"Seeing is believing"

And i always thought "seeing is believing."

This actually reminds me of a incident in the last few days of our post graduation programme. The hay days were just about to end and the new reality was round the corner. We grudgingly passed the days hoping against hope that it would never end and feeling of nostalgia completely gripped the campus. We have had great placement season baring a few who actually nurtured a feeling that the whole system was unfair to them cos. they deserved much more then a petty job, nevertheless they too were disoriented with the imminent end  in sight of the paid holidays.  

With the end in measurable distance and future up for grabs the only pertinent question that was bothering everyone was what the future beholds and who could actually be the next shining star among us. So much so that some creative mind thought that this could make a great fodder for some discussion and gave a much needed impetus to our shagging spirits. The college was now rife with speculation as to who could possibly be at the cover of time magazine anytime in future. There were many contenders for the coveted post and as obvious as it may sound i was completely out of the contention. Behind closed doors my batch mates had heated discussions and debates but i am not sure weather they actually managed to pen down few individuals for the same. Though i never even figured in the discussion i somewhere felt to have been given a raw deal and should have been atleast present in some small, meaningless, isolated, one in a many, discussion. 

Never mind that, the above picture leave me amazed and if not in real life, in reel life i surely can now be on covers. For anyone who saw and understood Matrix or the Trueman Show the whole concept of real life is at question and sometime i wonder how real is the so called real life and how unreal is the reel life???? The point is i am in the billboars and that makes me happy and  i can find all the reason to justify it (We just crossed 1000 hits.....and i am loving it)

Sac...

That day !

That day , like most days , my eyes moved stealthily just to catch a small glimpse of her - -  she was there , gently holding a rose in her palms.  The dainty flower, radiant as the vivd sight in my memory, lying blissfull and silent at the center of her attention.

Ensconced in a green chair ,her arms outstretched a tad ,elbows resting calmly on the office table.Brown hair in slight curves hung over her forward leaning shoulders ..fingers softly turned the slender stem of the yellow flower ...the slow movement appeared to turn back time ...taking her away ...thoughts, as if transparent, floating question in a whisper ...

It was women's day and I realised something that morning.

Rahul

BONUSES - I SAY WHY NOT ?

This is just a short Saturday take on the recent uproar coming in from almost every quarter on the reclaim of bonuses from AIG. 
Its difficult for me to understand as to why we suddenly seem to wake up and complain about equity, moral deprivation and greed all tossed together like salad over a kitchen bar. Perhaps , now spice of morality is being added to the bring the zing back to the water cooler conversations on financial quagmire, which by the way, seems to be serving as the ready explanation for all inefficiencies around us .  

Much as we may dislike the thought, the world has always been like this -a place of haves and have nots. From the archaic ages where people haggled for food and protection, to the medieval power struggle on land, the current era is all about gathering financial might . The empires still remain - only the underlying form has changed .Earlier they came in forms of Romans , Mughals , English and now they are better known as the AIGs, GEs, Arcelor Mittals , Tatas, Reliances etc. But we must respect that time abound ,they have been the best in doing what they set out to.

To reiterate, there has never been an equal and / or fair distribution of anything -and that includes money. 

For all who feel bonuses should not have been given out , and with no pretence of being a myth breaker , i thought i would offer a slight paradigm shift : AIG has been the carrying heavy troubled assets . Currently out of$ 2.7 trillion in toxic assets , the troubled & bailed out corporation has been able to trim down to $1.6 trillion and this would not have been possible without the contribution of its employees . And they need to work further to bring it under acceptable levels . Maintaining competitiveness through human resource comes with a price tag. perhaps equivalent to an exclusive category this time. 

While we all are pots of selfishness many times brimming with greed, we never hesitate to opine when few seem to do better than others. It is also a fact that we will always have reasons to feel belittled and wronged. Its just a reinforcement for human and social behavior. Nothing more.

Rahul

PS : This gives an opportunity to table a long standing thought . Since the time subprime became a house hold scare across the world, and all the packages offered by governments across the world in terms of fiscal as well as monetary , i have been thinking that that there has been no direct measure to attack and focus on the root cause of trouble - the so called toxic assets -they are still existent in their initial form. The risk perceived around such securities needs to plummet . It is only now that the fed has offered to purchase these ( of $1 trillion )and hold . This to me is the first direct attempt to resolve the situation. The previous ones have been centered around on bail out of organizations and restoring the credit flow  ( deployed to  ease the tight credit situation and restore confidence ) .This one is the first to hit the bull's eye. 

Colours of Life

Colours gives our lives a new meaning and adds a different dimensions to things around us. Imagine a world which is colourless, where we have only different shades grey and white to choose from, where it is difficult to distinguish water from sky, dirt from design and a rainbow is but an arbitrary combination of grey and white. To think of the world as we see it today in contrast to the one I had asked you to imagine, one cannot help but count his blessings. Lately the world has been fascinated by a different kind of colour and it clearly seems that red is the flavor of the season. With each passing day the red grows graver in Wall Street and markets across the world. With the sudden reversal of trends the countries are on a nationalization drive and some are even wondering it’s the end of road for Capitalism and a reincarnation of Communism (Red is back). The recent bombings, acts of terrorism and violence, genocide practices, campus shootouts, religious wars and other human crime goes on to suggest that red rules the roost.

One cannot help but draw a parallel to our immediate neighbours...yes you guessed it right ...Pakistan who on the face of it has completely given up on green and adopted red. Strange are the ways of the world...just the other day it seemed that they are ready to do a jihad for green and today red is all they want. The long march in Pakistan by the opposing party and disgruntled lawyer is in contrast to the short march that the Taliban is planning from Peshawar to Islamabad. The country is in disarray thanks to the Frankenstein they created, a monster that has now turned wild and ready to consume its own creators.  Red (Blood) is what it needs and its appetite for this colour increase with each passing day. After having tried its hand on neighbors it has lost it way and is now hell bent in consuming its own masters.

Last week India was also fascinated with Colours albeit a different kind ...Colours in all its hues including different shades of red. We celebrated Holi the festival of Colours, the festival of vitality and triumph. This was the first major event after Mumbai attacks and a strong message to the world that in our diversity lies the dignity, in our complex system there is a common thread that binds us all. With Colours smeared on the face it is difficult to distinguish a King from a Pauper, a Technocrat from a Beggar, a Politician for an Ordinary Worker, a so called Slumdog from a successful Entrepreneur and this effect of equality among differing Colours really sums up the spirit of Holi.

Sac…

SLUMDOG

We all have witnessed the phenomenal success of Slumdog in Oscars. Suddenly an indiscreet slum in suburban Mumbai became the toast of the most coveted awards, so much so that it swept it completely. I have not yet watched the movie which really does not come as a surprise as i have not been into movies lately but for someone who know me well enough, me not having watched Slumdog yet would be slightly misplaced. Though i am still pondering over watching the movie, the debate and fervor that movie has generated in the media actually qualifies me to have watched half of it.

Last few days i have been traveling a lot and one very important stopover for me was Mumbai and it happened just after the success of Slumdog. The primary reason for the visit was a long pending case in Andheri Court which I had to settle. I arrived in the court at about 10.30 and was waiting for my lawyer to come and suddenly the whole atmosphere was charged with the noise of “Jai Ho” the Oscar winning song of Gulzar and AR Rehman. A group of children from the nearby slum were taking out a procession and were escorted by the media team. Suddenly these children have now become an overnight celebrity and both local and international media wants to cover them like never before.

In media circles there is a huge debate going rounds that whether the success of this movie is because of purely artistic ability, great story, great music and the sheer brilliance of Danny Boyle or is it simply because the director has once again been able to poverty India in a way the suits the foreign taste (poterying poverty and slum of India). The very fact that the person residing in slum has been labeled dog underscore a very important point.

It would be hysterical on my part to join another debate but the point I want to make is the success of this movie has given new hope to slum dweller not just in Mumbai but across India and may be the world. The lives of the cast would never be the same again but i hope that this trickles down to the ordinary slum dwellers and would help change their lives for better. Also the fact that Indian artist got the biggest recognition globally would encourage many more to live their dreams. No wonder that the first Academy Awards of the recession turned out to be, as one headline proclaimed, the first outsourced Oscars of all time. 

Sac..