Man is a pest

[Acknowledgment: This article is inspired from Ranjan Malik's TEDx Talk, "Fool and his kind of innovation"]

Big Bang, as he was fondly called, once decided to make a time piece. A time piece - he would make just once and will run forever without any intervention. He designed the time-piece as self correcting as possible and vowed to not touch the system after it is made.

Being a connoisseur of art, he created several spherical objects and kept them such that the force between them kept them "stable" as well as in motion. They repeated their motions after specific periods. It was a pretty complex time-piece as it contained hundreds of particles - each with its own motion and time period.

Big Bang painted one object with utmost interest. He painted 70% of it blue and 30% of it green. He, then, added texture to the surface. There were areas that were higher and rocky while others that were plain.

Slowly and steadily the termites started increasing their colony on this most favorite object of Big Bang. They had their king and queen termites along with worker and soldier termites. Worker termites undertake the labors of foraging, food storage, brood and nest maintenance. The soldier caste has anatomical and behavioral specializations, providing strength and armor. Many soldiers have jaws so enlarged that they cannot feed themselves, but instead, are fed by the workers. [Source]

Soon, their nests started reaching above ground forming what is called mounds or anthills. In certain areas the mounds became very high. Then, there started a crazy competition among the different colonies of termites to create the tallest of mounds. The termites eventually forgot the purpose of creating mounds and started digging into the surface of the-once-upon-a-time-beautiful object. They started making the object weaker and weaker. A few, too few, worker termites realized that making such insanely high rise mounds is only going to bite them back. They tried convincing others. But the kings, the queens and the soldiers didn't listen to them. Other worker termites were too busy doing their daily chores to even think of long term repercussion of the high rise mounds.

Eventually, the object that Bing Bang had created with immense love and affection was dotted with high-rise mounds. The balance that the object was to maintained changed slightly - though not significant enough for the termites to perceive. The termites kept eating their own 'home'.

Big Bang helplessly watched his most favorite object in the time-piece rot.

Price Rationalization

When you buy something - anything - say an apple, what do you pay for? You pay for the cost incurred in procuring the raw material - seed, fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides. You pay for the services used - water, electricity, transportation, storage. You pay for the human resource at each point of the supply chain right from the wages of the farmer to the salary of the salesman. You pay for the taxes and the profits for each party involved.

Is that all you pay for? Given the inflation and the macro-economy, I wouldn't want to pay for any of these things! But then there are a few things we don't even consider we need to pay. But as the law of Karma goes, one has to pay for everything one has used.

Nothing is free.

Have you considered who pays to neutralize the pollution created by burning the  fuel used in transporting the apple from the field to the retailer? Who pays for the decomposition of the plastic bag that is give "free" along with the apple?

There are umpteen initiatives by the civil society to counter the climatic deterioration - plant trees, car pool, turn-lights-off-for-an-hour. These all are great initiatives and does help. However, to reduce the problem the pricing in the whole value chain needs to be rationalized.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we have started adding value to things based on the price (the converse,  however, should be true). So, if we really want people to stop using the plastic, the best solution, in my opinion, is to 'rationalize' its price. The moment we start adding the 'cost' of decomposition to the costs of the plastic considered currently, its price will go up and will automatically deter people form using it.

Basically, the idea is that people who does the crime pay for it. If someone is using more plastic or more fuel then he should pay for the treatment of the pollution he creates. Currently, everyone pays the price - either in terms of tax which is used in green initiative by the government or in terms of the diseases we gets because of the pollution.

It's analogous to going for an equal-contribution-lunch with a large group to a very expensive place. Each one in the group thinks of ordering the most expensive item as the value he gets by eating it is much less compared to price he pays (given, it is shared by a large number of people). When everyone starts thinking in that way - the overall bill becomes much higher and so does each person's share. However, if we change the system to - pay-for-what-you-eat instead of equal-contribution, then each person will only order things he likes and are within his budget. This reduces the personal bills and hence the overall bill.

But currently, everyone is paying.

Sadly, changes will not happen over-night. There are huge vested interests that believe in ordering the most expensive dish in an equal-contribution system. These influential people will obviously not allow the system to change to pay-for-what-you-eat. Perhaps, I'll explore in a later post the topic of how these 5% of the people make policies which are beneficial to themselves but still impose it on the 95%

As civil society, we should start thinking and discussing the rationalization of the prices in the value chain. There a host on intangibles involved and converting them into dollar/rupee value will be challenging. Convincing the powers that be to incorporate these challenges will be even more difficult. We have seen a glimpse of this brazen futility at Copenhagen in December 2009. However, it's only when we start debating and discussing about price rationalization and more so questioning the price of things that we buy, we'll be overwhelmed by the "irrational" prices. And as a society, we might want to pay in money than by deteriorating our health due to environmental issues.

I guess, i now understand the proverb better - There is nothing called a free lunch.

Zabaan Sambhal Ke

Ramesh is an ordinary middle class child with ordinary middle class values and ordinary middle class sensibilities. Ramesh goes to a local school and leads a very peaceful life with his parents. Ramesh’s parents are not educated and run a small shop that just saves them from falling into ‘lower’ income group.

Scene 1:

Ramesh gets an opportunity to visit a big IT MNC. Ramesh’s parents were always fascinated by the professional looking, fluent English speaking employees of such MNCs and wished that he gets a job in one of the MNCs when he grows up.

Ramesh enters the office and attends the guided tour. He is amazed at the infrastructure. He thinks he is ‘living’ the movies he saw on Doordarshan. He is awestruck at the fluency in which they spoke English. However, he gets separated from the group. He feels like being in a maze which looks similar in all directions. While trying to get his way out, he gets the slice of the lives of IT professionals.

He hears a man addressing his female colleague as a female dog. He hears a professionally dressed girl laughing and exclaiming at the coitus. As he makes his way through the maze, he sees a man near a coffee vending machine. His facial expression said that he was drinking some really bad tasting drink. However, Ramesh was surprised to hear him say that the coffee drank instead of he drinking the coffee. He sees the symbol of a staircase and walks towards it. On the way, he finds a suited employee asking his colleague to copulate off. He finally reaches the staircase where he finds his group.

Being a reserved person that Ramesh is, he didn’t share his experience in detail with his family.

In the night, after a long day's work, Ramesh’s father urges him to be like the IT professionals he visited that day

Scene 2:

It’s 7:00 am and the mercury reads 40. Ramesh’s father is dropping him to school. He is taking his usual route which passes through a slum. Ramesh sees two women fighting for a bucket of water. The communication which is in Hindi is decorated with expletives. The women did not forget to bring the relatives of the other in the conversation and gave creative adjectives to them. Ramesh was observing the fight with curiosity. Ramesh’s father pulled him and increased his speed. A few steps ahead, a group of children from the slum were playing cricket. While playing, what appeared out of camaraderie, the children referred (in Hindi) to things related to the biological process of reproduction. Ramesh was again listening to them.

Ramesh’s father briskly walks past the slum. He tells Ramesh that people from good families don’t talk in such a language. Only people from slums do so. He urges Ramesh to not be like them.

Ramesh is left confused.


PS: I wanted to write this post a couple of weeks back but was thinking of how to write it without using the actual expletives. Hope, I was able to convey the thought without the use of any 'such' words.

Pakistan, in person: Part II

After discussing about life in Pakistan, Islamic terrorism and Gandhi-Nehru-Jinnah and Benazir Bhutto(which I have posted in part 1 of the interview) we went talking about life of a common man under dictatorship, Osama Bin Laden, Women literacy and IPL. We wrapped up with Koffee with Karan style rapid fire covering topics like Lashkar-e-Toiba.

People in India and rest of the world have an image of Pakistan which is very different from the actual Pakistan. Hope this series of uncensored interviews help in clearing a lot of doubts about Pakistan and Pakistanis. For me it was a revelation of sorts. I am indebted to Muhammad Awais Awan and Ayesha Ilyas for sharing their views on issues which are in the top of our minds but are never discussed. I still remember that time. At about 1:30 am, after a really long and hectic day, you guys had no dearth of enthusiasm and agreed to give the interview. Thanks Ayesha and Awais! You guys rock!

Prashant: Pakistan had democracy until 1999. Then there was dictatorship and now again there is democracy.  As a common citizen of Pakistan what changes did you see in people’s life before dictatorship, during dictatorship and now?

Ayesha:  In the ten years since 1999, Pakistan has regressed to a state which is probably worse than what it was 50 years back. Before 1999 though the government wasn’t good, people were having peaceful life.  In 1999 we gave a warm welcome to Musharraf’s government which was our mistake.  We didn’t realize that democracy can never be worse than dictatorship.  Even if it was bad, the elections would have somehow changed things for better.  The 2001 episode happened. Musharraf gave everything in the hands of America, took a U-Turn on the Taliban issue. The whole region got disturbed only because of  Musharraf.  Countries in this region refused to give help to America. Pakistan could have done the same. We didn’t need America. This one decision of Musharraf destroyed the whole life of ours. The period after '99 is responsible for the state in which a common Pakistani is living today.

Prashant: How are things now when you have democracy?

Ayesha: This democracy is even worse than that dictatorship because this democracy has arrived in the same way in which Musharraf’s dictatorship came. As per the Election Commission’s report, out of 18 crore population, only 90 lakh votes were genuine the rest were fake. So, this government is not chosen by us but by fake votes. So, how can something that that we have not chosen be good for us?

Prashant: Are there any changes in the life?

Ayesha:  Disastrous changes. In 5-6 years, the ‘roti’ that we bought for 2 rupay we buy it for 10 rupay (and that too smaller sized roti). When we wanted to curse someone and didn’t want it to come true, we would say – “may he get killed in a bomb blast or some bomb gets dropped on him” because we thought this is just not possible to happen.  But now if you say this to anyone you are abusing him. Things weren’t as bad before.

Awais: To sum up, I’d say two things: Before 99 there was democracy to a certain extent. At least the people were happy. When the dictatorship came, the people were disturbed. Musharraf took a few decisions which disturbed things. In the follow-up, he did such works that the bomb blasts started. When the bomb blasts started not only did the internal peace got impacted but we started becoming infamous in the world. After this, we got democracy. And as Ayesha said, this is worse than the dictatorship. No one in Pakistan is staying in peace.  The situation is such that if you go to a big city, say Peshawar, then you don’t know whether you would come back home safely. 

The situation is such that if you go to a big city, say Peshawar, then you don’t know whether you would come back home safely. 

Prashant: Let’s talk about Bangladesh. Before ’71, it was East Pakistan now it is Bangladesh. What’s your take on the whole episode?

Ayesha:  In the election of ’71, the majority was that of people of Bangladesh and they were to form their government and have their prime minister. Bhutto may have done a lot of good work but his biggest mistake or rather sin was that he divided Pakistan for his own ego.  He made Mujibur Rahman a culprit – even in our course books say Mujibur Rahman was the culprit and spread that India was supporting the divide and Mujibur Rahman. Even if India was supporting him, the mistake was Bhutto's – the mistake was our own.  Why will a third person interfere in your home? Only if you make a mistake will a third person interfere and take advantage of it. Even if India did anything wrong, we were the reason behind it. He, only for his ego and to come to power, divided Pakistan into two parts. 

Bhutto may have done a lot of good work but his biggest mistake or rather sin was that he divided Pakistan for his own ego.

Prashant: Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan. As local people what is your take on it?

Ayesha: Osama Bin Laden was not in Pakistan so there is no question of his being caught there. He most definitely didn’t get killed there. America killed Saddam Hussain in the public. Osama was a bigger criminal. ‘Toh use paani mein kyon baha diya?’ America just needed an excuse to get out of Afghanistan because it was badly stuck there. The simplest way for this was – Pakistan is anyway infamous. Do a drama of killing him in Pakistan. ‘Apne logon ko yeh toffee khila do ki’ – Osama is dead so we don’t have any reason to stay in Afghanistan. ‘Apni jaan chhuda lo; sab kuchh inke sar pe dal do’ . Destroy our whole economy and damage all our relations and escape.

Prashant: After that, Taliban’s leader, umm…

Ayesha: Mullah Omar?

Prashant:  Mullah Omar is said to have been killed in Pakistan.

Awais: It is rumour.

Prashant: Rumor?

Awais:  If we talk of Saddam Husain, if America wanted to hang him they could have done it in a closed jail but they showed it – the whole world saw; they showed it even till the rope was pulled. If they have killed Osama, then at least show the body.  How many times will you kill one person? To share a little story – I got an SMS the other day – ‘We heard that Osama got killed in 2005, then in 2008, in 2009, 2011. We’ll hear that he got killed in 2015. How many times will you kill him yaar. Even Start Plus doesn’t kill so many times!’

Ayesha: Mullah Omar may as well be in Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan then CIA must be protecting him.  Who else is protecting? CIA can take an insect out from beneath the earth.  If he was in Pakistan from last 5 years then why didn’t they catch him before? If they came to know in March that he’s there then why did CIA wait till May? For their own benefits. If he was in Pakistan then it’s not because Pakistanis have sheltered him but because CIA would have hidden him there.

 We heard that Osama got killed in 2005, then in 2008, in 2009, 2011. We’ll hear that he got killed in 2015. How many times will you kill him yaar. Even Start Plus doesn’t kill so many times!’

Prashant:  What is the perception of the people of Pakistan about the 26/11 episode? How do people perceive it?

Ayesha:  People are somewhat neutral about it. Even in the Talibanization of Pakistan, they have involved Pakistani nationals. Anyone can be ‘spoiled’ in exchange of money.  We don’t support any terrorist activity whether in India or in Pakistan, whether committed by Indian or Pakistani. If Ajmal Kasab was a major culprit, it doesn’t matter whether he was a Pakistani national; what matters is what he has done. He should be punished according to his deed.

Awais: Situation in Mumbai is similar to that in Karachi. You can pay anyone to kill. As Ayesha said, Ajmal Kasab could have been used. Another thing that we see is that if there is a bomblast here, it is said that it is done by Pakistan. If there is a bomb blast in Pakistan it is said that it is done by India. These are possibilities. I personally feel that if there shouldn’t be any bomb blast in India because of Pakistan. Similarly, maybe you also feel the same. If Ajmal Kasab has done what he’s claimed to have done then he should be punished.

Ayesha: The problem is – a lot of times things don’t reach the aam admi. What reaches people is what they want, what they can cash. They are playing with emotions of the people and twisting facts accordingly.  Maybe he is a Pakistani. Maybe he did what is said he did. If he’s done then he should get punished accordingly, regardless of whether he an Indian national, Pakistani national or American national. Raymond David wasn’t spared for what he did in Pakistan. Similarly, if Ajmal Kasab did the miscreant then he shouldn’t be spared.

Prashant: The bottom line is that people of both the countries want ‘aman’.

Ayesha: Exactly.

Prashant:  No one wants bomb blast anywhere.

Ayesha: And who dies in it? An ordinary Indian. What is his mistake? He is also human like us, eats-drinks like us.  He also has aims like we have.  If he’s loyal to his country then it’s good. If he thinks well about India, then he should – it’s logical. If someone staying in Pakistan and thinks against Pakistan then he is mad, he will be bad for us. We cannot consider someone (Indian) as our enemy because he thinks well about India.

Prashant: If someone can think ill for his country then he can think ill for other country as well.

Ayesha: Exactly. 

 We don’t support any terrorist activity whether in India or in Pakistan, whether committed by Indian or Pakistani.

Prashant: Coming to women literacy. About 25% of the women are literate. Even lesser women enter work force.

Ayesha:  The problem of illiteracy is not limited to women. Everyone in Pakistan – men or women - should be provided education. Employment opportunity should also be available to all. However,  I would support for employment opportunity for men. In our society, men are supposed to earn the money for the house. The women earns money for jewelries, bags, parties, etc.  Instead of giving the 10,000 rupay to a women, if you give it a man, he would run the whole ‘khandaan’. So, I wouldn’t support women getting more employment. If a woman really needs to take care of her family financially then it makes sense. For women who do it ‘shaukiya’, I don’t think they should get the opportunity. Instead, if that opportunity is given to a man, then he can run the whole ‘khandaan’.           

Prashant: What about ambition of women?

Ayesha: I don’t think that if you are sitting at home and raising the family you are doing anything less than anyone. You are doing more than the man. You are preparing the next generation and taking care of the whole house. Yours is the biggest contribution. Because, no man can do that. No man can do that. No matter what a man does, he cannot run a house like a woman. If you leave the house on a man, he messes up everything. Instead of leaving the house to some third person, if a woman is taking care of her family then she is doing nothing lesser than anyone. Allah Miya – God – Bhagwan, who has created things that way, knows more than us.

Awais: From mainstreaming perspective, we have some plans and we will see literacy rates higher in a few years in Pakistan.

Ayesha: Education should be for everyone. It is not necessary that if someone is educated then he/she should do job.

Prashant: Finally a question on cricket. In IPL, no Pakistani players were selected. There was a lot of media reaction around it.

Awais: There should be some reaction. If you look at that time, the Pakistani team was very strong.

Prashant: But in IPL it’s all divided

Awais: Yes. It does get divided. But why the celebrities didn’t select them? I have this question from you.

Prashant: In the media it was told that they were invited.

Awais:  Is it that IPL had some problem with ‘Lahore Badshah’?

Prashant: There are two views on this. One is that the selectors didn’t select them for their own reasons. The other thing that was floating around was that it was the same year that 26/11 happened and because of which they were not selected.

Awais: I’d like to quote something from the Indian media. The celebrities were bounded to not select Pakistanis.  What about it?

Prashant:  As Shah Rukh Khan said in his media bite…

Awais: Main Shoab Akhtar ko lena chah raha tha but due to some reasons couldn’t take him

Prashant: So, everyone had their own answers for not selecting any Pakistani player. But another view was also that it was the year of 26/11.

Awais: As far as IPL is concerned, despite there is no Pakistani, but people in Pakistan do see IPL. Right now as the finals are going on, there are people who would have closed their shops or left their offices to see IPL. So, there should be some Pakistanis. Now, how is it possible? I think the factor is – ‘Indian Premiere League’. So, why have ‘Lahore Badshah’ in it.

Ayesha: I think IPL is not an issue. Those playing in IPL played for money – neither for India nor for Pakistan. It is up to the selectors to choose you. They don’t select you based on your passport. They select based on your skills. Instead, if Inda or ICC forbids Pakistani players in India, then it would be a matter of provocation. If someone is not getting selected in IPL, then there is no need of creating an India-Pakistan issue out of it because the person is playing for money and not for India/Pakistan.

If someone is not getting selected in IPL, then there is no need of creating an India-Pakistan issue out of it because the person is playing for money and not for India/Pakistan.

Prashant: We’ve come to the last leg of our interview. This is on the lines of ‘Rapid Fire Round’ in Koffee with Karan. You need to say whatever comes first to your mind (Apparently, they were familiar with Koffee with Karan and the Rapud Fire!)

Prashant: India

Ayesha: Incredible

Awais: Same as Pakistan

Prashant: China

Ayesha: Friend

Awais: Next super power

Prashant: US

Awais: Bull shit

Ayesha: A true rival

Prashant: Taliban

Ayesha: Nothing

Awais: Not Muslims

Prashant: Al Qaeda

Ayesha: Another name for CIA

Awais: Agreed

Prashant: Shah Rukh Khan

Ayesha:  A good actor

Awais: Celebrity

Prashant: Sachin Tendulkar

Ayesha: He’s a celebrity

Awais: Celebrity

Prashant: Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Awais: Great Leader

Ayesha: Mohammad Ali Jinnah… was a… great leader

Prashant: Madrasas

Awais: Some religious schools

Ayesha: Wrongly implemented.

Madrasa basically means school. Even ‘Talib’ means someone who’s struggling for knowledge. Even Madrasas were a good place whose term has been wrongly used. It’s our mis-interpretation

Prashant: So, we are misinterpreting the term, Madrasa

Ayesha: Yes we are misinterpreting the term and we have started implementing it in a wrong way. In Pakistan I have seen Madrasas which teaches religion as well as computer. I’d call it the right madrasa. Madrasa is not where you are taught Talibanization. That is not madrasa

Prashant: Lashkar-e-toiba

Awais: No Comments

Ayesha: Lashkar-e-taiyyaba… It was initiated as a group who would work for human rights in a way which they thought was correct. Maybe, the one who started it, started it with right intentions and maybe who are taking it forward are doing it in a wrong way. Basically, the concept was pertaining to human rights. If people running it are wrong then the blame shouldn’t go to people who started it. If a few people of a religion does something wrong, the blame goes to the person and not the whole religion.

Thanks, once again, Awais and Ayesha for speaking to the people of India and through the Internet to the people of the world. I am also thankful to SAYC for giving us the platform where such candid, people-to-people discussion could happen. Hope a lot of misconceptions about Pakistan has been cleared in this!

Pakistan, in person

Pakistan, our most loved and hated neighbor! Pakistan is very similar to India yet the border between them is the most dangerous border in the world. Sitting on this side of the border, from the Indian, western and the Pakistani media, we have a mental image of Pakistan. The South Asian Youth Conference gave me an opportunity to interact with the youth of Pakistan. In the one week I was at the Conference, I made good friends with the Pakistani delegates. In fact, by the end of the conference it was very difficult to differentiate the Pakistani delegates from Indian delegates.

I had a candid, politically incorrect and real interview with the Pakistani delegates. The interview touched upon the life of aam admi in Pakistan and sensitive issues like 9/11 and 26/11. Below is the first of the two-part interview with two common citizens of Pakistan.

Note: The interview, which was in Hindi/Urdu, has been translated and transliterated below. Some Hindi/Urdu words and language specific constructs are kept as is to reduce the harm caused by translation.Please excuse the grammatical errors in this post.

Prashant: We will start with a brief introduction:

Awais: My name is Muhammad Awais Awan. I have come from Pakistan to attend South Asian Youth Conference. I am associated with United Nations' Youth Advisory Panel which gives policy level inputs for its different youth programs.

Ayesha: As-Salamu-Alaykum. My name is Ayesha Ilyas. I am from Peshawar, Pakistan. I am doing honors in communication design. I have done bachelors in mass communication. I am a political activist and a writer.

Prashant: Is this your first visit to India?

Ayesha: No, this is my second visit. Before this, I had come to India as a SAARC delegate for the National Youth Festival of India which was held at Orissa.

Prashant: So how do you find India?

Ayesha: India... India is somewhat similar to ours. I even like it a lot for things where it is different.

Prashant: What are the similarities and where do you think India differs from Pakistan?

Ayesha: The language is similar. The dressing sense is somewhat similar. To a certain extent the cuisine is also similar. The environment is similar. Values in Pakistan and India are also similar. The difference comes in religion and in the increasing western influence. The area I belong to have some restrictions. Yep. That’s it.

Awais: This is my first visit to India. I have found a lot of things similar to that in Pakistan. According to me our dressing sense, customs and culture are similar. Even religious scenario is similar to a certain extent – there are Hindus there, there are Hindus here. There are Musalmaan there, there are Musalmaan here. The difference lies in the fact that the religions that are in majority here are in minority there and religions that are in majority here are in minority there.

Prashant: So, what are the dissimilarities?

Awais: Dissimilarity lies in the way things are rapidly changing due to western influence. Otherwise, we are 95% similar.

  We are 95% similar.

Prashant: What do people do on weekends there?

Ayesha: On weekends, people like to spend time with their families. People also hangout with their friends and go to hotels. Parties and family functions are also hosted on weekends normally.

Prashant: In Bangalore there is this ‘pub culture’. How prevalent are pubs/discos there?

Ayesha: In Karachi and in Islamabad these things, along with western influence, are developing. But in other parts of Pakistan it is not considered good.

Awais: Only in the big cities, people party on weekends. Otherwise people spend time with their family and relatives. Government employees and other employees do a little household work

Prashant: So, pubs and discos are not considered good there.

Awais: No. Not considered good.

Ayesha: No.

Prashant: In India, cricket and films are religions. People are passionate about them. Is it the same in Pakistan?

Ayesha: Cricket is valued in the same way. Film industry of Pakistan is almost dead. Indian movies are taken seriously. Hollywood movies are also viewed to a certain extent. But, mostly, people are passionate about cricket.

Prashant: During the India-Pakistan semi-finals it was almost ‘bandh’ here. Offices were closed.

Ayesha: Exactly. In Pakistan, big screens were set up to screen the matches.

 Prashant: After 9/11 there is a new term that is floating in the media – ‘Islamic terrorism’. What is your take on this?

Ayesha: Apparently, people who suffered in 9/11 are the ones who started ‘Islamic terrorism’. If anyone brought Osama Bin Laden to Afghanistan, then it was CIA. If anyone supported Taliban, then it was CIA. If 9/11 was done by Taliban, then America reaped whatever they had sowed. If there is something called ‘Islamic Terrorism’ then it is neither initiated by any Islamic scholar nor by any Islamic country. So, you cannot call it ‘Islamic’. It would have been ‘Islamic’ if it were initiated by us. It isn’t Islamic. The super powers, for its own benefits, have twisted the meaning of ‘Islam’ and presented it to the people. Basically, all the extremist/terrorist beliefs are in conflict with Islam; there is no match with Islam.

Awais: I don’t understand, ‘what is Islamic terrorism’? If the Taliban are doing suicide bombing, then my question is: If they are musalmaan, then why do they bomb a masjid? A mazaar? An imam bargah? At this point the biggest problem we have is that there a lot of suicide bombings happening in Pakistan. So, even we don’t know who these people are. According to me they are not musalmaan.

Ayesha: In fact, most of us think they are not musalmaan. Everyone says they are not musalmaan.

Awais: I had attended a national level conference in Islamabad. Pakistan government had arrested some 40 suicide bombers. The scholars who analyzed them were of the opinion that the suicide bombers were totally misguided. And Islam teaches harmony.

Ayesha: Islam actually means

Awais: ‘Salaamati’

Ayesha: ‘Salaamati’ means peace. There is no concept of terrorism in Islam.

If the Taliban are doing suicide bombing, then my question is: 'If they are musalmaan, then why do they bomb a masjid?'

Prashant: What assumptions did you have about South Asia – things that media has fed us with? Did you find any of these assumptions invalid and that the reality is something different?

Ayesha: Like other conferences this conference would also be ‘eat, meet and greet’. I had assumed this. If we have come here, then it’s only as a vacation and a waste of time. After coming here, I realized that it is not really a waste of time. One thing that we gained from here is that we got to know about people and we told people about us. If we have made a lot of friends here, it only means that we have shown a good picture. The seriousness with which each issue is discussed and the kind of speakers that are invited make me believe that the organizers really wanted to do something and the ‘Action Plan’ that we are making makes me believe that something positive is going to come from this conference.

Prashant: In our minds, we always have presumptions about people. This person will be like this and that person will be like that. Like, for Afghanistan, the image is that there is always some or the other bombing happening there. Because this is what we read about them. But after coming here, we got to know that there is life there. Did the image that media created in our minds change in this conference?

Ayesha: I had interacted with the South Asian people before so I was pretty clear. Neither India is what its government portrays nor Nepalis are outcast type of people. I had a good experience with them. They are good and very sincere people. I had also met the Sri Lankans before. This is my first meet with the Bangladeshis. I presumed that the Bangladeshis hated us. And even if they did so, they are not wrong. But after coming here I realized that they have a soft corner for us. This was my first interaction with Maldivians. This is also going great. They are very sweet people.

Awais: I agree with Ayesha. As you said that media portrays a different image, I was asked by people from all countries that everyday there is a bomb-blast in Pakistan then how do you people live? I hope that in the 5-6 days I have spent here, the misconception of people is reduced.

I presumed that the Bangladeshis hated us. And even if they did so, they are not wrong. But after coming here I realized that they have a soft corner for us.

Prashant: Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Bhutto - Benazir Bhutto - four great politicians in their own rights. How do people of Pakistan see them? We’ll take them one at a time. Gandhi?

Awais: We can’t take them one at a time. Benazir Bhutto is after…

Ayesha: She’s not in that league

Awais: Gandhi. Jinnah. Nehru. According to me these were our leaders who fought for our freedom. Initially we freedom from the British. The ‘do qaumi nazaria’ (two nation theory) came later. They fought for the whole ‘Hindustan’ – the concept of Pakistan comes later.

Prashant: Are they looked with the same reverence with which they are in India?

Awais: Absolutely. As I said, ‘do qaumi nazaria’ came later.

Prashant: But the ‘do qaumi nazaria’ came from them. It is said that Gandhi divided India.

Ayesha: Gandhi didn’t divide. Jinnah was in favor of united India and he trusted Gandhi and liked him till the end. Given the way Gandhi struggled for India – and that time we were all one. So, given the way he struggled for us also, he is our hero as well. Nehru was somewhat ‘with’ British. If Pakistan and India got partitioned and there were problems which arose after the partition, then Nehru had a role to play in them. Jinnah is our leader. Jinnah is our hero. It was the need of the hour that we separated and Jinnah realized that before anyone else. So, I appreciate his vision.

Awais: Jinnah is the greatest. As for Gandhi, Gandhi had his own way of doing things. He got his demands fulfilled through ‘aman’ (non-violence). Look at his campaigns. He worked his way through ‘aman’ and without bloodshed.

Ayesha: After the partition also, in the context of sharing resources with Pakistan – where Nehru and British were creating a little problem, Gandhi was the person who protest for Pakistan that it gets its resources. Gandhi, basically, was a person who wasn’t biased and understood the need of the hour. The problems were created by politicians who came after him. If the things were in his and Jinnah’s hand then the relationship would have been very good.

Jinnah was in favor of united India

Prashant: Coming to Benazir Bhutto…

Awais: She was the first female prime minister.

Prashant: What about her assassination? It appeared that she was going to come to power.

Ayesha: First of all, one thing to appreciate about her is that she took over her father’s party at a very crucial time. It was a big thing. At that time, not even in India or in the west, women weren’t strong enough to lead the whole party. What made her a ‘hero’ was not her personal capability. She started off her father’s work. She didn’t create her own identity. The first identity of Benazir Bhutto was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The government of Benazir Bhutto was one of the most corrupt governments of Pakistan. The perception of people is that when she spent her interim time in Dubai, she had changed her mind and she had become better. Maybe, if she would have gotten a chance again she would have been good. But since she didn’t get a chance how can I assume that she was good? As for her assassination… there is some confusion in Pakistan. However, it appears that though her assassination was blamed on Taliban, the current President, her husband, was involved in it. In Pakistan and India and in our region, the government which comes to power is not the one that the  'awaam' wants. The government which comes to power is the one that the super powers want. So, maybe, it was a game. Most probably, it was a game.

The government which comes to power is not the one that the 'awaam' wants. The government which comes to power is the one that the super powers want.

[Stay tuned for more on dictatorship in Pakistan and on 26/11.

If you have any queries regarding lives of aam admi in Pakistan and their view on things, do drop in your question below and I'll try to get them answered. Also note that the above comments are not from any Pakistani government official. They are from common citizens ]

PS: Thanks VikramAdith Raman for suggesting the title of this post and giving inputs on the formatting!

Edited later: The second part of the interview is here

Aruna Shanbaug: It's my life

I am now qualified as a senior citizen. I would have got tax exemption on 2.5 lakh of my salary and concession in the railways as well. But then, things don't always work as planned. Like a lot of senior citizens, I don't earn anything to get any tax exemption. And I don't go anywhere. Nowhere. I have seen people living in the slums of Dharavi where each person gets about 20 sq ft of space to live. I live in almost equal space - the only difference is that I don't move. In fact, I can't move and haven't moved by myself for last 37 years. Some people call me soul. Some call me life. Some call me sub-conscious. A few techies these days even call me the software. I am the 'real person' within the body of the most popular living nurse in India, Aruna Shanbaug. I am the 'red' of the Aruna. I am the 'shaan' of the Shanbaug. I am the the real Aruna Shanbaug.

I was always amazed at the hegemony of the mankind. Man decides which animals to rear and which to kill. Man decides which plants to grow. Man not only decides the fate of plants and animals but also of other people. Today, it was my turn. My fate was to be decided. Whether I would live or die was to be decided by a few people. I didn't commit any crime. On the contrary, I am a victim. But still. They would decide whether I would live or die.

Through all these last 37 years, Pinki has been my best friend. She really cares for me. But one thing that hurts me the most is the pain Pinki is going through. Pinki is in pain because she can't see me suffering through the agony. She can't see me bearing the pain for 37 years. And she fights for a very noble cause - of giving me freedom from my sufferings. These days, while the children send their parents to old-age homes, Pinki has been by my side. I'll be indebted to her throughout my 'life' and beyond - if there's anything after life.

But I am brave. I am full of life. I believe in miracles, science and the divine power. I believe that I will see the light of the day. I'll eat the best of fish and listen to Aamir Khan's 'O palan hare' composed by A R Rahman and written by Javed Akhtar. I believe that the medical science will make enough progress that I would be treated. If not tomorrow, next year. If not next year - after ten years. I want to live.

We consider committing suicide a crime. A person cannot even attempt to take his own life even though he is suffering from insurmountable mental stress. But when it comes to my case - no one even bothered to know what I want - whether I want to live or die. But I can't blame them. How would they know what I want? I have no way to communicate to them that I want to live, that i want to go through this pain and hope that someday I can move by myself. After all, it's the hope that keeps everyone alive and motivates people to persevere. Didn't the "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams" boy who was expelled form school grow up to become Albert Einstein? It is hope. Hope - that made they kept going. I believe that medical science would make enough progress in the next few years that I'll recover. And despite what the doctors say - I have hope and faith that I shall be back. And my wish is that I want to live - live till I can possibly live.

Today a few supreme people on the bench decided my future. I shall live. I don't know if I need to thank them to give me something that is as much mine as anything can get - my life.  But, nevertheless, I'll thank them for not taking away what they could have. It's my life and let me and only me decide what's enough for me and how much I can bear. If I am not able to communicate it to you, please leave me to myself.

Please don't show mercy on me.

Idea: Bag Vouchers

[Acknowledgment:  I got this idea while reading Suman's post - She Said No!]

There is no dearth of awareness, especially among the upwardly mobile youngsters, about the ill effect of plastics. One major use of plastic is in the form of plastic-bags also known as 'chimki', 'cover' or 'polythene bags'. Searching the Internet reveals mind numbing evidences concerning the hazards of plastics. Most urban people know it. However, they are helpless. There is no 'feasible' solution to the problem. Yes, there are a lot of alternatives to using plastic bags - like using cloth/jute bag and paper bag. But they have their own problems. Let's take a look at the reasons which make these eco-friendly bags 'unpopular' and then I'll try to find a solution addressing those problems.

Problem: The most favorable factor for the use of plastic bags is that it is cheap. So, any shopkeeper can give you a complementary plastic bag to carry the purchased item - be it Benarasi Paan or Benarasi Saaree. However, the cost of cloth/jute bag is prohibitively large huge compared to the actual price of the goods bought in case the goods cost less than Rs 100. Unless all the shopkeepers start to stop using plastic bags,  it is not possible for a few eco-conscious  shopkeepers to give cloth/jute bag. Paper bag, on the other hand, is moderately priced but it can bear only very light weight. Also, most of the shopping is done unplanned - so we don't necessarily  carry a cloth bag with us.

Solution: One easy solution to the problem is use of bag vouchers. These vouchers are basically a 'token' for the actual bag. It is similar to sodexho coupons in essence. Just as sodexho coupons can be redeemed for food, the bag vouchers can be redeemed for cloth/jute bags. So, if you go to buy vegetables, you can give the shop owner a bag voucher in exchange of the cloth bag he gives you to keep the vegetables in. The shop keeper can then redeem the coupon for more bags. In this way, the bags can change hands depending on who needs it.

Implementation: There could be many ways of implementing this idea. I would start with a completely private solution. An organization, I'll give it a fictitious name - Wriddhi, wants to implement this idea. It first gets "non-duplicable" vouchers printed. It then distributes cloth bags to different shops. Consumers can buy the vouchers from the Wriddhi office. Now, when they go out and do unplanned shopping, they can redeem the bag voucher, which they bought from Wriddhi and kept in their wallets along with credit card and sodexho coupon, for a cloth bag. If there is too much accumulation of cloth bags, they can exchange it for vouchers at the Wriddhi office. The shop keeper, on the other hand, can exchange the vouchers with bags at the Wriddhi office.

Details and Refinements: Instead of keeping a stock of bags at one place (Wriddhi office), Wriddhi can partner with several NGOs to use them as distribution points. The shopkeeper (and consumers - basically, anyone having a bag-voucher) can redeem the coupon for a bag or exchange bag for coupon or buy new/fresh coupons at these points. The bags could be of many types (or one type based on the implementation) - It could have corporate ads. It could be made from old but strong clothes - this would appeal to people with 'social' bent of mind. Or, it could be just a simple bag. Again, the coupon price could differ based on the size, strength and nature of the material used to make the bags. A designer bag could be more expensive than a jeans bag. Moreover, a bag could be claimed to have reached 'end of life' based on some predefined criteria. Also, the coupon/bag can also 'age' which would reduce its value/voucher. Say, a bag which is of value X can 'age' to a value of X/2 after 6 months' use. The criteria of aging could also be the condition of the bag. Also, Wriddhi could be an NGO, a private company, a govt body or a combination of them.

Challenges: There a lot of challenges in implementing this. The most important challenge is to get a buy-in of the junta. Why should they pay for something they are used to getting free? Why should they take the trouble of buying coupon? Why should the shopkeepers bother to stock the bags? Since the shopkeeper doesn't have to buy the plastic bags, it would reduce the costs - the benefit of which can be passed on, partly, to the customer and partly in maintaining the bags inventory. Since, the customer may get the benefit of reduced cost and get the impression of being "cool" by being eco-conscious, they would not mind to add a few vouchers to their monthly grocery items.

This is just one solution to the problem. There, of course, are huge challenges in implementing this idea.

PS: This is not a business plan. It's just an idea. Do pour in your inputs on it.

All the World's a Stage

Acting is an art - and a tough one at that. How many really good actors have you seen? Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah. Nop, Salmaan Khan is a star and so is Uday Chopra. But, actors don't just work in films. Try looking a little 'local' - Was Pankaj's acting as a jaundice patient any less than Pallavi Joshi's? Wasn't the teacher and even you (despite knowing that he had gone on a holiday) fooled? Didn't Vishwanath act brilliantly in praising his mother-in-law for the food that she prepared which a cat would prefer to terminate all her nine lives to eating that food. Didn't Amin gave an IIFA winning performance when he pushed the bug under the carpet in front of the senior management? And how can we forget Siddhu's brilliant laughter in the Laughter Challenge?

Looking at all these performances day-in-and-day-out i wonder how these people manage to act so well. Acting, indeed, is a gift is blessed with. And what makes it worse is that acting cannot be easily learnt. I have seen people failing miserably to pretend. But, it's not all that gloomy.

With the advent of technology the way we communicate has changed. Communication has become more real-time and online. Imagine that the girl/guy, whom you loved (or had crush for) but never confessed/proposed to, decides to 'go around' with someone else and shares that news with you. In the larger-than-life world of the past you would not only need to be a good actor, but would also need the help of rain to hide your tears and Manpreet Akhtar singing Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayi. And only then would you been able to act and give fake emotions (refresh your memory by visiting the above embedded youtube link). But if it were now, things would have been difference. Rahul Khanna would have emailed Anjali Sharma:

Hi Anjali,

PFA my proposal letter to Tina. I had been loving her in the back burner. But looks like the time is right to propose her. Please review the love letter and let me know your comments

Thanks,

 Rahul Khanna

~ Rahul Khanna ladkiyon ke peechhe nahi bhaagta

 To which Anjali would reply back

Hi Rahul,

The proposal letter looks good. Please go ahead and mail it to her. I am sure she'll accept! All the best. I am happy for you :)


Cheers,
Anjali
~ Rahul is a cheater, he is a cheater.

Simple. Isn't it? The social networking and microblogging tools are not there to make your life difficult. It's not only about learning the new tools and jargon, or unlearning the old ones or re-learning the new versions. It's much more than that.

One fine morning on your Facebook you get an update from a friend informing you that your classmate who used to consistently get lower than fifty percent of your score has got a new job and is getting four times your salary. You immediately send him a 'congratulations!' message with dollops of exclamation marks and choicest of emoticons. Had the friend told it to you face-to-face, it would have been difficult to hide your feelings. Isn't it?

One of your friends applied to the same university you applied to. He manages to clear first few rounds while you beat Agarkar in who-gets-more-ducks game. But then, the friend somehow doesn't clear the final round. He tweets it. You reply back with, again, choicest of emoticons to express how sorry you were. Though, in your heart of hearts, you would be feeling very happy. Imagine if he had told this to you in person! How difficult would it have been to your elation! :(

So, the online tools has, essentially, made acting easy for us. They are giving learn-acting-in-20-days and acting-for-dummies books a tough competition - competition analogous to what CDs are giving to gramophone records. Not because they are easily available on the Internet but because no one really needs it. All a person needs to know to 'act' is the use of emoticons and exclamation marks.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the 'if-you-are-happy-and-you-know' song gets a new avatar to suit the next generation. It would 'sound' something like:

If you're happy and you know it, use ten bangs

If you're happy and you know it, use ten bangs 

If you're happy and you know it,

and you really want to it

If you're happy and you know it, use ten bangs 

 I would leave you with something we have grown up with - Gabbar Singh's laughter in Sholay [the laughter starts at 4:26].




How would have Gabbar said this on his social networking online tool? Simple. He would have said:

lol

 Yep. That's it. Check the following video out if you have any doubts.



Indeed, becoming actor was never so easy. You didn't necessarily have to change your father's name to Yash Chopra. With anyone and everyone becoming an actor, the world has, finally become a stage.

Shakespeare must have done well in futures stock!

Time Travel

Blacki is the most enchanting person of our times. Don't get misguided by his name. Though he justifies his name, that's just too small a feat for him. He has an eye for the next big thing. And so, he opened a travel agency - with a difference. He conducted travels not only in space but also in time.

He charges hefty amount from his travelers.And the popularity of his travel has made him one of the richest men of our times. His USP is backward time travel. It's not theoretically impossible to travel backward in time. But traveling backward has its own challenges. What if the person traveling backward in time kills his grandfather before the birth of his father? Different theories are plugged in to explain such paradoxes. But Blacki is beyond theories. He actually makes time travel possible.

He, however, is racist. Despite being an Indian, he doesn't allow Indians into his time travel. His service is only for the 'Westerners'. So, all I know about the time travel is through the experiences of the few travelers. Description of one such traveler in his own words is given below:

I was taken into a jet airplane shaped time machine. The time machine was dark inside with just a spot light on Blacki. The time machine then started. Our first destination was year 2035. I landed on the terrace of a building. Blacki, then, escorted me to a place resembling army training center where there was a battalion of people all of whom looked exactly alike. They all did the exact same stunt and shot with the same precision. Blacki, then, informed me that this is an army of robots which can be used for detecting landmines, shooting, etc. I was stunned looking at the future in front of my eye. Army of robots!

Blacki now takes me to early 20th century. This time i am at a jungle. I see a burnt body of a girl tied to a tree. I was shocked looking at such primitive act. I asked Blacki about it. He informed me that the women was burnt alive and tied to the tree by her husband and her in-laws on the pretext of dowry. He added that it was in 1961 that dowry was made illegal.

Our next destination was early 16th century. Blacki took me to what appeared like a village. There I saw women doing manual scavenging. Blacki told me that John Harington invented the water closet in 1596. The villagers use dry toilets and do not use the kind of toilets we use in the 21st century. It was obvious that at a time when flush toilets were not invented, people had to manually 'clean' the toilets.

We then went to around 1200 AD. Coming out of the time machine a walking a few steps, we came across a funeral.A couple of people were setting up the pyre for the final right. The pyre was then set on fire. But, then, I couldn't believe what i saw. I saw a lady jumping into the blazing pyre. And in a matter of minutes both of them were ashes. Blacki told me that this is 'sati' system where the wife immolates herself on her husbands pyre.

I was, kind of, depressed by looking at the practices of the past. I asked Blacki to take me to a time where there is festivity and merriment. Blacki took me to a 9th century wedding. I was elated to attend the wedding and savoring the gourmet platter amidst mellifluous music. I asked Blacki if i could meet the bride and the groom. He gave a weird smile and said that as per the travel itinerary we cannot meet anyone in the time-travel. I obliged. After enjoying the wedding as spectators we walked towards the time-machine. On the way, i had a glimpse of the bride and the groom who were surrounded by their relatives. I am not sure what I saw. I saw that the couple looked very young - like children. But then, i couldn't see them properly and pushed the doubt in the darkest corner of my mind. I didn't want the taste of the food to go away.

Finally, the time machine brought me back to 2010. It was an amazing trip, as you can see. Seeing different centuries was an experience in itself. I would strongly recommend the time-travel!

PS: To travel in time, one doesn't need a time machine. One can travel in different parts of India and see different centuries co-exist. Nevertheless, people like Blacki makes money out of cleverly bluffing others.

PPS: Sources of embedded pictures in the order in which they appear are: this, this, this and this respectively.

Railway Budget 2010-11

Imagine an inefficient software which takes more time to do a job than what it commits to take. As a software developer, your solution would probably be to look into where the inefficiency is coming from. Are there some bottlenecks which is taking a lot of CPU cycle? Is a lot of thrashing happening because of memory leaks? Are 'exceptions' happening just too often? Or is there inadequate synchronization between multiple threads?

The developer has two solutions. One is to look at the above issues and see if some optimizations can be done, perhaps by using better algorithms, better thread synchronizations to eliminate bottlenecks, or by redesigning the code. Another is to ship an extra piece of RAM and a better processor chip along with the software. A yet another - third - solution is to live with the issues.

As a developer which one do you think your client would be most satisfied to receive?

Hold that thought. Let's come to the Railway Budget 2010-11. This years budget was comparatively good. Apart from the usual increase in trains, there were some really good initiatives like - installation of bottling plants, pilot on smoke and fire detection, pilot on collision prevention, construct 1000km of rail line, etc. I don't claim to be exhaustive here - as there are umpteen other, probably more significant, provisions in the budget which i have not covered.

But then, India is a democracy.

If you ask an average Indian, what would you want out of railways and he would say - better facilities, more trains and cheaper fares. And that is what the governments have been giving them. This time also, Mamata Banerjee has budget for revamping the stations, creating employment by upgrading various locomotives factories and new trains. This is all very good and much needed.

There is one thing which most of us have taken for granted - delays. Have you ever reached 'on time' while traveling by the Railways? We have learned to plan things accordingly. We assume that a 20-hour journey would be around 3 hours late. Yes, we do get upset if it gets 7 hours late - which, you would agree, is not very uncommon. However a couple of hours here and there are fine. Since, the delay in trains doesn't really bother us, it doesn't really bother the government either.

Budget should be allocated to research on the current railway architecture and redesign it such that the delays in train are minimized. If need be, estimates for the time taken to go from one place to another should be revised - but once done, it should stick to it. Railways was designed by the Britishers. And though more than 90% of their trains run on-time, it's almost the reverse in case of India. The fun part is that i couldn't get hold of any data on the punctuality of Indian railways. All this only goes to say that punctuality of railways is very low on the priority list for the railways.

But efficiency is not low on priority to the software engineer described above. He cannot offer his client a free RAM and CPU to support his inefficient code. He would, rather, go about looking how he can optimize his code to meet the requirements. The same is with Railways. It needs to be punctual and hence efficient.

The advantage of having punctual Railways is manifold. Apart from the customer satisfaction (which no one cares of), the operating costs of Railways would decrease. The usage of resources - water, electricity, platform, etc. - would decrease. And as they say - money saved is money earned. The accidents due to untimely running trains may also decrease. On the other hand, the budget required in the research would not be prohibitive. Human labor in India, unfortunately, is cheap. Getting the right people to look into it should not pose a problem. What is required is a will.

However, it's not an easy task. There are practical problems which would not be easy to address. The fog in some places during the winters is too prohibitive. But i am sure, given the scientific advancement, it is solvable. The naxalites digging up the rail line is also a problem - but it is a different topic all together. Earthquakes and people committing suicide on railways are also challenges in making the railways punctual. But, it's not impossible. It's doable and has been done elsewhere in the world.

In democracy, things do not always work out in a top-down approach. Things work bottom-top. It's only when people start asking for things would they start getting things. We have started becoming more punctual ourselves and become more aware of the importance of punctuality. Having a commitment for working on a financial model for the railways projects in this budget i see light at the end of the tunnel. We will have a punctuality of trains in public debate some day. I am hopeful. Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall have punctual trains some day. 

At the end of the day, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara is Awesome!

[Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Deicider for helping me identify the monuments in the video]

The media is flooded with criticism for Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara video which was first telecast on Zoom, isko dekho. They crib about the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and APJ Abdul Kalam Azad. Yes. Of course they aren't there. Just like Narayan Murthy, Anshu Gupta and Lata Mangeshkar aren't. Let's take the song and try to understand its true meaning.By the end of this post i am sure you will be convinced that it is an amazing advertising concept - first of its kind.

 The videos opens with the concern of India for the environment. The solar panels indicate the India's dedication towards cleaner sources of energy - solar energy being one of them. A. R. Rehman is shown to be playing the fingerboard in front of the solar panels.

The Taj Mahal hotel shows the entrepreneurial feat of India. Build more than a hundred years ago, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai is known for its great architecture and is one of the first luxurious hotels of India. This icon of progressive, modern India witnessed and bore the terrorist attack on 26/11. Amitabh Bachchan is standing in front of this Hotel.

Like most sitcoms on televisions, Phir Mile Sur has a 'break'. In the break Shankar Ehsaan and Loy are shown promoting 'their' music.

The show starts again. For less than 2 sec, they show a temple, a mosque and a church.

Then again you have ad which ends when the Ajanta caves are shown.[ I am not 100% sure if it's Ajanta or Ellora. But given that it's a Buddhist cave and a little less 'greener', I think it's Ajanta cave]. The view of the cave is eclipsed by disturbances popularly known as Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan (or Aishwabhishek or Abhishwarya - analogous to Saifeena and Brangelina). The caves, despite the screen being mostly blocked by the first filial of the first family of Bollywood, showed the artistic and architectural brilliance of India. These disturbances are actually advertisements (of their next as-of-now unnamed movie) shown within the actual content. This is a new concept and something which make Phir Mile Sur truely unique. This is explained in the last paragraph in more details.

The Old-Age home while on one hand show how well we take care of our senior citizens also questions who well we take care of our parents and grand parents. Looks like Mahesh Babu is entertaining the senior citizens.

The beautiful Dal lake followed by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Rahul Sharma with Qutub Minar as the backdrop makes a good sequence.A glimpse of Rohit Bal at the Dal lake indicates the 'progressive' Indian culture. 

Then comes the Golden temple of Amritsar. Gurdas Maan and Juhi Chawla are advertising Shaheed Uddham Singh. This is the same concept of context based imbedded ad described at the end. Zakir Hussain then does what he does the best.

Then comes Bengal and it opens with Kumhar Toli where the idols are being made. The beautiful Jorasanko Thakur Bari, birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore and Vidyasagar Setu, one of the largest cable stayed bridges  are shown next. The image, unfortunately, have 'embedded ads' by bearded Bumba Da (Prosenjit), Shantanu Mukherjee and Rituparana. Bhupen Hazarika does his part in front of a photoshop'd image.

Rajasthani women making solar heaters/cookers not only indicates the advancement on scientific and environmental front but also on the social front. Didn't  you comprehend why is the backdrop lush green. And what is Shilpa Shetty doing here? Shilpa Shetty is advertising sarees! The lush green background is to match with the sarees.

A good attempt to show (at least our desire to have) an inclusive society by showing the specially challenged children playing. Shirtless Salman Khan despite his attire (or lack of it) didn't do as bad as expected.

Then, a few other monuments (which i couldn't recognize) are shown. We again go for a full fledged break. The next ad is of Deepika Padukone's 'uniqueness'. She is, perhaps, also advertising kids' wear and ultra-violet ray reflecting lipstick. Some children lost their sanity seeing her long legs and jumped into the pond and started fighting among each other.

We then have a sequence showing advancement in girl child education. PriChops was also seen around.Perhaps she's lost. Perhaps it's another i-am-also-there types embedded ad. Then, they show communal harmony by showing co-existence of places of worship pertaining to different religions. What I am thinking is why are these monuments made of sand on the sea shore? Does this indicate that the 'co-existence' can be destroyed by the slightest tide? Or, does it indicate that we just need a small tide to wipe out such differences and be on the same shore?

Sarod maestro, Ustad Amzad Ali Khan, and his sons, Amaan and Ayan Ali Bangash are shown infront of Red Fort. Then we do a quick tour of Kerala and the Gujarat.

Then, we again break for ad. We see ads of Roland and Shaimak Dawar dance classes. Aamir Khan comes up with his branding building ad. Sonu Nigam shows off his singing talents by overdoing every bit of it. Looks like this ad is created by Alyque Padamsee - at least Sonu Nigam puts on Padmsee's look. Shahid Kapoor then advertises that he doesn't always imitate SRK. Ranbir Kapoor advertises that he's ready to do some serious roles. SRK shows how well he can overact even after drinking a couple of bottles of Signature. SRK is followed by Karan Johar who is the only full time director to buy a small ad slot.

The ads end. Phir Mile Sur resumes and does the 1988's Mile Sur sequences. Sportspersons, Military, NDA and then the customary Indian tricolor.

Phir Mile Sur, as you can now very well see, is not all that bad. It uses some awesome advertising technique to raise funds. The actual Phir Mile Sur is only a few minutes and not 16 minutes. The rest is ad. Phir Mile Sur has taken heavily from Google's Adsense. Just like Google provides context specific ads which the webmasters cleverly inserts in the webpage so that it difference between the ad and the actual content is not aparent - Phir Mile Sur inserts these ads by Bollywood celebs seamless into the video. Some websites are nothing but a collection of Google Ads. Phir Mile Sur is not very different. In fact, Phir Mile Sur is not only inspired by YouTube but it also takes it to the next level. YouTube videos have ads 'on' it at the bottom of the video. These ads can be closed. This was not very profitable feature as most users closed the ads to see the video in full. Phir Mile Sur has embedded ads within the video. Hence you see Abhishek Bachchan ad infront of the Ajanta Caves.With this merging of ads with the actual content makes it impossible for viewer to 'close' it. In fact, it's so well edited that the viewer is almost never aware of when an ad starts and when it ends - unless he uses his imagination or reads Mundane Journey.

Let's make no mistake. Phir Mile Sur has nothing to do with national integration. Phir Mile Sur,  is a pioneering work in technology and business strategy. It gave birth to the new concept of embedded ad. Believe me. This is just the beginning. We'll have more such embedded ad videos in future.

Lessons from TJY for NGOs

[Disclaimer: This article is based on my personal views on the Tata Jagriti Yatra 2009. Nothing mentioned in this post should be considered official. Also, this is not written in the usual Mundane Journey style. This post is, basically, collation of various emails i had written to the members of my NGO, Vriddhi. ]

It's been close to month since i wrote. Actually, i was on the Tata Jagrity Yatra 2009-10. In this 18 day's trip we traveled some 9300 km across the length and breadth of the country meeting some 13 entrepreneurs. More information about the trip can be found in the blogs of other 'yatris' and at http://www.jagritiyatra.com. During the trip we met some outstanding entrepreneurs and got to know about some outstanding social ventures - Mumbai Dabbawalas, Sabriye&Paul, Vijay Raghaavan, R. Elanago, Aravind Eye Care, Agastya, Industree, Naandi, Gram Vikas, Jagriti Seva Sansthan, Goonj, Bunker Roy and Okhai. While meeting these great 'institutions' was a great experience, experiencing the Tata Jagriti Yatra was a greater learning - perhaps because while we visited these great institutions for a few hours, we lived and worked with the TJY for 18 days. Below are the lessons i have learned from the TJY and how these can be adapted by a start-up NGO.

1. Marketing: If there is single most important thing to running a social enterprise (in addition to the cause) is MARKETING. After the Yatra, i think, i cannot overstate the importance of Marketing. A good marketing is like a positive feedback cycle. If one's marketing is good, it will attract more volunteers. More often than not, people want to volunteer with 'brands'. Given the number of NGOs mushrooming, the volunteers are spoiled for choices and for obvious reasons they want to associate themselves with 'brand'.  So, if the marketing is good, more volunteers would want to join the NGO and this would help in building a better brand . The same logic holds for funds as well. Funders/Donors/Corporates like to give funds to brands so that it gets publicity. So, the more fund an NGO gets the more good work (and branding) it can do and the more funds it can attract.

Theory being laid out, let's see how Tata Jagriti Yatra does it. This yatra, in its present avatar is just 2 years old. But look at the brand name it has created for itself! First they roped in Tata. This, I would say, was because of their own conviction, their idea is unique and a host of other factors.

Once that was done. They got a Jagriti Yatra song composed by Prasoon Joshi, Adesh Srivastav and Babul Supriyo! Then, they got in a professional choreographer (in this case the Chairman's wife) to choreograph the 'chair version' of the song. Check the last year's version out at http://www.youtube.com/user/jagritiyatra2008#p/u/1/fv21Q8biPJw. [This year's choreography is a little different, but this would give a basic idea of what i am talking about]. We performed this 'dance' after every role-model visit. To me, this was a great stretching exercise after listening to the rolemodel for a couple of hours.  This anthem was also used as wake-up call! The point i am trying to make is that this anthem was not only a binding material but also a branding tool. The dance looked very weird to me in the first instance. I had never seen something like it before. And given a choice, i would have never done it. BUT, when you see ALL the organizers doing it 'sincerely' with grace, happiness and love - the steps didn't matter and it became a representation of our feelings. The lesson learned, here, is that we need to believe in and enjoy what we are doing. Only then would others enjoy.

Apart from the song, branding was done everywhere. TJY T-shirts. TJY bags. These really helped. First, when 400 odd people go out wearing the merchandise, TJY gets instant publicity. Second, it helps in connecting - Like, i was sitting in the airport and saw a lady with TJY bag. Immediately we could connect. Marketing and brand building  was there in every little thing they did. They organized a blogging competition for the Yatris. This way they got a lot of content, publicity, etc. Giving the yatris an opportunity to blog was a good way for the yatris to not only share there experiences but also to 'fix' them in their memories.

It's basically, a win-win game for all the stakeholders. Everyone gains from the marketing techniques TJY employed.

A lot of small NGOs can take some lessons from here. At least, we at Vriddhi, are really inspired. It's doesn't take a lot of investments to make a facebook group or an Orkut community. Also, since we all anyways wear T-Shirts, caps, it makes sense to market your NGO through it. And give these merchandise as gifts should you need to give one. Creating an NGO anthem would also go a long way. One doesn't necessarily have to get big names do the anthem. A lot of yatris, created a song for the role-models we visited. Just ask your otherwise unruly neighbor who disturbs you with his guitar. He would be more than happy to create a song for you.

2. Scale: Another lesson learned from the TJY was that SCALE is very important. Let me start with a few examples.

Naandi Foundation is serving mid day meal to thousands of school in various parts of India. The 'function' of Naandi in the mid-day meal is similar to TCS or Infosys. Mid-day meal is a central government scheme and govt has outsourced the work to Naandi. So, the govt pays Naandi and does the work. Fair enough. But, if you try to think how could Naandi get such a contract from the govt, it would appear impossible. Manoj Kumar, CEO of Naandi foundation said that the government outsourced them the work because of 'scale'. Had they gone to govt. saying that we'll do the mid-day meal for 50 schools, govt would have turned them down. Another advantage of scale is efficiency. As per Kumar, out of Rs 100, Rs 97 reaches the beneficiary. Food for a lot of schools is prepared in a centralized kitchen from where it is distributed to different schools. such centralized approach which is highly efficient wouldn't have been feasible without scale.

Let me go back to my favorite role model - The TJY itself. Taking 400 youngsters is a huge responsibility in itself and very difficult from management perspective. However, the effectiveness of the trip wouldn't have been there had the train not been chartered. And to charter a whole train you need volume. 400 is an optimal number in that respect. The point I am trying to make is that in today's business or social sector, one cannot remain small. Scaling up and expanding is nothing but survival. You need to attain a critical mass.

3. Fun: Another thing which i saw in TJY was fun. Fun was part and parcel of the life for the 18 days. We had 3 explicit dance parties! When we started from Mumbai Central, the train was delayed by some 5 hours. The Yatris and the admin, instead of cribbing took this opportunity to network and socialize by having fun.We had a group of yatris singing to a guitar when Swapnil, from the admin, came and joined and entertained the yatris with his strums. Then, there was this other group who was busy learning rubik's cube while there we others busy chatting away. Whether it's train delays, bus rides, new year or Mithapur. The people didn't leave a single opportunity to have fun. Here, I should emphasize on the platform that the admin had given to the yatris for having fun. And while partying - everyone was alike - the yatris and the admin.

Apart from the all-work-and-no-play, 'Fun' has manifold implications. First, since the trip was for 18 day and with almost 400 unknown people, a fun-less trip would have made it impossible for the yatris to go on especially when the climates and amenities are so uncertain. Second, this made the 400 yatris enthusiastic - the enthusiasm which lasts even after  the trip. This enthusiasm would cause the yatris to speak about it, tweet it and blog it. The reason i am blogging about the yatra, perhaps, is the fun i had there! Third, and probably the most important, implication is that a lot of yatris would go back as volunteers for the next yatra!

Small NGOs face a problem of retaining their volunteer base. Perhaps large NGOs also face it. One way to solving this is to add a lot of 'fun' activities for the volunteers. Please key in any low-cost-high-impact fun activities you could think of for the volunteers in the comments section.

 There are many other big-small things i have learned form the Yatra. I may post my personal learnings in case i find that the readers would find it interesting.

[Note: There are a lot of other, perhaps, more important things for start-up NGOs such as - product design, devising a good model, multiple sources of funds, etc. But. from my personal experience, there is a consensus about the importance of these. However, there is negative or neutral inclination towards the things i talked about above.] 

Cheers!
Yaaron Chalon...

State Of The Art

[ This post is written in the light of the domino effect of  the proposed Andhra Pradesh split. ]

It’s 2012. The earth doesn’t seem to be ending any soon. Sameer is watching KBC which is being hosted by Abhishek Bachchan. On the hot seat is Rita. Abhishek is asking her the next question:

Which is the largest state of India?

A. Bhowanipur
B. Khairatabad
C. C V Raman Nagar
D. Goa

Rita, after a lot of considerations, says – D. Goa. Abhishek Bachchan asks if he could lock that answer. Rita confirms. Just then, Abhishek breaks for commercial ads.

First Commercial Ad: It shows a mother worried about her child’s poor memory. He couldn’t answer the only question in the Geography test – Name the states of India. The teacher then recommends drinking GarLicks, a malt drink. After drinking it, the memory of the boy improved. On the first day itself he could answer question like – name the neighboring states of T-Nagar, which was in Chennai once upon a time. And after drinking the health drink for 100 days, he could remember the names of 50% of the states.

Sameer thinks that the time allocated to ads is unreasonably high. He uses this time to send reminder STD texts to his classmates for the inter-state cricket match they will have on the next day in their school compound after the class. Thankfully, all mobile phone operators have made the STD and local rates equal for both voice call and SMS.

Sameer, then, turns to his computer and reads a blog on Mundane Journey on the increase in the percentage of GDP spent on the government employees and ministers in the last three years. Just then he heard noise on the National Highway passing adjacent to his house. There were two groups of people fighting for the ownership of the water from the tube-well which supposedly fell at the boarder of the two newly formed states.

Sameer’s father asks him about the noise on the road. Sameer tells him the story. His father, who was once the Durga Puja committee president and now the chief minister of the state, gets worried and goes down to look into the matter.

Sameer’s attention is drawn to the television set again.

Next Commercial ad: The ad is of a product called Slays. It’s is a special snack which can be had during fasts. The catch line of the product is – Slays. So that you can become CM without pain.


KBC resumes. Abhishek welcomes the audience back. He recapitulates the question and the answer Rita gave. The background music adds to the suspense. He, then, says:

Sahi Jawab!