Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Naachbo gaibo haarbo re

IPL fever is on and the most popular team Kolkata Knightriders has been in a mess right from the word go. They have got into all kinds of controversies. From multiple captaincy theory to the fakeiplplayer blog ( fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com ) each one has been more interesting than the other. Their game has never matched up with their anthem "Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo re". Rather there has been lots of song, dance and defeat. SRK might have to change their anthem to "Naachbo Gaibo Haarbo re".

Apart from the KKR team Bangalore Royal challengers have also been very disappointing inspite of the money spent on them. For some reason I dont feel like supporting them even though I belong to Bangalore.

My team has been Rajasthan Royals right from IPL 2008. I just love the way Shane Warne motivated youngsters to play out of their skins. We see guys like Yusuf Pathan, Asnodkar and Kamran Khan perform well even under pressure. I believe Shane Warne's leader has played a big role. He maybe a dog off the field but sure is a lion on the field. They will keep winning and the franchise owners will be happy as long as Shilpa shetty doesnt give Warnie her cell number. It will suit their team the best if his communication is limited to Mr. Raj Kundra(co owner).

Everything said and done, I think there is lot more to play for in this IPL and the points table can get reversed in next 5 or 6 matches. I am hoping to see the best of every team but my support has been with the Royals. They may or may not win the tournament they have won many hearts including mine.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Padhey likhey jaahil

With the election fever catching up in the world's largest democracy I cant help thinking are we really the world's largest democracy or something else?

We hear about craziest of the crazy ways the political parties use to garner votes. Most interesting one I read was about few parties in Andhra Pradesh trying to buy the votes of the younger guys bribing them with cricket kits. I wonder how would anybody confirm if the guy who took the cricket gear actually voted to the party he took it from. The campaign has been reduced to a platform for mudslinging. We hear our leaders bash others personalities rather than reach out to the masses. All I can say is we are so much used to the present system, that any corruption looks like an everyday event.

We can always find an excuse for our backwardness in lack of education among the masses or orthodoxy controling them. But I believe it is just one of many causes that has kept us where we are. The most important factor in my opinion that can make a system/country strong is accountability. Whatever you call it, accountability to the system, God or conscience. Unfortunately, the accountability factor is almost absent as far as I have seen in India. And I have seen more of it in many of the foreigners I have worked with. I wonder whats the reason. I dont think they are perfect. They have their own mistakes but when it comes to being accountable for their actions they are miles ahead of us.

Another factor I feel is we always like blaming the other for any failure we might face. Biggest example is India/Pakistan blaming eachother for their problems. Mostly we see the arab world blames the Zionist's or the west for all its problems. Nobody ever likes to stand up and take the responsibility to clean up themselves and their society. Destiny is one truth but unless we take up the responsibility our condition will never improve.

Education goes a long way in making us aware of the world around us and understanding the system we are a part of. What we learn and how we put it to practice goes a long way in shaping our destinies. But sole objective of earning degree's today is to amass wealth? We have many Varun Gandhi's, Mayavati's and Ramlinga Raju's amongst us. All best examples to the phrase "padhe likhe jaahil". All of us have a streak of this educated beast within us. I dont know if we can get rid of it altogether but acknowledging its existance is the first step in solving the problem.

Need of the hour seams to be a value based education system. Especially, the education that begins from home. How and What we all need to introspect. Guess if things dont change in time we could call our progress as uncivilization. And our world would be full of "Padey likhey jaahil". Who would know all the management theories and technologies but oblivious to "huququllah huququl ibaad"(Rights of God and mankind).

PS: Guess, this sums up some thoughts going through my mind when I watch the news channel's or read the paper. Perhaps, my next blog entry will be more interesting :)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

New challenges

Last month has been pretty interesting on the professional front. Mu sigma has treated me pretty well so far. Having worked on a single ETL tool for close to four years now I have to reinvent myself to fit into an analytics organization. Analytics is a very interesting field but coming from a purely IT services background I have some challenges ahead.

First of all focussing on the clients business and having to work on any new tool based on the situation. I need to be more versatile and get adjusted to this almost alien atmosphere. Though basics of insurance industry is not rocket science the jargon looks nothing less. I need to get used to the industry specific language. Besides learning another new ETL tool called SSIS and understanding the reporting and dashboards using BO is going to be a new experience. In short there is lots of learning waiting to happen. How I manage to absorb all this time will tell but I believe if you apply yourself and focus on the right areas nothing is impossible.

Besides a new job not much eventful happening. On the weekends I am pretty much occupied atleast in the morning arabic classes. Of late my progress is slow but there is some progress. I have been planning to start swimming but the plan has not yet been implemented. Looks like getting more organised and sticking to a plan is need of the hour. Hopefully, my next entry will reflect some more interesting events and a more organized life. Bye Bye till then.