An introspection: India fails to get a post in the Nuclear Suppliers Group [Jun 28, 2016]

India not been given membership to the NSG. A bad day for the nation indeed, after all the hectic lobbying and traveling by Mr. Modi to push for the cause. But we also need to introspect at what really is the perception of India by the rest of the world... Yes we may not be considered a terrorist nation or a nation which abets violence like our neighbors, but we do not also portray a clean image either.. Even tho we try to project an image of a economic powerhouse, it is also well known to be not a healthy, business friendly place. Lot of greasing and under-the-table-dealings are associated with any successful business.

The Adanis, Ambanis and their ilk are said to be running on public money with the Govts doling out huge cash and infrastructural benefits to them.

The likes of Lalit Modis and Vijay Mallyas comfortably leading plush lives in countries where we do hv extradition treaties also didn't help, compounded by news leaks of ministers visiting them and dignitaries hosting them too.

The world also views us as a place for all-jingoism and breast-beating and no concrete action.. there has been no headway on the key manifesto items like black money retrieval and cleanliness etc.. All the major cases of corruption have been unearthed by either the media or some foreign organization and even then there seems to be extreme apathy to follow up and bring the the guilty to justice... didn't hear of a single Mantri ji being convicted and put behind bars for corruption yet. Parties still try to back their fallen comrades who are neck deep in charges of graft like Sheila Dixit, Sharad Pawar, A. Raja, Kanimozi, Madan Mitra etc.. many more continue to rule with impunity with blood in their hands..

The situation in some states are even worse, instead of effecting infrastructural improvements, the govts seem to get into a ostrich syndrome (where instead of facing a danger or taking flight a ostrich would put its head inside a hole and think that if it cant see the danger then the danger doesnt exist)... To add spice to the cauldron of the putrid, We also have an irresponsible opposition who will oppose everything irrespective of the merit of the case, case in point, the Congress spokesman, Mr. Aiyar, pointed out that the failed attempt of entering the NSG was a failure of the Modi govt and a huge wastage of resources, hell, they wud have called it a failure even if we managed to enter the group.. with opposition like this who needs enemies..

To end this rant, I would like to impress on the fact, as you might have noticed, that not everything is as hunky dory in our marvellous country, as it is made out to be.. and we shld do the cleaning up act ASAP for the entire world to be backing us uni-vocally..

My Past offices

Many moons ago I had created a page here in this blog site.
I expected it to surface on the home page just as my posts.. Never knew that pages don't work like that and you have to access it thru links..and thus it had died a natural death.. until now, I have resurrected it from the dead... so here you go.. Its a list of pix of the offices that I have worked in the past...
my-offices-of-past

Voting : Recommendations for free and fair elections [Apr 27, 2016]

MaxxRamblings: Looking at all the reports of booth capturing, rigging, voter intimidation etc., I deeply believe that a few reforms in our electoral system is due. The governments which get elected after defeating their rivals try to cling to power and deny the fair execution of the same system which vested them the wand to govern..

My recommendations:

1. The EVM machines should be tweaked and modified a little so that they also house a 360 degree viewing webcam. Capturing the goings on of the entire booth. So not just the counting, this visual data should be consulted to determine whether the voting was free and fair.

2. Another major boost to the electoral process would be to introduce the concept of online voting. If super critical bank transactions can go online so can voting..

3. For people with disabilities and exigencies a door to door collection system can also be devised enabling many people to exercise their franchises

India: A banana Republic? [Apr 27, 2016]

With every passing day, the incidents of scams, grafts, corruption involving politicians of every colour and ideology, resulting to loss of lives or siphoning of money of incredulous and unheard of proportions, makes you gradually resolve to the fact that we reside in a banana republic and the fate of India is entrusted into wrong group of hands, who do not cringe even when their acts compromise the security of the nation.
Cutting across political lines they defend their ilk. That is the reason that, beyond the rhetoric and the brouhaha, no political bigwig has ever been convicted in any of the high profile scams.. They do a bit of rabble rousing and when the lemon has no more juice to be extracted, shove it under the carpet and pounce on the next juicy and meaty headline grabbing item..

My take on the Controversy - "Should Salman Khan represent India in Olympics" [Apr 26, 2016 ]

MaxxRamblings: Salim Khan, father of the great "Sportman", Salman Khan (the overgrown teenager of Bollywood) has tweeted that the movie "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" has brought back Milkha Singh from the brink of oblivion.. I shudder at the recalcitrant and irreverent comment from a senior citizen who ought to be more aware of the feats of the bare footed Sikh than us...

Coming to the statement itself, personally I see it as an act of desperation, a senior person resorting to childish prattle to garner support for his much maligned son. And in his over zealousness forgets decency, decorum and logic. "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" was not documentary, Bollywood had benefited far more by portraying the Flying Sikh than the man himself. C'mon, the producers and the ilk are not crazy nationalistic guys to be investing in a plot which they feel will not be successful and then cast the best of the stars in it as well....

What would Milkha Singh gain from his popularity? Net sponsorship deals? Feature in ads? C'mon we all know that will not happen.. Hit or not he will not be showered with endorsement deals and expert commentator jobs (like the ex-cricketers get)... The film on the other hand will help many a actor to boost their fledgling careers.. To prop up a industry not known for anything much beyond romantic song and dance routines.. Films like Bhaag..., Gangs of W.., Challo Dilli etc are too few and far between.. And your son isn't associated with anything of that calibre..yet...

Going by the same logic, why dont you also state that folks like Mary Kom, Dhoni etc were also "benefited" by their biopics.  😆😆😆😆

A TV debate gone awry: The Samjhata Express / Malegaon blasts....[Apr 22, 2016]

MaxxRamblings: I am currently watching a debate on TV 📺 hosted by the inimitable Arnab Goswami. The topic is that the ATS chief Mr. Raghuvanshi has suddenly come out in the open and declared that as per his team's investigation the Malegaon Blast and the Samjhauta Express blasts were conducted by Pakistani nationals and not by saffron ultras. The Pakistani who was arrested during the investigation process meanwhile was silently released and let go back to his homeland. Another interesting fact shared was that the FBI had also done their due diligence and pointed fingers towards Pakistani elements. The program started off in a UPA vs NDA angle and then a mêlée ensued slowly the program took a religious turn.. Everyone was busy filibustering...

I had a few thorny thoughts pestering me throughout the program.

1. Why was this being raked up after so many years. BJP had come to power 2 yrs back, couldn't this be unearthed earlier.. Definitely smells of something fishy.

2. But if the charges leveled have even an iota of truth, that the Congress/UPA govt had manipulated facts to wrongly put the blame on RSS/BJP and their ilk then the implications are far more concerning. Here is a political party hell bent on political one-upmanship tries to paint other in a darker shade just for political gains.. With parties in power like this, who needs Enemies. We are busy bickering and clinging on to power thus creating these unfortunate polemics.

I was following the argument and the ripostes. Which as with the current trend of tv debates ended as open ended as it had begun..

Just as a after thought, i would have liked to ask the panelists that maybe the Indian agencies were dancing to the tunes of their masters but why was even the FBI pointing towards Pakistan.

India's dubious distinction of producing the "Cheapest" things [Feb 23, 2016 ]

Maxxramblings: India has this dubious distinction of being the country of the cheapest "X". X being the name of a product. Till a few days back we were the land of the cheapest car and the cheapest tablet. Now to add another jewel to this crown we are also the land of the cheapest smartphone. 

I simply can't fathom the rationale of these companies. Instead of making the most fuel efficient car or secure car,we go for the cheapest. Instead of the most feature rich or thinnest tablet, again we go for the cheapest. After a gala opening both the Nano and the Akash are veritable "has been"s  in their respective fields.

So it is quite evident that people don't just care bout the price they would definitely not mind paying a few.bucks more in case they get a better product. The new entrant to the "cheapest x" genre, the Freedom 251phone have already created a serious of mis-events adding a few creases to the forehead of the doubters. Awaiting for a brand which will shine bcoz of the merit of the product and not because its super cheap.

A DIY effort: not so successful!! :( [Jan 25, 2016]

Maxxramblings: It was a DIY project which was interrupted by a accident...
After I moved into my new flat, this was the first DIY project of mine... I was building a mini pump. Borne out of real need when my kitchen sink outlet got stuck and was literally overflowing with the cooking remains and other much more nauseating items.. I was feeling pukish just to smell it leave alone undertake any effort to salvage the situation..
But when push came to shove I had to get my fingers (and hands) dirty to clean it up. To apply Drainex, the commercial chemical solution to such clogged drain issues, it needed me to drain away the excess water first before applying the chemical. I didn't have a plunger or a hand pump to do the job and the only option was to siphon off the water, and with no other way out I had to resort to the most basic way to suck the water from one end.. It was putrid and sickening... I was retching for hours, but nevertheless, got the job done.. I was so disgusted that I immediately decided to buy a pump, I was almost about to order one online when I stumbled into a video in YouTube showing the process to make one, and I was hooked... I gathered all the required items, (partly helped by my friends), a 6V DC motor, a 12 volt battery, coke cans to make the impeller, pipes, pen knife, glue gun etc... but while at my work after having created the impeller, I was bust cleaning the inner side of a coke bottler cap which will house the impeller, and I cut my finger deep.. it was a rather deep gash and was bleeding profusely. It took a couple of hours to completely stem the flow. My finger was paining and I couldn't resume work today.. Hope Republic day brings in good luck and revvs up my somewhat dampened engine..

The DIY Pump Project in YouTube

The Netaji Controversy [Jan 24, 2016 ]

Maxxramblings: My humble 2 cents about the ongoing controversy about the Netaji documents being made public and the even bigger controversy about his death in the plane crash.
Going by the news bytes it seems that the present government has done a super humongous task that of releasing the 33 files and the documents kind of suggest Nehru calling him a war criminal and the congress vehemently denying it and suggesting it is a fraudulent document and a "politically motivated" move to release it. I being a staunch Netaji follower am keen to know of the mysteries myself, but am not too happy about these half baked releases. Either release all there is to it or don't bloody release any of it.. these partial unveilings stink of a charade or deceit!

We are a mature nation and can deal with friendly countries being turned into villains by the release. And at the same time we need to know if Netaji was at the receiving end of any act of connivance..

I am also not too keen on the over the top attempt at involving the Netaji's family members into the release process as if they are some sort of authorities of the subject. For heavens sake, many of them are into active politics and some even belonging to parties being deemed as responsible for Netaji's miseries in some way, so I don't expect any clean unbiased views from them too. And the revelations could also hurt them as well. They would be more than willing to shield their political bosses and thus safeguard their own asses. More than encouraging this game of political one-upmanship, we should be asking the politicians, how about following the ideologies of Netaji, in turning this country into a honest, clean and forward minded place to stay instead...