In my blog-roll, only two people had new posts!
Come on guys!!!! I am sitting hunched up at work and am searching for things to make me smile!!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Mea Culpa
I have always prided myself on the "liberality" of my views.
I always felt that I was tolerant of other views and that feeling was coupled with an amount of condescension ("They don't know what they are talking about...they'll come round... they have'nt seen enough yet").
Today I realized that in certain aspects I set new records in being dogmatic. I fail to appreciate that the opposing opinion has merits as well and that the people I am arguing with (with an amount of asperity) are thinking individuals and need to be listened to as such....
What a pleasant surprise!!!!
I always felt that I was tolerant of other views and that feeling was coupled with an amount of condescension ("They don't know what they are talking about...they'll come round... they have'nt seen enough yet").
Today I realized that in certain aspects I set new records in being dogmatic. I fail to appreciate that the opposing opinion has merits as well and that the people I am arguing with (with an amount of asperity) are thinking individuals and need to be listened to as such....
What a pleasant surprise!!!!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The new Bangalore Airport
I just read today that Bangalore's new airport (hardly Bangalore's though.... Its closer to AP really) would be doing trial runs before being thrown open to junta soon.
This gladdened my heart on a particularly frustrating day when nothing else was working. Two reasons:
1. Its close to my apartment and will raise its price (not that I am selling).
2. Bangalore is in a CRYING need of something that is not an aircraft testing facility with a few customs guys milling around.
The little reading I did about the airport gave me the impression that some amount of thought and planning has gone into this venture. The chaps running this show give an impression that they know what they are doing and are serious about doing it properly. And looks like they are succeeding.
These days its not uncommon to get scraps of news like this which makes you feel glad about being an Indian. But if you think this through a bit, you realize that the reason a few things seem to be working out in India is because the private sector is jumping in the fray. The government's only contribution has been in unlocking the door and then going away.
The entrepreneurs have only one agenda: to make money. They go about it in a planned, professional fashion. If the Bangalore airport opens one day later, the promoters stand to lose a few crores of rupees in revenue. If the facilities or the people running them are less than world class, the airport stands to lose out on a lot of traffic from airline stop-overs (One must remember that Jet Airways had to make Brussels its traffic hub simply because they could not find an airport in India which could handle the traffic they would generate).
On the other hand, consider if the government had run this show. No one would have cared if the project fell behind schedule. No one would have bothered if the toilets stink (they do in Delhi and Mumbai). It would not have mattered because the cash cycle (airport loses money - government pays - tax payers foot the bill) is far too long and convoluted for anyone to see the effect.
I feel that the most incompetent outfit in India is the Government of India. It does far too many things and mostly does it all badly. In most of the cases, throw in private fellows and they will make a paying and efficient proposition of it. There are of course a few places where you cannot get rid of the government. Take maintenance of public law and order for instance.
What the MNS got away with in Mumbai and Pune takes my breath away. If this thing goes on, fifty years down the line we will have another partition of the country.
Upholding the rule of law, maintaining public order, delivering justice and education should be a few of the places where the government ought to concentrate on being competent. Not in running airports, defence labs, railways and steel plants.
This gladdened my heart on a particularly frustrating day when nothing else was working. Two reasons:
1. Its close to my apartment and will raise its price (not that I am selling).
2. Bangalore is in a CRYING need of something that is not an aircraft testing facility with a few customs guys milling around.
The little reading I did about the airport gave me the impression that some amount of thought and planning has gone into this venture. The chaps running this show give an impression that they know what they are doing and are serious about doing it properly. And looks like they are succeeding.
These days its not uncommon to get scraps of news like this which makes you feel glad about being an Indian. But if you think this through a bit, you realize that the reason a few things seem to be working out in India is because the private sector is jumping in the fray. The government's only contribution has been in unlocking the door and then going away.
The entrepreneurs have only one agenda: to make money. They go about it in a planned, professional fashion. If the Bangalore airport opens one day later, the promoters stand to lose a few crores of rupees in revenue. If the facilities or the people running them are less than world class, the airport stands to lose out on a lot of traffic from airline stop-overs (One must remember that Jet Airways had to make Brussels its traffic hub simply because they could not find an airport in India which could handle the traffic they would generate).
On the other hand, consider if the government had run this show. No one would have cared if the project fell behind schedule. No one would have bothered if the toilets stink (they do in Delhi and Mumbai). It would not have mattered because the cash cycle (airport loses money - government pays - tax payers foot the bill) is far too long and convoluted for anyone to see the effect.
I feel that the most incompetent outfit in India is the Government of India. It does far too many things and mostly does it all badly. In most of the cases, throw in private fellows and they will make a paying and efficient proposition of it. There are of course a few places where you cannot get rid of the government. Take maintenance of public law and order for instance.
What the MNS got away with in Mumbai and Pune takes my breath away. If this thing goes on, fifty years down the line we will have another partition of the country.
Upholding the rule of law, maintaining public order, delivering justice and education should be a few of the places where the government ought to concentrate on being competent. Not in running airports, defence labs, railways and steel plants.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
On long books...
I am still reading "A Suitable Boy".
This is my third reading and the following passage struck me
"But I (too) hate long books: the better, the worse. If they are bad, they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they are good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of the Middlemarch"
And I still bear the scars of "A Suitable Boy". Once upon a time, there was this wedding of a dear friend. I just packed this book along (for lack of anything better to take along). The rest is history that is still recalled by the friend and his charming wife whenever they want to gripe against me.
I did not attend any of the ceremonies, did not ogle at the friend's "saalis", did not dance in the baraat and did not attend the pheras. I even requested food to be brought in my room.
This is my third reading and the following passage struck me
"But I (too) hate long books: the better, the worse. If they are bad, they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they are good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of the Middlemarch"
And I still bear the scars of "A Suitable Boy". Once upon a time, there was this wedding of a dear friend. I just packed this book along (for lack of anything better to take along). The rest is history that is still recalled by the friend and his charming wife whenever they want to gripe against me.
I did not attend any of the ceremonies, did not ogle at the friend's "saalis", did not dance in the baraat and did not attend the pheras. I even requested food to be brought in my room.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Serendipity
A few days ago I uncharacteristically bought this magazine called "Men's Health". Its glossy. It has pictures of nice looking ladies in it (not the smutty kinds mind you...). It has insightful articles about how to get the most out of one's daily bench-press routine. (Methinks, "What bench? How do you press it?"). It also has detailed pointers about what to gift your girl this Valentine's Day (I once e-ordered a bunch of red-roses to be delivered to my girl. Apart from commenting on the originality, my then-girlfriend also informed me that the roses made it to her in the early weeks of March. I am single now.).
Just when I was about to give up on this purchase as a Momentary Lapse of Reason, I chanced upon this article about singing. "Look and sound professional at your next karaoke night with your buddies and the girl you are trying to impress". I am not a singer. The last time I tried this undertaking, people were in splits. But once in college there was this competition, I picked up this song (Tum pukar lo...tumhara intezaar hai) and sang it in a baritone voice. I thought I did it very well but the judges gave me no points. I was pretty cut up. So cut up that I did not bother to inquire about this curious outcome. Realization dawned with this paragraph:
RANGE:
Daniel says that its even possible to improve a singer's range with the right technique. "If a singer simply sings in chest voice, he is quite limited in his singing range". In his work, Daniel often meets guys who assume they are bassists and baritones because they do not know how to access their upper range.
So that was the reason. The judge figured out that I was not a versatile singer because I very carefully stuck to my lower notes. He was right.
Moral of the story:
You never know where you are going to read something interesting next.
Next moral of the story:
READ glossy magazines (If you are mad enough to pick one). They have well-paid writers. Probably as well-paid as the photographers and the models. They are well-paid for a reason
Further:
I still cannot sing
Just when I was about to give up on this purchase as a Momentary Lapse of Reason, I chanced upon this article about singing. "Look and sound professional at your next karaoke night with your buddies and the girl you are trying to impress". I am not a singer. The last time I tried this undertaking, people were in splits. But once in college there was this competition, I picked up this song (Tum pukar lo...tumhara intezaar hai) and sang it in a baritone voice. I thought I did it very well but the judges gave me no points. I was pretty cut up. So cut up that I did not bother to inquire about this curious outcome. Realization dawned with this paragraph:
RANGE:
Daniel says that its even possible to improve a singer's range with the right technique. "If a singer simply sings in chest voice, he is quite limited in his singing range". In his work, Daniel often meets guys who assume they are bassists and baritones because they do not know how to access their upper range.
So that was the reason. The judge figured out that I was not a versatile singer because I very carefully stuck to my lower notes. He was right.
Moral of the story:
You never know where you are going to read something interesting next.
Next moral of the story:
READ glossy magazines (If you are mad enough to pick one). They have well-paid writers. Probably as well-paid as the photographers and the models. They are well-paid for a reason
Further:
I still cannot sing
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