Fight, we shall!

One of the most defining speeches during the Second World War was made by Winston Churchill, perhaps one of the best War time leader of a Country. Maybe, just maybe, Manmohan Singh (or is it NO MAN SINGH as the sms's say) can take a leaf out of Winston Churchill during this period of national crisis. The speech from 1940 is reproduced below,

4 June 1940

"I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.

The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end,

we shall fight in France,

we shall fight on the seas and oceans,

we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,

we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,

we shall fight on the beaches,

we shall fight on the landing grounds,

we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

we shall fight in the hills;

we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

Arise, Awake.....................................

A group of men carrying AK 47's and grenades, trained in the neighbouring country hostile to India for decades, coming in by the sea and frontally attacking and killing Indians and our guests from different nationalities, destroying two major landmarks, holding hostages constitute an ACT OF WAR against my Country. If the Government were to live in the fool's world that War denotes only conventional warfare of attacking the borders by the foreign army, then they are sadly mistaken.

Let us make no mistake. WE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY THE ENEMY and WE ARE AT WAR.

We need to respond in a different way. The week kneed reaction of the Government makes me shudder to think about their ability to protect our country. We are sitting ducks for anyone who would like to take over our country.

I am also disappointed at all the political parties. Where are the Left parties, BJP, Congress, DMKs. AGP's, PDP's, JD(S) who call for Hartal and Bandh at the drop of a hat. We had the ridiculous situation of Dravidian parties shutting Tamil Nadu down for a day because Tamils in Srilanka were being killed. But when Indians die in India, they are very quiet. So much for patriotism. This was the time to show solidarity, call for a national bandh, exhort the people to come out to the street in millions to raise slogans against the terrorists. The sound of the slogans should reverbrate in distant Pakistan. I am sure our people would have come out in droves in support of such a worthy cause. Is anyone listening?

Finally, I am disappointed with the readers of this blog. This is the third post I am writing on the Mumbai attack. And I have not received a single comment. My earlier posts on terrorism had also not received any response from my readers. This blog may not amount to much, but we need to use every forum to express our anguish.

Fellow Indians, "Arise, Awake, and Stop Not Till the Goal Is Reached!", as Swami Vivekananda said long ago. Let us seize this moment and make a new beginning.

Breaking news

I switched on the TV.

The first shot was of Our Honourable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Super PM Sonia Gandhi walking into Taj Hotel without security, where the terrorists are still holed up. On queried by the cameramen, they replied that they are leading by example and will be in charge of the operations to flush out the terrorists, for they want to show that India is resilient and we cannot be cowed down.

Suddenly the scene shifted to two worthy Indians being air dropped to Nariman House where fighting was still going on. The camera zoomed and to my delight I saw that they were Arundhati Roy and Taesta Setalvad. They were going in to talk to the Terrorists about the Human Rights violation conducted by them.

Scene three showed Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and a clutch of secular politicians/journalists being held at gun point by the terrorists in Taj Hotel.

The TV showed a scene more macabre but one that gave the most joy. It showed our venerable Home Minister Shivraj Patil being stripped naked of his fancy suite and torn from limb to limb by an irate mob.

The last shot was after a while. The terrorists have been defeated and the body count had started. On top of the heap were the bodies of all the above VIPs.

I thought that there was a silver lining after all in even the most grotesque tragedy like the one in Mumbai.

Rrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggg.....................................................

The bloody phone woke me up and I realised with sadness that it was all a dream. But a pleasant dream neverthless.

No tears

Just after the last wave of terrorist attack couple of months back, I had warned in this post that two days after the event, we will forget about terrorism till the next major tragedy occurs. Instead of identifying the root cause, the UPA Government went on a parallel track that totally derailed the terrorist investigation, only to be rudely awakened with a monumental attack by terrorist in Mumbai yesterday. This is what happens when the Government plays dirty politics with police investigation, retains its home minister who is beneath contempt and conveys a message that it cannot do anything. The terrorists are emboldened. They no longer hide behind crude bombs planted in dustbins. They are out there, armed with AK 47s, shooting innocents at will in high profile locations.

There is no point in bashing the UPA Government. It has been an unmitigated disaster on all fronts.

I would like to remind Manmohan Singh what Srirama gave as advice to Bharatha on how to Administer a country.

"Oh, Bharatha. I hope the ministers you have appointed are valiant like you- full of learning, who have controlled their senses, who are born of high pedigrees (cultured family) and know the meaning of signs (discreet and shrewd).

The sound advice given by experienced ministers well versed in the laws of truth and virtues is the very foundation on which the prosperity of a King rests.

The learned in times of difficulty bring endless glory by solving knotty problems.

I hope you prefer learned men to thousands of fools (read Shivraj Patil). No help will come to a king if he seeks advice from thousands of evil advisers or even ten thousands of them.

Even if there is a single minister if only he is wise, brave, clever and discreet, he will bring fame and prosperity to a King big or small.

I hope the person appointed as your Commander-in-chief is ever pleased, full of resolution, is gallant and talented, is of spotless character and well-born and devoted and clever."

If Manmohan Singh were to ask the above questions to himself, he will find out that the answers to all the questions are in the negative

As I have said before, the people of this country doesnt care. We do not take national issues to our hearts. A bomb blast in distant Mumbai doesnt affect us as it is far away. And we deserve what we have got - A school drop out foreigner whose only qualification is that she married a mentally average son of a tyrant prime minister, as our Super prime minister, an educated economist who is a political non entity as Prime Minister, a disastrous psychophant as Home Minister, a Party that has lost all its values as the leading ruling party, a group of rascals who head smaller regional parties which are prepared to sell their mothers and sisters for a price as coalition partners.

I have always said Cry! My beloved country. But not today. We do not even deserve to shed tears. For you and me are insipid, self-centred to such an extend that we have forgotten how to protest.

India will be better off only when we, citizens, decide to stand up and fight.

Till then terrorist attacks will continue with impunity. The next target could be you.

Picking holes on a 'Wise' advice from a Financial Consultant

I promised yesterday to post a mail that is going around as forwarded from a Financial Consultant in Dubai, who has conveniently remained incognito. His suggestions are in italics and my comments in capital letters.

As forwarded by a financial consultant, in Dubai. Recession is coming... make your own judgment, don't panic! Do what is wise.

The recession looks very eminent. It is really time to take pro active steps to avoid a painful time in the next two years which is how long the recession is expected to last.

WE HAVE GONE THROUGH RECESSIONS BEFORE. SO THIS IS NOTHING NEW AND NOTHING TO BE PANICKED ABOUT. THE TRICK WITH RECESSION IS NOT TO PANIC. INDIAN ECONOMY IS NOT THAT AFFECTED AND IS EXPECTED TO BOUNCE BACK IN LESS THAN A YEAR. DEVELOPED ECONOMIES WILL TAKE ABOUT 18 -24 MONTHS.

Suggestions:
1. Don't take any loans; buy homes, properties with loans, or even cash. Keep as much cash as possible.
WHY CASH? KEEPING CASH IN THE LOCKER DOESNT MAKE IT GROW. YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR MONEY WORK. INVEST JUDICIOUSLY. AVOID HIGH RISK, HIGH RETURN INVESTMENTS. BUT DONT KEEP IT AS CASH.

2. Pay off as much of personal loans, private loans, as debt collection will be hastened.
AGAIN WHY? THESE LOANS WERE TAKEN WHEN INTEREST RATES WERE LOWER. YOU HAVE SIGNED A LONG TERM AGREEMENT WITH THE FIN.INSTITUTION. THEY CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT EVEN IF THEY WANT. SO KEEP PAYING YOUR EMI AS USUAL. DO NOT FORECLOSE THE LOAN AT ALL.

3. Sell any stocks you can even at lower prices.
STOCKS ARE AT THE LOWEST. THIS IS THE TIME TO BUY SOME GOOD BLUE CHIP SHARES AS THEIR SHARE VALUE IS CURRENTLY HIGHLY DISCOUNTED. BUY COMPANYS SHARES WITH GOOD TRACK RECORD

4. Take money off from Trust Funds.
TO SOME EXTEND YES AS THESE FUNDS HAVE NOT PROVEN TO BE WISE IN INVESTMENTS

5. Don't believe in huge sales forecast from customers, be extremely prudent, lowest inventories, reduce liabilities.
BUT WHAT IF THE CUSTOMERS FORECAST WAS CORRECT. HE WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR LETTING HIM DOWN IN NEED. USE YOUR JUDGEMENT. ANYWAY IF YOU HAVE GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS, YOU WILL KNOW HIS SITUATION OR RATHER YOU SHOULD.

6. Don't invest in new capital.
RIDICULOUS. ASSETS ARE PRICED LOW NOW. THIS IS THE TIME TO BUY ASSETS USING CAPITAL

7. If you are selling homes/ properties/ cars, do it now, when you can get good prices, they are going to fall.
YOU WONT GET GOOD PRICES NOW. DONT SELL.HOLD ON TO YOUR INVESTMENTS OR ELSE YOU WILL LOSE.

8. Don't invest in new business proposals.
AGAIN RIDICULOUS. THIS IS THE TIME TO PLAN FOR THE BOOM PERIOD. INVEST IN NEW BUSINESS THAT HAVE A LONG GESTATION

9. Cancel holiday plans using credi! t cards.
WHY? NO REASON AT ALL. IN FACT HOLIDAY PACKAGES ARE ATTRACTIVE NOW

10. Don't change jobs, as companies will retrench based on 'last in first out'.
THIS COULD BE TRUE. BUT WHAT IF COMPANIES SACK YOU FIRST?

SO ALL IN ALL THIS IS A TRUE PESSIMISTIC OUTLOOK GIVEN BY A HALF BAKED, HALF ASSED FINANCIAL NINCOMPOOP WHO DOESNT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BUSINESS CYCLES OR MACRO ECONOMICS. IT IS GUYS LIKE HIM WHO HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM DUE TO LOUSY ADVICES LIKE THESE

Opportunity in a Crisis

Yesterday I got a forwarded mail from one of my students that was purportedly from a top Financial Consultant in Dubai telling people how gloomy the global financial situation was and how it is likely to be worse in the next couple of years. His advice was that everyone should liquidate all their assets and keep the money as cash. They should also not dream of investing in anything. I have never heard anything sillier than that (I shall post his points with my comments tomorrow). There is an opportunity in every crisis. Entreprising people look for one and captialize on it. Read the story below,

A farmer owned an old mule. One day, the mule fell into the farmer's well. The mule brayed loudly and caught the attentionof the farmer. Upon assessing the situation, the farmer ruled out any possibility of a rescue as it was simply too much trouble to lift the mule out of the well.

Out of sympathy for the animal, he decided to enlist his neighbors' help to haul dirt into the well to put the mule out of his misery.The old mule was hysterical upon learning that his life would thus end. However, as the farmer and the neighbors shoveled the dirt into the well, a thought struck the old mule. He realized that if he could shake off every dirt that landed on his back, the dirt would hit the floor and he could step on the dirt. Shovel after shovel, he continued relentlessly to shake off the dirt and step on top of it. He fought the sense of panic and distress and just went on shaking off the dirt and climbing higher up the well. With much determination and perseverance, the old mule eventually stepped out the well, battered and exhausted, but otherwise triumphant that he had survived the ordeal. Through the way he handled the situation of adversity, the act of burying him in fact saved his life.

Chanakya neethi in today's context

I read these excerpts from Chanakya Neethi on the web and thought it worthwhile to share with you. I have done some editing but have not compromised on the contents. Of course whatever written inside the brackets are my thoughts.

Society is a complex and dynamic system changing constantly leaving those people behind who say no to change. Broadly speaking, Chanakya dreamt of a country reaching the following levels of development in terms of ideologies and social and economic development:

A self sufficient economy which is not dependent on foreign trade. (This may sound strange in the era of gloabalization. But, what he was implying was that we should be able to control our destiny. Too much of integration with global economy will end in us losing our sovereignty. The current global crisis is a pointer in that direction. We are being punished for someone else's follies. Also, the over dependance on imported crude has played havoc with our economy)

An egalitarian society where there are equal opportunities for all. (The ultimate aim of any society. Hence, no comments)

Establishment of new colonies for the augmentation of resources. He also advocated the development of the already annexed colonies. His imperialistic views can be interpreted as the development of natural and man made resources. (This is a bit tricky in today's world. We need to look at leveraging the core competencies of other countries to augment ours. We need not annex these countries physically, but can bind them up economically, as US does)

The state should take care of agriculture at all times. Government machinery should be directed towards the implementation of projects aimed at supporting and nurturing the various processes; beginning from sowing of seeds to harvest. (This is quite interesting. Though the main focus is to ensure food security, it also means the need for Government to support non value added farming activity, to discourage people from moving away to other sectors. Very vital from India's view point)

The cities would act as giant markets increasing the revenue of the state. Internal trade more important to than external trade. At each point of the entry of goods, a minimal amount of tax should be collected. The state should collect taxes at a bare minimum level, so that there is no chance of tax evasion. (So true. It still baffles me why we are having so many check posts on the State borders. The tax system is so complex that people avoid paying tax just because, it is not logically affordable or becuase since the taxes are high, the incentive to evade tax is also high. If the tax is 4%, I am sure every one will not hesitate to pay it, whereby increasing the collection through sheer volume. Better to have a low tax, high collection regime than a high tax, low collection regime)

Oh! for a leader with balls

I am disappointed with the troika of Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Now, I can hear you sigh and say "Here he goes again. Indulging in his favourite past time of Government bashing".

Great leadership (even good governance) calls for seizing the opportunity and being the trend rather than following the trend. India, has for long, been following the trend but has never set the trend.

We missed the bus in 1970's when the economy was crying to be opened up. We missed the manufacturing boom that ensued. We did not built on the Green revolution of the 1960's. The only time we took leadership was in IT,but that was more by accident than by any design of the Government. Even the IT sector failed to grasp the need for coming up with low cost solutions to reach out to the masses, that would have given them volumes unimaginable. And, we totally overlooked the business opportunity in the Hardware sector. Our IT sector was happy to pander to the blue collared needs of the developed countries to earn the green currency in doves.

Here was the opportunity of a life time. The developed countries are reeling and confused. Their facade of financial superiority in shambles. They are rocking as they just dont have a Plan B. They dont have an agricultural base, their manufacturing industries are costly and untenable (last heard all the Auto giants GM, Ford and Chrysler are facing bankruptcy in one month), financial services sector in a coma, hardly any money in circulation, unemployment on the rise............the list of woes is endless.

India is relatively better off. We did not lose our shirt in the sub prime market. Our banking structure is sound. Stock market suffered mainly due to faulty government policies of yore that allowed unrestricted Foreign Institutional Investments in India, rather than much more long term Foreign Direct Investment in long term infrastructure projects that would have prevented reverse flow of capital. The major worry was runaway inflation and the rising crude oil prices.

But the last two are under control, but no thanks are due to the Government. The inflation is down to 8 + (which is still high but manageable) mainly due to the fall in global oil prices and the good harvest during the Kharif. Inflation in India has always been traditionally seen to be falling post kharif. The Crude oil prices are at rock bottom now.

What should the Government have done? They should have

Slashed the interest rate drastically that would have fuelled the cycle of growth. Admitted, inflation would have gone up but that would have been manageable. This one act would have send the right kind of signals to the industry and small investors.

Reduced the petroleum prices. It is ridiculous that ATF prices have been slashed by 40% to save the Airlines (whose losses are more due to poor business models) but the Petrol, Diesel prices have not been slashed. The inflationary pressure that would have been felt on reduction of interest rates would have been offset by the subsequent reduction in commodity prices through lower transportation charges.

Scrap the pay commission report. The government employees dont deserve a single paisa as pay revision for they hardly do any job and are corrupt to boot. Some might argue that people will quit Government sector for Private sector. So be it. Good riddance. Dont fill those vacancies. At least the exchequer would be saved of considerable waste. (The latest is that the Public Sector employees are expected to get a 300% hike. For what? An incentive for running PUC's to ground?)

Read the riot act to the Banks. The financial crisis is mainly due to poor inter bank lending. If banks dont trust each other, then how can a common man trust a bank. Encourage the banks to merge. We have too many banks who doesnt have the size to compete globally. Indian banks just dont aim to have a global presence. If we are to grab the global leadership, we need to have really world class, huge asset based financial institutions than can make of break countries. All the Indian Banks can be merged into 3 or 4. Anyway, why do we need so many banks ?

Create a India International Fund. This fund can act like IMF. Use this fund as a handle to control the financial markets of other countries.

Give substantial incentives to our Manufacturing base. This is where our strength lies. Abundant educated manpower.Strong engineering base. Let us become an industrial superpower in 20 years.

Put Mani Shankar Aiyer back in Petroleum ministry. The guy had great ideas on energy security before he was kicked out at US instance. This is the time to tie up long term contracts for Energy, as assets are cost effective and Oil producing countries are worried about reduced investment in the sector. India should go ahead, invest massively in Energy Assets, and leverage long term contracts.

None of the above I have mentioned is impractical.

But the ego centric, US a** licking troika of MMS, PC and MSA do not have the guts to do it. What a crying shame!

Oh! for a leader with balls!

Everything happens for good

In one of India's little kingdoms of long ago there lived a King who (like most of them) was fond of hunting in wild places.

His Chief Advisor was a very intelligent man, and also a very optimistic one. He was famous for seeing the rosy side of things. In fact, so strong was his habit of finding good in everything that at times this annoyed his ruler.

One day when the King and his Advisor were on a hunting trip through a dense jungle which went on for miles, the King decided to have a fresh coconut for his breakfast, and, finding a coconut tree near at hand, with his sword cut down a coconut. But as luck would have it, his sword slipped in his hand and came crashing down on one of his toes, cutting it off!

Limping over to his Advisor with loud shouts of pain, he was terribly shocked to hear the latter say, "Ah, that's wonderful!""What?!" yelled the King; "I cut off my toe and you say it is wonderful?""This is a real blessing," replied the Advisor.

By now the King was furious, thinking the man was making fun of him."Take it from me," said his Advisor, "behind this apparent bad accident there is some good which we cannot now see."

That was it! The King had noticed a dry well nearby, and being a strong man, he picked up his companion and just threw him into that well. Then he set out to limp back to his fortified town and castle.

This meant, however, walking through dense jungle, frequented by the wild tribes of those days, some of whom were headhunters. On his way the King met a band of those headhunters, who decided that, being royalty, he would make an excellent sacrifice for this month's festival. As you may imagine, the King did not feel at all honored by this decision. The warriors carried him to the tribal priest. It was the duty of this priest to approve all of the offerings that were to be presented. The priest was most particular to see that the item to be offered to the gods was perfect in all respects.

While anointing the King's body the priest noticed that he was lacking one toe.

"I am sorry," he told the King, "but we cannot use you after all for this holy sacrifice. The gods will not accept anyone who is not whole-bodied You will have to go."

Naturally the King was delighted and began hobbling away toward his palace. Aha! he thought, so his Advisor had been right -- there was indeed a hidden blessing behind that accident.

As fast as his wounded leg would allow, he turned around and went back to the well where he had left his counsellor. There he was, standing down in the well and whistling happily to himself.

Now the king managed to reach down far enough to grasp the hand of the Advisor and with great effort to pull him up. Then he apologized for having doubted him and having thought him a fool.

"Oh how sorry I am that I threw you in there," said the King as he dusted off his courtier. "I was taken prisoner by some wild native headhunters who were about to make me a sacrifice victim. Then they saw that my toe was missing, and let me go. And you foretold all this, in a way. Can you ever forgive me?"

"You need not apologize at all; it was a blessing that you threw me down the well and left me there."

"Now, how are you going to make something positive out of that?" queried the King.

"Well," said the other, "if I had been with you they would surely have taken me for their sacrifice."

Pearls from Chanakyaneethi

Pearls from Chanakya Neethi,

"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first." - (Can vouch from personal experience that this is true)


"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth." - (People always ask WIIFM (What Is In it For Me))


"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."


"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends." - I fully endorse the first and the last. I am not a great votary of scolding my children at any age.

All for a loincloth - Story

One of the tales Sri Ramakrishna used to tell is about a holy man who had given up all his possessions. His teacher had advised him to make a little hut thatched with palm leaves, in a solitary place away from the public. This he did. He began to live there, meditating long hours and going out only to beg his one meal of the day.


But there was one problem. After his morning bath, the sadhu (holy man) would hang his loincloth on the limb of a tree close to the hut. When he returned from the village it would be dry. It would also have some holes in it! It turned out that rats were running up the tree and chewing holes in the cloth. Rats will munch on almost anything.


One day he decided to dry it on the roof of his hut. That was worse. The rats tore it into shreds, and he had to go and beg a new one in the village. When the villagers heard of his predicament, they said, “Who is going to supply you with cloth all the time? Why not keep a cat; that will chase the rats away.” So someone in the village gave him a kitten, he brought it home to the hut, and sure enough, the rats disappeared and the trouble stopped.


The sadhu became delighted and took great care of the cat. Not finding any rats, it needed milk, so he went again to the village and begged for milk for the cat. After some days, a villager said, “We can't go on this way. Who is going to supply you with milk all year long? Why not keep a cow; that way you too will have milk – you and your cat.”


It took a long time for the man to acquire a cow. Finally someone took pity on him and gave him one. Of course the cow had to be milked. Moreover eventually she ate up all the greenery for yards around. “What will the cow eat now?” he thought. Going to the village to beg for some straw, he got more advice. What do you think it was?


“Till the land around your place and grow your own grain!”


With great difficulty the sadhu was able to clear land, cultivate it with borrowed tools, and sow a crop. His days were busy. His hut grew into more of a house.


One day his teacher came that way. What he saw was a collection of possessions. He inquired of a passerby, “An ascetic used to live in this hut, a meditator with no possessions. Do you know where he has gone?” But the traveler knew nothing. The teacher ventured into the place and found his disciple.


“What! You went out to be alone, and to meditate. You were going to renounce everything and be free. What in the world happened?” Shame-faced, the man told his story.


And this is why Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “Be careful: ‘All for a loincloth.’”

Are these jokers for real?

Three separate statements by three worthies from our ruling party -Congress (I) on the same day.

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said "the UPA Government is not only fighting terrorism but also winning on the front" - I am really baffled on the claim of 'Winning'. What does this mean? That the number of terror strikes have come down from once in 30 days to once in 29.99 days? I have not seen any signs of Government winning. Have you?

Contending that the Government was ‘strong enough to manage’ terrorism, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday said, however, ‘weapons’ alone will not be able to help combat the menace in the country - What noble thoughts! Pray my idiot of a Home Minister, can you tell me what other than weapons will combat the menace? Holding the terrorist by the arms and patting him on the back? And what does 'managing' terrorism mean? Does it mean that it is alright to have terrorism as long as Government is able to 'manage' it? Or is it that Patil has let the cat out of the bag? Are we to understand that the terrorist strikes so far are ' (stage) managed' by the Government?

Finally, here is a Sheila Dikshit gem. "The government is not sitting on the file. We are just deciding on the fate of the convict," Dikshit told reporters when asked about the issue of Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court - It must be one hell of a decision making process, for as far as I know the issue was refered to the Delhi Government more than 2 years ago. And she continued to make a more bizzaire statement, "Only the decision has to be taken whether he should be hanged or given life imprisonment. We will not allow Afzal Guru to get out of jail." - Here is a guy who is sentenced to death by the Supreme Court and the Delhi Chief Minister is claiming that she will not allow him to get out of jail. As if she has the power to do it. Or is it that she is just echoing her parties wish?

Are these three jokers for real?

I know that there is a political license (akin to poetic license) during campaigning. But this is idiotic and I am being charitable.

The s**t that goes as news these days

The s**t that are considered newsworthy by newspapers these days,

"An Indian doctor has sworn a legal undertaking (sic) that she will improve her handwriting after judges complained that they could not read her spidery scrawl" - (umm.......... if this judgement were to be extended to ALL the DOCTORS in India, then there is a tremendous market potential for Pencils and Two line/Four line note books. Imagine our esteemed Judges peering over moon glasses with a cane in the hand and watching the doctors practice their handwriting. And pray what is this lady doctor supposed to do. Write "I shall improve my handwriting 1ooo times and go to the courtroom next day to show the worthy judge her homework?. Give me a break.There are millions of important cases on which judgements have not been passed pending for decades and our courts find time to pass such frivolous judgements)

"Indian man killed for urinating against a wall" - ( No.I am not conning you. This happened a couple of days back in India. The poor guy had one too many and took a leak, whack! and next thing he knows, he is in the gates to the pearly heaven. Now, now what will he be saying up there "Let those who dont urinate against a wall, smash my skull", and he will not find a single man in India, high or low. Anyway what is a wall for, if you cant piss against it?)

"A woman died on the way to a cemetery when a traffic accident hurled her husband’s coffin against the back of her neck" - (The husband must be humming,"Ta ra Ta ra, what I couldn't do alive(or didnt have the guts to), I achieved when dead". May his soul Rest In Peace)

"Monkeys ransack police officer's office in Agra" - ( The reporter surely got his lines mixed up. It HAS TO be 'Police officers ransacked Monkey's office'. Anyway, I was wondering what the monkeys would have obtained from ransacking the office! Couple of bottles of run, beedi bits?)

"First portable toilet for Everest" - (Now, now. Why do Everest want a toilet? Does Everest shit?)

These are the kinds of things our newspapers are made of. All the above appeared on a single day. No wonder newspapers are lamenting fall in readership. Who wants to read the above 's**t'?

Of dreams, imaginations and childhood

There is something mystical and enchanting about the unknown. Sometimes I wish we are not in the Information era, where you have a logical reason (well millions in fact, if one were to search Google), for everything.

What triggered this thought was the news report that Chandrayan 1 has reached the lunar orbit and planted Indian Tri Colour on the lunar surface. A very credible achievement by ISRO, considering the state they were in the 1970's, when they were the butt of every second mimicry troupe. (For eg: The American saying that he will send another rocket to destroy the rocket he has sent before to space so that the debris doesnt fall on earth, Russian saying he will send another rocket to retrieve the one he sent earlier, while the contemplative ISRO scientist saying quietly that he will send divers to retrieve the rocket he has fired, for almost all of them ended up under the sea near Sriharikota).

Chandrayan 1, for me totally demystifies the moon. I know man first landed on Moon in 1969. But hey! that was by the US Astronauts, not Indians. Now the reality has come closer to home.

There are two things one was never tired of watching for hours - Full Moon and a fully grown majestic male Elephant. Even today, I love to watch the full moon in all its glory.

Contrary to its link with romanticism, Full moon evokes a melancholy feeling in me - for it was on a full moon day that I lost my father, with whom I was very close. It is almost as if he looks down on me from the moon on those days. Sounds absurd, but strage are the associations formed by the mind.

One needs mystic objects and abstract unknowns to dream. I don't know what children of these days dream of. I am sure they have their own dream world.

Is it about Full moon, elephants, or mythical animals?. Pegasus, the white flying horse from the greek mythology, was a favourite of mine. Bellerophon, taming Pegasus, to fight the triple headed monster Chimera was rivetting to me as a child. Imagining sitting on a flying horse made many of my childhood days. In the story, there is a young Greek boy who helps Bellerophon to capture Pegasus and bridle him. I always put me in that young boys place in my imagination.

Would really love to know what today's kids dream of. Can someone enlighten me?

Till then let me black out my mind about Chandrayaan 1 and the controversy surrounding elephants in captivity in Kerala. Let me be the child that I always was.

Allow me to look up and speak to the rabbit hidden in the full moon!

Whose dream?

A lovely story on a Saturday morning,

Here is a story which has travelled all around in Europe and the Middle East, and perhaps all over the world by now. However, maybe you haven't heard it. I am going to give it to you in the way it is told by the Hasidic Jews of Eastern Europe.

Have you heard of Cracow, a famous city in Poland? Once upon a time there lived in Cracow a certain Isaac, the son of Yekel. Isaac was devoted to God and followed all the religious customs of the Jewish people there, but he was very poor and had many debts; the rent was overdue, his grocery bill unpaid; his daughters were of an age to be married, and poor Isaac would have to pay for their weddings! So he moaned and groaned. He worried day and night. In the synagogue and out of the synagogue he told God all about it and offered prayers to the Lord begging him to relieve his poverty.

It was no use. God did not seem to listen. Isaac went on with his requests just the same; neither did he become less poor nor did he become less devoted to the Lord.

Then one night he had a strange dream. He was carried away to another country and to a bridge in a great city. A voice told him, "This is Prague [Capital of what is now the Czech Republic]. Now look well, for under the bridge, at the spot where you are standing, there is a treasure, buried; it is waiting for you, it is yours."

When he awoke in the morning, Isaac laughed and shrugged off his dream. Mere wish-fulfilment. But the same dream came that night! Prague, the bridge, the treasure! This time the voice asked him, "Well, do you want to be rich, or would you rather keep all your worries?" Still Isaac thought, What nonsense! Prague was so far away and he had no money for the trip. Moreover, he didn't know anyone there. "It is better to pray than to dream, " he said, and began more prayers to God.

Of course you know by now that these things always happen three times: that magic number three. Sure enough, the third night he saw the same spot under the bridge, and the voice said:

"What! You haven't left yet?"

Isaac was annoyed and just a bit curious. At last he set out on foot for Prague and walked all the way. He found the river, recognized the bridge, saw the familiar-looking spot. But how could he dare to dig? Soldiers were above, guarding the bridge. What if they should notice? He would surely be arrested. Isaac walked around trying to decide what to do.

Alas! The captain of the guard came and took him in, accusing him of spying. Simple and truthful as he was, Isaac could only stammer out his story. He was sure he would be called a liar and put in prison. But what do you know -- the captain began to laugh, and he laughed hard.

"Did you really come all the way from Cracow believing in a dream? You're crazy, man! Who believes in dreams? Why, do you know that if I were as silly as you are, I'd be in Cracow myself right now? I dreamed, night after night, that a voice was telling me, 'There's a treasure waiting for you at the house of a Cracow Jew named Isaac, son of Yekel. Yes, under the stove.' Now, half the Jews in Cracow are named Isaac and the other half Yekel. And they all have stoves! Can you see me going from house to house tearing down the stoves and digging for treasure?"

Isaac hurried home and found the treasure buried under the stove in his house. He paid his debts, got his daughters married, and had enough left to build a synagogue in honor of the Lord he had never deserted and who had not deserted him.

Very often we discover that what we seek most is right under our nose.

-------------------- Souls Afire, by Elie Wiesel

3 Things Organizations SHOULD NOT DO during a Recession

We are in the midst of a global recession (well depression really). The prognosis doesnt look great for the immediate future. What this will mean is lower industrial growth, stagnation in services, increasing unemployment, need for Corporates to tighten their belt to protect their bottomlines.

There is a myth that Organizations have to maximize profit all the time. This is a creation of the modern capitalist world. This is not true. Organizations have been too happy to rake in extra ordinary profit when the times were good. On the corollary they should be able to sacrifice profit for organizational health during the lean periods. The objective should be to retain the position and build the company for the future. When the going is good, most organizations do not have time to introspect and plan for the future. But recessionary times are ideal to take a deep breath and make directional changes.

I have seen Organizations fall into a trap during lean times by doing the following,

1. Cutting down on Manpower and/or reducing Employee compensation

2. Considerable reduction in Marketing expenses

3. Cut back on new Product Development activities.

All the three have disastrous consequences. Loyal, good employees are as concerned about the recession as the Organization. This is the time to call them and say, "Look, we are going through a bad phase. This is temporary. We want to assure you that we value your contribution over the years and look forward to what you can achieve in the future. We will prepare this company for the future. No Salary/Benefit cuts will be implemented. In fact, we will give you additional benefits to uplift you during this touch period". Imagine the impact of such a statement on employees morale.

Ditto for point number two. Customer loyalty is created over a period of time. Reducing marketing expenses, especially advertising, can be counter-productive. Customers need to be reassured that their favourite Company and Products are in great shape. So keep on communicating with them.

New products cannot be built in a jiffy. It is a long drawn process. Slashing new product development budget is akin to slashing your throat. This is time to prepare the company for the growth phase post recession. More money has to be spent on Product Development and Market Research.

If all these means substantial reduction in profit, so be it. Why should shareholders alone not feel the pinch of the hard times?

Irritating Phrases

Researchers at Oxford University has come up with the Top 10 Irritating Phrases in English after a scientific study (don't ask my why people waste time and money on such an endeavor).

The top ten most irritating phrases are ;

1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science

I know of at least a couple of them that are not that common in India, like 'Fairly unique', 'Shouldn't of' and maybe even 'It's a nightmare'.

But I can tell you couple of words that irritate me a lot,

'What man' - used by the Convent educated girls from Kashmir to Kanyakumari

'Only' - There is a tendency to add the word 'Only' at the end of every sentence. "I had lunch yesterday only na", " You could have called me. I was simply sitting only"

In malayalam, I just can't stand the word 'Adipoli'. This word has crept into the vocabulary of late, and I hear even highly educated people using it once every 10 sentences.

Pitfalls of Copy, Pasting

I have been fighting a losing battle (well, not quite) against students doing Cut, Copy and Paste to complete their assignments. This disease obviously has extended to the Corporate World, where every second document is Cut, copied and pasted. Hardly anyone seem to do any original work these days.

But danger lurks around the corner. I have come across some hilarious instances while valuing assingments and at workplace.

One that takes the cake was by a lady student doing her First Year MBA in Kuwait. As part of an assignment, she wrote "When I was in Siberia, doing a Consultancy, I met the CEO Mr........... and his response was...................................................". Knowing fully well that this particular student has never been to any countries other than Kuwait and India, I made a cryptic query on the Assignment " Can I please have a look at your Passport's visa pages?"

Another case was when I was working in the Investment Company. I go a document to review that was prepared by a Jordanian colleague of mine. The document was the Private Placement Memorandum of 50 pages for our new Investment Bank in Bahrain. The document repeatedly said "This bank in Palestine". On investigating, it came to the notice that the guy, who was a middle level executive, had cut, copied and pasted from another Bank's PPM document released earlier in the year and promptly forgot to take care of the Palestine issue.

Then there was this apocryphical incident,

A popular motivational speaker was entertaining his audience. Said he… 'The best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who wasn't my wife!'The audience was in silence and shock.

The speaker added… 'And that woman was my mother!'Laughter and applause…

A week later, a top manager trained by the motivational speaker tried to crack this very effective joke at home. He was a bit foggy after a drink.He said loudly… 'The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman who was not my wife!'The wife went mad with shock and rage.

Standing there for 20 seconds trying to recall the second half of the joke, the manager finally blurted out '….and I can't remember who she was!'

Moral of the story: Don' copy, but in case you have to, don't copy if you can't paste!

The lantern

There are said to be 500,000 villages in India.

In olden days, the Indian village hired a night-watchman to keep down crime and accidents. He would go around the streets and lanes with a square metal lantern, open only at the front.

The watchman could see, wherever the lantern cast its light. No rays of light fell on him, who carried the lantern. If you wanted to see who the watchman was, you had to ask him to turn the lamp back on his own face.

We are like that! Our eyes (ears, tongue, etc.) are all facing outward, looking at and feeling the things of the world.

God says, "if you want to see me, turn the lamp around; look within and find the Source of all the light." - As told by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

When will our teachers be ready?

I have always held the belief that the root cause for the current state of education is the quality (or rather the lack of it) of the school teachers at the Primary and Secondary level. They lack in both the understanding of the childrens psychology and on how to transfer the knowledge to the kids. This also stems from the fundamental deficiency in understanding the nature of their job. Merely getting a post graduate degree and B.Ed is no substitute for wisdom, as illustrated by this story,

"In ancient India there lived a certain wise king. One day a pandit (scholar and teacher) who had studied many scriptures and holy books came to the palace and asked to see the king.

"Your Majesty," said he, "I should like it very much if you would permit me to teach you the Bhagavatam, the holy scripture on the life of Sri Krishna. I will not require an unreasonable fee."

Now the king, a good judge of human nature, knew enough of that great book to realize that the pandit, scholar that he was, still had not understood what it says. Otherwise, why would he be coming to a king's palace in search of wealth instead of seeking for the Lord in the depths of his own heart. He said to the pandit: "I perceive that you have not fully mastered the Bhagavatam as yet. I will make you my tutor only when you have learned it well."

As he went on his way the scholar thought to himself, "Why, I've been studying the book over and over all these years. How foolish the king is to say that I have not mastered it!" Yet a seed of doubt had been sown in his mind. He carefully read the book again and again he applied to the king.

This time the king repeated the same thing.Mightily puzzled, the pandit reached home and shut himself in his room. He pored over the holy book day and night, and gradually the truth began to dawn on him. Then he began to see his own vanity and greed for the riches and courts of kings, and also for his own fame. Now he applied himself entirely to the worship of God and never thought once of returning to the king.

After a few years the king became curious and paid a visit to the pandit's house. There he found a changed man, radiant with divine light and love.

The king fell on his knees. "I see," he said, "that you have now realized the true meaning of the Bhagavatam. I am ready to be your disciple if you will teach me."

When will our teachers be ready?

Master of Manodharma

Carnatic music places an equal emphasis on Structured music (Kalpitam) and Creative/extempore music (Manodharmam). Many rasikas think that the music reaches its pinnacle mainly through manodharmam. It is not that easy to be creative and explore in a technically tight music like Carnatic music. Also, both the normal education system and the musical education paramparya focusses more on the structured, tried and tested than on the creative, unstructured and unexplored. Madurai T N Seshagopalan is one of my favourites for the simple reason that he is extremely creative and has tremendous manodharma. There are many moments in his cutcheri when momentarily you transcend to a different mood. That is the ultimate accolade for a musician. You, as a rasika, feel liberated.

Besides one need to have an inborn creativity to have manodharmam. This is true of not only music, but management and life too. And also cricket.

The contrast between the structured and the creative is seen when Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman bat. VVS has so much creativity that he can virtually do anything with the bat when he is in mood. Ditto for Mohd. Azaruddin. Normally the occidentals do not possess this manodharma. They come out of the structured school of thought. But you do rarely get a Mark Waugh or a David Gower. They, like VVS, are sublime.

For a person who had the damocle's sword over his head for most of his career, VVS completing 100 Test Matches is a tremendous achievement. We all owe him an apology for not taking him seriously. He is held in high regard by the opponents and his team mates. And only when he stops playing that we will realize what we will be missing.

We take certain people and certain things for granted. The magical creative batting of VVS is one such thing. Pure manodharma! Like T N Seshagopalan, VVS takes you to a different plane and holds you spell bound.

This world will be poorer without people like them.

Mera Bharath Mahan?

India is like my MBA students. They are more concerned about their rights and what they can get from others (mainly the faculty and the university) but do rarely bother to understand their responsibilities as a student and behave accordingly.

It is essential for everyone to be conscious of their responsibilities, understand the opportunities and take advantage of them. You need to show the way and lead by example.

India screams that it is the next emerging economic super power. But when the opportunity arose last month to flex its muscle, it cringed and prefered to be the lackey to the Developed Countries. We were no where in the radar during this economic crisis. This was a chance for us to come out with out of the box thinking and take charge. But, we missed the bus.

We beat our chests and claim that we are a Regional super power. But then what do we do. We refuse to take ownership or leadership in the Region. As a result of which, all our neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Srilanka and even the tiny Myanmar looks at us with contempt, and thumbs their nose at us at every given opportunity. They infiltrate terrrorists, train our militants, destablize our country, damage our economy through counterfeit notes and tell us to go and fly a kite if we offer any sort of advice to them. What is the point in being a military power if you cannot defend your own territory?

We are never tired of telling that we are the largest democracy in the World. But then what do we do. We allow a handful of people (a miniscule percentage) to hold the majority to ransom- be it terrorists, or rogue politicians like Raj Thackeray. We also allow criminals to go scot free. It is as if anyone can do anything he damn well pleases and walk away. Democracy also comes with responsibilities for the State. But they are blissfully unaware of this.

When will India change? When will we have someone as a leader who will make us proud? When will we, as a nation, have some spine? When can we say to the world with conviction "Mera Bharath Mahan"?

Gem from Arthasasthra

Arthasasthra by Chanakya is a goldmine of Management thought as it should be applied.

Any Orgnization cannot be individualistic and live in isolation. Its actions should be relative with Mithra (Friend or Ally) and Vairee (Enemy).

Mithra consists of the groups who would come to the support of the organiztion for peace and harmony. Vairees are those who attempt to shatter the Organization.

Both the alleys and enemies could be from within or outside. It should be the duty of the Managmenet to support a Mitra, and successfully manipulate and win over a Vairee.

How do you do this? One needs certain attributes like Cleverness of Speech, Intelligence, Knowledge of Politics, Memory, Ethics and Readiness to provide the resources. And infinite patience.

The concept of Upeksha or Diplomacy is recommended as an useful strategy to be explored, coupled with a pragmatic approach based on the realities of a given situation.

Isn't this what a networked organization is all about?

Back tomorrow

Busy day at work. Shall be back tomorrow

Titbits

"Almost all Tamil film stars turned up on Saturday for a day-long fast to express solidarity with the 'affected Tamils' in the ongoing offensive in Sri Lanka" - Now if you thought they were making a great sacrifice by starving, you are mistaken. The fast was from 8 am to 4 pm. Have a hefty breakfast at 7.55 am and you can be back for lunch at 4.05 pm. Anyway this is better than the other farcical product improvisation - relay fast. Here people will fast alternatively every two hours. The original innovator of fasting - a guy called Mahatma Gandhi must be turning in his grave.

Fakaruddin Ali Ahmed Award for National Integration was conferred on noted actress and social activist Shabana Azmi for the year 2007-08 by the President Pratibha Patil - Can someone enlighten me what 'national integration' was done by the worthy winner in the year concluded? Last heard she was trying to polarize the Hindus and Muslims in Mumbay by making, what turned out to be a false allegation, that she was being denied purchase of a Flat in Mumbai just because she is a Muslim. Maybe that qualifies her for an award on National Integration. Anyway she is richer by Rs 2 lakhs and a citation. Some people have all the luck in the world!.

Mounting losses coupled with a rapidly-falling load factor has prompted national air-carrier, Air India, to pull out all stops to lure back passengers into its fold and retain their loyalty - The guys in Air India who thinks that they can lure back passengers (anyone who has flown once in our National Carrier will rather walk than fly in it again) must be the most optimistic guy in the whole Universe. Retain loyalty? There has to be a loyalty in the first place to retain it.

Parallel between USA and Kerala

Happy Birthday Kerala!

Today is 1st November, 2008. Kerala as a State came into existence same day in 1956.

Sadly, 52 years down the line, it is difficult to make my wish come true for the Keralites.

The State, that was once hailed as an ideal model for development is in shambles.

There are parallels between USA and Kerala, which is not very flattering to say the least;

Both have no manufacturing base, agricultural base or even Services base. They survive only because they are good consuming economies. While US depends on money inflow from other developed nations from Japan and Europe to support its profligacy, it is the foreign remittance from Keralites in Gulf that is sustaining Kerala and the spendthrift nature of its people.

Both US and Kerala take the high moral ground at the drop of a hat and preaches to the outsiders how to run their life. But they dont practice what they preach in their own territory.

USA depends on imported goods from China basically and from other parts of the World. Ditto for Kerala. Everything has to come from Tamil Nadu or Andhra, including rice, milk, paultry and vegetables.

There is enough and more crime in US, both at the lower level and at the higer level. There are crooks in downtown Manhattan who kill and maim, and there are bigger crooks in the Wallstreet, swindling billions of Dollars. We, in Kerala, are not far behind. We have our Goondas, political criminals and petty criminals who kill and maim. We also have the upper end criminals who make money by running finance companies to swindle the common man, the Congress and CPI(M) who have amassed wealth, the liquor barons, the lottery barons and those politicians and real estate builders who sell the State to fill their pockets.

US is a safe heaven for terrorists. Many get trained there, despite claims to the contrary by the Government. In Kerala, we don't even assume terrorists are under control. We do everything to encouraging them, turning a blind eye to their operations for years and even making some of them part of the Government.

USA depends on expatriate low cost labourers and clerical workers to run their companies and to do menial job. The Americans feel it is beneath their dignity to drive a cab or work in a restaurant. These are taken over by the Africans, Latin Americans and the Asians. Well, we are not far behind in Kerala. We depend on Tamilians and Assamese to do the menial work.

Finally, USA has an idiot as the President surrounded by cronies who are bigger idiots, between the lot of them, they have contrived to destroy the economy, make millions homeless and jobless. We are not far behind. We too have a geriatric obstinate dogmatic Chief Minister who is hemmed by a bunch of downright rascals, who go by the name Partymen. Between them, they have destroyed the economy, thrown productivity to the winds through constant calls for bandh, destroyed the education system, damaged the once hailed Public Distribution System etc. The list is endless.

There is a whiff of fresh air in USA through the coming up of Barak Obama (though we need to wait and watch how he will deliver on his promise of change) as a Presidential Candidate, who wants to take the system head on. But no such thing is likely in the near future in Kerala.

We can but hope!