If you can't beat em, buy them!

Yes, this is the new mantra in competitive business. Corporations are back being hyper aggressive these days. Just imagine, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Tata, Aditya Birla...just everyone is on the prowl. The biggest news however is also consolidation too. Microsoft and Nokia, one time market leaders have finally decided to come together as they face off against Apple and Google. The computer has shrunk itself into a Tablet/Pad which of course can also take phone calls. The world has finally gone micro, and Twitter too is feeling the heat from Google and Facebook as the latest acquisition target.

So what does this actually mean for the highly connected world? Increasingly, I have found that most of the social networking sites have started mirroring each other. Facebook for example is at virtual war with LinkedIn, Status updates on Twitter can be merged with Facebook and vise versa. Is the consumer running out of choices? Or are we being blinded into feeling that what is on offer is something different?

2010: The leaky year

Wiki Leaks, Radia Tapes, Scandals, Graft, Corruption. Well that pretty much sums up how the world looked like in 2010. And you wonder how recession is over. The cumulative money accumulated or by passed by the rich and mighty is good enough to bail out countries like Greece which is in deep recession. So much money down the drain has only meant that politicians or for that matter people in power do not have any remorse about their actions. For them the greater good is their own good...screw the country, the world. Has human society gone so rotten? Do we even have the right to call ourselves civilised?
Take the case point of India as a country. If we were not so corrupt...am sure we could have built a great wall across Pakistan to keep the terrorists at bay or kept poverty in check which is somehow fostering the naxal movement. The Indian Middle class, instead of opting for a commune based life could have actually contributed to a civic society which is far more safer. Has democracy worked in the real sense?

I am looking forward to a new year which has solutions..rather than more grief, more corruption and more scandals. But then I am feeling Quixotic!! :D

Bihar...a new awakening!

The latest poll results of Bihar did not surprise many. There was only one clear winner- DEVELOPMENT. And perhaps with so much news and nuisance prevailing over corruption in 2G, Corruption in Karnataka and Corruption in CWG, this news has come as the beacon of hope. An answer that in a democracy, people are no longer going to be swayed by caste or creed equations but rather what matters on the ground. Also an interesting fact that democracy is also evolving and becoming more vibrant. People are not swayed by Grand Old Parties or ideology too. Even take the case of the scion of the Gandhi family, who does draw crowds but fails to turn the same to votes. Yes, agreed, India does have the youngest xyz population in the world. But what these wannabe politicians fail to realise is that these people are also not dumb. I have always lived by the motto "Never consider your TG to be dumb". Perhaps political class finally might have to start working. Bihar, Gujarat, MP and a few states have begun operating with efficiency not seen before. The ones embroiled in corruption are under the scanner...or rather they will be under the ballot next election.

FIFA World Cup...a cup that unites the world

Let's accept it...Cricket is not a game that unites nations! Its actually Soccer/Football. And the Football world cup being held in the poorest continent, it is perhaps the most uplifting sight. Indian soccer is in laggards. But then Cricket is what makes the nation has its heart on. Imagine if India withdraws, Cricket as a game will die, cause we as a country have the richest cricketing board.

Now as for Football, FIFA as a governing body has done some dramatic changes in South Africa as a country. And South Africa has of course done its bit by co-operating. Not only has the host nation represented itself well but has been able to deliver on a lot of NGO projects which include development of sports villages. The key focus also is on development of Women's football.

Also, the game unites those who play each other too...if you notice players exchange their soggy jerseys with each other after a game. A gesture hard to replicate in any sport...just to show that whatever happened in the field is a game, but mutual respect remains. Imagine our pot bellied cricketers doing that...

India hosts the Commonwealth games this year....let's wait and watch. :P

Raajneeti- Everyone has a dark shade, everyone has an intent!

I have always loved Prakash Jha's movies. Hard hitting, brings out the best of each character and most importantly grounded in reality. Raajneeti is a Godfather inspired movie with Politics as the primary setting, and how democracy in India has of course become a joke! The underlining fact is there is no such thing as democracy, and so is the plight of this country in the hands of the privileged few. They of course are drunk on power.

What gets murkier is that there is no right or wrong. Women are used as pawns or even just as instruments to accession, the general public gets swayed by who pays them to vote. Nothing wrong there too...but I do wonder how different are we then from China? As a country? Or the new America where civil liberties are more and more compromised each day by the government in a fight against terror? Who is the terrorist here? The government? The people who vote? Or is there a terrorist inside each one of us?

Perhaps a quote from another movie would help to introspect....Agent Smith to Morpheous in THE MATRIX "I'd like to share a revelation I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague..."

Maya memsab and the politics of being unreasonable!

Mayawati a.k.a Dalito ki Devi a.k.a Behanji has more than enough money to be donated generously towards BSP party fund, garlands and Dalit samaraks. But after the Right to education was passed, she felt her government was ill equipped to educate children irrespective of caste or creed. I wonder why?

God's Country in Ruins!!

Kerala is back in the news. And obviously they are back for all the wrong reasons again. The state has decided to show the door to Pepsico which follows suit of Coca Cola. Kerala is no doubt a really beautiful state but somehow beauty is skin deep. The state dispite having so many intellectuals- Shashi tharoor amongst them. Is averse to industry. There is so much unionisation that Industry is finding it tough to stay the course. What's more they even tried it on IT industry (thank god it did not work). Mallus as keralites are fondly called love to work outside the state and are deligent. Gulf countries can thank their stars that this breed exists to work for them. But own countrymen hardly work...did you know Kerala consumes the most liquer in India? Average indian consumes 3 Litres in a year and a Mallu in kerala consumes over 7 litres. Domestic violence, Girls being mollested/raped all these are the perils. And why does the govt turn a blind eye? Cause it is the only profitable venture for them. Shame!!