Friday, December 31, 2010

"Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn"


The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.India is one of the largest democracy in the world. But its politics remains dirtier than before, as more and more criminals have found their way into it. By hook or crook they win the majority with their corrupt, unhealthy power game and achieve considerable success in making their word the law in all parts they hold. Shockingly a good number of the Indian parliament members face criminal charges. Even after six centuries of independence the country could not provide very basic resources like food, water, power, proper education or health systems to the Nara- Narayanas (as named by father of our nation). Criminals join politics to gain influence and ensure that cases against them are dropped or not proceeded with. Though law disqualifies convicted criminals from contesting elections, legal delays often abetted by political pressures, make resourceful crooks escape convictions. Growth of criminalisation in geometric progression call on political parties to ban criminals from contesting in elections. Candidate selection committees of parties thoroughly fail due to their own inexplicable andA inexcusable moral lapse.In the past, criminals were helping (clandestinely) the politicians win elections and in turn getting protection. The order has now reversed. Now the politicians are seeking protection from criminals, as the latter get direct access to power as they become legislators or ministers using money and muscle power. Drastic reforms in the existing law is nothing but an urgent necessity to force the political parties take initiative to curb the mass production of criminal legislators by denying tickets to those with criminal background. Criminals under trial or whose appeals from earlier convictions are pending for disposal before courts for murder, rape, corruption or theft from the public treasury, can represent the people in the country’s highest legislative forums, as election commission is totally helpless here. None of the political parties have taken any step to curb this as being the only way of their existence.Cases against politicians remain pending for long time letting them contest and win elections. Here the extreme necessity of settling cases pending against politicians arise or else they contest, win and with their power manipulate the cases for their favour .Punishment is deterrent to crime to instill a sense of fear in would-be criminals. Fear is a strong emotion but its efficacy in crime prevention is scarce. This happens because of the active presence of gangsters the mafia. Mafia is not an abstract concept, or a mere literary term. It is a criminal organization regulated by unwritten but iron and inexorable rules with oppression, arrogance, greed, self-enrichment, power and hegemony above and against all others. The myth of a Mafioso is just the opposite of the generous 'man of honor' It is a sign of India’s endemic political corruption. Its life is sustained by a widespread lot which breeds a general distrust in the average Indian, distrust of everything, including the system of justice. Those who deny the existence of Mafia are deceptive or plain dishonest. Mafia growth is so fast and wide and are powerful enough to own anything and extort hundreds of millions of rupees in any span of time to bring ever more businesses or clear some from the array. It is cancer that spreads fast and destroy India’s economic base. It is the most serious social problem confronting the country today.Abdication of democratic responsibility by delaying decisions on contentious issues or leaving decisions to the judiciary results in virtual paralysis of the decision-making apparatus. Here the developmental activities come to a standstill and the country’s problems remain unresolved. Delaying of decisions hinder the growth of the country. This is very unfortunate for a country like India which needs fast pace in all means. Politicians responsible to run the system are making fortunes for themselves. The working of government is carried out by a few honest public servants and a minority selfless real citizens which forms just twenty five percent. Barring this odd twenty five percent, balance is uncouth, selfish, loudmouthed, dirty and untruthful without any civic sense. The need of basic human values is a thing of thought here. To make this thought, the current disgraceful political activity of the corrupted politicians who are spoiling the very future of our mother country, must be banned.Multi-party democracy is a curse. India is the only country which can form a political party with a smack of a few hundred members. Here happens the birth of more new politicians (scoundrels). The endless love to become a political leader leads to the fragmentation of existing political parties in to as many as or more than what English alphabets can suffix. This results in coalition governance which is mere polygamy at its worst, where the husband (party) is trying to please all others, who never fuse homogenously but stands to divide and fall. The objectives of all political parties are to get public votes without which they cannot survive. So their interests conflict substantially and go to the extent of spoiling the good work that is being done by any other party. They make issues out of nothing to stall and get cheap popularity.The problem thus created will never get a solution during the entire tenure of that house. Billions are drained from the public fund in the name of discussions, chartering flights, making calls over land, cell or satellite phones in the name of inter and intra party meetings inside and outside the state. Here is the birth of 2G and 3G scams (gains). “Nonagenarian godfathers turning saviors”

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The asset bubble collapsed, but the debt remains though one man's debt is another man's claim.



Never dismiss those who caution us against rising debt levels as doom-mongers.
Credit cards are the non-stop, high-speed highway to bankruptcy. They offer the opportunity to make large purchases now instead of saving up and hence are so attractive to people. It gives a feeling that we can afford anything we want. The low minimum payments seem reasonable, and easy to fulfill which is the biggest trap associated with credit cards. It makes forget about the high rate of interest being paid; and force the mind focus more on the low minimum payments. There are ever so many desperate victims of their own misuse of credit cards who illustrate the most unfortunate effect that debt can have on one’s finances. They just went along, living with their debt, until the (un)expected happened which put them in irrecoverable financial crisis leaving no way to meet their debt obligations except bankruptcy. Thus money strain took its toll on all relationships.
When one is on a tight budget or fixed income, there are seemingly countless temptations to spend more than he/she actually has, further increasing the debt. This is especially true when the rather humorous maxim is taken into account: "The less money one has, the more he needs to buy." The urge to buy what he doesn't actually need, but what is most likely nothing more than a fleeting desire should be curbed as much as possible so as to avoid depleting his bank account and causing undue grief later, when he learns that such items as those novelty-sized sunglasses aren't nearly as impossible to live without as he first thought
What is the solution to avoid such situation? Avoid credit card debt. They are so seductive as they offer the prospect of instant gratification. Create a budget and live within the means and track spending. To be not at the mercy of an unexpected financial situation keep an emergency fund. Thus if unexpected expenses come up, they won’t be so devastating and let shun the temptation of borrowing. Keep away debt boom which tends to induce euphoria like alcohol or drugs. Debt is a moral as well as an economic issue. Discard the encouragement to become homeowners and thus to take on debt because every debt is a liability for the borrower and an asset for the creditor. Credit which is derived from the Latin word credere means to believe. Who to believe whom in money deal? Nobody turns believer and nobody is believed when debt is not settled. Creditors lose faith in their borrowers, they will demand the repayment.
In the aftermath of the latest collapse the distinction between debt in the private and public sector has become very clear. The idea of using borrowed money to buy assets is the smart road to riches drained the very soil under the foot overnight. All options for dealing with the debt overhang turned unpalatable. Rampant deregulation is just as much a cause as rabid consumerism. Both borrowers and lenders have been irresponsible. Lenders were hamstrung and blinded by short-term incentives maliciously preyed on borrowers. Borrowers were blissfully complicit and happy to be bought off with their own short-term "happiness". Here both parties failed all the while to see the house of cards for what it was. Life was good! Everyone was rich (on paper)!!! . All bark and no bite.
When capital has been lent at extremely low rates and mal-investment was rampant, a trillion dollars spent on empty houses in the southwest American desert bear testimony to the desperation for investment opportunities, applaud those who had the foresight to curtail their spending and escape the universal debt crisis though they are a minority.Perhaps the need to consider defining happiness by and seeking it through things other than material worth and impulsive shopping sprees. Austerity is not such a dirty word, and there's more to life than what advertisements would have us believe.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

"A man must himself starve before he would see his parents starve."


Care for parents
We should care for our parents as they cared for us - when we were vulnerable and unable to care for ourselves, they placed their personal desires aside and went to great lengths to ensure our safety and prosperity. Their personal sacrifice to forgo their wants and needs in the best interest of their children should be an example we, as their children, should attempt to emulate closely. We should care for our parents because they taught us the value of family, decency and honor, and express great concern for our parents is a demonstration that their efforts were not wasted. We should care our parents just not to repay the debt we owe them but to set a worth example for our children.

We have a moral responsibility to care our parents. We should never desert them as they can no longer be of benefit to us. Getting away from our responsibility is tantamount to theft - the theft of love, concern, energy and devotion which they had. In childhood we accepted and enjoyed these eagerly as splendid gifts. The parent-child relationship is a mutually unspoken pact, an always be there joy and comfort for the other person. A reprehensible individual only can deny care for his/her parents. In terms of depth and personal integrity we altogether are merely empty vessels. Selfish needs and me first attitudes of children are emotional crush to the aging and ailing parents. They should better stay away from parents for heaven’s sake, as their lack of concern serve only to make the elderly parents disappointed at their efforts. Such worthless people should understand that it is their final gift to parents. It is their last chance to make the parents happy by letting them feel that their efforts and lives were not wasted as they have created individuals who sense divinity through love and responsibility. Most people think of "honoring father and mother" only in terms of a young child or teenager being obedient to their parents.
Show your appreciation! Financial support is not the only way to honor our loved ones. (It is definitely a major factor as the aging process brings with it a lot of physical and physiological ailments that calls in unaffordable medical expenses .) We witness this truth in raising children. A parent can buy every toy his child desires but still have no influence over the child. The best things in life are those things which money cannot buy. A child needs us! A parent needs us! How often do we hear, “no one appreciates me’ Employees, wives, husbands, children—and even parents are left with an empty, lonely feeling when no sign of appreciation is shown? A few kind words, thoughtful phone calls or letters, and various gifts of remembrances will help show that we care them.
Our father, through hours of labor, helped provide our needs, Our mother, through sleepless nights when we were sick, had time to help us through troublesome periods. Is it true that now we have become “too busy” with the mundane things of life to make a few small sacrifices for those who gave so much to help us become what we are? The word “honor” inherently describes something of value, and we honor those whom we esteem highly.
Perhaps we have all heard the story of the father, who along with his young son was driving his aged father to admit him into the nursing home. As he topped the hill the nursing home came into view, and the father remarked “what a nice place it is”!. The young lad asked, “ls that where l will be taking you some day?” The father was dumb-struck. He had never thought of himself in that role. He turned the car around at the next convenient place and took his father back home.
Taking care of an aged parent in both monetary and emotional sense is simply repaying the love and terms they gave us in our time of need, with love and terms in their time of need. The honor of loving parents to whom we have to pay the first and greatest and oldest of debts, considering that all which a man has belongs to those who gave him birth and brought him up. He must do all that he can to minister to them; first, in his property; secondly, in his person; and thirdly, in his soul; by paying the debts due to them for their care and travail which they bestowed upon him in the days of his infancy, and which he is now able to pay back, when they are old and in the extremity of their need.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.

"Mania for professional courses"
The prospect of getting an admission in an engineering or medical college for their offspring after standard XII, is exciting for the parents as they seem to have a notion that these are the only professional courses which have status symbol. Even educated persons are misguided and fall into the trap of this professional offspring mania. Many feel that their children will ensure a prosperous future and a super dignity in the society, combined with a sell sale value in the matrimonial market if they enter a professional college and hence willingly spend any amount to make their children doctors or engineers.(Nationalized, scheduled and new generation banks are there to extend loans) This belief has led to a prolific increase in the number of self-financed professional colleges whereas more than 50 per cent of them provide sub-standard education and produce under-qualified professionals. What the parents fail to realize is that unless their wards have a real aptitude for the chosen course they can never become successful doctors or engineers. The society also needs other professionals like writers, journalists, artists, dancers, actors, singers etc. Some of the doctors and engineers have given up their profession to become artists, film actors, playback singers, civil service personnel etc. This proves that not only they have the aptitude to become doctors/engineers but also prevented the ones with the aptitude for the professions from becoming real professionals.
Parents should not compel their children to study only professional courses as there are many other different opportunities. They should give freedom to them to choose a course of study of their choice. Irrespective of whether a student has a flair for any professional course, there is a craze which is performed much like a ritualistic step to put him/her in a coaching centre and cough up thousands of rupees. In most cases even parents are insensitive to their child's capabilities and thrust these courses on them. Also, there is an imbalance in the number of professionals coming out of these institutions each year vis-a-vis the industrial intake.
Ideally, the institutes, industry and the government should jointly chalk out a programme for larger benefit. There is an uncontrolled proliferation of engineering students. The AICTE should review the situation and deny permission for any more new colleges. This will keep the mediocre students away from the professional courses. A professional course offers higher and specialised level of education and training in any discipline like engineering, medicine or agriculture. It also gives a strong foothold in the discipline desired. But the professional course mania is mainly for the lucrative jobs that are now available for the (most successful) professional degree holders in the market. As a result, the percentage of students opting for professional courses is increasing each year though the demand in jobs is much less. It will be of interest to note that India has been producing 40 per cent of world's engineering graduates. But a recent industry study has revealed that only one out of every 47 engineering graduates is employable in accordance to their profession. Remaining work for a pittance or are in jobs unrelated to their education. If this scenario continues, future is unlikely to be rosy for a majority of engineering graduates
The imbalance created between the demand and supply ushers in huge employment crisis in the country. It is a wrong presumption that a mere engineering degree will earn a job in some multinational company. The mania for a professional degree may still be persisting among students but the credibility of such degrees in now increasingly coming under a doubt. This mania is not of the student’s but of their parent’s. Though the student is not willing or deserving, parents admit their wards in any self-financing institution without knowing the availability or capacity of the faculty. Adding the so called status symbol word “professional” is the basis for this craze.
The craze for professional courses cannot be termed unnatural what with multinationals luring away the professionals. Everybody is keen to join the bandwagon of professionals and merit is thrown to the winds. For, undertaking a professional course only requires money. Admission to such courses is easy. Examinations held for such courses are nothing but a farce. Everybody is on the run for money. But being in the stream belt of professionals need sincere aptitude, exceptional brilliance in the art and a supreme mental strength to keep ahead in the full run of highly competitive profession, where slips reward nothing but clannish failures.
Any education should be viewed with a perspective of acquiring knowledge in terms of the ability of the student to access it for his happy survival and not as a qualification to dream of lucrative jobs. Before investing their money in professional courses, parents and students must be aware of different options of courses and colleges. While opting a course, parents should also take the capacity of the students into consideration. Parents must discuss with their children and allow them to choose their option as desired.