MyTake

It is sad to know about the demise of John Sheppard Barron who invented Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) in 1960s. It is interesting to know that he was born in Shillong as quoted by the Shillong Times (English Daily) on 24th May 2010, page 3 under Shillong Jottings.  It read as - ATM inventor John Sheppard-Barron died recently at the age of 84. Though his death may not be a matter of great loss for us here in Shillong, it is interesting to know that this great soul was actually born here. His Scottish father was the chief engineer of Chittagong Port Commissioners while his mother was a tennis player. He got the idea of a cash dispenser while lying in his bath after finding his bank closed in 1965. That’s how the ATM was conceived. And indeed it is one of the greatest inventions of all times. Thanks to the ATM, today we do not need to carry cash around even while travelling. It is easier to draw smaller amounts from ATMs and deal with our purchases. Moreover, ATM cards are today ...

It was a learning experience visiting Manipur during 10-12 May 2010.  Thanks to Rajmani who could make my maiden visit possible to Imphal (Manipur).  I was skeptical after receiving the invitation whether should I go or leave it as Manipur is one of the most disturbed state in India and so much so for the North-East India.  There have been militants' attack and agitations against the government as well as the military setup specially on the Assam Rifles.  There have been cases of innocent killings by Assam Rifles which has instigated the public to go against this force. Recently NSCN leader Muivah's visit has been the issue of distress and disturbance in Manipur.  Muivah, a known NSCN leader who had talks with the union home minister (P Chidambaram) and other inportant leaders in New Delhi, who agreed and allowed him to visit his home village situated in a district called Ukhrool in Manipur.  The demands of NSCN have been primarily establishment of greater...

Lets remember this great luminary Rabindra Nath Tagore who composed our national anthem and these few lines cited by many, many people, we have studied these lines in our school days..... Where The Mind is Without Fear   Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action-- Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Lets contribute our bit for the betterment of the country, system, institutions (that we belong or otherwise) so that we grow better. We remember you Thakur Da for all that you contributed for the cause of betterment of hum...

It is just alive in my memory lane when I was in the hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan just reached back after the busy day of conference, wanted to see what Indian cricket team is doing... Instead learnt that Taj Hotel in Mumbai is hit by the terrorist attack, on the other side there were extremist's siege at Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, the flights were cancelled, and our other friends who had come to Thimphu to attend the conference, had to spent a compulsory halt at Thimphu.  I started back the next day as scheduled, reached Gedugg, where I was to spend the night, the live telecast was still on as the terrorists were still continuing their spree at the Taj.  We watched it live on TV, kept discussing the issues involved, next day I reached Phuntsholing and met some old students, Sonam Dorji (RICB) and Ugyen Namgyel (Bhutan Lotteries) and Kundan/Chandan Negi (HGS alumni), kept talking about what was going on in Mumbai, watched live even in the restaurant where we had lunch...