Keep the Spark Alive

(Thanks N.Krishnakumar of Keltron for sending this)

Keep the Spark Alive

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune 23rd June, 2008

By Chetan Bhagat

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.
To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.
I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.
I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.
Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.
There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You!

Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address

By The Associated Press The Associated Press Tue Jan 20, 5:04 pm ET

Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as delivered.

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Clinton vows robust diplomacy as State Dept chief

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department on Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust U.S. diplomacy to tackle the world's crises and improve America's standing abroad.

Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation's 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.

"I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America," she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department's headquarters, which President Barack Obama visited later in the day to underscore his administration's commitment to diplomacy.

With Obama at her side in the ornate Ben Franklin Room, Clinton introduced former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, as a special envoy for the Middle East. Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was announced as a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The posts are the first of several new special envoys the administration plans to name to deal with particularly vexing problems abroad.

Clinton began her first day on the job at the State Department one day after her Senate confirmation.

"This is going to be a challenging time and it will require 21st century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities," Clinton said at her welcoming. "I'm going to be asking a lot of you. I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can."

"I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate and the kind of dialogue that will make us better," she said. "We cannot be our best if we don't demand that from ourselves and each other."

In her spirited 10-minute pep talk, she spoke of the importance of defense, diplomacy and development — the "three legs to the stool of American foreign policy" — and noted that the State Department is in charge of two of them.

"We are responsible for two of the three legs," said the former New York senator and first lady. "And we will make clear as we go forward that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States."

Clinton's mandate from Obama is to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation's tattered image overseas. She has vowed to make use of "smart power" to deal with international challenges.

"At the heart of smart power are smart people, and you are those people," she told the assembled throng. "And you are the ones that we will count on and turn to for the advice and counsel, the expertise and experience to make good on the promises of this new administration."

Clinton takes over an agency that was often sidelined during George W. Bush's eight-year presidency, particularly in his first term over the decision to go to war in Iraq. Although former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice restored some of the department's influence, diplomats still complained of a lack of access to the top, as well as funding.

In introductory remarks, Steve Kashkett, vice president of the union that represents diplomats, noted that Obama and Clinton had both "decried the neglect that the foreign service and the State Department as a whole have suffered in recent years."

Clinton, meanwhile, sought to reassure frustrated diplomats that they will be heard.

"This is a team, and you are the members of that team," she said. "We are not any longer going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America."

She predicted her team would experience "a great adventure. We'll have some ups and some downs. We'll face some obstacles along the way. But be of good cheer and be of strong heart, and do not grow weary as we attempt to do good on behalf of our country and the world. ... And now, ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work."

'What I Want for You — and Every Child
in America'

By President-elect Barack Obama

Publication Date: 01/14/2009

Cover Photo By Kwaku Alston/Corbis Barack and Michelle Obama with daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10.

Inauguration Specials

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Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.


Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

Sasha (l) and Malia Obama at play in New Hampshire in 2007.

Bumper cars at the Iowa State Fair in August 2007.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

ഗുഡ് മലയാളം Songs

എ ലിസ്റ്റ് ഓഫ് ബെസ്റ്റ് മലയാളം സോങ്ങ്സ്

Aa Kayyilo Ee Kayyilo
Aadyathe Kanmani
Aaraattinaanakal ezhunnallee
Aatma Vidyalayame
Aayiram Paadasarangal Kilungi
Akaleyakale Neelakasam - Midu Midukki
Alliyaambal Poovukale
Alliyambal Kadavil
Ambala Parambile Aaramathile
Anjanakkannezhuthi
Annu ninnae
Annu Ninte Nunakkuzhi
Anupame Azhake
Anuragini Itha En
Arukilneeyundayirunne..(Neeyethradhan...
Ashtamudi Kaayalile Annanada Thoniyile
Chaithram Chayam Chalichu
Chakravarthini - Madhuri
Chandana Lepa Sugandham
Chandana Pallakkil Veedukaanaan
Chandhanalepasugantham
Chandra Kalabham - Madhuri
Chandrikayil Aliyunnu - AMR
Chandrikayil Aliyunnu
Chembaka Poonkavanathile
CHEMMEEN-MAANASA MAINE VARU
Chethi mandaram
Chinnum Ventharathil - Jeevitha Samaram
Chithrasila Palikal
Devaloka Radhavumay
Devi Aatma Raagamaayi
Devi Sreedevi - Y
Doore Mamalayil
Edavakkayalin Ayalkkari
Ee yugam kali yugam
Elavannoor Madathile
Ella Dukhavum Enikku Tharoo
Ellarum Chollanu
En Kanninte Kadaviladuthal
En Prana Naayakane
Ente Swapnathin Thaamara
Enthinee Chilankakal
Eshvaran orekal
Eswara Chinthayithonne
Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal
Ezhuthiyatharanu Sujatha
Gopuramukalil - Samp Audio
Guruvayoorambalanadayil
Hridayam devalayam
Hrudaya Sarassile
Ikkarayanente Manasam - Kaarthika
Ilakozhiyum (Varshangalpoya..
Indra Neela Yavanika
indupuspam choodi-vy-chi
Innale Mayangumbol
Innale Neeyoru - Yesudas
Innenikku Pottukuthan
Ishta Praneswari
Kaadaaru Maasam
Kaadu Kuliranu
Kaakka Thamburaatti
Kaanana Chaayayil Aadumekkan
Kaattadichu Kodum Kaattadichu
Kaattil Ilam Kaattil
Kaattile Paazhmulam
Kadali Chenkadali
Kadalinnakkare Ponore
Kalpanayaakum Yamuna Nadiyude
Kalyani Kalavani
Kannaa Aalilakkanna
Kannadi Aadyamaayen
Kannu Thurakkatha Daivangale
Kannum kannum
Karayunno Puzha Chirikkunno
Karimukil Kaattile
Karthika Raathriyile Manjuthulliyo
Karu Karuthoru Pennanu
Karutha Penne Karinkuzhali
Kasthoori Manakkunnallo
Kasthoori Thailamittu
Kasthuri Pottu Maanju
Kayamboo Kannil Vidarum
Keli Nalinam
Kesaadi Paadam Thozhunnen
Kili Chilachu
Kili Paadumetho
Krishnapaksha kili
Kudamulla Poovinum
Kumkuma Sandhyakalo
Kuyiline Thedi Kuyiline Thedi
Lakshaarchana Kandu Madangumbol
Maalini Nadiyil Kannadi Nokkum
Maanannum Vilikkilla
Maanasa Maine Varoo
Maanathu Ninnoru Nakshathram
Maane Peda Maane
Maanikka Veenayumaayen
Maargazhiyil mallika poothaal
Maari Mukilin
Maayajaalaka Vaathil Thurakkum
Madaprave Va
Madham Potti
Madhurapradekshathan - Bhagya Mudra
Malarkkodi Pole
Manakkale Thathe
Manassoru Maanthrika Kuthirayay
Manaswaswari Mappu tharu
Manavaalan paara
Mangalam Neerunnu
Manikkaveenayumayen--Yesudas
Manjalayil mungithorthu
Manohari Nin Manoradhathil
Manushyan Mathangale Srushtichu
Munkoopakkaari
Murukki Chuvannatho
Muthu Mani Thooval Tharaam
Naadan Paattile Maina
Naadan Paattinte Madisseela
Naalikerathinte
Nadabrahmathin Sagaram Neenthi
Nadikalil Sunthari Yamuna
Nee Madu - Samp audio
Neela Ponmaane
Neeyevide Nin Nizhalevide
Nettiyil Poovulla (M A S)
Nidra Than Neerazhi
Nin Maniyarayile
Nithya Kamuki
Oh Aayilyam Paadathe Penne
Omalale Kandu Njan
Oonjaala
Oormathan Vaasantha (Daisi)
Oridathu jananam
Ormakale Kaivala Chaarthi
Oru Nimisham
Oru Pushpam
Oruvattam Koodi
Paalaanu Thenaanu Khalbile
Paarijaatham Thirumizhi Thurannu
Paattu Paadi Urakkaam
Pathinaalaam Raavudichathu
Pennale Pennale
Penninte Chenchundil
Periyare Periyare
Pol Thinkalkkala Pottu Thotta
Poomugavathilkkal (Rakkuyilin Rag.....
Poonthenaruvi Ponmudi Puzhayude
Potti Karanjukondomane
Prananathan Enikku Nalkiya
Pranasakhi Njan
Priyasakhi Gange Parayoo
Priyathama Priyathama
Pulari Thoomanju
Pulayanar Maniyamma
Puthen Purakkare
Puthuram veettil
Raagam Sree Raagam
Raappadi Kezhunnuvo
Rajashilpi neeyenikkoru
Saamyamakannorudyaname
Sandhyakkenthinu Sindooram
Sandhye
Sangamam Sangamam
Sangeethame Jeevitham
Sankhu Pushpam
Sanyaasini Nin Punyasramathil
Saraswathee Yaamam
Shyamasundara pushpamae
Sindoora Sandhyakku Maunam
Sindoorappottu Thottu
Sooryakanthi Sooryakanthi
Sumangali Nee Ormikkumo
Suprabhatham
Swapnagalokkeyum (Kanankothichu)
Swapnangal Swapangale
Swarga puthri
Swargagayike
Swarganandhini
Swargathekkal Sundaramaanee
Swarna Gopura Narthaki Silpam
Swarnathamarayithalilurangum
Thaamara Kumbilallo
Thaamasamente Varuvaan
Thakkali Pazha Kavilil
Thalirvalayo
Thambran Thoduthathu
Thanka Thala Thaalam
Thankabhasma Kuriyitta Thampuratti
Thazhampoo Manamulla
Thiruvabharanam Chaarthividarnnu
Unaroo Vegam Nee
Unarunaru Unnippoove
Uthara Swayamvaram
Vaezhaambal kaezhum
Vaikkathashtami Nilil
Vaisagasandhye(Nadodikkattu) M
Vathil Pazhuthiloode
Veenapoove Kumaranasante
Vrischika poonilavae
Vrischika Rathrithan - Abhijathyam
Yavana Sundari

100 Malayalam books to read before you die

Adukkallayil Ninn Arangatheck - V.T. Bhattathirippad (Play)
Agnisakshi - Lalithambika Antharjanam (Novel)
Ahalyayude Pennmakkal - Sarah Joseph (Short Stories)
Aithihyamala - Kottarathil Sankunni (Short Stories)
Ambalamani - Sugathakumari (Poetry)
Arabiponn - MT and NP Muhammed (Novel)
Arangu Kanatha Nadan - Thikkodiyan (Autobiography)
Aswathamaav - Madamp Kunjukuttan (Novel)
Atmakatha - E.M.S. Namboothirpad (Autobiography)
Atmopadesa Satakam - Sree Narayana Guru (Poetry)

Avakasikal - Vilasini (Novel)

Avanavan Kadamba - Kavalam Narayana Panicker (Play)

Ayalkar - P. Kesavadev (Novel)

Aysha - Vayalar Rama Varma (Poetry)

Ayyappa Panickarude Krithikal - Ayyappa Panicker (Poetry)

Bharathaparyadanam - Kuttikrishna Marar (Essay)

Bhashpanjali - Changampuzha (Poetry)

Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum - Zacharia (Short Stories)

Bhoomigeethangal - Vishu Narayanan Nambuthiri (Poetry)

Chalachitrathinte Porrul - Vijayakrishnan (Essay)

Chandalabhikshuki - Kumaran Asan (Poetry)

Chathravum Chamaravum - M.P. Sankunni Nair (Essay)

Chemmeen - Thakazhi (Novel)

Daivathinte Kann - N.P. Muhammed (Novel)

Daivathinte Vikruthikal - M. Mukundan (Novel)

Gandhiyum Godseyum - N.V. Krishna Warrier (Poetry)

Ghasal - Balachandran Chullikkad (Poetry)

Guru - K. Surendran (Novel)

Gurusagaram - O.V. Vijayan (Novel)

Higwita - N.S. Madhavan (Short Stories)

Himalaya Sanuviloode - K.V. Surendranath (Travel)

Indulekha - O. Chandu Menon (Novel)

Ini Njan Urrangatte - P.K. Balakrishnan (Novel)

Isangallkkappuram - S. Guptan Nair (Essay)

Kairaliyude Katha - N. Krishna Pillai (Essay)

Kalam - M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Novel)

Kalyana Sougandhikam - Kunchan Nambiar (Poetry)

Kanchana Seetha - C.N. Sreekantan Nair (Play)

Kannuneerthulli - Nalapat Narayana Menon (Poetry)

Karoorinte Cherukathakal - Karoor Neelakanta Pillai (Short Stories)

Karuna - Kumaran Asan (Poetry)

Kayar - Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Novel)

Kaypavallari - Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (Poetry)

Kazhinja Kalam - Joseph Mundasseri (Autobiography)

Khasakinte Ithihasam - O.V. Vijayan (Novel)

Kodunkaatt Uyarthiya Kalam - Joseph Idamaruk (Essay)

Kozhinja Ilakall - K.P. Kesava Menon (Autobiography)

Krishna Gatha - Cherrusseri (Poetry)

Kuchelavritham Vanchippatt - Ramapurath Warrier (Poetry)

Kurathi - Kadamanitta Ramakrishnan (Poetry)

M.T. yude Therenjedutha Kathakal - M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Short Stories)

Mahabharatham - Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan (Poetry)

Marthanda Varma - C.V. Raman Pillai (Novel)

Marubhoomikal Undakunnath - Anand (Novel)

Marunn - Punathil Kunjadbullah (Novel)

Mayyazhipuzhayude Theerath - M. Mukundan (Novel)

Nakshathrangale Kaval - P. Padmarajan (Novel)

Nalacharitham Attakkatha - Unnayi Warrier (Poetry)
Naranath Bhranthan - P. Madhusoodanan Nair (Poetry)

Neermathalam Poothappoll - Kamala Das (Novel)

Nilavil Virinja Kappi Pookkal - D. Babu Paul (Essay)

Ningallenne Communistaakki - Thoppil Bhasi (Play)

Nivedyam - Balamaniamma (Poetry)

Odakkuzhal - G. Sankara Kurup (Poetry)

Ormakallude Virunn - V.K. Madhavan Kutty (Autobiography)

Oru Desathinte Katha - S.K. Pottekkatt (Novel)

Oru Sankeerthanam Poley - Perumpadavam Sreedharan (Novel)

Oru Vazhiyum Kurre Nizhalukalum - Rajalekshmi (Novel)

Pandavapuram - Sethu (Novel)

Pani Theeratha Veed - Parapurrath (Novel)

Pathradharmam - Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai (Essay)

Pathrapravarthanam Enna Yatra - V. K. Madhavan Kutty (Autobiography)

Payyan Kathakal - V.K.N. (Short Stories)

Poothapaatt - Edasseri (Poetry)

Prakasam Parathunna Pennkutti - T. Padmanabhan (Short Stories)

Ramanan - Changampuzha (Poetry)

Ramayanam - Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan (Poetry)

Randamoozham - M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Novel)

Sahitya Varaphalam - M. Krishnan Nair (Essay)

Sahityamanjari - Vallathol Narayana Menon (Poetry)

Sampoorna Krithikal - Vaikom Muhammed Basheer (Short Stories)

Sancharasahityam Vol I - S.K. Pottekkatt (Travel)

Sancharasahityam Vol II - S.K. Pottekkatt (Travel)

Saphalamee Yatra - N.N. Kakkad (Autobiography)

Souparnika - Narendra Prasad (Play)

Spandamapinikale Nandi - C. Radhakrishnan (Novel)

Sree Chithira Thirunal - Avasanathe Naduvazhi - T.N. Gopinathan Nair
(Essay)

Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum - Uroob P.C. Kuttikrishnan (Novel)

Swathi Thirunal - Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair (Novel)

Tatwamasi - Sukumar Azhikode (Essay)

Thattakam - Kovilan (Novel)

The Judgement - N.N. Pillai (Play)

Ullkkadal - George Onakkoor (Novel)

Umakeralam - Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer (Poetry)

Upp - O.N.V. Kurup (Poetry)

Vasthuhara - C.V. Sriraman (Novel)

Verukal - Malayatoor Ramakrishnan (Novel)

Vikramaditya Kathakal - C. Madhavan Pillai (Short Stories)

Yantram - Malayatoor Ramakrishnan (Novel)

Yaticharya - Nitya Chaitanya Yati (Essay)

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore .

You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?
Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)
Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, 'God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky.'

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.

Childhood in a village
I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari . My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying. Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies! Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns. I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields! I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day
On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door. It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs. The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital. First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do? In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips. I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs
I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.


'I never wallowed in self-pity'
The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends! All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God's hand
I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school. If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friend
When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.
She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.
She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.
My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration
I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior. When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600. Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential school
Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.
There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.
They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras
Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.
Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras. He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here. I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.

'There are more good people in society than bad ones'
Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D
I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.
Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky
Do you know why I say I am lucky?
I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.
I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.
One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras , my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT
After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.
I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.
Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute. My life changed after that. I felt free and independent. That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good people
I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.



__._,_.___

ദ്ര. മന്‍മോഹന്‍ സിംഗ് Speech

The following is the full text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reply to the debate on the motion of confidence in the Lok Sabha:

The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India's sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come.

As for Shri Advani's various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of incompetence on others, Shri Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament? Can our nation forgive a person who single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed? To atone for his sins, he suddenly decided to visit Pakistan and there he discovered new virtues in Mr. Jinnah. Alas, his own party and his mentors in the RSS disowned him on this issue. Can our nation approve the conduct of a Home Minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their General Secretary.

As for my conduct, it is for this august House and the people of India to judge. All I can say is that in all these years that I have been in office, whether as Finance Minister or Prime Minister, I have felt it as a sacred obligation to use the levers of power as a societal trust to be used for transforming our economy and polity, so that we can get rid of poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions of our people. This is a long and arduous journey. But every step taken in this direction can make a difference. And that is what we have sought to do in the last four years. How far we have succeeded is something I leave to the judgement of the people of India.

When I look at the composition of the opportunistic group opposed to us, it is clear to me that the clash today is between two alternative visions of India's future. The one vision represented by the UPA and our allies seeks to project India as a self confident and united nation moving forward to gain its rightful place in the comity of nations, making full use of the opportunities offered by a globalised world, operating on the frontiers of modern science and technology and using modern science and technology as important instruments of national economic and social development. The opposite vision is of a motley crowd opposed to us who have come together to share the spoils of office to promote their sectional, sectarian and parochial interests. Our Left colleagues should tell us whether Shri L.K. Advani is acceptable to them as a Prime Ministerial candidate. Shri L.K. Advani should enlighten us if he will step aside as Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition in favour of the choice of UNPA. They should take the country into confidence on this important issue.

I have already stated in my opening remarks that the House has been dragged into this debate unnecessarily. I wish our attention had not been diverted from some priority areas of national concern. These priorities are:

(i) Tackling the imported inflation caused by steep increase in oil prices. Our effort is to control inflation without hurting the rate of growth and employment.
(ii) To revitalize agriculture. We have decisively reversed the declining trend of investment and resource flow in agriculture. The Finance Minister has dealt with the measures we have taken in this regard. We have achieved a record foodgrain production of 231 million tones. But we need to redouble our efforts to improve agricultural productivity.


(iii) To improve the effectiveness of our flagship pro poor programmes such as National Rural Employment Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Nation-wide Mid day meal programme, Bharat Nirman to improve the quality of rural infrastructure of roads, electricity, safe drinking water, sanitation, irrigation, National Rural Health Mission and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. These programmes are yielding solid results. But a great deal more needs to be done to improve the quality of implementation.


(iv) We have initiated a major thrust in expanding higher education. The objective is to expand the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 11.6 per cent to 15 per cent by the end of the 11th Plan and to 21% by the end of 12th Plan. To meet these goals, we have an ambitious programme which seeks to create 30 new universities, of which 14 will be world class, 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 20 new IIITs, 5 new IISERs, 2 Schools of planning and Architecture, 10 NITs, 373 new degree colleges and 1000 new polytechnics. And these are not just plans. Three new IISERs are already operational and the remaining two will become operational from the 2008-09 academic session. Two SPAs will be starting this year. Six of the new IITs start their classes this year. The establishment of the new universities is at an advanced stage of planning.


(v) A nation wide Skill Development Programme and the enactment of the Right to Education Act,


(vi) Approval by Parliament of the new Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy and enactment of legislation to provide social security benefits to workers in the unorganized sector.


(vii) The new 15 Point Programme for Minorities, the effective implementation of empowerment programmes for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, paying particular emphasis on implementation of Land Rights for the tribals.


(viii) Equally important is the effective implementation of the Right to Information Act to impart utmost transparency to processes of governance. The Administrative Reforms Commission has made valuable suggestions to streamline the functioning of our public administration.

(ix) To deal firmly with terrorist elements, left wing extremism and communal elements that are attempting to undermine the security and stability of the country. We have been and will continue to vigorously pursue investigations in the major terrorist incidents that have taken place. Charge-sheets have been filed in almost all the cases. Our intelligence agencies and security forces are doing an excellent job in very difficult circumstances. They need our full support. We will take all possible steps to streamline their functioning and strengthen their effectiveness.


Considerable work has been done in all these areas but debates like the one we are having detract our attention from attending to these essential programmes and remaining items on our agenda. All the same, we will redouble our efforts to attend to these areas of priority concerns.


I say in all sincerity that this session and debate was unnecessary because I have said on several occasions that our nuclear agreement after being endorsed by the IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group would be submitted to this august House for expressing its view. All I had asked our Left colleagues was : please allow us to go through the negotiating process and I will come to Parliament before operationalising the nuclear agreement. This simple courtesy which is essential for orderly functioning of any Government worth the name, particularly with regard to the conduct of foreign policy, they were not willing to grant me. They wanted a veto over every single step of negotiations which is not acceptable. They wanted me to behave as their bonded slave. The nuclear agreement may not have been mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme. However, there was an explicit mention of the need to develop closer relations with the USA but without sacrificing our independent foreign policy. The Congress Election Manifesto had explicitly referred to the need for strategic engagement with the USA and other great powers such as Russia.


In 1991, while presenting the Budget for 1991-92, as Finance Minister, I had stated : No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. I had then suggested to this august House that the emergence of India as a major global power was an idea whose time had come.


Carrying forward the process started by Shri Rajiv Gandhi of preparing India for the 21st century, I outlined a far reaching programme of economic reform whose fruits are now visible to every objective person. Both the Left and the BJP had then opposed the reform. Both had said we had mortgaged the economy to America and that we would bring back the East India Company. Subsequently both these parties have had a hand at running the Government. None of these parties have reversed the direction of economic policy laid down by the Congress Party in 1991. The moral of the story is that political parties should be judged not by what they say while in opposition but by what they do when entrusted with the responsibilities of power.


I am convinced that despite their opportunistic opposition to the nuclear agreement, history will compliment the UPA Government for having taken another giant step forward to lead India to become a major power centre of the evolving global economy. Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of using atomic energy as a major instrument of development will become a living reality.


What is the nuclear agreement about? It is all about widening our development options, promoting energy security in a manner which will not hurt our precious environment and which will not contribute to pollution and global warming.


India needs to grow at the rate of at least ten per cent per annum to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions of our people. A basic requirement for achieving this order of growth is the availability of energy, particularly electricity. We need increasing quantities of electricity to support our agriculture, industry and to give comfort to our householders. The generation of electricity has to grow at an annual rate of 8 to 10 per cent.


Now, hydro-carbons are one source of generating power and for meeting our energy requirements. But our production of hydro-carbons both of oil and gas is far short of our growing requirements. We are heavily dependent on imports. We all know the uncertainty of supplies and of prices of imported hydro-carbons.


We have to diversify our sources of energy supply.



We have large reserves of coal but even these are inadequate to meet all our needs by 2050. But more use of coal will have an adverse impact on pollution and climate. We can develop hydro-power and we must. But many of these projects hurt the environment and displace large number of people. We must develop renewable sources of energy particularly solar energy. But we must also make full use of atomic energy which is a clean environment friendly source of energy. All over the world, there is growing realization of the importance of atomic energy to meet the challenge of energy security and climate change.


India's atomic scientists and technologists are world class. They have developed nuclear energy capacities despite heavy odds. But there are handicaps which have adversely affected our atomic energy programme. First of all, we have inadequate production of uranium. Second, the quality of our uranium resources is not comparable to those of other producers.Third, after the Pokharan nuclear test of 1974 and 1998 the outside world has imposed embargo on trade with India in nuclear materials, nuclear equipment and nuclear technology. As a result, our nuclear energy programme has suffered. Some twenty years ago, the Atomic Energy Commission had laid down a target of 10000 MW of electricity generation by the end of the twentieth century. Today, in 2008 our capacity is about 4000 MW and due to shortage of uranium many of these plants are operating at much below their capacity.


The nuclear agreement that we wish to negotiate will end India's nuclear isolation, nuclear apartheid and enable us to take advantage of international trade in nuclear materials, technologies and equipment. It will open up new opportunities for trade in dual use high technologies opening up new pathways to accelerate industrialization of our country. Given the excellent quality of our nuclear scientists and technologists, I have reasons to believe that in a reasonably short period of time, India would emerge as an important exporter of nuclear technologies, and equipment for civilian purposes.


When I say this I am reminded of the visionary leadership of Shri Rajiv Gandhi who was a strong champion of computerization and use of information technologies for nation building. At that time, many people laughed at this idea. Today, information technology and software is a sun-rise industry with an annual turnover soon approaching 50 billion US dollars. I venture to think that our atomic energy industry will play a similar role in the transformation of India's economy.


The essence of the matter is that the agreements that we negotiate with USA, Russia, France and other nuclear countries will enable us to enter into international trade for civilian use without any interference with our strategic nuclear programme. The strategic programme will continue to be developed at an autonomous pace determined solely by our own security perceptions. We have not and we will not accept any outside interference or monitoring or supervision of our strategic programme. Our strategic autonomy will never be compromised. We are willing to look at possible amendments to our Atomic Energy Act to reinforce our solemn commitment that our strategic autonomy will never be compromised.


I confirm that there is nothing in these agreements which prevents us from further nuclear tests if warranted by our national security concerns. All that we are committed to is a voluntary moratorium on further testing. Thus the nuclear agreements will not in any way affect our strategic autonomy. The cooperation that the international community is now willing to extend to us for trade in nuclear materials, technologies and equipment for civilian use will be available to us without signing the NPT or the CTBT.


This I believe is a measure of the respect that the world at large has for India, its people and their capabilities and our prospects to emerge as a major engine of growth for the world economy. I have often said that today there are no international constraints on India's development. The world marvels at our ability to seek our social and economic salvation in the framework of a functioning democracy committed to the rule of law and respect for fundamental human freedoms. The world wants India to succeed. The obstacles we face are at home, particularly in our processes of domestic governance.


I wish to remind the House that in 1998 when the Pokharan II tests were undertaken, the Group of Eight leading developed countries had passed a harsh resolution condemning India and called upon India to sign the NPT and CTBT. Today, at the Hokkaido meeting of the G-8 held recently in Japan, the Chairman's summary has welcomed cooperation in civilian nuclear energy between India and the international community. This is a measure of the sea change in the perceptions of the international community our trading with India for civilian nuclear energy purposes that has come about in less than ten years.


Our critics falsely accuse us, that in signing these agreements, we have surrendered the independence of foreign policy and made it subservient to US interests. In this context, I wish to point out that the cooperation in civil nuclear matters that we seek is not confined to the USA. Change in the NSG guidelines would be a passport to trade with 45 members of the Nuclear Supplier Group which includes Russia, France, and many other countries.


We appreciate the fact that the US has taken the lead in promoting cooperation with India for nuclear energy for civilian use. Without US initiative, India's case for approval by the IAEA or the Nuclear Suppliers Group would not have moved forward.


But this does not mean that there is any explicit or implicit constraint on India to pursue an independent foreign policy determined by our own perceptions of our enlightened national interest. Some people are spreading the rumours that there are some secret or hidden agreements over and above the documents made public. I wish to state categorically that there are no secret or hidden documents other than the 123 agreement, the Separation Plan and the draft of the safeguard agreement with the IAEA. It has also been alleged that the Hyde Act will affect India's ability to pursue an independent foreign policy. The Hyde Act does exist and it provides the US administration the authorization to enter into civil nuclear cooperation with India without insistence on full scope safeguards and without signing of the NPT. There are some prescriptive clauses but they cannot and they will not be allowed to affect in any way the conduct of our foreign policy. Our commitment is to what has been agreed in the 123 Agreement. There is nothing in this Agreement which will affect our strategic autonomy or our ability to pursue an independent foreign policy. I state categorically that our foreign policy, will at all times be determined by our own assessment of our national interest. This has been true in the past and will be true in future regarding our relations with big powers as well as with our neighbours in West Asia, notably Iran, Iraq, Palestine and the Gulf countries.


We have differed with the USA on their intervention in Iraq. I had explicitly stated at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC in July 2005 that intervention in Iraq was a big mistake. With regard to Iran, our advice has been in favour of moderation and we would like that the issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme which have emerged should be resolved through dialogue and discussions in the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.


I should also inform the House that our relations with the Arab world are very good. Two years ago, His Majesty, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was the Chief Guest at our Republic Day. More recently, we have played host to the President of Iran, President of Syria, the King of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar and the Emir of Kuwait. With all these countries we have historic civilisational and cultural links which we are keen to further develop to our mutual benefit. Today, we have strategic relationship with all major powers including USA, Russia, France, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa. We are Forging new partnerships with countries of East Asia, South East Asia and Africa.


Conclusion


The Management and governance of the world's largest, most diverse and most vibrant democracy is the greatest challenge any person can be entrusted with, in this world. It has been my good fortune that I was entrusted with this challenge over four years ago. I thank with all sincerity the Chairperson of the UPA, the leaders of the Constituent Parties of the UPA and every member of my Party for the faith and trust they reposed in me. I once again recall with gratitude the guidance and support I have received from Shri Jyoti Basu and Sardar Harkishen Singh Surjeet.


I have often said that I am a politician by accident. I have held many diverse responsibilities. I have been a teacher, I have been an official of the Government of India, I have been a member of this greatest of Parliaments, but I have never forgotten my life as a young boy in a distant village.


Every day that I have been Prime Minister of India I have tried to remember that the first ten years of my life were spent in a village with no drinking water supply, no electricity, no hospital, no roads and nothing that we today associate with modern living. I had to walk miles to school, I had to study in the dim light of a kerosene oil lamp. This nation gave me the opportunity to ensure that such would not be the life of our children in the foreseeable future.


Sir, my conscience is clear that on every day that I have occupied this high office, I have tried to fulfill the dream of that young boy from that distant village.


The greatness of democracy is that we are all birds of passage! We are here today, gone tomorrow! But in the brief time that the people of India entrust us with this responsibility, it is our duty to be honest and sincere in the discharge of these responsibilities. As it is said in our sacred texts, we are responsible for our actions and we must act without coveting the rewards of such action. Whatever I have done in this high office I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart. I have no other claims to make.

(Thanks to Prof. Sunny Mathews for sending this)

infosys

The secret of enduring greatness Jim Colins

The secret of enduring greatness

In an age of turmoil, corporate stars rise and fall. How many will survive? A bestselling management expert makes the case for well-founded hope.

By Jim Collins

(Fortune Magazine) -- I don't know how many times I've had the Fortune 500 presented to me as Exhibit A by those who argue that it's time to give up on a 20th-century American idea. Forget about building great companies that endure, they tell me.

One technology pundit cornered me at a conference and deemed the whole premise absurd in today's world: "We live in an era when nothing can be built to last. Everything is in flux; nothing can sustain." He invoked Joseph Schumpeter, the great economist who wrote about the "perennial gale of creative destruction" wherein technological change and visionary entrepreneurs give birth to new things that obliterate old things, only to see those new things become obliterated by the next generation.

His argument feels particularly sharp today. Bear Stearns disappeared over a weekend, after more than eight decades of growth to No. 156 on the Fortune 500. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) traces its roots to City Bank of New York which was founded in the same year Napoleon marched to Moscow and grew into a visionary global bank under mavericks like Walter Wriston and John Reed. Today Citigroup's CEO reports "unprecedented losses resulting from the sudden and severe deterioration in the U.S. subprime market" - a shock so severe that it overshadowed all the company's other accomplishments.

In 1907 Henry Ford proclaimed, "I will democratize the automobile," and then made good on his promise. Today Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) fights to create a future for itself in the face of brutal global competition and the green revolution. Fifty-four of the Fortune 500 posted losses totaling $115 billion in 2007, an amount equal to the entire revenue base of more than 20 Fortune 500 companies.

I've been through versions of the creative-destruction argument dozens of times, with smart, well-informed people. And one of their favorite arguments invokes the Fortune 500: If you examine the list over time, you find tremendous churn - the vast majority of those on the list 50 years ago are nowhere to be found on the current list. And, yes, the data do lend credence to the argument:

Of the 500 companies that appeared on the first list, in 1955, only 71 have a place on the list today. (The 1955 list included industrial companies only, whereas today's list also includes service companies.)

• Nearly 2,000 companies have appeared on the list since its inception, and most are long gone from it. Just because you make the list once guarantees nothing about your ability to endure.
• Some of the most powerful companies on today's list - businesses like Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) - grew from zero to great upon entirely new technologies, bumping venerable old companies off the list. Robert Noyce invented the integrated circuit in 1958, three years after the first Fortune 500. Dozens of companies on this year's list did not even exist in 1955.
• Some of the most celebrated companies in history no longer even appear on the 500, having fallen from great to good to gone from the list - companies like Scott Paper, Zenith, Rubbermaid, Chrysler, Teledyne, Warner Lambert, and Bethlehem Steel - most often because they gave up their independence, and sometimes because they outright died.

But if we look through another lens, we can see a different story, a story of well-founded hope. For one thing, we find clear examples of enduring greatness.

In 1837, more than two decades before the American Civil War, William Procter and James Gamble formed a partnership to make soap and candles. In 1955, P&G stood at No. 27 on the Fortune 500; today it is No. 23. In 1886, Robert Wood Johnson, operating from the fourth floor of an abandoned wallpaper factory, issued a small catalog jam-packed with antiseptic surgical dressings and medical plasters. By 1955 his son had built Johnson & Johnson into No. 159 on the Fortune 500; today it stands at No. 35, with 45 consecutive years of increasing its dividend.

Systematic management development

In the early 20th century General Electric's Charles Coffin brought forth perhaps the most significant business innovation of the past 200 years: systematic management development. GE created generations of leaders and thereby produced more than a century of sustained success so reliable that a hiccup in quarterly profits can drive down the entire stock market. In 1955, GE was No. 4 on the Fortune 500; today it is No. 6. These companies trained leaders who could evolve and create a portfolio of flywheels - from candles to Pringles, from medical plasters to Tylenol, from light bulbs to jet engines - yet they also held tight to core values that have remained fixed for 100 years or more.

We also find companies that overcame oppressive mediocrity or worse to achieve sustained success.

In 1965, Nucor Corp., then less than one-hundredth the size of Bethlehem Steel, was on the verge of bankruptcy. With a hodgepodge of unrelated businesses and deteriorating debt ratios, the board made a move of desperation. It turned the company over to a division manager named Ken Iverson, then just 39. "Here," the board seemed to say, "you're too young to know any better. You take it!" Iverson had run Nucor's only successful division, where he'd built a weird culture of crazed productivity making steel joists. After jettisoning the worst divisions, he began to build ... and build ... and build. He and his team backward-integrated into making raw steel, creating a mini-mill, and discovered that Iverson's culture could be harnessed to produce the lowest-cost steel in America. Step by step, year by year, Iverson and his team added capacity, eventually breaking onto the Fortune 500 at No. 481 in 1980. Today, in the brutally competitive steel industry, Nucor retains a solid No. 151 on the Fortune 500, with 41 years of consecutive profitability. As a testament to the durability of Nucor's culture, the annual report continues a long-held tradition of naming every Nucor employee, more than 18,000 individuals.

We also find companies that fell from greatness but then regained their footing, standing defiant against the forces of creative destruction.

Xerox, one of the great success stories in American corporate history, entered the Fortune 500 at No. 423 in 1963 and rose to No. 21 by 1990. But then the company began to falter as high costs translated into uncompetitive prices, and by 2001, Xerox had encountered a stock price that plummeted 92% in less than two years, decreasing cash, a falling market position, and an SEC investigation. Some questioned whether Xerox could survive as an independent company. Anne Mulcahy, who did not even make the initial list of CEO candidates, caught the attention of the board with her passion and dedication for the company and its culture. When Mulcahy became Xerox CEO in 2001, after working her entire career deep inside the corporation, she refused to destroy the company in order to save it. ("I am the culture," she said. "If I can't figure out how to bring the culture with me, I'm the wrong person for the job.") Churchillian in her belief that Xerox people could prevail against all odds, she refused to capitulate, refused to sell out, refused to acknowledge the inevitability of defeat. From losses of more than $300 million in 2000 - 01, she righted the company to more than $1 billion in profits in 2007.

Just because a company stumbles - or gets smacked upside the head by an unexpected event or new challenge - does not mean that it must continue to decline. Companies do not fall primarily because of what the world does to them or because of how the world changes around them; they fall first and foremost because of what they do to themselves.

In the early 1970s, Ames Department Stores and Wal-Mart looked like identical twins. They had the exact same business model of rural discount retailing. In fact, Sam Walton copied much of his original model from Ames, and Ames later copied operating ideas from Sam. The only significant difference was that Ames operated in the Northeast, while Wal-Mart moved in concentric circles from Arkansas. Both companies delivered exceptional results, their stock-return charts looking almost like carbon copies of each other from 1972 to 1986, beating the market by more than ten times. But then Ames fell, and it continued to fall into utter irrelevance. Today Ames does not even exist, while Wal-Mart holds the No. 1 spot on the Fortune 500, with $379 billion in revenue.

The point: Here we have two companies facing almost identical circumstances with identical trajectories up to a moment in history, yet one falls and the other continues to rise. The cause simply cannot be attributed to changes in their environment.

Both Ames and Wal-Mart had strong entrepreneurial founders who guided their early growth, but whereas Sam Walton passed the company to a home-grown insider, Ames replaced its entrepreneurial leader with an outsider. Both Ames and Wal-Mart had vast, untapped opportunity with their basic strategy of low-price rural discounting, but while Wal-Mart maintained steady organic growth consistent with that strategy, Ames deviated from the strategy in favor of wild growth. In 1988, it acquired Zayre, aiming to double the size of the company in a single year. Wal-Mart retained focus on small towns before making an evolution into urban sites; Ames revolutionized itself overnight into urban retailing and catapulted itself into decline. Wal-Mart created its own success, and Ames caused its own death.

It depends on what you do to yourself

It doesn't matter what lens we look through - the lens of those that go from good to great, the lens of zero to great in exciting new industries, or the lens of those that prevail in adversity and last 100 years - one lesson stands out: Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, whether you make it onto the Fortune 500, and whether you stay there, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you.

Teledyne could still have been on the list today - admired, independent, successful - if its extraordinary co-founder, Henry Singleton, had transcended his "genius with 1,000 helpers" style of leadership to build an executive team and culture that could thrive beyond his visionary presence.

Bethlehem Steel, which once ranked as high as No. 8 on the 500, could still be on the list if it had confronted the brutal fact that its byzantine class stratification of executives and workers could no longer succeed in the face of mini-mills and low-cost steel. Global competition is often the reason given for the undoing of Bethlehem Steel. But how does that excuse hold up in the face of the prosperous Nucor and the revitalized U.S. Steel? It doesn't.

Throughout history the greatest companies have used adverse times to their advantage. In the 1970s, under the farsighted leadership of Dick Cooley and Carl Reichardt, Wells Fargo created a culture of discipline years before deregulation upended the banking industry. It built a team of Spartans: cost-obsessed executives exhilarated by the prospect of fierce competition. When deregulation ripped away the protective cocoon that had enabled mediocre banks to survive, Wells Fargo pounced. It bought Crocker Bank, pulverizing its languid culture into the Spartan ethic, and systematically invaded Bank of America's strongholds in California, trouncing its ill-prepared cross-street rival (which in turn merged with an upstart regional bank out of North Carolina).

Just because Joseph Schumpeter's creative-destruction argument proves correct for the vast majority of businesses does not mean that the companies that create those businesses must fall and die - after all, you can practice creative destruction inside your own walls and thereby endure for decades, perhaps centuries. Yes, all products, services, markets, and even specific solutions to social problems eventually become obsolete. But that does not mean that the organizations and societies that produce them must themselves become obsolete and irrelevant.

When you've built an institution with values and a purpose beyond just making money - when you've built a culture that makes a distinctive contribution while delivering exceptional results - why would you surrender to the forces of mediocrity and succumb to irrelevance? And why would you give up on the idea that you can create something that not only lasts but also deserves to last?

The best corporate leaders never point out the window to blame external conditions; they look in the mirror and say, "We are responsible for our results!" Those who take personal credit for good times but blame external events in bad times simply do not deserve to lead our institutions. No law of nature dictates that a great institution must inevitably fall, at least not within a human lifetime. That most do fall - and we cannot deny this fact - does not mean you have to be one of them.

Jim Collins is the author of "Good to Great" and co-author of "Built to Last."

Research Associate Susan M. Kaufman contributed to this article.

First Published: April 21, 2008: 7:53 AM EDT

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