tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2921010488771391202024-02-09T02:02:06.038+05:30Brownian Motion Of Thoughts On Public Policy And LifeAnonymous FellaAnonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-78220720082800638402015-05-05T15:12:00.001+05:302015-05-05T15:22:51.583+05:30Why Is Gau Mata And Why Not Take It Overboard<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Cow has
suddenly caught the fancy of Govt bodies in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> -- first the beef ban and now
to take things to a completely different level, a Rajasthan Govt minister has
opened a cow urine refinery. I am not sure what exactly the refinery would do
and what all products would be distilled out of it. <br />
<br />
Why this fascination with Gau Maata and why Gau is Maata anyway ? Has anyone
thought about it before jumping on to the fanaticism bandwagon. <br />
<br />
As far I have read Indian Philosophy, there is no religious dogma around Cow. The
point and the precise point is utility of cow in an agrarian society. I have
grown up in a farmer family and have seen closely, first hand, how cow adds
value to an agrarian society, which is what <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> was in formative years of
civilization. Like every other civilization in its beginnings. <br />
<br />
My core belief is that most traditions can be traced back to a logical
reasoning. For example -- the absurd one of not allowing new born infants and
their mothers to leave the room for some 30-40 days after birth. My mother, who
delivered me at home told me a possible rationale -- in old days, sterile
environments were difficult to achieve in villages and hence the one room which
was sterilized by burning neem leaves, hawan etc and other measures was
sanctuary for the new born and her still fragile mother. The logic was to keep
her in that relatively sterile room. People forgot the logic and even today many
just keep the tradition. I have heard the Chinese don't even allow the mother
to shower for some 30-40 days after birth. There might be some rationale
considering cold climate in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern China</st1:place>, who
knows. <br />
<br />
Back to Cow. <br />
<br />
We grew up drinking Cow's milk. Cow's dung was used to make dung cakes which is
the only fuel. Cow's dung is also used to "polish" mud floors of the
houses. Cow's kids, if male, helps pull your plough through the fields and if
female, would give you milk and would breed more cows for you. Food, Fuel and
Farm Labor (It was the only mechanization when there were no tractors and
combines): Cow was the centre of any agrarian society and even today is to some
extent -- at least for food and for fuel to some extent. Oxes would also pull
the carts and would irrigate the field by pulling water from wells. This
centrality of Cow's utility to the agrarian society is what made Gau Maata. Farmer
would call Gau maata because farmer is grateful for her massive contributions
in sustaining life. Its easy to understand the reasoning behind it. And since
we worship everything we are grateful to -- Gods for example -- that's why we probably
started worshipping Cow. <br />
<br />
Worshipping gets linked to religion and that then probably linked Gau Maata to
Hinduism while there is nothing religious to it. Its purely utilitarian. <br />
<br />
So, many of us need to understand the utility principle behind Gau Maata idea
rather than being religious/dogmatic about it. In today's time, the idea has limited relevance. So a lot of people need to cool their heels on this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-46364557091350942602012-06-28T07:24:00.001+05:302012-06-28T07:24:44.996+05:30Hindi Cinema. Some Disjoint Thoughts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you ask what is the most abundant element on Earth, people will tell you its Carbon. If you pose the same question to Karan Johar, most likely, the answer would be Candyfloss !<br />
<br />
I have been thinking about this for quite some time. Hindi Cinema has some great directors and Karan Johar is definitely one of the marvels. He has lots of aspiring copy cats like Kunal Kohli/Sajid Khan et al who churn repetitive and brain dead movies one after the other with mathematical precision but KJo is definitely the Big Wolf.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Talking about the Big Wolf and his wolf pack, the question of paramount importance is this -- In what genre would you define KJo's (And all copycats') work ? I propose that KJo is too big to fit in currently defined movie genres like romance/romantic comedy etc. There should be an entire new genre defined just so that we can describe the mammoth genius that is KJo. I would name that Genre Soc-Fi. It stands for Socio-Economic Fiction. Much like Sci-Fi. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><u>Why ?</u></span><br />
<br />
Its quite intuitive actually. In Sci-Fi, the level of Science depicted in the movie is much advanced than the level of Science as witnessed by most audience in their routine lives. Similarly, in KJo movies, the level of Socio-Economic dynamics depicted is much advanced to the level witnessed by most audience in their routine lives. In a Country like India, if all leading men and women of KJo are driving Mercedes and are running across a football field size lawn, for common man, it is nothing but a Socio-Economic fiction. KJo's work envisions a world truly beyond the living realities of almost 99% of his audience and hence he should be honored by defining a new genre for his classics ! The Genre of Soc-Fi.<br />
<br />
<u>What does it mean for Hindi Cinema ?</u><br />
<br />
One key fact is that a big portion of directors/actors today are second generation film industry practioners who are in this profession by sheer sperm/egg lottery. Any field which selects its a big part of its participants by virtue of birth and not merit is bound to have funny moments. (Like Sonam Kapoor becoming an actress is a funny moment). Almost all of these film makers have lived a life in their own capsules and the only thing they can portray is typical urban youth struggling with meaning of life. So their movies will mostly show friends travelling to Goa to find solace, or to Spain to live life, or to sing Kuch Kuch hota hai in some really cool college or hating love stories or may be figuring out that why Pappu cant dance. Simply because that's the dominant perspective a man has lived and that's the perspective the man would portray clearly. Nobody's fault. Just circumstantial.<br />
<br />
In the end, you keep seeing movies movies where you just can't differentiate one movie from the other on any big point. Not a great state affairs for the Art of story telling.<br />
<br />
<u>But then the question, why some/most of these movies become a hit ?Who makes them hit ?</u><br />
<br />
The answer is multiplex. Multiplexes contribute around 65% of the revenue for the films today. And if you include revenues from satellite rights, music rights, merchandise etc, not much is left to get from single screen audiences to breakeven. So,as a thumb rule, if you could please multiplex audience, most likely you make money.<br />
<br />
<u>That audience is the holy grail. <span style="background-color: white;">Who are they ? How many are they ? </span></u><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Lets see. PVR and Cinemax which together owns around 220 screens boasts of total annual footfall of roughly 3.5 Crore. Total multiplex screens in India around 1250, makes avg national footfalls in multiplexes around 17 Cr. If one person's foot falls once in a month in a multiplex (One movie in 4 weekends is not a big stretch), then these17 Cr foot would correspond to around 1.45 Cr heads. Accounting for misses and omissions, take it total headcount of 2 Cr. Give or take some. That is roughly 2% of India's population. Just 2%. As a film maker, if you want to make money, just please these 2% of country's population. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<u>How to please them ? First know who they are</u><br />
<br />
Average multiplex ticket of 135 Rs/Head for a couple, two such movies a month, add 100 Rs F&B. If you assume that movie expense takes half of total entertainment household budget (7% of income as per Govt stats), you reach a rough monthly income of 11,000 Rs. Thats on average, give or take some. This would roughly mean that you can afford multiplex regularly only if you earn AT LEAST 11k, give or take a few hundreds. These people are young aspirers or middle/old age achievers and hence they either aspire to or already have a reasonably high socio-economic standards. At least higher than almost 90% of their fellow countrymen. They can relate to lot of the stuff shown and unless its outright crap, happy to spend 2 hours watching it for the sake of entertainment. Lack of options helps the cause further.<br />
<br />
So in a way, what's being made reflects an acute understanding of economics of film making business by these film makers. Why to blame them for intellectual paralysis. Who cares about it anyways as long as the girl looks hot, dances well and the guy could stretch his arms and run around the trees.<br />
<br />
<u>If just 2% is key target, what about the rest 98% ?</u><br />
<br />
This is where classic Indian spirit of entrepreneurship and "jugad" sets in. For the audience who can't relate too much to the context of these urban youth targeting movies and feel severe lack of options have seen local movie industries cropping up. These movies are made with local actors, at low budget with basic tech equipment and are distributed locally to a niche audience. For example Punjab has its own movie industry where even coolness God MTV VJ Ranvijay is a proud participant. Bhojpuri Industry is pretty sizeable. Even Western UP has seen its own local film industry where movies are made on average budget of 3-4 Lakhs and are then distributed through low cost VCDs. If the big guy doesn't take care of you, the fellow around the corner would stand up to fill the void in the most local flavor. Classic elegant Indian solution to big and difficult problems.<br />
<br />
<u>If art is about culture, what about it ?</u><br />
<br />
One view is that art (as movies) should not be showing only one aspect of Indian culture where every thing happens in South Mumbai or Bandra or Switzerland. In fact subject matter has seen drastic movement depending on who were the film makers and what general socio-political environment they encountered. Quite obvious for this to happen. So you would see shifts from 2 Bigha Zameen to Golmal to Chupke Chupke to Zanjeer to Dil Chahta hai to Housefull 2.<br />
<br />
Who are the film makers, from what socio-economic background they came and in what general socio-political construct they worked in, decides their subjects. One simple example to consider the "Effect of Who makes What" is that since for a long time most film makers have been Chopras, Kapoors and Khoslas, the prevalent culture reflected in movies has been Punjabi. With people like Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap etc, a new cultural perspective is being shown. So in addition to Switzerland, you can see the Gangetic plains as well. That's a good thing on a broader level. Simply because it widens the cultural fabric reflected in films.<br />
Now we don't only know balle balle and kudiyan te mundya but we also know the folksy beats of O Womaniya/Omkara. Corporatization has helped with studios breaking the family/kin strongholds where a newcomer found it difficult to show a divergent story. Studios are happy to back Kashyap, Bhardwaj, Bannerjee or Dhulia, even if its not most commonly occurring candyfloss.<br />
<br />
Such variety is good. If movies is about story telling, varied stories in varied settings is awesome to have. Lets hope we get more of variety. Variety well made.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-92114913180856921342012-04-30T07:30:00.000+05:302012-04-30T07:39:21.045+05:30The Real Fountainhead<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Curiosity. If a single word underlines the progress of our species of evolved Apes, it is Curiosity. The ultimate fountainhead, the source of every single strand of knowledge. Every single invention and every single achievement of Man can be attributed to just this one word -- Curiosity.<br />
<br />
Someone was curious about how to pull the cart faster ? Probably by putting wooden logs beneath it ? Or better, pin a round piece of the log to the cart. Came the Wheel. Someone was curious to know about the Sun rising in the East, about Eclipses and about patterns in Seasons. Came the knowledge on Astronomy. Someone was curious to express his vision of the world in the stone and on the canvas. Came David and Monalisa. Someone was curious about Rainbow and came the whole mess of Optics. Another man was curious about how to manifest "nothing" and we got Zero.<br />
<br />
Every single invention can be counted thus. It is this undying spirit of curiosity hardwired in us, that makes us the dominant (Still so galactically ignorant about the grand scheme of things that its baffling) species on this planet.<br />
<br />
If curiosity is the Fountainhead, what is the slope that lets this stream of knowledge flow and gush ahead with a unstoppable energy ? That slope, that enabler is Freedom. Liberty. Azaadi.<br />
<br />
Curiosity is nothing on its own unless supplemented by freedom to repeatedly ask difficult and disturbing questions and freedom to chase answers. In absence of Freedom to ask unpleasant question, the only consequence could be a Dark Age. No one can question the status quo, which is taken to be the absolute truth, the best way and progress stops. So, to move ahead, in this quest of life, let us remain curious, let's keep asking random and outrageous questions and keep looking for answers for those questions. </div>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-41193409425509012902012-03-21T15:00:00.000+05:302012-03-21T15:00:16.684+05:30Book Review: Civilization By Niall Ferguson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
I haven't written any book review as yet but somehow this one compelled me to do so. Just thought that a 300 page book like this is at least a 4-5 hour affair and if my comments can help someone make a decision on whether to spend those 4-5 hours on the book, why not ?<br />
<br />
Civilization:West And The Rest is probably the latest by Harvard Professor Niall Ferguson. For me, his second --I tried reading his Ascent of Money but found it massively unappealing compared to the options I had in Dostoevsky and Raghuram Rajan. Dropped it after some 50 pages. This one is little more engaging and I managed to read it full. Almost. Here's what I think:<br />
<br />
There are two key paradigms I think can be highlighted. One is about the general tone of the book and the other is about the strength of the arguments presented in the book.<br />
<br />
<b><u>General Tone:</u></b><br />
<br />
The book's fundamental idea is analysis of reasons of supremacy of Western Civilization on the Rest of the world for last 500 years and it is written from a standpoint of a Westerner. The striking point is however that Ferguson's tone is very clearly "Us" and "Them" where he, as a Westerner is the "Us" and the Rest is the "Them". And he doesn't forget to remind repeatedly that "Us" have dominated the "Them" for last 500 years or so. In a globalized world, where everyone is with everyone else and the entire world is trying to be a single entity (Even the Europeans who have just fought each other except for last 60 years of History !), such a marked perception of the world is quite discouraging. That too coming from a Professor at one of the world's most prestigious university.<br />
<br />
Also, the points raised in the book, if taken at face value, just present a picture on how West rose from Dark Ages and what propelled Industrial Revolution. One can't explain why East fell to West unless one understands the inherent weaknesses that came up in the Eastern civilizations. That part is not addressed.<br />
<br />
Besides, among the "Them", while analyzing why East fell, Ferguson's definition of East is dominantly Chinese Civilization. He utterly fails to acknowledge another erstwhile powerful civilization of India. May be its because you have to acknowledge someone who lent you US$ 3 Trillion and can ignore the rest. But from a historian point of view, until you analyze China and India, the picture of East isnt complete. This point left a lot wanting in the book as far as I am concerned.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Strengths Of The Arguments:</b></u><br />
<br />
Ferguson presents 6 Killer Apps that, according to him, enabled the West to dominate the Rest. He lists -- Competition, Property Rights, Science, Medicine, Consumer Society, Work. Most of the arguments seem weak and excerpts of History are chosen carefully to support the thesis. Funny part is that he forgot to mention the single most important factor of all where the Western Society's strength came from --Liberty. He seems not to notice that Statue of Liberty isn't a tourist place but the very soul of the Western Society. It is liberty to act, to think, to question that lies at the bottom of his so called apps of Science (Liberty to ask questions and to pursue to answers), Medicine (Derivative of Science) etc.<br />
<br />
In Chapter on Competition, he argues that competition between explorers in England, Portugal and Holland enabled them to traverse across the world in search of new lands and markets and helped the spread of Western Civilization. This argument while explains why the westerners went to search for the new world, doesn't explain why they were able to subdue the new world they found. Until one analyzes what was ailing the Indian Social and Political structure for example in the East and the Incas in Latin America, one cant explain the colonization just by quoting that hundreds of ships were leaving European Shores.<br />
<br />
Chapter of Science is probably the most relevant one in the book. Explains the development of key inventions and their applications, especially military which helped the Europeans in their quest of imperialism.<br />
<br />
Medicine is just an application of Science so the entire chapter I think is irrelevant to be classified as a separate factor.<br />
<br />
In the chapter on Consumption society, instead of identifying that consumption is an integral part of a capitalist system, he goes into a random tangential discussion on why the entire world wears trousers and shirts. His argument on European's dominance of textiles early on explains why the world was flooded with cheap shirts and pants but it doesnt explain the broader consumption culture. A very tangential discussion I think that fails to explain the rise of consumer society, how it became so entrenched and how it helped the West.<br />
<br />
On Work Ethic, he argues that Work Ethic improved a lot in the West after the Protestant movement and changed the outlook from "hereafter" to "here and now". Hard work and thrift became a cultural fad. May be. He seems to indicate the Eastern philosophies have a focus on "hereafter" which hinders with the work ethic and hence led to superiority of the West. This claim is quite laughable. I am not knowledgeable about Chinese Cultural philosophy on work but if Mr Ferguson had a chance to flip through Gita, he would know that Indian Philosophy is as much about here and now as is about hefeafter. Again, until you analyze the reasons on internal weaknesses that came up in the East, the story isnt complete.<br />
<br />
And last -- on his choice of historical examples. Will quote just one. He mentions that Marx lived on handouts from Engels who was heir to a Factory and hence by publishing his views against Capitalist, Marx harmed Engels's interest. Ferguson articulates it thus: "Never in the history anyone bit the hand that fed him the way Marx did to Engels". Well, look no far Mr Ferguson. Just glance at the history of East India Company and their relationship with India. India gave the Company a friendly welcome as Traders. Mere Traders. The Company didnt just bit the hand, it severed the entire body.<br />
<br />
Did I mention, Dr Ferguson likes to throw historical facts (just facts) at the reader by the thousand !<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-45548219153793595792012-02-08T21:55:00.000+05:302012-02-08T21:55:42.727+05:30Krugman and American High School Wage Rates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Krugman laments the decline of real wages for High School Grads in US over past 4 decades. This, as per him, is then linked to their low marriage rates. This in turn leads to higher proportion of out of wedlock children which then leads to not so great upbringing and opportunities for those kids and hence a vicious circle of inequality (Charles Murrays book says something to that effect). All here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/jobs-and-values/">http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/jobs-and-values/</a> <br />
<br />
Makes sense. But here is the problem: Krugman seems to be lamenting and pretty sad about the decline of real wage for high school degree holders and in other posts seem to blame policy and puts all this in a rising inequality in American context. Why blame policy or feel perplexed and sad about this. Isn't this trend inevitable ? Two reasons<br />
<br />
1) An economy where technological advances, mechanization and IT/Software is making the entire system much more knowledge intensive and has been giving many routine functions to machines for many decades, isn't that inevitable that unskilled/low skilled see a systematic wage decline ?<br />
<br />
2) With resurgence of Globalization and rise of workforce in India and China where a much higher educated fellow is happy to do the job at a much lower wage (Manf for China and some services in India), isn't that going to bring the equilibrium wage down ?<br />
<br />
Combine the two and you can explain the structural decline. When the world moves, things change. A B.A in India used to be a Class I Govt officer in 70s. What now ? Don't lament over it Dr Krugman. Its not Govt's fault. Its inevitability. </div>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-92228284801527041832011-10-06T05:42:00.000+05:302011-10-06T06:10:36.409+05:30A Tribute To Steve Jobs -- A Visionary Non Conformist.I would think that Steve Jobs was Bill Gates + Michelangelo. An unparalleled combination of Tech Genius, Artistic Aesthetics and of course marketing.
There are men who build and shape the world and there are ones who inherit it. And the ones who inherit it must be grateful to the ones who build and shape it. Steve Jobs was one of the rare ones who shape this world and for his legacy, we, inheritors must be grateful to him. A man who chased his dreams all life-long paying no heed to the established creeds and notions and making this world a better place in the process. In his remarkable journey, he dropped out of college, studied Calligraphy, became a Buddhist, experimented with LSD and developed a fetish for turtle necks and beltless jeans ! The ultimate non-conformist. The ultimate Rebel. The ultimate Inspiration.
Today iPhone, iPad and iPod or Macbook might be household names and might look obvious to us, on a second thought, compared to their competition, these products are anything but obvious. As the user trend shows, these products are light years and Aeons ahead of their peers. What Steve revolutionized was probably that he combined ultra high technology with simple personal electronics products and managing a remarkable aesthetics – The Trinity no one else could master like he did. And not to mention, the simplicity of user friendly controls. Remember the finger slide to browse photo album on iPhone and the pinch on screen to zoom in or zoom out !
And while the current view on Steve Jobs’ legacy is eclipsed with iPhones et al, one must not forget another of his Titan --the Pixar studios who gave us masterpieces like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Steve was the man in 80s who many saw as the face of “Us Versus IBM- The Corporation” battle as many observers pointed out. This gelled with his Rebel and Non-Conformist aura.
Steve Jobs changed our world for the better. And did it repeatedly – Mac, Pixar, iPod, iPhone and then iPad. I don’t own any of his devices as I am probably not a gadget lover (And of course because non conformity of Mac Book and iPhone doesn’t come cheap !!) but I think the way these things have changed our lives, for better, I am indeed grateful to Jobs and lucky that I could live in Apple’s Times.
Foot Note: In the office elevator, a young woman was listening to some music through her iPhone. Most likely oblivious to the fact that the creator of this device has just passed away. Jobs may not be around, but his legacy on our lives would always be.
God, thank you for giving us Steve Jobs. Even if only for 56 years.Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-20806498024294611652011-08-12T22:02:00.006+05:302011-08-12T22:28:43.228+05:30Compiling Debate On Politics Of India Growth Surge of 1980s.<a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2004/wp0477.pdf">http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2004/wp0477.pdf</a>
The paper at this link explores a not so well debated/discussed part of the Economic History of India in the decade of 80s. While 1991 was a watershed moment in post independent economic history of India with the start of economic liberalization, it is hardly noted that the economic growth trend had convincingly moved up in the 80s itself, driven by a productivity surge. In fact, India productivity surge was among the best in the world.
The paper argues that while liberalization and policies related helped indeed, something else already was underway which was subtle and more political and did a lot to lay the groundwork to boost productivity and growth.
The paper starts by positioning the popular theme: " Until 1991, India’s policy-makers followed misguided policies that closed the economy to international trade, erected inefficient industries under state guidance, riddled the private sector with extraordinarily cumbersome and detailed regulations, and suffocated private economic activity with controls and bureaucratic impediments. Then, in 1991, the big breakthrough happened. Spurred by a balance of payments crisis, Indian policy-makers turned to technocrats such as Manmohan Singh, who promptly began the process of liberalizing the economy. Trade barriers were slashed; foreign investment was welcomed; the license raj was dismantled; and privatization began. The economy started to boom, with software exports and call centers leading the way".
Then with presenting the data proving the surge of the 80s and examining various factors, the conclusion rests on Political System. The paper argues that Indian Govt was actively taking a pro-business business attitude in the 80s where Indira Gandhi aligned with big businesses post her accession to power after Janata Govt. Paper clearly differentiates between Pro-business and Pro-market policies. Former being favorable to existing businesses while latter being pro competition.
Paper comments "But the attitudinal change was grounded primarily in political calculation, and not in a desire to enhance the efficiency of the economic regime. As Kohli (1989) notes, Indira’s main objective was to counter the perceived threat posed by the Janata party, which had trounced Congress in the Hindi heartland in the 1977 elections."
Policies were quite partisan in the sense that states aligned to Congress saw better growth than the rest. Paper tests this hypothesis and comments "states that were allied with the national government experienced differentially higher growth rates in registered manufacturing."
Have a look at the paper for more details. Interesting to see how small policy tilts can go a long way. <div>
</div><div>Although, from this conclusion, next debate could start that was this decade and this policy the start of Govt-big business nexus (remember that Govt was pro-business and not pro-market as discussed above) which has become chronic corruption problem today.
Additionally, on these arguments, for a detailed discussion on Politics of India's economic growth in 1980-2005, see two articles by Princeton Prof Atul Kohli in Economic and Political weekly.
<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~kohli/docs/PEGI_PartI.pdf">http://www.princeton.edu/~kohli/docs/PEGI_PartI.pdf</a>
<a href="http://www.newschool.edu/uploadedFiles/TCDS/Democracy_and_Diversity_Institutes/Kohli_PEGI_PartII.pdf">http://www.newschool.edu/uploadedFiles/TCDS/Democracy_and_Diversity_Institutes/Kohli_PEGI_PartII.pdf
</a>
</div>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-82911951569013650602011-01-26T17:10:00.001+05:302011-01-26T17:12:44.504+05:30On India's Republic Day: Tracing the Economic Path of The RepublicOn 26 Jan 1950, India became a Republic by adopting the Constitution that declares India to be a Secular,Socialist,Sovereign demorcratic republic assuring its citizens of justice,equality and liberty.
The Republic and its economy have seen quite a number of turbulences over the last 61years.Starting with a capital scarce economy, the leaders didnt seem to believe that private enterprise would allocate capital towards unprofitable public goods initiatives which were necessary for the country's development.It was felt necessary that Government actively has to allocate resources to maximize the greater public good. Adam Smith's invisible hand was rendered to be not too efficient for the Indian context and State's hand took its place.Economy was to be Planned -- A practice that contiues till date.
It was also felt that starting with a minimal base of industrialization and domestic industries,it was not feasible to run an open economy because the foreign competition was way ahead of Indian businesses and would kill the domestic business ventures in a free system. To protect the baby of industrialization, India went on to follow a closed economy. At the time, India was deemed as a great experiment in economic science - A large democracy trying to follow the so called mixed economy model.
With assistance from the overseas allies, India managed to built a decent capital goods base in the public sector and in those days todays behemoths like BHEL, SAIL, ONGC etc were born. Infra spending rose from 1% of GDP in 1952 to almost 5% by 1960. It was also realized that for Industrialization, India would need skilled manpower and to train them, institutes like IITs were started by the Government of India. Infra was a key focus and marquee projects like Bhakra Nagal Dam (Asia's second highest Dam)were completed. Agri was a focus but Industrialization was pursued with a vengeance.The focus on Industrialization flowed directly from the view of founding fathers like Nehru who identified that West's strength lied in Industrial revolution and India had to catch up.
One by one, problems were being tackled, albeit if at a slow pace. External shocks were abound - forex crisis in 1957 which led to cutbacks in public spending, international restrictions due to wars with Pakistan and China and droughts kept challenging India. But it marched on, even if at Hindu rate, preserving its democracy and liberty.
The romanticism however faded away by early 70s. Nehru was dead, two wars with Pakistan and one with China had drained the resources to quite a large extent and Government was attaning much bigger controlling role. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act was passed in 1969 to safeguard consumers from potential abuse of monopoly power in the industrial sector. But, in practice it was used to control businesses by the Govt. Govt became all pervasive. Controls which were devised to manage the business environment became the power levers that turned out to be very counter productive. Private businesses also learned to adapt -- crony capitalism, system adaptation and rent seeking behaviour was taking roots. The period came to be known as "License Raj". Obviously, in such an era, economic growth was stifled and remained fragile sans rhetorics.
One good thing that happened was the Green Revolution.The Government focused on the recurring famine problem. High yielding seeds and other resources were introduced, awareness was created through the all pervasive All India Radio and soon India achieved self sufficiency in Food Production.
In what can be called the next era, Rajiv Gandhi came in Power in the early 80s and was lauded as a pragmatic leader. He was proably the first reformer. In those days, PSU performance was dropping badly which was creating anxiety in Government circles.This era saw beginning of dismantling of the state controls and licensing maze. He also inducted technocrats in his Government. One notable man was Sam Pitroda who is now credited as the father of Indian Telecom Revolution. Indeed remarkable that India, developing in most other sense, has a Telecom Infra that rivals the very best in the world.
However, the country was sliding towards a crisis that was to blow up in 1991. In second half of 80s, the current account deficits widened. Fiscal deficits were ballooning -- 10% in 1986 and as high as 12.7% in 1991. Gulf War further added fuel to fire by exploding the Oil import bill. This was on top of 40% increase in volume of Pet imports between 1987 to 1990. Deficits were financed by commercial borrowings and external debt doubled in 5 years leading to 1990. Political uncertainty played additional spoil sport - coalition governments coming, going and Rajiv was assassinated in May 1991. All of this triggered loss of confidence, and outflows became the new reality.
India's forex reserves were just sufficient to pay for 3 weeks of essential imports in June 1991 and the country was potentially weeks away from default. This was the moment when India had to pledge 67 tons of Gold to IMF to secure short term funding. The Govt with Chandrashekhar as PM was the one to take this move and it soon fell which then led to entering of Dr Manmohan Singh as the FM and PV Narasimha Rao as the PM. 1991 was to become the landmark year in Indian economic and political history.
What followed has been liberalization of the economy, dismantling of the state controls, license restraints, encouraging private investments and trying to forge a faster economic growth. Trendline growth has decisively moved up, industrial base has expanded and general prosperity, at least in urban areas has improved. Though a criticism is slow reduction in poverty and rising income disparities.
The journey of The Republic continues with challenges abound -- External and Internal. External challenges would come from the risks higher global integration brings in financial and political spheres - Specifically commodity price pressures, capital flows (In and Out) and political collateral damages of developments around the world.These challenges though look transient and the biggest and structural ones are internal - The biggest one as PM himself puts is Naxal menace where a socio economic problem has converted into a law and order problem and is threatening one third of India's districts, most of which are natural resource rich. Another big internal challenge is the governance and introducing innovative policies focusing on education and healthcare - if the Republic cant empower its people, little progress can be achieved.
We will see how the response to these challenges would evolve.The Republic in the meanwhile will keep marching on changing its pace adjusting to the surroundings...Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-41227070605851999252010-11-07T21:26:00.006+05:302010-11-08T06:30:19.405+05:30Rudyard Kipling and Bhagwad Gita<p align="justify">Being born in Western UP, English has been a weak link for me ! Poetry specially. As a result, till recently, I was unaware of a rather influential and inspiring poem by Rudyard Kipling. Today a friend annihilated my ignorance. The poem is called "IF", written in 1895 and roughly it describes the character traits of a "great man". The poem has been an inspiring work for generations for gentlemen.
I couldnt help notice that the ideas captured in the poem are very much inspired from Bhagwad Gita. Gita was composed between 200 BC to 100 AD as per many debates and at any rate, it was 2000 years before Mr Kipling's work. Mr Kipling produced his ideas independently or gave a poetic interpretation to Gita is just a matter of personal speculation. I couldnt help but notice Mr Kipling also wrote White Men's Burden. Its ironic the ideas that made Mr Kipling an inspiring figure, the colonial subjects of White Men's Burden had those ideas 2000 years ago.</p><p align="justify">Below is given a link to the poem "IF" and I am quoting some verses from Gita which strikingly portray the ideas elaborated by Mr Kipling. Source of these verses is "A Source Book in Indian Philosophy" by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Ex President of India, Bharat Ratna awardee).
One can read and interpret the similarities for oneself.</p><p align="justify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%E2%80%94">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%E2%80%94</a></p><p align="justify">Gita Verses:</p><p>"Fixed in Yoga, do thy work, O Arjun, abondoning attachment, with an even mind in success and failure, for evenness of mind is called Yoga".</p><p>"He whose mind is untroubled in the midst of sorrows and is free from eager desire amid pleasures, he from whom pasion, fear, and rage have passed away-he is called sage of settled intelligence".</p><p>"But a man of disciplined mind, who moves among the objects of sense, with the senses under control and free from attachment and aversion - he attains purity of spirit".</p><p>"He who is equal minded among friends, companions and foes, among those who are neutral and impartial, among those who are hateful and related, among saints and sinners -- he excels".</p><p>"He who abandons all desires and acts free from longing, without any sense of mineness or egotims - he attains to peace".</p><p>"Fearlessness, purity of mind, steadfastness in knowledge and concentration, charity, self control and sacrifice, austerity and uprightness....... compassion to living beings, modesty...... freedom from malice and excessive pride -- these, O Arjun are the endowments of him who is born with the divine nature".</p>Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-18185854279812605042008-12-18T16:48:00.004+05:302008-12-18T17:39:35.123+05:30The Great Indian ScooterMany liberal economists have noted, correctly at that, that India's economic policy of import restrictions and extensive licensing protected corporations from inside and outside competition and thus removed all incentives for efficiency. This dampened the economic growth and held Indian public hostage to a dragging economy.
I would briefly present a consumer's account of the negative effect of those protectionist policies. From a consumer point of view, inefficient corporations in a monopoly situation meant dealing with a company who did not give a damn to the customer. Customers were stuck with medevial age products with senseless features and no other options but to buy them and carry on with their lives.
The Great Indian Scooter is an epic tale of such a product. This was the "Chetak" brand scooter made by Bajaj Auto. "Chetak" brand nomenclature was motivated by the legendary Stallion "Chetak" of great Rajput warrior Maharana Pratap, an unmatched symbol of patriotism, courage and strength of character.
The Stallion was a fine animal with an uncanny poise and flair, as is mentioned in popular legends. The scooter on the other hand robbed many Indian men of their dignity. One amazing design feature in the scooter was that its engine was in the right side of the scooter body, in an extended trunk and the fuel tank was in the centre. So once you park the scooter, the fuel supply from the tank to engine would stop. I guess they were at same vertical levels as well, which warded off the force of gravity as well. In that case, when you would try to start the scooter again, you need to tilt it to the right side. This was to enable the fuel to flow back to the engine. And mind you, the tilt was not a gentle tilt, but a great one, until the right side of the trunk of scooter body would touch the floor. After few long duration tilts, you would expect the fuel to reach the carburettor and then you start kicking it to start.
Imagine millions of Indian men tilting their scooters until it kisses the ground, doing it upright, kick starting it again. If they fail, they would tilt it again. And then again until it starts. Imagine people going in rush hour traffic, turning their scooter off at a traffic light. Light turns green but the scooter doesnt start and the rider is tilting it again and again while the drivers behind are making him deaf with swears and honking. He is nervous, irritated but with heightened sense of urgency, he is busy tilting his scooter.
The situation would be more traumatic if the man would be with his girlfriend or wife. While the man is busy in the ritual of tilting, untilting and kick-starting his scooter, the lady would stand by the side, visbily irritated, annoyed at the scooter and her partner and wondering what the hell. The bystanders and passersby would not let go of an opportunity to pass sarcastic smiles, making more embarrassing for the man. Their smile would give a statement like this - Poor bastard, cant afford a motorcycle. The lady should come with us instead of you. You hell of a loser. (The motorcycle has an engine in center and the fuel tank in center as well, at an elevated position)
While you had to tilt the scooter to the RIGHT side in most cases, there was one more problem. If, when you parked, you left the Petrol supply knob on, there was a danger that scooter would slip into the "Over" mode. This was a particular problem with old models and effectively it meant that the carburettor has got more fuel than necessary and hence the fuel air mixture is too saturated with fuel not optimal for combustion. The solution to that problem was to tilt the scooter to LEFT.
So depending upon the situation, you either tilt it to left or to right. But tilt you nevertheless. Two-Three generations of middle class, town residing Indian men grew up tilting their scooters. I thank heavens that there were no F-1 race counterparts in Scooters. Thought of racing riders tilting their scooters at pit-stops is too painful to bear.
And the Company could not bother changing the design since there was no competition. Even after tilting it to the core, people were buying. There was no alternative. After few years, it seemed normal to see men tilting their scooters on Highways, on traffic lights, on streets and so on. People were conditioned. On competition, LML Vespa offered some competition but while its engine-carburettor was in right order, it was not rugged enough. As far as I understand, the situation improved only with introduction of scooters by Honda and some other firms.
Disclaimer: Even after being a Mechanical Engineer, I have not studied the design of the scooter in detail and the point of view given above is driven by my own experience and experiences of fairly large number of friends. However, this sample set cant be absolutely unbiased and in no way can it reflect completely and truthfully on the Scooter techonology of Bajaj and their ideas and attitude towards their customers. I would hence sincerely apologize for any ignorance or biased statements on my part.Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-44046477540404269572008-09-01T00:49:00.004+05:302010-11-09T04:51:43.007+05:30Bihar: Of Floods and Govt ApathyI was watching the news and was alarmed by the scant coverage Bihar Floods received on various news channel inspite of the fact that over 40 million people are affected. Probably not many news reporters want to go to Bihar to report live. They dont love it as they love to report literary discussions and their possible metaphorical, metaphysical and cosmic meanings of Saas Bahu serial dialogues.
It suddenly struck me that why do I feel a bit nostalgic. Why do I think Bihar floods are a regular phenomenon. I decided to do a bit Google. (All Hail Larry Page and Sergey Brin please for a moment here)
In Bihar, floods have been a regular tragedy over the years. I have posted below the links of some news articles reporting the grim situation of Bihar floods.
1998 - <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980719/20050514.html">http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980719/20050514.html</a>
1999 - <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990730/ige30003.html">http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19990730/ige30003.html</a>
2001 - <a href="http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/09/12/stories/14122041.htm">http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/09/12/stories/14122041.htm</a>
2004- <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/25/stories/2004072509480500.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/25/stories/2004072509480500.htm</a>
2005-<a href="http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/29/stories/2005082901301400.htm">http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/29/stories/2005082901301400.htm</a>
2007 - <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=373a3c1b-d007-4667-aef1-27eb44c7fad4&&Headline=Bihar+flood+situation+gets+grim&strParent=strParentID">http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=373a3c1b-d007-4667-aef1-27eb44c7fad4&&Headline=Bihar+flood+situation+gets+grim&strParent=strParentID</a>
2008 - We all know it by now...
I looked at these links and I dont exactly know what I felt. Anger. Helplessness. Hopelessness. Rebellious. Pity at Incompetent Authorities. May be a mix of those.
Do our knowledgeable officials in the Government, in Planning Commission and in Home Ministry have heard of a word called DAM? If not, its a concrete structure which helps in flood controls and irrigation and is used widely around the world. Pandit Nehru knew this concept and called Bhakra Nagal as "teerth sthaan" of Modern India. Ignorant souls please refer to some basic text books or Wikipedia.
What does our Government thinks of us? Fishes who love swimming in Flood water? If there is a state that suffers from disastrous floods every year, what have been done about that?
I am seriously thinking of filing an RTI application to know about what steps have been taken after witnessing almost a regular phenomenon of floods in Bihar.
Though I am not too hopeful about the result of that. RTI Application might result in me getting a Blank Page implying "Oops we didnt do anything. Sorry for loss of millions of people every year"
Do our Government, both State and Center, give a damn (or a dam for that matter)to the common man? Doesnt look like. In that context, a bit off topic though, through out last 2 months, Kashmir was buring and I didnt see face of our respected Home Minister Mr Patil on any TV Channel. Was he sleeping by any chance? May be I need to watch TV more closely...
I just dont feel like typing anymore. The links above explains it all....Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-292101048877139120.post-32949651014796486722008-07-13T18:37:00.000+05:302008-07-13T18:52:37.413+05:30Why Buy Side ?Interviewer: So Son, why do you want to be in Buy Side?
Me: Sir, because I want to make lots of money in the carry. And also I want to come to the Buy side because Sell Side sucks. In Buy Side, you say Fuck You and bang the phone. In Sell Side, you bang the phone and then say Fuck You. I want to say Fuck You before banging the phone.
Interviewer: Ummm....Honest and Ballsy comment. We would get back to you
No-One Got back..... I learned that honesty is probably not the best policy... But would give it one more shot..
Interviewer 2: So Son, why do you want to be in Buy Side?
Me: Sir, I think the idea of analyzing a business model, understanding the value drivers of a business and dynamics of an Industry is extremely challenging and intellectually exciting. Interacting with management of a corporation, understand their strategy for the business and evaluating how it would affect the business in the long run and then making an investment on all these factors looks extremely exciting and challenging to me. Not to mention, learning opporunities are immense.
Interviewer 2: Good, but I think we would need to get back to you....
No-One got back this time as well.... Honesty was not the best policy after all...
Interviewer 3: So Son, Why Buy Side?
Me: Sir, since my childhood, I have been dreaming of Private Equity. It is the only career I ever wanted to pursue. I have been having dreams of a Man riding a Unicorn, having a shining sword in his hand and wearing black robe and a mask. I saw myself chained to a wall with the word Sell Side graved on it. The Man would walk up to me, would whisper "Always look for EV/EBITDA" in my ears, would cut my chains and would set me free. And I used to woke up drenched in sweat. I have been convinced that since my childhood, the only salvation I would get, I would get through Buy Side...
Interviewer 3: Well Done Son. We hire you and collect your sign on bonus check from the Accounts Deptt...Anonymous Fellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10314944877561347536noreply@blogger.com0