gaudy comment by gowda

Hey..

So Deve Gowda opened his mouth and we saw a typical IT professional reaction from NR Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys.

As I always keep saying Narayana Murthy is the "Gandhi for Indian IT". Coming from a very simple background and a strong belief in socialism, Murthy had built the Indian IT giant Infosys almost entirely on his own skill, acumen and confidence. Inspite of all his success, his "father of Indian IT services" status, multi million dollars locked up in his bank accounts, controlling a staff of over 50,000, meeting heads of state of almost every country in the world - the man still leads a simple life, trying to help the society in whatever way he can - thus being a perfect role model for the IT youngsters who havent found an ideal politician whom they could emulate.

The stories of Murthy's simplicity are popular everywhere. It is said that when his son at college was asked what his father does for a living, he simply replied - "My father's name is Murthy. He works for Infosys.". Infosys and Murthy have taken very good care and precaution not only to do a brand building for the company Infosys, but also image building for the Chairman - Narayana Murthy as well. After all, amongst Tatas, Wipros, Satyams, HCLs who were born with silver spoons already - Murthy was the only man to have risen from the ground.

While Chandrababu Naidu was trying to steer his Titanic in the Indian IT wave late 90s with help of Satyam Computer founders (the Byrrajus), Microsoft and Oracle, erstwhile Chief Minister of Karnataka SM Krishna rode the wave primarily with support from Narayana Murthy. When it was felt that IT customers were moving away from the Indian silicon valley - Bangalore- to other destinations like Hyderabad and Chennai, it was primarily Infosys that stuck it out to try & retain the glory back. SM Krishna did a pretty good job at his state to the satisfaction of Madam Sonia and was promptly rewarded with the governorship of Maharashtra.

To his part, Narayana Murthy, who became the towering personality & a symbol of Indian IT early 2000s, he started representing the country in several sectors where there was a win-win for both the state/nation and IT as well. Narayana Murthy had long crossed the borders of just being the Chairman of Infosys and became the equivalent of Gandhi for Indian IT world. And one such project where his leadership was expected was in the BIAL - the Bangalore Intl Airport Limited.

HD Deve Gowda (and I keep forgetting which party he belongs to every time- I wonder if he remembers) of JD(S) and Dharam Singh formed a opportunistic coalition and been running the state with SM Krishna, who declares himself as the man who saved the Karnataka Congress, butting in as much as he can inspite of his constitutional post. Deve Gowda has been leveling charges against Krishna trying destabilize the Dharam Singh government and the comment against Murthy is one of such attacks.

To his credit, Murthy, a typical IT person, with no taste for government bureaucracies, redtape and having a no-nonsense attitude reacted the same way Gowda expected him to do. Murthy resigned right away blasting Deve Gowda and the Karnataka state govt.

I wish he had asked me personally before going to the press, or talked to you or ascertained it from members of the board. I am disappointed that a former prime minister did not accord me this basic courtesy.

I am pained, more so, that leaders in the government like you did not even clarify my role in the company and the work that has been done. I have spent enormous amount of time and energy in interacting with the government in New Delhi and the government here to make this work. The records prove themselves.

Gowda did not stop here and went on accusing Infosys as a company questioning what values it bought to the state after amassing so much of land in and around Bangalore. Infosys retorted strongly with lots of data on the employment opportunities etc., Dharam Singh persuaded Murthy to stay back at BIAL stating that Murthy was a key person in Indian IT - note that not once has the chief minister complimented any work done in the BIAL by the Infosys chairman. A frustrated Murthy was even more pissed and refused the offer.

Perhaps Murthy does not understand. He is dealing with politicians. And that too politicians like Deve Gowda who survive in this world inspite of being themselves. These are people who play with real people as pawns on the political chessboard. Murthy was just one pawn. How can a pawn gain more power than the queen ? Murthy's personality is so threatening to several parties already that there is a long queue of leaders outside his house to rope him in with one of their parties. In the world of youth, people remember HD Deve Gowda as the man who slept in public meetings on stage and not even as a former prime minister. On the other side Narayana Murthy is being virtually worshipped and is more powerful than several Chief Ministers themselves.

It was just a political attack and not a personal one on Mr.Murthy. When he volunteers himself in this part of the world, he has to stay put. His leaving BIAL will benefit no one. While an angry outburst is not unwarranted or unexpected from him, he cant run away from this. He will face hardships - that is the way these things go - and this man of all is not a man who shuns challenges. India needs volunteers & visionaries like him. Sometimes we have to put up with crap, but so be it - every visionary had to. Deve Gowda and people of his sort have to be ignored. They have lost grounds and are barking with no purpose.

Havent we heard a gazillion times Winners never quit and Quitters never win ?.

Ciao..

formula one finale

Hey..

[the discussions surrounding the previous post on IT unions was very enriching and interesting. thanks to all]

Iam writing this just few hours ahead of the final Formula One race of the season at Shanghai, China. The year 2005 has been very exciting filled with wonderful races and good surprises. It also saw some good engines put to test as well as a bunch of rookie drivers who tried to impress this part of the racing world.


While the driver championship is already decided in favor of Fernando Alonso, the young Spaniard - who is now the youngest F1 champion of the word, the constructor championships is in for a great showdown in Shanghai tonight. Renault leads the McLaren-Mercedes by just over 2 points. Though Renault made a suprise 1-2 pole at Shanghai, McLaren is at 3-5 and with the powerful Merc engines, it is almost a certainity that the race will be a very very close one. The Ferrari monopoly of wins has been paused and we can look forward to Ferrari to bounce back in 2006 strongly.

The year began with Renault dominating the initial races and Mercedes proving unreliable several times. Excellent driving instinct, good luck and unreliable McLaren made Alonso the World Champion, inspite of Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren winning 7 championships as opposed to Alonso's 6. This is the second time Kimi has come too close to clinch the driver's championship.. remember the 2 point close a couple of years back ?! We witnessed the terrific San Marino where Alonso held Schumacher at bay for over 13 laps; and the thrilling Suzuka where Kimi came all the way from the last position at start to win the race.

This year also had the disastrous anti-climax at Indianapolis Speedway where 7 Michelin teams pulled out of the race due to unsafe conditions. I had been to watch this 6 car tamasha on the road which showed the only Ferrari win so far. Speaking of Michelin, they have dominated this space by clinching both driver and constructor championships already.

With regards to India, they key episode was the induction of Narain Karthikeyan into the Jordan F1 team. Narain did not do phenomenally well, though he managed to pick up free points at Indy. His teammate and fellow rookie Tiago Montiero made a record 16 continious completions, a feat equalled only by Michael Schumacher (though Schumi finished all in podiums!).

2005 also was a let down for Ferrari, with Schumi winning only one free race and Reubens Barichello deciding to switch sides to Honda a year early. Fellippe Massa will be the No.2 for Schumi at Ferrari in the next season.

This season also had interesting twists in terms of drivers - with Jenson Button finally winning over Frank Williams bid to take him over again. Button will now race alongwith Barichello at Honda. This signals the good bye for Japanese driver Takuma Sato who has had a disastrous season, much to the anger of Japanese fans. Honda has agreed to supply v8 engines to the team that picks Sato to race. We also witnessed the interesting takeover of BMW-Williams, to be called Sauber from now; the selling of BAR shares fully to Honda; the rumor of McLaren giving away their hold fully to Mercedes; the sale of Jordan to Midland. However in my view, the takeover of the season is the purchase of Minardi by Red Bull Racing. RBR is a very successful company in terms of extreme sport investments and it remains to be seen how the 2 team strategy will work out for them in F1.

While Juan Pablo, Fisichella, Klein, Barichello, Massa, Pizzonia had typical seasons, it was a let down by Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli of Panasonic-Toyota Racing who could have done better, atleast in Suzuka, Japan. However Toyota's presence is being felt strongly in any case. Similarly the Williams team had a bad run with Weber finishing over 150 grand prix without a win. Jack Villenvue was as usual unforgiving and had his own tussles with a bunch of racing counterparts, acting almost like a vote-splitter in a election, changing the course of few results.

As I sit biting my nails to see who will hold the constructor-trophy, it feels happy to recount some of the events of the season as 2005 was a terrific year for Formula One. Great drivers, great engines, great races !!! My favorite Alonso, Michelin, Renault had a great season..And as a diehard F1 fan, I couldnt ask for more :)



Congratulations ALONSO, KIMI, RENAULT, McLAREN-MERCEDES and MICHELIN!!

Blog update: Alonso won the Shanghai GP, with Kimi finishing second, thereby giving my favorite Renault the constructor championships. Splendid driving by Alonso and Kimi.

Ciao..

does IT need unions ?

Hey...

Blog Update: Article from ET where NASSCOM says BPO doesnt need any unions. Click here

I was interested in this article that appeared in the rediff a few days ago that asked the question whether today's IT industry workers needed a Union to protect their interests, particularly in India. While all anti-leftists can happily yell on big NO NO NO, it might be worth to see the merits and cons of the claim.

IT workers are the cyber-coolies of the day. Many a time we have heard, seen and experienced sitting for hours together in our little cubicles - sometimes days - without sufficient breaks and definitely no overtime pay. Many a time we have seen impersonal HR sneering at our claims for raise with the conviction that there will always be a young talent in the market willing to offer his services at a much lower pay. Many a time we have sat and wondered through the quarterly result publications wondering where the 240% growth and 80% increase in earnings was going to, because it certainly didnt translate into salaries. Many a time we hear of huge MNCs laying off thousands of workers at one shot and wondering when this disease will strike us down. Many a time we have seen efforts going unrewarded, politics playing the key part in growth etc etc.,

So IT is no different from other industry when it comes to labor issues ? So how is it that of all industries, IT, one of the key factors boosting the economic prospects of India, can exist without any labor laws ? Doesnt the question seem genuine ? Is the IT boom and the industry's workforce being exploited by rich capitalists for their own profit ? After all, arent the workers causing this growth, expansion and contributing to the economic success of the nation ?

Let us flip the question. Isnt it a fact that absence of such labor laws, Unions and other bureaucratic processes make the Indian IT industry the most wanted ? Imagine if we end up having strikes every other day in some software company or BPO, why would any foreign investor decide to put his money & investment at risk ?

However the CITU and other big trade union conglomerates are already onto spread their wings over the one million plus IT workers in the nation. There is already a IT professional forum - http://www.itpfindia.org/in - that has over 1000 members, which is unofficially, a trade union. Over a period of time these things will gain strength and become full fledged labor unions.

So what next ? After all the progress that we are making and the big strides and successes of the IT industry in India, any notion of trade unions, labor laws spell DISASTER. As we have seen in the past, while there have been genuine reasons why unions have been formed, more often than not, they disrupt normal & smooth functioning of factories and industries causing not only blows to economy but to the laborers as well. Furthermore, unions exist to protect the interests of the lower middle class and average and poor workers who may go hungry if they are shown the door abruptly etc.,

IT workers are more or less taken care well. Infact one could argue that it is IT management that is suffering because of the labor attrition and not the other way around. However it is time that IT/BPO employers wake up. If there are talks of unions etc. going on in this industry, it is because of dissatisfaction that is spreading with the labor workforce. When dissatisfaction is coupled with politics, it is a recipe for a huge mess. Employers have the power to stop this epidemic of trade unions from spreading within the IT industry if only they want to .

Every organization should ensure that the employee-satisfaction rate is always above a certain threshold. They have to control attrition and also protect their workforce. They have to capitalize on the fact that IT workers typically dislike and hate bureaucracy & trade unions - and that when taken care properly there would be no necessity for the labor force to form any unions. Employers have to realize that a dissatisfied workforce leads to Unions/strikes/hartals etc., which spell nothing failure for their organization and the Indian IT industry as well.

Political parties have always exploited the weak minded and dissatisfied working class and channeled their unhappiness to the parties' own benefits. There is still time left in the IT industry to cover itself up against a similar fate.

Ciao..

strike out the strikes

Hey..

On September 29, India witnessed another strike organized by the Left which stalled the entire country, almost. While the intent of this post is not to debate for or against the demands that led to the strike, it is to condone the horrendous action called the strike or 'bundh'.

Strike is one of the most inappropriate forms of protest displayed to claim any demand. What good can possibly come when millions of lives just come to a sudden halt one whole day? The whole concept seems lousy. Most of the strikes today are just to promote incompetence and laziness by political parties that have no ideologies or principles anyway.

Yes, people are the real power. And yes, government is of, by & for the people. It is the job of any government to listen to the people and make decisions that affect the lives positively. And in any form of government there will always be shortcomings that one has to face and fight against. No system is perfect. But that doesnt mean that you push a pause button on the whole nation to place demands and attract attention.

While the Marxian philosophy that advocates hartals claims that if workers stop working then the employer stops earning, the principle applies here as well. When workers and government servants stop working the loss is for the employer - which in the case of democracy - is PEOPLE. So it will be the people who will be losers and not anyone else. India being a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) is forced to permit worker union strikes (because they are so-called best way to express the suffering of workers). And I believe this whole idea that we need to permit strikes because of the ILO membership is simply idiotic. It only provides a loophole which allows a manipulating minority to hold the govt all citizens in ransom.

The father of our nation believed in non-violence and non-cooperation. He advocated silent struggles and protest forms that didnt anyone to take up guns or kill. That was to gain freedom from an oppressor and the whole nation was behind this. Whereas now, it is not the case. When any of these strikes are called, all that happens is breaking down and looting of shops, road-rokos stopping ongoing traffic and in the process killing (,literally,) people who need medical attention etc., disrupting normal lives of normal people who arent connected anyway with the claims of the 'bundh', causing millions of rupees of loss - the Mahatma would most definitely not accept this form of protest.

While India has a vague law preventing organizing these massive rallies that disrupt essential services, it is mostly still a law in paper. My question is, why only essential services ? - any services should not be distrupted. The political parties be it ShivSena or the CPI/M get away after all the mess that they create in form of strikes. What these people do not understand is that by causing this standstill they inflict huge losses and essentially push this nation backward and it causes no good. It is simply mind boggling to think that a minority of these political activists can hold the majority of the law abiding citizens to ransom by calling the 'refusal-to-work'..

Unfortunately in a democracy like a India a stern action is always tough to take. Because a governing party today is an opposition party at some point. And they have to organize such political stunts. The latest strike is even more ironical that it was promoted by the Left against the government of which they are still a part of ! How can the UPA government take action against the CPI/M without risking the possibility of losing the reins of power ?

Strikes, hartals, 'bundhs', , road-rokos have become meaningless in India. It only gives people an additional unwanted holiday and causes loss of millions of person hours of work. India as a nation cannot compete with the countries of Japan and the like irrespective of all the manpower when we are forced into these kind of unwanted and preventable losses. Humanpower is precious. We cant afford to waste it by putting it to doing nothing.

If parties dont realize, governments dont realize this, the people have to. Lets not wait to yell against these theatrics until we lose a loved one because of lack of essential services during a strike. Lets act now. No vote to a party/person that promotes these strikes. No vote to a party/person that cuts trees, breaks bridges, burns buildings/buses, stops trains, halts traffic. We need to strike them out of power.

Let us strike against the strike by not supporting them.

'Cause after all the progress the we make and live in democracy that the world cherishes, if we still end up stalling our lives every now and then because of these strikes, we have none but ourselves to blame.

Ciao..

madam president

Hey..

As with my usual fall plans (no pun here), I was tracking the fall season premiere shows in national networks. We had the new series COMMANDER IN CHIEF air in tonight and it was about how a lady ends up becoming a President of the United States. She is a independent-candidate Vice President and when the current President falls into a no-backing-out ill-health, the reigns of the government falls into the hand of this lady. The speaker and rest of the big bad boys want her out, but she doesnt back off that easily..

While I was watching this, I couldnt help but think, why is a "woman-president" such a big topic here in the United States. There are a gazillion articles out on this subject. Come on, isnt this the real free world ? Isnt this a model democracy ? Isnt this where talent and skill and vision are appreciated, irrespective of who you are ? Isnt this the same country where a person born & brought up in Nazi-Austria or Communist-China end up as Governor ? So what is the big deal with a 'woman-president' ? Africa - yes, but in America ??

On the contrary, a woman head isnt such a big deal in rest of the world, even in the so-called conservative world. There have been women heads of state, prime ministers in India, UK, Haiti, Bermuda, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Israel, Argentina, Lithuania, New Zealand, Bangladesh and in several other countries, even Rwanda !.. Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Srimavo Bhandaranaike, Golda Meir, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Aung San Su-Kyi, Benazir Bhutto, Sheikh Hasina, Corazon Aquino - a sample of very strong women who have run some of the very tough governments of this century - fairly well - and atleast no bad than that of any of their male contemporaries. While women are associated by default with the word 'indecisive', many of these women seem to be otherwise. They have had iron hands.

So why is this such a taboo in the United States ? This is so much a taboo that even when novels, TV series etc., bring this topic, the women ends up becoming a president not by winning an election directly, but because she is the VP when the President has a heart attack. The current Commander in Chief or Jeffrey Archer's memorable The Prodigal Daughter are samples of this. Why this act ? And they should stop this nonsense of having a women-president's husband to be the first-lady-husband or whatever that is. It is hopelessly embarrassing and makes look the White House staff to be a bunch of jokers. If you cant digest a women in the top-post it is okay, but you dont have to mock yourselves acting as if you would accept such a scenario.

Now is the time when we are seeing two very powerful women in the United States possibly set to clash for becoming the leader of the free world. There is the distinct possibility that Hillary Clinton and Condeleezza Rice will hopefully face each other in 2008 or 2012. (campaign sites: Rice for president and Hillary for president)It will be a good to watch show, and maybe, just maybe, the United States will shed its hyprocrisy on this subject for once.

One of the character in the TV series says - "If Moses were a woman leading the slaves from Egypt, she would have stopped and asked for directions and they would have reached Israel by afternoon". The women leaders have indeed impressed us and governed with conviction, atleast most of them. As Jack Nicholson says in "A Few Good Men", 'There is nothing sexier than waking up to a woman you have to salute in the morning. Promote 'em all, that's what I say'.

Ciao..

the apparent-tease

Hey..

I am writing off this post immediately after sitting through a painful sixty minutes of mockery and stupidity with a NBC premiere of a TV series called The Apprentice featuring Martha Stewart. As much as the original version of the same series featuring Donald Trump was moving towards brink of torture, NBC has decided to kill its entire viewership by putting out the Apprentice - Martha Wednesdays this fall..

The Apprentice itself was a very wonderful & novel concept that was pioneered by NBC 2 years back. The first season was very impressive with a 18 week interview to choose an apprentice for the real-estate tycoon Donald Trump. The series stressed about leadership, creativity, risk-taking, innovation, project management & hardwork. While the choice of Trump was still questionable, the selection of candidates, the projects allotted and the evaluation methodology & reasoning impressed many. The second season slowly slipped into a predictable pattern and the third season was hopeless. Similar trials by Sir Richard Branson in the FOX network didnt go as well as that of Apprentice and we all kinda hoped that this will end.

But NBC has changed strategy and put more misery to the viewers by augmenting the original version with its own mockery/satirical version. To start with, the very choice of Martha Stewart as the leader is simply incomprehensible. This is the lady who has spent the entire last year in house arrest sitting in a jumpsuit convicted for lying to interrogators and accused of 'insider trading'. NBC has made a mockery of everyone by projecting Martha as a 'successful leader' in the corporate world and with whom the young energetic minds of the free world want to work with.

The background score is an adaptation from the original and the camera zooms in & out exactly the same way. Another hopeless scene is that of the boardroom. Women just scream in there to increase the theatrics. The agreements were as dispassionate as one could think of and the "advisors" of Martha had absolutely no clue of what they need to do. The old-guy-advisor (Charles) had a cigar in his hand all though which was irritating. He neither lit it or seemed to smoke it.

The best comedy came in when Martha talked about how she 'connected' to customers and how her company was successful. She just didnt seem to know what she was supposed to say or do. It was so lame that it seemed as if the interview was to encourage people to leave / escape from associating themselves with this torture for another few weeks and maybe a year if they got selected eventually. "You dont fit in" is the 'punch' line used here - like that of Trump's famous "You're fired". Martha says that as if she will drop dead after delivering that dialogue. And the other fun was the way she wrote a 'letter' to the guy who was fired first. It was borrowed on the lines of the condolence letter the President writes to the family of war-martyrs. (like in Thirteen Days where JFK writes to family of Capt Rudolph Anderson).

Overall NBC has successfully managed to put up a comical or a MAD-TV version of its own Apprentice with Martha Stewart making a mockery of leadership. The race is on to see which one of the Apprentices generates more boring stuff.

Martha, You simply dont fit in.

Chao..

successful breakups

Hey..

How much ever one can stretch, there are always certain relationships that we just want to get out of - how much ever the opposite side doesn't want us to get away. Exiting out of some of these relationships which we entered by accident is at times very tough and monumental ! And at the end of all the struggle and pain with emotions running high, when one attains closure, it feels like end of a Trojan war. Few even celebrate after these breakups - messy or not.

And I had two such major breakups in the recent past. While one held me under the pretext of my 'commitment', the other didn't let me go in spite of promising that there was no expectation of any commitment.

Before it sounds like a Darren Star's Sex & the City column, let me set the context straight. These relationships were with organizations that just wouldn't let me go- a cellphone company and an online DVD store.

I had to get out of a pre-paid cellphone scheme. In the jazzy "pre-pay & leave-when-you-want" advertisements, they always forget to add "leave-if-you-can". The company unilaterally declared that they would automatically charge me every month on the scheme, which seemed okay until I decided to "leave". I called up to cancel the subscription. It took me just 5-10 minutes and I was almost cheerful with surprise when the agent said "and yeah.. you need to call and cancel the automatic charge every month to avoid further charges..". He said it would take a few minutes only and that was handled by 'another department' and transferred my call. Little did I know that the word 'few' in his language actually translates into 50 agonizing minutes after pressing some 120 buttons to a machine that was blasting one question after another.

When some human came up, she said she had to transfer me to another unit which handles this particular scheme. There went another 50 minutes down the drain. Meanwhile the music interlude was getting horrible and I almost decided to pay every month instead of sitting and going through this torture. I was about to give up when another machine picked up the call and made me punch in few more numbers. After a relatively short wait of 20 minutes a real person came up & I ended the relationship then and there. She asked me "Before you go, I wanted to ask you why do you want to leave?"... and I said "Because I can and want to leave-when-I-want-to"

The story of online DVD store was different. Though they made me wait for only a few minutes much to my happiness, a drama ensued:

Me: I need to cancel my membership.. I ve fulfilled the commitment of this relationship.

CH(the store operator): Well, sir. You have to buy 2 DVDs from us to fulfill the commitment.

Me: I did get 2 of them at regular price already.

CH: Yes you did. But you see, they were bought at $18.95 each. For our commitment count, they need to be bought at $19.25 or higher.

Me: But your website did allow me to count them as commitment

CH: We are sorry for that Sir. But they dont count even if the website allows it. Also we have given you a $15 credit.

Me: You credited $15 in my account ? I didnt see that.

CH: No sir, it means that you can buy a DVD worth of $15 from us when you buy one more at regular full price. But again, you cant use this offer against our commitment.

Me: I dont care. I dont need any credit. And I wont pay a penny more. I need to end this relation NOW.

CH: Well, that is not possible. You still need to honor the commitment.

Me: I hope you know that AOL, based out of Reston, Va just paid $1.25 million in damages for making it difficult for their subscribers to leave.

CH: (after 10 seconds on hold): Ok Sir. We are canceling your membership. Just a last question - why are you leaving us ?

Me: Because you force me to stay with you, thatz why..


And so my friends, I ended two relationships abruptly in spite of the other party wanting me stay - committed or not. Now, how often can I afford to say something like that ? ;)

Chao..

bike trails around washington

Hey..

This has been an awesome sports weekend. Super Saturday with some amazing display of tennis by Agassi, Ginepri, Federer, Hewitt, Pierce and Clijsters. Then was the wonderful Formula One with Kimi and Alonso still continuing their fight for the driver and manufacturer championships at Belgium. And of course, an nailbiting 2 point win of our local team Redskins over the Chicago Bears in the NFL season kickoff...

I also did some good biking over the weekend and I thought I will quickly summarize some of the exciting trails in and around Washington, DC.

The ACCONTIK CREEK TRAIL is located just off the 395/495 junction 20 miles south of Washington, DC. This trail starts from outside Franconia/Springfield metro and goes uptill the Accontik creek along the Fraconia Springfield Parkway. The creek is silent and wonderful and undistrubed with a lovely stream running across. The trail is small and about 5 miles out and back.

The ACCONTIK LAKE TRAIL is a 5 mile loop around the Accontik lake. It is located near the Orange & Alexandria Railroad line. The trail has some steep climbs and gravel path. The lake is located near the Beltway near Braddock Road exit.

The WASHINGTON & OLD DOMINION TRAIL is a 45 mile trail running from Shirlington-Alexandria off 395 to Purceville, 10 miles west of Leesburg. This was originally a Alexandria-Fairfax-Leesburg railroad converted to a biking trail in 1988. You will pass former railroad stations along the way including Bluemont junction, Dunn Loring Station, Vienna station (photo right) etc., At certain places, caboose are placed (photo left) and they add a lovely touch to this trail. The trail is mostly flat and paved. It is full of greenery all the way. The initial 10 miles intersect with local roads and it is better to stop and go. The trail intersects Gallows road and Maple Avenue and the traffic here is heavy. There are not sufficient water fountains however the trail passes through several shops on the way. The trail also is connected with several other trails like Curtis trail, Four Mile Run trail etc.,

The MT.VERNON TRAIL is by far the best trail for beginners in DC area. Starting from near Rosslyn Metro, it is a 19 mile trail to Mt. Vernon - home of George Washington. The trail runs alongwith Potomac river all the way and passes though several points of interest - Ladybird Johnson memorial, Navy memorial, Roosevelt memorial, Gravilly point, Jones point lighthouse, Dyke Marsh, Old Town Alexandria Belle Haven Marina and of course Mt. Vernon. The trail is equipped with several fountains on the way and there are shops (even Starbucks!!) at Old Town. One can get down and wet his feet in the Potomac at certain places. Make sure you carry a camera - the Gravilly point landing zone is a glorius sight. So are the backyard-river of rich old town bungalows and the Jones point. (The photo right is one of the backyards of old town bungalows. People have their kayaks anchored there and use it as if they were getting out and taking a car from their garage. The Wilson bridge is in the background.)

[Thanks to my friends E- for the book on VA trails, Mr & Mrs S- for the hitch and an awesome summer of 2005.]

Chao..

blogger in a coma

Hey..

Over 14 months of blogging
21 different categories
A total of 195 amazing posts
Somewhere close to 540 comments
Thousands of page views
Hundreds of trackbacks
More than fifteen requests to resume posts
One wonderful blogger

ssshhh.. SILENCE.....

And then all of a sudden the blogger falls into a coma !!! For the past month and more, every time I visit the blog, angry face of Master Yoda stares with a light saber - almost reflecting the angry face of loyalist readers that there isnt a new post out there.

Now, what the hell is a blog ? It is for all reasons, a personal journal. A journal maintained on the web where personal thoughts are recorded and fortunately/unfortunately exposed to public. So who has the right to come and question "why isnt there a update ?". It is the prerogative of the author, for Godssake.. it is his thoughts, his time and his decision..

Is it ?

When people frequent this journal to read, appreciate, digest, understand and debate about various topics, it is not just a journal anymore. It transforms into a column. A column where topics are not simply personal anymore. There is a social obligation to the author to feed his loyal readers with continious thought provoking articles. The author should not claim business, busy-ness, laziness, travel, distractions, boredom, unconsciousness, hibernation, habitual offence, quarter/half-life crises, lack of interest, born-a-leo, coma, even death - just like that - and use any/all of these excuses to stop his flow of words for so long..... No logoffs, shutdowns, hibernates or stand-by!!!... - RESTART the writing.

Even in fiction world, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had to bring Sherlock Holmes back to life because his readers didnt like the fact that there is no Holmes anymore. Martin Luther said "You are not just responsible for what you say; you are equally responsible for what you do not say".

I believe I have made my point.

Chao..

symbiosis & peaceful rise

Hey..

Several of the world nations have responded to the aftermath of deadly Katrina's washout, offering aid to the rescue operations. Australia immediately offered US $7.7m, India responded with a US $5m, Bangladesh offered US $1m, even Sri Lanka, still coping with the Tsunami mess offered a small but still a goodwill amount of US $25K as a relief to the victims - several other nations sending doctors, nurses, medicine etc.,

But one of the most curious offers has come from America's long time adversary - Cuba. The nation led by facist dictator Castro offered to send 1000+ doctors with medicine. When US didnt respond to that offer, Castro increased the number of doctors to 1500+ each carrying about 30lb medicine. America however is yet to respond to the offer. Meanwhile Castro has asked his doctors to take crash course on immunology and spoken English. He has been sensitive to name this resuce squad after Henry Reeve the American who fought in Cuban war of independence against Spain in late 1800s. The other adversary who has offered help is Iran.

What Katrina has proved is that, even the world's most powerful nation is still divided by racism and poverty line; it doesnt have sufficient leadership to cope up with national crises; and most importantly that wars & battles will always be there - but when it comes to humanity, symbiosis is the key to survival.

China has offered US $5m and is ready to send a team of rescue workers. With the anti-China mentality going all time high in Washington, this offer of help and a upcoming Hu Jintao's visit will hopefully change the US mood towards China. Interesting, communist China distanced its Communist policies from that of the 'communist party of Soviet Russia' and is talking everywhere about peaceful rise to anyone who would listen. China has declared once again that it will grow as a superpower on live and let live basis and not depend on war or agression which was what many other nations like Japan, Germany or UK depeneded earlier. (Jintao is trying to retrieve this theory after it had almost died a premature death in late 2004).

Hu Jintao's visit is more businesslike and he is primarily here to advocate the peaceful rise theory in Washington and make the US leaders agree and adapt to the fact that China is emerging as one of the biggest superpowers and economies in the world. Back home, Jintao is also talking of stuff like gender equality, citizen rights etc., inspite of being a communist hardliner himself.

China is heavily lobbying for recogonition within the world community and the Zheng theory of "peaceful rise" is certainly to be welcomed from a otherwise military dictated nation. However it is important for China to realize that the theory is not just for its peer powers like US or UK, but also necessary to honor against some of its own kin like Taiwan or Tibet. One cannot become the incredible HULK with a fractured hand or broken leg.

Chao..