HSC Results for a Maid Amol Mategaonkar4:25 AM 2 comments

The Maharashtra State Board declared the results of the HSC (12th Standard) exams yesterday. Today's Newspapers are full of stories of those topped the exams, passed in flying colors in spite of several challenges like dissabilities, living conditions, health issues, financial conditions etc. Many of those are tall examples of what one could achieve in spite of extreme challenges in life. I vitnessed one such example this morning - when our "Bai" (maid ) walked in with a little smile on her face. Her daughter passed the HSC exam.

She is our maid who comes everyday - all days a week - works for around 2 hrs every day in our house. Does similar work for many more homes. Stays in a 1 room house given to her family by Slum Rehabilitation Authority. She possibly works for more than 12 hrs a day cleaning other's houses, washing utensils, dusting thier expensive furnitures, sweeping floors all along the day.
She speaks very little. I realized today that behind her quite dedication and extreme hard work, is a much larger goal - to educate her three children so that they don't have to undergo the same ordeal which she did through out her life. Her youngest daughter passed HSC exam yesterday. The elder is in the final year of graduation and the eldest son is already employeed.

The lady who could not even pronunce names of the subjects her kid just passed with decent marks, had a sense of achievement for her daughter. I think more than her daughter, it is her own achievement. She never went to school herself, but has learnt the importance of education through hard lessons of life.

I asked her, "so what next?". She replied without any doubt, "Pudhcha Shikshan" (Further studies) and moved into the kitchen to complete her work.

My salute to the spirit of the this woman. The respect for her in my mind has just gone up.

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The two extremes in Aruna’s Story Amol Mategaonkar10:17 AM 1 comments

Yesterday the Indian Supreme Court passed a historic judgment in relation to Petition for Euthanasia for Aruna Shanbaug, who lies in a vegetative state since last 38 yrs after she was brutally assaulted by a ward boy. The SC has made Passive Euthanasia legal, while still ruling against mercy death for Aruna. Story of her life (really?) has inspired many documentaries, TV programs, News stories and even a book – “Aruna’s Story” by Pinky Virani. This is possibly the first case  of Euthanasia in India that has received this significant coverage in the media and has been debated and discussed at length through various channels. Along with this, Aruna’s painful story has also reached common people and has been a topic of discussions everywhere. I feel the story has two absolute extremes of human behavior.

Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse in KEM Hospital in Parel, Mumbai was sexually assaulted by a ward boy Sohanlal Walmiki in 1973. In an horrific demonstration of brutality, he throttled Aruna with a dog chain. The sever strangulation disrupted blood supply to Aruna’s brain. Physical and mental trauma was so severe that Aruna entered into a vegetative state and till date remains in the same. Sohanlal was an extreme example of brutal, cruel and inhuman behavior. I would wonder what conditions would trigger a human being to treat another with such ruthless deeds. It is fearsome for me even to think and imagine. I would think one would cross such limits only if he is insane or lost his senses under the influence of alcohol/drugs.

On the other hand, Aruna’s story has a demonstration of other side of human behavior -  Care, Love, humanity and dedication. It was a couple of yrs after the assault on Aruna that the BMC wanted to move Aruna out of the KEM hospital so that the bed is available for other patients. She had no family support, no friends, no relatives. It was the staff of KEM hospital who came down to streets against this decision and made sure that she has a bed permanently allotted to her. It has been 38 yrs since then that the staff at KEM has been taking care of Aruna who does not even know what’s happening around her. The lady who was in her late 20s has now turned 65 lying on the bed without any senses, emotions, reactions and movements. The nurse staff does everything for her, day in and day out, every day, for last 38 yrs. Aruna is a family member for them. For last 38 yrs, they have ensured she did not have a single bedsore . This, even after knowing that she is possibly not going to wake up one day and offer a vote of thanks. Here is an example of extreme dedication, altruistic care and love driven by a pure noble intention of serving a life.

While Walmiki shows us the dark, cruel, fearsome and inhumane dimension of Aruna’s story, the KEM staff shows us the light of love, care, selfless service and most important - hope.

Salute to the spirit of the KEM ladies. You are a great inspiration.

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Is that a New Dawn at Ayodhya? Amol Mategaonkar6:40 AM 4 comments

30th Sept 2010 was one of the most anxious days in the recent past. The much awaited verdict on the disputed land at Ayodhya was supposed to be delivered at 3:30 PM. The sheer anxiety around the potential communal conflicts and riots resulting as a result of the verdict saw most of the cities closed, schools given off, offices closing early, streets almost empty and citizens camping in their safe homes before 3:30 PM. Thankfully, all this proved to be unnecessary. Not only the verdict received peaceful reactions from all corners of the society, the verdict itself paved the way for much cordial and amicable solution to the issue - a birth of a new Dawn at Ayodhya.

The Anxiety

The issue that started as a local conflict of ownership of the land between Hindus and Muslims more than 150 yrs finally turned into a national issue in early 90's when BJP's made it a political manifesto to win over the Hindu hearts and come back to power at Delhi after decades of dominance by the Congress. While the historical Rath Yatra by Advani was a major booster for his career, helped BJP come back as a National Party to recon with, it also manifested into falling of the Babri Masjid in Dec 1992, followed by one of the worst communal riots in the country killing close to 2000 lives. The 1993 Mumbai serial blasts were supposed to be a revenge of the same.

With this background the Allahabad High Court was to deliver the historical verdict on whom the disputed land belonged to apart from answering a few related questions like whether the place under dispute was really the birth place of Ram, did a temple exist earlier, was the Babri masjid constructed after demolishing the erstwhile temple, etc. While the Ayodhya is no longer a lucrative political manifesto for BJP since it has lived its life as a political issue in the minds of people, the aftermath of it - the massive communal riots - are not forgotten. No wonder this was the most anxiously awaited verdict, not from the perspective of what the verdict would be, but more for the possible communal conflict it could potentially create.

The Verdict

Here is the summary of the verdict.

For me, following points are important.

• The disputed Land equally divided into the three parts - one each for Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara.


• Established that the central dome was really the place of birth for Ram


• That a Ram temple existed before Babri Masjid was constructed


• Paves the was for construction of Ram Mandir

The merit of the verdict lies in the way it balances both sides. While it paves the way for the Ram temple, reaffirms it to be the birth place of Ram at the same time gives equal ownership of the disputed place to Muslims. The very respectful and dignified response from people all the country from all religions is a testimony to this fact. There are extremists from both sides that may not be completely happy with it, but that's OK. These are the people who have made their careers and living out of this issue. It will be in their interest not to let this die out.

The Dawn

The calm and matured reaction given by one and all is an indication of the fact that India has moved on. The first thought in the minds of a common Indian (Hindu or Muslim) was that of a sense of relief rather than the verdict itself. Given that the verdict has something for everyone is a bonus. We all have moved on. We love religions. We respect and worship our Gods. But we no more want it at the cost of our own lives. The dreaded memories of 92 riots haunt us even today. We do not want a repeat of the same at any cost. This division of land has offered to unit us, keeping all the memories of 92 behind. It has paved the way for Ram Temple and offered equal share of the land to Muslims. Can we join hands to build a temple of Ram Lalla as well as a Masjid side by side? Can we turn around the place that currently reminds one of the worst hindu-muslim conflicts in the history into a monument of secular peace and harmony for centuries to come? Time has come to tell the world that India has really moved on. That the youth of this new India does not carry the legacy of 1947, 1971, 1992 and even 2002. That no political party can use our religious sentiments to their benefits. All that is behind us. What we want is the birth of a new Dawn.

With no untoward incident being reported from any part of the country even a day after the verdict, I am sure the Ram Lalla himself will be much more satisfied to see the new found calm, maturity and resilience in his own erstwhile Kar-sevaks.

Jai Shree Ram

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Swadeshi Coming Full Circle Amol Mategaonkar11:56 AM 1 comments

Recently my kids were reading a chapter in their Std IV English text book - "My First Encounter with Swadeshi" by Indira Gandhi. I remembered this lesson from childhood as well, where Indira Gandhi, then a kid, gave away her favorite imported doll under the influence of Swadeshi movement. The recent developments in the US made me to think that the Swadeshi movement has come a full circle, after more than 100 yrs.

Obama's love for Outsourcing
President Obama's always had the "anti-outsourcing" agenda high on his election manifesto. No wonder the US Govt is taking steps to curb outsourcing to Indian companies, to the extend possible. Recent few developments in particular are indicative of the overall mood against outsourcing to Indian companies.

Firstly, US hiked Work Permit (H1-B) Visa fees from $320 to $2,320 - a huge 625% increase. Although the stated reason was to fund the millions of dollars required to beef up the security at Mexico border, the real reason was to discourage US companies from getting knowledge workers from India. $3000 is quite a significant amount and is likely to hit the profitability of an "on site" resource from Infosys, TCS and Wipros of the world.

Second - more severe - was that the Ohio state disallowed any government IT and back office projects to be outsourced outside to countries like India. The country which is still in the process of recovering from one of the biggest economic downturns of the recent past, is struggling with issues like unemployment. This is an effort to to address unemployment issues. Many see the upcoming elections as a major motivating factor.
Whatever the reasons be, such protectionist steps are counter-productive to the very economic recovery process of the US and against the spirit of open global trade. The only option for the US govt to address unemployment is to create new employment opportunities by letting the US companies (and Govt) be more competitive. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 (read top 500) companies in the US outsource their IT projects and back office to India. Steps like these will only make them lesser competitive. The ban has been widely criticised and seen as very narrow & short-term focused.

Life coming Full Cirlce
Relating it back to the "My first encounter with Swadeshi", I feel this is life coming full circle. Swadeshi movement was started in 1905 by Gandhiji. It was an economic strategy to improve economic conditions in India through self-sufficiency by boycotting foreign products and the revival of domestic-made products and production techniques. The second wave of Swadeshi was driven by the "Sangh Parivaar", 50 yrs after Independence when the Indian economy opened up and allowed foreign companies to setup their shops here. The second one was to protect the local businesses from the biggies from US. Almost 15 yrs down the line, India has moved on. The economy has seen steady growth. We have survived the largest global downturn of 2008-2009 and have emerged stronger. India also established itself as the global leader of IT and back office outsourcing. Giants like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Bharti, Tatas, Reliance, Essar, etc have gone global, acquiring large enterprises of the west and established themselves as globally competitive organizations. The term "Indian MNCs" became popular. Gone are the days when the desi companies ran under the threat to go out of business because of MNCs from US comping to India. The things have actually turned upside down. The biggest Capitalist economy on the planet is today forced to take steps to save its companies from the threat from the East. Its Swadeshi coming full circle.

Can he ?
All said and done, outsourcing is a reality and an inevitable need of the US companies in order to remain competitive in an economy increasingly dominated from East (read China, India). Obama administration can not stop outsourcing by private companies. Incidentally I am writing this at a time when my own company is in the process of moving some jobs to Hyderabad.
What is the next thing to come full circle. Is it Indian Rupee against US Dollar? Will that happen?

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The Social Network Effect Amol Mategaonkar9:32 PM 0 comments

Recently I was reading the book - "The Facebook Effect" by David Kirkpatrick. Its the amazing story of Facebook - the phenomenon that has caught up the entire world since last few years and its effect the world over. I believe, especially in the Indian context, the impact of facebooks and orkuts of the world can be much more significant... I worry... to the extent of being cultural.

About facebook
With 500 million active users and growing at an approx pace of 100 million per 150 days, it the third most populous country in the world, next to China and India, if it was a country. Founded by a (then) 19 yr old Mark Zuckerberg at Harward, it has taken over all of its contemporaries Myspace, Orkut and bunch of others. It is the second most visited website on the Internet, next to Google.com. Its the most talked about Internet company today, loved as well as hated at the same time. It has also inspired a Hollywood Movie, "The Social Network", scheduled to release in Sept 2010.

facebook in India
Facebook is the most popular social networking site in India. It has surpassed Orkut's over last one year. The growth has been phenomenal. One significant observation is that it has been able to reach out to all age groups. Social media (at least India) was always perceived to be for young generation or IT savvies. However, people of all ages, professions, even those who have just learnt to boot a computer, all of them are hoping on to facebook. While its a good sign of IT penetration to the Indian common man, there are some strange observations.

• You can see colleagues sitting next to each other putting stuff on each others walls on facebook. What is so great about the wall that you can not directly talk ?
• Son/Daughters putting comments on their parents wall and vice-versa. This is extreme.
• I get friend requests from people whom I have never seen/met. What does that mean? I know nothing about them. The entire notion of "friend request" is at times misinterpreted.
• There are people who spend 2-3 hrs on facebook every day.
• People tend to use facebook as a medium of chatting.

These are indications of some fundamental changes the facebooks and Orkuts of the world are bringing to our society. They have given a fresh, new and lucrative channel of communication. As a result, instead of picking up the phone and talking to friends, we log on to facebook and write something on their wall. Instead of planning to meet a friend/relative on Sunday evening, people would spend time in reading useless comments others have put on their stuff and even contribute to it.

The Undesired Effect

This is an undesired side effect of the social media. Don't get me wrong. I am a heavy user of facebook. It is a very powerful tool to express yourself to your buddies, share your ideas, your thoughts, happenings in your life, your joys & sorrows. It is a great channel to find those old school friends you never met in last 20 yrs since you completed SSC. It has a potential to influence and move large groups towards a common goal. E.g. Facefook has helped large scale national movements like the one in Colombia a few yrs back. However, it can never substitute the charm and warmth of talking to your friend over a phone or more so, meeting them in person.

Especially in our society, which has traditionally given very high importance to family and social values, a facebook cannot replace the chaukats and nukkads of our bastees. If it does, its a major cultural shift.

So, go to the Profile info of your old friends in Facebook, pickup the contact number and give them a call. You will realize, it is much more satisfying than writing "wats up buddy?" on his/her wall.

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The Terminal Amol Mategaonkar6:46 AM 0 comments

No. I am not referring to Steven Spielberg's Hollywood blockbuster. I am referring to a public infrastructure piece of work in India.

Today, Delhi's International Airport opened its brand new terminal - "T3". The first AI plane landed from New York, although full operations will start by end of the month. This is a giant leap forward for the Aviation Industry in India. Apart from Delhikars and international travellers, we all have something there to be happy about.

About T3 First

Many will be surprised (at least I was) to know that this is the 6th largest Terminal in the world. It has a capacity to handle around 35 million passengers annually. Compare this with 23 million capacity of the entire Mumbai airport, the busiest in the country, until a day go. Together with T1 and T2 terminals, this will take the Delhi airport capacity to 50+ million annually. The state-of-the-art terminal is contemporary in its design, has all the amenities and facilities of a modern day airport including ample parking, passenger recreation, shopping, children play areas, food courts, Internet kiosks and so on. It has been built through the joint venture between GMR Group, Airports Authority of India and some foreign partnership from Malaysia with an investment of 3 Billion USD.

Significance for us

One would argue that how many Indians would even see this new swanky piece of infrastructure with their own eyes and hence why should they care? Well, there are enough reasons to care about.

• Being the 6th largest terminal in world, it certainly puts Indian aviation on the global aviation map.
• It is likely to attract many more international careers to India and setup their hubs in Delhi, resulting into further investment and employment opportunities.
• It is a giant leap for the Indian Aviation industry. After Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, India walks further on upgrading its aviation infrastructure which desperately needs an overhaul.
• Last but not the least. This giant piece of art was completed in record time of 3 yrs. Cutting through the usual red tapes and govt machinery, a public infrastructure project of this size has been executed bang on time and almost within projected budget. This defies all the popular (?) believes that Infra projects, especially those under the Govt fold, take ages to see the light of the day. Delhi once again (after Delhi Metro) has demonstrated excellence. Kudos. This should add to our confidence in our public servants to deliver on their duties. Although, this might be the result of GMR's involvement, it does not make it a lesser exception in the infra projects in India.

I hope Mumbai learns some lessons from this and finally gets through the Govt red tape that is sitting on approving the International Airport at Panvel.

I am happy, proud and hopeful.

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Bharat Bandh Brings India to a halt Amol Mategaonkar7:59 AM 0 comments

The Nation-wide "Bandh" called by the opposition, primarily lead by the BJP, in protest to the recent fuel price hike brought the entire nation to almost a grinding halt. BJP has already declared this Bandh as a huge success. Is it really?

The Intent

The Bandh was called in protest to the recent fuel prices declared by the Govt across the board. With inflation at around 13.9%, the fuel price hike is expected to push it northwards, thereby burning the common man even further. The objective of the band was to protest against the fuel price hike in particular, and the uncontrolled "Mahengai" in general, which the Govt has consistently failed to tame down. Clearly, the stated intent of the Band was very noble.

The Response

The bandh got consistent response from almost all parts of the country. All major cities were shut down. All schools remained closed. No shops opened their shutters (except Pharmacy). Most of the private companies declared off (including mine). With no autos, taxis and private vehicles on the move, the streets of Mumbai were almost empty.

It appears that the Bandh got an overwhelming response. But whether all of these above who theoretically contributed to it, willingly did so or not is a question. BJP and friends (and foes) might claim victory at the end of today, however if one has to judge the success of the bandh based on whether it met its original intent, it doesn't seem to. The fuel prices stay where they were.

The Bandh Effect

• All taxis, autos, shops, construction work, small time taprees, et al, remained closed for most of the day. Apart from inconvenience to citizens, not sure if it had any indirect fatal effect under emergency situations.
• Several buses, trains, public properties were burnt/damaged. In Pune alone, more than 25 buses were damaged. Who's paying for this?
• Sporadic instances of violence happened across the country. There was lathi charge at many places at all major cities.
• Huge police force was deployed across the board. Any guess how much did it cost to the nation?
• Cumulative loss is estimated to be Rs. 13,000 crores.
• BJP (NDA at large), re-established itself as a powerful opposition, a force still to reckon with. It made its national presence felt and demonstrated its abilities to move its alliances as well as rivals like Left towards a common goal, against UPA. Congress has a lessor or two from this bandh. It better not take it for granted.
• Working class took a day off, possibly watched a movie at home along with family and in-between watching the spicy stories on AajTak.
• The Bandh had no effect on the Finance Minister's math. Pranab Da declared categorically that the prices will not be rolled back.
• Last but not the least, the daily wages worker, who earns his daily meal the same day, had to miss his day's produce. The very poor for whom this bandh was intended for, ironically remained the only one who had nothing to gain, but to lose his/her meal.

In conclusion, the intent of the Bandh was noble. However, the question remains whether a nation level bandh of this scale is the right solution to protest? We lost some part of the GDP - resulting into a step back from the ambitious double digit GDP growth rate. We had our public property damaged, many suffered on account of the violence. The BJP had its presence felt. However, the poor had yet another poorer day, while the fuel prices remained as it were 24 hrs back.

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