Connecting Thoughts..

RTE : Plan of Action

2010-04-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

The green signal given to the Right of Children to Compulsory Education(RTE) act 2009 certainly stamps a historic moment to cheer about. But, I have some concerns w.r.t to its assumption and implementation thereafter..

1.How do we benchmark "Quality Education"? If at all a generic criteria is to be worked out, how does our not-so-promising govt ensure to meet the quality part of it in long-run. Also, this criteria has to be dynamic enough to synch up with the changing scenario, do we have a detailed plan to monitor this..?

2.How do we asses the eligible candidate who are actually supposed to be benifited..?
I am really quite apprehensive about it, given the past has witnessed major bad practices in the implementation of similar programs.

3.If at all we successfully meet this goal, how do we ensure that these children have sufficient resource to further their higher education so as to earn a livelihood. Just ensuring the primary education is not enough until and unless we make them capable enough to earn their livelihood on their own.If not, they will be bound to drop out in the lack of resources. So, my point is that, any such act should ensure an end-to-end solution. Just getting the act passed in the wake of vote bank politics would be pretty immature and would lead to wastage of tax payers money. I, being a citizen of India and also a taxpayer, want to see a detailed draft for its implementaion, monitoring, funds needed and it's administration..

2010: What's in store..?

2010-01-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Time to bid adieu to 2009. Lets welcome 2010 with all the grand hopes ..
well, if we look from numerological perspective, the year 2010 (with 2big rings symmetrically placed) certainly scores over any other year in this ensuing decade. Also, looking from semantic point of view, it's much easier to spell it out without much of tongue-twisting...nonetheless, there are hell lot of other tongue twisters around.. ;)
Looks like a perfect year !! Now, focus on the content part instead of drooling over the freakish semantic analysis..
As the year 2009 was mostly engulfed in recessionary hangover, year 2010 is seen to have enormous growth potential. Hold on folks.. 'am not into any kind of social service here, if say growth then it is certainly linked with my monetary motivation. Nonetheless, much remains to be seen.. ;)

Amidst all this gung-ho, I started my new year in a perfect bihari ishtyle.Got up pretty early, wished all my relatives and friends (whom I can connect to, amidst the crazy voice traffic..), had an early bath (just to make sure, I do so for the days to come..), did some pooja - path (again for the obvious reasons..), didn't spent a penny (just to make sure, I do so for the rest of year.. ;) ), had amazing gravy - chicken in lunch(cooked in perfect bihari style - ughh !! ..aint I turning out to be a gourmand..? whatever..I just get on a high even with the smell of it .. ),dinner- we had delicious sattu stuffed paranthas..( perfectly cooked..genuinely home made taste..)..what else..? I can't think of any better. I wish, I could get all this for the rest of the year, but thats again a wish !! But, let it be a wish and let me be happy in the mere anticipation itself... :)

Now, the most crucial question..? What's my new year resolution..?
I spent quite sometime brainstorming over it, but you know, these cribbing, ogling, scrutinizing, leg - pulling and stuffs have become so much a part of my daily life that I really don't see any point going for it... ;) But, since I have to assume sth just for the sake it, so I declare my new year resolution to be "1440 x 900". "1024 x 768" has become a thing of the past, now I want to have more wider resolution.

hey..one last thing but certainly not the least..I blogged today, just to make sure I do it for the rest of the year.. rofl

3 Idiots on a date with Santa Clause !!

2009-12-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

25 Dec, 2009 - Christmas eve !!
The day, SantaClause comes with a jingle bell & a pandora box aplenty of gifts to fulfill your wishes & dreams and blah blah..These sayings sounds surreal until you really hit a miracle. Until, 5:55 pm, 25 Dec, 2009, I was also of the same opinion, but what follows has really changed my belief so much so that I can't really deny the divine intervention. Here is the account of what happened..

In spite of christmas eve and a paid holiday, we were running quite low on motivation with nothing much to do. Checked -out movie tickets, all house full. Looked like it's really not our day. Having analysed zillion options, finally we resorted to check-out 3Idiots movie tickets which was by far the rarest of the rare option.Still, we thought of testing out if the divine intervention really works. The 3Idiots, all studded in comfy casuals, reached theatre.The panorama outside the theatre was just awesome, seemed like, all the hot chicas somehow knew of our arrival.We spent some time feeding our long dried eyes. Next, we hurled up to the ticket counter queue and as expected we got a BIG NO. For a moment, a sudden chill went through the spine reiterating the point "Dude, it's not your day". One of idiots started proposing some nasty ideas as to how to kill time for next 2-3 hours.
None of them really seemed to impress me. Suddenly, we thought of checking out 10:30 pm show ticket, again a BIG NO. I thought, it can't get any worse now and it's better to switch to plan B before it's too late. One of the idiots was constantly pushing us to follow his plan, but the rest of the 2 were quite reluctant to do so. By this time we had already asked quite a few ppl if they have any extra tickets or if they wanna switch to plan B, but, none of them really seemed to work. Now, it was 5:55 p.m, running low of hope, we already started to move towards the exit gate, suddenly, one of the idiot spots a guy standing behind us with a thin streak of grin on his face as if he has been listening to our freakish conversation, as if the Santa has descended down to earth just to do this favor.ughh..it's all childish thoughts??
We thought of taking a last chance, one of the idiot approached that guy asking,
Idiot#3: "Do you have 3Idiots tickets ?"
(we somehow didn't want to hear the reply.)
Santa: Yes.
Idiot#2:How many tickets do you have??
Santa: 3
We took the tickets and rushed to the entry queue. It seemed like, all the hollow thoughts were flushed in a flash and has been poured with a trust that can never go wrong. This is how our date with Santa Clause ended, filled with joy, trust and motivation.

Now what followed for the next 3 hours is gonna take yet another blog.
So, stay tuned for my next post.

Should Voting be made Compulsory..?

2009-12-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Democracy: of the people, for the people and by the people. The very definition of democracy assumes that the people participation is of paramount importance in order to run a democratic machinery. Nonetheless, this fact has remained severely obscured amongst the intelligentsia, whether by choice or by the sheer ignorance..? The intelligentsia, who claims to be quite cynic about democratic fundamentals, thus abstain from exercising their democratic duties and in turn impute the not-so-intellectuals for status quo. This indifference or rather apathy on their part keeps amalgamating and over the time it transforms into sheer hatred and animosity against the system and not-so-intellectual class. While this threat looms large over the fate of democracy, it's high time to pass a legislation for compulsory voting.That ways, you remain answerable for what you do.Once passed, this legislation will certainly foster the level of people participation in democratic functionings and also the mandate will certainly fare better than what we have presently.

Recently,in a landmark move, a legislation has been passed for compulsory urban voting in Gujrat assembly for local body polls.Why can't we extend it to parliamentary and assembly polls too.I believe, this move has the potential to bring back the democratic machinery to somewhere near where it is supposed to be.It will also be in the larger interest of common masses to go for it.
I really appreciate the commendable stand of Lalu Prasad Yadav on this proposition (unlike most of the time..).

Whither I am..?

2009-12-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

Pardon me, if I am being too personal in writing, of late. But, there is no denying this fact! I am so much intrigued and overwhelmed by my future that I can't really care about the things happening around. Abeit, there have been some really pressing concerns(Ranbir-Deepika Break up, Sherlyn's yet another loud comment over the use of sperms to keep her face wrinkle free, just to name a few..),which I would love to write but for now all I see is me (mind it, I call it my fate as nothing else can complement it for me at least for now!).

But, for how long will it continue..? Every thing has to come to end and the question that will always be haunting is, whither I am..? where am I destined to..?
Well, I do have firm belief in the saying "It's not the end that matters, rather it's the journey that you travel and the person you become is what matters the most." But, for how long..? Will it ever reach its end. Am I always bound to be a traveller in the journey called life. No, enough. I am a human, I want an end to this journey. An end from where, I can start new, all afresh. I need a moment of respite to reinvigorate myself and to streamline my own priorities.

At times when I introspect, I encounter a couple of questions which have been perplexing me from within -
Is it really my own goal that I have been chasing..? Believe me, I have not been able to answer this question to myself. We are living in complex societal structure where your goals are being set by social expectations. You are not living your own life, rather your chasing someone else's expectation carved for you. And the whole life gets consumed in the mere fulfillment of that goal. In the end, when u look back u feel all lost, all befooled. You wonder as to what the heck you have been running after..?

If you can survive even a miniscule suggestion from me then here it goes, "Stop chasing the goals set by some one else for you. Live your own way. If you are fine and content enough with your life than let it be. Mind it, life is too short for any grudges,remorse and repentances."

Life @ Weekend..

2009-12-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

Yet another weekend is banging on my doors..and here I am, in full throttle to encash it to the fullest ...do I mean it??..doesn't really matter !!
The mere impulse of freaky fridays gets me on a high, no matter how bad it ends up. And yet again, the sudden impulse of those mournful mondays gets me back on the lows , no matter how good the ensuing end was. My life has reduced between these 2 extremes, and whatever falls in between is not really worth it. The reason being, it flashes by so swiftly that I cud hardly differentiate which day of week it is. I am stuck in this vicious cycle and at times I fail to differentiate, if it's the beginning of an end or end of the beginning. But, I like it, the way it is.
Had it been the other way round, the wait would have been endless - full of stress, pain, demotivation and and lot more..

28 and counting...

2009-12-13T05:55:00.000-08:00

I have been repressing this bubble bust for quite some time now but today I couldn't resist the inner turbulence and resorted to nothing but to write (freedom of expression..),what better way do I have..? hope someone is there to read it..

Before I delve further, Lets try to ponder over a few points -
I mentioned 28 - Do these numbers really have some standing..? Does the increase in the count always aimed towards betterment(I don't want the politically correct answer..)?

Well, from governance and demographic point of view, its good to divide the larger chunk into smaller ones for the ease of governance. Now, what should have been the basis of this divison..? We chose it to be linguistic commonality. Fair enough, I pretty much agree with this presumption. But, in the present scenarios, we have deliberately misunderstood it leaps and bounds - here the precursor has to be lack of better governance due to larger land/population size of the province/state, if this test passes then only we seek for the second step.
In the contrary what seems to be happening is that, a couple of media/voter hungry political parties who have long lost their eminence or who are in the fear of losing, are just trying to gain some mileage out of such feckless demands. I don't know, how do they cajole common masses to support them..? Who is going to suffer..?
Ultimately, it's the common mass who has to suffer. I have witnessed the post divison socio-politico-economic condition of jharkhand.The condition even worsened with day-to-day calls for strike, rampant corruption, unstable government and the likes.
Not to forget, a separate state comes with an additional price to run government machinery, common welfare, conducting elections, feed money hungry politicians etc. Even if a little good is being done(which I really doubt..), that is certainly not good enough for separate statehood keeping in view the amount of dirt that is brought into the system.

If your civil rights are being compromised then you can very well resort to the judiciary, but certainly the statehood is not the solution for that.

Now, why the goverment fails squarely to deal with such frivolous demands..? Is fast-unto-death the necessary and sufficient condition to get the government's nod.
If yes, then we have to have necessary law in place to thwart any such disturbing attempt. Remember, euthanasia is termed a criminal offence and we have a law in place to back it up..? If a common man suffering from some form of terminal illnes tries to liberate his life in a painless manner without inflicting damage to any one else, then why the hell in this world this "fast-unto-death" has not been termed criminal..? That too, when it results in severe chaos followed by a bunch of suicides.

All in all, what I feel is that the increasing count only have some meaning if it is well thought out and delivered on a strict need-to-need basis. Also, the divison is only good till the point it doesn't become a overhead(with the additional cost to support this..). Failing which, the counter would be mighty uncontrolled and what would result is the complete chaos!!

Christmas Carol & 3-D..!!

2009-12-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Finally, the long wait for this movie materialized today. Though, over this week I had altered my plan to go for "Paa" amidst the overwhelming reviews. But, finally I ended up watching "Christmas Carol" today, and yes, the decision was quite right. I have 2 good reasons to cheer, first, it was my first ever 3-D movie experience and second the movie was based on epic novella by charles dickens which left me no option but to watch it in all enthralling 3-D experience. And, here I am to endorse this fact!!

As soon as we entered, we were given the magic 3-D glass which looked like any other toy glass sold on the street.I was quite apprehensive about the kind of magic it would bring. Yet, I put on the glass and slowly I was getting connected to the 3-D world. Flying over the skyscrapers, u feel u r in some deus-x-machina, and at times you feel near escape when u pass by an adjoining tower. No matter, whatever I utter, u gotta experience it to feel the thrill.

The best thing about this movie is that the story has exactly been reproduced beyond any dilution (unlike the most..) and the characters are truly a symbolisation of what Dickens would have envisaged. I don't know how relevant it is in present context but then yes, the epic tale has been a harbinger of festivity and merriment in Britain and America after a long period of capitalist sombreness.
Perfect Connect, I would say. Eight odd hours have passed by, but I could still sense that Scrooge's long protruding nose is right in front of eyes.

Well, now I am looking forward to my next 3-D experience with Avatar.

Auro's Aura

2009-12-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

Guys , I could sense the stark similarity b/w "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Paa", but much remains to be answered after I watch it out.After Black its Paa and to everyone's surpise BigB is portraying as the son to his biological son.

Quoted from Rediff review "Amitabh Bachchan's unrestrained spontaneity sparkles in every frame. At the same time, the details he brings to the same through his animated physicality, understated vulnerability and understandable petulance is nothing short of awe-inspiring."

The kind of diverse role BigB has been doing of late, is certainly worth commendable.
It may be too early and kind of injustice to comment more, yet there are some pointers which has been haunting me quite incessantly and I couldn't stop scribing it out. To start with - Superb Starcast,amazing media hype and blah blah...but what remains amiss is the superb execution. If we have that capability to pick up those epic scripts then why do we fail to deliver on these fronts. Not only that, the movie mostly revolves around the politics, while it should have been on sth else. I don't know, why can't they do away with this element..? Anyways, based on the reviews so far, it seems to be a perfectly crafted family movie (everyone in the family will find someone to shed tears at) and I would suggest, there is no harm in giving it a shot..at least to endorse Auro's Aura!!

Will CopenHagen turn out to be "HopenHagen"..?

2009-12-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

Amidst all the overwhelming fuss about globalwarming per se, the UN Climate summit started on a positive note. While there may be trade-offs between the vested interests of developed and developing countries but what still stands upright is the approaching apocalypse, if overlooked!! So, it is in the better favor of humanity that we all unite and fight it out as whole. I really liked India's stand which goes like this, "We are not sure if we are a part of this problem, but will make sure we are a part of the solution". There are quite a lot of conflicts between developing and developed nations in the view of proposed carbon emission cuts,as in, the developed countries imposing unrealistic goals w.r.t carbon emission cuts on developing countries, while the developing countries putting the pretext that their per capita carbon emission is still way lower than what developed country has, that too at the time when they are on the growth spree. Whatever the fuss is being made, but its really the high time we realize our responsibility and reduce our carbon foot-prints for the sake of humanity, failing which will have unimaginable consequences in terms of economic and human costs.
There is an old African proverb that says "If you want to go quickly;go alone,if you want to go far, go together".But,We have to go far and quickly. I am sure it will be difficult, but not that difficult if we make a collective resolve.
Its been rightly said, " Kaun kehta hai aasman me surakh nahi hota, jara ek paththar toh tabiyat se uchalo yaro"!!

If you are still sceptical about it, go and watch/read "The Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore.I am sure that will give you that spark to feel the approaching catastrophe!!

So, what I feel is "Together We Can!!".

Demo(ns)Cracy or DemoCrazy..?

2009-12-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Well,this is one of the most flawed concepts I have ever come across, specially for India and the likes.It may seem nasty on the paper, but the real execution part leads to complete chaos.Given the nature of human being(not bots), it seems quite unrealistic to go for it in modern scenario.I don't know, how and what convinced our constitution writers to go for it in its entirety. At the very outset itself, there were a bunch of assumptions made like.. all the citizens exercising their voting power(not under any oppression or bias), only good people jumping into the election fray, all the government machinery working flawlessly, their will be no corrupt motive among the elected candidates and lot more.. How many of these assumptions truly stand upright today..? Truly, none!! Then how come the Democracy be..?

Now what are the major setbacks-

1.Lesser Voter turn-outs - This indifference in attitude can result from a variety of facts.First and foremost being their disbelief in the current political machinery.This may be because all the candidates either fail to meet the criteria or they are way beyond to meet the purpose.Well, the former seems quite possible in Indian scenario.But, even if you don't exercise it you will still have to live with the status-quo, there is no denying back.And what results is tyranny(sounds too harsh, but yes it is).

2.Irrational Voters - The majority of actually voting chunk are not-so-educated, who really lack the skills to judge good and bad from long term perspectives and eventually they are either made to vote forcefully or they vote out of some personal bias.

3.Inertia to Change - Its only "We The People" who is on the receiving end of its consequences. Our political leaders are always at a good bargain.Who is going to listen to us..? But, I do have some positive expectations from the younger breed like Agatha sangma, rahul gandhi, jyotirmayaditya, sachin pilot and the likes..It remains to be seen as to how far it meets.

I believe, it was too premature a decision to have democratic form of government in India, when we fail at the very assumption itself. We are not like United states, where everyone is educated enough to judge right from wrong and elect their candidates keeping in view the long term motives.It would take quite some time for us to reach that level and may be more if we stick to the status-quo. So, what remains a viable option is hybrid form of democracy, wherein we limit the voting power to the chosen few who are competent enough to take decisions on behalf of the whole(But again here is an assumption and that fares better than what was made earlier).The second option may be to go for presidential rule with power vested in the hands of beaureaucrats ( I don't say they are perfectly ideal people but yes, they fair better than our so called pro-people netas).

Quote from uncyclopedia "Democrazy (pronounced "Dem-OCH-Ray-Zee," "Dem-O-CRA-zee" and "Bicycle horn") describes a series of related governments linked by election of leaders by madmen. With origins in ancient Greece, Rome, south Asia and the inseam of my pants, democrazy has grown and expanded throughout history to become the preferred form of rule around the world. Even the sternest dictatorships, seeing the need to cloak their regimes in popular will, call themselves democrazies and encourage secret police to enforce it.
The principles of democrazy emphasize the importance of the lunatic in government, and the necessity of handing the lunatic the keys to education, business and nuclear warheads. Democrazy is not without its skeptics, but most criticisms are drowned in a chorus of duck calls." ;):):)

Feeling sleepy now, will pen down more in the upcoming posts..

What the heck?

2009-12-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

Week full of not-so-rocket science work, long deprived of watching good movies, last one year of wait for this moment of respite, oh GOd!! its doomed again!! I remember the last episode of violent bandh protests by YSR's supporters after his tragic demise. Frankly speaking me n my flat mates' very survival was at risk..no food and absolutely nothing!! I couldn't figure out in what way this act of them is going to sympathise with YSR's soul. May be I'm too off this business to understand all these crap.

And this time around its yet another similar crap. Some XYZ from XYZ party is on fasting protest for his XYZ demand..and now he is struggling between life and death due to his unmindly act. Let him die, who cares..?.. rather, it would be good on our part to get rid of such mindless freaks!! Who is affected?? It is the common mass who has to bear all the wrath. This time around it's called for a 2-Day Bandh, and thats how my weekend plans got brutally murdered. All that wait went into vain!!If at all they can do some public favour, I would say, please plan your frivolous acts for weekdays so that at least you can grab some sympathy from IT professionals.

No worries, I am planning to watch recently downloaded not-so-good romantic comedy at my home.

Happy Weekend.

wow...its really funny....i got it in sms...

2007-08-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Mom comes to visit her son Kumar for dinner.....who lives with a girl roommate Sunita. During the course of the meal, his mother couldn'thelp but notice how pretty Kumar's, roommate was.

She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this had only made her more curious.Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, shestarted to wonder if there was more between Kumar and his roommate thanmet the eye.Reading his mom's thoughts, Kumar volunteered, "I know what you must bethinking, but I assure you, Sunita and I are just roommates.

"About a week later, Sunita came to Kumar saying, "Ever since yourmother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver plate. You don'tsuppose she took it, do you?"

Kumar said ,"Well, I doubt it, but I'll email her, just to be sure."So he sat down and wrote :Dear Mother:I'm not saying that you 'did' take the silver plate from my house, I'mnot saying that you 'did not' take the silver plate.. But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.Love, Kumar

Several days later, Kumar received an email from his Mother which read

Dear Son:I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Sunita, and I'm not saying thatyou do not' sleep with Sunita. But the fact remains that if she wassleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the silver plate by now under the pillow...Love,Mom.

Lesson of the day:Don't Lie to Your Mother...........especially if she is Indian !

India's 60 and going strong!

2007-08-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

60 years and she's seen it all - Happiness and sorrow, love and hate, birth and death. As India celebrates its 60 years of Independence, we indians recount those moments. Some happy, some sad but the history that is entwined with our destinies.

When Jawaharlal Nehru spoke about the endeavour of a free India, he said, it is "To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman."

As 60 years pass, India seems to be on the right track. Be it on the economic or the political or the judicial front, India seems to working hard to make the 1947 dream a reality. But there's still a long way to go.

The India of today has the right mix of philosophy, viewpoint and practical will to get to the top. Where India was once fighting as a third-world country, it's now a super-power in-waiting. The world is now waking up to the powers of India.

With the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal coming through, the United States of America now looks at India as an important ally. The United Kingdom's view is no different. Russia and India have always been friends. As for China and Japan, the Asian countries are realizing the importance of being India's neighbour.

On the International front, the future of India is bright and shining. Despite, various wars with Pakistan and China, the nations are now making an effort at solving all troublesome issues.

However, on the domestic level, several issues still haunt India. There are still many people living below the poverty line, many who are still illiterate, who do not have basic amenities in life and many who are still dying of starvation.

Where India's economy is growing at a rapid pace, farmers' suicides are still a problem plaguing India. Where Indians form a major chunk of students in Universities abroad, the issue of reservation is still haunting our education system.

On the one hand, India's judicial system is independent and a strong entity on its own, the political system is still a mess. Corruption is still rampant and acting as a hindrance to the real growth of India. Though more youngsters are taking upon themselves to enter the political fray and make a change, there's still a need for more participation.

In a country where Hindus and Muslims were one entity before partition, religious disparities are becoming more prominent.

But all's not really lost. In the past few years, the citizens of this country have chosen to fight injustice on their own. Be it Jessica Lall murder case or the death of Professor Sabharwal in Ujjain or many other campaigns that have been undertaken, the citizen is waking up and realizing its duty towards the fellow citizens and towards the nation.

Movies like Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai might act as a catalyst, but it's the soul of India, which is now awake.

And if this trend stays alive, then the day is not far when every Indian will be a proud citizen and India a proud mother. Till then let's keep the spirit alive and celebrate our Independence Day.

Its all unexplained n baffling laws................

2007-08-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

FEW GOOD LAWS... So true

Law of queue: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone.

Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

Bath Theorem: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

LAW of the RESULT: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will!

Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Theatre Rule: People with the seats at the furthest from the aisle arrive last.

Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

अन इन्तेर्विएव with a blogger........

2007-08-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

Interviewer: Good Morning, Mr. Blogger.
Blogger: Good Morning! .. and Happy Independence Day to you all!

Interviewer: Why do YOU blog?
Blogger: Well, its a great way to exchange ideas, share information, connect, know what’s going on, keep track of things I’m interested in. I also blog sometimes to keep track of my own thoughts - maybe writing a blog post on a new idea would get me to do some research and lead me to a deeper insight on the subject.

Interviewer: Do you think Blogs are changing the way people communicate?
Blogger: Yes! Definitely! I think Blogs are becoming a very powerful tool. And the reason it is so popular is because it is direct in nature. Last week, I was going through this blog by the Senior Management at General Motors - it opens up a direct channel, which obviously increases transparency. It lets the management share their ideas across the organization and get immediate feedback, which in turn helps them take quick decisions. I think thats great!

Interviewer: Tell us some more about Corporate Blogging..
Blogger: Some corporates have started internal blogs on their local intra-net to enable free information and idea-flow within the organization — Cognizant’s Knowledge Management (KM) Portal “ChannelOne Blogs” being a case in point.. Which (incidentally!) also happens to be Powered by Wordpress!

Interviewer: So, you think Blogging is here to stay?
Blogger: Look, blogging is not a “wave” that has come and might go away. I don’t think so. It is whole new medium that has come up. Even if it does become obsolete, it will be because something better (& BIGGER!) has evolved!

Interviewer: What do you think about celebrity blogging?
Blogger: You know the way Internet / Blogging technology is moving, I see it bringing people together like never before! Celebrities also realize that expressing their thoughts in an online journal of sorts makes them directly communicate with their fans and get an instant feedback. Aamir Khan and Bipasha Basu are among the Indian Bollywood stars who have started blogging.

Interviewer: What do you think is the “next big thing” in the (still young!) world of Blogging?
Blogger: Well, I’d like to believe its community blogs. Collaborative Blogging, according to me, will drive information-sharing in the future. Just like Social networking sites like orkut and facebook have revolutionized the way we “network”, community blogs (and Wikis) are going to change the way we “share” information and knowledge!

Interviewer: Why is your blog called “Talking Tails?”
Blogger: Good Question! (Smiles!).. Well, I honestly didn’t think too hard! I was watching a show on a News channel called Talking Heads.. For lack of a better name, I thought I’d call my blog TalkingTails! .. The next time I want to “name”any sort of an initiative, I better consult some creative people! (Laughs!)

Interviewer: Thank You, Mr. Blogger. It was wonderful talking to you!
Blogger: Yes, thank you very much. Pleasure!

B-schools don't teach courage

2007-05-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

B-schools don't teach courage

Reservations @ IIMs - MBA Forums :: CoolAvenues.com

2007-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Reservations @ IIMs - MBA Forums :: CoolAvenues.com

The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Reservation impasse

2007-05-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Reservation impasse

Proud to be a "BIHARI"...

2007-05-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

about Bihar. Do you know that...
message:

Bihar has more number of Literate than Kerala and Tamil Nadu
combined?

Bihar has more number of Graduate than Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
combined?

More Biharis are doctors than Punjab and Gujarat combined?

Bihar has produced more number of IAS officer than Kerala,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu , Andhra and Gujarat combined?

More Biharis are bank probationary office than any other state?

More Biharis are in IIT compare to Maharashtra and Gujarat?

Murder rate in Bihar is half of murder rate in Mumbai?

Rape is Bihar is 1/10th of Delhi?

Number of people killed in Bihar in communal violence is 1/75 th
of Gujarat?

Naxalites in Bihar have killed less people than in Andhra Pradesh?

Bihar produces more wheat than Punjab?

Bihar is only large state where no farmer committed suicide?

More Bihari Girls complete Graduation than Kerala

Thats Bihar ...
n i m proud of that

Microsoft, Yahoo to Link IM Networks....in a move to beat Google in online business

2007-05-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

Microsoft and Yahoo announced on Wednesday a blockbuster interoperability deal that will reshape the landscape of the fragmented instant messaging market. The companies will connect their IM networks so users on each can communicate with one another using text and voice chat free of charge.

Starting in the second quarter of 2006, customers of both services will be able to see their friends' online presence, share emoticons, and add new contacts from either Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger to their buddy list.

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The agreement marks the first time major players in the highly-competitive IM industry have officially partnered up to enable cross-network communication. Interoperability has always been a hot topic among instant messaging providers, but had never yielded a compromise.

In 1999, Microsoft connected its MSN Messenger client to AOL's AIM network - without authorization. The move let to a cat-and-mouse game of AOL cutting off its new competitor and MSN re-establishing communication with each update. Microsoft eventually gave up and focused on improving its client.

Such disparate messaging networks led to the creation of third party clients with the ability to connect to each simultaneously. AOL and others were initially critical of applications like Trillian, but eventually backed down and ceased efforts to block the newcomers.

"IM interoperability is the right thing for our customers, our businesses and the industry as a whole, and Microsoft is delighted to help lead these efforts with Yahoo," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement.

"This is truly a turning point for the IM industry," added Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, "and we believe our agreement with Microsoft will help usher in a new era of IP communications."

Yahoo and Microsoft will now command upwards of 44 percent of the market, according to research firm Radicati Group, putting new pressure on market leader AOL, which holds around 56 percent market share with AIM and ICQ. And according to recent comScore Media Metrix numbers, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger together reach 33.5 million unique users each month, more than the 23 million running AIM.

But competing with AOL is likely not the primary reason Microsoft and Yahoo have linked up. The new threat to the IM heavyweights comes from voice chat and upstarts such as Skype that have taken the communications industry by storm. Google, meanwhile, recently launched a communications client called Google Talk that focuses on simple PC-to-PC calling.

Still, a source at Yahoo expressed concern about the new partnership to BetaNews, hypothesizing that interoperability will only serve to strengthen Microsoft's position in the market.

Recently, IM software clients have evolved to link consumers to other services beyond just chat - from blogs to search. And if users are able to message contacts on Yahoo through the MSN client bundled with Windows, it could hamper Yahoo's efforts to reach more eyeballs.

Microsoft is also reported to be in talks with Time Warner, and a deal to open the door between MSN Messenger and AIM has been rumored. However, nothing concrete has come from the discussions thus far.

ma feelings in loneliness..

2007-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

will write later...