In Memoriam

Insanity is the norm in B-School.I sometimes wonder how it would be sans the confusion that prevails in this place .It was a welcome respite to find a saner schedule in this Term.I think its like the proverbial lull before the storm with placements round the corner.Nevertheless,unlike previous terms I wasn't saddled with commitments & that gave me the much needed solitude.After grappling with the thoughts of love & hatred for past few months I finally thought to pen this memoriam in fond memory of her & probably share those hitherto hidden facets of my personal life.
She brought an air of freshness into my other wise mundane life.The finer details are immaterial.She called our meeting a destiny,I differed.In my wildest of dreams,i had never thought that we were made for each other.I always felt we both were from different worlds & we were diametrically opposite in certain aspects & unexpectedly very similar in some aspects.In those days,I used to be surprised by her unflinching faith on destiny & I still vividly remember our first meeting.Soon,we began to meet regularly for we loved each other's company.Our rendezvous used to be well planned & we liked each other's personality immensely.We used to talk for hours together.There have been instances when the waiter in the coffee shop actually told us it was time for the shop to close!We had become quite close to each other sharing every joy & sorrow of our life with each other.The cupid struck finally & i popped the question.Actually i had been thinking about it for a long time,but again i never expected her to say yes.In a way,she was very important to me as a friend & I didn't want to hurt her & impair our friendship in the process.To my utter surprise she said yes & I was stunned to hear from her own mouth that she was crazy about me.I relished every moment spent with her.The wonderful sojourns to picturesque locales of the city,getting wet in the rains of September,all those chilly evenings in the roads of Bhubaneswar,the long drives,those mystical visits to Temples,Those discreet meetings behind the Guest House,those long Duration calls & Sweet SMS'es,Shopping sprees & last but not the least the numerous visits to restaurants of all types & sizes.I relish all those moments.Life was beautiful,Thanks to you."
After four beautiful years,she left in search of life ,a family & a better future.She had called once to tell me she would always love me & I was special to her .Not being the type of men who understand complexities of life,I still haven't figured out what she meant by those words.I miss her more often than not,but probably that is the way it had to culminate.May be i can take solace from the fact that most great relationships culminated in a similar fashion!

Reviewing An Article:The first experience

NREGA (The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.) redefined populism for it was combined with economic sense. In august, 2005 the UPA government led by Dr. Manmohan singh launched this ambitious scheme amidst a lot of fanfare & media coverage. Noted economists & social scientists envisioned it as an ultimate panacea for rapid poverty alleviation in rural India & this article “NREGA Implemenation-1 Reasonable Beginning in Palakkad, Kerala” tries to do a post mortem analysis of the same in the communist bastion of Kerala. The article is based on the research conducted by two students of Economic Research Group of St. Stephens College, New Delhi namely Arun Jacob & Richard Varghese.

Paradoxically, Kerala which has one of the highest literacy rates in the country & has exceptionally good social indicators fares very poorly when it comes to employment. This has had tremendous social & political consequences. One such upshot was visible in the registration process which attracted many an educated youth of Kerala. So, does it point towards a disturbing social phenomenon of education being a cause for ones’ impediment rather than growth? Is kerala a failed state? Many such questions linger on the back of our mind which remains unanswered. The Article has concentrated only on the Palakkad District and has not tried to explore the interplay of relationships between Palakkad & other bigger states of Kerala. However the authors do shower their lavish praises on the administrative structures viz. the various local bodies & the decentralized model of governance. The authors have tried to use comparison as a mode to convey their findings very subtly. For example the authors have cited the high number of women registrations & attributed the same to the high literacy rate and at the same time highlighted the concept of differential wage payments that existed prior to the scheme’s launch. Similarly, they have tried to distinguish between the roles played by the local bodies of Palakkad & Jharkhand .They have scathingly pointed to the dysfunctional Governance structures in Jharkhand as one of the major reasons for limited success of the NREGA Scheme there. Another aspect of this article has been the existence of the social dimension in the analysis & findings. This is illustrated by the importance attributed to literacy, gender equity in wage payment & the fallout of such measures like limited participation of men in the scheme. The authors have also tried to bring in a perspective on corruption & how, here it has been effectively checked through a simple measure like zero -balance bank account.

Nationwide, NREGA has been plagued by implementation issues and one of its proponent, noted economist Jean Drèze has also criticized it on the same grounds. In Palakkad, NREGA’s success was primarily based on three point’s viz. Quality Local Governance institutions, Women Participation & Minimal Corruption. However the plurality in the social model of Kerala & some inherent flaws in the NREGA Scheme were deterrents in its path. The authors have carefully documented their findings in this regard. Amongst other things they have outlined the need for an institutionalised grievance redressal mechanism, Clarity on nature of work & Payments & seasonal variations. They articulate their arguments by citing the example of heavy manual work allotted to women, importance of Harvest season in a village calendar, Cost Allocation for material & wages etc. These roadblocks probably emphasize the need to revisit the “One Size Fits All” approach of the Government for central schemes.

In the article, the authors have clearly distinguished between education & awareness and how the former doesn’t translate into the latter. However, undoubtedly Mass education especially that of women should be the pre-cursor to launch of a social scheme & women should play an important role in that process of de-intermediation or re-intermediation. The existence of excellent administrative structures in Kerala is an ode to the democratic form of Governance and the success of NREGA Implementation in Palakkad belies the fact that social schemes can’t succeed within a democratic framework.

Article Source - NREGA implementation- I: Reasonable Beginning in Palakkad, Kerala by Arun Jacob & Richard Varghese

All about Hatred

There has been a great deal of research on why a person loves someone.Even there was a time when I used to browse through numerous articles & books on love but today that true love is passe.I hardly seen any lovers around me.All i see is some sex starved souls trying to form illusions just to satisfy their carnal desires.So,I shifted my attention to hatred and why do people hate each other?

Few observations so far:

1. If its about two people then there is a high probability that the two persons might have liked each other immensely.
2. Prejudices stemming from self-serving biases
3. Past incidents that leave a lasting impact on the sub-conscious mind.How many times have you seen boys hating all the female species on this earth just because one particular female they knew ditched them or vice-versa?
4. Hatred often hurts both the parties but the ego within stops them from reacting.
5. With passage of time hatred disappears but the hurt remains.As a friend of mine put it "When a glass breaks , even if you try to join it back, the crack still remains there and if you continue to keep it , it reminds you of the damage every time."

Have you ever hated anyone?Please share your opinions,comments & suggestions.

After a Year ......

At the outset apologies to all my loyal readers.I let you down badly.
So here it is & am back after the longest hiatus a blogger would have ever taken!I somehow had lost the urge to write.I would be lying if I say i don't know why.The usual blame game isn't my cup of tea but somehow i couldn't stop myself from feeling the lack of creative instinct within me.Am I sounding like a narcissist?Well I have become one!now all of you would be interested to know how has life treated me in the past one year.Well,it has been mixed actually & a sincere advice to all the wannabes.The plethora of B-Schoolers,Coaching Institutes & the likes interject a clever mix of facts,figures & statistics to make you that odd B-School look very attractive.The reality is a little different & let us be very honest about it.The obvious question at this juncture would be am I frustrated?The answer is no & it is because this place taught me the most important thing i.e. the critical & often incomprehensible interplay between human beings & the intricacies of human relationships.This place taught me how to be brutally honest & be courteous at the same time.In a nutshell this place taught me the harsh realities of life which were hitherto unknown to me.A B-School is the last place for the faint hearted,take my word for it.Post B-School life would be different may be for good or for bad.Whatever it is i would miss my alma mater for sure.I won't like to come back though or for that matter talk about my B-School in public forum.Now why would I do that is anybody's guess!
So,keep guessing :-)

LIVE from B-School !

Am in a B-School finally & this is my first post from the hallowed portals of Xavier Institute of Management,Bhubaneswar.All these years at various points of time i have written about B-Schools & their unique culture.Now,finally am a part of it.Am not quite liking the culture prevalent here with all the usual drama & politics but then thats what management is all about.You experience different moods & eventually become indifferent to the surrounding.You must be having second thoughts about a business education but there are many positives of a business education also & the foremost being the art of time management.Here,multi tasking skills are of paramount importance & so is the ability to prioritize.So,am trying to learn & sync myself with the environment.Watch out for this space.

Passion For Cinema

Am a great believer of the old adage idle mind is devil's workshop.So, I always challenge my brain even if it’s as mundane a activity as watching movies. Cinema has always been a favoured mode of entertainment for me. So, now that I have a lot of leisure time I decided to watch some serious cinema & exercise my brain in the process.2008 has been a bad year for Indian film industry & to be very honest hardly there has been a movie for the thinking man. We have had a few decent movies though but then they were not of the brain challenging type. Well, I have this odd habit of watching these senseless movies in the cineplex, whereas I savour the serious ones on my laptop. So, I brought home the DVDs of two movies The Blood Diamond &The Terminal
Let’s start with Blood Diamond. The movie is an amazing piece of work about a sensitive issue like Conflict Diamonds.Set in Sierra Leone it speaks of the story of Djimon Hounsou,a fisherman & his tryst with destiny.His companions in journey are Leonardo Di Caprio,an Arms trader & Diamond smuggler and Jennifer Connelly,an American journalist One of the high points of this movie is acting prowess displayed by Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo Di Caprio & Jennifer Connelly. Di Caprio with his Rhodesian accent was acclaimed by the critics & I must single out his performance as truly mindblowing.He was also nominated for "Best Actor In A Leading Role" for the 79th OSCARS.Djimon Hounsou was also nominated for "Best Actor In A Supporting Role". You can learn more about the movie at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Diamond_%28film%29. Sometimes, I wonder why new Indian filmmakers can’t make such realistic movies considering the fact that we have no dearth of such critical issues.
The Terminal is also a very enjoyable movie, typical Steven Spielberg stuff. The high Point of this movie is Tom Hanks’ acting. As Viktor novoroski, no where does he let you feel that he is an American & not a East European. Be it his accent, mannerisms or dressing he is just perfect. This movie is entirely shot in an airport terminal except for few portions. Amazing; isn't it? Importantly, you don't get bored & feel monotonous.
I would advise readers to watch these two movies & mail me their opinion or reviews.

The Tale Of Indian Press

Of lately i have been talking to a lot of activists.Once i asked this lady-a vociferous activist-how does one form an opinion on a particular issue?she tried to relate it to her work & emphasized on status studies & field surveys.I put it across her in an even simpler manner.What if its about an issue like say The Tibet issue?
An unusual silence followed.Soon,she started & remarked how as a student she used to browse newspapers & magazines & jotted down notes on important issues.She added on,unlike nowadays access to English newspaper & magazines were limited those days& the only access point was her university library.Even today I read three newspapers & two magazines,she proudly proclaimed."Madam,then isn't your opinion on national & international issues influenced by the articles published in the newspaper & the magazine?"i asked her.
She hesitantly replied,"Well,in a way yes,but not always".
Not just her,across the length & breadth of India, starting from students to top bureaucrats form their opinions on the basis of what the newspapers write.There is nothing wrong in that except for the fact that in India its pretty difficult to find a newspaper thats unbiased.Biasness in journalism distorts the concept of freedom of press.In a democracy like ours,the press has a very important role to play in disseminating true & correct information & newspapers are the cheapest & easily accessible source of comprehensive information.Down south & in Maharashtra political parties have their own newspapers & television channels.Its expected of them to promote their patrons & be used for political propaganda.But what about mainstream newspapers having mass readership base?If they start doing the same for purely commercial or personal interests then what can be done?Globally,newspaper readership base is shrinking & india seems to be the aberration.In these conditions ideally,we should see a scenario wherein there is tremendous competition to provide well crafted news articles & thought provoking columns;alas it doesn't happen that way.
There are some newspapers who go to any length to justify their biasness either towards the right or the left.For example,a prominent south based English newspaper echoed the lines of the Communist top brass in the Nandigram issue as well as in the recent Tibet issue,even if that was against the stand taken by democratic figureheads like Governor or for that matter the Union of India.Now,it is the same newspaper that had taken a strong stand in the case of Gujarat riots & other acts of Hindu fanaticism.The point is what signals are they sending to the reader?why are they trying to mislead the readers by providing distorting facts or for that suppressing the true facts?Similarly,there is a popular news magazine,that speaks no ill about India's so called first family.Now sycophancy is expected of the loyalists& members of the political party over which this family rules,but why a respected news magazine?If at all,it has to support a particular party or family,why doesn't it state in bold letters in its cover that it is affiliated to that particular political party.There are some other vernacular newspapers that try to influence people's emotions by touching upon sensitive issues such as motherland,religion etc.Then we have those glossy newspapers more in style & less in substance;no wonder these are the ones that sell the most because they exploit the indian mentality of loving everything western & the fondness for paparazzi journalism.The only saving grace has been the presence of some journals & weeklies who have braved all odds to bring us unbiased & accurate news articles.But,then their readership base is limited.
Now where do we go from here?In the near future its not improbable to see a situation wherein like their American& European peers the Indian newspapers see their readers diverting to the web medium for their daily dose of news & views about the issues confronting the mankind.It'll be very interesting & perhaps the fact about Press being a pillar of democracy shall actually be true.