La belle et le bad boy

Whenever my phone rings, people invariably ask me what my ringtone means. Actually, it is a track featured in SATC where Carrie finds her Carrie Necklace, which she thought she had lost. The background is that she had just left her life and friends back in NY and had moved to Paris at the behest of her artist boyfriend. The track begins to play when she suddenly finds her necklace (she had just then put a party that was being hosted in her honor on hold to give moral support to her boyfriend, who was busy showing off his art to critics, peers and investors and totally ignoring her despite having promised her that he will never leave her hand that evening) and she decides on an impulse to go to HER party, and do the things that are important to her.

I loved it the moment I heard it (though I cant claim I like Carrie all that much), but this is really something, and I have retained all the lines from the SATC which impose on the original song, including when she suddenly announces to the doorman "Tell that man I had to go" and rushes off to her party...Check it out

Quick Fixes?

Sometimes we look at the way we do things and then cant remember why we do it that way. Just take a look at the Bharat Nirman scheme or the debt relief scheme of the GOI. We've spent thousands of crores and dont have much to show for it.  Someone once said that instead of waiving the loans, if we give each poor person one hundred thousand rupees, it will be far more effective. I agree with this - we could use an effective self selection mechanism like choosing the people who sign up for the NREGA. I mean, with the backbreaking work and low pay, only the poorest of the poor people who dont have other options are likely to sign up for it, and lets give each of them some money. It will be far far cheaper than the loan waiver which cost the taxpayer 600,00,00,00,000 rupees or the Bharat Nirman which cost  480,00,00,00,000  rupees or other such schemes. But any suggestions like these will not be well-received because of mainly the following:

1. For some reason, it is believed that the benefits should "trickle down" through means of a strong policy that is self sustaining in the long run.  True, but while we are perfecting the system, there is an unfortunate mass of people who suffer in the short-run for it.

2. It is not in the interest of the person/ people/ party implementing it because they will get little or no mileage out of it since it will not be politically popular.

3. There is this concept of inclusion of various sections of people. People might argue for example, that the statistics show that NREGA is not working in all states, so what about the poor in those states? And then we will digress in our effort to do the right thing by all. I really think that in an effort to benefit all (read: please everyone), we really end up with blurry goals.

I can think of many more reasons but I will leave it to the readers to think this through. You would all have heard of the suggestion to the American President that came to be known as "Patriotic Retirement" in the St. Petersburg Times. For the benefit of those who haven't read it, 

Dear Mr. President,

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings. Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered. Auto industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage. Housing crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their constituents pay their taxes.
 

For some reason, I was curious to see what various critics had to say about this, so I combed many of  the blogs and opinion pieces online. It was surprising - most people contented themselves with pointing out that the cost of this scheme would be $ 40 trillion and therefore it is unrealistic. I am sure we could argue a reasonable case for this plan by pointing out the huge costs saved on bailouts (pegged at $ 24 trillion),  the  costs saved on the "Stimulus Plan"  and the other numerous plans etc, but thats not the point...the point is that such a direct approach which is too low-lying compared to policy measures (which have the backing of the "sound" economic theories, of course) and for all the other reasons pointed out above is not appreciated.

Blogging Nerd?

It is only after I started this blog I realized how fragmented I was - to different people I shared different things and let them in at different levels into my life. Keeping only to certain subjects, not voicing what I really feel about the things they hold dear, telling them only what I thought they should know...the works...I am sure everyone does this and its nothing new or different...but I am not ale to keep it up on this blog, and moreover Ive lost the need to do it, which I think is a very very good thing.....For instance, during my first few blogposts, I used to briefly think about those who are likely to read it, and try to not upset them atleast, if not pander to their interests....But offlate, those lines have vanished. My family, uncles, aunts, cousins, my friends, my foes, my bosses, my peers ..everyone reads my blogposts...and though I cringe at times when I imagine what they'll think, Ive learnt to let it go...

Hey, but here I should mention that they have been very good to me..whenever they discuss my blog, they hardly bring up the uncomfortable posts :)

I can think of around 3 of my friends who have created blogs but havent posted anything on them because they are still "perfecting the content"...well, to them I have to say that just start the ball rolling...and soon you wont feel bothered about whether the content is "perfect" or not...trust me on this....

I guess blogging just grows on you...and in all of us, I believe is a blogging nerd...

Your giggle, my grimace

This is totally random I know, but nothing disgusts me more than people esp girls who giggle. I think they are terribly silly and you know, dumb?? Yeah, I know I sound too contemptuous, but I just don't get people who do it, and somehow, I think if someone finds something really funny, it is impossible not to laugh out loud, and more so, giggle. Really, I am losing it just writing about it. I can even go to the extent of saying that giggling is so fake because you are not laughing at something in good humor. Either they are collectively making fun of someone or they are nervous, or they want to impress someone....these are my three categories of giggling specimens....and none of them justify the fantastic idiocy.....

I meet all the three on a regular basis, for instance lots of people giggle at my Tamil (or Malayalam) cos they think it is very weird (ok, this I can accept, cos I really cant speak any language other than English properly) ...then I meet the ones who giggle when I talk to them cos they "didant know Yinglish" ...apparently this is a sentence they can NEVER say with a straight face without going into uncontrollable splits for no reason (we are supposed to smile benignly and wait for the hysterics to subside)...but the VERY WORST are the groups of girls who giggle flirtatiously at "pasanga" ( boys, sheesh !!!) - I meet countless of these on buses and trains esp on my trips to villages..Man...whenever I meet the flirtatious giggling types, I fervently wish the Earth would just split open and swallow either me or them !!!

Mama's Mess

Ok, this is not about what the title sounds like:) So Thanjavur has few pleasures to offer besides temples. However, I recently discovered Lakshmi Mess, a tiny one-room set-up run by Mama (see pic), as he is called affectionately by all. Its such a sweet and quaint place complete with switches that snap like the ones in old houses, the old transistor radio that blares, the wooden stools, the customary Kolam in front, the pictures of Gods, the low-hanging old ceiling fan...I was thrilled to see an ammi-kallu, the traditional coffee bean churner and an old grinder in the kitchen, with huge pots and pans - its been a while since I saw a traditional kitchen like that.. The whole place reminds me of the kitchens in south-indian homes of yesteryears.

Mama, an affectionate old grandpa with his customary poonal and dhoti is hard of hearing, but cooks awesome home-made food, which costs pittance by the way. I shall gladly pay 5 times more to get such good food in such a peaceful setting.

I just cant get enough of the place. My boss Ajay (in the pic on the left) & I are regular visitors and its truly a treat to have hot dosas and idlis on banana leaves with amazing coffee after a hard day's work, contentedly watching Mama cook for us, listening to the radio.....heaven on earth indeed !!!

All for what?

I am depressed today, so oh faithful blog-reader, close this window right now if you dont want it to rub off on you....

Well, looks like you have chosen to read ahead, so I'll tell you how it started...

This morning, over coffee, while reading the newpapers' perspectives on Independence Day, I asked my friend what he thought were the three most pressing problems India faced today. To my surprise, it elicited this novel response.

1. There is no system to enable people to optimally use their diverse talent and skills.

2. Urban Planning is a concern - as people move away from villages to cities, there is congestion and overuse of resources.

3. There is too much Government intereference and monopoly in the public transport services.

Well, whatever else I woudve come up with if I were asked this question, it definitely would not have been the above.

When I voiced that corruption is a really big problem that has widely far-reaching impact, he said to read his first point again. If a person has enougth opportunity to do what he really loves and gets paid for it, it is improbable that he would be corrupt. When I said that there are too many conflicting and vested interests, he said that thats how a democracy works and only if your case is convincing, it should be allowed to take off. I then pointed out that its unlikely for that to happen given the corruption but that brought us back to his first point again. I then said that the so-called democracy seems to be backfiring with politicians only catering to please their vote banks and getting re-elected. Incredibly, this again went back to his first point meaning that most politicians werent in it to "serve the country", so thats why the conflict of interest.

So what IS the first point really? That everyone should ideally do what they love and the world will fall in place on its own?? If we extend the specifcs, it simply means if all are happy, things will be fine.

Now, I have always wondered what will happen if we take away poverty, hunger, global warming, financial recession, disease, terrorism, communalism....every damn problem that we have in the World today...what if we have a totally problem-free World, where all have enough to eat, a job they love, a roof over their heads, money in their pockets, are healthy, happy, secure, have the same faith etc....would we still have war? What would we fight for? Power over others? Why, of course. Let us assume that somehow, that too is given, that each feels they are the supreme power over others..now what? Would they now be happy? I somehow dont think so... Why? That will take away their reason to live each day, right? So if there is nothing left for you to achieve, then too you would be unhappy right?

There is enough literature, evidence and theory to prove the above to be true. To quote a very commonly used one, take the theory of marginal utility in economics which to put it simply, states that with more of something, the less you will value it.

So really what is the solution? Oops, there doesnt seem to be one... I somehow feel that mankind has probably worked all this out and chooses to be in a state of happiness-sorrow that has a short turnaround time (i.e., the status quo), which seems worth it even in face of the long stretches of happiness given that it is accompanied by stretches of meaninglessness. After all, there are many who have said that it is not desirable for the us to bridge the financial divide right? The consequences of that arent supposed to be desirable for mankind...So think what will happen if we bridge every divide?

As I once read in Calvin., which sums up the above perfectly with

"The torment of existence weighed against the horror of non-being"...

Dont blame me, I TOLD you I was depressed....

Mysore Express, 11th Aug 2009

On my train ride from Thanjavur, I groaned inwardly when I saw the HUGE, noisy, talkative Goan family with screaming kids I had to endure for 13 hours. To top it off, they insisted on playing Bryan Adams, Elton John and the like on full volume. Anyone who knows me even remotely will know that right now I am not in a place in my life to appreciate such stuff, and every song brought tears to my eyes, much as I tried to control it. Oblivious to my grief, they continued to sing along and play cards.

Soon we started talking - they were first-time tourists to Bangalore, and were full of questions about the city. Their enthusiasm knew no bounds. For some strange reason, the first place they wanted to visit was Big Bazaar and they were super excited about it. They had nowhere specific to go in Bangalore and knew no one there. Their plan was to ask the cab guy for a decent hotel, if you please. Now I dont know whether they were willfully stupid or plain innocent but I felt I just couldnt let that happen. So we called up a bunch of hotels and zeroed in on Kormangala Residency, and they invited me to tour the city with them..

By the end of the journey, I felt like Ive known them forever. We spoke about every single possible thing - the recession, the IT sector, keeping pets at home, multiculturality, politics, cuisines, water sports, music, movies, books, marriage, my work, their work - their affection was really overwhelming. I really didnt need anything, but right from getting me coffee to carrying my bag to finding a spot to charge my laptop to giving me their spare blankets to leaving the lights on just for me to sharing their dinner.... Usually I avoid talking to strangers, but somehow with these people I felt I was at home. These people were really really kind.

They were a big family of around 15 and their dynamic was amazing. From what I could see, it was so easy, and everyone seemed to be perfectly at ease with all else. No snide remarks, no sarcasm, no spite, I loved it. Each one was really considerate of others. Tempers did fly at times thanks to the kids, but sorries always followed perfectly naturally. The rows abated as quickly as they arose. No grudges, no sulking. The men and women seemed somehow equal, you know? But the best part was the conversations - each seemed to be at a different level with one another but they always managed to find common ground. Now this is something not easy to spot or observe, but it was SO obvious in their case it was really hard to miss.

I know 13 hours is nothing and what seems to me to be the case need not be true, but still, it was something to see them joke and laugh throughout the journey. The amount they laughed (and made me laugh) was something you don't see too often. I was really sad to say goodbye and it would be great if on each train journey you meet such nice people.

I feel stupid when I remember how I had so quickly judged them and dismissed them as "noise" at first....Noise is not always bad I guess:)

When bad is good

"You will also be given a 'third world country hardship allowance' of $5,000 a year for any inconvenience you may face or because the location of overseas employment is considered less than desirable".

I guess this is pretty derogatory. Or its just the term that is offensive and not the concept? It used to be LDC - Less Developed Countries, then because that was too offensive, HRRC - Human Resource Rich Countries (read: grossly over populated and begging for money), then Developing Countries aka Third World...by the way, why the hell Third and not Second World? What is the Second World anyways?

I always wonder of the impact (if any) of these brackets and labels on these countries. Sure there is some, like the influence on investors and policy-makers at the very least. But I would like to know what impact there is internally? It is India's dream to join the G7 I guess , even if it gets nothing out of it. Just to be able to say you belong to the G7 is good enough maybe , just like the Presidential post.

I can think of enough instances where people, states even countries preserve their "less than desirable" status because it suits them. Like a person refusing to give up his BPL (below poverty line) card to continue qualifying for Government schemes, or a BIMARU state refusing to develop to continue receiving generous grants and tax breaks.

Seems like everyone gets a good ride on this gravy train. The donors and funders live on a subsidised ego trip thinking they are God's gift to humankind (social goals and what not) and the subjects laugh behind their backs beating the system by turning the ostensible "discrimination" to their benefit...a good win-win situation there !!!

All thats well ends well, I guess.

Lucky by Chance

This morning I woke up screaming - I guess I had a bad dream...now you know what they say, take a deep breath and calm down...only I found I couldn't...for those who dont know, I am prone to wheezing (now if you dont know what that is, go thank your stars RIGHT NOW)...so no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't breathe, each breath was a herculean effort, a condition I would choose hell over...and what made it worse than hell was that I realised that I had misplaced my inhaler...

By some fortune or good luck, I was at home, and all I had to do was to tell someone....within 5 minutes I had an inhaler in my hand...someone else had done it all....my driver went and got it, someone paid for it...all I had to do was to ask for it....

Still, that 5 minutes of waiting seemed like an eternity, I wouldve said yes to anything to end it....

What about who don't have easy access to a medical store? What about those who cant afford the 100 bucks for it? What about those who don't have people to rescue them??

Guess I am one lucky soul....but why? By what virtue?

The beauty of traffic

I always thought that traffic at night is enormously sexy (when you are not stuck in it) and have often been awed by the magnificent traffic lights...Look at this photograph...Oh no, it is not mine, Ive a loooooooong way to go before I can create something like this...I always wonder if we can simulate the effect of pressing on your eye and blending the multiple images effect on camera...well, Ive to find out.

Wistfully yours...

All the wonderful books on science, humor, philo, math, fiction - on an impulse I turned my back on them and turned to the Children's Section in Landmark (bookstore). I decided to pick out and buy a book each from all the series I used to love as a kid - so I landed up with Adventures of the Wishing Chair, the Mystery of the Banshee Towers, Five go off in a Caravan and the Island of Adventure...umm...let me see now...how can I describe what it felt like to be reading them again???...awesome? amazing? wonderful? nah...thats lame...more like a lost world come back maybe.... MAY be....

Seriously, cant find words to describe it...all the characters youve lived with...the secret longings you've had to own a wand, or meet a pixie, or live in a choclate house, the days when you modelled yourself on Darell Rivers or wished you could meet Mam'zelle, or wished you too had a car shed-turned-playroom to hold secret meetings, or could go off on hikes on bicycles with the Famous Five, or longed for a dog like Timmy, or found yourself to be able to relate to Bets, or wanted to meet Mr. Goon or see Fatty in disguise, wished you too could find hidden maps and secret tunnels...oh the days you bought torches thinking maybe, maybe :) ....

It felt good to be back :)

Angel of the Morning

Not new, but never loved it more or found more meaning in it than I do now...

There 'll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can find your heart
And there's no need to take a stand
For it was I who chose to start
I see no need to take me home
I'm old enough to face the dawn

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me
Oh my baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Then slowly turn away from me

Maybe the sunlight will be dim
But it won't matter anyhow
If morning's echoes say we've sinned
Then it was what I wanted now
And if we're victims of the night
I won't be blinded by the light

Oh my baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning
Then slowly turn away from me

Baby baby baby

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me
Oh my baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me
Oh my baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel

Just can't get enough of this song these days. Composed by Chip Taylor and originally sung by Evie Sands, there are over 35 versions in play today. Check this one out by Nina Simone.

The Elephant's Blessing

On a Saturday evening I had nothing better to do in this God-forsaken place other than go out with my colleague Dany (who is from the US) to all the temples and popular tourist spots in Tanjore. The places per se did not really hold my interest, but I got to see a lot of other things - for instance, elephants which are trained to accept coins and "bless" you with their trunk..oh yes, they will not "bless" you if you give them anything other than coins..Amusing no doubt, but so many of us don't eat meat supposedly cos we think killing animals is wrong, but we have no problems with things like this; this particular elephant is kept captive for its entire life (noble as its cause may be)..is it worse than killing it to eat it? I have no answer...

Dany asked me over dinner about how many people (who think killing animals to eat is wrong) would think twice before killing a cockroach? I admit cockroaches scare me like nothing else, and I would really love it if none of them existed...Does my fear of them justify me taking their life any more than me wanting to eat it, esp since my fear is not valid since it can do nothing whatsoever to me??

People keep telling me that we were all originally from the jungle and therefore, its only fair that the mightier animal kill others and we were originally cavemen who hunted for food...well, this is the most ridiculous argument I ever heard...if we had to behave like animals in a jungle, why then do we value human life if we were was prey to such basic instincts??? Why is it that I can kill a cow or a dog, but if I kill another fellow-human I am punished by law? Why not be animals all the way? And moreover, cavemen didn't have an option since it was a question of survival, but we do right? Isnt it funny that only in this case we should choose not to see beyond our noses?

We then took the cycle rickshaw ride because Dany wanted to have the experience. It was interesting to note that he was concerned he weighed a 100 kilos and said that he felt like a colonizer for that 10 mins of the ride, even though we paid the guy much more than what he asked...

Yes yes, it is natural that we have more sympathy towards humans than anything else...thats what is kinship I guess :)