The Master

Sometimes, it refuses to fly...
stays standstill... forever..
etched in your memory..
good, bad.. happy, sad...
the evil, the master..
the traitor, the treasure..
sometimes, you can't hold it,
the other times, it holds you...
it's not your story, you are a part of its story...
the story called - "time"

News Headlines in 2020 in Leading Indian Newspapers

This was our entry for an event in IIM Lucknow. We had to give a few headlines in Indian newspapers in the year 2020. I worked with Jasmeet Singh on this. Click on the picture for the video.

1. Research reports points towards Rebalancing of World Economy

The reigns have clearly shifted from the hands of powerful nations to the emerging nations in the past decade post the Great Recession. The recent World Trade Report issued by WTO support this statement with China overtaking USA in terms of Gross Domestic Product in purchasing power parity (GDP in PPP). India ranks a close 3rd followed by Germany & Japan. The same is the case with share in Equity trading, FDI inflows and international trade where China & India have given a tough competition to India. The share turnover velocity (STV) of the Indian stock markets has beaten those of USA, UK, China and other nations.

2. Ink Losing Newspaper to be in circulation soon

P&I ltd gets clean chit from the environment industry to resume the production of its innovative ink losing newspaper. Many had argued that the ink used on this paper wasn’t environment friendly. But the producers were able to convince the jury about the safety of this product. This newspaper becomes blank by losing its special ink after two days and can be used for writing as normal paper. The target group for the same is mainly school and college students.

3. Mumbai gets Smart floating homes. Land congestion problem solved?

Sample Smart Floating Home by Tata Infra & Reality are ready for display for customers at Worli. The most striking feature of these homes, apart from floating in water, is the wireless electricity transfer mechanism for electricity flow between ports and devices. This is the first commercial launch of Witricity for personal use at homes.

4. Dr Chun Li gets Nobel Prize for Economics for “CURDEX”

The Nobel Prize for Economics has been awarded to Dr Chun Li from China for his study, proposal and successful implementation of “CURDEX” - the new global currency index. This index has been instrumental in putting an end to the decade long dominance of dollar as the international currency. This index will now be used for functioning of all international organizations and maintaining all their records. The components of this index are the currencies of world’s 5 major economies– China, India, USA, EU and Japan. It is calculated using the weighted average of various economic indicators like GDP, growth rate, inter-country transfers, etc.

5. Indian wins Nobel Prize for Physics

Mr VC Raman from India received the Nobel Prize for Physics for his breakthrough discovery in the field of electricity generation by nuclear reactors. His successfully carried out nuclear reaction by using abundantium as fuel. It will reduce dependency on uranium, which is scarcely available, as the fuel and result in successful implementation of nuclear power plants as abandantium is abundant in reserves and has much higher productivity as compared to uranium.

6. Rahul’s popularity sky rockets post anti-corruption and anti-reservation campaigns

The popularity ratings of the Indian Prime Minister Rahul Ghandi sky rocketed post his successful campaigns against corruption and reservation in the country. After the anti-corruption campaign, India’s ranking in the World Doing Business has improved and many foreign companies have shown interest to enter the market. The Anti-Reservation campaign is still going on with the reservations being brought down to the lowest level in the last 5 years. Clearly, India is moving towards the economic condition based reservation with gradual abolishment of caste based one.

7. “GM crop has changed the face of Indian Agriculture” – Sichon Pilot, Agri Minister

The 5th Annual All India Farmers Association Meet ended on Thursday on a high note. In his speech, the agriculture minister Sichon Pilot acknowledged the contribution of genetically modified crops in the growth of Indian Agriculture. He was overwhelmed while mentioning that India has registered the highest number of patents for GM Crops in the last 5 years. This was the outcome of what is better known as Green Revolution II started by Prof S.M. Swaminath.

8. Hydrogen run cars register record sales in October 2020

Automobile index rose by 6% on Thursday as the sales numbers of the industry were announced. The sale of hydrogen run cars reached new heights with the aggregate sale of all the companies touching 2 lakh units in the month of October 2020. Hydrogen run cars have spearheaded the industry growth ever since their launch. These cars use hydrogen as fuel which is extracted through electrolysis of water. Recently, T&M launched an advanced version with an embedded filtration system which enables the customers to use tap water as source of fuel. This mechanism will bring down the cost of operations significantly.

9. SPJIMR Participants help earthquake hit Vibronasia as part of DOCC project

240 participants of SPJIMR, the leading business school of India, went to Sunadra and North Makalu provinces of Vibronasia to serve the earthquake hit people of the country. This initiative was a part of the DOCC project of the participants, in which they serve the society. This is not the first time that the participants went for a project in a foreign country. They also served the people of Nepol during the civil war in 2016. Participants stayed in Vibronasia for 6 weeks, and the institute also vowed to donate 10% of total course fees of the year.

10. Most Innovative Product of the year : Wheel-o-charge

The device which uses tyre movement to charge equipment (like laptop, cell phones, etc.) in a vehicle has won the award for the most innovative product of the year. This award is given every year by the Ted Organization which has been promoting innovative products for over a decade now. The other products in contention were Pet Voice Translator, Hair Fertilizer, Shrinking Machine, 5-Wheeler Easy-to-Park Car, Utility Locator Smart Tags and Cloth generating heat using heartbeat.

33% women reservation: From the Viewpoint of an Analyst!

The Indian parliament is on the verge of passing a landmark bill which would reserve 33% seats for women at each level of legislative decision making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures. The proponents of the bill say that more participation of the women at the top will lead to women empowerment, help them to fight against abuse, discriminations and inequality they face. While the opponents of the bill say that this bill will not, in any way, help the women of the lower strata of the society, as only the women from the high society will be benefitted. As far as my stand on this topic is concerned, I’m very much for women empowerment, but only if it’s done with a good motive and the steps are not politically motivated.

Now coming to the question: Do we really require women reservation in the parliament? Let’s try to answer this question keeping just Lok Sabha or the Lower House in mind. Statistics show that till 14th Lok Sabha, i.e. till UPA-I government, the number of women in the House of Commons never crossed 10% of the total seats. It was for the first time in 2009 general elections that the number of women in Lok Sabha crossed this mark; it’s 10.82% to be more precise.

There could be two reasons for this. First, women are not given enough opportunities to contest elections, and that is the reason behind less representation. Second, women are given a chance but they don’t win the elections. FYI, there were only 45 women who contested the 1957 general elections. This number touched a high of 599 in 1996 and stood at 556 in 2009. The trend shows that this figure rose consistently between 1957 and 1996. But there was a sharp dip in 1998 elections, but then the number rose again uniformly. To give a better picture, in 1957 elections, only 2.96% of the contestants were women and in 2009, this figure was 6.89%. Though this figure has been constantly increasing, it’s still pretty low. Now, let’s see how many of these women who contested the elections were victorious. Interestingly, this number has fallen down continuously since 1957. It has come down from 48.89% success rate in 1957 to 6.68% in 1996 and stood at 10.61% in 2009. So, out of 556 women who got tickets in 2009, only 59 were elected from their constituencies.

Till now, we’ve seen only India specific data. Now, let’s have a look at what is happening in the world politics. Rwanda is the only country in the world with more women in the parliament than men. 56.3% of Rwanda MPs are women, followed by Sweden with 46.4%. Keeping the 33.3% mark in mind, which India wants to impose, it is interesting to note that only 17 countries in the world have those many women in their current parliaments. The big names among these 17 countries include South Africa, Cuba, Netherlands, Finland, Argentina, Spain and New Zealand. Nepal (33.2%) and Germany (32.8%) stand very close to this mark. The average of G-7 nations stands at 20.4% and that of G-20 at 19.3%. All these numbers are pretty far away from 33.3%. Ain’t they?

These statistics raise many questions in mind. How did India arrive at 33.3% mark? Would it do any good to the nation to jump from 10.82% to 33.3% in one leap?? We know that women empowerment is very important, but is reservation the only way? Will this reservation kill the chances of some more deserving candidates? All in all, how fair is this reservation? And does India need 33.3% women reservation (focusing more on the numbers than the words)?

Hindustani Naam Hamaara Hai

One of my colleagues came to me in the office today and asked if I had the songs of Roja. I obviously didn’t have them as I never thought those songs would be great. I told him that I can download it for him. When I saw the list of songs in that movie, I was shocked to see that those were few of my favorite songs and I never knew they were from this movie. So, when I gave the songs to him, I made sure that I also copy them in my pen drive so that when I go home, the first thing I do is to listen to those lovely songs. The 1st song in the list was a patriotic one, which I must have surely heard almost hundreds of times while in school, either on the Independence Day or the Republic Day celebrations. {Those were the only 2 days in the year when we used to listen to patriotic songs and speeches about love for the “Maatrabhoomi” (motherland)}. But when I heard this song today, its meaning seemed to be so different. Though this was written in early 1990’s, its message sounded so contemporary. So, I thought I should try to understand each and every line of this lovely song and see how relevant it is in today’s India. Here’s what I felt about this song.

“Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hai, Sabse Nyaara Gulistaan Hamaara Hai”
I believe this feeling should be there in every Indian’s heart. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. I personally know a few people who consider some Middle East nation better than India, leave alone India’s comparison with the developed western world. Practically speaking, India is the “Sabse Nyaara Gulistaan” in the world. It has people following so many religions, customs and beliefs, that it’s like a “garden with many flowers”, which is the literal meaning of “Gulistaan”.

“Sadiyon se Bharat Bhoomi Duniya Ki Shaan Hai, Bharatmaa Ki Raksha Mein Jeevan Qurbaan Hai, Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hai...”
India has made a lot of contribution in the progress of the world. Even though I’m not very good at history, I know that the first university in the world – “Takshila” was established in India, it was an Indian who discovered “0”, the value of pi was calculated here in this country, till 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world, and the most recent example, India has been a leader in pulling the world out of recession. This is why, “Sadiyon se Bharat Bhoomi Duniya ki shaan hai”. Many brave men and women have laid down their lives to protect this nation. Even today, so many youngsters dream of getting into the army. Though I didn’t go to the army, I salute those, who are serving the nation, with great respect.

“Ujde Nahin Apna Chaman Toote Nahi Apna Watan, Gumraah Na Kar De Koi, Barbaad Na Kar De Koi. Mandir Yahaan Masjid Yahaan Hindu Yahaan Muslim Yahaan, Milte Rahe Hum Pyaar Se. Jaago...”
This verse has been sung with great vigor and passion in the song, as if asking the whole nation to react to what’s happening around. And this is the first time during the song when one realizes that these words were written specially for this era, year 2009-10, as if the lyricist knew what would happen in the time to come. States are being divided forcefully, people are being misled to believe that the city belongs only to the natives and not their countrymen, country is being divided into pieces for petty politics, people being commented upon on the basis of their castes (SRK being asked to consider going to Pak), and what not. Is this the India for whose independence our ancestors sacrificed everything? The last word of the verse says: Jaago… Wake up.. Or else, yeh chaman ujad jayega or yeh watan toot jayega.

“Hindustani Naam Hamaara Hai, Sabse Pyaara Desh Hamaara Hai;
Janmabhoomi Hai Hamaari Shaanse Kahenge Hum, Sab Hi To Bhai Bhai Pyaar Se Rahenge Hum; Hindustani Naam Hamaara Hai,Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyaara Hai...” Yes, we’re first Indians and then northees or southees, Gujaratis or Punjabis, Sindhis or Marwadis. We were born in India, and not in a particular state or town. We should take pride in saying that we’re Indians, rather than saying we’re Bihari or Marathi. We all are brothers, born to the same mother: India. We should not fall to the divisive strategies of some self-interested men, and prefer being called Hindustani, rather than by any other noun.

“Assam se Gujarat Tak Bengal se Maharashtra Tak, Jaati Kai Dhun Ek Hai Bhaasha Kai Sur Ek Hai; Kashmir se Madras Tak Keh Do Sabhi Hum Ek Hain, Aawaz Do Hum Ek Hain Jaago...”
28 states and 7 union territories. An area spread over more than 3 million square kilometers. A haven to about 1/6th of the world’s population. A country of such large diversity. Still, there’s love and compassion for each other. But, in current scenario, this statement doesn’t seem to be true. People are fighting everywhere in the country, some on the basis of religion, others on the basis of region. I’ve witnessed both the types of fights in my short life of 21 years. There were riots in my hometown between Hindus and Muslims. And I’ve witnessed the unrest among citizens on the basis of region. We are now divided on the basis of our religions and our language. Nowadays, a Madrasi is afraid of going to Kashmir and a Bihari is being beaten up in Mumbai.

I would again ask, is this the India our forefathers dreamt of? It’s high time we woke up. We should come together and stand united. This is the same country where the names of Ram and Rahim are taken in the same breath. This is the land where Krishna and Moinuddin Chisti had lived. This is the nation where a great saint lived in Shirdi, who never knew his own religion and served all men, irrespective of their caste, creed or color. Let’s wake up and not discriminate among ourselves. Let’s be Indians, rather than being called as a “bhaiya” or “manoos”. We need to understand that if a political party believes that when it comes to the army, they are “Indians” but when it comes to the aam aadmi, they should be divided on the basis of their states, then this party is just indulging into vote bank politics and nothing else .

If we all believe that this is true, then let’s sing together:
“Hindustani Naam Hamaara Hai, Sabse Pyaara Desh Hamaara Hai”

Dear Mr. Blog

Dear Mr. Blog,

Well, after my exams got over (FMS 2010 was my last one of the season), I thought I should again make contact with all my friends, with whom I could not keep in touch because of exams. Since Sunday, I’ve spoken to almost all my friends. You are the only one left, so here I’m, back to you, with some more of my wonderful experiences.

When my exams were going on, I thought the best stress-buster would be some activity which gives peace of mind as well as teaches you something. Yes, even in your free time, you have to do something productive. As someone rightly said, Life is a Race, you have to keep running. If you falter, someone will overtake you and you’ll be left behind. I kept racking my brains to find out such an activity which could solve both the purposes, but could not think of any. Eventually, I thought I would watch some movie. But which movie, that was a billion dollar question (due to inflation, million dollar has become billion).

And this question gave me the answer to my first question. India is the country producing the maximum number of movies in the world every year. Some of them make you laugh while some make you cry, some are romantic, and others are action. So, in such a situation when you are spoilt for choices, which movie should you watch when you want to relax as well as you want to learn also. Those obviously have to be the best movies ever made in this country, and probably (read “definitely”) abroad also. Since I’m not a good movie critic, I thought I should follow what other critics have observed. So I decided to pick up those movies which have been praised, acclaimed and (in a few cases) rewarded also. Yes, those movies which have been nominated for the Oscars or have won the Academy Awards (I know Oscars and Academy are the same). Till now, I’ve watched 3 such movies and the 4th one is being downloaded (yeah, I do download a lot of movies these days). I’ve watched Gandhi (already told you about that), Mother India (an amazing movie) and 3 Idiots. Hmmm…. You must be thinking that it has just released, so I must gone mad that I’ve mentioned it in this list. Well, I can very well predict that this movie will be nominated for Oscars, n if I were in the jury, I would make sure that it wins also. The one being downloaded is Shahrukh starrer Paheli, nominated in 2005. I watched Sholay also but was shocked to know that it was never nominated.

After watching these movies, I’ve decided I’ll (try to) watch all those Indian movies (if they are in Hindi, or else Marathi will also do) which had been nominated for Oscars. I’m pretty sure these movies will be sensible enough and also a lot entertaining. So this is my new year’s resolution [1024*768].

Well, it’s time to go now. Will get back to you soon and tell you about my experiences with Mother India and her 3 Idiots. And I'll also tell you about the source of some dialogues in this letter (though many people surely know it). Till den, God bless all!!!

Yours……..

Long Live Mahatma

1st week of December, 2009: An avid Economic Times reader sees the last page of the news paper. Finds the statement of a man saying he doesn’t need publicity in India. His name: Ben Kingsley. This reader gets curious about such a proclamation by a person whom he has never heard about. Reading the first few lines of that article tells that in 1982, Ben played the character of Mahatma Gandhi in “Gandhi”, the film which won 8 Oscars. The reader, well equipped with modern technology, decides to download a free copy of this movie and find out what was so special about it that it received 8 Oscars. It takes a few days to download the movie, but finally it is there in the laptop of this reader.

12th December 2009: This reader, after finishing his daily chores and not in a mood to study, decides to kill the time by watching some movie. He searches his E drive and finds this moving lying there. With no other option, he plays the movie at 8:00 pm. Mind you, the reader is still connected to the internet, with another Indian epic, Sholay, being downloaded, and that too, a free copy. So, this reader now becomes the viewer.

8:00 pm – Titles roll.

8:01 pm - Nathuram Godse enters and the history is written.

8:05 pm – Movie Continues. The viewer doesn’t know what actually happened in South Africa that made Gandhiji so famous. He used to think it was some easy battle which he won and won the accolades of millions back home. Well, exactly at around 8:40, the myth gets busted. The viewer is amazed to see what actually happened there. The courage and determination of Gandhiji changed the lives of 100s of 1000s colored people in RSA.

8:40 pm – Gandhiji reaches India. He receives a warm welcome form his countrymen. Post that, Gandhiji goes on to discover the real India. Finishes this in some time and delivers his 1st speech in his homeland. “I could see the British shaking now” says one of the persons who interact with Gandhiji.

9:00 pm – The viewer takes a kit-kat break (he actually eates a kit-kat), which gets extended to dinner break and then, he thinks of checking his mails, catching up with a few friends online, viewing an amazing profile pic of one of the friends on facebook, talkin to his best friend, den his mom and then his sis… n yeah, also checking the status of Sholay. Finally, he decides to finish the movie that very night.

13th December 2009: 12:20 am – The best movie of his life, as the viewer describes it later, resumes. Gandhiji is invited to Champaran to solve the problems of the farmers. Again, Bapu shows conviction, defies the ruling of the court, and eventually, pulls the farmers out of troubled waters. During his Champaran visit, he gets the name – Bapu. Bapu’s back from Champaran in 10 mins. The viewer pauses the movie, opens Wikipedia and reads a bit about Champaran.

12:30 am – To protest against a new British law, Bapu proposes a day of fast and prayer, i.e. a strike (see how subtly he put that). Here’s when Nehru calls him Mahatma for the first time. The sequences take an ugly turn, which leads to the worst ever massacre in the history of India. After this, Gandhiji calls for Non cooperation movement all across the nation. Violence breaks out in various parts of the country. Gandhiji goes on his first of the two fasts-unto-death. And amazingly, it gives positive results. Violence ends and peace reinstates. After this, Gandhiji is sent to jail for half a dozen of years. In between this whole episode, there is an intermission. No, this viewer doesn’t get up, but an intermission which you usually get in theatres to buy pop corn for your girl, or probably have a smoke. 2 mins of soothing music and all the characters are back again. Yours truly listens to the full 2-min music clip.

1:10 am – After coming out of jail, Gandhiji now calls for Dandi March. Again it’s a big success. The primary importance of this 241-mile walk is very symbolic. (Please watch the movie to find it out. ;-)) Gandhiji is again arrested, Indians are beaten, but they don’t hit back. They observe non-violence. This act gives India a lot of publicity in western media and earns her a lot of respect.

1:35 am – Mahatma Gandhi is released and he’s called by British PM for Round Table Conference. He meets a lot of people there, including Mr. Charlie Chaplin. The British scoundrels (excuse me for these words) show their true colors here and sow the seeds of communalism. After coming back, Gandhiji goes to Aga Khan Palace, Pune – which is now a prison. His wife accompanies him. She passes away in the prison. Gandhiji moves on.

1:48 am – Last viceroy reaches India. India is all set to gain freedom. Jinnah becomes a victim of the British venom. He becomes adamant on a separate Muslim State. Gandhiji tries his level best to keep the nation united, but fails. The Nation gets divided. During the movement of public from India to Pakistan and vice versa, communal riots break out and many are killed. This is when Gandhiji calls for his second fast-unto-death. Again a big success. Both the nations are in harmony (not for long though, as we all know).

2:14 am – Nathuram Godse enters again and the history is written.

This is one of the greatest movies this viewer has ever seen. Exemplary performances by all the actors. This movie busts all the myths in this viewer’s mind. Gandhiji was truly a Mahatma, a person every Indian should know about, should read about and should follow.

LONG LIVE MAHATMA GANDHI…

2:20 am – The viewer starts writing his blog.

4:00 am – He finishes his write up and is all set to post it on his blog.
(N yeah, Sholay is still being downloaded.)

The Inevitable Doom

“Hello and welcome to the 15th Independence Day celebrations of our mother land – Khalistan. It’s been 15 years since the day our first prime minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Jr. hoisted our national flag for the first time in the independent Khalistan. I’d now request our Prime Minister Sardar Manmohan Singh Jr. to address the gathering.

Hello everyone. I congratulate you all on the 15th Independence Day of Free Khalistan. I’d also like to welcome Mr. KCR Jr., Prime Minister, Telangana , one of our neighboring countries. Our relationship with Telangana is very old, and very special. This was the state, which made us believe that we can achieve our dreams. On this auspicious occasion let me begin by walking down the memory lane and appreciating how it all happened. The battle for freedom of Khalistan was long fought, and we made constant efforts till late 1980’s to get freedom from the clutches of India, but to no avail. Post that, we got diverted from our mission for a few decades. A wave of patriotism spread in the whole of India after a few incidents of bomb blasts in quick succession across the nation. Sikhs thought that helping the central and other state governments was the need of the hour. Also, by the end of the first decade of 21st century, our great leaders, the torch bearers of Khalistan believed that since there was a Sikh PM at the center, Sikhs were getting their due respect. Though a few of them believed that it was the trick of the then Congress chief to keep Khalistan movement in check and it was a known fact that the PM was being used just as a puppet, Sikhs were blinded by the pseudo powers he had. As the PM gradually began to lose his grip on the politics of the nation, and Congress got assured that Khalistani movement had died down, PM was kicked out of the mainstream politics and Sikhs were again betrayed, the same way as they were cheated in late 1940’s, and again in late 1980’s. By 2011, Sikhs started feeling completely shunned and dejected.

But a few young leaders had already woken up by then, esp. after what they witnessed in December 2009. At the mid-night of 9th-10th December 2009, the central government of India agreed to think about a separate Telangana State. At that time, these Sikh young bloods realized that if some people from Andhra can fight for their separate state, why should they keep quite. But they couldn’t do much that time, since the Sikh stalwarts still believed that they were being treated equally. But post 2011, our protest began again and this time, we were inexorable. We knew that India wasn’t a tough country anymore, the government was always ready to yield to threatening protests, and this was evident from what had happened in Telangana in 2009. That incident made us realize that we can achieve our dream of our own country, our own motherland – Khalistan.

And as it was destined to happen, after 4 years of continuous struggle, we finally achieved our freedom on 15 August 2015, the historic day which later paved the way for around 30 other countries achieving freedom from the clutches of the erstwhile India. Earlier, all these countries were different parts of India and were first ruled for a few centuries by the Muslim kings, then came the English men, who left them to the whims and fancies of India, giving total freedom to only one country called Pakistan. Though Pakistan was a failure, even India wasn’t a big success. There were internal riots, regionalism, communalism, corruption, and what not. You name any social evil and it was there. But after freedom, we’ve come a long way ahead. We’ve…….”

Tring, Tring…. And my phone rang. I realized that I just dreamt about what I firmly believe is inevitable to happen in India. Looking at what is happening in our country, I could very well believe that this dream will become true in years to come. Each state will turn into an independent country. Maharashtra will seek to be a different country to protect her culture, states in South India will seek separation to protect their language, Goa will cite the requirement of more freedom of expression as the reason, and all the other states will come up with some or the other trivial reason to get separated. If the central government can’t take a stand against violence in the assembly of a state; if they easily succumb to the demands of a person sitting on hunger strike – unto – death, I’m pretty sure that that government would never be able to tackle the insurgency movements taken up by various states… All I could do now is to keep my fingers crossed, pray that the mistake that the government has committed a few hours ago doesn’t prove to be fatal, and that our country prospers and achieve great success ahead. Amen.
God Bless All.

Disclaimer: These are not my personal thoughts but just my dream. I pray to God that this dream doesn’t turn true, but if it does, I don’t take any responsibility.