Competition – Facing the heat

Routine instances in our life exhibit to us various complex issues in a very straight forward way. The issues just stare at you and you come to know, oh this is what it is! Taking one such example which is, like a fresh dikashun of coffee (am sorry for the people who don’t know what the coffee dikashun is) to me. It’s about the plethora of events coming up at IFMR in the upcoming week.

All the clubs at IFMR have been planning to hold an event or the other of theirs since some time now including the TEC club, but none of them was able to launch an event for so long when there were no events being conducted at all. I could only see one reason for this mass dumping of events apart from the natural reason for which it is being conducted. The reason which I am speaking about is Competition; I think you would agree with me when I make this statement. All clubs have been planning for quiet some time now and it’s almost high time for each of them to actually launch their event and conduct it as soon as possible that too in a grand manner as it is going to be the first for each of them for this academic year.

I ascertain the reason to be competition just because of the fact that, once a club member comes to know that X club has launched its event or is looking forward to conduct its event on x date, there is a sense of ego or feeling of loss (loss of opportunity of being first, or for being slow/late). Now the above reason brings in a spirit of competition that, hey even I need to launch my event soon, its high time, X club who started after us is already ready with their event, why do I remain behind, let me fix a slot one day before club X. This sense of competition is good at times but at times it may just be due to the ego. But whatever it is competition is very important in the world, it helps in various ways and results in great creations at times if dealt with appropriately.

The above stuff is written following the incident which I faced today when I saw the marketing club members working on their event, finance club members preparing the poster/invite for their event and most importantly after seeing the mail from the HR club who have already launched their event (but not disclosed the date yet :D). All this made me even more geared up to finally launch the event by TEC, as the event was already ready but due to some reason or the other which was getting delayed from being launched. But after seeing these plethora of events coming up we have booked a slot for the TEC even before few others just to ensure that we don’t end up being in the zone of the late latifs. And the sense of competition has reinforced in us the spirit to do well.

So do you think we have learnt what competition does to one? Its kicks at your back and then you get only 2 options Do or Die!!!

By the way TEC’s event is on 1st September 2008 at 17.00, be there and face the competition!!! And then you’ll know what’s facing the heat!!

(This article is some how also in connection to me trying to keep the blog as active as possible and updating it regularly, would soon try to do something interactive. Keep watching)

Just like that

Hmmm was just thinking if I could make the Blog a bit more active or interactive so to say. But there are questions all around as soon as I think of it, questions like, how can I make it active, what all shall I try to do, how often do I think to update it, how will I make it interactive, to make it interactive I need response from others, who will respond to my blog, why will they do so, if at all they do how long will it go on, will I be able to live up to the expectations, I already write so bad, how will others bear such writing and so on and so forth.

But then I thought when Amitabh Bachan, Amir Khan and others can do it, why not me, what if I am not as big a star as they are, what if I haven’t become something in life, is it necessary only to do it if u r big enough, is it necessary for 100’s of people to respond and react everyday, they have their own world, I shall have my own, what if there is no response, why do I need one, I do it for my satisfaction so why bother if get a response or not, but what do I get by updating the blog everyday with what ever stuff I am thinking of, may be it may work like a diary, but I can maintain a personal diary in that case, that too a hand written one, or even an online one, so why do I need to share it with others on the blog, why this sudden urge, am I looking for popularity, I am trying to seek attention, why at this point in time am I trying to seek attention, or is it just someway I want to be active or again interactive so to say, I am puzzled. I get an idea, I get another counter intuitive question and there I am confused.

Lets see if I am convinced enough to go ahead and if at all I am, whether I have something worth the time and effort to share regularly, all depends on my day to day activities and how interesting or boring they end up being.

Let’s see…. At least this way, I have updated the blog today with this idea. Now back to the thinking mode; will be back soon. By the by what do u think, is it a good idea or a bad one, should I or should I not, if yes then in what ways, if no why so? Keep thinking…

ILLNESS + DILEMMA = MiSery (Medical Science)

I have an old relationship with Illness and Dilemma hand in hand for a long time. The instances have taken toll on me and at times I was just inches away from the operation theatre when it was in no ways required. I could share with you a couple of them to empathize with me for the kind of dilemma I have been in, in the past and the highs and lows associated with them.

I was about 10-12 yrs old and was suffering from fever for almost half a month and had severe pain over the period in my back and stomach as the days increased, so apart from the fever this became a major concern for me and my parents. So to deal with the same we consulted with a couple of doctors who gave different opinions amongst which one of whom being a well respected and experienced one who after examining me, in a very firm tone asked my parents to admit me immediately, so that I could be operated early next morning and he would cancel his other appointments to operate me for APPENDIX. As soon as I heard this I was in a state of shock thinking about operation and stuff at such a young age and was very nervous but could not speak a word in front of the doctor there. But my parents told the doctor that we shall go home and get back to him through telephone after talking to others at home and left the place. And after coming home my parents were somehow convinced that we needed another opinion so decided not to talk to the doctor until we consult some one else. So the next day we went to another experienced doctor whom after a long wait we were able to see at his home, as it was a Sunday. He just examined me for a minute or so and said that I don’t have any appendix or anything and I am completely alright, just a tonic will make me alright soon. And trust me I felt cured already after having heard that I don’t have APPENDIX and I would not be subjected to any operation or so. And I think I was alright in 2 days after seeing this doctor and felt like I had got a new LIFE that day. Such a major twist in the tale just in a matter of less than 24 hours.

The next instance is a recent one, I had met with an accident and hurt my knee as a consequence of which. For almost 3 months I was under the impression that it was just a strain in my knee, which would be alright soon. But days passed by, I consulted half a dozen or more doctors, everyone having their own story analysis about my recovery. At the end of 3 months I underwent an MRI scan which was the only way to figure out what was actually wrong with my Knee and then we came to know that I had a Ligament tear in my knee, now the concern was what to do with this tear. Again I had a series of opinions from over half a dozen of different specialists throughout the city, with opinions varying from requirement of an operation to just physiotherapy will do and so on and so forth. Finally I haven’t undergone any operation, just took some physiotherapy and thial malish treatment of Kerala’s fame. I haven’t recovered from my ailment but still getting operated was a difficult decision but somehow got convinced that I can recover without operation if I follow certain exercises regularly (which I haven’t followed for long now, laziness and boredom being the reason and may be that’s why I haven’t recovered fully yet). But the whole episode of consulting doctors went on for about a year or more and as it can be seen, every visit used to bring different experience and outcome making life even more difficult.

Now coming to the present, I am suffering from some fever for about 15 days or so and have consulted 2 doctors so far (both of them are my Family doctors, whom we consult normally), and both have different opinions about my illness, where one says I am suffering from Chikengunya, the other claims it cannot be Chikengunya. So here I am again confused but not yet cured. I am no game for Science, and I am only concerned with getting back to normal and that too ASAP, I think I have had enough as it has already been half a month of suffering and I have taken enough number of tablets of different sizes and colors.

Just wish that I am cured of what ever illness I am suffering from, whether one medical book looks at it in one way and the other looks at it in yet another way. All I want is freedom from illness and if science itself is confused with its verdict then how am I to solve this riddle every time. How do I know who is right and why? I think the doctors irrespective of their exact study, learn the same basic science, if they can differ every time then how do I know whom to agree with and what treatment to undergo. Is there a solution?

(I am not trying to blame either science or the doctors in question, just trying to highlight how different incidents changed my life and could have had serious implications on my life. I am basically confused as to what is to be done in such circumstances when an individual is in a fix. And just to make things clear, I have not been taking opinion of different doctors just for the heck of it; I have actually done so, only after a reasonable period of time, when the former doctor’s medication failed to cure my illness. I believe firmly in science but am just concerned with differing views which has implications on ones life, views can differ in any field or context, but when the stake is so high, what must one do with differing views, how to handle the catch-22 situation)

Derivative - Is it Lucrative ???

I as a novice in this world of finance, with dreams to study and understand such a great product of finance which lures trillions of dollars every year in to the financial markets look at things in a completely different way. To begin with I understand derivatives to be instruments to HEDGE an underlying exposure a company/individual has interest in and fears the loss of value in the future. So to avoid/minimize this loss the company/individual undertakes Futures/Options route to mitigate or minimize the potential risk.

As per my understanding derivatives and related markets (futures and options) were introduced to address the following issues

- To have a platform or meeting place for the two ends to meet, and to minimize the substantial part played by middlemen in trade of commodities and other assets.
- To have a better method of price discovery through such exchanges where the demand and supply in sync with other factors will lead to appropriate price of the asset.
- To help the parties involved to mitigate or minimize the risk of value erosion, supply/demand and other risks in reference to their interest.

But so far of what ever I have learnt and seen in this short tenure, I haven’t yet been convinced with the working of the whole system as such. The issues I confront everyday while I deal with the subject are as follows

- If this concept was to make the 2 ends meet and minimize the role played by middlemen, then why are the exchanges allowing parties not involved in that particular trade or having exposure in the underlying allowed to trade in the commodity (Speculate) and make things even more complex (I know the first response to this will be for liquidity, would come to it later!).

- If these exchanges/ markets are for better price discovery, then again how can speculators in such markets help for the same, I believe only the parties having interest/ exposure in the underlying can help in a better price discovery and not novices like me, who don’t know a thing about the underlying at the first place.

- If all the above is done for the sake of liquidity and opening up of the financial markets and the economy in the world in a big way, my question is where are we answering the real issues for which such innovative financial products were developed.

To be able to explain the above concerns I would like to share certain examples I have come across so far which have provoked me to delve deeper into this subject and understand it better.

The case of MGMR (Metallgesellschaft), which clearly shows how the derivative contracts led to its risk in the underlying quadruple, I believe if it was not hedged the losses would have been far lesser than it were due to the hedged position. I simply think that when MGRM was already locked with the underlying contracts its only fear was that its underlying should not be affected in value or other ways, so it undertook several other derivative contracts and locked itself further more, which only led to increase in the number of ways it was locked than the number of ways it should have been able to come out of the losses (risks). And we see the result of it, a reputed company owned by several financial giants (German banks) had to liquidate due to the risk management techniques which infact increased the risk not only of the underlying but of the company as a whole leading to an uncalled liquidation with losses not just from the underlying but from various other ends including the derivatives, liquidity and many more ways.

I have studied 12 ethanol producing companies of US during my summer training (April – June 2008) and have found that most of them have huge losses (unrealized) on their derivative transactions which have reduced their profitability in an industry where there are various other factors which are already making life difficult for the companies, over which such derivative contracts are not making life any easier. Ethanol companies generally undertake derivatives contract in two underlying commodities namely Corn and Ethanol, the dynamics of the industry have changed a lot in the last 2 years and again as mentioned earlier I feel these companies would have faired better even without such contracts. The more time they spend looking after the risk management, the more they loose their time to concentrate on their underlying business itself (to me it seems like loosing from both ends).

Another important example to support the view is of the Crude oil prices which have soared to the level of $147 in July08 from about $70 in a year’s time. According to various research reports 60% of the increase in crude prices is due to speculation by various big players who are throwing money in crude to make money, which is leading to notional increase in demand of crude which subsequently resulted in increased price due to high demand (notional). Today the crude price again is at about $113(August 15 2008); the volatility of such an important commodity to the whole world is uncalled for, as it is leading to such levels of inflation in the world making food, travel to be even a rich mans dream. The main reason for such volatility in Crude prices as mentioned earlier is speculation, where in parties who do not have any exposure of the same playing dirty games in the exchange and leading to such worse condition of the world. Now again I feel the same question raises, where has the availability of such contracts helped to hedge the risk or even in price discovery. It has infact done things the other way round, the risk increased even more in the world level, prices were not discovered but infact were (are) being dictated by giants with huge liquidity who are moving the market the way they want (why should millions of people in the world get affected, just because several giants want to make money from such activities). I don’t think anyone can convince me in this context (at least no one has been able to so far).

I am not questioning the ability of this product (derivatives) to help minimize the risk but my only concern is that it’s not able to safeguard your interests always (most of the times). One must realize that such contracts are taken to limit the down side, while we must also remember and understand the fact that it’s a zero sum game, if one party earns, the other looses. Infact as seen in various situations such contracts are even leading to limit the upside and the company remains exposed to the downside i.e. in case the company was not hedged it would have made much more money when the price increased, while in case the company is hedged it earns only a limited predetermined profit because of the so called derivative contract, while in the downside also the same applies, as in when the company is not hedged it looses only the value of the asset to that extent, while when it is hedged it looses in terms of the value of the asset plus also on the investments or upfront expenses it had done to undertake the derivative contract.

One important thing one must remember in all these arguments is that one takes a derivative or any other contract after making certain assumptions about the movement of the price of the asset, what I want to say is, if you already have a view of the movement and your derivative contract is also to augment that view then what’s the need of it at the first place, as you can just follow your view and you can make money. The problem only comes when your assumptions turn out to be wrong and then neither does your view help nor does the augmenting derivative contract. I believe a contract can only help me, if and only if it is able to take away any possibility where my view goes wrong because I would anyways make money in other ways without the contract through my view and actions following the same.

To sum it all up, I am not game for these lullabies that this financial product was started with such and such intention and it is the best way to mitigate risk and so on, yes I like the concept and the innovation but still its not able to address the main issue which it was supposed to address so I don’t think its worth a thing to boast about or at least in that context (context that it helps to mitigate risk, price discovery bla bla). I think I need some more time to understand it better, need to do some more R&D before I come to any final conclusion but this whole write up was to sum up my initial relationship with such a novel concept.

Do feel free to comment, criticize or rectify me where ever I am wrong, as mentioned in the start I am a novice trying to understand and learn and I believe there is no better way of learning than to express your thoughts and build on it with guidance from other stalwarts.

Individuals of Mass Destruction

When Mohd. Azahrudin was found guilty of fixing a match of Cricket; he was banned for life from taking part in any form of cricket, because his deed of selling himself to lose that match was considered to be a sin of the greatest order in Cricket. I am curious enough to know what kind of a punishment or action would be taken against those MPs who were kind enough to sell themselves (or buy others) and the pride of the country in the view of an important decision concerning the future of the country for a few crores (Cash for Vote in Parliament of India on 22nd July 2008).

Various ministers termed this incident in different ways ranging from “Black day in the history of Indian Parliament” to “Political Prostitution”. I don’t know how better to react to such an act which is quiet common but got highlighted in the media and in real in the parliament on camera for the first time ever in history.

I feel ashamed to be eligible to vote with such kind of wicked politicians our country has got. Votes sold for power (vote here refers to the trust vote and ministries refer to Sibhu Soren whose deal with the UPA was to get Coal ministry for himself and the seat of CM for his son among other things), cash and what not. No ideology, no ethics, how better do you expect such people to lead the country and expect growth while they are busy trying to fill their own houses with bundles of Rs.1000 notes.

Most astonishingly the kind of MPs we have, if we check their track record or criminal record to be precise, it would not be a big surprise to know that most of them have at least some or the other kind of criminal or civil cases against them for all kinds of illegal activities. What can you expect from a country where the highest number of criminals or wrong doers is sitting inside the most respected place (The Parliament) of the country deciding the good, bad and the better of a billion helpless people? I just don’t understand the constitution of the country in this regard, very simply because when a normal citizen cannot get a job in a good company if he/she has any kind of bad track record in terms of criminal cases or so, then how can a person who has to lead the nation and decide its future become an MP with such a black mark. I just can’t understand how such an important aspect is not taken care of while making the eligibility criteria for election.

I view such irresponsible and corrupt people as IMDs (Individuals of Mass Destruction). Yes they are 1000 times more fatal than terrorists (who at least do what ever they do with clear motive, explicit demands and warnings). So I feel I am not wrong in calling such people IMDs, as they have the license to do it once they are elected to the parliament and as seen often many of them have only done that in some way or the other. When such an act of selling the country for money takes place in the temple of the country what can you expect from any political party. I feel pity on Azahruddin, he just sold a match but these dirty selfish politicians are out to sell the country’s future with such brutal acts.

(The write up is in context to the issues which happened on the Trust Vote day at the Parliament for the Nuclear Deal and goes on to express the view on Indian politicians)

Failed the test of Integrity

The next time when I criticize government or politicians for corruption I better be careful and dare not do that unless I my self prove to be a good citizen. Yes I am in complete conscious and not drunk when I make this statement.

Last Sunday I (with 3 younger brothers) was getting back home from Tirupati after an unsuccessful visit to see the Lord. It was almost 8 in the night and I had no other means of transport back home than a Bus. So I decided to enquire about the buses available for immediate departure so that I could get back home early. No prizes for you to guess that the government officials there in the bus depot were not giving proper answer and were asking us to go from one counter to the other. While there was a conductor outside a Chennai bus talking to passengers, he had a list in his hand with details about occupancy in the bus. I just went ahead and asked him if there was any space left in the bus for 4 people and with 5-6 other people around he unhesitantly replied “No, this is a reserved bus and tickets are already sold”. I had only one thing in mind which was to find some other bus in which I could board to depart for Chennai, but none was in sight to me nearby.

I again went to the counters to see if there was any new info this time around, but again with so many people around I did not get a turn to talk to the authorities. While I was trying hard, an unknown person from behind asked me “Chennai a”, I was quick enough to respond to him. I told him that yes I wanted to go to Chennai but I need 4 tickets, so he replied saying “ok, you can get it”, then I asked about the time when the bus will depart and which one was the bus he was talking about, so he showed me the same bus about which I had enquired, so I told him that I had already enquired about that bus and the conductor had told me that there was no space in that bus. Then he said “you need not worry about it, I will get you the tickets, but it will cost you Rs.200 per ticket”, I agreed immediately and asked him, was that the rate of each ticket, and he replied saying “the rate is 150, but I need 20 bucks for myself and 20 for the conductor to get you the tickets”. He saw agreement on my face, as I had only one objective which was to get back home ASAP, so he asked me to shell out the money, so I did and asked him for the ticket in exchange immediately, he said “go inside the bus and occupy the last row, I wont run away just wait for some time and you will get the ticket”, so I did trust him but stood outside until I figured out whether he was lying or not, then once convinced after seeing him talking with the conductor, I with my brothers boarded the bus waiting to get the ticket so that we don’t end up in a trouble. And in some time the bus was about to start and the conductor came to me and gave the ticket and to my surprise the rate of each ticket was only Rs.135, I was puzzled that I got cheated by another 15 bucks, but then I did not bother much cos I was only thinking about getting back home.

The journey started normally, the conductor started checking tickets and everything was normal, while the bus got stopped with in 10 minutes from its start and the Branch Manager of the transport company entered the bus to check tickets for special enquiry and as he was checking tickets he kept asking each passenger how much they paid for their ticket apart from the 8 people in the last 2 rows all others had paid the correct amount as they purchased the tickets from the counter, while the 8 of us in the last 2 rows purchased from the conductor or so and we told the manager that we had purchased the ticket on a higher rate (initially I had told that I purchased it for 135 only fearing that the conductor will be screwed, later screwing me), the 4 people in front of me had purchased their tickets for 150 from the conductor and I purchased it for 200 through some broker who was a partner in crime of the conductor. So the manager asked us to co-operate and help him stop all such happenings and assured the 4 people that they will get their money back but did not tell me a word as I had purchased it from a broker and I did not mention to him that the conductor was involved as he did not ask. So he went outside and stopped the Bus to enquire about all this with the conductor and kept the bus on hold for about 20 minutes and the passengers got furious about this and started yelling at the driver to take off the bus. While the manger came inside again and assured the 4 about their money and took their number for future enquiry and help and got off the bus.

The journey went on and in a while the bus stopped again and another manager entered to sort the issue out as the conductor claimed to the branch manager that he was innocent and he did not over charge any one. So this new manager asked us questions about the way we obtained our tickets and I clearly said that I had paid to some unknown person to get my ticket, but one important question on which I lied to him was “whom did you get the ticket from?”, to which I answered that I had got that as well from the broker irrespective of the fact that it was the conductor who gave me the ticket as he was a partner in the crime with the broker, but I got piteous on thinking about the consequences to the conductors life and career and some how did not get the courage to tell the truth. And finally I gave a written statement to the manager which claimed that the conductor was no where involved in all this and he was innocent (the conductor some time back and was explaining to us that he did not want to do all this but the broker who gave me the ticket was a part of a rowdy gang and because of that he had to get involved in it, to keep his job going, which was the primary reason which made me lie to the manager).

So in summary I feel that I ended up being a partner in their crime, by not speaking the truth when I was required to, which was an attempt by the authorities to make the system efficient and corruption free. I feel guilty and shameful when I think about it and strongly also feel that I don’t have any right to raise a question against others when I myself did not have the integrity and became a party to this corrupt act of the conductor, just for the sake of saving his job and livelihood (he looked to be above 55 years of age). I am still not sure whether it was worth helping the conductor or not, but at that moment my conscience did not allow me to spoil his career that too after he explained that he had to do this due to the pressure from the rowdies.
Just let me know what you feel about the entire episode and how should I have acted.

My Experience at My First Job – Part II

“Well begun is half done” they say, but I am very sure I was not at the best in the beginning; I felt like I kid, I felt like I am in a land where I don’t understand a thing. New experience, new people, new business, new environment, but I was ready to face all this and learn and understand and so I did. I worked as far as I could, learnt everyday and not only business but several silly things like how to staple papers properly. It was learning everyday in some way or the other.

When I talk about my experience, I got only one person in my mind I can think of, and this was the person behind what ever I learnt what ever I did and accomplished. This person was none other than my immediate boss. Apart from being my boss he is also an alumnus of my college (5 yrs senior to me). He was instrumental in making my project as interesting as it ended up being. The moments I mostly cherish and rejoice in my office are the times when I used to be in discussion with him, our discussion at times used to go on for hours and those were the times when I learnt most of the things I learnt in the whole training period. I can never forget his upfront answers, straight forward remarks and cool attitude. He would have edited my reports N number of times, every time I used to edit it and he was able to find many more faults in them, but all he used to ask in the end was “are u not confident and satisfied”, if my reply was No, he used to say “don’t submit it as far as you are confident yourself” and these words always made me work harder and review things as well as I could. There was scope for improvement always but I was never in condition to determine when it was time to say done and then I used to seek his guidance. I owe major part of all my acknowledgement and regards to him for my project work, but he doesn’t believe in all this formality. I cherish those days and I have been telling all my friends that I have got the best possible boss amongst all of us.

The training period gave me various opportunities to learn and understand a lot of things, to have a new perspective, to be bold enough to take a stand (this is the most difficult lesson I learnt, I am quite bad at it at times and there were numerous occasions in the training period which highlighted this) and to be clear enough while saying or doing something. Overall it was an amazing experience and mainly since the head of my department once told me “I (we) like working with you and we have liked your attitude”, I was on top that day and had only one thought in mind that I need to carry on this good work and image throughout the training period, hope I succeeded in it.

Over all the experience and exposure was good, the other people in the department were very supportive, I did not have much interaction with them but then it was like a home away from home for those few hours I used to be there. One important thing which I would mention is the facility and the infrastructure provided in the organization was remarkable, again I would say I got the best even in this case compared to others, be it the refreshments provided or the printout facility or any other thing I did not find even a single problem, everything was very comfortable. I truly felt as a part of the team I worked in, even though I was not actively in conversation with others but then I felt as one amongst them.

I truly feel to have had an amazing experience and I feel proud to have been a part of such a nice organization and having worked with such great people. Pardon me I haven’t mentioned about the owner of the company yet, believe me if I start writing about that personality I would not know where to stop, he is such a Legend from what ever I know about him. Only thing I repent from the training period is, I did not get a chance to meet the Legend, who owns the company. Would some time share about him as I keep doing whenever I talk about my internship to everyone I know. And I wish I could some day meet or see this brilliant mind that runs such a great company.

Stay tuned …….. :-)

Chennai Cops Chase – O - Mania

It was a usual Monday evening, luckily one of the days while I left home early from office at around half past 6. As was I driving towards home I had to take a U-turn at a junction and while it was green for me, a Scorpio from the opposite direction zoomed across the road even while his signal was red. While to this common scene on Chennai roads, this time apart from me there were few other spectators including 3 cops talking to each other in a jolly mood on an eve with some traffic on one of the busiest roads of Chennai.

I went past along the road and the Scorpio was just ahead of me all along for about a kilometer or so. And now I hear some one buzzing the horn continuously on a bike behind me, my first thoughts were that it would be some biker who drives fast irrespective of the traffic. But to my surprise it was not a college student or any other biker, it were 2 of the cops who were standing on the signal where I took a U-turn and as you guessed it rightly they were chasing the Scorpio to punish him for his offense. I was smiling and was visualizing as if I was watching a Hollywood flick, where I would have last seen such a scene, but I finally realized that it was Chennai and yes the Cops did catch the offender and then I was ahead on my way back home, not knowing what did the cop do with the offender, did they fine him or did they just take a bribe and let him off will always be an unanswered question.

But truly being a spectator to this whole episode reinforced the changing face of Chennai police since few years and seems to me that Chennai Cops are one of the best in the whole country as Chennai has seen the latest technologies in Traffic management before any other city I believe.

Strike, Bandh, Protest and what not!!!

The Left parties, which are calling for nation wide strikes, to protest against the fuel price hike by the Central Government, seems to be just another political stunt as usual.

I just have a few basic questions to ask for such an act of stupidity and immaturity.

If calling for a bandh can make things better then why not have a bandh every day for every issue, if at all that is something which can help change things for the better.

In fact I would say people like you and me lose the pay of one important day in our life for not going to office, for not doing business, for not being able to get public transport and what not.

If the Left is so much concerned and worried about the price hike why does it not withdraw its support from the central government instead, why does it not suggest some other better measures to the government which are more beneficial to the nation and the people

Why is it always having a nagging attitude to what ever any government does, be it NDA or UPA. If you can’t at least be in power at the centre at least do not discourage people from working and earning their livelihood for your political stunts.

Why have they been wagging the tail of the UPA being in the coalition but not being able to support or oppose anything successfully to the decision made by the centre, what’s the use of being in such coalition where you have no say??

My only ultimate question is cant we demand or ask for things in more productive ways which does general good of the people of the country instead of such meaning less waste of time in the hot summer on the streets affecting the life of those millions of humans who are not interested in such immature ways of protesting. Instead have dignity and suggest measures to the government and the people of the country and then say if they are not followed (if the suggestions are acceptable to interest of the nation as a whole)

P.S – I have not commented on whether the fuel price hike was justifiable or not as lot of national, international and economic factors are to be considered before making a sane comment. My intention in using the name of left parties is just indicative as in the present case, but I mean to overall disagree with any such political outfit which calls bandh creating unrest throughout the country/state/city. There is no specific wish to condemn the left parties as such but the kind of acts I am seeing for the years since I understand things I am not convinced with their moves being such a big political outfit having the support of millions of Indians.

I am a Rightist???? Am I

I do almost all the most important and auspicious things and acts of my life with my Right hand, I think most of the time with my right brain, I like to take Right decisions more than wrong ones, I always wonder am I using my fundamental Rights and other social and national Rights without any problem.

I am not writing this to talk about myself, but to talk about people in my left and right all over the country. People who say they are leftist, people who say they are rightist and people who don’t know who they are. For some time now since I have become a bit more mature, a bit more childish, a bit more stupid, I have been thinking about a lot of things and those lot of things always end up me thinking about the Indian Politics and Politicians, and the reason for this is, every situation has either arisen due to politics or has been influenced due to a politician. I will give you a few examples of how and why I end up thinking so.

Since I said I am a rightist let me start with instances about the leftist first.

Till date since I have grown up I haven’t understood the motto and the sense behind the ideologies of the leftist. They say they want equal opportunities, they say they want job guarantee, cheaper food and other products and services; they want everything to be under public/government corporations, they dislike any private corporation to do anything in the country and they have many other different versions of their demands and ideologies, I am not sure of any of their ideologies and basically because I haven’t understood their motto at all till date. I just know one thing; they almost always are the reason for cold in the central government (this is something all of us see and hear everyday).

- They say they are against privatization and they have 1000 reasons to justify their stand. But I think I am not looking at their stand, I am looking at common sense and I believe what I am thinking is acceptable to some extent keeping their ideologies apart. If they say privatization is ill, then let me ask them, who made it possible to make air travel as cheap as it is today, who made it possible to have telecommunication facilities all over the country, who made it possible for technology to be the in thing in the country, and many such endless areas to explain in detail.
- They say they are against foreign goods and people going abroad to work etc., but who is going to remind them that the state which they run the government for so many years now is one of the biggest consumer for Foreign Liquor, that state sees the most number of people leaving the country for job opportunities abroad including Saudi and Dubai. That state has the most literate but uneducated people (would love to explain the difference between literate and Educated some other time). And that state also leads the chart in many other social and economic injustices happening. Yes I am talking about Kerala.
- Don’t we know about Nandigram, it is again in a state where the leftist have been ruling for long time now and if I can remember well and if I am right and conscious, the initial problems in this place started only because of the state government not treating the farmers well i.e. not paying the farmers market price of the land.
- At one end they say cut taxes, reduce prices and so on and at the other end they want loan waivers, social spending and so on, so some one ask them where will the money for this come from. I don’t say they are completely wrong, but being rational and logical is more important that just being adamant and old fashioned.
- I still think that India needs a mindset change, a mindset for the global environment we are living in, a mindset for the challenges and competitions we are facing day in and day out in the international arena, a mind set to grow and involve everyone in the growth, a mindset to have a competitive world and most importantly a mindset to grow by oneself and not by being dependent on others or others help, support or resources (not even the government).

Now coming to the party which is running the Central Government of the country.

- I haven’t yet understood how any reservation can bring social justice and uplift people and castes, what I feel is it creates more divisions, more differences, more problems. Think about this with a rational mind set
- And we see every other day some new caste or religion or section of people hitting the road for their reservation, I believe it has become a pride to be called backward in our country. My appeal to such people and section of the country is to stop fighting to get reservation and be daring enough to stand on its own instead of depending on the government, which can just give promises and nothing more.
- I haven’t also understood how many loan waivers the government will be able to give to help the poor farmer come up in life. Can such short sighted, vote bank oriented, ill planned policy ever bring our farmers up in life, can they ever have a positive mark or change in their life or are is this just another way to please as in case of a child.

Now coming to an overall general overview of the system and of politics.

- I haven’t understood yet how can political attacking and clashes make any political party or politician feel that they are serving the country and its citizens. Will just pinpointing and accusing each other for their mistakes ever help the country actually develop.
- One government does something wrong, then the other government does some other thing wrong and then accuse each other for every other problem. Can this ever lead to something right for the country?
- I know power is very important for everyone in this world, but using the power in appropriate ways is more important than the power itself. So why don’t these political parties take an oath to do what is right for the country instead of doing what is right for their party and for the election.
Can the party in power and the opposition ever work together for the cause of the nation, does just being in power mean serving the people, and does working with the government to do social welfare not mean power. So why fight for power? If your intention is to serve the citizens of the country stop fighting for power and start fighting for good, and by the by if you want good, I don’t think you need to fight, you just need to do it.

I have never liked Indian Politics and Politicians, I can mention other hundred, thousand instances and thoughts but what’s the use if again tomorrow morning I have to read headlines of one party criticizing other and concentrating on what the other party did than what actually is the problem. God please help my country. I am just 21 and I am not able to see the kind of politics and politicians India has grown, I believe the British would have been far better, because at least their motto was clear to the people that they want to rule and not do any good, unlike Indian politicians who show one face before elections and another after elections and the 5 years they are in power end up identifying what they actually are elected for and making policies ready for winning the next election instead of using this opportunity for doing Good.

I am not for or against any particular institution or school of thought but what I just live for is Common Sense. I have very well understood so far in my life that the definition for common sense is quite different for every one, but I don’t think common sense is so complicated. I also know and agree that different people see things differently and have different ways to do the same things but I just don’t understand, is it that difficult in this world of God to have a common “Common Sense”.

If this would remain the situation of politics in the country, as I see in every forum today, god save me, I never would like to be a part of any political outfit, I am happy the way I am. I am happy with my thoughts and my Life, I neither have time for the rat race and nor energy for the bull fight going on in the country.

And yes I am not a leftist, so neither am I a rightist. I am who I am!!!!!!!