Thank you 2009, Welcome 2010

Subramanyam wants more articles at a higher order thinking level.

I shall try my best. But I am a simple man, with simple thoughts and deeds. This is the 298th post of the year 2009, which is not bad. It bettered the 2008 mark by 3 posts.

Readers should know how tough it is to post blogs day in and day out. Either one doesnt have an interesting subject, or one is plain tired and there were days when I just didnt want to post. There were 3-4 times during the year when I just wanted to stop blogging, but have carried on neverthless.

Let the new year put in my head wonderful new thoughts that I may share with you.

Let us push aside the old, usher in the new.

Thank you 2009, but good bye

And, Welcome 2010!

Review of the decade gone by and the Blue Moon

I remember the new year eve a decade ago. A sense of excitement and hope as the new millenium arrived (Since BC 1 was followed by AD 1, the millenium should have ended on 31.12.2000 and not on 31.12.1999. Let us not quibble on a technicality and let bygones be bygones).

Many predictions were made. Some superfluous, some realistic. But the first decade of the new millineum has been quite lacklustre in more ways than one. It has been a pedestrian 10 years, with nothing dramatic happening worldwide in a positive way.

The 9/11 attack and the US repsonse to it set the world back a few years. In fact there has been bigger attacks elsewhere in the world that resulted in more casuality. But, US took umbrage that they could be targetted by terrorists and went out of the way to wreak havoc in many parts of the world. A classic case of overkill. Terrorism is here to stay. People have fought guerilla war fare and used terrorism throughtout the history of mankind. The new age terrorist is an evolution of the similar from the past. This is not to justify them, but to stress the futility of over reaction on the part of the State, as is the case now.

The post 9/11 recession and the bigger recession post Global Financial Crisis has had a profound impact on the world order. The so called super powers and the developed countries are looking shaky economically and even politically, and we might have laid the foundation for a new world order dominated by the BRIC countries. Couple of decades later, we might look back on this decade as the time when the change really started to happen. This could also be the decade in which the hegemony of the US and US $ began its count down to its logical fall, which could be good for a world suffering from two decades of US dominance, leading to a unipolar world.

The major change the last decade has brought in is the increased usage of the internet. Though internet started becoming popular in 1990s, people realised the benefit of it only in the last decade. I, personally, am thankful for this as I was to re orient my career based on this, which led to the creation of knowledge economy..

But many technical predictions made in 1999 did not become true. We were talking of 10 GHz computers then, but we are struggling to touch 4 GHz. The computers have become faster, but not THAT faster. The decade saw the demise of desktops and the arrival of laptops in a big way. Microsoft continues to dish out trash softwares, and we continue to use them. XP when it was launched was a disaster, though it recovered later. Vista should qualify as one of the worst products made in the decade. We were talking of the demise of Microsoft at the beginning of the century with it being replaced by Open Source Software - mainly Linux. But Microsoft has emerged stronger with the OSS losing steam.

The beginning of the decade also saw much being made of convergence technology - convergence of telephony, tv and internet. Though some developments have happened on the convergence of telephony and internet, they have not been able to integrate TV into this. Again looks like this is not going to happen. Wireless networks have become the norm rather than the exception and will continue to dominate our workspace in the future too.

The decade saw the slow death of print media, with TV dominating the space vacated by it. This trend is likely to continue. The decade has been the worst for Automobiles with most of the companies facing crisis, one way or other. Driverless cars, flying cars, vertical take off cars - all still remain dreams. The GPRS is the only real new worthwhile innovation in this sector. Nothing much is envisaged in the near future too.

As the most undistinguished decade passes by, let us hope that the second decade of the millenium brings more benefits to the people than the first one.

Enjoy the New Year Eve! To add to the beauty, it is a Full Moon Day as well. Also, it happens to be the second full moon of the month, something that happens only once every 2 1/2 years. A second full moon happening on New Year Eve???? Well, you have to wait till 2028 for that. So enjoy the once in the blue moon (as the second full moon in the month is called) phenomena. Don't forget to look up on the New Year Eve!!! Having a full moon when the year is born augurs well astrologically too. Let us hope for the best.

We, the people

"Sir,Indian Democratic system has not changed with the changing times.Even some one tries to change(honarable ex-Prime Minister Sri.Ataljee)our parliment will not allow to do so.That is India, MERA BHARAT MAHAN.regardsS.SubramanyamIGNOU-Alumni"

This was the comment posted by Subrmanyam to my last post.

Indian democracy has indeed changed with times. The politicians are a reflection of the people of the country. The society has changed a lot during the past quarter of a century. The joint family has broken to nuclear families, whose first inclination is on self preservance as they dont have the support offered by the joint family in the event of any difficulties. Added to this, both the parents are working to make a good living, and they have limited the children to at best one or maximum two. The family doesnt have time for anything other than their day to day activities. They do not get involved in civic problems nor to they have active participation in nation building. They feel their role is limited to paying taxes, even that they do grudgingly. The motto of life is to get ahead in any way, damn its impact on the society. Hence, garbages are thrown out, plastic is used indiscriminiately, bribes are paid to get things moving, waste is prevalent and the kid is pushed to his limit so that he undercuts his classmates and comes ahead in the rat race. Is it any wonder that a kid, who was brought up in this environment, and who is of votable age now, gives a damn about the society and the country. The schools and colleges that should have developed the civic duty in the kid are doubly bad. The child sees in them the pinnacle of everything that is wrong with the society - Teachers who are underpaid but who have got the job by paying capitation fee, Teachers who depend on private tuitions to get the money back, the school management that squeezes the money at every opportunity, poor quality of teaching, obsolete methodology, and education limited to text bookish knowledge. When I studied, we had strong students union that used to raise protests whenever the society errs. At times, they exceeded their limits, but they served a purpose in kindling our interest in national issues. We had elections in the schools and colleges, giving us a dose of the democratic set up. It too helped. Finally, the NCC, NSS, Scouts & Guides were very active in the schools and colleges (the first too). We developed a vegetable farm in the school, did kar seva during Gandhi Jayanthi day, collected money from the motoring public on Flag Day the collections going to the Jawans and we raised money in the event of a national calamity. Today, all these things are passe. I see kids going around with ticket books for School Carnivals!!!! Do I have to say more?

Our society is made up of this generation and their self serving parents. I do a regulary quiz at my MBA class, asking my students (mostly in the age group of 23 - 45) to name all the Prime Ministers and Presidents of India. And 99.99% of them can't nor do they care. This is just an example of the malaise.

People get the Government they deserve. This is an old saying. The apathetic people of today, who are confined to criticising sitting in their arm chairs, without doing their duty of going out and vote, getting involved in the societial issues, deserve the kind of MPs, MLA's, Presidents, Governors that we are seeing today.

Subramanyam erred in one thing. Our democratic system has changed, it has changed for the worse. But this is a transition period and it will take a turn for the better in the coming decades. For that people of this great country has to awake and arise, stand up and be counted.

Do we need spendthrift President and Governors?

The President Pratibha Patil landed in my home state Kerala yesterday to attend a single official function. Well that is part of her duty as a president, even though the function is something as obscure as the Kerala Woman Lawyers Association meeting or something silly like that. What is galling is that her entourage had 49 (forty nine) people, including her husband (who is a scamster and murder accused), children, grand children and god knows who else. Why the hell should the tax payers, you and me, pay for this extravagance? Is it any wonder that we are taxed to the neck by the government?

Do a democracy like us really need the British legacy left overs of ornamental posts like Presidents and Governors occupying palatial and expensive real estate spending thousands of crores of people's money?

Resigned on (m)oral grounds

Andhra Pradesh Governor and veteran congressman N D Tiwari, aged 86, had to resign today following telecast of his 'sex'capades in a local TV channel where he was allegedly shown in his bedroom in the company of 3 women, including a pregnant lady and a teenager(perhaps he was inspired by Tiger Woods ad of Nike - Just Do It)

My worry is not the veteran governors sexual preference. I am worried as to what the Secret Service people were doing, including the elite black cat commandos, while he was indulging in his virulent activities? These Black Cats are the best in our police force and hand picked for security detail. To reduce them them to something like pimps is totally demoralising and wholly uncalled for.

What a shame!

P.S: It was amusing to see Congress chamcha newspapers and TV Channels like Hindustan Times, NDTV to name a couple trying their damnest not to report the ND Tiwari scandal till such time he 'resigned' on '(m)oral grounds'

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my readers a Very Merry Christmas

A + B

Our Police is known for foisting the crime on an innocent while doing everything to allow the guilty go scot free. But even by their 'efficient' standards, this should take the cake.

"In a desperate attempt to crack a double murder with no eyewitnesses, Delhi policemen planted blood group AB on the weapon of offence thinking it would explain the killing of a man and his wife who had blood groups A and B, respectively. Their logic? Simple elementary mathematics, A+B = AB "

Fortunately for the accused, the honourable judge was not so gullible, and threw the case out.

Sporadic Blogging

Been preoccupied with some urgent work. Hence the sporadic blogging. Likely to be irregular till the new year.

Gold - your reliable friend

Gold is known for its intrinsic beauty, warmth, sensuality and spiritual richness. But it is also one of the best investments. That is what makes Gold so coveted. Gold ornaments have been in existence since 4000 BC. Wars have been fought and people have lost their lives over Gold over the years.

The present World Monetary System, like its predecessors, is founded on Gold held in treasuries or Central Banks. World Central Bank holdings of Gold at market price constitute one part of World International Monetary Reserves. Gold is inversely correlated to the US dollar, making it a good currency hedge. Anytime Dollar weakens, people switch over to Gold, as is happening now. Gold is the only reserve asset that is no one's liability, and is perhaps the only true Global currency. Unlike a paper currency, the value of gold cannot be affected by the economic policies of the a country or undermined by inflation in any country.. It can be traded anywhere in the World on any given day and it does have an intrinsic value.

Gold has always been dear to the people from developing countries, especially Indians. The lure of the glittering yellow metal is hard to resist. All over India, Gold is synonymous with wealth. Gold coins, bars and high-carat jewelry play a crucial role as a means of saving and defense against misfortune to many of the poor of the world. Gold is the benchmark as far as excellence is considered. It is why we have Gold Medals for the winners in any field.

Gold, perhaps, is the best possible protection against upheaval, both political and economic. Gold is an effective hedge against inflation. It provides sufficient liquidity and gives people a feeling of security. For the women, who are not working, jewelry is perhaps the only asset she owns in real terms. Something they can fall back in times of adversity. Added to the fact that it is a means of savings, Gold also has the advantage of being used as an ornament to augment the beauty of the women. The use of jewelry as savings is often important in rural areas where access to a reliable and appropriate banking system is difficult or impossible. Giving Gold as a Gift is considered to be the ideal token of love and respect, perhaps matched only by Diamond. Not many know, but Gold is bio-compatible, making it invaluable in medical implants. It also does not corrode or tarnish, making it invaluable in industrial applications. Gold is used in pharmaceutical industry extensively.

Gold offers protection against a weak currency or high domestic inflation levels, something people have realized in these troubled financial times. Historically, Gold has always been found to be a safe bet whenever there is an economic downturn. People have a psychological feeling that the yellow metal is a safe haven in troubled times. And they are correct. In the current scenario of global financial meltdown, there is hardly any other option available for the investor. He doesn’t see much logic in investing in Stock market which is at rock bottom currently, the real estate has been badly hit, banks and financial institutions have lost their credibility and also the interest rates are so low, it doesn’t make sense to lock your money in bank savings.

The only alternative is Gold. Apart from the retail investors, the institutional investors are also buying gold in large quantities as they do not trust the valuation of any other asset. Added to this, the oil prices are at a rock bottom. Again traditionally, gold prices are inversely linked to oil prices. Finally, the production of gold has stagnated during the past few years. Supply constraints and demand increase obviously means rise in prices of gold.

The World is going through one of the greatest recessions seen in recent times. But during this period when every other single investment has shown a negative return on investment, Gold has appreciated by more than 75%

That is the power of Gold, your loyal friend in good and bad times - (This article written by me was originally published in Powerbiz, IGNOU Kuwait E-Magazine, issue dated April 2009)

Empower the bowlers please

When I was an school going student, we used to play in our backyard which was barely the length of a pitch, 22 yards, wall on the back as stumps, and walls on either side, 20ft either side of the pitch. There were 8 of us. Any ball hitting the walls were counted as boundaries. The scores were in the range of 250-300 every innings as it was ridiculously simple to hit boundaries.

I was reminded of this when I saw the India-Srilanka one dayer in Rajkot today. Everyone was hailing it as a great match, what with a total of 820 plus runs being scored. But for me, it was silly cricket. There is no fun in seeing the batsmen tonk hapless bowlers all over the place. The whole fun of watching cricket is the tussle between the bat and the ball. Here the bowlers were reduced to tears.

Over the years, the ICC has altered the rule many a time to favour the batsman. For example, why should the number of overs be limited to a bowler, while batsmen can play the whole 50 overs if he can? Limiting the bouncer to one per over is ridiculous. Why are we not talking about batsmen allowed to lift the ball over the infield only once in an over? Take the case of leg side wides. Now anything pitching even 1cm outside the leg stump is a wide. Bowlers should be given more leeway on the leg side. Today's batsmen improvise a lot. Let him take a bit more risk to play the ball pitched outside leg. And the boundaries are ridiculously short on at 65 tears, much like my backyard. Recently I was watching a re run of the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship in Sydney. L Sivaramakrishnan was the main weapon as a leg spinner. And he was the kingpin because the boundaries were huge. With todays modern bat, which has sweet spot all over the place, even top edges clear the short boundaries with ease. And it is fun to see batsmen running 3's and even 4's in the huge Australian grounds of the past.

I suggest the following changes,

Allow bowlers to bowl unlimitedly. ( The new rule change states that 3 bowlers can bowl a maximum of 12 overs, though this is yet to be tried ). Or alternatively, allow a bowler to bowl one additional over for every wicket he takes. This will give him an incentive to take wickets.

Increase the boundary to the old 100 yards or at least 85 yards.

First power play to be limited to 8 overs. Bowling power play of 5 overs not to be taken before the 30th over. This will make the middle overs more interesting. Batting powerplay to remain as it is.

Increase the wide line outside the legstump to cover an additional 3 stumps.

Free hit to be banished. A person cannot be punished twice for the same crime. Increase the penalty runs for no ball to 2.

Revise the LBW law. This ridiculous issue of not giving out LBW when the ball pitches outside the leg stump has to be dealt with. The only question to be asked is 'Would the ball have hit the stumps?'

This might sound silly. But I would recommend scrapping day and night matches and playing ODI's during day with whites and red ball. The red cherry gives more options, wont have to be replaced at the 33 over mark and will do more. The white ball hardly does anything.

Reduce the matches to 40 overs. This is more than sufficient to get a good game of cricket

On a lighter note

With malice towards none and only in jest............................

Tiger Woods wanted to patch up with his wife Elin.

Tiger : "Elin dear..................................."

Elin : "You f**k off"

Tiger : "But............ that is precisely what I have been doing all these years. Then why are you upset with me?"

News item - Sreesanth is down with Swine Flu

You have to feel for him. When he tried his level best to be a A-grade Swine all these years, he didnt get the Flu. Now that he has become gentlemanly, he gets Swine Flu.

India's Supreme Court has asked the government to consider whether it might legalise prostitution

Hmmm....................... Is there a vested interest somewhere there? Maybe the Honorouble judges want to be on the 'right' side of the law all the time.

Maalika mugal .....................................

As a school going kid, I hero worshipped Bjorn Borg, the Tennis Maestro. His ice cool demeanour on the court, his legendary low pulse rate, him not showing any emotions on the court, his impeccable behaviour on the Court (as compared to the tantrums of McEnroe or Connors) nearly made him inhuman and god-like for an school going child. When he retired at the age of 26, I was shell shocked and just couldn't understand it. The shock turned to total confusion when his post retirement loose (that is putting it mildly) and wild life-style made him the centre of the news for all the wrong reasons. He also managed to squander away all his immense wealth and couple of broken marriages later, he was bankrupt. It was sad to see him trying to make a both ends meet. I just couldnt fathom, how such a successful athlete could end up a disaster in personal life. There was profound grief. And I still dont have an answer as to which was the real Borg.

Though not to the same extend as Borg, another sportsperson whom I adored was the pretty, and again impassive Chris Evert (nee Lloyd). I cheered her against the muscular Martina, and felt despondent when she lost to Martina (which was more often than not in the later part of her rivalry). Like Borg, Chris also had a more colourful personal life which was in total contrast to her on court demeanour.

Now, it is the turn of Tiger Woods. Here was a guy, who was the quintessential perfect man. All his life was going on as if being programmed. 14 majors, the tag of being the best golfer ever, a happy family with 2 kids, billion dollar endorsements, impeccable sportsmanship - life couldn't have been better. Now the scandal out of the blue. His numerous affairs, sexual escapades described in vivid details and now him taking an indefinite break from Golf - it is almost as if these guys have split personalities.

The question to be asked is whether the Sportsmen management system that includes trainers, sponsors, stake holders are creating immense pressure on the talented sportsmen forcing them to wear a mask that is alien to them.

Should we feel sorry for them. Should we judge them only on their skills on their chosen sports? My personal opinion is that we should. But success and money brings with it responsibilities and ethical living. One cant shirk it. Tiger knows that. No advertisements featuring him has been on in USA since November 28th and the Tiger Brand has taken a severe beating. Many used him to endorse their products because of the kind of person they thought he was. Continuing with him after his image has been washed like dirty linen and hung out to dry is expected to create collateral damage to the products he endorsed.

'Maalika mugal eriya manante tholil maarappu thookunnathum bhavan'

Adieu, my friend!

The first two wheeler in the family was a second hand Vespa 150 bearing registration number KLG 141, sandalwood colour. Father bought it so that he can go from Palghat to Chittur, 15 kms away, to where he was transfered. This was in 1975, and immediately after the first oil shock. We already had our beloved beetle in the house, but petrol has become dearer in 1975. Father learned two wheeler driving in 1975 and really struggled to travel the 15 kms, but bravely did for 3 years.

When we moved to Chittur in 1978, the Vespa was swapped for a second hand German motorbike, DKW. My brother had just completed his college and he had a fancy for bikes. You have to remember that the only bikes those days were the Bullet, Yezdi (Jawa) and the Rajdoot. Even they were few and far. Brother taught me driving on DKW at the age of 14, but the bike was heavy for a puny 32kg boy.

When brother moved to Delhi on getting a job, we sold off the trouble giving DKW with a brand new Vijay Scooter. Those days Bajaj was the leading Scooter manufacturer that had two products, Chetak (you needed Rs 2500 of Foreign Exchange to book Chetak which was basically being exported) and the Bajaj Super 150 ( you had to pay Rs 500 and book a Super. You will be given a random number that will tell you when it is likely that you will get the Scooter, normally it took 5-8 years). Of course the vehicles were available for a premium in the grey market. The premium was as high as 100% the cost of the vehicle.But since Vijay was available across the counter, I settled for one. Driving the navy blue Vijay to the college as one of the three students who owned a Scooter was the high point for a 17 year old boy, studying in a mixed college comprising of 2000 plus girls.

But my eyes were rivetted firmly on Bajaj. It was the ultimate machine. Though the engine was mounted on the side, quality wise Bajaj was far far superior to Lambretta or the Vijay. One of the main reason was that while Lamby and Vijay used the Chain system for transmission, Bajaj had a direct transmission, enhancing its pick up. Also, Bajaj was virtually maintenance free. Perhaps it was the first vehicle manufactured in India that had a world class quality and the vehicle was known for its reliability in an era where the norm was to offer Indians shoddy products. Also, Bajaj Scooter could be categorised as the first Aspiration product in the two wheeler market. In fact, grooms used to demand Bajaj scooter as part of the dowry those days. Chetak and much later the Super were launched in 1970s, and were the right product at the right time, as the decade felt the tremors of two oil shocks in 1974 and 1979. Driving a gas guzzler Ambassador was no longer an option in the inflation ridden 1970's and the fuel efficient Marutis will become popular only in mid 80's. Bajaj had a free run, and exploited it to the hilt.

Father, understanding my desire, managed to get Rs 2500 foreign exchange through a family friend who was in Dubai, and booked a Chetak. Even then, I had to wait nearly 2 years for the vehicle to be allotted. I remember, taking a bus to Coimbatore (50 kms away) and collecting the vehicle from the Cross Cut road distributor and driving back to Chittur. It might sound silly to those driving swanky bikes of todays, but the feel of driving a 150 cc Chetak on the NH 47 was something great those days. The Scooter was extremely smooth.

By then I was about to finish my MBA and moved on in life. Somehow, the Scooter remained in my parents house till 1989 and sparingly used (father had stopped driving two wheelers by then). I was driving it whenever I came home during weekends. I took it with me to Coimbatore when I was posted there in HPCL and used it for about 8 months till I bought my car. Much later the scooter was sold.

All these nostalgic memories flooded back when I read the news item that Bajaj has finally decided to phase out Scooters from its product line and shall concentrate only on Motorbikes. The largest seller of Scooters in the world once, who went with the much popular tagline 'Hamara Bajaj', are barely able to sell only 200 scooter a month, a steep fall from one lakh plus in a month couple of decades ago, with a waiting list that spawned nearly 5-8 years. In fact, Bajaj was a late entrant to the 100 cc bike market and their initial product Kawasaki-Bajaj was a mild disaster. It took a generation change in the top management, with Rahul Bajaj's son taking over the reigns, for Bajaj to focus all their energy on the Motorcycle market, where they aim to displace Honda as the largest producer of motorcycles in the world.

But like many of my generation, we will miss our dear Bajaj Scooters. Adieu my friend, you were a great companion.

Calling one's bluff

I have never been a great believer of Gandhiji's satyagraha, especially the fast unto death ones. It perhaps would have worked against a particulary opposition (The British) at a particular time (independence struggle). And, sometimes I have wondered whether the efficacy of the Satyagraha as a tool, even for Gandhiji, has been magnified and exaggerated as years passed by.

These thoughts again flashed through my mind at the fast unto death of Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K Chandrasekhara Rao. Poor guy! He started the fast 10 days ago demanding a separate Telengana State, quite an emotional issue in Coastal Andhra Pradesh. That he hardly did anything during his tenure as Minister under UPA government 1 is public knowledge. Rao, looks like started the fast on the understanding that Government will come up with something within 24 hours and he could end the fast. He was arrested promptly, and there were reports that he broke his fast the next day, as planned. That is when the script was changed for the poor fellow. His TRS youth were furious and saw through his game. They demanded that he continue the fast pending major concessions from the Government. The fast has entered the 10th day, Rao's health condition is critical, but he is in no situation to stop it on his own. And he has no clue as to how to get out of this with a face saving formula.

This is known as 'calling one's bluff'

I wish many more politicians, many such bluffs are called by the people to teach them a lesson

Dimensions of Gunas

The Guna framework is drawn from the Sankhya school of Indian philosophy. This philosophy states that the entire physical universe, including the human mind, is composed of three basic constituents (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) termed Gunas. Dr.S Radhakrishnan explained the 12 dimensions of Gunas as below,

1. Faith: The faith of each individual corresponds to his or her temperament. Sattva makes one worship gods and thus value all godly tendencies; Rajas shows inclination towards power and wealth, and Tamas towards ghostly spirits.
2. Food: Sattvic people like food that increases their vital force, energy, strength, appetite, and health. Such food is juicy, soothing, savoury, fresh, and agreeable. Rajasic people prefer food that is violently bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, acidic, and burning. Such food causes pain, bitterness, ill health, and distemper of mind and body. Tamasic people take pleasure in food that is stale, tasteless, cold, insipid, putrid, rotten, and impure.
3. Sacrifice: Sattva dominates when people offer sacrifice willingly as a duty without desire for fruits thereof. Rajas inspires sacrifice that is performed for outward show and in the hope of divine reward. Sacrifice that is performed without faith and with complete disregard to scriptural instructions is driven by Tamas.
4. Austerity: Austerity guided by Sattva is three-fold—of body, of mind, and of speech. Austerity of body makes one revere gods and scholars and practice straightforwardness, harmlessness, physical cleanliness, and sexual purity. Austerity of mind withdraws one from sense objects and inspires integrity of motive, serenity, sympathy, and meditation. Austerity of speech inspires spiritual study and use of words that do not hurt others and are true and agreeable. Austerity guided by Rajas is practised for ostentation and for gaining praise and honour. It is fleeting and unstable. Austerity driven by Tamas is practised with foolish obsessions of torturing oneself or hurting others.
5. Gift: Gift given as a matter of duty, without expectation of any return, at a suitable place and time, and to the deserving person is said to be inspired by Sattva. Gift that is given either with the hope of receiving in return or with a view of winning merit or grudgingly is driven by Rajas. From Tamas comes the gift that is given to an unworthy person at the wrong time and place disdainfully, without regard to the feelings of the person who receives it.
6. Obligatory work: Sattva is dominant when one does obligatory work with a sense of duty, abandoning attachment to the outcomes. Rajas makes a person shirk from difficult work from fear of pain or bodily trouble. Tamas leads to total abandonment of one’s allotted task due to delusion.
7. Knowledge: Knowledge guided by Sattva enables one to see the underlying oneness in all things despite the superficial diversities. Knowledge guided by Rajas makes one see various entities of distinct kinds and many souls in different beings. Tamas shrouds all knowledge rendering one incapable of seeing either the different souls or the underlying oneness.
8. Action: Sattva prompts one to act with non-attachment. Rajas makes one act with self-conceit for want of fruits thereof. Such action involves much dissipation of energy. Tamas makes one act in delusion without assessing one’s capabilities to perform the same and be heedless of harm to others.
9. Agent: An agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endued with fortitude and enthusiasm, and unaffected by success or failure is inspired by Sattva. Likewise, agents in Rajas are passionate, greedy, malignant, impure, and easily elated or dejected. Those under Tamas are unsteady, vulgar, arrogant, dishonest, malicious, indolent, despondent, and procrastinating.
10. Intellect: People whose intellect is guided by Sattva know the path of work and renunciation, right and wrong action, fear and fearlessness, and bondage and liberation. When Rajas dominates, the intellect decides erroneously between right and wrong and when the conscience is so thickly wrapped in ignorance that it mistakes wrong for right and sees everything distorted, then it has the nature of Tamas.
11. Determination: Determination inspired by Sattva never wavers. People with this kind of determination gain control over their mind, vital energies, and senses. Rajas-inspired determination makes one seek wealth or do duty looking for reward and personal advantage. Determination inspired by Tamas is nothing but obstinacy. It makes a person stubbornly refuse to shake off dullness, fear, grief, low spirits or vanity.
12. Happiness: Sattva drives happiness that is experienced through realization of the ultimate reality. Such happiness may be attained after strict self-schooling and toil; such realization is not easy, but once achieved, it gives deep delight. Happiness in Rajas arises from the contact of objects with senses and is short-lived, ultimately graduating into pain. Bred from Tamas is brutish contentment in stupor and sloth and obstinate error. Such happiness begins and results in self-delusion.

Bereft of topic

Bored and bereft of topics to blog.

See you tomorrow

Indian market as waterloo

Indian market has been the waterloo for many of the MNC's who tried to cash in on the post reform boom. Most of them misread the market potential and the cultural under currents. The myth of 1.1 billion indians eager to swallow 'phirangi' products and the burgeoning middle class with purportedly unlimited purchasing power and pent up demand made these companies enter the market without adequate research. This resulted in them having to incur losses and reorient after licking their wounds. Let us look at some classic cases.

Citibank targetted only the high income earners as an entry strategy, but to their horror realized that they had to take the mass banking route if they were to succeed in India.

Coca Cola reentered the soft drinks market more than 2 years after Pepsi. Instead of setting up their own bottlers and network, Coca Cola acquired Parle Soft Drinks which was holding nearly 60% of the market share through Thumbs up, Limca and Gold Spot brands. The idea was to phase out the Parle brands through cannibalizing them with Coca cola brands. But they were in for a surprise. Customers refused to swichover from Thumbs up to Coke. And for a soft drinks manufacturer, Cola is the segment to win or lose. It took considerable effort, time and money for Coke to overtake its own brank Thumbs up. A case of being too clever by half.

Whirlpool did not try to understand the indian middle class psyche and launched their bigger capacity refridgerators with much fanfare, only to see to their horror that Indians were not keen on buying anything that had a higher capacity than 165 Litres.

Many US brands mistakenly thought that the American tastes were universal. Domino's pizza found this out the hard way. They started replicating American offerings to the Indian market and that too only in metros. When the sales refused to pick up, they were forced to localize the offerings through 'panneer' and 'chettinadu chicken' toppings. The moral of the story - it is tough to change the taste buds that were developed over a period of few centuries.

Mercedes Benz, in 1995 set up a plant in India to manufacture E class sedan. The target market was the upper upper class. But the market just refused to pay a premium for what they considered was an outdated model. In a couple of years the plant was running at about 10% of the capacity and were looking at export market to break even.

How insensitive!!

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Worlds Worst Industrial Disaster - Bhopal Gas Leakage.

15,274 people died and 5,74,000 people were affected on December 2, 1984, when deadly methyl iso cyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory.

Many say Union Carbide got away very easity by paying a meagre $ 470 million (Rs 715 crore) as damage. Each affected person was paid Rs 25,000 and the dead Rs 1 lakh, and that too more than 10 years after the disaster.

Many victims were denied justice as Union Carbide, the NGO's and the Government together did everything they could to get a fair deal for the vicims.

It is a moot point how much Union Carbide would have had to pay as actual damages and punitive damages were the accident to have happened in USA. Third world lives are indeed cheap.

The disaster is significant for the apathy shown by successive governments. The past 25 years have seen governments under Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh, Chandrasekar, PV Narasimha Rao, IK Gujral, Deve Gowda, Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. But none of these worthies have done anything to bring the culprit to justice. The cries to extradite the then Union Carbide Chief Warren Anderson has fallen on deaf years. No one has been punished and the compensation has been meagre by any yardstick.

Now to add insult to injury, the MP minister has requested the Centre to sanction Rs 116 crore to build a memorial for the victims. How insensitive!!!