Mumbai - A place of hope or a place of forgotten truth!

My heart calls out when I see the state of the families who've lost someone in yet another terrorist attack. How on earth do they get in so easily and hurt us inside our own city, it really amazes me!

Today, as soon as I heard the news of the blasts, the first thing I did leaving all that I was doing aside was to get onto the phone and call family and friends to see if everyone was ok. Some had a lucky escape as they were in the area a while back or even at the time but just about managed to stay safe while some others were back home  but in panic state to find out about their family members.

The blasts occurred in major business districts and whoever did this wanted to make a point! Well whatever the point may be, what is clear is that at the end of the day, we are not safe!  As of now, figures that are shown on National News channels like NDTV say 21 dead and 141 people are injured. The 3 blasts happened at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar Kabootar Khana which are all very busy areas!

Some shocking pictures and some very sad stories later, I felt like not much had changed since 26/11! And may be, I'm ignoring what one of the ministers said on national television that ' we were more prepared' but the fact of the matter is someone has lost their lives in this bargain!

I couldn't stop but think, are we going to be ok with this or going to forget this or rather take this in our stride as well? I'm sorry but this is not done! We need to stop letting this ruin the lives of our people and also the repute of the city! Make all the changes you want to make Mumbai more cosmopolitan and sophisticated but if such things happen, forget the people from other cities or countries coming in, even Mumbaikars will have to leave the city!

What I fail to understand is if the US can find Osama and kill him, who was one of the most dangerous and wanted terrorists globally, why can't we, having so many intelligence (supposedly) forces, what are we waiting for? For the Maharashtra Government, if I was to make a point, this does affect the economy as well! When no one feels safe, the business, commerce and all that we talk about being the financial capital of the country so proudly, will go down the drain!

Chinese media made a comment stating 'India incapable in stopping attacks, need intelligent people in their intelligence'.

Kasab Ajmal who has been in India's custody for nearly 3 years and are we still investigating? Sorry, this might be a bit harsh, but we really need to get our act together!

A common man in Mumbai when he leaves home, may not be sure if he will come home in the evening and this is really heart breaking!

I have never been as furious and troubled but I just feel we are becoming helpless! We need to do something and something big and soon!!

Here are some prayers going out to all that got affected by the blasts..

Bless!
Paras

Education System in India - Bright future or Not?

Education system in India - Bright future or Not? Big point of argument for today..

In today's competitive times, where Asia is developing leading B-Schools and Universities, in the Sub-continent, India is still far behind in getting there. I personally have seen the efforts lately through Mr. Kapil Sibal and certain other ministers to improvise on this and it still makes my heart cry to think that due to the bureaucratic nature of our nation, we will still take a few years before we make good progress on this! (I'll be more than glad to be proved wrong - but the reality is this)

I don't want to sit out and just complaint, I rather point this out and try and bring about a movement, a change!

So what is it that India needs to make its education system a leading global one which attracts high quality international candidates?

We have a number of highly prestigious institutions like the various IIT's and IIM's but looking at the latest comments and reports, it just does not look like a bright future unless we move ahead with time or else, this will be history..

The 2 biggest assets of any institution are the students and the faculty, rest are all secondary. With the quality of faculty deteriorating, even the best students cannot progress as much! The same would have been the case if the situation was turned the other way. This clearly shows how dependent the 2 factors are on each other!

A comment published in Economic Times read "Opening of new IITs by government without recruiting new faculty has already burdened the existing faculty in IITs. Almost every citizen in the country is paying education cess to ensure that our gurus (IIT and other teachers) are paid well. Most of the IITs are already facing faculty shortage," IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association member Y.P.S. Suri told IANS.
"The current pay scales of IIT faculty are so unattractive that a fresh graduate from IIT attracts more salary," he said.

Programme director of the IIT Delhi Alumni Association V.K. Saluja agreed. "We appeal to the government to make faculty salary levels inspiring enough to attract new minds. Adding new IITs has made this problem more acute and hence the urgency of the matter," he said in a statement.

My question is, Where is all the money that everyone pays as education cess used? There needs to be some reporting and transparency. And secondly, we need to attract young blood to run the show! Younger faculty will mean more up-to-date teaching. No doubt that experience always matters, so ideally we need a good mix. But we have to bring new people with new attributes as well as a different attitude!

The other thing that can also be done is part privatization. It's already seen that private institutions are doing much better and turning good profits, at the end of the day - that's what a private business will look for! I don't mean to say that give it all away, but take some good bits out of the privately run institutions and adapt them to make our overall system more advanced!

I realize the concern being higher fees, but right now, education is already the 2nd biggest expense for a family! Looking at how fierce the competition is to get into the IIT's and IIM's or for that matter of fact any other highly regarded institution, there's abundance of great talent that is still left out who adopts various means to continue education but sometimes, they just cant. They deserve the best too, but due to the crazy competition, they feel lost in life.. And its not the education system's fault that this happens but its merely the fact that our population is 5 folds compared to the available resources! We need to develop more high-quality institutions to nurture talent and save it from leaving the country, to be self sufficient! Its like a cycle, if these people stay back and break into big businessmen in India itself, it brings money into the country.. Open scholarships or systems where people who can genuinely not afford it are given some kind of bursary or loan. Use the money we already have to our advantage and make it happen!

I believe its the need of the hour! We need to make changes and make more changes and make even more changes and developments! Then only, will there be a brighter future!

Happy to hear more thoughts...

Paras
A concerned citizen!
A voice is to make a sound, to be heard, to make a change!

Middle East revolutions..

With the recent events and happenings in the Middle East, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?

What comes to my mind is that yes, everyone deserves to be free! How you get to that, is very important! It shouldn't be with people dying around everywhere. My blood boils when I read/hear about the counter attack by the Libyan ruler which is leading the country into civil war! You might imagine he knows better than this but what is he doing to the country? The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak still was friends with a number of other leaders and countries and could flee into Sharm el-Sheikh but where will you go Col. Gaddafi?

Two months ago, a Tunisian fruit vendor lit a match that started a fire that has spread throughout the much of North Africa and the Middle East. Muhammad Bouazizi's self-immolation prompted anti-government protests that toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

The fire of a revolution is spreading across the region and is spreading fast.. It will be very crucial to see how other rulers behave and the way international influences are going to play a role going ahead. I am a total believer in fighting for your freedom but I feel people like Col Gadaffi should never be given such status!

Here's hoping for a brighter future for people in the Middle East and praying for democracy to prevail..

What is the reason for life?

Give this a thought...

What is the real purpose of our lives? Do we ever think of it at any point of a normal day?

I was moved to read and learn more about this man who had a very ambitious career and an incident changed his life.. I'm not talking about a hypothetical story here... While most of us, are thinking of making a career or building a business that can give us financial stability, I feel many of us, we neglect the smaller joys of life.

Money is important but is it the do it and end it of all? Why are we making this money? Where is it all going? We aren't going to tie it to our body and take it all away!

I do not mean to be a preacher here, all I trying to do is share someone's story which made me think more and now act on it as well...

The 'someone' I am referring to here is Mr. Narayanan Krishnan who was a normal 21 year old young, ambitious individual like most of us who had a good job - worked as a chef in a 5 Star hotel and would have had a uphill definitely had he stayed on.. He was from Madurai - a city in the south of India which has a heritage of over 2500 years.. It is the most important and populous city in Southern Tamil Nadu and also hosts a number of IT companies and many other corporations..

Having said all of this about Madurai, you would imagine the people to have at least an average middle class financial status... But as we all know, there is major income disparities in India and even when there are improvements, they aren't in proportion the the population increase chart yet.

Mr. Krishnan now 29, one day saw a person eating his own human waste! He shared this in an interview with CNN. Now just hearing that makes me feel disgusted. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be attacking on any person or state or the country, its just that the thought gets me angry thinking of the amount of food that is generally wasted around the world on a normal day. I won't lie - I do waste as well sometimes, but after knowing this, I will make a concious effort. Which makes me wonder again, do we sometimes need an awakening call to realise something this big? May be yes, but once we do know this, lets try and bring about a change ourselves. Even may be at the smallest level - by not wasting food ourselves.

Coming back to what I was saying, a friend shared a video link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6-Olip6OtA ) of this heroic story of Mr. Krishnan who has been selected by CNN in the world's top 10 Heroes and the only Indian there, it made me think, we need to do something! He started this noble initiative in 2002 and even while his parents were against the same as they wanted their son to make a name professionally and make money according to CNN, he carried on and has provided more than 1.2 million hot meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused. He does this through his nonprofit organisation Akshaya Trust which he started in 2003, and now hopes to extend this to shelter for the homeless too.

Krishnan told CNN that 'Akshaya is Sanskrit for "undecaying" or "imperishable," and was chosen "to signify [that] human compassion should never decay or perish. ... The spirit of helping others must prevail for ever." Also, in Hindu mythology, Goddess Annapoorani's "Akshaya bowl" fed the hungry endlessly, never depleting its resources.'

I have never met this gentleman (I will actually try and write to him now saying that this he is a real inspiration) but I believe it would have taken him a lot of courage to actually decide to leave everything he dreamt of ever and go out and serve everyone. Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He seeks out the homeless under bridges and in the nooks and crannies between the city's temples. The hot meals he delivers are simple, tasty vegetarian food he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.

This may not be possible for everyone and its understandable - that's why he is a hero! But everyone can definitely if not in any bigger way, just help by being thoughtful before wasting any food or anything for that matter of fact. Just think of the man eating his human waste every time you are about to waste something.... It gives me goosebumps!

We all talk about human spirits in tough times like natural disasters and stand up for each other, this is also one such disaster.. People are dying without food, lets try and save them..

Here's to a new resolution in the new year - NO WASTAGE!

:)

Cheers!
P

P.S: Thanks Priyam for sending this video.. It came out of no where but triggered a strong emotion in me...

Bidding Good bye to 2010... Spread a smile!

In personal terms, 2010 has been a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs in the year.

I had a feeling closer to new year's last year that it wasn't going to be an easy ride. The year started with some difficult times making it very important to have a strong fight back in the series of events. Be it concerning health, professional or my personal life.

But what I've realized is that somewhere this year I have changed.. The way I behave, the way I react to things and may be also how I say or do things.. You can call it maturity or may be the ability to analyse things more deeply. It can be put in a number of ways but best said is that the change is evident.

Every day we all get up with new aspirations and hope about what we wish to achieve. And I feel that's a great thing but in the bargain we should also remember that one of all those aspirations should also be smiling and spreading the smile. You might read this and walk away thinking that its a philosophical thought and it won't make a difference in your every day life. Think about it, at the signal while crossing the road if you helped a blind or less able person to cross the road safely, or if you helped a person with a baby carry the Pram out of the station, the smile you got from them, how satisfying was that? Didn't that make you more hopeful on that day? Didn't it make you more hopeful for life? Its something to ponder on..

We all do make some or the other mistake in life. Knowingly or unknowingly. Always apologize / forgive and try to make it right because life is short, you do not want anyone to stay angry for long. Its not only about singular interactions but also maintaining and building relationships. Mistakes are meant to happen only so that you can make up for it.. If everything was easy, you would not be happy! I'm not trying to be a philosopher here, but just trying to pen down certain learnings from this year.

With 2 trips to Home (Mumbai, India) this year - In Feb and July, I realized and now I accept that yes, its about the home city but its more about the people there! The so planned surprise when I went home in July and the Birthday party and surprise in Feb. are memories that I will cherish for a while. People say distance drives people away and I don't deny that but thankfully my people haven't gone far. I am glad that one call can still get the point across and I love that (I do consider myself lucky for that).

Living in London has not been very easy (not to challenge the point that I am having a great time mostly).
Away from home, I've made a home where I always look forward to seeing this family of friends. Since last year this number has gone down as some have gone back and some have moved around. But they have a space reserved for them! :)

I went through some small and some big changes and challenges this year and these people stood by me at every point being my motivating factor.

I feel the changes that occurred are a beginning to a new horizon and its an uphill in certain matters from here. I must say that 2010 wasn't easy but its clearly done more good than bad.

On this new year's eve, there are some people who in 2010 have made me smile in some way or the other and I would just like to thank them for being there for me in every way possible and only hope that this is a journey on a endless road.

In London - Farha, Mustu, Em, Zahrah, Jigar and Ainee... Priya, Himani, Sakshi, Anshuman, Riya, Kanchan, Andria, Sonal, Rashee, Nisha, Jueta, Sanjnaa, Nosheen, Fatima, Sarita, Priyam, Dwayne and Hunaid..

Lately, these two stars have come into my life bringing positivity most of the time which is a big thing for me - Prachi and Yash.. Just thinking about it, both have some great qualities that have held me up at times .. Kiddish at times, but they are definately headed in the right direction... I wish you the very best... :)

Professionally, I had a rough start to the year, but with some support and vision, it got better. Some people who I would like to thank are - Bharat Vaswani and Mihir Patel.. I've learnt a lot from both and in their own ways they've imparted great knowledge. Bharat has been more like a mentor, guide or I should say even a guardian.. I really look upto him for advice and he's always thankfully been there with the best solutions.. I have always found value in his advice and over the course of the last year, learnt a lot from him..

Mihir on the other hand, has made me realize and brought great light to the way I think and should ideally handle people. Seeing how he's dealt with things and specially people since I started working with him, its commendable. It is generally quite difficult to manage some strong opinionated people, but he's done it brilliantly and most essentially is the way he's maintained the difference between work and personal friendship. That is the biggest learning if I must say.. I have learnt a lot and I truly respect him for it.

Going back to India - Ritesh, Hoshaang, Naasir, Rohan, Ajay, Gaurav, Yusuf, Miloni, Sapna, Sneha bhabhi, Dhruvi and Kinj...
Prakshal, Ruchika, Nikita, Divya, Aditi, Karishma R, Karishma D, Siddharth, Rishabh, Dhwaja, Afsheen, Parzaan, Jignesh, Nishit.. Aabha, Lekha, Dennis and Shagir..

In other parts of the world - Jojo, Sunnie, Nausheen..

Not generalizing it all, you've each made a special difference to this year for me in your own ways which I completely value.. I wish year on year, I can keep writing these names and the bonds only become stronger..

Lastly, I must not leave out the most important people of all, Mom, Dad, Bhavna, Shilpa, Shifa, Shalini Aunty, Alex Uncle, Natalie, Ashley, Padma Aunty, Dada, Nana, Jyoti Masi and Latu Masi.. You keep me and my values to life...

Thank you all for being so wonderful in 2010 and hope the New Year brings you and all your loved ones, a lot of happiness, love and lots of success. Hope you get all that you wish for deep within..

Things only get better in 2011.. Wish you great times.. :)

Warmest Regards,
Paras

Million Dreams..

Today, sitting in the tube, looking at the people around - most lost in their thoughts about to explore their world of dreams!

I can see the spark in many eyes, wanting to conquer the world and cast their spell on everyone around. But what is really their motivation? Their reason to dream? Their real inspiration?

I believe, in more ways than one, its themselves! We all have various people who inspire us, who make us feel that there is something in us that's not in everyone.. But along with all this, there's a voice within us that understands our emotions, our ambitions which makes us who we are!

Academics, practise, learning all on one side and the talent and ambition on another. The latter are inbuilt in us. Rest are all acquired actions if the talent and ambition exists! The world is complete with all of us being different in our own ways and still being human and live more or less the same way leaving the economic disparity.

I hope all those people who dream, can keep dreaming bigger, because that's when some of them will turn into reality...

Cheers to Dreaming! ;)

From,
A Dreamer!

All time XI - Indian Test Cricket Team

Recently, cricinfo announced India's all time best test XI and it featured most of the expected names. There were certain surprises when lights of players like Saurav Ganguly, one of India's finest opening batsmen in one days and VVS Laxman - One of India's best middle order batsmen in nearly all forms of the game were missing.

There is always criticism around any 'All time' selection that is made.. Every panel faces opposition, but I have to admit, this one has done quite a decent job!

After careful consideration, I can say that other most of the players were more or less justified. The only point to make would be the ever ongoing one about All-Rounders..

India has always lacked a good match in that arena.. There have been various contenders who have come close to Kapil Dev, one of the foremost but India has always been fishing for to fill that position for too long. No one has been consistent.

Here's hoping that the next generation of cricketers can bring this addition to the team and help it from stumbling down as it currently is so that if another 'All Time' team is made in the next 2 decades, she have a more powerful team.

The Indian Cricket team has a long way to go if they want to in the race for the World Cup which is partially being held on their home soil. It will mostly be Sachin Tendulkar's last world cup and I hope the team can come together and give him a perfect leaving present - WORLD CUP 2011.

Here's to that hope!

Cheers!

Paras

14/9/10