Was the demolition of an already crumbling structure worth the lives of two thousand people who died a heinous death following the Babri Masjid incident? That is a question we must ask the Sangh Parivar, the BJP, the Bajrang Dal and all those mouthpieces and stalwarts of Hindu religion in our times. We must also ask what part of the religion were they holding up or promoting when they drove the nation to the brink of civil war in their efforts to build a structure of bricks and mortar?
Hinduism at its very deepest level promotes inner spirituality and oneness with God over any other physical manifestation of worship. So it certainly wasn’t religious fervor that drove them. Then it must be a greed for personal fame and gratification that lead them to do this. And now as a nation we must bear the shame of their actions.
It is with deep sadness that our nation must turn to respected leaders like AB Vajpayee and LK Advani. Being in the positions that they were, they had a moral obligation to safeguard the nation. They violated the deepest trust and their actions left a scar on the history of this country that will never go away.
Only time will tell if any legal action can be taken against them and if either of them will be alive to see through to the end of any trials that may ensue. But certainly such a public declaration of their guilt will serve as a warning to the nation that a blind trust in communal forces can never come to any good.
Ironically the most controversial parts of this report, while damning to individual leaders, are also a slight consolation to the nation. By saying that the demolition was a result of a planned conspiracy, executed systematically rather than just brute mob mentality, it rescues the common Indian from the brink of becoming a blind religious fanatic. It is our chance to see what we were almost capable of and take a vow to never repeat it again- whatever our faith might be.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
To dry or not to dry, that is the question
The view from our dinning table is a commonplace Mumbai scene- a tall building, beginning to lose its brightness as the omnipresent dust and moisture take their toll, enclosed balconies and of course lines of laundry put out to dry in the fleeting sun. I have to admit that till this morning I viewed these clothes as ugly intrusions on an otherwise nice facade. “A lack of sophistication” to be absolutely blunt. And then I read that I wasn’t alone. There were actually people just like me around the World crusading to save our suburban lifestyle from the scourge of sun-dried clothing. How shameful!
People like them and me belong to a group who are willing to pay the huge electricity bills that a dryer rakes up. We have the money we say, and we are too sophisticated to mar the looks of our communities. What we forget is that when adopting this point of view we are committing a near criminal act of ignoring the environmental impact our actions have. We forget what we “urbanized” individuals know so well, that in the Sun we have a natural source of heating that is both free of cost and environmentally safe.
On the other hand I have to admit that dryers really are useful. In the monsoon months they can actually be a real boon when you need all the help you can to get those clothes dried and need to ensure that the sticky dampness is sucked out of your clothing. Given the cramped spaces that most urban Indians live in, dryers can actually improve the look of homes and give a sense of better living. And in all honesty who will say that those rows and rows of clothes in the windows (whether it be Mumbai or Tokyo) actually look good?
So the question still remains- to dry or not to dry? Perhaps the solution lies in a combination of both options. Those who have the luxury of space and conducive weather should go Au natural and for those of us who are not so fortunate let us hope technology can soon make dryers more efficient and environmentally friendly.
People like them and me belong to a group who are willing to pay the huge electricity bills that a dryer rakes up. We have the money we say, and we are too sophisticated to mar the looks of our communities. What we forget is that when adopting this point of view we are committing a near criminal act of ignoring the environmental impact our actions have. We forget what we “urbanized” individuals know so well, that in the Sun we have a natural source of heating that is both free of cost and environmentally safe.
On the other hand I have to admit that dryers really are useful. In the monsoon months they can actually be a real boon when you need all the help you can to get those clothes dried and need to ensure that the sticky dampness is sucked out of your clothing. Given the cramped spaces that most urban Indians live in, dryers can actually improve the look of homes and give a sense of better living. And in all honesty who will say that those rows and rows of clothes in the windows (whether it be Mumbai or Tokyo) actually look good?
So the question still remains- to dry or not to dry? Perhaps the solution lies in a combination of both options. Those who have the luxury of space and conducive weather should go Au natural and for those of us who are not so fortunate let us hope technology can soon make dryers more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
When the World lowers its bar
Every financial newspaper has a column dedicated to the road to recovery from the worst economic crisis most of us have seen in our lifetime. It is amazing to see what is being classified as recovery. It seems that after the crisis the world has decided to lower its bar of what success is. Today it is merely the ability to not fail miserably, rather than actually achieve something.
This morning’s headlines talk of how GM is expecting to make a loss of just a “few” hundred million Dollars and that it would use the American tax payers’ money to start paying off it’s commercial debt. Publications are rife with similar tales of large Corporations across the world sending out signals of recovery because instead of billions they are now losing “only” millions.
None of the stories of recovery, perhaps other than those about India or China, are really about a rebound in demand or consumption. Stuff that would actually mean that value was being created and the wheels of the economy were not running due to a downhill momentum but rather because they had fuel in the vehicle!
But perhaps what is the most ironic about the state of affairs in our times is that while Corporations are allowed to flunk and are given bucket loads of money to stay afloat, the individual is being increasingly submitted to a higher and higher standard of success. Anyone who buys vegetables these days knows that the hundred rupee note buys you one third of what it used to just six months back. So with the same job and pay, we as individuals are expected to become more and more efficient while the Corporations can blow millions and still stand in line with begging bowls for more.
This morning’s headlines talk of how GM is expecting to make a loss of just a “few” hundred million Dollars and that it would use the American tax payers’ money to start paying off it’s commercial debt. Publications are rife with similar tales of large Corporations across the world sending out signals of recovery because instead of billions they are now losing “only” millions.
None of the stories of recovery, perhaps other than those about India or China, are really about a rebound in demand or consumption. Stuff that would actually mean that value was being created and the wheels of the economy were not running due to a downhill momentum but rather because they had fuel in the vehicle!
But perhaps what is the most ironic about the state of affairs in our times is that while Corporations are allowed to flunk and are given bucket loads of money to stay afloat, the individual is being increasingly submitted to a higher and higher standard of success. Anyone who buys vegetables these days knows that the hundred rupee note buys you one third of what it used to just six months back. So with the same job and pay, we as individuals are expected to become more and more efficient while the Corporations can blow millions and still stand in line with begging bowls for more.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Economic Crises are just bad habits at a large scale
The history of Citicorp and the several rescues it’s many Avatars have seen over the past eighty years has appeared in detail in today’s edition of “The Mint”. It makes for an interesting story and if you read between the lines you will find the tale of a nation that is constantly setting itself up for failure.
Every time the bank has failed starting as early as 1929, the cause has been too liberal a lending policy, insufficient risk management and the need to win market share irrespective of profitability. And by doing so banks such as Citi have created and constantly strengthened the great debt culture that is prevalent across most of the world’s so called developed economies. And ironically enough in doing so have been victims of a system that is of their own creation.
The balance sheet of the average American household is always in the negative. Given the high credit card balances and large mortgages, most people owe far more than they will ever repay given their ability to only make minimum payments. What used to be said of the Indian farmer is true of the average American- they are born into debt, live in debt and will died in debt.
But why does and average American household have all this debt? The simple answer is that the high standard of living that most Americans have come to accept as mandatory can only be serviced by high debt. A television, a car, air-conditioners, a telephone line, even processed and expensive food such as bread and tetra pack milk are considered a norm in every household. You just have to look at the movies- even a guy living in a trailer home will have a telephone and will have a refrigerator and a pantry stocked with cereal and milk and a carton of juice.
So institutions such as Citi have come up with various methods over the years to give people the spending power they need without necessarily worrying about the consequences. So if back in the 1920’s people were able to invest through the then Citibank by putting in only 10% of the money needed to trade (thereby essentially lending them 90% of the rest of the money) in most recent times it was the “unlocked values” of their homes in the form of HELOCS and second mortgages.
Till the habit of over spending does not change, America and the rest of the developed world will always be emerging from one cycle of downturn only to enter another. And this is where the economists in India and other developing economies need to learn a lesson. Measures of development such as the amount of household debt or household income invested in the stock market cannot be used as markers for growth without also understanding the risk involved in increasing their levels.
Every time the bank has failed starting as early as 1929, the cause has been too liberal a lending policy, insufficient risk management and the need to win market share irrespective of profitability. And by doing so banks such as Citi have created and constantly strengthened the great debt culture that is prevalent across most of the world’s so called developed economies. And ironically enough in doing so have been victims of a system that is of their own creation.
The balance sheet of the average American household is always in the negative. Given the high credit card balances and large mortgages, most people owe far more than they will ever repay given their ability to only make minimum payments. What used to be said of the Indian farmer is true of the average American- they are born into debt, live in debt and will died in debt.
But why does and average American household have all this debt? The simple answer is that the high standard of living that most Americans have come to accept as mandatory can only be serviced by high debt. A television, a car, air-conditioners, a telephone line, even processed and expensive food such as bread and tetra pack milk are considered a norm in every household. You just have to look at the movies- even a guy living in a trailer home will have a telephone and will have a refrigerator and a pantry stocked with cereal and milk and a carton of juice.
So institutions such as Citi have come up with various methods over the years to give people the spending power they need without necessarily worrying about the consequences. So if back in the 1920’s people were able to invest through the then Citibank by putting in only 10% of the money needed to trade (thereby essentially lending them 90% of the rest of the money) in most recent times it was the “unlocked values” of their homes in the form of HELOCS and second mortgages.
Till the habit of over spending does not change, America and the rest of the developed world will always be emerging from one cycle of downturn only to enter another. And this is where the economists in India and other developing economies need to learn a lesson. Measures of development such as the amount of household debt or household income invested in the stock market cannot be used as markers for growth without also understanding the risk involved in increasing their levels.
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