Social lending (Prosper, Asheesh Advani and Virgin Money, Zopa) is one more dimension to power to the people - brought about by the internet. The more I think about it, the more it seems to be that it is finally the possession (exclusive, mostly) of knowledge that is the real power - or at least it is what gives the politicians, the financial markets (commercial bank, investment banks, hegde funds, private equity - everybody who makes more money than the sorry investor who puts his money in the bank and earns a paltry return) and the retail industry their power.
All the three above are essentially brokers; brokers of information. They are not really a part of the division of labour chain; they are facilitators. And while facilitating, they take your money (oh yeah make no mistake, the banks are more unthrustworthy than even your politican with his false promises and the retail guy who charges you that hefty premium). None of them are a skill industry; take their monopoly on knowledge away and you can take them away.
Which is what is happening. Ebay Amazon Yahoo etc took on the retail industry. Betfair took on the bookmakers. Then electronic trading took on the brokers from the financial industry. Now social lending on the commercial banks.
There will be more to come. We will take on the equity analysts - they are easy meat; an open online analysis and ranking platform of companies can obliterate those. Better electronic trading, with more tools to the users, (and maybe using the power of distributed computing) can take out the marketmakers, even the hedge funds. When social lending becomes commercial lending, the commercial banks will start fading. A consolidation of political views on the internet can take on the politicians.
It shall be a fairer world. Information, knowledge and thus power to the people.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Taxi 9211
The music of this movie has set me thinking. The music is super fuckingly amazing of course. But what got me thinking was not that - it was that the music is a super blend - has amazing guitar, beats, indian instruments, the melody so typical of hindi romantic songs, the drums/beats so to typical of modern (yes i'm prehistoric) trance/club etc. It has blended them all and come out very good. (Rock fans would appreciate the good guitar in places though they - and me - want more of that).
(Hardcore musicians will forgive my amateurish criticim. I played the guitar a wee lil bit long long ago but I really do not know much about music. My taste is music is all "acquired"; acquired from friends.)
And it strikes me that this "blend" thing is so typical of Indian culture - look at the ahoms and the mughals - they came in, they conquered, and became Indian. Indians can both accept and they can copy; they accepted the mughals and the ahoms, imbibed/copied part of their culture and made it their own. And they copy and make it better. Like they are doing with music now.
(Hardcore musicians will forgive my amateurish criticim. I played the guitar a wee lil bit long long ago but I really do not know much about music. My taste is music is all "acquired"; acquired from friends.)
And it strikes me that this "blend" thing is so typical of Indian culture - look at the ahoms and the mughals - they came in, they conquered, and became Indian. Indians can both accept and they can copy; they accepted the mughals and the ahoms, imbibed/copied part of their culture and made it their own. And they copy and make it better. Like they are doing with music now.
Would the US have attacked a white christian Iraq? (for the oil maybe?)
(Also, would they have attacked North Korea by now if North Korea was Muslim?)
Thank god (the Hindu gods of course:p) the Tamils are not Muslims. Or else, the world (the west predominantly, but the east is now following suit) would just have branded the LTTE as "islamist jihadists". Like they do with the ones in Chechnya. And with the ones who did the blasts in Karachi recently. And with the ones in Palestine. And probably now the ones in Kashmir too.
(If the Assamese had a Muslim majority, the ULFA would be branded as just another example of jihad too.)
(I will not insult the reader's intelligence by explaining why those movements are not any jihad).
I am tired, of all this Islamophobia (OK I am not sure if there is a term like that; if there isn't, there soon will be). I knew the Hindus were like that and I always rebelled against it; now here in the Netherlands, those Islamophobic Hindus from India look like angels. And I am amazed, at the jokes highly qualified and intelligent people here make about Muslims and jihad, at their reaction when someone says he is from Pakistan (I wonder how they would react if someone said he is from Afghanistan), at their general perception of Muslims.
I am generalizing, of course; forgive me. But it is there, that seed of Islamophobia, more than a seed really. Much more. (OK not quite a tree yet, but a plant maybe?:p)
And it frightens me, this intolerance that I see here (and which has manifested in US's attack on Iraq - oh yes, do you think the US would have attacked them if there were white and christian? ok maybe, for the oil). I don't see these people having to interact with a lot of Muslims; there just ain't as many Muslims here as say in India. And that definitely is the problem; and a problem the media and the governments are exacerbating by raving about jihad all the time.
I don't see an Islamic jihad. I rather see the beginnings of a anti-Islamic jihad, led mostly and fiercely by the west.
Thank god (the Hindu gods of course:p) the Tamils are not Muslims. Or else, the world (the west predominantly, but the east is now following suit) would just have branded the LTTE as "islamist jihadists". Like they do with the ones in Chechnya. And with the ones who did the blasts in Karachi recently. And with the ones in Palestine. And probably now the ones in Kashmir too.
(If the Assamese had a Muslim majority, the ULFA would be branded as just another example of jihad too.)
(I will not insult the reader's intelligence by explaining why those movements are not any jihad).
I am tired, of all this Islamophobia (OK I am not sure if there is a term like that; if there isn't, there soon will be). I knew the Hindus were like that and I always rebelled against it; now here in the Netherlands, those Islamophobic Hindus from India look like angels. And I am amazed, at the jokes highly qualified and intelligent people here make about Muslims and jihad, at their reaction when someone says he is from Pakistan (I wonder how they would react if someone said he is from Afghanistan), at their general perception of Muslims.
I am generalizing, of course; forgive me. But it is there, that seed of Islamophobia, more than a seed really. Much more. (OK not quite a tree yet, but a plant maybe?:p)
And it frightens me, this intolerance that I see here (and which has manifested in US's attack on Iraq - oh yes, do you think the US would have attacked them if there were white and christian? ok maybe, for the oil). I don't see these people having to interact with a lot of Muslims; there just ain't as many Muslims here as say in India. And that definitely is the problem; and a problem the media and the governments are exacerbating by raving about jihad all the time.
I don't see an Islamic jihad. I rather see the beginnings of a anti-Islamic jihad, led mostly and fiercely by the west.
Update on Listening to the (Western) Twentieth Century
I had emailed the guy my view. His response gives hope that the title is indeed apt (while the summary apparently is not).
Response below:
Chandan,
The summary is a bit deceptive. In the final chapter of my book I talk
at length about Toru Takemitsu, Tan Dun, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Kayhan
Kalhor, and other non-Western composers. I suspect that in the current
century the story of classical music will be increasingly non-Western
in orientation.
All best,
Alex Ross
Response below:
Chandan,
The summary is a bit deceptive. In the final chapter of my book I talk
at length about Toru Takemitsu, Tan Dun, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Kayhan
Kalhor, and other non-Western composers. I suspect that in the current
century the story of classical music will be increasingly non-Western
in orientation.
All best,
Alex Ross
Listening to the (Western) Twentieth Century
The Economist ran a review (http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10015908&fsrc=nwlptwfree) on this book called "The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century". The author is Alex Ross who has been the music critic of The New Yorker since 1996.
I read the economist review. And I read the summary at the author's blog (http://www.therestisnoise.com/).The summary goes like "...The narrative goes from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties, from Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies...".
Get the picture? See the problem?
For those who didn't, Isn't there also something called Indian classical music (yes, they have actually played a bit of that in the twentieth-century too)? There's probably Chinese classical music and Japanese etc but I don't know about that. All I'm saying is, Mr Alex, please be correct and call you book "Listening to the Western Twentieth Century".
I read the economist review. And I read the summary at the author's blog (http://www.therestisnoise.com/).The summary goes like "...The narrative goes from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties, from Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies...".
Get the picture? See the problem?
For those who didn't, Isn't there also something called Indian classical music (yes, they have actually played a bit of that in the twentieth-century too)? There's probably Chinese classical music and Japanese etc but I don't know about that. All I'm saying is, Mr Alex, please be correct and call you book "Listening to the Western Twentieth Century".
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The world awaits...
8:10 pm, 14 Aug 2007, here in Amsterdam. 11:40 pm in India. 20 minutes to the biggest event of the year - the celebration of independence of that vibrant beautiful fractured powerful country - India.
60 years ago to this day, Nehru said "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long supressed, finds utterance...."
It has been 60 years since India freed herself from the ravages of English domination; 60 years since the most civilized nation on earth got rid of that most malignant notion of "white man's burden"; 60 years since her soul "found utterance". And now she finds herself poised on the brink of taking over the world; taking over the world not by deceit or violence or "divide and conquer", as were done by lesser civilizations, but taking over the world with intelligence, tolerance and peace. The world herself awaits in joy, for it is only fitting that the most civilized nation should take her over.
It is time also for the young generation of Indians to stand up; that generation which grew up free, free not only of foreign domination but also of any near memories of foreign domination, the generation that had access to the best education, the best opportunities, the broadest, widest experiences of life. Time for them to stand up and take over the country; time for them to tell those old potilicians to retire and let go of the reins; time for them to demand a President we can respect; time for them to tell their Prime Minister not to accept a honorary Oxford degree and go all queasy about it; time for them to outmanouvre those English-inspired politicians who still exploit of beautiful nation with "divide and conquer".
The world waits, and India journeys, inexorably, towards a better tomorrow; a tomorrow she only can deliver...
Happy independence day, fellow Indians..
60 years ago to this day, Nehru said "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long supressed, finds utterance...."
It has been 60 years since India freed herself from the ravages of English domination; 60 years since the most civilized nation on earth got rid of that most malignant notion of "white man's burden"; 60 years since her soul "found utterance". And now she finds herself poised on the brink of taking over the world; taking over the world not by deceit or violence or "divide and conquer", as were done by lesser civilizations, but taking over the world with intelligence, tolerance and peace. The world herself awaits in joy, for it is only fitting that the most civilized nation should take her over.
It is time also for the young generation of Indians to stand up; that generation which grew up free, free not only of foreign domination but also of any near memories of foreign domination, the generation that had access to the best education, the best opportunities, the broadest, widest experiences of life. Time for them to stand up and take over the country; time for them to tell those old potilicians to retire and let go of the reins; time for them to demand a President we can respect; time for them to tell their Prime Minister not to accept a honorary Oxford degree and go all queasy about it; time for them to outmanouvre those English-inspired politicians who still exploit of beautiful nation with "divide and conquer".
The world waits, and India journeys, inexorably, towards a better tomorrow; a tomorrow she only can deliver...
Happy independence day, fellow Indians..
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Jealous me (medicine and math)
Had this visitor for a few days - my uncle's friend - he had come down to attend a conference on head and neck cancer. Super guy, extremely straightforward; landed in Schipol and straightaway got pickpocketed at WTC - as Ashwin says, always happens to the best seedha-est people. Shit. Rings true. But I am diverting.
Anyway, his passion for his profession brought it all back - the envy I have for my father, my uncles, Z - the satisfaction they have daily is to be never mine. Looking back, it was probably my love for math which led me to ditch medicine; shit if only medicine had math, I would have my cake and eaten it too.
Which brings me to the troubling question - why isn't math emphasized in the medical profession; ok thats not fair I dont know enough about the profession itself to comment thus; but then, why isn't math emphasized in the entrance exams; why are(were?) math and biology optionals for us; why aren't both compulsory; shouldn't the people who are working on our bodies and researching the human physiology etc be very mathematically - and by inference, logically - minded? Why aren't doctors first trained in logic and AI and then the brain? Maybe they would then have a different perspective on the neural network? My ignorance of medicine prevents me from citing instances in medicine where a sound mathematical backgound would be useful; but somehow I find it unpalatable that good math is indispensible in medicine.
(While on it, computers science students can fairly easily look at a human brain as some sort of computer, with a trained neural network and a scheduler which goes awry in intoxicated states! - btw, are humans multi-cpu-ed? do the sharper guys have faster cpus? is there a separate process for committing short term memory for long term memory which is why intoxicated people dont remember later what they did?! etc etc:) )
(I now need a doctor's perspective on a computer!)
Anyway, his passion for his profession brought it all back - the envy I have for my father, my uncles, Z - the satisfaction they have daily is to be never mine. Looking back, it was probably my love for math which led me to ditch medicine; shit if only medicine had math, I would have my cake and eaten it too.
Which brings me to the troubling question - why isn't math emphasized in the medical profession; ok thats not fair I dont know enough about the profession itself to comment thus; but then, why isn't math emphasized in the entrance exams; why are(were?) math and biology optionals for us; why aren't both compulsory; shouldn't the people who are working on our bodies and researching the human physiology etc be very mathematically - and by inference, logically - minded? Why aren't doctors first trained in logic and AI and then the brain? Maybe they would then have a different perspective on the neural network? My ignorance of medicine prevents me from citing instances in medicine where a sound mathematical backgound would be useful; but somehow I find it unpalatable that good math is indispensible in medicine.
(While on it, computers science students can fairly easily look at a human brain as some sort of computer, with a trained neural network and a scheduler which goes awry in intoxicated states! - btw, are humans multi-cpu-ed? do the sharper guys have faster cpus? is there a separate process for committing short term memory for long term memory which is why intoxicated people dont remember later what they did?! etc etc:) )
(I now need a doctor's perspective on a computer!)
Saturday, April 28, 2007
How smart softwares and Google fail (and irritates and bugs and drives me fucking crazy)
The world cup just got over. And in spite of Australia's continued dominance and India's pathetic performance, some cricket scenes with a nice song in the background on tv set me in a romantic cricket mood and I thought I wanna write something on how this beautiful game trumps all other games.
So I type www.blogger.com
First thing, the blogger page is in Dutch! Fuck fuck fuck. Just coz I am located in Amsterdam does not mean I know to read (even if I could speak, which I also cannot) the local language; please at least give me an option to change my language setting but no I cannot find any such thing. Wow. Who project managed this whole smart language thing? Which stupid smart-ass too-good fucking engineer/project manager/team forgot about the people who live in places where they do not know the local language? How can Google - which does have the smartest guys and makes the smartest softwares - fuck up on this?
Second, Google's taken over Blogger. And I have to create a google account now (or use my old account and link it to my Blogger one). But why? I want to blog. Thats all I fucking want to do. Why is Blogger/Google troubling me with things like linking up accounts/creating gmail accounts etc? When I signed up on Blogger, I probably checked on some Blogger "Terms and Conditions". But shouldn't there also be terms and conditions that these sites - which offer you free acounts and good services and hence very nicely make sure you use them a lot and get used to them - that these sites would not without sufficient warning suddenly change themselves so much? I signed up for a particular thing; that thing itself can evolve fine - they could give me better blogging tools etc - but linking up to email? thats something I DID NOT SIGN UP ON BLOGGER FOR.
So Google, FUCK THE HELL OFF. And thanks for spoiling my mood. I loved Google. Now, I am starting to be wary of it. It is going where Microsoft went. And is fucking us all.
So I type www.blogger.com
First thing, the blogger page is in Dutch! Fuck fuck fuck. Just coz I am located in Amsterdam does not mean I know to read (even if I could speak, which I also cannot) the local language; please at least give me an option to change my language setting but no I cannot find any such thing. Wow. Who project managed this whole smart language thing? Which stupid smart-ass too-good fucking engineer/project manager/team forgot about the people who live in places where they do not know the local language? How can Google - which does have the smartest guys and makes the smartest softwares - fuck up on this?
Second, Google's taken over Blogger. And I have to create a google account now (or use my old account and link it to my Blogger one). But why? I want to blog. Thats all I fucking want to do. Why is Blogger/Google troubling me with things like linking up accounts/creating gmail accounts etc? When I signed up on Blogger, I probably checked on some Blogger "Terms and Conditions". But shouldn't there also be terms and conditions that these sites - which offer you free acounts and good services and hence very nicely make sure you use them a lot and get used to them - that these sites would not without sufficient warning suddenly change themselves so much? I signed up for a particular thing; that thing itself can evolve fine - they could give me better blogging tools etc - but linking up to email? thats something I DID NOT SIGN UP ON BLOGGER FOR.
So Google, FUCK THE HELL OFF. And thanks for spoiling my mood. I loved Google. Now, I am starting to be wary of it. It is going where Microsoft went. And is fucking us all.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
300 and hypocrisy
just saw 300. very entertaining movie. pure thrill. came out feelin i hadnt wasted my money n my time.
but it irritates me too. when xerxes invades greece, he's portrayed as a tyrant and a debauch and a crazed maniac who thinks of himself as god. (n oh yes he's also so foolish as to send soldiers with just swords and no shields. come on!) well ok. invaders r tyrants. but when alexander set out to invade everybody else, he is "alexander the great". baah. such hypocrisy.
or maybe xerxes is a tyrant because he lost. so we have the classical syndrome of history eulogizing the winners and villifying the losers. hence we have the "great" roman and later the english empires. or rather, the roman and english tyrants and plunderers.
but it irritates me too. when xerxes invades greece, he's portrayed as a tyrant and a debauch and a crazed maniac who thinks of himself as god. (n oh yes he's also so foolish as to send soldiers with just swords and no shields. come on!) well ok. invaders r tyrants. but when alexander set out to invade everybody else, he is "alexander the great". baah. such hypocrisy.
or maybe xerxes is a tyrant because he lost. so we have the classical syndrome of history eulogizing the winners and villifying the losers. hence we have the "great" roman and later the english empires. or rather, the roman and english tyrants and plunderers.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
On "happiness" and hypertension (in response to RISK)
RISK: http://blog.risk.net/2007/03/towards_a_theory_of_cardiovasc_1.html
FT: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f035d56e-c92b-11db-9f7b-000b5df10621.html
Research paper: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/oswald/hypertensionfeb07.pdf
ALEA: http://www.aleablog.com/2007/03/03/happiness-economics/
First, I must confess I have not read the research paper itself.
Second, I must point out. Risk says "blood pressure... is linked fairly closely to national happiness". Alea says "nations that regarded themselves as happy reported lower levels of hypertension. " The phrase "regarded themselves" is very important - in fact, it is the crux.
Happiness is not well-defined and it is probably not very wide off the mark to say that the perception of happiness is linked to a particular culture. The research is fine - it just should not extrapolate the findings to other cultures; and it does seem to do that since it time and again uses phrases like "national happiness", "mental health" etc.
FT says "It is now well established that people in richer countries tend to be happier than those in poorer ones." My personal experience however does not support that at all - in fact it is quite the contrary. My question to FT is - "Please, who established it and how?". I have a deep suspicion the establishment is based on research papers such as this again.
Also, I think it strange there is no mention of smiles (the real ones not the volatility ones!). Isn't it obvious that happpiness would be linked to the number of smiles in a day?
FT: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f035d56e-c92b-11db-9f7b-000b5df10621.html
Research paper: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/oswald/hypertensionfeb07.pdf
ALEA: http://www.aleablog.com/2007/03/03/happiness-economics/
First, I must confess I have not read the research paper itself.
Second, I must point out. Risk says "blood pressure... is linked fairly closely to national happiness". Alea says "nations that regarded themselves as happy reported lower levels of hypertension. " The phrase "regarded themselves" is very important - in fact, it is the crux.
Happiness is not well-defined and it is probably not very wide off the mark to say that the perception of happiness is linked to a particular culture. The research is fine - it just should not extrapolate the findings to other cultures; and it does seem to do that since it time and again uses phrases like "national happiness", "mental health" etc.
FT says "It is now well established that people in richer countries tend to be happier than those in poorer ones." My personal experience however does not support that at all - in fact it is quite the contrary. My question to FT is - "Please, who established it and how?". I have a deep suspicion the establishment is based on research papers such as this again.
Also, I think it strange there is no mention of smiles (the real ones not the volatility ones!). Isn't it obvious that happpiness would be linked to the number of smiles in a day?
Sunday, March 04, 2007
ARGH @ Google (Beware of Google)
Google google. We all love them - most of us at least. I did too. Now I am not so sure - the feeling (love -> indignation + betrayal -> hatred) started just now, when I logged onto my blogspot account.
Why? Wtf is going on. I have a blogspot account and all I want to do is fukken blog (I cannot avoid the expletives I am pissed off). But no. I cannot. I have to read some crap now about some new blogspot features. Well I say - OK, lets see what they got. But then I see the trick - I have to have a gmail account.
You see it right?
(For those who don't, I'm arghing at my loss of privacy; I'm arghing at having to link my email with my blog; I'm arghing at nosy Google; I'm arghing at Sergei and Larry becoming too greedy - for their own good. And I am arghing at their oh-so-obvious ploy to show me advertisements on my gmail based on my blogs - ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)
(I hate repetitiveness but I m just too angry now)
Why? Wtf is going on. I have a blogspot account and all I want to do is fukken blog (I cannot avoid the expletives I am pissed off). But no. I cannot. I have to read some crap now about some new blogspot features. Well I say - OK, lets see what they got. But then I see the trick - I have to have a gmail account.
You see it right?
(For those who don't, I'm arghing at my loss of privacy; I'm arghing at having to link my email with my blog; I'm arghing at nosy Google; I'm arghing at Sergei and Larry becoming too greedy - for their own good. And I am arghing at their oh-so-obvious ploy to show me advertisements on my gmail based on my blogs - ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)
(I hate repetitiveness but I m just too angry now)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Continuing.. (why Kalam is wrong and how India rocks)
Kalam's speech has set me thinking - a whole damn lot - those last few words - about making India like the western nations. I cannot digest it and I cannot for the life of me understand why he wants India to be like the western nations. I have but two possible explanations -
1. Maybe he worded it wrong - he probably wants India to emulate the specific things like cleanliness, order, structure, gender equality; but he did make the mistake of generalising it with those words.
2. He's never lived abroad for a long duration of time and doesn't realise India's much better off as a life.
He started off on the right note but somehow digressed into this western comparison thing. But the comparison is not valid. These are different ways of lives lived in very different geographies and climates.
He can take a personal view of things which is perfectly OK; even discussing it might be OK; but giving a speech on the topic in his capacity as president is very wrong.
For me (as for most thinking people :)), Indians and the Indian way of life rocks. And I absolutely HATE the idea of India being transformed into some western like nation. We would lose our soul. We shall no longer be India. We shall no longer be the chaos (that lovely chaos of emotions, uncertainties, inequalities, freedom, flexibility, acceptance and non-interference ) that is life as nothing else is.
p.s. Kalam also cannot be forgiven for using a modified version of JFK's speech; now JFK was probably a great guy ("probably" cause I have never bothered to go into the details of his life so I do not have a personal opinion and I really do not care) but why did he have to borrow a quote of the president of another country - that too a country whose history dates back to just a few hundred years) - when he was speaking to the people of a country with an immemorial history?
1. Maybe he worded it wrong - he probably wants India to emulate the specific things like cleanliness, order, structure, gender equality; but he did make the mistake of generalising it with those words.
2. He's never lived abroad for a long duration of time and doesn't realise India's much better off as a life.
He started off on the right note but somehow digressed into this western comparison thing. But the comparison is not valid. These are different ways of lives lived in very different geographies and climates.
He can take a personal view of things which is perfectly OK; even discussing it might be OK; but giving a speech on the topic in his capacity as president is very wrong.
For me (as for most thinking people :)), Indians and the Indian way of life rocks. And I absolutely HATE the idea of India being transformed into some western like nation. We would lose our soul. We shall no longer be India. We shall no longer be the chaos (that lovely chaos of emotions, uncertainties, inequalities, freedom, flexibility, acceptance and non-interference ) that is life as nothing else is.
p.s. Kalam also cannot be forgiven for using a modified version of JFK's speech; now JFK was probably a great guy ("probably" cause I have never bothered to go into the details of his life so I do not have a personal opinion and I really do not care) but why did he have to borrow a quote of the president of another country - that too a country whose history dates back to just a few hundred years) - when he was speaking to the people of a country with an immemorial history?
Saturday, January 27, 2007
President Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad
i agree with everything except the last part with which i strongly disagree. i dont see the need to make india what america is today. actually i feel a strong need to stay away from that path of world domination (n bullying)
The President of India DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad
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 the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his 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 inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything 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 this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
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 say, say and say. 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 say anything, 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 I am?). 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. 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?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Wil l the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. 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. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their
glory and praise their system. Whe n 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. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country.
Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA
AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Lets do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian FOR A CHANGE instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)
The President of India DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad
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 the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his 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 inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T. Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything 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 this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
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 say, say and say. 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 say anything, 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 I am?). 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. 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?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Wil l the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. 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. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their
glory and praise their system. Whe n 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. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country.
Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too.... I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA
AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA
WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Lets do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian FOR A CHANGE instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalaam
(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
US and insecure?!!!
Quote:
But spokesman Tony Snow said Thursday that "this president believes deeply in the importance of trying to innovate our way out of a situation where we've been dependent on an oil source that can render us insecure."
Ironical that the world's biggest bully worries about being insecure - the rest of the world is insecure against the US - the US is not insecure in any way - it can kill maim bully destroy with impunity and nobody can say a thing to them.
But spokesman Tony Snow said Thursday that "this president believes deeply in the importance of trying to innovate our way out of a situation where we've been dependent on an oil source that can render us insecure."
Ironical that the world's biggest bully worries about being insecure - the rest of the world is insecure against the US - the US is not insecure in any way - it can kill maim bully destroy with impunity and nobody can say a thing to them.
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