My Submission to the Access Facebook Award 2012

The Access Facebook Award 2012 will go to the best actionable idea of how to use the Facebook platform to deliver a human rights, human development or social good outcome. So, this was my submission:

What is your idea?

Elections in India are subject to extreme scrutiny as election frauds, cash for vote scams and counting errors are on an all-time high. Traditionally, India has been playing a pivotal role in International economy as it is the fastest growing economy after China. Elections play the most important role in deciding the fate of this intellectually sound country.

Although, voting systems in India are digitalized now, there is still plenty of possibility of election fraud. This makes a politically powerful authority to lead the world’s biggest democracy, instead of the people’s choice. Election Commission of India and the Government of India would love to see a fair and square election. This is where Facebook can help.

Facebook Polls are an efficient way to know people’s views. Communities, businesses and even non-profits have benefitted immensely with Facebook Polls. This idea can be molded into a secured web-based voting application.

Facebook which is the most visited website in a country of over a billion people can help conduct fair and square elections. Through Facebook we can create an application by which the Election Commission of India can conduct elections. Each eligible voter gets his Unique Identification Number (UIN), issued by the Indian government, registered under this highly-secured Facebook application. Through this UIN one can log in on the day of election and cast their vote. At the end of the election period, the application will count the votes and display the results in the Parliament of India.

All the results of the application can be stored in a domestic Facebook database with Government access. This way both parties have definite set of rules laid regarding privacy, accessibility and usability to the results.

This would revolutionize the basic definition of elections and would be immensely beneficial to, both Facebook and India. This would not only make a billion people use Facebook but would also increase the credibility, accountability and the impact Facebook can have on about 17% of the world population. This can later be used in other countries.

Why is your idea needed?

India is one of the poorest countries in the world. Suffering with the population crisis, India tries to accommodate each and every citizen with the basic needs of food, clothing, education and shelter. Politics in India play a major role in deciding different educational, governmental, business and health policies. Having a fair election would help choose a democratic power of the people’s choice. This would enhance people’s faith in the government and moreover, this would allow better policies to be made.

India also constitutes to major part of the International Science and Technology man power. With engineering being an Indian family’s first choice of career path, it produces a set of fine Engineers every year. But these Engineers, don’t have sufficient resources to get higher education, as the present Indian Government has a closed opinion on Foreign Educational institutions in India and also funding Indians to go abroad for education.

Similarly, many such issues are pulling India down, and stopping it from becoming a technological superpower of the world in spite of its immense talent pool and low cost of labor and business.

Election processes in India have been the epicenter of debates all along. With the ruling party indulging in inappropriate methods to dilute the process, the status quo is as such. It’s astonishing to see such practices and yet not being able to do anything because of the lack of a platform to integrate the population and know their opinions. Social media is the new big thing. With Facebook dominating the social media, the idea of indulgence of the common man in business, politics and public affairs through Facebook seems legit.

To summarize, this idea would increase Facebook’s range in the world, benefit India’s socioeconomic, business, health, public and legal policies and in future would pave way to making Facebook help provide a platform to conduct elections.

How are you making it happen?

A team of people from Technology, Business and Political fields would be needed to make this happen. As of now, the idea is in its pre-mature stages but efficient marketing from the social media can make it possible.

How will you keep it going?

Facebook-Government alliance centers can be set up in every state of India, which monitor the application. These centers would help people to register, log in and cast their vote. Each center will be equipped with the state-of –the-art facilities to maintain security, assure proper functioning of all systems and to keep a check on illegal procedures people may use.

Election Commission of India along with Facebook can help raise sufficient funds for this project and such a project would be socially acceptable in a modern “techie” culture of the growing population of India.

The raised money can be channeled through publicly elected members from the team to the project. Although the scale of this project may seem daunting, efficient planning and resources can make it happen.

What are the risks?

With great power comes great responsibility. Similarly, with such a big project come bigger risks.

The risks may include:

1. Security:  Security of the application would be the first and foremost concern. With the growing     number of hackers around the world, nothing seems impossible.  Maintaining the security of the application by preventing breach of the procedure, excluding fake UINs and preventing misuse of the application.
2.  Political Acceptance: A project of such stature needs to be accepted politically in India. The procedure is to present a bill in the Parliament suggesting the pros and cons of this project. After carefully scrutiny of the project and immense intellectual debate, the government will take a decision.
3.  Creditability: For the project to be considered, people would question the credibility of Facebook and the team working on the project. For this purpose, both the team and Facebook would have to come up with substantial evidence that proves their credibility. For this, the team may contain eminent leaders of the Indian society who are working on the same lines.
4. International Balance: For a project of such stature, the government would also consider how this project will affect its ties with allies, companies, and governments.

Overall, the risks are way too many. But one step at a time can solve the issues and make this happen. The end result would overshadow the difficulties of the process.

What is your Track record?

I am a senior in Electrical Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida.I’m a lover of Technology, Politics and Community Service. I run Munificence, a non-profit that concentrates on socially relevant needs of the society.  Munificence serves as a mediator between the financial institutions and the ones in need. Its aim is to eradicate poverty in India and to keep a check on the various social issues of the society. My idea is to integrate technology, politics and community service to help bring forward a societal change in the way things work in developing countries, that now stand as the back bone to the world economy. Given a chance, I would love to elaborate this idea more with specific details on the technical, political and business aspects. 

Meet Abhishek: Electrical Engineering ’13 | Florida Institute of Technology

Meet Abhishek: Electrical Engineering ’13 | Florida Institute of Technology

My first official Florida Tech blogpost!
Hope you guys like it.

Relations - An emotional texture.

Relations by their quintessential sense mean a logical or natural association between two things, bodies or entities. While some relations are mutual give and take, a few are emotionally driven affinities. But irrespective of their nature, they all, at some point or the other, run close to the heart.

The unconditional love of a mother for her child, the protectiveness of a father and the lies of a sibling to save us from our parents are some of the heart touching relations we see. Some get more, some get less but overall we all have some sort of love around us. Love of the auto driver dropping us at school, love of the school maid, love of the child mimicry artists: our relatives, love of the warning watchman, love of the house maid, love of the dad's colleagues and much more is always encapsulating us.

While we live in a world full of love, isn't it quite easy to attached to it. Sometimes, we grow up, or we lose those people, or we are left with a broken relation, doesn't that hurt! The feeling of pain due to the absence of someone from our day to day routine is quite normal. But how far can this go! They say we can control our emotions. But when it comes to the lose of people who are close to us, even the strongest ones feel it, they just might not show. With attachment comes pain. But it is the cycle of life, which makes us stronger and  better every time.

Death and other natural causes can't be helped, but we can help what is in our hands. Some relations end because of possessiveness, some end because of lack of trust and some end because of misunderstandings. Ultimately, whatever the reason is the end is not such a positive attribute. When we love a person, most of us try to keep them very close to us. If we want to hold some water in your palm, we make your palm hollow to hold some water. Instead, if we flatten your palm or if we hold tight enough to make it a fist, we spill all the water. Relations run by the same analogy, the balance between the extremes is what makes a relation.

Some relations end in suicides, emotional dramas, physical fights and also mental traumas. When the end has such adverse affects, then whey end? Some argue, the end is what teaches us to start correct. Well, if that is the case then life will be like a never ending loop. At some point or the other, we need to stop the loop, to live. Although, short stories make up minute happenings of our times, its ultimately the long ones that tell our story.

With breaking relations and ending ties, some aspects of us just become numb. But we can forget and let go or we can hope that the rising sun fixes everything. The choice is ours. The ones that matter the most stay the most.

A relation is like a thread. Once broken, it's hard to tie. Once tied, it always has a knot.

Achieving a dream or Dreaming an achievement?

"Instead of dreaming about your life after four years, take one step at a time and plan for the day," says Brittney Lane, a 4.0 graduate from Harvard University. She believes success lies in attributing time to achieving things rather than dreaming immensely about the future. Likewise, history has seen likes of Bill Gates, Lary Page and Lalu Prasad Yadav who have come to where they stand by sheer hard work. These people themselves are astonished by their success.

On the other hand, "One Vision, One Dream" was the popular slogan of Dhirubhai Ambani's saga of life. He dreamed of success in every field he entered. Finding people of such vision is a petty task in a developing country like India. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the honorary Prime Minister of India, had a dream of seeing India free of the economic barriers of the early 90's. His fiscal policies have made India's dream of being a superpower even more stronger.

But who do we need? Dreamers or Achievers? The debate about supremacy between dreamers and achievers has never come to a substantial end.

While a dream is the first step for achieving, sometimes it just seems a waste of time depending upon the final outcome. Traditionally, a dream has been defined as an aspiration or a will to succeed. A dream crafts the path to success, and with added hard work it can lead to great achievements.

While most of the youngsters dream about having a bright future, only a few actually work hard for it. The reason being dreaming is comforting and achieving is hard work. Many a times people feel they are just dreamers and haven't achieved much. This by most measures leads to a certain level of disdain towards their self esteem. Although the process of dreaming can lead to self-destructive results if not kept in the right direction, dreaming enhances the ability to do. It sets up a goal to go achieve. Even if the path may not show results for dreamers, ones who dream are the ones who do.

"The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers, above all the world needs dreamers who do," quotes Sarah Ban Breathnach of the Simple Abundance fame.

People who can dream are the ones who can do

Characteristics of a society.

To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.

Historically, major cities have provided a symbolic notation of a society. Indian mythology is based on the happenings of the main cities like Hindupur and Kakatiya. Likewise, modern day technological societies are symbolized by their major cities - Beijing is the hub of many Electronic companies, thus presenting China as a technological superpower.

Major cities provide the most evident social picture with a mixture of cultures, economics, politics and religions from all other parts of the society. New Delhi, the capital of India is mixed with modern day techies who work in call centers and manual labor that constitutes the Infrastructural advancement of the capital. Likewise, Tokyo presents an inseparable picture of technology and  culture. With the most number of Japanese Temples, Tokyo is  famous for its fast paced electronic environment.

Although the cities hold a significant part in curving a view of the society, smaller towns sometimes present a clearer picture. San Francisco is the tech-savvy city of the United States, but smaller towns like Orlando, Atlanta and New Jersey present the cultural and Socioeconomic picture of United States.

In contrast to the statement, the smaller towns and villages provide the back end culture of a society. With the abundance of such small towns, their culture can be seen as a generic trend of the society. With the core of Indian economy being agricultural advancements in such smaller towns, one cannot neglect the importance of such towns in shaping a panoramic view of the society.

In fact, smaller towns provide grass root level culture of the society on a whole. Nepal, for instance is a newly formed democracy with most of its major cities now being centers of social debates. But a large section of its society, smaller towns are still accustomed to the Kingdom rule that preceded the democratic endeavors of the society.

So, although major cities provide a larger picture of a society, one must not neglect the advancement of its smaller towns when considering the important characteristics of the society.

Love and its beauty.

"Love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them not to."

Correlation with this is inherited I guess. Just cannot agree more. The way we share the darkest secrets of our lives with our loved ones and hope that they accept us as we are. Letting them in our family, career and personal decisions and trusting them to be there for you.

 In short, we give them access to everything we have and trust them to accept us as we are and keep the love going. Love of friends, partner, parents and family is just amazing. I feel the whole concept of love even in its premature stage is what makes living worth.

No man can survive this dysfunctional world without love. :)

Universal Shock Therapy.

Today, marks the sixth month. Time has flown by pretty fast. Still remember that sole moment - midnight. The kiss staring into the ocean of future. The day by itself and the emotions it carried. Wah Taj!

Who would have guessed, the journey would take a completely different direction? So to speak, it came by a shock. Maybe the inbuilt pressure, the scary cry of the soul and the essence of speaking it out, but all I wished for is one try. One try to have spoken it out once? Hard enough, I believe. Nevertheless, six months now, * are in a better position I guess. Collecting the scattered pieces and having a different outlook to life, has its own perks. I guess, it's surprising how * are growing independently, coz my view was different. 

It's all about sharing. Sharing your worst fears, biggest mistakes and your happiest moments. Confusing as it may seem, confusing it is. Spreading the peace wasn't so easy. Keeping it together wasn't too. Silence is what I live in, coz that moment has passed and as they say, stop the passing coz it may not pass again. Fear is what I creep into. Moments of silence. Maybe, it shall all remain like this forever, coz ultimately the whole point is happiness. Maybe * am not the one. Maybe * am not such fun. Maybe * am not fit.

Cleaning the mess *'ve made. Getting it down, down under. Pushing the limits. Not taking it out. Spending it all on other. Some decisions are just too harsh to get along.

Six months from now, no clue where the road takes *. No idea about what may happen.
But but but, that space still stays, forever. Even if it's not the right thing. Love.

For God alone, my soul waits in silence.

Nights of dreams.

Nights of Dreams come,
Not for all, but for some.

I stare at the dark sky,
I can't reach coz it's high.

Looking at the stars, I pray,
Wherever you are, may you just say.

Wish my heart wasn't too low,
I wish I could suddenly bow.

I don't know, if you stare too,
But if you do, then I may too.

May this reach you, for once,
Coz now I can't just bounce.

Hope you miss the times,
And all those crazy rhymes.

Nights of Dreams come,
Not for all, but for some.

I may not say, but I do. I really do.

Sailing through the rough times.

Sailing through the rough times,
I wonder if it's payback for my crimes.

Wondering how it all went wrong,
I relentlessly make myself strong.

Making myself strong for good,
Coz I need to change my mood.

Changing the mood, I forget,
The shame, the wrong and the regret.

But someday, I guess I'll be at peace,
With myself and my work, without any grease.

Well, I believe it is your choice,
Make not much noise.

Before I sleep, I still dream,
About the times, and that dream.

But maybe life is such,
I don't expect much.

Happy to be what I am,
But wonder why all this I am.


Sailing through the rough times,
I wonder if it's payback for my crimes.

The right thing to do.

It's about time,

I make this rhyme.

Funny how time flies,

How love can go from warm hellos to sad goodbyes,

And leave you with the memories, you've memorized,

To keep your winters warm but summers dried.

For there's no 'yes' in yesterday,

And who knows what tomorrow brings or takes away.

But letting live,

Is what I can give.

And only ask to forgive,

Expectations is what I should outlive.

Happened again,

Have stop before I bargain.

Wish to go back and change my stuff,

But somethings are still rough.

It's about time,

I make this rhyme.

The only real obstacle to man's inability to commit is man himself.

Swinging with the Finkels.

No complains and no regrets,
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets.

I had my share,
I cannot spare.

I lie to me, I do regret,
But when I think, I get upset.

I might of stopped,
Had I known I'd be robbed.

But such is life,
And she is strife.

All I say, is I love her,
I wish we confer.

Someday down the lane,
I forgive me and live again.

Mistakes are made,
In all the shade.

But no complains and no regrets,
I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets.

Reject the action, not the person.

Zanarkand - The moment of realisation.

The essence of loving something lies in the difficulty of letting it go. Parting is always hurtful if not for the memories.

But, what I've realised is that parting with something is essential as sometimes it brings upon a new sense of living. It does make life beautiful for that something and maybe even us. Maybe the best is not in you, so why deny the best for others? When letting go can make them do better, make them stand on their own and live up to something they've always believed in and trusted themselves for.

Sometimes, we may stand in the way of our loved ones. And that is what is the real test I believe. The emotions that outlay this are innumerable. Hope always remains, although the dark may seem endless and daunting.

Making lives is a huge part of love, alongside love there grows an attachment which denies the thought of letting go. But love is all in the happiness in her eyes. Their happiness does inculcate a feeling of pleasure, comfort and relief in us.

What is better than seeing your people do well, although you aren't that connected any more. Some relations are for a smaller period I believe, but the mark they leave stays forever.

I see you moving ahead and doing good. It makes me feel so happy. Letting go is by far the best decision I've made for you I believe. May you grow, grow and grow into what you've always wanted to be. May your life be filled with all the rewards and deeds left in for you. May the best reside by you and support you in all your future endeavours.
I do love you, and will always be there for your inner self when it needs someone. Although you may deny, you still do, too! :)

May you live in interesting times and may the best reside by you.

Just an insight.

This probably is just an insight to the happenings. I don't even know what I'm writing.

2012 started off pretty bad, but as time went by I started realizing that things and people repel due to certain reasons. Maybe to be attract back stronger, maybe not. But whatever the outcome of this uncertain event is, we still have to be thankful and keep going with hope. This is so not my style of writing - serious.

Ok, now!
Vulnerable to the happenings, seclusion seemed as the only option. Tried, but didn't find a way to make it work. As they say, the best place to hide is in plain sight. It completely makes sense now. Whiling away time to get back to stability, now doesn't seem to help. Other aspects were affected too, none to blame though.

Some aspects always gone down and some go up. Cycle I guess. Whatever happens, I would still believe everything is just a phase and is yet to pass.

Ps: I write coz it makes me feel better about myself. :)

Needed Introspections

Fading times,
No more rhymes.

Although some say soul-searching and navel-gazing are quintessential necessities in one's life, I never felt the urge to pay attention to them. Until now, when I attribute the present day scenario to the negligence to such an introspection or other forms of solipsism.

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Sometimes, we learn the hard way. Well, most of the times, it is easier to learn things the hard way, but most of the times it is unexpected. When things don't go as planned, stop, think! Is this really not planned? Somewhere deep down inside it feels comforting to know that the unplanned is somewhat or somewhere planned.

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Some things may seam vary of the fact that they by virtue of their own existence are essential, but they are actually not.

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And lastly, some things are beautiful to see, but when we touch them, they turn into ash. Enjoy the mirage from a distance, greed to go closer might sometimes ruin the very nature of the source.

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Hope is something that is easy to think of, emotions are deadly weapons from the other side and hope on the other side is a horrible feeling. Uncertainity is unprocessed by my mind.

May you live in interesting times, may you get what you wish for