I was on AIR!

One fine morning as i was going to office in the cab, the driver was surfing radio channels and finally settled on one of the many channels which are airing now in namma bengaluru.

It was Aug 14th and there was some competition which was going on related to Independence Day. The RJ was asking a lady some question which was ; "From where is the 3-Lion symbol which is in our national emblem being taken from?"
The lady answered that it was taken from Vidhana Soudha!! (in Bengaluru) And she was quite confident about that as well.

This was when i thought let me also try as they were offering moolah as well if we answer the questions correctly. I registered my number and after that had forgotten about it.

When it was around 10 30, a lady called me from the radio station telling me that my number had been selected and the RJ will call me in sometime and ask me questions.

I was feeling jittery, nervous as this was the first time ever i was going LIVE on AIR! The RJ called and gave me some guidelines and also asked me to talk with JOSH.

Then the all important moment came.... I was on AIR!!

There were 3 types of questions ; Green which was easy
White which was of medium difficulty
Saffron which was deemed difficult.
He asked me to choose one among the above 3. As most of us would go for, i asked for a Green Question. He told me why not go for Saffron Question which would get me more money. I initially didnt agree but after some prodding went for a Saffron question. The question was ,"Whose birthday was on Sep 5th?"

I just shouted the answer! Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan :-)

As usual there was the customary applause and cheers sound which one gets to hear in radio. Whew... I had won a prize. Then he told me that i can also go for one more question called a CHAKRA question. If i answer it correctly i could double the prize i had won otherwise i would lose what i had won. I had my fingers crossed....

Devara mele bhaara haaki, i went for it. :-)

The question was "Who was the first woman mountain climber from India to climb Mt.Everest?"

Bachendri Pal ...

I was FLABBERGASTED!!
I had done it... :-) Some use of my GK finally!!

My team members and also some colleagues heard me on radio. There was real cheers and applause as well after that! :-)

As usual, TREAT... TREAT... was on every1's mouth.

I told them that once i get the prize money i will treat them.

And the best part is yet to come....
Nearly 2 months since, i haven't received the prize money yet!! :-)

Memories to Cherish....

There comes a time in everyone's life when we introspect about how our life has been to us and how we have been to life. There are lot of complications in one's life because we tend to focus on things which aren't there with us rather than things with us. There are some chapters in life which leave an indelible mark. And there are people associated with these chapters. When these people leave us or about to leave us it will be a loss of enormous proportions.Memories is all we have left of them which we have to cherish. We tend to become disheveled. And feel as if life can't move on.... We will be so much used to those people that we feel why did this happen to me of all people... Why is life so harsh....?

When we face troubles at such junctures, then we feel the pain has increased manifold. The more we think, the more we tend to suffer. But in doing so we will be left behind in life and we have to work our way back. In order to get our life back on track we should try to think about the good times we had with them. That way we will find a way to move forward and get our life back on track. It's part and parcel of life and we cannot run away from it.

HOPE has a place

I recently came across some stories which shows that there are a few good men/women around us from whom we need to learn a lot in life. These people are not extraordinary. They are just like everyone of us. It's just that they thought and more importantly executed simple plans of theirs which did a whole lot of good to the society/people around them. These people didn't wait for things to happen and took it upon them to give back something to the society unlike most of us who just don't do things even though we know we can do them.

These people are the real role models and are a source of inspiration. Some of the stories i came across were of public servants who accomplished tasks because of their sheer resolve.

The person is Mr Ajai Shankar Pandey, Municipal Commissioner of Ghaziabad who has transformed Ghaziabad by utilising resources which more often than not go waste in our country. He drew his inspiration from Gandhian ideals. He has invested money collected from people of Ghaziabad in the form of taxes/cess etc., into the city's Infrastructure and sanitation and the results is there for everyone to see.
His message is
"When I arrived, I told the people of Ghaziabad, 'There are sixty lakhs (6 million) of us. Imagine how much we could accomplish if we each did just ten minutes of work a day!'"

For more on this individual visit the link below
http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/19yrpandey1.htm

One more person, Vivek Agarwal an IAS officer who is the collector of Indore has transformed the public transport system of Indore just in 2 years. His hobby was to study bus services if various cities around the world and with a capital of 25 Lakhs, he launched a public-private transport system comprising of buses based on the best practices in the world. Indore has one of the best bus transport systems in the country now. Its quoted to as having the best bus service in the world along with Bogota.New Delhi needs to learn a thing or two from this endeavour especially after the deathly Blueline buses .

For more on this story visit
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/G_Das_Blueline_solution_in_Indore/articleshow/2625137.cms

One more story is of a girl Farzana Ahmad all of 15 who showed exceptional courage and bravery by risking her life and saving five people from drowning in the swollen waters of the Panar river in Purnea district in September. On the fateful day she was washing clothes by the river when she saw an over-loaded boat capsize. She immediately jumped into the water and saved 3 children and a woman and a man. She has learnt swimming from a very young age which helped her cause. Her act is an exemplary one and the accolades has kept pouring in for this brave young lady.

For the entire story visit
http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/18yrfarzana1.htm

After reading about these inspiring stories, i felt that HOPE has a place in fact. The way Manjunath's (IIM-A grad who was working with IOC and was a whistle blower) case was handled, left a lot to be desired. The highest office in our country (read PMO) couldn't keep his identity under wraps for which he ended up paying his life. Alas....

We can just hope and get our inspiration from these real life role models.

Life is a Rollercoaster!!

Sometimes in our lives we need to introspect as to how we have lived it. We will come across many incidents which we think could have been handled in a better way. At the end of the day we just have words to say that if only i could have done it differently, ALAS....

We do lotta mistakes in life just by doing things in haste. We don't even think about the repercussions that our actions might cause. We might end up causing irreparable damage to ourselves as well as others unnecessarily.

Anger is something we need to keep in check. I mean when one's angry he/she just doesn't think in a way he/she would when they are normal.As a result of this, we end up saying/doing things the consequences of which can be catastrophic to say the least.

Once we calm down and think about our actions we need to think whether that moment of insanity on our part was worth it all. Relationships that are otherwise strong are broken in one moment of madness. Lives are altered. It will never be the same again.

The act of redemption is one of the most difficult things to say the least. I mean you cannot deny your actions or the words you have said. Its very difficult to establish something which you seem to have lost in that process... Trust....

People just find it so hard to trust you after the fiasco. So, one has to think a lot before saying/doing things because our bad actions are the ones which are gonna linger on....

As always, we just have to take care that we don't repeat such acts which might cause others lotta trouble and heartburn. One learns from mistakes and we should be wiser after such incidents.

As some wise person has said, we just have to......
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

Tiger affairs

Recently i read an article on the state of tigers in india.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Less_than_1700_tigers_left_in_the_wild_now/articleshow/2568293.cms

It states that our national animal is critically endangered to the extent that less than 1700 tigers are left in our country. Once upon a time India boasted of the highest number of tigers in the world. According to the report, only 4 years ago there were 3642 tigers officially.

Chhattisgarh is one of the main culprits. It had around 227 tigers 4 years back and now its left with only 26!! This is a very serious problem. Such things can happen only when the authorities are hand in glove with the poachers.

Our PM created the Tiger Task Force after reports of "Vanishing" tigers from the famed Ranthambore and Sariska tiger reserves. But the going will be certainly tough for the Task Force.

If something is not done in the near future regarding this, a day will come when our national animal will be a thing of the past. But we will be responsible for its extinction. Rapidly decreasing forest cover is also one of the main reasons.

I feel that lot of awareness is not being created for such issues. Such type of issues are put in the back burner. The government and in particular the ministry of forests in collaboration with the wildlife authority has to take serious note of this and something has to be done if we want our national animal to survive.

As our elders have said, "We have to live and let live". Nature is all about balance and care should be taken that it is not disturbed. A lot of damage has already been done. But if we don't do anything now, it will just get worse.

The tiger has to ROAR!!!

Power without responsibility

Well, for my first blog , i have chosen the "HOT" topic in this part of the world nowadays. :-)

The current political impasse has made a mockery of the people's verdict. Democratically elected representatives have forgotten their duties and are acting in a manner which is nothing to write about. The other day one of the main protagonists of this entire fiasco, former cm HDK was of the view that all these events are mainly due to the hung verdict of 2004 elections. One can agree with him but that doesn't mean these politicians can take the citizens on a ride.

Its very clear from the current scenario that there isn't a suitable alternative. All the parties involved seem to be interested in getting to power by hook or crook. After getting there, they don't want responsibility. Corruption rules the roost. It extends till the top echelons.

Until and unless people understand their duties its impossible to provide good governance. Alas, we the people can just hope that some sense prevails. But one of the main idea behind democracy is that "we the people " are the single most important part of it. That kinda seems hollow though.