Who Cares

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I recently read a quote in Facebook on different stages of buying petrol

“1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Acceptance ... The 5 stages of buying petrol “

Around this time a year ago, Government of India announced to the citizens of this country that they no longer would be regulating the fuel prices. This bold and historical move was met with hue and cries from the opposition party who claimed that this would increase the inflation rate making the life of common man miserable. Despite all the protest, the government went ahead with the decision and thus the oil companies where given the right to decide their own pricing.

State run petrol companies which supply 90% of the fuel that is being consumed in India have thus so far raised the prices of petrol 7 times in the last one year with the blessings of the government. Every time the prices were raised, we the common citizen got to witness the same drama played by both opposition and ruling party.  Every time there was hike, opposition parties calls for Hartals and strikes which were considered powerful form of protest,which had little or no effect on the government but did/do create lots of inconvenience to AAM JANATA.

Talking of these aam janata, are they really being affected by the price hike?
If you go to any petrol bunk on the day when the price hike is announced you would find huge line of smart commoners awaiting their turn to fill up as much fuel as possible with the intention of saving few precious pennies from their earning. Looking at this scene you would feel pity, but soon this pity would turn into anger and helplessness, as you could find these same people which include the state run transport buses wasting fuel at transport signal. What happened to their smartness? Today, vehicle are technically  so advanced that you just have to press a button to start the engine, despite this  I find the people lazy to turn their engine off at signals where they are brought to stand still for more than 120 seconds.

Despite various efforts taken by NGO’s, government agencies, petroleum companies to educate the public to act smart and save the fuel, their reckless attitude continues.
I have got mails which says petrol are priced cheap in foreign countries and blaming our government on imposing on us this heavy price but have we thought about how much we our self are to be blamed ?

I am not here to give you the gyan on how to reduce the consumption of petrol but here to say that ,there are persons like me  who are bothered by this frequent price rise and its effect on my bank balance.I don’t wish to contribute my earnings for you to waste……

“The Cup that Counts” to the Rainbow Nation.

First round of matches of all the nations competing in the Cricket world cup 2011 are over with all the major nations scoring upright win over their opposition, which was expected. The format of the 10^th edition of the world cup is such that we can safely predict the 7 of 8 quarter-finalist even before the tournament got underway. There is a tossup between West Indies and Bangladesh for the final spot in the quarter. So the real competition would start once the quarter final starts.

Let’s analyse the strength of each nations to predict the finalist and the winner of this edition of the world cup.

West Indies/Bangladesh : It is tough to predict the team which would make it to the quarter final, but if the passion and intensity on the field is to be considered then to me Bangladesh should make it comfortably to the last eight. Bangladesh has been improving their cricket steadily and has quality players like shakib and tamin iqbal who for their cricketing talent can make it any top international side, but as a team they would still struggle to beat any top teams.

New Zealand: Men in black have had a poor run of late in the sub continent with their batsman not been able to score big nor are their bowlers been able bowl out the opposition cheap. If they have to progress to semi final they require lots of luck and their star batsmen like Brendon Macullum, Rose taylor,Jesse ryder to score big while chasing. Chasing would be their better option.

Sri Lanka: The champions of 1996, have a strong team who can fancy themselves to lift the trophy this time too. Their batting is full of stars that on any given day can make opposition bowler sweat a lot. This team has in Angelo Mathews and Perera two quality all rounders. The only weakness I see is their fast bowling at death overs, if they don’t manage to take early wickets and put pressure on the opposition batsmen then they would bleed runs. So if they need to succeed they need their slow bowlers to pick wickets at regular intervals.

Pakistan:The team that most of the opposition would like to avoid till the final would be Pakistan as they are the most unpredictable team playing in this competition. Finals of 1992 and 1999 are the best examples showing us the highs and lows they can reach. Akmals,Guls,Afridis,razzaqs can win matches on their own. According to me their temperament and how well they play as team would decide whether they could lift the trophy and provide a soothing touch to a nation which has been rattled by repeated controversies.

England:The team which holds the record for appearing the most number of time in the finals of the world cup. I have always felt that they don’t exert themselves very much and are the most lazy bunch of guys who are just satisfied to make the finals, but the current team by winning the T-20 world cup in caribbeans they have shown to whole world that they have the killer instinct and cannot be taken lightly. This team coached by Andy flower is a balanced team and have players for all kind of situation that would spring up during this world cup.

Australia:Men in gold are unbeaten in  the world cups  for more than a decade and would like to maintain that record for as long as possible, but the current team is on a downward slide for some time.The team have come to this competition with bowlers who could slinge balls at scorching speed, these fellows could bowl out team cheap or could leak runs in plenty . Batting is more stable if the likes of Watsons,haddins,pointings and Clarke score heavily.Only weakness I see is their lower middle order which once belonged to players like bevan and mike hussey who were renowned finishers of the game.

India: Sehwag,sachin,Gambhir,Virat,Yuvraj,Dhoni,Pathan…Wow  is there any other team who could boast of such a batting line? No would be the answer, if one fails then another would strike which is guaranteed. Chasing should be their option if they have to win this world cup for sachin. The bowling attack  is heavily dependent on a fragile zaheer and harbhajan singh,as the rest of the bowlers struggle to pick up wickets at crucial juncture.

South Africa: Chockers, this tag have stayed with this team for a very long time and it is high time they prove to the world that they have the mental strength to win at big tournament. Their batting strength is probably as strong as India with the top 4 averaging more than 50 for more than 2 years and their fast bowling pair is the best bowling pair in the world who could take wickets whenever required, they have come into this tournament with variety in their slow bowling department, a leg spinner, a left arm spinner and an off break bowler.

Looking at the strength and weakness of all the teams I see the men from the sporting nation of South Africa as the clear favourite to lift this trophy. They need to win this trophy for the betterment of this game and for the South African people who  have cheered all kinds of sports and have shown to the world that they are the best sport loving people.

Attention Job Seekers

The global economic meltdown which started in 2007 reached its crescendo in the year 2009 when many big companies and banks across the world collapsed leaving millions jobless. Indian companies took a safety first approach although the our economy was in a better shape. The recruitment were freezed and there was nil or minimal hike in the salaries for the experienced. It was a nightmarish year for the students who passed out in 2009 as they had to struggle to get jobs. But things has changed this year especially in the software field, the professionals have got their chances to make up for the last year’s remuneration loss by demanding a significant hike from their current company or by hoping to new ones.2010 passed out students are also in demand as companies are found to be in  recruiting spree. With the steady recovery of the global economy, other industries too have started to defreeze their recruitment process. The coming years will see millions of job being created across levels in all the fields.

The financial crisis of 2007-2009(10) is considered to be the worst financial crisis since the Great depression of the 1930’s by many economist who are also of thee opinion that, there could such crisis  in the future. If you are also of the same opinion and also feel that a government job would insulate you from this sort of crisis then watch out, many government organizations are and will recruit people in the coming years. Government investigating agencies like the CBI could the front runner in the recruitment drive!!!

India has been rocked by many scams starting with the IPL.CWG, 2G spectrum, Adarsh society(felt furious when certain media broadcasted it as Adarsh scam),Multi crore housing scam which involved LIC housing, food scam(regarded as Mother of all scams) soon followed. Cases were filed in the highest court of the India and CBI have been roped into investigate in each of this scam. CBI have been moving slow in collecting evidence and questioning the people involved in these cases due to the complexity of these scams.CBI have been left gasping for breath and there would be acute shortage of man power if we are to believe in the ability to our politicians to loot money.

So job aspirants brush up your skills and learn more regional languages and watch out for job advertisement from the India’s premier investigating agencies THE CBI.

Social Networking

An Advertisement of a private bank goes like this-“When I was 25 we had face to face chat, but today it is Facebook chat”. This advertisement is an indicator of how big Social networking has grown making it the biggest phenomena of this decade and where you can find people of all ages, different profession, and multi talent personalities are connected to socialize.

Today be it corporate world or entertainment world use social networking sites to spot talent. If HR personnel comb through the cyber persona of applicants in LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube are networking sites which are combed by film production house to spot raw talent.
Companies like Microsoft and Google have realized the potential of these networks and have invested significant amount hoping to reap in huge profit. The craze among people have led big corporate to use whatever space they get to market their product. Telecom manufacturer and service provider are also cashing on by launching phones and package which helps people to be connected with their online buddies from anywhere. All this combined has made techie like Mark Zuckerberg billionaire in a short time.

Being on few of these networks has enabled me to keep in touch with my friends and the happenings in their life. It was games like Farmville and Mafia Wars which got me hooked to these networks and then gradually I started following the happenings of my friends’ life and watching interesting videos and photos posted by them. Personally speaking these networks have brought a positive change in my life and helped me to be connected with my friends, which might not have happened without these sites.

Like any other invention social networking too has a dark side which people like Adnan couldn’t realize, ignorance cost his life after being misled by his own networking friends. These networks have become forum where hatred students pose obscene message regarding their principal and teachers. A study has found out that employers have been found to spend more time in these sites there by bringing down the productivity hours at office. Minors fake their age to join these sites where they befriend strangers, there are chances of these minor getting influenced in the wrong way.

Socializing like my young cousin who has account in most networks is admirable but you should know what to and how much to share on the public forum. Use these networks intelligently to get acquainted to lot more people and get benefitted with the knowledge they have to share rather than being another Adnan.

Salaam Saab

"Salaam Saab, kaise hain aaj….."I get greeted as I enter through the glass door of my office by an ever smiling security person. After a tedious travel in the overcrowded buses where you are nudged and pushed continuously, the smile and polite enquiry are refreshing and gives the motivation to slog for the next 8 hours at work.

How could a security person whose main job is to keep a hawk's eye on the premises , who is made a scapegoat to do petty jobs motivate people whose job are more complex and brain draining? If you have the doubt then you need to spend some time with the security personnel at your work place or read this blog to know.

Generally you will find people whose roots are from the north eastern part of India or old aged person who are still the bread winner of their family who have no other alternative take up this job of securing the premises. These people don't have the luxury of working 5 days a week and take 2 days of leave or neither do they get the chance to relax and celebrate festivals with their family like us. There are no sick leaves or paid leaves which they can take   whenever they feel sick or drained to work. Many of my security friends have been away from their family for years staying in cramped places where they don't get the amenities that we enjoy. They need to make lots of sacrifice to feed their family members three square meals and make their future secure. This thankless job doesn’t give them the respect that they deserve; despite all this I find them smiling and energetic at work.

Their lifestyles have touched me and I am sure it should have made some difference to the attitude you have against them.

Lets salute these fellows and give them their due respect.Let us return them the smile and have a occasional chat and let them know that we do respect them and acknowledge their effort to keep us safe.

Breaking NEWS

A farmer decides to commit suicide and all the NEWS channel camp to capture his every action and broadcast it to the whole world. A robot rescues a nude girl who was bathing from a building caught on fire was captured on camera for circulation around the world. Familiar with these scenes?  You should be if you had chances to watch films like “PEEPLI LIVE” and “ENDHIRAN”. Do director’s include these kinds of scenes to move their story forward or are they sarcastic of today’s media, I strongly believe it is the later.

Why shouldn’t they be of the fourth pillar of democracy? It is there for everybody to see. Let’s face the reality, they are here to just make money and money comes only if they get good TRP (Television Rating Point) which is the criterion that indicates the popularity of a channel. Today which ever NEWS channel you tune to we would see breaking news presented in their own version even if they don’t have enough details about them, then for some days we are updated with information that the budding journalist   gather from various sources without even authenticating it. Then we get to see reputed journalist interviewing and conducting show with the people involved in the making of this news giving us big picture. This week long activity of particular news awakens the people who march with candles in their hand as protest. With the advent of social networking sites people discuss it on net even going to the length of creating hate pages.  All this flow of event makes the authorities to announce some action. Then there is yet another News breaks in some other part of the country to which people get hooked to thanks to these NEWS channels. This is what happening today. People are not interested in beating news to death, in seeing if the affected people are compensated properly.

Why are the NEWS channel functioning the way they are, are there people getting benefit out of this show? let’s see, Politicians would top the list I guess, journos never forget to get their views there by giving them instant recall values among the people which otherwise would require lot of visit to their constituency , spending the fund they get, now they can turn a blind eye until the next campaign time and pocket the money they get. Film stars, industrialist, so called social workers get their due publicity just by hoping from one channel to another. Corporate too are benefitted by getting air time and also sponsoring award nights like “INDIAN of the year” at rates which is lower when compared to entertained channels. Talking about the entertained channel they too have turned smart and now market their shows in the NEWS channel to a wider audience.

Yes agreed that these channels need money to run the show but then how much and should they comprise on the quality of news they provide. I strongly believe if the quality of content is good you will still get money to run the show.

Flies Don't like KALAN!!

Flies don't like the taste of Kalan. For those of you who don't know what kalan is, let me explain -Kalan is a dish famous in Kerala which is prepared using curd and yam and pepper being used to make it spicy.  

We had rice, kalan, cabbage curry, payasam! (Oh nothing special we had lot of jaggery which lying unused for a month or two), buttermilk, papad and mango pickle for lunch some day in the bygone week. I had kept the dishes covered with plates except kalan. When I was about to start my lunch this unwelcome guest came from no where and started flying over all the bowls except the bowl which had Kalan. I tried to shoo it away however it kept changing its place from one bowl to the other and disturbing my lunch. It took me a while to realise that this bloody fly was not interested in kalan.

That created a doubt in me: Is it that flies don't like food spicy, but then I saw it sitting on the bowl which had pickles ....so that could not be the reason?.If you were thinking that the dish was not tastable could be the reason then let me tell you ,acchan is an expert cook for which many would vouch  and the dish was made tasty , i can't come up with any reason, Can you ? Till then I will presume that   "FLIES DON'T LIKE KALAN'

Eureka!! I found a way to have a peaceful meal without being troubled by these dirty flies. Hey you people too try it at home, prepare kalan in large quantity which would last for a week even when eaten thrice a day. Believe me the flies will never ever come back after being disappointed for week seeing this kalan. I am going to try it at home and once it is successful I will submit a thesis and get a patent for it.......