The Maharashtra State Board declared the results of the HSC (12th Standard) exams yesterday. Today's Newspapers are full of stories of those topped the exams, passed in flying colors in spite of several challenges like dissabilities, living conditions, health issues, financial conditions etc. Many of those are tall examples of what one could achieve in spite of extreme challenges in life. I vitnessed one such example this morning - when our "Bai" (maid ) walked in with a little smile on her face. Her daughter passed the HSC exam.

She is our maid who comes everyday - all days a week - works for around 2 hrs every day in our house. Does similar work for many more homes. Stays in a 1 room house given to her family by Slum Rehabilitation Authority. She possibly works for more than 12 hrs a day cleaning other's houses, washing utensils, dusting thier expensive furnitures, sweeping floors all along the day.
She speaks very little. I realized today that behind her quite dedication and extreme hard work, is a much larger goal - to educate her three children so that they don't have to undergo the same ordeal which she did through out her life. Her youngest daughter passed HSC exam yesterday. The elder is in the final year of graduation and the eldest son is already employeed.

The lady who could not even pronunce names of the subjects her kid just passed with decent marks, had a sense of achievement for her daughter. I think more than her daughter, it is her own achievement. She never went to school herself, but has learnt the importance of education through hard lessons of life.

I asked her, "so what next?". She replied without any doubt, "Pudhcha Shikshan" (Further studies) and moved into the kitchen to complete her work.

My salute to the spirit of the this woman. The respect for her in my mind has just gone up.

Yesterday the Indian Supreme Court passed a historic judgment in relation to Petition for Euthanasia for Aruna Shanbaug, who lies in a vegetative state since last 38 yrs after she was brutally assaulted by a ward boy. The SC has made Passive Euthanasia legal, while still ruling against mercy death for Aruna. Story of her life (really?) has inspired many documentaries, TV programs, News stories and even a book – “Aruna’s Story” by Pinky Virani. This is possibly the first case  of Euthanasia in India that has received this significant coverage in the media and has been debated and discussed at length through various channels. Along with this, Aruna’s painful story has also reached common people and has been a topic of discussions everywhere. I feel the story has two absolute extremes of human behavior.
Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse in KEM Hospital in Parel, Mumbai was sexually assaulted by a ward boy Sohanlal Walmiki in 1973. In an horrific demonstration of brutality, he throttled Aruna with a dog chain. The sever strangulation disrupted blood supply to Aruna’s brain. Physical and mental trauma was so severe that Aruna entered into a vegetative state and till date remains in the same. Sohanlal was an extreme example of brutal, cruel and inhuman behavior. I would wonder what conditions would trigger a human being to treat another with such ruthless deeds. It is fearsome for me even to think and imagine. I would think one would cross such limits only if he is insane or lost his senses under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
On the other hand, Aruna’s story has a demonstration of other side of human behavior -  Care, Love, humanity and dedication. It was a couple of yrs after the assault on Aruna that the BMC wanted to move Aruna out of the KEM hospital so that the bed is available for other patients. She had no family support, no friends, no relatives. It was the staff of KEM hospital who came down to streets against this decision and made sure that she has a bed permanently allotted to her. It has been 38 yrs since then that the staff at KEM has been taking care of Aruna who does not even know what’s happening around her. The lady who was in her late 20s has now turned 65 lying on the bed without any senses, emotions, reactions and movements. The nurse staff does everything for her, day in and day out, every day, for last 38 yrs. Aruna is a family member for them. For last 38 yrs, they have ensured she did not have a single bedsore . This, even after knowing that she is possibly not going to wake up one day and offer a vote of thanks. Here is an example of extreme dedication, altruistic care and love driven by a pure noble intention of serving a life.
While Walmiki shows us the dark, cruel, fearsome and inhumane dimension of Aruna’s story, the KEM staff shows us the light of love, care, selfless service and most important - hope.
Salute to the spirit of the KEM ladies. You are a great inspiration.

Last week the School of my children sent out a note about a drawing competition, inviting parents to join along with children. I wasn’t particularly keen, especially since it was on a Saturday and I was looking out for a relaxed weekend after a damn hectic week. The note also had some brochure titled “No TV Day” advertising Hindustan Times. That even put me down further as I already dumped the concept as some marketing gimmick from HT. However, I was not given an option to give it a miss by my kids and I was forced to join.
The overall experience was quite contrary to what I had expected.
Firstly, the entire environment was made quite conducive for an event like this. The big auditorium of Udayachal School was packed with parents who came along with their children and they jointly painted their imaginations about “Mumbai”. The results were quite amazing. Gateway of India, Juhu Beach, Marine Drive, Bandra Worli Sea Link, and even Kala Ghoda Festival - we had everything covered. Apart from the end result, I enjoyed the whole process. Given our background, we do frequently spend time with children on Music. However, this was probably the first time we actually participated jointly with my kids for a drawing competition. It was quite enjoyable. I have almost concluded that I am not that bad in drawing as I assumed earlier .
Apart from enjoying the time that I spent there, I liked the concept itself. No TV Day. Instead of wasting time watching TV, spend time with your children by letting the creative juices flow free through drawing and painting. This time it was painting. Next time it could be Games. Could be Music. It is important to realize that the idiot box has intruded into our lives possibly much more than it ideally should. I have seen families where people do not even speak to each other for hours when Ekta’s characters are in full swing in the evening. Or children who do not eat if the Cartoon network is switched off. There is a need to seriously relook at this addiction that is catching up our society big time. This has exponentially increased over last 5 yrs with digital cable services, HD content, LED TVs and what not. Children, instead of playing in the ground, prefer to waste their times watching Shinchans of the world. The broken knees are soon getting replaced by spectacled eyes.
We followed the “No TV Day” instruction quite well that day and came out quite satisfied. Have decided to follow this as a practice. Not sure about the frequency though. But have made the beginning at least. I am forced to extend this to other devices as well that have intruded my personal life. My children are behind me to follow “No Laptop Day” and “No Office Cell phone Day”. The thought process has begun. I am willing to follow.
How about you?

Yesterday Google announced that the current CEO, Eric Schmidt, who ran the company for more than 10 years will step down. The co-founder of Google, Larry Page will take over from him. It is interesting to see a giant like Google shaking it’s leadership even after consistent stellar performance on the balance sheet. At the face of it, it might look as if all this was uncalled for, especially when the company is doing so well on the stock market, on its revenues as well as net profits.
That’s where new age technology companies like Google differ. Balance sheets are the last thing to worry for them.
Google is at a stage where Microsoft was at one point in time. It had demonstrated phenomenal growth and leadership in technology innovation and a mass reach that seemed to be unparalleled in the history of computing. The king of Desktop software (Windows and Office) was on a dream run for almost decade with more than 90% share of whatever market it entered. However, things changed with the fast changing winds of early 2000s and it could not keep pace with the rapid innovation driven by the internet. In spite of an early advantage that it had with the acquisition of Hotmail, Microsoft has been by and large a laggard in bringing in internet based innovations. A small start-up from California like Google went on to become giant and has already started challenging Microsoft on its own turf of Operating Systems and Office Applications. While MS still continues to enjoy market leadership position in Desktop software, it is no more perceived as a Technology Innovation Leader.
Google has potentially similar problem in-front of it.
The way MS missed the internet innovation bus, Google is threatened by the Social Media trend. While the Social Media has reached billions across the world, Google has been rather unsuccessful in creating a space for itself here. Orkut was once popular in India and Brazil, but failed to have a global reach. Buzz was a disaster. Google Wave started with much fan fare but had to be shut down within 18 months for very low adoption. On the other hand, the world saw the rise and rise of Twitter and Facebook. Facebook, with an estimated revenue of 1 Billion USD last year, already has a valuation of 50 Billion USD. With a user base of more than 500 million and growing, it is the most popular internet app in the world. Two months back the overall time spent on Facebook surpassed the total time spent on all Google properties put together. It has already become a household name, just like Google.
Google can not just sit and watch this happen.
With the size and complexity of its business, Google has somewhere hit the Big Company Syndrome, making it slow and less friendly to innovation. The change at the top, is precisely to address this problem. Under Page’s leadership, Google hopes to bring back the pace, speed and nimbleness of the young companies like Facebook while still being a large financial giant.
The Adult Supervision that Eric Schmidt brought to the then young and budding Google, seems to have become a bottleneck, just 10 yrs down the line. Google has been proactive to fix this. Unlike Microsoft.