tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36113980590426337072024-03-13T23:42:13.874+05:30Ride the thoughtsA sojourn to sanitykashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-2261103553738614602010-07-15T22:29:00.001+05:302010-07-15T22:29:02.762+05:30Migrated to Wordpress<p>I have migrated to a new Wordpress blog at <a href="http://ridethethoughts.in">http://ridethethoughts.in</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Please visit me at my new blog for my latest posts.</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-48856835861638523072010-07-03T01:03:00.001+05:302010-07-03T01:03:00.448+05:30Business and Traffic Habits – Part 3<p>I dedicate this post to the incessant and insatiable urge to sound the horn. A driver who is an Indian citizen driving on Indian roads has the right to honk whenever and wherever he likes, whether or not required. This is the fundamental right of an Indian vehicle driver. But I will save the rant for some other day. For now, I will try to relate the use of horn to a possible business situation.</p> <p> </p> <p>Traffic Behavior (TB) : Whenever a vehicle obstructs your path which causes you to apply brakes on your vehicle, you blow the horn either in protest or in an attempt to alert the other vehicles of your presence. For example on a road, if you encounter a vehicle blocking your lane, you sound the requesting horn to alert the blocking vehicle that you want to overtake. Either the vehicles yields and gives you the space to go ahead or denies. If denied, you sound the horn which now becomes a protest. If vehicle does not move, you try to overtake it from the wrong lane. This may be illegal or dangerous and may lead to an accident.</p> <p> </p> <p>Business Behavior (BB) : Your daily business is running well until you encounter a rival business who is slowing you down. The ways in which it may be slowing you down may include stealing secrets, poaching talent, spreading damaging rumors about your business etc. But in all cases, it slows down your business. So you “sound the requesting horn” to let the other business know of the damage and inconvenience being caused. The rival business either stops damaging your business or is not affected at all. In protest, you respond with legal action or employ a riskier, illegal tactic to go past the rival business. And thus achieve satisfaction of overtaking.</p> <p> </p> <p>Previous posts in this series – <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/relating-human-behavior-while-driving.html"><font color="#0000ff">Part 1</font></a>, <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/business-and-traffic-habits-part-2.html"><font color="#0000ff">Part 2</font></a></p> <p>_________________________________________________________________________________ Ride your thoughts. Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets">Twitter</a></p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-28195717288584620942010-06-27T17:32:00.001+05:302010-06-27T17:32:07.872+05:30Language legacy and politics<p>Does medium of education matter whether a child will be successful in future or not? I certainly feel that success does not depend on it but being educated in English medium does help you attain success, maybe a little faster. This is not necessarily true, at least not outside India. Take a look at China. Traditionally, the country has been against adopting or propagating any language other than Chinese. But it is developing successfully nonetheless.</p> <p> </p> <p>MNS, the political playground of Mr. Raj Thackeray, has been forcing the use of Marathi on the people of Maharashtra and the immigrants. They have been doing this for quite some time and has been instrumental in generating some political clout. Fierce proponents of protecting the Marathi culture and language, they are not so strict when it comes to educating their children. All grandchildren of the Shiv Sena Chief, Bal Thackeray, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/All-eyes-on-Raj-Thackeray-sons-medium-of-study/articleshow/6096648.cms"><font color="#0000ff">have been educated in English medium</font></a> and one of them has even opted for a German language course. Party and political ethics do not apply when it comes to their family. And then, why should it? It is not the fault of the grandchildren to be born in a family which will embrace globalization as long as everyone speaks in the regional language. At least it feels good to know that they are not letting their ‘business’ get in the way of their children’s education.</p> <p> </p> <p>_________________________________________________________________________________ Ride your thoughts. Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets">Twitter</a></p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-76753561302892604032010-06-26T22:38:00.001+05:302010-06-27T16:20:51.702+05:30Yet the traffic moves on<p>Manas Gupta has written an <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dogged-drivers-of-Roadistan/articleshow/6094544.cms"><font color="#0000ff">interesting piece</font></a> on the road drivers of India. Worth a read to those who tackle the monster traffic everyday in their lives.</p> <p> </p> <p>My other traffic related posts[<a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2010/06/traffic-and-me.html"><font color="#0000ff">1</font></a>, <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/relating-human-behavior-while-driving.html"><font color="#0000ff">2</font></a>, <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/business-and-traffic-habits-part-2.html"><font color="#0000ff">3</font></a>, <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/06/business-and-traffic-habits-part-3.html"><font color="#0000ff">4</font></a>].</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:129f232a-2e17-43cf-89c8-312a99628396" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">del.icio.us Tags: <a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/traffic+sense" rel="tag">traffic sense</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/Indian+traffic" rel="tag">Indian traffic</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/TOI+Crest" rel="tag">TOI Crest</a></div> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-90620793319274124882010-06-23T22:48:00.003+05:302010-06-26T22:26:34.247+05:30Treating the better halves as equalsMost interesting thoughts come to my mind when I am doing nothing. I firmly believe that when we allow our mind to do nothing, it does more by generating creative and not-thought-before thoughts. One such thought that has been returning to me time and again has been treating women as real equals. Not just symbolically but equals in thought as well as position. Men speak of women to be equal to themselves, but seldom do they act in the manner befitting the same.<br />
<br />
In marriage, it is always the fairer sex that gives up her family to join the husband’s family. At least that is how it functions in India. Most of the times. Has it ever occurred to men how unfair the custom is? Has any husband been asked to leave his parent’s home? Has he ever adopted the surname of his wife? Why is that a mother, who gives birth to a child and plays the biggest role in the upbringing, does not have her name appear as the middle name of the child? Why is it that the income of a working wife is considered to be the income of the husband’s family? Why is that her monetary contributions to her ‘former’ family frowned upon?<br />
<br />
Take for instance, the IT profession. Professionals at offshore are often required to travel onsite(foreign) for their project work. And that includes fair number of women too. When both the husband and the wife are working in the IT industry itself, this situation often creates unfair cases. If the wife is offered a long term position at onsite, she will not accept it because she cannot ask her husband to leave his job and travel as a dependent of hers. It is considered a ‘taboo’ that a man has to be dependent on the woman. But the other way around is a largely prevalent condition. A woman can happily leave her job, forget her career, move onsite with her husband and never look back. How can they easily give up their careers while all men think about is money and careers?<br />
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I admit I have been a culprit to some of these inequality ‘crimes’ too. But I have a lame excuse, as do all married men. It has been like this since eons. Why should it change now? Our forefathers did it for a reason and so shall we. Who are we to question the customs and traditions?<br />
<br />
Is it not time now that we start treating the fairer sex fairly because that is certainly the right thing to do?<br />
<br />
Are all you male chauvinists hearing me?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Update: I recommend reading the first chapter of <a href="http://www.superfreakonomicsbook.com/" style="color: blue;">SuperFreakonomics</a>, Putting the Freak in Economics. Especially the part where the authors describe why being born as a woman in India is a bane.</span>kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-47650631591343836362010-06-19T19:37:00.001+05:302010-06-19T19:37:57.670+05:30Traffic and me<p>Being stuck in a traffic jam is boring. And that’s when your mind takes over. Either it starts cursing your fortune or it starts planning a rebellion against the slow government actions on traffic regulation. With Pink Floyd advising, “We don’t need no education”, I actually I started thinking that education is not worth taking if you are not going to apply it. You may be a senior manager in a big conglomerate but if you cannot apply your education to help solve societal problems, then it’s not worth getting educated. Because then you would just be “Another brick in the wall”, with no purpose and wasted money on education.</p> <p>Interestingly I was able to observe a lot during the traffic jam today on my way to office. The traffic policemen were there, trying to regulate traffic as efficiently as possible. But what they do not think or understand is that you should be trying to prevent traffic jams. I saw a certain number of policemen arrive on the scene after the jam became unmanageable. We are talking about the daily traffic jams near Hinjewadi IT park in Pune and on all roads leading to it. In an effort to regulate traffic, they started whistling and waving their hands to make the traffic move. What was not clear to them is that waving hands was not going to make the traffic move any faster. Everyone wants to reach office and are travelling in the right direction so waving hands to edge the traffic in the right direction is no help.</p> <p>Crossroads and no-common-sense vehicle drivers are the major source of traffic jams. Rather I would say that we, as vehicle drivers, are the major cause of traffic jams. Let me give an example from today’s traffic jam. By the time I reached the tail of the traffic jam, the vehicle line was already around 200 mts long. During the start of office hours, the oncoming traffic is usually minimal. Though it was tempting to break lanes and go down the wrong lane and reach office fast, I decided not to. As an educated citizen who wished to use his education, I thought if I went down the wrong lane, I would be causing an even worse jam. I don’t think anyone was thinking on the same lines as mine. Because I could see all vehicles breaking lanes and causing even more jam further up on the road. The more time I spent waiting for the jam to clear, the more inclined I became to strangle the necks of those who did not understand the simple reason behind why you should not break lanes. If your normal two lanes of office traffic changes to three, then you leave less room for oncoming traffic to go. As a result, the oncoming traffic then starts breaking lanes to go from two to three. Thus, you see an example of a classic deadlock where nobody goes nowhere. And this leads to a even bigger jam. All those breaking lanes, were majorly and interestingly IT professionals who are amongst the highest paid professionals in India and supposed to be educated enough to be part of big conglomerates. A deadlock is a software concept that has been studied by IT professionals during their college education but they cannot seem apply the same to real life. It has been rightly said in the movie 3 Idiots, that “we are well-trained but not well-educated”. We are <i>trained to become</i> a professional but not educated enough to <i>be </i>a professional. It’s sad to know that parents spend so much money on their child’s education but they forget to teach them how to use it.</p> <p>Though it’s sad to know that the Indian education system may not change overnight, but the need to apply your education should be an immediate change that any thinking citizen can practice.</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-22214115496130394422009-10-18T19:50:00.001+05:302009-10-18T19:50:35.584+05:30Beckham detained at LA airport<p>I imagine the Queen would now shoot off a strongly worded letter to the President of US for <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Beckham-detained-at-LA-airport-for-three-hours/articleshow/5136637.cms">detaining a very popular star of England</a>. And then all hell would break loose over why Beckham was detained? Was it a publicity stunt? Or a case of mistaken identity? Or was it the meticulousness of the airport security of the US that has prevented any terrorist attack on its soil after 9/11?</p> <p>Get the drift, Mr. SRK?</p> _______________________________________________________________ <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Ride your thoughts by commenting.</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-76888706161394708922009-10-03T00:19:00.001+05:302009-10-03T00:19:31.543+05:30Mont Blanc and Gandhi<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8287754.stm">The famous pen maker, Mont Blanc, has decided to honor Gandhiji</a> (Link Thanks: <a href="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~gmalik">Gagan Malik</a>) by producing a special series of hand-made fountain pens, which will be worth $25000 each. Only 241 pens will be produced to honor the number of miles that Gandhiji had walked during Dandi March. Also the pen will come with a 8 metre golden thread which can be wound around the pen, representing the spindle and cotton that Gandhiji used.</p> <p>What disturbs me is that a Consumer “Education” board in Kerala has filed a lawsuit saying that the company is defiling Gandhi’s name and using him a “poster” boy. I cannot help but wonder what the board teaches the consumer about consuming. We honor the Father of the Nation by not going to work and declaring a holiday. A German company decides to honor him by producing something that will in some way add to economy. Part of the sales proceeds will go to the charity run by Gandhiji’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi. Aren’t those proceeds going to help some poor family in some way or the other? The German company is doing what is does best, making pens and through that means is trying to honor the Father of some other Nation. Are we so faith-blind to even respect the sentiments of non-Indians?</p> <p>Its true that a German company decides to make money by using his name. But why is it being considered in a deprecating sense? The chief of Mont Blanc says about the values that Gandhiji lived by and taught. Interesting is the fact that the comments come from Germans whose past is fraught with violence. Its time we left behind the petty issues and started to look at the bigger picture.</p> <p>Makes you wonder why there are so many pending cases with the judicial courts at all levels.</p> <p>_______________________________________________________________ <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Ride your thoughts by commenting.</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i></p> <p><i><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></i> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:2b587d6b-0c19-4887-9145-55c7341296b9" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">del.icio.us Tags: <a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/Gandhiji" rel="tag">Gandhiji</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/Mont+Blanc" rel="tag">Mont Blanc</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/political+issues" rel="tag">political issues</a></div></p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-58333302149938177912009-09-27T18:48:00.001+05:302009-09-27T18:48:50.987+05:30An icing on the cake that will never be baked<p>Kapil Sibal, the Union HRD minister, recently said that, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Foreign-universities-need-to-adhere-to-quota-laws-Sibal/articleshow/5061617.cms">foreign universities need to adhere to quota laws in India</a>. I wish to vent my anger. Why would a foreign university set up its camp in India when it would be forced to choose students as per the government’s directive and not its own standards? Can India ever expect an Ivy League  college to set up its overseas campus in India if the Indian govt. imposes such restrictions on them? Yet, on the other side, the govt. is willing to give 100% ownership to the foreign universities. An icing on the cake which will never be baked. Don’t you think so?</p> <p>Is this not the right time for the govt. to loosen its stronghold on the education sector in India?</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:8550d0ae-bf89-40a9-800a-209b08fa04fb" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">del.icio.us Tags: <a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/Kapil+Sibal" rel="tag">Kapil Sibal</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/education+sector" rel="tag">education sector</a>,<a href="http://del.icio.us/popular/foreign+universities+in+India" rel="tag">foreign universities in India</a></div> _______________________________________________________________ <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Ride your thoughts by commenting.</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-60238965823327433152009-09-13T10:03:00.001+05:302009-09-13T10:04:48.974+05:30Out-of-school children declining in terms of percentage<p>Some <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Sharp-decline-in-out-of-school-children/articleshow/5003933.cms">good news in the education sector</a>. Lets see how long its lasts.</p> _______________________________________________________________ <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Ride your thoughts by commenting.</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-19884251487642077182009-09-12T23:22:00.001+05:302009-09-12T23:22:54.045+05:30Why sell weapons when all we want is peace<p>We haven’t yet and continue not to realise that it is in the interest of the US to keep the developing nations at war. Weapons market is a lucrative and a powerful market. This market has a potential of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5851XH20090906">nearly 55 billion dollars a year</a>. Though the figure seems quite low, it is nevertheless huge. US controls around 70% of this market. No wonder why it is called a super power.</p> <p>The report says that US of A’s largest customers are developing nations but what is even more noticeable in the report (link above) is that UAE is the largest customer of weapons. With one hand, US nurtures the seeds of terrorism and on the other hand, claims and aims to reduce terrorism in the world. Complex nation, is it not? And that brings me to an intuitive question. Why does a nation buy or sell weapons when all it wants is peace?</p> <p>Some would say, we do it because someone else is doing it. India buys weapons because Pakistan does. If Pakistan <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5851XH20090906">fires a missile across the border</a>, we retaliate. If Pakistan strikes a multi – billion dollar deal with Russia, we go sniffing for some arsenal in the US. They buy aircrafts, we buy anti-aircraft missiles. They buy nuclear weapons, we strike nuclear deals. We test-fire Agni III, they test-fire Mumbai. We infiltrate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Intelligence">ISI</a>, they infiltrate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_and_Analysis_Wing">RAW</a>. We spend millions on acquiring weapons that are already old-school by the time they are delivered. Meanwhile, thousands have died of hunger back home. Does it really matter to have the latest weapons?</p> <p>Do we really need weapons when all we want is peace? I don’t have the answer. Do you?</p> <p> </p> _______________________________________________________________ <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Ride your thoughts by commenting.</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-20728032864279872452009-09-12T10:50:00.001+05:302009-09-12T10:50:54.559+05:30Pakistan invites Indian bureaucracy for a debate<p>Pakistan has <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/pakistan/Rehman-Malik-invites-Chidambaram-for-an-open-debate-over-Mumbai-attacks/articleshow/4999120.cms">sent an open invite for a debate</a> on 26/11 to the entire Indian govt. Who should be chosen as a candidate representing India? PM? PM Controller (5 guess to identify who is that)? Maharastra CM?</p> <p>I just imagined something. If what Rehman Malik said about the language of the report is true, then I believe Maharastra CM will doggedly deliver his speech in Marathi for two hours pointing out the flaws in Pakistani statements. At the end, a Pakistani bureaucrat would humbly stand up, bow down and ask, “Sir, Could you please repeat everything in English or Urdu please?”. I would love to see the faces on podium as well as the audience.</p> <p>How hard headed can we be? Makes you wonder yeah?</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-45682139334474921462009-08-31T08:38:00.001+05:302009-08-31T08:38:18.272+05:30Are cows really sacred?<p>Come the month of Shravan, cows suddenly become sacred and allowed to roam free on the roads. In the other months, they are held by chains and milked dry.</p> <p>The selfish human mind seeks favors from the God by doing good deeds only during the sacred months. One of the good deeds is to let the cows roam with utmost freedom. During any other non-sacred months, many would prefer to eat beef. But later, they ask for forgiveness for their misdeeds by being good boys/girls or performing rituals.</p> <p>Human mind is funny, isn’t it?</p> <p>_______________________________________________________________ </p> <p><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Wanna ride the thoughts? Comment away!</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color ="BLUE">Twitter</color></a></span></i></p> <p></p> Blogger Labels: <a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/Come" rel="Tag">Come</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/Shravan" rel="Tag">Shravan</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/roads" rel="Tag">roads</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/chains" rel="Tag">chains</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/human" rel="Tag">human</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/deeds" rel="Tag">deeds</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/freedom" rel="Tag">freedom</a>,<a href="http://Ride the Thoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/months" rel="Tag">months</a> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-5143179394660747752009-08-27T07:12:00.001+05:302009-08-27T07:12:42.753+05:30F1 is not a sport, says govt.<p>The sports ministry has declared that <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/racing/top-stories/Formula-One-is-not-a-sport-says-sports-ministry/articleshow/4930539.cms">F1 is not a sport</a>. Motor racing cannot be considered a sport and spending money over it is considered wasted. The news item says that the govt. wishes to utilize the money on more important issues at hand. They say “it (the race) would have no impact on the development of sports in the country”. Given the history of Indian sports, I would rather not be so blatant in making a claim of impacting “other sports”. There is no other sport in India except for cricket as far as a major percentage of the population is concerned. And as far as cricket is concerned, it has got enough money to sustain itself for the next 20 – 25 years.</p> <p>JPSK sports asked for just Rs. 177 crore for hosting the event. Is it not paltry as compared to what the govt. apparently wants to <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/08/again-and-again-when-will-it-stop.html">pay (Read 656 crore) for building statues</a> (link to my post)? F1 is a rich sport and power honcho like Vijay Mallya had to look outside India to build his own Force India. Is it time for the sports ministry to wake up?</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-36121099122843483312009-08-24T22:27:00.001+05:302009-08-24T22:27:39.983+05:30Bribing to delay a child<p>My first thoughts when I read this <a href="http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/14/your-say-govt-pays-couples-to-delay-kids.htm"><font color="#0000ff">item</font></a> linked via <a href="http://www.indiauncut.com"><font color="#0000ff">IndiaUncut</font></a>, were to chuck away news item into trash. Why? First, it does not make sense economically. Second, its the tax payer’s money that is being spent. If our country wants to control the spate in the population, it needs to educate people. Not bribe them. Via education, they will be able to take decisions that would make economic sense to them and the country as well.</p> <p>Any thoughts?</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-4649543305750466322009-08-04T14:10:00.001+05:302009-08-04T14:10:59.785+05:30Again and again .. when will it stop?<div>I have been away from the blog scene for a long time. The excuse this time is my internet connection. It has not been working for a long, long time now. If I try switching to any other provider, then the story is still the same. Its heartening to hear the world is becoming small due to the Internet but I certainly haven't been feeling that for some time now.</div> <div> </div> <div>Its the news and its about the stupidity of the govt. that is bothering me right now. As a result of a lot of heavy brainstorming, the UP CM and her team has managed to come up with <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Maya-seeks-Rs-656-crore-for-statues-no-funds-for-drought-relief/articleshow/4854390.cms">this</a>. I don't need water at all. Its statues that I need to survive. The politicians will never know the drought problems faced by the common public unless they themselves face the situation, which of course they won't.</div> <div> </div> <div>My enemity is not with the chief minister or any other politician of India. I am against the system that allows such people to exercise power and implement laws and policies that throw back the country into the past. I am against the so called "Indianized democracy system" where people and their opinions do not matter. I am against the system that allows the govt. to suppress education rather than encourage.</div> <div> </div> <div>The country still functions and continues to prosper despite all that I or we say and criticize. Makes you wonder whether you are wrong or they? Yeah?</div> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-5824925476764692532009-07-02T07:01:00.003+05:302009-07-02T07:12:40.337+05:30The Toaster Project<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Here is an interesting piece of "research" by Thomas Thwaites. Its called the <a href="http://www.thomasthwaites.com/thomas/toaster/page2.htm">The Toaster Project</a> (Link via Freakonomics blog).</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">In this research, he is trying to make a toaster all by himself by first searching for all the raw materials. Now if you did not know, raw materials include iron, plastic, etc. Iron has to be mined. Plastic has to be chemically produced. You need to mold the iron produced to bring it to shape of a toaster or a wire. It is an interesting read. I quote a line below from the article</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Verdana; line-height: 18px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"></span></span></i></span></p><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"><blockquote>I think our position is ambiguous - the scale of industry involved in making a toaster [etc.] is ridiculous but at the same time the chain of discoveries and small technological developments that occurred along the way make it entirely reasonable.</blockquote></span></i></span><i></i><p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">What he says is absolutely true.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">______________________________<wbr>______________________________<wbr>______________</span></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Ride your thoughts by commenting on the post.</span></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Follow me on <span style="color: rgb(46, 75, 222); "><a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(28, 81, 168); "><span style="color: rgb(46, 75, 222); ">Twitter</span></a></span></span></i></p>kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-41526667724469749802009-06-30T10:04:00.001+05:302009-06-30T10:04:38.570+05:30Calling back "phoren" academics<div>Reading this <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/UGC-plans-to-get-foreigners-to-teach-in-Indian-varsities/articleshow/4586437.cms" target="_blank"><font color="#3366ff">news</font></a> piece, I am quite happy that atleast the govt. is doing something to offer these "phoren" academics some incentive to return back to our country. But merely offering them the right package and position is not going to be enough. In order to bring them back to the country where education is not a priority, they will have to be offered more than money. Although the news piece does claim that the UGC has received "hundreds of emails" enquiring about opportunities in teaching profession, I am sure once the finances improve abroad, they would make a beeline for the phoren shores.</div> <div> </div> <div>The only way to retain them is to provide an environment that is conducive to education. Reservation has to go. <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Union-Cabinet-59-ministers-to-take-oath-today/articleshow/4583393.cms" target="_blank"><font color="#3366ff">Arjun Singh has been left out of the Cabinet ministry</font></a> which is good news. One hell of a good news. But that does not mean the reservation law will be reverted by the new govt. who won votes because of its pro-poor and "pro-castism" policies. But atleast no other bull shit law will come from the tainted mind. Coming back to the point, if reservation is removed, we will see a spate of eligible, intelligent, willing and satisfied student communities who will gain positions in the colleges based on merit and not on caste, donation etc. </div> <div> </div> <div>Only then will the academics think of contributing to the knowledge base of India. Only then will the academics consider Indian universities to be worth their knowledge and experience. Until then you cannot expect them to leave the havens of knowlede and moolah.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-23757421675158176992009-06-30T07:41:00.002+05:302009-06-30T07:59:36.220+05:30<div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Day before yesterday, I went to a cinema hall to watch a movie called New York. The movie can be deemed “watchable” once. But it is not extraordinary and tends to project the Americans as heroes which is not entirely justified. I am not writing a review on the movie. My post is related to what happened before the movie.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">My wife and me headed for the main entrance of the cinema hall, holding the tickets in our hand. Due to the 26/11 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mumbai</span> attacks, security has been beefed up at most of the public places. So we had to pass the metal detector test. A security man with a formidable moustache, signaled me to stop. I stopped so that he could frisk me for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">WMD</span>. No, I am not exaggerating. He frisked me as if terrorists always carry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">WMD</span> or Big Visible Weapons that Kill Hundreds(<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BVWKH</span>). A cursory swish of the hand holding the metal detector proved that I was not carrying anything which must not be carried. I speak of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">BVWKH</span> here because only those kinds could have been detected in the manner in which he frisked me. I could have easily taken three to four handguns by strapping them to my legs. The person used the hand-metal detector to just check my waist. That’s it. It made me wonder whether I would remain alive to see the daylight again.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">You might have noticed that security check at airports is much higher and thorough than at places of public gathering. This happens despite the fact that people travelling in airplane would be much lesser than people in hospitals or maybe, a mall. A big mall at any time of the day would probably have around 1000 people roaming around. Though terrorist strikes won't come at a time when the damage is low, so you can expect them to strike such public places on a Sunday, holiday or some day designated by a cleric as the day of rebellion. So why isn't the security even tighter here? Is the hijacking of the planes the only mode of terrorist strike that needs to be taken care of. Whenever there is a terror alert, you hear in the news that security was beefed up at the airports. But what about other parts of the nation where protection is required. Do we employ extra personnel? Are more police allocated on patrols? I have many reasons to doubt that this never happens. Its only the common, innocent public who dies. Not the politicians. Those are bodies which are heavily protected even though they are worth a cent. Why am I saying this? Have you ever heard a politician die in a blast except of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Rajiv</span> Gandhi? Yes, I agree they need security since they are the "rulers" of India. But is it not their duty so form guidelines for implementation of greater security controls in the country?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Another thing that piqued me was that my beautiful wife was not touched at all. No frisking, no touching. Doesn't terrorism have women's rights bill? Is it that our country allows women to become terrorist in the name of women's reservation? Why do we not have a lady being frisked? When I posed this question to my wife, she said only security lady can touch her. Not a male. Amongst the fits of laughter that I had in reply to that answer, I could not help but wonder about the Indian culture of security <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">personnel. There is a decree in the books of Indian culture that a lady shall not be touched by a male hand unless she is allowed by a priest. In other words, she is touchable only after marriage. Would it not make women a safe haven for terrorists operating in India? I have seen this happen in my wife's company. Thought IT services companies like hers do not allow people to carry their own laptops into the office due to client legality reasons. Her friend actually carried her laptop into the company and because she was a lady and there was no female security lady, her bag was not checked. Wow! Is that not discrimination? Do we need to come out with a men's reservation bill soon?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"></span>Makes you wonder ne? </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p></span><div>____________________________________________________<br /><i><span style="font-size:78%;">Wanna ride the thoughts? Comment away!</span></i><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size:78%;">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><color="blue">Twitter</color="blue"></a></span></i></div>kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-49547912327337632082009-06-27T10:39:00.003+05:302009-06-27T10:45:06.201+05:30I remember him as the one who "pissed" off<div>Whenever <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Thackeray-remembers-Michael-Jackson/articleshow/4706573.cms">he</a> goes to pee in his own home's bathroom, he is reminded of the greatest pop star of all time. Yeah. He must be thinking here is another one who did not know my regional language and peed in my bathroom. How despicable! He must not be allowed in my region again. How dare he sing in English when he is clearly performing in my region.</div>____________________________________________________<br /><i><span style="font-size:78%;">Wanna ride the thoughts? Comment away!</span></i><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size:78%;">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets">Twitter</a></span></i>kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-78017358376526673682009-06-24T21:46:00.001+05:302009-06-24T21:46:14.369+05:30Young MPs, you say?<p>Have a look at the statistics quoted in the Business India, June 14th edition.</p> <blockquote> <p><em><font color="#800000">Number of MPs in the 1<sup>st</sup> Lok Sabha who were in the age group of 25 – 40: <strong>112</strong></font></em></p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <p><em><font color="#800000">Number of MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha who were in the age group of 25 – 40: <strong>79</strong></font></em></p> </blockquote> <p>Numbers don’t lie. Our parliament is growing old. Whether we require young politicians or not is still debatable. But that we require educated and guilt-free ones, is certainly not debatable. It is in fact, a dire need. A need much greater than age. An interesting statistic or information would be the genuine degrees held by all the parliamentarians. It should be interesting. Though education would not classify them as good politicians but the probability of them turning out to be successful and country-development-centric would be high. Do you think so?</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-21974666314429415132009-06-23T10:44:00.000+05:302009-06-23T10:45:17.491+05:30Technology usage needs education<div>The subject of my post is this <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Txt-ur-cop-campaign-a-hit-in-Chennai/articleshow/4689862.cms">news item</a> on TOI. Chennai police has introduced a novel system to allow civlians to "text" them their grievances/suggestions etc.</div> <div> </div> <div>To receive complaints via message, phone, post or email is one thing. But acting upon them is another. Not criticizing every good initiative by the government, this does seem like a good idea. But do all cops know English? Or do they understand Hindi? Are all cops adequately educated to respond to English text messages? The reason why I raise this questions is because if the text message received is interpreted wrongly due to poor language skills of the cop, then we are in for chaos and wasted effort. As such we have limited a police force who cannot provide security to almost 100 cricket professionals, so wasted efforts in misinterpretations is certainly not desired.</div> <div> </div> <div> <div>Cops in Maharastra atleast would prefer not to speak in Hindi or for that matter, anything other than Marathi. Will texting them in English, most preferred language on phones, make any difference? Or will MNS require the text messages to be in Marathi only in order to warrant action?</div> </div> <div> </div> <div>For the sake of information, all state goverments as well as the central government have grievance cells to act upon civilian grievances. If these cells were efficient enough, would so many PILs or RTI cases arise so frequently? I am not entitled to throw guesses about the efficacy of our govt. but one cannot help but express.</div> <div> </div> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-67782051376072820742009-06-22T10:36:00.001+05:302009-06-22T10:36:44.857+05:30Winds of Change yeah?<div>Amazingly the BJP party heads are now starting to realize that religion politics won't work. It cost them 5 years. Can it still afford to go on the Hindutva bandwagon? Its never too late to get rid of the rot. Mr. Advani, before your second leg ends up in the grave, please use your rational thought to atleast change the way the minorities think about you. And yes, you cannot prevent <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tweak-Hindutva-BJP-leaders-told/articleshow/4684468.cms">"any narrow, bigoted, anti-Muslim interpretation"</a> unless you get rid of the fundamental problem which is your Hindutva policy. Divisive politics won't work anymore, as proved.</div> <div> </div> <div>Yeah. The headlines in the TOI have the right text "Tweak-Hindutva-BJP-leaders-told". Tweak, they say. Witty ain't it?</div> <div> </div> <div>Makes you wonder what makes politics tick in our country.</div> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-5353182774299226212009-06-21T10:18:00.001+05:302009-06-21T10:18:36.139+05:30Why Sunday?<p>Its Sunday today and I thought why is it called that. Easy answer. Its the day of the sun. Have a look <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/04/mms-say-he-can-revive-economy-in-100.html">here</a> at the Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday"><font color="#0000ff">page</font></a>. Its clear from the page that Sunday can be considered either the start of the week or end. But I prefer it to be called the end. Why? A good time does not have a happy end. Neither does weekend. Why? Because you don’t want the good time to end. That makes you unhappy because time does not wait for you. So Sunday definitely is the end of week for me.</p> <p>Enjoy your day while it lasts.</p> <p>Adios.</p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611398059042633707.post-63233186635746970802009-06-20T19:15:00.001+05:302009-06-20T19:15:08.849+05:30Testing a Windows Live Writer plugin<p>Downloaded a plugin to add templates to a post automatically. Test post. I created a template which is my signature. You may signatures added to my earlier posts. But in the recent posts, you might not be able to see it since I had been posting using my Windows Live Writer. Now I just realized that the signature did not get posted. So <a href="http://ridethethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/04/mms-say-he-can-revive-economy-in-100.html">here</a> it is.</p> <p>___________________________________________________ <i><span style="font-size: 10px">Wanna ride the thoughts? Comment away!</span></i> <br /><i><span style="font-size: 10px">Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kashtweets"><font color="#0000ff">Twitter</font></a></span></i></p> kashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10626035741682855080noreply@blogger.com0