Way to Go Man...

We have heard many stories about Heroism and leadership, and nothing inspires me as much as real life stories of folks who have charted a new path for themselves by there acts of courage conviction and self belief. Sarath Babu is another hero who covered the journey from the slums of Chennai and selling idlis on the street, to an MBA degree from IIM-Ahmedabad.

Like millions of other Indian kids who grow up in abject poverty, he dreamt of earning enough some day to take his mother away from the one room hut they stayed in, to a life of comfort. For most, such dreams remain stillborn. But Sarath Babu took life in both hands and looked fate in the eye. Last week, he emerged victorious. Today with an MBA degree from the country's premier BSchool, Sarath knows his and his mother's days of poverty are over.

I had a tough childhood and till I joined BITS-Pilani for my graduation, I thought everybody had a similar life,"he smiles, sitting in his room inside IIM-A.

"I was six when my father left us to face starvation. With a meagre salary of Rs 30 that my mother earned through a job in the state government's midday meal scheme, she managed to educate me and my siblings,"he recalls.

But despite all her problems, Deeparamani (Sarath's mother) never gave up. "She would make idlis and I would sell them on the streets. My mother has been my biggest inspiration,"he says. But if the story of a poor idli seller's son making it to a B-School raises eyebrows, what he has done now, leaves one stunned.

Just last week, Sarath refused a tempting package of Rs 8.5 lakh per annum - to start his own catering business.

"It would have been very easy to take up a corporate job and give my family all comforts they never had. But that's not my ambition. I'd rather have my own company and employ one person who can support four other lives,"he smiles.

And if you are wondering why he left the oh so cool corporate offer to start his actering business here what he had to say

"Serving someone food is an extremely satisfying feeling. The smile you get after giving good food to someone is an experience to cherish.”

Way to go man….

Playground for Imagination

Sometimes I feel I'm not able to do justice to this personal blog of mine as I'm really stuck with my other blogs HR FUNDA,THE JOBSHOP and COOL BIHARI. Although all my blogs have content for specific target group but Buzz happens to be my personal space.

I've seldom posted about my personal stuff, day to day happenings and encounters on my blog. If I were to start writing about all those stuff then I'm sure I'll have to make a living out of it. I’ve already planned a new blog for another passion of mine which is Photography. In fact it’s an old passion which I always had apart from music. The only problem which I face in staring a photo blog is uploading the pics. My new found passion for weekend exploration tours has helped me in getting some real cool pics ,although I’m still in the process of learning this art, I’m sure this is going to be exciting.

Buzz has a guitar in the background and probably that just explains one of my most coveted but unfulfilled ambition of my life. I guess that’s one thing I’ll definitely try out before I die. In one of my earlier post I’d written about the history of guitar and its evolution. Perhaps Buzz is one such medium which allows me to give some outlet to my musical aspirations. I'm sure in the days to come I'm going to improve upon this.

My Style

You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer

Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you're from.And while you may have some problems being "normal," you'll have no problems writing sci-fi.Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics...Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!

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Mass Media and it's Repercussions

We have seen the role which mass Media plays on various issues. I don’t think any other medium has had such a profound impact or rather control on common man’s perception as Media. Although this has its own advantages but the disadvantages can’t be rules out too.

Robin Good has a powerful and convincing article on “Weaknesses and Limitations of Commercial Mainstream Media”.

Some of the powerful assertions he raises in this post are very true for our Indian Media.

Mass media are inherently corrupting. A small number of owners and editors exercise great power over what is communicated to large numbers of people. Mass media should be replaced by participatory media organised as networks, such as telephone and computer networks.

Strategies to supersede mass media include:

a) changing one's own media consumption patterns, b) participating in alternative media and c) using nonviolent action against traditional mass media.

Complaints about the mass media are commonplace.

To begin, there is the low quality of many of the programmes and articles. There is the regular portrayal of violence, given an attention out of proportion with its frequency in everyday life. More generally, most of the mass media give much more attention to crime, deaths, disasters, wars and strife than to harmonious communities, acts of kindness and win-win conflict resolution.

The mass media frequently create unrealistic fears about criminals, foreign peoples and mass protest.

"News" often is more like entertainment than information or education. News reports, especially on television, are typically given without much overt context. The latest events are described, but there is no explanation of what led up to them or caused them.

Consumers of the media consequently hear a lot of facts but frequently don't understand how they fit together. "Context" is the result of the assumptions behind the facts, and this context is all the more powerful because it is neither stated nor discussed.

Even the "facts" that are presented are often wrong or misleading.

Advertisers influence what types of stories are presented.

The problem is not with media in general, but with mass media, namely those media that are produced by relatively few people compared to the number who receive them. Most large newspapers, television and radio stations fit this description.

Mass media by their nature give power to a few and offer little scope for participation by the vast majority.

Can't agree with him more on this .....

Exam Time ...

Its exams session now and you’ll find parents along with the examinees are equally engrossed, stressed out for the exam preparation. A blanket ban on TV, music and masti is imposed in these houses, its curfew time until exams get over. Well I really had a unique experience recently in my locality when my security guard requested or rather berated me to play music at lower decibel since many students in the locality have there exams and my free music service was not being appreciated at all.

I saw some news clips showing student’s committing suicides due to exams stress, someone committed suicide due of failure in exams. What a shame…..some news channel is also running a debate on this. We have counseling sessions being organized by various NGO’s health agencies and even CBSE to help out students cope with pressure of exams.

I am tempted to share this story about my board exams, during my 12th board exams I faced a piquant situation as India was playing Pakistan is world cup match at Bangalore and I had my papers the very next day. The temptation of watching the humdinger Indo-Pak world cup match and fear of exam was giving me worst possible quandary in my life .I finally deiced to watch the match and Boy what a match it was…..I really don’t regret having a not so good paper.

Phew…these kids are really emotional kind these days. I’ve interacted with some really bright and so called studious students and one common characteristic which I’d seen in them was confidence. Somehow the fear of failure seems to be the worst enemy which any student can have. Parents have got the most critical role to play in building the psyche and emotional framework of the child and personally I feel that more than the students it’s their parents who need all kind of psychological help to stop being paranoid about the child’s academic performance. Parents have been wrecking havoc on the child mind by pushing them against wall for a secure career.

If your cousin, brother or any relative friends happens to be in IIT, AIIMS or any good institute, school, college worth its name, be assured, your life is doomed till you are in school or college. That constant comparison will drive you nuts.On a serious note I feel this has got lot to do with our changing pattern of societal fabric. As a society we have never been so fiercely competitive and individualistic, being average or a failure was never considered taboo in Indian society. We have always worked to live not lived to work. Career has always been important but never the most important thing. Although the board has been trying its best to reduce the stress of exams still we find the situation getting worst.

Indians have been able to make their global presence felt in the field of academics, science and medicine because of the fact that they have had excellent academic record .The fact that we have some very successful faces in public life despite being not so successful academically we Indians continue to fall back on our certificates and degrees when it comes measure success in life.

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Just Remember Death is not the end

Oh, the tree of life is growing

Where the spirit never dies

And the bright light of salvation shines

In dark and empty skies

When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men

Just remember that death is not the end

And you search in vain to find just one law abiding citizen

Just remember that death is not the endNot the end, not the end:

Bob dylan

Like many others in blogsphere I’ve been watching, reading the Jessica Lal murder case with great interest. The kind of media coverage, support and mass debate and public trail which we’ve witnessed in this case was perhaps never seen before.

It has raised some uneasy questions about the judicial trails and police investigation procedure in our country. Everyday we find some or other ex-officer or bureaucrat ,legal eagle, a typical pg 3 celebrity and last but not the least , new age gung-ho electro-journalist trying ot deliver justice or rather deliverance to the poor departed soul of Jessica lal via television channels.

We also have petitions, SMS petitions, blog petitions and god knows what else, reports that people in Manu Sharma’s home town are boycotting him socially .In Delhi people took out candle light procession , staged a Dharna to protest and raise their concerns.

What more even Sheila Dixit had to speak her mind out “I think the Jessica Lal case is a touching case in which justice does not appear to have been done? I think all women are feeling extremely distressed about it. And I do hope that the law will take its proper course and justice will be brought to the case, which has suffered from injustice", she told reporters in New Delhi.

OK ……what’s the point of saying all this on Blog………..

First let me make this very clear that I support the drive to book the culprit and must appreciate the fact that suddenly people realize that how easy it is to getaway with murder in this country.

But now my question is why these people can’t come out in protest of the poor and common man when females are paraded naked and stripped to death.

Children, women’s and families have been massacred over the years in the various parts of the country. I guess they are not even aware of these issues.

Most of these Pg3 people who take give emotive speeches on channels questioning the whole judicial process in the country will never blink an eyelid if they ever get an opportunity to circumvent the system and get away with something as heinous as murder.

What pains me the most is the fact that IT TOOK A MODEL TURNED BARTENDER murder by Manu Sharma in a typical socialite party, which was attended by more than 100 people from the high flying pg 3 crowd, to raise this debate and protest.

My only concern is how long the media trail and public consciousness will continue to drive to make the necessary efforts for bringing in better trails and investigation system in the country.

The question is here is not just that of a murderer getting away on account of lack of substantial evidence but the fact that do we need only celebrity trails to shaken our consciousness and awareness about our system?

Who will speak for the common man?

Who will debate for a speedy and just trail of the thousands cases of murder, rape and other heinous crime which are never heard or covered by the media?

Will the same group of people come out with candles if it were not for high profile case like Jessica?

Mind Music

Every now and then I am struck by the simplicity and lucid expressions of human survival by some very ordinary works of art. Words when mingled in the background of some esoteric and haunting melodies always take me for a journey which is next to route of nirvana. One such very powerful song is “return to innocence” by Enigma.

That’s not the beginning of the end that’s the return to yourself, the return to innocence.Love – devotion, Feeling – emotion, Love – devotion, Feeling - emotion.

Don’t be afraid to be weak, don’t be too proud to be strong, just look into your heart my friend, That will be the return to yourself, The return to innocence.

If you want, then start to laugh, If you must, then start to cry, Be yourself don’t hide

Just believe in destiny, Don’t care what people say, Just follow your own way

Don’t give up and use the chance, To return to innocence.That’s not the beginning of the end, that’s the return to yourself, The return to innocence.

This reminds me of psychedelic music “which is a musical genre inspired by or attempting to replicate the mind-altering experience of drugs such as cannabis, especially LSD. It is not rigorously defined, and is sometimes interpreted to include everything from Acid Rock and Flower Power music to Hard Rock.

Psychedelia began in the United States folk scene, with New York City's Holy Modal Rounders introducing the term in 1964. A similar band called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions from San Francisco were influenced by the Byrds and the Beatles to switch from acoustic music to electric music in 1965.

Although these days Trance is also believed to be a form of Psychedelic music but purists have their own reservations. More about it here.