Sweeping by the same broom

Most of us are judgmental and very often we generalize everything. After Satyam scandal we believed all Indian companies are like that only. After Arthur Anderson’s fall we believed all Chartered Accountants are vulnerable and involved in manipulation. Yesterday, few of my colleagues were making fun of practicing chartered accountants that bribe them they will increase your turnover to Rs 4 million. Hike the amount further and they will make it to Rs 8 million and so on so forth. Agree, most of them does some cosmetic changes but does it mean all of them are like that only? In most of the cases, they are asked to do so by their clientele and refusing to them means losing the business. Nobody wants to be corrupt by choice however they cannot justify it as an excuse as well. They must remember their acts may compromise the integrity of the profession. However, it's pertinent to mention that in every profession you find some good men and some bad men.

Recently, I read in newspapers that a primary teacher forcefully took some nude picture of his 10 year old student. Another primary teacher reportedly raped a student. Should we believe all the teachers are rapists?

I remember while returning from my school I decided to take some rest under my favorite banyan tree. There were some women laborers taking afternoon naps. One of them asked me what the time was. Meanwhile other woman asked me if I was coming from the school. Before I could reply another lady opined “Who knows if they go to study. My guess is they go there to bite on the cheeks”. Actually a day before a boy had bitten on a girl’s cheek. And the folks believed we loved to bite than study. Perceptions are always illusive.

Glorifying False Godman Culture

Look at this picture. Aint it disgusting? This is KV Kamat. Mr. Kamat is a 1971 batch MBA from IIM (A) and was at the helm at the ICICI group until recently. He was joined by other who’s who like Ashok Chavan (not in picture), the head of Maharashtra state in India, prostrating before a fake, self proclaimed and tainted god man. They are educated people and the role models for many in India. What message this picture is conveying? That India is a country of fools? Or Indians worship the fools?

I understand India is a holy and religious place and a gateway to the spirituality. She has produced several great sages who has enlightened, spearheaded and guided the whole world and taught us tolerance, harmony, peace and kindness. But in the garb of saints and noble people, you usually find wolves. I am sorry for being blatant but this is how I feel about these so called **** (I don’t want to use cusswords). I don’t intend to single out anybody but I don’t like this very idea of worshiping self proclaimed god men, no matter how nobler they are. I don’t find them different from Chandraswami. Trust me, most of them are power mongers and greedy bastards (oops!! Sorry I could contain myself).

You fail to fathom why we need them? Well, as long as we pamper them, as long as we fool around ourselves and refuse to disown them, these parasites will continue to suck and grow upon us. Should I mention what Nana Patekar had once said about them? I guess it would be too much!

Proving self importance

I have sensed it and I am telling you this from my own experience. In any organisation people working in front end departments like sales and marketing have attitude problems. They harbour superiority complex against other workers in back-office departments like accounts & finance. Agree; they generate revenues for the organisation but that is what they are supposed to do. You are doing just your job and not any favour to anybody. You just cannot undermine the role finance guys play; arranging required funds to expand the organization and the working capital to run it smoothly. You cannot underestimate HR people’s importance, who select able hands in the best interest of the firm. Running an enterprise is a team work like sports where every player’s contribution is critical to win the game.

But it does not happen that way. It’s possible that you never get what is fairly due to you. You work harder but somebody takes the credit or hogged the whole limelight. My film editor friends would be chuckling after reading this. After watching a film we hardly bother to know who the editor of that film was. Actually, we become so spellbound by the charming lead pairs that we hardly give a thought to it who had given the background score or who edited the film. Do you know who KK Mahajan was? We learned Hrishikesh Mukharjee only when he chose to direct films. We leanred Resul Pookutty only when he won Oscar for the best sound mixing.

Knowledge is a subjective thing. You may be an expert in your discipline but you cannot fix simple things like a leaking tap. You get stuck if your PC or mobile stops working. Similarly, you can neither sew your clothes nor have a haircut unless you are a true Gandhian. You may be a tax expert but you may not know m of the music. You may be the most efficient engineer but may be zero in zoology or history. In a society everybody has a vital role to play and we must not snare at them or deride their contribution. You know, only an ignorant person can believe s/he knows everything or s/he is indispensable to the organization. Only a newly rich person flaunts his wealth. A learned person becomes more humble.

Why I admire SRK

Certainly Shahrukh Khan is not a great actor. At best he is an entertainer who does ridiculous things on the big screen. I am sure he is aware of this. However, I like him for two reasons. 1. He is an achiever, a success. He listened to his heart and pursued his dream despite all the odds until he accomplished it. I know people in the film industry who grimace at him and treat him as an outsider. Once upon a time Dhirubhai Ambani had got the similar treatment from these industrywalas. They harbor hostality towards the outsiders and will not entertain them unless they have a father/uncle in the industry. But trust me; it is always an outsider who outdoes these insiders. Unfortunately, in this process many ‘outsiders’ are devastated and lost. Now tell me, was Prithviraj Kapoor not an outsider at some point in time? Or for that matter, were the Wadias not the outsiders at some point in time?

The other reason I love SRK for is: he gave damn to everything for his lady love, Gauri Chhabra. In our orthodox society where inter community marriages are a big deal, he defied all the customs and got married to her and most importantly neither of them had to convert to other’s faith. He believed both faiths can co-exist in the same home.

India needs more such Shahrukh Khans.

Hold on, Mr. Sibal

It’s strange. Our proactive and over enthusiastic HRD Minister wants you to have a free ride till secondary school (10th standard) but is set to put a speed break after higher secondary (12th standard). In other words you don’t have to study till X standard as certificates will be doled out but you will face the music once you come out of the school uniforms. He proposes to raise the eligibility condition for admission into IITs from the next year by increasing the minimum marks in Class XII to 80-85% from presently 60%. They argue that this is to contain the mushrooming coaching institutes and make XII exams a serious affair. You mean to say students don’t take this exam seriously? Moreover, does this burgeoning growth of coaching institutes not hint at pathetic level of education quality in schools? Why would one splurge on coaching institutes fees if one has excellent schools?

I don’t buy their argument for three reasons. First, you have ‘n’ number of examples where students might not have scored good marks in schools but they have excelled exponentially afterwards. You may not get 80% for so many reasons but that should not stop you from pursuing your dreams. They believe if your score is 79% you are the loser and you don’t deserve to be an engineer. Fuck you. Secondly, some state boards such as U.P. Board are not generous enough to give you 90% plus marks. If you score 72% marks it maybe equivalent to 85% in other boards. And last but not the least, is not it weird that you exempt X students from exams arguing it gives much stress to them? But you debar them from aspiring to become engineers?

It’s absolutely farce, Mr. Minister. Any attempt to raise the blanket eligibility condition must be opposed out rightly. Thankfully Kapil Sibal has backtracked now.

Unruly Indians

I thought we did care for global warming and depleting environment. Every Diwali makes me believe that we all love to show off. We may forward stupid emails throughout the year vis-à-vis Save Mother Earth but when it comes to celebration we forget all the norms, we lose control. I am really disappointed with this insanity in the name of Diwali celebration. Do we really care for elderly and sick people? Do we care for other’s rights and comfort? Instead of discouraging our kids we ourselves indulge in such madness.

Next time, when you burst crackers and forward me any nonsense forwarded emails about global warming blah -blah think twice about my anger and helplessness. Think how irresponsible you are by causing damage to the environment? Please remember these crackers affect environment in the following manner:

1. Air Pollution affects health especially to diseased persons, elderly people and children.
2. Water and land pollution pollute our Resources Rivers, lakes and seas.
3. Noise pollution can cause deafness and stress among us.
4. It takes several weeks to bring back the normal air quality. Did you notice the haze those crackers had caused just above your head?
5. Fire hazards cause huge damages to life and national property.

You know, these crackers are manufactured by the innocent kids who are the victims of this profession and who will suffer from skin & respiratory disorders. And if these facts have not moved you yet, think about your own kids and their future. On a serious note, let us say no to crackers. For those who don’t heed to us, let us appeal to the government to ban these crackers. The pollution control department broadcasted some messages but it won’t help. Let us appeal our government to completely ban these crackers. It would be foolish to believe these unruly Indians will ever mend their ruckus ways. ‘U’ of us starts with you, my friend.

Doordarshan

This is for those who have grown up watching Doordarshan channel which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. I am sure most of us would become nostalgic about how we eagerly waited for our favorite programs sitting in front of the TV set hours before they would be telecast.

Mile sur mera tumhara, Anek Chidiya, Jungle Book, Chitrahaar, and those weekend films were great attractions for me. Doordarshan, no doubt, gave us the finest and quality programs like Chankya, Bharat Ek Khoj, Tamas, Humlog, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Kakkaji Kahin, Ghalib, Neem Ka Ped, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Surabhi and so on so forth. I believe Doordarshan was killed by its own people, bureaucracy and red-tapism. I feel it can regain its lost prestige provided it starts maintaining its quality, originality and innovative approach. There is a large part of the audiences who are sick of today’s senseless sagas and so called realty shows.

Of course, we have very good channels today for example; Discovery, NG, History, HBO etc and they never compromise with their benchmark standards. Given the chance, I prefer cartoon programs such as Tom & Jerry or Mr. Beans. But yes, I miss Budhai and Mr. Yogi. I miss Doordarshan and my childhood days.