Nice piece of forward...To think and Act....

Found this forwarded mail to be interesting and quite true. The beauty is its in sync with the recent movie "Evanno Oruvan" staring Madhavan.

Requesting everyone of us to uncover that Evanno Oruvan within ourselves to make India, one of the better places in planet Earth to live.

- S.Rajkumar

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

• We are the first in milk production.
• We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
• We are the second largest producer of wheat.
• We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road ) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai .

YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah .

YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds ( Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.

YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.

YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .

Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ?

Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ???

We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay , Mr. Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan . Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right.

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin.

We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry. So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of ? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy 's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Lets do what India needs from us.

A day in Software engineers Life...

ku

Its a forwarded mail which I happened to get recently....Quite an interesting piece of forward and a fact that every software professional in Indian arena of ADM (application development and maintenance) would agree for sure...

It was raining heavily outside. Dark clouds gathered in the sky and nature was in its ominous best. I took a break from my work and went to the pantry to grab a cup of coffee. I had a sip and went near the window to see the rain pouring down heavily outside the glass structure. I was inside our huge office building, unruffled by even the fierceness of the nature. Through the heavy transparent glass, I could see a small girl trying to hold on to her umbrella which the wind was snatching away from her. I felt sorry for the girl, and was happy that I was not in a similar pathetic situation. Yes. I take pride for the fact that I am a software engineer. . I have everything which a common man would envy; money, status, respect, you name it I have it. I always wanted to be software professional and here I am, working for one of the best firms in the world. But then, am I really happy? Now, I could see an imprint of my palm on the other glass window, through which I reminisced my past, basked in the warmth of the sun shine.


My childhood was so much of fun. I vividly remember those rainy days, when I hugged my mother tightly during sleeping listening to all the stories told by her. Now, I have a big house here, but then it is just a house, not a home. My parents are pretty far away from me now. I have a cell phone to talk to them everyday, but then I really miss those dinners which I had with my family everyday. I could easily afford to taste all the different cuisines these days, but the best of food there, lack the love and affection which is present in the food prepared by my mother.

I threw a lavish party for my colleagues for my birthday, but then they would never replace the birthdays when my friends secretly brought a cake and at the end, half of the cake would have ended up on my face. The couple of hundred bucks that u save for a long period just to give a treat to your friends in the road side chat shop can never give the pleasure even after spending a few thousand bucks these days.

The scene of me crying and refusing to have dinner on the day when I fought with my best friend came to my mind. Today, she has gone far away from me, taking away my love and with it my life, but I am sitting and coding here with a false smile on my face. Everyday I meet new people, but then I long ceased to make a new friend.

It’s true that I have a lot of things now. I have a nice bed, but no time to sleep. Lots of money, but no friends to spend it with. The latest designer clothes, but a worn out body. Quite a few to flirt, but no one to love. Awards for technical excellence, but no reward for the crave for peaceful ambience's. A confident demeanor, but a reluctant and apathetic mind. Full of rain, but no sunshine even in the farthest distance.

Now, I could see the small girl on the road enjoying in the rain with her umbrella firmly in her grip. She might not have all the comforts which I have, but then she has the innocence and fun which I lost a long time back. I have decided to come out of this false fantasy, even if it is at the expense of losing the tap of the software engineer. I am going to again enjoy my life. I am going to go out in the rain and play with the small kid now. I removed my tie, and went near my computer to shut it down. Just then, I saw a new mail alert in my mail box. I slowly opened outlook and I found a message from my manager with an attachment saying that there was a critical defect in the code and I have to fix it soon. I convinced myself that I am not going to get bogged down again by these pressures and stick to my decision. I ignored the mail and went to the rest room. After a couple of minutes, the software engineer in me came out, his shirt tucked in with the perfect tie knot, sat before the computer, and started typing,

Hi XYZ,

I am looking into the defect and will send the patch files before EOD.

Regards,
Me.

Thanks,
To the software engineering community which forwarded this mail...

Tamil Kavithai - Nice One

This is one of the very few poems which attracted my attention in my junky daily forward mails (Of course official mails apart :)). This one, tells the agony and some basic expectation of a child orphan living with their so called parents working in the IT industry.

Shame on the IT Pro's who are & will be building their careers on crypts of their family! Shame on the society which creates such victims - victims of money driven IT hooligans!

Applauses for the poet who punched this poem straight away on the face of IT Pros!

Book Fair @ Chennai

At Chennai, it is the annual Book fair that the people of chennai eagerly awaits before Pongal every year. The intellectual and vociferous crowd in Chennai can be seen to flock at book fair, this time at chetpet at St George Anglo Indian Higher sec school, opposite Pachaiappa's college. I went to fair on 11th of this month by taking off from the work after 4 in the evening.

First of all I should tell about the traffic before reaching there. The traffic was really heavy as it was on eve of pongal holidays and people where fleeing to catch up with trains & buses and the roads where jam packed with all kinds of vehicles that mankind has ever invented. And finally managed to reach the venue by 6.20 sharp and started to waggle inside the venue.

“Kaneerai pinthodardhal” by JeyaMohan, “Thedadhe”, “Atho antha parai pola” by Dr.Rudhran were some among the titles which I bought as I came out of the venue. It was already 8.50 as they started closing the stalls by 8.30p.m. But, please keep in mind that you should have a good amount of stamina to roam around in the fair since to waggling around could make you feel tired as time passes unless you have a strong affinity for books. But all I felt while came to the exit was “Should have come bit earlier…” - the mesmerizing effect of the books.

It’s needless to say the plethora of book titles in the exhibition. Truly speaking, one can find any kind of Tamil books under the sun in this book fair starting right from children books to e-books & Tamil software.

Yes then by the way, I need to say something regarding the authors of the purchased books. JeyaMohan is one of my favorite authors in Tamil and one among the prominent writers in modern Tamil literature. He was known in the literary circles for his pensive writings and criticisms. His knowledge and way of writing is surely mind blowing especially in a novel like “Vishnupuram” which talks about some mystic town in the banks of river Sona.

Dr.Rudhran is a famous psychiatrist and is known for his other works such as “Thevaigal Asaigal”, “Uravugal” and the books which I bought where one among in this series. I like this author as can bring forth the nuances of the psychology in very intricate fashion, which even a lay man can understand. Though published in late nineties it serves the purpose of the today’s IT driven world.

Coming back to book fair, this time the book fair is organized in a better manner. Believe me! There is a stall for children to play simple science games (which I never visited as I think I am grown up), speeches by literary big shots during evenings and light music to cool off after 7 so that the whole family can visit the place get some good books of their choice at 10% discount, let the children play and then cool off with some good music. Can be a family entertainer all together!

The high light of the book fair is, a dedicated stall for the chief minister of TN, exhibiting his rare works of literature, especially his early works dating back to 1940’s. The other remarkable feature is ample circulation space for crowd and the mind blowing volume of books exhibited. There are about 400-450 stalls with almost all publishers in the Tamil publication arena exhibiting. But, if one ventures the venue with only English books in mind there can be some disappointment as there is only 10% of the stalls having English books. After all, this is book fair happening in the capital city of Tamilnadu.

In conclusion, 30th Annual Chennai Book Fair - 2007 will be a real treat to all connoisseurs of books and one will not be surely disappointed if in case there is quest for Tamil literature in them.

p.s: I’ll back on my reading experiences as soon as finish on the books I purchased.

R.K.Laxman's The Hotel Riviera

Literature is something which reflects the society. There is a Hindi saying "Sahitya samug ka dharpan he" meaning Literature is society's mirror reflection. One such reflection which I happened to c sometime back is "The Hotel Riviera" by R.K.Laxman, the well known cartoonist and brother of R.K.Narayan author of immortal - Malgudi days. Like to pen my views so that I cud share my happiness with all u ppl.

I finished the book some 2 weeks back, but still have the repercussions in me. What a pensive writing style this man has got! I never expected this from an acclaimed cartoonist, was absolutely astounded by his ingenious writing style and the way he narrates each and every character and blending them with straight and simple story line.

Story line is - "A mid aged man is in love with a woman but doesn't know how to express it"

The story revolves in & around the Hotel Riviera where the author stays while working on deputation at Bombay for a rubber company operating @ Chennai. The story spans some 5-10 years after independence i.e. in mid 1950's so the building and its surroundings has rustic feel and reader too can feel the same thru the letters of the author.

The main characters of the story are the author himself, The Manager of the Hotel Riviera - a gentleman in his mid 30's, Sabitha a destitute but a seductive beauty trying to enter tinsel dome ironically working in the laundry found near the hotel reception, Rao-a Clerk, the swamiyar from south India, Francis - lift operator, Lal - the all in all shabby looking but witty peon working some company who loves Sabitha and even successful in his attempts.

Every character let it be the Manager or Sabitha or Panditji or Military Major or Lal has their own problems and their own ways to get out of the same, which is being brilliantly elucidated by Laxman's vivid narration as an officer on deputation from a rubber company. U can find that author cleverly makes the Manager's crush on Sabitha and his self talk on the same itself as a character with its own twists & turns. When u follow the story keenly you can c the author has chosen the role of officer on deputation as brilliant choice since he can make his apperance on and off at his will and can throw the some decisions to the reader himself rather him narrating.

What happens to Managers love, did sabitha enters into tinsel dome, how the panditji changed the life of manager, did chaos at Hotel Riviera end, did the author accomplishes his mission? U can find answers to all this questions while u finish reading Hotel Riviera.

I find the entire narration enthralling where u can find this kind of characters in our everyday life but miss out in our banal life. The author is witty & satirical in his work and eloquent as well.

Felt very impressed and liked to share my experience with u all ppl so that if there is opportunity to read this book u would never miss that.