The World We Live In!

The generation born from 2025 onwards could be called "Generation Alpha 2.0" or "Generation Beta" (building on the idea that Gen Alpha, born from 2010–2024, will have ended). While the exact name is yet to be officially established, here are some potential ways they may differ from previous generations: 1. Immersed in Advanced Technology : This generation will grow up in a world where AI, quantum computing, and augmented reality are even more integrated into daily life. They will likely have constant access to virtual environments, AI-powered personal assistants, and immersive technologies. 2. Highly Personalized Learning : Education will likely be more personalized, with AI adapting learning styles to individual students. Traditional schooling may be supplemented by AI tutors, AR/VR classrooms, and global online collaboration. 3. Environmental Awareness : With climate change and sustainability continuing to dominate global issues, this generation will l...

“सखी, आज इतनी उदास क्यों बैठी हो?” कृष्ण ने द्रोपदी के समीप बैठते हुए प्रश्न किया।  “सखा, आप सर्वत्र ज्ञाता है, फिर भी क्यों पूछते है?”, दुखित स्वर में द्रोपदी ने उत्तर दिया। कृष्ण के चेहरे पर हल्की सी मुस्कान दौड़ गई। उन्होंने अपने दोनों हाथों से द्रोपदी के चेहरे हो थामा और स्नेह पूर्वक कहा, “यदि बात करोगी तो शायद मन हल्का हो जाए, इसलिए पूछा है।” “आपको नहीं लगता की मृत्युलोक में आज भी औरतों को अपना सम्मान नहीं मिला है? आज भी उन्हें प्रताड़ित एवं अपमानित किया जाता है। पुरुष वर्ग आज भी या तो दुशाशन बनकर चीर हरण करता है, या फिर भीष्म पितामह की तरह चुप चाप देखता रहता है। मेरी रक्षा को तो आप आ गए थे, पर अब इन्हें कोई क्यों नहीं बचाता? क्या इनकी रक्षा आपका दायित्व नहीं है? क्या इतिहास में कृष्ण सिर्फ एक द्रोपदी की लाज बचाने के लिए याद किए जाएंगे? जबकि आज हजारों लाखों द्रोपदीयां अपनी लाज बचाने की नाकाम कोशिश कर रही है। हर दिन सकड़ों द्रोपदी चीर हरण का शिकार होती है। क्या जगत नारायण श्री कृष्ण का उनके प्रति कोई दायित्व नहीं है? क्या उनकी नियति में चीर हरण ही लिखा है?”, कहते कहते ...

कुछ महीनों पूर्व मैं एक बंगला फिल्म “राजकाहिनी” देखने गया था। फिल्म बहुत अच्छी थी, और अब हिन्दी में भी बन रही है। मेरी ओर से सबको हिन्दी वाली फिल्म देखने की सलाह है। पर यह पोस्ट उस फिल्म या उसकी कहानी से संबन्धित नहीं है। उस फिल्म के अंत में हमारे राष्ट्र गान “जन गण मन” का असली बंगला गीत दिखाया गया है। जन गण मन को पहले बंगला में ही लिखा गया था। सिनेमा हाल में जब यह गाना शुरू हुआ, तब किसी को इसके जन गण मन होने का एहसास नहीं था। दरअसल यह गाना “जन गण मन” से शुरू नहीं होता है। दूसरी पंक्ति आते आते लोगों को पता चलने लगा, और असल राष्ट्र गान ना होते हुए भी लोग एक एक करके खड़े होने लगे। फिल्म का अंत बहुत दुखद और चौका देने वाला है। इसलिए गीत को पहचानने में थोड़ी देर लगी, पर 3-4 पंक्तियाँ होते होते सभी खड़े हो चुके थे। मैं खुद भी खड़ा हुआ था। तब सूप्रीम कोर्ट का कानून भी नहीं था और यह असल राष्ट्र गान भी नहीं था। पर पता नहीं क्यों, अंदर से इच्छा हुई खड़े होने की, और इस गीत को सम्मान देने की। भले ही यह असल राष्ट्र गान ना सही, पर अर्थ तो वही थे। 

दंगल एक बेहतरीन फिल्म है। पूरी कहानी कुश्ती पर आधारित होते हुए भी इमोशन और ड्रामा से भरपूर है। आमिर ने एक बार फिर बाज़ी मार ली है। शायद यह 2016 की सबसे अच्छी फिल्म साबित हो।  बस इससे आगे मैं इस फिल्म की और तारीफ नहीं कर सकता। अब जो लिख रहा हूँ, वह मेरा अपना विचार है, और उसका फिल्म के मनोरंजक और अच्छे होने से कोई सरोकार नहीं है। मुझे फिल्म की कहानी पसंद नहीं आई। लगभग सबको कहानी के बारे में पता है, इसलिए यहाँ जो मैं लिख रहा हूँ, वह कोई भेद नहीं खोलेगा। कहानी में एक लड़की की विपरीत परिस्थितियों से लड़कर विजेता बनने के सफर को दिखाने की कोशिश की गई है। पर जिस नजरिए से मैंने देखा, मुझे यह एक लड़की की अपनी सफलता से अधिक उसका बलिदान दिखा। यह कहानी स्त्री प्रधान ना होकर पुरुष प्रधान निकली। एक व्यक्ति जो खुद अपने जीवन में सफलता ना पा सका, अपनी जिद के चलते अपने दो बच्चों का बचपन और उनकी इच्छाएं उनसे छीन कर, उनके जीवन को कुर्बान कर देता है। उनकी अपनी पहचान खत्म हो जाती है। हर जगह उन्हें अपनी इच्छाओं को मारना पड़ता है। लोगों के उपहास का पात्र बनना पड़ता है। और यह सब सिर्फ इसलिए कि वह अपने पित...

As we know that our government has taken a decision of demonetization of Rs 500 and 1000 notes from market and people are suffering due to cash crunch. I am not an expert economist to comment on long term impact of this decision, but I can see the situation on the ground, with short term impact. This article is not about merit of this decision, but it is about managing the situation in hand. We are in a mess with this implementation, and things are getting out of control. I have tried my best to come up with what the government and public should do to cope up with situation. I am not an expert on managing such large-scale crisis, so this is not a complete formula, but my two cents only.  What government should do:

We are celebrating our 70th Independence Day this year, which means we are Independent since last 70 years, free to follow our dreams, free from all kind of evil atrocities our country witness over centuries in past. But it actually gets me thinking. Are we really independent? Do we understand independence?  What is Independence? Do we know the real meaning of Independence? According to Cambridge Dictionary, there are two meanings: Freedom from being governed or ruled by another country.  The ability to live your life without being helped or influenced by other people.  Our country is free and not ruled or governed by any other country, so in that sense, India is independent. But, as per the second meaning, are we, the people of India, really independent? Another question raised here is about our country. India is not governed or ruled by any other country, but if we use the second meaning in context of our country, is our country really independent? Le...

  We just had a tragedy in Nepal and some part of India. Thousands of people lost their life and thousands more were injured. There is loss of property worth millions. It really a sad situation and we should pray for those who suffered in recent earthquake. But it’s more saddening that some people are actually trying to take advantage of this tragedy!! When I see post about praising some institute or person, on what they have done for victims, along with some bad language used for specifically targeted religion or groups or people asking what they are doing, it negate on whatever good these institutions or people are doing. If you are doing some good work just to show others and make fun of them, it cannot be called good work. Below is one such example. I praise our Army for reaching out to victims in record time for rescue. Our government is also responsible for this quick action, and they should be praised too, including our PM. But that does not mean some cheap people start...

Today is international Women’s Day, and BBC wanted to launch their new documentary India’s Daughter today all over the world. This documentary is banned by Indian government, but still available at various platforms, and lots of people have seen it. I think the ban is not justified, as it is like banning a mirror which shows our true face. It’s more like few of those discussions we always try to avoid. This documentary brings out the topics which we don’t want to discuss. So, the better way to avoid such discussions is to ban it, and no one will talk about it.  The documentary is not offering anything new to the Indian viewer. We all more or less know these things already. To put everything into context before we discuss this, here is a summary of what is shown in the documentary.

Do you know about the sudden death of Perumal Murugan, the author? Don’t worry, the Perumal Murugan, teacher is still alive, and will continue to live. But people have killed Perumal Murugan, the Author. This is clearly a major attack on Freedom of Speech, where people have forced the author to commit suicide. It sounds confusing, so let me put some light on him.  Perumal Murugan is / was a Tamil Nadu-based writer, who has ended his writing career by announcing the death of Perumal Murugan, the author. His post, as reported by media (because I was not able to view his profile on Facebook), read, "Author Perumal Murugan is dead. Only the teacher Perumal would be alive. People could have issues with my other books, that's why I've decided to withdraw them all...I shall pay due compensation to publishers..Don't indulge in protests and let me go."

मुझे होली अच्छी लगती है। आज होलिका दहन है। मुझे तो ये भी नहीं पता की होलिका दहन क्या होता है। बस मुंबई की एक सोसाइटी से दूसरी सोसाइटी घूम घूम कर प्रसाद से पेट भरने में लगा हूँ। लोगो को कहते हुए सुना की ये जो आग लगा कर उसकी पूजा करते है, उसे होलिका दहन कहते है। अधिकतर लोग तो आजकल शायद अँग्रेज़ी में ही आपस में बातें करते है, इसलिए कुछ समझ नहीं आता। परंतु अभी भी कुछ लोग है, जो शायद पूरी तरह से अँग्रेज़ी ना बोल पाने की वजह से हिंदी में बातें करते है। वो लोग भी बीच बीच में कुछ शब्द अँग्रेज़ी के जोड़ ही देते है। उनकी आधी अधूरी बातों से मुझे होलिका दहन के बारे में पता चला। नहीं तो मुझ जैसे बस्ती में पैदा हुए और 10 वर्षों से वहाँ की गलियों में कभी खेलते कभी छोटा मोटा काम करते और कभी भीख माँगते गुजरी ज़िंदगी में ऐसी बातों का पता चलना मुश्किल होता है। कभी स्कूल नहीं गया, इसलिए सीखी है तो सिर्फ़ तरह तरह की गालियाँ। जबसे होश सम्हाला है, हर किसी को बिना वजह मेरी माँ बहन से रिश्ता जोड़ते हुए सुना है। लोगो के मुंह से अपना नाम कम सुना है, माँ बहन वाले अलंकार अधिक। मैं भी कहा अतीत में भटक गया। जैसा...

Out of hours working banned by German labor ministry Germany's employment ministry has banned its managers from calling or emailing staff out of hours except in emergencies, under new guidelines intended to prevent employees from burning out. This news further says that as per new guidelines, employees should not be penalized for switching off their mobiles and not reading their mails/messages post office hours. This was long overdue, and good that Germany has taken an official stand on this issue. I hope rest of the world notice and follow suite. I work in Application Support, and fully understand the risk of critical resources not available during any major incident. But I also appreciate the fact that we have an on-call rota system, which ensures that someone is available to manage such incidents during out of hours. We have the process in place, but still I have seen, and sometimes myself done, calling someone who is not on rota, but we are comfortable with that per...

Desperate times need desperate measures, we need to lock away so called juvenile rapists and killers. He raped her, tortured her, killed her, and he will get away with it due to his age? Such underage monsters should be taken as mentally unstable and unfit for society. This will ensure they will never be able to walk free on road. If we need to bend some rules, let’s do that for the sake of our women and daughters!

A few days ago, I read a local news about a school van driver molesting three kids for more than 1.5 years! This is sick! The age of these kids is between 6 to 12 years! I am not sure what fun or satisfaction these criminals get by abusing small kids, but I am sure of one thing – the punishment we give them according to our law is not enough! Talk to any sensible person, and they will recommend the highest possible punishment for such act! And if you ask me, I would like them to pay for the torture they have done, and the trauma they have given to these kids for the rest of their life! I would like them to be buried alive upto the waist, in an open ground, and left there to die! Or torture them, slowly, cutting one piece of their body at a time, and keeping them alive, so that they get the feeling of their own doing to the kids before they die! I want them to die, but no sudden death, slow, tortured death! And I want everyone else to know how they died, so that others understand the...

What is happiness? Can we measure happiness? Is there a mathematical formula which can be used to define happiness? How can one person be happy in a situation and another is not in the exact same situation? If its hot summer, a rich person can only be happy if the AC is working, a middle class person (who can’t afford AC) wants fan to be happy, a poor fella who can’t even afford fan, will be happy if there is a wind! So, the meaning of happiness differs from person to person! And this example does not mean that money brings more comfort which brings happiness, as money is not always responsible for happiness. You can have a person without money, still happy and enjoying his life! Similarly, another person with lots of money, but not happy! So, what is happiness?

This time terror strikes at Pune. Again, some innocent people are killed in the blast at German Bakery! And in another few days, we are going to start our Indo-Pak talks again! Even without any anti-terrorist activity shown by Pakistan! Are we so desperate for this? Why can't we just accept Pakistan as our enemy and leave the things as it is? Why can't we disconnect ourselves completely from Pakistan? No ties at all! No Business, No Sports, No Art (specially No AMAN KEE ASHA), nothing at all!

Don't be surprise by the "Be Safe" part in title, as it is a normal wish I use on every occasion now a days. We are in today's world of terrorism, and specially in India, you never know what terrorist act is in store for the next hour! So, "Be Safe" is my wishing mantra for everyone! We have completed 60 years as a Republic, and achieved the most tough task of forgetting the meaning of Republic today! Go ahead, and ask anyone on the street, specially aged between 5 to 35 yrs about if they know the meaning of Republic or understand what this work "Republic India" stands for, and you will come to know that no ones understand that today! Why go out and ask around, YOU, who is reading this, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? Don't try to Google it in another tab! Its ok not to know, as it is normal for our period! In 2010, Republic Day means, a chance to get a long weekend by taking Monday off! Thats what it stands for today!

Its one year since two blasts - one in my city Delhi, and another in my line of work, Investment Banking. Last year, Delhi was shocked with multiple blasts, and Lehman went bankrupt, sending multiple shock waves and panic to the industry! How we have cope up so far in last one year after these incident? The world economy went into recession, and now on the recovery path. Governments had to shell out much more money to banks in order to survive the economical breakdown. Had the Lehman was saved with Government funding, things could have been much better. But not all is lost, and it help reducing the overspending of the Banks. Now, Banks across the world are cautious about how and where to spend money.

Its almost a week for the incident to be over, and slowly, people are returning to discuss other things, like movies, music, politics, economical meltdown, petrol price fall etc.. So, is the life coming back to normal? I don't think so! If anyone think like that, just wait for another attack to another city, or another bomb blast somewhere to remind us again of our fears! It will happen, very soon, as with the current trend, every month there is one or two such incidents happening ! So, it will happen again, as we have not done anything to stop it! Changing few ministers will not stop the terrorists to act again!

We are helpless, and waiting to be chosen as next victim of this terrorist attacks! Some protest and expression of anger is going on everywhere, but not sure if that will help us feel safe again! Not sure if I can let my kids go to market alone to buy a candy! Not sure if we can have a vacation somewhere on a tourist destination in India! I spend my childhood in India, and I felt safe, I spend 4 years in Singapore, and I felt safe, I felt safe in traveling alone to various part of South and West India during 90s, in my first job! But not anymore! I do not feel safe now! Today was 6th Dec, the day better remembered for Babri Masjid demolition! Being a Saturday, I did not step out of my house! Its not that I am safe in my house, but the fear of unknown, something which can happen anytime, anywhere... did not let me venture out in the market! I will go to office on Monday, as that is required, but avoid going to movies, or new year party or any other celebration! I have an excuse tha...

Almost everyone has an opinion and solution to the current terrorist activity in Mumbai. Just to remind you, I am talking about the attack happened during last week of November, lasted 3 days and there were gun battle at various locations in Mumbai. I know this is needed, as a week from now, no one will remember what happened, we will have other multiple, and maybe more deadlier attacks to talk about. So, if you ask me, do I have an opinion? Yes, I do, but I don't think it matters. What does an ordinary citizen of India can do in this situation? I can hide I guess. But when they are coming inside the house, I don't think hiding is an option now. What will anyone do in such situation? We can not fight it, and we don't have a govt who can fight it. Our leaders will repeat the same condolence messages, packed with some "guilty will be punished" comments and some encouragement messages like "The spirit of people of India" and life will go on like it wa...