My Name is Khan hehe

Geez! I couldnt stop myself from writing about SRK Episode. I wanted to avoid this for this types of reations from the entire nationis what they expect. So there was a security check in an Airport, that is all what is the big deal about it. I dont think he makes to shows on times anyways to make an excuse of this and say Because "My Name is Khan!". I remember one of my colleagues was a muslim and he had come to the US on a short trip for work. He had a Green color cover on this Suitcase, so customs in the busy Illinois Airport unpacked everything and checked it out.

It is reality, it happens, they do profiling and do security checks. But It is not restricted by Religion, my Hand buggage has been checked for chemicals twice. And one of my friends gets checked almost on every trip. no we are not named Khan. But is there a better chance to create publicity for his movie. And the explanation has to why he should not be scrutinized is "He is an actor, so popular that he is beyond doubt". now wasnt Sanjay dutt an actor who was caught with AK-47 in 93. Doesnt the Hindi film Industry seems to be associated with the Underworld far too much to our liking. I would say if they knew he was an actor in Bollywood he should be checked more thoroughly than me or my colleagues. If the government starts making exceptions, then they become the perfect route for trafficking stuff and It might only be dangerous for their own self.

But no! Security, Time, Terrorism are all not the issues here. It is about one person's attempts to make his movie popular and get some free advertising at the expense of the nation.

MS Amma

I was listening to kurai ondrum illai song by Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi yesterday night. That is probably what we call Madhur Sangeeth. There is a statue for her in Tirupati near the status of Sri.Ramanujar. And she is almost like the Meera she played in terms of her devotion and when you climb the steps of Tirumala, you can hear her singing voice through the hills. Her voice has been reaching the Lord everyday and the Lords names have been reaching every home through her and hence her statue in Tirupati.

It is tough in Carnatic music world if you go so far to sing in a cinema and she acted in few cinemas herself but still she was regarded as the Queen of Carnatic Music. Her marriage with Sri.Sadhasivam and their marital life evoked such respect. Though she was second wife to him, she was devoted to him and he was caring for her career from the 1940's.

Though they did not have children of their own, she always looked the motherly person. And her appearance always evoked respect and admiration. The numerous songs she sang, the love, respect she got from people all over India and her exploits through the world was all so great to yonder. There were remarks that she used to take a medicine Thangabaspam to keep her voice so good for so long and such was her voice when she sang till she was 80. She stopped coming out of her house making any public appearances once her husband died, thus leaving the picture of her before then as the only image people have of her.

She was respectful to Sri.Chandrasekhara Saraswati (The previous Kanchi seer) and she stopped wearing silk sarees since he asked her to do so. There is no doubt she is the one person good enough to sing Kurai ondrum illai as with her voice and life she did not seem to have any kuraigal. It is a great feeling to realise that such people lived amongst us and we have had chances of seeing them in person and listen through to the numerous recordings for long after she is gone.

The Whole Business with EVMs

Hmm, so the losers in the Elections chose the easiest of victims the EVM. Subramaniam Swamy wrote articles how it can be changed to suit the results. It is strange that DMK and Congress are capable of doing it but not BJP and ADMK. Does one team look more tech savvy to you than the other. Wasnt ADMK in power in the state in 2004 when it lost 40 MP seats. Did they not know to do this when they knew EVMs can be hacked. And remember then it was BJP-ADMK both in power at the state and Centre.

Technology has its inherent risks. When you have your data in papers you could steal them only by breaking a physical building, but if you have it online, anyone can break in remotely. We are prone to GOI websites being hacked. But there are security mechanisms to be implemented, there are trails to be followed, there are audits to be performed. The voting record the number of voters etc by booth is maintained in the registers manually. You could always check if the total votes on the machines equals the total polled in a booth. That way you could confirm the votes are not entered before the machines are brought in.

You could have spywares on the machines to check if some malicious program ran to move the votes from one bucket to another. There are many ways to do things. You dont immediately suggest going back to manual system which is taxing for the many individuals involved. If something was wrong with the manual system we do Repolling, likewise if EVMs are acting wierd we could do repolling on those booths even by paper if need be. But It should not be an excuse, it should not be accused without going into the details. You cannot just raise doubts and evade criticising your self. It is strange that people who spoke so much about leveraging technology, India's great technological manpower could stoop to levels so low to justify their losing an Election, but we cant expect better from our politicians can we?

Capitalism He he

I am a great fan of Fountainhead, not so much of Atlas Shrugged though. But when a capitalist says other people (labors, govt, society) have no right on their work/money I can understand and appreciate it. Unluckily I cannot see a true capitalist in my country. There are no Gail Wynands' or Howard Roarks or Hank Reardens. No we have curious many impersonations of James Taggarts in the name of rich Business Tycoons.

It is strange, they want the Govt to help them run their business. They want the government to provide them free land because they provide employment(as if they are doing some service) and if you look at the pay rules, It is always Advantage Employer. I see all businesses going head over heels demanding their rightful stimulus (Taxpayers' money) but do not want to pay any tax themselves.

The profit is calculated such that the employee gets no returns from it, but the loss is calculated such that the money goes off the employee's hands into the employer's. I do not think a person a true business man if he doesnt want all profits for himself. But then shouldnt they also be brave enough to take the losses. There are no entrepreneurs worth his salt, who really are enterprising. They are quiet literally slave traders with more than fair assistance from the governments.