2008: Musings

As the curtains for the year 2008 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect at the events and happenings that has shaped India and the rest of the world. The mental baggage that one carries in the year 2008 is certainly a forgettable one. The problem with the forgettable ones is you just can't do that - forget, that is :-). Just try and see whether you can forget the terrorist attacks of WTC, London bombings, Mumbai train blasts, Taj Mahal hotel up in flames, Tsunami or for that matter the film Azhagiya Tamil Magan (No pun intended). There have been a few positives in the year 2008 but a lot of other events have over shadowed the positives and have cast a gloomy shadow and threatening to grow at fiendish levels. No prizes for guessing the negatives. It’s the financial crisis and terrorism.

The problem is that these negatives have left a deep scar in our face and we need to probably nurse these wounds for years to come. And mind you the year is not over yet. There are few hours left :-)

Financial Crisis:

Certainly, the year 2008 was a watershed (for wrong reasons ofcourse) in the history of World financial markets in general and Indian markets in particular.

A crisis much talked about after the Great Depression. The old saying that "It’s difficult to go up the ladder but it’s easy to fall down." seems to be applicable to stock market as well. At the end of the year 2007, markets were at their phenomenal best and sensex was giving nearly 40% returns in a no time. Come year 2008, we started hearing a few words repeatedly - Words like slump, recession, slowdown, bubble. It was a Boom to Gloom story. And still we have not recovered from it yet. The fundamental reason- Greed. Greed has over powered everything. Robbed us of our sanity to think. Clouded our judgment. The greed of a few people has resulted in the entire financial fiasco the entire world is reeling over. India has not been spared either. Despite all the talk of India decoupling from the American Economy, the fact remains that India, like the rest of European and Asian countries is linked to the American Economy. And bore the brunt of the financial onslaught as well. FII withdrew most of the money which they had invested. (Close to $12billion)

However closer to home, our banks did not face a big impact thanks to the strict banking regulations and lesser exposure to American & European Markets. A big thank you must be said to Mr. Y.V.Reddy for saving us from otherwise what would have been a fall into a deep abyss. (Click Here) When the whole world was made accessible to easy money, Mr. Reddy took care to check on the unregulated money with his stringent regulations. Private sector banks which were criticizing the actions later had to agree with these decisions. Hats off to you sir.

Pink slips, something unheard of in our country became a reality. Consolidation started taking place in various sectors on the face of slowdown in the economy. Adding to all these woes were oil price and inflation although both of them have cooled down a bit now. Overall this was a forgettable for the financial markets.

Terrorism:

Even though Financial crisis continued to take the limelight, towards the end of the year Terrorism took center-stage thanks to the attacks in Mumbai (India's 9/11). This year has been one of the bloodiest years in the Indian History. Unprecedented levels of terrorist attacks have taken place in a single year. With an inept people at the helm handling the affairs, things like security for common men was too much in the asking. America and Britain needed only one instance to introduce draconian laws and intense surveillance systems. India had done away with the POTA but did not consider having an adequate substitute in place of that. Much has been said about the terrorist attacks and what is now needed is only action in the form of stringent laws and more sustained and organized effort to tackle terrorism.

Even though India remains a secular democracy, our secularism has come under some strain. These have been indicated by the violence in Orissa and the emergence of so called “Hindu Terrorism”. These people are trying to divide the nation on communal lines. India needs to overcome the ramifications to focus on development on the social as well as economic front.

On the Sporting Front:

It was a good year for the Sports. Starting from Euro 2008 till the SA-AUSTRALIA Test series, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Spain the perennial under achievers finally achieved something. Not to mention the Epic Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer was a treat to watch. But the biggest sporting extravaganza on earth happened this year. The Olympics And China showed the world how grand and extravagant an Olympics can be conducted (With all the Human Rights Violation). After a long time India got a gold medal in Olympics and we have waited 108 years to achieve an individual medal. Kudos to Abhinav Bindra. Phelps achieved something unimaginable. One can only look in awe at the swimming genius. India is at their arguably best peak in cricket under the thoughtful and aggressive leadership of M S Dhoni. Elsewhere Australia is losing their grip on the world cricket.

As the year is drawing to a close, One hopes that this New Year brings cheers to everyone and hope. Wish every one a Very Happy New Year.

Why wasn't this done earlier?

My blogs have suffered a drought for a long time without any new posts. I have been busy with other things that my blogging has taken a back seat. But once again the time kick start the habit.

I havent been following about the disputes in Singur , the site for the ambitious Nano car project. Honestly, I was under the impression that this was a routine war between progress and conservatism and all these politicians need is an issue of this kind to turn on the people against any development activity until i came across this article in Outlook. This article was interesting in the sense that it presented a view directly dil se from the farmers. The farmers in the region of Maharashtra, where Reliance was to start its proposed Special Economic Zone(SEZ) project, have voted in a referrendum and have shown thumbs down to the proposed project. Something a first of the kind in the country.

Some of the points to be noted are:

Reliance was to take 45 villages covering 10,000 hectares of Fertile Agricultural Land in the District of Raigad for the Purpose of this SEZ

Reliance have offered to pay Rs 10 lakh per acre.

Some section of the people are demanding a crore per acre with a mandatory 12.5% share ofthe developed land and 99 years lease instead of an outright sale. This is only a minor section of the people with the major section of the people a firm "No" to even such a deal.

The reason. The part where the SEZ is proposed is a lush green picturesque region of the Konkan belt, studded with Mangoes and chikoo orchards. It is also a major rice producing region. Also there is a construction of a dam which is to be over any time.
Farmers ask
"For years, we in the command area have waited for this water. Now that it's almost here, why sell our land?" . And there is a sense of genuineness in the question he asks. For it is their land which we are after.

If such a referendum of sort had been taken in Singur , alteast part of the problem could have been solved or we could have known what exactly the affected people wanted.

Note: Even as I was writing this article, there were news flashes that Tata has officially pulled out of Singur.

Captain Cool....

May the toughest and the fittest survive... It could be applicable to anything and everything... Even for IPL.. Under the astute captaincy of Dhoni.. Chennai super kings marched into the finals... So did Warne's Royals....
The nice thing about both the team is their captains leading from the front.. Both the captains showed why they are held in high esteem by both the purist and the radicals leading their respective teams into the finals...Dhoni hardly showed any kind of emotions even while his team was marching towards the magic figure in the semi finals... While Dhoni is known to be much calm and calculative and known to show less emotions outside... Warne has really done wonders to his team...by giving the much needed motivation .Not many gave chances for Warne led Royals to reach the finals... Nothing could have worked except for the motivation and the self-belief and the confidence he instilled in his fellow team mates... Motivatinag a guy like Munaf Patel,who was down and out in his confidence at the start of IPL, is a classic example of his leadership skills.
May the fittest survive in todays Final....

The Fat Lady finally sings in South

The Lotus Juggernaut has rolled on. This time in the south . With landslide victories in Gujarat and Himachal… Its time South contributed to the BJP’s tally. Three cheers to BJP. Even though it is not a landslide victory, BJP has emerged as the single largest party. It’s a good news in the sense that there will not be any need of coalition to run the state. Certainly no need of Deve Gowda who has held hostage the previous Coalition governments. BJP which is often associated with playing the Hindutva card, have clearly demonstrated their willingness to deliver on issues of overall development and social welfare of the state.

While basking in the glory of Karnataka election results, BJP has to keep in mind that they have to do similar preparations for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh elections which are due in the later half of the year. They need to carry the momentum. All the three states have incumbent governments which have loads of issues against them not to forget the current Gujjar tribe issue in Rajasthan.

Quid Pro Quo?

Kudos to Mr Home Minister. Its yet another time he has created confusion, probably stirred up a controversy, Thanks to prime accused in the Parliament attack case ,Mohammad Afzal. I have never felt Shivraj Patil to be an able administrator especially considering the nature and importance of his post and his statements without regard for consequences. There is certainly no clarity of articulation in his statements. 

Even though I am not qualified enough to assess whether our Home Minister Shivraj Patil is competent enough to be one , what I can tell you is equating Sarabjit Singh and Afzal Guru is height of stupidity. 

Considering the nature of the case of Afzal, which has had  to be handled with utmost delicacy, Mr Home minister has created unwarranted confusion .This is the last word I could say, especially when foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are on the table discussing foreign policy. 

Afzal guru was found guilty on 2001 parliament attack case and also his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. The supreme court had clearly held Afzal to be the prime conspirator behind the Parliament Attack case. Also Afzal is an Indian National . I really cannot understand where is the need for the home minister to compare Sarabjit and Afzal. 

Sarabjit Singh has been accused of espionage and terrorism. Though the case of Sarabjit Singh might be a case of mistaken identity,  as reported by the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, there could be no denial of his involvement in espionage. Whether he is a spy or saboteur is really not known.  The Indian Government has no locus standi on this issue. Mind that the Indian Government is appealing to Pakistan only on Humanitarian grounds. 

There are thousand others languishing in the Pakistan jails with similar other charges. Sarabjit is one such case The appeal of the Indian government has certainly given its Pakistani counterpart a bargaining chip against India. The thing we need to ask ourselves whether we are making mountain of a molehill. Its certainly not quid pro quo when it comes to national interest. Terrorist are terrorists and needs to crushed keeping in mind the national interest. 

Coming to the point, there are more serious issues about the terrorism that needs  to be addressed. There is a growing incidence of naxal violence across the country, growing terrorist presence. There is a need for changes in the policy in dealing with terrorist. Case such as that of Afzal, Bombay blasts and the jaipur blasts have highlighted its need  to address the loopholes in the system and its need to be addressed. 

When such serious issues are present, it is quite unwarranted on the part of home minister to cook up a controversy comparing sarabjit and afzal. He has to remember that his views are the policy of the government and needs to act responsibly.

Who is the dominant Species?

There is a recent report prepared jointly by the World Health Organization & World Economic Forum that India will incur an accumulated loss of $236.6 billion by 2015 on account of unhealthy lifestyles. 

The report suggest that chronic diseases like heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes which are ailments of long duration and slow progression will dent into peoples earnings. 

India is already the diabetic capital of the world with close to 30 million people affected by diabetics. Non communicable diseases are also on the rise due to lack of healthy diets and inadequate physical activity. 

What is more alarming is the fact that this will affect more economically active people and almost half of the people who die from these related ailments will be in their productive years. Incidentally India has the largest working population in the age range of 20-40… 

The only silver lining is the fact that China will be ahead of us ( J ) or probably may be worse off.  :-) 

Now an interesting story…. 

Once Aliens visited the earth and wanted to conquer it.. And they decided that if they can conquer the dominant species present in earth, they can conquer the whole of earth. So they sent two aliens to watch the activities happening in earth. 

The two aliens began watching the activities and the daily happenings on earth. 

Early Morning a guy (Cleaner) comes and takes out a beautiful Car from the shed. Cleans it up. Then another guy (Driver) comes . Checks the car. Fill it with Petrol. Takes  the owner of the car to his office. Then evening drops him down at his home and keeps the car in the shed. 

The Conclusion the aliens made? The Car is the dominant species on Earth.

Why so?

The Car is given a special place to rest. It has a servant to clean it up, a servant to feed it and take it outside. Last but not least… It has a servant to earn and constantly feed it!!! 

The conclusion… strange this may sound… is what is happening to most of our lives. Are we becoming slaves to technology?? Consider the fact that there are already days like “No E-mail Day” “No cell-phone day” (Courtesy Google.) Isn’t such things height of madness?? 

There is always a concern for social implications of all these endeavors (To create new technology). Is the new technologies and machines releasing us from the endless toil of the centuries? Or is it in a way limiting us from being the dominant species? Its true that technology is there for the betterment of our lives.. But are we using the way it should be?? The reports from WHO & WEF suggests otherwise. 

I just conclude with words from American writer and critic Henry David Thoreau… 

“We’ve become the tools of our tools... One day, something vast and cool and strange may read these very words – and chuckle with amusement. Welcome to tomorrow.”

Pink turns Scarlet

Lights... Action....Boom..Wham..Bang!!!! There is blood everywhere...
And yet another time they(terrorist) have striked,this time in Jaipur painting the Walls of Pink city in Red. The city changes . The modus operandi changes. The motive remains the same. And its the umpteenth time we have heard our honurable Home Minister Shivraj Patil saying "We will have Zero tolerance against terrorism.The designs of terrorists will be thwarted boldly and their attempts will be foiled" But the people of this country have not till now seen any concrete combative action against the nefarious designs of terrorists.

The role of Intelligence agencies have almost reduced to Police which we have seen quite a lot in the Cinemas of the Mid 80'S & 90's where they arrive much after the incident have took place.
The same old story we hear from the Intelligence agencies(In the case of Jaipur Blasts agencies say they have sent the possible terror attack 45 days back).It appears such statements have become more of a political gimmicks with the Intelligence agencies wanting to save its face. There is no doubt about the ability of the Intelligence. But when bureaucracy has its say in things(for cheap political mileage) pertaining to Security of the nation rather than allowing Competent people to take care of the situation,the situation is quite alarming .

The United States of America needed only one incident of terror in its land to show the world what they can do when it comes to taking tough stand especially against terror.They are inimical when it comes to terror and dealing with terrorists. Its high time we adopt similar approach in dealing with terrorists.

The government at the center is caught in cross-roads appeasing minorities at one hand and appeasing the Grand Old Man.. Ahem.. Ahem.. Karunanidhi and his coterie..

The myth goes like this.. Lord Yama has a sword hanging above his head to cut his throat incase he gives any wrong justice. The present day government has Communists and Karuna above its head incase it does any good thing :)

The government is got caught in eternal dialemma like that of Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra whether to take tough stand earning wrath of alliance partners or to appease them earning wrath of people . Perhaps some one like Lord Krishna is the need of the hour to give some food for thought and clarity of purpose. Some one like krishna is the need of the hour to take some tough stand.


Someone like Lal Krishna(Oops Did i get it right??) Advani.

Salutations

I have been wondering how to start writing my first blog until i found this magnificent piece from Srimad Bhagavatham. It is a hymn spoken by dhruva in the presence of Lord Vishnu who appears before him in recognition of his severe Tapas(penance) and touches dhruva's right cheek with his divine Counch. What then came out of Dhruva's mouth were perennial words of wisdom flowing like the eternal Ganges. The touch of the divine Counch sparked the little boy to speak who, till then was astounded and dumbstruck by the presence of Lord Vishnu before him. The verse inspired me to write this blog.

y'ontaH praviSya mama vAcaM imAm prasuptAM

sanjIvayaty-akhila-Sakti-dharas svadhAmnA

anyAMSca hasta caraNa-SravaNa-tvagAdhIn

prANAn-namo bhagavate purushAya tubhyaM

The meaning for this verse goes like this.
I prostrate before the (Purusha)lord who entered into me as my inner soul and making me speak. I prostrate before the lord who makes my ears hear,my eyes see,my hands work,my feet walk,my senses to feel,my life to vibrate and absence of whom/which will leave me mortal.

The first time i listened to this verse, my hair stood on ends. Hmm... well... really dunno why that happened. :-). The very inspiration made me name my blog with Dhruva's name and write this one.

There have been too many questions i have been asking myself like Who is GOD/Reality. Where is he. Does he (for convenience sake i use Masculine Gender.. Any Feminist reading this dont be up in Arms :-O ) have any form. Why there is a need for any religion. Why there are so many religions. If the purpose of religion is to promote peace, then why there is lot of killings in the name of religion. Small revolt from within. I now know its easier to ask questions than get an answer.

There is one another person in my life who perhaps made me think on these lines. A great thinker and philosopher Jiddu.Krishnamurthi. Even as a school boy i was fascinated by the questions he posed and his way of thinking. Salutations to him,for if he had not been there,I would have never started questioning from within.

Albert Einstein remarked “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."
But over the years as i grew reading his writings among other things, i understood i was caught in perpetual loop of words thinking of his jargons and modes of expressions . Getting more conditioned by his way of thinking. I felt i was going nowhere.

That helped he look at things objectively and as it is. Wanted to understand things more rather than getting caught up with fancy of words. Wanted to experience things. Wanted to shed my arrogance.Arrogance of my assumptions and rejections.

Just want to quote from J.K few quotes which kickstarted the questioning. Even though I never understood(Still the same ;-) ) the meaning of these lines I was quite fascinated by his way of thinking
"Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect"
"The unknown is not measurable by the known. Time cannot measure the timeless, the eternal, that immensity which has no beginning and no end"

Now as I listen to Bhagavatham and and other Hindu Philosophical Text, I understand the core of all the teachings are one and the same trying to inculcate the same truth in different ways they understand (The comparison is a mere intellectual exercise and nothing more than that :-) ) I have been following, even without my knowledge ,quite unconsciously,the teachings of these Ancient saints and seers.!!!

Perhaps that might me the reason why hair stood on ends when i was listening to Dhruvas Pinnacle of Praise on the Ultimate Reality. Perhaps some other reason out of reach of my intellect.

Science, has been, on its part trying to understand the origin of life ,creation ,universe.
Both science and religion are trying to know the same thing but taking their own path towards a common goal. To know the Reality!!!

There are too many questions than answers in my write up. So whatz the big deal in writing these things.

Perhaps trying to consciously Understand and Experience things is the plausible reason i can think of.