Turnover through Religion

Religion has been raising human consciousness for centuries. Whatever man is now, whatever little consciousness he has, the whole credit goes to religion. Politics has been a curse, a calamity; and whatever is ugly in humanity, politics is responsible for. But the problem is that politics has power; religion has only love, peace and the experience of the divine. Politics can easily interfere with religion; and it has been interfering all along, to such an extent that it has destroyed many religious values which are absolutely necessary for the survival of humanity and life on this earth. Religion has no mundane power like nuclear weapons and atom bombs and guns; its dimension is totally different. Religion is not a will to power; religion is a search for truth. And the very search makes the religious man humble, simple, innocent. Politics has all the destructive weapons — religion is absolutely vulnerable. Politics has no heart — religion is pure heart. It is just like a beautiful rose flower: its beauty, poetry, its dance give life meaning and significance. Politics is like a stone, dead, but the stone can destroy the flower and the flower has no defence. Politics is aggressive. Religion cannot be allowed to be dominated by stupid politicians. The situation is as if sick people are trying to dominate physicians, directing what they should and should not do. Accept it — sick people are in the majority, but that does not mean that the physician should be dominated by the majority. The physician can heal wounds, can cure the sicknesses of humanity. Religion is the physician. Politicians have managed to create enough destructive power to destroy all life; and they are piling up more and more nuclear weapons. Politicians could take lessons from religion for unless politicians have something of religiousness, there is no future for humanity. Yes, i understand that politics and religion should be separate in the sense that religion is higher. And the politician is in need of psychological and spiritual treatment. In ancient India, the king would go to religious people for advice... Kings used to touch the feet of those who had realised themselves, because even their blessing can transform you. Politics is functional; it is utilitarian. But it has no way of transforming man into higher consciousness. Religion should have a higher status, and religious people should be listened to. Parliament should continually invite religious people to give them some ideas on how to solve the problems of the country, because they themselves seem to be absolutely impotent in solving anything. Problems keep growing. The ego of the politician wants nobody to be higher than him. But whether you want it or not, the religious person is higher than you. You cannot bring transformation into people’s consciousness — he can. Religion is a star in the sky and the politicians are creatures crawling on the earth. Without question, they are separate. But politicians should remember that they are functioning in mundane matters. And that is not the true goal of humanity. Religious people are making every effort to raise humanity — its consciousness, its love, its compassion — to a point where wars become impossible, where politicians cannot deceive people, where their lies and their promises can be exposed. This is not interfering with politics — this is simply protecting the people from the exploitation of politicians. The separation is already there. The contrast couldn’t be more striking. On the one hand, the Pakistani government readily acceded to a truce with the Taliban in Swat, allowing the state’s authority to wither in the face of organised banditry from the Taliban. Islamabad also responded to a compelling body of evidence linking 26/11 to terrorists on Pakistani soil with a mix of legalese and dilatoriness. But on the other hand, the government has cracked down swiftly on lawyers and opposition activists intent on taking out a ‘long march’ to Islamabad. It has placed hundreds of them under arrest and banned any gathering of more than four people in Punjab and Sind. To be sure, Nawaz Sharif and other opposition leaders have been addressing rallies calling for a ‘revolution’ to dethrone President Asif Zardari. But Zardari’s tactics suggest uncomfortable parallels with Pervez Musharraf, who accumulated extraordinary powers around the presidency when he held the post. Presidential powers such as the ability to sack parliament are unconscionable in a parliamentary system and lead to systemic weakness and instability in Pakistan’s political institutions. Zardari promised to rescind those powers but hasn’t delivered. His government’s order banning rallies will also invite comparison with Musharraf ’s imposition of emergency in 2007. New Delhi has no leverage, whatsoever, in Pakistan. But the world, at large, must stand behind a return to constitutional and democratic processes in Pakistan. Although there are strong rumours of an army coup General Kayani, the current army chief, has stayed out of politics so far and may not be too keen to return as another Musharraf avatar so soon after Musharraf flamed out. In case he is keen, he must be severely discouraged from that line of thinking. The world must also stop trying to pick winners in Pakistan. Sharif has poor relations with the army as well as with western powers. The US, in particular, sees Sharif as suspiciously close to the Islamist parties. But the Swat surrender is evidence Zardari hasn’t been strong either in terms of taking on fundamentalists. Anyone who comes to and retains power through a democratic process, on the other hand, would have to be accountable for public welfare, which provides the international community with enough pressure points to work with that person. Sharif, at this point, seems more popular than any other leader in Pakistan. But policy cannot be person-specific. It shouldn’t give the impression of playing favourites but engage whoever comes out on top through a constitutional process.

Wat's the color of Terrirism? White/ Black?

After 9/11 George W Bush promised his people that he would protect them and he did. Many would say that his men dug Saddam Hussain out of his grave and killed him again for vested interests, he finished countries altogether in search of Ladin but sent a message across to the whole world, loud and clear 'You cannot attack United States of America' since then fortunately America has not faced any terror attack. The President kept his word and Americans are living fearlessly.


Our Prime Minister can neither save others nor his own people. Politicians like Shivraj Patil, R R Patil and Vilasrao Deshmukh have redefined the word promise. 'Promise' in their dictionary means: Say anything that comes to your mind to make people happy and then forget about it.


The list of the cities attacked in India is endless-- Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Malegaon, Bangalore, Ahemdabad and all of Kashmir. But the recent attack in Mumbai taught us the real meaning of the word Terror. All I can say is THEY HAVE GUTS!


Earlier terrorists used to plant bombs and vanish into the crowds. But this time they proved that they have no fear. They were on a killing spree till the last minute out in the open. I would not even like to share the horrid stories that I have heard from some survivors.


Their guts have changed the way we live in this city. I came home after two days of round the clock terror coverage and the first thing I did was check my house. Yes for the first time I was scared, I don't know when and how will this fear go.


What about the people who have lost their loved ones -- how will they sleep peacefully? Will the survivors ever get this horrid experience out of their system? How will one look at the Oberoi and the Taj after this?


I was outside the Oberoi on the first night when terrorists were inside the hotel killing innocent people. I interviewed some people who had narrowly escaped and they said that there were at least 15 terrorists inside. From these 15, 3 or 4 were gunned down but where did the rest of the terrorists go?


If I take a boat and go out with my friends into the sea I will be caught within minutes. How did the terrorists dock at our shores, that too with so much ammunition? If I try and take one pistol with me inside Taj or Oberoi I will be caught at the gate, how did the terrorists take ten AK56 guns and grenades inside? I don't think all this is possible without significant help from within the city.


I don't even know who will answer these questions. Don't think anyone will. Some say that peace protests and candle march is no solution but what can people do, it's just a way of showing that they care. It may not have any kind of constructive output but If they could I am sure they would belt the politicians outside Taj but they can't.


Now we know calls were made to Pakistan from the mobile phones of the terrorists but now what are we doing about it? We know not just Dawood Ibrahim but Anees and Tiger Memon are living a lavish life in Pakistan, so what's our administration doing about it? The fact is if my country was as powerful as America and if our president was Bush then they would have the same fate as Saddam Hussain. Though I don't think what George W Bush did was right but at least he is better than our leaders who are doing nothing! For the longest time I hated George W Bush, his thoughts and theories but is our Prime Minster doing any better by not protecting his own people. We fear which city will be attacked next and how?


Ratan Tata can give this country the best hotel but sadly the government cannot guarantee if you will walk alive from there. Many can afford a stay in these hotels but there is no guarantee if you will live till the end of your stay however long that may be. Ratan Tata can try to make sure each of us in this country owns a car but some states can't give him the land to manufacture it in and the government can't give you good roads to drive it on. What can the government give us then?


Paying tax is in this country is like Neki Kar Darya Me Daal -- pay tax but don't expect any returns. It's nice to see that at least some politicians have lost their jobs and the next lot coming is aware that they can't behave like them.


I have a journalist friend is Kashmir who used to tell me stories of how at times they have to duck bullets outside their homes and I used to be amazed because in Mumbai I didn't even know what a gunshot sounded like. Yesterday he called me and said now there is not much difference between our lives.


Don't want to end on a happy note like I usually do because for now there is no reason to be happy. I am angry and I would like everyone to know that!

Will IT lead a Movment in LIFE?

IT industry is indeed a boon in India. It pays youwell and if you are moderately lucky you will end up doing no work, but earninghandful. The IT companies have created a compensation trend that otherindustries are finding tough to adapt to. Today it is like ‘If you wannalead a comfortable life with no physical strain- get in to any softwarecompany’.

THE 2 KIND OF PPL IN IT INDUSTRY ARE:-

free-riding people:

He lands up in training which is of no relevance to him (atleast to hisunderstanding- Its just a formality) and after that gets on to work. His lifedepends on the project and the manager.(infact I can say with projectmanager).they get closer with the team by going to as many treats as possible.Birthdays, engagement treats, appraisal treats, if no reason then (‘India wins cricket match’) treat (though nowadays we dont get a chance to haveone such) and there they spend hours and Come back and feel to sleep like a crocodile. If thecompany also provides a dormitory- no problem. Else adjust to the inconvineancein the seat and sleep. Wake your PL up before 5, as he has to go home andyou - answer the mails and get ready. Its already too late by 6. In somecompanies,my friends used to go for a movie show at 6 PM on a monday morning.ifsomeday ur client or ur PL ask to do a module then u they do it with full ofbugs.to fight with a bug is the best time pass.atlast it will go to otherperson automatically(assigned). This is the life of a free rider.

Now to the life of a slogger:

After the training - you are toldabout the project and your work with much hype. You dont get complete informationfrom one person. You need to gather it in bits and pieces from manypeople. Suddenly when u go for doubts people become extremely busy oratleast they want to become busy. Finally you set your foot in theproject and get on with the work. There will be an age old framework for theproject and it is sacrosanct and iron clad. You talk for hours to urself infront of ur monitor ,together about an alternative- but hear the response. ‘Itworks till date. No risk. Follow the herd’. OK ! no probs.

Come in the morning. If you are a good planner, list the To-do activities.See the problem and fit it in the framework you know. If you cant fit - changethe problem(best solution to any problem is to change the problem…). Butframework must be same. Not an inch deviation is advisable. Keep informing yourPL about your progress. Even if you send the same mail again it does notmatter. You must recognise him/her. thats it. If you have your client who canreach you in your mobile, your happiness is screwed. He will call u when youare in rest room or when u r in bed or when you are driving. If the time is 9PM, he will ask why are you leaving early. Are u not feeling well? ‘Customersare Gods’. So curse the real god and say ‘Ya. am a bit hungry ‘

Whats appaling is - the room for creativity and willingness to change is notthere in many companies.

If you are a master in something.its sign of a problem. Its time to shift to something you are not good at. Whatthis life does is that it saps your creative thinking. You arecomfortable in the “comfort-zone” and are happy with what you are.

Where is it leading us ? nowhere !

India is Calling YOU Back to HOME!

Dollar salaries and international postings are no longer the flavour at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Even as the final placement season is on in full swing, ‘desi’ offers have emerged as the hot favourite.
Collapse of the Wall Street and global investment banks —who were big campus recruiters—is the major reason. Also, global recession has made Indian placements look more secure. Mismatch in locational preferences whenever global postings have been offered, is another.
Last year, the talk was all about the eight figure salaries offered by investment banks with London, New York postings. This year, the scene is dramatically changed. IIMs said a few students have rejected lucrative international offers in favour of local jobs. An IIM-Kozhikode student said, “People with similar offers, one international and one local, opted for the latter. About seven students rejected global offers.’’
While foreign investment banks didn’t come, a few domestic investment banks visited the campus. “This year the offers made by the investment banks are 50% less compared to last year,’’ a student said, adding that there’s drastic decline in number of offers made so far. A fact corroborated by Prof Sushil Kumar, chairman (placements) IIML, who said, “The placement will continue till March 12-13. But what we are noticing this time is the individual requirement from companies has gone down drastically.’’
At IIM-Calcutta some students have said ‘No’ to international offers. An IIMC student said one of the reasons could be the US government’s decision to ask companies who are beneficiaries of the bailout to hire US citizens.
External Relations Secretary of IIM Calcutta, Paul Savio, said some students have rejected international pre-placement offers due to the curbs on H1B visas proposed by the US government and in a few other cases due to differing location preferences. The international offers were made by banking and consulting sectors. Last year there were 70 international offers.
However, it isn’t as if all international offers are being rejected. At at IIM-Bangalore only one has said ‘No’ so far while in IIM-Lucknow, no foreign offer has yet been rejected. The IIM insiders feels that in the present scenario students are being extra cautious about international offers with strict due diligence being conducted on the prospective company. All’s not lost. “The offers made at IIMs are mostly by big MNCs with strong global presence so there is job security for students,’’ a faculty member said.

Just an appology sufficient to put off the Fire of Terirrism?

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, currently on a state visit to Nepal, strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and asserted that terrorism should be countered with firm resolve worldwide in all its forms and manifestations.

Mr. Rajapaksa has cut short his visit to Nepal by a day and is returning to Colombo.

A statement released by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry here said Mr. Rajapaksa responded to a telephone call from Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in Kathmandu. In the course of the conversation, the Pakistani leaders apologised to the people and the government of Sri Lanka for the harm caused to some members of the cricket team in the terrorist attack.

Mr. Rajapaksa told the Pakistani leaders that he was sending Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama to Islamabad immediately to attend to matters pertaining to the incident. Mr. Rajapaksa also instructed the state-owned SriLankan Airlines to send a special aircraft to Lahore to facilitate the return of the cricket team.

As per officials here, the plane took off from Katuynayaka International Airport in the evening on Tuesday and it was expected to return in the early hours of Wednesday with the cricket team.

The news of the attack came as a shock to the people of Sri Lanka which is reeling under war and has witnessed several terrorist attacks in the course of the 25-year-old ethnic conflict. The first two hours were particularly tense for the citizens of the cricket-loving island nation. However, once it became clear that all players are safe there was a sense of relief.

Members of the opposition in Parliament questioned the wisdom of the President in sending the cricket team to Pakistan; particularly when teams from other countries had refused to travel there on grounds of security.

Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge told Parliament the tour was finalised after assurances from the Pakistani government that the team members would be provided security on par with a head of state. He said Pakistan had stood by the nation in similar situations in the past.

The statement from the Foreign Ministry quoted the Pakistani leaders as telling Mr. Rajapaksa that Islamabad was determined to combat terrorism and would work with the international community and Sri Lanka to defeat terrorism.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona was in touch with his counterpart in Islamabad and the High Commissioner-designate of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Jayalath Weerakkody had been directed to proceed to Lahore to assist the team.

Dr. Kohona told the media that the Lahore attack would not affect relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He also emphasised commitment from the cricketing world to make certain the presence of Pakistan as a major player in the game.

Praising the Pakistani forces for securing the safety of the cricketers, Dr. Kohona recalled the solidarity shown by Pakistan and India towards the island nation during the 1996 cricket world cup when Sri Lanka was “blacklisted as an unsafe destination by foreign propagandists”.

Asked on the possible involvement of the LTTE in the Lahore attack, he said: “We have to wait until Pakistan conclude initial investigations before drawing speculations”. He said the LTTE had links with extremist terrorist organisations in the troubled borders of the South Asian region.

Terirrism Have no Color!!!!!!!!!!

Despite an early statement by the Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, that “the same people who carried out the Mumbai attacks are behind the attack in Lahore,” India is emerging as a prime suspect in the eyes of many Pakistanis.

In the hours following the Lahore attack, some in Pakistan’s influential electronic media said on air they did not want to mirror the finger-pointing by the Indian media following the Mumbai attacks.

Even so, many discussions on several television channels with talking heads and politicians, both elected and un-elected, centred on speculation that Indian intelligence agencies were responsible for the brazen commando-style attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team as a revenge against the Mumbai attacks.

Rehman Malik, who heads the Interior Ministry, only talked of a “foreign hand,” refusing to name the country.

But at least two elected representatives of the Pakistan People’s Party — Riaz Raja, a member of the Punjab provincial Assembly and Nabeel Gabol, who is in the National Assembly — openly accused India for the attack.

Jamat-i-Islami leader Qazi Hussain also accused Indian intelligence agencies of planning and carrying out the attack.

Commentators are also not entirely ruling out the possibility of Pakistani militant groups hitting out against the state, with some bringing up the possibility that it could even be a retaliation for the action the government took against the Punjab-based Laskhar-e-Taiba following the Mumbai attack.

But the Indian angle came up in different ways. In an apparent effort to link India with the attack, Geo Television played a clip of Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying at a public meeting that Pakistan should not mistake India’s desire for peace as a sign of its weakness, and that India was capable of giving a “fitting response.”

Lt. Gen. (retd.) Hamid Gul, a former head of the Inter-services Intelligence, told one TV channel that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, cornered by the army in Sri Lanka, had carried it out at the behest of India’s Research and Analysis Wing.

By Tuesday evening, rumours were doing the rounds that the weapons found at the site of the attack bore Indian markings. They persisted despite Mr. Malik’s remarks that only a forensic analysis would reveal the origins of the weapons.

Meanwhile, the Sharif brothers, disqualified from elected office, and their PML(N) government ousted in the Punjab province only last Wednesday, had the satisfaction of blaming “Governor Raj” for the security lapses that led to the attack.

The former Chief Minister, Shabaz Sharif, told a press conference in Lahore that instead of concentrating on providing the best security to the Sri Lankan team, Governor Salman Taseer had been holding meetings “to discuss strategies for horse-trading” to enable the PPP to form the next government in the province.

He expressed the PML(N)’s determination to go ahead with its participation in a “long march” called by lawyers next week to press President Asif Ali Zardari to restore deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary.

Terirrism Can Be Jestified?

Pakistan was grappling on Tuesday with the shock and implications of an audacious Mumbai-style terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in the heart of Lahore, carried out by a dozen men armed with guns, grenades and rockets.

The team was fortunate to escape with injuries to five players. But the attack, on a moving convoy of vehicles taking the cricketers from their hotel to the Gaddafi Stadium, left eight persons dead, including six policemen in the escort team. Earlier reports put the death toll at seven.

Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry head, said a “foreign hand” was behind the attack. Police said 10 to 12 men, some wearing masks, were involved in the attack which bore some chilling similarities to the November 26-29, 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Footage, captured by a television channel, showed three armed young men carrying rucksacks on their backs and running athletically while they shot at the convoy as it made its way around Liberty Chowk, a well-known commercial district of Lahore, around 8.40 a.m.

One of the attackers was wearing the typically Paksitani salwar-kameez, while two others were dressed in jackets, jeans and white shoes that looked like sneakers.

None of the attackers was killed in what the police described as “a 25-minute exchange of fire” between them and the convoy’s police escort.

The government hailed the bravery of the policemen who lost their lives, but there was widespread public criticism that none of the attackers was caught, even though they had no getaway vehicle and appeared to have just run away.

The escaping attackers are said to have ditched some of their bags from which police said they recovered large quantities of weapons and ammunition. Unconfirmed reports said that armed men hijacked a car a few hundred metres from the site of the attack.

Mr. Malik, speaking to journalists outside the National Assembly in the capital, said he did “not rule out a foreign hand.” Using a more definite language later in the interaction, he said, “There is a foreign hand.” But he declined to name the country, and rejected reports that some of the weapons found by the police carried Indian markings.

Official Pakistan pledged to hunt down the perpetrators and give them “exemplary punishment” and dubbed the attack the work of the “enemies of Pakistan-Sri Lanka friendship.” President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani spoke to Sri Lankan President Rajapakse.

Unofficial Pakistan, including its electronic media, was awash with speculative theories that Indian intelligence agencies were behind the attack. Talking heads on television blamed India’s Research and Analysis Wing.

Quoting unidentified sources, Geo Television said an intelligence report in January specifically warned against an Indian intelligence terror plot on the Sri Lankan cricket team.

But media analysts did not rule out that the Lashkar-e-Taiba may have retaliated against the crackdown on it in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. The possibility of the involvement of the embattled LTTE was also discussed. Sri Lankan diplomatic sources in Islamabad said this was unlikely.

The players were evacuated in a military helicopter from the ground where they were to play their second Test against Pakistan. They took pictures of themselves as they boarded the chopper that took them to the airport from where they flew to Colombo.

“Point scoring”

Pakistan said on Tuesday it “deeply regrets the spate of official statements from New Delhi” on the terror attack, saying it was “tantamount to political point scoring over a hugely tragic incident.”

A Foreign Office statement said terrorism was prevalent in all of South Asia, and in order to combat it, “serious, sustained and pragmatic cooperation” at the regional level was required. It recalled that last week’s SAARC Ministerial Council in Colombo had affirmed this view.