Sunday Posts

I tried telling my friend – I have decided to change myself. She asked – what’s new? Point taken – I keep saying that. But I did change. I am increasingly becoming a glass-half-empty kind of a person. I sure was not this kind earlier. I am, after all, a salesman. Someone, who lives to believe in future, should not see anything but the half-full portion of the glass. Some salesmen go even further – they see only half the glass! I am sure getting old. Becoming a grumpy old man! But I promised never to get old. So, my bitterness can’t be on account of my getting old. I am growing old because I am feeling bitter. But am I really bitter? Well, that’s a theory my friend believes in. Well, I have started thinking of late, may be for the first time in my life. And, I am amused with a lot of things these days. Like, all this talk of democracy; all the seriousness of the politicians; all the pompousness of modern businesses; all the pretence of intellectuals; the whole feeling that the world has...

So, when did Capitalism win its decisive victory? Well, if my weekly trash rag have to be believed, it happened some time between Ronald Reagan getting too old for B movies and George Bush deciding to spread democracy in Middle East. This weekly rag is The Economist. I read this for last ten years - first because I loved its tone and optimism, then because it made me angry, and now because I have become an optimist by infection and waiting to see when the pundit editors of The Economist see reason. Because, capitalism is not winning. Well, I dont want to appear a scarecrow, frustrated about life and bitter about everything. I want to believe in a glorious future of continuous prosperity. I am a believer, of man's ability to dream, create and deliver. As my boss - an house-owner and therefore an optimist - was recounting that doomsday predictions from the 1970s did not materialise, and people are indeed better off, I wanted to believe him. However, capitalism is not winning. It is a...

I came across this site www.goodreads.com - a site for people who read books and love to talk about them. Great idea - latest in the social networking space - and I signed up immediately. Not only that, I sent out an invitation to almost everyone on my Google Address Book who read books. Well, the idea may not work. It may turn out to be too tedious, as I felt while going through it, too much to write. Also, dont know whether people who read and love books also love spending time on the net - increasingly it sure will, but we are talking now. I mean, whether this transformation will happen before the money runs out, as they say! But a good idea remains a good idea, and smart thinking, guys! I shall keep spreading the word and invite other people to sign up.

When Gordon Brown stood up to present his 11th budget, he did not miss the occassion to remind the MPs that only one man before him - Gladstone - had the distinction of presenting eleven budgets. In fact, Gladstone did 12, but by the time he was doing his 11th, he was already the Prime Minister. His intended audience, of course, was Tony Blair, who is supposed to retire end of June, and hand over the No. 10 to Gordon Brown. It may be a fairly short lease, as things are not looking good for Labour, and Gordon Brown must inject some new ideas and thoughts to lift its fortunes. However, so far, it is not looking so good. Take Iraq, for example. Brown has said little what he will do with Iraq. Withdrawing may quickly become as big a disaster as staying on. It seems that withdrawing now will cede space to Iran, at a juncture when they are increasingly defiant and becoming a real risk. Or, fiscal policies for example. If Brown did anything new in his budget, it was playing with trivia, and t...

I had to learn, at different twists and turns in life, that everything must have a purpose. There is very little place in this crowded world, and among busy lives, for anything which does not have a purpose. But, also I learnt in the journey, it is fairly easy to miss-read the purpose of things. Does Sun exist to warm up the earth, or keep it bound in an orbit? Or, less glamourously, is the business about making money or about making a difference? Do I exist to generate more carbon or to contribute? The other issue about purpose is that it must change over time. Because the purpose is not inate in things, but it is what others, mostly people, find in it. Since societies and people change, the purpose of things must change. I return to retail, as I must. For example, my grocer had a purpose to exist 20 years back - he was making available, under one roof, things that I needed to buy. That changed, since supermarkets invaded our lives. Sadly, the grocers still believe that they must exi...

The last one has been a crazy week - one of confusion and pessimism. The optimist, there are a few of these still left, had nothing to show for his side this week, or so I think. Let me recount the top events this week: 1. Violence in Iraq continued. A rocket launches near the site where UN Secy General was speaking, and Ba Ki Moon gives half-a-second TV representation of how the war in Iraq continues to unsettle the world. Iraq's Deputy PM gets hurt in a bomb blast, probably initiated by one his bodyguards. People die, more American soldiers go in, and the US Congress pushes for a timeline for troops withdrawal which Prez Bush promises to veto. Tellingly, the person who was seen bring down Saddam Hussein's statue 4 years earlier told the world media that the occupation has been worse than life under Saddam. A vietnam veteran told BBC that after the congress resolution, the war started sounded ominously like 'Nam. And, Prez Bush, clearly running out of ideas and time, said ...

There are stories I want to believe in. Stories of an emerging nation. Of human achievement, of dreams, of accomplishments of impossible tasks. Of confidence. Of being presented to the world, in its own terms. Of India – that’s my country. Wherever I am in the world, whatever I do – it is etched in my face and my body. In my tongue, nested in my accent and programmed in the way I think. I share the pride, and bask in glory, of my resurgent nation. At last, at last. This is the land of the plenty, which invited plunderers from around the world, and in the end, absorbed them in its identity. It is the land of the plural, which spoke in many voices and many languages, but in agreement. It is this nation, comatose for centuries, passive – which awakens up now and talks its own language. So, supermarkets, superhighways and superscientists. Businessmen who talk about buying out the world. Politicians who bask in a new confidence, and look forward. Students who dream, professionals who swagge...

I write this as I watch a free DVD distributed in the TIME by Armenian Groups documenting the history of the genocide on Armenia by the Ottoman Turks. The story is very familiar. A massacre by design, of innocent, unarmed population, while the world looked on. The supposedly modernising Young Turks turned monsters in the name of national interest. Imperial powers pursued self-interest - as the French Ambassador observed the primacy of business interests over human ones. And the Turkish Government - not unlike the Holocaust denials - denied that there was anything, to this day. And, very timely. Hrant Dink's blood has not dried yet. The debate on genocide denial is live and well, and currently weighing against Turkey in its discussions with EU. Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Prize in literature contributed to the global awareness of the issue, and Turkey's, despite its modernisation, almost medieval stance regarding this. Not surprisingly, Pamuk is also considered to be under t...

Britain is abuzz with Big Brother, and the treatment Shilpa Shetty is receiving from some of country's gossip-column celebrities. It is an ungainly, nasty affair. But it is not unusual. The word 'bitching' was not coined for nothing, and bullying and bad behaviour is the order of the day. The things took a nasty turn as this became the fight of Shilpa versus the ladies of the house. And, yes, they were not nice at all. They could not pronounce Shilpa's name. This is commonplace though. It is usual for someone local not to be able to pronounce another person's alien name, though a reciprocal behaviour is considered to be offensive. It went to such extent Shilpa started getting called 'the Indian', and slowly this led to comments about Indians in general. Not surprisingly, a huge international row about racism ensued. To me, racism is a non-issue. Well, unlike what people may be led to believe and say, it is there. And, let it be there. It allows some individu...

The world is watching Bangladesh. Well, not true. The world has other things to watch. Celebrity Big Brother, for example. Or, something else. There is always a show on, aint it? Why would anyone bother about Bangladesh, a country of no significance? I would say, we better watch. It is a country of 130 million people, poor, with a majority following islam, but democratic – so far! Not an usual thing. And, also, unlike other Islamic democracies, the Prime Ministership is not granted for life [or till retirement]. There is lively elections, free and fair by most counts, and the party in power has been thrown out in last two elections. Some achievement! It is poor. It is corrupt. But don’t snigger! Think of another poor, corrupt country which is democratic, and you will realise what Bangladesh brings to table. The true test of democracy – how to make the system work at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ – is being played out here. I am not suggesting that it is perfect. There is a lot of vote bu...