India - Developing Country... Why???

I am writing this blog as a truly spirited Indian. While I was studying in my primary classes, we were taught that "India is a developing country". We were not mature enough to think about that then. But even now, they are teaching the same!!!

I was shocked since it has been more than a decade since my primary education, and India is still a "developing country"!!! Why has it been so??? Or are we still being simply told so???
It didn't take much time for me to realize that they re still right!!! Why hasn't the scenario changed even a bit???

I don't want to point any fingers at anyone. But, circumstances are forcing me to do this... It is not a mistake in the way we see things, but in the way things are being done.
I am still of the opinion that equality should be present among all citizens of a country - both economically and socially. But when you look around, is that the case?

Socially, you can't even find the word "equality" anywhere. Everyone is divided based on caste, religion,... in all ways possible, including language!!! What is the need of this? This is simply magnifying the divide - and - conquer method that the British followed!!! Even when we shout "GO INDIA", we should look into ourselves: "are we doing our duties correctly as an Indian"???

If you look around in the economic circle, again, we can't see any equality. Many political parties are preaching 'equality'... But are they doing it??? Instead of uplifting the poor to the status of the rich, they are simply pulling down the rich to the status of the poor!!! Some equality... No wonder the country is still "developing"...

India is a country rich in culture and resources. But are we using it??? The cultural diversity itself is being used as a weapon. Everyone wants a state for himself, further dividing the country... At this rate, there will be more than a billion states in India, one for each person!!! WHY???
And coming to the resources, we are so under utilizing them that we are beginning to depend on others even for basic needs, and become vulnerable to any socio - economic fluctuations outside!!!

If you ask the people why it is so, they will say that the bureaucracy is corrupted... But think again. How many among you are responsible citizens? How many are bold enough to declare that India is a "developed" country? How many are ready to think "I can do it" and ready to contribute for that?

Now, a note to the people. Most people, after passing out from an educational institution, go and join any MNC, and work abroad. I am not accusing you, but think... You are actually using your expertise for someone else, instead of the mother nation. You are giving a signal to others that India is not the best place to use your skills!!! Is that your responsibility to the country?
Our government is saying that it is lacking the necessary expertise in different fields. That is since all that expertise has been exported outside and helping develop other countries!!!

Just think... Each one among you can make a difference... Do your duties sincerely... Fulfil your responsibilities to the country... Use the available resources effectively...
At least, the next generation should say: INDIA IS A DEVELOPED COUNTRY...

Dedicated blog...

You can see that the previous blog post was on a scientific concept. But many people reading my blog are there for social issues... Not science...

I just understood that now... So, I am starting a new blog exclusively for my scientific concepts...
and I have quite a lot in stock to reveal!!!
If you are interested in my science-related posts also, read this...

Science Today

I will post updates regularly in both blogs... So, cheers everyone...

Privacy and Social Networking

For some time now, there has been quite a lot of buzz about privacy settings in networking sites like Facebook, and it has resulted in quite a lot of users deactivating their accounts. Lets look at both sides of the equation...

If you look at the privacy point of view, every organization has to protect the data of its users. It is their duty. In that case, sites like Facebook have to strengthen their security.

But look at the other side of it. Why do we need the privacy settings in the first place? The user data can be broadly classified like:
TOP SECRET
SECRET
CLASSIFIED
PUBLIC

This isn't any theory - based classification!!! So, you can safely read on... I am not goind to lectures in Computer Security!!!

Now, the PUBLIC domain is the part that can be given out to everyone, CLASSIFIED in the protected data, like passwords, and the other two consists of the data that shouldn't be disclosed...
Now, if there are no privacy settings, all the data would fall under the PUBLIC domain. Anyway, this can't be permitted. So, we put passwords as CLASSIFIED...
This leaves us with SECRET and TOP SECRET... The sole idea behind social networking is sharing of data itself. Nobody is forcing you to share your personal data with them. So, don't give any data falling under the SECERT & TOP SECRET categories in the sites!!! Thats it...

Everyone has to realize one thing. Social networking sites like Faceebook and blogger sites aren't mail clients or message portals in any way. So, if you want to send a secret message, simply e-mail it. Don't post them in social networking sites and then run around trying to protect it.
Post only the data you need to publish in such sites. If you publish data and then lock it off from others, why did you publish it in the first place??? It simply destroys the concepts of publishing and social networking!!!

But this applies only for the user data. For data like passwords, maximum security should be provided. And I believe most sites provide the best possible security...

My final word is: Use your resources judiciously. Use sites like Facebook for keeping in touch with your friends and relatives, and those like Twitter for discussions and other related uses.
Don't post things like "nuclear secrets" and "rocket science" there and then run around for "privacy" and "security"!!!

Media responsibility

This is a topic that has been burning in my mind for some time now, and aggravated lately...
Media , in one way, are the lifelines of a country. They have to report the events promptly and efficiently, with no bias.

But nowadays, reporting is turning out be more of assumptions rather than news itself. The news channels are concentrating more on ratings rather than the humanity point of view. This is simply degradation of news quality.

Let me cite a recent example. During the M'lore air crash, all the channels rushed to the spot immediately. And everyone began taking the credit that "WE ARE THE FIRST TO REPORT FROM THE CRASH SITE"!!! It doesn't matter whether you are first on the scene. What matters is that you have to report the event responsibly.
During then, a "joke" was circulating: "LOOKS LIKE THE IDIOT BOX KNOWS MORE THAN THE BLACK BOX". Why are they simply assuming the chain of events without waiting for any official report? They never realize the consequences. Some people, after seeing the assumed report, can act in haste and cause irreversible damage!!! The actual chain of events may be very different!!!
Also, what shocks me the most is that the media has lost all sense of humanity... When they are busy reporting the event, why can't they help out in search and rescue instead of live reporting, which almost give the same thing again and again??? Use the camera for search and the manpower for rescue... That will be a better use of the media resources...

Another aspect happened during the Bhopal verdict. The channels are busy in USA, trying to track down Warren Anderson, only to find that he had already left that morning!!! My question is: Why was Anderson never tracked by them before? The fact is that when an event occurs, the media simply create a hype to increase their ratings. They forget all about it in a few days!!! If they had tracked him just a day before, they could have caught him!!!

Now let us take 26/11. How can the channels simply record the "top-secret" military operations and report it on national TV??? That's really stupid and gives the attackers ways to escape!!!
Also, the "sting" operations are going out of hand. They expose chinks in the armour and open the gates for terrorists to come in!!! They might report it and before the govt can act, the terrorists would have entered!!!

Now, how do they get "exclusive access" to top-secret documents from top ministries? If this can be done, what happens to the confidentiality of all the documents? They are made confidential so that no 3rd person sees the contents (let it be good or bad). So, why expose on national TV?
Also, by exposing the scams, they are simply tarnishing the whole nation's image in front of the whole world. It is simply turning out to be a publicity programme for everyone involved in it and nothing useful is happening!!! Scams have to be exposed, I agree... But think about the nation first, before exposing them...

If any media person is reading this, please think about this and if you can change them, change it for the good... Else, we will be forced to take it s a way of life!!!

If you think the people like only such reporting, think again... Responsible reporting involves making the people think and act... and they only wait for you to give them news items!!! They simply accept the details and never demand any particular category!!! THINK AGAIN...

Attitude... Don't take it for granted...

The next topic I choose is ATTITUDE!!!
Seems familiar??? You should be coming across this word quite frequently, especially if you are a student or waiting to get a job. And something most of us take for granted!!!
Attitude defines the way in which we look at something. But I regret to say that many of the "genNext" people here lack this. I am saying this because I do have had quite a number of first - hand experiences regarding this.

I have been enjoying my college life... And one of my primary jobs in this time was nothing but to teach others whatever was taught to us by the teachers. Seems funny... right??? But it isn't...

Why did this scenario occur in the first place? Everyone is present during the actual lectures. Yet some grasp it, while others simply discard it, knowing that they need to learn it some day...
Anyway I enjoyed the job. But even while taking the support lectures, I noticed one thing: the attitude... "ANYWAY WE AREN'T GOING TO PASS THIS... BUT STILL WE CAME!!!" What's the use???

These people have already decided that they aren't going to even pass the subject!!! at least, their mind is set in that way... Even if I take the support lectures, they won't learn the full thing. I anyway take them, since I also learn from it!!! So, I always look forward to them... At least I did my job, even if they don't learn, I did my half, and the rest is up to them...

I am not pointing fingers, but this is a widespread problem, and everyone knows it, including the people affected by it. But they don't realize that their lives are going to suffer because of this... If you yourself decide that you can't do this, why even attempt??? You will never succeed... Even if you succeed, you won't feel the satisfaction...
Now, for those people who realize they have some attitudinal issues, here is a tip: Try to change your attitude. Realize that everyone is built the same way. Everyone has the same potential to win and move forward. But the difference lies in the fact that very few people realize this. Your interest shows the path forward. But you should know that you all will develop a positive attitude automatically towards it and succeed... But that doesn't mean you are the best at it, it simply means that you have the determination ...
Detemination is the result of a positive attitude... So, my message is:
Develop a positive attitude towards your work, and you will surely feel the satisfaction and taste success!!!

Even if you take the wrong path, develop a good attitude and lay your own path to success...
Every human is born to win... The only difference is WHEN and WHERE... and your attitude determines WHEN...
Because... ATTITUDE is your own mind, expressed in front of others...
So, decide carefully, and realize that a wrong decision won't derail your whole life, if you have the right ATTITUDE towards it...

The power of friendship...

This post is dedicated to all my friends...

The power of friendship is totally unimaginable... something I understood from my experience... During our school and college life, we normally spend more time with friends than we spend with our parents. That itself shows the effect friendship has on our character.

I believe all of you have already begun rewinding through the past to bring back the sweet memories with your friends!!!

Coming back to the blog, I have already told you that this is a blog from my experience... Friends have played a vital part in my life by shaping my character. I suffer from a lifelong disease called HEMOPHILIA (i will talk about this later...), that has locked me within the boundaries of my house for quite a long time now... (still so!!!)

It is here that the influence of my friends come in. I used to look at the outside world through my friends. Their support has taken me places that I never had imagined. Now, as my graduation is over, I still find it difficult to find a way to fill up the void!!!

I wouldn't have even thought of writing this 3 years back... But I have changed from then... Quite a lot!!! Thanks to my friends at the one and only HEAVY BETA !!! (that's what we call our class... Nice name... isn't it???) They took me places, encouraged me to reach out for the top, stuck with me in bad times, ... I felt as if I was at home... Something you don't feel that easily!!!

Within the batch itself, some have influenced me much more than others... but i don't want to go in individually... They laid out a new way of life in front of me... In the prologue itself, you can see that I am an engineer by qualification... But the people around me laid a new way ahead - teaching!!! Something I hadn't even expected myself... But this is something I feel good about - a change for the better... (or possibly the best!!!) They have not only laid out a new way of life, but changed the way I even think. The OUT-OF-THE-BOX attitude was infused within me by them, and it has given me quite a boost in achieving my targets, and that too with so much ease...

This was something I wanted to tell all of them directly... But with emotions running amok, I didn't want to exaggerate that... So, I resorted to the blog... and that too, the very first one...
I used to wish those days never ended... and it never will, since thay are always within me... and a part of me...

Now, this doesn't mean that my previous batchmates haven't done me any good... Everyone's the same as far as I am concerned...
But you all realize... Some things have a special place in your heart!!!

Just one more quote before finishing this:

Friendship has the power to heal... But it won't heal the void caused when you part with them!!!

To heal that void, no medicine has been discovered yet... But real friends will heal that automatically with each other...

A prologue...

Lets start the proceedings formally... with a prologue...

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Mahalingam - a computer engineer by qualification, but not limited to that by interest. I am a person who is interested in all the events that takes place around me...

As a social being, I feel that everything around me has its effect on me too. In this blog, I will try to give you all a small insight into the major events in the world around us. I also aim to bring out some advancements in the field of science and technology, since that itself is my subject of interest!!! (at least in my academic point of view)

A small note to all... Follow me only if you are genuinely interested in the topics around here, and are ready to give your frank opinions and comments... You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter... (you can see the follow links in the blog itself...)

So, its time to start...