My Life ... My Journey

As I set to write this post, two things are remarkable :- It is after a long time I am posting on my blog. (Never tired of being lazy) It may be a race against time as the internet goes in 12 minutes. (restrictions are omnipresent) It is the latter I would talk about. Internet has coem a long way from its use as Darpanet by US Army to becoming a necessity of modern life. You no longer need special LAN wires to access it. It has become as ubiquitous as gossip. (comparison just for the sake of it ;) ) Even the mobiles can be used to access net. The world wide web today allows us to be aware of what's new, gain information regarding specific fields, do research, stay connected with friends and family, play games, look for job to do invest money, do shopping, read books and what not. And because of the versatile nature of internet , it has assumed such a great place in our life. Of course internet has its advantages. Who would deny it. But what amount of time we should spend onl...

India is an emerging superpower. It is expected to be the third largest economy in 2030 after China and US. It's definitely something to feel proud of. But will that pride be accompanied by true happiness. In 2030, India is expected to be the most populous country in the world. More than 6 decades after independence, we are still fighting the same problems of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, malnutrition and corruption. We are the world's largest democracy and have set examples for the world to emulate. We have also in turn been good at absorbing and assimilating ideas, practices and technology from the world, from the people we have come in contact. While it is quite debatable to comment on whether we have imbibed more good things than bad, it is certainly true that we have not been smart enough to solve our problems effectively either through indigenous ideas or best of the world techniques. The reasons are many. Some blame it on the huge population which nullifies whatever...

This discussion ensues from the recent report on demand of separate time zone for North-east. A time zone is a region of the earth that has uniform standard time, usually referred to as the local time. By convention, time zones compute their local time as an offset from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Local time is UTC plus the current time zone offset for the considered location. India currently has a single time zone compared with Russia's eleven time zones, the US and Canada's six zones, Brazil's four zones and Australia and Kazakhstan's three zones. China, however, is a notable exception with a single time zone. India's east-west span of more than 2,000 km covers over 28 degrees of longitude, resulting in a two hour difference in the sun rise and set across the eastern border and the Rann of Kutch in the far west. Thus, is the demand for separate time zones in some circles. Academicians, youth, teachers, students and women organizations gathered recently to at...

The world must be envying India for its citizens owning mobile phones are in a state of bliss. Calls as cheap as 1 paise/sec and SMS expected to follow soon is a far cry from the early years of 21st century. When once, the customer had to pay hefty price for even incoming calls, the decision to make incoming free has changed the whole scenario. While Mr Raja allegedly involved in spectrum allocation scam may not be feeling 'princely', the mobile users surely would be. There are some reasons why this tariff war is believed to last a little longer :- The new license-holders who have already launched or are going to launch their telecom operations are giving the existing players stiff competition. The proposed number portability system when launched would allow easy migration of customers from one operator to another The Government's decision to reduce termination charges from 20 paise/min, which is the charge one operator has to necessarily pay to other for a call emanating ...

This article which appeared in Economic Times on 29 October 2009 tells that at least half a dozen of top 25 in the world's largest software maker shows significant Indian contribution. Its not only Microsoft, but Indians have proved their mettle in almost every successful business and technology start-ups. Silicon Valley hosts one of the largest Indian tech-force. Its not technology and business alone, Indians have shone in almost every field, ranging from spelling bee contests to music. The diaspora has carved a space for itself. It brings back the old debate of brain-drain. In this globalized world, its impractical to control flow of talent. Whether NRIs have done us more harm than good is a controversy in which I don't want to indulge. But it is true that we must identify the potential of our citizens and give them ample opportunities to hone it and benefit the society, nation and humanity at large. From ' Vishwaguru ' to an urge to become a knowledge economy, all de...

Have you ever felt as if you are swimming unconsciously in an active sea where you can feel something happening around you but you feel detached from it as if in state of coma ? ... I know it sounds awkward but I am sure there are many like me who must have felt something similar at one point of time or other. It may be some kind of delusion or psychological effect that one gradually slides into passiveness. You feel as if you are a pupa who has lost the will of coming out of cocoon. These moments might be quite troubling. You may want to overcome lethargy, but the comfort of inactivity pulls you back. You simply don't know what to do about this situation. Even your mind fails to answer your questions. On a deeper note, perhaps one has slid into aimlessness. It may be momentarily. You may have certain targets to achieve but you know there is no urgency. And when this thought starts taking control over your mind and thought process, you fall into a state of hibernation. While animal...

The general elections 2009 brought its own expectations, enchantments, disillusions, and uncertainty. The citizens of the largest democracy had many issues in mind while they decide what best suits there future. Some were responsible enough to utilise the opportunity of making decisions for themselves and the entire nation while others preferred to be 'Pappu' enjoying the spicy political news presented in form of raw entertainment (a feat only our media can achieve) from a distance. With Election Commission banning exit polls during elections, the analysts and political parties gauged aam aadmi's mind by media reports about daily changing political formations, out of blue statements of netas, verbal duels, and the various permutation and combinations of factors(caste, religion, charismatic leaders and plethora of other local issues) leading to victory or defeat. This all seemed to be even more fascinating at moments as compared to India's first love Cricket(IPL). In a...