Bihar Assembly Elections 2010 Results

The verdict is out. Nitish Kumar, along with the BJP, scored a landslide victory. They took 206 of the available 243 seats. A phenomenal 85% ! Amazing.
The Bihar electorate, including the illiterate amongst it, has understood that Lalu's caste politics will not cut ice anymore. I agree with Nitish Kumar when he says that this victory, more than anything else, is a victory for the people of Bihar.

I hope these elections are a precursor for the assembly elections coming up elsewhere in the country too (TN for instance). I hope these elections will be a trend setter.
I'd earlier said that these elections will be a barometer to the maturity levels of Bihar's electorate. I'm glad they have come out with flying colours.

VVS again !

VVS. I just can't seem to stop coming back to VVS ! His last three innings have been match saving/winning ones for India (SL, Aus, NZ). The most under-rated person ever to play for India, possibly the world.
He is an expert playing with the tail. He is an expert playing for time. He is an expert in wearing the bowlers out. He is an expert in, well, test match batsmanship.
India stand to lose more when VVS finally decides to retire than when Tendulkar decides to retire.

Obama's India Visit

Why should Corporate India plead with Obama to consider encouraging American companies to outsource to India ? After all Obama is doing what he thinks is right to protect American interests.

The Americans were the first to advocate a free-market mindset as a matter of state policy. Even then, they advocated this policy because they thought Americans stood to benefit; not because they had Indian interests in mind. Then, it was below the dignity of many Americans to take up jobs like data entry and back office processing and thought they were best outsourced to developing markets. This policy has now turned round and has started to bite them. Now suddenly it is no longer just jobs at the lower end of the spectrum that have begun to flow out of America. Americans are becoming concerned - and justifiably so, if you ask me.

So what is more natural than politicians beginning to take the cause up, with an eye on votes ? Politicians will be politicians - whether in India or America

So, Narayan Murthy was right. It is about time the pampered Indian software and BPO industries (think SEZs, tax holidays etc) woke up to the reality and started behaving in a more matured way, as befits them. They have no birthright on getting American contracts. They need to work for it, just like anybody else.
In the end, as anywhere else, the fittest will survive.

ICC's undercover agents

Even if ICC's idea to circulate undercover spies posing as bookies doesn't take off, I think the very concept must have brought in wariness amongst the rotten-apple fraternity.
In fact, this might just be the ICC's intention - propose the idea, have cricketing boards of member nations express scepticism over its workability, creating a stir over the issue and leave doubts lingering in its aftermath. If that's what it is, I think it is a master-stroke which will go a long way in instilling fear amongst the Salman Butts of cricket.

Darwinism and Dasavataramism

In yet another observation which suggests that science compliments religion, parallels can be drawn between Darwinism and age-old held beliefs of Hinduism.
The Dashavatars are a true sequential depiction of the evolution theory put forth by Charles Darwin.
The nine avatars of Lord Vishnu are as follows:
Matsyavatar - Fish
Kurmavatar - Tortoise
Varahavatar - Boar
Narasimhavatar - Half Man Half Lion
Vamanavatar - Dwarf Man
Parashuramavatar - Human Being
Ramavatar and Krishnavatar - advanced human beings
Kalki Avatar - yet to happen

According to the theory put forth by Darwin, life originated in the water. Matsyavatar - Fish
Reptiles and amphibians came next. Kurmavatar - Tortoise
Upgradation to the primitive land animal - Varahavatar - Boar
After herbivores had been around for some time, advent of the carnivores. Narasimhavatar - Half Man Half Lion
Advent of the first man - Vamanavatar - Dwarf Man
Arrival of the human being. Parashuramavatar - Human Being
Ram and Krishna are highly evolved versions of Homo sapiens. Ramavatar and Krishnavatar respectively

Darwin proposed his theory around 150 years back but I think the Puranas were here a tad earlier ;)
Sorry, Charles, but we got there first.

Bihar Assembly Elections 2010

Much has been said and written about how the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is transforming Bihar, one of India's most backward states. As a result, a lot of grass-root level changes are visible in that state. Better roads, better investment in primary education (50% of the state's budget has been spent on education in the last 5 years !), de-criminalization of politics, reverse brain drain to name a few.

The assembly elections juggernaut gets underway in Bihar this week. On the face of it, Nitish Kumar should be a shoo-in.
But the Indian electorate has a notorious reputation of not being appreciative enough of incumbent progressive CMs. So, to me the assembly elections that gets underway in Bihar this week is a very important barometer of the maturity levels of Bihar's electorate. I'm very curious to know how the common man will respond. Will he opt for the forward looking, progressive Nitish Kumar or will he go back to Laloo Prasad and his regressive caste politics ? For, these two gentlemen are the frontrunners for the CM position.

I'm going to follow the Bihar polls very closely indeed.

Sydney Morning Herald - Unethical Journalism

While watching the live telecast of the CWG closing ceremony, I was idly browsing the site of the Sydney Morning Herald, a leading Australian English daily. The site was already uploaded with the pics of some of the events of the closing ceremony. Pretty cool, I thought. I clicked on the associated story. I was in for a shock.

It contained a detailed description of some of the events even as they were unfolding live in front of my eyes and of some events which were yet to start ! I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. How's this possible, I asked myself. It was only after a couple of minutes of double checking and cross verifying I realised what was actually happening.

SMH in its infinite wisdom chose to go by the closing ceremony itinerary it had in its possession and cook up a report with descriptions of individual events and run it on its site - no matter whether the events had actually happened or not !
Owing to the time difference, (Sydney is 5 hours plus ahead of India.) most Australians would have been sleeping when the report went online and hence wouldn't notice. I guess SMH reasoned that non-Australians wouldn't probably notice either.
Well, all I can say is they were wrong.

Unethical journalism, to say the least.

My name is Antony Gonsalves !

Ever spent sleepless nights wondering what Amitabh Bachan says in English in the 'My name is Anthony Gonsalves' number in the movie 'Amar Akbar Anthony' ? Well, here you go - this is what he says :-)
"You see, the whole country of the system
Is justaposition by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere
Because you are a sophisticated rhetorician
Intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity"

VVS strikes again !

VVS weaves his magic again ! There's no other word to describe the way he constructed his innings, marshalled the strike and generally held the lower order together.
I've never seen him so animated at the middle - yelling at Pragyan Ojha for not taking a single that was there for the taking, gesturing towards his runner to convert ones into twos and twos into threes etc. To me, it showed how much he valued an Indian win, coming as it would against the Aussies. That he reserves his best against the Australians is part of folklore now. But even by his high standards, this innings stood out. He was on painkillers and using a runner. The fifth day Mohali pitch was crumbling and the Aussie quicks were breathing fire. Save for Ishant Sharma, wickets were falling all around him but VVS stood firm. The silken drives, the wristy flicks were all on display. My admiration for the man just went up a few notches.

Sure, Tendulkar's 98 in the first innings, Zaheer's 8 for and Ishant Sharma's 30 odd runs were very important contributions. But in my book, VVS took India home, which is what matters

05/oct/2010. Mohali.
Aus 428/10 | Ind 405/10 | Aus 192/10 | Ind 216/9
Ind won by 1 wkt. Man of the match: Zaheer Khan
India leads 1-0

Daily wage Vs Monthly wage

I've often wondered whether companies are justified in paying their employees their salaries towards the end of the month and not on a daily basis. In other words why should employees give their employers a month's credit ? The corpus that companies like Infosys, IBM etc payout towards salaries amounts to a few hundred crores every month. For example, taking an average salary of Rs 50000, IBM India spends an approximate amount of Rs 500 crores monthly. Invested at even 5% interest, just imagine the amount IBM must be making month on month, year on year !

What happens to all this money ? How is it shown in the Books ? Should not these benefits be passed on to the employees ?

Companies in the US make salary payments fortnightly. I guess that's somewhat better but the argument remains the same.

Of course, since I'm not an economist, I'm not sure if there is something fundamentally flawed with this thinking. Also, I'm not sure how clients make payments for projects executed - before, after or during.

But I keep wondering. Am I onto something ?

Commonwealth Games - Delhi 2010

It is several years since it was officially known that Delhi will be hosting the Games. And yet there is a mad scramble to finish the arrangements in time - and that too after a major stink was raised in the world media about the pathetic conditions of the infrastructure. The living quarters of the athletes was reportedly a mess - to say nothing about the actual venues.

They'll fix it. That, I'm pretty sure about. There's too much at stake for them not to. But it is sad that measures are being taken to fix things only after things came to such a pass. It only means that supervision and monitoring of the contractors was poor which can only mean that the bureaucrats were in cahoots with the organizers and the contractors. Millions, probably billions of rupees must have been siphoned off. Middlemen must have laughed all the way to the bank. Politicians and bureaucrats must have become crorepatis overnight at the expense of the nation.

I happened to go through some websites of some prominent world newspapers (Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, The Dawn etc). The way scorn was heaped on India and the Indian way of cobbling together an event of this magnitude was shameful. No matter what is done to salvage the Games from here on in, the damage is done. Here was a good opportunity for us to demonstrate to the world that we stand second to none in hosting mega events. Of late, India has captured the imagination of the First World like never before. The Games could have driven home the point that India has truly arrived. But that is not to be. We have actually gone back a few years. The costliest Games ever may well turn out to be the shabbiest.

But the incorrigible optimist that I am, I can only hope that this country is one step closer now to realizing that corruption is eating away at the vitals of the nation. Maybe we have learnt our lesson.

Randiv's no-ball controversy

Okay, so Sangakkara asked Randiv to bowl a noball to prevent Sehwag getting a century. What's the fuss all about ? I really don't get it. It's not as if he asked Randiv to punch Sehwag in the face ! Just get on with it, I say !

No doubt it was not in the spirit of the game. But the Indian media is over-reacting. A mountain is being made of a molehill. And all this because Sehwag couldn't get to a personal milestone. It brings to the fore the fact that we attach more importance to individuals in the team doing well than the team winning.

Personally, I couldn't care less.

Endhiran - the robot

Endhiran
The internet is ablaze with news of the music launch of Endhiran which happened in Malaysia at a glittering function last Saturday. This means we are a step closer to the actual movie release itself !

Any Rajanikanth movie by default generates interest. But there are unprecedented expectations on this one because of multiple reasons
It is a Shankar movie
The makers have achieved a casting coup of sorts by roping in Aishwarya Rai as Rajani's lady interest.
It is said to be a sci-fi kind of a story.

I'm personally very excited.

Welcome to Sajjanpur

Welcome to Sajjanpur
I happened to watch 'Welcome to Sajjanpur', a movie by Shyam Benegal on DVD recently. One of the better movies I've watched of late. A squeaky clean comedy movie set in a village by name Sajjanpur (renamed from Durjanpur on orders from Jawaharlal Nehru !)in contemproray times.

In a village where most of the population is illiterate, the protagonist is a man - Mahadev - who has set up a shop outside the post office and makes a living by writing/reading letters for others. The story is mostly about incidents revolving around what people ask Mahadev to write and read in their letters.
A transvestite contesting the local Sarpanch elections, a 'compounder' who falls in love with the widowed daughter-in-law of an ex-service man, a harried mother who wants to get her daughter married off, Mahadev himself who finds himself falling in love with a lady who comes to him to write to her husband of 4 years working in Mumbai, all make up for a charming narrative.

As it turns out towards the end, the entire movie is the subject matter for a novel being written by Mahadev, under the pseudonym of Sukhdev. Although some of these incidents don't have happy endings the feel-good factor of the movie as such is unmistakable.

A low budget film involving low budget actors. Not sure if it would have gown down well with the Metro audiences. It certainly went down well with me.

Wolves in sheep clothing

Given the rate at which godmen with dubious credentials are getting involved in scams and facing prosecution (persecution also ?), I foresee these below par sadhus getting together and forming an union. I can see it now - All India Sadhu Welfare and Upliftment Union (R).
Entry criteria would include the following but not be limited to:

At least one case of money laundering/molest/cheating/land grab registered against candidate.
Candidate should have spent at least one week in a prominent jail
Preference would be given to candidates who have linkups with leading film actresses
Preference would be given to candidates belonging to minority communities
Candidate's speeches should have been telecast on regional TV channels

The activities of the Union would include
Getting bail for members lodged in jails
Engage lawyers
PR

Well, I can only hope things don't come to such a pass. But seriously, I think the proliferation in the numbers of sadhus with dubious antecedents is a classic example of supply and demand. In today's rat race, dog-eat-dog world, happiness is at a premium. Everybody understands that. Everybody also knows that religion and spiritualism has the answer. But unfortunately, very few people understand how to use religion and spiritualism to get happiness. The vast majority are confused.
This section of population has left itself totally open for exploitation by unscruplous merchants of religion. They are sitting ducks, as it were.
So anybody with a penchant for marketing/public relations and possessing the gift of gab peddling stuff remotely resembling spiritualism is a magnet for these unfortunate people. People flock in large numbers behind these sadhus in the hope of increasing their happiness quotient.

But more often than not, the law of averages soon catches up with these sadhus. One can't fool everybody all the time, you see.
What follows is what we saw in the case of the now infamous Nityananda.

Dilution of the Nuclear Liability Bill

Won't we ever learn ? One would have thought the Bhopal tragedy would have made future Indian Governments wary about formulating laws which hold foreign firms accountable for accidents happening on Indian soil. But no. It appears that the Nuclear Liability bill has been diluted favouring American suppliers.
See here.

Clause 17b which says "Foreign suppliers can be sued for damages by the operator if the nuclear accident has resulted from the willful act or gross negligence on the part of the supplier" has been deleted on the insistence of the Americans.
What’s more, the bill pegs the maximum amount of liability in case of each nuclear accident at Rs 300 crore to be paid by the operator of the nuclear plant. In other words, if, God forbid, if an accident occurs which kills some 10,000 Indians, the maximum damage that can be extracted is Rs 300 crore.

Compare this with what's happening in the US over BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. On the insistence of the US, BP has set up a USD 20 billion fund to compensate for the damages caused by it ! Yes - 20 billion. (It will take me a while to calculate the number of zeroes in that figure )

BP is being bled dry and the Indian Govt is being apologetic about formulating a bill which takes care of extracting adequate compensation by potential wrong doers !

Greenpeace has started an online campaign. You can express your outrage against this. Pls take 2 minutes to do so.

Count your blessings

Here is a list of things - material or otherwise which - I take for granted but which are out of reach for the majority of India's population. To be very frank, compiling this list scared me.
Needless to say, by no stretch of imagination is this list comprehensive.

Ghee with every meal
Fruits
Electricity and all its associated comforts
Plumbing and a decent toilet
The ability to purchase new clothes whenever the urge hits me
The ability to dial a pizza whenever the urge hits me. (Pizza ? The poor don't even have access to 2 chappattis a day)
Telephone
Services of a doctor
A private vehicle
Internet/Computer
Television
Domestic help

The very thought that 600 million Indians are not able to afford even one of the above mentioned things is sad. Whether we are able to do anything to alleviate their lot is a different matter. We should at least be aware that there exists a world outside our little cocoonish life - a world that's dreary, miserable and wretched.

Raavanan - not my Mani's worth

Raavanan was a let down for me. During the weeks leading up to a ManiRatnam movie release and for a few days after, I usually devour all the reviews/analyses that I come across. It serves as a nice buildup. This is what I did this time too. Most of the reviews were good which, I guess, upped my expectations.
Well, I knew that this movie was based on the Ramayanam. I supposed that the general story would be used. But this is a straight lift - down to Shurpanakha's nose humiliation ! It is as if characters and scenes have been injected into the storyline just to make it fit into the Ramayan mould. There are some loose ends which want tying up as well. How the SP identifies there is a traitor in his camp is never shown.

The dialogues fall flat. Suhasini Maniratnam is the culprit. The vacuum created by Sujatha's death is all too tangible.
When Prithviraj rescues Aishwarna and taker her back home, he asks her to take a polygraph test to prove she is 'clean'. The scene is so un-Maniratnamesque. Left me squirming in my seat.

The climax is also messed up. Dozens of STF personnel start shooting at Vikram with Rai hardly two feet from him. She is also shown mourning Vikram's death ! Doesn't quite add up.

The photography, though, is brilliant. The movie is a visual treat. Rahman's music would stand up to critique. No complaints there.
But the cons outweigh the pros. Definitely not my Mani's worth.

South Asians as Politicians in the West

What with many people with South Asian origins making it to political positions in Western countries (read UK and US), I think curbs on who can make it to the Senate are on the cards.
Imagine a situation where the US needs to decide whether to bomb Pakistan 'back to the stone age' and there are influential Senators of Pakistani (or for that matter Indian) origin among the powers that be. Don't you think the situation will be fraught with all kinds of overtones and undercurrents? Sure it will be. It is impossible to believe these Senators (or MPs) can remain totally neutral.

Bobby Jindal and Sayeeda Warsi (http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article429157.ece) are examples. I'm sure people very high up in the echelons of power both in US and UK (and elsewhere) are already talking about it. I'd say it is only a question of when rather than if.

Science and Spirituality

How often in the past has science made a declaration about 'facts' only to change it decades or centuries later as and when more clarity emerges ? Too often for comfort, I'd say. The Human Genome project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project) is the most comprehensive study made on the human DNA to date and yet it can make no sense whatsoever of over 97% of the sequences in it and so calls it 'junk'. Just because science cannot understand something completely, calling it junk is just being naive.

I'm part of the 'Narayana Movement' (http://groups.google.co.in/group/foaf2012) whose primary aim is to educate the world about 2012. There has been a lot of misinformation about what is going to happen to the earth in 2012. The popular theory is that life as we know it will come to an end in 2012 (reinforced by the Hollywood movie by that name). This is not what the Narayana movement believes. 2012 will herald the end not for the earth per se but for all negativity on earth. Armageddon for negativity, if you will.

The Narayana movement (in conjunction with http://www.kryon.com/) also says that the human DNA contains 12 strands of which only two are active for most people. Realised souls (Ramana Maharishi, Seshadri Swamigal, HH Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Jesus etc) had all 12 active. There are literally thousands of people who have had first hand experiences with the seemingly 'magical' powers of the Kanchi Yogi (http://www.kamakoti.org/newlayout/template/souvenir.html). These incidents are too numerous to recount here. Science cannot even begin to explain some of these.

I'm now convinced that the 97% of the DNA which science calls junk holds many secrets. According to the Narayana movement,

• it is possible for ordinary humans to increase their active strands by practicing certain techniques - all easy ones
• The total number of active strands need to be increased to at least 6 by May 2012
• the number of active strands is directly proportional to closeness with Brahman
• DNA contains information about a person's past lives
• Children being born these days naturally have 3 strands active ! These children are termed 'Indigo Children'

It is a truism that science and spiritualism are both sides of the same coin; they go hand in hand. But today's science cannot be blamed for not being to explain phenomena which it loves to call 'supernatural'. It is simply not mature enough today to offer an explanation. But every single 'supernatural' phenomenon - telepathy, life after death, astral travel etc - should have a scientific explanation. There has to be.
I'm positive Science is marching towards it.

Technology as a bane

The Indian middle class has been benefited a lot by the advent of new technology. Much of this new technology has come in the last 30-40 years before which things were pretty much static. I would say the current generation of 'home makers' in the age group of 50-65 is one that has been impacted most. (I'm using the word 'impacted' and not 'benefited' for a reason I will go into later).

Mixer-grinders, microwave owens, LPG, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and indeed electricity itself are some of the things this generation has seen coming into their lives. These ladies know what it means to live without these gadgets and hence appreciate them much better. But their daughters are born in a world with all these gadgets and hence their attitude to these gadgets is completely different.

Regular use of the grinding stone used to build brute, physical strength. Blowing into wood powered and kerosene stoves built lung power. Bending over double to wipe floors helped in keeping the body supple. More than anything else, it help inculcate tolerance levels, patience and endurance. Qualities you don't find in the current crop of youngsters - both male and female.

So, yes, there is no doubt that these gadgets have made life a lot easier for people but it also brought in a new set of body related and mind related problems along with them.

You can extend this analogy to practically any sphere of life, to any sample size of population belonging to any strata of society. You will find more or less a similar kind of cause and effect phenomenon.
We specialize in inventing technology which is supposed to improve our quality of life but which, over a period of time, in fact has the opposite effect.

Maoists are not enemies of the state

The Maoist problem in India seems to be a riddle without solution. Most people appear to have the perception that the Maoist menace is something that should be put down with brute force by the Government. They view the Maoists as terrorists who take pleasure in killing innocent citizens; they are the bad guys and should be treated as such.

While the above might be true - and I don't condone their methods - I think the mainstream India media needs to relate their side of their story as well. Outlook is one mag that has been trying to do this through Arundhati Roy (although people need to have a PhD in English literature to understand her articles ) for some time now. We also need to try and understand the reason they have taken up arms. After all, nobody starts a civil war for fun.

Successive Indian Govts have been consistently insensitive to the needs and difficulties of the rural Indians in their quest to sate the needs and address the difficulties of urban Indians. In the name of building factories, townships and big dams, millions and millions of the poorest Indians have been displaced from the lands they have been traditionally occupying for centuries. In the name of letting greedy mining companies set up shop in the rural hinterland, lakhs of people have been literally chased out of their homes - sometimes at gunpoint.
Every single time, it is the poor who get trampled.


Problems afflicting the educated middle class and affluent Indians gets a disproportionate amount of attention. A handful of people died at the hands of Kasab in Mumbai. This was covered on the front pages of every single newspaper in India over several weeks. Farmers have been committing suicides by the thousands in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra. Sadly, this gets a only a few centimeters of news space.

Hundreds of well-to-do software professionals lost their jobs when the Satyam fiasco broke out. Bowing to public pressure, the Govt of India itself had to step in and consider bailing the company out. Lakhs of textile workers and lakhs of daily wage labourers employed in the jewellery industry in Surat and elsewhere lost their jobs in the midst of the recession. Nary a whisper about their plight in the media.

Since the liberalisation started in the early nineties, the policies adopted by the Governments at power in the Center (including the BJP led one) have a distinct capitalist hue as against the totally socialist trend seen earlier. Editorials and economists have cried themselves hoarse about the 'benefits' this trend has brought to India. But the 'benefits' have not started to percolate to the masses below the so called poverty line (at least not as much as we would have liked). So there is this huge section of have-not people in India which has been seeing this other section move from strength to strength while they themselves have been continually deprived (or continually been kept deprived). In other words development and progress is skewed across the different sections of the social fabric. We don't a rocket scientist to figure out this causes frustration and heart burn.


Disgruntlement and restlessness builds up. It was only a matter of time that an organized movement by this disgruntled lot started. We now have a name for it - the Moaist movement.

So does the Government need to go back to its socialist ways ? Maybe not. So does the Government need to go back to its pre-liberalization ways ? Definitely not. All it needs to make sure is that progress is inclusive. Ah, that's easier said than done !

The point I'm trying to make here is that we should not automatically jump to the conclusion that the Maoists are enemies of the state. The Government needs to engage them in talks rather than try to suppress the movement by brute force. It may be successful in the short term but, for sure, the problem will crop up again.

Who's racist ?

The brouhaha generated in India over attacks on Indian students in Australia would make one imagine everything is fine here. Not true. We are as racist as they come. Probably more.

Maybe we don't beat up aliens darker/fairer than we are but I'm sure that's only because they are not here for our jobs. Can you even imagine what the situation would be like here if ship loads of immigrants land here to 'steal' our jobs ? All hell would break loose.
The law and order mechanism in the country would simply collapse.

• Check out any matrimonial section in any Indian newspaper. You will find grooms searching for 'fair' brides
• 99% of actors in India who have made it big are fair. And not just in Bollywood.
• 99% of successful models are fair.
• An average Indian movie will have at least one racist joke or a dialogue.
• Many hotels in tourist cities in India frown down upon Indian customers. Many of them openly refuse to admit Indians.
• Snide remarks are made about African students studying in Indian colleges.
• Students from the North-East are called by the derogatory term 'Chinkies'. After all they are Indians too.
• One word - untouchability.

People living in glass houses should not throw stones.

Limerick 1

Twinkle twinkle little star,
ತಿನ್ನು ಇಡ್ಲಿ ಸಾಂಬಾರ್ ಅನ್ನ ಸಾರ್
ಇದು ದೇಹಕ್ಕೆ ಬಹಳ ಒಳ್ಳೇದು,
ಬೇಡ ಪಿಜ್ಜಾ ಕಾರ್ನ್ಫ್ಳಕೆಸ್ ಬರ್ಗೆರು.

For the Kannada speaking pseudo mannina magas who cannot read Kannada, here is the English transliteration.

Twinkle twinkle little star,
Tinnu idli sambar anna saar.
Idu dehakke bahala olledu,
Beda pizza conflakes, burgeru.

Maybe I can sell this jingle to some Bangalore FM radio channel on a campaign promoting Indian food. I can probably make myself some rupees ....:-)

Waste not want not

The decision to buy a product or a service should be based not only on one's ability to afford it but also on whether one really needs it and whether or not it is worth the price one pays for it.There are people who buy new clothes almost every month. What a sheer waste of money. Think of the several ways in which this money could have been put to use productively. Let's try to do a small analysis here by taking a reasonably appropriate sample size.

Let's take the software/IT/ITES junta in India who are notorious for their excessive consumerism. As per NASSCOM, the number of people employed by the BPO, IT/ITES industry in India is around 25 lakhs. Let's assume half of this population spends Rs 300 every month unnecessarily. That's almost 36 crore Rupees. Per month !! In the hands of a good NGO, just imagine how much good Rs 36 crore can do every month ! In a country like India where more than half the population lives on less than Rs 20 per day, this kind of waste is criminal. Absolutely criminal.

Just extrapolate this analogy to the other well-to-do sections of Indian society and try and work out the colossal amount of money that is getting blown up every single day on parties, booze, movies, clothes, food to name a few. It boggles the imagination.

Calculation of economic growth figures

The way economic growth percentage figures are calculated remains a mystery. The hoi polloi see newspapers reporting 8% growth for India in 2010. The very next day, the same news paper quotes some other agency predicting 9.5% growth. The common man gets totally confused. Unless he is sure at what rate the country's economy will grow that year, how can he carry on with his day to day life ?

He will worry about it when he is waiting in line to purchase rice and dal at the fair price shop. He will worry about it when he is travelling on the footboard of the local public transport bus on his way to work trying to keep elbows and smelly arm pits out of his face. He will also keep thinking about it when he is fighting for a bucket of water at the friendly neighbourhood tap. The worry will plague him when he is lying awake sweating at night whenever there is a power failure. Nor will it let him negotiate potholed roads in peace.

So in the interest of the greater common good, I decided to investigate how exactly the Government arrives at growth figures. This was no mean task. It entailed hundreds of visits to the library, several RTI petitions and numerous references to tomes of economic books. I can finally claim to have arrived at the magic formula.

Here's how it is done. Beginning of every year, the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) calls for a meeting. Sub-Junior officers and clerks from the Planning commission, IMF, World Bank and the RBI attend this meeting. The PM himself chairs this essentially number-crunching meeting. Growth figure estimates are taken from each organization. For ease of understanding, let's call them A, B, C and D respectively. (Again for ease of understanding, let us not get into the nitty gritty of how each of these organizations arrives at A,B,C and D in the first place.)

Growth figure for India for the year is calculated using the formula
Growth Figure=((A+B+C+D)/4)raised to the power of n, divided by n factorial, whole raised to the power of 1/n where n is the year in question, 2010 for instance.

Let's call this figure X. If a majority government is in power, X is multiplied by 2. If a coalition government is in power X is divided by 2. Then 1.8 percentage points are added to budget for any discrepancies in A,B,C and D figures. This number is then released to the media as growth estimate for India for that year.