Monthly Archives: January 2006

Rang De Basanti

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It would be surely getting out of scope here but I am taking a “creative license”, so as to say.

There are some movies which work on a very subtle level and this movie was one with which I could identify my present state of mind. Hence, I felt that it was appropriate to share it with you all.

I wouldn’t be going in the details of the movie; I would suggest that you read Rashmi Bansal’s take on the movie. Incidentally, I find her writing straight from the heart, even though I don’t agree to her prescriptions.

The movie is about ideals; the take on the system even though it was questionable. We as a nation need to arise and think as one rather than scattered individuals.

Long before this blog, I felt strongly at the way we are being ripped off without any pardonable actions. The sole purpose of a company is to make profits; though questionable means are not justified. Of course, it would be pertinent to point out that “questionable means” are indeed debatable. I would risk so far as to say that the the national interest ought to be paramount instead of short term profits.

It would be difficult to aggregate everything on this post as to what I have been driving at. The whole idea is to make the powers that be accountable. The corruption is entrenched; very much part of the society of which we are a part of. Similarly, elected representatives need to be questioned; through debates, discussions and awareness, we need to speak out.

Most of us twiddle our thumbs, scratch our testicles and let things be as they are. I remember on the forums, I appealed to all to work together to make a decent broadband happen to us. A lone voice is lost; a collective voice is deafening.

Indeed, I was surprised at the hostility and resistance to change. It isn’t really worth it to hang around wasting time with a bunch of loosers for company. Luckily, I found Sushubh who gave me this platform to voice the concern. For those who don’t know, he refused to be cowed down by a company, that no longer is in existence now. He had to uproot himself from his home and hearth and make his living in an alien place.

Coming back to the movie. Indeed, public memory is so short that we have no concern for anyone. Who is to be blamed? The education system which has given us infact nothing; makes us largely unemployable and no one wants to change the status quo? Or would you blame the corrupt and venal politicians? Little realising that they come from the same society as we are. Would you make them accountable?

What is the way out? In your daily lives become aware. Interestingly, you’d find that you would feel a little different when you breathe. When you shake off the facade of “normalcy”.

As in the chracters in the movie, one doesn’t have to give up your lives and it’s indeed surprising that the movie ended in that manner. The point here is that it leaves a strong but subtle message. Either live the way you are living or get up and do something.

I chose to blog to vent off and to keep me sane. In the process, it has made me aware of many issues which are all interlinked as if in a grand plan. This seemed to be the most reasonable ( and perhaps cowardly) option as of now.

One India

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It misses it’s mark again.

At first, I was apprehensive and now I am sure that this is one of the worst forms of implementation. BSNL is hell bent on increasing the rural tariffs and as a result would over price the access. Meanwhile, there would be a reduction in pulse rates for the urban customers. The rentals can’t be decreased further; or increased without inviting ridicule from the comatose brain dead morons in the media.

Now the Ministry of Telecommunications wants to involve the TRAI- the toothless regulator. A big component of the carriage access fees and the Acesss Deficit Charge is still not decided.

Rediff reports:

Currently, all inter-circle calls in India are charged 30 paise per minute as ADC and between 19 paise and 89 paise per minute (based on the distance) as carriage charges, which makes Re 1 STD calls unsustainable, especially on landline calls, across the country. However, an ongoing tussle between the ministry for communications and Trai over the last several months has resulted in the DoT shutting out the regulator from policy discussions on “OneIndia”.

This is the sad state of affairs and indeed a sorry commentary about the babus who wish to control their turfs. The end result is that the customer is the looser.

In my opinion, Maran wanted to show something to his credit. He could have crowed (brayed?) about “broadband” and then after than One India.

However, broadband, despite initial hoopla is technically a non starter. There are serious doubts about the way it could be sustained. Either blame it on the lacklustre tariffs or pathetic consumer care or even BSNL’s perception, it hasn’t really worked out. Then, there are several disconnections as people discover Airtel- the only other player in the DSL space. You could count out VSNL “broadband” as they are stuck in the dial up mentality.

For the retail customer, it’s Reliance that has taken the lead and now their advertisments are all over. Even though Reliance is dipped in shit, frankly, they got everything just right. Thier own pan India network and excellent call quality has made sure that they are going to survive in this “operator eat operator” world.

Hmmm. Difficult to predict the winner in the sweepstakes; but frankly, I am not favouring the “One India” crap.

Get in Carrier Access Codes; give the choice of the operator to the customer; the choice of the technology (either VoIP or POTS) to the consumer; unlimited 512k upwards broadband and then see the fun. That would be the REAL “ONE INDIA”.