The two moments

There are two instances in our life that tell us what we are who we are. Moments before we die and moments after our near ones die. I said 'moments' because, once we are out of these moments, we will be back to our masked life. We wish not to have these moments last for long because we are too afraid to admit the 'real' us and face the world.

Why is it so difficult to be a good human being? Why is it always that we are forced to leave our values to get what we want? Who gives us the leverage to cross the lines for our convenience? Who decides what is good and what is bad? Why are we so afraid of System and Society? Why is that being good is treated as being weak?

The history has many times mislead us to an opinion that great people are always made of money and power and their names last long in the system even if they fall under so called 'bad' category. But at the same time we all agree that good prevails the bad at the end. Then why are we still not on the 'Good' side. The question - who decides what is good and what is bad and who tells us?

Some call it 'God', some call it 'Science' and some call it just 'Luck' but for whatever it is, we, as human beings have the ability to judge things better than other creatures in this world. It is up to us to realize that we can easily differentiate between good and bad and choose the right wing.

As a group, we evolved, we dominated, we made fortunes, and now we started taking things for granted. We forget that Nature is watching us. It has seen Dinosaurs come and go. We are no match.

Remember - Being good is not being weak but being courageous. We can not let the system and society push us to alter our opinions. We can not let our thoughts swing.

Still not sure which side you are?

Try this - live in those two moments for a while. See yourself dying soon.. see your near ones dying soon.. now do what you would do, to make your soul and your loved ones soul happy. All that you do during this phase is good.. everything else is not good. It is as simple as that. Morals, Ethics, Values will just follow and Nature remembers you as good human being.

We all know that we will not take anything with us and no one comes with us on the last day. So, be good and do good. 

My friend's mail

Just read this email from one of my good old friends. He used to be so funny and jovial all the time. So a bit surprised to see this emotional mail from him. I will reply to this email later the day but just wanted to showcase how a common man is being worried. Copying the email as is.

"Listening to the song 'maa telugu talliki" from Leader, my thoughts started to move towards the separate Telangana movement and the happenings there off. This because, i had seen the movie in Chennai, where the song along with lyrics was played at the climax and to my own surprise, aroused a lot of emotions in me and for some reason i was proud to be a Telugu. Literally got goose bumps when the song started. The same movie, when i watched in Imax, Hyd, the song was missing, except for some instrumental. Shocked, came to know, that the song has been ripped off the movie, as it sings praise to Telugu Talli and as the song hurts the sentiments of people of Telangana, it's been taken off. Confused i asked, But why, the song is praising Telugu Talli, Mother of Telugu Language and to my understanding people of Telangana too speak Telugu, may be with an influence of Urdu but still it IS Telugu and all Telugu speaking people consider HER to be the one next only to their own Mothers. Moreover, the song has nothing derogatory about Telangana and actually praises Godavari & Krishna, 2 rivers, flowing through the region.

Then started thinking of the words, very infamously, and allegedly said by one of our beloved politician," Telugu talla? Yevara talli? Yevaniki talli?". Why would some one in his status, say such a thing? He, like all of us must have grown up reading, listening to and singing the song and definitely must have associated himself to that Motherly figure. Just like how we sing a 'Vandemataram' or a 'Saare jahaan se acha Hindustan hamara', or ' Jana Gana Mana', Singing praise to our country, the same way we do it to our "Telugu Talli".

It somehow makes me think of a situation, where 2 brothers, living together for long, decide to go separate, dividing their property. Their mother sadly standing before them as they part ways and out of the blue one says, she is NO MORE his Mother. That mother would shatter into uncountable pieces. Except, may be in this situation, the 'mother' can't say much as she is just some one, with out a voice, staying in our heart, deep inside, making us all proud and caring for us, irrespective of our ignorance and disrespect to Her.

A very scary thought creeps in, as i think more. Isn't this situation similar to the Partition of the country, where in people were massacred just because they belong to some other religion or some other region. That seems quite possible, given the very provocative speeches given by some of our politicians, may be for their own benefit, saying, all the people belonging to the other regions will be dragged out of 'their' state.

A Mumbai or Delhi or Chennai or Bangalore or for that matter our Hyderabad, are enjoying their beloved status, just because they have encouraged togetherness and brotherhood and welcomed people from different streams, States & regions with open arms. Today, if someone says, YOU are NOT Welcome to 'OUR' city, then there are many others waiting to Welcome these hard workers and success seekers.

It is High time, for people, esp students, to understand the bigger picture and even if the state has to be divided, let it be done in an amicable manner which doesn't promote hatred among people of both regions. If Dividing the state makes Telangana or Rayalaseema more prosperous, let that be done, but let that NOT be a reason to divide the love and brotherhood that we share amongst ourselves..

I vented out my anguish and feel a lot better now. :-)"

Review: Phir Miley Sur Mera Tumhara

I just watched the new version of Miley Sur Mera Tumhara song (which has been our real national integration video for more than two decades now.) It actually took me sometime to watch the complete video (16 minutes) and only at the end of it, (when they showed the Indian army and Navy) I felt like I am watching a video that meant to be for national integration. The video mostly filled up with known faces / celebrities of the country. Now I know the difference between a legend and a celebrity :)

I do not want to say anything about the old version as it has already been accepted as the best video by everyone in the country to represent their culture and people.

Let me give few highlights of both the versions so that you can compare yourselves.

Old Version:
1. Original composition and lyrics
2. Excellent Vocals
3. Very less music
4. Legends representing their regions
5. Covered all the cultures / sections / fields in the country
6. Less run time that made the viewers to watch it again and again

New Version:
1. Bunch of celebrities and very few legends (I miss Lata ji, Sachin, Ambanis, Abhinav Bindra and more)
2. Crapped vocals
3. Loads of noise. Less music
4. Long run time (16 min) which guarantees zero repeated viewers
5. Aam Admi not represented
6. Culture is killed

The new generation who never watched the old version might like it but the run time definitely needs to be cut down. Deepika Padukone and Shilpa Shetty look hot but not traditional. Damn, some one tell them that this is not a commercial ad.

All together I think this new version let me down with its poor selection of people, pathetic remix, and run time.

I admit, OLD is GOLD.

Here are the two links if you want to watch:

Old Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAilOccMqFc

New Version (two parts):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaouEqM9TiU&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fod_NiFuSTk&feature=channel

Cross Selling @ Cross Roads

They say that the Copenhagen summit is a failure. Not sure how many years we take to cool this Earth and get back that beautiful world. I am not asking for a Pandora but just a cool place. Something came to my mind when I said cool. It is very cold outside these days and I was driving in a winter night back home and saw these guys selling something at the cross roads. I am always impressed with these cross road innovations which look very simple but very useful in our daily life. The 10 Rupee smooth cloth to clean your vehicle, The 50 rupees mosquito bat, The 10 Rupees not so bad ear buds are just a few to name. The latest addition to this market is the 10 Rupees winter protector (I named) which is damn cool to protect from the cool weather. I just couldn't stop myself to grab one. Never minded when I see the poorest of the poor also use a similar piece. After all, that is the beauty of it.

All the time we talk about cross selling and cost cutting. I think we should try to talk to these guys first. What say friends?

---- Yes that's me using winter protector.

The SMART battle begins

I was talking about Apple replacing Nokia's smart phone market in Asia and here comes Samsung's Bada and Nokia Linux OS mobile very soon. We already have RIM's blackberry, Nokia's symbian, Apple's iPhone, Windows mobile, Google's android, Palm and a few flop model OS.

I am trying to predict the leading OS of smart mobiles by 2012.

My first bet is on Apple iPhone and the second one.. is very difficult to pick. Knowing Microsoft's user base and Google's aggression, it could be Android or Microsoft might bounce back with an acquisition. Considering the Chrome OS which will be available to users by 2011, I bet on Android along with Apple for the top places. A few surprises might come up by that time with likes of DELL and LG investing huge on smart phone sector.

Will Apple replace Nokia smart phones by 2012 in Asia

Apple iPhone is a revolution in the mobile market. It has already captured the US and the UK with 55% and 74% (respectively) mobile internet users using iPhone or iPod. So an obvious eager for the rest of the world is to use the same device (follow the leaders) for mobile internet browsing. The two things that are stopping anyone in the world to try an Apple product is the product availability and the price. There is no doubt that the demand is high. Apple iPhone is introduced to Asian countries lately with very high price tag to it (Rupees 32000 in India = USD700). It is expected that in coming 2 to 3 years, the basic iPhone will be available for as less as USD99 in the Asian countries by which time people will get used to mobile internet and start looking for better products. A recent survey by AdMob ¹ clearly shows that Nokia is still the giant in the mobile market in Asia with about 90% share in smart phone sector in India, Indonesia and Philippines.

Though Nokia has huge market in these countries, the smart phones of Nokia are still struggling to survive (N70 is the only one that could survive for more than 3 years.)

With iPhones and iPods available for less, it is predictable that Nokia will lose its smart phone market to Apple very soon. If the trends follow the same, we might expect an Apple dominated mobile market by 2012.

1. http://metrics.admob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/AdMob-Mobile-Metrics-Oct-09.pdf

VAT lagi

I always thought customer service is a very basic rule of any business. When I started paying bills on my own at the age of 23, the food courts used to bill only the prices mentioned in the menu. Then they started this service tax (about 5%). It has come to a point where I just shocked to pay 22.5% tax on my bill recently at a Pizzahut outlet. 10% service tax and 12.5% VAT.

VAT the hell?

I cant show my anger on the Govt which for making these rules and exceptions. My vote for anti Govt, never counted (so as yours).

So I decided not to go out and eat. I at least do not want to give away 23 Rupees for every 100 I spend.... Frnds.. don't even try to look at Pizzahut .. VAT lalegi..

P.S - “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” -Gandhi