Are our MPs the uneducated old bandicoots that we make them out to be?

Research is a wonderful thing. It provides surprising insight into critical issues where our perceptions could be totally wrong.

One of the cries we hear regularly is the need for a minimum qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament. This is assuming that only an educationally qualified person is able to handle the onerous task of making the law. While this surmise can be questioned, it is to be noted that the assumption here is that our MPs are mostly uneducated. I did a quick reasearch on this and was surprised at the result of my study.

In the 14th Lok Sabha, whose term will end soon, ONLY 3% of the MPs have not completed 10th Standard. Only 24% of the MPs ARE NOT GRADUATES. This means 76% of the MPs are AT LEAST GRADUATES. 32% of the MPs are POST GRADUATES and hear this out, 4% of the MPs hold DOCTORAL DEGREES.

Having one of my myth shattered, I looked up to verify the other myth. That our MPs are old and there is not enough representation for the youth.

MPs in the Age Group of 25-40 were 6.3%. 41-55% were 33.5%. So cumulatively 39.4% of the MPs were less than 55 years old. Not bad. 56-70% constituted the bulk at 41.7% and those above 71 years of age were 11.7%. And please note that this data is at the end of the Lok Sabha's tenure, which means that the MPs were all a good 5 years younger when they got elected.

The last myth has got to do with MPs not attending the Lok Sabha regularly. The average attendence was around 75%. The best attendance profile, by age, in both the Houses of Parliament is in the age group 61-70 years. Young MPs (below 40 years age) have the lowest attendance in Lok Sabha, at 70%. So much for the youth. There is also a positive correlation between the educational qualification of the MP and his attendence. There is a rider in this analysis. An MP is deemed to have attended the Parliament if he comes to the house and signs the Register. This do not mean that he has participated in the proceedings.

Next time when we throw stones at our MPs, we might think twice before doing so

Karnan - The Tragic Hero

Perhaps 'The Tragic Hero' of Mahabharatha was Karnan.

Karnan was the eldest of Kunthis children, born to her when she was unmarried. Fearing social stigma, she abandons him to be brought up by a lowly Charioter.

He was the greatest Archer of his time, barring none including Arjuna. But he had to always face the stigma of being a Suta-putra (Sutas were lowest in the caste, hence the discrimination) till Duryodhanan takes him under the wings and makes him a King.

Karnan, to his greatness, never forgot this. He was loyal to Duryodhanan till his death. He was insulted and cursed by everyone -his guru Parasurama, the guru of Pandavas Dronar, the paternal figure of Bhishma at the begining of the Kurukshetra war. No wonder it left such a bitterness in him.

But Karnan had great qualities. Archer supreme, loyal friend and above all the guy who made Charity his other name. No one came to Karnan, returned with an empty hand. Not even Lord Indra, who tricked him into offering him his invincible Kavacham and Kundalam, that would have saved his life in the Kurukshetra.

Karnan put loyalty to his friend above even the Crown of Hastinapuram. Kunthi met him before the Kurukshetra and told him the truth of his birth. Karnan, by right, was the eldest of the Pandavas, and thus the rightful heir of the throne, should Pandavas win. But Karnan refused Kunthis offer and opted to be with Duryodhana, who had embraced him when he was a nobody. He also gave word to his mother that he will not kill any sons of hers than Arjuna in the battlefield. He had the opportunity to kill all of them at different time, but he kept his word and let them go. But Pandavas never reciprocated his gesture. They killed him when his chariot had sunk in the battlefield and he was helpless, which was against the dharma.

Karnan was vilified because he was in the company of the evil. But good and evil are subjective, as are right and wrong. There is a Karnan in all of us. We are forced in our lives to make choices, unpleasant though they may be. Karnan, to my mind, made the right choices as per his conscience. That is why, despite his drawbacks, his greatness is never diminished. A man who overcame his lowly upbringingness, a man who used his skills to the maximum, a man who upheld the virtues of giving alms and loyalty to those who stood by him, a man who sacrificed the Kingdom for his value system - Karnans positive sides are worthy of emulating

Is Dr.Singh a real reformer?

There is a general perception that Dr.Manmohan Singh is a man of conviction and a die-hard reformer economist. Nothing could be far from truth than this. Singh had a long career as a bureaucrat under the various Congress regimes, including a long stint as the RBI Governor in the 1980’s. During this period, he had supported the pseudo socialistic, license raj regime of the Congress, which is as far away from the reformed India as chalk and cheese. Over the years Dr.Singh has been like all other bureaucrats, when they were asked to kneel, they crawled. His reputation as a reformer in fact came after 1991, when he was thrust upon Narasimha Rao by the US and IMF. In fact, so much was Dr.Singh loyal to US that they wouldn’t hear of anyone other than him as the FM and made it a pre-condition for India getting the much needed IMF loan. It is well chronicled that the shrewd Narasimha Rao was not very keen on Dr.Singh, but had no choice but to take him in the Cabinet.

Reform of 1991 came about not because of the inner conviction of Dr.Singh that we have to reform, but because there was simply no choice. We faced a severe balance-of-payments crisis, and the IMF loan we needed to save the country was conditional on reforms being carried out. And so they were, and worked wonderfully well. However, once that crisis passed, the pace of reforms actually slowed. In fact Dr.Singh left an almost empty treasury in 1997 for his successors. To be fair to NDA, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha as FMs did a commendable job of taking the reforms forward. They left the economy in a great shape in 2004 despite global recession in early 2000/2001 and the sanctions post pokhran nuclear explosion.

Dr.Singh in his current tenure as PM in fact enjoyed a very healthy period for the first 4 years. Global economy was booming, credit availability was on the high side, and there was overall global prosperity. But, as PM, Dr. Singh carried out very few reforms. To be fair to him the government depended on the support of the Left for much of this time, and they blocked many of the reforms that we need. But he also supported schemes that Nehru and Indira would have been proud of, such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme—though one could argue that this was Sonia Gandhi’s baby, and he didn’t have an option. Regardless, nothing he has done in these last five years justifies his reputation as a reformer. It is no irony that the Congress party is very silent on the reforms credentials of Dr.Singh or even the nuclear deal. The Congress manifesto is a throwback to the olden days of Nehruvian socialism and has no resemblance to the modern fact of Indian reforms purportedly architected by Dr.Singh.

A semester not to remember

Another Semester of taking classes for MBA has passed by.

It has been a mixed semester for me. On the one hand, I did make some progress with improving the quality of my classes, definitely MS 3, MS 1 and MS 95. On the other hand, my relationsip with many students/batches deteriorated. The co-curricular activities, though we did get some good participation for most programs, is going nowhere, mainly due to student apathy. They are being wound up next semester, unless students come forward to organize it. Family day was a high point. I was able to uphold the high standards set by me for myself of not starting any class late or cancelling any scheduled classes this time around too.

The enthusiasm for the students to study is flagging. Hardly anyone puts a decent effort. Maybe everyone has other concerns associated with the fallout of Global Financial Crisis on their minds, then maybe not. Quality of Assignments have deteriorated, with students taking the easier way of rampant copy, pasting, necessitating me adopting harsher grading of assignments, something I have to do but am not fond of doing.

While last semester was fun guiding 6 hard working students on their projects, the attitude of the two students doing the project this semester was a big let down. The saddest part is that they are capable of much more but spoilt it with their casual approach.

Almost gave up teaching, but found another self actualization need to keep me continue teaching, albeit with a lesser workload in the coming semesters.

Make the best of what you have and be content

A story from Panchatantra,

Once upon a time there lived a sage on the banks of a river. He and his wife did not have any children. One day when the sage was praying in the middle of the river, an eagle happened to pass by and the eagle dropped a female mouse in the hands of the sage. The sage found the mouse in his hands on opening his eyes, and took it home to his wife.

On reaching home, he talked to his wife about the mouse and they decided to convert the mouse into a young baby girl. The sage and his wife began to take care of the girl child and brought her up as their daughter. The child grew day by day to a beautiful maiden by the age of sixteen. At this age, the sage decided to find a match for the girl. He and his wife decided that the Sun God would be an ideal match for their girl.

So the sage prayed for the Sun God to appear, and once the sun god appeared asked him to marry his daughter. But his daughter said, "Sorry! I cannot marry the sun god because he is very intense and I will be reduced to ashes in his heat and light.". The sage was displeased and asked the sun god to suggest a possible groom. The sun god suggested the name of the Lord of the clouds. For, the cloud can easily stop the rays of the sun.

The sage then prayed for the lord of the clouds and once he appeared him took him to his daughter. The daughter once again decided not accept him as his groom. She said, " I do not want to marry a person as dark as him. Moreover, I am afraid of the thunder he produces". The sage was dejected once again and asked the lord of clouds for a suitable groom. The lord of clouds suggested, " Why don't you try the lord of wind, for he can easily blow me away".

The sage then prayed for the lord of the wind. On the appearance of the wind-god, he took him to his daughter. His daughter rejected the groom saying that she cannot marry such a feeble person like the wind god who is always on the move. Dejected once again the sage asked the wind-god for a suggestion. The wind-god suggested the lord of the mountain which was rock solid and stopped the wind easily. So the sage then went to the mountain lord and requested him to marry his daughter. But the daughter once again rejected the mountain lord saying that he was too cold-hearted for her to marry and requested the sage to find somebody softer. The mountain god then suggested a mouse to him, because the mouse is soft and yet can easily make holes in the mountain.

This time the daughter was happy and agreed to marrying a he-mouse. So the sage said, "Look at what the destiny had to offer you. You started as a mouse, and were destined to marry a mouse in the end. So be it". He then converted her back to a she-mouse and got her married to a he-mouse.

Our life has a parallel to it. We look for the elusive ideal job, ideal life and ideal living, forgetting the fact that we can make our current job, life and living ideal if we set our mind to it. Job satisfaction is a frame of mind. One can be happy in any job he/she does provided he/she sets his/her mind on doing it with enthusiasm. I try to do. I do a job that pays me nothing or a paltry sum with the same enthusiasm that I show in a well paying job. One need to find happiness in small things. This doesnt mean that one should not be ambitious, but one has to perfect his current duties and perform above expectations before aspiring for the elusive higher job. Make the best of what you have and be content

But did the King ask you to sleep with him?

Once upon a time, there was a young lady who used to tell everyone in her earshot, how much of a virgin she is.

"I have not slept with anyone. Why, I have not slept with even the King of the Country", she was fond of saying till one day a young boy asked her,

"But did the King ask you to sleep with him?'

I was reminded of this story when I read this remark from Prakash Karat, the CPI (M) Secretary, "I would consider accepting the post of Prime Minister under inevitable circumstances".

But Mr.Karat, did someone/anyone request you to be the PM of India?!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pits for the Economist PM

When you have a committed media on your side who refuses to be impartial, you can get away with half truths and myths.

One of the biggest myth in Indian politics is that Dr.Manmohan Singh is a economist and the right man to lead India to glory. While it is true that the Prime Minister requires a modicum of education, and a Ph D in Economics is really good, it is more important that he has a political acumen and knows the pulse of the common man. Dr.Singh lacks both.

While it is true that he initiated the reforms in 1991 (the credit should actually go to Narasimha Rao and the fact that India didnt have a choice at that time), it is also equally true that the treasury was in a bad shape (except for Foreign Exchange Reserve) by the time he quit as FM in 1997. His tenure was also marked by the the Fairfax scam and the Harshad Mehta scam. In fact Financial crimes became more rampant during his periods as FM and PM.

His second tenure as PM is more of a disaster. While he can claim that he was hampered to some extend in his liberalization policies by the Left, the fact remains that he did not invest sufficient political capital, as he did in the case of nuclear deal, to take the reforms to the logical conclusion. To be fair to NDA, they left a very healthy Treasury and economy when they quit in 2004. This despite the post-pokhran economic sanctions that stifled growth. The need of the hour was fiscal prudence. But instead of cutting down non-plan financial expenditure, this government has splurged. Freebies were given to all and sundry. The entire country was converted to a real estate portfolio to be looted by realtors. The fiscal deficit has spiralled. Dr.Singh, Ahluwalia and P Chidambaram, on orders from Sonia Gandhi, has committed thousands of crores to non productive schemes like NREG and Farm loan waiver, the allocation for most of which made for NOT IN 2008 but over the NEXT THREE YEARS. This was irresponsibility at its worst. The icing on the cake was the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission Report. The 5th pay commission had linked productivity of the government employees to their increase pay. Not that it was ever implemented. The 6th Pay commission didnt even bother to make a mention of it. The Government offices, which hardly functions for the common man, continues to grow at common mans expense. All the Government had to do was to hold the pay commission implementation, and over the next few years downsizing would have automatically happened. His tenure also saw India going back to the dark days of high interest rate regime, stiffling entrepreneurship. Black money rules the country and his Government has not even taken the basic steps to get back even a portion of the black money stashed in Swiss Banks. The lack of action from him will only embolden the crooked. The Ramalingam Raju case has been conveniently covered up, and the Government has not learned from it. It has not initiated any steps to ensure something like the Satyam saga is not repeated or to unearth similar practices in other companies. It pays to be a businessman and indulge in financial crimes in India under Dr.Singh.

The UPA government came with the slogan of being one for the common man. But at the end of Dr.Singhs tenure, the aam aadmi is bad off. Jobs have been waylaid, growth rate has stunted, coffers are empty - and all these are not due to the Global Financial Crisis alone. The economy has been mismanaged. The Government was slow to react to the GFC and hardly did anything to kickstart the economy. Though the WPI is at almost 0%, the ground reality on Consumer Price Index is more like 8-9%. So inflation has not been contained as far as common man is concerned.

But the rich businessmen are laughing all the way to the bank, while the poor sit on their haunches and wait for the next dole to come their way.

A damning indictment of Dr.Singhs economic policies is in his own parties election manifesto. The economic section of Congress Manifesto hardly talks of reforms or for any of the policies that Dr.Singh stands for as an Economist, FM and PM. It talks only about more freebies like expanding NREG, Rs 3 per kg rice and so on. What a fall!

And he has lost all sense of proportion when he claims that if the Congress is given another 5 years in power , he will , hold your breath, ERADICATE POVERTY in India.

It is the pits for the Economist PM

WTF news of the day

WTF news in Indian Express with my comments in brackets. (If you dont know what WTF means, it is an acronym for What The F**k?)

Upset over denial of tickets to his children, Congress veteran Arjun Singh on Monday hit out at his party by saying that he was "shocked" at the treatment being meted out for his "loyalty". "Honour and humiliation have ceased to be concepts in Congress party," Singh said when asked whether he was being humiliated by the party. (Mr.Singh, Honour has ceased to be something Congress party was associated with way back in 1947, as if you dont know. A guy like you who swindled millions of rupees through the infamous Churhat lottery case in 1980's would have been kicked out of Congress and convicted if the Party had an iota of honour. You have survived all these years and prospered because of lack of these very same quality in the party. So why crib?)

Singh had said he cannot say he was not unhappy over the denial of party tickets for the Lok Sabha polls to his daughter Veena Singh from Sidhi and son Ajeya Singh from Satna. When asked whether he felt slighted by Congress, the Union minister said he did not feel slighted but shocked. "I am shocked by what is in store for loyalty," he said. (Do you remember walking out of Congress, then returning with tail tucked between your legs and enjoyed being Governon and Cabinet minister? If Congress had stuck to the loyalty clause, you will be playing with great grand children in your palatial house. Well, you are not fit even for that)

In response Congress today dismissed senior leader Arjun Singh's charge that the party had not accorded proper treatment to him for his loyalty, saying working for the party is a "reward in itself" (So true, so true. Only thing is that if you 'work' for Congress Party, the 'Reward' will be through a few million dollars stashed in Swiss Banks in your name)

"The philosophy of the party has its own rewards. I believe (that) working for the party and believing in its philosophy and principles has its own rewards," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters (This has even me fully baffled. 'Philosophy' and 'Principles' of Congress party? That must be the biggest joke of our times. Other than licking Sonias, Rahuls and Priyankas a**es, pray tell me what is the philosophy and principle of Congress party)

(Anyway, Arjun Singh doesnt deserve anything. The guy is a crook and the worst education minister India has seen. During the last five years, he tried to stiffle the IITs and IIMs, prevented world class universities from coming to India, didnt do a damn thing to improve education at any levels in India, played mischief with textbooks and reservations, consistently took potshots at his own PM and Government and thus in short was an unmitigated disaster. If Congress has any sense of honour and principles, then it should call him and give him the boot)

The spirit of an entrepreneur

This is about 2 Businessmen in India.

I am holding no brief for both of them, for I have reservations about some of their actions, but I need to admire their capacity to innovate, put Plan B into action, work overtime to achieve the revised deadlines under considerable odds and succeed.

The first is Ratan Tata. While I still feel that he was on the wrong side as far as Singur acquisition was concerned, he faced the setback headon, negotiated with Gujarat a very good deal, shifted the factory in toto to Gujarat and brought out the Tata Nano Car on schedule. This increased his credibility in the global market and our faith that Indians can do what they set out to achieve despite serious constraints.

Second is a more curious case. Lalit Modi of IPL. He was really taken for a ride by the Congress party ( see an earlier post on this ) who made it virtually impossible for him to conduct the IPL as per the schedule in India. Any other person would have buckled under this, not Modi. He negotiated a terrific deal with South Africa within 72 hours ( it is curious to note that South Africa is the crime capital of the world, has an election going on currently, but they still came forward to ensure that the event took off within less than 3 weeks of commitment. The whole Government machinery swung into action. They saw this as an opportunity to promote their country and tourism. Hotels were arranged, Ad campaign launched, Air Charters were arranged, practive facilities and grounds spruced up. And we in India, instead of seeing the whole issue as a terrific revenue generating activity that would have helped the country during this Global Financial Crisis, for it would have provided direct and indirect employment to thousands and thousands for two months, did everything we can to kill this event. This is why we will never become a great nation, as many of us would wish) and the IPL has got off to a great start if the first four matches are any indication. I can imagine that the last 18 days would have been an organizing and logistical nightmare for Modi and his team, but whatever else he is, Modi is a fighter and a survivor. In fact, there is a more even contest between the bat and the ball with South African pitches being more sportive than the battathons in India. A cricket match is a real contest only if the odds between the bat and ball is even. A 120 par score on a lively wicket can produce more entertaining cricket than ridiculous 200 plus scores on a dead pitch where the bowlers are tonked around. And I suspect the grain will be sorted out from the chaff this time around. You would have noticed that the best performers on the first 2 days were a certain Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Herschelle Gibbs, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh and Fidel Edwards - all class players. The bits and pieces players will suffer. Who knows, in a years time IPL will cease to be an Indian Premier League, but will evolve into an International Premium League held at different countries, which could take Cricket to the level of Football, not a bad thing at all.

But kudos to Tata and Modi. May their undying spirit live on

WE MADE IT

I AM HAPPY TO INTIMATE YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RAISE NOT RS 35,000, BUT RS 45,000 WITHIN ONE DAY. THE ADDITIONAL RS 10,000 WILL BE USED BY THE DOCTOR FOR THE NEXT NEEDY PATIENT

THE CONTRIBUTORS WERE,

MANOJ VARGHESE
ALOYSIUS MARTIN
SUBRAMANYAM, AND
MYSELF

MY HEARTFELT THANKS TO ALL OF THEM.

THE MONEY HAS BEEN SENT THROUGH WESTERN UNION AND RECEIVED BY THE DOCTOR.

THE CHILD IS TO HAVE HIS OPERATION ON NEXT SATURDAY, 25TH APRIL 2009

MAY GOD BLESS THE CHILD AND GIVE HIM A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE

AN APPEAL TO HELP AN ORPHAN CHILD FOR A VALVE REPLACEMENT SURGERY

Dr.Muthu Jothi is a highly regarded Cardio Thoracic Surgeon with Kovai Medical Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, which is one of the finest Super Speciality Hospitals in South India. I know him personally and he does considerable charity medical work. (You can see his brief profile on the Kovai Medical Website by clicking this link http://www.kmchonline.com/directory-of-physician-and-specialist/doctor_profile.php?id=20 )

Two young kids, a girl and a boy, with heart defects and orphans from West Bengal, had drifted into his hospital couple of months back. Investigations revealed that they need open heart surgeries. Dr.Jothi has offered his services free and have got a discount of Rs 50,000 from the hospital. He has also been able to get the Valves free of cost. But still the operations cost Rs 50,000 per kid. These children do not have any documents with them, which prevents them from getting any help from Charitable organizations or the Government Relief Funds. It is left to us to help these kids

I did contribute in the month of March, and along with another kind hearted soul, we helped Dr.Muthu Jothi to complete the Darshini, the Girl Childs operation on March 12th. Darshini is doing very well now.

But for the boy, Arun Kumar, the contribution collected is only Rs 15,000 so far. There is a shortage of Rs 35,000. He needs the operation as early as possible. I have pledged to contribute another Rs 10,000 for the boy. So that makes the deficit just Rs 25,000. Can anyone of you my readers help by contributing whatever you can? Any amount will be welcome.

If anyone is willing to give a quality life to a child, please contact me or forward whatever you can contribute directly to Dr.Muthu Jothi through Western Union if you are overseas. The Contribution has to be sent to Dr.Muthu Jothi, Coimbatore, India and mobile number is 0091-9843206167. Please let me (rajanvenkateswaran@gmail.com & Mobile no: +965 97245431) or Dr.Jothi know that you have sent along with the receipt number so that he can collect in person.

Those in India can contact Dr.Muthu Jothi directly on his mobile -9843206167

Give Arun Kumar a life.

I am giving below the request sent to me by Dr.Muthu Jothi last month as Annexure I. He had today sent another mail, which is also reproduced as Annexure II

Annexure I

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I'm Dr.Muthu Jothi,consultant cardiothoracic surgeon from kovai medical center and hospital,coimbatore,india.I have an appeal to help two of my patients who have come from an asylum in West bengal.

1.Dharshini 6yrs female-diagnosis-ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT

2.Arunkumar 12 yrs male-diagnosis-Rheumatic heart disease-Needs Double valve repalcement.

The above 2 children are unable to get any money to meet their surgical expenses.

I have the valves free and got another 50000 rupees concession from the hospital. I still need 1 lakh rupees to meet their surgical expenses.

I would request any donations to help these unfortunate children.

Thanks,bye.

My mobile number:0091-9843206167.

Annexure II

fromMuthu Jothi <muthujothi@hotmail.com>to rajanvenkateswaran@gmail.com
date16 April 2009 19:58subjectRE: updatemailed-byhotmail.com
hide details 19:58 (16 minutes ago) Reply

Dear Rajan, I hope you are ok.I havent heard from your friend yet.Is there any other kind soul willing to help the other child .I'm sorry i'm bugging you as I'm under great pressure to help that child. I have raised about RS.15000 from local friends.Kindly let me know.Sorry again to trouble you,bye.

Myths about Indian Politics

The polling for the Phase I of the Indian General Elections is on today. Let us look at some of the myths that we believe in.

Myth 1 - India is a great democracy. This is pure crap. While it is true that we vote and elect our representatives, the simple truth of democracy is that those elected should represent the majority of the voters. In any constituency, only 65% vote, and out of that the winning candidate gets about 35% maximum. Which means that the elected representative gets about 22.75% of the total votes in the constituency. The corollary of it is that 77.25% of the voters DONT WANT him as their candidate. I need not say more

Myth 2 - We are a secular country - The definition of 'Secularism' is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs. In India, Government interferes in EVERYTHING related to religion, be in managing the funds of the temples, offering grant to minority institutions, providing reservations based on religion (there is a proposal pending that has been stuck down by the Supreme Court), ............. the list is endless.

Myth 3 - The Government is of the people, by the people and for the people - This is pure humbug. No one gives a damn about the people. The elections and the government are of the crooked politicians, by the politicians and definitely for the politicians, as also to the sarkari babus who lick the boot of the politicians. Of course the Government is also for the rich and the mighty, but never, never for the common man.

Myth 4 - Rulers have national interest in mind - This is the last thing the rulers have in mind. Only thing they are interested in filling up the party coffers and individual swiss bank accounts. (I remember parties, especially CPI(M) and other left parties, going from house to house in late 70s and early 80s collecting contributions from common man to fund the election campaign. Today, have you ever seen anyone do that. The parties have not fixed any membership fee and have no assets. Where do they get the thousands of crores to fight the election? It is all black money)

Myth 5 - Parliament functions essentially as a law making body and is a forum for discussing pressing matters of national importance - The parliament sits for less than 50 days in a year, hardly passes any bill, even doesnt have quorum on most days, MPs play hookey, if at all they attend they raise meaningless issues and stage a walkout. Do we need a parliament or assembly at all?

Myth 6 - There is law and order in the country and we believe in the philosophy of equality for all - This is a joke. There is no law and no order in the country. A common man dare not go and file a complaint in the police station for fear of being victimised. Ditto with respect to filing a case in the court. The rich get away with murder literally. Or gigantic fraud. The Ramalingam Raju case is one that symbolizes everything that is wrong with our countries legal system, as also Afzal Gurus, and now Kesab. ( A system which makes a terrorist who has killed more than a hundred innocents gloat over his action is contemptable. Any other decent country would have ensured that Kesab is scared shit to even open his mouth for what he has done).

Myth 7 - Education brings about social awareness and responsibility - Nothing like that. The Indian educated is the pits. They dont go out and vote, they are selfish, have no stake in nation building, but are quick to criticise (including me. of course I cant vote, being a NRI, but I have not raised my voice enough to ensure that I am not denied a vote. Hence I am guilty). They are the biggest culprits and squarely responsible for the mess we are in.

But should you go out and vote. Definitely. Vote for the right candidate, irrespective of his winnability. Change doesnt happen overnight. It takes a couple of decades. The BSP of Kanshi Ram didnt create a flutter when they entered the scene in 1980's. But today his successor Mayawati is a king maker if not the king (queen) herself, and BSP is a powerful force. BJP got just 2 seats in 1984, but was the single largest party by late 1990's and ruled the country heading a coalition. Congress has systemmatically been cut to size and has come down from a mighty 413 in 1985 to a probable 125 this time around. Telugu Desam is a power to reckon in AP. Vijayakanths party got 8% vote share last time around in TN............................... the list is endless. So please vote. At least let our next generation enjoy the benefits of our efforts. That alone is worth it

Will someone tell these two AHs the value of a Padma Award?

I can't believe this. A sportsman is confered one of the greatest honours by his country, and he chooses to do 'an ad film' or be 'busy in household work'!!!!

While I am not questioning the prerogative of Dhoni and Harbhajan to give the Padma Award ceremony a miss, I would definitely expect the Government to show some spine and withdraw the Awards to these two gents.

Will the BCCI tell these two AHs that they have certain moral obligations, social responsibilities as they are role models and ambassadors?

Indian Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh were absent from Padma awards function which was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. This has kicked up a storm. Dhoni and Bhajji were to be honoured by the Padmashree Awards 2009 by President Pratibha Patil. TV sources said that both the cricketers were busy shooting for an ad film due to which they failed to turn up for the event. They also missed the previous ceremony due to their tour of New Zealand. When asked about it, Bhajji reportedly commented that he was busy with "some household work" and skipper Dhoni was not available for the comment.

Back on Friday

Busy couple of days at work. Shall catch up with you on Friday

HAPPY VISHU

HAPPY VISHU TO ALL OF YOU!!!

Satvik qualities is like a Plain Glass

I have written about the three gunas as Satvik, Rajassik and Tamassic. Many have taken a simplisitic view point of this without understanding the inner meaning. Even Satvik qualities have limitations. They are not the ultimate.

We always praise Sattva and regard it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is placed between us and the Truth. You can see through it, but you cannot go beyond it. Because, though the glass is transparent, it can obstruct your movement. It is not like a brick-wall, completely preventing your vision, as Tamas does; it is not like a blowing wind which simply tosses you here and there, as Rajas does; it is a plain glass, through which you can have vision of Reality, but you cannot contact Reality nevertheless. How can you contact a thing when there is a glass between you and the thing? Yet you can see it. So they say even Sattva is an obstacle, though it is better than the other two forces, in the sense that through it you can have a vision or an insight into the nature of Reality which transcends even Sattva. There is a glass pane and you can see a mango fruit on the other side of it. You can see it very well, but cannot get it, you cannot grab it. You know the reason. Even Sattva is a subtle medium of obstruction, which acts in a double form; as complacency or satisfaction with what has been achieved, and an ignorance of what is beyond

Last Leaf

On an Easter Sunday, let me give you a wonderful story that is symbolic of everything that is good about humans. Only O Henry can write such a masterpiece like the 'Last Leaf'


In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called "places." These "places" make strange angles and curves. One Street crosses itself a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route, suddenly meet himself coming back, without a cent having been paid on account!
So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents. Then they imported some pewter mugs and a chafing dish or two from Sixth Avenue, and became a "colony."
At the top of a squatty, three-story brick Sue and Johnsy had their studio. "Johnsy" was familiar for Joanna. One was from Maine; the other from California. They had met at the table d'hôte of an Eighth Street "Delmonico's," and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so congenial that the joint studio resulted.

That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze of the narrow and moss-grown "places."

Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman. A mite of a little woman with blood thinned by California zephyrs was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, short-breathed old duffer. But Johnsy he smote; and she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead, looking through the small Dutch window-panes at the blank side of the next brick house.
One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a shaggy, gray eyebrow.
"She has one chance in - let us say, ten," he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical thermometer. " And that chance is for her to want to live. This way people have of lining-u on the side of the undertaker makes the entire pharmacopoeia look silly. Your little lady has made up her mind that she's not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?"

"She - she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day." said Sue.

"Paint? - bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice - a man for instance?"

"A man?" said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. "Is a man worth - but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind."

"Well, it is the weakness, then," said the doctor. "I will do all that science, so far as it may filter through my efforts, can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines. If you will get her to ask one question about the new winter styles in cloak sleeves I will promise you a one-in-five chance for her, instead of one in ten."

After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp. Then she swaggered into Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.

Johnsy lay, scarcely making a ripple under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep.

She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.

As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant horse show riding trousers and a monocle of the figure of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.

Johnsy's eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting - counting backward.

"Twelve," she said, and little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and "seven", almost together.

Sue look solicitously out of the window. What was there to count? There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine, gnarled and decayed at the roots, climbed half way up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling bricks.

"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.

"Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now."

"Five what, dear? Tell your Sudie."

"Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"

"Oh, I never heard of such nonsense," complained Sue, with magnificent scorn. "What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine so, you naughty girl. Don't be a goosey. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were - let's see exactly what he said - he said the chances were ten to one! Why, that's almost as good a chance as we have in New York when we ride on the street cars or walk past a new building. Try to take some broth now, and let Sudie go back to her drawing, so she can sell the editor man with it, and buy port wine for her sick child, and pork chops for her greedy self."
"You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There goes another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too."

"Johnsy, dear," said Sue, bending over her, "will you promise me to keep your eyes closed, and not look out the window until I am done working? I must hand those drawings in by to-morrow. I need the light, or I would draw the shade down."

"Couldn't you draw in the other room?" asked Johnsy, coldly.

"I'd rather be here by you," said Sue. "Beside, I don't want you to keep looking at those silly ivy leaves."

"Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnsy, closing her eyes, and lying white and still as fallen statue, "because I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves."

"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old hermit miner. I'll not be gone a minute. Don't try to move 'til I come back."

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty and had a Michael Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along with the body of an imp. Behrman was a failure in art. Forty years he had wielded the brush without getting near enough to touch the hem of his Mistress's robe. He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it. For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the line of commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the colony who could not pay the price of a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in any one, and who regarded himself as especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above.

Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of juniper berries in his dimly lighted den below. In one corner was a blank canvas on an easel that had been waiting there for twenty-five years to receive the first line of the masterpiece. She told him of Johnsy's fancy, and how she feared she would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker.

Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt and derision for such idiotic imaginings.

"Vass!" he cried. "Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die because leafs dey drop off from a confounded vine? I haf not heard of such a thing. No, I will not bose as a model for your fool hermit-dunderhead. Vy do you allow dot silly pusiness to come in der brain of her? Ach, dot poor leetle Miss Yohnsy."

"She is very ill and weak," said Sue, "and the fever has left her mind morbid and full of strange fancies. Very well, Mr. Behrman, if you do not care to pose for me, you needn't. But I think you are a horrid old - old flibbertigibbet."

"You are just like a woman!" yelled Behrman. "Who said I will not bose? Go on. I come mit you. For half an hour I haf peen trying to say dot I am ready to bose. Gott! dis is not any blace in which one so goot as Miss Yohnsy shall lie sick. Some day I vill baint a masterpiece, and ve shall all go away. Gott! yes."

Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to the window-sill, and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was falling, mingled with snow. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, took his seat as the hermit miner on an upturned kettle for a rock.

When Sue awoke from an hour's sleep the next morning she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.

"Pull it up; I want to see," she ordered, in a whisper.

Wearily Sue obeyed.

But, lo! after the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last one on the vine. Still dark green near its stem, with its serrated edges tinted with the yellow of dissolution and decay, it hung bravely from the branch some twenty feet above the ground.

"It is the last one," said Johnsy. "I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall to-day, and I shall die at the same time."

"Dear, dear!" said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, "think of me, if you won't think of yourself. What would I do?"

But Johnsy did not answer. The lonesomest thing in all the world is a soul when it is making ready to go on its mysterious, far journey. The fancy seemed to possess her more strongly as one by one the ties that bound her to friendship and to earth were loosed.

The day wore away, and even through the twilight they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to its stem against the wall. And then, with the coming of the night the north wind was again loosed, while the rain still beat against the windows and pattered down from the low Dutch eaves.
When it was light enough Johnsy, the merciless, commanded that the shade be raised.

The ivy leaf was still there.

Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken broth over the gas stove.

"I've been a bad girl, Sudie," said Johnsy. "Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring a me a little broth now, and some milk with a little port in it, and - no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook."

And hour later she said:
"Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples."

The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway as he left.

"Even chances," said the doctor, taking Sue's thin, shaking hand in his. "With good nursing you'll win." And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is - some kind of an artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, and the attack is acute. There is no hope for him; but he goes to the hospital to-day to be made more comfortable."

The next day the doctor said to Sue: "She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now - that's all."

And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a very blue and very useless woollen shoulder scarf, and put one arm around her, pillows and all.

"I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia to-day in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn't imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and - look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."

MMS

A day after Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were dropped as candidates for Lok Sabha polls by Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said he was neither informed nor consulted over CBI's clean chit given to Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. "I was not informed, nor consulted" over CBI clean chit to Jagdish Tytler, Singh said - This is an astonishing statement coming from the Prime Minister of the Country. Does this mean that PM has absolutely no control over his governance? Or is he implying that CBI is so independent, it will not seek political backing before giving a false clean chit to a ruling party heavy weight on such a sensitive issue? Does our PM take us to be so gullible that we will be fooled by whatever he says? Come on Manmohan Singh, at least take into considerations that we are reasonably intelligent guys!!!


Muslims are harassed in name of terror: PM - There we go again. How about a bit of concern for all others who are harassed by Islamic Terroritsts in India in name of terror? In the same speech he has asked Security forces to have zero tolerence for human right violations. But not a peep about the human right violations committed by the terrorists. How about preaching human right violations to the terrorists for a change, Manmohan Singh? You know what will happen next. A supari will be given to commit some human right violations on you, personally.


MMS may be a decent man, but he is a political novice and despite tall claims his standing as an economist is really overhyped. True, he initiated the reforms in 1991 as FM, but then any decent FM would have done what he did, as India did not have any choice at that time. His tenure as RBI Governor was a mild disaster, he left the coffers empty at the end of his tenure as FM and again the treasury is in bad shape at the end of his tenure as PM. The new government has an unenviable task of having to find funds to pay for the reckless welfare economic policies of this Government - a classic case in point being the farm loan waiver scheme, and the pay commission report - both will make taxing demands on any future Government.

But he will be most (worst) remembered for making India more unsafe than ever before, and for not showing the guts to stand up to terrorism and punish the perpetrators.

Posterity will view him very unkindly

Teaching Balance

I have observed that a good majority of the Children born to Teachers have certain special features. They all make good Number Twos but lack the initiative to become the number one. They are the epitome of all that is good, and are generally very ethical. Disciplined in life, they have a fetish for being led, obey orders without questioning and tries to be perfect in what they do. This makes them invaluable as number two's. But they just do not have the vision, dynamism, right brained thinking, multi-tasking, quick decision making, leadership qualities needed to by numero uno.

I have a theory on this. I strongly feel that the Teachers see so much that can/and do go wrong with their students that they put considerable pressure on their own kids to ensure they become paragons of virtues.

It is true in one way. Teaching can be so frustrating, with majority of the students showing absolute lack of interest in studies and carry a poor attitude. By the end of every semester I feel like giving up teaching forever. Making my MBA students study and learn something is akin to banging my head against a wall - day in and day out.

When I am about to chuck it all away, some nice things happen and my faith in human nature and teaching is restored.

It was the same this time around too. I was so depressed that I had decided to slowly phase out my teaching commitments over the next year and a half possibly.

Then a series of small, unconnected incidents restored my faith partially,

I had taken the orientation program for the Bachelors students six months ago and then stood up for a sick teacher one day teaching them Micro Economics introduction. One of the young girls in the class, barely out of school, sent me a mail recalling that I had told in the orientation class that if students have any doubts, they can mail me any time. She had a genuine doubt as to how to approach her studies, mailed me stating that she has full confidence in my advice and will go by whatever I say. She also appreciated my 2 lectures, pointing out how she was benefitted by them and beseeched me to take some lectures for her class. On receiving my reply to her queries, she again came back saying that she never had a doubt that I will reply promptly and had full faith in me. The fact that a young student had so much faith in me affected me a lot. The operative word here is faith.

My MBA students are rarely interactive in the class, for whatever reason. But for the first time in my decade long association with IGNOU, I am enjoying teaching my Semester 1 students Macro Economics. The class, well at least 6-7 of the students, are so interactive that questions, thoughts and comments fly back and forth. Some of the queries has challenged my knowledge and at times I had to go back and refer. The purpose of any lecture is to stimulate the brain of the students and make them think, while at the same time raising the level of thinking of the faculty. How I wish all my MBA classes are like this!!

A month ago, when we were stuck with finding a volunteer to edit our IGNOU E-Magazine, I turned to an old student of mine, who has moved to Dubai - Tina to bail us out. When no one was coming forward in Kuwait to edit the magazine - barring one young, inexperienced girl - we were at our wits end. But Tina (the acronym TINA means There Is No Alternative !) put her hands up and giving respect to my request put her heart and soul into it ensuring the magazine was published on due date. The vast network and reservoir of talent amongst the students, and what they can do when they are prepared to do Nishkama karma and when they stretch themselves is very gratifying as a teacher.

I had taken the onerous responsibility of guiding a group of six students in their Final Semester MBA Project during July-November 2008. I had driven them hard and made them really sweat it out. My tough work ethic had even led to one of the original 7 to drop out and opt for another faculty. I had always thought that on submission of their Projects, these students will take all possible care to not come anywhere near me in the future. But surprisingly, all the six of them today are great personal friends. Yesterday their results came out. Four out of the six have got 'A' Grade (One project is under dispute and one result is yet to be published). It is debatable who was more happy - me or the students?. Late at night Nitin and Seema dropped by my house to offer me a box of sweets and to share their happiness with me. A nice gesture, but the fact that they thought of remembering me in their time of joy, made my day as a Teacher.

Should I continue teaching? The balance is not so one sided against teaching now, but still...................................................

Scratches even in Great Diamonds

Sri Rama was the uttama purusha and the ideal king. But there were couple of blemishes in his life, which has left a scar on an otherwise perfect character.

The first one pertained to his killing of Baali on the sly. And the second was him giving orders to leave a pregnant Sita in the forest, on hearing some gossips about her charity.

Sri Rama has been vilified for siding with Sugreevan and taking out Baali. Sugreevan takes Sri Ramans help in defeating his brother Baali, from whom he was hiding. Baali was powerful and was very attached to Sugreeva. But a misunderstanding between the brothers led to estrangement. The price Sugreevan asked of Sri Rama, was killing of his brother and coronation of himself as Kishkindia king in return for helping to search Sita.

Sri Rama agreed. The issue was how to kill Baali. It was next to impossible to kill Baali, as Baali had a boon that enabled him to get half the powers of his enemy. Hence Sri Rama stayed hidden, made Sugreevan fight Baali and shot Baali with his bow and arrow.

Can we justify this? One might argue that Sri Rama was upholding Dharma here and the end justifies the means. But Baali had no personal enimity with Sri Rama, was a great King in his own right, and he had every reason to be peeved with his brother Sugreevan, because the circumstantial evidence he had before made him think that Sugreevan has betrayed him while he was fighting the Rakshasan.

I personally feel there was not Dharma Chyuthi in the case of Baali. Even if there had been, it doesnt behove of Sri Rama to kill him from a hidden spot. That is not Kshatriya Dharma, as was practiced in Treta yuga.

This is definitely a blemish in an otherwise ideal man. But even great diamonds have scratches in them.

Of shoes and dawns

Couple of days ago, a student pleaded helplessness in the class, asking what a single person can do to change the current deplorable political system, where there is no accountability. I replied to her in right earnest that the start has to be made by every individual, which will, over a period of time, result in a wave that will bring sweeping changes.

The very next day, the SHOE incident happened. Taking inspiration from the Iraqi journalist, our own Jarnail Singh, had a go at the Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram with his shoe.

Now, PC is a decent politician. But he is representing a rotten system. A system that pays scant regard to natural justice but obfuscated, dithered, did every dirty trick in the book to prevent justice from being meted out to the perpetrators of the anti Sikh riots in 1984.

The CBI has been misused to serve the political end of the ruling party. The courts have delayed the trial to such an extend that 25 years after the incident, no one has been booked. That is quarter of a century.

“My manner of protest might have been wrong, but I did not intend to hurt anyone,” Jarnail Singh said, adding: “For the last 25 years this has been happening. So what other method is left (to protest).”

The last sentence is striking. A common man feels helpless. There is no use electing the opposition. They are as bad as the current rulers. He cant go to the Police, for fear of being victimized. The Judiciary used to be sympathetic, but the process is so painfully slow that one can, does, get away with murder (Afzal Guru is a classic case in point). The Media doesnt care a damn.

So it is left to showing protest in a simple way. Throw Chappals and Shoes.

In the immediate aftermath of the shoe throwing incident, there were rumours of Congress taking the moral high road and dumping Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from its candidates list. But the politicians know that the media and the people live in an era where yesterdays news is forgotten quickly. All it needs is a small sensational news the next day, and people will go after that.

But the political parties have been put on notice. The outpouring support to Jarnail Singhs actions is testimony to the pent up frustrations within the people.

The golden dawn will break once again.

Late Posting

Busy morning. Hence, post will be up late in the day

Calamities as Prime Ministerial Candidates

I am so disappointed. I can remember all the elections since the Emergency vividly. Never has an election been so devoid of issues, characters like this one.

The world is in the middle of a recession/depression. But none of the parties have come up with an alternate economic model for the country.

Let us look at the Prime Ministerial Candidates:

Congress - Manmohan Singh - A decent man. The problem with him is that he is more of a bureaucrat than a politician. And in todays India, what one needs is not just a politician, but a visionary and a statesman, who has a plan for the next 25 years. He lacks the political savyy and is obsessed with USA, which I am sure can be compared to Nehrus mislaid faith with Chinese. It is a sorry state of affairs that Dr.Singh is not contesting the Parliament elections and has taken the Rajya Sabha route. A PM who is not elected directly by the people loses his moral right. And he is not even respected in his party. A stringed puppet, sometimes I pity the poor man. But good men dont make great Prime Ministers. And he is 76 plus having undergone 2 multiple bypass.

BJP - L K Advani - I think BJP missed a trick in not projecting Narendra Modi as PM. I know it would have polarised the political arena, but Modi is in his late 50s, and a bloody good administrator. He has made a sea change in Gujarath and would have been tough on terror. Coming back to Advani, he is 80 plus, no longer commands respect even in his party. He cannot enthuse the young generation. He was not a great success as Home Minister under Vajpayee, and clearly lacks the vision and charisma of Vajpayee. If he is elected, he will be 86 when the term completes. Not a good prognosis.

BSP - Mayawati - She is the dark horse. If she wins 40 seats in UP, and if the third front gets more than 16o seats, she really can dicate terms. But she has made far too many enemies in the political field and others may not back her. She is an unmitigated disaster as an administrator in UP. Though a Dalit becoming the PM will strengthen our Social structure, I am afraid Mayawati may have to wait for another 5 years.

Then there are the PM wannabees - Pawar, Jayalalitha, Deve Gowda, Laloo, Mulayam and every other politician who is worth one bit in todays world. It hardly matters who amongst them becomes the PM (if at all), for they are not likely to last more than one year, since they lack the numbers individually to rule for 5 years. One of them might become an accidental PM, like Gujral, Chandrasekhar and Deve Gowda, but will face the same fate as them.

Is it not a tragedy that a country of 1.1 billion people has to choose from amongst the above calamities their Prime Minister?

Crazy Day

Was working on a Financial modelling project till the early hours. Terribly short of sleep. And as luck would have it, today has turned out to be one of those crazy days when a zillion things happen at the same time.

Meet you tomorrow with a nice post

Country and people lose in the long run

India has been following the policy of Reservation to the under privileged since independence. The objective was to not deny opportunities to the poor and socially backward. A laudable objective.

Any system is as good as its implementation and needs revision periodically. This is where we failed. The reservation worked fine for a while and uplifed a generation of socially under privileged people. But subsequent turning a nelson eye to the negative fallout of reservations has led to the whole scheme being abused for the benefit of the few. Today, the number of communities under Reservation has increased due to vote bank politics. Also, the benefits of the reservation are corened by the rich and powerful of the so called underprivileged class, leaving the really needy to fend for themselves. Earlier we remove the creamy layer from these communities from the ambit of reservation, the better.

It should be the duty of any decent government to prevent the intellectual capital flight. By not making provisions for retaining the educated from the forward class in India, we have ensured that they all move out. We have had a massive brain drain during the past two decades, especially post mandal commission report during late 1980's and this is a big loss to the country.

But who cares as the intelligent, educated from the forward class ( I am by no way implying that there are no intelligent educated from the backward class) do not constitute a meaningful vote bank and are of no interest to the politicians?

But the loser is the Country and its people in the long run.

Walk in the rain

Walked in a slight drizzle, on an overcast cloudy, windy day for an hour. What a great feeling! Mind and body became so fresh. The feel of the rain on the face was soothing.

Last time I did this was way back on August 15th, 1990 in Lonavala. We (me and 5 colleagues of mine) had a day off from our training program at HPCL training facility in Nigdi, near Pune. We made a one hour trip by train and walked in steady, persistent drizzle for nearly 3 hours. We were soaked and uncomfortable at the end of it.

But today was much better. Didnt get drenched, which ensured that the hour is something to cherish forever.

It is only when you are in the middle of a desert, you appreciate the value of even a little rain.

Life is also like that. We dont appreciate when things are in abundance. Father used to say that I will know his value only when he is dead and gone. And he was true.

Grab on to everything you like while you can, for they may never come your way again.

Oh! For an Indian Management System

India has a culture that goes back more than 5000 years. The country has weathered many a storm, whether it be invasions, alien rule, colonial ambitions and a post independance chaos. The Indus valley civilization, along with the Nile Valley and Mesapatomia civilazations, were far ahead of their time in the areas of management, planning and organization.

The problem with Indian Management Education and the Management style is that it do not take into account the Indian ethos. Traditional wisdom says that Asians in general, and Indians in particular are driven by emotions than by reason, but the corollary is true for Westerners, basically the Amercans who have developed the current management system.

Indians attach importance to 'Karma' rather than 'Karmabhala'. For me personally, it is doing a thing correctly that matters, and what I get out of it materialistically is secondary. Doesnt mean that the rewards are not important, but just that rewards are not THE MOST IMPORTANT. In short we are not work machines, but people with more emotions than a normal western professional. So any management theory has to take this into account for it to be successful.

To illustrate it further one doesnt have to look beyond the sports field. Morten Frost Hansen of Denmark, the World Badminton Champion in 1980's was in awe of the things Prakash Padukkone can do on a Cricket Field. Normal coaching techniques cannot explain the sublime artistry of VVS Laxmans batting. Though we have slid down the slope, Western hockey teams never tire of eulogising the wizardry of Indian hockey players and have failed to replicate them. This wrist work and self expression in the sports field is indicative of the Indian psyche that is creative, artistic, emotional. Contrast VVS Laxmans batting with that of Mathey Hayden or Andrew Strauss, and you know what I am talking about.

Westerners tries to find a logical reason for everything. If things are not logical, then it is not acceptable to them. While Indians understand and accept that there are many things which cannot be logically and rationally explained. The irrational plays an important part in our life.

This is the reason for so much strife and acrimony in our organizations and why they are not as effective as they should be. It is a tragedy that a land reknowned for great thinkers, cannot find a few who can develop a management style that takes into account the values, ethos, attitudes, aptitudes and culture of Indians.