Random Thoughts

2006-11-22T02:48:00.000-08:00

A Humble Prayer :)

Its been a year since I blogged-so I thought I would make a (re) start :) . But cant think of anything to blog-my brain has been hibernating since a year (or maybe more than that ! ) . Considering a few ppl still do visit my blog (thanks to my e-mail signature that contains my blog address ) ...heres one of my fav poems from the great poet-ME :) !!!

Give me the strength to do what is right,
And fight the wrong with all my might.
O God, give me the strength to bear,
The difficulties I will face till I reach there.
After each fall, let me emerge stronger,
Let me persevere through the darkness a little longer.
Success and failure, let me take both in my stride,
In trying times, You be my guide.
Let me always give more than what I take,
The world a better place, help me make.
Let me never betray the people who trust me,
Make me worthy of love and respect, this is my humble plea.
Let there be no place for hatred in my heart,
With happiness and love, let each day start.
O God, free me from anger and envy,
The brighter side of life, let me always see.
Give me the courage to own up when I err,
To stand for the right , let me dare.
Make me good O God, I beg of Thee,
So that long after I am gone, people remember me.

Right To Information Act,2005

2005-11-28T00:54:00.000-08:00

I thought i would blog on something useful :)....I have been trying to find out more about the Right To Information Act,passed in October 2005 in India. This act may be what India needed to build a corruption free soceity .

I found more interesting information on this in various blogs ..

The Right to Information Act (India) came into effect on October 12, 2005. It is similar to the Freedom of Information Act in the US and Canada.

Such an act has long been in place in most developed countries and the irony is that public disclosure acts are more needed in countries like India than the developed ones. That being said, it is finally here and now the question is, will it live up to its expectation or will it face challenges with our bureaucratic babus.

RTI is a powerful tool that will enable the common man to have access to information at Central and state government departments (excluding J&K and a few restricted departments). The act specifies what is open to disclosure and what is not. So the success of RTI will depend on understanding it and using it in its best possible form by the civil society to hold our government(s) accountable. RTI would be helpful to eradicate corruption and promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.

The government is appointing Public Information Officers (PIO) in all administrative units or offices under it to provide information to the citizens requesting any information under the Act. Under the rules of the act, citizens will have to pay a nominal fee from Rupees 2 to Rupees 50 depending on the service sought and there are pre-set timelines with which the PIO must comply. Like the Canadian model, the government is also setting up a Central Information Commission (CIC) with 10 Information Commissioners (IC) who will be appointed by the president. CIC will be an independent body that will monitor and arbitrate complaints against the functioning of the system and redress the issues; at least theoretically.

So that’s a gist of RTI in simple words and I encourage every citizen to visit the Right to Information Act web page set up by the government.

There are three areas of concern within the current system.
All Public information officers, Information commissioners and other senior positions are appointed by the government and the President’s office, wherein most of those appointed so far are former bureaucrats, who can bring their work habits here and slow it down.

RTI will help citizens find areas of corruption, which in most cases would have been known to people prior to RTI; but the key here will depend on how citizens can use the documented information to hold those involved accountable. Citizens using RTI can be threatened, harassed or even assaulted by individuals/gangs that aid public departments in their corrupt practices. An increase in human rights violations can be expected especially in rural areas and states with high mafia-police nexus activities. The government needs to step up to bring in measures to protect the citizens using RTI. Canada and the US along with some other countries also have what they call a ‘Public Service Whistleblowing Act’. This act provides protection against employment reprisals for employees who make complaints against their employers for the alleged violation of any central or state legislation. The government of India needs to bring in such an act that will encourage more public service employees to come out with information that will bring accountability and better transparency in the functioning of our bureaucracy.

Finally the law does not apply to political parties, religious groups and non governmental organizations. India is no stranger to controversies and riots from these sectors and citizens should have the right to know where they get their funds from and how they spend it. RTI should be extended to these groups especially those receiving funds from outside India. This is not the first time India has passed a historic law by popular demand and will not be the last time either, but time and again we have seen that the enthusiasm doesn’t last long, and the people’s will to hold our government accountable is soon lost; like the promises of our politicians. The success of RTI and eradication of corruption in India will depend primarily on the motivation of our citizens to overcome the challenges that come with it and hold our government(s) accountable and bring a positive change to our immediate society.

For more information on RTI: http://www.persmin.nic.in/RTI/WelcomeRTI.htm

And the original blog where i found the above information : http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2005/11/rti-_can_it_del.html

Do check out the above sites...we need to build a BETTER INDIA !

Random Thoughts

2005-11-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

Its been a loooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg time since I blogged, and I was pretty surprised the last time i visited my blog and saw Gandhiji's picture...It took me a minute to realize that this was from the site where I took a 'Leader Personality' test, and after the results came out there was a link which said 'Post to Blog' and lo ! here it was. By the way, i thinkn I shud remove that post, coz the next time I took it my personality profile was 'Mother Teresa ' !!! Wonder what I will be next time I take it :) . And an 'emanciated do gooder ' ???? Honestly, I think ppl who know me as 'Destructive Deepthi' or 'Kutti Pisasu' ( dont ask me what it means- figure it out urself :) ) will roll on the floor laughing :)

Hmm.....what have I been doing all this while ? And why did I suddenly wake up to blogging again ?? Kind of lost touch i guess...got busy with work,and the only kind of creative writing I have done in 4 months is writing creative code (Exceptionally Creative...Pun INTENDED) and code comments :)

And finally a couple of days back I came up with the following verses :

Nature-Natural Anymore ?

Away from the city, nature I see
This is how God meant the earth to be
Flowers nodding away, colorful and bright
With cheerful abandon in the pleasant sunlight
Sparkling lakes rippling in the breeze
Luscious green meadows stretching lazily in peace
Clear crisp air filled with scents divine
Heavenly splendor- of flaws not a sign

He fashioned the earth and gave man the choice
To rule over it -or in it rejoice
And we- Oh ! what have we done ?
We have wrecked nature in return
Where once tall trees merrily used to sway
There hard dreary roads now lay
Gone are the plush fields, gleeful and green,
Blazing structures in steel are now to be seen
Civilization has fogged the air and our mind,
In search of progress, we left ourselves behind.
In the city, our world I see
And wonder- Is this how God meant the earth to be ?

My first attempt at writing nature poetry, though it did not turn out to be completely that way...keep the comments coming :)

Till we meet again...Shubh Raatri, Shabbha Khair..and do take very good care of urselves :)

2005-07-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

The right job for me

2005-04-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

I took a test at Tickle.com :the Right Job/Wrong Job test- been wondering of late whether I am really suited to do what I am doing, if not- what will I be the best at ? and here are the results :

Deepthi, the right jobs for you would allow you to be
Creative and Strategic

You're a visionary in many people's eyes — able to think outside of the box to come up with your own solutions. You're creative not necessarily in the artistic sense, but because you can expand your mind to do things differently from others.It might take a while for colleagues to recognize and reward for your entrepreneurial spirit and abilities. That could be because they envy you, or because they find your ideas slightly rebellious — willing to go against the current. All in all, you make it hard for people to pigeon hole you. That is why you, more than others, need a job that allows you to play to your strengths, break out of the mold, and truly excel.

Hmm..any suggestions as to what I'll be really good at ???

We, The People

2005-04-19T04:08:00.000-07:00

I was reading my own blog and realized that I was sounding pretty old ( what else do u call a person who talks about philosophy and mission on earth :) )

On a more serious note- i was surfing and i saw this :

"... India at least does not seem to have the culture yet of individual empowerment - the “American” Dream that you can make your life better in your lifetime – and that really saps the ambition for many folks. American Indian immigrants in general are different than those they left behind because they are obviously had the ambition to leave. "

Hmm..this set me thinking ( and that needs to be celebrated - does not happen too often nowadays :) )

We all know that the cause for the brain drain is the system here- we say the system sucks - and unfortunately its quite true. But what have we, 'the people' done to change it ? Instead , we pack our bags and shift to the 'land of dreams' ... what about the Indian Dream- will it ever see the light of the day ? Will it ever materialize ?

The best way to combat the system is to become a part of it and change it from the 'Bottom Up'- we need to uproot corruption , and that can be done when more and more Educated youth who really want to make a difference and are passionate about their country ( forgive me if I sound like Microsoft :) ) take to politics - with a vision to improve the nation .

Lets make India Better !

2005-04-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

I was so busy trying to make a living that I forgot to live !

This is so true ! We keep running all along, trying to reach our destination- and forget to enjoy the journey in the process. Finally we realize life has just passed us by ...and wonder what we were so fervently searching for when it was all within us !

Hmm.....i have been pondering of late about the purpose of my very existence- did i come here just to earn money, have all that i want to have in the world and leave ? what is it that i want to have ? Is there a deeper mission that i have to fulfill- if yes, what is it ?

DLOG!!!

2005-03-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

In life there are no problems-only solutions waiting to be found

Let me start today's blog-post with a real postive note- and continue from there on... I initially started off blogging thinking i will use it as a day to day record of my activities, but now i think i will use it for a more therapeutic purpose-something which would help me delve deep into my own psyche and make me a more positive, happy person :) . And I even came up with a new name for my blog- DLOG ( call it a Blog with a Difference or Drao's Blog )

The one-liner above is very meaningful- if we could look at the brighter side of life- think that the glass is half full rather than half empty- hmm..things would be so much more easier, so much better ! I even came up with a few lines of my own:

Thank God for the worries you have,

For it means you can think ,

Thank God for the dust in your eyes

Atleast you can blink !

Thank God for the noise around you,

For it means you can hear,

Thank God for your belongings few-

You have nothing to fear !

Ok...I know i am not exactly Shakespeare :) ( hey ! that rhymes with the last line of the poem too ;) )

Do give me your ideas..let your creative juices flow !!!

Cya!

Be Happy :)

Drao

Joy to the World !

2005-03-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

' Happy people dont have everything -they make the best of everything they have. '

I came across this really meaningful and cute line around 2 years back and since then, have been trying to live by it. We get so lost in our day to day chores that we dont even stop to admire the really simple,nice things in life. At the end of the day, its how happy you are and how happy people are with you that counts.

Hey ! looks like I am in a really dreamy and poetic mood today- and I am lovin it :)

Be Happy!

From Hardly working to Hard Working :)

2005-03-13T22:47:00.000-08:00

Seems like my blogging is going to become a monthly affair :) Anyways...my last blog post was incomplete.. i meant to say -"after days of hard(ly) working...."and lo! like magic, I have been bombarded with loads of work since then. So that explains why i have not been blogging....

Hmm... life seems to have become a treadmill run- i have been running non-stop, but reaching nowhere :( . Lets see what the future holds and what i will do !

Project - i am trying to work hard on it-but not able to quite figure out how useful all these days of work have been.

Watched Constatine - its one movie that will make u wonder- what was the movie all abt ?Keanu Reeves is good ( i kinda really like him), but other than that, its mostly filled with some supernatural stuff..not very believable.

so gotta get back to work....have not done anything much frm morning..cya (hopefully soon :) )

Drao

Week 2

2005-03-01T02:19:00.000-08:00

Hey! I am back :-) ( sounds familiar or has it become too much of a cliche now ? )

Its been a lllooooooooong time since i posted..( almost a week) ... i initially started this off as a daily thing, but seems like i somehow forget to post ....and the best part is- i forgot my userid ... :-) ( hey..dont mock-Albert Einstein always used to forget the way to his house..so now you know whom i resemble :-) )

Anyways, i have not been doing anything worth posting during the past few days ( not that i have ever done anything worth posting in my life ;-) ) Just been trying to concentrate on my project here...Support Vector Machines...i wish I could get a huge brainwave all of a sudden and come up with some real cool solution for my project ( that would be fun)

Day 2 at Blogger's Park

2005-02-22T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Today is the second day of my blogging....

I have not been upto anything much....I had to deliver a presentation to my project guide..yesterday-the funniest part was -i was in the middle of this very serious and intellectual presentation :-) with my guide and all of a sudden 2 of my long-lost friends frm school pop up online and bombard me with messages !!! Serves me right for not changing my online status :).

I had a good lunch and a short walk ...now i have to get back to work (???) hmm....its kinda fun if u are not a person who wants to be on his (or her ) toes all the time-but if u tend to get into bouts of restlessness like me after an hour of idling...then God save u !

Cheers!

Drao is here

2005-02-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

Hello ,

I have finally started blogging...I dont know how far I am going to be consistent at it..but everybody seems to be doing it..so what the heck! let me give it a try :) . I work according to DST...(Deepthi Standard Time ..for the ignorant souls who dont know ....) so dont be surprised if u see my posts containing details abt events that happened a month ago ( or more :) )

So how do i start off.. i am recovering frm a swollen eye...( no, dont start guessing...i did not get into a fight... i had an eye infection ) wondering what to do ..now that i have started my project at HP with a system at my disposal...so i thought let me blog !!!

cya!