October 26, 2007

MATURING GOODBYES..

Grievances awarded to the sugary goodbye
Pushing away life from the seams
False accusations taken too far
Ending the means of all thats known
Forgetting the feeling of regret

Pulsations overwhelm combinations
Corrupting minds retrieve ideas
Raining pain surrenders all costs
Determination at best, strongest links
Giving away shared opportunity

Crackling voices silently heard
Freedom reigning within lonliness
Turning to what we are capable of
Surviving storms of hectic chaos
Maturing into concerned individuals

October 25, 2007


IKEBANA, one of the traditional arts of Japan, has been practiced for more than 600 years. It developed from the Buddhist ritual of offering flowers to the spirits of the dead. By the middle of the fifteenth century, with the emergence of the first classical styles, IKEBANA achieved thestatus of an art form independent of its religious origins, though it continued to retain strong symbolic and philosophical overtones. The first teachers and students were priests and members of the nobility. However, as time passed, many different schools arose, styles changed, and IKEBANA came to be practiced at all levels of Japanese society.

The beginning of IKEBANA can be traced to the 6th century introduction of Buddhism to the Japanese. Part of the worship involved the offering of flowers on the altar in honor of Buddha. In India, the birthplace of Buddhism, the flowers were placed very informally, and sometimes only petals were strewn around. However, by the time of 10th century Japan, the Japanese were presenting their offering in containers. The altar offerings were the responsibility of the priests of the temple. The Origin of IKEBANA: Ikenobo

The oldest school of IKEBANA dates its beginnings from a priest of the Rokkakudo Temple in Kyoto who was so expert in flower arrangement that other priests sought him out for instruction. As he lived by the side of a lake, for which the Japanese word is Ikenobo, the name Ikenobo became attached to the priests there who specialized in these altar arrangements. Evolution of Styles

Patterns and styles evolved so that by the late 15th century, arrangements were common enough that they were appreciated by ordinary people, not just the imperial family and its retainers. Thus began the development of an art form with fixed requirements. Texts were written, the oldest being Sendensho, a compilation covering the years from 1443 to 1536.

As time passed, IKEBANA became a major part of traditional festivals, and IKEBANA exhibitions were held periodically. Rules were prescribed, and materials had to be combined in specific ways. In these early forms, a tall upright central stem had to be accompanied by two shorter stems; the three stems represented heaven, man (sic), and earth. The specific Japanese names for these differed among IKEBANA schools. In 1545, the Ikenobo School, now well established, formulated the principles of rikka arrangements by naming the seven principal branches used in that type of arrangement.

During the Momoyama period in Japan, 1560-1600, many magnificent castles were constructed. During the same period, noblemen and royal retainers were doing large decorative rikka floral pieces .

October 21, 2007

T20- WORLD CUP

Indians –the T20 champions:
The Showpiece Event has come to a conclusion with India being crowned the Champions of the Inaugural T20 World Cup. India has beaten arch rivals Pakistan in a humdinger of a final to lift the Priceless Trophy. Before the T20 World Cup had started, no one would have imagined in the wildest of their dreams that India would go on to lift the coveted trophy. India has stunned the entire cricketing world with its spectacular performance. India has played sensationally in the entire tournament. Even in the match whom India lost to New Zealand, India had put on a brave performance. They were chasing 190 to win and fell short of the target by a very narrow margin.
Stellar Performance:

Among all the top teams in World Cricket, India has the least experience in T20 matches. India has played just one T20 match in its T20 career before this inaugural T20 World Cup.Infact India did not have any match practice when they took on Pakistan in this tournament as their tie against Scotland was washed away by rain. After the defeat against New-Zealand, India had to win each and every match in order to win the Cup. After the match in which India lost to New-Zealand, It has been all India.India has come up with an absolute Stellar performance in this tournament .India's triumph in this T20 World Cup will be absolutely phenomenal for the game of Cricket.
Grabbing the best opportunity:

If you take a look at teams like Australia, South Africa and New-Zealand, they have the right kind of players who can easily win you 20-20 matches. Compare the Indian Team man to man with the teams Australia, England and South Africa. You would find these teams to be superior. But India got the better out of these teams in this tournament. Youngsters like Gambhir, Uthappa and Rohit Sharma rose to the occassion and grabbed the opportunities with both hands.These young men had also fielded well and had effected few direct run outs.Yuvraj is in the purple patch of his career and has played a big part in India winning this World Cup.Not to Forget Dhoni's contribution.Dhoni may not have made big scores but scored some decent runs and had marshaled his resources extremely well.
Proved their mettle:
The thing which is most pleasing is that it was a collective performance from India.RP Singh and Sreesanth had bowled their hearts out and had given India timely break throughs.As T20 matches are ruled by batsmen, many expected the opposition batsmen to bully the inexperienced Indian bowlers.But Indian bowlers had proved their mettle by not only picking up wickets but also bowling at a superb economy rate .It was very heartening to see Sehwag,Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan making a good comeback.It was an absolute professional performance from Team India in this tournament.Indians who were known as the renowned chokers have proved the World Cricket wrong by winning crunch matches in this tournament.Indians had the habit of choking in big finals but this time around they held their nerves really well.
Boiling Young Blood:
India have won all the major ICC Championships namely ,1983 World Cup 1985 World Championship ,Mini World Cup 2002(India are Joint Winners of this tournament) , T20 World Cup 2007 .India winning a World Cup Final against their Arch Rivals Pakistan, you cant get anything bigger than this. It was the young blood which won this Mega Event for India.
T20-A Stepping Stone
Though India won the T20 World Cup, it should boost their confidence and enable them to perform well in the ODIS and test matches from now on. And it’s high time that the Indian selectors take serious note of the young talent. From now on, we need to start building a team for World Cup 2011.We need more such ICC Trophies in our cabinet. Holding the Wold Cup Trophy is one of the best things in the world.Infact holding aloft the World Cup Trophy is the pinnacle. When Dhoni had lifted the T20 World Cup Trophy, we Indians got goose pimples. It was one of the best moments in the lives of the Indian Cricket Fans. This T20 World Cup triumph is a glorious chapter in the history of Indian Cricket. Well done Team India. The entire nation is proud of you.

BRAIN- DRAIN

Draining talents:
A brain drain or human capital flight is an emigration of trained and talented individuals to other nations or jurisdictions, due to conflicts, lack of opportunity, or health hazards where they are living. Brain drain is a word with a bad connotation. So, it is no wonder that we hear our politicians, statesmen and intellectuals often mourning brain drain. Developing countries lose their enormous investments on higher education when skilled people migrate to other countries. There are a number of articles on brain drain from India from 1960 onwards, saying that it is increasing or stopping but it has not.

The brain-drain of Indian software and other high-tech engineers are so serious that ``there is a danger that we will be left with nothing'' in India. Somewhere between 50,000 to 60,000 of the 100,000 engineers that India's technical institutes and engineering colleges produce each year are US-bound. The growing skills' divide in India's work-force has serious social consequences. At the most, 100 million Indians, or one-tenth of the population, stand to benefit from the technology revolution in the short term. . The greatest loss to India’s future is that the brains continue to go offshore. For years, many ambitious Indian professionals went to the West to build careers. Those who stayed home got only a fraction of what their compatriots earned in the worlds financial and technology centres.
Retain our talents:
Now, soaring local salaries reflect a growing shortage of skilled workers at home, just as Indian companies are emerging as global players in the new economy. Business executives now worry that to sustain India's booming young software industry; the country must retain more of its high-tech whizkids and lure back tens of thousands of talented expatriates.
Reverse brain drain:
”Reverse brain drain” should be promoted to attract some of the brightest and talented children of India and ensure their return to their motherland. Overseas Indians should engage more actively in India’s development.
Causes for Brain-drain:
The reason that you get paid well in the US or any foreign country is because of a better investment climate over there and because the goverment is responsive of citizen needs. However, the reason that the government works in the US is solely because of the social and political activism shown by the Americans to get their governments to do the right thing. If all right-thinking americans would have left US for better prospects to some other country then you would never have had the chance to earn the dollar salary you do now. And the reason that we don’t get good prospects in India is because many people like us, instead of trying to improve the government functioning and doing their bit to create a better society, chose to prioritize their personal interests over their responsibility to the society they belong to. Nothing wrong with that, everyone has the right to do pursue their personal interests, but we shouldn’t rant what the government did for us , because essentially we are equally responsible for the government not functioning right and are responsible for brain drain.
America’s Brain-Drain: Advantage India:
With India catching up fast on technology, non-resident Indians are realizing that the action lies back home. As the American dream fades in the long queues for the elusive visa, Indian companies are camping on American soil to bring their professionals back. America is losing out on intellectual resources to countries like India and China as the immigration debate rages in the US. Snags in the immigration process have left 5 lakh immigrants waiting for green cards, putting their families and children through inconvenience as well. A study on the reverse brain drain bemoans the fact that the US trained thousands of workers who came on temporary visas, but are unable to retain them.
Moreover, as more American employees face retirement, and fewer of their citizens acquire professional degrees, the super power’s talent pool is beginning to shrink. The US has benefited immensely from foreign-born professionals, owing half of the start-ups in Silicon Valley between 1995 and 2005 to them, and Indians have contributed largely to America’s patent portfolio. As the immigration backlog mounts, the frustration amongst NRI’S in the US is forcing them to turn back home. India’s booming economy, with a choice of jobs from global companies is no less responsible for the reverse brain drain the US is facing.
India booming:
Opportunities for NRIs in the US are also coming from their own employers who are setting up research centers in India. With a vibrant economy welcoming them home, a section of NRIs are too eager to give up the life of a helpless immigrant and restore their first citizenship status.