2010 Summary

This has been a truly remarkable year both professionally and personally not just to me but everyone at home – a very huge one indeed… :) :) :)

People who visit us have often remarked about our beautiful home. Even strangers who had a chance to peek inside have told us the same. Sweet home is getting better… we bought a new home and will be moving in by early June :) Thanks to Bala, Suman, and Karthi for helping with home loan references and witness signatures… :)

The year doesn’t get over without an international travel… Leaving to Pennsylvania and Boston on a business trip (what else?) tomorrow :)

My wishes to everyone to open New Year with the warmth of hope and happiness in heart; May this year brings choicest of blessings showered on you... Have a wonderful year ahead! Catch you all from the other side of the globe in New Year! Ciao…

And… the Oscar goes to…

Mercy Ponnupandy :)

Well… I’ve been awarded “EMC Cause for Applause Award” by Consulting Leadership Team for taking new initiatives which help Consulting Practice to look at new direction of Business :)

In my acceptance speech, I thanked Thamba profusely for “coaching and installing Documentum” between the sniffs and tears ;)

Slactivism and the Art of Contribution

At some point in life, most of us find an urging need to contribute to the society for various reasons – making a difference in others life, feel good factor, strongly felt on personal experience, or just for tax exemption. It could be any reason. Whatever it is, small or big all contributions do make a change. They say small drops of water make an ocean, isn’t it? Ensure to do it well. Alarmingly a new of breed armchair activists is in rise, hoarding internet to support a cause just by moving a finger to click mouse. They support their cause or raise awareness in internet by signing internet petitions, attach awareness ribbon, or join a social networking group. They are called by the term, ‘slacktivist’. Having largest number of tweets or big group in Facebook hardly brings a change. They would surely get picked up in the search results and other than it doesn’t achieve anything.

Take awareness on breast cancer for example. If somebody knows to join a Facebook group on creating awareness about breast cancer they would already know how to use search engines to get information about it. Just by joining as a member, one feels self-righteously good and gets complacent on action. Adhering “Earth Hour” by switching off home, driving a luxury car alone to a shopping mall flooded with lights and watching a movie, and happily tweeting about it beats the purpose. It is more than irony. It is actually mocking the original goal. How about creating awareness from family planning to RTI to the remote villages via internet? Internet is a powerful media and I wish it reaches every nook and corner of India. Things are not like the way we wish though.

Before even one get to know the cause or goal behind a campaign, there is a dangerous trend to jump into the bandwagon. Save Tigers is one such campaign where I felt confused on the public support. By saying this I never meant to say we should not save tigers. Tiger is our national animal, the pride of India; we have to save them from extinction. No second thoughts about it. How can one contribute? Do you plan to renounce the world and start searching the inner-self by doing penance – sitting on a tiger skin in Himalayas? Or have you planned to request Giorgio Armani to design winter coat to protect against the harsh winter of Europe on your vacation? Please don’t do that. Hunting wild animals is a criminal offence in most of the countries. One can’t do that. Zamindars of olden times who fashioned to wear tiger’s tooth in a gold chain or have stuffed tigers are lost today. If you have one at home, there is a possibility of getting arrested these days. Consuming the meat of carnivorous animals could be a potential threat to human health. As history has it, there is no country which had tiger meat as a delicacy.

If you think in these terms, you might wonder how to contribute? The same site talks about “Roaring Online”, “Celebrity Roars”, “Visiting Tiger Reserves”, to “Donate” as different ways of contribution. Now that I’ve “roared” online, what could be the effect? I know most of my readers – colleagues, friends and family (at times I’ve forced them to read it ;) ) I can swear that none live anywhere closer to a tiger reserve and hence don’t have one in a million chances to hurt a tiger even accidentally. On celebrity roars, I hardly buy anything just because some celebrity endorses it. One has to be a responsible tourist while visiting forest and not just tiger reserve. A small cigarette butt could trigger huge forest fires. It is painful to watch people throwing plastics with reckless abandon. And “Donate”? Now you are talking business, baby!

Saving tigers needs money, the real god in the present world. Leonardo DiCaprio donated $1 million and helps to find political and financial help to sustain this cause. That is what is required – tons and tons of money, to support governments, scientists, veterinarians, and the right resources to run the tiger reserve. Government policies should get more stringent in forest areas. It was good to find Kanyakumari district as plastic cover free zone in our last visit. They could implement the same in Nilgiris Biosphere or places like Hogenekkal, Mekedatu where people come close to nature and utterly spoil the harmony of it. As an individual, I can only pick up a fight with one or two by telling them not to do it. Government can impose this as law and make it a clean zone. Roaring online would only have zero impact.

When you want to support a cause, please read thoroughly. Only when you feel strongly about it, offer you support. When you offer your support, try to do more than online support – invest your time and/or money to make a real difference as nothing comes for free in this world.

Life in a Glass House

Active Indian media (Newspaper, Television, and Radio) was digging out scam after scam this year. Indians were appreciative about their well-documented exposés through an excellent use of RTIs. Have they turned their backs when it came to one of their brethren? I’m talking about Nira Radia tapes… Shocked Supreme Court of India found it as “mindboggling pollution” but Indians are deprived of this crucial news. TV channels that take one case, dissect it to shreds, and analyze with various talk-shows, expert opinions, and people voice are unusually quiet. It is simply because some journalists crossed the line to mediate between corrupt politicians, huge corporates, and power-brokers. Even print media is slow in accommodating this news. Thanks to electronic media YouTube, Blogosphere, Twitter, and others who had taken this to people. It reach is limited only to the computer-literates.

It was a normal, scam-free, terrorism-free, natural-disaster-free day in a life of common people... While browsing TV channels, I left a channel linger on for two minutes. One anchor was really shouting his heart out. Amma worried, peaked out of kitchen to ask “is everything alright?” Munching a hot snack, I replied “yes… things are good… why asking now?” She said no “They are shouting on TV and I thought something worse has happened” I had to convince her nothing other than normalcy has prevailed that day. This is exactly how common people react to TV.

It is very unpleasant to hear the noise polluting my living room. What is the need to shout when you already have a microphone? Or probably they should just talk without microphones. Although they attach passion-for-a-cause tag, many times it raises above the decibel levels that humans can hear and hence loses it case without being heard. Why such vocal, passionate media has a peculiar black-out? Ethical and moral values of Indian journalism has been questioned now. Don’t we warn or correct our own family members or friends if we feel that they are crossing boundaries? Why not accept mistakes and come out clean? Indians would never want their fourth pillar of democracy going weak by power mongering and corruption.

I Told You So

Earlier in one of my posts, I had written about how DMK supremo Karunanidhi is too old to fit as CM and that he writes letter to PM often on issues of lesser importance. Kanimozhi has vouched for that in Nira Radia tapes…

No. Prime Minister did not. I was the one who was talking with him. I was on the phone and he – Prime Minister said a few words, that’s all. And see, Prime Minister can’t talk on a phone to dad and convey, there is obviously… Prime Minister is also, you know, very soft spoken and dad can’t hear that clearly also.

He can’t hear well over the phone?? Aaaaahhhhhhhh… That is exactly why he writes letters that surpasses Shakespeare’s sonnets or in this case Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukural to PM. Imagine PM calling Chennai on a potential security threat, yelling as hard as some TV anchors, and Karunanidhi going “huh? thaangal solluvathu en sevyil seriyaga vizhavillai… aathalal sirthu pozhuthu sendravudan Kanimozhiyai ungalidam pesa sollgiren” God bless Tamil Nadu...

Contemplation

Un livre est une fenêtre par laquelle on s'évade
(A book is a window through which it escapes)
~ Julien Green

A Kalamkari inspiration… The joy of reading comes from within. My imagination can run places... When it combines with powerful language, it would become a wild horse too tough to tame. I read Metamorphosis by Kafka late in the night before sleeping and was deeply worried next day to open my eyes. After touching my back and sides to prove myself that I’ve neither developed hideous shell nor numerous legs, I opened my eyes with glee. I somehow couldn’t get rid of the formaldehyde smell after reading a short story by Marquez about a dead body. I begged Amma to join me for a walk around 10 in the night simply to get rid of that. There were numerous such instances… one bad habit that I’m trying to get rid is to stop the story in between and try to guess the flow of story. I end up spoiling the story for myself but have the pleasure of guessing the flow right. The joy of reading comes from within…

Bangalore Syndrome

Bangaloreans irrespective of so many complaints tend to like their own area. Most of residential localities in Bangalore come with similar facilities – shopping malls, multiplexes, restaurants, banks, hospitals, schools, and others. Yet, they simply refuse to accept another area is better than one they live on.

Indiranagar is an uptown, quiet residential locality in the heart of the city with varied shopping options and eat-outs. To this, some from Jalahalli would argue that roads are non-existent in Indiranagar with metro construction, though that is the same happening in Jalahalli ;) For people in Indiranagar, Jalahalli belongs to Tumkur district rather than Bangalore. Hennur is right place for some to live because it gives a feeling of both in the city and not way too downtown :) Although infested with ghost hauntings and high-profile government officers, R.T. Nagar is the best place to live as it connects the SEZs with the city ;) I’ve heard BTM is top rated locality in Bangalore by a few. JP Nagar would have reached 18th Phase but that doesn’t deter people from even thinking of moving out. Sadashiva Nagar glitters with trees and film stars as is the case with Dollars Colony. Early in this decade Whitefield, Madiwala, and Electronic City would be the ideal place for IT Professionals. Newly developed SEZs might have hazed this prestigious identity. Still it is the choice of place for many. You can find comparable arguments akin to those mentioned for all the localities.

People like the place in Bangalore where they initially landed on. They are fiercely proud of their locality. You can listen to serious arguments defending their locality as you pass by in cafeteria or pantry. Most of the Bangaloreans are affected by this ‘Bangalore Syndrome’ :)

Blue Ring of Patience

What can you do when the Windows blue ring of patience fills you with despair?

1. Have a snack
2. Take a power nap
3. Read ‘The Island of the Day Before’
4. Rotate your eyeballs like the ring to help you in not falling asleep over you laptop
5. If your energies are high, you can also try hypnotizing self
6. Write useless rants like this

What is your pick? ;)