Barred from Law!

I just read in the news that the Bar Council of India(BCI) has introduced an age limit. Now this BCI has nothing to do with the binging bars but in fact is the body for law in India. The age limit in question is an upper age limit for admission to law courses.

Sample this -
As per the new rule adopted by the bar council, no candidate above the age of 20 would be admitted to the five-year LLB course, which students opt for after class XII. And nobody above 30 years of age can join the PG LLB course.

Now I find this ridiculous. I fail to fathom the logic behind such a move. An upper age limit shouldn't be present for any courses. Of course in a field like medicine, a late entry would make things extremely difficult for a student since the learning becomes slow with age. But for a person who is determined, that wouldn't be a deterrent.

Law I believe is among the pillars of a society. The field has to attract the most responsible citizens. Certainly it isn't a field glamorous enough to attract kids.

I believe that for such a field there could instead be a criteria with lower age limit so we can be sure the persons who enter it are committed enough and have some experience behind them that would help them to make tough choices which involve ethics and principles.

Emergency - Dial 108

108 is the emergency number for ambulances. This is a dedicated sincere effort to serve the urban and rural unfortunate of AP by Ramalinga Raju. The same Ramalinga Raju who resigned from Satyam after some very unfortunate events. First of course was the corporate governance fiasco regarding acquisition of Maytas. Second the inflated profits and cash present on its balance sheet.
This has been touted as India's Enron.

But does Raju be deemed as a villian here? Was he being immoral, scandalous? In many cases legal acts turn out to be scandalous. But here is actual fraud, an illegal act but I won't deem it as being illicit or scandalous. Pardon my ignorance, but it might just be gambler's fallacy.

Raju was and I should say still would be a good samaritan. Unlike many other promoters, he just held an 8% stake in his company which meant he didn't lay a claim to a lot of the profits. His good deeds would be vouched for by millions of Andhraites. The problem here was that Satyam as a company while doing well was never able to make the next leap. Leading to a lot of frustration, Raju took on some highly questionable bets and these acts might just be ways to rationalize them. Here I am not justifying these acts, they should be condemned and have breached the confidence of a lot of investors. Even in the recession, people had faith in the India story which may be shaken now. I am only making a point that Raju should not be considered evil even after illegal acts. Surely he is a much bigger man that what has come out of all this.
This can be easily seen in the fact that he did not gain monetarily from all this.

Of course, the public would have forgotten all his good deeds by now would be gunning for his blood. Lets just hope the man who was so respected till some weeks back has the strength to face this crisis and still the drive to carry on the samaritan work.

Zilch..Zero..Nothing

I don't know why I am writing today since I don't have anything in mind to write about. I post this on the 4th day of a mini vacation. A vacation that I spent right here in my hostel doing absolutely nothing. I didn't go out anywhere. I didn't meet any people. I didn't watch movies. I didn't even gym or play football or read the newspaper. I promised myself I will get some nice books and return to the age old good habit of reading. But I didn't even come close to the library.

Every time I feel there is so much to do, I end up doing nothing. This time there is more than ever to do. The situation is dire, the times are bad. If I don't wake up now and do something, I never would do anything. Forza!

Incumbents

Sunday morning, here I am. One of the few days when reading the newspaper is a delight. Even though it may be the most hyped and irresponsible one. Its an eventful one today with after-reports and comments about the terror attacks et all.

But refreshing as always is the column of one of the most respected columnists. He has spoken about anti-incumbency wherein a party is generally not elected by the public for a successive time due to their failure to fulfill promises. I say why can't we bar them from electing in the 3rd term in case they are in power in term 1 and fail to get elected in term 2?

Maybe difficult to implement but something on these lines can be done...

Mumbai meri jaan

Another terrorist attack is over. Again we lost a lot of lives. Again the media comes out blaring at everyone. Again sympathies pour out from all corners. Again the Indian PM and US Prez condemn the attack. Again Pakistan pledges support in the fight against terror.

So whats new?
A lot of things. Never before has the city been held hostage for over 48 hours. Never before has the entire nation been watching news channels like a live cricket match. Some top cops have lost lives. Some of the most prestigious symbols of this "progressing" country have been tainted. Some top honchos like CEOs and other elite have lost lives. Some foreigners have lost lives. Many of them were held hostages.

So what difference does it make?
Well knowing there had to be another attack, I would have chosen one of this magnitude. Not one of those small blasts that claim a pitiable 3-4 lives. But one that would keep all of the nation's armed forces at work for days together. One that doesn't give the Mumbaikars the chance to get back to work in a few hours and celebrate their spirit.

Only this could really shake up the people and the governments. Only this would ensure some extreme steps against terrorism. Some extreme steps to ensure responsible governance. Of course I am being optimistic. What are the odds that this will be forgotten in a few days? But in a country like India, one cannot do away with hope.

What I would like to see is Taj always carrying the bruises from this attach to serve as a stark reminder. What I would like to see is Raj Thackerey keeping his mouth shut for a while since nothing better can be expected from him. I would like to see Mumbai become more capable of dealing with these issues. I want to see a Mumbai that can compete with Shanghai or Hong Kong. I would like an India that competes with Japan for technology, one that competes with New Zealand for natural beauty.

In the midst of every difficulty, lies an opportunity. We need to find the one that is present here.

Salaam Mumbai!
Jai Hind!

Depressed again

I am giving the feeling that I write only sad stuff or only when I am depressed. Not true...well maybe. When happy, I have better things on my plate. Anyways I have been depressed a bit too often nowadays. So I feel its better if I make a note here every time just to see why and what is affecting me.
My exams are going on. Of course they are not going well. So yes I was in a not great mood after the paper. But my mood was bad even before the paper. Yesterday I was kind of aloof and alone like I do when not in the mood. The reason for that...mmmm....I guess everyone expects to be treated well. And I am the kind who can do without it. On FIRO-B, my WA and WI scores are zero!!! Yes Zilch! I am inert to these things. But even if you are the kind not to be affected by such things, everyone has a threshold. The string can only be stretch so far. It will snap some time or the other.
Just that the snapping is taking place too often nowadays.

I wanna read!

I used to read. I have always been a sporadic reader. At times I kept reading book after book, other times I didn't touch book for months together. To think of it, I have read 1 book in the last year. And that too for academic purposes. It was great book "Biography of AD Shroff by Sucheta Dalal". But its too little. I really should be doing more of it. And I will...from next month....

I am motivated by this book that has won the Prize. "The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga". I am sure it will be a great read and very similar to what I think of the current Indian scenario. I don't want to rant here before I read the book. Will save it for when I am done with the book.

Till then I will get back to my schedule of sleep, striving to study, striving to maintain a balance between football, gym and of course booze.