The Filthy Rich

The incident really set me thinking. Our office bus had only just left the ITPL campus when it met with a freak accident. While pulling onto the main road, the driver took the corner a little too sharp and broke the rear view mirror of a minibus which was also pulling onto the road from the left side. Both the vehicles pulled over and a verbal duel with the usual quota of expletives and exclamations ensued. But while at least a few of the occupants of the minibus got down and backed their driver, none of us bothered to so much as get up. Shamefully, our driver was outnumbered and he had to shell out a few hundred rupees too to pay for the damages. Dejected, he got back into the bus and as he did so remarked, "ಒಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ ಮಾತಾಡಕ್ ಆಗಲ್ವಾ? ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಬಸಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಹೋದ್ರೆ ಸಾಕಗಲ್ಲ!" (Not one of you could speak up? Its not just enough if you travel in a bus)

He had a point. The occupants of the minibus were mainly daily wage labourers. They did care about the person driving them home and at least bothered to step out, be it out of curiosity or to just morally support their driver in abusing the 'perpetrator'. But on the other hand, none of us did. We just sat in the bus talking over the cell phone or listening to music, all the while aware our driver outside was facing the music all by himself himself. And that includes me. What a shame! Besides, the few hundred rupees that our driver had to shell out would definitely have been a sizable part of his salary, compared to all of us who drew 6 figure salaries. And as I sat contemplating over what appeared to be a callous attitude on our part, there were several questions that I could not quite find the answers to..


Do the well to do consider it denigrating or to put it simply, below their dignity, to deal with a prole? Take this instance itself. I mean, why the hesitation to get down from the bus and exchange words to resolve the situation? The bus driver had after all taken up the responsibility of taking us home safely. So its nothing but humanitarian to have a sense of compassion towards him in return. An argument on the lines of '.. its his duty and that is what he's being paid to do.. " is nothing short of apathetic. As to if our driver was responsible for the accident is another question altogether. We just had to be by his side when he needed it.

Is the well healed section of society but a bunch of hypocritical opportunists? Seems like a bold and unwarranted comment. But its my observation. If the city were to be flooded or a catastrophe were to strike the city any day, then take note of this. While the IT professionals and business executives only bother to drive home safe and sound as soon as possible, the aam aadmi actually tries to help his fellow citizens get home safe. Good Samaritans somehow always seem to hail from the middle class. But then you could say that the rich and the filthy rich give back to the society in a different style. In Warren Buffet style maybe. I tell you, when a blast rips through your city, a million dollars is the last thing you'd want. Humanity is what one needs then. And its compassion and consideration for fellow denizens what is needed on a day to day basis. The well to do section of the society somehow is under the misconception that signing off a lakh rupees once a year should be enough to write off anything that they owe to the society. Disappointing indeed.

And that brings me to the next point. Rules are for them to follow!? Don't the well to do think that money gives them power and politico-legal immunity? They almost think its their right to jump queues at the bank and signal lights at the intersection. Its bad enough to see someone litter the pavement before your eyes. What is even worse is when an educated someone, wearing a Alan Paine or a Levis does it. For all those lakhs spent on education, if one still lacks some basic civic sense, what can we expect from the rest? It is like he feel the grime of the city is for the proletarians to writhe in and he has nothing whatsoever to do with.


I'm don't want to generalize and equate the affluent to the arrogant. But its been the thumb rule. Its just that economic advancements inevitably bring a lot changes in one's demeanour and one's outlook towards towards the society and issues pertaining to it. Being civic is to realize this simple truth and swallow ones ego. Easier said than done. Unless you see yourself ending up in a Phone Booth like Stu Shepard for the contempt with which you treat the rest of the world, you and I are not bound to change anytime soon.

Bombs Away

Its been like no other week.. News of bombs exploding and being defused have taken over the headlines, drowning everything else to the background. Starting with blasts in Bangalore on Friday, news is pouring in from Ahmadabad and Surat now. Unlike any of the previous blasts, this time around things have not been the same. There is something amiss and is really worth pondering over.

Carnage has NOT been the intent here.
Lets start with the Bangalore blasts. The bombs were clearly not packed to kill and were set off during the early afternoon. In their wake, the 7 blasts left just 2 dead but sent the city into a state of panic. Nerves are yet to settle. This is evident from the fact that even 5 days later today, schools, business units and malls are ready to shut down at the drop of a hat; just to be safe. The 'terrorists' chose to not kill. Had they wanted, the toll could have been in the hundreds much like the recent May 13 Jaipur blast or the Hyderabad and Delhi blasts preceding that. Despicable as they are, these jehadists could have placed the explosives at crowded areas and set them off in close succession (as was the case of 7/11 Mumbai blasts) during peak hours. But they just did not. Why?(As soon as I heard the news on Friday when in office, it occurred to me that the blasts could be just decoys to get people panicky and out onto streets, when a real set of blasts would blow the unsuspecting commuters to smithereens at major traffic junctions! How glad I was that it didn't happen).

Explanation for this exception was given as - SIMI wanted to prove that they are crippled and are still fully potent and can 'hit on will', even after the arrest of their heads (Nagori et al) this May. But that does not answer the question as to why they chose to not kill. Brash as it may sound, they could have made a bolder statement by claiming numerous lives and drawing world attention.

The toll was definitely higher in case of Ahmadabad, but Surat? 18 live bombs recovered and not a single one went off!? Its hard to digest. These mischievous outfits are known for their meticulous planning and they could definitely not have bungled up this badly. A pointer to this is the fact that no attempt was made to conceal the bombs. Instead they were left hanging from a tree (like the one behind Matavadi police outpost in the Varacha area), hoisted atop a billboard or left at other conspicuous places. The reason for the massive failure has been attributed to faulty wiring of ICs (this is the first time ICs have been used). Again, it seems highly unlikely to me. An explosive recovered from Ahmadabad had a legend 'No. 23' suggesting that it was manufactured in batches from an organised establishment as against a basement or garage.

One plausible explanation to all these anomalies is that Islamist jihadis are making themselves a part of the election discourse in India.[See this]. Its more sinister and deep rooted than it appears. And the fact that these gruesome activities are targeted at BJP run states is definitely not a co-incidence. I'd not want to thrash our crime branch and intelligence left and right on their failure. When major mishaps are averted, they don't garner much media attention or retentivity in the volatile public memory. But when it comes to incidents like these that could not be stopped, we refuse to forgive them. I'm not saying that you give them a clean chit. All I'm trying to say is that mistakes do happen and they too have their share of problems[See this].

So what is it that they these malcontent radicals trying to prove? That 'they are capable of hitting anytime, anywhere'? All Muslim organizations have 'condemned the dastardly serial blasts'... [Thanks guys.. We could not have asked for more] Pardon my sarcasm, but if they really were concerned, with the sort of network and organizational complexity they have within their community, I feel a sincere cooperation with the authorities would have let us nip these malevolent units years earlier and not let them grow into the juggernaut they are today. I'd just like to say, "Its still not late you guys, wake up and do the needful!!"

Reflection

Amno: So you call it life...?
Bozo: Well, whats the problem? At the end of the day it pays well..
Amno: Duh!
Bozo: Er..?
Amno: How's your routine different from a washing machine..
Bozo: I choose what to do when I want.. Hey wait!
Amno: [Grinnn]

Be Cool !!

I found a very interesting article the other day on the 'Lighting Energy Efficiency Project'. I thought it would make an interesting read. Before I discuss the article as such, it would not be a bad idea to discuss what are called Carbon Credits. The Kyoto Protocol laid down norms for the use of carbon credits in a way analogous to currency. Every country has a 'cap' on how much carbon (thats greenhouse emissions) it can spew into the atmosphere annually. So business organization like refineries, chemical factories, fertilizer plants and thermal power station within these countries have got set quotas of how much emissions they can afford to have, measured in terms of metric tonnes of C02 (or its equivalent). They have to stay within the allocated quota even with increased demands. Unused quota can be traded those organizations that have exceeded their quota. Thus, carbon credits are an effective means of keeping the worldwide emissions within bounds, irrespective of the pressures of increasing demand.

This article titled "Carbon is now bread & butter business" describes a project by Hyderabad-based technocrats — Nityanand J Agrawal and Gopal Amin. They propose to replace regular bulbs with CFLs for a paltry Rs 10 each; 10 million of them across households in AP and another 2 million in Chattisgarh. Not only does it save power in these households, it reduces greenhouse emissions. The retail price of the bulbs is around Rs 200. So they go to environmental agencies and claim carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The article says that ... "The country’s potential with such projects, say industry analysts, is roughly around 9 million carbon credits per year, which, at current prices, can earn around Euro 90 million per annum...".


Talking of energy conservation, Blackle is worth a mention. Their motto? Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time. I quote from the site - Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen. They claim that by having a black google homepage the world could be saving 750 MW of power!!

Just remember. At the end of the day, saving energy is as simple as switching of the lights n fan before leaving the room. Kick global warming. Be cool !!

Are we riding the bull or just going to the dogs !?

India has turned round a corner. The economy is brimming with good news. The bulls charged past 19k yesterday, taking just 4 days to cover the last 1000 points!! The dollar is losing its shine against the rupee. The rupee touched a nine and a half year high up against the formidable dollar. The inflation rates are also down after hovering over 6% about the same time last year. I'm no economist, but it doesn't take a maven to get the point.

To me, it all began on the day I picked up the TOI one fine morning 2 years back and read this article "Advantage India: forever young!" on the first page. There had been a transformation. The fact that we support 17% of the world population on just 2.4% of the land suddenly had a brighter side to it. The population boom was now a population boon! In the years to come, our population growth would lead to a surplus of 47 million working age people. Goldman Sachs projected that given the rate of growth of our population, we'd be the only country to sustain growth in excess of 5% till 2050. Thus making us the 3rd strongest economy by 2050, behind China and USA (note the order). Back then, it was hard to swallow. Not now. We are currently the fourth largest in terms of Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) and are poised to outdo Japan in just 10yrs!

But all is not well. When we see beyond all this, the ground realities are pretty grim. This article by the chairman, NIIT group will shake you back to reality. Having a surplus population in the working age bracket just won't do any good. Not unless they can be fruitfully employed. This reveals the darker side of the picture. For starters, institutions across the country churn out almost two million graduate every year and 3,00,000 are engineering graduates. And a meagre 10-15% of them are employable in BPOs and offshore IT companies. Developing countries like ourselves and China are able to tip the scales with high growth rates thanks to the competitive edge provided by the availability of cheap land and labour. But the dearth of skilled and competitive hands will definitely hit us hard as wage rate are bound to sky-rocket. So there is a simple paradox arising out of this.


By 2012, India could have an unemployed population of 19-37 million, the largest share of which will be educated youth. By 2020, India is estimated to have surplus working population of 45-50 million people. The explanation provided by Rajendra S Pawar in the article is simple... While urban India has witnessed a stupendous growth in jobs, in other parts children still drop out from school, girls are still not sent to school and youngsters are forced to take up jobs instead of completing their graduation.

NIIT is undertaking programs of generating skilled manpower. Their programme intends to equip graduated with technical and communication skills. The project appears to be puny going by the number of graduates that they intend to train (200 currently) but the intentions are definitely noble. This is yet another novel attempt by NIIT after the "Hole in the Wall" project. I wonder how many more such programmes these people have launched. Hats off to you NIIT !!