Where is this country heading?

There was a time, a couple of years ago when I really felt that Indian economy's growth story was here to stay and that we were to be the golden generation in India reaping the benefits of this growth. Make no mistake, we have grown, our incomes have grown considerably as well and we are enjoying a life style that our parents could only dream about. On the other hand, prices are rising all the time and I jokingly mention to family and friends that I probably need an additional 0 added to my income every 2 or 3 years just to cope with the cost of living.

But is our growth story here to stay? I would have said yes if someone asked me this question two or three years ago but now, but not anymore. The government, bureaucracy, the civic bodies and just about any sort of government machinery in this country is in bad need of reforms and the worst part is that the babus ruling this nation just don't want to admit that we have a problem. We are growing at 7% when most countries are struggling to register 3 or 4 % growth says the government and this is an insane argument. Our growth rates are high because of the base effect. We are growing from a small base and this amplifies our growth.

There is a total paralysis of policy making and no single person in this government has the balls to put the country before himself or herself. The opposition is no better and I fear that maybe a decade down the line, India will be talked as just a huge country that wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope I am wrong.

We as the people of this country are so much stuck with this concept of Jugaad, that we have lost the ability to straighten things out the right way. Our civic sense is perhaps the worst among the developing world. We just don't seem to care about the other mans plight as long as our needs are taken care of. Right from driving our cars or two wheelers to  getting admissions in schools, we all only seek the short cut path to achieving things. 

Well for anyone reading this, I am probably stating the obvious but where do we go from here? What kind of India are we going to leave our children? I have no answers right now, just a deepening sense of gloom on where our great nation is heading.

A little bit of everything

The euphoria of getting the iPhone has died a natural death and I am now drooling over the latest iPod Touch iteration that Apple announced. It gets all the bells and whistles from the iPhone 4 but surprisingly Apple has not given the iPod Touch the same camera as in the 4G. The new camera on the Touch can record video but the camera takes only photos in VGA at a pathetic 700000 pixels. I wonder what purpose such a camera would serve.  But then again, this is Apple and they just about get away with such blunders and we customers don't complain too much and lap up whatever they have to offer.

My next project is just about getting signed and the next ten months will involve a lot of work and travel of course. The days of virtual farming and browsing will soon be over and I doubt I will have time to read books too. The most important item of course remains, spending quality time with the missus even when the project hits me. Other things taken a back seat. However having said that I am really hoping that I can make a trip to Bandhavgarh this time. The dates haven't been announced but hopefully I get a chance to go there.

I've spent the spare time this week gobbling up 2 books written by Devdutt Patnaik, one of India's foremost expert in mythology. The first book was a re-telling of the Mahabharata titled Jaya (Interestingly, the Mahabharata when first written by Lord Ganesha under Sage Vyasa's instructions was titled Jaya) and the second one was titled Shiva to Shankara and is essentially an interpretation of the Phallic symbol that the Shiva Linga represents. Of course I did not show this book to mom. Wouldn't know how she would react to me reading a book with such a title. I thought the presentation of the book was really good and the Phallus that the Linga represents does not carry any sexual connotation at all. Rather it denotes the the flow of 'rasa' or life giving energy upwards towards self-realization since Shiva is depicted as one who is completely detached from everything. At the same time the base of the Linga representing the female Yoni, depicts the flow of 'rasa' downwards in order to create life to keep the wheels of existence going. Yogis direct the energy upwards towards realization while Bhogis (referring to us normal beings) focus on moving the energy downwards towards reproduction, thereby keeping the wheels of samsara going. The book also tells us through various puranic stories of how Shivas transformations from that of a Tapasvin to a householder and therefore does not make any distinction on the merits of being a Yogi versus that of a normal householder. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Hindu Philosophy and Myths. Our sages and ancestors were truly remarkable people!

The house now has a new dining table which arrived yesterday afternoon much to the delight of mom and the missus. We finally have a sturdy table to seat 6 people although I don't think we are going to use it much. I for one have never used a dining table unless it is absolutely called for.

Another day spent house hunting and I think we have all come to the conclusion that out current rented place is probably the best place to stay in for now. I am still left wondering about where salaried class people get the money to spend on a 60 or 70 lakh apartment since most new projects I came across have been almost sold out. Keeps me wondering on whether such folks have additional streams of income apart from their regular jobs. Or do they have some kind of ancestral property that provides them the cushion? Such questions will always remain in the realms of my mind I guess. Not that I am upset, don't get me wrong, I am totally happy with what I have today but its just that I can't stop wondering.

I plan to at least invest any extra money I save monthly in either a good stock or a good mutual fund. I am thinking about investing in the National Pension Scheme (NPS). Apart from the tax benefits it provides it provides an avenue to invest in something safer and I see that my portfolio is heavily skewed towards equities without having any exposure to fixed income or other debt instruments. Mint Money has published a separate booklet in today's issue on investments that will be worth a read when I get back home.

For the first time during my stint with Sabre, I chose to wear a round neck t-shirt and looking around me I see so many people wearing such t-shits that I will make it a regular habit to wear tees to the office on Fridays. Down and out with the semi formal shirts!

The betting saga, no the spot fixing saga in cricket continues to hog headlines and I am still wondering why bookies would bet on bowlers bowling no-balls. Is there something more to this that I don't comprehend? The 3 Pakistan players that have been accused in this case have been dropped from the squad but considering that the World Cup is around the corner and that both Asif and Amir are quite indispensable to the bowling attack, my guess is that the PCB will sweep this matter under the carpet and wait for the public memory to fade away and recall them later this year.

Speaking of Pakistan, I read some news that the Chinese have gotten 10000 army troops in PoK to ensure that a road is built via PoK into China delivering supplies from the middle east. As usual I dont think this Government will do anything about this other than raising some diplomatic fuss. I simply think that we don't have the 'balls' to confront the Chinese and this attitude is only going to bite us in the butt later on. The Chinese thirst, let me rephrase that, greed, to dominate the world, I hope will be their downfall but then again this is the age of Kali and it might just well be that the Chinese end up being our masters in the near future. Who knows!