This is the part of Sanskrit Subhashit which describes what one can or will do when he or she wants to be famous (or successful). It goes on to describe what people are inclined to do and then gives examples of people going around in the town, scratching the body like a monkey or rolling in the mud like a pig or braying (i.e. shouting) in the public.

Now, doesn't this seem to be somewhat similar to the media folks who hype out each and every event? Try listening to the news channel (if you have the capacity to listen it) and then you will forget the comedy programmes and settle on these channels only.

And why does this all happen? Everything is for remaining in the race for TRPs.

Some interesting instances how these mediawallahs do it.

A boy slipped into a well and the whole media world landed there to display the event live. Instead of helping to rescue the boy they tried dissect who is at fault and how he should be punished. And then there are some over ' enthusiastic folks whose only objective in life is to become famous. (Remember Yena Kena Prakarena ) They will shout at the top of the voice that how all and sundry did not do something and so the kid fell into the well.

Cut to Mumbai. Since 26th July 2005, every small rain brings back the fear of the Great Flood of Mumbai. And how can the media remain behind in stoking the fear. The favourite target of these media guys is the municipal administration and the electricity company. If there has been a problem, they are to blame because the people are pliable. If the electricity company switches of power to prevent electrocution death, they are to blame because they have switched off power. Sometimes there have been instances where media guys, just to get some "good coverage" have stopped the municipal workers from doing their work. A friend of mine has seen a TV folks asking a municipal worker to not switch on the pump to remove the flood water, so that they can get to create a scandalous scene and then hype their rating.

Add to this the folks who get their few minutes of limelight when the TV-wala (the one whom you have seen shouting at the top of the voice) shoves his mike in their mouth and says, "Yahan pani bhara hua hai, aapko kya lagta hai". "Yeh sab BMC walonke vajah se ho raha hai. Tax lete hai lekin har saal pani bharta hai hamare yahan." And such Blah Blah And if you delve deeper, you will find these folks may be the ones who have taken up houses in an area which is prone to flood. Now who is to fault?

While we blame the municipal guys, do we think how much we are to blame? Don't we take the short cut when we want to get our work done? Don't we need to introspect as to how much we are to blame, before we try to accuse the authorities of inaction?

Do think over…

In the past few years, especially with people from our generation and the following generations, there is burning desire to succeed, instantly.

Desire to succeed in itself is not bad, rather it is the most desirable quality of any person. But the desire of instant success is something which is bad. This is what sparks the mad rat race that kills the fun of succeeding. For attaining instant success, people go in for unethical practices and dangerous shortcuts. And when they reach their goal, they find that they are lacking the joy of success.

I have met people as friends, associates, subordinates, classmates, in short in almost all forms. What they ask me (when I am expected to guide them which in itself is task given to a wrong person) is answers as to what is their goal. And, here I am, who is still to fix my own goals. Isn't it like a blind showing the way to another. I have found a small solution to this. I pose many more questions to them and that too in a very uncharitable form. The ones who try to answer it are right on the path. Others, well, they need to look to other folks.

What I have observed off late is the reluctance of people to put in the effort to learn and go to the depths. This reluctance results in the blunting of the intelligence. And anyone who for his or her own satisfaction shows this diligence to dig deeper and wider, comes out to be an intelligent person. But few realize this and set on this path, a long and lonely path, which has numerous thorns on its way, but the vast ocean of knowledge at the other end.

Fortunately, I have met many people, who believed that, irrespective of your education, position and social status; need to do some amount of manual labour once in a while. After all partying is not the only way of loosening up. I have met a factory manager who used to tighten the machine bolts or repair the crane when it used to get stuck. This gesture of his always enabled him in getting quick and efficient work from his workers who never tried to act smart with him. And then I also have seen a IIT educated chief minister personally supervising the arrangements of a function, standing on the streets. These are leaders who have led from the front.

Now I see newly minted MBAs (though not all) who will spend 5 ' 10 minutes searching for a peon to take copies of a single paper when they could have done the work themselves. And then I sometimes really get disappointed with people who remember all the things that are less important while forgetting the basic skills like letter writing. For the matter I have a superior who told me that the first training that any MBA or a graduate who comes newly to work is the skill of filing papers. That is one skill many lack even after years of working in the office.

This is my way of taking out some frustration with the people around me who want to know what is their final destination as well as the path, without even allowing the others to know how strong are the legs which will take the questioner to his or her goal. Really its time we put such people on a path full of thorns before they get a revelation that the path to success cannot be told by others, it has to be found by you, yourselves.

There is a hoarding in the CST Station (Thats Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus , Mumbai) at the entrance which is common to the Local and Outstation terminii. Now you may wonder, “Doesnt this fellow have any other topic than looking at the hoarding, thoda idhar udhar dekhta to…”

But this is one interesting hoarding which will make you smile, if not laugh.

On the massive hoarding is the picture of a senior citizen , a wealthy one for that matter, who says I will put the temperature of my AC at 24 degrees, I will keep my Mumbai “Power”full . This hoarding is sponsored by the three Power Companies of the City and is indeed a need of the time.

But what makes the hoarding interesting is that it has 3 floodlights shining on it even during the day , especially when I see it at around 9 in the morning. I suppose the 3 floodlights for each of the 3 sponsor companies.

Anyways it is important that we save on electricity and other energy sources, because we may not be able to have them for a long time if we use them in the way we use now.

Here are some ways which we try to implement at our home.


1) Whenever and wherever possible, all the residents of a house should be sitting under a single light and fan.
2) Use many less lights and fans and electrical equipments as possible.
3) Replace the bulbs and the Tubelights in your house with CFLs. They really save on your power consumption.
4) Natural circulation of air is better than that of the fan, use it.
5) A “Zero” bulb isnt really a zero consumption bulb. it actually consumes something around 15 watts.
6) A tubelight (40W) with the conventional choke consumes 60 to 70 W , the additional energy being consumed by the choke. An electronic choke consumes about 2 to 3 watts, so its better than the conventional. But then even that is more than what a similar CFL consumes. Generally a 18W CFL is equivalent to a 40W tubelight.
7) If you are using a very old fan which has been overhauled many times, better change it. It is actually using too much power. Go for a newer and lighter fan of a good brand.
Switch of the PC screen when not in required for sometime. The screensavers are anyways boring once you see them once or twice.
9) Defrost the refrigerator often. (Ours gets defrosted in the regular doses of the Load sheddings)


And this ones for the people who say “Why am I supposed to save electricity when I am paying for that? Who are you to advice me?”

The fact remains that the residential customer, especially the lower and middle end users are not paying the actual cost of power. The most ridiculous is the price of electricity the residential customers of affluent South Mumbai region are paying. Its somewhere around 75 paise per unit which I suppose barely covers the distribution cost, leave alone the cost of producing the power and transmitting upto the doorsteps of Mumbai.

Its time, people paid the real price of electricity and not the subsidised price.

At the end of the day , ENERGY SAVED IS ENERGY GENERATED

This post has some inputs from my Cousin who is studying electrical engg.