was just the pawn.

But surprisingly, people supported the idea of him being shot and that he should not be given a chance to redeem himself.
The question now boils down to, will the right-winged attitude get rid of terrorism? Is it possible to kill and massacre each and every militant in a swift blow?
Even the greatest military might in our times hasn't been able to capture the biggest terrorist of all 'Osama Bin Laden'. Does the hard line approach yield the promised result. Even after the dismantling of the entire militant set-up which was present in Afghanistan we still had the 7th July attacks on London. It is impossible to curb this menace by all out attack. The only permanent solution is possible if the problem is dealt with in a compassionate and humane manner and not like animals got amok.

The single biggest virtue of our civilization is that we have never been hostile to anybody in the past 2000 years. We have not attacked anybody, we have been liberal, broad-minded and above all promoters of peace and harmony. And yet, after having long and gruelling (by the way) modern educations we have lost these virtues. Drawin's theory has come a full circle and very have become horrendous animals, eager for bloodshed of fellow humans, funny few people are fighting for Nature as a whole, where we are still fighting with other humans with no regard for humanity. How do you expect the nature to be conserved by such people. Truly Doomsday is near!

Watch out!