t.h.e.b.o.s.s.

1218

Got to see my CSE marks just some time back http://www.upsc.gov.in/. Its here now. This might not make any sense to persons who are not connected with the exam by any means, but I hope my mark list will be of some use to those who are appearing in this Exam. Please excuse me if you are in the first category.

Subject - Marks Obtained/MaximumMarks
Essay - 140 /200
General Studies I -175/300
General Studies I - 142/300
Geography I - 197/300
Geography II - 134/300
Psychology I - 075/300
Psychology II - 160/300
Written Total - 1023/2000

Interview -195/300
Final Total - 1218/2300

It's time for some hardcore analysis and action now...!

Communal Coincidence?


Just have a look at these two covers of the latest Frontline (June 01, 2007) and Outlook (June 04, 2007) magazines. I need more time to think whether this is a sheer coincidence or just a nasty mischief by some. And more importantly is it right to have such cover stories? Is the media sensationalising imaginative trends to satisfy their bosses and audience? Will this not add fuel to the divisive forces that are already quite successful? Is this healthy for us in the long run?

That One Starfish

This is going to be sensible and insipring, as this is not my creation but a popular story retold by one of my earlier bosses.

One day I was walking a beach which was littered with thousands of Starfishes which had washed ashore. It was still early morning and as sun would come up - these starfishes would soon die in the scorching heat. The beach was largely deserted, however my eyes caught a small boy who was merrily jumping along the shore picking up one starfish after another and throwing it into sea. I walked upto the boy and asked him - what are you doing?

He answered throwing starfish back to sea - so that they at least survive rather than die on the shore. I told him - this is going to take you years - look there are thousands of starfish littered all over - can it make a difference?


The boy turned around and said - Well you ask me will it make a difference - and he added as he threw another starfish into sea - it did make a difference to this starfish is it not?

Each one of us will and can make a diffference - provided we pick that one starfish and have the courage to throw that back at sea.

Baba counting starts

120,119...
Just about 2 hours to go for the results.
(And the last year, the same day I was taking my Prelims Exams)

150 years

This day 150 years ago our country saw the first major uprising of us against the British. Termed by some as the Sepoy Mutiny and by others as the First War of Independence or the Great Revolt, what stood out in this uprising was the commendable Hindu-Muslim unity.
Though with roots in religious sentiments, this uprising quickly got the two religions closer in the fight against the common enemy. Lack of a political vision and able leadership are cited as the important reasons for the failure of the Revolt. However, this came as a rude shock to the British, who again let loose their oppressive forces on the Indian population.

Will there be another Revolt, with a firm base of religious unity, to attack the common enemy of hunger, illiteracy and intolerance?

Hall of Fame

It is depressing to know about the atrocities let loose by a group of vandals in Madurai (TN) as a protest against an opinion poll conducted by the Tamil daily Dinakaran. The survery was about `Who should be Kalaignar [Karunanidhi's] political heir?'. Three persons have been murdered, the office of the daily has been burnt and the whole country is terrorised. However, it is a welcome consolation that a CBI probe has been ordered by the state CM. For more - http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/10/stories/2007051010870100.htm

It is a kind of coincidence that I too had planned to post the results of the opinion poll that I conducted last night. The question's very simple, "Who comes to your mind when I say IAS/IPS? ". Here are the findings.(not necesarily in any order) I have added a line or two, to make things clear!


T.N.Seshan - Invariably this is the first name I got. Known for changing the face of the Election Commission of India.



Kiran Bedi. Magsaysay Award Winner. The first lady police officer of our country. Known for her Tihar jail reforms. Presently she is heading the Bureau of Police Research and Development.http://www.bprd.gov.in/




S.Nagarajan. CS Exams topper, 2005. Popular among many IAS aspirants and BITSians.




R.K.Raghavan. Former CBI Director. Known to be one of the most honest officers to have served.





Our Hall of Fame also has the following.
Anbuselvan. ACP, Crime branch, Chennai.Encounter specialist. Gautam Menon was his mentor. His ultimate assignment was eliminating Pandya, who terrorised Chennai through extortions and murders.


ACP Rathore. Crime branch, Mumbai. A fearless officer who broke the arms-supply network that operated across the border. He has a taste for Gazals.




Raghavan. DCP, Crime branch, Chennai. Known for "Raghavan's hunch". Shot to international fame in the Maran-Ila serial murder case. His career was shaped by late Mr.Arokiaraj.



For those sceptics who are looking for the statistical validity etc, here's the technical details of the poll.

Sample population: 3 (including the surveyor)
Sampling technique: Highly-biased sampling
Methodology: The question was asked orally to the respondents, who had about 2 seconds to respond, failing which the surveyor made his own entry on the respondent's behalf.
Poll duration: About 150 seconds.

Please leave your suggestions to help me fine-tune the survey process. Thanks.

Vision-Mission-Values

( You see, I have done an MBA and also had participated in a Strategy Workshop during my Corporate days. So the title needs to sound hi-fi.)

Basically, I have started this blog for the most common reason of all:
To find takers for all the junk that one feels like saying, but does not find anybody around.

Conversely also for those who have nothing else to do, with free 24X7 net access, a great apetite for reading anything comes-by and lots of patience. Many software engineers, housewives with a rich academic background, students who are allergic to class rooms, middle-level HR managers, Research Assistants, old uncles trying to be tech-savvy etc all fall under this category of junk-takers, by meeting one or more of these qualities.

PP - this title was chosen a long back, by my then sidey Sombu and me. Though for a different purpose. Let's see if there is a chance to use this title for what it was meant for.

Here we go...

The next four or five days will likely decide where I will be taking my life towards. My 20-month saga of the Civil Service Exam (CSE) is coming to an end, with the results of the exam to be out soon.

Neither in a mindset to sit and prepare for my next shot at the exam, nor in a mood to freak-out, founding a blog is the best available option, I thought. So here is Pilani Pictures - in short, PP.

The Queen’s Gambit (Review)

(Glad that my review got published in Readers Write  - Thank you so much Baradwaj Rangan! ) Streaming on Netflix and consisting of seven epi...