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)

Traces of Present in the Past - 1

Discoursers on various scriptures come up with wonderful interpretations, depending on the audience. A la 'Nostradamus' interpretation. The Nostradamus prophesies  can be attributed to many events that happened subsequently, and be still valid. Ditto for the interpretation of the scriptures. This is not, by any way, discounting the treasure of wisdom buried in our Scriptures. The Upanishads and the Vedas were not the thought process of a single person, but rather a collection of thoughts of many over centuries. Perhaps, someone shall do a similar compilation of the material in the World Wide Web for posterity.

What I am posting in this blog is nothing new. It has been said before.

Stenography is an art that is almost dead with the advent of Word Processors. But I am of the generation who had the fortune to watch a top quality stenographer at work and how they take down notations, and reproduce the content in a letter format with hardly any error. Till late 1990s, top quality stenographers were much sought after. Many Palghat Brahmins from poor family, migrated to the then Bombay during mid 1990s, learned typing and shorthand, worked their way up the corporate ladder, and created the foundation for future generations, who are all in top positions in India and abroad now. Palghat Brahmins fondness for Lord Ganapathy is well known. No function starts without invoking Lord Vigneswara. Is it because Ganapathy is the first known Stenographer? The story goes that Veda Vyasa asked Ganapathy to write down the Mahabharatha to be dictated by Vyasa. Ganapathy wanted to get out of it, but had to agree with a proviso that Vyasa should not stop the recitation at any point of time, doing so will result in Ganapathy being released from his obligations. Ganapathy knew it was impossible for Vyasa to conclude the recitation in one sitting. But Vyasa was one up on him. He put a counter proposal that Ganapathy should not take down any of his slokas, unless he understands the meaning of each verse. This led to an interesting battle of wits between the two, which resulted in the creation of the wonderful epic.

I don't know whether the later day Managers insisted their Stenographers understood the meaning of what was being dictated to him, but what I know for a certainty that most of these Stenographers were very close associates of the Top Management, privy to Company secrets, and were at times more knowledgable than even their bosses. The Top Managers come and go, but the Stenographer served these Companies for decades, and were virutually a Knowledge Repository, who did their duty diligently day in and day out, but hardly got rewarded for their efforts. They struggled to make both ends meet, but drilled sound values in their kids, gave them good education, and left this world content, that they had created the necessary infrastructure which took their family to greater heights.

All Ganapathy's, their presiding diety's blessings???  Perhaps. 

                                                                                                       to be continued.......................

Random thoughts

"Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has called himself a 'Brahmin' while he reviewing the party's poor show in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. According to Congress sources, Gandhi told a local UP leader "I am a Brahmin" and "general secretary in the party" while the worker cited upper caste arguments" - Now this clearly puzzles me. As far as I know, Rahul Gandhi's Grand Father was Feroze Gandhi, who was a Parsi. Admitted, his mother Indira Gandhi is a Brahmin. But in India, the kids take after the religion of the Father. As such, Rahul's Father Rajiv Gandhi has to be a Parsi, or at best half parsi/ half brahmin.  Rahul has a Catholic Mother and a Half Parsi/Half Brahmin lineage, which makes him only 25% Brahmin, even by the most charitable views. For him to claim he is a Brahmin, is a bit ridiculous.

An Italian Ship's sailors, in Indian Waters, fires indiscriminately at Indian Fishermen, off Kerala Coast. The Kerala Government and the Police, for once did a tremendous job, detained the ship, arrested the accused, despite tremendous pressure from Italy, and won accolades even from Italians for the spotless police work done. What would you expect the Central Government to do? In any other Country, that has an iota of self respect, it would have moved heaven and earth to bring the culprit to justice, as two citizens were murdered. But not our UPA Government led by Sonia and MMS. They filed an affidavit and argued in the Court that, hold your breath, 'Kerala Government has no locus standi in the case and as such should not have done a damn when two of its fishermen were murdered'. Thank God, the Supreme Court Judges are not stupid. They gave a fitting comment from the Bench virtually trashing the Centre's point of view. It is a known secret that the Vatican tried to influence the case through a local Cardinal. One would have thought that with Sonia's italian connection, the Government would have been more than careful in taking a stand favouring Italy. Or is it that the italian connection is working overtime?

Chennai Super Kings may carry on in denial mode, but their skipper M S Dhoni is an injured man. He is struggling to run a few yards across the field with a pulled hamstring, but such is the situation that he has to keep on playing without taking a break - Now, now. 'such is the situation'!!!!. What situation? This is just IPL, and not Cricket World Cup. MSD, who cribs about over cricket while representing India, has not uttered a word about his workload in IPL, while carrying an injury. Where are the Board officials and the Chairman of Selectors? But then N Srinivasan and K Srikkanth, are stakeholders in CSK. Everything is fair in IPL!!!