Shah Rukh's detention in an American Airport and Emraan Hasmi's not getting a house in Suburban Mumbai is a story which might have been blown out of propotion by the India but never the less points out to some truths which must have been missed.
I have no doubt that SRK overplayed the incident just a little bit. His comments that he was detained because he was an Asian was lurid to say the least. To my mind every modern nation has a right to safeguard it's territorial integrity and national security. It should not be compromised and the country has every right to interrogate and question anybody they find as suspect. Mind you there is a thin line between Interrogation and Harassment but then it should be left to authorities to decide where is that line. The solution we have is to avoid such countries/nation in case we find the attitude demeaning and the actions deplorable.
Shah Rukh could have done just that. He could have been more patient and rather speaking to media directly from NY and making comments that " How he wished he was in India on 15th August". SRK is one of the finest Bollywood Actors to have emerged from India in the past decade or so and is hugely popular in all parts of the Globe more so much in United States.. Making an issue of out of nothing seems stupid and leaves us in a bad taste more so when one of his movies "My Name is Khan" is coming which seems to be taking on that subject only.
Emraan Hashmi pretence that he was not sold a property just because he was a Muslim needs to be discussed in much more detail. This is not the first time a member of his community has been denied such thing. Shabhana Azmi and Dia Mirza are all past victims of this issue.
But this issue is much larger than what has Emraan has gone through. After 9/11 there has been a general caution among people when they get to deal with others. It is not that most of the people who follow Islam are wrong but there is no two ways that most of the terrorism emerges out of that. Mindless people who have lost track of the very faith they were brought up to name it as Jihad and continue acts of violence and barbarism. Islam the second largest faith in the world and one of the most divine stands at cross roads today.
I recently met one of my close friends who was about to sell his car. He resisted the better deal from a member of that community just because he was not sure about the background of that person. Prevention is better than cure is an age old virtue and people just abide by that when dealing with that community. There is no way you can justify these acts of the majority community but I do not see a reason to blame them either.
Individuals have a right to do what they want to do and there should not be any force letting me decide what should I do and what i should not. We live in open society which gives us the right to speak, write and do what the individual wants to do. Till the time that act does not hurt or is meant to hurt I do not see any reason why an individual should be questioned or penalised.
The two incidents how ever isolated point to the general level suspicion in the mind of the people around and there is nothing except Time which will act as the Best Healer. We need to wait and watch and give space to others rather than pointing fingers.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Things about MEN : Wonderful Read !!!
P.S. >>> This is not my write up. I have lifted it from one of the many websites and did find it absolutely amazing. Good Read !!! Worth Spending a minute or two !!!
MEN ARE JUST HAPPIER PEOPLE
What do you expect from such simple creatures?
- Your last name stays put.
- The garage is all yours.
- Wedding plans take care of themselves.
- Chocolate is just another snack.
- You can never be pregnant.
- You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
- You can wear NO shirt to a water park..
- Car mechanics tell you the truth.
- The world is your urinal.
- You never have to drive to another petrol station toilet because this one is just too icky.
- You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
- Same work, more pay.
- Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress 20000 max.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. - The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.
- New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
- One mood all the time.
- Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
- You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day holiday requires only one suitcase. - You can open all your own jars.
- You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
- If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. - You almost never have strap problems in public.
- You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
- Everything on your face stays its original colour.
- The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
- You only have to shave your face and neck.
- You can play with toys all your life.
- One wallet and one pair of shoes one colour for all seasons.
- You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
- You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife..
- You have freedom of choice concerning growing a moustache..
- You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
- No wonder men are happier.
NICKNAMES If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.If Mike , Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.
EATING OUT When the bill arrives, Mike , Dave and John will each throw in £20, even though it's only for £32.50. ..........None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY A man will pay £2 for a £1 item he needs.A woman will pay £120 for a £2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.
BATHROOMS A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from M&S.The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.
ARGUMENTS A woman has the last word in any argument.Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
CATS Women love cats.Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.
FUTURE A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.
DRESSING UP A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the bins, answer the phone, read a book, and get the post.A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL Men wake up as good-looking as they we not to bed.Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
OFFSPRING Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. .........She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY A married man should forget his mistakes. ......There's no use in two people remembering the same thing.
Monday, July 6, 2009
New York : Good Watch
There is something really which did strike me a lot about this movie : New York. Shot against the back drop of Islamic Terrorism with 9/11 attacks as the poster this movie moves you right from the start to the very end. Agreed this was my first movie in the last 3 odd months and that forced long break ( perhaps the first in the last 7 years for me ) might result in a bit exaggerated opinion but make no mistake New York tells us a lot about life in general post that event for Muslims across the world and brown skin people in particular.
In the best Bollywood tradition, this is a triangle: Omar (Neil Mukesh) loves
Maya (Katrina) who loves Sam (John Abraham). They watch the planes crash into the towers in shock and horror—Omar goes his way, the other two get hitched. Years later, the FBI in the shape of Roshan (Irrfan) surfaces in the threesome’s lives, with a shocking revelation: one of them is the kingpin of a sleeper terrorist organization, and the other has to turn into an FBI informer.
New York opens around 7 years after the 9/11 attacks with Omar being wrongly held captive by the FBI. At this point enters Agent Roshan an FBI age
nt, who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of these friends upside down. Roshan asks Omar to spy on his old-time friend Sam who the FBI suspects to be a terrorist. In contrast, Sameer himself narrates his distressing past to Omar of how he was illegally detained and brutally tortured by the FBI for 9 months, immediately after 9/11 and victimized for being a Muslim suspect in New York.
The ensuing chemistry between the characters keeps you riveted till the movie takes an twist at the interval point. The terrorism theme comes into picture predominantly in the second half. And that's were the movie struggles just a little bit. The pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of
the first half and there are some predictable things in store.
John's recall of his past is superb and just sets you for an exciting second half. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. Beautifully done. But unfortunately the movie tends to gets lengthy before it reaches a powerful, brilliantly executed climax.
Excellent performance by John... No doubt it is his career best. Katrina did well to justify her presence. The shot i
n which she confesses to Neil that she knows John's activity is great. Neil Nitin Mukesh comes good after his lurid performance in Aa Dekhe Jaara... Irrfan Khan the pasta hating, America loving cop is amazing. He adds zing to some of the finest moments in the movie. Top Notch performance.
On the whole the movie raises some pertinent questions about the people affected by 9/11. Surely we are not always what we want to be. Many a times it is the circumstances we are in or perhaps we have been in past does decide the track of our life and people around. Life is not fair and this has been told in a very matured fashion. It is easy to point fingers at the investigating people and raise decibels of Human Rights but we need to understand how many innocent people suffer when event like 9/11 happens. The movie walks the fine line and does not blame individuals nor any country or religion. Rather it blames the circumstances and that to me was a good way to end the movie.
As the last frame closes amidst the maple leaves, you are reminded that this is a movie from the Yash Raj stable and as always it has caught my imagination...
Well Done Kabir.... Take a Bow. ..I reserve the last word for you
In the best Bollywood tradition, this is a triangle: Omar (Neil Mukesh) loves
Maya (Katrina) who loves Sam (John Abraham). They watch the planes crash into the towers in shock and horror—Omar goes his way, the other two get hitched. Years later, the FBI in the shape of Roshan (Irrfan) surfaces in the threesome’s lives, with a shocking revelation: one of them is the kingpin of a sleeper terrorist organization, and the other has to turn into an FBI informer.New York opens around 7 years after the 9/11 attacks with Omar being wrongly held captive by the FBI. At this point enters Agent Roshan an FBI age
nt, who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of these friends upside down. Roshan asks Omar to spy on his old-time friend Sam who the FBI suspects to be a terrorist. In contrast, Sameer himself narrates his distressing past to Omar of how he was illegally detained and brutally tortured by the FBI for 9 months, immediately after 9/11 and victimized for being a Muslim suspect in New York.The ensuing chemistry between the characters keeps you riveted till the movie takes an twist at the interval point. The terrorism theme comes into picture predominantly in the second half. And that's were the movie struggles just a little bit. The pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of
the first half and there are some predictable things in store.John's recall of his past is superb and just sets you for an exciting second half. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. Beautifully done. But unfortunately the movie tends to gets lengthy before it reaches a powerful, brilliantly executed climax.
Excellent performance by John... No doubt it is his career best. Katrina did well to justify her presence. The shot i
n which she confesses to Neil that she knows John's activity is great. Neil Nitin Mukesh comes good after his lurid performance in Aa Dekhe Jaara... Irrfan Khan the pasta hating, America loving cop is amazing. He adds zing to some of the finest moments in the movie. Top Notch performance.On the whole the movie raises some pertinent questions about the people affected by 9/11. Surely we are not always what we want to be. Many a times it is the circumstances we are in or perhaps we have been in past does decide the track of our life and people around. Life is not fair and this has been told in a very matured fashion. It is easy to point fingers at the investigating people and raise decibels of Human Rights but we need to understand how many innocent people suffer when event like 9/11 happens. The movie walks the fine line and does not blame individuals nor any country or religion. Rather it blames the circumstances and that to me was a good way to end the movie.
As the last frame closes amidst the maple leaves, you are reminded that this is a movie from the Yash Raj stable and as always it has caught my imagination...
Well Done Kabir.... Take a Bow. ..I reserve the last word for you
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Battle of Uttar Pradesh : Elections 2009
Trust me there is much more than my ancestral roots why I would like to discuss Uttrar Pradesh Elections. It is the biggest of all the states... a state which has given the most number of Prime Minister's to the country but more importantly a state which more often than not dictates political climate of the country.
So what's happening there... If you go a bit deep and ask people around and when I say people I mean people of all sections and strata, caste, religion, education background and perhaps economic status there is one thing which seems to be so common, and that is this election is perhaps played at semi final stage, the final is somewhere later. Perhaps 2014 or may be perhaps much earlier than that. Needless to say there is subtle winds of change, a sure positive sign that almost after 15 years of dogmatic politics this season is ripe to sow some seeds which will bear positive fruits in future.
Essentially a quadrangular contest where SP and BSP will emerge at the top half and BJP and Congress will come down below. Chances are very high that BSP will emerge as a single largest party there but it might not end up doing what it was felt perhaps a month ago... i.e. some 45 odd seats. I would imagine that they will not even tough SP tally of 2004 i.e. 39 seats.
BSP has been perhaps the most mysterious party of this elections. A party that has shunned media like never before. Mayawati has not given a single interview all along the campaign trail and the only person who has been in news among that party has been S.C. Mishra. BSP over the last decade or so has quite successfully created this rain bow coalition of extreme backwards and the Brahmins in UP. The coalition that actually propelled her to that landslide majority in the Assembly Election a few seasons ago. But this collation is facing some serious challenges this time. And to top it up for Mayawati it is facing the challenger from both sides. The Upper Caste or the Brahmin's who supported her in a big way last Assembly Election is moving towards BJP due to the general disenchantment towards BSP and with BJP gaining some ground. Also Congress which is trying hard to get back to it's core support base is seriously wooing the Dalit vote. In a nut shell Mayawati is worried about this particular vote bank slipping away from her though her anger and vengeance still continues for Mulayam Singh and his Samajwadi Party.
Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav perhaps needs to do good more than any other party and looks like is facing a battle of survival. This party needs not only to do good in the polls but also wants to play a role of King Maker in the post election scenario otherwise it might just miss the bus. Though his hold over his core support base of Yadavs is still intact but should worry Mr Yadav is that Muslims who supported him and his party so whole heartedly ever since the demolition of Babri Masjid is not averse to look for options. It still needs to be seen whether seeking the support of Former UP Chief Minsiter Kalyan Singh and his Lodh community and agonising the Muslim vote bank will reap benefits or will this be a tactical blunder by Mulayam Singh. I suspect the later as it is now becoming more clearer that Muslims are moving away from him due to Kalyan Singh. Another point where Mulayam Singh lost it even before this election race started was when he failed in getting Congress into a electoral alliance. This also might just prove costly for him.
For Congress this might be the time they have been waited for long. They still might not increase their tally of seats substantially but make no mistake their vote share will increase. Their organization looks far more active and support base far more confident. For them this is surely the Semi Final and they will keenly await the Final where they would like to square off their position.
That leaves me on Bhartiya Janta Party. A party which had a meteoric rise due to the Saffron Wave post demolition of Babri Masjid finds it self in a rather sorry state. Lack of grass root political workers, absence of leader of national stature and you suddenly find big gaps in this party. The party might still be strong in the cities but it will require a lot of luck and perhaps more voting percentage to get a few seats more than expected. Rajnath Singh BJP President fighting for Ghaziabad parliamentary seat needs BJP to do well in UP and esp in his own seat. There has been considerable debate over Rajnath's future in BJP as President and a good show will make things easy for him. Once a breeding ground for BJP for it's national level grass root leaders namely Vajpayee, Murli Manohar and Kalyan Singh this party finds a total vacuum in that spectrum. The vacuum is so evident that Varun Gandhi was lapped by it's traditional vote bank the moment he made those not so famous speeches. Many among them thought here is one who speaks what we would like to listen. BJP for it's all past need to seriously introspect and start building the base from the very basics for this is one state which has always supported it and it's policies.
And finally where do they all stand post 16th of May 2009...
I would imagine Congress to get 5 seats, BJP around 12, SP around 25-30 odd and BSP getting around 35 seats. Well Congress and BJP would take poll apart position ( How ever I wish the otherwise ....) and I feel BSP moving towards that alliance where she will be more in demand. In other wise she will like to support the party which she would find more dependent on her and a bit unstable. That is where is she can extract the maximum premium.
SP has technically no option, it has to and has to align with Congress for the possibility of Third Front Government is as high as you would get Pamela Anderson in streets of Lucknow. The worst scenario for SP will be if the Government at centre is formed with Mayawati's support and more so if it is a Congress Led UP Government.
So what's happening there... If you go a bit deep and ask people around and when I say people I mean people of all sections and strata, caste, religion, education background and perhaps economic status there is one thing which seems to be so common, and that is this election is perhaps played at semi final stage, the final is somewhere later. Perhaps 2014 or may be perhaps much earlier than that. Needless to say there is subtle winds of change, a sure positive sign that almost after 15 years of dogmatic politics this season is ripe to sow some seeds which will bear positive fruits in future.
Essentially a quadrangular contest where SP and BSP will emerge at the top half and BJP and Congress will come down below. Chances are very high that BSP will emerge as a single largest party there but it might not end up doing what it was felt perhaps a month ago... i.e. some 45 odd seats. I would imagine that they will not even tough SP tally of 2004 i.e. 39 seats.
BSP has been perhaps the most mysterious party of this elections. A party that has shunned media like never before. Mayawati has not given a single interview all along the campaign trail and the only person who has been in news among that party has been S.C. Mishra. BSP over the last decade or so has quite successfully created this rain bow coalition of extreme backwards and the Brahmins in UP. The coalition that actually propelled her to that landslide majority in the Assembly Election a few seasons ago. But this collation is facing some serious challenges this time. And to top it up for Mayawati it is facing the challenger from both sides. The Upper Caste or the Brahmin's who supported her in a big way last Assembly Election is moving towards BJP due to the general disenchantment towards BSP and with BJP gaining some ground. Also Congress which is trying hard to get back to it's core support base is seriously wooing the Dalit vote. In a nut shell Mayawati is worried about this particular vote bank slipping away from her though her anger and vengeance still continues for Mulayam Singh and his Samajwadi Party.
Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav perhaps needs to do good more than any other party and looks like is facing a battle of survival. This party needs not only to do good in the polls but also wants to play a role of King Maker in the post election scenario otherwise it might just miss the bus. Though his hold over his core support base of Yadavs is still intact but should worry Mr Yadav is that Muslims who supported him and his party so whole heartedly ever since the demolition of Babri Masjid is not averse to look for options. It still needs to be seen whether seeking the support of Former UP Chief Minsiter Kalyan Singh and his Lodh community and agonising the Muslim vote bank will reap benefits or will this be a tactical blunder by Mulayam Singh. I suspect the later as it is now becoming more clearer that Muslims are moving away from him due to Kalyan Singh. Another point where Mulayam Singh lost it even before this election race started was when he failed in getting Congress into a electoral alliance. This also might just prove costly for him.
For Congress this might be the time they have been waited for long. They still might not increase their tally of seats substantially but make no mistake their vote share will increase. Their organization looks far more active and support base far more confident. For them this is surely the Semi Final and they will keenly await the Final where they would like to square off their position.
That leaves me on Bhartiya Janta Party. A party which had a meteoric rise due to the Saffron Wave post demolition of Babri Masjid finds it self in a rather sorry state. Lack of grass root political workers, absence of leader of national stature and you suddenly find big gaps in this party. The party might still be strong in the cities but it will require a lot of luck and perhaps more voting percentage to get a few seats more than expected. Rajnath Singh BJP President fighting for Ghaziabad parliamentary seat needs BJP to do well in UP and esp in his own seat. There has been considerable debate over Rajnath's future in BJP as President and a good show will make things easy for him. Once a breeding ground for BJP for it's national level grass root leaders namely Vajpayee, Murli Manohar and Kalyan Singh this party finds a total vacuum in that spectrum. The vacuum is so evident that Varun Gandhi was lapped by it's traditional vote bank the moment he made those not so famous speeches. Many among them thought here is one who speaks what we would like to listen. BJP for it's all past need to seriously introspect and start building the base from the very basics for this is one state which has always supported it and it's policies.
And finally where do they all stand post 16th of May 2009...
I would imagine Congress to get 5 seats, BJP around 12, SP around 25-30 odd and BSP getting around 35 seats. Well Congress and BJP would take poll apart position ( How ever I wish the otherwise ....) and I feel BSP moving towards that alliance where she will be more in demand. In other wise she will like to support the party which she would find more dependent on her and a bit unstable. That is where is she can extract the maximum premium.
SP has technically no option, it has to and has to align with Congress for the possibility of Third Front Government is as high as you would get Pamela Anderson in streets of Lucknow. The worst scenario for SP will be if the Government at centre is formed with Mayawati's support and more so if it is a Congress Led UP Government.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
This is not Cricket !!!
This is just not cricket...
For sure it is not... Politics has again redefined the way we live and the way we want our lives to be... It has won again !!! How ever we dislike the fact and shout from the roof tops and that there is no connection in between Sports and Politics, the truth of the matter is that you cannot separate the two from each other. Any body who says the opposite is either completely dishonest or perhaps has nothing else to do in life and hence issues these stupid statements.
For long Sports has been used a major tool to express big political statements in past. The West Block boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, The Soviets and the Eastern Block reciprocated the gesture by boycotting the Los Angels Olympics in 1984. For a good part of 90's India themselves never allowed it's own cricket team to tour Pakistan. Recently an Israel Tennis Girl was not allowed visa in Dubai Tennis. The fact of today's world is this will continue.
But what happened today was something which goes beyond explanation and the mundane statements which has started to trickle post that episode. Never in past has cricket faced this sort of Crisis and I just wonder it will not be a same again. Cricket has lost it's innocence and gone are those days when the Oxford will use the sentence " This is not Cricket "
As I read the story of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, I also mourned the imminent death of international cricket in Pakistan. This deadly attack simply means no international team will be willing to come and play any sport in Pakistan. What is most embarrassing is the fact that the attack was targeted at a team that was trying to help Pakistani cricket and cricket-crazed fans by agreeing to tour in a time of dire crises.
Kumar Sangakkara, Ajhanta Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana are injured and although their lives are out of danger, it was most unfortunate that these most sporting of cricketers had to face this. Only last week, during the Karachi Test, former England fast bowler Dominic Cork and Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss spoke about the fool-proof security arrangements in Pakistan and pleaded international sides to come and play cricket here. What must they be thinking and doing now? Eating their words, and packing their bags to board the next flight home, I suppose.
The least the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan government can do now is issue a national, government-level apology to the Sri Lankan team and the people of Sri Lanka for this unfortunate incident – a bit more than the PCB chief saying ‘we’re assessing the situation.’
Pakistani fans can pretty much say goodbye to international cricket after this attack and dare I say, even prepare for a total boycott of all sports events in the country for the next few months or perhaps a year or two also.
For sure it is not... Politics has again redefined the way we live and the way we want our lives to be... It has won again !!! How ever we dislike the fact and shout from the roof tops and that there is no connection in between Sports and Politics, the truth of the matter is that you cannot separate the two from each other. Any body who says the opposite is either completely dishonest or perhaps has nothing else to do in life and hence issues these stupid statements.
For long Sports has been used a major tool to express big political statements in past. The West Block boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, The Soviets and the Eastern Block reciprocated the gesture by boycotting the Los Angels Olympics in 1984. For a good part of 90's India themselves never allowed it's own cricket team to tour Pakistan. Recently an Israel Tennis Girl was not allowed visa in Dubai Tennis. The fact of today's world is this will continue.
But what happened today was something which goes beyond explanation and the mundane statements which has started to trickle post that episode. Never in past has cricket faced this sort of Crisis and I just wonder it will not be a same again. Cricket has lost it's innocence and gone are those days when the Oxford will use the sentence " This is not Cricket "
As I read the story of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, I also mourned the imminent death of international cricket in Pakistan. This deadly attack simply means no international team will be willing to come and play any sport in Pakistan. What is most embarrassing is the fact that the attack was targeted at a team that was trying to help Pakistani cricket and cricket-crazed fans by agreeing to tour in a time of dire crises.
Kumar Sangakkara, Ajhanta Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana are injured and although their lives are out of danger, it was most unfortunate that these most sporting of cricketers had to face this. Only last week, during the Karachi Test, former England fast bowler Dominic Cork and Sri Lankan coach Trevor Bayliss spoke about the fool-proof security arrangements in Pakistan and pleaded international sides to come and play cricket here. What must they be thinking and doing now? Eating their words, and packing their bags to board the next flight home, I suppose.
The least the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan government can do now is issue a national, government-level apology to the Sri Lankan team and the people of Sri Lanka for this unfortunate incident – a bit more than the PCB chief saying ‘we’re assessing the situation.’
Pakistani fans can pretty much say goodbye to international cricket after this attack and dare I say, even prepare for a total boycott of all sports events in the country for the next few months or perhaps a year or two also.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Why are we saving Satyam ?
We are looking at an unusual spectacle unfolding in the Satyam saga. The government of India in the quest of some misplaced objective is spending tax payers money and time to revive a rotten case. Worse this is creating a market for scavengers on Dalal Street.
Yes the employees need to be helped and the customers interests protected. That is best done by aggregating the clients whose jobs were being handled by Satyam and the workers on the rolls into a special purpose vehicle which should be bundled and auctioned among the top three companies or sold to an eager beaver like L&T.
The harsh truth of capitalism is that trust once lost cannot be regained. I cannot see any responsible company wanting to give orders or continue beyond a point with the beleaguered entity. So while the going is good let's shift the order book to three or four big companies and retain the market share. The employees working on these accounts naturally move to the new entity.
Let us not uphold any misplaced sense of obligation to the shareholders. They are after all risk capital investors and by definition expected to bear the risk. Secondly given the nature of the fraud its not clear if the so called FII investments are ordinary investors or benami beneficiaries who are fronting for politicians. Indeed the task force should publish the names of these investors so that the public at large and regulators know true beneficial ownership.
Of course when the entity is buried its assets -which will include money raised from the sale of customer accounts and fixed assets like land and office premises - can be distributed among the owners of shares.
The best course of action is to take out the good and bury the rest.. As of now the "rescue mission" has become a fig leaf of distraction. The sooner the final rites of this stinking cadaver is conducted the better it is. That will also free energies to fix responsibility and hang the guilty.
Yes the employees need to be helped and the customers interests protected. That is best done by aggregating the clients whose jobs were being handled by Satyam and the workers on the rolls into a special purpose vehicle which should be bundled and auctioned among the top three companies or sold to an eager beaver like L&T.
The harsh truth of capitalism is that trust once lost cannot be regained. I cannot see any responsible company wanting to give orders or continue beyond a point with the beleaguered entity. So while the going is good let's shift the order book to three or four big companies and retain the market share. The employees working on these accounts naturally move to the new entity.
Let us not uphold any misplaced sense of obligation to the shareholders. They are after all risk capital investors and by definition expected to bear the risk. Secondly given the nature of the fraud its not clear if the so called FII investments are ordinary investors or benami beneficiaries who are fronting for politicians. Indeed the task force should publish the names of these investors so that the public at large and regulators know true beneficial ownership.
Of course when the entity is buried its assets -which will include money raised from the sale of customer accounts and fixed assets like land and office premises - can be distributed among the owners of shares.
The best course of action is to take out the good and bury the rest.. As of now the "rescue mission" has become a fig leaf of distraction. The sooner the final rites of this stinking cadaver is conducted the better it is. That will also free energies to fix responsibility and hang the guilty.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
There is somethng about " NOTHING "!!!
Flippng through the pages of the Old Yesteryear rugged college Notebook, remembering the last night discussion with your college-hood bumchum about that funny instance which happened some good 6-7 years ago or perhaps having a silent sneak on the albums uploaded in one of the many networking sites ... and you some how go silent, shade thoughtful and mix of both emotional as well cheerful depending on how much attached you are with that memoir.
Time doesn't wait for you and neither does t wait for me.. Days pass, months pass and so does all those years, you miss your best ones, you move away from your close ones. Your priorities change, life changes, friends change, people change! But your heart has those precious moments attached to it whether you want it or not. You love them, you hate them but you joost cannot ignore them. They are always there making you happy in sad times and making you sad even at happier times. Your heart has those moments in stacked in that little corner where no one can know them... You blink, you stare and you feel nostalgic...
When others ask by looking at your face, you just smile and say, "Nothing...."
If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
Time doesn't wait for you and neither does t wait for me.. Days pass, months pass and so does all those years, you miss your best ones, you move away from your close ones. Your priorities change, life changes, friends change, people change! But your heart has those precious moments attached to it whether you want it or not. You love them, you hate them but you joost cannot ignore them. They are always there making you happy in sad times and making you sad even at happier times. Your heart has those moments in stacked in that little corner where no one can know them... You blink, you stare and you feel nostalgic...
When others ask by looking at your face, you just smile and say, "Nothing...."
If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
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