Rakesh Anugula

Vivekananda Youth Convention at Warangal

2012-01-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Youth life is the most precious part of the life. It's the best time one passes through. The way in which we utilize this period will decide the nature of coming years that lie ahead of us. Our happiness, our success, our achievements, our name and fame all depend upon the way in which we live in this youth period. Not just our indivisual happiness or success, but even the country's success in the future will depend upon how we conduct ourselves during this age.

The most special feature of this age is that we can mould ourselves physically, mentally and spirituality in the way we want. We possess all the required energy and enthusiasm required for that. This is best articulated by none other than our youth Icon and the greatest patriot of this country Swami Vivekananda.

The teachings of Swamiji are most relevant for the youth specially in this current scenario when the youth is in a dilemma not understanding how to channelise their energy in a right purpose, how to keep themselves away from several distractions brought by westernization and globalisation. Keeping this in mind, a number of organizations including the Government of India and Rama Krishna Math are organising several youth conventions across the country on the eve of 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda to take his message to the youth.

The youth convention with around 10,000 students organised by Rama Krishna Seva Samithi at Arts College grounds at Warangal is one such program in the recent past. Swamijis from Rama Krishna missions from across the country travelled to Warangal to pass on Vivekananda's message to the youth and humanity. Gujjula Narsaiah, renowned educationist and my mentor has chaired the program while Prabhuji, the coordinator of Rama Krishna Seva Samithi has been the organising secretary of the program. It is one of the biggest mass programs that I have ever been part of. India needs more and more such programs in every nook and corner for it to come closer to becoming a truly global leader.

Pilani, An Unforgettable Journey

2012-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Pilani, by its unique culture, lifestyle and values occupies a special place in any BITSian life. It leaves an undelible impression on shaping up the mindset and personality of a BITSian. Post Pilani also, Pilani continues to be a source of inpiration, a source of freindships and a source of values. It's a privilege and exciting experience for any BITSian to go back to the campus and get reminded of the place that has taught us what life is all about, to get reminded of the passions that we discovered in ourselves, the freindships that we built, finally the fun we had. I along with Chethan, Ravindar, Mohan were fortunate enough to experience one such trip to Pilani.

Rounds within the campus, interaction with the BITSians, discissions with Nirmaanites, meetings with profs, shikanji and khela rabdi at Redis, lacha session at ANC, fun session at Nuthan, Chai at IC took us back to good old Pilani days. All in all, it was a wonderful and refreshing trip.

School Building Inauguration at Akividu and Siddapuram

2012-01-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

Education is the foundation for any society to progress and prosper. This is one program that's planned in that direction by Sagar in his home town in West Godavari with the help from Two cents of Hope. Following are few pics of the school buildings inauguration programs that I have attended at Akividu and Siddapuram villages of West Godavari.

In Akividu meeting, I spoke about how great people like Vishweraya, Ambedkar etc. have succeeded in life inspite of their challenging backgrounds and how they have contributed to the nation in their lifetime. I tried to fill inspiration in them by providing such examples that one can achieve great hieghts in one's life if one has a passion and if one works hard towards that passion.

In Siddapuram, I spoke about corruption, the root cause and some measures through which each one of us can participate in eradicating corruption. I also spoke how we as a nation are losing our uniqueness by ignoring and abusing our own culture and values and by blindly westernising ourselves. I said we as a Nation need to work on these two issues if we have to progress and prosper towards becoming a supreme power.

Gram Swaraj - Gandhiji's Path for Poorna Swaraj

2011-10-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

This speech delivered at a conference on Rural Development at NIT Warangal is a small tribute to Mahatma's thought leadership. This speech is based on Gram Swaraj concept that he proposed for holistic development of villages along with some of my own experiences and observations. Please find the full text of the speech at the following link:

Youth empowered is India empowered

2011-09-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Following are the few snaps of “Dr.Abdul Kalam Gram Ratna Award” program that was conducted in August this year. Objective of the program was to recognize and encourage the rural talent by indentifying and felicitating at least two students from each village of Hasanparthy Mondal, Warangal District who perform exceptionally well either in their Class X / Intermediate / EAMCET / Polytechnic exam / BITSAT / AIEEE / any professional course/exam. Kakatiya University Vice Chancellor Prof Venkata Ratnam along with famous educationist have graced the occasions as guests for the program and presented the Gram Ratna awards to the best students of the villages. Several other local leaders attended the program along with Headmasters of around 20 different Govt and private schools and around 500 students. There were exceptional inspiring speeches by the guests present. Thanks to all who have supported this program.

Following 22 villages alonmg with 3 villages of other mondal have participated in the program: Ananthasagar, Arvepalli, Bhimaram, Bironpally, Chinthagattu, Devannapet, Gunturpally, Hasanparthy,Jaigiri, Komatipally, Madipalli, Mallareddypalli, Mucharla, Munipally, Nagaram, Pegadapally, Pembarthy, Seethampet, Seethanagaram, Siddapur, Sudanapally, Vangapahad and Yellapur.

Letter to The Prime Minister to arrest A Raja

2011-07-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Following are few snaps of Lok Satta's "Letter to Prime Minister" program thats organised in hanmakonda in Dec 10. The program was aimed at demanding prime minister to take action against the cuplrits in 2G spectrum scam. I have participated along with our team in the program on recieving a call from KodandaRama Rao, State Vice President of Lok Satta. Its a very successful program in terms of letting know the prime minister about the ground reality and in creating a public mood against corruption.

We Want a Corruption Free India

2011-07-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Following are few snaps of the anti corruption rally that's organised in Dec 10 in my village to create an awareness among people on corruption issue. Around 800 students and youth participated in 5 kms rally which continued for 2 hours. Children from age of 5 till youth and old aged participated in it and made it a huge success. This is a first hand experience for me in organising mass rallies.

A tribute to the inspirer

2011-05-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

Inaugurating Vivekananda statue in my village is just a small tribute that I could offer for my inspiration Swami Vivekananda. It's swami vivekananda's life and his thoughts on several aspects of life which inspired to become what I am today. And like me there are numerous youth who are being continously inspired by Vivekananda's ideology. It's in Oct 10, we, a group of 10 youth came together and discussed the need for a Vivekananda statue in our village. And that's it. We planned and executed it with freinds support and cooperation from our village. The statue is inaugurated by an ardent follower of Vivekananda and the BJP State President Shri G Kishan Reddy Garu in the presence of several other dignitaries. Around 1200 members participated in the program and made it a huge success. Following are some of the snaps of the program:

Man can rise to Mahamta

2010-11-01T03:36:00.000-07:00

This blog is about a wonderful program that I have attended at Hyderabad. On Oct 9th, Nirmaan has arranged an IT company exposure program In Mahindra Satyam for the children of the schools which it has adopted in urban slums of Hyderabad. The students of my village are fortunate to be part of this excellent program. Students have gone through the campus, the learning centers there, the zoo, the different facilities that Mahindra Satyam provides to its employees and finally to the big convention hall where the students are shown video conferencing and few inspirational videos. It’s been a wonderful trip both for students and myself. At the end of the program, Rajesh was kind enough to provide me an opportunity to speak to the students in the convention hall. The talk was mainly intended in telling the students not to get stopped in thinking big because they come from economically or socially backward families. The talk was mainly intended in telling them they too can become great achievers inspite of their troubled backgrounds.

Respected members of Mahindra Satyam foundation who have not only granted their permissions for this excellent program but also provided their full support and encouragement, members of Nirmaan who have made this possible with their exceptional planning and execution, members and representatives of other organizations who extended their support for this program, dear teachers and students - My whole hearted Namakars to you. I have a habit of starting my speeches by first submitting my pranams to our dear mother land, Bharat Mata.

Bharata Mata ki Jai. Bharata Mata ki Jai. Bharata Mata ki Jai.

Some of the volunteers and students over here very well know that if by mistake they handover the mike to me, I will not leave them without atleast half an hour of my speech. But friends, today I promise you that this time I will not speak more than 5 minutes. It’s because today we have come here to spend our time in a much better program than listening to my speech. Today in our country, more than 60% of our children study in Government schools. India has travelled a long way from 1947. Today India is growing at a rapid scale. Today our foreign reserves have grown to unimaginable numbers. Government is spending crores of money for improving infrastructural facilities in schools. Government is taking several measures on soft infrastructure development area. Yet, the children lack confidence and are not able to compete with children from Private schools. Four years of our uninterrupted research and experiments in Government schools in rural and urban areas reveals that schools lack programs that can inspire for dreaming big and for them to know the latest happenings in the world. It is in this context, Nirmaan, With a lot of effort and planning has arranged this Mahindra Satyam IT exposure trip. Today you have been provided this opportunity which even engineering students from reputed institutions could not obtain. You are really fortunate enough to get such a wonderful opportunity. You have been going around the Mahindra Satyam Campus and have been observing many new things and listening to people from the morning. Have you learnt new things today? “Yes”. Have you enjoyed this program “Yes”. Then I would definitely treat that the program is successful.

Today in this short time available, I would like to quickly tell you two things very clearly. First, do you Abdul Kalam? He is our former President. Yes he is not only our former president but he is also Bharat Ratna. Such a man has started his education from a small school in Island of Rameshwaram. And when Kalam wanted to move away from Rameshwaram for doing his engineering studies, Kalam didn’t had enough money to pay the fee. His sister has given all her gold ornaments and with the money that is received from the sale of those ornaments, Kalam went for his engineering studies and with the scholarships he received from college, he was able to complete his education post which we all know what happened.

Do you know Ambedkar? He is the architect of our constitution. He is just not an architect of constitution, but he is also a Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award holder, a great intellectual, a great fighter of the oppressed. Such a great man was discriminated in the worst possible manner in his school because he was born in a backward meher family. In school, Ambedkar was not allowed to drink water with the glass available near the pot. The attender has to pour water and Ambdekar used to drink it by joining his two hands together. From such a worst and shameful discrimination, Ambedkar has grown as a proud leader for India. At this moment, I would hesitate to say that it is because of his masterly work in writing an excellent constitution, India is able to distinguish itself from Pakisthan. We have corrupt leaders in both the countries. But India could survive because of the futuristic thinking that Ambedkar had put in defining our constitution.

Do you Know PV Narasimha Rao? He is a man whom we all should feel proud of. PV Narasimha Rao is our former Prime minister. He hail from a small village called Vangara, which is close to Warangal city. PV has studied in a small Government Junior college in Warngal which still exists today. The students of this college proudly say that they are students of the same college in which the great PV has studied. PV having studied in such a small Government college, has started from the smallest position of our democracry, Sarpanch of his village and occupied almost every important position like MLA, MP, State minister, Chief Minister, Governer, Central defense minister, external affairs minister, home minister and finally led the nation in severe economic and political crisis times as it’s Prime Minister and gave a new direction to the nation through rapid economic reforms which he introduced.

Do you Know Shastri? Shastri was born and brought up in economically troubled family. But, he has grown to the highest possible position in our democracy and has remained in Indian history as one of the greatest Prime Ministers we had.

Dear children, by narrating all such cases, I would like to tell you that being born in a socially backward family or economically family or studying in Government schools or small private schools is not a hindrance to your growth. If we are passionate about our goals, if we have the right attitude and if we follow the right path and if we work hard to reach goals, one can overcome all the short comings in life and still achieve the highest possible things in life. I wouldn’t like to convince you by just giving few good examples or just through my oratory skills, but I would like to prove this with a great philosophy. As you all know, Hindu culture is one of the most ancient and one of the most renowned cultures in the world. Such a culture has a great philosophy as its base. i.e.” Advaita” which means “na dvaitham” which means “two are not different”. God and we. Every human being is part of the creation of the sacred God. This means that every human being has unlimited and unimaginable power in himself. It’s all about exhibiting that power by following the best values, ethics and leading a disciplined life. That is the reason why, people from the ground, people from the oppressed sections, people who are discriminated have achieved the highest possible things in life.

Friends, the second point which I want to tell you is that if we keenly observe the life histories of great people, we can clearly see that there will be few incidents in their lives which turned as major turning points in their lives due to which they have become what they are. Let’s take Ambedkar life history. It is the severe discrimination that he has faced that filled a great fighting spirit in his blood and that has made him fight for the poor and the oppressed. That made ultimately him the Bharat Ratna.

Let’s talk about Kalam. Jalaluddin is a resident of Rameshawaram. Jalaluddin was a close friend of Kalam in his childhood. Even though Jalaluddin was around 10 years elder or so to Kalam, both were close friends. Jalaluddin was a very learned man. He was the only person in Rameshwaram at that time who could fluently read and write English. At a later point, Jalaluddin marries Kalam’s sister and becomes kalam’s brother in law. Being well educated, Jalaluddin used to closely follow the new inventions in science and he used to share all such information with Kalam when Kalam was at his school age. That made Kalam very inquisitive about things and made him develop his love for science and research and that made him a great scientist and thus a great leader for this country.

And same is the case with Gandhi. Gandhi after coming back from South Africa has toured the whole country, observed the worst poverty that country is facing, talked to people, understood the pain that India is going through under British and that made him dedicate his life for the independence of this nation. It is that tour which made him wage an uninterrupted fight against the British in his rest of the life and become champion of all sections of people In India and it is that moment which made him rise from man to Mahatma. Same is the case with Vivekananda. It is the meeting of Shri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa which made him a great monk, a great thinker, a great patriot who has given a great hope to India when India was in deep despair through his simple and yet inspiring and eloquent summary of all the great Indian scriptures.

Friends, it is few incidents and few moments in many people’s lives which offer them a permanent inspiration to become great achievers. I pray to God that this Manhindra Satyam IT Company awareness program organized by Nirmaan gives you such inspiration for you to become achievers and thus becomes a milestone and a turning point in your life.

With this I would like to end this talk by singing my two favorite sholaks.

mahaa mangale punya bhoome twadarthe
patatwesha kaayo namaste namaste

let our bodies be perished in the service of the motherland

param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham

May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.

Grama Swaraj alone can bring Real Swaraj to India

2010-10-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Confluence, the NSEF Annual convention 2010 with the theme, "Social Entreprenuership and Youth" has truly been a great congruence as its literal meaning suggests. The MLR Convention Hall was fully packed with more than 300 audience passionate about social entreprenuership listening to some of the great and inspiring talks and discussions by social entreprenuers and leaders. Kudos to the whole organising team -Yashveer, Nitesh, Nishanth, Gaurav, Sujoy, Srikumar, Anil, Devendar etc for succesfully organising such a wonderful conference.

I was fortunate enough to be called by the organising team to present the inaugural address for such a great conference. Following is the text of the inaugural address.

On this great occasion, in the presence of such an august audience, let me begin my speech by sharing a few words about the greatest social entrepreneur of this country and probably the greatest of the whole world, Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi was not an emperor, not a military general, not a president, not a prime minister. He was neither a rich business man like a Tata or a Birla or a Ambani. He is neither a Harward MBA nor a Stanford MBA nor a religious leader. Yet he has touched lives of almost every Indian through his innovative approach and inspiring leadership. Being an adamant idealist, courageous fighter, a deep thinker, and a great leader of men and ideas, he could challenge the complex socio political problem of independence and fight for it. He identified himself with struggles and pains of the common Indians and became the champion of the downtrodden and the exploited. With a strong determination and commitment for common people, for their rights and dignity and with a powerful and innovative approach, he has not only championed the cause of millions of Indians but he has also stood as an example and as an inspiration for every Indian. His nature of thinking big, his dedication to cause and his deep rooted ethics have made him rise from a common man to a Mahatma.

His life and his work are great sources of inspiration for everyone right from the older generations to the generations to come, especially for people aspiring to become social entrepreneurs. Without Gandhiji’s inspiration, we would have never witnessed Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech, or Nelson Mandela's struggle against antiapartheid in South Africa. Gandhiji has also been an inspiration to many other great social leaders and entrepreneurs like Vinobha Bhave who fought for land reforms, Jai Prakash Narayan who brought back the country from the darkness of emergency. I have no doubt in saying that Gandhiji is a perfect role model for each one of us who wants to challenge social problems for the welfare of the people. Even if his methods and principles cannot be practiced by each and every one, at least if one can understand the spirit of his thoughts, that can help us in bringing a great change. His deep rooted ethics, commitment to common man’s cause and courage are the qualities that are needed to be imbibed by every social entrepreneur to achieve high in his entrepreneurial deeds.

India after having achieved independence under the leadership of such a great leader and social entrepreneur is today facing a very peculiar situation. India is growing rapidly at a growth rate of 7%/8%. Stock exchanges are hitting 20,000 mark, India is competing with world leaders in science, atomic power and India is organizing prestigious common wealth games, India is witnessing huge infrastructural development in cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore. But friends India is not just the metros. India is just not the booming stock markets. As Gandhiji said, India lives in village. Villages are the heart of our country. It is the culture, tradition, the customs and the life style that exists in villages which defines India.

Villages used to be self reliant. Village used to produce all the products and services by its people. Village used to have farms which produce the agri products, they used to have small flour machines and mills which process agri products, villages used to have carpenters, potters, excellent craftsmen, artists, land surveyors, architects, peasants, priests, teaches etc. Villages by producing the required products and services on their own in their villages in turn used to provide livelihood for its people. Village by itself used to be a separate world with its own resources and the system. But, today such villages are in a big chaos. With the of effects globalization slowly entering into villages and with the political leaders lacking a long term vision and strategy, with the Government adopting unthoughtful and illogical policies, our villages are put to chaos. Traditional occupations are slowly getting extinct. Traditional cottage industries are facing lot of pressures. Our craftsmen who once earned name and fame across the world for their expertise are today losing their livelihoods in villages and moving to Dubai and other Arab countries for third grade jobs. Due to climatic changes and due to illegal human intervention, lakes are disappearing; cultivable lands are becoming arid lands. Due to modern methods of farming and due to high cost fertilizers and seeds, farming is becoming expensive and becoming an ineffective value proposition for farmer. Costs of farming have gone up. Farmers are leaving farming. And as a result, Farmer who is the provider of food for the country, who once used to live with a great pride and dignity, is today working as labor in those SEZs, in small companies in urban areas.

Such is the condition of our villages, the real India. It is in this context, Social entrepreneurship assumes a far greater relevance than ever. It is in this context, social entrepreneurship assumes a greater significance than ever. It is in these pressing times, social entrepreneurship becomes a greater necessity than ever. And friends, it needs young and dynamic minds with full of energy and enthusiasm, with a complete understanding of the core of our country and with a commitment for the cause. It needs such youth who can pursue social entrepreneurship and challenge the socio economic problems of this country who can change the fate of this country. It needs such dynamic leaders who can put Gandhiji thoughts of Grama Swaraj into implementation who can bring the real Swaraj to the nation. And it’s in this context, NSEF has chosen “Social Entrepreneurship and Youth” as the theme for this confluence, The NSEF’s annual convention 2010.

I have started Nirmaan four years back when I was studying in BITS Pilani. It’s a non-profit organization which provides education and employment opportunities to unprivileged people. A good number of my batch mates and juniors joined the efforts and spent more hours with Nirmaan than they did attending classes. The result is that we were able to provide help to a considerable number of people. But the model was not sustainable. Four years of grass roots experience in Nirmaan has taught me that charity has its limitations and that it’s not a practical approach to lead sustainable solutions for addressing social problems even though charity has a continued place in society for its welfare. That’s when I realized that we need to help people build organizations that can apply innovation along with powerful tools and techniques to develop sustainable solutions.

In Mar 2009, I shared my thoughts of need for promotion of social entrepreneurship with a few of my colleagues, Sri Kumar and Yashveer at Nirmaan. And the result is what we are seeing today. NSEF with the sole aim of promoting social entrepreneurship among youth, with efforts and dedication by NSEF members, NSEF has grown from one member to three members and from one chapter at BITS Pilani to 6 chapters at Goa, IIM Lucknow, IT Kharagpur, Mount Carmel Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, BITS Hyderabad etc. conducting various events like NSEF Idea conferences, Start up exhibitions, business competitions, internships etc. Through its chapters, NSEF has been putting efforts to empower the students by exposing them to the field of social entrepreneurship. As a part of its activities, NSEF conducts an annual convention every year. In this year’s one day annual convention, we would have a series of talks by experts, panel discussions on various upcoming trends in the field by renowned social entrepreneurs and social leaders, interactive sessions among the audience etc. Convention would act as a learning platform for the audience where we discuss various topics related to social entrepreneurship and how youth can pursue it to challenge complex socio economic problems.

Friends, Swami Vivekananda, the greatest patriot of this country who has let the whole world know about greatness of our country and the culture and the traditions over here through his speeches has once said “Give me hundred pure and selfless men and women, I will shake the world”. I pray to God to let this conference inspiration to atleast ten of us whom Swami Vivekananda wanted. With this, I wish you all the best for the next 8 hours of inspiring and learning sessions.

param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham

May our victorious organized power of action and social entrepreneurial deeds, with God’s Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our supremacy and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.

Is This Gandhi Real or Duplicate?

2010-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Indian media specially the Indian English media often refers Rahul Gandhi as the youth leader of the country. Each time I hear such statements, it wonders me. How can someone at the age of 39 be called as a youth leader! Isn’t it funny? Under what definition someone at the age of 39 be called as youth? Had he got married at the age of 20, he would have probably had a son or a daughter of age 18 or 19. What would have this media called them? Kids? Ok fine. For the moment, Let’s agree to media’s argument that Rahul at the age of 39 is a youth leader. Then, what happened to Agatha K Sangma, Jyotiraditya Scindia who, Sachin Pilot, Dushyant Singh who are younger to Rahul and who are doing very well in political field? Are they not Indians or are they not youth? Why don’t the media call them as youth? Can’t the media calculate their ages using simple calculations? Are they so poor in simple arithmetic? Probably their arithmetic logic is different. It’s because Rahul is from Gandhi family and he is from the congress party, they call him youth at the age of 39. I think that’s the only logic that they can apply to call him so. Else, no other logic in the world can help them say so. And the funniest part is that Rahul Gandhi himself calls as a Youth leader. I am not sure how he says so? I think he should keep meeting his classmates and batch mates every now and then to help him realize that he is no more a youth.

Here are some of the statements he has made which I would like to analyze to understand how matured Mr.Gandhi is.

During the Uttar Pradesh election campaign in 2007, Rahul Gandhi said that "if anyone from the Gandhi-Nehru family had been active in politics then, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen". What an arrogant statement? Isn’t it a statement that underestimates and insult the socio-political talent in this country? Does that mean that only Gandhi family has the capability and the eligibility to rule this country? Has Indian constitution laid down any special provision that Gandhis alone can capture Gaddi in this country? I am not sure if Mr.Gandhi is unaware of the Sikh Riots that his own party has initiated during his grandmother’s reign? Or is he conveniently and wantedly forgetting this fact? One must understand the fact that none of the non Gandhi family congress leaders, be it Patel or Lal Bahadur Shastri or P V Narsimha rao, neither of them are recognized and remembered by congress party for their contributions to their party and to this nation.

In another instance, Mr Gandhi says its congress party alone which can protect and preserve democracy in India and that he would continue the tradition. Isn’t it a big joke? Isn’t it congress which has misused article 356 more than 100 times to dismiss the democratically elected state governments formed by non congress parties? Isn’t it congress party which distributed cash in the house of Parliament to protect their Government? Isn't it his Grand mother who has thrown this country into a complete darkness by illegally imposing emergency? Should we assume that he is unaware of such kind of worst history of congress and making such kind of statements? Probably for him, preserving and protecting democracy in India means preserving and protecting congress party and their Governments in India either by hook or crook.

In his recent congress youth meetings, he said there are equal opportunities for youth in congress party. Isn’t a hypocritical statement? Can ever in congress party, a term called equal opportunity exist? Can a party that’s known for its hereditary politics talk about equal opportunity. Let’s assume for the moment what he said is true, then how the hell Rahul has become the head of Youth Congress as soon he entered politics? When there were so many youth leaders working for the party for years? Can someone ever in congress’s history other than Gandhis occupy the Presidnet position? In my view, Gandhis have no moral right to talk about equal opportunity in politics.

Recently when Kashmir started burning and when everyone is so worried about the tensions prevailing there and when almost all the leaders in the power and in opposition including the PM and the opposition leader are worried about the way state Government handled the situation and taken the decisions, Mr. Gandhi showered Omar with appreciation saying Omar is handling the situation very well. Isn’t it a testimony for Mr.Gandhi’s judgment skills? Isn’t it an indication of what will happen to this Nation if Mr Gandhi is made the PM?

In a meeting yesterday at Bhopal, Rahul Gandhi equated RSS and SIMI and also added that the only difference is that SIMI is a banned organization while RSS is not. Both question and answer lies in his statement. He himself says SIMI is banned and RSS is not. Then how the hell this Gandhi scion says RSS and SIMI are same? If RSS is a terrorist group, then doesn’t his Government ban RSS? Had he even attended RSS shaka to comment on RSS? Had he at least tried to know what happens in an RSS shaka to comment on RSS?

The swayamsevaks in their daily shakas sing the following verses in their daily prayer:

mahaa mangale punya bhoome twadarthe
patatwesha kaayo namaste namaste

which means that let our bodies be perished in the service of the motherland

param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham

Which means “May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.”

Can such patriots be compared with terrorists? Can a Vajpayee and a SIMI terrorist be compared? Is Kalam and Kasab equal? By making such statements, Rahul only proves his immaturity and poor judgment skills. Now, it’s up to the nation to think if they want such a person to lead this great nation. They need to realize if they want a Real Gandhi and Gandhian principles or the duplicate Gandhis and their appeasement policies and their power politics.

Ram lalla wins the title of the disputed land in Ayodhya

2010-10-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

It may sound very unusual. But it's true that Ram lalla in Ayodhya wins the title of the disputed land. Ram lalla was included as the petitioner in the petition filed by Hindus claiming for the title of the land. Indian law in its unique way considers and recognizes even idols as the petitioners. And in its verdict, Allahabad High court yesterday has awarded the title of the main disputed land to Bhagwan Shri Ram Chandra Murthy filling happiness in millions and millions of Hindus who believe that Ram is born at the disputed site.

Finally the path is cleared for building a Ram temple at Ayodhya. Ram is a symbol of unity, integrity, good governance, victory of truth over evils and protector of the common man. Ram is a national hero for Indians. Bhagwan Ram is the epitome of eternal, inclusive and tolerant culture of India. Courts recognizing and respecting the faith of Indians in such a hero and what he stands for will remain in the history forever. This verdict can be treated as a historic verdict respecting the sentiments of all communities and a verdict that protects the unity of this country and a verdict that believs in Indian culture. The final judgement given by Allahabad High court that the land should be split for all the three parties including Hinuds, Muslims and Akharas should be hailed and welcomed by all Indians belonging to all communities. One shouldn’t expect a better judgment than this.

I think the court's verdict is a befitting reply to all the pseudo secularists who branded all those who believed in Bhagwan Ram and who believed the existence of Temple at Ram Janma Bhoomi as communal. It’s a slap on the face of those pseudo secularists who questioned the belief of Hindus in Holiness and sacredness of ram Janma sthan. It's time to understand what kind of secularism Burka Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai talk every minute and every day misleading this nation. Now, it’s time for everyone to realize who is communal and who is secular. It’s time for people to understand who fought for truth and who fought for vote bank.

It’s time for Muslims also to realize that they are being used as vote bank by pseudo secular parties and that they are misled by certain political parties for their electoral benefits. It's time for them to extend their cooperation for building a magnificent temple for Devine Bhagwan Ram and to invite Hindus cooperation for building a mosque. That will stand as a great example for our secularism and unity. That will strengthen the Indian secularism that we believe in and practice from time immemorial.

Pandit Deenadyal, The BJP founder is a Gold medalist of BITS Pilani

2010-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's surprising to hear. But it's true. We haven’t yet heard about it but am sure we all would feel proud to take a note of this. We have one more proud to be a BITSian. Infact, I would say that he is the greatest BITSian BITS has ever produced. Shri Pandit Deendayal Upadyay, the founder of BJP and one of the greatest and a rare ideal politician in Indian politics has not only studied at the then Birla college at Pilani which is later got converted to BITS Pilani, but he has also received a Gold Medal from the college. None other than the founder of BITS, Padma Vibhushan Late Shri G D Birla has awarded him a gold medal and Rs 250 cash prize along with Rs 10 per month as scholarship.

I heard from many politicians from BJP and from renowned personalities that Pandit Deendayal Upadyay is a great politician, a true nationalist, an ideal politician and a role model for those who want to practice good politics. I also heard a lot about his concept "integral humanism" which has brought him a great recognition all over the country. Being an active follower of Politics, from then onwards, I have been reading about him and have been researching about him and his principles. Recently, I found these interesting facts from his life history.

Panditji was born in a small village called Dhankia in Rajasthan in 1916. Since his school days, he was a bright student. He did his schooling in Kalyan High School in Sikar near Pilani. He has created a record in Ajmer Board Metriculation exams by passing the examination in distinction. It was the first time in Ajmer Board for someone to establish such record. In appreciation to that, King of sikar has awarded him a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 250 along with a certain amount of scholarship every year till he completes his studies. After metriculation, Panditji wanted to join Birla college at Pilani to complete his inermediate education and his uncle who was his caretaker joined him at Birla College, Pilani. He has passed his first year examination in first class. Panditji's batchmates used to like him a lot for his friendly nature and for his nationalist thinking. His batchmates used to come to him to discuss various subject related topics and national topics. The number has increased day by day. Looking at the number of people interested in discussions, Panditji has initiated a group "Zero Association" in the campus. Members of this association used to regularly meet and discuss topics of national importance. Probably, the whole culture of clubs and departments at BITS has taken its birth from this initiative! Who knows? In 1937, Panditji has completed his education with a distinction from Birla College and that too with highest ever total in College's history. In recognition to his academic brilliance, G D Birla has felicitated Panditji with a Gold Medal who later went on to found Bharatiya janata Party, the second biggest national party today and a principal opposition party in Indian politics which is today ruling eight major states of India.

Panditji later got qualified for Civil Service Exams but he didn't join civil services as he was fascinated by the idea of making for and working with the common people. Probably that one decision has changed the fate of Indian politics! His brain child BJP today has thrown a challenge to congress's monopoly in Indian politics. It is his BJP and the other Janata Parties which fought emergency and brought back this country from darkness. It is his party which later took part in agitations on several national issues and won the confidence of people which ultimately helped them to form the Government at the center. If there is one politician who has never criticized his opponent in elections, it is deendayal Upadhyay. If there is any politician who has advised his partymen not to use any money in elections, It’s Pandit Deendayal Upadyay. Many of Panditji's party men won elections but in his whole political career, Panditji has never won an election due to his idealistic thinking. But he is remembered and greatly respected by both his party colleagues and the opposition parties for his principles, honesty, integrity and his statesmanship.

Many in BJP say that it is Panditji's principles and his concept “integral humanism” which is responsible for the earning a brand "A Party with a difference" for their party. Official website of BJP on its home page mentions about Panditji and his contribution to BJP and Indian politics. More details about Panditji can be found at http://deendayalupadhyaya.org/

As a BITSian, I take a great pride in telling the whole world that Pandit deendayal Upadyay, an all time role model in politics is a BITSian. I am sure the entire BITSian community will take a note of it and take pride of this and take inspiration from this towering personality.

Sep 17, the day that represents common man's aspiration for democratic values

2010-09-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

The day that reminds us the sacrifise of thousands of our heros and martyrs who fought against nizam to liberate Telangana from cruel nawabs rule, The day that has been forced to be forgotten in the history for selfish reasons by our rulers and the day that represents common man's aspiration for democratic society..the day that stands for the fighting spirit of people against injustice..Sep 17, It's Telangana Liberation day. Happy Telangana Liberation day.

Sep 17 fills the spirit in each and every Telanganite for our fight for saperate Telangana, for our fight for our livelihhods, for our fight for justified share of natural resources, for our fight for our self respect, for our fight for self rule. Souls of our martyrs will rest in peace only when common man is provided the justified share of the resources that nature has provided to its mankind. Their sacrifises would become meaningful only when none in Telangana suffer for basic amenities. On this occassion, let each one of us take an oath that we put our best possible effort for the fulfillment of the aspirations of our freedom fighters. Let each one of us take an oath that we will celebrate Telangana saperation by next Telangana Liberation day.

Its the day to remember and express our gratitude to lakhs of freedom fighters and submit our sincere tributes to the forgotten heros, the Telangana freedom fighters: Komuram Bheem, Chakali Ilemma, bandagi, kaloji, bhairanpalli martyrs, nandanam freedom fighters, parakala fighters, nalgonda communists, lebarthi heros and all the 4000 martyrs.

Jai Telangana
Jai Hind

Vruksho Rakshathi Rakshithaha

2010-09-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

It was a great privilege conducting community day for Citi GDM AAS with a theme "Go Green" and helping everyone involved in Green work. Following is the text of the speech delivered as a CSR lead of Citi at Community day function organised at Eco-Watch's site near All India Radio station at Haskote around 25 kms away from Bangalore.

Dear Rajiv Bhapna, MD, Citi GDM AAS, Manoj Piplani, Site Leader, Bangalore, Suresh Heblikar, Chairman of Eco-Watch and my dear colleagues-Welcome you all to our AAS Annual community Day 2010. The day is all set to provide you an opportunity to contribute to the community and celebrate together. The day in turn will also provide you a sense of fulfillment, inspiration, enthusiasm and new energy for good initiatives.

Friends, Indian civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Indian civilization has a unique cultural and spiritual fragrance which has been gifted to us over generations by great seers, saints, kings, acharayas and visionaries who with their exemplary life styles, actions and literary genius became universal phenomenon and their timeless advices and findings are enshrined in the Ancient Indian Scriptures.

In such ancient scriptures, it’s mentioned “Darmo Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that Dharma, righteousness will protect the man kind only if man kind tries to protect the Dharma. Following certain morals and ethics will protect us and once we ignore such important aspects of life, mankind will collapse. Attaching similar kind of importance as Dharma for the sustenance of this world, our ancient scriptures said “Vruksho Rakshathi Rakshithaha” which means that only if we are kind to the tress and the nature then alone the nature will protect us. If we try to disrespect this law of nature, we know what can happen. Some of its symptoms are already being seen in our daily lives. Floods, severe droughts, rising temperatures, various kinds of breathing related diseases are all a result of degradation of environment Protection of environment being such a crucial step for sustenance of life on this planet, we thought we will set “Go Green” as theme for this community day.

The same also reflects your interest and passion. Recently three months back, when Sankalp, the volunteering wing of our AAS was initiated, we conducted a survey to find what kind of community work interests you. The survey has clearly shown that environment protection and education to kids are the things that you are passionate about. Education being the primary focus for the last two community days, we thought we will choose “Go Green” as theme for this year’s community day as per your choice.
If we are celebrating our community day with a “Go Green” theme, what else can be a better partner than Eco-Watch in Bangalore? The moment we have finalized the theme, we contacted Eco-watch and Eco-watch has agreed to involve us in their green initiatives and provide us an opportunity to contribute to environment. Eco-Watch has been responsible for creating Urban Bio-Parks at various locations in Bangalore and other regions. Eco-Watch is putting lot of efforts to convert hundreds of acres of land into green belts.

As a part of the community day in association with Eco-watch, we are going to get involved in awareness sessions on environmental protection and in tree plantation. India has rich traditional knowledge and wisdom in the conservation of nature and natural resources. Religious beliefs and culture have together treated nature and environment with sanctity. Conservation and protection of environment and love for nature have always been part and parcel of Indian ethos and culture. I hope that we get reminded and reemphasized about the love and concerns we share for our environment through this activity on our community day. Wish you a very happy time at these green fields far away from Bangalore involving in tree plantation.

My Mission for a Grand Vision

2010-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Each time I sit with my friends or colleagues for a long discussion, we never end the discussion without discussing about our future plans. One after the other, each one starts expressing their distinct ambitions and goals. Whenever my turn comes, I say that politics is something that I am passionate about. The moment I express my interest in politics, a series of questions comes on to my way. The first and the very common question they ask is why politics?

Then I start giving my usual answer. Politics is something that’s inseparable from our daily lives and politics is something that has an impact on almost every aspect of our lives. It is the outcome of politics and political decisions that affect the lives of most people around us. But as a fact we know that the impact depends on what kind of politics we are involved in and for what. Politics when practiced in a good manner can bring a great awakening among the citizens and provide them a happy and a prosperous life and foster a value based society while when it’s practiced for selfish purposes, it has the worst possible impact on the society. It’s time for such great political awakening among everyone specifically among intelligentsia and spiritual people. If politics and politicians of the generation before us have degraded, then it is time for a change in our attitudes towards politics. People who are educated and full of fresh ideas are certainly needed to pull this off.

Having understood this and having seen the ground realities from my childhood and having got inspired by Swami Vievkananda’s ideology for a stronger India, I have decided to pursue politics as an instrument for a better society. I share Swami Vivekananda’s ideology on almost all the aspects of life and society and that itself is a guiding force to me throughout my way.

A stronger India needs good governance to people with a pride in our past and a hope for future. Good governance wouldn’t be possible if a Chief Minister or Prime Minister alone practice good politics and follow good administrative approaches. But it is possible only when even the public representatives at the lowest unit of our country like a gram panchayat sarpanch follow certain good governance principles. Following are the 13 simple ways which I thought of which can help a public representative in providing good governance to his or her electorate.

1. Being accessible and approachable
2. Understanding problems of people of different walks of life, understanding their priorities, interests and their aspirations
3. Developing vision documents for each village, each locality, each section of the society and each sector of the industry in your constituency
4. Strategizing the vision with time bound programs, approaching the Government, inviting non governmental agencies, enterprises and getting the required grants/permissions/projects
5. Creating an atmosphere of inspiration for people to move towards peace, progress and development
6. Making sure that the strategy is implemented without any flaws
7. Being accountable
8. Being transparent
9. Effectively Communicating of your vision, strategy, achievements and challenges to people on a time to time basis
10. Making information of the Government and my own programs available to every single citizen of your constituency
11. Making sure that the Government policies are reaching the right people at right time
12. Taking regular feedback and constantly working on feedback
13. Ensuring that a conducive atmosphere is created for those who want to do anything good to your people

I firmly believe that the above 13 points are basics for good governance. But just listing down the above 13 points doesn’t help unless good strategies are devised to make sure that each of them is perfectly put into implementation. For example, for one to be accessible to people and to be approachable, one needs to plan different ways by which one can do so. May be he needs to set up a full fledged constituency development office in his constituency listening to grievances of people or may be one needs to have a website where people can just login and raise their concerns or may be one needs to spend at least 10 hours in his office listening to concerns of people. In this way, proper strategies are needed to make sure that the above 13 points are put into implementation and thus to make sure that a good governance is offered to people.

For past few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about these strategies, discussing with many people and referring different ways or policies which different politicians have already adopted. It has been a great learning exercise for me. I kindly request you all to let me know your thoughts on how each of the above 13 can be put into implementation or if there is a 14th or a 15th point which you want to suggest. Integrating my own thoughts and all your good suggestions and different references, I would like to come up with a blue print for good governance by a public representative and would like to follow the same once I enter full time politics.

Let us bind every soul with the thread of love
Let us fill every mind with self-esteem
Let the whole nation march on the path of progress
Let the victory of Bharat reverberate in the entire world
Let the world overcome darkness and be full of light

Jai Hind

Youth Empowerment Alone Can Revive India's Past Glory

2010-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Finally It was a moment of satisfaction for me. I myself initiated a number of social projects in many different places across the country but I never did anything to village. This always was my concern. But my concerns were totally taken care on Aug 15th this time. By God's grace, a concerete activity has been initiated. Recently in July when I went to village, I met the headmaster of our Government school in our village and shared my thoughts on how improvements can be brought in in the school and thus how a change can be fueled in the village. Headmaster appreciated my thoughts and asked to put them into implementation.

I have planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalama Merit Scholarships" for class toppers of 5th to 10th standard just as as an encouragement to students. Apart from this, I have also planned "Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Grama Ratna" for the best student of our village for that particular village. The program was successfully conducted. Gram Ratna was a real Gram Ratna this time. This is awarded to a student named Rudrarapu Naresh who come from a very backward family financially. He stood as district topper by scoring 576 marks out of 600 and that too by studying in a Government school. Village youth, public representatives and many villagers have gathered and participated in the independence day ceremony. At the end of the ceremony many present over there appreciated my efforts in coming down from Bangalore to participate in the ceremony and to institute the scholarships for the benefit of our village. Ofcourse this wouldnt have been possible without the support of my freinds in my village.

Many said that the highlight of the program was the following speech that I delivered after flag hoisting. It was a complete extempore. I was alloted 15 mins but it went on for 40 mins. Children have totally enjoyed it. Speech was mainly targeted inducing patriotic feelings and certain moral values among students and to give them a direction towards working foir a better village.

Honorable public representatives of our village who are striving hard towards making this village a model village, Respected head master of our school, Shri Venkat Reddy who is working very hard to create all kinds of facilities to make our school a good learning place, dear youth, students of this school, guests, all the people of our village who have gathered here to participate in this ceremony, each one of you - My whole hearted Namakars to you. Wish you a very happy independence day.

On this auspicious occasion, I would like to start my speech with few patriotic slogans. Let this whole school vibrate with these slogans and let the whole village vibrate with these slogans.

Bharata Mata ki Jai. Vande Matharam. Jai Telangana.

Now the stage has gained a momentum and is set for a good speech. Friends, Today we all have assembled here to celebrate 64th independence day. Celebrating Independence Day doesn’t mean hoisting the flag and enjoying the sweets. August 15th is just not to be considered as another public holiday. There is much more to it. August 15th is a day when all the citizens should meet up in each and every village, every town and every colony and ponder over on what were the conditions before independence, how we have achieved freedom and what was the vision of martyrs and what were the golas that we have set for our independent India in 1947 and whether we have achieved them and if not, how can we achieve them. These are the things which need to be discussed thoroughly on this auspicious day.

Dear students when did our India became Independent? On Aug 15th 1947. From whom? From British. Who ruled us prior to British? Its Mughal emperors. Who ruled prior to Mughals? Its our Indian rulers. Yes that era of Indian rulers is called Swarna Yuga. In that era, there was no violence, no corruption, no injustice, no adharma. People used to lead a happy, peaceful and a prosperous life. It was like a Rama Rajya. In such Rama Rajya, ancient India has progressed in almost all fields - education, science, health, astronomy, sports, literature etc.

It is during this period India has led the whole world as a supreme power. Not like US through its economy but through unique qualities. The major contribution of India through which India became a Jagath guru is through its spirituality. Through its spiritual values India has conquered the whole world. In the field of education, ancient India made a huge progress. Thousands of students from more than hundred different countries have studied more than eighty different degrees in Nalanda and Thakshashila Universities which then existed in today’s Bihar. It’s through these Universities, Univeristies were named as “Universe”ities or “Vishwa” Vidhyalayam. Because students from all over the world have studied the whole universe together, these learning places were called “Vishwavidyalayam” or “Universities”. These terms are still by the whole world even today. In the field of mathematics, it is because of India, today we are able to send satellites into space, it’s because of India today we are able to send rockets into space. It’s only though zero and pi which India invented, all the complex astronomy calculations are possible which otherwise wouldnt have been a possibility. It’s India which has presented the whole world a sweet gift called music. It’s in India, sapthaswaras have taken birth. Swapthaswaras are basis for all kinds of music that we hear today. It is Sanskrit through which majority of European Languages have taken their birth. In today’s software world, It’s Sanskrit which is being used as medium to translate one language into other. In today’s world, scientists and doctors are appreciated for small inventions in medicine but many great inventions were made thousands of years back itself all of which are documented in well known Ayurveda. In this way, by making a mark in almost all fields of human life, India has conquered the whole world. That’s why I called this era as Swarna Yuga.

But today’s India is different. Its all violence, injustice, corruption and adharma which is ruling every where. No peaceful life for people. Numerous problems like Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment etc. are haunting them. One who knows this vast difference between ancient and today’s India would definitely have one question, why such difference between today and ancient India. It’s because ancient India was built on basis of two basic concepts – Knowledge and unselfishness. Our sadhus sacrificed their entire lives to research on all the wonders of this world, the science behind it and documented their findings in form of Vedas and Upanishads. Such findings were not only documented but also were spread among common people. These findings have transformed Indian society to a knowledge society. With this knowledge, people led life with a rational approach and with highest moral and ethical values. This led India to lead the whole world.

But today it’s all selfishness and ignorance everywhere in our country. We see people committing numerous sins. I would like to illustrate this with a small story. There is a person living in a small village in Warangal district. We all know that each one of us who have come to this world have to leave this world at some point or the other. No one is permanent. Similarly this person’s time has come to leave this world and yamadutas have come to take him to yama loka. This person enters yama loka with yama dutas. In the first room that he enters he sees Chitragupta reading out sins committed by different people and different people being boiled in boiling oil. After that he enters the next room. That is a big hall. There he sees a number of wall clocks hanged to the walls. He was surprised and then he says to yama dutas, “In our bhulokha, we generally use only one wall clock. Few rich people who don’t know what do with the surplus money that they have use one clock in each room. But why do you people use so many clocks in a single hall in your yama loka? Then the Chitragupta sitting over there replies saying that clocks of all the countries are put on that wall and that’s why he finds number of clocks. Then this person gets satisfied with Chitragupta’s answer and looks into different clocks. He observes that the minutes hands in each clock are rotating with different speeds. Surprised by this, he asks Chitragupta the reason for different speeds in different clocks. Chitragupta then replies saying that the speeds in different clocks represent the sins being committed in the respective countries. This raised the curiosity in this person to see India’s clock. He then repeatedly requests Chitragupta to show the Indian clock. Chitragupta listens to his request and says that India’s clock is kept in Yama Dharma Raja’s personal room but he would take him to that room since this person has made repeated requests. Chitragupta takes this person to Yama Dharma Raja’s room. As soon as they entered Yama’s room, they felt as if the room is air conditioned. Yama was happily sleeping on his bed and beside his bed, there is a big clock that is seen. And the minutes hand is rotating with such a speed that Yama is using this clock as a fan. Then Chitragupta says to this person that this is the magnitude of the sins being committed in India. So, friends this is how the ground situation looks like In India. One may have doubt why such a great India has become like that. It’s because Indians are put far away from science for centuries by our invaders. It’s because our invaders have destroyed our culture, our traditions and our values during centuries of their rule. During this time, people have lost rationality in their thinking. People lost moral values. People have started practicing superstitions. People have not only become ignorant but also selfish.

Having known the glory of our ancient india, wouldn’t you want to revive the past glory. A loud yes from the audience. Good. Great. Wonderful. This is definitely possible but there is only one means to achieve and that is by empowering the youth and children. Today more than 60% of our Indian population is below 30. And this generation is the future of this country. And therefore I say that It’s only through the empowerment of youth and children, this nation can be empowered. Developing patriotic feelings among youth and children and by inculcating highest moral values and by giving a good education to them can change the fate of this nation. In this process, the role of teacher becomes very important. Teacher is like a good sculptor. Like a sculpture who gives a life to a dead rock by his patience and creativity, a teacher can convert a normal child into a good citizen, a noble person and a great leader through his teacher and through his inspiration. Therefore I say that the role of teachers in reviving the past glory is immense and immeasurable.
At the same time, change is essential in the way learning process is carried out in schools. Instead of taking children to state legislative assemblies, they should be taken to gram panchayats. They should be explained how government functions in a small village. Children I want to ask you if you have ever visited our gram panchayats, if you learnt about the duties of a sarpanch, of panchayat members and if you know if these public representatives are actually performing their duties. If you donot know these how can you grow as good citizens, how can you question your sarpanch. Have you ever visited the Government hospital and found how different equipments function and how doctors use them. Have you ever visited the nearby railway station and have you ever thought why the steel railings don’t move when the trains moves on them? Have you ever gone to fields with your teachers and found why certain crops are not grown in our villages? Learning needs to be made local and practical. That develops curiosity among students and make them ask questions. Questions make the teachers also very enthusiastic to continuously upgrade their knowledge with new concepts and give their best to students.

I want to quote an incident from Kalam’s life at this juncture. As we all know Kalam comes from rameshwar of Tamil nadu. Shri Sivasubramania Iyer was his teacher and he used to teach science in Kalam’s school. He was one of the very good teachers in that school. All the students used to love to attend his class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained how they change direction while flying. Nearly for 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag, how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. Kalam said, “I did not understand how the birds fly.” When Kalam said this, the teacher asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they also did not understand. He did not get upset by our response since he was a committed teacher.

Iyer said that he would take all the students to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was at the sea shore of Rameswaram. They enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the sandy hills in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formations of 10 to 20 numbers. We saw the marvelous formations of birds with a purpose and they were all amazed. He showed us the birds and asked us to see that when the birds fly, what they looked like. We saw the wings flapping. He asked students to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wings and twisting tail. Students noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they desired. Then he asked students a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation of what it wants. All these things were explained to students within Fifteen minutes. Students understood the whole bird dynamics from this practical example. How nice it was? The teacher was a great teacher; he could give them a theoretical lesson coupled with a live practical example available in nature. This is real teaching. For Kalam, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into kalam and created a special feeling. From that evening, he thought that his future study has to be with reference to flight and flight systems. That one incident has not changed the fate of Kalam but also the fate of this country. Kalam has not only studied rocket science but also became the president of India. Not just a president of India but also the best president of India. For that matter even Vivekananda has become a maha yogi because of Sri Rama Krishna Pramhamsa. Its only because of the teachings of Sri Rama Krishna, Vivekananda has become a maha Yogi. The whole world got benefited from it. From this we understand that practical learning is essential for a better and quick learning and that a teacher has the power to change the fate of the nation.
So, friends as I said the empowerment of children of youth and children of this nation alone can revive our past glory. If this is done, we won’t be very far from our dream of becoming a supreme power, a supreme power not by the state of our economy but by the state of our values. A supreme power which commands respects from the whole world and not a supreme power which creates fear among people. I am sure we all will see this in the near future. Yes, definitely during our life time.

Dear children I have thought of five principles which I want you to take as pledge and follow in your daily lives. Simple points like these can bring a great change.

1. I will pursue my education with full dedication and hard work and will excel in it.
2. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.
3. I will plant at least 5 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.
4. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.
5. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighbourhood and environment clean and tidy.

Children, You are the future citizens of this nation and therefore your future is the nation’s future. I hope you all do well in your lives and make India proud. I wish you all the best.

param vaibhavamne tume tat swaraashtram
samrthaa bhavatwaashishaa tebhrusham

May our victorious organised power of action, by Thy Grace, be wholly capable of protecting our dharma and leading this nation of ours to the highest pinnacle of glory.

Jai Hind
Jai Telangana

A Salute to our Inspirational Guru

2010-08-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

After a three and half years long time, I have once again been to the great Oasis of Rajasthan deserts. This time it's to bid a farewell to our inspirational Guru Prof L K Maheshwari, the Vice Chancellor of BITS Pilani.

Two weeks prior to the event, as soon as I saw a personal mail from LKM, I have decided to book my tickets on the same day without any other thoughts in mind. This was an opportunity for me to express my gratitude for all the inspiration and the great learnings that he has provided me. BITS has given him a grand farwell where a large number of students, faculty, pilani locals and alumni across the globe have attanded. Sir deserves it for all his contributions in last 4 decades. Sir has invited me at his residence the next day and we had a good chat for around 15 mins after which Prof V S Rao has joined us. Had a good breakfast at sirs house and finally left his house with sirs wholehearted blessings and a small gift he has brought for me from US. This time too, I havent observed any difference in the affection he has towards us. That itself makes him very unique.

This trip would also be remembered for few other things. Firstly for seeing Nirmaan working with same passion and same momentum even after five years of starting it. That was a proud moment for me. Its an achievement by all Nirmaan members who graduated till now. Entire credit goes to all exceutive committee members of last five batches who have put the maximum efforts to sustain it. Luckily Krish, Anil and Pridhvi have arranged a meeting where I got an opportunity to meet our members. Very happy to meet them and talk to them. I just felt as if I was still in my 3rd year of BITS addressing all Nirmaan members. By the way, I visited even Gyan Vihar while returning from LKMs house. That was another emotional moment and before leaving the campus, I had an hour long talk and interaction with psentisemites attending placements. It was a great interaction. BITsians with same passion and same enthu. Thanks to Vijay who provided this opportunity and I hope that my inputs really help in their career. Then the MBA guys found me on the way and had discussed about their course structure, their fest, how to improve their placements etc. I just had two hours left to leave. After all its my own discipline with just a change in name of the degree. So, I couldnt deny them.

That's how I ended my trip travelling from Pilani to Delhi by same old Rajasthan Road ways Bus with a good chai in Nuthan with my pilani friend Girirajji and Anil, Pridhvi and Karthik. Got a flight in the early morning to bangalore and reached bangalore and felt missing Pilani badly.

I was the only lucky alumni to get an opportunity to speak a few words about sir in his farwell ceremony. After my speech, I have read out 6 select messages from well knwon alumni like Baba Kalyani etc. out of 100s of messages recieved from alumni across the world.

Here is the text of the speech delivered at Prof L K Maheshwari's farewell ceremony in BITS Pilani Audtorium on 4th August reminding my association with Prof LKM:

Respected Prof LK Maheshwari, Prfo BN Jain, the new chancellor, all the Directors, Deans, Faculty members, alumni, guests and my dear BITSians - A very evening to all of you.

40 years of journey at Pilani crossing various milestones and reaching the highest possible position guiding this world class University. From the very grassroots to the highest possible position at BITS. From student to Vice chancellor of the same University. What an amazing journey! What an illustrious career! This alone speaks volumes about Prof Maheshwari. His commitment, sincerity and dedication to academics, love for BITS, affection towards students has made it possible. Prof Maheshwari is a living embodiment of knowledge, human values, spiritual values and entrepreneurial spirit.That makes him a very unique personality.

I am one among the few who is fortunate enough to know Prof L K Maheshwari very closely. I have been closely associated with sir from last eight years. I have closely worked with him on various initiatives in various capacities, as General Secretary of Students Union, as President of Nirmaan, as Vice President of BITSAA International and more as a BITSian. I have had several interactions and several discussions with Prof Maheshwari on various occasions. Having known him so closely, I can only say one thing that BITS Pilani is blessed to have such a Vice Chancellor. We are blessed to have him as our inspiring leader of this University.

The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. Prof Maheshwari is one such great teacher. Because he has just not taught in EEE classes and he has just not led this University as Vice Chancellor. But he has inspired a number of people around him May it be students or May it be faculty members or administrative staff to accomplish good tasks in their lives.

I want to share one of my interactions with Prof Maheshwari at this juncture. Each time I meet him, I used to learn something new and something great that I remember it throughout my life. That’s why whenever I used to meet Prof Maheshwari, I always used to take one or two of my friends or my juniors along with me so that they too can get a chance to meet such person. Once I have taken two of my friends along with me for some meeting. After greeting sir, I have opened my dairy and was about to put the first point in the agenda for discussion. All of a sudden, sir asked my freind Mayur how many shirts he has. I was surprised. I was thinking why sir is asking such a question. We were in a dilemma. My friend said he has eleven shirts. Then sir asked can you live with eight shirts. My friend said Yes. Then he took out 10 mins and started explaining us the inherent greatness of our Indian culture saying that Indian culture is a conservative culture where people lead a simple life, satisfy their needs with the minimum number of resources and then try to assist their fellow being with the additional resource they have. This reaps two benefits to the mankind. One is that we can ensure that we do not waste our country’s resources and the other one; we can try bringing up our fellow beings around who are in need. What a great message! My friend even remembers that message even now Such is the kind of inspiration that sir has left on many of us.

On another occasion around 3 years back, once there was a flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of Independence Day. All the students have assembled in the C lawns. All of us were sanding in C lawns and waiting for flag hoisting. Suddenly It was announced that Babaji, a very old aged person, an employee working in SWD will be the chief guest and he will hoist the flag. Prof Maheshwari accompanied babaiji and babaji hoisted the flag. What an inherent great message sir has given through his initiative? Everyone is important in an organization to progress and prosper. Be it the Vice Chancellor or babaji. And another message that he has given us is that one needs to respect elders, their experience and their service.

Such is the personality of Prof Maheshwari. He is a role model for each one of us, for the generations who have graduated and for generations of the future. A genius with human values alone can make it possible.

Sir, from my perspective will be remembered for ever in BITS for four of your major contributions.

1. Developing a culture of entrepreneurship

Promoted CEL, entrepreneurial endeavors of students and inspired students to pursue entrepreneurship

2.Inspiring students towards social activism and social entrepreneurship

Promoted Nirmaan which is providing a platform for at least 50 students from each batch to make a social contribution to the society. Promoted Women studies, RED activities

3.Upholding BITS Values and Strengthening BITS culture

Took pride in BITS culture like attendance, several discussions, giving freedom etc..

4.Creating a Vision for making BITS a world class university

Personally I share a very close relation with sir. Sir you have been my mentor and inspiration and I have no words to express my gratitude for that except saying that If I have done something good till now and I am going to do something good, it’s definitely because of the inspiration you have provided me.

Sir, on behalf of members of Nirmaan, BITSAA International, batch of 2002, alumni across the world and on my personal behalf, I wish you a very good health and happy life in this new phase of your life. We are glad that you will be around us as advisor to chancellor while BITS continues its journey its excellence.

Thank you.

Telangana voices its verdict Loud and Clear

2010-07-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

It's time for people of Telangana to celebrate. It's simply amazing to see TRS and BJP combine making a clean sweep in the by elections and that too with record majorities. It's yet another milestone in the fight for Telangana. It's almost like a repetition of 1971 elections where Telangana Praja Samithi under the leadership of Chenna Reddy won 11 parliament seats of Telangana with thumping majorities reflecting the aspirations of people of Telanagna. Even this by election in 12 constituencies only reemphasize the fact that people of Telangana always wholeheartedly supported for their long pending aspiration of separate Telangana. And nothing can prevent them from doing so.

Nothing has worked in the way of anti Telangana forces. Money power, muscle power, liquor, Babu's babli drama and misuse of power by Congress...Nothing has worked. The victory of BJP candidate Lakshmi Narayana in Nizamabad Urban over DS is a good example to say that leaders can't fool democracy if proper awareness is created among people about what is Dharma and what is Adharama. This election is a befitting reply to those who want to fool democracy and to retain power through short cuts.

It's almost like a suicide for TDP and DS. DS has not only lost Rs 50 crores he spent in the elections but he has lost the moral right to continue in politics. His defeat may even lead to he losing his PCC president chair. He very well deserves it for all his deeds. Atleast now DS should stop exhibiting his stupidity and start extending his support for Telangana demand. TDP lost deposits in several places. Chameleon Babu, the biggest enemy of Telangana and the biggest loser in these elections has to realize politicians cannot ignore the aspirations of the people and make electoral profits. It's never possible in a democracy.

Finally it's culminated to be a great victory for all of us, for the entire four crore people of Telangana. The results are a dedication to hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana. With these results, people of Andhra region will understand that the demand for Telangana is not an artificial creation of politicians and that people of Telangana fully approve the demand for separate Telangana. These results will also help them understand that people like Lagadapati and Jagan created false campaigns for their own selfish reasons. These results will give a wakeup call to Delhi and their Shri Krishna Committee to understand that the people of Telangana will go to any extent for their demand of Telangana.

Congratulations and sincere thanks to all the people of Telangana, leaders and members of different Telangana political parties, leaders and members of JAC committees of different sections of the society for making sure that we won all 12 seats with thumping majorities. This election will be written in golden letters in the history of Telangana movement.

Jai Hind
Jai Telangana

DJ gets married....

2010-06-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

DJ finally gets married to the girl of his choice :)... First one to get married in our close circle... It was a thrilling experience to see a close frend getting married. Pellitho finalga chuyinchadu vaadi seemani, vadi oorini... Hearty congrats and wish you a very happy married life...All the best my dearest frend DJ..

"Janapada", the heart touching rural folk needs rejuvenation

2010-04-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

"Janapada", the rural art form is one that reflects rural environment, culture, traditions, customs and the lifestyle over there. janapada brings the rural lifestyles close to your hearts. It is appropriate to call janapada as the voice of rural culture and lifestyle.

Unlike classical, janapada follows no specific rule or raaga or musical pattern. The only rule that it follows is that it takes birth from the hearts of rural people, out of their lifestyle, out of the pleasing nature around them, out of their hardships that they face in their daily lives, out of the exploitation that they experience. janapadam is an art form that rural people develop and perform or sing during their work hours in green fields, while ploughing the fields, sowing seeds, harvesting the crop or during their rest time in the evenings while siting under the trees with their children, while in a gathering of the neighbours in front of their huts. janapada brings out the beauty of rural life and marvelous culture that exists there. janapada is performed by villagers to express their feelings in an artistic form about things around them and to forget their hardships while at work. But they never sing to win any prize or earn any money.

I still remember the janapada that I used to enjoy in my childhood in my village. Every morning while walking from my home to our village bus stand to catch our old village RTC bus that takes me to my school in Hanamkonda which is 15 kms away, the beautiful melodies of the janapadas enthrall me. The farmer while on his way his to his fields on the bullock cart , the lady farm labour with a sickle in her hand while going to her daily work, the old man with a turban on his head and a stick in his hand walking across the lane, the old woman while drying the food grains in hot sun with a cloth on her head, the small boy grazing the cattle with a stick in his hand and a towel on his shoulders, the children enjoying in the rain sing beautiful melodies expressing their feelings about things in their life and their observations in the surroundings. Such janapads rejuvenates them and fill new enthusiasim among them and make them forget all their hardships. Janapada plays a vital role in preserving the Indian values in villages. janapada not only entertains people but also educates people about the values that are needed to be followed for a better society.

During "jatara" time and during melas, I used to hear people singing variety of janapadas. Telangana has a unique tradition of celebrating "bhathukamma", a flower festival worshipping Goddess Gauramma during the Dusshera festival. During the bhathukamma celebrations, the villagers make a well framed bhathukamma (Flower bundle on a wooden plate with all kinds of special flowers that are available in fields around them. Gunugu and Tangedi are the very special ones. There is no bhathukamma without these two varieties of flowers). Women from each house take the bhathukamma to a nearby place beside a pond or a lake and all the women divide into batches of around 30-40 and put the flower bundles in the center of the circle they form and start singing all the famous janapadas by moving round the circle and by performing a very special slow folk dance. It is no surprising fact to tell that almost each and every woman in the village knows some or the other janapadam. They take turns and sing and while one sings, others form the chorus. They do this for nine continuous days till the Dusshera day. Watching the bhathukamma is an amazing experience that one can never forget in his or her life time. Watch this bathukamma video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7K_q-fW60&feature=PlayList&p=B8CBD9F202A1E982&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=3

There is another tradition that we can observe in the villages of AP. A special art form called Kolatam which similar to Maharashtra dandiya is played along with janapadas. Janapadas are heard in Coastal parts of AP during the Sankranthi celebrations.

Such a janapada, like any other form of rural art is today facing a danger of extinction in rural areas. These art forms which got passed on from time immemorial from generation to generation are slowly dying. Yaksha gana, Burra kathalu, Tolu Bommalu, Yelamma, mallanna kathalu, sindhi vari natakalu are also slowly facing an extinction in rural Andhra. Today we rarely see such art forms in villages. Along with these art forms, the ancient and the traditional musical instruments that the villagers used to make and use are also seeing a danger of extinction. Such instruments are very indigenous and very special. I don’t remember the exact instrument but last time when I went to my home town, I attended janapada jatara organized by Rudrama Girijana Peetam, Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University. There I heard from a villager that they possess an instrument that is being passed on from generation to generation which is gifted by Lord Shiva to their family. I was really surprised to hear that. Isn’t it really amazing? Passed on from centuries and probably from yugas! Who knows? The artists in rural areas are trying their best to preserve their artistic forms but due to the competition from the modern TV and movies and due to several other modern entertainment avenues, these rural folk art forms are not being appreciated and they are not finding platforms to exhibit their talent.

"Rela re Rela" the initiative by Maa TV is a very great initiative from the perspective of providing platform for rural folk artists. It is giving a new hope to rural folk and folk artists. Watch a song of rela re rela at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA23rDourlQ&feature=related . To an extent, even the people movements from time to time have given life to dying janapada. The movements demand effective ways to reach rural people with their message and the movements find janapada as the best way to do so. That is the reason why today we see number of folk artists engaged in Telangana and united Andhra movements. It is also important to note that Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu Univeristy is doing a significant service in this direction to preserve and promote these rural art forms.

Janapada artists like Goreti Venkanna, Vangapandu, Madhu priya, Viumalakka have been working very hard as brand amabassodors to give a new life to janapadas. But I think initiatives from Government and also from civil society and the modern social entrepreneurial circle are needed. Universities should play an important role in this direction. The cultural and youth fests should provide platforms for folk and folk artists. The entrepreneurial divisions should work along with the folk artists for promotion of their art. Social entrepreneurs should think of new ways of building revenue model around the promotion of these art forms, NGOs should think of ways to identify such arts and artists to develop them. Government should find ways to encourage and incentivize the rural arts and artists. Media should focus on ways to promote these arts.

With efforts from all sides, we can preserve our rural art forms which are very indigenous and very special. By this we not only preserve arts, but we preserve our rural culture, traditions, customs and the unique rural lifestyle, our values. By preserving these folks, we preserve our glorious ancient Indian culture.

Jai Hind

A small contribution to a great movement

2010-03-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Telangana has always been very close to my heart partly because I am born and brought up in this region and partly because this is one region in our country where people are exploited for centuries by invaders and then betrayed and put to sufferings for decades by our own Governments in an open democratic set up.

It's very fortunate to see the movement reaching peaks in the recent times. Till Dec 09, every politician and every so called intellectual thought that these people of Telangana would always be betrayed and that they can play "T" factor forever for their personal benefits. But what they forgot to note is that 2010 is different from 1969. People have become educated. They have become aware of their rights and realized the need for their rights. Today, even a common man has started questioning the Government and Political parties about their rights.

When even a common man is participating in the movement with a great conviction by spending all his time, efforts and resources, if we being the most fortunate people of Telangana having received the best possible education do not participate then there is no meaning for our education. These thoughts keep on bothering me day after day. But this bloody professional never left any time to lead a natural life. Had I not studied in BITS, I wouldn't have had this pressure to continue in this corporate world and become a slave. I would have happily taken up things of my choice. I am sure most of you share similar such feelings. Unfortunately, this suffering doesn’t seem to end in the near future.

Nevertheless, it’s our duty to do our best within the constraints and contribute to the cause. So, around 10 of us who share similar thoughts came together and planned to submit a memorandum to Shri Krishna Commission representing professionals of Telangana region. The moment we planned to submit the report, the work has started. Each one of us have put lot of efforts and time in deciding the format, data collection, analysis and then presentation and finally coming up with a comprehensive report in weeks time. here is the small contribution that we made to the great movement in independent India. Part1 and Part2

Thanks and congrats to all (Rajesh Tamadapally, Suraj Saineni, B Avinash Babu, Rakesh Anugula, Mukunda Sri Ram Athreya, Bhikshapathi Dommati, Yadagiri Muthineni, Snehith Borgaonkar, Chethan Murari, Bikki Sateesh, Vishnu Thurpati, Rajkumar Pallerla, Nitin Devara, Mayur Patnala, Sabitha Thota) who contributed in creating this report and sending it. Special thanks to Dr. Shail Khaleel Rahman who inspired us to create this memorandum. Hope this report not only helps in letting the commission know our views but also in educating people about Telangana issue.

Bharat Ratna Our Sachin Tendulkar

2010-02-28T03:45:00.000-08:00

Finally the dream is realized. The dream of millions of Indians and Sachins fans is finally realized. I have always believed that there is only one player in this world who can make a double century in ODIs. Some people used to say its Sehwag or Gayle who will make it but I always believed its Sachin and finally he did and I was amazed to see him to prove our belief. The moment he crossed 100 in 29 overs, I thought he is on his way to his double century and the moment he crossed 190, my only worry was whether he would make 225 or not. He would have comfortably done it had Dhoni cooperated. But whatever, he finally did what none could do in 3000 ODIs. What an achievement for himself and for India and for all of us!

I have no more adjectives left to describe Sachin, the God of cricket. I have been praising him for last fifteen years and I don’t think any such praising were sufficient for his genius and for his love and dedication for the country. It's only because of Sachin, I watch cricket and the day he announces his retirement, I too shall announce my retirement to watch cricket unless someone like Sachins makes an entry to the game. There has been no one who has entertained me as much as Sachin did in my life time. I am sure this is the case for the most of us.

That’s why I would say that its immaterial for me whether Indian Govt awards him Bharat Ratna or not. I would definitely call Sachin a Bharat Ratna and a Kohinoor diamond for all his contribution. What an amazing Indian! I am sure he is gonna make such records which would be met by none except by himself again.

Social Entrepreneurship, you, me and the society

2010-02-28T03:08:00.000-08:00

Following is an article recently written for NSEF blog. I have included the text of my talk delivered at TEDx BITS Goa conference organised on 5 Feb 2010 in this blog. This article can be found on NSEF blog at http://www.nsef-india.org/blog/?p=12

Social entrepreneurship is one of my favorite topics to talk about and write about. I am happy to get a chance to write the first blog on this portal which is aimed at promoting social entrepreneurship. The moment I have seen the new blog that’s started by our tech team, I remembered Advanijis statement made during his campaign in the last general elections. He said ”a portal without a blog is like a letter without a signature.” What an appropriate statement! What better system can we create than the dynamism of blogs which help us know the day to day happenings and the diversity of thoughts that people share about an issue. I hope this blog makes a mark in promoting social entrepreneurship, in updating the audience about the latest happenings in social entrepreneurship and of course in promoting NSEF, its objectives and programs.

The moment I was asked to write the first blog, I thought what better topic can I choose than talking about Social entrepreneurship in general, why social entrepreneurship, how it is relevant for you and the society. Since these days I spent almost all the days and nights at office, I have chosen not to do anything new and therefore I have just opened the audio of the talk and written down what ever what I have talked in the recent TEDx conference that was organised in BITS Goa to share with you. This is how my talk went on to tell the audience why social entrepreneurship and how it is relevant for you and the society. I started with my own village.

“Dear friends, Let me share with you my observations and experience in my own village. Friends, I come from a remote village of Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. My village in itself is a world that is different from the world that we know. With abundant natural resources, with agricultural fields all around, with a pleasant environment and with traditional arts and culture pleasing you, it looks like a world to be in but friends today my village is facing the most challenging problems. I see a farmer worrying without any credit solution, I see another farmer selling his agricultural raw produce to a merchant who makes the most profit, I see a degree holder having no awareness about the opportunities, I see a crafts man making beautiful sarees and other garments having no idea about the markets, I see a potter making beautiful articles who doesn’t know the quality control methods, I see a child suffering from malnutrition, I see women walking miles to get drinking water, I see children studying under the lamps.

All these put together makes my village a world that has a great potential facing the most challenging problems at this moment. And you find similar stories in other villages in my state, in other states and probably other countries as well. It wouldn’t be possible for the world to move forward ignoring this world that’s unexplored. It’s not a great idea either to not to unveil the potential that this world offers us.

Therefore, it needs people who can pioneer innovations at the grass roots and people who can apply their entrepreneurial skills to organize, create, and manage a venture to solve these complex socio economic problems and bring a social change. That is we need social entrepreneurs who can fuel socio-economic change at the grass roots with their innovations.

I am not talking about something that’s impractical and impossible. We have live and great examples to learn and to get inspired from. We all know how Nobel laureate Mohamed Younis has built the biggest bank of Bangladesh by providing banking to the most marginalized section of Bangladesh. We also know how Gram IT providing BPO solutions across the globe with its 600 employees by just sitting in the interior villages of Andhra Pradesh. I am sure you might have heard and even visited Mother Earth retail stores which is promoting handicrafts and is doing an annual business of around Rs 40 crores. So, I am talking about something that’s most practical and most valuable. I am talking about a concept that’s generating an annual turnover of around 2.5 Trillion dollars. I am talking about a concept that not only brings a change in lives of the people but also bring brings a change in your life too by earning numerous opportunities and financial returns.

Today we need people who can take up that one idea which is stronger than all the armies in the world i.e social entrepreneurship. That alone has the capacity to bring a social change and therefore I say it’s stronger than all the armies in the world.

In this 21st century, the word entrepreneurship is going to be redefined by social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are going to change the way business are run. They are going to renovate this world through their innovations for the society. I wish you and me become a part of it to make this world a better place to live for both you and me.

“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea which has the capacity to bring a social change.”

Ruthless action by Govt reminds us of emergency

2010-02-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

The first and the immediate question that came in my mind today when I saw my dear brothers and sisters of Telangana and the journalists being ruthlessly lathi charged by the police is whether we are living in a independent country or still living under some colonial rule.

It's shame to call ourselves an independent country and to say that we are a democratic country that is by the people, of the people, for the people. It has no meaning today. Leaving apart the exploitation of the constitutional rights that citizens should enjoy in terms of fighting for a cause, the way the Government is treating the protesting students of Osmania is complete inhuman first of all. If this is the way issues are resolved in an independent country and if this is the way the government treats its citizens if voilence is the only way to control movements then the conditions are no different the way they prevailed during the colonial rule and during the emergency.

The Government and congress party should first remember that this country has achieved freedom long back from colonial rule and that we are living in an independent country. The people of this country have fought the most cruel emergency that was brought by Indira gandhi and the congress party has paid the price for it. Mrs. Gandhi had no option but to face the ire of people. And am sure, the same is going to repeat now.

If this is the way Government wants to resolve the issues, then i can only say that Mrs Gandhi, Mr Chidambaram, Mr Rosaiah and Mrs. Sabitha Indira Reddy are simply fools and that they donot understand the spirit of our democracy. People have the right to fight for an issue. The moment you try to exploit their rights, then you will see valconic erruption of the anger and frustration which will lead to voilence. How the hell can you expect peace in the state when you yourself are promoting voilence by your non sense action? How the hell do you think you can ensure a good governance when you yourself set bad precedents?

It's time for the government to realise their foolishness and try to understand that they are not british and we are not Indians and that we are not under colonial rule. Else, people are going to teach them a big lesson. It doesnt matter whether we are Telanganites or Andhraites or a pakisthanis, we are all human beings. No one has the right to exploit our human rights. Its timr for everyone to unite and condemn such inhuman action of the Government and fight for justice.

Price being paid by Telangana for bad politics and indecisive government

2010-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

An indecisive and impotent central Government with its opportunistic stands has once again decieved the people of Telangana.

On Dec 9 2009, The Home Minister of Govt of India has made an announcement saying that they are initiating the process of Telangana. Then, after hectic lobbying by the selfish leaders of Andhra for their businesses and real estate in Hyderabad, Government in a few days then changed it's stand and made a favourable statement for United Andhra. And then after Telangana protested against the U turn by Govt, Govt called for a meeting and todays it says the shri krishna commission will look into demands of Telangana and United Andhra.

With this Govt once again with its indecisiveness and with its opportunitsic politics has betrayed Telangana. Where is the need of committe first of all? what happened to the recommendation of first SRC? The govt didn't respect the recommendation of SRC1 and whats the guarantee that they will respect Shri Krishna commission's recommendation? What happened to supreme court ruling on Mulki laws. The govt didnt even respect Supreme court ruling and what's the gaurantee that Govt will now listen to Justice Shri Krishna? What happened to Pranab Committee which was formed 7 years back? He recommended for Telangana because of which Govt announced telangana on dec 9. Why didnt the Government stick to its stand? What happened to Rosiah committee which was instituted by the then CM two years back?

Government has no intension of respecting the demands of people who are fighting for their resources and their betterment. Government has no intension of forming Telangana. Instead with its own political agenda, Goverment has decided to betray people of Telangana.

Atleast now, people have to realise that Telangana is politicised all major political parties of AP including Congress, TRS and TDP and that they shouldnt trust parties for formation of telangana. Instead only through continious protests and through non cooperation, they can win over parties and Government. Dr. Ambedkar said Democracy is all about fulfilling the aspirations of people and Goverment is the institution that will take care of protecting such democracy. The same was reiterated by our beloved ex-president of India, Abdul kalam when someone asked about Telangana in a meeting in Vijaywada. If that's the case then Government has to finally come down one day and create Telangana. If people are determined, I am sure that the day wont be very far.

Jai Hind
Jai Telangana

A responsible leader of opposition for a successful democracy

2009-04-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Few days back, one of my Pilani friends Santosh went through my blogs that I have started writing recently and then appreciating my thoughts on certain political issues he asked me if I can write an article on the role of the leader of opposition in a democracy. I replied to him saying that it’s a pleasure to put my thoughts on such a wonderful topic. When I started putting down my thoughts on this topic, I felt that the roles of the leader of the house and the leader of opposition for the well being of the country can be compared to the roles of both the parents in a family for the well being of their family. Like the way the mother is as much responsible as father for the well being of any family, the leader of opposition is as responsible as the leader of the house for the well being of the country. Let me put forward my detailed thoughts on why I feel that leader of opposition has such a significance in a democracy and the consequences that the nation faces when the leader of opposition is ineffective, inefficient or irresponsible.

Role of the leader of opposition

The term ‘Leader of the Opposition’ was first coined in Britain in 1826 and was officially recognized in 1909 by Queensland parliament. In India, the leader of the biggest opposition party or the coalition of parties in Lok Sabha is designated as the leader of opposition to represent the opposition inside and outside the parliament as its leader and the spokesperson. The Leader of Opposition leads the opposition in making the Government accountable to the public and represents the views of not only the opposition but also the views of the general public in all the policy discussions. It is the responsibility of the opposition to divert the attention of the Government towards the issues that concern the people. The responsibility of the opposition lies not only to an extent of criticizing the policies and the decisions of the Government but also to an extent of suggesting the constructive alternative to the Governments policies and decisions. In Foreign countries, we can observe that the leader of opposition appoints shadow ministers for each portfolio who collectively with the leader of the opposition forms the shadow cabinet. This shadow cabinet presents the alternative policy to the Government and put forward the alternative governance proposal in front of the electorate. That is the reason why the leader of opposition is considered next only to the Prime Minister or the leader of the house. In India, as per the protocol, it is Prime Minister and Leader of opposition who accompanies President, the supreme authority during any parliamentary session.

Significance of the role of the leader of opposition

One may wonder why our system offers such a great significance to the opposition and the leader of the opposition even though they were given a mandate by the people to sit in the opposition. It is because, our system do not deny the expression of views of the minority people who voted for the opposition. Our system provides an equal importance to all the voters whether they have voted for the government or the opposition. Apart from this, by empowering the opposition with certain powers, our system puts checks and balances to the Government in case it adopts an irresponsible behavior or unconstitutional way of functioning or autocratic way of rule. The role of the opposition and the leader of opposition become much more critical in times of crisis like when the Government misuses its powers or when the country faces wars etc. The finest example that I can site at this point is the 1970s emergency where Indira Gandhi has forced emergency on the nation suspending the fundamental rights of the people, suspending the freedom of press and throwing thousands of innocent people into the jail. It is during that time the entire opposition under the leadership of Lok Nayak Shri Jai Prakash Narayanan staged a united fight against the misuse of the provisions and facilitated the common man to get back his rights. In times of national crisis like wars or invasions, the opposition is expected to be behaving much matured and to be loyal to the government. Opposition and its leader are expected to cooperate and stand with the Government in such times and work in the interests of the nation.

Opposition doesn’t mean opposition to everything

But the big questions that have to be discussed and debated are whether leaders of opposition in India discharge their duties as per the expectations or do they behave irresponsible by blindly opposing the Government and its policies and whether the Government respect the role of opposition and the leader of the opposition. There have been enough instances that one would quote to say that the leader of oppositions have been political inspite of being responsible. During Vajpayee regime, the then leader of opposition Shri Manmohan Singh strongly criticized the Government for Phokran tests saying that it’s a big liability forced on the nation by Vajpayee and that the nation would face a big crisis as India would face sanctions by world countries because of nuclear tests. And similarly we have seen Advaniji opposing the nuclear deal for a very technical reason even though it is NDA Government which initiated the nuke deal. Neither the government tried to understand his concern and answer his questions. We have seen number of issues in which oppositions could have utilized the time better without disturbing the proceedings of the house and at the same time there have been numerous occasions when Government ignored to consult the leader of opposition on important matters like foreign policy etc.

A wiser media should assist a responsible opposition

One surprising phenomenon that is observed in the recent past with our media is that any kind of issue that that the leader of opposition raises inside or outside the parliament, the media instead of taking his views to the masses, it started terming that the opposition is politicizing the issue. It is very unfortunate to see media behaving so unwise by saying that leader of opposition has politicized the issue even when leader of opposition raised such an important issue like terrorism. How can raising such an important issue be called as politicizing the issue? Is the media unaware of the fact that it’s the constitutional duty of the leader of the opposition to echo people’s voice in the parliament? Yes, by raising such issues, the opposition may gain a political mileage out of it. So what? Isn’t it a natural phenomenon that when government doesn’t function well, it helps the opposition?

Statesman behavior expected from politicians

Political parties and politicians belonging either to the government or the opposition should rise above the partisan politics and show a statesman behavior when it comes to matters of national significance. One should cooperate with the other. I read in a magazine in my school days where it was mentioned that Vajpayee, one of the opposition leaders then compared Indira Gandhi with ‘Shakthi Mata’ after Indira led India to a success in Bangladesh war. And once it seems that looking at the constructive and responsible approach that Vajpayee adopted in criticizing the Government, Nehru, the then PM once in parliament praised Vajpayee saying that one day he would become the prime minister of the country. Such is the statesman approach that is expected from today’s politicians.

The role of the leader of opposition extends much beyond criticizing the policies and decisions of the government. He has a much more significant role of ensuring better governance by offering a constructive criticism, opposing misuse of power, offering alternative proposals and making the government accountable to the people. There is no doubt that the success of any democracy depends to a greater extent on the kind of role that leader of opposition plays. Therefore the leader of opposition has to rise above partisan politics and offer a responsible opposition for a successful democracy.

Jai Hind.

A Betrayed Telangana Movement

2009-03-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

If there is any single movement in Indian history that’s betrayed as much as the independence movement by the British, I think it’s the movement for a separate Telangana. The movement which most of the people wrongly perceive as KCR’s brainchild has taken its birth way back in 1948 after Telangana region became independent from the Nizam of Hyderabad.

First SRC on Telangana

The betrayal of this people’s movement started as early as in 1953 and it has continued till today. In 1953, the then Prime Minister Nehru appointed States Reorganization Committee (SRC) headed by Fazal Ali to recommend the Government on reorganization of states. Releasing the SRC report in 1955, in para 386, the commission pointed out, “"After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification." But, Nehru’s government decided to ignore the SRC recommendations and established a unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. However, a “Gentleman’s Agreement” was promised by the Central Government.

Jai Telangana Movement and Chenna Reddy's Betrayal

In the following years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, Telanganites revolted on the way Gentleman’s Agreement was lapsed. Disgruntled Students from Osmania University accused that Telangana is politically ignored, economically being discriminated and culturally unidentified and launched ‘Jai Telangana movement’ for the cause of separate Telangana. The movement led to a widespread violence in which around 400 students lost their lives. But unfortunately, the congress termed Telangana movement as anti national and stood against the demand. In 1971, came the biggest betrayal of Telangana. Marri Chenna Reddy founded Telangana Praja Samithi, a political party to fight for Telangana. After winning all the Telangana lok sabha seats, he has chosen to betray the people of Telangana by falling in to the congress trap of the offer of the chair of Chief Minister for Andhra Pradesh in return to the merger of TPS in congress. In this way, Telangana people and their sentiments were completely cornered and fooled by Congress and Chenna Reddy.

BJP’s Promise of two states for one vote

In 1990s, the movement started gaining momentum with BJP passing resolution favoring a Saperate Telangana in its Kakinada executive meeting. The party which promised Telangana in 1998 in its manifesto could not deliver it because of its alliance with TDP which stood for a United Telangana. Vajpayee, the then prime minister during his tenure said that the party which could carve out three new states Uttaranchal, Jharkand and Chattisgarh could not deliver its promise on Telangana because of its coalition compulsions. BJP could not afford to miss its first chance of creating an alternative government to congress at the center and therefore it had no option but to accept Chandra Babu’s terms and conditions on Telangana.

TRS formation and Congress betrayal

Later in 2004, Telangana Rashtra Samiti was formed by KCR, who walked out of TDP for an unsatisfied offer of a deputy speaker of state assembly given by the then Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu. In subsequent elections, TRS entered into an unholy alliance with congress which always opposed separate Telangana and as expected congress once again betrayed Telangana saying that it would appoint a second SRC committee to take a decision on Telangana. SRCs have become a simple means of fooling the innocent telanganites again and again. TRS, the party that criticized the previous Governments for neglecting Telangana districts did nothing for Telangana in their three years of its tenure and instead it has chosen to praise Congress Sonia Gandhi and YSR who stood as hurdles for the long term demand of a separate state. Speculating that people would revolt against their illogical alliance with congress and their poor performance as ministers being a part of Government, after enjoying ministerial berths in Central and state congress Governments for around 3 years, TRS ministers resigned from State and Central congress Governments.

TRS is ‘Telangana Rakshasa Samiti’

Inspite of an open and a categorical assurance that was given by BJP PM Candidate L K Advani for separate Telangana, KCR once again exposed his true colors of opportunism by announcing a baseless alliance with Mahakutami of which communists who are dead opposed to Separate Telangana are a part. To everyone’s surprise, during the recent party ticket distribution, TRS contestants lashed out at KCR for selling party tickets for the highest bids. Such is the status of a party that formed to lead a movement and such is the hypocrisy of the leader of the movement. Losing its spirit of movement, having exploited the psentiments of people of Telangana for its political gains, TRS has become a ‘Telangana Rakshasa Samiti’ and a liability for Telanganites. Can anyone trust such a party and such a leader any more? One would be reminded of a Gandhiji, a Bhagat Singh and a Potti Sree Ramulu when any body talks of a movement or the leader of movement. KCR, one who is least comparable in any single way to such great personalities, one who has no values in his political life has the least eligibility to lead the movement. A vote for TRS is a vote for one more betrayal. A vote for Congress is a vote for suicide of the movement.

Vote BJP for Telangana in 100 days

Therefore, if people of Telangana are strongly committed for the cause of a separate Telangana and if Telanganites do not want to face any more betrayals, they should choose BJP to vote as BJP alone has the credibility and capability for the formation of separate Telangana. It was and it is in the favor of smaller states and has the track record of forming three separate states. Advaniji during in his Vijaya Sankalp sabha in Hyderabad in the last month said that the one word that he likes the most is ‘trust’ and such a person has promised to carve out Telangana within 100 days of NDA coming into power. It’s the time for people of telangana to choose the right party to vote for. People should trust Advaniji to entrust him with power and to achieve the long term demand Telangana. A vote for BJP is not only a vote for security, development and good governance but it’s also a vote for Telangana.

Jai Hind

(An article written for BJP website)

Social Entreprenueship, flavour of the season

2009-03-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish, or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry. - Bill Drayton
(Founder, Ashoka Venture Capitalist)

The world today is witnessing the rise of a nascent cult. A cult which combines the passion of a social mission with business- like discipline, innovation and determination, i.e. a cult of social entrepreneurs.

A social entrepreneur is someone who identifies a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to social change. A list of a few Indians whose work exemplifies social entrepreneurship are Shri Vinobha Bhave (founder of India’s land gift movement ), Dr.M.S.Swaminathan ( the brain behind the Green Revolution), Dr.Verghese Kurien (founder of AMUL) and dairy farmers of Gujarat who started Amul

Social enterprises are more than profit organizations which evaluate its growth not by annual turnovers or dividends but also by the measure of its impact on development of the human society. The more its impact on the society, the more successful the social enterprise is. The greatest advantage of a social enterprise is its capacity to reach the unreached.

For example, the Grameen Bank, a micro finance organization founded by Noble Laurette Dr.Muhammad Yunus ,has access to more than 80% of Bangladesh’s poor, a customer base which traditional business firms can never even dream of.

Also the best part of starting a social business is that even if the project fails economically, the impact it created in the society always leaves us a feeling which no material gain can ever compliment.

In the recent times of economic turbulence, social entrepreneurship is indeed a good career option because it can help in creating more jobs while simultaneously making the world a better place to live. The students must show interest towards such social businesses, not only from a philanthropic point of view but also from a view point of catering to the needs of the rural India which is mostly an untapped sector.

On the other side, it is true that certain amount of risks is involved in taking up social entrepreneurship as a profession. But it has to be remembered that all great things on earth are accomplished by those who see possibilities rather than problems created by a risk.

- Yashasvi and Snehit, Nirmaan Goa Team

Has the media become irresponsible and biased?

2009-03-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

The four pillars of our democracy are Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and the Media. But, I would say that in today’s advanced world, media is just not one among the four pillars for a successful democracy. But, it is a central pillar and a strength giving pillar for other pillars to support for a successful democracy. The big question to debate is whether such a powerful constituent of the democracy is doing its job or not? Is it behaving responsibly or not?

Few days back, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani has released an IT vision document for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in a BJP election committee meeting. Having heard of this news, I switched on the TV to find out what Advani promised in his vision doc. I changed around five news channels but I found that all five of them broadcasting either the news that Arun Jaitley didn’t attend the meeting or the debating on the alleged rift between Rajnath and Jaitley. I found similar such kind of phenomenon in most of the newspapers the next day. IT vision is something that’s first of its kind in India. Isn’t the media responsible for bringing out that vision, listing out merits and demerits of such vision and putting that in front of the people for a national debate? I am sure that most of you will agree that India needs to take some revolutionary steps to realize 2020 and it won’t happen out of the blue. So, at this juncture, IT vision assumed significance but that has been left out of the news without any kind of discussion around it. Instead of discussing such an important issue, they discuss for hours and hours about the rift between Rajnath and Jaitley. First of all, is it right for the media channels to discuss intra party issues? Should political parties consult media to appoint someone as their campaign incharge for a particular state? Second, aren’t they responsible in letting the people know what a particular party promises to people?

The other day, I saw the chief editor of a popular news channel saying that this election is all about secularism versus communalism. How sick is the media? How can media ignore many other important issues that concern a common man? Aren’t they responsible enough to bring out the right issues for an election debate? How can they ignore important issues like security, inflation, unemployment, economic crisis, poverty, farmer suicides in backward states etc.? On Times now channel, I see Arnab Goswamy conducting a discussion with a Chief Minister and passing judgments and conclusions on every political issue. Is passing judgments the role of media or is it empowering the people with unbiased information to help them pass judgments the role of media? On another channel, I find a lady making conclusions based on SMS polls. Isn’t it funny to decide things just by looking at the number of yes and no SMSs. Let’s say, If they receive 7 yes and 3 no SMSs, they would say that 70% are supporting a particular issue while 30% of the people are rejecting it. How scientific is this kind of analysis?

CNN IBN releases pre-poll surveys before every election. This time, Rajdeep Sardesai released the pre poll results just few days back. I was told by one of my friends recently that CNN IBN has surveyed around 16,000 people across the country and based on that they released their predictions on what is going to happen state wise in a country of around 70 million electorate. Do you think that this is scientific in any manner? Do you think it has any credibility? At least, I as an analyst won’t think so. But unfortunately voters do not understand the science behind it and get swayed by these surveys. As per whatever I studied in my psychology course in the campus, the voter always would like to be on a winning side and therefore he would be influenced to make his choice or change his choice based on the pre poll results. It’s like ‘an election before an election’ to manipulate the public opinion according to their interests and their corporate sponsor’s interest. Such pre-poll surveys have failed to predict the reality as many times as they predicted anywhere around the actual. Is media doing any good to the country by doing all this? I think nation has to thoroughly discuss the issue of whether these pre poll and exit polls have to be banned for a better democracy.

The situation in AP and Tamil Nadu is still worse than in the rest of the country. Alleging that all the newspapers and news channels in the state are writing and talking against YSR government’s corruption, Jagan Mohan Reddy, the son of the Chief Minister of AP launched a news paper and a news channel called ‘Sakshi’ on his own. Sakshi started writing pro government news and gradually it became YSR Government advertisement pamphlet. The paper was distributed in each and every village in AP for free for a long time. Do I need to tell you what impact it would have created on people’s mind? Hasn’t YSR exploited villager’s inability to buy a newspaper and deceived them by distributing the free and biased newspaper? Rest of the media as well is biased if not as biased as Sakshi. They never bring in the merits of the government and only talk about the demerits and fully support the opposition. We all are aware of what is going on in Tamil Nadu. I need not discuss more about it. The two major parties own news channels and they broadcast their own versions of news. Days have come when political parties themselves own channels. What a shameful era we are in? Today, be it English channel or regional channels, people are confused what to believe and what not to believe and time has come for people to interpret the news if it’s biased news or unbiased before actually reading it. As we know, information is power and wealth. When such information is biased, how can a democracy succeed? How can people expect good governance?

Media has seen the new lows in the recent past raising many apprehensions among the people. Successful electoral process and thus a better society are not possible without a responsible media. Media has got more responsibility than even the government in reaching the people with right information. Media should not become opponents to either Government or the opposition parties instead they should choose to become pro-people and pro-democracy for people to get empowered with legitimate information and for people to choose India of their choice.

Jai Hind

Stars add glamour and entertainment to polls

2009-03-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

I remember my grand father in my village saying that women in Andhra Pradesh used to offer harati (diya used while performing pooja in hindu culture) to N T Rama Rao during his campaign. NTR is well known to the Telugu speaking population for his Shri Krishna role in mythological movies. Even today, people in AP visualize him in Shri Krishna role when they want to pray Lord Krishna. That’s the kind of impact that he created among the masses through his movies. While promoting a new film, he was asked a question by a person in the audience, “Sir, we have treated you like a God but what have you done for us?" He was so moved by this that he formed TDP in 1982, and creating a record, he formed the government in AP within eight months of his entry into politics. NTR used his popularity in a full fledged manner to revolt against congress with pro poor policies and he created a history and set an example that stars have an advantage in politics and that they can defeat stalwarts in politics. We can find similar such stories about MGR in Tamil Nadu.

I often hear my office colleagues saying that people in south are mad about movies and making movie stars as netas. Then I reply to them saying that it is not only we who are mad about it but even people in north are mad about it:) Some of the popular actors like Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra and Shatragnu Sinha from BJP, Govinda from congress, Jaya Prada and Raj Babbar from SP won with huge margins in 2004 elections. In the past we have seen bollywood badhshah Amitabh Bachchan as well actively participating in poll process. The range of bollywood actors whom we have seen campaigning for two major parties include Hema Mailni, Smriti Irani, Yukta Mookhey, Jitendra and Manoj Kumar for BJP and Shakti Kapoor, Om Puri, Sharad Kapoor, Namrata Shirodkar and Bappi Lahari for Congress. So, whether it’s North India or South India, Indian politics has a lot of craze for the glamour world. But if someone says that South Indians are crazy people because they make the film stars as Chief Ministers, I would disagree with their argument and say that probably south Indian actors are intelligent in gauging the regional sentiments of their respective regions and therefore, they are intelligent enough to convert their mass regional popularity into votes.

One of my friends frustratingly says, “Damn politics, nowadays I don’t find even a single good movie in theatres to watch.” That’s the condition of the billion dollar Tollywood. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find a star from tollywood who is not involved with politics. Right from Chiru, BalaKrishna and Vijayashanti to Babu Mohan and Brahmanandam almost the entire industry has jumped into election dhamaka. Some feel that it’s a spoiler of the movie industry and some feel it’s a great entertainment for them in another form.

The stars poll story doesn’t end with filmy stars. Sport stars are not an exception to this and there are a number of sport stars as well in politics. Cricket stars are fully prepared to bat for their parties in the coming polls and earn votes for them. Navjyot Singh Siddu who is a star campaigner for BJP in Punjab and Kirti Azad, a popular cricketer from Bihar are once again ready to enter into poll fray on behalf of BJP. Anil Kumble from BJP and Chethan Sharma from BSP are going to bowl googlies and yorkars to their opponents in these elections. While Azhu bhai has already started his campaign in Hyderabad for congress. Dilip Vensarkar recently joined Shiv Sena while the renowned shooter Jaspal Rana want to give a shot from UP with BJP ticket.

One may say that people just come to see these stars during campaigns and they do not make much impact. I would beg to disagree with them and say that there is much more to it. Indians relate their favorite stars at a personal level and therefore the stars get an opportunity to make their mark. This is observed even in Indian business arena. There have been number of instances where the companies have made huge profits after they launched advertisements with popular stars. The best examples that I can site about the impact that stars can make in polls is the charismatic Vajpayee’s unsuccessful contest in Balrampur in 1962. Then the sitting MP Vajpayee was put to a defeat by the campaign of the legendary Sahni who was brought in by Nehru. So, whether everyone agrees or not, I think that there is a strong link between star status and politics. Most of these stars are not completely aware of the ideologies of their respective parties but the popularity they enjoy offsets all these arguments and the stars make their popularity work for their parties.

2009 elections are going to see the highest number of stars in the poll fray. Entertainment is expected to reach peaks in next few weeks. Would this election make Chiru an NTR and whether Azhar wins in the people’s court if not in judicial court and whether Kumble’s googlies work even in politics, we will have to wait and watch.

Jai Hind

Nasty dynasty politics a bane for India

2009-03-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Whenever anyone whom I meet asks me about my ambitions, I gladly take that opportunity to tell them that my ultimate dream is to enter mainstream politics, dedicate myself and selflessly serve the people with good governance as the sole motto. Then, they immediately ask me if my father is a politician or does anyone from my family has a political background. Hearing to such question, I ask them if it is a pre-requisite to enter mainstream politics. Then they ask me if I am sure about my ambitions as they think that it would be close to impossible for anyone to enter and succeed in politics if his/her family doesn’t have any political background. That really makes me feel very bad about our political system. It never brought down my confidence though! But, whenever I hear to such statements, I try to find reasons for them to say so. I think that the live examples that are evident in today’s society are the only reasons because of which people say so. Let’s take a look at few such examples in this blog.

The first and foremost example that one would list when it comes to dynasty politics is Nehru family. After Pandit Nehru, we saw a series of leaders, generation after generation coming from Gandhi’s family and claiming the top position not only in congress but also in Indian Government. India Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru was brought in as a minister after the death of Nehru in 1964 in Shastri’s Government. Then she was made PM in 1966 after the sudden demise of Shastri. It all started from there. That paved the way for dynasty politics. After Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi who knew nothing about governance has entered politics in 1980 and became PM in 1984 and then after his death, we all are aware of what happened and how Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have come into the mainstream politics. Four generations from the same family have been ruling India which adopted democracy as its political model. One of my friends always disagrees with me and says that India has not adopted ‘Democracy’ but an innovative model called “Dynastical Democracy” where people would participate in elections but would finally have no choice but to choose the dynasty rule. I am not sure if our politicians have taken inspiration from this family, but today we have a huge number of people in politics with their families have a political background.

Let’s see a set of leaders around us whose fathers are political bigwigs. Rahul Gandhi, the son of former Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, the son of former cabinet minister Rajesh Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia the son of Madhav Rao Scindia, Deepinder Singh Hooda son of Haryana CM Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, Jitin Prasada son of Jitendra Prasada who was the advisor to two of the congress PMs, Milind Deora the son of Murali Deora who is the current petroleum minister. These are a bunch of political heirs whom the congress claims as their younger generation of leaders. We keep hearing Jayanti Natarajan, the Spokesperson of Congress party claiming that congress is the only party which has a younger generation of leaders. I think people are not all surprised by her claim because it’s not only now that the congress has a younger generation of leaders but it always had in the past and it will always have in the future as they have this ever green mechanism of grooming leaders in their party.

By the way, dynasty politics are not confined to congress alone though it is in this party this phenomenon is highly prevalent. To some extent, it’s present even in BJP which is dead opposed to dynasty politics. Dushyant Singh the son of Vasundara Raje Scindia, Mavendra Singh the son of Jaswant Singh and Varun Gandhi the son of Menaka Gandhi are few BJP leaders who have a political background. But, the primary difference between congress and the BJP as far as this phenomenon is concerned is that the dynasty politics is the primary means for congress to find leaders while it is ground level experience that matters for BJP. BJP doesn’t project people like Manavendra Singh as their future leader while the congress, either for PM or CM post, it does that very well without any kind of hesitation.

This phenomenon is observed across parties. But the only party that i can figure out that is against such politics both in principle and in practice is Lok satha in Andhra. Lok Satha said its against dynasty politics and it contested in Khairatabad bypoll where son of P Janardhan Reddy, P VishuVardhan Reddy has contested after his father's unfortunate death. We don't find many such exceptions today. Some of the well known dynasty politicians from non congress and non BJP are Ajit Singh the son of former PM Charan Singh, Ajay Singh the son of another former PM V P Singh, Chandra Babu Naidu son in law of NTR, Purandeshwari the daughter of NTR, Udhav Thakarey the son of Bal Thakarey, Neveen Patnaik the son of Biju patnaik. Daya Nidhi Maram, the son of Murasoli Maran, Stalin son of Karunanidhi, Kumaraswamy the son of Deve Gowda. I remember reading an article recently in a telugu newspaper which talks about a minister in AP Govt whose wife is an MP. Apart from having an MLA and MP in his family, he wants an extra MLA ticket for his elder sister and an MLA ticket for his son in law and MP ticket for his younger brother. How weird politics have become? What a great disrespect to the people of India! Does he think that no one in his district is capable of becoming a public leader? It looks as if politics and governance have become a kind of personal property for politicians to share to their children.

Nasty dynasty politics not only discourages people with excellent leadership qualities to enter politics but it also hampers the country’s progress and change the fate of every common man as it allows incapable people to govern the country. Leaders like L.B.Shastri, Sardar Patel, P V Narsimha Rao, Vajpayee, etc. without any kind of family background have done an excellent service to this country. So, let’s not emotionally get biased to caste our vote for our favorite leader’s son unless he proves himself of having a good understanding of the challenges in the society and is capable of providing good governance. Merits and capabilities should be the criteria and not the family background. One should adopt “Nation comes first” attitude and not “Family comes first” to make our Nation stand at the forefront of the world countries.

Jai Hind

Third front, a no front and a third grade front for the country

2009-03-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Watching the recent developments in national politics, people are reminded of the United Front Governments and they are haunted by the question if the country is destined towards a hung parliament. Yesterday, nine parties including CPI, CPM, BSP, JD(S), TDP, and TRS came together in Tumkur to form a front called third front as an alternative to BJP and Congress. The Driving force behind the front formation is none other than Mr. Gowda who is known for his unpredictability. He claims that the so called third front can offer a stable Government for the nation. How far we can believe in his statement? As I daily do in my office at Citi Bank, tracking the past and predicting the future with some assumptions and considerations, let me see what history says about such fronts and what kind of front we can expect pre and post polls.

Between, 1996 and 1999, India has seen four Governments collapsing in three years time. That’s the time when regional parties gathered more seats pushing the two major national parties, the Congress and the BJP into the back seats. With a great surprise to himself and to everyone, on behalf of United Front, Mr. Gowda took over as PM and his government collapsed within 10 months by the time he and India woke up from a deep sleep. Later Gujral took over as PM and his government lasted for around 11 months after which Vajpayee led a 13 day and a 13 months BJP coalition governments in succession. Never in the history, we have seen such a high political instability in the country. With frequent in fighting, regional aspirations as priority, with no common agenda and with number of power centers, United Front governments could set no direction to the country. India lost a crucial time at a crucial juncture. Most analysts say that it’s during this period, India went way behind China in terms of taking important steps for a stronger nation.

Some time back in last year, Mr Karat, the lead comrade brought some of these regional parties under the banner the name of UNPA which collapsed in no time. And today once again the political atmosphere looks conducive to a hung lok sabha or we can put it in a different form saying that the regional parties pose a great challenge to national parties. Among the nine front parties that launched a grand convention at Tumkur in Karnataka, top leaders of more than half of the front partners were missing at the launch ceremony. BSP, AIADMK, TRS, RSP and the Forward Bloc sent their representatives to the ceremony instead of their top leaders. The party in demand, BJD which moved away from NDA was also missing at the ceremony. And fresh news says that Maya puts a condition of announcing her as third front PM candidate for BSP to join the front. All this convince you and me about Gowda’s claim that third front would offer a stable alternative? What credibility he possess to say so? How can Mr.Gowda, who was not able to offer a stable government in a state like Karnataka with a single coalition partner offer us a stable government at center?

TRS, one of constituents of the third front was once upon a time a part of congress led UPA. As a party that is leading the movement for separate Telangana, having made an unsuccessful experimentation with congress in the past, TRS in all probability is prepared for a post poll tie up with BJP which promised Telangana formation in 100 days after coming to power. AIADMK leader Jaya Lalitha, once upon a time NDA ally and who also shares a cordial relation with BJP leaders like Modi and Advani is also open for post poll alliance with NDA. BJD Naveen is open for choices. Communist parties whose only ideology is to blindly oppose BJP, in all probability are expected to say that they have no option but to support UPA in case NDA gets ready to form Government. So third front which exists today is most likely to be a no front post elections and even if it exists which in no case looks possible for me, it would be a third grade front which would only be detrimental to the progress of the Nation. Let’s analyze the reasons why such fronts would be so volatile in nature. Do we see a possibility in this world for any two parties or for that matter any two indivusals or any two organizations working together for a long time without a common ideology or at least a common agenda or a common minimum program? What else do we expect, except the instability and poor governance when parties without a common agenda come together for power? They would focus more over power sharing than offering good governance. Therefore, regional parties without a strong national party leading the Government or regional parties with the only character of regional aspirations and no national interests leading the government prove to be unsuccessful in offering stable and good governance to the billion people who share a vision of achieving a strong India for a stronger world.

Jai Hind

Are politicians from elite institutions different?

2009-03-12T09:51:00.001-07:00

I am sure that most of us have this common opinion in our minds – ‘Had we had politicians from IITs, BITS and other elite institutions, things would have been different.’ Isn’t it? But the question that remains is if this opinion is a myth or is it a fact to believe. When ever we talk of politicians from elite institutions, we can talk about only a very few politicians who actually made a mark in politics. The reasons for such a small number may be because the present day politics doesn’t allow such people to survive or such people do not prefer and do not believe in current politics or it may be because people from elite institutions do not understand the psychology of the common man and therefore they do not succeed. This is a different issue and a complicated issue to be analyzed. But in this blog, I would discuss if politicians from elite institutions are different from others.

You might have come across the recent news that Jai Ram Ramesh was asked to resign to his ministry and to take charge of congress campaign as campaign strategy lead. He is one among the very few politicians from IITs. He did his mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay and later completed his public policy and public management degrees from MIT and Carnegie Mellon Universities. He held the ministry of state for commerce and Industry and also power till last week in Manmohan’s Government. Apart from him, we have one more renowned leader, Manohar Parrikar from IIT Bombay again, the first IIT Chief Minister. He started as a swayasevak from RSS in the campus, gradually grown as a top leader for BJP in Goa and became the Chief Minister for two different terms and is the current leader of opposition in Goa Legislative Assembly.

We have few BITSians as well in politics. Prithvi Raj Chavan, one of the most charismatic leaders for congress who did his engineering from BITS, Pilani, is now holding ministry of state for PMO in UPA Government. I also heard of one more BITSian who contested an unsuccessful election in the interiors of AP. This topic would be incomplete and unjustified if I do not talk about DU which has produced a galaxy of leaders like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, Madan Lal Khurana, Pradhan etc.. Most of them have started their careers as DU Students’ Union Presidents and General Secretaries. Unlike other Universities, DU is known for producing mass leaders and active politicians for the country. Few other noted politicians from elite institutions include S Jaipal Reddy, a two term President of Osmania University, Hyderabad and now minister in Manmohan’s Government, Murali Manohar Joshi from Allahabad University, an ABVP functionary from college days and now the BJP MP from Rajya Sabha, Jyotiraditya from Stanford and Harvard.

If we observe the political life of any of those whom I have talked about, it’s evident that they are known for their intellect, strategy making and to an extent for their ideological stands. But then, I would neither confidently say that they have done any thing significant for people in their political career nor would I take the risk of saying that they do not adopt any kind of usual stunts that we witness in Indian politics. Every year, we see violence erupting in DU elections, we see the union leaders of IITs and BITS adopting the usual politics, using regionalism to win their elections, grabbing money from the union and treating their friends, benefiting their friends in various ways. Apart from getting good education from these elite institutions, they also inherit parts and pieces of the legacy of Indian politics and therefore they do not stand class apart from the rest. Therefore, it can only be finally concluded that institutions alone do not differentiate the kind of the leaders that they produce, but it’s a combination of the personal ethos, the institution they come from, the ideology they adopt, the understanding that they develop on the needs of a common man, the vision that they have for the country which distinguishes a good and a bad leader.

Jai Hind

Does the Real India needs colour TVs or the basic needs?

2009-03-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Recent poll promises made by few political parties like TDP and PRP reminds me of 2Rs - kg rice scheme brought in by one of my favorite leaders NTR. I still remember the way NTR reached masses with rice scheme. During that time, poverty and hunger were one of the major concerns of the society. It was very difficult for most of the villagers even to get a square meal per day. I remember a section of media very well supporting it saying this is a welfare scheme for poor and another section of media talking against it saying that it is against the developmental economy. However, nothing could stop NTR going to people with this scheme few more welfare schemes and convincing the electorate. NTR won with a bumper majority leaving congress and the English media to a surprise.

Probably, the NTR's successful rice scheme has started inspiring political parties to bank on populism to gain power. If nothing works, political parties believe in popular schemes. We have seen DMK promising colour TVs in the previous elections and coming into power. In the elections that were held 3 months back in Chattisgarh, BJP won the elections promising Rs 1 per Kg Rice scheme. In 2004 assembly elections in AP, YSR Reddy promised free electricity to farmers and came to power. And now, Babu once known for his hitech measures, promises free distribution of money to people which is described as Cash Transfer Scheme (CTS) by one of my friends. Today, i heard that Chiru also promised free distribution of money in some other form. I am not sure of it though. I have to go through his manifesto.

Most of the times, parties with populist schemes are coming into power. That brings back me to ponder over two questions. 1. Does this mean that parties are catering to the need of the voter? 2. Does this help the country in the long term? Let me take colour TV scheme as an example and see if a common man requires a colour TV or he requires a computer and good education for his child, health facilities for his family, water for his paddy fields? My intuition says that the common will say that he wants basic needs in place of TV. But then, why has he been voting for these schemes? Common man wants something that’s tangible to feel good to caste his vote to a party. It becomes difficult for him to visualize schemes that facilitate long term development. Therefore, he prefers popular schemes to developmental schemes.

Therefore, I ask the political parties if this is not like taking advantage of the plight of the common man to force him to vote for them. Isn’t it an abuse on the poor people? Doesn’t the money distribution makes people lazy and unproductive and isn’t it detrimental to long term progress. It’s the time for people need to judge these gimmicks. I was calculating the other day the amount that Babu has to spend on CTS. If we consider 6 crores as AP population that is either in middle class or below middle class. On an average if we take 6 members a family and on an average if we consider Rs 2000 distributed to 1 crore families per month, in 5 years Babu would spend Rs 1.2 Lakh Crores. If he spends such a huge amount from state ex-chequer, can he spend any amount in developing infrastructure and in providing basic needs to poor? Parties and people need to understand that NTRs rice scheme is different from Karunanidhis colour TV scheme and Babu's CTS scheme. One provides the basic need while the other offers a temporary want/luxury to common man and abuses him. People should strongly question such populist schemes and shouldn't get diverted from main issues in the elections by getting trapped by these populist schemes.

Why are 2009 elections so special for you and me?

2009-03-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

The much awaited 2009 general elections assume a greater significance and are special in many respects. India in the midst of many challenges and opportunities faces the biggest ever fought elections in April and May. In a road map to the Kalam's vision 2020 and for a smooth transition from a developing nation to a developed nation, in around 8,28,804 polling stations, 715 million voters are going to participate and choose their netas for lok sabha and for legislative assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim. This makes it 2009 elections not only the biggest ever fought elections in the world but also the biggest and most complicated elections to be managed by Indian election commission.

Recently, I was watching a program on a TV channel. I was surprised to hear on a news channel that 2009 general elections are going to be much more expensive than the recent presidential elections conducted in US. But later I came to know that considering the black money that our netas spend during these elections, the election expenditures are going to over shoot US election budget by a huge amount. Imagine...what can happen to India if our leaders release black money. One of the reputed economist on another channel was saying that the election expenditure is actually going to circulate more money in the economy as a result of which demand in the economy for products and services would be stimulated. Probably that is the reaosn why our netas dont bother too much about economic recession and the elections would take care of that!!

The Y factor is going to play a crucial role in 2009 elections. With 65 per cent of India’s voters being under the age of 35 (including one hundred million first-time voters), the young make up a sizeable chunk of the electorate. 25% of the electorate are fresh electorate and hence, internet campaign has taken birth in 2009 Indian elections. Any website you open, you see Advaniji calling you on to the banner and taking you to his website and inspiring you to vote for him. But we have to wait and see if this innovation brought in by the few IIM grads and techies who make up Advanijis campaign management team would be successful in convincing the young voters to vote for Advaniji.

These elections are also special because there is going to be a tough fight between the grand old man Advani and the most academically qualified Manmohan. This would be a last chance for the 82 year old but the tech savvy Advani to occupy the PM chair for which he waited so long while it would be an election for Manmohan to prove he is a strong leader and is a winnable choice for congress. One factor which 2009 elections cant ignore is the maya factor. It may become king maker or even the king and decide the fate of you, me and all.....Lets not only wait and watch the elections as usually do but let's participate and choose a strong govt for a strong India.

Jai Hind.

Finally we are ready for BITS Goa journey

2007-09-28T04:14:00.000-07:00

Finally, we just have few hours to start our journey to BITS, Goa.......a new campus of our BITS, Pilani. The hectic week of planning for Nirmaan induction comprised of several telephonic conversations with Goa students Venkat, Suraj and teams, exchange of mails with VC and Diro, BITSAA, ticket bookings and intercommunication among our Nirmaan guys. Of all, i think bus ticket booking will be remembered for ever. I remember...even when i have booked tickets for all the 3000 BITSians when i was in campus, it wasnt that problematic to get ticket....but now i realise that ticket booking is not all that easy in Bangalore.

Its very surprising to know from BITSAA is that Goa Diro needs mail from us even to book the guest house there.....but can we ever think of such mails to Pilani Diro? isntit silly? It makes me to think how difficult is it to get the perm that Venkat and his team want. Let me challenge myself to get it......when there is a will there is a way...hope everything goes well....

wow......we are the world champs!!!

2007-09-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

wow...its so thrilling to know that we are the champs.....what a final? it deserves to be called the world cup finals.....its full of twists....in fact the cup itself comprised of several unbelievable records.......indo pak match tie...then bowl outs...india winning it....yuvi sixers.....Jogi surprising wickets....indo pak final and a suspense till the end...wht a series? The only concern for billion indians is that it cudnt see sachin, saurav and dravid in such a series....but finally its the team winning we all want....so its an incident to be writen in golden words in the history. dhoni has really started a new chapter in indian cricket........

Karunanidhi goes mad...............

2007-09-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

"who is ram? from which engineering college did he graduate?

This is merely a superstition. Anecdotes in history cannot become history.

The Dravidian movement is about rationalism. And when these beliefs degrade our way to progress, we have to fight against those superstitions.”

These are the words uttered by Karunanidhi and his partymen.....it seems as if they have gone mad......

Inspiring incidents with/ Inspiring messages from Prof L K Maheshwari, BITS VC – Incident 1

2007-09-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

In the third year of my graduation at BITS, Once Varun, Mayur and I had an appointment with sir to discuss few issues with him. Being a bit late that day for the meeting we rushed into his chamber with tensed mindsets. After greeting sir, I have opened my dairy and was about to put the first point in the agenda for discussion. All of a sudden, sir asked Mayur how many shirts he has. We were surprised to hear such question in that context. All of us were in a dilemma. Slowly Mayur said he has eleven shirts. Then sir asked can you live with nine shirts. Mayur answered him yes.

Then sir asked puzzled Mayur why he shouldn’t donate those two shirts to his fellow beings who cannot afford them. He added that our Indian culture is a conservative culture where people lead a simple life, satisfy their needs with the minimum number of resources and then try to assist their fellow being with the additional resource they have. This reaps two benefits to the man kind. One is that we can ensure that we do not waste our country’s resources and the other one, we can try bringing up our community which is in need.

He explained it by saying that it is always better to save the scarce resources by minimizing the usage than to create additional resources with huge efforts and higher costs. He supported his statement to help the community saying that unless the suffering community is brought up, as a nation we cannot progress and hence it’s our duty to help our fellow beings with the saved extra resources we have. Quickly he reminded about our agenda and started discussing our points one by one. This way, with a simple example he taught us a great moral that’s imbibed in our Indian culture which we all have to realize. Each time, we met him, we used to learn something that’s great (which I shall document all of them on my blog one by one so that his messages can be reached and benefited by a greater audience) which cannot be learnt from our regular courses and course text books.

If Lord Rama is a divine power, how can science prove his existance?

2007-09-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

The so called secular Govt of India has been surprising its people with its unusual feats. It looks as if it has no boundaries in appeasing the minorities. Its strange to hear to the Govts statement that it finds no scientific proof for Lord Rama's and epic Ramayana's existance. If Lord Rama is believed to be a divine power, how can Govt try to prove it through general science. Divine powers can only be reached through spirituality but not through ordinary science. If science is all about experimentation and observation to explain a natural phenomenon, Govt should know that Hindus have practiced all the teachings of Rama and Ramayana for thousands of years on this land and they are proved to help them. Their belief in Ramayana could survive number of civilisations on this earth. Isnt this enough for the Govt enough to respect the belief of the oldest religion of this world?

In fact no religion in this world can be proved through an ordinary science and no human practices a religion looking at its scientific veracity. Its only the faith on the teachings of his religion makes him to practice it. This fact has been a topic of number of debates and discussions in the past and it always came out to be a fact.

The governement has closed its eyes with ignorance and has reached to such a level that it dared to say that Lord Rama doesnt exist and challenged the faith of miilions of hindus. Probably they want to make hindus believe that Hinduism is all myth and convert to other religions and thus finally change the Hindusthan to an Italisthan. That is why they have been doing all such non sense. Lets all of us pray to Lord Rama to remind these ignorant rulers that Hinduism has survived all such occasions and will surive ages. If Lord Rama is a divine power, none of us needs to prove his existance. He himself will prove his existance by enlightening our loutish pseudo secularists.

Analytics.... a tool that can bring about radical changes in India.....

2007-09-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, we get calls from banks saying that its the time you should be looking for a credit card for a specific use or a health insurance . And most of the times, they guess our requirement right. isnt it? I always used to wonder how they know my requirements and that too can they predict the intesnity of my requirement so accurate......i could answer myself all such questions only after i entered Modelytics.....an analytics and strategic solutions firm.

Its analytics that suggest the banks that i am the right customer having such specific requirement. Analytics.... a mind game where we play with the statistics and business logics to make forecasts and predictions. it is yet to pick up in India. Governments and Corporates in the US and the west give high priority for data analytics to forecast the business parameters for better decision makings and thus for better earnings and development. Right usage of analytics at right times has done wonders most of the times in these countries. In todays corporate world, most of the MNCs either have their own analytics or have tie ups with consulting firms for a continuous analytics of their business.

It is known that companies have been using analytics all through their life cycle and in all spheres of the businesses. Right in from start up of a business, in supply chain management, customer relationship management, risk management, yeild management...companies in retail to pharma, telecom to banking....all the emerging sectors have been using analytics extensively. whereas in India, data availability itself is a problem........probably thats the reason why even most of the reputed companies do not have analytics in India. But its a good sign that recently companies have started seriously thinking about gathering intelligence for better decisions. According to the recent news, even regulatory authorities have been pressing for proper data collection and storage.

Coming to the analytics role in public and the welfare projects......As above discussed, analytics play an important role in decision making by the Govt in US where as availability of proper data itself is a question mark in India. Probably, that is one of the major reasons why these hundreds of welfare projects could not benefit the people who have the requirement. Probably The govt has to focus on collection of proper data and in making it available to take right decisions at right times...

With the abundant human resources that we have in India, with the skills that the students from top Universities develop during their graduation and with the BPOs shifting their focus towards analytics to break the rupee rise hazard, analytics industry is expected to grow steeply in coming years. According to an article last week in Economic times, its known that a guy in analytics industry on an average earns double the one in software industry with the same number of years experience. So, its a good sign to know that India is going to become the knowledge hub of analytics for better decisions both for MNCs and for the Government and ultimately for the public. Its a good opportunity for graduates too to capitalise on such boom with a good expertise in statistics and mathematics!