The Year gone by...

There are times when one sits back to review the times gone by... At the end of the year is usually time for introspection and assessment of what has gone by and what is in store for the future..

Professionally, in October the opportunity to move back into HR came by in a big way.. Having gone through a rigorous round or two of interviews, the opportunity to lead a programme and be part of the Global HR organisation in a corporate environment came my way. This was something that gave me great pleasure while causing a bit of disruption.. Had to pack my bags and move to Paris from Lytham. So far so good..

Life in Paris has been pretty good so far and living in the middle of the city is a far cry from the times in Lytham. The Buzz and the crowd is reminiscent of being in London and not a quite outpost! At the same time, it has been great to be able to walk to historic points of interest during the weekends.

The year started on a promising note and seems to have gone well predominantly.. There was a lot to look for in 2010 and I have few regrets about any so far.. Times have been tough but enjoyable.. Challenges have been many both professionally and Personally but overcoming them has been fruitful.

I do miss the Rotary Fellowship and the Masonic meetings, but should be able to catch up on return to Lytham in the future. Friends are the biggest "transient Loss". Inability to spend time with close friends as much as I used to is a pain.. but the hope that is positive is in the view that they are there for you at all times..And an opportunity to find new friends in Paris..

One of the highlights of this year has been the fact that I have established contact with a couple of old friends from University. Just pray and hope I am able to continue to be in touch with them.

And more importantly established contact with an old friend and soulmate from Cambridge who has given me immense pleasure.. Just hope that again is a string which does not break..

As to the future, who knows what is in hold. But, I look forward to it with keen anticipation and positive faith. Surely it will go better and better is my optimistic view. While I am loath to believe things won't go wrong, I am confident challenges will be overcome. That is part of living life..

Thank you Facebook.. Thank you Twitter.. Thank you Linked in and more than everything thanks to people who stood by me and supported me through out the year. And continue to do so..

Snow & Ice

I never talk of ice
Or the snow that glitters nice
Or of the icy crunchy snow
Of that I do not know...

The crunch that sounds beneath my feet
As my sole and ice compete
When in the morning as I wake
I see more than a single white snow flake..

I look out of the iced window
The look out seems so very low
Because the snow fell all night
It has left behind its icicles of white!!

God's Sense of Humour in Facebook

Irrespective of your faith and beliefs — it seems you can now befriend God on Facebook. And he has a wicked sense of humour.

Impersonating people on online services isn't unique to Facebook — Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, John Howard and Barrack Obama have all had high profile fakers.

But when a deity appears on Facebook, one has to wonder who would dare risking the wrath of eternal damnation for the heavenly identity theft.

So, when I saw pictures of God's Facebook page floating round the internet, I figured he was connecting in via PG/IP (pearly gates / internet protocol).

Looking at His profile, I was shocked to discover He has a surprisingly wicked sense of humour.

"God is high like a kite… literally cuz I'm in da sky" reads one of his status lines.

"God is borrrrrrrrrrred lol" reads another.

God has been involved in creating many new groups on Facebook including Garden of Eden (with suitably paradisical iconography), and counts Adam and Eve among his top friends (note, Adam and Eve are listed as being in a relationship, tsk tsk).

With regard to the Garden of Eden, the group rules are "No shirt, no shoes, no sin, no problem! Stay away from the apples, seriously."

In a possible reference to Channel 9's Eddie Maguire, God sent Eve an online gift of a dummy, with the message: "it's the pain of childbirth! Hope that apple was worth it. Btw ur just a rib. Probably why Adam wanted to BONE you. LOL!"

Anyway, see if you can hit God up to become one of his friends. Right now, he's just "sittin' around being omnipotent." Trouble is, searching Facebook for "God" yields no results — perhaps He is being deliberately mysterious, or maybe it's just an invite-only party for now.

Truly the mysterious ways of the "Almighty" !!

Shudra Samrat and the modern day pilferage!!

I remember my dad once tell someone - In Karunanidhi's government, Money moved while in Jayalalitha's government, money moved & files moved. May his soul RiP.

How can a small and trivial matter of no national significance such as the Rs 100,000 Crores Spectrum Fraud ever come in the way of 'Shudra Samrat' (Emperor of Shudras!!!) expressing his heart-felt camaraderie to his able lieutenant Dalit Raja?

In case you are wondering about the Shudra Samrat - Recently I read an article that reflected and I quote “Pleased with Karunanidhi’s recent remarks questioning the “engineering qualifications” of Lord Ram, a group of backward and scheduled caste sadhus and mahants of Ayodhya have decided to honour Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi with the title of 'Shudra Samrat' (Emperor of Shudras!!!). Mahant Jugal Kishore Sharan Shastri, Convenor of a social movement forum called Ayodhya Ki Awaaz said, a delegation of sadhus of the Shudra community from Ayodhya will go to Tamil Nadu after Gandhi Jayanti to felicitate Karunanidhi.”

Can the 'Shudra Samrat' think he can fool the country by talking about the ‘Divine’ Dalit-hood of A. Raja. To say that many people are making much of Spectrum Fraud only because A. Raja is a Dalit is not only foolish but also patently absurd. Luckily for the people of this country Nira Radia is not a Dalit, else Karunanidhi would have raised the same self-serving claim of Dalit-hood in respect of Nira Radia’s case too. Just as Raja and his DMK team in Chennai are for maximum corruption in the shortest possible time, without getting caught by the Police or the CBI, the Telecom Companies are pro-profit (maximum profit) and are neither pro-dalit nor anti-dalit.

The Dalit organizations in India that remain silent on the Spectrum Fraud of A. Raja and the politically filial comments of Karunanidhi on the Dalit-hood of Raja, have covered themselves with everlasting disgrace by giving a permanently wrong signal to the country as a whole that all the ‘Dalit’ Ministers in India are as a rule and by convention and habit, thoroughly corrupt

In this context I endorse the following acidic comment of Dr Subramanian Swamy(Though I personally do not hold him also in high esteem and see him as a self serving opportunist)...

“The absurd and ridiculous claim of the DMK leader Mr. Karunanidhi that action against telecom minister Mr. A. Raja on corruption charges is being sought by those of upper castes on the ground that Raja is a dalit, deserves to be condemned as typically hypocritical of him. When I was pursuing corruption cases against Ramakrishna Hegde and J. Jayalalitha, Mr. Karunanidhi had praised me. He did not raise the caste issue then. In fact he invited me to dinner once to congratulate me for pursuing Jayalalitha by filing cases. Mr. Karunanidhi's real fear now is that his family members are also on the take in this scam.”

“Mr. Raja has committed the most monumental corruption in the history of the world in the allotment of 2g spectrum. It has cost the nation Rs. 100,000 crores which is now confirmed by the recent auction going on in 3g spectrum. Once convicted for the corruption in 2g spectrum allocation Raja's name will find a place in the hall of shame for sure.”

In my view, Raja being a dalit has nothing to do with the issue of Spectrum Fraud. The fact of the matter is that in our nasty coalition politics of cold-blooded opportunism today anything goes and it means cost to the exchequer..

I hang my head in shame as an Indian and Tamilian..

Aussie Ashes?

The hype of the Ashes is quite overwhelming.. But, there are times I quite enjoy the hyperbole because it involves the incorrigible arrogance of the Aussies and the everlasting hope and wish list of the Poms. Well the 2010 Ashes has started with a bang..

After all the hyperbole and the statements in the press, Three telling statements have been made on the pitch...

At the first test, in the 2nd innings of the match, Numbers 1, 2 and 3 from England stood up and showed some spine.. and the Aussie Spearhead did a Harmison.

And in the 2nd test today, Anderson showed up the bane of modern day batsmen - inability to play genuine swing..

I think that this is enough to make you believe that Strauss will be coming back with the Ashes and also a small packet of fresh Ash - of the Aussie bulldog in Ricky Ponting. And all my cricket loving friends in Lytham am sure are begining to chuckle quietly and are rubbing their hands in anticipation..

Ponting is no Tendulkar and that is being shown up .. I believe it was not long ago after being battered in India that he said that if Tendulkar can score at this age, so can he. But, his inability to avoid lunging forward is putting paid to such hopes and makes his claims tall.. At the same time, let us not write him off. He is tenacious to say the least and does not want to give up his hold on the leash easily.. Anderson will have to make the ball talk a few more times in this series for the Jaws to loosen and the hold to fall apart..

Michael Clark has immense talent. No doubt. But, he is not fit nor does he have the discipline to make it really big in Test Cricket. He will be a good test player but never a great test player and this performance if not arrested soon will undo his captaincy hopes..About Markus North, the less said the better.

The Aussie 1 & 2 are all said and done makeshift and that does show up..

Let us not celebrate the Ashes too soon and be lopsided about this.. I am not one bit convinced that the English Middle order is sound enough to survive a tight examination.. Petersen I have reservations about, Collingwood at best is a gritty fighter and Bell according to me is batting a little too low down the order..

At the same time, the Poms are a better bowling side and have more discipline and maturity.. This is important and will play the final call in the decision of the series. In Anderson and Finn, the Poms have a great bowling starting line and Broad does widen this net. Swann despite his slow start is afterall the world's most recognised spinner today..Against this the Aussies have babes with the ball..

But, beware of the Aussie spirit of never say die.. Play to your potential and come back with the Ashes tucked in your bags..

Life in Paris...

A city of Romance and love.. A place full of great art and museums.. a culture driven by Cafes & Fine wines with Gourmet food..Should one than complain about living in Paris?

Going into work at half 7 in the morning and not finishing till after 7 in the evening on an average doesn't really give you much time to sample the wares, does it? Even though one might enjoy the work truly, sense a professional satisfaction in what one is doing with ambition & drive to achieve more, there is a slight regret - that time in a day is too little to enjoy the sights and lights of Paris..

Making do with what time is available in the weekends with Deepika in Paris has enabled us to so far manage to catch the "Paris Eye" one night a couple of weeks back and tasting the samples of the Christmas Fayre in Champs Elysee has been all that we have so far managed in the evenings..

And yes the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the old Conciergie was caught last weekend.. The under renovation St Chapelle with its high stained glass windows was also visited..

Escaped the bitter chill and knee deep snow in UK, though it has not been any less cold in Paris.. Atleast it has been drier.

Ah I do miss Lytham.. my friends, Rotary and office in Ballam Road..I suppose you give up some to get something.. and I can always get my dose of the fix when I get to see them once in a while. The next trip being due on the 10th night of this month...

Au revoir pour le moment, et je serai de retour de goûter à la chaleur de Lytham et Lythamites bientôt ..