A salute to Major D. Raghuraman and Major Vinay

Very few of you would have heard of Major D. Raghuraman and Major Vinay. I hadn't - till today morning. And when I read the news I said to myself "How many more?".

Major D. Raghuraman from Delhi and Major Vinay from Hyderabad died in the line of duty while fighting the terrorists in North Kashmir. Major Raghuraman would have been a proud father in just 2 more months. Major Vinay was to get married this month.

I thought about how the TV channels and newspapers went crazy over India's winning the Twenty20 World cup. Don't get me wrong - I was proud too. But I think the media overdid it.

Why doesn't the media cover the sacrifices that our soldiers make day in day out at the borders so that some crazy good-for-nothing terrorists don't get an upper hand?

Why doesn't common man like you and me say aloud that rather than covering the "Breaking News" of some political parties tangled up in their sick "power-sharing" arrangement, tell us about these soldiers because of whom we can sleep soundly at night?

When are we going to stand up for what is good and noble?

I understand that the armed forces do have their code of conduct and for reasons of their own they might not want all the details published. But I also believe that we owe a lot to these soldiers who give the most precious thing that a country can ever demand from them - their life!
We have to show that we care.....

So here is an attempt to show that I do. A salute to Major D. Raghuraman and Major Vinay!

One night @ the call center

I recently finished reading this book by Chetan Bhagat and just loved it! I highly recommend it to all - those who love to spend time with books and even those for whom the word "reading" is synonymos with "sleeping" :-)

I was fishing about in the library for some book other than mystery, adventure or biography when I chanced upon this one. I had read an earlier book by Chetan Bhagat - Five Point Someone. So I picked it up and turned it over to read the synopsis on the back cover. The sentences "It was the night they got a phone call. That phone call was from God" and "Are you ready to take the Call?" got my attention and I checked the book out.

I can say that I finished the book in 2 sittings. It took 2 because unfortunately I had to go to the office :-)

I don't want to spoil the fun for those of you haven't read the book so I won't reveal the story line. But I would like to say that I just loved the character of Vroom - and yes, the name too. I agreed wholeheartedly with him when he talked about how just when life seems all happiness and security it can pull the rug right out from under your feet. What was that line Amitabh Bachhan had sung in "Muqaddar ka Sikandar"?

Jindagi toh bewafa hai, ek din thukarayegi
Maut mehbooba hai apane saath lekar jaayegi

Life practices this deception not only at the end but at many points in between too. The sooner we learn, the better....

I also said "Atta Boy Vroom" when he said that even though India is poor he couldn't stop loving it. My "grammatical" antenne was screaming at me - "countries are referred to as 'she' - not as 'it' " but I ignored it for once. Vroom said it for me when he said "It is mine".

I have read many articles about the BPO industry but this book opened my eyes to a wholly different side of it. Ok, the trick used to jack up the call volumes to save the call center seemed rather childish but it was funny too :-)

And Vroom asked the question that nags many of us - across different industries, in different job profiles - in our (increasingly rare) moments of peace - are we doing anything concrete to build the India of our dreams?

The car for the masses

Everyone is going ga-ga over the "One Lakh" car that the Tatas are going to bring to India's masses.

I don't know about any other metro in India but as far as Mumbai goes, the Tatas would do well to give wide stretches of pot-hole-free roads and parking slots free with the purchase of this car!

The Gandhian Pledge

On the occassion of 2nd October, here's the India of Gandhiji's dreams.........

I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country,
In whose making they have an effective voice,
An India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people;
An India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony.

There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability,
Or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs.

Women will enjoy the same rights as men.
We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world.

This is the India of my dreams.

--- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi