Alumni@Work Edition #3 - 2013

BREAKING NEWS Alumni Meet in PUNE. Our very first Alumni Meet for all our Alumni in India & Abroad is planned end-2013 or Jan.2014. Watch out for details.

2

Contents

From the President’s Desk

4

Director’s Cut

5

3

Enlightening Words   

Values of a Soldier & Citizen Learn Managerial Skills From Animals Sharp Knife with a Blunt Edge

7 10 13

Moments of joy        

Farewell Induction ceremony Bam presentation Friendship Day ICICI ATM Inauguration Independence day Raksha-Bandhan VIP Visits

15 20 21 23 24 25 26 27

Forwards Collection: Amazing Humourous Inspiring.  15 Spectacular Tricks for your Body  Should we be ashamed or be spurred to greater effort ???  Internet Generation  Scintillating Unique Places

28 30 32 33

Afterword

42

4

From the President’s Desk

Dear Alumni, You are now receiving our THIRD QUARTERLY ISSUE of “alumni@work”. I want an honest feed-back from our Alumni on our efforts so far. Idea is to make this communication interesting from Alumni point of view; this also calls for your participation through feed-back, articles, Work-Place News, Social Activities of Alumni etc. We have completed our Four Induction Programmes and I must say the quality of our juniors is very promising and a lot is expected from this batch. Considering your inter-face with your organisation, Industry and your Competitors, have you come across any new Management Tools/Practice etc. Which you recommend for our new entrants. I also want your feed-back on forming Alumni Chapters in major cities where 100 or more Alumni are presently working. Object of these ALUMNI CHAPTERS is to provide a plat-form for our alumni to interact professionally and socially.

I eagerly look forward to your response.

With Warm Regards, Prof. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian President, Sri Balaji Society, Chairman, Campus Placements Executive Director BIMM & Dean BITM, BIIB and BIMHRD

5

Director’s Cut

Dear Alumni,

Hope you are doing well in your job and earning great laurels for you and for your alma-matter as well.

We are really pleased to introduce our third issue of alumni e-magazine. At the same time we request you to contribute to the magazine by sending us your articles; you can write about your experience, your achievements, any memory related to your alma-matter.

Your efforts are required to make this endeavor a success.

I am also very pleased to inform you that we are also looking forward to organize an alumni meet for all the four institutes. As the memories age by another year, let’s take out some time to reminisce and celebrate the old times.

You will be informed about the date, venue and time well in advance.

We request you to join us on our Facebook group “Sri Balaji Society India and abroad “and also register yourself on our alumni website.

The link for alumni registration is- http://sbsgallery.in/alumni/ You all are an integral part of this SBS fraternity and your suggestion and contribution will always be valuable for us.

Regards, Prof.D.S Kadam Director for Projects & Alumni Affairs, Sri Balaji Society (SBS)

S. No: 55/2-7, Tathawade, Wakad, Off Mumbai- Bangalore, Bypass, Pune - 411 033.

020-66741215(D)/16 alumni@balajisociety.org www.balajisociety.org

6

Values of a Soldier & Citizen

THUS SPOKE FIELD MARSHAL SHFJ MANEKSHAW ON LEADERSHIP DEFICIT IN INDIA !

Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am fully conscious of the honour and privilege which is mine to be invited here to address you this evening. The honour is even greater that you should have invited a soldier when you could have invited any number of VVIPs. General Choudhury, I thank you for the very kind words you spoke about me. You have told us all the good things that Field Marshal Cariappa has done. But one big thing that he did, you haven’t mentioned. He taught the Indian Army to be completely apolitical. Ours is one country, where soldiers have kept out of politics. I think that was the biggest achievement of Field Marshal Cariappa, the greatest service to this country.

Some years ago, I was invited to a Rotary club function at Madras . It was stated that the youth of this country had not contributed much to the society and they asked me to speak on the subject. I disagreed violently. I said then, and I say now that the youth of this country is confused. It doesn’t know why this country is facing all these problems. Wherever they look, they find there are shortages. There is shortage of power and there are power cuts, they can’t study and they want to know whose fault it is. They want to join colleges and universities and they are told there is a shortage of seats and they want to know whose fault it is. They look around and they see the dissension amongst politicians and they want to know whose fault it is, not theirs. They want to go abroad for studies and they are told that there is no foreign exchange and they want to know whose fault it is. Wherever they look, they find shortages, corruption, bribery, smuggling and they want to know whose fault it is.

Here was a country, which was considered the brightest jewel in the British crown and they want to know what’d happened to that bright jewel. And nobody gave them any answer. They are no longer fooled with the glib answer that we were under British rule for 200 years and that’s why we are in this state. They turn around and say that the British left us four decades ago, what have you done, except making excuses.

They say, look at Singapore , look at Malaysia , which too were ruled by the British and look at the progress they have made. They turn around and say look at Japan and look at Germany . They fought a war for four years. Their youth was decimated, they lost, their countries were occupied, their industry was destroyed, portions of the country were taken away, and look what they have achieved. So please stop making excuses and give us an answer. Why? Ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to open my big mouth and say that the answer and the real problem for all our difficulties, all our shortages, etc. is lack of leadership. Mr Vice President don’t misunderstand me and gentlemen of the Press don’t misquote me. When I turn round and say lack of leadership I do not mean just political leadership.

Books on military leadership What are Generals Made of?, Follow Me-1, Follow Me-II-----I mean lack of leadership in every sphere of this country. Whether it is political, administrative, in industry, in trade unions, in educational institutions, in the law and order, personnel, in our sports organisations and even in the Press, it is lack of leadership. And it is on this subject that I wanted to address you this evening. The Director General of Infantry wanted me to talk about leadership in the 21st century. Ladies 7

and gentlemen, leadership does not change. The attributes of leadership have come down the years. All that happens is that greater emphasis is placed on certain attributes of leadership as countries advance and technological developments take place. I do not know whether leaders are born or leaders are made.

There is a school of thought, which, says leaders are born. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a population of nine hundred and thirty million people but there is a dearth of leadership. If leaders are not born, can we make leaders? And my answer is yes. Give me a man or a woman with common sense and who is not an idiot and I assure you, you can make a leader out of him or her.

What are the attributes of leadership?

The primary, the cardinal attribute of leadership is professional knowledge and professional competence. And you will agree with me, ladies and gentlemen, that you cannot be born with professional knowledge or professional competence. Not even if you are the son of the prime minister, an industrialist or a Field Marshal! Professional knowledge has to be acquired the hard way. It’s a continuous study and you never acquire enough in today’s fast moving, competitive, technological world that we are living in.

You’ve got to keep up with your profession, whatever you are in. Doctors, engineers, scientists, all contribute to journals of their profession. They all have contact with their counterparts in other worlds. The problem in India is that as soon as one of us is put in a position of power, he feels that he has the monopoly of the entire knowledge. Those who are responsible for the defence and security of this country, can they cross their hearts and swear that they have ever read a book on strategy, on tactics? On military campaigns, or weapons? Can they even distinguish between a mortar and a motor, a guerrilla from a gorilla? Professional knowledge and professional competence are the main attributes of leadership. Unless you know, and the men you command know that you know your job, you will never be a leader. Take industry for example. The automobile industry has gone through tremendous technological changes. It’s only recently that our industrialists have started thinking and producing a modern car. I want to tell you that unless you have professional knowledge and professional competence, you will never become a leader.

And that takes me to the next attribute of leadership, the ability to think; to make up your mind, to take a decision and accept full responsibility for that decision.Have you ever wonder ed, why a man doesn’t take a decision? Very simple, because he lacks professional knowledge and professional competence or he is afraid that if he takes a decision and goes wrong, he will have to carry the can. Ladies and gentlemen, as a law of average, if you take ten decisions, five should be right. And if you have professional competence and professional knowledge, nine should be right. And the one that is wrong will always be put right by a bright colleague, by an intelligent staff officer or by the gallantry of some soldier. I don’t want to give you too many examples of why and when people haven’t taken decisions and what has happened. I will give you just one. If the decision had been taken to ensure that the Babri Masjid would not be destroyed, a whole community would not have been antagonised. An act of omission can be corrected but an act of commission cannot be corrected. To do nothing is to do something, which is definitely wrong.

When I was the Army Chief, I visited my formation commanders and I asked one of them what he had been doing about some matter. He turned around and said “Sir, I have been thinking, I haven’t made up my mind”. It is absolutely necessary that a leader must be decisive.

The next attribute of the leadership is absolute honesty and impartiality. we all have our likes and dislikes, but, we must never allow our likes or our dislikes to influence our professional judgment.

Those of us, who had the good fortune of commanding hundreds and thousands of men, know this. The leader must be absolutely impartial and honest in dealing with personnel. No man likes to be punished and yet a man will take his punishment if he knows that the punishment awarded to him is similar to the one for a similar crime committed by somebody who has influence, who has the ear of an industrialist, of a minister, of a member of parliament, or the Field Marshal. No man likes to be superseded. And yet, they will accept supersession, if they know they have been superseded by someone better, better qualified under the regulations but not by somebody who is a relative of the minister or by somebody for whom a ‘Godman’ intervenes. It is vitally important when you are dealing with men that you should be absolutely impartial.

We must possess the courage to withstand these pressures.

Moral and physical courage are the next vital attributes, and I do not know which one is more important. While addressing young officers or young policemen, I will put emphasis on physical courage but since I am addressing this gathering, I will lay stress on moral courage. What is moral courage? Moral courage is the ability to distinguish right from wrong and having done so, to say so, irrespective of the consequences to you. A ‘Yes man’ is a dangerous man. He is a menace. He will go ver y far . He can become a minister, a secretary or a Field Marshal but he can never become a leader nor, ever be respected. He will be used by his superiors, disliked by his colleagues and despised by his subordinates. So discard the 8

‘Yes man’.

I am going to give you a personal example of moral courage. There is a very thin line between being dismissed and becoming a Field Marshal. In 1971, when Pakistan cracked down in East Pakistan, hundreds and thousands of refugees started pouring into India , into West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The

Prime Minister held a cabinet meeting in her office. The External Affairs Minister, Sardar Swaran Singh, the Agriculture Minister, Mr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, the Defence Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram, and the Finance Minister, Yashwant Rao Chauhan were present. I was then summoned. A very angry, grim-faced Prime Minister read out the telegrams from the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.

She (Indra Gandhi) then turned around to me and said, “What are you doing about it?” And I said, “Nothing, it’s got nothing to do with me. You didn’t consult me when you allowed the BSF, the CRP and RAW to encourage the Pakistanis to revolt. Now that you are in trouble, you come to me. I have a long nose. I know what’s happening.” I then asked her what she wanted me to do.

She said, “I want you to enter East Pakistan .”

And I responded, “That means war!”

She said, “I do not mind if it is war.

"Have you read the Bible?” I queried.

The Foreign Minister, Sardar Swaran Singh asked, “What has the Bible got to do with this?”

I explained, that the first book, the first chapter, the first words, the first sentence God said was, “Let there be light” and there was light. Now you say, “Let there be war” and there will be war, but are you prepared? I am certainly not.

This is the end of April. The Himalayan passes are opening and there can be an attack from China if China gives us an ultimatum.

The Foreign Minister asked, “Will China give an ultimatum?”

And I said, “You are the Foreign Minister, you tell me”.

I told them that my armored division and two of my infantry divisions were away. One in the Jhansi/Babina area, the other in Samba and the third one in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. I mentioned that I would require all the road space, all the railway wagons, the entire railway system to move these formations to the operational areas and that harvesting was in progress in the Punjab and UP and they would not be able to move the harvest which would rot; and I pointed out to the Agriculture Minister that it wouldn’t be my responsibility if there were a famine.

Then I said, “My armored division, which is my big striking force is supposed to have one hundred eighty nine tanks operational. I have got only eleven tanks that are fit to fight.”

The Finance Minister, who is a friend of mine asked, “Sam why only eleven?”

So I told him, “Because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking you for money for over a year and you say you haven’t got it!”

And finally I turned around to the Prime Minister and said that the rains were about to start in East Pakistan and when it rains there, it pours and when it pours, the whole countryside is flooded. The snows are melting, the rivers would become like oceans. If you stand on one bank, you cannot see the other. All my movement would be confined to roads. The Air Force, because of climatic conditions would not be able to support me. Now Prime Minister, give me your orders.

The grim Prime Minister with her teeth clenched said, “The Cabinet will meet again at four o-clock”. The members of the Cabinet started walking out. I being the junior most was the last to go and as I was leaving, she said, “Chief, will you stay back?”

I turned around and said, “Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, may I send you my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?”

She said, “Every thing you told me is true”. “Yes! It is my job to tell you the truth” I responded, “and it is my job to fight, it is my job to fight to win and I have told you the truth,” She smiled at me and said, “All right Sam, you know what I want?”

I said, “Yes, I know what you want!”

I had the moral courage to tell her the truth. A leader must have moral courage otherwise he will not be respected. I now come to physical courage. Fear, like hunger and sex, is a natural phenomenon and the man who says he is not frightened is a liar. But to be frightened is one thing and to show fear is something quite different. It is when your knees are knocking and your teeth are chattering – that is when the real leader comes out. If you once show fear to your men, you will never have their respect. I could quote you many examples of my own life. I am not a brave man! Please believe me. You have to have physical courage. Never show your fear. How often has a course of a battle, when everything was going wrong, changed because some young officer has picked up a handful of men and changed the situation by his physical courage? How often a poor old Inspector of Police with nothing but a little swagger stick in his hand quelled a riot by showing physical courage?

The other attribute of leadership is loyalty. We all except loyalty but do we give loyalty? Look at things happening around you. The sons of kings, chief ministers and heads of governments have shown disloyalty. Loyalty you must get from your subordinates and also give loyalty to your superiors, colleagues and subordinates. Men may give you trouble and create problems but a leader must deal with them immediately and sternly. A leader must remember that human beings have human problems, so the leader must have a human touch. Leaders must have the gift of the gab 9

and a sense of humour.

And finally, men and women all over the world like their leader to be a man, to have manly qualities. It is not that only a person who has no vices is a good leader. Look at Caesar or Napoleon, they had vices but they were outstanding leaders.

Since I joined the Army, many changes have taken place; the .303 rifle has been replaced by a new weapon. Horses and mules have been replaced by vehicles and tanks. Signal communications have advanced a great deal. Satellites now give the entire information to the Commanders. But for infantry soldiers, one thing has not changed, and that is their job. Their job is to fight and win. If you lose, you would disgrace your country, your village, your home and your wife. Let your motto be, ‘No one provokes me with impunity’. In other words, or in a soldier’s language, if your enemy hits you on the chin, black both his eyes and push his teeth down his throat! If you can instil this quality in your men, you will be a great leader. It is ---" The leader" that this country lacks at all levels, in all walks of life.

I did not wish to re-iterate leadership traits and qualities from books to this august gathering, but share my perceptions with you in our context. I hope I have been able to do that.

10

Hi!!!! Its Time To Learn Managerial Skills From Animals

Text books, Case Studies, Role Plays, management games and many many more ways to learn management. But have you tried learning managerial skills from the amazing world of animal kingdom. Try doing this it really is interesting!

1.

Cockroaches can live several weeks with their head cut off.

(Cockroaches, small creatures scurrying here and there, what makes them survive ?

Try: Always running here and there to collect information and check out whether it can help you to give new life to your product even after it appears to have reached decline stage. IT PAYS TO BE IN CIRCULATION)

2.

Hummingbirds are the only creatures that can also fly backwards.

(Flying backwards, if you do this you can surely overcome your dependency on your troublesome suppliers! by producing the required raw material on your own. AT TIMES BUSINESS EXPANSION THROUGH BACKWARD INTEGRATION REALLY WORKS)

3.

Insects do not make noises with their voices. The noise of bees, mosquitoes and other buzzing insects is caused by rapidly moving their wings.

(Can we really sell our products only through advertisements? Let the quality of your product be the tional activity. Remember: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS)

best promo-

4. A rat can go without water longer than a camel can.

(Do not underestimate small organizations) 5. A snail's reproductive organs are in its head.

(Shelled and well protected??? Multiply your business using your head, yes! head is the factory of ideas and USE YOUR HEAD TO GROW)

6. A mule won't sink in quicksand but a donkey would.

(Mules: find out what they are. Imagine your organization going through downsizing phase. Would you be in or out? Be a mule i.e. DEVELOP CROSS FUNCTIONAL KNOWLEDGE IT WILL HELP YOU SURVIVE DURING BAD TIMES.)

7. An elephant can be pregnant for up to 2 years (Patience ! Careful working on finer details can help you give birth to successful big projects and then make your presence felt. ALL BIG PROJECTS TAKE TIME TO BE BORN!!)

11

8. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

(We all know that dolphins are human friendly, we should not become apathetic to our customer’s needs when all is going well. Keep on monitoring the environment and keep an eye on customer’s needs, tastes and preferences: the result will truly be rewarding: A CUSTOMER FRIENDLY IMAGE.)

9. The African black rhinoceros excretes its own weight in dung every 48 hours (Oh God ! just check out the amount of your wastage as compared to your productivity)

10. A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body.

(Can we really learn something from this fact?? Think……. Yes, you are right!! Effective communication skills is one of the most essential ingredients of the recipe of managerial excellence) Female black cats can actually see their shadows at night, The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated. Horses often go to sleep standing up as well as lying down. Baby hippos are born under-water! The butterfly has hairs on its wings to detect changes in air pressure. Each eye of the chameleon can move independently. Therefore, it can see in two different directions at the same time. Some sharks can detect fish extracts as concentrations lower than one part in 10 billion…………… and many many more amazing facts to learn managerial skills from. Each peculiarity is for a purpose- something that helps along in survival. Bewildered!!!! Aren’t you ??? So was I, after learning that how these amazing facts from the underpinnings of the very existence of the organism can strengthen and invigorate our own efficiency at work.

Oh! I forgot to share a very interesting fact: The female lion does more than 90% of the hunting while the male simply prefers to rest.

(Can we now, please break the glass ceiling !!!)

Remember!!!! Ants don’t sleep, so how can we in search of such interesting facts !!!

If you come across any such amazing fact, kindly share it with me at ms.manishashukla@gmail.com

Author:

Dr. Manisha Shukla, Associate Professor, BIIB, Pune

12

Sharp Knife with blunt edges

It’s all about marks and college bearing big brand names, this quote is mostly heard from young college going students and parents . Well, we students are so particular about being the number one that we have all forgotten to live our life, we have stopped following our passions. This article is focused on the young minds of today.

We have moved up to the 21st century having a young and energetic mind but we still have the touch of vintage thoughts creeping throughout our minds. It’s not bad neither it’s negative but there is a time to utilize each and every thought.

A boy or a girl who has just entered his/her teenage life has got so many burdens. Let’s take an example, a school going boy has just been advised by his parents to opt science at the college just because he has seen his colleague’s child pursue a B.Tech and working in some top notch company. Meanwhile he forgets about his child’s interest, his passions. Here comes a turning point, if the

child has interest in the subject then its fine else it turns up to be a disaster for him.

It’s been shown on news channels, newspapers the disastrous effects of killing one’s passion.

The child who can perform well in a particular stream where his passion lies has been diverted. Isn’t it being selfish or one can say it’s the concern for the child by the parent? Whatever may be the reason the consequences are not favorable.

Well there are many more things in life rather than earning a handsome six digit salary, travelling in a Benz or Lamborghini , life is all about living it to the fullest , sum up the things and one would know that each and everything matters. Just imagine a person who has interest in blogging and he has been forced to study engineering and work in a closed environment where he can only do the coding part and take home his salary with a guilt feeling in his heart that his life could have been a

more happening one only and only if he could have taken the right decision at the right time, I know it takes a lot of courage to oppose your elders but it’s your passion it should be guided in the right direction.

Lets stop blaming the elders even if we look at the child’s decision we can find out that he may be fascinated by his friends decision , they both may opt for the same course but the results may or may not be the same.

We people who have just crossed the teenage age group should raise awareness amongst students and parents about their (child's) dreams , their passions . Each and every one has something special in them , we only need to look at it rather than looking someone else’s qualities . Overlooking 13

this may have adverse effects.

Anyhow if we look at today’s scenario we will find a lot of people between age group of 18 – 25 visiting psychiatrist carrying bags full of stress, tension and strain , many of them are fed up with their personal life , many have a monotonous professional life and some have both. If these people who are facing challenges in their professional life are given some useful advice then it may improve their life a lot.

I would like to quote a fact , rather than chasing the things of monetary values one should chase his passions , as what I have learned from my past experience is that passions are always fruitful.

Many sharp minds as sharp as knives have become blunt but if these young energetic youths are guided in the right direction , the right path which the want to follow then the sharpness would rise above heaven.

A knife if used to cuts fruits would remain sharp but if the same is used to pierce steel may become blunt or break down.

Author: Partho Das Student Manager, BIMM

14

FAREWELL BATCH 2011-2013

15

16

17

18

19

Induction 2013-2015 Batch

20

BAM PRESENTATIONS

21

22

Friendship Day Celebration

23

ICICI ATM Inauguration

24

Independence Day Celebrations

25

Rakhi Celebrations

26

VIP Visits

27

15 Spectacular Tricks for your Body

1.

If you've got an itch in your throat, scratch your ear. When the nerves in the ear get stimulated, they create a reflex in the throat that causes a muscle spasm, which cures the itch.

2.

Having trouble hearing someone at a party or on the phone? Use your right ear it's better at picking up rapid speech. But, the left is better at picking up music tones.

3.

If you need to relieve yourself BADLY, but you're not anywhere near a bathroom, fantasize about RELATIONS. That preoccupies your brain and distracts it.

4.

Next time the doctor's going to give you an injection, COUGH as the needle is going in. The cough raises the level of pressure in your spinal canal, which limits the pain sensation as it tries to travel to your brain.

5.

Clear a stuffed nose or relieve sinus pressure by pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth then pressing a finger between your eyebrows. Repeat that for 20 seconds it causes the vomer bone to rock, which loosens your congestion and clears you up.

6.

If you ate a big meal and you're feeling full as you go to sleep, lay on your left side. That'll keep you from suffering from acid reflux it keeps your stomach lower than your esophagus, which will helps keep stomach acid from sliding up your throat.

7.

You can stop a toothache by rubbing ice on the back of your hand, on the webbed area between your thumb and index finger. The nerve pathways there stimulate a part of the brain that blocks pain signals from your mouth.

8.

If you get all messed up on liquor, and the room starts spinning, put your hand on something stable. The reason: Alcohol dilutes the blood in the part of your ear called the cupula, which regulates balance. Putting your hand on something stable gives your brain another reference point, which will help make the world stop spinning.

9.

Stop a nose bleed by putting some cotton on your upper gums right behind the small dent below your nose and press against it hard. Most of the bleeding comes from the cartilage wall that divides the nose, so pressing there helps get it to stop.

10.

Nervous? Slow your heart rate down by blowing on your thumb. The vagus nerve controls your heart rate, and you can calm it down by breathing.

11.

Need to breathe underwater for a while? Instead of taking a huge breath, HYPERVENTILATE before you go under, by taking a bunch of short breaths. That'll trick your brain into thinking it has more oxygen, and buy

28

you about 10 extra seconds.

12.

You can prevent BRAIN FREEZE by pressing your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, covering as much surface area as possible. Brain freeze happens because the nerves in the roof of your mouth get extremely cold, so your brain thinks your whole body is cold. It compensates by overheating which causes your head to hurt. By warming up the roof of your mouth, you'll chill your brain and feel better.

13.

If your hand falls asleep, rock your head from side to side. That'll wake your hand or arm up in less than a minute. Your hand falls asleep because of the nerves in your neck compressing so loosening your neck is the cure. If your foot falls asleep, that's governed by nerves lower in the body, so you need to stand up and walk around.

14.

Finally, this one's totally USELESS, but a nice trick. Have someone stick their arm out to the side, straight, palm down. Press down on his wrist with two fingers. He'll resist, and his arm will stay horizontal. Then, have him put his foot on a surface that's half an inch off the ground, like a stack of magazines, and do the trick again. Because his spine position is thrown off, his arm will fall right to his side, no matter how much he tries to resist.

15.

Got the hiccups? Press thumb and second finger over your eyebrows until the hiccups are over - usually, in a short while.

29

Should we be ashamed or be spurred to greater effort ???

China succeeded in every aspect of socio-economic endeavour where India has failed An Indian, standing on the embankment of the Huangpu river, as he gazes at the impressive Shanghai skyline, is assailed by an assortment of unfamiliar emotions. The first is one of admiration for the Chinese; our Asian brethren who emerged from foreign invasion, a world war and sanguinary internecine conflict to attain nationhood, two years after India, to find themselves in thrall to harsh totalitarian rule. It was only after the passing of Chairman Mao that a pragmatic, new leadership adopted free market practices and opened up China to the world. The result, to all outward appearances, is a modern, prosperous nation, knocking impatiently on the doors of the first world.

The second emotion is dismay that China succeeded in every aspect of socio-economic endeavour where India has either failed or is running in the same place. On a recent visit, I walked through residential areas in Shanghai, Wuxi and Suzhou, away from high-rise concrete, stainless steel and glass condominiums to observe the lifestyle of the common Chinese. The lower-middle classes reside in complexes and colonies much like our own: flats built cheek by jowl with hawkers vending vegetables on rickshaws and small neighborhood shops dispensing tea and snacks.

And yet there were significant differences which spoke of a quality of life alien to us. The smooth, unbroken and tree-lined pavements are used freely by pedestrians and cyclists. One saw neither open drains nor piles of garbage; nor did one encounter stray animals or need to navigate past their excreta while walking.

One came, frequently, upon uniformed sanitary workers conscientiously picking up litter and depositing it in motorised rickshaws. Absence of construction debris, plentiful garbage bins, public toilets, fire-hydrants and enclosed electric transformers spoke of an omnipresent civic authority which not just functioned but also enforced civic rules and laws; something sadly absent in India.

Traffic flowed freely on narrow but well-maintained roads, uncluttered by hawkers or parked vehicles, which are confined to designated areas. Low noise levels were attributable to all two and three-wheelers being battery-powered on legal mandate. My search for slums or pavement-dwellers was fruitless, either because they were absent or astutely camouflaged. Part of the explanation lay in the fact that every construction site — and there were hundreds — had a multi-storey pre-fabricated accommodation complex for workers and families, with attached kitchens and crèches.

Smaller cities like Suzhou have an ‘old quarter’ and people continue to live in tiny congested houses on cobbled streets lined with ancient canals. Once again, high standards of sanitation and hygiene have enabled the residents to not only live healthy lives but also earn a living by catering for tourists in sidewalk cafeterias by the canal-banks. No expense was spared to provide for the Chinese citizen aesthetically designed and well-maintained public amenities like parks, libraries, museums, theatres and opera houses in every city, something unheard of in independent India.

One could go on in the same vein but this is not meant to be a paean to China. In fact, I would readily yield to the superior knowledge of China experts who know of the deep flaws in China’s social, political and economic systems, and who predict an impending implosion due to ethnic fault-lines and economic disparities.

Instead, let me speak of the most overpowering emotion an Indian experiences on a visit to China; a silent rage against India’s rulers, for having failed the nation so badly. Not only do we lag decades behind China in most fields, but nothing that our political leaders say or do gives an iota of hope for the future. Sixty-six years after independence, India’s enduring slums, its growing urban decay and rural poverty, its dysfunc30

tional public services and increasing indifference to mounting garbage and pollution problems speak volumes of the motivations, priorities and capabilities of its leadership, political and bureaucratic.

Of the 51 government ministries that run our country, one looks after ‘Planning’ and another, ‘Programme Implementation’. We are painfully aware that most of the government’s plans and programmes either do not fructify or end up in corruption scandals. Conceding that the levels of political venality and corruption in China and India are equal, the Chinese have, at least, ensured that project planning and execution, as well as administrative functions proceed unhindered, and the people’s quality of life is continuously improving.

If the farcical functioning of Parliament is a pointer, it becomes obvious that our leadership is so deeply preoccupied with the politics of survival that it has abdicated all responsibility for the functioning of ministries and departments; with the malaise infecting state administrations down to zilla and panchayat levels.

The insecure politician clearly imagines he has found a panacea by handing over much of his responsibilities to the bureaucracy. In their turn, the all-India administrative and police services have not just failed to perform their tasks honestly and effectively, but having been entrusted with a vast spectrum of vital responsibilities extending from municipalities, to airlines, and industrial enterprises to intelligence services and national security, have consistently let the nation down.

Notwithstanding its burgeoning population and GDP, India is steadily losing ground to China in every index of development and progress, largely due to poor governance. Anna Hazare, Kejriwal and Naxalites are all sending messages; is the politico-bureaucratic establishment listening?

(The writer is a former Chief of the Naval Staff.

31

Internet Generation Girl: Dad, I' m in love with a boy who is far away fr om me. I am in Ghana and he lives in UK. We met on a dating website, became friends on facebook, had long chats on whatsapp, he proposed to me on skype, and now we've had 2 months of relationship through viber. I need ur blessings and good wishes daddy Dad said: Wow! Really!! then get mar r ied on twitter , have fun on tango. Buy your kids on e-bay, send them thru gmail. And if you are fed up with your husband.... sell him on amazon.

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

Afterword

Greetings from all of us at Sri Balaji Society,Pune.

We take pleasure in publishing our third Quarterly Issue of ALUMNI @ WORK. It is the duty of every Alumni to take responsibility for the future of our country. Today India is going through a very critical stage when we are facing challenges on many fronts.Take the case of the present down turn where the country & the companies are facing challenges on account of devaluation of the rupee and its impact thru' rising prices and its resultant impact on demand & supply. Our Automobile Industry is undergoing one of its worst period now; and this has adversely affected some the other industries.

It is said that 'the darkest hour is before the dawn'; so let us now hope and plan to make things better by finding ways and means to enable every individual to contribute their talents to bring about a change for the better. I am sure all of us will make some positive contributions to make things better.

We should now think of activities which will make our bond stronger in the days to come. In this direction I am proposing to start "Alumni Chapters" initially at the following locations where we can easily enroll a minimum of 100 alumni to start Alumni Chapter at Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai & Bangalore. Alumni of MM,TM, IB,& BIMHRD will be eligible to join the chapter in the above cities. I now request our alumni located at above named seven locations to send us their names along with their postal address/ email id and mobile number.

Your detailed information should be sent to our Alumni Department by email to : Alumni Affairs SBS<alumni@balajisociety.org> With Warm Regards, Yeshwant Moodlier Advisor, Alumni Affairs Sri Balaji Society

42