Testing Times....

Sometimes, just when you think things are really moving into the right direction, everything is falling in place etc. At the same time, in the background the process of everything going awfully awry has already started.

When you are at your peak comfort feeling with your life and feel super confident that you are on top of everything, life strikes you with an abrupt jerk. It’s like waking up someone from deep slumber by throwing a bucket full of scalding hot water on the face.

With it, everything turns over its heels. You are grounded with a huge thud. Everything that seemed to be nice now looks vicious. People for whom you cared for, helped and mentored become your worse foes.

Such is the mysterious way of God's workings. During these troubled times, you have very few sympathizers, even rare supporters and absolutely no one who you can trust to stand along with you. It is a time when you feel the entire world is conspiring against you.

Loss of confidence, irritation at small things, continuous brooding over what just happened, lack of tolerance are just a few things that happen to you.

More importantly, something curdles deep within you. The values you had embraced all along your life are deeply shaken up. You lose faith completely and feel that nothing will ever be able to repair the damage done to your psyche.

It is often said that when all the doors are closed, God quietly opens another door to lead you onto the right path. Is the same happening? How to identify that particular door?

Is this the time to quit? Or these are tasting times where one is supposed to stay calm, keep faith and prove one's mettle? Is it God's device to teach you how to become strong and brave such storms? Are these just temporary obstacles so that you understand and appreciate the value of the road you have travelled so far? Is it to make you understand the importance of the road ahead? Is it to steer your mind to think in some other direction which may have been overlooked?

Whatever that is - I am trying to convince myself that it’s just a phase, everything happens for good and no one can change your destiny except the Almighty. I am trying to take this lesson so that I can emerge stronger at the end of this phase.

Hope I will succeed. It is easier said than done so please wish me luck.

Remembering Jagjit

The departure of Jagjit Singh has changed life forever.... I came up with few lines as remembrance to him... This is my first ever attempt at writing something which resembles as a poem. Please treat it with this consideration in mind...

Kis ke sahare ab jiyenge hum?
Kis ke sahare ab piyenge hum?

Sare ke sare utaar chadhaav
Saari khushiyan saare gham
Soacha hi nahin kabhi is tarah bhi tanaha honge hum

Khamosh hui aawaaj, band hui parwaaz
Choota aapka saath to soone hi pad gaye saaz

Kaise bataye ke dil ko aap pe kitna hai naaz
Ke utani hi jagah dil me khaali bhi hai aaj

Aap hi kahiye - Aab jiye to jiye kaise hum?
Ab piye to piye kaise hum?

DSK Developers Ad Jingle - IT Industry Parody

This is next in the parody series. The original is a very catchy jingle for DSK Developers on FM radio and TV.

Chhan Chhan Solutions Banwatat Manasa....
Bhannat Growth Initiatives Kartaat Manasa....
Sarsakat Saglyanna Khechun Training Detaat Manasa...
Diwaswapnaat Ramtaat Manasa....
Jeva Bhetataat ---- Ugach Consultancy Denaari Manasa!!!

Aayushyawar Bolu Kahi - IT Parody

This is an attempt to adopt a very beautiful and quite famous poem by Sandip Khare titled "Ayushyawar Bolu Kahi" (Let's talk something about life). I wrote the first three stanzas while the rest of it is contributed my colleagues - Shailesh Wagh, Sameer Katkar and Devendra Phadnis. The result of combined creativity of all four of us has come out nicely and expresses the usual mess that happens in any IT company and project. :) Some of it are real things for example our company is giving out Sleeveless Jackets this year as the Diwali gift. Enjoy! :)

Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi
Meeting hoti pan kunich uthale naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Kay bolayache an kay karayache kaamach kahi naahi
Me ekata monitor kade nustach tak lawun paaahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Officemadhe gift mhanuni jakeet dile tyalahi nase baahi
Jakeet ghalun aalo tar kuni Sachin mhanati kuni Maahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Office madhe kamacha nusatach dikhava hoi
Tarihi Billing cha meter ek sarakha suruch raahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Ya project madhye kay karave kahich sudharat naahi
Tarihi ek sarakhe ka status magati hech samajat naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Visa jahala tohi nusatach padun raahi
Ka paise waya ghalaviti umgat majasi naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Manager saarkha pipeline daavit raahi
Visa date sampun jaai pan project yet naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Changala project saarkha maalaach hulkaavani det rahi, an,
Maza visa juna zala tari shejaarchaach navin visa kaadhun Pardeshi jaai
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Recession gele arthavyawastha punha ubhari ghei
Monthendla tarihi vajaach sagali jama kahich nahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Hushar te waat wegali pakadun nighun gele
Thambata yethe telahi gele tupahi gele haati dhupatanehi naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Varshabharapurvi rangawati je swanpanche vishwa
Atta “Windows” chya baher pahaychihi chaati nahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Ctrl+C ani Ctrl+V cha moha sodun lihile navin kaahi
Widambanachi maja original la naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Ganjalelyaaa dokyaatun nighaale naaavinyaache phutaane .. !!!
Widamban nuste hasanech nahi tar aahe satya 16 aane .. !!!
Widambanaachi majaa original la naahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Widambanachi mahati mothi, jana kalel dusari baju
Bare wait janun ghenya nase dusara taraju
Widambanachi gammat nyari mhanun kavi lihit raahi
Chala dostaho aayushyavar bolu kahi

Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao!!!

A chopper carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajsekhara Reddy went missing while on its way to Chittoor from Hyderabad on Wednesday, September 2. Contact has not been established with the chopper since then. The area where the chopper was last seen is Nallamalla forest which is a very stronghold of Naxalites and also infested with Tigers (Real tigers not the Tamil Tigers) :)

The government has launched massive search and rescue operations. With every minute passing without any news of the chopper or its passengers, the rescue party is inflating with more sophisticated machinery being added. Till now it comprises of,

• 8 or more IAF, Army, Civilian choppers.
• Sukhoi 30 fighter jets with night vision capability (read thermal signature sensing).
• ISRO unmanned aerial vehicle which is low flying remote sensing plane to scan the area.
• 5000 CRPF and Army personnel for ground search.
• Elite GrayHound anti-naxalite commandos of AP Police.
• Choppers and other help from Indian Navy as needed.
• Image sensing from Indian Satellites Cartosat-I and II.
• AP govt had also sought help from US satellite real time imagery to scan the terrain but thankfully the central govt ruled it out.
• A local tribe called "Chenchu" which knows the forest is also approached for help.

Have you ever visited a local police station across any town or city in India and happen to see how the police react to a complaint of Missing Person? I doubt they even send ONE wireless message to alert other police stations. In fact they would ask you to register the complaint in some other police station siting jurisdiction limits issues.

If the government can mobilize such huge force and machinery to trace one Chief Minister at such a short notice, cant it deploy the same machinery to weed out and Naxalite stronghold from this very jungle and area? The state and central government, Army, Air Force and Navy all appear to be coordinating very efficiently and smoothly since yesterday morning. Can they not show same coordination, team spirit, promptness while dealing with Anti-Terrorist or Anti-Naxalite operations? Instead, we see an ugly blame after every terror attack with every agency washing its hands off saying that either they did not have "Inputs" or if they had then they "passed it on" arguing that its someone else's job to act on them.

Such a huge search operation is never carried out when a police party goes missing in pursuit of Naxalites. Who cares, they are just constables and Sub Inspectors. They are not VVIP, are they? The gruesome killings of Police personnel by naxalites in makes headline for a day and then disappears as suddenly as the Royal Chopper of the CM.

Now, I DO NOT mean that the government should not have launched these search missions, but then it should ensure that at least 1% of efforts be made to search for normal (Non-VVIP) missing persons rather than according rude treatment and shooing away the complainants?

It can also show same alacrity, coordinated and high profile effort to stamp out the naxalites and other terror outfit operations from this country. The anti-naxal action has been severly crippled for decades due to non-cooperation between police forces and govts of different affected states. The Central Home Ministry had categorically declined to press the Army into anti-naxal operations though the Home Ministers since last 10 years have acknowledged naxalism as the biggest internal security threat for the country.

Afterall, the core ideaology of naxalism is based on the principle that a select few in the society get all the wealth, status and previliges whilethe poor-n-needy majority does not get anything, isnt it?

Obituary

Noted Marathi stage actor Prof. Dr. Lakshman Deshpande passed away on the 24th of February 2009. He was 66 years old and is survived by his wife and two sons.
With his death, Marathi stage has suffered a huge loss. He was famous for his one act play "Varhad Nighalay London la" (Marriage Procession goes to London). The play is all about a marriage party from a village in Marathwada going to London to solemnize the marriage and the resultant comic situation. Dr. Deshpande used just 3 simple lights, couple of mikes while he enthralled the audience portraying 52 different characters of the marriage party. The show ran for more than 2900 times. His rendering of 52 characters and the success of the show earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records beating an American theatre artiste. The one act play was staged at USA, UK, Canada, UAE and Australia. The Hindi adaptation of this one act play had also become quite popular. Apart from this, he has directed more than 50 plays, presented “Natasamrat” in two-character format which also celebrated its silver jubilee. He also staged other plays such as “Bandhamukta”, “Ghar Tighanche Hawe” and “Buwa Tithe Baya”.
He was honored as the President of Marathi Natya Sammelan, Recipient of Vishnudas Bhave award among various other awards.
He was the head of dramatics department at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad. He was instrumental in cultivating talent of stage actors in Marathwada as he chose to stay back in Aurangabad against moving to Mumbai for more success. He demonstrated that if someone is good, they can earn success even staying away from Mumbai with his own example.
Personally for me – he was colleague of my parents, a family friend and teacher of my mother-in-law. His sudden demise has left us shocked and aggrieved.
May God rest his soul in peace and give strength to the family. Dr. Deshpande, we would really miss you.

Should Government Bail Out Satyam?

Update: At the time of posting this blog, CNN-IBN broke the news that Govt of India is about to bail out Satyam Computers with Rs. 2000 Crores in three installments. Rs. 500 crores will be given to them each month for taking care of salaries and Rs. 400 crores as working capital injection. Govt is shying away to call it as a bail out, but in whatever terms they name it - - It remains a bail out.

Satyam Computer Services and other companies floated by B Ramalinga Raju family are in the news since December 2008; when the Satyam board 'unanimously' consented to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra at overstated valuations. What happened next is well documented by the Media.
The Net result is that the country's biggest corporate fraud; dubbed as India's own Enron; is threatening the credibility of Indian software outsourcing companies in particular and the Indian industry in general. The Government of India, SEBI and other regulatory and law enforcement bodies have swung into action to make sure that the beleaguered IT giant does not go under. There is too much at stake - the jobs of 53000 Satyam employees and their families, the ripple effect on other Indian IT companies that may result in more job losses, the fate of various infrastructure projects awarded to Maytas companies etc.
As a knee jerk reaction, the Commerce Minister Mr. Kamal Nath issued a statement that a government bail-out for Satyam is also being considered. But is it really prudent for the Govt of India to offer financial help to Satyam out of tax payer money?
I am totally against this idea of bailing out any organization which is going under due to acts of its own management or any other circumstances. One, it is against the principle of free trade. Second, it sets a very wrong and dangerous precedent of diverting government exchequer to sort out the mess created by few individuals with their acts of mismanagement and frauds. In plain terms, it sends out a clear signal to fraudsters that they can siphon off huge sums with a guarantee that Government will pay for them. The government cannot simply insure, indemnify and thereby encourage frauds and lack of corporate governance in organizations. This approach is totally illogical and unjustified be it in whichever part of the world.
Huge uproar was witnessed in the United States recently when the US Govt was mulling a huge bailout to the Banking and automobile sector. There was a deadlock in congress and senate and the original bail outs were actually rejected. Public dissent was also strong on the streets with a loud and clear message to the Bush Administration - Do not waste our money to help these behemoths who have gone broke due to their own greed and deeds. It is a different story that the Bush Administration could finally get the requisite support to approve the second version of that package. But, it should not be taken as guidance by other governments.
The money we pay in taxes is marked for running the day to day affairs of the country, building infrastructure, assuring health services, education, electricity and other basic needs for the entire population of our country. If we look at the state of all the above parameters, there is a dire need of allocation of more funds to be spent on improving all of these. The magnitude of population affected by lack of above facilities is way much bigger than the number of employees of Satyam and their family members. The funds have to be correctly channelized to these sectors to assure basic quality of life to the common masses. It is not only imprudent but also grossly criminal on the part of govt to pour this money into a mismanaged, fraud-stricken private company. Criminal - because the govt is in essence helping the criminals to get away with the siphoned off money or the inflated profit figures. This is as relevant today with Satyam as it was with UTI fiasco in 2001, Securities scam and Stamp paper scam.
Instead, the government should focus on ascertaining whether the Satyam books were simply inflated with non-existent cash or the cash was actually channeled to the Raju family. If the later is true then the govt's job is to ensure recovery of that money and awarding harsh punishment to the culprits. That would serve as a deterrent to the future fraudsters. A bail out will serve exactly the opposite purpose.
If we get into habit of 'helping' failing corporate bodies in the interest of saving a few jobs, then the question is how many more times are we going to do this? Shall we bail out failing cooperative banks, loss making airlines, recession hit export sector? If someone floats a sham company to collect money from general public and then does a vanishing act - is the govt going to create a real company with the same name and inject liquidity into it? The common man stands to lose two times - once by investing in these companies and twice to save his own investment by his own taxes!! This should never be allowed to happen.
As far as the 53000 families are concerned, the fact is that they were highly paid for so long as everyone else in the IT sector. They should be having enough money to sustain joblessness for at least a couple of months. If they sense they might be laid off, then they should immediately start looking for other jobs with openness to join tier-II or tier-III companies at lesser salaries. They can get into better jobs once the market recovers. I am equally concerned for them but I am also concerned about the huge jobless population of India. Do we lose our sleep every night thinking about them? Do we pay through our nose to bail them out, to create jobs for them? They are many times more in numbers than 53000.

Finally, the last and basic question is - Why should I pay for Mr. Raju's or any other individual/corporate misdeeds?