I am BACK – I want to LEAP

It’s been a long long time since I wrote a post, partly due to my long vacation and its preparation but mainly because of my laziness. Thought of writing about many things but as usual postponed every time, and here I am at a point unable to decide on what to write. I have been in this situation last year as well, but since it was the first time I did not feel that bad as I am feeling now. I am really worried now about my negligence towards my blog as it really crossed all the limits and I hope this is the last time.

There is a saying in our area “Aandhrulu Aarambha soorulu” (ఆంధ్రులు ఆరంభశూరులు) which means the people of Andhra are very good starters but bad finishers. This seems to be very true in the case of my blog. When I came across this quote, I decided to post something today. One more reason for posting today is the date, Feb 29, which comes once in 4 years only and felt I need to give importance to this particular day. Being categorized as an introvert, I generally keep my thoughts about my life and my dreams to myself, but this time I decided to portray them through this blog.

Coming to the topic, I was unable to prioritize among the ideas I wanted to post and most of them are half finished. Hence just thought of posting something about how I felt, what I did during this period and outline some of the future posts. “Something is better than Nothing.”

I went to India for a long vacation and the preparation & shopping has cleared some of my misconceptions about e-shopping and I wanted to write a post on that. I also wanted to write about how credit card has made me broke a practice I followed from long time. When I was in college, Thanks to one of my friends (Gopi Tungala) mentioned that he never spends till he has the money in his hands. I got really inspired and followed that from that day till now. But for the first time my spending was more than the amount I had in my bank account. Even though it was a small amount a practice was broken and don’t want to repeat that again.

I had a very good vacation in India and wanted to share many of those things when I came back, but couldn’t clearly articulate my feelings. Felt I need more time to put my thoughts in writing. One of the good things I did during this period was reading Novels. While coming from India I got the novels of Chetan Bhagat, and I am not sure if he is making India read like never before, But he made me read like I had read never before, 4 novels in a week. I remembered my college days and the passion of reading.

Apart from the failure of Jan Lokpal Bill to pass and Anna's movement, I wanted to write about two unbelievable things happened in 2011 which highlights the current state of Agriculture and Sports in India. One is the Crop Holiday observed in the so called Granary of the South (Andhra Pradesh). Coming from a village background I was really shocked by this decision from farmers, and the response of the government on this. And second one is the fate of world cup winning women’s Kabaddi team. During my visit, I was able to see the kabaddi matches in my village and the importance they give at local level. But when it comes to International level nothing else except cricket counts. More on these in next posts…

Before I close, an interesting fact about the leap year. As a child, I wondered why it is called a leap year though it has an extra day. Thanks to google, I found out today that the day leaps by two in a leap year than the previous year. For example, Dec 25^th 2010, Christmas day is Saturday and in 2011 its Sunday one day more than previous year, but in Leap year 2012 it’s Tuesday instead of Monday. Nice finding for the day…

 

This time I want to take a LEAP on this leap day for the whole leap year till the next leap day. Hopefully I will keep leaping …

PS: Check my previous blog post similar to this @ Blogging Ideas of an Agile Mind - Lazy mind rather

The Anna Wave and What I Feel…

Whatever might the CYSKICS (Cynics, Skeptics and Critics) say we need to commend (not condemn) and appreciate the effort put by Anna and his team (especially Arvind, Prashanth and Kiran and many more brains and supporters behind him who came on to streets). I think, no one can and should comment on the Non-Violent protest that has once again proved to the whole world the importance of Non-Violence and the power of democracy.

I know this is a very long post as it’s a burning topic with lot of debate going on and hence can't justify everything in this post itself. So just trying to highlight some points in brief.  May be, will explain much through comments and future posts.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: 

     First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

This is what has happened during the independence movement and again in these few days during the fight against corruption in India.

OK, straight to the point whether I support Anna and the movement, I say YES. There is a fundamental difference between supporting and following blindly. One should identify the basic difference between the two. When you support, you support the cause and not just the person, you reason and not just argue, you look for the approach and not just the result, and finally work for a practical solution to the problem. 

We Indians, have made "Hero Worship" as a way of our life, be it in our scriptures and traditions or even as a part of our history. Having faith is perfectly alright but attributing everything to a person and criticizing any imperfection from him as a failure of the whole idea is wrong. We tend to forget that the idea is more important than a person. That’s where the blame game, the guilt factor and the credibility issues come.

 It's not about ANNA, It's about CORRUPTION


The Blame game:

Thanks to the blunders of the Congress Party (not just the government) that made this awakening possible. It includes trying to blame Anna of being corrupt and it’s a publicity stunt, then a desperate attempt to state that US is involved and arresting and throwing Anna Team in Tihar jail or a very weak statement that Parliament is Supreme over everything or Law will take its course. All of these added fuel the fire. This is exactly opposite of what the 125+ years experienced Congress party does which is master of tactics involving delaying the decision by buying more and more time and killing the cause in due course. Atleast once this has backfired and now it has to take the whole blame.

Anna's credibility:

There are a few videos (involving some of his earlier friends and activists) and blogs questioning the credibility of Anna and his team. This in itself will become a separate topic and will try to address separately in another blog post. Forget for a second who Anna is and what his credibility is, Isn't the cause he is fighting worth supporting? Do these people without vested interests need to be supported? Is the approach of non violent protests and fast became so undemocratic?  I once again want to reiterate that an IDEA is more important than a Person. Whether you support the person or not you need to back the genuine idea.

The Guilt Factor:

I think, we Indians are one of the most god fearing (or) self critical beings in the world. We over attribute our self mistakes to relatively larger proportion and guilt feeling overtakes our conscious response. Self Criticism is a must and a great feature of character, but it shouldn't be an obstacle in overcoming or protesting a wrong thing.

I feel the argument that whoever that are supporting Anna now once in their life have been corrupt or part of a corruption and hence they cannot protest is not correct. Most of the times they are the victims of the corruption or bound by the shackles of the corrupt system which does more harm when you go against it. I agree to the saying “Offering bribe is as wrong as taking bribe” but It’s very important to identify the fundamental difference between being a victim of corruption and being corrupt. 

Everyone tries to make the most from what is available but no one will try the illegal route first if it’s possible legally. And in a competitive environment like India where the gap between the classes is so great, Struggle for existence dominates everything.

The Informed Middle Class and Youth:

I agree that the current wide support for protest (especially by youth and middle class) is because of the political vacuum created during the last few decades but stating that they are ignorant is not true. They might be venting out their anger but their anger is much justified. The crowd is well informed of the reason of their protest unlike the lakhs of crowd that is brought by the political parties. I am not saying about their knowledge of the Jan Lokpal or the personal details of Anna Hazare but about the reason why they are there protesting, a common cause of fight against corruption.

The so called Arrogance of Anna Team:

Its definitely not arrogance or dictatorship when they say slogans like “I am Anna" or when Kiran Bedi has quoted as "Anna is India". It should be considered just as a passionate comment during the protest. Some critics have even said that Anna is acting like Hitler. Hitler!!! hmm ... Yaa may be a Non-Violent Hitler (as passionate as Gandhi) who wants to eradicate corruption (not Jews or some race). Anyhow its good Team Anna is quick to respond that the statement was just a passionate comment rather than some threat.

Also the statements like Anna Team is blackmailing or they are putting a gun on head of government is utter nonsense. No one ever said Gandhi was blackmailing by doing Satyagrahas or he acted like a dictator when he called off Civil Disobedience Movement. Coming to the point of restraint in negotiations it might be just lack of credibility in government ways and congress party, which is notorious for its back stabbing. The CYSKICS should remember what the Government did in April when it called for the Joint Committee in drafting the bill.

Lack of Leadership:

Everyone will agree that this entire situation is because of the lack of Leadership. Leadership in the sense, not just the ruling congress party or government but the opposition as well. Why it has to be Anna who is on the fast and why not Advani? Because even the opposition party lacks the conviction and strong will to fight against corruption. May be its time for the leaders like Manmohan Singh to show some self respect and act for the country rather than the party. I think, the Congress Party tested if it is the right time to launch Rahul Gandhi, But I hope a clear message is sent that he is not. Though he will be anointed as the next PM candidate from Congress, for time being its good he is away and he needs to show leadership skills on his own to be considered as a leader.

Civil Society and Aruna Roy's Draft:

Some people might say that Aruna Roy and Nikhil were wrong in proposing a new draft, and some critics that it’s a strategy to nullify Anna movement as she is part of NAC. I disagree with that. National Advisory Council (NAC) is a group of intellectuals to advise the government and they did a great job honestly. The draft put by Aruna Roy highlights the importance of freedom in democracy and calling her team as traitors is like calling Bhagath Singh and Subash Chandra Bose a traitor and not a patriot. Bose and Gandhi had their differences but always talked about each other in high regard and that's how great leaders behave.

This brought into light the lifecycle of a bill, importance of pre-legislative process and standing commitee and certain parliamentary processes that are backbone of democracy.

The CYSICS reacted the same way when the RTI Act was underway. They said its an useless act and a toothless act etc. But it’s the same act that made exposing the current corruption charges possible.

Enough said about what’s happening, I want to highlight the most important points that are to be considered, which I fear are getting ignored. (To be continued…)

PS: This post has already been very long and so ending it over here, but will update my views on Jan Lokpal Bill in my next Post.

Chillar Party - I Love "Offbeat" movies

I watch a lot of movies comprising of all kind of genres. But I love to watch these offbeat movies which come with a different package as a whole. Recently watched the movie “Chillar Party” which on the first look seems to be a children’s special but packed with lot of sensible message for the grownups. The movie shows the grit and determination as well as the sensitivity and emotion with which the kids react to situations and the narration is perfect. The Story, Direction, Screenplay and overall taking of the movie is awesome.

The movie is a nice entertainer with lot of comedy blended with a social message. It shows the importance of values and team work in a narrative style with full of humor and emotion. In the movie, the way a kid reacts emotionally to his mom, when he realizes his mistake in creating trouble to others, shows the sensitivity of the kids. It shows with a touch of humor, how kids grasp the surroundings and try to imitate others. Finally in the climax, it says about values with utmost conviction, that the elders tend to forget what they study in books and tend to behave differently from what they are taught and what is good. Last but not the least, in the movie, the way parents love and support their kids is really commendable.

I am neither a specialist in writing a movie review nor I want to load you with the story in this blog. The main point I want to highlight is the reaction of the so called “Movie Critics” to such movies. The movie is given a rating of 2 out of 5 in Times of India (TOI). Rest of the critics are a bit considerate and praised the movie, but still rated the movie to average.  I know and I completely agree that everyone has their own opinions and they need not align with others. This is especially true in the case of a movie. But TOI reviews influence people to decide whether to go for the movie or not.

The TOI review states that the Indian Tweens are smart and are loaded with Cartoon Network & Hollywood and hence you need to have a story, adventure, drama and pace.  I don’t know what the critic means by saying the movie is lacking in Story, Drama, Adventure or Pace. May be Dabaang, Murder 2 or Singham have all the above which were able to get 4 star ratings from him. I think he missed the term “MASALA” without which a movie is not considered good by him. The most ironic thing is that this is the only movie in recent times which got a 2 rating whereas some movies which will make you mad got 3.5.

Whenever I read an article in newspaper, I try to read the comments and the reactions of readers about the article. When I have gone through the comments for this article, I couldn’t find even one who is in agreement with the critic. Some of the audience really felt bad that they would have missed the movie, if they just decided based on the Ratings. Anyhow, I am really glad that I don’t watch movies based on their reviews or ratings but based on my convenience.

One more point to highlight is the publicity of the movie which determines the success and hence the ratings. There are some real good movies for example Anjali, Little Soldiers (Telugu) , Pasanga (Tamil) and the famous “Taare Zameen Par”. I feel major factor in the success of Taare Zameen Par is Aamir Khan and his publicity expertise. The other movies like “I am Kalam”, “Stanley ka Dabba” etc. (forget for a second whether they are good or not) couldn’t make to box office or couldn’t even get noticed by general public just because of the lack of stars and publicity. Hopefully Salman Khan will grab some attention for “Chillar Party”, after all it is his production. 

Anyhow, "Chillar Party" is one more proof to the statement that 

“Children movies are much more mature than all the grownup movies put together.”

PS: I watch all kind of action movies as well, but unable to agree to the trend that the success of the movie is solely based on the commercial elements alone and to consider a movie to be hit, it has to fetch crores of rupees. Hence this blog post. :-)

Blogging ideas of an Agile mind (Lazy mind rather…)

It’s been a while I have written a blog post, around two months. I came across different topics in these two months and came up with different ideas of putting them in a blog, but couldn’t for various reasons. I was analyzing the reason why I was unable to post even one in past two months. While doing so, i thought that itself would become a good blog post.  :-)

My Last blog post was on March 18^th when I wrote about the risks of Geotagging and sharing location information in Social Networking sites. I am a great admirer of Bhagat Singh and thought March 23^rd, Shaheed Diwas, will be a good occasion to write about him and his great ideas. After finishing the post when I went over it twice, I felt the post was missing the personal touch which I think is very much essential in a blog. By the time I finish adding that, the feel of ‘Shaheed Diwas’(occasion)  might be lost and hence did not write about it.

Then thought of writing and spreading word about “Dandi March 2” organized by few NRIs and Lok Satta Party against the Anti-Corruption. During the same time The Hindu came up with the Wiki Leaks for India and was giving a first page coverage daily. After following for few days felt there is nothing new in Wiki Leaks which we (common man of India) don’t know, whether it is “Vote for Cash”, “Indian Money in Swiss banks” or the “ISI involvement in terrorist attacks in India”. So thought of writing a blog post “Wiki Leaks for India and what’s New???” But felt what’s new in my post that is really to be told again and hence did not post it.

After a few days Anna Hazare has started his hunger strike until death against corruption. Thanks to the social networking and sensation hungry media, the word spread and measures were taken towards Jan Lok Pal Bill. During this period I did not like the way media and some people projected the idea that democratic government and politics are the root cause of all the evil in society and politics should be eliminated. Wanted to write the importance of politics and democracy with title “The solution to ‘Bad Politics’ is 'Better Politics' but not ‘NO Politics’.” I did not post about this thinking that I am not capable of writing on such an in-depth topic.

Being said that during the same time few people even doubted the credibility of Anna Hazare and his team based on again the sensation hungry media and few reports/comments from politicians like Amar Singh. Wanted to warn the guys who were doubting the anti corruption movement that they were actually misleading and confusing the people who started involving (people until now generally doesn’t care) in a public cause.  I wrote a detailed comment about this on one such blog of my friend but the comment did not appear due to technical issues in blogspot. My laziness won over and I did not write about this again.

I have watched few movies like ‘Hotel Rwanda’ (Watched earlier but did not have the same feel at that time) and ‘Shooting Dogs’ about the genocide in Rwanda and felt so proud about India and realized how lucky I was to be born in India. Started writing a series of blog posts (though did not post even one) with title “Why I am proud of India.”

During these two months, watched few TED talks where people  has shown various unorthodox ideas that can change the society and wanted to write about each of them like how Kiran Bir Sethi has proven how children can become the change and can transform the society.

Wanted to write about Mother’s day and especially how I consider my mother as the best resource manager I have ever seen. But felt that would be too personal and since I am generally not inclined towards sharing personal feelings and did not post that.

There were few other ideas for the occasion like The Earth Day or the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi & LTTE and the ideas which always in my mind to share with others. But because of my Laziness or irrational reasoning, haven’t posted even one of them. Recently watched Swades (watched it countless times), where the opening statement caught my attention and is the reason for blogging again.

“Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress.”

– Mahatma Gandhi.

Somehow after reading this, I felt I was thinking too much about few things and hesitating to do things which I should have done earlier. 
 

One such thing is about thinking too much and behaving lazily about writing my blog and hence spreading my ideas and my thought process. Hopefully I am thinking correctly now and it will help in the progress, at least will not hinder the progress. 

Hurray... I did it... Happy Blogging...

Social Networking – Share Responsibly

"Man is a social Animal" and sharing information is a passionate hobby. With the current advancement in mobile phones and social networking, sharing has become more than a hobby. It has become an everyday task to share views on a topic or personal photos. Some of us even share their day to day tasks and hourly updates in twitter and Facebook. In recent days adding the location to photos (Geotagging) has also become common. Tagging photos with an exact location on the Internet allows random people to track an individual's location and correlate it with other information.

For many of us, posting a photo of one's daily activities may seem like a pretty common thing to do in the world of Facebook and Flickr and in no way as a security risk. I felt the same until I read these two stories about Geotagging and their security Risks.

And the Scary One….

By looking at geotags and the text of posts, you can easily find out where people live, what kind of things they have in their house and also when they are going to be away. Such patterns make things easy for stalkers and may be for burglars.

What is Geotagging Anyway???

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification to photographs, video, websites and SMS messages. It’s like storing the place where photo was taken or from where a message is posted.

Geotags are automatically embedded in pictures taken with smart phones.  Many people are unaware of the fact that the photos they take with their smart phones and load to the Internet have been geotagged. Photos posted to photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa can also be tagged with location, but it is not an automatic function. Most modern digital cameras do not automatically add geolocation metadata to pictures, but that is not always true. Camera owners should study their camera’s manual and understand how to turn off GPS functions.

Location- based Social Networking Applications:

The other set of applications that can provide the location information is Locaton- based Social Networking Applications. Foursquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla, SCVNGR are some of the examples. Most location-based social networking applications focus on “checking in” at various locations to earn points, badges, discounts and other geo-related awards.

For example foursquare users “check-in” at various places using a mobile website. They are then awarded points and sometimes “badges.” Users of foursquare use the service to share their location with friends, meet new people and get coupons. Users can also connect and publish their “check ins” to Facebook and Twitter. If someone is not a friend on foursquare they can still track your whereabouts through Facebook.

Location-based social networking is quickly growing in popularity. Foursquare has over 4 million users. The increased popularity of these applications is changing the way we as a digital culture view security and privacy on an individual level.

What’s the Risk??

Establishes patterns: Location-based social networking applications allow strangers to track your movements every day. If they watch someone long enough they will know exactly when and where to find that person on any given day.

Exposes places of duty and home: By tracking movements and aggregating information, strangers can determine where someone lives and works.

What you can do??

• Avoid geotags on photo sharing applications
• Turn off GPS function on phones
• Be careful when using Locaion-based Social Networking Applications
• Be conscious of what you tweet or share on facebook 

If you can't figure out how to disable the function, contact your smart phone provider, or the website www.icanstalku.com also has instructions for removing the geotag function on several different smart phones models. Check out the following link for the US Military Geotagging Awareness presentation, some of which applies to our social lives as well. http://dmna.state.ny.us/members/geotagging.pdf

Protecting your privacy is not just a matter of being aware and personally responsible since a friend may take a geotagged photo at your house and post it. You need to educate yourself and your friends but in the end, you really have no control.

PS: I don’t want to scare anyone by telling all this stuff, but just want to make sure our lives are safe & secure and warn about the potential security risks which can be avoided easily. So “share only what you want to share” and “share responsibly”.