tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68104590506933520852024-02-21T00:06:40.166-08:00Nagpur FirstNagpur - A Global City by 2020nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-69997359709012217812010-12-09T12:18:00.001-08:002010-12-09T12:18:35.429-08:00Nagpur - 9th most competitive city in the country<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Our Nagpur has been adjudged as the 9th most competitive City in the country by Institute of competitiveness in a recent survey. Hurray!!!! Please see details here.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-indias-25-most-competitive-cities/20101209.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-indias-25-most-competitive-cities/20101209.htm</a></span>Dinesh Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115091871455295118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-12585918323906422612010-05-18T06:18:00.000-07:002010-05-18T06:18:25.522-07:00An Infrastructure project can catapult a city and a Nation to prominence<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px;"></span><br />
<h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 1.17em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><b style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">The Erie Canal Project and transformation on New York City</span></b><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">In 1825, Philadelphia was still the largest city in America, with New York City and Boston close behind. But then New York opened the Erie Canal, a massive government project that connected its ports to the Midwest via the Great Lakes. Scorned derisively "Clinton's Folly," or "Clinton's Ditch" after New York Governor and canal proponent DeWitt Clinton, when it opened New York City almost instantly became the greatest boomtown the world had ever seen: "In the early nineteenth century, New York was a large town, but it had a number of peers, including Philadelphia. The key decision that vaulted New York to prominence was the decision to build the Erie Canal. In John Steele Gordon's account of America's rise to an 'empire of wealth,' he noted the importance of that canal. <br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" />The Erie Canal ... turned New York into the greatest boomtown the world has ever known. Manhattan's population grew to 202,000 in 1830, 313,000 in 1840, 516,000 in 1850, and 814,000 in 1860. ... In 1800 about 9 percent of the country's exports passed through the port of New York. By 1860 it was 62 percent, as the city became what the Boston poet and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes (the father of the Supreme Court justice) rather grumpily described as 'that tongue that is licking up the cream of commerce and finance of a continent.' <br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" />These figures are for Manhattan - the surrounding parts of what is now New York City were growing as well. This explosion was all due to the Erie Canal. Before the canal, it had taken three weeks at a cost of $120 to move a ton of flour from Buffalo to New York City. After the canal's construction, it took eight days and cost $6. Gordon remarked that, before the canal was even completed, 'the Times of London saw it coming, writing that year [1822] that the canal would make New York City the 'London of the New World.' The Times was right. It was the Erie Canal that gave the Empire State its commercial empire and made New York the nation's imperial city. That was when the position of New York as an economic powerhouse was first firmly established, and the title has yet to be relinquished. " <br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" />- Douglas Wilson <br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" />Excerpts from 'Five Cities That Ruled The World'</span></h3><div style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 1.17em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 19px;"><b>IMHO, for our own city Nagpur to become a Tier I city in the nation MIHAN project will be it. Let us all contribute in our own ways towards making MIHAN successful.</b> </span></h3><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 1.17em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></h3><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 1.17em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 19px;">"NAGPUR - A GLOBAL CITY BY 2020"</span></h3><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 1.17em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.22em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Jai Nagpur - Jai Hind </span></h3></div>Dinesh Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115091871455295118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-40244555569924163262010-04-20T09:05:00.000-07:002010-04-20T09:05:49.736-07:00First get together of NF @ NagpurPost by: Rahul.Bagdia@pManifold.com<br />
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The first formal Get Together of Nagpur First took place on Saturday April 17th from 5:30 pm onwards. There were 12 members present during the call including one of founders, Dinesh Jain who participated thru Skype. <br />
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It was great to know the details of initiation by so many NF founding members to make time for actively championing the issues of their city and joining hands for finding solution instead of criticizing, blaming and/or passing the buck to the government. <br />
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The clear action items laid out for NF reflect the high level thinking and efforts that have gone in formalizing this platform. Now the base foundation being kept, its time for building over it and sustaining it. Best participation would be if we can align the cause identified by NF in our businesses and take responsibility for them.<br />
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Let us use this blog thread to discuss the meeting notes for this first get together and more importantly what role WE all (each one of us) could play. <br />
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1. There is work going on to make Nagpur as sister city to 3 International cities. It would be great if a clear charter and check list of this could be created and posted on website, so that we localites can start filling the checklist items and then with a full fledge back-end supported project, we approach required agencies. Mr. Dinesh Jain could initiate this white paper and we will all support.<br />
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2. Mihan needs a boost from us too. One way suggested was good national/global enterprises can start operating from MIHAN. But what is needed to attract these agencies to MIHAN? I tend to believe that there is huge information gap in this space. There is a need for a serious gap identification in this regard and host a good information portal for MIHAN. Local MBA and Engineering schools talents could be engaged to build this information base, provided it could be monetized.<br />
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3. Similar feasibility analysis needs to be done for bringing big projects like Boeing and FedEx @ MIHAN.<br />
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pManifold Business Solutions (www.pmanifold.com) can start looking in to support items 2 & 3, if NF can help with linkages to build revenue model for this consulting engagement.<br />
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Similarly there were other good ideas like to start an incubation center out of VNIT, starting orange food processing plants and many others. What needs to be done is putting a short description of these projects and build over them to collect more like minded people to get momentum on them. Dinesh put it rightly that NF needs more champions for a cause and we could be doing it collaboratively. <br />
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It is good to take a pause and think what stops an IDEA to become REAL. As Dinesh told one gets limited to pull any big effort all by himself, we all face similar constraints to go out of our own scope of work and our own fear of how much work it might involve and if we could get support. Most time we end up doing merry go round discussions trying to get information or support in the form of linkages and partnerships. May be even putting up a white paper by itself is a daunting task to evade many of us. So how could collaboratively and in an organized fashion, we can achieve results by hitting small milestones spread between many? I don't have an answer, but slowly at pManifold we have started realizing that this type of effort is very much needed and remain common to success of most projects. "Effective Collaboration" is what we need to figure out how to achieve at NF. Regular participation through focused and well organized (in terms of follow-up) blogging will be the first step. Lets make small efforts to share our NF related ideas in this blog in a meaningful way to be used by itself as a repository and credentials of our work together. <br />
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Post by: <a href="mailto:Rahul.Bagdia@pManifold.com">Rahul.Bagdia@pManifold.com</a>Dinesh Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115091871455295118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-69525777044752957832010-04-09T05:17:00.000-07:002010-04-09T05:24:01.199-07:00Vidharbha StateA couple of email chains last few weeks made me curious. Specially the one where it was reported that Sangli got a better deal over Nagpur for maintaining its Tigers. Ye, I did not even know Sangli had Tigers!<br /><br />Anyhow, the question worth pondering over is, whether a separate Vidharbha is a solution for these kind of issues. <br /><br />Is it about time? <br /><br />You can vote on the left rail of this blog. There are three choices.<br /><br />Please add your comments below this post if you have any ideas/thoughts/opinion on this issue.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-36676142566983626502010-03-26T18:44:00.001-07:002010-03-26T18:51:30.728-07:00Treasure HuntI am a unique educational institution, one of it's kind, in the entire nation. I provide Bachelor's degree to tomorrow's brave young men who take on serving one of the most adventurous fields in modern society. I started in as early as 1950 and am a peerless gem in your city's crown.<br /><br />Who am I?nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-72357477589708504262010-03-18T05:17:00.001-07:002010-03-21T03:09:21.343-07:00Open ThreadHowz everyone doing? It's been a while since someone said something. Since we all Nagpuris cannot physically meet, I thought, why not open up this blog (for once) to the entire forum.<br /><br />As in, by calling it an Open Thread, I, a co-editor, for this blog, won't say much, but instead all of us on the forum will have a chance to speak out. <br /><br />And you can pick up anything under the sun, or from your hat. From IPL, to the latest happenings in Nagpur, to issues facing India, or anything you feel is important and needs visibility.<br /><br />Please use the comment section under this post to have your views spelt out. If this "Open Thread" experiment is successful, we'll make it more frequent. So let's give it a shot. What say you?nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-62203131226576422222010-02-20T04:48:00.000-08:002010-02-20T04:53:40.183-08:00Treasure Hunt"I am the only big Park in East of the city. I hosted the Indian National Congress's meeting in 1955. I also gave Nagpur it's first swimming pool in early 50s. Today I own a musical fountain too. <strong>Who am I?"</strong><br /><br /><br />Note: Please respond on comment section of this post instead of email/yahoogroup. Thanks.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-19324144265283016362010-02-17T07:52:00.000-08:002010-02-18T13:55:24.340-08:00Mr. Ashok EaswaranFolks, we are pleased to have a remarkable Nagpuri amongst us at Nagpur First - Mr. Ashok Easwaran.<br /><br />Mr Easwaran is currently working as Editor of an Indian American weekly published from Chicago and also writes for the Indo-Asian News Service.<br /><br />Mr. Easwaran is a true blue Nagpuri, with core Nagpuri sensibilities. He grew up in Nagpur and did his education in SFS school,G.S College and PG in Management and Journalism from Nagpur University.<br /><br />His career as a Journalist associated him with various renowned media houses like Indian Expresss, The Daily and Deccan Herald in Mumbai. Of course he is proud of the fact that the foundation of his illustrous career was laid in his home town, Nagpur, where he started it all at <strong>The Hitvada </strong>under veteran journalists <strong>Mr M Y Bodhankar </strong>and the late <strong>Mr G T Parande</strong>. <br /><br />He worked with the South Asia bureau of <strong>India Abroad </strong>at New Delhi before moving to Houston and later to Chicago.<br /><br />He has been kind enough to grant us his permission to publish one of his article on our blog. Since getting the format right with PDF on blog was tough, I thought it would be prudent to upload the article on googlesites. This would do more justice to it, than me trying to format and present it on the blog.<br /><br />I am sure you all will enjoy!<br /><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/nagpur1st/mr-ashok-easwaran-article-1">http://sites.google.com/site/nagpur1st/mr-ashok-easwaran-article-1</a>nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-63379795618591333472010-02-11T09:25:00.000-08:002010-03-15T09:00:50.284-07:00Nagpuri TadkaHello Nagpuris, I am sharing a nice Nagpuri Tadka, which I received as a forward from a Mumbaikar.<br />
<strong>नागपुरी तडका : बिपाशाले लुगडं</strong><br />
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शाम्यानं इचीबैन, कहरच केला<br />
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बिपाशासाठी मुंबैले, लुगडं घेवुन गेला....<br />
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त्याले वाटलं मायबाप, भलते गरिब असन,<br />
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म्हुन तिले आंगभर, कपडे भेटत नसन,<br />
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वाढलीहूढली पोरगी, तरणीबांड दिसते,<br />
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इकडं झाकाले गेली, तं तिकडं उघडं पडते,<br />
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म्हुन त्यानं कपड्याचा, थैला भरुन नेला....<br />
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जुहुच्या चौपाटीवर, भेट त्यायची झाली,<br />
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तिले पाहुन शाम्याची, बंदी विकेट गेली,<br />
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तिले म्हणे चोळी घाल,घे लुगडं नेसुन,<br />
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थे म्हणे आवमाय, हे भुत आलं कुठुन ?<br />
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मंग जुहूवर धमासान, तमाशा सुरु झाला...<br />
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लय वळवलं तिचं मन, पण मन नाय वळे,<br />
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मंग शाम्या धावे मांगं, आनं थे पुढं पळे,<br />
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वन्समोअर,वन्समोअर, लोकं भाय बोंबले,<br />
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कॅमेरेवाले पोझ घेवुन,कॅमेरे रोखुन थांबले,<br />
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पोलीसायनं बैनमाय,नावकुल विचका केला,<br />
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आनं त्याच्यापुढचा एपीसोड, राहुनच गेला.....<br />
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ढोबळ मानाने शब्दार्थ :-<br />
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इचीबैन, बैनमाय = च्यायला सारखे.<br />
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वाढलीहूढली = वयात आलेली.<br />
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बंदी = पुर्ण,संपुर्ण.<br />
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आवमाय = अग्गबाई <br />
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मांगं = मागे <br />
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नावकुल = पुर्णपणे.<br />
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लेखक - गंगाधर मुटे<br />
Disclaimer: We have received this कविता as a forward and are reproducing here. Mr. Mute claims to have written it and hence we are providing his name here.Dinesh Jainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01115091871455295118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-58032323651596562742010-02-06T13:13:00.000-08:002010-02-06T13:26:57.240-08:00CNBC Discussion : Nagpur an IT DestinationUnfortunately I am not able to embed the Video on this blog; so I am just adding the url here<br /><br /><a href="http://www.moneycontrol.com/video/special-videos/mihannagpur-the-ideal-business-hub-_439261.html">http://www.moneycontrol.com/video/special-videos/mihannagpur-the-ideal-business-hub-_439261.html</a><br /><br />I liked the candid argument made by Mr. Kulkarni of Persistent Systems for why young talent from Nagpur takes a flight to other 'cooler' or metropolitan destinations.<br /><br />Sachin Pilot spoke pretty well and he looks like a minister who can fit into his father's dynamic legacy.<br /><br />Mr. Asim Gupta should be congratulated for promoting Nagpur so well.<br /><br />Overall I liked the CNBC snippet.<br /><br />Thanks to Mr. Vikram Bobade for passing on this link to the Nagpur First Group.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-90575585714142708252010-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:002010-02-01T22:25:50.078-08:00Nagpur International Marathon 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tbgUgQGeKAdIE6VgFXsKHTuHA7ke2EhFDxG7UR9n_qFJyjTRT4DlMk7TS3WNP5eh4GXFyRTXfB-Y6DgxxFR_igfLcCJT-5N9YPDA0EgSRp80nSlFeNPKnbtcf0D8-kwLtXaVL1XtPqE/s1600-h/Ngp_Marathon2010_5.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tbgUgQGeKAdIE6VgFXsKHTuHA7ke2EhFDxG7UR9n_qFJyjTRT4DlMk7TS3WNP5eh4GXFyRTXfB-Y6DgxxFR_igfLcCJT-5N9YPDA0EgSRp80nSlFeNPKnbtcf0D8-kwLtXaVL1XtPqE/s400/Ngp_Marathon2010_5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433349463344248642" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-lgmiNV0uTSI0xGfuFpqMIqmg6pW4pz-qdHDT_U8bFXsDn5YTlDQ8aNDF6SsqpBHoqjkBGoutfneyCifdcpYzITuLRea2KiS6ul1jk5VhrwTubrB4Hemy-Ph5t_9fW4vHl5syhRY6ow/s1600-h/Ngp_Marathon2010_4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-lgmiNV0uTSI0xGfuFpqMIqmg6pW4pz-qdHDT_U8bFXsDn5YTlDQ8aNDF6SsqpBHoqjkBGoutfneyCifdcpYzITuLRea2KiS6ul1jk5VhrwTubrB4Hemy-Ph5t_9fW4vHl5syhRY6ow/s400/Ngp_Marathon2010_4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433349454980323410" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganyPYl3zQMEAoZNBkzJe1qXNR7mRRKwvIAmuNR7dQ3hjXdv6JIXgGTxWZXsK96gFoJ8xazTlMQ718BB0uyrN5aGj8dSuVkoP7BYdDO2BjiYk1puyJOUxI1CWeKvZOb_XWtSX_NkR298w/s1600-h/Ngp_Marathon2010_3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganyPYl3zQMEAoZNBkzJe1qXNR7mRRKwvIAmuNR7dQ3hjXdv6JIXgGTxWZXsK96gFoJ8xazTlMQ718BB0uyrN5aGj8dSuVkoP7BYdDO2BjiYk1puyJOUxI1CWeKvZOb_XWtSX_NkR298w/s400/Ngp_Marathon2010_3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433349446494617186" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylzOPMIHSwcEoF03tjvDnSnCZGL8Iw_ZCKVGojVlUknSdZD_V1f8PBlxQuoWwBVTZsH_TlUuyERsH6iIi6j5XSXESnb-6dMGcP5HjdRM_iJXKFAhQtbktdKt1Z3yx7e2XzbuBD17OrbY/s1600-h/Ngp_Marathon2010_2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylzOPMIHSwcEoF03tjvDnSnCZGL8Iw_ZCKVGojVlUknSdZD_V1f8PBlxQuoWwBVTZsH_TlUuyERsH6iIi6j5XSXESnb-6dMGcP5HjdRM_iJXKFAhQtbktdKt1Z3yx7e2XzbuBD17OrbY/s400/Ngp_Marathon2010_2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433349442509292578" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish8aPspq5LDkBAd0ZiXErz9MqD5PwH8_WUfzgAQOhbPlu-GHqEsXAssR9FSi49zMJL4ZuaxwlaeDCGbhywGhIBYKYdAhoV5x2kNVFPwIc1GR2G54P2DuRyGaN3Ak7sU5DJHRiCOqMBK4/s1600-h/Ngp_Marathon2010_1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish8aPspq5LDkBAd0ZiXErz9MqD5PwH8_WUfzgAQOhbPlu-GHqEsXAssR9FSi49zMJL4ZuaxwlaeDCGbhywGhIBYKYdAhoV5x2kNVFPwIc1GR2G54P2DuRyGaN3Ak7sU5DJHRiCOqMBK4/s400/Ngp_Marathon2010_1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433349437457755154" /></a><br />Since last year, January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is an increasingly special day for all the Nagpuris as around that day the annual Nagpur International Marathon is organized in support of the principles of Peace and Non-violence. This time it was organized on last Sunday, January 31, 2010. It was the second year of the marathon with hundreds of thousands of people participating right from children to people in their eighties, and from bureaucrats to businessmen to politicians and even military organizations.<br /><br />Nagpur First was honored last year as Mr. Sharad Bhagwatkar, 68 years young father of Vivek Bhagwatkar, one of the founders of NF, represented us in the last year’s run by running the full marathon! I also tried participating in the event last year but chose not to after reaching at the venue to find chaos when nobody seemed to know what was going on there. This year the event looked much better organized starting with proper arrangements for parking of vehicles to signs marking starting and ending points for various races and the roadmap for full and half marathons clearly displayed at various prominent places along the route. Almost all major businesses and organizations in the city supported the event with sponsorships. People were also seemed much better prepared for the event this time and I feel it shall go on becoming more interesting and grand event with each passing year.<br /><br />Nagpur-First participated this year too with 8 of us (see photo) running the Ahinsa Daud (non-violence run) of 3 KMs from the Kasturchand Park to Yeshwant Stadium via Akashvani square, Institute of Science, RTM Nagpur University, Variety square, Munje Square, Zansi Rani Sqaure, Panchsheel square and finally Yeshwant stadium. For the first time I climbed on the ‘steps’ for the audience to sit inside the Yeshwant stadium, to watch the participants completing the marathon arriving with huge applause from the crowd. There was also a band playing at the center of the stadium and a music program by upcoming singers.<br /><br />I personally felt much better connected with our beloved city, its people and its culture while running with the crowd. It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to running a longer distance next year with a larger group.<br /><br />We at Nagpur-First are also planning to organize a 10 KM Heritage walk from the Kasturchand Park to Futala Talao and back, sometime around Oct-Nov this year. Ajit Kulkarni proposed the idea and he may champion the initiative with support from other members of Nagpur-First. Looking at the success of the International Marathon, I am encouraged. Let’s gear up to make the heritage run a grand success in its first year.Amithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04690469028647486584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-21451806638888081652010-01-31T06:21:00.000-08:002010-01-31T11:34:10.761-08:00IDCADinesh and I were lucky to be invited to an IDCA meet this Saturday at Oak Brook near Chicago. <a href="http://www.idc-america.org/">IDCA</a> stands for 'India Development Coalition of America'. It's a forum (or a coalition as they like to call) of different groups/organisations that are helping India's development directly or indirectly.<br /><br />Dinesh Jain, our founder, was invited as one of the speakers this week. And goes without saying, he gave a sterling performance. (And may be I am biased, but judging by audience response, I could say his presentation was the best amongst the lot)<br /><br />I particularly liked his notion of 'Self Interest'; something that really connected well with the gathering. Dinesh said - "For anything to work there has to be a self interest involved. It's how you define 'self' that matters. Self can include only me, or me and my family, or me and my family and my community, or me, my family, my community, my city, my country and so on'<br /><br />The point was well made. That without self interest, you cannot be motivated enough to make a difference.<br /><br />During the Q&A session, after <strong>Nagpur First</strong> presentation, there were a few in the audience who talked enthusiastically of their indirect association with Nagpur and had some positive things to say about our beloved city. One such Gentleman who was not really from Nagpur but had worked in NEERI for a few years said : "The People of Nagpur are <strong>honest and simple</strong>. And it's a great city to be in"<br /><br />That really warmed the cockles of my heart. The anchor of the session Mr. Thatte also mentioned his association with Nagpur and said there are more well wishers for Nagpur than we can think.<br /><br />Amongst the other presenters, I particularly like Dr. Rajaram's take on <strong>Solid Waste Management</strong>. During the course of presentation the speaker mentioned about one Mr.Srinivasan, who's done some amazing work in Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Srinivasan has used common sense solution for a major problem in India which is Waste Management. Currently Delhi Municipal Corporation is dealing with a huge problem with this and the High Court has already ordered Delhi not to use any more land for waste dump.<br /><br />Mr. Srinivasan's common sense solutions can help them in true sense. And so can it help Nagpur. I spoke to one Mr. Bhaskar who was representing another organisation called 'AID' and asked him if we can get in touch with Srinivasan. His team has a sustainable economic model for Waste Management. In fact their model generates lot of employment apart from cleaning up the city. For example, for a community of 300 people, this model can generate an employment of 6 persons and can generate an income of 20,000 p.m in India. Do the math for a larger community like Nagpur. <br /><br />I also got to know that, Mr. Srinivasan is a simple person who is helping his community. He does not have a fancy website or a degree in management or anything, nor does he charge consulting fees etc. He is simple Indian, living in a small town and helping his community. (These,IMHO, are real heroes of India and not the one's who color your TV screens with glamor, like in the new <em>Mile Sur</em>..ad)<br /><br />Waste Management, I feel, can be a pre-cursor for Nag-Pure, or the purification of Nag river. By isolating Organic waste, we can generate clean energy that can be recycled into the local economy. Although this was always known, we now have a sustainable model to deal with this. And the model is only maturing.<br /><br />I think Nagpur should take advantage of this and should aim to become India's First Clean Energy Compliant City.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-15481879658179290862010-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:002010-01-31T07:21:26.071-08:00Quiz of the weekWithout googling/wikipeding, name this great Nagpuri personality..<br /><br />He is the only person who served on all of these three posts :<br /><br />1] The Chief Justice of India,<br />2] The Vice President of India,<br />3] The President of India..<br /><br />There's another big first to his name. But if I give that clue, it will make it simple.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-38552619542682251422010-01-15T04:29:00.000-08:002010-01-15T05:01:19.592-08:00O Paar!!Yesterday at work, I had some trash talk with a co-worker. It was real fun.<br /><br />This guy is originally from Gujarat. We both started bragging about our kite flying skills and the trash talking won't stop. We challenged each other for a <em>pecha</em> and I told him, I, a Nagpuri is going to kick his snooty Ahemdabadi ass. (They think their kite flying skills are the best)<br /><br />Finally people around us asked us, "why don't you guyz have a showdown". On a side note why do 'goras' have this obsession with showdown I wonder? People even said they'll have a wager on us and nominated someone to be a bookie. <br /><br />Ya right! A kite "pechaa" in Chicago winter. That will work just fine, no?<br /><br />Anyhow, so that talk made me nostalgic a bit. I always thought Sankrant in Nagpur is different than other places. It has it's own charm.<br /><br />While the boys of the house are up on the terrace all day, well late into the evening, the female members are busy with a Maharashtrian ritual - Haldi Kumkum.<br /><br />The best thing about Nagpuri Sankrant of course is the Nagpuri Lingo associated with it.<br /><br />For example, who names a kite - <strong>'Khada Sabbal Muchcha Khada'</strong>. Sounds like a stud's name. Or '<strong>Bhangdar Tokdar</strong>'!! Whoa, that's some thought put in a name.<br /><br />But that's Nagpur for you. Pure and unadulterated and completely uninhibited.<br /><br />In school we used to play <em>Girgot</em>. That was a T-20 version of Kite flying, without a kite of course. BTW, that also tells how intense we were for Kites during those days. If you can't fly kite, well let's make do with a Girgot during lunch break. <br /><br />"O Paar" was Nagpur's official war cry during the kite flying days. It's intensity of course peaked on 14th Jan when you could hear this on a very high frequency at even higher decibel. The local neighborhood rivalries that got build up during the pre-Sankrant season reached it's summit on Sankrant day when the rival groups would prepare that deadly manja late into 13th evening to be all set for next day.<br /><br />I still remember how each segment of my index finger would have bleeding cuts, because of the sharp thread, by the time 14th Jan came. But that was little or no hindrance to go up on the roof and get my favorite "<em>cheel</em>" to fly high. Such were the passions.<br /><br />Anyhow, it was then. I think the Kite culture in Nagpur has taken a beating. I have not seen Nagpuri Sankrant for a very long time now. More than decade actually. So who knows.<br /><br />But I would leave you all with some 'Made in Nagpuri' words for Sankranti...<br /><br />- Laggi, Saddi, Luddi, Saitee, Relle, Dabbedar, Kanna, Suttar, Ragga...<br /><br />{please feel free to add more to this list.. in comments..}<br /><br />O Paar!!!nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-63676716181794964032010-01-04T12:21:00.000-08:002010-01-05T05:19:04.936-08:00Treasure Hunt # 2Clue of the week:<br /><br />I am older than most institutes you can think of. I have a massive clock on the tower thats visible from foothills. And yes. From my premises you can get a Grand view of Nagpur city.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-68227675421490508442010-01-03T15:07:00.000-08:002010-01-08T01:55:44.642-08:00Branding NagpurYear ends / New years are great. People usually take off for a quick break/vacation and in most places its a great time to be outside. (Unless of course, you are stuck in Chicago snow blizzard)<br /><br />We are already into 2010. Boy, what a decade this past one has been! <strong>Time </strong>magazine called it a "<strong>decade from Hell</strong>". After reading that article I sure thought it was.<br /><br />We are into the 2 digits of the new century. That means we have 10 more years to achieve what we have set out to - <strong>making Nagpur a Global City</strong>.<br /><br />Something struck me while I was reading an in flight magazine last week on my return flight back from the vacation. I saw that the small Arkansas town called <strong>'Little Rock' </strong>had a brief paid advertising section in the flight magazine. It ran for about a couple of pages and I was intrigued by the information it had about this city.<br /><br />For example, Little Rock has the <strong>4Th best Economy</strong> in the US..(Did not see that coming). And it added 10,000 new jobs just last year. (By US standards, 10K is very high) Who would have thought that? Honestly before reading this, all I knew about Little Rock was that it was capital city of Arkansas; a state not on most people's radar.<br /><br />I have a feeling the City Authorities of Little Rock are out there to brand it as a 'happening town'. And hence these paid ads. To make LR visible on the people's radar such branding activities are needed. The ad talked of, the great health care system that LR has, the great college culture it has, it talked of the new Clinton Library etc. Basically focusing on all positive aspects of that sleepy little town.<br /><br />I liked the spirit of that article. It left me feeling positive about Little Rock.( And no, I am not packing my bags and going there. Chicago is just fine)<br /><br />All those things that were said about LR, had me thinking, "how about our own little rock there in central India, huh?". How can we best BRAND Nagpur in coming years? I know it has similar positives. It has better than average Health Care system vis-a-vis other Indian cities. It has great college culture too. There may be few other similarities.<br /><br />I think to make Nagpur visible in grand scheme of things, we'd have to brand it in a certain way. Something that should be appealing. For many people Nagpur may be a sleepy mid-tier city. But for many others that could actually be a plus. Slow, laid back, yet fun.<br /><br />Should we form a team of people who can come up with ideas to <strong>Brand Nagpur</strong>? I think we should. Lets have a focus group to discuss how Nagpur can best be put on the Global Radar. Lets call it <strong>Branding Nagpur</strong>.<br /><br />If you feel you have that zeal of a Marketing/Advertising genius, please come forward and add your vision for the same.<br /><br />Lets make 2010 the year of 'Branding Nagpur'... and let's have a Nagpuri Buzz out there. What say you?nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-72433759665381572642009-12-18T04:57:00.000-08:002009-12-18T05:01:45.492-08:00Treasure HuntClue of the week<br />-------------------<br /><br />"I am an imposing edifice, made of Red Stone. I reside in the Zero Mile neighborhood.I employ tons of Nagpuris. And oh yes, I got Money. Who am I?"nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-78668275356364919672009-12-12T17:28:00.000-08:002009-12-15T21:08:07.996-08:00Democratic ForumOne of the famous sub-plots of Mahabharat is when Krishna tells Duryodhan to cover himself up before meeting his mother who was to remove her blind-fold for a day.Krishna does this so that he can ensure his sides victory. Some may call this manipulation by the Lord himself to get his side's win. Other's will call it pragmatism, keeping the Big Picture in mind.<br /><br />I believe pragmatism is really the road to Idealism. We have to work the system to make it work. Sounds oxymoron, but that's the way it is. In context of Nagpur First, there have been some well received suggestions last week, on pragmatism.<br /><br />The hallmark of any democracy is an acquiescence to dissent, contest and even rebel. I hope we can keep this Nagpur First group as democratic a forum as it can be.Of course this means, we will have to deal with criticism and clashes of ideas. Sometimes these clashes can actually be fruitful.<br /><br />Having said that, negative energy can sap the momentum. We are in a very nascent stage right now. All of us are volunteering for a cause bigger than ourselves. The cause being that of making Nagpur a Global City in next 11 years.<br /><br />There has been phenomenal enthusiasm shown by Messrs Saqib Karori, Faiz Wahid, Ajit Kulkarni et al in past 2 weeks or so.. (More details to follow). Vivek Bhagwatkar has already shown how dedication and commitment can work wonders. More strength to him.<br /><br />Since we are residing at different locations and we are a diverse group of Nagpuris, at times it becomes difficult to co-ordinate and move. But I feel good that we have got reasonable traction already. It's only a matter of time before things start taking bigger forms.<br /><br />It may seem that things are moving slowly and nothing is really happening. But that is deceptive at best. We are moving one step at a time and lot is happening.<br /><br />There would soon be a list published on all initiatives taken, either on yahoo group or this blog. We are always looking for volunteers to join any initiative of their liking with <strong><em>Tan </em></strong>(efforts), <strong><em>Man </em></strong>(constructive ideas, suggestions, process help etc.) and/or <strong><em>Dhan </em></strong>(of course the funds).<br /><br />All folks who came forward with positive ideas,initiatives,donations should be commended for their virtues. Clearly shows, we are on a move and things will unravel positively from here on.<br /><br />This is a horizontal platform, where vertical initiatives can grow and take shape. In other words, if any of Nagpur First members wants to join any initiative, your coming forward and aligning yourself with something, will be highly appreciated. In fact it will be encouraged.<br /><br />There are two initiatives that have got traction in past week. One is led by our new member Ajit Kulkarni, from D.C who is targeting a 'walkathon' in Nagpur. Ajit is himself a marathon enthusiast, and has run some international marathons.<br />Ajit and Amit will be sending more details on this soon.<br /><br />The other piece of news I need to share is that we have formalized a team for <strong>Nag Nadi Purification</strong>. The group is called <strong>Nag-Pure</strong>. We had our first meeting (the USA chapter of Nagpur First had this) and it went well. More invites would be sent to people who are keen on joining this movement and willing to bring positive ideas to the table.<br /><br />Pretty exciting stuff there; So watch out for this space.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-57136898662437873852009-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:002009-12-02T13:57:38.647-08:00Why we love NagpurOver a weekend chat with Dineshji we started reminiscing about Nagpur (as two Nagpuris usually do) and were trying to put our finger on this one question - <strong>What's so special about Nagpur?</strong><br /><br />Why do we all love Nagpur so much, when, for all practical purposes, and on all conventional parameters like development etc, it does not have a sterling record (at least relative to other tier-II cities)<br /><br />In other words - <em>'Nagpur mein aisa kya hai'</em>? I am sure, most of us have questioned this at some point or the other.<br /><br />My initial instinct is to look at the question itself. Look at what language this question I put in. Yep. Hindi. I think there in lies our first clue. Nagpur, a Maharashtrian city, technically, has an overwhelming presence of non-Marathi folks, who have smoothly assimilated into the Nagpur culture. For all practical purposes, HINDI is Nagpur's <em>lingua franca</em>. In fact I have been told that Nagpur is the <strong>second most cosmopolitan </strong>city in India!!!<br /><br />These two things clearly indicate Nagpur's embracing culture. To 'allow' and 'nourish' and not alienate something which might be considered 'foreign' in other places. The word really is <strong>FREEDOM</strong>. Nagpur allows us to be 'free' for most part. Allows us to choose what we want to do or not do. It does not have a sense of overbearing imposition of a certain culture, rammed down your throat. It just makes 'it Easy'.<br /><br />I am sure, you'd think, that the above paragraph is loaded. But the fact of the matter is, Nagpur has been that kind of a city. Easy going and Simple and there has never been a strong will amongst natives to IMPOSE their ideas and views and way of life on others.<br /><br />I have to share something from my personal experience on this. <br /><br />College days are great learning experience , both academically and non-academically. And of course you end up making friends with diverse group of folks, from different cultures and sub-cultures. And now that I think in hindsight, I see that we had such a diverse group of people in our friend circle. Some from South India, some from North, some even from Assam/Nagaland etc. Over the period of time, I realized that all my non-Nagpuri friends, had gravitated to Nagpur in some ways or the other. They had, believe it or not, become Nagpur fans. The Nagpur-ness had rubbed on them in some ways and they would find some excuse or the other to visit Nagpur (even after Graduation). And enjoy.<br /><br />One of my close friends, who never had any relation to Nagpur whatsoever, before living there for fours years, till date calls Nagpur his favourite city. In many ways Nagpur had converted him and he went <em>native </em>big time, in just a couple of years.<br /><br />I am sure there are numerous similar examples. Where a non-Nagpuri went completely bonkers over Nagpur and in many ways became a Nagpuri.<br /><br />Again, it's hard to put your finger on that exact pulse. That exact answer. Why Nagpur is attractive, even with all it's apparent drawbacks? Why it inspires such intense loyalty, even for non-Nagpuris in a few cases?<br /><br />I am sure, if I was up for a PhD , I would have considered this for a thesis. :)<br /><br />If some of you have any anecdotes , examples to share of people who you personally met, who became Nagpur fans, we would certainly like to read about them. If nothing else, it will at least give a sense of elation.<br /><br /><br />****<br /><br />Post Script : I remember a funny incident that happened some years back on a <em>chowk</em> of Nagpur. A guy riding motorcycle bumped into a bicycle guy on a <em>chowk</em> Signal ('Light' for the US <em>walas</em>). And the motorcycle guy immediately apologized - "Arey sorry Boss. Laga toh nahi". And the ever humble dude on the cycle, picking and gathering himself quickly from the downfall said.."Nahi.. per <strong>Thank you for your Sorry</strong> boss"..<br /><br />And they both moved on. Memory of this incident still tickles me no ends.<br /><br />Doesn't this tell us something about Nagpuris?nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-42909601668940408722009-11-22T05:37:00.000-08:002009-11-24T05:23:47.769-08:00Noble FilthA couple of news articles and posts caught my attention over the weekend. Without going into the politics of all this and to keep in line with our commitment of keeping Nagpur First and the blog politically agnostic, I would focus just on the content and context of this.<br /><br />Basically, a furor was raised last week by some in the media and political class over Mr. Jairam Ramesh's off the cuff remark about filth in India. Ramesh said, 'If there was a noble prize for filth, India would get one'<br /><br />There are multiple ways to look at his comment. One of them of course being, the minister, an IITian by qualification, is being a smarty pant. And that his comment is condescending to Indians. Other way to look at it is, he is just stating the fact. Of course a follow up argument can be made;, so even if he is right, what is he as a minister doing about it? (In fact someone suggested, the youth workers of his party should take up the lead in cleaning India)<br /><br />But as I said, beyond the politics of all this and the media mumbo jumbo, what can we as citizens do to change a mindset? To bring in some sanity and civic sense?<br /><br />It's easier said than done and from the email that came last week from one our members that had Mr. Vijay Phanshikar going full cylinders on Nagpuri attitude, you can tell it's a herculan task.<br /><br />Having said that, can we take some baby steps in that direction though? Can we start small instead of changing everything overnight with one magic wand?<br /><br />Not to blow my own here, but last visit to Nagpur I tried something, that if nothing else made me feel good. I took my wife out for a morning walk on the West High Court road in Dharampeth. It was around 6:30 am and so there was hardly any traffic or even people on the road. There was though this one guy who was preparing <em>'Kande Pohe' </em>and <em>'Tarri' </em>smack in the middle of the road's cross-section. There were around 10 people, mostly young folks, surrounding him, waiting for <em>Pohe </em>to be prepared and consumed.<br /><br />After the ritual of eating was done, I saw that everyone of the eaters, started throwing their paper plate on the road itself. There was a middle-aged women who was taking a parcel order, and she seemed to be from an educated background, and she too threw her paper right next to the stall. <br /><br />The idea, apparently was, to throw the waste around and someone will definitely pick it up. In this case, the <em>pohewala </em>himself.<br /><br />What struck me most was not the act of throwing itself, but how "given" this was? Like it was a norm. A regulation, if you will. No one looked remotely affected by this, including the poor guy who was making <em>pohe </em>and was probably going to collect the waste once he was done.<br /><br />I told those people, much to the shock of my wife, that they give those waste plates to me. I would collect them and throw it in a trash nearby. One of the young dudes in the group even commented .."<em>arey yeh to munna bhai hai</em>".. I am guessing he was alluding to the movie Lage raho... (a movie, incidently made by a Nagpuri, btw)<br /><br />Although I did have to endure some under the belt hits, I thought I saw some effect. Half the people did throw their stuff in a plastic bag the pohewala had. Other half of course ignored and went their way.<br /><br />The point of all this is, that day, I could not change Nagpur or even 10 people, but I did change, I thought a few minds. I am hoping even if ONE of them starts NOT doing this stuff, that's a small win.<br /><br />The incident left me in a state of minor satisfaction, although my wife did say this.."Don't try to be a neo-Gandhi, will you...?" (Oopsie..)<br /><br />I know I was <strong>not </strong>being a Gandhi and I <strong>was </strong>being a smarty pant, but what the heck; made me feel good momentarily.<br /><br />So what do you folks think? Do we have some ideas that we can use to start a 'Clean Nagpur, Green Nagpur' campaign? How best we can pass this on? Any champions out there who can take this up? <br /><br />If you think you have good ideas, please pass it on either via emails or commenting on the post.<br /><br />-/ACD<br /><br />**nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-45300508619594796172009-11-20T04:44:00.001-08:002009-11-20T04:53:22.137-08:00TGIFThank goodness its a Friday. And so how about indulging in some weekend levity?<br /><br />What do you folks like best about Nagpur? It's greenery, it's laid-back attitude, it's samosas.. or just it's people?<br /><br />Time to take a vote. Go for it folks. Show your true <em>Nagpuri blood.</em> The vote is on top-left-rail of the blog. You won't miss it.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-1696440697668735652009-11-18T05:19:00.001-08:002009-11-18T09:02:36.215-08:00OrangeSo we are going Orange!<br /><br />The color Orange is relevant to Nagpuris of all hue I guess. We have already made the <a href="http://nagpurfirst.org/">NagpurFirst.org</a> site Orange. So, keeping in tune with everything, this blog is going Orange too.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-8734220200625103732009-11-15T12:09:00.000-08:002009-11-20T04:30:37.157-08:00Nag River RejuvenationAs some of you are already aware, <strong>Nagpur First </strong>has recently taken up an initiative to help restore and rejuvenate <em>Nag River</em>...(It is more of a 'nala' though).<br /><br />A team of people in Nagpur and another team in Chicago is helping set up some initial ground work to take this effort forward.<br /><br />We anticipate that this would be a multi-year, multi-dimensional undertaking and <strong>Nagpur First</strong> would seek dedicated team members to champion this. People with experience and knowledge on this subject are welcome to send in serious and constructive suggestions. Response and Comments on this post will be appreciated.<br /><br />In view of this effort, Dineshji and I, met with Dr. Prakasam Tata at his residence yesterday in Naperville. Dr. Tata was kind enough to give us some insight in the work he did in the field of water treatment and related areas.<br /><br />Recently Dr. Tata overlooked a project to salvage a 170-acre lake in his home town of Vizianagaram in AP. He worked in collaboration with US and UN agencies to get success on this project.<br /><br />Dr. Tata worked at various levels in Research and Technical Management at <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Water_Reclamation_District_of_Greater_Chicago">Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, IL</a></strong>. <blockquote>MWRC serves an area of 883 square miles (2,290 km2) which covers the City of Chicago and 125 suburban municipalities.<br />The District operates the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world, the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Stickney, Illinois, in addition to six other plants and 23 pumping stations</blockquote>He is also the President of <strong><a href="http://www.idc-america.org/">India Development Coalition of America </a>(IDCA)</strong> , an organization, we are looking to seek guidance from on this project as they have some experience in this field. IDCA has worked extensively on <strong>Yamuna River </strong>rejuvenation in and around Delhi. We are already in touch with key members of this organization.<br /><br />Mr. Amit Badiyani, on the other end, is co-ordinating efforts to work with key people from Nagpur, the folks who first suggested us the Nag River Rejuvenation project.(More details to follow).<br /><br />We are indulging in more research and information gathering in coming weeks to have a good handle on this undertaking. We will be posting more Data and technical information as and when more progress is made. As again, your response with any information that can help us will be encouraged.<br /><br />A start has been made and we hope to see Nag river transformed into a truly 'living river' in a few years.<br /><br />As we gather more momentum on this, here's some fun stuff, members of Nagpur First blog readers can try. We would like you to suggest us a Name for this initiative.<br /><br />Few pointers<br /><br />1] The name should be short and relevant to the cause.<br /><br />2] Negative connotations like Andolan and Bachao should be avoided<br /><br />3] You can use either of the three languages (English,Hindi,Marathi) to come up, but sticking to the core essence<br /><br />4] It should be constructive and positive in it's tone.<br /><br /><br />Some suggestions have alread been made, including..<br /><br /><strong>START FISHING IN RIVER NAG</strong><br /><br /><strong>'Nag Nadi Utthapan Abhiyan'</strong><br /><br />NEAT - <strong>Nag </strong>river <strong>Accomplishment </strong>using <strong>Environmental Technologies</strong><br /><br /><strong>Nag River Development Project</strong><br /><br />Once we zero down to popular ones, we'll put an online vote too!<br /><br />So readers, let your creative juices work full time or just pick the one you like best..<br /><br /><br />-A.C.Deshpandenagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-5931534350114671142009-11-14T20:51:00.000-08:002009-11-14T09:19:28.393-08:00Words and ActionIn some sense we have been lucky to see India transform in many ways in recent times. <br /><br />My father always used to tell me how, to get his first scooter he had to wait for a few years after booking it. To own a Bajaj Scooter, during those days, you had to pay a premium if you wanted to bypass the regular line of consumers. A classic case of low supply high demand. (Same was the case with telephones)<br /><br />We have come a long way from having to slant the Bajaj Scooter in one direction and kick start it in early morning hours after several attempts. (The joke goes - 'that is why Bajaj did not venture into Airplanes. Who was going to slant them?'). In today's India we can simply show up into a showroom and come out with any vehicle we have the capacity to purchase.<br /><br />But that's the material change. What about the mindset? Has that come along too? Thankfully yes, at least to some extent. We have moved on from the tight permit-licence-quota-raj time period to a new exuberant and confident India, being driven by a youthful and spirited generation. The overall optimism of New India is contagious to say the least. <br /><br />Hopefully this optimism and positive energy manifests itself into something remarkable and fruitful for India. We may already be noticing signs of it in various aspects of the society. <br /><br />Reminds me of an essay I read sometime back by Rediff.com's <a href="http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/24akd.htm">Amberish Diwanji</a>. In that essay, Diwanji says <blockquote>[..]India's worsening economic situation hit a nadir when the first Gulf War broke out in early 1991 and oil prices went through the roof. To the utter horror and shame of Indians, the Government of India had to fly India's gold reserves to the Bank of England as a deposit to ensure that India did not default on its international payments<br />Most Indian women wear a mangalsutra (a chain with some gold and a small pendant of gold or stone), and which is never removed unless the woman is widowed. It thus symbolises the health and wealth of the house. Sending Indian gold to Britain (the country that millions hold responsible for impoverishing India) was, clearly, deeply humiliating and unacceptable[..] </blockquote>Clearly necessity is the mother of all inventions. India, just about 20 years back had to take a call. Should we or should we not open up? How far can old-school economy sustain us? How should we re-invent ourselves?<br /><br />Almost 20 years down the line, we are all here and results are there to see. This is not to say that India has magically transformed and there are no more issues any more. Of course we have issues facing us left, right and center. Of course there are great number of people still not able to make ends meet. Of course 42% of our children are still mal-nourished. Problems galore.<br /><br />The changes of early 90s was not one single magic bullet that would change everything. But it did set up a series of transformational changes that when taken in context will help us understand the New Emerging India. History probably can only be appreciated in hindsight.<br /><br />As a Nagpuri phrase suggests- "<em>gyan batna</em>" is simple. But you got to wet your feet and take the plunge. Sitting on fence and talking is cheap. It comes at no cost. What counts is words followed by action.<br /><br />Nagpur First will hope to leave it's foot prints on the new , positive, emerging India. It hopes to follow the words with action that has tangible results. It's not going to be easy. But challenges can be fun too..<br /><br />Even as I type this, there has been some momentum on the Nag River Rejuvenation Project. It's still early days and more details will follow in subsequent posts. But there has been a start ...nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810459050693352085.post-59814663039768470322009-11-08T17:34:00.001-08:002009-11-10T11:49:01.603-08:00An IdeaOne of the most inspirational quotes of contemporary history has been ".. <em><span style="font-weight:bold;">ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.</span>"</em><br /><br />These are JFK's timeless words as we all know. And these words inspired an entire generation of folks to join a movement; much similar to what we witnessed almost 45 years later when a "<strong>message of change</strong>" resonated with a vast majority of people across the US and the world.<br /><br />Why did these messages click? What was in it, that made it work? <br /><br />We think it was the moment itself. The timing, if you will. "<em><span style="font-weight:bold;">An idea whose time has come, works</span></em>" as they say. An idea is something that in most cases sparks with a conversation. And it grows into a bigger flame as more contributions are made.<br /><br />Something similar happened to <strong><a href="http://nagpurfirst.org/">Nagpur First</a></strong>. It started as a simple conversation between two hard-core Nagpuris and now as you can see it's truly on it's way to becoming a much bigger movement.<br /><br />But the work has only just begun. It's still nascent in it's form and shape with some baby steps taken. We need to nourish this small sapling and make it grow into a tall, handsome, robust,shady and green tree. As green as our dear Nagpur.<br /><br />Nagpuris have a lot of passion and a lot of fire inside our belly. Now we need to channelize this fire into something constructive. Something bigger and greater than its own self. How each of us approaches is not relevant at this stage. We need to keep the big picture in mind. The picture being that of a <strong>'Nagpur - A Global city by 2020'</strong>.<br /><br />This blog and it's editorial team firmly believe, that this is a realistic goal and that if we all engage in a positive and constructive way, we can make it. We can Do It.<br /><br />The <strong>Nagpur First</strong> blog will be our attempt to express and articulate various efforts and needs to achieve this goal. We will be looking for volunteers who can champion and lead causes close to their hearts. Something that will benefit Nagpur as a whole.<br /><br />After all, we firmly believe that Nagpur deserves it's place under the sun and on the Global Map. And we shall overcome everything to get it there.<br /><br />A sincere thanks from Team - <strong>Nagpur First</strong> to all who have joined and contributed to this mission so far. We hope to continue attracting more and more talent as we move ahead.<br /><br />So Ladies and Gentleman, fasten your seat belts. We are about to embark upon a truly fruitful journey, that which will make our city, our Nagpur, a Global destination of reckoning by 2020.<br /><br /> - Nagpur First Editorial Team.nagpur1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01932497858145424306noreply@blogger.com1