The un-Commonwealth games

I have been receiving messages from my friends in Britain about some juicy dope on the ill fated games that are likely to start in a few days. I am ashamed that some greedy individuals in the position of authority have brought immense disrepute to the nation and to Indians at large.

While I am worried about the images that are being flashed across the world media, the collapsing bridges and the filth, I have a strong belief in the fire fighting abilities of Indian managers who perform far better in times of crisis. The games will be over even before they start and if my guess is anything to go by – with negligible glitches. But I cannot help but stop and reflect as to why India is topmost on the corruption index and why it is still growing at 9% annually and how on earth are we still as resilient as we are that every single business school across the globe is doing case studies on Indian businesses and entrepreneurship.

India is the only country that has never ever attacked any other country in its recorded existence. Instead, it has continuously been attacked and plundered by proselytising invaders. The Mughals and the British have had the maximum impact. Lord Macaulay addressed the British Parliament on 2nd Feb 1835 – “I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation”

So the Plunderers have been successful in inducing the gene of corruption and lethargy amongst the population of the country that invented the ‘0’ and algebra amongst hundreds of significant discoveries that changed the life of people forever.

But here I am not propounding achievements by Indians. I am making a simple point. We have come a long way in the last 60 years ever since we got our independence. We are still healing our scars left by over 200 years of suppression. And it will be a while before our genetic makeup stops fighting starvation, corruption and suppression.

The wealth in any case was not common or else David wouldn’t have said what he said - David Cameron “I know there is also a great argument about the original provenance of the Kohinoor diamond. I'm afraid this will disappoint viewers, but it's going to have to stay put. What tends to happen with these questions is that if you say yes to one, you suddenly find the British Museums will be emptied”. So what do I say – An empire and its alleged history and treasures are all a result of mass plundering – the world over.

Meanwhile it’s pertinent to mention that that the games village is actually looking good and hopefully everything would be just fine.

The rules of the global game have changed

US, Japan, Germany and UK (top 4) contribute roughly 40% of the global GDP and have held this position for a relatively long period of time.

Settlement in a western country used to be a thing of pride at one point of time and in some pockets of the world - it still is. In the hinterland of Punjab in India many people would erect large concrete airplanes on their rooftops to indicate that someone from that house is either settled in Canada, US or the UK. Within the village community, that family would be looked at with respect.

Employment opportunities were galore. The great Western dream (derivative of the great American dream) was a reality and anyone who had the will could have his way.

The biggest catalyst that drives an economy is its infrastructure impetus. Roads, Dams, Bridges, Power plants, Industry. For a long time (many decades after the II world war) these sectors were in a constant state of development and progress.

Steel consumption in the US rose in the post-War boom years from 50 million tonnes in 1946 to peak at 110 million tonnes in 1975 and then started declining to reach around 90 million tonnes last year. More significantly, employment in the US steel industry has gone down from over 500,000 in 1974 to less than 150,000 now. The second fundamental structural change has to do with a decline in the cost competitiveness of western manufactured goods arising from a steady increase in the wage costs. This has caused a shift to low wage countries in the east, first of manufacturing and, later on, even of services. Ironically, the unionised labour in the west, which was responsible for the high wage spiral, has been the worst hit by job losses in the current slowdown.

More than often I wonder that if all the infrastructure that is required for a given country is in place, what will drive the economy of such countries with an aging population and torn social fabric. My assumption is that the infrastructure demand of the top 4 peaked out at the turn of this century. Smart people saw an opportunity and shifted focus to financial products that started driving the economic indicators. CDO’s came into being and the ‘top few’ managed to maintain that position for another decade before the bubble burst and the world almost reached a precipice of collapse.

And the rules of the global game changed!

The western world has made itself totally uncompetitive by its wage system, social system and artificially expensive currencies that have killed the local industry.

Protectionism in immigration policies and trade policies is providing a seemingly effective shield to the western world. It cannot last.

The world is flat now and if Darwin is anything to go by – “Only the fittest will survive”

The world is still full of very nice people – and the planet has 'hope' for itself

Search for a room in London can be quite frustrating. As a student one not only fights against time, the onerosity of travel and a diminishing bank balance but also with the issue of potential landlords asking for references, large security deposits and the fear of unknown.

I kept my hope high and during one of these searches, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a family that had 2 rooms to-let. Big and small. The big was bigger than my budget, the small was smaller than my imagination. They not only sensed my inability to pay a large deposit but also sensed that I could not afford the room that I liked.

What they said later was quite beatific. “We will be happy to waive off the security deposit and you can take the bigger room for the price of the smaller one only if you promise to revise the rent on your own – the moment you get a job”.

This is what I call cosmic intervention.

Hope within individuals proves the mankind’s belief in God. Hope drives the macrocosm (It’s a different story that till some time back the investment bankers thought – they did). Hope for a better life, better job, better salary, more wealth. A man without hope is ‘hopeless’ and it would be very selfish to say that hope is a function of one’s belief in oneself. It isn’t. It’s a result of our hidden belief in ‘The Unknown’. The higher the hope the closer we would be to God.

The bottom line – Keep your hope high and your karma correct and in order. The cosmic hand will guide you thru and the temporal tribulations will melt away into the unknown.

Very Anticipatingly Yours

In 1928, philologist and lexicographer H. W. Fowler gave a new order to salutations and closures in letters and confused the world amongst sincerely, faithfully, truly and very truly. Even though I have utmost regard for the English language (as this is one common thread that binds the world), last few weeks of writing business letters (basically request for job letters) left me wondering. Why??

Gone are the days when letters were written to friends and relatives to remain in touch - text has taken that responsibility.
Love is no longer communicated thru perfumed, painfully handwritten calligraphic letters – facebook, online dating sites etc are enough.
‘Mate’ and ‘Cheers’ defines the entire spectrum of salutation and politeness even in this country where English language has some momentous roots.

And I strongly feel that with the exception of the readers of this blog, human race today is neither ‘very faithful’ nor ‘very sincere’.

We write letters because we expect something in return.

Why not do away with the false pretence?

Let’s stick to ‘very anticipatingly yours’!!

The British Summers

Human beings in general have a habit of being in a denial mode. Last year for the 1st 9 months of 2008 the economists of the world were in a denial mode about recession and made the world believe that recession might never strike and could possibly be averted. It took a Lehman and a dozen banks in succession to formally declare recession. And by that time it was too late. I kept wondering why were the economists in a denial mode.

A similar analogy can be drawn with the ‘British Summers’. The summer season is allegedly in full swing. People refuse to carry their umbrellas. On a cloudy day when the temperature is sub 15 degrees and the Cumulonimbus is ready to enact Shakespeare’s pathetic fallacy, it’s not uncommon to see people lying in the parks pretending to be scorched by the elusive sun.

Mortals like me who prefer to carry their jumpers and jackets are almost looked at with a degree of contempt. I am bemused when people say, ‘what a lovely weather’. I chuckle and say 'yes sure – only if you happen to be a duck’.

Why can’t we simply sacrifice this denial mode for good and be snug and warm in our jackets and avoid getting wet and catching a cold.

Britain has no summers. It only has winters and rains.

Relationships – The Essence of life

And I always thought that human memory was short and out of sight is out of mind.

No!!

Easter vacations gave me a chance to write to some families in Britain. These are people who stayed on my ship when I was commanding a happy ship ‘Charaidew’ some 7 years ago.

At that time the average age of each of my guests was 65+ (I wondered why – but we charged over 300$ per person per night and only senior people could afford) and they stayed for 2 weeks on the ship. It was my job to be a good host and besides eating and drinking with them I used to have some nice enriching conversations.

Goodbyes were interesting. A few tears, a few promises to keep in touch, a few assurances of “must meet again”. But life moved on and out of sight was out of mind.

I stole this opportunity to connect again. And I am pleasantly surprised to see my inbox and post box brimming with mails and letters.

It seems like yesterday once again. Invitations to come and spend weekends with them, A few own golf courses (so now I believe that my clubs will be put to good use), and some have promised to come and visit me here at the campus.

Sadly – some are no more.

I am overwhelmed by the politeness, charm and welcome of all these wonderful English people who remember their trip fondly and almost all of them – even the conversations.

Recessions will come and go. Jobs/Careers – All of us will eventually be all-right. But relationships last a lifetime. I can say this with a degree of confidence that nothing in life is of greater consequence than great relationships.