Merry Christmas!

Well, it's finally here . Winter, that is, or whatever semblance of the stuff we get down here. Still, there it is. Rummy thing about this season is, it creates activity. Everyone's either throwing

parties, dinners, cocktails, or just packing off and going on a toot. An

enormous percentage of the general population seems to find this season just

the right time to jump off the dock (read get married). Perhaps it's the

fallout of the activity epidemic or a realisation that all the days of the

year have suddenly run out, so why not make the best of what's left and get hitched. I must confess at this point that I have the heart of an eternal

bachelor, for it is I believe the only honourable estate which allows a man

to preserve his mental equilibrium. But I digress, getting back to the nip

in the air (and I use the expression loosely), it has it's pros and cons,

but personally speaking, I think the pros outweigh the cons. True, one can

sense the devious flu-bug flapping it's microscopic wings in the air, and

one is gulping down copious amounts of Vitamin C and orange juice to ward

off this killjoy; however, it is also the weather which heralds the advent

of Christmas. Christmas in it's varied warm hues tends to uplift ones'

spirits, gives a man hope and an inclination to look forward to the nicer

things in life. Christmas Trees,Carols, Plum Puddings,

Mistletoe, Stuffed Turkeys, Presents and of course good old Saint Nick, are

thoughts which put a smile on the stiffest of stiff upper-lips. I may not

believe there's an over-weight old gent clad in red nightwear swooping down

the chimney with a sackful of goodies, but I have no shame in admitting that

I do believe in Santa Claus. One has never forgotten writing letters to

Santa,hanging Christmas stockings and waiting eagerly all night only to run

out at the crack of dawn to unwrap the boxes beneath the Christmas Tree.

Whatever emerged from those packages, be it ever so humble as a mechanical

ladybug (one of my all time faves), it was magical. The festivities at home,

the ever-running kitchen and the warmth of guests added to that magic. That,

I believe still endures and that to me is the magic of Santa Claus and

Christmas.

What i'm getting at, I suppose, to wrap it up in a nut shell, is:

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,

The gladness of Christmas give you hope,

The warmth of Christmas grant you love.

I wish all my friends here, and their n & d ones a very Merry Christmas and

a Blessed New Year ahead.

Friday the 13th, September, 2013 – Why was it significant for India?

Friday the 13^th carries with it many myths and legends. Americans believe it to be an unlucky day when ghosts and goblins make an appearance hither and nigh. Historically, Friday the 13^th marked the day The Vatican ordered simultaneous assassination of the Knights Templar throughout it’s Papal realms, which resulted in the ‘disappearance’ of their Order and ultimately led to the brutal public burning of Jacques DeMolay, their Grand Master.

Cut to present day India. On this date most importantly, the Judiciary in it’s wisdom decided to award the Death Penalty to the four rapists-cum-assasins of ‘Nirbhaya’ the Delhi gangrape victim. The court in it’s sagacity termed it as the ‘rarest of rare cases’, and rightly so. The judgement will be appealed, unfortunately, by a defence counsel who is in contempt of court and harbours a desire to ‘burn his own daughter if she goes out with a guy at night’. Not only should his license be immediately revoked, he should be assigned to a psychological correctional facility – the man has issues! However, the court judgement today provided a much needed salve on the wounds of Nirbhaya’s family, at least for the moment. It is a pity that the juvenile who caused most harm to the victim got away with 3 years imprisonment in a juvenile correctional facility – his punishment should have been at par with the others. But such are the laws of the Indian Penal Code and we must accept them till they are amended.

The Bharatiya Janata Party chose this very day to crown it’s next PM-in waiting – Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi, much to the chagrin of the Party’s patriarch and mentor Lal Krishna Advani. By 6 P.M. Advani had been completely isolated and sat at home licking his wounds. I would have loved to be a fly in the wall when after the announcement Modi went to visit Advani. Even a die hard Advani supporter and Modi detractor till yesterday; a person of apparent integrity, Shushma Swaraj, changed tags and said she was ‘Happy’ with the announcement. Will Narendra Modi be the savior who will deliver us from the evils that plague India today? Only time will tell. But let us examine Advani’s point of view here for a moment. Given, that the octogenarian still lusts for the PM’s post. Let us try to examine his cause for this boycott, apart from the fact that Modi snatched his dream nomination away from him. Modi also snatched both titles of Lauha Purush and Vikas Purush away. What does that leave Advani with? In the eventuality that the BJP comes close to majority in 2014, it will need allies cutting across ideologies and party lines. It has to win back the JDU. It would need help from parties like the TMC, BSP, AIADMK and perhaps even the National Conference. It would be difficult for Modi to attract such a multi-faceted coalition given his staunch Hindutva (or should I say Moditva) reputation and an almost dictatorial style of functioning. In such an eventuality Advani, the lone voice of dissent against Modi would be resurrected by the party and be persuaded to take the PM’s post. So Advani, might be down, but the old war horse is still not out!

What was Congress’s reaction to BJP’s announcement? A smirk by Kapil Sibal and a taunt by Renuka Chaudhury. Perhaps two terms in office has made it complacent or even over-confident? They need a battle plan badly to counter Modi and Modi is a formidable opponent. So it’s high time they get their act together, peel off the sticking plaster from their lips and get into combat-mode. It’s time to speak up and walk the talk. They need to decide on the PM candidate for the UPA 3 and launch a counter-offensive.

So, Friday the 13^th didn’t turn out any differently than what myths and legends tell us. We have punished 4 Ghouls, but we have also elevated a man who will, given time and circumstance, either restore our country into the Economic giant and global power it was, not very long ago…or destroy, disintegrate and dispirit it. God Bless India!

India can't afford to become a welfare state ...yet!

India needs to become economically sound before it attempts to be come a Welfare state. Health Care, Food Security are excellent initiatives. But the timing is questionable. Our Macro-Economic situation does not allow such populist albeit necessary policies to be rolled out at this fragile fiscal juncture. I agree when our Economist PM says "Indians are spending too much on unproductive assets". We spend on Imported electronics, Gold (Which is more a burden on the economy at this point even if a month ago it seemed like a good investment). To put it in simple terms India imports much more than it can afford and exports much less than its' potential. This causes a Balance of Trade problem. Fiscal Deficit at over 4% is a big worry (Remember Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister rang alarm bells as Finance minister in 1991 when fiscal deficit was at 2.5% of GDP). We are doing worse than all other developing nations. FII's have pulled out and don't want to come in till the 2014 elections are over. It is the same case with FDI. So we're low on Forex income, we won't sell our Gold, we can't control the runaway inflation, and we certainly won't curtail Government expense and propose an 'operation hair shirt' (to quote Humphrey Appelby) to reign in our Government budget. Parliament costs us 2 Crores a day - nothing gets done. The stock markets are on life support - they don't know whether to react to the overtures of the RBI and the Finance Minister or react to the plummeting Rupee. We are having to spend more than ever on our Defence budget and, excuse the expression, homeland security budget thanks to incursions by our neighbours (heck even Myanmar crossed our borders today), and the Maoist insurgents, all thanks to our toothless foreign policy and impotent policies of the Home ministry. And now that the Government keeps on introducing populist policies which will cost the exchequer Lakhs of Crores every year, there is no scope of implementing the tough fiscal measures that the Government knows that it ought to implement. America was one of the first countries to be hit by the global recession - it's back on it's feet...it's currency is strong and it's economy is looking up, even though it's rate of unemployment is still high....it's getting there. When will our Government wake up and remedy our Economic problems which have hit every strata of the society? Or do they really want us to wait for the 2014 elections for another Government to pull us out of this economic inferno?