My Speech @ GPREC Alumni Meet

Apologies for not blogging for a quite some time. I decided to make this blog as informal as possible.2 weeks back I had attended the college reunion function organized by my college -G Pulla Reddy Engineering college,Kurnoll, in Bangalore. I came out of that meeting with mixed baggage of feelings. Normally this kind of meeting are of really great help for self assessing how far we travelled as individuals and also for the colleges to see and seek unbiased views from alumni. It indeed helped me to asses myself better. I do not know how it helped the college

Sooner I got email from the college I thought of delivering a speech on that day. I started off my preparation from that day on . I googled for greatest alumni speeches on the net, I found very few to my surprise. Once I happened to listen Mr Shashi Taroor speech at his alma matter- St Stephens(Delhi) on My favorite TV(NDTV). I was really very much inspired by that speech. I made mental not of that speech- whenever I get chance to speak I should exactly deliver mine in the same lines.It was really so emotional time for everybody to meet their friends and teachers. probably these are few occasions only when student(former) can be so informal with their teachers. You can speak your heart out with them. You can express all your love/hate to them.

The meeting was started almost on time after a customary group photo. It was a roller-coaster ride for some time with all the speeches from the guys who occupied the stage. One thing which is worth mentioning over here is that there was nice video they played for more than half an hour with all the college amenities . I was envious with amenities current students are enjoying. There was guy-chief guest- from IISc he delivered nice speech . Other than that everybody delivered the boring stuff. I was sitting at the front looking for a rare chance to speak- cursing these guests to complete their stuff. Some guy on that stage has hinted that lunch is ready ,soon after we can have lunch. I resigned to my fate and thought that only occasion to speak about my feelings for this college was sealed. Suddenly miracle happened Director picked up the microphone asked interested students to come up and speak. Poor guy was not aware that there was a guy whose words may trigger debate after a while .

I climbed on to the stage without hesitating for a minute - by showing my fat bum to the audience for a minute. it started off like this.

My Speech :

I am waiting for this moment for sometime (I said sarcastically ) (laughter allover). I am Mahesh , completed my engininerering from this college 1998-2002.I am an engineer not out of choice but compulsion as I am sick of this “circuit theory and blah blah”(laugheter all over). So I want to say few things not an engineer but as a person views things through social prism. At the outset I want to thank the management for coming all the way from Kurnool to Bengaluru. - guys I am using Bengaluru becaz I happened to see few Kannada Rakshane Vedike guys outside.(laughter all over).As you know we hear “recession” all the time. I want to take recession as backdrop for my speech. First part of discussion I’ call it as Inflation and second one as Deflation. Before I continue let me make it clear that “it is not so prudent to speak in English when two fine gentlemen Mr Prasad Rao and Rama rao ( English guys) in the audience. So I thought it is better if I give a disclaimer – bear with my poor English and very poor pronunciation (laughter allover)

Inflation : This pullareddy college it is not an institution like anything else. It is an institution that played a great role in changing the world around it. To understand the importance of this change, look where it is located – feudal land and see what impact it had on the area. Greta people like Mr Nilam sanjeeva reddy and all thought only way this feudalism can be ended is by promoting the education in a big way in this region.You know this college really changed the psyche of the people by creating envious environment in its surroundings. Small children really made to dream that “I should one day travel by this blue buses(college buses)” on the wide Kurnool roads(not so wide – there was laughter)-till that point of time only luxury Kurnool ppl had was autos. Knowingly or unknowingly this college had brought in lot of change among the people. This I think our founders have picked up few points from Mr reddy before establishing this college. It really change the world around it . At the same time was it oblivious to need for change within ?
Those who know me say that I am not known for mincing words-who calls spade a spade. why such a person is so praisy of the college?.you may be thinking. Given the recession I have stoke a deal with management to get a job out there if I am kind with management(laughter all over).

( Now I am in full control of the audience – I cracked few jokes, I brought them in my line- now its time for me to take them to different level)

And let me tell you few hard facts now as part of deflation.

Deflation :
After competing my PG I had to go to this college to pick up few certificates. I went to one clerk. I was made to wait. After awhile I pulled the chair and sat on that. That guy asked me to get off the chair as I sat on the same without his permission. This is how a student is treated. I came out of college saying it to myself that what this college needs it not the physical infrastructure but mental infrastructure that it gained over period of time that needs to be dismantled ( I was bit emotional –guys including the audience).Don’t read much into this incident. I do not have any hard feeling for that guys. My point is that this college is lacking “student is king” policy. When this college change it own philosophy to “Student is God” then only actual change happens.
There are enough avenues are there in the college.( I was very praisy of some teachers….) This college needs to actively promote those avenues and give holistic education to the students.
In the video that you have shown one thing was missing-that is canteen (laughter all over). I think still it is same shape. One of my senior –KuriaKose-a beautiful women-once questioned the college in one of her article “ can’t I have cup of coffee with my boy friend” in the college canteen(our college do not allow this). Let me rephrase this” can’t I have cup of coffee with my GF in college”. This should change. You are training the students for 21st century. You still can’t afford to have this kind of things.
In AP, political establishments have increased the college fees unmindful of the people economic status. So many students are in need of aid. Poor students can’t afford to have decent education. I am really feeling lucky that I was born in my time not now. If I have to educate myself now I should have never become an engineer given the exorbitant fees. And also we should help poor students in our college with some student welfare fund. You create an account and pass on the details to all the alumni.

Note : I could not textify my speech as is. It is very much closer to that

After this speech we had our lunch. Some teachers said I have spoken well. Some said it was the well worded speech they have ever heard. some were very apologetic about canteen issue. some enquired amount my village/town. some people gave weird look to me. That is the reason I said it was mixed feeling

After thought :   I said at the starting of the speech that my English knowledge and pronunciation of the same  is really poor. My Intention was to acknowledge the presence of them-English guys and tell world that I am so humble and also not invite the critism for my language. One beautiful Girl/woman who spoke after mine took the meaning of my words quite literally, instead of underlying intention, started speaking in borrowed American accent. Unfortunately she could not continue for long. It is good to see competition after a really long gap on the stage.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS NUCLEAR DEAL?

This is directly taken from sptulsian.com.I have never seen/read an arcticle on Indo-American Nuclear Deal in so simple words.

Jul 22, 2008 02:35 pm
WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS NUCLEAR DEAL?
By Ruma Dubey

At the crux of this entire political conundrum, the core issue, which lays quite forlorn and forgotten is the nuclear issue. Today the politicians might have turned it into an opportunity to topple the UPA Govt but few remember that it all started with the nuclear deal.



Surely few of these politicians would have actually taken the effort to read the 82-page nuclear deal and tried to understand what it is all about. Somehow that does not come as a surprise at all! So without getting into the “political” angle of it, let us take a look at what exactly is this nuclear issue. What would India gain if UPA wins the vote and what we stand to lose if the deal gets cancelled?



What exactly is nuclear power?

Nuclear power is generated using Uranium, which is a metal mined in various parts of the world. It produces around 11% of the world's energy needs, and produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, without the pollution that you'd get from burning fossil fuels.



Where does India currently stand on nuclear power?

In India, nuclear power is being produced under the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. Seventeen reactors are under operation and five reactors are under construction. These power projects are highly capital intensive and currently, takes care of 2.8% of the power needs of the country. Amongst the 30 countries in the world that use nuclear power, India’s rank at 27 is one of the lowest.



Why nuclear power?

To take India’s economic growth rate to greater heights, there is no doubt that power would be required as the main fuel for this growth. Though coal, thermal and hydro fuel would remain India’s dominant energy mix, it cannot continue to depend on coal alone. Global warming considerations and the immediate availability of clean coal technologies may constrain the coal route at least in the short term. Hydropower may also face constraints that arise from changes in the hydrological cycle triggered by long term climatic change. Hence having nuclear power in India’s energy portfolio is crucial for preserving India’s energy security



What does 123 agreement mean?

The 123 Agreement is the terms of engagement which operationalizes the treaty agreement between India and USA for transfer of civil nuclear technology. India’s right to test nuclear weapons, guarantees of lifetime fuel supply and India’s right to reprocess the spent fuel have all been covered in this agreement.



What is the Hyde Act?

The Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006, it is known as the Hyde Act. It is the legal framework for this deal and provides the legal basis for the 123 Agreement with India.



What would the deal with USA mean for India?

The Govt has chalked out a roadmap wherein over the next 25 years, through the deal, it has set a target of generating 20,000 MWe (unit of nuclear power) as against the current 3,900 MWe.



The biggest advantage, which the UPA Govt is actually seeking is projecting to the world that it an ally of USA, which is a superpower in the world of today. The deal would provide India with access to American civilian nuclear technology. It would finally open up the door to US military technology, especially the fascinating US missile defense system.



Once the new reactors are set up, and they go critical without any time overrun, the nuclear power generation would take care of 8% of India’s total power requirement. More than 80% of the power generated in India comes from coal and thermal. And that will continue but just as oil has become critical today, coal will also one day reach such a stage. And unless we have backups ready, our entire country could get unplugged. Having nuclear power could help India, over the long run, offset the rising cost of coal.



Yes, price of uranium is also mounting. Between 2005 (when the India-US nuclear deal was first proposed) and 2007 (when the 123 Agreement was finalised), since then, the spot price of uranium has quadrupled. According to a June 2008 market assessment, a further 58 per cent increase is expected. But remember unlike oil, we are dealing with more mature economies here who will supply uranium and hopefully, they will prevent the present cartelization which we see in oil.



What is the cost of nuclear power?

At present, power from existing nuclear reactors costs, after huge subsidies, between Rs 2.70 and Rs 2.80 per kWh. The coal-fired Sasan mega power project in Madhya Pradesh will be supplying power at Rs 1.196 per unit. The real cost of power from existing nuclear reactors is around Rs 4 per unit; the cost of power produced by new reactors will be around Rs 5.50 per unit. But the economies of scale would soon start giving the advantages. Plus, these costs are today at the present levels of coal price, so when price of coal escalates further, cost would only go up.



What would the deal mean to Indian companies?

India has plans to set up 15 plants over the next 20 years. Business worth $100 billion is expected to be generated from this nuclear deal over the next 20 years. Apart from USA and France, which would benefit immensely, Indian companies too will get a part of this juicy pie. Over 400 Indian companies are expected to benefit, mainly for those involved in making equipment for nuclear power plants.



Why did the Left withdraw support?

The Left alleged that the deal would undermine the sovereignty of India's foreign policy. It has also stated that the Indian government was hiding certain clauses of the deal, which would harm India's indigenous nuclear program.

My Take On Chiranjeevi's Political Entry

Mr Chranjeevi Entry into politics is dominating the Andhra Pradesh for a past decade.
It gained required momentum only in the past one year or so. I debated his entry among my friends for a quite sometime. Here I am making an attempt to verbalize my thoughts.


Is there a Vacuum in Andhra Pradesh Caste-ridden politics?

In the past 50 years Andhra Pradesh, for the first 10 years or so Brahmins dominated the political scene then they made the way to Reddy’s and Kamma’s to rule the roost in the state.
Reddy’s ruled the next 25-30 years without any opposition. In the 80’s two things that worked against the reddy’s – Naxal’s Movement gained momentum and they stared killing the feudal reddy’s from the Telangana villages. Reddy’s flew away from villages to save themselves from Naxals.Since early 80’s Kamma’s effectively checkmated the Reddy domination in the Telangana/Rayalaseema by promoting the BackCasete in a big way at the same time they suppressed the Backward Classes in Andhra region.

Backward Classes in one region (Telangana) got their political power in lieu of reddy’s.However there is other half who haven’t tasted the power because of Kamma’s suppression. This other group is toying with idea of bringing in influential figure who catapult them to power stage.

It appears that chiranjeevi is making entry just to bring his backward classes into Power. Let us see how he fares by regions and also what kind of leader he may become.



Telangana:

Telangana culture never holds the cinema fraternity in high esteem. There was a story making rounds 20 years back that – A Film hero approached former chief minister from Telanagna with the intension of marrying off his daughter for minister’s son. He out rightly rejected saying – Tolubommalu aditchu kone vaniki naa koduku ku chesukuntana ani.
In general, people of Telangana look down filmy stars. This is amply clear from the way Telanagana people address cine actors. Given the growing Telangana sentiment, for them chiranjeevi is no different from Dr Rajasekar Reddy or Mr. Naidu- all Andhrites. Chiranjeevi scoring few points here on his own are very very remote. His own Backward Caste plank also may not work as Mr Goud may dent his prospects. Mr Goud wants to play a role Martin Luther King Jr-messiah of Blacks- to BCs.

Telugu cine actors are averse to multi-star’er movies. Is Mega Star ready to play second fiddle to Mr Goud? Time to realize Mr Chiranjeevi, reel life & real Life are different.Telangana people are tough audience; your routine acting skills are not enough.


Rayalseema:

Rayalseema polity, always, is personality driven. Here THAT Reddy or THIS Reddy brings the voters to polling booth not antics of actor. If you observe keenly Dr Reddy or Mr Naidu spends very little time while electioneering. Even though CMs are predominantly from that region always there is split verdict. So Mr Chiranjeevi the only can survive if he sacrifices his so called ideology-keep away the criminals. If that happens he may invite criticism. Mr Chiranjeevi has to put his BREAK DANCE skills to test here.



Andhra:
He belongs to this region .These suppressed Backward Classes may side with Mr Chiranjeevi in this region. Here he may get reasonably good dividends. At the outset Andhra People appears to be trusted audience. Mind you sometimes most trusted audience reject sub standard performance. Mr Chiranjeevi balancing act(ing) is the need of the hour.



Chiranjeevi's Persona -Not that of a leader:

I have grown up watching/admiring Chiranjeevi's Movies. However hardly he made 10 good movies in his cine life spanning over past 30 years.Chiranjeevi is unquestionably great actor but why there are less than 10 good movies. By no stretch of imagination he is not Al Pacinao, Tom Hanks or Amitab Batchan or Rajini Kanth.They all took risks in life so they went on to become great actors/persons.

What I am trying to say this is he is averse to risk taking and also he is most indecisive person. He always depends on somebody else to take a decision for him. Whatever XYZ says he listens to it without application of any of his own brain. What buttresses this argument well is his choice of movies in the recent past- Andarivadu, Jainchiranjeeva--Worst movies Telugu Cinema ever made.

A person with such an indecisive mind would take the decisions for the People of Andhra Pradesh, if he ever becomes the political power. People, in general, expect leader to have own brain but not one who dons other as he does in movies. I guess Andhra Pradesh people also think the same way. Has he got leader mettle in him? I earnestly feel otherwise.


Chiraneevi‘s ideology

His (or his party) appears to be too idealistic.

1. He talks about corruptions free governance
Common Man’s Take: Which party in India is not saying this; including Lallu Yadav RJD.

2. He talks about giving Seats to only Graduates
Common Man’s Take: Mr Chiru, Govt recruits only graduates for the Govt Jobs. They are the most corrupt. So your graduate will be from Mars or what?

3. New politics altogether

Common Man’s Take: New Politics from Old politicians (migrated birds).Be honest man.

4. No criminals
Common Man’s Take: definition please? No criminals but factionalists

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