Diaries of a Madman

Tahrir Comes to Russia

2011-12-08T08:59:00.001+05:30

India next?

Tahrir of India

2011-08-19T13:06:00.002+05:30

As I walk back home, I see children selling flowers, books, toys and other articles, getting wet while people relax in their chauffeur driven SUVs after a day’s work. I wonder what stops them from breaking the glass and screaming “This is not fair”. As the scent of the jasmine continues to flourish in North Africa and Middle East we deal with our own demons. For centuries the belief in karma and caste has kept the masses content blaming past deeds for their suffering. In a culture where caste determines profession Nehru-Indira-Rajiv-Sonia-Rahul is hardly surprising; “hereditary democracy” for us is merely the circle of life. In a land where the gap between the haves and the have-nots was always vast the climate is changing.

Has the time for our rose revolution come? Even though the Arab spring has not come to India, it is time. It takes a spark to light a fire; if that is true I see sparks all around. The Naxalite insurgency simmering in the country is more of a economic movement than a political/militant one as our masters have us believe. It is supported by the poor that the government has let down. Can Anna transform his movement into the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? Even though I am unsure of how to support him because I neither agree with is demands nor his actions. What I will give him credit for is the ability to rouse the masses; unseen since the time of Gandhi. His ability to generate interest in what we had discarded as the dominion of scoundrels. This year Anna may be victorious and the rain washes away all our problems. “Every country has the government it deserves”. Maybe we have decided that we deserve something better. Or the rains may calm our mood until another winter of our discontent. Will have to wait and watch if Tihar turns into Tahrir or Tiananmen.

Midnight Post

2011-06-07T00:39:00.004+05:30

Landlord in Kota: What is your caste?
S: We are untouchables. Should we vacate the room? (S btw is a Brahmin)
X: No it is fine. But you should know your history.
Me: We have been alive for only 15 years there is no history. In another 20 years you will hear of us.

Me: Could I get a room please?
X in Gujarat: What is your caste?
Me: Isn’t this a government property? I have no clue what my caste is.
X: Don’t you have a father, a history? I am a poor Brahmin, I know what my lineage that is what makes me what I am. No having a caste is like not having a past; a culture. Are you a bastard?
Me: Who cares who my father is? He is not my identity, what I do makes me who I am. If you are a Brahmin, why are you working here or god did not consider you fit enough to allow you to pray to him? Please fuck off.

If the literate and supposedly aware among us refuse to reform old customs and change, we have a grim future ahead. People are easily made literate but imparting education is a different ball game. Literacy can be measured education is more subtle. It manifests itself in our application of sciences (if we use innovation as a measure here, we suck) in political and social debates, it manifests in how we interact as a nation, in how we think. Literacy is no use, education is. But that is not the point of this post.

We trace most of the problems in India to lack of education and rightly so. But for education to serve its purpose, it has to invoke thought. Science for all the good it has brought us does not do anything to develop a civil and harmonious society. It will be through a proper and unbiased study of history that we can create one. How many adult Indians can place Kanishka, Harshavardhan, raja raja, Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragupta Gupta and others who have shaped out history and culture on a timeline? I recently had a chance to look at what children in Maharashtra are taught in the name of history; Shivaji shivaji and more of him…is it any wonder that MNS has no difficulty finding goons and mislead the youth?

The history of the world is the history of ideas. But, in time it becomes a history of conflict as seen by the victors. History is deliberately erased, contributions to culture forgotten and only battles celebrated. History should not be written by the men of war but by men of peace. We make our story the story of violence of conquers whereas what affects us are the contributions to science and culture. Machiavelli is derided as a jackal while Krishna is revered as god. History should be read in context and it is context which we as a nation lack. We refuse to see the background or think beyond our limited memory.

Prof Siva Kumar once said in class, if you were a babu in the government in 1950 and you looked around; you had 10 servants working on minimum wages, a sprawling bungalow, a car and other “perks” then you look at your peers in the first world countries and they cannot even imagine having help at home. What do you do? Keep the masses poor and illiterate to ensure your lifestyle lasts. When you want the people to fight for a “hindu” nation, “hindutvise” the history books. Is it any wonder that we face problems of communal violence? If people don’t realize that it was the interaction of cultures; of Indian with Aryans, with Kushans from Central Asia with Muslims from Samarkand with the Portuguese who got knowledge and British who gave us law and Bombay, enriched and made our society what it is we have failed to educate ourselves.

I should sleep...gnite.

Quote

2011-05-21T11:16:00.002+05:30

The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and somthing else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.

via Chuck Close

Last Salute

2011-05-07T00:28:00.003+05:30

It will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries. Their happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears...

Fare ye well Osama, there will be more like you.

Reflections on a Drunken Evening

2011-04-28T12:20:00.004+05:30

I wanted to write today but I didn’t know what. False starts, dead ends, and incoherent beginnings was all I could conjure. I used to listen to music every waking moment; now it’s recognition of tunes I used to hum. I have become nonchalant about what I treasured the most in life. My guitar lies in a corner catching dust and I am out of rum without which my characteristic eloquence flows like the mud clogged Mithi…but who the fuck cares.

Some time back, I mindlessly answered questions about where I see myself five years hence; it’s been five years as I wait for another evening of alcohol induced apathy, that will make me numb to everything…but who the fuck cares.

I need a smoke; but I’ve stopped hanging out with those soldiers of death. Here’s to alcohol, the cause of-and solution to-all life’s problems. Now, I wait for the pain to pick me clean.

* Started writing this long back; finishing now, may not be a reflection of my current state of madness.

Life and Times

2011-03-25T14:23:00.002+05:30

Its time to move again. Its surprising how your life can be packed into a few boxes leaving no trace of your existence except a concert ticket, some papers scribbled with various stages of sanity and a lingering smell of familiarity. You tell yourself again and again “time to tread new paths…new horizons”, “new opportunity” and the like. As another phase comes to an end you believe those words to be true. But when you see the boxes, you realize that they don’t contain your life. Its more ethereal, it is you or as I am wont to say now “our-soul” (sorry atma!). Personally, I think my backpack comes pretty close.

Pearl Square

2011-03-17T15:39:00.005+05:30

Protesters shot at point blank. Tanks, helicopter gunships, foreign troops...5 protesters dead. Cries of genocide and a state of emergency declared.

Where is the no-fly zone? Where is the voice condemning the Khalifa and the House of Saud?

May the miracle or Tahrir Square repeat in Pearl Square.

One More Adieu

2011-03-15T21:54:00.000+05:30

10 more days in Hyderabad...

Travel Bug Time

2011-03-08T10:27:00.000+05:30

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will lead you there.

It is time for travel again. The list for this year already includes China, Iran, Prague and Bratislava. I think I travel because I hope to find a connection where I have none. The answers I seek don’t lie is some far of place; I do not delude myself with that fantasy. Perhaps it lets me loose myself in a place where I am already lost. In a way I believe that you have to be looking for something to find something – although not necessarily knowing what you look for. It is a journey outside as well as inside. And in the best of trips you lose yourselves only to find yourselves.

“That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.”

Hmm...

2011-02-04T11:26:00.001+05:30

“ There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and god in his heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain….or so says the legend.”
- The Thorn Birds

Let Freedom Reign

2011-01-31T10:40:00.001+05:30

Marx believed that the most significant social change occurs through outright violence. A government derives its power from its monopoly over the use of force. Once the threat of violence by a government tips over into the actual use of force, the government forfeits its legitimacy and loses its raison-de-etre; i.e. to protect the life and property of its citizens. The power of the revolution lies in the willingness of the people to die for their cause. It lies in the power of ideas, of belief, of faith.

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof." – V

Not since the days of the Islamic Revolution in Iran has the possibility of a popular revolution been so strong. But the protests are dispersed and the military or the authoritarians may yet have the last laugh. Tonight I shall drink to the people of Egypt.

Notes on Ayodhya

2010-10-05T16:08:00.003+05:30

I was aghast when I heard the verdict more so that people were welcoming it. Chopra and Deepti were at the receiving end of my rant on the day. But, finally the objections to the Lucknow High Court’s verdict have started coming out. Even though it "promotes" national integration, it must be said that the verdict is the victory of political correctness over truth and fact.

Firstly, I’m pretty sure that we would have had a different verdict had the bench comprised of 2 Muslims and 1 Hindu judge. Secondly, the mosque was constructed in 1527 about 400 years before there was any notion of an Indian state. When the court came into existence the mosque had been there for centuries and therefore should remain as such.

The court is overstepping its mandate by issuing judgment on a matter of history and archeology. There is no proof that ‘Ram’ the God ever existed. It is a matter of faith and religion and should remain as such: abstract. Assigning historical significance to locations and myths by issuing a verdict does not make his existence a fact. While dividing land is preposterous.

The court has allowed an act of lawlessness and shame to benefit the party that indulged in it. Had the mosque not been demolished, would the court on being petitioned by the VHP ordered the Masjid to be brought down and the land partitioned?

The verdict of the court is certainly well intentioned and in the interest of peace in the country. But will not the Muslims feel wronged? Does the court expect them to digest the 1992 humiliation of their faith by vandals? The talk of ‘reconciliation’ emanating from Hindu quarters is a disgrace. It is like the politician-criminal claiming victory after purchasing justice. In this case, justice was held hostage by the threat of violence. Let us hope that the Supreme Court will uphold the law and justice rather than sentiments.

To all the people who claim that Hindus may have been wronged when the mosque was constructed: “Get over it! It was 500 years ago.” (And you expect Muslims to get over 18 years?)

Hello old Thoughts

2010-09-18T01:12:00.004+05:30

We submit to the hypocrisy of our caste base politics and secularism as our ideal. Even so, the rise of caste based parties represents the flourishing of democracy.
- stumbled upon Zakaria

I should be studying for tomorrow's exam not reading Weber!

The Fall of Democracy

2010-07-25T22:58:00.004+05:30

How much inequality can democracy sustain before people take matters into their own hands? As Aldous Huxley said, "The marble conceals a multitude of sins"; there is lot swept under the rug when we claim the rise of a resurgent India. Before we lay our claim on the world, there are 300 million poor to feed, there is corruption to mend and Thackreys to defeat. Is the Maoist insurgency a signal of things to come.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship." - Tyler Alexander

Another Monday Morning

2010-06-28T00:24:00.005+05:30

Sunlight streams through the blinds
And breaks the continuity of my dreams
Monday comes far too soon
The lectures interest me not, the deadlines I fear.
Amid the labyrinth of chores your face crosses my mind
Your smile; brighter than the rising sun
Eyes; sweeter than morning dew.
Sleep binds me no more,
With renewed hope, this Monday morning I rise.

Gerontion - T.S. Eliot

2010-06-19T01:22:00.000+05:30

I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it
Since what is kept must be adulterated?
I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch:
How should I use them for your closer contact?
These with a thousand small deliberations
Protract the profit of their chilled delirium,
Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled,
With pungent sauces, multiply variety
In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do,
Suspend its operations, will the weevil
Delay?

Praan

2010-05-18T03:12:00.003+05:30

I had heard the song quite a few times but never bothered to look-up the lyrics. Today i did and I discovered the genius of the man for the first time (a disgrace considering that I am a bong).

Praan:
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

HAHA!!!

2010-05-07T04:28:00.003+05:30

This is the happiest crash of my life!!! (so far)

Vampire Squid Fishing

2010-04-22T16:40:00.003+05:30

The whole hew about Goldman Sachs and the Abacus 2007-AC1 has gone out of proportion. It seems that Goldman will get away with the charges of fraud leveled against it. But its reputation has been tarnished which is material damage.

The counter parties which SEC claims were defrauded are institutional investors whose managers are paid to make their own judgment when investing. If they made the wrong call then they should be charged, not Goldman. No one should sympathize with ACA or IKB.

Goldman was privy to non-public information due to its role as a market-maker. If it did not disclose that Paulson was shorting the housing market to its other clients; its just ethical business.

Midnight Dreams - 3

2010-04-17T01:36:00.003+05:30

We follow the seductive siren of riches
Of larger lives, baked huts and white knights
The race is real and defeat unacceptable
Only a madman swims against the tide;
But I am one,
When the shore is barren, we strive on
To the beat of the waves crashing
And to the cacophony of life
The pied piper played and I,
Followed...

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

Images are Reality

2010-03-18T00:50:00.006+05:30

Here are three reasons why comedy sitcom makers put laughs into their serials:

We don't get the jokes. They are there to prevent us from looking stupid in a group.
The jokes are stupid and laughter has to be induced.
Its the *beeping* old age laughter club audience they are targeting.

Either these or we are too lazy to laugh for ourselves and they are put in so we can relax our facial muscles???

Midnight Dreams - 2

2010-03-07T00:41:00.007+05:30

I lie in bed listless on a cold summer night.
Dreams catch me but I draw away
My mind wanders to you,
I can still smell the winter air;
The breeze brings the scent of your perfume;
I am reminded of love washed away with the waves of time and
The emptiness of the beach.

Ode to Sarcasm

2010-03-02T01:10:00.003+05:30

Sarcasm is a lost art these days. Especially when you consider that it is so common that it goes by unnoticed. Come to think of it, phrases like "too bad" and the so called "NOT" jokes reek of a base version of the fine art of sarcastic commentary. Sarcasm is a true art from limited only by the artist's vocabulary and imagination. Throw a couple of metaphors and it becomes literature.

When I complained to my roommates about not being able to chat-up some chick I met this week on gtalk because of a bad net connection, I was taken on a tour of how internet romance is for losers. I could not muster the will to tell them that all I was trying to do was stream some porn!

In other news, I realised why a WC is better than an Indian toilet; its really hard to sit, relax and think on an Indian shit-pot(one of the pleasures of a long weekend).

Another One Bites The Dust

2010-02-12T15:32:00.007+05:30

I carry memories of a bygone era as I prepare to go home for the second time this year. Of times spent playing cricket from dawn to dusk, of classes bunked and spent lazing under the sun by the fisheries, of standard XI and XII when I discovered my love of books and promptly finished a whole library and of nights spent reading when we should have been studying.

But this is not a time to look back. This is a time to look ahead into the future with anticipation. This is the time to celebrate love, friends and a new beginning.

Congratulations to Capt. Pandey
Here's to a sweetheart, a bottle, and a friend
The first beautiful, the second full, the last ever faithful

Midnight Dreams

2010-01-27T02:29:00.003+05:30

It is not the unknown that scares me, it is what is beyond my control
It is not the dark I fear, it is the emptiness
It is not doubt that weakens, it is the anticipation

New Year's Post

2010-01-12T19:46:00.004+05:30

"The best government is one that governs the least" (Thoreau) is a principle that most people realize sooner or later rendering their respective governments useless. Kings have known this for a long time and hence expansion of borders and extolling the rulers glory was the main task of government. Governments have realized that they can increase their powers when there is a real or perceived threat to the existence of the nation. This leads them to create issues where none exist like "War on Poverty" and "War on Drugs" (well the former is a noble pursuit). In modern times, this realization dawned upon the new ruling class with the War Commissions, and propaganda/fear as the means of continuation of power. Thus began futile endeavors like the Cold War, Vietnam, drugs, rock, porn, terrorists and as we moved into the new millennium they became downright ridiculous from Afghanistan to Iraq and now capitalism.

A new decade ushers in new possibilities and the next restrictions on our freedom...

Disclaimer: Nonsense going on in my head. Not to be taken seriously. I am not taking any responsibility for these thoughts.

Obamaman the Hypocrite

2009-12-14T19:19:00.005+05:30

Obamaman is taking hypocracy to US soverign debt levels. He wages 2 wars and declares himself the Commander-in-Chief of the greatest army on the face of the world - and accepts the Nobel Peace prize. Pulled out the army from Iraq and put more troops in Afghanistan. And now he says that he is not helping out a bunch of "fat cat bankers"! Yes Mr. President, give banks free money and expect them to sit on it. Very intelligent. You are either totally clueless about finance and economics or you are just going around gassing "Yes we can".

If the free economy had been allowed to run its course, we would have fewer but stronger banks and probably another year of recession. In my opinion, the global economy can not take any more of Ben Bernanke's Keynesianism. He should be replaced by Volker or Galbriath or Stilgitz: people who can think beyond their PhD thesis.

As always, TED puts the thought in a better perspective.

A Dog's Life

2009-12-10T23:57:00.002+05:30

As I was walking home from work today, I saw this beautiful dog sitting on the street. On any other day I would not have touched him with a 5-foot pole. But today, I stopped to pet him. A couple of seconds later, he let out a bark which I took as my cue to leave and sure enough 2 bitches ran over to him.

And I thought to myself....it would be good to be him at the moment!

Gandhi and Capitalism

2009-11-30T16:44:00.003+05:30

Following up from the previous post and the post in reply: Gandhi was in principle against modernization. He chose to reject the West. His vision was in terms of village republics, each as self-sufficient as possible. And somehow factors of production were to be held in a trust rather than owned for private gains. He believed that there was such an ideal India some time in the past and that an independent India would revive such a true village.

Agriculture when optimized, will not employ more than 10% of India's population directly. Currently it employs 58%. Capitalism is currently the only guarantee for the removal of poverty. The problem with capitalism is that it progresses through periods of unstable equilibria like the last two years searching for an optimized solution. Upheavals create new industries and banish the old. Capitalism grows through these downturns. This risk scares politicians. It was the desire to prevent such uncertainties which led our leaders to choose the Soviet model. Gandhi on the other hand believed in contentment and no trade. He also believed in population controlled by self-abdication; self-avoidance, and therefore he did not worry about the population problem and how it would support a growing populations through village republics.

It is fortunate that Nehru took over from Gandhi. He believed in steel, in cars and power. Gandhi's economic thinking in no way lessens his contribution to India's cause. Rather, we should recognize that he was no Hayek, just a lawyer and our leader. The fact that caste and regional politics are so prevalent in India are a sign of the flourishing of our democracy where all opinions are heard and diversity allowed to flourish. That will be his contribution to a free India.

Leaders and Democracy

2009-11-27T13:05:00.004+05:30

A piece written by a friend recently pulled me into thinking about leaders and how they shape history. Obviously, the discussion started with Hitler and ended with Gandhi. Hitler attained demi-god status in Germany combining a potent mix of socio-economic hardship and nationalistic frevor in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles. Gandhi, surprisingly exploited very similar conditions in India.

What is interesting to note is how similar in character the two leaders are leaving aside the anti-semitism and non-violence which seals their places in history. Both were driven by a notion of the ideal society. Both saw in themselves the savior of their nations. Both considered themselves bigger than the whole. Hitler led his country into a dictatorship, democracy in India though is not a Gandhian legacy. If Gandhi had is way, India would probably be a collection of medevial city-states living in the stone age. Democracy in India was bred and nurtured by the early leaders of Congress. If anything Gandhi was the only leader who undermined the democratic structure of the Congress. He behaved like a petulant child. If he did not have his way, he took to fasting rather than dialogue. Bose, who had the support of the majorty of Congress members, defeating Gandhi's candidate, Sitaramayya in the 1939 Congress meeting was forced to resign due to differences in opinion with Gandhi.

Democracy in India is the legacy of a much maligned idealist. Nehru did not have the ego of Gandhi. He believed in the democratic process and held elections for the presidency of the Congress regularly even though he was their undisputed leader. It was probably his influence that made Indira Gandhi end the emergency and call for elections. That is merely a hypothesis.

The question that arises is why aren't democratic institutions able to oust leaders who subvert the will of the majority? Is it an inherent flaw of human nature or of the concept?

Life's a Bitch

2009-11-17T20:19:00.003+05:30

Life is a bitch: Observations

Time: Just when I thought I will have loads of free time in office, a deluge of stuff comes up. The timing could not be more perfect.
People: I always wanted a gay friend (just for diversity). I did not ask for a gay roommate and an addict to boot.

Champignons a la Tomate

2009-11-05T18:29:00.002+05:30

I came home early today so that I could catch up with some sleep after 2 days of Champions League football; ended up cooking mushroom of all things. I haven't cooked since I burnt my hand and this is the first time I have experimented with vegetarian food and voilà we have "Champignons a la Tomate". Not bad at all! Though I'm sure I can not replicate the dish ever again.

My guide to beginners, myself included:

Keep cellphone handy. You will need to call your mom every two minutes.
Pepper can make anything taste good.
Never taste your own food. Always have lab rats on stand-by.

In other news of the world, the great messiah of change is at it again: The worst bill ever. I'd rather have a vampire squid as the leader of the free world than someone who has no notion of a balanced budget. I am ignoring his handling of the financial markets and Iraq/Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama, too much debt => Iceland (if you have forgotten)

A la Dsen:

I'll keep my religion, my guns, my liberty and my money. You can keep your ******** CHANGE.

The City of Raj

2009-10-26T14:22:00.007+05:30

Raj Thackeray has managed to win 13 assembly seats in this month's elections. In doing so, he has proved that there still is much juice left in the "son of the soil" campaign launched by his uncle 40 years ago. In those 40 years, the influx of outsiders has continued unabated. The city which always had a marathi minority has seen a decline in their percentage. Renaming the city and all its landmarks has not changed the essence of the city. After being expelled from the Shiv Sena, the son of the soil has risen from night soil to rid the maximum city of the "bhaiyas".

Raj being a smart man will know that he can not do better than the 13 seats while he has no development policy to speak of. He can never muster a majority in Bombay where only 30% of the residents are Marathi and the hinterland where immigration is a moot issue. One hopes that if and when MNS gains power, it would have temperered its position like Bal Thackarey did in 1988; joining the hinduvta bandwagon.

Raj Thackery will know that the outsiders flourish and will continue to do so because they are willing to work harder. Calcutta being a prime example of a city where no one wants to work and no immigrants to pick up the slack. The city has gone from India's first city to one on its death-bed, plagued by an arrogance that should have long disappeared. He will also know that it is easier to talk about a Maratha homeland than to improve it. The improvement of the Marathi lot will require a change in the mindset which is easier said than done.

India prides itself in its ability to assimilate foreign people and cultures, be it the Aryans, the Kushans or the Mughals. But that seems to be a trait lost on the marathi manoos. Today, we retreat to our lives knowing that the Congress is in power, living as persecuted citizens of Bombay under the shadow of Mumbai.

MBA Essays

2009-10-06T18:04:00.005+05:30

I have learnt that the best writing comes from the heart and on an MBA application essays you can not fake it. Or atleast I can not fake it. I wrote the essays for School A and on reviewing felt it was full of s**t. I did not believe half of it. With this realization came the next step: introspection, rethinking of goals, aspirations and why School A. I had to dig out every minor work I did which showed the qualities the school looks for. Finally, four drafts later with the deadline looming, I have the finished article without an iota of overstating the importance or inventing stuff I did not do.

On to the next deadline, "How have the changes in the global economy affected you and your plan for the future?". Miniscule bonus period! Neither have my goals changed nor my perception. I am still the insensitive staunch extreme right libertarian capitalist pig I was two years ago. Which implies I have 397 words to go and 22 days to come up with them.

A very Foul Friday

2009-09-22T14:34:00.004+05:30

I burnt my right hand. All five fingers. The misfortune of living in a bachelor pad is that there is never any ice unless you have planned to drink at home. This time there was no cold water either. So here I was left standing in my kitchen with my hand in the freezer, all plans cancelled and unable to take trips longer than 10 seconds.

Normally, I prefer to keep away from medicines, but this was unbearable, so I gulped one nimisulide which is usually enough to numb the pain for a whole evening. An hour later, nothing. So I took another one. After 5 capsules I threw the strip to prevent myself from having more. This is where one's knowledge of drugs comes in handy. Wine and cocaine (xylo-cocaine)! One to knock me out and the latter as a local anesthetic. Five hours after the burn I still could not bear to take my hand out of the freezer. @#$&, There are side effects of having such a tuned body, even drugs don't have their intended effect. Consigned to sleeping by the refriginator, I made myself comfortable in a chair, one hand in freezer, a glass of wine (it took me 15 minutes to open the bottle using my mouth and left hand), pack of cigarettes (learnt to light a match with 1 hand) and "Inspite of the Gods". Finally finished the book, awesome book btw. The best part being the lively ending anecdote of the author and a 10 year old sikh boy.

Fortunately, Saturday and Sunday were better days, though my right hand is laid to waste and I could not type 1 word of the essays I was supposed to finish. I have the use of my middle finger back, which means flipping the finger is now possible.

Sonnet 116 - Master William

2009-09-15T04:19:00.003+05:30

Let me not to the marriage of true minds 
Admit impediments. Love is not love 
Which alters when it alteration finds, 
Or bends with the remover to remove:
 O no! it is an ever-fixed mark 
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; 
It is the star to every wandering bark, 
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 
Within his bending sickle's compass come: 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 
If this be error and upon me proved, 
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

The Partnership

2009-08-18T03:01:00.003+05:30

About a month ago while in my boss's cabin for a conference call, I somehow gathered the audacity of asking to borrow the book he was reading "The Partnership: A History of Goldman Sachs". A decent read. So, I went to return the book to him today and as is practice we started talking about the book and practices at Goldman, he being an ex-GS took pride in it. At the end of it I was asked to write a one page summary of the book. No amount of verbal strafing could get me out of it.

Now, I have never ever tried to review a book, nor do I think compression technologies have become so advanced as to be able to compress 700 pages into one. As I am supposed to leave for Benaras tomorrow, I decided to finish this tonight. I know this will neither do justice to the firm nor the book but here goes:

How did Goldman Sachs become the premier firm on the Wall Street, revered by budding bankers and respected by seasoned ones? The book did not endeavor to answer this question, but to tell the story of its ascension to the top. Starting out with Marcus Goldman and its humble beginnings selling commercial paper to underwriting deals which premier financers of the time JP Morgan and George Baker called “Jewish Enterprise” and would not touch, Goldman slowly made its path to the top. As a competitor once described “They are driven. On this they are consistent and unrelenting”.

The book traces the leaders of the firm and how each left his indelible mark on the firm. Sidney Weinberg who used his wide network of friends at the War Commission to gain investment banking clients for the firm to Gus Levy and his aggressive selling to clients and insistence that Goldman Sachs be part of every major transaction on the floor. After these two, the ascension of John Weinberg and John Whitehead would put into practice one of the most highly valued qualities at Goldman; teamwork.

It is the culture of Goldman Sachs that differentiates it from the rest of the investment banking community. Set in stone by John Whitehead, the 14 principles form the basis of its culture while the 10 commandments form its ethical boundaries. Success starts with hiring the right people, people who fit into the vision of the company. The common factors in most Goldman employees sound like the summary of a self help book but they devote considerable time to hiring and the results do not lie. Ambition is paramount, humility or at least the appearance of it is important, teamwork is highly valued and they all share a tenacity that binds them. Employees come to the office earlier than at other firms because they want to be there. The firm is their first love. John Whitehead, recognizing the importance of hiring the best people, was the first Wall Street leader to hire MBAs straight out of college as client representatives and himself frequented Harvard to seek out the best talent. Each hiring had to go through numerous interviews so that every partner could judge the candidate for himself and the candidate came to know the firm.

Retention is equally important. Goldman Sachs was structured as a meritocracy. If you showed ability, you would be given a chance to excel. As part of its push to expand globally, GS sent its most talented young employees to Europe to set up operations. As Robert Rubin once told Frank Brosens “If you do right by the people, they win and you win. Always go out of your way to share credit.” Delegation is a major part of leadership. Every task delegated is an opportunity for the younger people to excel at GS.

Being a partnership till 1999, the partners always looked at the long haul and took each decision with total conviction. Being smart people, they also made mistakes with conviction. Not always was the picture so rosy. GS had numerous failures while it tried to establish itself, most notably, GS Trading Corporation, Penn Central, dealings with Robert Maxwell and the turmoil following Steve Friedman’s departure soon after Robert Rubin quit, taking up the position of Treasury Secretary. Goldman Sachs learned from each mistake and instituted processes and checks whereby, such mistakes would not be repeated. This being the hallmark of not only a great individual but also of a great firm.
So what gives Goldman its edge?

Lost Soul in Bombay

2009-08-10T23:11:00.006+05:30

This weekend, after a long time, I sat on the sidewalk at Nariman Point and stared at the sea. The view in front and the skyscrapers behind have always inspired me. It is where I found peace everyday after markets closed. It is where I have enjoyed Bombay the most.

By day, the street is choked with smoke and the footpath crumbles under the weight of a million aspirations. The sun ravages and the humidity dampens the soul. The street is littered with paper, garbage dust and the strivings of a nation. Yet, you can always find a lost soul in the middle of all the bustle, gazing into the west for inspiration, company, clarity and hope.

By the time the sun sets, beauty takes over. A gentle breeze clears the smoke and the waves calm the heat, people slow down to admire the sun as it bids farewell. The crowd sits down in silence; friends, colleagues and lovers as the day draws to a close. As darkness descends, it covers the litter. The glittering towers and neon beam across the ocean, a beacon to the world of the rising of a billion Indians.

Though a lot may be said of the appaling conditions of the city. For the millions that call it home, it remains amchi mumbai.

La Liga - Preview

2009-08-05T12:29:00.003+05:30

Mad activity in the transfer market which saw Florentino Perez splash out 130m pounds on Kaka, CR7 and others puts them in pole position to emulate Barca's treble last season. The results will however depend on how Manuel Pellegrini is able to deploy the wealth of talent he has at his disposal. The only problem with the current squad appears to be the defence where Sergio Ramos is the only man of galacticos calibre. This guy is poised to be as good as Il Captino. Hopefully, Pellegrini can implement his brand of attacking football on this squad as he did at Villarreal. Real is going to be a pleasure to watch this season.

Though no one will question Pep in light of his first season in-charge of the Catalans, his market activity has disappointed me. He has in essence paid too much for Zaltan and given away a much better striker. There is no doubt of Ibra's ability and skill. But, I believe that Eto was much better, knew the system and how do you let your top scorer go to buy another (unless you are Arsene and have others to take over)!!! I am hoping Bojan and Busquets will step up this season and begin to fulfill their enormous potential. Just like Real, Barca too seem frail at the back. The bid for Johnny Evans is an excellent move. Hopefully, Gabi Milito will return and provide some cover. It still is a formidable line-up, the only problem being the very high quality of their strating 11 leaves a lot to be desired for anyone else to move in.

Valencia have so far been able to hold on to their stars and their success depends on it. They along with Sevilla will be the teams that can step-up the pressure on the top two. It will be a brave man to bet against either Barca or Real to take the La Liga honors. Why do I care!

Blaugrana al vent
Un crit valent
Tenim un nom que el sap tothom
Barca Barca Barca!!!

Writer's Block

2009-08-01T16:27:00.004+05:30

Do you have to be a writer to suffer from writer's block? Writer's block is defined as the loss of the ability to produce new work. I am not a writer and neither do I consider myself capable of being one. Though my inflated ego may believe that I have one crappy "Five Point Someone" in me somewhere. But, honestly I will never even get close. My writings in the past month have been random thoughts and ideas (sometime others') waiting to be explored but banished in the pages of my notepad. Never more than a couple of sentences, never more than whispers of what I want to scream aloud. The thoughts have piled on but not put into words or even a coherent stream of reasoning.

What is bothering me at this moment is that in the next two months I have to come up with reflections of the past 3 years and peek a into the next 20. All I have been able to gather is a detailed CV and a notion of chasing a dream which does not reveal itself. To top it all off, the stupid laptop crashed and erased the brief instances of clarity in which I was able to collect my thoughts.

I need new ideas, new thoughts and a sense of wonder. I need to meet new people to pick new brains. A new line of thought to take away this madness. I know these phases are momentary and will wane. But first, I shall go and see the new Harry Potter movie (I'm supposed to be a HP buff, how did this happen?).

PS: I edited the html code to get the format right! I did not know I could do that!

Age

2009-06-23T16:25:00.003+05:30

You know you are getting older when:

You think for 2 minutes before jumping off the roof onto you balcony (approx. 12 feet)
Your friends think it was a stupid idea (they are getting old)
You did not nail the landing and hurt your knee/ankle (which is still sore after 3 days)

Oops, I did it again. Age and wisdom are two different things. Nailed the landing this time though!

Of Fucks and Fuck-ups

2009-06-11T17:36:00.002+05:30

Life can be lived in two ways, by doing awesome or by not fucking up. In my long life, there have been years when I have done awesomely and there have been those which I dearly wish to relive differently or change completely. This year was meant to be one where I live by the second rule and not fuck up and the resulting worst case scenario would be good enough for the time. (essentially I an unable to see beyond my next meal, but in rare instances of clarity when the stars align or when I am PMSing, I see into the future). I was allowed 10 fuck ups this year and with half the year gone, here is the list:

CFA: will know in a couple of months, but the signs do not bear gracious news
GMAT: A Royal Fuck
*****: Missed this one completely. Did not know till it was gone!

The next seven have already been lined up. I just hope I get one of them right. Results awaited next year.

As can be seen, I am in one of those* moods.

Random Encounter of the Third Kind

2009-06-02T11:46:00.007+05:30

On Sunday, after I dropped Daku at the bus stand, I headed to CCD to study as usual. Somehow I find it easier to study in a crowded place, the only condition being that all the noises interfere distructively and I am left with a buzz in the background. So here I was going over the finer points of pension accounting and occationally checking out the girls, unaware that one of them was sitting alone sipping coffee like me. How my bluetooth was on, I have no clue, but I received a message, which I did not read and promptly deleted. Next, I received a message with an image in it. This I chose to open and voila...

R: wtf???

H: Well, what are you doing alone?

R: That is not you concern and it seems it was not a mistake on your part to send the pic. ;-)

H: For 2000 bucks you could have a great evening.

R: I was thinking more like 200.

H: You must be dreaming! Your coffee is worth more than that.

R: Yes, but that is all I can afford and the value I choose to assign.

H: Ok, 1.5k

R: No, thanks. It seems you are young enough to be in college.

H: Yes, ********

R: Extra cash eh! tc, have fun.

And back I went to my PBO...

CL 2009

2009-05-27T13:58:00.005+05:30

"For all his bluster, it is the sad providence of man that he cannot choose his
triumph. He can only choose how he will stand when the call of destiny comes.
Hoping that he'll have the courage to answer."

"There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood lead to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries"

When in Rome do as the Catalonians. Go BARCA!!!

Goodbye Il Captino

2009-05-25T15:23:00.004+05:30

He may not be the greatest defender to grace the game or AC Milan for that matter, but somehow he managed to be the greatest player to play at the San Siro. Maldini is so much more to Milan than just a defender. He is our leader, our captain. When Baresi retired, the rossoneri took comfort in the fact that Paolo was there.

It is impossible to imagine another player filling the shoes left vacant by Maldini even if a third generation of Maldinis line up to claim the No.3 jersey. It will take a herculean effort to match his longevity and his titles. His brief roster of trophies include 5 Champions League crowns, 7 Serie A titles and the World Cup to boot. Yesterday, he played his last game at the San Siro and all I can think of to say is...

Grazie mille, Paolo.

Our Royal Highness

2009-05-10T00:41:00.003+05:30

Indian politics is a name and numbers game. Policy and governance always take a back seat. The guilty are not a particular party or the process but the populace. Elections in India are not a contest between candidates with claims to administrative excellence but a battle for coronation. Had it been about governance, we would hear about policies and programmes not about caste and vote-banks. Issues such as hunger, health and human rights are issues seldom raised but by amatures like Ms. Meera Sanyal in Bombay. Sadly, these are not the pillars on which we test political mettle.

Titles were abolished in 1971, but the pomp remains. Not in name, but in rath yatras, in cavalcades and mass rallies, each candidate strutting in his best wares proclaiming himself as the heir of the constituency. It remains in the ease with which Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Schindia and the like come to the forefront of politics. What claims do they have other than ancestry? As a people we have always been led. When the British decided that India could have her freedom, they left a void which was ably filled by "Mahraja" Gandhi and Nehru. It is still those names we follow. We have not learnt that democracy means that the people have a voice. That what we desire matters. We are led into the future not by choice but by habit.

Yet, our weakness has a silver lining. Democracy in India survives while those around us have faltered. In India, principles of participative government have come to terms with our native traditions in the Nehru-Gandhi family. Hence our chosen scions rise again and again.

PS: There were 22 contestants of "royal blood" contesting the polls in Rajasthan. No prizes for guessing the winners.

The Crowning Glory

2009-05-07T15:47:00.001+05:30

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Oligarchs vs Dreamers

2009-04-28T14:56:00.012+05:30

About 15 years ago, a man strutted the fields at Camp Nou commanding the likes of Guardiola, Stoichkov, Romario, Laudrup and Koeman to glory. They went into folklore as the dream team. Today, his pupil will take on the billion dollar might of Chelsea as he oversees a group of players equally gifted and certainly capable of similar glory. The club inspired him as a boy and player, it is time for him to inspire them. Like a good student, he has learnt his trade from his teacher (Cruijff) and put his own stamp on "total football". And the 94 goals in La Liga a testament to his work. Between tonight and 27 May, Pep Guardiola will hope lies the start of the next dream.
----------
At the age of 21, Messi's name is taken in the same breath as Maradona and Di Stefano. Messi is sublime on the ball, he finds space probably by bending the space-time continuum. On Saturday against Valencia, I saw him recieve the ball at the half line fron Iniesta. Surrounded by 4 players, he managed to take the ball to the penalty area and then have the vision to pass it to Xavi. If he fulfils the promise of a season in which his talent has sometimes acquired the depth and the range of an epic poem, we will be witness to one of the great sporting stories. Last year, Ronaldo was crowned on the banks of the Moscow River as the best player in the world. The Tiber awaits the new Messiah.
----------
Messi formidable though he may be is the least of Chelsea's worries. They await an old foe in TH14, a serial killer in Eto', Xavi the metronome and Iniesta. The only weakness that Barca show is at the back which the new and revived Drogba is more than capable of exploiting. Lampart, Ballack, Terry, Essien and the rest are no joke. They are in their own right among the world's foremost players. The galaxy of stars that Guus has at his disposal are in form and possibly capable of thwarting the "trident". Tonight will not only be a clash of two formidable teams but also of two schools of thoughts. Barca in contrast to Chelsea are built around homegrown players like Puyol, Xavi, Messi and Iniesta. To use the cliche once more, there is one sure winner in all of this; football.
----------

Stuff in my Head

2009-04-27T10:17:00.003+05:30

I thought only morons and power hungry people vote for MNS. I was wrong, even educated and otherwise nice people vote for them. I guess a muslim will think the same about me and my support for Modi. The forum was not right to quiz the said person on her choice. Some other time in private I guess.
Added to the to-do list, "live in the Balkans for a year".
In the memory of the past:

Once upon a time a girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine and said she loved me so
But that was once upon a time very long ago
How the breeze ruffled through her hair
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there
We were young and didn't have a care
Where did it go?
Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we knew
Everything was ours, how happy we were then
But somehow once upon a time never comes again

Update: Lyrics by Frank Sinatra. People listen to the oldies.

Conversation in an Auto

2009-04-20T11:42:00.003+05:30

Yesterday was another of those days which reaffirm the future of the country and the potential we hold. I met another interesting auto driver, Yogendra not as awesome as Rashid (the auto-racing champ) but wise. Our conversation started when he drove into a pothole:

Y: Sorry about that.
R: Its fine.
Y: Stupid government did not even repair the roads in the election year.
R: Yes, but they rebuilt the roads for the CYG though all lie in tatters now.
Y: Totally useless government. These guys build lousy roads. God knows what will happen when it rains. Calcutta is so much better than this place.
R: You are from Cal?
Y: No, went there last year with a friend. Very nice place, cheap food, much better public transport, enjoyed my stay! Unfortunately I am a bramin and do not eat meat, stuff was so cheap there.
R: Where are you from btw?
Y: MP, my village is near Jabalpur.
R: Excellent, I too am from MP, Dad is in Bhopal. How long have you been here?
Y: For 6 years, will go back as soon as possible. The quality of life is much better there.
R: Are you married.
Y: No, will get married next year.
R: Long term plan eh!
Y: Yes, I bought a place in Jabalpur this year so relatives said that I should hold off the marriage for next year, Laxmi should enter the house only once a year.
R: Why not buy land in your village? Why do you want to stay in the city?
Y: I passed 8th standad, failed my 10th. However, I can not read. The quality of education is very bad in the villages. Atleast my children will get good education. Anyways, my brother handles the farming on our land in the village so I should let him. Distance makes the heart fonder and there will be no bickering in the family. My father has 2 sons if both of us take to farming, soon the land will become unsustainable for both families. It is better aggregated. I can visit anytime I want.
R: What do you plan to do when you go back?
Y: Lets see, the place is coming up, has plenty of water, roads may not be exceptional but neither are Pune roads. Only thing missing is electricity. It has the potential, by the time I go back, hopefully there will be work for everyone. If these MNS guys continue to roam the streets freely I don't see how this place will progress.
R: Who do you support for these elections?
Y: Congress. The BJP has a strangle hold of my zila. There is so much they could have done but have not.
R: But the Congress has an impotent government at the centre. With so much potential, they have done so little in the last five years?
Y: I guess all of us should become anti-imcumbent. A rotation of power between BJP and Congress every 5 years will force them to govern better...

So the conversation went on for half an hour.

The Ending of My Epic

2009-03-24T13:29:00.005+05:30

The inspiration for this poem came during the Goa trip. The whole story was enacted in my mind. The work was supposed to be an epic, but thought I remember the story, I have forgotten the verse. I have recreated a part of the epic from my notes. It is somewhat incoherent with mixed emotions and breaks but I will not tamper with it in a sober state. This is supposed to be the last verse of the epic. Hope to complete the work someday.

I drifted throught the forest as the night was falling
No man for miles to hear my calling
The darkness was haunted, the chill reached my heart
A shadow crawled up to me as pale as the moon
I asked its name and it said
"I know not what I am, but I know what I was
I was you.
No, you were me.
Unrestrained like the wind and unbridled as the fire in your heart."
I try to recollect a past I did not live
I have seen this light in a dream? Or in a life past.
I have heard this voice, it filled my soul with joy
I know this sweet scent, it drowned me once
I was here before, am I still?
Did I not move all this time?
My memory does not serve me anymore
I see the reflection of her face in the distance
I search her eyes but emptiness replies
I hear her giggle but it is taunting me now.
Something glances my arm, I reach out
But she is gone, I listen
But are they my fears I hear
The taste of her lips still lingers
The light was her smile that lit up my days
Now it guides me at night
I scream in silence,I call out to her
But I have changed, I do not desire anymore
Only in the closet of my heart does the fair maiden still reign.

Champions League

2009-03-23T16:10:00.004+05:30

Some time back (before the round of 16 matches) I told nRT that I would bet on either Bayern or Barca to win the Champions league this season. Fate however has not been too kind on me and the 2 have drawn each other in the quarter-finals. nRT (is n supposed to be in caps here or will it change the variable?) being a Chelsea fan remains stuck on them but on current form I don't expect them to be able to go past Liverpool.

Every Barca team has to live under the shadow of the "Dream Team" of 1994. I believe that this team will become the new dream team. The way they ripped apart Malaga yesterday would have sent shivers down any Bayern supporter looking at the match. They always had space, did not have to run too much to find the ball, and enjoyed 76% of the possession in the first half. They made me feel confident that Earth could win something in an inter-galactic competition. This Barca team much like ManU has such depth in its squad that Guardiola can put out two teams of equal strength capable of competing in any competition. The special thing in this Barca side is that they have Messi, Eto, Henry and Xavi all of who can create a goal out of thin air in 10 seconds, a reminder of which was the Messi goal yesterday. And they are doing it with frightening consistency. I am going to enjoy the next 10 years of football, I don't see anyone of the calibre of Messi playing the game in a long long time.

No team in the top half of the CL draw are capable of stopping ManU. Arsenal (I say this with a heavy heart) and Porto will be brushed aside like vermin. ManU are going through a slump at the moment, but that will not last, they will get back to winning ways and take the EPL title with ease. Even if the team lags, I think Giggs, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Vidic will carry it on their backs effortlessly. I think the slump has quite a lot to do with Vidic not playing up to his usual standards. His performance against Liverpool must have been on purpose, there is no other explanation for it.

As for Liverpool, they have showed what they are capable of in the past 2 weeks. I believe they have it in them to deny Chelsea a semi-final birth. They are the team most likely to beat ManU, but Barca? I think not. Or maybe hope not.

My bet is now on a ManU vs Barca finale in which I hope Barca thump ManU to oblivion. I wouldn't mind a 1-0 either. Whatever said, the final is going to be legin-wait for it-dary.

Of Acid and Smoke

2009-03-17T15:54:00.006+05:30

My days of smoke deprivation are finally over. I went a whole month without smoking and on holi, I celebrated 30 days of no smoking with a well earned fag, another the next day and 2 on Friday with alcohol this time. Since then I have again been off cigarettes which seems to be good choice especially after the horrendous video shared by Sahni (my initial thought was "what a waste of 400 cigarettes!")

Mission raven tress has been a success and for the for the first time in 15 years (maybe more, I'm not sure) I am absolutely dandruff free. There has been a side effect of this, hairfall which I believe is due to all the shampoo which I shall stop using henceforth. One challenge to maintaining the density will be the chlorine in the damn swimming pool. But alas, there is only so much one can do.

The Goa trip was awesome. There were things which had to be done but were not put on the bucket list have now been done. I was sure that I only wanted to try acid and nothing else but I had a go at everything and am happy to say that the high derived from the "consumption" was good but not something I would want to get again. Anyways, the acid trip (the most important part of the journey) which went on for two whole days was unbelievable. The colours and the designs, the stars blushing under the gaze of the moon, the moon, the wind, the waves and the clouds all swaying in perfect harmony: a puppet dance without a puppeteer, a nearby fire reaching down into the recesses of my soul like a warm blanket on a cool autumn night, truly spectacular.

Now that this is out of my way, there shall be no further drug (ab)use on my part. But a word of advise to all,

"Totally worth a try!!!"

The Number 7 Jersey

2009-03-14T13:44:00.004+05:30

Firstly, I hate Manchester United and everything to do with them. However, you can not but respect some of the players they've had in the past and present. Ryan Giggs is very high on the list at the moment after his age defying antics in mid-week. Another player whom I have come to grudgingly like is David Beckham (his performances for the rossoneri have done a lot to further this). I usually do not like players who are not in the tiki-taka mould but Beckham is the one exception and I respect him more as a result of his complicated loan to Milan in a bid to play for England. This man truely loves football above all else.

And then, there is the man Sir AF chose to replace Bechkam with, giving him the No.7 held previously by Cantona and Best, the brilliant Christiano Ronaldo, whose latest quote I shall frame and keep for posterity.

"Will I ever play in Italy? Never say never. I went there last summer and they have the sexiest girls in the world."

Good to know the dude has his priorities straight.

Mission Raven Tress

2009-02-25T17:53:00.004+05:30

After 10 years of insurgency and the installation of a parallel government, I have decided to finally end this axis of dandruff and hair fall that has besieged my head. I have tried diplomacy, even used force (selesun) but both have been as fruitful as Paris reading the Bible. I have suffered under their odious rule for long but now my actions shall not flag or fail. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. I shall not let dandruff threaten me with natural baldness. My grief over hair loss has turned to anger and anger to resolution. I shall strike down upon this scourge with great vengeance and furious anger.

During the past 4 years, I have been able to infiltrate enemy cadres using two trusted aides; baldness and cropped hair, short enough to make any colonel in the country proud. However, since my mother has charged me with “presentability” violations, I have had to get rid of both. There is new leadership at the helm which is pushing for cleanliness (daily baths). This will be the covert counter insurgency program to replace the operatives who have been unjustly dismissed recently. Inspired by the great leader George Bush, I have come to the conclusion that covert ops may have their benefits but are not as effective as a full scale war. As I prepare for war, I have upgraded my weapons systems and now have a full scale arsenal. The weapons at my disposable are as follows:

Conventional Warheads:

Curd
Vinegar
Lime and
Hot olive oil

Nukes:

Selenium shampoo
R89 and
Tropical corticosteroid

The POA is to launch an offensive with both conventional and nuclear weapons every night, with a different combination so that the bastards have no clue what to expect. As for the other force of evil, hair loss, I have appointed Major Appu as the CO of Champi sector from where we shall launch daily offensives accompanied by carpet bombing of corticosteriod and olive oil twice a week. Our attacks henceforth shall be persistent and decisive. I have assembled the most potent arsenals known to man, consisting of both conventional and nuclear weapons. We shall fight them on the head and on shoulders, on air, land and sea.

My hair has passed a resolution proclaiming:

We will not be moved, we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We are going to grow on. We fill flourish like tropical rain forests, we will shine and draw glory from our lustre.

No smoke for 17 days…

Up in Smokes

2009-02-15T03:11:00.004+05:30

There is no secret to success. Every successful man will tell you how to achieve it.

I haven't smoked a cigarette in over 6 days now. I should be given a medal for not smoking today in my inebriated state while people around me were going through cigarettes faster than Paris goes through partners.
Saw the movie "Dance with me" for the third time today and for the first time thought that it was a great movie; my favorite part being when Peter Gabriel sings "The Book of Love". S**t, I've gone soft.

Where Did My Bonus Go?

2009-02-10T13:56:00.003+05:30

There is nothing about interesting about banking. Simply put, it is a mind numbing job. It is a simple game of flow, doing the same thing over and over again. The only reason people flock to work on Wall Street is for the money. It is what keeps us sane/human. For a banker, salary is a minute part of his compensation. Most of the compensation comes as bonus ranging from 200% to numbers that make your heart skip a beat. This makes sense, keeping the bankers on a low retainer considering the volatile nature of M&A and corporate finance business; so when all the stars align; it leads to windfall of millions, of which parts are allowed to flow into the bankers pockets. In this world, you eat what you kill. With the rise of prop trading desks, investement banks became hedge funds where bonuses of tens of millions of dollars became common. If your desk makes a billion dollars in a year, as JM’s desk is rumered to have made, you expect a bonus pool of $100m.

The financial system needs to be restored and it has to be the bankers who do the dirty work. A pay cap is going to be counterproductive because people will simply leave a bank if they can find a similar paying job elsewhere or move to the Middle East which still has enough money to run a couple of LTCMs, where they can set up parallel hedge funds and prop desks. Another way can be to have a defered payment in shares of trading books as in a HF rather than in stock of the company to keep the risk a trader takes in check. Whatever path we take, it will take tens of years for the banks to pay the treasury back. Raising a hue over the $18 billion in bonuses given by banks on Wall Street this year is correct. Putting a cap on the salary and bonus for "kindom come" is taking it too far.

A NY Times calculation on the cost of living in NY should put things in perspective.

Conversations

2009-02-02T21:27:00.008+05:30

Roy: I am almost done with the ninja report; another hour's work.
AT: So you will be sending it out tonight?
Roy: No, I will finish it and then procrastinate the sending till tomorrow.
AT: Procrastination is too long a word for what it signifies.

Daku: I quit smoking.
Roy: I thought you had already quit.
Daku: Yes, but I was smoking every once in a while
Roy: How many on an average?
Daku: Seven to eight a day...

Roy: So Bau, what's up?
Bau: Just quit my job.
Roy: Why?
Bau: Didn't feel like working.
Roy: So which company are you joining?
Bau: None, will chillax for a couple of months, travel and then decide.
The Gay Roy (thinking): "marry me"
The Straight Roy: Next time tell me in advance so I can save up and we can quit together and travel.

Chomu: Fuck capitalism! Fuck investment bankers, bastards think they can “shendilagao” anyone in the universe. They are fucking wrong. Betichod market went down!!! Fuck capitalism! (goes to get more alcohol)
Sakhu: I want the Delhi wala story…
Roy: Ruk, madarchod ko aur pilana padega.
Chomu: ***** (censored)
Sakhu: Roy, stop using your imagination.

Roy: Who was the first man to see a cow and say "I think I want to pull those dangling things"
Mohata: I think you mean he thought "I'll drink the first thing that comes out of those dangling things"
Pussy: LOL
Khatri: Such a fruitful conversation
Gaay: But why a cow?
Vijit: Because its so fat they must have thought there must be something good somewhere in there.
Roy: I think someone wanted something to hold while committing sodomy or something!
Vijit: Gaay is personally affronted because it must be a source of such utter humiliation in his community!
Roy: I am sorry Shreesh if I offended you in any way.
Gaay: I am OK as long as I am not the COW you are talking about.
Roy: Well, I have better taste...
Gaay: Well, that can be seen from the fact that you are fantasizing about a cow.....
Roy: Shit

Roy: I love you V!
V: Fuck you bastard
Roy: With pleasure.

Places and People

2009-01-24T14:28:00.008+05:30

Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen. - Benjamin Disraeli

On a virgin beach a husband(!!!) talks to his wife...

A fisherman tries his luck at Kudle...

Another grapples with time...

Friends light up a corner

Another day on the Lhasa highway

Between school and the year's first snow

Stand still. If there are trees ahead...you are not lost.

Enchante

Ajanta chaap bidi: Smoking is injurious to health

Monkeying at the monkey temple

Dirac on Religion

2009-01-24T14:15:00.005+05:30

Dirac was known to be a staunch atheist. His reasoning was as follows:

“If we are honest, we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of a god is a product of human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can’t for the life of me see how the postulate of almighty god helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why god allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all other horrors he might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classed quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people, hence, the alliance between the two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly god rewards – in heaven if not on earth – all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. This is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins.”

“All talk about god’s will, about sin and repentance, about a world beyond by which we must direct our lives, only serves to disguise the sober truth. Belief in god merely encourages us to think that god wills us to submit to a higher force, and it is this idea which helps to preserve social structures that may have been perfectly good in their day but no longer fit the modern world. Life, when all is said and done, is just like science: we must come up against difficulties and have to solve them. And we can never solve more than one difficulty at a time.”

Assuming that the majority of the people do not direct their thought to such pursuits, is it still to much to ask that we realize it is just by mere chance that a person belongs to any of the ‘n’ religions present in the world. We live in a society with others and since we have no logical reason to believe our religion superior to that of others, we must co-exist instead of trying to prove the dominance of one.

A Life Lived to the Full

2009-01-13T13:57:00.003+05:30

I hope my obituary sounds half as good.

A Tale of One Nation

2009-01-12T16:22:00.005+05:30

Yesterday, during a meeting, the song “saare jahan se accha” came up. Since Iqbal, the poet had migrated to Pakistan during the partition, Mr. X saw it fit to change the lyrics of the song to “prano se priya yeh bhu hai”. Lyrics can be changed, but does it diminish the composition? If Iqbal's migration is so hateful an act, shouldn’t the song be banished from our consciousness never to be sung in India? With the wounds of Taj still sore in our memories, Indo-Pakistan relations are in the doldrums. Terrorism fueled by religious fundamentalism and with its base in the extremist factions of Pakistan has afflicted us for long. Even through all this the governments on both sides must remember that we are still one people who share a story stretching more than five millennia.

If fundamentalism in Pakistan is to blame for terrorism, we also have our own brand of Hindu extremists. While India is potrayed as a meddling bully in Pakistan, Indian media does no better in the prejudice with which Pakistan is potrayed. Sixty two years ago we parted ways. We have been at loggerheads ever since. People on both sides witnessed the carnage that followed the birth of the two nations, one born out of religion and baptised in the blood of those who migrated to fill it, the other with secularism as its ideal and divided as the people that call it home.

Though Islamic in character, Jinnah viewed Pakistan as a state where all citizens were equal. No contradiction was admitted in the political apparatus of a democratic state. However, under General Zia, the state’s ideology was subverted and Pakistan acquired the ideology of a theocratic state. After nearly half a century of independence, Pakistan does not have the appearance of a country that was envisaged by the nation's creators. Religion has come to be accepted as the ideology of today's Pakistan. India was founded on more secular grounds with freedom and equality promised to all. Democracy here has somehow managed to survive inspite of various insidious elements, the events of 1975-77, the only blip.

India has to deal with terrorists in the North-East and the “Pakistan backed” ones operating all over the country. While Pakistan also has to contend with taliban backed mujahedin who view Paksitani suppport of the US war on terror as blasphemy. The two neighbours have to forget their differences and stand on some common ground if they are to grow. The constant military confrontation does not do anyone good and results in a drain of funds which can find better utility in both countries. History sometimes happens in ways that is not willed by its main participants. Over 60 years, 3 wars and nuclear wepons later, India and Pakistan have not become the friends Jinnah and Gandhi hoped. But when the dust settles, that day surely, will come.

Call of a Nation

2009-01-08T17:22:00.007+05:30

Election season will be upon us soon as we will once again be called upon to fulfill our duties as citizens by choosing those who will lead us for the next 5 years. India has achieved so much in the 62 years since we took control of our own destiny and so much still remains to be done. The under-current in all our triumphs and failures is one of silent optimisim. As Sashi Tharoor sums up:

“Indians are filled with the sence of the possible. There is a tremendous degreee of optimism about the future, which is all the more intresting coming from a people who in so many other ways are anchored in the past.”

For India, the tale of the last 60 years is above all the triumph of democracy. We have been able to build democratic and stable political institutions over six decades while democracies around us have faltered. There has been a transformation of national level politics where we have gone from a dominant one party government to coalation governments. We have been able to grow at an incredible rate considering the obstacles that confront such a diverse country. India is set to become the largest population in the world and it is predicted that India’s GDP will overtake that of the United States in the 2050s, when India will resume its rightful place in the world, one it has occupied through most of history.

It has not always been smooth sailing, we have faced many challenges which have tested us to the hilt and we have faltered on occations. The NE states have still not been integrated into the mainstream, riots still flare up in the name of religion, education of the masses remains elusive and infrastrucure is patchy at best. These are all issues which will have to be handeled by the coming governments and their capability and dedication will decide the path we take in the coming decades.

It is time we take our destiny by the scruff. Development, both economic and social, education and equality for all must be our new quests. We must also strive to improve relations with our neighbours. At the dawn of our history, Nehru said, “India started on her unending quest and trackless centuries are filled with her strivings and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has not lost track of that quest or forgotten the ideals that gave her her strenght.” Today is the time when India discovers herself again. “India; the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new.”

The Second Coming

2009-01-05T13:32:00.006+05:30

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

- Keats

Do Svidania

2008-12-30T15:59:00.010+05:30

I shall die a happy man if I am able to finish the list below:

Climb the Everest or atleast till the Base Camp
Visit every continent including Antarctica
See the Galapagos Islands
Scuba in the Great Barrier Reef
Sail down the Amazon River
Go wild at La Tomatina
Gaze at Angkor Vat
Visit the Glacer National Park
Go to the World Cup!!!
Pay homage at the San Siro
Derby della Madonnina
See Machu Picchu
See the Petra
Backpack across the Eastern Block
See the Northern Lights
Vegas!
Rock in Rio
Travel the Greek Islands
Cycle through Tuscany
Drink at Oktoberfest!
Trek to Mt. Kailash
Mardi Gras!
Spend a night in the Ice Hotel
Follow Guevara through South America
Finish a marathon

Flight to Safety

2008-12-29T17:04:00.004+05:30

Continuing from the post below:

Some time back, the FED decided to hold the federal fund rate between 0 to 25 bps.
The 3M t-bill rate touched 0%.
30 yr TSY yields are currently at 2.6%

Such low yields for treasuries imply a strong deflationary/depressionary expectation among market participants.

Let us now consider the following scenarios:

Inflation: With most central banks providing free money to the markets in a coordinated effort to ward of a global depression, it is only a matter of time before market participants regain their calm and start taking advantage and treasury yields become negative on a inflation adjusted basis.
Crash: As soon as there is any hint of a recovery, money managers who have parked their funds in treasuries will start selling to invest in other asset classes not ready to miss the next upturn.

Which brings us to the question, who is going to fund the US fiscal deficit now? Treasuries will certainly have to yield more for anybody to be willing to invest in them. Assuming that Paulson lives up to the Goldman name, with TARP, he has not only created the world's biggest hedge fund, but if the markets recover, he will have earned the US Treasury enough money for them to pay back all their fiscal deficit. If such rosy scenario does not unfold, 126 bps will be a small price to pay for as 5yr USTSY CDS.

Credit Crisis of 2015

2008-12-22T17:52:00.005+05:30

Lets see what caused the current credit crisis:
1. Low interest rates
2. Greedy people

Now, we should examine the solution that our policymakers have come up with to tide over the current crisis:

Give people not billions but trillions of dollars of free money.

And these are not normal people, it is the best of the best, the investment bankers who get this money to play with while the government charges them nothing for this free paper (0-25bps does not count). Previous attempts at 0% interest and similar fiscal stimulus have been have so successful, that it took Japan 15 years to get out of a recession.

The next crisis is probably going to be bigger and better than this one...I just hope I've made my millions by then and have retired and have cash strapped behind my toilet not is some s***t backed security.

Mumbai Meri Jaan!!!

2008-12-17T21:28:00.002+05:30

Here are 100 reasons why I love Bombay and surprisingly I've done 74 of these!!!
http://mumbai.metblogs.com/2008/12/16/100-things-to-do-in-bombay/

Human Rights Down the Crapper

2008-12-17T10:24:00.005+05:30

When I last checked, we were a humane bunch of people here in India then along comes the proposed "National Investigation Agency". At first glance it seemed to be an attempt to have something like the FBI in India, till I got to the last line:

Court shall presume, unelss contrary is shown, that accused has committed offence.

I had to re-read the line three times just to realise that they were trying to violate the f***ing Universal Declaration of Human Rights, contained within the International Bill of Human Rights. Were these not the first resolutions passed by the United Nations? The 10th of December market the 60th anniversary of the Declaration and what a perfect time for us to start violating them.
What the statment implies is that if the government accuses a person of committing of a crime, the onus is on him to prove his innocense. Basically it gives the government power to go to every outspoken muslim, accuse him of terrorism and not have to present a scintilla of evidence to prove it. I thought the BJP/NDA went overboard with their POTA, but the present government in its knee jerk reaction to the 11/26 attacks is disregarding the highest morals that we as a people should stand for.

The Jackass of Vanvres

2008-12-15T10:59:00.004+05:30

In 1750, Jacques Ferron was caught having sex with an ass and sentenced to death.
To add insult to injury, the ass had a character witness:

The prior to the convent … and the principal inhabitants of the commune of Vanvres signed a certificate stating that they had known the said she-ass for four years, and that she had always shown herself to be virtuous and well-behaved both at home and abroad and had never given occasion of scandal to any one, and that therefore 'they were willing to bear witness that she is in word and deed and in all her habits of life a most honest creature.'
The ass was acquitted, and Ferron hanged.

Source: The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals, 1906

Never Forget

2008-11-28T10:58:00.009+05:30

Terrorism has breached our defences again. Not through the mountains up north nor through the porous Bangladesh border, but through sea into a city whose waters are statedly closely guarded a city which prides itself on resilience which with time transforms to apathy. The question that needs to be asked are not the usual who and why, as Indians we know the answer to those, being parroted for numerous years. We should ask "Where do we go from here?".Will this time be different? Will we see the Indian version of the Patriot Act?

Previous instances of terrorism were usually bombings in trains and on streets. This time was different. The audacious storming of the hotels and streets by well trained men shows that the face of terror has changed. It targets the country's symbols and effects a direct toll on confidence in the country's institutions. It seeks to diminish international confidence in the country which has lasting consequences on the economy of a country like India.

If Pakistan's involvement is proved beyond any doubt, does it justify India going to war? Or should we concentrate on improving our security mechanisms so that such acts do not happen again? Nothing should ever justify going to war. As for security, only god knows how many times have we mourned the apparent apathy of our politicos, hoping that they spend as much time on security as they do on closing down dance bars. How far do we curb the freedoms that we enjoy in our country in the name of national security? Should we invade our citizen's privacy like in the US or should we remain the moderate nation we claim to be? The government stance after all this is over will show the world and the public of India how we see ourselves, a strong nation or one plagued with indecisive political leadership. Let us pray that the only outcome is not the BJP coming to power in the next election but some concrete steps, a foghorn into the mist signalling that we shall not take this lying down, that "we shall go on to the end...until, in god's good time" we have extricated this scourge from the face of the earth.

Mallu, we shall never forget.

Terrorism

2008-10-14T15:11:00.003+05:30

Why is terrorism in India always an act of the minority community? When the majority commits a violent act, shouldn't it be defined as terrorism? With Orissa we shall know.

Political Incorrect

2008-04-24T11:47:00.007+05:30

American Presidential elections have been compared with reality TV series or game shows, in which a gaggle of jumped-up nonentities aspiring to be celebrities are ritually humiliated in public and offered entertaining opportunities to self-destruct, until only one survivor remains. But this time round, a much more elevated analogy is sadly apposite.

The 2008 US election has all the makings of a Greek tragedy, in which noble heroes and heroines are forced to follow a course to catastrophe, divinely preordained as punishment for sins and blunders committed by their forefathers in the dim and distant past. In acting out their ineluctable doom, the eloquent protagonists do not just destroy themselves but also their cities, their nations and even their entire civilisations.

If this description sounds too grandiose, consider yesterday's results from the Pennsylvania primary. The outcome seemed to be precisely calibrated by the gods to maximise the agony of the Democrats. It gave Hillary Clinton just the support she needed to stay firmly in contention, but not quite enough to turn the tide in her favour.

Worse still, this result underlined the fear that senior Democrats have long been aware of, but have never dared to express in public: America may not yet be ready to elect a black President. Worst of all, it has created conditions for the possible election victory of a militarily belligerent and economically unqualified Republican candidate who supports many of President Bush's worst policies. Given the Bush Administration's domestic and foreign failures, the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan and, most recently, the slump in the economy, the possibility of a Republican victory in November would seem to overturn every principle of proper democracy - and also the hope of America and its system of government being rehabilitated in the eyes of the world after the Bush years. The fact that Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton are both such impressive candidates, intelligent, sincere, articulate and in command of the issues, while John McCain does not qualify on any of these criteria only makes matters worse. That Mrs Clinton will now carry on with her campaign is not just probable but essential. For the voting in Pennsylvania confirms that she has a much better chance than Mr Obama of winning the White House for the Democrats. According to the Associated Press exit polls published yesterday, 16 per cent of white Democratic voters considered race an important factor in the Presidential election and 43 per cent of these said they would either vote Republican or not vote at all, if Mr Obama were the Democratic nominee.

Given that Mrs Clinton's clear victory over Mr Obama in Pennsylvania followed similar results in other “must-win” states with large working-class constituencies, such as Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan and even New York and California, the conclusion would be fairly obvious, were it not for the political correctness makes it almost impossible for American politicians or commentators to express such a view: Mr Obama may by unable to carry large industrial states with socially conservative white working-class populations simply because of his race. This is especially true now that the televised rantings of Rev Jeremiah Wright and Mr Obama's own gaffe about the “bitter” white working-class culture of “guns and God”, have reminded Americans that race is not just a matter of skin colour. Rev Wright embarrassingly revealed in his “God damn America” and “Chickens come home to roost” sermons that his African-American vision of America is be profoundly at odds with the white majority view. The latest polls in the two most important swing states show Mr McCain easily beating Mr Obama in both Florida and Ohio, while Mrs Clinton comfortably beats the Republican in Ohio and is neck and neck in Florida. Mr Obama has, of course, apologised for his condescension towards working-class church-goers and hunters - probably the most important group of floating voters in the electorally critical mid-Western states. He has tried even harder to dissociate himself from Rev Wright's anti-American tirades, which really have to be seen (on YouTube) to be believed. And Mr Obama's supporters have chastised Mrs Clinton for turning to “negative campaigning” and “scorched-earth” strategies in her desperation to stay in contention.

The trouble is that Mr Obama's efforts to suppress the race issue are doomed to failure. For the influence of Rev Wright on him is a matter of public record. Indeed, the phrase “Audacity of Hope”, which is the title of Mr Obama's political autobiography as well as his presidential leitmotif, is attributed in that book to a sermon by “my pastor, Rev Jeremiah Wright”. The Republican political machine, which demonstrated its mastery of the arts of character assassination in the two Bush presidential contests, will have no compunction in exploiting the Wright relationship and portraying Mr Obama as an anti-American in the general election, even if the Clinton campaign and the media observe a self-denying ordinance on the race and patriotism issues, as they broadly have so far. The certainty of a no-holds-barred attacks by the Republicans brings us to the potentially most tragic aspect of this election. If ever there was an election the Democrats ought to win this is the one. Yet on the basis of the primary results so far, they are all too likely to lose it. Mr Obama may be marginally ahead of Mrs Clinton in the popular vote but the Democrats seem to have forgotten that all the votes cast so far have been by their own supporters. In the general election their candidate will have win over Republicans and right-leaning floating voters. Most of the evidence so far suggests that the Repulicans will find it much easier to frighten voters about the prospect of a President Obama than a President Clinton. Professional Democratic politicians now have the casting vote in their party's nomination and could yet force the two candidates into a “dream ticket” led by Mrs Clinton with Mr Obama as Vice President which would sweep all before it and would probable make Mr Obama unbeatable as a presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016. Yet the Democratic superdelegates who could now secure years of hegemony for their party seem to consider it “unfair” to use their professional judgment to overturn the “democratic” verdict of primary voters.

The Republicans will have no such compunctions about the fairness of launching personal attacks against a potentially vulnerable Democratic candidate. In this respect this Presidential contest may again manifest the tragedy of left-wing politics through the ages. Parties which care more about fairness than about power, end up achieving neither.

By: Anatole Kaletsky (The Times)

All Hail Becks!

2008-03-27T00:08:00.001+05:30

A true professional.

There comes a tide in the affairs of men...

2008-03-07T22:38:00.003+05:30

There comes a tide in the affairs of men... When you feel that all is fittered away and life is a boring mess... When gazing at the setting sun and the company of friends and alcohol mean the most in life...

Life???

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves.

Choose your future.

Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing like that?

There are times when it all seems too petty and unforgiving. Times when you wish you were an artist living on a stripend. What do you do then?

Mark Taylor is a Cunt

2008-02-24T13:54:00.003+05:30

Mark Taylor is a cunt period.

Why would anyone go in with a tackle like that? The bastard has almost surely ended what could have been a glittering career. And now Eduardo will sit on his arse for the rest of the season and the next earning 50,000 quid a week.

Get well soon Eduardo!

Invictus

2008-02-09T19:12:00.002+05:30

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of Circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of Chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The Black Swan

2008-01-12T23:06:00.001+05:30

Am currently suffering from Taleb fever. Having finished Fooled by Randomness last week, I am currently reading The Black Swan and have already ordered a copy of Dynamic Hedging. The book is intriguing but leaves an inconsistent taste. The theory itself a breath of fresh air as far as books go but I have met traders who are more critical of financial and accounting theory.

The book differentiates between scalable and non-scalable jobs, but does not account for any "alpha", the only variables he restricts himself to are "beta" and randomness. Anything exceptional though a black swan has been ascribed to mostly luck. If this were a movie, the villain would either be played by Gauss or Samuelson.

Whatever may be said it is a must read for any wannabe cynic.

2008-01-05T08:23:00.000+05:30

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

The fire that kept us warm

Alone in the middle of a desert...

Desert Rose

The lone drummer

The Republic

2007-10-30T18:32:00.001+05:30

Despotism
Monarchy
Communism
Socialism
Democracy
Anarchy

The ideal form of democracy does not seem to be the final solution. Despotism and monarchy are looked upon as archaic, communism: a failed experiment, socialism does not seem to serve France too well, and as for democracy, in the US money controls everything (look no further than the great W) while Indian democracy is just plain debauched.

Perhaps it comes down to the person wielding power in any kind of government. There may be various kinds of souls that rule over a state, that are often lovers of power, money, fame, and popularity. Perhaps that is what went wrong with the USSR, maybe the system was actually good but the ideals could not survive the western propaganda (no mention of Stalin?).

The search for a government without the drawbacks of individuals continues...

Codes

2007-09-18T09:59:00.001+05:30

Morals:
Society's code for individual survival.

Ethics:
An individual's code for society's survival.

Life After TH14

2007-07-02T21:14:00.000+05:30

With the signing of Eduardo da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal seem to have partly filled the void left by TH14. Dudu may not be as great a striker but he brings with him a rich pedigree in scoring goals. Dudu was impressive when Zagreb visited the Emirates last season and also during the 2-0 victory over England.

In this latest move, the Arsene has again showed he has not lost his shrewd touch in the transfer market. With Van Persie recovering from injury, the return of his (6'3")compatriot Nicolas Bendtner, not to mention Togo hitman Adebayor and English prodigy Theo Walcott, the future suddenly does not look so gloomy for an attack which had lost its most potent weapon.

The departure of 226-goal scoring TH14 is, not going to be overcome in one move. However, it seems to be the ideal time for the young gun(ner)s to live up to their immense talent.

Welcome TH14

2007-06-26T10:48:00.000+05:30

TH14 moves to Barca.
So now we have one of the most potent strike force ever assembled at Barcelona.

Messi
Eto'
Ronaldinho
TH14
Eiður Guðjohnsen
Ludovic Giuly
The best of all worlds...Argentina, Brazil(Ronnie?), Europe(maybe Shevchenko & Totti) and Africa together! Looks like a mouthwatering prospect.

P.S.: Milan wake up!!! (Saviola is up for grabs)

Here Come The Rain Again

2007-06-01T20:25:00.001+05:30

Ah! I love the rains! Especially the first shower, the scent of wet earth, splashing water as other cower and yes, the annual bathing ritual!

It is surprising how rain evokes mixed emotions in my workplace, people talking about getting to office wet, complaining about the waterlogged roads and others planning to Goa this weekend! Well, some are already there and as I heard are the only tourists in Goa! I shall not mention the lovely weather in Lonavla and the meditation/yoga c(r)amp which 2 dedicated traders are going to for "mental" relaxation.

As for me Deolali trip postponed to next weekend. This week it shall be me and Mr.Thoureau.

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

So baby talk to me
Like lovers do
Walk with me
Like lovers do
Talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion
I want to breathe in the open wind
I want to kiss like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

Rossoneri: The Final Stand

2007-05-21T20:39:00.000+05:30

Come 23 May, it will be a day of reckoning for the Rossoneri. Fighting off the calicopoly scandal and not being able to sign any big players during the summer transfer, there has been complete turnaround in the fortunes since the signing of Ronaldo.

From the 8 point deficit to reaching 4th place to the finals of the Champions League, the team has shown a lot of grit and determination. Faced with the departure of Schevchenko the team took their time to settle down but as of now they look an impressive outfit. With the experience of Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Seedorf and Inzaghi along with the passing of Pirlo, grit of Gattuso and the (s)kills of Kaka and Gourcuff (who will not start but has me as a fan!) Milan look all set to lift their 7th Champions League title (touch wood).

Standing again in their way is Gerrard, who probably is the most complete player in world football at the moment (sorry Ballack, Kaka, Deco, Nedved, and Riqueleme) along with the cronies of Benitez. But Milan will be desperate to atone for their Istanbul nightmare when they face Liverpool on Wednesday's rematch in Athens.

The team still lacks a striker and has had to rely on goals from the midfield. Inzaghi is a very Crespoesque striker but is not of the same caliber and needs a strike partner to divert attention. Gilardino has been misfiring since he arrived as Serie A's top scorer from Parma but the young man is still good enough thought totally out of form. The aging defence is not a very big problem because we sill have the best defender in the world (Nesta) and Maldini and Cafu are still a handfull for any team (as shown to Roooney and C.Ronaldo). With Pirlo and Seedorf in form its game on!

Go Milan!!!

You Don't Have to Hate Your Opponents to Beat Them

2007-05-07T19:42:00.000+05:30

One of the most popular players to have ever graced the WTA Tour, Kim Clijsters, announced her retirement on Sunday, May 6. Clijsters, known as Kim Kong or Kim Possible, is recognized for her deep, powerful, well-placed groundstrokes, as well as her court-wide defense, speed and athleticism.

Clijsters' statement:
I'm extremely proud of what I've achieved in my career. If someone told me nine years ago I would have accomplished all that I did, I would have said you were joking. Tennis has been an amazing journey for me all over the world and I'm very happy to have met the people I did. That's always been the most important to me; forget the trophies and material things, friends are truly the most important. I couldn't have done all I did without the support of my family and coaches who worked with me, and to them I'm truly grateful. I am also thankful to all the encouragement from the fans over the years and the media's support in following my career. I couldn't have asked for a better farewell than I got in Antwerp; trying to play after that was proving more difficult. With injuries that wouldn't go away and life after tennis drawing nearer, it became harder to push myself to compete.Tennis-wise, winning the US Open and season-ending Championships twice were obvious high points. The matches that I'll never forget were the 1999 US Open match with Serena, when I was 5-3 up in the third. I had such goose bumps it was incredible. I hope people won't be too sad now that I've decided to stop playing tennis. A new chapter in my life is about to begin and I hope I'll see everyone somewhere down the line. Remember, whatever you do, do it with a smile on your face.

WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott:
Kim Clijsters will be remembered as one of the most accomplished and loved players in the history of women's professional tennis. No player has been so unanimously popular with fans and fellow players alike. She has been a once-in-a-generation champion. Athletic and determined on court, Kim has also been a wonderful ambassador for the sport off it and she will be much missed by her legions of fans, fellow players and everyone connected with the WTA Tour.

Justine Henin:
I have a lot of respect for what she did in her career, as a player and as a person. We've almost grown up together and I think we've helped each other to reach another level because we always pushed each other to play better. She's been a great player and it's time for her now to turn the page and do something else in her life and everyone has to respect that. She did a lot for the game, for Belgian tennis for sure, and I think I will have great memories of her that I will keep. It's pretty emotional because we spent a lot of time together when we were younger and we grew up together on the WTA Tour. It's a very special day today.

Serena Williams:
I wish Kim the best in her life after tennis. She was a great player, a great competitor and an even better person. We had some great matches but I'll miss her more in the locker room than anything else.

Highlights of the Brilliant Career:
- Nine seasons as a professional, winner of 34 career singles titles and 11 doubles titles and $14.5-million in career prize money.
- First Belgian to rank No.1 in the world.
- Made Grand Slam debut at 1999 Wimbledon as a qualifier, having just turned 16; won six matches, including a win over No.10 Coetzer, before falling to Graf.
- In 2001, upset world No.1 Hingis en route to the Indian Wells final, reached her first Grand Slam final in Paris before falling to Capriati 16 64 1210.
- In 2003 became the first female athlete to pass $4-million in season earnings.
- Had one of the most impressive comebacks ever in 2005 following a left wrist surgery and with a ranking of No.133, won Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back to re-establish herself as one of the world's best players. Six months later won her first Grand Slam title and reached No.2 in the world.
- Received the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship award from her peers an unprecedented six out of seven years.
- Recipient of Belgian Sportswoman of the year five times; ITF World Champion in 2005; LTWA Ambassador to the Sport Award 2005, WTA Tour Player of the Year award in 2005.

ADIEU...we shall miss you!

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

2007-04-23T21:11:00.000+05:30

I finally got around to reading the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and the only thought I kept having was that this should be read in Persian and not English. Much brilliance would have been lost in the translation but still the words sway emotions at will. It reminded me of "Madhushala". The philosophy is so similar, so profound and yet so simple. Then another couplet made me think of Shakespeare (more specifically "As You Like It 2/7"). Simply one of the best works I've ever come across. "The Listeners -
Walter de la Mer" still remains my favorite, I don't know why!

I resolve daily that at dusk I shall repent
For a night with a cup full of wine spent.
In the presence of flowers, my resolve simply went
In such company, I only regret that I ever resolved to repent.

Khayam, if you are intoxicated with wine, enjoy!
If you are seated with a lover of thine, enjoy!
In the end, the Void the whole world employ
Imagine thou art not, while waiting in line, enjoy!

In childhood we strove to go to school,
Our turn to teach, joyous as a rule
The end of the story is sad and cruel
From dust we came, and gone with winds cool.

At dawn came a calling from the tavern
Hark drunken mad man of the cavern
Arise; let us fill with wine one more turn
Before destiny fills our cup, our urn.

Heaven is incomplete without a heavenly romance
Let a glass of wine be my present circumstance
Take what is here now, let go of a promised chance
A drumbeat is best heard from a distance.

Happily I walked with the tavern down the line
Passed an old drunk, holding a bottle of wine
"Do you not fear God?" was reproach of mine
said, "Mercy is God’s sign, in silence I wine and dine."

It is a day neither hot nor cold,
Clouds help the dry flowers unfold
Canary with his song to the flower told
Drink while you can, yourself don’t scold

Before time takes you by surprise
Ask for good red wine and get wise
You are not of gold, don’t believe the lies
You are put to dust, once again you’ll rise.

I brought the cup to my lips with greed
Begging for longevity, my temporal need
Cup brought its to mine, its secret did feed
Time never returns, drink, of this take heed

Some are thoughtful on their way
Some are doubtful, so they pray.
I hear the hidden voice that may
Shout, "Both paths lead astray."

At all times, merrily try
To drink wine and in song cry
Millions of kings in silence lie
From coming of January and passing of July.

Drinking wine is my travail
Till my body is dead and stale
At my grave site all shall hail
Odor of wine shall prevail.

Each drop of wine that is spilt
Burnt deep in my heart and sorrow built
I drink wine while prayer thou wilt
The water that quenched the fire of my guilt.

Tonight I shall embrace a gallon cup
With at least two cups of wine I‘ll sup
I’ll divorce my mind and religion stop
With daughter of vine, all night I’ll stay up.

We are the puppets and fate the puppeteer
This is not a metaphor, but a truth sincere
On this stage, fate for sometime our moves steer
Into the chest of non-existence, one by one disappear.

New Year Resolutions

2007-04-05T20:43:00.000+05:30

Last week I was watching "an inconvenient truth" and golbal warming apart what hit me most was that we could actually reduce emmisions so easily (maybe the data was manipulated as Bush would have us think). Then I came across the "No Impact Man", a modern day superhero, saviour of our environment! This guy is totally awesome. He lives in New York and has decided to spend a year making the least negative impact on the environment. He’s given up plastic, paper, conventional transport, composts his food scraps and what not. Check him out at:-
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

So in my own way I shall also try my best:
New financial year resolutions-
1. Take a bath only twice a week (I'm sticking to this one!) save:water, soap
2. Do not litter (cigarette butts don't count)
3. Trade more you asshole! all else does not matter...

U.S. Pockets Aren't Deep Enough to Win Yuan Row

2007-04-04T22:08:00.001+05:30

(Very well said!!)
By William Pesek

Almost two years after a modest currency revaluation, China is still thumbing its nose at U.S. demands for big gains in the yuan.

Last week, officials in Beijing seemed to yawn as Charles Schumer, a U.S. senator pushing for tariffs on Chinese imports, predicted that a new measure aimed at forcing China to boost the yuan will pass Congress by next year.

The U.S. also imposed tariffs on imports of Chinese coated paper. China's response was summed up by central bank researcher Tang Xu who said a stronger currency alone won't solve U.S. trade disputes. Traders were equally unmoved by the U.S. action.

In Japan, meanwhile, neither the government nor investors seemed concerned about a U.S. senator's proposal to require Asia's biggest economy to stop holding down the yen. ``It's time for our government to hold Japan accountable for what amounts to illegal trade subsidies,'' Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow said last week.

What gives? You would expect the U.S. to have more sway in markets. It does, after all, print the reserve currency. And while China is growing 10 percent, India isn't far behind and Japan is recovering, the $13 trillion U.S. economy is still proving hard to replace.

One explanation for the U.S.'s waning clout in foreign- exchange markets is something that gets little attention: the country's lack of currency reserves.

Short on Reserves

Certain benefits come from printing the most-used currency, having great sway over the International Monetary Fund and being the pre-eminent economic power. It means you can get away with more. In the U.S.'s case, it's massive current-account and budget deficits, negligible household savings and a pricy military quagmire in the Middle East.

Even so, the U.S.'s $41 billion of currency reserves seem puny compared with China's $1.07 trillion, Japan's $884 billion and even Malaysia's $82 billion. At the moment, the U.S. has fewer reserves than Nigeria's $42 billion, Indonesia's $46 billion and Poland's $49 billion.

All this makes the U.S. look (a) highly confident about its financial condition, (b) complacent amid a growing number of global imbalances, or (c) arrogant. There's little doubt that, if asked, U.S. President George W. Bush and his Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, would say (a) is the right answer.

Bretton Woods II

There's some merit to the view, considering the so-called Bretton Woods II world in which we live. The breakdown of the post-World War II system centered on the gold standard led to a kind of dollar standard. Many nations adopted the dollar as a new anchor, either formally or informally pegging currencies to it. When you're the U.S., who needs reserves?

Yet in a world littered with risks -- from slowing U.S. growth to global imbalances to terrorism to bird flu to the yen- carry trade to overheating in the Chinese economy -- one wonders how wise it is for the U.S. to have so few reserves.

That's especially true when you consider that the U.S. has arguably lost control of the dollar. With its economy facing big challenges, the U.S. probably wants a weaker currency for the same reasons everyone else does. How much control does the U.S. have, though, when overseas investors -- Asian governments among them -- own its bond market?

Perhaps that's why the U.S. tries to influence other currencies; it realizes it has lost control of its currency and interest rates to foreigners. Given that arrangement, the U.S. may want to be careful slapping around China and Japan, its two biggest debt customers.

Reserve Bubble?

One could argue that Asia has created a reserve bubble. There would seem to be better uses for the trillions of dollars on which Asian central banks are sitting. Also, monetary authorities may have reached the point of no return in their ability to reverse course or manage their massive holdings.

Yet the U.S. decision to boost its foreign reserves by just $10 billion in 10 years (they were $31 billion in 1997) was either a shrewd move or a mistake. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, the U.S. should expect more shrugging from officials in Beijing and Tokyo on currency matters. China's need to create millions of jobs to keep the peace trumps the desire to make nice with the U.S. Japan also remains unwilling to try living without a weak exchange rate.

Besides, what is the U.S. going to do about it? Intervene in currency markets to strengthen the yuan or yen with less money than either Bill Gates or Warren Buffett has? It's doubtful.

If there's any positive spin here for the U.S. it's that it now has two potential saviors in the event of a crisis. The credit crunch known as the Panic of 1907 forced the U.S. to turn to one man for financial aid: J.P. Morgan. The White House now has at least two wildly rich men to call if the dollar plunges and reserves run low.

The truth is that when it comes to swaying currency markets, the U.S. has little money to put where its mouth is.

India's Monetary Woes

2007-03-22T22:56:00.001+05:30

By- Andy Mukherjee
Any bank with spare cash in the vault would have made a killing in India this week.

The interest rate in the overnight, inter-bank call money market shot up to a staggering 62.5 percent yesterday, from just about 5 percent on March 15.

On the central bank's online trading system, call rates soared as high as 70 percent.

This surge has taken place even when the Indian central bank's policy rates have remained unchanged in this period. The Reserve Bank of India borrows surplus funds in the banking system at 6 percent and lends, when needed, at 7.5 percent.

The cash crunch is temporary, caused by companies drawing down their bank balances to meet the March 15 deadline for making tax payments.

When the government spends this money, funds will come back into the banking system, probably before the end of the month.

Yet, the cash squeeze sheds light on the peculiar challenges of monetary policy in India.

Such a spike, if it were to occur in a developed country, would be associated with the collapse of a large hedge fund or a massive terrorist attack. It would be a sign of panic.

Tax payment is a humdrum, annual event with entirely predictable consequences for liquidity. Why should it become such a huge issue in India? And why this year?

It's hard to believe that the volatility resulted from a lacuna in the central bank's forecasting ability.

Clashing Objectives

Banking-system liquidity in India has become painfully volatile as monetary-policy goals have begun clashing with exchange-rate objectives.

As a result, one week the system is in surplus mode, the next week there's a glaring deficit.

With inflation beginning to crawl up since September, easy money conditions have been untenable for a while.

And yet, with inflows of overseas investment accelerating, the Reserve Bank ended up buying almost $8 billion of the U.S. currency from November to January to keep the rupee from rising too much, too quickly.

Then, to contain the spill of domestic liquidity from its dollar purchases, the central bank had to preempt funds in the banking system by increasing the ratio of deposits that commercial banks have to set aside as cash.

The results haven't been great. Inflation is running at 6.5 percent, a full percentage point higher than the Reserve Bank's tolerance level. And the rupee, at 43.47 to the dollar, is at its strongest in 19 months.

Running Out of Collateral

And now, there's a cash crunch.

To borrow from the central bank's Liquidity Adjustment Facility, or LAF, at the prescribed 7.5 percent rate, banks need to offer government securities as collateral.

The trouble is that as much as 25 percent of commercial banks' deposits that have to be compulsorily invested in government debt is considered ``statutory liquidity.''

These so-called SLR securities don't qualify as collateral.

Most Indian banks have already liquidated their excess investments in government debt to satisfy strong credit growth. That constrains their ability to borrow from the Reserve Bank.

Hence the desperate rush to raise funds at 70 percent.

The Indian central bank uses two benchmarks for overnight money, when most others make do with one key rate.

Presumably, the Indian monetary authority wants to exercise greater control at the short end of the yield curve.

Credibility Question

For that reason, it's important to make the call rate stick to a preset path: The credibility of the central bank depends on maintaining the sanctity of its interest-rate corridor.

When banks start borrowing at almost 10 times the rate at which the central bank offers to provide liquidity, the entire debt market becomes nervous.

Sure enough, trading volumes in the Indian government bond market yesterday slumped to next to nothing.

To be fair to the central bank, it had warned lenders of this scenario in its monetary-policy statement of Jan. 31.

``Banks need to recognize that shortage of SLR securities could constrain their recourse to LAF liquidity, which can turn adverse in critical times, forcing them to resort to uncollateralized exposures and attendant risks,'' Governor Y.V. Reddy had said.

The message is clear: Until the central bank achieves a demonstrable victory over inflation, it will keep a tight leash on liquidity. The rupee will remain in short supply.

That will be great for carry traders.

The current scarcity of rupees has ended up making the rupee ``the carry currency of choice in Asia,'' says Shahab Jalinoos, a Singapore-based strategist at ABN Amro Bank NV.

One-month rupee forwards offer an attractive annualized yield of 16 percent, according to my Bloomberg.

Yesterday, the central bank clarified that banks could borrow from it to lend in the call money market.

This should restore sanity for the time being.

In the medium term, banks will have to raise more deposits to ease their cash crunch, or they will have to stop lending.

Flying Lessons?

2007-02-23T17:12:00.001+05:30

The damn network is under maintenance so I am jobless. Sometimes (or is it always)I wish that I could fly.I want to roam with clouds, have shitting competitions with seagulls, apart form its immense utility in Bombay traffic trying it might be worth it just for sheer pleasure. Is it replicable by parasailing(done that, not good enough) or handgliding (have to try this one)? Which one would be easier learning to fly or to have my conciousness planted into a bird?

I wonder if the reason men cant fly is because we have never tried, I dont mean running fast enough and trying to take off, I'm talking radical stuff like junping off a cliff and hoping for the best. I dont think anyone wants to try this. Suicides apart, those guys were not thinking of flying they had other pressing matters to consider (!) or maybe someone did and was flasely sent to hell by Dante??? What would it take to pull off this Johnathan Seagullesque stunt? I remember jumping off a swing when I was 12 or 13 for an instant it felt great till gravity took over (I dont think i was aware of such a concept back then...Issac you bastard) and reality struck me on the face.

Next attempt? When I turn 60. Till then, frankly, I dont have the balls.

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Cant keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, i

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to guide my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension thats learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Cant keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, i

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

Theres no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Cant keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, i

How Open Minded am I !!

2007-02-09T16:09:00.000+05:30

You Are 76% Open Minded

You are so open minded that your brain may have fallen out!
Well, not really. But you may be confused on where you stand.
You don't have a judgemental bone in your body, and you're very accepting.
You enjoy the best of every life philosophy, even if you sometimes contradict yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

Me and Bobby Mcgee

2007-02-08T18:22:00.000+05:30

Busted flat in baton rouge, waiting for a train
And is feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way in to new Orleans.

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna,
An is playing soft while bobby sang the blues, yeah.
Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding bobby's hand in mine,
We sang every song that driver knew.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free.
Yeah, an feeling good was easy, lord, bobby sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my bobby Mcgee.

From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun,
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul.
Through all kinds of weather, through everything that we done,
Said bobby baby, he kept me from the cold.

One day up near Salinas, lord, I let him slip away,
But he was looking for that home and I hope he finds it.
But Id trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding bobby's body next to mine.

Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, thats all that bobby left me, yeah.
Feeling good was easy, lord, bobby he sang the blues,
I said feeling good was good enough for me,
Its good enough for me and my bobby Mcgee.

Hell, I'm calling my lover, calling my man,
I said I'm calling my lover, I do the best I can,
I said now c'mon,bobby now, come on bobby Mcgee, yeah.
Lordy, lordy, lordy, lordy, lordy, lordy, lordy lord
Hey, hey, hey, bobby Mcgee, yeah!

- Janis Joplin

Civil Liberty???

2006-03-24T18:09:00.001+05:30

This is the state of civil liberties and the right to self determination in the world...

On the Greatness of Weed

2006-02-10T10:01:00.001+05:30

This is a poem I came across on the net...and it kindda touched a nerve!!!

Party hardy, rock 'n' roll, speed, weed, birth control,
Life's a bitch and then you die, so fuck the world and say goodbye
To all the preps who think they�re cool, fuck you baby, stoners rule,
Stoners live and stoners die, But in the end we all get high,
So when in life you don�t succeed, Fuck the world and smoke some weed!