Paritrana: A IIT-ians' venture

Five guys from IITs of which some have done their post-graduation in foreign universities have started a new venture. Going by their backgrounds we would expect the venture to be a highly technical business. But actually, these guys have started a political party. When most people are happy in making money and achieving personal success, these products of India's esteemed colleges have decided to give something back to the society. Well, someone finally felt that cribbing about the political system is not enough and decided to jump into the stream to clean it.

Quoting them from ET, "We are not here for the power game. We are here to deal with the grassroots issues of each and every small village that we come across". Nice motto, nice initiative. Best wishes to them; we do need better people at the helm who would worry more about the country rather than their alliances and ways to win elections.

Choices

Everyday when I go to the temple the first thing that strikes me is.... not God, not the beauty of the age-old temple, not the fact that the temple has few takers in the mornings. What strikes me is the row of two-wheelers parked in front of the "No Parking" board. I don't know whether to blame it on people's ignorance or on the dusty board that most people wouldn't even notice. The problem created by overlooking the sign-board is that the big vehicles carrying utilities for the temple are blocked from coming near the temple.

The question however is, "What have I done about it?" Every time I see a person park his/her vehicle in the no-parking zone I feel the urge to ask him/her to park it somewhere else, but am always taken back by the fear of facing some ugly words. It is now a regular occurrence of me pausing for a minute, thinking about pointing to the sign-board, rejecting the thought, feeling happy that atleast I'm not one of the rule-breakers, and leaving the place. So why am I writing about it now? Couple of reasons - a) So that I have a better reason (now that I've made things public, my friends would keep asking me if I did the right thing), b) Because I'm wondering whether I'm the right kind of guy to write in Arise,Awake.., a blog intended to make people do their bit in bringing up our society.

Everyday we face simple situations, like the one that I have explained above, which question our role in the society. As SRK said in DDLJ, there are always 2 choices in front of us - one easy but wrong, one tough but right. And as Dumbledore said in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Liar's Poker

The time that I take to read every book is generally an indication of my liking towards it. The faster I read, the more I like it. But this time around, things have been different. It has taken me more than a month to complete the book "Liar's Poker", and I can definitely point my finger towards my work schedule for being the spoil sport.

LP is all about the culture inside the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers", the events that made it the most profitable company in the world, and the events that made it tumble down. The entire text kept reminding me of what my professors kept on bombarding on me through two years - change is the most important part of corporate success. Yes, contrary to my belief a decade back, the higher a company goes, the more it has to innovate and change.

Anyways, the reason that I liked the book is not the philosophy. At least that's not the main reason. The satire that flows through the authors' words is awesome. I have tried reading (and not completed) "The New New Thing" of the same author, but that book is a far cry from Liar's Poker.

LP starts with a really good first chapter wherein the author explains how he gets into the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers" and what were his expectations while joining. This chapter is full of satire over the wall-street business. Though the book is quite dated, all b-school grads will still be able to associate themselves with some amount of it as investment banking still prevails as the hot job in b-school territories.

When the author talks about his entry into Salomon brothers, he says that his salary then, at the entry level of his career, was lots more than that of his professors who were at the end of their career. I'm not sure on how much my professors earn, but I guess it is safe to assume that some of my classmates, if not me, earn more than them. "The world is not fair, and I love it that way", says Michael Lewis. So true. There are lots of catch sentences like these in the book. These are things that keep the reader's interest even when the narration slides towards the technical details.

One interesting aspect mentioned in the book is that the bond market, and thereby Salomon, flourished mainly due to an act passed by the government. This reminds me another book that I read about a year back - “The Iron Triangle”, which was the story of a company called “Carlyle Group” that was started to exploit an opening in the tax laws in Alaska. This firm later went on to become a huge group that had (has?) huge connections in the government and in the business scene.

Coming back to LP, the book has a true story with historical facts, and an awesome narration to go with. But, I would suggest readers to venture into the book only if they are comfortable with terms like mortgage, bonds, going short and going long. These terms are explained in the book, but I guess a person without prior background would loose him/her self in the new world of jargons instead of moving with the flow of the story.

Desires

"It's not fair; I have to work on Sundays", I exclaimed. "I don’t get to go to my hometown" a friend said emotionally. "I do not get paid like him", cribbed a friend. All of us had different reasons. But we felt that life was being fair to us and our simple desires were not getting fulfilled. I truly believed that I was unlucky, and so were my friends. But God plays his strange part in bringing other people's simple desires in front of us and showing us that we are one of the blessed ones to be what we are.

The other day I saw a very old person in a temple. He seemed to be about 80 years old, and was an orthodox vaishnavite - dhoti clad, 'kudumi' (tuft of hair) and the traditional 12 thirumans adorning his body. It seemed as if the sole purpose left in his life was to worship God. Then I saw him lean over the grill before God's statue and squinted trying to concentrate hard. It was evident that he was trying to clear the blurred image that his retina was picturing. Age had diminished the power of his vision and had taken away what should have been his main desire in life - to see God everyday.

When I came back home pondering over the incident in the temple, a neighbour - a 50 year old lady - asked me to teach her to use the internet. Nothing big; she just wanted to know how to browse through a matrimonial site to check for prospective brides for her son. While I was teaching her I was continuously amazed at her interest in learning and at the awe she exhibited being exposed to the facilities provided by the internet. When we were done with the understanding part she went on a conversation with my aunt during which she said that she would like to have another birth so that she can satisfy her desires to learn computers and to learn to ride two-wheelers and speed across the roads. To most of us the internet and bike are parts of our every day life that don't command much of our attention. But to see that there is a generation of people who miss all these is disturbing. Are our desires really as genuine as theirs? I know that I'll have another Sunday to laze off, my friend will have another holiday to visit his native place, and the cribber will get another job that pays more. But will these elders get a chance to experience life as we have it?

Work, work, work

Couldn't update this blog last week due to work load. Some of my friends in FMCG companies might frown and say, "Software company and work?". But frankly, why else will I be in office on a Sunday?
Hope this week is better.

Vellai Pookal Ulagam Engum Malargave

My wishes for a very happy and prosperous New Year to all my readers. 2005, a year marked with lots of natural disasters in many parts of the world has ended and the world awakes in the New Year with aspirations of a better future. The thought brings to my mind a song written by Vairamuthu for an A.R.Rehman composition "Vellai Pookal" from the movie "Kannathil Muththamittaal". The initial lines are
"Vellai Pookal ulagam engum malargave
Vidiyum bhoomi amaithi kaalam vidigave"

A loose translation would be
"Let the world of white flowers blossom
Let the rising world's peace arise"

The touching lyrics with the mild guitar accompaniment give the feeling of morning freshness and a hope towards a brighter future. The song is like a prayer for peace and I guess that's a good way of wishing for the New Year. Let peace prevail and let us hear more of happiness and prosperity than war and disasters.

Personally, 2005 was a mixed year for me. On the brighter side I'm finally done with my extended academic career, have stopped eroding my dad's savings (I have my own to erode now!), have had the experience of working for couple of companies in different locations and in different roles, have made many new friends, and have started this blog (going to celebrate its anniversary in few days). Darker sides are never worth thinking over and I only hope 2006 dissolves whatever darkness was created in 2005.