What's so Obama about it

 

Indian press is going ga ga over a visit of the US President to India. I am not sure what he is coming here for, first of all. Indians probably don’t give much value to the boss of USA anymore as was before. Well he is a bigger celebrity, probably that’s all that i can think of

The President of US, is bandied about as the most powerful man on Earth…but Forbes does not think like that anymore in their recent powerful people list. So that means, Barack Obama is now one notch lesser with his power. Why is his visit then made up so much ?

The US President is thought to have great power in making Pakistan tow its line, may be because Pakistan survives on the many millions of dollars that go there as aid from the US. These aid we all know are send in the garb of them being the US’s Chief ally in the war against terror and that all this money is not just cash, but also solid fire-power like fighter planes and other military machines. But still everyone including the Americans know very well, the Pakistani soil breeds terrorism into India… So why is a President who supports this terror indirectly attracting so much attention here in India ?

Mr Obama delivered a plain speech at Mumbai sometime back and it was again another bland one, … given that the place was where the major 26/11 terror attack happened, he made no mention to put some pressure on Pakistani sponsored terrorism.

I thought Obama meant ‘ Change ‘ … So What’s so Obama about this visit ?

Snippet…..

News articles say that this visit is to put some personal pressure to the impending  $12bn defense spending that India is taking up, so that India makes these purchases from the US. That’s what makes me laugh…. for getting such a big deal the Obama administration is supposedly spending about 600 Cr Rupees a day for his stay & security arrangements here in India. On a 3 day stay, that would be about 1800 Cr Rupees. [ i am not bothering to convert it into USD ].

Supply & Demand

 

India is on a race to be the most populated country in this world. Its literally an Abundance …err.. of people though. Most HR people will only be more than happy to see more heads around

Last week i had to take a print of some documentation and since my home printer wasn't working, had to get the prints from a cyber cafe. The dingy little place and its smaller cubicles was least to say crowded. Many youngsters waiting for their turn… privacy was lost for some and i could see a lady jeering at a person standing beside her. The best thing i liked about this cafe was that, all their PC’s were so outdated by looks, but the Operating System was the latest Windows 7. The monitor was a 14’ CRT … 100% of zoom on the screen made the fonts look huge size on them. I finally managed to get my hand on a PC after about half hour wait, my prints were fired onto a printer that was connected to the WLAN (!), the printer was a HP Laserjet. Print per copy was charged only at Rs 3

As i was walking out of the shop, i was thinking to myself the way population has outstripped supply in this great country of ours ‘India’. A railway station, bus stand, auto / taxi stand.. .its all filled with people. Railway stations even in a cosmo city like Bangalore are far short of space for the crowds that it was meant to operate with. A city bus is something that you cant step into during peak hours… well you may think the Volvo buses that are operated on premium by the bus corporation has space… no longer are they spacious, regardless of the premium fare collected on them

The cyber cafe when it started was meant for those who knew computers only… now there is hardly any grown-up person who doesn't know computers, so you will find this place always crowded. That's the way India has grown… we have absolutely lost our handle on the resources that need to be to support such a large population

Will a we 2 ours 2 revival help ! ?

Mallu or Malayali

This is a dilemma that i am in, caused by no specific theorem that proved the case in either of the sides

 

Personally I have never found the word mallu a great moniker, but for the sake of it considered it a short form of Malayali. That said, my feel is that most of the malayali’s call themselves a mallu and that is what would’ve given the buy to others who use it. What best example – see the blog by an IBN writer ‘Mallu’s musing’ on www.ibnlive.com.  The word seems to be in line with calling Gujarati a Gujju & Bengali a Bong. Makes me want to ask, is calling a Tamilian a pandi apt ? No one in tamilnadu will take it lightly if you call him a Paandi

 

Although i have always been averse to this word, the first time i decided to be really against the usage of this word is when i got a mail that said a mallu in hindi means a monkey. The mail has not given any basis but just that, once a malayali told his Bihari friend that he is a mallu and the Bihari man started laughing. On enquiring the reason, the monkey meaning was bought out

 

What next, Google the word … no there didn’t seem to be any major listings that pointed to the monkey. Shockingly most of the links were about aunties who apparently were ‘hot’ … coming back to the monkey relation, there did seem to be one link that said Mallu = Ape {noun}  See the link here - http://en.bab.la/dictionary/hindi-english/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%82

 

Its quite evident, that most of our people are addressed in a slang and that may be Okay with few and not with the rest. In this case, mallu doesn't sound very attractive to me and hence discourage using this word…. let it be a Malayali

Maintenance

What’s that lack the most on a Public property in India.. have you ever wondered ?

Maintenance, yes simply maintaining something that you already posses, sadly that's something grossly missing on any public property here in India. Buses, trains, train stations, office buildings, roads, medians, street lighting et all lack a good periodic upkeep. BMTC here in Bangalore ordered and had a large contingent of Swaraj Mazda vehicles which could seat about 30 people. The bus corporation used them as small shuttles. They would run swiftly and easily between two shorter destinations as against the larger buses. It was a brilliant idea and they ran well too, but for lack of proper upkeep these vehicles no longer are visible on Bangalore roads. When latches & bolts go missing, they were tied together with steel wires or shabbily welded together. The steel plates on the floor were all torn and they were not replaced, instead it was bandaged. A driver once told me that these vehicles needed good maintenance and a proper schedule needed to be adhered to. The corporation obviously never did these wholeheartedly

Street lighting is a big racket in itself. Light poles and its fittings are constantly replaced, rather than just maintaining it well. The best part is that new ones are installed and then they are left un-attended to. These lights may light up the roads for a few months at the best and when they are fused or something, its not looked into. Most recently new light poles and fittings were installed on the Old Madras road stretch from NGEF to Beninganahalli. They were supposed to illuminate the newly laid out broader road. However, yesterday as i passed through them, i found UNINOR ad’s fitted on these poles that were lit but not the lights. So much for the care authorities give to road users !

Railway stations or for that matter any Govt buildings get a do once in a lifetime it would appear. The Railways setup a automatic ticket vending machine at Krishnarajpuram station in Bangalore, these worked for couple of weeks and after which they were found not working. Now, they don't even exist there anymore. These machines during its good days provided an easy access to platform tickets, people didn’t need to wait at the counters

To have world class facilities is easy… procure them, set them up however to retain them in the same class the who’s who of governance have to make a change in attitude and approach. Isnt it cheaper to maintain than to keep setting up anew ?… it atleast would save the coffers of some un-wanted under the table payments

Another year ending

December it is and 2009 is going away. Its rather going away very quickly i feel

Most of us would have made pledges for the new year and its now time to walk the talk backwards to understand, if we really did adhere to those pledges we made. It’s important we do this because, the next year is already on us and we will need to approach it with a newer perspective and newer pledges

Its also a good time to remember of positives. God has kept me safe and i am sure you the reader too are alive and safe. More often than not, we tend to forget the goodness of God’s mercy. Its new every morning as the Bible says.

 

What was our influence on this society… a good question to ask ourselves. Shouldn’t we be doing some good for other people rather than be inwardly focused?

Tech savvy in Bangalore

 

When in Rome, be a Roman… ! hmm that seems to be the mantra off late adopted by civic bodies in Bangalore is what i must believe

Bangalore as a city has been the fore-runner with all IT & ITES, this means that there are all sort of tech & non tech solutions that are either designed, implemented or manufactured here. This definitely meant that its all here !

That said, any Bangalorean will only grimace, about his experience with a civic body here. You could almost get nothing at any of these departments done from home either on phone or computer. To even understand a policy, we would need to visit an office and then get it clarified

Its 2010… well the year 2009 is over… ! The change is here for us to see and believe. You may say its not entirely done.. but an optimistic person would agree that its all happening

 

BBMP – Complaints Registration

Spandana – This is a novel scheme started by the Bruhat Bangalore City Corporation.  Commissioner BL Meena should be lauded for bringing this eternally un-reachable service closer home. I was going through the site and found a link ‘ Grievance Redressal ‘, this i thought would be some contact details and procedures galore or at the best another web form to capture some complaint details. Well, it took me by surprise when i actually went through it. Yes, it was a form but with more customization. The app wanted your ward details, address, Dept to which the complaint would relate to and finally the actual complaint / issue. The best and the most sophisticated part was, this portal generates a security tag to avoid any auto-logging cases possibly, which i felt was too much… anyways aspirational.

Here comes the most interesting part… On clicking finish, my mobile phone buzzed receipt of a SMS, it was the Unique Reference number of the complaint that i logged with BBMP. All in all – isn’t that something fantastic. At-least give it that the start is fabulous, lets hope BL Meena & Co keep it rolling with actions after the Unique Ref No.. !

 

To log a complaint with BBMP - Spandana Portal

Bangalore needs planning

Its the Silicon valley of India – Bangalore. Silicon valley, generally is flush with planning of major things, but our poor Bangalore is flush with NO planning

Before my city was christened Silicon valley, it was adoringly called the Pensioners paradise. The ever cool weather, lethargic atmosphere, always adjust maadi culture perfectly matched the needs of a person who wanted to relax after having toiled all their life. However, the IT and the following ITES boom or bubble, has taken the wind out of this paradise and now the winds of change has left Bangalore gasping for breath. The gasp is seriously getting too strained and its sure to cause a burst of the wind pipe

Our city fathers who are entrusted with the task of planning for this city has actually been busy with what i am not sure. The Corporator’s are still to be elected by the city dwellers and the Govt of Karnataka is yet to get this election happen. An order by the High Court is also not enough as is evident

Lakes

Bangalore once was a land mass which had huge number of lakes, these lakes i am sure helped in containing the temperature rise, collected all rain water, helped to ensure that the water table beneath is not depleted above all i guess the most important aspect is that flooding was kept in control because all water flowed into these natural reservoirs. Man however, realised the importance of what is land and land could only come up by filling these water bodies so the greedy men filled the lakes up to build mighty buildings that are now causing all natures fury of Heat & Flood !!! The city’s polity has only become richer by these builders and they are crying hoarse when small kids are getting washed away in these snap floods.

I stay near Mahadevpura and i have been witnessing the death of  Narayanpura kere [ kere – lake in Kannada ], Mahadevpura Kere…. these both huge lakes have gone beneath the mud filling to make Ring Roads and now buildings'. The Mahadevpura lake still has some part of it left but hardly water fills in there and soon another building of a huge construction is to form up there

Roads

We all know that Roads are a most important aspect to connect areas and people who stay there. Roads are also a cause for Growth… be it traffic or Inhabitations. When roads are built they need to consider this growth, however if you ride, drive or walk across Bangalore roads, you will see that these roads are all choked because the people who planned it never thought that these black surfaces would bring with them such massive burst

The Outer Ring Road was planned in early 80’s and was to have been completed by late 80’s. However it saw completion only a decade later than what was planned. This road is supposed to be a continuous connector, but at most places it breaks continuity and becomes narrow stretches. This is because the makers didn't bother to acquire the required space. The City has now concentrated around the stretches of this ORR and interestingly most commercial places in Bangalore are turning out to be the Ring Rd surroundings.  With this spurt of commercialisation and Residential activity the traffic that the RR carries is high.  That the RR would have helped with faster movement of traffic has been dealt a blow with numerous traffic signal stops necessitated by the ever growing intersections. Had the planners thought about these and had constructed some interchanges then, all this could have been avoided. Interchanges is something that ceases on all our roads

Other than the RR, most of the other roads are built as narrow stretches with hardly a concern for drivers, these are not even lit properly, No medians, Side drains not covered. No road is complete without Asphalting. Roads in Bangalore get the most shabby quality of Asphalt again thanks to the no care attitude of the rulers who are tied in with the Contractors.

BCC to BMP to BBMP

The City Corporation was once called Bangalore City Corporation. Due to the language sensitivity it was christened as Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. After a long haul, more areas were added to this corporation to make it Bruhat [ Greater ]… so now we have BBMP. By becoming bruhat, the problems have also become bruhat. The erstwhile Municipal Corporations [CMC] were en-masse added in without any proper planning or even proper thought. BBMP still runs in the old BMP areas and the newly added areas are now left with not knowing who to go for what. However, one thing that ensured swiftly was the BBMP started collecting taxes as per the BMP norms from the newly added areas. Of-course rulers need money and that should be collected or snatched from people BUT as always services for the citizens can wait

When we were with CMC, there used to be some drain cleaning, water used to be supplied from the Bore wells, street lights were regularly repaired or replace and above all taxation was at the lesser rate. None of these now happen which would make the citizen think they are now in  a Corporation area – which for most of them was a dream come true.

All in all there seems to be no time spend for planning… its all farce tip of the finger stupid solutions which does not even last the initial few months ! As a citizen of this dying metropolis, i just wonder when will the government agencies do some planning

new age Doctors !

During the last two weeks i was down with some sort of a fever. Headache, Body pain, tiredness and top it off with fever running into 100+. After having endured the trouble for four days with Homeopathic treatment, i couldn’t but get myself see a Allopath / Physician

While at the consultation, i was asked a whole host of things which the Dr would consider to be symptoms of a type of fever which he could then diagnose. Well, my fortune or his headache i was not having any of them… I was feeling relieved that these didn't find a place in me and therefore my own short diagnosis, ‘That i am not in for a long haul’ !

But the learned Physician wouldn’t let it off – he came back saying ‘ I am finding it difficult to diagnose a particular fever, and given that there are lot of Fever types running these days it could be anything Brain, Dengue, Chikungunya, Malaria, Typhoid or anything like that. Hence, get yourself admitted and some blood tests [ a huge list at that ] to be done. We will start with Anti-biotic and then lets see what it is !!!! ‘’

That night was the most restless that i have ever got of-late. Came back home and then my folks and couple of friends were at home, who very diligently prayed and i could sense that body was feeling much better.

Nevertheless, with full trust in God i went to another hospital and got a check-up done and after a three blood tests, the Dr there told me it was nothing to worry, its just another bout of Viral fever which went awry and some tablets written, i was back home advised to take solid rest

New age has come with it loads of technology, that has actually got the Dr’s leaving nothing to chance and also proper usage of technology …… only meant to eat into the peace of the patient and also his pocket !

People & Personality management

Often people in the governing positions think that being close to a person is too hazardous for getting the required work done out of him / her. This is considered Personality management.

Accordingly what is the connotation meant to be... Its means that you are working to 'Keep a good feel about you alive' instead of being demanding. The big boss feels the Manager is not doing his work of squeezing the employee to extract work and by being adjusting and understanding the Manager is actually spoiling the employee ! Hence instead of managing your personality, you are expected to do People management. Reading the above, I now take it that you have understood what personality management ought to be in the hallowed corporate world of shrewd thinkers

My take is that by actually doing Personality management, you can turn people, your way. Give him / her that satisfactory environment to work, they will enjoy working. Express the need, to take the bend on road to improvement , quickly. It will give you a willing person to stretch and grow on you.

Aren't people your most important investment..., they why don't we consider and groom them that way !