Baba's words

An appeal to Anna Hazare

2011-04-06T14:43:00.000+05:30

Dear Anna,

I am writing this post to make you aware that you are wasting your time and life for the people of this country. Why are you doing this?

A person has to live with bribe in India - from birth till death. We can't simply avoid it. As soon as a child is born, the bribe one has to pay for getting his/her birth certificate is a warm welcome to this country. Not to forget, once someone dies, we have to get the death certificate by paying bribe again. It's from birth till death here. Anna, How can you expect to change this?

We take pride in getting our work done fast by paying some amount to Govt officials and we also tell the world that' "I didn't stand in the line, I got my work done sitting home." We are so proud of this bribe culture, how can you make us change? Don't let us feel ashamed of ourselves by not paying bribes to Govt officials. Anna, Please don't take our pride away.

When a policeman stops an errant driver on the highways or city roads, he is doing good for a family, his family. The policeman takes bribe so that he can take good care of his family at home. What's wrong in that? In fact, what's wrong if that erratn driver kills some innocent people on the road accidently. We should be and are proud of our corrupt police force! Anna, Why you're taking our pride away?

It's with joy that we tell everyone that,"I got my passport in 15 days." Do you know how much effort goes to get it as fast? Do you know the "Joy of Giving"? Every Indian (mind you when I say 'Every') pays some money for the police station's hawaldars to 'Give them Joy' so that they can share your happiness when your police clearance gets through. You can't get your passport without the Joy of Giving! Anna, Why are you taking away our happiness?

To get a Govt contract, we have to make sure that the concerned officers are treated well. What's wrong in that? If someone gives you a gift, won't you accept it happily? Its sheer love and affection. Anna, Why are you taking away our love and affection?

It takes a huge effort to make things like Common Wealth Games happen in a 'Developing Country' like India. Do you know how much money and efforts went into making the game successful in New Delhi? Do you know how many 'extra miles' the officials went to get the games going in such a wonderful manner? You don't Anna! You really don't know anything.

So please stop worrying about us Indians. We are really very happy with our way of life. We are happy giving bribes and it's in our blood. Our generations have lived with this and we can't change for anyone. We're ok if our children or elderly die on roads due to errant drivers who have paid brives to get the driver's license. We're ok if our next generations get filthy roads and infrastructure. We're ok if India gets rotten with the contribution of corrupt Govt officials.

We're Indians! We are proud of the rampant corruption going on in the country. We are happy to talk about corruption in airconditioned rooms, offices and hotels. To be on the roads, someone needs to be a fool like you Anna! A fool who has for, some reason still the love for India alive in him and a fool who cares for a billion people.

An Indian

India's FIRST Supermart on Facebook!

2011-03-21T07:57:00.004+05:30

Now Indians can buy fresh fruits and vegetables while they talk to their friends in Facebook. Yes! That's true!!!

These Farm2Kitchen guys have taken the grocery shopping to a next level in India. They have a shopping option on their Facebook Fan Page where the fans can start shopping directly without visiting their site (farm2kitchen.com).

This is indeed a great way of shopping for the people who like to utilize their time more effectively. I mean, just imagine if you can shop for your vegetables and fruits while being logged into Facebook!

All you got to do is be a fan of Farm2Kitchen Facebook Page and visit the link 'SHOP' in the menu to start shopping for your kitchen needs!

Check out their Facebook Fan Page by clicking the below image. You won't be disappointed for sure!

Now shop for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Online in Gurgaon City

2011-02-13T21:02:00.002+05:30

The world is changing with evolution of technology and time is becoming more n more previous for everyone in today's world.

The Indian Women of today are not an exception to this and to help these women, a site called Farm2Kitchen.com is now delivering fresh vegetables and fruits online in Gurgaon City.

These guys are having some interesting options to choose for. They have categories like "Automatic Delivery" which allows anyone to shop for his/her frequent needs in the kitchen just once and these guys take care of delivering the same to your doorstep for any number of weeks you want! Now that's real convenience, especially for the busy generation of today who hate to go to shopping malls just to shop for weekly needs of vegetables and fruits in the kitchen.

They also have a category called "Pregnancy Special" and this caters to the pregnant women in the millennium city. We all know that a pregnant woman has special nutrition needs. These guys have made this category nicely so as to take care of all the special needs like folic acid, calcium, proteins etc.; which are essential for a pregnant woman.

They also promise to delivery FRESH produce from local farmers and are assure 100% satisfaction on all their produce available on sale.

This kind of service is a revolution for the busy people in Gurgaon who have to manage their time effectively and looks like this Farm2Kitchen stuff might be helpful to cater to the busy and tech savvy people of Gurgaon City.

Spare 13 minutes of your life listening to Sunitha please.

2010-11-21T23:47:00.001+05:30

What kind of Story do you want? (Indian Journalism - The Real Face)

2010-11-19T01:46:00.007+05:30

Earlier today Open Magazine posted audio conversations tapes between Nira Radia (corporate lobbyist ) and Barkha Dutt (NDTV Journalist) on their website. Openmagazine page isn’t accessible due to heavy traffic but somehow DholiBaba managed brief content from their site.

I am not a journalist and neither I have taken the "ठेका" to "सुधार" this country. I have always tried to speak up my mind here (no matter if it matters to anyone) and I stick to that. This is my personal space and only you're responsible for your irresponsible behaviour after reading my posts.

While reading current affairs on the internet today, I came across this 'emerging story' where the top journalists (or powerbrokers?) are trying to 'fix' things for politicians and corporates. It's interesting to read if you wanna know what kind of people are 'Breaking the News' on TV and everywhere else in India.

Disclaimer: Dholibaba does not claim if the tapes/transcripts are genuine or not & neither he is associated with any political party. I got these transcripts from Open Magazine’s website and some search on the internet with the help of available search tools (I am an IT guy after all!).

If you're from Open Magazine and feel that I should get this post removed, I will be more than happy to do that. I respect your copyrights! Just drop me a mail.

If you're Barkha Dutt or anyone from NDTV, I am not responsible for anything you read here. I have just tried to share it with fellow Indians as the Open Magazine servers crashed sometime ago. I have nothing to do with these tapes and the transcripts and am not a forensic expert to tell you that the tapes are genuine!

Background of the story:

As talks between the DMK and Indian National Congress (‘them’) broke down over joining the Government in May 2009, Nira Radia (don't know if she is a Ms or Mrs) was actively involved in opening channels between the two parties through, among others, television journalist Barkha Dutt.

Link for Audio Tapes:

http://bit.ly/dnwUGJ

http://bit.ly/dwwlMv

http://bit.ly/bjzltz

http://bit.ly/9jE0Cm

http://bit.ly/aZ35ms

The below conversations (which you can also hear in the above tapes) took place between Nira Radia and Barkha Dutt of NDTV.

Transcripts of the conversations:

DATE 22 May 2009 TIME 09:48:51

RADIA: Hi, did I wake you up?

BARKHA: No, no, no. I’ve been up, ya, most of the night. The stalemate continues, yaa.

RADIA: Yeah. Listen, the thing is that they need to talk to him directly. That is what the problem is.

BARKHA: Haan so, apparently PM’s really pissed off that they went public.

RADIA: But that’s Baalu’s doing, naa… he was not instructed by Karunanidhi to do that.

BARKHA: Oh, he wasn’t?

RADIA: This is not. He was told to come away and tell Congress that.

BARKHA: And he went public

RADIA: Well, the media… media, the media was standing outside.

BARKHA: Oh God. So now what? What should I tell them? Tell me what should I tell them?

RADIA: I’ll tell you what it is—the problem and I have had a long chat with both his wife and with the daughter right

…

BARKHA: Haan, haan.

RADIA: The problem is if the Congress has a problem with Baalu, if they have no problem with anyone. They need and go talk to Karunanidhi. They have very good relationship with Karunanidhi directly.

BARKHA: Correct, haan.

RADIA: Because you see, in front of Baalu, in front of Maran, they can’t talk.

BARKHA: Yeah

RADIA: So they have to tell him directly, there [are] enough Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu. They need to go in and tell him exactly—the biggest problem is that the following of Alagiri is saying that you cannot give [inaudible] a cabinet [inaudible] and keep Alagiri in the MoS state.

BARKHA: That’s right. But will Karuna drop Baalu?

RADIA: He… look, if you tell him that Baalu is the only problem. I would imagine, he will drop him.

BARKHA: But you see the problem right now is also over the choice of portfolios, naa…

RADIA: No. They’ve not said anything. The portfolios have not even got discussed.

BARKHA: Congress claims, for whatever it’s worth, that the DMK wanted surface transport, power, IT, telecom, railways and health.

…

RADIA: You see, you see my honest advice…

BARKHA: Yeah.

RADIA: ..is that you tell them that they need to tell him directly that we are happy because Kani’s [Kanimozhi, DMK Chief Karunanidhi’s daughter] got no issue being about independent. But Alagiri is now telling her that you cannot take an independent charge if Maran remains cabinet minister.

BARKHA: I see.

RADIA: And Congress is sending messages through media and through various sources, saying that. And Maran is telling everyone that he is the only acceptable person.

BARKHA: Person, yeah, yeah, yeah. That I know.

RADIA: But that’s not correct, naa?

BARKHA: No, I know. We’ve taken that off. We’ve taken that off.

…

BARKHA: Also, but, but the Congress needs to tell Karunanidhi that we have not said anything about Maran.

BARKHA: Okay. Let me talk to them again.

RADIA: Yeah? The choice of candidate we will leave to you. We have some reservation about Baalu. And let them tell the reservation. And we have not said anything about Maran. We are not talking

+++

In another telecon, Barkha Dutt offers Niira Radia the assurance that she is on the job as a reliable go-between

“That’s not a problem, I’ll talk to Azad. I’ll talk to Azad right after I get out of RCR” —BARKHA DUTT

DATE 22 May 2009 TIME 10:47:33

BARKHA: Haan, Niira?

RADIA: Barkha, what I’m told is that the Congress yesterday, apparently, God knows who they are talking to in the DMK.

BARKHA: Haan, well must be Maran…

RADIA: Relayed—no, they relayed that the infrastructure portfolio should not be given to Maran or Baalu.

BARKHA: No, that’s because they want to keep it for themselves.

RADIA: No, they wanted to; they didn’t want any infrastructure, that’s what Prime Minister said, so he said that’s why they give him labour, fertiliser, chemical—and telecom, IT, they said for Raja. So what has happened is, is that message not relayed to Karunanidhi?

BARKHA: Oh I see!

RADIA: They might have told some minion down the line or told Maran who is not relaying the truth.

BARKHA: I think they have told Maran.

RADIA: Yeah, now what they need to do is, they need to speak to Kani so she can set up the discussion with her father, because even the Prime Minister’s discussion was … she was the one who’s translating, and it was a very brief discussion for two minutes.

BARKHA: Okay.

RADIA: That we’ll try and work it out, and the let’s not you know take it a hasty easy decision. That’s the type of conversation that happened.

BARKHA: No, I’ll set it up as soon as they get out of RCR.

RADIA: What she saying is that, you know, that someone senior like Ghulam [Nabi Azad, senior Congress leader]—because he is the one who is authorised to speak. ….

BARKHA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

RADIA: Right? Was to speak to her then she can tell her father that I have got this message from the Congress.

BARKHA: Theek hai, not a problem. That’s not a problem, I’ll talk to Azad—I’ll talk to Azad right after I get out of RCR [Race Course Road, presumably, the PM’s residence].

RADIA: Yeah, and then she said when father lands, I can speak to him.

BARKHA: Okay.

+++

The two conversationalists touch base again

“I’ve had a long chat, I had a long chat, and they promised me that Azad will speak to her” —BARKHA DUTT

DATE 22 May 2009 TIME 15:31:29

RADIA: They will speak to her?

BARKHA: Yeah.

RADIA: Who? Ghulam?

BARKHA: Ghulam. Yeah.

RADIA: You know, the problem is she’s catching a flight at five haan, going back. Dayanidhi Maran is attending the swearing in when only Raja has been authorised to attend, so he’s gone and told his leader that Ahmed Patel has told me especially to attend the swearing in.

BARKHA: Ahmed says this is rubbish …

RADIA: But I am telling you but this. Karunanidhi’s very confused.

BARKHA: No, but why can’t Kani stay also and attend it?

RADIA: She doesn’t want to attend no because her father told her to come back. She has to follow what she’s father says, no. Call Ghulam then.

BARKHA: Let me call him.

RADIA: She’s leaving at five. She’s catching a flight at five.

+++

Niira Radia and Barkha Dutt discuss cabinet composition possibilities—with Raja’s inclusion or non-inclusion the big question

“I am telling you, nahin hai. Trust me. Nahin hai” —NIIRA RADIA

DATE 22 May 2009 TIME time 18:09:06

BARKHA: No, you see Congress’s condition is Baalu should not get surface transport. Not Baalu, DMK should not get surface transport, beyond individuals right?

RADIA: Correct, correct, and they are not individuals. Let me tell you one thing’s for sure, 3 plus 4 was yesterday; because of Maran, they wanted to make it 4 plus 3.

BARKHA: Okay!

RADIA: So, now it is back to 3 plus 4 that was already worked on the table?

BARKHA: No, so why does this formula not sound right then?

RADIA: Because of Alagiri naa, if you make Alagiri… not cabinet. No, he’s not got cabinet.

BARKHA: Oh, Alagiri got what, according to these things?

RADIA: You see, according to her, he’s got Health, but he can’t be cabinet. Either Maran is not cabinet, either Raja is not cabinet or Baalu’s not.

BARKHA: Alagiri’s got Health and that’s a big compromise by Congress because they said we won’t give them Health. So that’s their face saver. No, but Alagiri, Health can be cabinet?

RADIA: Agreed, but then Raja is MoS.

BARKHA: Raja is MoS!

RADIA: Then is Baalu MoS?

BARKHA: Nahin ho sakta. Nahin, nahin, nahin, if Baalu gets the Heavy Industries and Alagiri is in the Fertiliser, according to …. Baalu gets Fertilizer; Alagiri gets this thing, Health.

RADIA: Maran gets Telecom and IT.

BARKHA: Maran gets Telecom and IT. Raja gets demoted.

RADIA: Who gets…?

BARKHA: Raja. Nahin hoga?

RADIA: I am telling you nahin hai (laughing). Trust me, nahin hai.

BARKHA: Achcha, theek hai.

+++

In yet another telecon, Barkha Dutt explains her situation to Niira Radia

“Everybody I know in the Congress was at the swearing-in, so I haven’t been able to speak with the top guys, and now I just finished and I am going to make my set of calls” BARKHA DUTT

DATE 22 May 2009 TIME 19:23:57

BARKHA: You see, what happened was everybody I know in the Congress was at the swearing in, so I haven’t been able to speak with the top guys, and now I just finished and I am going to make my set of calls.

RADIA: Kani just landed in Chennai. Just now. I just spoke…

BARKHA: Where is Daya? Where is Maran?

RADIA: Daya didn’t turn up for the swearing in because he was called back, because he went and told Karunanidhi that I have been asked by Ahmed Patel to come for the swearing in. But the leader said then you join the Congress.

BARKHA: (laughs) So now?

RADIA: So Raja was the only one who’s authorised to attend which he’s done and Raja’s catching the 8:40 flight…

BARKHA: Okay

---------------------------------------------

You can also read about famous journalist Vir Sanghavi's conversation with Nira Radia at the link below (I hope the Open Magazine site is up by this time).

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/what-kind-of-story-do-you-want

---------------------------------------------

I tried to check the Open Magazine site but I got the below:

My State Dinner - Part II (Grand Finale)

2010-11-15T20:22:00.004+05:30

Now that you know what all happened in the first hour of my stay at the Bhavan, it’s time for me to tell you the remaining part. So here it comes – My State Dinner Part II.

Ok for you all who think that the dinner was just to welcome the US President, hold on! There were a few other reasons to celebrate India on that night. The first one was the successful completion of the Common ‘Wealth’ Games and the second one the successful auction of the 2G Spectrum in India! What more can an Indian ask for? Celebrating two of the most successful events in the history of Independent India. There have been a lot of events in the history of India before this but these two stand out as these events are showcasing India’s power (whatever that means) to the whole world.

( DholiBaba seen here with Mr and Mrs. Obama and Mr. Manmohan Singh )

The Great Kalamadi and The King ‘Raja’ were the center of attention at the dinner table. Oh Yes! The dinner table was a huge one – which could easily accommodate at least 300 guets at one go. Later I came to know that the Presidential Palace had ‘purchased’ it at an auction of the ‘remains’ of the ‘Games Village’! The center table was much talked about at the gathering. Everyone was wondering how Kalmadi and his team ‘imported’ the ‘special’ wood which was used to manufacture the table. Everyone rose to the occasion and a toast was the starting point of the dinner. A successful completion of such a big event without a pinch of corruption was a matter of pride for everyone present there. I could see Mr.Kalmadi laughing (all the way to his bank account) & cheering everyone. I never expected but the cheering was carried out by some ‘cheerleaders’ specially imported from the US. Yes! They were from the ‘Washington Redskins Cheerleaders’ group which was hired by Vijay Mallya for his IPL team a couple of years ago. The cheerleaders got the guests ‘going’ and swing to the latest Bollywood numbers.

One favorite song among the guests was, “Munni Badnaam Hui ….”. It was simple for me to understand the reason behind it. Everyone else (except Kalmadi) were replacing ‘Munni’ with ‘Dilli’ while gyrating their pelvis to the item number. The sheer joy and happiness was sponsored by none other than the King of Good Times – Mallya! I can see the pride in his eyes. First cause the same cheerleaders which enhanced his team’s appeal were gracing the occasion and second, the sheer joy of seeing KingFisher rule everywhere.

While all this was happening, I could see Mr and Mrs Obama having a good time together. And yes, Michelle was the tallest (man) at the gathering! She was wearing some handicrafts she had bought in the afternoon from one of the ‘Handicraft Mela’ organized specially for the Obamas. She loved it and her love for her wardrobe was visible in her sparkling eyes. Barack was also chilled out so I thought why not have a word with him. There was my moment in the history (of my life) – me standing next to Mr. President of the United (48) States of America. America – which was ‘discovered’ by a guy called ‘Columbus’ after he missed his bus and took a boat to roam around the world.

As I went to Mr. Obama, he welcomed me with a smile. I didn’t tell him that I have a history (good one - at least I can say that and a few others say so) in IT Industry, else he would have completely ignored me (for reasons well known). I introduced him myself as – “Anand Dholi: Just another Indian who feels proud of the ‘Adarsh’ with which we successfully completed the Common ‘Wealth’ Games.” I was curious to know how a simple (?) man can be the president of America. I was curious to know his vision about ‘World Peace’ (I knew it was not any Miss World/Universe pageant where all the participants are worried about their makeup and ‘World Peace’). So I asked and apt came the reply “Yes! We can!!!”. To which I said in my mind, “कर तो हम भी सकते है!”. When I asked him to explain more about his ‘Can’ word, I guess he was confused with my pronunciation (me being schooled in Marathi medium all my life) and said that ‘Coca-Cola’ was on the right hand side of the dinner table. Without further delay, I said bye to him and moved on.

The surprise of the dinner was Rahul Gandhi sitting next to an old man called L K Advani. I was just wondering what they must be discussing while sitting next to each other. One guess was – How the East meets West? How can they screw up Mayawati’s plan of becoming the next PM of India, considering the old man was never able to fulfill his dream of a lifetime all these 85 years and the younger one hopes to become the PM one day. But I couldn't make any further guesses into their discussion as their age difference was huge!

I could see another old man called Krishna (MEA and not MA as in "Agneepath") making some notes. I think he was preparing himself to talk to the American President about our beloved neighbor. The sheer anger I could see in his eyes was not for the issues with our neighbor but the chicken that had been served to him. I guess he was not happy with the preparation and I saw him calling one of the ‘Chefs’ and explaining how he should make notes before preparing anything. Then there was the King – RAJA! He looked like one. Any ‘G’ (be it ‘Games’ or ‘2G’) is a hot topic at any political gatherings and the sheer joy of being at the center can only be felt by people like Raja. I was very happy to see that Raja was using BSNL movile service. Made me proud cause at least they have one customer who must be happy with the services of BSNL!

Sitting at one of the corners were a lady and a gentleman, named Jaylalitha and Karunanidhi respectively. The lady was wearing one hell of an ensemble and the gentleman was flashing his goggles (you can also Google to find out the man who wears his goggles 24x7) in the dark. I guess Karunanidhi has signed a huge deal as a brand ambassador with Ray-Ban, else he wouldn’t be wearing those 'spectacular' specs all the time – even when he goes to bed! But one thing I didn’t notice was the chair in which the lady was sitting. I realized it a bit later. The chair has some huge wheels so that the guest sitting on it can be moved smoothly from one place to another.

While all this was going on, the guests heard a huge thud – like that of an earthquake. I ran to the nearest pillar hearing the same. After a few moments, we all realized that it was a guy called ‘Gad’kari (‘Gad’ means a ‘Fort’ in Marathi language) who had slipped on the floor. I have seen him slipping his tongue a few times (since he became the president of a party) but this was the first time I saw him slipping literally. The US secret service guys immediately arranged one crane to lift him up from the ground. With that kind of body, one needs a crane to get lifted for sure. The action of the secret service was quick though (I later came to know that the Delhi Police had arrived at the Bhavan next day noon cause some one really panicked after the thud and dialed ‘100’).

With the tuxedos the secret service guys were wearing at the dinner, I could hardly laugh at my ‘Jitendra’ (the Bollywood actor of yester years) getup – a white shirt and a white trouser! But then, I wanted to be just one of ‘them’.

The food was really good and I think (not sure) that the order of the dinner was placed with ‘Karims’ from Chandani Chowk. But one thing got my attention like none other. I saw two women cooking food at one of the corners. They had their ‘choolha’ made up of stoned and wood there. They were preparing some special dish for some special guest. Both the women looked like they were coming from the ‘real’ India, economically weak and deprived. Their clothes were saying that loudly. I was moved. I just went to see what they were cooking and what brought them to this gathering. When I asked them about the special food they were preparing, pat came the reply – “हम राहुलजी के लिए खाना बनावत है. उनको हमरे हाथ का खाना बहुत अच्छा लागत है!” (in Obama’s mother tongue it means, “We are preparing the food for Rahil-ji. He loves food cooked by us.”) I had no words to say & seeing Rahul-ji having food at many places on TV, I just had to move to another corner of the dinning room.

I was really amazed by the experiences that night. I got to see the cream of India - one I had never dreamt of ever seeing at one place. I was hungry so I moved to the table where all the preparations were put together. The man that I am, I was happy with my झूनका भाकर (Zoonka Bhakar – A preparation made up of Besan and Bajara Roti). I didn't try the sweets as the memories of that dinner are the sweetest thing that I will have with me forever!!!

P.S.: There is no 'Part III' of the 'My State Dinner' series as I heard that ‘Rakth Charitra’ has only 2.

My State Dinner - Part I

2010-11-15T00:52:00.014+05:30

I generally avoid dinners organized by others because I love to pay for my own dinner. But this was something different. How many times in your life will you be invited to a state dinner by ‘The President of India’?

Well, here I was. I think I was the lucky one chosen from a tough process. The President had ordered inclusion of a few ‘Common Indians’ to the State Dinner she had organized in the honor of the President of USA (अमरीका)– Mr.Barack Obama. The selection process was tough. The Income Tax Dept of India was asked to choose a few people who had struggled to get their IT Refunds back from the Govt. I being harassed by the Dept for 4 yrs suddenly was in the news for I was one of the lucky ones to get selected!

Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that I would go for a state dinner at the “Rashtrapati Bhavan”. It was once in a lifetime opportunity and I never wanted to miss it. It took me a few hours to find a white shirt and a white trouser which I thought of wearing for the dinner. The politicians like to look ‘clean’ with the white colors on and I thought if I wear something else, I would look like the odd one out. I had no other choice but to go for ‘white’. I couldn’t afford to buy a new ‘Ambassador’ car and I drove with my old Honda to the venue.

It was ‘the’ place to be that night. I mean, you guys can’t even imagine. The place, the lights, and the security – everything was like a dream or a Hollywood movie. I was sure, no trespassers would make it to the dinner unlike they do at the ‘Whitehouse’.

I was taken to the ‘Bhavan’ after I somehow managed to park my car. I went alone as I was invited alone. So don’t think that I was with ‘someone’ at the party (sorry ‘Dinner’).

As I walked through the corridor of the Bhavan, I was able to see the pictures of all our ex-Presidents and ex-PMs! What a sight that was. For once I wondered if I was visiting an Old Age Home because all the Presidents looked like they were abandoned by their families in the OLD age and then they came to power (?) as the President of India. Well, the PMs were a good sigh of relief for me. I did see all the PM’s pictures closely and was happy that apart from the gentlemen called ‘Vajpeyi’ and ‘Deve Gowda’, all other PMs were awake while their pictures were taken.

( I clicked this picture with my 'Yashica' camera! )

I was really very happy to be there. I thought I was the luckiest ‘Common’ man to be there. Then there was the moment, I was waiting for - To get introduced to the elite of Indian politics, business and cinema (these cinema buggers always jump in at any event). The person accompanying me took me to the President and proudly introduced me saying, “He wasn’t able to get his IT Refund for 4 years only.” The President smiled back and said, “कमीत-कमी तुला पैसे मिळाले तरी. इथे बर्र्याच लोकांच उभ आयुष्य निघून जात रिफंड ची वाट बघत.” (which in Obama's mothertounge means -"At least you got the money. Most people spend their lifetime waiting for the IT Refund.)

Oh Sorry, I guess you guys know that the President is a Maharashtrian (that doesn’t mean that I was the ‘chosen’ one for the dinner, I qualified cause of my IT Refund criteria only) and hearing my last name (having a look at the proud badge I was wearing – ANAND DHOLI), she could make out that I was either a Maharashtrian or an Alien with that kind of last name!

I was taken aback by the humble President. I can say that cause I had received the ‘menu’ of the dinner along with my invitation letter and it has ‘Misal Pav’ and ‘Vada Pav’ as the main course! A true Maharashtrian in every sense and a humble Indian! When the whole of Bombay lives on ‘Vada Pav’, how can the President ignore it? The ‘Vada Pav’ was from ‘Krishna Vada Pav Center’ at Dadar (West). The packing of the Vada Pav was clearly saying it.

Oh sorry, how can I move to food topic so early in my visit? Ok. Where was I? Yeah! The introduction of mine lasted for a few minutes. I almost met all of the guests. This was on my agenda so that when I go back home, I could tell all my relatives, friends, family members that I had met the who’s who of India! While being introduced to the President of USA, the guy accompanying me said, “He is Anand Dholi and he doesn’t own a flat in Adarsh Society.” The President smiled. I felt a little awkward by this cause everyone standing tall in that hall had a stake in Adarsh Society. What a shame for me! I couldn’t manage a simple flat in this esteemed society and have wasted my life renting a house all my life. I really felt like leaving the party cause I was not in the other people’s league but I couldn't, cause this was once in a lifetime opportunity for me. How could I let you all be deprived of what all I saw that night there? So I decided to stay. Just for you! My blog readers!

(Obama seen here with the 'Chefs' who had prepared the dinner that night - clicked with my 'Yashica' camera)

Ok. Now its time for me to stop and would request you to come back here in some days time. Don’t miss the second part of the series. What all I have written above is just the first 1 hour of my stay at the ‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’! I stayed there for nearly 3 hours and 55 minutes. So if you want to know what all happened later on, do come back here. Good option is to check this site every day!

If ‘Rakht Charitra’ can have a ‘Rakht Charitra-2’ (releasing on December 3^rd 2010), why can’t my blog have a post as Part 1 and 2?

Corporate Social Media - The Mistakes You Should Avoid!

2010-11-07T00:38:00.000+05:30

While reading some stuff about Corporate Social Media and its influence on today's organizations, I came across the below list of mistakes company's generally do while organizations try to travel the road to Enterprise 2.0.

Mistake 10: Overarchitecting the process. If there is one thing the consumerization of IT has taught us is that simplicity is the key to success. The social media suites are powerful and have lots of bells and whistles. If you try to use them all, the user is faced with an airplane dashboard, which is far from simple. Don't try to define collaboration, offer simple and easy-to-use mechanisms. More ornate structures will emerge if needed.

Mistake 9: Going it alone. Enterprise 2.0 and social media are hot, hot, hot. IT departments are rightly leading the way in promoting adoption. But when a social media suite gets dumped on business users who have had no input, success rarely follows. The same thing is true when business users attempt to get collaboration going on consumer software without consulting IT. Both IT staff and businesspeople must work together.

Mistake 8: Lack of executive sponsorship. Getting a budget approved is one thing. Getting hundreds or thousands of people to change the way they do their jobs won't happen without a clear message from the top. If adoption of social media is seen as optional, it will not happen. Only executives can make clear that change is required.

Mistake 7: Failing to establish a starting point. Improving business outcomes is the ultimate goal of Enterprise 2.0. To tell whether an internal social media implementation has worked, you must know where you are starting from. How long does it take to do the important tasks? How frustrated are users with internal tools? If you measure at the beginning, you can tell if the implementation worked.

Mistake 6: Failing to establish specific goals. In most companies, key activities such as creating proposals, resolving customer complaints and creating designs for new products all have a collaborative element. Users will wonder why a social media platform is adopted unless you explain that the goal is something they can clearly understand, such as cutting the time and expense of creating a proposal in half or making sure 95 customer complaints are resolved in 24 hours.

Mistake 5: Not communicating with users. Throwing a social media platform at a company is rarely effective. When IT departments go it alone, this often happens. The arrival of new ways of collaboration must be accompanied by detailed explanations of what is expected of everyone involved. The explanations must not just be training but must be part of the user interface so that people can get answers while using the new technology. In addition, users must be able to ask questions, make suggestions and get a response.

Mistake 4: Not setting clear expectations with executives. Senior management may expect 100% adoption of a new platform when 60% adoption might be the most that can be expected given the roles of the company. Adoption goals and other measures of success must be mapped out in advance with executives so that a victory doesn't accidentally look like a defeat.

Mistake 3: Stopping change management too soon. Change management means educating, communicating, recognizing success and promoting cultural change. After implementation, these activities must be part of on-boarding new employees and must be reinforced for existing staff. Too often, companies forget to make use of social media a part of a company's DNA.

Mistake 2: Getting distracted by the shiny new thing. Applying social media and advanced collaboration technology inside a company is exciting. Much is written about the latest developments in both technology and best practices. Enthusiasm for breaking new ground can work against focusing on the application of well-established and less exciting ways of making things work. This is especially true with respect to custom functionality. It is better to walk before running and do the simple useful thing rather than the complex magic trick.

Mistake 1: Not investing in community managers. Change takes energy. When adopting social media, the energy comes from two sources: end-users who are excited about solving long-simmering problems and community managers who are evangelists. End-users have a day job and it is a huge mistake to think that end-users alone can change a company's culture and successfully promote adoption in the long term. The day job of a community manager is making social media succeed, educating users, finding patterns of success, correcting mistakes, and in general, finding ways to expand the use of the platform. Community managers are not site administrators but agents of change. If you are spending money on software, you must spend money on change as well. Think of community managers as insurance that your technology investment will pay off.

Where will we find tomorrow's leaders?

2010-10-28T10:30:00.000+05:30

A Letter to the President (राष्टपति/राष्ट्रपत्नी) of India!

2010-09-27T23:02:00.003+05:30

Dear President of India,

I write to you as a proud citizen of India who is completely supporting the Commonwealth Games!

Being born and brought up in this country, I know that Corruption is our way of life for us Indians. We can't just ignore it. I feel very proud that the world, which earlier had just heard about corruption in India, now has witnessed it clearly. This is a proud moment for all Indians where we have to bribe the moment a child is born (to get his/her birth certificate) till he/she leaves the earth for heavens (to get the death certificate)!

I know that inflation is on the rise and no wonder the games budget increased many folds. I don't want to blame anyone for this. This was bound to happen with the circumstances around. There is no way we could have tacked it and given the priority of the games, am sure that this thing called inflation can 'definitely' wait 'indefinitely'!

The way I have seen Delhi turn into 'Mohenjo-Daro' (मोहन जोदड़ो) is awesome! I don't have any words left to describe the same. I am spellbound and have literally ran out of words. I mean, just think, "यहाँ भी खुदा है, वहाँ भी खुदा है ... दिल्ली में तो हर जगह खुदा है!". Its a spiritual experience for us living in NCR for the last 2 years or so. I am glad that though we won the bid for the games way back in 2003, the Government didn't float the first tender for the work to be completed, before 2008. This has really helped me live in a better way since 2003. Just imagine if we had started the work in 2003, me and millions like me, who came to this city for livelihood would have faced a lot of difficulties for 7 years! But thanks to the procrastination of the Government, we were saved of the trauma for at least 5 years. I am very proud of this!

We see GOD in every child! Though I don't believe in GOD, there are millions in this country, who believe in the almighty. Can you imagine the pleasure of entering the stadiums which were built by GODs? I can!!! Having seen child labor all over the place during the construction of the CWG venues, I am very proud that the venues have been touched and built by GODs! Children as young as three have been seen working in dangerous piles of rubble on a construction project that has already killed at least 45 people, including a two-year-old girl! A fete certainly to be very proud of!

I know we don't have enough funds to compensate the children and families who were exploited building the CWG stadiums, including those who died during its construction. We are a poor country and the very fact that many funds were directed towards the success of the games, I can very well understand your limitations. We can't support the poor. The so called 'National Pride' is at stake and we must make these games successful … we have to!

Today I also heard that there is a debate going on a topic – “Who will declare open the games on October 3rd?” I am surprised to see this kind of debate at this hour. Sorry, I am by now used to see things at the 11.59th hour in India, what I meant is, there is no question about this i.e. who will open the games. It should be you and only you. You are the first citizen of this country and a very proud one, given above all the facts. Please feel very proud when you declare the games open. We all Indians, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christians and every other religion, stand united behind you. We are also used to forget every grave problem that the country has faced in the past and no wonder we will be forgetting CWG by 15th October!

We are a country of snake charmers as most of the western countries believe and I am surprised that these very countries are complaining about snakes in the Games Village. How can they? Knowing that what we are, they holding a snake in hand and crying foul is unacceptable. I know you are deeply hurt by these kinds of events. I am also very happy with the ‘CWG Lanes’ and the Blue and Yellow colors on the roads everywhere in NCR. They make me feel colorful. Not to mention, with the snarling traffic, you get to see more colors of life which would not have been possible without these ‘CWG Lanes’. It’s just awesome! Never before did I spend an hour and thirty minutes to travel the 6 Km stretch to my office from home but with these lanes, I am enjoying the colors of life in the form of traffic jams!

I am also proud about the fact that the village was built on the banks of river Yamuna. What a feeling for those living there. With the scarcity of water in the village, the athletes can just walk to the river and do their things like washing, cleaning etc. This is called world class infrastructure. No western country will every understand this!

Last but not the least; we should also bid for the Olympics! This time we will raise the bar of corruption, one which no one has seen ever before. We have so many targets to achieve after these games. Education, poverty, unemployment, shortage of food grains; all these can wait but we should really focus on global events like the CWG or Olympics. We are a nation of billion dreams and now everyone has a dream, to see India bid and win the hosting of Olympics! With the present achievements at CWG 2010, I am pretty sure we have increased our chances many folds.

Before closing my letter, I would like to thank you for keeping people wait to reach the heaven by holding all the mercy petitions on your table. You're no less than any GOD. You have the complete right to justify your delay in awarding the death penalty to many a criminals and terrorists, who have killed innocent people in our country. I know that your first priority is the opening of the games and you should really stand by it. If India can wait for the stadiums to be ready by 3rd October, why can't some terrorists wait another few years?

Long live India and God (if there's any one) bless the country of billion dreams!

A Proud Citizen of India,

DholiBaba

www.DholiBaba.com

Why would I watch CWG Delhi 2010?

2010-09-19T16:41:00.005+05:30

Whatever you think of it, I am surely going to enjoy the CWG this time! Frankly before this year’s event, I thought that the only games on mother earth are the Olympics! But now that I know that there is something called CWG and that Delhi city is hosting it, I am very eager to see the games. Not to mention, the reasons are mentioned in next paragraphs of this post.

It took Leonardo da Vinci at least four years to finish Mona Lisa so what if we couldn’t get Delhi ready for the games in seven years?

During 3^rd till 14^th of October, I will be in Delhi cheering for Mr. Kalmadi and my country... in that order! So stop being stupid & finding faults every now and then. Yes! A toilet paper can cost INR 4000.00! We have lots (read hell) going for us. And let's prepare for the CWG. Give up your cars, your homes … Help the city, the nation and the games!!!

Indians politics and bureaucracy is about experience! Sheila Dikshit is the world's oldest aunty running a Government and Mr. Advani, the world's oldest dreamer of being a prime minister (I guess he still does dream). Suresh Kalmadi is the world's longest serving chief of a sports body (apart from Fidel Castro or someone with that name). These are things to be proud of for all of us Indians! After all, we are also proud to have the oldest parliament (in terms of age of the MPs) as well.

Day before yesterday, we people living in NCR felt the tremors of the earthquake. All of Mayawati's statues in NOIDA have survived the earthquake as well. She surely used unadulterated cement, any questions? And for those who don’t know, the earthquake in Delhi was a planned test-case - to see if the stadiums and flyovers will hold to the ground & will not succumb to the quake. Given how bad the traffic in Delhi is, it takes some time even for the tremors to travel from Delhi to NOIDA to Gurgaon to Faridabad to Gaziabad!

For that matter, Delhi citizens needn't be alarmed by tremors that were felt 2 days back. It's just the usual for us living in NCR. Digging roads and building them, again digging them, have some cables lying on the roadside, some cement bags here and there, some iron rods … its really very usual for us. No surprise in that for NCR people.

The CWG has also helped Delhi to be ‘Air Ready’! I mean, just think of the new Airport (or runway, whatever it is). It’s awesome! We should really hope and look forward to no ATC/Radar failure and for sure the guests will be able to land here. Immigration staff at the airport will be working and not chewing paan and will cause less pain the eyes of the visitors.

So what if stars like Usain Bolt are not showing up? (I also heard from sources that Usain Bolt is running his fastest from the CWG 2010 and Mosquitoes) Our own stars will shine! We shall bring in several medals. The stadiums will have tracks which won't be submerged because there are not tracks there! You have to build the ‘lane’ in your head while running! The Games Village, which was unveiled and opened to the guests couple of days ago, will have water in taps and will not be itself in water. The mosquitoes will not be the ones which cause dengue, but the ones which are gentler on human body! Well, the CM of Delhi has already confirmed that ‘Delhi is Dengue Free’. I guess she meant, Dengue is Free in Delhi!

Trust me, I came to Delhi in 2003 and since last two odd years, it’s not the same city that it was! Well, it’s not the same if you visit the city in a week’s time these days. Thanks to CWG! I think, Delhi looks like Mohenjo-Daro (मोहन जोदड़ो) when it (मोहन जोदड़ो) was rediscovered in 1922 by Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India. You find more cranes in the city than you will find at any of the archeological survey sites in the universe! The cranes and the operators look like a deadly combo, which is on a mission to ‘re-discover’ Delhi! I think it should be declared heritage city with great walking tours because no cars can move on the roads these days and you have to be superhuman to walk on the Delhi roads.

(मोहन जोदड़ो - Could have been transformed into a CWG City with INR 34,000 Crores i.e.USD 7.5 Billion!)

I also think that Delhi should be declared world's first athletic city now. You have to jump so as to walk & you use all limbs to ward off Mosquitoes and manage the never ending potholes on the roads. The city will also become a heritage city soon (or it had already become one). With those loads of rubble lying everywhere, I think it's a sheer competition to मोहन जोदड़ो in 1922.

Many of the military services can also have Delhi as an ideal training venue. Where on earth a soldier can get more challenges than Delhi? And why you think these games are called ‘Common Wealth Games’? It’s not clear to me after seeing all this mess. When the Government is using ‘Common Man’s Wealth’ how can you NOT name the games ‘Common Wealth Games’? Do you have any answer? Then just shut up!

We are also offering a high speed train for the visitors from all over the world, to take them to Agra. But my only worry is, if they are crossing NOIDA mid-way, they might confuse Mayawati's statue for the Taj!

I think we will also take good care of the CWG athletes. By serving them spicy Indian food!!! It will kill two birds in one stone. First, the guests will enjoy real Indian spicy food and second, by the time they figure out where the latrine is, the games will be over. All the medals will be won by Indians and South Asian countries, which are used to spicy food!

The opening ceremony is going to be a high voltage affair. Now with a 60 Crores Rupees balloon, how can you expect something less? The ceremony will be a good show of our own (and usual) Bollywood stuff (do we care to showcase anything else to the world at such events?). And with the ‘cool’ (or cold?) theme song, we might as well fall asleep at the beginning of the ceremony itself!

ADVISORY FOR DELHI CITIZENS from DholiBaba: Schools are closed during the games, so send your children away. This is the best way to keep them away from mosquitoes (and Dengue) as well. Give up your travel and cars; else you might end up paying heavy fines for travelling on the CWG lanes. We have been used to filth and corruption all these years; don’t yell so much this time. Its national pride after all (read it ‘corruption’ or ‘games’ at your own 'discretion'). Enjoy the games!!!

कुछ तो बाकि है ...

2010-09-05T20:39:00.000+05:30

And now some good thing about the CWG. There are people who believe in national pride and this one is a good example of the same. Surprisingly its associated with the CWG 2010!

Commonwealth Games has been embroiled in controversies with fresh allegations leveled against the organising Committee everyday. Some heads have rolled in the wake of damning allegations against hiring the services at exorbitant costs or using the services of little known firms. But this one deal that the organising committee made that it cannot be faulted for. The bid for manufacturing mementoes of the Games mascot for distribution among the participants was abysmally low, almost a third of the next lowest.

But then, for 63-year old Abninder Singh Grewal, a sense of national pride in being a part of Commonwealth Games was far more important than making money. So, the artist, who is engaged in making designer artifacts at Mohali adjoining Chandigarh, quoted a ridiculously low price for making miniature models of Shera, the mascot of the Commonwealth Games 2010 beginning in Delhi in October.

However, Grewal is relishing the challenge. He says, “I quoted a low price
because I just wanted to get the order. The consideration of profit and loss was secondary. I am proud that I have got the chance to contribute in a small way to this grand event being hosted by India.”

When Grewal quoted a price of Rs 650 per piece for the model which would be presented as a memento to the VIPs and top officials from various countries visiting the Commonwealth Games, the officials from the purchasing committing of the CWG were aghast. The next minimum price quoted by another firm was Rs 1,850.

“They were incredulous and sought assurance whether I would be able to
deliver at such a low price. I simply asked them to believe in me,” says Grewal who got the order through his liaison with Phulkari, the Punjab government’s handicrafts and handlooms emporium which stocks Grewal’s creations.

However, Grewal is intrigued by the small number of Shera models ordered to be made when thousands of athletes, officials and tourists would be coming to Delhi and would like to be presented with or purchase a Shera model. “Perhaps the
organisers realise there is no time left to place a huge order at such short notice,” he reasons.

For an artist, it has been a long and tortuous journey for Grewal who fought childhood debility that kept him bed-ridden for three years. “At that time I was 14. That is when I started painting and developed a key eye for art. There was nothing else I could do,” says Grewal who was once sarpanch of his native village, Nakoke in Patiala district.

He started making sculptures of women, Sikh personalities and motifs depicting Punjabi culture. However, fame came to him very late in life when he had almost decided to wind up his art workshop.

His creations are mostly in black stone (granite) or white marble. Now, he is engaged in making statues of decorated soldiers to be installed at war memorials. His sculptures of freedom fighters and deceased Punjab politicians are installed at traffic junctions in various cities of Punjab. But it is with Shera that Grewal has found a new identity.

इस गंदगी में ... कुछ तो सच्चे लोग बाकि है .....

How to live before you die ...

2010-08-25T00:20:00.000+05:30

The Great Indian Middle Class and Kindle

2010-08-21T13:29:00.011+05:30

I still remember the day when we got our own telephone in our home in Nasik. That was a privilege those days and we being a lower middle class family, it was sort of pride for us. Switch to 2010 and things are different in India. Almost everyone you will see walking on the street owns a mobile phone. The famous STD/ISD calling booths have almost vanished from the landscape. It was supposed to be one of the important medium for youth to earn a livelihood not so long ago.

The middle class of India has come of age and there are many a reasons for the evolution of this class. I am not gonna list down the reasons of change but something interesting. Just read some of the interesting facts about the rising Indian middle class below:

The Asian middle class, powered by India and China, is fast replacing Europeans and Americans as the global consumers who anchor the world economy, says a new study by the Asian Development Bank.

India’s booming middle class — or, those who spend anywhere between $2 and $20 ( 93 to 930) a day on purchasing power parity basis — is now spurring consumption and innovation in the country, said the study, The Rise of Asia's Middle Class, released on Thursday.
However, more than three-fourths of India’s 274 million-strong middle class face the risk of slipping back into poverty in the event of a major economic shock as they are in the lowest spending bracket of $2-4 ( 93-186) a day.
Over the next two decades, the Indian middle class population is expected to touch one billion, it said. And 55% of the world’s middle class will be in Asia by 2030, up from 25% now.
The study found that Asia’s consumers spent an estimated $4.3 trillion (in 2005 purchasing power parity dollars), or about one-third of OECD consumption expenditure, in 2008 and by 2030 will likely spend $32 trillion, comprising about 43% of the worldwide consumption.
China had 817 million people, or 63% of its population, in the middle class bracket in 2008.

Ok enough said about the middle class of India. So what's it got to do with Kindle? Well, nothing! Just wanted to share with you that India has an answer to Kindle as well. The same way we have one for the iPad.

Bangalore-based EC Media will launch a desi version of the e-book reader, Wink, on September 1. It will allow readers to access their favourite content anytime and anywhere, in the language of their choice and aims to revolutionise the way people read. It will be having a 6-inch display screen and will come with a 2GB internal memory expandable up to 16 GB and can last up to 300 hours when fully charged. The product will be priced at Rs. 11,400.

The gadget will offer a one-stop e-store where consumers can access e-book titles, newspapers, magazines and journals across 15 Indian languages. Wink will initially provide access to over 2,00,000 titles and has enrolled top publishers like Penguin, Roli, Oxford University, Harper Collins and Permanent Black.

Quit Corruption Movement

2010-08-15T00:06:00.008+05:30

Today we celebrate yet another Independence Day! We Indians take pride in being citizens of a free country but think again. Are we really free?

"If only we had foreseen the recent developments, probably we might have not fought for the nation’s independence from the British government!"

These are words of a freedom fighter and I read these in one of the columns today. What a shame for myself and my country! We all know it is there, we all know it's the reason for India's debacle in many fields and we all know it's because of us ... still it is there and spreading like a virus all across.

Now is the time to fight back hard. Fight for a India free of corruption. YOU can make it happen. Don't wait for anyone else to clean your house. It's your duty. If you take pride in being an Indian, be one by saying NO to corruption from today. Things will work without corruption. You will have to struggle a bit in the beginning but then, we didn't get Freedom for FREE! So many people laid their lives for this country. Can't you just do one simple thing by saying NO to corruption?

Think and join the 'Quit Corruption Movement'! You can join us at Facebook as well. just click here to be a part of 'Quit Corruption Movement'.

"Today at midnight, when most of the Indians are sleeping, I am awake to life and freedom in true sense for my country. I take the pledge of making my nation free from corruption. I may be a fool and loner but I know with time, I will have some more fools joining me." - DholiBaba

'iPad' Killer 'Adam' - Made in India!

2010-08-09T23:20:00.008+05:30

Believe it or not, if you have a look at this tiny thing called 'Adam', iPad will look outdated!

Hyderabad based Notion Ink has developed this wonder called 'Adam'. Early prototype of Adam was first demonstrated at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the world's largest consumer tech trade show in January this year.

Never heard of Notion Ink? Its founders are six IITans and an MBA grad. With an average age of 24, they believe India has what it takes to compete with the most innovative tech companies in the world.

What's so different about their tech? Three years in the making, the Adam tablet is the first device in the world to integrate two breakthrough power saving components - nVidia’s Tegra 2 chip and a PixelQi screen. Together, they help it achieve twice the battery life and performance of the iPad.

The chip provides an edge over the iPad with its ability to play full high definition videos and Flash on the web browser. It can offer the performance of a computer with the power consumption of a cellphone!

Adam’s 10-inch screen integrates many innovations first used in the $100 OLPC (one laptop per child) project. Unlike traditional screens, PixelQI screen has a dual mode, and can be read in bright sunlight like an e-reader. Notion Ink worked with National Institute of Design’s R&D development campus in Bangalore to build a unique touch interface that runs on Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Enough said by Baba, you can visit the company's website by clicking here.

Now don't I always say. "Be a proud Indian. We got all thats needed to be a superpower!"

वैसा भी होता है - पार्ट ३ (Miracles Do Happen!)

2010-08-06T23:56:00.004+05:30

I hate when the door bell rings at 7 O'clock in the morning but today was an exception! To my surprise there was a postman from India Postal Services standing downstairs and even more surprising was the fact that he had come to deliver the passport of my son ‘Arav’! My lucky day, it must be, for sure.

Well as you are aware (and if you are not aware, read my older posts with the passport story of mine here), I was pretty sure about the way I was gonna behave in this system and follow my path … Path of not paying bribe to any Government official. I must say and am proud to say that I got my son’s passport without paying a single penny as a bribe to anyone.

To be frank, it’s not a miracle and I have not done anything great here. But I just want to tell you all that you can get your work done from Government even if you don’t pay bribe to anyone. I know it’s not simple but trust me, it’s not impossible either. What happens really is that you pay bribe for your comfort and you make these Government employees used to this thing called bribe. It’s you who can stop this and only you can make the coming generations happy with a small step.

I have never liked the concept of doing a favor to anyone for getting any work done all my life. The problem with Indians in general is that they are by now used to things like doing a favor to get their work done. Well, a good example is we Indians pay bribe even to GOD! We offer him worship in the form of money, flowers and what not. Isn’t it bribe? I think so and it’s not necessary that you agree with me. I got my own thinking!. Instead of offering money in temples, if Indians start using the same money for good caused like poor children’s education or providing food to deprived children, I think the GOD (if there is one) will be more happy.

So from today, always stand against corruption in any form. You have to lead the way. No single person can bring change – I have been hearing this all my life and been told every time I fight for justice in the corrupt system, but I know that an ocean is formed cause of the drops. Billions of drops make an ocean and we are a billion people country!

Last but not the least, if you want to know whom to approach in case there is injustice to you with respect to getting your passport, please get in touch with the below people:

Appellate Authority

Shri A. Manickam,

Joint Secretary (CPV) & CPO,

Room No. 20, CPV Division ,

Ministry of External Affairs,

Patiala House, Tilak Marg,

New Delhi-110001

Fax no +91-11-23782821

E-mail : jscpv@mea.gov.in

Central Public Information Officer

Shri Bidhi Chand

Deputy Passport Officer & CPIO

Room No. 31 CPV Division.

Ministry of External Affairs

Patiala House

New Delhi - 110001

Tel & Fax : 0091-11-23388648

Email: uscpvrti@mea.gov.in

If you don’t get any response from the above two guys, you can escalate your problems to the Union Minister of State – Ministry of External Affairs, Smt.Preneet Kaur at her mail ID preneet@sansad.nic.in. In my case, I had to reach out to the Minister of State and it worked. I didn’t even go to the passport office for my issue and it was resolved by approaching her.

You can also visit the RTI (Right to Information) website at http://rti.gov.in/ . If you are more interested in knowing the RTI and its first four years, you can download a research paper by just clicking here.

Take an oath this Independence Day – “I will not pay bribe for any work to any Government of India official”. Your next generation will be very happy with your simple step taken today!

फ्रेंडशिप डे (Friendship Day) ...

2010-08-04T12:00:00.003+05:30

“Do you have a friendship band for sale?” शी-शू करायची अक्कल आत्ता आत्ता आलेल्या साडेपाच वर्ष्यांच्या मुलीला मी एका दुकानदारास विचारताना बघितलं दोन दिवसां पूर्वी.

आमची शाळा आठवली. फ्रेंडशिप म्हणजे काय, ते आम्हाला सातवी-आठवीत (खर बोलायचं तर थोड लवकरच कळायला लागल होत हे सर्व) कळू लागलं. तेदेखील मुला-मुलांच्या फ्रेंडशिपबद्दलच. मुला-मुलींची फ्रेंडशिप वगैरे नाव काढायचीच सोय नव्हती. एक गाल शिक्षकांनी आणि दुसरा घरच्यांनी लाल केला असता, अशी परिस्थिती होती. शाळेत मुला-मुलींच्या गप्पा, मैत्रीवर अघोषित बंदी होती. शाळेनं तशी घातली नव्हती, पण प्रथाही नव्हती. मुला-मुलींना चिडवणं वगैरे चालायचं. एखाद्या मुलीला एखाद्या मुलाच्या नावानं जास्तच चिडवलं जाऊ लागलं, की ती राखीपौर्णिमेला थेट त्याला राखीच बांधायची. मुला-मुलींमध्ये एकच नातं होतं - भावा बहिणींचं! कसं अगदी पवित्र नातं! आम्ही वर्ग डोक्‍यावर घ्यायचो म्हणून सातवीत आम्हाला भयंकर "शिक्षा' झाली होती. मुलींच्या शेजारी एकाच बाकावर बसण्याची! एखाद्या मुलीच्या शेजारी बसण्यासारखा अपमान आणि अवहेलना नव्हती! आम्ही मग बेंचवर "हद्द' आखून घ्यायचो. माझ्या हद्दीत तू फिरकायचं नाही...हात ठेवायचा नाही...पेन इकडे येता कामा नये, एवढ्या पातळीवर ही खुन्नस चालायची. झ्या शेजारी राहणारी मुलगी माझ्या पुढच्याच बाकावर बसायची, पण मी वर्गात तिच्याशी जेमतेम एक-दोनदा बोललो असेन. तेदेखील पेन खाली पडलंय, खोडरबर आहे का वगैरे प्रश्‍नांसाठी. फ्रेंडशिप वगैरे करण्याचं वारं कॉलेजात गेल्यावरच डोक्‍यात शिरलं. स्लॅमबुक देखील वर्षाच्या अखेरीस हाती पडलं.

पण जेव्हा पासून इंटरनेट चा आधार मिळाला, तेव्हा पासून सर्व काही बदलल. ह्या माध्यमातून अनेक चांगले मित्र मिळाले. कुणी माझ्या गावाचे निघाले, कुणाशी विचार जुळले, कुणाशी भावनिक तारा जमल्या, अनेकांशी दृढ मैत्री झाली. ती केवळ व्हर्च्युअल न राहता प्रत्यक्षही भेटणं झालं. अहो मला तर माझी बायको हि इथेच भेटली!

असं असलं, तरी फ्रेंडशिप बॅंड वगैरे मैत्रीच्या देखाव्यात कधी अडकावंसं वाटलं नाही. तशा दिखाऊ मैत्रीपेक्षा खूप घट्ट मैत्री असली, तरी ती जगाला ओरडून सांगावीशी वाटली नाही. कधीकधी स्पष्ट बोलण्यानं, अलिप्त वागण्यानं काही मित्र दुखावले, काही दूर गेले, काहींनी अचानक रामराम ठोकला. पण जे उरले, त्यांच्याशी छान संवाद राहिला. त्यांच्या आयुष्यात वेगवेगळी स्थित्यंतरं आली...दरवेळी मला साथीला जाता आलंच असं नाही, पण त्यांच्याबद्दल प्रेम, आपुलकी, मदतीची भावना कायम राहिली. आजही आहे...जे दूर गेले, त्यांनाही या निमित्तानं परत येण्यासाठी ही हाक आणि जे आहेत, त्यांच्याशी मैत्री अधिक घट्ट व्हावी, ही सदिच्छा!

फ्रेंडशिप बॅंडच्या निमित्तानं बऱ्याच आठवणींवरचा पडदा निघाला. लिहायचं होतं जरा हलकंफुलकं, पण जरा भावनांचे कढ जास्तच झाले.

Indian Rupee Symbol - Get it on your PC!

2010-07-29T22:30:00.007+05:30

Now that India has a symbol for its own currency, won't you like to start using it in your day-to-day activities? And what better than to have the font installed on your PC!

Its as simple as a click of a button with DholiBaba.com!

Step 1. Download the Rupee Font by clicking here.

Step 2. After download, install the font. For this Just copy the font and paste it in "Fonts" folder in control panel.

Step 3. Start using the font by selecting the font as "Rupee Foradian" as shown below. Please click on the image.

The short cut key to type the Rupee Symbol is shown below.

If you likes the post, you can click the Facebook 'Like' button below or send a cheque/check of `10,000.00 only to DholiBaba's Swiss Bank Account! A/C number will be mailed upon request.

वैसा भी होता है - पार्ट २

2010-07-19T22:29:00.009+05:30

Don't be surprised by the title. सच में वैसा भी होता है! Part 2 is for my second epic with the passport office. यह फेविकोल का जोड़ है ... टूटेगा नहीं! Looks like me and the passport office in New Delhi are very fond of each other.

So you must remember that sometime ago I posted about my 2nd experience with this superb office with respect to passport of my son. Just wanted to update that the Government of India has not let me down in my expectations and that my repeated mails to the so called 'Grievance Cell' and 'Complaints Officer' have been in vain!

I am not surprised and neither should be they. After all, its just another Indian Government Office and we are used to this. You have paid bribe so many times to these people that it has become near to impossible for guy like me to get my work done in this 'system'. Am not made up for the system and thats my failure.

My detailed mails to the so called officers must have reached their destinations by now - TRASH! But am not gonna stop here. Next week, when time permits, I will be visiting the Regional Passport Officer. I am not sure what that will result in but can't help it.

"There can't be any revolution without violence!"

770 is not just a number!

2010-07-19T11:46:00.000+05:30

Cinema-goers watch the Bollywood movie "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), starring actor Shah Rukh Khan, inside Maratha Mandir theater in Mumbai, India, on July 11. The movie has set a record by completing 770 weeks of continuous screening at a cinema.

Epic is really Epic!!! (First browser with an Indian Origin)

2010-07-16T10:33:00.001+05:30

Welcome to the new Indian way of browsing the web!

Bangalore based startup Hidden Reflex has announced the launch of its browser "Epic", which aims at making Indians all over the world proud. Epic, which also happens to be the first entirely Indian made web browser, is based on the Mozilla platform and comes with quite a bunch of India centric features.

Epic is highly customizable. I just tried a few things there and they all worked! Not to mention, the best part, which I liked was the YouTube video search. Its amazingly fast!

Epic also comes with anti-virus protection built-in - a first for any browser. It also supports a long list of Indian languages (currently 12) and an India content sidebar that aggregates news headlines, TV to live cricket commentary and other things that matters to us Indians. It also features a bunch of productivity applications that include a free word processor, video sidebar and my Computer Browser.

The Epic browser is now available for download from here.

The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting

2010-07-10T23:45:00.002+05:30

वाह रे अमरीका! (A 'Dot-Heads' perspective)

2010-07-09T02:20:00.011+05:30

Disclaimer: I am not a racist and my religion is humanity. This article is just an eye opener for people who do not respect India and Indians.

Sometime you are forced to have an opinion. This article is a byproduct of all the rage that's going on for some fool’s post about ‘Indians’ and their way of life. Me being a proud Indian, I can’t hold my hands and watch but am literally forced to write some of my views about Uncle Sam’s country. I don’t know whether the person (I don’t want to make him any more famous, so not taking his name here) who wrote that article has visited India in this life, but I have been to अमरीका and have my own experience of seeing their way they live.

Enter अमरीका ! A country discovered by mistake by a guy called Christopher Columbus who was attracted by India's wealth & had come looking for a sea route to India. He got lost and discovered … अमरीका!!!

I was there …. In अमरीका … New country, new people and new airport! Yes, let’s start from the airport. Where on earth you pay for the baggage trolley? Yes! You do. I did at the Philadelphia airport. Materialistic start to the new journey called अमरीका . Please come to India, we don’t charge for the trolley here, it’s for free!

I wanted to rent an apartment when I was there. It’s a simple thing, mind you! Or is it? Well, enter a country where you have to have a credit history for everything else in the world. So when I went to rent an apartment, I wasn’t given one, until I made sure that I have to pay ‘some’ money as ‘security’. Not that we don’t pay security amount in India when renting a house, but then that amount is quite paltry. In my country, you can even get an apartment without paying a huge amount of security deposit, even if you are a foreigner. If its अमरीका, it has to be money … honey!

Festivals! Visit India and you will realize what we mean by a festival. I was lucky (read unlucky) enough to be in अमरीका during Christmas & trust me, that was the one of the so many boring days I spent in that country. For God’s sake, someone from that country should visit India on Christmas. We do celebrate it with much fanfare than what I experiences there. The streets were deserted (may be people were in their homes), the stars and lights were ON but the people were OFF! Come on, you really should visit my country when we are celebrating Diwali or for that matter Christmas. We celebrate each festival with passion and that can only be experienced when you’re here.

Did I say anything about my experience with buying a car and getting a driver’s license? I will not, you better ask that to some Indians staying in अमरीका. Dude, no Social Security Number, no car and I had to stay without a car for 2 months because that bloody SSN took place about 2 months to reach my door steps. I will not talk about my experience of walking miles to get to the grocery shop (call it a mall it whatever) in heavy snowfall – all ‘cause I can’t have a car till I have that coveted SSN!

I used to live nearby a school and I must say, it felts like a circus more than a school to me. I call it ‘iPodistic’ culture. We in India still carry our books to schools and not iPads, well at least not in villages for sure. iPod is good, great … amazing … tell you mama please, not me. If you prefer carrying an iPod instead of your books to school, no wonder, you would be out of your school by 15! Give me a break, I value education and I respect the way it’s valued in my country. Someone saying wrong words about Indians students in अमरीका is not acceptable to Indians … at least me!

When you’re a kid, you’re supposed to play. That's the rule … everywhere in the world I guess. But by play, we ‘Dot-Heads’ mean playing with friends on the playgrounds. PlayStations and Nintendos are not for us, well not when we have loads of friends to share our life and to play with when we are kids. No wonder, I find the अमरीकन kids bit lost … lost in paradise of iPads and iPhones.

A country with immigrants can’t have a culture of its own. So I would not comment further on the cultural aspects of अमरीका. I will not be comfortable … Well; you can talk about such things (culture), when you have one. Right? India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, spanning a period of more than 4000 years, and witnessing the fusion of several customs and traditions, which are reflective of the rich culture and heritage of the Country.

We 'Dot-Heads' have followed Gods with multiple arms & elephant nose for ages! Now 'some people on earth' get savvy & worship a multi-tentacled oracle Octopus. What a pity … Indians won this race as well, ages before anyone else!

You cannot compare Apples with Oranges. So someone should never try to compare a 'Samosa' with a 'Pizza'. And if you do, do it on your own risk cause you are nuts. I was tired of the "French Fries" that I was served with almost every dish that I ate in अमरीका. Give me break again, humans can survive without those fries. Trust me on this. वाह रे अमरीका! वाह रे तेरा खाना !

I will not talk about अमरीका shielding a person who is responsible and wanted for 25,000 deaths in Bhopal. I will also not talk about अमरीका not trusting documents sent by Govt of India as a proof of our neighbor's involvement in terrorism but believing a 'Head-ley'. After all, they can believe a 'Head-Ley' but not us 'Dot-Heads'. If there is a firing at LOC, India is blamed and a debate starts on some past! वाह रे अमरीका! Put in simple words, "तुमने किया तो चमत्कार ... हमने किया तो --------?"

If you just check out the Forbes list of the richest people in the world, don’t be surprised ‘cause you will see a few Indians there. If you check out the % of employees working for NASA, don’t be surprised because you will again see a good number of Indians there. If you try to Google who invented the ‘ZERO, don't be surprised, it was invented by a an Indian mathematician (Aryabhatta) in India before 400 BC! Well before the iPads and iPhones I must say! Or is 400 BC not enough?

Now to make this list a bit big, check out the list of some of the interesting facts about INDIA.

- India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
- When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
- Chess was invented in India.

- Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

- The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

- India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.

- India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

- The largest employer in the world is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.

- The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

- Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

- India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

- The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

- Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

- The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

- Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world.

- The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

- Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

- Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

- India exports software to 90 countries.

- The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

- Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively.

- The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

- Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

- Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

- Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Again trust me, these are very few facts which make every Indian proud. If you ask me for more, I would be making this post so long that it will last your life time.

So you please make way for every Indian and respect us 'Dot-Heads'. At least we got heads with brains, what have you got?

Octopussy ...

2010-07-08T01:49:00.000+05:30

Colors in Cultures!

2010-07-05T23:35:00.001+05:30

Check out this visualization and know the Colors in your Culture!

India @ FIFA!

2010-07-04T02:10:00.000+05:30

No No ... Please don't be surprised! As we are reaching close to the semis of FIFA 2010, you will be glad to know that India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. What an achievement ;) However, the governing body All India Football Federation (AIFF) decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time. The reason given by AIFF was that there was not enough practice time along with selection problems, although FIFA had agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses. What the ----?

There is a long-standing myth that India refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot, but according to the then Indian Captain Shailen Manna, the reality is that it was just a story to cover up the disastrous decision of the AIFF. Indian Football Team captain Sailen Manna had this to say, "We had no idea about the World Cup then. Had we been better informed, we would have taken the initiative ourselves. For us, the Olympics was everything. There was nothing bigger."

The team has never since come close to qualifying for the World Cup!

Here is India's glory (WTF) at the FIFA World Cup over the years ....

1930 to 1938 - Did not enter
1950 - Qualified but withdrew
1954 - Entry not accepted by FIFA
1958 to 1970 - Did not enter
1974 - Did not enter
1978 to 1982 - Did not enter
1986 to 2010 - Did not qualify

First look of "Peepli Live"!

2010-07-01T23:45:00.004+05:30

As India moves to an industrialized economy, farmers are committing suicide by tens of thousands. Self-serving politicians at all government levels -- federal, state and local -- have been unwilling or unable to do anything about this.

Peepli Live is a movie which portraits the issues of farmers in a comic way. I belong to a farmer's family and anything related to farmers is close to my heart as well. Have a look at this snapshot of the movie. I hope this movie gets good response when released in India, not because its a Aamir Khan productions but cause it talks about the forgotten ... Farmers!!!

दिल्ली ते पुणे via विमान!

2010-06-19T15:50:00.002+05:30

आयुष्यात काही गोष्टी कायम आठवणीत राहतात. काही दिवस, काही आठवणी, काही प्रवास ... मनात घर घर करून जातात. माझ्याही आयुष्यात असे बरेच प्रवास आहेत आणि त्यातला एक - माझा दिल्ली ते पुणे प्रवास.

लहान भावाच लग्न आणि नाशिकला जाण, म्हणजे पुणे आलेच. आता तुम्ही म्हणाल, नाशिकला जायचं मग पुणे का? अहो दिल्ली वरून नाशिकला डायरेक्ट फ्लाईट नाही, दिल्ली ते नाशिक आणि पुढे, पुणे ते नाशिक बसन जाव लागत. बर असू द्या. माझ्या प्रवास बद्दल बोलतो थोड...

आम्ही दिल्ली विमान तळावर गेलो. नेहमी प्रमाणे विमान काही वेळेवर नव्हते. बसलो वाट बघत, कधी एकदाची फ्लाईट announcement होते. आजू बाजूला बरीच मंडळी होती. तेव्हा मला जाणीव झाली कि दिल्ली मध्ये बरेच मराठी लोक राहतात. का जाने, अस वाटल कि सर्व विमान तळ आपल्या मराठी माणसांनी भरलेलं आहे. जिकडे बघाव , मराठी संवाद! थोड्या वेळान announcement झाली - की विमान तैयार आहे. मी ही आपला एकदम खुश झालो. आपली family घेऊन निघालो, विमानात बसायला. बघतो तर काय, एकदम गोंधळ होता सर्वीकडे. बरीच मंडळी एकदम गडबडल्या सारखी वाटत होती. बहुधा हा ह्यांचा पहिलाच विमान प्रवास असावा अशी शंका माझ्या मनात आली. ही शंका नंतर खरी निघाली ही दुसरी गोष्ट!

आम्ही विमानात आलो. क्षणभर सगळा सावळा गोंधळ झाल्यागत वाटल. एकदम धुमाकूळ होता विमानात, एखाद्या महाराष्ट्र महामंडळाची एस टी बस मध्ये असतो तसा. सामान ठेवण्याची घाई प्रत्येक प्रवाश्याच्या चेहर्यावर दिसत होती. आता मी सामान ठेवलं नाही तर, मला ते मांडीवर घेऊन बसव लागता कि काय, असा प्रश्नं प्रत्येकाच्या मनात होता बहुधा!

थोड्याच वेळात एक काका तहानलेल वाटले. त्यांनी हवाई सुंदरीला पाणी आणायला सांगितलं. सुंदरी त्यांना म्हणाली "Please press the help button to call me next time." बस!!! ... आजू बाजूच्या प्रवाशांनी हे ऐकल! बघतो तर काय ... निव्वळ १ मिनिटात १५-२० ठिकाणी मी "Help Button" ON बघितलं. हवाई सुंदरीच्या चेहर्यावरचे हावभाव मी इथे व्यक्त करण्यास असमर्थ आहे. ती गोष्ट बघण्यासारखी होती! शेवटी मी तिला बोलताना ऐकल - " The flight is going to take off now, I can't serve you water."

वेळ झाली आणि सगळे प्रवासी जसे तसे सेटल झाले. मला हि थोड बर वाटल ... पण माझ्या मनात चुकूनही शंकेची पाल चूक-चुकली नाही, कि खरा प्रवास तर आता सुरु झाला होता! आमच्या पुढच्या रांगेत एक पुणेरी family बसली होती. आता मी कस ओळखल? Accent हो ! एकदम टिपिकल पुणेरी. एक छोटा मुलगा - १०-१२ वर्ष्यांचा आणि त्याचे आई वडील. कार्ट सारख गडबड करीत होत. काय त्रास होता त्याला, देव जाने. उजव्या बाजूला एक आजी - आजोबा होते. सीटचा बेल्ट कसा लावायचा, ह्यावर त्यांचा experiment सुरु होता. क्षणभर वाटल, त्यांची मदत करावी ... पण माझ्या आयुष्यात मी जेव्हा जेव्हा कोणाची मदत करायचा प्रयत्न केला, तेव्हा तेव्हा वाईट अनुभव आलेत, म्हणून मी गप्प बसलो. त्या आजीनी बिचार्या आजोबाला कमीत कमी ५ वेळा विचारलं. तुमचा मोबाईल कुठे आहे. आमच्याकडे बायकांना कुठलीही गोष्ट १० वेळा विचारण्याची 'चांगली' सवय आहे. हि सवय पुरुषांना फारच त्रासदायक आहे, हे पण तेवढंच खर आहे.

विमान आकाश्यात स्थिर झालं. हवाई सुंदरी आपकी trolly घेऊन आली. आज काल 'स्वस्त' विमान सेवेचे दिवस आहेत. प्रत्येक वस्तू घेण्या करता पैसे मोजावे लागतात. पण बिचार्या प्रवाश्यांना त्याची कलपना नसावी. ३-४ लोकांनी मजेत order दिल्यात. पण जेव्हा जेव्हा सुंदरीने त्यांना त्याची किंमत सांगितली, तेव्हा त्या orders cancel झाल्यात! पुढील सीटवरच कार्ट आता अस्वथ झाल होत. मी sandwich order केली आणि मी order केल्या पासून हे कार्ट माझ्या तोंडाकडे बघत होत. त्याला काही राहावल गेल नाही. ते त्याच्या बापाच्या मागे लागल "पप्पा, मला पण पाहिजे." त्याचा बाप बिचारा ... काही पर्याय नव्हता त्याला. ह्या अगोदर त्याने आपल्या कार्ट्याला १० वेळा सांगितलं होत, "हे जेवण चांगल नाही. आपली दशमी खा." पण पोरा समोर त्याला गुढगे टेकावे लागले.

सगळ्यात मजेदार गोष्ट - "गेट वेल सून" आणि "यूज मी"! आता तुम्ही म्हणाल काय हे? प्रवास आला म्हणजे आपल्याला इथे तीथे घान करण्याची चांगली सवय. कुठलाही प्रवास असो. माझ्या विमान प्रवासताही मी हे अनुभवल.

बरेच प्रवासी आप-आपल्या 'दशम्या', 'पोहे', 'पूरी आणि बटाट्याची भाजी' यांचा आस्वाद घेत होते. आता एवढ्या सर्व खाण्याच्या वस्तु आल्या म्हणजे बरोबरीला घान ही आलीच. एक कुटुंब आपली न्याहारी मजेत करीत होत. सर्व जेवणाचा पुरेपुर आस्वाद घेतले नंतर झालेली घान कुठे टाकायची हां प्रश्न त्यांच्या चेहर्यावर मी बघितला. दिसतो की हो ठोबाडावर, इलाज नाही, ठोबाड नेहमीच बोम्ब मारत. मी त्यांच्याकड़े कुतुहलाने बघत होतो. तेवढ्यात त्या कुटुंब प्रमुखाची नजर समोर ठेवलेल्या कागदी पिशवी कड़े गेली! अत्ता त्या पीशविवर "यूज मी" अस मोठ्या अक्षरात लिहिलेल होत. पण साहेबानी बहुधा ते वाचाल नाही, किव वाचून ही न वाचाल्यागत कल - जे ही खरो असो, पिशवी उचलली आणि फ्यामिलिने केलेली घान तय पिशवीत तकली. इथ पर्यंत "आल इज वेल." या पुढे ऐकाल तर .... जेव्हा हवाई सुंदरी दुसर्या राउंड ला आली, प्रवाश्यांचे उरले सुरले उरकायला, ह्या साहेबांनी ती पिशवी तीच्या पुढे केली! सुन्दरिचा चेहरा पहान्यसारखा होता. तीच्या उभ्या आयुष्यात तीने अस काही अनुभवले नसावे याची मला खात्री झाली! "गेट वेल सून" पीशवित कचरा टाकने हे आपलीच माणस करू शकतात याची मलाही खात्री झाली.

हे सगळ होत असताना, आजू बाजूला एकदम गोंधळ झाल्याची मला चाहूल लागली. बघतो तर काय, ४-५ गृहस्थ विमानाच्या मागच्या बाजूला गप्पा हाणीत होते. आणि नंतर ही मंडळी यत्र-तत्र-सर्वत्र फिरताना मला दिसली. मला वाटले - जणू ह्या विमानात बसलेले सर्व प्रवाशी एकमेकास ओळखतात आणि आम्हीच आपले अनोळखी! मस्त गप्पा टप्पा आणि मजा चालू होती. एस टी महामंडळाची मला फार फार आठवण येत होती.

पण हे सर्व सुरु असताना दिल्ली ते पुणे प्रवासाचे २ तास कधी संपले याची जाणीव मला झालीच नाही!

Not a bag of Golf Clubs ...

2010-06-18T23:17:00.002+05:30

ADIL IS A NORMAL TEENAGER, except that he’ll never walk. His legs are withered, so weak that he has to crawl on hands and knees. He is one of hundreds of children born malformed or brain-damaged in families living near the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The factory has been a place of horror ever since that cold night in December 1984 when it poured a huge cloud of poison over the sleeping city, killing thousands in the most hideous and disgusting ways.

On that night, as it is still known in Bhopal, Adil was not yet born, but his family lived 200 yards from Union Carbide. His mother thought it miraculous that she had survived. I am so lucky, she’d say, little knowing that a new terror was already on the way. Unbeknownst to the local people, their drinking wells were being poisoned by chemicals leaking from the factory. First the water began to smell foul. Held up to the light it appeared full of oily globules which, if left to settle, formed a tawny layer at the bottom. It tasted horrible, for the goo was actually a cocktail of lethal poisons, but at the time, no one knew this.

A private Union Carbide memo [right] never meant for your eyes, records that in 1989 Carbide discovered that soil and water in its factory were badly poisoned by naphthol and other chemicals whose effects included skin and eye damage, cataracts, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, liver & kidney damage, convulsions, brain damage, anaemia, birth defects and cancers.

Despite the clear danger to people living near the factory, Union Carbide issued no warning. Many were already seriously ill from its poison gas leak. Carbide watched in silence as they were poisoned a second time. In 1994, Adil’s mother was twenty. Lucky girl, she was married. Many women exposed to the gases had serious menstrual problems and couldn’t have children. Soon she was pregnant with Adil. By now Carbide’s silence had lasted five years. When environmentalists expressed fear about the soaring rates of cancer, birthdefects and early deaths in communities near the plant, the company denounced them as mischief-makers.

During Carbide’s years of silence, hundreds of children were born with terrible injuries. If you are willing to risk being seriously upset, you can search for some of the pics on internet.

In 1999 Greenpeace tested soil and water in 14 neighborhoods near the factory. In places they found mercury levels 6,000,000 times higher than normal and more than 30 chemicals in the water, many known to cause birth defects and cancers. A 2001 study found lead, mercury and the factory’s poisonous signature in the breast milk of new mothers. Other studies found that 95% of women in some communities were anemic.

For Adil this knowledge came many years too late. Union Carbide’s final gift to the Bhopalis was to leave the city without bothering to clean its factory. Twenty-four years after the gas disaster, chemicals spill from rotting sacks and drums. Each monsoon washes them deeper into the subsoil. People still have to drink poisoned water. Damaged children are still being born. Union Carbide disclaims all responsibility for the state of the factory and its legal owner Dow Chemical says it is not its responsibility.

If this makes you angry, reserve some of your ire for India’s politicians, from whom comes no help. They have done nothing to clean the factory or provide clean water.

The families of Adil and other children have had not a penny in compensation or aid to help them.

Children like Adil have been ignored and betrayed by every authority who had a duty of care. They have no one left but us and we must not let them down. Spread the word, this is the simplest way of letting people know the true story of Bhopal. A story which has not been told for 26 years.

I am not a warrior on a war path but being a human and a citizen of India, it's my duty to let people know the truth around us.

P.S. : The above story of Adil is a true one & I came across it while reading an article on the tragedy.

कोई भी देश perfect नहीं होता ... पर कोई भी देश इतना भी imperfect नहीं होता!

2010-06-17T22:55:00.002+05:30

Its been 26 years since that night of December 3, 1984, when thousands lost their lives. Its so wonderful that we have woken up so soon. Just 26 years late! Hold on ... have we really woken up or we are just trying to show? Question remains unanswered to me.

Instead of showing their support to the victims and standing for their cause, all political parties are heavily into mudslinging (nothing new really) these days. After all, who doesn't want to wash thier hands in 'बहती गंगा '? Indian political leaders are quite good at that for sure. So these days, everytime I turn on the news channel, I see some breaking news related to the tragedy. Sad that these breaking news are 'happening' after 26 years. All these years we were sleeping.

On the other hand, why blame a particular country in being biased with the compensation? Were we sleeping when the same was annouced then? What was the Government (whatever it is) doing with the claims stated? Where were THEY?

Justice for Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims

I just hope and I mean it ... hope that ordinary Indians do not forget this, do not forget that they have been always exploited by these a** politicians, who can sell their motherland for personal gains.

Its time Indians come forward and not just with mediums like social networking ... but by being part of the political system. I know its not simple but I know that it's not impossible as well. I would be happy to see some of you reading this article (I know only 5 odd people read my blog regulary - I am not ashamed, am happy that there are 5!) standing up and someday filing their nominations for that ward election of the Muncipal Corporation in your city or the assembly election. Who knows, India has its feature leader reading this article - YOU!

The Maicon Goal @ FIFA 2010

2010-06-16T11:44:00.004+05:30

मैंने कोई देश को सुधारने का ठेका नहीं ले रखा है ...

2010-06-12T09:03:00.007+05:30

I am facing it again! This time its for my son.

Well, I am talking about the Great Indian Passport Tamasha! Its been there and people of this country have contributed a lot in building this Tamasha. I am not blaming anyone here cause I am literally BLAMING everyone who paid bribe to get his/her passport. You have ruined this country so badly that now a 18 months old child can't get a passport but a terrorist can easily get one!

I had applied for my son's passport 2 months back @ the Delhi Regional Passport office. And to be frank, I never expected it to be a smooth ride. I had a prior experience with this #$%&ing thing. I don't believe any Government agency/department. They are all the same - CORRUPT!

It becomes quite interesting when the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) website says. "In the cases where the minor children who are less than 18 years of age, the details of valid passports held by BOTH OR EITHER parents should be furnished. In such cases, passport to their minor child will be issued without any police verification basis."

Oh yes, you can read the above statement at this MEA site link -> http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm

So as per the rules of the Government or this particular ministry, a minor SHOULD be issued an Indian Passport, WITHOUT Police Verification, if his parents (either or both) have valid Indian passport. But people of India, don't be surprised if your child's passport application gets rejected saying. "Incomplete Police Verification!"

Now what does this "Incomplete Police Verification" means? I guess all of Indians who have applied for passport till date know this. This means, You need to pay for the "Mithai" to the police hawaldar who visits your home for so called verification. Simple isn't it? So the rates are fixed, it's Ruppes 500 per passport.

When this a** police hawaldar visited my home for my child's verification, I was not surprised at - him now knowing or trying to TELL me - that "A MINOR doesn't need any verificaiton if his parents have valid Indian Passport." So I furnished all the documents, in original and in duplicate to him. Oh Yes, he also saw my son in the house! When I asked if anymore documents are required, I was told NO. He did his so called job and then left. While leaving my home, I did see his eyes looking for that "Mithai" from me. He did really look like a true B******! The roots I have and the way I was brought up by my parents, I would be the last one who will give "Mithai" to any person for doing HIS job.

And here I am today, writing this post ... Now what next? Well I will have to reach out for RTI (Right to Information) and then will have to write to the Ministry of External Affairs. I am not kind of person who will stop at getting justice. I can spend more money in taxi bills for going to the passport office again and again but when it comes to offering 500 Rupees as "Mithai", don't count me in. Many of us think that its a better deal to get it done 'cheaper' by just paying for "Mithai" and thats where the problem lies.

People have made this country like this. I just wonder, who the #@#$ was the FIRST MAN/WOMAN in India who offered "Mithai" to get his/her work done from any of the Government office.

So while you enjoy reading this, I am preparing for my battle and next moves. I will not go down without a fight. For those who believe in "Fighting for Justice", some of the links associated with MEA are given below.

http://passport.gov.in/
http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm
http://passport.gov.in/delhi.html#complaints

Wish me all the best! I will get back to you on further updates as my fight continues ... मैंने कोई देश को सुधारने का ठेका नहीं ले रखा है ... पर मैं अन्याय के खिलाफ हमेशा लडूंगा! I will not try to wake up anyone - You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep!

"You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all the papers more than anybody else, in fact you have to be there all the time and see that they do not snow you under, if you are really going to get your reform realized." -- Emmeline Pankhurst

FIFA 2010 Live Streaming

2010-06-11T19:21:00.004+05:30

Here’s AnandDholi.com's ultimate guide to how you can keep track of all things World Cup 2010 on the Web and/or through mobile applications.

FOOTBALL VIDEOS SITES

FootyTube.com

Videosoccer.net

Mysoccerplace.net

Oleole.com

Givemefootball.com

Soccerclips.net

video.football.co.uk

Goalsarena.com

Footy-boots.com

Goalvideoz.com

Mightyfootball.com

Footballclips.net

101greatgoals.com

Football-spot.com

Footballtube.com

Timesoccer.com

Footballwired.com

Goaljunky.com

Thefootballtube.com

Footballvids.org.

I hear some of those, as well as Roja Directa and Iraq Goals, will be live-broadcasting some of the games, but Baba didn’t tell you that ;)

Enjoy the game!!!

Official song of FIFA 2010

2010-06-11T09:09:00.002+05:30

FIFA 2010 Calendar

2010-06-10T14:45:00.001+05:30

If you are looking for the FIFA World Cup 2010 calendar, you're at the right place.

Check out an awesome calendar at Marca.com. Click here to see this cool calendar. You can see the match schedule by National Team, by Stadium, by Day and by Groups and Stages! Now this is what I call a real cool calendar!

Click here to see the calendar!

If you want to print the FIFA 2010 calendar, you should click here!

Enjoy the best game in the world and hope the team you're supporting wins it on 11th July!

World Environment Day 2010!

2010-06-05T10:18:00.001+05:30

My message to all human beings on World Environment Day - "Don't Screw!"

This is my creation and a small effort which will surely go unnoticed!

Anu's new advertisement

2010-06-04T12:17:00.000+05:30

Sharing Anurita's new advertisement video with you all. Its quite cool!

Break

2010-06-03T23:44:00.002+05:30

Its been a while I have been away from my blog. I have my excuse for it though ;) Its funny how we humans find an excuse to almost everything. We can say that every excuse that has to be invented, has already been
invented.

I have been busy with some personal as well as professional stuff lately and its been keeping me away from nonsense writing here :) The weather in Gurgaon is not good for writing as well (what an excuse!).
You all must be tired of the word 'Global warming' but mind it, its @*#&ing hot in this part of the world. As per science, our body can stand a temprature upto 52 degree celcius, so it means we are about
3-4 degrees away from extinction!

Monsoon is soon going to hit India and it will also help me concentrate on my blog ;) May be this time around I will be publishing soom pics of Monsoon in India. By the way I am using my mobile to post @ my blog and I guess its quite cool. I dont have to get out of bed, go to my desk, open my superfast laptop - which takes @*#!ing 15-20 minutes just to start working! So I might use my mobile more often for posting. This way my
mobile will also be happy as I can see that it is tired of posting @ Facebook already!

Be good, Do well and Keep coming back here. There are a very few idiots left on planet earth who keep on Speaking Their Minds!

WARNING: Facebook Malware Attack Behind Distracting Beach Babes Video

2010-05-24T09:41:00.001+05:30

A Facebook malware attack is on the loose this weekend, enticing users to click a “Distracting Beach Babes” video on their Facebook Walls. The Wall message reads:

“this is hilarious! lol Distracting Beach Babes [HQ] Length: 5:32″.

If you see this video on Facebook today, do not click the link: Doing so, and downloading a linked file, will result in malware being installed on your computer.

If you see the video on your wall, remove it. If you’ve clicked the video, meanwhile, run a virus and adware scan on your computer. And of course, be more careful about clicking suspicious-looking links in future.

Facebook is not so safe as it looks like or is said to be, so please be careful while sharing your information with your virtual friends in there.

Who killed Ambadas Dharrao?

2010-05-07T09:27:00.002+05:30

TV channels have been gaga over the sentencing of one guy who was part of the Bombay carnage on 26/11. But till this date I have not heard anything about the investigation into Ambadas Dharrao's death.

Let me share one thing, which is very personal. Mr.Dharrao was my very close relative. His death was a personal loss for my family. Now you must be wondering who is he and why I am talking about him today?

Remember the agitation by some B******* in the month of February 2008? You must have forgot (well ... we forget very easily, we're very good at it) that there were news channels all over Niphad (the place where I was born and the place where Dharrao uncle lived) a small town in the Nasik District of Maharashtra State, on 14th of February 2008. Some news channels were celebrating 'Valentine's Day' and some were flashing the news - "Ambadas Dharrao (55), an employee of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, was killed on February 13, 2008 when an MNS mob pelted stones at a bus on the Mumbai-Nashik highway to protest Raj Thackeray’s arrest. Dharrao was a Marathi-speaking person."

Yes! Terrorism within the country. We are not bothered and nor are the politicians. In fact the politicians benefit a lot cause of this. The colors 'Saffron' or 'Green' or 'Blue' are just colors but the politicians know how to use these colors for their personal benefits. They paint their lives with these colors! We Indians are used to 'being used' and you know it very well I guess.

My question to the Government is, "Where are the killers of Dharrao uncle?" "Who are they?" "When will I hear a death sentence given to those who killed that simple man, who was on his way to work and had no grudges against anyone all his life?" I also know the answer - You're a fool Dholibaba! Why are you wasting your time? Move on!

I will not ... somewhere in my brain, there is a small area where this incidence is scribed. It will be there ... forever!

Attention please!

2010-05-02T09:10:00.002+05:30

Yesterday I was reading the post by a well known editor called Rajdeep Sardesai. He was talking about how Maharashtra Govt is celebrating 50 years of formation of state instead of worrying about the farmers who are dying of mass suicides. (On the other hand, I also felt that he was biased. Why can't he ask the same question to the Delhi Government which is spending thousands of crores on the Common Wealth Games and when the whole National Capital Region (NCR) is most of the time in dark due to lack of power supply. I live in NCR and I know how rubbish it is here.)

For a minute, I was shocked ... not because of the farmer's suicides this time but cause this guy called Mr.Sardesai was worried about a state which is always in the news! What do you mean by this Baba Tiratzo?

Good question and a bad question at the same time. Be it a film release stalled by a 'saffron' party or be it the IPL (Indian Political League), the places which have more attraction are always in the news. I know the TV channels sell what gets attention of more people and more TRPs ... but ...

Now please be true to yourself and answer this question without taking any help from Google. "What is the total number of states in India?" There is a joke as well which goes like this, "If a kid is asked about the number of states in his exam, he will always be wrong. Why? By the time he is out of the exam room, you will find a new state being announced or people demanding one!"

I am not trying to see how knowledgable you are. Sorry, thats not my intention. But, please understand that there are so many other states which never get any mention in the news. Why???

Now think of the last time you heard any ... I mean it ... literally ANY news about the states Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram or Nagaland on TV channels. Well now don't waste any more time thinking on this, cause I know that you have not heard anything about these states for so long. I hope at least you remember that these are states which are part of India ...

If someone gets so much neglect, don't you think the neglected ones will try to grab some attention of the central Government or people of India? And if the answer is Yes, what are the ways they will do that? I hope you understand what I am trying to say here and if you don't ... What the @#&%?

Thanks for all the love!

2010-04-25T00:11:00.005+05:30

With the best wishes and regular visits by the readers, the IndiRank of www.AnandDholi.com is now 74! This will motivate me to put my random thoughts here and frankly if you don't read regularly, I don't care ;) It's my life and I will live it my way!

What does IndiRank mean?
It's like runs in a game of cricket - the higher the score, the better your ranking. Blogs are evaluated on a scale of 1-100, and the top ranks are in the range of 80-90. Several blogs may share the same rank.
Keep blogging!

Pic of the week

2010-04-24T12:41:00.002+05:30

Cooling off

Children swim in the polluted waters of the Hindon River in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, on April 20. Northern India continued to experience a heat wave, with temperatures in New Delhi reaching 107 degrees according to news reports.

And you thought ....

2010-04-24T12:31:00.000+05:30

You know Google! Well, might be that its your home page, might be that you prefer it over all the search engines available today but ... there are some interesting facts about 'Google' which you would like to know. Go through these and you might enjoy them for once.

Google.com – The domain was registered on 15 September 1997.
In 1997, Google’s prototype was named “BackRub”.
Google started off its first operations in a rented Garage.
The name ‘Google’ was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’.
The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.

This is how Google page looked in 1997

The infamous “I feel lucky” is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button. I’m Feeling Lucky Costs Google $110 Million a Year.
Google’s first chef Charlie Ayers, ( hired in 1999 ) quit Google and opened his own restaurant in 2005.
Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut are both examples of projects that grew from this working model.
Google won the prestigious award for Technical Achievement in 2000. In the nominees list there were no search engines at all.
The Google logo was never centered (as it appears today). It only appeared centered in March 2001. It was aligned to the left earlier. (And there were a lot more distractions then).
Google’s first employee is Craig Silverstein. Craig is the man behind “exact search” (where you get pages containing the exact search term within quotes.)

This is how Google page looked in 1998

In 1999, when Google moved to their Paolo Alto office, there were only 19 employees in the company. Today there are 0ver 2,700 Googlers.
Google reckons only 10% of the world’s information is online.
70% of Google engineers are working on search-related problems.
Baba Tiratzo does not work for Google!

Aftermath: When IPL is 'Nationalized' ...

2010-04-20T09:38:00.010+05:30

Its quite funny that I couldn't put my hands off the IPL sleaze. Like everyone else on the earth, I also got hooked to write something about the IPL (it's called by so many names these days - Indian Political League, India Panga League etc). Its amazing how the politicians have all the time in the world to debate on this not so important for the nation topic than debating about terrorism, poverty etc.

Well, I was watching the TV news channels (for fun only), I saw a politician saying, "यह IPL को 'Nationalize' कर देना चाहिए. Government को इसका control ले लेना चाहिए!" I got what I wanted after seeing this - my share of happiness and fun -:)

After that though provoking 'thought', the various memes running around my brain got activated and sort of a lift to write the 'Aftermath' of this 'IPL Nationalization'! So here are some of the things that would happen after we see the IPL being 'Nationalized'. All the characters mentioned here are real but the thoughts have been fabricated by 'Dholibaba' -;)

So here is my list of things. The IPL Nationalization 'Aftermath' -

People who do not call Sachin "God" will be termed pseudo-secular.
Salaries of players will be as per "Pay Commission" recommendation.
All debate deadlocks in Parliament will be solved by a Super Over.
The Prime Minister will give his message to the nation before start of a season.
All 3rd umpire decisions will be referred to the Liberhan Commission.
Spectators will throw chairs to umpires for wrong decision.
We'll have a Jayalalitha Blimp flying over each stadium. Awesome!!!
We will have two CPI sponsored Strategic Bandh for 2.5 minutes in each innings!
After IPL is nationalized all appeals for lbw must be submitted in triplicate with a copy to the match ref. and Sports Minister.
Dogs running into the ground will have support from Maneka Gandhi.
Obama would call up Manmohan Singh if Pakistani players are given a snub.
Sledging will be possible only after getting "A" certificate from the Censor Board.
Khap panchayats will outlaw same gotra partnerships and ask for a change in ICC rules.
Every suicide in Andhra Pradesh would be linked to Deccan Charger's performance.
Ravindra Jadeja would get justice after 15 years, that too after throwing a shoe at Shilpa Shetty.
Amar Singh will replace Danni Morrison.
Umpires will not be able to listen to the sound of ball hitting the bat because of Mamta Banerjee in stands.
The pitch will be dug up everyday to lay cables for the tv, mic, etc.
Franchisee not opting for any UP city will be declared anti-dalit.
Arundhati Roy will cry foul & write 36 page essay on why the team that finished last should be declared the winners.
Corruption cases and shady dealings won't look out of place!

What do you think?

Who was Udham Singh?

2010-04-18T11:02:00.005+05:30

In the week gone by, there was an important date which Indians seem to have forgot over the years. After all the world is more interested in sleaze than patriots these days.

On April 13, 1919 thousands of people gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh (garden) near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi. An hour after the meeting began as scheduled at 4:30pm, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer marched a group of sixty-five Gurkha and twenty-five Baluchi soldiers into the Bagh, fifty of whom were armed with rifles. Dyer had also brought two armoured cars armed with machine guns, however the vehicles were stationed outside the main gate as they were unable to enter the Bagh through the narrow entrance.
The Jallianwala Bagh was bounded on all sides by houses and buildings and had few narrow entrances, most of which were kept permanently locked. The main entrance was relatively wider, but was guarded by the troops backed by the armoured vehicles. General Dyer ordered troops to open fire without warning or any order to disperse, and to direct fire towards the densest sections of the crowd. He continued the firing, approximately 1,650 rounds in all, until ammunition was almost exhausted.

Apart from the many deaths directly from the firing, a number of deaths were caused by stampedes at the narrow gates as also people who sought shelter from the firing by jumping into the solitary well inside the compound. A plaque in the monument at the site, set up after independence, says that 120 bodies were plucked out of the well.

The wounded could not be moved from where they had fallen, as a curfew had been declared - many more died during the night. The number of deaths caused by the firing is disputed. The official figure given by the British inquiry into the massacre is 379 deaths, however the figure was around 1500.

There was one man who was injured in the shooting and his name was Udham Singh. He wanted to take revenge by killing O'Dwyer who was the mastermind behind the massacre. Despite numerous opportunities to strike, Singh awaited a right time when he could make more impact & internationalize the event. At last, the opportunity came on 13 March 1940, almost 21 years after the Jallianwala Bagh killings: A joint meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society was scheduled at Caxton Hall, and among the speakers was Michael O'Dwyer.

Singh concealed his revolver in a book specially cut for the purpose and managed to enter Caxton Hall. He took up his position against the wall. At the end of the meeting, the gathering stood up, and O'Dwyer moved towards the platform to talk to Lord Zetland. Singh pulled his revolver and fired. O'Dwyer was hit twice and died immediately. Then Singh fired at Lord Zetland, the Secretary of State for India, injuring him but not seriously. Incidentally, Sir Luis Dane was hit by one shot, which broke his radius bone and dropped him to the ground with serious injuries. A bullet also hit Lord Lamington, whose right hand was shattered. Udham Singh did not intend to escape. He was arrested on the spot.

Singh had told the court at his trial: "I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. He was the real culprit. He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him. For full 21 years, I have been trying to wreak vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not scared of death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my people starving in India under the British rule. I have protested against this, it was my duty. What a greater honour could be bestowed on me than death for the sake of my motherland?"

Singh was also known as Ram Mohammed Singh Azad, symbolizing the unification of the three major religions of India: Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. Singh is considered one of the best-known of the more extremist revolutionaries of the Indian freedom struggle; he is also sometimes referred to as Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh (the expression "Shaheed-i-Azam," Urdu: شهید اعظم, means "the great martyr").

Singh was hanged to death on July 31, 1940.

Pic of the week

2010-04-18T10:37:00.001+05:30

Clouded view

A cloud of ash from Iceland's spewing volcano grounded all U.K. flights and closed all airports in an unprecedented move that left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded. This picture of the volcano eruption was taken by a farmer in Iceland on April 14.

Pic of the week

2010-04-11T11:59:00.001+05:30

Blowing in the wind

A dust storm engulfs the desert city of Bikaner, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, April 2.

Pic of the week

2010-04-05T09:13:00.000+05:30

Water worries

Children carry water home on a mountain path in southwest China's Guizhou province on March 28. The worst drought in decades in southwest China has left millions of people without water and caused more than 1,000 schools to close.

Twitter’s @anywhere Platform

2010-04-02T10:59:00.002+05:30

Twitter is soon going to announce a new platform called @anywhere, which would allow third party sites to integrate Twitter features. Twitter didn’t give a launch date for when sites would start integrating the new platform, I just came across the first site to feature @anywhere.

The site, which will almost certainly be pulled down soon after this post is published, is clearly a testing environment for @anywhere, but it’s currently open to the public. It features the following: various variable states; a button to ‘Connect With Twitter’; buttons to follow twitter users @jack, @biz, and @ev; a test hovercard that allows me to see @wendyverse’s latest tweets and follow counts at a glance, and a test box that lets me tweet. It isn’t particularly easy on the eyes, but it works well enough.

Hitting “Connect to Twitter” pulled in my Twitter profile photo and gave me the option to log out. Clicking on each of the ‘follow’ buttons appropriately changed the status from “Follow @jack” to “Following @Jack” the next time I refreshed the page.

If you’re fast, you may be able to try it out for yourself. Visit www.eggboiling.com now!

Be Your Father’s Son ...

2010-03-31T23:30:00.008+05:30

AN OPEN LETTER TO AMITABH BACHCHAN

Main hoon unkey saath, rakhte jo seedhi apni reedh... (I am with those who keep their spine straight) FROM MADHUSHALA BY HARIVANSH RAI BACHCHAN

Najid Hussain
The writer is the son-in-law of late MP Ahsan Jafri who was killed in mob violence in Ahmedabad.

Illustration: SAMIA SINGH

Dear Amitabh,

I remember the day in 1982, when the news of your serious injury on the sets of Coolie broke. It said you may not survive. The country was shocked. Millions cried. Special prayers for your good health and long life were offered in temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras. I joined the prayers for your health and long life.

The writings of your father, the late Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan, had a great influence on me. From early childhood, I have read his poetry and prose that combined Kabir, Keats, Tagore, Omar Khayyam and Shakespeare into artful construction of ideas with deep reflections. Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon made me stand up and speak the truth — without fear, or favour — however difficult or awkward it may be. Inspired by his writings and fully subscribed to his views, admiration and love for you was natural.

Natural is also my shock and dismay at your acceptance of the offer from Narendra Modi of Gujarat to be his brand ambassador.

I want to think that you don’t know much about Modi. And so, I must tell you what Modi is and what he has done in Gujarat, which has invited global condemnation, international sanctions and even calls for his arrest.

On February 28, Zakiya Jafri will relive the agony of witnessing the brutal massacre of her husband, former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, and scores of other women and children in her house. On that fateful day, as the crowd chanting Jai Shri Ram started gathering around her society in Ahmedabad, waving swords, trishuls and torches, and frightened people from the neighborhood started pouring into her house seeking protection, Ahsan saheb asked her to go upstairs to the bedroom and stay there until called. From upstairs, Zakiya Jafri could not see what was going on downstairs in her house, but from the unruly crowd outside shouting ‘jalao (burn)’, ‘kaato (cut)’, ‘maaro (kill)’, the cries of women and children from inside, and heat from the walls of her bedroom, she could guess what was taking place and was fearful of what was to come. The immoral dance of brutality, cries, fires, and more cries, continued for three hours. Three hours later, police arrived. As the survivors were taken down and out of the house, which was still smouldering, Zakiya saw, for the first time, several corpses burning inside her house. Mutilated body parts burning outside her house. Little bodies of children floating in her water tank, who having been set afire may have jumped into the tank. She saw one blue rubber slipper — the one Jafri saheb always wore in his office — lying outside. It was soaked with blood. The other one was missing.

Eight years have passed. Zakiya’s memory of that day does not fade — the day when the world she had built, brick by brick, with a lifetime of hard work, full of aspirations, dreams and love was ruthlessly and deliberately destroyed before her own eyes. The most important person of her life, to whom she had completely dedicated her life, loved, adored and revered, and like any traditional Indian woman, could not imagine life without — had been brutally killed. She was shattered. Her deep shiny eyes, full of sparkle and love, went lifeless.

There were 2,000 similar stories that month in Gujarat.

‘YOU CAN STAND IN YOUR FATHER’S SHOES AND SET AN EXAMPLE BY TURNING DOWN MODI’S OFFER’

Modi, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, presided over and orchestrated that massacre of innocent Muslims in his state, which is widely regarded as a genocide. Modi’s culpability and crime has been well established. Although, to date, he has succeeded in circumventing the legal system, the law is slowly closing in on him. Modi and 61 others, which include Cabinet colleagues, policemen and civil servants, are under criminal investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) specifically constituted by the Supreme Court of India for their role in the mass murder and criminal conspiracy.

You may ask why Modi did this. We are told that the burning by a few Muslims of the Sabarmati Express coach carrying kar sevaks was the reason. But many believe that was just an excuse. Investigations led by the Centre concluded that the fire in the coach was accidental. However, regardless of the truth, can there be any justification for killing innocents en masse? In the minds that are touched by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, killing innocents is never right.

The Gujarat massacre of 2002 was not an act of war in which “collateral damage” of innocent lives occurred. Instead, it was a well-planned operation to systematically target, kill and destroy members of a particular community — the Muslims of Gujarat.

The subsequent speeches of Modi, spewing venom and hatred against Muslims, are on public record. Although Modi would like us to believe he is a Hindu, neither his ideology nor his actions fit our values or Hindu philosophy. Instead, his profile matches that of an extremist and a religious bigot. Noted social scientist Ashis Nandy, who had interviewed Modi long before he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had concluded that Modi was a textbook case of a fascist.

You have very effectively played the roles of JCP Dev Pratap Singh and Subhash Nagre — two diametrically opposite characters — one filled with humanity and the other totally devoid of it — for the silver screen. But bringing that change of characters in your real life would be a tragic mistake. A transformation from Dev to Sarkar, if and when complete, would change Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s legacy — from that of a Mahatma to Modi.

Historically, religions have killed more people than all other unnatural causes combined. In his epic poem Madhushala, Harivansh Rai Bachchan asks us to rise above the narrow definition of religions. However much fascists and fanatics dress sectarianism as patriotism, we know your father would never have approved the spilling of innocent blood.

At a time when in their pursuit of profit most business tycoons, including Ratan Tata, are disregarding Modi’s crimes against humanity, if not feigning ignorance about them, in your father’s footsteps you can choose to stand by declining Modi’s offer to be his brand ambassador. You can set an example and a Harivanshrai legacy — a legacy that he and the generations after us can be proud of.

Dale E Turner says: “We are born with our eyes closed and our mouths open and we spend our whole lives trying to reverse that mistake of nature.” Your father opened our eyes. Yours too. Zakiya Jafri and I pray they never close.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 09, Dated March 06, 2010

Pic of the week

2010-03-27T14:05:00.003+05:30

Playing with fire

An Afghan refugee boy points his toy gun at a photographer while playing with other boys in a neighborhood of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on March 20.

Pic of the week

2010-03-20T13:27:00.002+05:30

Red protest

Riot police guard the residence of Thai Prime Minister Abhist Vejjajiva as supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra throw human blood, on March 17 in Bangkok. Thai "red shirt" protesters have spilled their own blood at key locations in Bangkok to dramatize their demand for new elections.

My letter to the CEOs of all the organizations in the world

2010-03-10T08:18:00.004+05:30

Believe me, when a CEO goes home at the end of the day, he doesn't say to his wife, "Honey, as we are about to transition from the dinner table to the bedroom, we need to proactively reassess your core competencies, and maybe shift some paradigms, because I have some important issues that need to be reconciled if we want to continue to have a world-class marriage."

CEOs and other corporate executives have the same problem. They sound a lot different when they're being "official." When they're being "official", they stiffen up and assault the English language.

I'm convinced that there is a software program out there called "CEO Column." All any corporate editor has to do is plug in the name of the company, and the program will spit out a ready-made, generic column with sentences like this:

"As we proactively ramp up our core competencies and shift paradigms in order to transition to a world-class organization, [Your Company Name Here] remains committed to one thing: Employees are still our greatest asset."

I may sound funny but just pick any 4 mails/columns/blogs written by 4 different CEOs. The words will always be the same, well at least 95% of the time. Why is it so? Why can't the CEOs understand that they are dealing with humans and not machines?

There are 3 easy steps to overcome this for any CEO.

1. Keep it simple:

There are simple employees working in your company. They don’t need that assaulted English language to get your message. They can understand the same in plain English as well.

2. Keep people first:

Rather than writing 600 words on a new idea in your brain, try to gather some burning topics which employees are facing. Find solutions to the employees’ problems. They are the company!

3. Talk freely:

Make yourself sound as if you're sitting in a bar having a drink, talking about the company (for me the company is always its people). Your employees will notice the difference immediately. Make it happen by being approachable to the people and not just the board members.

Happy Holi!

2010-03-01T11:40:00.002+05:30

I wish all the people on planet earth a very happy Holi! India is celebrating 'Holi' - the festival of colors today!

The colorful festival of Holi is celebrated on Phalgun Purnima which comes in February end or early March. Holi festival has an ancient origin and celebrates the triumph of 'good' over 'bad'.

The colorful festival bridges the social gap and renew sweet relationships. On this day, people hug and wish each other 'Happy Holi'.

Holi celebration begins with lighting up of bonfire on the Holi eve. Numerous legends & stories associated with Holi celebration makes the festival more exuberant and vivid. People rub 'gulal' and 'abeer' on each others' faces and cheer up saying, "bura na maano Holi hai". Holi also gives a wonderful chance to send blessings and love to dear ones wrapped in a special Holi gift.

This is one festival which adds color to our lives in India and is a great festival which makes people come together.

And with India winning against Pakistan in the Hockey World Cup last night, Indians have something more to celebrate today!!!

Happy Holi!

Journey of a lifetime!

2010-02-27T18:00:00.004+05:30

Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu became the First Indian Woman to Ski to South Pole! In her own words "It's a journey of a lifetime. It's a totally different world there with no life form around you except your team members."

For 38-year-old Reena, who had edged out 116 compatriots to get the right to represent India in the expedition, it marked a unique achievement. Unable to raise sufficient funds, Dharmshaktu had to take a loan of Rs.5.75 lakh from a bank and borrowed the rest from friends. Is the Indian Sports Minister listening? Of course ... not ... she is not a cricketer!

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth, the team of eight women from Britain, Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand and Singapore were selected for the expedition. Her mountaineer husband, Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu, climbed Mt Everest in May this year. Reena hails from Punjab but lives in Delhi.

She has certainly made Indians proud by her achievement & hopefully, her singular feat will not be completely lost on Indian sports fans!

Pic of the week

2010-02-27T13:04:00.000+05:30

Around the bend

Slovakia's Veronika Sabolova takes her second run during the women's singles luge at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

विठ्ठला ... कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती?

2010-02-23T23:41:00.004+05:30

"Which flag should I hold in my hand?"

जगण्याच्या वारीत मिळेना वाट हो…,
साचले मोहाचे धुके घनदाट हो…,
आपली माणसं आपली नाती तरी कळपाची मेंधारास भीती
विठ्ठला ... कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

आजवर ज्यांची वाहिली पालखी भलताच त्याचा देव होता
पुरे झाली आता उगा माथेफोडी दगडात माझा जीव होता
उजळावा दिवा म्हणूनिया किती मुकया बिचार्या जळती वाती
वैरी कोण आहे इथे कोण साथी
विठ्ठला .. कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

बूजगावण्यागत व्यर्थ हे जगण उभ्या उभ्या संपून जाई
अळरीतरीत माझा बघुनी उमगल कुंपण इथ शेत खायी
भक्ताच्या कपाळी अन् सारखीच माती तरी झेंडे एगळे, वेगळ्या जाती
सत्तेचीच भक्ती सत्तेचीच प्रीती
विठ्ठला .. कोणता झेंडा घेऊ हाती

This song conveys the anguish and the confused state of mind of the angry Gen Next of India. The politicians of this country are tying hard to divide India based on language and religion. In this song the singer literally asks God "Which flag should I hold in my hand?"

Should I hold the flag of my religion or my country in my hand? I have made my choice, to hold the Tricolor proudly in my hand! I am an Indian and my religion is 'Humanity'. What's yours? Watch the video and decide!!!

The background score is from the Marathi movie 'Zenda' (which means flag in Marathi) and the video has been created by me.

Farmers Suicide - Facts and Possible Policy Interventions

2010-02-18T10:03:00.000+05:30

The BBC News reports that more than 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997!

Now that's a huge number. I believe less number of people must have died in India due to terror strikes. This is an alarming figure and needs immediate attention by the Govt of India. All the media houses are busy publicizing unwanted leaders and Indian film industry but there attention should be to bring the farmers in focus.

More than half of those who committed suicide were between 20 and 45, their most productive years so its a shame that farmers, who are the backbone of our economy, are suffering like this.

I am not a judge of what's good or bad to tackle this situation but as a awaken citizen, it's my duty to put this forth. There is an interesting document which talks about farmers suicides in India. You can download the document by clicking here.

I know, most of you will be wondering why this post now. Well, when some good people are not getting their due attention, we need to speak out. Am just doing it as a proud Indian who is proud of his country and the farmers/soldiers who give up their lives so that you and me are happy in this country.

If you're not moved by the post, what the ----?

Are you going to finish strong?

2010-02-18T02:08:00.020+05:30

Awesome video! If you watch only one video today make sure it is this one! Nick Vujicic has no limbs but he leads an incredible life!

One of my friends shared this video with me. I thank that friend from the bottom of my heart! I have watched this video several times since then, and believe that every time I'll be at my weakest point in life, I'll think of Nick and hear him say, "Are you going to finish strong".

An inspiring video with a message you need to hear. After you’ve recomposed yourself, be sure to visit Nick Vujicic’s website.

I salute this real HERO in life!

Khan and Pune

2010-02-14T08:46:00.006+05:30

What a week this was for my country! It saw everything from dirty politics trying to divide the country based on religion and language - to a bomb blast in one of the nicest place in India i.e. Pune. The words 'KHAN' and 'PUNE' were all over the place and there was some reason behind this.

So where do we start? Lets start with another great city in India, Bombay. The city that never sleeps, the city that has seen so many things in the past, the city that represents true 'unity in diversity. In the recent past some of the dirty political parties have been targeting Bombay (a.k.a. Mumbai). Well if you don't know, Bombay was renamed by one of the parties when they came to power in the state of Maharastra in 1995 and I sincerely wish this party never comes to power ever again. That would be a sorry situation for Bombay. Having seen it all, from terror strikes to huge festival celebrations, Bombay was under siege again ... well apparently for no reason I will say. Now if you have ideological differences with me, would you kill me or ask me to stop writing? I hope not and it's not your birthright to do so! Some people in this city of Bombay try to enforce their ideology on the people. What the ....? We are Indians and we have the birth right to think the way we want. Please don't teach us what to speak and what not. There was huge police presence all across the city as the political party, who believes in 'Divide and Rule' formula was very much keen on enforcing their ideology on the people and they were trying to stop the screening of a film (titles 'My Name is Khan') of an actor (who is also names 'KHAN') who has spoken his views on some issue involving Pakistan. But eventually, the city and people of Bombay won ... they always do! There was no support to the political party. We the people of the country can do a lot of things and Bombay proved that ... once again!!!

Another beautiful city i.e. Pune was in news. This time for wrong reasons. Yesterday evening a powerful bomb blast ripped through the landmark 'German bakery' killing 9 people and injuring about 60 people. It's a shame that the Government had been alerted about this area being a target of the terrorists. The place i.e. German Bakery is a popular joint among the citizens of the city as well as foreigners who visit the city. It's no wonder that the terrorists always get bigger coverage when foreign nationals are involved in their targets.

(German Bakery in happier times)

It's very important that the people who did this must be punished severely. The first casualty in a terrorist attack is God ... No God, No faith, No religion can ever endorse inhuman acts like this! To my opinion, India was divided when one ambitious politician of a communal party took out a 'Rath Yatra' in 1989, not to reform or unite the country but to build ... don't laugh ... a 'Temple' at one of the controversial sites in the city of Ayodhya. This man, in his political career was never able to achieve what he wanted, to become the prime minister of India but he made sure the country was divided for his personal motives in life.

May the almighty bless those who lost their lives yesterday evening. Indian always unite after tragic incidences like the one in Pune and I hope better sense prevails all the time. We are a 'Democracy' which stands for 'By the people, For the people' and it's every Indians duty to take care of our country.

Pic of the week

2010-02-14T08:40:00.001+05:30

Holy water

A Hindu devotee holds on to a security chain after he slipped in the strong waters during his bath in the Ganges River during the Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian town of Haridwar on Feb. 10. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus take part in the religious gathering at the banks of the Ganges. The festival is held every 12 years in different Indian cities.

In search of Bhandari uncle

2010-02-07T02:17:00.003+05:30

Hello Uncle,

It's been years but looks like yesterday. I still remember the first time we interacted. It was winter of 2003 and the place was Kalkaji in New Delhi. The bonfire that we had on the terrace is one of the most memorable incidences of my life. We got along very well as we shared the same passion for life.

These days I am searching for you. I don't have any contacts of yours and don't know whom to approach. If you're in Ludhiana, I will see if I can trace you. But if you happen to read this post, please drop me a mail at my email ID - "Anand@AnandDholi.com".

I am waiting for some miracle to happen and see you very soon :)

Yours,

Anand