A tribute to the late Dr Kalam.

There are many things to learn from people around, but who better to learn from than the former President Dr. APJ Kalam.

He passed away yesterday 27-7-2015 while lecturing students on 'Creating a livable planet earth' . May his soul rest in peace and his life and its stories continue to inspire us.

His quotes have been repeated over social media several times and I don't intend repeating that here.

Several years ago,I had the privilege to peep into what used to be his office at Anna University in Chennai (he was at Rashtrapati Bhawan then) leading our country as its President. And what a remarkable President he made. At the campus, I heard his admin staff talk about him and his humility in a fashion unparalleled. Their love and admiration for Dr Kalam was far too obvious and I dare say mutual. The late  'Missile man' and educationist left a indelible mark on his team there.

Several months ago I browsed to a YouTube video where I heard him speak right before his lecture at Wharton on topics of leadership.  His message was clear as a leader you take the flak and allow the team to take all the adulations. I am so struck with the simplicity of his narration when he was with DRDO and of how his boss the late Dr Vikram Sarabhai dealt with a failed space mission and the successful one with Dr Kalam in charge. Protecting him for the former and throwing the limelight on Dr Kalam for the success. In that interview Dr Kalam describes 6 characteristics of a successful leader ( and I dare say a good human as well).

To quote the narration ( from FB) of Mr Srijan Pal Singh a close aide of Dr Kalam, one of the things worrying Dr Kalam was the frequent disruptions of our Parliament while in session. He wanted to do something about it. So here I urge on behalf of several millions of Indians who vote and pay taxes to do your job of responsible Governance (opposition is part of this Governance for me) and that's is the best honor we can give to this leader who is no more. instead of declaring a national holiday for his passing away, and in line with his wishes, pl rise above your partisan and opportunistic tirades to progress this nation. I am sure there is a way to protest against all scams or issues, but by spending several crores of tax payers money on keeping the lights on at Parliament and not even attending or meeting is a disgrace and disservice to our democracy. And no I am not saying the ruling party is above all laws. Those guilty must be brought to the books.

My respects to an inspiring leader. And his noble soul.

Mr Politician... Are you paying.?

The country presumably implements one man one post. Similarly in my understanding one legislator or MP  can represent only one constituency. Someone pl tell me why do politicians stand for more than one seat at same elections? Afraid they will lose? If they win both, they end up giving up one of the seats and a reelection is held at cost of public money. Is the politician willing to pay for it from personal pocket and is the politician willing to compensate every voter for the time lost and the trouble of re-election? Among other things our national and state leaders can do a better job at least in choosing the right area they want to represent at executive bodies. Seems it has turned out to be school admissions.

I've always wondered

When would I grow up?
When would my salary come?
When will it stay put in my account?
When will I write my book?
When will I not fight with Uma for frivolous reasons?
When will I stop worrying about little things I forget?
When will my vacation not turn into a workation?
How did the pup feel when its tail or leg (not sure what) accidentally came under my car (sob sob)...
Why didn't I rush it to the vet?
Which is the next course I should do?
Will Ita wake up on time for school?
What shall I do next?
Why do I have to keep thinking of moving on the the next new task or idea?

too many questions... time for introspection... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The abibas way

It was almost a last minute re-decision to join part of my team to the Amarnath Cave trek. Members of my team capitalised on my strong desire to go and inability to deny the trip to re-book my ticket. I was originally scheduled to be there on the trip but had backed out as my father was unwell. He progressed remarkably well and allowed me the chance to take this trip.

At that moment a confusion arose.. my original ticket to Srinagar was not canceled by the Ticketing agent while the airline maintained it was. After half a dozen followups it was clear the tickets had actually been cancelled.

An important meeting at office kept me grounded at work till 3:30am that morning. I reached home around 4:30am, packed a few track pants, tshirts and the stuff into a backpack. Thankfully Uma had organised chocolates and other munchies for the trip. After a two-hour sleep I woke up to leave for the morning service to Srinagar. My "crew" was on another flight. Upon boarding the flight the airhostess requested me to move to emergency exit window sea, which i gleefully accepted, hoping to catch up on sleep. I removed my shoes and realised not using the sports shoes is not a smart idea. its inner sole was giving way after almost 2 years of disuse.

The wait at Srinagar airport was long and boring, with no TV to watch, no music to listen, no paper/book to read and no GPRS. When the rest of the team arrived (3 in all - Rohit, Puneet and Rajesh) we left for the Dal Lake to meet Hamid, the guy who'd arrange our travel thereon. We met him at a hotel near Dal Lake, had Tea, bread and butter and delicious paranthaas (indian bread) that Rajesh had got us from home.

At was well past 4:30 pm when we started for Pahalgam basecamp, The paramilitary deployment in Srinagar and enroute to Pahalgam was quite visible. The state was (is) in a turmoil with clashes between military, police and some pockets of public. We were stopped by Police just outside Anantnag for safety reasons and were allowed to leave after a good 90 minutes. We were advised to take a less troubled route thru a village to rech Pahalgam. You could see young lads pretending to throw stones and stuff at our car to scare us. By the time we reached Pahalgam it was twilight. We decided to stay put at the camp for the night and leave at daybreak for Chandanwari. Registrations for the the travel done, we decided to eat.

Puneet and Rohit went out in search for food outside the basecamp. They returned an hour later with food after battling with darkness on their route. We hit bed hoping to be up & ready by 6am when the gates of the camp open. Before we slept, we pulled Rajesh's leg a mighty bit (which eventually kept happening all day/night of our travel). Some footsteps outside our roadside tent woke us up. By the time we got ready a sea of humanity had already beaten us to the camp gate. The splash of icy cold tap water sure awakened our lazy body.

Failed but liking it in a mixed way.

IPL 2010- the men in blue (MI) defied my guess and lost to CSK. I hugely admire Dhoni's skill and worship Tendulkar's, making it tough to support any one team. My fav team won but fav player lost.

Smoking ban up in smoke.

Was waiting outside a Govt office for someone. Saw a bunch of 14 odd yr old kids striking a lite at a roadside kiosk selling tobacco and Indian bread with tea. If not this kiosk owner some other did fella must have sold it. There is a ban on selling to person below 18 and on smoking in public places. The cops were as silent as I was watching them. Is the ban effective.

Shifting in suitcases :)

My cuzin is shifting and we ran out of cartons. So here's where some crockery ended.