Nikhil Dev

A lot of people have been advising me to do this. So finally the move is complete. I like the new interface. Pretty neat and rounded corner are quite cute

Now, I usually don’t write stuff like this. But this email that I received kinda made me feels bad about some of the things I’ve been doing till now. It is totally worth a full read.

Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s Speech in Hyderabad.

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.
In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name – ‘YOURS’. Give him a face – ‘YOURS’. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai . YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, ’see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.’YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, ‘Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost.’ YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand .
Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. ‘Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,’ he said. ‘And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan.
Will the Indian citizen do that here?’ He’s right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? ‘It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry.’ So who’s going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one’s conscience too…. I am echoing J. F. Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..
‘ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY’
Lets do what India needs from us.

“Now the thing to remember is initially when you start doing something that others don’t(Although it is the right thing, people might take you as a jack ass. But someday they are going to feel like a jack ass. Change will come if everyone realizes. Our responsibility is to be the contribution. Stop blaming the government for everything.”

Its really interesting to know that people do read ma shit. Surprised to hear people talk to me about what I write a couple of days back.

Anyway, bloody tiring day, no proper food in the morning and tiring workout sched. I think I will sleep well today. I am shocked to see how much weight I had put up. I still remember before I went to Bangalore, I was 58 kilos. When I returned from there I was 65. And now, I am 74. Glad to realize that most of it all is muscle.

Got a party to play on Friday. Unfortunately I have team dinner that day as well. First time in 3 years will I be missing a team dinner. Work is more important and I need to develop a solid ground for my career as a DJ. I am so direly in need of Mac now. I cant take the torture of burning audio cds and writing inlays for them. Thats a school boy thing and I am way older than that.

Just today morning I realized that all I need to declutter my computer table is to move the wireless router to the window, packup the speakers under the table and get rid of ma desktop. After all the desktop computer is an absolute useless thing to me now. 99% of the time and using ma laptop. And I use the desktop just to watch movies. I think I would rather connect my laptop to ma LCD and watch the movies. I dont have to buy UPS also. Mmmmm. Thats the project for the weekend.

Saturday sounds promising. Have a family picnic. Atleast I would be doing something different than sitting and drining in a local bar.

I spent sometime today looking for reliable Windows Laptop. I thought its just the OS that is the problem with me so I can use Xp and dedicate this laptop only for music. It turns out that a Dell XPS 1530 can do the job. Now the main concern. Where do I get the money from? Google shares are at record lows and the trading window is anyway closed. Even if it was open, I should be an assole to sell them at this price. I think I will just wait or maybe take a loan later. Right now all the days hard work is taking a toll on ma eyes. Time to some sweet dreamz.

Just an update. I got myself a Reach Powerbrush. Its winter and I still sleepy 30 mins after waking up from bed in the morning. This thing makes brushing my teeth sooooooo…. EASY. No more trying to find gaps and moving my arms over and over again. Just turn the switch on and stick it in your mouth.

I so proudly used to tell people that I have reduced my drinking. But I think I am losing my grip on it again. The main reason being I have nothing much to do in the evening on my weekend. So I end up going to a bar for some beer.(which turns into a lotta beer later). So This is what I am gonna do. I am gonna go for some guitar classes in the evening on weekend so that it keeps me occupied and also benefits me.

The new year is coming closer and I still havent got a confirmation on where I would be playing from Manish. I hope I do some business this year. After all I gotta recover my school money out of it as well plan on buying a Macbook, a Car, some good clothes, a Big LCD TV and many other things. And yeah, save some money for later as well.

On the other part, staying single has started to suck a little. Almost all my friends have someone to spend their free time with. Me, I just sit at home watchin TV, drinking and thinking about how much my life sucks at the moment. I think its time I start some hunting. Fortunately one of my friend passed on 3 seasons of “How I met your mother”. I am done with the first. Have another 1.5 seasons. Hunting postponed.

Another 10 mins to hit the bed.

I havent thought seriously about this previously. But just today I was on IM with a very good friend of mine and he said that he got his work permit for the UK approved. He seemed to have it all planned. This is when I started thinking about what I have for myself. Honestly… Nothing. its all my music that I can think of. I dont want to study anymore. I dont want the regular salaried job. I want to make my own music. I want that to be my career. I know that I am good at it. But really not sure if that possible.

Now for the current challenges. Mom wants me to get married. But what girl wants to marry someone who’s half the salary goes towards his apartment installment. Honestly I hardly can spare any money for a second person. So the conclusion is I can NEVER get married. Cos I have quite some male ego and cannot think of running the house of my wife’s salary. So, I earn myself a lifetime singledom.

On the other hand, my career as a DJ hasnt taken off that huge. I am doin quite a few good shows but I want them to be bigger. Hopefully 2009 proves to be good to me.

I know that this post has come after a long time, but I thought it was time to do this.