Toyota’s Scheduled “India Launch” Of Prius – A Life Threat For The Indian Consumers?

Toyota is scheduled to launch its hybrid car model Prius in India in March-end or the beginning of April.

It would have certainly been a great news for the car connoisseurs of India. However, there is an unfortunate factor that forces (or should force) everybody to wonder whether the launch of Prius should be welcomed at all.

The problem is, while on one hand Toyota is going to launch the said car model in India, at the same time it is recalling the same model from the markets of other parts of the world. Reason? A faulty brake system.

Now the question that naturally comes in mind is that if Toyota feels Prius to be misfit for a launch in other countries, then how can it go ahead with the plan of launching it in India? Shouldn’t it have launched the car in India only after rectifying the faults, something that it is going to do elsewhere? How can the Toyota management present the Indian car market with a faulty car model which it does not dare to launch elsewhere? Isn’t it a case of taking the Indian car consumers for granted?

And it must also be remembered that the fault in question is not an insignificant one. Using a car model with a faulty brake means fiddling with human life, wherein the driver puts both his own life as well as the lives of other people in the road at stake. So it means that for Toyota the issue of financial profit and loss is more important than the lives of its customers.

Actually the bookings for Prius already started in January this year. Now recalling the model will mean losing all those orders, which will be a huge loss for the global car major. It is certainly true that such a huge loss is a nightmare that any organization will try to avoid. But while an organization has 100% right to take steps to avoid financial loss, can it do the same at the cost of “life security” of its customers?

Such a blatant act of irresponsibility was certainly not expected from Toyota.

The Questionable Arrest Of Gen. Sarath Fonseka Of Sri Lanka

It may be just a wild guess encouraged by something which is a plain coincidence. However, the world is predictably finding it very hard to believe that the ongoing government actions against the former Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka have nothing to do with his failed challenge to the re-election bid of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

As I said that it may be just a coincidence that the initiation of government actions against the war hero came close to the heels of his high-pitched “Presidential” fight against Mr. Rajapaksa. However, there are a couple of factors that are forcing the world to believe that all these government actions (including the controversial arrest of the beleaguered former army chief) are actually being carried out to “punish” the “audacious” soldier for daring to challenge the incumbent President in his re-election bid.

For example, let us look at this charge against General Sarath Fonseka that he had started plotting and conspiring against Mahinda Rajapaksa even when he was still the Army Chief. Fine. But in that case why did not the Sri Lankan Army take any actions against him at that very point of time? He was permitted to retain his office, and he eventually played a crucial role in giving the final blow to LTTE. There were no actions against him even after he quit his Army position. It is only after he contested against Rajapaksa and failed to “dethrone” the latter that the government has suddenly become aware of his illegal activities, and has started taking actions.

OK, it may be so that the government was unaware of Sarath Fonseka’s offensive activities when he was the Army Chief, and incidentally came to know about the same only after the recent Presidential election (the “coincidence” angle that I was referring to). But in that case the Sri Lankan government was expected to make it very clear to the nation as well as the world, thus leaving no rooms for any rumours. Was it very difficult for the government to understand that the timing of Fonseka’s arrest would raise questions and doubts in the minds of people?

Another thing that “apparently” reflects the Sri Lankan government’s vindictive approach is the manner in which the once revered Army Chief was arrested. The basic human rights principles demand that even when a petty criminal is arrested and taken into custody, it should be done with some dignity. And this former war hero was held by hands and feet, and dragged away by the Military Police. How humiliating it must have been for the person to be treated in this way by the same people who used to salute him till the other day. And after arresting him the government was seemingly not even eager to disclose his whereabouts, at least not initially (though later Fonseka’s wife was permitted to meet him).

Anyways, as I have said that all these may have been just a case of coincidence, sending a baseless smell of a foul play while the actual reality is completely different. If the former General has really done something wrong then he must be punished. And in that case the Sri Lankan government has certainly not done anything wrong by initiating actions against him.

However, the government must appreciate this fact that the timing of the actions is sending this message to the world that everything is not fair and square in this “Sarath Fonseka drama”. And, this doubt is gradually gaining ground. So if the Sri Lankan government is confident that it is on the right side of ethics, then it must carry out all the related activities with utmost clarity and transparency, while involving the global media in every step. This will ensure that there is no room for any rumour, with no chance for the Sri Lankan government’s credibility coming under question.

Mehmood Qureshi – The Cheap Gallery Player

I always knew that Mehmood Qureshi is an over-smart, over-talkative foreign minister who is more interested in destructive diplomacy rather than constructive one (at least while handling issues related to Indo-Pakistan relationship).

But I never knew that he was so good at cheap gallery playing, a quality that he exhibited other day while addressing a mass gathering in Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

Displaying a theatrical histrionics, that completely belied his so-called elite background, Qureshi kept briefing the innocent people about how the Pakistan government scored a diplomatic victory over India by forcing the latter to hold a dialogue with Pakistan despite strong initial reluctance for the same. In a nutshell, what Qureshi meant was that India’s acceptance for a dialogue process was not out of any constructive mindset, but simply out of diplomatic pressure that Pakistan had so successfully exerted on the Indian government.

Qureshi also “highlighted” how India tried to get Pakistan diplomatically isolated from the world, and how his country countered that attempt so effectively.

I do not wish to discuss much about Qureshi’s childish behaviour on that day. Rather, I have a humble suggestion for the Pakistan government. And the suggestion is, if it is serious about having a meaningful dialogue with India, then it must replace its foreign minister at the earliest. With such a blatantly irresponsible foreign minister in place, there is little chance that Pakistan’s scheduled dialogue with India will make any headway.

A couple of years back Pakistan had another such irresponsible foreign minister in Gohar Ayub Khan, a shockingly tactless person who carried his anti-India feelings on his sleeve. Instead of trying to normalize his country’s relationship with India, he kept making provocative remarks. And those remarks not only threatened to further worsen the Indo-Pakistan relationship, but also left Gohar’s own government completely red-faced. And ultimately the then Nawaz Sharif government of Pakistan was forced to replace (read sack) Gohar, when it was convinced that the former army officer had no wish to deviate from making cheap anti-India rhetoric.

Will the Pakistan government act now, or will it like to wait till Qureshi ends up causing a serious damage as far as Indo-Pakistan relationship is concerned?

Former ISI Chief In The Kashmiri Separatists’ Meet

The blatant shamelessness of the Pakistan government is really shocking to the core. The extent of the government’s unscrupulousness again came to light when the other day the Kashmiri separatist groups held an open meeting at Muzaffarabad, the capital town of Pak-Occupied Kashmir or POK (i.e. Azad Kashmir or “Independent Kashmir” in Pakistan’s language). The meet was attended by all the top leaders of “Kashmiri Freedom Movement”, including Sayeed Salahudeen of Hizbul Mujahideen. In the meet these separatist leaders openly discussed their plans to further enhance their activities (i.e. disruptive activities), expressed their faith in “Zihaad” (which is nothing but meaningless bloodshed) as the “only solution for the Kashmir problem”, and also sent this message to “their brothers” on the other part of LoC (Line of Control) that they are always with them (they have taken it for granted that they enjoy unanimous support from the Kashmiri youths).

Everybody knows that POK is virtually a part of Pakistan. And still these blood-thirsty maniacs managed to hold such an open meeting just under the nose of the Pakistan government, with the latter simply turning a blind eye to it. In the meet the separatist leaders not only discussed their future plans, but also issued open threatening to the Indian government. How did they dare to come up with such audacious activities, on a piece of land where Pakistan calls the shots?

However, what is more shocking is the presence of former ISI chief Hamid Gul in that meeting. A known India-baiter, Hamid Gul is known for having played very “constructive” role in “strengthening” the so-called “Kashmiri Freedom Movement”, during his stint as the ISI chief. Therefore it is not surprising to see him participate in any event or programme that champions the “cause of Kashmiri freedom movement”. But this event was different in the sense that it was the meeting of the dreaded separatist leaders who are trying to achieve their objective not through dialogue or mass movement or any other peaceful tools, but through the blood-soaked tool of terrorism. And in fact they used this meeting as a platform to chalk out plans for their future disruptive activities. By participating in this meet Hamid Gul has virtually brought himself down from the level of an ideologue to that of a petty terrorist.

The Indian government should immediately exert pressure on its Pakistani counterpart to come up with a proper explanation on how those bloodthirsty savages were able to organize such a meeting in Muzaffarabad. The Pakistan government should also send for Hamid Gul, and ask him to explain exactly what he was doing in that meeting. If Mr. Gul has provided those terrorists with some strategic guidance or advice, then he must be arrested immediately.

The Indian government should also draw international attention to the event, so that the world can be made more conscious about the naked double-standard that the rogue state of Pakistan has been playing not only with India, but the entire world.

Mango’s Qualcomm Deal – An Indicative Achievement For The Indian Software Community

Till the other day the Indian software community was known only for its expertise in software solutions, without any footprint on the software product development category. The entire world would recognize and appreciate the expertise of the Indian software solutions providers in addressing the various problems of organizations across domains and sectors. However, in a sharp contrast to it, the Indian software industry had virtually no success in the product development scenario. This led to this widely accepted theory that the Indian software professionals only good at providing software solutions, and have no command of software product development. This in fact encouraged some critics (including Indians) to term the Indian software professionals as “software coolies”.

However, the scenario is now changing, with the Indian software product developers slowly solidifying their presence in the global software landscape. There was a strong indication of the same when the Bangalore-based Mango Technologies sold two of its software products to Qualcomm, a respectable name in the wireless semiconductor domain.

Mango Technologies achieved a signal success for the entire Indian software fraternity when it sold to Qualcomm the following two of its products – a mobile handset user interface (UI) software and a PC-based UI customization toolkit.

Probably this incident marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Indian software history, the chapter of India’s recognition as a software product development major, while being a software solutions wizard as well.

Hearty congrats to the two founders of Mango Technologies – Sunil Maheshwari and Lekh Joshi (both only in their early 30s). Guys, you people have made us proud. Wish you many such success in the future.

O. Henry – The Master “Story Digger”

Last night (1st February, 2009) after a long time I was reading the short stories of one of my all time favourites – O. Henry. As I said that it was after a long gap that I was reading his stories, and I realized that I still find those stories to be what I would find them in my younger days – ultra-fascinating.

There are several factors that make O. Henry stories (originally named William Sydney Porter) so charming for readers. These factors are, in the language of Wikipedia, “their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.” Absolutely correct. O. Henry’s mastery of the language and natural ability to give twisted endings to his stories are legendary. Equally captivating is the way he created the main characters of his stories, characters which are so interesting in the way they talk, think and behave. And yes, the subtle sense of humour found in those stories also add a lot to their appeal.

However, personally I feel that the master storyteller’s actual dexterity lay in his ability to find a “plot” in matters and situations that appeared so ordinary and insignificant to other people. At least in a number of O. Henry stories I have found the plot to be based on scenarios or issues that are in no way extra-ordinary, at least apparently. It seems to me as if the gifted writer used to “dig out” a story that lay buried under an ordinary garb, a garb that belied the “story potential” of the situation that the master storyteller would expose to us, with aplomb.

Just think of the plots of the stories like “The Gift Of The Magi”, “The Last Leaf”, “The Cop And The Anthem” and “After Twenty Years”. And you will probably understand what I mean.

O. Henry was a magician of language, a great player of words, and a master of imagination. And above all, he was a great “story digger”, who enabled us to find the striking stories that lie hidden behind petty everyday affairs, of which we ourselves are a part.

Mr. Azad Gupta – The “Betrayer” Of Common Perception

We came to know Mr. Azad Gupta, or Guptaji (as we call him) just a couple of years back. He is a nice gentleman in his early 50s.

Since then he has been our companion every time we (me and my parents, and now my wife) need to go to Railway Station to catch a train. And sometimes it is again he who has kept us company on our way to home from Railway Station after we have come back to Delhi from outside. And he sometimes also keeps us company even when we go somewhere inside the Delhi itself, generally when we visit somewhere for a long time.

Guptaji is very polite and gentle in his communication. Apart from speaking Hindi, he is also fluent in English. And his favourite topic of discussion is spirituality.

Guptaji sent his children (one son and one daughter) to reputed public schools. His son is now studying Telecommunications Engineering at IIT Roorkee, while his daughter is now at class 12. Guptaji is very concerned about the education and career of his children, and discusses the same every time I travel with him.

Fine. But who is this Guptaji, after all?

Well, he is an auto driver. He is one of those infamous auto drivers (known for their rudeness and lack of culture) that we find in Delhi and Noida.

A rare species, right? A Delhite who will read this write up will understand what I mean.