Vola Barcelona!

A week off to sunny spain, especially as winter sets in UK is a nice one to embark. I was off to a Microsoft Tech-ed conference. I am not intending to blog about technology, but more of the spainish jubilations. I got to stay on a 7th floor hotel suite looking onto the 'Mar'(sea in spanish), such a nice break! Thats a nice view from one of the windows :)

One night we went out to taste the paellas! my colleagues kindly checked around to make sure i get a veggie paella. I was knackered eating such a heavy nice dinner. The next evening was at the rock cafe and a nice spanish dinner, followed by 'Soberanos' and 'Sangrías'. Back to bachelor's life! the next evening was the one that i would cherish for years to come... i went out to hunt for photos on Gaudi's architecture. I have heard about his style, but did not imagine such a splendour... Just no words to describe this marvel. This cathedral is considered to be Gaudi's masterpiece. Antoni Gaudi was a deeply religious man who became even more single-minded about his faith in Catholicism with age. He devoted his last years of life entirely to the design and construction of this cathedral, even living onsite. Apparently this church is expected to be completed in 30 years!

With a feeling of awe, i picked myself up and looked into the metro map for reaching the La Rambla! Took a L2 from Sagarada Familia to Clot and a L1 from clot to Catalunya to be struck by another awe! Its a famous touristy landmark and the moment you start walking on the wide street, you would be transported into a different place and time and i was... I strolled, sauntered, and slowly the foot started to slog, i decided to get into a small street which looked to me like a palace courtyard with fountains in the middle and royalish chairs in all corners, a perfect place to give my achy feet a chance to respite... After some God knows how long, i decided to venture back into the ramblas and found the La Boqueria - the famous market, a colourful market that reminded the mexican market in San Jose, California... (Yeah i could see where the influence is from).

After spending quite a long time in the market buying nothing but clicking a lot with my canon, i decided to call it a day and to end, I relished a falafel with pita bread and boarded the T4 to selva de mar - the place where i stayed... ha, wat a nice place to stay and enjoy... I would love to go again and have some great fun... I love barcelona... Mucho Gracias.

A thought on outsourcing...

Many reports, case studies, research papers have been published discussing the pros and cons of outsourcing. I have been reading, thinking on this particular subject for quite some time - i would say at least 7 years :). A pain is a pain - irrespective of whether an Indian or American or a Norwegian feels it. So its always hard to justify outsourcing completely, coz' someone looses the job and the wealth pattern shifts - philosophically speaking this is bound to happen... But how do we justify to the employees? When an organisation does it, some of them might accept and move on, a few crib and remain, a few quit, some are forced to quit, some grow hatred over the sourced in citizens. btw, this blog does not relate to any views of the company i work for or its intention to progress in this vein...

Couple of days back, as I 'drove' to my office in a stuffed M4 queue, i tuned into the local Asian radio channel... MissyD the DJ pitched the topic. Lots of westerners are turning to Indian, East European countries to get their health/medical related problems sorted out. The numbers from UK just for this year rose to 70K+... The DJ added that infact a few take a quick flight to Hungary for a dental check. Turkey, Singapore were in the top providers' list. The services includes anything from a heart surgery to dental care to laser eye ops. The DJ's objective on that topic was different. She was interested to know the service feedback...

But this set the ball rolling in my mind... the key benefits that the individual go for such medical services overseas are : cost-effective, better care & attention, no more long waiting times/list and above all good quality. (Sounds the same set of benefits for an organisational outsourcing)

Does this bring the above argument to a full circle? When people look to save a quarter when it matters to their individual monetary budget, why would the big organisations not do it? People want to save costs, get their services quicker and also in a better quality, why would the companies not do it - From a capitalistic view, companies are formed with a sole aim to make money. So they are better placed to source-out. Though this significant point does not answer the cons from an ethical and pure moral point of view, (business & moral? -oxymoron) it definitely counters the argument in a much better strength and would at least challenge the pseudo-nationalists who throw scorn and hatred on the sourcing-in country nationals.

Trip home is never a Vacation.

Yes - I always say to my friends that a trip back home is never a vacation. One among the zillion things I often think about is 'coincidence'. Trip to India was to celebrate the seemantham and valaikappu function for my missus. - Back home, pregnant woman are pampered with these ceremonies and I wanted my wife to enjoy them - she did! that's a diff thing. The word coincidence comes back to highlight. Though the trip's primary reason was something, it turned out to be different later. My dad had a tough time, with his health hitting a real low - He suffered a intestinal bleeding - Melena. The coincidence: I was next to him and was able to share my strength etc (He is an important person in my life - i can write many many blogs about both my parent's contribution to my success...) But it was not just my strength, most importantly the team of doctors, family and friends all of them had their share to aid the old man. So all through the trip, i was on my toes. But i also did a few things - met my long time good friend after 3 years... we had a bit of tiff running between and that was put down, had some real bachelor's day fun time etc etc... so i had my share as well

Returning back to the beautiful isles, i was hit with a flurry of project activities... here i am a month after my return sitting and blogging to keep in touch with netizens... lots to chat, Ram Sethu, T20, rugby, brown's balti, etc etc... Above all, my agilerfragile is pending long time!

C u soon...

India-Pensive Day!

Phew, a busy month has kept me away from blogging and all other activities... Today is the day 60 years back alien rule of anarchy ended and a self-rule of anarchy started! But nationalism has not gone dry. People still holiday and celebrate with interesting TV shows, new movies and also hoist a flag and self appraise the growth by comparing Pakistan, Bangladesh or appreciating how our IT services shine and how Naryanamurthy's Infosys or Azim Premji's Wipro do etc... Remember months back i blogged that I wouldn't show my pessimism? I still stick to it, trying to wear a brave mask...but my fingers are not able to...

I opened the papers with a deep sense of nationalism to see the tricolour majestically fluttering, but couldn't find one single pic in any of the top Indian newsletters. I kept refreshing the pages minutes before typing this blog, nothing yet! But my day was made by BBC - The British Broadcasting Corporation - exactly at 7:14 this morning they showed PM unfurling the tricolor and the rose petals softly falling down... That sight and single moment has no match!!!

I am not sure how the Indian media handled the I-day back home, but in Britain the people who divided and ruled us for at least four centuries handled gracefully, honestly and with grit... The last couple of weeks' prime time were all about Ind/Pak related actuals - as is - how both the countries are today, positivity ebbed; in spite of a busy schedule i seldom missed those shows but yesterday it was about partition, self admission: as to what mistakes the contemporary brit officers did, how the transfer of power was mis-managed etc etc. That needs real guts to openly accept and self-criticise that too 60 years after the event.

I have recorded a few off those shows, i think its really essential for us to understand the roots of problems and the unbiased history... This will put us in best place to understand contemporary issues and aid in dealing them better.

Some pictures to celebrate the day!

Shambo Mahadeva!

Last Saturday i heard about Skandavale from a friend... It was interesting to know about a place which is similar to Pazhani hills - abode of Lord Murugan. The curiosity to visit the Hills heightened... Could you imagine non-indian priests performing Hindu ceremonies etc... I decided that i would one day go over to Skandavale. FYI: Skanda refers to Lord Murugan.

So the next day i visited their website and found this controversial news. It's really a delicate issue to handle - as a Hindu follower i signed the petition; but as a good citizen should i follow the rules? If i look at the supporters views, the government could have given some more time... why?

A. The bull was not infected, but a carrier only
B. The effectiveness of the tests are still debatable
C. A similar case in Devon was given more time
D. the supporters were ready to pay extra money to get tests from US that's more conclusive

Given all the above, my heart feels for Shambo; having said that would the Government start slaughtering AIDS infected or carriers? What about people who oppose death penalties? what does blue cross say about these?

On a different note, people appreciate non-pujaris doing Hindu ceremonies in places like Skandavale, would they agree the same in India?

I did it!

In the limbo world of browsing, I bumped into robinsharma's blog... I visit his blogspace once in a while for some good pep-tips. I spotted a suggestion that was to use the summer time to the full and an idea was to re-do a thing that you would have done in your childhood days and the one you would have not done for years together..

Today i got a chance to do something like that: I was very eager to do, the ambiance was perfect, forecast for the weather was coming true, it was all raining, gloomy. The rains started pouring, lightnings flashed, thunders thundered... it took me to my teenage days and to add i was working from home too. It may be a perfect day for me to do what i wanted to do, this i have done this many times in my teenage. But when i was teen and when i wanted to do this, my parents would not allow me to do that. Now i am married, and my wife would not be too happy if i did that. But today all conditions were set, no one was home; but i felt a bit shy to do in this civilized world. How could a grown up man like me do it? that too in daytime??

I told myself, i have to do now or i have to wait for a day like this... though England is a nice place where such days come in abundance, today was a special day - Friday, weekend, you could let go your tensions, but what would people think of me? - who cares so i did it - yes i changed my clothes into PJs and straight walked into Rain! whooohooo! Walking in the rain again - people looked at me from their cars like what? i did not care - i enjoyed every step of it and got fully drenched!

Vaaji Vaaji!

Thousands of blogs, thousands of reviews, thousands of comments - the tide has not fallen down: yep about Sivaji - 'The Boss' few like Anuradha SenGupta of CNN-IBN came out with a stark review.

Just rewinding back to my college days - I used to be an ardent Kamal Hassan fan boldly facing the outnumbering Rajini Fan club... I have to mention this incident... 1997 i was preparing for my Master's exams and the local Rajini Fan club blared music on his birthday (12 - Dec); i cannot forget this... The blaring songs at 5:30 AM irritated me to such an extent, i dared those guys and my parents kept me in check - lest it became a big problem around the locale... I used to hate Rajini & co to such an extent... I still disapprove such a mad following... but years passed on...

I don't fancy calling myself a fan of any actor - may be my age or my exposure to global cinemas - French, Spanish and a few other cine craps... 'Things changed'. I was in US of A when 'B to the A to the B to the A' - BABA released; My sister, bil & co we payed around 10$ each and waded through the hyper charged fellow Indian fans, managed to get a few seats in the 4th row from front!!! Watched the movie in such a disbelief - the movie a big flop; but what i disbelieved was the Indian fan's behavior in a foreign land - ignoring the Gora shaming us etc...

I think i actually learned something... hey its an entertainment, its meant to be fun and can be enjoyed as long as its okay to your neighbours... coming back to Sivaji:

I was actually awaiting the release - long queues (in fact theatre staff sold snacks in the interval - within the screen premises) the brits would have not seen such a fanfare - third day after release we made it! everyone enjoyed the fanfare, people around me were talking about their college day rajini releases; other rajini related movies - which director directed him the best; why he is such a great person, his religious attitude etc etc etc... I can't believe myself - a man who used to hate Rajini & co, awaits for Sivaji release!? (partly due to the media hype)

As people did, i too found loopholes in story etc, but truly enjoyed the movie - 100% entertainment. I enjoyed the mail forwards about people queuing in 'Bangaluru' PVR theatres; How tax people were reaping entertainment tax benefits; corporates sponsoring gold class tickets to their star employees; rajini's salary and what not...

Just think for a moment about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other magical, mystical movies - going rounds, why not Sivaji - it may have many holes, less of logic but it was truly an entertainer - our armchair critics like Anuradha should do a sense check and see CNN-IBNs reviews on Harry Potters! Also people need to unwind and keep away the learning - should go for entertainers rather than finding faults...

friends c'mon: go on throw away your masks and have fun - unwind yourself and watch Sivaji the Boss!

Conserve Space and Grow Trees!

I have travelled to quite a few countries and a common theme across Europe is conserving space especially while building houses. Given their space to people ratio, they have to come up with innovative ideas to build houses effectively and they do. Another key aspect to their houses is the garden area; what ever be their house size, a considerable area is left open for garden. Notably in UK, they could use a bit more space for houses- but they don't; if you could go around the core London (btw do you know London is the smallest capital in the World - Square Mile City), you would observe huge parks, zoo, etc etc. Their population does increase, but their building style has necessarily not encroached into this huge natural wealth and every house does sport a nice garden (inspite of the sloppy weather)

I think this particular aspect should be picked-up by other countries that are developing/building new cities. I grew up in a town Neyveli, India. This is a planned city with neat right angling roads with lots and lots of trees! The speciality of this town/city is no-one can buy a land/property and the whole city is local body controlled. (I don't know if this has changed in recent times). I lived in a 'E' type house for my whole Neyveli life. Though we had a choice to move to newly built posh residential apartments, we never wanted to. Why? our 'E' type house had 13 mango, 5 coconut, 2 neem trees and a lemon, guava, orange and jack fruit tree each. Apart from these we had lots of crotons, climbers etc etc. It would look like a mini forest if we went out on vacation etc... After my Father retired and we left Neyveli, the house went onto another employee's lease, who built a forecourt, chopped off the play area and not sure what happened to those trees...

Anyways these days People seldom respect 'Nature' and are just interested only in their welfare - so why a sudden thought? I recently visited Birmingham Balaji Temple @ Dudley. The temple tower in picture is the outermost tower of the temple. If you notice closely, you would find curtains hanging - yes this temple tower hosts the residential apartments for priests!!! That's an idea. I am not sure back home if we would agree to such a design. Would we?

Software Models

If you like to discuss software models, feel free to browse my blog@http://agilerfragile.blogspot.com/ - I am starting a new set of topics in this blogspot...

ta,

Back to Blog Space

After long time i got some time to sort out my blog space... Watch out for some activities in this space

Appreciate the new idea

It has been a long time since i posted my blogs. I was busy on two goals; both progressing well - well don't ask me what they are; I shall announce when they meet the targets... I have a few things to blog... one of them a series of research articles on scientific analysis to date Mahabharata... I wish i get some solid time in starting that series... Today a peculiar article from The Hindu (India's leading English Daily)... Service station on the move

This is a brilliant business idea, but initially i wished it to fail... off late with too much money, people back home why can't they drive to a garage and get their cars cleaned??? why should they be such lazy bums? but then i though hang on a minute; its a good thing from a different angle... lets say 1000 of those potato couches chose not to drive couple of miles to wash their cars = 2000 miles of petrol is saved and less pollution; indeed the service car that cleans the other car indeed has to travel around that 2000 miles - so the petrol is anyway spent.. so one idea could be if this servicing company could drive to the offices where people work then the business can grow as well as less amount of gas...

Well we all wanted to be lazy that's why we started inventing many things and this business is one such... so none to blame but all...

Anyways what a great business idea.. Wish you all the best

The pot calling the kettle black

Starting the new year blogs with a bang!!! No prizes for guess about the subject, its obviously about Shilpa Shetty & Big Brother. Some jealousy feelings brimming and words are frothing in BB. Thats the whole fun of BB. 'Racism Cries'!! Both the governments involved (UK & India). Nice one for politicians. Should they need one better chance to show their oneupmanship in battle against Racism?

Anyways coming back to the crux of the issue: Who calls who as racist? Indian Gov to inquire about the claims??? The govt that intends to provide religion based reservations, caste based reservations, the one who cannot protect its own citizens going through racial abuse internally, the gov that watches like big brother when its fellow states fight each other on names of culture - Dravidian parties etc? We have created states on lines of lingusitics and call names on neigbhouring states, do we have right to speak against racism? are we not hypocrites?

What do i call on the 'Fair & lovely' ads? What shall i say when cricket tests have Whitewash & Blackwash wins? As a country of men who tend to use Fair & lovely, we don't qualify for this game. I am sorry. Let the Pot not call Kettle Black. World, please read the article that Monty had to take stress therapy for the fear of racist calls in aus? Why wouldn't the Indian gov fight against these issues? B***ks. Shilpa is happily going to win BB and earn 3 crores but we all are going to end up fighting for nothing. Above all, please let us understand that these are inherent erroneous human qualities. Yes until the day we have countries, boundries and similar dividers, racist feelings are going to be there.

Man by inherent nature sees things in positive and negative shades, so he will see differences and comment about it. In the modern society unless untill it becomes a case of real abuse (Cruel or inhumane treatment) hyping up things like these would create further fissures and divisions in society. Compared to yesteryear world, its a lot better place to live, please don't overhype and do more damage. It also shows how suppressed we have been, deep in our hearts; thats why even a slightest provocation is enough for us to pounce on such issues. We have been suppressed for 400 years plus, so it is fair enough on our side of the population to call foul on such things (even though we belive in ahimsa) and worst of all we do the same thing to our own fellow Indians and others. Thank God! India had Ambedhkar & Periyar, lest some upper caste houses would be burning. Calm down my friends and chill-out, look shilpa is reaping riches and she is going to go back to bollywood and be happy with more films on the horizon. A good actress indeed!!! Losers are the commoners as usual...

Happy new year all!

No wonder i decided to be positive in my blogs, very less things to post? No not all. Very less time to post actually. The last 2 quarters were busy, first of the 2nd qtr packed with a fab india trip and 2nd of the 2nd busy firefighting office project deliverables. Its an interesting year that has passed by and the new year beckons with couple of major goals for me... Lets see if i grab those goals.

From Today

Starting from this day, I am going to highlight only the positive aspects around me and especially with respect to Indian life style or way of doing things. I am not going to crib about any ongoing socio-economic convolutions in India.

Only IT-Engrs should communicate!!

CHENNAI: Anna University students will undergo more courses in communication and soft skills during the first three years of their engineering programme, from the coming academic year. Simultaneously, it is talking to global leaders in information technology services for improving the profile of outgoing students as "I.T-enabled engineers."

Read the full article here

Sometime back, I wrote about communication and how English mania spans all over India. Again I am not against the Language, but the way we address our problems elucidates that our system is crap. Anyone will accept learning comes easy & better at young age (below teenage) and our colleges are helping students (1st let me appreciate them they have realised a problem) Two things to note:

1. Leadership doesnot come just by communication and it comes by experience only. My point is looking at success and way of learning should change.

2. Why is it extended for only IT-Engr? are the other department students incapabale of going abroad? To prepare student globally would they teach French/Chinese too?

Lets see...

BusinessWeek also has the same point on Mittal's Merger...

What Price Mittal's Victory?

Mittal Steel is making such huge concessions that its acquisition of Luxembourg's Arcelor may not be such a great deal after all On the surface, Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of Mittal Steel (MT), has won the five-month takeover battle for Luxembourg-based Arcelor, assuming the board's June 25 recommendation to accept Mittal's offer prevails. But the tycoon looks to be making such huge concessions that it almost seems a pyrrhic victory.

Read on

Mittal & Annamalai

When I see the Mittal Steel deal & Arcelor steel two things stand out clearly

1. Never say Never die
2. Goals can be achieved but there is a price

the first point is very much clear, how on earth did they get the deal? Almost the merger with russian firm was confirmed. Like the media, i assumed the doors are closed once Severstal announced the deal. But I kept saying to myself that things might change. Coz' shareholders were not happy. Of course in capitalistic society shareholders are kings and they can change things. In Tamil there is a saying instead of bribing the witness go patch up with the opposition. In this case Arcelor are a mere witnesse and the key lied in Shareholders. Dealmakers hit right on that point to turn tables. Amazing corporate story, every other B-schools would have this as a case study. 200% sure about that.

Ok at what cost do you want to meet your goal? In a different perspective it looked like Rajini's Annamalai movie where rajini just hikes the auction and the enemy looses a lot to win the auction. Though elite men in the board room would have discussed this point for sure, I still feel Severstal merger drama has been well enacted and the buy out price doubled - 23euro a share to 41euro a share. Mittal steel's biography is all about mergers (from 1997 till date) its been a merger mela. But this is the biggest off all the mergers that has happened in Mittal's World. Not sure if such a costly merger is worth it or was it well thought & forseen that the original 23-eruo a share by itself was such a knacky move?

Time will tell...

Emergency Declared in India - This day but in 1975

The Indian Emergency (1975-77) is a 18-month period between 1975 and 1977, when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing her the power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties. It is one of the most controversial periods in the history of independent India.

Reason:

RAJ Narain was defeated in parliamentary election, lodged cases of election fraud - use of state machinery for election purposes on Mrs Gandhi in Allahabad High Court. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court found the Prime Minister guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign.The court declared her election null and void and unseated her from her seat in Lok Sabha.The court also banned her from contesting any election for an additional six years.

The Times described it as 'firing the Prime Minister for a traffic ticket'. However, strikes in labor and trade unions, student unions and government unions swept across the country. Protests led by Narayan and Morarji Desai flooded the streets of Delhi close to the Parliament building and the PM's residence.

The Government cited threats to national security, as a recent war with Pakistan had just been concluded. The strikes and protests had paralyzed the government and hurt the economy of the country greatly. Indira herself had the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of India and had no legal obligation to resign until then.

J.P. Narayan, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Jivatram Kripalani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and other protest leaders were immediately arrested. Organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and opposition political parties were banned. My maternal uncle who belonged to RSS was also arrested . At that time my mom had me floating in her womb. My mom used to visit my uncle (her brother) in jail and my uncle used to say that Lord Krishna (Hindu God & King of Mathura) was Born in Jail and he established Dharma!!. He wished to see similarities that If i were born in jail (if it all my mom delivered me in one of her visits), then I would grow up like Krishna to usher a new era... but i was born in Neyveli and not in a jail. Neverthless my thoughts are in the right direction. But will i make 'em to usher a new era?

Time will tell... Jai Hind!

'Fearless' - The best film ever i saw since 1976.

Yes I would rate this movie a well made one, better than many of the top class movies I have seen. I am an introspective individual, especially who thinks deep about human suffering. But, this movie is not about all those things.

A fighter who has defeated all his contemporaries in his province, falls defeated to life. This man raises back to true character, finds his 'Halo' through the simple lifestyle of mountain-tribes that save him from jaws of death. The director could have flawed easily by getting onto insidious points especially w.r.to History but has carefully avoided those traps and narrates the story in a fabulous way. Message of Gandhi in an action-filled martial arts movie!!. Subtle and strong messages of the oriental land in this movie are thought provoking. One of them is about the scenes involving a lunatic. This lunatic runs behind the Hero after his victorious fights everytime and questions "When will you be the champion of Tinjin"? "Today?" and laughs typically. Well thought.

Of course after the movie, I started lambasting the Indian movie makers about the way they produce movies, with heros standing and heroines dancing around. Kamal Haasan one of the few to do different genre of movies I wish, produces at least one with an Indian theme like this. Civilisations in East always have clashed with the West. I still feel western civilisation to a greater extent has been the reason for our degradation and increased suffering. I am not vouching here 100% eastern thoughts & life style are the best.

Hindu, Buddist, confucius type of thoughts initially ridiculed by west, have come back to limelight with many westerners themselves following such schools of thoughts & living. But we Indians have failed to understand our own history and lifestyle, simply started copying western lifestyle, and have self-inflicted misery. At a very high level to compare: West is all about creating the 'I', but East is all about destroying the 'I'.

English not THE key for global success

In 1983/84 my school levied 25 paisa as a fine, if a teacher spotted a student conversing in Tamil or their local language within the school premises. This was such a move that every other mate of mine was jittery about, just not for the monetary reason, but the primary reason was to speak in English. When a student was caught, he would lie and swear that he did not speak in local language. Obviously it withered away slowly.

The rationale behind the rule is definitely good and it was to make every other youngster in the school to converse well in English. The intent was good, but it created false and shallow characters, students feeling inferior to others who had a natural gift to tongue twist in English. Some diligent students did manage to speak, but in them for sure grew an inferior feeling.

Recently I read an advisory note in a career guide column that ‘English is a must in the new economy’. Such a column from a widely read website stressed a need that this problem must be nurtured from roots. I know many of my classmates/colleagues who have procrastinated or held back their urge to grow up, feared, felt inferior, in spite of their good knowledge in their chosen profession. The reason for the inferior feelings, the fears etc were the ones created long down in the colonial era.

Readers please do not despise me as a one, championing linguistic feelings. This article is not about languages or linguistic afflictions. This is no anti-English, pro-Indian language related write-up. One that I like to mirror is the complex ‘English’ language crazy affinity and how the blinding zeal to learn English is illusionary and provides less impetus than perceived.

A Polish couple who became good friends to us innocently quipped in their second meeting that friendship with us (Indians) could help them learn ‘English’ quickly but would not stir their inferiority complex. The story of learning English is not an isolated one with respect to India/Asia.

Recently I worked in a joint venture programme and two of our teams met for discussing the strategy. A senior colleague rose to the podium and started to speak with a different accent: “I do not belong to this country, apologies for my funny English accent and should you not understand me, feel free to interrupt and I shall try to put it the best possible way”. This man then presented clearly and concisely but simple English. Contrastingly, in the same session, a fellow Indian spoke much more articulately with a false-American accent, was turned down as a bore.

The message loud and clear: It’s the subject expertise and self-confidence with simple English that finally mattered to present his view. Neither the accent nor the vocabulary did matter. A key message underlines the incident that this gentleman-the head of the programme, did not shy to expose his weakness, but also had the courage to accept it before a tall audience.

7 out of the top 10 GDP or the Human Development Index listed nations do not have English as their official language but have worked hard for their elevated international status. Japan, Germany, France are top developed nations that have spiralled up themselves in many fields, but found no impediments by choosing English for their learning or communication. Also, they have an identity that produces a class. China, a living illustration next door is a strong case for the developing nations.

Typically in a country like India, at the grass roots level language can be a major barrier to eradicate illiteracy. When a person is expected to learn to read in a language he does not understand, becoming literate can be confusing and frustrating process. Many give up permanently, convinced that reading and writing are beyond their grasp.

Gerardo Wipio Deicat, the Peruvian educator states that "those who teach in a language other than that of the child in the lower grades are violating principles of good pedagogy and are guilty of cultural imposition. More often than not, this type of education has been the cause of native children dropping out of school and experiencing psychological trauma, resulting in their failure to learn to read and write." May be that’s one reason many of us do not pursue and be successful at higher levels of scientific education to the extent we do easily in lower levels.

Many of us do not recognise our complex sentence formations that confuse our global partners and that’s because, we sub-consciously transliterate our native language to misrepresent and let go potential opportunities in spite of our correct understanding. If I wished to incur the wrath of the persons behind, I could quote some real life incidents. Though this is not worrying problem, the real issue lies in our approach to embrace the language. Instead of concentrating on constructs, we go behind styles and words.

The situation is the Indian states that are fanatic about their local languages, are yet forced to learn for global competence. In a lighter vein, an American said: “Lots of people speak English, so? I need to learn that language dude!” That’s the way Americans chose to - create a different style of English and now ironically a sizeable section of world is following their trend.

A story goes that God created many languages to divide the humans and fail their mission to reach Heavens. Do not be pedantic about the language and fall in the world of complexities. It’s wise to quote Swami Vivekananda: “Give me 100 confident and courageous youngsters; I shall create a new vibrant and radiant India.” Yes, indeed courage and self-confidence are the vehicles for success, not the language’s fluency or volubility. It’s the clarity; brevity and simplicity of expressing yourself that can ascent you to the path of success.

Another quote to help is the story of an entrepreneur, lost his first job of cleaning the floors in an IT company because he did not have an e-mail ID. But that turned him into a self-styled top business man, is ironically interchangeable with the tongue twisting flamboyant English speaking classmate who was initially envied, ended-up in a BPO call centre with a terrible lifestyle.

I have observed that many of us in the zeal to learn English, watch hours of TV, create unnecessary illusions and forget the prime aim of why we need to learn English and wander away to become superficial and pretentious humans. The important thing for success is hard work to gain subject knowledge. If gained, confidence follows, if confident, thoughts can easily and clearly be communicated. Language is needed for communication, but should not be the hindrance to your growth or the one that creates shallow-personality. Remember the next time you speak, language is for just communicating.

Jai Hind!