Wanted - Non performers, with ability to swindle to head important posts with the Government of India

I know I have been quiet on this blog for a while.

When the Government lurches from one crisis to another or from one colossal stupidity to another then words fail, because of the futility of it all.

We have a tragic situation today. But for the fact that it takes India to abysmal depths, not seen even during the worst days of 1990's, one can even laugh at the absurdity of what is unfolding in front of us.

We have a Planning Commission, that has planned for 60 years and ensured that 60% of India's population still defecates in the open (forget about the health hazards, just imagine the indignity of having to defecate in the open - but who cares), spends RS 35 lakhs for 2 toilets in its headquarters. Even taking in the argument that these toilets shall have 20 seats in total, it still works out to a whopping Rs 1.75 lakhs per seat!!!. And this at a time, when the nation has been asked to tighten its belt. Instead of pulling the Dy Chairman up, our Cabinet found time to joke about it, with a Cabinet Minister requesting Montek to allow him to use the toilet, and Montek, with a smirk, telling him that he has to wait, as there is a big queue!!. And everyone having a good laugh over it.

"What did the Prime Minister say when the news about Planning Commission Toilet Scandal reached him?"

"Oh! Shit"

That is the same response of Indians these days when they hear their Ministers open their mouth.

There is a saying that 'No news is good news'. These days Indians wake up with a prayer that no Minister opens his mouth about a policy issue, for it is sure to hit the common man below the belt - whether it is Petrol prices, diesel prices, airline, railways, inflation, rupee devaluation etc etc......

We have a PM who has been a spectacular failure on all fronts.............And everyone wants him to be shifted to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

We have a FM who has taken the economy to depths..............He wants to become the President.

We have a Defence Minister who ensured our Army is unprepared and under whose watch a honest Army Chief was harassed to no end. The less said about the loot in defence procurement, the better.............and the powers that be in Congress wants him to be the President.

We have a Speaker, who travelled to 42 countries since 2009..........why a Lok Sabha Speaker should travel to 42 countries is beyond me............and she wont mind being the President.

We have a undercooked, juveline, low IQ, escapist idiot who lead Congress to spectacular defeats in Bihar, UP and all the elections it fought under him..............and Congress wants him to be the PM

We have a Home Minister, who blatantly rigged the polls last time around, and used his legal skills to ensure the case didnt come up for trial for the past 3 years (and thus seeing to it that it wont affect his tenure as HM). An added qualification is that he facilitated lakhs and lakhs of crores of loot through 2G Scam, Maxis Deal and what not.....................and he just wont resign and go owning moral authority.

We have a Railway Minister who is not even bothered to attend Cabinet Meetings............and our nincompoop of a PM cant even make him attend one.............and Rail accidents after rail accidents happen.

We have a Planning Commission Dy Chairman who feels it is alright for a family to earn Rs 28-32 per day and he is no longer poor............. and our PM wants him to be the FM

We have Rangarajan, Chairman of PMs Economic Advisory Council, who shamelessly tells the media, at the height of protests about Petrol hike, that Government should increase Diesel and LPG prices too...........and the PM is pushing for him to be the next FM, in case he cant get Montek through.....

And above all, there is the Super PM, who is not accountable to anyone, but who enjoys so much clout that even the Monarch despots in some of the oil rich countries pale in comparison to the powers she has..........and she uses the powers, not for common good, but to ensure she moves up from being the 4th richest politician to the first..............and she doesnt even earn a salary other than the MP salary!!!

And the person who is supposed to be the guardian of our constitution........the President...........is a disgrace..................she is busy travelling to all the exotic places in the world like Mauritius, Seychelles............at taxpayers expense, without any remorse, on the guise that these trips will improve bilateral relationship and bring aid to our country....................it is fine as long as it doesnt bring AIDS to the country!!

The Great Indian Tragedy

Two decades of Economic Reforms has helped discount at least one theory. It was always claimed by the proponents of Economic Reforms (they do even now!!) that liberalization and globalization would result in higher GDP Growth and the benefits would 'trickle down' to the common man. While the first part has come true, the second part has proved to be a mirage chased by the common man. His life has become more miserable as the higher GDP growth has brought with it higher inflation, while his plight has remained the same. Added to this, our country's fate has become so interwined with those of the decaying western economies, that a default by Greece leads to stock market crash and rupee devaluation in India. We hardly have any trade with Greece, and there is no reason why our economy should react to Greece defaulting, for being financially indisciplined.

The problem is that we have failed spectacularly to develop any core competency during the two decades of reforms, unlike China, which has focussed on low cost manufacturing ability, and has forced the high wage western companies to shift the manufacturing base to China. We can point fingers at the intolerent communist regime, but one needs to admit that China has indeed leveraged its strength.

India had the opportunity to be the IT focal point of the world and also a great financial hub. But we were content to be mediocre. Despite the earnings of the IT sector, one has to admit that our IT sector hardly created anything worthwhile, and they were none better than Chinese, using Blue Collar Engineers to produce programs based on low grade specs. No great IT discoveries were made in India. And the less said about developing ourselves as a Financial/Services hub the better.

The saddest part is that, despite evidence to the contrary, and with the economy in doldrums, we are still talking only about opening up the insurance, retail etc rather than on creating long term assets. In short, we are replaying the tape of the 1990s, that is a proven failure.

There is no informed debate about how to build the nation, either by the UPA or by the NDA, or by any of the Regional parties. The politics of corruption, mud slinging and one upmanship has ensured that we have missed the bus to take global leadership once again.

What a tragedy!!!

Economic Terrorism

Petrol Price Hike by 15%!!!

Rupee Depreciation by 20%!!!

Spiralling Fiscal Deficit!!!

Policy paralysis leading to Economic Melt down!!!

High Interest Rates!!!

Sustained Double Digit Inflation!!!

This is GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ECONOMIC TERRORISM.

My fellow Indians,

Uthishtatha jagratha prapya vara nibhothita 

("Awake , Alert , strive till the Goal is achived")

Kick out the current disastrous Government

Capitalism with a Caveat -Chanakya way

The fundamental Hindu philosophy talks about Nishkama karma, and basically advises against going after wealth and resources to enhance personal satisfaction. Renunciation is a virtue.

But Chanakya is more practical. As per him,

Dharmasya Moolam Arthah:

Dharmam (Ethical behaviour) is built on the foundation of Resources. 

When a person has not fulfilled his basic physiological needs - Food, Clothing, Shelter, he is not in a position to live ethically or pursue his duty diligently.

Ethical behaviour results in happiness for self and others. And it is money/resources that make ethical behaviour possible.

Thus it is imperative that one strives to generate wealth but share it with others to generate happiness for self and others

This can be viewed as capitalism, with a caveat - share the wealth with others!!

The Music Listening Evolution - 1

My early days were in a sleepy little rural area called Vadakara.  In early 1970s Vadakara was an extended village. We had an old GEC radio at home, which was the main source of listening to music. This was kept atop a Shelf, and I had to stand on a chair to reach it. All India Radio Calicut had some veterans from the field of Art and Literature as Program Directors, and the programs were of the highest quality. We did not own a record player, but could hear the melodious film songs which wafted through the cool rural breeze, that were played on a record player which inevitably was part and parcel of any local function. There was a beauty to the melodious songs waxing and waning, depending on the strength of the breeze.

We moved to Palghat in 1972, and by the time portable transistor radio had replaced our old GEC Valve radio. One could carry the Murphy (remember the cute baby in the Ad?) transistor wherever one goes, and the reception was much better than the Valve radio. Apart from AIR Calicut, we could also get AIR Madras, Radio Ceylon on the short wave. The Binaca Geethmala was a favourite of many, as was the malayalam songs from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm everyday. We were dependent on the songs that were broadcast, which may or may not be the ones we want.

By mid 1970s, we had purchased our first music player - A Philips Record Player. I still remember going with my father proudly to the Philips showroom at the begining of the Big Bazar, opposite to the Bata Show Room, to buy this then aspirational product which cost a princely sum of Rs 1,600 then. We had only few records, which we played over and over. But at least we could listen to the song of our choice, even if the options to choose from were limited. And we had fun, playing the 33 rpm discs at 45 rpm speed and even at 78 rpm speed. We discussed threadbare about the 'diamond' stylus, scratches on the disc (it was really fun when there is a scratch on the disc, and the line kept repeating itself!!!). We even invited our friends to show-off our proud record player, and many were quite envious!! ................... to be continued

Wishful Thinking

Name the President game is on.

The saddest part is that we chose Presidents, not for their credentials, but because of symbolism. Take the last three Presidents.

K R Narayanan was a good diplomat. But he became a President because he was a Dalit. Not that he did anything special for the Dalits, either as a Diplomat, nor as a Minister in Rajiv Gandhi Government ( I should know, because he was elected from Ottappalam, near my home town, and did nothing for the constituency. I suspect he even visited the constituency even once after getting elected). He also played petty politics to undermine BJP forming a Government, based on the wrong advice of Gopal Gandhi, who is touted as an ideal candidate this time around.

Abdul Kalam was an eminent Physicist by right, but NDA brought him in as President mainly because he was a liberal Muslim. Though he endeared himself to the public, I personally feel he could have done much more, but chose not to. Remember, both K R Narayanan and Abdul Kalam had served as Government Servants, and their Babu mentality never left them, as it did not leave Manmohan Singh. But Kalam was instrumental in blocking Sonia become the PM (notwithstanding her claim of having made a 'sacrifice', the fact is that she went in to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan hoping to become PM, but came out being forced to announce the name of MMS). We should be thankful to him for that at least. He at least restored the dignity of the Office of the President, which had diminished over the years.

The current incumbent, Pratibha Patil, is a disgrace, who was elected only because she was a woman, and loyal to Sonia. Elevating her hardly did anything to improve the lots of women.

Then why are we still looking for symbolism while electing the next President?

Ansari is in the fray, because he is a Muslim, not because of his other credentials. Meira Kumar, because she is a Dalit and a woman. Gopal Gandhi, because he is from the original Gandhi family............. the list is endless.

Why not someone from the Army, which has been silently suffering and ignored? The President is the Chief of the Army. Would it not be ideal to have an Ex Service Chief as President? At least the Army will be proud when they salute him. And he can bat for the betterment of the Army. Why not General V K Singh? The guy is honest to a fault, has a mind of his own, and this is one master way of correcting the wrong done to him.

Or for that matter, why not the current Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia? (see pic on the right).  He is a gem of a person, eminent jurist and possess spotless integrity. He has single handedly restored the power and dignity of the Supreme Court, after the disastrous tenure of Justice Balakrishnan, who was corrupt to the boot.  If he can do something to straighten out the Legal system which is in a mess, the purpose would have been served.

At least we can do wishful thinking, can't we?

Past is Future

The Future looks more and more like the Past.

Our grandparents lived in an era where they didn't have electricity. With 10-16 hours powercut currently, and more in the offing, it looks like our next generation shall be emulating their great grandparents in managing their lives without Electricity.

My grandfather walked for everything. He rarely travelled by Car or Bus, till late in his life. And he walked at least 12-14 kilometers everyday. With Petrol prices going up, and with Manmohan Singh promising more hikes, the days of us having to resort to walking to commute is not far off. Heck! Who can afford a Car or a bike or even public transport if Petrol were to sell at Rs 100 and Diesel at Rs 80? (In this regard, it is interesting to note that the Government never utters a word about Petrol being over priced, but only talks of Diesel being Subsidized, along with Kerosene and LPG. Everyone in the industry knows that Petrol is priced at least 30% higher than it should be to subsidize the Diesel. But the Government never, ever talks about bringing Petrol prices down to its natural level)