In the past few days the question about Right to Life or Right to Choice has come up.
In Mumbai a couple's foetus has been diagnozied with a heart condition and they moved the court to allow aborting the same. The parent's plea was that knowing that the baby if born will face a life of constant struggle they want to spare themselves and the new born the pain. The court rejected the plea on the basis of medical reports which couldnt categorically state whether the child would be born with a defect or not and an archaic law which was drafted over 30 years ago.
If we really talk about Right to life my contention is whether it is the foetus' choice to be born even though when born it might not have a fruitful life. At what point of time does the child get the Right of Choice - when he/she is conceived, when he/she is born, when he/she is 5 years old, when he/she is older...when? If we disregard the moral dilemma and just concentrate on the facts then I find it weird that the decision was based on a law which was drafted 30 years ago. Since that time medical science has advanced so much that the basis on which the regulations were drafted would be defunct. Would it not make sense then to relook at the statutes of the Indian Penal Code instead of debating only the moral grounds of this question?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Dharma Yudh
A couple of days back one of my old team members quit the company. The person was one of the oldest members of the team as well as one of those with whom I enjoyed working a lot. Infact over the past few weeks lots of people from my old team have left.
Since I keep on mentioning "old" its pretty obvious that I am not part of that team anymore. The point as to why I call it a "dharma yudh" is because most of the people have sought my advice and guidance before quitting and somewhere the thought comes up whether I can influence them to stay back. The latest colleague also was facing a dilemma and was unsure about the final decision. I thus had detailed discussion and helped in the decision making process.
My take on this is clear though. I believe if a person has decided to move on he or she will move on either today or a little later. One should not try to hold the individual back but should try to give the fellow team member a perspective which helps in the decision making. I do not think that one is loyal to the organization if one tries to hold a moving colleague. I also believe if I am contributing unbiased opinions and offering a sounding board to the people who have worked with me and trust me I am doing the right thing. The decision is theirs but probably the sounding board helps them to decide. If the decision is to leave am I being less loyal to my company? I strongly dont believe so...
Since I keep on mentioning "old" its pretty obvious that I am not part of that team anymore. The point as to why I call it a "dharma yudh" is because most of the people have sought my advice and guidance before quitting and somewhere the thought comes up whether I can influence them to stay back. The latest colleague also was facing a dilemma and was unsure about the final decision. I thus had detailed discussion and helped in the decision making process.
My take on this is clear though. I believe if a person has decided to move on he or she will move on either today or a little later. One should not try to hold the individual back but should try to give the fellow team member a perspective which helps in the decision making. I do not think that one is loyal to the organization if one tries to hold a moving colleague. I also believe if I am contributing unbiased opinions and offering a sounding board to the people who have worked with me and trust me I am doing the right thing. The decision is theirs but probably the sounding board helps them to decide. If the decision is to leave am I being less loyal to my company? I strongly dont believe so...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
"I voted according to my beliefs"
So finally we have the nuke deal on track. For months a lot of esteemed and not so esteemed people have been debating about the deal which was struck in 2005 between Dr. Manmohan Singh and George Bush to no definite conclusion one way or the other.
I purposely use the names of the personalities here and do not mention the countries because I am not sure whether the countries really signed on the dotted line, metaphorically, ofcourse a country is not a living being so she cant sign anywhere. A country is represented by the leaders and it is they who put their initials whenever and wherever it is required in place of the country. Hence it should be the moral duty of these leaders to do something which is good for the nation as they are not initializing as individuals but as representatives of the nation.
However with this new deal I am not so sure whether India was represented. Please do not get me wrong - I am strongly for nuclear energy and whatever is required to make it a feasible and sustainable source of energy. But like most of the fellow Indians I am in dark about the details of the pact. Being fortunate enough to be an educated individual I do appreciate the fact that renewable sources of energy are crucial for India and anything which ensures constant supply of fuel for our reactors as well as latest technology to upgrade the facilities should be welcomed. Inspite of this an option to understand the pact in detail would have been appreciated not just by me but also by all.
So I went by common sense in supporting the deal however after watching the proceedings of the trust vote being streamed live from the Parliament I did realize common sense is not so common. It seems 275 individuals voted to keep the government in power and 250 odd individuals to keep the government out of power and I thought the vote was about whether we should go ahead with the deal or not. Less said about the people voting the better. All voting for the government and all voting against, went from TV camera to TV camera ( pillar to post eh?) claiming that their vote is based on their conscience and their strong beliefs - it was just incidental that they are getting to become ministers, chief ministers, getting cash in suitcases, airports in their names and so on.
To summarize it in word the whole "tamasha" was shameful with the players being as shameless as ever. Our MPs again made a laughing stock of our country. Where was their common sense? I am not expecting them to know the details of the agreement but is it so difficult to understand that our energy needs are rising and fossil fuels cannot sustain them for long? In metros if the monsoon fails there are power cuts for 6-7 hours then what can be said about the interiors? If they had decided to vote on common sense then maybe this whole "tamasha" would have been avoided.
The question which comes up though is that who sends these people to Parliament - is it not us - are we also voting according to everything but common sense?
I purposely use the names of the personalities here and do not mention the countries because I am not sure whether the countries really signed on the dotted line, metaphorically, ofcourse a country is not a living being so she cant sign anywhere. A country is represented by the leaders and it is they who put their initials whenever and wherever it is required in place of the country. Hence it should be the moral duty of these leaders to do something which is good for the nation as they are not initializing as individuals but as representatives of the nation.
However with this new deal I am not so sure whether India was represented. Please do not get me wrong - I am strongly for nuclear energy and whatever is required to make it a feasible and sustainable source of energy. But like most of the fellow Indians I am in dark about the details of the pact. Being fortunate enough to be an educated individual I do appreciate the fact that renewable sources of energy are crucial for India and anything which ensures constant supply of fuel for our reactors as well as latest technology to upgrade the facilities should be welcomed. Inspite of this an option to understand the pact in detail would have been appreciated not just by me but also by all.
So I went by common sense in supporting the deal however after watching the proceedings of the trust vote being streamed live from the Parliament I did realize common sense is not so common. It seems 275 individuals voted to keep the government in power and 250 odd individuals to keep the government out of power and I thought the vote was about whether we should go ahead with the deal or not. Less said about the people voting the better. All voting for the government and all voting against, went from TV camera to TV camera ( pillar to post eh?) claiming that their vote is based on their conscience and their strong beliefs - it was just incidental that they are getting to become ministers, chief ministers, getting cash in suitcases, airports in their names and so on.
To summarize it in word the whole "tamasha" was shameful with the players being as shameless as ever. Our MPs again made a laughing stock of our country. Where was their common sense? I am not expecting them to know the details of the agreement but is it so difficult to understand that our energy needs are rising and fossil fuels cannot sustain them for long? In metros if the monsoon fails there are power cuts for 6-7 hours then what can be said about the interiors? If they had decided to vote on common sense then maybe this whole "tamasha" would have been avoided.
The question which comes up though is that who sends these people to Parliament - is it not us - are we also voting according to everything but common sense?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Why dont we feel passionate about our work?
Yeah I know its a controversial question. After all it got you interested, didnt it? But honestly for the past couple of days this thought has been coming to my mind continously - we as Indians are we really passionate about the work we do? Let me narate a few incidents which have triggered this thinking.
I have a new apartment. The electric meter had to be transferred to my name. I and some other fellow residents got together and hired an agent to do the running around of the BESCOM office and get this work done. We all pooled in Rs.750 each and paid to this fellow. We gave all the required documents and thought with the money we have paid we would get the meter transferred without us running around. Sadly money cant buy everything - it cant buy the person doing his job well. After numerous running around, the very thing which I wanted to avoid, I got my meter transferred. The latest electricity bill was received this month and lo behold the name on it was Chandra Reddy and not yours sincerely. So I again run around to find this person and talk to him to be told that his job was to get the transfer done but if the transfer was not recorded in the BESCOM system its not his problem. Finally I went to the office and spent 3 hours to get Chandra Reddy erased and my name entered in the system.
The other day I went to get a photocopy done of a document. The person refused to make a copy since I had Rs. 10 with me and he wanted precise Re. 1. I returned with the required change and again requested for the service to be delivered since I was ready to pay. The machine operator was kind of enough to oblige me. I had 2 documents stapled together. He made the copy of the first one and without removing the staple started to make the copy of the second one. Now this was obviously not working out. I asked him to separate the documents and try. According to him it was a waste of time but he was coming out with bad copies one after another. I got exasperated, removed the staple and handed him the documents. This hurt his ego which he satisfied by charging me another Re.1 for the wasted staple for which he asked me to get another coin as change.
I got a new passport and since the police verification was not done I decided to go myself to the Police station. Early morning I was at the local station and mentioned that I was there for the verification so that they dont have to worry about it. I was told to wait since the policemen were having breakfast in the room where the relevant file was kept. So I waited and waited and waited. After 30 mins. I decided to check again and got to know that the concerned official had gone for his morning coffee. Can you believe it? I was asked to wait again which ofcourse I didnt.
People, I am not complaining. The point is that we always view our politicians as incompetent, our officials as incompetent, the system as incompetent but didnt somebody mention that a person gets what a person deserves. Somewhere I get the feeling that the "chalta hai" atttitude which we have as a country pervades in everything we do or dont do. Maybe our general lives have been so difficult and jobs are at such a premium we just look at work as the means to get roti, daal and not as something which we can be passionate about. There is this minority who believe work is worship and believe me they are a frustrated lot.
I have a new apartment. The electric meter had to be transferred to my name. I and some other fellow residents got together and hired an agent to do the running around of the BESCOM office and get this work done. We all pooled in Rs.750 each and paid to this fellow. We gave all the required documents and thought with the money we have paid we would get the meter transferred without us running around. Sadly money cant buy everything - it cant buy the person doing his job well. After numerous running around, the very thing which I wanted to avoid, I got my meter transferred. The latest electricity bill was received this month and lo behold the name on it was Chandra Reddy and not yours sincerely. So I again run around to find this person and talk to him to be told that his job was to get the transfer done but if the transfer was not recorded in the BESCOM system its not his problem. Finally I went to the office and spent 3 hours to get Chandra Reddy erased and my name entered in the system.
The other day I went to get a photocopy done of a document. The person refused to make a copy since I had Rs. 10 with me and he wanted precise Re. 1. I returned with the required change and again requested for the service to be delivered since I was ready to pay. The machine operator was kind of enough to oblige me. I had 2 documents stapled together. He made the copy of the first one and without removing the staple started to make the copy of the second one. Now this was obviously not working out. I asked him to separate the documents and try. According to him it was a waste of time but he was coming out with bad copies one after another. I got exasperated, removed the staple and handed him the documents. This hurt his ego which he satisfied by charging me another Re.1 for the wasted staple for which he asked me to get another coin as change.
I got a new passport and since the police verification was not done I decided to go myself to the Police station. Early morning I was at the local station and mentioned that I was there for the verification so that they dont have to worry about it. I was told to wait since the policemen were having breakfast in the room where the relevant file was kept. So I waited and waited and waited. After 30 mins. I decided to check again and got to know that the concerned official had gone for his morning coffee. Can you believe it? I was asked to wait again which ofcourse I didnt.
People, I am not complaining. The point is that we always view our politicians as incompetent, our officials as incompetent, the system as incompetent but didnt somebody mention that a person gets what a person deserves. Somewhere I get the feeling that the "chalta hai" atttitude which we have as a country pervades in everything we do or dont do. Maybe our general lives have been so difficult and jobs are at such a premium we just look at work as the means to get roti, daal and not as something which we can be passionate about. There is this minority who believe work is worship and believe me they are a frustrated lot.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Xchange Anybody?
The other day I saw this interesting ad in the paper "Anything for Anything" offer from one of the leading kitchen appliances' manufacturer. I jumped at seeing it. Now I didnt jump because I saw anything red in the ad but because I found the opportunity to get rid of the junk I called utensils. So immediately I got my big bag out and put the "pressure cooker" which I got handed down to me from three other flatmates centuries ago, a "kadai" benefit another friend who didnt want to see his newly wed wife see what he cooked in, couple of "chai pots" which looked worse than the ones vendors have and a "tava" which was from before when java was discovered and trooped to the shop. Three hours later I came a proud owner of a brand new iodized cooker, non stick "kadai", non stick "tava", non stick oven compliant "chai pot" and a host of wooden ladels and spoons. Wow! didnt even notice the 3000 bucks it had burnt into my credit card - I had overcome the urge to store something.
Well, its not remarkable that I got new utensils but the point I am trying to make is that barter system is back big time these days. It is one of the mechanisms the marketeers have come up with to keep the engine of our economy running.
The fact is that I have this issue with me - I just cant let go. I still have the miniature cars which I collected when I was a kid, still have my old cricket bat, still have all my old books, still have a host of things which I dont even remember about in a host of old boxes. Is there anybody out there who can relate to it? If yes you know exactly what I am talking about.
Thus the exchange schemes have come as a boon for me. I strongly believe some intelligent folks in the Whartons, Harvards, IIMs of the world did a study and realized that if they can get all hoarders like me to get rid of their hoarded junk they can make money and presto exchange schemes were born. Now I want to find out which was the first exchange scheme of the modern times. In the meantime the local gadget store has offered me another offer - give me your 29" CRT TV and take a brand new LCD HD crystal panel - hmmmmm...interesting!
Well, its not remarkable that I got new utensils but the point I am trying to make is that barter system is back big time these days. It is one of the mechanisms the marketeers have come up with to keep the engine of our economy running.
The fact is that I have this issue with me - I just cant let go. I still have the miniature cars which I collected when I was a kid, still have my old cricket bat, still have all my old books, still have a host of things which I dont even remember about in a host of old boxes. Is there anybody out there who can relate to it? If yes you know exactly what I am talking about.
Thus the exchange schemes have come as a boon for me. I strongly believe some intelligent folks in the Whartons, Harvards, IIMs of the world did a study and realized that if they can get all hoarders like me to get rid of their hoarded junk they can make money and presto exchange schemes were born. Now I want to find out which was the first exchange scheme of the modern times. In the meantime the local gadget store has offered me another offer - give me your 29" CRT TV and take a brand new LCD HD crystal panel - hmmmmm...interesting!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Stability or pipedream?
Yesterday spent the entire Sunday morning being a couch potato watching BJP proclaim that the victory in Karnataka is a significant milestone towards its march to be the largest political party in India. I have no problems with their claim but was wondering what it means for commom man on the street.
A stable government in Karnataka was definitely the need of the hour. The state had seen Bismarckian politics for the past 4 years and that had almost brought it to the edge of collapse. Hopefully with the help of some rebels, independents etc. all those who are "others" BJP will form the government which would last the term but the expectations from this government would be sky high.
I can talk about the infratstructure in Bglore and it is apalling. Let alone the dream to make it the next Shanghai or the next Singapore I believe making it the next Lucknow or the next Surat or the next Bhopal might itself be a big achievement. Connectivity issues need to be addressed immediately - the city has an airport to reach it takes longer than the flight time between Bglore and Chennai or Bglore and Hyderabad, to travel 5 kms one needs to budget in 1 hour during the peak traffic hours, though Metro is supposed to be answer to all the woes it wouldnt be in place for the next 5-6 years, the only city probably in the world where crossroads are planned on top of flyovers - the list goes on. Water woes are going to become chronic due to the climate patterns changing and increasing population. I have been living in a locality where for the past 4 yrs everyday we buy 30-35 tankers of water. Water table is decreasing every month with all plans for renewal of water sources are on paper. Power situation though slightly better than some of the other cities in the country is still critical. Transmission lines are old and lacking maintenance, one strong rain and entire areas slip into darkness for hours on end. Water logging during monsoons, water scarcity during summers, jammed roads all the times, uprooted trees, cut trees - guess all get the picture.
So getting a stable government is not the crux of the matter, I think getting a government which works is more important. I hope BJP can give us this kind of government and not prove a skeptic correct - each and every party has made money. Lets give BJP a chance now to make some of their own. After all they have been asking for it for a long time.
A stable government in Karnataka was definitely the need of the hour. The state had seen Bismarckian politics for the past 4 years and that had almost brought it to the edge of collapse. Hopefully with the help of some rebels, independents etc. all those who are "others" BJP will form the government which would last the term but the expectations from this government would be sky high.
I can talk about the infratstructure in Bglore and it is apalling. Let alone the dream to make it the next Shanghai or the next Singapore I believe making it the next Lucknow or the next Surat or the next Bhopal might itself be a big achievement. Connectivity issues need to be addressed immediately - the city has an airport to reach it takes longer than the flight time between Bglore and Chennai or Bglore and Hyderabad, to travel 5 kms one needs to budget in 1 hour during the peak traffic hours, though Metro is supposed to be answer to all the woes it wouldnt be in place for the next 5-6 years, the only city probably in the world where crossroads are planned on top of flyovers - the list goes on. Water woes are going to become chronic due to the climate patterns changing and increasing population. I have been living in a locality where for the past 4 yrs everyday we buy 30-35 tankers of water. Water table is decreasing every month with all plans for renewal of water sources are on paper. Power situation though slightly better than some of the other cities in the country is still critical. Transmission lines are old and lacking maintenance, one strong rain and entire areas slip into darkness for hours on end. Water logging during monsoons, water scarcity during summers, jammed roads all the times, uprooted trees, cut trees - guess all get the picture.
So getting a stable government is not the crux of the matter, I think getting a government which works is more important. I hope BJP can give us this kind of government and not prove a skeptic correct - each and every party has made money. Lets give BJP a chance now to make some of their own. After all they have been asking for it for a long time.
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