Time flies by!

It always happens,

happens to me as well!

It’s just a matter of time

and how soon it travels…

faster than the light; Perhaps!

there is no time to look back

and neither there is any reason…

but, those moments, and

the good time spent, repeats!

It always comes back to me,

and keeps me going…

the time awaited,

and the time worked hard,

will knock me down,

to keep up my spirits…

learning every moment,

enjoying every conversation,

gaining the momentum,

that I desired, and I waited for…

sharing my dreams and

thinking through the clutter

contributing every little thing,

but, taking one at a time…

and it so happens,

one day, we see some progress,

for what is done,

and giving scope further,

for what needs to be done…

progress comes hard,

straight from the gut,

against the stream,

accompanying the spirit…

time goes on, and

leaving me in the distance

upholding the spirits

promising me return…

return for the journey,

into the madness,

of what we can create,

that we called a dream…

and until then,

with heartfelt thoughts,

working with senses,

witnessing the air,

sustaining the spirits,

limiting the distance;

making every thing happen,

one way or the other,

keeping myself busy,

to make this WAIT, worth!

It's funny! how times flies by!

Srik

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Radio Mania!

Recession being a good reason enough for the company I work to cancel all the office busses, I am now using the public transport to commute to office every day. In a way, it turned out good for me because I travel by Volvo and it is quite comfortable, dust free and aesthetically appealing as well. More than anything, I use my travel time to read books. So I dedicate 4 hours a day on my reading and travelling. At times, when I am not in a good mood to read book or too many calls to attend while I am in the bus, I give my ears to listen to the music on FM. Almost all the Volvo buses are equipped with music players with FM embedded. So I listen to the FM and the PJs being cracked by all the RJs quite often. Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they irritate me and sometimes they make no sense to me. But they entertain me for sure. Some of the drivers tend to listen to some old Kannada music always. So as soon as I see the driver, I will know how my journey for the next 2 hours will be. Anyway, I am fine with any RJ and any music to listen as long as I am being entertained.

I believe FM stations are the strong media for mass communication. So, whatever RJs utter and however they behave while running the show will have certain impact on the public who listen to them. At any point of time, they should not forget that they are being heard by the mass, even if they are not seen. Almost all the RJs will be in the edge of their tongue to attract people to turn onto their station. This makes them come up with some innovative stuff. Be it a quiz program or a reality show on FM, all they want to do is to try something new every day. Also, that is how they are supposed to work to counter the competition. But in the recent past, what I observed is that they are trying too much and ending up with some junk stuff which can create havoc in the public. I noticed two such programs during this week that made a negative impact on me. I do not know how others would’ve taken it, but, I certainly did not appreciate them. I actually got shocked and could not believe what I experienced. They just over do things at times.

The first case was when I heard this new program initiated by Radio City 91.1 with the Sandalwood hero Upendra joining the RJ Pra-Dee-Pa on air every morning. He is named as RJ Upendra and they are doing the show called Public-City every morning with him. In this show, they interact with public on variety of topics choosing one topic every day. One such topic for discussion in the public-city couple of days back was ‘Love’. Now, Upendra, being known for his own crazy definitions of love which was showcased in his initial couple of movies directed by him, loved to discuss about this topic without any problem. People started asking questions and sharing their love matters on Air. Out of nowhere, one person called and he said his girl friend denied marrying him because her father did not agree for their marriage. And she is forcefully made to accept some other proposal. The guy kept saying that the girl still loves him but scared to confront her parents. And he asked these two RJs to help him out. Now, I understand they discuss public matters on Air. But, they need to have real guts to discuss private matters publicly. All they could’ve done is to hear the guy completely and tell him some nice words to pick him up from where he is. No! They did not do that. They displayed heroic characters on air. They said they will call the girl and try convincing her and took her number from the guy. The guy was happy and disconnected the call.

Both RJ Upendra and the RJ Pra-Dee-Pa displaying their bravery, called the girl. Initially she refused to admit the fact that she loves the boy. But eventually she confronted that she loves the guy but her dad did not accept the proposal and she was forced to accept some other proposal. She actually refused to talk about the whole issue and asked these two RJs to forget the matter. She also told that she has updated the boy giving enough reasons for not accepting to marry him. But these two RJs did not keep quiet. They forcefully took her dad’s mobile number telling her that they will convince her dad. They called her dad. As soon as he got to know that these guys have called him to talk about his daughter’s love matter, he refused to talk about it. He said he did not like the fact the personal matters are being discussed on Radio and disconnected the call. These guys did not leave him at peace; they called him again and questioned him about the boy. The girl’s dad, out of irritation and anger, agreed to talk about it. He made an interesting point that made these two RJs to shut their silly heroic displays. He said “the boy is uneducated and jobless, how do you expect him to take care of my daughter?”

Consuming all his anger, these two RJs had to end the call without having any lucky break for the lovers. I understand all about love, lovers and weddings. There will be infinite number of problems associated with every story that will have no easy solutions. But, my question is why are they even doing such things publicly? What was the need for them to display heroism? Just because Upendra is a celebrity and people will listen to him if he talks to them? I thought what they did was utterly pathetic and absolutely wrong. It would’ve created more problems to the girl and the boy both. Why do they need to get into the personal matters publicly?

The second case was when I heard the Fever 104 FM today at 7.30 Am. This was the show aired by a lady RJ called Shradha. After a couple of PJs and some good songs, she asked public to call her if they have any problems in life. She offered to make them speak to the Guruji on their problems. I got excited and was curious to know who this Guruji is and what is he going to talk. There was a call immediately from a girl. Her problem was that she was doing nothing in life. When questioned by Guruji to her, she confronted that she could not get through her II PUC exams and she has a back log of 2 science subjects. So it was a real treat for Guruji to speak his words. He asked her a few questions and then I think he immediately looked at her horoscope and told her that she cannot complete any course if she chooses Science subjects. He said she can get through only in Diploma in her life. For that the girl was happy and got excited. He then said that the girl needs to visit one temple (I forgot the name) in Chennai and the other Saraswathi temple near Kumbakonam or some place in Tamil Nadu. If she does that and keep doing regular Pooja to a ‘Saraswathi Yantra’, she will have no problems in her education. The girl was feeling ecstatic after listening to Guruji and she said she will follow all his suggestions.

Well, it was a kind of adrenaline pull for me to believe people still believe in such things. If she has not passed in her exams, it is just that she is not working hard. Also, she seemed not all that excited and interested about her science subjects. So why cannot she do what she likes? What was the need to check her horoscope for things that she cannot do? I do not think she will even pass the diploma if she believes in such crap. All we need to do is to get serious in life and work hard to clear the subjects. And I was very disappointed that the FM station even promotes such things on Air for the public. One end I hear that people are coming out of their blind belief to watch the solar eclipse and the other end I see people believing in horoscope, Guruji and Yantra to clear their academic exams.

It sounds just pathetic!

So, this is the status of our radio stations these days. When all of us are working towards the betterment of the society and nation, these silly things that create more impact on public negatively will never tend to stop. I do not know what others will make out of the above two cases. But I certainly did not like them, do not believe in them and it was outrageous to hear them on air.

Srik

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I contributed to…

Hold on! Before you even think of me contributing to a charity or for some fund raiser, let me clear that first. It wasn't my contribution at all. Or perhaps! yes. I think even i contributed my bit to the same.

If someone tells me that I have improved on some aspect when compared to my past, I feel a bit guilty saying did I delay it for this long. At the same time, I also feel that there is someone who is tracking me for my own good. Well, I need that badly. But at the same time, improving over what I am is what we all need to look forward to in this competitive world. And when I hear, ‘you need to improve on this, much more’, I feel I am being challenged. Everything, in a way, is good for me and my environment around.

Alright! Let me explain what I am trying to share. Today, after much expectation and delays, we had our annual ‘Future Leaders’ competition at our Prasiddhi School. Like every year, we give some interesting topic for the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th standard students asking them to prepare a power point presentation to present in front of us. The whole objective is not just to assess them on their knowledge, but to develop their presentation skills, creativity, lateral thinking, and team spirits and bring them up to the acceptable standards. Students were supposed to present about the interesting topics given to them in a specified period of time under the specified criteria. Based on their performance, we select the two best teams and give away prizes (usually books).

I used to hear from one of my colleague that her son, being in the 1^st standard, but in a very good residential ‘international’ school, participates in debates on topics like IT, corruption, politics etc. I am still unable to digest over the fact that a 1^st standard kid can talk about such serious issues and able to give presentations. So, while assigning the topics at Prasiddhi School, I had this in mind and decided on some tough topics like, Influence of IT in Bangalore Traffic Management; Role of IT in reducing Corruption, Use of IT knowledge in Political campaigns and the like. I was not really sure about how students approach towards such challenges. They were divided into groups of 6 students each and asked to work on a power point presentation with a given deadline.

Now, I was really not sure on how they will collect the content for the presentation but we were sure of the students taking their parents help. As per the dead line, all of them had submitted their presentations to our faculty and were getting geared to present it in front of us. We had scheduled the presentations for all the classes today. And we started with the 7^th standard and continued with all others.

Today, my intention was not to focus on the content much as we were very sure that the contents would’ve come from many sources including their parents. So what we were concerned was to look at the attitude of the students compared to their competitions in the previous academic year. I always feel like talking before they start their presentation. So I tried to crack some jokes in front of them and kept them occupied with some silly questions that I always ask. By then Sup was getting ready with the machine and the marks sheet.

It was one of the touchy and moving experiences for me and Sup today; specifically with the 8^th standard students. Before they started their presentation, I asked them few questions based on their previous year’s presentation. I asked them who won the competition, a few hands showed up on air and then I asked why others didn’t win. They came up with their own analysis. And then I asked what were the learning from previous experience and how will it be useful to adopt the same here. I was surprised to hear the responses that I never expected and was dumbstruck. One by one, they answered these points:

1. Participation is what is important and we win because we participate
2. We have more knowledge compared to the previous year and hence we can do much better this year.
3. We also know how to work on collecting the information better.
4. We were not good at preparing presentations last year and now we are better.
5. We are more creative in presenting the data this time.
6. We have improved compared to our previous year presentations.
7. We will do much better this time.
8. We all are winners because we all are participating in this.

Wow! After listening to such strong bullet firing over my thoughts, I was feeling proud and thankful to our own little act of conducting the competition every year. And it is very hard to believe that they delivered on their promise much beyond our expectations. They did not make much noise while others were presenting and they respected all the team members. And we did not get the same feeling with other class presentations. 8th standard students were on high today I guess.

My name is Chirag and I am from the team ‘Jaago re’, I am going to present about the “role of IT in …” and my contribution to the presentation is ‘I helped the team with formatting text’. Every student was very confident and to the point and introduced themselves in the way I have written and they had the perfect eye contact with us and the audience and delivered their speeches. Some of the analysis and suggestions they came up with were truly outstanding. It can be directly implemented by BBMP and the BMTC without even thinking. They all came up with real facts and workable ideas. For an hour or so, we felt like we are in a serious discussion with the government about the ‘Traffic problems in Bengaluru’.

My point again is not the content, but their attitude. They learned from their past experience and they improved themselves on certain aspects and delivered their best by contributing their bit. They made our job complicated as we had to give them the scores and chose the best two teams for the class. We were delighted by their presentations and it also made me believe that it is not difficult to talk over any of such topics. 1^st standard kid can do wonders if given an opportunity.

It was a mixture of cute smiles, anxious faces, fearful gestures, confident looks, funny presenting styles, futuristic thoughts, dedication for the community and the unimaginable competitiveness of these students made our day. They are our future leaders who can and will ‘contribute to’ the society and developments for sure.

Srik

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ಒಗಟಿನ ತುದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ

ನಾನು ನಾನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆಯ

ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಭಾವವ

ಹುಡುಕುತ ಹೋದ ನಾ,

ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಬಿದ್ದೆ ಒಂದು ಒಗಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ!

ನನ್ನಾಸೆಯ ಮನಕೆ

ನನ್ನೆದೆಯ ಕೋರಿಕೆಗೆ

ನನಗಿರುವ ನೆನಪಿನ

ತಿರುಗುಬಾಣದ ಒಗಟು!

ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದ ಜೀವಕೆ

ಬಲಿಯಾದ ಕ್ಷಣಗಳು

ಚಿಂತಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಸಂಗಗಳು

ಕೂಡಿಟ್ಟು ತಂದ ಈ ಒಗಟು!

ಒಂದರಮೇಲೆ ಒಂದೆನ್ನುತ

ದಿನ ದಿನವೂ ಮಿತಿಮೀರುತ

ಅದರದೇ ವೇಗದೊಳು

ಮುಂದೆ ಬರುವ ಆ ಒಗಟು!

ಬಿಡಿಸಲು ಹೋದೆ ನಾ

ಆ ಬಿಡಿಸಲಾಗದ ಒಗಟ

ಅರಿಯಲು ಹೋದೆ ನಾ

ಆ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದ ಒಗಟ!

ಹೃದಯದ ಭಾರವ

ಕಣ್ಣಿನ ಪ್ರತಿ ಹನಿಯ

ಬಯಸಿದ ಅಕ್ಕರೆಯ

ಹಿಡಿದಿರುವ ಒಗಟ!

ಯೆದೆಬಡಿತವ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಮಾಡುವ

ಕನಸುಗಳಿಗೆ ಕಡಿವಾಣ ಹಾಕುವ

ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಪರಿಚಯಿಸುವ

ಒಗಟಿನ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು!

ಕಂಡೆ ನಾ ನೋವನ್ನು

ದೂರದ ಆ ಬೆಳಕನ್ನು

ಕಾಣದ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು

ಮುಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟ ಆ ಒಗಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ!

ಇರುವೆ ನಾ ಒಗಟಿನ ತುದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ... ಉತ್ತರವಿಲ್ಲದೇ, ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯಲಿ!

ಶ್ರೀ

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Hmmm...

On a relaxed time ever,

forgetting my past and the future,

letting my thoughts flow into the present,

closing my eyes and revisiting my dreams,

reading my mind over my own writings;

I turned on the music,

I got in to the hmm…

Humming aloud, into the ecstasy,

feeling the touch and embracing the wind,

forcing into my ears, to make me dance,

on my toes, one after one, moving my legs,

dancing in the bliss, tiring out myself;

and turning the volume high,

I continued to hmm…

Every step made me smile and

every note made me think, and smile again;

Every smile, pushed myself to the heaven,

and heaven, made me reach my dream;

walk over my dream was again a dream…

I played the next track,

And I again got into hmm…

Without my mind, I carried on;

I carried myself on to a different world,

a world of within me and my vibes,

a very near feeling but yet very far,

just to be myself and unconditional;

Rejoicing the music,

I continued to hmm…

Numbness taking over my steps,

desiccated me out from within, over the joy,

letting go all my inner emotions, feeling good,

I could feel myself lighter than a fly,

resting my steps and reverted to life.

I was a humming bird for a while,

And the music of life… plays on forever…

Srik

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Just around the corner

I always remember this expression ‘On-the-way’ and I get fascinated by it most of the times. I am just letting my fingers type what I am thinking and contemplating about. The more I think, the more I key in on this electronic device that keeps me busy in spite of being busy-the-other-way. Everything is on its way for sure. If you ask for anything, you will hear its on-the-way and it’s just around the corner. You will get it soon.

Well… my life is on its way!

I found a road and I am on my way. Sometimes I need to deviate, because I saw another road. Likewise, I see many roads. Where do I go? How do I get to know which is the road that is less travelled by? If at all I am over excitingly doing things to deviate from others. I will. Because, I challenge such risks.

One such risk is what time is. So, I am challenging the time. My time. I feel like I am racing against the time. Oh! Come on…we all are. That is how I get to know my competitors. All are just around the corner. You need not show up yourself. You get to see what you do not expect to see all the times. You feel, you are on the right track. Because the path you’ve chosen has the name tag ‘Right track’ even before you walk over it. And if you feel you are on the wrong track then, you cannot blame anyone. It was your choice to walk over the ‘right track’.

And well, I always thought, like everybody, I did the right thing and I chose the right way. No. I think at this point in time, with all the chaos around, I feel at loss. Not that what I did was wrong. It is not. It did not seem like a loss as well. It in fact, inspired me even more and made me feel good about myself. And the same amount of positive energy and impact was created at the other end too. Atleast I got that impression. I hope I am not wrong.

And while I was mulling over on everything being good, I got into an encounter with the time again. Not my time, but others time. When I am in the generation that has forward thinking minds, I never thought I will be led to think backwards like others do. May be that is the only gap I am seeing in the present generation. We only talk about always looking forward and not believe in some blind beliefs from the past. But we are not the same when it comes to performing our own duties. We still tend to think backwards with a genuine polished ‘reason’. And that is a reason enough to deviate from our own thoughts. Sometimes, we cannot ignore it because, if you ignore it, you will be ignored!

Everything is just around the corner. Without letting thoughts to overtake on the others, one will need to be unimaginably patient and optimistic about whatever is going to happen in life. Expecting to be optimistic without having that ignition of crossing over the backward thinking phase is a challenge on its own.

So what I thought the past; and what I am going to see next, is just around the corner!

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ಮೊದಲ ಮಾತು

ಮಾತನಾಡಿದೆ ನಾನು

ನನ್ನ ಮೊದಲ ಮಾತ

ನನ್ನ ಮನಸಿನ ಮಾತ...

ಹೆದರಿಕೆಯ ಢವ ಢವದಿ

ಪದ ಪದವ ಜೋಡಿಸುತ

ಹೇಳಿದ ನನ್ನಾಸೆಯ ಮಾತ...

ಮಾತು ಮಾತಲ್ಲೇ

ಮನದ ಮೌನ ರಾಗವ

ರಚಿಸಿದ ಆ ಮಾತ...

ಕುತೂಹಲದಿ ಕಿವಿಯಿಂದ

ಕಿವಿಗೆ ಕೇಳಿಸಿದ ನನ್ನ

ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಮಾತ...

ಮೈಮರೆತು ನನ್ನನ್ನು

ನಾನು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ

ಒಪ್ಪಿಸಿದ ಮಾತ...

ತನ್ನಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ತಾನೇ

ಹೊರಬಂದ ಆ ನನ್ನ

ನಿಜವಾದ ಮಾತ...

ಮಾತು ಮಾತಾಗಿ

ಮಾತು ಬೆಳದು, ಕೇಳಿದೆ ನಾ

ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಮಾತ...

ಆ ಮಾತ ಕೇಳಿ ಮೈಮರೆಯುತ

ಭಾವದೊಳಗೆ ಭಂದಿಯಾಗುತಾ

ನಾ ಮನಸೋತ ಮಾತ...

ಮುಂದೇನಾಗುವುದೋ

ಎಂದು ಎದುರು ನೋಡುತಾ

ಹೇಳಿದ ಮಾತ...

ಮಾತು ಮಾತಿಗೆ

ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಸಮ್ಮಿಲನವಾದ

ಸಿಹಿಯಾದ ಮಾತ...

ಹೊಸ ಮಾತಾದರು

ಬೇಗ ಸಮೀಪವಾದ

ನೇರ ಮಾತ...

ಅಸಾಧ್ಯ ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡ

ಆಸೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಜೀವಕೊಟ್ಟ

ಆ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಮಾತು...

ಕ್ಷಣಗಳಲಿ, ಮುಗುಳುನಗೆ ತಂದಿತು ಆ ಮಾತು...

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Idiotic tale of a reality

My take on 3 Idiots!

It is so chaotic to see so many discussions happening on the latest hit movie 3 Idiots. I am glad that I watched the movie before it is too late to observe its impact. While I support Chetan Bhagat over the credit issue, there are lot many issues emerging out of the story. Chetan Bhagat’s best seller book Five Point Someone is what the movie’s story is based on (in my view atleast 70-80% of the movie has the same story). But it is being claimed as an original story by the production unit. Here is the full story on the controversy. I feel sad for the writers having cheated in this manner. May be this is an eye opener for many of the authors to get into a proper agreement to have the proper ownership of the story. Well, many of the fans of Chetan Bhagat are with him and we all will support him.

Even though it is a fictious novel and which is why it is being showcased as a movie, it has a social message to spread among people. It talks about the current education system. I was happy to see such a critical problem being projected so well. Of course, it is over exaggerated because it should entertain people. Raj Hirani, Aamir Khan and team have done a wonderful job and have outperformed beyond ones expectations. It was a much needed effort and the reality of the current education system is projected very well. Also they have given much scope for innovation and original work. We all are well aware of the loopholes in the current system, at the same time; we are yet to bridge the gap between the Industry needs and the knowledge being delivered in the institutes. In spite of such harsh realities, are we making any progress? Will it be taken seriously whenever they show it through movies like 3 idiots?

While most of us are happy with the outcome of the movie and thinking about how do we solve the problem that is being shown with respect to the education system, here are few people who wrote negatively about the whole issue. I think people are not ready to accept the reality and find a solution for it. They think there is no need to present it like the way it is. And because of their analysis, people should start thinking negatively about it. Their claim is that 3 idiots will only create a nation of idiots. I strongly disagree with the same. Following this blog, there was even a 30 minute panel discussion on CNN-IBN to discuss about the impact of the movie. The question that was being addressed was “Is 3 idiots an accurate depiction of Higher Education”. Although I am happy with the public response (73% said yes), I thought the question was very silly. After all, it is a movie and it is based on a fictious story. Exaggerated a bit on many aspects but the message was very clear that there is a strong need for reforms in education system. So, obviously, people like me, who believe that there is a need for change in the system, have voted ‘yes’ for the question.

Now, what are the harsh realities that the movie projects?

1. Current education system sucks. This is basically the pressure that is created on every student which is leading for many suicides.

2. Pressure from parents to become Doctor or an Engineer only. Even though you and I have our talents and competencies in other areas.

3. Scope for innovation in the current system.

4. Lack of good professors in the current system.

5. Education is not just to get a degree certificate.

6. Level of ragging in most of the institutes and its impacts.

7. Living your passion.

My own analysis:

1. I have undergone many such pressures where we were asked to work on assignments that were not relevant like donkeys.

2. Most of the syllabus I studied was outdated while I was studying.

3. I had no good lecturers (only few exceptions) until I reached my post graduation (even there only a few).

4. My parents wanted me to become an Engineer. I disappointed them. I was lucky.

5. Many of my friends became engineers because of their parents’ pressure.

6. Like one of my friend said, other than getting the degree that helped to get a job, I only got good friends during my schooling and graduation days.

7. What I studied is completely different from what I am working on currently.

8. I have seen many who studied just for the certificates and just for money.

9. Actual learning for me was when I joined my job.

10. All my exams were focused on passing and marks. I was relieved when I passed all my exams.

11. I used to fear of failing in exams.

12. I have seen my own classmates attempting for suicide because of the pressure from parents and teachers.

13. I feel guilty when I see someone who got good education. There are only few IITs and IIMs. What about the rest? What about places other than major cities?

14. I have seen teachers ruining students’ lives!

What is showed in the movie is exactly the same. The loopholes of the current system are presented in an entertaining way. And people have problems with that as well. My analysis and comments may depend on many factors; but there are many people like me in India who have gone through the same. What I am trying to do now is to do something to bridge the gap. Every Indian must watch the movie and take the message positively to work on building a better system. We are now in a position to demand a good and promising education from the system. This movie is just a minor part of the whole issue. Let us not argue over the movie. Let us now think about the reforms.

If we think that the movies like this will produce national idiots, it is most certain that we are not challenging the reality to come up with a solution. Rather, ducking out of the reality saying there are no negatives in the system. Let us all forget about the movie but not the reality that is leaving us with less competitiveness.

Let us live our Passion! Dream! And achieve more!

Srik

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