A fulfilling trip to Salem, TN

The Summer Vacation 2010 was different for me. My First Day was at Oracle office in Bannerghatta, Bangalore on 14th May with Dr Simon and Prof Jaims for a valediction program.  Side by side to availing of vacation, I have been also attending to official work at CEE, Koramangala primarily for e-GPX related work.

On 22nd I travelled to Salem / Rasipuram in TN by taxi along with Ganga to address a session on Emotional Intelligence to 35 participants of an AICTE sponsored  two week long (10th to 22nd May) Faculty Development Program conducted by Muthayammal Engineering College.  I was invited by Dr Saravanan Raj, HOD of Management Dept., also to be a Special Guest at the valediction to deliver an address and distribute the Participation Certificates. I had the opportunity of interacting with Dr Prabhakaran of NIT-Calicut.

The second part of the trip was to visit another unique and special Ganesha temple about 10 kms away from Salem on 22nd evening. Next day, we travelled to another special tourist spot - Yercaud, a hill station.  It was really a pleasant morning going round gardens and boating.  TN Tourism Department and Government deserves to be complimented for offering such a wonderful spot to the tourists.  A few photographs have been uploaded in my pages in Face Book and Orkut. We returned home on the evening of 23rd May.

As the vacation is continuing with my personal and official works, with visits, mails and phone calls, I have also completed the evaluation of papers from Sri Satya Sai University, Puttaparthi, AP. There is some progress in my Ph.D. work too.  Some other developments during the period are Air Crash in Mangalore on 22nd,  Alumni meet in Bangalore on 22nd, PM's important Press Meet on 24th, Dr KS Rao's shift to a new B-School in Bangalore, discussions with DNSK, CKR, Mohan, Sowmya, Kavita, et al on various matters.

2 States by Chetan Bhagat

Having read the latest popular book "2 States" by Chetan Bhagat during the last fortnight while I was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai to Bangalore and back in Manipal, I am tempted to air my views.  Well, it was a spicy story for some youngsters to read and enjoy.  But, I have some reservations.  I only heard about / seen his previous three books - 5 Point Some One, One Night in a Call Centre and My 3 Mistakes.  The high profile author's background is excellent - highly educated from India's prestigeous IIT-D and IIM-A. He was also working in a top-class Foreign Bank - Deutsche and quit for writing.  However, he gives an impression that all his novels / stories resemble his own life and facts.  Some times, such books mislead the new generation - on values, principles, systems, religion, traditions, ethics, culture and what not?

I think present day youth are somewhat confused.  With twenty-first century technology and culture they seem to aping the so-called American styles in thier dress, talk, walk, writing &and reading styles, food habits, etc. We, the Indians, are not used utter the word "FUCK" as easily and frequently. And also, neither indulging in pre-marital sex during the formatory stages of college life.  Similarly, inter-caste, inter-religion and inter-State marriages are not uncommon.  In fact, the aspect of marriage has utmost sanctity in our country - in almost all the States.

Coming to the two States - Punjab and Tamil Nadu - the description of people and their living styles also seem to have been in a very bad taste.  Not everything is wrong in these two or for that matter in any of the States in India or world over.  It is all about civilisation.  TN people are generally highly educated  and are in Civil / Central Services as also in Banking Industry. One need not depict a particular language or tribe or a State in a demeaning manner.  After all, Tamil Nadu has produced eminent personalities like Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, CR Rajagopalachari, Sri Venkataraman,  Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ((former Presidents) or Nobel Laurates like Sir CV Raman, Dr Chandrasekharan and Dr Venkataraman. TN also produced many Bharat Ratnas.  Bharata Natyam and Thyagaraja Kritis are the pride of Tamilians. AR Rehman, Rajnikant, Hema Malini, Sridevi et al have brought fame to the Indian Cinema in their own way.  E Sreedharan of Delhi Metro fame (also Konkan Railways) is from TN too.  If it is the ignorance of Punjabis that they are not aware of such illustrious sons  or daughters of India from TN, Chetan Bhagat had a responsibility to include a chapter to highlight many good things about TN including religious places, historical events, tourist centres, and so on. After all, the great epic Ramayan might have started in North India but ends in South / Sri Lanka. Mera Bharath Mahaan.  

I may clarify that I am not a Tamilian (but an Andhra).  I married my wife from Bhubaneswar who was born in West Bengal and also lived in Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya. I live presently in Karnataka for over a decade.   Earlier I lived in Mumbai for about a decade and travelled all over India while working in a Bank.  I love my India and Indians. I studied in Osmania University, Hyderabad and presently teach in a leading B-School with PG students from all over the country / world.  I had and still insist to have a great respect to IITs and IIMs. I only wish that authors think twice (or 'n' times) before such writings which influence the future generation of India with pervert thoughts and beliefs.