Socio-Economic Impact of 11/26 in Mumbai

The evening of 26^th November 2008, on Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus marked the beginning of a renewed era of Terrorism which has left the India as well the entire world awestruck. This carnage started from CST where indiscriminate firing was opened to all the passengers who were boarding the trains in the peak hours back home. Simultaneously, at the same time terrorists(ISLAMIC  JEHADIS) struck at 3-4 other locations in the nearby locations, one of these unlucky places were the likes of India’s First FIVE STAR hotel THE TAJ MAHAL, APPOLOBUNDER & THE OBEROI. The inmates were held hostages & the a huge firing & the grenade attacks started off.

The entire drama ran over 62hours continuously only to end with the deaths of those terrorists & a huge number of Civilians (156 as per official estimates & 20 security personnel). A wave of terror spread like the jungle fire & engulfed the entire country & also drew huge attention of International community as well. This incident has offset the impact of the global economic slowdown of the world economy  for a while, though adversely impacting the attractiveness & risk profile of India as an Investment destination for the investors who have been treading a cautious path & are taking out their invested capital from the Indian markets thus creating another bloodbath in the financial territory. The FIIs ( Foreign Institutional Investors) who had  invested over  USD52bn into the Indian markets since year 2003 till date withdrew about USD12bn to fund their home country fund requirements. The recent attacks which were more focussed on the High Profile Society & Elite of Indian Society & to the Foreign visitors, Delegates & the tourists who were staying in the above facilities or were there when militants struck the town.

These attacks have increased the risk of India as a safe Investment Destination with Higher returns & having a moderate risk profile to Moderate to High Returns with High Geo-Political risk. The markets which are mainly SENTIMENT driven will be accordingly impacted. Thus, in this scenario the responsibility of the ex-chequer has also gone up dramatically as it has not been able to deliver on multiple instances. India has been reeling under terrorist activism for over 2-2.5 decades & we have not been able to develop the capabilities to counter such Terror strikes & stop them & ultimately weed them out through their roots. India’s defence expenditure has been always in the vicinity of 2.5-3.00% for over the past few decades , but was downgraded to a mere 1.99% this year in order to build & improve rapport with our neighbours which are none but a pack of GOONS & hooligans who have found solace by doing anti-social activities in India.

In an era of Technology , Indian Security forces are still fighting the AK-47s of the militants with the age old rifles & similar artillery. An average Indian soldier/commando who is willing to risk his life & put the aspirations of his dependants at bay earns a meagre amount as salary & has the age old facilities, protective equipments like Helmets, Shoes etc. This reduction in the Budgetary allocation has fuelled a huge debate on as to how the GoI should leave the issue un-addressed. If we look at the statistics of defence expenditure worldwide , it is realized that the scale of allocations needs to be increased to much higher levels given the threats of similar magnitudes.

This terrorist attack on Mumbai has already resulted into the loss of INR 4000crores in a single day apart from the loss incurred due to the closure of the stock markets for a day which have an average turnover of over INR 32000 crores. This loss can be replicated if the authorities don’t take a note of it right away & prevent the movement of money from Indian Markets & the foreign Investments in the Indian ventures by boosting the confidence of not just investors but also that of the Tourists & other foreign dignitaries. 

Walking towards Sunlight

Project Sunlight--Unilever

 

This a very special and a unique initiative of a FMCG giant such as Unilever to impart hope to the expecting parents is a very applaudable effort. World at present is going through so many difficulties & scarcity issues, which are making us feel dwarf and human race as such. The volatility in ecosystem, the multiple wars which are being fought in the field but in the minds of everyone of us for more & more material prosperity, to stay one up, has resulted into this problem. Actually, problem is not that of the scarcity, but that of our inability to satiate our GREED.

 

People argue that if greed is killed, then there would be adverse effects on the world growth, evolution of the society shall stop, & so shall the need to make lives better. I don’t know if this argument stands 100% true, but certainly, we have bartered our mental peace in our quest for more money, prosperity, for a more relaxed & comforting lifestyle. These needs are beyond a point unnecessary, & have diminishing marginal utility. I was going through an article on the world's most richest politicians, & one of them have a fleet of 7000 cars(still counting) & one of the largest palace to live(>1mn sqft of carpet area). Why is such a lavish lifestyle driving us mad

 

Our madness in directing our endeavors to achieve more & more are leaving us mentally disrupted. Most of the professionals today, suffer from insomnia, high levels of stress, with no or minimal family life. Family life is one of the most amazing things available at one's disposal, which gives one a chance to unwind oneself with the family members. One learns many people handling skills while at the family, with different relatives having different priorities in life, but all converging to a common goal of nurturing a bigger aim of superior family value & integrity.

Reducing Lifecycles of products in Internet Economy

I am at a toy shop which is kind of moderately full with Angry Birds branded toys, games and other similar items of children. But, this presence of angry birds has reduced considerably as over last few months, when the angry birds game was a runaway success. This reduced popularity reminds me of the product obsolescence or in other words the reducing product,lifecycles in internet economy. This game Angry birds was trending big time on play store but now a days nobody seems interested in playing it forget downloading. Similar is the case, with other applications and games which seem less relevant these days,viz. Temple run, Candy Crush, Flipboard, Pulse and count goes on.

I think there is much more, to this changing behavior of users, apart from the reduction in epistemic value soon after the initial download from the app stores. The probable answer could be the fast changing internet landscape driven by
•reducing attention span of users towards any product
•inability of products to evolve themselves to keep the user engaged, the surprise factor is missing
•availability of superior me too products
•and the switching cost of these products for the users, which is presently Zero.

Thus, for any internet product company it is very important to stay relevant to the user group or built in a fan following or in other words develop a sustainable competitive advantage. There are products which have been able to extend their lifecycle, a perfect example could be Whatsapp...which kind of displaced the existing Khalifas of its domain such as BBM and other IMs. Despite multiple attempts by competition such as Wechat, line etc to displace this product, there was no,success . I don't have the correct reason for that but one reason could be the first product of its kind which is generically applicable to all operating systems, and their(Whatsapps') ability to define their competition as Traditional SMS, and not the other IMs.

These changes are accelerating every moment, and apply equally not only to the software companies but to device companies as well. It is even more difficult for the handset manufacturing OEMs where the inventory and SKU management is an uphill task. Smaller manufacturers like Micromax, Lava , Karbonn are having a tough time in bringing out the replicas of technically advanced Samsung ,Apple, Sony,HTC,Nokia devices. At the same time, these established brands have severe headache by constantly innovating themselves and command the premium and retain if not increase the market share.

With technologies like AR,ANW, driverless cars, internet balloons, the future is certainly bright and amazing for end users, but is very challenging for the OEMs who have the onus of developing the hardware to take these innovations at the door step,of the end user.

the festival called Guru Poornima!

Guru Poornima, a unique festival which is celebrated in Bharat(also India) to mark the reverence to the Holy Master/Guru/Teacher in One's life who has guided a person in difficult times, & has always stood by him as a beaming light showing the right path in life.

Today, I came across the etymology of word GURU, in Sanskrit, which is as follows:

                               गु शब्दस्तु अंधकारः स्यात् रु शब्दस्तन्निरोधकः ।
                               अंधकारनिरोधत्वात् गुरु इति अभिधीयते ॥

 

This verse says, that the word GU refers to the Darkness, whereas the latter means the barrier to the darkness. Thus Guru is one which obstructs the path of Darkness, and paves the way of disciple towards light and glory.

 

Some people say, why does one need a Guru in first place, when the entire knowledge is available in textbooks, scriptures and elsewhere. This situation is analogous to a situation, where the fruits are hanging from the tree, but are far off, and look like Oranges. Guru is the one, who bridges the gap and brings far flung fruits closer, making the disciple understand the difference between an orange and an apple at the same time. Had the Guru been absent from the entire picture, one would have never known the ways to reach to the hanging apples on the tree.

 

There are many Gurus in one's life starting from Childhood, where the kid learns the environment around him from his mother, father teaches him the ways to interact with the world. The teacher in the school makes the child educated, & socially presentable. This journey from childhood to adulthood, makes the child understand the nuances of the society, and when this citizen of society feels the need to understand and grown on spiritual level, the Adhyatmik Guru guides him to the path of perfection, and connects with the Almighty. In my view, knowingly/Unknowingly one is always guided by the Gurus in life.

 

Human life is like a big water body in night, which shines when the light of the Gyan/knowledge of Guru grace falls on water. Life is a reflection, of what one gets to understand under the able aura of revered teacher. As the moon wanes, which is nothing but digression of oneself from the teachings of the Holy master, the reflection stops, the glow, radiance in life goes away. Thus, being in line with the revered master, it is Disciple who gets the full benefit, while Guru sees to it that the shishya gains the knowledge & learning imparted to him.

 

Today, while attending a function of Guru Poornima, one of the six festivals celebrated of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the broad point highlighted was the fact that the Guru, readies the disciple for the higher goal in life, & prepares him for the increasingly challenging life that lies ahead in the journey of attaining the Superior Goal. Not Only Destination(Sadhya) is of importance, but the Sadhan(efforts and journey) to achieve that  goal is equally important. Superior Objective demands superior efforts.

 

Thus, we must pay our obeisance both in spirit and action at the feet of Holy Master  who shoulders the responsibility of taking His disciple to the perfection, through a well lit path under His able guidance.

 

HAIL THE MASTER!!!

Guru Gobind douu khade, kake laguun paaay...

Balihari Guru aapne, Gobind diyo milaay...

 

 

 

 

 

Illicit Designs of Christian Missionaries of Converting Innocent Hindus to Christianity

RSS Zila Pracharak Shri Lalji and three RSS Swayamsevaks were insulted by the Christian missionaries and later arrested by the local police when they objected to the religious programme being held at Everest English School in Padari area of Sadar Kotwali. Others who were arrested include Rajesh, Vimlesh and Om Prakash.




It has been reported that the school had taken the permission of the district administration for children’s prayer meeting to be held in its campus during Good Friday. But, interestingly, neither the children nor their parents nor any other educated persons were seen anywhere. Instead, the members of the poor Kanjar and other communities from Phaphenda, Nautanwa and other areas were brought in large number, and they were told that all their woes, sufferings and sins will disappear as soon as they wear the Cross locket and pray to Jesus for their redemption.



The Hindu organisations expressed their resentment when they learnt about the goings on in the name of religious freedom, and they even informed the police and district administration about it, but when the administration took no steps, they decided to register their protest at the school gate. No sooner did they reach there, the members of the Christian community, sensing the failure of their design, attacked this small group of protesters. But the group remained unmoved. Later, on police intervention the religious programme was stopped, but the RSS Pracharak and swayamsevaks were arrested for disrupting the proceedings. However, when lot of hue and cry was made by the Hindu protesters, they were released on bail. The programme was later conducted in the police protection, but in order to save its face the police got the whole show video-graphed, and thus the efforts of the missionaries failed for the time being.



The message spread all over very soon, and the BJP leaders, as well as the ABVP team of the district took up the matter and handed over a memorandum to the ADM Anil Kumar Mishra, which was addressed to the Governor. They demanded withdrawal of case against Hindu workers and punishment of those who were trying to allure the members of Hindu community to embrace the Catholic religion. The former BJP MP Pankaj Chowdhary, Ex-State Chief Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Prant Pracharak Shiv Murti, Zila Sangh Chalak Rama Shankar Gupta, BJP Chief Sameer Tripathi, ABVP Chief Ravi Pratap Singh, Hindu Yuva Vahini convenor Satish Singh and former BJP chief Uday Bhan Malla have all condemned these activities in the name of religious freedom, and demanded the action against those involved in all this, or else they will launch State-wide protest, they warned.



Such incidents were reported even earlier, in which the Christians infiltrating from Nagaland are meeting the poor people and trying to the befool them and allure them in different ways so that they can embrace Christianity.



The school is being run by one Akho Puro of Nagaland, and the sources say that Dr. Jonathan Ansar is the patron, financer and mastermind of the entire project of conversion in the area. He is the chief of United Christian Front, an organization dedicated to the cause of conversion in Asian countries.



Dr Jonathan Ansar is looking after over 400 churches in India, for over 27 years. During his early years as a Christian, he spent several years in the prisons of China for smuggling Bibles into China. Jonathan Ansar was born in Mumbai into an orthodox Muslim family, his original name being Sayed Ansar Hussain. But, later he converted to Christianity, and today he is one of the 47 most active evangelists in India.



Ansar planted a few churches in Burma and then he came to India in 1984 with the desire to work in the land where he was born. For two years he worked for World Islamic Evangelisation as senior advisor and preacher.



From 1986-1987 he was the chaplain of a school and priest in a church of Kashmir. Jonathan formed several churches during the period of 1987-1989 after which he became chaplain of the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab for two years. Following this he became Senior Pastor of the Christian Fellowship Centre in Bombay (1991-1993) .



His mission began in 1994 when he founded the "Revival Crusaders International" and during that year he reached 11 states of North India . In 1995 the reformed Church of India elected him to be the Bishop of India and the President of their Board of Ministers.

Re-connecting with urself...

These days , I have been feeling very left out, with so many things going on in life, such that I am not able to spare time for my ownself & contribute to my personal growth. The reasons are plenty, but to sum up, the excessive work load, & the pending family compulsions. This issue is pushing me to ponder upon a very important issue of maintaining the healthy work life balance, & connecting with yourself.

No one can be as close to you than yourself, & one must feed one's own innerself to feel nourished, & enriched. This is only possible if we give attention to our hobbies, pursue them, work out regularly, eat healthy food, try to practice spirituality, be active Socially( & not on Social Networking Sites)
When we are able to pursue extra-curricular activities, apart from our regular daily chores, then our mind will open up to a plethora of new opportunities. As i am writing these golden words, my mind has started feeling light & elated.
What has happened here is nothing but a feel good approach, & a promise, an assurance of better life if the above activities are followed. We at times are in such a hurry of completing our mundane tasks, that we forget to get our basics right. Its analogous to a situation, where a Car Driver is driving so fast & is in so much hurry that he doesn't have time to stop & re-fuel the car. Now, the question is that will the driver be able to reach his destination without fuel in the car.

Similarly, we are also blindly running towards our targets without taking cognizance of the fact of the path that we are following, forgetting the connection with our roots, not taking a pause in life to understand the real problem, which is why we are feeling so frustrated. When was the last time, when I reconnected with my friends & their families, I really don't remember. When did I give a call to my Granny who stays in the same house as mine, & spent some quality time with her.

All these things seem things which are far fetched & belong to past,(long back, even the past has also gone to a deep sleep). If we are able to keep a track of such small nitty gritties of life, then I think we shall always feel empowered & propelled towards excellence.

Narrowing Mindsets & mentalities

Today, a very weird but very insightful thing happened to me. I was travelling in BEST bus today, & was sitting on a seat reserved for Senior Citizens (where anyone can sit incase there is no senior citizen). It was a long journey so i slept off, suddenly i was woken up by a Sr. Lady asking for the seat which i immediately gave. She was with her daughter who looked very well educated & well mannered. after sometime, another elderly couple boarded the bus, & then, suddenly another old man made way for this gentleman(latter being physically weak). i observed that this well mannered girl also got a seat a bit farther from her mother. Now, there was a big noise that erupted from that region,i being on the other side,separated by a few people in between. This young girl( "well mannered") was at daggers drawn with an old lady. this girl was abusing & arguing with her in all the indecent ways possible. i later recognised that the entire fight was about some seat issue, which old lady might have asked from the girl. That old lady had stopped responding but i must commend the grit of this INDECENT girl who continuously spoke ill about the issue for about half an hour, & the height of it happened when this girl & her mom got down & she still pointed the old & much gentler lady & abused her.

This incident presents a glimpse of the narrow mindedness that our society is today fostering which is primarily due to our deteriorating ideals & value systems. How can someone fight & make a ruckus out of such a petty issue of getting a seat. everyone who is travelling in public transport boards with an aim of grabbing a seat by any means possible even to extent explained above, forgetting the point that everyone is a passenger & none is gonna take his/her seat along.
I think generosity has lost its way to petty gains like these. On one side, there is a guy who rises all by himself to give his seat to another fellow gentlemen, & on the other there is this girl who is fighting with a lady of his mother's age over the same petty seat. And, one more thing that i must mention here is that the gentlemen who rose from his seat to offer it to other person, was a bit humble, not very well to do, but the kind of courtsey that he showcased is beyond any comparisons.
Does this actually leads us to some conclusion, or it is just anotherroutine incident which makes us think & we move on, without taking cognizance of what has happened to our society , us. Has EDUCATION RUINED US, contrary to a famous Sanskrit adage,"VIDYA DADATI VINAYAM,VINYAT YAATI PATRATAAM....".
i think its, high time before we keep on ignoring these burning facts, & ultimately get to a situation of deep remorse & irreversiblity. wake up jiva....jiva jaago...