MADE IN INDIA

[ Abhay Bhushan ]

“ M.I.T. is now to receive all Network Working Group memos. Memos should
be addressed to:
Abhai Bhushan
Room 807 - Project MAC
545 Technology Square
Cambridge, Mass. 02139
Abhai's phone is (617) 864-6900, X 5857. ”

The above excerpts are from RFC -16 ( Request For comments ) which was prepared by the father of RFCs Steve Crocker . An RFC is a memorandum published by IETF ( Internet Engineering Task Force ) which explains the methods , behaviors of internet or computer systems connected to internet . It is almost like a bible for any network engineer.

What fancied me was an Indian’s name. RFC-16 was prepared when Internet was just born. Not just his name, his address or his phone number but it was Steve Crockel recommending his name. The Indian I am referring now is an alumnus of IIT,Kanpur and Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has worked extensively on TCP/IP architecture, has authored FTP protocol and has co authored numerous protocols including early versions of e-mail. He is co-holder of 12 US patents on semiconductor technology. He is none other than Abhay K Bhushan




[ VINOD DHAM ]

And this particular Indian had just $8s when he arrived to US .But he had passion for his work. He completed his masters’ degree at University of Cincinnati in Electrical Engineering who later joined Intel to create history. Pentium was the name of the chip he developed for which entire world went gaga about. Its just “ Vinod Inside ” Pentium chip . Today entire world can’t stand without Pentium chip. His name is Vinod Dham.



[SAMEER MISHRA]
The word was “ guerdon” which means something which is gained or achieved . It was 2008 spell bee competition and the hall was jam packed. 13 year old “kid” Sameer Mishra was facing the judges. Entire US of A was watching him spell the word.!
He did it. Out of 16 rounds , and 288 finalists he did it.! ( his words were : sudation, demitasse, quadrat, diener ,hyssop ,macédoine ,basenji , numnah ,chorion , nacarat sinicize, hyphaeresis, taleggio, esclandre , guerdon ) . He beat even the kids whose mother tongue is English.




Not just them, the fortunate ones who are in limelight and have a cool pic on websites.

An unknown lad near then kemp-fort working as a mechanic, who dismantled entire two wheeler, fixed the engine in no time, assembled everything back and demanded just 15 rupees for the service.
Or the ‘simpletons’ working as waiters in hotels who can recite names of all the items that’s cooked like a powerful processor.

Shathavadahni Ganesh ( a Professor in Cehmical Engg. NIT Karnataka) can deal with so many tasks at a time. You can ask him questions on Mathematical puzzles , Chemical reactions . At the same time ask him to sing any song in certain raga. Then one can ask him to frame sentence with his own words ( even meaningless) . Isn’t that strange ?


Many are enraged watching Slum dog Millionaire . It is true; it has portrayed India in a worst way possible. Movie starts with a slum, a communal riot, then switches to begging racket, prostitution, essays on irresponsible and incompetent BPO workers , followed by goonda-giri , hostile TV “host”, ruthless cops and what not ? .

Still, an illiterate and uneducated boy from slum manages to win the contest by answering every question out of his life’s experience. The message to the world is very much clear. Uncle Sam! We are smarter than you think of us. No matter how we struggle, how we sweat, we have a place.


In India ,

Mothers ask their sons to study nicely , get a job .

In US of A

Mothers ask their sons to study nicely , and not to lose their jobs to Indians..!


Jai Ho..!

Why those 18 days are important in my LIFE….?

Have you ever lead a saint’s life? Have you ever wondered watching this world in a simple way? Have you ever tried being divine?

Well, it was same life for me. Monotonous mechanical life. The life measured in terms of lines of codes, in terms of money, in terms of responsibilities, in terms of time, in terms of ruefulness… What has happened with me? I never planned for such a life but still Life threw things at me…. I was in no terms to accept that, it’s just because I feel I did not deserve …

It was in December, one of the coldest months of Bangalore. I decided to do something for myself. What shall I do ? Holiday break? Change the job? or Cry? I was watching MTV roadies 6.0- being adventurous??

What is being adventurous?
It’s a state of mind where you will do something NEW and DIFFICULT and once you achieve the task your CONFIDENCE gets BOOSTED…!
Hmm, thought to myself, I should do something which boosts my confidence back.

Shabarimala is Lord Ayyappa’s abode. Every year lakhs of pilgrims visit the holy place. Lord Ayyappa, according to mythology, is believed to be born with union of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva .Later he went on to kill demon Mahishi thus obliterating unrighteousness. He is a symbol for austerity. Also he is icon for unity, knowledge and discipline.
Visiting Shabarimala is a great adventure I felt. The temple is located on a hill with holy eighteen steps which mark eighteen milestones in a man’s lifeterm to be achieved. Any one who wants to visit the temple and get the “Darshanam” of the lord stepping on these eighteen steps must observe a “Vritham” of self denial of worldly pleasures.

Let me give you brief insight of this Vritham.The Vritham must be observed by getting permission from one’s parents and Guru ( The person who has visited Lord’s abode 18 times observing Vritham) .The day before Vritham the devotee has to shave ,clip his nails , trim his hair , take a bath and must pray his family deity . And on the day of Vritham the holy garland (made of Ocimum sanctum, Tulsi) will be offered to devotee by his Guru. Wearing this mala signifies that the devotee has become Lord Ayyappa and must lead a pious life. The devotee must keep away from all social activities and must keep himself involved in bhajans, visiting temples, cleaning temples, helping the poor and sick and attending religious courses. He must eat only vegetarian and must abstain from meat, physical or verbal violence, alcohol, tobacco and intoxicants in any form. The devotee must sleep on floor and must walk bear feet. The devotee must be humble, respectful, and patient and serve people in every way. The devotee must treat women in a gentle way and strictly follow celibacy. He should keep away from evil thoughts. Everyday he should pray to Lord and beg for pardon for any mistakes he has committed knowingly or unknowingly.

Sounds interesting? Isn’t it…?

For 18 days from Dec 28, I observed Vritham with utmost sincerity. Getting up at dawn, having cold water bath, visiting near by Ayyappa temple, smearing the sandalwood paste, praying. Walking bear feet on Bangalorean street . It was tough to keep myself aloof from non vegetarian food . But I did . Avoided all F, S words. No boyish works anywhere (was tough one indeed). Attended the office, avoided orkut, and avoided all sorts of chatting. You know it was strange experience, in office campus, employees were fully dressed and I was going bear feet. But most of the employees got it . A foreign employee too started noticing and I guess he too was convinced later. Kept my meals and intake of food limited. I used to take cut fruits for breakfast and few chapattis in noon for lunch and would avoid dinner. And back from office, bathed and prayed at home and slept on mat.

Before I went to sleep I would analyze what I did that day, how I used to be before Vritham and how could I be in future. And would pray again for any mistakes and would sleep. Weekends I would spend time reading some technical stuff and sleeping.


The day arrived.The 18th day, Jan 15, we headed towards Shabarimala.The team consisted of 8 people . My guruswamy, his relatives and me. Guruswamy’s uncle aged 79 too was with us . We started off at 11 or something in the noon from Bangalore. We reached Erumalai which is in Kerala , next day morning 1 a.m. via Tamilnadu. Eruamalai is one more hill station where one can see Vavar swamy ‘s mosque. (Vavar Swamy was a Muslim devotee,history says he was defeated by Lord Ayyappa and since then they were friends ) The place is significant for first timers who are called Kanni swamy who are respected by all. I enjoyed getting all attention and other swamies even touched my feet. ( They say Kanni swamy is very much loved by Lord Ayyappa) . In Eruamali, we are supposed to enter Vavar swamy’s mosque , offer our prayers there, followed by one interesting custom. Everyone will color their faces and dance while an artist plays a tom-tom. We took bath in a river near by, smeared sandalwood paste and again started our journey to Shabarimala.

We reached Pampa ( a pious river , at the bottom of Shabarimala ) at morning 3:30 a.m. We took a holy bath then smeared sandalwood paste again followed by a prayer. There were thousands and thousands of people on the bank. So many vehicles and so much of arrangements, ambulance, police, fire workers so many of them. Then we started our journey towards temple on shabarimala by walk covering 5 k.m. The path is too bad. Its steep and one has to be very strong. It is rough , rocky and sloppy. One has to have the holy “Mudi” ( a bag consisting of coconuts, rice and ghee for lord as offerings , should never be let on floor ) on his head , a bag ( containing food , water or any medicines,dress ) hung on shoulder and must walk bear feet . Dhoti too was adding to trouble. But one has to keep moving, whatever be the situation. Rough way, so many things on shoulder-head , bear feet and a long way to go. Isn’t the life similar? We chanted hymns, called out slogans and were moving. There was a huge rush. Lakhs of people . We managed to reach by 10:30 a.m.

The place was all under surveillance, thanks to terrorist threats. Guards with A.K.47s , stun guns seemed completely out of context. I stepped upon each of 18 steps, touching them too . I turned my face back to see so many people in queues , waiting to step on these steps and I felt very much relieved to be able to come so far. Then I had to see the idol of the lord , for which so many people come like crazy doing all these tough rituals.
There were sharp shooters , home guards fully armed .

Shreekanth swamy ( gurus swamy’s brother ) then took me to a queue , where people were less in number (It was some odd queue ) , I was getting closer to sanctum sanctorum (Gharbha griham) . I saw the idol. Oh my god..! It was my best moment. The idol was small and well decorated. The sacred room was beautiful and was lit. Priests were chanting hymns and were pouring ghee on the idol. I forgot to pray. My eyes were wet. ..!

I did not want to move, but home guards pushed me. My time was over. I drooped my shoulders and came out of the queue which directs us out of the place . Shreekanth swamy asked me “ Swamy care to see the idol again ? ” . I was horrified. That question means lot of things. Come out of the present queue; join one more queue bypassing all the sharp shooters, home guards . It was height of insanity. But I did.

Skipped the current queue, in the grand day light, under sharp shooters’ noses ( they had long guns , I tell you its scary ) and joined the same odd queue again. Home guards rushed towards us, but we were gone in the myriads of devotees. I watched the idol. I fell in love with it . The small Golden Ayyappa idol and me .

We were lucky chaps to watch the lord two times. But some times I feel guilty that I shouldn’t have bypassed the queue and hence not following the Vritham in traces.
You know if you follow all the rules, you will miss some fun.


Swamiye sharanam Ayyappa

Namma Bengalooru...!!

It was 16 th century..! The King and his troop had lost their way while hunting, in a dense forest. All were tired and were hungry too. But they were moving towards nowhere, hoping for shelter and some food as it was getting darker. Somehow they found a ray of light of a lamp ,apparently was a hut .And they found an old lady hosting for them. She served boiled beans for entire gang and she sheltered them for the night. The king rewarded her and promised he would return soon as he was really overwhelmed with kind of hospitality shown by the lady…! He returned back to his kingdom.

He was none other than Kempe Gowda , the founder/discoverer of so called Bangalore, now which is renamed to be Bengalooru . Ironically the original name is “Benda-Kaalooru “(place where boiled beans were served ). He went on to rule Bangalore and he is still remembered today! He was the mastermind behind the planning of the city, infrastructure, water supply and the thick vegetation which makes every Bangalorean to be proud of.! The King Kempe Gowda even went a step ahead and posted four pillars across the city Bangalore in 16 th century. And he estimated Bangalore will be confined within these four pillars, however developed let it be. But poor Kempe Gowda..! Had he had any idea about IT/BT , he would not have been facing a shame. All the four pillars are now in the centre of Bangalore city…!!! Bengalooru is Asia’s fastest growing city.

I finished complete 13 months of staying at Bengalooru. I have learnt many things. I have seen so many interesting incidents; I have spoken to so many people in just one year, have visited so many places here. It’s really just wonderful being here and spending time.
My first day is too fresh to be forgotten. I took 40 minutes to cross the Outer ring road which today I take just 3 minutes to cross…!!

So whats “ Happening ” in the city ? Is it the fact that it has 240+ software companies ? Or is it because of 50+ pubs in the city ? Or is it because of pleasant weather or is it because of warm people here..? It has got all essentials; it’s like a Bollywood masala movie. Bengalooru has New Delhi’s cleanliness and vegetation, Mumbai’s commercial elements, Kolkota’s Religious zeal and Chennai’s Tamil speaking people.

May it be dense Rajaji Nagar, under development Bomman Halli, cool Indira Nagar or much hyped M.G.Road, you will find almost all sort of people. Not just Kannadigas. I guess, Bengalooru is the only capital/metro where you find the native people quite less in number or even they can be said minority. A “samanya Bengalooriga” is very much tolerant to anything, almost everything. Starting with language, space to live, traffic, pollution, immigrants sandalwood movies and recent bomb blasts. That is why one can see harmony in the city. That’s what is the most alluring thing about Bengalooru. A tamilian feels Bengalooru as his own place, more than his hometown. A praajee too feels Bengalooru as his own “pind”. Sakkhat “jai” place kanamma…!!

And one thing I am very much sorry about the city is that none really cares about the regional language Kannada. Really none gives a damn. Karnataka can boast of having procured 7 Gyana Peeth awards the country’s supreme award for literature, which no other state in India has got. It has given 2 Rashtra Kavi s for the country. But unfortunately the language is seldom spoken. No, I am not expecting a Raj Thakre for the state; neither have I expected regional chauvinism for the language. I had no idea earlier, for the ignorance towards the language. But gradually I noticed it. I definitely have to narrate you, two incidents which are food for your thoughts;

It was Saturday; around 11 o clock. I had just finished my breakfast in a hotel, and I met an old man wearing dhoti and jubba near roadside.He was panting, and inquired me whether I know Kananda. The poor old man was from Dharwad ,visitor for the city , was searching for a Kannada newspaper since morning and dint find one..!?. He concluded such a condition he never thought would arise in Bengalooru. I was numb! ( and dumb too )

And one other day I caught a rickshaw from Silk Board towards my place, Munnekollal Marathalli ,around 13 Kilo meters of journey .As I had left office very late in the night , came till Silk Board and it started raining . Me and the driver dealt for 250 bucks for the journey. (which I could later claim from my office). So rickshaw was rushing and some Telugu song was playing . I was drowsing off. Suddenly something screeched, I was alarmed, opened my eyes just to see the driver applying breaks. The things came to get cleared. It was apparent that, our driver was about to hit some other vehicle which had come in wrong way , but due to smart thinking of my driver , danger was averted. My driver was furious. He started blasting off the other guy in Telugu and in turn the other guy too turned to be arguing in Telugu. People from nowhere started to gather. And guess what the mob too speaking Telugu..! I felt completely left out in Bengalooru the capital city of Kannada speaking state Karnataka..!! lols…!


Whatever you say, every city has its own specialty. IT hub of the nation, kids learn first from keyboard then they will find nothing interesting here. English seems to be originating from this place before to UK.The garden city and of late one of the cities in terrorists’ hit list. There is something “In” in Bangalore.

Usually I don’t carry cash , as I am spendthrift. I encountered an old beggar on street. I dint have anything to give her in terms of notes or coins. The lady did not believe! I don’t know, I guess she was in mood to “test “a “tester..” ! I showed her my empty valet full of cards and some note papers. I felt relieved as she found nothing in me. I should appreciate; she saw my sodexho coupons..! Guess what? Next scene me donating her coupon worth 25 Rs. coz she told me she could have her belly full of food..! Can you expect some smarter beggar than her?

Its ‘coz, its
Namma Bengalooru..!

God has his own way of doing things ………………!

Radio Mirchi 98.3… Sakhkhath hot maga…!! No I could not listen to “that” song .Well; It was a recent hit song “ Ravivaramna Kunchada ” from Budhdhivantha, a remix version of old song , old wine in a new bottle. I had heard that in the same channel recently and I was too much carried away with the song. But alas, since then no , I dint get to listen to it.

I had listened the original version many times but it was not that melodious, had heard many people singing the song, but never liked it. May be new version had extra base and beats with Hariharan’s aesthetic vocal touch.Not for nothing Hariharan is a maestro, his voice is quite touching and out of the world.

I determined to listen to it again. Turned to TV and surfed through Kannada popular channels, nope, nowhere I could have trace of the song. The song was just released and how can one expect it to play in TV channels ? No Luck… Was humming the song and finished bathing ( I guess my neighbors too liked me singing the song ;-) )

Again turned to FM. Went channels through channels, waited for long time and my company bus was moving like anything on road. Most of the employees were sleeping on cushioned seats, and I was one dumb creature waiting for this one song to get played.
The fat bellied person sitting (sleeping) opposite to me was with very much content. His face was glowing, eyes were tightly closed and he was sleeping like there is no tomorrow. His lips carried an indescribable smile. I thought once I listen to this song , I would have such a smile.

Bangalore Radio channels are too much entertaining man..They provide you all fun, info and music. Chaamrajpet Charles , Life in Banglore with Rajini Saar, Sulthaan ke saath English ke do bath , back to back triple songs and traffic updates , channels were fully loaded. RJs spoke so well, they had cheerful voice I just was admiring them. Its really cool right being RJ ? you ll be popular, entire city knows your voice , and you get all recognition. You can brag a lot this that blah blah . Besides you will get paid and its nowhere a risky job..! I had a friend who was great fan of FM 93.5 RJ Harsha’s voice. She used to wait for his program to start and would listen to it completely. Feels cool man..!!

Everything was cool, but no clue about the remix song .I was like, please let me listen to this one song only for once and I will be happy through out the day. Nope, it palyed some Orange properties advertisement ,details about some crap competition and as I reached office , signals were weak . I turned it off…..

I was sipping tea around 11 o clock, and suddenly remembered You tube. You can listen, watch the media files if someone has uploaded it. I just logged in and was searching for song. Oh man..! It’s a Kannada song, people have ignored the movies, have ignored literature and have ignored the language itself. How can you expect one to upload in You tube ? :P I was broken .

I got down from the company bus. No I could not listen to the song , was very sad through out 73 minutes of journey . Why on the earth they did not play the song ?
I kept listening to channels, darted to a shop to get some maggy packs and eggs. Shopwala gave a usual smile and asked about my well being. I smiled back at him and I don’t remember what I answered him, came out of the shop, ear phones still fixed to ears and my consciousness still waiting for the song. Oh God please, I was praying ... you know sometimes songs can be mortal. Sometimes don’t you wonder, your consciousness knows the answer but your brain can’t recollect the answer? You are expecting something like a crazy and you sound more of mad to get it….! Songs are similarly dangerous sometimes if you don’t listen to them on time… it keeps haunting.


I was walking, thoughts reeling on my head. I remembered, there was a boy aged around 10-14 years near my neighborhood without footwear. I just thought of purchasing one for him. You will get for cheap 40 rupees, street side. Its not a great deal me getting a footwear for him. I won’t be losing a great amount of money. But atleast the boy will be happy I thought…I just wanted to capture the happiness shown on his face when I will present him that footwear. I was just excited to meet him soon.

I walked down the steps, across the streets, finding him. And oh boy, he was there bare footed munching some food. I called him, and presented him the sandals. He was very happy. He wore it and it was perfect. He smiled at me , I was very happy seeing his glowing face.. You get to see such happiness on someones face just for 40 bucks .. I was happy for myself. I asked his name , shook his hands and was watching him running happily with the footwear.

And then FM channel was playing “Ravivaramana Kunchada kale bhale saakaravu “…
I was in cloud nine. I waited there only listening to each word, each beat, feeling each line of the song. Woow what an experience? What an occasion? Worth waiting….
Atlast the song ended.. You know all the good things in this world should end. I did not know whether I listened the song for my luck or it was the way god appreciated me for getting one footwear for the little chap .?

God has his own way of doing things ………………!

I changed the channel, and here again same song.. second time… ;)

Naach, Gaana and Apun Ka Bollywood

It all happens in Indian movies : -) We Indians are crazy creatures who love songs and dance no matter whatever be the occasion. Right from Indra’s mythological Vedic days to today Kaliyug Emraan Hashmi’s days. Songs and dances are soul of Indian movies, any where in India and in any language…!

Earlier days, of course in Vedic times there were dancer-cum-singer s who used to entertain Maharajahs and their courtiers and I suppose this heralded current trend of dance and songs in movies. Heroes/Heroines not only need to be looking good but also should dance and fight well to survive in celluloid business. Just imagine Tom cruise doing a duet dance or Kate winslet doing one Item song..! Lols. Aint it funny?

Bollywood movies have started all the trends. Duets, sad songs (of course with dance), devotional songs, peppy songs and latest being “Item “songs. You can see all the drama masala loaded in each of them. Audience is crazy..!

It’s quite illogical. Sometimes these songs seem complete non sense .An infant grows old in a five minute song. Performers keep changing their dress, keep changing their locations too. And the weirdest one, a family which was shattered away long ago becomes united by one “Family song “ ( I wanted to have one family song for my family lolz) . But all are accepted and appreciated ..! Sab kuch maaf hai.
And most of the time it’s quite interesting. Hero and Heroine dance and sing together in park when none is around..! ( so silly of them ) A Romeo proposes his girl friend, a widow sings for her husband in agony, a devotee gets “darshan” of god with a song (quite dominant down south Indian movies) ; people celebrate with a song and dance in a function and usual “rona,rulana “ songs , a patriot sings and dances for his country’s victory. And one craziest thing I liked was a hero fighting with notorious goons with a song..! how can one ?


Old black– and-white movie songs emphasized much on lyrics and emotions. Remember Gurudutt’s songs ? They were heart soothing and quite melodious. There was no vulgarity and it targeted emotions of audience and were quite memorable. Mohd. Rafi dominated those days and I was once told the then PM Jawahar Lal Nehru even excused Rafi’s taxes. Those were the days..! The songs and dances then were based on Romance, Love, devotion and were peppy too. Remember Jeena isika naam hai song ? Dances included desi styles of Bharath Natyam ,Kathak and Koochipudi. I was just wondering what Rakhi Sawanth would do then ? : -) Madhubala performed well in Mughal-e-Azam , I just liked her..!

Then were the times of Eastman color… Amitabh with his Mere anagne mein tumhara kya kaam hai ..? Vinod Khanna with his chingari koyi bhadake were quite marvelous. And also not to forget Mithun da with his unique disco steps created a hype and carved a niche in bollywood. Romance, family ,Love were commonly targeted fields.Audience by then were fed up with “Emo” songs and needed some more of “In” thing. Then was the time of “Helen “ the “hot” throb of Bellbottomed youngsters..! Overnight she became a mascot .. College students bunked classes and were present in theatres for her dance and it was quite eye soothing ;-) Those times few performers created their own signatures in dance , Jeetendra’s jumps , Feroz kahn’s jungle ness was most “In” things which were liked by audience.. Remember Dharam paaji’s dance? lolz…..


Now its quite very much advanced.. Audience have become choosy…Songs are no more lyrics oriented ,and if they are then they are not meant for “MASS”.It all started with Dhak dhak Madhuri dixit..! I was almost carried away then even at her smile. She carried a charismatic aura around her. Then we had Govinda’s madly dance ..? This modern facet of bollywood is as old as me . It had so much of Masala.. So much of curve twists and all sorts of meaning you could find…! Remember controversial song like Choli ke peeche kya hai ? You would also find creative choreography like one in Chaiyya Chaiyya on top of the running train, Muqala Muqabala by Prabhudevan rocked entire nation. Songs and dance in disco clubs , pubs replaced the same which were earlier shot in parks or in marriage halls. Later then on, songs/dances in movies much are based on close intimations and skin show. The movie Murder was a mass hit for the same reason. Emran Hasmi and Mallika sherwat were the Icons for “such” gana naachna’s .( In fact you wont find them dance though …!) Now a days Chemistry, Physics and Biology all you can see in Bollywood. And not to forget , 42 years old SRK too shed his weight toned body and tapped for an “Item Song “ with his Six packs…! You know gals went crazy…!

I can’t predict the future of the bollywood songs and dances.
But I am damn sure…! One day it will overtake Hollywood…!

Basanti inn Kutton ke samne mat naachna………! ;-)