Girish's Blog

Mr. Obama has put in place a US$ 1.75 trillion deficit budget to try and kick start the crumbling economy in the US. This includes US$ 787 billion to be handed over to failing banks as dole so that innocent depositors do not lose their shirts while rich bankers and Wall Street types milk the system with unwarranted bonuses in spite of huge losses. Well, well, well – what does this imply – is the US going towards nationalization of banks which accept Government aid. Looks like wanton capitalism is taking a back seat to a bit of socialism in the principal capitalist nation in the world. Reality bites I would call it. Another interesting part of this humungous deficit funding by the US is the dole to Pakistan – a miniscule US$ 5 billion towards a one time bailout for its economy and military. This is over and above the US$ 1.5 billion which the US gives Pakistan annually as dole. The interesting part is the handout is in spite of Government auditors confirming that Pakistan has fudged rec...

You must have guessed by now the meaning of the title…(those readers who do not know Hindi “kaun” means ‘who’). ‘Kaun Guess’ is a play on ‘Congress’ which went overboard yesterday in claiming credit for the movie getting eight Oscars. I think they definitely have a right to take credit…..because without their active connivance the movie would not have been possible…..in sixty two years post independence of ruling the state (except for a brief period of 5 years of Shiv Sena rule), they have actively connived in perpetuating the slums and helping them grow in Mumbai. Mumbai should appropriately be re-named Slumbai! Just imagine if the Congress had actually governed we would never have had slums…..so no movie would have been made…..so no Oscar would have been awarded……so Kaun guess karo Slumdog…. I bet you guessed right!! But I cannot give you a million dollars for the right guess….so sorry. Slums in Mumbai are a huge vote bank….the electoral rolls get updated…..most of the middle class d...

You know elections are round the corner when: daily you see large full page advertisements being put out by the Government showcasing its “achievements” that too using tax payers hard earned money. the Finance Minister announces certain indirect tax concessions just a week after announcing the interim budget – at that point pretending to be a saint and saying tax concessions are inappropriate with elections round the corner....hmmmmmm. the Oscars for Slumdog, suddenly are an achievement of the Congress Party (TOI headlines February 24, 2009) …… more on that in a separate post. the Government announces free houses for two of the six children only – is it because they are from the minority community…..smacks of partisan electioneering. If at all it was necessary, free education should have been given to all the kids…. What guarantee houses won’t be sold by the parents?? The government starts pushing proposals through cabinet to utilize unspent budgets….70 plans get the nod. For the last ...

Last week has been very interesting in relation to the reactions of the international politicians with respect to the Pakistani government-military nexus with the so called “Taliban” in the SWAT valley. You have Hillary Clinton ranting away - “the activity by the extremists in Pakistan poses a direct threat to the government of Pakistan as well as to the security of the United States, Afghanistan and a number of other nations.” Hello!! Where the hell have you been m’am? India has shouted itself hoarse over the activities of Pakistan which has been using the ISI (or the other way around, doesn’t matter) for various terror attacks in India, presumably over Kashmir for the past twenty years and more! But no, its all about geo-strategic interests, all short sighted with blinkered vision, with the so called US interests in mind. The Pakistanis have still not got over the fact that they lost East Pakistan in 1971, because of its own negligent treatment of the region which is now Bangladesh. ...

There is a movement going on, initiated by Philip deSouza, to get in touch with all the students who passed out in 1977. The movement has gathered in frenzy and almost everyone from the batch have jumped on to the bandwagon. A Facebook group has been created where all the people are now connecting, thereby bringing back extremely warm and fond memories of the great time we had at school. The purpose of writing this blog is not to go on and on about the batch, but rather to highlight the fact that the school gave us all not only a great academic education but also instilled in all of us values which, I am sure, - I speak for the entire batch – have stood the test of time. I was just going through the list of students, and what strikes me now, is that there were so few “Maharashtrians” in the entire batch – we had students from all communities, Catholics, Parsis, Muslims, and Hindus – but never once in my entire ten years in school were we ever discriminated on grounds of race, religion,...

Times have really changed from the early days of my childhood. In those days the family doctor used to mean everything. He used to treat the medical as well as mental symptoms – he used to be more of a family friend than a physician. He used to talk about medicines and also participate in family discussions, he used to be more of a friend, philosopher and guide to the family. With the passage of time, the medical profession started becoming more and more specialized and commercial, in the bargain quite a few doctors have forgotten the Hippocratic Oath which they take at the time of passing out as young doctors. In the West, because of the threat of being legally penalized, doctors do not take even a small decision without running the patient through a gamut of tests. In India, earlier a doctor used to physically examine the patient by hand and stethoscope, listen to the symptoms described by the patient and arrive at a pretty accurate clinical decision and start to treat the patient. I...

I have been thinking about the above acronym for quite some time. What comes to mind when you think of the alphabets – ‘P’ and ‘C’ taken together? Well if you are a well read person who follows politics – Mr. P. Chidambaram comes straight to mind – PC the ex-finance minister and current home minister. PC in white lungi and kurta is a sight for sore eyes - he has dazzled the UPA government with the last four budgets – been part of the growing economic hype and was handed over the finance ministry when the curtains have more or less come down on the global economy. A PM in waiting has got the finance ministry again after 24 years – Pranab Mukherjee I meant – and this poor guy had to present a Vote on Account in the election year. He has come out with a damp squib of an interim budget, by-passing the chance to score brownie points - all to the considerable relief of the opposition BJP. Have you ever heard of someone in politics holding a PC – hmmmmmm – holding Mr. Chidambaram? – not on yo...

The USA for its geo-strategic purposes armed the Taliban so that they could get the USSR out of Afghanistan. This subsequently lead to the balkanization of the USSR. But by arming the Taliban the US has let the genie out of the bottle. The Afghans are great warriors and terrific hosts – but you cannot afford to have them as enemies for sure. US and Pakistan interests began clashing in the Pakistan backyard, that is when the Pakistan through the ISI, started clandestinely supporting the Taliban in trying to evict the government of the day in Afghanistan. Pakistan is dying to have some semblance of control over Afghanistan as that control gives it strategic depth against India. India for its part has spent millions of dollars in re-building Afghan infrastructure, thus trying to gain the Afghan Governments and peoples’ confidence. Looks like these four nations are tied together by an umbilical cord of discord! Once the Russians were out of Afghanistan and post 9/11, the US started hunting...

I distinctly remember during my school and college days there was no particular fetish for “western” festivals like valentines day, mothers day, fathers day, friendship day etc. With the growth of the global economy and with more and more disposal income, marketing whiz kids came out with strategies to tap into this income. If you have observed, it is only in the last five to six years that all these “days” are being talked off and “celebrated”. Indian culture per se is family oriented, though with the pressures of modern day living some of us may not really understand the term family support. All you need to do is be a first generation migrant to the west to truly understand the meaning of “family support”. Earlier we used to have joint families – now we have nuclear families, so much so that children have started staying away from their parents or putting their parents in old age homes. The popular family slogan of “hum do hamare do” probably does not hold good any more as couples th...

I have been thinking of writing a few lines based on what we learnt in management and what I have experienced over the years in real life. Academically there are quite a few styles of management – namely Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Charismatic, Democratic/Participative, Laissez-faire, People oriented/relations-oriented, Servant, Task-oriented, Transactional and Transformational. These different approaches or “styles” to leadership are based on various assumptions and theories. The style that fits one may not fit another as they are based on a combination of beliefs, values and preferences as well as on the corporate or organizational culture wherein the norms may encourage some styles and discourage others. Autocratic and Bureaucratic styles are self explanatory. I would like to analyze the charismatic style in slightly more detail as this method is more individualistic and could vary from person to person – though remaining the same at the core. Charismatic relies on the charisma of the...

The subject of “Slumdog Millioanire” has been flogged to death by a whole host of people – specially after Mr. Bacchan’s comments on his blog. The movie has been going from strength to strength with awards galore and is also expected to bag a couple of Oscars! The movie has been brilliantly made and the music is something which you carry with you when you leave the theatre. This post is not about a critical analysis of the movie – I definitely am not competent to do that. Just one factual error which came to mind was whether the slums shown in the movie are Dharavi (as depicted) or Kurla. I say Kurla because I have not seen any airport which is close to Dharavi, the only slums which are almost a part of the airport are the Kurla slums. What I wanted to write about is the hullabaloo being made on the sleazy underbelly of Mumbai – bad for tourism, India is not only slums, etc. But why run away from facts, that is how our slums are – they are ruled by slumlords who have the backing of som...

That is the headline in today’s Times of India. Guess what? How do you get today’s youth interested in the Army? Is it because of patriotism towards one’s motherland? How patriotic are our politicians? Would love to see even one of them join the army. But I am digressing. The whole point of this post is to highlight the fact that the Armed Forces in India just do not et paid well as compared to the civil services. You know why – the bureaucrats in cahoots with the politicians are the guys who decide the paycheck for the armed forces. You have the 6th Pay Commission handing out hefty increments to all the civil services – you have the Maharashtra State Government (which by the way is perpetually broke) giving its bureaucrats a hefty pay hike (don’t know where the money will come from – more taxes maybe). In contrast you have the faujis returning their medals of honor to the President in protest against the step motherly treatment given by the 6th Pay Commission. Is that not a sorry sigh...

During the course of interrogation of the PWC partners, it has been found out that the auditors were part of the fudging process – in fact they have admitted to the fact. The partners, it is reported, were part of the monthly meeting by a core “accounting group” which used to meet to strategize on accounts to be presented to the public. I wonder how auditors could ever be a part of the accounting strategy team! Definitely a conflict of interest in my view! Accounting strategy and audit – it’s like saying the policeman is advising the robber on how to go about looting without getting caught! The PWC partners admission has left the profession smelling of decay. We should be thinking rationally in bringing about reform to stop the stink from becoming universal and for regaining the lost confidence of the public from accountants. How can an MNC firm with regulatory oversight in various countries take the risk of destroying its global reputation? This is the same question which was raised w...

The Chief Ministers statement that the parents of people going to pubs should be responsible for their welfare was not only shocking but points to the cowardly impotence of the Government – all the more tragic as it is a BJP government in power. This party is supposed to be modern, forward looking and for the middle classes and they are the guys who are running away with their tail between their legs when a fringe right wing faction of their ilk decides to gain some publicity. Instead of treating this as a routine law and order problem and slamming the jerks into jail – we have the courts release them and the sensation hungry media running after them to showcase and publicize their views! I think the media is more worried about TRP’s than in balanced reporting of newsworthy items! If the government is going to abdicate it’s responsibility on protecting the public from hooligans and ask the parents of the victims to do their job, then I do not see any reason why the tax payers money sho...

Today’s Times of India has reported that the youth in modern India are falling into a debt trap. There are examples of youngsters who have borrowed heavily to invest / trade in the stock market. Some people would have borrowed using their credit card, some would have borrowed based on their salary and some against existing securities. But the end object of most of these guys seems to be to trade in the stock markets or commodities markets and make some money. There is no harm in trading in the stock markets – but the whole ball game changes when the “GREED” factor comes into the human psyche – that is when people start over-extending themselves to try and beat the stock markets. This is encouraged in all probability by one or two instances of making some good amount in the initial trades on the stock exchange. I have seen a lot of people being sucked into the market like this – making some money initially and then getting burnt to exit the markets with only debts left to pay off! There...

There is a difference between strikes and bandhs. Strikes are undertaken by employees who have genuine grievance against their employers – maybe on grounds of inadequate salary/bonus, bad/unsafe work environment, injustice to a member of the trade union etc. What are bandhs? Loosely defined “bandh” means closed in Hindi. Bandh in the Indian context means a form of political protest wherein the aggrieved political party declares a strike for a day, either in a city, State or the entire country. It could be a “Mumbai bandh”, “Maharashtra bandh” or “Bharat bandh” for whatever grounds the party maybe protesting. When a “bandh” is declared by a political party, the public is expected to sit at home and offices, business establishments, shops and public transport are supposed to be shut an inoperative. “Bandhs” are supposed to be a powerful means of civil disobedience. Because this form of protest has a huge impact on the local community, bandhs as a form of political protest are feared by t...

During the current tour of Sri Lanka Sachin Tendulkar has been literally shown the finger by the umpires every time! Poor guy, feel sorry for him. Apart from opposition bowlers he has to be careful of the umpires also. I guess most of the foreign umpires derive sadistic pleasure in showing him the finger. Maybe they feel that giving Sachin out earns them brownie points with the ICC! If any statistician has the records to show how many times Sachin has been “umpired” out rather than have his wicket taken by the opposition it would reveal an abnormally high percentage. Maybe Sachin’s average would have been much higher than his current 54 and 44 or thereabouts in Tests one dayers respectively. It is tragic that the public is deprived of watching a player of Sachin’s class just due to the inefficiency of bumbling or biased umpires. Poor guy just smiles and walks off. It is so reminiscent of how players used to treat Pele during his heyday. He was the most roughly tackled football player p...

It has been reported that the Mangalore pub attackers have been let off on bail. In fact they were all being displayed on TV walking out of court in a cocky manner with a huge grin on their faces. Just goes to prove that women in modern India are considered subconsciously by one and all to be kept at home to cook and bear children. When will people realize that the modern woman walks shoulder to shoulder with any man and in many cases has the emotional quotient apart from the intellectual one to surpass man in almost all fields of endeavor. By letting these goons off, a message has been sent that violence against women will not be punished, with even the cops siding with the goons by not making an effective enough case for these jerks to be kept behind bars for a long time. The fact that letting off these people is just going to create more trouble can be seen by the fact that the Sri Ram Sene has already issued warnings against celebration of Valentine’s Day. As the world has become f...

The Right to Information Act was passed in 2005 with the express intent of bringing in transparency in the functioning of public authorities. “Information” as defined therein means “any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any law for the time being in force”. The definition of “public authority” as given therein means “any authority or body or institution of self- government established or constituted— (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any—(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially fin...

The big news was of Yuki Bhambri winning the junior title in the Australian Open. It was a good day for India at the Open, with Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles losing in the finals to the Bryans. Sania and Mahesh went on to win the mixed doubles title – Sania getting her first and Mahesh his eleventh. Also this was the first time that an all Indian pair has won a Slam title in the mixed doubles. Kudos to them and hope their performance helps and encourages others to take to sports. There is pretty good money and hopefully we Indians will get it out of our heads that only a college degree can get you a job. If kids are talented, it is the parents’ responsibility to nurture that talent to achieve its full potential. Today - a talented sportsperson earns far more money in the five to ten years that he he/she plays than an average salary earner can hope to make in a lifetime. Hence, if there is talent which is visible – then it should be nurtured – else I feel we will be failing in our du...