How hard it is to control the mind....

How hard it is to control the mind! Well has it been
compared to the maddened monkey. There was a monkey,
restless by his own nature, as all monkeys are. As if that
were not enough, someone made him drink freely of wine,
so that he became still more restless. Then a scorpion stung
him. When a man is stung by a scorpion he jumps about for
a whole day, so the poor monkey found his condition worse
than ever. To complete his misery a demon entered into
him. What language can describe the uncontrollable
restlessness of that monkey? The human mind is like that
monkey; incessantly active by its own nature, then it
becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its
turbulence. After desire takes possession comes the sting of
the scorpion of jealously of others whose desires meet with
fulfilment, and last of all the demon of pride takes
possession of the mind, making it think itself of all
importance. How hard to control such a mind!

RajYoga-VivekaNand...

Putrid Seeds !!!

If you ask somebody that what would be future like ? you will be surprised by answers such as incredible innovations, products and the complete change of the. Computers that are intelligent enough to read up your mind. Vehicles, smart and fast enough to become your best friends. Home so intelligently designed that things would happen with the blink of eye. Technology will fill the space and intelligence would rule the roost. But what about the most important aspect of the future, the HUMANS. How would it be like ? with what kind of values? with what kind of attitude ? and most importantly what kind of thought process. If I am talking about the future human, Isn't I am talking about the current population of below 12 years age? Yes I am. So Lets take a look at 33% of population that will be next generation of humans.

Madarsa Camp !!!

Of course the second largest religion is the religion of least educated followers. Clashes of Islams are not to mention here whichare taking place in the various parts of world. The pervasive disharmony between muslim and other religions would certainly lead to the fragmented world in the future. The chasm of cultural difference would be widened by these madarsas which preach completely distorted form of Islam directed by the Clergies. This large population is dispersed around the globe. From Pakistan in the west Asia to Indonesia in the East Asia. From Iran to Iraq. From turkey to Russia. Islam and Muslims can not be neglected in the coming future. Technological assistance makes the things worse as with its help these fanatics hammer the world badly. So Muslims would keep on fighting for the supremacy of their religion. And this fight is for their pigheaded approach towards their religion. The staunch water stinks. So if new Islam would not be modernise enough the hitch is going to affect the coming generations badly. The religion would find newer seeds buried in the Madarsas of Bangladesh or in any part of the world that would impart clashes across the globe.

Child Soldier Camp !!!

Certainly the coming generation will be fighter by the nature. From the very inception they are trained to fight for their freedom, for their rights and for some cause. In Srilanka LTTE child soldiers have turned their childhood into the Arms training sessions. This is significant in the sense, in future they would turn into the army, fighting for the same causes their forefathers died fighting for. They too would have ever ready support from the technology. So any catastrophe can not be denied on the coming future. This generation of fighters is learning only one art, i.e. How to fight ? and they would certainly keep the cause alive in the future. These groups has identified that it is important to get rid of the childhood and preoccupy the sub-conscious minds of children with the thoughts of their "cause".

In Africa things are even worse. Here children are forcefully taken up by the so called freedom fighters and they are so much tortured that children start following the blood path blindly after wards.Children are forced into the opium addiction, boozing and bloodshed. Can you imagine that this breed of fighters is going to disarm in coming future. How much precarious journey of their life is lying ahead. Some of these African children opt for the arms out of madness but some out of hunger and inequality. As the later percentage is increasing, it is definitely a negative signal for the rest of the world.

And things are not limited to only Srilanka or Africa but to the larger part of world. In Israel, Middle east, in Israel, in Pakistan and in Korea, ever where there is Army of children who are ready to fight for their causes. In Gaza things are so bad that if children play they play the games with the real arms. This is real threat to the childhood of the masses. Children shouting the "Unknown" slogans and killing mindlessly can bring your heart out. The way innocence is turning into rage will definitely drive hell in the coming future.

Consumerism Camp !!!

This is worst affected generation. Its psychology is completely engulfed by the products, brands and materialism. This group would be real threat to themselves. This is another kind of addiction instilled in the present generation by the marketers considering the safe future for their products without considering the health hazards of the products.
Consumerism is on the path of its zenith. It has covered the vast majority of the child hood as its potential future customer. The children are so madly following these things that it is not going to loose its ground in the future. From eating to wearing. From dialect to mannerism everything is governed by the market forces for this coming generation. Chocolates, Video games, burgers, colas and brands have never been so popular among children. These things have become the integral part of the lives of the children now. This generation would feed the organisation, profits and employment to millions of the people in coming time.

Deprived camp !!!

This Pulitzer Prize winner photograph really pulled out your heart out. Vulture waiting for its prey to die signifies how bad the situation would be in the future. This hungry childhood would make another army of deprives in the world of obesity resulting out of over eating. Billions of this class would emerge into the psychologically challenged generation. Hunger would turn into something world would never imagine. Certainly this childhood would not turn into normal future adulthood.
Then comes the childhood that is been forced into labour. Billions are forced in India and China in unorganised/organised sector of employment. This class is going to affect the way things would be manufactured in the future. The obvious depravity in this class would certainly reflected in the way the different strata of the society would interact with eachother. In third tier or fourth tier manufacturing units these children are forced to work in the conditions which are beyond imagination of the normal mind.

So these putrid seeds that are sown now would result into the generation of the future that everybody is envisaging as technology savvy. Do you think these things would affect the way the thing s would be. I believe they will.

What went wrong ? !!! Final Blow

Definitely psychology of our generation has been engulfed by the clouds spurred by media, larger than life leaders, and so called several heroes. We have trained ourselves to emulate something or somebody that mass follows or what is accepted by many. This "Heard Phenomenon" is very common among humans. Social factors are also responsible for this vulnerable state in which human race has reached. We will sew how societal un-predictable form has made things worse for humans themselves.

Societies evolve and that is natural phenomenon but unsynchronized way it is following the pain.The natural resources are produce by some body and consumed by some body else. The Oil produced in Nigeria in completely unstable state is consumed in US. Levis Jeans stitched in horrible working conditions in US are purchased by Europe. These social factors play a crucial step in the harmony of world, in the welfare of ecosystem and above all the survival of humans. When US purchase crude oil from Iraq or Saudi Arabia, is it concern about the political status of that country. Is it bothered about what is mode of the purchasing? its currency based or commodity based or Arm Based or Opium based. What are the repercussions of the same? These things might look insignificant in front of vision and mission statement of the corporations but this has to be ingrained by the corporations, especially those which are Multi National Companies. Meeting the ethical and humane aspects that are going into the product realization phase should be the prime motive. What kind of waves are going into the product. So Nike should not be happy for its profit coming fro the products manufactured in Taiwan, but it should look into the working conditions and the extraction of the raw material that is going into the product. So accountability chain is far from lengthy that is been perceived now.

So in nutshell, Accountability chain is to be taken up to replace the supply chain. Who is adding value in the supply chain and the way it is adding value both are important for the product development. Repercussions need to be analyzed and studied prior to the Product realization. And More ethical way needs to taken over the just profit motive approach. Its not just progress that matters but it is survival that is at stake. There is requirement to be psychologically toned so that we can make wise choices for our preferences.

What went wrong...Psycholgy Rules !!!

Till now we saw, how come the product can affect our ecological system. Accountability chain is need of hour. Every individual, community, government and institution must be held accountable for his deeds. Welfare of larger mass must be kept in mind before eking out short term profits. Now onwards I will dwell upon the psychological problem of the aspect. Maslow's theory states about the needs and all. I think that is correct in every sense until there is not something about the repercussions of those states. So a person who is struggling to have first level needs can not be expected to attain enlightenment just by preaching him few fundas.

Psychology is even more complex than psychologist can ever think. Every human is different so you can imagine the introduction of complex structure with birth of every child. And this birth affects or changes the complete dynamics of the web i.e psychology. This web( Psychology of humnas) is sub set of broader set or web. This web is of interactions among humnas, animals, environment, Forces and God. So a person who is not educated (ignorant) plouging in field in some coastal part of Vietnam can affect the sensex index of NY stock exchange. A worker in small textile mill in china can affect the ecological balance of Greenland. when things are so much interrelated the regulation of the psychologies is the prime force because it affects the various facets of life on this planet. The psychology of possession is natural to humans. When humans have enough to feed they start accumulating for any future or contingency. After that state they moves into the territory of personal ego (The most difficult aspect of psychology). Here the pride, grandeur and status rules. Most of the time individuals reside in this arena, while billions of people struggle for their survival.

This natural disharmony resulting due to psychology is inevitable. But its magnitude can definitely reduce to certain level. Humans use 5%of their mind (Scientifically proven fact). It makes humans erring. Mistakes are natural impact of this. Our ancestors were affected by the thing. But new generation or present generation is now using 30% of it body. And out of comforts available because of so called technological advances immunity has reached to its lowest levels. Diseases are pervasive. And credit goes to psychology of humans. The most important thing is this that psychology is vulnerable. it can be easily affected by the figures, facts, videos and stills. Psychology can be guided through simulation, stimulation and sizzling tact. It can be maneuver by the theories, ideas and scientific facts. And above all it can be enthralled by the creativity and innovation. You can say that psychology is prone to change. And last few decades have seen a sea change in the psychology of humans and it is well reflected in the transformation of societies, culture and values. What is right and what is wrong alters with the change in values. What is crime and what is not changes with the values. What to have and what not to have with the change of culture.

So this changed pattern of psychology is partially driven by the natural up-gradation in the level of need and vastly strengthened by External forces. These External forces have their psychological gain in mind while changing the thinking patterns of the masses and it takes place without even considering the after effects of this change on the ecology and above all on the way we interact to each other.

What went wrong !!! Accountability Chain ?

Whom to blame? It is difficult task. It is like accusing some one of unintentional crime. Most of the actions taken in history towards any betterment, which are now resulting into the miseries of millions, were mostly unintentional. Our scientific advancements were seen as the assistance for the ease of mankind. Ease in commuting, ease of connectivity, ease of quick cure. All these ease are no doubt has improved the life style but repercussions of these processes were ooften neglected.

Let’s take an example of product.

We are now very much affected by the Hydrocarbon based air pollution. Carbon mono oxide is killing both us and environment around us. Suppose an alternative fuel made up of water and few chemicals is invented by some scientist in some corner of world. The company that is financing the research of this project took the formula, and dwell upon the possibility of the manufacturing of the alternative fuel, which it founds quite feasible and profitable. As that company is already in the petrochemical business, it boasts this invention as the cure from the carbon based pollution, and promotes the product as Carbon free fuel. It takes the permission of the government which is going to fight elections. Government takes the mileage out of this by alluring voters. Product stores were opened and shelves were filled with several variants of the product. Millions of engines that can run on this technology were manufactured. Billions were job created across the supply chain of the new product. People started the use of new fuel. And it was no doubt Carbon free fuel. Environment is clean. Everybody is happy. The Company that has produced this Fuel is posting profits quarter by quarter. Its share price increases like any thing. This is end of any present product Accountability Chain. Any new product is taken by the manufacturer up to this level only in current business concept. It is end of supply chain.

Now starts the real accountability chain. When that fuel is used, people find a decline in the performance of the vehicle in next two or three years. After four years engines were affected badly, so people started changing their vehicles to get rid of the poor performances. Those vehicles were sold to economically weaker class in suburban areas. And in next few years there were billions of vehicles lying their at countryside. Till here nobody has looked into the problem. Then in next few years Engines performance worsen so much that they can not be used at all. Here starts the dismantling of the parts of these vehicles. And when engines were opened the fuel has made hell of the internal parts. A poisonous layer of the chemical deposited over that. These trillions of parts were then disposed in some rural areas where rules are not followed that stringently. At these places nobody is bothered about what waste management technology is followed. And some expert here suggests that it is better to dispose them in water otherwise it can harm the humans. And the nearby pious river is filled with these poisonous components of the engines. Here nobody is bothered about the aftereffect of this disposal.

Here starts the next cruel step. Out of ignorance that harmful chemical layer on those components that were thrown reacted with water and produced even dangerous chemical. Nobody is bothered about this chemical reaction. And next few years the river was made dumping place of the harmful chemicals. Slowly slowly, it killed several species of river. And then one fine day a local NGO/UN representative finds that MILLY fish does not exist anymore. The river is so polluted that if any water is extracted it can kill humans. So from this is how getting rid of carbon out of air pollution resulted into the extinction of MILLY fish and end of one river.

So I believe now it is clear that Accountability Chain is more important than just Supply chain. Supply chain reaches just up to customer while accountability chain reaches up to the Last effect of every ingredient used in the making of that product. It will ensure what went wrong. This is just product aspect. There are psychological, moral and Social aspects also related to the accountability chain.

What went wrong !!! The Problem

Probably this has been the most successful and the most devastating centuries mankind history has ever seen. And this contrast symbolizes one of the aspects of philosophy that says that "One has to pay the price of everything". In this case devastation of Ozone layer, pollution of sea, global warming, hurricanes and pervasive wars have been the price of our ever reaching technology progression, Industrial growth, Consumerism and flood of waste filled in the market.

Planning... !!!
Perhaps the poor planning has been at the core of the present miserable situation of the human mankind. If I am planning to make some product without considering the after effects of it’s by products, or the impact of the product on the humans, or the after math of the waste that it will produce I am at wrong end. The Off-shelve management of the product must not be left to the governments to tackle. It is the responsibility of the product maker to move ahead and take the responsibilities of his actions.(Please Refer fig:1)

But there is no agency that is looking into the aftermath of the product. It is upto the producer to take into consideration all this. And when business is run for business, who will look into the welfare of the society or environment. Cost trade off is always taken at the side of producer. Goverment is another handicap entity in the whole lot. You can well imagine the power of UN and its role in preventing any war in this last century. Product is produced from the brain of some original thinker (However he is never/least given the credit). This person is left then and there. Then in some manufacturing plant starts the game of second handers and profit makers. Here people and raw material that are their nascent stage are exploited. And then emerges the product to be consumed. Product is used by the consumers who are addicted of serving their senses. They too are not aware of the after effects of the usage of the product. as the life cycle of the product ends, it is thrown into the basket of society, where no body wants to keep the baby so this is utter responsibility of society to take care of the waste and the aftereffects of the waste. And when whole world starts crying.....everybody is ready with their diplomats, reporters and politicians to lament over the issue.

What Next ?

Vodafone Ad....Happy to help

Customer satisfaction!!! I believe is the Mantra that has got maximum marks from the strategists. And New Ad of Vodafone, with punch line "HAPPY TO HELP" has really hit the bull’s eye. Its video is amazing, and its presentation is so powerful that it makes an impact. An innocent girl child is facing problems with her small things, from not finding socks, tie or fishin g net. And her beloved Hutch-puppy is there to help her out. The impact is powerful because of another reason, i.e. it is intuitive to the puppy that what his friend is missing or needs. Innocent face adds the flavor of natural emotions in the AD. And tag line what a customer is always looking for, and every Marketing strategist wants to convey to the sales person or any employee. "Helping" makes the things humane. and Feeling of being happy while helping mixes the feeling of "pleasure" in the service. Now a days, when customers are been harassed by the Customer care executive of the Telecom companies, this Ad is message to all that how to go about the customer care thing. But it will create more pressure on the Vodafone if it could not meet the highest level of customer satisfaction. As it happens with TATA Indicom, when people were facing Network Problem they instantly able to recall Tata Indicom ad ( Connection Problem ..."Switch to Tata Indicom"....all the best Vodafone!!!

Leadership...In Manufacturing Sector

Leadership is one of the words those have got highest numbers of "hits" on http://www.google.com/ still, the number of hits is not decreasing in any sense. Millions of authors have written billions of the books on this topic. Trillions of attributes in different forms have been written on this topic. Surely, it is one of the most coveted topics in the Business arena, because there is charisma attached with this word, there is so much enthusiasm, so much energy, so much passion is driven by this word that world has started seeing this word "leadership" with awe. Truly speaking, Leaders are like Trees which are same at their stem or trunk but are different at their branches. From far they might look same but as you will look closer onto the trees you will find completely different woven fabric of branches, leaves and seminal fluid (mucous) that is running inside the branches. And in true sense this difference gives the tree its"Identity". Let me give you a simple example. Wiston Churchil and Mahatma Gandhi are the two greatest leaders that political arena has ever seen. Still they were different in their approaches. Similarly you can not compare Mahatma Gandhi to Laxmi MIttal, or Laxmi mittal to Steve waugh. Or Jack Welch to Laxmi mittal. You can not compare to Mother Taresa to Valdmir Putin or OBAMA to Mother Taresa. The Picture is clear, Leaders immerse out of situations, not that a single leader definition fits all the credentials of the One-fit-all size. Here I will talk about the leadership in the Manufacturing Sector. First to know about the sector itself, I must confess one thing. Manufacturing is different than the other businesses. So first we must know the attribute of the industry before jotting down any thing about the attributes of the leaders of this industry.
Attributes of manufacturing Sector...
1. Man-Man-Man: This is completely man driven industry. It is significantly contributing to the employment of any nation. When agrarian industry could not feed so many mouths, manufacturing industry came into the scene. So one more thing is obvious that most of the employees into this industry are of agrarian background or have been eployed by this industry. It simply means that these people are not exposed to basic facilities that are considered essential to the urban people. These people are no so well educated. In nutshell they lack intellectual power as compare to the others. This is quite evident in the kind of demand they put forward through their UNION body. Such as need for clean food, Clean toilets. Distribution of the sweets at various occasions, long leaves at Festivals and overtime for any extra work they do at work place. In true sense they aspire to be rich but due to the Market forces they are not able to do so. Wage scheme provided by the government further ensures this so most of the activities in any manufacturing sector are driven my manpower. Visions can be shattered if the manpower is aligned to the ulterior goals of the enterprise. The Synergy of manpower and management is sin-qua-non for the success of the organization.
2. Technology: Technology makes this sector the employment temple for billions of engineers, diploma holders, designers, and innovators. Technology in this sector is responsible for the overall increase of the efficiency of manpower. Role of the engineer also is to increase the efficiency of the whole system as a whole. It must act in accordance to the goals of the organization. Technology at times was introduced to deter the manpower, making them realize that Technology can replace them. It was true up to one sense but very soon it was realized that it is not possible to use technology effectively without the co-operation of manpower. And then onwards terms like "people-centric-technology" were become buzz word in this industry. Fro CAD-CAM to PRO-E, from CATIA to NISA. From Painting technology- Electrostatic guns to Pneumatic guns, from large conveyors to robotic welding, from semiconductor industry to steel manufacturing industry, Technology is integral part of this industry.
3. Consumer or Product: Finally the user of the products of this industry is user. It uses the products to satisfy it needs, to make his/her status symbol, to flaunt and at times for luxury. So the benchmark of the quality has also increased in that order. And over all Quality has become like galaxies that are expanding day by day. Initially it was meting the customer expectation. But now it has changed to exceeding the customer expectation. So quality has become more of the intangible attribute than a tangible attribute. So making products with intangible attributes has become really a Hercules task for the manufacturing industry. So consumer wants products on time and of best quality. So with these three attributes the nature of leader emerges for this industry.
Leadership Attribute for Manufacturing 1: Harness the Brain power...Here brain power is not of highest creativity or special fecundity(Reasons can be many) but surely there is untapped creativity everywhere. So It is utmost important for a leader in manufacturing to harness the employees of the organization bit by bit so that things can be improved. One very good example of this is KAIZEN. Companies like Toyota have done miracles with this tool. It has decreased costs, Increased productivity, reduced downtimes, increased manpower involvement and above all increased customer satisfaction. These incremental innovations can really backbone of the organization. But again, it is as art to harness the creativity or make the individuals work to the 120% of their creativity. It takes a different kind of personality to get the things done, and more than that trough involvement of the people. You have to read the nerve of the individuals , a frequency of motivation you have to choose for every individual. Harnessing the brain power of the individuals will fructify in the longer run in the welfare of the both employees and organization.
Leadership Attribute for Manufacturing 2: Lead from Front...
You can not be Boss in the industry, (and if you can then you can not earn the respect that will make you suffer in later of your career) you have to make the people realize that you are superior to them in every walk of life. In this industry it is utmost important that you lead from the front. .Know your work. This is very important gradient for this industry. If you do not know that you might pay the price for the same. GENCHI-GENBUTSU, GEMBA Management, See yourself. These all terms are invented in this industry only where you must see the problems by yourself and that would be best way to lead. You can not rely upon the power point presentations and the glib talks of MBA Executives. Definitely you can not. At times you have to show the true mettle of yourself by taking real life successful decisions. You need to lead the people by involving them in decision making and it takes courage to face the real doer. You can not always boast about your past achievements. Like any tennis player, you have to fight for your status on daily basis. You have to be mentally tough, Strong character, empathetic towards people around and above all Great communicator who has conviction in his thoughts.

Leadership Attribute for Manufacturing 3: Be innovative ...
This word may sounds simple but this is not, it takes a lot to be innovative in this industry. And when everything that you make has already been done on the CATIA or PRO E, what else is left to be innovative. But Major part is operations on daily basis. It gives you ample amount of opportunity to be innovative. Systems employed to get the things done throws several opportunities to be innovative at the shop floor. IT is very important for the overall strategic goal of the company such as Cost cutting, Productivity improvement, Safe working conditions, and Customer satisfaction.

This is first part of article.....There are several aspects of Leadership fo this industry that should be taken care of. These will be included in coming articles.

Inflation...Is UPA responsible ?

It has been a month, when the barometer of purchasing was showing 4-5% figure, but what all of sudden happened that figure has reached 7-7.5% figure. What drove inflation crazy like any thing. It is really Bad luck for UPA government that Inflation arose when elections are due in coming year and UPA’s extraordinary performance left Opposition with no issues to highlight during coming elections. But now Opposition has INFLATION as the punch lime for the elections.

What went wrong ...

Nothing, absolutely nothing. It is not the case also that all of the sudden people are given so much of money that crunch of basic commodities arose. Actually, it was the implication of World commodities that determine the inflation of the world as a whole. First is the price of crude oil, which has as insane as the Arabs who are still controlling 70% of Oil supply to the world, Secondly the price of Wheat and thirdly and most importantly the price of Corn. Corn consumption increased because of its demand that arose in production of ethanol based fuels. So what ever happened is not at in the control of government.

What next to inhibit its impact on common men....

Permanent solution of the problem is difficult, because implication of the solution can be dangerous in long term. For maintaining the growth of 8-9% GDP is possible only taking all the possible wise decisions. Let me take one by one the option available.

1. Increase the import: This may look wise decision to cater the increasing demand so that price can be controlled, but Problem with this solution is that it will compete and will eat-out the pie of Indian manufacturers. Lets say, government reduce the custom duty of edible oil, it will make the competition tough of Indian products in longer run, and that is loss of business, employment and over all mood of the business.

2. Discourage Export: This is again a solution that will be harmful in the longer run for the producers of the commodities as they will not be offered better price of their products, and that will result into problem for the produce and situation might be much graver than the existing one.

3. Increase the interest rate: WOW !!! RBI is in and things will be solved, but this is not the case, Increasing CRR and removing liquidity from the market would definitely hit the pockets of consumer, but it will affect overall investment scene of the country, increased interest rate will only discourage the FDI and FIIs.

Then what!!!....
A million dollar question. Policies are made to get the maximum amid all the possible constraints. Best way is to go by the Public distribution channel so that the producer (farmer) may not feel cheated for the consumption of the product that he has produced. Secondly, it can increase the interest rate for the time being so that extra liquidity can be checked with in the market. Export-Import balance is what it should dwell upon so that best solution can be found.

Palaces of slaves !!!

one very fine morning, when I woke up at 8 o Clock, by continuous beeps of my digital SANYO watch, the first thing i did was that I walked towards my balcony to collect the SUNDAY TIMES, Sunday special edition of THE TIMES OF INDIA. I love to read this Sunday special for past many years, initially i liked it because of its glossy papers(LIFE), and as I grew up, i started liking it for all the adult stuff it publish in these glossy papers, at times models are so hot that it titillate you on to the core. But for last couple of years, I read TOI, for its Sunday editorial, esp by SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR, with whom I am easily able to correlate my thought process. But with a coffee mug in m y hand, as I turned few pages I found a full page Ad of some ABC builder, who has started the booking of residential flats on NOIDA express way. As my office lies there and I have started thinking of investment, marriage and settled life, I gave a pause at it. I liked the facilities, four bed rooms, one small terrace 2000 sqFt, and common gymkhana, its vicinity to shopping mall, and its strategic location amid Delhi, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. Metro is another factor that may benefit potential buyer. But I read the last line on AD. Price starts at 4 Crore onwards......

I rubbed my eyes, to affirm what I had seen. How come a home can cost 4 crore rupees, and that too of a flat? Then I thought of my discussion with one of my friends who told me that EMI is 1/100 of your loan. That is thumb rule to calculate your approximate EMI, if you are taking loan for a period of 10 years. In that sense EMI comes to such loan of 4 crores to atleast 4 lakhs per month. I do no think, this much is salary of our respected President, Prime minister, And not even the director of some reputed company. Then who the hell is going to buy such flats. I then thought, there can be some one who can repay the amount in longer duration, say 20 years. Then again it would come to 1.6 lakhs per month. I agin got agitated with the very fact, that if I at the age of 30 goes to buy such flasts, and when I am earning 50k per month, will at least take 45 years to repay such amounts, and it is assumed that I would work continuously in these years, and I will get descent raise every year.

Then I think of people, who dream big, and are planning every thing of their life meticulously. What a person will do with his owned flat at the age of 75. Perhaps he will not even give a ounce of thought to it. And then I think of the people, the millions who are busy just to repay their EMIs, who are ready to work overtime, at times to mint some money, and at times to beat the competition, in the expectation of better raise so that they can repay their loans easily. Their day comprise of 14 hours of working. They are at the Nadir of their creativity. They are part of some supply chain, and they are busy to keep that chain intact with their full potential. They seldom enjoy the nature (If they do plan trips, it is agian another costly trip), they wake up at 6, and leave to office by eight to beat the traffic. and they normally leave the office by 7 or 8, and back to their homes by 9. And this is the way, the life looms ahead of any working executive. Like a slave who is given punishment of living the Descent life.

When I look towards the Long towers and that too filled with small boxes, called at 2 BHK, 3 BHK and 4 BHK.....one line comes in to my mind. Palaces of slaves !!!

Mala Marathi Yet naahi !!!

It was strange to read one of the articles in Mint- a business newspaper, in which a writer commented on the recent attacks on North Indians in Bombay by so called Raj thakarey supportes. Author in this article illustrated various big economists supporting Migration mechanism, and impact of Migration in economic sense. But in this case there is no economic sense in any way related to the assault on North Indians.

In Bombay’s case Migration is not problem at all, it is just a political mileage that Raj thakarey wants to milk out of the so called Maratha sentiment. The reason and the implications both are emotional and sentimental, and not at all economical. But who cares, who is writing what? every body is busy in earning a descent living, which itself has become a huge task for so called middle class, target consumers of Corporate giants.

Perhaps, it is one of the most IMMATURE out look of a political figure, who perceives people different on the basis of language and outcaste the person if he is opening up a college far from its place of occupation. Giving it a regional look to it is another shameful act.

Lets enter into the psychology of Raj thakarey

Amitabh bacchan-His first target

Allegation: He is a brand ambassador of U.P while he is a Bollywood figure.

If you consider the fact that actor has been giving income tax to Maharashtra Govt for last 40 years or so have by now surpaasesthe amount he has recently spent in opening up of a women college (UP literacy: 40%, Maharashtra : 73%). And I believe he has taken the right decision by doing that as UP badly need such kind of private funding for the opening of the college especially for girls. Secondly if Amitabh is acting as brand ambassador for UP, so what he is Green card holder too,( Will Raj Thakarey would start revenge campaign against Bush also ?) And importantly, he is not promoting some state but some National party. And being friend of some person is not at all wrong, and if he has taken millions also to promote Samajwadi party in U.P, nothing is wrong with that also. He is brand ambassador of DABUR, PARKER,REID N Taylor, and 67 other brands. After all he is celebrity of greatest stature, so it is normal affair for him to endorse the brands. But alas !!! Raj Thakare don't have this much brain, what else you can expect from his frenzy supporters.

HINDUISM vs North Indians:

This is again irony that person who consider himself as savior of Hinduism, is actually slapping a person of origin, from where every Major GOD of Hinduism has come from. Be it RAM, or Krishna, or even SHIVA, they all hail from North India only. I do not know, howcome Lannguage is coming over Religion, in the mind of Raj thakarey. Poor devotee !!! is not aware of the basic thing that Marathi language has actually evolved from Devnagari Lipi only, that has originated in North India only.

Bihar and U.P as evils :

This is another myth in the minds of Raj thakarey. Bihar and U.P forms 30% of parliament, and 40 % IAS officers are from these states. They have produced 8 Prime ministers and three presidents to India, just to mention Rajendra Prasad, our first President is from Bihar only. I do not know how come some prominent figure in Politics is so ignorant of Indian history. I am damn sure he would not be aware of the fact that Shivaji him self was supported by north Indians in the war against Mughals.

Bombay for "Mubaikars" only:

When Hongkong was given special status by chinese goverment (one of the most strict Communist Regimes), it was not out of any insanity, but because of its corporate history. Hongkong is city of business, trade and cross culturalism. There you will find Frech food served to English, in chinese restaurant. And such cosmopolitan culture is very common in the cities of trade. Bomaby, because of its proximity to sea, has been centre of trade of India. Here buisness has evolved, here people are businessman first, and then of any natioanlity. Its proximity to ports has given india to brought up few best Industrialists. TATA, BIRLA, and Reliance are few to name. But Raj thakarey will not understnd business, it is not for mediocres !!!

Anyways, we should ignore such crooks, in this democracy these things will happen, and they will try to damage the secular fabric of India. It is just up to us to condemn such incidents ,and keep the spirit of Indian Unity alive.

Blogs are all I have ...

Blogging has evolved within very short span. Here are few popular blog types..?

I know something !!! I will flaunt it.

This is what most people do when they talk about their knowledge of particular thing/item through their blogs. And they try to leave past the existing encyclopedia, for the same reason. It includes knowledge of already existing things. It is like teaching some DUMB n NAIVE students. These blogs are quite informative in the sense; they encapsulate so much at one place that people feel enervated while reading such blogs. Quite Informative is one phrase for such blogs!!!!

I am here for ads !!! Just click Plzzzzzz

This is most popular class of the blogs, where bloggers scribble down all the catchy things, just to draw attention of the user. Topics here include most weird items, from "Shape of Ancient Condoms" to “Men will give birth now ". They just want a simple click of the user on the Ad pop ups. They have one dream of minting money, come what may!!!. The authenticity of such blogs is questionable. There is no trust between blogger and user. And users feel like being cheated. But by the time user think that way, bloggers might have made few cents or Rupees....

I am new age critic !!! This is my Column....

This is slew of new comers who want to evolve as experts. They want to pour out their hearts, in every thing they write. They assume them as think tanks of the particular field. From poetry to prose, from movies to business, They criticize the writers, poets and authors. And they even rate them on the scale of five to ten. That is really ridiculous. You can find them, belittling few of the best creative artist, just for their sake...hats off to new EXPERTS....

then there are people like me who write for ...

I(ppl like me) write for expressing something that is there in thoughts, which is related to things around us, but are not said before. It is actually stretched thinking. Imagination is the genesis of such blogs. their topics are again at times weird, varying from from ethical dilemma to Creative pursuit, from comedy to intellectual identity. At times it can be just a story of one word. That is actually "EXPLORATION"....People like me explore through such blogs. I explore between what is there and what should be there. I explore between tangible and intangible. I explore between the sound and music, between thinking and words. I write because I feel that thoughts are more verbose than words. And to get rid of flummox is to write...Express...release the energy of mind cells...on the Computer screen....

My best friend 93.5 F.

My best friend 93.5 F.M

Buddha found "HIS" Middle way ...you find yours !!!!

Perhaps, Buddha is the best example of one who must have felt extremes, and then have found the "EUREKA"....that nothing lies at extremes, it is MIDDLE PATH that signifies that either things exist to they do not. Middle path is his "ENLIGHTENMENT", can u believe this? He never preached to leave all for the sake of "Removal of Sufferings", though he himself tried it all. e followed the Hindu ascetic way of life, but could not renounce what it all takes, and could not accept that facet of life. He did not believe in any after life that he found quite MORBID. He unfolds then three this principle, and eight those principle of morality, and make people follow one other sort of Philosophy, with its roots in Hinduism, and few bits and pieces from here and there, and the model of Enlightenment is Ready. Buddhism has never seen another Buddha till then; all Kappas whom I do not consider enlighten have either been in exile, or in their monasteries. Further more, I do not find any Buddhist society as one of the fore-runner society of the culture and values.

This all I have scribbled above is because of one simple reason. Extremes have been achieved by the people, and they so puzzled, that they have fragmented into many personalities, their desires are not in accordance with their thinking, and this dissonance is creating havoc in their lives. To solve their problems, they are either attracted towards Self help books, or they prefer to live in delusion. Where they hear music to avoid the cacophony of the world around them, watch movies to alleviate the mental pain and satiate the creative pursuit. They find some breathing techniques so wonderful, that they can be seen in Parks, doing all the possible nonsense early in the morning. But these solutions are not fit for all. Problem of each individual is unique and it can not be addressed by be so called "THUMB RULES".

Religion is the worst thing that can happen to human mankind. It has made people vulnerable to conflict and burdened of morality. It has drawn out one faculty of mind that thinks beyond the obvious, and which is a huge loss to an individual who is presently using 5%of his mind. Isn’t it ? People are forced to adapt what others are following, or majority is following. The application of mind is switched off when religion persists. People follow rituals, without knowing the actual history/reason of the same. This is painful. They are singing hymns, and chanting mantras without knowing the "Contextual" essence of the words. They are into meditation, are on fast, are flaunting the altruism, and madly following the path shown by their pope/GOD/Allah/ guru. This concept of following itself puts people at vulnerable state. That is why when conflict arises; it is not the wrong on the part of individual but of their ignorance of not knowing the half-baked knowledge of their religion. From Nazis to Jews, From Hindus to Muslims and from one sect to other, Conflicts have been pervasive and these all conflicts have been conflicts of ideologies, conflicts of who is superior? Who is to rule, and who is to be ruled ?Tragedy is that after 53 years of war, We are still recruiting, nurturing and putting our forces on Land, in air and into oceans to sane the territories of the nations. 53 years....Billion shave been spend for just being "PARANOID"....having constant fear of attack, constant fear of being taken over by some power. But truth is that people are not able to introspect, what they want? And this inability is making them so vulnerable. Scientific progress has only made things worse. It has providing each warrior a "TESTED" tool of mass destruction, ability to kill innocents, power to rule helpless, govern the minors, and devastate the weak.

The biggest problem is that people are trying out to solve the modern age problems with Ancient old religions and philosophies. IT signifies that people have not evolved in these years. There is dearth of "Intellectual" prowess; there is sense of inferiority in this human race that believes that their ancestors were far more superior to them, that their future lies no where. They believe that third world war is inevitable, and civilization will come to an end soon. Nostradamus has become cult now.

This is time for a afresh awakening, time to pause, time to dwell upon, time to ponder upon the existence of humans, their purpose of life, their way of living with respect to the demand of the world around them. They should not live the life in present with the values of the past. They must not amaze with what ancestors have done, but should find their innovative ways. It was 3 B.C when Buddha found middle path, and this is 2008, you must find your way.

Love the souls !!!

There are people who have been affected by many new century problems, actually these problems are just side effects of so called modernity, repercussions of Progress that mankind has made, by product of inventions and discoveries and result of the deeds of our ancestors who chose Democracy as way of governing the state, Religion as way of life and culture as ether of nation.

Problems are diversified in nature. These encompass "Frustration" of creative individuals in this labor oriented society. Devastation of arts as it has turned into mere commodity, Fickleness of relationships out of finding individualism, that keeps ME over WE, Delusions of mind in complex world, Choke-ness of freedom because of moral constraints, Pressure of performance in this competitive world, Compromises over values to achieve what is "mean”, Hazards of health in unhygienic world and Impurity of ideas because of lack of novelty. But the biggest problem is the loss of "VALUES" that affects the soul as a whole, and it is mystifying the real goals, forcing people to achieve what is less important and fighting for trivial things.

What is the solution for above problems is then a million dollar question. Isn't it !! There is no unique solution for all. There are customized solutions, which need to be generated, and they can only be found out through introspection. As there have been differences in the histories of the people, differences between the cultures so that the differences between the heritages their ancestors have made. But basic ethos is same of the solution that I believe can solve the problem.

Love!!!, Yes the most mysterious but universal emotion, carries the solution for most of the problems. You love the soul, not the bodies, you love the art and not the artist (As artist has art as his soul), you love the emotions and not the culture. You start loving the things that makes your breath calm, your mind in peace and which appease your senses, and negate all the negative energies. Love the people around you, rather than cutting their head out of competition. Love the incapables, love the mediocres, and love the incompetents, as that is their true self. The true things are the most beautiful thing in this world. Try to remember the smile of the children. Isn't it beautiful ? Once you will start loving the people/things/situations around you, your tension will diffuse without an iota of extra effort. Once your acceptance to the mediocrity will rise, you will start feeling alleviated, and that will eradicate any conflict out of your way. Your life would become "ENEMY FREE". You would able to cherish the beauties of life like any child does. Your life would then become expectation free, as you would accept what is coming your way.

These are the nodal points in the solution, but the spectrum of solution lies with you. It needs to be developed by the individual for him/herself, and that would ease out his/her commotion, her negative energies, her evils. But all this would be possible just by loving the souls !!! It is the bottom line.

Passion !!!

Passions are result of synergy between desires and actions. It is amalgam of ones wishes, ones dreams, ones positive attitude and above all the outburst of ones enthusiasm.

Humans are passionate about what they love; it may be anything, from hobby to profession, from sport to avocation, at times girl friends. But most important thing humans are passionate about is their dreams, something that is intangible, and something that they have vague idea of. And this passionate chasing of unknown is at times awarded with words "MADNESS" and "FOOLHARDINESS". But passionate people do not think about that. They chase what they want, and they achieve what others can only dream of.

Passions have produced most outstanding works, performances, masterpieces and inventions. World has changed to the betterment and that is result of passion of an individual or a group of individuals. There has been a evolution of science, Art, Mathematics, Cinema, Engineering, political science, Exploration just because of the passions.

But the passion is not something that is constant in nature but it is fickle, and it depends upon external factors as well, actually there is conflict between the internal sinew and external pressure. Those succumb to external pressures diminishes the intensity of their passion. And their achievement too is shortened to mediocre performances. But facing the external forces is not only a fight but a "war”, against your dark desires, against the demon inside an individual.

Passions are bi-faced entities. Passions can not distinguish between good and evil, so they can produce few EVILS as well. This is unique thing about passions, they follows the humans dream and not the morality. Passions are like a momentum in the lives of which with which humans desires bounce ahead toward their dreams.

Emotions !!!

The very first thing that comes into my mind while I hear the word "EMOTION" is natural splurge. An Erupted Volcano, A wave of sea touching shores, A swirl of fragrance of fresh roses, A blow of wind and silence of Static River. The natural splurge of each one of them signifies emotions in a way or other. Emotions are intangible things that are lying beneath our skin and flesh, bound with in our skeleton. They are obviously controlled by our mind, but are always triggered by our senses of touch, feel, sight, smell and taste. But the biggest trigger of the emotions that differentiates humans from animals is "THOUGHT".Descartes has rightly said "I think, therefore I am". This very feeling of existence comes from our very ability if thinking, which triggers the splurge of emotions that in turn, weaves the fabric of existence of any human. A human is human till he possesses emotions, till he flows with this splurge, till his senses are triggering these emotions, and till he is able to think. Though emotions are governed by mind, but they are rarely driven by logic. There is insatiable rivalry between the two. Logic nullifies the natural instinct of splurge of emotions. Then the emotions become mere outpour or a banal drama.
Tough they are triggered by external forces, Emotions are completely internal splurge. They born deep inside heart, and takes over all the systems that are normally governed by mind. They are not affected by the culture, caste and creed. They are human specific entities, not nation or language or culture specific. This splurge is the Orchestra of our reaction to the situations. Emotions are like artist who create different arts with using same brush. Color and canvass. Emotions are divine also; they are natural splurge after all.

Excerpt from One Man's bible

You no longer live in other people's shadows nor treat other people's shadows as imaginary enemies. You just walked out of their shadows, stopped making up absurdities and fantasies, and are now in a vast emptiness and tranquillity. You originally came into the world naked and without cares and there is no need to take anything away with you, and if you wanted to you wouldn't be able to. Your only fear is unknowable death.
You recall that your fear of death began in childhood and that your fear of death was much worse then than it is now. The slightest ailment made you worry that it was an incurable disease and when you fell ill you would think up all sorts of nonsense and be stricken with terror. Your having survived so many illnesses and even disasters is purely a matter of luck. Life in itself is an inexplicable miracle and to be alive is a manifestation of this miracle. Is it not enough that a conscious physical body is able to perceive the pains and joys of life? What else is there to be sought?
Your fear of death arises when you are mentally and physically frail. There is the feeling of not being able to breathe and you are anxious that you will not be able to last until you can take your next breath. It is as if you are falling in an abyss, this sensation of falling was often present in dreams during childhood and you would wake in fright drenched in perspiration. In those days there was nothing wrong and your mother took you for many hospital examinations, nowadays even under the doctor's instruction to have an examination, you repeatedly procrastinate.
It is absolutely clear to you that life naturally ends and when the end comes the fear vanishes, for this fear is itself a manifestation of life. On losing awareness and consciousness life suddenly ends, allowing no further thought and no further meaning. Your affliction had been your search for meaning. When you began discussing the ultimate meaning of human life with friends of your youth you had hardly lived, it seems that now you have savoured virtually all of the sensations to be experienced in life you simply laugh at the futility of searching for meaning. It is best just to experience this existence and to take care of this existence.
You seem to see him in a vast emptiness, faint light comes from an unidentified source. He is not standing on some specific or defined patch of ground and he is like the trunk of a tree but has no shadow, and the horizon between the sky and the earth has vanished. Or, he is like a bird in some snow-covered place and is looking from one side to the other. Occasionally, he stares right ahead as if deep in thought, although it's not clear what it is that he is pondering. It's simply a gesture, a gesture of aesthetic beauty. Existence is actually a gesture, a striving for comfort, stretching the arms, bending the knees, turning around, to look back upon his consciousness. Or, it may be said that the gesture actually is his consciousness, that it is you in his consciousness, and from this he is able to gain some ephemeral happiness.
Tragedy, comedy and farce do not exist but are aesthetic judgements of human life that differ according to person, time and place. Feelings too are probably like this and the emotions of the present at some other time can fluctuate between the sentimental and the ludicrous. And there is no longer the need for mockery as self-ridicule or self-purification seem already to be enough. It is only in the gesture of tranquilly prolonging this life and striving to comprehend the mystery of this moment in time that freedom of existence is achieved, for in solitarily scrutinizing the self the perceptions of the self by others loses all relevance.
You don't know what other things you will do or what else there is to do but this is of no concern. If you want to do something you proceed to do it, it's fine if it is done but if it is not it doesn't matter. And you do not have to persist in doing something for if at a particular moment you feel hungry and thirsty you simply go and have something to eat and drink. Of course you continue to have your own opinions, interpretations, tendencies and can even get angry as you haven't got to the age when you no longer have the energy for anger. Naturally, you still become indignant but it is without a great deal of passion. Your capacity for feelings and sensory pleasures remains intact but as this is so then so be it. However there is no longer remorse, remorse is futile and, needless to say, damaging to the self.
For you only life is of value, you have a lingering attachment to it and it continues to be interesting as there are still things to discover and to amaze you, and it is only life that can excite you. That's exactly how it is with you, isn't it?