JUSt ImaGine!

A CEO mounted on a horse, the Prime minister on an Elephant, and a common man back on cycles!

Automobile manufacturers shutters down,petrol bunks deserted, cycle industry reviving,small and cotton industry flourishing!

Mobile towers searching for network, agriculture space used for apartments,farming and cultivation done on roof top gardens,

vegetables dearer,pay cheque miniscule,ciggarettes cheaper,hard drinks available for all,water taxed and priced!

house rents 6 digits,land prices reserved for the rich, richie rich living sky high,commoners living on pavements!

THINKING WHAT ALL THIS IS ABOUT?

DONT THINK....THIS WILL BE INDIA,GEN-NEXT!

Act now,Talk later!

Doctors - monetarily yours!

Sometimes ago I suffered Chicken Pox and even though I understood the indications of what was to come, I decided to take a doctor’s advice and so I walked to my doctor. It was the same doctor and the same clinic which I had been visiting since last 20 years for some reason or the other. The atmosphere was different then, its different now.

Then, the clinic was almost nonexistent, or it was being brought to life. Every time I visited him, almost every quarter I could see the changes-infrastructure wise and at personal level also,the Doc was a changed man. The focus had shifted more on the ATM and check book pages than the health of the ailing patients.

However,the footsteps did not decline. Today enter the clinic and you could sense the change. upgraded technology,reception counter, attendants, outdoor ward with ready to help doctors and a lot more but I pause and look at it- the Charges. They are way beyond what a private doctor would be charging or you would desire to shell out.

Check out this example: I went to the outdoor counter and told my problem of rashes and fever frequency and he directed me to the appropriate doctor. I had to go through the toll gate of payment first and then only would the Doctor would check or else,I would not be getting access to the God Father! I shelled out Rs.100 ( the fee varies from Doctor to Doctor as per specialization) and she tapped the keyboard and gave the command ctrl+p for a print....a paper appeared with the clinic's name emblazoned on the top with the name of the Doctor and his specialization on the other side of the sheet and with the name of the patient below it- the rest was left blank for the Doctor to be filled up after diagnosis. I took the sheet and handed over the hundred bucks to her and walked in the crowd of patients-unity in diversity it was, as there were chambers four or five and outside, on the corridor was a bee hive, of patients old and young waiting to be tested upon and sucked out financially.

I sat and watched the footsteps-some ran, some were being wheeled in, in frail conditions, some were pretty and I failed to see why they were there, some faces worried as if Hercules had designated them to hold the globe for some time, some rushed in and out of the rooms, presumably the attendants as if they were on a surgery mode, wails of children and shouts of the impatient relatives of the patients, sirens and ring tones of new movies on branded mobile sets( the posters read-switch off your mobiles...who cares????) ............

Finally my turn came and i went in with my college back pack. I sat on the steel round stool for the patients or rather the victim of the prey and started to pour my woes when the door suddenly opened to let 4 men in, unclean for their looks and unfit to be patients. The Doctor, holding my wrist ready to read my pulse greeted them with a grin and the business talk started. It was all about the elevator to be repaired and the payments to be made....all with a patient awaiting the doctors diagnosis!!!!

He continued his routine work without looking at me or listening to what I had to tell him-he kept his attention to the engineers who were speaking with a Bengali accent and then scribbled some medicines which even a pharma guy in a medical store would tell you for free. I gave a disgusting glance at him and moved ahead for the next level.

I went into the chamber only to be asked "have you made a bill for the test?"

The next moment,I walked to the counter and asked him to bill for the blood test.."Rs.300" he said. I looked at him surprised as to ask him what was the test all about and why did it cost so much?? no issues,I thought and asked him,"do you accept card payments?" to which he chirped "only cash". it meant no ATM to withdraw nearby....an ATM existed 1.5 km away from the location and I didnot want to bother myself shelling out Rs.300 for a disease which my mother would predict without a MBBS degree. "ok,cancel it." I told him and walked out.

Business it means. It never needs a blood test to confirm whether you are suffering from Chicken Pox or not,because indications are enough to tell what it is. My curiosity to get it confirmed from a certified person cost me hundred bucks and would have cost me a fortune had I gone ahead with the blood test that Doc scribbled in the prescription (worthless it was,I could say!) . All I think of even today after so many days is that has the profession of healing the suffering become a business in its own standards?? How much do they loot from the patients every day to build a hospital well equipped with AC rooms fitted with TV and cushioned beds for attenders to the patients? Are people making a fool of themselves as well or are they ignorant to the magic wand of money swindling the Doctors posses?

Both, I would say. One cannot commit mistakes if not tempted to do so.

I learnt a lesson. Won’t be going to the Doctors for some illness I can predict and take precautions...leave the Doctors for to treat you for a big ailment.

Wanna be a money maker??? Study it.

the next big money maker: educational pursuits!

Sorry if it hurts any ones sentiments....what ever has been written in the blog is out of personal experience not once but many times....

Thanks

Mumbai- of Bhai's and Power mongers or INDIANS?

Mumbai. A City of pride. A Business Hub. A gala for Stars. A haven for goondaism, a breeding ground for internal terror and external greed. A city transforming into Taliban of India! Yes. We,the people of India,should be proud to take a note that we have allowed a greater ounce of Taliban-ism to creep into our Democratic,Republic,Socialist country which once boasted of unity in diversity and which always talks of the Mumbai as a city of happenings-locally and internationally.

Sad but true, since some years,Mumbai is no more a part of Independent India,not at all. There is a very big reason for me to say this- Indians are the same where ever they live,what ever language they speak but in Mumbai,its a lost world. YOU HAVE TO BE A MARATHI TO BE A MUMBAIKAR! Thats what some thousands of people out of a population of some millions in Mumbai say and they hold ransom the whole city!!!!

The Government is dumb- spare some media warnings which it gives to the nonsense doers,it does nothing. Its absolutely paralyzed to the core and perfectly defunct. Its almost like a British Raj -II,being re run with some modifications. The Britishers role being taken over by the so called Marathi Patriots who are in truth the Vandals who have no other developmental activity to do than break a jaw or a windscreen or tear some posters and go on a dharana or at best,create road blocks which would disrupt the traffic flow for hours- not a problem what happens! this shall continue till the accused apologizes for no wrong done and till the objectionable item(poster/statement/scene etc.) which is objectionable to the sentiments of the Marathi's ( dont know how many would have been raising their voice though apart from the well nurtured hoodlums who are ready to create such ruckus as would flash them on media channels and disturb the integrity of the Nation as such!!!!).

The painful part of the story is that while these bunch of brutes do continue to dominate the will of the citizens and are in a way taking away their rights which the constitution has granted them,why are they still dumb and not protesting?? is it that they are accepting the unreasonable growls of the Tigers and have decided to live with their atrocities? or is it that there is no one to support their views like the sole fighter- Shah Rukh Khan who is facing the Chin Music for taking Pakistan's side for the IPL season 3?

Any takers for the genuine fighters? Will ever this Thackeray rule of domination end which in the name of Marathi protection is creating unnecessary disturbance and a loss to the ex chequer of the state and the country as well??

When will it end? Who will end it?

HUNNAR HAI ,TO WINNER HAI!

The recently concluded reality show- India's got talent is not only a show but an eye opener in a sense that we can realise the inner potential in us and not simply try to live a life of a herd! Kudos to the creativity brought in by the participants and hats off to the organisers of the show,including the judges and the people who have been watching it since the days of audition. Like Prince Dance group from Orissa who have made it to the universal world of fame with hard work and loads of creativity, we too can do the same!

Coming straight to the point I have one thing to say- we need to open up our minds and think different from what the herd thinks!

Since a long time,we have been supressing our inner strength and have been consistently trying to bring out the talent for which we may have never existed! Just take a look at the number of the educational institutions mushrooming in our country and also at the craze with which children and parents and guardians and counsellors alike are making efforts to fit into the best degree college,management school or technical institutions for the sake of earning a degree which perhaps may leave them wandering for a job of their choice ,their whole life!

Thats what we have been doing all life- dreaming of somehting which is common to all! I want to be an engineeer,I want to be a manager in one of the best companies in the world....blah!blah! How deep have we been thinking about our career? We start deciding about our career based on some expectations from all the quarters thus,burying our own interests for ever or till the time we retire and start counselling our own off springs!

We say recession is eating into our careers,thus leaving no scope for the future interested candidates to get jobs in the disciplines followed by hundreds in herds! not so thought about are the options or alternatives if the career goal of their life is not attained.

how many of us did think about the games in which we were good in our childhood and did sacrifice it for the career either they did chose out of impulse,force or competition from the peers?

Think about the success percentage of the students who have attained quality education and have contributed quality value additions to others? very few or a fraction of the total getting admission into different institutions!

Let me cut short and conclude with a sentence:
India has got talent - leave apart the academics and India is culturally rich in talent which no other country can take away from us,its India by Patent and design! Why not relive our culture and promote them as professions,thus rooting out recession and gloom of unemployment for ever???


JAAGO INDIA JAAGO!

Mumbai meri jaan..

The first time I went there was to appear for NSE certification exam which I flunked but saw what the high skiers in Mumbai were. That day I went to BKC-Bandra Kurla complex.

When the abbreviation ended in “complex”, I presumed it to be a building but what I came across was not a building but, an array of buildings! Woo!!!! I became breathless for a while looking at those titanic size concrete beauties. At best I had seen them on screen, either in TV or in movies but this was the first time I saw them –standing in mid of the glaomorous buildings!! Walking down the roads not asphalted but cemented, I reached the venue for the exam- NSE. There is nothing to boast about the exam which I could not get through, but have a lot to talk about the first day in Mumbai.

After the exam was over I made my way out to the station nearby. Nearby the station, I thought it would be better boarding a bus- a double Decker which again I had seen in movies when I was a child. However I dropped the idea when I came to know it would be way round by bus and better a journey by train-local trains! Once again it reminded me the scenes which I would see day in and day out in TV serials and movies…. Thousands rushing in and out, running hurriedly to catch a foothold of the ever moving trains which seemed to stop only for a micro second.

I took my ticket at Mahalaxmi and waited for the local to come. Meanwhile I ordered a tea and by the time I started sipping it, the train arrived and in a rush I had to leave it half and chance a comfort standing inside. I observed that I did not board rather the waves of people who were boarding had put me up in one of the bogies-great! It was not a compartment to sit but a luggage van where in I was accompanied by some fisher men, milk men, local masons,dabba wala’s and some old people talking in Marathi. I decided to stand on the foot hold so that I don’t get lost in the crowd and go Sholapur instead of Pune!

On the way there were tunnels and some wonderful scenic beauties of the hills of Khandala and deep gorges which had a blanket of greenery camouflaging the dangerous depths of the gorges that lay below them.

That was the first hand experience of being in a local train in Mumbai as a management student.

The second time was different.
Now I was no more a student but a relationship manager with a reputed company. I boarded a taxi after getting down some where I don’t recollect and went straight to hotel Rang Sharda where our stay and induction program were to be conducted. The hotel overlooked a very majestic building which till sometime I did not know was the famous “Leelavati hospital”. On the other hand it was the river which gave a wonderful view of the Mumbai on the other side of the waters
.
The training started the next day. 20th was the day for all the new joinees to “break the ice”. Some were known faces and the rest needed introduction. In the evening, I went out with our batch mates to Juhu beach, yet another tourist attraction. It was one of the worst beaches I had ever seen. Compared to the beach at Puri in Orissa and the one in Chennai, this one was as if the whole city had its garbage dumping being done here.

Life goes like that-no problem for the couple which was very romantically involved at the backdrop of a setting sun or for the children who were enjoying playing cricket on the beach side. Walking a few steps ahead we all came across the chat, bhel puri, vada pav and Pani Puri centre at Chowpati. Very famous again and mouth watering too.

From there we walked a few miles before we stopped in front of a very big iron gate which seemed to me like the gate of central jail which I see very often in the old Hindi movies. It was the mansion of the Bollywood heart throb Shah Rukh Khan, named Mannat! I and my friend sat on the rocks outside, which overlooked the beach looking at the gates hoping that a car would zoom out and that we could catch a glimpse of him or may be Gauri khan, his better half! Nay!

That street housed many other film stars but none were as appealing as his. Well where was the millionaire of ADAG staying?

The week long induction program was wonderful and on the last day we were all given the details of who we were to report and the locations. I expected it either to be in Mumbai/Pune/Bhubaneshwar but, it was a googly for me-Hyderabad!

my love for u

The drowning sun behind the waves


and with the beauty on the shore-


a couple of romantic imaginations


which my thoughts always adore


I walk with a smile on lips


and memories of moments spent with you...

The music permeates through the doors


I close them not to shut the sounds.


It plays in your heart too,lend an ear-


IT expresses my love for you dear!

passion

the alexander within could never rise
with the coward thoughts of defeat.
the passions thus,should surprise
the impassionate of the fleet!
let em taste the sword slits
let em learn to cover the pits
which the unaware left unmasked.
thus,into the fort they sneaked
and away with victory they marched.
To awaken the sleeping crowd
they pass,with the victory song aloud....