D October Trip to Mukteshwar!!!

6-8 October 2007 was another chance for me to relish the beauty of nature at Mukteshwar, a hill station @ Uttraranchal where i travelled with the Kinapse team ...

Began with cursing n cribbing the long, tiresome journey (phhewww it was a 11hr drive)... And then we arrived @ dis resort - Trishul Orchard Farm... We chose our tents, freshened up and were all geared up for the excitement...

To start off with we trekked down a slopy path near a waterfall and were supposed to do river-crossing... Camera and video cams jetted out to catch every one in action... and there were the enthu pots climbing up again n again to get the belts around them and hang down to cross the river... Dats me down there :)

We returned for lunch and then rush off again for some rappelling and rock climbing.... man wat an experience it was... the fantastic 4 (Ashwin, Rohit, Dubey and Ashwani) need a spl mention as they made us rotfl... ashwani's face white with fear, dubey and his antics r a couple of incidents that are being quoted over n over again @ office even now :)

Followed by a bonfire that night we got up pretty early the next day (though v missed d late night session @ Rohits's tent)... Sunil and myself went on walk till the cabbage fields... Have no clue why i got so excited by the cabbage and pumpkins out there :) Dats me and Ashwin nibbling at a cabbage leaf!

Teams Vodka and Tequila (lead by me and Neha) were then on their next tour of adventures - rope walking, monkey walking, tarzan swing and spider web... Was an exciting two hours with both the teams trying to clock the best time with their efforts... And finally Team Vodka won d first 3 events and Team Tequila won in the spider-web...

And then we packed r bags and said a goodbye to Mukteshwar.... Thanks a lot Raj and Hemant for this wonderful, exciting, fun-filled trip! Not to forget the lunch at Dev Resorts (NV guyz hope u never forget the murg makhnis, murg lababdars and stuff....)

My vision for the near future - a vision that ranges from Chindia dreams to a new antisocial norm. No one looks dumber than a forecaster who gets it completely wrong, except maybe John Lennon’s astrologer.

Why would any of us risk ridicule by predicting trends? Because we’ve shrunk the future. The velocity of change has accelerated in the last decade, and there’s no sign it will slow anytime soon. So let’s forgo a long, thoughtful look into the deep future; it’s sufficient now merely to have a good sense of what’s around the corner.

1. Start with the ascent of China and India, now collectively referred to as Chindia. Smart, cheap labor has made these two countries, Himalayan cousins if you will, the offshore suppliers of choice for the U.S. computer industry. But that’s yesterday’s news. Today’s headlines reveal an educated class of professionals who no longer dream of snagging jobs abroad. Today they’re asking: Instead of making chips and assembling computers, why not create and manufacture high-end products? Why build prosperity for others when it’s possible to do it for yourself — and, in the process, turn the U.S. into the Old World? Yes, we’ll still see these countries churning out fake Polo shirts, but increasingly we’ll also see India and China rocketing up to challenge Japan and South Korea.

2. Move on to the globalization of everything. Once, we may have taken globalization to mean that the world would be America’s factory and marketplace. Now it’s clear that, to borrow Thomas Friedman’s phrase, the world is flat. Instant access to the Internet around the globe means it doesn’t matter where you live. All that’s important now: what you know and how you can contribute.

3. And it turns out that just about everyone wants to weigh in, whether the topic is culture, politics, fads or celebrity follies. This universalizes every news flash—let a big name stumble, and the entire world hits the keyboards to talk about it.

4. Time is becoming the enemy. “How do you know you’re in New York?” asks the sign at the copy shop. The answer: “Everyone needs it right now.” So much to do, so little time—to the extent that time has become more precious even than money, which has no inherent limit to its supply. Paradoxically, we lose more time whenever we accessorize with another hand-held communications device designed to make our lives easier.

5. Life is good if you’re a brand. Better get busy if you’re not, because branding is no longer just for businesses. As an individual, you’re a cipher; as a brand, you’re instantly recognizable and respected. For what? For successfully branding yourself, of course! It’s the ultimate interpersonal shorthand. You may never need to explain what you “do” again.

6. There are no boundaries or straight lines today—just a blur. Nothing’s in sharp focus. Plastic surgery renders age meaningless; men use as many cosmetics as women; “reality TV” is cast as carefully as dramas; and product placement makes programming look like advertising. And it’s all served up so professionally; you can’t get a fix on anything. From now on, we’ll put quotation marks around “reality.”

7. Antisocial is the new normal. People on the street wear their iPod earbuds, or maybe they’re Bluetooth-enabled. Either way, they’re in their own private bubbles—turning public space into private. Who are their role models? On TV, they are House, the nastiest doctor in television history, and Entourage’s seething agent, Ari Gold. Clearly, the new message is “Do not disturb.”

8. We want real food. TV ads for foods laden with fats and chemicals used to amuse us; now they’re repulsive. We’ve elevated chefs to celebrities, turned cooking into an admired hobby and gone back to the past for edible inspiration. In a time of high-tech factory farming on one hand and all types of food randomly labeled “organic” on the other, the only word that rings true for us now is “authentic.”

9. We are steadily redefining family. The Ozzie and Harriet family of married mom and dad, two kids and no live-in grandparents may have reflected 1950s America but has long since ceased to be a demographic reality. Today’s families are defined only by affection, and they’re as individual as the people who create them: extended, single-parent, gay and unmarried couples with kids. Pets? Friends? Who says they’re not family?

10. We just might be coming around to the hard truth that global warming is no myth. Naomi Oreskes, professor of history and science studies at the University of California, San Diego, got tired of hearing claims that “most” scientists disagree with the notion of global warming, so she read every piece of science written on the topic—and not one scientist called it merely a theory. Ever since Hurricane Katrina, it’s become harder for skeptics to win converts.

Taken together, these trends suggest a world of paradox: convulsive economic changes in the global economy, more struggle for control and consistency in our private lives. We’ll be enclosed in our bubbles during leisure hours, in battle mode during the workday. Can these be integrated? Not likely. If there were a final trend, it would be that it’s extremely unpopular to look at the big picture.

The future has a way of arriving unannounced...

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”

And my recent landing is at Kinapse, a business consultancy firm in the pharma R&D sector. The transition from Evalueserve has been pretty smooth given the fact that there hasn’t been a rapid change in the industry (pharma again). There does exist a wave of change in the job profile and the type of work I will be doing, moving all the way from research into hardcore consulting, probably this is one step ahead. So here I am, scouting for more opportunities @ my new job carrying forth all my learnings from college and my past job...

I discriminate, so do you...

The social assemblage of race exists even if there is no genetic veracity. Of course, there is only one human race. But saying that is about as meaningful as saying there is only one world. Look at our very own nation...

Bengalis get abused because they are too sissy. Jaats are avoided because they argue and fight for no reason. Parsees are dirty fellows. Sindhis are considered stingy. Kashmiris can't be trusted. Gujratis are too money-minded. Punjabis are deemed to be "show-offs". Marwaris are "bloody foodies". And in the end, we proclaim that we are one nation.

Every terrorist attack in the nation is pointed towards Muslims. Every Christian in the country is eyed with the suspicion of a "converter". Hindus are thought to be timid. Sikhs are considered rebellious. And in the end, we proclaim that we are one nation.

The slum folks are too low standard. High society is too snooty. The people in the middle are from the old school of thought - they aren't modern enough. The newer generations think the older ones are not fit enough to live with them. The older generation thinks the newer lot is too fast paced. And in the end, we proclaim that we are one nation.

Cricketers are branded as over-paid under-worked stars. The film stars are notorious for their connections with underworld. The politicians are all money- gobbling eagles. The bureaucrats can be bribed all the time. The female actors all sleep their way up to stardom. The policemen are all sold. And in the end, we proclaim that we are one nation.

Writers are considered retarded. Social activists are called attention-seekers. Singers and painters are the ones who are unemployed and are desperately seeking some money. And in the end, we proclaim that we are one nation.

A look at human history shows that fanaticism and odium is as elemental to us as is to be in love with and that no matter how you label it, populace will categorize the others as different and second-rate whether it is race or religion or profession. It is an essential survival instinct. It is a way to sustain freedom and power. We do it in so many ways on a daily basis.

An Irony - The First LaDiEs of InDiA

India swears in her first woman President, Pratibha Patil. The same day, the first Indian woman to join the Indian Police Service in 1972, Kiran Bedi, is denied the post of Police Commissioner ofDelhi...

The reason? A very lame excuse that she does not have enough active policing experience.

Can we forget that she earned the moniker Crane Bedi for towing away Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's illegally parked car during her tenure as chief of Traffic Police? That incident reflected her sense of duty and justice.

The most enduring images are of Bedi at India Gate during the Akali-Nirankari riots in 1977. The front page of a leading newspaper carried a series of shots of her amidst a large group of sword-wielding, turbaned Sikhs. The first shot showed a Sikh attacking one of her constables with his sword. The rest of the shots showed her beating the daylights out of that man with her lathi while the others stood with their limp swords, too shocked to react.

That's Kiran Bedi for you!

Today, I am unable to express my anger when I see her being discriminated against! Am I supposed to shut up and feel happy now that India has a woman President? A woman who until yesterday was a complete nobody, had no strong opinions, and added no great value during her career. When the UPA announced her candidature for post of the Honourable Rubber Stamp, the nation chorused: Pratibha who?!

Am I supposed to feel proud of the woman President who thinks that subjugation of Indian women began with the Mughal invaders? Not only does this show a very narrow view of history, it also reflects a deep-rooted prejudice against Muslims. The woman President, who pretends to decry the purdah system, wears a full-sleeved blouse and keeps her head covered under her pallu.

Perhaps she's the best candidate to be a rubber stamp. She will continue to serve the UPA and Madam Sonia with silent devotion. It is sad that she is stepping in to the shoes of someone like Abdul Kalam - the people's President - who proved that the highest post in India can be the voice of the nation. That is why I refuse to accept Pratibha Patil as my President. Maybe I will be vindicated when some day Kiran Bedi becomes our President.

When a man loves a woman...

It shows...

This legendary photograph of Mountbatten, Nehru and Edwina has been pulled out to accompany reports on Pamela Mountbatten's (Mountbattens' daughter) just published book India Remembered: A Personal Account of the Mountbattens During The Transfer of Power....

Who cares whether Nehru and Edwina's love was platonic or otherwise. How does it really matter to anyone beyond these three people frozen in time!

What matters is when you see a man wear just the expression Nehru's wearing - the jester, desperate to catch the woman's eye, trying to impress her, waiting for validation - you will know a man loves a woman.

Look out for yourself…

Imagine this: In a fit of temper fuelled by drinks, you tell your nagging wife you wished you were rid of her. Lo, the next minute, your state, or your religion, fulfils your wish. And you wake up from your stupor to find that the wife you still love and want to be with is no longer yours.
You think it’s impossible? Not according to this story.

What do you think -- is there a via media between the letter of the law, and its spirit?

That question is equally apt in this other case, of two children who were sent back to the US by immigration officials in Mumbai, simply because their parents, both Indian citizens, had messed up the paperwork.
One child was seven, the other three and a half -- come on, what kind of security, or other, issue could their presence in this country have caused? Why could officialdom not use commonsense, and grant a temporary visa?

Are laws, to look at the broader question, meant to substitute for sense?

The Great Indian Hype!

It is everywhere, the hype that India is rapidly climbing the ladder of global powers, and is poised to take the top rung in the not too distant future.
Sam Pitroda is not convinced -- in fact, he plays the contrary tune, telling that the hype is misplaced, that the country is a long way away from where it wants to be, that there are intrinsic problems that needs to be addressed before that ambition is realized.
Not quite the message you would expect to come out of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas jamboree -- but it is a timely one, and it pays to listen.
On a related note, minister for NRI affairs Vayalar Ravi, in conversation with Ramananda Sengupta, speaks at length on the PBD, and on what resurgent India has to offer the world.