The Country of Billion People and the Olympic Dilemma !

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”, so says the line in Secret Garden !

I still believe its all about perspectives ! Oh a country of Billion ask many people and yet not many medals in Olympics  !So should we be winning a Billion Gold Medals?
There are reasons for everything and also for this.
India got its Independence 69 years ago to be precise (in another 2 days) and we have come a long way in all aspects .The country has been on an incremental curve especially after the Liberation of economy in 1991 in a fairy exponential way .
Exposure to most of the Olympic sports and the physical fitness preparedness is not developed and it needs its own processes and infrastructure support.

One can counter argue saying even small  African nations go ahead and win Gold medals.What facility and infrastructure they have ?There is always one Usain Bolt and we also have our own  Sania Mirza and Sania Nehwal  and not to mention the 2 legends in their own fields:  Sachin and Leander Peas .
We will definitely improve and we might not compete and even surpass China like we do in Information Technology but we have improved and the future looks brighter !

The mindset in the people of the country to look up to sports as a professional career should increase rather than making pessimistic comments about the country's talent pool.  This  could be a negative factor for  the next generation of stars.

Yes we still have Cricket as the major sport ,viz we all have grown with that.

Its like asking a North Indian you eat only rotis and south Indian you eat only rice.

Certain things need not change and certain things would change based on circumstances .

Sachin is still the "God of Cricket"and Rajini is still celebrated in an unprecedented way by the young and the old alike when his film releases .

We are a country where we celebrate our fellow countrymen's achievement as our own achievement and lets be proud of it!

There is a transition period for everything and we are slowing transitioning towards in a good fashion in many areas .

Yes, there are infrastructure issues ,corruption etc.But there are different problems every where in the world.

Its a nice fashion even for so called socialites to comment on  it ,but we should truly be proud that there is a Deepa Karmakar and an Indian among very few in the World who can do Produnova.

Let us celebrate and appreciate the moment and I am glad I could take 3 women as examples of excellence which itself shows the fact we have progressed from being a Male dominated country .

So the " Acche Din" of Indian Olympics might  not be far away and that might be the
                                                       "Tryst with Destiny"

                                                  Till then  Life As It Is continues ....
                                                                                                  
 

The Untold Story of the Crest Jewel of Ramayana and the Final War - Part 1

Preface:

             The story is an reinterpretation of the almost lost treasure created by my grand father  the scholar  (Late) G Seshadri Ayyangar Swami  and retold by my uncle  S .Srinivasan who had interpreted the same in English and who along with  his brother and my  father S.Govindan are motivation to this .
I have always been awestuck by the skillful powers of Indrajith (Ravana's son) described by Sage Valmiki and hence  the retelling of the story centre's around the way strategies evolved to eliminate him and make the preparation for the mega what i call  as blockbuster battle  between Rama and Ravana.

Characters in Chapter 1 and 2 :

Rama : King of Ayodhya

Seetha Devi : Wife of Rama

Lakshmana : Rama's Brother

Hanuman : Son of Kesari and Anajana

Ravana : King of Kingdom of Lanka

Vibhishana - Brother of Ravana

Sugreeva : King of Kishkinda Kingdom

Introduction - Preparation to the Final Battle :

War is at its peak and Lakshmana ( King Rama's brother ) is overpowering Ravan's army.
Ravana needs to unleash his main potent force and his invincible warrior son Indrajith to the
battlefield and calls for an emergency meeting 

Chapter 1:

Ravana's Strategy Room and the Invisible Battle

The war is at its peak and Ravana has to unleash his  invincible warrior and son Indrajith .
He is in his war room discussing strategy and the entire core team is discussing who is the one person
who could be the key to Rama's army.
    The analysis of key strength's of Rama's army begins and minute details are examined 

Hanuman and Vibhishana (Ravana's brother ) are considered to be key to winning the war

    Ravana says : My son Indrajith has invisible powers and is unconquerable.

  Ravana's minister says:   Hanuman because of the benedictions of Surya ,Agni and Mahadeva is also unconquerable .
  Then comes the   reply  from  another  of  Ravana's General:
           He was responsible for the death of the valiant Vali who was endowed with the undaunted power of India  
     
 There is a thunder in the sky and Ravana and his team peaks from the window to see what is happening .

Indrajith and Lakshmama are already in a battle and Indrajith has unleashed his invisible powers and Lakshmana is struggling to cope up with the same.

Vibhishana and Hanuman come towards  Lakshmana and takes him away and its late evening and battle for the day ends.

Ravana  sits down on and thinks Vibhishana must have played a trick and provoked Indrajith to the battlefield and immediately asks his minister to summon Indrajith to the War room.
          

Chapter 2:

The Game of  Shadow War and the Revolt of Lakshmana

To be continued .....

Life Entrepreneurship and Personalization - The 5 year journey

Life  As It Is  in its 5th year and finally where do i come to .Its Life again but a personalized life .
The complete ecosystem of my blogs might have had different recepies but it touches only one aspect -The Purpose of Life?

In the age of IOT and Personalziation where every small piece of info about a person is an use case and remembering history is no more required -Google does it for you.
 Do i need a change in the way my life is controlled ? Question yourself if you are living a life of a spirit !

Lets talk about the Entrepreneur phenomenon or the Stating Up wave going on currently .
 I strongly agree on the critic Entrepreneurs and Investors don’t create jobs.  Instead, they argue that jobs are created by consumers and demand for goods and services which enable entrepreneurs to create corporations, jobs and profits.

It is all about executing based on needs and this era of so called "Smart life " and the most abused term i see being used these days IOT . 
 IOT is nothing more than can u solve a problem .
Forget solving are you even  identifying the right  problem in the first place.

Entrepreneurship ,IOT ,Personalization looks like a great story to tell.But story is only sustainable when demand is created and supply part is executed .
As one of my Prof in IIM-B used to say its all about making revenues from "Other people's Money " when it comes to Business.

What about leadership in Entrepreneurship ! I think that solves crux of the problem,

An Entrepreneur who can take the "One Handed" view stand made famous by War Time US President Roosevelt could be the key.

You cannot be what i call "Preferential Leader" ,It overshadows the innovation you bring about and eventually destroys the vision and spirit of entrepreneurship.
But definitely you need a personlaized leader who has access to minute details for decision making .

So with all these should i give my take on where the economy is moving !Raghuram Rajan has already done that i suppose .

So whats the Mantra for success and Entrepreneurship...

Here is my take ...blogger take i call it

Who cares what other people think ,As they say in Silicon valley -Make the money quick .

No business is bad business .Dont have complexities issues about entering different areas.I think something which people still haven't figured about Warren Buffet is diversify everywhere .

And finally as ususal ending with some golden thoughts to ponder over 

                 "Zindagi ek safar hai suhana ,Yaha kal kya ho kisne jaana "

                                                           Kishore Da and Entrepreneurship lives on 

                                                                                            And
                                                                                                         Life As It Is
                                                                                                                                             Continues ...

Solitude -An introspection over time

As goes the saying "Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature" by Albert Einstein,this is what Winston Churchill might have felt when he won the war but lost the battle of elections in 1945.

1945  also marked the emergence of one more person who defined  solitude through his imagination on the Silver Screen .It was the beginning of the career of Guru Dutt.Life is best defined in solitude and best understood through "Pyaasa" a movie which goes beyond the clutches of success and failure ...or is there something in between also ?

Einstein said, "If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z.X is work.Y is play.Z is keep your mouth shut."A tremendous work ethic ,a relaxed approach and learning the value of quietness and solitude would do good .But what is success ?

Take the case of Churchill .Here was the man who won Britain the war but  one who lost a political election ....was he successful or a failure?

You need to be like the "One Handed Economist"  so that you can take a stand on same

The  eloquent  music of the cool breeze , and the ever beautiful Wahida Rehman as a  simily of Full Moon ...all this in imagination of director .Here was Chaudhvin ka Chand all in Solitude.

2 people ,2 enigmas, both had their share of success , failure and solitude and as i always say



                                     Life goes on ... 
                                                                Ekaki yetha chitt athma …
                                                                                                            Life As  It Is Continues...

Its all about TRP be it Election reporting by India News Channels or tweeking Mythology ...

As the countdown begins for the World Cup in Brazil and Soccer fever grips in , we in India  have just elected a new government and Indian 24/7 News  Channels had a ball covering the same .They were reporting as if it was a cricket match being played giving second by second update and finally when it comes to taking credit can anyone beat them ! Everyone says we reported this first and we are the best and most watched ...
    Has marketing come down to this level that you need to tell that you are the best ...hmm..give it a thought ...

Then comes the "Tu Tu Mein Mein" war with opposition and ruling party in India.Oh God ,give me a break ,give the government some time to settle down and then question if they don't perform  .Anyways we were sleeping for past 10 years. Indian News channels needs to understand its just not about TRP's and you need not tell yourself you are a credible person and a channel with integrity ,let the people decide and India knows how to decide now ...just recap the election just gone by.

Ok ,let me stop at this ,and take a break and change channels. Wow here comes the new Star Plus Mahabharat ...Watched a few episodes and my goodness Is this a soap opera or  Mahabharat rewritten.
Bhishma is still Mukesh Khanna for me and Mahabharat is the one by Legendary B R Chopra .
Where is the cultural essence that our mythology is supposed to teach us .The so called "Samskaar" at least the next generation can see through this.
Who can forget dialogues like these  " Jo hona hai wo tou hokar hi rahega , manusha ka ye kartavya hai ke vartamaan ki jholi mein apna uphaar daalkar aage bade "

Man can we forget the poetic and heart warming dialogues from Rahi Masoom Reza.I think the younger generation is missing out on a lot due to change in the way channels want to show these epics .

I end this post by saying , show people what is our culture through epics not tweek them add those masala stuff and project your TRP's  and people will still see if its good and appreciate .
  For 24/7  news channels good job for the all the right things done and please cool down a bit ,no one is chasing you ,and you need not shout ..we will increase our volumes if we want to hear you louder

           Untill next time when we wait for the "Acche Din"

                                              Life As it Is
                                                                   continues ....

The rise of the Other Kapoor,the fall of the Other Murthy and a Masaledar week gone by...

"अपने  सपनों  से  ज्यादा  होते  है "...  Aurangzeb gives Indian film industry an actor of substance,coming from the other Kapoor family which has given versatile actor like Anil Kapoor ,Arjun Kapoor steals the show in this movie which is filled with stellar performances from Prithvi Raj and the Rishi Kapoor in particular.

                   Arjun has grown as an actor from his first film and would no doubt give the bigger stars a run for their money in the days the come.All in all a good movie experience ,thanks for the person booking the ticket :) and one who gave the review also .Guys dont forget to watch "The Great Gatsby" also.This chap Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't seem to age,yet another powerful performance for him and Tobey Maguire.

 

" सपने अपनों से ज्यादा होते है  "...      The other Murthy -The once blue eyed boy of Narayan Murthy does it again.A middle class boy from Bangalore who was instrumental in the success of Infosys gets sacked just after few days of "Spot Fixing Scandal" in IPL breaking out.

So Indian Media is having a Full Meals this week,TRP's going to sour ,but who is going to fix the real problem.

 

Switch on the Idiot Box ,the first thing you are going to see is Sreesanth Bowling clip with Towel highlighted ...this happens  24*7...

 

 

Finally it rains heavily in Bangalore and what next ... waiting for "Yeh Jawani hai Diwani and Chennai Express "

 

             But its a choice we need to make

                                                     "अपने सपनों से ज्यादा होते है "... 

                                                     

             Or the other way around

                                                                  Life Goes On

                                                                                          LiFe As It Is

                                                                                                            Continues ...

                                                                                          

 

Always Yours,

Pavan

Glimpse at 100 years of Indian Cinema and the buzz word "100 crore" club ...

Some setbacks,some success,and some introspection and finally here i am back with my new post and this time writing on the topic i love most,Indian Cinema...

From Raja Harischandra to  Harishchandrachi Factory Indian cinema has come a long way .As we celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema let me make an introspection of some of the interesting facets of the years gone by .
          Makers from Satyajit Ray,Gur Dutt ,B R Chopra to Mani Ratnam and many others have taken Indian Cinema to world in the best possible way it can be.
        It  Is more of the box office success now,the widely used "100 crore" club that defines the fate of the moive.
          Would Hrishikesh Mukherjee himself have dared to do a "Anupama" or "Satyakam" in this era is any body's guess...
          Indian cinema has come of age,technically and also in the way we tell the story.We identified something called Parallel cinema and Commercial cinema going along .

       We  got our "First SuperStar" Rajesh Khanna with Aradhana and an "Angry Young Man" whom people identified with  their issues during the 70's.Also we had movies like Mother India where a female lead was given more prominence .

       Indian Cinema down South is more about the Larger than life stars,and some of them have been able to use this to make their entry into politics cashing on the advantage of huge fan following.

On a holistic picture Indian Cinema's true identity comes with Song ,Dance and Music and filmmakers have managed to give prominence to this.

But looking back one question that pops out to my mind is where are those movies like "Guide" ,"Pyaasa" and "Kaagaz Ke Phool " supposed to be among all time classics.Yes,we do get once in a while such movies but ... its more about "100 crore club" now.We are in an era of remixes,
and Item Numbers .

 The "King of Romance" Yahji is no more... he taught us how to love ,who can forget his films.

Lastly i get this question  ,yes we have come along ,grown in all aspects but still live  in a Hero centric society.Llast  i heard where female lead used to bring in crowds was for "Madhuri Dixit " and "Sridevi".People still recognise "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" as a Madhuri film,infact Salman Khan was the Hero of the film.

 Its more of the business now,the pressure to give that ultimate box office hit ...

Its sad ,films like "Mera Naam Joker" and even  rib tickling comedies like "Andaaz Apna Apna" were not greatly success when they were released.
Finally one thing has not changed...
                               Its the movie goer who decide which is a hit and which is not,and who is the "Super Star".
                     Even Rajesh Khanna had to give away his crown...

And signing off   the "Anand"  way edited version  :

"Success Aur Failure Janta Ki Hath Me Hai Jahanpanah! Isse Na To Aap Badal Sakte Hai Na Mai! Hum To Rangmanch Ki Kathputliya Hai"

                                           LiFe GoEs On
                                                                    LiFe As It Is  Continues...

                                                        Be good,Do good...
    Always Yours ,
      Pavan