Daily Routine

The quality of life in Mumbai city is pathetic. I have seen young people suffering from heart disease. Let me analyse the daily routine of a common man in Mumbai.
1> He gets up at 6 am
2> Finishes his daily chores by 7.30am
3> Takes his breakfast and is ready to go to office by 8.15 am
4> Reaches bus stand by 8.25 am
5> Waits for the bus in queue and finally catches it by 8.45 am
6> Reaches the nearest Railway station by 9.15 am
7> Catches the train at 9.20 am. He does not have to stand in queue for ticket since he is holding monthly pass.
8> Reaches the station nearest to his office by 9.45 am ( This is approx time since it depends on where his office is located)
9> Takes another bus to reach office or walks on foot (Apprx 15 mins)
10> Reaches office by 10 am
11> Works in office betwwen 8-10 hrs. Prepares to leave for home by 7 pm
12> Catches bus and reaches nearest railway station by 7.15pm
13> Takes fast local which is overcrowded. Reaches station nearest to his home by 8.pm
14> Waits for bus or auto sometimes up to 30 mts.
15> Takes auto or bus at 8.30 pm
16> Reaches home between 9.30 pm and 10pm. This is due to heavy traffic jam.
17> His children is asleep by that time and his wife is waiting for his return
18> He takes Dinner by 10.30pm
19> He goes to sleep by 11.00pm

The list of activities I have given above is that of an average Mumbaikar. There are people who travel long distances and by the time they reach home, it is 12 midnight.
You can well imagine what kind of life they are leading.

People have no other option but to lead this kind of life. Life is no better for the privileged few who can afford luxury lifestyle. People are overworked. They dont have the time for leasurely activities like going to gym or garden for a walk with the result that they develop disese like diabetese, Artery blockages at young age.
People are caught in the web. People want to earn as much money as possible so that they can lead a comfortable life. They want to work hard in the competitive environment so that they get an edge over others but in doing so, they neglect their health, family, social life etc which is so essential for a person to be happy.

Grand opening

The whole world saw with bated breath the spectacular show produced by India during the opening cremony of commonwealth games, thanks to the last minute effort made by our brave soldiers to save the country from being rediculed and labelled as corrupt, inefficient and incapable of managing a large event. But this does not erase our memory from the fact that our hard earned money has been looted by the corrupt officials. I hope that after the games are over, these officials will be tried in the court of law and if found guilty will be given severe punishment.

Celebrities

My experience has been that celebrities are ordinary folks. They are made larger than life by media and fans. Those who are in demand are living in palatial bunglows and move around in expensive cars. They hardly come in contact with general public.
But those celebrities who are not high in popularity chart afford such luxuries and they move out to co operative societies. I have had the opportunities to interact with such celebrities. Presently, I am staying in a very large complex consisting of 2 towers and 6 buildings of 7 floors each. This society is located in a posh area in western suburbs of Mumbai. There are many celebrities ( Not so popular type) who are staying in our complex. Some are music directors, Actors, T.V. Host, Models etc. It is a coincidence that one of them who happens to be an actress and who has worked in Hindi films in the past is staying in the flat just opposite mine. She is married to a guy who is an international pilot. She has been staying in the complex even before we moved into this complex 5 years ago. She is very tall, very fair and good looking. She soon became friendly with me wife and often used to come to our flat and chat with her. I had no objection to her coming to my flat so long as it did not invade my privacy. We, on our part helped her as and when required so as to maintain a good neighbourly relations. Gradually, I started noticing that her behaviour and mannerism was very insulting at times. She will ring the bell of our main door at odd hours sometimes at 12 midnight for silly things like asking for change. She did not even bother to apologige for her behaviour. Once, she entered our flat holding a glass of juice. I thought, she is going to offer this to us. But instead, she herself was drinking juice from the glass while chatting with my wife. She often used to criticise all other members residing in the building. We then started ignoring her and would give some excuse or the other whenever she required any help from us. Being in the glamour world, she had many bad habits. She used to hold parties at night with loud music creating noise and disturbing everybody. She was addicted to smoking. Whenever we opened the main door of our flat, we will find her smoking while sitting in the staircase. The stench of the cigarette smoke at times was so intense that it was difficult for me to stand even for one minute waiting for the lift. I was very upset with her behaviour. She had no right to smoke in common area and endanger the health of the other members residing in the neighbourly flats. I was the chairman of the society. I put up a notice on the noticeboard which read "Smoking is strictly prohibited in public place. The society will impose a fine of Rs 500 on any member found smoking in common area like staircase, garden, lobby etc". This lady defied the rules completely and continued to smoke. When the security guards came and told her not to smoke, she started shouting and blatantly told them she is not going to stop smoking. She will rather pay fines than stop smoking.

I have told you this story to impress upon the point that celebrities are spoilt brats. They think, they are above the common people. They think, they can get away with anything by sheer power of money. They have no civilised manners, not even basic courtsey which is expected of a normal human beings. They carry an inflated ego with themselves thanks to chamchas and media who make them larger than life. Some societies have rightly made it a point not to allow such people to buy flats in their premises.

The straight line that you draw will look big until you draw another line which is bigger than the one you have drawn previously. CSW scandal, the latest one in the series of scandals this country has witnessed over the last 10 years is perhaps the biggest one to date. All other scams including IPL, look peanuts compared to the scam of this magnitude. Public money has been laundered and looted to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees. The hard earned money of Indian people has gone into the pockets of few shameless corrupt officials. I ask you why the hell should the income tax be paid by the citizen of this country to the government which is not put to use for road infrastructure, public transport, Hospitals and other developmental activities but wasted in such manner. The officials who are involved in this crime may never be punished as usual but what perhaps the Indian Public can do is to boycott commonwealth games as a sign of protest. Ministers, beauracrats, Govt officials have become corrupt to such an extent that they keep denying their involvment despite all the documentary evidence. Why ministers, even the doctors cannot be trusted now a days whose profession is considered noble. It is difficult to pinpoint a single individual who is not corrupt. Corruption is the single biggest impediment in the growth of the country which has the larget pool of technical manpower in the world.

Traffic woes

It has been a long time since I have written blog. Reason being that I have been very busy now a days with a project. There is no other reason for not writing the blog for so long. I hope you understand what I mean. I find Mumbai's traffic very frustrating specially while driving down in the evening back home. I am covering a distance of roughly 20 Kilometers from my home to workplace and vice versa but it takes me 2 1/2 to 3 hours in driving everyday which develops lot of stress in my body. It is not just the traffic intensity that is causing stress but the gross indiscipline of motorists, Autodrivers and pedestrians in following traffic rules that is scary and dangerous. I have to pass through narrow lanes in between which is not wide enough to accommodate even 2 cars in the same row. There is always a risk of meeting with an accident. Even if I cross the traffic signal with green light showing , I still feel unsafe because vehicles can come from any direction and hit me. Almost everybody breaks the signals unmindful of the consequences of doing so. Scooters, autos, Cars can be seen being driven in haphazard manner posing serious threat to life. There is no sense of traffic rules whatsoever. Traffic police is nowhere to be seen. It is free for all. Do whatever you like kind of scenario. Everybody seems to be in a rush to go to grave. Everyday, I wonder whether I will be able to reach home safely. It is this anxiety that is causing stress

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Who can forget Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1985 in which more than 40 thousand people reportedly died and more than 2 lakhs people were crippled on account of leakages of poisionous gas from Union Carbide factory located in Bhopal. The actual death toll could be much higher. Indian Court has finally given verdict after 25 years by which time people have already forgotten about this horrible tragedy. Those who are alive are still suffering from various diseases. The government has given compensation to the effected families which is good for nothing. The amount is not even adequate to meet medical expenses of those who are undergoing medical treatment in various hospitals. The wound which is inflicted upon thousands of families will perhaps never be healed. To add salt to the wound, the govt of India has given safe passage to Anderson the Chief of Union Carbide to flee from the country, who is the prime accused in this Tragedy. Whatever be the political compulson under which the govt allowed Anderson to go scot free, they had no right to let go the murderer of thousands of innocent lives. It was the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who should be held responsible for this Barbaric act without whose knowledge Anderson would not have escaped.

Now, coming to the point, when the news of Bhopal Tragedy was flashed in media and peoples memories were revived, the Govt gave lukewarm response saying it comes under the jurisdiction of state Govt and central govt does not have any role to play in Anderson's release. But when the chief minister of M.P. gave a statement saying that he received instructions from prime minister's office to Release Anderson, the central govt immediately responded by saying that Rajiv was not even aware of it as he was busy campaigning for elections in south. All senior ministers of congress party started defending Rajiv Gandhi. The common sense says how can a state minister take such a major decision without instructions from the prime minister.

Congress party is now talking of taking a fresh look at the compensation to be given to families of those killed or effected. Perhaps it is a ploy to buy some time for the public anger to subside. After some time, everything will be back to square one.

Had a tragedy of this magnitude occured in US, Anderson by now would have been given life sentence. But in India, if you are powerful, if you are influential, rich, you can get away with any crime. There will be no public protest whatsover. Perhaps, the lives lost in Bhopal belonged to lower middle class and labour class only who were employed by Union Carbide. There is no protest because public is insensitive to the lives of poor people. Just look at what happened in 26/11 Mumbai Terror strike. The terrorists this time targetted rich people including foreigners. This time, there was large scale protest by people including film stars, people belonging to business class and the govt had to bow down to the public pressure. Home minister Shivraj patil was asked to quit, Chief mainister of maharshtra Deshmukh had to give resignation and the central govt had to institute a high level committee to upgrade security of states. Rapid action force was developed and deployed in four states within four months. Intelligence agencies started working in tandem with each other. Surveillance in coastel areas were improved. These measures were taken on war footing.

Justice to the victims of Bhopal tragedy can be done only if the common man comes out on the street and protest against the lackadaisical manner in which the govt has acted so far and provided meager compensation to the victims of the tragedy.
I am writing this post for the common man because I associate myself with them.

I dont know whether people will even bother to read my blog because I am a non entity in the eyes of the common man. If I were a Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachhan, thousands of people would have flocked to read my blog and give comments. What really matters now a days is who has written the blog rather than what is written in it.

Nevertheless, I am not writing to scale myself up in popularity chart. If that were the motive, I would have stopped writing long back because I hardly get any comments in my blog. I am writing basically to express my emotions and thoughts just as someone maintains personal diary. I will continue to write because writing according to me is a beautiful medium of expression of thought.

Little Bird

Little bird has spread her wings

I try to see her

But I can't

All I can see is

Tremendous courage within her bosom

to fly high in the sky

Are you listening

Nature is trying to tell you something. Peaks of mountains tell you keep your self esteem high. Don’t downgrade yourself. Flowing water of river is telling you flow with the time. Don’t stand still. You will be left behind. Little birds flutter their wings with joy and tell you. Celebrate every moment of life for it is beautiful. Don’t worry about the future. God is there to take care of you. Moving Clouds in the sky tell you, dance with joy and thank God that he has given you this beautiful life. Rays of the rising sun tells you, do not discriminate for all are equal in the eyes of God. Branches of trees laden with fruits tell you, be humble and Learn to give. You will receive only if you give. Sweet fragrance of flower in the garden tells you, spread the message of peace and harmony around you. Harvest in the field tells you, sow the seed and wait for the harvest. Don’t hurry up for you don’t get anything before time. You reap what you sow. Little ants tell you, get organized and work as a well knit team, you will not fail no matter how difficult the task is. Rising waves of the sea tell you, keep your ambition high and make every efforts to achieve it.

Are you listening.

Shopping woos

In India, consumers are taken for granted. I have recently bought a new window A/C which is a branded one. The reason I had to buy new A/C was that my old A/C 's outer case was rusted and thrown away by my carpenter. I thought I will be able to get a new case but I soon realised that since my old A/C was unbranded one, the outer case of the same size was not available in the shop . I had no option but to go in for a new A/C. Since last couple of days, I was looking for a suitable window A/C under exchange scheme. Two days back, I saw an advertisement in Mirror of a branded A/c with exchange scheme. It was a single day special offer. It was so tempting that I decided to go to the shop on the same day and have a look at the product. I ultimately went to the shop along with my wife and daughter. I always involve ladies in decision making as far as household items are concerned. The shop happened to be close by inside a mall. We went to the shop and looked around for window A/C of different brands so as to compare the features along with price tag. Ultimately we zeroed in on the same product which was advertised. The reason being it's lowest price tag and and a watch worth Rs 1000 which came free of cost along with the product. On being asked when the product will be delivered, I was told it will be delivered on the following day. I told the saleman that since this offer is in exchange of old A/C , somebody from his side should come to my house and inspect my old A/c to ensure that it complies with their requirements. To my surprise, the salesman said , it is not necessary. All they want is that it should be in working condition. I said yes, it is in working condition. The deal was fixed. I went to the cashier and paid through my credit card. The cashier gave me the watch and cash memo of the product purchased. We came home satisfied that it was good deal. Following day, two men came along with A/C which was packed in a carton. I told them to keep the carton in the drawing room. They told me that after sometime, their mechanic will come to fix A/C unit in the window. I opened the carton and checked guarantee card and other accessories of the product which were lying inside and finally signed the delivery challan to confirm that I have received the product. While they were leaving, they asked for Chai paani to which I flatly refused. After about 2 hours on the same day, two people came to fix the A/C unit. I had called my carpentor also who had renovated my room to come and supervise the operations. While fixing the unit, it was discovered that the opening in the wall for the window A/C was bigger than the outer case of new A/c unit leaving a gap of almost 2 inches width wise and height wise. My carpentor gave me an assurance that he will plug the gap with wood and paste sunmica sheet of matching color on top of it. Temporarily, the gap was stuffed with thermocol and A/C unit was switched on to test the cooling effect in the room.

The drama unfolds after this incidence. While they were preparing to take my old a/c unit, they complained, the A/C unit does not have outer case. They called up somebody on mobile and asked me to talk to him. I guess he was their supervisor. He was quite rude and told me flatly that they need outer case. When I expressed my inability to give it to him, he said in which case I will have to shell out Rs 1000. I told him that he should have inspected my A/C unit prior to purchase. But he was adamant and demanded the money. I firmly told him that I will not give him anything and if he persisted with his demand, I will have to call the police. I also threatened him that I will go to consumer court and I will file a case against his shop. After this, he cooled down and his men quietly left my place.

Reality shows

There are many reality shows on T.V now a days. They are comparatively more entertaining than soap operas.These shows encourage the spirit of competition among participants. There is nothing wrong in inculcating the spirit of competition because competition helps one bring the best out of him. But what is disturbing is the manner in which the participants are eliminated episode after episode from the shows. This gradual elimination is Inhuman and Barbaric specially if children participate in these shows. The organizers of program do it probably for their own selfish motive but at what cost. Have you noticed whenever there is elimination round, children’s faces look grim with fear of rejection looming large over their innocent face. It is a question of life and death as far as they are concerned. And what happens if a child is eliminated, he immediately bursts into tears. Not only the child, even his mummy starts crying as if everything is finished.The judges try to console them but the damage is done. In any reality show, only one person rejoices for his victory at the end whereas all others who participate along with him during the program depart one by one at some point of time with tears in their eyes.

Do you approve of these shows. At least I don’t.

Forgive me dear

Today, while I was trying to delete files from my hard disk, I was opening each and every word file to ensure that I don't inadvertently delete a file which is important to me. I came across a file in which poetry was stored. When I read first few lines of the poem, I found it so captivating that I could not help reading it from first line to the last line. Soon I realised, it was written by my younger daughter. She is now matured and working in a big corporate. I was not supposed to read her poem without her permission. I must confess it was just a coincidence.I will personally apologige to her in the evening when she comes back home. Let me admit it was such a fine and moving poetry that I have no words to describe it. My voice was choked with emotion, while I was narrating the poem to my wife. This poem was actually a tale of her journey of life right from birth to childhood to adulthood. She narrated her experience with such precision and clarity of thought that it really touched my heart. I have got to know the feelings of my daughter much better through this poem. As a father, I also feel very proud of her. I wish her all the success in her professional and personal life.

Childhood memory

I have recently got one of my bedrooms renovated. Before the renovation, due to lack of space, I had no option but to pack loads of books and magazines in two cartons which were kept in the loft above the bathroom. If I needed any book for reference, I had to stretch my hands right up to the level of loft, pull the carton from the loft, carry the entire load in my hands and bring it down. Then I had to open the carton, search the desired book in the carton. And if the book did not happen to be in this carton, then I had to repeat the same for the second carton. You can imagine the kind of frustration I used to develop doing all this. When I renovated the room, I made sure that the newly made wooden cabinet had enough space to accommodate books and magazines.

I remember it was Sunday. I was busy sorting out the books from both cartons trying to seperate those books and magazines which were of no use to me and which I wanted to dispose of. While I was busy doing this, I came across with a very old magazine of school in which I had studied during childhood. This magazine was published by the school on the occasion of completing 50 years of incorporation and contained photographs of meritorious students with details of their achievements during school days and current profession. My photograph was also published in the magazine as I was also one of the toppers in school. There were many other photographs which I could recognise. Some of them were my colleagues, seniors. There was a seperate section for school teachers. They looked quite pale and old. I could not recognise their faces but I could identify them with their names. It was a pleasant experience.

As I was going through the pages, I had flashback in my memory and I could recollect many events during my school days. There was one incident which was very funny and which I want to share with you. I was in standard V then. I was very scared of a boy who was tall, muscular with a pony tail. This boy used to harass me a lot. He will sit next to me in class room and torture me with his stupid behaviour. I was so traumatised and scared that I did not have the courage to even complain to the teacher. This boy had threatened me that if I complain to the teacher, he will give me solid beating outside the classroom. I was timid and obedient in nature. Although I never got punished in the class, I used to get scared when my colleagues were beaten black and blue for not doing homework. I was on the verge of tears and was unable to concentrate on what the teacher was telling. When the teacher looked at me, he realised there is something wrong. When he asked me what is the matter with you, why are you looking so frightened,I started crying. He told me not to get scared and tell everything to him. I could not find the courage to tell him what happened to me. It was at this moment that another colleague of mine who was sitting in the same row as mine stood up and narrated the entire sequence of events. After this, you can guess what might have happened to the boy who had harassed me.

My childhood memories are still afresh in my mind and I can recollect them frame by frame whenever I come across with an object which is associated with it.

Emotional Atyachar

I was quite aghast to see a channel showing a program called “Emotional Atyachar” with live coverage of boys and girls cheating on their partners. How on earth can a boy or a girl fall in love with his partner without even bothering to see what type of person he or she is. Is it love in the first place or just physical attraction. If it is physical attraction then there is every possibility that he or she has physical relations with others as well. Why do you have to hire a channel to test the loyalty of the partner. Is it lack of trust. Channel on it’s part has no right to invade the privacy of an individual and make it public.

I am not a psychologist but I consider myself good at reading the body language which helps me in understanding a person’s nature. Unfortunately, there are married couples who inspite of living together for many years don’t understand each other properly which ultimately ruins their marital relationship. When you meet a person of same sex or opposite sex, you need to understand the person you are meeting thoroughly. Generally, during such meetings, the person tries to project himself as the best person available. He does not reveal his true self. That is when reading the body language comes to your rescue. Rather than what he says, the body language tells you what he has in mind or his intentions. The tone, the eye contact, posture, Gesture, facial expression etc say something to you. If the body language is not in synch with what the person says, the person is hiding facts. You are not conscious of your body language while you are talking. It comes naturally to you as a reflex action. It is easy to manipulate what you say, but it is very difficult to manipulate your body language which is the true reflection of your intentions. Let us see how you can read body language

1> Hands-- When you meet and shake hands with the other person, just notice how he is holding your hands..If it is too tight and gripping, it means he is of dominating nature
If the other person holds your fingers instead of full hand, it means he lacks self confidence. If the person is holding your hand for a longer period than is necessary, he or she is physically attracted to you. If the hand is cold and loose, it means that the person lacks commitment and self determination.
2> Eye Contact--- The person to whom you are talking does not look straight into your eyes and constantly glances sideways, it means he is not interested in your conversation.
If the person flickers or blinks his eyes too frequently while talking, it means he is nervous. If he makes short eye contacts in between, it means either he is shy natured or he is lying.
3> Posture--- Posture tells a great deal about the person. If he is sitting upright with shoulders slightly leaning backwards, it means he is interested in conversation. If the person is sitting cross legged during conversation, it means he is defensive and over protective.
4> Facial Expression—Face is the mirror of the internal feelings of a person. If the face is glowing, it means he is free from anxieties. If the face is grim, it means he is tired, worried or sick
5> Movement of Hand—While the person is speaking, look at his hands. If his hands are outstretched, it means he is accommodative and confident. If he holds his hands tightly to his chest, it means he lacks self confidence The pace at which he speaks also gives an indication of his personality. If he speaks too fast or speaks in high pitched tone, he lacks maturity.

Reading body language is only indicative of knowing a person's nature specially a person whom you have never met before but not necessarily a foolproof method.

World cup T20

Team India's early exit in T20 world cup was nothing unusual. The fact is that Indian team has weakness towards short pitched ball on bouncy wicket. On flat wicket, and against weak bowling attack, our boys act like tigers but when they have to play on really fast track against real pace attack, they crumble like a pack of cards. Our media leaves no stone unturned to create hysteria among public before the tournament and raise level of expectation to a dizzing height. But when the boys fail to perform , they dont lose any time to find scapegoat and put all the blame on him. I wonder if media acts at the behest of top BCCI bosses so that they, who are the real culprits and who are responsible for destroying cricket go scot free. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was till recently considered to be the finest Captain India has ever had, is now being held responsible for the defeat.It is made out to believe that his decision to bowl first was the blunder and was the main cause of the defeat. There is so much money and glamour involved in cricket that players are now more interested in playing in IPL tournaments than playing for the country. Players are now more focussed in attending to late night parties and endorsing commercials rather than match practice before the tournament. Making Cosmetic change like removing Dhoni and making Sahwag as Captain is not going to make any difference to the performance of the team. What needs to be done is firstly to acknowledge that Indian team is not as good as it is made out to be. Secondly, do not allow players to endorse any commercials. They earn good enough money in tournamments. Thirdly, prepare hard bouncy pitches so that our players learn how to face short pitched balls. Fourthly, Selection of players should be strictly on merit. Players who are physically unfit should not be allowed to take part in international tournaments. Fourthly, do not be under impression that the matches can be won on the strength of batting alone. There are other deparments of cricket which needs to be looked at. Unless these basic changes are done, Indian cricket team will remain a paper tiger.

Headhunters

Headhunters are brokers whose job is to get you your next job. They fix a deal between the candidate and the company and earn hefty commission for doing so. Actually, they are doing nothing more than helping the two meet. What is the modus operandi of a successful headhunter. He meets the H.R. head of the company. He coaxes, cajoles, pleads with him to offer him the assignment. H.R. head agrees to offer him the assignment on the condition that he gets 10% cut. The deal is fixed.
The next thing that the broker does is, scan the environment for the fit. He is moving at an incredible speed now.He homes in on to 4 or 5 candidates that he has spotted. He researches on their background and picks the phone to talk to them.. He tells the prospect in a very secret hushed tone that he needs to meet him for a very important project. The candidate knows very well what he means by "Project".

The two meet. The first thing that the broker does is to make unsuspecting soul feel miserable. Miserable about his life, strife and wife. That is that he is living wretched life with no challenge left to suit his talent. If this does not work out, then he tries the real mean one. At the right point of time, when the poor chap is alreading perspiring, he asks him the clinical question. "Do you think your wife and children are happy with the quality of their lives". On hearing this, there is a long pause and the candidate is in deep thought staring at the ceiling. The broker is waiting with bated breath to know the impact of the big missile he hurled at him. It has worked. The candidate is completely downcast, is dying to know what the big opportunity is.

Now the broker is at his glorious best. His prey has bit the bait.

He paints a rosy picture of this new job. Power, Challenges, Money, Glory, Action and Empire- just waiting for the king. Every minute detail is given from the special training program abroad to 400 sq ft cabin with a french window and the best view in town. The new "E Class Mercedez fitted with electronic judgets. Admission to the best schools for the kids and lo behold. Two special holidays a year with his wife.
By now, the candidate is dreaming. Final nail on the coffin is the money- 2 1/2 times the current compensation.. The candidate by now is flying in fighter jet waiting to bombard the enemy territory. The broker derives a sadistic pleasure out of this. And he enjoys it each time with another new candidate.

Indian democracy

Abraham Lincoln's definition of democracy " The government is of the people, for the people and by the people" is not valid as far as Indian democracy is concerned. Somebody has said very correctly. Indian Democracy is a fake democracy. It works for rich, elite and powerful people. It does not work for poor, under privileged, downtrodden people. Corruption is rampant in every sphere of activity. The recent IPL controvery is only a tip of the iceberg. The volcano of corruption is still lying underneath waiting to erupt. The police is corrupt, Civic administration is corrupt, Media is corrupt, Judiciary is corrupt. Income tax officers, customs officers are corrupt.There is hardly any agency which is clean, untainted. It is difficult to blame a single individual. The worst part is that corruption is highly organised and deeply rooted in the system. An influential person can mow down half a dozen poor people sleeping on footpath with his mercedez, and still he or she can get away with punishment. A teenaged girl is gangraped, yet the police does not do anything to file FIR. Our ministers are involved in multi crore scam and still ruling the state. Election is farce. Innocent villagers are coerced,manipulated, threatened to cast vote in favour of a particular candidate. 80% of candidates do not even qualify to fight an election. Aam admi is helpless. If he raises his voice against corruption, he is going to invite trouble. He has meekly surrendered and become part of the corrupt system. Public apathy and indifference towards each other has set in. If you have ever travelled in local trains in Mumbai, you will note how common man jostles and fights with each other to grab a seat. The government has failed to provide basic necessities even after 62 years of independence.

Everything is not over as yet. We have sunk deep down. We have no room to go down further. We have to bounce back. Change is going to take place, radical change. I may not be alive to see the transformation but I have hope, it will happen.

Help

Whenever I see a young boy or a girl with a begging bowl, I am in a dilemma whether to help or not to help. I have the strong urge to help him or her as a responsible citizen of this country but stop short of helping thinking what if he or she is connected to the organised gang of criminals who are forcing young children to beg on streets after mutilating their limbs. If this be the case, the money given will ultimately go to their coffer. I ultimately decide not to help but then this creates a tremendous sense of guilt in me. I don't know how to come out of this situation.

Death

On the occasion of my Birthday, I am reminded of the fact that I have moved closer to my death by one year. I am not scared of death. I know that it is going to come to me one day or the other whether I like it or not. I dont want people to wish me long life on the occasion of my birthday because I know that long life gives nothing but physical sufferings. I want to remain physically active as long as I am alive. I am more and more spiritually inclined because I find solace in spiritualism. I am not ritualistic but I do believe in God. I have experienced miracles in life which has only strengthened my belief in Him. I have no regrets. Whatever I have achieved in life, it is due to His Blessings only.

Future

Nobody can predict future . It is blessing in disguise for the mankind. If it were possible to know future, our lives would have become miserable because life would no longer have remained a mystery. There would have been no hopes, no dreams and we would not have made any efforts to realize our dreams. But, inspite of this, everybody wants to know future. Why?. I had seen a film long time back in which the hero of the film finds the newspaper everyday in the corridor of his house in which the news of next day events is published. He used this as an opportunity to win jackpots to the tune of millions of dollars because he knew in advance which horse is going to win the race. He became very rich overnight. One day while he was travelling in a taxi carrying a briefcase containing one million dollar which he had won in the horse race, he noticed a headline in the newspaper which carried the news of death of a middle aged person who was returning after winning jackpot. It happened to be his own news. He was so much shocked to read this news that he suffered a severe a heart attack and he expired. Now, this story would have been different if everybody knew in advance which horse is going to win jackpot. Probably, there would not have been any race at all. It would have become meaningless. There would not have been any lottery. The excitement would have gone. Students would not make any efforts to prepare for examinations because the results are already known to them. If we know in advance that somebody in the family is going to die after 5 years, our life would become miserable. Thank God that the future is unknown.

Faith

While I was walking in the scorching heat of summer, bare footed, exhausted, defeated, saying "Lord, in this hour of grief and sorrow, when my own near and dear ones have deserted me one by one, you were the only one whom I thought will be by my side but it seems you have also forsaken me. I am all alone and that is why I see only my footprints as I walk." Lord replied. My Child, I love you. I have always been with you. In this very hour of grief also, I am with you. The only difference is that this time, you are so much engrossed in your sorrow that you are unable to feel my presence. The footprints that you see is not yours but mine. Right now, it is not you that is walking but me. You are so much heartbroken that you are not in a position to walk on your own. I have lifted you up in my arms.

Budget 2010

Pranab Babu's budget 2010 offers nothing for the people of lower income group which unfortunately constitutes 90% of the population. On the contrary, he has imposed excise duty on petrol and deisel by 1% which has resulted in increase in petrol price by Rs 2.67 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.58 per litre. There is already an inflationary trend in the country which will escalate further as a result of increase in petrol and diesel price thus hitting the common man below the belt.
If you study the revised tax structure, you will note that more the income, more the relief given in income tax. This means, the poor will become poorer and rich will become richer. There is already a wide gap between the rich and poor which will further widen with revised tax structure. There is no relief in I.Tax for people with income less than Rs 3 lacs per annum whereas people with income between 3 and 8 lacs get 10% relief. That means a person who is earning Rs 8 lacs per annum can save up to Rs 50,000 whereas a person whose income is Rs 3 lacs and below cannot save anything.

My question to you is, is it worth paying income tax to the government considering the benefits our government gives to the people in lieu of the tax it collects. Let us see what are the tax components imposed by the government at the state and central level. In the direct tax category comes income tax, Professional tax, property tax, sales tax, gift tax, wealth tax, service tax etc. In the indirect tax category comes excise duty, customs duty, stamp duty, Octroi etc. As a consumer, the common man has to pay indirect taxes depending on the type of products and services he purchases. Indirect tax is collected through the price of the product in which the indirect tax components are built in. Apart from the indirect tax, the consumer has to also bear the brunt of freight charges. Now, if any of the tax components is increased by the government, it will have cascading effect on the price which is going to become dearer as a result of this. Freight charges is dependent on petrol and diesel prices. If petrol price is increased, it will increase freight charges which will ultimately impact sales price of commodities.

Now, let us see what the government gives people in lieu of tax collected.

No housing for poor( Most people live in shanties)
No electricity ( Most of villages do not have electricity)
No water ( Even city like Mumbai has shortage of water)
No health insurance
No retirement benefits
No proper road infrastructure ( most of roads full of potholes, dirt, filth etc)
No footpaths to walk( All footpaths are occupied by roadside vendors , thanks to police)
Poor drainage system ( waterlogging is common during rains)
Unhygienic condition of public hospitals ( Even a healthy man will get infection)
Skyrocketing food prices ( beyond the reach of common man)
Adulterated milk, Ghee, Butter, Masala ( dangerous for health)
Spurious drugs

Only 2% of population pay income tax. Even this 2% which constitutes mainly salaried class pay tax because Tax is deducted at source. If given an opportunity, even 2% would not like to pay tax at all. The reason is obvious.

Let us see where does the money go which the government collects through taxes.

Ministers and beaurocrats pockets ( extra ordinary perks and Lavish lifestyles )
Middlemens pockets, Hoarders, Black marketeers who are mainly responsible for price rise
Police ( which does not function)
Mumbai municipal corporations ( which is highly corrupt)
Military Hardware ( Kickbacks to the tune of hundreds of crores given during acquisition of hardware)
Members of Parliament (Frequent disturbances and walkouts disrupting sessions)

If the government is clean, efficient, corruption free, people friendly, more and more people of this country would like to pay taxes which will increase revenues manifold which will ultimately wipe out fiscal deficit and increase GDP.

Do you plan for retirement

Central and State government generates revenue from common man through direct and and indirect taxes. The revenue so generated is utilized in public utility services like road infrastructure, Transport, Healthcare, Hospitals, Law Enforcement Agencies , Defence, Parliamentary affairs etc. How is the revenue earned spent by the government and whether it is spent in a fair and transparent manner is something that every common man who is paying taxes regularly and diligently has the right to know. It is the duty of the government to allocate part of the revenue generated by way of tax in rehabilitation of the aged and retired people. As the things stand now, the government does not have any scheme to help retired people.

In a scenario like this, it is very important for the young people to start building corpus amount for retirement at a very young age. Unfortunately, the young people are so busy in building the career that they hardly pay any attention to investing their savings intelligently until they reach the age of 50 years and beyond. Most of the professionals I have come across with invest their savings in bank fixed deposits which do not give more than 6-8% returns. Considering the rate of inflation which is about 10-12% ( not an official estimate but based on price index of essential commodities), the rate of interest offered by banks is far less than rate of inflation and is therefore not a viable option. Investing in stock gives much higher returns but is highly risky. One has to consider options which give higher returns and at the same time, the risk is minimum. One has to plan how much corpus amount is required at the time of retirement so as to survive the retirement life which is approx 25 years. To give you an example, if a couple in a city like Mumbai requires on an average Rs 15,000 per month to survive as of now and considering rate of inflation as 10% per annum which is bare minimum and assuming the average age of the couple as 25 years, the minimum amount required to survive at the age of retirement is going to be approx Rs 1 Lac per month. Considering the retirement age as 25 years, the corpus amount required at the time of retirement is estimated to be Rs 3 crores. That means your savings should be minimum Re 15,000 per month and must be invested in such a way so as to enable it to grow sufficiently to reach this amount at the time of retirement. Where to invest the savings and how to invest depends on several factors that must be kept in mind. Investment in mutual fund according to me is a good option. My experience is that it gives you on an average between 15 to 20% return per annum. Money invested in mutual fund is ultimately invested in stock for higher returns but you are not exposed to risk as there are fund managers who will take care of your investments. Another area which is neglected is proper tax planning. If you are in the higher income bracket say above Rs 5 Lacs per annum, you pay 30% tax on your earnings which is a sizeable amount. The government gives deductions under section 80 C to the extent of Rs 1 Lac. If you do not avail of this deduction, you land up paying higher taxes which ultimately will deplete your savings.

I will conclude by saying that retirement enevitable. It is going to come to you one day whether you like it or not. The earlier you start planning for it, the better else it will be too late.

My Name is Khan

I have been reading Times of India since last 20-25 years. Earlier, the news contents was mainly focused on politics. News other than politics used to appear occasionally. There were separate papers like Screen and Cine Advance for news related to cinema. Same was the case for sports also. This has changed completely. Now a days, it is difficult to know whether the paper is aimed at focussing more on world politics or India Cinema and Cricket. The headlines on the main page contain news related to Cricket and Bollywood more often than any other news. Those readers who are not interested in these news are finding it as embarrasing. The news channels on T.V are worse than this. Their news mostly contain topics related to cinema, cricket. I have to at times switch over to BBC to know what is happening around the world. All the Indian news channels according to me are filthy, obscene, biased. These channels do not give any quality news. It is a waste of time to view such channels. The ministry of information and broadcasting is not doing nothing to improve the quality of programming. The general public is satisfied with whatever is being given in the name of entertainment. There is absolutely no protest. Prices of vegetables and essential food commodities have increased sharply in the last 6 months. Even middle class families are finding it difficult to meet both ends meet. How often has this issue been raised in media. Let there be a public debate on why the price is rising, What steps are being taken to contain the price rise. When will it brought under control. The general public wants to know all this rather than knowing how much business “My Name is Khan” has made in the first week of release or the protest of shiv sainiks over the release of the film in Mumbai or how much popular shah rukh khan is outside India. Considering the fact that 70% of the population in India does not have the basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, it is criminal on the part of media to focus on news which has little or no significance to the real issues. Neither the government nor any of the political parties have any genuine concerns for the poor and under privileged. All they are interested in is the votes. What they give in return to the common public is the assurances, promises which they never fulfill. The media is corrupt, misguiding the general public by sidelining the real issues and focussing more on trivial issues which have no relevance to the real issues.

Change Management

The article on "Change Management" was written by me couple of years back. I am reproducing the same for your benefit. Here it goes.

"Change management is of great significance in any change initiative undertaken by the organisation. Rapid and constant innovation in technology is driving change in organization’s systems and processes. Government legislation, trade policies and market forces over which the organization has no control can also bring about change in the organization culture, systems and processes. If organisation does not respond to change in market forces, it will be left behind and perished. If change initiative is not handled with precision and great care, it can fail miserably. The reason why change initiative fails is not because of any lack of technical expertise but because of lack of leadership qualities and managerial skills and foresight like blurred corporate vision, inability to respond to changes , wrong prioritization, planning etc. Human factor is also very dominant in failed change initiatives. Human psychology is such that any change initiative undertaken by management is looked upon with suspicion and fear by employees resulting in resistance to change. Management must therefore anticipate employee resistance and develop a strategy to counter it. There are many reasons why employees resist change. The main reason being fear of loss of authority,control and lack of faith in their own ability to learn new skills and methodology which results in sense of insecurity. Interestingly, if they are asked as to what makes them to resist, the reason given by them will be entirely different from the deep rooted actual reason. Typically, employees reaction to change takes place in 3 phases. Initially, they are in the state of denial, subsequently, they pass through the stage of fear, anger, frustration and helplessness. Finally, they accept the change either negatively with feelings of resignation, complacency or they accept the changes positively with renewed enthusiasm to capitalize on the changes.

Employees resist change either covertly or overtly. Those resisting overtly voice their objections loud and clear. These types of employees can be easily identified and handled. They display their resistance to change whenever an opportunity arises such as taking unapproved leave, refusing to take instructions from seniors, convincing others to stick to the old system. At times , the resistance can take the form of strikes, boycotts, legal notices etc. Those resisting covertly mask their objections and are much more difficult to identify. They do not openly voice their objections for fear of termination or fines. Covert resistance can take many forms such as unco-operative attitude, absence from work, spreading rumours, complacency in work etc.

What should the management do to overcome resistance. It should firstly communicate to all the employees what has prompted them to take change initiatives, how the change will take place and how the employees and organization as a whole is going to benefit from the change. Secondly, it should communicate very clearly what will be the repercussion in business if the change initiative fails to take place. Thirdly, in anticipation of refusing to participate in the change process by some disgruntled employees, management should chalk out detailed action plan to counsel them and if need be take appropriate measures to thwart their plan to scuttle the process of change.

Change initiatives typically usually starts with great fanfare but dies down slowly after couple of months. Change requires putting up lot of extra efforts. Unless employees are self motivated, it is very difficult to sustain the motivation level over a long period of time. No amount of external motivation like incentives, fear factor etc can work for long. Clear vision, Positive thinking, self belief, empowerment, affirmation, visualization etc are internal motivating factors that can change the attitude of employees.

Organisation should appoint change agent to implement change initiatives. The change agent should have the clout, conviction and leadership qualities to make things happen. Besides these qualities, change agents should also have technical skill depending upon what type of change initiatives are undertaken. Change initiative may be required to restructure organization to make it more customer centric or it may be required to reengineer business process or ERP implementation. Change agents should not be part of project team responsible for BPR or ERP implementation. This is so because members of project team are more focused on improving systems, processes and technology, whereas change agents are more focused on human behaviour.
Certain change initiatives which require restructuring organization culture are extremely difficult to implement because this type of change initiative impacts the organization as a whole and not confined to a particular section of employees and therefore very time consuming. The motivation level of employees have to be sustained over a long period of time else the change initiate will fail resulting in colossal waste of time and effort made."

Cyber Theft

Cyber theft is far more dangerous than physical theft because unlike in physical theft wherein the thief can steal only after entering the premises physically, the thief in cyber theft can steal sitting thousands of miles away from you. The worst part is that you will not be even aware of this with the result that the loss to you will be far more severe. There are laws framed in our constitution to deal with physical theft. Offenders can be penalised under various sections of Indian Penal code. But for cyber crime, there are no proper cyber laws in our country. With the increasing use of internet, cyber crime is increasing day by day. General public is not fully aware of the consequences of using credit card for online shopping or Operating bank account through internet.It is estimated that over 85% of all unwanted emails often described as "Spam" contain links to spurious websites and businesses that are out to cheat you. They can not only hack your email addresses but even your passwords without you being aware of it. This will enable them to take virual control of your PC. They will have access to all sensitive information you may have stored in your PC which they can misuse. For example, if you have stored credit card details in your PC that can be used to make online purchases. or if you have stored personal details like email id, password, personal details of your internet banking, that can be used to siphon off money from your bank account.

Sometimes, you will receive an official looking email usually with your Bank's logo telling you there may be a problem with your account.You are instructed to click on the link to bank's website except that it is not the Bank's website although it may look like that. Again you are asked to confirm account details, numbers and addresses. If you respond as requested, within minutes the information you provide can be used to make fraudulent purchases over the internet. You will realise it only after you receive a statement from Bank perhaps weeks later. It can lead to identity theft wherein the hacker can open account in your name providing all the details of your personal information and operate it without you even realising of it. Terrorists can hack your PC identification no and use it to send threatening mails to targets. Such emails can be traced to your PC and you will unnecessary be looked upon with suspicion by investigating agencies.

If you are holding credit card, you will receive statements of purchases made by you through credit card. If you happen to notice any discrepancy in the statement, you will call customer service number which is usually written on the reverse side of the card. This telephone is not that of bank but of call centre to which the bank has outsourced this service. If you are talking to someone on this number, you are in fact not taking to bank personnel but to call centere employees. The person who is attending to your complaint will ask you details like your credit card no, Tel number, Date of birth etc as part of verification procedure to ascertain that you are the genuine person. This sensitive information can be misused by the call center employees who can furnish these details to a hacker at a price. Last year, a BBC reporter posing as a fraudster revealed how easy it is to get such secret information at a nominal price say at $10 per card in India. Information you think is secret is not actually remains secret.

Here are few tips on what you should do as a victim. If any purchase that you have not made is reflected in your credit card statement, do not pay under any circumstances,. Your bank is likely to try and make you pay. But as long as there is no negligence on your part such as letting someone else use your card or writing your PIN on it, you must protest such charges and refuse to pay. In many cases, the bank's security system may spot the suspicious purchase before you do and telephone you to check if it is legitimate. To prevent these incidents, the banks have taken certain precautionary measures like publishing in their websites certain dos and donts for their customers.

Never throw credit card statement on the dustbin as credit card statement contains your personal financial details on it. Similarly, never leave ATM statement on ATM machine. Never let your credit card be out of sight even in petrol pumps or shops or restaurants. In case of restaurants, accompany the waiter to the cashier's desk. Never provide photo copies of your card showing 3 digit CVV number which is written on the back side of the card. Use licensed copy of anti virus software to detect and remove any virus from infected files or incoming mails. Never use pirated copy of anti virus software because these softwares themselves may spread virus in your PC. Remove cookies from your computer from time to time.

Suicides

There is an increasing incidence of suicides in our country. Youngsters as young as 16 years old commit suicides over petty things like unable to score good percentage in exams. Parents are largely responsible for such acts committed by their children.They somehow give an impression to their sons and daughters that success or failure in life depends on exam percentage. It is this belief in them that drives them to take extreme steps. More than the children, it is the parents who need proper counselling. If their children fail to score in exam, it does not mean everything is finished. Let me give you my example. I was top scorer in school getting first rank throughout. I know many of my colleagues who were ordinary students in those days. They are today far more successful than me . Some of them are big industrialists. In the professional life also, choosing the right career is the key to success. God has made every individual unique in qualities. What a parent should do is to identify the quality his child possesses and then nurture those qualities in him. Contrary to this, every parents wants his child to become an engineer, or doctor or MBA etc. A child can excel in those areas in which he has interest and in which he has requisite qualities. There are professional counsellors who can help identify qualities in a child. Sachin Tendulkar did not have to go to college and get MBA degree. Had his parents forced him to do that, he would not have become as famous as he is today. I am sure there are many students who have potential to be great football player, Boxer, painter,musician etc but they are busy doing academics under parental and peer pressure. Such students cannot excel in their profession. Albert Einstein was the school dropout but he proved himself to be the greatest scientist the world has ever produced. Our education system is faulty, outdated. It cannot examine the potential of a child at 360 degree angle. Our examination system at best can test the memory and logical thinking of a person which is only a small fraction of the total capability of a person. That means, even if a student does not score high in the exam, that does not mean he is in any way inferior to those who have scored high percentage. There is no need to feel dejected, depressed at all. What is most worrying is that some parents always compare their children’s performance with others to judge how good or bad they are with the result they exert undue pressure on their children to excel in exam. This mindset is most prevalent in middle class families where education is the only option left to build the career. The child is under constant fear of not being able to live up to the expectation of his parents. If for any reason, he fails to score, he takes the drastic step of committing suicides. Our society and to some extent the government is responsible for increasing number of suicides among students in the country. The thinking of parents need to change and percentage system should be scrapped which is the sole criteria of judging a student’s performance.

Astrology

Solar eclipse was witnessed in India on 15th Jan this year. Scientists all over the world attach great importance to this event from the point of view of scientific research on the effect of sun on earth's atmosphere and it's inhabitants. Interestingly there is a general perception in India that solar eclipse brings misfortune, calamity, natural disaster and so on and so forth. Pundits, astrologers, fortune tellers use this as an opportunity to create panic and hysteria among general public through their predictions. Their numbers have increased in the last couple of months courtesey Indian channels. Vast majority of Indian people including some of the educated ones believe in astrological predictions. Superstition is deep rooted in Indian culture and traditions and pundits, astrologers, tarrot readers, numerologists exploit this belief to their advantage.

On the day of solar eclipse, star plus was showing a program in which it had called the group of astrologers, scientists and intellectuals to participate in a free discussion on whether astrological predictions have any scientific base or not. I was somehow not aware of this program. I came to know of it while I was surfing the channels randomly. When I came across with this channel, the discussion was going on. There were 7-8 astrologers including 4 women, 3 intellectuals and only 1 scientist. From this statistics, you can imagine astrologers far outnumbered other participants. They came in full strength to prove their point. For some time, I could not make out what the hell is going on. It looked like a big fight on the sets. Everybody was trying to say something and prove a point and the host was nowhere to be seen. After some time, the host who had receded in the background appeared and gave briefings to the audience as to what is going on the sets. It was then only I knew what the program is all about. I decided to view this program till the end and so decided to stick to it.

One of the participants who seemed to be a senior executive of a company challenged the astrologers if they can tell about him anything which is verifiable.
He gave his date of birth, place of birth and time of birth. An astrological chart was made instantly with the help of PC which was then given to an eminent astrologer for interpretation. He was initially reluctant to predict anything saying astrological prediction is prohibited in a hostile environment like this. But when he was pressurised , he said that according to the horoscope, his relations with his wife should not be good. His wife was immediately contacted on phone and she was asked if her relations with her husband was good to which she replied she had absolutely no problem with her husband. Astrologers were not willing to accept this statement. The argument given was that no woman would like to disclose her relations with her husband in public.

The point I am trying to make here is that astrologers are very cunning people. They are expert in understanding human emotions and exploit weaknesses. They will always talk about the future which is not verifiable . The only way to expose them is to ask them about the past which has already happened and which is verifiable. According to me, astrology is complete nonsense. It has no scientific base.Those people who are defeated,reconciled to their fate, lack self confidence run after astrologers to know their future. The common sense says that if we want to build our future, we should concentrate on the present.

Doctor

I have an interesting conversation to share with you while I was hospitalized in the year 2001. This conversation is between the doctor and the patient. But before I write the script, Let me give you some background.

I had developed an infection in the lower part of the body and being diabetic, my doctor advised me to get hospitalized for treatment to avoid any further complications. I was given a twin sharing room on the 9th floor of the hospital. My bed was facing window which is what I wanted . The other bed which was on my left side was empty. Although, my medical expenses were to be borne by insurance company and I had the privilege to go in for exclusive room, but I preferred to opt for twin sharing room. Soon after, a patient was brought in the room and I realized he was going to share the room with me. He was a middle aged person and seemed to be muslim from his looks. A woman who was clad in Burqa was talking to him in Urdu language. From their conversation I guessed, the patient was from Riyadh and came to India for medical treatment. After some time, a doctor entered the room and then he started talking to this patient. The doctor was speaking in Urdu with the patient. The English translation runs like this.

Doctor: The result of your angiography is in my hands. It shows your arteries are blocked in 3 places. You need to undergo bypass surgery
Patient: Why should I. I have no problem. I can eat, walk, sleep. There is no pain in the body. Only, sometimes, I get tired.
Doctor : But your report is not good.
Patient: Why don’t you test again. The report might be wrong
Doctor: There is no need to take it again. The report is confirmed
Patient: I am scared of operation, doc
Doctor : You don’t have to worry. You can sleep peacefully while we do our job.
Patient : What if I don’t wake up again
Doctor : Bypass surgery is very common now a days. I personally operate 3-4 patients everyday. The success rate is more than 95%
Patient : What is the cost of operation by the way
Doctor: It will cost you 3.5 lakhs which includes my consultation charges, cost of surgery, cost of medicines, room charges etc
Patient: It is very expensive
Doctor: I know. But don’t worry. I will give you concessions since you are a muslim brother.
Patient : How much concession can I get
Doctor : Well, I will be able to get it done at Rs 2.5 lakhs. I will forego my fees by 50% for your sake. Think it over. I will come again
Patient : But what is the guarantee that I will be cured
Doctor : I told you it is safe but I can’t give you any guarantee.
Patient : Well, My life is in God’s hand, you know. I will be alive as long as he is willing.
Doctor : Khuda Hafiz. Think it over. I will come again.
Patient: Khuda Hafiz

The Doctor left the room promising to return after some time.

Media

Our news channels are functioning in the most irresponsible manner. There is no code of conduct. Arushi's murder case is still unresolved thanks to the manner in which the police and later on CBI handled the case. The police concluded in it's investigation that Arushi's father was the main accused since his daughter had an affair with his domestic servant Hemaraj and Arushi's father in a fit of rage murdered his own daughter. This was reported widely by the news channels and the viewers were made to believe that Arushi's father was indeed the murderer. The story fabricated by the police was baseless as there was no proof of his involvement of this murder. Did the police find the weapon which was used to murder the girl. Did the police try to match fingerprint which was later on found by CBI. The media sensationalised ths news and in the process increased it's TRP disregarding basic human values. The price had to be paid by Arushi's father who lost his job besides the trauma and pain he was going through at that time. Suspect is not guilty until proved in the court of law. Media had no right to tarnish the image of a dentist who was just one of the suspects in this murder mystery. There are innumerable other cases which can be cited to explain how much irresponsible media is when it comes to reporting news which can lower the dignity and honour of a responsible person in this country