Insult to an Indian legend ....

It’s hard to live in a country of one billion. Just go to West Mambalam in a weekend’s evening, you will get your answer. There will be hardly any space, but still everyone/every vehicle is moving. By 9 pm you can see people bargaining with auto-walas with large polythene bags of Sharvana bhavan, Pothis, Joy Alukkas & some with Addidas. Within them some are poor girls with plastic ornaments bought from footpath. That’s on a whole is our country, isn’t it? The large middle class living in the euphoria of 7.5% growth, the ultra urban Ambanis fighting for the wealth & the poor waiting for a miracle messiah to bring them to 65% group.

Be it whatever class, a common link is all are driven by a word called PROMISE.
The word which establishes government, the word which can defeat a mighty prime minister (India Gandhi in 1977). It’s the same word which throws them into the nexus of Naxals or Marathi Manoos mania. Have you ever seen sunlight sneaking through a closed room during a summer afternoon? PROMISE is that kind of word. PROMISE directly proportional to your ASPIRATION. It’s give you glimpse of light & made you think what you will get once the window is open. Sometimes we people can’t understand the window is sealed from outside. You keep on digging the wall from inside & someone cementing it from the other side, making sure there is a 6 inch wall between wisdom & helplessness. That is what our politicians are trading for years.

It’s time; we need another socialist like Binoba Bhave or at least a JP. India is sick of Modis, Thakreys, Kodas, Sorens & Karunanidhis. A disclaimer here, not saying all others are good, but picking from the order in which my stack popped out.

Once Superman said, with great power there comes greater responsibility. We should airlift these anti social elements from their air conditioned bungalow & safely drop in the middle of the Mambalam crowd. Then only they will realize a R.K. Laxman’s man has already many burden & worries to take care. You must be guessing why am I showing my tantrums now?

A monsoon hit weekend, with butter chicken was really pleasant when all news channels flash back the brilliance of a man called Sachin Tendulkar. Next day I saw an old man, at the threshold of crossing the line, slams the legend, a man who inspired a generation.

As published in today’s TOI. ‘ On a train from Simla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train Stopped for few minutes as Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passenger, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete his century. This genius can stop time in India!’

The insult of a legend indeed stopped me. I watched, worshiped him for his cricketing genius, but I idolized him for all the non-cricketing reason. Analyze his hard work, passion to achieve all goals. Check how he maintains his dignity, focus even after being at top for 20 years. See how he is parenting 200 children in a day without any publicity. People ask him all kind of questions & still he is miles away from controversy. The last one is the question on being Marathi. Such a balanced answer he gave. Probably the best one could. Even I am proud to be Oriya, but I am an Indian first (check the “Bande utkal Janani” video in my Orkut profile).

Hearing the legend’s comments, I was guessing how Raj or the elderly statesman of Maharashtra will respond to it. The old man responded in worst possible ways, asking the legend to concentrate in batting. I will agree with the advice though, we need him to win 2011 world cup. When a Muslim is saying he/she won’t sing ‘bande maa taram’, they are making a big noise (probably Raj don’t know it’s in Hindi), but an Indian can’t say he is an Indian!! The old man is desperate to gain his lost ground. He knows his legacy is slowly but steadily shifting to his nephew, who is hijacking all Marathi Manoos one by one. It’s clear now once the old man sleep in peace; nephew will be the new king, not his own son. So he took a calculated risk, wanted to show he can take on a national hero for Marathi cause. For sure it’s going to backfire, because this time they touched people’s EMOTION not ASPIRATION.

Question is why Raj/Sena on a new mission? Initially the Sena was the balancing factor to D-factory. Surrounding allow them to grow. Now Dawood operated from offshore, more correctly not interested in small Hafta business (after all he is in Forbes list). So Sena/Raj has to do something to keep their goondas busy. Recently Raj sold 82 cores of share!! Now I understand how he creates this mass support. Believe me, in empty stomach, none is going to hit the innocent Bihar taxi walas (not the comparatively rich Gujus, Parsis or Sidhis). I swear, I love and respect all Gujus, Parsis or Sindhis. I just want to tell that MNS is targeting poor states like UP & Bihar. If they are calling Bihari outsiders, they should understand these are the men who restored democracy in India, of which Raj is taking advantage. Any other country, take the example of China, would have hanged Raj (also the old man) by now.

What that Cong-NCP government is doing? The affinity to be in power is self destructor. Don’t they know next election is 5 years away? They have the luxury of forgetting opposition’s vote bank for a year. If they can’t act now, never they will. Now very easy for Cong-NCP to rule the state. They know, now Raj with 5% vote ... next election it will be 10% … then in next may be 15% .... That's 3 more consecutive terms for them ..

Maharastra, one of the most developed states along with the city which is the glory of modern India, birth place of greatest Indian of mogul era (Shivaji), birth state of greatest Indian of British era (Gandhi in Bombay presidency) & birth place of greatest hero of contemporary India ( no need to mention) is heading towards doom ....

Skepticism……..

Skepticism……..

Oh boy…. we lost to Burnley….. Thousands cameras, numerous reporters are back at ManU’s gate….

The million dollars question popped up again, “Who will replace Chistiano Ronaldo?”

It‘s been in news throughout the summer. Now sounds like vomiting with overdose of paracetamol. Hardly anyone can deny that Cristiano Ronaldo was the key to ManU’s latest hat-trick of Premier League successes. The 66 bullets in 3 seasons made him household name all over the globe. Then comes the parasite called “Read Madrid”, who loved to steal someone’s hard work. But deep down I know it’s hard to resist. Suddenly my feeling for him changed and ‘Ronny’ becomes ‘Ronaldo’….. ):

United are a different team without Ronaldo, that's undeniable. Now it's a matter of the players finding their feet in this new format, the new system and way of playing that Sir Alex said was necessary.

Time to prove ‘Ronaldo did not make ManU, matter of fact the vice versa is true’. We did not win 18 crowns overnight. We had guts to sale David Beckham & we survived. I am damn sure we can cross bridge this time too. So stop explaining & start scoring. It’s the season for Rooney to climb high… It could be the season of rediscovering Michael Owen… We are a club with rich traditions and can accommodate one more in the congested trophy gallery…….. That will be a fitting farewell to Sir Alex....

GO! UNITED GO! WE WANT OUR TROPHY AGAIN….

anupan sinha, a genius

The story of Anupam Sinha, creator of super-heroes
SUMATI NAGRATH11 Jul 2008

Anupam Sinha believes in creating characters who, despite having super powers, are realistic. He is ageless, is 6’ 2” tall, weighs 89 kg and, with micro snakes flowing in his blood stream instead of white blood cells, he is blessed with the power of snakes. And like a true superhero, he is a timid public relations officer by day, and a poison breath spewing, terrorism fighting vigilante by night. He is Nagraj — one of India’s most enduring indigenous comic book superheroes. Created in the late 1980s by Pratap Mullick, Nagraj is now ideated and illustrated by ace illustrator Anupam Sinha. If you’ve never heard of Nagraj — or Sinha — it is probably because the series is published in Hindi. Hugely popular in the smaller towns across the Hindi belt, both Nagraj and Sinha struggle for due recognition in the metros, where Superman, Batman, Spiderman and now Ironman dominate.
That doesn’t bother Sinha, 46, who took over the illustration of Nagraj in 1995. As Sanjay Gupta, editor and head of production at publisher Raj Comics points out, the monthly Nagraj comic series — as also the bimonthly Super Commando Dhruva — sell at least 80,000 copies per edition in North India. Sitting in his home-cum-studio in Delhi’s Rohini neighbourhood, Sinha recounts how he had to reinvent and rejuvenate the character of Nagraj without altering it much. To this day, he spends up to 18 hours every day ideating and sketching stories about Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva.
ANUPAM SINHA
BORN: 1962, KanpurEDUCATION: Graduated in Bachelor of Science from Christchurch College, KanpurCAREER: 1975: Created first cartoon strip for Deewana Tej at age 13 1987: Joined Raj Comics and created his most well known character — Super Commando DhruvaToday: Also writes and illustrates the Nagraj seriesFAVOURITE: Other than his own creations, Batman is his favourite comic characterASPIRATION: To create a complete comic universe based on Indian characters
To those who know about Indian comics, though, Sinha is a revered figure, one who kept the industry and Raj Comics alive when others such as Diamond Comics and Indrajaal Comics were shutting shop. “Anupam Sinha revolutionised Indian comics with his work at Raj Comics,” says Amitabh Kumar, a researcher at Sarai, a division of Delhi-based research institute, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. “He was making comics that dealt with biotechnology and cloning in the 1980s... and this is when Chacha Chaudhary was ruling the roost. Sinha is probably the vehicle on which Raj Comics rode towards its golden era.” Quite understandably, Sinha’s boss, Gupta, thinks no end of the illustrator: “His dedication and passion are unparalleled, and so many young artists joining us are inspired by him and his work.”
On his part, Sinha appears very aware of his stature. “As far as the Indian comic book industry is concerned, I am the only person who is both a writer and an illustrator,” he says rather matter-of-factly. “I have sustained two characters for over two decades.” He does, however, tip his hat to two stalwarts of the Indian comic book industry — Anant Pai and Pran Kumar Sharma. While Pai was the man who, in the 1960s, first brought Phantom and Mandrake into India and then got generations hooked onto Indian mythology through Amar Chitra Katha; Sharma created the more ‘low-brow’ strips such as Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo and the popular Chacha Chaudhary in the 1970s. Sinha’s forte, though, is the Indian superhero. “It is not easy to create a superhero,” he says. A tough job it is, and Sinha’s training for the role began unusually early.
Making Of A Superhero MakerStarting his career in 1975 at the tender age of 13 for a small magazine called Deewana Tej at Kanpur, Sinha got his “big break” four years later, when he joined Diamond Comics, then one of the market leaders. While working on popular comics such as Tauji and Jadoo Ka Danda, Sinha also enrolled for a Bachelor of Science degree at Kanpur’s Christchurch College.
The science degree came at the cost of an engineering one at the reputed BITS Pilani institute. “There was a big tussle inside me,” recounts Sinha. “One half of me really wanted to be an engineer, but the pull to follow my heart and talent was too strong.” While the idea was to stay put in Kanpur and keep his job, the BSc degree helped him develop “powers of observation and analysis”, which contributed in his experiments with superhero characters when he joined Chitra Bharti comics run by S. Chand & Company. It was here, while still at college, that he created his own characters for the first time — Space Star and Private Detective Kapil. The two served as early drafts for his most well known character, Super Commando Dhruva, whom he created when he moved to Raj Comics.

Sitting amidst sheets of rough drafts, blunt pencils and sketch pads from where sinewy men and voluptuous women in futuristic space-age settings stare at you, he talks about the need to create magic that appears rational. “I make my characters logical,” says the bespectacled Sinha. “There has to be a reason, a source and a defined extent of the superhero’s powers. You cannot give him a new power every time he comes up against a new adversary. That would be cheating your readers.” As someone who has never undergone any formal artistic or literary training, Sinha tends to work intuitively. “Whenever I work on developing a character, I have to think of his power, the attire, background, origins, the kind of sympathy and affection he can generate in the reader. But I also have to work hard at creating the villains.” His biggest critics are his two daughters, 12-year-old Bhavya and 11-year-old Kompal. “I cannot fool them; they read all my comics and let me know exactly what they think,” says Sinha, whose wife Jolly “sometimes helps in writing stories”.
The only son of five children born to a government officer and a housewife, Sinha had to overcome his parents’ apprehension, who felt that he would not be able to support his family financially. It was his early success that convinced them about the viability of this seemingly unconventional career. Today, Sinha believes, young writers and illustrators can actually make a living out of working in the comic book industry. “But you still need a lot of passion, as the money here is nowhere as good as, say, in an advertising agency.”
He believes that after almost a decade of quietude, the comic industry in India is on the rise again. “But there is a severe shortage of talent,” he rues. However, Sinha — who is also working on a project for the three-year-old Virgin Comics, a tie-up between UK-based Richard Branson Enterprises and the American Gotham Entertainment Group — has seen an opportunity in this and has launched his own Web-based Anupam Academy Of Art for training people in comic arts.
“My dream is to create a complete comic universe in India like what Marvel and DC Comics have done in the West,” he says. Given that India’s comic book industry — pegged at around Rs 100 crore — is projected to grow almost four-fold in the next decade, Sinha might well play the role of a superhero in that growth story. (Businessworld Issue 15-21 July 2008)

'Some are born fighter'

'Some are born fighter'
July 28, 2008
Shobha Warrier

Naga Naresh Karuturi has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore.
You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?
Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)
Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, "God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky."
Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.
Childhood in a villageI spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.
Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!
Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.
I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!
I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!
January 11, 1993, the fateful dayOn the January 11, 1993 when we had the Sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.
It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.
The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.
First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?
In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.
I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.
Life without legsI don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.
'I never wallowed in self-pity'
The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!
All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.
God's handI believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.
If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.
My sister, my friendWhen the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in MSFS missionary school where I was given free education up to 10th standard. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.
She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.
She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.
My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.
InspirationI was inspired by two people when in school; my maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.
When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.
Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.
Moving to a residential schoolLiving in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.
There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.
They are such wonderful supportive parents.
Life at IIT- MadrasThough my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (1992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.
Here, I looked up to many students at IIT, and one of them was Karthik who was in the same hostel.
He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.
I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.
'There are more good people in society than bad ones'
Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.
Joining Google R&DI did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.
Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.
I am luckyDo you know why I say I am lucky?
I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.
I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.
One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras, my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.
Surprise awaited me at IITAfter my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.
I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.
Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.
My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.
That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.
The world is full of good peopleI also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.