Caution: Controversial & Opinionated The Mumbai blasts did not surprise anyone in India – one of the reasons why life continues unabated in Mumbai is that the disruption caused has become a course of life for people. India has probably faced the menace of terrorism longest in the world. Since the occupation of PoK in 1948 till date, 60 years have passed and violence has been regular – not to forget the Naxalite and Bodo movements of the north east which re-emerge every now and then along with the constant pain from the western borders. Below are a few stats on the bombings (For More Details click Here ): Timings of different explosions: Khar 1824 hours Bandra 1824 hours Jogeshwari 1825 hours Mahim 1826 hours Mira Road 1829 hours Matunga 1830 hours Borivali 1835 hour This is the fourth instance of coordinated serial blasts. The first was in June 1985, when some Sikh terrorists placed transistor radio sets filled with small quantities of explosives in different parts of New Delhi. Wh

Alvin Toffler explains in Powershift, how every instrument and system in today’s world ultimately draws its power from the crude muscle power of the barbarian times. For example, a software company enforces software copyrights rules based on contracts which the client signed. The contract is thus the source of power for the software company. The power of the contract comes from the laws which facilitate the contract. The laws are powerful because the government ensures their enforcement through multiple means. And the government itself draws its power from the fact that it can enforce laws on the citizen (and other governments as well). And why CAN the government enforce laws? It is because it commands the military and hence has enough power to use its muscle power against those who raise a voice of dissent against established laws. Every law, every standard and every system in the world is finally dependent upon mere muscle power of the enforcing body for its existence and adherence.

One difference that all Indians observe when landing into the western world is the change in the way people ‘talk’ English. What gets noticed most often is the accent which is slightly curly with the westerners and hard/dry with Asians. This might also lead to a conclusion that the English speak in the same way as the Americans. However, there are a few subtleties in accent and language which you’d observe when you actually interact with these people. I have especially been observing this because: The project that I just finished in India involved working closely with our US counterparts and clients My department in UK is pretty diverse with more than 50% people being non-English – a mix of Americans, Australians, Africans, Chinese and of course Indians. English speaking differs in two ways – accent and the way certain specific words are pronounced. Lets take accent first – Indians talk with most words having an ‘a’ (Hindi letter a) sound to them. Americans talk with an open mouth with

It’s been ages since I updated this place and a lot has happened in the meanwhile – the most important one being my shifting base to the UK for a short-term deputation. In the forthcoming posts, I will try my best to recap my life in the past few months. The snaps that I have been taking will be helpful to complete my narration. I joined office on 27th June! It's in Salisbury Square – East Central London – about 45 minutes by Ferry (across the Thames) from my home which is in Woolwich Royal Arsenal – South East London. KPMG has many offices in London - Canary Wharf, Salisbury Square, Dorset Rise and Puddle dock. Things are as yet quite exciting – I am still getting settled and we are now cooking our own food at home. While roaming around London I got a feeling as if I was roaming around in a model of an ideal city. Everything is too ordered and perfect here – though it isn't as glamorous as we expect – London is an old city and feels quite so. It also brought back memories of t

Some journo went to North Korea, and took some neat looking photographs ... http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82755 But the comments alongside this photos were quite derogatory - he was probably trying to drive home the problems of being a communist country. However, as most Indians would realise - each of these comments could as well apply to India. Some examples (all italicised text is mine) North Koreans are always amazed when they see a white man. Oil is almost inexistant, so most of the labor is manual. Water seems not to be avaliable everywhere when you leave the capital. A woman is washing her clothes in the river. Koreans are not shy when it comes to basic needs, the guide forbid to take pictures of men taking a piss on the middle of the road, but there was no problem when it happened in the capital next to to a monument. During the day the elevator didn't work for 15 mins View from the monument, besides the pretty view you can also see the dead bir

Excerpt from: http://exclusives.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1548748.cms Do you think secular individuals and group will have a different view on such issues? Shahi Imam: Our problem is that we misinterpret secularism. No individual is secular. It is that states that are secular. States must not discriminate one religious community from the other. Thus the Christians and Muslims have the right to protest and request the government to follow equal treatment, to be called secular. Religious matters should be restrained. In the name of creativity, innovation, freedom of speech and thought, one has no right to hurt anyone of another faith. I usually don't agree even a speck with Shahi Imam - but I think I agree with a part of the above statement. Individuals have faiths - hence they cannot be secular in every sense of the word - even Gandhiji went on record to state that -'I prefer Hinduism to other religions'. However, I don't think secularism means not preferring any one f

The most frequented debate nowadays in India is the new reservation law in central government institutions. Casteism as a system has continued since ages in India - and post independence an effort was made to correct the anomaly by offering reservations to backward classes. However, instead of uprooting the problem, the government has ended up systematically recognizing the very caste that it aimed to de-recognize. So during one debate, someone suggested that the only solution to the problem was for everyone to renounce his/her caste so that the very root of the evil is removed. I quote - Lets us give up our caste and second-names/surnames that indicate our castes. Lets pledge that we will not give any castse and surname to our offsprings. Lets appeal it to everyone to display their belief in equality by giving up their caste, surnames and destroying the inequalities that were thrust upon. But I have a different view; in my opinion castiesm is not a system that can be or should be u

"Nikhil is a sanskrit term meaning 'complete' and hence the name of this blog... ....it has nothing to do with my self-perception...nobody can be complete..and definitely not me..." I wrote this text exactly 2 years ago as the first few words on this blog. And the next two years were quite action-packed - Summers, MastishK, Prerana, Ethics Committee, Placements, KPMG, Travelogues .... this blog revolved around all this. I have meanwhile changed a lot - my lifestyle, beliefs, language ... and I have added a lot many friends along the way - Good friends? No. Great friends. Looking back, one realizes how much education and companionship can change the course of one's life. While MBA taught me how to think big - it was friends who helped me cement the belief. It was like curing a cement plaster - the end result has been that my growth path has changed. When I started this blog, I had a plan to start-up an enterprize immediately after my MBA - however small it might b

I frankly don't know what the title means - but have seen it on many a bangaloreans' blog ;-). I wrote quite critically of Bangalore when I first visited the city . I have visited it umpteen times after that and slowly I have started appreciating a more balanced view of the city. The first positive with Bangalore is its a.www.some climate. You especially realize this when you land in here from a wet-and-hot Chennai at 10 P.M. after it has 'just-rained' in Bengaluru. Traffic remains a problem with Bangalore, but finally the much awaited flyover on the Airport road seems to be nearing completion and with the metro rail project at the end of the tunnel - future does seem bright for Bangalore. However, as compared to other cities, Bangalore I think moves very slowly on its infrastructure projects. Then again, Bangalore looks much more impressive than other older metros like Mumbai and Delhi. Firstly, there aren't as many slums; comparing against Mumbai where there are s

It's been another year of life - I turned 25 yesterday. It feels great to acknowledge to yourself on such days that you have a place on earth and in hearts of few people as well. I personally am slightly careless and forgetful person when it comes to my own self ;-) and there have been more than one occasion when I forgot my own birthday. But yesterday was not so, thanks to my parents, relatives and friends who kept reminding me of the occasion since past 2 weeks. And the number of phone calls I received from midnight till midnight made my day. Payal called up from the US, and what was meant to be a 2 minute call to wish me turned out to be a 45 minute chat from Professional Life to Indian Politics. Same was the case when Hemant called up from Geneva - we discussed projects, dreams and more - I felt that I have rolled a few balls in the past 25 years. 'Twas a great feeling to get all expected calls from relatives, friends and acquaintances. To add were the many mails that kept