The traditional PAPA

Traditional Indian father a.k.a PAPA is worth writing about. He is a key figure in our lives and has some peculiar characteristics. I have observed my father for so long and heard cases of fathers of friends and have come to realize how common their thinking, habits, beliefs and values are. So, here it goes.

The traditional PAPA 

# always tells you to study so that you become a more successful person than he is.

# always tell you that he never had the comforts of life that you have these days

# doesn't believe in spending on brands till he starts using them

# likes only home cooked food

# gets angry when things aren't found because he never misplaces things himself and expects others including the 2 year old to do the same

# often has diabetes 

# has diabetes but still steals a few bites of sweets from here and there

# has read Hindi novels

# doesn't let you drive, be it a scooter or a car, till he has no other option left or till you took away the scooter /car while he was away by arguing with your mother about you being a grown up

# has had less than 3 employers

# can't believe when you say you are quitting your job

# can't believe when you are quitting your "Government" job

# wants to get you married before his retirement

# advises you to get your kids married before your retirement

# has slowly started to understand and enjoy internet and sometimes surprises you with a fact or two

# enjoys Rafi and Kishor

# watches repeats, be it news or often a particular movie. Why he likes that movie, you just can't fathom.

# likes to put up Diwali lights himself

 Additions are welcome!

Crash

Rupee is falling. So is the Sensex. Industrial growth and GDP are also following suit. It's no surprise that the famed Indian growth story is over. The only problem with our current situation is the sudden change in fortune in the past few years.

We set the ball rolling in 1991. Ever since, the growth was exemplary. It was just there. Whoever came to power at Center didn't matter. Growth had an air of inevitability about it. One factor was that the denominator was low. You add 1 to 10 and change is 10 percent. You add 1 to thousand, its minuscule.

But that doesn't explain the sudden vicissitude of fate that we are witnessing now. With the rupee below 64, the crisis is established. We are like a plane without a pilot with a cliff right up front. Correction. We do have a pilot on an OD of sleeping pills along with a cabin crew high on alcohol. We don't need an expert to clarify that we are doomed!

Now the debate as to who needs to ensconce on the pilot seat is for the janta to decide. Although, FB and Twitter hogging Gen-Y have made it seem like a battle between 2 personalities, the election battle is far from over. The economic mismanagement that we are witnessing is not just a result of policy paralysis. The deficit is as much a result of sops doled out for populist policies. Now in Indian Democratic system, sops is nothing but buying out votes in mass. Food Subsidy bills, opposition of FDI, Farm subsidy, PDS etc.are nothing but cash handed out in exchange of votes. So, in that regard, our soporific pilot and his dipsomaniac crew have done well. In fact, they may have done just enough to keep opponents out of power even if they themselves don't win.

You know your in a soup when you pin your hopes on the RBI Governor rather than Finance Minister. Raghuram Rajan is an economics Guru, no doubt, but that simply doesn't cut it. Chidambaram has been less and less available to anyone throughout the UPA regime. No comments, no statements, no TV appearances or interviews. Earlier, it was Subbarao who was left all by himself to rectify the damage done by populist fiscal policies. Now Rajan, no disrespect to his capabilities, can also do limited things and that is due to a simple reason-Monetary policies cannot outdo fiscal policies. Monetary policies can only delay the D-Day of Indian economics. At the end of the day, its fiscal policies that have to battle it out to save the nation from falling off the cliff.

May Day May Day!!

Belief

"Static friction is always greater than dynamic friction"
i.e.
it's always difficult to start things and easier to continue them. Breaking new ground is always hard.

A narrative on nonsense

The retreat of Lalu Prasad Yadav into political slumber had left a gaping hole in the Indian political scene. All the fun seemed lost and boring people like MMS, Sonia Gandhi and the ever so grim PC made everyone feel that the favorite sitcom in India was over. But along came a new breed of super politicos who believed in getting lime light by speaking on issues where a toddler would know that silence was a better choice. With an ALL WORDS, NO PANTS attitude and a penchant for cooking up political storms with their out of control lip service, they mostly shoot themselves in the foot and make their parties and associates run for cover often making Rakhi Sawant seem more intelligent in choice of words.

Not so long ago , the greatest “Harvard Graduate” ever to tread on the roads of our nation, got a statistic wrong which made me think kya ye panchvi pass se tez hain? Rahul Gandhi just could not get the difference between- in Punjab, 70% of youth are drug addicts vs 70% of the drug addicts are youth and once again proved why his silence is precious. It makes him look so elegant and intelligent. Sadly, his words never match that impression.

The Gandhi scion’s brother in law has lived in the shadows for too long. Robert Vadra probably was fed up of utilizing Gandhi name undercover. He decided to hog the limelight and he did. Only problem, it was a rant “ Mango people in Banana Republic” rather than a polished beginning towards becoming a public figure. His ambitions got a jolt and we have been living happily ever after, with his silence.

Haryana is fast becoming the breeding ground for unserious comments about serious crimes. So, politicians are asking reduction in marriage age to 16 as a method to combat rapes. Mr. Insensitive Politician. Your basic premise is that married men don't rape while newspapers and rape incidents would suggest a deviation from your presumption, if only you were willing to check numbers. But that takes intelligence. So, you suggested officially recognizing child marriages!

The Khaps in Haryana, after extensive scientific research, found the root cause of rapes-Chowmein. Only problem was, they did not keep this research confidential and shared it with us. I personally feel it was the most comical statement on the surface, but one with serious undertones implying that anyone who was evolving with time into a more open minded lifestyle and adopting a modern life was inviting doom.

“71 Lakhs is not worth a scam”- What can be more frivolous than suggesting that there are benchmarks for corruption as per your political stature indirectly endorsing corruption inadvertently declaring that God  and corruption are omnipresent? Beni Prasad Verma hasn’t always been very smart in his statements. Has he? It’s a problem with his fellow party member Sriparakash Jaiswal as well who has a problem with wives getting old and losing charm.

Then came the turn of the Hindutva brigade who till a few months back, seemed very gracefully silent and thus, giving and impression of sensitivity and intellect. But the statistically incorrect and illogical “Rapes in India not Bharat” matched Diggi Raja’s numerous school boyish ramblings.  With a MP BJP minister using mythology to instill fear in the hearts of the fairer sex, even Ravana would feel ashamed of his deeds being compared to perpetrators of Delhi Gang rape. The question arises whom to choose when the rightists, the leftists and the ones in the Centre are equally insane in usage of words?

Talking of mythology, Ram Jethmalani mutated from a top notch criminal lawyer to an advocate of family matters when he questioned Lord Rama fulfilling his responsibilities as a trusting husband. His younger brother Laxman was not spared by the fiery lawman saying his reasoing for not being able to find Goddess Sita after abduction did not make sense. Just when Lord Rama thought his role in Indian politics was over with the rise and demise of BJP and he felt he could happily go back to showering blessings on his devotees, he was forced back to the fore, if only for a day or two. Sorry God!

A narrative on nonsense statements in Indian politics today would be incomplete without discussing Diggi Raja, aka Digvijay Singh who has been knowingly or unknowingly trying to position himself as the new Laluji with his comical statements. The only difference between him and Laluji- Laluji is a shrewd politician with his immaculate and smart humour while Diggi Raja’s verbosity is just ridiculous. From Anna Hazare being a simple villager to Hemant Karkare confiding in him about Hindu terrorism to Osama Ji (Osama Bin Laden he was referring to), he has created quite a few political storms but that hasn’t enhanced his political stature. He does provide some fun quotient though.

Indian politics has lost intellect. It is a story from Class to Crass. Inane words to get 15 minutes of fame have depleted the seriousness of many socially relevant, grave issues. Discussions in Parliament are now about statements and not issues. So there are more and more words but no concrete debates to solve problems. Watching parliamentary sessions is painful now.

I miss Atalji, Arun Shorie and Jaswant Singh. Where are the men gone? :(