Now We Should Fight For Accountability

Just consider the following events:

1. Mark Papermaster, a 25 year veteran at IBM who had been the vice president of IBM's microprocessor technology development, was sacked from Apple as the Senior Vice President of Engineering for a design flaw in iPhone, the problem which Apple's CEO Steve Job referred to as Antennagate. He was just out for one design flaw that had some (??) impact on Apple's revenue.
2. Carol Bartz, the gorgeous CEO of Yahoo was sacked over phone because she failed to revive the fallen glory of the company.
3. Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, was sacked from his own company by the investors in 1985, because they didn't share Steve's vision.
4. And then there are the regular Employee Appraisal process, the Corrective Action Programs (CAP) and many other systems and processes at almost every professionally managed companies around the world where any who fails to perform properly is first warned and then kicked out.

The key to good performance of any organization is continuous tracking of the performance of every individual, whoever he or she may be, and get the under performers out of the system. It's survival for the fittest. It's veer bhogya vasundhara, the world is for the powerfuls, the intelligents. But when someone is asked to leave an organization it doesn't mean that he or she is useless. There may be other places where the same person can excel and thrive. But the key is kicking out people who fail to perform. This is applicable from the CEO to the lowest peon in an office. Everyone serves someone, my house maid serves me, I serve my company, my CEO serves the investors and the board of governors. Everyone is a servant, some private some public. And like I have the authority to ask my maid servant to not come from tomorrow if I'm not happy with her performance, I'm also vulnerable to be kicked out if I under perform.

But then why our public servants - the ministers, the corporators, all the government employees, etc are exempted of being kicked. They are our servants, very much like my maid servant. I pay them their salaries. And I should be the one assessing their performance, isn't it? But can I sack the engineer whose lack of planning has led to unprecedented delays in making a bridge. Can I sack the minister who has failed to do what he had promised before the election? At least the ministers have a five year window after which they can be dismissed by the people. But what about the equal thugs, the IPS, the IAS and the so many other servants in various departments? There's no debate on the topic that government employees enjoy some special immunity which make them lethargic and less efficient. They all know that they are not accountable to anyone and that their masters (I, you everyone) are impotent.

I feel the next biggest fight, after fighting against corruption, should be the fight for making the Public Servants accountable and 'kickable'. Their appraisals should be published publicly, because they are public servants, they too should be brought under the ambit of three sixty degree feedback where their masters, we, will be asked to assess their performances, and their hikes and promotions should be based on annual appraisals.

Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaye He

That's what I felt when Anna broke the fast. Yes, this is the victory for the power of the Mind of the people, power of the Jana Gana Mana. And yes, I do accept that the most supreme is the this power, this power of the people. The constitution, the parliament all come later. So when this people's power demand for something then there's no other way than to accept that, implement that. Very aptly Anna said today after breaking the fast that this victory is for the people of India. It's unjust to say that the parliament or anything else is the supreme. Tagore had pointed it out long time back that the victory is always to the Jana Gana Mana. We've been chanting this for so long but how did we forget this? How did our politicians forget this that nothing is above the people of India?

Thanks Anna to remind us all that the supreme power of the country is with the people. If people say something better listen to it.

Arundhati is back again with what she does best: WRITE SHIT

Arundhati Roy's article:

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2379704.ece?homepage=true

This is what happens when an engineer tries to be a doctor and a writer writes to be an activist. She is really the Goddess of all small things, I mean all meanness. She can sleep with the Naxal (who have killed more innocents than perhaps the police), and can openly support the Kashmiri separatist movement (that has created the second largest displaced community of the world - the Kashmiri Pandits), and now she speaks like Manish Tiwari about Anna. Does she mean that she is more intelligent than so many intellectuals who are supporting this movement? I don't think so. She has the right to voice her thoughts, but she can't demean someone, or someone else's thoughts. That shows how mean she is.

Have you ever heard her saying anything about the Sikh riots of 84 that had killed more Sikhs than Muslims killed in Gujarat riots in 2002. No, she never writes. Did she ever write about the Kashmiri Pandits? Did she ever write about the Bhopal Gas tragedy which has been the biggest genocide in India till date - that was something like the concentration camp and still she is quiet. Why? She finds it interesting only when it augers her agenda, I don't know what. She is just a media hungry hypocrite who shouldn't be taken seriously at all.

And what the fuss about using Vande Mataram? Arundhati Roy writes in English. But she could have been a little more aware of Indian languages. I'm not expecting her to be an authority in Sanskrit (thanks God, at least she doesn't shit in that language), but still she should have referred to any Sanskrit dictionary to find the meaning of vandana.

Let me quote from the Monier Williams' Sanskrit to English dictionary. The word vandana comes from the root vad, which means to speak, to utter, to praise etc. And vandana also means praise, other then just worship. Sanskrit is a very metaphoric language and one word has multiple meanings. Vande Mataram doesn't mean only to worship the motherland, it also means to praise the motherland, to speak of the motherland. What's the wrong in that. Is any religion of the world against praising his or her motherland. If yes, I do condemn that religion, and those thoughts.

But I still maintain, she is a good writer!!

BTW, our movement is to fight corruption, and everything that she has mentioned is a fruit of some corruption. We're fighting with ourselves too, because the root of corruption is within me. Whenever I don't want to take a bill to avoid the sales tax, I'm being corrupt. Everytime I ask my CA to find ways to evase tax, I'm being corrupt. Everytime I jump a signal I'm being corrupt. Every time I use office resources for my personal use (even taking printout of fligth tickets) I'm being corrupt. We're fighting against all these. Once we're free from corruption only then we can change the world. And what's the problem in doing that? If Arundhati doesn't want to be the Anna, thanks. Let her sleep with the Naxals and the Kashmiri terrorists!! We don't need her in our movement.

From Freedom Park

by Tapas Datta

www.owasfilms.com
Founder & Managing Partner,
OneWithoutA Second Films LLP Company,

I just came back from the Freedom Park in Bangalore today after sharing a few hours with the people fasting in support of Anna Hazare. The old patriotic songs were playing - among them the songs of Nazrul, songs of INA (Netaji's) and you would be surprised - of Charan kabi Mukundadas who raised the fire amongst Bengal Independence fighters. Although many people didnt understand the Bengali words - they were shedding tears ! Great things never die, I suppose.

Thank You Congress!!

This may sound ridiculous that at this point of time I'm thanking the very party that's at the center of all the storm, or in the words of Manish Tiwari, steeped in corruption from head to toe (he had used this for Anna though).

Well, that's the irony. There's a concept of Srishti-Sthiti-Laya in Hinduism. We believe that to create something you have to first destroy something else. That's what we've learnt in our basic physics too - conservation of energy. You can't create new energy, but only transform one to another form, kinetic energy gets converted to potential and vice versa. Congress has proved the natural law in a very interesting way. Lot of potential energy was stored within 1.2 billion people. But somehow that untapped energy was not getting converted into kinetic form to move things. India is a massive country of billion plus people and trillion plus bucks. It needs serious kinetic energy to move and lo, Congress has enabled this conversion of potential energy (in the form of angst, frustration, helplessness, hopelessness, depression, oppression, inflation bla bla bla) to a fission and fusion of kinetic energy that's now moving, rather shaking, the whole country!!

Thank you Congress and all the thugs (do you have anything else) in your party to arouse a country that had slept for thirty plus years saying 'chalta hai'. Thanks to you for making Anna a household name from Jaipur to Jhumritalaiya, from Calcutta and Cuttack to Cochin, from Guwahati to Gandhinagar, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari; thanks to you for making all of us realize that India is still ruled not by you but the Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka; thanks to you for making us realize that we're stronger than you; thanks to you for making us believe in ourselves; thanks to you for making us believe that no matter how bad you can be, we would be still good; thanks to you!!

BTW, last time too, it was you who had aroused us - in the 70s, under JP!! Great. Keep doing the good work and arouse our country every after 40 years!!

Thought of the Days

For the past few weeks one of my colleagues, Pankaj Arora, has been sending a mail every morning with the subject - Thought for the Day. Initially, like any other forwards, I would glance through the mail casually. But very soon his mail became a part of the morning. He was on leave for a week and every morning when I would open my mail I would feel something was missing. That's what I would say is becoming a habit. Good things come and become a part of your day, without you knowing what it has become.

Here is the collection, sent one each day.

When someone is telling you that you can't do something, don't quit, just smile and say I'LL SHOW YOU !!

"When You Do Anything New,
At First People Laugh At You,
Then They Challenge You,
Then They Watch You Succeed,
And Then....
They Wish They Are Like You"

You have enemies? Good.
That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life !!

"Many Of Life's Failures Are Men Who Did Not Realize How Close They Were To Success When They Gave Up"

Always mistrust a subordinate who never finds fault with his superior.

"Don't be Afraid of Pressure , Because Pressure is What turns a COAL into DIAMOND "

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, 

But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.

"Do Not Be Afraid Of Going Slowly, But Of Standing Still”

Ship is safest at the harbour . But that's not the place it is meant for . 

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer."

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." 

- Thomas Edison 

Falling down is Not Defeat. Defeat is when one refuses to Get Up!!! 

"Your Life is Defined By How You Correct Mistakes & Not By How You Avoid Making Them"

"Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live" 

If you learn only methods, you'll be tied to your methods, 

but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods

"I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. 

I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, 

I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. 

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. 

And that is why I succeed." 

- Michael Jordan

I’m a great believer in LUCK , 

and I find the harder I work the more I have of it .

The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to 

excellence,regardless of his chosen field of endeavor

"Vision without action is daydreaming and action without vision is a nightmare"

“We Cannot Direct The Wind… But We Can Adjust The Sails”

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own" 

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there"

There are three kinds of people in the world, the wills, the won'ts and the can'ts. 

The first accomplish everything; the second oppose everything; 

the third fail in everything.

Happiness doesn't mean everything's perfect. 

It just means you have decided to see beyond the imperfections!!

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; 

that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”

There's something you may give, 

To a friend and a stranger too; 

It seems that when you give it, 

It's given back to you. 

This present is worth a million, 

But doesn't cost a dime; 

It's lasting in effect, 

But doesn't take much time, 

This simple little gesture 

Can make the day worthwhile; 

It's just as good as sunshine; 

It's what we call a smile

If An Egg Breaks By Outside Force, Life Ends, But...... 

If An Egg Breaks From Within, Life Begins, 

Great Things Always Begins From Within .

If You Think You Are Too Small To Have An Impact, 

Try Going To Bed With A Mosquito In The Room

When God Solves Your Problems, You Have Faith In His Abilities,

But When He Doesn't, Then Presume He Has Faith In Your Abilities

At last I'll see a different color

34 years.... I don't remember when exacly the RED color first draped the walls of Calcutta - I was just 4. At least now we can see a different color. Doesn't matter if it's again a shit. If it's always shit why not try a different shit - horse shit in place of cow dung?

I remember, in our hostel commi was a term used for the most hated person - someone who complains to the warden about ragging, someone who complains about blue films being seen in the hostel, someone who complains everytime someone gets a girl to the hostel, something like that. Though I never liked CPM, still coming from West Bengal, initially the term commi appeared a little derogatory. The extreme hatred that was associated with the term, the violent form of anger that was evoked every time the term was used, made the term one of the most dreadful ones in hostel. Being branded as a commi was like being seen as a terrorist, a rapist, an outlaw.

Eventually, I realized that our seniors were just apt. The Left front government and the CPM folks are actually commis!! It's good that they are finally shown the door. I may dislike Mamata equally (till she starts delivering) but I liked what she said once: There are enough wild animals in the jungles and seas (referring to the tigers and crocodiles in Sundarban areas), we don't need any more (referring to the Leftists). Well, I too feel the same. At least for Bengal, they have been like the worst animals.

My dad is happiest. He started his career in 65, when the left had already started their carnage in Bengal (coming to power within 10 years), and retired in 2004, when left was there in full swing. His entire career, like many others of his generation, was just ruined by something called labour problem, the first gift from the Leftists and something that's beyond the threshold of imagination of anyone outside Bengal. The 34 years of left misrule is the biggest curse that happened in Bengal. The animals can be finally put in cage.

I don't support violence and killing them now. But at the end of the day I didn't feel bad when Osama was killed. If I hear - and that's people are already fearing about - the erstwhile left front heavy weights are getting killed mysteriously, I won't feel bad!! After they all deserve to die like Osama. If the world (at least me) was okay with that I'm okay with this too!!

A bunch of Retards

What's the difference between Dhirubhai Ambani's folks and Manmohan Singh's people? Well, the question is blasphemous because it's like asking to compare between the Prophet and Dawood Ibrahim. I'm not saying that Dhirubhai Ambani was a Prophet of any sort. It doesn't matter whether Dhirubhai Ambani or Jamshedji Tata or G D Birla were any incarnation of prophet or not. But I'm indeed equating Manmohan (I decline to put the venerable Dr. in front of him that I used to do way back in the nineties from within my heart) and his gang to the likes of Dawood. I didn't find any other name to equate them to. I'd like to apologize to Mr. Dawood (well, I don't mind putting the respectful Mr. in front of him now) for comparing people, more dangerous and dreadful than him, with him. Well, coming back to my original question - what's the difference between the Ambanis and the Manmohans. First let's point out the similarities:

• Both are Indians (very silly)
• Both are famous (is it a time for joke?)
• Both control business (well, now we're coming to point - The PM does control more business than the Ambanis)
• Both impact the lives of Indians (well, to some extent yes, had there not been the Ambanis there won't have been so many jobs)
• Both have the responsibility to deliver (are you joking? Yes, Ambanis have to deliver to theie shareholders, to their employees, to their vendors, to their partners - and what has the team of Manmohan to do? I disagree....) I think this is the point of divergence between the two. Well, let's proceed.
• Both have to tweak laws to make things happen (Yes, you make sense. You can't tun a business and be a Mahatma. You have to manipulate things at times. That's what any successful businessman would do. But what are you trying to implicate?)

The last point is the final one which really diverges the comparison between the two. Yes, it's true that the Ambanis flout laws. Dhirubhai Ambani couldn't have made Reliance without flouting laws. His floutings have become case studies for business schools and are now considered as legends in corporate world. That's what Chanakya has also said - you need to manipulate things to make things happen. But then there's a degree of flouting. People like Dawood also run their huge companies, but have you ever heard of anyone calling them legal? No. But the same people would give a clean chit to the Ambanis. The reason is very simple. There's a degree of violation that everyone accepts provided the outcome is positive to the country, to the people. A violation by Reliance will be ignored if thousand more people get jobs and four thousand more people can lead respectable lives. But then there's indeed a limit. And the main difference between Manmohan and Ambani is that the former has crossed the limits of violations beyond the most stretched threshold of tolerance and the later is still within the limits. Manmohan's case is like that of Mr Dawood's - both our outlaws, both have violated beyonds any toleration, both have done no good to the country, both are thugs and thieves and both should be prosecuted without any mercy.

I accept that to run a business you can't always hold the high moral ground of a Mahatma. It's not that I'm basically being unethical from the core of my heart. No. That's not the case. I want to be ethical always. But clinging to ethics may create some irreversible damage that will cause more harm to many other people who are connected to my business. Lies for for a greater cause is approved of in the Mahabharata too - Yudhisthira himself spoke one lie in his life to win the battle. But what Manmohan and his team has done can't be put in the same class as Yudhisthira's lie. That's the difference between violating laws by business men and ripping off our country by the government.

Sometime back I'd told that our ministers are senile. They are not even physically fit to have sex scandals like their counterparts in Europe and America. They are in fact a bunch of retards. They steal, get caught, try to defend like fools and are so senile that they can't even do something to shut the world off. Actually they can't do anything. They are the worst manipulators in the world. Had they been intelligent they would have performed so well that people would have ignored their wrongs - the same way I always give a clean shit to the Tatas and the Ambanis irrespective of whatever wrongs they do in their business because at the end of the day they do deliver!!

Salient Features of Jan Lokpal Bill

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal, this Bill has been refined on the basis of feedback received from public on website and after series of public consultations. It has also been vetted by and is supported by Shanti Bhushan, J M Lyngdoh, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare etc. It was sent to the PM and all CMs on 1st December.

An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

1. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
2. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
3. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
4. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.
5. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.
6. But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
7. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.
8. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

7 Scam Maaf

Who ever is the creator of this - thanks!!

Light For Education

Chenraa Collage

“Chenraa Collage” (The Torn Collage)

On Saturday 29^th January and Sunday 30^th January 2011

Direction: Amitava Baksy

Playwright: Paromita Das

Venue: "KH Kala Soudha (KHKS)" Ramanjaneya Temple Compound,

Date/Time: Saturday 29^th January 3:30 PM and 7:00 PM

Sunday 30^th January 3:30 PM

Chenraa collage is set in the regular Indian proscenium style …. A reflection of our very own lives in the 3^rd millennium.

An engrossing tale of love, hate, joy, fun, friendship, uncertainty and anxiety…… A complete spectrum in entertainment.

This is an advanced information and please mark your calendar early to reserve your time now…..

Actual ticket selling and promotion will start from JANUARY in full swing.

Please send invitations ASAP to all your near and dear ones, so that they can reserve their time in advance to watch the play.

Thanks and regards

Amitava

PS: KHKS is a very new Auditorium, ideal for great theatre experience, comfortable individual seating, Air conditioned, Plenty of open space / Garden area around and adequate parking space/ Less than 6 km from MG road. We are also arranging a Bengali snacks corner…..]

"KH Kala Soudha" Ramanjaneya Temple Compound,

Hanumantha Nagar, Bangalore 560050

website: www.khkalasoudha.org