Thought for the day

There is little difference in people...but that little difference makes a big difference!

The little difference is "Attitude"... and the big difference is whether it is positive or negative!

For whom the bell tolls

Amid the discussions on who should have been (and haven’t been) awarded Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan, one incident went fairly unnoticed save a few news channels and a mention in TOI.

28-year-old Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary who was awarded the Sena medal for gallantry, on Republic Day, died a day after fighting Ulfa terrorists in Assam's Tinsukia district. Those of you who still care might want to read about this Shaheed at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Day_after_Sena_medal_officer_dies_fighting_Ulfa/articleshow/2735951.cms

As John Donne said, "Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee."

Jodha Akbar ki hai kaun?

I am guilty as charged for dozing off in some of my geometry classes but history was my favorite subject. And I do clearly remember learning that Jodhabai was Akbar’s wife. I also remember Prithviraj Kapoor (playing Akbar) shouting “shekhu” to a wooden-faced Dilip Kumar (playing Salim) and a distraught Durga Khote (playing Jodhabai) in “Mughal-e-azam”.

So, Jodhabai was Akbar’s wife, right? Right? Wrong - if the Rajput community of Rajasthan is to be believed (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Rajputs_threaten_to_boycott_Jodhaa/articleshow/2742124.cms)

According to the community, Jodhabai was the daughter of Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar and was married to Akbar's son Salim alias Jehangir. And Mughal king Shahjahan was her son. Oh boy!

I want my History teacher! :-)

The kangaroos are hopping mad!

There are some people who think before they speak, some who think after they speak and then some who don’t think either before or after they speak. Read what Australian governor general Michael Jeffery, the British queen's representative in Australia, has to say about the recent outcome of the whole Harbhajan singh-Symonds issue:

"While we should be playing the game tough and hard and all of that sort of thing, I think there's also a need to really take care of the fundamental courtesies and good manners”.

And decide which category he belongs to.

As for me, I will give him benefit of doubt and assume that he isn’t referring to the Indians because if anyone lacks basic courtesies and manners it’s “Picky Ranting” and his thugs.

It’s funny the way the Australian media is ranting about India wielding power and “money talking”. They are making it sound as if it was Indian team’s fault that they decided not to put up with whatever “monkey” tricks the Aussies and the so-called umpires were upto. Or are they frustrated that their team couldn’t break the record of “16 straight wins”? That they won the series by a narrow 2-1 with the caveat that the result could have been easily different if it were not for the controversial decisions by Buckner?

I don’t know whether the Australian team is the best in the world. But I know that they are the worst losers. And that doesn’t put any sheen on their wins.

So though the kangaroos are hopping mad the Indian tigers shouldn’t care.

Sar pe laal topi rusi

I am reading "The Arctic Event" by James Cobb and Robert Ludlum these days. The discovery of a WW2 era Soviet plane with a cache of Anthrax on board in the frozen wastelands of the Arctic! Fortunately the book is living upto its promise. :-)

It's bashing-the-Russians as usual. And I am kind of sad at that. I neither have any personal Russian friends nor have I ever been to Russia. But I have heard that the former USSR was a friend of India. I remember that though I had read about the late Raj Kapoor's movies being famous there once upon a time, I was kind of taken aback when a guy with Soviet roots in one of my earlier jobs had mentioned watching those movies as a kid. :-)

I don't have a red hat on my head as the song "Mera joota hai jaapaani" claims but it's odd that this "Dil Hindustani" should feel sad about the Russians being portrayed as the bad guys.

What's the criteria for Padma Shri or Padma Vibhushan?

I must admit, though rather sheepishly, that all through these years I have never bothered to check just what the criteria are for Padma Shri or Padma Vibhushan. But this year I want to check them out.

The reason is that some of the names in the list of awardees didn't make sense to me. e.g. Madhuri Dixit's. It would have made sense if she had acted in a lot of meaningful movies or had made significant contribution to classical dance (she is a dancer, isn't she?). But how acting majorly in commercial run-of-the-mill potboilers has qualified her for Padma Shri is simply beyond me.

So, now about the Padma Shri or Padma Vibhushan criteria.....can someone please direct me to the appropriate web site? :-)

Indian School of Business (ISB) ranked 20 by FT

I am very happy. My Alma Mater, the Indian School of Business (ISB) has been ranked at 20 in the latest list of the 100 top Global MBAs in the world released by The Financial Times.

Three cheers for ISB! :-)