amachwe

The Importance of Experience…

We all want our lives to be smooth and happy. No one really wants anything bad happening in their lives. We do various things to keep bad days away. We pray to God, we try and eat right, we read self-help books and do various other things to keep life in the green.
Perhaps the most important thing we can do to keep life in the green is to enjoy both bad and good experiences.

It is difficult to enjoy bad experiences I know that. But at the same time it is not impossible. What we must remember is that, just like day follows night, good times will be followed by bad and just as night follows day, bad times will be followed by good.

Often the good will come with the bad (as bad comes with good).

Life will never be perfect (or it won’t stay that way for long!).

I think it is up to experience to teach us to enjoy both the good and the bad times. To seek postivity even in bad things.

It is similar to when we hear a piece of music again and again it becomes embedded in our mind. We are able to pick that piece of music up even against background noise. We have trained our braint of identify that piece of music.
The same can be done with positivity. Pick any situation in your life and examine it in detail to seek what all positives there are in it. Keep doing this with new situations that come up and one day you would have trained your brain to pick the positives out of the background noise of life!

🙂

[SQLServer JDBC Driver]Character set 437 not found in …

If you face the following error message when you try and connect with Microsoft SQL Server:

[SQLServer JDBC Driver]Character set 437 not found in <PATH OF SQL SERVER LIBRARY e.g. com.microsoft.util >

1) Locate the jar file: msutil.jar – search for it or look in the MS SQL Server Drivers directory.

2) Unjar the file using WinRar or 7zip and extract all the files.

3) Go to the util folder (if msutil is the main directory then the path to the util folder is:msutil\com\microsoft\util)

4) Within the util folder locate a file called: transliteration.properties

5) Open the file in notepade or similar text editor program and add the following:

translit.type.437=VM
translit.name.437=Cp437

6) Save the file and either redirect the class path to the unjared folder with the edited transliteration.properties file or jar the msutil and replace the old msutil.jar with the new msutil.jar containing the edited file.

The Door That Wouldn’t Open….

At work we have code-lock doors (doors with numeric keypad). So whenever you want to move from one area of the office to the other you have to pass through one or two code-locked doors.

The weird thing was that sometimes the door would open after entering the code once but most times I would get stuck and need the code to be re-entered.
One day, I was feeling bit frustrated and the doors were getting stuck again and again.
As I was re-entering the code, for the nth time that day, I thought ‘man what a day I am having, even the doors here are blocking my way today’.
Few days later as I entered the code and the door got stuck. This time instead of re-entering the code I just pushed the door firmly. To my amazement the door opened without requiring the code to be re-entered.
It made me realise that similar things happen in life with all of us. The same problems keep bugging us. We keep getting stuck. But we should never loose hope. Why? Because just like that door, if we just make ourselves strong and push through these little blocks on the road to life then all doors will open!
🙂

Decisions of Consequence

We often think about decisions, in real life, before we take them. We also come across statements like ‘that was the wrong decision’ and ‘in the long run it turned out to be the right decision’.
But the other day when such a statement came up in the conversation I asked myself is any decision wrong or right? Or is the perception of a decision being right or wrong simply a matter of time and frame of mind?
Let us examine the problem with decisions first. The problem with real life decisions is that you can’t play what-if with them. Time is always flowing and you cannot come back to that same instance in time and take a different decision. There is no save-load in life.
Therefore once a decision has been taken there is no way to go back and re-take THAT particular decision. Once the route ahead has been chosen all other routes are closed automatically. In fact the very act of thinking about what to do next signifies a choice about how to proceed.
This means there is no real way of comparing two choices.
Therefore no decision can be right or wrong.
While it may appear right or wrong at a particular instance in time or when we are In a particular frame of mind, there is no guarantee that the evaluation is correct (or incorrect).
Then my question is why worry about decisions taken in the past?
Why decide to worry about a problem with no answer?
Why choose this road ahead?

Following on how can we decide what is the best road ahead at that point of time?
Well we can try and think of the consequences of taking the various different roads ahead. That is where the skill of the decision maker comes into the picture.

Quotes from Journey to the West – Part II

First part of this post can be found here.

Journey to the West is a Chinese classic. It is an epic (fictional) story about how Buddhist teachings were brought to China.

The English Language version (Chinese Foreign Languages Press edition translated by W.J. F. Jenner) is full of amazing quotes. I will be posting my favourite ones here.

Quote 5: Chapter 59

“The traveller feels lonely on the road;

Monastic robes do not keep out the cold”

Quote 6: Chapter 60

“Don’t push around your best friend’s wife;

Don’t try to destroy the joy of his life”

Quote 7: Chapter 67

“There is an old saying that persimmon trees have seven perfections:

1. They prolong life.

2. They are very shady.

3. No birds nest in them.

4. They are free of insects.

5. Their leaves are beautiful after frost.

6. The fruit is excellent.

7. The branches and leaves are big and fat.”

Quote 8: Chapter 70

“By being too clever one becomes a fool;

What was once a joke can turn out to be real”

Quote 9: Chapter 73

“You are never poor if you are at home;

but poverty on a journey is killing”

Quote 10: Chapter 73

“Weeping eyes meeting weeping eyes;

One broken heart coming across another”

Quote 11: Chapter 73

“While good deeds stay at home;

Bad deeds are known far and wide”

Quote 12: Chapter 77

“No thread can be spun from a single strand;

Nobody can clap with a single hand”

Quote 13: Chapter 80

“A mountain can’t stop the road; it can find its own way across”

Quote 14: Chapter 80

“Do not fail to do a good deed because it is small;

do not commit a bad deed because it is small”

Religious Tolerance

When I see people in India screaming and shouting to support their religion I feel that they are missing the point. In India we are too concerned with what is happening with other people and we take the freedom we have for granted. That is especially the case when it comes to Religion. Religious co-existence has been a topic high on everyones discussion list. Especially every time a terrorist attack takes place.

I have seen a very different kind of religious tolerance and co-existence here in UK. Few examples I shall present through photographs taken in and around Southall, an area known for its ‘Indian’ feel. There are lot of Sikhs living in and around Southall. It is home to one of the largest gurudwaras outside India (photographs can be seen on my website).

Above: Church advertising in Punjabi.

Above: The gurudwara (Shri Guru Singh Sabha) faces a Christian cemetary. This picture was taken from the Gurudwara entrance.

Above: Shree Ram Mandir next to a Christian cemetary in Southall.

Above: A march for religious unity on the occassion of Christmas.

I think my friend put it really nicely that day… that when you are in your own country you can scream and shout about religion all you want but when you are outside your brain works in a straight line because you don’t have any options.

Could we have a Ram Temple next to a Christian cemetary in India? Would we think of making one?

Maybe religious tolerance is just a question having no options or having too many options?

Property Cases in New Delhi…

Money is the root of all evil and money is at the root of property. Whether it is a house or a flat. Skyrocketing prices of real estate in Delhi has ensured that the worst side of human nature is exposed in family relationships.

How does a typical property case start?

It starts with a family with multiple real brothers/sisters, a property, a doubt in the ownership and usually a builder interested in the property (if it is a house and not a flat).

The various children have ego issues with each other and within themselves. This includes jealousy for the other persons success and simple greed. If that is not the case then a builder comes along who wants that property and doesn’t want to pay full price. He plants the seed of greed in one of the siblings head.

Then one of the brothers/sisters files a suit of partition against his/her siblings. Usually only those people are made party to the suit who have a right in the property and have not explicitly signed away that right.

The person filing the case becomes the plaintiff and the person(s) against whom it is filed are defendants.

Obviously to file a case one has to go to a lawyer. Not many lawyers are going to tell you not to file a case and settle it outside the court. Most lawyers are going to tell you that your case is winnable. The person filing the case is already pumped up and aching to go. Ego rules the brain.

Property cases are good because they take a long time and provide a lawyer with regular income.

The real fun and games begin once the notice is served to the defendants. Especially if they happen to be neighbours. This activates the ego of the defendants. All ties are broken. No one goes to the other persons house and obviously every move is treated with utmost suspicion. From that day all communication takes place through the lawyers.

Initially the plaintiff is really pumped up. Comes to each hearing. Then as the case gets more complicated with the defendant’s lawyer throwing punches and mixing up things a single case gives birth to multiple cases in different courts.

This obviously reduces the enthusiasm of the plaintiff but stil the ego is there. So he starts coming only for the crucial hearings (which happen once in 3-4 months). All this while both the lawyers are pretending to be gearing up for the fight of their life. This also ensures their clients that yes things are progressing.

As months turn into years and a grand tour of the courts of Delhi begins for both the sides, enthusiasm starts waning and the egos start getting crushed. Then only the most important hearings are attended.

After 4-5 years the ego of both the sides is completely crushed. That is when the lawyers start whispering about a compromise. A property case, while giving decent money over a few years, is a bit like a milk giving animal. There comes a time when you can make more money by slaughtering the animal and selling the meat than by milking it. Lawyers are usually expert at recognising this. They know if a compromise takes place they will get a lump sum of cash which would be at percentage of the property value.

It takes about a year for both the lawyers to bring the parties on to the table for a compromise. The most common compromise is everyone gets equal share. Once a compromise has taken place the plaintiffs move the court to pass a compromise decree under Order 23 Rule 3 of the Civil Procedure Code of India.

This puts the courts seal on the compromise. It is not a ‘decision’ by the court so it does not preclude further litigation thru ‘res judicata’.

Once the compromise is achieved and all the paperwork is done and over with the lawyer will do a bit of show off in front of the other side to convince their client that they managed to do a brilliant job and that they were in complete control all the time. Furthermore they will show that it was their side who were sensible and generous therefore decided to give a share to the other side.

All in all in any kind of a case one must always remember:

The judge, the lawyers and the legal staff are all actors.

The courtroom is the stage.

The case is a drama.

The poor people caught up in litigation are the hapless victims/spectators who see their fortunes rising and falling without having any control on the acting or the script.

So remember… before you file a case make sure you have tried talking to the other person.

The Constant Dreamer…

The ‘terrorist’ attacks have become painfully regular. Another thing that has become painfully regular is the Government of India (and the various State Governments) being caught with their pants down.

There is now talk of establishing four more NSG hubs across India to deal with such terror attacks (especially because the NSG took 9.5hrs to arrive on the scene in Mumbai) in the future. I mean you could have sent commandos from UK in that much time! That is like increasing the dose of the medicine just because you cannot find any other way of attacking the disease.

What about improving the quality of the State police?

What about providing them with automatic weapons and bulletproof jackets instead of new cars.

What about improving the physical fitness of the police so that they are capable of doing something more than just relax at the Police checkpost?

What about improving coordination between the different agencies both at the State and Central level?

What about spending money to buy things like unmanned aerial surveillance platforms to patrol deserted stretches of the coastline?

On the political front the so-called ‘unified face of politics’, which Mr. L. K. Advani talked about before highlighting the fact that the attacks pointed towards the total failure of ‘State and Central administrations’, did not last long. In fact it did not even last 2 full days. How could it when some of the largest states in India (such as Rajasthan. Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh) are going in for State elections? In fact these attacks couldn’t have come at a better time for the parties currently sitting in the opposition. Delhi (where voting took place on the 29th of November) got hit by a series of bomb blasts recently. Looking at what happened in Mumbai I am sure the people of Delhi are not going to be very happy with the current State government.

RSS has also grown silent after the attacks in Mumbai. I think they have conveniently forgotten how they were targetting non-Marathi Indians working in Maharashtra till about two weeks ago. It is parties like these which must be inspiring the terrorists. I mean if we start attacking our own people surely troublemakers from abroad are going to be able to find at least a few friends there! We should remember that the Central Government controls approximately 5,00,000 crore Rupees through the budget. I am sure everyone wants a crack at that.

The people of India can only respond in one way. The only way which will ensure that the political parties learn a good lesson. Demand the immediate resignation of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with all the Ministers responsible for security and saftey of the population. Shivraj Patil the Union Home Minister resigned. That is not enough. There should be legal proceedings against him and it should be ensured that he does not hold any position in any elected body in India ever again.

Similarly there should be negligence proceedings against all the associated Ministers and administrators. That is the only way they are going to learn.

But none of this will happen. I dream of this.. that is why I am the constant dreamer… waiting for the day these dreams turn to reality.

The Mumbai Joke…

From there, they mandated to kill indiscriminately, particularly white foreign tourists, and spare Muslims split up into five batches.

Click here for the article.

There are a few questions that came to my mind, being a citizen of India, after the Mumbai incident:

1) How can you shoot people ‘indiscriminately’ while making sure Muslims are spared? Is it written on a persons face whether they are Hindu or Muslim? Do they check their passports before shooting them ‘indiscriminately’?

2) How can the press be so irresponsible? How can they start launching the ‘religious’ angle so quickly.

3) What was Narendra Modi doing at Oberoi Trident? Did he go there to look at the building out of curiosity? Was he there to look at his handiwork? But mostly why did he go to a sensitive area and further pressurise the security service to give him cover.

4) How come three top cops in Mumbai were shot by terrorists? What were they doing there? How did the terrorists get so lucky? How come one of them was involved in investigating the Malegaon blasts where a ‘Hindu terrorism’ plot was being revealed.

5) Why did the NSG and Army not stabalize the area where the terrorists were hiding instead of just rushing in? Why did they not try and buy time to further investigate the situation? This has been suggested by security experts throughout the world not just me.

6) When the Indian Airlines flight was hi-jacked (IC-814) during the BJP government how come they decided to negotiate and then release the prisoners? This time how come there were no negotiations? Not even to stall for time to allow the forces to prepare?

7) Did BJP help out the terrorists back then and now the terrorists are helping out BJP by creating chaos just before general elections and by killing of people who were investigating acts of ‘Hindu terrorism’. This operation could surely not have been done without inside help. Landing a boat with arms and so many people on the Mumbai coast is surely not a joke. Advani said this operation must have required 2 months or so of planning. That is what came out in the investigations!

8) We must remember that who could be the best friend of Hindu hardliners? Obviously Muslim hardliners. If there are no Muslim hardliners then there is no justification for Hindu hardliners. So obviously they are going to help each other. If we remember that in India Hinduism is not just about religion it is also about the Central and State Goverments and access to billions of rupees.

Who is going to answer all these questions? The media? Nope they are busy selling their news. The politicians? Now ways can we trust them.

Where do we go to get these questions answered?

The Indian Reply – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Watching the response of the authorities, the media, the common man and those in the line of fire made me realise that the Indian reply is made up of the good the bad and the ugly.

Let me start with something that really made me VERY happy. The statement issued by Taj Group of Hotels. Their premier hotel in Mumbai, operating out of a heritage building has sufferred a lot of damage. But even as the army operations are in progress to flush out the terrorists Taj Group issued the following statement:

“….we will rebuild every inch that has been damaged in this attack and bring back the Taj to its full glory,”

Amazing!

At the other end we find the Government shutting down the city. Wanting people to hide in their homes scared and terrified instead of going about doing normal days work. They pretend as if life is otherwise so normal and safe.

This has also shown how news hungry our media is. If media had their way they would stick a camera right up the ass of the injured and the army people and ask ‘apko kaisa lag raha hai’ (how are you feeling now). The silliest bit was when Barkha Dutt tried to approach a foreigner (a diplomat from the Canadian High Commission) again and again using ‘sir’ and almost ready to lick the persons feet for a sound-byte.

This has also shown how deeply are the Mumbai underworld, the Police and the Government are connected. Three senior police officers being targetted all of whome with a connection with the underworld. Police says that the terrorists came by boat. No way can you land on a boat in a busy city like Mumbai without anyone noticing. I am 100% sure terrorists had help from the authorities.

In this case I think the terrorists made use of the fact that many objectives converged into one big mission. Dealing with cops who attack the underworld, killing cops involved in investigating major crimes (like Malegon blasts), causing chaos, targetting foreigners, destroying a few more buildings and making some silly demands to launch the Kashmir Issue onto the World Stage.

Who knows, maybe Hindus and Muslims are cooperating in terrorism as well! Who benefits from all this? Only the hardline organisations. The Muslims will feel threatened and would increase hostility. The Hindu hardline organisations will use this to spread ‘Hindutva’.

They picked a very bad time though. The world is reeling under the weight of a financial crisis. No one has time for terror. In fact maybe that is why they combined so many operations into one. Maybe terrorists get affected by recession too!