Disclosure

 

Been trying to write for a long time now. Half and nearly complete articles that sat in my archive are mercilessly deleted. Starting afresh, here goes--

 

“I believe that merely the passing of time can wear out the edges of anything remotely sharp. Case in point – sharp blades, peaks, anger, excitement. Anything that has attained the attribute of sharpness will wear out with time. But there are certain things that seem alien to the theories that my demented mind keeps peddling. I cannot for one, understand how she continues to maintain her steely cold reserve. The passage of time has had not an iota of effect on any of her actions or thoughts.

I watch her as she walks in each day, composed in thought and bearing a gritty resolve on her face. She works for hours at end,and remains undaunted by the challenges or the drab routines of our lives. An occasional flash of anger immediately subsides without giving away too much. Blinded by my affection for her and bound by my loyalty, I silently observe her actions each day. Not once do our eyes meet for long, but the moments that they share keep me going through the day. Never is there talk beyond the bare civilities that are exchanged on long corridors, but beneath the hushed hellos is a sweetness that I yearn for each morning.

But today was different, she was different today. A cool evening, thick clouds that cover the remnants of twilight, and a playful shower that promised to head back soon. Away from the eyes of the common crowds, she walks up the road to the hill. No rain could stop her, she marched on, resolute. A lone bench eagerly awaits her, but she does not spare the time. She lays her bag on it and walks to the edge of the road. She perched atop the concrete walls that lined the hills. I stood far away, unnoticed, uncertain. In two minds whether to walk up to her in the rain or stay here nestled under a distant tree, a lucid one among them ran scenarios of what could happen.

I watched her as she clutched her chain, tugging at the locket. She looked up at the sky gods in silent rebuke as if she was challenging them to a duel. Anger seemed evident, even from a distance. She did not hold on for long though, for in the patter of the rain I heard sobs from where she stood. A loss, an unshared pain – she held it close in the insolent rain. I had to decide, but it didn’t take much time; at least that is what I can recall of those moments. Before my conflicted mind could decide, I had. I walked away.”

...

Insight,Love; Incite,Loathe

 

It is amazing how Ekta Kapoor (Sorry if I missed an extra ‘k’ or ‘a’ or ‘o’) is able to churn episode after episode of Saas-Bahu drama and people take it all in. They may forget to ask their spouses day  at work but will not forget to discuss that last juicy bit that happened on a TV soap. BTW, have you ever wondered why it is called a ‘soap’?

Why these soaps run well should be no mystery. I mean, C’mon- Rebirth, Plastic surgery (read: Multiple), Bhagvaan’s miracles, the filmi song stuffed with bad TV actors; it is everything that James Cameron can show on a ‘Punarjanmaavataar’ movie and actually win an Oscar this time :D. However, this article is not about TV soaps, it’s something else entirely. Read on.

 

This article would probably make more sense to men, though I am hoping for some feedback from the women. Before I continue ranting, let me break this article up in the phases of the title itself.

 

Phase I : Insight

As infants, we spend a lot of time with our mothers. We begin our lives being ‘physically suggestible’, quite simply meaning we learn in these stages by touching, tasting, biting, and in my case, tearing apart things. We tend to model our behavior and patterns based on our mothers. All of us, gender unbiased. Eventually, we choose other similar role models – father, teachers, seniors, elder siblings. With increasing independence, boys tend to look upon our fathers with more respect and grant them more authority. Though boys go through a stage of disliking/hating their fathers at some point in their teens, till that stage we look upto them for insight, and likewise with other role models.

 

Phase II : Love

We almost always get here at some stage or another. School, college, parties, pre-marriage, post- marriage – irrespective of the location and the Eastman color song sequence, we get there. More often than not, we tend to pick a person quite unlike us- the old ‘Opposites attract’ theory. If you’re timid, you try to pick a confident person. Overly talkative-Quiet Listener. Free spirit-studious Class topper. And so on. Similarities exist, but cores are opposite. Psychologists have termed it as our ‘sexual personalities’. Try it on the time-tested couples around you – parents, relatives, friends.

At this phase of life, your male role model forms your viewpoint in your inexplicable attraction to a particular girl. If your model is your Dad, you will tend to be attracted to women with personalities similar to your mother.

 

Phase III: Incite

I just used this because it sounded similar to Insight and made the title much cooler. Anyway here goes. If by some weird stroke of luck, you end up marrying the woman you chose, and happen to live with your parents under the same roof, things are going to get pretty hot. Two women under the same roof with similar natures will cause a ruckus, no matter what you try to avert it. Again, the old ‘Likes repel’ theory. Each one will inadvertently incite you by presenting a viewpoint that seems logical and correct, and you end up confused. 

 

Phase IV: Loathe

The growing cracks get bigger and bigger, till Saas-Bahu are at it all the time. Meanwhile, you are turning hairless from all the tension and hair clutching!

 

 

 

 

So you see, we men are responsible for the Saas-Bahu fights in households. It may not be as common today in split households, but still holds good elsewhere. Wake up men. Before you fall in to something you can’t crawl out of, analyze the ‘would-be’ with the ‘has-been’. The ‘what-can-be' may not be all that pleasant. Fair warning aside, you will still fall there. So might as well toughen up. :D

Cheers. Or not.

 

…

8 Lessons from Jim Braddock

 

I’m sure everyone has that one movie that they keep going back to. No matter how many times you’ve seen it, you wouldn’t mind another watch. You cry and laugh, get inspired, resolve to be a better human, decide to er… take up boxing, and so on.

My one movie is ‘The Cinderella Man’. Russell Crowe stars as Jim Braddock in the movie, and there could not be a more convincing portrayal of Braddock ever. (If you haven’t already seen it, slap yourself twice and go see it as soon as you can!) I have posted a little background info about Jim Braddock here, if you’re interested.

There are valuable insights in the movie that could put some perspective in your lives too. Here’s my take on the lessons from this Ron Howard masterpiece-

1. Family comes first: Line right out of a Godfather movie. Braddock was one of the millions affected by the Great Depression. The man who was touted to be the next big boxer, was led by fate and a spate of injuries to sheer poverty. His priority was straight, keep his family well at any cost. When many men dumped their wives and children and fled to other states looking for jobs, Braddock stayed on. He worked on docks, in bars, would shovel snow, fix houses – all kinds of menial jobs to get by. All this because he did not want his family to suffer.

 

2. Love is all you need: Braddock found his love in Mae, who was a constant  support in his pursuits. Their love for each other and their kids gave them the strength to overcome the toil they were subject to. Even when they were down in the dumps, they made sure to spend time with their kids and teach them that values were paramount in life. Braddock was very well off before the depression, but despite the turn of events he never treated his family any differently. A poignant scene is when their young son decided to steal some meat for the family, and Braddock advises him on the street. (I get very senti here!)

 

3. Friends are your strengths: Jim Braddock and Joe Gould, his manager were the best of friends till their last days. They even enlisted in the army together. Gould was absolutely loyal to Braddock. When his career hit the skids, Jimmy told Gould to go find some other, more profitable fighter to manage but Gould refused. Even when evidence was scant, Gould always believed in Braddock’s potential, that he could turn it around and whip any comer. When Braddock was down during the Depression, it was Gould’s unflagging persistence that secured Braddock his match with Corn Griffin so that he could earn $250. Gould also setup fights with his subsequent opponents and hence, helped revive Braddock's career. The shy, soft-spoken Braddock was perfectly complimented by street-smart motor-mouth Gould.

 

4. Hustlers rule: Max Baer was a killer in the ring, literally. He had killed two men during his fight with them. When Braddock secured a chance to battle for the title against Max Baer, he secluded himself in the Catskill mountains to prepare for the fight. His routine was rigorous and disciplined. He ran 8 to 10 miles every morning, then shadowboxed and jumped rope, sparred, and shadow boxed some more. The press dubbed his training camp “Homicide Hall” as Braddock’s training regimen was more brutal than anything they had ever covered. Gould had brought in the very best sparring partners available, and he threw a fresh one at Braddock with every round, constantly keeping the boxer on his toes. Braddock packed on 10 pounds of pure punching power during the camp.

 

5. Calm beyond ability: Braddock was a picture of calm as he stepped into the ring. This stemmed from the confidence and poise he had acquired for having left no stone unturned in preparation. Baer expected Braddock to be nervous and slow to start, but Braddock began swinging immediately. Braddock was known to take the toughest hits and still be standing. He had never been knocked out. (Eventually he was knocked out, but that was almost at the end of his career when he lost the title to Joe Louis). As one contemporary newspaperman put it, “Serene was Braddock and unafraid. There was about him an inspiring calmness that transcended his ability.” He was so calm before the heavyweight championship that he laid down in his dressing room and took a nice nap. Now that’s calm.

 

6. Weaknesses into strengths: Braddock fractured his right hand (his regular boxing arm) in three places during a fight. This was in fact the point when he had to “retire” from boxing. When Braddock worked at the docks during his “retirement” he was forced to use his left hand while his right hand healed. This greatly strengthened his left hand and when he returned to boxing, he found that his left jab had finally turned into a potent and powerful weapon. Instead of ignoring your weaknesses, work on overcoming them and sometimes they can become your greatest strengths.

 

7. Relish being an Underdog: A man who is down and out can simply resign himself to always being on the bottom, or he can use his failures to spur his comeback. Braddock chose the latter. The odds on the Braddock/Baer showdown were 10 to 1, the biggest in heavyweight history. Braddock was always the underdog. Heck, he enjoyed being one! Braddock had the hunger of a man who took absolutely nothing for granted. He thought about all he had been through-the booing crowds, the mercilessly journalists, the injuries, the grinding poverty-and used it as fuel. He wanted to show all the naysayers that they were wrong for writing him off. And all his life, he did just that.

 

8. Personal Responsibility: During the Great Depression, the U.S. government used to provide relief for people who could not earn. This was the last resort and people would feel like failures taking them. He held out as long as he could, trying to make do with his meager earnings from working on the docks, but he was behind in paying the milkman, his rent, and the utilities. Considering the risk he was putting his family through, he puts his name on the relief rolls. Braddock saw the checks he got each month as a loan, not a handout. He carefully kept track of how much he received, intending to pay it all back once he got back on his feet. After he started his comeback and beat John Henry Lewis, he went the next day to have his name taken off the relief rolls. And when he beat Art Lasky, he went to pay back all that he had received. This was unusual, even for the time. But Braddock took honor and personal responsibly seriously.

 

This was my learning from ‘The Cinderella Man’. Which movie moves you on  a visceral level? Which is your ‘one’ movie? Or are there several?  Let me know. Leave a comment.

 

…

Sources

+/-

1. Cinderella Man

2. Wiki

3. Jim Braddock Site

4. Braddock V/s Baer fight videos

…

Unforgettable..

 

 

"Today my journey back home seems longer than usual. Work was always drab, but nothing that a little music and a little solvent wouldn’t help dissolve. No, it wasn’t that. Today is the day I started hating my subconscious. Imagine the hate you have for the worst person you have known, now multiply that by a zillion times and you might be able to understand the hate I am feeling right now.

It is really ironical how some faces from the past get glued to our subconscious. Do you have that one face that haunts you in everything you do? As if parental critique wasn’t enough all your life as a kid, that once face that makes everything seem not good enough. When on certain mornings you wake up with a dream about this person, and you can’t face the mirror without the thought of shattering it several times. I have a good family, a loving wife, two adorable kids, then why does this face from the past haunt me?

It could not be that I’m not happy with my life, because I am. It is something else entirely. Someone has to find a way to switch off dreams because my mind is bordering on the psychotic. She is practically dead to me, she passed on a long while back, or so I believed. When was the last time you woke up with a dream that you were sure would come true? When was the last time you felt fear in each of your actions? I feel that every single day.  My workspace, my family, my morning jog, the evening mug – nothing is sacred anymore. She has taken over them all.

Dreams. They are said to be mind’s way of unwinding into a state resembling normality. Normal. That word does not even mean much for me anymore. I would gladly settle for ‘depressed’ right now. On my ride home, street lights pass me by with a constant tempo, sounds similar to a baseball bat hovering over my head. I am gripped with fear each time the bus stops, fearing a strong blow to my head. Maybe I should deal with it. A blow to the head is probably what I need.

Going home each day, I face my family with a smile so fake, it pains me to even bring it on. Years have passed, and I have slipped deeper and deeper into this dungeon of mine. No ray of hope, no voice to reassure me. Darkness shrouds me, darkness embraces me…"

 

…

P.s: This is a fictional write up! A similar post is here. A movie set me on a thought process and I ended up imagining this. Do tell me what you make of it – problem, solution, criticism, anything.

Budget!!

 

 

I know, I know.. Why would a site on thoughts need a post on the Budget? Well firstly, it is important to understand the impact of government decisions on Mango-people, and secondly, I was making notes all through the budget day, so I’m not letting that go waste!  : )

Pranab Mukherjee is like Chunni babu from Devdas- non-committal, ever-smiling (with surprising seriousness), and trying to woo Paro (Fiscal Deficit) somehow. Well in this regard, common man should rightly be Devdas, because he’s been given money and fame, but ends up paying for much more. Confused?? Actually, me too.. So I’ll just cut to the chase.

Our FM, Mr.PM (Ironical!) closed his speech with the words, “This is an aam aadmi’s budget. I will not say much more, but leave everything to the people of India.” Truly, that is what has been done, on the surface at least.

Tax slabs are now changed.

New Income category	Old Category	Taxation	Savings (approx)
Upto 1.6L	Upto 1.5L	Nil	-
1.6 – 5L	1.5 – 3L	10%	Rs.20,600
5 - 8L	3 – 5L	20%	Rs.41,200
8L upwards	5L upwards	30%	Rs.52,000

 

What the new slabs do?

No technicalities, but the new slabs puts more spending power into the middle class’s hands. By expanding the slabs to accommodate higher avg. salaries in the previous slabs, FM is putting a considerable savings (for guaranteed expenses!). At the moment, it is one method to help the middle and lower income classes fight inflation.

 

The Good +/-

1. This year Fiscal Deficit (FD) was maintained at 6.8-6.9% (as promised in the previous budget), the coming year FD is targeted at 5.5% , further to 4.8 or lower for FY’11 (68%).

2. 25% allocation to rural infrastructure; about 25 km of highways each day.

3. Revenue tax gain Rs.20,500 Cr this year.

4. Service tax contributes 60% to the coffers, but service tax rates retained at 10% taking a hit on direct taxes. To counter this, he makes changes to indirect taxes, which is projected to put Rs.46,500 Cr in gains.

5. Agri delight-

• Farmer loan credit raised to 3.75 L.
• Banks for all villages with 2000 population.
• Support to retail trade in agricultural sector.
• 2% subsidy to farmer loans, extend farm loan payment by 6 months.

6. Partial cutback on stimulus to auto industry.

7. Big allocations –

• 31,000 Cr for education
• Social sector outlay is at 1.38 L Cr.
• Urban devpt allocation : 61,000 Cr
• UID gets 1900 Cr.
• Renewable energy outlook raised to 1000 Cr

8. Increasing health insurance for the poor by adding NREGA families.

 

 

The Bad +/-

1. VAT incr from 15 to 18% ; Excise duty up, so everything will cost more.

2. No numbers specified for RT Education act or Food security act, but general measures for Food security mentioned. No statement for higher education and not much for skill development.

3. IT will be hit, nearly 10,000 jobs this year affected as foreign companies are not getting the same tax benefits for companies as in other countries like Mexico,Brazil.

4. Too many sector based concessions, not so good in today’s context.

5. Net gain from indirect tax will be 46,500 Cr, but if that does not happen (due to market downtime, 3G auction not living up to expectations, FDI speed breakers) may make Fiscal target difficult.

6. Being a non-election year, he could have pushed more, but played safe with reforms.

 

 

The hopeful +/-

1. Setup a body for macro supervision of big companies

2. Setup a financial stability council to establish mechanism in case of financial turmoil.

3. Financial regulations are very old ; Legislative reforms commission(LRC) setup to improve this on a regular basis.

4. Govt. had been giving incentives to petroleum companies to supply fuel at subsidized rates, due to which a majority of them are in loss. International petrol prices are much lower now than before when they were more than 1000 dollars/barrel, so these companies can absorb the increase in the prices of petrol, diesel. Hopefully, they will come out of the loss stage eventually.

5. GST and direct tax code by April 2011.

6. Lots of incentives to NRIs for investment, return on Indian equities over past year has been around 87.4%. Hopefully, things will remain good over the coming year.

 

So, that ends my wrap up of Budget 2010. Till next time.. : )

< I got a little newsreader like vibe>

The art used above was painted by Vidita Jain, a class VII student of St.Thomas’ at Delhi. Ideally, this picture represents the change India needs (Sorry Obama) in the coming decade. Tackling global warming, peace, and sustained progress. Here’s to hoping we come close to making it happen. And kudos Vidita!

V.

  

 

Well, it’s that time of the year again. When some extremist Hindu factions indulge in “slapgate” occurrences into the love lives of hundreds of ‘innocent’ lovebirds. Pink chaddis, police protection, exorbitant rose prices, card shops recovering losses incurred in the past year, hotels and clubs offering special parties for jodi-birdies (stags sit and brood), and so on. You get the idea.

 

I’m not going into a detailed description of the history and evolution of Valentine’s day. (Phew!) It is ironical to me though, that one day every year, people queue up at hundreds of thousands of places around the world to express their love. What sets it apart from the other days, excluding the fact that it’s probably marked in pink on Rama Sena’s party calendar.

 

The whole idea of greeting cards has probably evaded my understanding. Why oh why would you spend so much time, (and so much money) on a card that expresses something you can probably say yourself? It isn’t that difficult, really. You can probably write something on a note with your choicest of words, make it rhyme and make it sentimental as well. Point being, if you take a note  with a poem on it to you gal/guy and say “Happy valentine’s day, honey”, I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to be a pretty sight. I guess that’s why we play safe, and get a mushy card anyway.

 

Secondly, we arrive at roses. Even St.Valentine wasn’t much of a rose giver, so why did this tradition begin anyway? What would stop someone from getting a bunch of lilies, daisies or gerberas instead of a bunch of roses? Would the fear of being a non-conformist make you buy roses instead?

 

I personally love valentine’s day. All said and done, it boils down to love for your ‘loved’ ones. Each year, some special plan cocoons in my head as well. I just want to ask all of you to be a non-conformist this year. Try it, there’s a weird fun in involving in a little rebellion, indicative of our once glorious teenage. Go beyond the cliché symbols and the mushy tag types. A day for declaration of love? Nah, make it the first day of a year for declaration of love. (No, that doesn’t mean you declare love to a new person everyday of the year!) Write a corny song and sing it in your besura voice. Shun cards, share notes. Not just one day, but whenever possible. Go crazy!

And to all fellow hopeless romantics out there, Happy Valentine’s day!

Come, peep in..

 

I believe it was MK Gandhi who once said, “Show me your  friends and I will tell you who you are.” Luckily for him, Facebook and Twitter weren’t available back then, and this statement made some sense.

It has taken us many ‘smart’ developments to get us to where we are right now. People spend hours using their organizers, mail clients, and even their phones, to improve their work efficiency which would definitely improve without these distractions in the first place. Keeping in touch has become literal at times, with e-pokes being sent across FB networks! It has become routine for me to login to FB atleast once a day to check out what’s happening with the people I know. (Shame, shame to me too!)

The great thing about it is the ease with which we can network, regardless of the distance or the time elapsed. Though some good has come out of this new development, the meaning of the word ‘privacy’ has been obliterated. Stars tweet their schedules, including time spent in the loo and fans lap it all up. It took Tiger Woods just a single message on his website to communicate that he was taking a break from golf to repair his home tottering under his infidelity (-read many many-), and the whole world was made aware of his decision from just that source.

It is not only the technologically inclined who can keep track of these things. Media (newspapers, tv channels) have developed a knack for taking tweets and pics and painting them in an entirely new hue. Some time ago, a certain bootilicious  ‘Basu’ and a footsy ‘Ronaldo’  were purported to have been in a lip lock when the pics only showed them approaching a casual cheek peck. A little simmer time and the rumour had become the headlines on most news channels. Certain news channels who encourage viewers to ‘think about the impact’ came up with ‘What will happen to John now? Will they break up? Stay tuned to find out more.’

Our mental faculties have begun to degenerate, think of yourself in today’s context as opposed to say, 7-8 years back. There is a deterioration associated with age, but it has begun reducing the starting age. Kids in school cannot find enough stimulation today. Each day they get bored about something or the other, and something new draws their attention away from their activities. Forget studies, how many kids go out to play in the evenings anymore? There used to be a time when gully cricket formed an important entertainment for localities, where passersby would stand and bear witness to the cheers and appeals from budding gully cricketers. Now, kids return from tuitions (for even 2nd and 3rd std), and spend hours on Facebook or Orkut. There are only mechanisms for measuring our GDP growth and our inflation, but there seems to be no way of finding out the deterioration that our country is undergoing every day. “Our future lies with our youth” they say. Considering where we are headed as a generation, I sure hope the future does not rest with us.

We have progressed a lot as a nation, but it seems funny that we haven’t emerged as leaders yet. How will we ever lead, if all we do is follow trends and technology from other nations?  There hasn’t been a single startup that has managed to inspire people on the lines of Infosys, while several startups emerge in the developed nations, especially during the economic crisis (which they think is over, btw). We have used Twitter, Facebook, the i-gadgets (iPod, iPhone, iTouch and now the iPad!) for a long time now, but no progress has been made to emulate their success in a grand manner. It has partly to do with the lack of support from our government, but aren’t we to blame too? 

It’s time we pull up our socks. I don’t know how many people are actually reading this, and if any of you have actually thought about the deterioration that we are facing. Think about it. And then Do something about it.

 

 

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

…

The year to come…

 

This post is delayed by quite a few days, my apologies. With my exams behind me, I can now get back to the more important things! :)

Starting off, TV and print media in general make a big hullaballoo about the year that was. Frankly, I never could bring myself to like these shows (no matter how much Ma prods me). So, I decided to write about the year that is here now.

To each his own, but the few things unfolding this year that will intrigue me are-

1. Ratan Tata finding his successor!!

2. My ‘Chotu’ sisters wedding.

  

3. Hybrid cars and concessions for them! (Please, please)

4. Average Number of curses a day for the Online CAT organizers.

 

5. India taking  a firm stand against racist attacks in Australia. (God giveth guts!)

6. Some pic hunting with my brand new cam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Cadbury’s takeover or sell.

8. A few movies this year – The Book of Eli, Prince of Persia and more..

9. Finally getting started on my web comics blog or design a image carousel for this blog. Started drawing, nothing spectacular. Yet.

<No images yet!>

 

10. Wolfram Alpha coming out of its dormant phase and making some headway.

11. Cloud computing power to people like me!

12. 3G auction here. Also, want to know if telecom industry will survive or become the new airline industry.. Hehe.. (Cryptic alva?)

13. A road trip with my buddies!

  

 

This was my list, numbered up to 13. Unlucky or not, we’ll see. As for now, tell me your list. What are you looking forward to this year? Any new resolutions? Interests?

Looking forward to hearing from you guys as well. Maybe that should be #14 on this list!

 

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