Gandhigiri V.S. Phatshala

The war has been on for sometime know, who will go to the Oscars as India's entry. Ultimately it was Rang De Basanti which will represent India, but Lage Raho Munna Bhai will contest the Oscars Independantly.

But the question is not who goes to the Oscars or who wins. The questions should be much broader.

Firstly, why such a hype over the Oscars, it is hollywood's way of recognizing it's finest and not Indian film industry's (or for the initiated Bollowood or Kollywood or Lollywood etc.. what ever you want to call it). Our film industry is so diverse that and so regional that it is very unlikely that an American is going to appreciate the subtleties of such movies. For him, Rang de basanti my be like any other action movie and Lage Raho may not make any sense to him at all. So I don't think it should really matter to us who goes to the Oscars. What we should bother about is our National awards and our award shows which although they are full of glitz and glamour they still represent the best we have to offer.

Secondly and more important, whose legacy is true. The one who got us independence through Ahimsa or those who split their blood and split others blood for the freedom of their motherland. Who's legacy is true. When we think about it, the honest answar is both. Let's not say, one was better than the other, because both were vital to where we are today. But, whose path is best followed today......

At once we will all say Gandhi's non violence no doubt, but let's look at reality again, look at the world around us. We don't follow his ways, we are in an eye for and eye world and that's how most of us live. But there are things in his ways that we could follow, maybe, just maybe we all could put down our weapons and be civilized, but will the terrorists pay heed to such action. They will call it inaction and terrorize us all the more. We are not in that era anymore, but even in that era, the battles were not won by non violence alone. In every struggle there is always a good dose of violence mixed in with the nonviolence. So maybe there is no clear winner. We all know we should all stand up for the truth and justice, but the way we do it is up to the individual.

Then again, maybe instead of looking at such issues on such a large scale, maybe we should look at it at our level, that is inside each and everyone of us. Tomorrow when you go to the office and you find the colleague whom you hate standing in front of you, what to you do, frown and walk away, or give him a sweet smile and say Good Morning from the bottom of your heart. Maybe that would be the first step to reconciliation. Out smiles are the best weapons we have in todays corporate world. I have always believed and still believe that one genuine smile will always evoke another and this is the best way to live.

I know this article is quite broken and does not reach a result. But that is because, there is no answer. How must one react, with flowers and truth(or love) or with guns and truth(or insults).
It's the decision of the individual.

Rahul........

The Poor and I... And maybe You.. (You Decide)

So I was going to work the other day, Was just like any other day. On my way to work and was stuck at a signal with the sun blazing down, when a couple of little kids came up to my bike. On was selling vehicle wipes and the other was begging. I was planning to pick a cloth for my bike anyway, so I decided to buy it from that little kid. Once I did that girl came up to me and started begging, pleading saying how hungry she was, but as usual the way most of us normally shoo them away I did too, she gave me a hurt and angry look but I didn't give it a second thought, the signal changed and I was on my way, I have not seen her since. But that got me thinking. Why is it that we are all so cynical when it comes to beggars on our roads, especially the children and the old. Why do we always think that the money is anyway going to some guy who has put them on the roads. We've also got to realize what would happen to them if we didn't help. Because one way or the other, they are begging to save their lives. There is in every religion and in each of our faiths the duty to help those less fortunate than us. But how many of us actually do it?? This little incident got me thinking of the way I've been and the way I've let others influence my thoughts in such things. I have been so fortunate to be born into a well off family that I have never had to feel such abject poverty and am sure anyone who is reading this has not faced it either. We may not be millionaires, but to those people on the roads we may as well be.

A couple of days later was at a coffee shop and when I left, there was a similar scene in front of me again. And again at first, I did not even react. But then this thought popped into my head and I turned to my friend who was next to me and asked her to give the lady some money.

The Point is this, If ever you feel that you can help someone so desperate and somewhere in your heart something tells you to do it. Please do it. I hope I will they next time my heart twitches even the slightest for someone so poor.

Rahul....

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The Life and Times of ME....

So many Months....
So Many Drafts...
Been a long time since i put something up on this page...


At times I think of my Life and find it to be the strangest ride in the world. I'm sure everyone feels this way...I have always thought of myself as different and have always thought there is something in me that no one else has.. and it times I may have felt down and out feeling that I am good for nothing.. We all have experienced such moments in our lives. Times where we feel we are unbeatable and times when we feel the world is all set to drive a dagger right through our throats....

Today I work for one of the largest conglomerates in the world at one of the lowest positions in the company for a Engineer but at the same time am being recognized and appreciated for my work.. As a Software Engineer my Job entitles writing code and delivering defect free services to the customer and more so in maintenance projects where the focus is totally on what the customer wants and not what he needs. Anyway in such an organization where the only focus is the basic work and with the work force of my company alone at 80,000, and my office at 200 it is a nice feeling you get when your colleagues many years your senior treats you as a peer. The time when some one asks you to take the initiative or applauds you for the same or you are treated like a leader are times you feel that you are unstoppable. This is when you feel that you can do anything... And then you think back 2 years... My only aim at the time and to a certain extent still is today is to do my Master in Business Administration.. From the time I was doing my final years of college all I wanted to do was become a manager.Two years on and 6 exams and 2 interviews later, I am still waiting for that elusive seat. Maybe it is my ego, but I feel I deserve to be there and do my MBA at the best with the best. But my problem with Numbers has always left me one step behind the competition. Mathematically average and Analytically string is how I would describe myself, but today's world demands that one be equally strong in both. Language has never been a major problem for me so I is not pertinent to bring that up here. But, it is this, this inability to crack the exam despite my knowing that I can is what brings me down. So today I at that strange place where at one side I feel excited at the path my career is taking in the software industry with the fear that it's size will allow me to grow only so much and on the other hand is my wish to get that degree in management.


And then there are my passions, I love this place.. Time and Mind permits and I am here. I love to write and that is my long long long passion and love....I have always been an avid writer. Although my novel has not made much progress over the years, it is my short articles and my need to same something about anything with the chance that it may be read by millions that keeps bringing me back to my blog. Over the years I have thought and rethought about becoming a journalist but have dropped the idea so many times that I have now decided that it is best left as a passion and a hobby along with things like sketching and the rest.

And finally something that I will go back to eventually, long life permit is teaching. I have always felt I would love to teach. Become a lecturer and share whatever little I know with others.It is something I feel very passionate about but I don't thing it can be a career. So may be someday I will go back to it. Right now I am young.. Too Young to just teach....

Then is the most Important part of my life and that is my family.. My Mom and Dad two of the most loving people who are some of the best doctors I know, my girl who will make a great manager some day and my friends who are my constant support and sometimes guides. They all, always make me feel like a winner and that is what I am...

No matter what I do in my Career. I will be happy. As an Engineer or a Manager or a Journalist or A Blogger or A Teacher or maybe even a Chef...They are all a part of me and although I don't know what I want to do I know I am doing all of this every day even today. So why get myself down wondering where my life is headed. I know all will work of for the best because I know It will.


P.S : This Article is all from my Heart. When I started Off I was maybe A little down, but now when I have finished I am feeling Really optimistic and wonderful This is the power of speaking your mind(or is it your heart).This is me, Rahul Saying thank you If you had the patience to read the whole thing, I know I might not have. Bye Bye... :-)

Rahul Murali Venkataraman.

Condolances

I'd like to salute the Mumbai spirit for recovering so soon from
the Terror Attack yesterday
but, please spare a thought for those who lost their lives not only in Mumbai but also in Srinagar.

Most of us seem to have an attitude which seems to say that terrorist attacks happen everyday in Srinagar so why bother. Come on, it's also a part of India.. I do concede that the attack was more severe in Mumbai.. Put please let us not push the other attack to the background..

We all have hectic lives and all we do is say Tich.. Tich.. and move on with life.. Take a moment and just think of those who lost their lives today...

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A Bump and A Ditch

Can you picture this scene...

You are driving down a straight road and all of a sudden out of nowhere there is a bump on the road that tosses you up a foot in the air, or you are having a pleasant drive and all of a sudden your vehicle goes into a pothole.

If you know this feeling you live somewhere in India... Read on if you don't and you may figure out how it its to ride a bike or drive a car in this country... I'm not even talking about the extreme cases like Bangalore... I'm talking about my home town of Chennai...

It's 8.30 am , and as usual I'm all set for my expedition to work.. A bag on my back, iPod in my ears, Access card in my pocket and 17 km of travel ahead of me.. It is actually such a pleasant ride if there isn't much traffic(Which hardly ever happens)... Riding down this road at around 60kmph, usually not an issue, suddenly I find a traffic jam... And would you believe it, all because, some one from some municipal agency dug up the road and left a ditch right across it. All because of this little ditch.. there is a traffic jam that ruins your day.. Even better is the Poonamalle High Road.. It's a brilliant road, considering it's a National Highway that happens to run through the city it better be, some genius engineer thought that a rubber tar mixture that they use abroad would work in India, all it has resulted in is a roller coaster ride that you can leave your footprints in if you stay there too long, Seriously, ask any Chennaite and you will get one reply, We have fantastic roads, but, they are full of bumps or potholes..

Ever wondered for a second, if our roads with no further change in the size or the quality of the tar was deviod of potholes and bumps how much relief there would be in the traffic situation of the city...

A Bump and A Ditch.. Two small miscreants who can bring the entire working community in the city to a standstill...

:-D..... I've vented my steam and now I expect everyone who reads this blog to do the same in the comments or atleast in your own blogs........


Rahul..