It has been quite a long time since I scribbled something here....
It was very busy time for last -4 months....
I was wondering how could people multitasking so efficiently? I know some of my friends who regularly write blogs, or do something other than routine work...
People are dancing in stage shows,signing in competitions, writing and releasing books....
Is it because of their exteme willingness and desire to pursue something additional(some how I feel like not calling it as passion) or is it another way of utilizing their free time????
I don't have answers but would like hear from somebody who might have tried exploring answers to above questions!! Any body listening??????????????
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Sofwtare Dev Life Cycle--Practically Explained
I just came across picture explaining harsh realities of Software development....
This was it....
Thursday, July 06, 2006
A fictitious Interview
I just came across an interview excerpt which looked credible at the first look but later refuted by Mr Pai himself.....
These kinds of mendacious interviews put alot of presssure on company management and also act as great lobby tool for their propenents!!!!!
An fictitious Interview with Mr. Mohandas Pai
Infosys, a stalwart in its sphere is exponentially expanding its clutches on the entire globe. The so called company, known for its Omni potential caliber is striving for this stride with huge recruitments. But the compensation dream of the young blood is becoming its predicament. The company believes that the growth can be leveraged by only providing the clients with the best quality services, low cost force and the paramount industry standards. But the young hands want to talk in only money. Our correspondent Mr. V.R. Pillai talked to the leaders of this organization on this subject.
VRP: Today we are going to meet one of the most influential leaders of our country, Mr. Mohandas Pai, HR-Head, Infosys. We will discuss about the attrition and the retention of young blood in Infosys which is becoming a colossal concern towards its progress.
VRP: After the completion of 25 years in this so called IT industry, how do you foresee the Infosys’ future?
Pai: Our fundamentals are the atomic dogmas for a business growth. And that is the reason, we believe, have reached this acme in a quarter century. Our fundamentals are very rational and very strong. The founders, directors and the stakeholders are the perfect example of the present society. And so, we are fusing the same energy to our budding employees to take the responsibility to move forward with more stability.
VRP: But the history reveals that the Infosys believe in supreme client delight but not in even employee satisfaction. How do you look into this?
Pai: I’m sorry to say that your records are not as per our history. We agree that the attrition rate in Infosys is very high but it is very less compared to the average IT sector. We are providing them the world-class facilities here in a developing country so that they will never be deprived of certain amenities that they have only thought of. We also believe that the apposite growth of a human being depends upon the ethics, culture and the environment he/she works and lives. And I can proudly claim that our company is only some of those few such organizations which provide such facilities.
VRP: So, you mean your corporation doesn’t believe in higher compensations but providing a rational allowance in both physical currency and luxurious facilities. Is it so?
Pai: Our finance department, where I also served as CFO for certain years, looks into the current market demands and the potential needed for the company to leverage its growth. And I believe that the department is doing it work very well and hence, we are always ahead of the market compensation. And so, there is no question in under-valuation of our compensational reviews.
VRP: Ok…let me ask you a straight question. Why did you stop ESOPs in 2002?
Pai: Our Company is growing in an exponential degree and so, the number of employees. It is not possible for the company to provide such services to the employee in such situations.
VRP: But isn’t it a discrimination to the newer employees?
Pai: Let me clarify it in this way. The ESOPs provided earlier was like a gift to the employee whenever he or she completed certain years. And now, since the number of employees is increasingly becoming more and more, it is not possible for the company to do so. We are looking for an alternative to make them happy. Please take a notice that it was not our obligation to grant ESOPs but our endowment to the employees. There is no point of discrimination. This word is inappropriate in this moment.
VRP: OK let me also reframe the question. How will the company satisfy the newer employees?
Pai: Since the attrition rates are on zenith, our boards of directors are thinking of certain solutions for the same and have also agreed on certain keys.
VRP: If it is not against the company policy, can you please elucidate it?
Pai: The board of directors has agreed on re-instating the ESOPs for the senior employees so that they can be retained.
VRP: So how can it be helpful for the newer employees who make up your major chunk?
Pai: They will also be eligible for the same, if they will also complete certain years. So, if they will complete two years in the company, they will be eligible for certain shares and it will go more further as they will be with company for more years.
VRP: So, you mean that the more the years, the more the shares.
Pai: Exactly true.
VRP: OK let me ask another very interesting question. Infosys have already announced gift for its investors and stake holders by giving them dividend and bonus. What are you thinking for the 25th year gift for your employees?
Pai: That’s a secret. We give them surprises and they like surprises.
VRP: So, you are giving them some gift?
Pai: That is for sure. After all, they are the people who made us achieved the $2bn mark and silver jubilee. They are the main conquerors.
VRP: One just question, is it going to be laptop?
Pai: As I said, it’s a secret. And even the employees will also come to know it in the same day. But one thing I can promise you is that it will be a blast for them.
VRP: That will be definitely going to bring smile on many faces, I believe.
VRP: OK Thank you Mr. Pai. It’s very nice talking to you and knowing your strategies to retain the talent. So, we end up here in our discussion with Mr. Mohandas Pai, HR Head Infosys. Thank you very much to all.
These kinds of mendacious interviews put alot of presssure on company management and also act as great lobby tool for their propenents!!!!!
An fictitious Interview with Mr. Mohandas Pai
Infosys, a stalwart in its sphere is exponentially expanding its clutches on the entire globe. The so called company, known for its Omni potential caliber is striving for this stride with huge recruitments. But the compensation dream of the young blood is becoming its predicament. The company believes that the growth can be leveraged by only providing the clients with the best quality services, low cost force and the paramount industry standards. But the young hands want to talk in only money. Our correspondent Mr. V.R. Pillai talked to the leaders of this organization on this subject.
VRP: Today we are going to meet one of the most influential leaders of our country, Mr. Mohandas Pai, HR-Head, Infosys. We will discuss about the attrition and the retention of young blood in Infosys which is becoming a colossal concern towards its progress.
VRP: After the completion of 25 years in this so called IT industry, how do you foresee the Infosys’ future?
Pai: Our fundamentals are the atomic dogmas for a business growth. And that is the reason, we believe, have reached this acme in a quarter century. Our fundamentals are very rational and very strong. The founders, directors and the stakeholders are the perfect example of the present society. And so, we are fusing the same energy to our budding employees to take the responsibility to move forward with more stability.
VRP: But the history reveals that the Infosys believe in supreme client delight but not in even employee satisfaction. How do you look into this?
Pai: I’m sorry to say that your records are not as per our history. We agree that the attrition rate in Infosys is very high but it is very less compared to the average IT sector. We are providing them the world-class facilities here in a developing country so that they will never be deprived of certain amenities that they have only thought of. We also believe that the apposite growth of a human being depends upon the ethics, culture and the environment he/she works and lives. And I can proudly claim that our company is only some of those few such organizations which provide such facilities.
VRP: So, you mean your corporation doesn’t believe in higher compensations but providing a rational allowance in both physical currency and luxurious facilities. Is it so?
Pai: Our finance department, where I also served as CFO for certain years, looks into the current market demands and the potential needed for the company to leverage its growth. And I believe that the department is doing it work very well and hence, we are always ahead of the market compensation. And so, there is no question in under-valuation of our compensational reviews.
VRP: Ok…let me ask you a straight question. Why did you stop ESOPs in 2002?
Pai: Our Company is growing in an exponential degree and so, the number of employees. It is not possible for the company to provide such services to the employee in such situations.
VRP: But isn’t it a discrimination to the newer employees?
Pai: Let me clarify it in this way. The ESOPs provided earlier was like a gift to the employee whenever he or she completed certain years. And now, since the number of employees is increasingly becoming more and more, it is not possible for the company to do so. We are looking for an alternative to make them happy. Please take a notice that it was not our obligation to grant ESOPs but our endowment to the employees. There is no point of discrimination. This word is inappropriate in this moment.
VRP: OK let me also reframe the question. How will the company satisfy the newer employees?
Pai: Since the attrition rates are on zenith, our boards of directors are thinking of certain solutions for the same and have also agreed on certain keys.
VRP: If it is not against the company policy, can you please elucidate it?
Pai: The board of directors has agreed on re-instating the ESOPs for the senior employees so that they can be retained.
VRP: So how can it be helpful for the newer employees who make up your major chunk?
Pai: They will also be eligible for the same, if they will also complete certain years. So, if they will complete two years in the company, they will be eligible for certain shares and it will go more further as they will be with company for more years.
VRP: So, you mean that the more the years, the more the shares.
Pai: Exactly true.
VRP: OK let me ask another very interesting question. Infosys have already announced gift for its investors and stake holders by giving them dividend and bonus. What are you thinking for the 25th year gift for your employees?
Pai: That’s a secret. We give them surprises and they like surprises.
VRP: So, you are giving them some gift?
Pai: That is for sure. After all, they are the people who made us achieved the $2bn mark and silver jubilee. They are the main conquerors.
VRP: One just question, is it going to be laptop?
Pai: As I said, it’s a secret. And even the employees will also come to know it in the same day. But one thing I can promise you is that it will be a blast for them.
VRP: That will be definitely going to bring smile on many faces, I believe.
VRP: OK Thank you Mr. Pai. It’s very nice talking to you and knowing your strategies to retain the talent. So, we end up here in our discussion with Mr. Mohandas Pai, HR Head Infosys. Thank you very much to all.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Shakespeare Sarani
Kolkatta is full of interesting Streets names..
U can find streets named on famous Bengali personalities from past, one of the few cities in India where u can get to know names of many communist personalities, and ofcourse many English Names along with their changed names to satisfy politicians..
One of the name that I found intersting was Shakespeare Sarani.. What amused me was lyrical name, and uniqueness. U generally encounter xyz marg or xyz road in India. But "Sarani" is unique and quite popular in Kolkatta. The other interesting piece is that name of street based on writers name is testimony of Bengal's rich heritage of Art and Literature.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
The World is Flat
I have just finished the famous book "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas Freidman. http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/worldisflat.htm
I was waiting for long time to read the tome on the best guide to Outsourcing and India in recent past and most importantly you can find "Infosys" word or reference to Infosys in every alternate page...Being an infoscion myself, that was the biggest driver to read.
There has never been such prolific writing on Outsourcing and globalization with so many references to Infosys.
By the way you can find the book in all Infosys Libraries. You will get recommendation for reading the same from most of Infosys Delivery Unit and IBU(Integrated Business Unit) heads.
I remember that I first decided to read it when my IBU's head recommended the same during his visit our development centre.
Thomas(Tom) begins the book with his Bangalore visit and discussions with Nandan Nilekani(http://www.infosys.com/about/nandan_nilekani.asp). This book is all about transition that globalization has created which is fueling the outsourcing trends, increasing penetration of new companies in developing countries and companies from developing countries into developed countries, all factors which are transforming world from round to flat putting every other employee and company face to face with each other to compete with each other.
He begins with how Indian IT companies, and BPOs, the outsourcing champions are transforming the way business is done. He goes on to establish how the trend is irreversible and enumerates number of examples how outsourcing in good for America as well as India, China, Russia and Eastern Europe. You can find the phrase "Indian, Chinese, Russians, Poles" umpteen times in 400 page book.
He substantiates his points with numerous discussions that he had with CEOs of Indian IT companies like Nandan, Jerry Rao of Mphasis, and Vivek Paul of Wipro etc... Indian academicians, Indian researches, Indian born Venture capitalists etc.. You will be surprised to find mention of so many Indians in Nonfiction book of a patriotic American.... You will be surprised why I am terming Tom as patriotic because in middle and end of book, he becomes a lecturer who teaches what Americans should do to be on the leading edge of technology curve. He vehemently castigates Americans for complacency that has set in last 10-15 years.
I was surprised not to read much on Infrastructure problems at Bangalore although he spent lot of time during his stay while he was making documentary for Discovery Channel.
Interesting portions of book include the 10 flatteners which caused Flattening of world, Praise for Indian IT industry from bottom of his heart, nice insight into Chinese Manufacturing and interesting piece of data on increasing American complacency and declining interest in society towards science and technology education.
I found an interesting story on "Inscouring" on UPS, www.ups.com a logistics giant which has mind boggling 270 planes for transporting goods and freight. The book becomes a bit boring in end when he discusses the UnFlat World in detail like Al Qaeda and America, corrupt monarchies of Arab states which have become hurdles in the biggest transformation after Industrial Revolution.
In Toto, a nice read if you are interested in Outsourcing trends, or you belong to IT Fraternity or just want to read some good stuff on story of World becoming flat.
I was waiting for long time to read the tome on the best guide to Outsourcing and India in recent past and most importantly you can find "Infosys" word or reference to Infosys in every alternate page...Being an infoscion myself, that was the biggest driver to read.
There has never been such prolific writing on Outsourcing and globalization with so many references to Infosys.
By the way you can find the book in all Infosys Libraries. You will get recommendation for reading the same from most of Infosys Delivery Unit and IBU(Integrated Business Unit) heads.
I remember that I first decided to read it when my IBU's head recommended the same during his visit our development centre.
Thomas(Tom) begins the book with his Bangalore visit and discussions with Nandan Nilekani(http://www.infosys.com/about/nandan_nilekani.asp). This book is all about transition that globalization has created which is fueling the outsourcing trends, increasing penetration of new companies in developing countries and companies from developing countries into developed countries, all factors which are transforming world from round to flat putting every other employee and company face to face with each other to compete with each other.
He begins with how Indian IT companies, and BPOs, the outsourcing champions are transforming the way business is done. He goes on to establish how the trend is irreversible and enumerates number of examples how outsourcing in good for America as well as India, China, Russia and Eastern Europe. You can find the phrase "Indian, Chinese, Russians, Poles" umpteen times in 400 page book.
He substantiates his points with numerous discussions that he had with CEOs of Indian IT companies like Nandan, Jerry Rao of Mphasis, and Vivek Paul of Wipro etc... Indian academicians, Indian researches, Indian born Venture capitalists etc.. You will be surprised to find mention of so many Indians in Nonfiction book of a patriotic American.... You will be surprised why I am terming Tom as patriotic because in middle and end of book, he becomes a lecturer who teaches what Americans should do to be on the leading edge of technology curve. He vehemently castigates Americans for complacency that has set in last 10-15 years.
I was surprised not to read much on Infrastructure problems at Bangalore although he spent lot of time during his stay while he was making documentary for Discovery Channel.
Interesting portions of book include the 10 flatteners which caused Flattening of world, Praise for Indian IT industry from bottom of his heart, nice insight into Chinese Manufacturing and interesting piece of data on increasing American complacency and declining interest in society towards science and technology education.
I found an interesting story on "Inscouring" on UPS, www.ups.com a logistics giant which has mind boggling 270 planes for transporting goods and freight. The book becomes a bit boring in end when he discusses the UnFlat World in detail like Al Qaeda and America, corrupt monarchies of Arab states which have become hurdles in the biggest transformation after Industrial Revolution.
In Toto, a nice read if you are interested in Outsourcing trends, or you belong to IT Fraternity or just want to read some good stuff on story of World becoming flat.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
1 Crore Salary figure
Shilpa Bajoria and the other 3 guys must on cloud nine after their unprecedented performance in Placements at ISB. How these guys must be feeling at this moment????? It’s hard to imagine what must be going through their minds during and after placements... I saw her and One of Prof's interview on India TV. Though Prof and Deputy Dean was not at all fluent in Hindi, This lady was speaking impeccable Hindi in her melodious voice (might have played a major role during placement interview).
Few Points on whole story:
The figure of $233000 was translated in 1 crore by all media channels and even ISB on their website(http://www.isb.edu/media/PressReleaseDetails.asp?ReleaseId=93&ItemId=98) This direct conversion of dollars in Rupees is not at all right because of difference in cost of living and difference in purchasing power parity.(You buy a sandwich for your lunch at 5$ doesn't mean that you are spending Rs200 for your lunch.). Media and definitely ISB should have refrained from quoting figures in Rupees.
The domestic avg is around 11 lakh rupees and growth of domestic salary was just 18%. This makes ISB still very much comparable with IIMs in spite of the avg work ex stands at 5.5 years at ISB versus avg 1 yr at IIM(A), But Nevertheless a great performance.
Placements @ ISB prove that they are able attract best talent and clearly they have set the fight with IIMS in clear Terms.
With Hullabaloo on Reservation is on, ISB is continuing to make strides and is busy setting itself as one of best Management Institutes in world which churns out Management graduates trained under context of developing economies.
Employers will hard to find the best combination of glocal knowledge at any other Institute than ISB.
Let's wait for year to see the trends becoming permanent.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Not so Ceremonious Exits...
Last Night, we organized a Farewell party for one of my colleague as he is leaving us and joining another IT company in his home city.
I was just thinking that how organizations deal with Attrition (termed purely germinated because of IT industry), I have a feeling that companies tend to treat attrition as bad thing, although it’s quite rampant in IT industry and is kind of a norm... and why shud companies not treat this bad thing? Lot of money is invested in growth of a resource in company. Companies invest a lot in terms of grooming, Training, H1B costs etc.
But things become wrong when the person who is resigning is considered as "traitor". I know I am using a very strong word. But this is what reality is. But they forget to think that outflow is a normal phenomenon as inflow particularly is growing knowledge industries like us.
Resignations should put Management into a retrospective mood as they need to find out logic and reasons behind people leaving company. They need to have a questionnaire (with questions on reasons of resignation etc) which must be filled up by person resigning the company. This process will mount the data, which can be digged and various employee retention and Management policies can be framed after all for a concrete steps towards effective employee mgmt, right data is prerequisite.
Most importantly, employees who resign and opt for exit should be given a ceremonious farewell and it should be made a point that the person will always be welcome with updated and renewed knowledge base with which he/she be returning back to former company....
Here HR and immediate line managers play a very important role in opening the gates for the person in future...
Hope to see more Ceremonious exits in future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 12, 2006
A visit to Nandan Kanan
Last day, I had a chance to visit Nandan Kanan (NK) (Open Zoo + Botanical Garden). It was a very pleasant weather with cool breeze and a little drizzle... Weather set the mood for an excellent visit...
I had been planning to visit Nandan kanan since I had to Bhubaneswar. But somehow the visit didn't work out till the last day...These days; people prefer to go either to Beaches or to hang out in City... But hardly people visit places like zoo...
I along with Sanchit, (one of best IT professional I know in industry) reached NandanKanan (NK) at around 2pm....We were praying through out the bike ride that It should not rain...and Rain god heard us and he spared our visit with rains...
To my surprise There were lots of people visiting NK, mostly Bongs (famous for their Tourism habits), people from interior Orissa with rural background unlike urbane guys like us..... NK is 40-50 years old habitation and is really big... I guess it was recognized as Zoo of National importance in 1960s. Last year I had been to Antwerp Zoo. www.zooantwerpen.be/ . See pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/anshuman_jai ), In comparison to Antwerp Zoo, NK is very big and very dirty.... We Indians have habit of dirty habitations...and we hardly care what it means for animals (most of them are endangered).
First on the list was Orangutan our fore father, It was the cutest animal I saw at NK. It was sitting very far from the enclosure. To our surprise he started walking, towards congregation of people and started waving towards us... What was that???? We were utterly surprised.... we got the answer in few seconds... A guy threw an alpenliebe (candy) towards Orang who was waiting for it. Orang opened the candy and started eating it... Then I realized that Orang has got habituated of getting food items from ppl... But sad part is that it is prohibited for people to carry food items and still they carry it due to lesser civic sense and slothful zoo authorities who hardly take care of the rules which have been set by themselves....
We saw snakes , fish in aquarium(not a good collection) , group of foreign birds like pelicans, swans etc... The biggest attraction was seeing The Great Indian Bengal Tiger and Majestic White Tiger.... I was seeing the white Tiger for the first time (although I hail from land of White Tiger)... http://www.seemyindia.com/madhya-pradesh/madhya-pradesh-history.htm they were looking restless and starving in Big enclosures. At every enclosure the daily diet was written... 12 kgs of Buffalo Meat etc for a Tiger... I am 100% sure that they don't get the desired diet every day...
I tell you an interesting story behind naming of zoo as "Nandan Kanan". Nandan was Tiger and Kanan was a Tigress. It's mentioned on an enclosure as Kanan enclosure where Kanan jumped and crossed the enclosure to meet her boyfriend (Nandan). She sacrificed her freedom to stay with her boy friend in an enclosure...........There after she lived and died in the same enclosure after spending and seeing her cubs and cub’s cubs grow.....Hence in remembrance of evergreen love of a Tiger and Tigress, the zoo was named after them.... Interesting isn't it??
You can go fromNK to Botanical Garden on ropeway. We also tried a ride on ropeway. It was good experience seeing the lake separating the Botanical Garden and NK below us with people enjoying boating..... We reached the Botanical garden on ropeway and there we were supposed to get down..... But again a new surprise was waiting for us, the ropeway didn’t stop and we were on our way back to NK... On querying the ropeway managers we could get to know that it’s second Saturday and Botanical garden is closed today.... I can’t fathom when we would learn that places like Zoos, Museums, and parks can be visited by people on Weekends and holidays.... and not on Weekdays... Still we have Govt. holidays on Second and third Saturdays....We need to learn and inculcate best practices and government governance (coined the term on lines of corporate governance). We are best in abusing Angrez but we are still continuing the legacies of British because we lack independent thinking in India....
We moved and saw various breeds of deer and antelopes... We moved on crossing toy train tracks.... We were bit exhausted and sat near the lake, eating the green mangoes picked by Sanchit from Mango Trees with many couples around us who were enjoying the breeze and pursuing their romantic discussions...... and Sanchit and I were discussing the whether Picking Mangoes is an act of vandalism or not....
I swear its one of the best place to spend time with ur girl/boy friend in Bhubaneswar!!!!
We spent and 3 hrs in Zoo and were on our way to go back to home... We Came outside the zoo ate 11 aalo vadaas (locals call them aalo chop) and 3 Tea from nearby stall and started riding back to home after spending an excellent trip to Nandan kanan.
Visit http://www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/nandan.htm
I had been planning to visit Nandan kanan since I had to Bhubaneswar. But somehow the visit didn't work out till the last day...These days; people prefer to go either to Beaches or to hang out in City... But hardly people visit places like zoo...
I along with Sanchit, (one of best IT professional I know in industry) reached NandanKanan (NK) at around 2pm....We were praying through out the bike ride that It should not rain...and Rain god heard us and he spared our visit with rains...
To my surprise There were lots of people visiting NK, mostly Bongs (famous for their Tourism habits), people from interior Orissa with rural background unlike urbane guys like us..... NK is 40-50 years old habitation and is really big... I guess it was recognized as Zoo of National importance in 1960s. Last year I had been to Antwerp Zoo. www.zooantwerpen.be/ . See pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/anshuman_jai ), In comparison to Antwerp Zoo, NK is very big and very dirty.... We Indians have habit of dirty habitations...and we hardly care what it means for animals (most of them are endangered).
First on the list was Orangutan our fore father, It was the cutest animal I saw at NK. It was sitting very far from the enclosure. To our surprise he started walking, towards congregation of people and started waving towards us... What was that???? We were utterly surprised.... we got the answer in few seconds... A guy threw an alpenliebe (candy) towards Orang who was waiting for it. Orang opened the candy and started eating it... Then I realized that Orang has got habituated of getting food items from ppl... But sad part is that it is prohibited for people to carry food items and still they carry it due to lesser civic sense and slothful zoo authorities who hardly take care of the rules which have been set by themselves....
We saw snakes , fish in aquarium(not a good collection) , group of foreign birds like pelicans, swans etc... The biggest attraction was seeing The Great Indian Bengal Tiger and Majestic White Tiger.... I was seeing the white Tiger for the first time (although I hail from land of White Tiger)... http://www.seemyindia.com/madhya-pradesh/madhya-pradesh-history.htm they were looking restless and starving in Big enclosures. At every enclosure the daily diet was written... 12 kgs of Buffalo Meat etc for a Tiger... I am 100% sure that they don't get the desired diet every day...
I tell you an interesting story behind naming of zoo as "Nandan Kanan". Nandan was Tiger and Kanan was a Tigress. It's mentioned on an enclosure as Kanan enclosure where Kanan jumped and crossed the enclosure to meet her boyfriend (Nandan). She sacrificed her freedom to stay with her boy friend in an enclosure...........There after she lived and died in the same enclosure after spending and seeing her cubs and cub’s cubs grow.....Hence in remembrance of evergreen love of a Tiger and Tigress, the zoo was named after them.... Interesting isn't it??
You can go fromNK to Botanical Garden on ropeway. We also tried a ride on ropeway. It was good experience seeing the lake separating the Botanical Garden and NK below us with people enjoying boating..... We reached the Botanical garden on ropeway and there we were supposed to get down..... But again a new surprise was waiting for us, the ropeway didn’t stop and we were on our way back to NK... On querying the ropeway managers we could get to know that it’s second Saturday and Botanical garden is closed today.... I can’t fathom when we would learn that places like Zoos, Museums, and parks can be visited by people on Weekends and holidays.... and not on Weekdays... Still we have Govt. holidays on Second and third Saturdays....We need to learn and inculcate best practices and government governance (coined the term on lines of corporate governance). We are best in abusing Angrez but we are still continuing the legacies of British because we lack independent thinking in India....
We moved and saw various breeds of deer and antelopes... We moved on crossing toy train tracks.... We were bit exhausted and sat near the lake, eating the green mangoes picked by Sanchit from Mango Trees with many couples around us who were enjoying the breeze and pursuing their romantic discussions...... and Sanchit and I were discussing the whether Picking Mangoes is an act of vandalism or not....
I swear its one of the best place to spend time with ur girl/boy friend in Bhubaneswar!!!!
We spent and 3 hrs in Zoo and were on our way to go back to home... We Came outside the zoo ate 11 aalo vadaas (locals call them aalo chop) and 3 Tea from nearby stall and started riding back to home after spending an excellent trip to Nandan kanan.
Visit http://www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/nandan.htm
Big Budget
For last two weeks the Indian television has been airing Budget stories like there is nothing happening apart from budget in World. There is growing importance of economic stories and Indian Television has been at the forefront of telecasting the same.
Every channel is competing to give the analysis of each word in Finance bill giving look from 0 to 360 degrees, with some mass channels like Aaajtak and Janmat failing to serve the audience with crisp stuff... Aaajtak has been servicing the business stories like chole without salt in it. They present each story giving it mass appeal without really bothering to put enough energies on content... Let me tell you with an example their headline "Ice-cream, Car hue saste and Cigarrte hua mehnga... They can't elevate themselves from these flimsy stories...
Coming to the Budget, in my opinion this 3rd budgest from Chidambram was first budgest in recent times was without new announcements. The whole emphasis was on continuing the existing schemes... In Chidambaram's words (Budget was about Consolidation and rationalization).He is good at rationalizing every thing J (remember last year’s Tax Exemptions and Rebates Overhaul.
This Budget had many new things unlike previous budgets like :>>>
There was no rollback of any announcements (any ways not many announcements were done…)
No announcements of populist schemes(By the way, the biggest populist scheme "Bharat Nirman was already announced in the last budget)
No real opposition from Opposition Parties except Left(which any ways sole purpose to be on always on wrong side of road, as their name itself suggests)
Some steps which were not new and were expected to be part of budget:
Increased taxes on Cigarettes
Increased Service tax from 10 to 12%
No announcements on Disinvestment.
The step to reduce excise on small cars was a positive step as it will make cars more affordable to Indian Middle Class and also deepens strength of Small Car manufacturers like Tata Motors and Hyundai and not mentioned Suzuki Motor Corp.
But this budget could have achieved much more than what was done. These were the missed oppurtunities:
Announcement on Framework for Reduction of LPG subsidies could be done.
Announcement on having Health cess on lines of Education cess could have been done to provide world class health facilities at least in all state capitals and major cities of each state( so that we can achieve world class Health facilities similar to world class Infrastructure and Roads with NHDP project under way)
No announcement on bridging the gap between Small saving rates and bank rates.
Announcement of new Greenfield airports.
Not enough push for Electricity Transmission and Distribution and not to mention the utter neglect towards Generation.
This was the time when India’s image is improving around the world Tourism could have been given boost by giving tax holidays etc. Point to remember is that Tourism is the untapped sector which holds potential to give jobs to millions of Young Indians as IT has been doing.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Taxi-9211
Last weekend I went to movie TaxiNo-9211 along with some of my project mates. I was planning to catch John Abraham movie for quite some time. Last time it was “Garam Masala” which somehow I could not catch up.
Overall The Film was good but somehow I feel director/s messed up with ending. It was bit stretched after interval (although movie surprisingly was not a three hour movie)... But personally the best thing that happened to me was reminiscing Mumbai... while watching the movie.The hustle and bustle of City of dreams (I mean it)... The taxi drivers, BEST buses and their disciplined bus drivers and conductors and local trains....
The drive to catch up the immediate train to any station inspite of having train frequency of 2 mins at most of stations...... is truly experience which can be realized when somebody lives that life.... Even I was transformed into that attitude of running and catching everything fast.... As John says in movie that "Time is everything in Mumbai"... Before Mumbai experience I never had to run for any thing as every thing is reachable in at Max 1/2 hr from my home which probably is signature and trademark of small sleepy towns.... Outsiders (who are new to Mumbai or visitors) always complain of Mumbai local train travel but I had never felt the trouble to feel angry or complain about it.... Although I had experienced all the involuntarily pushes at entry and exit of train door.... The most fascinating thing about Mumbai and Mumbaikars is never ending urge to move ahead and lack of complacency in all spheres of life…
But one thing I surely felt was that there was a need to upgrade local stations... The stations are heavily loaded and there is need to refurbish the stations with modern look.... The stations can not be made like stations of Navi Mumbai but still lot can be done...
It has been two years since I left Mumbai, Let’s see when I get chance to experience the never say No spirit of “Amachi Mumbai”.........
Overall The Film was good but somehow I feel director/s messed up with ending. It was bit stretched after interval (although movie surprisingly was not a three hour movie)... But personally the best thing that happened to me was reminiscing Mumbai... while watching the movie.The hustle and bustle of City of dreams (I mean it)... The taxi drivers, BEST buses and their disciplined bus drivers and conductors and local trains....
The drive to catch up the immediate train to any station inspite of having train frequency of 2 mins at most of stations...... is truly experience which can be realized when somebody lives that life.... Even I was transformed into that attitude of running and catching everything fast.... As John says in movie that "Time is everything in Mumbai"... Before Mumbai experience I never had to run for any thing as every thing is reachable in at Max 1/2 hr from my home which probably is signature and trademark of small sleepy towns.... Outsiders (who are new to Mumbai or visitors) always complain of Mumbai local train travel but I had never felt the trouble to feel angry or complain about it.... Although I had experienced all the involuntarily pushes at entry and exit of train door.... The most fascinating thing about Mumbai and Mumbaikars is never ending urge to move ahead and lack of complacency in all spheres of life…
But one thing I surely felt was that there was a need to upgrade local stations... The stations are heavily loaded and there is need to refurbish the stations with modern look.... The stations can not be made like stations of Navi Mumbai but still lot can be done...
It has been two years since I left Mumbai, Let’s see when I get chance to experience the never say No spirit of “Amachi Mumbai”.........
Sunday, February 19, 2006
First Post
Inspired By blogs of my Infy friends Vivek and Neel, I am also venturing in world of free expressions.
Hope I can continue it.........
Hope I can continue it.........
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