The American Dream Continues

I was going through this story about talented people leaving US published today, the same story i remember (citing the same sources) was published some 6 months back when the American economy was in tatters (for sure its better now).
The story mentioned that around 100,000 Indians and similar number of Chinese would be coming back from U.S. in the near term as the U.S. is loosing its competitive edge and rather the economies like India and China are thriving currently and are expected to be better.

Its true that there has been an exodus of sort from U.S. in past year or two. Some were forced to come back, some saw the opportunities back home being much better, some simply came back as they have had enough of U.S. of A.
The question that surfaces is, is it true that most or many of the (so called) talented Indians will come back to India?
I do not agree completely with the observation. Yes there has been a trend of NRIs coming back to India but the rate is not phenomenal not even a good healthy rate.
NRIs sitting in U.S. or any other country today are everyday listening the stories of thriving Indian economy and some of them return back with the view that they would get a red carpet welcome here but the same is not true.
When they come to terms with the harsh realities of today's India, they find that the country has not changed much in some aspects. Infrastructure, which was a bottleneck 50 years ago is the same today.
Bad roads, no electricity, water shortage, traffic chaos, all those issues which an NRI has not thought about for past few years comes back to haunt him when he is back.

People not only stay away from the country for better opportunities or dollars or euros after a few years its more about the standard of living for them which they get adopted to and it becomes difficult for them to come back.
Even though the American economy is not good at this time but for sure the economy will bounce back and in a couple of years America would again be a preferred destination for people around the world (I know I sound a bit like Obama here but that is pretty much true).
"American Dreams" are in no way out they have subdued for sometime and in no time people will again proceed with the same dreams in their eyes.
May be not that much now but still in a country like India the U.S. dream is a very big dream for many people still.
So people might be returning back but I don't think that there is ever going to be a mass exodus of talented people from U.S. of A.

Austerity Drive: Why not?

I always think that we don't know what we want in life. It is almost true with everything. Austerity drive is the new buzz word in Indian politics.
Lead by Sonia Gandhi now every politician is trying to follow the suit. Be it Sharad Pawar, Rahul Gandhi, S.M. Krishna and the likes.
The good thing is that such a thing has been initiated in India. In our country where we have always been crying foul when it comes to politicians and where we have always accused politicians and bureaucrats of spending people's money there is something good that has begun.
Politicians are trying to cut expenditure, they are traveling economy, traveling by trains, leaving the five star hotel accommodations and what not.

Now that the politicians are doing it so now we are crying that this is all a 'tamasha' by politicians.
I am fine with opposition shouting that this is all a political gimmick, that is there job basically but then why are we as citizens crying about it. Why do we bother if its a political tamasha or not?
For us as a citizen our tax money is ultimately getting saved which can be used for better growth plans or plans to help out poor and needy.
Is it Rahul Gandhi's fault that the entire media is focused on his train travel throughout the day?
Or is its Sonia Gandhi's fault that she traveled economy and others are following suit and the media is covering it more than necessary and trying to make an uncalled for debate?
Why is it not being taken in a positive manner and conveyed as a good initiative or why os it being covered at all?

Why are politicians traveling like a common man such a big deal in our country?
In US President Obama traveled throughout the country by train before he was sworn in and even after becoming president he can dare take a train, despite all security risks. Other politicians use local commute also.
Its just that our country has never witnessed this and we are not habituated to seeing politicians walk the road like a common citizen. And somewhere at the back of our mind we do consider them above than us rather than one of us.

Either ways we will have to shun this thinking. And rather than participating in debates regarding is austerity drive turning into a tamasha, we should rather appreciate the efforts of the ones doing it which will encourage other politicians (including opposition) to follow the same.
And we should get habituated seeing politicians travel like a common man rather than looking in awe and discussing it unnecessarily.
And incidents like stone pelting on the trains should be downplayed. It always takes some "kick " starting any good initiative.

Pure Beauty by Federer

Roger Federer best point in tennis history. US Open Semi final 2009 HQ

Faith alone can remove all obstacles

This was what the billboard said, below which there were thousands of devotees dancing to the chants of "Morya Morya" "pudhya varshi lavkar ya".
Ganesh Visarjan in Pune city is an event to remember. Its a once in a life time experience.
This time of the year the entire city is decorated and everywhere you see you will find Ganesha idols sitting with pomp and glory.
This year the Ganesh Utsav lost some of its sheen due to recession and the scare of swine flu. Pune was hit badly with swine flu and still reeling under its effect.

But the crowd that turned out for Ganesh Visarjan threw back all the scare of swine flu and other obstacles. As Ganesha is known to be the god who removes obstacles from his devotees path, the devotees throng in large number to bid farewell to the beloved lord and requesting him to come back next year soon (pudhya varshi lavkar ya).

This year when there have been so many problems and issues around the world and every person and every family might have their own personal problems, if anything can give them strength to go on, it is nothing else but FAITH.

Faith is on what the whole world is hanging. Jobs, better standard of living, better environment, happiness in life, no wars. Everything we ever wish for has to start with Faith.

And if we do have the faith (be it on whatever and whoever we have) then the hindrances and obstacles are easy to handle or they are removed from our path.

To all the people who have never seen the Ganesh Utsav in pune, i would ask them to visit the city once during that time, its a real experience that you have to go through.
There will be a time when you would start taking pictures but after a while you just keep the camera away because the photos or videos just can't capture the real experience.
You get surrounded by the dhols and chants of Ganpati, with gulaal in the air and the scent of flowers and agarbattis mixed in the air.

The one remarkable thing about the procession is the involvement of females in the procession. From dhols to lazem to the flags, the girls are involved in everything, equal to men.
Girls are on equal foot during the procession and sing and dance in tandem with men.

As Ganesha bids goodbye for this year, may all the obstacles in your lives are removed and everyone has a happy life around the world. Just keep the Faith in the lord or whosoever you believe in.

Leaving you with a few pictures of this year's visarjan http://bit.ly/1OIuoH