Rakat Desha Kankhar Desha Dagadanchya Desha, pranam majha ghyava hey shree maharashtra desha! Maharashtra dinachya hardik shubhechha.
April 30, 2010 at 11:45pm
When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a guy!
May 1, 2010 at 9:56pm
When mothers were offering their daughters shoulders to lean on, mine was teaching me how leaning is unnecessary. Thank you mama, today I would not be "me" if you weren't "you". I love you!
May 8, 2010 at 1:18pm
Of all Shakespeare's heroes Hamlet is my favorite....he exudes passion like no other Shakespearen character...which perhaps could be because he fuelled by the desire for revenge! But he is Shakespeare's best work!
May 11, 2010 at 7:18am
I want England to win the world cup! If Aus were to win it would be 'jala', if SL were to win it would be 'jale pe namak' and if Pak were to win it would be 'jale pe garam masala'
May 12, 2010 at 2:28am
When you look at a problem from afar, you take a third person's view of the situation and you say to yourself, I have got this one covered, I will handle it just fiine, but when you actually become a first or second person in the problem, you say "Hell! How could I've thought I would be able to do this?!!"
May 17, 2010 at 9:44am
Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.
May 22, 2010 at 11:39pm
The process is as important as the end goal.
May 25, 2010 at 10:50am
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Bangles....
Bangles…..
What triggers off this ‘discourse’ on Bangles, is the fact that one of my friends asked me today why a bangle is called a bangle…and thinking…and some ‘google - ing’ about it gave rise to the following line of thought….
The word bangle comes from the hindi word ‘bangri’ which literally means a ring for the arm or leg…literally….culturally bangles mean a thousand different things….
Bangles have a different interpretation in every culture. …
Hindu unmarried girls always wear some bangles round both their wrists as it is considered inauspicious to be bare armed. Bare hands are symbolically associated with widows who have been denied the right to wear bangles or any kind of adornment. Generally, they are worn after marriage to signify matrimony. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.
Not only this there is diversity n bangles too all over India……
The Kashmiris have the most exquisitely painted papier mache bangles.
A bride from Punjab is traditionally given slender lac and plastic choodas (bangles) in white and red. These bangles are given only in multiples of four. The bride wears these bangles for a period of three to six months and as long as the bangles are on she is generally pampered as the new bride and not given and kitchen duties to perform. The day she enters the kitchen to work she takes off her chooda and gifts them to a priest or to the local shrine.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the bride's mother will gift a pair of ivory bangles. With these ivory bangles, a young couple performs the 'Saptapati;' without these ornaments, the ritual cannot occur. The Saptapati consists of seven steps around the fire. Without this ritual, a Hindu marriage is considered incomplete.
When the Gujarati bride conceives, her sister-in-law gifts her a silver chain bracelet. In the seventh month she is also asked to wear a bracelet made of black thread and five kowdis (a kind of shell). This bracelet is unknotted only when the woman goes into labour pains to symbolically help in an easy delivery.
The Ahirs of Rajasthan and Rabaris of Gujarat, the pastoral tribes cover their entire hand with broad plain bangles made of bone. The unmarried wear them only from the wrist to the elbow whereas the married wear them from the elbow upwards as far up as the underarm. Since these tribes are nomadic and they cannot keep their assets under safe keeping they wear their saving in the form of jewellery on their person. When struck by any natural calamity like draught or famine, bands of the tribes flock to the closest town to sell their bone bangles.
In Bengal, woman wear 'lohas' to symbolize their marriage; they are bangles that are alternately known as the iron 'kada.' Brides are also presented with beautifully crafted, white conch bangles and red lac bangles.
The Bastar tribe of Madhya Pradesh wear bangles made of coconut shell. Intricate patterns designed on white metal are screwed firmly onto the coconut shell. The Gonds and Bhils wear bangles made out of brass or beads.
The Maharashtrians give a woman green glass bangles when she is pregnant. But then green is the auspicious colour for a married woman in Maharashtra and they are given green bungles to mark all occasions. A couple of days before the wedding they perform a ceremony called the lagna chooda when a bangle seller comes home and firs stacks the bride’s hand with green bangles onto the wrists of every married woman present. The unmarried girls wear dozens of coloured glass bangles that match their clothes.
The Lambadis of Andhra Pradesh wear these graded bone bangles only upto their elbows.
In the south they practice a similar ceremony called valaikapu when the woman is in her seventh month of pregnancy and comes to stay oat her mother’s home. All varieties and colours of glass bangles are literally stacked on her hands with 21 valay (bangles) on one hand and 22 on the other. She is also given a silver kapu, a thin silver bangle with clasps. This is unclasped only when the labour pains begin. The glass bangles are also taken off then.
The tradition of bangles has been in India for centuries….Ornaments on the arms and wrists were worn in India from the days of the Indus Valley Civilization (2300-1000 B.C.) as is evident from the bronze figurine found in Mohenjodaro. Bangles cover the entire arm of this figures display bangles as do the cave paintings in the Ajanta and Ellora. Armlets are rarely worn nowadays except as fashion statements…but once upon a time these coiled snake like ornaments adorned the arms of every person who could affored them. They came in various designs like sinh (lion), sarp (snake), keyur (peacock) etc.
Even the devi (Goddess) is offered glass bangles. In the south she is offered black ones, in Maharashtra green and in Calcutta red. In the northern belt of India red glass bangles are considered auspicious for the married as green ones are in Maharashtra.
Even the color has different interpretations. Red and Green are symbols of marriage, Yellow and orange for happiness, white for new beginnings, black for power, silver for strength and gold for fortune.
Each area crafts bangles using the materials available locally. Wood in Kashmir, the rhino horn bangles in Assam, lac in Rajasthan. There are many fashionable bangle in metals, plastics, silk threads etc. the variety is seemingly endless.
Call it chudi, kangan, bangdi, Valaya, Kada, Gajulu, Choodla whatever you want…bangles have a special place in every Indian girl’s heart, two simple bangles everyday may mean simplicity, practicality, a subtle expression of feminity….two bangles that match the dress everyday may mean I like bangles or someone likes bangles on me….lots of bangles on wedding like ceremony means I just like the sound or look of it…. To add a foolishly romantic thought on top of it all…The jingling musical sound from the bangles on the hands of the newly married woman is a tickling call to her husband. It is the silent laughter of the wedded girl that adds a special charm to her movements….Whatever be your interpretation of it….go ahead girl…dangle that bangle
I know it was very long….but thanks for reading.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Battle of the Sexes - game theory
“Battle of the sexes” has always been one of my favorite topics for FB, gtalk status messages….and when I actually came across the scientific proof for this…Well you cannot imagine how overjoyed I was…so here goes the formal description…
The Battle of the Sexes is a two-player coordination game used in game theory. Imagine a couple that agreed to meet this evening, but cannot recall if they will be attending the opera or a football match. The husband would most of all like to go to the football game. The wife would like to go to the opera. Both would prefer to go to the same place rather than different ones. If they cannot communicate, where should they go?
Pointers to the above that are in sync with the real time battle of the sexes –
1. They agreed to meet but cannot recall the location…very typical of the husband I’d say
2. The husband would like to go to the football game….typical
3. The wife would like to go to the opera….typical
4. Both would prefer to go to the same place rather than different ones…of course! Don’t we all agree that we should all agree!
5. They cannot communicate…..of course they can’t we wouldn’t be here if they could!
Game theory solves this problem using the pay off matrix…which I am still trying to understand! ….Watch out this space for more interpretation once I understand that…
There can be four cases –
1. Both go to the Opera
2. Wife goes to the opera and husband to the football game
3. Husband goes to the opera and wife to the football game
4. Both go to the football game.
But in event 3, additional harm may occur!! He goes to the opera while she goes to the football game, satisfying neither…and both of them come back and have a nice fight!
Another aspect that can occur in this game is called “burning money”, sounds very realistic doesn’t it? When the husband agrees to go to the opera, he is “burning money” when the wife goes to the football game she is burning money….So now there are additional conditions to the game, the player can choose to burn or not burn money!
The scenario where the wife agrees to go to the football game, she is achieving the objective of going with the husband, but she is choosing to “burn money”! How very foolish of her to choose what Game theory calls the “weakly dominated strategy” where she dominates at the cost of choosing to burn money! Had the wife been smart, she would have known that Game theory suggests that if one iteratively deletes weakly dominated strategies then one arrives at a unique solution where the wife does not burn the money and chooses Opera and where the husband has to choose Opera. The odd thing about this result is that by simply having the opportunity to burn money (but not actually using it), the wife is able to secure her favored equilibrium. Smart, ain’t it?
Another way of attaining equilibrium according to game theory involves the use of a correlated equilibrium. Using a randomized event we can reach a decision. In simple words, this is like flipping a coin…before choosing their strategies, they might agree to correlate their strategies based on the coin flip by, say, choosing football in the event of heads and opera in the event of tails. Notice that once the results of the coin flip are revealed neither the husband nor wife have any incentives to alter their proposed actions – that would result in miscoordination and a lower payoff than simply adhering to the agreed upon strategies. So nothing’s fair when everything’s fair!!
If you’re still confused, don’t worry so am I! But the only point of writing so much about it is to tell you that this is interesting ain’t it?
The Battle of the Sexes is a two-player coordination game used in game theory. Imagine a couple that agreed to meet this evening, but cannot recall if they will be attending the opera or a football match. The husband would most of all like to go to the football game. The wife would like to go to the opera. Both would prefer to go to the same place rather than different ones. If they cannot communicate, where should they go?
Pointers to the above that are in sync with the real time battle of the sexes –
1. They agreed to meet but cannot recall the location…very typical of the husband I’d say
2. The husband would like to go to the football game….typical
3. The wife would like to go to the opera….typical
4. Both would prefer to go to the same place rather than different ones…of course! Don’t we all agree that we should all agree!
5. They cannot communicate…..of course they can’t we wouldn’t be here if they could!
Game theory solves this problem using the pay off matrix…which I am still trying to understand! ….Watch out this space for more interpretation once I understand that…
There can be four cases –
1. Both go to the Opera
2. Wife goes to the opera and husband to the football game
3. Husband goes to the opera and wife to the football game
4. Both go to the football game.
But in event 3, additional harm may occur!! He goes to the opera while she goes to the football game, satisfying neither…and both of them come back and have a nice fight!
Another aspect that can occur in this game is called “burning money”, sounds very realistic doesn’t it? When the husband agrees to go to the opera, he is “burning money” when the wife goes to the football game she is burning money….So now there are additional conditions to the game, the player can choose to burn or not burn money!
The scenario where the wife agrees to go to the football game, she is achieving the objective of going with the husband, but she is choosing to “burn money”! How very foolish of her to choose what Game theory calls the “weakly dominated strategy” where she dominates at the cost of choosing to burn money! Had the wife been smart, she would have known that Game theory suggests that if one iteratively deletes weakly dominated strategies then one arrives at a unique solution where the wife does not burn the money and chooses Opera and where the husband has to choose Opera. The odd thing about this result is that by simply having the opportunity to burn money (but not actually using it), the wife is able to secure her favored equilibrium. Smart, ain’t it?
Another way of attaining equilibrium according to game theory involves the use of a correlated equilibrium. Using a randomized event we can reach a decision. In simple words, this is like flipping a coin…before choosing their strategies, they might agree to correlate their strategies based on the coin flip by, say, choosing football in the event of heads and opera in the event of tails. Notice that once the results of the coin flip are revealed neither the husband nor wife have any incentives to alter their proposed actions – that would result in miscoordination and a lower payoff than simply adhering to the agreed upon strategies. So nothing’s fair when everything’s fair!!
If you’re still confused, don’t worry so am I! But the only point of writing so much about it is to tell you that this is interesting ain’t it?
Saturday, May 1, 2010
April 2010 in facebook status messages
April 1, Tata Maruti :(
April 2, Microsoft does not innovate...It buys an innovated product packages it with an existing Microsoft OS so that it cannot be unplugged and sells it at a higher price! Thats innovation for you....ala Microsoft!
April 3, Male mind functions on the principle of differential calculus, the female mind functions on the principles of integral calculus. Though both the things are diametrically opposite, they are very much complementary. One is incomplete without the other.
April 4, Behind every sucessful engineer, there is a substantial amount of coffee.
April 5, I am not anti-man, I am just pro-woman. Really, is it that difficult to understand?
April 6, To tell somebody that he is wrong is called criticism. To do so officially is called software testing.
April 7, Love is....giving someone the ability to destroy you but trusting them not to.....
April 8, Developer: There is no I in TEAM. Tester: BUGS cannot be spelt without U.
April 9, Lionel Messi....God's gift to football.
April 10, The most frustrating thing a developer can say to a tester...."It works on my machine"! Arey mag mee kay karu!
April 11, Project Manager mathematics....If one woman delivers a baby in 9 months, 9 women should deliver a baby in a month!
April 12, If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress?
April 13, I don't believe in love because love doesn't believe in me.
April 14, To the comment " I wish there was a machine that could wash clothes, dry them, iron them and hang them in a cupboard." who replies "Get a husband!" :)
April 15, If you think I am rude, you are absolutely right.
April 17, I have just realized how easy it is to give advice to others and yet so difficult to follow one's own advice!
April 18, After watching both phoonk1 and phoonk 2 I still don't get it why Ram Gopal Verma decided to call them Phoonk!!??
April 20, Before asking me if your smoking is bothering me....take a look at yourself, Dude! it's killing you.
April 24, All the people in this world can be classified into 4 categories - dumb playing dumb, dumb playing smart, smart playing smart and smart playing dumb. The question is ... Are you smart enough to play dumb?
April 27, I am missing konkanatla unhala, ambyacha, fansacha vaas, anganatli vihir,mogryache paat, mhashincha gotha, jambhul karvandachya baga, bagan madhe divas bhar khelna, dagdaani kairya padna, cycle varun firna, roz sandhyakali samudravar firayla jaana, mogra-aboli cha gajra laavun bazaraat basnarya kolini, amboli, laal maath, pej, maasli cha jevan, jevana nantar aangnaatlya khaati var padun chandra chandane pahana.....
April 28, Linda Goodman's first observation about Scorpio women goes like "She's magnetic, proud and totally confident. But she has one secret regret. She was not born a man" I so agree :)
April 29, Summer rain and the smell of water touching the parched earth! Heaven!
April 30, I wish there was a beach in Pune!
April 2, Microsoft does not innovate...It buys an innovated product packages it with an existing Microsoft OS so that it cannot be unplugged and sells it at a higher price! Thats innovation for you....ala Microsoft!
April 3, Male mind functions on the principle of differential calculus, the female mind functions on the principles of integral calculus. Though both the things are diametrically opposite, they are very much complementary. One is incomplete without the other.
April 4, Behind every sucessful engineer, there is a substantial amount of coffee.
April 5, I am not anti-man, I am just pro-woman. Really, is it that difficult to understand?
April 6, To tell somebody that he is wrong is called criticism. To do so officially is called software testing.
April 7, Love is....giving someone the ability to destroy you but trusting them not to.....
April 8, Developer: There is no I in TEAM. Tester: BUGS cannot be spelt without U.
April 9, Lionel Messi....God's gift to football.
April 10, The most frustrating thing a developer can say to a tester...."It works on my machine"! Arey mag mee kay karu!
April 11, Project Manager mathematics....If one woman delivers a baby in 9 months, 9 women should deliver a baby in a month!
April 12, If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress?
April 13, I don't believe in love because love doesn't believe in me.
April 14, To the comment " I wish there was a machine that could wash clothes, dry them, iron them and hang them in a cupboard." who replies "Get a husband!" :)
April 15, If you think I am rude, you are absolutely right.
April 17, I have just realized how easy it is to give advice to others and yet so difficult to follow one's own advice!
April 18, After watching both phoonk1 and phoonk 2 I still don't get it why Ram Gopal Verma decided to call them Phoonk!!??
April 20, Before asking me if your smoking is bothering me....take a look at yourself, Dude! it's killing you.
April 24, All the people in this world can be classified into 4 categories - dumb playing dumb, dumb playing smart, smart playing smart and smart playing dumb. The question is ... Are you smart enough to play dumb?
April 27, I am missing konkanatla unhala, ambyacha, fansacha vaas, anganatli vihir,mogryache paat, mhashincha gotha, jambhul karvandachya baga, bagan madhe divas bhar khelna, dagdaani kairya padna, cycle varun firna, roz sandhyakali samudravar firayla jaana, mogra-aboli cha gajra laavun bazaraat basnarya kolini, amboli, laal maath, pej, maasli cha jevan, jevana nantar aangnaatlya khaati var padun chandra chandane pahana.....
April 28, Linda Goodman's first observation about Scorpio women goes like "She's magnetic, proud and totally confident. But she has one secret regret. She was not born a man" I so agree :)
April 29, Summer rain and the smell of water touching the parched earth! Heaven!
April 30, I wish there was a beach in Pune!
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Lalit Modi Affair : Justice or cover up?
After the last ball of the IPL was bowled and fate of IPL 3 sealed, Modi was clean bowled. When at the presentation ceremony Mr. Modi was busy garnering public sympathy and banking on the emotions of the crowd, BCCI announced a decision that in all probability might have been taken days ago. Goodbye Mr. Modi, you have been suspended from the office of Chairman and Comissioner of the IPL. What you have just made is also your farewell speech. Modi’s golden run comes to an end. However this raised some very fundamental questions about IPL in my mind.
1. Was IPL all in all a separate concern or was it a sister concern of BCCI? Was BCCI the main governing body and the IPL committee the operational body? Was any such structure defined? Documented? Whose moral responsibility was it ?
2. If BCCI was the governing body then why didn’t it lay down a strict constitution/ rule book for IPL?
3. There was an IPL committee right? Then why was Modi given so much authority and power that it started looking like a one-man show. Like one man running a huge corporation? Why wasn’t the authority decentralized?
4. Why was there a hidden understanding that the names of the stake owners and their stake in each company won’t be revealed? Why couldn’t the stake be revealed?
5. Why couldn’t the profits be chalked up, taxed and made public for everyone to see?
6. What was the BCCI/ IPL committee trying to hide? Or rather the right question would be who was it trying to protect?
7. IPL is not a social cause. It is a business. Then why was the stamp duty for it waived? A stamp duty of 2000 crore! Money that belonged to the people of this country…Money that could have been used for the progress of the country. Add to that the entertainment tax that was waived…..Another 5 crores! Why?
8. Why has the income tax department started investigation into the assets of the team so late? What was it doing for three long years?
9. Is IPL being used as an instrument to make black money legitimate?
10. Are we exploiting the passion that the masses have for cricket to fatten the pockets of industrialists, film stars, politicians all alike?
11. Lalit Modi deserves a punishment….but he is being punished for what? Is it for bringing down a Congress minister?
12. Or is it for exposing the ugly behind the scenes reality of IPL? Is he merely being made a scapegoat to protect some very big and influential names?
13. What more lurks behind the IPL?
Is it justice?
Or is it just a cover up?
Sorry Mr. Modi you have been caught in the trap you laid for someone else!
But thank you, Mr. Modi you have brought forth all the dark secrets of the IPL, So what if it was to hide your own secrets! And so what if it was 3 years too late!
Enjoy your retirement Mr. Modi!
1. Was IPL all in all a separate concern or was it a sister concern of BCCI? Was BCCI the main governing body and the IPL committee the operational body? Was any such structure defined? Documented? Whose moral responsibility was it ?
2. If BCCI was the governing body then why didn’t it lay down a strict constitution/ rule book for IPL?
3. There was an IPL committee right? Then why was Modi given so much authority and power that it started looking like a one-man show. Like one man running a huge corporation? Why wasn’t the authority decentralized?
4. Why was there a hidden understanding that the names of the stake owners and their stake in each company won’t be revealed? Why couldn’t the stake be revealed?
5. Why couldn’t the profits be chalked up, taxed and made public for everyone to see?
6. What was the BCCI/ IPL committee trying to hide? Or rather the right question would be who was it trying to protect?
7. IPL is not a social cause. It is a business. Then why was the stamp duty for it waived? A stamp duty of 2000 crore! Money that belonged to the people of this country…Money that could have been used for the progress of the country. Add to that the entertainment tax that was waived…..Another 5 crores! Why?
8. Why has the income tax department started investigation into the assets of the team so late? What was it doing for three long years?
9. Is IPL being used as an instrument to make black money legitimate?
10. Are we exploiting the passion that the masses have for cricket to fatten the pockets of industrialists, film stars, politicians all alike?
11. Lalit Modi deserves a punishment….but he is being punished for what? Is it for bringing down a Congress minister?
12. Or is it for exposing the ugly behind the scenes reality of IPL? Is he merely being made a scapegoat to protect some very big and influential names?
13. What more lurks behind the IPL?
Is it justice?
Or is it just a cover up?
Sorry Mr. Modi you have been caught in the trap you laid for someone else!
But thank you, Mr. Modi you have brought forth all the dark secrets of the IPL, So what if it was to hide your own secrets! And so what if it was 3 years too late!
Enjoy your retirement Mr. Modi!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?
Congress has been an integral part of Indian politics since ages.
I represent the educated middle class of my country and I believe Congress has neglected me….for ages.
Congress is the farmer’s party, the village simpleton’s party. Party that lives by an age old agenda! Party that has reached a stagnancy in reforms. Party that is afraid to venture into the new realm of reforms. Reforms that don’t necessarily start in the villages. Reforms that demand a revolution. Reforms that demand a dynamic and fast thinking government. Reforms that cannot be implemented in a tried and tested manner but reforms that have to be implemented in a learn as you do manner. Though people of India have immovable, immense faith in congress leadership, what they fail to see is that the leadership is not really leading them anywhere, it is just running your country like say your mom runs the kitchen, no innovation, no experimentation, no breakthroughs, no progress but one day follows the other and everyday we get a meal on the table.
This is where I advocate that we need a BJP like alliance to govern us once in a while. To help come out of the shadow of the old man called congress. The last term that the alliance had at office it brought us a little revolution, a little dynamism, a little life, a little glimpse of the dream of progress. Remember the golden quadrilateral, taking mobile connectivity to villages, e-chaupal, improving the quality of education in the country, asserting India’s stand at world assemblies, giving it a sense of identity as a progressive nation in the world. That is the kind of progress that affects me directly. That’s the kind of progress congress has neglected! Though where BJP lost was on utilizing the “rural” votebank, a votebank upon whose sympathies congress has been playing for ages.
Congress has always been a party of votebank politics. And it puts so much effort into appeasing its vote banks that sometimes I feel the party has no spine. It has to appease the SC/ST, Dalit vote bank hence it will grant them more reservation, It has to appease the minority vote bank, hence it will mollycoddle them, grant them special privileges, It has to appease the huge north Indian vote bank in Maharashtra, hence the party refused to stand up for the rights of Maharashtrians!
Congress also has traditionally been the party of showman ship. Rahul Gandhi staying in a Dalit village, traveling in a local train, Priyanaka Gandhi waving to the crowds and believe it or not Congress pulls in votes based on the showman ship of these Gandhi kids! People who are not even officially a part of the official Congress leadership! Oh and the actual leaders that congress has provided….our madam president for example…come on….couldn’t they at least give us a president we could be proud of ?!
I m not saying I m anti congress. Congress has always been the party to bring about fundamental reforms in the country. Make judicious economic policies, handle crisis efficiently. But that is what congress is a disaster management technique not a progressive one, for that we need a BJP like alliance.
For ever 5 years of congress governance, 2 years of governance by BJP to balance out the kinds of progress that the two governments make.
Again, I am not anti congress. I am just pro progress.
I represent the educated middle class of my country and I believe Congress has neglected me….for ages.
Congress is the farmer’s party, the village simpleton’s party. Party that lives by an age old agenda! Party that has reached a stagnancy in reforms. Party that is afraid to venture into the new realm of reforms. Reforms that don’t necessarily start in the villages. Reforms that demand a revolution. Reforms that demand a dynamic and fast thinking government. Reforms that cannot be implemented in a tried and tested manner but reforms that have to be implemented in a learn as you do manner. Though people of India have immovable, immense faith in congress leadership, what they fail to see is that the leadership is not really leading them anywhere, it is just running your country like say your mom runs the kitchen, no innovation, no experimentation, no breakthroughs, no progress but one day follows the other and everyday we get a meal on the table.
This is where I advocate that we need a BJP like alliance to govern us once in a while. To help come out of the shadow of the old man called congress. The last term that the alliance had at office it brought us a little revolution, a little dynamism, a little life, a little glimpse of the dream of progress. Remember the golden quadrilateral, taking mobile connectivity to villages, e-chaupal, improving the quality of education in the country, asserting India’s stand at world assemblies, giving it a sense of identity as a progressive nation in the world. That is the kind of progress that affects me directly. That’s the kind of progress congress has neglected! Though where BJP lost was on utilizing the “rural” votebank, a votebank upon whose sympathies congress has been playing for ages.
Congress has always been a party of votebank politics. And it puts so much effort into appeasing its vote banks that sometimes I feel the party has no spine. It has to appease the SC/ST, Dalit vote bank hence it will grant them more reservation, It has to appease the minority vote bank, hence it will mollycoddle them, grant them special privileges, It has to appease the huge north Indian vote bank in Maharashtra, hence the party refused to stand up for the rights of Maharashtrians!
Congress also has traditionally been the party of showman ship. Rahul Gandhi staying in a Dalit village, traveling in a local train, Priyanaka Gandhi waving to the crowds and believe it or not Congress pulls in votes based on the showman ship of these Gandhi kids! People who are not even officially a part of the official Congress leadership! Oh and the actual leaders that congress has provided….our madam president for example…come on….couldn’t they at least give us a president we could be proud of ?!
I m not saying I m anti congress. Congress has always been the party to bring about fundamental reforms in the country. Make judicious economic policies, handle crisis efficiently. But that is what congress is a disaster management technique not a progressive one, for that we need a BJP like alliance.
For ever 5 years of congress governance, 2 years of governance by BJP to balance out the kinds of progress that the two governments make.
Again, I am not anti congress. I am just pro progress.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
An interesting conversation
Namrata - We can rarely see things from the point of view of another person because we look at the facts through the screen of an impression or an interest which distorts our view; and then there are accusations, quarrels and MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
Yashada -
We quarrel because there are accusations
there are accusations because there are misunderstandings
there are misunderstandings because of difference of point of view,
There is difference of point of view because we have an opinion,
We have an opinion because we have an independent mind......
So to avoid the quarrels shall we give up an independent mind? Hell no!
As much as it pains us, drains us and hurts us to quarrel, if the cause is just we must quarrel other wise we will be unjust to our independent mind...and once we start telling our mind to shut the hell up and take the easy way out we are going to keep doing it, get into that habit and stifle the independent mind that we have developed over years!
Really, is it worth it?
Gaurav - an independent mind negates the need of the logic of being rational and makes one's thinking prejudiced. all it is meant to say is, be independent, but also rational. think of the implications it has on others and then work out a logic that could avoid confrontations due to misunderstandings. now, that is one hell of an ideal "independent" mind... See More! :)
You saying the quarrel is justified if the cause is valid. but then who decides if the cause is valid from the universal point of view? it is again a jaundiced view of what you think is correct. so, it is the need of the hour to be rational and impassionate while also being logical and working out solutions to avoid stand-offs.
Do not stifle the independent mind that is so painstakingly developed over the years. But it is also necessary to be generous and considerate at times. So, eventually, your independent mind has to make a selective choice. standing up for what is right, or standing down in the impeding risk of losing out a friend.
Yashada - Gaurav you are awesome!
And I do agree, you have to sometimes calculate the trade off and then decide....whether quarreling ( I won't call it quarreling, its simply taking a stand and standing by it) is more important than your peace of mind, or your peace of mind is important :)
But if we keep on about thinking about someone else's feelings, most of the times we forget to think about our own feelings and hurt ourselves all the more in the process.
P.S - Sorry, Nammu! But it was such an interesting conversation, it had to be kept somewhere from keepsakes. Hope you don't mind!
Yashada -
We quarrel because there are accusations
there are accusations because there are misunderstandings
there are misunderstandings because of difference of point of view,
There is difference of point of view because we have an opinion,
We have an opinion because we have an independent mind......
So to avoid the quarrels shall we give up an independent mind? Hell no!
As much as it pains us, drains us and hurts us to quarrel, if the cause is just we must quarrel other wise we will be unjust to our independent mind...and once we start telling our mind to shut the hell up and take the easy way out we are going to keep doing it, get into that habit and stifle the independent mind that we have developed over years!
Really, is it worth it?
Gaurav - an independent mind negates the need of the logic of being rational and makes one's thinking prejudiced. all it is meant to say is, be independent, but also rational. think of the implications it has on others and then work out a logic that could avoid confrontations due to misunderstandings. now, that is one hell of an ideal "independent" mind... See More! :)
You saying the quarrel is justified if the cause is valid. but then who decides if the cause is valid from the universal point of view? it is again a jaundiced view of what you think is correct. so, it is the need of the hour to be rational and impassionate while also being logical and working out solutions to avoid stand-offs.
Do not stifle the independent mind that is so painstakingly developed over the years. But it is also necessary to be generous and considerate at times. So, eventually, your independent mind has to make a selective choice. standing up for what is right, or standing down in the impeding risk of losing out a friend.
Yashada - Gaurav you are awesome!
And I do agree, you have to sometimes calculate the trade off and then decide....whether quarreling ( I won't call it quarreling, its simply taking a stand and standing by it) is more important than your peace of mind, or your peace of mind is important :)
But if we keep on about thinking about someone else's feelings, most of the times we forget to think about our own feelings and hurt ourselves all the more in the process.
P.S - Sorry, Nammu! But it was such an interesting conversation, it had to be kept somewhere from keepsakes. Hope you don't mind!
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