Story behind "The Saharsh Project"

It all started some 3 years back when I stumbled upon a Ted talk video by one Ms. Sunitha Krishnan who is an anti-trafficking crusader who saved over 11,000 girls from the brothels, prostitution rings and slavery across India. After watching her talk, I delved deeper into the subject, read many articles, viewed many more videos to realize that trafficking is the third biggest organized crime in terms of valuation after drugs and arms trade and in every 8 minutes, a girl is kidnapped, abducted, sold or married-to-sell in India.  Only 30% of cases are reported so we can understand the gravity of the situation. My stomach churned and throat choked at all these pieces of info but could do nothing.

Another day, another context: I took upon myself an interest to learn more about villages where my parents were born. While I couldn't get statistics of those exact villages, it came like a shocker that Warangal district in Telangana had long been a hub for human trafficking and it had been an epidemic in remote hamlets and tribal villages which mostly get unnoticed by mainstream media or administration because most of the cases go unreported.

I was first clueless when I learnt that most of the trafficking victims were those girls who dropped out of studies at around their 8th or 9th grade. I couldn't comprehend the direct correlation between dropping out from studies and getting trafficked. After some more studies and contacting few more on the ground NGOs, the picture was clear.

Lack of amenities (toilets, sanitary facilities) caused some girls to drop out after 8th or 9th grade while poverty and lack of funds to continue studies caused many other girls to drop out. On an average 9 out of 10 girls drop out before fishing 12th. Even Mid day meal, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan schemes by government couldn't motivate girls or their parents.

This is a very vulnerable situation for a 13 or 14 year old naive girl with no education and coming from an economically poor background. She would be a victim to one of the following cases

1. Child marriage at 13-14 (This is the best and safest case)
2. Parents unwittingly get her married to a trafficker in disguise who plunges the girl into the dirty quagmire
3. Girl who doesn't have a guardian around is a susceptible target for forcible abduction
4. Girl migrates to town to work as a bonded labor or domestic help and is still vulnerable to trafficking

First Step Forward: Though we can't fight and eradicate the trafficking rackets altogether, the least we can do is to attempt to eliminate the root cause at least in some cases. That is by supporting, guiding young girls and not allowing them to drop out during that tender age. "The Saharsh Project" took it's birth from this desperate thought.

As a part of this project, our main aim was to address the twin issues of lack of school facilities and poverty among families with young girls. As a first step, we identified 3 schools to improve infrastructure and 50 kids who are above 8 years old and who lost their earning family member to whom we could support morally, emotionally and financially. "Saharsh" means 'with happiness'. We hope to bring some happiness in a handful of kids to start with.

Requesting your emotional support to the movement: I was overwhelmed when some dear friends volunteered to donate to the cause. While wholeheartedly accepting their good wishes, I had to politely refuse money because The Saharsh Project is not registered as a charity and hence can't accept monetary donations. Moreover we could pool in funds from our corporation's social responsibility arm and are self-sufficient at this point.

But we desperately require your help in two other ways. First we need volunteers, who could report to us about any girl (or a boy) who lost parents and left with no option but to drop out of school. And we need volunteers to authenticate the need and keep fraudsters at bay.

Secondly, we need volunteers who could develop friendship and foster a guiding relationship with the kids. We receive periodic progress reports, their letters, wish-lists from these kids. We would love to have any volunteers who could respond to their mails, say a few words of encouragement, provide career guidance, talk to them and motivate them in achieving their career goals so that they don't get distracted but believe we all are behind them to share their joy or pain. We would also want to drive the same point home to their parents (or guardians) as well.

We don't aim to create any revolution with this, but want to see some (if possible, all) of our girls grow up to transform into responsible, informed, self-reliant and happy women.

PS: Those who are interested in volunteering or getting associated with our initiative may feel free to add to Facebook or LinkedIn profiles that you work as a "Campaigner" at The Saharsh Project and also invite your like-minded friends,relatives and acquaintances to do the same.

How Award Wapsi Drama & Abuses Will Benefit Modi

When Babri Masjid was demolished, the incumbent BJP government in then Uttar Pradesh collapsed and BJP could not come to power even today 24 years after the unfortunate incident. When hundreds of Muslims were murdered in Gujarat riots following Godhra carnage, BJP lost all local elections in Gujarat. LK Advani who master-minded Ayodhya Rath Yatra could never become prime minister and had to endorse more acceptable AB Vajpayee. The common theme in all these developments was that Hindus who form over 80% of Indian population never ever endorsed anybody even remotely associated with communal riots or vandalism. Hindus always refused to be a monolithic homogeneous vote-bank. Then how could Modi win 3 consecutive assembly elections in Gujarat before coming Indian PM with majority landslide victory ?

2002 Gujarat riots which are one of the most deplorable chapters of Independent India catapulted Modi into worldwide notoriety. Right wing Hindus refer to Godhra train arson as the trigger point, Muslims refer to Babri demolition as a precursor. The jugalbandi goes on with references to Rath Yatra by BJP used to counter Mandal politics instigated by VP Singh to counter Rajiv Gandhi who started it all by unlocking Ram Janmabhoomi gates to balance his own Shah Bano case disaster. The story spirals to many many layers of hatred precipitated by all political leaders to appease either ends of spectrum. So holding either community accountable for the existing hatred is ignorance and idiocy.

Unfolding the events across Gujarat riots, Godhra train compartment was set on fire on Feb 27th, the backlash against Muslims occurred on Feb 28th. By the end of Feb 28th, police was deployed all over violent areas and by the next day March 1st, army, rapid action force, shoot at sight orders were in place and the violence was contained to a major extent within 2 days of the trigger point. Modi requested governments of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (all neighboring states governed by Congress at that point) who refused to send forces to riot affected areas. Despite non cooperation from congress CMs and flaring emotions fueled by death of karsevaks, provocation from people like Pravin Togadia, Bal Thackeray, a 2 month old CM did a decent job the fact which most left liberals either sabotage or conceal in their attempt to defame Modi.

Then started a juggernaut of malignant campaign against Modi who terms riots as program, genocide, holocaust and what not. While Muslims did not deserve to die and riots should have been prevented, one may point out Modi's inability to subdue violence in a day, but accusing him of state run cleansing of Muslims is way over-board. The actual slander started by a handful of journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and few agenda driven NGOs who referred each other's articles and opinions are proofs to stigmatize Narendra Modi. Groups of people (Indian citizens) stooped down to the level of complaining  and lobbying against an elected CM on international fora; sent signed petitions to deny him travel to other countries and stirred what can be called as a most successful propaganda of Independent India.

Fast forward to 2014 elections. Modi was by then stigmatized, smeared, decried as a villain of minorities despite he not uttering a word against Muslims nor endorsing violence against the community. But the man proved to be an astute politician and was successfully able to convert the willful vilification to his credit by riding on the sympathy wave of the educated masses. He also shifted the goalpost from communal politics to development, stability and welfare. Whether his claims of development and numbers is factually correct or not, he was successful in convincing the masses that he is pro-development and all negative spin given by media about him was a deliberate campaign against him. Supreme court exonerating him added to his credibility. He also engaged his Machiavellian lieutenant Amit Shah who could polarize caste infested politics of UP and Bihar and abracadabra - Narendra Modi became the first Majority PM of India after Indira Gandhi.

The current political and social situation is in a way rehash to what happened to him earlier. The murder of an innocent senior in Dadri accused of consuming beef is most deplorable and so are other events like smearing a pro-pakistani politician with ink, raiding Kerala house etc. All these were avoidable incidents but accusing the prime minister to 1.3 billion people of these isolated incidents and running a vested campaign by those who received patronage from other political ideologies is ludicrous.

Number of sahitya akademi awardees and now padma bhushan, national award winners who incidentally were known Modi baiters and those who either campaigned for either left-liberals or received their patronage raised curtain to this award returning drama they started claiming they can't handle the on-going intolerance :)

These religious fundamentalism backed incidents, riots, murders, rapes, carnage, arson were sporadically occurring since 1857 much before independence and the the trend is fortunately decreasing. But those pseudo intellectuals who see the intolerance only today in wake of current incidents is not only preposterous and absurd but also anti-national.

By returning awards, they are insulting the institution, jury who decided to award them, insulting the nation. And the bigger hypocrisy was they never returned the prize money or the money they raised in the same nation when more intolerant incidents occurred. National award returning directors should have taken permission of the entire film crew and unit because of whom their talent got the acclaim. And how can they erase memory of common man who knew they were awarded the decoration earlier; and how can they erase the undeserved fame (or notoriety) and media air-time they are receiving now. They are well-aware that by claiming to return awards, they don't lose anything.

I have a word for these award returnees: You didn't deserve the recognition from the Union Government of India. You might have proved to be good in your respective fields but that in no way means your common-sense, duty towards nation, gratitude to the society are worth noticing or endorsing.

One positive factor in the on-going drama is the recurrence of common man's awareness and discernment. They see everything transparently and the sympathy wave is bound is back Modi all over again. Who's the fool here ?

BTW, how many media outlets published this news on their first page that India identified as 7th most valuable nation brand in the world surpassing Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Sweden etc. Not important, eh ?

Change in Canadian Government - What it means to me !

The second largest country in the world elected its new government and the prime minister-elect is a 43 year old Justin Trudeau who overcame all criticism against his inexperience, dynastic lineage and policies.

Since this was my first chance to exercise my voting right in any federal elections, I was closely following debates and policies of all three major parties including incumbent Conservatives. opposition NDP and third place Liberals. There were some major policy similarities including tax cuts on small businesses and emphasis on economy growth (albeit different approaches).

As an immigrant myself, I should have been a part of  traditional liberal constituent, but I refused to be party to communal, culture based vote-banks. Though the losing conservatives (whom I voted for) were on a right pitch for most of their campaign which was fueled by their able financial management, iron-fist against rising terror threats and steering the country right away from recession, the biggest faux-pas was when the crazy idea of vote polarization popped up.

If there are two reasons why conservatives lost this elections, they are (1) Much criticized and unnecessary bogey of hijab wearing women during citizenship ceremonies and (2) Introduction of C24 bill which strips citizenship of those who got convicted of terrorism.

The first reason (hijab) was truly an unnecessary and xenophobic one, and certainly an irrelevant election issue. Conservatives tried to play polarization politics to bag votes of traditional conservative republican types but the ploy backfired big-time pushing all liberals, minorities, traditional anti-conservatives onto a single platform propelling liberals and Justin onto the pedestal. The second reason created a furor of two classes of citizenship and raised paranoia which totally pushed the incumbent conservatives into a minority.

Justin Trudeau must be admired and truly credited for bringing a low morale liberals into prominence. His campaign was positive and around policies. Personally, I was not very much impressed by his promises about investment in infrastructure at the cost of deficit, loose immigration policies and refugee management ideas. But he won on the platform of inclusion, tolerance, hope and liberty - his party's namesake.

Coming to what is in store for Canada and people like me: Justin promised tax hikes on wealthiest 1% and reduce taxes on middle class. This sounds wonderful because most of us fall under the latter and hoping that the hike on the wealthiest doesn't spiral down to others in the social structure.

The four major areas where I totally hope the new government manages well are

(1) Deficit Budget: Justin promised that he will invest in infrastructure, transit heavily that could result in many jobs and amenities to many citizens and when asked about deficit budget he famously declared that budget will balance itself later. Hope he has some viable plan for that and not just a poll promise magic wand gimmick. Otherwise the deficit may cause huge irreparable damages and recession later on. Canada is different from USA prominently because of better managed finances and balanced budgets. That should be maintained

(2) Immigration & Refugee Acceptance: As a human first and an immigrant later, I would not and never be against immigration. I am all for economic immigrants who could bring in expertise, skills and contribute to the development. It is also completely understandable accepting refugees from Syria and war torn areas as a mark of humanity. But what is the limit, checks and balances. Hope Justin has a fool proof plan for this too. World already saw an example of Sweden which is now bearing the brunt of its own benevolence where generous immigration is causing social issues affecting the very fabric. As of one the richest, developed and free countries of the world, Canada attracts people from all over the world. It all boils down to who are ready to assimilate themselves in the success story of the country and who acts against her.

(3) C24, C51 bills: Though liberals supported conservative bill of anti-terrorism to strip off citizenship of convicted terrorists, they also promised to make amendments to balance security of the country and rights of all citizens. Will have to watch how better or worse these bills can get.

(4) Marijuana legalization: Could be a vote winner but if the government legalizes weed, how far is it going to affect teens and related crimes.

Regardless, Justin Trudeau is young, comes from a lineage of Pierre Trudeau, took the entire country into confidence and won a landslide election. He has a golden opportunity and so does Canada. Can't wait to be part of the changing history.

PS: This is my first article on Canadian politics. Here wishing to publish more.

A Brand called SS Rajamouli

Let me put a foreword at the outset that this is not a review of Rajamouli's magnum opus Bahubali, neither do I intend to watch it anytime sooner nor was I ever a fan of his work. What fascinates me is his journey from movie to movie and building a formidable brand which could resonate across every Telugu speaking belt in the world (and now across Indian diaspora, hopefully). More than his cinematic genius, I'm awestruck by the way he planned and executed his success story in his own terms.

Though I'm nobody to comment or criticize Rajamouli's talent and body of work because the world had already put him on pedestal showing his near universal acceptance, his style of films are not my cup of tea. He seemingly pushed forward the Raghavendra Rao or B.Gopal schools of hero oriented, grand visuals based movies which drove me off Telugu movies in early 90's. I always enjoyed more subtle, light hearted, dialogue driven movies of K.Viswananth, Vijayabhaskar, Sekhar Kammula, Imtiaz Ali, Raju Hirani on one extreme and more gritty, hard hitting crime thrillers of Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Madhur Bhandarkar on the other. Rajamouli falls somewhere in between and I personally felt dialogues or conversations in his movies always have been his achilles heel.

But as agreed earlier, my opinion won't take away anything from him as his fans would vouch for (and some may even bay for my blood) and this article is not about merits and demerits of his movies but his entrepreneurial skills and his ability to convert his passion into a strong brand which is a case study for even IIM or Harvard students.


His first few movies, though absolute money spinners were more pandering his heroes and their maniac fanbase. Those flicks helped those lead actors expand their demigod status. Though skeptics might not have liked those movies, he became an household name by then.

But magadheera changed the entire canvass. Though the second half period drama and visuals were epic, the contemporary setting was quite ordinary. But the movie showcased how effective a showman can be he. The movie rampaged all box office records, well galvanized by chiranjeevi's fans. Till Magadheera, Rajamouli was only a creative master and a visual epic story teller but he did not make any conscious effort to build brand Rajamouli.

His next movie was a textbook guide for brand building. By making maryada ramanna with a relatively smaller budget and smaller starcast, he'd hit the bulls eye. He successfully toned down expectations after the mega hit which many other talented filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowariker miserably failed at. With maryada ramanna, Rajamouli made a glaring statement that he could still be a showman with smaller starcast - first departure from his hero orientation obsession. By then, he was already a brand which was proven by the success of son of sardar, a poorly made remake of supposedly second league movie by Rajamouli. That along with success of Rowdy Rathore, another remake of his work, paved the way to his recognition nationwide.

Subsequently, Eega made his invincible. The movie showcased his technical finesse and ability to plunder box office with no star power. Nationwide audiences again approved of notwithstanding poor collections in the northern belt. But Rajamouli made right noises across trade pundits all over the world.

Making of Bahubali is more epic than the movie itself. Rajamouli knew it would take a couple of years but he began the PR blitz right after inception of the movie. He made people anticipate, film industry wait, ensured everybody knew about the movie. Even Amitabh, Rajnikanth couldn't wait and made favorable statements. Icing on the cake was to rope in Karan Johar to present the Hindi version. Already planned as a multi lingual, Karan Johar's brand association made the movie much bigger across not just India but also among diaspora.

The movie will be a sure shot earth shattering, thundering blockbuster. No second thoughts about that. The movie will be review-proof, critic-proof, piracy-proof, negativity-proof because he was successful in bringing his spectators and audiences aboard the journey of making that they started feeling Bahubali is their own product. Most sensible and movie loving audiences will voluntarily avoid piracy, spread positive talk regardless of the content. THAT IS SUCCESS. And that is BRAND RAJAMOULI.

As a telugu speaking person, I'm proud of the scale, podium and canvass Bahubali will be released and hopefully accepted across. Wish the movie rings the Telugu movie bell across worldwide movie fans.

Travel Diaries 4 - Viva Italia !

After two years of visiting Italy, I'm still awestruck at the versatility, breadth and range of Italy's greatness, beauty, capabilities and their well-deserved pride. While attempting to write this article, I could vividly imagine a montage of ancient ruins in Rome, postcard beauty of Florence, magnificence of Pisa tower, enchanting canals of Venice, breathtaking Alpine scenes.

While Switzerland is sheer poetry in terms of visual scenery, France more in terms of history and fashion and Germany more about engineering and architecture - Italy can easily give a run for their money in their core areas.

How can any one country be a birthplace of an ancient civilization (Roman), ideologies (capitalism, fascism), engineering (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati), fashion (Armani, Versace, D&G, Prada, Gucci et al), mafia (Sicily) cuisine (Pizza, Pasta, Gelato), art and renaissance (Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo)

I had both glad and sombre moments in Roma (anglicized name being Rome) yet the city didn't fail to fill me with awe and some unforgettable moments. The majestic Colosseum and the way Italians have preserved their heritage and ruins will make anybody agape in disbelief. Rome - a city filled with narrow tiled by-lanes, pizzerias with chairs arranged all along streets, activity at piazzas (small city squares), friendly Italian bystanders and localites trying hard to respond in English, the humongous Roma Termini train station, Trenitalia high speed trains can never be forgotten.

There are two things which are common between Italy and India. First being closely knit families. No offence to families of other ethnicity but Indians and Italians are a breed apart. Second common thing is their aversion to traffic and lane rules. It was so refreshing for me to witness an equally laid-back nation which simply doesn't bother about maintaining lanes, traffic lights or just-name-it.

Vatican (though officially another country but geographically landlocked within Rome) is a world in itself. The serenity and papal ambiance brings about divinity in the atmosphere. St.Peter's square, the enchanting dome (which we inadvertently scaled to the top) are mind-blowing.

Pisa tower is a bit overexposed and overrated but never disappointing but the underrated Florence is a visual epic. The city, birthplace of famous renaissance which shaped the artistic, cultural texture of the world has to be seen once before we die. It's simply a marvel which pulls you over into the artistic history of Italy.

Venice will be in the top 3 dream destinations of any person who is romantic at heart. Rightly positioned as the most beautiful place in the world by many surveys, Venice is a different utopian land which we can only imagine in the wildest romantic fantasies.

Built on some 117 small narrow islands connected by canals and located in the Adriatic sea, Venice is a picturesque fantasy. Can you imagine traffic and commutation only by boats, gondolas, canals dividing multi-floored buildings on both sides throughout the city ? Venice city by foot is another experience with tiled narrow lanes, cathedrals and the famed Saint Mark basilica.

We missed Cinque Terre, Naples and few other prominent places. May be some other time but whatever Italy I visited, experienced and witnessed first hand, I could say that the country grew upon me. I can't wait to go back there. This is a feeling which no other place or country could stir up in me, except India ofcourse.

VIVA ITALIA !

My List of Top 25 Thriller Movies

Time for another movie based blog post this holiday season. Here's a list of my favorite movies in my favorite genre - crime thrillers which encompass heist movies, cop capers, gangster movies, horror sub-genre et-al. I'm sure those who like movies made by Scorsese, Tarantino, Fincher, RGV, Abbas Mustan would agree with the below list. Sorry for those who like superhero based or animation or gory or hard core action movies. Unfortunately those are not my cups of tea. The list comprises of English, Hindi movies, a Telugu, a Kannada and a Tamil movie.

25.Race (Hindi): Though it's not a superbly directed movie or sport a tremendous plot, this is one of those movies which completely sprung me off my seat in the theatre with unexpected twists sprinkled with bollywood dramebazi when I was least expecting. Trailers showing lead actors and actresses swapping also added to curiosity. Abbas-Mustan is undeniably one of the best Indian directors in the thriller genre

24. Pulp Fiction: I'm a big fan of Tarantino and I even liked his relatively unknown movies like Jackie Brown. Pulp Fiction doesn't come exactly under thriller flicks by the definition of it, it's a directorial trendsetter sorts of movie which directors worldwide like to copy (read RGV).

23.No Country for Old Men: It's more brutal than thrilling. I'm sure Bardem might've caused sleepless nights to many

22.Lucia (Kannada): I watched this movie after my wife's incessant awe and hard selling. This is one of those superb small budget movies from a relatively silent industries and hence couldn't have reached many from non-Kannada speaking moviegoers but the tight screenplay was an absolute delight. But a small thorn in the flesh is that the movie is eerily (!!!) similar to another favorite movie of mine which is in this list. Go find it !

21.Fast & Furious series: I started watching and liking the series since its 5th instalment and was awed by Paul Walker's presence. A typical no-brainer entertaining franchise with abundant melodrama and high adrenalin

20.The Silence of the Lambs: Again a fabulous movie where a girl deals with an intellectual cannibal to capture a maniac transgender serial killer. I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't watched an inferior Sangharsh earlier

19.Pizza (Tamil): Superb movie displaying unflinching story-telling prowess. Not a horror movie but the director made sure the audiences clasped their seats hard throughout the movie. But alas ! what a shitty sequel called Villa

18.The Exorcist: The only horror movie in the list not because it scared the hell out of me but for being an inspiration for all other horror movies which were churned out in last few decades. Haven't watched much of Hitchcock including his much spoken about Psycho but 'The Exorcist' reminds of every other horror movie ever made (or ahem may be the other way round).

17.Company (Hindi): RGV's finest movie till date and I'm sure he can't better that anymore. One of the most hard hitting and detailed screenplays ever in the Indian movie history. Thankfully RGV refrained from showing his eccentricities and over-confidence to salvage the flick

16.A Wednesday (Hindi): Mind Blowing direction and screenplay by a relatively unknown director but Naseeruddin Shah just nailed it the hardest way possible. But the director disappointed with his next movie Special 26. Hoping for him to recreate the magic in his upcoming "baby"

15.Shawshank Redemption: One of the best movies showcasing an emotion called "hope". The movie was not just a masterpiece but also grows on the audiences. Only Morgan Freeman could've done that role.

14.Goodfellas: Now I don't want to state the obvious that Martin Scorsese is God. He's one director who created lifetime marvel in each decade. Goodfellas is my favorite among his older movies. Robert De Niro proved why he was a legend.

13.The Godfather trilogy: I know most of the lists put 'The Godfather' right on the top but may be I was way too immuned to the magnificent plot which was sadly made a run of the mill story by those innumerable copies. I watched at least 10 movies with the same plot before watching the original. But I should admit that Al Pacino was head and shoulders above all those copycats. So were Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. These stalwarts gave me the impetus to watch many other classics like Scarface, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and relatively more recent Heat.

12.Ocean's Eleven: Why would anybody care the plot when George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon make audiences drool like never before. Though the movie is not an all time classic, it's for sure the best heist movies ever made. Dhoom series makers could've learnt a lesson or two from Danny Ocean and gang.

11.Drushyam (Telugu): A malayalam remake but I watched telugu version. One of the recent movies which hooked me well till end credits. Venkatesh must be lauded for coming out of his stupid fan-based predictable movies cocoon and trying this one.

10.Argo: Ben Affleck hit raw nerves in this Iran-set terrorist saga. Though many other middle east violence based movies hit the light, Argo was one which kept the adrenalin rush pumped up.

9.Gone Girl: When terrific director and actor like David Fincher and Ben Affleck come together, a thriller like Gone Girl happens. Unexpected twists and commendable performances make this movie a good one to watch

8.Se7en: David Fincher proved why he's in the big league. When tamil director Shankar too ripped off the movie to create a main plot of his movie Aparichitudu / Anniyan, it speaks a lot. Also when Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey share screen, it's sheer delight and thrilling.

7.Italian Job: What a heist, what a chase and what a plot ! Mark Wahlberg and co nail it down and how ! Must watch for all thriller, action, heist and caper fans

6.Omkara (Hindi): Nobody can judge Shakespeare's plotline but Vishal Bharadwaj created what according to me is one of the best movies Hindi movie industry has ever delivered. A casting coup aside, it's adaption to suit Hindi hinterland, the accent, canvass, duels can't be repeated. Omkara has been VB's best movie miles ahead of his much acclaimed Kaminey or Haider etc

5.Kill Bill: Quentin Tarantino's movies are gory, stylish and comical in equal proportions. A maverick trendsetting movie (again an original source for many RGV's movies) which experimented with musicals, animated subplots, two-volume series has to be the best revenge drama ever made. Though Uma Thurman ate the movie, it was Oren Ishi's one minute walk with background music of "Battle without Honor or Humanity" which stole the show :)

4.Shutter Island: Another of Scorsese who found his muse in Leonardo Dicaprio after Robert De Niro. Shutter Island is more of a psychological thriller than an action or a regular thriller. A must watch

3.The Departed: When Martin Scorsese wields the megaphone and Jack Nicholson, Leo Dicaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg compete to steal the show in a mole-undercover cat and mouse cop drama, there's no looking back. Though itself a remake of a chinese movie, 'The Departed' is an absolute casting coup and riveting drama. Could never get over it

2.Inglorious Basterds: Tarantino's best so far is only 1/3rd English and the rest was in French, German and a bit of Italian which I had to comprehend by reading subtitles more than watching the visuals and yet I felt it was splendid. A fictional tale based on Hitler's regime was too good to miss

1.Training Day: A mother of all gritty gangster-cop-drug war dramas has to be on top. Denzel Washington flick was directed by an ex-gangster who could pull off the stunt of recreating crime ridden LA shot in real notorious neighborhoods. One of a kind movie with tangential references to major organized gangs of LA never fails to raise goosebumps

These are the movies which I've seen but I'm sure they could be many more which I'm yet to watch. Couple of flicks on my immediate watch list are Mean Streets, The girl with dragon Tattoo.

Also some of the brilliant thrillers I could not accommodate in the list include Dev Anand-Vijay Anand's "Jewel Thief", Quentin's "Reservoir Dogs", Clint Eastwood's "The good, the bad and the ugly", Rob De Niro - Sean Connery - Kevin Costner's "The untouchables", Scorsese's "Gangs of new York", Tom Cruise's "mission Impossible" series, Valkyrie and the list goes on.

Awesome life of Shahrukh Khan

Those who know a bit of human psychology (or project management) know something called Maslow's hierarchy of needs which defines what people need to be happy or successful. And by the look of it, Shahrukh Khan has been one of the most successful people around in the era (at least in Indian context)

This article is not about deifying or eulogizing his acting prowess. Honestly I'm not a big fan of his work and liked only 2 movies from his repertoire till date, i.e., Swades and Chak De and believed all other movies of his were pretty mediocre if not painful.

Money:

Let us start with his success in terms of purely material achievements like money he made. His net worth is over $600 Million which is equal to Rs 3700 crores. Now compare with that of other celebrities whom we know are successful

Amitabh Bachchan - $400 Million
Rajnikanth - $40 Million
Sachin Tendulkar - $115 Million
Tiger Woods - $550 Million
Roger Federer - $300 Million
Tom Cruise - $450 Million
Justin Bieber - $200 Million
Lady Gaga - $230 Million
Barack Obama - $12 Million

So SRK made more money than almost all well-known celebrities in this world barring monarchs, scamsters, business tycoons or those who inherited fortunes from dads and grand-dads. Though fiscal empire should not be the only criteria to define success or happiness, one can't take away from him the tremendous grit, passion aided by supreme confidence, hard work and money management skills which catapulted him to this position from times where he had to work for a salary of Rs.50, slept on railway platforms and was paid only few thousand rupees for first few movies. So obviously there's something more to just plain numbers.

Love & Popularity:

More important than money for anybody to feel content and happy is the outpouring of love and emotional connect with people who love us. And there's no denying of his unparalleled fanbase across the globe. When DDLJ released he swept a generation of young girls off their feet and instantly became an ideal boyfriend and a prince charming for every girl who wanted their Mr.Right to come, capture their senses, convince their parents and take them off to another world full of bliss. And guys experienced some vicarious escapist pleasure looking at his onscreen persona. And the trend didn't die down even today.

NRI's adore him like none other and it's evident in any overseas show he performs or attends. I've been a witness to the mad rush once at IIFA,Toronto. Though SRK never used his religious identity to expand his fanbase, thanks to that identity, he is adored across the Muslim world ranging from Pakistan, Middle-East to Southeast Asia because the masses there identify themselves in his success and onscreen escapades. His worldwide fanbase (among other entertainers) in terms of number comfortably surpasses that of Justin Bieber, Amitabh Bachchan or Rajinikanth.

If even after so many people loving him is not success, read along

Business Acumen:

The difference in fortunes made between him and other successful movie stars was his business acumen. He is an astute businessman who knew when, where and how to invest. He's been one of the foremost celebrities to venture into IPL when it was only the area of seasoned businessmen.

For those who believe he just makes money from advertisements, think about this. He owns a company called Red Chillies TVC which produces those commercials. So he's making money with both hands. He ventured into Red Chillies Entertainment (movie production), Red Chillies VFX (special effects company), Red Chillies Idiot Box (TV content production). Together he manages around 200 employees and gets richer by Rs 5 crore everyday. Just Whoa !

With real-estate investments across the globe and minting money through stage performances, constant business expansion along with his regular movie acting and production, he can give a run for any trained, educated IIM-MBA's money. Did I mention he was invited by NASDAQ to ring their bell (usually businesses honchos are the privileged lot) ?

Off-screen personality:

I must confess that while I'm not a fan of his movies, I'm pretty impressed by his wit, humor he presents in his off screen conversations, interviews and the kind of spontaneity he presents off-screen. Very few can carry off the sense of humor on the sleeve as he does and that doesn't exclude lampooning himself at time.

If you ever watched his views or opinions of serious subjects including terrorism, religion, corporate sector- he's more than articulate and more than often makes sense. He's intelligent !

Family:

The man who wooed and married his sweetheart and doesn't mind blushing and doting on his kids, takes care of his elder sister, doesn't miss an opportunity to express how much he misses his parents can always be an ideal family man.

Lifestyle:

All money minting tycoons are not lifestyle conscious and we can't generalize that everybody who is rich knows how to carry himself / herself. It's not about the brands or labels he wears but he is one of the best dressed people in the Indian page 3 circuit. Famous for smelling good and his fetish for well fitted clothing, he's a dream showstopper for any designer.

When he moved from an independent house in Delhi to Mumbai which boasts of apartment culture, he aimed at buying a plush independent house in Mumbai against the norms and now he owns one of the most majestic heritage buildings which is exempt from demolition and happens to be tourist spot too. With offices, theatres, library and many more amenities in his home, he knows how to live life King Size

So a person who amassed countless fans, immeasurable love, maintained normal family life, turned his dreams into reality, built an empire around himself with grit and intelligence has to be successful and his life has to be content and just awesome !

Chandrababu, YSR and KCR - A Tale of 3 Telugu CMs

At the outset, this article is not a direct comparison between KCR, YSR and CB Naidu or their performance as chief ministers of two Telugu states because one of them is no more and for the other two 6 months is not a lot of time to judge their performance especially when they are working in different political terrains now. This is rather my random rambling about their way up the political ladder and their political styles.

Almost a decade ago, I had a unique opportunity to work with AP political leaders across the spectrum including Loksatta's Jayaprakash Narayan, then assembly speaker Suresh Reddy, CPI's ex-MP Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy but what stands out head above shoulders was the working relationship with Chandrababu Naidu and his cotorie of TDP. Without running into any intricacies of the nature of business, let me just affirm that I spent quite some considerable time with most old war horses of TDP's politburo apart from the chief's son Lokesh and current AP cabinet minister Narayana (of Narayana colleges). That was the era after TDP lost power to YSR's juggernaut.

In many of my casual conversations with office bearers and low rung executives (most of them Andhra settlers), I discovered that recurring undercurrent among them was certain reverence to K.Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who already was making high decibel movement in favor of separate Telangana through his TRS party. They felt KCR was one of the most disciplined, hard-working and efficient workers of TDP earlier and his contribution to boss' speech-writing, media management etc was immensely missed after he left TDP to launch TRS.

Honestly I was (am) not a big fan of KCR's confrontational politics but it doesn't take away from him that he has been the most significant Telugu political leader in the last 15 years. With a law degree and a masters in literature, he happens to be one of the most academically qualified CMs in India and arguably one of the best orators the country currently boasts of. His charm in Telangana is not lesser than NAMO wave or Modimania which gripped the countrymen and NRIs alike.

It also remains that KCR is the most hated Telugu figure unequivocally and almost unanimously hated by all Seemandhraites, settlers for his vitriolic and hate-mongering politics. But it takes an extraordinary leader to thrive despite the hate by polarizing almost entire Telangana behind his belt, confronting everybody ruthlessly (including his competition), resorting to high pressure drama spanning years and coming out unscathed and with flying colors.

He is hated for getting things done his way through means propelled by his selfish agenda, settling personal scores, power brokering, blackmails but history takes note of him as a fighter and winner for his cause (for good or bad). Like him or hate him, nobody can ignore him. He made possible which was almost impossible at one point, by blending political machinations, ruthlessness and surfing on the popular sentiment

Chandrababu Naidu is diagonally opposite of everything which KCR is. A non-communicator, non-orator, non charismatic. In 1994 when he staged a dramatic coup against NTR, I was 14 but politically aware. At that point my family was pro-congress thanks to our distant relationship with PV Narasimha Rao and my late grandfather's political equation with him. So I was neither perturbed nor excited about what was happening in Hotel Viceroy. Actually that incident brought in me some interest about current affairs and political happenings which was otherwise made insipid and bland by previous CMs like N Janaradhan Reddy or Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy.

What caught my mind later was frequent surprise inspections of government offices by new CM CBN himself which was never tried earlier. For general public, all politicians were blood sucking, disinterested rogues but when this guy started akasmika thaniki, followed by other public engaging programs like janmabhoomi, sramadhanam - he was a breath of fresh air. So technically he involved general public in social activities much before Modi did with Swachch Bharat abhiyan.

Chandrababu later started appearing on prime-time TV call-in shows where he interacted with general public. Regardless of how efficient the programs were and who benefited out of those, he showed that he was trying to reach out to the public - atleast average middle class urban households like mine. Nobody else could have thought of those initiatives at that point.

When he captured imagination of youth and tech-savvy intellectuals by bringing in Bill Gates, Bill Clinton to Hyderabad, built cyber-towers, catalyzed IT boom and laid out blueprint foe the lives of thousands of IT and ITES employees, he was making all right moves. Politically too, a leader who could revolt against an idol like NTR but still survive, faced minority ire by making pact with Vajpayee but still survive - could go no wrong. He was almost a superhuman. But what happened in 2004 was unimaginable.

YSR completely swept the carpet under his feet by taking all grassroot level, non tech savvy, agro based voters who were intimidated by CEO like CBN under his fold. I'm not sure if YSR himself expected the kind of success he reaped after padayatra but for CBN, it was a deathblow.

In my view YSR was the most politically aware and calculating politician among all Telugu leaders till date. Termed as perennial dissenter among congress circles for decades, he finally catapulted his party to power against all odds including a supposedly rockstar CM, a respected PM Vajpayee's aura, KCR's undercurrent Telangana sentiment.

YSR optimally channelized anti-CBN and anti-suave wave in favor of him and very intelligently transformed CBN's swarnandhra pradesh slogan into harithandhra pradesh directly targeting 70% population of the state depending on agriculture who mostly disdain technology or educated urban class. Incidentally, YSR himself was a doctor. His political prowess made sure he was the only leader who could reign in KCR and his maverick politics.With rajiv arogyasri and other schemes which his fans can't hold their blush, he was on the cusp of being the longest serving CM before an unfortunate accident bluntly cut short one of the brightest political careers of the state. His death gave a lease of new political life to both CBN and KCR who sit as chief ministers today

Back to 2014:

After struggle, hate, innocent deaths, irresistible sentiment and Sonia Gandhi's poor calculations - Telangana finally became a state in 2014 and KCR crowned a CM. KCR came to this position through confrontational politics, which in turn increased his mass fanbase and credibility among pro Telangana activists, but it seems the CM continues to be in that mode even today.

Though I admit that TV9 is too propagandist a channel with a foul mouth and should have been regulated, banning them was no solution. KCR wanted to make a statement that those who oppose him have to bite dust. This actually doesn't work in democracy. With absolute majority in the assembly and among masses of Telangana and with almost no resistance or alternative to him in the state, he is busy consolidating his power and grip on the state and it's resources.

But when the CM gets into verbal duels and confrontation with media, prime minister, central government, governor of the state, chief minister of the neighboring state or literally everybody who don't follow his diktat, he is actually hurting the state, himself and those crores of people who stood behind him. And when his son tweets anti Diwali or anti-Hindu statements and his daughter declares anti-India sentiments to attract few votes, things are definitely going down hill from there.

Chandrababu seems to making right noises by aligning tightly with central government and industries. When neighboring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu get worried about him to the point of asking PM to control him, it indicates something is going right in Andhra state. Devising grandiose plans for the state, attempting to pull investors from everywhere and most importantly not spreading hatred among regions, declaring that he would felicitate Telangana stalwarts in Andhra unlike his Telangana counterpart, things are staring towards new dawn.

Being a Telanganite myself, I would love my CM to be a face of reforms, accelerating growth and superior infrastructure in Telangana and would also like CBN to succeed in all those sky high ambitions. Hatred and development are mutually exclusive and diagonal in the public life which can't go along.

Travel Diaries 3 - Switzerland

This article is long long overdue. I love blogging travel episodes as much as I travel but could only write about few misadventures and not all travel experiences as yet. though I wrote about US west coast and Hawaii way back in 2010-11, I`m heavily backlogged and what better place to rekindle the series than with Switzerland - rightly sobriquetted heaven on earth.

That was September 2013 when we headed on to our family expedition to Europe and ran into some unexpected turn of events (both good and bad) and were left a bit sour towards the end of our Italy tour. We were in pursuit of a real getaway from a mess (will blog that in travel diary about Italy) and we could not ask for a better place.

Train journey from humid, tropical central Italy towards Alps of Northern Italy bordering Swiss brought in a holistic change in the climate, mood and the entire canvass. We arrived to a small town called Interlaken (in the German spoken part of Switzerland) sometime during late evening and retired to bed after a tiresome journey. We could not exactly comprehend the surroundings in the sleepy town at the outset but could hear river flow and swaying woods.

The dawn brought to us one of our happiest and most pleasant days. Pristine unadulterated backdrop, swiftly flowing river just in the backyard, snow capped mountains in the vicinity swept us off our feet. Before we could relish ourselves completely, the ticking clock was teasing us. Quickly finished breakfast and headed to Jungfraujoch, supposedly the highest point in Europe.

While the steep train journey towards the peak in itself has been a tourist`s dream, the top of the mountain can`t be explained in words. Despite having visited Banff, Jasper and the glacier there, Jungfraujoch is in a completely different league. First hand experience of Alps`snowfall, the ice museum and surprisingly a bollywood themed Indian restaurant made our entire Europe trip worthwhile.

Next day in the itinerary was Lucerne. We had no real idea what was in store until we boarded the train to the city. If anybody asks me what could potentially be the best train journey ever, I`d not mince my words before suggesting Interlaken-Lucerne visuals. Almost all bollywoodish movie duets were choreographed there. Ridiculously lush green meadows, belled grazing cattle (Swiss icon), frequent springs and waterfalls, turquoise lakes, winding train tracks, friendly people around - I can just feel everything all over again.

Lucerne is a bigger town than Interlaken, bit more commercial, crowded, better infrastructure and I dare say - more beautiful. On the banks of swan populated lake, archaic old town, die to experience climate. I felt how lucky could one be to retire and spend their post retirement phase of life in Lucerne. I don`t rule that possibility out ;)

From Lucerne we had been to a day trip to Mount Pilatus, almost similar to Jungfrau, but the steepest cogwheel train trek in the world was worth it.

Next stop in our expedition was the most famous city of Swiss, Zurich. Financial capital of Switzerland and hub of Indian black money ;) Zurich can be compared to Toronto or New York City or Paris (though much smaller than all three) but better infrastructure, helpful crowd. Not much for nature-lovers though. We had to route our journey through Zurich to connect to our next stop which was Innsbruck in Austria.

The only off-note among so many good picturesque memories was exorbitant cost of living or traveling. Easily the most expensive country in Europe (atleast among those I traveled).

Another travel diary soon.

The Curious Case of Ram Gopal Varma

It's been 25 years since Ram Gopal Varma's Shiva released. Incidentally I just watched (quite unfortunately) his short movie on Lakshmi Manchu's legs. RGV came a long way or rather stooped a long way from his dream big bang debut to his sad state now. During late 80's "Shiva" came like a breath of fresh air for me. At the age of 9, I so loved the slick, subtle way, novel camera movements, lack of any unnecessary dramatics or larger than life characters.

Then came a splurge of movies with his distinct mark like Kshana Kshanam, Rathri, Gayam in Telugu and Rangeela, Satya, Company in Hindi which are all examples of his true brilliance and genius. I later understood the strong inspiration he'd drawn from The Godfather trilogy, Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock movies but he blended their finesse with his own vision resulting in such epics. I believe his best times ended during the phase when he turned a bad emulator of Quentin Taratino, a genius himself but was junior to RGV in the world of cinema.There started his curious case..exactly like that of Benjamin Button

The man who showed the country what underworld was, directed nonsensical crime thrillers like Contract, D, James, Shiva 2006, Satya 2, Department which have no hangover of his previous masterpieces whatsoever. Other forgettable movies like Jungle, Daud, Mast, Naach, Nishabd, Darling, Agyaat, RGV ki Aag, Ice Cream blah, blah and blah made his case even more curious. His horror movies like Kaun, Vasthu Shastra, Phoonk, Phoonk-2 are at best badly made b grade remakes of The Exorcist and Hitchcock flicks.

Sarkar and Rann were kind of saving grace but again Sarkar Raj, Rakhta Charitra were marred by his eccentric camera angles (which were more irritating than novel), unnecessary decibels in background and not to mention bad screenplay. But as an erstwhile fan I watched all the above mentioned movies just in anticipation of good movies, Each time he announced a film, I hoped it was his comeback only to get convinced that his era ended but..this Manchu lady's feet shortie is a culmination.

While he can be tolerated for his bad movies, he started his moribund interviews, irreverent tweets, arrogant blasphemy and PR minded controversies with certain shock value. He famously declared that no director can predict the outcome of their vision and audiences who don't know movie-direction shouldn't criticize. It's similar to saying that people who eat at restaurant shouldn't criticize the chef for bad food if they themselves can't cook.

I read somewhere that he's buried in a mire of debts running to several crores and his desperate compulsion to stay afloat in news by making some stupid comments on twitter only to provide some visibility to his films reflects a very sad and sorry state he is now in for the kind of visionary he once was. A man revered on a pedestal along with Maniratnam, Shekhar Kapoor and dubbed Scorsese, Hitchcock or Taratino of India is now at best, a history.

Regardless of his current box office stamina, creative vision or execution, one can't take away from him the credit of establishing a parallel genre of cinema which shook the entire generation and produced a school of directors, actors most of whom are currently raising the flag of RGV brand high. Hope that'd be his legacy.

My Tryst with Teaching !

"I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession" - John Wooden

So true, yet teaching is one of the most underrated and thankless professions because every successful student believes the reason for his success was his own talent and merit whereas every failed student squarely blames his teacher or school for his failure. Or maybe that's sheer human psychology.

Teacher-student bond that's formed in very nascent stages (like around 2-3 years) is very strong. That's the age when kids' mind would be very ripe and fertile and they subconsciously yearn for knowledge, learn language and are usually curious to explore the world. A very sensitive age when they try to repeat, re-enact elders. While parents are most responsible for child's mental development, it's also the initial set of teachers who make or break a kid in that phase.

I strongly believe that a person's character, aptitude and attitude is formed based on what one learns and experiences during primary and middle school phases. That's the tender age when one needs to witness a live person demonstrating knowledge and inspiring young minds towards wisdom and ways of life. No books or internet sites can replace a sane teacher's ability to transform an innocent kid to a thinking and aspiring adolescent.

This is the age which decides if the kid would become a responsible citizen abiding by certain duties and collective consciousness or turn into a bum, thug, criminal or a terrorist. Those teachers who could ignite the imagination, creativity, awaken latent potential and inspire some hope in young minds could make a lasting impact on students' life. And those students go on to change the world around them.

What my teaching career taught me !

Personally, I didn't change the world around me but I strongly believe whatever I learnt and practiced till now is a direct result of all my teachers who taught me, inspired me, created awareness, demonstrated how to utilize the knowledge in the best interest of my career and life. Wikipedia and Google have lately occupied the stature and respect which usually teachers deserve. Reasons could be partly bad quality of teaching and equal vulnerability and naivete of students to believe what they see in internet is more accurate than what their teachers explain. I admit that I learnt a thing or two through wikipedia but my ability to grasp and extract knowledge from these internet sources was instilled by my teachers.

My tryst with the profession of teaching was accidental and least expected. After studying engineering and MBA and further working for few years in IT field, I never ever in my wildest dreams did imagine myself teaching a bunch of grown up corporates or aspiring students. I should credit the unflinching support and faith of my ex-employer who saw something in me that he wanted me to teach his students as makeshift arrangement while he was attending something more important. I initially reluctantly took the job but discovered I enjoyed the work, eventually started loving it. And it's been 7 years without looking back.

In these 7 years of teaching, I grew as a communicator, negotiator analyzer and acquired many more traits while transferring my knowledge and experience to others. I learnt that teaching is not just telling or explaining stuff but narrating an entire pretext where and how the knowledge would be used. Teaching made me a story-teller because I understood the importance of captivating the audience before I could teach a lesson or two.

While teaching subjects like project management and business analysis to experienced corporates or knowledgeable aspirants, I was expected to reach certain standards myself in terms of knowledge, posture, behavior and ability to address questions and concerns. Hence I improved my knowledge base, pronunciation, pace and diction which helped me in many other ways. Thanks to my teaching career, I got a decent hold on vocabulary (both business and technical), body-language which I could not have got it otherwise. I had to manage and lead a group of 20-30 people, set agenda, not allow the group to lose focus and drive the point home taking everyone along. This brought out some latent leadership and managerial skills out of me. 

While teaching, I had to understand individual pain points, realize that everybody was not made with same level of aptitude and hence I had to bring in variation and cater to the least common denominator. This brought out certain kind of empathy wherein I could stand in my students' shoes and judge myself. There were some situations when some very intelligent students caught me off guard which brought in humility in me thus giving a reality check to my arrogance, if any. My teaching profession made me more flexible, better decision-maker, an extrovert, a consultant and a better social person. 

I don't know how my trainees look up to my contribution in their success or enhanced knowledge, but I live with certain satisfaction that I'm a miniscule part of the bandwagon called "teachers" who strive to penetrate the knowledge forward through generations. May be this is my way of social contribution while improving, challenging, discovering and redefining myself consistently.

Happy Teachers' Day (Sep 5th) to every teacher who taught me something in life directly or indirectly, wittingly or unwittingly, through lessons or experiences or by just being around me to inspire.

Excessive Cultural Pride Leads to Terrorism

World in last 1 month or so

• Israel killed almost 300 naive civilians in a densely populated Gaza strip of Palestine, some of them women and children
• Ukrainian Rebels shot down Malaysian Airlines civilian flight killing close to 300 people
• Boko Haram killed almost 350 people in Nigeria
• ISIS killed hundreds in Iraq and Syria
• Thousands killed elsewhere in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Philippines etc

And remember, these casualties were only in June-July. And there is one reason for all these murders and destruction - That's excessive pride is one's own religion, culture and ethnicity. I guess this epidemic of excessive pride in prevalent across the globe, every country, every region, every community.

The modern pride-hate combo started during Nazi regime when Hitler legitimized unprovoked holocaust, mass murder of almost 6 million jews. This led to jewish emigration to Israel which gave impetus to another long, volatile and violent conflict between Jewish Israel and Arab Palestine. While Hitler has been and rightly should be condemned for the worst crime in the world history, Israel-Palestine conflict is such unfortunate tussle that one can't take sides because both parties bay for the blood of other just because they follow an alien culture.

Israel historically belonged to Jews but were pushed to oblivion by Muslim and Arab invaders in their expansion roll. During world wars, Jews emigrated to Israel in large numbers and pushed Arab Palestinians into hardships in Gaza and West Bank. The reason for this jugalbandi is hate towards one another. Arab Muslims could not stand Jewish's culture and hence invaded and converted them; later Jewish couldn't stand persecution by Arabs and Nazis alike and retaliated with force on Palestine. 

Unfortunately both groups play victims to other's terrorism. But the excessive pride in their own religion, language and culture among both Jews and Arabs fuelled hatred against one another and created unfathomable, tangled conflict of civilizations which even today takes lives of innocent people regularly.

ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram, Taliban unleashed an unprecedented and undeclared war on western civilization or everything non muslim or to be precise non sunni because they can't stand anybody not following and submitting to their cultural and religious pride.  

While in India:

Though not as bloody as Middle-East, India too is plagued by religion / region / ethnicity triggered madness fanned by politicians and religious leaders alike.

Kashmiris feel oppressed and are abetted by Mujahideens like JuD, LeT, JeM in their drive against Kashmiri pandits and India in the longest violence in South Asia. The violence took the toll of over 50,000 civilians. Ulfa's pride in assamese culture triggered another long anti Indian armed struggle killing thousands. Khalistani movement and anti-sikhs riots took a toll of thousands, right wing Hindu fundamentalist groups like Bajrang Dal, Ranvir Sena killed hundreds

Though not violent and murderous, the underbelly of hatred and regional discrimination is being carried out by politicians like Raj Thackeray, KCR and leaders injecting venom in names of marathi Manoos, Telangana, Gorkhaland etc. Leaders like Karunanidhi, Vaiko fan anti-Hindi and pro LTTE sentiments. Implied hatred by leaders of political parties aimed towards particular vote banks like MIM, BSP, SP, Shiv Sena, SAD, RJD is largely prevalent. 

The common theme among all these parties, leaders, politicians is to scare their voters, subjects that their culture, region, religion, community was in danger due to the atrocities of others and thus should retaliate in kind through hatred and discrimination. Sometimes the rhetoric gives way to violence and eventually into terrorism

Be it India, Middle East or East Europe; at the end of the day, it`s ordinary civilians who get swayed by excessive emotions, sentiments and pride about their culture and ethnicity that turn into terrorists for their purported cause to unleash havoc towards others; and one day the same people get engulfed by the fire they once lit. 

Valentine's Special - 8 Stages of my Love Story

Can't believe I have known her for the last 8 years and married for almost 7 years. As I look back I realize that our love story gradually transformed from an harmless internet friendship to a long distance courtship and then to accomplished marriage to blissful parenthood. Quite a journey, it has been. A note on St.Valentine`s Day remembering and reminiscing 8 stages of love during the last 8 years.

Stage 1: Infatuation

The most beautiful stage. That strong urge to always think about her and talk to her. Those days which started and ended with her thoughts. Those late nights / early morning calls which went on forever. Those dreams to have her in my life and arms forever. Being illogically and childishly infatuated is a bliss that nobody should miss.

Stage 2: Anticipation

Next stage was anticipating and planning life together. That stage involved knowing each other`s likes and dislikes better, befriending each others` families and friends, managing and changing priorities, dreaming how our married life would be and doing everything to make those dreams come true.

Stage 3: Romance

Much anticipated stage especially after 2 years of international long distance relationship. Those sweet nothings, holding hands, long drives, candle lit dinners, listening to each other, falling head over heels all over again many times and basking in that unprecedented attention and affection.

Stage 4: Creation

Next was creating our own world. Converting 4 walls of house into home, slowly converting our dreams into reality, steadily reaching self set short term goals, building social relationships, making family friends and stabilizing our very own small world

Stage 5: Understanding & Acceptance

Surviving misunderstandings and friction caused by mutually exclusive priorities and then understanding others`points of view. This stage is about exploring some unknown and latent preferences of the better half and accepting each other as a complete package as opposite to the best front presented earlier. This in my opinion is an important stage to realize that love is much more than attraction and anticipation of living together. It`s actually accepting the love of our life with all qualities which we may not necessarily agree with. This is when true love begins.

Stage 6: Complementing

Complementing each other (mind it, it`s complementing not complimenting) worked like a cement for foundation. After realizing each other`s positive and negative areas, the success of marriage is directly proportional to how they support, supplement and complement each other thus locking the perfect relationship and concealing the other from fear of failure or any apprehension.

Stage 7: Pride

Then came the light of our life to teach us purpose to live. Our son, our baby. He came, he saw and he conquered our senses in such a way that our world turned upside down for good. He has been making us beam in pride. We as parents grew together, learnt parenthood, discovered how to create and nurture love in a tiny being. We are basking in the glory of shaping an attitude, behavior of a 'person' from inception. Wow, we feel so important !

Stage 8: Complete 

Now this is a stage when we no longer have to express or tell how much we love each other in any way. Mutual feelings are understood, told, perceived and acted upon without any need of words or gestures. Love is appended by great levels of comfort level, understanding, respect, importance and security.

Love is in the air. It`s everywhere. Happy Valentine`s Day

PS 1: Don't bother about those who dissuade you from celebrating Valentine`s Day. We need reasons, logic, rationale to avoid days to hate, not love. We just need a reason and excuse to celebrate and express love. Nobody loses anything through expression of love.

PS 2: बुरी नज़र वाले तेरा मुह काला 

Homosexuality - Unnatural but not Unlawful !

When Supreme Court of India announced that Article 377 which criminalizes all homosexual activities would be reinstated, my first doubt was how Supreme Court or law machinery could get to know who committed the 'crime' unless somebody peeked into bedrooms of gay couples !

Ìndia is torn between two opposite arguments for and against homosexuality. The progressive society believes that being gay is a personal choice which is endorsed by many liberal thinkers. I beg to differ. Homosexuality is not a 'choice'; nobody chooses to be naturally hetero or homosexual. They are just made that way.

I may be judged to be regressive for saying this but I believe homosexuality is against the nature though I'm all for LGBT rights and against discrimination. Man and woman are made with different body structures, genitals, reproductive systems. They are made to get attracted to each other, make love, give birth to children, continue legacy and humanity in the world. That`s nature and nobody can argue or refute it, no matter how vocal supporters of LGBT rights they are.

But not everybody in the world is made alike. Some people are mentally, biologically made in a way that they are attracted to the same sex and they can`t overturn it. It`s not their mistake; it`s not a disease either to be cured. It`s just abnormal. Some people are made to get attracted only to animals. That`s not a disease either. Just not mainstream, that`s it. But just because they are not mainstream, they don't deserve discrimination and social outcast.

During my school and college days, 'hijra', 'kojja', 'point five' were abuses which meant weak, impotent. These words attracted immediate retaliation and repulsion. That`s how the society was (and still is). This is the very reason gays were more closeted until the dawn of new millennium. Open debates, revolution for rights became more visible in the recent past. Literary works, 'Dostana' type bollywood movies, success of gays in fashion industry and open declaration by many celebrities suddenly created ripples and affected the inertia in the society. This attracted a large repulsion from the more conservative circles of the country, which was not necessary.

As mentioned earlier, I personally am against any kind of discrimination against gays because they are minorities in terms of sexual orientation. Society is made of different kinds of people belonging to different religions, castes, creed, physicality. Minorities in every way deserve and should be provided equality as per Indian constitution. But the latest supreme court ruling against homosexuality was a big contradiction or blunder, if I could say so. If you check those prominent people who supported latest Supreme Court ruling , they are Baba Ramdev, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Church groups. What a unity in diversity !

Two countries I represent, India and Canada are poles apart in acceptance of gay and homosexuality but the more intriguing fact is that Britishers passed almost same law in both countries in mid 1800`s. In mid 1900's, Canada legalized same sex marriages and is forerunner in LGBT rights to the extent laws against any kind of discrimination, laws favoring surrogate pregnancy for lesbians etc were passed. When we visited Montreal in first few months after immigrating to Canada, I was a bit surprised to see gay villages, gay stores, gay friendly restaurants where two gays romantically enjoying their candle light dinner, gays kissing for photoshoot after wedding. Initially it was a bit of culture shock for me, but I couldn't resist appreciating the society for providing them the environment to live their lives happily. Afterall they are just being themselves without harming or hurting anybody else. So why should anybody else be worried ? So if Canada could break shackles of regressive British laws, why can't India ?

I saw many internet forums and twitter where homophobic Indians claim that homosexuality is against Indian culture. Whoa ! They should first visit Khajuraho temples where purportedly graphic statues representing gay and animal sex were prominently displayed. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living mentioned that Lord Ayyappa was born to Hari and Hara (meaning Vishnu and Shiva). Rigveda also infers homosexuality to certain extent. So its not culture or religion. It`s purely mindset which is bent to repel anybody who are different to them.

If the court believes that homosexuality may create social issues, doesn't rape do so? And we see the number of rape related incidents occurring on a daily basis. Homo or hetero, any non consensual forceful act should be considered a crime and justice should be delivered. Its none of court's or law enforcement's business to peek into private lives (which they can anyway not do). It`s time judges and courts put their personal preferences and penal code laws separately. It`s also time for general public to stop stereotyping or typecasting gays because they are just living their life without imposing themselves or their lifestyle on you. As long as homosexuality is not compulsory, why do you worry ?

Arvind Kejriwal - A Case Study on Leadership & Management

Arvind Kejriwal is dubbed as a giant killer who turned from zero to hero in just 2 years, which is undeniable considering his spectacular entry on to the electoral politics arena. He captured senses of intelligentsia and masses alike because he executed what hordes of armchair philosophers could just preach. Beyond his political maneuvering lies his excellent embodiment of two often confused behavioral traits - Leadership & Management.

Since independence, India has been looted by political parties infested with corruption, vote-bank politics, communalism, nepotism, regionalism. People were aware of this but came to terms that they had no alternative. But there was always a simmering anger under the carpet which was tapped and fanned by the Team Anna movement a couple of years back. Anna Hazare was not a rookie in anti-establishment agitation. He had a long history of crusades but was reduced to Ralegan Siddhi and some pockets here and there. He didn't have a national image. A man called Arvind Kejriwal identified the vacuum and catapulted a nation wide movement through Anna's name and fame.

Kejriwal was not the first person to act against corruption. Loksatta's JP Narayan shared similar principles, but he proved to be elitist and philosopher who could only talk. He didn't involve people or instill combative spirit like Kejriwal did. JP was a dreamer, strategist and a bureaucrat, but there is a catch. He's not a LEADER. Leader is somebody who leads from front, who motivates, directs, guides people who trust him. Leader sets an example, shows path, is accessible, is a sharp communicator, a problem solver, a trouble shooter, a negotiator, a decision maker, a time manager, a team player and is flexible. Leader is Arvind Kejriwal.

Some leaders have charisma; they can trigger mass hysteria with their voice, mannerisms, votebank identity, gestures, dramatics or mere presence. Indira Gandhi, NTR, MGR, Salahuddin Owaisi, Modi and to some extent Laloo and Mulayam fall under that category. Kejriwal lacks that charisma or political glamor. Neither does anybody care about his caste or community. But he balanced that lack of charisma with another trait - managerial skills

While his leadership skills were at display during his struggle for RTI act, anti-corruption crusade, his managerial skills were evident in the way he carried Team Anna campaign and his AAP electoral campaigns.
It's debatable if Anna needed Kejriwal or vice-versa because the Team Anna movement became a household name only through Kejriwal`s brainchilds like viral campaigns, social media awareness, streetside acts which`d put the best of marketing minds to shame.

Kejriwal did right thing at right time under right conditions. He got things done by many external and internal factors. That was management.

When he started Aam Aadmi Party, he clearly knew there was an anti-congress wave and made sure another rival BJP doesn't grab the cake. Hence he deliberately started attacking BJP over corruption and communalism despite the latter not being in power either at center nor at Delhi where he was going to contest. But his ploy was to paint Congress and BJP in the same color so that he could take advantage of the anti-congress wave. And that ploy worked in his favor.

Kejriwal is an astute orator and a shrewd thinker. He has answer for every question or criticism he faces. His speeches and interviews brim of moral supremacy but he knew how to play political cards well. He carefully dubbed BJP as a hardliner communal party but chose not to say a word against MIM, Akali Dal, SP, BSP or many other religion or caste based parties. He even took the support of rabblerouser Muslim cleric who announced bounty on somebody`s head. He clearly knew who his target was. That was management.

He played fairly well with media too. Media chose to highlight AAP`s splendid performance over the majority grabber BJP. Arvind is being eulogized left, right and centre though he failed to recreate the magic of NTR or Prafulla Mahanta who rose to power in few months of setting up a party. But antipathy of certain sections of media against right wing politics or BJP and public anti incumbency wave against congress was aptly utilized by AAP and Arvind Kejriwal.

Leadership is a quality which influences and motivates others to follow ones path whereas management is an act which gets things done by others. Arvind Kejriwal balanced both with clinical precision and the rest is history.

Things fell in place for AAP till now because the party is exempt from any expectations or results. They had nothing to lose or prove till now. The real game begins now. Lok Sabha elections is a different ballgame. Team Anna was at pinnacle in 2011 when Anna was hailed as the most powerful Indian then but the movement lost its relevance the following year. Ramleela Maidan and Jantar Mantar of Delhi swayed to the movement, but Mumbai protest was a grave disappointment. History may repeat with AAP. It is to be seen if Arvind Kejriwal is a consistent and a long run leader and manager or not. Time answers.

Checklist for Groom Hunt !

Marriage is a gamble, be it love or arranged. Teenage and young adults around early twenties are vulnerable to getting carried away by transient factors which may cost their lifetime of happiness. Liking somebody and being happy with them are completely different things which may not necessarily go hand in hand. While nobody can judge or advise whom to like, I made an attempt to suggest single girls what kind of guys can keep them happy and comfortable. Here goes the checklist to watch out for:

1. Possessiveness - Though it sounds fairly harmless, this can be a single major reason for hell on earth for girls. There is a difference between concern and possessiveness. If a guy breaches that line and steps over individual freedom, that can get on your nerve sooner or later. A control freak, misogynist, insecure, male chauvinist guy suffering from inferiority complex can be lethal for a healthy relationship. So even if you like a guy, see if he respects your freedom. If you believe you can deal or adjust with his possessiveness, you are being very naive. It's a huge no-go
2. Decisive - No girl really feels comfortable with a guy who can't take decisions or relies on others for push. In years to come, he should be a head of your family, manage finances, society around, kids and many more. He should be mature enough to understand and analyze situations, assess options and take reasonable decisions on time. Again there is a difference between overconfidence and conviction which he should know.
3. Responsibility & Security - Single reason for getting girls married to older guys is to make sure they are in safe hands. Doesn't always means body guarding or getting into brawls with street goons to save her honor. Nothing so filmy. But a guy who feels, expresses and maintains responsibility and takes care of his girl's physical, mental, emotional, social and biological needs, securities is a right guy.
4. Attraction - Girl should marry a guy who adores her, treats her like a princess, feels lucky to have her around and takes pride in showing off his girl. Every girl is beautiful and will find a guy who goes crazy about her. You just have to wait and find him. Life becomes much more beautiful and romantic.
5. Family connection - Marriage is an alliance of two families. No guy or girl can peacefully co-exist with their spouse who hates their parents; nuclear families are no exception. Get into relationship only if you strongly and positively believe you can get along with his parents and he doesn't build bridges between you and your parents. It takes compromises from both sides to get along with people of different backgrounds but if it clicks, it makes a lifetime of difference.
6. Sense of humor - Though you don't need a standup comedian to tickle your funny bone all the time, check if the guy has some sense of humor. Life is too short to be seriously planning and panicking all the time. A guy who can make you laugh with even his silliest antics is worth it.
7. Charming - When you get married to a guy, he's introduced to your world of friends, cousins, colleagues, relatives. Though it's not important to keep the society happy, it helps if your guy is charming enough to spell magic among your circles with his charm, wit, etiquette, choice of words, gestures and social behavior. Who wouldn't like compliments about her better half ? That would add spice and beauty to the relationship
8. Expressive - Look for a guy who is expressive, who can show how much he loves you. That one quality will sweep you off your feet many times even after marriage. 
9. Monies - Though not absolutely necessary, life is better with luxuries than with paucity. As a saying goes, a successful husband is one who earns more than this wife could spend. A guy with good financial standing, potential to earn big can save you from a lot of gloom, inferiority complex, adjustments, compromises and agony. If you have a choice, opt for a richer guy. As simple as it goes.
10. Looks - Not the most important, hence the last in the list. Just imagine your life where you wake up (and also go to bed) to a suave, athletic, TDH guy. Wouldn't life be beautiful ? Also he's gonna share his looks with your kids-to-be. So don't be in perennial denial that looks are immaterial.

So girls out there, run this checklist through a guy whom you fell in love with or your parents proposed to you. It's never too late until you tied the knot. And if you think this would help your loved ones, feel free to share !

Other relationship based GYAN at:

1. Love Marriage Vs Arranged Marriage
2. Love Affair Lifecycle
3. Whom to choose between Parents and Life Partner ?

How Sachin Became God !!! Something Beyond His Cricketing Skills !

World has seen many celebrities, heroes, icons, legends, masters but it takes a special character and mettle to be addressed as God. It takes Sachin Tendulkar to be a God !

Unlike many others, I don't know nuances and intricacies of cricketing shots, drives, cuts and hooks. So I'd refrain myself from eulogizing the man for his batting technical skills. I'm nobody to judge or comment because his consistency, records and status scream much aloud. But just success and technique doesn't make anybody God. There must be something else too. Otherwise how can over a billion people, many of whom as cricketing illiterates as me, would kill to watch him play ?

Cricket has been a religion and a part of lifestyle of Indians since 1983 world cup. I remember avidly following every match in 1987 Reliance world cup and thereafter like fellow crazy countrymen. Everybody was an armchair commentator and expert analyst suggesting and cursing players for not playing to their sensibilities. Amidst the likes of Gavaskar, Kapil, Shastri and Srikkanth, masses of India wanted somebody who could play like their dreams. And there arrived a man - SACHIN TENDULKAR

He began playing like everybody would have dreamt to play if given a chance. He made everybody's wildest fantasies come true. His shots, running between wickets were more aggressive, playing to galleries unlike stars of that era. Just like a movie hero would provide escapist pleasure to viewers who imagine themselves in the actor's shoes and derive imaginary pleasure, Sachin provided similar inexplicable substitutional pleasure to those millions who earlier aspired or dreamt to play or wish to see somebody play like that. Boom ! Then started a mania, mass hysteria. Guys emulated him, girls swooned over his looks, advertisers hounded him and this curly haired young man became a rage of the country.

He was not the only person to blast the area with his blistz. Many more rose meteorically like Narendra Hirwani who took 16 wickets in a test match. But there was a glaring difference. Others were metaphorically and literally meteors and their fall was as fast. Sachin was an exception there. He entertained an entire generation who swayed along his bat and who passed over the legacy to their next generation.

By the time the next generation took reins, he already proved his mettle as the best and most talented cricketer around and justifiably was not susceptible to rookie judgement by fans anymore, notwithstanding a handful of haters who wanted to hate because they didn't want to subscribe to the majority verdict to prove they were mavericks.

Sachin's transition from the best player to the GOD is inspiring and interesting. The Gen X & Y saw much more than his batting technique. They actually loved his personality and most importantly his fame and respect.

He is one man made of small built, humble background, squeaky voice, soft spoken nature - all qualities exactly opposite to the conventional macho and handsome masculinity. In short, he is a normal, average, boy-next-door kinda Indian. And yet, he came, saw and conquered the world. That clicked bigtime among equally average but bustling mass base of India. They could identify themselves with his success. He plucked them all off from their dormant inferiority complex. so it was not only about his technique as mentioned earlier.

Another quality of Sachin - his personality and temperament. It would not be an exaggeration to say he is only next Indian to Gandhiji to show the kind of resilience, determination, pressure-handling composure and consistency for such a long duration on a national stage. And this analogy should not look ridiculous if one follows the success graph and the grit put on display.

Sachin always spoke with his bat. He never resorted to theatrics, histrionics, media frenzy, public relations, explanations to answer his critics or opponents. He forced his opponents to respect him, yearn for his acknowledgement and approval. He gave Indian cricket an ominous look.

If India was put on pedestal on the international fora in something, we must thank Sachin for that. Sachin became a reason behind self confidence to those crores of fans who saw their compatriot leave behind the who's who of the world behind. They beamed with pride to show-off that Sachin represented India. He brought India more accolades than anybody else could in the history of the nation. He represents the collective glory and pride of the country. We can't thank Sachin enough for that.

So, it was not just about his batting technique or records, but a wholesome package called Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Bow to the MASTER !

PS: If you are yet not convinced with any of the above, just come to terms with the fact that his mother's name is "Rajni" and his coach name has "Kanth" in it. Now can we agree that he's God ?

Don't be Perfect !

Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis (actor of Gangs of New York, Lincoln) is notoriously perfect to the tune that he lives his on-screen character even off-screen during filming. While filming for a certain paralyzed character, he reportedly remained on wheelchair even while not shooting and expected his staff to lift the wheelchair around (!!!) - all in the pursuit of perfection. And he is not an odd man out in the world of such lunatics.

Some real live examples of perfectionists I encountered:

1. One of my friends reads entire "terms and conditions" in websites before clicking on "I agree". LOL !
2. My cousin demanded amendments to some very insignificant condition in a job offer letter for a lucrative and challenging dream role he aspired for. The company rather chose the next guy in line.
3. Some of my relatives spend entire festival day cleaning, mopping, brooming their houses because for them festival is all about cleanliness. By the time they lay down, it's already bed-time.
4. My ex-colleague always wanted everything so perfect that he never bothered missing client deadlines in his attempt to make a "nice" document.
5. Some trainees I teach spend months together to research on a simple topic enough to write a PhD thesis, just to understand the outline. Crazy souls !

I have never been perfect in anything I did and that was not out of choice; I just can't be perfect, I'm not made that way. I'm disorganized, a bit clumsy, lazy. I seldom sport clean-shaven look at work, often go on a pair of jeans to meetings, procrastinate things and am everything diagonally opposite to being perfect, but things are fairly working out for me because I aim for efficiency, not perfection - totally different concepts.

My simple doctrine about why perfection is bad:

1. Perfection makes one lose focus - If you have to achieve or reach a target, you should know your priorities and let go few details which aren't integral to the journey. The key point is "letting go".
2. Perfection is unattainable - Perfection has no limits. Even if you are perfectionist and put everything very perfect, there would be somebody somewhere under the sun to show you that something else needed to be done. So perfection is subjective.
3. Perfection means under-achievement - Perfection demands intricate detailing of everything which strategically means underachievement because more emphasis is laid of the process instead of the result.
4. Perfection is against creativity - If you have to create something or establish a business, you have to try many things - most of the initial few attempts would be failures. So one can't work forever on each attempt to reach the final version.
5. Perfection is anti team-spirit - When a team works towards a common goal and one person cribs for perfection in unnecessary details, it obviously leads to tension and conflicts in team
6. Perfection is overrated - The word perfection sounds elite but a lot of times, perfect body of work is grossly over-looked. Nobody actually cares how perfect the product is and what kind of effort went into it. So perfection is overrated. Rather get things done quickly and efficiently and chill !
7. Perfection causes depression - Perfectionists are often lonely and suffer from anxiety and depression because of their zeal and passion they put and for good or bad, most of the times their success is inversely proportional to the passion and expectations.
8. Perfectionists are judgemental - More often than not, perfectionists are the first among equals to judge others' ways of work. That adversely affects human relations
9. Perfectionists can't deal with failure - Perfectionists are usually hyper-sensitive, pessimistic and their nature is propelled by the very fear of failure. In the attempt to avoid failure, they lose valuable time and resources. Same result !
10. Perfectionists are always busy - In an attempt to be perfect, perfectionists more often indulge in slogging over-time whereas clumsier peers when efficient do things much better in a shorter time 

Bottom line - Know the limit, set a deadline, draw a line and let few things go. I repeat LET GO !