Traffic Hawaldar for a day

Yogesh has given the good overview of the traffic event held this Tuesday….I would like to add few more incidents that I have experienced …
There were 8 of us who were there at yerwada bridge at 9 AM on Tuesday.

It was a pleasant cloudy day.Avdhut and Amruta (founder of this event)carrying Banners with smiling faces. Tarun-- the new member joined the team.Yogesh D&B ,Alok and Sam were looking awesome in the dress code that was White t-shirt and blue jeans.All the banners were handed over to the team . The one which I received was of Zebra crossing.

Everyone took their position with their respective banners. I took my position
Initially I could see that the truck drivers really stopped before zebra crossing but the educated public not and did not even bother to look at the boards..One man acting too smart crossed by and said”Madam aap chahe ghade ko dikhaoo ya ghodeko public nahin samjhegi”. I was a bit upset. Then a school bus stopped at the signal and all the kids where shouting as keep it up Aunty with thumbs up, that treated me as energy booster. Bus fir kya tha mein ban gayi Jhansi ki rani, haan lekin meine bachoo ko kaha AUNTY MUT KAHO NAA, hahaheheh--:-)-(Just kidding)
I realized the banner that I was holding is not to stand at one place ,but instead to roam from one signal to other . I became an lady bheem aur dikhaya public ko ki “Rules are to Follow and not to break”. Finally I was able to manage the traffic at zebra crossing .
One of the wonderful incident that I would like to share is , as I was roaming from signal to signal ,by the time I reach the signal it turned red and all the vehicles stopped before I reached there. One uncle I guess 50+ was in his car and he crossed the zebra crossing so I asked him Uncle please take ur car back ,u have crossed the z crossing please obey the rules and he replied back saying I don’t know English ,please explain me in hindi . I repeated the same statement in hindi. He said aacha aacha mein peeche jaooo.i said haan uncleji peeche thodi jagah hai aap peeche jaaeyen zebra crossing per aapki car hai..and what…. he did not even bother to see how much is the place behind and he took reverse and hit the bike .. fir kya tha .bikewala aaya aur uncleji ko laga dantne… OH My God !!!!
Uncleji ne kaha aaray baba yeh beetiya ne kaha peeche lo toe meine liya….Oh my god everyone there started laughing ,it was really hilarious..
After due course of time all the public started following the z crossing .It was good to see that Public were really respecting and responding well .One hour passed quickly.
Sam took few photographs which shows the difference in the traffic before and after.
Overall experience was Fantabulous
An Astounding achievement!!!!! Stupefying impact of public was dazzling.
Spandan Rocks!!!!
Cheers for SPANDAN, hip hip hurray!!!!!!

Spandan - Making a difference

After a lot of brainstorming and numerous planning sessions, finally it was the time when rubber hit the road.

26th August, 900 Hrs - Eight spandanites in white and blue gathered near the yerawada bridge for this much discussed event. Yes, they were there to tame the errant two-wheeler riders, teach the misbehaving four-wheeler drivers and enlighten the pedestrians. Alok and Sapna were the first to reach the venue, followed by Yogesh D. Soon Amruta, Avdhut, Yogesh P, Sameena and Tarun joined in. Avdhut distributed the posters (pinned to cardboards) to all of us. This time we had a limited stock of posters (one for Zebra crossing, another one for honking, one for giving way to Ambulance and one saying Keep Left). We soon realized that there were a few posters which were not very relevant. Also, we need to increase the font size. Oops!! I directly jumped into the lessons learnt. Bad project management!! Lessons learnt should be at the end of the project :-)

Anyways, this was the first time for all of us for such an activity. One realization that dawned upon us was that the sense of discipline among the commuters is not dependant upon the level of literacy. So called educated carwalas behaved the same way as not-so-read truckwalas. Rather in a few incidents truck drivers appeared to be more sensitive to the posters that we were holding. It was an effort intensive activity to convince people to follow some basic traffic rules. We had to literary stand on the zebra crossing and request (and at times force) people to stop behind the designated line. One incident sums this up. Avdhut was trying to persuade people to stand behind the line when one four-wheeler wala (I guess it was an Innova), almost ran Avdhut down. The driver was quite keen on not stopping behind the line but he had to surrender to Avdhut's grit and passion.
In another incident, a carwala got scared to death when Sameena gave a big thrashing.
There were some good responses as well with people raising their thumbs up to show their acknowledgement. This triggered me to think how thankless a job this traffic handling is for the traffic police. Hats off to their patience!!

After one hour of raising the posters, dancing with the posters and at time standing with the posters, we headed towards office with a resolve to come back.. next week, same day same time!!

A different lesson

Learning never stops, isn't it? And when a group decides to learn on its own, the lessons can come from all directions. This Wednesday was one such day where Spandan saw participation from very small number of people. It is probably because of the rains and other high priority things that people have. Just a handful of us were together mulling over what should we do with this small audience. We decided to take on a unique topic this time, away from our day to day technological topics. And we asked Sameena to give us insights into Islam and Quran.

Sameena, being a muslim and a very learned one, educated us on the details of the religion and its origin. She told us about Paigambar Mohammad and how he got blessings from 40 farishtays (good spirits) on god's directives of leading a life. How these lessons were scripted as Quran . She told us about the history of Mecca and Medina and how each Muslim is expected to complete his responsibilities before getting an approval for the Haj travel. We now know why goat, bird and fish are allowed as food for Muslims. Why did Burqas come into use and what is their primary intent ? Why are men allowed to marry 4 times and how can a lady ask for separation. We felt elated learning about another religion and the way these beliefs have impacted such a large group of people.

A good storyteller that she is, Sameena intertwined the mythological stories with the ways lessons are twisted in the present world to taint the images of Muslims. Little do we realize that we know so less about the people around us and roots of their values and principles. All in all it was an extremely insightful session for all of us.
Thank you Sameena! God bless you….

SPANDAN visits orphanage

CHILDREN OF THE LESSER GOD – SPANDAN VISITS ORPHANAGE

Since ages, we the mortal souls have been talking about salvation….salvation of the soul. As we evolved from being a speck of dust in the universe to the human forms that we are today, the quest for salvation and truth continues. It was this unquenched thirst of soul searching that walked the four members of SPANDAN to an Orphanage in DAPODI, Pune.
Located much inside a vicinity that is crying for help, Saraswati Sanstha, a help center for the Children of the lesser god ( I rather not call it a orphanage) they aren’t orphans. God provided those angels so that they would live to see a civilized world. Each step that we took brought us more close to the truth that life ain’t worth complaining. We should thank god each day that we live.
This was our first attempt in our effort to do something constructive and we had our questions and apprehensions. It was a call of the heart that led us to the gates of the orphanage. It was our turn to give back to the society. It was a call of the conscious. Every single step has to be from inside.
As we stepped inside, we saw the smiling faces. “ Pauna ala” ( guests have come ) pat came a twinkling little voice and we met an extremely cute girl who was more than happy to see us. It was a Saturday and kids were in a happy mood. They did not shy nor did they make any attempt to hide from us. It sure was a warm welcome from them. As we talked to the caretaker, kids happily lined up to receive the goodies. Each kid was very well behaved and knew how to say thank you after receiving the chocolate and biscuits we had carried for them. We were informed that most of the kids could speak English, courtesy Akansha, an NGO who looked after the educational needs of these kids. They were looked after well, however were short of ration. We were also told that there were elder kids too who were aiming for a college studies.
It was amazing to know that this orphanage started with just six kids and now accommodate some 50 kids of all ages. It was heartening to see their life without a family. Guess for them this was family. They seemed happier than most of us are. We fight and we crib and have thousand excuses of avoiding family affairs.
Wonder how these kids felt.
We departed with a wish in our hearts that we shall come back with a solid plan for doing something concrete for them. It’s not always monetary help that would help them. Even talking to them or playing games or just spending time would mean the world to them.

India and the Nuclear Deal

Got this article from Nitin. Posting it as is.
~alok

With the all important vote of confidence behind us and the government winning it with a respectable margin, India is all set to go ahead with the nuclear deal with the US of A. While we have seen and heard many voices speaking eloquently, both for and against the deal, I would still like to add my humble inputs for the deal.
How the deal will help India cut down on its carbon emissions by reducing its dependency on coal and gas has been analyzed in detail by a number of experts. Instead, I want to take a different approach, a slightly longer term one. In my view, the deal is not just about immediate energy fulfillment and pollution. It is also about India choosing sides and doing so publicly in the rapidly changing political and military environment of the world. On one end of this balancing beam is the as yet lone super power of the world, the United States and on the other, the rapidly growing economy, China. China, already the most populous nation of the world will soon overtake the US in GDP. It already has great political clout on the world stage and is always looking for ways to enhance it. While the US has been antagonizing the Arabs by invading Iraq and its headstrong attitude towards Iran, China has been wooing them for oil and building strategic partnerships with the Muslim world. It is also aggressively modernizing its armed forces, being only the third country in the world to shoot down a satellite in space. This means that the US too is looking to recruit countries in its camp. India being one of the few countries on Earth, having the capability to stand up to China, both economically and militarily seems a very attractive choice. India also has a lot of other commonalities with the US. Both are democracies and staunch advocators of democracy. Indians like the openness of the American lifestyle and Americans are attracted to the Indian culture. Both countries have oodles of soft power. On the other hand, relations between India and China have always been strained. India, like China, has been growing rapidly. Both the economies have an exponentially increasing energy demand which cannot be met by the dwindling natural resources of the planet, be it coal, gas, petrol or even nuclear fuel. Hence the cat and mouse game of outmaneuvering the other party for gains in oilfields and nuclear supplies has already started with China many steps ahead in this game. This has also lead to China seeing India more as a rival than as a partner. China refuses to accept Indian sovereignty over Sikkim and Arunachal while India has a disjointed foreign policy over Tibet. China also carries a grudge against India for giving asylum to the Dalai Lama and his followers. China realizes that India partnered with the US can pose as a deterrent to the Chinese interests and is therefore trying to contain India by trying to encircle it with its own spheres of influence. It has always been a silent but strong advocator of Pakistan, supplying it with missile and nuclear technology. It has close ties with the military junta in Myanmar with Chinese bases on Burmese islands close to the Andaman and Nicobar. Recently it offered to help the Sri Lankan government fight the war against Tamil rebels by providing it with weapons with offensive capabilities against India’s policy of supplying weapons that are primarily defensive in nature. It is also seeking ways to increase its influence in Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Recent news of Chinese nuclear submarine bases is an example of continued Chinese interest in the India Ocean. On the other hand, India has recently risen up to the energy crunch facing the world and the growing Chinese influence in the oil rich areas of the planet. With these inputs in mind, the old Indian policy of non-alignment is no longer valid. With the advance of the information age and international trade, nations are becoming more and more dependent on each other. A market meltdown in US can have reverberations around the world. As Thomas Freidman put it in his book, the world is becoming flatter by the day. Hence, even if India and China do not have a direct confrontation, there are indirect ways of weakening each other and India is beginning to realize this. India is already a regional power with ambitions of becoming a world power and as such needs to be more engaging. Any country harboring such ambitions cannot afford to let major decisions be taken without its interests not being represented while those decisions are being taken. It is imperative that India take a stand and it has done just that by going ahead with the nuclear deal.
It is too early to say how things will turn out. However, it is clear that with the planet’s resources going down, the competition to have access to them will increase. With both India and China trying to come on-stage as great powers and with the USA not wanting to go out quietly and add to that the erstwhile super power contender Russia and the usual gamut of European nations and all I can say is that it will be interesting times ahead.

Speak Your Heart

Today we had the second meeting of Spandan. The agenda of today's meeting was "Speak your heart". It was a nice experience to learn about 6 different things in a span of 90 minutes. Each person came with his/her heart and spoke about it.
We started with Ravi. Ravi said that he wants to instill Redknee culture in the new people joining RKI. Initially when people used to join at lower levels, it was easy to influence them. However with more than 30 people joining the organization in less than 3 months, it is important that we maintain the cultural fabric and set the right expectations in the new folks joining in. We decided to take it up as a part of Spandan's activities and help champion this cause.
Yogesh talked about how difficult is it for him to do public speaking and so this forum was a good place to open up. He talked about the incident that happened in parliament last evening and we talked about the dirty politics going on in India at present. How these men, who hold the highest positions in indian powerhouse behave with each other and the disrespect that they show to their positions. We all agreed that the debate was about everything but the nuke deal. One interesting learning that Sameena brought to our notice was how Manmohan singh waited for the right time to deliver his speech. We should wait for the right moment to speak.
Avdhut then talked about the traffic problems that he sees everyday on the roads and the frustration that grows in him. He wants to help himself and the public by taking whatever initiavies possible at self and this groups level. We plan to take it up and talk to the policemen at marigold square. We plan to gather additional information on how we can help. We also plan to make another blog which will list down all the traffic problems being observed at different places in pune and record them on the blog. We are hopeful that it would get noticed someday.
Sapna talked about the fitness class that she intends to start for the group. She wanted to know the logistics of how to go about starting it. Hopefully we will see something happening very soon in this direction. I desperately need to get in shape soon (although I realize that round is a shape too :) )
I then had an opportunity to speak about what I want to do. In one of the movies "Shall we dance", I heard this dialogue that every human being craves for getting his existence acknowledged. That was one of the reasons to start this group. Now 18 months in Redknee, I do not see a lot of "new" challenges in managing projects and so I want to get more out of my life. This group would be a good place to vent my energies. I also want to generate a lot of jobs at some point of my career since I have experienced first hand what it is to be without a job. I hope I will be able to do it some day.
Girish spoke in the last. But he raised a very interesting topic that got everyone sparked up. He talked about the documentation that we are doing and the ways it needs improvements. He shared with us how other organizations manage and standardize documentation. The conceptual and procedural documentation that organizations generate is where we should look at moving. We discussed about how different groups (R&D) can help if they get to participate in document evolution process. We intend to call someone from that group to help us know more on documentation evolution. It was amazing to hear different people talk on different topics. I could not capture everything that we discussed but it gave a sense of satisfaction to know so much more about things than what I possible learn new each day. I hope we are able to implement some of these suggestions and see results. The end results can be more motivating than anything else in forming and continuing a group.

Why I go to same Boutique?

Oh well... seems like me and Yogesh got the haircut on the same day...

Well now reading the post from Yogesh I think, I got inspired to search for a link Create or Post Blog. Being blogholic by nature, well I took 5 Mins (Yeah ... obviously exaggerated) to find the link.

For me Haircut is like once in 3-4 months activity, which, I afraid will soon become a yearly activity. And the only criteria to me is, get the appointment for the Haircut; go and relax. Well yes the problem still persists; Mr. Hair dresser cuts my hair. But you know what, when there are lot many hair and even Moon can see itself in the midnight clearly on my head, I prefer to go to the same HE person and he takes care of the rest. J Yeah I am in love with the Guy and with the Boutique... J

I got into this habit since I was in US of A and we (Me and My co-friends) used to go to one of the cheapest saloons out there, which would qualify easily probably for 3.5 star saloons here :p. Since then, it’s not acceptable getting a haircut, without looking at at-least 20 different hair styles with foreign models. Well you select the one and to your surprise, HE tells you, well you don’t have too many ...L... But Yeah I am in love with the Guy and with the Boutique... J

Today I found a Desi guy in the saloon (You would have understood why I would call somebody Desi ..) getting a haircut and trying to understand the Desi accent of HIM. Desi guy was a lot excited about the haircut, he had got and was checking for n number of creams and lotions ... Lovely desi wife in English dress was too standing beside him, giving me a good company.
Probably yes because of which again... Yeah I am in love with the Guy and with the Boutique... J

Well to be honest I thought of my decision yet again … Is it really important to be in Non Desi land and earn money? Well has really $ overtaken all the spice of life ... All the moments you spend with your entire family (Well ... I am talking beyond 2 people ...) I too come from a middle class family with the USA dream obviously. Being in US for close to 2 years now (Courtesy Infosys), I definitely thank god for not respecting me on my GRE abilities... J At a stretch I could stay there for Max 9 months :P .. Yes but even that was difficult as I used to dream about being with everybody daily... That used to be my favorite past time... Dreaming ... J (Yes I was in the middle of friends but you know what ... Let’s leave it here...you would understand me more in this continuous journey of Spandan ...) Somehow I don’t like to be alone when I don’t want to be.... I met many Desi people greeting with Angrej artificial smile, English chanting Hindu temples and the small lost kids in the color culture. Well also happened to be with Some close relatives listening to old Hindi songs every weekend and dreaming for 5 mins ... “Yes, I will be in India again” (To the contrary there next dream would be I want to buy a boat and go sailing … You know how much this is possible in India …. So first dream used to get over soon where second used to persist till the next weekend till the next Rafi’s song) ...Yes the only favorite past time used to be shopping ...where you spend some Dollars for yourself... J One of the activities being Hair cut on regular basis ... well really who cares about 18$... then ... I was in love with the GAL and with the Boutique... J

How would I feel cheating my-self on every weekend… Is it really important for me to wait for the day when Salary happens and smile only when I see the $ rising or is it important to enjoy 29 days and worrying only on the 30th day about my/our financial status... well for me I choose the second option. (Thanks to Amruta yes … She is the most active gal I have ever met in my life. She is Crazy about people here … Crazy to make things happen… Crazy to make a difference in others lives…On top of this … she has one more quality, she has the will power and the mind to make this happen, touch-wood, but yes I get the inspiration from her all the time.) Yes it’s difficult at times but come on... Kuch pane keliye kuch khona padta hai... one has to decide what you want and what you don’t ... I took another important decision of my life and I quit Infosys. Just to be with my dear once for some more time in real life. And just because of this I am in love with the Guy and with the Boutique... :) He gives me precious time to think about my EMI status without bothering about has the hair cut gone bad … ;)


Work Hard and Party hard.

Hair Cut and The Airlines!!!!

Getting a hair cut could be a hair-raising experience. Seriously!!!!!
This weekend was 'Get your hair cut' weekend and after I headed towards my favorite saloon (criteria - the one nearest to my place). As expected, could see almost a delegation of IT crowd waiting there to get the loads off their heads. So I headed for the less preferred saloon.
Saloons are a good venue to socialize. I am not a person who could strike a conversation with complete strangers. But could see people coming, sitting there waiting for their turns to come and start chatting with each other as if they are having a conversation with some long lost friend - 'Kab ke bichde aaj yahan saloon mein aake mile' types.
I, for sure am not one of those who is capable of doing this.
So, while the others in the queue were speaking their hearts out, i grabbed the newspaper lying on the chair and started browsing.
One of the articles caught my attention and I managed to read through ('managed' because every now and then you need to be watchful to ensure that no one has illegally sneaked in front you in the queue while you are reading).
The author (who happens to be a millionaire and context of airlines is of US airline industry) discussed the downgrade in the hospitality of the airlines crews, downgrade in facilities and increased risk of accidents. Reasons cited:
a) Airlines are not being preferred by the multi rich class who opt out for private jets instead. Hence the crew ends up dealing with the poor junta from which they could not expect/receive any favors. So even if they do not serve these people properly it is not going to affect their bottomline.
b) Facilities are becoming chargeable and even a can of coke comes with a cost.The baggage is also chargeable and there are ideas floating around charging the tickets based upon the weight of the person.
Oh God!!! Can you imagine being weighed before checking in? "Sorry Sir/Madam, you cannot be let in as you are 5 kg over the permissible limit. If you still want to board the flight you will have to shell out 'x' dollars". I might just be becoming too pessimistic. Anyways, the point is obesity comes with a cost and with such ideas taking shape obese crowd will have to watch out. Beware of those French Fries!!!!
c) Safety hazards would be on the rise with the airplanes getting older and the airlines not very keen on replacing them.

Author suggested that the situation above could be improved by encouraging the multi rich to travel in these airlines by providing them luxuries which they seek in their private jets. By doing this, it would cut down on the costs incurred by the multi rich and also benefit the airlines.
Nice article!! Now let us get back to my hair cut.

Well i was pleasantly surprised to discover that i was at the throne being attended by the scissor artist in less than half an hour. The scissors went swiftly over the growth of 2 months on my head in a matter of seconds. On my way out.I could see people still chatting merrily.

And i thought "Sar ka ek bojh to Halka Hua". Now its the turn of the tyres to get rid off, the ones which i have meticulously acquired on the periphery of my stomach. How I wish it was as easy as the Hair Cut!!!!!!

My First Blog-Spandan First Day

Spandan has really awakened me and touched my soul .Since morning I could not think of anything else than Spandan.This does not mean that I did not work today:-),but yes my all imagination and thinking was revolving around Spandan.
Morning I and Alok was only the members to arrive first. I was bit disappointed by not seeing anybody for more 10 mins . slowly Girish entered the board room, followed by Yogesh..So Alok initiated the session. Sameena was in by that time ,joining Avdhut ,Ajay and Daksha. We discussed all the ideas that came into our mind. The time passes by and we could not even recognize as to we spend one and half our discussing about the things.
Yellow chilli was another one of the good experience of my life. Knowing group members was the key part ,but other than that I spoke my heart out there. That even I never spoke with Alok. It gave me confidence of speaking as well as thinking .The hahahhehehe time was Fantabulous.
LETS CHEERS FOR SPANDAN. LETS ROCK

Yogesh Dewangan - My first blog

From Yogesh

Although the ‘Times of India’ of 16th July suggested a drought like situation and warned for water/electricity woes in the city, Sameena could feel her soul drenched. How I wish that thirsty land of Maharashtra could feel the raindrops as well. Hang on!! We are not here to discuss the drought situation (not at least on the kick-off day of Spandan!!).
I was of the opinion that I was perhaps the one who had his apprehensions regarding the event. But reading Sameena’s article learnt that I was not alone. And I am sure there would have been others as well with their pocketfuls of apprehensions. So here we are – a group of like-minded people J

I would really like to congratulate all who could make it on the first day of this event. Alok in particular for taking a lead and being present bang on time(leading from front, as they say!!!!! J).
It was really good to see people pour their ideas/feelings during this meeting and later on at ‘Peeli Mirchiyan’. I am hopeful we will continue with the same zeal and fervor.
Hey all Spandanians, it is a commitment to our own selves. Let us make this a successful venture. Hoping for more rains (spiritual as well as actual!!!)