One of the comparatively lighter and slightly humorous aspects of otherwise very serious disruption, demonetisation, was the cash saved by ladies of the households coming into the system. I can’t say whether it’s unique to India or is a worldwide phenomenon, but I have always seen my grandmother, then my mother and now my wife, making small savings out of the monthly household expenses and keeping such savings tucked away somewhere. Of course, there is no ulterior motive behind such painstaking saving other than helping the household in the face of some unforeseen contingency!

We Indians have always been savers. I clearly remember having a piggy bank in which all the gifted money and the saved pocket money would be deposited. I also remember the satisfaction when this piggy bank was broken open and those small savings acquired reasonable proportion to buy a book or a toy!

With the development of economy and overall general affluence, the simple piggy bank, household savings by home makers and money kept in banks are considered unsophisticated and investment advisors talk about various classes of investments. We’re advised that money lying in bank, less the TDS on interest earned, actually is giving you negative returns considering the rate of inflation (of course by this standard the monies in piggy banks and tucked away in nooks and corners by the ladies of the house are dead investments) and that we must diversify our investments/savings amongst different classes of investments viz. stock market (either directly in shares or in Mutual Funds) , real estate and gold. Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is a good option to save small amounts every month, gradually building your MF portfolio.

While I don’t disagree and consider the advice of having a diversified portfolio very prudent indeed, what I consider important is the habit to save ! I do not favour simple savings by children in their piggy banks, monies tucked in nooks and corners by housewives and monies kept in savings and fixed deposit accounts with banks being termed unsophisticated. A saving is saving, how much small or unsophisticated it may be! When small sums accumulate to become a relatively larger sum, it is always welcomed irrespective of the mean through which it has been accumulated. Of course, money should be made to earn more money, but let the economics of negative returns, non diversified portfolio and unsophisticated means be the domain of financial experts and investment advisors. For the common man, let the expenses be lower than the income and habit of forced monthly saving be the one amongst several lessons that parents teach to their youngsters to prepare them to face the challenges of the world!

This though struck me today when I saw a FB post by a retired senior banker, an erstwhile colleague, lamenting the serious erosion of his stock market investments consequent to the bloodbath on Dalal street! I have also seen serious liquidity crisis faced by the investors in real estate and gold. There seems to be nothing savvy about investments or experts either because market is wicked at its very best and market dynamics unfathomable! When the markets play truant and economy is in doldrums, no class of investments will appear classy! We should not keep all eggs in one basket, and as long as we have some eggs saved for a rainy day, it’s good enough! Rest all is matter of choice and luck!

Every Friday, Bollywood comes out with new movies and there are film buffs who throng the cinema halls to catch up on their favourite star or director at the earliest. Some of the more discerning viewers wait for the review of the movie by their newspaper the next day before deciding on to watch a movie.

There was a time when Sarita was a very popular Hindi family magazine and people used to eagerly await its fortnightly edition especially to read the review of movies released during the previous fortnight. This review column was called “Chanchal Chhaya. “. The magazine used to have six scale reviewing metric starting with ‘0’ that was “Nikrisht” (typical Hindi word loosely translated as horrible) followed by 1,2,3,4 and 5 stars that represented the categories of Bekar ( poor) , Sadharan (ordinary), Uttam (good), Ati Uttam (very good) and Advitiya (another typical word translatable as outstanding). I still remember classic Balraj Sahani movie Biraj Bahu being one amongst very very few movies to have been bestowed 5 stars rating. Later on when the content gave way to action in Hindi movies, the magazine recalibrated its rating scale to 4 doing away with horrible and outstanding extremes.

Today, we have all the popular dailies publishing reviews of the movies ( actually content of Bollywood in today’s dailies is so high that you hardly need any dedicated movie publication) and the quality of review ranges from highly personalised to highly intellectual! In fact, review in some of the respected publications could be so biased or individualised sometimes that it seems to be sponsored by the film makers. On the other hand, it could be so intellectually driven that by the end a prospective viewer would be more confused than clear as to whether to watch that particular movie or not?

The provocation for this blog arose from the today’s review of the new Anshuman Khurrana starter “Andhadhun” that has been awarded 5 stars by a reviewer, who is otherwise known to be a bit miserly with his appreciation. Also, the movie has been universally rated as watchable and good, but not outstanding! This also brought alive the memories of 1975 to my mind when the evergreen blockbuster and one of the universally favourite movies “Sholay” opened to dud reviews by the then reviewers, including Sarita!

Like every other thing -the choice of clothes, books, food, hobby etc , is unique to each individual so is the choice of movie! We can take some idea to escape an absolute dud, but our sole reliance on reviews can also deprive us from a real good stuff! After all the thought of having missed Sholay by relying on the reviews would have been very unsavoury in 1975!

Rules are good for the society because if people stop following rules, there will be chaos. Traffic rules keep traffic moving and rules and law of the land keep a country moving.

However, there are several rules that our society has imposed on us. The genesis of these rules is not clear but the matter of the fact is that several of these rules and social norms have lost their relevance as the world has progressed. In India, family feeds and protects its youngsters till the youngsters grow, start earning and become independent. Many children from affluent families keep on stretching their student lives much beyond normal by randomly going in for an assortment of courses, including a degree from US, ultimately joining the family business! In contrast, youngsters in other countries become independent at much early stage in their lives and they take up sundry part time jobs to fund their higher studies themselves instead of depending on parents or family. In several countries, after schooling, youngsters have to undergo compulsory social and military training that’s extremely helpful in building character of the youth.

Because Indian parents support their young ones for long, there’s reverse expectation of children taking care of the oldsters when they are frail and without sustained income. When this is not fulfilled, it leads to parents becoming a burden and lot of heart burns!

Not everything Western is bad! In the matter of family, we Indians, who are very emotional, should not listen to our hearts, but our heads! We should encourage our children to start early in life by learning practical skills and take up sundry jobs so as to fund their own education themselves (by availing of educational loan, if fees are really high or education is to be pursued abroad) . Children should be supported till they finish their schooling and after that they should be encouraged to be in independent. This will encourage children to pursue the courses of their interest and small jobs (delivery boys, part time work in McDonald’s or Dominos or any office ) and inculcate a feeling of respecting dignity of labour! We shall be producing better humans and the society will become a more responsible and caring society. Parents instead should enjoy their lives before their knees start creaking and hosts of diseases impose hosts of restrictions! They should go globe trotting and try world cuisine, pursue hobbies and interests and socialise with friends! Also, they must save for old age so that if children don’t support, they can themselves hire full time help or fund their shifting to one of the several luxurious old age homes! Let’s change the way we think and become westernised in at least this matter.

If you want to buy a car, there are reliable Japanese brands such as Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Korean brand Hyundai, American Ford and Chevrolet ( who has since decided to call it a day in India) and whole lot of European brands viz. Mercedes, Audi, Skoda, BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini, Renault and of course our very own Tata and Mahindra. If you want a bike, again you have Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and our own Hero, Bajaj, TVS and ever loveable Enfield. And this is true for almost every thing – there are more than 50 major brands of soaps, at least 10 major toothpastes, 15 shampoos, several edible oils, haircare, TVs, Mixers and refrigerators. At the last count, you have a choice of more than 1000 TV channels, including all regional channels.

Rewind it to not too far off but say early and mid 80s. We had Ambassador and Fiat, Rajdoot and Yezdi, Bajaj and Lambretta ( or Vijay Super) , Colgate, Binaca and Forhans, Lux, Lifebuoy and Hamam and Dalda and Rath. And for entertainment, there was Doordarshan. Neither there were means to buy things nor any great choice! Yet, life was more peaceful and fewer materialistic choices meant greater investment in relationships!

We are spoilt for choice of things but very poor in relationships. It’s me, my wife and my children and of course my swanky home, luxurious car, state of the art cell phone, highly paid job and globe trotting! But parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, friends are all in contact through WhatsApp communication on birthdays, anniversaries and select festivals !

Can we invest a little less in materials and little more in relationships? Let’s for once be spoilt for choice in a different realm.

It’s been just 4 years when BJP under the dynamic leadership of Narendra Modi stormed into power. It was hailed as a great verdict that would take the nation on the great path to progress. People were promised “Achche Din” and they were agog with hope to see the great change.

It must be said that the Government didn’t disappoint initially and started its task on a very sincere note. PM himself started taking stock of pending and delayed infrastructure projects, Ministers and PM himself started making unscheduled visits to offices and hospitals to check punctuality and cleanliness, some solid gestures were made to Pakistan to improve the bilateral ties and Swachch Bharat campaign was launched. International oil prices were low, GDP was at a satisfactory level of around 7, forex reserve position was good, industrial production went up and Sensex was booming. Government then took some bold decisions and major disruptions like demonetisation and GST were initiated. While the intent was good, implementation left much to be desired and the end objectives that these big disruptions were meant to achieve remained elusive! Small businesses suffered, unemployment started increasing, international oil prices hardened and suddenly all that euphoria started dying. On top of it, increased polarisation, divide, intolerance and uncalled for aggression further led to disenchantment of largely moderate and peace loving populace of this country.

Social media is sharply divided into pro and anti Government factions, both blinded by the extreme stances taken by them. The reasonableness and rationality have become major victims of this polarisation.

Let me first give below a satirical piece of poetry based on Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s famous poem “Where the mind is without fear”. This is doing rounds in social media and reads:

“Where the cow is without fear

And the horns are held high,

Where bullshit is free.

Where the cow has not been eaten up by antinationals and traitors.

Where the fools are revered by idiots,

Where brainless strives to lynch one and all.

Where the muddy stream of superstitions has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of knowledge.

Where the mind is led backward by thee

Into ever widening thoughtless action.

Into that hell of ignorance, my national mother,

LET MY COUNTRY SLEEP!

With apologies to R.N.Tagore.

I have composed an original version, a humble attempt based on Gurudev’s great composition that is not farcical or satirical but tries to capture angst of those who had and still have great expectations from this Government. My version reads:

Where cows roam on street without fear,

And accident rates caused by them are high;

Where owners can’t sustain old and useless animals,

But leather and meat industries are running dry.

Where killing an edible animal for food is no- no;

But lynching helpless humans is go-go.

Where bullet train is the order of the day;

But petrol, diesel and vegetables are out of the way.

Where polarisation is complete between rightist and leftist;

If you’re in middle you will get a furious fist.

This was definitely not what I dreamt of my land;

The country that produced Tagore and Vivekanand!!!!

Achche din are possible only when the society is inclusive, united, open, happy, broad minded, tolerant and well behaved. The land of Tagore and Vivekanand can wait for bullet train but it can’t afford any vitiating of its philosophy as encapsulated in this shloka:

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah

Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah |

Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu

Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |

Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

This can be translated as:

May All become Happy,

May All be Free from Illness.

May All See what is Auspicious,

May no one Suffer.

Peace, Peace, Peace.

Bible says, “Love thy neighbour”. There’s a Punjabi saying that says, ” An obnoxious neighbour and a untrusting husband are the worst realities a person could face.”

While residential neighbours can still be a matter of choice (you can shift residence or hope your obnoxious neighbour will shift), unfortunately geographical neighbours can neither be chosen nor changed. India has highly dominating and super power China towards its North East, a country that desires to control the economies of the entire world, especially in South East Asia. It has scant regard for history and claims almost the entire North East India as its own domain. India’s asylum to Dalai Lama and support to autonomy of Tibet and Taiwan are super sore points with China and it seldom leaves an opportunity to sabotage India’s interest.

We have Nepal, a landlocked neighbour and one of the most friendly countries. Also, till recently it was the only Hindu country in the world, before going secular a few years ago. It was totally dependent on India for all its trade and commerce, till its Northern neighbour, China, took great infrastructural initiatives by building some remarkable roads and bridges. The increasing proximity of this erstwhile Hindu kingdom to China is palpable when you visit Kathmandu. It’s porous borders with India are also being used by terrorists to perpetrate terror in India.

Srilanka shares a common heritage with India, especially South India and Indian forces made great sacrifices in helping the island nation quell Tamil Eelam, a movement by separatists for an independent Tamil nation. It also lost its much beloved PM, Rajiv Gandhi as a backlash by Tamil terrorists. Yet, China’s increasing influence, including its evil design to build a military naval base on Lankan shores is a distinct reality.

Bangladesh owes its existence to India as Indian forces during 1971 war helped Mukti Bahini fought off Pakistani forces to win liberation. Its culture is almost aligned to Indian Eastern state of West Bengal. However, Bangladesh is facing increased Islamisation and we see Hindu minority there facing attacks and emigrating to India. The gory deeds of Bangladesh Rifles perpetrated on BSF personnel during border skirmishes are no secrets.

Burma is indifferent and with Bhutan its so far so good. That leaves us with the most dangerous neighbour that till 1947 was part of India (so was Bangladesh) , Pakistan. Under the disguise of support to Kashmiri cause, this neighbour of ours seems to be the God’s biggest curse on our great country. It’s hate for our country knows no bounds. While it has fought many major wars with us, it is now flaunting it’s nuclear arsenal to inflict irreversible damage on our nation. It’s proxy war by supporting terrorists is an ongoing event that causes several of young brave officers attaining martyrdom each year. It’s unholy nexus with China is mainly directed at neutralising India’s increasing military and economic might.

With such an enviable galaxy of neighbours around us, God that tells us to love our neighbours, should only tell us how we cope with such dreaded, actually dreadful will be more appropriate, neighbours? Long live Indian armed forces that face challenges on so many fronts at the same time!

Some of the adages that we have grown up listening to from our elders are no longer gospel truths. Changed lifestyles, exposure to the worldwide happenings (thanks to the media and internet) and change in values have rendered these old adages merely of academic interest.

One of the oldest and most popular saying that we have all been exposed to is ” An apple a day, keeps doctor away”. Today it’s no longer humble apple that’s panacea for good health. The new wonder stuff are blue berries, black berries, avocados, aloe Vera, kiwis etc. Apple is poor man’s fruit , full of pesticides with hardly any nutritional value.

We were all told that “After lunch rest a while, after dinner walk a mile”. Lunch is at office and there’s need to resume work immediately after lunch, so the rest is ruled out. Walk a mile was relevant when the dinner used to be the main meal! Today people prefer very light dinner of salad and soup or skip dinner altogether so where’s the question of walking a mile? For good health people would rather walk on treadmill in a gym rather than walk on the road after dinner!

Another popular folklore is “better late than never”, which has become irrelevant in today’s milieu. Today everyone is in hurry to reach to the top in no time. By the time one is 35 years old, he is deemed to be successful if he already is a senior executive in blue chip company with 6 figures salary, having BMW, children going to top international school and a well appointed flat in upmarket locale. Unless you are CEO before you turn 50, it’s too late and better to attain nirvana! The aforesaid adage was relevant for the patient lot that was used to the grind of attaining success with lots of hard work and efforts.

There are a few more that I shall endeavour to cover in future blogs.

Today’s age is the age of skilled specialists. While we all along had people skilled in their trades- carpenter, plumber, fitter, electrician, nurse, doctor, architect etc are all examples of trades that require specialised skill- the reference is more appropriate for jobs requiring multiple skills such as civil services or banking. Earlier, a graduate civil servant would be a revenue secretary or planning commission deputy chairman or in stray cases even RBI Governor towards the end of his career. Similarly a graduate banker, mostly joining as a teller or clerk would rise in the cadre to Head credit, treasury or risk functions. We used to call him a General Banker- a jack of all ( I would refrain from using second part of this saying as some of them proved to be pioneers having written reference books on their domains) , who would provide flexibility to the top management to be used anywhere from admin to treasury! However, increasingly the last of the bastions of the generalists are falling to skilled specialists, more noticeably civil services and banking. We recently read about the Government contemplating lateral recruitment of professionals into civil services. Banking in any case is today more about IT rather than pure banking and with robotics and artificial intelligence next big disruptions, I see general bankers becoming redundant over the next decade or so! It’s not only heads of IT and Law, but several other domains such as HR, Marketing, Product development etc that have industry professionals heading them rather than traditional bankers. Is no specialised skill also a skill? Is there any importance or value assignable to practical knowledge, experience or first hand exposure to a domain or subject? Actually, the idea of writing this blog struck me while reading my favourite cartoon strip “Blondie” in today’s newspaper. Bumstead is appearing specially cheerful while going to office and his wife Blondie asks him the reason. He replies, “whenever anyone in office makes a real dumb move, the boss says they’ve pulled a Bumstead!” Blondie tells him that this isn’t exactly a compliment to which he remarks, ” May not be in the traditional sense, but it’s the first time I’ve ever had a skill named for me.” Sometimes even innocuous cartoon humour can have such underlying meaning that it can hit you hard!

I got the first feel of the community based festivals during my posting at Kolkata. Our first Durga Puja at Kolkata was a memorable experience. Five days of holidays on a trot, life coming to complete halt during the daytime on these 5 days, the city sleeping in the morning and completely vibrant during the nights, public transport, including the tube railway plying whole night and hordes and hordes of people doing pandal hopping, standing in serpentine queues outside some of the more famous pujas of Mohammad Ali Park, College Square etc. Of course, some of the Durga Puja Committees experimented with newer themes year on year ( eco friendly, Kargil war, space journey etc) that attracted crowds to their pandals. Food available at the stalls was to die for and Mother Teresa was treated almost with same awe, respect and devotion as the divine Ma herself. Delhi had Ramlilas, but such community based festival was a big novelty for a Delhiite.

Fast forward to our arrival in Mumbai and we were exposed to Ganpati festival for the first time. I had some idea of this festival thanks to Bollywood, but first hand experience of how this elephant God had captured the imagination of Mumbaikars was exhilarating to say the least. It was actually a divine experience . Also, unlike Durga Puja, which was largely community based with very few households having private puja at home, Ganpati festival had both – communities as well as households celebrating this festival with big and small idols of various hues, moods and materials. Seeing the devotion and gaiety, we decided to bring home a Ganesha every year for 1.5 days, a tradition that has continued over the last 16 years.

We bring home Ganesha on the festival day morning, welcome him like a house guest, treat him well, invite friends and acquaintances for Prasadam and take him to the sea beach the next day evening for immersion. It is said that immersion of the Lord is symbolic of his reunion with his mother, a happy event but tinged with sadness on having to see off a guest, who changed our lives by being our guest for 1.5 days.

This is the 17th year of our celebration and what makes this event even more special is the presence of our grandson, whom we lovingly address as Maghi Ganesh (he was born during that period).

As I always admit, festivals represent our culture and ethos, but with each passing year the gaiety and enthusiasm are waning. Diwali is quieter and less sweet, Holi is dryer and less boisterous, Rakshabandhan is lonelier with none or one sibling (sometimes of the same sex like only two brothers or only two sisters), but the community based festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi play an important role in keeping our tradition alive, bringing the communities together and conveying the larger purpose of these festivals in our lives that goes beyond eating , dancing or fasting!

Ganpati Bappa Moriya to everyone! May the lord shower his choicest blessings on everyone irrespective of sex, caste, creed, religion, nationality or economic status!!!!

Why only Petrol, Diesel and Dollar? Why not kerosene, gas and Euro? Because kerosene is now outmoded, replaced by gas and the segment that used kerosene earlier and now gas is mostly subsidised segment in whose accounts Government deposits cash subsidy and so this segment is relatively less impacted. And Euro? Who knows Euro? Everyone loves Greenback only!

Rise in the price of petrol and diesel has the incremental effect as these are fuels and rise in fuels prices fuels price rise across the board – our vegetables, fruits, daily ration, conveyance- everything becomes more expensive. And dollar? Not quite the reason mentioned above i.e. not that we love it, but because we pay for everything that we import, including petrol and diesel using it! Due to US embargo on one of the major oil sellers, Iran, and the decision of other OPEC nations to restrict supplies the price of oil has increased to $ 80 a barrel and due to worldwide strengthening of greenback, we are now paying 73 Rupees for a dollar, oil has become very expensive and the nation is left with no option but to silently bear the brunt!

What can we do? Ideally speaking, we can conserve petrol and diesel by using public transport system or sharing/pooling conveyance. But in Mumbai , boarding local trains in the peak morning hours is no mean task and BEST buses are no longer the best in the country. There are fewer BEST buses on the roads, fleet is not best maintained and road travel in Mumbai for longer distances is simply not viable! Pooling or sharing requires lots of prerequisites, sacrifices and adjustments and is rarely feasible. Work from home is another option, but we are still long way off from that.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t do a thing other than being mute witnesses and silent sufferers! We can definitely help the country in lowering the fuel bill by :

(1) Driving more sensibly on the roads and by not contributing to traffic jams by indulging in reckless practices;

(2) Adopting better traffic management practices so that jams are avoided on crossings, which burn huge quantities of oil in a wasteful manner

(3) Conserving electricity and gas at home as the larger ramifications of all this are exhaustion of natural resources and their ever increasing demand!

(4) Driving more fuel efficient vehicles, switching off ignition at traffic signals, switching off AC when not required and avoiding peak hours.

(5) Keeping our vehicles in top shape, tyre pressures at the recommended levels and regularly taking our vehicles for servicing and check ups.

When the phenomenon is world wide and control on the situation minimalist, populist measures like bandhs and dharnas are not the panacea. Let’s hope for resolution of Iran imbroglio, strengthening of our humble Rupee and more disciplined road habits leading to lower imports of oil, which can moderate the demand and hence the price. Let’s simultaneously hope that Government holds hand by making some sacrifice at least so that common people survive this difficult phase and not resort to what draught / flood affected farmers of this country have been doing in the recent past – commit suicide!!!!!