Food Security in India

Food security in India is an issue of rising concern with long term consequences affecting the growth of 9%, which we have maintained for the last four years. About 26% of our people live below the poverty line (BPL) today and they don't have enough money to buy essential food items, not even the first meal.

The green revolution gave us food security in the 60's, but today there is a need for another such revolution. The recent Food and Agriculture Organization summit concluded that over 100 million joined the world's hungry and 22 countries are vulnerable to chronic hunger.

Before going ahead, I'd like to emphasize the correct definition of food security. Food security is a situation where a country can meet its domestic food demand while maintaining enough reserves for any eventuality or crisis. Not only the demand of food should be met, it has to be made more affordable.

But why are we suddenly discussing about food security today ? One main reason is the burgeoning population of India. Our present population is about 1.3 billion. Indian can see a surge in the domestic food demand from 168.3 million metric tonnes in 1991 to 343 million metric tonnes in 2020 or maybe even more.

Agriculture and allied sectors contribute nearly 22 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP of India), while about 65-70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.

It is difficult to teach philosophy to man who is desperate to have a handful of rice

Swami Vivekananda

How has growth affected food security ?

India has seen an exponential growth rate in the last few years and has maintained a growth rate of 9 percent over the last four years. When there is growth, which is confined to a few pockets, there is an increase in consumption, but since the production is not growing at the same rate, there needs to be a mechanism to ensure enough food for poor.

More recently agriculture has been under severe stress. Agriculture distress has become so severe a problem that it has been given the top most priority in the eleventh five year plan.

Reliance on Rain

In India around 70% of the cultivated region is rain few and hence weather disturbances directly affect agriculture. Recently appointed by the united nations, the Inter Governmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) gave concrete evidence of the anthropogenic climate change is due to CO2 emissions in the past 100 years in its report on climate change.

This climate change is the reason for the distortion in the rainfall patterns in India. During 2005, Southwest monsoon was not well distributed in time. It was below normal in June, active in July, subdued in August and became active in September over the country.

Effect of rising Oil prices

Oil prices have come down recently, but their increase previously had a direct consequence of the agriculture industry. Prices of fertilizers shot up and created a huge problem for government in terms of a huge subsidy bill that also ensured the adequate supply of fertilizers.

Industrialization and Special Economic Zones

Tata Nano's departure from West Bengal was huge issue and covered all the newspapers of the country. It is essential we create a balance between industrial development and agriculture. In the Tata Nano case, valuable fertile land was give for the purpose of industrialization. The result of the Mamta Banerjee led protests and the leaving of the project mid way caused the fertile land in singur to be wasted. In India, most of the land is uncultivable and hence it is a challenge for both the central and state government to use the power of discretion and also use wisdom while allocatind land.

Biofuels

Biofuels are being seen as the fuels for the next century. Brazil has successful energy model for such biofuels. But it has adversely affected food security. In United States and countries of European Union have started diverting major agriculture lands for the production of corn and other crops that lead to production of ethanol etc. This led to a huge inflationary trend in fuel prices across the globe.

The solution

We need to adopt a broad based approach to get us back in the comfortable position of food security, which we enjoyed in the 60's. Looking at the bog picture we need to build a solid foundation to maintain our food supplies for the next 50 years or so. Areas of production have been decreasing, they need to be increased. We also need implement measures like rain water harvesting, watershed along with improvements in irrigation facilities.

Efforts to increase increase the production of fruits, vegetables and horticultural crops would ensure both food security and adeqaute remuneration for farmers.

To achieve the growth rate of 4% targeted by the National Agriculture Policy 2000,quick implememtation of the swaminathan commision is required.

It is also imperative that we adopt appropriate mitigation measures that would insulate India from the effects of global climate chage.

One of the challenges we face in future is that of food security and to overcome this remains a daunting challenge.

Finally we have to focus on India's primary sector as mentioned by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in this quote.

"Of all things before us, agriculture comes first"

Jawaharlal Nehru

You might possibly like to read

India's energy print : The crunch of energy has led Indian strategists to believe that the only solution to India's power problems is Nuclear Power as a result we signed the Nuclear Deal to import fuel and technology.

Mamta Banerjee back stabs farmers : This is not the first time an Indian politician has done this, but yet another incident of back stabbing the people of the nation. The Mamta Banerjee led agitation was more an effort to capture the vote bank of rural Bengal.

Tata Nano moves to Gujarat : Tata Nano's mother plant will finally move out to Sanand in Gujarat. The Modi government has handed over 1050 acres of land to Tata Motors and according to the press conference. The land will be sold at the market price.

Diwali Fireworks : A display of illiteracy : illiteracy in India is not something new to us. If you look closely, about 90% of India's population is illiterate about the deteriorating state of environment. They are not aware of the damage being done to the society even after repeated attempts to civilize them

Refernces: National Portal of India, Wikipedia

Serial Blasts in Assam : India Burning

A bad and cold winter is about to engulf the whole of India. Times are very bad now.

A series of blasts rocked through Guwahati and Upper part of Assam today morning. The blasts took place on Dispur Road, Pan Bazaar, Ganeshguri and Fancy Bazaar.More bombs exploded in Upper Assam, in Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Bongaigoan districts. The blasts took place almost simultaneously at 11:30 hrs IST at crowded marketplaces. Around 61 people are feared dead.

The external forces residing within the country are weakening the nation from inside. Blowing up almost every corner of India, from south to west, going north and now east. 2008 will called as the Terror year in Indian history. The eunuchs sitting in the parliament are simply playing divisional politics and the old blame games. Nobody accountable, responsible and interested to resolve the situation.

Meanwhile Maharashtra, Bihar, and UP are fighting each other, the terrorists are making inroads in our lives, our souls. Oh so bad! India Crying ! We need people who can erradicate terrorism out of India, wipe it out. Wipe out the ULFA, Naxals, and the MNS too.

Sometimes there is sp much of terror in the news that I don't feel like writing about it. The story of people blown up in such blasts is not new. And hey, what happened to MT Stolt Valor vessel. I've heard another vessel has been captured in Somalia.

Related News

Assam blasts kill 66 Economic Times, India GUWAHATI: In the most brutal attack in Assam’s chequered terror history, 66 people were killed and over 470 grievously injured on Thursday as 13 .. RDX-based explosive in Maruti-800s in Guwahati; motorbikes, cycles ... Indian Express, India Guwahati, October 30 : Nine synchronisEd blasts across Assam, all between 11.28 and 11.35 am on Thursday, killed at least 63 people and injured over 300. ...

Centre co-ordinating with blast-hit Assam IBNLive.com, India New Delhi: After Assam witnessed 11 bomb blasts in Guwahati and some other cities on Thursday morning, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta has said that the ...

Explosions hit Assam, 61 dead Business Standard, India The North-Eastern state of Assam was today rocked by a series of 13 explosions, including four in the capital Guwahati, which left at least 61 people dead ...

Serial blasts rock Assam; at least 60 people killed, 350 injured Financial Express, India Putting the UPA government on the defensive, concerns over national security was pushed to the forefront as terror struck Assam with over a dozen blasts ...

‘Jehadi’ handiwork, says police Chandigarh Tribune, India The Assam police suspects the blasts to be the handiwork of “jehadi” elements even as the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has denied its ... India Under Siege Times of India, India Blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Malegaon— the list goes on. We perhaps believed the worst of the terror run was over. But the pre-Diwali lull proved ...

Gautam Gambhir : The rising star

There have been many rising stars of Indian cricket in the last 5 years or so. But only a few of them actually could take the longer leap to becoming a star. Many of them showed promise but only a few of them could actually be consistent. The Indian media's hype or the big endorsements,some of them are too immature to take it. looking at those who went ahead on the road of success, Gautam Gambhir's name makes its mark. He has proven it in the one dayers and test matches too. His knock of an unbeaten 149 on the first day of the third test between India and Australia [Border Gavaskar Trophy], was another reminder of a cool head on an angry young man. Sounds contradictory, but it is true. He showed the coolness while batting, but kept his stance aggressive against shane watson who tried his best to play the mind game against Gambhir.

Staying cool while working is the mark of a successful man. He has shown it time and again. But today's cricketing strategists would also ask you to be aggressive. The captaincy of Sourav Ganguly first showed the signs of an aggressive Indian team. It was earlier faintly visible at the time of Kapil Dev. But now the young brigade is dominating world cricket with their attitude and skill.

I just hope the word consistency stays with Gambhir and like M S Dhoni he too rises as a leader. Yuvraj on the other hand has behaved immaturely at times and I am skeptical of him playing the role of the one day vice-captain.

In all spheres consistency and hard work shows in performance. I am sure more of the young guys in the team like Amit Mishra, Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma, who is already proving a point take India's cricket to a new level.

Diwali Fireworks : A display of illiteracy

illiteracy in India is not something new to us. If you look closely, about 90% of India's population is illiterate about the deteriorating state of environment. They are not aware of the damage being done to the society even after repeated attempts to civilize them and make them aware of the degrading environment.

As I am writing this post, crackers are going out in my neighborhood park. An uncivilized family is displaying their show of illiteracy outside. Despite repeated attempts by the government and media, people still light crackers and go on and on.

Not realizing the fact that they are killing their own environment and surroundings, they still burn excessive amount of crackers and the story gets bigger every year. If we go on at this rate, our very own world will end up soon.Compare the damage done by crackers to the damage done by cigarettes. Ambumani Ramadoss banned cigarettes in the capital and gave solid justification for it. What about crackers ? Aren't they damaging our lungs and that too on a larger scale than cigarettes ?

Its time our government take some bold decisions and ban crackers. The vote bank politics is also the one restraining them as they fear the loss of the Hindu vote bank. A stricter policy can only ensure Indians on a straight, environment friendly track. History has shown us that we never learn form others mistakes. we have learnt only when our hand was burned. This rapid burning of crackers, an unashamed act of us, shows that money spent on increasing awareness is a big waste.

Diwali greetings

Dear Reader,

Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Lights," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being.

On this auspicious occasion (irrespective of religion), I would like to wish you and your family a very happy Diwali. May this Diwali light the lamp of a race, which will lead you, India and all other countries towards a path of prosperity, happiness and peace.

So lets all celebrate this beginning with fun, music, drinks (but no drinking and driving), dance and light our way into a newer brighter future.

But please remember, no crackers please. Remember, your initiative will go a long way in saving the Earth and the especially the underprivileged children, who are forced to do child labour, and also loose their lives as a result of mishaps (The recent one in Bharatpur which killed 28 people including 12 children).

Celebrate this diwali with lamps and music. Enjoy!!!



Regards,

Sushant Kumar
Author,
Speak India

India's energy print

The crunch of energy has led Indian strategists to believe that the only solution to India's power problems is Nuclear Power as a result we signed the Nuclear Deal to import fuel and technology. Power problems are faced by all developing nations and United States of America too went through such a crisis in the 70's. As a result of it, presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter promoted the use of renewable sources of energy like solar power and also increased the mileage standards for the automobiles from 13.5 miles per gallon to 27.5 miles per gallon. This helped to create a global oil glut during mid 1980's. But as things eased off, the focus was shifted. When Ronald Regan became the president, he let the tax incentives lapse for the Solar Energy Research Institute and stripped of the solar panels in the white house installed there at the time of Jimmy Carter. He also reduced the mileage standards to 26 miles per gallon.

Looking at India's energy model, we are adopting a model, quite similar to US model. Looking at successful energy models, Denmark's model is the most inspiring. Denmark also faced an energy crunch in the 80's and as its power demands grew, it had to look for alternative sources of energy. At that time, 99% of Denmark's energy requirements were met by the middle east oil. To change that scenario, the government decided to go against nuclear, and went ahead with the scheme of levying high taxes. Japan too adopted such an approach.In Japan there is higher tax on bigger vehicles and the taxes on oil per gallon are also very high.In Denmark, to reduce electricity consumption, a CO2 tax was introduced. When the consumers saw a CO2 tax in their bills, they automatically resorted to an energy conservation approach. You might think that Denmark's economy would have slowed down. No, it has risen by about 70% since 1981 and there is only about 2% of unemployment there.

The model of nuclear powered energy model has also been successful and countries like France get 78% of their electricity requirements from nuclear energy. But the atomic path has had its fare share of negative effects. The two major accidents that have happened in the nuclear era has been that of Chernobyl in Russia in 1986 and the partial meltdown of core at three mile island in 1979. So it is a very risky proposition. But since now to power our economy froward have decided to follow a high energy print, we could be in for tough times ahead, in terms of our oil consumption.Being an agricultural nation we could have come up with a more ingenious solution, similar to that followed by Brazil, when it started a national program to produce ethanol from sugarcane. Today, between the domestic oil production and the ethanol industry it does not need to import oil. India today is highly depended on oil. Now that global oil prices have gone down, the government is thinking to reduce the price of petrol and diesel, rather than helping out the oil companies to recover their losses incurred during the last few years. Right now there seems to be a gloomy prognosis for our economic recovery, which is heavily dependent on energy and power.

The Reality Package

Reality TV has become a phenomena amongst Indian viewers. There are different kinds of reality shows propping and the trend continues. The best thing in all this is the way it has been processed and packaged, just fit for the consumer, the viewer.

So what is it that manages to catch so many eye balls, and creates an illusion of candid reality. The race for higher T.R.P's has converged the content of most of the reality shows on a single point. The concepts may be different, but idea of attracting audience, the same. The directors and creative heads of these shows are now taking bolder steps to ensure the T.R.P. success of their show. Under the magnifying glass, you can easily see the prefabricated cloth, the so called concept of these shows.

The candid confession

As one may call it, the confessions of an angry tiger, the candid confession is the part of reality show that enthralls us all. In an music reality show, a candidate might say, "I'll show Anu, the power of my singing" or "I don't like him" or even "I hate him". Glued to our sofas, leaving our work behind, we might be just thinking of the opinion of a particular candidate and debate about it for hours. What for ??
He was just told to say this by the director.
The director knew very well the reactions of public after a particular comment.

The emotional drama

The girl sobbed as her eyes could not bear the pain of a contestant being voted out of the show. On top of that, the contestant crying, the judges crying and the director managing to play with the emotions of every viewer. Again a debate begins.
He does not deserve to go out.
The audience is mad in voting him out.

The love

She has feelings for him or he like her. Hmm...
The "Hmm..." is what is every viewers reaction. Does she love him too ?
Don't think so, maybe no, she does.
The cooked up so called candid love, is the creative genius of a visionary director, all in the name of Reality TV.
Take for instance a show, The Big Boss. It had the love blossom between Anupama Verma and another guy (don't remeber his name). This time, it is the Sweet bad and troubled boy, Rahul Mahajan. As it is Big Boss-2, to give it an edge over the previous two, he is shown to have been flirting with the bad girl turn good Monica Bedi and the item girl,Payal Rohtagi. As both of them got out, the TRP's must have gone down. So what do the directors do. Call one of them back and Monica is back.
One of my friend who regulary follows Big Boss-2 says candidly "Public ko chutiya bana rahe hain" [Making a fool of public]
I am a regular viewer of music reality TV. Since the last two or three seasons, musical reality shows like saregamapa, Indian Idol have been adding that love angle to their musical shows. The public in return wants more and the director out of no choice has to process the reality. Shows like Big Brother have rather turned too candid and turned reality TV into voyeurism, showing love making on TV.

The News Media

Another form of processed reality is the media. They are meant to show reality as it is, but to again boost T.R.P's they have resorted to exaggeration, celebrity gossip,violence and non-sensical news. There are two T.V channels that piss me off the most. India TV and Headlines today. India TV has broken all records and would give tough competition for the most non-sensical news in the history of television. A stone that speaks, A cat of death, A tree that cries...
What the fuck man!
Headlines today is not behind. It is equally ahead, but on a different course. It has resorted to celebrity gossip, showing of internet videos and showing WWE footage. A WWE fan would watch WWE. Who won the tag team title is not news. It is bull shit.

In the times of packaged and processed, the production houses have found out a way to earn big bucks by selling crap and Indian audience, still new to "reality" is addicted. Although it wouldn't be long as the trend will change and then there will be a lookout of real news.It is like unlocking the key. Another key would be needed to unlock the key of packaged reality.

Diwali feels the heat of market

The maddest and the craziest time of the year, Diwali has arrived, but something is different, not as usual. The madness is not the same as it was last year, and the celebrations are less. The answer is written all over the 21 inch sets beaming stripes of fast moving lines with numbers along side green and red indicators and a serious female painted with more than required material speaking in a rather fast way, repeating the words "Market" and "Down" frequently.

The markets are rolling down the slope of an illusionary slope created by the mad rush and greed of investors last year. The market is setting records of new depths as the fire ball is gulping down many people, as it rolls downhill. The investors have lost money, they are madly selling of their shares and henceforth pulling the fireball with an even more greater speed.

All this loss has directly hit the festival with the highest expenditure of India, Deepavali or Diwali. Many are buying less expensive gifts, some are selective in giving them and some have decided to not buy new clothes and other big stuff, like a car. Diwali every year increases the sales of refrigerators, Cars, Air-conditioners and other rather expensive stuff because of its auspicious time and good deals and discounts on offer. This time it is rather panicky and most big deals have been temporarily suspended. All sectors, from finance to the hospitality sector have been affected.

The fire crackers though are still bursting like the devil of autumn and the same old story can be read in the newspaper. This year too around 30 people lost their lives including 10 children. it seems some Indians are quite adamant to mend their lives. Anyways this devil of autumn will soon fade away into the chill of winter. It will be interesting to see the effect of market on Christmas and NewYear.

The lifeline industry of India

There is a community who we always forget to thank at the end of our success trip, a community we fail to recognize as one. They still serve us as faithfully as they can. A stroll on the road and it wouldn't be hard be hard to spot one. With a small shop hardly noticeable to the people in big cars with tinted glasses stands a tea stall owner often surrounded by bunch of people ready to have a sip of life for only Rs4. There could around 4 to 5 shops on a road and in crowded places and office areas there could be more than one in the same place. These can be found anywhere in India, but still they go unnoticed as an industry.

The working class of India spends around 15 minutes minimum at these shops everyday, and a significant part of time of their lives but the sheer simplicity of this business makes us hard to recognize this as one. Still no reforms for them, no upliftment and no consideration also. The investment is a big table, a stove, a cylinder and other raw material like, milk, sugar, tea, cigarettes, biscuit, bread and egg.

Every morning you might hundreds of people flocking to these ponds of tea, cigarette,biscuit, bread and omelet and having their potion of the day, that would drive them till the afternoon. Then again they come in the afternoon as birds refilling their tummies with water at the local pond.

The evenings are no different. Till now its been a silent journey for them, but it is hard to imagine a day without the services of these people, who have quietly taken up the responsibility of giving the working class the power to work harder and enjoy the work.

The White Tiger reviewed

Aravaind Adiga's Booker Prize

Beating predictions by bookies and others, debutant Indian novelist 33-year-old Aravind Adiga’s book “The White Tiger” was on Oct 15 declared the winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2008.


I have read the book and it captures the emotions of all characters very effectively giving you a sense of presence throughout the story.

The White Tiger Book review

The book is about a boy who was named munna by his parents. Later his teacher gave him a name, Balram Halwai. He comes from a small town in Laxman Garh and he somehow manages to get out of the town and come to delhi as hos master’s driver. In Delhi he encounters the golden haired prostitutes and witnesses his master’s divorce. He observes his master taking bags loaded with money to give it to the politicians in favour of reduced tax liabilities. One day while on such a trip, his master is carrying Rs 700,000. He murders him and runs away with that money to Bangalore. All this at the cost of his family in Laxmangarh, his village, where his master’s father might have gotten(and he did) all of them killed. Thats about 80% of the story.

The next 20% is the part which got more of my attention. How does he use that money ?
His habit of overhearing helps him find out about the business of outsourcing and call centers. He decides to start his taxi service. He bribes the police, and gets over with the case of murder registered against him and takes the help of men in uniform to get his business going.

The manner in which the story has been written is something I have never seen before. It is in the form of a series of letters to Mr. Wen Jiabao, the premier of China, who is on a visit to Bangalore to learn more about its entrepreneurs. The way the illiterate Balram Halwai has been described is another amazing part of the book. The man from darkness, who is exploited by the world becomes the boss of the light.

During a time of recession, the big business are said to be finding it as a tough period but it is hay time for entrepreneurs. One of my friends has his own start up and he said that it is good time for entrepreneurs to reduce employee salaries and cut down the number of employees.

The positive part about The white Tiger is the way a man from darkness rises in bad times. Although I do not approve of the way adopted, it could be taken as an inspiration also.

India’s description is another talk of debate. Being a Delhiite I believe the book captures the beat of delhi and the life of a driver in Delhi. How a driver has to take the blame of his masters foolishness, clean his car, take him to the brothels, make him a drink while driving and on top of it still listen to his taunts.

It is must read book for every Indian and anybody who wants to look at the relationship between Indian politicians and businessmen or have a peek at India’s vein, its blood vessels, who drive the country everyday.

Raj Thackeray : The pawn of the game

The national goon is out, fear him!

These words silently crossed all the national TV channels as its anchors with abnormally straight hair tirelessly spoke about Raj Thackeray's release. Images of a railway coach set ablaze in Bihar flashed on the right part of the screen as a video of a mad bunch people people burning crackers and celebrating holi, Diwali and whatever they could played repeatedly on the left. Two kinds of people, same goal, same ambition but perverted thoughts. It happens only in India.

As I wasted my precious time on those news channels, a dim but clear figure of the whole story came in front of me. The politics behind Raj Thackeray’s wild run to a tamed animal in the prison. Congress had let the Raj free till his violence and his political ambitions took toll on the Indians as his supporters created havoc in Maharashtra and vandalized people and property. The congress had aimed to create a rift between Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray by letting him run free. As time moved on the crevices between the two became wide gaps in the Thackeray camp. And when the water crossed the threshold, they tamed him with the power of law. The power of law tamed by the government, did as told and tamed the wild Raj.

A perfect hindi film script. But playing with fire is not so easy, a thing they(The congress party of Maharashtra) should’ve remebered. The ripples reflected back on the congress as they had a rift in their own coalition when people accused congress of delaying the decision to incarcerate Raj Thackeray.

This big picture now makes Raj a pawn of the game played by big daddies like Vilas rao deshmukh, Sharad Powar,laloo prasad and many others.

The sad part coming out of it is that our hard earned money is being wasted and burnt up on satisfying the egos our politicians. I firmly believe that if they focus more on our developement rather than denigrating opposition, they can win more votes and genuinely take the country ahead.

Smoking Ban #1

Government of Delhi has banned smoking and if you are caught smoking a fine of Rs 200 will be imposed on you. I wasn't very serious about the ban until yesterday when the shopkeeper denied me a matchbox for lighting a smoke. After a bit persuasion he gave me the matchbox and told me to go away from the shop and light the cigarette.

"चालान कट रहें है भैया" ["Chalaan kat rahen hai bhaiya"]

I went and lit up my cigarette in the side and sat back in my car and went away. Now I was beginning to feel the pressure of the ban.

It is really sad now that government has banned smoking in public places, without actually building up structure, such as a smoking zone in the city. When I see our government's policies and rules, I feel as if they have been made by people having half knowledge and half baked ideas much like the character of Balram Halwai in the The White Tiger [A book by Aravind Adiga, that has won the man booker prize]. In the story, the character of Balram Halwai is that of a poor person who manages to get the work of a driver. Once his master asks him a few questions and on listening to his replies, the master (Ashok) says, this is what India is about, Half Baked ideas.
Balram was an illiterate person, but unfortunately our policy makers are literate.

Hello movie review

Hello, the latest bollywood movie on the international best seller, One Night @ The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat, turned out to be total crap. I had lots of expectations from the movie, but whatever videos I saw on youtube, were a total mockery of the detailing done by Chetan Bhagat in his book. On top of it, the "confined spaces" scene, where shyam and priyanka make love in a Toyota Qualis adds misery to the already suffering audience. You can watch the video as "Gul Panag's kiss in Hello" on youtube. You make a full fledged sex scene a mere kiss. Gul Panag did a lot better job in the Maxim India edition in the black bikini.

It seems these indian directors lack a sense of shooting an aesthstic love making scene. They either make it vulgar or end it up with something miles away from it.

The movie didn't do any well with the casting. The characters of the original script were far from the ones, sketched in the story. Overall, a trash movie, something Bollywood is good at, simply killing all the imagination of a reader or a cinema goer. It is always better to read books and imagine from the eyes of the author than a three hour crap. Even crap would be like giving respect to the movie. I'd suggest you buy the novel rather than buy a ticket.

Rating : 1/5

I was out of the blogging scene, since during the last two days, I was devoting a significant amount of my time on reading Da Vinci Code; finished it today. Again I heard from the ones who watched the movie that it wasn't as per expectations. But Sophie Neveau, the cryptologist turns out to be the ideal girl, you'd like to go around with. Speaking of girls, the bikini blog of maxim.com has truly awesome pics of hollywood stars flaunting their immaculate bodies in the tiny bikinis, revealing, still hiding all.

Speak India features in Top Indian Blogs

It feels great pleasure in telling you that Speak India now features in the directory of most popular blogs of India. This project is maintained by Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration. Amit Agarwal is India's first professional blogger who completed his graduation form IIT Kanpur. He now blogs full time and is considered as the avant garde of Indian Blogging.

I would like to thank my subscribers for their support and motivation they gave me to write more articles and keep Speak India updated.

But there are still miles to go. I need your support as active contributors to add dimension to this blog and broaden its spectrum.

BarCamp Delhi 5

BarCamp Delhi 5 was held at the sprawling campus of IIT Delhi on 11th and 12th october. Due to some personal appointments I was unable to attend but just made it for the last hour of sessions on entrepreneurship on the 12th. My apologies to my subsctribers for not being able to cover the whole event. The good thing about this BarCamp was the sponsors. Last year, the BarCamp 4 was held at the Amity University Campus at Noida. Bar Camp is a place where entrepreneurs come, share and discuss about their experience. For people like me it is a chance to have an idea about what is happening in the developer sphere and what are the start ups doing, since I too am interested to start my own business. Another positive this time around was that it was not a tech-tech start up focus, there were people from start-ups from the service and finance sector as well. I see it as a platform where a group of young innovators meet in an informal setup, share ideas and discuss about their problems. It gives me a sense of pleasure when I see such camps happening in India as I firmly believe we are a land of innovators. If you are looking forward to be at the next bar camp keep a watch on the BarCamp website and the BarCamp wiki page.

If you know about any event you would like to share please write into us.

Sourav Ganguly retires : The BCCI scheme

Sourav Ganguly, the prince of kolkatta, the god of offside and the first aggressive leader of Indian Cricket will finally bid goodbye to International cricket in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. This post is not dedicated for praising his achievements, but a closer look at the BCCI retirement scheme. Last one year has been particularly tough for Ganguly and he will get the benifit of retiring early (earlier than his mates, sachin and dravid) in terms of good media deals. BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) which was playing the role of Bad Boss for the last two years has given DADA a chance to redeem himself and get out of cricket gracefully (Rather than being thrown out). Being trhown out of the Indian squad regularly was humiliating for Ganguly, a fact he accepted when he said,"I was tired of being humiliated again and again". This is even tougher for a more aggressive person.

The more corporate BCCI has forged out a nice retirement scheme : Retire Gracefully Scheme for Elders (RGSE)

The next ones to be given (forcefully) this scheme are Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. I don't think Sourav Ganguly has willingly taken this decision. It seems to me as part of a contract which says " You can play this series only if you announce you retirement ". I am not in favour of any such methods but I feel such decision, whether forecefull or not will help evolve a new platform for the ones who are raring to make a mark on the future of Indian Cricket.

Mamta Banerjee and farmers

This is not the first time an Indian politician has done this, but yet another incident of back stabbing the people of the nation. The Mamta Banerjee led agitation was more an effort to capture the vote bank of rural Bengal. The policy of non-industrialization earlier adopted by the communists has been a taste of their own medicine. On the other hand a more agressive and visionary Narendra Modi has seized the opprtunity to make take his state a step further

Looking at the bigger picture it has been a loose-loose situation for everybody. Around 2200 farmers were hopeful of a better deal. Most of the agitators had simply no relation with the land and were simply Trinamool Congress activists or people given money to stand there. A whole lot of money (around 2.5 lakh per day) was spent to provide food and shelter to the agitators around the Nano plant. The Nano plant, seen as the flagship plant of the Industrialization of Bengal is now history. The host of other small and Medium enterprises, which could have sprung up is again down in the drain. More importantly the short and long term employement it could have created were immense.

West Bengal will again be the poor underdeveloped state it was. It just makes me think, what good are our "leaders" (or just politicians) doing for the nation its people and why at all are we voting for them, who are not even true to themselves.

Significance of this Dussehra

The underlying tradition and mode of celebration vary vastly by region. However, all festivities celebrate the victory of the forces of Good over Evil. It is considered an auspicious day to begin new ventures in life. It is the largest festival of Nepal, and celebrated by Hindu and non-Hindu Nepalis alike.

This day marks the triumph of Lord Rama over Demon king Ravana. On this day, Rama killed Ravana.

This time, it should mark a beginning of peace and prosperity to all Indians. We have suffered a lot this year because of wrong people, wrong policies and bad leadership. The Ravana are the terrorists, the rapists and the corrupt politicians. As the body of Ravan explodes and a light of a new dawn spreads, we have to refresh ourselves to fight out terrorism out of sight. Enough is enough now.

A word of caution, although we might be celebrating the victory of good over the evil, there will be the evil forces ready to strike as loads of men,women and children will out on the streets watching the celebration. Have a happy Dussehra and a prosperous year ahead.

Tata Nano moves to Gujarat

Tata Nano's mother plant will finally move out to Sanand in Gujarat.

The Modi government has handed over 1050 acres of land to Tata Motors and according to the press conference. The land will be sold at the market price.

Ratan Tata said that they have got a better deal in Gujarat, with the infrastructure, roads, highways, the roll out delay could be reduced.

This plant isexpected to create around 10,000 direct and indirect jobs for the people of Gujarat.

Apart from that there will be many Small and Medium Enterprises(as vendors) setup near the plant.

On asking about the difference between Mamta and Modi, Mr Tata replied "One is a bad M and the other is good one".

The investment will be to the tune of Rs2000 crores.

Yahoo techie in terror net

Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, age 31, working as principal software engineer at Yahoo earning around Salary 19 lakhs per anum. He goes to work, is highly respected and his parents are proud of him. But there is a deep dark hidden side to this techie. He apart from his normal work is upto something. Something, only his dark shadow knows, which follows him to the workstation he uses for carrying out work that even god would have not thought of.

One fine day, things are not as normal. The darker shadow is still supporting him in his act of crime. He is a part of a big chain that will be responsible for killing innocent people struggling to keep pace with life, and not even half as successful (professionally) as he is. The dark hour arrives when a series of bombs rip apart the flesh of innocent people, powerful enough to blow away the life out the mortal bodies of people. He has done his job.

Waking up to the intensity of the blasts is the Indian police, intelligence and a host of other agencies. The biggest manhunt in Indian history has begun. The normally shoddy work of the Indian police and anti terror wing is showing some progress. Perrbhoy is traced by the Mumbai police. The god is with us now. Along with him, two more educated young people are caught. The god,the Allah,the jesus,the ram, all are with us.

The ray of hope is casting its spell on the dark shadow of these destructive techies. The shadow as expected is parting ways with hollow souls of the master planners cum executers.The ray is powering the good and giving us a hope that we will win in times of increasing dark shadows and we will finally get some peace and tranquility and make India a culturally, economically,socially progressive nation as it was in times of Akbar.

India in One Night @ the call center

I just finished reading another masala book, One Night @The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat. I was inspired to read this book after I heard a movie Hello was being released based on this novel.My main motive to read the book was to check out how well this has been acted upon the screen. But it also inspired me to write another post. The book talks about few people who have been working at a call center and have a corrupt and a insesitive boss, Bakshi. Nothing more I am going to tell about the story. But at the end of the novel after having a chat with GOD (Yes the almighty, the God Tussi Great Ho waala GOD) they teach Bakshi a lesson. Vroom(Vaibhav Malhotra aka Mr Victor Mell aka the cool dude) rightly says that the our government should invest on building the nation's foundations rather than opening BPO's for American chutta (Change) since their currency is stronger and for a few bucks they get silly jobs done from a good pool of Indian talent. Our leaders are wasting a generation. Mr Presstalk (A blog I follow) has also mentioned the point of building roads and infrastructure of India in his post, " Don't trust the Indian Media!: Intesresting Times ".

Comming back to one night @ the call center ,in the end of it Vroom talks to all the call center guys through the public address system at the call center. What I'll do is, I'll quote what he has said(with a few alterations) and replace the call center in his speech with India. You will find out the true story of India.

Idiots have managed this place, because of which we have to suffer today. For their mistakes more than a third of you will lose your jobs. (eg: Mamta banerjee's role in Tata Nano's exit from Singur)
It does not seem fair to me
Does it seem fair to you ?

I'm asking you, does it seem fair to you.( Yes I'm talking to the one reading the post)

'Cmon, Do I have your support to save your life and India

If yes then Speak UP.

This sounds a bit filmy. But yes we'll have to speak up and get out of our compromised lives to help ourselves and this country. The sad part is that I don't have a method right now in my mind to go about it.

Speak Up to whom and where ?

This is the prime reason for this blog. So that I can connect with other Indians (smarter than the rest of the world), still struggling as they are being lead by incompetent leaders who are hell bent on making money and screwing us up.
If you have a suggestion, please do write about it.

BRT : The BJP acronym

BRT corridor has been a mess and has made driving hell for many in Delhi, including me. To reach home, I have to pass the worst section of the BRT corridor atleast once. To be honest, the BRT corridor, terrorist attacks and a host of other idiotic measures have choked this city. I feel the congress government has screwed up this city. They have minted money by making and breaking roads, putting up new lamp posts (which already existed and worked fine) and a host of other construct-deconstruct activities.
Sensing a change in the tide against the congress the BJP have stepped up their election preperation. You can see rallies of people on bikes and cars all covered with lotus. The lotus has been quite symbolic since the BJP have always come when the congress have created a dirty pond. The good thing that happened during the congress government has been the Delhi Metro and not surprisingly it was a BJP initiative. Shiela Dixit the cunning old lady took all the credit.
This recent poster I feel defines what the citizens feel of the congress.

BRT: Bahut Rulaya Tumne (Congress, Get ready to go, I hope forever and please tell Shiela Dixit and shivraj Patil to take a long break and spend time with their grand children)

(Image courtsey : Times of India)

ISI and Indian Mujahideen

This was an article written in the Times of Ideas column of the Times of India on 3rd Oct 2008 by K.P.S Gill, the former DGP, Punjab. Here are some excerpts from the article.

An incoherence of ideas continues to advance a false construct of 'Islamic' or 'Islamist' terrorism, while the reality is that, in both Afghanistan and India, what we are experiencing is, quite simply, ISI terrorism. This reality is, in no way, diluted by the fact that some of the perpetrators of terrorism are Indian citizens, with affiliation to extremist organisations created on Indian soil.

The core question, then, is, how does India tackle the ISI and the enduring Pakistani intention of harnessing terrorism to secure its own strategic goals? It is necessary to understand the precise contours of Pakistan's intent and objectives: the ISI and its terrorist proxies in India seek to recruit increasing numbers of Indians to carry out their dictates. To this end, they have created a network for ideological mobilisation and recruitment, both in India and abroad. They have also created networks of exfiltration, training and infiltration that allow recruits to be 'processed' on Bangladeshi or Pakistani soil, and redeployed in India after their 'preparation' has been completed. The ISI provides safe havens within Pakistan and platforms outside the country to terrorist groups.

It provides finances and other aid to these groups require across India. The ISI helps coordinate relationships and operational collaboration between various terrorist groups.

It also helps create fake human right groups who abuse the legitimate processes available in the country to embarrass security forces and induce paralysis in the intelligence and enforcement apparatus.

It helps build up a political and intellectual constituency in the media, legal and non- governmental fraternities, which will run to the defence of terrorist groups. It assiduously seeks to legitimise terrorist actions internationally by projecting 'Muslim grievances' and 'Indian atrocities' through its diplomatic channels, and through intellectual and non-governmental proxies. In all this, the ISI appears to have a life of its own, independent of the political scenario in Pakistan. Whether a military dictatorship or a supposed democratic dispensation presides in Islamabad, this enterprise continues uninterrupted.

There is also a proclivity, even among the most secular, to expect Muslims as a community to 'oppose terrorism'. But this is a communal trap that feeds the community's sense of siege, marginalisation and alienation, even as its leaders start apologising or issuing public statements and fatwas. It is no more the duty of Muslims to oppose terrorism and to cooperate with counterterrorism efforts of the authorities than it is of any other community. The Muslims do not have to, and should never be asked to, prove their loyalty and good faith any more than any other citizen of India.

Source: Look Across The Border, by K P S Gill, former DGP,Punjab

Sarah Palin Porn

Sarah Palin has made her name in the center of every debate.I have no intentions on denigrating the governer from Alaska, Sarah Palin, but what I've read recently is something I wish to speak about. I recently read in Times of India that a website is searching for a Sarah Palin lookalike to make a porn film. The price they are offering the Sarah Palin duplicate is around $2000-$3000 for the act in the porm film. Sarah Palin has managed to grab eyeballs and has fans even after not so convincing performance till now. The lust in public for her is still very powerful. The 44 year old, sexy, intelligent (Acc to some) is the hottest property in America now and this sensation is crossing continents and sentiments too(As in the case of Pakistan PM Zaradri). The media attraction Sarah Pali generates is huge. She might not win the vice presidential seat, but her sex appeal can give Joe Biden a tough competition . This makes one fact true with a live example, "Sex Sells". But the big questions is that will it buy the American voter. You can never say. There is a soft corner for Sarah palin in quite a few Americans, especially males. This has been more of a problem for her as I saw it and worte about in my previous post Sarah Palin : Woes of a female leader, but she can use it to her advantage.
A poll taken immediately after the Republican convention found that slightly more than half of Americans believed that the media was "trying to hurt" Palin with negative coverage.

Her role in the Republican camp is more of an exciter.Polls conducted immediately after the speech found that Palin was viewed favorably by a majority of respondents.Palin was also a draw with Catholic voters.Polling two weeks after the Republican convention indicates that the main enduring effect of Palin's selection had been to excite the Republican base.

I wanted to check my google search listings of this post and what I saw was shocking. My post never featured but I found out that people are desperately interested to see her naked.
How desperate people are to see Sarah Palin naked can be seen from the search results of google.
Here is snap shot

Why are teachers stressed out

I am Boy and a boy is a boy. That sounds a cool pick up line.

Salary of an MP

This is a chain mail I got and I'd like to share this with you.

• Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)
• Monthly Salary : 12,000
• Expense for Constitution per month : 10,000
• Office expenditure per month : 14,000
• Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) : 48,000 ( eg.For a visit from kerala to Delhi & return: 6000 km)
• Daily DA TA during parliament meets : 500/day
• Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train: Free (For any number of times)
• (All over India )
• Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P.A.)
• Rent for MP hostel at Delhi : Free
• Electricity costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units
• Local phone call charge : Free up to 1 ,70,000 calls.
• TOTAL expense for a MP [having no qualification] per year : 32,00,000 [i.e. 2.66 lakh/month]
• TOTAL expense for 5 years : 1,60,00,000

For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years : 8,54,40,00,000 (nearly 855 crores)

AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS ASKING THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED, OUT PERFORMING CEOs TO CUT DOWN THEIR SALARIES.....

This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities.......

Sheila Dixit needs a break

Soumya Viswanathan, a hardworking girl left her office (Headlines Today) at about 3:30 am, talked to her dad and said she'd be home in 10 minutes. What happened next was the most unfortunate thing that could have happened. She was found dead in her car on Nelson Mandela Marg with a bullet in her head.
Bad things happen and after such incidents we look to persons responsible for the safety of the citizens. And what do they do...

Blame it back on us. This is preccisely what Shiela Dixit, the Delhi CM did.

She said "All by herself till 3 am at night in a city where people believe...you know...you should not be so adventurous."

What the Fk man. How can she be so casual when she herself is at fault. Terror attacks in city, law and order out of place and then she says women should not go alone at 3 am. Had she been in soumya's place would she have accepted that. She is accompanied by circles of bodyguards and the traffic is halted for hours when she passes on Delhi's roads and when it comes a common citizen she expects them to not work. Delhi, India's capital has a CM that thinks women should not work at night. What kind of a city are we grooming this into. If we her as a CM for the next 5 years, Delhi might go back into stone age. She has to give an apology and if she has some self respect resign, since she does not deserve to be there. We want a better state government. Don't vote for congress.

Watch out this Diwali

This Diwali could be the most scariest of all Diwali's in the recent times. This times the danger is from inside, these people are home grown terrorists. They are determined to cause damage and festive time could be the time when most of us are out in the market buying gifts and the number of scattered empty carton bags are uncountable and unaccountable. This could be the time when most of us could be caught unaware, unguarded. We will have to be extra cautious and do our shopping for the mad gift exchange before the festive season is on the peak such that isolated suspicious bags could be located. I'm tired of this mess happening again and again. I just want an end to it. The other day an innocent 10 year old child was killed as he tried to return the bag to the terrorists. I don't know what they want. What have these innocent people done to them or their families.

Chetan Bhagat's inaugaral speech

This is wonderful speech by Chetan Bhagat, the famous masala writer.I read it in one of the daily chain mails I receive. It is an inaugural speech given to the Symbiosis BBA batch of 2008. It talks about sparks, a thing we forget in our quest for success.
I hope this not taken as any copyright violation and is taken in good interest.

About chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is a best-selling Indian author. He is the author of three bestsellers: Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT , One Night @ the Call Center ,The Three Mistakes of My Life. He is also the scriptwriter for 'Hello', the Bollywood movie based on One Night @ the Call Center .
After eleven years in Hong Kong , the author relocated to Mumbai in 2008, where he works in an investment bank. Apart from books, the author has a keen interest in screenplays and spirituality. Chetan is married to Anusha, his classmate from IIM Ahmedabad and has twin boys Ishaan and Shyam

The speech goes as...

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you.

This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement.

But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday?

They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you.

But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’s cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India . From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release.

Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts , having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India , so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you.

In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty darn lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.