Bunch of Thoughts

As controversy raged over making Sanskrit available to kids over German, I was gifted a book written by the former Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission Dr Raja Ramanna. The book is called 'Sanskrit & Science'. Its a short booklet that very effectively makes its point. I have never studied Sanskrit but the book did inspire me to study the language.  Here is what I picked up from the book- Sanskrit has a scientific base unlike any other language driven largely by its grammatical organisation.  The grammatical organisation was formulated by Panini 2500 years ago in a set of 8 books of 4 chapters each. Sanskrit grammar is made up of 2 parts - roots and rules. Roots are embody certain general concepts - vowel, consonant, noun, pronoun etc. Rules define how words can be constructed by rules and create compound words form words. Those familiar with modern day 4th generation programming languages will find this very familiar. Phonetics as a ...

Truth be told , the visit of the Indian PM to US is not only over hyped but also mis-understood by many in the US administration ... There are multiple red-herrings here, lets address them one by one .. a) Strategic Indo-US partnership - Partnerships are built on shared values, common goals. Fact is that there is little in common between India and US. Neither do we have a shared history nor a common view of the future. A partnership based just on economic negotiations is hardly strategic. US views India as a 'market' and nothing more. India has all that she needs to build a strong future ( money, manpower, muscle), there is little value that US can add. b) Lame duck Presidency - What can anyone achieve by talking to a lame duck indecisive President. What change can you bring about in the world when you cannot even get a budget passed in your own back backyard for many years. Meeting with Obama will yield little. c) Nuclear Power Deal - Operationalization of the US - In...

We often wonder what is common between India & China ...  a) 2 of the oldest civilisations in the world b) Larget countries by population - 30% of the human race resides in India and China c) Influence of Buddhism on culture d) Shared border  e) Failed attempts to eliminate poverty with socialist policies - Nehru in India and Mao in China only ended up increasing poverty with their socialistic ideas.. f) Allegiance to USSR - Both Nehru and Mao were once smitten by whatever USSR did g) Distrust of the west ... The list can go on ... with such a shared history, one could imagine that India-China should be allies rather than adversaries as portrayed by the Indian media.... Having spent 3 years living in China, I often wondered as to what caused the trust deficit. Is the trust deficit real ?  3 years in China and after thousands of interactions , I learned the following.... a) Respect for India & Indians - In all my travels across mainl...

The first 100 days of NaMo's government has seen India take a fundamentally different approach to its foreign policy than in the last 60 years...changes which may go on to define the geo-politics of the world. For Jawaharlal Nehru, socialism to a large extent defined India's foreign policy. From India's alliance with USSR to leading the non-aligned movement, India bonded with countries which were proud of their socialist form of governance. Nehru blindly adopted a 'copy-paste' approach on governance which he learned from these socialistic alliances. These policies had little to do with what India needed.  Vaypayee's foreign policy was a mix of nationalism and pragmatism. He went ahead with the nuclear tests and later invoked the policy of 'no first use' to blunt any criticism from the west. Vaypayee and to a large extent Jaswant Singh very cunningly used America to ensure that the sanctions imposed on India had little impact on its economy. The ...

Decoding the leadership style of our Prime Minister seems to be the flavour of the week. One does not need to go far or analyse much to decode the leadership style of our PM, any one who has a brief experience with the RSS can easily codify his leadership mantra. Here is are few leadership traits what define NaMo a) Prepare, Plan/Execute - If we have been to any event of the RSS, you will not fail to notice the extra length to which the RSS cadre goes to create the right environment for any event. From parking to sitting arrangements. music to speeches. every tiny detail is well planned for. Post the event, swayamsevaks always ensure that the place is cleaned up. All RSS events start and end on time. This happens without any supervision. It should not be any surprise that NaMo insists on the same standards when it comes to governance - clean offices, timely attendance, meticulous planning followed by flawless execution. Zero defect and Zero effect are the hallmarks of any RSS ev...

I see my self as a liberal Hindu with friends crossing all boundaries of religion and caste. However, over the last few years I have come to notice that every time a Hindu festival comes around , a whole bunch of NGOs, media houses and even some political outfits try to make us feel guilty about celebrating our festivals .. Here are a few instances which I have observed .. 1) Makar Sankranti - Do not fly kites as it may harm birds and child labour is employed to make kites and the manja 2) Holi - Its criminal to waste water 3) Raksha Bandhan - You have to be a MCP to celebrate this. Why should women need protection from men ? 4) Ganesh Chathurthi - This festival causes major pollution to water bodies 5) Maha- Shivratri - Wastage of milk which can be fed to the poor 6) Navratri - So much noise pollution with all the dandya nights 7) Diwali - Why create so much pollution ? and the list can go on ...... I believe Hinduism is one of the most liberal religions of the world wh...

Couple of weeks ago, India witnessed an intense debate on the snooping of certain ministers in the central government. The debate led me to read the book 'No Place to Hide' by Glen Greenwald. The book is about Ed Snowden - the guy who blew the lid off the extensive snooping on the entire world. The most scary part was the mention that every communication by every Indian is being monitored... While the book is a fascinating read - I could not stop till I finished it , the most fascinating part of the book is when Ed Snowden reveals what drove him to take great risks which eventually cost him his freedom. Here are a few quotes from Ed's interview with Glen  "The true measurement of as person's worth isn't what they say they believe in, but what they do in the defence of those beliefs" "If you're not acting on your beliefs, then they probably aren't real" "It is we who infuse life with meaning, through ou...

"The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why" - Mark Twain. For the last many years, the journey for my professional and personal life is to make a transition. For my employers , from being a manager to a leader. For my family, the transition is from being a provider to a someone who is there to help others in their life journey. For society, from being a mere stakeholder/consumer to someone who can give back or contribute in a meaningful way. Leadership for me is not about a title or a pay check for you cannot be leader just in your professional life. A true leader is the one who can play a leadership role in all aspects - work, life and for the society at large. The quest for leadership begins with finding your true purpose or meaning in life. Your purpose is defined by your passions, your values and your strengths. A purpose defines who you are and what makes you distinctive, its like your personal brand. Once yo...

How many 3G/4G dongles does one need to buy to be assured of an internet connection in India ? Here is my 'catalog' ... 3 Dongles but No Internet It seems that Vodafone, Airtel and Tata Docomo all put together cannot assure decent connectivity in Bangalore ( the so called 'Silicon Valley' of India) My journey began with Vodafone 18 months ago. They setup a kiosk in my office offering a 3G dongle at a discount - Rs 800 only and an attractive plan which promise UMTS speeds. The Vodafone guy came over to my home for a demo. The demo showcased speeds of up to 4MBps. I signed up for a postpaid plan.. For the next few days I was always logged on to Vodafone's EDGE network. Many complaints later, I was told that Vodafone does not have a 3G license for Bangalore and that they have a tie up with Airtel so I need to manually log on to the Airtel network with a Vodafone 3G dongle ... For a few months I endured the pain of manually logging in to Airtel every ti...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So for this week, will use pics from my holiday in Coorg instead of just words. Just a few of my favourite pics Lets start with the location - Club Mahindra @ Virajpet which welcomes you with a gorgeous lobby with a panoramic view Lobby at Club Mahindra, Virajpet View from the lobby Next the room, very elegant, the lighting was just amazing - set the perfect holiday mood Bedroom of a 1BHK unit The pool ... the view from the poolside was so beautiful that you have to be crazy to dive in the pool and miss the view. Pool  The food , I am a Gujju after all , no place is good unless the food is good Buffet They had all my favourite dishes - Dhokla, Khandvi, Jalebi & Fafda Gujju's delight  For the long walks with my wife... some good flora and fauna Some decent art ... What did I miss ?  A Spa ( they tell me - its in the works) And finally ... ...

History has been very un-kind to one of the greatest leaders and administrators to have ever ruled - Shivaji. As a student who passed matriculation from the local state board in Maharashtra , we were taught on the life and the times of Shivaji, the Maratha empire and his legacy. But beyond the dates, events and many a tales and anecdotes that form a part of the history curriculum and local folklore - Shivaji left behind a unique model , a model that could unite a large population cutting across caste and religion to achieve a larger goal, a model that set a benchmark in governance, administration and reform. Here a few salient aspects of the Shivaji's model of governance  1) Organize - Shivaji started off with barely 2000 troops but ended up with an army of more than a lakh. From a local presence in Maharashtra, the Marathawada kingdom at its peak spanned 4% of the subcontinent. Shivaji's reached out to all sections of society irrespective of caste, religion and or...

Sunday mornings are typically a gift I give to myself for a long week of hard work. I spend the first half of every Sunday doing what I like best - attend a weekly RSS shakha called as a 'Milan',  breakfast at a local Udipi joint and a good book to begin the week with. As I was away for the last weekend to Bombay, I decided to break my routine when I was asked by my wife to drop our daughter to her chess class.  Sunday morning traffic is a breeze and after dropping my daughter, I went for a walk in the neighbourhood of her class.  After a good 4km walk , I returned back to find the front tyre of my car flat. Having an engineering degree and never shy of getting my hands dirty, I was confident that this was something I could fix with no help required. I pulled out the spare tyre and the associated tools and began work.  Step 1 was to jack up the car. After a few turns, the car was all jacked up and I somehow felt proud of myself.. Step 2 .. th...

After 3 long years, I came back to a city where I have lived for the most part of my life and a place I call 'Home'. Bombay has been a very integral part of my identity - I have always introduced myself as someone from Bombay although my family roots have been in Gujarat. It always felt special being from a city that never sleeps, the so called 'resilience' of a Mumbaikar, the charm of Bollywood or dreams of making it rich. For a wannabe star or someone trying to make it big in cricket, Bollywood or even the mafia, Bombay is always the place to be. Bombay is one place where your pedigree, which school or college you went or whom you know just does not matter - you are all treated equally as just another Mumbaikar. Be it on a local train or celebrating Ganesh Chathurthi there is very little that separates one Mumbaikar from another. Bombay was always unique and will forever remain so, no matter which city in the world you go to, Bombay always has its charm. My...

Swami Vivekananda once said " Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success" For the last one year , the 'one idea' for many a 'Hindu Nationalist'  like me was to see NaMo at 7RCR. As the campaigning for the 2014 elections ends today, its just begin to dawn that the journey that we embarked on will come to an end in a week's time. Its been a long hard fight but then we nationalists are a bunch of fighters - from Maharana Pratap to Rani Ki Jhansi, no matter how bad the odds are against us, no matter how powerful the opponent is, we never give up , we always find the resolve to carry on As I met hundreds and thousands of NaMo volunteers, I saw in them the spirit of Mahara Pratap and Rani Laxmibai - from spending weekends in villages after a week of har...

As I spent my first day taking classes at the NLSIU, I realised how much teachers and teaching has changed since the last time I went to college. No longer are teachers monotonous, no monologues, nobody even waited for the time to pass, eagerly waiting for the bell to ring for the ordeal to end. Teachers at NLSIU made the sessions lively, interactive, full with stories and real world examples that made us understand patent law.  Gone are the blackboards with chalks or whiteboard with markers, what we got was some slick presentations that kept us engaged all through. As as time moved on , we reached the pneultimate lecture of the day. I stepped out for a quick samosa and chai at the college canteen and was late for the lecture on Patent Infringements. As I walked back, the class was well under way. Teaching us was Mr Kannan from Banana IP , a local firm offering patent services. Mr Kannan was off to a great start, he got all the 40 odd students very engaged. He had ...

After more than a decade, I went back to being a student. Having signed up for a Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights at the National Law School Bangalore, I went to attend my first class.  I had little idea what lay in store for me but was excited to be back in college. After a long ride to NLS listening to a biography of George Washington, I walked into the college premises and noticed their motto - धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः The motto means that Dharma protects those who protect Dharma. India's #1 law school could not have chosen a better motto. This motto for me is the essence of the teachings of Krishna as he urges Arjun to follow his dharma in the Bhagwad Gita. Krishna goes on to teach that it is the duty of everyone to protect dharma even if it means going to war against one's own who follow adharma. It brings to the fore a larger question - should dharma be followed in fighting adharmis ? Mahabharata shows that it is necessary to fight adharma using any a...

Only 50% of Mumbai and Bangalore showed up to vote. Crumbling infrastructure, increasing migration and lack of development should have agitated many an urban educated voter.  47 lakh votes were sent via SMS by Mumbaikars to select the winner of Big Boss Season 7 but only 44 lakh votes were cast to elect a national government. Why the apathy ?  But then my mind questions - In the history of the world, when has the middle class brought about a revolution ? When has the middle class challenged the status quo ?  The fact is that the middle class is the biggest beneficiary of the 'status-quo'. Middle class mindset is to make 'peace' with the status quo.  It all begins with our middle class up bringing - we are taught that we are the torch bearers of 'values' and hence need to work hard, be honest and struggle to rise within the system. Goal of a middle class life is to struggle and get established in the system. The system provides security and stabil...