Onion of My Eye

Onion is the true leveler in India. It will make us surely cry either when we cut or buy it. Onion is one commodity whose price rise hits us hard. Politician's popularity indexes are invariably linked with the prices of onion. Political parties can win or lose elections depending which side of the onion they are on. 

Onions are the true binding force of India. It binds different cultures & geographical regions. Pinch of price rise is far more acute & deeply felt in all regions of India if it’s especially of the mighty onions. Ironically it’s the onions which manage to make the governments nervous & jittery, not the multi billion dollar scams or many deaths due to mal nutrition.

Onion rudely exposes India’s preparedness to meet contingencies. Drought & excessive rains do not come with intimations. It’s the responsibility of the governments & administrators to have break points & triggers to identify crisis & deal effectively. It’s sad that our governments are normally dormant & react only when it hits their electoral prospects. Disaster recovery mechanism in India is a paper tiger; it operates only in manual & not in reality.

The onion crisis raises many questions of the role & preparedness of ministers & bureaucrats. Isn’t politics & administration a full time job as it entitles them with salary, benefits & other perks? In reality the problem stems from the fact that many politicians do not really have a sound knowledge or the expertise in the portfolio they head. Politicians other than politics devout their time for many other activities which keeps them occupied & this leaves them with very little time to manage their ministries. 

Voters elect their leaders hoping that those leaders are passionate about common man's problem; however onions of today expose the true intention of those leaders. It’s high time the politicians realize that the voters expect results & not empty promises. Either they become more efficient or the onions will bite them hard.

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Importance of Philanthropy in India

It’s a common sight with no surprise elements when find many Indian businessmen, corporate houses & executives feature in list of wealthiest in the world. India has been a land of opportunity for those who have the passion & zeal and that has been amply proved with the rise of the billionaires in the country however we seem to at the lower end of the list when we compare the rich Indians who have contributed to the society through philanthropic activity against the likes of Buffet’s & Gates etc. Many rich Indians in India are accused of being greedy & selfish not to share their wealth with those who are in need.



        It’s a fair to assume that these rich & mighty are not obligated to society in sharing their booty as they have already contributed towards the society by creating millions of jobs & playing a vital role in developing the economy. Though the argument may be compelling, we need to understand the fact that these rich men have way more money then they ever need to lead the most luxurious life & also provide the same security for many generations of their family. It’s important to ponder the idea of “how much money is more money”.


        Though the government is principally committed to up lifting the need it’s important to face the reality of inept, incompetent, ineffective & corrupt systematic procedures in our country while executing projects of social importance. Hence it is important for the subject matter experts who have established success business ventures to contribute for social causes through financial & execution. 


        It’s is important for us to always be grateful for those who are willing to share their wealth in providing us a better society which we all can be proud off. Let us thank those Tata’s, Murthy’s, Nilkeni’s & Premji’s of India who have the passion to engineer a social change through their contribution. 

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Do we need to discount the procedure for Celebrites

                                    Every news channel yesterday was about how Viswanathan Anand our greatest chess player was insulted & humiliated by HRD ministry and more importantly by the bureaucracy or babu raj (as commonly known in india), by asking him to confirm his national identity. No wonder a news of such magnitude warranted a huge media coverage. Many news channels took this as a personal insult when the great man himself graciously accepted the apologizes provided by the minister himself, though his pride did not allow him to accept the award. 

                           I think it's very important to look above the immediate knee jerk reaction of the media & common people alike. Do we subscribe to hypo-critic view about procedure when we are resist special favors for a few & also resort to asking for special favors alike. I strongly believe as country, if are sincere about progress & committed to providing an equal opportunity to every citizen of the country then we should have strong processes and provide no exception to anyone. However such procedures can only be successful if the decision making processes are de centralized, delegated & the bureaucrats are provided with necessarily empowered to carry on task without any political intervention.  

                            For the starters no one should be accorded with any special status or immunity to procedures which are not dully accorded to them in the system or by office held. If any such privilege is offered or requested then such instances should be recorded and should be liable to public scrutiny in a transparent way. This would indeed discourage celebrities to from asking special favors. Policies should be designed to include multi level decision making system to avoid even smallest of requests being forwarded to the highest level. Along with the empowerment the policy makers & executives would have to be accountable for action which or autocratic or a deviant from the system designed. I hope our policy makers, politicians & bureaucrats understand the need of progressive policy making in order to stay ahead of competition for developement & global recognition. 

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Outsourcing Blues:

“Business governed by the laws of supply and demand, not restrained by government interference, regulation or subsidy” – Def (Free Market).

                 Ohio Governor Ban’s IT outsourcing of government to keep the jobs locally. His action may be relevant to address a local community which is stung & shocked by the after effects of recession since the markets collapsed in 2008, however such a move is very short sighted for a country like United States 0f America. America has been the biggest benefactor of free trade movement for decades. American companies are among the most successful companies around the world in catering to the needs of a global population. A very short sighted move to please the local population will be regressive for US as they are prone to loss any billion $ worth revenue if the other countries try to protect their respective industries & local population.

                  Free market trade relies heavily on quality offering at the a considerable price, US companies for many decades have successfully understand the crux of free market economy & achieved great financial success which in turn allowed the local economy of US to flourish. As free trade economy believes in quality offering at a reasonable price many countries have suffered while US has prospered in the past. However post recession the policy makers in America have been very regressive in their approach towards outsourcing which they have successfully exploited in the past.

                   A blanket ban on outsourcing will actually cause more harm then benefit the American society as the companies lose their edge of quality products at competitive prices. More importantly companies won’t be able to leverage the availability of talent pool across the world which in turn reduces the cycle & turn around time for their end users.

Today American companies are eyeing the nuclear power market in India which is has a huge potential & can generate revenues of $ 150 Billion, however if India decides to follow the example set by America, America will lose the business which will indeed hurt the American society. It’s time that the western powers do not tend to hypocritical about global economy or conservation of environment.

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A Systematic Rot

Many see India as a land of opportunities, land of excitement, land of heritage & land culture, religions & philosophy’s, however to me India has be a land of extremes. We see many rich & famous share space with the down trodden & under privileged, finding rich high rises right next to near nothing shawls, The wealth & development coinciding with poverty & depredation. Now their can’t be any thing more extreme than millions of hungry human beings & countless amount of food grains being allowed to rot. If anyone thought we have learnt our lesson during 1970’s food famine, they are hugely mistaken.

Our system has become very inefficient, lethargic & oblivious to the fact that millions suffer due to lack of basic nutrition. We have conviently chosen to ignore the hunger pangs of those million and allowed those food grains to rot in ware houses. Many of the internal conflicts in this country are a result of many such oblivious attitude of the past. Though I never subscribe to left wing activism, I strongly feel government machinery if efficient & effective will never create a vacuum in the society which will allows those deviants to exploit. Nature has gifted us with enough resources for surplus produce for years together, however due to lack of sensitivity & vision we have chosen to ignore the opportunities to elevate poverty & instead choose to make the down trodden suffer further.

It’s high time our that politicians, bureaucrats & civil servants become sensitive to the needs of many millions who do not have access to even basic nutrition. We need to create systems & infrastructures to distribute those food grains to the needy in an efficient way instead of letting them rot. It’s high time that our politicians channel their resources & synergy’s to help those in need instead of playing the petty political blame games. It’s never too late to change for the good, but change today then tomorrow will benefit those millions who are desperately need help & have no resources to reach out to the high & mighty to plead their case.

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Highest System of Faith

In India, people don't really trust politician, they don't have faith in Bureaucrats, they really don't understand or realize the importance of being a good citizen, however many consider the court rooms are the last true upholder or justice even it's many inept & un realistic judicial process. The faith of such institution which uploads the justice was first sullied by scams & misdoings of judges which were brought to light through media, however this week the system of faith took a hammering when five judges who are suppose to the law protectors indulged in cheating while trying to clear their law exams. It's such a shame to see them being caught red handed in a camera still have the audacity of trying to argue the innocence. 

When country men fast loose faith in the system such incidents won't really help the cause. It's important for the judicial system to re assert themselves as the true champion & the last protector of justice in this country. For it's our survival & respect the judges have to introspect their review process, set the right checks & balances to avoid corrupted onces from assuming offices & more important being quick in delivering justice even if its against the member of their tribe.

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Our Love towards Hate !!!

Ever since the existence of the mankind it's wasn't about war and peace, but it was about Love or Hate, as both Peace and war stems from the options we choose to pursue. Even the greatest of the greatest allow found it difficult to choose between love and hate. It's easy to hate a person for even a small mistake however it is extremely difficult to love someone in spite of all their mistakes. We normally don't have such dilemmas to choose between love and hate as we are very instinctive in nature. We love those who are good to us and hate those you harm or think of harming us or our beloved ones. Isn't it so easy to choose?. In all these we tend to forget that the greatest pleasure in life is to be able to love people unconditionally even if they don't subscribe our views. The people whom we love or admire the most are those who have the uncanny ability of always choosing the option to love even under travesty. I don't hold a view that we have to angelic in nature, however wont this world be a better place if we all learn to forgive and love unconditionally instead of holding grudges against some for what they have done or for what they have not done?. All religions preach love and importance of always choosing love over hate, however how do we manage to ignore such a important value for some superficial preaching’s? Love or no love, atleast we can stop hating. Let us make this a better place for others as well as ourselves. Let us always try to remember "Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty".

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Being Indian, Is it worthy pride???

India the land of snake charmers, corrupt politicians, ineffective administrators and people of all class, either communally divided or divided by poverty and richness. The country were majority of citizens are below the age of 30. The country with a lot of potential, un able to fulfill any. Brightest and smartest of the society either aspire to migrate to foreign land or try to take advantage of the loop holes in the society to lead a immoral living. Is it worth to be proud about our were everything in the society needs a over haul.

I met a long lost friend who has lived in shanghai the business capital of China. He made a very interesting companion, telling me about the life in Shanghai, the development which the country has gone through under able and effective administrators who prioritize the infrastructure development over everything. He also spoke about Beijing Olympics, how effective and swift the organization committee was in putting this mega spectacle for the world to see. With every word he sounded more like a Chinese then an Indian and even I was tempted to complain and crib about how ineffective and anarchical our administration system’s are. After a long chat and thought he asked me "why I still deeply love this country?" I was completely numb trying to find an answer and then I realized the reason. I was determined to let him know, my side of the story. After a long pause I told him that I still love this country because at least I am allowed to complain against all these.

Is being Indian, worthy pride? Yes it is, with all its problems and inadequacy around us, we are still enjoying the freedom for which our fore fathers sacrificed their lives. I would never compromise my freedom for any amount of development, so are many in this country.

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A Chance For The Coverup!

India’s eternal wait for an individual gold medal in Olympics is finally over. Abinav’s cool and precision shooting in finals has clinched us the most awaited and elusive gold. We don’t to face the embarrassing question, “Why can’t India produce a gold medal winning sports person with a billion people as resource” any more. Every single Indian is proud of this feet, however entire sports fraternity should not be using this opportunity to cover up there inability to produce world class athlete’s with a resource pool of billions. In fact Abinav’s success is independent of our sporting system proves this point. Even the smallest and poorest nations are able to produce world class athletes year after year, event after event, were as we drop our head’s in shame and anguish every time we compete just for the mere formality.

Our sporting system needs a complete overhaul and almost all the games needs to be re laid completely at the grass root level. Is there a remedy to change this failure of sorts in a instance? Not really, the only way we can achieve success consistently is by investing resources to identify them young, put them through a structured and professional program for better grooming. It is very vital to expose such groomed athletes to international competition frequently to ensure that they do not choke under pressure or good competition. We need to make sports a very integral part of our value system, so that sports and such activities command the respect they deserve.

Is there any other benefit apart from international glory in developing a sporting system? Yes, with a nation of billion people, with a majority of them still young, we need to ensure the system provides every one a passage and path for a healthy living and the only way this can be achieved by en graining sports, as an integral part of value system. It’s not without a reason, that “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”. Hope this gold medal creates a window of opportunity for every deserving sport’s person to attain his goal by creating a better infrastructure.

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An Atletico Man who chased a REAL Dream.

Raul Gonzalez Blanco, This is one name which immediately touches chord with millions of Madridista’s all around the world. This is one name which single handedly bought pride and spot light like back to Real Madrid at start of this century. This is one name which always get’s spoken along with the greats like De Stefano, Puskas, Gento’s and others who played there best for Real Madrid. Raul Gonzalez Blanco who has been revered, as icon and pride of Real Madrid would not have been one, if he did not join Real Madrid after certain Jesus Gil the once president of Atletico Madrid decided to scrap Atletico’s youth system where Raul was getting ready to dawn the colors of Rojiblancos. Atletico later found out that arguably this was their greatest gift ever to their cross town rival’s.

Raul was born into a humble working class family, whose head was a passionate supporter of Atletico Madrid. His father might have felt the pain rip through his heart, when he saw his son play for Real Madrid and not for his beloved Atletico, but such was the passion and dedication, Raul had for Real Madrid that no one ever mentioned or questioned his Atletico roots with cynicism. Raul was a boy when he first played for Real Madrid. Playing along with the idols like Butragueño, Michel, Zamorano, Redondo, Sanchis and Buyo would have overwhelmed many, but not Raul. In fact playing along with his idols spurred him and made him the legend he is today. Raul true to his commitment has reminded a single club man even though he commanded the highest transfer fee’s in peak of his powers. Raul’s commitment to the club was unparalleled even when he was chased and haunted by many multi million transfer offers, that no one in the club lost sleep even for a day with the prospect of loosing there most prized asset looming large.

Raul is respected all around the world not just for his footballing skills, but for his passion, commitment and outstanding behavior. Raul stands as a beacon in the world of football which is losing its sheen and slowly been taken over by football playing thugs, who don’t mind slugging it out in a pub after their day’s game. Not receiving a single red card in entire professional career spanning over 14 years is a feat which deserves the highest accolade and a benchmark which any self respecting footballer needs to strive to achieve.

Many love Real Madrid because they love football, but there are many more who love football because they love Real Madrid. For those many more supporters Raul is not just a top scorer, a great and a legend, but an identity which they will ever be proud to associate themselves with. Let the history etch his name in footballing folklore for many million youngsters who will not be fortunate to see this legend playing.

                                           Long live the king. Long live his kingdom.

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New Maradona Vs New Pele

Since time these two greats graced the footballing arena, the footballing crowd has been spoiled for quality. Before and along with these two south American talisman were many great footballers like Alfred De Stefano, Puskas, Johan Cruff, Franz Beckenbauer,Michel Platini, Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Bobby Carlton and etc, however no one ever were spoken in the same league as these two were. Even though destiny unites these two by enigma & class, they were distinctly separated by there temperament. Pele was always considered a more rounded personality & a perfect role model because of his on field and off field behavior; however Diego was always the most mercurial player surrounded with controversy and bad press linked to his behavior and personal problems.

Over the years many impostors from Argentina and Brazil have been compared to these two greats and none of them were able to fulfill the vacuum left by these two, however off late the emergence of Messi and Robinho has triggered the talk of New Maradona and New Pele again. In many ways Robinho and Messi share there master’s class, vision and prodigious talent, however like there predecessor this is were the similarities end.

Since Messi start playing in the first team of Barca he has done no harm to his comparison to the Argentinean legend and Messi has gone from strength to strength and even drawn the comparison from no other than Maradona himself, however Messi reminds us of Maradona in all aspects except his temperament, where surprisingly he reminds us Pele and not Maradona. Messi’s ascend to the top has been built on strong foundation with the right mix of commitment, maturity, hard work and professionalism. Many clubs have tried to lure him away from Barcelona, however Messi’s commitment to the club, has made the club’s decision easy and simple. It won’t be a surprise, if Messi performs some miracle of his predecessor and surpasses him with some of his own and set’s examples for future “New Messi” to follow his foot step.

However on the contrary Robinho with his mercurial talent has set the world stage on fire. He showed the glimpse of his talent when he was playing in Santos and was tipped for bigger things once he signed for Real Madrid, however surprisingly he does not have the temperament of his master but surprisingly that of Maradona During his three years stint for Los Blancos he promised but failed to deliver on his talent. He was so unprofessional that he drew comments from sporting director of club when he complained smelling of booze in the dressing indicating Robinho’s professionalism to add to his expanding list of unprofessional acts his transfer saga drew a lot of criticism from even the unexpected quarters. It’s difficult not to be tempted with big money in the offing, however considering the fact that Robinho’s desire to be the best in the world it would have been a easy choice to make. It would have been the right choice to make by choosing to stay in Real Madrid and continue in quest for greatness. Instead Robinho choose not to confront problems and decided to be the big fish in the small pond by accepting a move to Manchester City. He allowed lust for money to kill his footballing soul. From a very promising career and possible greatness, Robinho is now all set to confront his worst fear, with demons of relegation lurking in the shadows. His temperament has time and time again has put his master to shame and has pushed Pele to the extend of recommending professional counseling for his off field behavior.

It is almost certain that Messi will do justice to the expectations, but it would be foolish to write Robinho off, however it would hardly be a surprise, if Robinho turns out to be a gaffer and does nothing to fulfill his potential. We will wait for future to answer this question.

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