Am I growing wiser with age?

Many Moons ago I resolved to grow wiser as I aged.

A year older and wiser or so goes the age-old adage.

An odd grey-hair juts out signals me "Walking into the sunset of my life?"

Another year closer to the grave eh?

Do the #wise think of #death while discussing a celebratory #occassion like #birthday?

Am I growing #wiser with #age?

Many Moons later and the pertinent Q still looms "Am I growing wiser with age?"

As I ponder over this precarious situation it threatens to blow-off my cloak of being termed a "socially-wise-person".

Introspecting, I confront the #demon that this Q has grown into.

I frantically try to rationalize an response which would make me sound "wise".

Then the #truth hits me, I like all humans born before & after me, merely struggled to make my mark (whatever that means), provide for myself, form meaningful relationships and measure #success as a mere reflection of ones possessions & earnings.

I take it, that's a VERY #shallow & #superficial way of looking AND #living #life...and I'm #guilty as charged!

Why stops us from living life "as is" - let go of past baggage, shun apprehensions of the future and to live in the present?

Our innate attachment to self. The delusional importance/self-worth - the aham bhāvam. We are so blinded & self-consumed in our life's rat-race, we fail to stop and wonder the ramification of all these actions & events that we engage in. Is this what I was born to do? Am I more than this?

I rake my brains to come up with a "meaningful" answer to my conundrum.

I try to dig deep into the recess of my labyrinthine mind.
But all I manage to come-up with is filth which has clogged & blinded our human cognitive capabilities.

Tired as my eye-lids grow heavy reducing my open eyes to a mere slit, I hear the demon's fleeting voice call out again...

...Am I growing wiser with age?

#TumbleRide

Opening scene:

THUD! Both of us sliding in the middle of a busy junction of a very busy road.

#Gazelle sneers, I grunt, we look at each other smile, pick ourselves up and limp to safety by the road-side.

Injuries drop-in to mark this event and blood trickles to prove we were after all - mere mortals!

Back-story:

#Cycling day said my weekly schedule. I start the day on a high-note. I was looking forward to showing-off my new cycling apparels. The ride goes well as I bid good-bye to my last riding buddy on the last leg of our planned route. I was pushing #Gazelle more than she could handle but she obliged. In my eagerness to set a PR I miss the dip in the road. The next min we both were sliding on the road! Thankfully most of the vehicles tailing us were far behind...given that we were racing with the wind.

A kind-couple who were pulling out of the nearby eatery's parking lot offer me some water. I wash off the blood that was now close to a trickle. I thank them. Sensing the severity of the occasion they offer to drop me home. I respectfully declined. We were hurt but not shaken nor ready to give-up. Base was 10KMs away.

I do a quick cursory check to see if Gazelle can make it. After all Gazelle had chipped her right horn but she smiled, I knew she was all fine. Badly bruised, my right shoulder, knee, ankle and leg were bleeding, but our spirits were high. We were determined to finish this trip on a high.

Lessons learnt:

I get back on the saddle and paddle while voices in-my-head reminde me of what some wise-men once said:

#Winners don't quit and #QuittersNeverWin. We #fall only to #rise back again! #Warriors wear their #scars proudly! Thanks to #angels watching over me, I walk away without any serious injury and live to tell the tale. #BeSafe #RideSafeAlways End of scene.

Tumble-ride baby #TumbleRide!

The De-Monetisation Drama

PM Narendra Modi kicked off the highly secretive de-demonetization drama - I mean saga. In a  manner which was marketed as an "surgical strike" on Black Money. I was one among the millions of fellow Indians who lapped up the narrative and went ga-ga over how good this was going to be for India's economy. In my heart-of-hearts I wished & expected this move to the greatest "leveler" I'll witness in my lifetime. Scenarios of the elitist, the ultra-rich with their rooms stacked with ill-gotten money were about to run around like headless chicken got my pulse & heart beating fast on a background score of "Namo Namo Namo"...finally! But unfortunately this was my own story of Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne! Read on...

At the crack of dawn, my senses with a dreamy sleep-deprived, incoherent but racing ahead raising pertinent questions which I couldn't answer/comprehend.
Sample this:
1) Was this "surgical strike" the silver-bullet to take on Black money?
2) Implications of this move on others(being a service/salaried individual I self-exempted myself)?
3) Should I empathize/celebrate the rich-who-recently-were-to-see-their-stocked money-turn-worthless?
4) Is this the great-leveler that I've been seeking in my Utopian dreams?
5) Is this the dawn of a new era?
........
n) Are you out-of-your-mind to lose sleep and now try to seek answers to these Qs?
The last Q had an secret setting "recur-every-10 minute=ON" and was constantly trying to keep me in the present...but I my euphoria was hitting the snooze button on it..."Buzz Off!"

Few days passed, and then the dust settled down so-to-speak, on the "core issue" - Implementation! TBH it got muddier in the true sense.
As hours rolled-by, with RBI conveniently missing from the star-cast, it was all about PM Modi and his side-kick, Indian FM Arun Jaitely stealing the show. There was declaration followed by another declaration, followed by rules-to-follow which was then followed by some more rules-to-follow and not to forget the some more new rules-to-follow directive. Initially these directives which were disguised as having an occurrence set to one-per-day later morphed to a torrent, akin to a spammer on overdrive. This joke sums it up "Any new RBI rule in the last 5 mints guys ? I was in the washroom 😜😜😜😜"
I was trying to be up-to-date with the deluge of  RBI "directives" and my professional deliverable was taking a hit.

A wise-crack once said "When reality strikes, its like sh*t hitting the fan!".
A week on, me being a slow-learner was clearly showing up, as reality smacked & mocked my heady euphoric outcry of jubilation.
I was staring at the fact of being unable to pay my house-help staff. I explored the latest buzzword "Cashless Economy"...ahhh why didn't I think of this before? Slow-coach! I reasoned with them to join the "Digital Revolution" that was going to usher India to the "next level".
My house-help staff are the very people who would give me a missed call to talk, who clearly did not lead a 'normal life' of 4G data or unlimited high-speed broadband plans, who owned feature phones with monochrome screens. Seems these were those "anti-socials", who wanted to disregard India's growing global economical power and not ride the Digital wave.
Lesson learnt: I need a crash-course/book on "How to influence/convince people".

With ATMs were out-of-cash almost all the time. Something in me reminded me of how I live in a prominent area of the Silicon-valley of India, without govt water supply, while paying property tax equal (if not more than) some of the posh areas of this city. Sucker-punch...ouch!
Not wanting to be tagged an "anti-national" I quietly queue up at my bank's branch very early morning to beat the crowd. For my show of nationalism, my bank obliged & awarded (read decorated) me with a set of Monopoly inspired pinkish 2K notes.
To boost my ego, my FB post went online claiming what a smart-a** I was and the likes poured in from similar smarties...hmmm! Seemed to me more like a show of solidarity than a measure of my smartness.
A visit to my Dr  and I end up saying with a puppy face hope you've change for 2K flashing the newly minted design. But my short-changed Homeopath seemed more tech-savvy than me, "Better PayTM me". Aila now ball was in my court! I'll now have to install this app and 'do the needful'. The best part of this visit was me installing all app cashless payment apps on my smartphone! The latest I hear is how valuation of these payment processing firms sky-rocketed and they are having the last laugh...and no discount for me...that's not fair! :( Score: Payment apps:1 Me:0.
Finally I managed to settle all my outstanding for Nov. Self High 5!

But I couldn't make sense of my unique cash-crunch problem, while there were reports of many Babus & Netas being 'caught' with freshly minted pink stash...seems pink is the new black. I struggling to reconcile if this demonetization drive was supposed to be a deterrent/enabler for money-laundering-black-money-hoarding devils? Welcome to the Jungle!

Zoom to current day scenario, out-of-cash not denting my idealistic outlook, I'm enthu making new plans on how-to deal with this month-end dragon as it mocks me for another duel.
Whilst doing so, I take a break and watch AIB's video..."Mitron, waqt tho mann ka veham hai!"
I'm distracted by call from HR consultant.
She asked me, are you looking for change?

I said "Yes...for Rs. 2000 and want change."
I don't know why she disconnected call."

I rest my case and take a 'break' from breaking my head trying to decipher this drive!

Amen!

Reva E2O test-drive

Few weeks ago, I test-drove an Mahindra Reva E2O and this is based on a True story... :)
I have been long wishing to get my hands on a EV (Electric Vehicle). I recently had this wish of mine fulfilled, albeit partly...read on.

 

Trivia:

Quick pointers for those of you who are not aware of Reva:

1) Reva is the only EV completely manufactured in India!

2) Reva was Maini group's flagship vehicle, until Mahindra group acquired them and rechristened it as Mahindra Reva. Details @ their website.

Test-drive:

At the very onset, I would like to Thank Reva team for providing me an Reva E2O vehicle to test drive.

Reva E2O

My Reva contact, a very courteous & friendly guy gave me a quick 5-min explanation about the basics, control, etc and I was left in-charge of the test-drive vehicle - an Sunfire Yellow coloured Reva E2O-T2 model.

Here is my take of my experience.

Exteriors: Impressive, well designed with 6 eye catching colour options.

Interiors: Dashboard nicely done in blue light was very informative.

The control-knob to control the infotainment dashboard needs a bit of getting used to(the wear & tear of usage reflect on its responsiveness).

I didn't use the Bluetooth & SatNav options. Hence I wouldn't comment on those.

Look-and-feel is decent, but for its cost (more on this later) the finish & quality needs a bit more premium feel.

Pick up: Very good; I was particularly impressed by its pulling power.

Handling: Shock-absorbers were a bit stiff and given the uneven/unfinished (Indian) road, shocks were directly felt by the riders. This was more so for the back-seat riders. Definitely one of its low points.

Cost: With an 7.81L on-road (Bangalore) price, the cost is Prohibitive! According to me, Mahindra should have priced it a bit lower to entice more takers.

Seating: Spacious for 4 adults.

Mileage: Impressive 100 Kms/charge claimed, which I agree since I did manage to get 94KMs (with some charge remaining) from my test-drive vehicle.

Charging: A charm to fully charge in less than 4 hrs, one of its biggest asset.
Power Steering: Absent.
Driving: With automatic steering and only 2 (accelerator & brake) pedals to manage, its a dream-come-true for the typical urban stop-and-go type of driving. Ladies and aged drivers should also find their calling with this type of driving. I liked it all the more given the fact, I've always been a vocal proponent of automatic vehicles in urban driving conditions.

In conversation:

Before going down this road of owning an EV, I tried to understand the mindset of what people around me thought about it. Obviously there were 2 set of people.

Type-A:

As was expected this set of people were not aware of such an alternative mode of transport, let alone an pure Indian offering in that.

Few skeptics argued about electricity not being really being an clean alternative, given the fact that most of the electricity plants in India are coal-based. My answer to them was, despite electricity source being coal based, Reva had ZERO emission...no air pollutants. Isn't that a positive step in the right direction? Also in the near future, India is going to use nuclear fuel for electricity generation - comparatively better I say(leaving the nuclear safety discussion for another day & time).

As part of their expansion plan for Reva, Mahindra also plans to use solar energy for their soon-to-be launched recharging station network. Now that would be another feather on their cap...and also a good use of one thing we've ample & free in India - sunlight :)
Another point against Reva was the limitation it "imposed" for owners not being able to travel beyond 100KMs/charge. This definitely was true and as mentioned above Mahindra is planning to create and extend its recharging network. So for now Reva owners will need to plan their travel more meticulously than their fossil-fuel based peers.

On knowing the cost of the vehicle, some voraciously argued how comparatively they can go for "better & bigger" non-EVs. I rest my case!

Type-B:

These are Reva aware people.

Given the escalating fuel prices, they were receptive to the idea of change.
Another enabling factor was the thought of holding an higher moral ground (regarding emissions) appealed to them too ;)

Their biggest discouragement or let down was undoubtedly the cost factor.

Way forward:
Mahindra needs to boost their support offering, specially their charging network(which I understand they are working on to expand). This should translate in more sales & see more traction in terms of a bigger user-base.

IMHO Mahindra should also advertise & brand Reva more aggressively and also re-look at their price factor to sweeten their deal.

Conclusion:

Overall I'm impressed by the offering but as mentioned above price is prohibitive.

Adding on to this misery is the fact that no govt tax subsidies exist for owning an EV, would-be owners need to give it a definite & serious thought.

Back to me, owning an Reva E2O is on hold (for now).
Alternatively though I've decided to pick-up an 2nd hand Reva-i (look-out for my post if I get one ;).

On a parting note:- Drive Safe. Don't Honk. Use low beam at night. Go Green!

Amen!

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid post and I don't own this vehicle...yet ;)

My in-house composting PART-2

Continuing from my earlier post on this topic(PART-1), I harvested my 2nd load of 'black gold'. This time a neat ~1.3 KGs! I used some of it for in-house gardening most of it lying around...mulling what to do of it.

Some pleasant surprise sprung up on my in-house gardening front too. Seeds in my pots started germinating & flowering plants which were later classified as Green Chilies, Capsicum, Rose(brought from a nursery) and well TBH I don't know what the other plant is...waiting for the fruit/vegetable to sprout :)! Take a look at some of the pics I've shared below for reference.

I've 'planted' (thrown in rather than discard it in my wet waste) few pumpkin seeds and I've creeper crawling off that pot! I know its too early to celebrate & expect fruits (or aptly vegetables in this case ;) but the best feeling in this entire exercise for me is to see these seeds germinate and plants growing off it...all by themselves.

Wishfully I hope everyone understands the importance of SWM(Solid Waste Management) and try to implement it at their respective places. Evidently as you would have noticed by now, enthusiastic souls like me, can also graduate to trying their hands at in-house gardening...a naturally extension of your SWM effort.

With such meaningful resolution & my wishful outlook I once again pin my hopes on you to spread the word, walk the talk and get involved in making our community a better place to live in. Go Green!

Amen!

Home Grown Spinach

Nursery @ Garden

Capsicum

Rose

Terror + ADD = India

Background:

India has always been an peace loving nation which is evident looking at its history. In other words, it has never invaded any country for occupation, but that has not deterred invaders from invading and occupying India. Over numerous centuries India has enticed it's invaders with its offering - spices & precious stones among others.

Despite being occupied for centuries by foreign invaders, India has never looked at violence/armed resistance as a sustainable solution. But this has also developed an nation full of overly tolerant set of people who are immune to the tendency of natural forces of resistance. Putting up with whatever situation seems to come naturally to them...be it foreign invaders or corruption around them!

Reflecting on the past few decades, the numerous periodic terror attacks in India, is an apt reflection of callous inept governance, inadequate and ill-managed security measures to check such re-occurrences and the indifferent attitudes of the ruling govt in ensuring such dastardly attacks don't repeat. The case in discussion is the recent Hyderabad bomb attack (Read article here) which is a grim reminder of the dangers of misplaced fanatic religious sentiments prevailing in India. India has bore the brunt of numerous violent attacks on its soil which are mostly either sponsored or fanned from across the border by Pakistan. This in no way lets our internal security apparatus off the hook for not being able to sense or prevent such events. While the entire country has moved on to other "important" stories, thanks to the nation's watch dog @ media houses; we've once again proven to be a nation severely affected by ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder).

Contemplate:

Terror + ADD = India

Isn't it an potent concoction for any nation, let alone India, to have ADD when Terror is concerned! We as a nation need to stand up for our rights and demand a decent & humane living.

Are we ready to demand answers from our leaders, who are elected by us to safe guard our interests and most importantly our lives?

Time to set our demands straight and push for answers. Electoral reforms is one of the key and most important tool which we can make use of. I'll soon be posting my take on this...stayed tuned!

Amen!

No Smoking!

Tobacco consumption in one form or other has always been cited as the major cause of Cancer. Cancer @ (the Big) C - is one of the most potent reasons for tobacco related deaths across the globe. Yet of all the means of tobacco consumption, Smoking has time and again been the most visible & hated!

Did you know?
* For every smoker there are 40 non-smokers who are affected!
* Secondary smoke is more dangerous than primary smoke...meaning indirectly you are the agent of death of many innocent lives!
* Every cigarette stick takes away 5 mins of your wonderful life.
* Recently  researchers also attribute smoking as an possible reason for reproductive disorders(Ouch! A classic below the belt hit).
* $9.94B is spends annually on advertisements and promos...that is $27M per day! (P.S: I find that figure ridiculously huge to be wasted in this manner...but then that is just me talking). A figure like that in perspective should tell a lot about the kind of money there is to be made from this 'madness' if I may.

 Merchants of death!
It is estimated by the year 2018 that figure would have risen to 8 million per year!

So in the interest of everyone's  health, I urge all smokers to refrain from this dreaded habit and to give the above stated facts a well intentional thought before lighting up the next one. But if these facts don't startle you, then please remember that every time you light up next, its akin to sending out a red carpet invitation to Yamaraja!

Sorry to rub it into you, but I don't see it any other way. Hope better sense prevails upon you.

P.S: These facts can be easily verified by doing a quick Google (re)search.

Amen!

The Dirty Business?!

Bangalore isn't different from any growing Indian cosmopolitan city. It has all the making of one. Ill-equipped infrastructure, chaotic transportation, ever increasing human population, over used & over stretched "colonial"drainage system, garbage strewn alleys, polluted water bodies and to top it all up an indifferent human attitude to match it! That's painting the real urban settlement for you.

Garbage has been the bane of urban living ever since people living in cities started being indifferent to it. The callous attitude adopted by the city administration only added to their belief. The easy and lazy way to deal with this ever growing monster-of-garbage was dealt with by dumping it in the villages on the outskirts of our cities. Manddurr is one such place where garbage generated from Bangalore is dumped. Solid Waste Mangement (SWM) was an recent approach adopted (or rather enforced) on all without having any meaningful & well-thought plans to really make it work. Result was an as abrupt ceasing of this initiative as abruptly as it was started! I took this govt directive as a way to try my hand at this wonderful concept of SWM to try reduce my garbage footprint(if there is anything like that). In my 10+ months of implementation, I'm throughly convinced about the effectiveness of this concept. I've not put out a single (I repeat NOT a SINGLE) basket of green waste from my home for collection! Details here.

Recently I "harvested" my 2nd load of "Black Gold" as I like to call it. A neat ~700 gms of it. I intend to sell it and monetize it...obviously not to make a living out of it, but to break even and cover my operational cost, in this new venture of mine ;) I also wish this motivates others to start looking at dealing with SWM and help reduce their garbage foot-print. I'm sure this would get lot of people interested in this and I believe some number crunches are already at it...calculating how much money I would make out of it...with this kind of sustained "output".  Imagine for a moment here, I making a profit and being able to sustain part of my lifestyle on the profits made from this! Then I would be referred to as a businessman...a man making money from The Dirty Business?!

Amen!

Composting: My in-house success story

Hello friends,

By now you all might be aware and part of govt’s “progressive initiative” on Solid Waste Management(SWM)…assuming most(if not all) of you might be practicing it in your respective apt more out of compulsion than interest :)

Trivia:

I've been diligently following this practice for more than a decade now.

Idea:

(OK enough blowing my own trumpet :)

Coming back to the point of this mail, earlier (prior to govt notice), as was my usual practice I used to segregate my waste into separate “bio-degradable” bags and hand it over to my apt house-keeping staff for disposal; which was ending up in one big rubbish bin…thus nullifying my efforts!

Then this govt notice came across and the one thing I changed was to get myself a Daily Dump(DD) “starter-kit” for a very nominal amount(Ref figs below:- (a)Small Kambha & (b)Pots).

The idea was to try composting my kitchen waste(ref figs (d1, d2, d3) in-house (rather than “burden” govt appointed garbage collecting contractors who had no regards to cleanliness and was often seen being more trouble than any help to our community).

Now:

Post kick-starting my composting drive, the only waste being sent out is dry waste(collected once-a-week in my apt).

This has drastically cut-down(almost 85%) my waste load being sent out… at least from my flat.

After almost 5 months of composting, I can proudly declare it to be a grand success! (Ref fig (c)-Finished Compost)

In case you too are deliberating on similar lines, I strongly recommend you to try it first hand to see for yourself the ease & simplicity of this process.

Request:

Imagine if the same is replicated at apt level(or for that matter of dreaming…at our community level).

We are talking about 85% less garbage being shipped out!!! Phenomenal don’t you think?

With these dreamy eyes, I humbly request & encourage you to try this at your respective flat/apt level and reap the benefits of it.

Resource:

More details on DailyDump @  http://dailydump.org/

Amen!

(d1)Kitchen Waste

(d2)Kitchen Waste in Pot

(d3)Composting in progress

(a) Small Kambha

(b) Pots

(c) Finished compost

26/11 - Don't Forget. Don't Forgive!

Background:

It is almost 4 years to this day, when the in-famous attack on Mumbai took place, when on the fateful evening of 28-Nov2008, 10 Pakistan-trained LeT terrorist held the city to ransom. This audacious attack claimed 164 innocent lives and left more than 308 injured. (Source: Wiki). It reiterated some glaring issues faced by us...intelligence failure , total mockery of our preparedness for such an eventuality, the absence of trained force and equally absent tools @ weaponisation & modernisation to deal with such an event, lack of political will to tackle and/or root out this evil. Mumbai - India's financial capital has borne these kinds of systemic attacks time-and-again in a timely & repetitive manner to such an extent that, as per me, people of Mumbai have come to accept of it as their way of living!!

Where we are today:

Post spending a fortunate worth of money conducting(or "orcehstrating" as I would like to call it) numerous trials, scores of evidences amassed and several procedures later what we are left with is an impotent system unable to deliver justice and uphold the laws of the land! With the total lack of intent to deliver any meaningful judgement on the lines of well-being of fellow countrymen which has now come to be a norm & characteristic of this spineless ruling govt. Despite having tons of "evidence" to prove the involvement of Pakistan and the lone surviving Ajmal Kasab, this govt is dilly-dallying and tip-toeing on this matter, thereby delaying much needed justice & closure to this case. In fact India is on its knee begging Pakistan to accept responsibility for this attack, as if that would do in any way bring closure to the countless sorrows that are forever etched in the minds and lives of the victims & survivors! What a Sham are they running!!!

Don't Forget. Don't Forgive!

I would implore my fellow countrymen to not forget this act of terror and war which is being enforced on us. The main conspirators are definitely those siting across the border - Pakistani masterminds. But let us also not discount the ones on our side of the border. Let us not forgive the law enablers - bureaucrats, law enforcers and most important of all GoI (Govt of India). Coz these are the very people who have been entrusted for safeguarding us - the people & resources of our nation. But their actions or more appropriately inactions act as "catalyst" for these cross border enemy of state who are always ready to wage war by inciting religious intolerance & violence, exporting radical Islam, destroying Indian economy by injecting fake currency notes among others.

Let us all resolve to the following:

Don't Forget (the umpteen terrorist attacks), Don't Forgive (Corrupt politicians)!

Hope by this resolve we are able to channelise our energies to act as "enablers" for a better India and most importantly for a better future for all of us.

Amen!

Madness at Azad Maidan

On Saturday 11th Aug 2012 a "protest rally" was called in Mumbai by 5 Sunni Muslim groups to protest against the attacks on their community in Assam & Myanmar. What ensued was (as I call it) "Madness at Azad Maidan". This mob went on rampage, leaving 2 persons dead and 63 injured, 58 of those being policemen. This was not before damaging & torching scores of police, media & general public vehicles thereby mounting losses to the tune of millions of rupees.

Under the garb of protest, anti-nationals had a field day. Amar Jawan memorial was vandalized by "terrorist" (as I refer them) - 2 of those in particular who are yet to be traced. Independent Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar also announced a reward of 5Lakh to anyone leading to the arrest of these terrorists.

Background:

Raza Academy - a pro-radical Muslim group, one of the organizer of this protest rally, has been in the news for all the wrong news and has a dubious record to boast of, if any.

A report had allegedly warned Mumbai police of possible “law-and-order problems”, indicating that the govt was clearly caught sleeping on it; which they are now trying to cover-up by pointing fingers in all directions expect owning responsibility of their in-actions on the intel received beforehand.

After-effects:

There are reports of few Muslim "hooligans", who were involved in this mindless violence, of being advised by their advocates to surrender after following their EID celebrations. These are the very hooligans who indulge in violence and then hide under the veil of their religion! How can they be termed religious when they indulge in violence right after their 'prayers'. Is this what their religion preach them? I'm baffled at the blatant disregard for the laws of the land,  destruction to public property and most importantly the physical assault of law-enforcers.
Drawing my conclusion from one of the reports published the other day, the perpetrator of this crime wanted to, by design, polarize the opinions of Mumbaikars & Indians in general.
The other notable side-effect being, political leaders wanting to milk this situation for their political advantage. Take the instance of MNS leader Raj Thackeray, who in a recent rally at Azad Maidan alleged the involvement of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in this violence. He also demanded Home minister R R Patil and Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik to step down from their respective govt positions owning responsibility for their failure in ensuring law-and-order in the city. This demand was of course swiftly dealt with an counter-offence from the govt.

STOP! Are we brain dead?

Are we ready to be side-winked & brain-washed by the usually empty, useless & opinionated speeches of these so-called "local" leaders or are we mature enough to see through their personal/politically colored designs? It is time for us to rise up to this challenge and start asking simple-yet-straight questions like these to our local "leaders".

For once, let us make our own decisions rather than the local "leader" dumping their so-called well-thought decisions onto us. Let us not be swayed away by the deafening echos & blurry hues of this mindless political madness.

Amen!

The 'M' wor(l)d!

A secular state:

India has always proclaimed itself as a secular state from the very beginning of its existence. Plethora of religions call this country home...Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jews to name a few of the more 'visible' ones.

Despite of all religions having a level playing field to participate in the building process, we are still a long way off from being a truly global country. One of biggest stumbling blocks, as I see, is the uniqueness of our country's religious mix. Different faiths preaching the same lessons of co-existence, tolerance, God being one-for-all and all-for-one, etc etc. But truth be told, not many religion really believes in those teaching of the Almighty. India has & is been plagued with numerous problems to deal as is the case with any populous & multicultural country.

Unholy neighbors!

One of the biggest and most talked about of them is their equation with their neighbors Pakistan & Bangladesh. These Muslim dominated nations have been a constant source of terrorism related source & trouble to India (and drawing from near past experience, to the rest of the world). But on the biggest "export"(if I may) being the radicalization of Islam.  This doctrine is fed to innocent Muslim youths who are made to believe that Islam is at war with the rest of the world, low tolerance & ultimately eradication of non-Islamic faiths!

Muslims - Then & Now:

The reason the above mentioned issue is of paramount importance being, India has sizable number of Muslims population, who post-Independence were the biggest minority. Those figures, going by the growing numbers might be a thing of the past, and in few years from today India would have more Muslims living here than Hindus. But there is resentment among most Muslim dominated areas, that they have not been benefited by India's growth story, which I personally, don't buy into.

    Looking back at our country's history, we've  had many Muslim rulers before the British came along and ruled us. India's cultural tolerance if any is unique, vibrant & so rich that the West is awed and still wanting to learn a lot from us. This is testimony to the fact that we not only embraced & inculcated the goodness of what each religion preaches but alongside blended & nurtured a uniqueness to it.

    But the British legacy of Divide-and-Rule still holds good thanks to the corrupt ways of politicians who want to divide people on the basis of their religious beliefs. The end result is lot of unnecessary & mindless finger pointing exercises on all sides of the fence, irrespective of the religion.

    In today's context we've the likes of Hon. Mr. Kalam - ex-President, Mr. Ansari - Vice-President, Sania Mirza - Tennis star, Azeem Premji heading one the biggest Indian IT company...to name a few Indian Muslims who, in their respective fields, have carved a named for themselves & ultimately made India proud!

Forward thinking:

The need of the hour is to have more Muslim pubic faces - scholars, achievers & leaders to come forward to preach the essence of togetherness, well-being thereby connecting the zillion aspirations of millions of Muslim youths to the central chord of a growing nation! See how Belgaum's madrasas set the ball rolling.

We need to believe in the Big 5 and etch the following in our hearts and in the heart-of-our-hearts:

1) I'm a Indian first.

2) I'm proud of India's uniquely intricate religious designs which weaves the Indian-ness.
3) I'm very much part of this delicate national secular fabric.

4) My religion is merely a way of connecting with Almighty & not a tool to wedge distance among fellow countrymen.
5) I'm an Indian!

Amen!

Are we ready for change?

India has been a silent victim of corruption for so long that we Indians have developed a mindset of accepting it as second nature to our way of living & survival in general, if I may call that.

Where we were?

With Anna's hunger taking center-stage last year, there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Expectations soared, people wanted to believe there is a storm coming...which would ultimately usher in a sea change in the way we saw and related to the realities of our life. Emotions ran high, tempting people to get on the road...literally speaking, shouting at the top of their voices, hope fueling this surge of emotions - hope of change for a better future. All of this culminated in the Lokpal bill being tabled & "discussed" in Indian Parliament...the Dance of Democracy was played out.

Where we are?
One year on and the govt. hasn't delivered on its promise (as was predicted) of implementing this bill, citing ridiculous reasons if any that is. But one of the good things of Indian Against Corruption(IAC)'s last year's "showdown" was that an baseline of expectation was set for & by the people of how their country should provide for them. This expectation fueled another round of fasting by Anna Hazare & Arvind Kejriwal along with others in Delhi which was called off couple of days ago.

IAC channelized, if not mobilized, thousands of people who wanted to participate & contribute in this agitation against corruption. Evidently govt dictated a media black-out on the coverage of this event to curtail the movement and with no dialog/engagement of any sort coming from the govt's end, the fast was called off. Not without an announcement of finding an political alternative to resolve the current state-of-affairs. Govt's learning from our neighboring country China on how-to stifle discontent worked well I must conclude!
Reason I say that was, as part of IAC's call, I was part of the Human Chain formation, in the early morning of 3rd August 2012 @ a busy road junction in Bangalore. To my utter surprise, apart from a handful of 20 odd people, none of the other general public ever bothered to wait and understand the importance of what was going on around them...no curious looks either!! They went around their business-as-usual!

So my point being, to start with this is & has been an Citizen movement, which is both good & bad. Good because we've a billion+ of them. Bad because only a fraction of those seem to be concerned with the current state-of-affairs & came out in support. Though I'm sure all of them without exception want a change for the better.

Are we ready for change?

So that is the big question that I want to ask and ultimately understand. I'm sure all of us would be eager to answer that in affirmative. But the plain bitter truth being if we aren't ready to participate in these kind of movements let alone be a flag-bearer for one, we better bid our goodbyes to our dream of a better country. In spite of all the hungama around how corrupt politicians and their corrupt ways are ruining our lives we hardly seem to want to bring an end to that by demanding change. Because that would mean we've to bring about a change in our ways of living and that is something we are not ready to do! We don't need to undertake any drastic & herculean task like letting go of families and dedicate all our energies to fighting corruption. No! No heroics required. All we need to do is make a systematic but progressive change in the way we perceive & go about life around us. Systematic as in ensuring we exercise our votes regularly as and when called upon. Participate in local community based issues & explore possible solutions. Remember if everyone took one small at-a-time, this movement gains enough momentum to sustain on...Now that is progressive thinking!

So now let me ask this again, are we game to shifting that attitudes of ours? Are we really ready for change?
Think India Think!

Amen!

Running for Charity

Hello friends,

I write today to you to take a small step to make a big difference. Interested? Read on…

What is this?

I’ve registered to participate in TCS Bangalore Marathon scheduled for 27^th May 2012.

Details here http://www.procamrunning.in/tcsworld10k/

I’ve planned to compete in the Open 10K Category - my maiden attempt at this.

Why am I sharing all this information and how does it concern you?

If I read your mind correctly, that question just popped up in your head?

If yes, then let me answer it for you.

By embarking on this “self-test”, if I may say so, I also plan to raise awareness and more importantly funds for the below mentioned causes(2 of the many) which I’ve been supporting for some time now.

You can visit their website or alternatively, if you want to verify my claims, can directly reach out to the respective contact person (mentioned in the CC list).

PAWS à Animal welfare à http://pawsasia.wordpress.com/ à Mr. Nilesh Bhanage

Askhaya Trust à Care for helpless & destitute à http://www.akshayatrust.org/ à Mr. Narayanan Krishnan

How can I make a difference?

You can make a big difference, by opening your heart and most importantly loosening up your purse strings to donate for these good cause(s) J

P.S: Donation amount greater than 100 INR will be eligible for donation receipt.

Complete Transparency

I’ve shared a Google spreadsheet online (click here) to capture donor details like donor name to be printed on donation receipt, donation amount, apartment name so that you are aware of what is happening.

You’ll find few legit entries to indicate how it should be done.

P.S: I’ll be turning off the shared access soon, so please don’t delay and make your commitment for these wonderful causes.

Thanks!

Apologize for the verbose mail, but since this is one thing I wanted to explain in an elaborate manner hoping not to miss anything.

Hope I’ve answered most of your (basic) queries. Feel free to contact me for more information.

Thanks in advance.Feel free to forward this mail to your contacts so that I can garner the fullest possible support.

--------------UPDATED on 22nd May 2012 ------------------

Hello friends,

With less than 5 days to go, I’m sending out this humble reminder for you to help me raise much required funds for these charities.

Update:

I've managed to ‘motivate’ my friend & colleague Sathya(who is also training alongside me) to participate in this run. Thanks Sathya!

I've collected my BIB and running goodies bag on 18th May 2012 and all set for the D-day J

I’m sharing my Prep Log in case you want to see my training log.

Though it might not seem as impressive as some of you would’ve wanted it to be, but I’m gaining confidence as I prepare.

Funds raised:

A disappointingly meager 3,000/= L (Click here for details )

Reminder:

How can you make a difference?

You can make a big difference, by opening your heart and most importantly loosening up your purse strings to donate for these good cause(s) J

P.S: Donation amount greater than 100 INR will be eligible for donation receipt.

Counting on YOU to help me make this event a Success!

  

--------------UPDATED on 28th May 2012 ------------------

Good day Friends!

Finally having successfully competed & completed this event, I can want to Thank all my donors for being part of this event in their own ‘valuable’ way.

I managed to raise a total of 5000/= for the charities.

Thanks to YOU. With people like you being part of my network I can with certain pride say, life is never short of good people like YOU. You make me proud.

With this event & the fund raising activity, I wanted to get to your attention these wonderful people doing such a great job through their respective charities. I urge you(one more time) to visit their website regularly whenever you wish to donate in kind/cash or volunteer.

Special Thanks to Sathya (my friend & ‘partner-in-crime’ – for keeping my hopes afloat) for these wonderful words. You truly rock and were a solid inspiration yourself. Proud to be with you and before I forget Congrats mate!

Here are my race details, in case you wondering how I fared ;)

Total time taken: 58:25

Category: Open 10K
Category Rank: 649 (bagged a Nike Finisher T-Shirt - prize for the 1st 1500 finishing runners in my category)

Gender Rank: 939

Overall Rank: 961

Thanks all for spending you valuable time.

On a parting note, consider this is as a beginning to a wonderful journey ahead.

Take Care & God Bless!

Thanks,

Jai Hind!

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