Emerging India: Where is it?

The last five minutes I have been thinking on what shall I talk about - My experiences at work, India's win over Pak in the first test, stupid UK Home Office regulations, and the list could be endless.

Suddenly, today's news at IBNLive replayed at the back of my mind. And I am left with so many questions unanswered.

We talk about secular India - where is the equality when people like Modi still bank on their fortunes by dividing the different religious sects of the society. You can still listen to the horror stories of Godhra and how this God-like figure of Modi has been able to over power all the wrongs that were done not so long ago.

We talk about security in India - what does security mean when women are harrassed publicly in full daylight and no one has the courage to revolt against it. I am talking about what happened in Assam when the tribals were in a procession to seek ST status. The event leaves me horrified and deep in shame to learn about the mental sickness some of the citizens are suffering from. Yet again, like so many times before, I donot expect the Govt. or the law to provide justice to the victim and the issue to die down in the FIRs of some unknown police station.

We talk about young India - what will happen to the youth if the future doctors have to take to streets and clean cars in order to protest against the ruling which requires them to spend an year extra in studies. Media calls it 'Gandhigiri' - the word probably coined for the firm time by Sanjay Dutt in 'Munnabhai' - but its so unfortunate to know about how decisions at the top level (in this case, our wise old politicians) are taken without really considering all facets of the issue from various persepctives.

We talk about mass welfare in India - the BIG question really is whether the GDP growth of 8-9% is having any significant impact on the lives of people living in rural India. The benefits haven't trickled down to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. The divide between rich and poor is widening as ever. It doesn't require deep thinking to realize that India really has two stark personalities today. One, of growing India, where you see an average young Indian - graduate from any engineering/arts/ commerce college - earning his living without any problems (courtesy, largely the dotcom/BPO boom). The second, and completely opposite, is that section of society which still finds it difficult to earn daily bread. What is still very unfortunate is the fact that the latter section outnumbers the former and represents the country true face.

There are so many reasons which hamper India's progress to becoming a truely democratic, secular, emerging India where people's rights are respected. And when I say people, I include people from all castes/religions/sections/states of the country. To my belief, the biggest roadblock is the very nature of the present government - The Coalition Politics. Despite having one of the finest economist the world has seen in recent times at the helm, the government has failed to deliver much of what it promised in the Common Minimum Programme. Dr. Singh has repeatedly been called a lame-duck over the past few months. I don't pity that old man but I salute his honesty, his work-ethic, his sense of responsibility that he has displayed over the last three and a half years at that position. I pity the Karat & Co who have done no good to the nation and are responsible for the havoc they have caused in Nandigram. Moreover, it doesnot take big brains to understand that for India to continue developing at a growth rate of 8-10% annually, the country needs energy to fuel this growth. And, nuclear energy is the only solution to the issue unless you want to prevent Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai and other big cities to go the Shanghai and Beijing way.

Whatever's written above are all random bits clubbed together. But there's one common thread amongst all these thoughts - India still has a long way to go before it emerges as a nation where its citizens are proud of what they have achieved. Still a long way to go!

Om Shanti Om - Cam Something Be Worse?

An utter waste of a Saturday evening! I am left thinking that there's something grossly wrong with the Indian media which has hyped the movie to such an extent.

The movie has the worst storyline amongst all the movies I have ever seen. There are so many loose ends and you keep wondering how the sequence of events keep unfolding one after the other without any connections. Did I hear somebody (Farah Khan?) say that it is a tribute to the 70s!!! It is like making a mockery of good old Indian cinema. Just how cheap people can become in order to market/sell something. I feel I will support Manoj Kumar in his criticism - just because everything about the movie is so bad that I want to criticise this supposedly 'Biggest Hollywood Movie of 2007' as much as I can. Can I PLEAD to everyone not to waste time and money to watch this utter crap of 3 hours. Please also spread this word to everyone else you meet - I genuinly believe that this will be a kind service to our brethren.

One thing which has stood out while I am sharing my anger is how easy it is to fool people by promoting something which is total crap. People like Rajiv Massand (IBN Live critic) should be fired for laying out an inappropriate and false review of this movie.

Sunil says its half baked - For me, the movie doens't even have the right ingredients at all. Amidst all this, I feel that Bhansali's Saanwariya has suffered unnecessarily because all the attention has been wrongly give to Om Shanti Om. I will sleep today pondering over my question - 'Can Something be Worse than Om Shanti Om?'

Pak: Emergency Rule

All the news channels flashed that emergency rule/martial rule was imposed in Pakistan yesterday. For a moment, I couldn't help thinking whats going on in our neighbourhood and what's likely to be the immediate impact of martial rule on the country's economy. But then, just then, a sense of security engulfed me. Afterall, everyone in India has this impression (largely media creation) that all terrorist activities in India are Pak state sponsored and to an extent, the emergency rule may just help curb some of these activities in my home country for some time. I wish good for Pak and its people.

On the same topic, the headline today is 'Imran Khan escapes arrest, flees home in Pak'. Khan has his own small political party but what took my attention was the fact that he studies in Oxford as well. He was here between 1972-1975. I just searched a blog that details about all his experience. No doubt, he was a great cricketer in his time, but to be studying in Oxford and then becoming a legend in sport is a double achievement. Here, you can read more about some of his experiences in Oxford.

http://www.oxfordstudent.com/tt1999wk5/news/the_interview:_anything_he_khan

Taking a step back, I realize that this is my first posting on the blog for almost two months. Its not that I have been busy; on the contrary, I have been relatively free during this time barring a week in-between when the Capstone (final one week assignment at the business school) was running. The course ended on 14th September with a MBA farewell reception hosted by the school. It was a gala evening (Black Tie Dinner - just that i didn't have a black tie!). People drank a lot and they had good reasons for it - They drank because they wanted to get drunk.

I spent the next three weeks at home with mom n dad. It was so good to have a lot of time back home and do things which I had missed for the last whole one year - like having paranthas n lassi in the breakfast, talking to dad about so many things, riding in our very own dhanno and just being in chandigarh gives me that feeling which is difficult to describe. But like all good things, my stay at Chandigarh came to an end - I felt I should have had more time a home.

Things have settled down quickly in London, though. I joined Oliver Wyman on 15th October. It has been a steady going till now. As my advisor suggested, I have been focusing on keeping the basics right - not really trying to do anything very smart - just going on with the flow. The first project is kindda OK... not really great but its giving me valuable time to settle down and learn some tricks before taking on increased roles. Weekend's been busy - managing the move and getting stuff in the new place. Below are some pics - enjoy!