2008  

Posted by Ram in , ,


an year which has reminded us of some age old lessons, an year which has given us some great memories to cherish and above all an year which has presented us with a fantastic opportunity.

Lesson 1: Greed Kills:

Yeah it does, does not matter how big you are or how mighty you are. Ask Lehman Brothers or AIG or Barclays or the average Indian Investor for a confirmation. Everyone be it small or big forgot this simple truth and are now finding themselves in Intensive Care.

Lesson 2: Back offices can't get decoupled:

"Decoupling" a term which was on the lips of every person whom I met, everyone spoke of India as an Insulated Economy conveniently forgetting the fact that India's growth was predominantly driven by the Service and the Manufacturing Industries which catered mainly to the needs of the US n Europe. Now that Europe n US find themselves in a deep recession, India has started to feel the heat. Time to move on and become a world leader and not remain a back office of the world.

Lesson 3: Nothing lasts forever

Be it the Australian Supremacy in Cricket or the Dominance of Federer in the lawns of Wimbledon or the American hegemony in Olympics, nothing lasts forever, everything has got to come to an end.

Lesson 4: Pseudo Secularism Hurts

As the Congress government in India is now finding out. Having taken a soft stand on terrorism to please the minorities, congress is now finding itself in a huge hole getting out of which is not only necessary but mandatory for its survival. Too bad that it has taken so many unfortunate incidents for Congress to realize this.

2008 also gave us some wonderful memories to cherish

Who can ever forget the sight of Micheal Phelps winning his 8th Gold to beat Spitz's record of 7 gold medals. Here was a man who came with a mission and he achieved it in style. Donno when and by whom will this record will be broken but I am pretty sure that it is going to remain unchallenged for a long time to come.

Usain Bolt's stunning runs in the 100 and 200 metres at Beijing. I cannot forget forever the adrenaline rush that i felt when Usain ran his 200 metres. Bolt is now gearing himself for breaking the 400 metres record and I am already looking forward to it.

Spain got the monkey of its back, with a stunning performance to lift Euro 2008. They played like true champions and Torres and Villa became superstars. As i had written before, Euro 2008 was a wonderful spectacle and its end made me really sad.

Rafeal Nadal winning his first Wimbledon title after an epic struggle. Federer or Fading light nothing could deter Nadal from his destination. I was reminded of "Rumble in the Jungle". I had read so much about it and here I was watching a similar contest. A Match for a lifetime.

Now to the Opportunity, well I have said this time and again and now I end with the quotes of 2 of the greatest Investors of of all time, Buffet's "Be Greedy when others are Fearful and Vice Versa" and Sir John Templeton's quote "Before this century is over, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will probably be over one million versus around 10,000 now. So for the long-term, the outlook is tremendously bullish if you buy stocks blindly to keep for a century."

Lets Take the lessons of 2008 and remember dear friends that "People who don't remember the past are bound to get punished in the future". Njoy 2009 and lets hope and strive for a peaceful and hunger free world in 2009.

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Thoroughly Entertaining  

Posted by Ram in ,


A marathon journey and had it not been for Movies and Music, the journey would have been excruciatingly painful one too. Thanks to technology,I was able to keep myself engaged and entertained for the length of the journey.

By the end of the Journey I can say, i became eligible to call myself as "A Movie Addict" and a "Music Maniac". 6 movies in a span of 21 hours is I believe too high a number by any yardstick. The good thing about the whole exercises however was that most of them were real good, with a couple of them in the league of "Extra Ordinary".

All started off with "Sparrow" a Chinese movie, which deals with the story of a pick pocket and his gang of men and how they go about freeing a girl from a Big Shot. It was a a movie which started off well and tapered off towards the end. Then came Taimur n Shafia an Arabic movie which dealt with the story of lovers and the ego clashes between them. The movie must have been made as a full fledged comedy movie, however the director made it a regular commercial flick by adding some unnecessary elements towards the end.

After 2 movies i got a bit tired of movies and I moved to the Music Section where Haydn provided me not only the much needed entertainment but great comfort with his symphony Number 88.

With over brimming joy i returned back to continue my movie marathon and resumed it with "45 Yoam" an Arabic movie, which deals with the mindset of a youngster, who is charged with having murdered his parents. Did he really murder them? If so why did he do it?, the movie although moves on predictable lines in the second half makes for a good watch with a really moving climax. Wall- E followed and Pixar Studios with this movie have covered a subject which is not a subject which is usually covered by Animation movies. Handling a sensitive subject and handling it with finesse,the makers have made an all time great movie.

After taking a short nap and recharging myself i switched back to watch "The Dark Knight" and i felt so happy and joyous after watching this all time classic. If i were to write about this movie that alone would take up a few pages on itself. If Heath ledger's performance was brilliant to say the least, the Script work was simply out of the world. The whole angle in which the subject has been approached and dealt with calls for a "Thumbs Up". Amazing movie. After a series of emotional movies i needed to get myself out of that mood and i decided to go for Mamma Mia a light hearted musical characterized by Cool songs, awesome locations and an average screenplay.

After all this, i still had time and what better way to spend time rather than to listen John Williams, Indiana Jones, ET, Jaws, Jurassic Park,Goodness Me!!! Hats off to U Sir. And when my journey ended and i reached my Native Place with Superman and Olympic Fanfare theme ringing in my ears, I felt like a KING notwithstanding the fact that I dont have a fortune or a Kingdom or a Queen ;)

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Slum Dog Millionaire- Lay Man's Review  

Posted by Ram in

A movie which holds a mirror and shows to us the real India, thts Slumdog Millionaire for you.


Getting into the details.

Story:"Rags to Riches" story, nothing more am i going to reveal here :|.

Screenplay: Brilliantly written screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. Rather than going on for pages and pages about how wonderfully written script it is, I would like to say "Make the script of this movie a part of the curriculum for Film Institute students".

Cinematography: It actually never struck me that I was watching a movie, Now isn't that enough to speak about the quality of the cinematography?? Simply Stunning work by Anthony Dod Mantle

Editing: Huh, I m running short of adjectives here :(, I was not able to find a single shot extra in spite of the fact that the movie oscillates back and forth between 2 time periods,which makes editing all the more difficult. Hats off to Chris Dickens.

Music: A R Rahman is here to stay in Hollywood is what I can say after watching this movie. Background score is not only about composing music to elevate the scenes, but it also about silence. There are a few places in any movie where u feel that Silence is the best elevator, U don't spoil that by music. U let the audience feel that silence, let that feeling sink in them. A R Rahman has done that brilliantly and the Music is bound to haunt u for a long time to come. I Promise.


Casting: Ever thought as to why Hollywood is able to churn out far better movies than what Bollywood or for that matter any "Wood" in India. Simple, Hollywood is more "Professional" and no where is this more exemplified than in the case of a Casting Director. I don't even know if there is any Casting Director in any of the "Woods" in India. Kudos to the Casting Directors Lovelaan Tandon and Gail Stevens of this movie for having made the apt choices for all the roles.

Direction: I am sure we are going to hear lots and lots more about this director Danny Boyle. He deserves a pat on his back or rather a standing ovation for making such a Honest "Raw" movie and making it so entertaining. He hits you hard with reality and portrays brillaintly the the huge Inequality that exists in the Indian Society,at the same time he has made sure that he has made the movie as an entertainer and not as a boring advice soap opera.

Performances: Each character lives in its role. Is there a bigger praise that I can heap on the artists?? If so let me know please.

My Favorite Scenes:

"When the Kid jumps into a pool of shit and gets up and runs without washing himself to get the autograph of Amitabh Bachan",the director clearly shows the go getter nature of the character in this single scene.

"When the hero says "I Donno" to the police officer who asks to name him the personality who is on the 1000 Indian Rupee Note. Another scene which shows to us how even Independence of 5 decades has not made much of a change to the lives of these people and they have not even got the opportunity to earn a decent livelihood.

When the hero says "Had it not been for Ram and Allah i would have still had a mother"

Yeah thts enf :), I might give away all the scenes at this rate.

To sum it all up "Slumdog Millionaire Hits the Jackpot"









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Tit Bit-7  

Posted by Ram in

Back in May we spoke about the poor handling of the Gujjars issue by Rajasthan's Chief Minsiter Vasundra Raje Scindia. The poor handling of the issue meant Vasundra Raje lost the trust of both the castes and this coupled with neglect for the masses in general has cost this election for the BJP and Vasundra Raje


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Bagavad Gita N Me  

Posted by Ram in ,

Disclaimer: Well, Unlike Corporates who usually issue disclaimers in Font 4 at the end, I will issue my disclaimer right at the start. This article is not meant to hurt the feelings of any section of people, nor do I claim any great proficiency in the field of philosophy. In case if someone feels hurt I apologize and any contradicting views are always welcome.


Bagavad Gita one of the finest philosophical works of all time. In my opinion it is quite unfortunate that the "label" of religion has been cast on this.

I have always looked upon this as a text written by a great philosopher to explain the turmoil that an Individual goes through when he/she has got to make tough decisions and how should the Individual go about it to come out successfully from that situation.

Arjuna and Krishna are 2 characters, with Arjuna symbolizing the troubled Human Mind and Krishna representing the pure knowledge that exists within all of us and to which every human reaches out to during desperate times or times of confusion knowingly or unknowingly. The entire Bagavad Gita is about the Inner Turmoil that happens within an Individual and how he manages to find that pure knowledge or God or Hunch or Intuition or "X" factor within himself.

Sounds pretty confusing isn't it? That's precisely the reason why these characters were created to make it simpler and to avoid lot of misinterpretations. OK all that in detail for another occasion. Coming to its impact or my own experience now.

There is a place in Bagavad Gita where Krishna asks Arjuna not to worry about the result and to remain detached from it. Very recently i had an experience which made me realize the importance of doing that.

The beauty if I can call it that way was that it was a very trivial issue, where in stead of doing what i could do best, I became so anxious about the result which pretty much was not in my hands. It got to me so much that I ended up making a mess out of the whole thing.

Down I was when this saying from the Gita struck me like a Bolt out of the Blue Sky. Wow!! I said to myself and the next day I happened to hit upon a Zen Story which advocated on the same lines. Finally I must say that i have realized (note the word, it is not "Knowing" but "Realizing") what it means to have a target and work towards it but not get too obsessed with so much so that you end up messing things up or failing to look at the larger picture and finally end up way short of it.


P.S: Had the Financial Geniuses too remained a bit detached they would not have got too obsessed and made the mistake of missing the larger picture which was that the main product was wealth for Shareholders and their own profit was a by product of that. They got too obsessed with their welfare that they ended up missing the larger picture. Hopefully things get right from now on at least.

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Thinking...  

Posted by Ram in


For the last 4 years the genius Fund managers, Investment Bankers and Rating agencies forgot their role and befriended Mr. Greed and went on devising method after method, product after product and scheme after scheme to make themselves rich. However apart from the top honchos most of the middle level managers have ended up jobless and are now pondering over their future. The sad part however is that they have taken down along with them millions of general public who believed in the wisdom of the Investment Bankers and the credibility of the Rating Agencies

Thanks to Greed,we have learnt a few terms like Stimulus, Recession and Bailout.These words have become an integral part of our life in the last few months. Turn on the Television or pick up any newspaper you will for sure hit upon at least one of these words. It all started off with USA and its 700 billion dollar bailout, EU followed with its own 130 Billion Euro Stimulus package, Britan is planning for a 100 billion dollar package and China is planning for a massive 586 Billion Dollar Stimulus package, India too on its part is considering a 10 Billion Dollar Stimulus package.While the devloped countries are doling out these packages to prevent recession, the Developing world is providing the stimulus to make sure that the growth is maintained.

All of a sudden a Billion looks like a very small amount :).I have got one doubt about these stimulus packages and their long term effects. I might sound very stupid, for my knowledge on economics is nothing great, but i still would want to put forward this doubt and get it cleared.
While I cant agree more on the fact that we do need stimulus as tightening Interest rates and sucking out money from the system is going to dent the confidence ( assuming some of it is still left) more and create further panic, I am still not sure as to how the economists and the central bankers are planning to tackle the situation of excess money which will be the case when the economy turns around.

Raising interest rates and sucking out surplus from the system, seems to be the obvious way out, but i have got one question, When things start to go well, will the Financial Organisations allow the Fed or for that matter the other Central Banks to raise Interest rates and dampen the good mood? Agreed they might not be as powerful as they once were, but still do the Governments have it in them to go against powerful Corporates and raise interest rates and make sure that excess money is sucked out of the system thereby preventing the creation of an Inflationary environment and an asset bubble?

The fact that too much of cheap money was available was the biggest reason behind the rampant Inflation which the world experienced and the Sub Prime Crisis, now will we see Central Banks learning from their mistakes or will "History Repeat Itself"?

P.S: The whole of India must thank Mr Y.V.Reddy the former RBI Governer of India.His conviction and his boldness to increase the Interest Rates notwithstanding the directions from Finance Ministry and the other Intellectuals has protected Indian Banks and Finacial Institutions from entering the Sub Prime Game. Hats off to You Sir!!!

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A Look Back  

Posted by Ram in


Six months have just got over in a jiffy. Yes, Jiffy is the right word. So how has the experience been ?


Let me start off with what i had in my mind, based on what i had heard from people before i came hereto Canada. "Awesome place","20 years ahead in all aspects of life","One of the best places to live in"and "Culture less place" were the most common things i heard.

So now having spent some time here, what would be my view of the place?

Let me begin with the bright spots

Quality of Life:No point in comparing i feel since the quality of life here is definitely better than what is prevalent in India

Inclusive Growth:  A truck driver here earns enough to lead a quality life with all basic amenities. Wonder how many of the truck drivers can do the same in India? 

Respect: Regardless of Ur profession, financial status or color u r looked upon as a normal human being and not as anything else. People warned me about Racial Discrimination, before i came here but i must admit that i have never seen anything of that during my stay here. People have been really hospitable. I am not issuing any generalized statements here nor am I going to do so for i have not seen most parts of this country. But all I am trying to say is that for people who associate Racial Discrimination with the Western world are just like the people who in west associate India with Snake Charmers, "IMMATURE".

Technology: I have said this time and again and I think this wont be the last time either. Their focus and Investments on technology is their biggest strength. Technology has helped them cut down on Red Tapism ( one of India's biggest drawbacks) apart from improving productivity and efficiency.

Self Discipline: Rules can be framed, technology employed and people be monitored, but rules are nothing if people are not going to adhere to it. Fear alone cannot be used as a weapon for long period of time.People here seem to  realize that these rules are made to make life better for them and follow it willingly. Indian immigrant population also follows the rule to the dot. Hope my friends remember to do that when they come to India too.

Of course no place in the world is all white, there are some grey areas too, grey areas  more from the economical point of view

Spending: I am pretty sure that when parents asked their Kids to live alone and fend for themselves they must have done so with the Intent of making their kids understand the value of Money and thereby hoping to make them wise spenders of money. However as with many other things in life, this has backfired, the effort to make them realize the value of money has in my opinion gone awry or rather backfired. People in stead of becoming wise spenders have become reckless spenders, People shop for things without thinking whether they really need it or not in the first place. Such kind of spending has only made them more reliant on their paychecks and failure to get one makes them go bust. I only hope that they realize it sooner and start spending judiciously.

Shrinking Population Base: presents a big problem since a shrinking population base means that the population is skewed in terms of the aged and since the govt takes care of all the pension and the health programs and it does so out of the tax money it generates, an ageing population means less Tax Money as the number of young people who can work is reduced and it also means greater strain on the Government.Population Control was instrumental in their development but now the time has come where they need to make sure to do the opposite. Time for the Government to start taking measures for that.

Shrinking Population base is also not good for the Corporates since what it means is that they have a smaller customer base to target and achieve growth. That will only lead to excessive discounts and attempts to lure the customers to spend more and more and more and in turn will lead to more reckless spending, which is not good news. 


So whats my final take on the stay "Enjoyable" :)

Glossary:"Quality of Life" covers the overall standard of life and a better standard means less corruption, less bureaucratic negligence, less pollution

Disclaimer: I have written this out of my own personal experiences and my own observations. Also this is no attempt to degrade India. I have written these things with the most objective of mindset and in fact I would be the most happiest person if India can achieve this standard of Living, without becoming the reckless spenders.








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