It was the wicked minds of the politicians through their two pronged slanderous tongue, have slain a vision. The vision of one man was envied by everyone else. Rival small car manufacturers must have heaved a sigh of relief.
Ratan Tata had embarked on a journey, which was a first in the entire automotive history. As expected, he was alone. There were many, who said it was not possible. There were many, who tried to discourage. There were many, who laughed it off.
But that’s the stuff dreams are made of. You do not expect others to believe in your dreams. Most of the time, you are on your own. Mr. Tata was a step ahead. It was not his dream, it was his vision. Of course he had the complete support and faith from his staff. Apart from a few misguided people, the entire nation was waiting holding her breath for the next revolution to take place.
But it did not happen. Should we feel proud when someone says that ours is the largest democracy in the world? I will certainly hang my head in shame. Despite being the largest democracy in the world, we are powerless, while the elected representatives satisfy their whims and fancies. Corruption is the way of life and sadly we have resigned ourselves to it. Nobody bothers to fight anymore, because it is just a waste of time. Right from the watchman to the highest ranked officials in government offices, the so called politicians, and the law are corrupt. Those who are not, are powerless to do anything.
The parliament sessions that are beamed live on the national television channel, stand testimony to what I have just said above. If you are bored and tired of surfing through the channels, I would recommend you to watch one of these sessions. The manner in which they hurl abuses against one and another, disrupt the debate, raise slogans, and if these do not have the satisfactory effect, then they throw fists, hurl shoes and slippers, rip off the mikes, destroy the furniture, violate a female member’s modesty…….all live on TV! What more do you want. Where’s the censor board when you need it.
If this is how our elected representatives choose to represent our country, then what would you expect from others. Having a huge crime charge-sheet against one’s name is a surefire success mantra to get elected. Why? Because ours is a democratic country where even criminals are elected as people’s representatives.
And I am not even talking about the auto drivers, bus-conductors and policemen. Otherwise this would qualify as a PhD thesis and not a blog post. These are the ground realities that we face everyday, but choose not to confront it. Mr. Ratan Tata also had to face a ground reality that his vision to roll out Nano’s from the Singur plant will not be realized.
The Tata’s issued a press release on October 3, 2008 saying that in the interest of the project's success and viability and in light of the opposition's continued agitation; there was no option but to move the project out of the state of West Bengal.
India is shining. Not for me. Look harder and deeper, with conviction. You will see the helplessness of an entire nation. We have become selfish. Here nobody cares. Angelina Jolie warding off depression fights for the coveted space with churches being targeted on the front page of the newspapers. Reruns of the Splitsvilla fighting for TV ratings with the saas-bahu soaps, while the nuclear deal and its ramifications is being aired on every other news channel.
We are Indians. We are like this only. And most importantly “It happens only in India.”
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
At The Mercy Of A Worm!
Technology has progressed at such a rapid pace that people who were born in the late 70’s and early 80’s are struggling to keep pace with it. Mind boggling gadgets are being invented and mass produced. I find myself on the slower side when it comes to technology. Apart from a 7 year old computer and a 3 year old bike and a 9 year old wrist watch, I have nothing in my personal possession that can be called as “Technology.” No mobile phone, no music player, no iPod, no walkman…..and the list goes on…
So it’s understandable, that when I go around saying that I can survive without technology, people are bewildered. People these days find it impossible to live without their beloved gadgets. When these gadgets stop functioning, their whole life comes to a standstill.
I had seen my friends suffer and I was smirking deep down inside that this would never happen to me. But it happened.
My computer got infected by a worm which has a very silly name. It completely crippled my computer. AVG antivirus was disabled. My computer would reboot every time I tried to access the task manager, folder options and the run command. Unknown programs would run and I couldn’t stop them. I tried everything from scanning in the safe mode to restoring using the system restore. But to no avail.
Finally I turned to the IT department at the company where I work, for help. Got my hard disk scanned using an enterprise grade antivirus solution. It found just 3 copies of the worm on the hard disk. A free online tool known as RRT did the rest removing all the restrictions that the worm had put in place and my computer was up and running.
Worms are nasty things, both the living ones and the ones that lurk in their digital forms. I was brought down to my knees by one called W32.Silly FDC.
One can be carefully only to a point and pray that the free antivirus would do the rest. My friends advised me to try Avast, another free antivirus solution. Meanwhile the IT department advised me to purchase a solution.
I have placed a club next to my computer. I intend to clobber any worm that comes anywhere near it. A firewall…what is that?
So it’s understandable, that when I go around saying that I can survive without technology, people are bewildered. People these days find it impossible to live without their beloved gadgets. When these gadgets stop functioning, their whole life comes to a standstill.
I had seen my friends suffer and I was smirking deep down inside that this would never happen to me. But it happened.
My computer got infected by a worm which has a very silly name. It completely crippled my computer. AVG antivirus was disabled. My computer would reboot every time I tried to access the task manager, folder options and the run command. Unknown programs would run and I couldn’t stop them. I tried everything from scanning in the safe mode to restoring using the system restore. But to no avail.
Finally I turned to the IT department at the company where I work, for help. Got my hard disk scanned using an enterprise grade antivirus solution. It found just 3 copies of the worm on the hard disk. A free online tool known as RRT did the rest removing all the restrictions that the worm had put in place and my computer was up and running.
Worms are nasty things, both the living ones and the ones that lurk in their digital forms. I was brought down to my knees by one called W32.Silly FDC.
One can be carefully only to a point and pray that the free antivirus would do the rest. My friends advised me to try Avast, another free antivirus solution. Meanwhile the IT department advised me to purchase a solution.
I have placed a club next to my computer. I intend to clobber any worm that comes anywhere near it. A firewall…what is that?
Everybody Has A Choice. Destiny Has Got Nothing To With It.
“It's choice--not chance--that determines your destiny” said Harry S Truman.
In a way, it reflected on what I was going through. I always had a choice. I could have said no. But I did not. May be I was being type cast as person who does things differently just to prove a point.
Lots of them were curious to know why I resisted doing things that everyone else would do. Why would I always refuse to go well trodden path and choose the least trodden one? Why can’t you agree? Why do you put such a resistance? Why do you look at things differently? Why? Why?
What happened to all those inspirational mythical tales wherein one gets to shape his own destiny? I guess they are only good enough to be told as bedtime stories for kids. In reality, one has to do what everyone else does. Otherwise, be prepared to be labeled as a rebel. Someone pointed out to me the other day that everyone does the right thing and there is only one way of doing it. I immediately retorted saying that there are a hundred ways of doing the right thing, limited only by one’s imagination and ability.
I have observed that people feel secure, confident, and positive when they set limits to what they do. It’s like building a wall and say that whatever I do within these walls, nothing can go wrong, I can handle it, I am confident.
I have nothing against such people. It’s their choice. But what gets my goat is when they try to build a wall around me. I know my limits. My limits are bound by my imagination and my ability. So if one gives me a job which is beyond ability, I have a choice. I either have to rise above my ability and do the job or simply say no.
I believe there are no walls that can confine one’s imagination and ability. But whether I believe in destiny, I’ll keep it aside to be written about; some other day.
In a way, it reflected on what I was going through. I always had a choice. I could have said no. But I did not. May be I was being type cast as person who does things differently just to prove a point.
Lots of them were curious to know why I resisted doing things that everyone else would do. Why would I always refuse to go well trodden path and choose the least trodden one? Why can’t you agree? Why do you put such a resistance? Why do you look at things differently? Why? Why?
What happened to all those inspirational mythical tales wherein one gets to shape his own destiny? I guess they are only good enough to be told as bedtime stories for kids. In reality, one has to do what everyone else does. Otherwise, be prepared to be labeled as a rebel. Someone pointed out to me the other day that everyone does the right thing and there is only one way of doing it. I immediately retorted saying that there are a hundred ways of doing the right thing, limited only by one’s imagination and ability.
I have observed that people feel secure, confident, and positive when they set limits to what they do. It’s like building a wall and say that whatever I do within these walls, nothing can go wrong, I can handle it, I am confident.
I have nothing against such people. It’s their choice. But what gets my goat is when they try to build a wall around me. I know my limits. My limits are bound by my imagination and my ability. So if one gives me a job which is beyond ability, I have a choice. I either have to rise above my ability and do the job or simply say no.
I believe there are no walls that can confine one’s imagination and ability. But whether I believe in destiny, I’ll keep it aside to be written about; some other day.
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