Misuse of Power

We all know where the Iraq war is headed. However a certain person still believes that he can pull about a change in the situation at ground zero. Such optimistic thoughts are necessary but only to a certain extent beyond which the best thing to do is to accept the truth and move on. Unfortunately Mr Bush doesn't agree with the rest of America. He has decided to send more than 20000 troops to the graveyard that is Iraq. We all hope against hope that the new war policy will bring about a change in that country

The above instance is a case study of how people at the top can misuse their power. Such people can be found at many places. Bush was just one example. Closer back home in India, the situation in Uttar Pradesh is quite similar. The law and order situation is totally out of control in that area. No wonder, we find cases like mass murder of small and innocent children and the apathy of the police force for such crimes. Similarly, nothing is done to avoid the stoning of travellers at Agra. Similar situations are present in other states as well. One more example of such misgivings is in Goa where all the parties have come together to do rampant and uncontrolled development at the expense of natural environment and the scenic beauty. A few years back, Mr Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat had carried out similar atrocities against the Muslims in Gujarat.

This is not a modern phenomenon. It has started right from prehistorical times. In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, we saw how those in power turned evil and hence needed to be eliminated by God himself. (pardon all female readers, in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the God was a male). There are many such cases all across the world. Who can forget the atrocities carried out by the Roman empire against Jesus Christ either?

Misuse of power happens in a variety of ways and to various degrees. Let us take an example of a person at a corporate office. If he/she is a boss, he can be partial to some of his subordinates and totally ignorant to others. In a particular example, the boss wanted a new cabin all for himself. he decided to shift the entire team to another place. Not only did this cause a huge exercise in transfer of people and goods but none of his team members were happy with the new place. Neither were the people displaced from there happy at the new location. All this exercise for the comfort of just one person.

There can be much more but right now I am falling short of ideas and thoughts. As soon as I get more thoughts on this, I will add it to this article.

Finally it is over!!!

Yes it is over... I finally took the SCJP certification on Friday 14th July 2006. It was at the prometric centre in Andheri-east. I first came to the office, had a nice breakfast given by mom and then left for the center. The center is quite good and the people are very professional and supportive.

It has been a long journey. When I joined the company, I was straight away put into Java CoE(Center of Excellence). It was however a very disorganised entity. No guidance of any sort to us beginners and we were sometimes supposed to resolve queries for technologies which we had not even heard about before. So we concentrated on many different things at different points in time. No focus and no attention on any particular domain or technology.

Slowly but steadily we learnt a few basic things related to Java and then soon we started preparing for Java certification. But it soon took a backseat as I was told to prepare a KSS on JSF. I got deeply involved in that and hence certification took a blow. After that finished, I got involved in portal training. The portal technology helped me to make sample applications using BEA weblogic portal and I also helped a colleague in her real life project.

After that we again started studying for the certi. We had to start anew as the tempo had gone down and we had to refresh ourselves on the minor details. But it was shortlived as we again went into a training and then into a project. I got involved in another KSS this time on Java 5.
I also gave a presentation on Internet and web technologies to a group of librarians. I also got a chance to work on proposals which was quite a new experience. How new business is achieved and what are the finer details in making a proposal to the client. We didnt won that but still it was fun to work.

Soon after that we demanded to our PL to give us some project experience as we felt that just sitting here wont give us any experience. He relented and brought the concept of 50-50. 50-50 simply means that half of the time we devote to Java CoE and the remaining half of our time is spent in a project. The client was a Travel management and foreign exchange company. We developed the audit trail module. It was a great learning experience for me and I finally worked on a proper project. I also came to know that I can write decent code. At the same time we also continued our SCJP preparation. THe project got over in the first week of July. Now our efforts were entirely concentrated on SCJP 5. I finally gave it and passed with a score of 94%. Its a great feeling as I had really worked hard to make sure that I get a score above 90%. I did face some difficulties though. For instance, there were very few mock papers available for SCJP 5.

Now I am thinking of taking a nice break. Not sure where to go but will have to decide fast.
Bye for now.

funny thought on a software developer by Dilbert

I read the blog entry from Euxx where he had posted a funny entry for software developer. It is of Dilbert:

My dog was tired of hearing me whine about my job, so he became a billionaire and bought my company and fired me

Finally some creative work

Its nice to be back!
After many days i am writing something of my own. In the past few months alot has changed about me. previously i had hardly ant knowledge of Java. now i do know a lot about it and also some related technologies as well. Ofcourse I don need to know them since my Job profile is such. I have to keep tracking latest trends and technologies. So now i not only know Java but also some of its rivals. What this had done to me is that I am a jack of all but master of not. But i dont mind being that for some time.

What i have observed is that Blogs are a really good source of information. For much of my work i get knowledge from there. No wonder Sabeer Bhatia also started his own blog Software blogeverywhere.com.

I studied Java 5 recently and I am really impressed with it. It does make life easier for a Java developer. I was initially confused with the entire J2EE thing because of the sheer number of terms and acronyms it had. Fortunately the new Java Specification does make life a bit easier if not totally simple. When you look at Java's EJB3.0 you will get an idea.

Chalo c u later... i m writing this from my office machine since the software on my machine has gone to sleep.

Some Truths...

This is a forwarded joke which I received recently. Since I have nothing worthwhile to write about. I would keep the blog updated by posting something funny.

Here is the funny mail...

1.) U use phrases like "No issue s" and "Value addition" in everyday parlance. For e.g. When talking about your doodhwalla, U say, "His milk does zero value addition to my health but he is the only guy around so no issues"

2.) Ur prime source of entertainment is the forwards send to U by friends w hose faces U cant remember.

3.) U drink more tea or coffee than water.

4.) U keep trying to shut down ur home computer by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del (used to lock office comps)

5.) When ur mobile rings at home, U rush outside to receive thecall.

6.) When U make calls at home, U accidentally dial "0"to get an outside line.

7.) U haven't played Solitaire with real cards in years.

8.) Ur last crush was a girl in HR, ur current crush is the new girl in HR and all ur crushes in the future willbe girls in HR.

9.) U spend the entire day reading forwards, smoking cigarettes, drinking tea/coffee and playing T.T. and then complain about the late working hours.

10.) Ur important 'meetings' usually comprise two or three people max, including yourself.

11) U secretly prepare for CAT only to find ur PL sitting behind you at the exam.

13.) U keep pressing Ctrl+Enter wondering why your gmail is not going.

14.) U email ur mate who works at the desk next to U.

15.) As U read this list, U r thinking of sending it to ur friends who are also in IT.

16.)U r too busy to notice there was no line no. 12

17.)U r not sure so u scroll back check it .

18.)And now u r smiling!!!!

LOL....

Am sure u did steps 16 to 18.

Interesting article on Consulting

Hi friends,
Here's an interesting article on "consulting" companies:

Read it
Its pretty thought provoking. Do read it and respond...bye

A day at an Indian wedding

well it seems i have nothing else to do when i go online...no wonder i m writing my third blog within 4 days...that must be a record of sorts for me...didnt go to the office today as i had to attend a wedding...(not mine stupid).

as per the IST u reach 1 hour behind the original scheduled time of 10 am...this is where it all starts...as soon as u enter the wedding hall all attention turns towards u...prospective father-in-laws constantly try to be cosy with u..they try to extract information regarding ur job, salary, education and other things important...if they like the trailer they will try to get ur number from ur parents or some other contact...U feel so frustated that u wish u could tell all the lies in the world (egs. I am the don of my area...I left studies years ago to pursue a career in gundagiri..etc..etc) but u cant... for it may really affect ur future prospects...

moving forward...u sit at some obscure location where there will be few disturbances so that u can calmly chat with ur friends if u have any over there...(it becomes even more difficult if u have none)...u simply wait for some refreshments to be served..juices..samosas..etc. The waiters are constantly roaming around and seem disinterested...some of them can be seen yawning

meanwhile the groom waits in the center(mandap) waiting desperately for this rituals (vidhis) to be over so that he can now enter the happy world of married life...giving him futher trouble are a few photographers and cameramen who constantly advise him on poses and shoot like FBI agents...While all this is happening, the groom's brothers and sisters try to show off their clothes and whatever else they have to display(accessories ....)

suddenly the bride arrives...the paparazzi shifts their attention to her neglecting the groom all of a sudden...The bride enjoyes her moment of undivided attention...the pose advisors among the paparazzi are back as well...

the turn of events become even more intersting if u have a foreigner among the crowd...he will simply look confused ...try to grasp whatever his happening around him and in the center...he even brings a camera to shoot but gets confused in what to shoot...

soon the rituals start and u are now engrossed in the world of mobile games(thanks to the inventor of a cellphone...we always have an alternative)...after sometime u realise that people have started having their lunch..and u also set out for that great Indian wedding lunch...

Now that u have had a good lunch u simply want to lay on ur back and have a nice sleep...but that u cant at the venue so u simply give away the gift that u have brought for the invitor ...say some nice wishes and head back to ur home for a nice afternoon sleep....zzzz.z.zzzz

Have sweet dreams...good zzzz....zzz...zzz

Dropped.........Ganguly

I was recently having a look at some of the current affairs that are on everybody's mind these days...but none of them have hogged more limelight than the Ganguly issue...

The ganguly issue has been dragged for so long that now i hardly ever go beyond the first paragraph of that news item...according to me he has been dropped for good...he should realise that himself that he is no longer required and should better resign gracefully...

if he does this then he will do a "Sonia" in the field of Indian cricket...Each person has a period where he shines and later he has to pass the baton to someone else...Ganguly should do exactly that...look at Steve Waugh...he knew his days were numbered in the Australian test squad...so he himself retired at the end of the 3 test series in 2004...and everybody know what a splendid farewell he got...Unfortunately I doubt whether he (in fact anyone else after Steve Waugh leave aside a few) will get a nice farewell.

Ofcourse he has done a lot for the country in the 5 years when he was the captain...he braved many tough situations and instilled a new found josh in the Indian cricket team...took the tam to the world cup final of 2003...won many test matches...supported newcomers...and many other things...

But then facts are facts and they speak truth...Ganguly over the past one and a half years was becoming more of a liability than an asset like in the late 90s and early part of this decade...He used to score big runs only against the lowly teams and performed indifferently against better placed teams...Differences were bound to increase with the induction of Greg Chappel. The latter being an Australian was obviously not going to keep quiet...

Of his recent form, the records speak for themselves...he has not been consistent at all...even the Kolkatans know deep within their heart that he is not performing consistently...But then any body can be bought for a few bucks to hold demonstrations against any one...personally i support his dropping from the playing 11... as Dravid says, the best playing 11 need to be selected...

Getting a bit technical

Hi folks ...nice to be back after some time...i work in the j2ee field these days and it has been a mixed bag for me till now...I was also a bit busy in december preparing for my prsentation on JSF...now dont ask me wat that is ... i m not going to explain it after already explaining it two to three times to various groups...

But that made me realise one thing...technical blogs are everywhere...and they are USEFUL...i found them really useful for my presentations...now i have made it into a habit to check out on various technology related news...

Moving on, i also have to keep myself aware of all the latest technology trends and whats hot and whats not...i have to give suggestions as to what would be better to use in certain scenarios. we developed 2 Proof Of Concept applications one for JSF and the other for AJAX... although the second one is not by me...but i know it how to make simple AJAX applications...

the softwares that we use are also big and heavy and consume a lot of RAM. that is one of my grudge so far...otherwise they are good to use...BEA is being used currently for working with portals and IBM websphere was recently used for JSF besides eclipse and exadel...i found idea from intellij also quite nice...

in all these i forgot that i have still to give my scjp exam...i get involved in all other things as mentioned above so much that i have completely sidelined myself from this original goal...neways i m now confused whether to give scjp1.5 or 1.4...well lets c..i also felt that i should start my own technical blog...but better sense has prevailed and i have now such plans in the near future..

c u later ...otherwise it might bcome a bit of overdose of technicality from me...BYE

Bus karo.........

i know many ppl will think this to be another post that is copied from somewhere....but believe me this one is cent percent written by me...

neways work in office is boring...we go there look at others around us who also are looking at ways to find some work...(ya thats true everyone seems to be free)...i go in the morning to catch the company bus ... this bus is quite OK ...the FM radio in the bus is as usual pathetic but atleast u can sit properly n comfortably...reach there at around 8.50 am...check mails n chat with ppl...the day goes off n evening falls...after that we wait for the 6.30 pm bus which arrives as usual empty and in a bad state...this bus is particularly bad...in fact the seats really make u feel sorry for ur asses... the driver also drives like a truck driver composing his own truck driver music by blowing the horns incessantly...he fails almost everytime to hit some other vehicle (poor guy...seems frustated with his family that he wants to cause his own accident)

well if i have brought out this topic on buses...then how can one forget the mention of BEST buses...they r a nightmare to roam in especially during peak hours in andheri-east...also their new starline buses are either crashing like my company's sw or not seen...

buses in trivandrum were much better in that sense...much better ventilation...much faster at the peril of others...empty roads...

neways it feels nice to tyope a few words after a loooooonnnnnnggggggg time.Enjoy and bye...

Have free time - Getting bored

I am forced to put this blog because of lack of work. please bear this with me.

If you find it very boring in the office, here are some tips:

1. Form a detective agency to find out who is quitting next.

2. Make blank calls to your Boss.

3.Count your fingers (and toes if you still get bored).

4. Rearrange the furniture, i.e. flick someone else's chair just to irritate him/her.

5. Send mails from ms-mail to your internet mail (and immediately get to the internet and see who reaches first, you or your mail?) and read them there, and note down the time they take to reach there. Then do vice versa............. !!

6. Watch other people changing their facial ex-pressions while working and try changing your ex-pressions also.

7. Try to stretch status meetings as longer as possible, just by asking silly doubts.

8. Have work breaks in between tea.

9. Have a two hour lunch; it's a big social occasion.

10. Read jokes and send jokes.

11. Revise last week's newspaper.

12. Hold "How fast my computer boots" competitions.

13. Practice aiming the coffee cup into the dustbin.

14. Compile "How to waste your day"

15. Pick up phone and dial non existing nos.

16. Make faces at strangers in office.

17. Count maximum no of applications your computer can open at time.

18. For Win NT/95 users....Move things to Recycle bin and restore them..Then repeat this process.

19. Look at someone & try to imagine how(s) he might have looked when(s) he was 5 years old.

20. Learn to whistle.

21. Make full use of the comfortable chair and table provided and take a nap.

And if you are still bored-............ ............. then
KEEp READING THIS BLOG AGAIN AND AGAIN

Yes, I was there....

this poem,written by my good friend Abhishek Pandey
is a tribute to all those who have experienced the ILP at trivandrum. this days of TCS was the best till date. everybody has enjoyed it immensely. the poem goes as follows:-

Where there were 4 coconut trees in every backyard
Temple's music instruments woke us up during onam mornings
where, to digest food, was very hard
Where we had TT, badminton & carrom sessions in the evenings

Where everyone could say "Good morning" in 3 foriegn tongues
And everyone addressed us as "chetta" or "chechi"
where milma milk shake & sharja were available in tonnes
We used to order it at 8 pm and get it at 8:40

Where outside food was very popular
'coz inside vegetables were made of coconut oil mostly
except the always in demand choco bar
and the coupon coffee we had on level 0 roof, happily

Where we used to throw paper around the class
or use them to write comments for fish pond
Feedback forms & project documents; we used to pass
with Gopal & Suresh, everyone sang at least 1 song

Lunch break was long, like the queues
In slot C everyone used to get sleepy
Where boys didn't go to the library for book issues
& in Reju's lectures, girls used to feel sweaty

Where on-pitch & on-stage efforts were appreciated
among hundreds of clappers during batch-leaving ceremonies
There were many tests in a short period, we felt being grated
Waking up late in night, we gave each other our company

Where we used to sit in a circle to sing
We wore casuals, positions varied on the hostel floor
We used to knock on everyone's door, for every small thing
We used to chat and play for hours, yet we always wanted more

Where we called Suresh transports thrice on fridays
Waited desperately for a strike or weekends
To reach back "home", we explored all the ways
Where we made close & lifelong friends

Friends with whom we used to share
our secrets, our desires, our passions & stories
Friends with whom we travelled everywhere,
danced at coffee beanz n did the laundries

Where 3 seas meet & a strong wind blows
Where saltwater becomes road & the beaches are long
Where over tea plantations, fresh water flows
Where indulging in nature never feels wrong

Where guys chased guys in night to give bumps on their birthdays
Where we had to remove our shirts & wear dhotis to enter a temple
Where our very first earnings, a company pays
Where we craved home food, yet ate in a hotel

Where inside class we played bond-building & evaluating games
Where meat, coffee, sun & rain were in plenty
Concrete jungle & techno jungle can never be the same
And never again in life can we be one/two over twenty

Words cannot tell how much I miss that place
Or my friends, whom I want to be with, still
These are the memories which the wave of time can't erase
That I will cherish, from the bottom of my heart, I know I will

Abhishek Pandey

Season 2 begins...

Well sorry for the break...but it was needed. the break was needed to let me have a retrospection of my own blog with people unhappy that i m writing so much.

but now since i have internet and lots of idle time... i think i should start off again. this season may be never ending or it may also end. but 1 thing is for sure...this is going to be better than the previous one.

these days we have many serials going off air. thechannel heads claim that they r following the west who air soaps as seasonal affiars. so why not name this new post along the same lines. this season i will take u thru some of my really good moments at trivandrum and life after that
hope u will like it

bye

The spirit of Mumbai

Dark clouds cover the sun
And the wind decides to run

Out come the heavy rains
At first the parched sun gains

The reservoirs fill to the brim
Ubiquitous water no longer a dream

People everywhere have joy
Children convert papers to toy

But then the ships sink
And yours eyes wink

The rain seems to be infinite
But your patience is finite

Now you wish it to stop
For water may go over your top

The army of clouds increases
Vision of hope decreases

You realize its fury
When many a body bury

Everybody is in a hurry
To reduce explosion of worry

After every night comes a morn
In the hearts a hope is born

This hope spreads among all
Finally rising to be very tall

It fights the army of clouds
The war cry being strong and loud

The army finally retreates
Joyous becomes the victory beats

Out comes the sun again
Fallen to its knees is the pain

brain drain season

we have 3 seasons in india- summer, monsoon and winter. each season has some particular characteristics. everybody knows abt them quite properly having studied in geography throughout school life. but for me an engineer there is one more season to look forward to. it is the brain drain season.

every year lots of students decide to go abroad for higher studies. some of them for academic interest and further reasearch, some for earning lots of money, some beacause they dont like india. every year around 10 thousand students from various fields spread the indian diaspora all over the world. most of them prefer US of A but there are also people going to UK, Russia, Germany,Australia and so on.

its good to see people setting out to achieve their dreams and taking their indianness wherever they go. they will obviously bring prosperity and fame to India. but i dont want to go into those things- for they have been read over and over.

this season normally starts during the month of july and continues till the end of august. initially only a few students are seen at the airport but then u have many in the first 2 weeks of august and then it again drops down towards the latter part of the month. (like a bell) the month of june and july is used up for readying everything related to the visas and other necessary documents. then as soon as they are done, people become nostalgic and go to meet the ONE whose going to remain only for a few days now with them. so the parents become overburdened, especially mom who has to serve sweets for these occasions.

thats not all advance arrangements have to be made for staying over there in the unknown land. relatives if reside nearby in that land are of much needed help. however these are happy times for the ONE. he/she gets the oppurtunity to go on a shopping spree. ofcourse there are side effects- learning to do daily chores by urself, cooking, going to the doctor to take injections and other things, learning to drive. then there is also the dark truth that u have to stay with relatively unknown strangers.

finally vidaai happens. the entire family, relatives and few friends come with the ONE to bade the latter goodbye and luck. he goes away for a good no. of years and promising to come back as a better human being. u hope that ONE will remain the same as ever. thus the brain drain season comes to us every year. good brains from here go to improve the well being of other countries. and we in turn continue to churn out more good brain as ever.

idle thoughts

( this was penned by me before this deluge )


Looking at the blue sky
With the sun shining brightly
O God! Give this day everyday
For it is so beautiful

Sitting in the balcony
With nothing to do
Listen to the sounds of universe
The perfect chaos you hear

Dancing the plants are
With the wind teaching the steps
Look at the ballet they perform
The best synchronisation you see

Piercing through your eyes
With all the colours of the universe
Look all around you
the perfect mosaic you have

Glancing back through your mind
With all the thoughts you have
Remember every moment
the beautiful days they are

Looking now at the present
With each moment becoming a past
Live each moment to its fullest
Because time travels fast

tommorrow never comes

2 months into the vacation already and nothing worthwhile to do, i decided to do something useful so that i would not repent later. i decide loads of things to be done during my vacations. but as it happens everytime they are all thrown in the mind's dustbin.

this time i had sincerely made a to-do list- learning JAVA, preparing for CAT, driving lessons, regularly exercising etc. but then i dont know what spell the vacation puts u under - u just dont do anything. u become very lazy and always sit in front of the TV. u hope for some good TV program to enlighten u but then nothing good happens on TV these days as well.

i have just started to study JAVA today. the CAT in my house is still sleeping like 'kumbhakaran'. mom put the breaks on the learning car. exercises- what are those?

each night before sleeping soundly i decide to wake up early morning and do something about the to-do list but the plans are washed away because of the lateness in waking up. thereafter another 1 hr goes in searching and reading the newspaper. then i undergo thru the daily chores of bathing and brushing teeth. then for some breakfast. before u realise u already are into afternoon and then lunch again. ( i havent forgotten that- that it seems is at the top of the list). soon u start feeling drowsy and soon catch 40 winks.

it is evening now and then u come to the conclusion that u havent done anything from the to-do list. u again decide to look into them seriously tommorrow but till now that tommorrow hasnt came as yet. ( and i dont know when it is going to come either)

War of the newspapers

As I have nothing worthwhile to do in my vacation, I pass time by writing blogs, reading books, playing keyboard (yes I have started to learn that) and sports, watching TV (it really sucks these days with no good programs) and of course reading newspapers.

In the last few months, I suppose everyone must have watched the hoardings of various new papers making their way into Mumbai. Mumbai Mirror, Hindustan times and DNA being the prime ones.

I am used to reading the Times of India and its supplements for years now and when they started giving Mumbai Mirror free for few days I decided to check it out as well. But I wasn’t impressed because it is simply another variant of Mid-day. No doubt, why it brings different offers all the time to boost its publication. But it is bound to get a lead early in the sales as it comes from the stable of Bennet and Coleman.

Secondly there is Hindustan times which is similar to the others in the fray. It tries to be different here and there, more graphic at places. But otherwise it has nothing new to offer. It had a pathetic ad on air and didn’t publicize much through hoardings and other medium. Maybe it believes that it doesn’t need that kind of publicity.

Finally we have the DNA Daily News and Analysis from Zee media conglomerate. Well it has spent the maximum in publicity (a cool Rs.60 crores…). There are hoardings placed all over Mumbai asking you to select among options. It had a marketing team which must have ensured that a salesperson would go to each house. This person would ask various questions regarding the functions of an ideal newspaper. (I wanted to say that don’t try to be one since it is impossible) but I must admit that it has tried to be different from the others in certain respects. Let’s see how it turns out in others like content when it does come.

One thing is for sure that when we have a lot to choose from, it automatically leads to competition and hence to efficiency and better outputs. Finally the consumer is benefited from this.

Joke of the day:
A mother is waiting anxiously for her son on the last day of term. “At last you are home. Where is your report?”
“I haven’t got it.”
“How come?”
“I lent it to my friend.”
“And why does he need it?”
“He wants to scare his parents with it.”

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

4 years of engineering leaves you with a lot of good memories. In those 4 years you are always with your friends for half of the day. Even at home, you remain connected with them through phone, internet, SMSes and outings.

So when your engineering comes to an end (after the final exams get over… it is obviously a relief) you are suddenly left with a void in your life. Everyone is experiencing that in the vacation. You are left with nothing to do but just sleep for long hours and killing time.

So any mention of a reunion always sparks off excitement in all those concerned. I got to meet my old school friends after a long gap. Most of them are in Pune for achieving BE in some branch or the other. But I was never able to meet them when they arrived in Mumbai for their break after every sem. The prime culprit being my sem exams. It clashed every single time. Their exams always used to finish quite earlier than my exams.

But fortunately the last sem got over at the same time as their did. I was finally able to meet them and we had a nice long chat on films, books, trips, photos, etc. we had pizzas from pizzahut and cracked jokes on each other. Vasudha in fact insisted that Nitin perform the dance in front of them which he performed in college for some event. We discussed ragging in our respective colleges and our own experiences related to it. And finally we discussed professors of the colleges (harsh have u got that book in which u had written about kallu?)

Then there is my friend Pratik (Kothari…there are 4 pratiks that I know) whom I meet almost daily. We go to the temple and during the short journey we are able to discuss films, cricket and other topics of interest. We assume ourselves to be masters of the first two. We find flaws in all major films and tell how it could have been improved. We become selectors and decide who should be in the Indian 11 and who the rising star is.
Recently he was baffled by his college friends’ behavior. And so our topic for that day was his friends.

Of course, there are my college friends with whom I maintain contact through phones or orkut scraps and messenger and mails. Occasionally we meet and roam around in malls or at the beach.

And finally when I am not with them I am thinking about them as I am right now writing this blog and listening to ‘dil chatha hai’. By the way, you are doing the same by reading this blog. J

Joke of the day:
Calling the waiter, a man in a restaurant complains that there are no crabs in the crab salad.
After a moment’s thought the waiter asks: “And have you ever seen any Greeks in a Greek Salad.”

dilemma about our constitution

Recently I was talking to my friend who is appearing for the IAS exam. His name is Dilip. I was drawn to the topic because of its nature. He told me some interesting things about this UPSC exam (union public service commission).

First of all, like the IIT entrance and CAT, this is one of the most difficult and national exam conducted in our country. It provides our country the required administrative personnel required. It can be taken by any citizen of the country irrespective of his or her background. Lakhs of people give this exam, hoping for a nice government job.

The first 150 rankers get the IAS tag (Indian administrative service). The next 150 or so get IFS (foreign) and the last 150 or so get the IPS (police). The highest salary can reach up to 30000 or 35000, but you get so many additional perks that it almost makes up for this slightly less salary. Housing, conveyance, various services are all free. In short it is lucrative. Besides you get to work for your country. Of course you have to work really hard for this.

Anyways we came up with a few interesting things out of this. Every year the annual budget, the railway budget and other decisions are taken on the floor of our big parliament. The fate of the country is decided by the so called wise people of our country. But the policies and various ideas are in fact formulated by the UPSC employees. It is their brain behind these policies. The ministers and other MP only give the finishing touches of presenting it to the general public.

Today’s politicians are by large illiterate. There is no point of their understanding the policies regarding finance, foreign and others. The UPSC employees think about the benefits of society but those can be easily crushed if the politicians want to. Isn’t it weird that the final decisions in our country are taken by people who don’t even know what democracy is. Shouldn’t it be the intelligent people in our country, who are educated, take the country ahead?

I raised these questions to my friend. He said that our constitution is framed in this way. Then I realized that since any change in constitution has to go through the two houses of parliament, this change can never be brought about. The simple reason being that the MPs are literate enough to understand this and will therefore crush any such attempt.

However I can still not blame our constitution for this because I hardly know anything about it. Who knows, I may be wrong about it.

Joke of the day:
A dietician and a garbageman met on a blind date. To break the ice, the dietician asked her date about his work. He mumbled that he was involved in refuse collection.
“What a coincidence,” exclaimed the lady. “I am in waist management.”