A case for readability

With no Gmail, Facebook in office and work pretty much over, I spent a large portion of time reading online news and articles. Readability or the ease of reading is an issue we hardly consider while reading physical books or news papers. But web pages contain several other things than the main article - adds, links to other articles etc. So readability becomes an important issue while reading web text. I am a big fan of the plugin Readability. Unfortunately it doesn't work in my office network. So I had to find other means to make articles more presentable to myself. One of the biggest feeder of articles for me is Indian Express. I am producing a few snapshots of Indian Express articles here for showcasing various layouts.

Multi page format.
Negatives: Distractions on right side and the pain of clicking  "next page link"
Positives: Lesser text to read at once

Single Page Layout
Negatives: Scrolling
Positives: No extra clicks required. Easy to skim backwards in the article. 

But the layout which I prefer is the print preview. It is provided by many standard content rich sites. Unfortunately it's use is still not widespread. I hope someday it becomes a norm.

Print Layout
Negatives: Extra width. Possibility of loss of concentration after mid length
Positives: No adds. Flickering, Flash adds often distract from reading. Entire article presented in one single view

One of the interesting features of Readability is the conversion of links embedded in the article into footnotes. Many times writers use the contents of the external article as stepping stones or examples to substantiate their point. So providing reference links is a natural action for writers.But while reading a long article embedded links most often disrupt the flow of reading. So from a reader's perspective these hyperlinks may not be a good idea.  It's a bit of writer-reader conundrum. That's where readability comes handy. 

UDRS

2011 edition of world cup has seen a lot of action till date. England beating the contenders while getting beaten by two of the weakest teams in the group and almost losing with the third, a tied match, a blitzkrieg innings by Ross Taylor to sink the Pakistani ship and of course two great innings by the batting maestro. But one of the major factors which have affected this world cup has been the UDRS referral system. One of the proponents of the UDRS system Duncan Fletcher has few thoughts on how stupidly the system has been used sometimes and how ICC keeps tinkering with it all the time. One needs to understand that the referral system is essentially meant not for the 50-50 chances but to avoid blunders and shockers which can change the course of the game. The high ratio of on-field umpires' withheld decisions to reversed decisions is a testimony of the fact that on field umpires are doing a fine job.

From the spectator's point of view, UDRS has taken away the imminent unadulterated joy from the dismissals. You feel like a kid who goes to collect his grade sheet, comes to know that he has topped the exam and is suddenly told that his papers would be rechecked and after a while same result is declared again. Though this subtle emotional aspect due to involving technology in the game, will neither make any difference to the ICC policies, BCCI's opposition to the referral system nor will it matter to the broadcasters. It will just remind the viewers of the era when the dreaded finger would have the last laugh.

Update (13th June 2011): It will be interesting to see how Duncan Fletcher deals with India's constant opposition to UDRS when he is the coach of Indian team and when BCCI continues to rule the global cricket scenario. 

Goggles

Goggles are nice. They provide a tinted view of the world. Change the colour of the glass and the world changes. No-colour brings excessive clarity. Eyes can't take it. They find solace in the stained sight.

Eyes on the opposite side of goggles, not covered with any goggle, try to push their vision beyond the glass boundary of goggles. But the real eyes are not visible. When they stare hard enough, all they get to see is their own reflection. Looking at themselves, they think, is this a pleasant sight? Eyes can't decide. All they decide is to wear a goggle.

Now either eyes, when stare at each other, can only see goggles - the other goggle and a reflection of own goggle.

Objects Shift, Humans Move, Languages Transform

I love languages. The romance is very much a part of daily life - observing the dialects, varied pronunciations, use of pin-point synonyms, clarity and brevity. Over the years one of the most enjoyable activities I've found is to figure out the impact of Indian languages on English and the other way round. A Hindi poet Kumar Vishwas joked, pointing at the weird ways in which English is mixed with Hindi in Uttar Pradesh, 'to avenge the British, they have been doing to English what British did to Indians'!

Coming to the title of the post, in strictest sense shift should be used in the context of objects whereas move should be used for humans. So 'We moved to Mumbai' is more appropriate than 'We shifted to Mumbai'. So the point of this post is that, I've found in most of the cases in Hindi or in Marathi, the word shift to be more 'Indianized' than the word move. So I've frequently heard Hum log shift ho gaye or Amhi Shift Jhalo whereas I've never heard move being used in Hinglish or Minglish. The reason for the more Indianization of shift and less of move still remains unknown to me. So the impact of this imbalance becomes imminent when somebody speaks English in a translated-from-mother-tongue manner, which happens in most of the cases. In the other direction, I've frequently heard my sister saying Ye combination theme ke sath jata hai. This is a direct translation of 'This combination goes with the theme', although it doesn't make much sense in the native language. I love to find the roots in such cross-lingual mix ups.

I watched an Interview of Shobha De in which she claimed to be the first journalist to introduce Hinglish to the Indian English Press. Anti purists who support such mingling of languages defend it by the fact that historically, anything averse to change underwent extinction and languages were and will be no exception. I'm not much of a supporter of the intermixed languages and try to avoid it as far as possible. But, I was simply in love of the philosophy by another showbiz person Bharat Dabholkar regarding Hinglish. He said, 'Pepole resort to Hinglish because they aren't proficient in English speaking yet they want to be seen as 'cool' while not speaking in Hindi alone'. Ideally linguistic fusion should be treated as the mixture of two correct languages and should not be used to shield the lack of proficiency in either language.

Concreting Abstract

The last semester at BITS Pilani is typically more relaxed, not so rigorous as compared to the previous ones, or let's say students make it so. On the positive side of which, it makes it easy to attend almost every cultural event happening on campus. One of which's a puppetry show. Though this wasn't like those which are traditionally portrayed. The katputlis were more innovative and it amply used effects of fluorescent lights and various sounds.

Out of the four segments in the show, there was one in which a bird accidentally falls on a tabla and discovers the sound of it. The bird goes on to try few things on the tabla. At the same time a spider is busy resonating sounds on web. Meanwhile a floating feather causes melodies on a violin. All of these integrate to create a wonderful symphony.

When this wonderful segment of the show was building up many people left the auditorium complaining about its abstractness (lacking in meaning to be blunt). That brought me to the point abstractness.

Modern art is often not taken seriously in non-art appreciating sections of the society. Mostly because of the inability of the art form to convey it's meaning in a definite way to the audience. I came across this article which partially satisfied my doubt: How to appreciate abstract art?

The notion of abstractness is very subjective. There is a Hindi Drama Club(HDC) in BITS which conducts stage and street plays in Hindi. Vineet who is a great fan of HDC plays lived in a predominantly HDC wing and often used to get inputs from them regarding various techniques adopted in plays, how to understand plays etc. For him many HDC plays were not so abstract which left me absolutely clueless.

Mathematics has its own mystic ways of baffling its students. A simple 1x1 square which is as real and tangible a mathematical concept as our existence, suddenly becomes an abstract concept when we consider the length of its diagonal. Mathematicians are so much fond of this very abstractness that maths quote books are full of this love affair. A quote by Paul Erdos taken from this page says

Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.

Citizens Against Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Awesome

In an attempt to revive this blog, I am posting my Facebook notes over here. I hope to be more regular on the blog in the coming days.

About CAIEUA:

We are a group of like minded people who are often irritated with the widespread usage of awesome; predominantly on web-forums, social networking sites, in status messages and chatting. This usage at times is improper and there can be other adjectives better suited for the purpose. People have started losing the ability to discriminate between adjectives. We at CAIEUA want everyone to realize the wide range of adjectives English language has got and use them appropriately.

About the quiz:

Nearly a week ago, we posted a quiz on this link. We thank everyone for taking the quiz. The quiz was conducted just to make the quiz takers realize the objective of CAIEUA. Posting the results of the quiz would hardly make any sense as many quiz takers seemed to have got cautioned at the time of answering the questions. CAIEUA wanted to capture the dilemma that many quiz takers would have faced while choosing between awesome and other appropriate adjective present in the options. Had the other adjectives not provided, many would have straight gone for awesome without even thinking for other suitable choices. If even one of the quiz takers starts thinking on our lines after taking the quiz or reading this note, it would be a great success for us. We thank you for the precious time you spent on this whole exercise.

P.S - Please don't comment as "Awesome post" or make any oblique references to certain Barney Stinson just to show that you liked it.

Idiot Box

Recently I have been watching a lot of television. Most of it has been entertaining but there was a lot of food for thought as well.

Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy
South Indians can open up restaurants throughout Maharashtra, Sindhis, Marwaris, Gujrathis capturing markets leaving no space for Marathis to enter the market are just lame excuses. Nobody has stopped anyone from toiling hard. The willingness should come from within.

A Marathi Play
I saw an interview of a stage artist who explained the concept behind her stage play. The explosion of mobile phones, internet and social networking media, the impact on human lives is inevitable. With the increase in texting, chatting and social networking sites we talk virtually more than physically. But when somebody talks to you virtually, you have an added advantage of disguising your emotions, expressions or your own identity. In other words it may not be the "real you" who is talking, rather a different form of yours who can be more expressive or less expressive as per the need. So we have a split personality, (not entirely) thanks to the virtual communication.

Poverty and Determination
In a quiz there was this guy who worked in a paper 'raddi' shop, who used to wash all the dishes at a Wada Pav centre for the sake of getting four Wada Pav in night. The father of Balasaheb Thakerey who painted number plates of cars to survive in a city like Mumbai but never begged for the money. Hardships are always a part of human life but then dogged determination is the key to beat them.

Truth(?)
Sach Ka Saamna controversy has opened up a huge debate in the country. Legally speaking there is nothing wrong with the show, for there is nothing vulgar, obscene content being shown, no foul language etc. It may fit perfectly in the legal framework. But then do we need such shows is the hot question? When questions like "Have you ever had sex with your relatives?" are being answered affirmatively, the issue needs addressing. Confession, truth are definitely virtues of a better human being, but at appropriate timings. If a dressed up woman asks you, how is she looking, she is just expecting a nod, rubber stamping her make-up or dress-up. If you candidly confess that you look ugly and fat in this dress, or the lipstick looks like remains of some blood bath, it won't certainly help. Similarly if your confession comes at the price of harmony in your family or relational balance that too in front of billion eyes watching you, is that really needed? Putting it in the name of voluntary participation and that participants have a fair idea of the kind of questions that are going to be asked in the show, is perhaps diverting us from addressing the broader issue. The cultural difference between the audiences of "Moment of Truth" and "Sach Ka Saamna" can't be undermined. Same questions may have radically different receptions and consequences.

After all the box may be idiot, but has humans on either sides!

Welcome - Beyond Humour

Welcome's gross earning-70 Crores. That's the 6th largest absolute earning for any Bollywood movie. we (Me, Soumyadeep, Ameya, Ankit) form a group of die-hard fans of Welcome! Viewing the complete movie (or a part of it) is a must when all of us gather. Apart from the hysteria, Welcome offers a lot of things. The directors may not have been able to realise the message which the movie is going to convey to the society. It has happened with many scientific discoveries that the discoverer could not estimate the potential of the work. But as time passed, people realised the impact of the discovery.

Many of the following things are strongly contextual. Better watch the movie before reading the post, if you have not.

• Faith in God - "Bhagwan ka diya hua sab kuch hain". Despite enjoying the emperor-seque grandeur, Nana has not forgotten the importance of almighty. Time and again, he keeps on thanking almighty for whatever he has earned.

• Listen to Heart - Nana and Anil Kapoor despite being super-successful in their profession, leave it and follow their hearts.

• The desire for justice - "Insaaf hokar rahega!"

• Natural vs Unnatural - Turn your neck to right and make a sound!

• Women Empowerment - Who says only men have the birthright to rescue others? Women are equal to men in almost every field.

• Public Safety is paramount - Bullets and Gun in separate pockets

• Keen observational sense - A donkey sitting on a horse is not always fun. You have to go deep and decode the meaning behind it.

• Spontaneity - "Miracle!"

• Affection : The strong emotional ties between Ghungroo and Shetty Sahab and many other pairs say it all.

• Last but not the least -"Jhooth ka pagda kitna bhi bhaari ho, jeet hamesha sachhai ki hoti hain"
  

A Tribute

What makes one dazzle? Only integral double digit CGPA, Hefty paychecks before entering into the real world, a publication in journals which you probably can't open from your computer as you are not so rich/qualified to access it, or may be someone trying to fix a partner for life without having lived a quarter of it(Life expectancy has shoot up, Go jog if apprehensive) or something else.

Cycles - Every existing phenomenon has to be cyclic. If not the time period is larger than yours. My father used to say, pane galnar, punha navi hirwi pane yetil ( Autumn and Spring). I could never fathom the seriousness of it, rather I used to run away from it. I can feel how an acrophobic must be feeling when he's put on the edge of a sky-scrapper. The gap between existence and nullity is so narrow.

Life is priceless. Suicides being committed for failures in examinations, getting dumped by love interests and even more insane reasons. Does tackling problems weigh heavier than the existence of life? It does not, certainly. Humans are superior than animals because they can think, they can find ways, chalk out multiple possibilities.

Lives dazzle, deeds mesmerize, remembrance last forever. Everything is possible. It just asks the extra belief in inner self and the perseverance. Get dazzled, bedazzle, be remembered.

This is dedicated to the lady who spent entire life for her children and divine causes, my grandmother.

May she rest in peace.

Language

The much talked about "Pan-Indian" nature of BITS-Pilani always makes me wonder about the several languages spoken in the campus. Telugu, Tamil, Malyalam, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi, English, Gujarati...the list is long yet countable ( Effect of Maths courses is evident! )!!

My schooling was done in a school that was owned by a Gujarati trust. It had many Gujarati staff members,right from the principal to clerks. My fascination for learning different languages began at that stage. The curiosity of knowing what is being talked between two persons was a fundamental reason, showing off that 'I know these many languages' another! All attempts of grasping the language ended up in knowing just Su chhe? Saru chhe! Danda leke maru chhe!! I even had a hit on Bengali (Thanks to Jhinak , Shubho and Rajat for teaching me and not to Soumyadeep!!) and now I can ask you Tumi Kemon acho?

India is blessed with myriad dialects. Add to it the multiple accents in each language, that makes it one of the largest collections of its kind. These very dialects speak more than just words. They reflect the culture of the terrain, for the coining of a word is often related to some event or some object or a phenomenon. They reflect the way humans are treated, for the politeness or rudeness encased with the words. They reflect the generations, for the slangs. They are vehicle to convey a plethora of emotions.

A language evolves with time. Those who don't, extinct. Thou has become u now, Because its cos today, My cellphone supports Hinglish as a language. This a pointer towards amalgamation of languages, globalization and the manner in which people think today, Geographical barriers proving ineffective in inhibiting the usage of a language. Purists will always disapprove the changes, but they will be there.

So the 'To Do' list for this year includes, to speak at least a complete, error proof, and a fluent sentence in Bengali! Any bong ready for the coaching?

Preponement

I had read in Oxford Dictionary that the word(Prepone) was derived in India and its usage is considered as non-standard. Now when I google the word, I find its existence in many standard dictionaries like Webster.(Alas! Blogger does not approve the word!) India can change the way world looks at things!

I believed preponement can be a good policy till I entered the later half of sophomore. The courses are giving a glimpse of what can be achieved on their foundation. A simple chip can change the word(In fact it has!) This feeling was impossible even if I would have preponed the learning of things.

Many times I try to visualize future. When I find similarity between what I had imagined and what happens, it feels great. The uncanny similarity entices to envisage more and more. One can put best foot upfront if fairly accurate in anticipating things.

On the contrary side, there are some things which have their own time. One may practice predicting and making himself familiar with whatever is stored in future. But this lessens the joy of uncertainty. The beauty of hazy future lies in its unpredictability. If a distantly impossible phenomenon suddenly occurs it tests the strength of individual,the ability to cope up with any kind of circumstance.

I feel its a matter of two thinking tendencies. One who like to adventure,take risks and explore new avenues may go for the later one. Whilst individuals (like me) who like to have a low risk approach, play safe and are more careful about the outcomes than the methods used, may prefer the anticipation way of thinking.

PS-For reverting to blogging, a hell span of assignments and tests needs to get passed and a holiday too!

Good Topic,Anyone?

Seems like ages have been past since the last post. I am still searching for a good topic! Search for a good topic is desperately on for 'Ankur' (An yearly Magazine of the Maharashtra People's Organization at BITS-Pilani) Life at BITS seems to have gone miles ahead. Yeah, congrats to Swapnil for his success in Google Coding competition!

I am back to Pilani from a long holiday of couple of weeks at home. This visit meant a lot for me in many ways. I got to observe the placement procedures in the local colleges of Maharashtra. I could mark the differences of the same carried out in BITS as against in the colleges there. Some key and not so obvious differences

• Time of placement (Academic year in which placement is done)
• Syllabus covered till that time
• Type of post for which recruitment is done (Development vs Testing,Not always true)
  

I feel lucky to be at BITS! (Although its a bit too early to say that :P !!)

Despite staying away from home for last 4-5 years, the drive to go home is quite strong. What urges more to write this post is the probable parting from Amravati in the recent future. Although since last few years I am merely reduced as a guest,the beloved association with the city for more than 15 years is comparable to nothing.

And this picture can possibly describe heaven-Melted Chocolate Truffle.
I couldn't get the image of the original one ,so had to Google it out.Thanks to Supriya for the introduction! Delight for Eyes and a great treat for taste buds!

P.S- If you are a chocolate freak then Aditya has something interesting for you.

M S Dhoni

Why would someone love M S Dhoni?

-He has emerged from a rural background,defying all the politics and fighting hard.

-He went on succeeding in career and became captain of ODI team in such an early stage.

-His strokeplay innings is a delight to watch(?)

-His brave statements,on-field approach which has a tinge of aggression with calmity at times.

Why would someone hate M S Dhoni?

-His brave statements!

-His non technical approach towards batting.

-His overemphasis on the success in T20 world cup.

-His alleged role in banishing Ganguly from the team.

-If the person in question is a Dravid fan.

I admire him for the first one and a half reason and hate for first three reasons. I feel the change in the leadership in the Indian cricket was done in hasty and it involved a lot of unfair politics.To add into the anti-Dhoni air was media which made the T20 success look equivalent to winning 4 world cups. The success in T20 was no where a barometer for success in One dayers or Test cricket. As long as Dhoni performs well his bold statements would not disturb anyone. But once he or his team for that matter starts losing the grip,it will (rather it has) become a problem for many.

Its important that Dhoni gets his act together both on and off the field. Because he is a role model for a lot of youngsters who hail from a semi-urban or rural background and want to make it big in cricket. Because they can relate themselves with him,owing to the similarity in backgrounds. He can be an symbol of a fighter who defies all the regional politics,Anti-rural prejudice. He can be an epitome for hardwork,burning desire for winning. In him see a billion Indians themselves ruling the world. Are you listening Mr.Dhoni?

From Global to local

As always I am a bit late to avail the Transliteration facility provided by blogger.A great one.The mantra these days seems to be go local for big brands. The power of an average Indian consumer is undeniable.Be it Orkut or Wikipedia or Vodafone for that matter.Its no surprise that Cellular operators are spreading their networks in rural areas as well.
For me this facility is a great news for another reason.Now I would be able to write in मराठी,Something that I haven't done in last 4-5 Years.Sorry,non-marathi folks!

Path and End

"We love you and not your marks" My parents said when Iwas unable to write an exam due to illness. So important is the quote in today's competitive world. Its necessary to realize the life beyond studies or work.I always joke that scientists never have a wife or a girlfriend so that they can divert all their time to research purpose. In reality there are stories of great scientists who confined there existence within the boundaries of labs or universities for years together. The great discoveries were made at the expense of their personal life.

When you stay focused you obviously don't have a second life.But when you are 'forced to focus' things get a bit awry. This very dilemma makes life dull,unidimensional. The ever rising competition demands more and more from the individual. Of a majority of discussions with my friends CGPA,placements and a series of never ending worries are always a part. I am not denying the importance of these worries but what I want to emphasize is that sometimes you need to change your vision. If you are moving on the path that you chose for yourself,wait for a moment,watch what all is there around,understand that there is much more than mere walking,get refreshed and then again start walking.There will definitely be some difference between the two walks.

Unusual Ideas

During End semesters your mind is forced to think in a specific direction. But as human tendency goes, more you press yourself into the state of orderedness, more vulnerable you are to get into a state of disorder. I am experiencing it presently. Here are some unconventional but interesting ideas.

a) Type on a notepad while listening to your favorite English song its lyrics (Or any English speech or something similar)This has two great benefits-

1) Your typing speed will increase a lot

2) Your English listening capacity will develop.

b) Style of writing your phone number and email address:

340 m/sec: ********* (Your phone number)

60 WPM : abc@xyz.com
(WPM-Words per minute)

I would love to hear any other interesting way!

Sunday

I was there at the Soumyadeep's room sitting in front of his laptop.He uses "Google desktop" which has many interesting features like calendar,CPU usage,memory status etc.But the most catchy thing was the "To Do" list.(For a 9.5+ guy you would surely expect things like doing maths assignments,reading Mechanics of solids,completing lab journals etc!)

I started recalling the last time when I planned to do something and successfully achieved the target.I've read a nice statement,

People don't plan to fail,but they fail to plan

Its been almost 4 years since I am planning for the effective utillization of my sundays.(And this is the 4th successive year of failure!)

The program starts from saturday night-I sleep early so that my Sun'day' should not get spoilt.
Sunday morning-I wake up early,feel fresh,"Thank God! I am not late,hopefully I would be able to make the most of my time"
Somehow I manage to doing some crappy things till the lunch(anything other than what I had planned)
Lunch-The most beautiful diet of the week.You obviously cant have less at that day.Meals till the full mark!
Post lunch-Its not a bad idea to have a "power nap"
(Power nap concept-Rest for the conservation of energy for the productive tasks post-nap)
zzzz-till 4-5 PM...
5 PM-Time for some evening snack!
Eventually its time for the dinner(Both in Kota and Pilani the dinner timings are quite earlier than the usual 9/10 PM)
Finally when I burp,I realize that all the plans,all the hopes are gone with the burp!(Also with the sleep and the food too!!)
At last when its night..All the 'hardwork' done in the daytime is now showing its signs and I am too sleepy to carry on with the studies.

I don't ask for any lifelong planning nor I ask for any structured paths for my future,but anybody,"please chalk out a good and an executable plan for my Sundays & the way to execute it successfully!"

Escapism

In childhood I had some really weird ideas about the calamities like Earthquake or flash floods etc.I even used to think about an imaginary sky high tower that would be sufficient to accomodate my family and me in case of any high-end contingency. Now when I have grown up,such kiddish thinking makes me laugh but at the same time it makes me ponder about one of the most crucial facets of human nature-Escapism.

Going to the roots of Escapism,I figured out a few things that may promote the tendency to get away. There can be a few kinds of Escapism.

• Escapism with respect to stakes.
  

Escapist Tendency-Unwillingness for taking risks-Fear of getting unsuccessful-The lack of self-belief.
Lack of self belief can be due to many factors,the discusssion of which is not relevant here.

• Escape from responsibilities
  

Quite frequently the tendency may also be driven by lazyness.

• Escapism in human life or relations.
  

Take a remote control of TV and start surfing the news channels in particular. Most of them would depict the gloomy scenario of the society.
Its not surprising if you would wish to switch to something that's not unpleasent.

Another example is about frankness.If you are an Escapist you would let something happen which may not be appropriate.The reluctance to oppose may be due to
a) Desire of clash-free atmosphere.
b) Self-centered nature.
c) Lack of courage.

Its difficult to entirely put down the Escapist tendency.Some times its advisable to be an escapist rather than be a aggressor to save your time and efforts. High risk-high returns may be a well known principle but what matters is the question "What is at stake?". Golden mean between these two should be achieved according to the situation demand.

In my personal example I took nearly 18 years to confess that "I act as an escapist in many situations". I hope hereafter things can change. Because I could have easily "Escaped" this thinking process! But I didn't!

Connectivity

The title might be misleading here. One may think of connectivity with respect to mobile or Internet.But I have a completely different context. I was listening to Sandip Khare's poems.(Sandip Khare is a famous Marathi Poet.His Programme "Aaushyawar Bolu kahi" is quite a hit in Maharashtra) Sandip Khare has got a large Fan community amongst which youth form most of the part. The language is easy to understand. Real life situations are beautifully described in an emotional manner.

In my opinion the reason for the large youth followers is the title of the article "Connectivity".Although the language,the style or the beauty of the poetry have their own credit but what matters a lot is that the youth can connect themselves to those poems.It is quite possible for many of the fans to put themselves in many of the poems. They can relate themselves to the situations.I have numerous examples in this regard.

The phenomenal success of "Rang De Basanti" can be another example. The avant garde concept Bhagat Singh in Jeans was really a hit. The reason still remains the same. The earlier image of Bhagat singh was difficult to relate with for the youth. But the feel "anyone amongst us can contribute to the nation by some way" was the major achievement of the film. What mattered the most was "connectivity".

Some more Examples:

• The initial success of "K" Sops-House wives could connect themselves with the characters of the serials.
• Highly successful Amitabh Bachhan in the 70's or 80's. Average Indian audience was able to relate themselves with the"Young angry man"
• The Mac-Donald's in India have some kind of Tikka as their largest selling entity. Call it the Indianization of Mac-Donald's or the business trick or whatever you may wish,my interest remains the connectivity of average Indian customer with the Menu Card. Its easy to connect with names such as Tikka-Samosa etc etc than some unknown foreign names.

The morale of the story :If you have an idea which people can connect themselves with,chances are high that it will click.

Role model path Vs Pioneer Path

I want to draw parallels between two paths for success.Although these are not the only ways to fetch success.

First one is the way where you have some role model who inspires you for the act which you have been doing.Another one is the path where you are the first one (or the only one at that time) to opt for it. Its the success achieved by the role model in the past grabs the attention of the followers of the same path. Engineering your own way requires a lot of original thinking,vision and the patience to take the task to the finish mark.The amount of original thinking may differ in both the paths,pioneer path needs more. "Gurukanth Desai" from film "Guru"is an ideal example of the pioneer path star. Without any assistance from the surrounding atmosphere Desai became the greatest industrialist of the country.He didn't have any godfather to guide him en route.

The experiences,the challenges,the skill to handle suddenly arisen and unexpected problems make the path difficult if you are the lone and the first traveller of the path. Each stumbling block along the path has a certain element of surprise and varying potential of risk in it. It needs enormous self belief to trace your own path and to defy the existing pathways. It takes a copernicus to wreck the contemporary believes and stand on own point. The courage behind the firm stand is the product of self belief which comes from correct work basics and right approach.

Even if you have a role model whose ways you can mimic,there can be situations where the problems faced by you and your role model might be different. At many stages you have to be original and contemplation becomes a necessity.

The glory fetched after the successful completion will obviously differ. Its actually the indicator of the hardships faced.

Its not always possible to define your own way,it depends upon the nature of the person taking up the job. To pioneer your path needs a lot of courage where as following the footsteps has reduced risk in it.A person playing safe might choose the later one where as a courageous person would go for the earlier. In my opinion the glory factor might be the tempting reason to prefer the pioneer path over the role model path.