Towards a just society....

Pure human greed is ruining our lives.

We have become exploitative of our fellow human beings. Those who are involved in this game, create ways and means of exploiting others. They bring about bureaucrats and governments that agree to their plans of exploitation.

Thus in the name of a welfare state, policies are created that look after the welfare of the rich. The rich plot and plan and corner all resources. They control land and industry. They control the jobs, they control the money supply and the banks. They create policies that funnel money to them making them more dominant and more exploitative.

They put you on a perpetual debt treadmill for anything that you want to own. Your labor is cheap and life cheaper. They don't care, just go and donate some money to wash off their sins. They too die but in the end they create more misery in the world. They are seen as job creators and people worship them but they forget that they are cutting the same branch on which they are sitting.

The earth is bountiful and has enough for every humans need but will never have for everyone's greed.

By controlling land supply and its utilization they control where you live, how you travel and where you work.

The people that we elect to make laws end up making policies that lead to our own exploitation.

Take the case of genetically modified terminating seeds. Take the case of low prices to farmers. Take the case of under utilization of land potential for housing and industry. Take the case of inadequate trains for the people who commute on daily basis. Take the case of privatization of power, education, health, roads, bridges, airports, airlines, etc. and you will see emerging a pattern. A pattern that discredits the managers of these institutions in public hands such as to hand over the same to private parties for the gains of a few.

All this is leading to increased exploitation of the masses. Labor and resources create wealth. Labor is exploited and resources are being cornered by a few.

We may be living in a democratic nation but we live in a very unjust society. And those who control this society are the real evil.

These shackles have to be broken free. We need to work for the welfare of people and not for their exploitation.

That is the basis of a good society.

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु
मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om, May All become Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

Not through my nose.....

Dear Mr. Arun Jailtey,

There is statement attributed to you in the media which says that you said that 'If people of India want development, they will have to pay the price'.

Dear Jaitley ji, not for a moment did any Indian have a doubt that they will have to pay a price, in fact, all along, since the last 70 years after independence, it is the public that has been paying a price for development. All the taxes that governments collect comes from the people of India to go into the consolidated funds of India, I am sure as the Finance Minister of the country, you are already aware of this fact.

Dear Jaitley ji, no Indian for a moment thought that you would bring money from your own bank account, which is quite substantive I am told, to do development of India.

Dear Jaitley ji, neither did any Indian ever think that money will come from any other leader of your party or that of other parties to do the 'development' of India.

You see sir, our problem is different. It seems that for the last 70 years, the Indian public has been doing the development of leaders like you and those spread all over the political spectrum irrespective of party they belong to.

The political class is the parasite that feeds off the money provided by the Indians. The parasites have been growing at a massive scale so much so that the Supreme Court too is worried at the impressive growth of wealth of politicians and is taking notice of the same.

Therefore dear Jaitley ji, given that we, the people of India, are aware that it is our money only that does development and given the fact that we are aware that people like you are nothing but parasites on the system, please don't lecture us on how to go about the development process.

And we are more than willing to participate in the development process but the taxes that you seek to extract should be reasonable and not extracted through our noses.
Otherwise, I hope all is well with the economy and that we can see some development towards removal of parasites that feed on our money such that we can see some real development a.k.a 'Vikas'.

In management, there is a saying, lead, follow or get out of the way.

In the present situation I think as your government is unable to lead and it can not follow, therefore the best would be for people like you and your government to get out of the way.

Or be thrown out of the way.

Choice is entirely yours.

Give a man fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Chinese Proverb.

Give a man fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. - Chinese Proverb.

Yet, we insist on giving our farmers fish in the shape of loan waivers.

We ignore the underlying problems. We think by giving him fish today, we will be able to feed him and he won't be under any stress any longer.

What are the underlying problems?

Right Price.
Any business, including farming has to make profits. Profits are generally calculated as sale price - cost price.
In our country, we have the essential commodities act under fall many of the things that the farmer produces. These commodities are price controlled and the government fixes a minimum support price. The farmer produces crops keeping these prices in mind but because of wild fluctuations of weather, there is either a bumper crop or a complete wash out. Under both circumstances the farmer suffers. In case of bumper crops the farmer is unable to sell his produce at the MSP as the government does not procure 100% of the produce on offer. In case of crop failure, he has nothing to sell.

The solution to this lies in government procuring all the produce at the MSP or at least ensuring that even private purchase happens at this price.

Vagaries of weather.
Seventy years after independence, the farmers are still suffering the vagaries of weather. Government investment in irrigation projects have failed to yield constant and reliable water supply.

Poor supply of electricity.
Rural areas still remain affected by unreliable power supply forcing them to use expensive diesel to run their water pumps. This leads to higher production costs.

Land Ceiling Act.
Although urban land ceiling act has been abolished, rural land ceiling act remains, Over years the land holdings have shrunk and thus farming has become non remunerative as land parcels are too small. The farmer can neither sell his land or buy land to increase his land holding size.

Poor information network.
Government is unable to provide timely and right information to the farmers as to what to grow and how to grow.

APMC's
These markets that were supposed to aid the farmers have become dens for exploitation of the farmer with the middlemen walking away with most of the profits.

GST
Government has imposed GST on many things used by farmers in inputs, this has also led to increase in their production costs and shrinking of their profits.

These are the issues that require addressing.
Is it thus any wonder that despite of governments giving farm loan waivers, the number of farmer suicides across the length and breadth of the country keep increasing with every passing day.

But loan waiver is a low hanging fruit that the government plucks all the time.

Please don't become blind followers of anyone!

न्यूज़ एंकर रविश कुमार अपने हर प्रोग्राम जो पॉलिटिक्स से जुड़ा होता है,
कहते हैं, भक्त न बने 

लेकिन लोग भक्त बनाने से हटते ही नहीं 

कोई मोदी भक्त है
तो कोई राहुल भक्त है
कोई केजरीवाल का भक्त है
तो कोई लालू भक्त है
कोई माया के गुण गान गता है
तो किसको नीतिशबा से प्यार है
कुछ तो शवराज के भी भक्त हैं
अखिलेश और मुलायम भक्त
योगी आदित्यनाथ के भक्त भी कुछ पीछे नहीं हैं 

और आज कल एक नयी भक्ति है
सद्गुरु के भक्त श्री श्री के भक्त
रामदेव के भक्त योगी ओम के भक्त
आसाराम के भक्त राम रहीम इंसान के भक्त
भक्तों पर कृपा आये या न आये
गुरुओं पर अपार कृपा बरस रही है 

इसीलिए रविश कुमार कहते हैं
भक्त मत बनिये अपनी अकल का इस्तमाल करिये
तभी आप पर कृपा आनी शुरू होगी

The Age of Social Media Warriors affiliated to Political Party's

There are AAP warriors, there are Congress Warriors, there are NCP warriors, there are DMK, AIADMK, NC, RJD, BJD, warriors. They have Twitter Groups, WhatsApp Groups, Facebook Groups and they create strategies to bash people and come in swarms after anyone who falls out of line.

Some are regional parties but there are many parties that have national aspirations. They want to win elections and serve us. They want to project their leaders as the best leaders to have been born in India. They can't stop singing the praise of such leaders.

But these are only online warriors. They grab each others throats at the slightest of provocation or whisper about their leaders and get down into the gutter quickly. BJP too has its own full army of trolls. While in opposition they too are quick to inundate you with the choicest of abuses often calling you body parts used for sex and abusing you mother, sister, wife and everyone in between. They are more than willing to insert anything into you and rip you apart lest you say even a word against their leaders. And while in power, they do the same with added protection of their profiles being endorsed and followed by some of their top leaders!!!
But when it comes to talking about the interest of the people, most voices and warriors fall silent. They wait for instructions from their exalted leaders. They will only open their trap when their leaders open theirs. And most leaders are compromised being part of a corrupt system. They can't even squeak lest the corrupt BJP government comes after them with its full machinery.

This is the state of our democracy.

I hate the Shiv Sena for the bigoted party that they are and for the son-of-the-soil agenda that they promote and for their naked Hindutva agenda but today it is the only party that is asking the tough questions to the government at the center. On this subject, I stand with them and would tend to add my voice to the questions that they ask.

Does that make me a Shiv-Sainik. Guess not. But the trolls will come after me. From all parties. Because all they believe in is Bhakti. Blind Bhakti.

येह गौरी लंकेश कौन है/थी?

येह गौरी लंकेश कौन है/थी?

उसकी हत्या हुई क्या?
लेकिन भारत में तो रोज़ ऐसी हत्यां होती रहती हैं।

 वह कहाँ की थी? बैंगलोर?
लोखंडवाला अँधेरी या हीरानंदानी पोवई या कार्टर रोड बांद्रा से तो नहीं? फिर इस खून से मुझे क्या लेना देना?
अगर वह मेरे मोहल्ले से भी होती तो क्या, एक उड़ती खबर होती, जब तक मैं सुरक्षित हूँ!

क्या, वह एक लेखिका थी?
पर मैंने तो कभी उसका नाम नहीं सुना, न ही कोई लेख पढ़ा,

क्या एक पत्रिका चलती थी ? होंगी कोई छोटी मोटी पत्रकार।

अगर सागरिका घोष या भरखा दत्त या रविश कुमार पर गोली चलती, तब भी क्या होता?
कुछ दिन खबर चलती पर इस का मेरे से कोई सीधा सम्बन्ध थोड़ी है।

जीवन चलता रहता है, मुझे GST return भरनी है, बिज़नेस मीटिंग के लिए जाना है, किराया देना है, स्कूल फीस देनी है, और तनख्वा देने की तारिक सर पर खड़ी है।

लोग उसकी मौत पर इतने उत्तेजित क्यों हैं?

श्याद इन लोगों के पास और कुछ करने के लिए नहीं है, जैसे में तो इतने बड़े भोझ के निचे दबा हुआ हूँ, कोई आ कर मेरा भोझ तो कम करने वाला नहीं है। और अगर में इन जलूसों में शामिल हो भी गया तो हो सकता है की कोई मुझे पहचान ले, फिर सरकार मेरे ही पीछे पड़ जाये, पहले ही मैं तो गिरती हुई अर्थ व्यस्था, डगमगाती हुई इकॉनमी, विमुद्राकरण और GST का शिकार हूँ।

व्यावसायिक तबके का आज की स्तिथि पर कुछ ऐसा ही सोचना है। आम आदमी अपने आप को बचने की जंग लड़ रहा है, हर दिन एक नया जंग है।

लेकिन यह व्यसायिक तबका और आम आदमी यह नहीं समझ पा रहा है की अगर इन फासीवादी ताकतों को हराया नहीं गया तो आने वाला कल आज से भी ज्यादा चुनौती पूर्ण होगा। और आने वाले समय में उनका टाइटैनिक डूब कर ही रहेगा।

Who is/was Gauri Lankesh?

She was murdered, so what so many people are murdered every day in India.

Where was she from? Bangalore? Not Lokhandwala, Andheri or Hiranandani Powai, or Carter Road, Bandra? Then how does it bother me?

Even if she was from my locality, it is just a passing news anyway? As long as I am safe!

She was a writer. But I have never heard of her or read any of her work, so she was some small time writer running a magazine.

Even if they killed Sagarika Ghose or Barkha Dutt or shot Ravish Kumar, it would be just a news for a few days and it would not affect me directly in many ways. Life goes on, I have a GST return to file, business meeting to attend, rents to pay, school fees to be paid, salaries are on my head.

Why are so many people agitated with her murder?
 
Maybe these people have nothing else to do, unlike me, who is carrying such huge burden on my head and no one is going to come and lighten my burden if I participate in some protest here or there, on the contrary there are chances that the government may identify me and start targeting me and my business which is already reeling under the impact of a falling and failing economy, demonetization and now GST harassment.

This is the reasoning of a common person in India, especially the business class. The common man is hard pressed for survival, his every day is spent in worrying about the uncertain future.

But what the common person does not realize that if he/she does not rise against the fascist forces, the future is going to get more uncertain. And that such a situation will make his/her Titanic sink, without a doubt.

Yesterday was on an Air-India flight from Delhi to Bombay.

Flight was Delhi-Bombay-NewArk.

Some observations.

My touch screen did not work.

The buttons on the wired remote were damaged.

Non-Veg meals were being served too. I think the veg only meals are for purely domestic flights.
The flight was fairly empty at just 30% occupancy in a Boeing 777 with a capacity of 350 odd passengers.

Flight took off Delhi 2100 Hours, landed Bombay 2248 Hours.

A family in a row next to mine was sleeping snugly on the empty seats.

No one asked them to belt up and sit straight at the time of landing. They asked for blankets but then managed it with their own shawls.

Some kids shifted to the seats next to mine as their in-flight entertainment system was not working too!

The inflight magazine is another advertisement vehicle for Modi and his government.

Ashwani Lohani's article on Air-India was converted into an Editorial where he speaks about the Maharaja surviving a disinvestment (sale), really! By the way he is no longer the MD as he has been moved to the railways to try and prevent that from any further derailment (as if that is going to help).
Food was served, quality was same as for any other airline food but at least they served food not like the others who want to rob you of your last rupees by selling a 45 rupee sandwich for 200 rupees.
All cabin crew in the economy section was male, old but very courteous (at least to me).

Everyone was booted out at Bombay for 2.5 Hour layover and everyone had to take all their luggage with them. This is because of TSA regulations. TSA stands for transport security administration a US government body. I guess the plane is checked thoroughly before it lands in the drug infested US of A.

Yet, every Indian wants a US Visa. :P

Parallel worlds.

We often talk of the possibility that there exist parallel worlds, like that of a Matrix kind of an arrangement.

But we are actually blind not to see the parallel worlds around us.

Take the case of the death of thousands of people in rural Uttar Pradesh due to the spread of life threatening Japanese Encephalitis. This was caused by vector bearing mosquitoes that breed in the paddy fields of UP. Paddy that is grown as a cash crop to be sold to people who live in the city. Paddy that will probably be packed in fancy bags and be re-branded and sold as Dawat Basmati Rice, Patanjali Rice, etc.

These kids died because some simple precautions were not taken. Like the application of mosquito repellent creams, wearing of full body covering clothes and administration of Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. Thousands of lives snuffed out.

Similarly the season spread of Dengue and Swine Flu in urban areas affect the kids of the middle class and the rich.

There are millions in our country who go to bed on empty stomachs while hundreds of thousands gorge on the best of food and select few eating the exotic variety of food every day.

There are so many deaths due to use of contaminated water and there are those who won't drink anything below a bottle of Evian.

Have you been to a super market in the upper middle class and rich areas of any city?

The food on offer there is vastly different in quality and price as compared to super markets in middle class and lower middle class areas.

We all see this disparity every day but we have been blinded by a sense of entitlement. Just because one person is a successful banker who handles million of rupees of others passing through his bank, he/she earns much more than the farmer who sows a few kilogram of seed to harvest tons of food for the very same banker.

As a country, we need to once again embark on a journey of sacrifice. And the sacrifice should start with oneself.

• What we need to do is to ensure that we eat to live and not live to eat.
• What we need to ensure is that we dress to clothe our bodies and not dress to impress.
• What we need is to give up the luxury of personal transport and force the government to increase public transport and improve its quality, quantity and reliability.
• What we need is to introspect every time we put food on our own table, every time we open our wardrobe, every time we think of using a personal transport.

Every time. Till we have lifted people from the clutches of poverty that prevails in most parts of the country.

We need to work towards a society that provides for everyone and not just for the lucky few, not based on the theory of Karma.

And that effort to lift everyone out of poverty should be our Dharma.

रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोरो चटकाय.
टूटे पे फिर ना जुरे, जुरे गाँठ परी जाय

When Modi demonetized the 500/1000 rupee notes, he essentially went back on the promise written on those notes.

Those notes and in fact every note that you hold in your hand or wallet is just a fancy printed piece of paper which carries a sovereign promise.

A promise to honor the value printed on the note.

By going back on the sovereign promise Modi told the citizens that;

• The notes are just fancy printed pieces of paper with no intrinsic value and can be destroyed anytime by the government or by one man's foolish decision. 

• The Reserve Bank issuing these notes is not trustworthy to accept the notes when ever presented to it for honoring them. 

• The Banking system is thus based on these fancy printed pieces of paper is equally untrustworthy. 

• In one stroke Modi destroyed people's confidence in the Currency, Reserve Bank, Banking System and the Government of India.

This is the single largest fallout of the demonetization exercise.

It is said that trust takes years to build but can be destroyed in a matter of seconds.
That is exactly what Modi did on 08.11.2016. He destroyed the trust.

And therefore no one wants to hold on to currency any more, especially the higher value 2000 note.
Everyone is worried about what the maniac is going to do next.

Money with a Sword who takes a monthly Monkey Bath.

One year ago, Jio started with free calls.

So Mukes Bhai dedicated Free Calling Service to Narendra Bhai.

And both of them would have us believe that it is good for us. 

Like Narendra Bhai made 31% believe that;

• He was going to bring all the black money stashed abroad,
• He was going to clean up the parliament of criminals,
• He was going to clean up the country,
• He was going to bring 10 heads for every soldiers head,
• He was going to make oil cheaper,
• He was going to have complete control over prices,
• He was going to send corrupt Congress leaders to jail,
• He was going to give free insurance to all the poor,
• He was going to give a free bank account to every poor,
• He was going to deposit 5000 in the account of every poor,
• He was going to deposit 15,00,000 into the account of every Indian
• He was going to do development of the country,
• He was going to provide 1,00,00,000 jobs every year,
• He was going to build millions of toilets,
• He was going to give subsidized gas to the poor....

He is still going to do all this, only the time frame has changed. Manmohan Singh left the economy in a complete mess so Narendra Bhai is going to take 30 years to do all that. Meanwhile you can use the free service that Mukes Bhai is providing and try to get hold of the number of the Narendra Bhai. I am told, he loves to talk and if he gets interested in you, he also loves to stalk.

Tum Jio Hazaron Saal Saal Ke Din Ho Pachas Hazar!

Real estate bubble building up again in Mumbai

Mumbai: Mumbai’s real estate prices have begun to run amok once again, suggesting that another realty bubble is in the making. In a quick reversal from last year’s recessionary trends, residential property prices which had dropped by almost 35% in some areas have risen sharply in the last nine months and are now close to their earlier peaks of 2007-08.

The rise has been sudden both at the premium end of the market and the deep suburbs, suggesting the return of speculators and investors to the property market.

A three bedroom-hall-kitchen (BHK) apartment at upmarket Warden Road was recently sold at Rs93,000 a sq ft (built up rate) when it was quoting at just Rs 50,000 in early 2009. Apartments (mostly owned by investors) in Beaumonde, a building by Sheth Developers at Prabhadevi, are now quoted at approximately Rs50,000 a sq ft as against Rs35,000 and above in 2008. Apartments at Planet Godrej, developed by Godrej Properties at Mahalaxmi, are being quoted at approximately Rs27,000 a sq ft, close to the peak rate of Rs30,000 a sq ft quoted in 2008. Prices in 2008-2009 had dropped to almost Rs16,000 a sq ft.

Raheja Vivaria at Mahalaxmi is now quoted at Rs26,000 a sq ft, close to its high of Rs30,000 a sq ft in 2008. It had dropped to Rs16,000 a sq ft at the trough earlier in 2009. Similar was the case with Ashoka Towers at Lalbaug which is now quoting Rs 25,000 a sq ft. Prices at Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point and Altamount Road, which had dropped to almostRs40,000 a sq ft, are back to their earlier rates between Rs50,000 and Rs70,000

How not to mismange growth

Colors TV channel started a comedy show called Comedy Nights with Kapil. The show, which followed other comedy shows on Star Plus and Sony went on to become a hit.
Quite obviously, Colors must have hiked the advertisement rates for the show as it gained in popularity.

But it got upset when Kapil and his team started asking for more money. But guys, you too were asking from more money from your advertisers! How does that make you any different than Kapil.

To spite its face, Colors cut its own nose and launched a rival show to the popular show rather than being magnanimous in increasing the payment to Kapil & Co.

And that left Kapil & Co. no option to terminate the show. This show made a lot of people famous and rich. Including the channel.

This is a corporate lesson in how to mismanage growth. The channel could have very easily drafted a growth clause into the agreement with the production house and agreed to increase payment based on TRP and other factors. But it must have been greedy to take all the money home. After all, they must have reasoned that it was their property.

Now, they have thrown out the baby along with the bath water. The replacement show is nowhere close to what Kapil & Co. were dishing out as a team.

Like KBC was never the same without Amitabh.

The lesson to be learned is that when drafting agreements, care should be taken to factor in all eventualities and they should always be drafted with the end in mind. Had the legal agreement factored in growth in revenue and sharing formula, it would have been a win-win situation.

First dent in the evil empire of Chaggan Bhujbal.

In 15 years Chaggan Bhujbal built an empire worth 10,000 Crores (at the very minimum) auctioning police posts while being the Home Minister, selling contracts while being the PWD minister.

No one raised a finger on him. Finally the chickens have come home to roost as his infamous nephew who ran a parallel home department from his official bungalow Ramtek was arrested.
At least in this arrest, Devendra Fadnavis is more honest in going after the corrupt than our eminent Narendra Damodardas Modi. At least he has shown some spine.

Although BJP/Congress/Sena/MNS, the parties that have mismanaged Maharashtra are all hand in glove with each other, his action still shows that there is a small glimmer of hope. Now when Chaggan Bhujbal return, he too should be arrested and sent to prison. I am sure there will be enough disgruntled policemen who would like to beat the shit out of him.

Why India's home prices will crash?

By
Ritesh Kumar Singh
Corporate Economist, OPED Columnist & Keynote Speaker

In a recent media interaction, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urged RBI to reduce interest rate, as lower interest rate will fuel growth in India's realty sector which is suffering from severe #DemandSlowdown#. He's not wrong. There are 750,000 unsold apartments in 7 cities alone including those in Mumbai, NCR/Delhi and Bangalore.  RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan obliged FM by a 50 basis point rate cut. Will that be enough to revive housing demand? Will it save the realty sector from #crashing#? Why India's housing sector is looking at imminent crash?

Read rest of the article here

OK, so we have been had...

May 2014 saw BJP coming to power on the back of massive spending from industrial houses and installed one of the most controversial persons as the Prime Minister of India. 31% of the voters choose BJP and due to fractured opposition and the ruling party reeling from corruption charges saw BJP ascend to power.

Even though many sane voices spoke of the danger of BJP coming to power and the divisive persona of the Prime Minister candidate, voters were still swayed by huge promises of bringing back black money and of better days, progress for everyone and an end to corruption. Promises that don't seem to have come true till date although a lot of water has flown under the bridge.

What has indeed happened is that the worst fears of the wise ones, that of the country being divided on the basis of religion are indeed coming true.

Much as we fight this madness on a daily basis, through posts on social media sites such as Facebook, et all, the fact is that we have been literally had.

This madness occupies our mind space and raises our temperatures. Many amongst us still do not see the danger of a polarized society. People who celebrated till some time back unity in diversity suddenly seem to want the whole cake to themselves. They are not bothered about the feelings of others and want to bring them back into their own fold.

What we now need to do is to free ourselves from this madness and finds ways and means of taking the country forward. The way things are going, we don't seem to be making any progress. It is sheer good luck that oil prices have fallen globally, yet the rupee is becoming weaker by the day and if the present theatrics continue not many foreign countries would be interested in investing in India.

We need to reverse this trend. How we do it is the big question.

Exposing the current regime is a good start but we need to do more. We need to raise the awareness level of the common public as the media has abrogated its role in exchange of pecuniary benefits.

And this awareness has to be raised sans any political patronage because the moment you associate any political party with the message, people tend to feel that it is just propaganda.

We need to keep our political views aside and work systematically to save the cultural fabric of our nation otherwise we will have no answers to our coming generation which will most definitely question our silence.