Tweeting Celebrities

Discussion From Deccan Chronicle.
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The twitterverse is brimming with not just the 'aam aadmi' but with everyone from politicians like Shashi Tharoor to celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. The 140 character update has been the source of not just popularity but scandals too. Do you think it's self-obsession or a need to just expand their popularity online that is making celebs tweet away?

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My comment:

Twitter is the latest medium for communication with large number of people. Its short micro-blogging nature (140 characters only), simple privacy settings and open nature encourage people to follow/ be followed by a large number of people.

As politicians, twitter is a medium by which they can break the red tape-ism in our political setup, The people of the country can be in touch with their elected representatives at all time and this will definitely induce a new confidence in them. All politicians must be encouraged to join twitter and be in touch with the people they represent as it will boost the strength of our democracy.

In India, film stars have a voice that probably no one else has. It is no coincidence that filmstars like NTR, MGR, Jayalalitha have become mass leaders. Twitter is an active medium by which they can contribute to grooming the society. It is a platform where they can address tens of thousands of fans. However it must not become what I would say a medium for mutual competition among celebrities in terms of fans and their support.

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Your comments and opinions are welcome!

Of Trust and Social Value System- An opportunity for India to lead the world

Former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Bingham once said that his father never made use of his office phone for making personal phone calls. Today more than a century later, we can hardly differentiate our conversations as official and personal. Our life is a bundle consisting of family, friends, work and leisure, spearheading towards the ultimate objective of survival in this competitive world at a pace unknown in those times! In this transition from one generation to the other, have we left behind our ethics and values?

The society that we live in today is built on the foundation of trust. This trust is present in various stages.

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
At the primary level, it was the trust that we had in our leaders that helped them raise their voice against the oppression of foreign power and ultimately win us the freedom for self governance. The whole constitution and political system is built on the principles of fairness and faith. The faith that- you (the administration consisting politicians, bureaucrats and the defence service that takes care of the security of the people) do your work while I do mine, so that together we can build our nation.

However, with the growing avenues of new media and the irresistible temptation in the public to not just mind their own business, we have had a series of exposes of our politicians, bureaucrats and defence personnels. Beginning from 1990s- Bofors scandal, Hawala scandal, the most popular Tehelka expose; the list is endless. So when our own elected representatives who adorn the highest offices in our society fail to exhibit citizen ethics, what can be done to restore the lost values and ethics in our society? And how important it is to revisit the core principles of citizen ethics and redraft them to suit the modern society?

THE SERVICE SECTOR
At the next level of trust comes service sector like banks, postal department, electricity, water etc. Corruption and poor incentive for employees in these fields (except banks) have resulted in the vanishing of the service element in their business. In the case of banks, what happened due to recession in the west has violated all trust we had in allowing them retain and handle our money. Thankfully due to the strict regulatory system imposed by RBI, the Indian banks were quite safe. Again, risk is a matter of trust. To multiply money, banks must take risks for which they will need the complete trust of their customers.

SPIRITUALITY
When all that we trust fails us, we turn to religious gurus who are in abundance in the society today. That is the next level of trust, when we submit ourselves to these gurus in whom we trust to help us in the process of revival through God´s chosen means. That is what Bhagwan Rajnish (Osho), Sri Aurbindo, Sri RamkrishnaParamahamsa and Sathya Sai Baba did, and they were leaders in bringing out the concepts of meditation and yoga to benefit the common man. It was later taken forward by Sri Sri Ravishankar, Baba Ramdev and others to be tailored to the needs of the stressed man from today´s society. However in this period, opening an ashram has turned into a viable business opportunity thanks to the exponential increase in the number of victims of stress and tension in our country and abroad. To name some of the recently exposed spiritual gurus Swami Nityananda and Swami Amritachaitanya. Again we are at a point when some of the highest order of trust is violated and vulnerable people are exploited.

However I do not wish to conclude that we are living in a society in which the administration, service sector as well as religious gurus are all not worthy of trust and hence we have lost all foundations to uphold our value system and ethics. Its all business and profit making now!

A VALUE SYSTEM FOR THE NEW GENERATION
It is required is to revamp the value system to suit the new generation. For instance the age old principle, ´Love thy neighbour as you love thyself´ has lost all significance in todays world when all concepts of neighbours and space sharing have lost their meaning. Privacy and personal freedom have gained an importance that was never there. Todays value system and ethics should be built on a platform of equality, of mutual inter-dependence and transparency. Accessibility to public information is the first step to building trust and reviving the principles of values and ethics on the lines of trust.

In this information age, it is up to India to set an example and lead the world on building citizen ethics and a moral society, because it will play a key role in determining the global capital for this century. And the time could never be better than now when the west is battered by the financial and social meltdown in the last two years, and is seeking out assistance in rebuilding the society.


Jaago India, for tomorrow is ours!

YOURS TRULY!

This is a poem about me by the great poetess Sharika S. Nair a.k.a kutty, A person worthy of nothing (??)... lesser than the literature nobel!

The great poetess Sharika has taken her valuable time out just to write a poem in honour of me.This speaks volumes of my greatness and fame.

Any resemblance and reference to existing creatures (other than me) is purely coincidental and unintentional.

THE ONE THAT SHAVED

Shyam had a moustache
That troubled him whenever he crashed

He had a thing for laden
Which made abhi to sadden

No wonder he is a london-chick
Mradul likes all his pics

His treasury skills are legendary
Right now he misses trichy's curry

Pragyan is his passion
He shaved his moustache in the name of fashion

Whatever you say he can argue
Everything and anything out of the blue


Poor shyam has to suffer my torture
Whatsoever this made him more mature

Shyam loves the coll's admin
One can make out from that little grin

He keeps fratenizing with trichy cows
He's thinking 'I want my moustache back i don't know how'

H e reminds me of a little teddy
His friends like him cos hes a good buddy

I find him to be a tweet little boy
Full of happiness and joy

He will definitely murder me soon
Am sure he finds me to be a crazy loon!


-composed and compiled by THE GIFTED






For those of you who do not know, Her Highness Kutty is Osama´s neighbour in Saudi Arabia and an upcoming terrorist in the youth wing of Al-Qaeda. She is known to come up with innovate weapons of mass destruction like this one! Wishing her a bright future!

Thillai Nagar 8th Cross Street

The lush green patch of land on either side of the bus is strangely unlike the Trichy that Ramanathan Krishnaswamy (Rama) has lived in for the last four years he spent in NIT. He is so used to the scorching heat of the place that any sight of greenery seems out of place now. Krishnamurthi Ramanujam (Krish) has seen so much grass in the last four years at NIT Trichy that he has begun to identify the place with its grass! Sitting in the same bus as Rama, he is very excited about the shopping he will do in Thillai Nagar today.

¨Anna, where is the Sony shop in Thillai?¨, Rama asked the conductor

¨Enna Tambi... SOny-aa ?... Solren... (Will tell you)¨, the conductor shot back in a high pitched voice to make himself heard above the full blast Tamil songs from latest Sivaji Ganesan hits album.

Before we get there, let me introduce Rama and Krish to you. They have both done their schooling in SBOA School Chennai. Rama wants to become a scientist in biotechnology. He aims to do research in Genetic Engineering in the US and settle there with a green card as soon as possible. Krish, on the other hand, has no particular ambitions. His aims in life are driven by his desires. Krish dreams of a life where he has no shortage of booze, fag and babes!

Although they live in the same room Rama and Krish seldom see each other. Rama is a strict vegetarian and wakes up at six, nearly an hour after Krish goes to bed. His regular day begins with a bath (trust me in a hostel like ours even this is an arduous task), Sandhyavandanam (prayer to Sun God) followed by food at mess. Krish on the other hand gets up briefly at 8:25, rushes to the 8:30 class ten minutes late (only in case he decides to resume the sleep in classroom rather than settle for a proxy), one chicken puff at the Bru coffee shop before returning to his room at 12 for another nap. He would then wake up at six in the evening for a quick round of washing before the daily routine of fag and booze (and sometimes pot). He returns to his room at five in the morning and hits the bed straight into deep sleep.

Today being a Saturday, both of them have to rush back to hostel by five. Rama goes to the BHEL Ayyappa temple every Saturday (no matter what happens!) while Krish goes to BHEL Seakings Ice cream parlor every Saturday with the girl in his life as her reporting time in Opal Girls´ hostel is extended by an hour on Saturdays. Krish has been seeing this girl (name intentionally withheld) two years junior to him in college for a couple of months and they are quite close now. The only thing that comes between their formal relationship is her existing commitment to this guy in her batch. While she prefers to see Krish as a friend and guide, Krish has been making desperate efforts to make her something more than that in his life. Sadly for him, the guy in his life (as he calls her boyfriend) does not seem to abandon them so fast.

The bus is screeching to a halt near Thillai first cross. There has been an accident and the traffic has been blocked.

¨@%£*& b@%&*%$", said Krish looking desperately into his brand new wrist watch. Krish has spent almost four thousand rupees this month and is now running on credit from Rama for the last three days. With examinations round the corner, Krish feels, it is unlikely how Rama will find the time for accounting his daily expenditures as he does everyday and in this irregualrity some of his expenses will get washed away.

The traffic seems to be clearing and the bus starts moving. ¨Thank God!¨, said Rama heaving a sigh of relief. He has made a plan to complete his class notes (he uses four different inks in them) and record work after returning from the temple and the traffic block would have seriously put him off his schedule.

¨SOny yaar kettadu? (Who asked for SOny?)¨, screamed the conductor at the top of his voice.

Rama and Krish got down from the bus. The small board across the road read ´Thillai Nagar 8th Cross Street´.

Rama crossed the road, turned left and entered the residential complex right behind the Sony showroom. It was ´Aravind Apartments´, the place where his uncle lived. He has come to meet his grandparents who have come down to Trichy from Kumbakonam.

Meanwhile Krish crossed the road and turned right. There were two shops opposite to the Sony showroom. One read ´Anand Pharmaceuticals and Druggist´ - known for selling more than just medicines, while the other read ´Tasmac Bar´. Krish took out a thousand rupee note from his purse and walked towards the shops.

What lies between Rama and Krish ... Thillai Nagar 8th Cross Street? Three months of summer? DAAD summer fellowship? or may be ... Nothing!


(Inspired by the true story of one of my friends)

A Rare story behind Festember

Over the last one year I have talked to different people in NIT Trichy on topics ranging from the issues with the mess to research culture in the institute. Today I had an interesting chat with Vij KUmz about Festember.

It seems Festember was started somewhere in mid 1970s and had gained popularity far and wide in the subsequent years. It was the turning point in the career of famous singer Unnikrishnan who decided to choose music over cricket after winnning the singing competition in FEstember.

The most important feature of Festember it seems was the marketing team! VIj KUmz says the students were awarded bonus points for actually going out of the college for finalising marketing deals for Pragyan ... err.. Festember!

An idea, such brilliantly conceived to hone the soft skills of RECTians could not have come but from the man who was responsible for its establishment and growth- Prof. Mani Sundaram. Afterall he is the person who made cigarettes a part of the daily mess menu to ensure that smoking is regulated among the students!

Today, we do marketing of Pragyan and Festember in the dark without the knowledge and approval of the faculty. In a world where everything from blogs to sports tournaments are marketed and ´corporatised´ Festember and Pragyan are forced to keep themselves to NITT (at least officially) !

So where did things go wrong? According to KUmz somewhere in the mid 90s, one of the faculty advisors of Festmber failed to check the money embezzlement done by the then Chairman and all the marketing deals collapsed! Naturally this affected the reputation of the college and the admin felt betrayed of their trust in the students.

This made the college admin turn strictly against marketing and I must admit we still suffer a lot because of this incident. Had the tradition continued I am sure Festember and Pragyan would have scaled much greater heights!

The story of my experiments with Pragyan

As a disclaimer I must admit that it is not just me but a small team of us who´ve done the experiment and everything bad must be hurled at all of us equally For the good ones... I am always there!

We worked towards Pragyan for almost a year and many weird and creative ideas were brought up in this course of time; while some survived, many never made it to Pragyan´10. And now that Pragyan is over I feel its time to let the cat out of the bag.

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1. Abhinav ka Swayamvar

Probably the most weirdo publicity idea ever in a techfest, but Pragyan was determined to gain a strong ground within the NITT campus.

Inspired by Sir Richard Branson´s strategies, and also ´Rakhi ka Swayamvar´ this unique publicity model was devised by me! With the number of female fans of the Pragyan ´chocolate-boy chairman´ growing by the hour, it was planned to have a one day reality show in EEE Audi or Barn stage challenging the girls of 2nd year UG to fight it out for a date with our KursiPurush.

But due to fear of excessive competition and predicted increase in the number of in-campus patients suffering from mental trauma (those who fail to win the challenge) the idea was called off based on the recommendation of WHO. It is understood from Opal that a bunch of girls had already started preparing themselves for the event and hence were mighty disappointed at its cancellation.

2. Controversies and Conspiracies

In our attempt to devise a new scheme for ´effective publicity´ Mradul and I came up with this idea of publicising through controversies. The possible controversies we thought of included,

a. Hacking into a secured server and mailng the pragyan participants,
b. Being the first to release a controversial news (´The Almighty´ style),
c. Writing a controversial book on the flaws in the college education system of the country,
d. Bringing down a very controversial speaker to the campus and make him talk on something very very infalmmatory,
e. Demanding a separate statehood for NIT Trichy and making Pragyan its official festival (holidays!!! ),
f. Joining hands with a local political party for joint youth operations ahead of Pragyan to ensure good media coverage.


Majority of these ideas were rejected on the grounds of possible criminal cases in the future against the Pragyan orgainsers and since our already packed schedule did not give us the time for the jail adventure, we had to call off ´Operation CnC´.

3. For the flyers

Pragyan is an international techno-management festival conducted in the area that falls in the landing zone of the flights that are about to land in the Tiruchi international airport. To capitalise on this Mradul came up with this amazing idea of writing Pragyan 2010 in big, bold letters on the road from CLC to SBI ATM so that the people on the flight will notice it and thus the participation for Pragyan will increase!

¨What an idea Sirji!¨

4. Vada Pav Stall

Since majority of the core members of this Pragyan have lived in Bombay and have at least once longed for Vada Pav in Trichy, a collective decision was taken to have a Vada Pav stall from Bombay during Pragyan. Arya, the head of Marketing team was forced to hunt for prospective vada pav sellers who could bring their stock to Trichy during Pragyan.

But this idea was dropped after the members of the marketing team failed miserably in explaining to these vada pav sellers the location of Trichy, which they thought was not a part of mainland India !

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These are just some of the many ideas that we thought of implementing in Pragyan´10. Of course there are these other ideas that were more serious type and which were actually implemented during Pragyan!

But who wants to boast about them ?!

Mradul Sharma and the Post-Pragyan syndrome

Mradul Sharma is the head of Pragyan ´10 Publicity team. He is placed in Mu Sigma where he dreams of working with loads of data! He has worked a lot for Pragyan and at one point like most of us he too was ´Pragyanified´.

Back here in NITT a person is said to be ´Pragyanified´ if he/she does regular night outs in Octa, retains a constant status msg www.pragyan.org on gtalk, is seen wearing the same t shirt for days together, dines everyday at bamboos and suffers a nervous breakdown at the mention of ´Admin´. (Results of intense research on the topic by (wannabe-) Dr. Kushal Jain of ICE Dept., NIT Trichy)

Now lets see how Mradul was also ´post-Pragyanified´ and why he had sleeples nights after Pragyan!

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MRADUL´S DREAM (NIGHTMARE? ) ON THE NIGHT AFTER PRAGYAN

¨Dean Students¨
¨Thriteen Rupees¨
¨NIT Trichy¨
¨Pragyan¨
¨You are fired¨
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The year is 2012. The place is Bangalore. The location is a fully furnished office in the heart of the city. On the wall is written ´Mu Sigma - Do the math´.

Mradul is fired from Mu Sigma after two years of rigourous data analysis work because they have just received a letter from the Dean Students of NIT Trichy that a bill for Rs. 13/- has not been settled by Mradul after Pragyan´10! Since no amount of explanation seems to help his case, Mradul has to put in his papers!

He wakes up in a state of shock and horror only to find himself still in NIT Trichy!

ON THE NEXT NIGHT...

The year is 2010 and it is day 2 of Pragyan. Mradul is taking a break in A11hall and was enjoying a small nap when...

...Anand Krishnan (Head of Guest Lectures team) storms into the room and catches Mradul by the collar and yells ¨Its Dr. Bhargava´s lecture and there is no one in EEE Auditorium! Go get me some people at the venue! ¨

Mradul jumps out of his bed at 1:30 in the morning not knowing what to do!
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So friends, here we see how Pragyanified people have a greater probability of suffering from ´Post-Pragyanified´ symptoms that is usually accompanied by a feeling of complete joblessness, an intense urge to stare blankly into the computers in Octa graphics lab, Sleeplessness until 2 in the morning, loss of appetite and most importantly a deep desire to trouble the (paavam-) Treasurer asking reimbursements!


Cheers!