A Great Appraisal!A salute to Vikrant Singh 2k2118

It’s the time when most of us (the 2k6 pass-outs) completed one year in the corporate world. Though I’ve been a non-corporate employee in a friendly govt sector firm, most of my friends are reeling under severe work-pressure, time schedules and strict deadlines. Oh! Did I just tell about the hard side? My apologies! They are being paid much more than, as a few under alcohol confess, they work for. And this is the celebration period since it’s the time of annual increments and bonuses. Though the recent rupee surge has affected the returns, its much more than the Rs. 275 hike in salary that Govt of India bestows upon me. Well I m not writing to cry out my vows here on this page but I am trying to honor a friend (this is the only way I can do it now) by telling you all what he has achieved.

He has got a special appraisal, an appraisal worth a lifetime! Ah, so u guessed it? Nah. He has not been promoted, nor being sent to an off shore client on eye rolling green salary. I am sure none of you would get it right and I must tell you before over-spicing to the extent of tastelessness.

Gentleman Cadet Vikrant Singh as he is now, has broken the barriers of Ctrl C, Ctrl V development teams, murky scripting and testing arenas to join a new battlefield. And this battlefield is going to be real. Absolute real, where there are no logical-syntactical bugs, no foreign clients and no un-necessary coffee vending machines. He has left a high paying comfortable job in an MNC for a different job that demands standard, which speak for them.

Cracking IMA (for those who haven’t yet got it, Indian Military Academy), is not something one can ever compare with getting into IIMs, IITs or the best US university; it is much more than that; and much tougher too. With a majority of engineers blindly running in a ‘cat’ race or craving for a US visa, what Vikrant a.k.a Tau has achieved is something that enlightens the spirit of patriotism, determination, self less ness and self belief. I remember when one of my friends was saying, “ Why do we over hype the army, they lay their life because it’s a part of their duty, like I work till midnight sometimes?” I am ashamed that there was a day when I partly agreed with his line of thought but accepting that ‘job’ itself is courageous enough to be respected, I feel now. Especially Tau leaving a lucrative job for a meager salary, for his lust to serve the nation is not some kind of a cynicism; it is passion for the country. Even sometimes when I boast about my patriotic zeal, I must confess I cant lay my life for the nation. While IT sector promises a lavish life style, (unhealthy) flexible work timings, vacations on Christmas and a holiday on July 4 (not on August 15); a disciplined life, a funeral under the wraps of our own tricolor is what attracted Tau more.

Although his parents wanted him to be an IAS and he was preparing wholeheartedly, but as he told me, being in military means, if someone is detrimental to the nation in your domain, shoot him while an IAS would always be under the command of a foolish and morally bankrupt politician. Of course the defense minister reigns above the armed forces too but at least a soldier’s vicinity is not dirty and rotten. There have only been a few cases of corruption there till now (please don’t spoil the note of this text as you may argue that not all cases are reported).

He got what he wanted to and I just wish he completes his training there successfully and I go to his passing out parade and witness him stepping his ‘Antim Pag’.

By the way Tau will always be Tau, he can anytime pop up with questions like, “Brian Lara lefty hai na?”

which one is better? a beer or a woman?

Beer v/s Women, Which is better
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. A beer is always wet, a woman isn't.
1 point for beer!

2. Beer is horrible when it is hot.
1 point for women!

3. A cold beer satisfies you.
1 point for beer!

4 . If you come back home smelling beer, your wife can get angry at you. If
you come back home smelling women, your wife will get angry for sure and she
might even not talk to you again.
Draw! (It depends on your point of view).

5. 10 beers in a night and then you can't drive. 10 women in one night and
you don't have to drive anywhere!
1 point for women!

6. The older beer is, the better.
1 point for beer!

7. Many beers can make you see UFO's. Many women can make you see God!
1 point for women!

8. If you ask yourself how the next woman will be, you're normal. If you ask
yourself how the next beer will be, you're alcoholic.
1 point for women!

9. For a beer you pay taxes.
1 point for women!

10. If you take a second beer, the first one doesn't get angry.
1 point for beer!

11. You can always be sure that you're the first one "opening" a beer.
1 point for beer!

12. If you shake a beer, after a while it calms down by itself.
1 point for beer!

13. You know exactly how much a beer costs.
1 point for beer!

14. A beer doesn't have a mother.
1 point for beer!

15. You can do it if you want, but beer won't ask you to hug her for half an
hour after.
1 point for beer!

Final Score: Beer beats women. (9 to 6)
If you're a woman and getting angry, think that a beer wouldn't.

Another point for beer! FINAL SCORE: 10 to 6.

not my own creativity but i really liked this one!

my frend BAG

July 5

Last evening I had a chance to talk to one of my college batch mate whom I hve always considered one of the best fellows in my batch albeit his academic life. He could recognize my voice as easily as I could his voice, which reminded me of the rapport we shared sumtime back in the good old days in the hostel rooms of our alma mater.

It is always very heartening talking to him coz he s always happy but the last conversation just left me aghast. He is suffering from a kind of epilepsy, which his doctor says is because of a tapeworm in his brain. I was wondering if Bag ever had a brain but he was damn serious. And he had been in trauma for the past six months with 4 severe attacks. It was literally difficult to hold my ground when I imagined our very own Bag lying on ground vibrating, his teeth tight, limbs clenched, tongue twisted and mouth frothing. But of course I remained calm, or I might have accrued to his agony. He has been instructed not to drive and swim for all of his life, on a heavy dose of drugs to wipe the dead larvae of the tapeworm off his head. He has lost his privacy for someone must accompany him for ablutions too, can’t go to work and his life virtually is certainly out of normalcy. He is no longer a normal man.

I was sad but to my astonishment I gauged a sense of excitement in his voice while he was explaining all the fundas of his version of epilepsy. He was very quick to tell me the formulas of his doses, the name of the medicines, the doctor, hospital and what not associated with his ailment. He, as always, had added his own flavor of humor in what I thought was the end of all happiness! At the end of that chat which we had to cut short because of his very time bound routine, I was thinking about the disease, my friend’s predicament but I had a strange kind of a smile!

As I later explained it to my flat-mate and Bag’s friend, I couldn’t hide my mixed feelings and he also knowing what Bag is, was carrying the same strange kind of smile composed of horror of the disease and love for Bag’s naive sense of humor!

Arjun Singh....get well soon!

The strength of a man isn't in how respected he is at work.
It is in how respected he is at home.

-Anonymous

I read it long time back and I think the self-dignified angel of Indian social reforms Hon’ble union minister for HRD must go through this very truthful adage. The recent spat in his home and his comments about the same quite clearly speculate his credentials as someone who can manage the billion plus human resources of our country.

I agree I am an anti-reservationist and the argument that my hatred towards minister’s policies is making me crib over his personal life might be true. But when someone is a public figure, someone invades our social thought process, someone fuels the splinter of reservations for his personal motives; we have an equal right to discuss his personal life too. His decisions have sparked hatred among the youth, and we are involuntary amenable to his ways because he is a minister serving us, a public servant democratically elected. Then we have the right to bring his character in public too.

To the charges he has been framed upon, he argued that he stays away from family matters. He didn’t attend his grand son’s marriage because he disapproved it. The question is, why you stay aloof of your family matters? If there was harassment under your nose, why didn’t you prick it? If a woman in limited confines of his house can be beaten up for dowry, what right he had to vote for Pratibha Patil? The minister stayed mute because it was his family and he let his family decide what is right or wrong! Then why the hell he doesn’t keep his mouth shut about reservations? Why is he spreading the acrid flavor all over the nation? Let the people decide by themselves if they need any such reservation!

This might sound awry, but such delicate an issue can be solved only through a national referendum. Yes, it means an added burden to our already stooping nation but it is much better to have a nation free from such abashing issues rather than saving a few crores, which we might otherwise spent in implementing all the quotas too.

May be since Mr. Arjun Singh is helping a great cause while being the HRD minister, it’s the duty of those who will be benefited un-necessarily to repay their debt.

May be Col. Bainsla (leader of Gujjar community) can now lead his community to smash a few more public buses, so as to help Mr. Singh in this phase of trauma. The Gujjars’ allegiance to the minister might someday re-pay them in form of their long cherished ST status.

The news item indicting Mr. Singh is available here!

http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20070731/728662.html

Arjun Singh faces dowry case, Uttar Pradesh for CBI probe
New Delhi/Lucknow | July 31, 2007 1:05:11 AM IST

Union Human Resource Development Minister and senior Congress leader Arjun Singh faces a dowry harassment case, registered on a complaint from the father of his granddaughter-in-law, even as the Uttar Pradesh government decided to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Arjun Singh denied here Monday any association with the branch of his family directly implicated by the erstwhile ruler of Narauli Madhvendra Singh. Reacting to the report about the case being registered, he told reporters: "It has nothing to do with me. I stay away from family matters".

Meanwhile, the Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government decided to entrust the probe into the case to CBI.

"Since the matter involves a senior central minister and his immediate family members, the state government has decided to hand over the entire case to the country's premier investigation agency," Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary Javeed Ahmed told reporters in Lucknow Monday evening.

Madhvendra Singh, whose daughter Priyanka had married Arjun Singh's grandson Abhijit Singh, has alleged that the minister and his family members have been demanding a Mercedes car along with a flat in Noida near Delhi as dowry and have even beaten his daughter for not giving in to their demands.He complained to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Chandausi who directed the Moradabad police to register a case of dowry harassment.

The CJM of Moradabad passed orders for the registration of the case July 27. The magistrate directed the police to name Arjun Singh, his wife, his son Abhimanyu Singh, daughter-in-law Beena Singh, sister-in-law Aradhana Singh, grandson Abhijit, brother-in-law Dilip Singh and Dilip's daughter Mandakani Singh as accused in the case.

Moradabad's Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Prakash admitted that the case was registered at the instance of the magistrate.

A new national hero!

There have been innumerous times when the police would deliberately or inadvertently charge an innocent but he is later acquitted by the judiciary. There has been a customary investigation procedure to look out for clues, when someone is charged. And when it comes to acts of terrorism, it is all but natural to peep deep within the family and possessions of the suspect. The traces thus acquired are used to further probe the case and those involved in it.

Thus, it was quite inevitable for the Australian Govt to charge Dr Haneef since his SIM card was found in the house of the Glasgow airport blast accused. The trial was framed and when the attorney failed to prove anything, he was simply let go. It is as simple as that. Of course revoking his visa has proved to be a bone of contention now. But even that can have a very amicable excuse. All those visa applicants must be quite aware of the reality that any criminal association, or even a false FIR can make it cumbersome to obtain a visa on moral grounds. Anyone implicated in the terror attacks in India, even when acquitted, wont be able to get work visa in any of the developed nations especially after 9/11 attacks. Though it is unethical, but when the security matters, it matters above a lot of things.

So what is really extra ordinary about Dr Haneef? Why has there been such a hullabaloo about his case? Why is he being welcomed in the nation as if he has brought our single haul of an Olympic bronze medal? Has he just been back from a space mission or after winning a Nobel Prize for his research in medicine? He hasn’t done anything for the under privileged either! He went to Australia, no doubt, for big money; got implicated for his kin’s deed, won a legal battle and is back. He studied in India and worked for Australians when there already is a shortage of doctors back home! The nation backed him diplomatically so stalwartly that, had we done the same in ’93 Mumbai blasts, we would have been able to extradite probably Dawood or Tiger Memon!

Has any one soldier or even a battalion, any one sportsman or even our cricket team ever been on front page for full 15 days at a stretch in esteemed Indian newspapers? I doubt even Gujarat earthquakes or Tsunami was given such a great media coverage.

I feel may be Dr Haneef was brought to books because of his religion, but I am pretty sure, he has been projected as a national celebrity on the very same rationale. I read yesterday, “ The Muslim doctor on his way back home…” Is it really important that he is a Muslim; what if he had been a Hindu or a Christian? I have serious apprehensions as to he might be felicitated like someone who has brought the homeland laurels just by proving his innocence.

Has he paved the way for all the Muslims who are always stared with uncertainity? “Even a Muslim can be innocent!” or, “Not all Muslims are terrorist!” Is it what media wants to bring into limelight? Or government wants to emphasize its secular credentials that they protected a Muslim?

Well, the conclusions can be invariably varied but for now the doctor’s family is as elated as Tusshar Kapoor would get after a super hit!