December 05, 2011

Juggling Numbers - Breeding Education?

During some of my free time, a couple of weeks ago, I happened to read about the recent additions to the most prestigious technical and business schools in India - the IITs and IIMs respectively. What baffled me though, was the long list of juggling numbers. What used to be 7 and 6 earlier, was now 16 and 13! The newbies being,

IIM Shillong, Meghalaya
IIM Ranchi, Jharkhand
IIM Rohtak, Haryana
IIM Raipur, Chhattisgarh
IIM Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
IIM Udaipur, Rajasthan
IIM Kashipur, Uttarakhand

IIT Ropar, Punjab
IIT Bhubaneswar, Orissa
IIT Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat
IIT Patna, Bihar
IIT Jodhpur, Rajasthan
IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
IIT Indore, Madhya Pradesh
IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

This takes the total count of IITs and IIMs to 16 and 13 respectively. This initiative from the Eleventh Five Year Plan, may help in churning out more number of graduates, but the catch here is whether this number can match in quality - something these institutes are famous for. Ironically, IIM Ranchi has the highest CAT cut-off percentage at 99.66. Students gaining admissions to the new % of seats may not be the best breed but could yet prove better than the thousands of graduates coming from the lower tier institutes across the country.

November 04, 2011

No-Go for a Separate State - II

I had posted my previous article on separation of Telanagana in a public domain, which drew many a comment. I am copy pasting the ones which spoke against my views here - comments from others in Italic and mine in normal font.
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Indu, I am in complete disagreement with your comments above on the Telangana Movement, If people STILL don't understand the prime motive behind the seperate Telangana then I feel they seriously lack basics behind Telanga Movement.
There are thousands of reasons why telangana people are aksing for seperate state and how seperate state can benefit Telangana people, first please understand them and think on the shoes of Telangana people.

Now the movement is not driven by any political parties, it is in the hands of people (workers, lawyers, students, doctors etc), it came to a situation where it is imperative to devide the state.
The early Center Govt takes the decision, the early the life's gets better in Andhra Pradesh

I ask Center govt only one question, after the anouncement of Telangana on 9th of Dec as Sonia Gandhi's birthday gift, the agitation of Samaikyandhra went for 14 days and govt lean down to issue another statement of concensus on Telangana, first of all I feel shame on central govt going down from what they annouced stating that as mistake and why do they take 65years to respond PRO to Telangana than 14 days to Samaikyandhra?
I feel Samaikyandhra Agitation should last atleast for 10-15years (atleast not like telangana 60-65 years) before central govt came back.

I go clueless when people say Samaikyandhra, can you give us a single reason why people are claiming Samaikyandra?
If Telanganites deliberately want Telangana state, stopping them with Samaikyandhra doesn't feel appropriate.

______________________________________________________________

I am not sure if you are a staunch supporter of Telangana, but the Telangana movement made sense when it was started in the 50s. But, why do people need to live separately now when everybody across the length and breadth of the country are at least trying to live together in harmony. Case in point, people in Andhra Pradesh today are not divided based on religion and language. All divisions, if any, are due to political reasons only. Seeking separation because of something done by tens/ hundreds of Andhra people in power is sad. What bad did the lakhs of common people from Andhra do that you want to separate from them?

Coming to the facts, the 1952 agitation was against the mulkis (non-locals) when Andhra came as a Madras province. But, after creation of states on linguistic lines, all Telugu speaking people got united. Talking about the present statistics in A.P., appx. Revenue generation comes from
Telangana: 61.47%
Central government contribution: 19.86%
Andhra: 14.71%
Rayalaseema: 3.90% (most economically backward)

Allocation to irrigation:
74.25%, to the Coastal Andhra
18.20% to Telangana
7.55% to Rayalaseema (again backward) etc….

Agreed that Telanagana was always second to Andhra region when we see statistics. In that case, Rayalseema being the most neglected region in A.P., should we have a third state as well? Is this a sensible solution? Telangana agitation was always powered by the student associations. If we leave the 1960s and 70s, and talk about today,
1. Education is based on merit and nobody is snatching seats from Telanaga students. If someone is meritorious over the other, it’s not a fault
2. Local quotas in education are still prevalent in every region in A.P., but again a student should at least intend to study for an exam sincerely and not expect to merely depend on reservations to grow in life
3. If we talk about jobs, I don’t think private jobs favor regions. Latest statistics say that more than 3lakh government employees supported the Telangana movement. It means these many Telangana people are already employed in government jobs. What else is expected? Do they expect to get admissions into colleges without even having to study and get into jobs without having to try for them?
4. Securing admissions into colleges is not based on merit. Merit does not come to you because you are from a certain region

People who are getting on to the roads and behaving vehemently are not sensible. People who destroy public property which comes out of all tax paying pockets. Creating a loss of more than 8cr to the government on a daily basis is not sensibility. The real educated won’t do that because they understand the terms GDP and per capita income. All these are just driven by emotions and materialistic offers. I don’t deny the fact that there could be some genuine supporters (very few again) from common people, who witnessed the movement during its inception. But, all the youngsters who are getting involved in the destruction of public property and monuments of historic value now, do not even know the value and the real intensity of the Telangana movement of the 50s. They are just a provoked lot. Everybody involved see their own benefits from it.

All these students who bunk classes and exams and who are not letting even others study are not real students who seek genuine education. A person who is not serious about his career and life is not deemed to be called a student. There are only these reasons I see for students in agitation.
1. Looking to settle down easily without much competition in the state of Telangana
2. Money/ Liquor
3. Unhealthy zeal to grow as youth leaders in politics

A student who is confident, can study and gain admission in any part of India, not just Telangana. If they are economically backward, then it’s a different issue. May be then they can be provided with some reservations but otherwise I don’t think it’s necessary. People should learn to live on what they gain for themselves and not on what is promised to be given or given by others.

Will KCR be happy if Telangana is given but he and his family are not brought to power? I am dead sure he won’t be. No politician will ever sacrifice power for the sake of common man. Those golden days are gone! People have become selfish now. Today, we can hardly count politicians who can live and die for people. Politics are so filthy that even the ruling parties, central and state alike, are not taking a stance just because they fear losing potential vote banks in AP in either case. Are politics not playing with our sensitive imbalances?

There are even more number of people who want to live together even though they don’t get any benefit from it. They want to live together because they don’t like getting separated from fellow beings of their own state, and whom they never considered different or separate in any measure in these days of modern day India.

Just thought of adding one last but relevant point here. I was born and brought up in Hyderabad. So, I am a Telangana native? But, I don’t support division and separation anywhere in India. I believe in unity. May be the compelling patriot in me thinks that way.

I don't dislike Telangana people. I am one of them. I dislike being separated. My morals never fall prey to communal segregations. I am a rationale being. :)

October 03, 2011

No-Go for a Separate State

I fail to understand the prime motive or reason behind separating Telangana from Andhra Pradesh this time. If political connotations can be treated as the driving force for TRS, what could it be for the thousands of common people who are fuelling the agitations on a demand for a separate state? What are they going to achieve living in a separate state altogether? More saddening is the fact that th...ese agitating masses involve a minority of the educated lot too, equally from all walks of life. Will it sound hypothetical if I say that all these majorities and minorities are either an emotionally instigated lot or a materialistically instigated (in green or reign) lot. Give me one convincing reason why is there any need to divide Andhra Pradesh; taken the fact that Telangana was not given its due for a long time - but why now?

I go clueless when I read in newspapers about people committing suicide to brandish their affection for Telangana to the government. I don’t feel sorry for them. Why should I? Now again, give me one convincing reason as to why any person with an average or even a decent emotional quotient would take such a drastic step? Or, are they forced to death or lured to death and tagged as martyrs? All such people should be nominated to the Darwin awards – rest assured, at least the average human intelligence (emotional and/or intellectual) will rise in India.

A senior politician tells the government that A.P. is not a laboratory to experiment as they like, when the latter suggested forming yet another committee to take a stance. Yes, Mr. X, you are right. Then why is TRS and all these so-called pro-Telangana activists experimenting like hell with the state and with the interests of lakhs of other common people who share the same state with you but not the same motive like you. Do you have an answer? If you have a concern with not having a separate state of yours, then there are a huge number of others who have a concern with having one of theirs. Yet another example that we are still living on what the British left us – Divide and Rule. This re-affirms my belief that what has been lacking in most of us - post the historic Independence movement - is only a dream to achieve and will continue to lack forever. It is deeply agonizing to bring to mind the fact that our country continues to house crores of people who lack Integrity, no matter how many parts it is broken into derived on but not limited to region, religion, caste, creed and language. Period.

August 13, 2011

Travelogue - GOA

I had many expectations before leaving for Goa a couple of weeks back, mainly because of what I heard from others who had been there earlier. Not sure if my expectations got over the board, but I somehow felt that Goa is an overrated tourist place.

Firstly, it may have the longest running coastline and the largest number of beaches, which is why it is stormed by foreigners in majority. But then, what is the point because all beaches more or less look similar and serve the same purpose. There are better tourist places in India or at least ones that are equally good.

Secondly, there were a lot of apprehensions built into our 'all-girl' minds about the safety of this place. Why is Goa made to sound so notoriously unsafe for women? We felt very safe despite no male company. Staying in a good hotel in a decent locality can do no harm to you, whatsoever. Just make sure you are aware of your actions and surroundings.

Goa looks best in monsoons, but that would leave you compromising on a variety of water sports. We stayed in a cottage on Miramar beach near to Panjim. For shopping, you may go around the flea markets on Baga and Calangute beaches or the upmarket boutiques in Panjim. I didn't find anything worth buying though except for a few junk accessories.

Stayed at: Miramar Beach Resort by GTDC (Go for the Deluxe AC rooms. They are good).
Food: Avoid the food in its restaurant, but do treat your taste buds to the lovely chat flavors and coffee available in the food court there. You would have to explore different places for tasty food. Delhi Darbaar, Forest Veg Food Court in Panjim can be tried.

June 09, 2011

Wating For You

This is one from the series of songs called "Waiting For You" written by me.

I have been strong, waiting all along
No matter what people said to me
No matter how bad the world taunted me
I was still strong, waiting all along
No matter how distant you seemed to be
No matter how restless this made me feel
I was still strong...
Waiting all along...

Some are gone, some are yet to come
And one more time, I have just begun
Coz’ all these days have no meaning to me
My day will start when you’ll be with me

I can be strong
I can wait all along
All I need is a word from you
That you’ll be there and see me through

Come alive, come and be with me
Hear me say, you are my destiny
Coz’ all these days have no meaning to me
My day will start when you’ll be with me

Just you and me…
We can be strong and,
We can live all along


© Copyright 2011 [Indu Dasika] - All Rights Reserved.

June 06, 2011

In Search Of...

I seldom fear failure
I seldom fear love
If there is something that fears me
Is the loneliness that ripples within me

I feel lost, I feel lone
I see darkness shine alone
Not a book, and Not a sword
Can break thy silence and fetch a word

I walk miles in search of love
In search of heart that’d heal my soul
I rest my feet on the ground
When all I see is loneliness around

April 23, 2011

Dum Maaro Dum - A slick flick

Rohan Sippy and Abhishek Bachchan had given us the uber-chic "Bluffmaster". They are now back after a long time with some powerful supporting cast and a sleek storyline. Mix varied cast, slick screenplay and great technicality and what you get is Dum Maaro Dum.

The story is all set amidst drug abuse issues in Goa. ACP Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan) is vested upon with the responsibility of cleaning up Goa from drug scams by the Home Minister. He chooses two police officials, Mercy and Rana, for this mission. Joki Fernandez (Rana Daggubati) runs a music shop and sings part-time at parties. His is a happy life with girlfriend Zoe (Bipasha Basu), until she falls victim to drug trafficking and is taken away from him by Lorsa Biscuite (Aditya Pancholi) - a leading business man in Goa and the backbone of drug trafficking there.

Lorry (Prateik Babbar) is a student who is rejected financial aid for study at a foreign university, while his girl friend Taani (Anaita) gets it. He gets involved in drug trafficking for the sake of money to go to New York, but gets caught by Kamath. The story runs in parallel tracks in the beginning with narrations from the three men - Kamath, Lorry and Joki - about their life.

The movie is a treat to watch, but there are some loose ends in the screenplay which should have been taken care of, like the episodes of Ricky's murder which goes away without any investigation, episode where ACP Kamath understands who Michael Barbossa is without any background and the climax episode which looked very easy to get away with. Music, cinematography and editing keep up with the film's pace. Performances by all actors are good especially Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu, who acted really well in this film. Go catch it this weekend.

My rating for this film - ****
(* You will shoot me
** Waste of time
*** Can sit through
**** Worth watching once
***** Must watch)



April 07, 2011

Jan Lokpal - India Against Corruption

India is finally awakening to the dire need for a fool proof Anti Corruption system. The Jan Lokpal bill drafted by a known section of the civil society has now found voice to make its presence felt in the Parliament. This bill should be definitely passed and the necessary legal Lokpal and Lokyukta entities should be set up as soon as possible.

It is really distressing to see that politicians who make long illustrous speeches and take innumerable rounds in the streets of their constituency to take commoners in their stride, fail to stand up and pledge their vote against corruption. How many will have the guts and passion like Anna to raise voice against the government and the charizma to pull the masses into this movement?


When India can witness one billion people coming together just for a game of cricket, a magnanimous movement like India Against Corruption deserves much more than that.


I pledge my support for my nation. I pledge my support for India Against Corruption.


For more info on Jan Lokpal and India Against Corruption,
visit this page.

February 10, 2011

Reading...

I am currently reading Tinderbox by M.J. Akbar. It has been a nice informative read so far. I like the way he uses dark humour and pun as interludes in his writings and also the way he questions things for what they are and the way they are.


This is a good book if you are looking for some extensive information on Pakistan and its early age leaders with well-backed facts. It is available for Rs. 499/- on stand and for Rs. 349/- on Flipkart. Check it out.

February 08, 2011

Are you a loser?

Don’t get rankled with this question. You would be in fact taken aback if I tell you that this is a marketing campaign by one of the new breed Obesity clinics in Hyderabad (no names please :) ). The first time I read it on a hoarding, I thought I got it wrong. The next day I made sure not to miss it and was totally surprised and amused to read this one liner on a huge decorated board at a busy traffic centre in the city. Don’t miss the note they mentioned against the (*) mark. :D

I am a LOSER. Are you? *
* I lost 10 Kgs in 3 months

Whoa! What kind of publicity is that? I mean I will definitely not enroll myself into any of your health programs if I stand the risk of being called a loser after all. Marketing one-liners this weird are an obvious put off for any prospect customers. I am no exception either. Re-inventing your creative quotient need not be so adverse that it goes out of bounds and takes your idea to a point of no return or may be to a point with very few returns. Go, Get a life!