D World

2011-04-20T04:46:00.002-04:00

Wikileaks redefines Indian DEMOCRACY

2011-03-17T07:57:00.000-04:00

Congress led UPA's Contribution: It has changed India drastically - From being a Democracy, India has today become a DemoCRAZY*!

*DemoCRAZY - a Demonstration on UPA's Craziness.

Thayn Thayn Lyrics (Dum Maaro Dum)

2011-03-17T03:43:00.003-04:00

Lyrics of Thayn Thayn song sung by Abhishek Bachchan in Dum Maaro Dum -

Hey sahiba
Goa aane ka, khaane ka, peenay ka aur mast chill maarne ka
Lekin dum, dum bilkul nahin maarne ka

Teri baaton ki shaarab, tere paapon ke hisaab
Tere Swiss bank account, gol gol mol account
Teri gali gali yaar, poori goli baar baar
Pehle yaari mein mili, phir biki baar baar
Teri hogi sarkar, tera hoga darbaar
Par rahegi nahin, kamzori har baar
Jaayenge jaayenge jaayenge baari baari
Aapki sewa mein, janhit pe jaari

Thayn thayn, tere gale ki jalan
Thayn thayn, abhi hogi nahin kam
Thayn thayn, jo hai maal patti
Thayn thayn, woh hai mombatti
Thayn thayn, daayein baayein mudegi
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi
Thayn thayn ..
La la la ..

(chalein daayein baayein
chalein daayein baayein
bas thayn thayn
bas dishkyaon dishkyaon)

Badi brave hai Police, par slave hai Police
Kabhi this that that kabhi that that this
Tere party ke chunao, tere paise ke dabao
Tere khotey armaan, tere jhoothe farmaan
Tere bikey afsar (officer), mile jis daftar
Tere haath, tere par, tere din, tere ghar
Jaayenge jaayenge jaayenge baari baari
Aapki sewa mein, janhit pe jaari

Thayn thayn, tune dhoonda rasta
Thayn thayn, jo bhi mila sasta
Thayn thayn, teri teen patti
Thayn thayn, teri laal batti
Thayn thayn, daayein baayein mudegi
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi
Thayn thayn ..
La la la ..

(chalein daayein baayein
chalein daayein baayein
bas thayn thayn
bas dishkyaon dishkyaon)

Thayn thayn, tere gale ki jalan
Thayn thayn, abhi hogi nahin kam
Thayn thayn, jo hai maal patti
Thayn thayn, woh hai mombatti
Thayn thayn, daayein baayein mudegi
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi
Thayn thayn ..
Thayn thayn, dishkyaon udegi ..

Pre Release promotions of Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se

2011-03-08T05:41:00.001-05:00

THE GREAT INDIAN PRESS CONFERENCE

2011-02-16T00:17:00.004-05:00

Decade Were You Born to Live In?

2011-02-03T06:47:00.001-05:00

What Decade Were You Born to Live In?

Devendra got ► You belong in the 1970's

You're fun, spontaneous, and a natural born leader! You like to be involved in the major issues plaguing the nation and you take your career goals very seriously. However, you're also known to be a fun, get-down with the boys kind of girl whose style is tom-boyish but also super sexy. You value your freedom above all else and dream of making a difference in society.

http://apps.facebook.com/whatdecadewe_giqmmx/result.php

Visited 22 Cities in 7 Countries

2011-02-03T06:31:00.001-05:00

I have been to 22 cities in 7 countries! See my travel map from

http://apps.facebook.com/travelbrain/profile.php?t=img&m=1&uid=808850299

Where do i stand in the Political Spectrum

2011-02-03T06:15:00.001-05:00

Where do you stand in the Political Spectrum?

Devendra got ► LIBERTARIAN

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 60%. Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 80%. According to your answers, the political group that agrees with you the most is...LIBERTARIAN. LIBERTARIANS support a great deal of liberty and freedom of choice in both personal and economic matters. They believe government's only purpose is to protect people from coercion and violence. They value individual responsibility, and tolerate economic and social diversity.

http://apps.facebook.com/wheredoyoust_aiiyya/result.php

The Telangana Report

2011-01-07T07:18:00.003-05:00

"Divide and Rule" was how the British broke India. And this is exactly a policy which seems to be capturing thr imagination of the Congress strategists. The recent example being the Srikrishna Commission report on Telangana's statehood. More than resolving the issue statehood and the aspirations of people, the Congress is busy charting out its political calculations. The Commission was appointed to study the issue and come out with the best possible solution and help the indecisive UPA Government to help come out with a decision . But instead of doing so, it seems the Commission has come out with multiple options (allowing the Congress to select one which is best suitable for maximum electoral benefits). For God's sake why can't the Congress realize that this is not a crorepati game-show but reality. If it wanted to know what were the options available, they could have simply invited a few politically conscious undergraduate students for knowing the options rather than wasting crores of public money and more importantly - 365 days.

THE OPEN MAG TAPES

2010-11-19T01:57:00.003-05:00

Some tapes have been released by Open Magazine online (transcripts of conversations between Radia and the who's who of the country - industry leaders, politicians and even media people). The tapes are very interesting and expose the ugly face of lobbying in the country.

I think you might have already come across these tapes but even you haven't I thought of sending you the links.

These tapes have the potential to heavily influence the course of Delhi politics in the coming days so I just thought of forwarding these unedited tapes uploaded in their original format by Open Magazine-

(please refresh the screen many times if you can't open the pages. The site is overloaded with traffic)

The 1st one is a conversation between Radia and Vir Sanghvi

The 2nd one is a conversation between Radia and Ratan Tata

The 3rd one is a conversation between Radia and Kanimozhi

The 4th one is a conversation between Radia and A Raja

The 5th one is a conversation between Radia and Barkha Dutt

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/what-kind-of-story-do-you-want

http://openthemagazine.com/article/nation/i-met-raja-today-he-is-a-happy-man

http://openthemagazine.com/article/nation/pm-is-very-soft-spoken-and-dad-can-t-hear-clearly

http://openthemagazine.com/article/nation/tell-sunil-mittal-you-have-to-work-with-raja

http://openthemagazine.com/article/nation/tell-me-what-should-i-tell-them

http://openthemagazine.com/article/nation/some-telephone-conversations

A beautiful gift on my last birthday (D FEST 2010)

2010-10-29T02:48:00.003-04:00

of Rahul baba and RSS (my Tweets)

2010-10-06T07:38:00.001-04:00

Rahul baba says "RSS=SIMI" what next "Kasab=Bhagat Singh"

Rahul when told his destiny to bcom d country's Prime Minister, he said, "I don't believe in destiny." U know y? cos he believes in Dynasty

India will soon start outpace China: the Economist

2010-10-05T09:09:00.003-04:00

India's surprising economic miracle

The country’s state may be weak, but its private companies are strong

Sep 30th 2010

The Economist

HORRIBLE toilets. Stagnant puddles buzzing with dengue-spreading mosquitoes. Collapsing masonry. Lax security. A terrorist attack. India’s preparations for the 72-nation Commonwealth games, which are scheduled to open in Delhi on October 3rd, have not won favourable reviews. “Commonfilth”, was one of the kinder British tabloid headlines. At best—assuming that the organisers make a last-minute dash to spruce things up—the Delhi games will be remembered as a shambles. The contrast with China’s practically flawless hosting of the Olympic games in 2008 could hardly be starker. Many people will draw the wrong lesson from this.

A big sporting event, some people believe, tells you something important about the nation that hosts it. Efficient countries build tip-top stadiums and make the shuttle buses run on time. That India cannot seem to do any of these things suggests that it will always be a second-rate power.

Or does it? Despite the headlines, India is doing rather well. Its economy is expected to expand by 8.5% this year. It has a long way to go before it is as rich as China—the Chinese economy is four times bigger—but its growth rate could overtake China’s by 2013, if not before (see article). Some economists think India will grow faster than any other large country over the next 25 years. Rapid growth in a country of 1.2 billion people is exciting, to put it mildly.

People power

There are two reasons why India will soon start to outpace China. One is demography. China’s workforce will shortly start ageing; in a few years’ time, it will start shrinking. That’s because of its one-child policy—an oppressive measure that no Indian government would get away with. Indira Gandhi tried something similar in the 1970s, when she called a state of emergency and introduced a forced-sterilisation programme. There was an uproar of protest. Democracy was restored and coercive population policies were abandoned. India is now blessed with a young and growing workforce. Its dependency ratio—the proportion of children and old people to working-age adults—is one of the best in the world and will remain so for a generation. India’s economy will benefit from this “demographic dividend”, which has powered many of Asia’s economic miracles.

The second reason for optimism is India’s much-derided democracy. The notion that democracy retards development in poor countries has gained currency in recent years. Certainly, it has its disadvantages. Elected governments bow to the demands of selfish factions and interest groups. Even the most urgent decisions are endlessly debated and delayed.

China does not have this problem. When its technocrats decide to dam a river, build a road or move a village, the dam goes up, the road goes down and the village disappears. The displaced villagers may be compensated, but they are not allowed to stand in the way of progress. China’s leaders make rational decisions that balance the needs of all citizens over the long term. This has led to rapid, sustained growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Small wonder that authoritarians everywhere cite China as their best excuse not to allow democracy just yet.

No doubt a strong central government would have given India a less chaotic Commonwealth games, but there is more to life than badminton and rhythmic gymnastics. India’s state may be weak, but its private companies are strong. Indian capitalism is driven by millions of entrepreneurs all furiously doing their own thing. Since the early 1990s, when India dismantled the “licence raj” and opened up to foreign trade, Indian business has boomed. The country now boasts legions of thriving small businesses and a fair number of world-class ones whose English-speaking bosses network confidently with the global elite. They are less dependent on state patronage than Chinese firms, and often more innovative: they have pioneered the $2,000 car, the ultra-cheap heart operation and some novel ways to make management more responsive to customers. Ideas flow easily around India, since it lacks China’s culture of secrecy and censorship. That, plus China’s rampant piracy, is why knowledge-based industries such as software love India but shun the Middle Kingdom.

India’s individualistic brand of capitalism may also be more robust than China’s state-directed sort. Chinese firms prosper under wise government, but bad rulers can cause far more damage in China than in India, because their powers are so much greater. If, God forbid, another Mao were to seize the reins, there would be no mechanism for getting rid of him.

That is a problem for the future. For now, India’s problems are painfully visible. The roads are atrocious. Public transport is a disgrace. Many of the country’s dynamic entrepreneurs waste hours each day stuck in traffic. Their firms are hobbled by the costs of building their own infrastructure: backup generators, water-treatment plants and fleets of buses to ferry staff to work. And India’s demographic dividend will not count for much if those new workers are unemployable. India’s literacy rate is rising, thanks in part to a surge in cheap private schools for the poor, but it is still far behind China’s.

Advantage India

The Indian government recognises the need to tackle the infrastructure crisis, and is getting better at persuading private firms to stump up the capital. But the process is slow and infected with corruption. It is hard to measure these things, but many observers think China has done a better job than India of curbing corruption, with its usual brutal methods, such as shooting people.

Given the choice between doing business in China or India, most foreign investors would probably pick China. The market is bigger, the government easier to deal with, and if your supply chain for manufactured goods does not pass through China your shareholders will demand to know why. But as the global economy becomes more knowledge-intensive, India’s advantage will grow. That is something to ponder while stuck in the Delhi traffic.

http://www.economist.com/node/17147648

Kiliman jaro Mohenjo daro

2010-10-02T03:25:00.000-04:00

Kilimanjaro ladki parvat thi yaaro
Isska roop nihaaro yaaro yaaro

Mohenjo daro issko dil mein utaaro
Jungle jungle pukaro yaaro yaaro

Aadivaasi jungle vaasi peelay rasto saiyan
Dose dose ithe uthe sher se daanth ladaiyan

Ajgar saanto daal de fandey zahir ni si kudiyan
Danko wale aure bicchu, zehar sa mujhpe jagiyan

Hawaon ka saathi hoon main
Raja hoon main ban ka
Piyun main toh rass saare phalon ke jo ban ka
Abh tak toh badi madhoshi
Dhak dhak ko dil behoshi
Rakh tak ko dedo choti vo hassi

Thaamo, dede vo hassi

Kilimanjaro ladki parvat thi yaaro
Isska roop nihaaro yaaro
Mohenjo daro issko dil mein utaaro
Jungle jungle pukaro yaaro yaaro

Tan bhi chahiye, mann bhi chahiye
Mann yeh tera, poora chahiye

Kisi prem ki naagin dasse, o paagal marr ke bhi toh hasse

Junglee si re, pagli si re
Katiley nain, dil ko cheeray

Main kathar ki hoon ghari
Kaaton dheeray pyaar ki main bhari

Jul saathi dhoopon mein jadh se jalaunga patto ko pare hata

Hoont shum ho ja gum, ghum sum ghum
Hume yuho takna na koi jagha

Abh tak toh badi madhoshi
Dhak dhak ko dil behoshi
Rakh tak ko dedo choti vo hassi
Thaamo, dede vo hassi

Kilimanjaro ladki parvat thi yaaro
Isska roop nihaaro yaaro yaaro
Mohenjo daro issko dil mein utaaro
Jungle jungle pukaro yaaro yaaro

Gounsa jinde, sunsa jinde
Chamde ka saas, jamke baje

Tu kaanta koi zeharila
Dhund chati chaand chamkila

Aav mastani taal, morni jaisi
Harni ki praan, joru jaisi

Teri patli kamar jo mude
Uss see hum aanchal jaise jude

Hari hari gaas hoon mein, daam tere pair jo karna hai karja

Kacchi kaliyan gul saare hain
Khile meetha sa maza le le chalo

Abh tak toh badi madhoshi
Dhak dhak ko dil behoshi
Rakh tak ko dedo choti vo hassi
Thaamo, dede vo hassi

Abh tak toh badi madhoshi
Dhak dhak ko dil behoshi
Rakh tak ko dedo choti vo hassi
Dede, choti vo hassi

Mutalik Sting

2010-05-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

Mutalik sting - Does that mean some anti Parivaar ppl had funded Mutalik to defame Parivaar?

Zodiac Fashion Sense (courtesy - FB)

2010-05-02T13:44:00.000-04:00

Aquarians

You do not follow latest fashion trends. In fact, you are more likely to start new fashion trends. You wear whatever you feel like and seldom give attention to what others think. You mix and match to your hearts content. You continue wearing outfits even if they are out of fashion.

http://apps.facebook.com/zodiacfashionsense/

Numerology Reading (courtesy - FB)

2010-05-02T13:21:00.002-04:00

Your Life Path Number is: 2
The Diplomat
The number two is associated with peace and harmony. You are tactful in your dealings with people. People turn to you when there is a need to restore peace and order. You maintain balance in your thoughts and actions. You maintain very good relations with your family, friends, relatives and work colleagues. You are a large-hearted person.
Your Destiny Number is: 5
The number five is associated with curiosity and enthusiasm. You love to discover new things and new places. Your questions never stop. You love taking risks and hence your unpredictable nature leads you into problems at times. You are a progressive individual. You love your freedom. You have a very versatile and attractive personality.
Your Soul Number is: 3
The number three is associated with creativity and sociability. You have a very expressive personality. You may possess talent to pursue one of the arts and become successful. You are romantic at heart. You love to mix with people and hate being alone. You like spreading smiles around with your enthusiasm and humor. You are very popular socially.
Your Birthday Number is: 1
http://apps.facebook.com/numerologyreading/

Birthday Profile (courtesy FB)

2010-05-02T13:05:00.001-04:00

You've been living for 22 years, 3 months, and 1 days.
Find your exact age
You were born on a Monday.
What does your day of birth say about you?
Your date of conception was probably 11th May 1987.
You've seen 6 leap years.
Your Zodiac Sign is Aquarius.
Click here to view your Zodiac Profile
Your Chinese Zodiac Sign is Rabbit.
Click here to view your Chinese Zodiac Profile
Your Ruling Planet is Uranus.
What does your ruling planet say about you?
Your Birthstone is Amethyst.
What does your Birthstone say about you?
Your Birth Flower is Violet.
What does your Birth Flower say about you?
Your Birth Tree is Cypress Tree.
Your Birth Number is 2.
Find out the meaning of your Birth Number
Time till your next Birthday 274 days 4 hours 4 mins.
Birthday Countdown
Your Lucky Color is Violet or Blue.
Your Lucky Day is Wednesday.
Your Lucky Number is Seven.
http://apps.facebook.com/yourbirthdayprofile/

Congress: A Seasoned Strategist

2010-04-18T02:28:00.012-04:00

Yet again the Congress proved why it has survived nearly 50 years ruling (and not governing the country). The happenings of the last 3-4 months are a proof of why the Grand Old Party of India is also the shrewdest when it comes to realpolitik. Ever since UPA II has come to power there has been a haze of price rise surrounding the Government every now and then. And this haze has been on the upsurge especially from the latter half of 2009 at a time when the BJP was involved in its own internal battle, and the CPI (M) limping. There were a few who could speak for the common of this country.

Come 2010 and the BJP this time overcoming its internal issues finally showed signs of standing on its feet. The first external agenda for the new Party President was to “Capitalize on price rise” and demonstrate “politics of development” unlike what BJP has always been accused of getting involved in. And ever since this was known in public, the Congress pressed the panic button. Late December and early January saw the media more focussed on the Liberhan Commission Report which was followed by Women's Reservation Bill. Everyone including the Congress knew that the Bill doesn’t stand a chance of getting passed in the Lok Sabha but still went ahead with the introduction of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha and succeeded in breaking the Opposition camp which for the first time was standing united (BJP+Left+Yadavs). Then came non-issues (compared to price rise) like Modi being summoned up by the SIT which was followed by the Naxal debate or say presently the Tharoor controversy. But this present approach to the Tharoor controversy makes me feel “daal mein kuch kaala hai”.

Why is the Congress pulling Tharoor saga so much? Either get him out or reaffirm the faith in the MOS for External Affairs. But no! The clever Congress Think-tank sees this as an opportunity to over-shadow the fact that inflation had crossed 9% in February and is expected to cross 10% this April.

This is the time when the BJP President has ambitiously planned the April 21st "Delhi Chalo, Parliament Ghero, Jail Bharo" pilot project wherein 10 lakh BJP karykartas are expected to reach Delhi - attend a rally at Ramleela maidan, march to the parliament and then court arrest. At a time when such a big event has been planned by the BJP which would have intended to not just mobilize the cadre but also seek positive media attention; Congress' Tharoor has managed to over-shadow it. And as the BJP foolishly expects to win brownie points in the Parliament over the Tharoor issue and waits for PM to come back and give a statement it loses out to cash in on its most ambitious-ever initiative since the new President took over the party.

Is this actually an indicator of a rift between the Party Parliamentary Board and the Party Organizational wing per se? Or is it a failure of the BJP Think-tank and strategists who failed to see this trap coming? Or the BJP purposely wants to keep the rally a low profile event till the 21st as it isn't sure about its success? Also, the question which arises is, is this an attempt by an anti-Tharoor lobby in the Congress to settle scores with Tharoor, who had been at the receiving end of Madam's favours. The answers if not to all the questions but most of them can only be answered by BJP of course and no one else.

The entire five month drama has yet again proved and asserted why Congress is sitting at the helm of affairs and BJP still limping back. Also, by making BJP play the gallery in both the cases i.e. Women's Bill as well as the Tharoor debate, the Congress has obviously gained much more than BJP who could not even contest the Women's Reservation Bill on democratic grounds. The Congress indeed has succeeded in killing 2 birds (taking steam off both Chidambaram-Digvijay controversy and BJP price rise agitation)

But the question I want to ask the BJP is - "Is Tharoor more important than Price Rise?" especially when the Congress has managed to take away BJP urban middle class vote-bank with it in the last elections and is furthering into BJP's core constituency. The BJP knows this and saw an opportunity to yet again assert itself as the representative of urban middle class by raking up the Price Rise issue which seems to yet again get hijacked by the Congress.

Price Rise might be important for the masses of the country but not for Congress and the BJP Parliamentary committee.

My letters on BigB published in newspapers

2010-03-30T12:23:00.008-04:00

My letters published on this hype surrounding Mr. Bachchan in newspapers -

The Free Press Journal, March 27, 2010

http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_are-stars-soft-targets-in-a-political-war_1365054

DNA, March 30, 2010

http://www.freepressjournal.in/FPJ/FPJ/2010/03/27/ArticleHtmls/27_03_2010_005_009.shtml?Mode=1

Open Letter to Mr. Bachchan

2010-03-27T18:11:00.004-04:00

Bachchan sir,

I am really disappointed with the hostile attitude of the so called "Grand Old Party" of India towards an icon, a face which has represented the country at a global scale. I deeply regret the petty politics which has followed your attendance to the Sea Link event. Being a Mumbaikar I didn't see any reason for you not being fit to be a guest for that event. You are not just a celebrity in the city but more importantly a tax payer from the city and have more right to be on the podium than most of the people sitting there who don't even belong to Mumbai.

I don't think in a Democracy, politicians should monopolize inaugurations of public structures. It is a shame that it has happened in our country and unfortunately in the case of the tallest celebrity of the country who has always been a goodwill ambassador and a face of the country.

The party could have downplayed it but still the fiasco continued in Pune wherein the CM Ashok Chavan suddenly pre-poned his visit by a day avoiding sharing the dais with you and then Ms Sheila Dixit suddenly doesn't showcase AB's audio-video message and forces all his posters to be removed after taking the help of AB to promote the whole event. We on Twitter know how much AB has been promoting the event from the core of his heart.

Bachchan ji, I think there are some things which should be above politics if we need to make this country a better place to live in and dream of becoming a superpower.

Firstly , I feel even if you would have had a political affiliation, it should not have mattered for the ruling party to share the dais with person from the other party, after all even you are a citizen of the city.

Secondly, I feel bad that the party (which always talks about secularism) didn't open their eyes to see that Jaya ji is a nominated RS member by the SP, you Bachchan sir were the tourism ambassador for a BJP governed and a CPI(M) ruled state. And both YOU and AB were attending programmes by Congress CMs respectively.

The latter is fine example of how when it comes to the country, we all forget our religious or political differences and come together of which a prime example have been YOU and your family respectively. This country is going to the dogs if such cheap political gimmicks continue and if a person of your repute can be humiliated so much then just imagine the spate of a commoner!

Regards

Devendra Pai

Mumbai

devendrapai@yahoo.com

P.S. - With you in all times sir

Delhi Tour Jist

2010-03-24T12:48:00.001-04:00

Day 1
India Gate
BJP Office
Amit Thaker (BJYM President)
Nitin Gadkari (BJP President)
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (BJP Vice President)
Murlidhar Rao (BJP Secy)
Prakash Javadekar (BJP Spokesperson)
Venkaiah Naidu (Former BJP President)
Lok Sabha
Mani Shankar Aiyar (Rajya Sabha MP)

Day 2
Pradeep Jain (Min. of State, Rural Development)
Election Commission
NSUI office
Hibi Eden (NSUI President)
AICC Office
Alka Lamba (Congress Secy)
Ministry of External Affairs
Shashi Tharoor (Min. of State, External Affairs)

Day 3
Sharad Joshi (Rajya Sabha MP)
BBC Office
CSDS

Day 4
Rashtrapati Bhawan
Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP Spokesperson)
National Gallery of Modern Art
Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress Spokesperson)

Day 5
Qutub Minar
K N Govindacharya (former BJP ideologue)
Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP Spokesperson)
Indira Gandhi Memorial

Day 6
Purana Quila
Birla Mandir
Planning Commission
Netherlands Embassy

Day 7
Bharatsinh Solanki (Min. of State, Enery)
Manish Tiwary (Congress Spokesperson)
Birla House
Rajya Sabha
NHRC

Day 8
CIC
Prithviraj Chavan (Science and Tech Minister, PMO)

Birthday wishes by AB on Twitter

2010-02-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

To be a Leader or a Manager?

2009-12-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

As the BJP leadership crisis enters its penultimate hour and the heated debate on the rise of managers in the “party with a difference” still manages to hit newspaper headlines, it becomes vital to understand what separates a manager from a leader. BJP since its inception was known to be a party of leaders and not managers like the erstwhile Congress, but the 90s saw the rise of managers in the BJP as well. It was this which led to the coining of a new term by political analysts - “Congressization of the BJP.” The term sounds trendy but larger and deeper questions remain to be addressed, the biggest of them being – the difference between a Leader and a Manager.

For many, a good leader is the one who successfully manages an election campaign and comes out winning the election. But then the question arises, if this person is the leader then who is the manager? Playing Devil’s advocate will help us to realize that the one whom we had been considering as leaders weren’t actually leaders but managers, who just have a short term objective which in this case was to win the elections. For an ideal leader, the vision replaces the objective making it broader and larger not for the benefit of the individual but for the benefit of the country, for the benefit of people and lastly for the benefit of the party and that too beyond electoral success.

Today, both the terms are interchangeably used without understanding the significance of the either, and more importantly what these two different terms stand for. The definition that clears the air is “Managers are concerned with doing things right, but Leaders are the one who do the Right things.” Also, further in understanding the difference between the two, another major point which one should realize is that the leader is the “problem maker.” Well not in the literal sense of course, but in the sense that it is the leader who actually identifies something wrong and recognizes a problem. This might as well lead us to say, “if it wasn’t for the leaders, there would not have been any problems” as even if there were inconsistencies present they would not have got noticed by managers as managers are the ones maintaining a status quo. In sharp contrast, a leader is the one whose highest desire is to bring about change. Leaders are also the ones who actually believe in empowering people through decentralization of power unlike a manager who would prefer to concentrate power. This leads to managers ending up demanding respect whereas leaders command respect.

Leaders are risk takers as well, who go against the tide whereas managers are the risk minimizers who see to it that minimal damage is suffered like seen in the Karnataka BJP crisis wherein the managers from the party reduced the risk of the Government collapsing rather than taking a risk of challenging the Reddy brothers. A leader is the one who gives the ship a direction while a manager steers the ship towards it. The Ramjanmabhoomi Movement is a perfect example of it where the Charioteer, Mr. LK. Advani was the leader whereas the Sarthi, Mr. Pramod Mahajan was his manager. This also vaguely leads us to derive that in today’s competitive politics, the idealism of a Leader in itself isn’t enough to come to power and hence, it becomes important for the leaders to take the help of boardroom strategists (read managers) to win the race for achieving power. And it doesn’t end here, even as the leaders capture power i.e. their means of serving the people; they still need the help of managers in the form of bureaucrats to fulfill their dream, their vision. Last but not least, a leader’s concern is with “What is Right” whereas a manager’s is being Right. Thus, unlike a manager, leadership is not a permanent role but more of an act which is need based.

As someone aptly put it, “Managers are necessary, but Leaders are Essential”

Dostana

2009-08-07T02:09:00.010-04:00

The much hyped film of 2008 was in news for its blatant exhibition of homosexuality. Though the film didn’t ridicule nor did it justify homosexuality, same sex love stood as the USP of that film. Most of us as will admit that when we hear someone say "Dostana" the immediate thing which comes to our mind is homosexuality. Though I do agree that homosexuality was a background on which the film was made to humour the audience and make it a commercial success, but at the same time I refuse to accept that Dostana was a senseless film and an out n out commercial film with no morals or story whatsoever.

If I may point out, looking at the title itself that the film wasn't just about homo sexuality but about "friendship." And the friendship here isn't just limited to AB and John but the trio which included Priyanka. The film talks about how people make sacrifices in friendship and how much important is friendship like other blood ties.

It starts with AB and John joining hands and giving up their ambition to get into a romantic fling with Priyanka in order to not lose her friendship. And they do everything one can to get their best pal back which includes kissing in a club in front of the whole world in spite of them not being gay. They don’t care about themselves nor have any egos but just the desire to have Priyanka back as their buddy is what motivates them for the act.

But according to me the high point of the film lies in the last segment where Priyanka actually gives up her dream man Bobby Deol to get back to her friends who indeed cared and loved her more than anyone else. Even Bobby Deol accepted the decision and it was a mutual decision for Piggy Chops and Bobby to part ways for friendship.

And this was the biggest exhibition of "Dostana" in the film wherein an individual leaves her new found love for her best friends. It was very unfortunate that last week it was Friendship's Day and people failed to remember Dostana. There are several best friends who actually claim and make promises on these grounds that friendship is more important than their romantic life. Haven't really come across some individual who has stuck to such promises made even at a time when there have been years gone in nurturing the friendship while this new found love is just a few months old. But yeah surely there have been people claiming to be the best friends but then there are questions asked, "Should I leave the love of my life (who is just say a few months old) for your friendship (which supposedly years old)?"

This category of people is confused to make a call between old friends or new found love. If the happiness of these friends is more important then why not leave our own selfish interest and do the "right" thing? If one fears breaking the heart of this new found love, why doesn't that individual fear breaking the heart of the best friend? And doesn't this best friend love the individual as well? At times, I think if these people are honest with their new found love (and indeed if this new love is worth the love he/she is getting); it is this new found love who should actually initiate the decision making process because if one truely respects love, he/she should respect love in all relationships be it blood relationship or friendship or a romantic relationship.

I just warn those who actually are in the middle of such a situation to not wait for the "right" time to make their call but decide before it’s too late and their best friends give up on them. It won't just be an insult of those individuals but an insult of "love", "trust" and "friendship". And a new relationship cannot sustain at such a big insult shown to the above mentioned virtues. It might be easy to let go of best friends for the rest of the world but for people like me it is very difficult and painful especially where somewhere even after your best friend shatters your trust, you still wait for that best friend to come back to you in spite of the fact that the individual isn't sure which way to go.

Love i.e. Selflessness - A virtue

2009-08-05T15:18:00.004-04:00

Many people try to define "love" and partly do successfully explain what Love indeed is but never have I come across any definition which was able to define love in completeness. Which led me to a quest to understand what "love" indeed is. Maybe it took me to go to the US, to completely understand what love actually stood for. And I know as I have raised the issue of "love" there will be certainly eye brows raised especially when it is Devendra Pai who is talking about it.

Let me take a moment and make it clear that, "love" should not be always connected with "romance." Love is something morre than that. Romance might be a minor part of the "love" between 2 life partners but then

isn't a mothers "love" towards her child - "love?"

isn't a brother's love for his sister - "love?"

It doesn't stop at this. What about the love with which the Warkari community go to Pandharpur with? They go there just because of their love for the God and nothing beyond it.

Does God come and welcome them?

Does God talk to them?

Does God bestow them with riches?

But in spite of all negative answers to the question. The Warkaris go to meet their lord with the same affection which I think only increases by their every experience because their "love" for the lord isn't result oriented and I think if it is result oriented, it would be never called as "love." And it is this time that it struck me that "love" and "selflessness" go together and "love" is incomplete without it.

Think about Ram and Bharat's love where bharat had no intention for being the king or Radha, who continued to love Krishna in spite of Krishna being married off to someone else. And this makes me wonder, why then in the present world have become so selfish and result oriented and then call it "love?" Are they actually being fair to "love"....I had come across a text message saying "I Love you is actually a statement and not a question then why do people expect answers to it."

And it is this western culture of being result oriented rather then being "karma oriented" which actually said "good karma" should be done regardless of any results. If one wins its good enough but then one should not get disappointed with failures. This is what Bhagwad Gita teaches. It teaches that "act" shouldbe done regardless of results for the sake of it and the real result is in commiting the act itself. To stick to the "right" thing. And "Rightness", "selflessness", "justice" and "love" go together in the same direction.

One on my friends has written a similar piece on her blog. If you liked my article you will like this write up as well.

Relationships - Sit back and Ruminate

2009-08-05T12:57:00.003-04:00

I have a small collection of good text messages which I thought of sharing on this space which seem like just a collage of words but are equal to one whole blog entry which I make. As you will go through them, we will realize (like I had) that if every individual takes these forwards seriously then how come there are these troubles in interpersonal relationships. Well, surely the world indeed will be a better place to live in if each and every individual will follow them true to the heart. But at the same time, let me tell you that the path isn't easy as it seems to be. One has just control over oneself and can't just control feelings of other people how much ever close one assumes that individual to be. Disappointments are bound to happen but still, as responsible "human beings" we can not just let go of spreading goodness as I had said in my earlier blog entry. So just sit back and Ruminate!

* Distance cannot seperate anyone, Time cannot bind anyone. If feelins are true from heart, Just close your eyes and You can find anyone

* Dont ever be angry on your loved ones, because upto the last moment of you life what hurts is not the words of our enemies but silence of our loved ones.

* You can never find a perfect friend in me, because what makes me human is my imperfection. But this would be for sure that i will always be your friend not perfect but TRUE

* Apologizing does not mean you are wrong and the other is right...It just means that you value personal relationships more than personal EGO

* Two ways to make a relationship lasting - Dont make it before understanding and dont break it after a misunderstanding

* Staying far never breaks relation, staying near never makes relation. It's a link between hearts, which never allow us to forgeteach other

* Sometimes missing is more precious than being together, because we only miss the people who we never want to miss in life

* "Close" and "Open" are actually opposites to each other. Yet in real life, we are only "open" to people with whom we are really "close".

* World's most beautiful sentence "But, I'm with you." World's most painful sentence "I am with you, But"

* Life is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relation. Its not how much we care in the beginning but how much we care till the end.

* Time alone can prove the worth of relationships. As time goes by we lose the false ones and the best ones stay.

* In life Don't trust people whose feelins change with time, instead trust those people whose feelings remain the same with changing times.

* Friendship is not just a word & not a simple relationship. its a silent promise which says, I will be with you Wherever, Whenever, Forever!

* Love isn't about expressing heavy words. Its about understanding a gentle touch and pure heart.

* Good relationships dont need any promises, any terms or conditions. It just needs 2 wonderful people. Not "U" and "Me" but "We."

* Relationship isn't about who came first or who came last or care more or who cares best but about who came and never left!

* If you trust a person till the very end, whatever the result maybe you will either have a good friend or a good lesson in the end.

P.S. - I would like to acknowledge Elita for actually inspiring this blog entry as well as the title of the blog (she might sue me tomorrow). A brilliant thinker she is, I could not match up to her thinking capacity and rather than coming out with my own one liners to ruminate I preferred to stick with the tried and tested, easy to get but deep in meaning text messages.)

Why is there Lack of Goodness in this World?

2009-08-04T11:32:00.011-04:00

I have been engaged in a lot of philosophizing off late, so this piece would be one which will set a precedent and other write ups will follow soon. Coming back to the topic, why is there a lack of goodness in the world?

Everyone says this. That yes, "people have become bad", "this is kalyug", blah blah... But as anyone taken off time to at least sit back and think "why is this so?" rather than just cribbing and complaining about the dearth of happiness.

Fortunately, I have. Its better late than never they say. The process started as I was watching "Bunty aur Babli" about a month back. It was after more than a year that I was watching this film as I had nothing worthwhile to do nor anything good to watch on TV. Being a diehard AB fan and a Rani Mukherjee admirer, I continued with the film just for the sake on enjoying these 2 actors. But as I started watching the film, my objective of watching the film changed. The film, which was thwarted by me months after it released, now actually started meaning a lot to me. Even you might be wondering what that was...

It was the fact that both Bunty and Babli became criminals because of the world. They tried their accomplishing their dreams in a very good and honesty way but only to realize that others had taken undue advantage of their virtues. And this disappointment finally led to both Bunty and Babli taking up a criminal path to take revenge from the world. "If you can be bad, even we can be bad too."

And this is thus not just a story of Bunty and Babli but "aam aadmi" i.e. "Mango people." Who start with honesty and goodness but then as the world ridicules this virtue of theirs, the same people end up as violators of their very own principles. Though they don't want to do that by choice but by compulsion as they think "there isn’t any way to survive this cruel world." And it is thus, very wrong to blame these people only because they have turned bad. What we need to ask ourselves is "at least if we can't be good ourselves, can't we just reciprocate this goodness to the good people and help sustain whatever goodness is remaining in the world.

Recently, I have been through a similar situation where I don't think my goodness was taken seriously. This has ultimately led to a reduction of goodness in me as an immediate reflex and a slapstick reply to that offender of goodness. But then, I have still decided to stick with my general idea of being good. Because, if everyone starts giving up goodness because of "individual violators of goodness" then this world will definitely go to the dogs sooner than expected. It would be a shame that not only these "violators" do not contribute in goodness but also discourage the ones who are contributing. And they don't just reduce the number of good people but increase the number of violators.

What we should do, like discussed in Delhi 6 is to look at ourselves from a 3rd persons perspective. Ask ourselves looking at the mirror, "Will I like it if x did that to me what I did to y" or at least think in a very detached way from oneself and ask the question like I do "Is Devendra doing the Right thing?"

I know it isn't easy to be "Good" and "Ethical" all the time but at the end of the day, the satisfaction which one gets of doing the "Right" thing is always worth it. And also the fact that, these "good" people are the ones who are actually indeed contributing to make the World a "Better Place to Live in"

"If the Bad don't stop being bad, why should the Good stop being Good." - Abhishek Bachchan

2009-08-02T07:32:00.003-04:00

Hello people, I know it has beeen a very loong time since I last posted here. Will get back to regular psotings from this week onwards. Thanks

Was EC biased?

2009-05-01T22:42:00.002-04:00

Well it wasn't a huge surprise for me as there was a poor turn-out in this 3rd phase of voting as people got an extended weekend. But what led me think about is, was EC biased in having picked an extended weekend and that too only the BJP and Left strongholds went into election during this time - MP, Guj, Karnataka, Bihar, Bengal and Maharahstra. All these were the areas where BJP was defending its turf and looking to make major gains. Is EC really unbiased? Navin Chawla has to come up with answers. We saw the indifference of EC who advised BJP from fielding Rahul Gandhi whereas at the same time didn't say much in the case of Lalu, a prospective post poll ally of the Congress!

Recognition by Mumbai Mirror

2009-04-28T05:32:00.007-04:00

Readers, I have a great news to share with you. As is it many few people read this blog, It gives me immense pleasure to actually announce that an entry on this blog made its way to the newspaper. It was the Mumbai based tabloid - Mumbai Mirror which actually published the entry in it's section on blogs called "Blogger's Park."

I thank the tabloid from my hearts as this was a welcome surprise for me as well as Rohini (Mumbai), who happened to be the first person to notice and inform me about it. As well as everyone who enouraged me start the blog and continue to encourage my writing. Thank you!!!

Attached is the link of the article

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/41/20090427200904270221169143ae3649b/Australia-withdraws-from-Davis-Cup-tie.html

Mumbai Mirror dated April 27, 2009

Page 34

Blogger's Park

The IPL effect - DAVIS CUP gone

2009-04-26T04:00:00.006-04:00

In one of the most embarassing situations we could have got ourselves into, India was termed unsafe to host the Davis Cup which India had been hosting religiously since quite somee time. In a first of a kind scene, security concern being the cause of stripping a sporting tournament has been seen in the context of India.

Mr. Lalit Modi should realize that IPL wasn't just a monye minting factory but something more than that. It was the country's premium sporting event. It was an answer to England's EPL and America's NBA and then we lose everything. National pride as well rich revenue sunk. Pride in the sense both the exclusivity as well confidence (in the context of security). So are we safe in our country in the question we should ask ourselves.

It's also a matter of shame that the national Government could not do anything to stop this non sense from happening even as many BJP governed states were ready to host the IPL and that an alternate solution was available. But instead of giving BJP brownie points, the UPA Government did not act and noww the result is for everyone to see.

And hence, I have decided to boycott the IPL until it comes back to India and ask everyone to do the same. And last but not least, we are assured by PM Manmohan Singh that he will transform Mumbai into Shanghai. (Hope it won't be the way he is transforming a stable secure India into an insecure Pakistan)

The "other" side of Manmohan

2009-04-14T19:41:00.004-04:00

The so called "simple clean person" Manmohan Singh turned out sour and the frustration was quite visible at the function to mark the anniversary of Babasaheb Amedkar. Advani has always maintained that personally and by nature Manmohan Singh is a very clean and good man but what he has done is by being a PM mere in office and not in power and reduced the prestige of the office. And it was ridiculous to see PM Manmohan Singh continue the election drama at a Parliamentary function by not greeting Advani as Advani greeted everyone with folded hands towards the end of the event. The footage clearly exposes the "other" side of the PM who is considered to be a level headed person. He should not have forgotten that he is still in office and has to fulfil some formalities atleast for the sake of the prestige of the office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ECxKgFjlY

Answers to Manmohan, Sonia and Rahul

2009-04-14T06:16:00.005-04:00

Well it took the top 3 of Congress to come down heavily on BJP's Loh purush Advani making the debate whether Advani is fit as a PM or not rather than focussing on Manmohan's achievements and image which I think doen't even exist for congress itself. This itself takes away credibility of the PM as one can not strenghen the weak by weaking the strong as being carried forward by the attack of Conress' tri murti. The trio have raisen three major points on why Advani shouldn't be a strong PM and I think it was completely baseless of them to do so and can be contradicted just by recalling those incidents

1 - Kandahar incident - Well, it was an all party decision and the Congress had backed up the Government idea and hence is equally responsible for it

2 - Jinnah issue - I still don't see what wrong did Advani say there regarding Jinnah. He actually tried to embarass Pakistan saying it had contricted its creator's ideals itself

3 - Babri demolition - Advani condemned it as soon as he came to know about the demolition of the structure which was never a mosque in the sense prayers were carried out there.

Also, there might be differences of opinion within the party on some issues as BJP is a democratic party with different people from different families holding important offices on merit unlike the family tradition in Congress which have reduced the Prime Ministers office and Manmohan to a night watchman which made The Economist call the Indian PM as "A PM in office but not in power" and its a shame that a global magazine of such repute acknowledges something which even we refued to accept but happens to be reality bringing down India's image which already had been under hammer after Jai ho which the Congress is still enjoying singing too regardless of that fact that it wasn't an Indian film at Oscar but a British entry and also the image which it has made of the city and the country.

Delhi 6 hits a six!

2009-03-14T15:47:00.011-04:00

A bit late given the fact that I had been for the film the night it released i.e. the 20^th of February. So better late than never I am finally writing a review which I had been thinking of working on since the past one month. But as the saying goes, better late than never so here I am finally giving my review of the film – Delhi 6, a film which has been described by Rajeev Masand as a film with a heart. The film basically deals with Roshan’s (Abhishek Bachchan) journey from New York to one of the more chaotic areas of the country – Chandni Chowk whose pin code stands as ‘6’ and it is from here the title of the film comes from.

The film has a beautiful narrative wherein it is the leading protagonist who has a voiceover and tells the story. The story begins wherein Roshan cannot relate Chandni Chowk here is also symbolic of an average Indian residential community which has shades of real life characters – a corrupt policeman, egoist brothers who can’t stand each other, the mohalla idiot. Simple scenes like – Hindus and Muslims worshipping not just their own religious Gods but vice versa, the distribution of Prasad from both the mosque and the temple enjoyed by the mohallawalas, Roshan made to talk on the phone even at a time when he is waiting outside the rest room in very urgent state, the Muslims youth having a secret hideout where the practice all the material things like drinking or playing pool which is restricted by their religion, a Muslim tying devi maa ka kapda on the hands of Roshan’s grandmother down with a medical emergency, at the same time the scene of a cow giving birth to a calf on the middle of the street which cures the ailing grandmother and also re emphasizes that faith heals but my favourite of them remains the scene showing the image of Hanuman and Haj sharing the same wall in a Muslim shop which reasserts the uniqueness of Indian Muslims in a time when more and more Muslims from India are being influenced by jehadi ideas.

The beauty of the film lies in how artsy cinema has been blended so well with mainstream cinema. As ROM had rightly put it that if RDB was his passing out of school, D6 is his graduation. And is very true in what he means. There is a big stress on symbolisms – Masakali, the dove stands the individual’s curtailed right to freedom and being tied down by restrictions, the Ram leela and relevance of its chapters is time and again reflected whether it is the Shabari episode being shown as the same time wherein caste based discrimination exists in the audience or be it the burning o f Ravana symbolizing victory over external evil and last but not least Kaala Bandar which reflects the evil within which we have to see and correct by looking at the mirror.

The actors have perfectly fitted in the shoes of their characters - Abhishek Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Pawan Malhotra, Om Puri, Divya Dutta and all the other so called supporting actors have come up with some splendid performances of their lifetimes. A R Rehman has done a fabulous job as usual by blending the songs perfectly as per the requirements of the screenplay and by no means do look forcefully pushed into it.

The feel good emotion which the film carries with it is impressive summed in the dialogue “India works. The people make it work”. The only disappointment was the final guest entry as it looked very much forced up and really did not fit in the entire screenplay. But the overall goodness of the film overcomes this ignorable aspect. Delhi 6 is taking Indian cinema to a much higher level breaking away from the typical so called “filmy singing around the trees kind of story”. A realistic story on reel Delhi 6 is an effort which should be appreciated and will go down in the books as a milestone film in the league of Swades, Rang De Basanti, and many more. And yes, last but not least do not leave the theatres before the credits at the end of the film as it really is a wrap-up on the film as a whole and you don’t want to miss that.

Sri Lankan Cricketers attacked - Reading between the Linez

2009-03-03T12:26:00.005-05:00

Well as all you might already be aware that the Lankan team was attacked in Pakistan by gunmen who ruthlessly opened fire on the convoy. Well as fans in the sub continent are yet to come out of the shock, there is more which should be read in between the lines than just the blast -

1 - A LTTE-ISI tie up which was one of thing which was being speculated has to resurface now

2 - Indian team was supposed to be there playing Pakistan but the Mumbai Taj incident made the team change plan. Well, we could have been the victims! Just imagine what could have been the headline " Tendulkar dies in a gunfire in Pakistan...."

3 - Pakistan's ISI seems to have a role in terror activties ranging on the entire sub continent -Sri Lanka (LTTE), India (as always) and now Bangladesh (as the mutiny is suspected to be carried out by ISI)

4 - The Pak Govt is calling itself a victim and calls this Mumbai part II, this in itself shows that it was a staged one to try and get sympathy of people from across the world and divert attention from Mumbai blasts

Yeh Delhi hai mere yaar!

2009-02-19T20:09:00.010-05:00

A few days back I suddeny fell into deep thinking when I realised that all the current films and one element in common. Haven't guessed it already? It's our capital city. All leading commercial films have its story based in Delhi if not the title itself - From Chandani chowk to China town to Delhi 6. Even Dev D was a film based in Delhi so was Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye!! and news is out that a new film which Abhishek Bachchan has signed which is supposed to be made by Abhinav Deo is called "Delhi Belly". Though my critques may argue that there have been a lot of ilms based on the city in the recent past like Sarkar Raj, A Wednesday or more recently Luck by Chance and Stoneman's Murders. But we must realize that these are not commercial films and haven't really tried to capture the pleasant mood of the as the Delhi based films have wherein Delhi is more or less like another actor if not the protagonist.

Coming back to the main theme of my article i.e. my deep thinking about the issue made me conclude that the reason Delhi is being seen everywhere might be a conscious attempt by the Government to promote the city which has been accused of being unsafe and filthy before the next Commonwealth Games which is being hosted by Delhi.

Hopefully, the drought will end soon and we will once again start seeing films like Bluffmaster or Taxi No. 9211 which were entirely shot in the city as well as beautifully captured the positive spirit as well scenic landscapes of "Amchi Mumbai"

Encyclopedia of Congress Interpretation!

2009-02-19T04:30:00.008-05:00

I saw this written on the discussion board of the Orkut Community - Rashtrya Swyamsevak Sangh. Well, it was interesting to read as well as educative and hence it seemed that it desrved a place in D World. So here we go,

Encyclopedia of Congress Interpretation!

Isn't this a Blatant Example of Pseudo Secularism?

Sikhs getting slaughered in thousands = A MISTAKE.
Hindus getting killed in Kashmir = Political problem.
Muslims getting killed by a few hundred = Holocaust.
Poor protestors getting shot in WB under Left Govt = Misunderstanding.

Banning Parzania in Gujarat = Communal.
Banning Da Vinci Code and Jo Bole So Nihaal = Secular.

Kargil Attack = Government failure.
Chinese invasion in 1962 = Unfortunate betrayal.

Reservations in every school and college on caste lines = Secular. Reservations in Minority institutions = Communal.

Fake encounters in Gujarat [Sohrabuddin] = BJP Communalism.
Fake encounters under Cong-NCP in Maharashtra [Khwaja Younus] = Police atrocity.

Talking about Hindus and Hinduism appeasment = Communal. Talking about Muslims and Islam = Secular.

BJP freeing 3 terrorists to save 100 Indian hostages = Shameful
Congress freeing 4 militants to save just a life of one daughter of its minister in Kashmir [Rubina Sayed] = Natural Political dilemma.

Attack on Parliament = BJP ineptitude. Not hanging Afzal Guru the mastermind despite Supreme Court orders = Humanity and Political dilemma.

BJP questioning Islam = Communal. Congress questioning Lord Rama existance = Clerical Error.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-xx--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

An interesting read isn't it! The profile which had posted it is - http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=720920759545966697

Typealyzis of D Blog

2009-02-18T02:23:00.009-05:00

Hello people, I found this link while going through a blog and thought of trying it on myself for fun. Going by the content I have been writing on the analysis has been made. So as of now, my the type of articles I have written suggest this which is subject to change with introduction of new arctiles and regular blog updates. Do remember this and we will check after a few days if there has been any change in my writing content!

The analysis indicates that the author of http://www.devendrapai.blogspot.com is of the type:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Well Guess What! I do have a brain and check out how it is focussing right now according to the website. I don't know how true is it but it isn't stating anything bad or offensive. Its upto you people to judge me whether the above said is true!

http://www.typealyzer.com/ - Try out yourself!

Billu - A waste of time

2009-02-16T19:21:00.005-05:00

The latest SRK flick was up on the internet on Saturday night (USA time) itself. The print too was of excellent quality. Sharply in contrast last week's film DEV D which isn't a family film like Billu hasn't yet made its way on the internet. Though a copy of the film has been uploaded the print is a camera recorded one. I think this itself explains the fate of Billu.

No marks for guessing what does SRK do in the film? He just plays the very same good guy which we have seen him play since ages - time immemorial. Please gimme a break. I am tired of watching the same character being potrayed in the movies. The self-obsessed SRK doesn't mind showing off his self love and promoting himself like the God of Indian film industry on screen so shamelessly! In sharp contrast, Lara Datta makes a wonderful appearance in a deglam avtaar. Irffan Khan is okay but quite quite monotonous. The film has been dragged a lot. There isn't any point watch the first 4/5th of the film as it revolves around a hesitant Billu who is scared of going and meeting his school friend turned filmstar - King Khan. The script looks helpless as suddenly when invited for a school annual day event the Khan breaks down remembering his old school friend (by this time SRK doesn't know Billu stays in this village)

A very pathetic film which also tries to clean the image of the film industry (especially after SRK was criticized heavily in OSO) which is a subtle break after films like OSO and Luck By Chance. Overall a movie which can be skipped. The modern day Krishna-Sudama story could have been narrated in a prettier way. A sub-standard film with big names.

REL 201

2009-02-15T23:35:00.008-05:00

It was a long cherished dream for me to have a formal academic study of Religion as a subject and finally I got a chance this semester here in Greenville Tech. Not surprisingly at all, the textbook starts with Hinduism (well the the western authors can't get the difference between religion and dharma) followed by chapters on Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism (another fallacy that they fail to see it that these 3 varied sects are somewhere a branch of Sanatana dharma i.e. Hinduism). The question arises why so? Because, the textbook authors for the book have all been western researchers with no Indian author being included on 2 chapters of Hinduism considered by the text as the oldest religion in the world!

As the class went on I felt like a proud Hindu as Hinduism had the origins of not just Secularism but also Democracy as it was so much more decentralized than any "ism" has been. At one stage in the class, there was reference to Bhagwad Gita and our Instructor asked all the students (read American) to read the Gita. Also, we were shown a documentary on Gita. It was a film done with Chinese actors.

These experiences made me realize that in spite if being the oldest, richest civilzation we have hardly take pride in our rich heritage. Firstly under the excuse of secularism we do not have an academic study of the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayan, Mahabharata and Gita which the American students of the class are doing and Secondly, I also felt pity on ourselves not doing enough documentation on our civilization. The Chinese Gita version was stupid and people were making fun of it. The costumes weren't ancient but medieval.

I mean the whole thing was non sensical. It was then I went back to youtube and got the old B R Chopra's Mahabharat and showed to them but the nearly 2 deacde old one has to be repolished with today's technology and the film industry and the Govt of India along with the Indian inc. to come out with Mahabharat and Ramayan (not the Ekta Kapoor one, please!) which not only can be nurtured by the future generations but will also act as a window towards Indian civilization.

This is our history, the history of the Great Bharat Varsha which has to be retold in today's context. And we, the youth of the today should resolve to take a step towards this goal.

Sippets of my 4th chat with Abhishek Bachchan

2009-02-13T10:19:00.023-05:00

This is the short summary of the chat I had with AB today. Abhi chats with the profile Delhi 6 and the other profile mentioned is of my co-Abhishek Bachchan's Crazy Dronahead – Nitish. Sorry for the errors in timings there were at least 3 peoplee who were chatting with AB along with me, so there was some gap in answers.

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:22

Hey RAJ thnks for the change in display. Actually we ABCDs had decided to have our display pictures to be from D6 to promote the film! N hence, you find Nitz, Nayan, Piyu and all other ABCDs with AB or D6 as their display and AB loved it actually!

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:30

devendra; not loved. love! no past tense. i continue to love and appreciate all that you guys are doing for D6.

AHHHHH so all done now. now its a quick shower and off to inorbit mall. have to be there by 6 so don't want to be late.

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:32

hey thanks AB.

So all that wait was worth it.

N thank God I made that mistake, got a correction from you!

Lov u loads bro

Dev

Nitish S Murthy (India) wrote

at 06:33

@ AB Bhaiyya :

Can you Post up Some Videos Broadcast message like you used to do for DRONA .. ??

PLEASE!!!!!!!

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:34

Yes, please do some special video broadcast like you did for Drona. I still watch them. Cos they are very special!

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:37

ok guys will look into it. try and post. but i'll be travelling from tomorrow with the film so don't know if it'll be possible. but will try.

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:33

did you like our new name - ABCD ???

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:37

by the way can't believe you'll have actually named yourselves the ABCD'S.... thats INSANE ( said in a good way).

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:41

hey thanks for appreciating the name

thanks a ton bro....you made by day

I thought of it as you had asked a name for this group

Nitish S Murthy (India) wrote

at 06:36

@ AB Bhaiyya :

I'm passing on all the love and Wishes from Gayatri to you ..

She's Busy wid her preparation of her Marriage, Please Reply so taht i can make her day wid it..

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:37

AB bhaiyya yes, she has sent her greetings for you and was online early in the morning before anyone could get up in her house.

Its her marriage in 2 days and she can't come online cos of the guests. Do try to wish her on her marriage. Its on the 15th. You will be in NY and busy but if you come on FB so wish her

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:39

ok dev. but if you can do me a favour and remind me please? thanks buddy

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:40

Sure AB

Will certainly do that. Thats so kind of you

Nitish S Murthy (India) wrote

at 06:41

Dev buddy .. o_O

Am i Dreaming ??

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:42

I dunno about you guys,

but I am !

Lov u AB

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:42

so guess we have a new ABCD member!!!!

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:43

Thanks a ton AB

Thats so so so great

me and Nittu are jumping with joy rite now!

Devendra Pai wrote
Yesterday, at 06:39

AB,
so post something for her now. We will pass on teh message

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:44

Gayatri, as you embark on what will surely be the most beautiful journey of your life i wish you and your husband all the happiness, good health and togetherness in the world. god bless.

lots of love,

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:45

thanks a ton for this one for Gayu!

Yiou are the best AB

Love you loads...i am so very over-whelmed at this movement!

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:47

AB,

I sent Gayu a text of your message!

I think this will be her BIGGEST gift on her marriage

Devendra Pai wrote

at 06:51

AB,

I uploaded some snaps of you and retiesh and there is one snap were you guys are having fun. What were you exactly trying to do?

Delhi 6 wrote

at 06:55

dev: was trying to hide from the photographers... just fooling around with my little bro riteish

Delhi 6 wrote

at 07:02

ok guys gotta leave for the mall. take care.

be cool,

Devendra Pai wrote

at 07:04

okies sir

bye for now AB

take care

and don't worry we are just pulling each other's leg...masti karte hain. Don't worry

we love each other!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

My Reactions - "OHHHHH MYYYYY! AB called me BUDDY. I am feeling DIZZY. Bye for now. Let me enjoy the moment as I am on a HIGH rite now"

D FEST 2009 - The fest goes international Brief-up

2009-02-13T02:07:00.000-05:00

Back to this year's celebrations of D FEST, one week before to go for the same and I really had this bad feeling that I was all alone on this birthday with hardly any people who remembered the day (that is what I had assumed). But I had decided to make my first international birthday special so had a range of things planned up for the same. Yet, there was one small confusion as in when D Fest starts and when it ends because of the difference in time zones of India and the US. But then as took this opportunity to celebrate it in an extended format (after all it was the first time D Fest has gone international)

Here is the brief summary of how the celebrations went by

Day 1 (31st Jan - USA) - 1.30pm here was midnight back home and there were hosts of people who managed to wish bang on time (Indian time i.e.). Received calls and online greetings

Lunch at Mexican place with Jason, Salem and Dahouk

Dinner at Italian place with Sudarshan, Amit, Raju, Krutik and Manik

Day 2 (1st Feb - USA) - Bang at midnight (USA) I launched my blog

Still receiving calls from friends who decided to keep a track of the time difference and call me according to my US birthday timing

Went to North Carolina for skiing

Day concluded with my roomies - Romany and Shehab giving me a small surprise celebration getting a cake and some gifts. This not only happened to be the first surprise celebration for me in my life but also happened to be the first cake I cut in maybe last 10 years

Day 3 (2nd Feb - USA) - Spent time in replying to each and everyone who wished me on Orkut and Facebook along with making a blog entry thanking people who wished me on my birthday. At midnight, I went shopping to an average American's economic backbone - Walmart

Day 4 (3rd Feb - USA) - This I call was the biggest day of my celebrations here. It was D day of D Fest which I will always remember.

Logging on to my computer after coming back from College, the first thing I saw was AB wishing me "BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on FB which drew me nuts.

This was the biggest surprise of all the birthdays I ever had. This wasn't just the biggest surprise of all the past birthdays (except for all those gifts which I used to get and still get and hopefully will continue to do so. People please don't stop!) but the first surprise Birthday party in itself. The NESA team arranged a surprise birthday bash for me and managed to get all available foreign students on campus to join in the celebrations. The planning led by Jason (USA), Maad (Yemen), AbdulRehman (Saudi Arabia), Shehab (Bangladesh) and Wael (Egypt) made it an unforgettable event for me which I will never ever forget in my life. Thank you guys. You are the best. I was also given the most expensive birthday gift ever - A Wacom digital pen. Do check the sketch made by Maad.

Day 5 - (4th Feb - USA) - Was spent in sleeping. After all the sleepless nights spent on making the blog, skiing and all the celebrations my mind and body was in dire need of some sleep. So the day was spent in doing nothing but Sleep!

Day 6 - (5th Feb - USA) - Bang at 12 midnight wished AB on his birthday and made a cake (which looked splendid but tasted the most horrible thing I ever attempted in my life)

Evening saw me go to Club 221 with my American buddy, Anthony

Day 7 - (6th Feb - USA) - Went to the Observatory which boasts of having one of the largest telescopes in the country with Amit and Kruttik. Saw planet Venus and Moon along with 3 films in the theatre in that campus.

Dinner time saw us go to another Mexican place. I just love it!

Day 8 - (7th Feb - USA) - Field trip to Columbia - visited the State Legislative House and the State Museum.

Lunch time at Tabouli for some Mediterranean-Lebanese cuisine

Day 9 - (8th Feb - USA) - Went to an African-American church with Jason, Wael and Shehab to experience the African-American style of preaching

Lunch at a Chinese Buffet. All you can eat!

Well this marks the end of the 9 day D FEST 2009 - THE FEST GOES INTERNATIONAL. The first and I wish the last D Fest I celebrate without my friends and family. Once again I thank all the ones who participated in D FEST 2009 and my birthday really special and the celebrations which I will never forget in my life. And yes never expected that this fest will be a 9 day loooong one. But don't regret any of it!

Tracing the origins of D FEST

2009-02-08T21:54:00.029-05:00

Hello friends,

I was purposely waiting for all the celebrations of this edition of D Fest to get over to finally write a report on the celebrations. Many of you are unaware of the origin of D Fest. The first edition took place in 2006 when I was in my First Year of Degree College (FYBA) and had my birthday coming up. That year I had won about 7 inter-collegiate prizes and hadn't given a treat for a single one. Also, it happened to be the first time ever that my birthday was such an anticipated event amongst my college friends (love you all buddies). So on the onset, with the financial blessings of my father who acknowledged me giving a treat as a wrap-up for the entire academic year's prizes as well as my birthday, I started planning on giving the treat but soon realized that there were too many diverse groups of people I was associated with and hence planned to give the treat to different groups on different days. As calculations went on the events would have gone on till Sunday which happened to the 5th of Feb that year. Being a big fan of Abhishek Bachchan (who has his birthday on the 5th); I didn't lose this opportunity to give a new dimension to the whole event starting from my birthday and concluding on AB's.

But I think the name of the fest originated when I shared about this concept with my buddies - Mayuresh, Sumit and Sanchit. And then it was in a conversation with Sanchit that the name stuck. I think Mayuresh was the only person actively involved in celebrations of all the earlier editions of D Fest i.e. from 2006-2008. Man did I miss Mayu as i was missing all my buddies. But then was delighted to get so many calls wishing me a "happy birthday" on D day. That was a pretty wonderful surprise you all did for me. The huge amount of celebrations haven't just made my day but the whole year itself.

Coming up next is a report on D FEST 2009 - The Fest Goes International

Thank You for the wishes

2009-02-03T00:01:00.025-05:00

This post is specially dedicated to all those who took pains and time out to wish me on my birthday. Each and every one of you I am grateful to make D day special for me. Well I didn't expect to get these many wishes especially the phone calls and text messages. With me in the US having a one week old cell phone number, the amount of phone calls and text messages I got was huge. A big surprise, though I had expected a few of you to call as you yourself had declared that you would be giving me a surprise by calling me on my birthday.

Well, this is my small effort to thank all of you for your wishes. The thought of being without friends, family and well wishers during D Fest used to give me nightmares but this birthday was overwhelmed by all of you.

Heartiest Thank You for wishing

Personally -

Jason, Sudarshan, Amit, Romany, AbdulRehman, Krutik, Manik, Shehab, Gajanan, Raju,

Phone calls -

Prashant Nanaware, Ashwini (Pune), Shradhha (SIES), Mansi, Priyanka, Sneha Iyer, Rhuta, Nisarg, Srimoyee, Archana Pachchi, Ashok Bappa, Ameya Shenoy, Mayuresh, Sai, Vivek Singh, Prasha, Nikhil Vyas, Ekta, Dipti

Text Messages -

Rohit, Neha Padwal, Akshata Sawant, Nandan Joshi, Vinaya Sakpal

E-Mail -

Apeksha, Mandar/Amruta/Gandhali Mangalvedekar

Yahoo -

Pranay, Amma, Annu, Jyothi mai, preeti kamat, pramod kamat, suhas nawathe, Varsha Jejuri, Jenil, Ashish, SK, Maad, Shwetha Nayak, Vaishali, Sonali/Ketan/Shriya Prabhughate, pratik puranik, Sabarish, Chaitanya Kulkarni, Sandhya, Vidya, sunith Kunder, Sanjana Revankar, Shweta Nayak

GTalk -

Kedar Purohit (Mahad), smita, suraaj, Roopa (SIES), Sanket(SIES), Raksha Mallya, Vrushali Tare, Pratik Bulani, Dhairya, Ridhi Mehta,

FaceBook -

Nayan, Nitish, Gayatri, Piyu, Vinod, Scellina, Ajay Kumar, Kalyan Sarkar, Rajeev, Maghawry, Asyraff Imah, Aparna Garg, Nomesh, Govind Anand, Ram Prasad Kraleti, Farouk Naseer, Deema Awad, Zei, Khyati Vaidya, Niyati Vaidya, Piyush, Johnathan Young, Joel Brown, Shefali Martins, Amruta Houde, Dev Vashi, Jai Vashi, Shivani Desai, Zara Khan, James Ferrer, Dereck Boggs

Orkut -

Raveen Pai (Baroda), Ravi (Baroda), Rupa Nayak, Aditya (Udupi), Yamini, Sneha, Krupesh, Mariappan (Bangalore), abhilasha (nanded), Siddhi Koli, Ninad Deshpande, Sabarish, Amit Mishra (SIES) , Rahul Goswami, Dolly, Pradnya, janvhi, Bhawsar, Ateeq, Ketan Karande, Sanket, Rajesh Prabhu Salgaonkar, Dinesh Katoch (Atlanta), Sourabh Chakrabarti, Panicker sir, Manish Yadav (UK), Ankur Rege (Aus), Rashmi Mallya, Umesh Kollam (UK), Prajakta Vaidya, Nivesh Kochchal (NYC), Vijay, Gayatri Prabhu,Devshree Ovalekar, Prajakti Pai, Harendra Ranawant (Rajasthan), Dinar Jadhav, Prajakta Bondhe, Aarti Joshi, Shreeji Khedkar, Vinit Goenka, Prajakta Kuwalekar, Mihir Jadhav, Varad, Poorva Dehmukh, Vinit Kotian, Anwita Bhure, Sanket Sawant, Snehal kulkarni, Jayadev Verma, Abhijeet Shinde, Jamuna, Mugdha Deosthali, Neha Gogte, Jesal Patel, Rakhee, anuja (Visions), nrupa,vaidehi, madhura sukhtankar, vaishali, deepali bhide, ashwin (jbk), Kiran (Nashik), sanchita, afreen, mridula (SIES), bhavik shah, smita chavare, gargi kelkar, sanaa khan, aniket gujarpadhye, rajitha, chinmay (SIES), shraddha dhuri, jinal patel, rahul kotibhaskar, divyakshi, raynor, amit prabhudesai, sonal (Ruparel drama, prerna shrivstava,eshani shevde, neha talwadekar, daskhata, prathmesh gokhale, sachi pandya, ishita sharma, madhura phadke, sabari (Columbia), preeti, umesh chaturvedi (UP), anuja mestry, devasish, sarita, varsha (ruparel), ashish khade, maithili, debjit, devendra shanbaug, nikhil kotian, anuj kotian, sneha pitre, sneha sharma, monalisa ghosh, divya sakpal, mahona sarkar, umang upasham, kaustubh joshi, saneesh bhadbhade, mugdha chaphekar, karishma (SIES), ishaan (NZ), ananth pai, ankur (ruparel), rinkesh dharod, ankur shah, Divya (SIES), devika, abhijit pai, arvind panasare, prakash bewade, mansi (SIES), sayali dongre, pooja khanolkar, kanak, ashish D'Souza, Amit Chaterjee, Ashwin (SIES), Vinisha, Ramesh Deshpande, Rajeev Shrivastav, lalit, mrudula nayak, ankur apte, sanjeev (Georgia), monika (san antonio), sudhir pai (US), ruti dwivedi, milind sahastrabudhe, sujay hande, girija dalvi, charuta bapat, aditya aghor

Belated -

Nadiya, Aws, Wael, Nikhat Sultana, Shraddha Sundaram, Asavari Patankar, Nadiya, Omar, Heena Gokhale, Khaled Trabelsi, Meghna Shah, Ahmed (Bahrain), Ahmed (Egypt), Mohd. Arafat, Mohd. Shalabi, Waheed, Tushar Desai, Haroon Raja (Pakistan), ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

{p.s. If by any chance I have missed any of your names I am really sorry. Please let me know as I won't like to miss any of you. And yes, the people who wishes me through multiple mediums have been mentioned just once and not in all the mediums)

Thanks a ton once again people. The wishes meant a lot to me.

Bye for now,

C ya

Happy Journey

Gnite

Welcome to 'D' World

2009-02-01T00:00:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone it gives me immense joy and pleasure to finally start my blog after years of reserving this blogging space (only yesterday I came across an old email welcoming me to Blogspot. It was dated Aug 2007). I still don't know where to start from. So excuse me for all the unprofessionalism (if you see any) in D World. I do repent for not being confident enough to start blogging when I first came to the US of A and share my experiences. But, this would have deduced D World into an exclusive "Devendra in America" kinda theme which I am happy that it won’t be the case now.

Writing a blog was a thing which I never considered seriously until suddenly in a very short span of time was asked my many people if I wrote a blog as they were keen on reading what I think on certain subjects/themes/issues or simply share my experiences. This suddenly caught me into a frenzy to start a blog on which I worked for about 2 weeks - finalizing the design, going through some blogs, talking with a couple of friends who are already into blogging and then finally working on the template. I would specially like to mention the name of Chaitanya Kulkarni who I bugged for perhaps a week - asking him to work on the design of D World, making him work on HTML and what not, but finally opted for making my own unique template for D World (hope you like it).

The Left Side of the picture on D World has various names of me given by family, friends, well wishers and/or am known to many by it, while the right side consists of the terms which I use the most or had been phrased by me and a small corner on the top around the alphabet “D” mentions a few things which were specially named by me. Well, that was some insight into what I call D Wall people. Do search for some of D thing which you are familiar with or relate D (that’s me) with.

In this whole passion to start a blog, I thought there wouldn't be best time to launch it but co-incide it with celebrations of "D Fest 2009 - The Fest Goes International." Hopefully, I will try my best to update this blog as often as possible (once a week at least). D World is not a "tell all about everyone and everything by Devendra" but thoughts and issues mentioned here are not the only ones which I think about but are the ones which I want to share. And these include things which are right from personal experiences to my thoughts in things happening around me or just might be a reflection of my thoughts.

Last but not least as I make my first post it’s a 100 more days from here to go with regards to my stay in the US. The celebrations for D Fest are on and D World is a part of it. Stay glued for D next post. Until then,

Bye for now

C ya

Happy Journey…cos Lifez one

Gnite