From Pages of My Dairy - My Eye Operation

The Retina operation : So the D day is tomorrow. I will be operated on my right eye for the so called retina detachment. I had so far heard of feelings which could be detached , but physical entities of the body ?? Never. It is a strange feeling today. I had a shiver of sorts through my spine, when I was told about it the first time, about 2 weeks back. That was a momentary shock. I am a hard nut and can absorb all the big and small shocks and take them in stride. The biggest hindrances in the way were when I sat on the Laptop and when I was behind the wheels, in a car, or, while reading. All are my passions, and distorted eye sight was a big nonsense. Let us see if the world would be same as usual after the operation or not ? I do not know how and why it ( the Problem ) had to catch me ? No doubt I am a diabetic, but then I have seen many diabetic with much worse control over blood sugar, lipid profile, BP etc. I have yet to find a satisfactory answer for my questions. That is part of life, I must say. So, get on with the life nerdy nandu, is the only message I can give to my self and others suffering from similar problems. Nerdy Nandu

ABHIVYAKTI: From Pages of My Diary - Trip To Pilani

ABHIVYAKTI: From Pages of My Diary - Trip To Pilani

From Pages of My Diary - Clean Sweep at Oscars

This has really been a great year for India , always the underdogs. First it was in the arena of Sports, with Vishwanathan Anand picking up the world championship crown in chess. Then came the Olympics and Abhinav Bindra brought home the crowning glory with a gold medal in shooting. Yes, the achievements in team sports like cricket, our national passion, can not be overlooked. And now it is in motion pictures. Every one knows that the Oscars are looked upon as kohinoor jewel in motion pictures to be picked. We all believed that we had in us to compete with the best in any field. It all is in the mind. The self belief is what finally counts. And A R rehman and Pookutty and of course Gulzar have shown that today. The Slum Dog Millionaire and the Short Documentary Film Smile Pinky have come out of nowhere to create history of sorts. The Slum Dog Millionaire has swept the 81 st academy awards function and bagged 8 awards out of nine nominations. A R Rehman bagged 2 and Pookutty bagged 1 for sound engineering. It is really a very proud moment for the country. The joy and happiness and emotions of all Indians across the country being screened Live on TV is simply unbelievable and awesome. The credit for this movie's success should be given to David Boyle, who went on to get the award for best director and best motion picture. However, having heard A R 's all his previous works, frankly speaking he should have got it much earlier and for his earlier music. I certainly don't think that the Jai Ho and his original scores in the movie are his best so far. His works in movies like Roja, Bombay, lagan, Rang de and countless other movies were far more superior than this. But Recognition is recognition after all. Three Cheers for the Indian spirit.

From Pages of My Diary - Trip To Pilani

The Pilani Trip:

It looked almost impossible to realize a dream trip to Pilani, like every other year. The years were just flowing by and every year I was breaking the promises I used to make to my younger sister, Shobha Perlekar, like the New Year resolutions. Surely, the guilt was beginning to tell on me. So this time when I finally decided to hang my boots ( professional ones ) and take a voluntary retirement, the best way consume my leaves, I thought, was to plan a trip to Pilani.

Initially we planned a grand Rajasthan dekho trip with my new buddy, Appa ( Nandana's Father - in - Law ) with all his family members. Yes, because after our Pavankhind trip during Diwali, we sort of decided to make at least one trip a year together. We never thought it would be so soon again. They had to back out because Nans and Naveen had almost no leaves to their credit now. We tried to hook up Neela / Usha Tai, Babans ( my elder bro and his wife ), but they too backed out but not because of any leave issues. They had fear of the cold in early Feb. Pilani - Delhi climate. You never know what different fears one develops in life.

We were left alone eventually. However since we were determined to go we cut short all our other plans and restricted our trip to Pilani alone. Thank god, we did that, because we all realized after our trip that no amount of time is good enough for a Pilanian, particularly if he or she is going after a long long time. We had almost 10 days at our disposal, including the travel time. Still those were not enough at the end of it. So we all thought on return.

The Perlekars had arranged a taxi for our journey from Delhi to Pilani. I was almost there at Pilani from the moment we got in to the cab. The lush green farms with crowns of yellow mustard spread all over the farms greeted us through out our journey to Pilani. As we came closer to Loharu, the nearest railway station to Pilani on the route, my excitement had no bounds. I was beaming with joy as I narrated the story of our cycle trip from Pilani to Delhi and back. I could remember the spot where my cycle got puncture near Pilani, and recollect the whole story of how my friend Billo was dispatched back my father to hunt for me. Anupama was especially excited to see my excitement.

Finally we hit the Bhagat Singh Circle where from it was all Pilani and nothing else in the talk. In addition, by around three in the afternoon we were there in my sister's house sitting and laughing on just about every thing.

Hospitality :

Our days used to start with tea at around nine in the morning. Who could think of coming out of the warmth of the Rajai and at an ambient temperatures hovering around 5 - 8 degree Celsius. The morning chorus followed, then by sumptuous morning breakfast of garmagaram parothas and curd and pickles. Ah ha ha. Just mouth-watering experiences, those were. Every day it used to be a different stuffing. Meena and Anupama tasted such juicy and sweet mulis and gajars ( Some how I hate the English words for the so very Indian MULI & GAJAR ) for the first time.

Then we had the privilege of hospitality of real PILANI in the homes of Bauji, Surekha, Viru ( Gogna ), Sharda ji, Raghav besides Chabu's Place ( we call our sister by that name ). The Makkey ki Roti and Sarson Da Saag, the Gajar Ka Halwa, Garma Garam Phulkas, the Pulavs etc. were a few of the many delicacies served that are now etched in the memory. In Anupama's words, it was all NUMBER ONE, COOL, and JUST TOO GOOD. In short, we were just eating and eating and eating and in between, we were busy with some typical Rajasthan style shopping.

I thanked the almighty because the likes of Waliwadekars, The Ghules, The Deshpandeys, The Joshis, have all left Pilani after their retirement. Otherwise, we would have burst out on seams due to excessive eating.

Site Seeing:

We did not just spend endless time in eating , shopping, but utilized our time to some good use too. Yap, we did some site seeing also. Surprising as it may sound, but Pilani and near by places have their own charm, and more so if you are a Pilanian accompanying others. You get that extra excitement to show different flavors and colors of the place to the ones who have not seen most of it earlier, like Meena and Anupama.

The beauty of Pilani is that you do not move alone. Every one you know there has time for you. They all just love being together. In fact, happiness manifests out of this relation. I am quite confident now that the happiness quotient of people in such places must be very very high compared to the urban class. So, in short we moved to all the places in a Jathha ( a large group of people ).

If some time Surekha and Her Husband, Dr. Vimal( they are so lovable couple I must say ) and the Perlekars were with us on our trip to the Pahadi, The Birla Haveli, Panchvati in Pilani then at other times there were a couple of additions only. The point I want to make here is that the places were not at all the great wonders of India, but then the company of these all-lovable guys made those same places out of the world kind. I must also admit that it had a lot to do with my child hood memories, which were attached to all these places.

We also went to a place about 140 kms from Pilani called Shakhambari Temple and also visited the famous Rani Sati Temple and the Aurobindo Ashram at Zunjhunu, on our way back.

In addition, yes how can I forget a trip to our college, our new library, the great audi ( our age-old grand auditorium ) and our cafeteria. Here too we were in a bigger Jathha. I was touched by the courtesy shown by Mr. Bhat ( the Librarian ) who took out time to show case the features of the majestic library to us all. We had the world's best ( famous Marathi writer Acharya Atrey's style adjective ) , mouth-watering dahi samosa and the dosa and finally the grand tea of our cafeteria. You would be all surprised to know a fact little unknown, and that is that the south Indian delicacy " the Dosa " which you would rarely have got to see those days ( forget eating ) in this part of the country and even in Delhi, used to be served in our grand cafeteria even in late 50 s. So that south Indian delicacy made with north Indian flavor used to be simply out of the world.

Similarly the visit to the museum, my father's karm bhoomi, was no less memorable. I felt having put extra pounds of flesh when I explained the various models made under his supervision and more so when I showed them my father's painting given an honor in the arm's gallery and yes above all when they saw his portrait on the way to the workshop which is just behind the main museum building. The icing on the cake was the treatment and hospitality of Dr. Dholakhandi, Director of the museum and all the old staff members. He personally took us around the ar-moury gallery and that really was embarrassing to us .

He gave the last pleasant shock when he handed over the souvenir ( statuette ) of the statue ( standing tall out side the museum ) to Meena. That day will always remain special in my life. The sweat and toil of my father is still not forgotten even after 3 decades or more, and that made the day very very special.

Fond Memories:

Topping it all was the memorable moment we all spent at our old houses, House no 7 in the choti colony and the D 140 house where we spent our most of the college life. Followed then a visit to my primary school where I studied up to class VI th and then to the Higher Secondary school where I studied up to XI th. I took them all to each of the place , our prayer ground, our labs, our class rooms, the drawing hall where Shri Bhursingh ji ( My father's friend ) used to draw sketches of students during the lunch breaks, yes 3 to 4 every day in a break of 30 minutes. It used to be great fun. I literally re lived all those days and years in a span say 3 - 4 hours that day.

The Canought Place Tea Breaks:

How could any Pilanian miss out not being part of the evenings at the grand canought place? We gorged on the choley bhature and the tea / coffee. This used to be the place of our brain storming sessions ( whatever little we had ). We used to endlessly deliberate and argue on almost all the issues under the sky, and that too only over a couple of cups of tea. Yes, that is what we all used to have in our pockets. Even then we felt we were the lords of the land. I and my other old Pilanian explained every thing in details to Meena and Anupama. It was not only to impress them for sure about the Pilani air, but also take them down the memory lanes and make them live those moments.

Meeting old friends and acquaintances :

It was for the first time that I had so much time, as earlier two odd trips were just flying visits of sorts. So, I made a point to meet all my school buddies like Gnash, now the shopkeeper in C E E R I Complex, Viru ( Virendra Gogna, fondly called as Gogi ) who is the stores in charge in B E T, and his wife. I met Anand Kumar, now a curator in a museum at Jaipur, who specially came down on my request to meet us, and his wife Sucheta and daughter. I met Babban ( Dr. Umesh Dhyani ) now a professor of humanities in B I T S, Dr. Surekha who is HOD of EEE department in BITS and Dr. Vimal who is also in BITS. I also met Dr. Arya Kumar and his wife Kusum, the Raghav & Keshav brothers and their family . The list goes endless.

In addition, yes, Bhai Saheb ( Bauji ) & Behanji cannot be missed out from any list, how so ever long it may be. Their magnetic halo just encompasses every one in their proximity. All my family members and I are privileged to have been associated for almost 6 decades now. What can I say or talk about Bauji. It would be like me trying to tell the world about the SUN. Yes, he truly has been a great source of inspiration and motivation to us all. I have yet to see and meet such a humble person and a voracious reader like him. It also applies to Behanji, the ever-smiling lady with lots of creativity in her own fields. She excelled and expressed her thoughts in weaving sweaters and carpets and cooking.

My parents and they were really members of a well-knit joint family, like the proverbial joints of FEVICOL. That rubbed on to us kids of both families also. we played, we quarreled we fought and we stayed together all these years.

We had great couple of days together during our stay at Pilani. Bauji gave us all different kinds of books and reading materials and spent hours telling the positives and negatives and the significance of the numerological birth numbers and how could we channelize our energies for a more purposeful and meaningful life. Behanji on other hand showed her skills of weaving carpets even today. I distinctly remembered how I had picked up the art of weaving carpets and navar used for making cots.

Such people, who are bundle of energy even at this age, are great fun and company. Behanji gave Meena a Carpet Piece woven by her. It was probably the loveliest gift she ever must have got. I could also meet some very old and special friends like Basantji, His brother Dinesh at Daruheda on our way back to Delhi, Sushil Somani and above all Sushil Tondon who came to Delhi station on my request and came with a huge box of cookies. The taste of those cookies is still lingering in our mouth and memory. Yes, Taste can linger in memory only.

The missing deserts:

However, we really missed out on the sand dunes and the lovely deserts of past. Viru took us to a nearby place called Zerli where we thought we could still find some sand dunes and deserts, but alas every piece of land in those deserts have been changed to either mustard farms or houses. We could not see the deserts and dunes even on our trip to Pahadi and to Shakhambari. No doubt, it is heartening to see the deserts converted in to great farms, as it is surely sign of growth and prosperity in this region also. But then Anupama and Meena will have to probably wait for couple of years till we plan our trip to interior Rajasthan, like Jaisalmer, Jodhpur etc.

A rich memory:

Finally like every good thing has to have an end, this trip too came to an end. We all have carried rich and fond memories of this trip with us, which shall remain with us forever. We have captured some of these moments in our camera. The album will help us refresh our memories as and when we scan through these captured moments.

मेरी डायरी के पन्नो से - दवे साहब की निवृत्ति

Mr. Dave and Dr. Sood are one of the oldest employees of our company. Mr. Dave happens to be the first employee of the company. Incidentally he retired on the same day when I took voluntary retirement. Surprising as it was that his length of service in the company was almost equal to my age on the day of our retirement. I mentioned so in my farewell speech and said that I felt ashamed that I was retiring at such an early age. I also said that it had much to do with the shuddh dudh and aslee ghee up bringing of Mr. Dave for the raaz ( secret ) behind his good health even at around 80 compared to my toned milk and dalda / ground oil upbringing and above all the Pitza and Burger life style, which forced me to think of my retirement as I felt tired and exhausted. I was also amazed to note that it was Mr. Dave's First and the Last service. I thought of my father who had about 35 years of service at one place and here Mr. dave had served the company for almost 55 years at a stretch. The commitment , the Loyalty of Mr. dave is really exemplary. It would sound strange and stupid to many of the generation next guys. They would simply ridicule this very idea of serving and staying put at one place. They are all on fast track roads to quick money, quick glory and success. They are exceptionally brilliant, no doubt about it, but committed to the core ?? big NO, in my opinion. Even i can not escape this blame because once upon a time even I used to think that one must change every 2 years initially and then 3 / 5 years after 40, if you want to reach the top. I used to brag about the newer heights i scaled in every change. I claimed that time that here was i , who proved the old age saying " ROLLING STONE GATHERS NO MASS " wrong. How stupid I felt about my self when I saw this man sitting besides me, a totally satisfied and content person. I realized that day that money is not all in life. Today the Corporates in our country need many more Daves. Hats of to you Mr. Dave. Nerdy Nandu

From Pages of My Diary - Nandana's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Nandana’s first birthday at her new abode, post her marriage. It all appeared very weird to begin with, when we were the invitees there. But then gradually the reality sank in. We thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations in the evening. The Memorable Past: All the memories flew past down the memory lanes. I remembered the good old Nagpur days, where she was born ( though she took birth at Kalyan, being Meena’s House, as per our customs ). I also remembered my trip to Pilani with her, when she was barely 5, and alone with me. People in Pilani were surprised and asked how come?? I told them jokingly that she was my Priyadarshini, like Indira Gandhi was to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, when she was young. She grew up being Priyadarshini to me in reality too. She used to take care of both of us during her pre marriage days. She used to be the stabilizing factor in all our ups and downs in life. She being the elder of the two daughters, always got preferential treatments from both of us and also from all other relatives too. In fact Sughosh and she were always treated like that , though unintentionally, almost everywhere. They both and Nandana in particular was a blue eyed kid of Shridada. Come 10th and she was off to Kirloskarwadi to pursue her higher secondary education. We took this decision most unwillingly, and out of compulsions. She made a place in the hearts of Joglekars also ( Bharati & Sudheer ). In fact that was not going to be a difficult task for her otherwise also, as they both are so very lovable couples. She grew there in stature. She passed out from there and then came to Pune to complete her engineering studies. She had a bumpy ride in her engineering college days, but it is to her credit that she could come out of it finally and with out any hiccups. Then she was back with us at Hyderabad, where she did a course in .Net and got a job in Hyderabad only, in a software company. The Glowing Present: It is here that she fell in love with Naveen and got married to him on June 6, 2008. She has managed to create a place for herself there too. She has won the hearts of her Amma and Appa besides winning her beau’s heart. We all are really proud of her upbringing. She maintains her calm and does not loose her cool, even when the going gets tough. We all just pray to god, on her first birthday post marriage, to bestow all the happiness and love in her new life too. Could We, as parents, Have Asked For Any Thing More on this very special day ?? Who Says !! God is Not There ??

New Year Wishes

The year 2008 gone by was a mix bag of joys and sorrows. We saw new records made in the sporting arena by the likes of Phelps and Bolts. Our own Abhinav Bindra wrote a new chapter in the history of Indian Olympic Quest. There were others like Vijender Singh , who missed out by a whisker. Viswanthan Anand showcased his mastery on the 64 square chequerred board by becoming the world champion in all formats of the game. Saina Nehwal raced in to the top 20 and then 10 in badminton. The IPL and ICL opened up new avenues of making fast bucks , both for the cricketers and the organisors. The fancied Team India proved for once and all that they are no more CHOKERS in the game. Sachin wrote another golden chapter and our MSD lead team rode the Ashwa Medh Ghoda in all formats of the game. ISRO’s Chandrayan kissed the surface of the moon. The Amte family known for their social works in the field of Leprosy got due recognition for carrying on with the burning torch lit by his great father. The US President elect Mr. OBAMA gave a new mantra to the citizens in US, who all chanted with him “ Yes !! We Can ”. Who could say then there were no defining moments?? Who could disagree that India was not SHINING??. And then we had 26 / 11 which left a scar on our peace loving minds. Each branch where golden birds perched “ Wo Bharat Desh Tha Mera , Jahan Daal Daal Par Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Thi Basera ” were soaked in blood. We also had a global economic melt down. No one could ever have imagined that industries in US and many other countries would require bail out packages. No one could have thought that the biggest of the big banks would tumble like pack of cards, that Oil Prices would see new lows, that the real estate prices, the air travels etc would take a beating. But then that is what exactly happened. That is what life is all about, a mixed bag of joys and sorrows. We will continue to have some shining moments some not so shining and some very dull and some filled with miseries and sadness, in the year 2009 too. So let us all cheer up and keep on collecting and treasuring each such small moment which brought cheer to us. These only will help us in getting over our moments of rough weather. Life must move on and the Show must go on. So, Let us all say “ Hip Hip Hurray 2008 ” and join me in wishing each other “ A Very Very Happy and Prosperous New Year ”

ABHIVYAKTI: मेरी डायरी के पन्नो से - नितिन एक नया आदर्श पुरूष

ABHIVYAKTI: मेरी डायरी के पन्नो से - नितिन एक नया आदर्श पुरूष

मेरी डायरी के पन्नो से - नितिन एक नया आदर्श पुरूष

हर व्यक्ति हमेशा अपना कम से कम एक आदर्श पुरूष चुनता है, कभी कभी एक से ज्यादा भी आदर्श पुरूष हो सकते हैं, हम कभी खेलों में, कभी रहन सहन में ( किसी हीरो का आदर्श ) तो कभी अपने प्रोफेशन में , तो कभी अपने जीवन में , अपना आदर्श पुरूष चुनते हैं, और उसके जैसा बनने का प्रयास करते हैं । इसे आज कल व्यवसाय की भाषा में बेंच मार्किंग भी कहते हैं । मेरा यह मानना है कि यदि हमें यह मालूम हो कि हम कहाँ हैं , और हमें कहाँ पहुँचाना है , तो मंजिल पाना आसान होता है । हमें एक दिशा मिलती है , और , पता चलता है कितना सफर है । उससे हम यह तय कर पातें हैं कि हमें वह सफर तय करने के लिए क्या कुछ करना है । इसे गैप अनेलैसिस भी कहते हैं । मेरे कोलेज के दिनों में मैंने प्रभाकर मामा को अपना आदर्श पुरूष माना, क्योंकि उन दिनों मेरी नज़र में , वही हमारे परिवार के एक मात्र सदस्य थे, जिन्होंने अपने जीवन में कुछ हासिल किया था । वैसे मैं बिरला - टाटा - किर्लोस्कर को भी, अपना आदर्श पुरूष बना सकता था, पर मुझे हमेशा यही लगा कि सोचो उतना ही जितना हासिल कर पाओ । कहते हैं ना - तेंतें पाँव पसारिये - जेती लम्बी सोढ़ ॥ क्योंकि उतना पा लेने के बाद फिर से अपने माप दंड बदल सकते हैं। सीढी दर सीढी मंजिल तय करने में ही समझदारी है। कितने संकुचित विचार थे मेरे, कितनी छोटी उड़ान थी मेरी । खैर, मैंने भी अपनी समझ से गैप अनेलैसिस ( अन्तर का मूल्यांकन ) किया , और तय किया कि मामा यदि उनके ४० वे वर्ष तक पहुँचते पहुँचते इस मुकाम तक पहुंचे तो मैं अपने क्षेत्र में , रिटायर होने तक जरुर पहुंचूंगा । और वह हासिल भी किया , इसका मुझे गर्व भी है । पर , अब नई पीढी को एक और आदर्श पुरूष खोजना नही पड़ेगा । नितिन गाडगीळ युवा पीढी के नए आदर्श पुरूष बन गए हैं , उसने हमारे परिवार में एक नए आयाम को पाया है , और वह भी बिना किसी सिफारिश या पहुँच के । वह आज एक एम् एन सी कंपनी का मुख्य प्रभंध संचालक ( एम् डी ) है । उसने यह साबित कर दिखाया कि यदि जिद्द हो, सच्चाई हो , लगन हो तो कुछ भी हासिल किया जा सकता है । उसने अम्रीका के नए राष्ट्रपति - श्री ओबामा के शब्दों को सार्थक किया कि " यस् वुई केन " और यह भी सिद्ध किया कि , शारुख खान के विज्ञापन की तरह , संतुष्ठ मत रहो , थोड़ा और विश करो , डिश करो , याने अपना दायरा बढाओ । तो आकाश भी छू सकते हो । मुझे अपने परिवार के सभी युवाओं से एक उम्मीद है , उनमे से कोई , अगले दशक / दो दशकों में, ( हाँ भाई हाँ । । सही सुना, क्योंकि कीर्तिमान इतने आसानी से नही टूटते ॥ ) एक और नया आयाम छुएगा, और उनकी अगली पीढी को एक और नया आदर्श पुरूष देगा । सो , एक्स्सेप्ट द चैलेंज - जन नेक्स्ट । । नर्डी नंदू । ।

Letter to the Prime Minister

Today I have sent a letter to the Prime Minister through the local Daily - The Deccan Chronicle, on their e mail id : voices@deccanchronicle.com December 06, 2008, Hounarable Prime Minister Sir,

This day reminds us of the demolition of Babri Masjid. No one had ever thought that the demolition an old unused structure like this would generate so much of hatred. That day not a single Muslim lost his or her life, but the volcano of emotions and hatred the demolition generated, is unparallel in the history of mankind. Only the common man of both religions suffers. I feel the terrorists want an alibi to destabilize the region. We will hardly gain any thing by blaming Pakistan. Even they are suffering. We need to fight the menace jointly and exert pressure on Pakistan to dismantle the terror camps of all such groups. However, we can not sit and watch such attacks hitting us time and again. We also need to put our house in order. Your government had taken some actions, like removing some ministers, announcing creation of a Federal Investigating Agency, creating NSG / ATS centers in the metros, making stricter laws to handle terror, revamping the police forces and strengthening the coastal guards etc, to send a positive message amongst the people, but that is not enough. I recommend systemic changes to address this issue, as under : 1. The security cover should only be given to the PM and the President and few important leaders, who really have a threat perception. 2. The media should be banned from making live coverage of such incidences and encounters. A common agency should give information to all the channels and news agencies. This is to avoid confusion, chaos and also to avoid the information passing on to the terrorists. 3. The salaries of all armed forces, police , NSGs etc should be the best in the country. They should have extensive insurance coverage, very attractive pension schemes, housing etc. This will help in attracting the best in the country. Their family persons should be given a fixed amount per month , almost equivalent to their last drawn salary, as pension in case the person lays down his / her life while serving the country for such a cause. 4. Make the military training compulsory, for two years , for all countrymen above the age of 16, be he in the college or not. 5. Engage the best from amongst the retired army / police / paramilitary forces to draft a policy a law and a system. Engaging Ex FBI / Scotland personnel should also be considered. 6. Implement the announced changes at the earliest.

मेरे डायरी के पन्नो से - एक आव्हाहन

दस लोग , नही , दस मानसिक रोगी, या यूँ कहें दस आतंकवादी १०० करोड़ लोगों के दिलों को छलनी करते हैं। हश्र तो यह है की करीब २०० लोगों को अपने प्राणों की आहुति देनी पड़ती है , हमें समझाने के लिए ॥ कहते हैं - घटनाएँ बदलाव लाती हैं , मृत्यु भी हमें दुसरे तरीके से सोचने पर मजबूर करती है , पर क्या " बदलाव " और " सोच " स्थायी है ?? शायद नही । । क्योंकि यादाश्त भी " क्षणिक " होती है , कोई नई घटना - चाहे दुखद या सुखद हो , स्मृति पटल के पन्नो में धीरे धीरे दबती जाती है , खो सी जाती है । और , फिर से हम वर्तमान में जीने लगते हैं। तभी तो कहते हैं - समय अपने आप जख्म भरता है । पर जरा सोचिये । । जो कुछ २६ / ११ को मुंबई में हुआ , उसने हमारी सोयी चेतना को जगा दिया , मिडिया ने हर पल , अविरत एक नई सनसनी खेज ख़बर से, हमें हिला कर रख दिया , और हमें सोचने पर मजबूर किया - और कितने दिन ?? अब बहुत हुआ । और कितने दिन हम बेखबर से, सहिष्णुता की आड़ में, कब तक हम हाथ पर हाथ रख बैठे रहेंगे ?? यही सोच कर इस आम आदमी ने पहली बार एक देशव्यापी आन्दोलन छेडा । वह भी बिना किसी नेता के या नेतृत्व के ॥ उसने एक बदलाव की आवाज़ उठाई । कई मंत्री बदले गए , पर क्या हमेशा के लिए ?? नही शायद । क्योंकि ये सब लोग कोंग्रेस घास के मानिंद हैं , उखाड़ फेंको तो भी हर मौसम में उग आते हैं । वे फिर सत्ता में आयेंगे या इर्द गिर्द रहेंगे । इसीलिए हमें इस आन्दोलन को थमने नही देना है, हमें अब सर्वव्यापी बदलाव की जरुरत है , राजनीती में , आतंरिक और बाह्य सुरक्षा में, समाज में फैले भ्रष्टाचार में, फ़ैली हर " सब ठीक है " की प्रवृत्ति में , अपनी " सोच " में , अपने " मूल्यों " में । और यह तभी होगा जब, आज का नौजवान जागरूक होगा , जैसे गत सप्ताह हुआ । जब समाज के हर तपके से नौजवान हर क्षेत्र में सक्रिय भाग लेगा । कब तक हमारी नई पीढी हमारी नाकामियों देखेगा ?? देश को बटते हुए, टूटते हुए देखता रहेगा ?? छोड़ो यारों , किसी का इंतज़ार , किसी नेता का , नेतृत्व का इंतज़ार । छोड़ो अपना और अपने परिवार तक सीमित संकुचित विचार, अरे जवानो, हमने तो यूँही इंतज़ार में आज़ादी के ६० वर्ष बरबाद किए , सोचते रहे " सब कुछ ठीक है "। पर अब आप को सोचना है , क्या आप को उसी मार्ग पर चलना है , या फिर एक नया इतिहास रचना है । आनंद गानू

From My Diary - Terror stricken Mumabi

Addendum on Nov 30 th . I sent a mail to ndtv after watching the Barakha Dutt Show.

I am just watching the TV show now " Enough Is Enough " . People are talking about the spirit of Mumabi, Passiveness in our approach etc etc. I have a question to Barakha and people like her, who are asking Where is Raj Thakrey ? And that is : Where were you all TV & Media People , when bomb blast took place through out the country in last two decades ?? Is it simply because the terror has struck the Icons of Mumbai and the elites of Mumbai & foreign conutries ?? Where were you all when the common man was hit time and again ?? Are you not ashamed of bashing the police and blaming them for communilazing the police actions ?? Any way !! let us stop at that. I have put my views and recommendations, in my blog http://nerdynadu.blogspot.com/ , for bringing about systamic changes to ensure that such things do not happen again. Then only we can proudly say We are safe now. But the big question is Will any of these recommendations from a common man be taken seriously and taken cogingence of. These are as under:

The old posting was :

Mumabi has been struck again by terror , and with much more devastating effect. The CST Station, CAMA Hospital, The Taj & Oberoi Hotels and The Nariman House were chosen to impart the maximum impact on life and the economy of the city. Mumbai the nerve centre of financial happenings in the country was crippled for almost 72 hours. Many ( around 200 as of now ) Innocent have lost their lives, many are injured.

What was their mistake or crime ??

Many policemen, NSG commandos and the Marcos ( Marine Commandos ), paramilitary forces and the fire brigadiers had to put their skills and lives on test to save the hostages and the property to the maximum extent possible. Few brave and bright people from the saviors had to give their lives.

What was their mistake or crime ??

None at all.

Is some one responsible and accountable ??

Yes. It is the politicians in power and out side power. They have been callous and indifferent to all such issues : terror, floods, riots, violence etc. We do not have a system to fight any of these calamities hitting us time and and again. Our emergency preparedness and policies are very shoddy and poorly thought out and on top of it highly neglected and un - implemented.

What can or should be done ??

1. All our politicians should take an oath " Yes !! We can and we will " 2. The government should take is to bring all these calamities in the purview of " CENTRE " and should not wait for the respective states to request for assistance. 3. The security cover should only be given to the PM and the President. Then it would make things a little simple to tackle. 4. Make all the paramilitary forces, ATS, NSGs, and MACROS etc completely autonomous and bring then under the ministry of defence. 5. Make two wings in defense : Internal Security and External Security. The Internal security should also have all the three wings - army, air force and navy. The heads of these wings should deploy personnel based on the requirements in each state, depending on the demographic situations, population, area , forests, sea coasts etc. Besides, there should be a central pool of these wings which could be used to augment the needs. 6. They should be given completely free hands to deal with a situation. A proper law should be in place to support them and take corrective actions in case of excesses and unjust acts. 7. They should be allowed to take terminal actions , if and when required. They should also be given a freedom to kill all the terrorists, who are caught alive , after all the interrogations are over . 8. Our intelligence system also should be centralized and the state and central intelligence agencies should be brought under a common body, again responsible to the Ministry of Defence. 9. The media should be banned from making live coverage of such incidences and encounters. A common agency should give information to all the channels and news agencies. this is to avoid confusion, chaos and also to avoid the information passing on to the terrorists. 10. The Internal security persons of all the three wings should be given the latest tools and weapons to deal with any situation. 11. Every security person, the ATS & Police personnel should necessarily wear personnel protective gears in all emergencies. 12. The salaries of all armed forces, police , NSGs etc should be the best in the country. They should have extensive insurance coverage, very attractive pension schemes, housing etc. This will help in attracting the best in the country. Their family persons should be given a fixed amount per month , almost equivalent to their last drawn salary, as pension in case the person lays down his / her life while serving the country for such a cause. 13. Make the military training compulsory, for two years , for all countrymen above the age of 16, be he in the college or not. 14. Above all !! engage the best from amongst the retired army / police / paramilitary forces to draft a policy a law and a system. 15. Hire people from abroad like ex FBI , Scotland Police , CBI etc , as consultants, to recommend a policy to fight terror. 16. Implement the policy at the earliest. If Dr. Amedkar could draft a well made Constitution 6 decades back , why can it not be done now ?? Basically , I feel we and our politicians are lacking the will to tackle this issue.

From My Diary - Talent Hunt

This is a message for the organisers of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa shows conducted for adults and L' ll champs, on the zee marathi channel. In the recent on going show for the l'll champs we saw some good singers getting edged out because of the poor SMS s in their kitty. This is really absurd and criminal injustice. I hope you are not trying to locate a popular singer but a singer who has a great voice and can probably fill up the vacuum when legends like Lata Didi, Asha Didi, Suresh Wadkar etc retire from their active singing career. Zee Marathi talent hunt shows should be different then others for sure. So my humble request is not to fall in to traps of commercialism. I have following suggestions to make : Initial screening and knock out rounds should be decided by the panel of judges only. The process of considering the SMS votes should start when the singers left are 36. The next reduction from 36 to 24 should be decided by judges and SMS in 6 steps. In each step the weightage of SMS should increase by 5 % , starting from 0 % at 36. The shortlisting of 24 best singers should be done by the judges and the SMS based voting in the ratio of 70 : 30 percent The next reduction from 24 to 12 should be done again in 6 steps, but only by judges. The next short listing of 12 singers should be done only by judges on the panel. These are 12 Ratnas. This group of 12 ratnas should have 6 male singers and 6 female singers. We surely need a male and a female singer every year for next decade or so to fill up the vacuum. At this stage you should call Legends in the field of SINGING : Lata, Asha , Hridyanath, Suresh Wadkar, Sonu Nigam, Shakar Mahadevan, Pandit Jasraj, Kisori Amonkar, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Abhijeet, Alka Yagnik, Khayam, Kalyanji etc etc. From this stage on every round should have a fixed format first a Hindi Song of singer's choice and then a Marathi song. Marathi Song in a should have only bhav geet, lavni, abhang, natya sangeet, rock or pop, bhajan etc etc in each round. This will ensure that all the singers are prepared for the National Stage which is primarily Hindi - Bollywood and also give an level playing ground because every one will be judged on their exposure and merit in each of the format. When all the forms of Marathi Singing are over, the numbers scored by each singer in all the rounds put together should be arrived at in two categories - marks given by teh regular panel of judges and the marks given by the legends. The weightage should be now 30 % for the regular judges and 70 % for the legends. Based on this pattern top 3 male and top 3 female singers should be short listed. Then there should 3 MEGA Final Rounds - To consider 2 best performances out of 3 for the final selection of a MAHA GAYAK and a MAHA GAYIKA. In these 3 mega final rounds only the marks given by the external judges should be counted. Does it sound complicated ?? If yes, there would be many like me to fix a great format, which would be path breaking and unique. Let others follow us. I think if you follow some pattern like this there would not be any regional bias, commercialism over taking merit etc etc. And we will get a REAL MAHA NAYAK and a MAHA NAYIKA. Thank you, Yours truly, A G Ganu An Avid Marathi Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Fan from Hyderabad Mobile - 9849029904

From My Diary - Regionalism

Today a new dimension , that of regionalism , is set to divide the country. Earlier only the cards of cast and community were being played by the politicians to mislead the common man and garner votes. Now the card of regionalism is making waves. Lalu, Paswan & Nitish kumar who could not see eye to eye have joined hands to fight the problems faced by the North Indians in Mumbai.

No doubt Raj and like minded people erred by raking up this issue and by taking up law in their hands. They could very well have brought a stay either on the way the railway exams were being given preferential treatment or by citing the prevalent rules for recruitment in Maharashtra. They could have done their home work by giving examples of percentage recruitment of people from UP and Bihar in Railways in last 8 / 10 years. Sadly no one is looking at the problem with a right perceptive. As stated in my earlier blog, the government should fix the percentage of people to be recruited from each state on the basis of the population. This bench mark could be reviewed every five years or so and revised if found necessary. Then this problem of Bhai - Bhatijawad or Regional Bias would not have aroused at all.

The more disturbing issue is the fact that this decease is spreading like cancer in all other walks of life too. Take for example sports first. The selectors and the federations in Cricket / Hockey / Badminton etc are biased in their selection. They want to push sports persons from their region. That should , in fact be done if at all , if all shortlisted sportsmen are equal in calibre.

Recruitment in jobs even in private sector gets biased. you would see this kind of a trend in professionally managed companies also like Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's , Tatas, Birlas etc.

More recently you see this disturbing trend playing a big role in almost all reality shows. Take for instance any dance or music show on any of the channels. Whenever the SMS based judgment starts , you see the merit getting sidelined and pushed out. Because the Region based SMS do play a bigger role.

I can not understand why some one , who has the conscious and the money , does not file a writ in the courts and brings a BAN on all this non - sense ??

This is certainly dividing us, our minds and our country, step by step.

Addendum: as on Nov 27 th

Now we hear a congressman saying that the potato in the shiv vada - paav ( Shiv Sena's ) is from UP / Bhihar where as their Kanda - Poha , again a marathi dish is purely with maharshtrian ingredients. What level these politicians can stoop to ??

From My Diary - Yes, we can chant

This one is a very good piece . must read for all . it is written by Balbir K. Punj , M P . Did anyone in India hear Isro’s ‘Yes, we can’ chant? The very fortnight when America elected the first African-American as its 44th President, India successfully put a moon probe into orbit and landed a working package on moon. And as President-elect Barack Obama was working on taking over from the incumbent President in Washington, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman, Dr Madhavan Nair, was displaying to the media pictures of the moon’s surface taken by the Indian package. The media was naturally going all gaga over Isro’s achievement. India is the fourth country in the world to have reached the moon and got back moon’s close-ups. Not just that, the India-designed and constructed launch vehicle that carried the moon package also carried several instrumentation from other countries. This is an international recognition of our space capabilities. We now not only have outer space capabilities but our rockets can also place heavier satellites into precise, pre-determined orbits beyond the earth’s gravity. When we recall that only five years ago we were struggling with our launch vehicles that could not lift off satellites weighing over a ton, Chandrayaan-I marks a quantum jump. Last week, the Obama chant "Yes, we can" was widely quoted in the media as an American affirmation of its people’s self-confidence. But I wonder why the Indian media failed to point out that the success of Chandrayaan-I was an even bigger assertion of India’s self-confidence. The achievement has to be seen in the context of almost four decades of technology denial by the developed world to us. This denial meant that Isro had to develop its own solution to every problem it faced. Even commonly-available components like space grade solar panels, liquid propellants etc were on the banned list for India. For instance, after America imposed strict technology denial regime on India, France withdrew from its earlier commitment to provide a key liquid propellant for the PSLV rocket that Isro was then developing. But Isro scientists didn’t get depressed. They developed their own propellant and came out with an even better and safer method of manufacturing that propellant, though it meant a certain delay in the test flights of PSLV. Now PSLV has become an Indian achievement so much so that various countries, including France, Germany and Italy are entrusting their satellites and instruments for pace journey to India. The slogan "Yes, we can" has reverberated through India’s atomic energy and space establishments for decades. The atomic energy establishment developed India’s own nuclear reactors that have proved to be safer than those in the West, engineered to perfection research reactors like Dhruva that became the envy of the West, innovated new processes of making heavy water and nuclear fuel and even demonstrated a wholly India designed and made second-generation fast breeder reactor. Many in the establishment who were justifiably proud of this string of achievements were sorry that the UPA government changed track and went for western assistance, surrendering our sovereignty in this sensitive area. Space research was another area of demonstration of Indian capabilities. But self-deprecation seems to be a disease with us Bharatiyas. It may be a hangover from the centuries of suppression under foreign invasions. But if this tendency has continued half-a-century after Independence, the blame should rest with the leadership we have had in these decades. The comments after America elected a black man as President reflects this lack of pride in one’s own country and its abilities — especially questions like when will we have an Obama-like leader that are being posed in the media repeatedly. American democracy may be over 200 years old, but much of its shine is of recent origin. Great minds like Jefferson who drafted the Declaration of Independence document, however, ignored the hordes of slaves and them being given the same rights as the whites. It took another 100 years to free them from bondage and almost another 100 years to give them real voting rights. In our country, the Independence movement brought a declaration of equality before law for all, including women and the so-called scheduled castes. Voting rights to women was a 20th century development in western Europe. When the leaders of India’s Independence movement started drafting the Constitution they elected the brilliant B.R. Ambedkar to chair the drafting committee despite his caste background — thereby declaring the end of discrimination based on caste. Despite the ringing declaration of human rights in the Jefferson Document, Protestant America continued to exclude people from minority white groups like Catholics from its highest office. It was only in 1960 that a Catholic John F. Kennedy dared to contest and win the highest office of the land. America is secular but even today it would not dare to elect a non-Christian to any high office. Contrast this with what our own democracy has achieved within the first 60 years of its inception: Women as chief ministers, and even Prime Minister. Muslim as President, thrice, and chief ministers in several Hindu-majority states, a Sikh as Prime Minister — the demonstration of empowerment of people belonging to minority groups, women and scheduled castes and tribes, all within such a short time after a liberal Constitution was adopted reflect not only a legal loyalty to its guiding principles but also the Hindu mindset that accepts these basic principles as sacred. This larger acceptance, of course, does not necessarily mean the end of discrimination or caste and gender oppression. But just think of any Islamic country electing a non-Muslim to the highest office! Areas of darkness notwithstanding, India’s overall record is one of principles of liberalism in action. To ignore such a shining record of political achievement would only increase gloom and is basically wrong. Amidst so much self-deprecation after the Obama effect, one TV advertisement is worth mentioning. It reminds us that we as a people were the first to teach the world how to count (Aryabhatta), first to come out with a textbook on surgery (Susruta), first to demonstrate wireless communication (Jagdish Bose) and the first to develop non-violence as a political weapon (Mahatma Gandhi). This ad is a warm and commendable affirmation of our national ethos and justifiable pride as an ancient nation reborn in a young democracy. Millions of hard-working Indians are busy building a new India, declaring at the top of their voice India’s new found confidence that "Yes, we will". And much before Mr Obama and American said that.

मेरा भी टी वी पर इंटरव्यू - एक ख्वाब

टी वी पर अरुनव - सौरव गांगुली का इंटरव्यू देखते देखते सो गया। फिर ख्वाब देखा । अरुनव गोस्वामी ने मेरा इंटरव्यू लिया । कुछ इस तरह रहा : प्र : तीन दशकों से ज्यादा काम करने के बाद कुछ थकान ?? ऊ : बिल्कुल भी नही । प्र : कैसा रहा आप का सफर ?? ऊ : काफ़ी उतार चढाव देखे । प्र : कुछ ख़ास अनुभव ?? ऊ : नौकरी में आप नौकर ही रहते हैं , वही रहिये , मालिकों की तरह मत सोचिये । प्र : पर कहा जाता है की यदि आप मालिकों की तरह सोचेंगे , काम करेंगे तो ही शत प्रतिशत या ज्यादा योगदान कर पाएंगे । आप को क्या लगता है ?? ऊ : आप को वही और उतना ही करना चाहिए , जिसकी आप को तनख्वाह मिलती है । प्र : ऐसा नकारात्मक रवैया ?? ऊ : ज्यादा करके कोई तमगे भी तो नही मिले मुझे ?? प्र : कोई कटु अनुभव ?? ऊ : बहुत । हर नौकरी के बाद यही लगा कि मुझे इस्तमाल किया गया । प्र : कोई सीख ?? ऊ : हाँ । जिंदगी भर बेवकूफी की , अब तो सुधरो , गानू । प्र : सब से सुनहरे क्षण ?? ऊ : रेनबेक्सी और बी ई का सफर । प्र : कुछ विस्तार से बताएँगे ?? ऊ : रेनबेक्सी ने मुझे एक पहचान दी और बी ई ने उसे मजबूती दी । प्र : छोड़ते वक्त कैसा लगता है ?? ऊ : बहुत शांत । प्र : आगे क्या ?? ऊ : मंजिले औ र्भी हैं । प्र : मसलन ?? ऊ : परिवार के लिए क्वालिटी टाइम , वाचन, भारत दर्शन, चित्र कला , लेखन और जीविका के लिए थोड़ा सा काम और शिक्षण । प्र : लेखन ?? ऊ : प्रोजक्ट मैनेजमेंट पर लिखना है । प्र : शिक्षण ?? ऊ : हाँ । बहुत शौक है पढाने का । अपने अनुभव बाटने हैं । प्र: रवि के हाथों में बागडोर देख कैसा लगा । ऊ : बी ई प्रोजेक्ट्स का भविष्य सुरक्षित है । अरुनव ने अपना इंटरव्यू इधर ही खत्म किया । और एक आखिरी सवाल किया । प्र : इस तस्वीर में आप को आप के साथी कंधे पर उठाकर ले जा रहे हैं । ऊ : अरे क्यों मजाक कर रहे हो भाई। वह तो गांगुली है । देखो । यह कह कर मैंने अरुनव का मुह टी वी की तरफ फेरने की कोशिश की । इसी समय मेरी पलक खुली । पता लगा ये तो एक ख्वाब था।

PAWAN KHIND, Karde & Keshavraj Temple – Travelogue

PAWAN KHIND, Karde & Keshavraj Temple – Travelogue This time we invited Nandana's newly formed family members ( her husband - Naveen and her in - laws - Mrs. & Mr. Narayanan Iyer ) to Pune. It was Nandana's first Diwalsan. We all started from Hyderabad on October 24th and reached Pune in the morning on Oct 25th. Next day, we all went to Kalyan to Meena's ( my Wife's ) Maaher, as her aging mother and maushi wanted to meet the family and bless the newly weds on the occasion of Diwali. We returned back to Pune on the same day. We then celebrated Diwali at Pune. We started our Konkan Yatra on October 28th. We spent our next two days at Amba Ghat, at Pawan Khind Resort owned by Mr. Prakash Shirgaonkar. He is an IIT Grad, and his wife ( Mrs. Madhuri ) is an architect. I must say that they are doing a fabulous job. Their meticulous planning and organizing capabilities is simply awesome. We reached there at about 1 in the afternoon. So their well trained people asked us to freshen up and join others for a sumptuous hot lunch. We obeyed them because it suited us too. In the meanwhile their people shifted our luggage in the rooms. We had an afternoon siesta for an hour or so. They gave us a guide to take us to a nearby stop dam. We all had great fun. We jumped in the water body with our pants, as we had not planned swimming. Baban ( my elder brother ) who is known for his heroics, jumped in with his mobile in the pocket. Poor thing ( the mobile ) drowned, so to say. Luckily it could be brought back to life by heating up in the sun in the next couple of days. They organize evening get together in their amphitheatre from 7.30 PM onwards, till the dinner time. It was really nice to see un known people mingling and making newer friendships. A girl performed a dance to the tune ( radha hi bawari hari chi ). Anupama ( my younger daughter sang a Hindi and a Marathi song. There were skits too, poem recital and what not. In the end they put on the item numbers and almost all joined the dance party. In fact that break way from the inhibitions helped us come closer and also increased our appetite. Next day we had a guided tour of Pawan Khind, in their modified jeeps, which had roof tops built on top. The Gen - Next with few of us from the Gen – Previous grabbed the vintage seats on the top. This was a unique safari type of an experience. The experience at Pawan Khind was overwhelming, just to visualize how Bajiprabhu Deshpande could have fought the enemy ( 1000 or so horse ridden soldiers ) with only 300 Maratha soldiers and ensured that Shivaji reached the Viajaygadh fort safely. We were all gasping for breath to walk down and come up and there these people fought battle with arms and ammunitions and ensured that the king was allowed safe passage to Viajaygadh. Geographically the fort must be about 5 / 6 kms crow flying distance away from this place, and that too in the mountain ghats, with no roads, in the month of June - July when we have heavy rains in the region even now. So imagine those days, around 300 odd years ago. I salute them all and say “ Hats off ” to the valor of Shivaji and his men. Not for nothing Shivaji and all his committed soldiers are worshiped even today. We all had a bath under the water fall at Pawan Khind. We stopped on the way back in thick forest for a jungle lunch with barbeque starters. There too we could see the stamp of their organizing capabilities. There were tarpaulin sheets spread in plain areas for each group. All the arrangements were made. Placards with leader surnames in each family / group were displayed to avoid confusion and chaos. We started with barbequed potatoes, capsicum, corn , onions etc as starters, and ended up with a sumptuous lunch with sweets and taak ( butter milk ). It goes with out saying that a siesta followed. Our resort was about 6 kms from there. Few of the daredevils and calorie conscious people from all the generations and groups , who had probably a little too heavy lunch and wanted to burn a few calories, decided to walk down. In fact they did not want to miss out on dinner too. Others got in and on the jeeps and returned. We again had a great evening at the open air theatre. Luckily we had a group ( Mr. Joshis’ ) who had shubhada ( saa re ga ma little champ fame ) and her brother. They both enthralled every one with their sweet melodies. Neela Tai ( Meena’s Eldest Sister ) and Anupama also gave brilliant performances. A sumptuous dinner was waiting for all of us. We all, who had burnt our calories and who had not, just cut loose and had a feast. Marathit mantat na tase agdi tutun padlo. Next day, after break fast, we started on our next leg of the trip, to Karde. It took us about 4 hours to reach. We checked in the resort on the sea beach, freshened up and had lunch. We walked out of our rooms after a nap at about fivish, in the evening. The beach was calling us all. We had a good time in the sea. Samudraat Mansokt khel lo. Some of the women folk in the group were happy watching, giving instructions, cautioning and shouting and preventing us to go deeper inside the sea. Next day again we started on our last leg of the trip. On the way, We covered Kadya Varcha Ganapati, Ganus’ Kul Dev ( Narsimha Temple ) at Sangamshwar, lord Shiva’s & Kartikey’s temple on the sangam of river Varuna and Alaknanda at Sagameshwar, Kul Devi ( Durga Temple ) at Murud, and the famous Kehsav Raj Temple. We had lovely home made lunch at Mr. Vaidya’s place near Dapoli on the way. We started our return at about 4 in the evening and touched Pune at about 10 in the night. The road through the tamhani ghat was horrible ( to put it mildly ). Thus a nice short trip was over in no time. It was all together a different experience for the Iyers. He was full of praise for the Shirgaonkar hospitality, arrangements, food quality etc. He liked the Konkan area, its food, the kokum sarbat, the mango juice at Keshav Raj and almost every thing. Nandana’s father in law gave a finishing line by saying that he had not enjoyed so much in his 61 years of experience. That sums up all.

From My Diary - Rupee Falling

I read a peice written by Amey ( who is in USA ) in our yahoo grup link. I found it interesting as I read the responses from Milind, Viju, Aditya etc, and I could not resist the temptation to voice my views also. Here it goes :

I wrote to him :

I am not an economist or a chartered accountant like milind and Nitin to comment on this issue with authority, but I feel if you had en cashed your traveller's cheques even when the dollar was hovering at about Rs 45 a dollar, probably you would have not lost any thing. The inflation over the year or two would eat away your 6 % appreciation. However, I feel some times, just laying back and let the investment hatch proves beneficial too.

It happened in my case. After leaving Ranbaxy I got about Rs 7 L , some time in 90s, from PF, Bonus, Gratuity etc. Meena ( My wife ) wanted to put the money in FDs and such other stupid instruments ( my opinion those days ) . But, I told her very confidently, Leave this issue to me. I will double the money in less than an year. Those were the days when Harshad Mehta Scam bubble had not burst. She listened to me for once, and has now been repenting for last 25 years. I too lost my authority in the bargain, because now I have to listen to her on all the matters, like a true Pati ( Husband ). Any ways, the investment became dust paper value, when the bubble burst. I , rather she ( thankfully she did not listen to me ) allowed the investment to hatch. One year back the value on paper for the same investment was Rs 30 L , but again a notional value,as we did not en cash / exit in time. Today again, the notional value has dropped down to Rs 15 L. But, now I have decided to wait for the bull run, which may come again in a year or two. I am in no hurry, as I need it only after I retire, or for Anupama's marriage in a couple of years. So, I have decided to let it hatch , like you did, because I feel that appreciation in 2 years will certainly be more than the inflation hike.

It is a different issue that if I had invested the same amount in some instruments which double in 5 / 6 years ( NSCs and Kisan Vikas Patra - those days ) and kept on reinvesting the appreciated investment again and again , probably the picture would have been different. So, a lot depends on your judgement that time.

So, The Moral of the story is:

Allow some PROCRASTINATION in some important matters.

Please read my blog - http:// nerdynandu.blogspot.com , for some views on investments today. Now I have become a consultant on such matters after burning my fingers ( joke )

From My Diary - Sons Of The Soil

It was surprising to note that thousands of aspirants for the railway jobs came to Kalyan, Thane, Dadar & VT from Bihar to appear for the written examinations in Mumbai. This is certainly a stage managed show by Lalu & his goons. How come majority of Biharis are only applying for jobs in the Railways ? I read a piece written by some one called Suresh on India Times or Rediff Mail that around 90,000 Biharis applied for the jobs last year and around 60, 000 got the jobs. Surprisingly none of the 50,000 from Mumbai got the jobs last year. He also mentioned that there was no notification about these examinations in Karnataka and Chennai last year. So, if it is true then Certainly the finger of doubt points towards Lalu and his goons in the Railways. Then it is but natural for the sons of the soil from Mumabi to raise their voice. Their cause appears to be genuine, However, the means adopted to achieve their goals is not at all correct in democracy. I do not subscribe to such means and such goondagardi. No one is authorised to take the law in his / her hands. The concerned aggrieved people should have approached the HR ministry or the Courts and should have brought a stay, if they felt that that a scam was breeding.

Nobody can deny anyone from his rights to chosse his place of work and settlement. Problem arises when no one from the soil is found suitable in examination, or before or during the personal inrviews. That is why there is a growing discontent amongst the sons of the soil in the country. Some have brought it to the surface, like in Mumabi, Chennai. Some take care of such issues in highly subtle manner. But that the regionalism is growing is not the fact that can or should be ignored. The Central Goverment & HR ministry should not turn away from this burning issue. There is a disconnect somewhere in the fabric of the nation that the politicians have not only failed to address, but have now perhaps started to exploit for their selfish gains. Yesterday Mrs Raut , Municipality Commissioner, Mumbai mentioned that the Maharashtra Government has also passed a notification which clearly gives preferences to the sons of the soil. I think many in the public sector undertakings like Railways, are either not aware about such notifications or intentionally they play foul and circumvent such rules. In fact it is such people who should be taken to task by the bosses, or by the courts. I feel a common principle should be adopted for many such issues. I have a few suggestions to make as under: The total number of vacancies should be allocated to all the states in proportion of the the population, like we have the number of MPs from each state . Notifications for all such jobs should appear in all local papers of each city / state and also in all leading national news papers, like it happens for jobs in armed forces. Alternatively, there should be a portal website created by each of the state government, and all such job opportunities should be posted there. A selection committee should be there to scrutinize all the applications in all public sector undertakings, Like the Selection Board Committee for cricket has representation from members of all regions. In fact the Public Service Commission should be entrusted with all such recruitments, at state and the central level. I am not so sure if they do so. In unskilled category , 60 - 70 % should be picked up from the domiciles of the state, of course on merit. In case of any short fall the vacancies could be declared open for people from other states. This or some thing similar happens in school and college admissions. Then why not apply it across the board even in jobs also. In skilled category the percentage could be 40 - 50 %, with similar rules as above. In Staff & Executive / Officer Cadre it could be pegged at 50 %. They should be given jobs in the state of their domicile There could be a fine tuning of this and many such suggestions coming from all corners. May be a high level commission could be appointed to look in to all such anomalies and give a report to the Government. The Government then should create a policy which would be then applicable uniformly through out the country. The HR ministry should take it up seriously and come out with some concrete solution rather than harping only on reservations for minorities. Certainly I do not subscribe to Reservations. What I propose is a Quota based system to address to all such issues.

From My Diary - Slump in the Market

I am not an economist, but I understand some of the issues like this one, yes but to a certain extent. The Tusnami of Economy has hit the US and has had its cascading effects in Europe, India, China, Japan & every other Developed and Developing Economy. Almost all the share indices have crumbled and are caught in the web of Bearish trends. Indian Pundits were shouting from the roof tops that our economy is in good shape and health, and that we would not be affected. How could we be insulated from such effects, when on one side we claim that the globe is shrinking and that all the countries are now intertwined with each others' fabric of economics ? I am sure that this crippling effect will continue for one and a half to two years. Many would have suffered very badly due to this avalanche. Nothing can be done now to wipe out the losses of investments made during the last 2 years or so. Probably, people who invested when the market was high, hoping that it would go up further, were caught unaware, as they did not exit in time. But how do we overcome this situation and bridge the gaps of losses made till date ? In my opinion there are couple of investment strategies which one should adopt, as under: Don't put all the eggs in one basket. Spend / Invest to suit your pockets. Don't take the route of loans for investments. Investment is real estate is always a best bet, but it has lot of risks. In case you can protect your investment then invest your money in real estate in a growing tier two or three city. Tier one cities will give you very high appreciation but then you need to invest higher amounts. FDs for 1 year terms and renewed each year for another year or two are a good proposition. Put approximately 30 - 40 % of the available balance funds in FDs. This should be your short term investment plan. Similarly Continue with your SIPs, if you have any, or take a few SIPs from this allocation. Pick up Gold or Silver on every Decline. again put approximately 30 - 40 % of the available balance funds in the bullion market. Put your left out balance, about 30 % in shares. Pick up the blue chips which have strong fundamentals , Low Debt to Equity Ratio, Good PE Ratio, and which are being traded at or around their 52 week low rates. Again pick up one or two scrips from each sector like, infrastructure ( Power, Communication, Cement & Steel ) , Pharma, FMCG, Banks etc. Stay away from Service Sector, BPOs, Airays, Software etc for a year or two. You should have the patience to lock the money for a period of 4 - 6 years for real handsome gains. Please do not wait for the market to bottom out, as you will never be able to guess that, pick up the shares in bits and pieces on every decline, now onwards. This route is for them who are prepared to take higher risks. In case you have a big heart then you can put higher percentage of your balance in shares. History has always been on the sides on the dare devils. But choice is yours. You may also pick up Mutual Funds , SIPs which are good and whose NAVs are very low and attractive. that way you get higher number of units in the same amount. This route is for people who do not have the ability to take higher risks, and are scared of direct entry in the market. I am sure your money will be safe and secure and will certainly grow.