Someone everyone loves to hate

Last night when I was making the best use of remote while watching TV in the common room, my hands suddenly stopped ... I saw two faces together sharing the television screen. Those two are the people whom I personally believe to be the best living icons of success, both these men have revolutionised the world, both of them are leaders in their own field, they are Microsoft Corp. Chairman, Mr. Bill Gates and Infosys founder, Mr. Narayan Murthy. They have figured in the list of World's most admired CEOs/chairman at No.1 and No.8 respectively. And, they were being interviewed together by NDTV India, 24*7.

But, I am not going to waste my words describing the long list of their achievements rather I wish to talk about one line that Mr. Gates said. When he was asked about the anti-US feeling gaining acceptance in many parts of world, his reply was "Everyone loves to hate US, but at the same time, those very people wish to be in US, they love US as well". I think the statement applies in general, "Everyone loves to hate the man at the top, while they love to be at the top".

This feeling is mainly because of the jealousy and envy that one feels, for the reason of not being at the top. They try hard to be at the top, and many a times, due to sheer misfortune (or some people love to term it as lack of passion), they do not reach the pinnacle for which they strived hard. This is not always failure, but more often it is the lack of the lustrous success. Then, these people who cannot achieve success, attempt hard to find faults with the man who has achieved it. They start making movies like "Pirates of the silicon valley" to portray great achievers like Mr. Gates in bad light. But, such attempts to malign the achievers with great publicity do bring some infamy. In fact, it does at most of the times. Because, in a race of 100, one is the winner. So, 99 others start spreading rumors about how it was a bad decision, the winner was taking power capsules, he had violated the rules and what not.

People say that Mr. Gates has little technical contribution, he bought DOS, he copied windows from Macintosh and what not. I wish to ask them, why didn't you do the same at the right oppurtunity? Instead of praising the man for his long-sightedness, for his business mind, for his great vision, for his efforts in bringing computers in daily life to the common man, all are busy accusing that he has bought most of the stuff being sold under Microsoft brand. They do not praise him for seeing the potential of "Presenter" to become Powerpoint. Nobody says that Steve Jobs got the idea of a mouse from Xerox, because Jobs is not as successful as Mr. Gates. I am sure if he had been, he would not have been spared.

Though, it is a fashion to be a linux/unix user, nobody can doubt that Windows still is the most user-friendly operating system ever built. Undobtedly, it is expensive but without that, could anyone have thought that a software can make someone the richest man of the planet?? There are no free lunches in this world.

I do not care what one says, I simply adore the man everyone loves to hate.

India, on sale

We boast of being the largest democracy in the world, we say that the ultimate power lies in the hands of the people, we say that we are advancing towards a new era where the neglected and downtrodden too will be able to see and realise golden dreams. All this is mere jargon which suits the speeches of political leaders, long texts written in the documents entitled "Vision India" but this is far from the reality. The blatant truth is my motherland, India has been put on sale. The recent MP scandal is just an inkling of the whole corruption industry growing under the blanket of Khadi and Saffron.

It might be noticeable that these MPs who were found selling their morals and ideals for few thousand bucks, did not belong to a single political party but almost all major national parties. This suggests that this malaise of corruption is not limited to few, but has engulfed all like some epidemic. Few days ago, there were newsreports regarding the death anniversary of those who sacrificed their lives during the terrorist attackes on the Parliament. I am sure those patriots of my motherland must be weeping that they sacrificed their precious lives for such MPs who sell their morals for a price lower than the price at which a hi-class whore sells her body. This also sends a message to the rich that the highest body in India, the Parliament can be bought at throw-away prices. The day is not far when rich people will proudly say that they bought the majority in the Indian Parliament for few crores , and this dream democracy will be reduced to an oligarchy.

These MPs won't hesitate to trade even the defence and military secrets of national importance only if they are offered the right price. This, in turn means that allowing such unscrupulous parliamentarians to rule over this country is tantamount to sending all those guarding our borders to death. In fact, this is the time to ask what can be an apt punishment for such corrupt MPs? I am sure, just an expulsion from Parliament and/or a few months imprisonment won't suffice. These people are the culprits who have breached the trust of hundreds of thousands who voted for them, they need to be dealt much more severely.

How can we allow such people to decide the policies of the nation? We have got to think about such problems right from the grass root level. Only people who have done some public welfare work should be allowed to contest for high public offices, and not the ones with numerous criminal charges against them. We do not want our MPs to be seen running from the police gun, nor do we want them selling themselves for few wads of cash.

This country is not just a large chunk of land, it is a culture, a spirit which lives in the heart of every Indian. We have already suffered 100 years of slavery for people like Mir Zafar, we need to learn from history and take the imperative action before it is too late,