Memoirs of a Hindu Girl in Pakistan (from Dawn.Com)

A very lovely and heartrending article from an unlikely (from my Indian coloured perspective sadly...) though definitely a refreshing source - Faiza Mirza on Dawn.Com - regarding the plight of a Hindu Woman in Pakistan. You can find this article and her other pieces here: http://dawn.com/author/faizamirza/



Memoirs of a Hindu Girl:

I grew up in fear – every face around me depicted nothing but fear. I am sure that the first expression on my parent’s face on my birth as a female child born to Hindu parents living in Kandhkot would have been that of fear also. Why did I bring so much fear into the lives of my parents? I grew up always wondering what is it about me that continues to terrify. But I always drew a blank. How naïve I was.

Before I knew it, the time to attend school had arrived. School was comfortable; however, there were times when I felt like an outsider, finding it difficult to gel in with rest of the majority. Perhaps the snide remarks and incidents of discrimination led me to believe that I am not one of ‘them’. Of those incidents, I still vividly remember no one eating with me and refusing to sip from the cup I drank from.

Home wasn’t very different either. My mother asked questions about my life at school and otherwise looking for answers that would somehow relinquish her from the unknown fear. Afraid to disappoint her, I realised very early in my life that my mother could not be my confidant.

Growing up was not easy.

And then it happened. The fears of my mother and many Hindu mothers like her materialised. I went out to one of the largest markets of Kandhkot and was abducted by a man I knew very well. He was none other than the guard who was responsible for safeguarding our temples.

Knowing his face well prompted me to sit with him in his car without protest, however, instead of taking me to my house he turned to an alley that I wasn’t too familiar with. Scared and unsure about what lay ahead I started screaming just to hear my abductor scream louder and threaten me. Astonished and unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation I sat still until it was time to step out of the car to a small house which looked abandoned.

We entered the house to find a large room devoid of any furniture and other bearings except for a carpet that covered the floor. I was made to sit down on the floor.

Uncertain about what was going to happen to me; my mind raced with thoughts of the recent news of the abductions and forced conversions of Hindu girls. I sat there shuddering. The realisation struck me and I could see my entire life in front of me in kaleidoscope. My mother’s fears, my father’s warnings, the alienation I felt, the yearning to be a part of the circle of friends, the search for a confidant, a friend.

My worst fears were reaffirmed when a man wearing a turban entered the room to teach me about a religion which I grew up hearing about, however, felt no urge to practise or embrace. He kept sermonising me for hours but was unable to get me to listen to him, realising that he left asking me to ponder about the true religion.

His departure did not ignite any fire for eternal glory inside me but only made me wonder why did my parents not relocate to another country when they had the chance to do so? Why did they continue to live in fear waiting for the inevitable to happen instead of making a move to safer pastures? And, what made me think that I am any different from countless girls who are forced to change their faith?

Each passing day appeared to be more and more surreal. The ritual of preaching continued for days, I lost track. Eventually, when preaching did not do the trick, my abductor threatened me.

The routine ranging from threats to persuasion and from glorifying the paradise to the wrath of God for non-believers only made me wonder: Do we not all pray to the same God — a God who is manifested in nature, colours, happiness and love? Why would he punish me for being a Hindu?

Somewhere along this relentless persuasion, came that horrifying threat of harming my family – I gave in. My approval followed a small ceremony in which I was forced to embrace Islam and later married off to the man who will always be remembered as the ‘messiah’ who for saved me from the unknown territory of sin and infidelity I was treading on.

After the ceremony, instead of receiving blessings for a happy and prosperous life ahead, I was immediately escorted to a local court where a Muslim magistrate declared my conversion and marriage in accordance with the law.

The news of my conversion and marriage to a Muslim man spread like wildfire. I dreaded the moment of meeting my parents. I never wanted to see pain and agony on their faces let alone be the reason for all their grief. Sure enough, one look at my mother made me yearn for my own death.

I wanted to tell her that I love her and that her safety was all I had in mind when I converted. I wanted to tell my father to keep my sisters safe. I wanted to tell my brothers to leave the country whilst they still could. I wanted to say much more but their silent pain and suffering made me wish if only I wasn’t born a girl, if only I wasn’t born in Pakistan, if only I had the right to be myself and practise my faith without being herded into a religion that I failed to comprehend, if only I could make them all understand that there is just one God for all, if only I could give us all an identity that we rightly deserve.

Looking at all the faces that once seemed familiar; I wondered: who am I?

I am one but share the pain of many. I am Rachna Kumari, Rinkle Kumari, Manisha Kumari and the many more Hindu girls who will be forced to convert in Pakistan. I am the fear of their families and the agony that they undergo. I am the misery of those girls who die a little every day for the injustices done to them.

I am a minority living in an intolerant society.

Human Capital Trends of the Future

Nice video in the 'Did you know' series about the Human Capital trends of the future and the challenges faced. It talks about the internet, social media, mobility etc and how little attention we really pay to our 'most' critical asset - Human Talent!

Designing a Development Strategy for a hypothetical problematic and poverty driven African country

Situation: The Republic of Dongo is a country with many of the characteristics of the sub-Saharan African countries - It is landlocked, post-conflict, poor governance under a nominal democracy, resource-rich, infrastructure-poor, a large aid recipient and caught in a poverty trap. How do we define a development plan to take this country out of its situation?

Considering that the Republic of Dongo shares many of the problematic characteristics prevailing in African countries, it is important to target these characteristics to get the development strategy in place. My recommendations for the country in order of priority are:

1. Increase Governance within the country providing real freedoms to the populations in terms of economic freedoms, security, transparency and social freedoms. This is easy to suggest in theory but difficult to implement in practice considering governments lack of interest in changing their behavior. However, international agencies and countries can provide strict measures in this regards when providing support in terms of trade and if required, aid. Governance has to be targeted in the beginning itself because without effective governance, it will be difficult to remove rent seeking activities and allow overall development.

2. Removal of systemic aid. Humanitarian and development specific aid needs to be provided by systemic aid in terms of budgetary requirements needs to be curbed since it will ensure survival of poor governance regimes, rent seeking activities by the talent pool and curbing of basic freedoms. Corruption also becomes systemic and institutional capability is eroded to ensure power remains within a few individuals. Even if in certain cases, aid is required, it should be channelized through NGO’s and or strong international organizations and should be subject to stringent performance measures by the incumbent government.

3. Natural resources should be exploited but the profits generated from them need to go to building tangible and social infrastructure in the country like roads, education, healthcare etc. It is important to ensure the wealth generated from natural resources does not go out of the country but stays inside for the betterment of the country. Also, the profits need to be used for subsidizing other industries in manufacturing and services so that the economy diversifies and is not just reliant on one sector. This will also help the country to cancel out the Dutch disease.

4. Focus on Trade agreements with other countries and developed nations if possible. The developed countries like the US and Europe should try and ensure that agreements like AGOA and EBA are really useful for a country like Dongo since trade can really take a country out of the poverty trap. Dongo will probably need to lobby for such trade with other countries rather than rely on aid. Also, trading with countries it shares its border with will ensure good relations with them and ensures being landlocked doesn’t harm its interests. The country when it starts generating significant profits can also help in infrastructure building in the neighboring countries which will help these countries too.

5. Focus on building a middle class in the country. Once the country has economic freedoms, and people start generating higher incomes by indulging in economic activity, this will lead to higher taxes to the budget and which in turn will lead to higher capital investment leading to economic growth and finally higher incomes. In the beginning, considering that there is really no growth, no savings and no taxes, the investment support can come from institutional agencies like IMF and world bank but instead of giving money to the governments, it needs to be given to NGO’s or it should help the fledgling private sector. Governments can also work on PPP models and capital can be generated by micro-finance. The important thing is to generate this economic cycle and break the poverty trap. Once that happens and a middle class is created, it will demand better governance and freedoms which can lead to significant positive changes in the country.

Note: This is a paper written as a submission for a subject named Africa - The last Development Frontier, undertaken during the Master's course. I have posted this answer because i think these solutions are indicative of the steps that can be undertaken to help Africa as a whole in coming out of its misery. Furthermore, these solutions can also apply to some Central Asian and some South Asian countries too.   

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation - Their role in Africa

A snippet about the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that is at the forefront of developing leadership capabilities in Africa. Exemplary work!

The Mo Ibrahim foundation was created by Dr. Mo Ibrahim, an entrepreneur in the telecom industry who sold his organization, Celtel for $3.4 billion in 2005 .

The aims of the foundation are :
1. Stimulate debate on good governance across sub Saharan Africa and the world
2. Provide objective criteria by which citizens can hold their governments to account
3. Recognize achievements in African leadership and provide a practical way in which leaders can build positive legacies on the African continent

The other major objectives of the foundation are to reduce poverty in Africa and support aspiring leaders of the continent through scholarships, guidance etc. The foundation is committed to governance issues in Africa as means of improving the quality of life on the continent. It believes that only good governance focused on issues like healthcare, education, environment and citizen rights will improve the socioeconomic life of the African people .

The foundation has instituted an “Ibrahim Prize” which awards African leaders who have governed as per the limits set by the constitution of their country and transferred power in a democratic way to a successor in the last three years. The prize provides an incentive to the chosen leader to continue as role models for good governance without any economic liability. The prize awards a sum of $5 million in the first year and then $200,000 for life. In a way it provides aspiring leaders an economic incentive to not indulge in corruption and bad governance. It also provides a high level of respect and recognition for the chosen leaders and provides them with a platform to reach out to the masses with their model visions.

In countries like Egypt and Tunisia, where democracy is just taking hold after years of dictatorship, it can be instrumental in providing a guiding path and role models for upcoming leaders.

Recommendations to Nokia & Microsoft regarding their partnership!

For the Partnership:
1. The alliance should focus not only on the consumer business but also on the enterprise business as in this area it has a distinctive value proposition relative to its competitors.
2. Try to create an industry standard by sharing some of the technologies they have created.
3. Create a bandwagon effect by convincing the industry that this alliance will provide a differential that will make them market leaders; aiming for a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. Prepare an exit strategy in case the partnership doesn’t work - Microsoft to potentially look at buying another operator and Nokia to use a third party operating system.

For Microsoft:
1. Microsoft should buy Nokia within the next 3-5 years if the partnership is successful.
2. Leverage on network externalities. MSN Messenger for user linkage, MS Office and Exchange as complementary products that are widely used.
3. It is in the interests of Microsoft to leverage the Nokia Microsoft capabilities to push the smart phones aggressively in the United States.

For Nokia:
1. Focus its R&D investment on developing the Meego platform and slowly drop the effort on the other operating systems.
2. It should also ensure the retention the top talent, specifically within the R&D department by incentivizing the workforce and keep communicating the benefits of the partnership.
3. Nokia should give attention to customer service and support for the current customers using Symbian and facilitate a smooth transition of these customers to the WM platform.

Read:
1. Nokia - Microsoft Partnership Risks
2. Read: Nokia-Microsoft Partnership implementation background and questions

Nokia - Microsoft Smartphone Partnership Risks

1. Windows mobile is a very new entrant in the market with very low consumer penetration levels and public awareness. There is a risk that Nokia will not be able to integrate it to make it into a competitive product.

2. There is a danger of Nokia brand dilution due to the partnership with Microsoft, particularly in countries where Nokia has a predominant mindshare like India and China.

3. Even though Nokia is banking on the Microsoft brand and partnership to propel it in the premium market of USA where Nokia has been lagging, it is possible that this will not happen due to the strong presence of Apple, Google and RIM.

4. Nokia will be paying royalty to Microsoft for using the Windows platform on its phones which can lead to an increase in the prices of its handsets reducing its competitiveness. It also might erode margins in price sensitive markets like India and China.

5. Since it is abandoning its own R&D efforts in the OS space, it might be left stranded as just another mobile box maker if the partnership is not successful.

6. The partnership has the potential to create dissatisfaction amongst Nokia employees since there will be a reported 7000 layoffs. This can cause employee attrition and a significant drop in employee productivity.

7. Meego was an OS platform that was created for mobiles as well as Tablet computers, an area where Nokia is already very late. Removing Meego will leave it even more vulnerable to the future mobility solutions.

8. For Microsoft, since it has sweetened the deal by giving billions of dollars to Nokia, if the deal goes sour, it can lead to the death knell of the Windows mobile platform. This will be very bad for revenues and the Microsoft brand itself.

9. If the deal is unsuccessful, it will leave Microsoft without a potential alternative to its cash cows of Office and Windows platforms leading to significant problems in the future.

(Note: Some of these are derivatives of an article from the Nokia official blogsite itself)

Read:
1. Nokia-Microsoft Partnership implementation background and questions
2. Nokia - Microsoft Partnership recommendations

Implementation of the Nokia & Microsoft partnership in the smart phone space and Nokia's strategy to counter Android and Apple. Questions!

Nokia is the world leader in mobile phone sales, both by volume and by value. Headquartered in Finland, it is one of the most prominent telecommunications company in the world. Similarly, Microsoft is one of the largest software makers in the world by value and volume. However in the mobile space, both the organizations have been losing market share in recent years as newer and better rivals have sprung up to capture niche segments or have created their own segments entirely. If we take the Smartphone market, Nokia’s share in 2008 was by far the largest at 47.4% worldwide. Today it has reached 31% and is at the number 2 spot after Android phones (Owned by Google). Considering that smart phones constitute 30% of Nokia’s revenues and are the fastest and probably the only growing segment of the market for mobile phones, this is a major challenge for Nokia. Smart phones are expected to deliver 50% of the revenues for mobile companies by 2014. Similarly Microsoft in 2004 accounted for 24% of the smart phone market. Today they are languishing at around 3%. Almost the entire market for Microsoft has been usurped by Google’s Android and to a smaller extent, Apple’s iOS.

Nokia had its own operating platform (OS), Symbian OS, which was acquired by the organization in 2008 (Nokia was a majority shareholder in Symbian Ltd till then). It was the most popular platform till 2010 when Android overtook it. It was considered a very good OS for long but during the 2008-2010 period, Google and iOS came up with better platforms and concepts like App stores (consisting of 3rd party applications) which revolutionized the industry. Nokia was slow in reacting to these changes, even though its phones are still considered highly feature rich. Another problem associated with Nokia phones is the sheer number of models which can confuse a customer as to the relevant one for their needs. In recent years, the models have also been criticised as having bland and unappealing looks relative to the competitors. In a similar way, Microsoft’s Mobile operating system was considered a strong contender, particularly in the business and enterprise consumer space but lost its way over the same period of 2008-2010. Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, admitted recently that Microsoft had lost its way in the Smartphone segment. The Mobile operating systems version 6.0 and later 6.5 were considered outdated and had problems in adapting to newer hardware systems like ‘capacitive touch screens’ like the ones on latest generation smart phones. They were also very slow in introducing app stores for 3rd party applications so the major developers moved to Android and Apple to create applications for their systems. Furthermore, Microsoft charged $25 per phone for the use of its Smartphone OS while Google gave it away for free as OS was not the driver for Google. They were concentrating on the search and advertising market. Their latest OS, Windows Phone 7 (WP7), which had been completely redesigned as a consumer phone rather than a business phone was well received by critics but lacked a major phone partner to create a worldwide reach and penetration.

On 11th Feb 2011, Microsoft and Nokia joined hands as a strategic alliance where Windows 7 would replace Symbian completely for Nokia’s range of smart phones. The application stores of the two parties would be merged, Bing search would become the primary search engine on the phones and Nokia Maps would become the primary mapping feature. Nokia would also be able to customize the WP7 to a certain extent. As Nokia is the largest phone maker, and WP7 is considered a good platform, this alliance will a strong contender against Android and Apple. This was reflected in the Nokia CEO statement where he mentioned that it is now a “3 horse race”.

I consider this a challenging strategy for Nokia and Microsoft as it has suddenly been forced to create an alliance which has both pros and cons for the companies. If successful, it can significantly disrupt their opponents lead and propel them to the top of the Smartphone segment while creating a huge branding opportunity for the parties as dynamic entities (a tag that they had lost over the years). However, since this is an as yet untested partnership, it can create problems in delivering the products that were conceived. They will be forced to create a relatively stable Mobile Ecosystem in a short duration across the world which can be a very challenging task as the bulk of the developers are in the Android and Apple camps. The Strategy that they implement would need to be clearly defined without any ambiguity to take on their competitors. Currently the phone line-ups have not been finalised and this would be an ideal starting point for their strategy. Would they like to replicate the fragmented approach of Google or the niche offerings of Apple I phones. How would Nokia differentiate its phones once Windows licences its OS to other phone manufacturers like HTC or Samsung. How would Symbian and WP7 coexist since Symbian would be sold in middle and low end phone for a long time as mentioned by Nokia? Finally, who would be in charge of the mobile operating system research and development for the alliance since Nokia would become only a handset manufacturer if it decides to let go of mobile operating systems completely. These are some of the questions that Nokia urgently needs to find answers to...

Read:
1. Nokia - Microsoft Partnership Risks
2. Nokia - Microsoft Partnership recommendations

What does ARM leverage into the PC arena? In turn, how exactly can the new 3D architecture help Intel – what is their game?

The Battle of Mobile Chips - Part 2:

Before the Tablet revolution happened, the products were well differentiated from one other like Servers, Personal computers, Laptops, Net books, Mobiles. Tablet computing has positioned itself between Mobiles and PC’s and has taken a large portion of growth away from PC’s and Laptops which are still growing but the growth has slowed down. ARM is the major player here since it was able to create chips for these tablets as they were closer to the requirements of mobiles than PC’s. Mobility, smaller size and most importantly low and efficient power usage matters highly in the mobile world and also in the Tablets world. ARM has been able to completely seize this market. Further in the server space, due to increasing virtualization and cloud computing usage, companies like Facebook and YouTube have become very big datacenters and the costs associated with these datacenters is very high. If the ARM chips are able to signify a reduction in power usage and therefore cut costs for the final corporate user, it will be in a pole position to capture a significant market share from Intel. ARM also brings the entire ecosystem it created to this market that in turn reinforces the brand and the importance of ARM to the final consumer. Finally, for device makers it would make sense to rely on one partner to supply chips for all their appliances to bring economies of scale and reduce costs. Apple would be a prime example here.

However, Intel is not stagnant. The 3D architecture chips created, will enable it to close the gap with ARM in terms of power consumption and performance, thereby ensuring that it guards its own flanks in the server market. If the consumers are able to get the work done by using Intel chips, the switching cost could be high for moving to an unproven chipmaker. It also gives a chance to Intel to enter the mobile market, particularly with Microsoft, its long time partner in the PC world, which has shown interest in the ARM SOC architecture but has still not made products based on it. Like mentioned for Apple, it gives Microsoft the ability to reduce costs if it can negotiate long term deals with Intel to supply chips for its entire line of products. Intel is vertically integrated in terms of production and it probably gives it a better leverage to adapt to the changes in different types of chip making and to demand fluctuations.

It is possible that both companies will reach equilibrium in terms of the market share in the combined mobile & pc worlds in a few years. If like the cereal industry, they are ready to complement each other and become an oligopoly, it will be profitable for both of them. If however, they make it a zero sum game and try to gain the entire market for themselves, there can be a price war which could lead to a perfect competition and a significant erosion of margins. Two players might also help some device makers to ensure there is competition.

Why did Intel miss the mobile market so far and what is the ‘lever’ that enables ARM to hold onto such a large share of the mobile device market?

The Battle of Mobile Chips - Part 1:

The mobile and the PC markets till date were working in their own Silos. These worlds have stayed separate since the requirements of both were different in terms of software, hardware and more importantly consumer usage. PC was for computing usage and mobiles were for communication. The major reason for Intel missing the mobile market was that it was entrenched in the PC and server domain. It had a strong partnership with Microsoft and this enabled it to have a dominant market share in the PC segment. The operating systems and the chips need to be designed to optimize power and take advantage of the chip capabilities, something that the windows OS and the Intel chips did very effectively. They were structured to give them advantage over other processors and ecosystems. Since Windows was the standard in the computing space, Intel also quickly became the standard in the chip making arena. However because it was a monopoly in the chip making arena and was making significant rents, it did not pay attention to the emerging threat of ARM which was anyways a small part of the chip making industry. It was more concerned about countering AMD processors in the PC market. Akin to the Walmart/ Kmart example, it would have to change its operating structure to adapt to the mobile ecosystem. ARM, being small and being just focused on design which was its prime capability, was flexible & created a niche for itself. The investments that Intel would have had to make would have been significant, without knowing the rate of return, as it would have been unsure of the potential of the market itself.

The lever that enabled ARM to get into this market was Apple who used acorn chips for its products early on. However, the lever that enabled ARM to hold on to such a large share was the fact that it avoided the market leaders Intel and AMD and created the mobile chip ecosystem itself. This was a small segment of the market and ARM became very efficient in this segment and grew with the system. Since it is a design organization, it remained very flexible as it did not have the constraints of the production of chips. It was the responsibility of other companies who derived returns from the manufacturing. These companies in turn supplied to the appliance makers who had a significant demand for their products and were conscious of the fact that ARM kept on improving the quality of the products making it more efficient and thereby improving the appliance itself. This ecosystem helped everyone to make good returns and enabled them to make significant investments in ramping production volumes. The strategic interaction among the players and then with the customer created the network externalities. ARM was known because of its interaction with Apple so other companies used its products and when this was successful, further companies and manufacturers queued up to license its products creating a monopoly in the mobile market.

Warren Buffet's Comment on Ethical Values & Organizational Reputation

Copying this from a Yahoo Report on Warren Buffet (Link) as i feel this story and following comments needs to be remembered by all working men and women, particularly in light of what is happening today in the financial world with Wall Street under the scanner for starting the financial crisis in 2008:

In 1987, Berkshire bought $700 million of convertible preferred stock in Salomon Inc. Four years later, Buffett became interim chairman to restore order after a Treasury auction bidding scandal. On Sept. 4, 1991, Buffett testified before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about Salomon. Excerpts got into a movie created by Buffett's daughter Susie and shown to Berkshire shareholders at each annual meeting.

In part, Buffett said the following:

"In the end, the spirit about compliance is as important, or more so, than words about compliance. I want the right words and I want the full range of internal controls. But I also have asked every Salomon employee to be his or her own compliance officer.

"After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper, to be read by their spouses, children and friends, with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.

"If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless."

Lets remember the great man's words for our own good...

Fall of Lehman Brothers, The Subsequent Global Recession & Impact on India - Developments that have influenced my thinking massively in recent times

The current financial crisis, precipitated in 2008 leading to the fall of Lehman Brothers on September 15th and beyond, which culminated in a full blown global recession not seen since the Great Depression has been a veritable eye opener for me. This is not least due to the fact that it directly impacted me in terms of my work experience while working as a consultant. More than that, it has shaken my complete and ardent belief in free market economics. I would not say that I have had a complete ‘U turn’ and become a believer in all the principles of ‘Socialism’. However it has definitely encouraged me to think beyond the concepts of a completely free market economy, one that has important aspects of government regulations and systems in place.

My formative years saw the turbulent period of the post financial reform years which started in 1991 after the balance of payments crisis which led to the opening up of the Indian economy. We had heard so much of the ‘Hindu rate of Growth’ till then, which remained at around 2-3% throughout the 1970-90 period. I belong to a middle class background and our consciousness then was shaped by the life that we saw possible for the first time as western goods and services started entering our country. Socialistic principles overnight started getting derided by us. Over the years, I have always believed that the choices that became available to us in terms of opportunities in education, jobs etc was because of these reforms that took place under the guidance of the World Bank.

I slowly started believing that the government was being mostly irresponsible by stalling the completion of the reforms process. I could see India moving forward only when the Government uncoupled the regulations stifling the Indian businesses, particularly manufacturing and financial institutions. There were examples of Industries like Telecom and Information technology doing extremely well just because they were outside the ambit of too many regulations and left to their own devices. Free economy was the buzzword and I had the belief that the domestic industries would do well if they were given a chance to compete with the organizations abroad. Indian businesses would not suffer because our products were of high quality and competitively priced, was what we had been told by our business leaders and I believed them.

This optimism was not pierced even when the IT bubble burst in 2000. It was seen as a small hiccup since the impact was hardly felt by a few people. Also the Asian economy crisis in 1997 was not looked at as an example since we were barely affected if at all. There were various discussions that mentioned that our subsidies predominantly to the farming community was not feasible in the long run and it was better spent on other important areas like building infrastructure etc in urban areas. It also needs to be understood that at this point of time, my understanding of the inequalities in India was restricted. I had seen the agrarian communities of North Indian states like Punjab and Haryana which seemed extremely well developed and suitably ‘rich enough’. Hence I had a belief that the government should have focused on removing the problems of the urban communities and make these cities really ‘world class’.

There were false hopes throughout the early part of the first decade of 21st century that somehow the reforms process would be pushed forward. After all the economy had been growing at close to 9% over a 5 year period and our foreign exchange holdings were touching new highs daily. There were even plans of creating a special vehicle for financing some of the immediate infrastructural woes. However, a concrete direction somehow did not materialize. It would not be wrong to suggest that my understanding of the situation was at complete odds with the governments view and hence my interest waned in the economics of various policies that were being debated. This continued till 2008.

On 15th September 2008, when the proverbial ‘all hell broke loose’ and Lehman brothers collapsed, the entire financial market in United States and Europe seemed to collapse very rapidly. However, strangely enough, the Indian Financial institutions except a solitary one remained mostly stable. There were fears of Bank runs and share price collapses but nothing of the same happened. This was particularly true of the state run financial institutions. As far as my perception is considered, they remained almost indifferent. This piqued my curiosity and made me realize that it was because of the fact that they were highly controlled organizations were they able to manage the crisis. To give a background, most state controlled financial institutions in India are former private banks which were nationalized in late 1970’s and early 1980’s. They are strictly regulated as to their investments and their liabilities since they manage a very large volume of retail accounts of low income households and hence their risk taking abilities are curtailed. Hence terms like credit swaps and derivatives are generally a strict no for them.

Suddenly, the logic behind government control and relatively high regulations starts becoming clearer. This signaled a major change in my thinking about various economic and social policies. The clincher in this argument was when the financial crisis led to the global economic recession. It is obviously correct to state that there are hardly any countries which were unaffected by the crisis. However, it is also very true that India survived and along with that kept the economic growth rate to an acceptable rate of 6-7%. I consider this to be a relatively high growth rate considering the scenario that confronted us all. What has also helped is the turnaround in terms of employment growth which was sagging considerably 8-10 months ago. The investor confidence is back and there is currently a possibility of FDI and FII inflows increasing. I realize today that I had simply been wrong about the policies of the state and had been blindly following arguments about the reforms process which were not grounded in reality. In fact I would not be able to talk about such contrasts if it had not been for the global recession to jolt us in our thinking.

Essentially what this meant is that the socialistic tinged policies of successive governments had come good. The regulations that had been place in the economy had made sure that there was no hyperactive growth which could not be sustained. The banking institutions were properly funded and hence they were able to meet their obligations while at the same time providing credit for small and medium enterprises which had suffered. Even sectors which had been relatively badly hit were able to manage the situation by securing large contracts from public sector undertakings which were flush with finances. This was definitely the case with the IT sector. State policy also had a significant role in making sure growth rates did not plunge. An example in this case is the focus that had been provided to the rural households a few years earlier by better irrigation and drought management facilities. Subsidies in the form of cheap fertilizers and free power had been provided so that the food security and employment did not suffer. A scheme called the NREGA (National rural employment guarantee act) was put in place where a minimum employment of 100 days in a year was guaranteed to people below the poverty line. This was to supplement the income of landless farmers and people in rural areas and was to provide payment even if no work was available, though at variable rates. It was a massive form of subsidy by the government considering our per capita GDP and there had been murmurs against it when this scheme had been launched. However, today it is feted as a landmark regulation even by the private sector. The reason being, it has boosted rural incomes and spending power. Hence while there is a recession outside the country, the organizations have been able to target these rural areas to keep their growth rates on target. As per various estimates the difference in GDP growth due to such rural targeted schemes is between 1.5-2% per annum.

It must be kept in mind however, that the successes have been made possible due to the opening of the economy which started in 1991. The schemes were made possible because very simply, we now had the money to finance them. Our economy had been on a very healthy growth rate for over a decade and a half and the money that it had generated was ready to be of use. However, the state had made sure that regulations were going to be a part of the system and free economy was tinged with protectionism. To just contrast the aspects that have been mentioned here with those of USA, it has come to light that even when the American economy was growing in the early 21st century, it was mostly impacting approximately only the top 2% of the population. Again this was the segment which was worst hit during the recession and hence the overall scenario got magnified. It had a cascading effect on the large number of indirect jobs that were dependent on these jobs. Looking at India, we had been able to target both the rich as well as the poor so the interrelationship was probably stronger and hence one could rely on the other to bail them out. Even China has been able to keep up its strong growth despite interdependence with the US. This is because of its regulated and protectionist economy. As I mentioned earlier, I have not taken a complete change in direction and have started advocating policies being completely aligned to socialism. I am still a believer in the reforms process and governments not interfering too much with the economy. Is the Government completely right? – No, Is it on the right track? – Yes. I now believe that a balance has to be struck somewhere between regulation and free reign. Concepts like the bottom of the pyramid have a place in economics. The target for all entities, be it the government or the industries, should be all levels of this pyramid. Obviously, there might be some inconsistency in the targeting but no one should be forgotten completely. Theories which were popular earlier like the trickledown effect which talked about the money flowing from the top to the bottom of the pyramid will have to be discarded or heavily modified. Else, the economic inequalities will keep becoming larger with rich becoming richer and poor becoming poorer.

Going slightly tangentially, since my changed understanding of the situation, I have been working with my father on a business plan to target employment of semi urban & semiskilled people. This is a ‘for profit’ venture which my father will undertake post retirement in a couple of years. Although this is in a very rudimentary stage, we came to the idea about training of such people who have skills but do not find avenues for employment. Also there is a huge requirement for such people like mechanics, plumbers, machinists, drivers, construction workers, healthcare workers etc who can be given proper and updated training and then gainfully employed as per the requirements. This idea was an extension of targeting the rural people by the government and other organizations. Also importantly, I have been able to think on those lines only when I understood their importance in our continued success in growing the economy. This would have not been possible had it not been for the collapse of Lehman Brothers on that fateful September day.

Rivalry between India & Pakistan; A perspective on the Indian Subcontinent and a South East Asian Union

If I ever get the opportunity to speak to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, my first question would be a very simple one and something people have been asking for close to 5 decades, though i am aware that the answer is going to be extremely difficult - How does he intend to solve the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan and further promote peace in the Indian subcontinent. Additionally, can India take the lead in creating a South East Asian Union on the lines of the European Union comprising of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and India?

The cost of this military engagement has been very high for both India and Pakistan; socially and economically and has also started involving the neighboring countries in this conflict. Thousands of lives have been lost on both sides and there has been a huge expenditure incurred on maintaining standing armies; a cost which should be considered reprehensible particularly when we are struggling to provide basic sustenance to a large population in India. Further we have not been able to have a good economic bloc in the subcontinent where we can have proper trade and commerce with our neighbours.

Kashmir today has a very low economic capability since no organization wants to set up offices there fearing attacks from terrorists. Tourism, which before 1989 was one of the most important sources of livelihood has dwindled considerably, providing a lot of hardships to the local people. Obviously this has led to a large unemployed group, many of whom have started joining fundamentalist groups to create trouble across India, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Another major problem that has cropped up because of this conflict is the fanning by extremists of the religious intolerance which is leading to doubts being sown amongst various religions in existence in the subcontinent, particularly between Hinduism and Islam. There have been recent surveys where it has been shown that this suspicion is slowly making lives for Indian Muslims hasher and that their economic development indicators has dropped significantly compared to others. This is causing resentment amongst the people. This has also started affecting other countries in the region and makes it a dangerous cycle.

It also makes other countries have to choose between warring nations and this puts policy making on a knife edge; something that was clear during the last 5 years in Bangladesh where a pro Pakistan government had largely reduced trade with India. Today after the elections, it has again gone up after a government change. These changes are definitely not favourable for the common people in the subcontinent. We can only imagine the number of opportunities that would become available to entrepreneurs in all countries to reach out the nearly 2 billion people this South Asian bloc, most of whom are in need of goods and services to improve their quality of life. There are so many jobs that will be created if there is a continuity of trade leading to economic upliftment for all while at the same time removing the chance of having a nuclear war in the most militarized zone in the world.

Discovery Channel: Boom De Ah Dah - 2009

'Boom De Ah Dah' Part 2 created in 2009. This has also become a cult hit. If you love the world, you will love the song. :)

Check out more at the Discovery Channel Web Site for the "Boom De Ah Dah"

Must watch for all....

The World is just Awesome!! - Reason enough why all of us should do everything in our power to save it from destruction.

Discovery Channel: Boom De Ah Dah - 2008

Simply Brilliant...Probably the greatest advertisement ever. This was the first one created by Discovery channel in 2008. Check out more at the Discovery Channel Web Site for the "Boom De Ah Dah"

Must watch for all....

The World is just Awesome!! - Reason enough why all of us should do everything in our power to save it from destruction.



Just cannot get it out of my head :-)

Aman ki Aasha - An initiative of The Times of India Group & The Jang Group of Pakistan (Part I)

I chanced upon this brilliant video (Song sung by Shankar Mahadevan)about an Initiative called 'Aman ki Asha' which talks about brotherhood between Indians and Pakistanis. It shows us how much similarity exists between us and how we should never let that go away. True, there are massive problems between us but some start needs to be taken and nurtured. And this seems to be a good one at that...

Everyone who wishes to see peace and happiness in India and Pakistan - and in the larger context, the world - should support this initiative. It is a great start by the biggest media house in each country and would definitely help in furthering the cause of bringing stability to this region. More details and news reports are available on the TOI website 'Aman Ki Asha' and the Geo TV website 'Aman Ki Asha'. There is also a Facebook page to keep tabs on all events.

Quest for Justice

Please note that I am Neutral to the Israel - Palestine conflict since both sides have done both right and wrong. My personal belief is that Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully if the entire Arab world agrees to let Israel live in peace and disarm the terror groups while at the same time Israel gives legitimacy to the Palestine State.

I know it is not simple and am not naive to believe that it will happen soon enough but what people want is a way forward....and a positive way forward.

This article was forwarded to me in the last week and i have just posted it here so so that people can gain some sort of a perspective into the views of Jews like Judith Stone and a debate can happen over the same. After all democracy does not mean just fighting with someone if everyone in your country wants to fight. It also means that the brave leaders should stand up and educate the people about the various paths that can be followed and ends that await them. Only then should they be allowed to take a call....

LONDON - 11 January 2009

Jewish editor sacked for publishing article.

This article was sent to Debbie Ducro, a American-Jewish journalist with the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. She published it ........... and was fired the next day!!

Quest for justice
By: Judith Stone

I am a Jew. I was a participant in the Rally for the Right of Return to Palestine . It was the right thing to do.

I've heard about the European holocaust against the Jews since I was a small child. I've visited the memorials in Washington , DC and Jerusalem dedicated to Jewish lives lost and I've cried at the recognition to what level of atrocity mankind is capable of sinking.

Where are the Jews of conscience? No righteous malice can be held against the survivors of Hitler's holocaust. These fragments of humanity were in no position to make choices beyond that of personal survival. We must not forget that being a survivor or a co-religionist of the victims of the European Holocaust does not grant dispensation from abiding by the rules of humanity.

"Never again" as a motto, rings hollow when it means "never again to us alone." My generation was raised being led to believe that the biblical land was a vast desert inhabited by a handful of impoverished Palestinians living with their camels and eking out a living in the sand. The arrival of the Jews was touted as a tremendous benefit to these desert dwellers. Golda Meir even assured us that there " is no Palestinian problem ".

We know now this picture wasn't as it was painted. Palestine was a land filled with people who called it home. There were thriving towns and villages, schools and hospitals. There were Jews, Christians and Muslims. In fact, prior to the occupation, Jews represented a mere seven per cent of the population and owned three per cent of the land.

Taking the blinders off for a moment, I see a second atrocity perpetuated by the very people who should be exquisitely sensitive to the suffering of others. These people knew what it felt like to be ordered out of your home at gun point and forced to march into the night to unknown destinations or face execution on the spot. The people who displaced the Palestinians knew first hand what it means to watch your home in flames, to surrender everything dear to your heart at a moment's notice. Bulldozers levelled hundreds of villages, along with the remains of the village inhabitants, the old and the young. This was nothing new to the world.

Poland is a vast graveyard of the Jews of Europe. Israel is the final resting place of the massacred Palestinian people. A short distance from the memorial to the Jewish children lost to the holocaust in Europe there is a leveled parking lot. Under this parking lot is what's left of a once flourishing village and the bodies of men, women and children whose only crime was taking up needed space and not leaving graciously. This particular burial marker reads: "Public Parking".

I've talked with Palestinians. I have yet to meet a Palestinian who hasn't lost a member of their family to the Israeli Shoah, nor a Palestinian who cannot name a relative or friend languishing under inhumane conditions in an Israeli prison. Time and time again, Israel is cited for human rights violations to no avail. On a recent trip to Israel , I visited the refugee camps inhabited by a people who have waited 52 years in these 'temporary' camps to go home. Every Palestinian grandparent can tell you the name of their village, their street, and where the olive trees were planted. Their grandchildren may never have been home, but they can tell you where their great-grandfather lies buried and where the village well stood. The press has fostered the portrait of the Palestinian terrorist. But the victims who rose up against human indignity in the Warsaw Ghetto are called heroes. Those who lost their lives are called martyrs. The Palestinian who tosses a rock in desperation is a terrorist.

Two years ago I drove through Palestine and watched intricate sprinkler systems watering lush green lawns of Zionist settlers in their new condominium complexes, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire in the midst of a Palestinian community where there was not adequate water to drink and the surrounding fields were sandy and dry. University professor Moshe Zimmerman reported in the Jerusalem Post (30 April, 1995), "The [Jewish] children of Hebron are just like Hitler's youth."

We Jews are suing for restitution, lost wages, compensation for homes, land, slave labour and back wages in Europe . Am I a traitor of a Jew for supporting the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their birthplace and compensation for what was taken that cannot be returned?

The Jewish dead cannot be brought back to life and neither can the Palestinian massacred be resurrected. David Ben Gurion said, "Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves...politically, we are the aggressors and they defend themselves...The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country...".

Palestine is a land that has been occupied and emptied of its people. Its cultural and physical landmarks have been obliterated and replaced by tidy Hebrew signs. The history of a people was the first thing eradicated by the occupiers. The history of the indigenous people has been all but eradicated as though they never existed. And all this has been hailed by the world as a miraculous act of God. We must recognise that Israel 's existence is not even a question of legality so much as it is an illegal fait accompli realised through the use of force while supported by the Western powers. The UN missions directed at Israel in attempting to correct its violations of have thus far been futile.

In Hertzl's 'The Jewish State' the father of Zionism said: "We must investigate and take possession of the new Jewish country by means of every modern expedient." I guess I agree with Ehud Barak (3 June 1998) when he said, "If I were a Palestinian, I'd also join a terror group." I'd go a step further perhaps. Rather than throwing little stones in desperation, I'd hurtle a boulder.

Hopefully, somewhere deep inside, every Jew of conscience knows that this was no war; that this was not G-d's restitution of the holy land to it's rightful owners. We know that a human atrocity was and continues to be perpetuated against an innocent people who couldn't come up with the arms and money to defend themselves against the western powers bent upon their demise as a people.

We cannot continue to say, "But what were we to do?" Zionism is not synonymous with Judaism. I wholly support the rally of the right of return of the Palestinian people. here.

Financial Crisis - Dont worry, Greed will Prevail

Global financial meltdown - Three words that in all likelihood conjures up the most frightening monster the world has known. This monster is taking away all the things that we cherish, directly or indirectly. First there is a pay freeze, then there is a pay cut and if that was not enough there goes our job. With that goes our 'discretionary' spending capacity, our willingness to buy things that makes our miserable lives slightly bearable, our self esteem. The factories close down, industries vanish and social unrest begins. In the midst of all this, nations along with their policy makers are left scratching their heads. Question: Our goose is cooked...right?.....Wrong!!!

I have a simple solution to this. Forget about it...Dont worry, cause this is not going to last long.

Am i mad. Oh yes,well i am...but i am also sane enough to believe that these so called experts who are telling you that the financial world - thus in every sense the real world - has come to an end are lying or to put it more subtly, not telling you the whole truth . Hopefully being a layman, i will try to tell you exactly why i believe that this crisis is infact going to turn around very quickly.

Let me start with simple process flow. I go to work everyday and earn a salary every month. Some part of this salary goes to buy necessary and other products, some goes into savings like Cash, equity (shares, bonds, MF's), Commodities etc, mostly to a bank. Now the place where i am working makes a product and sells it to the consumer to generate revenue and hopefully profits. Again this money is split into buying important raw materials etc, paying bonuses & dividends and saving it in a bank. The bank gets this money and pays interest to the consumer or the corporate who has deposited the money. If my company is doing well, it takes a lon from the bank and carries out expansion plans - increase manpower, get more machines, etc - and from its increased profit pays off the debt. Since the bank needs to make money too, it charges an interest higher than what it has paid for the money and this becomes the profit (after overheads). This way the cycle keeps moving.

Now for some economics. Demand and Supply. Classical theory of economics states that if the demand goes up - the supply remaining constant - prices go up too. This is true for Oil, most precious metals, etc. For other goods, if the prices are higher, then the consumer might shift to substitutes so organizations in an effort to make more profit do not increase the prices. Instead, they increase their capacity to produce goods at almost the same rate as the demand moves up. This creates new expansion plans, new jobs, and hence again the above mentioned cycle continues.

Now to make the explanation clearer lets figure some connections:

• If the companies/ individuals do not earn money they have less to save
• If the banks get less money, they give out less money and hence make less money
• If there is less money for people to spend, they either buy cheaper substitutes or not buy at all
• If the consumer does not buy, the companies do not make money and expansions go for a toss
• If expansions do not happen/ new companies do not come up, the industry slows down
• If the industry slows down, the governments have less taxes to collect and lesser budgets
• If budgets are lesser, social spending decreases
• If social spending decreases, the unrest begins

Now the impact for the stakeholders:

• Since banks are making losses/ 'not enough' profit, shareholders get angry & CEO has to go
• Since other organizations are making losses/ 'not enough' profit, shareholders get angry & CEO has to go
• Above corollary is that shareholders are also losing money
• Since countries are not making money and hence people are suffering, governments will lose their votebanks
• Infact due to the extreme lowering of oil prices, terrorists are also not going to have much money since their masters purse strings might just be running on empty
• and hence due to all the above except one....the individual loses

Hopefully, you get my drift. This is just not going to happen. Rich individuals/ corporations/ governments can take the fallout for sometime but sooner or later they will realise that there is just no other way to come out of this but to make profits. Also since the world today is extremely connected (take the example of terrorists - US does not buy oil due to recession and terrorists have lesser money for spreading hate) and mind you this is an extremely delicate connection, making profits is not easy unless the entire global machinery is greased. This grease comes from banking organizations and consumers who will spend the money thay they generate. And banks will spend once they are aware that if they dont, they are the ones who lose the most. They own the money and they need to pay the interest.

I can tell you this and much more in complicated jargon but it all boils down to this. Yes, for a short time (my bet is 6-12 months) things are going to be nasty. But this is just a blip. This can never be the great depression part 2 since the economies are not isolated and global linkages will play its own hand. We have probably seen the worst and things will - hopefully - seem better very very soon. It was greed that got us here and it will be Greed that will get us out of here...