"Catogorisation of cities"

After weeks of no activity on this blog,I have decided to write something. Its been a Non-eventful last 2 weeks in my life where i was away from the virtual world. It was kind of nice to be away from internet. I realised that i am not a addict to the virtual world but that doesn't mean that i din't miss any of the social networking sites,mails,Forums,blogs etc

I was in my village for a week and it was strange that i was thinking on different topics on which i can write on my blog,rather than enjoying the peace and silence which you feel in a rural place compared to noisy fast paced life of a city. Thinking of city i do not like the way our cities are divided into clusters and named Tier1,Tier2 etc

This divides our cities and it is as harmful as caste division, the only difference is that the affects of this divide are not there for everyone to see.

I am sure people living in so called "Tier2/3" cities know what i am talking about. I did my engineering in a region which was considered as "Backward region" and hence you hardly had any companies coming for the Prestigious campus placements!

This is the reason why you see many people going to cities and overcrowding them.

But can we blame the herd?? People go where opportunities exist.

I don't need to provide facts indicating the rising population in metropolitan cities. It is for everyone to see.( If you are numbers conscious then just google and find out!)

Be it Mumbai-Financial capital of India,Benguluru-IT capital,Hyderabad-IT hub etc

These cities are overcrowded and hence are also a easy target for Terrorists!!

I come from a place called Gulbarga in northern karnataka region which is considered "Backward". There are many Engineering graduates and highly successful people which my city has produced but not even one wants to work for the development of their city!!

All of them just complete their education and get settled in the famous cities.

What does Government do? Karnataka government invites investment from companies across the world. These companies are set up in the same cities which are polluted with all kinds of companies. What does gulbarga have? Only a Mill which has stopped working! There are thousands of cities like "gulbarga" in our country but no one wants to work for the development of them.

It is sad that you can have a Multiplex in Gulbarga but not companies,factories etc

What needs to be done to develop these cities?

1] Create Job opportunities so that people do not migrate to other cities.

2] Encourage Entrepreuners to invest in these cities.

3] Improve the level of education in these cities.

When the ex chief minister of karnataka Dharam singh( now a MP) was asked what would he do for Hyderabad karnataka region under which Gulbarga comes.

He said i would make "Jewargi" (a town near Gulbarga) singapore of india!

Another false promise by a Indian politician.

These cities need not be made singapore, these should be made self reliant.

We should focus on Inclusive growth not Exclusive.

Book Review: Fountainhead

Well this is my first attempt to review a book and see my guts! I have decided to write about one of the greatest books of all time. "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand.

I remember the time when i had first heard about Ayn rand,It was my friend who was reading Atlas shrugged( Do not remember exactly) and he had said that it is difficult to comprehend the Philosophy in her books. I thought it would be interesting to read a mix of Fiction and philosophy.

Few weeks ago i came across the book Fountainhead in my friend's place and borrowed from him.

I check out the number of pages of book before starting any book,when i checked this one it was 680!! I knew it would take long time to finish considering my phenomenal speed in reading!!

First few pages done,I did not know what was happening! I got confused but then i tried to comprehend and then started understanding the difficult style of writing of Rand. Difficult because it is different from the contemporary writers we read nowadays. I had heard from different sources that Fountainhead is about some kind of philosophy called "Objectivism"

In the middle of the book i was in inspired by some characters and the kind of philosophy which was being explained was Timeless! The book was published in 1943 and its been 67 years since and the philosophy seems so relevant to present! The book was so ahead of it times.

It is difficult to comprehend everything at one read,it surely requires careful re reads so as to grasp each and every concept which is so beautifully explained. The book comes alive because of its amazing characters. So i shall try to give a short description of each character.

1] Peter Keating: Very similar to every common individual you see in daily life. Has great interest in painting but his mother forces him to utilize the talent in Architecture.He attends the best institute for architecture and is the best student there but he doesn't have any originality. Because the college itself doesn't encourage originality. Goes to the best Firm for work,makes his way to top by some clever plans which also involves causing a death of a person! He becomes famous but it is short lived. He loves a Girl Catherine but they never marry.

2] Dominique Francon: Very difficult to comprehend her nature. She does not believe in the World'y concepts. She writes a column for a Newspaper "Banner" on Architecture and makes no effort to appreciate her father's work. She criticizes most of the work until she meets Roark and falls in love but their love is the most weird i have ever seen. But the understanding and passion is amazing.

3] Ellsworth toohey: A man who preaches Altruism. He is the representative of good in the society. Encourages Unions to fight for their rights. An architecture critique who's views are very important. A man to whom everyone looks up to. In the starting i was so inspired by this character but then he was too good to believe. He actually is actually after power and wants to rule the world! His explaination of how he goes about this work is very interesting and made me think a lot. How he encourages self sacrifice,selling of your soul. Amazing insight into some real concepts of Altruism.

4] Gail Wynand: Rags to riches story. Started his life as a Hooligan but later becomes a billionaire by building Wnand enterprises which has newspapers,tabloids,newsreels etc Even he is after power and iys termed as a Capitalist who runs the most vulgar Newspaper "Banner". He is inspired by Howard roark and they both become friends. He at the end goes all out to support Roark but ultimately loses out to the pressure. But he does not allow Toohey to take over his paper because he shuts the newspaper itself!!

5] Howard Roark: He is the soul of the book. His ideologies rule the book. His Egotism which is showcased in such a wonderful manner that you can't hate him. You will end up being inspired by this man. He is a brilliant Architect who believes Bulidings have their own life and is a Modernist which the world does not like. Very few individuals like his work and give him commissions. But all his commissions make huge furore in the Architecture world. Toohey keeps on ridiculing his work.Roark and Keating are classmates but not necessarily friends! Roark helps keating in designing his work and keating gets away with all accolades which Roark does not even care for. At the end roark blows up the building he designed because it not being erected as it was designed!! He faces trial in which he defends himself by giving a long speech which is thought provoking. Actually it is difficult to write about Roark!

This might be a amateur's review since i couldn't grasp the entire concept but it is one book which you cannot afford to miss!!

Just to tell you the significance of the book, read the comments on this blog by different people who have read it.

http://www.bennadel.com/blog/359-The-Fountainhead-An-Amazing-Book.htm

My Story!

Few days back i was reading this blog in which someone wrote a kind of autobiography of sorts. Well in a way it was confession of committing a series of mistakes. It is hard to write up something of that sort especially when you know everyone is going to read it.

So Inspired from that post i am writing about how i have screwed up my life. This is surely going to be a long post considering the attention to details i give!

What is it in for you to read my messed up life??

You can know what not to do in life! On the other hand can't you just read for the heck of it,why do we always have to find a reason for doing something?

I remember that day very well,the day i had flunked in Mathematics pre final year exam in 10th class. My Dad had come to the school to talk with the teacher and the shocking fact is my Dad is a Mathematics professor! Not bad right! I was humiliated and on that day when i came back to home i saw something written on a White board which my dad used for telling tutions.

some 10 points were written saying that i had never passed in the school! Yes i got promoted all the time. How much of a disgrace i was and all that stuff. I felt awful that day. I somehow managed to get a meagre 67% in CBSE( Which is my only saving face!) Especially without failing in Maths!

Then came the Intermediate. Interesting thing is i hardly remember anything of those 2 years since all i did was donkey's work! The college made me study like hell. No wonder i got 77% in 1st year and 86.5 in 2nd year! But frankly speaking any idiot who is made to study like that will score such percentages which everyone considers to be good!

Now after my 12th like hundreds if not thousands of parent's in our country give out the ultimate choice to their children,even my parents did the same.Something like to chose between Good and evil. The choice which has moved our nation to the present progress.

Engineering or Doctor?

I being such a fool like any other Non-interested engineer considered doing MBBS a waste of time and neither was biology my cup of tea.So i enthusiastically chose "Engineering" not knowing that there were people in this world who did something other than these two courses. Doing BA,BSC,BCOM was a never a option to me. Well I don't blame my parent's for that,since the problem was with me. I had no passion for anything! Feel ashamed to say this but i still do not

know what my True calling is.

Did my Engineering in my Hometown "Gulbarga". My stream Electronics and communication and my expertise in the field is almost Nil except a few subjects! My aggregate is 62.19! I never worked hard in those 4 years. All i did was enjoying with friends. My take away from the course was some beautiful friends i have made. Apart from that nothing! No exposure to anything be it further education,interpersonal skills or anything else. But here again there is only one person to be blamed and that is me. I never thought of the "Future"

Then came the dreadful day of July 14 2009 when i had to leave Gulbarga to come back to my home in Hyderabad. It was difficult for me. I just couldn't think of living without my friends.

Now was the decision time. What should i do now? Working in a IT company as a Software engineer was out of context. I just hate coding and all related stuff. Then the next best option was MBA. It is surely a opportunity generator course.( Career changer I mean!) Enrolled myself into TIME for CAT coaching on 21st july 2009.

Two months into the course i was doing good,was improving my Mock exam scores. Had gone from mid 60's to mid 80's. There was hope of improvement. Then all came crashing down. On september 21 2009 my maternal uncle died! My Mom was shocked and i being the only son had to take care of her. It was tough for me considering how emotional i am. Just when i thought everything was getting normal on october 15 2009 my Grandfather died! It was unexpected. I loved him a lot and i just couldn't come out of the trauma! By the time everything was getting back to normal it was Nov first week and CAT was on DEC 5. I just gave up in mid of Nov. Now i think i gave up soon. As expected got only 60.8% in CAT and did get 69 in SNAP but missed the cut off by 4 marks!!( SCIT) I never took XAT seriously so i flunked in that too.

In the midst of all this got 90.28% in MAT,which by the way is considered waste of time by many people. After doing a bit of research of all the colleges under MAT realised nothing was worth it! Still thought SCMS cochin was good. ( Source:Alumni) Attended the interview of it and got through it. Most probably will join the college.

I can't take another year off and write all the exams again. I just can't do it.There are various issues concerned. More ever i do not think i have the will power and patience required to get through.

Well that is the way i have screwed up my life so far. But I have something with me which my life so far has not been able to take away from me, My Optimism of a better tomorrow. My Belief that i can make it big.( Not in Materialistic terms!) My Little knowledge of the ultimate knowledge "Spirituality",My Altruistic nature. Okay I am boasting a lot here,am i not?? But its true!!

Let me end on a high. I would say, As Barack Obama saif

"Yes we can".

Review:Mr woodcock

What's the advantage of having lot's of free time?

You can watch movies like the one above on TV and also to add insult to injury you can review it on your blog!! Hail Laziness and insanity!!

While i was going through all the useless Television channels i came across HBO( Home Box office) and then checked out some movie was about to start. Using the technology advancement my Set top box provides( Tata sky:Jingalala!!) I read the gist of the movie, something like a Intro to your Project report or seminar report but the difference here is it is more interesting and original!( Consider the plagiarism involved in our creativity of coming up with new projects!)

The gist interested me and i utilised my precious time in watching the movie for 2 hrs! Was the movie worth watching? If you consider tha amount of money i earn on hourly basis( Nil!) it was more than worth! Story is about a Bestselling author John Farley who hates his school Gym teacher who is about to marry his mom! The book which he has written "Letting go of past" has changed many lifes,but incidently the author doesn't follow what he preaches. Sounds familiar right?? As we all do! We are perfect advisors but are we good Listeners to our own ideas??

John comes back to his hometown for receiving the prestigious Korn kobee award and in the process gets to know about the affair of his mom's and his monster teacher Mr.woodcock.

Not able to accept the fact he is traumatised and is hell bent on breaking the relationship.

Some real hillarious moments follow. The one with his friend Nedderman, then at the Treadmill and finally the award ceremony and the fair.

Our Hero realises that you do not just let go the past but you embrace it!!

Good lesson to be understood! If your time is as precious as mine then i advise you to watch it but if it isn't then you can afford to miss this one.

Who am I?

One of my favorite movies is Spiderman not because it is a Comic hero based but also because of some beautiful dialogues in the movie like "With great power comes great responsibility" and the last line of the movie "This is my curse this is my gift,Who am I? I am Spiderman"

Well you must be wondering why am i talking about Spiderman after having a photo of "Ohm" above. A very important question above is Who am I?? This is one question which we need to ask ourselves a lot and if we find the answer then i am sure life will become easier!!

I was watching a Debate on Tv today about the Identity of a Moderate muslim and after the show finished my mom said something which everyone generally knows "All terrorists are muslims but all muslims are not terrorists". Something which i can never support. Well every Indian has a opinion and so do I!!

I try to learn from movies( Obviously good logical movies) and there was this movie named Krantiveer starring Nana Patekar. In the movie there is a wonderful scene where he mixes blood of both Hindu and muslim and asks a fundamentalist to differentiate between the bloods. Well what better way to bring home the point.

Now what do i feel regarding all this,I don't know who brought all this business of caste and caste division. But one thing is for sure that God does not differentiate. For him or her( I wonder if god has a gender!!) every soul on earth is the same. If you do good you are closer to him and if you do bad you tend to go far away from him. It is like a tuning of frequency with god,more good you do you have high chances to match to god's frequency!!

I don't understand why terrorists do so much voilence under the name of god!! I pity on their foolishness! Neither do i understand why Naxals on the name of benifit of people kill government workers. Who gave them the right to kill?? Even God forgives people who have committed sins then are these people bigger than gods?? Some people wonder if God exists then why isn't he punishing the culprits,well he does punish them but how he does it is oblivious to our knowledge.

But we can be god send angels by doing our part in spreading goodness in the world. As Gandhiji said "To see the change be the change".

God is both in form and formless and he is a super authority who resides in us. He does not understand religion nor does he knows such a thing even exists! I see god in me,people around me. So stop being a intellectual and debating on religion and enjoy life as it is the only thing worth! Try to observe more closer at the picture above and see there are symbols of other religions as well. It has crescent moon of Islam at the top and a cross of christianity in the middle. You might not see it but try to observe you will see it eventually!

Finally i would like to quote Abraham Lincoln " I do good i feel good,I do bad i feel thats my religion"

"Leader"

The feeling which you get after watching a Inspirational movie is wonderful. I feel like i can do anything which i dream of,though the feeling doesn't last long! There have been some movies in both Bollywood and hollywood that have inspired me a lot. A few examples would be

RDB,Swades,Front of the class,Pursuit of happyness. Today after watching "Leader" a Tollywood flick i can add that movie to the above list mentioned.

Directed by Shekhar Kamulla,Leader is a story of a "Idealistic" guy who is Chief minister's son and after untimely death of the his father(CM) has to become the CM since it was his father's last wish. The story revolves around how he gets into the politics with a Single point agenda to eradicate Corruption. Politics as we know it is,has been shown very well in the movie.

After getting a pulse of Politics and realising what he has to do,he sets out to become a leader who really wants the state to prosper.

All the actors have performed exceedingly well,and the main USP of the movie is a great Script.

Shekar kamulla's movies are very different from the normal movies,he gives it a very good feel which usually lacks in most of the movies especially the baseless telugu movies.There are some points in the movie which i loved a lot. Leader is shown smoking in most part of the first half. What i could interpret is the director wanted to show that he is a common youngster who has become a leader or just because it was looking cool on the screen.But knowing the attention to detail shekhar gives, i feel there is a valid reason for it.

Very good dialogues,story and performances make leader a must watch. At the end hero's mother which is played by Suhasini( Amazing actress) says "I din't want you to become a politician,i wanted you to become a Leader".

I have always believed that movies should make us learn and this is one movie which surely does.

Mind crap!!

For a few days now, I have been thinking how do you Evaluate Success or for that matter Failure?

Are these just a few words to which we have given too much importance or are they really significant in our Life?

For a Start let me try to write down a few interpretations of success according to various people.

Is Success earning Six figure salary and having a Mercedes Benz??

Is success gaining admission into IIM's,XLRI and more elite Institutions??

Is success having a Status in Society??

Is success Owning a billion dollar company??

Is success being able to marry your Loved one going against your family conditions??

Is Success having a NGO and helping needful people?

Is Success leaving a High paying job and doing what you like to do??

Is success being the best in whatever you do??

or

Is failure not being able to do any of the above??

I don't know,I am confused. It is like a situation where in I have to differentiate between Mazaa and Slice!! Thats Hieghts of confusion!!

I also ask this question to myself,Are these just labels which world has created and we being fools just follow them.

We always follow someone's Life path but never try to sketch our own!!

I don't understand anything, I guess i use lot of heart in interpreting everything rather than using the Brain.

To be frank I just don't know what Success or failure is. I feel we should do what really interests us and if in the process you make some money then great. At the end of the day even if you have Millions still you will feel hungry and eat the same thing.( There are so many food types but the main purpose is to quench your hunger isnt it??)

I guess after reading this post you would say I am inspired from 3 idiots and have written all this crap!! Well you could say that but then these questions have always been in my mind.

At the end, Moral of the Post:- Have your own definations of success and failure or do not believe in these terms but never follow the someone else defination's.