Jan Gan Man Adhinanayak Jay hai….

 

This blog has been written to propagate a fantastic video made on The National Anthem of our country. It is the best video ever based on our anthem. It’s made by Mudra Communication. The theme of this video is that there is no language of patriotism. There were tears in my eyes when I watched this video. I must have watched it at least 20-30 times since yesterday. It has been beautifully shot and wonderfully executed. If you are a true Indian, then please do watch this video. In fact I strongly believe that this is the anthem that should be played in movie theaters.

 

Corruption…God save India!

God save this country, because none of the departments in this country seems to be free of corruption. IAS, IPS, IRS, politicians, government officers, everyone!!!!!!!!! I mean, what the fuck is going on? I sincerely feel that corruption has become so rampant and integral part of our lives that it’s almost impossible to root out corruption.

I feel that corruption exists because of our impatience. It starts at a very basic level. Suppose if a normal process takes 5 days to happen, we are so impatient that we want it to happen in 3 days. We are ready to pay (read bribe) extra rs.500 so that we don’t have to wait. Out of that Rs.500, Rs.200 goes to the top-most officer, Rs.100 to the one beneath him and so and so forth. You keep bribing Rs. 500 for a few years and then one fine day you are told “saab, mehengai badh gayi hai… petrol, kaandaa,etc ka rate double ho gaya hai..…abhi Rs.1000 lagenge.” You twitch your face and ponder for a few moments. You take out rs.1000 and then your work is done. The greed for money has now increased and now that corrupt officer knows that for that particular work, one is ready to pay rs.1000. So, subsequent ordinary people are asked to bribe Rs. 1000 for the same work that could have been done for rs.500! With time, that bribe keeps increasing and one fine day you realize that you are the one who spoiled the “kids”! But unfortunately there is no returning back to getting your work done for less than Rs.500. The point is that it is we – the ones who want to break the line – who are the reason for corruption. The one who is giving a bribe is more committing a bigger crime than the one who is taking the bribe. A few steps that might reduce corruption:

1) Plan your things properly: It is we who should be more organized so that we don’t have to be in a hurry to get our work done in less than the expected time. Let’s suppose you a kid aged 17 years and 11 months and you are a Car or bike freak. You know that you are going to get a driver’s license in a month’s time. Then for god sakes, start your driving license process a month prior to getting 18 and not JUST a week ago by paying extra (read bribe). Plan your things properly.

2) Don’t jump the queue: everyone who comes to a government office to get work done has the same amount of haste as you do. His work is as important to him as it is to you.

3) Value your money: As I have said earlier too, corruption starts at a very basic level and with a a very small amount. There are tens of departments that you will need to go to to have your work done. Even if you pay at least Rs.200 at every department, then you can safely assume that annually you would be shelling out Rs. 5000 in total. (of course, this is just an approximate). I am sure that you can think of better ways to spend that Rs. 5000.

4) Think about others too:  People who take bribes don’t have hearts. They don’t differentiate much between rich and poor. For example, if you want a telephone connection, chances are high that you won’t be spared because you are not rich. If some rich person has set a standard of bribing Rs.1000 for a connection in 10 days, be sure that you too would be expected to shell out the same amount. So, it’s all about the highest value set by someone for an illegal work to be done! Think about others too!

Needless to say, all above tips are applicable to me too!… Readers, do come up with simple and practical tips…

15 hours at Infosys Pune!

Just to give you a background of why I am talking about infosys pune – In the last month at Mphasis, I had 2 offers in hand – one from Infosys Pune and other from Citiustech Mumbai. Needless to say, the brand name of Infosys lured me to leave aside the more lucrative (in terms of salary in hand) at Citiustech. I had heard a lot about Infosys , the facilities, the swimming pool, badminton, TT, tennis,etc. at Infosys. So, I denied the  offer from Citiustech and went to Pune. I had to join Infosys on 13 december morning 9.00. So, I packed my bags and reached the Infy guest house on 12th december evening 5.30. Just as i reached Infy Pune’s guest house, i started feeling that i did something wrong. I had left my mom alone at home and would have to meet her only at weekends if i chose to stay at infy (the option of taking mom to pune wasn’t as feasible as it seems). Also, i missed Mumbai! kitna bhi traffic, pollution ,etc. ho, mumbai is mumbai! So, i called up the HR of Citiustech and informed her that i would join Citiustech from 15th dec and told the HR of infosys that i wouldnt join Infy the next day!…

The point of writing all this is that there is nothing wrong in changing your decision. I know that many would have thought ki “kya pagal hai ye, decision leneko hi nahi hua”. But, trust me, after this incidence, i dont feel even a bit of hesitance in saying that i did nothing wrong in changing my decision to come back to mumbai. Ultimately, what is important is that you should be happy with your decision. The outcome of a decision has to make you happy. There is no point in being the “one-decision-final-decision” kind of a person. The society looks down upon those who dont stick to their decisions. Circumstances change in no time and the decision that you had taken a day ago can go ‘wrong’. Don’t be shy from changing your decision. This applies to almost everything in life… be it marraige, job, etc. Now that i have taken the example of marriage -  the normal indian tradition is 1) meeting of parents 2) meeting of the boy and girl 3) engagement within no time and 4) marriage… Its very difficult to know a person in the time frame that a couple is allowed before engagement. So, even if either of the couple is hesitant to go ahead with the relationship, due to the societal norms they have to keep their decision intact. They then commit to get married and finally a day comes when the elastic of endurance snaps! and then you realise that you took ‘some’ wrong decision in life. but its too late then! The point here is that if you foresee a problem, then don’t think about what the world says, just go ahead and change your decision. I know that there would be millions who would say “aise to fir kabhi shaadi hi nahi hogi”. But, i feel that living  a life in a bad relationship is far worse than living it alone! Being a Sharhrukh khan fan, i am reminded of his words from the movie “kuch kuch hota hai” - “hum jeete hai ek baar..hum marte bhi hai ek baar… aur shaadi bhi ek hi baar karte hai…”. Atleast i am this kind of a person and that is why i say that if you feel you are stuck with the wrong person, then change the decision of spending your life with that person… you are not OBLIGATED to the society in any damn way! Make a decision that makes you happy!…