New Year Wishes

 [Tachchak Shurdevahitam Purastaach Chukramuchcharat]

pashyema sharadashshatam
jiivema sharadashshatam
nandama sharadashshatam
modama sharadashshatam
bhavama sharadashshatam
shrinavama sharadashshatam
prabravama sharadashshatam

ajiitaassyama sharadashshatam
jyokcha suryam drishe

[That celestial eye of the gods, the sun, is rising up brightly before us.]
May we behold him (the sun) for a hundred autumns.
May we live for a hundred autumns.
May we make merry for a hundred autumns.
May we rejoice for a hundred autumns.
May we become (better and better) for a hundred autumns.
May we listen (to godly discourse) for a hundred autumns.
May we speak well for a hundred autumns.
May we never feel wretched and helpless during hundred autumns.
May we be able to behold the sun for a long, long time.

From Krishna Yajurveda : Taittiriya Aranyaka IV-42:5:93

Wishing Everyone a year of 

peace , prosperity , success  and health

Organized looting

The Onion Crisis raises certain pertinent questions.

Government says Onion prices have hit the roof due to hoarding. If that were the case, why have we not heard a single instance of Government Authorities across India raiding one wholesaler who is hoarding, releasing the hoarded onion and taking punitive action against the hoarder? It is said that wholesalers are buying onions at Rs 30 and the customer was paying above Rs 80 per kg.

The Government claims that the heavy rains in october and november affected the crops. For the sake of argument, let us concede this. But is it not logical to assume that Onion prices will rise as a consequence? Then, why were the exports banned or import duty reduced much earlier? Why was the Government not pro active but reacted only after the media started screaming?

It is not that the Onion production in the country has been showing a decline. During the past two years, the Onion production has gone up by more than 60% but the prices, even at the wholesale level, has increased by a whopping 300%. Though increased in exports can be attributed as a probable cause, this is not as much as it is to justify the phenomenal jump in prices.

There is obviously a lobby, involving politicians, bureaucrats and traders that is systemmatically looting the country. Even a short term crisis in any one product means hundreds of crored in profit for this lobby. With a spineless Government looking the other way, the common man is in for tough times.

Tele'con' - Why now?

Is there more to meet the eye on the Telecom Scam involving Raja and DMK?

The Scam was known to all and sundry way back in 2007. Why has it taken 3 years for the UPA Government to take some actions now, at the fag end of 2010?

This is because Tamil Nadu is going to polls in May 2011. The CBI raids, and that Karunanidhis daughter and wife are involved, helps Congress tighten the noose around DMK, and bargain for more seats with a possible coalition government in the State, post elections.

Want to bet that Congress will brush the whole Scam under the Carpet once the Seat Sharing is done and dusted with?

Cabinet Reshuffle inside scoop

Budhirakshasan (BR) tweeted me frantically,

BR@Swamy: PM (means Sonia) Plng Cabinet Reshuffle.
Swamy@BR: Anything special?  Pawar relieved of Rotten Food ?
BR@Swamy: Dunno abt that. New Ministries created
Swamy@BR: Eh?
BR@Swamy: Cabinet Minister for CFM
Swamy@BR: CFM?
BR@Swamy: Corruption Fund Management
Swamy@BR: Whew! Heavy wt. portfolio. Who is the lucky guy?
BR@Swamy: Ahmed Patel, benami 4 u know hu
Swamy@BR: Oh!
BR@Swamy: New Minister for Mentally Retarded
Swamy@BR: hu?
BR@Swamy: Clown Prince.They needed somone representative of MR
Swamy@BR: Perfect
BR@Swamy: Minister for Disinformation
Swamy@BR: Doggy Singh?
BR@Swamy: Hats off to u Swamy
Swamy@BR: Tele'con' Ministry?
BR@Swamy: 'Con'crass party, as a whole will be the Minister
Swamy@BR: Merry Christmas BR
BR@Swamy: Asshole, u out of mind? Have a good mind to make you deputy to Clown Prince. Onionless, Cakeless, Chickenless Christmas. Too costly! Merry?

Modelless , Leaderless World - A worrying future

If the beginning of the 1990's saw the end of Communism, 2010 and the couple of years preceding it virtually saw the demise of  Capitalism. The impact on the demise of communism was not much as the Western World highlighted the Capitalism model as a balm to all the economic wounds of the World. But now, no one has a clue as to what the ideal model of economy is, as BOTH Communism and Capitalism has failed.

My worry is that world will end up with the disastrous Mixed Economy pursued by Nehru that almost ruined our Country.

Globalization is passe. Every country is going back to the era of post World War protectionism. The US and other European Countries, who used to wax eloquent about third world countries having to maintain better fiscal discipline and open up their economy to the world (read western countries), are silent on why they themselves are adopting massive protectionist measures these days. What is Sauce for the goose is no longer Sauce for the gander, it seems.

The US and the so called developed countries are reeling under massive debt. The US debt burden per family is close to a dangerous $ 100,000, and many European Countries have debt equal to 120% of their GDP. The servicing of debt alone will put a huge hole on these countries for decades to come. That is, if they start restructuring their economy from now on. The US is living far beyond their means. Their core competencies all shot down to bits. They possess neither the Financial nor the Technological clout which allowed them to dominate in the past. The reckless printing of dollars is certain to come back to hound them in the next 3-4 years.  They and the Devleoped Countries are in for a prolonged period of Economic Stagnation.

The rising economies have problems of their own. Russia has the lineage to become a superpower, but the Governance and Corruption is a major issue. China, for all its might, is a Communist Country and have accumulated more enemies than friends. They dont invoke confidence in even their closest allies. India has major structural failings. They are timid at the Global level, are seen to be hanging on to the coat tails of a flailing US, are not assergive, have major problems in Governance, Corruption and Judiciary. And they are at cross roads not knowing whether to liberalize, which has made the poor more poor, or to adopt socialism, which has never worked in the past. A Catch 22 situation, if ever there was one. And the political parties at the Centre or at the State lacks the sagacity to decide on a growth model for the country. This will be their greatest undoing. The opportunity beckons, here and now, for India to take charge and unveil its vision for growth based on a historic past, but the country is stuck with a a moribund bunch of politicians who cant even see one step ahead. Brazil is an interesting story where the economic growth during the past decade has benefitted the majority and is more equitable. But, being a Latin American country, they are far removed from the other part of the world, at least psychologically, for them to have a major impact. They are more likely to become a super power in South America, at best.

Thus, we are in for a period of turmoil globally. A modelless, leaderless period. One just hopes there is enough churning happening, so that something good comes out of it - Picture sourced from Internet

Ideas to make India a better place to live in -2

One of the banes of Indian economy is the total collapse of the rural/agrarian product market system. The problems are beautifully captured in the diagram below sourced from internet.

Our focus had always been on the first of the two Ps - Product and Price. Government led initiatives went a long way in improving the product through green revolution in the first place, and providing for high quality seeds and better soil management. The Operation Flood 1 and 2 revolutionised the Milk sector to some extend, though we are a long way from modern integrated Dairy practices. The Government adopted the support price/floor price policy that included massive subsidies to take care of the second P-Price.

But where we missed out totally is in the third P - Place or Distribution. Any country, that has 33% of its food grains rotting, not having any sort of infrastructure to preserve the perishable vegetables and fruits, not possessing the distribution network to effectively connect the retail buyer with the producer, not in a position to give adequate returns to the producer while fleecing the end user, is asking for trouble. We have seen poor starving while food is rotting, an apple takes 17 days without refrigeration to reach South from Kashmir, the vegetables and fruits still remain a commodity, whereby giving poor returns to the producer. The need of the hour is for creating of better modern storage facility on a war footing, and this has to be in the private sector, as the government sector has failed miserably in this area.  Vegetable/fruits hyper markets have to be established across the country which can and should remain the only whole saler. The number of middle men who devour the profit has to be brought down. This will ensure better preservation of agrarian products and lower the prices in the retail front. Government should also ensure seamless movement of agrarian products across the country and can take steps to brand products that can help in the long run. It has already started happening in the case of rice and is paying good dividends.

The money required to establish this logistical network will be a pittance compared to the investment we are making in the industrial sector and well worth it.

Rs 70,000 crore of tax payers money and no accountability?

Responding to to the CBI director's letter to the cabinet secretary asking that CWG organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi andhis second-in-command LalitBhanot be sacked from the OC, the government today said it was not in a position to sack the two. The agency wanted Kalmadi and Bhanotto be moved out of the body as they were allegedly obstructing investigations - Now I admit that Olympic Committee is an autonomous body and has rules of its own. But the whole Olympic Committee is funded by the Sports Ministry. The money spent on CWG is around Rs 70,000 crores. This money is tax payers money and there is clear evidence that this has been looted and plundered. Kalmadi is a Congress functionary, and Congress led UPA rules the Country. And the Government wants us to believe that it does not have the power to ask the two to step down? Why not throw the book at them, arrest them and lock them up in the worst jail? The Government wont do that, because the loot has reached its way right to the top and many skeletons will come tumbling out if Kalmadi is touched.

Shooting in the foot and Stabbing in the back

Congress really knows how to shoot itself in the foot and to stab a loyal Ally in the back.

Take the case of Lalu Prasad Yadav. He has steadfastly stayed in the 'sickular' corner, has been firm in his opposition to BJP and has supported Congress at every turn during the past few decade. And he was a better than decent Railway Minister. But when UPA 2 was formed, he was pushed aside rudely and without even a courteous 'thank you for services rendered' by the Congress. The result? Lalu went alone in the Bihar elections, was  beaten, but ensured Congress under the (de)motivating leadership of the Clown Prince was soundly thrashed, which put a black mark in the 'future' Prime Minister in waiting's resume. If only Congress had shown some magnanimity and offered Lalu a couple of Ministries, they would not have been in such a sorry state.

The Left supported Congress with outside support during UPA 1. And they were pretty decent about it. They got all the flak for government non performing, as the Congi friendly media portrayed them as the stumbling block that the genius liberal reformist PM couldn't overcome. They were shown the door for a silly nuclear deal, and if you would have expected Congress to go back to the reform agenda now that the shackles have been broken, you were mistaken. Looking at the (non) performance of post Left UPA, one has to give a compliment to Left for getting something done by the Government, as they are hardly doing anything other than looting the Country. That Congress tied up with TMC to bring down Left in Bengal is the icing on the cake. But looks like Didi is jittery as she is apprehensive Congress is up to their old tricks. She is being very wary.

Congress did the same to Shibu Soren, who,  once, bailed it out with a few suitcases.

The latest in the line is DMK, which has been an integral part of UPA during both the tenure and has supported Congress steadfastly. True they were corrupt, but they also ensured Congress coffers were jingling (No one in the right mind will believe that Congress will allow a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crores without taking a lions share of it). Now with elections around the corner, Congress is up to its old game of putting pressure on DMK through CBI raids (If anyone thought these raids are to find out the truth behind the 2G scam, they must be cuckoo) and are toying with dumping DMK and aligning with AIADMK or going it alone. I would love to see the last happening. The logic given is that Congress has 15% vote share in TN. How this was calculated is anyone's guess. They have added up all the votes Congress candidates got wherever they stood for elections last time around. But they were in an alliance, and the votes they polled is not theirs alone, but also that of the alliance parties. Let them go it alone for once, and I can assure you that they will not even get the deposit in a single constituency. Anyway, even if they go with Jayalalitha, it will be very tricky. Amma is the toughest cookie in the political arena, and has utter disregard for the super powers that be sitting in Delhi. And she will show them their place once the elections are over, as she has done in the past.

But if I were Congress President, I will tie up with my alliance partners for a long period, and ensure the coalition is stable for a while, rather than torpedoing it at every single opportunity.

Beware the wrath of a woman..........................

Onion prices are at a record high. It sells at Rs 70/- per kg in Delhi.

Now, why is this important? There is a history to it. The ruling party is in big trouble whenever the onion prices have hit the roof in the past.

Onion is an integral part of Indian Cuisine. 80% of the cuisine contains onion. Also, the rural poor eat Chappathi or Rice as the case may be, with hardly any curry but with Chilli and Onion.

Hence, a high price for Onion takes away a major ingredient of their daily meal. And this hurts them and invokes their wrath.

Government has taken steps to bring down the prices by banning exports. But unlike other vegetables, onion is not that easily perishable, and hence hoarders are not worried, but the aam admi is.

The housewife is in tears, not from cutting the onions, but from genuine grief of not being able to afford a vegetable that is so essential to their cooking. 

These tears are powerful enough to bring any government down.

Beware the wrath of a woman......................!!

Congress 'Daft' Econo-Corrupto Resolution

So finally the Congress party has come out with a plan to combat inflation, by presenting a d(r)aft economic resolution in its plenary session!!!. Let us take a look at it.

Expressing concern over rising prices, the Congress party on Monday asked the government to deal with the issue of inflation with candour and courage and take stern action against hoarding and black-marketing - Nice touch. Express 'concern' (not even 'alarm') and 'ask' the Government to deal with the issue of inflation with candour and courage, whatever the heck that means. (We are to assume that the inflation was in double digits all these months because the Government did not have a strong spinal chord, eh? What else can you expect when you elevate faceless, insipid idiots as PM and CMs?) Now having made such a gesture, wash the hands, say Jai Sonia, Jai Rahul, have chai, vada and go back to looting the country. Job done.

The daft economic resolution, proposed by Rural Development Minister C P Joshi at the 83rd plenary session of the Congress also called for achieving double digit economic expansion while avoiding jobless growth - I have to admit I am confounded by the term 'avoiding jobless growth'

Neither the centre nor the state governments should tolerate inefficiency or corruption in the system that lead to artificial scarcity or goods or arbitrary increase in prices. The centre should impress upon the states to deal sternly with hoarding, black-marketing and profiteering - Tolerate only corruption in lakhs of crores. These low level corruption of hoarding and blackmarketing dont fill the coffers of the Party and its Queen/Clown Prince. Hence, you need to treat it with what? ha. Candour and Courage. I can see Manmohan Singh lifting a Sword and shout 'Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal' . Then keep it down and tell in a firm sotto voce to the State CMs (Non Congress of course) "You should take all possible steps to check black marketing and hoarding". I can visualize all the CM's peeing in their , well whatever they normally wear.

Pointing out that about Rs 45 lakh crore will be required for development of infrastructure sector in the 12th Plan (2012-17), the resolution asked the government to redouble its efforts to create infrastructure sector commensurate with a fast-growing economy - I can hear Swiss Bankers rubbing their hands in glee and queuing up in front of Sonia, Rahul, Ministers houses as the kick back these days is not 10% as in the case of poor 10% Asif Zardari, but close to 75%.

No word about more funds for education, no word about distribution of food grains rotting in the warehouses to feed the hungry poor, no word about how to recover the money stashed in Swiss Banks, or the money stolen through various scams.

Security Killer

Another tragic death due to the stupid security detail of VVIPs.

This is really silly. In any other democratic civilized country, where the rulers do care one bit for the people who elected them, one would have thought that a dying patient gets precedence over the PM of the country. What the heck! That is the least anyone with an iota of humaneness and culture would do.

No one denies that our leaders deserve security in these troubled times. But the number of people who have been given VIP security runs into thousands, including Priyankas puppy.  This is ridiculous.

Our leaders live in an ivory tower. It is one of the reasons they pay scant attention to terrorism and make silly statements like Clown Prince or his mother does frequently.

63 years of freedom has only ensured in replacing the Gora Sahibs with Brown Sahibs (Well Sonia is still Gora). Then the Brits used to treat Indians like dirt, and enjoyed special privilieges. Now our Ministers, MPs etc do the same.

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (The more things change, the more they remain the same)

Why the nincompoop said what he said

Budhirakshasan, my friend, was pleased as punch

The Congress spin masters were burning the wire, calling him every hour to give a plausible reason for Clown Prince to remark to the US Ambassador that Hindu Terror is the most worrisome factor, and is graver than Islamic Terrorism.

Finally, after breaking his bald head (he is also bald, like me) for two days, it seems he came up with a charitable explanation,

See Swamy, this guys father, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by the LTTE people comprising of Dhanu (Thenmozhi Rajaratnam or Gayatri - her real name was one of these),  Sivarasan, Nalin and the LTTE Supremo Veluppilli Prabhakaran. All of them were Hindus. Hence, the nincompoop thought that Hindu Terror was more dangerous, as it hit closer to home once.

Swamy, frankly I, for the life of me, could not even think of any other remote explanation and I have a very fertile imagination.

You know Swamy, the Congress Party was relieved when I gave them this angle, as all the Clown Prince's horses and men couldn't think of anything to justify his himalayan blunder.

I can share a secret with you. I have been promised a Padma Bhushan in the next Republic Day honours!!!

When I looked askance, he muttered, "For services rendered to the Royal Family"

For want of avenues to show leadership skills............

One of the reasons why we are not a mature democracy is because our political parties do not believe in democracy, despite paying lip service to it.

In Britain, for example, whose political system we have adopted, the leader of the party is elected through a ballot, and there are many rounds of polling, till the winner is assured of at least 51% of votes. Note how Ed Milliband outwitted his brother David Milliband to become the Labour Party leader a few months back. And candidates for each constituency is elected based on primaries. And there are certain limits to the tenure. The US President cannot hold office for more than 2 terms. This allows for leadership at various levels to grow.

Contrast this with India. Congress hardly conducts any elections. Sonia has unanimously elected for the 5th time in a row. No one knew what was the election process, if at all there was one. Technically the PM and the CMs are to be elected by the party's parliamentary party members. But hey no! Every single time, this group of MP's and MLA's 'authorize' Sonia Gandhi to 'nominate' a PM or CM, who turns out to be not acceptable to any one in the end. The case of Kiran Reddy in AP is the latest example. Same is true of all the other parties, whether it be BJP, CPI (M), SP, BSP, DMK, AIADMK, TDP, BJD, RJD ................... All the political parties are one leader centred who in turn rules like an autocrat. Is it any wonder that our Parliamentariens pay scant respect to democratic traditions, debates, raising public issues, maintaining decorum, accountability? This also sees, people close to the leader, who do not have mass support hold constitutional positions, our PM being a classic example He is yet to be elected to the Lok Sabha. He owes his position to Sonia Gandhi, and his tenure is at her discretion, and not at people's. Why then should he care about the common man?

The Election Commission has wide ranging powers including ensuring elections in various political parties. But they are found wanting in implementing this when it comes to political parties internal functioning.

There is a leadership vaccum at various level in our country. It is not because we lack people with leadership qualities, but the leaders dont get an avenue to show their leadership qualities. This needs to be corrected if we were to become a super power one day.

Of this and that

It is a silly world, where people try their best not to find answers.

Take the case of Justice Raghupathy complaining to his CJ about a Ministerial interference, which was forwarded to the then CJI of India. Apparently, the then telecom minister Raja was the culprit. Now it is clear one of the three learned judges is lying. All it takes is for the three letters in question to be published to know who suppressed the fact. But hey no! we go into endless press statements in legal language that no one understands.

On another note, I cannot understand the big hue and cry over the wikileaks revealing cables of US ambassadors. If at all it shows that they have been taking their job a bit too seriously, that of providing information to the foreign office mandarins back home about the host country. And knowing bureaucrats, I am sure they will add spice to their story to support the view point held by their boss.

Having said that, the wikileaks of Rahul Gandhi, wherein he says Hindu terror is more of a concern only goes to prove what we all know - the Clown Prince is an idiot (and my apologies to all idiots) and has no clue as to what the ground situation is. This is the problem being indoctrinated by classic Assholes like Digvijay Singh, whose only agenda is to get the Home Ministers portfolio when RG becomes (if) the PM. Having an ignoramus like RG suits him, for then he can rule by proxy. Did not someone say that 'A man is known by the company he keeps" or something like that?

What irritates me is Clown Prince and Mata Hari (who has given a no holds bar interview to Arnold Schwatzennegers wife, of all the people ) opening up to foreigners while keeping their trap shut to Indians and Indian media. This shows what they think of us.

Ideas to make India a better place to live in -I

In a way it is easier to be a critic than to find solutions to issues facing us. Let me share some of my thoughts with you on how we can make India a better place to live in.

The UPA Government introduced the Right to Information Act. This has made some difference in removing the secrecy surrounding Government decisions, but still bureaucrats have found ways to prevent critical information from reaching the public. In fact, our Prime Minister is understood to be quite weary of this act. This Act is fine and is a start. But what the common man want is easy access to information without having to go through the mazes of government employees. Unless you know someone, or are prepared to bribe, it is next to impossible to get even a scrap of information from any government office. India claims itself to be an IT super power. Why have we not thought of computerising all the Government records, and establishing E-Kiosks across the country, where any common man can walk in and get the information that he wants. Remember how telephony took off in  India when Rajiv Gandhi and Sam Pitroda went ahead and established STD booths in every street corner and how it changed our lives forever? These Kiosks can be manned initially by unemployed youth who can take a nominal service charge from the customer. I am sure an informed society will be an asset to our country.

We need to make a conscious effort to integrate the States. A uniform tax structure, abolition of Sales Tax Check Posts at the border, free flow of Capital, Goods and Manpower across the States is the need of the hour. Why one should pay roaming charges on mobile or STD charges on landline when one moves from one State to another, or even within a State baffles me. With IT infrastructure in place, a uniform tariff can be easily made applicable. I understand there is considerable thinking going on to make this a reality.

I have written this before. The LPG customers should be taken out of the clutches of the Company/dealer network. Since the cylinders are standardised, there is absolutely no reason why we cannot pick a LPG cylinder from a dealer of my choice. This will ensure better service.

With all our resources and visions of becoming a super power, we just cannot afford to have illeteracy. School enrolment and absenteeism is a major concern. We should think of mobile schools. Schools that will move from village to village and teach the kids either inside the Bus or under a tree basic language skills. We need to really have a re-look at our education model. The 10-4 schools, 5 days a week model should be destroyed. More knowledge can be imparted through usage of technology in a shorter span. The mobile schools can have classes at each village, 2 hours a day , thrice a week. You might argue that it is insufficient, but it is better than nothing. 

India's last Governor General C Rajagopalachari, or Rajaji , had propounded a wonderful model of schooling. He wanted children to learn conventional school text books in the morning, and to get vocational training in a craft of their choice in the afternoon. He was shouted down by the Dravidian parties, who found fault with it by saying that Rajaji, a brahmin, wanted to ensure a Carpenters son remained a carpenter. But Rajaji, in his wisdom in early 1950s, was preparing a generation for the eventual transformation of the economy from agrarian to industrial. It is still not too late. We need to accept that most of our students are unemployable, and sorely lacks in hard and soft skills. There is no point in living in denial........... to be contd......

P.S: You are welcome to share your ideas through e-mail with me.

Lame Duck PM

Just as the people were heaving a sigh of relief at the inflation figures going below 8%, comes the shock that Petrol prices are raised by nearly Rs 3, with a hike in Diesel price indicated. The reason given is the firming up of the crude oil prices. The point is we have not seen petroleum companies reducing the prices when the crude prices drop. So it is back to > 10% inflation in a couple of weeks. The economy is sustained by higher level of spending, mainly due to people losing confidence in any investment instrument, and freer flow of black money. High interest rates have already resulted in dip in manufacturing growth. The production is decreasing, there is more money available in the market which is a clear indication of inflation galloping in the coming few months. 

The PM finally opened his mouth on the Radia Tapes and promptly went on to shoot himself in the foot. He was more worried about how the tapes got leaked than about the contents of the tape, that gave clear indications of big businessmen influencing his governments formation. Talk about wrong priorities!!! Shoot the messenger and ignore the message.

The problem with MMS is that he is a lame duck Prime Minister now. In a way, he always had been a lame duck PM. He is not likely to get another term as PM. The age is against him and his health is also not what it should be. Normally, the period when a PM knows he is a lame duck is quite dangerous. Most of them want to change the world in their last year, and try to do everything in one year that they didnt do during their past few years in office. 

But our PM wont even do that. He did make an aborted attempt at signing a peace treaty with Pakistan, which would have ensured a legacy and a Nobel Price for him, but the Pakis stymied it. Another reason why he wont try anything silly is his training as a bureaucrat, where he has been trained to obey his political masters. Also, he is in line to become our next President once Pratibha Patils tenure ends in 2012. And what better way to end a career of mediocrity than in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

And who cares if the Country goes to dogs!

'System'ic failure

Even a couple of years ago, everyone was talking about how great the Australian Cricket structure was. Their talent scouting, number of quality coaches, infrastructure, consistency in selection, modern coaching methods................the list was endless. Based on such a hype, every other country was scrambling for Australian coaches and trying to replicate their system.

There were saner voices that cautioned the enthusiasts that Australia were a great team because it contained some wonderfully talented players like Shane Warne, Gilchrist, McGarth, Ponting, Waugh twins, David Boon, Allan Border, McDermot, Hughes, Taylor........... The system was only secondary, though it helped maximize the efficiency of these players. 

We were told about how the system traps the talent at a very young age, hones their skills and makes them battle hard to face the rigorous test that International cricket offers.

What no one noticed was that Australia, for the past one decade, has not been throwing up enough talent, despite the system. This weakness was hidden by the good to great bunch of players they had at the top. The Clarkes, Husseys, Katichs, Watsons, Johnsons, Hauritzs just were not good enough. And there is nothing in the pipeline. These players have been exposed. When the nation asked them to put up their hand when the need arose, they froze.

The Australians also boasted of how good their selection panel was and how ruthless they were when it comes to easing out out of form or even established players. They pointed out to how the nudge was given to Steve Waugh and even Taylor. They said the baggy green cap has to be earned. These days every tom, dick, harry and beer gets the baggy green cap. The selectors remind of the bunch of jokers that India had, making irrational choices and decisions, and sticking to out of form players. Ponting has failed as a Captain. But they couldn't do anything as there is no successor. Clarke should have been put to pasture for his poor performance. But he continues. Why they persisted with North is a mystery. Perhaps not. There just isn't anyone to replace him. The bowling has been pathetic, and we see different set of bowlers for each Test. And they are dropping catches by buckets. When you had great players, you can brag about how competitive the team is. This team is known more for chickening out than for staying and fighting. 

So much for their system.

Contrast this with India. Despite the lack of system, it has thrown up more talent during the last decade than any other country. Kohli, Pujara, Raina, Vijay on the batting front, Ishant Sharma, Ashwin, Ojha, Vinay Kumar etc on the bowling front have all done more than adequately and are ready to step into the vaccum to be created by the Fab 4 retiring. Ganguly's retirement hardly made a dent, nor did Kumble's retirement. Despite losing promising players like Irfan Pathan, R P Singh, VRV Singh, the second team thrashed New Zealand 5-0, under a new Captain Gautam Gambhir.

So will the world now emulate the Indian system, where chaos rules, but money becomes a big motivator for youngsters to fight to reach the top?

We have to wait and watch.

Newer version of Theruvu Nadakam

As a youngster, I grew up in Kerala where it was fashionable for the educated youth to be Left sympathisers (This is no longer the case, as the Left has been discredited in my home state and elsewhere). The State also had its own share of youngsters who believed in the Extreme Left philosophy. I am not talking about the nihilist nexalism of Ajitha & Co who believed in armed revolution ( a la Maoist insurgency of the current), but about a sizeable chunk of intelligent educated youth who rebelled against the powers that be and tried to attract people's attention to the injustices of the political class, the servile and corrupt bureaucracy. These people conducted 'Theruvu Nadakam' or 'Street Dramas'. They will assemble in a street corner, beat the drum, and backed by a robust, hard hitting script conduct a 20-30 minute skit highlighting the corruption in the high places. These will be watched by a crowd of 100 people who stand in a circle. Once the drama was over, they move to the next street corner. These dramas were very effective and went a long way in exposing corruption. More often than not, these activists were harassed, arrested and jailed. It was an open secret that the politicians and officials hated their guts, but the common man identified with them and appreciated that a bunch of youngsters were taking on the mighty State. I am not here to talk about the larger agenda behind Marxist-Leninist activists or the morality of their ideology. My objective is to illustrate the methodology used those days to inform the public about the wrong doings of the powers that be.

With technology improving leaps and bounds, we have a new set of activists, who are prepared to take on a much more mightier State - A State that has virtually become a Police State of late globally. The Governments indulge in massive corruption, intrude on the privacy of people, and hide behind official secrets act. Disinformation and lack of transparency is a norm than an exception. The politicians speak of democracy, but do everything in their power to subvert democratic process. The people who elect them are held in utter contempt. The new set of activists are the netizens. Perhaps the greatest tool democracy has in the world today. We have wikileaks exposing the mighty US government and here when the broadcast media blocked out the Radia tapes incriminating Burkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi, the netizens took up a crusade to bring the truth to the public, forcing the two tainted journalists to come out in the public with statements, and were promptly taken to task for being less than truthfull.

What we are watching is a new version of 'Theruvu Nadakam', one that is more powerful, has a much wider audience and a broader stage - the WWW.

Court of the Absurd

Two incidents show what is wrong with our Judiciary.

It appears now that Justice Raghupathy of Chennai High Court had clearly mentioned in his 'one page' complaint to Chennai HC Chief Justice that the Minister who tried to influence him was none other than the Telecom Minister Raja. The then Chief Justice of Supreme Court Balakrishnan (perhaps one of the worst CJ's India has seen) claims now that the memo sent by the Chennai CJ did not contain the name of the Minister, insinuating that the Chennai CJ edited out the original complaint. I am really stumped. Perhaps for the first time in the history of independant India, a sitting HC Judge has given a written complaint regarding influence by a Cabinet Minister. The matter is quite serious as it affects the integrity of the judicial system. All CJ Balakrishnan had to do was to ask Justice Raghupathy and his Chennai CJ to fly down to Delhi, conduct a spot enquiry and take appropriate action. Or else he should have flown down to Chennai. Or at least, he should have picked the phone, and had a conference call with the two gentlemen. Instead, he is defending his inaction on a technicality. And such people sat on the highest echelons of our Judiciary. What a shame!

The Supreme Court, hearing a petition made a caustic comment that 'something is rotten in Allahabad SC'. And also made another comment that everyone knows who is the rotten judge/judges. Now pray tell me, if the honourable justices know who the rotten egg(s) is, why the hell don't they take action, instead of sitting and passing silly comments? If a Supreme Court Judge cannot or will not take action against a known corrupt, then who will?

Court of the Absurd!!!

Secret Diaries

The CBI’s scrutiny of the “incriminating” documents it had seized on Wednesday has yielded major disclosures that could lead to many more skeletons tumbling out of the 2G scam cupboard. The seizures were made during raids on the residences and establishments of former Telecom Minister A Raja, his aides and the bureaucrats of his erstwhile Ministry. Sources said four diaries belonging to Raja, parallel files pertaining to the spectrum allocation and the Prime Minister’s original letter to Raja — advising him for transparent auction of the spectrum — have been found. While CBI officials remained tightlipped on the recovery, sources in the agency said the diaries are written mostly in Tamil and mention payments to politicians and journalists - I can't stop laughing and crying at the same time. Am I to understand that Raja, who is involved in a Scam worth a few lakh crores, which is the talk of the town for the last couple of years, and who has recently quit his post, and is the cause for Parliament to be stalled with MPs demanding a JPC, is daft enough to keep Diaries in his house where he has written the names of the people to whom he has made the pay-off.

There can be only three explanations.

Either he is daft and absolutely cuckoo, which I really suspect.

Or the Government and the CBI are daft and cuckoo, which also is an improbability.

Or the Government, CBI and Raja together thinks that we, the citizens, are daft and cuckoo to believe such crap.

And I suspect, and fear the last is the case.

Budhirakshasan is back

I haven't met my friend Budhirakshasan for a long time now. Last time I saw him, he gave a good account of how MMS aims to improve the health of all Indians

I was driving in my car yesterday evening, when I suddenly felt his presence in the Passenger Seat besides me. To say he was displeased would be an understatement. He chided me for leaving Kuwait without informing him. He, being what he is, accepted my profuse apologies like a true gentleman, and proceeded to give his wonderful insights into what is going on in Bharath.

When I casually mentioned about my concern regarding the Varanasi blast, he dismissed it as a minor trifle. "You haven't seen anything yet. We are in for a major terrorist strike before the new year"

I decided to play dumb. "Why? Is the internal security situation so bad?"

Tut tutting my apparent ignorance, he said "Terrorism has got nothing to do with internal security situation, Swamy. A good terrorist attack is what the Ruining Party wants now, to divert the attention from all the scams. Last heard the honchos of the Ruining Party were heard chiding the handlers of the terrorist for lighting some left over Diwali Crackers in Varanasi, than a few mega tonnes of RDX. It looks like there were scamsters in the LeT too, who did a Raja on the funds given by the Ruining Party and diverted it to Real Estate and could afford only crackers"

Me : "Speaking of Raja, his goose is cooked , what with the CBI raiding his house yesterday"

"Swamy..................Swamy..........you are so naive. Raja has a MC Degree. Master of Chits. He keeps all vital information, like making small payments of half a lakh crores to Rani, in small memory aid yellow chits. The raids by Congress Bungling Idiots (CBI) were to recover all the chits, that was being used by the 'Merci'ful Chakravarthy to bargain with Rani".

"Uh! What about the Rs 1.76 lakh crores? and the thosands of Crores from CWG Games?"

"Swamy............ neenkal 'Con'gresso upanishad padikkanam ( you should read 'con'gresso upanishad). 4th Sargam, 97th stanza is as follows,

Rani Swaha

Rajakumaran Swaha

Raja Swaha

Karuna Swaha

Manmadan Swaha         (eh! tut-tut antonym of Maran. Oh! ok)"

And I left him  'Sing(h)'ing this in a 'Man'o ranjaka (pleasing the mind) way in 'Mohan'(a) Raaga"

Pearls of wisdom from Law Minister

‘The tapes should be for the purpose of the department concerned. They cannot be put in the public domain’ - Thus spoke our esteemed Law Minister, Mr.Veerappa Moily

I am not a legal luminary like the Minister. But even to a common man like me, this statement sounds absurd. The Radia Tapes have brought out pathetic lobbying by the industrial houses to get their man as Minister, collusion by the Media, Politicians, Industrialists and Lobbyist in the process of something as sanctimonious as ministry making, and some of the ministers who were thus sworn in has indulged in massive corruption - to the tune of a % of GDP. And the Government had these tapes all these while and didnt do a damn about it. Has our law minister ever heard of the term 'suppression of evidence', which is a grave crime in any decent judicial system? 

And rather than going after those who indulged in corruption based on the leaked tapes, he has the gumption to say that 'an investigation is needed to see how the tapes were leaked', as if that is the most important crime in the whole sordid saga. That is what his party is good at - shooting the messenger.

Also, the law minister blatantly lies. He claims that "In our country, the last hanging took place about 15-20 years ago". He is wrong. The last man hanged in India was Dhananjay Chatterjee in 2004 for raping and murdering a 14 year old girl. His mercy petition was rejected by the then President A P J Abdul Kalam, though the then President was known for his anti-death penalty sentiments. He felt, any person who raped a young 14 year old kid and murdered her rightly deserves to die, and he is correct. The misrepresentation by Moily is deliberate. It was to justify the non implementation of the death penalty against Afzal Guru and in due coure Ajmal Kasab. (On this matter, it is interesting to note that Kasab is the 309th convict waiting for death sentence to be enforced. Going by the Government stand of him having to stand the queue to get the privilege of having a rope around his head, and taking into consideration that we hang a person once about 10 years, it will take 3000 years for Kasab to be hung!!!! )

To protect the Queen........................

I have never been a great believer that our Parliament does the job it is supposed to do - Debate and Legislate.

For far too long it has been held hostage by hooligans who stall its proceedings on some pretext or other, and by the Government, since they cannot stall directly by shouting slogans, creates a situation where the opposition will be forced to stall. 

(This is like what is happening in Government colleges in Kerala, where there is a student strike (and at times strike by the teachers) every other day, disrupting classes. Everyone is happy bar the odd studious student, as they can go home early. The teacher loiter around for a couple of hours and then scoot off. I have seen with my own eyes, lecturers asking student leaders hopefully whether there will be a strike on the given day, as they have some urgent personal work to attend to. Why everyone is happy with a strike (even I was, in my college days) is because no earth shaking knowledge transfer happens in the class room and who wants to sit and listen to boring lectures by Manikkan, or Devaraj, or Sooryanarayanan, or Ajitha or Sarada or Sharma or Marikkar Kutty or Jayamani - some of the real specimen lecturers from my time, who were plain lousy as teachers)

But even by our Parliaments 'lofty' standards, the current impasse on it being stalled because a JPC is not formed to investigate the 2G Scam takes the cake. While the Scam is indeed the largest in our known history of serial scams, and the culprits need to be brought to book (not that they ever will be), whether a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will ever be able to do that is a moot point, taking into account what previous  JPCs have (not) accomplished. The option for the the opposition would have been to initiate a debate in the Parliament, where they could have put the Government to mat - that is the only thing they could have done. Having said that, the onus of making the Parliament function is with the Government. Why they are refusing a JPC is a mystery, knowing how much little it can achieve. And they have been very obstinate about stone walling a JPC Probe.

The real reason lies elsewhere. One needs to read this in association with appointing tainted Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), which has been an unmitigated disaster for the ruling front as the Supreme Court has been scathing in its comments on this ridiculous government decision of a person who not only has a criminal case against him, but also has blocked an enquiry by CAG into the 2G scam when he was Telecom Secretary. Talk about Conflict of Interest. So what is the real reason? Queen is involved in the 2G Scam. It is obvious that she is involved. She forced a reluctant MMS to re appoint Raja as Telecom minister, and to appoint Thomas as CVC, despite opposition leaders dissent note. The Congress will put up such a stone walling performance only if either the queen bee or the prince bee is involved. A scam of such magnitude could not have happened without their patronage. Congressmen are too wily to allow an ally to scoot off with that kind of money, without taking their huge pound of flesh. The queen must be protected at all times. For that if the country's parliament has to stop working, so be it. Who cares?

Eloquent Silence

At times silence is more eloquent.

Yesterday was 6th December - the anniversary of Babri Masjid being brought down. Every year, since 1992, there used to be massive coverage by the pseudo secular media who lavishly wielded the stick on the Hindus. But this year, I was scrolling through newspaper after newspaper, and barring an item in Malayala Manorama about heightened security in Guruvayur Temple, could hardly find one article on the topic. Amazing!!

So what has changed? The Supreme Court verdict has taken the wind out of the pseudo secularists and instead of accepting that they have been making a fool of themselves all these years, they did what they normally do when cornered - ignore the issue completely.

But then one can easily read between the lines.

On another note, I would seriously like to know why when the heads of two leading nations visited India recently - Obama and Nicolas Sarcozy, they were shown around Mughal era monuments and were not asked to be taken to see any of the Hindu magnificient structures that dot the country and which is in fact the right reflection of our heritage. The Mughals, despite what Congress/ Left chamcha historians written textbooks say, were invaders of our land, who plundered our wealth and destroyed our heritage.

And we perpetuate many myths. To say Taj Mahal is a symbol of undying love Shahjahan had for Mumtaz is a travesty of truth. Mumtaz, herself was not the only wife of Shah Jahan. In fact, she was his third wife. And she died during the childbirth of his Fourteenth child!!!. And Shahjahan was a known womanizer. Even while married to his 'special love' Mumtaz, he took in two other wives. So much for his love for Mumtaz!!

I am not denying that Taj is a wonderful piece of architecture. But it is cold and lifeless.

Build Business Around the People, and not the other way around

We might be seeing the end of the Globalization, as the champions of the cause, the Western Countries have suddenly found it to be too hot to handle. A period of introspection begins in the West, and I am very sure they will soon find virtue in nationalism (it has already happened with US senators being asked to buy only US made goods) and a closed economy. And then they will try to stove it down the throat of the other countries, as is their wont. That the so called third world countries are not so willing to swallow whatever West says is another matter.

I believe that the world of a globally connected and networked business is over and so with it integrating softwares like ERP. The past few decades have put much emphasis on building businesses through processes and in a structured way, which suited the dominant Western mindset, who are uncomfortable with anything that deviates from the norm, as their mind is trained to think in a structured manner. Compare and contrast the English football team or German Football team, that believes in symmetry and theory than on creativity with the Latin Americans, who thrive on individual brilliance. If you want to recall one successful true European creative footballer, you may have to go back to the days of Marco Van Basten in the mid to late 80s. You might say, hey, we have Christiano Ronaldo. But, Portugese, have lot of strong links with Latin America and are more unlike Europeans. Ditto for the Cricket Team. The England , South Africans and Australians lack flair. The dominance of Australia during the last two decades had a lot to do with the brilliance of the maverick Shane Warne, an exception rather than a rule. It is the creative Asians, who have found answers to the problems in their teams by unearthing new talent, and then building a team around the new talents.

I am digressing. In the business world during the past few decades, we had built monolithic structures and then fit in stereo typed people in the slots. The focus was on team work, conformity at the expense of individualism and creativity. I suspect, with the passionate right brained Indians, Brazilians and Asians leading the business, we are bound to see less structure and more individual flair, which could be like a breath of fresh air, after a period of suffocating sameness.

We need to build business around people, and not the other way around

Faint memories of the early years

I dont remember much of my first 4 years of life in Vaikkom, except that the house had a verandah where I used to pedal my tri-cycle. Another faint memory is sitting in the kitchen of my neighbour while they were having food, happily munching my quota of a pappad.

We moved to Vadakara when I was 4. I clearly remember the house - Kottaram in Paravanthala, a multi storied building with a pond on the backside. One has to climb down the steps from the main road and walk along a mud lane to reach the house which was slightly elevated. During rainy season, rain water flowed everywhere in small and big streams. The house behind us belonged to Raman. I remember the name, but not his face. His mother had a cow, and she used to give me a daily small quota of raw cow's milk whenever the cow was milched. The house was surrounded by weavers, and the click-clack sound of the spindles still reverberates for some reason on my ears.

We used to sleep on the first floor, on the floor. The flooring was of redoxide. The house was tiled and looking out of the window, one could see the nest of an Owl on the roof, just outside. The Owl used to stare back at me with its huge round eyes.

One can see paddy field till the horizon on the back side of the house. One of my favourite hobby was to look out for retta mainahs, which I firmly belived brought me happiness, as against a single mainah that brought sorrow.

The pond and the Subramanya temple overlooking it was a part of my life. I attended an RSS Shakha for a while, as father wanted me, a frail young boy then, to have lot of physical activity. And RSS Shakhas encouraged one to play kabaddi and Gho-Gho. The Shakha was held in the temple premises.

The pond was full of life. One could see people taking bath, youngsters diving and swimming if one sat on the window sill. Though both my brother and sister was taught swimming, my frail health prevented me from learning to swim- a regret I carry to this day. But we had inflated rubber truck tubes which enabled me to float on water. Once, father had tied together husks of two coconuts as a makeshift float, for my sister who knew a bit of swimming. While he and my brother had swam to the other end of the pond, I tried out floating on the husk, and promptly drowned. My sister started yelling and fortunately a youngster who was nearby had the presence of mind to dive in and pull me out. That was the closest I have been to death.... to be contd...........

Banana Republic

Do you know what is a Banana Republic?

Banana Republic is a  politically unstable country dependent upon limited agriculture and ruled by a small, wealthy, and corrupt politico-economic clique. Originally, this refered to certain Latin American Countries, that was dependant solely on Bananas for their survival. I was introduced to this term by one of my favourite authors O.Henry, in his wonderful collection of short stories stringed together as a novel Cabbages and Kings. Most of these Banana Republics are politically unstable, with coup, a norm than an exception.

The purpose of a banana republic is commercial profit by collusion between the State and favoured monopolies, whereby the profits derived from private exploitation of public lands is private property, and the debts incurred are public responsibility. Such an imbalanced economy reduces the national currency to devalued paper-money, hence the country is ineligible for international development credit and remains limited by the uneven economic development of town and country. Kleptocracy, government by thieves, features influential government employees exploiting their posts for personal gain (embezzlement, fraud, bribery, etc.), with the resultant deficit repaid by the ordinary citizens  who “earn money”, rather than “make money”. Because of political and corporate manipulation, the government is unaccountable to its nation, the country's private sector–public sector corruption operates the banana republic, thus, the national legislature usually are for sale, and function mostly as ceremonial government. The money class fleeces the banking system, while the very trunk of the national tree is permitted to rot and crash, as said by Christopher Hitchens, the Anglo-American Author. The justice system dont function. Those who govern are not accountable. Vindictiveness is the order of the day.

Now tell me, in what way are we not a Banana Republic? All the symptoms mentioned above applies to us?

World's largest democracy? What a joke!!!

Modern Day Quixote

I am sure my readers would have read about Don Quixote. If not have a look at the wiki page here

We seem to have a modern day version of the legendary character amongst us. It is none other than the nitwit Congress projects as the PM in waiting - Rahul Gandhi.

It is one thing to revive the party that is moribund in many States due to over centralization of the past decades. That needs solid planning, organizing, leadership and hard work - none of which our 40 year old veteran hasnt even heard of. All he does is visit these States during the elections, face crowds organized by the local goons on money received from Delhi and read out pre written absurdities. Oh yes! He does visit some sanitised Dalit houses for photo ops to show how compassionate he is towards them. It is another matter that the development statistics of his pocket burrough Amethi is one of the worst in UP, and that is saying a lot in a State that is notorious for its backwardness. This despite one of the Gandhi scion representing the constituency for donkey's years.

So what is the result of his supposedly Quixotic obsession of reviving Congress in States like Bihar, Tamil Nadu, UP, Bengal? Well, if Bihar is any indication, the opposition is rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Rahul Gandhi's 'vote catching' ability. Congress, which got 8 seats in the last election (this is out of 240 odd seats), and 'expected' to get enough seats to play the king maker (in the words of the Quixote) got 4 Seats. And the Quixote did not show his face to the media once the results were out.

Now, he is off to Tamil Nadu, a State where Congress is a non entity. I just hope against hope that Congress will decide to go it alone in TN. They have sufficient vote share to tilt the verdict in favour of either DMK or AIADMK, whoever they align with.

Our Quixote did some wonderful things before. He ensured a novice like Omar Abdullah headed J&K when the State required a seasoned hand like his father. The resulting chaos has pushed J&K back by at least a decade. The recently disgraced Ashok Chavan, CM of Maharashtra was another  of his hand picked men. The goof ups are mounting, with nothing to show on the credit side. He is obsessed with keeping the aam aadmi poor and as a vote bank, not realizing that India has moved on and the poor have realised, as the results in Gujarat and Bihar show, that they have to vote for those who govern well than those who give lip service to their upliftment.

Must we suffer this Quixote?

Time to rethink our Model of Governance

Is it time to rethink our system of Governance?

The big brother Central Government and the many not so big brother State Government Model is clearly not working. What it has created is power centres, power brokers, corruption of unimaginable scale and total break down of Governance. There is too much power vested in too few people. The Government is definitely pro big business at the expense of the poor, who get a say in the Governance only once in 5 years when they have to make a hobson's choice between tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

Maybe the time has come to have a serious look at the Gandhian Model of Development, where the village is the primary unit. The resounding success of micro finance in bettering the life of the rural poor is a vindication of this model.

A panel that looks into how India managed itself in ancient times, as depicted in Artha Sasthra and other well documented chronicles, and adapting them to suit modern requirements could be a starting point.

We can take the lead, as even the champions of Globalization, the Developed West, are looking inward these days. The days of a single global market is over. Likewise, the concept of a universal development of India under a Central Control need to be given the heave-ho.