Nagesh... a great comedian

Nagesh, a great comedian of tamil cinema is no more... He breathed his last today, 31st Jan 2009.. Though he was a great comedian, his dancing skills were much better.. He acted along with several leading actors, MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Hassan and others...

His performance in Neer Kumuzhi moved filmgoers to tears... Nobody can forget his role as a dead man in Magalir Mattum...

I dont think Tamil cinema would get a comedian as good as Shri Nagesh..

May his soul rest in peace...

PADMA AWARDS

As per Government of India, the Padma Awards (Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri) are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants. The recommendations for Padma Awards are received from the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/Departments, Institutions of Excellence, etc. which are considered by an Awards Committee. On the basis of the recommendations of the Awards Committee, and after approval of the Home Minister, Prime Minister and President, the Padma Awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day.

Bharat Ratna is the highest award for civilians and these awards, viz., Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri follow them. Uptill the year 2008, 2095 people have received the Padma Shri award since 1954. Sportspersons are also part of these awards - boxer Vijender Kumar and wrestler Sushil Kumar who won bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics of 2008 were not in the list of awardees. India's performance in Olympics historically is not good and our participants returned with only one medal in the last three Olympics (Leandar Paes with a bronze in Men's Singles tennis (Atlanta, 1996), weight lifter Karnam Malleswari with a bronze in (Sydney, 2000) in weight lifting and shooter Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver (Athens,2004). In fact these two had created Olympic sporting history as far as India was concerned, by giving two bronze medals to India on the same day at the 2008 Beijing Olympics along with Abhinav Bindra’s shooting gold. I dont want to get into the controversy of why Dhoni & Harbhajan or why Akshay Kumar & Aishwarya Rai.. My only point of contention here is, if Sania Mirza can be given Padma Shri for her achievements (any avid tennis lover will reckon the grandslams as the highest award - and her best performance is to enter the 4th round in US open in 2005.. I do agree that she is the best compared to other female tennis players, present and past India has produced, but does it mean that whatever Sushil & Vijender achieved is a less achievement ? These guys have won an individual bronze at the Olympics, the greatest sporting extravaganza on earth in which almost every country in the world participates! Unfortunately, in India, everything has to be lobbied.. As Abhinav Bindra was rightly given Padma Bhushan (the first individual gold for the country in centuries), what stopped them from awarding these two sportspersons also. Col. Rathore was given Padma Shri in the year 2005 after he won the silver medal.. These guys come from a poor background and participate in a sport where their career earnings will be less than what a cricketer would earn in a series (including ad shoots)..

Continuing with the sports section of the awards, why Harbhajan Singh? Though he is a good cricketer and is the ace spinner for India post Jumbo's (Anil Kumble) retirement, what has he achieved in this year.. He was in the news for all wrong things.. Initially it was the monkeygate episode (though the three test ban was finally reduced to fine) and then the Sreesanth episode. The following is the extract of Harbhajan's profile in Cricinfo website :

"In January 2008 when Harbhajan was charged with racially abusing Andrew Symonds. He was given a three-Test ban but the charge was reduced, on appeal, to abuse and insult not amounting to racism and the ban was turned into a fine. In April that year, Harbhajan was involved in another controversy - this time with an Indian team-mate - when video evidence showed him slapping Sreesanth without any provocation after an IPL game in Mohali. He pleaded guilty at a hearing and was banned for 11 IPL matches."

His career has been raked by controversy and bad behavior – so what are we encouraging? He is one of the top civilians of the country and the youngsters should follow him / emulate him ???

Australian Open

I'm excited that the Australian open has commenced today... While this blog is being posted, Fedex has started his first round match against Seppi.. We have a strong competitor in Andy Murray (I hear somebody saying Rafa - who is he ??)... Wish Fedex wins this in his pursuit of breaking Pete Sampras's record....

Open letter to Srinivas

Hey Srinivas,
This is my open letter to you, my professional colleague.. How on earth did you accept to do all such frauds? What did you gain out of this? Money ??? But did you give a thought on the repercussions? Hope you are aware of the disrepute you have brought to the accounting community !
It is so easy to conclude that an accounting fraud of such magnitude could not have been done without your concurrence. Being a CA, CS, CWA, LLB, am sure, there would have been hundreds of opportunities waiting for you – but you stuck on to Satyam – I am not questioning why you haven’t changed companies – being loyal is rewarded as we saw in the case of Chanda Kochar, but my question is why did you agree to do all such dirty things..
You were the CFO of Satyam – people have started calling you Chief Fraud Officer.. I was going through the Analyst conference call transcript of Q2 FY09.. When an analyst questioned you on the higher cash balance, you creatively answered and the second answer was clear that you were blabbering (now, I could understand)… Unfortunately, the analyst did not dig further into the question – had he grilled you there, may be you would have been caught… Your tone of answering the second question clearly proves that you made up the reply.

Kawaljeet Saluja – Kotak Equities

Hi, my question are for, Srinivas. Srinivas any specific reasons why you have $500 million parked in current accounts which does not yield any interest.

V. Srinivas

No that is basically, as of the quarter ending, but subsequent to that the amount goes to the deposit accounts; majority of its in deposits now.

Kawaljeet Saluja – Kotak Equities

But Srinivas if I look at deposit account for the last 4 quarters that number has remained absolutely flat and most of the incremental cash flows have been parked in current accounts and this is not something is this quarter trend. Would you highlight the reasons for it?

V. Srinivas

No basically what will happen is this amount will be basically in different countries and then we will be bringing them to India based on the needs. Basically some of them are in overnight deposits and all that. So now, we have kind of placed them into normal term deposits. So next quarter onwards, we will see that as part of the deposits.

There is also news that you offloaded about 92k shares of Satyam in Sept 2008 – did you sense that you would be caught. Considering a price of Rs. 420/- per share (sorry for 420 – it’s a coincidence only), you have pocketed almost Rs. 4 Crores. Did you give a thought to those small time investors like me who have invested thinking that the price of shares would improve?
Now CA institute has said that it cannot take action against you as you are not a registered member? That proves how wise you are and how dumb I’m.. I pay Rs. 600/- (institute increases every year) per annum for nothing (other than the journal which I don’t read) and if am caught, my membership may be even cancelled. You don’t have such troubles as you are not a member at all…
Boss, if you had done with your knowledge, all I would say is that you are a stupid unless you have made money atleast for two generations… If you still hold to your statement that you are not aware at all, you were not fit to be a CFO of such a big organization…
Only time and proper investigation will tell the truth….

World Record No. 24 @ 5.05 Mtrs

Well, I'm back on Yelena... Miss. World Record breaker... Yeah, its No. 24 in Beijing.. Taking centre stage, rather, an actress performing on stage, she jumped 5.05 metres on her third attempt and created another world record.. C'mon Yelena, 12 more to surpass Sergei Bubka's record which you had challenged....

The best part of this record breaking jump is how she silenced Jenn Stuczynski who had spoken "too much" before Olympics... After clearing 4.92 Mtrs (then olympic record was 4.91 Mtrs by Yelena in Athens), Stuczynski boasted to "kick Russian's butt".. Yelena did not react orally but proved it with her jump and then said "She must respect me. Now she knows my position."

With the whole Beijing crowd behind her, she has achieved World Record No. 24. With her coach VitalyPetrov, am sure she would make it beyond Sergei..... Hoping to see it soon...

THANKS TO THE MEN IN BLUE

I did not even in the wildest of my dreams thought Dhoni & his men will come back to India with the Twenty20 cup ! Well, should thank the ‘seniors’ for not being part – I’m not talking on their batting – they are maestros and could have done anything. But, the difference with this young Indian team was their fielding and it mattered very much in bringing the trophy.

Well, I don’t know what was going through in the minds of ICC when they scheduled the final on a Monday – may be it was a holiday in South Africa. But millions of supporters like me in India had to suffer. I was sitting in office when the Indian captain won the toss and elected to bat… Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan went to bat at 5.30 p.m. IST. For those 20 overs, I was glued to the monitor only and the only program in my computer was cricinfo.com… The Indian batting finished at around 7 p.m., by when I thought I should leave home… Asked Indu to update me every 5 overs of Pakistani innings.. But there was heavy rain outside and it forced me to go back to office and restart cricinfo. Paki openers Imran Nazir and Mohd. Hafeez were in the middle.. In the fifth ball, Hafeez went to RP Singh. I thought of going to the guest house and watch the final overs. By then, rain had also stopped.

Took a cab and started my journey. It takes minimum 90 minutes to reach by which Indians would have bowled their quota as by the time I took the taxi they had bowled 2 overs. If a Dacia Solenza was a “katara gaadi”, what to talk of Premier Padmini taxis in Mumbai !! I lesson for me to measure my words !!!

After 5 overs, I got a message saying Pakistanis are 53-3. By then, Kajol came before me and told, what are you doing man.. switch to Tata Indicom plug to serve. I remembered that I can use the facility similar to 3G and see cricinfo. I was totally on it – did not know how the traffic was.. By the time the taxi reached Mulund, Pakistanis required 20 runs in 2 overs.. When I peeked through the window, saw a group of people standing before a wine shop and watching cricket. Asked the taxi to stop, settled him and I was among the hundred guys there. It was totally crowded and my be I would have been in the 10th row or so.. Advertisement was going on. A gentleman standing next to me was so courteous to tell me 17 runs were required off 7 balls with just one wicket in hand. When I asked him whether Misbah-ul-Haq is there, he said, I can see two Pakistanis – that’s it.. Don’t know who is out?

After the advertisement, I saw Mohd Asif being introduced and the replay of the ball in which RP Singh bowled a Pakistani player. All I could see was only cricket, but not the score board or who the player is. Asif scored a four off the last ball of RP Singh’s over and when the batsmen met in the middle, I could see the read Misbah in the shirt worn by him.

The crowd was very tense than Dhoni. Another 50 more people joined by that time. All I could hear was “ek over mein thera run chahiye”. One was updating the new comer. When we saw the ball was tossed to Joginder Sharma, crowd started saying bowl like you did against Australia… When Joginder Sharma bowled the wide, people were all very silent. When the next was a dot ball, there was some happiness. Trouble started when Misbah hit the second legitimate ball for a six.. Crowd became totally silent. The gentleman, who updated me on the score when I went in, said he could not stand the pressure and is leaving. When Misbah scooped Joginder and the ball was in the air, it was mixed reactions – but when the camera panned towards Sreesanth and the moment he took it, the crowd went berserk.. There were claps all around.. Almost everybody – though strangers hugged each other – no caste, religion came in between.. Now I realized I’m in India…

Took a auto rickshaw and went to the guest house just in time for the presentation ceremony.. The words of Shoaib Malik hurt me very much – he is sorry to Muslims all over the world – we had two Muslim players in the Indian team. South Africa, Netherlands, England, Scotland, Canada have or had Muslim players. Bangladesh is another Muslim country playing Cricket. His remarks were totally uncalled for, but nothing could take away the thrilling finishes this Twenty20 has produced.. I stand my word – had India had Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the team, we could have leaked about 15 runs in the field.. Whether they would have scored more or not is a question which can be debated for years… We would not have got to see Rohit Sharma, for sure…

Again I dont support the State Govt's for giving in tax payer's money.. BCCI is their governing body and they are paying them - why should you.. Who was Joginder Sharma two weeks back - we could not even identify him if we crossed each other - but today, he is richer by a Crore - BCCI giving him Rs. 80 lakhs and then the Haryana Govt. giving him Rs. 21 lakhs.. Don't pour money when they win or pour kerosene when they lose !!!

Bucharest to London

It’s a while since I blogged.. .It is time for me to write something on our trip to London & Paris. Before, proceeding to the details on the trip, it would be better if I could touch upon our journey from Galati to London. It has lot of adventures in it.. We started by around 6 p.m. on 22nd July from Galati after winding up. It was a sort of farewell for us – do not know when we would be back. Anupreet, Rajat, Chandra and Vishal were at Rachita to see us off. We reached the Bucharest Guesthouse (Villa) at around 9.30 p.m.

23rd August was slated for our journeys – we started from Villa at around 5.15 a.m. and was at the airport at around 5.40 a.m. We checked in ourselves and thanks to Pranav’s pram, we were screened at the big sized baggage x-ray and were about to board the flight. Once in the flight, I remembered to message Surekha. Sent a message to her and the flight was off. We landed in Paris at around 0905 hrs (local time). The trouble period was now – baggage did not come – I mean, a delay in arrival of baggage. It took almost an hour and at 1000 hrs, baggage was received. We had to run to catch the train to Gare du Nord as our plan was to take Eurostar and be in London to receive my parents.

The distance from the air terminal to the railway platform was almost a kilometer. We had to walk for almost 15 minutes before we reached the platform. We had to buy tickets. There was a machine where you can drop coins and buy tickets – unfortunately, we did not have coins for Eur 16 with us readily. So, I had to stand in a queue for almost 15 minutes before we could proceed to the train. While standing in the queue, spoke to Sriram as there was a missed call from him and confirmed of our arrival in Paris.

We had to go one level down to reach the platform from the ticket counter. No trolleys allowed in the platform – no elevator to go. We had to punch our tickets and the wicked gate opens of us to proceed. Indu punched her tickets, but due to some problem the wicked gate did not open. She had to bend herself down and come through the small gap in the wicked gate. We had to carry all the baggages through the stairs (elevator was there only to go up). Indu could not carry Pranav and his pram. She left the pram behind but carried the suitcase and a bag with her. I took other luggages. Once I saw that Indu did not carry the pram, I took the elevator went up, took the pram and reached the train. The train was at 1048 hrs and we were there exactly on time. Seconds after we reached the platform, train started.

Train reached Gare du Nord at around 1125 hrs. Again the problem of trolley availability haunted us. With the heavy baggage, we had to run around and find the Eurostar terminal. After walking for about 12 minutes, we reached the terminal. We are yet to collect the tickets and the train to London is at 1216 hrs. I was tensed and stood in the queue to collect tickets. There were about half a dozen people before me and there were 3 counters. I thought my number would come soon… But, I had to wait for more than half an hour thanks to the speed in which the guys in the counter worked – Parisian way as the English would say..

Once I was in the counter, the gentleman told me that the system showed our tickets were to London Ashford instead of Waterloo. He said our seats are confirmed and he has to issue manual tickets.. I thought that’s it.. We are going to miss the train.. The speed in which the guy worked gave some confidence to me – he was so slow which made me feel that they would hold the train if they have issued the tickets. By 1207 hrs, he issued me the tickets.

Indu was desperately waiting and somehow managing Pranav. She was taking some photographs to keep herself busy. We had to further check in ourselves and screen the baggages. We reached the UK immigration counter. The gentleman in the counter asked me the landing form. I told him, I’m not aware of any such form and I could have filled it while waiting in the queue. After enquiring my train details, he was kind enough to exempt me filling the form. He just asked my return details, stamped our passports and asked us to proceed.

It was almost 1213 hrs and the train was at 1216. If there was something good, then it was that there was a conveyer belt to the platform instead of an escalator and we managed to take the baggage fast. It was a blessing in disguise that the carriage was also very near to the foot of the conveyer belt. Once I had put our baggage in, the train started to move proving my earlier notion of train waiting wrong…

The journey was quite ok. We reached London in 2 hrs and 40 minutes. It was not a great experience I was relishing. I thought we could feel going below the water. But the train passed through the tunnel for about 15 minutes. We reached London at around 1359 hrs.. Another problem was awaiting us on taking the trolley. The trolleys accept either 1 GBP or 1 Euro. Unfortunately, I did not have GBP coins and all I had was a 2 Euro coin. The cleaning staff did not have change and could not help me. There was another passenger who was trying to find her coins. Finally she gave me one pound for exchange of 2 euros.. Euro had the value of a dollar at that time, but saved me from moving my luggage throughout..

Found our way out of Waterloo station. I had a copy of the tube map with me and also read about oyster cards. Bought two oyster cards and went to the northern line platform. Had to do a bit of porter’s job - as trolleys could not be taken beyond a point. But reached the platform, loaded the luggage on to the tube. The map of YMCA, where we were going to stay indicated that we can get down either at Goodge Street or Warren Street. As Goodge Street was the first station, I decided to get down there. That decision proved good as it had an elevator – we could just put our luggage in the elevator. With esacaltor, carry the entire luggage in addition to holding Pranav is always difficult.

Once we were out of the Goodge Street station, Indu said nothing like carrying the luggage on our own. She preferred a taxi – enquired with the guys in the station. We called a taxi, showed him the map and he took us to YMCA. The taxis were quite different. Not like the BMWs or Mercedes which one sees in other countries in Europe. No seat next to the driver – seats opposite to each other like Omni and only four people to sit in the back. Somehow put our luggage in and squeezed. He reached near YMCA and told it should be somewhere in this road. Indu identified YMCA and there we were finally after some tense moments.

We checked in at YMCA. We had booked one double room and one single with extra bed as we could not get another double. The gentleman in the reception gave us keys of both the rooms. The double room (room no. 331) was in the new building and the single one (room no. 217) was in the old building. Room 217 had a common bath – however we did not have any problem as we planned to use the one in 331.

After taking rest for a while, I started my way to the airport to pick up my parents. It had rained briefly while we were in the room. So, I took an umbrella with me and proceeded. The tube map is user-friendly and hence I did not have any problem in reaching the airport. The flight was to land at 1840 hrs. I reached the airport at 1900 hrs and the flight had already landed by then. I was waiting in the arrival hall. It was 2000 hrs and still no sight of parents coming out. I was wondering whether they came out very early. Made two rounds in the Arrival hall and could not find them. But, there were passengers from Emirates coming out every now and then. Finally, they came out at 2015 hrs. I was told that there was a huge delay in immigration formalities – though it is Europe, it is not like Mumbai I thought!!

Appa was asking whether I saw my cousin, Ganesh. Ganesh was supposed to come to airport to pick them up – he was coming to the arrival hall when we were proceeding to the station – Lucky he! I was waiting for hours…. We took a train back to YMCA. Ganesh also accompanied us. Indu had her dinner in YMCA. We had our dinner in an Indian restaurant nearby and from there our holiday in London started.

Federer's record 5th Wimbledon win

I was waiting for the final to start at 4 p.m. Romanian time (2 p.m. BST) - fortunately the Satander British Grandprix's results was clear by the time the match started - After holding the serve in the first service game, Fedex broke Rafa's service game and then held on to race to 3-0. At that point, I was thinking that it is the end of the road for Rafa and Fedex, the King on grass is going to put up a much better performance than his quarter final against Juan Carlos Ferrero which he won in four sets. But, Rafa did not let the championship to go by and broke Fedex to take the first set to tie break. Fedex though failed to convert his first 3 set points, finally converted to take the set.

Rafa mixed up his volleys very well and I couldn't believe myself after seeing this guy play this way. I was under the impression that he would be an easy meat to Fedex. He broke Fedex when he was serving to stay in the set and won the second set 6-4. The third one was interestingly poised and in the tie breaker, Fedex mixed his serves well and won it comfortably. Again, at this point, Fedex proved to be supreme and the way he was progressing gave an impression that he would take the championships in four sets. But, Rafa had other plans. He broke first and then again, this time, the Hawkeye irking Fedex to take the set 6-2 and taking the championship to the fifth set. C'mon guys - I was planning to take Indu & Pranav for shopping and had asked the driver to come home at 7.30 p.m. hoping Fedex will complete in 4 sets. It was 7.15 p.m. and both me and Indu did not have any plans for shopping. We even thought to send the car back. Into the final set, I initially thought the way these guys go, it would not be settled in the maximum 12 games and would go further.

There the genius in Fedex rose and broke Rafa to take a lead in the final set. He again broke Rafa to win the final set 6-2, thus allowing us to leave at 8 p.m. for shopping. The line umpire then announced what we have heard in the last four years - Game, Set, Match & Championship : Roger Federer. It was a great win and he has equalled Bjorn Borg. Will he be able to break Borg's record is a question which I have started pondering on. I can't wait till next summer to see the showdown between Fedex, who should go for his sixth straight Wimbledon crown and a much improved Rafa !

Fedex after having taken 11 titles forces me to compare him with Pete Sampras. Both are champions during their peak. I don't fully agree with Nirmal Shekar that Sampras would have been better on grass than Fedex. Sampras had to meet great opponents like Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivanisevic and Rafter, but then Philippoussis, Roddick and Nadal are also great. Philippoussis with his serves could frustrate you and so is Nadal, when he proved on 8th July 2007. But, Fedex has stamped his class even in clay, when he reached the finals of French Open, where Pete could not go beyond 4th round.

Are Brahmins the Dalits of Today ?

A fine article by Francois Gautier that I came across in rediff.com.

At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public sectors, nobody talks about the plight of the upper castes. The public image of the Brahmins, for instance, is that of an affluent, pampered class. But is it so today?

Doctors in arms

There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!
There are five to six Brahmins manning each Shauchalaya. They came to Delhi eight to ten years back looking for a source of income, as they were a minority in most of their villages, where Dalits are in majority (60 per cent to 65 per cent). In most villages in UP and Bihar, Dalits have a union which helps them secure jobs in villages.

At Ground Zero of the quota protests

Did you know that you also stumble upon a number of Brahmins working as coolies at Delhi's railway stations? One of them, Kripa Shankar Sharma, says while his daughter is doing her Bachelors in Science he is not sure if she will secure a job.
"Dalits often have five to six kids, but they are confident of placing them easily and well," he says. As a result, the Dalit population is increasing in villages. He adds: "Dalits are provided with housing, even their pigs have spaces; whereas there is no provision for gaushalas (cowsheds) for the cows of the Brahmins."

The middle class deserves what it is getting

You also find Brahmin rickshaw pullers in Delhi. 50 per cent of Patel Nagar's rickshaw pullers are Brahmins who like their brethren have moved to the city looking for jobs for lack of employment opportunities and poor education in their villages.
Even after toiling the whole day, Vijay Pratap and Sidharth Tiwari, two Brahmin rickshaw pullers, say they are hardly able to make ends meet. These men make about Rs 100 to Rs 150 on an average every day from which they pay a daily rent of Rs 25 for their rickshaws and Rs 500 to Rs 600 towards the rent of their rooms which is shared by 3 to 4 people or their families.
Did you also know that most rickshaw pullers in Banaras are Brahmins?

Do our institutes connect with the real India?

This reverse discrimination is also found in bureaucracy and politics. Most of the intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assembly are held by Brahmins -- the rest are in the hands of the Yadavs.
400,000 Brahmins of the Kashmir valley, the once respected Kashmiri Pandits, now live as refugees in their own country, sometimes in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi in appalling conditions. But who gives a damn about them? Their vote bank is negligible.
And this is not limited to the North alone. 75 per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins. A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh (Brahmins of India by J Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line.
Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the 'backward classes' prevented them from providing secular education to their children.

Who are the real Dalits of India?

In fact, according to this study there has been an overall decline in the number of Brahmin students. With the average income of Brahmins being less than that of non-Brahmins, a high percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level. In the 5 to 18 year age group, 44 per cent Brahmin students stopped education at the primary level and 36 per cent at the pre-matriculation level.
The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line -- below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all-India figure.
There is no reason to believe that the condition of Brahmins in other parts of the country is different. In this connection it would be revealing to quote the per capita income of various communities as stated by the Karnataka finance minister in the state assembly: Christians Rs 1,562, Vokkaligas Rs 914, Muslims Rs 794, Scheduled castes Rs 680, Scheduled Tribes Rs 577 and Brahmins Rs 537.
Appalling poverty compels many Brahmins to migrate to towns leading to spatial dispersal and consequent decline in their local influence and institutions. Brahmins initially turned to government jobs and modern occupations such as law and medicine. But preferential policies for the non-Brahmins have forced Brahmins to retreat in these spheres as well.

Caste shouldn't overwrite merit

According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).
Priests are under tremendous difficulty today, sometimes even forced to beg for alms for survival. There are innumerable instances in which Brahmin priests who spent a lifetime studying Vedas are being ridiculed and disrespected.
At Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy Temple, a priest's monthly salary is Rs 300 (Census Department studies) and a daily allowance of one measure of rice. The government staff at the same temple receive Rs 2,500 plus per month. But these facts have not modified the priests' reputation as 'haves' and as 'exploiters.' The destitution of Hindu priests has moved none, not even the parties known for Hindu sympathy.
The tragedy of modern India is that the combined votes of Dalits/OBC and Muslims are enough for any government to be elected. The Congress quickly cashed in on it after Independence, but probably no other government than Sonia Gandhi's has gone so far in shamelessly dividing Indian society for garnering votes.

From the Indian Express: 'These measures will not achieve social justice'

The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.

How reservations fracture Hindu society

Anti-Brahminism originated in, and still prospers in anti-Hindu circles. It is particularly welcome among Marxists, missionaries, Muslims, separatists and Christian-backed Dalit movements of different hues. When they attack Brahmins, their target is unmistakably Hinduism.
So the question has to be asked: are the Brahmins (and other upper castes) of yesterday becoming the Dalits of today?

Pranav's First Birthday

Pranav had his first birthday in two places - India and Romania. As we follow the stars, his star birthday was on 15th June. It was a big occassion - Pranav made it even big as he was a boy ! Don't get perplexed. I dont have gender bias. It is a belief that if your son's son is blessed with a son and he completes one year, it is a blessing by God. I'm not sure whether it has to be the first child all the way. Well, my Grandmother was blessed this way - my father was her first child, i was first for my dad and so is Pranav for me. If it confusing, lets ignore it. To celebrate this, kanakabhishekam (abhishekam which is pouring water is done with Gold) is generally performed. My grandma was holding Pranav when water was poured through a tray which had Gold.

Ayush Homam was done as a prayer to give Pranav a good health and long life. We also had the western style with Surekha arranging for cake cutting - a special backdrop was setup in the portico of our house. If not for Pranav, then for whom.... Surekha's friends, our relatives, my in-laws and Surekha's attended... He did not cry inspite of waking him up early - was very cooperative and was also worn a silk dhoti (pattu veshti).

Then Pranav had a birthday party at Rachita, Galati, Romania. It was in the evening of 26th June 2007. Extensive preprations were done - return gifts for the kids, return gifts for the family members (instead of the thamboolam), preparation of food etc. Pranav as usual did not sleep properly. The party was to start at 8 p.m. and he was feeling sleepy much earlier. Somehow, we managed to hold him and he was playing with the kids till 9.30 p.m. after which he slept on my shoulders for the first time. Somebody had to hold him and I was helped by many of my colleagues... He got up at 10.30 p.m. and was playing till 11.30 p.m. when we left the restaurant which was the venue of the party. After we went home, he opened all the gifts and started playing with them before finally going to bed at 1 a.m.

We had a gala time during his birthday party celebrations.....

Two more days to go !!

Its just two more days to go for my trip to India.. Haiyya, Jolly !!!!

SLANIC MOLDOVA

An official picnic was planned to Slanic Moldova, a place which is about 250 Kms from Galati was planned for 12th May. As Pranav was not well and the distance was more, he was left out and I left with the colleagues.

We started at around 7.30 a.m. in a horrible Mercedes bus. As I was among the last few to enter the bus, I remembered my good old school days as a back bencher and took a seat, which was couple of seats from the last seat. Unlike India, the bus had its engine in the back and I had to enjoy the "music" of the engine throughout the journey. After picking up the last colleague at 8 a.m., the bus set on its journey. We stopped for about 15 mts at around 10.15 a.m. to have some breakfast and then proceeded. Enroute, there was a salt cave (they call it salt mine and I did not see any mine there) and we visited it. Reached the cave at around 11.45 a.m. From the road, a minibus takes us to the mine (through caves and the distance was about 3 kms). Nothing so great inside other than salt on the walls (I dont get the exact word) of the cave. After spending about an hour and a half, we proceeded to Slanic Moldova.

Slanic Moldova is a picturesque mountain and has lot of hot water springs. Water has some chemical content and there were about a dozen different types of water. I tried to experiment and taste the different types of water. Some were sweet, some were very salty, but it was a different experience. I had requested my colleague to take a picture of mine after drinking one of the worst waters. It was totally salty and I felt I drank the water from the sea. Later, was told by another colleague that some waters are not for drinking, but for external application. Fortunately did not have any problem later.

After walking through the woods for more than an hour, did a quick shopping. Bought a bear for Pranav and a souvenir. We then proceeded to have lunch. The organiser told me that she had specifically arranged some vegetarian stuff for me. We sat on the lunch table and I was having water for about an hour before I got my special drink (multivitamin juice !!) . I got my lunch at 4.30 a.m. Just had some maggi for breakfast and an orange and a kitkat enroute. Had a go at the mammaliga as well as the boiled vegetables.

Later, we spent an hour or so, burning some calories by playing volleyball. The best part was the climax. When we planned to leave, I was waiting near the bus at around 6.45 p.m. for my colleagues to settle the bill. It was found that the credit card machine was not reading the card and we could not effect the payment. Asked the bus to leave and three of us stayed back trying to sort out the card payment. The hotel personnel were not ready to believe us or the company name saying that earlier big companies have cheated them. We had to go back to Slanic Moldova which is about 4 kms, withdraw money from the ATM and then pay before proceeding. Finally left the place at 8 p.m. and reached home by 10.45 p.m. and had dinner.

A fitting climax to a beautiful day !!

Good Joke, Sunny

Sunil Gavaskar has made a statement that Indian Cricket should be happy that Greg Chappell has gone and has gone to the extent of saying that if he is employed by Australian Cricket Academy, even a team like Ireland will defeat Australia. I have many objections here Sir !

a) How can you undermine Ireland ? They have defeated Pakistan, who were World Cup champions once. They also defeated handsdown Bangladesh, who threw out Men in Blue. So, on their day, they can even defeat the present Australian team.

b) How come you criticise Greg Chappell. You were the one who selected him against Daisy Haynes, Jimmy Amarnath and Tom Moody.. And you are again selected by BCCI to select the next coach - which means can we hear the same fumes like you have done with Chappell..

Dont take us for a ride by making such ridiculous statements. If you want to select a good coach, take a history of their coaching skills and also personality atleast this time and not their presentation skills.

RAHUL BABA MORIYA

As the blog is coloured in green, one should now get a feeling on what Rahul i'm talking of... My first blog on Politics.. Rahul baba as he is "affectionately" called by the Prime Minister and a handful of his party supporters.. With his Columbian girlfriend, he was caught with drugs, but escaped.. Now, he talks all non-sense in UP. If his family was in power, they would not have allowed Babri Masjid to be demolished - do you mean to say that a stupid guy like you would have managed the show better than the eminent scholar, Narasimha Rao. Then came the most important statement - "humara parivaarne Pakistan ko thoda" - our family broke Pakistan - for the last 35 years (immediately after he was born), Indian Governments have constantly argued with their Pakistani Counterparts that they had no role to play in the 1971 war - now this guy is playing with the peace process in Pakistan - all for what - vote of muslims.. I don't know when these guys will stop this approach and talk for the voters and not for votes ! Inshaallah ! Give them some brain !!!

Mr. Murthy, mind your words

Dear Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy,

You are a learned and intelligent businessman of the country. I sometimes see the way you and your friends have brought up Infosys. I will not give the whole credit to you as is done by some others, because, others have also given their best for upliftment of Infosys. I know that you are a IIT Graduate and also a member in the Board of RBI. But, what is wrong with you ? Is it that age is catching up ?? Sometimes you give lecture as if you are God ! I hate to read your lectures, though you have many admirers. You talk as if you are the best employer in the world - how many Infy employees you have discussed with ? The discontent among them is the highest in IT industry today.

Leave alone your professional side. What made you make a statement that as there are lot of foreigners and hence only the instrumental national anthem is to be played. I'm an NRI and I respect the traditions and the practices of the country I'm living in. In case your guests are not ready to appreciate such facts, let them leave the country. You talk English as if that you were born and brought up in Michigan. But, you studied in Mysore university. You may embrace American style but don't force the President of our country to embrace it.

For heaven's sake, do not take the position of President of India. Mr. Kalam has done a lot for the country, but you have done nothing and you are not capable of holding such position. This my appeal and hope you will heed to it.

Thanks & best regards,

Arun Ganapathy

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, GREG

Mr. Gregory Stephen Chappell, I wish to thank you for trying your best to screw up the Indian Cricket team and my special kudos for being successful to a great extent. M/s. Sunny Gavaskar, Venkatraghavan and Ravi Shastri thought that they were interviewing you for the post of commentator but then selected you as the Coach in May 2005 purely based on your presentation skills and not on coaching skills. Though Tom Moody lost out in the race, he was successful in taking Srilanka through to the Super Eights and as I feel now, even to the semi-finals. Jimmy Amarnath, the man, millions of Indians consider as their hero of 1983 when Kapil Devils were crowned World champions may have lost to you on the English / Presentation skills, but our "desi" coach could have made a big difference.. Daisy Haynes knew the ground realities in Windies and could have been better than you atleast for the World Cup ! You have pocketed millions of dollars, but the hard fact is that India was knocked out of first round by Bangladesh ! (Thankfully, they won against Bermuda)

Greg, you did not only ensure that India lost in the first round of World Cup, but also screwed up the team spirit ! Kapil Devils won just because they were a "team"... Compare the batting line up of the Indian team of '83 with the team that lost in the first round in '07.. Openers Kris Srikkanth and Sunny Gavaskar were two different players - one going for the kill from ball one and the other steadying the innings on the other end. You too had similar, with Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly. The middle order of '83 was packed with ever dependable Jimmy Amarnath, explosive Sandeep Patil, Yashpal Sharma and Kirti Azad. You too had "Jammy" Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virendar Sehwag. Dhoni replaces Kirmani.. '83 had Sandhu, Madan Lal and Binny to take care of so-called medium pace and you had Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel to do the job... Haryana hurricane and captain Kapil and Harbhajan Singh from neighbouring Punjab is the one and only difference.. So, what made your guys slump against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.. I still can't understand the logic of having Bhajji against Sri Lanka in place of "Jumbo" Kumble who tormented the Bermudians in the only match he played. Bhajji was out of sorts in the match against Bangladesh also...

Fine Greg, let me put this World Cup out from my memory for a while.. I wanted to write a open letter to you on other aspects during your horrible two year stint with the Indian Team. You threw out Sourav Ganguly from the team - the reasons though have come in bits and pieces, nobody knew the true story.. But, whatever it was Dada proved you wrong when he came back strongly with many half centuries.. I don't fault him for one bad game against Sri Lanka, but his comeback is the best. I also felt that he should have had a break - but that was too long than expected. Why Sehwag did not get the same treatment ? What was the treatment you met out to the young Irfan Pathan - he was kept guessing till the eleventh hour whether he would catch the flight to Windies and finally he had only to carry the drinks bottle throughout the World Cup. Ajit Agarkar could not even get a wicket with the new ball even against Bermuda and the team managment retain him for the match against Sri Lanka.

Last not but the least, Greg.. You spoke more than what you achieved. I agree that your speaking and presentation skills got you the job, but, what did you do to the team - the spirit was off. You tried to play spoilsport between Laxman and Dada and finally you say that you were fearing for your life. You Aussies fear for everything. After spending almost two years in India, do you still have such fear ? We give vent to our feelings and emotions but not go to the extreme. If we were like what you had thought, then your middle finger would have been amputated long back when you showed it to our fans in Kolkata ! Never do such things to Asians - we are sentimental !!

All the best for your future - please for heaven's sake do not take up any other assignment with BCCI and keep some distance from Indian cricket so that you can have a healthy life. Hope BCCI will leave the interest in a "foreigner" and start thinking that Indians are best in all fields.. Though I started this blog on 24th March after India lost to Srilanka, due to time constraints completing only now !

COMMUNICATION TODAY

I'm just wondering how the telecom companies make money after SKYPE or Google Talk or even Yahoo / MSN Messenger have taken the communication system.. Cant imagine that i'm sitting in Romania almost 4000 miles away from my home.. But, never we miss talking to each other.. More than an hour a day we (not me, but Indu and Pranav) keep talking to them - with webcam around, they keep seeing the mischief done by Pranav.. He has completed 7 months now, but I dont think my father has missed any of his movements. If there is no webcam, there is YOUTUBE - videos of his new movements are uploaded and viewed ! How the communication has improved. I remember, not long back, just 8 years ago, standing in front of a STD Booth in Mettur and that too in queue to call my parents, who, at that time did not have a telephone at residence and had to wait in our neighbour's house. Today, either you are in a shopping mall or a toilet, you can be reached by mobile. My mother had to go all alone from Romania to India (Bucharest to India) by transitting via Frankfurt - a mobile with her with a balance of $15 in it was all she carried. She landed safe in Frankfurt and informed us - no problem whatsoever, she found the gate and reached Chennai without any fuss. Had it not been for this mobile, I would have gone to drop her atleast in Frankfurt spending atleast 30 times more !! Let us see how communications develop further !!!

EVERY GREAT SPORTSMAN HAS A FALL !

The topic may look wierd, and being written on the 1001st day of Roger Federer's No. 1 rankings in men's tennis is not to discourage Fedex, but to bring the reality.. Wish that he continues for another 2000 days like this... Also the blog is not on tennis, but on road races... Guessed it right, on the Grand Prixs and Rallies.. How many of us would have expected Valentino Rossi to miss the bus the day Fedex completed 1000 days as No. 1. For those like me who saw the race live on television, the message is loud and clear - every great sportsman has a fall - yeah, the fall meant Rossi finishing "unlucky" at 13 and ultimately missing the crown he held for 5 years. Did the followers of Moto GP thought that Valentino would allow Toni Elias to overtake him in the final straight at Portugal to take the top honours - he lost valuable 5 points there - else he would have atleast tied up with Nicky Hayden ! Should I call all these things as bad luck or the end of the road for the champion !

Lets move out from Moto GP to Moto Racing, the formula 1. The king of F1 has surrendered his throne. Schumi, a seven time champion has lost for the second consecutive time to Fernando Alonso. Though his manufacturers did not support him in the first half of the year, he came back strongly and gave stiff competition to Nando !! But, an engine failure (the last being in 2001) in Japan denied him a crown and forced him to go to Brazil with a hope that his competitor's engine also fails !! But, his bad luck continued - a fuel leak during qualifying ensured that he starts from P10 on the grid - hold on, his bad luck did not leave him there - when he moved from P10 to P5, a puncture on the rear tyre ensured he is done - finally finishing a brave 4th.. But, it would have done a world of good had he made his exit from F1 by winning in Brazil.

Why should I leave the other road racer who is on his high - yeah, he is on course (sorry, already assured) for his third consecutive crown.. Kudos for getting it right - Sebastian Loeb will the WRC champion of 2006, having held it in 2004 and 2005 as well... Hope the day of his fall comes much later, atleast after he also completes 5 consecutive crowns like Rossi and Schumi and lets pray Fedex continues his best form for years !!

Micheal Schumacher is a great racer ! Oh sorry.. Who am I to write like that.. Winning 8 races in a span of 16 years is unimaginable.. I'm writing this blog when he is on par with Alonso in points for the 2006 championship, but I believe he would rise again in Suzuka and Brazil to win the championship in style..

Schumi's winning started off in 1994 when he was driving for Benetton.. I did not watch him during those days, but started concentrating from 2000 or 2001. He really impressed me at the first instance, may be, because it was during his peak period.. Though lot is said about his sportsmanship etc., he held forte for 5 years in succession till 2004. Now that he wants to sign off in style, when he is at his peak which I too agree. Some greats like Lance Armstrong, Andre Agassi or even Zinedane Zidane (albeit his head butting incident with Materazzi) have retired in style very recently, the retirement of Schumi will be talked for years..

Ferrari & Scuderia have become famous because of this "Demi God". Will there be a replacement for him or will there be competition in the future. It is a million dollar question which cannot be answered by anyone. Though Schumi has done a lot, his Rally counterpart, Sebastian Loeb's achievements have not gone unnoticed. Though it is not a spectator sport, Loeb was ruling WRC when Schumi ruled F1. Formula 1 attracts millions of fans worldwide and the popularity of the sport in fareast speaks of itself.

You may retire today, but, Schumi your achievements will last much longer ! May God Bless you !!

26th June 2006

I was in the corridor of Krishna Hospital.. Indu was taken to the labour ward at around 7 in the morning. I did not have the courage to go and see her suffering the pain. Holding my breath, I went once, but came back in 5 minutes. Doctor informed around 4 p.m. IST that we can wait for another half an hour else need to operate.. Around 4.30, she was taken to the operation theatre.. I was standing outside the operation theatre like a mad man not knowing what to do... After about 10 minutes, heard the sound of a child.. My joy knew no bounds.. Was very happy and could not remember any other day in my life when i was so happy - not even the day me and Indu decided to get married.. Yeah.. 4.40 p.m. (IST) on 26th June 2006, Pranav was born.. The day and moments which will be in front of my eyes throughout my life.. My friends who are running around with young kids tell me, lets wait and see how Pranav makes you run around..