Monsieur Rodin

The 18 year old Vikrant Khanvilkar , the youngest of the 7/11 mishap died succumbed to death today. He had suffered head injuries. Now the death toll has risen to 201. 201 innocent people lost their lives because some of the follies made by our freedom fighters 58 years ago and some which are still continuing in the face of Ayodhya and Gujrat. Meanwhile we are at the economy spot, there is a new boost to the health care industry in India. With the rising healthcare costs in the US a growing number is US employers are sending their ailing employees offshore for healthcare treatment. This actually is cutting down costs on the same. Way to go for the hospital-ity industry. :-) Guys! I have been searching for film " Omkara" 's lyrics all ovre the place. May be my serach-criteria's are not right. :(. Just help me out of you, I really need those lyrics.

Emotions play a vital role in anybody's life. Every minute we are experiencing a turmoil of emotions which churn us in. They say to find the ultimate truth, we should get rid of these emotions. But is it possible. I mean, yes it is possible, but is it do-able. Get rid of love, get rid of desire, get rid of ambition. Yes you have to get rid of certain emotions like hatred, jealousy, lust because what they create is only negative energy around you. But you know what, a hundred times more a crime has been committed in name of love than in the name of hate. There is a thin line between love and hate. And believe me you, its like walking a razor's edge. Introspect and you will get the answer. We tend to hate them the most whom we love the most. Why such things happen? How can one suddenly stop loving someone? Its just a pure emotion that just cant be vandalised. The biggest weakness of an human being is letting go. But what we tend to forget is that we all have to let go one day. Of...

I did mention in one of my last posts that I am currently reading Thomas Friedman's " The World is Flat." Well, today lets take a bird-eye's view on the first forces that have helped flatenning the world. Shall we ? 1) When the Berlin Wall went down and the Windows, up: - The Berlin wall went down in 1989 and than started a chain of events. The utter act of defiance from the people of Germany was not that of impulse. Freedom was what they wanted. But not only from the chains of discrimination, but of thought also. The downfall fall of Berlin wall took down the iron curtain with it. This opened the people's mind to imagine that a world in itself can become a single market place. Free trade started setting in. In admisdt of this, precisely a week later after wall's event, Microsoft shipped it's first operating system:Windows 3.0. This helped any tom-dick-harry harness the power of computers and gradually helped penetration of the computers in household...

Every writer at some time ceases to write. Not because he is at loss of thoughts, but he is at loss of words. Every emotion can't be scripted. Though the Vedas have tried a lot to script some out-of-the=body experiences, it requires a great deal of spirituality. That day I was reading Upanishads (concise version), and I was "literally" at loss of words. The way the ancient hrushis have enumerated the very sense of life is just amazing. Soham-Asmi; I am that fire, I am that soul. They tell you that the soul is eternal while the body is temporal. Moksh is achieved when we learn what we have come to learn on this earth. It just warms your heart. I remember reading Brian Weiss's " Many Lives. Many Masters." His book revovles around his psychiatric patient. He cubs here fear by regression therapy, where-in she recalls her past lives. The book tells us about 7 masters who possess the knowledge of the ultimate truth. The patient (sorry I dont remeber her name) act...

Lets write today of something I am professionally involved in. Recruitment. I love this field. Though this isnt orginally that I started my career with, but its seamlessly connected with Sales & Marketing ( Prima Facie of my career). Recruitment industry in India is on a boom. You people must have heard of the term " Demand-Supply gap" of talent pool in India. Lets discuss this for a while. Shall we? There is a law of economics that coins the demand-supply aspect as follows, " When the demand equals the supply its commodity, when the demand surpasses the supply its speciality and when the demand is less than the supply, its liablity." Our recruitment scene follows this law, but there is a slight modification over here. In India, talen is realtivelygreat. Giving the statistics, Indian universities are expected to produce 400,000 engineers, about 100,000 managers and about 2.5 million graduates. Wow! And given the current scene, just 4 sectors-IT/ITES, Telecom, ...

Media sometimes hypes things up unnecessarily. In the city of Kurukshetra (Haryana, India), a 5 year old kid called Prince turned 6 in a trench 60-feet deep. Am I kidding? Well apparently not. This Prince wandered of somewhere from his house and fell in the nearby dug well of 60 feet depth with the breadth of only 16 Inch. Futile measures were being carried out to release him. In the end the army was called. They planted another trench 10 feet apart, dug through it and released him. Kudos to the army and the kid who survived the fight for his life for about 50 hours. But now the media has created a super-hero out of him. They say they are going to sponsor his whole education. And believe it or not this news was running as " breaking-news" non-stop on 3 premier media channels of the country. Agreed, the attention was needed. But I think there was no need to cover it continously and keep other news on a back-burner. Whatever prayers you want to say, say it in your heart with pu...

Words are a trap. I seriously beleive in this. How many times you have experienced a diffuclty in expressing yourself to help someone understand what you are feeling? Most of the times , right? Yesterday, I was referring to two types of anythings in this world-Functional & Technical. Technical aspect of anything is realtively easy to understand. Just cross-reference anything that is accepted as a standard in that particular situation. Functional thing is relative. Everyone understands the same in their own context and then deems it right. More often than not, quality is often refferd to understanding exactly what the other person needs and doing it likewise. Some have this as an inherent gift, some dont. Hence some people are liked most and some are not. But how many peolple know the hidden aspect of it? In his sequel to "Kane and Abel", " The Prodigal Daughter", Jeffery Archer gives a classic example of this. Apparently it's discovered in the end that Flore...

Yesterday I heard a heart -warming news. A friend of my brother's lost her elder brother in a heart attack. He was barely 32 years old! Life sometimes compels us to sit back and analyse what is death. What is death?Do you know it? Well form me death is just the absence of real-life and not end of it. Time and time again we have been able to contact those para-natrual beings who have left the womb of earth long-ago-physically. Some people say they talk to souls. Possible, given the scenario that telepathy exists between persons with deep mental connection. Yesterday I saw in the program" Mano ya na Mano" the concept of Automatic Writing. They say that the writer in the state of trance writes what what the soul around him/her tells. This actually helps in solving some grave problems faced by the human beings. If you want to know more visit--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_writing . Speaking about the same, death has become a way to live in Lebanon. With the Isra...

Currently I am reading "The World is flat" by Thomas Friedman. I actually happened to see the documentary on the same on the discovery channel way before the book was published last year. He typically touches the aspect of the free market and how the technology has sort of " levelled the playground." He gives an analogy of how Columbus moved to west to find India and inadvertently landed discovering America. He then came to a conclusion that the world, really is round. Thomas says he moved east, to India, China, Japan et al and has come to a conclusion that World, invariably is flat. The idea was jump-sparked when he was having a discussion with Nandan Nilekani, the CEO of Infosys. I am through the first chapter where he says that the changes tooke place while "he was sleeping." Apparently we all were, until the book was published. In the 2nd chapter he enlists 10 forces that have helped flattening the world. Its going to be an interesting journey. The Tax...

Today I decicided to supersede all my e-mail signatures with the line "Life's simple, not easy." All the trials and tribulations we face in life have got one simple soultion, but more often than not, its not easy. Like today I heard a conversation between two people: 1st Person: "Hey, wake up, look at the sun outside, its looking brighter than ever before." 2nd Person: "Really? Let me just take a look." When he goes out and has a look. 2nd Person: "Yes, but why it is looking so beautiful today? I have seen it many times before. " 1st Person: "Is that so? Then if the sun has not changed, what has?" 2nd Person: "May be the way I am looking at is changed." 1st Person: "Exactly!. All we need to do is master the art of looking at things in a different manner." 2nd Person: "Its easier said than done, dude. When we are haggled by the mundane things, we are bound to think negatively. Things always dont work the way ...

Actually I forgot to give a review of the Weekend GP. Here it goes: The Venue- Magny Cours, France (About 160 Miles from Paris) Laps:- 70 Laps. Positions: 1) Micheal Shcumacher 2) Fernando Alonso 3) Phillpe Massa Review: It was an astounding speed surgence that helped Ferrari and Micheal to extend the lead over Fernando over the first few laps of the race. Though the strategy of Massa holding back Alonso on the intial laps also helped. It was potentially a 3 pit-stop for Michael. But the Renault changed its strategy from 3 pit-stop to 2 with Alonso's second pitstop counting 11.7 seconds. Though this didnt rule in the favor of Renault, it gave Michael that advantage that was needed. But still Michael needs to close 17 championship points before he catches Alonso as a potential world-champion. I reckon (like Steve Slater :-), the Ferrari should take a concerted effort to push back Alonso. The reason is even if Michael wins all the upcoming 7 races and Alonso gets 2nd in all, he will ...

In greek literarture, Hubris- is the sin of arrogantly overstepping natural boundries. Nice word! Now the opposite of Hubris is know as Nemesis - the counterbalance force that restored order and balance. Helen Mathur in her article "Word Smitten" gives an example of Nemesis as: "Mahatma Gandhi was a nemesis to British imperialism in India." True. But what about India? Was it a nemesis or hubris? Taking the current scene in to stride, the things are profusely overstepping natural boundries. Islamic terrorism is at the acme. In spite of this, our honorable PM is saying that he is not going to revive the POTA. Then what is the solution to save innocent lives? Well he says, the intelligence agency should gear-up and prevent the calamities from happening. How can we expect a IB officer on a shoe-string budget to prevent from something of a bigger magnintude from happening? Today the Mumbai police doesnt have funds to buy the uniforms. There are 2 ways of looking at it. ...

Didnt come to office yesterday. Dont want to tell why, cos I dont want to lie. But the reason was genunine. Sometimes I think why people lie? They say truth is stranger than fiction. Very true. Every person on this earth has a lie to tell, and a truth to hide. Most of these people cant handle the very fact that its truism that prevails. What is moksh? Its going towards the ultimate truth. What is the ultimate truth? Its listeneing to your heart. I feel you are ugly. I tell her that she is ugly. But will I? No, becasue I dont want to hurt her. Or Do I? It might be that I am not capable of handling the reaction of a that person. Look closely in your hearts, how many times we lie to ourselves. Sometimes unknowingly, cos we more often than not, dont know ourselves.

I stepped home yesterday and bang! the news of the serial bomb blasts in local trains hit Mumbai. Would the people travelling in those first class compartements have anticipated that they might face a violent death? No. What was their fault? Is this the price they have pay for being born in a communal ridden country? No matter whatever you do, death finds you in the way as it is written to find you-Maktub! But the way Mumbaikers have reacted to the same, hats-off. These are the real heroes. Not Krish and Superman. Unlike them ,they are un-glamorous. Their bodies stink of sweat ant guts of other people who have just died, while taking them out of the debris. Who is going to write about them? No one. One day they will aslo fade aways like unsung hero does. But I, on my behalf will take this opportunity to salute those people, who time and time again always put Mumbai back on tracks after the any calamity hits the city. Then may be its the 1993 Bomb Blasts or the Communal Riots or 26/7 Ra...

Life at times is very funny. You tend to think that everything is normal. I mean what possibly be wrong with a healthy indivdual, with a good income and aspirations? But normality is relative. What seems normal to me, may not be to you. I have reached to one conclusion: The root casue of all our misries is our inability to let-go ossomething/somebody. Thousand times more a crime has been committed in the name of love than hate. See the assaults, the rapes, the extra marital affairs, what can we conclude from this? That day I read an amazing quote. It goes " An optimist thinks we live in the best of two worlds, A pessimist believes its true." But life in totality is beautiful. Look at the water-droplets in the slashing rains on your helmet, think the last time you drank cofffe by the balcony when with pitch cold outside, remember that warm hug a loved one gave your when you needed only that. Why human beings behave in a certain way, no one will ever know. But one thing is for ...

Hey! Italy won the World-Cup finals. While I was seeing the match, I realised that's its not the talent or the aggression, but the temprament and the focus that matters. "Winners do what losers dont: focus." Every hero has a silver lining, but can be dark as a monsoon cloud. Zinedine Zidane aka Zizou was not an exception. That brutal header by him in Materise's chest not only got him a red card, but also cost France their match. As the game went into the penalty shoot-outs after the levelling of 1-1; France didnt have strikers who could score! Ribery, Henry were replaced, Vierra was potentially retired hurt. Italy deserved the win, but france didnt deserve to loose. Disclipine of thoughts is the most important discipline in this world. What do we get by riots? Burned buses, feary streets and violent, frenzied mobs killing human beings like animals. If the social sentiment his hurt, will it be pacified by burning tyres and ransacking shops? What harm has the mall owner...

Today I just realised , What I am? I am a "mouse potatao". You didnt understand? Well then just "google" it. Ok, now I will stop talking in riddles. Apparenlty, Merriam-Webster's have come up with a new set of words that have made to the international dictionary this time around. Subsequently, Mouse Potato is a person who excessively spends his time on the computer. Well not literally "on the computer", but accessing the same. Apparently, Google has turned into a verb. It means-find the information you need by searching the same in the google search engine. That's simply cool. Hope I will not be bangalored for this. :-) Today I read a t-shirt quote: " Marraige needs committment, so does insanity." That's hillarious and true to the very root.

The steel industry is fortyfying themselves from the spree of hostile/congenial take-overs that are happeneing. Even sabbotaging the moves for a possible Merger and Accquisition. The Arcleor take-over has kickstarted this and Tata Steel is looking at increasing it's current share in the company. Mittal lands in Orissa today to check the possibilities. I guess now everyone including, Nippon, Servestal et al should sit back and think. Instead of fortyfying themselves and going in shell, they might join hands with the fraternity. If you look at Mittal, he is strong in Southern America and far-west part of Europe. Arcelor in the same manner, has stong foothold in Europe. The geographical overlap being minimum, comptetion may not be that cut-throat. The consolidation will result in something more beneficial. Kudos to HCL for inking the biggest out-sourcing deal to date with some insurance company ( i dont remember the name!). The deal is pegged at approx $700 Million. Huge money! I fini...

There are somethings in life that I will never understand. Why there is a traffic jam? Why we cant say what we want to say? Why on Orkut do people add friends and never post a scrap for them? Why cant we reply to e-mail or chats then and there it self? Do you understand it? Please do let me know. As I write this, I remember seeing one of my favorite movies "Crash". It beautifully depicts the situations in which no individual is good or bad. There are the circumstances that make him behave the way he behaves. So now can you blame your ex for ditching you when all you wanted to do was "ghane ghane laton mein zindagi bitana?" By the way, Veronika is still exploring her last 24 hrs of her life. I dont know why, but that book uptil now has taught me some ground relalities about life and helped answer some of the questions that always baffled me. Though not the above one's, I always used to think what is madness? Its the way people perceive it. But as Paulo puts it ...

Its deja-Vu of 26/7/2005 in Mumbai. The rivers are clogged and so are the drainages. Though the goverment is a little organised and prepared this time around, still the fear rests. Holidays are also raining as people are adviced to stay in doors.Though the banks are open and so are the ATM's (phew!). They are claiming to have about 85 water pumps as opposed to 25 last year. Seriously in these day's I think I am fortunate enough to live where the life rarely gets "interesting". Today, or rather early tomorrow IST. France takes on Portugal head-on for the place in the semi-finals of the world-cup. The Italy-Germany match was awesome. Though I watched it till half-time only, heard the Del-Piero's goal in the last 1 minute of the match. Just thinking on the same lines what goes in to make a hero? Heros are not momentary. They have the ability to push even when they hate what they are doing. I contend with the conventional line " Do what your heart says." We ...

The Private Equity and VC investements touched a whooping 3.4 bn $.That too in the first 2 quarters of the year. I think India is really on the global road-map. But the flip of side is, is it really? You look at the drainage systems in Mumbai, the infrastructure in Bangalore and Pune. Do you feel India is internationalizing? I dont, seriously. The petrol have touched sky-high. Manmohan singh says that route to prosperity is through the rural areas. But here the farmers are committing suicides! Now they want to come up with something called "Corporate Farming." I think these guys should just leave the jargons aside and start something at the ground level. Agriculture revolution is what is needed. Talking about revolution I came up with an interesting concept. I guess all revolutions are started by Parties. Parties as in gala affairs or get-togethers. Ironically, what is you think that is best might soon become what is worst. Then shall we term as anything that is best in our l...

Today the quota discussion took a new turn as the goverment is saying to exercise it as soon as possible. So the innuendo starts this year itslef. 54% increase in the total seats has been affirmed. I dont know what good is going to come-up. The average quality of the education is definately going to go down. Its started raining cats and dogs in Pune. In Mumbai they are fearing 26th July redux. I hope nothing of that sort happens...god forbid! Though one person has already lost his life after he got washed away at the Worli sea-face. As I write this remember an ancient chinese curse "May you live in interesting times." Do you think we are? An after thought on the theory of motivation. It says needs are the greatest factors in motivating an individual. I disagree. I think that the wants are the greatest factors. We dont live for the needs. Our needs can be counted on the finger-tips. After the stereotyped "Roti, Kapda, Makan" comes the need for socialising and self-a...