Friday, September 26, 2008

Exam Results are out............

Hurrrayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... MBA exam results are published..... cleared all the final semester papers...... A deep sense of relief now prevails........ uhhhhfffffff!!!!

Click to know your results........

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Exam Results.

It is frustrating......... we had written our final semester exams in June'08 and the results are out for all the streams except MBA. The results are released on 18th Sep 2008 and MBA results are still pending. I have cleared all the papers so far.... the final hurdle.... hope to see the results within this month end.

Pray to god!!!!!

New LPG Connection.

I got a new LPG (Cooking Gas) connection yesterday, 24 Sep 2008 and it was pretty easy in Mumbai. Just registered with HP Gas online, took the print out and went to the dealer with the rental agreement copy, made payment, just like that it was finished. Whereas in Chennai or anywhere in South India most of the LPG dealers follow stringent norms, ask for documents, verify them and when the new connection is approved it will be atleast 7-10 days before the gas cylinder comes to your house.

The only similarity is the complaints with dealers..... It is all the same... Consumers complaining that the cylinder has not arrived even after booking before 10 days back and so on. The dealers are very cool and it's their daily routine to deal with such customers. I cannot imagine sitting at the other side of the desk with the dealer..... every day the phone rings continously for booking and complaints. It's a mad world out over there with the demand and supply not meeting on right terms.

The other hitch in getting the new connection is the purchase of new stove from the dealer. It is written that PURCHASE OF HOT PLATE IS NOT COMPULSORY but as you all would have experienced it IT IS COMPULSORY to purchase the stove or else you are not given immediate connection. I had to pay for the stove although I did not want to. I could have easily fought with HP Gas and avoided the extra payment but still I did not have the courage fearing the future relationship turn sour with the dealer. I believe this is the repeated mistake that we all make in order to keep things smooth and the system take advantage of us.

I think I will fight with HP Gas and find out the root cause. I believe there must be a mafia or group behind this nationwide with the insiders from HP Gas.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Official Oscar Entry - Taare Zameen Par

Aamir does it again... after Lagaan which went for nominations for Oscar in 2001... his directorial debut of the film Taare Zameen Par has been nominated from India for Best Foreign Film Category for the year 2008.

Here is the story

It is one of the closest film to my heart!. Everything is perfect in this film... the plot, the screenplay, the actors, camera, lighting, flow of the story.... a complete movie. If there is someone who does not get emotional at the end of the film.... he/she must be retard. There are so many criticism for and against this film.... in the end whatever the criticism is it touches your heart.

I saw a part of this movie in my cousin's place at Tuticorin who was raving about the film.... I enjoyed the full movie in Chennai and I cried at the scene where Darsheel sees Aamir painted him on the paper at painting competition. One of true defining moments!

I sincerely hope TZP wins the Oscar which is long due for India.

National Language - Hindi... Continued.

After the break....

Government Sense - In terms of government if Hindi had been the official language then everything is clear. There will not be any dispute in understanding by the sender or receiver between govt officials. Look at the central government forms.... everything is in Hindi/English and prominent is Hindi. There is a fear of misunderstanding among South Indians when it comes to filling up of central govt., forms. For example, PF forms, this is one of the important forms which gets rejected because of incomplete information or incorrect information. We are required to consult a broker for filling up the forms who then charges us a small fee. This situation could be avoided if we all had known Hindi.

The Pros of avoiding Hindi by South Indians....

English - Our English is far better than anyone in the world barring the English themselves. Bangalore has made it to a world class city in a short span of one decade simply because of English speaking talent available.

FDI Foreign Direct Investments - The investment from large MNCs pour in South India whereas it is low in North India. Chennai has become the hub for automobile parts manufacturing and Hyundai is one of the large investor.

People Capital - Due to the knowledge of English and technical education, the South Indians are able to travel all around the corners of the world and are able to adapt to the situation. The North Indians hate 'firangis' and I do not criticize them, after all it was the firangis who ruled us for more than 100 years!

Conclusion:
Weighing the pros and cons, the end result is we have lost a unified India. We loved English (myself included), it was like an obsession to learn the foreign language but we forgot that Hindi is our national language. The main agenda of the protestors of anti-Hindi was we would lose the identity as locals and the local language Tamil. If you look at the North Indians, by learning Hindi in their curriculam they have not lost their state identity. Gujarthis are proud of their language, same way goes for Marathis and the Bengalis. Who likes to lose their identity? No one!!!! Infact, we could have adopted the Hindi imposition and still proud to be called as Tamilians or Telugus or Malayalee or Kannadigas. The self-immolation protests in Tamilnadu against the Hindi imposition put a permanent seal on Central Government not to talk on this issue in future.

It is my dream to see a unified India where language is not a barrier to communication or trade. We should be proud to show our face as Indians not as North Indians or South Indians. India, where people speak one language for the world outside but still plural inside.

If I have left something or missed something let me know.

National Language - Hindi.

This thought has been going on for over a 6 months and above. India is seen as North India and South India. South India represents the four states Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala where the majority of citizens do not know Hindi. The rest of India is represented as North India and almost 90% know Hindi ie., read, write and speak. I take 90% since I am not sure of North East states.

In the above comparison you can see that India is basically divided into people who know Hindi and people who do not. Although India constitues 28 states and 7 Union Territories with 21 official languages and with a 1652 dialects the majority speak Hindi. India - Facts

Let us (South Indians) look at what we have lost by opposing to Hindi education when it was made as compulsory language to be taught in schools.

Communication Sense - If the South Indians had opportunity to learn the Hindi language as part of their curriculam from the primary school, I see no communication barrier between a Delhi resident and a Madurai resident, for example. They could have comfortably spoken in Hindi and would have made communication clearer and better. Now, with no Hindi background a South Indian feels deprived that he has no common language between a guy in Mumbai and Chennai. The common language English is used between Indians but that is a foreign language... why should we use a foreign language when Hindi is our own?.

Business Sense - The major major loss is the business or trade. If you look at the textile shops, big as in malls or small as in towns in South India they are owned by North Indians. Why? Simple....The major textile manufacturers are located in Gujarat and other parts of West India. They are primarily Hindi speaking citizens and do not like to work who do not know Hindi. Hence, they come down to South India, setup their own shops in these cities and towns, do brisk business, take profits and invest in their native state.
What happens if our Tamil or Telugu guy had studied Hindi, comfortable with Hindi, communicates well in Hindi the North Indians will not find a place to settle in South India since all the businesses are conducted well by the locals.

Transportation Sense - This can be a subsect of Business sense but I like to discuss in a separate paragraph. Since I am from the transportation industry I can explain a bit. All the truckers in South India except Hyderabad and northern parts of Karnataka will run upto only Bangalore. Bangalore is the main hub for goods that is sent from South India to North India. Why? The same reason... Our drivers are not equipped with a common tool called Hindi. The truck from Punjab or Himachal Pradesh can come upto Bangalore for delivery & pickup of goods but a Kerala or Tamilnadu truck cannot pass Bangalore because lack of Hindi knowledge. South Indian drivers are intimidated or even afraid to go beyond Bangalore.
What if our drivers had some knowledge of Hindi? I am sure drivers would atleast know to read the local language and if they knew some basic Hindi too.... they can go that extra mile. The trucks from South India can criss cross all over India. Does this make sense?

Taking a break for few min...