I tried my hand at some amateur literature - attached is a short story I thought up on my way to home on last Thursday. Do leave your feedback in comments below. You can also download a PDF of the story from here . Thanks to my friends Abhishek , Payal, Shubham , Arijit, Somnath, Milind, Sabyasachi and Ashita for doing the proof reading and providing valuable inputs. The Tree A Short Story by Nikhil Kulkarni Murtaza watched with emptiness inside him as they chopped the massive trunk of the huge banyan into smaller prices to be loaded into the lorry. His thoughts went back to the day 45 years ago when he had moved into Mumbai. 20 years old, newly married he came to Mumbai from his native town Meermirzapur in search of a living. When he had told people in his neighbourhood that he was planning to shift to Mumbai after marriage – everyone laughed him off –“ Wahan kya Hero Banega? Arey bahot bada shehar hai – kaise rahega wahan par ?” [Will you become a movie star there? It’s a

A friends of mine who is in the US, sent me this YouTube link: While this India rising story is fast becoming a cliche, the video nevertheless makes things look quite amazing. And so many Indians abroad seem to be getting more and more sold on the India story. I however believe there's more to it than meets the eye!! :-) The troubles of working (or operating business) in India are quite irking - for example I was stuck for 2 hours today in Ghatkopar - fortunately the habit of having a book in my bag helped me - but imagine the amount of morning productive time I wasted! The stock market which went up and was hailed to stay put even as the US melted under sub-prime, has finally crashed today [ last reported it fell 1300 odd points]. The real estate prices which have been rising in speculation are already falling in smaller cities and while they have stayed put in metros - the whole urban dream seems to be crumbling because of the inability of the governments to be able to suppleme

Its become quite chilly in Mumbai - for the first time in Mumbai I am enjoying 'winters' the way I have known them to be (when I was in Bhopal). Recorded Temperatures in the island city are about 11-13ºC- and especially in Powai they seem to have dropped below 10 ... its a wonderful feeling. And it seems as if Jayant Narlikar's Science fiction which I read in my school days - which predicted snowfall in Mumbai in 2010 - is heading towards materializing. As the McDonald's advert goes - I am lovving it!!

Have you ever been surrounded by a flurry of activities - too busy to even notice that you are out of toothpaste - yet felt lonely and deserted? I keep bumping into this emotion time and again - don't know why! It starts mostly when you are asleep - and suddenly wake up with that feeling of being alone wanting that someone was around to whom you could talk to about the "certain" thing that was bugging you or to simply face another human being. And its not that you don't see faces after waking up - but you simply don't want to share things then. Nothing wrong with these faces, but you think they would never understand - and so your sharing will only aggravate this feeling of being lonely - and you keep mum. One realizes in such times that, after all, each one us has come alone and will go alone from this world - so lets make most of our times while we are here ...

A Very Happy New year to all those who are reading .... 2008 comes along as the stock market soars, the rupee strengthens and people talk all positive about India. It indeed feels good to be in India at times like these, some 3 years after the slogan was raised - India is indeed shining. So in this mood, I allowed myself to fantasize further. We went to the Gateway of India yesterday and I found the place quite clean as compared to my last visit, no pieces of paper thrown away, little dust on the footpath and no horseshit on the streets (due to the Bagghis ). I was surprised - what had happened? I saw a few dustbins around, but people had hardly taken up the habit of using them - they were still throwing stuff on the street. Then what miracle had happened? This was when my eyes fell on the army of cleaners with broomsticks in their hands fervently sweeping the footpath and the roads, and dumping the garbage in dustbins. I immediately recollected that I had found the railway stations

Out of 20 New Year Wish emails that I fired to my former colleagues in the UK (some of whom are now in Australia)- I got "Out of Office" messages from 12 .... the British truly love to be on leave during the festive season .... Something to learn ... to take life easier ... and maintain a work life balance!

There were two articles in the Hindustan Times (Dec 10) which I felt like reacting to. The first one was a very relevant plea for attention towards sensibilities of the disabled . No surprize that that article is written by a Britisher. In India, we have become so used to witnessing misery, poverty and disability that it never strikes our subconscious when disability is used as a comic element in movies. I never felt anything watching the scene in Om Shanti Om which makes fun of a limping character? Some of you may argue that no one is making fun of the disability but rather the character - well I think its a matter of sensibilities. The fact that we find a disabled character funny, clearly signifies we do not feel any pity and definitely no compassion towards the character. I am not surpized, no one in the censor board noticed this as well!! The second article is actually a news item about Maharshtra Knowledge Corp - creating its own version of the Wikipedia. What amazes me is our h

I chanced upon this article on CBSNews website about the generation "born between 1980 and 1995", who are "rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60". While the article has been written from a US society perspective, I somehow felt it applies partially to Millennials in India as well - people of my generation (though talking mostly of middle class fellas here .. not the unprivileged)! Some quotes from the article: The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first. They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is

I have been travelling by train a lot lately and as most people will agree that railways have improved quite a lot in the past few days. The cleanliness has improved, and trains run more timely than earlier. Railway stations are also improving - better facilities are in place (Kiosks, Cyber Cafes, vending machines etc.) and the staff is more 'friendly'. At the same time, the price of railway travel has gone up - even though nominally. In addition to increase in fares, new overheads are been added. For example, now if you book a ticket for a different destination than the location from where you are booking your ticket - you have to pay a surcharge. (Internet booking always had a surcharge). The question is - is the price rise justified in wake of the fact that Railways are the primary mode of transport for the weaker economic sections of the society as well? I think yes. Take the case of railways introducing better toilets - each toilet will cost Rs 60K ($1500) - this appo

I got a nice forward today from Sabya ... the essence is something like this Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy you did. I guarantee it. If you want to read it in full, you can read it here.

My GMail Inbox suddenly seems to have received a lottery in storage space - my Inbox size has suddenly jumped to 3681 MB which till yesterday was hovering around 2900 MB. I tried to figure out as to what happened but all I could Google was a blog post written way back in March which predicted that it would take 5 years for Gmail to reach 3.5 GB ... Anyway, so like a kid who gets a 100 bucks ' bakshish ' from his grandpa - I should start planning as to how I am going to spend the 1/2 GB extra space that I now have (not that I have exhausted my current space, but still). For starters, I will no more bother to delete 'heavy forwards'; then I could restart receiving a lot of email from mailing list where I have set up 'no email' option. To avoid email overload because of this, I will simply filter these emails, make them skip the inbox and have them marked as read. I know what you are asking me now - why the hell receive those emails if you aren't going to read

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोsयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे “What dies is the body, the soul is neither born nor dead” - The Bhagwat Gita This line from the Gita provides succour to many of those who loose their loved ones. One likes to believe the theory – more so because it is from the Gita – the epitome of human experience from over the centuries. But there are times when one wonders about its authenticity – if the soul is indeed all powerful, why does it succumb to the illness of the body? So many physically challenged people find their self-confidence diminished throughout their lives. There are some who are mentally strong - but (1) they are more exceptions than a rule (2) most of them have had to go through rough times before they (re)gain their confidence. One feels even more compelled to question this belief when death comes by. Death – a biological phenomenon; manifestation of the simple fact that just like any other machine, org

Many times I find Taxi drivers in south Mumbai, who are in such a hurry to wade through traffic that they forget to notice that there is a fare waiting on the side of the road. In a hurry to surge ahead in the traffic laden streets of Mumbai – they overlook the little opportunities that stare them in the eye. Aren’t we all too like those Taxi drivers, who just want to go somewhere, without thinking where? In our jobs, we are all running, to outsmart the other, to grab even larger pay checks, to rise faster through the corporate ladder; to buy a bigger house, in a more expensive locality; to buy a car, an newer car, a more expensive one – WHY? Are we all not just running in every direction possible – just faster … speedier … farther – without even knowing if there is a destination out there which we will reach, if there is a reward out there to grab, and even ignoring if there were some rewards on the way – we keep running and see just the road and nothing beyond !! I wonder!

I was trying to hire an auto-rickshaw to an unfrequented place – almost ten rickshaws refused to travel to that place before one agreed. Amused, I asked the driver why he agreed, the answer he gave set me thinking. “Sir, most autowalahs only keep running in a particular direction. They run away from home in the morning, as the day progresses they change their direction towards home. But what each one of them forget is that, our job is to ferry passengers – to travel in a direction which they desire; not to pursue our own agenda. I am ferrying you to the place you want to go now, I will earn my bread by the money you pay – then even if I have to ferry back empty to my home – it will still turn out to be a small profit; never a loss. On the other hand the other rickshaws which refused you will probably have to ferry all the way to their home empty – not earning any fare and burning his fuel anyhow. Very few auto drivers realize this.” There was a lesson for all leaders in the above

Today's Hindustan Times Op-ed has an article by Sujata Anandan around Vidarbha farmer suicides etc. It throws light on how misuse of credit by people compounds the situation created by poor rains and lack of proper irrigation. I quote: My sister spotted a vegetable vendor at the local market who had been defaulting in payment for months. When she swooped on her, the lady brazenly told my sister she had taken the loan not to buy a stall, as stated in her application, but to marry off her daughter. " Mera kaam ho gaya. Muzhe ab zaroorat nahin . (My purpose has been served. I do not need you now)," she said. Most of the money borrowed by farmers goes not into seeds or crop but into paying off their debts to moneylenders, the dowries of daughters or gambling dues... Moneylenders were big business in Andhra Pradesh's villages, too, but then the state government came up with a scheme to settle with those bloodsuckers and banned their return to the villages. Suicide rates

Yesterday evening around 5.45 PM, our department secretary asked everyone in office to assemble for birthday celebrations of a colleague. I was in the middle of something and so was in two-minds whether to join or not. After some seconds of haggling in my own mind, I decided not to go. So with everyone at the celebrations, I was sitting all alone at my desk - feeling hungry I went to the pantry to get some grub. There were no wafers or biscuits left - so reluctantly I got some coffee and came back. And then it happened!! My cellphone rang. In a hurry to pick it up, I spilled the coffee on the table! I immediately moved my laptop aside and ran to collect tissues; but by the time I came back the coffee had spread further and had touched the edges of my laptop. While I was wiping the coffee off the table, my laptop went off, never to start again! Being the end of the day, IT dept could not help me - a replacement could be arranged only today evening. Lesson learnt- a decision made in a sp

IEB has put up two posts [ 1 ] [ 2 ] on increasing divide between the rural and the urban. My own interpretation of it is of the divide between informed and uninformed - either way, there is no denying to the fact that there exists a gap which is further widening with the influx of technology and development. Many a times we debate as to how to reduce the gap, the whole system of communism is based on reducing the inequalities in the society. However, time and again it has been proved that inequalities are bound to occur; a fallout of Darwinism - they can only be reduced but cannot be eliminated. In fact, as the failure of communist system has shown - any attempt to eliminate inequalities leads to lack of motivation in individuals to compete and succeed - thus leading to stagnation of the society at large. Yet, if socialism exists -what does it mean? I interpret socialism as a just system where every human being is guaranteed basic rights and comforts. A socialist society will have in

IEB has a classic post based on Game Theory - explaining how expectations affect results... some quotes: We behave to a large extent on how others expect us to behave. People expect trash on the streets in India. That is they expect others to throw trash. That expectation allows them to feel free to add their own (small amount of) trash. Aggregated over many people over an extended period of time, the trash accumulates as the expectation itself gets reinforced. Eventually you have Singapores and Mumbais. I had once written similarly , though from a different perspective. But the essence was the same - you are what you believe to be - so the essence to success is to raise your mental bar first!

Update: As a fellow blogger Bhopal-e pointed out, I missed the Bhopal buses (literally too, I haven't yet travelled in them). The Star Buses had been introduced in Bhopal before they were introduced in Mumbai. Also, the multicolored (all Web 2.0 colors used!) buses of Bhopal look much better than the mono-colored BEST star buses in Mumbai. Original Post I am in Bhopal - my hometown .. a lot is changing here and this time around the major changes that struck me were: 1. Radio In the past 3 months, Bhopal grew from being a single Radio channel town (FM Vivid Bharti) to a 4 FM Channel town. BIG FM (92.7), My FM (94.3) and Radio Mirchi (98.3) are already here - thats just one channel less than Mumbai! 104 Fever - where are you??? ;-) 2. Roadside Beauty Before you start getting ideas - I am talking about the beautification of road dividers and footpaths. Run along the road from MP Nagar (Ambedkar/ Board Office चौराहा) to New Market / TT Nagar - the dividers and the footpaths have bee

Shubham has posted a philosophical musing titled " Living with purpose ". I myself have reflected on this topic earlier [ 1 ][ 2 ]. However, a very related question is 'What makes you Happy?'. I have pondered peripherally albeit in a different context on this one as well [ 3 ]. At this stage of life where most of my friends are getting settled in life - I am confused. On one side are the tall dreams and ambitions set in childhood and adolescence, on the other are practical aspirations which arise more out of peer interactions than individual thought and on the third side are expectations others have from you. Looking back, till now I have mostly done what pleased my heart whether it was in school, college or MBA. Even in my job I have been fortunate to have got interesting opportunities (though not always :-P). But will following the same path keep me happy - what of expectations of loved ones are not fulfilled? They won't be happy then - in turn I would not be ha