I recently bought a BMW..

...the BMW of mini-vans,that is the Honda Odyssey.Last year with Sahana and the arrival of in-laws on a regular basis we took the American way to Upgrade.We had a Honda CRV,decent vehicle but cannot seat more than 4..which was fine till then.
So I suggested a 3 series used BMW..

"Hmm" said Vidya,which meant I was wrong and she was going to prove it too.It totally did not make sense to sell an SUV and buy a sedan!!--Agreed.We have to go in 2 cars all the time!!--Agreed

Me--In a beemer you can go from 0-60 in 4.3 secs,handle curves elegantly at 60mph, pull out of the signal first and pick up chicks at clubs(I just threw that in...hehe.)

After a thorough,deliberate , financial and usability analysis we bought a Honda Odyssey.I can do 0-60 in 13.5 secs(not that anyone is there to time it),go around the curve at 60mph(whew!!..close call),I wait for red signal in a single lane(yea..i'm always first to pull out) and pick up Sahana at the Daycare(the only chick I care about anyways!!)

After a year of driving around,I use the Odyssey to my office,trips,grocery shopping,Home depot runs,karate class pickups and pretty much ALL the time.Really comfortable,satellite Radio and tons of space(packs 7 adults+1kid).

Bottomline..middle-aged,cant-let-go-of-college-years',married-with-kids men go for the "BMW of Minivans" and still feel masculine about it.

Death of Communism in India

Surprise!Surprise..the people have spoken..the verdict is in.Poverty and communist principles have no future in India.The host of Left parties were routed in their homelands,west bengal and kerala."Change" was the keyword and feeling for the people of these 2 states.Through out the country though, awareness was the motivation for going back to a one-party rule.

This is not the congress of yesteryear where they only said they wanted to eradicate poverty and make pro-poor choices..but they didn't.In the last 2 decades India's official poor ratio has improved by 50%.Now that is huge for a country of 1 Billion.So what has happened in the last decade that has made this transition for India?

Technology and thereby an awareness to compete.We were satisfied with blaming the Nuclear Deal, mall-culture, IT youths earning more etc.But it is this same reasons why the country has grown so much. It is the era of Information sharing be it the common SMS culture or the right to information Act.

I was always so dismayed by the fact that we Indians who produce the best minds there is in the technical world ,who design the best software on the planet were not able to do the same in their own country.Now I am convinced that this process which started with the 1999 Y2K problem has snow balled into this unstoppable thirst for information.From the serial-watching housewife to the tea-boy (in slumdog millionaire) have one thing in common.--Access to information!!They get it through TV,SMS, Satellite networks,Internet.

The general populace in India has increased their sense of awareness.The youngest generation always gets it!!When I was in college it was the choice to setup home anywhere in the world but still be indian.Now it the chance to be at Home in India and be yourself. From this awareness has come development and the clear goal of the government to show progress and measure performance.All these terms that we are so familiar with in Information Technology.

There is no looking back now.No more Grand schemes that are only in paper but local developments which show value and progress.This really proves that Information is key to the development of any nation(or a project).