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BLINK–Bare insight within….. February 1, 2010

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in Books, Life, perceptions.
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“What a babe!!!’

“He is so cute.”

“I was damn right about the thing I told you last night.”

Above sentences and many more are very familiar to us, as we always use them to affirm what and how we feel about the things around us. Always. How can we be so sure of our judgement that we take in split second?

Many a times we don’t even realize how the entire process worked and got over. Buying a toothpaste from shelf of any super market is classic example of this case. We just look at the shelf, one glance and toothpaste is picked off shelf and dropped in the shopping cart. At so many other occasions we do use this split second decision making process and don’t even realize how profound the mechanism behind it is.

BLINK, by Malcolm Gladwell, exactly tries to present the case of this thinking process and its ability to help human beings to make split second decisions. Blink is a good book for anyone who is interested in knowing how the mind works or is any way interested to learn more about the human psychology and its thinking patterns.

This book is not a story that unfolds, but it is rather set of random instances and the people involved in them. People and the situations mentioned are used as the cases in order to explore and then explain the phenomenon of the split second decision making. The entire premise of the book and the foundation of the said process is about reliance on, state of mind, adoptive consciousness.

The subject though is interesting it is dry at same time. So patience is required while having a fling with Blink. It is not to be read at break neck speed as it would entirely defeat the purpose of the author scripting it. It just needs to be sipped slowly and allow yourself to get engulfed with entirely new consciousness about the decisions we make in split second.

Indian Democracy–Who are the Real Leaders?? If any…. August 17, 2009

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in Introspection, Life, Management, perceptions, Social.
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Well that is quite a tough question to ask in today’s 21st century India. No one can firmly say what makes leader – a Leader. Many theories have been proposed and opposed till date. But we still are trying to find the magical formula for designing a  made to order leader for ourselves or , shall I say, an elixir to transform ourselves into leaders.

I would rather opt for first option of designing tailor made leader. I am not alone. Most of the times we always want to look upto somebody to help us out or to crucify someone for some failed endeavour. This very basic instinct of looking for leaders outside ourselves is the most elemental difference between a leader and others, atleast I have observed so. Taking ownership for the things is the first baby step towards that delusional goal of becoming a perfect leader.

Are prefect leaders for real?? NO. After all nothing is perfectly sustainable over the period of time. Alexander- the Great, Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Napoleon and list goes on. Newton said gravity pulls the things down to earth. Leaders too rise great heights in pursuit of their individual goals or ambitions. They achieve remarkable success and even more grand failures. But the glory of achievement is so dazzling that the failures faced and sacrifices made are easily covered. Leaders are applauded. They are at top of the world. But then the gravity comes in the picture casting its spell on this leaders causing their descend from the zenith of their life. Downfall can be sudden or gradual. Soon they are long gone. Either as legends or maniacs or mere eccentrics. But a story is left behind. Story that can inspire the generations to come. Their lives are studied in great detail and various lessons are drawn. Great amount of thought is spared to learn from the mistakes of this great men. And we say that had they chosen better alternative, they would have been more successful, or atleast delayed their downfall. But we very conveniently forget that, the person in question was doing his possible best at that point of time. So we come to conclusion that even greatest of the great leaders commit mistakes. After all they too are human, aren’t they?

Still we yearn for leaders, who would show us the way forward. In other words, we are scouting for someone to hand over the responsibility of our own well being. Trying to find a scapegoat who can be held accountable for either success or failure of the mission. If he succeeds, we are happy that our goals realised without any commendable efforts from our side and if we face failure, we already have a scapegoat ready to be executed at guillotine for public crucification.

Unless and until we learn to take responsibilities of ourselves, we cannot expect someone else to do the work for us. But to most people it is too much of work. Exactly this is the opportunity a true leader seeks. A leader wants to take charge of things and initiate  the action that will lead to the final goal. The true leader is the one who leads his heard to its destination. But the clever leader is the one who manages to paint the elaborate picture of his achievement, when in reality he really has failed to do so. But this is just a make shift arrangement. Doesn’t work for long time. This time can be used by leader to make amends. If he cant do so, he is doomed for sure.

So moral of the story is that, there are loads of opportunities around us to make difference to ourselves, the ones around us, the world we live in. If we don’t want to work for the change we want to see in the world around us, we don’t deserve that change. After all even the most competent leaders are not for eternity. The moment we realise this truth, we may start working. Till then we would keep the HUNT for our future leader on.

Cheers to Indian Politicos and Long love Democracy (or Slumocracy, as one of my friends love to say) .

” No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”– Abraham Lincoln on Democracy.

Destiny- Chance we are unaware off???? August 10, 2009

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in General, Introspection, Life, perceptions.
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Today my mom returned from Pune, after visiting one of our relatives in hospital. He is around 48yrs old. He has a wife and only daughter. He was living a normal ( you can say a usual) life. People perceived them as pretty content family. One fateful day, everything changed. He had an accident. Two of his colleagues were dead on spot. He was admitted in hospital. He was in ICU for a month. His spinal chord had been injured. He got paralysed below his neck. The family is in state of trauma. One moment it took to turn their entire life on it its head.

Here I dont intend to sound pessimistic. But occurrences like these are not uncommon to us. When we do something or when we get something we really wanted, we are happy. When we get some surprises favourable to us, we assume ourselves LUCKY. But when things go other way round, we blame it on to our Destiny.

Destiny!!! A word which can have both, positive or negative, connotations. We always ponder over this word, sometime or the other in our life. We may try to reason our past with the series of decisions we took. We may say God has given us what we have ( irrespective of what it is). But when we think of future, what do we really think??? We, most probably, think of the most rosy picture of our life. We have the luxury to think of the life devoid of all harsh and unfavourable things that might occur to us. After all hope is the thing that keeps the world going. Hope for better life. Hope for better family. Hope for better job. Hope for social recognition. Hope for peace of mind.

We hope, hope and hope. And then we hope even more. Where does this end?? We have an insatiable hunger for this word in our life. Does that hope turns into a reality or a nightmare or a distant mirage, we can only tell as time passes by. Sometimes our hopes do become our own realities. But sometimes they dont. It seems like a game, where we wish to win always. But we cant have our ways always. We loose sometimes. And this is where Destiny comes in.

Destiny?? how the hell, you would ask. I rather think it as a chance that is waiting in the wings of time, just to present itself to us at most appropriate moment. The different paths we choose, different surprises are waiting for us along the road we chose to walk. It is a probability of event happening in our lives, whether we may like it or not. That is the reality. Destiny exists. We live a life securely wrapped in the optimistic cacoon of hope oblivious of the very real probability of lot of things ( both favourable and unfavourable) happening to us. No amount of logic or reason can ever predict the event that may occur the very next moment. It can be your most adored person proposing you or you winning a lottery.

News like that of war, famines, etc. bring us back to real world. It gives us a crude jolt of shocking reality that is all around us. Anyone who has lost his near and dear ones unexpectedly would agree. It sometimes pays to be grounded afterall.

Its better to fall while walking on the road rather than crash landing on ground. After all parachutes of hope doesnt always work. Most of the time it saves us, but sometimes it teaches us hard lessons of life.

But the trick is to hang on to your lot of parachutes, but never trust them.

AFTER ALL LIFE IS GAME OF CHANCE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN WOULD YOU HAVE YOURS!!!!

It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.

Winston Churchill


Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai-2 July 28, 2008

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in perceptions, Travel.
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As I approached the incomplete building, I found anger building inside me as for why did I choose this college over the other college with almost same name. I knew, I could have easily got that college. But somehow I tried to be philosophical with myself trying to see the order in chaos. Reminding myself that whatever happens to human beings is always good for them. After all we all have manipulative mind. Most of the times it works with me, but it takes some time at least (read some days ). Here I didn’t had luxury of time at my disposal. So I just wanted to finish of the business & walk away as soon as possible.

As I came inside the compound of college, (read temporary barbwire fencing done around the college to demarcate its plot boundary, as some other other construction was going on the adjacent plot), I could see college students sitting on the array of bikes that were parked outside. I tried to find the office & somehow landed near the library. I was then helped by some kind soul to locate the office. Outside office List of documents required to take admission was put up. I glanced through it & found that I didn’t had GAP certificate. I was least bothered as I was determined not to take admission in this college. I had to just talk to director of the institute about the views I read on Orkut community.

As I entered the office, I saw flurry of activities going on. One peon was trying his level best to make students form a queue. Other was busy in helping students with xerox copies near xerox machine in one corner of the office. I could hear one counselor counseling the students present in her cabin. And then I saw director’s cabin on other side of the office. I went near the cabin & sat in chair next to it. I was asked about my purpose of visit & I told my intension of meeting director. Suddenly a 65yrs+ enthusiast sprung the door open & almost jumped outside the cabin. I was impressed by his enthusiasm. The old guy started firing orders at hapless peons, who didn’t knew what made this old guy loose his cool. Old guy went ballistic over the fact that there were no proper queues in place as admissions for PGDBM & MBA courses were in progress. He looked at me & ordered peon to make clear that no one was allowed to sit near director’s cabin without prior appointment. I think he didn’t like my face. I was pretty amused by his antics. Peon didn’t knew how to react. I decided to help the poor fellow my letting the old guy know that I want to do just basic inquiry before taking admission. “No admission, No inquiry”, he thundered. I was about to burst in laughter, but somehow managed to sneak outside the office and laughed to my my heart’s content. I again went inside & tried to persuade the old guy, he was bit pacified by then. He pointed towards other cabin & asked me to do inquiry over there.

This incident gave me enough glimpse of the management’s laid back & careless attitude. I just did sometime pass with some other students who also came to take MBA admissions. But everyone I met was clueless about the placement scenario in college. I was told by one of the prospective students that his friend is in same college & never attends lectures as he is working. I told them about reviews I had read & they were least surprised. Suddenly a peon came looking for me & then escorted me to director’s cabin.

I entered the cabin. Cabin was not very spacious, but was decent enough to accommodate 4 chairs in front of director’s desk along with some working space for two more individuals. Director seemed a friendly person. I told him that I was from Mumbai University & his college was alloted to me. He listened to me patiently. And then I asked him whether he had an Orkut account. His age was around 58yrs. & there was hardly any possibility of he having the same. I told him so. He said he had heard about it but didn’t know what exactly it was. Then I told him about the reviews I read. He tried to give some gyaan to me like right to free speech & all. I politely pointed out that the website of the college given in the information broacher was wrong. And the other site had only a homepage & no links. Director said he was aware of the fact that website given in the broacher was leading to altogether different site. But he admitted that he didn’t knew that other website of his college was not working & demanded an explanation from other guy, who was till that moment a silent spectator to my conversation with the director. The person expressed his inability regarding the functioning of the site, siting the reason that people hired for the purpose were not keen enough to pay heed to his demands. That person really sounded helpless.

Director turned to me & said that he will look into the matter himself the next day. I also told him that reviews painted a gloomy picture of the college as whole. Director replied that he will see to it personally. I suggested him to take help of students to project a real image of college on the web. Director happily agreed to it. And while leaving I told him that I was not going to take admission in that college. He took my response quite sportingly & thanked me for my observation & suggestions.

I left the college premises. I felt much relieved. I called my parents & couple of my friends & told them about my decision. They were quite supportive about it, the moment I told them that the college building was worse than my school building. I then had lunch. And then waited for my bus to arrive. Soon the bus arrived. I hurriedly scrambled into the bus & sat near the window. I think I was really lucky to read those reviews about the college or else I would have taken the admission despite the pathetic condition of college building.

If journey towards Pune was good, then I had to say that journey while coming back was much better. Climate had been excellent the whole day. No sunshine but cool breeze & fresh air compensated for it. As we left Pune & touched expressway, driver turned left to enter Lonavala. I had been there almost an year ago with my then colleagues. Memories came back as fresh as they could get. After halting in Lonavala, for about 15min. we resumed our journey. After sometime we were back on expressway.

Expressway is not new to accidents. Almost every time you happen to traverse it, you would come across at least one accident impacted vehicle. I saw a truck resting on its side with its front wheels divorced from the axle. Cabin was no where to be found. I couldn’t imagine where would the unfortunate driver be. My thoughts soon cleared when I saw our bus emerging out of one of the tunnels. What I saw was a virtual bliss. As bus was moving forward, outside my window I could see the railing on one side (on other side were hills) & nothing beyond it. The valley just was not there. All I could see was a silverish white screen of fog just beyond the railing. It was irresistible. Had I have been traveling in a private vehicle, I surely would have stopped it (although on expressway stopping is not allowed)& tried to touch that fog. The fog appeared serene with heavenly halo illuminating every part of it. I was completely mesmerized by it. I had been close to nature before as well, but nothing could even come close to what I was feeling now. It seemed as time just froze. It was sort of a divine experience. I was in complete awe of powerful yet so fragile natural beauty.

I didn’t knew when i closed my eyes. Honking of horns broke my sleep. I looked outside window again. The fog screen was replaced by the murkier roads, pedestrians & honking rickshaws. I was back in Thane. As bus parked itself in depot. I got down & hurried back to my home.

That night I slept well. I was happy that I wasn’t in that college & I had seen one of the most beautiful sight ever in life.

After all whatever happens, it happens for good!!! Rightly said so.

Mumabi-Pune-Mumbai July 25, 2008

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in perceptions, Travel.
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As I am trying to intrude in some respectable college for my MBA, hurdles seem to be plenty. Equipped with 136 as my MH-CET score, I thought it to be a fighting score, now turns to be not so magical number. At least it wasn’t capable enough to get me decent college in first round in Mumbai. So after going through the cut-offs of different colleges (with marks spiking upwards for more than 10-20marks than previous year) I was pretty sure of my strategy to scout for colleges outside mumbai & my obvious choice was Pune. So in my second round i sprinkled few colleges from Pune as well trying to push my luck just a bit far. To my dismay the second round cut-off marks went higher than the previous round n my luck almost gave up any hope of yielding any college from Mumbai. But consolation came to me by the fact that I was alloted a college from Pune. Off course I wasn’t exalted but Yes, I was bit relieved that at least I got a college, even if it was in Pune it didn’t bother me.

So by all means I was chilled out & so were my parents. I had a nice & peaceful sleep that night. Form next day I started to navigate the net for more information about the same college. But to no avail. My luck was still teasing me. I found no information about that college on the internet. On Orkut I somehow came across a community of students & alumni of same college that was alloted to me. I was bit happy that at last I was on verge of getting some information that I was seeking so desperately. I read the topic posted on the community forum & all my expectations & least minimum hopes about the college that was alloted to me, came crashing down in one blow. Topics posted indicated that the management of that college was not up to the mark & students had to contribute for the placement broacher publication. It spoke in volumes about the lethargic approach of the management of the college towards its students. I felt pang in my stomach. Still I decided to give it a try & to see it for myself whether what I have read on the forum had some iota of truth in it.

So armed with Rs.62000 demand draft, I left on the way to my alloted college. I took a state transport bus for Pune. Weather was pretty good, although it was cloudy & cool breeze blowing around. Sun was shadowed well by the veil of grey clouds. I reached the bus stand & was told that the bus leaving for Pune would be arriving soon. Bus arrived after a short time. The bus was well painted with crimson red color , it made me feel optimistic. Bus left the stand at 9.00 am sharp & I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach in anticipation. The journey was good 3hrs long but decent enough, thanks to the well maintained express way. On the express way as the driver tried to accelerate the bus, bus refused to budge. The only acceleration driver could squeeze out of the metal body was rattling sound of window panes. I was least bothered about it as I was engrossed in looking outside the window, trying to calm my nerves down by soaking in the beauty of raw nature alongside the express way. The weather was just fantastic. It had rained just before. As result of which entire landscape along the expressway was draped in mosaic of flourosent green & burgundy brown. It was a great sight. I could clearly see some clouds stooping just low enough to engulf the peaks of surround hills. I somehow lost the track of time & was reminded to get down as my stop had arrived. I stepped down reluctantly.

I inquired about the college & was told that I had to go straight & take a left. A building under construction was given to me as the landmark. As I was inching towards the destination I was told, I could now hear the echo of my heart beat. As I came close enough to the told location, my heart sank deep. The building under construction that was given to me as a landmark turned out to be college alloted to me. I felt like running away screaming, I deserve better than this. I some how dragged my self towards the building just to confirm the views I read the day before.

(to be continued….)

Shaurya–Honest intentions lost in the Transition somewhere!!! April 29, 2008

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in Movies.
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Just seen the movie Shaurya, as I was really eager to watch it as it was inspired by 1992 Hollywood flick “A Few Good Men”, one of my all time favorites.

A typical Indian movie with all sugar coating of emotions to original storyline, which most of the time distorts the real motive of the film as it is just reduced to mere form of fairytale, which otherwise could have been a serious onslaught on the dark side of the uniformed community. During the movie, dilemma faced by the directer is strongly felt. As he was trying to intertwine the romantic angle with some courtroom drama, the design of the story on the celluloid went haywire. Movie certainly is patchy as far as story is concerned & I think that is the only major flaw in the movie also the lack of research & common sense reduce the appeal of the movie a lot. And this fact clearly explains the why Bollywood films fail at Oscars or to get an international audience. The emotions pictured are the same, but the way we convey them & the way They convey & perceive are entirely different.

Bose a army lawyer is a defense counsel of a capt. who has been charged with murder of his senior officer. Bose’s dear friend Javed Jaffery is the prosecutor in the case & also the one who has recommended Bose for the case. The story is Bose trying to prove his client innocent & he does it. The courtroom drama along with the army backdrop of the movie could have been more authentic, especially when a responsible army officer hand overs the confidential documents to his journalist love interest & when she is arrested for having the same , our hero tries to question the validity of the law under which she is booked. Now thats ridiculous as hero his lawyer himself. How can a defense lawyer never ask the accused the first logical question of why he did what he did if he really did it? Defense counsel also never cross examines any of the witnesses in the courtroom in first two instances infact even judge never asks defense counsel to do same. So these are some errors that lead to disappointment for the movie.

All said above was just about presenting the making of the film. Now moving to the performances, Rahul Bose is bit shaky at start but in second half he is quite convincing. But that transformation from a shaky attitude towards life to steely resolve to find truth is no where to be found in movie, off course thats fault of screenplay. Minnisha Lamba has nothing much in the offering as in second half she is just behind the bars & thus significantly ignored by the director. Javed Jaffery tries to be convincing but could not bring out a professional prosecutor in the climax courtroom drama. He is grossly under utilized in the film. The film is salvaged by the extempore & spontaneous acting of Kay Kay Menon. He is just brilliant. So when you come out of the theater, only major impact you would have of Menon & nothing else. His single eruption of frustration, agony, grief & a disparate attempt to find solace in the solution he found to curb the menace of terrorism at the climax is enough to stamp the essence of the movie on your heart. And no wonder you like the movie. Kay Kay is really has got great potential & has capability to go places for sure.

And the last word…………If you are a bollywood movie buff then you should really go & watch the movie as you have something sensible to watch for. And if any of you guys ever get a chance to lay your hands on the Hollywood flick then do watch the film. Original is the much better in every aspect for sure.

IPL – Indian Professionalism – Long way to Go!!! April 28, 2008

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Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.”-Isaac Asimov

Harbhajan slapped (punched whatever they say) Shreesanth, his Indian team-mate but IPL rival after his team lost. Third consecutive loss for Harbhajan’s team. So was this erupted frustration of being a captain of side loosing consecutively or was that much deeper than just that?

Welcome to the world of much hyped, till now successfully organized & well received Indian Premier League. Everything was just fine, runs were being scored, crowds being entertained, tantalizing performances served by the players & off course the cheerful cheer leaders just painted the perfect picture of IPL.  And then, suddenly slapping drama was orchestrated showing the maturity ( or rather lack of it) among the Indian hot blooded young sportsmen representing the iconic game of cricket. Millions of the young kids were watching the high voltage drama from the confines of their room & trying to justify their their sporting idols for what they did.

Now the question is whether what happened is justifiable under any circumstances??? Any level headed individual will never support this kind of rhetorics of physical violence on sports field which only amplifies the immaturity of the players & severe lack of professionalism. This incident has brought to the fore the burning question of acceptance of civic values, which are meant to be taught in primary schools, in our day to day life as adults???

Limiting our premise only to the incident, it must be thought over seriously on how to inject professionalism in the veins of Indian players, as many of them are idolized by the young generation. Players must be taught how to really accept defeat with grace & also how to demarcate the expression of emotions on & off field. And the silver lining to this entire scene is that, IPL can serve as the best platform to come on terms with real world professionalism as it gives them opportunities not only to play with the their own national team mates but also with the players from other countries, which were their rivals in the past & will be in the future as well. So this practice should help the Indian players to be flexible in their approach & concentrate on the task in hand. Much can be learnt from the senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Pollock to name few. These names are well respected in the game for their no nonsense & pure professional attitude.

After all said & done, we must remember that game is not mere war of skills & mindset but it is also a test of individual’s character. And after all that is what every game or every situation in life, for that matter, is all about. So I do hope that the lessons that are presented to us by this instance would be learnt as soon as possible if we really want to fare well in the competitive world of cricket.

IPL – Welcome RAW Agression. April 25, 2008

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‘Cricket is a gentleman’s game’– till 2yrs. back.

Is it true anymore? Anyone who has seen IPL matches definitely will know the answer.

Congratulations Mr. Lalit Mody for this dramatic turnaround of the game & its fortune.

Indian Premier League (IPL) has now taken off in a grand fashion with scores touching beyond 200 runs in an innings in 3 out off 8 matches till today & I can surely bet that more explosive action is waiting in the wings to get unfolded in the remaining part of the series. 2yrs back nobody would have ever imagined such a successful implementation of professional league, on lines of football or basketball, in the game of cricket. But today we can clearly see a new & energized incarnation of cricket just when the face lift was required by the game in its Mecca, India.

Twenty Twenty (T20) format was introduced to add some spice to normal game of cricket. T20 is short, stimulating & startling. T20 world cup proved that & nobody would agree more on this. So same format was roped in India & now we can see the T20 professional league has done exactly what was expected out of it. All razzmatazz, gliterati,  celestial celebs & brand managers were just anxiously getting ready for big showdown in professional sports, as nothing of that sort was ever successfully implemented. And now you can clearly see some of their expectations fructify. And as the series will progress we are sure to see some more innovative moves coming along to milk this cow to the core & no one will complain either.

IPL can now be seen as most aggressive form of cricket. Just 20 overs (120 balls only) & as expected it is fully batsmen dominated game. More than 120 sixers being hit in series by now. Sheer intensity of the game is exemplified by the fact of the turnout of the crowds at the venues & also on TRP ratings of channel broadcasting it, as its market share has risen from mere 5% to approx. 28% more than 5 times. Also marketing gurus are happy with it because of reach it has got. So everybody is happy & making money. A fair deal for everyone, as it has also helped to turn the fortunes of overseas cricketers gave them alternate extended career if they want to. Shane  Warne is metaphor for that.

So one thing is for sure that IPL is here to stay!!!! And better for other sportsmen to accept this reality & adopt the attitude which will help them to live with it.

Hail IPL!!!

Reservations Haunting Us –Again……… April 10, 2008

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Today SC has sanctioned 27 per cent quota for OBCs in higher educational institutions.Total approx. reservation is now 49.5%.

Here it comes back. The dreaded call of the system as alarm to wake us from our deep slumber that we can no more guarantee equality mentioned in the constitution, at least in the area of education. Verdict is out & clear reservations are here to stay & we better ready ourselves to live with it. However the silver lining is that SC has kept the creamy layer out of this quota & which is also followed by the remark of the judge who passed the verdict, the wards of people in Parliament should be considered as that from creamy layer class. Now this verdict clearly has shut down all the protest we had witnessed around same time time last year all over the country. But the question is how long there will be silence on this front?

Do we really need reservations in first place?? My answer is big YES!!! A country with over one billion population, we have to make sure that every class has to have access to education which will help them survive as respectable citizens. I am not against reservations, but it has to be based on merit & if required on economical stats of the student in question. I am very sure that most of us will not have any problem with reservations provided the merit factor is not compromised at any cost. We would like to see same cut off marks for students irrespective of reservations……..If Govt. is so hell bent to push reservations down our throat, its better that we make a point its bit tasty to swallow.

Govt. policies about reservations have always amused me a lot. Govt. always make a point that if the vacancies in its offices are not filled by reservation seats, it let remain vacant instead of opening it to people next in line. I would like to see what stance Govt. takes on the seats of reserved candidates who do not have same cut off marks as for open/general category students. Will Govt. keep the seats vacant as it does it in its offices? Or will it lower the cut off marks for reserved students??? If Govt. opts for first option without compromising on merit, it has better to give chance to students next in order. If Govt. opts for second option, which I have observed is the case in real in many colleges at least in Mumbai for junior & senior coll admissions, then I bet the quality of the students graduating will not be up to the mark.

Question is do we really want to dilute the quality coming out of the premier institutes in India??? Not many will agree. Any drop in quality is going to have its implications on us as country & on our society as whole. For example lets consider the case of the doctor from any premier institute is below par, is the life of patients really would be safe?? Are we willing to pump in mediocrity in the society using the same resources which could be used to deliver the best in the world? I fear not. It is commendable job that Govt. has been good to keep premier institutes premier over length of time. We only wish the tradition of the only best getting what they deserve should be honoured.

There is other angle to this problem of reservations as well. This reservation should not set a trend of conferring reservations on any self created social minority class by politicos. We should understand that this decision has just came at rite time in election year & no doubt this Govt. & all political parties will make it a issue while elections. As per the news one CM of some part of North India already demanded reservation for Dalit Muslims too. So our only hope rests on our judiciary system that, they at least take care that no more reservations are authorized. If reservations are going to constitute all the seats then May God Bless Us!!!

Did anybody say that revolts were just confined to our long forgotten history text books???

Land of ironies-India!!! April 7, 2008

Posted by mysteriousmrwong in General.
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‘Truth is stranger than fiction’-Mark Twain

He was right in saying so, but he must have never imagined India as country, epitomizing this observation of his to the hilt. Recently two articles in the newspaper grabbed my attention & gave me a privilege to experience Mark Twain’s observation literally. Lets take them one by one.

864 goats slaughtered in 12 hrs.. Orissa preists, devotees defend ritual, keep cops off temple:

My first question, is this really a news worth being in national newspaper? I bet there may be several newsworthy content floating around. So why is this thing where it is? We can clearly tell that in India animal sacrificing is not any thing new or taboo to our social & cultural perceptions. For example if we take durga pooja in Kolkota, we are sure to find hilsa being served as form of prasad in Navratri. Id can be next very compelling example where in thousands of goats are slaughtered & nobody even gives a second thought to it. So the news of 864 goats (number here being irrelevant) is hardly surprising if not infuriating but ironic enough to highlight the approach of this respective newspaper correspondent towards the issue. And on top of that no one involved are complaining either. This fact further erodes any possibility of this event being a news. The only conclusion we can draw is that the newspaper should make it a point to demarcate the printable news & the useless crap which can be just used to fill up the space. After all such kind of news is not expected from a reputed national newspaper. So they better check the stuff out.

Dental courses lack bite: An proposal to reduce the existing number of student intake due lack of quality faculty:

Last week we had a news stating that India is facing crunch of certified medical professionals in the country. It is ironic for country like India to face this crunch because India finds itself among the top nations who export (brain drain you can say, if you wish to) professional & able medicos to other countries. On this backdrop today came the news that there is a proposal to cut down the existing number of dental seats in Maharasthra. Reason being given is that, although the dental colleges in the state have the infrastructure in place for the training the students they don’t have enough trained faculty to guide students. As result the quality of the students graduating from the colleges is below par. So as per this logic some people in authority want to reduce number of dental seats so that only quality students can come out of the grind. Intention appreciated but the remedy proposed is not.

Proposal is flawed. First thing is, already students are trying to get more seats in colleges. Second is that even after implementing this proposal what is the guarantee that the graduates would not fly off the country to more lucrative destinations. Third, what will State Govt. do of faculty already present in this colleges. They cannot be kicked out of the institutes just like that, as this will question the efficiency of Govt. inspections that did not take care to see that only certified & qualified lecturers were recruited for the job.

So what is the solution for the same? Stalwarts who coined this proposal should just try to use their brains wisely & keep their mind open rather than acting on impulse. If there is really a drop in quality of faculty, Govt. can make sure that they are trained enough to handle their job. Secondly Govt. can also use the technology available today. Video conferencing or virtual classrooms. Article says that there are 24 dental colleges in the state. So Govt. has to first connect all this colleges on computer network, synchronize their syllabus & streamline the examination system ( provided if they are not yet being done). But everything comes at a cost. Govt. should not mind investing in the infrastructure mentioned as it will take care of the problem on long term basis. This is much viable way of tackling the problem head on & attack its roots rather than just trying to take some temporary measures. In dentistry terms, it is better to go for root canal than to pop up a pain killer frequently to ease the pain.

I hope somebody is listening.