India, today, is one of the two hottest destinations for doing business. In fact this recession has shown the true colors of almost every country that was prospering. Every country except China & India have had negative growth. The growth in India is unparalleled with a near 6% GDP growth despite these testing times.

Hillary Clinton’s visit to India last week paved another path for bilateral ties. Defense deals, new trade agreements, joint ventures to fight climate change etc., are some of the key highlights of discussion during Hilary’s visit to India. Given the mandate that this election has thrown out coupled with Obama’s vision for India, the number of opportunities between India and US will only grow north.

If I were a business man and I had some innovative concepts or planning to expand my current footing, the first thing that I would do is to look at countries like India and China. Assuming I had a few million dollars to plan for a plethora of activities, my first few activities would include doing a survey, understanding the local requirements, hiring a team of experts locally, assigning them responsibilities, setting them targets and working with them to achieve my goals. Easier said than done, right ?

Now lets think practically – How many of us have a few million dollars to spare ? How many of us can afford to go to India often, stay there for a while and establish practically everything from scratch – A handful ?

A difficult proposition considering the effort required to set up your office, infrastructure, team etc., right ? So, what happens when you land in India – How will you be treated ? Will you be cheated ? How are the hotels ? Is everyone transparent enough ? What is your support level ? Who can you contact, in case you need help ? Do you need to take insurance ? How can you trust the doctors there ?

A million questions in your mind and you don’t have your answers. You wish there were answers to all these questions, so you could happily venture out in India without having to worry about individual and organizational credibility. You wish there was a helping hand to walk you through your road to success. You wish there was someone responsible who answered all your queries. You just wished !

Until about a few years ago, these wishes would have been mere wishes, with entrepreneurs and businessmen wading in the dark experimenting with the truth and reality of life in India. But now, things are different, way different than you can imagine.

A company called Entry India has made the life easier for Americans to start business in India. In their own words

Our Mission at Entry India is to Bring India Opportunities and US Businesses Closer.

The First Step towards this is to be aware of the ‘opportunity’. Our opportunity reports are specially designed for small businesses, start-up companies and investors to quickly size up the opportunity and get prepared to seize it. Our personalized approach to collect, organize, validate, and disseminate information is uniquely effective in overcoming entry barriers and ensuring successful outcomes for you.

India is beckoning U.S. companies. Let us take you there.

Entry India has recently completed their Delhi Travel Directory . Whether you are traveling to India for pleasure, business, study or medical care, the best way to ensure a successful and hassle free trip is to be thoroughly prepared for the trip. Delhi Travel Directory covers important information for planning your trip to Delhi and practical personal, business and government contact numbers and information you will need while in Delhi. It is a resource created by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) for NRIs to make their endeavors in Delhi successful especially when they visit Delhi for personal or business purposes.

Like Delhi, there are plans to come up with Directories for Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai etc. What more? Each of the associates/address listed in this directory are handpicked and qualified by Entry India LLC. It can’t get better!

Dr. Mahendra Pratap, one of the partners with Entry India, presented ‘Doing Business in India’ at the 14th BMM Convention’s US-India Trade Fair/Expo on July 04th, 2009. Here is a glimpse of the presentation.

Still thinking ?

Popularity: 26%

I was travelling recently and chanced upon a newspaper whose headline read “Designer Babies-Parents could soon choose their kids’ genes”.

Since the newspaper was not in my hand, I could hardly read the full content. Initially, my thought was that it was some fashion statement where “genes” was misspelled for “Jeans”…but later on I realized it could be very well beyond my imagination. I couldn’t stop my curiosity and wanted to find out more.

The same evening, I did a little bit more research on Designer Babies and guess what I found out ?…Just what I had feared when I found this interesting article in Time. It says

Until just a few years ago, making a baby boy or a baby girl was pretty much a hit-or-miss affair. Not anymore. Parents who have access to the latest genetic testing techniques can now predetermine their baby’s sex with great accuracy

It further goes on to say

Within a decade or two, it may be possible to screen kids almost before conception for an enormous range of attributes, such as how tall they’re likely to be, what body type they will have, their hair and eye color, what sorts of illnesses they will be naturally resistant to, and even, conceivably, their IQ and personality type.

It sounded like a baby shopping experience, just like buying a car and then its accessories. How ridiculous is that?

Agreed science and technology has made our life simpler in many ways more than one. We can no longer live without them – they are part of an urban life, these days. But having to think that my grandchildren will be a combination of the traits picked and chosen by my children, brings butterflies to my stomach. At least that is a path that I would never want my kids to take.

It is a dangerous road that is being laid out in front of the world. I hope that India, even at a distant future, doesn’t encourage such innovations or technological advancement. It does seem unlikely that India will follow suit given that it is illegal even to determine the sex of the child, leave alone its genetic traits.

This, according to me, is totally against the nature and anything against the nature will have its own repercussions.

America –Are you listening?

Image Credit: Jenn Jenn

Popularity: 83%

Immigration issue in America is getting hotter than ever. At a time when the economy needs boosting from all corners – be it technological advancement or the cost cutting measures, the US Congress will dig its own grave if they announce tougher immigration policies which is only one sided. India is going to get affected the most, in one way.

In April 2007, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican from IOWA) and Dick Durbin (Democrat from Illinois) introduced “The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007″ to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on employers who apparently deprived qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.

The Act per se seems to have been formed to unearth the fraud in the system, but it seems to me that this is a ploy towards protectionism. America which once boasted of providing shelter to large scale immigrants who wanted to live the American dream seems to be backtracking. Slowly it is moving away from what it stood for. The repercussions of this could be very detrimental to America and its economy especially with the Indians and Chinese forming the bulk of the H1B and L1 applicants – Perhaps they are not taking into consideration of the facts that

· America’s technology is depended on India in many ways – For example, the banking, insurance, core technology etc depend on highly skilled Indian brainpower

· Indian & Chinese tech brains are responsible for some of the highly successful technological startups in the US

· There are several patents that are filed in America, for which contributions from Indians and Chinese are exemplary

· Indians and Chinese are highly competitive and give absolute value for money and thus helps the American companies to survive outside of America

If America wants to be a global power in the coming years, it has to loosen its strings on these highly sensitive issues. There is no two ways about it.

Consider this – India, as an emerging super power economy and an already acknowledged super power in the world of science and technology are capable of driving changes at a pace that no one can imagine. Given the socio-political changes that are happening in India, “Protectionism in America” regarding the H1B visa & L1 visa holders can actually prove to be a blessing in disguise for India.

I see a ripple effect starting to happen. In the 80s and 90s we discovered that there is a brain drain happening from India and China to the Americas. As a result, the American economy grew by leaps and bounds. With the noose tightened for H1Bs and L1s, there is a high possibility of a reverse brain drain happening from America to India and China

Guess what, this will lead to more entrepreneurship in India and China, there by fuelling these economies and taking the country to even higher levels. That simply would mean, America would be in the lurch for want of intellectual capital.

Protectionism only leads to inefficiencies in the system – This has been proven time and again. If America doesn’t open its eyes to realities, then the growth of China and India is imminent.

Immigration issues in America are a blessing in disguise for India – Do you agree?

Image Credit: Takoma Bibelot

Popularity: 31%

I don’t know if it is the similarity regarding the way you say the names of these two cities or what – Mangalore / Bangalore. The similarities with incidents seem to have just followed.

Last week, a group of women were attacked on the rest house road, just off Bangalore’s happening Brigade road. I happened to speak to a friend of mine who was in someway connected to someone in the group that was impacted. This was a group of middle aged working women, pretty independent in their careers who decided to have a night out in a watering hole. They had finished paying the bills and were waiting outside for a few of their friends to return, some smoking a cigarette when the unimaginable happened.

A group of hooligans in a spanking new Audi SUV came tantalizingly close to hitting them while they were waiting outside. Bangaloreans know how wide our roads are! Being pretty independent women who have never been bullied, they protested. Their protest didn’t go too well with the men inside this millionaire toy! They came out cinema style hurtling abuses and not even hesitating to man handle / misbehave with these women! People attempting to help these women are beaten up, fear grips the place and everyone becomes a by stander including a patrol cop.

As the trauma for these women continues over the next 20 minutes as a cop van finally arrives. The hooligans apparently claim that the trouble was started by these women and ask for them to be arrested. Guess what? The cops comply and these poor women and the people who attempted to help are in the nearest police station. The arrested group realizes that the cops in the police station know these hooligans. The inspector refuses to accept a complaint from the lady impacted most,  on the grounds that she was drunk and couldn’t speak to local language forcing another “not so drunk and local language speaking” lady to lodge the compliant.  Accepted with resistance and jeers from the hooligans, the situation calms down to re-start the next day.

Being fairly “connected”, some of these ladies reached out to their  friends in the media, some to other friends in a position of influence overnight and through the early part of the day. A 6 hour stint at the police station with both parties, an audience for the local MLA with the head of the station and an audience for the affected ladies with the constables, it all happens before someone decided to accept a complaint and file an FIR – needless to mention, the complaint one sided! The rest is history and the numerous forwards doing the rounds say it all. For a change, the media did a good job to get some facts to light – from getting the number of the car published to identifying the names of the folks, they did it all. But guess where the hooligans are? Not in jail!!

Why does one have to protest so much to have an FIR registered? Aren’t all citizens equal under the law? How does it matter how high up you are? So much of hell for these poor women who just wanted to have a nice evening outside together!

I compare this situation with something I recently saw in the States. I was walking from my hotel to the office and there were two cars parked on the road. They had an accident and there was so much calm. The two people involved just sat calmly in their cars and waited for the police to arrive. As a curious Indian onlooker, I hung around to see how the situation was being handled. I was amazed to see the way the whole issue was handled – calm, composed and quite. The only noise was that of the EMS vehicle!

If lives are lives around the world, why does our system treat them differently? Being connected or having the money means nothing if you are guilty – period. If protests and connections are an absolute pre-requisite to get an FIR lodged, welcome to living in Bangalore. I am sure the scene is the same wherever we are in India. It may be a Bangalore today – who knows what’s up tomorrow.

Image Credit: Mamchenko

Popularity: 14%

India or America, it is true in every country,
People wake up in the morning, in a hurry;
Grab a quick breakfast, for it is time  to exit fast,
Where no one in the street wants to be last!

Get to work, grab a coffee,
Look forward to the day being sweet as toffee;
End up in meetings, and what’s the catch?
Everyone’s busy, looking at the watch.

Before you realize, it’s time for lunch,
Hunger pangs remind you, of the morning crunch;
You dream of a day that’s more relaxed,
Coming back to reality, you realize how much you are taxed.

It’s late afternoon, you want to get something done,
And you realize, tasks are by the dozen;
You plough through the maze,
By the time you are done, it is time to gaze!

It’s a beautiful night, the stars are shining bright,
And the city is well alive and alight;
The drive home is less stressful,
And soon after, you end up with a tummy that is too full.

You get to bed, hoping tomorrow’s better,
For it is the hope that is dear;
Wishing your family sweet dreams,
You get lost in your own dreams.

Image Credit: Soham Pablo

Popularity: 37%

The Oscar fever has caught on and for the first time, I am blogging live watching the Oscars, from the comforts of my home. Nothing can beat this experience. Seeing it live, munching my favourite triscuit, watching my two kids screaming louder than the Oscar host and blogging as Slumdog Millionaire is about to win Oscars – At this point, I don’t know how many, though!

The expectations are high among Indians that music maestro AR Rahman, who has bagged three nominations for “Slumdog Millionaire”, will bring home the coveted trophy. What a moment that will be!

Other two Indian films vying for the glory are “Smile Pinki” and “The Final Inch”.

The time is 8.30 PM EST.

Ok, the Oscar Awards has begun and so is this live blogging.

The time is 8:33 PM

Singer, Dancer, Actor Hugh Jackman enters the show with startling display of his talent. He starts of with the song on Slumdog Millionaire, moves onto Benjamin Button – what a startling display, picks up Anne Hathaway for an impromptu dance. Jackman performs about the other movies – The Reader, The Wrestler and Nixon. What a Live Performance that was!

The time is 8:40 PM

Hugh Jackman introduces all the nominees including Mickey Rourke, the couple – Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, the guy who played Nixon, Demi Moore.

The time is 8:45 PM

5 yesteryear Oscar actress winners including Whoopi Goldberg introduces Penelope Cruz, Marisa Tomei, Demi Moore et al.

Penelope Cruz wins Oscar for the best actress. She goes to the stage and thinks she would faint…but doesn’t. She gave an emotional speech saying it is art which unites the universe. You are too good and beautiful. Penelope – Congratulations !

The time is 8:54 PM

Some type pad clicks. Few sentences and sounds of a typewriter. I don’t know what is happening.

Enter Steve Martin and Tina Fei. They starts joking around, as usual and soon picks up the mike for announcing the best screenplay. Now I understand why there were those type sounds.

The best screenplay award goes to Dustin Lance Black for Milk. Dustin, on the stage, emotionally talks of “Hope” for Gays and Lesbians across America.

Next comes the award for the best adopted screenplay…and the award goes to Simon Beaufoy, the writer for Slumdog Millionaire.

Oscar # 1 for Slumdog Millionaire. Wondering why Vikas Swarup for Original Screenplay. But yes, he thanked Vikas Swarup and the other two musketeers and his love for India.

I am so excited now. My friend, Madhavan, who wrote Will Slumdog Millionaire Win the Oscar Awards, pings me on Gmail. We exchange congratulations for the first in the kitty and many to go.

The time is 9:03.

Enters Kungfu Panda and his star friends…I am talking of Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston. He is hilarious.

The best animated feature film goes to Wall-E. Oscar is taken by Andrew Stanton. He thanks everyone..nothing extraordinary of a speech. The show goes on

The best animated short film goes to La Maison En Petites. Kunio Kato collects the award and “Sanks” everyone!…Sankooo..meaning Thank You.

Time for a break!

Popularity: 27%

Yes, if you read through to the end of this article, I guarantee that you will have the remedy to almost every trouble, or the magic pill for nearly every problem, there is!

A recent study was conducted on the major league sports in North America which, to those in the know, is a highly competitive and much coveted arena for sportsmen. I did not know the exact probability statistics, but I could afford a logical guess that it took years and years of training hard to even become a contender, and not end up a pretender. Also, to go with the skill, it probably took the slight bit of luck which involved being in the right place at the right time as also to cash in at the slightest hint of visible opportunities.

Now, this study looked at the stars of today and yore – unlike most media paparazzi (the kind that springs up magically the moment these stars get themselves a celebrity girlfriend!), this team of researchers did not cover stardom and beyond but rather went into the making of the stars, so to speak.

Apparently, if you take ice hockey (which is a religion in itself in Canada and significant parts of the US) as an example: the players put in about 10000 hours on the ice before they made it to the major league level. An independent team delved into other major sports and came up with an equivalent number – nearly 10000 hours of practicing and doing what they did, to get to the level they are at!

What’s the magic of this number?

Is that the number of hours of physical activity one needs to put in to get muscle memory at the sport to get to a level where they become the best (or the cream of the lot) at what they do? Read Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book: “Outliers” to get more insights into this theory.

Someone who read these research findings came across Bill Gates at an event, and without providing any background to the aforementioned sports research, asked him about how many hours of programming he had done? Before I provide Gates’ answer, let me remind you all that the common perception of Bill is that he was a lucky bloke who made it big in life, when he couldn’t make it through high school! Bill Gates’ answer to the programming question was – yes, 10000 hours!

I have not personally confirmed the veracity of these answers; neither do I have the ‘contacts’ to validate these answers with the individuals in question! But, let’s assume for a moment that these answers were indeed true. What is the common theme to these folks – we can see that it took a lot of hard work; not to forget the ability to sustain one’s focus over a significant period of time. All this, just to have the “chance” to be successful. I am, not for a moment, implying we all need to put in 10000 hours each in our own careers, far from it.

If this is what it takes confirmed successes to earn their livelihood, why aren’t we putting up with something for even a fraction of this time before putting our hands up? Can we learn from these folks, who we and our kids regard as idols?

Patience, as a virtue, is fast losing ground in this current day and age, where it is all about instant gratification. I remember, as a kid, seeing an instant noodles ad on television wherein the primary message was that it was “ready to serve” in 2 minutes.

Figuratively speaking, are we now expanding this to every single avenue of our life?

Traffic jams are a common and even expected way-of-life in major cities around the world today. Knowing and accepting it as reality is one thing, but being impatient on the road is another. Even driving for a couple of hours each day, assuming 250 such days on the road in a year, one would put in 500 hours of driving each year.

Putting aside that the fact that one is accomplishing the objective of getting to / from the place of livelihood i.e. workplace, it would take a minimum of 20 years of driving at this rate, to rack up the same kind of hours that these professionals do to earn their chops. There might be arguments that these folks earn the high salaries they do, and it’s compensating for their hard work, but that’s beside the point. Also, being in a vehicle on the road isn’t nearly in the same boat as these professionals, as far as effort involved is concerned.

We should consider ourselves blessed for what we have, without having to go through the same rigor day in and day out for 15 consecutive years or more (which is what it takes the sportsmen to make a mark) and the sacrifices that go with it.

I am just asking for everyone to exhibit that extra bit of patience in the time that one spends on the road.

To not come across as patronizing, I end this with a confession: I was probably the most impatient person I once ever knew, but I consciously worked on it. Coming back to our behavior on the streets, please take a moment (yes, just a moment!) to reflect on the profound and long lasting effects. I hope everyone can see that our message to the next generation, when we love teaching by example, isn’t coming out as its intended to be. I just took the example of street behavior to illustrate my point of impatience profoundly increasing, but this is just as applicable to each and every aspect of our lives.

If only we could all live by this quote: ”Patience is bitter, but the fruits of it are sweet”, the world will be that much better a place, and we would all have done our bit to make it so!

Image Credit: Perantau Sepi Lodge

Popularity: 14%

This quote is, without-doubt, attributable to the President-Elect of the United States. Ever since I heard him say it with passion for the very first time early in ’08, I have been enamoured. Why? Read on

There’ve been many factors quoted by the experts for Barack Obama’s popularity around the world, the least of which is not the historic factors surrounding his origins. That aside, the ability to intellectually connect and therefore favourably polarize people isn’t being quoted (at least publicly) as the principal factors for his worldwide acceptance.

If looked closely, there’s a lot of similarity between his position in the American ecosystem (and the demographic engulfed within) and India’s current position in the economic world order:

Rising from a position of adversity, where the only way is up, it is possible to talk on the same terms what India’s economic growth has done to the world’s perception as has Obama’s win done to America’s (and indirectly the world’s) perception of race. Not for a moment am I indicating that this is a win of any sorts for any non-political reasons, but let’s take a magnanimous look at the impact of “faith, belief” and “hope” in the end result.

India, as it’s been since 1947 until the technology-driven economic boom of the 21^st century, has been at some level continuously driven by the “hope” that the hard work of the people will bear fruit eventually. We are not the new world order, yet, economically or strategically, but India is the new kid on the block that the neighbors stand up to take notice.

If I were to express all of this change or transformation in one key word or phrase, it would arguably be the “HOPE” or the “yes we can” attitude. That we didn’t definitively come out and say as much explicitly reflects on the confidence that initial success gives you to make that bold statement.

To draw a parallel again, note that this wasn’t Obama’s message from the get go, but rather the initial primary wins over Hillary that gave him the confidence to put his confident foot forward and issue the war cry of “yes we can”.

The message to the new “leaders” (I prefer this to “politician” for its long been misused and therefore tarnished) that govern India should be: Drive Change at all levels, for it is change that gives rise to new possibilities; use hope to power this transformation, and the beliefs from past successes to achieve this change.

Signing off, I hope (yes I do too) it is time to expand on the original quote:”Yes we can, and we should!”

Image Credit: Elika & Shannon

Popularity: 9%

I received the following content as an email, while I am not sure of it’s authenticity, I certainly like what was talked about. Very thought provoking and referring to the actions that we need to take. So here it is for your reading.

Quote

DR. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s Speech
Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
We are the world number on in milk production.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks, bombardments and deaths have taken place in Israel. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who, in five years, had transformed desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths were somewhere deep inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?
Few more questions:
Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign televisions, foreign apparel and technology.
Why this obsession for everything that’s imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied, “I want to live in a developed India.” For her, you and I will have to build developed India. You must proclaim, India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU keep saying all these. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name – ‘YOURS’. Give him a face – ‘YOURS’. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don’t complain, DO YOU? YOU wouldn’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.

YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, ‘see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.’YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, “Jaanta hai main kaun hoon’ (Do you know who  am I?). I am so and so’s son, take your two bucks and get lost.” YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .

Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here? You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? “It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry.” So who’s going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

We run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Let not just use the Country but lets do what India needs from us.

Thank you

Unquote

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Popularity: 15%

There is a controversy waiting to be unfolded.

The Indian Government announced that all sports persons representing the country must be an Indian citizen? I think this is one of the wisest decisions that the government has taken till date with respect to sports

Soon after they announced, AITA jumped in to force the Sports Ministry to rethink on its decision.

Why ?

Because there are three so-called Tennis Stars, who are Indians but not Indian citizens.

Yeah that’s right.  They are the so-called Tennis stars who have managed to cling onto their Person of Indian Origin theory.

I ask these so called pseudo patriots

If you really want to play for the country why don’t you just give up your American Citizenship ? Why are you after the Pseudo Indian Origin (PIO) ?

If you were that good, then why weren’t you selected in America.  America would have been happy to get someone like you in their team. The very fact that you’ve turned towards India proves that you are Not Good Enough, there.  Or is it that you considered India as your back up plan ?  Whatever said and done if you are a foreign national, you should NOT be allowed to represent India.

If you have the courage and the patriotism, then give up your foreign nationality, take up Indian citizenship and then play for the country.

Will you ?

IBNLive.com also reported this statement by the Government

The new policy has been discussed and the Sports Minister has agreed to have a re-look at the participation rights, if a possibility exists for dual citizenship for players. In case a player is willing to change his/her passport, he/she will obviously not be in any difficulty in representing India in Fed Cup and Davis Cup and the government would welcome the same.”

Dual citizenship for players ?

Well, if you are talking of someone like Tendulkar, Vishwanathan Anand, Abhinav Bindra or any distinguished achievers then may be worthwhile considering.

Look at the quality of players – One of the Uberoi sisters is ranked 588^th in the world.  Is that the achievement that you want to reward?

If they are opening up dual citizenship for everyone, then it is a totally different debate altogether.  Distinguished players, certainly is an exception – not everyone.

By doing so, aren’t they also stopping some of the more eligible players from playing for the country?

Thoughts ?

Popularity: 16%

After the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, pressure is building up on Pakistan to take action against the terror camps operating from its land. Investigations carried out by Indian, US, British and Israeli officials proved that the attacks were planned by the Lashkar-e-Taiba   supported by ISI .

In spite of Pakistani denials (just for giving the impression that Pakistani Government doesn’t give in under pressure), United States, and other countries have applied a lot of pressure, and have urged Pak to take action failing which they will act.

Now what should be the course of action?  How should we respond?  Can we trust Pak when it says it will take action against any terror outfits operating from its land.

What should be done ?

Our politicians are highly gullible.  Even after it was proved that the terrorists are Pakistanis, what did they do? They spoke to Mr Zardari and asked the ISI chief to come to India.

For what?

If at all we want to call anyone we could have called the CIA, a few investigators from Britain and Israel who can give us credible evidence that this was masterminded by terrorists from Pakistan. They would have substantiated it as an act of war (they are very good at it and we all know that).  Mr Zardari promised to send ISI Chief to India to help investigation but took an about turn overnight.

Can we trust such a man?

Time has come for India to take strict action.  Resignation of Shivraj Patil or others is meaningless and a political stunt.  It’s the Government and Prime Minister’s actions that will speak on India’s position and strength in the International community.  Since we have proof that this was sponsored by Pakistan,  the Ambassadors of USA, UK and Israel should be summoned and presented with these.

India should make it clear that we take this as an act of war by Pakistan against India and we would deal with it in a similar way US or UK has dealt with.  As far as US, UK and Israel are concerned their citizens were specifically picked up by the terrorists and they should take it as an act of terrorism against them.  This would have forced them to declare Pakistan as a Terrorist State and deal with it accordingly.

“Give thousand chances to your enemy to become your friend, but don’t give a single chance to your friend to become your enemy”. This doesn’t hold well with Pakistan.

In 1974 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists during Munich Olympics.

What did Israel do?

It hunted down each and every one of them.  It showed the world that nobody can escape by attacking Israel.

Now look at what have we done – engage in a dialogue with our neighbor!  Discussions will not provide any solution with Pakistan. If it did, it would have provided long ago.  Pak has neither neighbors nor friends; they just use the situation and time to act.

They are one of the best friends of America and in another way they are the biggest threat as well. They are damn smart. Remember they have used Americans to act against America.

So with such a country how long will you keep discussing?  How many more blood baths will we have to face to learn?  Indian politicians and media have to change their mindset. Media is getting worse than the politicians.  Every news channel / paper seems to be backed up by one or the other political party.

In Pakistan democracy is nothing but a proxy of the military.  Military always holds the reins of that country and it is not possible to delink both.  It was born after a bloodbath, it is continuing the same way even now.  Army, Islamic Radical Groups,  ISI,  Elected Government,  Taliban – every group is a power centre. No one is responsible for anyone.

Everyone has their own beliefs, system, and agenda.  Terrorism is a business for them.  Look at the amount of aid they got from US for fighting against terrorism which was created by them.

We must step up pressure on Mr. Zardari until the following things are done by Pakistan;

1. Handover the terror suspects to India including Dawood Ibrahim,  Masood Azhar who was left free in exchange of Kandahar  passengers.

2. Stop financial and moral support to radical fundamentalists who propagate hatred against non Muslims.

3. Change the think tank of ISI

4. Stop training Islamic militants

5. Stop inducing venom into Muslims in India.

Pakistan knows for sure that in an open offensive against India they will be wiped off. Hence they continue this proxy war. They will never stop till we wipe out terror camps that are running in POK and in Afghan borders.  Time has come to say “Enough is Enough”.

Mr Prime Minister – Don’t just give statements.  Let’s get on with this war and finish off before this proxy war finishes us.  At least let our future generations live in a peaceful India.

Image Credit: Sameer5678in

Popularity: 21%

On Sunday the Government released a statement saying, Public sector banks will shortly announce a package for borrowers for home loans in two categories — for loans of up to Rs 5 lakhs and Rs 5-20 lakhs  The housing sector has been in trouble in the last 6 months with very few takers for houses.

With this bailout package, the government is going to subsidize the banks providing housing finance.  I believe, instead of doing this, it should try to control the price set by the builders. 

Tell me in which Indian city will you get a flat for 5 to 10 lakhs?  It is not possible in Tier I and Tier II cities.  Or only those who have 15 to 20 lakhs cash in hand will benefit from this package.  If you take a look at the top cities in India, the real estate prices are ridiculous. In cities like Hyderabad, it is almost impossible to find a flat which is less than 30 lakhs.  If you want a flat in the city or near the city it will not cost you less than 50 lakhs.

No government employee will ever earn more than 50,000 rupees a month and 90 % of private sector employees earn less than 25,000 rupees a month.  These people would never be able to buy their dream houses if flats are available only at such astronomical prices.

Have you ever tried to calculate the cost of construction?  I know a couple of builders and I got these figures from them.  For a super deluxe flat, for a square foot, cost of construction (including the land price) will be between Rs 800 to Rs 1400.  This might vary a bit depending on the land cost.  So if an sft is costing Rs 1400, have you ever seen builders selling it for 1600 or 1800?  They will never sell it below Rs 2500. They almost make 100 % profit.

Also remember that the prices of steel and cement have come down but flat prices wouldn’t come down in the last 6 months.

If government really cares for middle class people, they should set a cap on the profits made by realtors.  Like cement and sugar, regulate the prices of houses.  Ask the builder to provide the cost of construction and allow him to make a maximum of 30% on construction cost.

Providing cheap loans to people for buying houses is a failed American policy. 

The government is encouraging realtors to keep their high margins and using the tax money to subsidize loans.  I urge the Government to increase the affordability of houses.  In all the metros there should be at least 30 to 40 % reduction in the prices of houses and apartments.

Right now the sentiment is low and reality sector is under correction.  Please allow the correction so that it can regain its health. A correction in these overhyped cities will eventually bring down the prices.  Don’t coerce it to gain artificial health by spending tons of people’s money.  If people don’t buy flats for another 6 months, and we can see the prices drop by 30 to 40%.

In the last few years, people panicked and purchased houses, as they thought the property prices might further increase.  But what people forgot or didn’t notice is that in any economy nothing can keep increasing for ever.  It took a big crisis (subprime) in a big economy (America) to prove it.  Not just the people but even banks missed this simple truth and got into trouble.

We the people of India should understand how the economy works and make wise decisions while a buying house. 

So whom is this policy going to benefit?  Definitely not the people in Metros and Tier I cities. It will benefit Tier II and Tier III cities.  Our infrastructure is not able to handle the current growth. Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad have become costly. This will force builders, IT, manufacturing, and other investors to invest in tier II & III cities.  People in these cities will start investing in Houses. 

This is the only solution to offer a competitive price to the world for our product and services.

I hope one day we will have a world class infrastructure like US or Europe.

Image Credit: Kevindooley

Popularity: 17%

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

                                                                                                by Rabindranath Tagore

Life will be a peaceful journey if we are able to face difficulties without fear, swallow the bitterness of tragedy, enjoy the happiness, and love that life showers on us.  Such lovely life is being crushed to death by the ruthless terrorism in a fraction of second right in front of our eyes.  In the journey of life death is appearing everywhere in today’s world. 

Parliament, temples, malls, shops, local trains, on streets, in star hotels, in air, on land or in water – everywhere terrorists are hunting down innocent people.

Recent attacks in Mumbai with are a direct war waged by terrorists on India.  Every time something like this happens I see a regular drama and it always has the below statements:

“We will destroy the very roots of terrorism and make our country a safe place again”

“I appreciate the people for the courage they have shown in this hour of crisis”

“We will not bow down before terrorism”

I think by now you would have guessed the people who make these statements.  These are our Netas.  When terrorist beasts are killing people mercilessly, what is the assurance being given these leaders,:

 “Incidents like these are happening all over the world and it is difficult to predict these incidents”

 “In a big city like Mumbai it is not possible to keep an eye on every person who comes in”

This is nothing but escapism and gross irresponsibility of the leaders.  They don’t even feel ashamed for making such statements. First time when terrorists killed people, I hated terrorists.

But then they repeatedly killed people, I started hating our politicians and law makers more than I hated terrorists for giving them a license to kill. 

10 to 12 terrorists who have entered Mumbai via sea  were able to hold the entire nation as hostage for 3 days. This clearly shows how incompetent our leaders, our policies, and our intelligence are. 

As if a sudden realization has dawned, Shivraj Patil resigned form his post. 

But it took a nation to loose 200 lives of civilians, 24 police officers, and soldiers to remind the Home minister of his “Moral Responsibility”.  After the UPA government came to power the number of attacks by terrorists have increased manifold and nothing was done politically to tackle this issue.  With all their concern for the terrorism they got POTA abolished. 

These leaders who can’t even step out without a dozen commandos around them say “people here are very courageous”.  They don’t have to certify our courage.  People of this nation are always more courageous than the leaders.  Though we know that our lives are not safe every time we step out, we still walk on the street without any fear.

Leaders make statements like “we will not be cowed down by terrorism’.  But it’s we the people who show this in action.  Within 3 days of the terror attack, ‘Leopold café’ is opened and people thronged it.  This is testimony to the courage of an Indian.

Mumbai resembled a war zone for 3 days.  Once it’s over people are back on the street not because of the assurances given by our politicians but because of the courage and patriotism shown by the Armed forces. 

Those brave commandoes who have sacrificed themselves to save us gave us the courage to come out and salute them.  Those of us who witnessed their dedication and sacrifice in flushing out the terrorists from Taj, Nariman house and Oberoi can’t forget them in our life time.

Even today we don’t have proper mechanism in place to tackle something like this.  We don’t have the weapons or technology or strategy.  How can you explain bullets piercing the bullet proof jackets of our cops? Our government is not able to stop the inflow of RDX into the country from Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Our intelligence officers became spectators when the terrorists were equipping themselves with latest weapons.

After the parliament attack in 2001, though the government declared Terrorism as a national issue, nothing was done to beef up internal security.  Though, Prime Minister spoke about setting up of a ‘Federal Investigation Agency’ nothing has materialized.  Look at America, immediately after 9/11 attacks, they have put in place ‘Department of Homeland Security’.

At last Prime Minister woke up and setup a task force to come out with a strategy to counter terrorism in 100 days.  Actually, this should have happened long back.  None of the states in India has plan in place for terrorist attacks.  There is no proper co-ordination between our Police and intelligence.  Attack on Mumbai is an attack on the whole nation. 

Hope at least now our leaders will open their eyes and really take an action to fight terrorism.

Image Credit- Sameer Gupta

Popularity: 20%

It has been fashionable around the world to whip America for almost every ill in the universe. Under George Bush, “The ugly American” got tarred with more ugliness. The recent Presidential election has forced a lot of people to look at America from another vantage point.

It is a tribute to their maturity that Americans rose above hardened and deep seated prejudices of race and colour and voted for someone – virtually unknown till two years ago – on the basis of the content of his character and policies.

Almost the entire country was galvanised along a common agenda during this election. Through out the 50 states the issues they talked about were the same – economy, health issues, energy, wars in Iraq and Afganistan, security, war against terror etc. These common issues united the states of America into a land sharing the same dreams and fears – a very cohesive and proud nation.

There is a lesson we could learn from the American politicians and leaders. Not a speech of theirs ends without invoking God’s blessing on America or speaking about the greatness of America with a great deal of pride. The ideal of America, “not as a collection of red or blue states, but as the United States of America”, is what unites politicians across the political divides.

Sadly, our politicians harp on what devides rather than what unites Indians. It is a common enough sight in our country to see them resorting to the most lethal means to pit brother against brother.

The elections were on the whole free of bitterness or rancour and neither Mc Cain nor Obama whipped up mean, ugly phantoms to get them votes. McCain conceded the election paying glowing praise to Obama for the way he ran his campaign.The President elect was equally effusive about the heroic status of the vanquished – a  great example of grace – under victory or defeat. It is living examples such as this which breathe life and humaneness into the sinews of the collective culture and ethos of a nation.

The right to prosperity, happiness and freedom of Joe The Plumber or Obama’s rise to the top  symbolise the reality that regardless of the origin or status of an individual, his or her right is protected. And, it is awe inspiring to see the extent to which the entire country would rally behind an individual whose rights have been trampled upon. The lesson not to be missed here is, bringing about a climate of freedom and hope in the collective psyche of a nation presupposes the right of the individual.

Americans would dump into the waste bins of history any politician with an unclean, corrupt or unsavoury reputation, or someone with a broken family. Many eminent politicians such as Clinton, Nixon or Edward Kennedy just could not withstand the scrutiny of the high moral standards expected of them by their countrymen. The irony is that Americans themselves have many broken homes, while Indians are known to protect the sanctity of wedlock. In the world’s most populous democracy on the other hand, leaders of dubious backgrounds and character are the norm than the exception.

It is time we stopped “America bashing” and started looking inward. That way there are good chances we may cleanse our polity and society. And then display to the world the attributes and accompaniments that should belong to a spiritually alive nation which we are famed to be.

Till that happens, let us salute the Americans. They have some stuff.

Popularity: 15%

Image Credit:Tony The Misfit

Media in India is abuzz with US elections news. Countries all over the world are inexorably linked and wired together. And, US being the power house that it is, the direction the country takes under a new President will have an enormous bearing on people in all corners of the vastly shrunk globe.

There are genuine concerns that Obama, if elected President will clamp down on jobs leaving the shores of his country directly impacting the strong software and BPO industries in India. His public stance regarding H1 Visas is also hawkish.

The argument offered by Obama supporters is that he has to allay the fears of middle America about their jobs going elsewhere. They opine, once the elections are over he will be forced by economic ground realities to switch gears and renege on his commitment.

We may be in for a surprise. There is a ring of sincerity about Obama and there is every possibility that he means what he says – to deny tax breaks to companies outsourcing jobs outside. If he does renege on his commitment, it will erode his moral authority significantly and he will no longer be the messiah of change and hope. It will be a betrayal of sorts if he turns out to be just like any other politician relying on rhetoric and empty words to win votes. Amid the gloom of depressing economic melt down, the last thing he would want to hear from Americans who voted him in is, “Et-tu, Obama?”  

In spite of Obama’s stance against outsourcing jobs, why would it still make sense for Indians to plump for Obama? Because, a strong America which can reclaim the respect of the world is in the interest of India.

Obama has vision of a strong America and he has been very successful in articulating that vision. It is a vision that unites people grounded on the belief that color or creed is immaterial in a land where the core of its belief is that “all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

To a great extent, the idealism inherent in these words have served as the beacon steering America to a position of leadership based on enduring values and principles. Millions of people in America and other parts of the world desperately want Obama to win because they believe that the nation will again rock and bloom under an idealist, inspirational President who cherishes the ideals and values of the Founding Fathers.

Bush, McCain and the economic pundits who cry hoarse about capitalism, lower taxes, and free, unregulated  markets and big-is-beautiful-attitude, have lot of eggs on their faces and all they have to show for their beliefs and actions is the mayhem in the market places everywhere. There are a lot of things right with capitalism and there is indeed a necessity to do away with too much of controls.

At the same time, there is also a need to listen to the cry of the down trodden and understand that small also could be beautiful. The way forward could be following the Middle Path as Buddha preached, without going far too right or far too left. Obama, more than McCain is more qualified to create a new world order paying attention to changing ground realities.  

A McCain Presidency is likely to continue the same policy of a belligerent America hurtling down on “nations belonging to the evil axis” by brute force. As Bush has shown, such attitudes and actions can have very disastrous consequences, not just for America, but for the rest of the world as well.

McCain has demonstrated during the three debates and his election campaign that he can be nasty and intemperate at times. It is a fact of life that a leader leaves the residue of his emotions on the policies of government and the style of governance. And the older one gets, the stronger is the belief that he is the repository of all experience and knowledge.

So, where does that leave India? Apart from his professed intention to discourage outsourcing jobs, Obama seems to have a liking for India. Besides, Biden the Vice Presidential candidate is strongly and openly pro-India. Above all, India is on the ascent.

If we are able to sell Brand India – a land akin to America in several ways, with strong democratic traditions, different cultures living in harmony, depth of knowledge and expertise in almost every field, a huge consumer base and the ability to communicate easily with the West – then we will be talking to America as equals and not as supplicants. That will be the day and times when the idealism of America and India will meet and create a better world order.  

America and the rest of the world expect the world from Obama because he has promised the world. Anything less from him will be a huge disappointment.

He better deliver!

Popularity: 11%