Of All The Things I Have Lost

Of all the things that i have lost
Its hope that is what i miss the most

Of all the lies i have told you
Its the ones about me i repent

Of all the people i miss
Its you that was dearest to me

Of all the sunrises i have missed
Its the ones i have slept through i regret

Of all the opportunities i have left
Its the life changing ones i shouldn’t have

May be I have 
Lost, lied, missed and left 

But yet iam here

And iam happy to be alive                                    

tc

Why God's Own Country wont be affected by Recession !!!!

For those of you who are not aware of the sobriquet Gods own Country, this is the fancy name given to the south Indian State of Kerala for its mind blowing greenery and natural beauty. By demographic, social and ethical indicators this state can be compared to any of the leading European or Western nations. The state has a population of 31 million and land area of 15,000 Sq. Miles. This gives you a brief idea about our destination and chief protagonist.

Now coming to the more important aspect of the topic why god's own country will not be affected by recession. Now iam in a dilemma on the context of the post, should i grind the hidden economist in me and explain the phenomena with some financial indicators and situational analysis or should i try to be candy about the normal practices in the state.

This is a place that works on its own terms which has evolved its own type of economy called the "Kerala Model". The state has had 80 days of harthal in the first six months of last year and generally it is a mood of lax and absence. The industry is generally dominated by agriculture, tourism and fishing in the order of importance. Then there is the most important, silent and turnover intensive segment of real estate. In the real estate market price for the property depends upon various invisible factors which doesn't justify the cost benefit ratio and value of investment.

Another important characteristic and unique aspect for "Kerala model" is the number of non residents from the state (approx. 2.5 million). They are spread mainly across the oil rich sheikdoms specialising in various types of jobs from cafeteria owners to CEO's of billion dollar companies .

As a whole the state receives around 240 Billion INR every year through overseas remittance . This is far more than the states expenditure during the same period. So the kerala economy does not depend on manufacturing, service sector or outsourcing. These are the main sectors which will be affected by the recession. The driving sector of the economy like agriculture will get a boost in this era when primary segments will be boosted, promoted and highly in demand. So on one side the major industry is getting an unexpected boom and inward remittance is far higher than ever thanks to the highly favourable exchange rates.

It is not that jobless gulf dependant malayalees are bothered about recession or job losses. When you have dinars, riyals, dollars and dirhams flowing in and basic services are highly over priced people are not bothered about any global phenomenas. An average hartalee spends only 6-8 hours of working with amble gaps and rest hours. With 5 working days and weekend ceremonies like marriages, receptions, parties etc. etc. people are a happy lot.

The conclusion of this wandering post is that when there is no production why will there be recession. When you already are jobless you cannot risk loosing it. The same hartalees when they become non residents are ready to work 12-15 hour shifts without breaks and holidays. So it is not the inherent characteristic of the average malayalee, it has got something to do with the environment, attitude and political system. The irony is that when the whole world is concerned with layoffs and production cuts Kerala has welcomed the new year with aharthal on the 1st of January.

P.S Sorry for wandering from our topic, it was unintentional, expecting comments and reviews.

ANY RESEMBLANCE OF CHARACTERS OR SITUATIONS IN THE POST TO ANYONE ALIVE OR DEAD IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. IF ANYTHING SAID OR MEANT IN THE POST HURTS ANY ONES BELIEFS OR FEELINGS IT IS PURELY UNINTENTIONAL AND APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE.

Addendum

This post has been posted on this blog on a previous date and it is being brought back taking into consideration its relevance today and my mounting lethargy which keeps me away from regular blogging.

Ramblings

The idea of posting in a more organised way has been impending for couple of weeks. The inspirations required for posting new articles have been a lot but the discipline to do that has been nil.

It has been one whole year of blogging as of 15th of November, one whole year of rambling, one year of digesting all this crap. Would like to thank my co authors who have been influenced by occasional bouts of enthusiasm and confused ideas. Thanks to all the search engines who have misled browsers to this portal, all browsers who have taken the effort to spend some time on this site.

It is almost one year since i have posted a testimony of commitments known as resolutions and again it has been an year of failed promises, lost friends, new acquaintances and a whole new perspective towards life.

One year since a set of hooligans had the audacity to attack our national symbols of wealth, prosperity and unity. One year of gratitude to our resilience, unity and our strength to survive, fight and stand up to all the injustice done against us. Hope no bloody new kasabs have the courage to set foot on our mother land again .

One year of facebook, of my courage to stay away from farmville, of orkut trying to improvising competitors features. One year of staying away from twitter and all the new crazy invites that turn up and crowd my inbox. I think things will never change all the annoying people failed promises and endless dreams will remain.

I have led one more year of confused life, have kept up my promise of being the quintessential hypocrite, of accepting all the fallacies of life. Before you people pull your hair and start screaming, let me stop.

tc

Micro Finance for The Indifferent !

Yes the economic bug has smitten me again. The last time i have written something in this genre had to do with the downfall of neo petroleum economies. And as usual the prediction has gone wrong and the oil rich kingdoms are back to their comfort zones. So why should you take me seriously with this regard ?

Banking is a daily necessity like the air we breath or the food we eat. You could beg to differ and i can keep on arguing on my opinion. But the fact is that it is one think that has been influencing our actions, decisions and even our destiny. So changes in the banking system can evidently bring about changes in our lives.

I have been reading the biography of the Nobel Prize winner Mr. Muhammed Yunus, and i have got an entirely new perspective towards persistence and social entrepreneurship. For the uninitiated he is the father of Micro Finance. He has showed with evident results that we can change the social structure of bonded labour and the destitute through credit. ( the book is a must read, will write a review once iam done through it)

So what is Micro Finance, in a layman's word or through the eyes of the Mango People it can be defined as institutional credit of small amounts without physical collateral and collected back in small negligible installments (Daily, Weekly etc.). It is an anti thesis to conventional banking, where minute loans are detested with the argument that the proposition wont even cover the documentation cost involved, Where you have to prove that you are rich enough to not need a loan to avail the facility you need and Where the reality of the society is totally neglected to service the so called socially and economical advanced class.

This is the true form of banking the society needs, to make a difference to the social structure yet remain profitable and financially viable. The process of raising a loan is a more emotional task than the cumbersome paper works. In the grameen model the proposer has to form a group of five people who act as mutual guarantees instead of the collateral model and the group ha to prove their credit worthiness step by step to ensure that the entire team is eligible for the credit.

The grameen people has been instrumental in elevating poverty, social stigma, improving living conditions and even empowering its customers. Another matter of difference is that the majority of customers of the grameen model are women. This is because women are better to lend (yes) because of their credibility, social conscience and responsible nature.

So what can we learn from the model the poor can be trusted than rich industrialist faking non favorable conditions for defaulting humongous amounts of money. The recovery rate is 98 % compared to some disturbing statistics provided by banks established to promote industry, agriculture and society. We need more Muhammed Yunus in the world to alleviate poverty, bring about social change.

Addendum

In new developments the opportunistic entrepreneurs have evolved micro finance into more commercial models manipulating the need of the people. They sell anything under the sun through the micro finance model, some are good like offering the rural folks with drip irrigation systems, solar lanterns etc. But some have gone one step ahead and disguised to form a new avatar of money lenders promoting materialistic behaviour in the unexplored rural market.

Where Are We Going ?

Now i know why not many people are consistent in their motives, why it is not always easy to do the easy things. I have come to accept the reality that life is predictable, there are no shortcuts to happiness and above all the easiest and most basic things are the most difficult ones. Don't ask me about the circumstances that has led to such a conclusion.

When i read the book Alchemist for the first time , i wondered what is so special about following your dreams, doesn't everyone already do that, isn't that the purpose of our life. But now i have come to realise that complacency is as much an illusion as any other feeling of self content. We do loose hope, we do compromise, we can even fail and leave behind what was once the only purpose of our lives.

The greatest mystery of life is not how we can succeed but how we can hold our nerves together in times of great stress. How not to step over to the other side can be more demanding than how to remain focused on our dreams.

I know all these sounds crappy but sometimes we sit, we ponder and come up with strange conclusions. Its just that iam going through one of those stages of confusion, when everything puts you in a dilemma, even the fundemental questions of life. What is the purpose of a life ? what is our role ? How we can make a difference ? How not to be forgotten ?

So if you are as enlightened as me, ask yourself these questions, if you are luckier than me in finding an answer do share them with me.

Dasvidaniya

On Rain, Rainy Days and More !!

The most memorable memories of my motherland has a lot to do with rain, the drizzle, the downpour, the gloomy sky and the intoxicating smell of soil.Like the latest tourism departments promotion, rain is an experience , something to cherish for a long time. Unfortunately the past month monsoon has been on a reluctant mode. The sky has been frowning, acting moody yet denying the much awaited rain.

In my memories related to the school days one of the most memorable one is riding the bicycle through a winding road wearing a rain coat yet drenched in water. I remember a school holiday when the main bridge connecting our town was flooded by a heavy rain. The joy was not in the holiday or the free time but in seeing the bridge flooded, the pillars and the road immersed like a jigsaw puzzle visible here and there.

The same river bed had been left barren in the major part of last decade like a football ground or a plot assigned for sale by real estate agents. Unexpectedly the river flooded once and an opportunistic photographer utilized the snap and sold it with the caption " the dream view of Bharathapuzha"

Another interesting memory is switching our football game into a match of rugby when it rained and the ground became slippery and muddy. The main motive of the game is to slide thought the slippery grass and enjoy the unexpected free falls. One of these days a good friend was tagged as "Faker" (not as in fraud) but someone good at faking movements and tackling. Rugby was an opportunity to get even with your rivals and annoying peers, all you had to do was pass the ball to him while playing and inititate a pile up over him. He is sure to suffer sufficient pain and definitely remember you for a long time.

There are some really mesmerising things to do in a good rainy season. Walk barefoot through the muddy floor, sip a cup of hot tea in the balcony or open veranda with the rain drizzling on your face forced by the wind. Drive with the windows open playing soft music like abnajaa by Euphoria, Pall by KK or the likes of these, drive aimlessly (not recklessly which iam famous for).

Go to the beach and sit on its shores staring aimlessly at the glory and limitless fury the sea holds in its belly. Walk through a paddy field and cross the brooks bare foot across it. Try to get the huge circular palm leaves cap used by the farmers and stand in a heavy down pour, it is a wonderful experience.

Travel in a train sitting on the side doors with the wind blowing a rain drizzling on your face ( be safe and alert). A time to renew friendships, to write poetry (sentences ending with rhyming words written in paragraphs hehe). To huddle in cozy sofa and watch a tear jerker or a cheesy romantic flick. To sleep without knowing whether its day or night listening to the tinkering, splashing, humming sound of the wind and rain. Wake up in a haze and again sleep like there is no tomorrow.The best food to have in the rain spicy hot pani puri or in the home front try apna meen mulakittath and appam a culinary marvel.

"rain like there is no tomorrow, like its going to flood away our lives, let it wash away all our pain and sorrow, let it rain for a better tomorrow "

P.S. This is not a fresh post and the timing is unlikely too, this has been posted elsewhere earlier. The idea of putting it up here has lot to do with the absence of a new post and my increasing lethargy towards writing something new.

chao

How 11 Indians Pulled off The Impossible !! A Book Review:

Haven't written any review on books so far, this book has been too compelling and the need to write one is very much evident. Some basic Details:

Book: Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen

Author: Porus Munshi

Genre: Business/Innovation/Entrepreneurship

Having read some reviews about the book in some of the regular business magazines, i was too anxious to get the copy. I can give you a brief idea about the content, its about 11 Indians who did the impossible with the same existing resources that we crib about, with the same people whom we call unchangeable etc.

Few of the Case studies which really caught my fancy are

1) Transformation of Surat from the filthiest city into the second cleanest town within two years, reducing the number of malaria deaths from 20,000 t0 0 in just twenty months, a case of miracle urban transformation.

2) Trichy Police implementing Indianised community policing and reducing crime rates by an astounding 60 % and managing a city of 3 million people with 260 constables, a case study on how the police can manage community with friendliness rather than force.

3) How titan beat the Swiss in their on Field of expertise by developing the thinnest watch Titan Edge.

The rest are about ITC, CavinKare Su-kam etc. The book has good flow to it bringing out interesting details and how the same can be used by us in ordinary situation. This is a must read for The few us who still believe we can change, we can make things happen and that nothing is impossible as such.

Do read it, its a must read for anyone who believes in the Indian Superpower of the future.

You are a Mallu If ?

Putting together some of the common traits bringing together the mallu brotherhood. We might ignore, deny and even get furious about some of these, but forgive me guys truth can be really painful at times. So lets get the list started, if i offend anyone it was truly intentional hehehe, if you got to add more to it please feel free,

Your favorite film star is above 50 and his BMI will be mostly above 25 (over weighed)

Your idea about haute courte could be a glowing white lungi with an eye tingling red shirt.

You are unemployed but lives happily on the stipend send by your uncle who is either in Dubai or Saudi Arabia

Or you are running a home stay on your cousins property who is settled in USA.

You are ready to work 20 hours without a break yet raise the flags if you are asked to work 8 proper hours at home.

You cook all your food with coconut oil and use some of it as a gel supplement on your hair.

You are working in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Chennai and crib about the layman's inefficiency when at home .

If your off road is better than on road even if it is supposed to be tarred pakka roads.

You have just returned from your Diploma course in UK and unwilling to remove the white shoes, shirt inside the t-shirt and above all the fake accent.

Your idea of erotica is on the plumbier side and size zero is an abomination of humanity.

You have a relative or friend in some god forgotten place which people even find it difficult to place on a map.

At your wedding the bride is wearing a ton of gold (or imitation) and the food served is enough to feed an entire town

People laugh at you for your pronunciation yet find your lexicon and vocabulary unmatchable.

You are highly opinionated and find it easy to quote statements and statistics in a flash. (even if they are wrong)

Your mom doesn't know what is vegetarian, she thinks its a variety of fish she can deep fry in coconut oil. (mostly)

You don't mind voting and bringing to power either of the two non performing parties every five years.

The land at the centre of your town is worth more than its weight in gold ( he hehehe)

You are ready to raise the flag in no time if you think the injustice is on you.

Iam running short of ideas, i know iam not even half there and we can be really complicated if you look at it this way. This a post meant to be purely on the lighter side. Like they write before a movie " all characters and situations are fictional, if it resembles reality its truly coincidental ". Please comment and add to this, looking forward to your ideas.

tc

Endless Dreams, Countless Aspirations !!

I guess i have to start with the statutory explanation on why i have been off from the already rare blogging scene. This time i have no explanations no theories and even short of new excuses, i have been lazy, constantly procrastinating and lack the initiative to post the countless drafts online. If i had been a writer i would call this phase a writers block (stop grinning).

I have been traveling on and off for the last few weeks some on pretext of job, some looking for peace and redemption. What have i attained, nothing in particular but a sense of serene existence. At least in some front things are looking good, i have been able to complete some really compelling non fiction writings. Off late have been developing an affinity towards travelogues detailing adventurous journeys and eye opening conversations. Off the very few people who are compelled by nagging facebook and orkut alerts don't visit these pages for weekly escapades of a wannabee blogger. So whats disturbing me off late, whats the hypocrite in me concerned about.

62 years of independence and where do we stand, what is our testimony to time bygone. I know iam 2 weeks late to make the post look relevant and appropriate, why shout louder and be absorbed in the crowd when you have a chance to howl alone ( i was trying to convince you on my late post). Where have we reached, is the title of being the largest democracy self serving. Can we still call it democracy when the ruling party has just polled 10% of the total votes in the mangled system called coalition governments. Can we still be called democratic when family politics and sycophantic hero worship rule the national front and to a larger extend in some state fronts. Are we secure and safe when we have Maoist uprising in considerable parts of the country.

Its true that the leadership at the helm are experienced with admirable credentials and considerable track records. But don't you think we have reached no where in our path to being a self sustaining developed economy. ( not getting into macro economics) Look at our infrastructure, does it really take so much to have good roads and clean drinking water.
Cant we get it right at least once, remove the gluttonous middle men and do a quality work something which will stand the test of time. Some of our best bridges and remote roads date from the imperial era, even if their intentions were to plunder their means to it were uncorrupted.
We champion NREGA when it should have been implemented 50 years ago in a socialistic ideology dominant government(better late than never)

If you have been noticing how we have been dealing with a terrorist caught on tape brandishing automatic weapons and killing some of our most respected officers, we will understand the need to have a social awakening. No iam not criticizing our last beacon of hope the Judiciary, but isnt it too much to take a year to declare justice for a crime so disturbing questioning our pride. I cant come to terms with people who profess this as an act of civilized justice, it is already so evident about the crime and its perpetrators lets not delay justice anymore. Our press branded it as our 9/11 and yet is this how we deal with something that shook our nations integrity.

I know we have a robustly growing economy in the midst of global meltdown, that our scientists are scheduling a moon trip and the west look at as the elephant rising from a slumber ready to take on the Chinese dragon. We have to do more act faster and implement quicker to win this race, lets not be daunted by the distance and enjoy every moment of this journey.

Jai Hind

Fall of Neo Petroleum Economies

Every civilization has gone through its peaks and falls, most of the oldest civilizations have become extinct after reaching their pinnacle. Like the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Harappa, Incas, Mayas etc. We have had empires spread over the world reduced to rumbles and ashes. Rulers with control over half the world reduced to unpronounceable names in history books. So where do they go wrong, some lost it all to the power of nature, some lost it to irresponsible incompetent heirs and some even fell to incomprehensible superstitions. But in the flat world it is either the end of world or economic downtroddeness, there cannot be any end to this civilization unless we have a nuclear holocaust or a apocalyptic meteorite attack like the one in Armageddon.

How do economies fall from grace, from their superior wealth and higher standard of living? We have had the mystic Indian Subcontinent which at a time contributed to around 20 % of world GDP reduced to now when we hold just 1%. The Japanese economy in its real estate boom of 90’s had a land value of 4 times equal to the land price of USA. Tokyo city was compared equal in land price to the whole of USA, from there it went bust and millions of people lost billions of dollars and led to the closure of thousands of business houses. The Asian tigers like Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia had their share in the late 90 are when the roller coaster ride controlled by USA lost control and the whole economy fell to its feet.

Now is the time for the neo rich Arab economies gone prosperous by the black gold called crude. It leads to a class of People made rich overnight with least of their effort and maximum external involvement. This lead to irresponsible spending and unavoidable external control on vital national resources. People who have minimal knowledge on how to operate and exploit their natural resources. But fortunately over the years through immense exploitation and unprofitable mutual deal the local populous and a set of technically educated Diaspora of Asian Origin they have gained control of what is left. In the time of their prosperity they have made limited spending on social Infrastructure and communal development leading to the growth of an incompetent new generation. Add to this the rise of extremist Islamic ideology promoting violence and hatred; they are moving into a vulnerable scenario. The easily earned money is spend on gas guzzling SUV’s, over priced foreign acquisitions in non complimentary sectors and companies, unnecessary luxury products etc.

There are basic forces of economy which rule all basic economical activity like demand and supply. If demand exceeds supply, a commodities need and price will rise and vice versa. These basic forces were denied corrective action in time of dire need and this has lead to the fall of certain gulf countries. When land was available in abundance, it was reclaimed from sea in the pretext of providing sea front living. Artificial islands in size bigger than Hongkong and Manhattan were built to attract foreign investors, high risers touching the sky and senseless architectural designs given funding and life to create the ultimate city. There is an old saying which goes like this “slow and steady wins the race” but they were into an anomaly of both with senseless pace and unregulated consistency.

Unless something really happens and the dream is broken everybody fails to notice the warning signals, the unfavourable external debt equity ratio, unrealistic pricing compared to the demand supply ratio. When will we learn to control our growth and regulate sensibly, when will there be a sound mechanism to direct a viable development. From this crisis we have understood that capitalism is not the best possible solution for equitable economic growth, it is not a perfect scenario. I am not a leftist promoting more government involvement and socialistic policies.

The fall of the oil economies is short lived since as long as the middle class is rising and the need for petroleum products is on the rise, they will revive and live another day to commit the same mistakes. The china’s and India’s of the world will provide consistent demand for their natural resources to compete in this new world.

tc

Misselling to The Layman

The existence of the word misselling is a contradiction, some say it means selling something by describing the wrong attributes, and others say the word doesn’t even exist. So let’s start by defining misselling, i would personally define it as falsely convincing a potential customer about non existent features or by hiding negative side effects.

This post is not an intellectual attempt on dissecting the cons of organized advertising and marketing. There are certain things that we notice everyday yet fail to question. Doctors selling steroids as eco-friendly, healthy medicines. Water filter companies selling inefficient filters with the so called quality certifications which supplements the bad performance. The examples can go on and on.

The reason for writing this post is that, i saw someone wearing the latest collection of a popular men’s wear brand. The dress looked superb on the bollywood hero and even had a touch of class to it, but the same apparel on the layman looked downright ugly. Iam pretty sure this poor guy would have fallen for the ad campaign featuring the dress as a breakthrough, This should also be classified as misselling, these advertisements should come with statutory warnings like the "COSTUME ON DISPLAY LOOKS GOOD ONLY FOR CERTAIN BODY SHAPES AND SKIN COLORS"

These warnings should be legally enforced on all apparels, cosmetics, energy drinks etc. The layman should not be confused between drama, glamour and the actual use of the product. The advertising industry should have the guts to market the product with ordinary man stressing on their product quality rather than the brand ambasssadors financial well being. Only when the product feautures gets highlighted and stands out of the brand endorsers shadow misselling can be stopped.


Atleast only then will i see adults trying to look young in bush shirts made for teenagers. Advertising has become a medium motivated by sex and glamour. What does a scantly clad rusiian women got to do with bathroom sanitaries, it is another thing to use her for a lingerie ad. And the latest trend in advertsing is by exploiting the innocent feautres of a child, it is so evident in telecom, banking, insurance and anything that needs a hidden agenda to sell.

The hypocracy of speculative stock aarket products is so evident in their advertisements where the part with the kid and women is slow and sweet and the part where they say "Mutual funds are subject to market risks........" rushed through like a lightning. Lets open our eyes and see this dram for its true colour and shade.

Unfortunately iam in a very sarcastic and argumentative mood, forgive my prejudice and leftist arguments.



chao

On Blogging, Life and Thereafter !!

Back to blogging after a long period of absence. Reasons for blogging are many, starving for creative ideas, infective lethargy all around, transitional activities the list can go endless. Moral of the story is that, iam back to blogging with renewed vigor and passion (taking into assumption that some people were reading it occasionally and the content doesn't irritate them to the extend i assume)

So expect more senseless ramblings and meaningless sentences in this new avatar. Expect to read more India centric thoughts, where the author will be looking forward to dissect the existing practices, un evident observations. Looking forward to write on first hand travel experiences in the subcontinent, providing a layman’s view on exploring India. As usual you are welcome to comment, advise, and criticize on any of these posts.

So hurray to more blogging, more life and even more blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting back at the Capitalists !!!!!!

The classification of first world, second world and third world is going to be in an upheaval once the economic meltdown comes to an end. The pride and prestige of modern economies like popular brands, latest technologies and smart brain power will be flowing into the growing economies of India, China and Brazil.

It is quite evident that we are witnessing phenomena of reverse imperialism taking place world over. The old world industrial masters and their expensive toys are in disarray and turmoil. It is not surprising when world over the industrial giants are shrinking and very few economies can boast about single digit growth rates, International brands and giants are up for sale.

So coming back to our topic of reverse imperialism, we are finally able to get back at the hundreds of years financial oppression and looting. We are able to stake our claims at their Kohinoor’s of wealth, we have been able to acquire giants like Jaguar and Land Rover, China is in the process of buying Hummer, what next. World over there is a stigma towards Chinese and to some extend even Indian Products. They were considered to be of lower quality and low on the trend index, now this condescending attitude will have to stop.

If the meltdown continues at this rate for few more years, I won’t be surprised to find a Brazilian Ferrari or an Indian Airbus. So where do we go from here, will India become the next global manufacturing hub adding to its profile of a cheap outsourcing destination. And when we are growing and they are shrinking will we be able to get ahead in the market size indexes.

The questions are many and yet we have very few answers, but the one definite outcome is a leveling of snobbish attitudes among the so called developed nations. This phenomenon was a necessity to level the human ego and start a new era of equal opportunities. The WTO should play a more constructive role in the new era and stop policing from mountain tops. We have to accept the fact that capitalism is not all picture perfect and better than the so called evil socialists. We should work towards a more adoptive economic system where the capitalists and socialists have an equal role to play.

When our local small scale industries were quashed by cheaper imports and self employed craftsman were left helpless, the globalization effect didn’t look evil to the capitalist masters. But when the incomparable manufacturing cost and cheap technical skills of our rising economies left hordes of people jobless in the developed world globalization has become evil perpetrators in their demise.

Iam not against the enterprising nature of humanity or the opportunistic ideas evolving world over, but there has to be constructive regulations in every society and the absence of it can lead to very dangerous scenarios. We are at a juncture where we should be responsible enough to mend our established norms and practices. Banking sector should not be lured by gains from ill mannered, short term instruments. They should be ethical enough to disclose all hidden terms and conditions rather than keep the customers in the dark. Lets hope for a brighter tomorrow a new day a new hope.

adios

Some Things You Always Notice

Sometimes things just happen, It might be out of coincidence, maybe a mere probability of an event happening or even could be out of pure luck too.These event could be day to day happening, or memorable incidents in life or anything for that matter of fact. Some of these are

In a traffic jam the next lane always keeps moving faster than the one you are in.

In a public washroom the person ahead of you always takes more time to wash his hands than you think

The photograph in documents like passport, licence etc. are always your worst ones.

The longer the memory the details get more exaggerated and more unrealistic.

School life/ college life gets more dearer farer from the last year of college.

You always score well in your first game of bowling/snooker.

You always for sure get late to that important meeting which turns out good in the end.

The person whom you least expect to help turns out to be the saviour in the end.

The obscure politician in the middle of a demeaning character attack always turns out to be the winner in the end

The dumb stupid underdog of today mostly end up as the winner of tomorrow

Opinion polls never get it right and still they make so much fuss all over the next year.

The movie with the most hyped trailers and launch pads mostly end up as disasters on screen.

North Korea and Laloo always gets away with all the crap they say, however controversial they are.

You always get up early on weekend's when you are really looking forward to sleep.

The killer deal you got at the discount store is always more expensive than your best friends option.

When the hype sets in and the success becomes evident even the most ardent critic becomes an admirer.

When you want advice people will flood you with options and no body takes your opinion seriously in the best of the times.

In a blog the least interesting post according to the author always become peopular among the readers.

In blogging when you ask for comments nobody obliges and when you want their silence they become the loudest.

When you feel you have lost weight some looser always laughs at you and when you have put on weight the same guy thinks you have lost it.

There are more to these unusual things, i hope i have done Justice to some of them at least, if you feel anything is to be included, please add on.

adios

The Whimpering Women

The relative who died was just an acquaintance and the visit was just customary. The bereavement and crying siblings had an emotionally distressing effect on me. Why are people born if they have to die some day ? I guess there are larger Truth n the mysteries of life unknown to mankind.

As usual like every time I come from a dead relatives or friends house, I kept wondering how it would be when my time came, who will be there crying for me, will my sons who are abroad able to make it to my burial in time? Why should I have such depressing thoughts when my health is fine. Even the blood test I took today morning had a satisfactory result. The doctor was kind enough to compliment me on my health and how it was better than many of my peers who were on the other side of fifty.

It was already midnight when the news of death came and I was sure I wont be back home for another two or three hours. On the way back I decided to walk from the main road through the paddy field, it was a good decision to take the torch. He would have dropped me to my home if I insisted, but it was already too late and I had already given him enough trouble.
Th junction looked empty and no one would guess how this was a bustling centre a few hours back. The only street light on the road side was flickering and created a eery feeling to the centre.

The car sped away and the red back light vanished around the corner. All of a sudden I felt lonely, not scared, what should I be scared of. I knew the town like the back of my hands, I had spend a good deal of my adult life in these streets and wandering through these now closed shops. I crossed the road and entered the gully that lead to the paddy field. How could everyone sleep so silently, except fro the wind gushing through the trees and leaves everything else was so quiet.


The torch was new, a gift from my youngest son who went abroad recently. The light was strong enough not like the old red torch which was only good for its antiquity. The path that lead down to the paddy field was slippery , I had to be really careful to avoid a fall.

The paddy field looked really beautiful in the half moon lit sky. The rectangular paddy field were surrounded by tall and narrow earth embankments for stopping water seepage and acted as borders of property. As long as I remember these pathways were as narrow and full of weeds, it would have been like this from the very day they were formed.

Our ancient palatial home was a good 15 minutes walk from the main road and it took longer in the night because of the uncertainties involved. Five minutes down the path near the ancient temple and the banyan tree along it, I passed with little faster steps.
It’s just psychological I thought, how can people come up with such spooky stories based on places like these. I tried my best not to recollect the stories said about these places and kept walking. At first it sounded like the wind passing through a crack of wood, then it got louder and clearer.

Yes it was the sound of a weeping women, it was coming from right behind me. It felt like someone was standing at my arms length and weeping into my ears, getting louder by the second. It is true in these instances intuition and inhibitions overcome logic. The adrenaline started pumping and a odd feeling strated building up in my stomach, can it be true, is my mind making me feel this, who can be weeping at this time of the night in the deserted field.
The time was running short, I had to decide something, if I turn back and see something scary that will be my end, I will die of shock.

If I don’t turn I can stay away from what was waiting for me behind. I gathered myself and started running the weeping sound followed me and it was followed by an eery silence. The kind of silence that follows a loud bang or an uncertain noise. The weeping sound turned into whimpers followed b y timely sobs.I kept running for my life , the torch fell from my hand in the panic and all that was left was me, the moonlight and the creepy sound. I don’t know how long the sound followed me, but luckily I made it home through the darkness and horror.

I must have fainted and when I woke up everyone looked worried, the anxiety and fear was evident in their eyes. I couldn't’t gather the words, the mumbling and jabbering made little sense to people around me.In occasional bouts of consciousness I knew that I was bed ridden for a good whole week. The gossip mongers had the time of their life describing the incident in the minutest of details. One thing I didn’t do after that incident was to walk alone through the fields after midnight.

AN ATTEMPT ON FICTION, PLEASE COMMENT

A Movie That Was Never Made

Yes i have been hit by the movie bug and unfortunately i have decided to write yet another post on movies. To be precise movies that were never made on real life stories. It was by accident that i came across the movie called " The man who knew infinity" based on Ramanujan's life. A man who lived for only 32 years and rewrote laws of mathematics in such a short span of time.

This kept me wondering, have the movie industry prodigies covered everything that could have been ever made. Its true we are able to see a lot of new genre fiction and quality work over the years, Something that really amazed me was the picturisation of "Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Fortunately i have some really good movie buff friends who ensure that quality movies are made available as and when it releases.

Over the last few months, thanks to the increasing spare time available, i have been able to watch some really good movies from international legends like "Citizen Kane" to all time classics like Life is Beautiful, 12 Angry men, Cinema Paridaso and more. Some of you might find these movies to be an achievements of an amateur movie buff, but iam really taking an effort to increase my knowledge in this arena.

No this post is not to brag about my fetish for long forgotten Black and white movies, its about some real life incidents or stories that were never made into movies. There might be several reasons to this, lack of commercial viability, lack of importance or it could even be that the movies were made and i never came across them. If the last one is the case please forgive my ignorance and consider it as yet another blabbering of a wannabe blogger.

The first case which i believe should have been given immortal life through the reels of a movie is a true story adaptation of an ordinary citizen of Hiroshima/Nagasaki's perspective and experience of the only ever nuclear bombing done. Now that evil axis is no more relevant and Japanese people are concentrating more on Technology and development this story is something that should be told.

If Pearl Harbour based on the American oppression could have made such a good plot, undoubtedly Hiroshima can have a lot to tell. It is not the first time a foreign perspective movie was made with foreign actors and made it big in Hollywood, look at the movie "Letters from Iwo Jima". The movie could portray the suffering, trauma and horror of a nuclear attack. It could act as a precedent to any Lunatic tyrant to stop firing the next nuclear arsenal.

I know it will have to show the mighty super power in a negative angle, but history has proven again and again that decision taken by a powerful leader with the interest of the greater common good has not always been just. Lets not get into a proverbial debate on good and evil. What we are looking here is the possibility of bringing justice to all the infinite suffering experienced by ordinary citizen's in Hiroshima. If any of you remember the brief description of the effect of nuclear bombing in our history text books, you could recall the words used there. The eyes melting into the sockets, the skin becoming one with the flesh and the endless brutality and deformations left behind.

For a commercial viability lets bring in a love story and a chance meeting on the D day and the unfortunate survival of a lover (yes inspired by titanic). I do not mean any disrespect to any of the survivors or to the kith and kin of the perished ones. Let this movie be a beacon of hope for the future and stop more injustice from happening. I know the story is too big and practically non feasible to be made into a 2 hour commercial potboiler. The happening's of the day are too cruel and unjust to be encapsulated into a documentary either. But let there be some effort to revive the nuclear holocaust.

P.S please comment on the possibilty of such a movie and other stories that could have made it to the reel. This post is by no means a trifbute to my political inclinations, this is a post on inhuman history and the injustice that followed.

tc

Humor in South Indian Movies

I was looking forward to April 1st to write something related to the day or an article to fool the readers. But unfortunately i have not been able to come up with any practical joke so far. So as an act of support to the day iam posting a link i cam across the web, check it out very interesting http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

I have opted to write something very close to my heart, humor in south Indian Movies. I have noticed one thing about differences in south India movies and the magnanimous Bollywood. Humour is a very important part and forms a major content for Kollywood, Mollywood, Tollywood and any other industry that could end with more wood. Many of the more popular stars are really good in humor even if some of them couldn't even make it to the studio compound with their looks.

It is a common practise among the level headed youth in the south to go on and on about some scene in a particular movie. Even the mention of some comedians can bring hysterical responses in many of us. We can go on and on about a seemingly irrelevant scene in an obscure movie just for the sake of the humor. There are people who worship Jagdish, Pappu, Vadivelu, Gounder mani and Vivek for their humor (if you don't know the names, they are comedians in south Indian Movies).

The relevance of humor can be amplified by noticing the number of comedy shows playing 2 minute clips of comedy in different movies. Of late Mollywood has been blessed with its on channel on Humor with continuous telecast of clips and scenes. It has become a routine for an average south Indian to spend an hour or two in the evening on comedy shows to unwind and distress. The impact is really good that it has brought tranquility and peace into so many households. These are some of the few shows families can watch together and relate with each other as well.

The comedy in Tamil is very socially relevant and questions lot of malpractices and superstitions in the society. The pun is so direct and embarrassing that it brings out reforms and changes peoples attitude. Movies are doing more than any other media for social reform and societal development. Even if movies are promoting, crime, smoking and unnecessary luxuries its getting it right with humor for a change.

The quality of humor in the Malayalam movies have been deteriorating over the years and humor is mainly sex oriented or snobbish in nature. But the golden era of 80's and 90's were too good to forget, even the new generation can relate to the humor in those movies. But there are exceptions here too, some people are taking utmost effort to revive the genre. I wont be surprised if one or two generation ahead of mine can relate and laugh at the humor in old movies.

Do you think humor was better a decade ago or now ?

Adios, happy April fools day

Dubai The city of Dreams

Going through my previous posts, one common thing i have noticed is that i have never given enough justice to Dubai the city where i reside. The Eldorado of South Indian Expatriates, where people come with a hope in their heart to make it big some day. The Dubai where Laborers working for frugal wages and white collar jobs offering exuberant salaries live along the same city.

The city has a charm of its own, the freedom and culture unfounded anywhere in the region. Ability to find affordable lifestyle to extreme Luxury and lavishness. As a member of the Malabari diaspora i feel home here more than anywhere else. If Kerala was allowed to offer a new number plate Dubai would be KL 99 followed by the car number. Its a fact that you can find more Indians in UAE than the National community of Arabs.

Dubai is unique in its own ways, as a transit point for all major destinations in the world, this is the place where you have to be if you want to globe trot occasionally. The cuisines on offer will make any foodie relish the prospect of visiting Dubai and cant ignore the monstrous malls and endless brands on offer.

This is the city that has taught me so many things in such a short span of time. The value of time, friends, relationships and above all the ability to dream big. All the luxuries on display will drive you to work harder and harder to get the irresistible comforts of life. Dubai makes you believe in the possibilities and look at things as what they ought to be not what as they are.

Over the years like every other burgeoning metropolis Dubai has been compating the evils of growth like traffic, inflation and continuous growth pressures. The city has been doing the best it can cope up with the the growing population and its perils, better roads, an ambitious Metro project, modern public transport and the most important one good policing.

This is one place where you can have faith in the justice system and be envious about the way the police treat civilians (our forces should learn something from them). It is a city where women can feel safe enough to roam the streets at midnight without company. The best thing you can learn from the people out here are their modesty and humility in treating people.

No iam not acting like a sycophant cozying up to his object of adoration. Like every other place it has its own short comings too, but when the pros outweighs the cons then a new hope arises there, a model to adopt and a plan to marvel.

I thought it will be good to look at the glass half full for a change, to hope, to nurture, to dream and above all to believe in a better tomorrow.

Salame

What happens if you Dump the Idiot Box ?

I often wonder when we call the TV an idiot box, is it because it makes an idiot out of us ? or Whether the Idiot in the Phrase is the box itself ? or let me guess is it all those soaps, serials, game shows and noisy news channels the Idiots. As a TV addict myself i know how influensive it can be in the daily routine, all the wasted time, the late night sleeping, the sleepy mornings and above all an information confusion build up over the time. I believe its the most deviating and procrastination inducing device invented by men ever.

So out of curiosity and experimentation one fine day i decided to shelve the TV for some time. YES to remove the TV and disconnect the cable for good for now. The idea has bought a lot of protests, criticism and sympathy (towards someone who is loosing his mind). But painstakingly i stood by my decision and its already two months without it now. I accept the fact that the emptiness was scary initially, all the hubbub, chatter and chaos was missing out of my life.

The ideas behind this action was to spend more time reading, hopefully write more and even to achieve a clear opinion on current affairs outside the normal perceptions. The experiment has been successful in a way, i have already completed a couple of books in the absence of our villain. But the writing part has been lagging behind. I guess God has been answering some of your prayers off late hehehe.

So what do i feel after two months of TVless living? mixed feelings of reclusiveness and boredom. I have started realising to the true extend how much time i have been wasting on TV and how it has become an intrinsic part of day to day living. Its true that absence makes the heart fonder, for a change i miss the confusion and chatter, the documentaries, the talent shows and even some of the tear jerky serials. The most i miss now is the election news, the infighting, the ever changing political scenery and new partnesrships formed by the hour.

Without TV i have discovered more web portals in the last two months than my entire internethood. I have started depending on written content, reading hidden meanings in still photographs and even patient enough to buffer videos one by one. Personal Advice: its worth trying, you might sound more informed than the others as you take the effort to gather news from all other sources and you wont be confused from all those endless perspective from umpteen news channels.

One thing is for sure, you can see that i am really confused and i cant even differentiate between my major arguments out here. Its been a week from my last post and the frequency of posting has come down from one every day to mentally exerting to write one in a week. So whats keeping me busy from writing; absolutely nothing, its pure lethargy and my all time ally procrastination that's slowing me down. I can also include lack of ideas, lack of thought worthy news or even recession to blame. Hope to improve on my writing and post more.
tc

Dream Readers Nightmare

Away for a week without any posts, don't blame me, iam out of ideas and there isn't any news inspiring enough to write about. So i have decided to go into more personal and ordinary aspects of life. To write about everyday happenings, that does not look interesting to any of us.
I happen to be a good dreamer, not the visionary kind, but a fortunate one with the ones in between long naps and short slumbers. I have had really strange dreams and happen to remember many of them. It is said that dreams are the results of failed hopes and aspirations, visualisations of what could have been or what things could end up to be.

I have had dreams involving famous personalities, businessmen, politicians, writers etc. I tend to discuss them with my unfortunate friends and hence i tend to retain some memory of what little i remember. Of having important one to one meeting with Industrial heavy weights, on giving sensitive political advices to upcoming political leaders. And then i wake up with the feeling of having conquered the world. I have had my share of strange meaningless dreams too, waking up shaken and bewildered out of a nightmare.

If any of you have read about dreams and dreaming you would have come across a phenomena called lucid dreaming, a dream where you can take control of your surroundings. I believe i have had one or two lucid dreams too, where i flew like superman and rescued damsels in distress. The only problem with this fascination with dreams is that you tend to sleep more. Because you can dream only when you sleep, and you try to perfect and improve the visions.

Another regular dream i have is of people running behind me hehehe, i don't know why, it always involves a chase scene with me escaping narrowly. I hope one day science grows up to the challenge and devices ways to record dreams and influence dreaming in a positive therapeutical way. And then there are these erotic dreams with beautiful damsels all over me and unfortunately they dont happen often and i remember very little of them too. hehehe

Eventually i will dream of blogging and writing interesting posts which are read by thousands of eager readers awaiting my every word. hehehhe this looks most likely to happen in my dream only so let it remain so. If anyone can suggest topics that will be really great.

tc

Of Elections, Coalitions, Alliances, and Breakups

The great Indian elections is around the corner again and the usual drama, mania's, campaign promises etc that follows with it too. Every time an election comes we anticipate, we hope, we pray and as usual most of us become indifferent to what happens and who gets selected to rule us for the next 5 years. Which next alliance under what new 3 letter phrase with which all new best friends will done the cap of the neta and govern our hopes and aspirations.

Something peculiar that i have been noticing off late is very disturbing to our democratic value. The youth of the nation or at least the presumed ones around me have become indifferent to whats happening in the political front. This might be an odd observation in a rather peculiar set of callous and dejected generation. The feeling that comes with the helplessness and disgust towards a badly managed phenomena. Most of them are unaware of the proceedings, the candidates, the partnerships and even the existence of one.

You cant blame them either, you will be too if friends turn foe's overnight, if 10 year old partners revel in verbal accusations and alien self styled rich industrialists turn leaders overnight. When the common man climbing up the political ladder step by step becomes irrelevant and unwelcome in decisive meetings. When promises are never kept and alliances are meant to be broken this is what will happen.

So what do we do? should we stand and watch, keep nagging about their ineptitude and inefficiencies and tilt our hands with helplessness. This reminds me of one of the most inspiring social initiative advertisement in the recent years, the Tata tea, jago India campaign promoting involvement and initiative. The advertisement was really awakening and portrayed the actual behaviour of the indifferent youth. One thing that can liven up your hope is to watch Mani Ratnam's Yuva and see how the new generation can do something about the political drama.

The only thing we can do to change the situation is to get involved with what you detest and do something about it. But again, who has the time, who is bothered or above all why should we shed out of our comfort zones. The future docent look all grim too, even if we have to blame the dynasty syndrome there is an injection of youth or relative young leaders springing up through out the country. Lets hope tomorrow will be good and many of us will get ourselves involved with chaos of politics.

P.S Running short of ideas, coming into the conclusion that boredom is apart of recession and beginning the path to indifference and helplessness. If anyone has any suggestions on topics for a new post do comment and rate my inconsistency.

adios

What's The Time ?

In ordinary situations this seems to be a very easy question to answer, all you have to do is glance at your wrist watch and proclaim the visible result. But what will you do if you have different time settings in different time display devices. I have at least 9 different places i can look to determine time, no iam not exaggerating the situation and all have entirely diiferent time displayed.

My wrist watch time is 10 minutes fast from the presumed actual time, then the laptop displays the time 45 minutes away from reality (yes 45 minutes, dont ask me why 45), the car LED watch is slow by 10 minutes, then there are clocks displaying 4 different time zones (India, Taiwan, China, USA) in the office. It doesn't stop there either there is another watch in my cabin showing time 15 minutes away and then finally there is the ubiquitous cell phone which has become self sufficient displaying any time that its artificial intelligence assumes suitable for the moment hehehe. Finally there is this watch in my room stuck at 10: 10, i removed the battery one fine day unable to suffer further irritation from the sound of seconds ticking away.

Now why do i have such different time settings living in one time zone all the time. The reasons where very convincing at that point of time, inspired by inspirational speakers on the benefit of setting time ahead of reality, i fell for their techniques. There are other reasons too, the time in the car is at that juncture because however i meddle with the controls he never surrenders to my whims.

This can be a very confusing situation, i have lost control of time now and to be frank am truly unaware of actual time any moment. It has mixed results too, i reach early where iam meant to be late and reach late where my punctuality would have been a merit. Some day very soon i will have to take the effort to bring the situation into order, otherwise i will be beaten up by people who value their time.

P.S I had a friend who told us this story where the villain of the plot the mosquito fly's into his kitchen and he the saviour chasing it out. As the story progresses he chases the mosquito from his four door CFC free refrigerator to the 6 pan cooker with grill cabin and goes on to his automatic dishwasher. He takes a plunge to catch the mosquito as it kisses the 42" LCD tv in the kitchen and finally the mosqito unconquerably fly's out. The story was meant to portray his affluence and financial superiority. Hehehe.
Likewise this post by no means was written to show that i have an intelligent mobile phone, my own Korean car, an ageing laptop, my own miniscule cabin and more hehehhe. If anyone felt so it was truly unintentional hehehe.

tc

On Scam's, Fraud's, Prankster's, Trickster's and more

Running out of ideas to write is not a very interesting, situation. I think it has got something to do with the latest news, surprisingly theres nothing interesting happening around. Most of us are depressed, tensed and recession stricken and it doesn't look like getting better any time soon. Some of you might have noticed the depression and pessimism in some of my posts lately, so i have finally decided to shed the gloomy feel and be a beacon of hope heheheh. A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.

Ok back to the theme of the post. This has high significance now as every other day a new scam comes to light, some small and some really huge. This post is not about corporate malpractices and billions siphoned off in secret Swiss accounts, it’s about my personal experiences with them. My earliest experience with a trickster can be dated back to 8th standard, when i was attracted to this glass juggler multiplying your investment with every right bet in a Mela. Yes the kind of juggler whom Abishek Bachan puts out of business in Guru, unfortunately the movie hadn't released then, and i didn't know the tricks of the trade (i don't know even now) and lost everything i had in hand lol.

The phrase that experience makes us more cautious is very true. I have fortunately stayed out of trouble from then and have developed a knack in spotting tricksters. I have come across my share of scams and online frauds in this short span of time. I have had African Generals asking assistance for transferring millions of dollars, widowers pleading aid for recovering her husband’s wealth deposited in some hidden bank accounts. I have had a mail written by the late Palestine leader’s wife asking assistance for recovering billions of dollars. People have contacted me for clearing billion dollar TT's hehehe and asked assistance for toppling military government’s hehehe.

The system of bulk mailing has become so effective and iam sure many of you would have come across lots of crap like this. I have had lottery results declaring me as the winner for million pound gambles which i have not even applied for. What do these people think, i might look dumb but iam not really that dumb hehehhe. They might be having some minuscule rate of success otherwise they would have stopped it long time back. Some debt driven, depressed or dumb browser might fall for that at some point of time, expecting a quick gain and overnight riches.

Now there is a new type of scam, the online representative for an African country's budgetary organisation identifies your area of business and sends enquiries for your products in huge quantities. Portraying their credentials, calling you up for follow up and explaining their contacts within the department to execute the order. When you give them an offer confused about the quantity, scared about the logistics of such a deal, they will keep you waiting for a week or two. Then one fine day you will get the purchase order, no negotiations, no haggling on prices, no references straight out confirmation.

When you are star struck and shocked on the outcome, usually orders amounting to millions of dollars. Then the next step of the deal, a very soft spoken middle man calls up and asks you to send samples of your product to a given address and $ 2,000 to 10,000 based on the product and scale. This amount will be for getting some expert certification from the country's quality boards. The psychology is that it’s ok to give a few thousand dollars for getting the multi million dollar order hehhehe. If you unluckily send the amount that’s the last you hear from them, all your million dollar dreams down the drain. It’s really amazing how people comes up with new ideas to dupe people and every time someone puts their head on the table.

The scams have gone to such an extend that even if some anonymous person genuinely sends us a good news we wont trust him. Blame it on the society, now we can’t even trust good news hehehe.

We Dont Negiotiate with Altruistic Cranks !!

If you have been observing the Gandhi artefact's auction developments, this is my personal comments on the already worsening state of affairs. For those of you who are not tuned to the issue, an independent collector Mr. James Otis has put up some personal belonging’s of Gandhi's for auction at the prestigious Antiquorum Auctioneers. A photograph reveals the articles as: a battered brown sandals, given to a British army officer in 1931; a simple metal bowl on a plate; a typical gandhi syle old glasses ; and a rather mundane pocket watch.

He has been juggling his decisions on continuing the sale with various bargains, opinions and inane ballyhoo’s.He is creating hype by negotiating with the Indian government and occasionally proposing to halt the auction. Our Recession stricken ministry, scared of any bad moves with an impending election has already given an offer to stall the sale. But unfortunately our man Mr. Otis has found the amount too less to even disclose it.

Then he has put up a suggestion where he is ready to give it for free if the Indian government assures to spend 5 % of our GDP on the poor (as per the latest figures around $ 55-60 Billion). Later he has come up with one more condition which entails our poor government to spend more money on health care than it spends on defense activities.

The recommendations are reasonable from the perspective of Mr. Otis. I think this has got something to do with the slum dog millionaire syndrome, where the whole country looks like a slum and everyone a daily struggler. But what is going through his mind while proposing such ridiculously unreasonable recommendations. Yes we accept the fact that we have 27% of the world, s hungry and 45 % below the poverty line. It’s true that 2/3 of our people don’t have proper sanitation and proper drinking water, but by any reasonable justifications this is not how things are done here.

Mr. Otis we are the one among the very few economies capable of expecting an 8 % growth rate and a comparatively stable and democratically successful country. What if luckily some Indian digging through his attic comes across some token of historical importance or patriotic compulsion for the Americans? And this man becomes eccentric enough to propose US withdrawal from Iraq or Unilateral support for Palestinian cause. How would you react?

Just because we don’t have an aggressively coercive foreign policy, it doesn't mean that you can ridicule our national icons and question our internal policies and beliefs. Let’s make one thing clear first we don’t need budgetary guidance from altruistic philanthropist's any more.

As per the latest developments our Man Friday in cases of protecting national pride from capitalist evil men, Mr. Vijay Mallya has won the items by making the highest bid of $ 1.8 Million. He had saved us earlier in the case of Tipu Sultans Sword too. We shall have our day very soon and we will put up the statue of liberty for auction and ask the US government to spend 10 % of their GDP on promoting bollywood in the Americas hehehe

A Short History on Bygone 50 Posts

Yes it is true that we have been able to complete 50 rather uneventful posts ranging from cooking instructions on mushroom omlette with cheese to boring posts on tyre changing ordeals. We have written on everyday events like marriage's and birthdays, advised on cost saving ideas for recession to suggestions on cheap weekends. Unfortunately you have been exposed to some of my radio active poetry and even a shot at a failed attempt on fiction. We have bored you with unintelligible things like economic theories and explaining financial practices and initially when we were really out of ideas justified with straight out plagiarism from works of literature and interesting chain mails.

We thank all the readers of (1+2 (yes that’s me checking the blog in the morning, afternoon and again in the evening heheheh)) our blog. Thank you for patiently going through our rather absurd thoughts and conclusions. We thank all the people who took effort in giving us a piece of their mind by commenting and reviewing the posts.

If it doesn't really bother you and if the time you spent browsing on the net is more than the time you spend working (characteristic's of a recession hit business), then comment on your favourite post if any and suggestions to improve our musings. To all my readers from Latin America and Australia (just kidding), you can comment in Latin i will take the effort to translate and comprehend your thoughts heheeh.

As a 50 post special, i have come up with a new scheme, no we don't offer discounts on properties and sell outdated electronic goods. WE WILL WRITE ON ANY 5 SELECTED TOPICS THAT YOU COME UP WITH, HOWEVER COMPLICATED, CONTROVERSIAL, OR TO AN EXTEND PERSONAL IT GETS. Please don't ask me about how i helped AR rahman to get the Oscars (heheheh) or don't even provoke me to write a travelogue on my adventurous Latin American road trips hehehe. Be descent and creative we will try our best too.

All those anonymous readers please, (yes some people are really reading this crap) take the effort and initiative to post comments. This is to check whether all those people concerned with my writing and earnestly promoting it are really reading it before their personal comments are thrown at me. If you have really noticed, i have included this follower application titled “Unfortunate Victims" in the blog, i know its asking too much, please, pretty pleaseeeee SOMEBODY PLEASE JOIN THE LIST heheheh.

P.S. Iam optimistic for a change, don't depress me this time, please take the effort, in the name of all the suicidal minutes you took reading this blag, express yourselves.

Who will remember you ?

To answer this, let’s first check whom all do we remember. No, this is no test of memory to ridicule your inefficiency. Take it easy just give it a shot, just try to remember who all you recall from this short life.

Do you remember your sweet class teacher from kindergarten, the kindest ayah who did so much for you when you were a child, the long lost best friends you had in school, your first crush, the day you got beaten for not bringing the signed marks card, the tensed day before your 10th standard exam, how you felt doomsday was approaching when the calendars tore away to the result announcement day. Try to remember the first day you realised science was not your piece of cake in 11th or the day you finally studied without sleepless nights for your 12th board exams. How you proclaimed yourself freedom walking out of the school gates on your last day of exam. The first day in college, the oddity of finding yourself in a strange crowd without friends and acquaintances, the day you were made part of a bigger group, which made your existence and college life relevant. The first true love, the first argument, the first breakup, the list can go on and on.

This was the easy part you might be able to score 60-80 % in the above questionnaire and it gets more difficult now. What do you remember abut each of these life changing occasions? How vague our memories are, how we promised ourselves not to forget about any of these perfect moments. So basically like our choices, preferences and conclusions our memory is short lived too. It’s like these breads which come with the expiry dates; each of our memory and memories of us in other people comes with expiry dates.

On any given day i don't remember even who iam (hehehhe) remembering others are way out of my league. How we forget the name of a friend when he is out of sight for a year or two. It’s astounding when you could recall his birthday and the days to it in the past. You forget the moments you shared, the hilarious thinks you did together, how you missed his/her presence when the absence was short.

So basically, we are nothing but a small term memory, the people who are influenced by you are very few, maybe your parents, your spouse or the current close friends. If you give it a head count you will be lucky if you can complete your index finger on one hand to the other. We are so conceited by our prominence, our arrogance and even our existence. When we forget to remember our irrelevance, our plausibility and above all our fragility. The mighty arrogant self proclaimed VIP becomes a nose watering, wheezing disturbance with a minor cold or flu.

How we think we are everything, the self reassurance of our own temporary importance. How many people do you remember from the past, leave the great political leaders, the romantic poets or some of the greatest stalwarts of the industry? We don't even remember many of them, me the self confessed Forbes and fortunes list freak don't know the richest person even in the sixties; forget a time span before that.

So many irrelevant people like us die every day, a silent uneventful life concluded without any prominence and here we are running behind all that doesn't matter, the temporary pleasures of life. Try looking at the crowd with an aerial view, so many people running to so many irrelevant things, things which might look important at that point of time. It looks so funny if you think about all the running around we do, the deadly deadlines, the unattainable targets and in the end of the day all you need is some peace of mind and happiness. One day not so late we all will be replaced; a newspaper column might announce our demise. Like we always do, someone else might give it a glance and forget our names before he turns to the next page, the irrelevant fool who though he had it all.

So wake up to the fact that we are nothing but a small speck of grain in the desert ready to blow away and replaceable by yet another irrelevant minuscule presence. Remember that no body will remember you more than you remember any body you have forgotten, don't run behind the rat, it will never stop its chase and you are the only one who will retire from it.

Have the guts to walk out of this race and start fresh, influence peoples life in a good way, help the downtrodden, relieve poverty, educate the poor, i know it sounds very unrealistic. But it is these people who have lived longer than their average memory in the lives of people he/she influenced, the change they brought forward, and the lives they improved.

Remember
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." — Arundhati Roy