Once you go through the fine print in Budget 2010, you ask yourself what does it actually do - for R.K. Laxman’s “common man”. Everybody is waxing eloquent on the budget – calling it a budget for the “aam aadmi”. I would like to debate that for a moment – who is India’s aam aadmi? Is it the educated employed, is it the uneducated employed, is it the farmer, is it the son of the soil, is it India’s super rich, or is it the vast majority of unemployed who cannot afford to have a square meal a day? I leave it to you to decide who is India’s aam aadmi.
Who has the budget benefited? This is a no brainer, with the salaried tax payer and individual tax payer getting a lot of relief through stretching of the tax slabs. There is a little bit of everything for taxpayers who benefit. But what is the percentage of tax paying populace of this vast country? Excise has been raised on petrol and cement which will have a ballooning effect on prices of food and housing. The common man who is looking for relief from the high food prices may have to wait some more time for the “budget benefits” to kick in.
On the economic front even though the budget has been a decent exercise in balancing – much will depend on delivery. It is a known fact that fiscal discipline on the expenditure side is very difficult to contain with politicians of all hues taking on unviable projects for their constituencies which ultimately end in benefiting the politician and his close coterie! To bridge that gap you end up taxing the common man with more of indirect taxes!
Trying to keep the budget deficit pegged at 5.5% is going to take a herculean effort, as the fiscal management bill faces a lot of resistance. Nobody like to tighten his purse strings in government – more you spend the more chances that you end up making some money for yourself. Just have a look at first time politicians who suddenly become wealthy after five years in government – whether at local, state or national levels.
I would prefer to wait for six months to see whether the budget delivers on promise and actually manages to cut down on the budget deficit – talk is cheap, performance is what matters. I sincerely pray that this government performs so that the entire nation benefits.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Geo – Paragliding Feb 2010
The first batch of Geo Pilots started off on their paragliding course on the 19th of February from Mumbai. We had twelve adventurous souls including our Chairman who put their hearts, bodies and minds into completing the course. Day one started out with introductions students with trainers and instructors at Rangoli restaurant, Kamshet. After being briefed about the course, going through the training booklet, signing off on the Templepilots indemnity our boys were ready to fly.
We went off to a new site at Kara about 60km from Pune, a flat plateau. We had three vehicles, of which one managed to do off-roading very well – Scorpio belonging to Sanjay Sarkar – the two hired vehicles a Tata Safari and Chevrolet Tavera played safe and did not venture to do the steep climb to the training site. Our boys got off and walked in the afternoon sun for their first feel of a paraglider.
A lot of the trainees had stated that they had done a lot of adventure sports but those were all connected to the ground. There were a lot of apprehensions on flying as their feet would not be touching the ground. Tom (a Brit doctor who is now part of the Templepilots team) made us do warm up exercises specific to handling paragliders. After the warm up exercise he made us close our eyes and join our hands in a “namaste”, then rub our hands together while telling ourselves that we are going to fly and that we would be connected to earth through our energy field and there was nothing to fear. After a minute or so he told us to take our hands apart and feel the energy between the palms of our hand. I could actually feel my hands pulsating back and forth – it actually felt like there was a heart beating between my palms. This was truly fascinating – you guys should try it out sometime – as what you actually feel is your “aura”!
The first task was being introduced to the various parts of a paraglider, how to connect to the harness and how to handle the glider. Once that was done, our trainee pilots moved over to ground handling of the glider. This is real physical activity, as you have to run and get the glider over your head and keep it there on the run. The trouble is wind speed and direction affect glider balance and so does the hand position at take off. So we had a bunch of trainees, a majority of whom were not physically active before joining the course, suddenly forced into rigorous physical activity. By the end of the day everybody was pooped and ready to drop dead for the night. After de-briefing on the activities during the day and being briefed about the activities for the next day, we all left for our hotel in Lonavala. All trainee pilots were asked to fill in their log sheets and read certain sections of the training manual.
The second day began at 11am with a round of theory and the instructors going through the log sheets. The practical training schedule for the day included take off, hop and landing. The training site was at Shelar, a beautiful site for paragliders. We reached first at around 2pm followed by other flying groups. Shelar site is a good one kilometer hike through grasslands, this trek warmed up all our trainee pilots. After the instructions on what was expected of the trainee pilots, Tom made us do warm up exercises and then the prayer asking us to stay connected to earth while we fly. This was a day full of incidents as everybody was expected to run and lift the glider and take off on a gentle slope and then land. This is the most difficult part of the course, as ground handling in varying wind conditions is tough, not only on the trainees as also on the instructors, as the instructors to have to run along with the pilots and encourage them and shout out instructions. We saw a lot of our trainees falling on their face, buttocks and sides before finally getting their act together. The incident which is however etched in memory happened with one of our senior executives. He ran with his glider up, though he was bent forward and low to the ground, as his glider tilted to the left, Avi (the chief flight instructor) yelled “pull the right brake, pull the right brake), but in that fraction of a second, I don’t think Sanjay heard the shout, and as he was already tilting left he pulled the left brake and released the right brake to zero, as a result of which his glider gathered momentum and became a para sail dragging him about 150 feet in less than five seconds in a quarter circle. He zipped, bumped, hit a ditch, whirled and landed on his back after the glider had lost complete momentum. I was already running towards him and reached him just seconds after he stopped, followed by Kamlesh our HR and Tom the team doc. Sanjay had lost a lot of skin on his left hand - which took the brunt of the drag, bruises on his right hand and a dazed look on his face. Tom checked to see if he had any broken bones, then checked whether he was in shock, when he saw all was well, he cleaned up his wound. In the meanwhile I had immediately on reaching Sanjay disconnected the glider from the harness, mushroomed it and kept it aside, then helped Sanjay get out of the harness. A true sport, once Sanjay realized all was well, he walked back and said he will continue with the hops. After some time his back got sore and he could not do the hops, but his walking up the slope to tell the rest of his mates that “all ij wail” (3 Idiots ishtyle) really helped boost the rest of the guys who were in a panicky frame of mind after seeing the incident in fast forward mode! 3 cheers to Sanjay for being a true sport and an inspiration to the rest of the gang!
Everybody was cleared for their first flight by the end of the day, with almost everybody getting their take offs and landings perfected. Day three were the written exams which everyone cleared – a couple with some pushes from the instructors! On Sunday, we went to Pawana Lake, a beautiful and breath-taking site for the first flight. Sanjay went on a tandem flight with Tom, and was truly kicked about his flight, he is definitely going back to complete the course. I was asked to do the demo flight, with Parsha telling me in my ears that it would look bad if I landed on my bum! I did the demo flight and thankfully did not land on my bum! After me, everyone flew and landed perfectly! So the fear of flying alone was gone once and for all from everyone’s mind. Four of us who had landed first left for the hill after packing the gliders for our second flight. I sat on the roof of the Tavera as the vehicle was full with gliders and flyers! The second flight was an independent flight with no radio assistance from the instructors – I landed away from the runway into some bushes with my left foot getting stuck in a creeper thus bringing me to my knees – my first knee landing in ten flights! Post the flights we packed all the gliders and proceeded back to Rangoli for de-briefing and for getting the certificates on completion of the P1 paragliding course.
Well guys hope to see all of you again for the P2 course – hope to see you soaring again free as a bird with nary a care and thought – high up there just you and the wind in your ears!
A big thank you to all the flying instructors, Avi, Anita, Tom, TJ, Parsha, Ganpat and their assistants - a joy to train with guys with a great attitude and a spirit of fun while maintaining the decorum and seriousness which such training requires. A truly great group to train and fly with. Three cheers to all you guys!
We went off to a new site at Kara about 60km from Pune, a flat plateau. We had three vehicles, of which one managed to do off-roading very well – Scorpio belonging to Sanjay Sarkar – the two hired vehicles a Tata Safari and Chevrolet Tavera played safe and did not venture to do the steep climb to the training site. Our boys got off and walked in the afternoon sun for their first feel of a paraglider.
A lot of the trainees had stated that they had done a lot of adventure sports but those were all connected to the ground. There were a lot of apprehensions on flying as their feet would not be touching the ground. Tom (a Brit doctor who is now part of the Templepilots team) made us do warm up exercises specific to handling paragliders. After the warm up exercise he made us close our eyes and join our hands in a “namaste”, then rub our hands together while telling ourselves that we are going to fly and that we would be connected to earth through our energy field and there was nothing to fear. After a minute or so he told us to take our hands apart and feel the energy between the palms of our hand. I could actually feel my hands pulsating back and forth – it actually felt like there was a heart beating between my palms. This was truly fascinating – you guys should try it out sometime – as what you actually feel is your “aura”!
The first task was being introduced to the various parts of a paraglider, how to connect to the harness and how to handle the glider. Once that was done, our trainee pilots moved over to ground handling of the glider. This is real physical activity, as you have to run and get the glider over your head and keep it there on the run. The trouble is wind speed and direction affect glider balance and so does the hand position at take off. So we had a bunch of trainees, a majority of whom were not physically active before joining the course, suddenly forced into rigorous physical activity. By the end of the day everybody was pooped and ready to drop dead for the night. After de-briefing on the activities during the day and being briefed about the activities for the next day, we all left for our hotel in Lonavala. All trainee pilots were asked to fill in their log sheets and read certain sections of the training manual.
The second day began at 11am with a round of theory and the instructors going through the log sheets. The practical training schedule for the day included take off, hop and landing. The training site was at Shelar, a beautiful site for paragliders. We reached first at around 2pm followed by other flying groups. Shelar site is a good one kilometer hike through grasslands, this trek warmed up all our trainee pilots. After the instructions on what was expected of the trainee pilots, Tom made us do warm up exercises and then the prayer asking us to stay connected to earth while we fly. This was a day full of incidents as everybody was expected to run and lift the glider and take off on a gentle slope and then land. This is the most difficult part of the course, as ground handling in varying wind conditions is tough, not only on the trainees as also on the instructors, as the instructors to have to run along with the pilots and encourage them and shout out instructions. We saw a lot of our trainees falling on their face, buttocks and sides before finally getting their act together. The incident which is however etched in memory happened with one of our senior executives. He ran with his glider up, though he was bent forward and low to the ground, as his glider tilted to the left, Avi (the chief flight instructor) yelled “pull the right brake, pull the right brake), but in that fraction of a second, I don’t think Sanjay heard the shout, and as he was already tilting left he pulled the left brake and released the right brake to zero, as a result of which his glider gathered momentum and became a para sail dragging him about 150 feet in less than five seconds in a quarter circle. He zipped, bumped, hit a ditch, whirled and landed on his back after the glider had lost complete momentum. I was already running towards him and reached him just seconds after he stopped, followed by Kamlesh our HR and Tom the team doc. Sanjay had lost a lot of skin on his left hand - which took the brunt of the drag, bruises on his right hand and a dazed look on his face. Tom checked to see if he had any broken bones, then checked whether he was in shock, when he saw all was well, he cleaned up his wound. In the meanwhile I had immediately on reaching Sanjay disconnected the glider from the harness, mushroomed it and kept it aside, then helped Sanjay get out of the harness. A true sport, once Sanjay realized all was well, he walked back and said he will continue with the hops. After some time his back got sore and he could not do the hops, but his walking up the slope to tell the rest of his mates that “all ij wail” (3 Idiots ishtyle) really helped boost the rest of the guys who were in a panicky frame of mind after seeing the incident in fast forward mode! 3 cheers to Sanjay for being a true sport and an inspiration to the rest of the gang!
Everybody was cleared for their first flight by the end of the day, with almost everybody getting their take offs and landings perfected. Day three were the written exams which everyone cleared – a couple with some pushes from the instructors! On Sunday, we went to Pawana Lake, a beautiful and breath-taking site for the first flight. Sanjay went on a tandem flight with Tom, and was truly kicked about his flight, he is definitely going back to complete the course. I was asked to do the demo flight, with Parsha telling me in my ears that it would look bad if I landed on my bum! I did the demo flight and thankfully did not land on my bum! After me, everyone flew and landed perfectly! So the fear of flying alone was gone once and for all from everyone’s mind. Four of us who had landed first left for the hill after packing the gliders for our second flight. I sat on the roof of the Tavera as the vehicle was full with gliders and flyers! The second flight was an independent flight with no radio assistance from the instructors – I landed away from the runway into some bushes with my left foot getting stuck in a creeper thus bringing me to my knees – my first knee landing in ten flights! Post the flights we packed all the gliders and proceeded back to Rangoli for de-briefing and for getting the certificates on completion of the P1 paragliding course.
Well guys hope to see all of you again for the P2 course – hope to see you soaring again free as a bird with nary a care and thought – high up there just you and the wind in your ears!
A big thank you to all the flying instructors, Avi, Anita, Tom, TJ, Parsha, Ganpat and their assistants - a joy to train with guys with a great attitude and a spirit of fun while maintaining the decorum and seriousness which such training requires. A truly great group to train and fly with. Three cheers to all you guys!
Sachin – 20 years on and still going on sixteen….
Yesterdays 200 in 50 overs against South Africa – one of the top teams in the world – not a Kenya, Bangladesh or Zimbabwe – was a truly master-class performance shutting up hopefully once and for all the detractors in the media and outside. I still remember all the visual media hatchet men on India TV Aaj Tak and assorted channels talking about Sachin should make way for younger players. This, when they were aware that he was battling injury and STILL averaging around 40 in both one dayers and Tests!
The know all commentators on TV – guys who have probably used a cricket bat for washing clothes and nothing else – trying to put down an icon and a person who talks little and only performs! Anyone who does this for a living must be a very small person indeed! This recalls a quote by Malcolm X in 1964 “The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press”….”If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppresses and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” This statement is truer for the visual media, with commentators pontificating and putting forth their views on what is right and what is wrong on a very gullible and malleable viewer-ship. I distinctly remember arguing with friends that Sachin will play a few more years and that he is responsible enough to decide when he should quit – I used to walk out of discussions which were negative about Sachin and switch news channels denigrating him.
You will notice that people take great pleasure in putting down a person who has reached a peak which others can only dream of. Take Tiger Woods for instance – the jury was out on him so fast because of a personal weakness for the flesh – but does that take away his achievements on the field? With Sachin – he is squeaky clean and has maintained an iconoclastic image for the last twenty years and more. He approaches the game with the same child like enthusiasm today than when he first set out. Players have come and gone but he just continues to climb higher and higher. During Sunil Gavaskars time too, I used to switch of the TV the moment he got out. After watching poetry in motion you do not have the desire to read prose! That’s how it was with me and still is today!
The same people who put him down will now sound paeans to him – sound bites – just waiting to pounce on him the next time he performs at a slightly lesser standard - a standard set so high by him for himself – not a standard imposed on him. He is like Sergei Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva, Usain Bolt – athletes who keep raising their bar ever higher – as they are competing only against themselves.
The man remains as humble and approachable today as he was at the start of his career – he is a true human being – a Yogi – who is at peace with himself – does not need to prove anything to anybody – he has done it all – need I say more!
Hats off to a living legend and a global icon!
The know all commentators on TV – guys who have probably used a cricket bat for washing clothes and nothing else – trying to put down an icon and a person who talks little and only performs! Anyone who does this for a living must be a very small person indeed! This recalls a quote by Malcolm X in 1964 “The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press”….”If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppresses and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” This statement is truer for the visual media, with commentators pontificating and putting forth their views on what is right and what is wrong on a very gullible and malleable viewer-ship. I distinctly remember arguing with friends that Sachin will play a few more years and that he is responsible enough to decide when he should quit – I used to walk out of discussions which were negative about Sachin and switch news channels denigrating him.
You will notice that people take great pleasure in putting down a person who has reached a peak which others can only dream of. Take Tiger Woods for instance – the jury was out on him so fast because of a personal weakness for the flesh – but does that take away his achievements on the field? With Sachin – he is squeaky clean and has maintained an iconoclastic image for the last twenty years and more. He approaches the game with the same child like enthusiasm today than when he first set out. Players have come and gone but he just continues to climb higher and higher. During Sunil Gavaskars time too, I used to switch of the TV the moment he got out. After watching poetry in motion you do not have the desire to read prose! That’s how it was with me and still is today!
The same people who put him down will now sound paeans to him – sound bites – just waiting to pounce on him the next time he performs at a slightly lesser standard - a standard set so high by him for himself – not a standard imposed on him. He is like Sergei Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva, Usain Bolt – athletes who keep raising their bar ever higher – as they are competing only against themselves.
The man remains as humble and approachable today as he was at the start of his career – he is a true human being – a Yogi – who is at peace with himself – does not need to prove anything to anybody – he has done it all – need I say more!
Hats off to a living legend and a global icon!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Mumbai Tiger’s kittens – miaow
Well, well, well it has ultimately happened – the cubs have ultimately proven themselves to be kittens that too spoilt ones at that! Rahul Gandhi by one swift stroke proved to the rest of us (me too) that he has the makings of a statesman. Traveling by train while all the rabble rousers with black flags were waiting at the airport was undoubtedly a stroke of genius – connecting with the masses and showing the kittens the way forward for inclusive politics.
The demonstrators’ black flags will have to be shelved for a later day – so sad na, tch tch tch! Both the kittens are claiming that what he did is high drama – well agreed – but that is drama with class for the mass population! The kittens are left chewing sour grapes, slurp, slurp, slurp, burp, burp, burp! The burps I am sure are leaving a foul taste in the mouths of the kittens – like the saying goes “the best laid plans of mice and kittens go to waste”.
Coming to the moot question which now dwells in the minds of the kittens – “the Marathi manoos” (by the way I am one too) – “Mumbai is for Marathis”. To them I ask how many Marathis do you find driving taxis, autos, on construction sites, road building, etc. If you find one, you will be very lucky. The entire cities infrastructure has been built more or less with the blood and sweat of labor mainly from Bihar, UP, TN and Kerala. That is because the Marathi manoos finds these jobs below his dignity – he would prefer an armchair 9 to 5 job with lots of perks and no work preferably. The average Marathi manoos is lazy and does not like to work – that is why it is easy to rabble rouse and get them on the streets to vandalise and loot private and public property. Who is stopping the Marathi manoos from doing hard work on construction sites, road building etc – no one – but he would prefer to go hungry rather than do jobs which would affect his inflated ego.
The kittens have grown fat and rich – how? Have they ever had a job or a business, did their father have one from which they have inherited such wealth? Have the revenue authorities ever asked these questions? Well it is now a given that they have crores in wealth, drive vehicles costing upward of Rs. 50 lacs (try earning and then saving that kind of money honestly, you’ll know what I mean!). They dabble in real estate – with the kind of wealth they have looted/amassed they can very well employ the Marathi manoos or form a company employing only Marathis which could contribute to the national economy. Will they do something like that – naaaaaaa – you know why? Talk is cheap, that’s why! Doing requires effort, planning etc. Now who wants to work! Miaaow, I am used to being a spoilt cat! I would love to roar, but the only sound which emanates when I make the effort is a whiny miaow!!
It is time for the kittens to grow up and try and join the national mainstream with constructive politics rather than divisive, parochial politics, lest they find themselves thrown into the political wilderness with complete rejection by the masses!
The demonstrators’ black flags will have to be shelved for a later day – so sad na, tch tch tch! Both the kittens are claiming that what he did is high drama – well agreed – but that is drama with class for the mass population! The kittens are left chewing sour grapes, slurp, slurp, slurp, burp, burp, burp! The burps I am sure are leaving a foul taste in the mouths of the kittens – like the saying goes “the best laid plans of mice and kittens go to waste”.
Coming to the moot question which now dwells in the minds of the kittens – “the Marathi manoos” (by the way I am one too) – “Mumbai is for Marathis”. To them I ask how many Marathis do you find driving taxis, autos, on construction sites, road building, etc. If you find one, you will be very lucky. The entire cities infrastructure has been built more or less with the blood and sweat of labor mainly from Bihar, UP, TN and Kerala. That is because the Marathi manoos finds these jobs below his dignity – he would prefer an armchair 9 to 5 job with lots of perks and no work preferably. The average Marathi manoos is lazy and does not like to work – that is why it is easy to rabble rouse and get them on the streets to vandalise and loot private and public property. Who is stopping the Marathi manoos from doing hard work on construction sites, road building etc – no one – but he would prefer to go hungry rather than do jobs which would affect his inflated ego.
The kittens have grown fat and rich – how? Have they ever had a job or a business, did their father have one from which they have inherited such wealth? Have the revenue authorities ever asked these questions? Well it is now a given that they have crores in wealth, drive vehicles costing upward of Rs. 50 lacs (try earning and then saving that kind of money honestly, you’ll know what I mean!). They dabble in real estate – with the kind of wealth they have looted/amassed they can very well employ the Marathi manoos or form a company employing only Marathis which could contribute to the national economy. Will they do something like that – naaaaaaa – you know why? Talk is cheap, that’s why! Doing requires effort, planning etc. Now who wants to work! Miaaow, I am used to being a spoilt cat! I would love to roar, but the only sound which emanates when I make the effort is a whiny miaow!!
It is time for the kittens to grow up and try and join the national mainstream with constructive politics rather than divisive, parochial politics, lest they find themselves thrown into the political wilderness with complete rejection by the masses!
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