Disclaimer: Below perspective is mere speculation, it aims at exploring a different perspective from a third man point of view, rather than considering local sentiments.
I have seen several perspectives on the telangana issue, the backdrop of 7 telangana districts being neglected in Andhra State.
My support is for theory based on few books such as "Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond" and JP Narayanan's view that summarizes world history and brings to the fore, the reasons for the current state of societies. To summarize, it signifies the role of food production in the domination of certain people. It claims people who are self sustainable have always flourished in other domains such as politics, movies, enterpreneurship and other fields. Be it the conquest of whole world(USA, Australia, Africa, India etc) by Europeans or any relevant society.
There is no definite solution to the optimal granularity of states (how many states should exist).It is a mere speculation that we can do on the outcome of bifurcation of telangana and andhra. So, I feel, if you are pro poor (against capitalism) and encourage equality, devolution of power should be done at the district level, autonomy should be given more to districts, this is what mahatma gandhi envisioned as part of swaraj for villages too. It will curb corruption at highest levels and give the people more transparency and public welfare.
This is not possible for a meritocratic society though, as it will take a while for people to have a liberal point of view. Having virtual states for all the districts of AP, instead of just telangana and andhra, welfare can be achieved in each district. On the downside, Capitalism always wins in modern society, so more the equality, no more would be greed, jealousy, competition
or other human vulnerabilities.
And I am not sure if we can make any point by comparing the consequences of telangana seperation with the development of india, pakistan from bifurcation of pakistan from India, or Gujarat from maharasthra.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, June 26, 2009
Social Stigma
Few of the life changing experiences usually are book reading, interaction with people and speeches. I came across one such speech on TED.com about the perception of success and failure. It was really fascinating to listen to it though it was a subjective perspective. As In, it was driven by what the host has seen so far in experiences with people.
Few of the phrases were catchy, such as "we are highly open to suggestions", "we are interested in the emotional rewards rather than material goods itself", "using a piece of information about a person and trying to estimate the actualy value of".
Like I said, this is one perspective the host had, and not that everyone does that for the mentioned reasons. But It was a well given speech, the format, the connecting points and the conclusion. He spoke of equality in modern society and a week later I read an article in rediff.com that listed India as one of the worst nations in terms of gender equality. In rural areas females are still ill treated, not shown the respect and lacking self esteem.
I was watching some documentary, that led to writing of this post. Not that I was not aware of these things, as I used to watch some programs in TV9, that used to expose all sorts of news. Disagreement of choice and motives could be a human instinct that could lead to a verbal expression of unhappiness. Leaving aside the gender, there could be any form of expression between individuals. But the sad thing is, there are still areas where women get beaten up.
Development is all about raising the bar. The situation in western countries or developed nations is good because self governance had come into existance about 200 years ago. India is under self governance only since 60 years. It will take time to reach such stage only with the education of a girl child. Be it the population, be it any other social evil in the context of rural India.
Few of the phrases were catchy, such as "we are highly open to suggestions", "we are interested in the emotional rewards rather than material goods itself", "using a piece of information about a person and trying to estimate the actualy value of".
Like I said, this is one perspective the host had, and not that everyone does that for the mentioned reasons. But It was a well given speech, the format, the connecting points and the conclusion. He spoke of equality in modern society and a week later I read an article in rediff.com that listed India as one of the worst nations in terms of gender equality. In rural areas females are still ill treated, not shown the respect and lacking self esteem.
I was watching some documentary, that led to writing of this post. Not that I was not aware of these things, as I used to watch some programs in TV9, that used to expose all sorts of news. Disagreement of choice and motives could be a human instinct that could lead to a verbal expression of unhappiness. Leaving aside the gender, there could be any form of expression between individuals. But the sad thing is, there are still areas where women get beaten up.
Development is all about raising the bar. The situation in western countries or developed nations is good because self governance had come into existance about 200 years ago. India is under self governance only since 60 years. It will take time to reach such stage only with the education of a girl child. Be it the population, be it any other social evil in the context of rural India.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Road Ahead
The other day I saw a video of pranay misthri at ted.com. It just blew me off. I saw something similar in these lines when Microsoft discussed surface technology. Information about information, meta information. As always, I am not taking for or against stands, but generating an insight for the consquences on both sides. When there are soft wares that can predict customer buying patterns, softwares that suggest what you can do, softwares on browser that suggest singles in your area using information got from your laptop ip address, softwares such as twitter that give near real time updates, where do you think exists the thin line between privacy and so called meta information. An article that substantiates my thoughts was in business week where in the emphasis was on sharing user information by facebook with third parties. Of course there was a voluntary disclosure by the user, but are they really aware of it, noting all the above have become a hit with millions of users. Now the main question, all these babies of invention, are they helping people who really look for such information or is it paving a way that everyone "will" or "have to follow".
Coming to sprint layoffs, I have been working on developing automated business processes. I personally know guys who used to use my tool and work earlier with certain range of qualification and skills. Its not about sympathizing but expecting one to be on steep learning curve, at all stages of life, be it in college, happily married or settled. Struggle for existance has been an undeniable atomic concept, but how they prepare for it is what matters, and how often they have to be on it. Essentially getting a feeling that learning curve need not be steepest in college. Converging towards automation, with technologies such as cloud computing coming up firms can use pay per use services, that may lead to much more work force reduction on the user side, but may create opportunites who develop and suppot these.
The above paragraphs are unrelated yet have pointers to dynamics of technology.My opinion is not against technology, I dont say wheel shouldn't have been invented to make our travel simpler.Its is an argument within, wondering the downside consquences as well, as technology in earlier era and now are not the same, lets say in terms of consquences.
I enjoyed writing this post, sitting outside the apartment, enjoying the perfect pleasant weather of spring relishing the coffee. Only few days in a year you can see pleasant weather throughout a day, wanting to play volley ball or cricket. Summer evenings are also good, but my definition of pleasant is user defined :P
Interesting news today relevant to the above where one's loss is another's gain ... (4-13-09,Businessweek)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090410_637212.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story
"Wireless Carriers: Your New PC Retailer?
Move over, Best Buy. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and other mobile-phone providers are moving swiftly into the business of selling computers "
"The emergence of carriers as computer distributors could spell changes, good and bad, for PC suppliers. On one hand, consumers who may not have bought a $500 PC may be tempted by a $50 one. "It's about getting the next billion people online"
Coming to sprint layoffs, I have been working on developing automated business processes. I personally know guys who used to use my tool and work earlier with certain range of qualification and skills. Its not about sympathizing but expecting one to be on steep learning curve, at all stages of life, be it in college, happily married or settled. Struggle for existance has been an undeniable atomic concept, but how they prepare for it is what matters, and how often they have to be on it. Essentially getting a feeling that learning curve need not be steepest in college. Converging towards automation, with technologies such as cloud computing coming up firms can use pay per use services, that may lead to much more work force reduction on the user side, but may create opportunites who develop and suppot these.
The above paragraphs are unrelated yet have pointers to dynamics of technology.My opinion is not against technology, I dont say wheel shouldn't have been invented to make our travel simpler.Its is an argument within, wondering the downside consquences as well, as technology in earlier era and now are not the same, lets say in terms of consquences.
I enjoyed writing this post, sitting outside the apartment, enjoying the perfect pleasant weather of spring relishing the coffee. Only few days in a year you can see pleasant weather throughout a day, wanting to play volley ball or cricket. Summer evenings are also good, but my definition of pleasant is user defined :P
Interesting news today relevant to the above where one's loss is another's gain ... (4-13-09,Businessweek)
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090410_637212.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story
"Wireless Carriers: Your New PC Retailer?
Move over, Best Buy. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and other mobile-phone providers are moving swiftly into the business of selling computers "
"The emergence of carriers as computer distributors could spell changes, good and bad, for PC suppliers. On one hand, consumers who may not have bought a $500 PC may be tempted by a $50 one. "It's about getting the next billion people online"
Friday, January 23, 2009
It was not destiny
If Slum dog millionaire won an oscar,
1. Director was lucky
2. Movie was a masterpiece
3. There was no competition
4. It was destiny
An aptly titled movie that is an eyecatcher for sure. The movie, based on a novel is well written fiction that is enjoyable. It revolves around a questionare being answered through clues from many incidents in life of a slum (dog). Its natural to get surprised when a slum (dog) becomes a millionare, where it could have been any common man, lets say who is not a millionare nor a slum (dog). With a neutral perspective, the concept is very new for a kudos, but it was destined to reach the list, considering the tremendous hype it has got.
Pondering about selling points with a different perspective it took me not long enough to realise that few of the incidents in the movie show India in very bad light. Slums, dogs and small incidents when people resort to anything for minor gains. These scenes were deliberately induced making insignificant to the story line. I some how feel there was a conscious effort to put all the ingredients to catch the attention of audience in west and hype it up using a solid script backing. Its not exactly knowing the pulse, but something like knowing what material would be appreciated. Commonman Millionaire would have been definitely different. I am not criticising, but
Slum(dog) made the difference.
It was not destiny.
------------
My friend Damu's comments, that I found superb, apt summary:
- " basically westerners ni indian gareebi and problems chupinchi .. shock chesi .. sympathy kottesi .. brownie points kottesaru ani chepthunnadu raa ..it was kind of duping the western audience "
1. Director was lucky
2. Movie was a masterpiece
3. There was no competition
4. It was destiny
An aptly titled movie that is an eyecatcher for sure. The movie, based on a novel is well written fiction that is enjoyable. It revolves around a questionare being answered through clues from many incidents in life of a slum (dog). Its natural to get surprised when a slum (dog) becomes a millionare, where it could have been any common man, lets say who is not a millionare nor a slum (dog). With a neutral perspective, the concept is very new for a kudos, but it was destined to reach the list, considering the tremendous hype it has got.
Pondering about selling points with a different perspective it took me not long enough to realise that few of the incidents in the movie show India in very bad light. Slums, dogs and small incidents when people resort to anything for minor gains. These scenes were deliberately induced making insignificant to the story line. I some how feel there was a conscious effort to put all the ingredients to catch the attention of audience in west and hype it up using a solid script backing. Its not exactly knowing the pulse, but something like knowing what material would be appreciated. Commonman Millionaire would have been definitely different. I am not criticising, but
Slum(dog) made the difference.
It was not destiny.
------------
My friend Damu's comments, that I found superb, apt summary:
- " basically westerners ni indian gareebi and problems chupinchi .. shock chesi .. sympathy kottesi .. brownie points kottesaru ani chepthunnadu raa ..it was kind of duping the western audience "
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The trip
We were 4, we saw it sunny hot, we saw it pleasant warm, we saw it cold. In the early hours there was some dew, I was supposed to be asleep, that was the plan, I was asleep, was I, no, I opened my eyes, where am I looking, I cannot see anything, I thought I was looking at the windshield, then I hear, "Dude, I cannot see anything". So much fog, they were constantly discussing, and I was giving unsolicited suggestions, he he he, it was so much fun troubling the driver, then I think, ok lets shut up, before I was told to. It took hours, but successfully we steered it through. It was exhausting, why for me? becoz I couldn't catch proper sleep.
Next was the dry part, it was like a location for a movie shoot, a straight road and endless desert on either sides, we were like driving hours and hours, but still at the same place, pretty much identical and girr... this time I was at the front seat bored of looking that I forced myself to turn back to see their faces. This was exhausting too.
And finally was the adventurous part, and yes, I was driving, this stretch was full of valleys, ups and downs. There were so many twists and turns, and it was fun and exciting before the tummies were complaining. Before they were taking a complete toll, we hit an elevated road, and when it ended, there was an ocean of lights, and my eyes poped up, with a jaw dropping excitement, wow, welcome to the fabulous Las Vegas.
Next was the dry part, it was like a location for a movie shoot, a straight road and endless desert on either sides, we were like driving hours and hours, but still at the same place, pretty much identical and girr... this time I was at the front seat bored of looking that I forced myself to turn back to see their faces. This was exhausting too.
And finally was the adventurous part, and yes, I was driving, this stretch was full of valleys, ups and downs. There were so many twists and turns, and it was fun and exciting before the tummies were complaining. Before they were taking a complete toll, we hit an elevated road, and when it ended, there was an ocean of lights, and my eyes poped up, with a jaw dropping excitement, wow, welcome to the fabulous Las Vegas.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Money Spinner
Twenty 20, ODIs, test matches and now IPL. When some one is not in form, gavaskar says he is not a worth to the team. When someone like Ishant says he is tired, he says he is playing for his nation and being a professional and playing at an international level, one is not suppposed to be tired.
At a stage when there are so many forms of cricket providing entertainment, thin line exists between playing for nation and playing for money. A sedate knock from Rohit sharma does not save the match against sri lanka. Players playing for position or victory. All these observations make one wonder why IPL?
Aren't people concerned about the way it is goin on. At one end, Indian team form is dependent on fitness and other things, doesn't it get influenced by additional schedules?. Don't the players show more interest and try to be fit, play well for money in IPL, or is it not going to effect their commitment of playing for the nation. The primary purpose was to groom locals, but is it the way it is going on, and is it not pure entertainment now ? Isnt't it evident when the cunning sharukh khan made good frnds with pakistan team, ganguly and dhoni during sahara pariwar marketing campaigns. Isnt't it about just money? Too many questions isn't it ?
The association set a limited budget for each franchise, but one never knows what goes off the record. Its not a new concept of commercial game, and is prevalent in australia and england, but we play a lot more matches compared to them, and are more inconsistent to have a set of players for any series and are more prone to fitness / injuries. Its not just entertainment in India, but gradually will become if it is a hit. Food for thought ?
At a stage when there are so many forms of cricket providing entertainment, thin line exists between playing for nation and playing for money. A sedate knock from Rohit sharma does not save the match against sri lanka. Players playing for position or victory. All these observations make one wonder why IPL?
Aren't people concerned about the way it is goin on. At one end, Indian team form is dependent on fitness and other things, doesn't it get influenced by additional schedules?. Don't the players show more interest and try to be fit, play well for money in IPL, or is it not going to effect their commitment of playing for the nation. The primary purpose was to groom locals, but is it the way it is going on, and is it not pure entertainment now ? Isnt't it evident when the cunning sharukh khan made good frnds with pakistan team, ganguly and dhoni during sahara pariwar marketing campaigns. Isnt't it about just money? Too many questions isn't it ?
The association set a limited budget for each franchise, but one never knows what goes off the record. Its not a new concept of commercial game, and is prevalent in australia and england, but we play a lot more matches compared to them, and are more inconsistent to have a set of players for any series and are more prone to fitness / injuries. Its not just entertainment in India, but gradually will become if it is a hit. Food for thought ?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Toast
I have earlier read in his testimonials that he is an epitome of patience. This was the time I could actually see what patience in him is. At the midnight of a long drive form LA to Sanjose, I am suddenly woken up by somebody who was fetching a spanner to replace a flat tyre. I stepped down the car or rather jumped from the seat half asleep. I see him in front of me and I am all of a sudden hugged by him saying that the car tyre was flat. There is an old telugu movie joke, he said "ippudu nuvvu emannav ..... naanna chitti", and hugged again. I am surprised this time.
Surprised because, earlier in the beach there was a car lock out. The first thing I heard from him was "These things happen, nothing to worry". The next thing he did was to tell everyone to rush to the beach. Most of them were enquiring, if not most, alteast I wanted to, what happened to the keys, how it got locked out, where the keys were right now etc. Its not that this was the first ocassion to see something in him, there was a NY trip earlier as well, but for some reason this trip was more exhausting to mention. And its not that this is the only quality in him to mention considering the blog would become too big to read :)
Once the trip was over, after pondering for a while, I confirmed I am not over reacting, because everyone else was impatient to some extent with some thing or the other, be it the directions to the motel where we were supposed to stay in LA or for that matter anything else. Its a different matter that our group enjoys whatever comes in the way. Be it enjoying the time in rest area during the flat tyre or anything else. We enjoy whatever happens, but I really felt the need to thank him for hosting by keeping his head cool.
What we see is sometimes the world to us. These incidents seem normal to some and great to some. Added to that, if you are caught between the thoughts 1. if people would genuinely accept your appreciation, or 2. if people think you are trying to impress them with fake appreciation 3. if people accept you as you are or prefer what they want you to be by being nice and showing fake hospitality, its difficult to appreciate small things when the recipient does not like it. But to look at it as something what I "feel" am incapable of, I would definitely raise a toast to the patient hosting.
Surprised because, earlier in the beach there was a car lock out. The first thing I heard from him was "These things happen, nothing to worry". The next thing he did was to tell everyone to rush to the beach. Most of them were enquiring, if not most, alteast I wanted to, what happened to the keys, how it got locked out, where the keys were right now etc. Its not that this was the first ocassion to see something in him, there was a NY trip earlier as well, but for some reason this trip was more exhausting to mention. And its not that this is the only quality in him to mention considering the blog would become too big to read :)
Once the trip was over, after pondering for a while, I confirmed I am not over reacting, because everyone else was impatient to some extent with some thing or the other, be it the directions to the motel where we were supposed to stay in LA or for that matter anything else. Its a different matter that our group enjoys whatever comes in the way. Be it enjoying the time in rest area during the flat tyre or anything else. We enjoy whatever happens, but I really felt the need to thank him for hosting by keeping his head cool.
What we see is sometimes the world to us. These incidents seem normal to some and great to some. Added to that, if you are caught between the thoughts 1. if people would genuinely accept your appreciation, or 2. if people think you are trying to impress them with fake appreciation 3. if people accept you as you are or prefer what they want you to be by being nice and showing fake hospitality, its difficult to appreciate small things when the recipient does not like it. But to look at it as something what I "feel" am incapable of, I would definitely raise a toast to the patient hosting.
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