tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41254593836635859582011-12-21T03:05:07.938+05:30Yes you are.Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-74590832396095879452010-10-01T20:09:00.003+05:302010-10-01T20:09:37.208+05:30

Those who know me well already know the fact that I've never really been a huge fan of ToI - be it the newspaper itself in particular, or its brand of masala journalism that has made the yellow of UK tabloids acceptable in our country's media (a good example would be the levels to which The Telegraph - the Calcutta based daily that I once loved - has stooped, almost exclusively due to competitive

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-24794073226432677632010-09-18T15:20:00.000+05:302010-09-18T15:20:00.137+05:30

The word "engineer", as any reliable source will tell you (as will Wiki), is derived from the Latin word for cleverness which incidentally is the same root for genius, ingenious, ingenuity and all other such related words that mean some extraordinary mental capacity that is inherent and/or in-born. So, at the end of this otherwise ordinary week which, just for the record, contained Engineer's Day

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-44556032872891068702010-09-16T19:00:00.001+05:302010-09-18T14:23:36.563+05:30

(continued from Part III - Sad But True) But while figures paint a completely different picture, the ground reality is, still, this - a vast majority of the population has always and still chooses to swim in tried and tested waters, for as the age old saying goes, a traditional professional degree in hand is better than two severely limiting certificates including one general degree and one

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-20848636414423548752010-09-15T19:00:00.001+05:302010-09-18T14:23:33.253+05:30

(continued from Part II - Engineer Equals Philistine) Now I have done a lot of research about engineering education at the under-graduate level in India and its products, and without going into too much detail let me just say that 1979 is the year that segregates the 2 eras. Before that point in time, there were just about 100-odd colleges offering engineering degrees to students just out

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-2923890305246708852010-09-14T19:00:00.001+05:302010-09-18T14:23:30.533+05:30

(continued from Part I - A Taboo Called Engineering) Now let me make one thing absolutely clear - any person on being specifically asked about their opinion will in all probability not spout all of what was written in the previous part or what is written underneath. So don't start thinking where I got these ideas from since you are thinking in your head, "Hey! I don't think like that and

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-25446840656246304592010-09-13T19:00:00.001+05:302010-09-18T14:23:27.939+05:30

A few Sundays ago, I was at this elitist conference at the Habitat. Every time a speaker finished his turn, the emcees would urge all of us in the audience to switch seats and make new friends. Networking, though, doesn't come naturally to me. So, by the end of the day, the only new contact I made was this guy who came up and spoke to me during the lunch break. After the event wrapped up, he

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-92212875466789237412010-06-29T19:29:00.000+05:302010-06-29T19:29:00.381+05:30

More than 77% of our country's population lives on less than 20 Rs. per day. This is not any random statistic I just came up with - it is the official figure provided by the NCEUS. The top 1% - the rich - control a ridiculous amount of wealth. The figure's probably not as obscene as the USA, but it's more worrisome given our population. Then again, 1% of 110 crore - 1.1 crore - can hardly be

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-34829584838719058822010-04-17T16:23:00.001+05:302010-04-26T17:01:11.023+05:30

Dearest Kanu,To begin with, I am deeply saddened by your recent bereavement, but what saddens me even more deeply is how little coverage your passing got in the media, which is really surprising given that the media is much less the Fourth Estate and much more a multi-headed money-hungry business behemoth scrounging for every last scrap of potential news to devour in a way that's louder and more

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-69923362739258702272009-07-03T12:43:00.000+05:302009-07-03T12:43:07.422+05:30

The past week has been a landmark one in terms of homosexual rights in our country. We had pride parades all over the country on Sunday which witnessed larger turnouts than ever before and Veerappa Moily declared that the government was in favour of scrutinizing Section 377 IPC that criminalized "unnatural sex" as defined by the British Raj. But all that paled in comparison to the Delhi High

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-55864134327928031442009-05-26T09:31:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

AFSPA, UAPA, MISA, TADA, POTA, MCOCA, CSPSA. Yeah, a whole lot of acronyms. Guess what all of them have in common? Yes, they are all laws which if used properly will undoubtedly bring about a better law and order situation even in the most troubled hotspots of our nation.Unfortunately, they have one more thing in common - the potential for misuse. And this is what worries human rights activists

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-79705454211304628202009-05-25T14:06:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

It is rather unfortunate that I happen to belong to the 18-35 age bracket, which bears the label of 'youth' as accorded by the media with an increasing intensity especially in the build-up to the general elections. Yes, it is indeed unfortunate, and I have good reason to believe so. We have so much going for us, not least having the luxury of living in a day and age when almost everything is, at

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-19416821841291189752009-05-18T17:16:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

I like ROM. Traditionally, you can program him only once and he'll do what he's been told to do. So the Egyptian sun God instructed him to be creative and make movies - which is a very generic instruction open to multiple misinterpretations. When he was young, ROM made ads - real good ones at that. Or at least that's what I'm told - I mean, I don't remember any, since back then I didn't really

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-50719802803720682272009-05-17T18:18:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

As far back as I can remember, we always used to get this particular paper at home. I do have blurry memories of an earlier era, and I'll come to that paper later but for now, back to the less hazy recollections. The reason for opting for this paper over the previous one, I was told, was that the latter was so full of text all written in a dead-serious tone that reading it on a daily basis was

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-55705245604537004052009-05-16T18:53:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

Left nahi, right nahi, chalo centre hi sahi. It's almost out now, and it does seem like an increasing number of voters have decided to grin and bear it, and settled upon the Grand Old Party as the least of all the evils that compose our political system. But since anyone and everyone is a psephologist nowadays (who, like the humble journalist who also happens to be the head of one of the major

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-54590723216870303202009-05-15T16:38:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.905+05:30

Long time ago, a certain someone with a highly romanticized view of the agrarian life proposed that the Indian National Congress be dissolved with the coming of Independence, and that free India be composed of self-contained colonies of people who keep to themselves and farm their way through life. Such philosophical anarchy was dubbed impractical by the realists who wanted to make sure they

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-90291417435899400632009-05-15T15:28:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

So I've been travelling a lot over the past couple of months. Well, not the past couple of months - the past couple of months when I first starting writing this, way back in the 1st week of this year. Or the last week of last year. So anyway, back then I was travelling a lot. And thinking - you know, taking stock of life, the universe and everything. And 42. But those things are not what blogs

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-38644992833542612042008-12-31T16:49:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

Selling out, if you ask any youngster, is supposed to be an ignominy, but why? The very artists that we so easily accuse of having "sold out their beliefs" would not have reached us in the first place if they weren't part of the commercial channels. Which then makes one wonder if they were ever true to the cause in the first place. An article on this will follow at a later date, but for now, some

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-60271545652051354662008-12-27T00:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

The capitalist messengers All forms of media have been criticized and rightfully so, but being more of the business ventures (and less of informers to the public) that they've become, they've taken even that criticism and turned them inside out. So while the print media came out with defense articles (see above), the TV stations held debates upholding the rights and functions of the news channels

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-80994540519689260472008-12-26T00:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

Rich man's blood splashed on a rich man's lensI'm sure most of you must have read at least one of the articles in the print media with the common title, 'Don't Shoot The Messenger'. By various authors, all try to defend the media, using the very example that has been cited most often as an example of the media's irresponsibility - of commandoes landing on a roof during the Nariman House siege. I

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-11913425297416151032008-12-25T00:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

We, the people, suckThere is a huge disconnect between different strata of the society within the limits of a metropolis, and one needn't look further than the city which is always in the limelight, and quite often for tragic reasons - Bombay. Now there's a city which has seen strife not only recently, not only during the serial bomb blasts of '93, '03 and '06 (among many other such sporadic

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-26007756248287778312008-12-24T00:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.906+05:30

The ever-lengthening bridgeThe contrast was, as it always is but only when we care to look at it closely enough, spellbinding. While NDTV India's Zaika India Ka had Vinod Dua roaming around and sampling the local cuisines of the remote streets of Maharashtra's Konkan coastal region, the news that was flashing on our screens was the 400-crore gift that Anil Ambani has given his wife Tina. A bit of

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-59393960109903226372008-12-23T00:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.907+05:30

I don't really know how I'd like to start this one. And it's not like I'm facing a dearth of ideas - on the contrary, I've got too many in mind. So let me just put them all down.(EDIT: I'm breaking it up and making it into a 5-part series, as otherwise the length is proving to be a deterrent)The first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight ClubI make it a point to mentally scoff

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-69696075083314596242008-12-20T17:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.907+05:30

***WARNING: Devoid of humour; might contain traces of romanticism; definitely contains dollops of cynicism and disillusionment***I only vaguely recall the days of Doordarshan. In spite of having got a cable TV connection only ten years back, my recollections of the small screen prior to that, and of the news in particular, are very hazy. But what I do remember is that back then, we had to wait

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-79532651276424808022008-12-07T13:37:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.907+05:30

Having decided to shuttle between Bombay and Delhi during the long gaps between my exams, I also decided to take the opportunity of transporting some stuff which has been gathering dust just lying around without being used in Bombay back home. So, a couple of days back when I headed back after the first exam (which, by the way, was one of the most horrendous experiences of my academic life), I

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-72098775048376978092007-10-17T22:00:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.907+05:30

Shatabdi got a poorer country cousin of sorts in Jan Shatabdi. Rajdhani was left in the lurch - until this year. Only, the name seems to suggest that the Capital trains are yet to been meted out with equal treatment. The new trains aren't Jan Rajdhanis - they're Garib Raths.Yes. Not Jan Rajdhanis. Not Lok Raths. Not any form of Kranti. GARIB RATH.A friend of mine, aptly named Now, suggested it as

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-5972363093661265292007-10-08T02:29:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.907+05:30

Disclaimer: Before reading this piece, you need to agree to abide by all the rules and regulations specified in the actual disclaimer at the end of this article. Should you choose to go down reading and happen to get offended, will I be liable? Buddy, that's also part of the actual disclaimer, not this dummy one.PLST: Or Why Harbour Line Oughta Be Given A Facelift In Order To Bring It To

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The Hindu is one really good paper that's available in Delhi. So is The Statesman. But among the mainstream ones, it's HT which gets my vote. As of now, I'm in Bombay.Calcuttans love their addabaji and theatre runs in their city water supply, which compensates for the lack of it in their bloodstreams. Creating a scene is mandatory, whether you are in politics (rallys) or labour/service sector ("

Kaushik Chatterjihttps://profiles.google.com/103111305693041001891noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4125459383663585958.post-27602945324679491882007-09-30T19:52:00.000+05:302009-05-28T20:30:56.908+05:30

The gentlemen in white (usually) are undeservedly unsung - that's my excuse to write a song in their praise. Or maybe rip them apart in the wake of the big question - how much of a role should technology ideally play?RANDOM REDIRECTION # 1 (AVOID IF YOU VALUE CONTINUITY)Now that India has won the inaugural World Cup of the gentlemen's game's most abbreviated version, only one question remains -

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