Free Spirit

For ages man has been at War, not the obvious but the one within. From the day he gains consciousness till the day he dies. On his journey of life there are enormous battles but the one which is eternal is the one of being righteous.

Ever since history can be traced, there have been battles of individuals, what their free spirit considers right. As one of my mentors suggests all religions are based on free spirit. But the irony is that we are made to emulate someone else’s free spirit. In every religion there has been one key figure whose free spirit has led to the development of a religion and its propagation across the land. The one who we called the “chosen one” “messenger of God” “son of god” or even his “avatar”.

 

It has been their free spirit which led to the evolution of the religion. And even in their time it has been oppressed by the rulers of the land or the law makers. But later their conceptions became pillars of religion. And as on today there are 4200* religions all teaching us to live life in a certain way. But what we miss in this whole affair is the basic idea which initiated all these developments. The idea of Free Spirit.

 

Same holds true even today, as I mentioned in the beginning of the essay it’s a day to day battle that we fight between what has been preached and what our free spirit says is right. Every government accepts the basic rights of a citizen like freedom. But as ironic as it can be, the same society prohibit us from doing what they think incorrect. We live life trying to emulate what someone way back in time
did as per his free spirit, and try to kill our voice within. This eventually makes our life a mere imitation.

But let me clarify the concept of free spirit. It’s not just a thing which pleases us not just  a thing which makes us happy in a worldly way, but a feeling of joy from within which when looked back on brings us peace and tranquility. It should not be confused with the mere desire for something but a longing for it. Fortunately every religion believes in god, the one who is the creator of this world. If it’s the same god
who has made us, the free spirit would also have the same longing and direction in life. We cannot have too different views on that. But as we grow older we lose touch with the free spirit or shall I say are made to lose touch with it. We are made to think that whatever the society says or what the scriptures say is the final word for everything.

Let me draw a more lucid parallel here, what happens when someone takes your freedom? Or makes you do things in only a particular fashion which may not be correct? There is an uprising, a revolt a
revolution. The same can be seen in the various religions of today. There have always been gods since the dawn of civilizations, but still the number of religions keeps adding. As of today the count is 4200
but be rest assured that this is not the final figure. Ever pondered why it does not stop? Its like the revolution, whenever the current religion fails to address certain aspects of life. A free spirit would
be there to guide us out of it. And as the time passes people would start considering it THE WAY of living a life.

Nobody sees the context in which the action was taken but everyone sees the worldly figure which delivered it. In the end there are no absolutes in life, its only the context which makes it right or wrong.
In all the religions there are no absolute rules but guiding principles of life. Eventually it’s what the Free Spirit tells us. But we have been fastidious in making rules to be followed or else you are called an atheist. Is this what our GOD (the creator of this world) wanted while making this world? That his creation be punished for listening to his free spirit or worse, to kill his free spirit and live by someone else’s dictates?

 

* http://www.theologicalstudies.org/classicalreligionlist.html  (The Figure mentioned is also an estimate)

India: Cheap Development Destination?

Does history repeat itself? Should we take lessons from the past ? These are  few questions which  pop up in one’s mind. Today, as we can see our GDP is primarily fuelled by the burgeoning service sector, most of which comprises of the BPO operations. Although BPOs have come as a blessing to all the people who were struggling for a decent job despite having degrees like BE, BCOM, BSc, MBBS (the list seems to be ever increasing).But can India solely depend on them?

BPO has not been a new concept to Indians. We have been doing outsourcing work even before it became evident to the masses in US or India. On  2nd June 1995 a company came into existence by the name Lilly Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals. This company was established for research development and manufacturing of generic products; and for development of new products for both the companies (Eli Lilly and Ranbaxy). Ranbaxy was suppose to do most of the initial research part and further development was to be carried out by Eli Lilly. This helped Eli Lilly to transfer the development part of new as well as generic drugs to India resulting in a dramatic decrease of development cost. Eli Lilly knew that the same drug which it produced in US could be developed in India for 1/5 th of the original price.

But when the market for generic drugs became less lucrative it opted out of the joint venture in 1997 despite the fact that the Joint Venture was made for 5 Years It was good that Ranbaxy got out of the Joint Venture(JV) as it had to share 50% profit with Eli Lilly but on the other hand it lost the American market which was the reason they got into the JV. “The Indian researchers did most of the donkey job” as said by Mr Deepak Chattaraj and Eli Lilly reaped the benefits. Soon after that a few other pharma companies setup their R&D labs in India just to leverage the cheap human capital. The same is happening in the IT sector today, in the software development cycle,  where the initial development part is transferred to the Indian companies and the later part is developed by the multinationals themselves. Here again the concept is the same, outsource the initial, human intensive and difficult part to Indian company and leave them in the woods while you reap the benefits later on .   

Although Ranbaxy was able to make a come back in US by setting up its own operations, the company did take time to recover from the shock. But today what happens when we lose out on the BPO projects? Presently we have two prominent threats on the horizon. Firstly, our neighbour China is promoting English language keeping in mind BPO business (it already enjoys a lot of outsourced Japanese business) and secondly, the rising wages of Indian BPO workers. Considering the resent trends, within a few years the wages of Indian software engineers and service staff will be at par with the US wages. Will then the same companies continue to outsource the work to India? The answer is NO. Like any busines outfit, these multinationals are only driven by profit. As soon as the Indian operation become expensive or a cheaper destination props up, the business will be shifted within no time.What is the way out then?

Well this certainly doesn’t mean that we stop doing the BPO business. We should continue doing this business till we can but we should keep in mind that this is just a stepping stone for all of us. People working in KPO should master their processes so that even if the processes are shifted, we can start our own business. It should be used as a spring board to get into the global market. We can take the example of China in this case. It started with the outsourced manufacturing work for US based companies but now it has started its own manufacturing, we can see Chinese goods all around us. They intend to do the same with the BPO operations also. Learn and start with your own work.

India can do the same. It has no dearth of talent. Every year we have thousands of BE ’s and MBA’s churning out of  colleges. We should use the money form these BPO operations and invest in R&D, higher education and manufacturing capabilities. As Alvin Toffler had said this is the third wave. I further qualify it by saying that this is the wave of service industry. But just like the other waves, even this wave is not going to last for long. In fact the next wave will come much sooner than we can think. And we have to be prepared for it. People in US who are still unemployed are the ones who have either not upgraded themselves with new skills or who could not adapt to change.

As mentioned earlier we need to invest in higher education, people should continuously develop new skills. So that they don’t become obsolete. Our colleges should collaborate with the industry for R&D. Most of the engineering students hardly have any practical knowledge. Besides the ivy colleges like the IIT’s and IIM’s, there is no industry interaction. We need to follow the US education system for this. There the real research is not done by companies behind closed doors but in the colleges and universities labs. This is the reason why we are so dependent on other countries technologically. Ironically its mostly the Indians who develop the technology, but in some other country where they get better facilities.

Ranbaxy is a good example of a truly competitive Indian MNC. What India  needs is more of entrepreneurs like Dr Singh who can not only plan ahead of time but also beat other MNC’s in their own game. It started as an importer of drugs and has risen to this level. There are other examples like Dr Reddy labs which are on the same path. But is that the best we can do? A handful of companies who have the guts to beat MNC’s. Are we going to take lessons from our past and see ahead of this service sector Boom? Or are we going to learn the hard way? Only the future holds the answers to these questions but we can at least work towards a better India.

 

You and I

We started with something we didn’t know,
Days turned to weeks and weeks to month,
Something still we did not know.

Love it was we realised one day,
We grew with it till year to day,
With all our tiffs we played till today,

We went to places and loved the time,
It seemed so perfect with you and I,

As life took and turn,
I became someone,
A person whom you want to be concerned,

Friends is what you want it to be,
Like rain out of sky, where clouds can’t be seen!!
How can I help you and I?
When love it is, which you can’t deny.

Don’t know what to say,
As this was meant to be,
But Friends we are not, which I am being forced to be.

Life and Love are big words to say,
As God has his plan in every way,
Let’s see it together, what’s in for us as in God we both trust.

But don’t call it Friendship,
To ease your pain,
As LOVE it is, without any claim.

I Luv theè

I luv thee like no tomorrow will come,
like the sun wuldnt go down and the moon would never show.

I luv thee like the falling rain,
like da stars dat shine with a glowing veil.

Where ever you might be i’ll luv you the same,
thru da passin yrs this wudt change.

And if i die wid you not in sight,
i hope to met you in my next life.
Where men live forever gay n fine,
you wil be the one i always call MINE.

Cold Winter

As the cold winter sets in the heart,

In the midst of the fog I have lost my path,

The way which wise men suggest,

Has left me sore and perplexed.

Today as I look back in Time,

Life was perfect and it was mine,

But in this big city, full of light,

My heart is dull and balked of life.

Struck by the wrath of destiny,

Tormented by complication in relations,

Here I stand all alone,

In the jungle of human emotions.

Now the cold has settled in the Soul,

Killing the desire to find the road,

The journey embarked may never come to an end,

With the cold chilling winter settling in………

Hope

Walking on to the sand we walked together.

Looking at the places we sat together,

Thinking about the time we spent together,

Dreaming bout the dreams in which you were there forever,

Now the things have changed,

like you and me,

wondering where its leading to

not to the same path is what i feel

Hoping against hope which il never leave……….

In and around Calcutta through my Nokia 6600 (Part III-Digha)

Digha is around 163 Km from Calcutta, it is a commercial beach just like Juhu is in mumbai.For going to Digha you can take a bus from Esplanade or like us pick ur bike and hit Mumbai highway The roads are gud atleast when we went there ). Best time woud be to reach there before sunrise. This is the view of Digha through my cam lens . There is another beach called Bokhali near Calcutta but thats a diff post ……

Clicked During the last few days in Calcutta View of the New Digha beach This was clicked when i came to Digha for the first time

 

 

In and around Calcutta through my Nokia 6600 (Part II-Vidyasagar Setu )

Vidyasagar setu is the place which was frequented by me and my group the most.Besides being an amazing architectural structure the view from here is absolutely mesimerising. It a place where u can go alone when feeling low,with friends too when u wanna just freak out or probably just wanna get drenched in the rain (my fav). There are innumerable stories attached with setu will need a whole blog for that .nywyas these are few pics which i like

The above two pics were clicked in the last sem during 4th Sem Exams

The above two pics were clicked during a gedi on setu (makes me go down the memory lane)

Some Dry Facts bout Vidyasaar setu:
The modern cable stayed bridge known as Vidyasagar Setu lies across Hoogly offering a panoramic view of the skyline of Calcutta. This impressive bridge provides an alternative to the Howrah Bridge. The Vidyasagar Setu, better known locally as the second Hoogly Bridge, stands on the river Hoogly. Located 2 kms. to the south of the Howrah Bridge, it was built to reduce vehicular pressure from the latter. The construction work took 22 years and cost Rs. 3.88 billion and finally it was opened to traffic officially on 10th October 1992. The Setu is Asia’s longest and the world’s third largest cable-stayed bridge. Supported by 121 wire cables, it is 457 m. long and 115 m. wide. This graceful structure stands on four pylons, on a foundation that is 100 m. deep. It affords a panoramic view of the Calcutta skyline. The Vidyasagar Setu or the second Hoogly Bridge spans over the Hoogly River linking Calcutta to its twin city of Howrah and on to Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. This is a toll bridge and gives a fast connection from downtown Calcutta to the Botanical Gardens (which has the world’s biggest banyan tree) and the Bengal Engineering College.

In and around Calcutta through my Nokia 6600 (Part I-Victorial Memorial)

Through this post i’d like you all to see the places which i saw during my stay in West Bengal.These were clicked through my Nokia 6600 (picture quality might nt be that great).

VICTORIA MEMORIAL (First Place anyone will suggest you to go in Calcutta):

The structure was designed by Sir William Emerson in an architectural style similar to Taj Mahal. Earlier he was asked to design the building in the Italian Renaissance style. But as Emerson was against the exclusive use of European styles, he incorporated Mughal elements. Vincent Esch was the superintending architect. Lord Redesdale and Sir David Prain designed the gardens. The work of construction was entrusted to Messrs Martin & Co. of Calcutta.

It was built between 1906 and 1921. It is a majestic white marble building at the southern end of the Maidan and surrounded by a sprawling garden. A black bronze angel known as Victory, holding a bugle in her hand was placed at the apex of the dome above the Memorial. It is fixed to its pedestal with ball bearings and rotates when the wind is strong enough. Unlike many other monuments of British Imperialism in India, it has been well maintained.

This was clicked at nite (no points for guessing that ) )

Front view of Victoria Memorial

This is what you woud see from the back of victoria memorial (first floor)

Faust By Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe

“Faust” its written by “Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe”. It is one of the most acclaimed work of Goethe and one of the most eminent works in German literature. Faust is written in two parts Part I is in the form of poem 4612 lines long.

The story starts with the devil making a bet with God that he can deflect his (i.e Gods) favorite human from the righteous path. Later on Mephistopheles (devil) makes a wager with Faust : Mephistopheles will do everything that Faust wants while he’s on earth. If during that time, Faust is pleased with anything the devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever, he will do the devil’s bidding in hell. Rest is for you all to read this is the basic setting of the plot Following are the Quotes which I liked::

1)
One meets by accident, emotes and linger,
And by and by one is entangled,
One’s bill increases, then one is in trouble;
One’s rapture grows, then follows grief and pain.

2)
I have studied philosophy,,
The law as well as medicine,
And to my sorrow, theology;
Studied them well with ardent zeal,
Yet here I am, a wretched fool,
No wiser than I was before.

3)
We bow in reverence to him above,
The Lord instructs and helps the helper.

4)
Why must the stream run dry so soon
And I be parched and thirsty once again?

5)
I am too old for mere amusement
And still too young to be without desire.

6)
I don’t know everything, but I am aware of much

7)
From this earth springs all my joys;
It’s the sun that shines on all my sorrows.
Once I must take my leave of them,
Then come what may, it is of no concern.

Precisely where no thought is present
A word appears in proper time.
Words are priceless in an argument.
Words are building stones of systems.
It’s splendid to believe in words;
From words you cannot rob a singe letter.

9)
My peace is gone,
My heart is sore;
I’ll find it never
And nevermore.

To be without him
Is like the grave;
The sweet world all
Is turned to gall