7/8 Formalities over
Now it boils down to the crucial one month or few more;
Of Day 0s, Day 1s, ...Day 22s...---> Day ∞,
Of Shocks and of underdogs becoming heroes.
Talks about "C.G & C.V" instead of Bandi, Sitcoms and Animes.
Of few treats and numerous heartbreaks,
Of GPLs and Hugs.
Which all put together,
Will trigger nostalgia.
PS: This is for Final Year students
#TwitterFBwish- Jugaad for a wish
Atheist Alert: You are advised not to read this any further and simply close the tab. Thanks!
In India and abroad, chiefly eastern countries we have a unique custom. We have an innovative and creative Jugaad to bribe and/or please our numerous Gods and Goddesses.
In this age of disruptive innovation, viral marketing, etc. etc. we have something called “mannat” in India (not to be confused with Shahrukh's home). We make a wish and tie something like coconut inside red cloth to an old tree or similar holy object in the temple area. Sometimes just tying a knot of red cloth does no less good. The wish is kept confidential. Finally, when it does get fulfilled you have to come back and undo the tying process and thank God/Goddess.
In this auspicious occasion of Diwali, I also want at least one wish to get granted. I cannot travel to such mannat-place, though. I have come up with another Jugaad. I’ve wished for something and planned to keep it confidential. I have posted something in a discreet way like tying a coconut wrapped inside a red piece of cloth.
I would again post about my wish if it is fulfilled and let the world know what my wish was. In this way I would thank Facebook and God. Even you can fulfill your wish like this. Just post on Facebook or tweet something related to your mannat and you can use the hashtag: #TwitterFBwish. When your wish is fulfilled just let the world know about it. Simple, ain’t it?
Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year (Vikrami Samvat 2067). May Goddess Laxmi shower immense wealth on you.
(image : http://www.flickr.com/photos/anuj1191/3520965493/in/photostream/)
In India and abroad, chiefly eastern countries we have a unique custom. We have an innovative and creative Jugaad to bribe and/or please our numerous Gods and Goddesses.
In this age of disruptive innovation, viral marketing, etc. etc. we have something called “mannat” in India (not to be confused with Shahrukh's home). We make a wish and tie something like coconut inside red cloth to an old tree or similar holy object in the temple area. Sometimes just tying a knot of red cloth does no less good. The wish is kept confidential. Finally, when it does get fulfilled you have to come back and undo the tying process and thank God/Goddess.
In this auspicious occasion of Diwali, I also want at least one wish to get granted. I cannot travel to such mannat-place, though. I have come up with another Jugaad. I’ve wished for something and planned to keep it confidential. I have posted something in a discreet way like tying a coconut wrapped inside a red piece of cloth.
I would again post about my wish if it is fulfilled and let the world know what my wish was. In this way I would thank Facebook and God. Even you can fulfill your wish like this. Just post on Facebook or tweet something related to your mannat and you can use the hashtag: #TwitterFBwish. When your wish is fulfilled just let the world know about it. Simple, ain’t it?
Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year (Vikrami Samvat 2067). May Goddess Laxmi shower immense wealth on you.
(image : http://www.flickr.com/photos/anuj1191/3520965493/in/photostream/)
Indian farmers won’t retweet but foreign economists will RT their visions
Suman doesn’t go to bed, literally. He is rather forced to sleep along with all the other members of his family on the floor of his thatched hut. He wakes up at 5 am, not because he has to go office but doesn’t like the sight of defecating people around him while he is attending nature’s call. Suman is 21, has had a chance of visiting Bangalore once. He hasn’t heard about twitter but does know that people can send/receive letters without the help of a postman/post office. Suman’s story is not unique but a typical example of a rural youth in 21st century India. Suman can be anyone. Suman can also be a village girl, a unisex Indian name.
Peeps like Suman are clueless and sympathetically oblivious about everything. He is like the Natha of Peepli Live [India's official entry for the 83rd Academy Awards] who decides to commit suicide to save his land and to save his family from becoming homeless, after which his family will receive heavy compensation for his death. Farmers keep on becoming Natha(s), and they die unlike the character of the flick, but who cares?
As long as India’s GDP is growing at well above 8% and you can also make that figure 9%(thanks to the statistical manipulation we’re experts at), nobody really cares, do you?
What everybody really cares about is the BSE Sensex and NSE index. Till they are growing at around 1.8% weekly, nobody wants to be bothered. We have time to fight over whether someone was born at a particular place for more than 50 years. We have time to engage in rhetoric about Kashmir solution. If this still is not enough, we painstakingly move our ass to twitter and utilize our intellect, time and internet to the most powerful effect, we can come up with.
In a country, which shamelessly boasts of the ever exploding number of obscenely high net worth individuals, there is little hope for Suman or Natha. In a country which is blind to the fact that twitter won’t support their rebellion (if any), there is no hope for anybody for that matter.
“Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires” writes Malcolm Gladwell in this article. True!
Hope is a bad thing, it always lead to despair. More so, in the case of Indians, we are born enthusiastic with dreams of conquering the world, but this smoothly fades out and a cynical outlook is what we are left with. Life is unfair, true.
In a country which is more concerned about altering things which are functioning well to transforming them to laggard government institutions, you don’t have to be smart to guess where your future lies if all this continues without any interruption. I’m referring to the IIT-JEE, the entrance exam which is the primary reason for the stellar respect people have for Indian techies in foreign-land. The HRD ministry always gets itself into such territories which are controversial and detrimental. Be it the issue of lowering the fees of IIM, introduction of OBC reservation, creation of umpteen no. of IIT and IIM campuses which does no good than diluting the standards which are already facing tremendous resource crunch, in terms of hostel, lecture-rooms and more importantly quality faculty. Why don’t you look into primary education, HRD ministry?
However, if you believe in some kind of magic, miracle or whatever you call it, you should sense change. India is going to transform itself from an agrarian economy in which farmers struggle to an economy which thrives on its prospering farmers. Yes, this is near not too far. Twitter and Facebook won’t help them. Ubiquitous cell phones, satellite Television, primary education, dissemination of modern agricultural practices, etc. would certainly help. We don’t need to retweet (copy) anybody to be a progressive nation. India at present is far behind China by any standards. India’s export figure ($176.5 billion) is just a fraction of China’s ($1.2 trillion). Unemployment in China (4.2%) is less than half of what prevails in India (10.7%). But, what should make you happy is the promising future, which lies ahead. It’s always the youth that drive any kind of revolution, protest movement, a much needed change. It’s the demographics of India which puts India at a better place than most countries. India outshines China in terms of the youth percentage. India is going to add 136 million working-age people, much higher than China’s 23 million. This is the only cookie India has, and if it judiciously uses this gift to survive the winter maybe we could benefit of the spring, summer and monsoon ahead.
The secret to India’s growth lies in the villages of India, the rustic face of India which is always overlooked and we talk of the swank T3 terminal at New Delhi, instead. Even the corporates have got this, and are doing their homework well. Coca-Cola brainstorms and comes up with a new marketing strategy to sell in smaller sized bottles and which is apparently very similar to the introduction of sachet-business model. The policy makers will have to follow soon, and come up with plans and strategies specifically designed for Indian villages and not inspired(and bluntly copied) from international white papers on policy, case-studies, etc. They need to address the problem which is Indian, so the solution by all sorts of imagination should be Indian too. We can’t retweet (copy) someone else’s model and impose on our different rural challenges. We need to come up with a plan. Focus should be on primary education and not in secondary education which is already driven by demand-supply law. Much of our attention should be to make our villages a better place to live, so that the reckless migration to cities stops. We need to foster an environment that transforms our villages and equip them with all basic amenities. No one should feel cheated and less empowered in Indian villages. The village economy needs to grow at 8% too
We can’t progress till we are indulged in age-old useless debates about Babri-masjid demolition and anyways the recent Allahabad high court judgement to me is a no surprise. It was always meant to be that. The judgement also termed as “village panchayat judgement” is the classic example of a matured political conclusion. We need to move forward and we are doing that too. As M.J. Akbar writes,
“The impoverished have understood a simple, important, over-riding reality: poverty is not communal. There is no shortage of places for prayer in our country. There is, however, a shortage of self-respect, since every hungry stomach in our country is a sharp slap on the face of the idea of India. 2010 is a hundred years away from 1992.”
We have matured from the experiences of early 1990s. Now we no longer dread or are provoked by speeches like, “SaugandhRam Ki Khaatein Hain Mandir Wohi Banayenge”. Period
Despite all these, we don’t need to change our values and customs. We just need to come up with an Indian solution to an Indian problem. We don’t need to retweet. Everybody else should retweet us.
Indian farmers won’t retweet but foreign economists will RT their visions. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan!
This post is dedicated to Lal Bahadur Shrivastav Shastri, India’s 2nd Prime Minister, whom we tend to forget on 2nd October, his birth date.
Peeps like Suman are clueless and sympathetically oblivious about everything. He is like the Natha of Peepli Live [India's official entry for the 83rd Academy Awards] who decides to commit suicide to save his land and to save his family from becoming homeless, after which his family will receive heavy compensation for his death. Farmers keep on becoming Natha(s), and they die unlike the character of the flick, but who cares?
As long as India’s GDP is growing at well above 8% and you can also make that figure 9%(thanks to the statistical manipulation we’re experts at), nobody really cares, do you?
What everybody really cares about is the BSE Sensex and NSE index. Till they are growing at around 1.8% weekly, nobody wants to be bothered. We have time to fight over whether someone was born at a particular place for more than 50 years. We have time to engage in rhetoric about Kashmir solution. If this still is not enough, we painstakingly move our ass to twitter and utilize our intellect, time and internet to the most powerful effect, we can come up with.
In a country, which shamelessly boasts of the ever exploding number of obscenely high net worth individuals, there is little hope for Suman or Natha. In a country which is blind to the fact that twitter won’t support their rebellion (if any), there is no hope for anybody for that matter.
“Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires” writes Malcolm Gladwell in this article. True!
Hope is a bad thing, it always lead to despair. More so, in the case of Indians, we are born enthusiastic with dreams of conquering the world, but this smoothly fades out and a cynical outlook is what we are left with. Life is unfair, true.
In a country which is more concerned about altering things which are functioning well to transforming them to laggard government institutions, you don’t have to be smart to guess where your future lies if all this continues without any interruption. I’m referring to the IIT-JEE, the entrance exam which is the primary reason for the stellar respect people have for Indian techies in foreign-land. The HRD ministry always gets itself into such territories which are controversial and detrimental. Be it the issue of lowering the fees of IIM, introduction of OBC reservation, creation of umpteen no. of IIT and IIM campuses which does no good than diluting the standards which are already facing tremendous resource crunch, in terms of hostel, lecture-rooms and more importantly quality faculty. Why don’t you look into primary education, HRD ministry?
However, if you believe in some kind of magic, miracle or whatever you call it, you should sense change. India is going to transform itself from an agrarian economy in which farmers struggle to an economy which thrives on its prospering farmers. Yes, this is near not too far. Twitter and Facebook won’t help them. Ubiquitous cell phones, satellite Television, primary education, dissemination of modern agricultural practices, etc. would certainly help. We don’t need to retweet (copy) anybody to be a progressive nation. India at present is far behind China by any standards. India’s export figure ($176.5 billion) is just a fraction of China’s ($1.2 trillion). Unemployment in China (4.2%) is less than half of what prevails in India (10.7%). But, what should make you happy is the promising future, which lies ahead. It’s always the youth that drive any kind of revolution, protest movement, a much needed change. It’s the demographics of India which puts India at a better place than most countries. India outshines China in terms of the youth percentage. India is going to add 136 million working-age people, much higher than China’s 23 million. This is the only cookie India has, and if it judiciously uses this gift to survive the winter maybe we could benefit of the spring, summer and monsoon ahead.
The secret to India’s growth lies in the villages of India, the rustic face of India which is always overlooked and we talk of the swank T3 terminal at New Delhi, instead. Even the corporates have got this, and are doing their homework well. Coca-Cola brainstorms and comes up with a new marketing strategy to sell in smaller sized bottles and which is apparently very similar to the introduction of sachet-business model. The policy makers will have to follow soon, and come up with plans and strategies specifically designed for Indian villages and not inspired(and bluntly copied) from international white papers on policy, case-studies, etc. They need to address the problem which is Indian, so the solution by all sorts of imagination should be Indian too. We can’t retweet (copy) someone else’s model and impose on our different rural challenges. We need to come up with a plan. Focus should be on primary education and not in secondary education which is already driven by demand-supply law. Much of our attention should be to make our villages a better place to live, so that the reckless migration to cities stops. We need to foster an environment that transforms our villages and equip them with all basic amenities. No one should feel cheated and less empowered in Indian villages. The village economy needs to grow at 8% too
We can’t progress till we are indulged in age-old useless debates about Babri-masjid demolition and anyways the recent Allahabad high court judgement to me is a no surprise. It was always meant to be that. The judgement also termed as “village panchayat judgement” is the classic example of a matured political conclusion. We need to move forward and we are doing that too. As M.J. Akbar writes,
“The impoverished have understood a simple, important, over-riding reality: poverty is not communal. There is no shortage of places for prayer in our country. There is, however, a shortage of self-respect, since every hungry stomach in our country is a sharp slap on the face of the idea of India. 2010 is a hundred years away from 1992.”
We have matured from the experiences of early 1990s. Now we no longer dread or are provoked by speeches like, “SaugandhRam Ki Khaatein Hain Mandir Wohi Banayenge”. Period
Despite all these, we don’t need to change our values and customs. We just need to come up with an Indian solution to an Indian problem. We don’t need to retweet. Everybody else should retweet us.
Indian farmers won’t retweet but foreign economists will RT their visions. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan!
This post is dedicated to Lal Bahadur Shrivastav Shastri, India’s 2nd Prime Minister, whom we tend to forget on 2nd October, his birth date.
What's on your mind?
I’m swamped by thoughts. My mind is inundated with thoughts. This is “anti-writer’s block”. I don’t know where I’ll be after a 9-10 months. I don’t know what I’d really love to do when I graduate from college. I know when I was in class 11/12 the one thing I aspired was to become an “electronics and communication engineer” or “Aeronautical engineer”. The reasons for fascination with these two branches were quite fuzzy. I knew quite a few successful “electronics and communication engineer” and my love for fluid dynamics which still remains unrequited led me to consider Aeronautical engineering as a career option. Nevertheless, I had to take mining engineering as my undergraduate course at IIT Kharagpur. Man proposes God disposes!
“Ends are ape-chosen; only the means are man's.”
Just 6 years before, the one thing I desperately longed for was a seat in IIT, now I have it. After spending more than 3 years at IIT, I think I was eccentric. However, I did devote around 3 years to get into IIT. The silver lining is that I stand a better chance of being absorbed in a high-paying company than most of the students in India. Ultimately, an average middle-class youth’s dream is to get a good job after getting the very important degree, necessary evil. Ends justify the means, perhaps.
At present, I’m confused. I don’t know what I really want to do with my life. It’s like you have choices and choices and you don’t even have a slight preference for any of them. In such situation, it’s better to let others decide, not you. Exactly! When I was in class 10 it was all easy for me I was good at mathematics, science including biology. I knew I’d choose science stream but my parents chose engineering for me, as it’s easier to be an engineer (according to my parents, though!). Nobody’s complaining they knew more than me, at least then. My current problem I’ve N no. of choices and I know much more than my parents or any other close person in my life whom I can speak out my heart. So, it’s all me who has to decide.
1. Sit for CAT—Go to IIM.
2. Forget CAT—Sit for Campus Placements—Take a job which pays you the most.
3. Sit for CAT, Sit for Campus Placements— decide afterwards, what you want to do.
4. Higher studies—Figure out in which Field.
5. Go to Himalayas— forget the materialistic world; become a spiritual, motivational speaker.
6. Consider all the possible permutations and combinations of the above 5 options—Choose one.
My recent trip to Mumbai isn’t helping either. It has made me realize that I don’t know a lot of things which the “Kewl-people” talk about. I’m a bad conversation starter. I can’t talk about my favourite writers and poets, I haven’t read much. I can’t differentiate Rock, Pop, Jazz and whatever forms of music exist. In short, I’m a boring person, I cannot entertain you.
I have tried few things just for the heck of it, like swimming, tennis and jogging. I didn't like any of them. I don’t know what I love; I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I can stop thinking and follow the herd, but I don’t want to do it either. It is that phase of my life when I probably need to wait, have patience and leave it to the future. Perhaps!
However, I’d love to choose one thing and take a leap of faith.
“Ends are ape-chosen; only the means are man's.”
Just 6 years before, the one thing I desperately longed for was a seat in IIT, now I have it. After spending more than 3 years at IIT, I think I was eccentric. However, I did devote around 3 years to get into IIT. The silver lining is that I stand a better chance of being absorbed in a high-paying company than most of the students in India. Ultimately, an average middle-class youth’s dream is to get a good job after getting the very important degree, necessary evil. Ends justify the means, perhaps.
At present, I’m confused. I don’t know what I really want to do with my life. It’s like you have choices and choices and you don’t even have a slight preference for any of them. In such situation, it’s better to let others decide, not you. Exactly! When I was in class 10 it was all easy for me I was good at mathematics, science including biology. I knew I’d choose science stream but my parents chose engineering for me, as it’s easier to be an engineer (according to my parents, though!). Nobody’s complaining they knew more than me, at least then. My current problem I’ve N no. of choices and I know much more than my parents or any other close person in my life whom I can speak out my heart. So, it’s all me who has to decide.
1. Sit for CAT—Go to IIM.
2. Forget CAT—Sit for Campus Placements—Take a job which pays you the most.
3. Sit for CAT, Sit for Campus Placements— decide afterwards, what you want to do.
4. Higher studies—Figure out in which Field.
5. Go to Himalayas— forget the materialistic world; become a spiritual, motivational speaker.
6. Consider all the possible permutations and combinations of the above 5 options—Choose one.
My recent trip to Mumbai isn’t helping either. It has made me realize that I don’t know a lot of things which the “Kewl-people” talk about. I’m a bad conversation starter. I can’t talk about my favourite writers and poets, I haven’t read much. I can’t differentiate Rock, Pop, Jazz and whatever forms of music exist. In short, I’m a boring person, I cannot entertain you.
I have tried few things just for the heck of it, like swimming, tennis and jogging. I didn't like any of them. I don’t know what I love; I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I can stop thinking and follow the herd, but I don’t want to do it either. It is that phase of my life when I probably need to wait, have patience and leave it to the future. Perhaps!
However, I’d love to choose one thing and take a leap of faith.
Primer to Cleantech Internship
I always knew that I would do my compulsory summer internship with a dynamic organization and not necessarily in an MNC. After a lot of research, applications, e-mails and telephonic conversations I decided to devote my summer with Greenway Ecodevelopment in Navi Mumbai.
The internship experience had everything that one expects. Challenging projects, flexible work environment and, perks and incentives. Greenway Ecodevelopment Pvt. Ltd. is a startup with primary focus on CDM advisory, carbon footprint, training services and, eco-friendly and sustainable project development. The founders of the company validate their pedigree. Ankit Mathur is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, while Neha Juneja has done her MBA from FMS Delhi. Ankit and Neha also have engineering degrees from Delhi Technological University (Formerly Delhi College of Engineering).
The above company description does no justice to the kind of projects Greenway handles, apparently. In other words, after explaining what greenway does by paraphrasing the above company details people at the other side of conversation would ask, “Oh! I see, but what exactly Greenway does? ” . In reply, I used to say, “Carbon trading, carbon finance, environment-friendly technologies and services”. This would usually be followed by another query, “What the hell is carbon-trading?” . Carbon trading covers a wide range of mechanisms which help in curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which would have taken place in a business-as-usual scenario. Business-as-Usual is a term used for commercial ventures and projects which don’t consider emissions and focus on maximizing earnings. Business-as-Usual in most cases leads to degradation of environment with harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions leading to global warming and ultimately fueling climate change.
The debate about climate change is another agenda but carbon trading mechanisms are like insurance policies in which you invest for the untoward incidents that might take place in future.
Carbon emissions is a term collectively used for all types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There are two types of carbon markets, voluntary and mandatory. The voluntary carbon markets are still in their infant stages, although the carbon market driven by Kyoto protocol has become a boon for emerging economies like China, India and Latin America through a mechanism known as clean development mechanism (CDM).
The clean development mechanism, one of the mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries (non-Annex I Parties). Emission reduction of one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent earns 1 certified emission reduction (CER) credit. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries (Annex I Parties) or companies with emission targets to meet a part of their targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
CDM provides developing countries opportunity to implement projects which are less carbon intensive and also avail monetary support from developed countries. Annex I parties are developed countries. Annex I countries which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, have to reduce their emission levels of greenhouse gasses to targets that are mainly set below their 1990 levels.
However, it is very difficult for the developed nations to achieve such a herculean target at the cost of meeting its current demands. To facilitate their economic and industrial sustainability, they can emit GHGs by buying equivalent emission credits from various carbon trading mechanisms. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the mechanisms, and is hugely popular because of its scalability, applicability and the benefits which can be shared mutually between non-Annex and Annex parties.
Emission reduction = Baseline emissions - Project emissions – Leakage
Emission reduction achieved by the project depends primarily on the baseline emissions offset, project emission and the leakage emissions outside the project boundary.
Baseline emission is the emission level that would take place in absence of the project activity. The project activity also emits some amount of GHGs, which is referred to as Project emissions which must be subtracted from the baseline emissions. Emission changes outside the project boundary, due to the project, not under control of the project participants is known as the Leakage. The tons of carbon dioxide equivalents which are calculated after subtracting “Project emissions” and “Leakage” from “Baseline emissions” is equal to the number of CERs (carbon credits) earned.
The basic steps include choosing a suitable methodology or suggesting a new methodology, determining the baseline emission and proving additionality. A CDM project activity is additional if anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are reduced below those that would have occurred in the absence of the registered CDM project activity. Additionality may be financial, technical, institutional, etc.
The above details are incorporated in the Project Design Document (PDD). It is submitted to “Designated operational entity” (DOE) for validation, and “Designated National Authority” (DNA) for host country approval. After host country approval and validation, the PDD is forwarded to CDM Executive Board (EB) for project registration.
The EB after registering the project issues CERs (carbon credits) which can be traded in carbon markets. The value of 1 CER varies from € 8-12.
CDM Projects depend on future carbon credits for availing loan; it can also use the revenue from selling the credits for operation and maintenance, etc.
This is just about carbon trading, and also explains only CDM-project cycle. Greenway Ecodevelopment deals with much more than this. Greenway is a cleantech company. It is a startup, run by vibrant professionals. Greenway is also a consultancy firm which is going to have immense social impact. Speaking about social impact, Greenway would transform the lives of people by implementation and financing of 14,000 household biogas units in Yavatmal district under the CDM route. This is one of the first projects of its kind.
The think-tank of Greenway lives in a typical startup environment which is enviable. I will always relish the chance given to me by them for experiencing it firsthand. Everyone contributes invaluably, even their cute pet dog named Primer. Yes, the dog’s name is the title reference of the post.
More to follow about cleantech, internship, Primer, Mumbai and a lot more in subsequent posts.
The internship experience had everything that one expects. Challenging projects, flexible work environment and, perks and incentives. Greenway Ecodevelopment Pvt. Ltd. is a startup with primary focus on CDM advisory, carbon footprint, training services and, eco-friendly and sustainable project development. The founders of the company validate their pedigree. Ankit Mathur is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, while Neha Juneja has done her MBA from FMS Delhi. Ankit and Neha also have engineering degrees from Delhi Technological University (Formerly Delhi College of Engineering).
The above company description does no justice to the kind of projects Greenway handles, apparently. In other words, after explaining what greenway does by paraphrasing the above company details people at the other side of conversation would ask, “Oh! I see, but what exactly Greenway does? ” . In reply, I used to say, “Carbon trading, carbon finance, environment-friendly technologies and services”. This would usually be followed by another query, “What the hell is carbon-trading?” . Carbon trading covers a wide range of mechanisms which help in curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which would have taken place in a business-as-usual scenario. Business-as-Usual is a term used for commercial ventures and projects which don’t consider emissions and focus on maximizing earnings. Business-as-Usual in most cases leads to degradation of environment with harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions leading to global warming and ultimately fueling climate change.
The debate about climate change is another agenda but carbon trading mechanisms are like insurance policies in which you invest for the untoward incidents that might take place in future.
Carbon emissions is a term collectively used for all types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There are two types of carbon markets, voluntary and mandatory. The voluntary carbon markets are still in their infant stages, although the carbon market driven by Kyoto protocol has become a boon for emerging economies like China, India and Latin America through a mechanism known as clean development mechanism (CDM).
The clean development mechanism, one of the mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries (non-Annex I Parties). Emission reduction of one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent earns 1 certified emission reduction (CER) credit. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries (Annex I Parties) or companies with emission targets to meet a part of their targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
CDM provides developing countries opportunity to implement projects which are less carbon intensive and also avail monetary support from developed countries. Annex I parties are developed countries. Annex I countries which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, have to reduce their emission levels of greenhouse gasses to targets that are mainly set below their 1990 levels.
However, it is very difficult for the developed nations to achieve such a herculean target at the cost of meeting its current demands. To facilitate their economic and industrial sustainability, they can emit GHGs by buying equivalent emission credits from various carbon trading mechanisms. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the mechanisms, and is hugely popular because of its scalability, applicability and the benefits which can be shared mutually between non-Annex and Annex parties.
Emission reduction achieved by the project depends primarily on the baseline emissions offset, project emission and the leakage emissions outside the project boundary.
Baseline emission is the emission level that would take place in absence of the project activity. The project activity also emits some amount of GHGs, which is referred to as Project emissions which must be subtracted from the baseline emissions. Emission changes outside the project boundary, due to the project, not under control of the project participants is known as the Leakage. The tons of carbon dioxide equivalents which are calculated after subtracting “Project emissions” and “Leakage” from “Baseline emissions” is equal to the number of CERs (carbon credits) earned.
The basic steps include choosing a suitable methodology or suggesting a new methodology, determining the baseline emission and proving additionality. A CDM project activity is additional if anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are reduced below those that would have occurred in the absence of the registered CDM project activity. Additionality may be financial, technical, institutional, etc.
The above details are incorporated in the Project Design Document (PDD). It is submitted to “Designated operational entity” (DOE) for validation, and “Designated National Authority” (DNA) for host country approval. After host country approval and validation, the PDD is forwarded to CDM Executive Board (EB) for project registration.
The EB after registering the project issues CERs (carbon credits) which can be traded in carbon markets. The value of 1 CER varies from € 8-12.
CDM Projects depend on future carbon credits for availing loan; it can also use the revenue from selling the credits for operation and maintenance, etc.
This is just about carbon trading, and also explains only CDM-project cycle. Greenway Ecodevelopment deals with much more than this. Greenway is a cleantech company. It is a startup, run by vibrant professionals. Greenway is also a consultancy firm which is going to have immense social impact. Speaking about social impact, Greenway would transform the lives of people by implementation and financing of 14,000 household biogas units in Yavatmal district under the CDM route. This is one of the first projects of its kind.
The think-tank of Greenway lives in a typical startup environment which is enviable. I will always relish the chance given to me by them for experiencing it firsthand. Everyone contributes invaluably, even their cute pet dog named Primer. Yes, the dog’s name is the title reference of the post.
More to follow about cleantech, internship, Primer, Mumbai and a lot more in subsequent posts.
Dalda, Xerox, … IIT, MIT, Stanford… and Twitter…
The amazing success stories behind brands and their products are very interesting. Vanaspati Ghee became Dalda, Photocopying became synonymous with Xerox, and these two brands are such pervasive that most of the consumers don’t even know the product’s actual name. So, what is more important for a manufacturer/ entrepreneur? Is it Product or Brand? Building a brand demands innovation of a different kind. Whenever you think about “Brands”, you can’t afford to miss out IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology). Though the product here is quite different and each one can cash in the brand reputation of IIT to build another brand which in fact makes IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) the most powerful Indian brand ever created or is it the IPL (Indian Premier League)? India’s fetish with 3-lettered powerful brands also includes IIM (Indian Institutes of Management).
The equivalent of IIT in the USA is MIT or in more politically and historically correct form it’s the other way round. IIT, IIM, MIT, Harvard, Stanford and other top universities across the world attract the crème de la crème of the student populace and are known for their immensely successful alumni. Not long ago, people studying at these places eyed for their dream job and career path which leads to a stable (at least economically) career in the long run. However, in these last two decades there has been a paradigm shift in the psyche of the average MIT/Harvard/Stanford/IIT/IIM/… grad. Entrepreneurship has become socially accepted and a respected career path. These universities have started nurturing the entrepreneurial instincts of their students and venturing out in entrepreneurship has never been so serious activity.
Few days back, strategist and management consultant, Semil Shah (@semilshah) tweeted:
This is not the case only with MIT or Stanford, it is obviously a common practice adopted by young entrepreneurs who are naïve about their brand management and try to leverage their elusive and elite degree for touting their business plans and catapulting the popularity of their product portfolio. You can’t blame them too as they are not brand managers but entrepreneurs who don’t have much experience about the capitalistic economy and its dynamics. The degree though helps in building the brand image but can’t be made the only parameter to test the value and need for your innovation.
Shrey Goyal(@shreygoyal) says rather tweets:
Semil Shah further elaborates, “It’s much more effective to quickly introduce biz concept, impact. Let pedigree trickle out, don't spill it out” (http://twitter.com/semilshah/status/12996574589). At this point of time, the coherence in his thoughts seemed to be in sync with me. Great businesses have always solved problems or given us an alternative to do certain tasks.
Another subtle thing which you might have noticed is how I have used twitter. I got the opportunity to interact with an expert like Semil Shah, just because of twitter. This is not the only use of twitter I have come across. Recently, one of my friends got his summer internship by following his current internship employer on twitter, replying to tweets, and having “@” conversations. This prompted the hirer to have a look at my friend’s LinkedIn profile and discuss his internship application and he got the confirmation call.
(BTW, I've changed my twitter handle take a note of this: my earlier was @ashishiitkgp4 which is changed to this (@ashishgourav) do follow me!)
In a nutshell, entrepreneurship should be nurtured from a very early stage of maturity, work on your business plan focusing on the product, its applications, revenue earning model, proper branding and use twitter effectively. Social networking sites have been blamed for privacy intrusions but we need to embrace this medium of communication as this is the need of the hour.
I’d like to leave you with an invigorating video of Cameron Herold, Successful business leader. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCar_sFfEf4)
Joys of Bribery, Blogging and Racist outlook
“You cannot enter this room with this ticket” says the lady attendant outside an Indian Railways’ “Upper Class” AC waiting room.
“I know that madam…how much should I pay for 2 hours” I replied squeezing my eyes and widening my mouth.
"I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it"
This was how I bribed a woman for the first time in my life and after doing that I actually felt quite good and this was the first time I initiated the bribery. Bribery doesn’t mean splurging money on every paan-spitting lousy sarkari babu (clerk/official/peon) but efficiently tipping off poorly paid government employees so that your work is not hampered. Bribing can be embarrassing but it’s a win-win situation for both the parties. I would like to mention that I'm not in favour of corruption, it's detrimental to the smooth and democratic function of the society...you can read my take on this from here (Cynicism of an Average Indian and the "Vicious Circle of Corruption")
This all happened during my recent visit to the southern city of Chennai during Good Friday and Easter Sunday Holidays. It was my maiden trip to South India.
I have been born and brought-up in eastern India and am likely to be prejudiced about other parts of India but I did notice something about the south Indians in particular. Indians in general are corrupt and unhygienic but south Indians are hygienic and north Indians corrupt.
I’ve earlier announced my voluntary retirement from blogging but I revoked my decision (after public gatherings, suicides and hunger strikes to resume blogging). There is a thing about blogging which gives you an alter ego. People like to call you by your blog name, they mock your blog, it’s always you and your blog, these things always motivate a blogger like me to keep on writing.
Recently, our college had its Gymkhana Elections for the highest student post, the Vice-President. I decided to sideline myself from all the hullaballoo of these elections but ignoring someone is not easier than being indifferent. Candidly speaking, I do not know what powers the VP of our institute possess and I don’t even intend to acquire the knowledge, I simply don’t care.
To quote one of my comments
“I know people who campaigned for one, supported the other and voted in the favour of the third; to top it all, they shook their hands with Celestine(VP, IIT KGP Students Gymkhana) after he won...true spirit of KGP :P”
Share your grief, excitement, disgust and whatever emotions you have about my return to blogosphere…
“I know that madam…how much should I pay for 2 hours” I replied squeezing my eyes and widening my mouth.
"I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it"
This was how I bribed a woman for the first time in my life and after doing that I actually felt quite good and this was the first time I initiated the bribery. Bribery doesn’t mean splurging money on every paan-spitting lousy sarkari babu (clerk/official/peon) but efficiently tipping off poorly paid government employees so that your work is not hampered. Bribing can be embarrassing but it’s a win-win situation for both the parties. I would like to mention that I'm not in favour of corruption, it's detrimental to the smooth and democratic function of the society...you can read my take on this from here (Cynicism of an Average Indian and the "Vicious Circle of Corruption")
This all happened during my recent visit to the southern city of Chennai during Good Friday and Easter Sunday Holidays. It was my maiden trip to South India.
I have been born and brought-up in eastern India and am likely to be prejudiced about other parts of India but I did notice something about the south Indians in particular. Indians in general are corrupt and unhygienic but south Indians are hygienic and north Indians corrupt.
I’ve earlier announced my voluntary retirement from blogging but I revoked my decision (after public gatherings, suicides and hunger strikes to resume blogging). There is a thing about blogging which gives you an alter ego. People like to call you by your blog name, they mock your blog, it’s always you and your blog, these things always motivate a blogger like me to keep on writing.
Recently, our college had its Gymkhana Elections for the highest student post, the Vice-President. I decided to sideline myself from all the hullaballoo of these elections but ignoring someone is not easier than being indifferent. Candidly speaking, I do not know what powers the VP of our institute possess and I don’t even intend to acquire the knowledge, I simply don’t care.
To quote one of my comments
“I know people who campaigned for one, supported the other and voted in the favour of the third; to top it all, they shook their hands with Celestine(VP, IIT KGP Students Gymkhana) after he won...true spirit of KGP :P”
Share your grief, excitement, disgust and whatever emotions you have about my return to blogosphere…
Channelise the Libido, Save the Youth!
I’m not talking about the obese, burger in hand, iPod earphones plugged-in to ears and low waist jeans clad teenager; they are not going to change the world anyway. History is evident that all the great revolutions have been a result of merciless suppression, discrimination and exploitation. If you don’t allow the release of steam from the pressure cooker, the pressure inside will go on increasing and it will explode.
Women have been discriminated mentally, physically and sexually for more than centuries and now we are feeling the gradual rise in women power though occasional cases of victims like Ruchika Girhotra attract a lot of mainstream media attention and spark national debates on molestation, human-trafficking, prostitution, domestic violence on women and workplace harassment.
If we do not start introspection and start doing something for the next generation such that they don’t face similar debates, we should be ready for explosions literally as well as figuratively.
Take a case of girl who is physically and sexually assaulted by a group of insurgents or terrorists for a week, without giving proper rest or food. Most of the girls don’t ever remain alive to experience any more cruelties of the world but the few who do survive are brainwashed and made anti-establishment. They go on to become more dangerous terrorists or insurgents than their male counterpart.
This is just an extreme case; most of the teenagers learn what they are asked to follow by parents and taught by teachers. Parenting is a very sensitive science and usually considered easier than conceiving a child but we all know it is not true. This doesn’t have immediate reflections on the society.
However, when people who have mass following and are responsible citizens misuse their power and faith common people have in them, they can only ruin a child’s career which becomes detrimental for the society.
Below is a video of a 13 year old Hindu girl addressing a VHP's rally, Spitting out venom against Muslims while targeting Pakistan.
Obviously, this can’t be the words of a 13 year old but is portraying as an ideal example of a mislead youth. Once a person attains puberty, the forces known as libido influences our mental state and we act accordingly. If the libido doesn’t find a useful means to flow from the body it engages itself, it short-circuits and the person mindlessly involves himself or herself in destructive fantasies.
Similarly, if the teenager grows in an environment of compassion, motivation and empathy he/she becomes the next Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Sergey Brin. The girl in the video just below is a live example.
As Sunitha Krishnan, who fights against human trafficking says
“…And thereon every child I met, who has been violated and abused I made sure the child understood that he/she is the one who is wronged and being a victim is not something one should be ashamed of. As the anger, pain, outrage and unbearable sense of betrayal poured out, the child was cleared of a burden of a lifetime. Through unconditional love, empathy and acceptance the child was able to see the beautiful person within. As we took the journey together the child was able to slowly regain dignity and a spirit to conquer all odds.”
Sunitha Krishnan didn’t succumb to the seclusion by society, she kept on stewing her anger and when she was brimming with confidence and motivation, wanted to do something meaningful for the girls like her and she did channelise all her energy towards Prajwala.
We need more girls like Sunitha who could fight for their innocent sisters like Ruchika Girhotra.
The world we live in is not hell, good people do exist and they do understand their responsibility and the faith we have in them. Our culture, upbringing and environment we grow all reflect in our personality throughout our life. The perception of your right eye is different than your left eye.
I wish the youth of today who would be responsible citizens of tomorrow realise this very soon and save this world from mass destruction, if the world is going to end in December, 2012 it might me due to improper channelisation and insensible perception of the leaders of the world, but I do not believe in this theory at all.
"Individuals make the families; families constitute the societies; and societies together form the nations, an ensemble of which is seen as the world." [Source]
Humans are known to adapt to every adversity and I know the youth will eradicate all the evils including the "vicious circle of corruption" and bring the changes in the social scenario envisioned by our forefathers and world would remain continuous.
Facebook Flirting
As Orkut Büyükkökten cries over the gradually decreasing popularity of Orkut, the smart users betraying Orkut and desperate attempts by Orkut of emulating facebook, online flirting moves on to facebook.
“Orkut is History…here is the link to my new facebook profile”.
I still remember the day when I started using Orkut and as I created my profile the first thing which I did was search all my crushes on Orkut, but I guess they were enjoying their life. (The more interesting your life becomes, the less time you spend on internet... and vice versa).
It just took two weeks of online activity to realize that beautiful, cute, sweet and hot girls do exist outside TV and Movies and they are real too! And may be accessible ;)
The hunt began…2007 2008 2009 and it is 2010 and the result, I’m still single, next step I have created facebook profile. I have a crush on Google but I’m betraying her as she didn’t get me a single girlfriend.
So far even facebook seems to have no solutions to my problems. I guess the problem is within me. Just have a look at the conversation below:
The girl uses a facebook application to find her next kisser. After getting the result she exclaims that the guy doesn’t even know how to kiss!
The guy having mini-orgasms starts flirting; the friends are having fun over this. The girl asks the boy to learn kissing!
God! Why it doesn’t happen to me? Why? Why?
If this was not enough, now facebook walls are flooded with photos of pretty girls and constant wooing by despos like me who “like” their photo and give inane comments like “sweet pic”, “nice pic”, “looking awesome”…
This time of the year it is more difficult for us-the IIT KGP fellas with Spring fest and Kshitij giving us various types of complexes. It is very difficult to even come out of your room as the campus is full of hot and pretty chicks who are of course not approachable.
This situation is nicely summed up by
“…Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink…”
Taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and also pointed out by Shrey Goyal.
The lesson which I learnt from last two spring seasons is that the best thing to do in fest season is to sleep in your room and be away from that urge to approach a girl and fail in the process. Gosh! We hate failures…the IITians!
Perhaps, this is the only field we are losers.
The level of frustration can be gauged by a simple example; this is the institute which was involved with DPS R K Puram in that infamous MMS Scandal.
Now that Café Coffee Day has finally started its outlet at KGP, the jealousy will decrease as the pairs will get some space which would be avoided by poor singles who are neither blessed with fortune nor girls.
However, this adds to the things which I would miss in my college days, the list is:
1. No Girlfriend.
2. Not went for any date, I’m talking about a real date and not this.
3. Never went to café Coffee day with any girl.
"To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing" ; we live in a constant hope with full enthusiasm waiting for that single girl who will stop us from watching 300 movies a year, 10 seasons of friends 10 times and even more, looking “for girls” in facebook and writing blog posts like these!
“Orkut is History…here is the link to my new facebook profile”.
I still remember the day when I started using Orkut and as I created my profile the first thing which I did was search all my crushes on Orkut, but I guess they were enjoying their life. (The more interesting your life becomes, the less time you spend on internet... and vice versa).
It just took two weeks of online activity to realize that beautiful, cute, sweet and hot girls do exist outside TV and Movies and they are real too! And may be accessible ;)
The hunt began…2007 2008 2009 and it is 2010 and the result, I’m still single, next step I have created facebook profile. I have a crush on Google but I’m betraying her as she didn’t get me a single girlfriend.
So far even facebook seems to have no solutions to my problems. I guess the problem is within me. Just have a look at the conversation below:
The girl uses a facebook application to find her next kisser. After getting the result she exclaims that the guy doesn’t even know how to kiss!
The guy having mini-orgasms starts flirting; the friends are having fun over this. The girl asks the boy to learn kissing!
God! Why it doesn’t happen to me? Why? Why?
If this was not enough, now facebook walls are flooded with photos of pretty girls and constant wooing by despos like me who “like” their photo and give inane comments like “sweet pic”, “nice pic”, “looking awesome”…
This time of the year it is more difficult for us-the IIT KGP fellas with Spring fest and Kshitij giving us various types of complexes. It is very difficult to even come out of your room as the campus is full of hot and pretty chicks who are of course not approachable.
This situation is nicely summed up by
“…Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink…”
Taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and also pointed out by Shrey Goyal.
The lesson which I learnt from last two spring seasons is that the best thing to do in fest season is to sleep in your room and be away from that urge to approach a girl and fail in the process. Gosh! We hate failures…the IITians!
Perhaps, this is the only field we are losers.
The level of frustration can be gauged by a simple example; this is the institute which was involved with DPS R K Puram in that infamous MMS Scandal.
Now that Café Coffee Day has finally started its outlet at KGP, the jealousy will decrease as the pairs will get some space which would be avoided by poor singles who are neither blessed with fortune nor girls.
However, this adds to the things which I would miss in my college days, the list is:
1. No Girlfriend.
2. Not went for any date, I’m talking about a real date and not this.
3. Never went to café Coffee day with any girl.
"To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing" ; we live in a constant hope with full enthusiasm waiting for that single girl who will stop us from watching 300 movies a year, 10 seasons of friends 10 times and even more, looking “for girls” in facebook and writing blog posts like these!
Yearnings of Yore- Life Goes on!
This article was originally published in
"Yearnings of Yore"(Volume-VII) given as a souvenir to the alumni present on the occasion of "Seventh Annual Alumni Meet", January 8-10, 2010.
Life Goes on!
It was a day that changed your life once and forever, from just a mere mortal oblivious about this world to a community for which people used to spend half a decade to be in. It was the day your forefathers would attain salvation after getting the big news.
However, you were calm and sleeping in your not-so-cozy but homely bed when your mother wakes you up. You brushed your teeth as you were a mother’s child and had to abide by her morning rules. Wow! You are selected at IIT KGP.
Congrats now you are a KGPian!
The news of your selection spread like wildfire, soon phone calls started coming in if you happen to be selected after the telecom-revolution.
This is the celebrity phase of life every IITian never forgets throughout his/her life.
Life gives you choices and sometimes plays with your fate and gives you surprises. IIT welcomes you with surprises, few bad ones and pleasant ones too. You transform from a teenager to a young adult. It is “Goosebumps-giving” to say that the change IIT did to you still reflects in your personality and you have never changed that much over a span of 4 years other than in KGP. When you put your footsteps here you might be with your dad or mom but in the subsequent 4 years you start doing things on your own. Your first all-alone journey back to home, your first visit to the stationary shop for purchasing stuffs that was previously bought by your parents or elder brothers and sisters, gradual loss of interest in studies, involvement in hall activities and orientation program, etc. all carve out a change in you successively, obviously not in the above order . Here I’m tempted to quote a cliché
“Your hall is your identity. Your hall is bigger than your year, bigger than your department, bigger than your CG, bigger than YOU.”
This is learnt by you and you are made to learn things which leave transcendental changes in you. Hall seniors and the stationary shop owner of your hall are the people you have to be subservient to for obvious benefits!
Within 6 months, you have loads of activities to do and you get a hang of the less happening life outside KGP campus. Cheddis, Tikka and other eateries give you relief from the mess food and excuse to do “Bhaat”!
“Bhaat” is really an activity which forms an indispensible part of every KGPian throughout his stay here, be it the personal problem, IIT issue or national and international issues, a KGPian has a point of view on every topic under the sun what he refers to as his “funda” or “fundae”.
Every KGPian subconsciously believes that he/she gets paid not for his/her technical expertise rather the “fundae” giving capability he/she inherits from his/her seniors. The explicit mention of photocopying centers deserves a mention as it is the prime reason for making you an IIT graduate. People say getting in to IIT is tough, try getting out! (another cliché). Academics take a backseat in most of the KGPians’ priority list. Life goes on, you graduate and after 5 years or 10 years or whatever may in your case, you feel like returning once again to this mother of all the IITs. The students of KGP also wish to welcome their seniors again and relive the moments again. Being an alumnus of IIT KGP you might get nostalgic but the feeling of nostalgia is also quite serene and surreal.
"Yearnings of Yore"(Volume-VII) given as a souvenir to the alumni present on the occasion of "Seventh Annual Alumni Meet", January 8-10, 2010.
Life Goes on!
It was a day that changed your life once and forever, from just a mere mortal oblivious about this world to a community for which people used to spend half a decade to be in. It was the day your forefathers would attain salvation after getting the big news.
However, you were calm and sleeping in your not-so-cozy but homely bed when your mother wakes you up. You brushed your teeth as you were a mother’s child and had to abide by her morning rules. Wow! You are selected at IIT KGP.
Congrats now you are a KGPian!
The news of your selection spread like wildfire, soon phone calls started coming in if you happen to be selected after the telecom-revolution.
This is the celebrity phase of life every IITian never forgets throughout his/her life.
Life gives you choices and sometimes plays with your fate and gives you surprises. IIT welcomes you with surprises, few bad ones and pleasant ones too. You transform from a teenager to a young adult. It is “Goosebumps-giving” to say that the change IIT did to you still reflects in your personality and you have never changed that much over a span of 4 years other than in KGP. When you put your footsteps here you might be with your dad or mom but in the subsequent 4 years you start doing things on your own. Your first all-alone journey back to home, your first visit to the stationary shop for purchasing stuffs that was previously bought by your parents or elder brothers and sisters, gradual loss of interest in studies, involvement in hall activities and orientation program, etc. all carve out a change in you successively, obviously not in the above order . Here I’m tempted to quote a cliché
“Your hall is your identity. Your hall is bigger than your year, bigger than your department, bigger than your CG, bigger than YOU.”
This is learnt by you and you are made to learn things which leave transcendental changes in you. Hall seniors and the stationary shop owner of your hall are the people you have to be subservient to for obvious benefits!
Within 6 months, you have loads of activities to do and you get a hang of the less happening life outside KGP campus. Cheddis, Tikka and other eateries give you relief from the mess food and excuse to do “Bhaat”!
“Bhaat” is really an activity which forms an indispensible part of every KGPian throughout his stay here, be it the personal problem, IIT issue or national and international issues, a KGPian has a point of view on every topic under the sun what he refers to as his “funda” or “fundae”.
Every KGPian subconsciously believes that he/she gets paid not for his/her technical expertise rather the “fundae” giving capability he/she inherits from his/her seniors. The explicit mention of photocopying centers deserves a mention as it is the prime reason for making you an IIT graduate. People say getting in to IIT is tough, try getting out! (another cliché). Academics take a backseat in most of the KGPians’ priority list. Life goes on, you graduate and after 5 years or 10 years or whatever may in your case, you feel like returning once again to this mother of all the IITs. The students of KGP also wish to welcome their seniors again and relive the moments again. Being an alumnus of IIT KGP you might get nostalgic but the feeling of nostalgia is also quite serene and surreal.
PS: This was the first time I got bylines for any article and I was very happy to see my name in print for any article for the first time!
Yes, I have read the book!
When this controversy started though I was able to empathize Chetan Bhagat but I decided not to write any post related to this on my blog but after this...(see the video below)
I made up my mind that my favourite author and my college senior deserves a mention of this in my blog. The question is not whether the movie is 30%, 50% or 100% copied from the book but it is about moral responsibility of the eulogizer of Gandhigiri. I agree that an artist can't epitomise his creation but this is an extreme case.
What is the point Chetan Bhagat is trying to make?(see the video below)
The bottomline is that this is a typical example in which the writer is not being given appropriate credits. However, the first battle is won by the writer concerned here due to his cult following and media contacts. It could have happened to a less known author and very likely his voice would have been suppressed.
The controversial part of the contract:[view image below]
Read what one of the Aamir khan fans has to say on this, which he posted as a comment in his blog:
"2104. vinayb79
Posted on Jan,02,2010 at 11:48 AM
My simple point is why did the makers get into the contract with
Mr. Bhagat if they 'loosely' wanted to base the movie on the
book or if they only wanted to use '3 to 5 % ' from the book...Do
script writers need 3 to 5 % ? what about the rest 95 0r 97 %?
For that 3 to 5 % the movie makers needed to get into a contract
with the novelist , for what? probably for PUBLICTY because the
book was already FAMOUS?
Could that 3 to 5 % similarities not be avoided and a Original
movie then would have come to the fore...then there would nt have
been a need to making a contract then in the first place...and
once you base movie from a novel, the originality is lost in the
sense of the story whether it is 3 or 5 or 7 or 70 or 50
%...secondly it surely is much more than 3 to 5 %....."
What is my take on this?
I don't want to speak politically correct; the team "3 Idiots" has failed to acknowledge the fact that no matter how successful his film becomes he has to give credit to the person who originally created the characters much before Abhijat Joshi or Rajkumar Hirani thought about Phansuk Wangdu, Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad and Virus.
Rashmi bansal has a valid point here
"Ultimately, Simon Beaufoy won an Oscar for 'best adapted screenplay. And he did not forget to thank Vikas, even in his acceptance speech... "
(Slumdog Millionaire is an adaptation of the novel "Q & A" by Vikas Swarup.)
I think this matter will die within few weeks but the man who will gain maximum out of this is ironically Chetan Bhagat.
If you chronologically follow the proceedings you might think this to be some PR stunt. The film gets publicity, chetan bhagat gets his name mentioned in newspaper and news Channels, the looser is no one!
I do not know the truth and don't want to talk more about this but if you are interested watch this Star News coverage and if you strongly feel that Chetan has moral as well as legal advantage if the controversy goes to court, know what IP practitioners have to say on this
All is well!
PS: Happy new year 2010 to you, may this year bring loads of pleasant surprises for you :)
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