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India and Globalisation
Book review: Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century
Review by James Lamont in New Delhi
Published: January 30 2009 02:22 | Last updated: January 30 2009 02:22
Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century
By Nandan Nilekani, 2008
Penguin Books
Asked to vet a shortlist of global Indians, Nandan Nilekani helped pick authors Salman Rushdie and Arvand Adiga, Dev Patel, the actor in the newly released film Slumdog Millionaire, Swraj Paul, the deputy speaker in the UK's House of Lords and Sanjay Gupta, the Obama administration's choice as head of the US surgeon-general's office.
A modest omission was Mr Nilekani himself, the co-chairman of Infosys, the IT outsourcing company. His book, Imagining India; Ideas for the New Century, is unlikely to cause the stir of Mr Adiga's Booker Prize-winning The White Tiger or Golden Globe-acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire.
But for corporate India, the IT executive has become a philosopher king, pondering the challenges for society and business of India's development as it rises in the global order and integrates more with the world.
Mr Nilekani’s discussions about India's inner debates have become highlights of business conferences since his book was launched locally last November. Would-be foreign investors make a beeline for his company's Bangalore campus – modelled on what Bill Gates built in Seattle for Microsoft – to see how India might be without its poor infrastructure and large social deficit. Many more will read his book.
It is not hard to see why. Mr Nilekani mixes personal anecdote with the optimism that India, alongside China, can return to somewhere near to the dominant position it once held in the world economy before the 18th century. Then, the two countries accounted for more than half of the world's GDP.
His book, a guidebook to India’s globalisation, is reassuring about the country's future; a view shared by some of his economist friends like Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of India's planning commission, who crop up in his pages.
Mr Nilekani was one of the founding members of Infosys in 1981, after studying at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. The foreign-driven growth of the company, from capital of just $250 to today's multi-billion dollar market capitalisation, is in itself a case study of India's globalisation.
The author, however, says he was never interested in writing about himself or penning a biography of the company he helped build. His turn to writing, he insists, also has nothing to do with political ambitions to gain a seat in India's Upper House, nor does he plan to take up the pen again for a sequel.
The book possibly qualifies him to do both.
One of the most striking points made in the book is that Indians are now comfortable with globalisation. Many would dispute this, still detecting a distrust of foreign capital. But he argues that people take a more sanguine view of the outside world than they used to, and identifies this as a battle won.
“In the post-reform years, we saw plenty of protests against multinationals in India; Coca Cola put up billboards announcing ‘We’re back!’ on which activists wrote, ‘Till we throw you out again’; KFC faced visits from local inspectors suspicious of their chicken, and Hindu activists protested in front of McDonalds in Bombay, evoking pre-Independence-era slogans with their demand that the restaurant ‘Quit India’," he writes.
But now, he says, the entry of multinational companies goes unremarked and Indians increasingly take pride in the international expansion of local companies like the Tata Group or his own.
The achievement of Mr Nilekani’s book is in its structure, and its ease of reading.
Though about the ebb and flow of ideas, the book is clearly divided into four parts about varying degrees of Indian consensus. The first looks at what Indians once argued about and now don’t any longer. Among these issues, the author includes globalisation, pluses and minuses of the country's large population, and the use of the English language – once controversial after the end of British rule, now increasingly seen as the language of getting ahead.
The second part tackles accepted ideas that have yet to bear fruit. This includes universal education, urbanisation, the improvement of defunct and non-existent infrastructure, and a common, domestic market free from state-by-state laws.
The third addresses unresolved arguments like the state and number of India’s universities and organised labour.
The final part seeks to identify what India should be arguing about but is not. The important items missed off the agenda include health, energy, environment, social security and the use of modern technology.
At the heart of the book is a strongly-held view that India is a highly suitable business and political partner for the west. This is based on his experience in the back-office processing (BPO) business where Indian employees have had to deal on a day-to-day basis with clients in Europe and America. But it is also rooted in the country’s diversity and democracy. “India’s acquisitions around the world should be more successful on a global scale, thanks to a shared emphasis with the west on transparency, independence from government and fair business practice,” Mr Nilekani writes.
“The capital Indian firms bring may consequently trigger less soul searching among western firms that need financing and support. India’s young demographics also consist of people who share common values with western firms and their customers."
Mahatma Gandhi famously once said: “India is not be found in its few cities but in its 700,000 villages”. Mr Nilekani’s conclusion is that Indians are ready to leave their villages in the near certainty that they will find something better outside.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
from >> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b712a8-ecdd-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac.html
Review by James Lamont in New Delhi
Published: January 30 2009 02:22 | Last updated: January 30 2009 02:22
Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century
By Nandan Nilekani, 2008
Penguin Books
Asked to vet a shortlist of global Indians, Nandan Nilekani helped pick authors Salman Rushdie and Arvand Adiga, Dev Patel, the actor in the newly released film Slumdog Millionaire, Swraj Paul, the deputy speaker in the UK's House of Lords and Sanjay Gupta, the Obama administration's choice as head of the US surgeon-general's office.
A modest omission was Mr Nilekani himself, the co-chairman of Infosys, the IT outsourcing company. His book, Imagining India; Ideas for the New Century, is unlikely to cause the stir of Mr Adiga's Booker Prize-winning The White Tiger or Golden Globe-acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire.
But for corporate India, the IT executive has become a philosopher king, pondering the challenges for society and business of India's development as it rises in the global order and integrates more with the world.
Mr Nilekani’s discussions about India's inner debates have become highlights of business conferences since his book was launched locally last November. Would-be foreign investors make a beeline for his company's Bangalore campus – modelled on what Bill Gates built in Seattle for Microsoft – to see how India might be without its poor infrastructure and large social deficit. Many more will read his book.
It is not hard to see why. Mr Nilekani mixes personal anecdote with the optimism that India, alongside China, can return to somewhere near to the dominant position it once held in the world economy before the 18th century. Then, the two countries accounted for more than half of the world's GDP.
His book, a guidebook to India’s globalisation, is reassuring about the country's future; a view shared by some of his economist friends like Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of India's planning commission, who crop up in his pages.
Mr Nilekani was one of the founding members of Infosys in 1981, after studying at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay. The foreign-driven growth of the company, from capital of just $250 to today's multi-billion dollar market capitalisation, is in itself a case study of India's globalisation.
The author, however, says he was never interested in writing about himself or penning a biography of the company he helped build. His turn to writing, he insists, also has nothing to do with political ambitions to gain a seat in India's Upper House, nor does he plan to take up the pen again for a sequel.
The book possibly qualifies him to do both.
One of the most striking points made in the book is that Indians are now comfortable with globalisation. Many would dispute this, still detecting a distrust of foreign capital. But he argues that people take a more sanguine view of the outside world than they used to, and identifies this as a battle won.
“In the post-reform years, we saw plenty of protests against multinationals in India; Coca Cola put up billboards announcing ‘We’re back!’ on which activists wrote, ‘Till we throw you out again’; KFC faced visits from local inspectors suspicious of their chicken, and Hindu activists protested in front of McDonalds in Bombay, evoking pre-Independence-era slogans with their demand that the restaurant ‘Quit India’," he writes.
But now, he says, the entry of multinational companies goes unremarked and Indians increasingly take pride in the international expansion of local companies like the Tata Group or his own.
The achievement of Mr Nilekani’s book is in its structure, and its ease of reading.
Though about the ebb and flow of ideas, the book is clearly divided into four parts about varying degrees of Indian consensus. The first looks at what Indians once argued about and now don’t any longer. Among these issues, the author includes globalisation, pluses and minuses of the country's large population, and the use of the English language – once controversial after the end of British rule, now increasingly seen as the language of getting ahead.
The second part tackles accepted ideas that have yet to bear fruit. This includes universal education, urbanisation, the improvement of defunct and non-existent infrastructure, and a common, domestic market free from state-by-state laws.
The third addresses unresolved arguments like the state and number of India’s universities and organised labour.
The final part seeks to identify what India should be arguing about but is not. The important items missed off the agenda include health, energy, environment, social security and the use of modern technology.
At the heart of the book is a strongly-held view that India is a highly suitable business and political partner for the west. This is based on his experience in the back-office processing (BPO) business where Indian employees have had to deal on a day-to-day basis with clients in Europe and America. But it is also rooted in the country’s diversity and democracy. “India’s acquisitions around the world should be more successful on a global scale, thanks to a shared emphasis with the west on transparency, independence from government and fair business practice,” Mr Nilekani writes.
“The capital Indian firms bring may consequently trigger less soul searching among western firms that need financing and support. India’s young demographics also consist of people who share common values with western firms and their customers."
Mahatma Gandhi famously once said: “India is not be found in its few cities but in its 700,000 villages”. Mr Nilekani’s conclusion is that Indians are ready to leave their villages in the near certainty that they will find something better outside.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
from >> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61b712a8-ecdd-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac.html
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyon hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
Hum kyun shikwa karein jootha
Kya hua jo dil toota
Hum kyun shikwa karein jootha
Kya hua jo dil toota
Sheeshe ka khilona tha
Kuchh na kuchh to hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
samjhe na..
hamne jo dekha tha suna tha
kya batayein wo kya tha
hamne jo dekha tha suna tha
kya batayein wo kya tha
sapna salona tha
khatm to hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
Aye dil chal pi kar jhoome
inhi galiyon mein ghoome
Aye dil chal pi kar jhoome
inhi galiyon mein ghoome
yahan tuje khona tha
badnaam hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
kab hua, kyon hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
Hum kyun shikwa karein jootha
Kya hua jo dil toota
Hum kyun shikwa karein jootha
Kya hua jo dil toota
Sheeshe ka khilona tha
Kuchh na kuchh to hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
samjhe na..
hamne jo dekha tha suna tha
kya batayein wo kya tha
hamne jo dekha tha suna tha
kya batayein wo kya tha
sapna salona tha
khatm to hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
Aye dil chal pi kar jhoome
inhi galiyon mein ghoome
Aye dil chal pi kar jhoome
inhi galiyon mein ghoome
yahan tuje khona tha
badnaam hona tha, hua
hmmm hmmm
Ye kya hua, kaise hua
kab hua, kyun hua
Jab hua, tab hua
O chhodo, ye na socho
hmmm hmmm Ye kya hua
Saturday, July 19, 2008
You're Getting Older When...
- You and your teeth don't sleep together.
- Your back goes out, but you stay home.
- You wake up, looking like your driver's license picture.
- When your doctor doesn't give you x-rays anymore but just holds you up to the light.
- When a sexy babe catches your fancy and your pacemaker opens the garage door nearest you.
- When you remember when the Dead Sea was only sick.
- When your wife says, "Let's go upstairs and make love" and you answer, "Honey, I can't do both!"
- Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
- When you don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
- You know you're getting old when your semi-annual erection becomes an annual semi-erection!
- It takes two tries to get up from the couch.
- Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.
- Happy hour is a nap.
- When you step off a curb and look down one more time to make sure that the street is still there.
- Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
- It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.
- Your memory is shorter and your complaining is longer.
- The pharmacist has become you new best friend.
- It takes twice as long to look half as good.
- The twinkle in your eye is only the reflection of the sun on your bifocals.
- You look for your glasses for a half an hour, and then find that they were on your head all the time.
- You get two invitations to go out on the same night, and you pick the one that gets you home the earliest.
- You give up all your bad habits and you still don't feel good.
- You have more patience; but actually, it's just that you don't care any more.
- You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.
- You confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.
- You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't even remember being on top of it.
- You don't know real embarrassment until your hip sets off a metal detector.
- Let's face it, traveling just isn't as much fun when all the historical sites are younger than you are.
- Every time you suck in your gut, your ankles swell.
- You're suffering from Mallzheimer's disease. You go to the mall and forget where I parked my car.
- Age always corresponds inversely to the size of your multi-vitamin.
- Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
- It's harder and harder for sexual harassment charges to stick.
- If you've never smoked, you can start now and it won't have time to hurt you.
- People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
- Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
- Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
- Your eyes won't get much worse.
- Adult diapers are actually kind of convenient.
- Things you buy now won't wear out.
- No one expects you to run into a burning building.
- There's nothing left to learn the hard way.
- Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
- In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
- You're sitting on a park bench, and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.
- You light the candles on your birthday cake, and a group of campers form a circle and start singing "Kumbaya."
- Someone compliments you on your layered look.... and you're wearing a bikini.
- You start video taping daytime game shows.
- You wonder why you waited so long to take up macramé.
- At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough.
- Your new easy chair has more options than your car.
- Conversations with people your own age often turn into "dueling ailments."
- It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump.
- You're on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker.
- You find yourself beginning to like accordion music.
- You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..."
- You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs.
- You look both ways before crossing a room.
- You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity.
- You frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread USED to cost.
- You realize that a stamp today costs more than a picture show did when you were growing up.
- Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
- Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion.
- The clothes you've put away until they come back in style... come back in style.
- All of your favorite movies are now re-released in color.
- The car that you bought brand new becomes an antique.
- You're asleep, but others worry that you're dead.
- Your back goes out more than you do.
- You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
- You buy a compass for the dash of your car.
- You are proud of your lawn mower.
- Your best friend is dating someone half their age and isn't breaking any laws.
- Your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper.
- You sing along with the elevator music.
- You would rather go to work than stay home sick.
- You constantly talk about the price of gasoline.
- You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
- You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.
- You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
- Neighbors borrow your tools.
- People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
- You have a dream about prunes.
- You send money to PBS.
- The end of your tie doesn't come anywhere near the top of your pants.
- You take a metal detector to the beach.
- You wear black socks with sandals.
- You know what the word "equity" means.
- You can't remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch television.
- Your ears are hairier than your head.
- You talk about "good grass" and you're referring to someone's lawn.
- You get into a heated argument about pension plans.
- You got cable for the weather channel.
- You can go bowling without drinking.
- You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
- Everything that works hurts, and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.
- You feel like the morning after, and you haven't been anywhere.
- Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.
- Your children are beginning to look middle-aged.
- Your mind makes contracts your body can't keep.
- You look forward to a dull evening.
- Your knees buckle and your belt won't.
- You sink your teeth into a steak, and they stay there.
- You know all the answers, but nobody asks the questions.
- You don't remember when your wild oats turned to prunes and all bran.
- You finally got your head together, now your body is falling apart.
- You don't remember being absent minded.
- "Getting a little action" means you don't need to take a laxative.
- Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
- Tying one on means fastening your Medic Alert bracelet.
- Your back goes out, but you stay home.
- You wake up, looking like your driver's license picture.
- When your doctor doesn't give you x-rays anymore but just holds you up to the light.
- When a sexy babe catches your fancy and your pacemaker opens the garage door nearest you.
- When you remember when the Dead Sea was only sick.
- When your wife says, "Let's go upstairs and make love" and you answer, "Honey, I can't do both!"
- Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
- When you don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
- You know you're getting old when your semi-annual erection becomes an annual semi-erection!
- It takes two tries to get up from the couch.
- Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.
- Happy hour is a nap.
- When you step off a curb and look down one more time to make sure that the street is still there.
- Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
- It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.
- Your memory is shorter and your complaining is longer.
- The pharmacist has become you new best friend.
- It takes twice as long to look half as good.
- The twinkle in your eye is only the reflection of the sun on your bifocals.
- You look for your glasses for a half an hour, and then find that they were on your head all the time.
- You get two invitations to go out on the same night, and you pick the one that gets you home the earliest.
- You give up all your bad habits and you still don't feel good.
- You have more patience; but actually, it's just that you don't care any more.
- You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.
- You confuse having a clear conscience with having a bad memory.
- You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't even remember being on top of it.
- You don't know real embarrassment until your hip sets off a metal detector.
- Let's face it, traveling just isn't as much fun when all the historical sites are younger than you are.
- Every time you suck in your gut, your ankles swell.
- You're suffering from Mallzheimer's disease. You go to the mall and forget where I parked my car.
- Age always corresponds inversely to the size of your multi-vitamin.
- Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
- It's harder and harder for sexual harassment charges to stick.
- If you've never smoked, you can start now and it won't have time to hurt you.
- People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
- Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
- Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
- Your eyes won't get much worse.
- Adult diapers are actually kind of convenient.
- Things you buy now won't wear out.
- No one expects you to run into a burning building.
- There's nothing left to learn the hard way.
- Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
- In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
- You're sitting on a park bench, and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.
- You light the candles on your birthday cake, and a group of campers form a circle and start singing "Kumbaya."
- Someone compliments you on your layered look.... and you're wearing a bikini.
- You start video taping daytime game shows.
- You wonder why you waited so long to take up macramé.
- At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough.
- Your new easy chair has more options than your car.
- Conversations with people your own age often turn into "dueling ailments."
- It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump.
- You're on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker.
- You find yourself beginning to like accordion music.
- You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..."
- You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs.
- You look both ways before crossing a room.
- You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity.
- You frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread USED to cost.
- You realize that a stamp today costs more than a picture show did when you were growing up.
- Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
- Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion.
- The clothes you've put away until they come back in style... come back in style.
- All of your favorite movies are now re-released in color.
- The car that you bought brand new becomes an antique.
- You're asleep, but others worry that you're dead.
- Your back goes out more than you do.
- You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
- You buy a compass for the dash of your car.
- You are proud of your lawn mower.
- Your best friend is dating someone half their age and isn't breaking any laws.
- Your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper.
- You sing along with the elevator music.
- You would rather go to work than stay home sick.
- You constantly talk about the price of gasoline.
- You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
- You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.
- You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
- Neighbors borrow your tools.
- People call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
- You have a dream about prunes.
- You send money to PBS.
- The end of your tie doesn't come anywhere near the top of your pants.
- You take a metal detector to the beach.
- You wear black socks with sandals.
- You know what the word "equity" means.
- You can't remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch television.
- Your ears are hairier than your head.
- You talk about "good grass" and you're referring to someone's lawn.
- You get into a heated argument about pension plans.
- You got cable for the weather channel.
- You can go bowling without drinking.
- You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
- Everything that works hurts, and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.
- You feel like the morning after, and you haven't been anywhere.
- Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.
- Your children are beginning to look middle-aged.
- Your mind makes contracts your body can't keep.
- You look forward to a dull evening.
- Your knees buckle and your belt won't.
- You sink your teeth into a steak, and they stay there.
- You know all the answers, but nobody asks the questions.
- You don't remember when your wild oats turned to prunes and all bran.
- You finally got your head together, now your body is falling apart.
- You don't remember being absent minded.
- "Getting a little action" means you don't need to take a laxative.
- Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
- Tying one on means fastening your Medic Alert bracelet.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
kehte haiN ki 'GHalib' ka hai andaaz-e-bayaaN aur :)
haiN aur bhee duniya meiN suKHanwar bohot achche
kehte haiN ki 'GHalib' ka hai andaaz-e-bayaaN aur
kehte haiN ki 'GHalib' ka hai andaaz-e-bayaaN aur
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