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..

 

Question of Confidence !

Barack Obama recently mentioned at a congregation in Washington that federal government would do all that is needed to provide suitable climate for recovery and growth of economy.

Albeit there is absolutely nothing wrong with the comment , it is the tone bordering on nonchalance which is abhorable.

Even at the risk of being termed a pessimist , I don’t mind admitting that I am amazed at the confidence of the American president on kick starting the US economy.

I am a firm believer of " Yes , we Can " but i find his statement shallow , banal and it suggests lack of comprehension of the complexity involved in solving the Gordian knot faced by the erstwhile land of opportunity .

Therefore, i aim to look at the "suitable environment" and following points mentioned below ,are what it should entail :

1.Easy availability of resources for initiating and continuing business [ financial( credit) & non financial - commodities, raw material etc}
2.Favourable trade policies - low entry barriers
3.Protection on intellectual property rights of the stakeholder : the comfort that value created by taking risk will stay lawfully with the promoters .
4.Confidence - of the promoters , stakeholders, consumers etc...

Now, this would be an almost sufficient and necessary list to complete the climate ... however it assumes that losses stop at current levels which is improbable ... the point is ,that losses would reduce risk appetite - and therefore poor confidence begets.

Much has been said about the fiscal and monetary measures which are needed at this stage .Therefore ,I would like to ristrict my opinion on the last point - .i.e. confidence .

Not just academically , Confidence is the connection between expectation and performance....It is an everyday term which indicates future prospects in variety of circumstances .. self confidence of athletes , consumer confidence on spending, confidence vote of a political party .

It is like index to future expectation .That future would be better is what everyone is hoping everybody else will tell them.....and good news is awaited from any quarter.

Until now almost every single crisis has been handled through a Keynesian approach … which by the way did work. But this is different , decade long misallocation of resources has led to creation of the asset bubble that could not be sustained. Unfortunatley , It is widely believed that sudden fall in demand can be corrected by pumping enough purchasing power into the economy.

Until the feeling of "better days ahead " takes root it would be difficult to give direction to the recovery. Fundamental structure will be backed on creation of demand and as you all know demand (willingness to buy backed by capability) in a sense is connected to aspiration of the consumer thus indicating its linkage to future earnings , future outlook and therefore spending ... confidence in short !

To instill confidence there is also requirement of commitment and consistency of action.No more can demand be sustained on cheap credit .

Ironically , if there is one person who seems to have lot of it( confidence ) is Obama ! I hope it gets instilled in the investors , consumers and entrepreneur ...

Rahul

This picture represents an old, leafless, worn out tree and still standing strong. A Show of resistance and courage in face of odds. I was wondering what the world would look like if all the trees were alike; the show of strength and courage would then termed as barren and lifeless.

The whole talk of global warming seems slightly misplaced to me... the concept seems alien and little to do with me...its a global problem and why should I be bothered, its certainly not my responsibility because I have been told that its every body's responsibility.

I would rather put it as local warming and a local problem. It’s when things come to shove does one realize that the stuff we thought would never affect us is in fact right at our doorstep and can change the whole complexion of the game. Its when the whole global thing threatens one's existence and way of life does he realize that he has to act before the forces of nature will act on him.

So the idea is to localize this problem, talk about local issues and how it is affecting local lives. If you are living near the cost then educate people on how marine life may get impacted, the whole coral reef might get destroyed and in turn affect tourism and this directly impacts their livelihood. If near the mountains talk about how a warmer planet affects the Flora and Fauna, the Ecological changes means more landslides, extreme climate and thus directly impacting everyone in the region.

If we can do this may see a much more concerted effort to root out this menace before it gets too late...

Sac..