First Look / Deep Focus - Oct 28, 2012

TOI has the following 3 in today's FL/DF page.
1. Shobha De coming out with a novel on the contemporary politician
2. How some of the IAS officers have got the gall to face the machinery of the contemporary politician
3. The dangers from the international mafia - to the Gujarati diamond merchant at Antwerp



Shobha De has been pretty active with her writings on contemporary India and has shown strong likes and dislikes. She has been pretty aggressive on some of the well-knowns in the India scenario. So no wonder she decided to come out with the omni-potent Indian politician whom we Indians only have made all - powerful. Would love to read the novel to find out Amrita's (daughter in law of Sethji) actions and how the same could be replicated.

We know of  IAS officers who do not bulk under pressure from the contemporary politician and pay the price for same if not with life but with 26 postings in 26 years etc. India works becoz of these Babus. We have quite a number of them. Most of them operate at tandem with the Governmemt machinery and are part of the same. Once in a while some of them are singled out for disproprtionate assets etc. Sometimes their children also hog the limelight for the wrong reasons. Only a handful of them stand up to say 'No, Minister' and face the commensurate punishment.

I had cleared the IAS prelims twice but did not turn up for the finals. I shudder to think facing the wrath of the minister.

I am not sure whether the contemporary politician is aware of the existence of one layer of people who are actually above them. I am talking of the international mafia. They work seamlessly across boundaries. I understand the Goa Government is trying to fight them. There are parlors in every locality. Good luck - Goa government. International mafia is all-pervading. They are now striking at the few Gujarati families still operating their diamond cutting business from Antwerp in Belgium. If required they will shift base to Dubai. May be they will be saved then as they will be operating from the den. No issues - after all if you can't beat someone, join him.

Where To.....

 One question that keeps haunting me is where to.

Mankind where to?

The erudite will rightfully tell me - Man - go and do your work. The Almighty will take care of the rest. Very right. No questions asked. Still I thought I'll ask where to? Where are we destined?

Two conflicting thought processes keep coming to my mind - the good that is happening and the not so good that is also happening almost simultaneously.

The world today is reaping the harvest of scientific innovations. The poor and the rich are talking on mobile phones and are well-connected at their respective levels. Improved medication has enhanced the life-span all over. I understand hundreds of NGOs all over the world are working to mitigate the sufferings of the millions.

On the other hand the thought of the Ganges and the Yamuna being totally polluted and going dry in due course is nerve-racking. We are so helpless to keep mother nature intact. Global warming is giving us enough warnings of the shape of things to come - that substantial parts of the world will submerge under water. Most likely then also the seven sages will take a boat ride to safety and a new world will start from them.

So the best way is to keep going by doing what is allotted to you. There is no choice. what else can you do?

The process of  keeping doing the work allotted to me is also fraught with issues. City life is becoming complex by the day. Pressure of population and pollution are making life unbearable. Villages have other issues of gigantic proportions. Soon the money earned will be spent on food and housing only as the increased demand out-manouvres the limited supplies. Now I understand why many people in the advanced nations of Western Europe prefer not to have families.

Being an ever-optimist I am sure mankind will find out solutions to its issues. As long as the Sun is shining and the earth keeps rotating and revolving- mother nature will not fail us. But at the end it should not be that we fail ourselves and mother nature as well. Fighting amongst people has been an eternal phenomenon. Greed for controlling the resources nationally within the country and internationally amongst the countries is nothing new. So as long as mankind is there we'll have strifes. But strifes at what cost? Is anyone bothered?

So !!! Thinking about where to leads me to nowhere! Better that I keep doing what is allotted to me. Only Time will tell.

Glory to the Almighty!! You save us.

 

Wikipedia - the common best friend of ours

As I look at it, one item which commands taking up the position of ‘the common best friend’ for the maximum people on this globe is the Wikipedia. I am sure most of you agree to what I am saying. What an outcome of the information explosion!

Today morning I just googled All India Radio and in a second I knew its total history – which friend of yours can enlighten you so much so quickly and so completely?

Wikipedia – ZINDABAD. I am now determined to make some contribution to it.

Here is the next set of new items learnt (from my excel sheet).

Umlesh Yadav of the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal(only 2 members - DP YADAV and Umlesh, his wife) may have earned the dubious distinction of being the first legislator to be disqualified for failing to account for money spent on advertisements passed as news items


Stealth Blackhawk mh60 helicopters used in the attack on Bin Laden.

Juba - capital of South Sudan, youngest country

India shares land boders with 7 , maritime with 7, Total with 11 (land only 4, MARITIME ONLY 4, Land+maritime 3)

 Afghanistan(L)

 Bangladesh

 Bhutan (L)

 Burma

 China (L)

 Indonesia (M)

 Maldives (M)

 Nepal (L)

 Pakistan

 Sri Lanka (M)

 Thailand""(M)

There are 27 nakshatras (some consider 28 -including Abhijit). Each covers 13.20 degrees and each has 4 padas. 9 padas are covered in one rashi


Hanuman is also known as Arbiter and Maharudra and had 28 trancendental opulences

Aum is known as Udhgita

Nandi and Mahakala are the 2 door keepers of Shiva

Nandi cursed Ravana that Lanka will be burnt down by a Vanara

Hanuman carried Dronagiri mountain

According to legend, Hanuman is one of the four people to have heard the Bhagwad Gita from Krishna and seen the Vishvarupa form, the other three being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Barbarika son of Ghatotkacha

In Hinduism both Ganesha and Hanuman have a red complexion like Sindoor and both of them possess the eight supernatural powers (ashtamahasiddhis)[23] Further, like Ganesha, Hanuman is also the deity, who can give one access to Ashta Siddhis and also Nava Nidhhis (Nidhhi means comfort, wealth, power, prestige, etc), a boon given by Janaki to him.[24]

Further, there is also a belief that one of the faces of Panchamukhi Hanuman is that of Vinayaka


The tallest Hanuman statue is the Veera Abhaya Anjaneya Hanuman Swami, standing 135 feet tall at Paritala 240 km from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, installed in 2003

An 85-foot (26 m) Karya Siddhi Hanuman murthi was installed at Carapichaima-Trinidad and Tobago, by Avadhoota Dattapeetham Pontiff Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda. It is the tallest in the Western hemisphere and second tallest in the world

Hanuman is married to Suvarchala Surya's daughter. Hanuman is a baramchari even though he is married.

Panchmukhi Hanuman- Varaha(north), Nara Simha(South), Gaduda(West), Hayagreeva(up), his own (east)

wives - Rama-Sita, Lakshman-Urmila, Bharta- Mandavi, Shatrughan- Srutakirti

Verses in the Ramayana are written in a 32-syllable meter called anustubh

The Bala Kanda describes the birth of Rama, his childhood and marriage to Sita.[27] The Ayodhya Kanda describes the preparations for Rama's coronation and his exile into the forest.[27] The third part, Aranya Kanda, describes the forest life of Rama and the kidnapping of Sita by the demon king Ravana.[27] The fourth book, Kishkindha Kanda, describes the meeting of Hanuman with Rama, the destruction of the vanara king Vali and the coronation of his younger brother Sugriva to the throne of the kingdom of Kishkindha.[27] The fifth book is Sundara Kanda, which narrates the heroism of Hanuman, his flight to Lanka and meeting with Sita.[27] The sixth book, Yuddha Kanda, describes the battle between Rama's and Ravana's armies.[27] The last book, Uttara Kanda, describes the birth of Lava and Kusha to Sita, their coronation to the throne of Ayodhya, and Rama's final departure from the world.[27]

Father Kamil Bulke, author of Ramakatha, has identified over 300 variants of Ramayana.[56]


Some Capitals:
kazakh- Almaty, kirghistan - Bishkek, tajikistan- Dushanbe, Turkmenistan - Asgabad, uzbek- Tashkent

Estonia-tallinn;Latvia-Riga;Lithuania-Vilinius; Belarus-Minsk; Ukraine - kiev; Moldova- kisnau

Slovenia-Llubliana;Croatia-Zagreb;Montenegro-Podorica;Macedonia-Skopje;Bosnia/Herzegovina-Sarajevo;Serbia-Belgrade; Kosovo - pristina

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (Aligarh MU) had said that hindus and muslims are the two eyes of mother India and harming each other wud harm her beauty

Steve Jobbs - visited Neem Karoli Baba at kainchi. But the Baba died before he could meet him. Jobbs had 342 patents. Set up Apple, Pixar, Next.


Good Day.

the Rs 5 crore question

Now that September is over, I could watch KBC.  The more I saw, the more I felt that how much I don't know. The sad part is I have even forgotten the parts which I thought I knew. I have decided to revive myself. And the tool - the simplest of the simple - To read the daily paper.
The second part is "Googling" for any item which comes to the mind and keeping an excel file of the same. I have already 125 lines. I want to put them up over here. You are welcome to refresh your memories. Here I go.

Akash - name of tablet for use by everybody; developed by Rajasthan IIT ; COST 2250. For students 1125


B,C, D- name given to new satellite systems like the earth discovered

Pillei/Pillaikar - name of Ganesha in Tamil

tomas transtromer of Sweeden wins nobel prize in literature

Michael Nobbs - Australia is the current Hockey India coach.

S Sreejesh saved 2 penalties to give India 4-2 win in Inaugural Asian championship at Ordos(China)

Rajapal(captain), Danish mujtaba, Yuvraj Valmiki and Sarvanjit scored for India. Gurwinder Chandi missed

Liberians Leymah Gbowee, president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman win Nobel Peace prize

Ralph Steinman, nobel winner for medicine 2011, died 3 days before announcement

Duncan Fletcher of Zimb to coach Indian cricket team for 2 yrs. Has never played a test match.

Vikas Gowda (discus throw), Mayookha Johny (triple jump), Tintu Luka (800m), Babubhai Panocha and Gurmeet Singh (both 20km walk),Krishna Poonia(Discuss) getting ready for London Olympics.

Robert Baan (Holland) appointed TD by AIFF for 2 years.

India competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. The sole athlete representing India was Jeremy Bujakowski, who competed in the Men's Downhill event in Alpine Skiing


On August 11, 2008, Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle shooting event. In doing so, he won the first ever individual gold medal for India, and the first medal in any event for India at the Beijing Games. The previous highest individual achievements for India were two silver medals won by Norman Pritchard, an Englishman born in India representing Great Britain, at the 1900 Paris Olympics and one silver medal won by the 2008 flagbearer Rajyavardhan Rathore at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Sushil Kumar won the second ever wrestling medal for India, the first being the bronze earned by Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Vijender Kumar won a bronze medal in the middleweight boxing category, having lost in the semifinals. This was India's first-ever Olympic medal in boxing.

'A shot at history'- autobiography by Abhinav Bindra with Rohit Brijnath.

Ian Wilmut, the scientist behind the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep

Woo-Suk Hwang, a professor of Seoul National University sucessfuly cloned the first dog SNUppy, (Afghan hound and a Labrador Retriever)


more to follow......

That Great Drive From Delhi to Mumbai

It was Friday the 13th (June, 1997) when I started in my Maruti 800 – DL 2CB-9279 from my friend Pradip’s place at Gurgaon at around 5.30 in the morning. I was taking this car to Mumbai – my new home after having spent 15 years in Delhi.
Like many other youngsters, I was crazy about the thought of driving. In Calcutta I developed a special affinity with the Private buses. At Phuntsholing, Bhutan, I had the first taste of handling the steering with our office Driver Vinod. I still remember the red number plate of our GM’s car BWP 5486. The car used to ferry me to & fro home across the Torsa (river). That was one of the few perks which Mr Peris offered the young Chartered Accountant for having volunteered to drift to a godforsaken place. With Vinod in control, I would manouvre the vehicle all the way down the hill from a Gumpha we used to visit. Imagine my delight when on arriving at Delhi from Phuntsholing , I found a car and a learner’s licence beckoning me. Our factory was at Sahibabad near the Delhi Border. It was an industrial area and you needed your own vehicle. I was told to learn driving on day 1 itself. It was God-sent for me. I enrolled with a driving school and was given a free hand to practice on (once again) a white Ambassador DEB 369. 15 years went by in Delhi. The driving licence obtained in 1982 was supplemented by a Heavy Vehicle one a few years later. Such was the penchant for driving. Many a time I would think of driving down to Calcutta from Delhi!!

The chance finally came in 1997 when I got a transfer to Mumbai. The Company’s policy permitted transportation of only one vehicle (the white Maruti van). And… I decided to race the 800 to Mumbai.

The family was already in Mumbai. I flew down to Delhi to give final touches at the Delhi office and took off on that morning. The thought of covering the entire distance all by my-self was not that comfortable. So I roped in a friend Solanki to partner me on our 1400 km long drive. I was aware of the road up to Chittorgarh , having driven there with the family once. The driver of the truck ferrying our house-hold goods had told me to take the Nashik route from there. I was not aware of the way after Chittor. I knew the alternate route was the Gujarat one from Udaipur.

Now on to my great Journey-

Solanki was already waiting at the pre-designated spot for sometime on the Jaipur Highway. I could sense that he had become a bit restless at my delay. We drove on. National Highway 8 - Dharuhera-Shahpur - before 3 hours we were on the outskirts of Jaipur. The camel- carts had already come on to our sight. We had breakfast at one of the Dhabas and by-passed Jaipur city. We continued on the NH8 and drove towards Ajmer. Taking the bypass at Kishengarh we avoided Ajmer town. The journey thru the hills on both sides was fascinating. Soon we reached Nasirabad. The next stage Nasirabad to Chittor (167 km) on NH 79 was thru the town of Bhilwara and we covered it in three hours. Solanki and I rotated ourselves on the steering at regular intervals. When we reached Chittor it was about 4 pm. No visit to Rani Padmini’s palace. No seeing around in the fort.

And then we had our confusion. We were to take the Udaipur –Ahmedabad route from there. But a shopkeeper we talked to suggested otherwise. He insisted that the Ratlam route was shorter and directed us on that.

So we took the road again and I now know that it was NH79. The road conditions changed. We passed thru the town of Neemuch. I knew of Neemuch as the headquarters of the CRPF. I was happy to associate my driving thru the town. I learn now that it was the birthplace of the CRPF in 1939. It was a big British cantonment and NIMACH meant North India Military Artillery and Cavalry HQ. (Just as MHOW means Military HQ of War). Then came the towns of Mandsaur and Pratapgarh. I was aware of these towns as the soap stone powders for our detergent plant used to come from the mines located here. I remember some of the Indian airlines Pilots used to announce when the aircraft would be cruising over Pratapgarh, that we were at the middle point between Delhi and Mumbai. It was getting slightly dark when we crossed Mandsaur. It was also drizzling a bit. And then there was big hissing sound in the car. Immediately I knew the source. While at Delhi I had bought a second hand air-conditioner and was carrying that with us in the car. The road conditions were bad and I knew that in the turmoil the gas had leaked .With a sense of relief as to the source, we moved on. The distance of 213 kms from Chittor to Ratlam took us quite some time. Finally we reached Ratlam around 10.30 quite exhausted. Ratlam is on the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Route and is in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

We were looking for a hotel. The one we got was having a party going on and amidst loud music we entered the place. In the room we found that the doors did not have latches. Somewhat concerned we used the two chairs as blocks against the door and went off to sleep. I am not sure now whether we had kept the lights on or not. In the wee hours of the morning when we were departing, we could not find any hotel staff to pay off our three hundred rupees. I think with great difficulty we woke up one of the guys and paid him off.

By 5.30 we were on the road again. We were to take a turn at Chota Nagda and take to the hills of Dhar Ghat. I still remember the cup of tea we had at the turning. Amongst a whole lot of truckers we were the two enlightened ones and got some special treatment from the chai walla.

Solanki was interested in seeing the Dhar Ghat. He had heard from truck drivers that the ghat section was a challenging drive and that they are extremely cautious on this section. Sure enough, the moment we started our climb, we found stalled heavy vehicles up the slopes. We didn’t find the gradient to be very steep, but whatever, for the laden trucks it was a nightmare. The axles would break and they would get stalled. I am sure there was a bunch of entrepreneurial mechanics available at hand to cater to the replacement of the axles. On the way we saw temples and sand dune types. We were actually passing thru the old historical town of Mandu – the place of the epics of Baz Bahadur and Rani Roopmati. Sorry – we didn’t have the luxury to get into the various historical structures scattered all around. We drove on for some more time and hit NH3 (the famous Agra-Mumbai Road) around 8 in the morning. Solanki was impressed with my speed and the distance we had covered after the few hours of sleep that we had at that hotel. The milestones showed Mumbai to be 500 odd kms away. Look at the detour. Travelling thru Rajasthan, the straight route was thru Gujarat. But here we were – Rajasthan to M.P. and then onto Maharashtra. Today, almost 13 years later we’d definitely prefer the Gujarat route as the Ahmedabad highway, I hear is a treat to drive on.

Once on the NH3, the road conditions improved tremendously. There were only trucks with an occasional smaller vehicle coming on to our view. We stopped at a place called Shirpur for breakfast. The next big stop I remember was Dhulian or Dhule. Mumbai was still 350 kms away. It was about 3.30 in the afternoon. Soon the Western Ghats started and we were driving on the ghat section. We saw various types of accidental sites. We saw the front engine portion of a Loaded trailer lying in a nose-dived condition on the rocks when negotiating a bend on the ghats. The trailer was standing intact. Then we saw cleaners placing rocks at the rear wheels and making laden trucks move literally centimeter by centimeter. These things are seen to be believed. Remaining within the contours of our city life will never give us such firsthand experiences.

The journey to Nashik was on the hills only. We could feel driving against huge wind pressures. The sound of the wind would definitely make the weaker humans giddy. I would love to go back on this trail some day.

We were a good 200 kms away when the sun set. I was feeling unwell. Having consumed all sorts of food on the road for two days, I was having stomach aches. We waited for some time. Then Solanki took over and we neared Mumbai. It was raining in stretches. I wanted to cross the octroi check-post without getting caught with the air-conditioner. The intermittent drizzles helped me in that. We reached western express highway around 10 pm. I was new to Mumbai and was not conversant with the roads at all. Somehow I remembered the Powai road and moved onto it. Finally we reached our Lokhandwalla home at Tarapore Gardens around 11 p.m. So we made it in about 30 hours with a halt at Ratlam for about 6 hours. Not bad!!! I must thank Solanki. Without him it would not have been possible.

The years of craze for driving a real long distance finally materialized at the age of 40. I don’t mind doing it all over again. Road conditions are much more improved today. All the best to anyone and everyone who wants to give it a try. Ciao.

Wah Ustad; Wah Tansen of the 20th Century

Like so many others, I like music right from my childhood days. It’s a different story that I cannot sing. But any melodious tune captivates me as much today as it was fifty years back. We had a gramophone at home and a good part of my younger days was spent on winding the key and listening to the 2 boxful of records of the 1950s over and over again. Unfortunately the boxes did not have any of those old Hindi tunes of which I am fond of so much even today. Those I picked up from the radio later. I still remember the first two Hindi film songs which were blared on the Durga Puja microphones at 4 am in 1961 or 1962. The first one was Rafi’s ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ (which I later learned was from the film Kala Bazar when I saw the film at the night show at a cinema hall in Bistupur, Jamshedpur during my Industrial Training days in 1978). The second one was ‘Hai Apna Dil, Awara’ by Hemant Kumar. I still don’t know the film.

The boxes contained some of the oldies of S.D.Burman (whom elders like my father used to refer as ‘Sachin Karta’). Most of the records were Bengali songs. A few Western Music records were also there . I remember

‘Underneath the lantern,

          by the Barrack gate,

Darling I remember,

         How you used to wait?’

This was a German WWII song (called Lili Marlene) which was accepted and sung by the opposition also. I have since got it from Youtube and play it sometimes. There are numerous versions.

http://www.actionext.com/names_v/vera_lynn_lyrics/lili_marlene.html
I was pleasantly surprised when a blind man was playing it on the ferry across the St Lawrence taking us back from the old town in Quebec city in Canada.

Coming back to our gramophone, one tune which I never forget was actually amongst our 78 rpm records. It was not a film song. (Rather the tune was used in a film song much later). Come to think of it – it was a piece of classical music by one of the all time maestros and it was not any of those melodious film songs. It was this thumri – ‘Ka karoon Sajni, Aye na Balam’. You guessed it right. The exponent was:

                          This legend of a man – Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
 
Somehow, I rank this thumri as the best of all the tunes that I am fond of. And within the song also, I like a particular portion the most. About hundred seconds into the masterpiece, he sings an alaap which simply mesmerizes me every time I hear it. (I think it is called alaap only. From the net I gathered that Alaap is usually sung in Aakaar i.e. without pronouncing any syllables only using the sound "aa" of the vowel.)

http://www.swarganga.org/articles/icmconcepts/icm7.php

Please listen to the thumri by clicking on to the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBkG9s8mG-c

I am so much thankful to youtube for reaching this gem to me. Khan Sahab was a khyal singer. But Some khyal singers took an interest in thumri and sang it their own way, as in the case of Abdul Karim Khan, Nazakat-Salamat Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Prabha Atre

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is a hero for me. I want to share some of his facts with you.

He was born in 1902 at Kasur near Lahore very near to the Border. He died in 1968. He is revered as the greatest interpreter of the Patiala Gharana in the past 100 years. Originally he played the Sarangi. His debut performance in Calcutta in 1938 catapulted him to national fame. He became an Indian citizen in 1958 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1962. He was called the Tansen of the 20th century by the music world.

You may go thru the following links and learn more about his music.

Jai Ho!!

http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-music/classical-singers/bade-ghulam-ali.html

http://www.itcsra.org/tribute.asp?id=4

http://www.indianmelody.com/badearticle1.htm

Do you Checklist?

Have you ever heard a Bengali exclaiming ‘Oyi Jaa’? The tone itself will tell you that all of a sudden the guy has remembered something very urgent and important which he/she had forgotten altogether. Today the whole world including the Bengali calls it out as “Oh Shit”.

There are numerous examples daily on this score. Once on our way to Hrishikesh from Delhi, we realized after we crossed Meerut – a good 50 kms away that we had left behind the boiled drinking-water cans at home . There were 4 kids with us. We had to return to get the jerry-cans. I know of a travel agent discovering on reaching the airport that he had left behind his own passport at home. Imagine the condition of the tourists who were to travel with him. He called up his relation to go to his neighbour’s place, collect the keys, get the passport and then ride a bike all the way to Sahar Airport from South Mumbai. The logic – the bike will be able to negotiate the traffic; a car would not.

Then I know of people who’ll remember something just two minutes after leaving the house. And this happens continuously with these people. I just can’t make out why it does not strike them 2 minutes before while leaving the house. I am sure there are theories on the entire spectrum of forgetfulness. You google and you get to see tons of material to go thru.

We are aware that the human brain has tremendous capacity to retain. It can further be improved by mental exercises. But at the end of the day you need to retain the cream and not day to day chores. The question then arises as to what happens to the day to day chores. They are also important. You just can’t deny their existence. So what do we do? Do we have any tool to take help from? Yes- we do have a simple tool – that of making a checklist and following it up properly. Making a checklist will be futile if you do not glance over it when needed. You need to continuously update the checklist also as time passes and the scenario changes.

I am a big supporter of making checklists. I make one at least before we go out on holidays. So far it has given me wonderful results. You just don’t miss out on anything- and you can’t afford to. Example – you buy Eurail tickets on your credit card sitting at home. You don’t carry that particular credit card on the date of your journey. You land up buying a second ticket in the train at the current price. Only the ticket does not help – you need to produce the credit card also for verification. On our journey from Paris to Frankfurt we saw a Frenchman paying thru his nose for not carrying that particular credit card. Maybe he had bought them on someone else’s credit card.

When to start making the checklist?- one day before the event? One month ago? Or one year prior to departure? To me, the process should start as soon an event is conceived and thought of. You are planning a trip to New Zealand- start the process straightaway. Initially you can write down whatever comes to your mind. The ranking can be done later. And there is no fixed auspicious moment. As and when something relating to the trip comes to your mind, just pen it down on the list. Soon you’ll find that the list has already crossed 10 points. I’d prefer to include everything- even the shaving cream etc also. Else at the eleventh hour you’ll find that the existing tube will not last the 15 days of travel. So you’d be buying toothpaste or shaving cream at Cologne or Paris or Christchurch using up the precious foreign exchange you are carrying which was bought paying a hefty commission. It’s your money. The Checklist only smiles at you for not being used. Let me share with you the documents we were carrying for our Western Europe trip this May:

1. Passport

2. Invitation letter as a proof as to where I was heading. At Dublin airport last year, we had a trying time when we could not give any document as to our friend’s address. Finally when Immigration decided to call on our friend’s number (which fortunately I readily had) , I could lay my hands on an application I had made to the Irish Embassy which carried my friend’s references.

3. Tickets booked on line:

Air India

German Rail Pass

Munich to Vienna train, Vienna to Prague Bus, Prague to Dresden train, Hamburg to Copenhagen and back bus, Hamburg to Amsterdam bus, Amsterdam to Paris Bus, Paris to Argentan (Return) train, Paris to Frankfurt train tickets.

4. Hotel reservations at Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

5. Foreign exchange

Those were the documents. Then we had gifts and other items. The excel sheet carried over to the next page.

The point is a good thought-out checklist leads to a sound plan and program. Most of the avoidable worries are passed on to the checklist. A periodic glance at it leads to a smoother execution. It actually leads you deeper and deeper into the process and your plan becomes more and more robust. Else the ‘Oyi Jaa’ syndrome sets in and a substantial part of the fun time is required to be devoted to frantic phone calls and calls to the Almighty for urgent help.

Atul Gawande, a surgeon in the US has come out with a best seller “The Checklist Manifesto”. It has examples showing how the complex operations of flying an aircraft or doing a surgery on the operation theater make extensive use of the checklist to come out with 100% success.

Please make it a point to visit the net and read about the book. I am sure you’ll buy the book at the next opportunity. The Indian edition is now available here.

http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/07/book-review-checklist-manifesto.html

There are other sites also on the book.

I just cannot help but reproduce the excerpt below from

http://us.macmillan.com/thechecklistmanifesto

Complications reveal the surprising power of the ordinary checklist.
We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.


In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.


An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

Atul has added life to our simple checklist. I use it for my travel. Now see how the world uses it for flying planes and what not. So what if you are not flying a plane or doing a surgery? You are driving your life and in a few cases others’ lives as well in these complicated days. I am sure you’ll find the CHECKLIST a very friendly and reliable partner.

Long live the Checklist!!