Petrol for Military Vehicles

The other day I was going to my office in car. My car was getting filled with petrol. On the other side I saw a military car filling up petrol.
Immediately a thought came to my mind. Do military men get allowance for petrol or do they fill from their salary? Then I consoled myself with the thought that oil from Bombay High is used for filling up military vehicles. Of course, imported oil may be used but accounting can be managed with Bombay High output.
Then I switched my thought and wondered how money works. I always read Richie Rich and was impressed with photos of money and cartoons showing man with bulging pockets filled with hot crispy cash. Smells fresh !!
Well, upar wala jab deta hai to chappar phad ke deta hai. This is the truth for money. Personal accounting and being a self cop never really works when it comes to briefcases stuffed with cash.
I believe everyone gets one opportunity to get lucky and become filthy rich with all the fingers having rings of diamond. But my opportunity has gone. I know it from my heart.
Never mind, I consoled myself. Work hard and keep taking in instalments the way they do it now. It is also safe for me.

The role of a father

The other day I was going to the market. In front of me about 3 metres ahead was a couple walking holding the small hands of a child which was walking between them. The child was obviously the couples' child.
From the opposite side about 5m ahead an old man of about 65 years was walking towards the couple. The couple seemed to know the old man. The old man greeted the lady and did not look at the man. He said pleasant things to the lady and enquired about the health of the child. The lady seemed happy at the concern of the old man and replied back. Then the young man tried to break ice and talk with the old man. Again the old man ignored the young man and kept talking with the lady. The lady smiled and seemed to be thankful of the old man's concern.
I crossed these guys and went ahead to the market to buy my objects.
Then I thought about the whole thing. The couple, the child and the old man. A husband always has a view contrary to his wife. There may be some stupid exceptions !! If it is blue for him, it is red for her. If it is Shimla for him, it is Goa for her(holidays). And then if she wants to keep the child close to her, he would want the child to be independent. By default a mother would want the child close to her. So one may confidently conclude that the role of a father is to make the child independent. To be free. To fly in air. To explore. To discover.
That cleared a lot of rubbish from my mind. And hey . . . . what about the old man? He is just a onlooker ensuring that the roles of the father and mother is maintained properly or not.
 

Self Sufficiency Sucks

 

 

Self sufficiency is an old Nehruvian model which died much before Nehru. It is not smart that one tries to find solutions to problems all by himself. As Amitabh Bachchan would have said, "It is not necessary for every one to be an artist. There is a need for art lovers too." Really, a leader is no good without followers. Each and every follower is equally as important as the leader.

For the last two days or more, we have been listening to the news of Arvind Kejriwal forming a party. This has shocked me. Why? Is he falling into the trap that he will present the Lokpal Bill in the parliament? This is no way.

The fight is more important than the result. Anna Hazare has brought about a revolution in thinking in this digital age. He is a true leader and must be obeyed without dissent.

If at all Arvind Kejriwal wants to enter politics, he must try to become a Rajya Sabha member. Not Lok Sabha. Because the Lokpal Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha. It is stuck up in Rajya Sabha. 

 



Newspaper vendors

The other day I was wondering why the newspaper reach homes late.
I occasionally go for a walk very early in the mornings and reach the central market at about 5 am. The market is bustling with activity. The newspapers have been delivered and all the boys are busy arranging the newspapers according to the buying pattern of their clients in their area. All these start at 5 in the morning. But then by 7:30 the newspapers do not arrive at home.
I was wondering what could be the reason behind it.

I guess it is the stuff that lies between pages in a newspaper. No, not the printed article of the newspaper. But the pamphlets that are put inside the folded pages of the newspaper. The pamphlets on local restaurant, cloth dealers, music schools etc. Some local goon must be late with his bunch of material for disbursement and he must have given a dhamki to the boys that newspaper will not leave the place without his arrival.

Local ads are important. No doubt. But newspapers are not the only way for transport. How about radio for local ads? Or community notice boards? So much wastage of paper can be avoided.

A danda and a seetee is what is required. The seetee shall remind these goons of the danda that they had and will stop this dadagiri.

Fits like hand in glove

Microsoft's evolution of .NET has been magical. Everything seems so good. There was web. There was PC. And now we have .NET.
But Microsoft has made loss this year. First time in 26 years.
Where does Google stand, now? Use their search technology in XML, throw in some artificial intelligence and identify meaning of data. This is what I think Google can do.
It might be a stupid idea, considering XML files might be encrypted. And sort of illegal too. Also they might need clearance from ECMA so that OOPS fundamentals are not violated.
India needs a government policy for a lot of things. Nandan Nilekani's UID program is getting a lot of bad publicity over internet. How internet routing is done? What is our stand on Internet? These are crucial questions that need to be answered urgently than a military economy. Level 5 leaders will ask who rather than what (as Jim Collins has written).
You cannot say a government chaprasi is against Kirtivasan getting an important position in government IT.

FM Radios

I listen to FM radio when travelling. On Sundays, I would listen to Amin Sayani's Sangeet ke Sitare at 12 noon in Radio City.
Now, Big FM is my default radio station. They play older songs. If an ad or RJ comment is being broadcast, then I switch channels. I then change to Red FM. The only new songs. I change to Radio City, Mirchi too depending on songs, ads, RJ etc.
Newer songs have become more routine like. Punjabi mix, desi pop songs. There seems to be no variety. Older music was about adaptation of Indian classical and folk for cinema. The new trend seem to running out of steam.
Surender Sharma the haasir jawab is a true genius. Absolutely good. He answers questions from audience and is able to give a humorous reply. Almost everytime he manages to make me laugh.
Some of the other comedians are pajama naada types.
Radio will never die. It is a fantastic invention and promotes imagination unlike the TV. After all imagination is the key to variety in life.

Just another loadshedding

The northern grid went down. Twice. Seven states were affected.
To me and crores of others, it was just the normal loadshedding. I wonder what the fault in grid meant to the rulers of our country. What is their thought process? Hum ne garibi dekhi hai. Roti ke liye tarse hain hum. Streetlight mein pade hain hum. And now. What? Hum aaj bhi aam vyakti hain. Is this their thought?
Shinde was transferred to another ministry. Not removed. Fear of loosing votes, perhaps.
To me, politicians only job is to promote unity among themselves and among people. The work people will do. It pains when this clear cut guideline is not met.