subsidy by shankar acharya

Shankar Acharya:Subsidies to perdition
A PIECE OF MY MIND
Shankar Acharya / New Delhi July 10, 2008, 0:48 IST

Recent months have seen much concern and calls for action to contain the burgeoning subsidies for food, fertilizer and fuel. For 2008/9 these subsidies are projected at 1, 2 and 3 (at least) percent of GDP, respectively (see my last column in BS, June 26). You could call it the "other" 1-2-3 agreement of the political executive! Actually, our penchant for subsidies is not a recent phenomenon. The habit is nearly six decades old and thrives despite pretty overwhelming evidence on its ruinous economic cost and general ineffectiveness. Just consider the following.

Electric Power:Subsidies for power have been a hardy perennial. Despite all kinds of executive and legislative efforts to minimise them, gross subsidies on electricity sales by state electricity boards rose to over Rs. 43,000 crore in 2007/8 or nearly one percent of GDP. Over two-thirds is accounted for by sales to agriculture and the rest is for domestic use. And what has the long history of power subsidies got us other than financially parlous power utilities, weak state finances and over-priced supply to industry and commerce? Well, the other unfortunate results include: the tortuous history of guarantees and counter-guarantees (remember Enron-Dabhol?); perennial power deficits, including a record peak power deficit of 15 percent in 2007/8; massive disruption to medium and small scale industry and commerce; over-use of groundwater and sinking water tables; and routine "load shedding" all over the country, including in the capital city of this "emerging economic super-power".

Irrigation: The second largest subsidy item in most state budgets is for irrigation water. Except for Gujarat and Maharashtra, water charges in irrigation schemes cover only a fraction of O&M costs, let alone the massive investments undertaken over decades in dams and canals. As a result, maintenance is poor and the irrigation potential of existing schemes is seriously under-utilised. Combined with sinking water tables, much of Indian agriculture is subject to water stress, leading to low productivity and weak growth. And, as we all know, these problems are hitting home this year through higher inflation.

Urban Water Supply: Under-pricing and subsidies are rampant here as well. Unlike in most of the world, Indian cities and towns are unable to supply water from the mains 24x7. Water and sanitation utilities are chronically under-financed, under-repaired and under-invested. The well-to-do invest in tanks and pumps to solve the supply problems and filter/boil to improve quality. Slum-dwellers are lucky if they can access piped sources and still suffer the health hazards of contamination. Many buy water from "informal" water-sellers at high prices. So, most of the subsidy goes to the rich and middle classes.

Fertilizers:Another hardy perennial in India's subsidy jungle, this one is borne by the central budget and is mostly focused on urea. Despite the recommendations of a long and distinguished lineage of "High-Powered Committees", the price-control-cum-subsidy regime has persisted. So has the severe damage to soil quality from over-use of nitrates relative to potassium and phosphates. It has also discouraged new investment, with hardly any new capacity being created in the last 20 years. This leads to serious problems in periods of global scarcity, as at present.

Higher Education:Public universities and related institutions subsist on government subsidies, since absurdly low fees have not been revised in several decades. The predictable results have been inexorable decline in physical infrastructure and the quality of faculty. The problems are compounded by caste-based reservations. The rich have opted out of the system and send their youngsters to foreign universities (charging fees many multiples higher) or a small number of private, "non-profit" institutions. The less well-off have no option. Reform has been blocked by vested interests and misguided political leadership. Overall, the system is in crisis and bodes ill for India in this knowledge-based century.

Petroleum Products: The story of the huge oil subsidies needs no retelling. Aside from the massive damage to public sector oil companies and ballooning fiscal deficits, the price-subsidy structure is encouraging excessive "dieselization" of the economy, rampant adulteration of diesel with even cheaper kerosene (with resultant damage to the environment) and delayed adjustment to the inevitable.

Foodgrains:Arguably, the PDS-related food subsidy has had some successes, especially in its early years, in enhancing consumption and welfare of the urban poor. But, as the PDS administration has worsened over time (in step with the general administration), diversion, pilferage, mis-targeting and other forms of leakage have mounted. In any case, the distribution system only works moderately effectively in perhaps five states, which exclude the poorest and most populous, such as UP and Bihar.

There are many other examples. But the general point is clear enough. Some of India's worst performing sectors are those marked by the witches' brew of public supply, price controls and subsidies. It's impossible to think of a major sector with high subsidies which is performing well. In sharp contrast, just consider some of India's best performing sectors such as IT, telecom, pharmaceuticals, auto components, two-wheelers and entertainment (TV, films, etc.). None of these rely on subsidies. Most of the Indian manufacturing sector depended on "subsidies" of a different kind for several decades up to the early 1990s. High tariffs and import controls protected manufacturing units from cheaper imports and the Indian consumer paid the "subsidy" through inflated prices for domestic manufactures. As trade protection was gradually and systematically reduced throughout the next 15 years, these "subsidies" disappeared. Indian industry didn't collapse. On the contrary, it became much more efficient, resilient and dynamic. Again the lesson is clear: wean sectors off their subsidy crutches and they perform much better.

The different histories of two infrastructure sectors, power and telecom, is also instructive. The prolonged history of a subsidy culture (and virtual state monopoly over distribution) ensured the permanent semi-crisis in India's electric power sector. In contrast, the equally long-standing telecom public monopoly was not associated with a subsidy culture (except for a limited number of netas and babus). So, when the sector was opened up in the mid-1990s to private players and new mobile technologies, there was no burden of a subsidy culture blocking its progress. And we have all benefited from the astonishing growth and technical change ushered in by Indian entrepreneurs and companies in this key infrastructure sector.

The lesson is clear: subsidies (usually linked to public provision) pave the road to perdition. If we want to rescue India's poorly-performing sectors, we have to free up prices, phase out subsidies and allow free entry. It has worked before. It will work again.

The author is Honorary Professor at ICRIER and former Chief Economic Adviser to Government of India.

The Purpose of Life is a LIFE OF PURPOSE

A View About Life

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Don't let the cups drive you... Enjoy the coffee instead

Elephant and Fly

A disciple and his teacher were walking through the forest. The disciple was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest.

He asked his teacher: "Why most people's minds are restless, and only a few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?"

The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said:
"I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came, flying and buzzing near his ear. The elephant waved it away with his long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant waved it away once more".

This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly:
"Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can't you stay for a while in one place?"

The fly answered: "I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses pull me constantly in all directions and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?"

The elephant stopped eating and said:
"My five senses do not rule my attention. Whatever I do, I get immersed in it. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I rule and control my attention, and not the other way around."

Upon hearing these words, the disciple's eyes opened wide and a smile appeared on his face. He looked at his teacher and said:
"I understand! If my five senses are in control of my mind and attention, then my mind is in constant unrest. If I am in charge of my five senses and attention, then my mind becomes calm".

"Yes, that's right", answered the teacher, " The mind is restless and goes wherever the attention is. Control your attention, and you control your mind".

An Employer's Consciousness

A person had an extremely devoted servant. One day, a pen accidentally slipped from the hand of the servant. It fell to the ground and broke. The man got very upset and said, "See what you have done? This pen was presented to me by a dear friend." The servant did not say anything. He went out and started to clean the hallway. He was extremely saddened about what had happened.

A little later, the man called the servant in. He held his servant's hand and said, "You serve me well with all your ability. I could not live without your help. Today, for a small mistake, I became so angry. Please forgive me."

The servant was dumbfounded. What was his 'master' saying! He was surprised and said, "Babu, I made a mistake. You were right in getting angry at me."

The master's eyes were filled with tears. With great difficulty, he said, "I will not let go of you unless you forgive me." Hearing his master's words made the servant's heart heavy, and he started to weep like a child. He wiped the tears from his master's eyes and said, "Babu, please do not be sorry. I forgive you."

The 'master' was the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and the servant was Sita Ram. Needless to say, the relation between them was like a father and son.

The Rules of Being Human

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will
be yours for the entire period.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in an informal school
called Life. Each day in this school, you will have the opportunity
to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant
and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial
and error. Experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a
part of the process as the experiment
that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to
you in various forms until you have learned it. You can then go on
to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does
not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be
learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here." When your "there" has become
a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look
better than "here."

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate
something about another person unless it reflects something you
either love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools
and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The
choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to Life's questions lie
inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Sai Baba

I feared by UNKNOWN

I feared being alone Until I learned to like Myself.

I feared failure Until I realized that I only Fail when I don't try.

I feared success Until I realized That I had to try In order to be
happy With myself.

I feared people's opinions Until I learned that People would have
opinions About me anyway.

I feared rejection Until I learned to Have faith in myself.

I feared pain Until I learned that it's necessary For growth.

I feared the truth Until I saw the Ugliness in lies.

I feared life Until I experienced Its beauty .

I feared death Until I realized that it's Not an end, but a beginning.

I feared my destiny, Until I realized that I had the power to change
My life.

I feared hate Until I saw that it Was nothing more than Ignorance.

I feared love Until it touched my heart, Making the darkness fade
Into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule Until I learned how To laugh at myself.

I feared growing old Until I realized that I gained wisdom every day.

I feared the future Until I realized that Life just kept getting
Better.

I feared the past Until I realized that It could no longer hurt me.

I feared the dark Until I saw the beauty Of the starlight.

I feared the light Until I learned that the Truth would give me
Strength.

I feared change , Until I saw that Even the most beautiful butterfly
Had to undergo a metamorphosis Before it could fly.

You Never Know by Sri Sri

You Never know
how And When
The Existence Will Start
Using You For Its Purpose

You Never Know
How And When
You Will Be Filled With
Abundance
And You Will Start Raining
Quenching The Thirst of Many

You Never Know
How And When
You Will Be Full Of
Fruits And Shade
And Travelers Will Take
Shelter And Food From You

You Never Know
How And When
You Will Be Full With
Love And Light
And You Will Start Spreading
The Fragrance of Beauty To Everyone

You Never Know
How And When
The Death Will Come
And Make You Deathless
And Life Will Start
Flowing Out Of You

You Never Know
How & When....Really !

~Sri Sri

Water wars again and again

Part 6: Friendly Conclusion ( final)

Sometimes it takes a small talk with a friend to trigger an event that gave me the courage to write in a blog. So thanks to my Friend. So here is the previour part 5: Lessons from US.
To those who want read from the beginning, here is Part1

It does not make difference who gets the credit as long India and Indians are benefited, of course it is politicacally imperative for sonia Gandhi to give importance to her family. Though I cannot avoid, I have to mention Media is biased and we give proper credit to people who deserve.

There are lot of problems facing India and we need a good leaders to solve them.
1) India's total debt is at 770 bn ( whole of India is 1000 Billion USD loan) somebody is going to pay this bill
2) Becoz of poor power supply and transportation, most of the business is in middle of a city . making properties very costly, Inflating the land prices and out of reach even middle class families. If you compare this with US, US has very low land inflation till 2003 for most regions outside, SFO, LA, NY and Miami City. becoz of good suburban roads.
For every million rupees spent, roads raised 335 people above the poverty line, and R&D 323. Every million rupees spent on education reduced poverty by 109 people, and on irrigation by 67 people. The lowest returns came from subsidies that are the most popular with politicians - subsidies on credit (42 people), power (27 people) and fertilisers (24 people).

3) Development of transportation can develop suburbans and reduce land prices
4) 60-70% of Indians can only be employed in low skill factory jobs. We need massive industrialisation and large factories
5) we need Capital account convertibility, India will be easily able to export its inflation becoz of its size and depth. http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=315201

6) Government needs to stick itself to Security, foriegn policy ,law and order, without interfering much in economics.
7) Whenever Inflation increases, it means somebody is missing their food, shelter, so RBI should stick to manage Interest rates and not worry about acccumlating foriegn currency or managing sovereign wealth
8)Whenever fiscal deficit decreases, it leads long time system stability ( no major skew by govt expenditure)
9) Technology is always welcome
10).

Notes:
- Government is always powerful. never mind what freedom you think you have.
- The total Global (world wealth at current technology) GDP is around 50Bn USD and USA is 12Bn USD. There is 300 Million People in US. that is 40,000 USD per US citizen. India has 1.1 Bn, to reach US standard of living of 40k USD, Indian economy has to grow from Current 1 Trillion to 40.4 trillion for current living population. India was 300 Billion in 1991, it took us 16 yrs to treble to 1trillion. At current growth rate it will take us atleast 45 yrs to reach 40 trillion, and in these 45 yrs, India population will be 2bn atleast. so it will take us 100 yrs to reach current US standard of life. ( note: We do not know where US will be in 100 yrs.)

So, India and Indians needs lot of luck just to survive.

Further reading

1)A tale to gladden the heart of economic liberals
2)Battling the babu raj

Part 5:- As it is in US

Previous Part 4: PC & BJP

in 1992 US economy was $4trillion and when Bill clinton become president, he tightened govt expenditure and reduced its debts to zero, by the end of 2000 US economy was $10 trillions.
It is like your income growing from $100k to 250k in 8 yrs. Not only yours but all of the people, you know. But once the current govt came in 2000 and started spending and deficit increased economy grow from 10 to 13 tns in 8 yrs. Note US can export its inflation becoz of trade is in dollars. Like it can print more dollars and let foreign countries accumlate them. India can do same thing becoz of its size.

The current news ( feb-2008) is US inflation is 7%, it is related to Iraqi surge of 30k troops, who needs additional clothes, food, shelter, equipments and so ..on from the mainland, Note in 2003 ,when the war started , US was in recession and the economy grew out of that stimulated has war created. but in 2006 economy is strong but the politically correct surge, created high inflation. If not for surge, US might have had a soft landing becoz of housing problem.

Next : Part 6 Friendly Conclusion

Part 4: P Chidambaram and BJP

Read Part 3 here

in 1997 PC did what is called a dream budget, what he did is simple but profound

1) he reduced government expenditures
2) he reduced Government revenue

by cutting taxes across the board and led a tight government for next 2 yrs

Luckily for India, BJP govt for next 6 yrs did the same thing, no populist measures.Yashwant Sinha under Chandrasekhar govt was the original architect of fiscal discpline. During the same period from 1997-2002, the GDP growth was only 4% , it is becoz Indian government was always mover/spender in economy but here government is cutting itself down. Poverty also fell faster becoz inflation was also very low around 3-6% during these last 12 yrs. it proves that low inflation in western countries like 1-2% is also the reason for their very low steady poverty. (Assuming Population growth is also below 2-3%. During 1950-1962, India experienced similar growth)

In 2003, Poverty rate touched like 25% way down from 50-60% seen in 80's. Jaswant Singh Introduced two important laws one for tough laws for capturing non-performing loans of banks and two to refinance the state governments old debts, low inflation rate led to low interest rates, indeed some of the state government borrowed "hundred" crores in 1970's at 30-40% interest rate and it was still paying for in 2001. Govt in 2001 introduced $5bn USD bond and cut interest payments and freed additional funds of state governments by 60-80%.

This led to more funds for state governments, so govts borrowed even less and that means banks had more money from both loan recovery and less govt borrowing. Banks also did VRS , which improved their productivity. this led to robust growth rate of 8% from 2003, this is driven by people taking loans from banks to finance homes, cellphones, cars ...etc. thereby creating more employment and low inflation.

NEXT As it is in US government

Part3 :101 Basic current economies

Part2: Why I disagreed with my friends

Before I can go to next 3 articles, I need to mention Basic economies on which India, and USA and most of the world is operating and what they mean. They are 4 important pillars in a free market economy

1st one is of course government, do you know what is your biggest monthly expenditure? It is financing the government thru income tax and all other taxes you buy when you eat, shop, see movies. Government is the richest and is the Emperor of the village. US govt is the Monarch of all these emperors

2nd most important is Inflation. there are lot of concepts of Inflation, but when you hear the word inflation ,it always means two things

- Government is spending more than others ( this is the true meaning of inflation)
- price are not stables, that means people who live on the borders, have to provide more for food or shelter , that means people are going to become poor.
Indeed it can proven mathematical at stable price and stable price increase ( say 1%) , poverty rate falls faster.

Tools to control inflation are a) interest rates, govt squeezes peoples spending b) capitail convertability or floating the currency, you export your inflation like US is doing to gulf countries/Indian Outsourcing firms/China

3rd most important is called fiscal deficit in India or balanced budget in USA/most other countries
- When Government borrows, as it is soveriegn , it gets the most money and it skews the whole systems
and when government spends , it skews the systems , for eg if government decides to buy a mobile phone, it buys them in millions (and not one or two like in a family ) that means a million "similar" lcd display, million "similar" keys, million "similar" sim cards and are all going to be required over night, that is going to create a major shortage and short term price hike or inflation in that particular product lines. compare it to million or even 1000 of people/organizations, it will all be different. Some go for style , some for features, some for price, increasing depth of the market.


4th most effective tool in current economic situation to remove poverty as been technology, indeed technology has played the greatest leveling factor in poverty allevation across centuring. Technology has been often replaced by words like education and militrary power,

But Government is always poor follower of technology, Being a behemoth , it is never nimble to advance/exploit technology. Technology is best exploited by risk takers, individuals, private enterprise. As you can see, In Regimes of less freedom, generally dictators pay the price for poor technology.
like USSR failed to convert their technology and had high poverty
while Saudi arabia,Iran has no new technology and has high poverty , unemployment inspite of record exports
while the reverse is true in korea, singapore, australia
Even china is no front runner in exploiting new technology nowadays.

NEXT :part 4 PC and BJP

Part2 : Why I disagreed with My Friend

Part 1: Angst With a close friend

Manmohan singh is through professional. being economist in Government , most of his reforms was in government Economics.

During 1991-96 period ,
- opening of India to FDI and FII and more importantly NRI accounts Foreign Currency relaxed( individual can have 7 yrs foreign currency account w/o tax)
and current account convertibility ( an individual who stayed abroad for 6 mnths can convert his foriegn currency to any other foriegn currency or use it to buy any foreign property)
- Export & Import control relaxed and customs duty relaxed
- complete removal of license raj, industrial laws
- Monopolies Restrications (MRTPC) was changed to allow to companies to consolidate ( in the case of HLL, India become of the export hub employing many many more people in multiple shifts)
- Major slashes in Income tax, corporate tax, excise and customs duties.

Major achievements was
- GDP growth picked up 6%
- Foreign currecny reserve crossed $30Bns
- exports/imports increased
- IT sector started growing
- Disinvestment in public sector to make up for loss in above taxes

Major failures
- High inflation around 15%
- poverty rate was still around 50%
- no reforms in non-economic arena like industries,land laws, agricultural,transportation, labor laws, judicial laws, election reforms

As a footnote, ManMohan singh after his term as a Governor of RBI, took charge of finance adviser for BARC and DRDO before he become the finance minister, it is that experience that helped garb the INDO-US nuclear deal. and he knows that he is doing a historic accord.


Part3:-Next 101 Basic current economies

Part1: Angst with a close friend

Recently on a dinner outage with a close friend, he mentioned that it is Rajiv Gandhi government which introduced economic refroms in India (I thought he really sounded like Sonia Gandhi ). it was a such a shock for me as he is from India and he lived in India as a teenager under Rajiv's rule and he has in college during Manmohan-Narasimha Rao stewardship. Unfortunately he is not only guy who said such things about India govts before 1991 , I heard things like that when Indira Gandhi nationalised banks, it helped poor people. ( joke is less than 35% of todays Indians have banks accounts and even in those nationalised banks, private sector IT employees had difficulties openings bank accounts 10 yrs back. Indira Gandhi nationalised banks and Insurance becoz it allowed govt borrow money at their low interest rates). My friends and others comment made think that I atleast attempt to correct this wrong so I decided to write about 6 part article on economics

Before 1991 reforms , following is the economic conditions in India
- Foreign Currency control ( all persons have to surrender foreign currency on landing in India) and that also means no FDI and FII investments
- there is passport and visa restrications/advanced permissions requirements for foreign travel
- Export control ( nothing can be exported without Govt permission)
- Import control ( nothing can be Imported without Govt permission)
- Production control ( govt thru excise duty controls how much product is produced like there is always a shortage of RIN, surf or kwality/Arun ice creams before 1990, like for eg. no more than 100 bars of RIN can be produced per day per factory)
- Monopolies Restrications (MRTPC) for example HLL owned RIN,SURF, lakme, fair and lovely they are different companies, leading to low hourly wages, poor distribution of managerial skills and so on
- Most of the jobs were in Govt and public sector
- tought labor laws mean very few recruitments and also layoffs
- License raj, govt permission required to start any business
- Small scale industries reservations, many products were reserved for small scale industries.
- Banks hardly lend to public, people bought houses on their savings or thru employee thrift funds
- Money lenders profited
- restrications of export mean among others gold, foriegn currency were smuggled illegally and it led to the development of Mafia in Bombay thru the Gulf-singapore route
-Ration shops thru Food corp of India bougth most of the rice and wheat meant that 80% of India which "still" has no ration shops faced food shortage and increased poverty. (Govt created poverty and food shortages thru ration shops)

- Inflation was 15% during Rajiv Gandhi period ( slighlty better than 20% during post-1962 period)
- GDP Growth was 8% ( but average for 1950-1991 is still 3%)
- Income tax was very high around 55%
- Poverty rate was close to 60%
- Foriegn Debt went from 15Bn USD to 75 bn USD ( that eventually led to 1990/1 foriegn current crisis on account of US invasion of Iraq)

and so on it is such a pain to even write about all these. None of these changed till Manmohan singh was appointed as Finance Minister

What Rajiv Gandhi really did are and succeeded
- New Education policy - which led to private colleges and good quality Navodaya schools
- Telecom policy - Govt relaxed export of electronic goods , which allowed BSNL and MTNL to export routers, switches and fiber cables, which led to a dawn of digital telephone in India
- Computerization of Government, his government favored computerization of government ( note there is no support for private sector)
- Panchayati Raj introduction
- Consumer act law
- His government prepared papers of election reforms, judicial reforms, education reforms, Labor reforms, liberalsation reforms, privatisation reforms, globalization reforms.( BUT he IMPLEMENTED NONE in spite of having 400 MPS in Lok sabha)

Where Rajiv Gandhi really failed
- He and his govt slept thru collapse of communism ( compare to Nehru or even Indira)
- Bofors - his failure is not in bofors corruption, but after exporting bofors guns, he cancelled all business deal with bofors, resulting in those guns having no bombs, those guns one of the best in mountain terrains like kashmir lived empty for over 13 yrs before kargil forced the govt to buy the bombs from Israel for emergency and then from Bofors
- HDW submarine, HDW is a West Germany company which was building submarines in bombay with transfer of technology to India, but becoz of bofors and another round of corruption accustions, Govt cancelled the contract. HDW packed up. The end result even after 23 yrs, India has no capability to build submarine even today.
- Having huge majority in parliament , he did not go ahead with 33% women reservation nor he allowed pachayats to raise their own tax.

MY next article will be " Part 2:- Why I disagreed with My Friend" It will be in general in What Manmohan singh did and did not achieve during 1991-96

Touching Video

Love , Respect and Why I dislike socialism and Communism

If Love is a river which it should be , everflowing , than respect is the banks. where the bank breaks, river disappears. Respect is always earned and has never been given free. Respect is always earned, when a human or humans show their skills and IMPROVES on it. Improvement or progress is the keyword. That is exceed the expectations by setting expectations.Nobody expects anything from a lazy person. Not much from a poor person. Poor deserves sympathy or compassion but not friendship.
Former soviet union is a great example many russians`are extremely skilled in maths and science but when they are paid same as poor peasants , innovation died. poverty rose and USSR collapse.Similarly in a family, if skilled and hard working persons are not respectd in a family, that family/society falls into poverty. Indeed many rich families in the 2nd generations fall into poverty with poor skills, as they spend more money and time on luxury and lavish parties. Downside of this higher respect for earning member are mother-in-law vs Daughter-in-law fight. When both of them have low skills, low confidence creeps in with gossip, jealousness and lazy,sloppy house work, they definitely pick up more fight. if among them, when one of them is hardworking, earning and creative. things eventually turn out to be different. Hardwork is a attitude, those who are dedicated to what they do, will do anywork and achieve higher skills. they tend to have higher self-confidence and will always turn out to be lucky.

Socialism and communism even though favors work, they discourage initiative, individualism.Love and respect are very individualistic, it is very difficult love everybody, even more difficult to respect people, you may appreciate people but hardly you can respect them

Even though Roger federer lost in 2008 Aus. openSemifinals, his skill, style and power is more due to his hardwork and the dedication. History is full of lessons but Many Many people refuse to believe and accept that hardwork alone (even w/o money) will make one eventually a skilled, happy, rich person and well respected.

Fragrance of love

Go not to temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the fragrance of love.

Go not to temple to light earthen vessel before the
altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart.

Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen.

Go not to temple to pray on bended knee,
First bend down to lift someone who is down trodden.

Go not to temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,

First forgive from your heart those who have sinned
against you.

Rabindranath Tagore

Wisdom

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster.

He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life.

He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"

So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer..... $ 2.00
Knowing where to ......... $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

One more of my Favorite

Copied from Sulekha - Dimwit

These are great thoughts, I want to keep it for chewing...

Skewed Economics

*Value: As defined and included in the GDP of a nation.

If economics drives a nation’s policies, and the goal is to increase the GDP year over year, then guess where value is going to come from?

A tree that stands and nurtures the environment, has no economic value. As soon as an axe cuts it down, it is assigned value.

The grass, the flowers, the plants and all those organic things that make a park for leisure have no economic value. The concrete pavement and the tarred road have value. The buildings, and even parking garages that take over these parks have tremendous value.

Mass produced agricultural produce, transported over great distance, sometimes frozen and then unfrozen for sale, with serious loss of nutrition – has value. Freshly picked produce from a kitchen garden, replete with nutrition – has no value.

Fresh groundwater laboriously filled by the villagers at the well, and then carted home in earthen pots has no economic value. Chlorinated water delivered at your home tap has value.

Solar powered homes reduce consumption of sold electricity, therefore lower GDP. Nuclear plants built to generate electricity add value. Dams and reservoirs that destroy natural landscape add value.

Oil generation has value. Environment destruction in the extraction process is not debited.

Oil traded and used has value. Environment pollution caused by its use is not debited.

A homemaker working at home has no economic value. If she crosses the street and works at another home, there is value.

Mother’s milk has no economic value. Baby formula has value.

Sperm donation, that requires masturbation, is paid for and therefore adds to the GDP. Egg donation, that requires body-invading procedure – it’s illegal to be paid for.

Safe driving has no economic value. A car crash acquires value.

A healthy child has no economic value. A sick one who needs medical care acquires value.

A home cooked meal has no economic value. Packaged and processed food, and restaurant or fast food has value.

A hand made card, a home made gift, a poem written in love, a basket of fresh fruit from your own fruit trees or wildflowers picked from a field have no economic value. Teddy bears stuffed with god-knows what, cheesy greetings written by strangers and printed on a card, sugar laden chocolatey treats, and flowers cut and packaged in plastic acquire value. Guess which one is promoted?

Peace has no value. War generates value - arms production, destruction, and regeneration. Especially war that is waged far away from one’s own country (thereby causing no stoppage of work domestically that could result in loss of value) adds great value to the GDP.

I wonder what it means when a country says that their GDP has increased. I seriously don't know whether to congratulate them or not anymore.

My Friday Story

Life~anonymous~As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will.
You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time.
You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.

You'll fight with your best friend.
You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast,
and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much,
and love like you've never been hurt
because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

State has a duty to stop conversions to maintain public order—Justice K.T. Thomas

Text of the sixth Rev. Dr. Stanley Samartha Memorial Lecture

State has a duty to stop conversions to maintain public order—Justice K.T. Thomas
(Justice K.T. Thomas, retired in 2002 as a Justice in the Supreme Court. He has delivered a lecture on conversions in a programme organised by the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD). The audience comprised essentially of christian clergy and intellectuals. The programme was held in the main cathedral in Bangalore. Justice Thomas’ speech was really a bold and forthright one.)

Whenever mass conversions took place from Hindus to Budhisim, I never heard even a whisper of criticism. But when conversion of even a small group took place from Hindus to Christians or to Islam, the critics raised their voice, sometimes the criticism became strident and even aggressive on the allegation that such conversions were brought about by allurement, if not by fraudulent methods.

Why conversions from Hinduism to Budhism or Jainism or even Sikhism never created any problem in India. Because they are Indian originated religions. But the problem arose only when such conversion is made from Hindu religion to Christianity, Islam or Jewish religion. They are counted as Semitic religions.

Fundamentally Hindu religion did not believe in proselytization. In this connection it will be interesting to read the words of Mahatma Gandhi when he said as early as 19th January 1928 (He was then addressing an assembly of delegates from different religions)...

This was a subject of fume and sensitivity. A few years ago when some of the states proposed to pass legislation banning conversion, then it became a topic of debate in public places and also in the columns of the print media. When Jayalalitha government of Tamil Nadu proposed to bring such a legislation, a lot of protests were aired by Christians. At a later stage, she agreed to retrace the step for reasons not disclosed.

Whenever mass conversions took place from Hindus to Budhisim, I never heard even a whisper of criticism. But when conversion of even a small group took place from Hindus to Christians or to Islam, the critics raised their voice, sometimes the criticism became strident and even aggressive on the allegation that such conversions were brought about by allurement, if not by fraudulent methods.

Why conversions from Hinduism to Budhism or Jainism or even Sikhism never created any problem in India. Because they are Indian originated religions. But the problem arose only when such conversion is made from Hindu religion to Christianity, Islam or Jewish religion. They are counted as semitic religions. They are also called Abrahamic religions as the common primogenitor for all those religions was Abraham (also called Ibrahim in Arabic). We can conveniently leave out Jewish religion as no recorded instance could be pointed out when somebody had converted from Hinduism to Jewish religion. When I refer to conversion, it may be understood as conversion either to Christianity or Islam.

I remember four different occasions when conversion from Hindu religion was raised as a political or legal question. First, when the Indian Constitution was made. Second was in 1956 when Justice Niyogi Commission report was published containing a recommendation that foreign missionaries shall be banned in India and also to impose statutory restrictions against conversion. The third occasion was in 1967-68 when the Congress governments of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh passed legislations imposing penal provisions against conversion by allurement and fraud. The fourth was in the recent past when some of the BJP state governments and the AIDMK government in Tamil Nadu brought similar legislations.

Many Christians believe that Jesus Christ issued a mandate to convert all people to Christianity. In support of this, the scriptural sentence often quoted is Chapter. 28-19 of the gospel according to Mathew: “Therefore go ye into all the I!; . world and make all people my disciples and baptise them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit”.

The Christians appear to believe that they can afford to ignore or disobey the rest of the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ relating to social justice, but they should implicitly follow the mandate of conversion because it would result in increase the strength of Christian population.

We must remember that no legislation has imposed any restriction on conversion if it is done by one’s own free will. Conversion was made an offence in the Orissa Act and also in the MP Act, if such conversion is brought out by others through compulsion, allurement, force or fraud. I remember the furor created then by the church. The validity of those Acts was challenged before the High Courts concerned and lastly in the Supreme Court. When it reached the Supreme Court, the case was heard by a Constitution bench (minimum 5 Judges). One of the Judges who heard that case was a Muslim by name Justice M.H. Beg. The decision of the Supreme Court came to be reported as Rev. Stanslavos Vs. State. The five Judge bench examined the validity of different (provisions of the legislations and held that none of the provisions is unconstitutional. Even before the Constitution came into force, conversion by persuasion was objected by many Hindu leaders. Conversion was an irritant in Indian society, as almost all conversions were from Hindus to other religions and not vice-versa.

This is because fundamentally Hindu religion did not believe in proselytization. In this connection it will be interesting to read the words of Mahatma Gandhi when he said as early as 19th January 1928 (He was then addressing an assembly of delegates from different religions). “I came to the conclusion long ago, after prayerful research and discussion with as many people as I could meet, that all religions were true, and also that all had some error in them; and that, whilst I hold my own religion, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism from which it logically follows that we should hold all as dear as our nearest kith and kin, and make no distinction between them. So, we can only pray if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu, or if we are Mussalmans not that a Hindu or a Christian should become a Mussalman, nor should we even secretly pray that anyone should be converted; our inmost prayer should be that a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, and a Christian a better Christian. I would not only not try to convert but would not even secretly pray that anyone should embrace my faith” .

This was a very unambiguous stand of Mahatma Gandhi whose adoration and admiration of Lord Jesus Christ was convincingly much higher than majority of Christians themselves.

The right to freedom of conscience is enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution as a fundamental right. It is a right conferred not only on the citizens of India, but on all persons. The article says “All persons are equally entitled to freedom of ‘: conscience, and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion”. We ; must remember that the word “propagate” was added to the Article by the Constituent Assembly after heated deliberations. Some persons opposed it on the ground that no secular Republic should allow it. According to them, propagating one religion involves propagating against another religion which could give rise to bitterness and communal hostility. Hence, a permission to propagate religion may sometimes lead to hysterical outbursts. The trend of the debate in the Constituent Assembly shows that if the word “propagate” was not included as part of the Fundamental Rights, religious freedom as for Christians might remain only a mirage. It is interesting to note that it was Sardar Vallabhai Patel who strongly pleaded for inclusion of the word “propagate”. When the turn of Kulapathi K.M. Munshi came (he was the founder of Bharateeya Vidya Bhavan and also one of the greatest legal luminaries of India) he spoke like this:

”I know it was on this word ‘propagate’ that the Indian Christian community laid the greatest emphasis, not because they wanted to convert people aggressively, but because the word ‘propagate’ was fundamental part of their tenet. Even if the word were not there, I am sure, under the Freedom of Speech which the Constitution guarantees it will be open to any religious community to persuade other people to join their faith. So long as religion is religion, conversion by free exercise of the conscience has to be recognised”

K. Santhanam who was a renowned Constitutional expert of that time spoke like this: I quote:-”A good deal of injustice would be done to the great Christian community in India if we delete the word propagate. After all propagation is merely Freedom of Expression. I would like to point out that the word ‘convert’ is not there. Mass conversion was a part of the activities of the Christian Missionaries in this country and great objection has been taken by the people to that. Those who drafted this Constitution have taken care to see that no unlimited right of conversion had been given. People have freedom of conscience, then well and good, no restrictions can be placed against it. But if any attempt is made by one religious community or another to have mass conversions through undue influence either by money or by pressure or by other means, the State has every right to regulate such activity. Therefore, I submit to you that this article, as it is, is not so much an article ensuring freedom, but toleration - toleration for all, irrespective of the religious practice or profession”.

When the word ‘propagate’ was finally included as part of the religious freedom, the word ‘convert’ was deliberately avoided. What is the extent of the right to propagate? Does it include the right to propagate that your religion is faulty and my religion alone is perfect? Can it be permitted to propagate that, if only you follow my religion, you will enter into Heaven, but if you remain in your religion you might land up in Hell. Here comes the role of religious obscurantist. A religious fundamentalist believes that his religion alone is the right religion and all other religions are erroneous if not fake. As a religious pedantic he may be entitled to believe so but he cannot be allowed to propagate it for two reasons.

First is that, his belief that another religion is wrong is based on his ignorance about that other religion. According to me, he is ignorant of his own religion. If he knew of his own religion well, he would have realised that no religion is perfect in itself. Metropolitan Philippose Chrysostum, one of the most profound thinkers on religious pluralism, whose perorations could keep any audience to spell bound attention, once said that “Multiplicity of religion is a gift of God. It is because of other religions that imperfections of one religion can be replenished”. Akbar the Great decided to form a new religion by collecting different principles from different religions. The name of the new religion was “Din lIahi”. It was a bold experiment made by a great secularist monarch. But unfortunately, that religion died out with the death of the emperor. Is it not a stark truth that no religion in the world is perfect by itself.

Let us take the case of Christian religion. What we have is only a very small portion of the vast area of teachings and preaching made by Jesus Christ. We have only what has been recorded in the four small books called gospels. The last gospel writer St. John had said in categorical terms that if what all Jesus said and did were recorded, the whole world could not hold them in books. Do you require more proof to show that Christian religion, as we know it now, is quite imperfect because, we know only a fraction of what Jesus himself said and did.

Based on such a truncated portion, if somebody propagates that Christianity is a perfect religion then you are going against the very gospel precept.

Second is, if every religious preacher is allowed to speak that the other religion is wrong or fake, one can imagine the explosive situation which would be created by such propaganda. Religion has a tendency to erupt hysterical reactions. I have observed that this tendency is more acute among people following Semitic or Abrahamic religions. In all communal riots recorded in history at least one of the sides has been an Abrahamic religion. So a permission to propagate that your religion is inferior to my religion, if not to the extent of saying that your religion is fake, such propagation is very likely to stimulate fury and frenzy. That would snowball into creation of fertile soil for communal riots.

In this context, we must remember that, the right to religious freedom has been conferred in Article 25 of the Constitution by giving greater importance to public order, morality and health and also to the other provisions of the Constitution.

This can be discerned from the initial words of that Article (subject to public order, morality and health etc. all persons are entitled to freedom of religion). Thus public order, morality and health will override religious freedom. In other words, greater importance is given to public order, morality and health. If religious freedom is exercised in such manner as to endanger public order then it is the duty of the state to stop it.

A Great person

If you want happiness...

M S Swaminathan - Hero

From :- Gitanjali

oh life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure,
knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.

I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts,
knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.

I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my love in flower,
knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inner most shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions,
knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.

Rabindra Nath Tagore

I know Nothing of VEDAS

Mumbai as an IFC

Key recommendations of Mistry committee
-Full capital account convertibility by 2008-end
-Eliminate securities transaction tax by 2007 and stamp duties by 2008
-Open up purchase of rupee-denominated debt instruments issued by the government to all buyers
-Focus monetary authority exclusively on single task of managing key short-term 'base rate' by 2009-10
-Set up independent public debt management office by 2009
-hift financial regulatory regime from rules-based regulation to principles-based regulation by 2011
-Permit unrestricted entry of well-known global accounting firms operating in IFCs/GFCs by 2008
-Transfer all regulation/supervision of any type of organised financial trading to SEBI by 2008

Other side of Micro finance

I like Micro finance and is one of my interest, I found this on the web, the other side of microfinance, keeping for future reference

Awareness

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."-- Albert Einstein

Atham pathinnu Thiruonam

Maveli nadu vaneedum kalam Manusharellarumonnupole...Kallvumilla chatiyumilla..ellolamilla polivachanam..
[When Mahabali was ruling country, every human beings were equal.There was no theft; no cheating, no not even a word of lie by anybody..]

Today is Chingam onnu and also Hatham nakshtra ( Leo 1st and moon constellation)

Mahabali is the supreme embodiment of strength and Kindness.

Mahabali was a very good example for kindness, humbleness, human loving nature beneficial to the society and oneself and many more :It is said that he lived in Kerala; . Mahabali was an Asura(which valued Tanta and Yoga); The fight – should I do it or shouldn't I; Should I be good, or bad etc must have been present inside that great individual who stood against the common social flow of selfishness and became a real individual; During this season, The beauty of Kerala comes to mind. I love Onam, Mahabali and Kerala.

Conceit

One day a famous government officer met a highly respected elderly master. Being conceited, he wanted to prove that he was the superior person.As their conversation drew on, he asked the master, "Old monk, do you know what I think of you and the things you said?"The master replied, "I don't care what you think of me. You are entitled to have your own opinion."The officer snorted, "Well, I will tell you what I think anyway. In my eyes, you are just like a pile of dry shit!"The master simply smiled and stayed quiet.Seeing that his insult had fallen into deaf ears, he asked curiously, "And what do you think of me?"The master said, "In my eyes, you are just like the Buddha."Hearing this remark, the officer left happily and bragged to his wife about the incident.His wife said to him, "You conceited fool! When a person has a heart like a pile of dry shit, he sees everyone in that light. The elderly master has a heart like that of the Buddha, and that is why in his eyes, everyone, including you, is like the Buddha!"

A Present

We live our whole life, believing what others say about us, depending on their views and doing what they approve. We start compromising with our ownselves and ultimately lose ourselves for others. But wait. Can we satisfy all of them? No, because there are so many of them.
So many different and conflicting opinions are fed into our mind. Result, many voices inside us.
Can we listen to and follow all of them? No. So we choose and lose many, on whom we depend.
The nett result is we lose ourselves and lose others also. What a maddening situation!
You can save yourself from this plight only by self effort. Nobody is going to save you.

Now, start with your Heart, it is the driver and then go to the Head it is the vehicle.
Feel and experience, in the Present. Leave the Past, forget the Future.
The one is already dead and the other is yet unborn. These two are beyond You.

Live in the Present because only that belongs to you. This is "Art of Living".

Different Plates!!!!!!

Once upon a time, there lived a crippled man. This man was married, but he was attracted to the prostitute that lived in the house opposite to his. One day his wife saw him looking very morose.
"What's wrong, my dear husband?" she inquired. "Even though I am married to you," he replied, "I am attracted to the prostitute. I am asking you to make an arrangement for me." So being a very chaste and obedient wife, she wished to fulfill her husband's desire, and she began going to the prostitute's house when no-one was home, and clean there. After a while this prostitute noticed, "Someone is cleaning my house. I am not asking anyone to do this, so I wonder who it could be."
So one day the prostitute stayed back, and after some time the crippled man's wife came and began cleaning. The prostitute approached her and said, "Why are you doing this?" She replied, "My husband is very attracted to you, and he wants to meet with you, but we are very poor, and cannot afford to pay. So instead I am offering some service. The prostitute said, "Very well, send him over tonight."
That night the prostitute prepared a very nice dinner and she served a portion of each of these preparations onto two plates, one of gold and one of silver. When the man arrived, she requested him to partake of the food she had prepared for him. "Please take from the silver plate." she told him. After he had finished all the food on the silver plate, the prostitute told him to take from the gold plate. When he had finished, the prostitute inquired from the man, "Now, was there any difference in taste?"
Surprised, the man replied, "What difference? These are exactly the same preparations, only served on different plates. You must be crazy!" "No, you are the one, who is mad!!" the prostitute replied. What's the difference between me and your wife? Only the covering is different!!The man came back to his senses.
He begged forgiveness for lascivious behavior from his wife and thanked the prostitute for opening his eyes. Human tendency is to enjoy, but uncontrolled enjoyment will be a real havoc for the society. The jewels of wisdom given by sages show us the right path; guide us to have controlled enjoyment. Be content with what is being provided by the providence. Desires are endless.
Until and unless we put a voluntary control over these, we will be running after them like animals and will have no peace. Fulfillment of desires doesn't bring peace but endless chase for fulfilling more desires. Unconrolled desires are the root of anxiety and unhappiness in life. (Asha hi param dukham nairashayam param sukham– Srimad Bhagavat).If one seeks peace in life, one should stay content with the spouse they have, amount of food they get and the amount of wealth they obtain, but one should never be satisfied with the amount of charity given, devotional service peformed and number of holy names chanted!

Recipe For Happiness

Two heaped cups of patience,
One heartful of love,
Two handfuls of generosity,
One headful of understanding
add a dash of humour,
Sprinkle it with kindness,
Mix it with plenty of faith .
Spread over a period of a lifetime
and serve to everyone you meet.

He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver

Once a woman was puzzled and wondered what the Bible verse "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." meant about the character and nature of God.

She offered to find out the process of refining silver and called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heatup. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot;

then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment.

Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you and, no matter whatever you are going through now, you will be a better person in the end!

You are Divine. You are part of me. I am part of you. —Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,

Do not injure nor let others injure you

A story told by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa:

"A serpent dwelt in a certain locality. No one dared to pass by that way, for whoever did so was instantaneously bitten to death by that serpent. Once a holy man passed by. As usual the serpent pursued that sage with a view of biting him, but when it approached the holy man, it lost all its ferocity and was over-powered by his gentleness.

Seeing the snake, the holy man said, “Well, friend, do you want to bite me?” The snake was abashed and made no reply. At this the sage said again, “Hearken, friend, do not injure anyone in future.” The snake bowed and nodded assent. After the sage had gone his own way, the snake entered its hole, and thenceforth began to live a life of innocence and purity without even wishing to harm anyone.

In a few days it became a common belief in the neighbourhood that the snake had lost all its venom and was no more dangerous, and so people began to tease it. Some pelted stones at it and others dragged it mercilessly by the tail. Thus there was no end to its troubles. Fortunately, sometime after, the sage again passed that way seeing the bruised and battered condition of the poor snake, was very much moved to pity and inquired about the cause of its distress. At this the snake replied. “Sir, I have been reduced to this state, because I have not been injuring anyone since I received your instruction. But alas! They are so merciless!”

The sage smilingly said “Dear friend, I only advised you not to bite anyone, but I never asked you not to hiss and frighten others. Although you should not bite any creature, still you should keep every one at a considerable distance from you by hissing.”

Similarly, if you live in the world, make yourself feared and respected. Do not injure, but do not at the same time let others injure you. "

Walk in Peace

It was just brought to my attention that many times we glance over what others are saying to us or showing us in a hurry to get on to what we wish to present or say. This is not truly existing. Stop for a moment. Watch, listen, truly pay attention to yourself and the person or persons that you are with, speaking with, gaining something from. Don't allow the chatter of your mind to take control of your day or moment.A way to quiet this chatter is to meditate and/or simply find a quietplace for even 5 minutes and just be there.

If a thought or conversation comes into your mind, acknowledge it and then let it know that you are sitting quietly now and will get back to it and then allow it to release from your thoughts, from your mind. Go back to that place of quiet as you are working at being one with yourself and nothing else.
You can also do this through observation of something. Go outside, sit somewhere comfortable and focus your attention on something within the space you are occupying. A flower, a plant, the tree, the grass, the sky, the sound around you. Whatever you select,be there with it and nothing else. Again if your mind starts to wander, acknowledge it and bring it back simply, not forceably but with intention and purpose.This is a wonderful practice to do. All of those stressful ideas and thoughts that are within us work to control and take over our presence and purpose. We must gain back the control over these thoughts in order to change up the energy, raise our vibration and transform our existence to something more pure, calm, quiet ... to create the peace and balance, the harmony that we are all seeking toknow and enjoy. Bring back the happiness within!

My Bicycle

Written on Aug 8th 1990 at Chenna!!!

My father bought me a cycle
it is a brown, new model bicycle

strong with steels, light heave easy one
rough seat, broken springs, cleaning undone

brown and white with trye black
with bend wheels, less spokes, males tracks
all the way on Indian roads

with makes, ugly waters and dirt
it protects my dress from all dirts
which forms a part and parcel of Indian roads

Shekar Kapur poem

http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2007/02/letting_go_1.html

Astronomy in olden ages

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5202405300929826351

When your prayer is of laughter and tears, it is a true prayer

Sing until your breath crackles to the last.
Note what is caught upon the passing wind.
Laugh until the pains squeeze authority into chaotic blasts,
and then into puny puffs.
Cry until the peak of your tears,
like the pure tips of a wave before it folds into the gulping sea.
Ah, but love when your heart beats the beat of nights full of daffodils,
for then you are.If you can allow your tears totality, then you are.

-Anonymous and from OSHO

Let My Country Awake

where the mind is withour fear
and the head is held high
where knowledge is free
where the world has not been broken
into fragments by narrow domestic walls

where words come out from the depth of truth
where tireless striving stretches its arms
towards prefection;

where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
where the mind is led forward by thee
into ever-lasting thought and action
into that heaven of freedom, my father
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE

By Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

"one day, I dream of writing a poem like this"

Another of those great rediff posts

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jun/25s1.htm

Forever for me

Nice poem Link

I came across this beautiful poem

http://obscuredbyclouds.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/06/i-can-see-you-still.htm

I used to love the word "system"

written on 10/8/90

Systematic evaluation of life
in the long run is always a strife
Changes is in everything must take place in life
we live to die but we must enjoy the life
For changes in our living we need the drive
which comes from faith in strive

courage, love, truth and god's grace
which comes thru a good heart and man's love
working for oneself and one's nest never become a life
living for known and unknown lives
is the living fully a human life

All our journey is to death
Journey is good in life
life is to be loved to enjoy
for death to be sweet and worth

Home food

Written on 9/8/90 at chennai

To go to a restaurant for eating
is a joy and change during anytime

breakfast by fresh juice drinks
lunch by heavy meals
snacks by after noon
cream and savories in the evening

light foods at nights
for having a good sleep in moonlight

Still to cook at home and eat is still wonderful, why?

I wrote on my mother

Wrote on 12/8/90 in chennai

My mother is a symbol of love to me
to her So much I owe
serene and peaceful like dove
is her heart full of love for me

harsh and mad is her nature
but I have no fear for her
for then I cannot fear her
for sincerely I like, obey and love her

trying hard to change me
she scolds, because she likes me
mad to make me better
she screams, as she loves me

never can I repay any of her love
for she is my own birth
so how I can my repay my own debt
if any?

No road is long with a good company

Wrote on 4/8/90

All Journey is a joy
travel to enjoy
Earth is not all same and dry
to be with friends , wonders can be made

to talk, walk , share
in play, pray , eat
to forget sorrow, study, work
yet learn, love and thank

Sitting or standing ,
Running or sleeping
Summer, winter, autumn and spring
sun or rain, day or night
to be with your friends and loved ones is Heaven

Lover Sun's flower

Wrote on 3/8/90 @ chennai

She blossoms in the color of her love
She blossoms in the shape of her love
She blossoms with her lover
She blooms in the direction of her lover

She follows her love
She suffers for her love
She glues to her love

With so great Ideals of life, love, friendship, sacrifice
makes Sun rises everyday to see his lover "sunflower" bloom
Every living being on earth owes the sunflower their life
for she brings the energy of her lover to shine, bright and great



-:)

My Tommy

Wrote on 2/8/90 in Chennai, TN, India

My dog Tommy
My little tommy was a puppy
when I was young enough to be a baby
So our friendship was instant and innocent

we blossomed faster and stronger in our friendship
So faithful and friendly,
he follows me wherever I walk
he carries me on his back

he used to warn at many danger
he runs into me at every corner
he is alert in every needful hour

Our tommy left us three years
we were friends
we left me with memories
of great warmth, strength, fun and happiness

I did Jogging once

1/8/90
Hip hip hurray
Jogging on my way
on Sun's first ray
for health, being happy
and before my youth say
old is gold, on a better day

I Dream

30/7/90
I wait for the night to have a dream
it inspires like a child who sees a cream
all the dreams are not cream
but they do make me beam

My foundations are my imaginations
the castles I built on them are my ambitions
but ambitions to success requires actions
Real, original actions with dedications

Cannes Winners 2007

Palme d'Or (Golden Palm)

4 Luni, 3 Saptamini Si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days), Cristian Mungiu (right), Romania

Sounds Sanskrit/indish ( Luni = lunar,saptamini = saptami =7)

The Fear of the living

Written first on 23/july/1990 and later updated

Death is fear of living
Its thought,
brings insecuirty
but cultivates ambition

Its feeling,
brings philosophy
and builds purpose for living

its nature,
brings out a persons life
principles of a life lived

Age of death
brings sympathy for the young
brings misery for middle age
brings pity at old age

Death of good, makes him a just
death of great, makes him a legend
death of wise, brings great sorrow
death of brave, makes him a hero

Death is no end of life
Death is mirror of ones life
Death should be a beginning
for death can have no death

Voice of Swami Vivekananda

Thundering Lion voice of Swami Vivekananda

nalladhoar veenai seydhae....

nalladhoar veenai seydhae - adhai
nalangedap puzhudhiyil erivadhundoa

(nalladhoar)

solladi sivasakthi - enaich
chudarmigum arivudan padaiththuvittaay
vallamai thaaraayoa - indha
maanilam payanura vaazhvadharkae
solladi sivasakthi - nilach
chumaiyena vaazhndhidap puriguvaiyoa

(nalladhoar)

visaiyurup pandhinaip poal - ullam
vaendiyapadi seyyum udal kaettaen
nasaiyaru manam kaettaen - niththam
navamenach chudar tharum uyir kaettaen...uyir kaettaen...uyir kaettaen
thasaiyinaith theechchudinum - siva
sakthiyaip paadum nallagam kaettaen
asaivuru madhi kaettaen - ivai
arulvadhil unakkedhum thadaiyuladhoa (2)

(nalladhoar)

For english subtitles and better/diffferent appreciation click here

Motivated by ....

I was inspired for writing poems by kannadasan , bharathiyar and Tagore . I may have to add keats or wordsworth, becoz of school english books which are ofcourse boring. I thought I will post my favorite lyrics here for everybody to enjoy.

Over a period of years I found that I also like to play with words one for humour and another for just stop thinking/getting involved deep emotions/manipulations

After all a thing of beauty is a joy for ever

In Love

July/21/1990

We are away by miles
We are too near by smiles
We can easily hurt
it is painful for heart

we have an obstacle of hair
we meet by being a liar
we walk hand in hand
on grass, floor and sand
we sin by hint
we are sinned by mind

our heart is a peaceful dove
when we know we are in love

Miserly pleasure

19/july/1990

There is pleasure in pain
There is love in hate
there is generosity in greediness
there is food in poison
there is greatness in smallness

but

there is no peace in jealousness
there is no happiness in hatred
there is no success in cruelty
there is no honor in laziness
there is no greatness in cheating
there is no wealth in miserliness

Silence of Peace

the beauty that is truth
that duty that is sincere
the silence that is peace
are of the heart that is great

the fortitude led by prudence
the conscience led by heart
the thoughts, Not led by desires
are of the body led by a great soul

The greatness of a plant
the greatness of a bird
the greatness of a animal
are all the greatness of the creator alone

I want this post so it will inspire forever

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/10bspec.htm

Discovery

15/july/1990

My soul is singing

my hand is writing

my thoughts are light

making my poems bright

My thoughts are wide

that I forget the sides

I never believed it

Now I feel it

thoughts are like wind

that shows the infinity of your mind

mingling yourself in arts wholely

you can see your soul

Everything and Everyone

13/july/90

Everything has beauty
everything is nice
everything has energy
only if everything is in its place

Everyone is great
everyone can excel
everyone has creativity
only if everyone is unselfish

12/july/90 &

Animals need food
Plants need sun
Man needs communication to grow

Animals need mates
plants need roots
man needs love to be happy

Animals depends on plants
Plants depends on light
Man depends on justice for survival

animals preserves food
plants preservers water
Man preserves honor to live

10/July/90 - Day of my life

day is bright
wind is strong
sun is warm
and hopes are high

Knowledge is sound
confidence is more
concentration has doubled
and courage is always there

duties are there
problems are here
worries are anywhere
But Happiness is everywhere

Life can be smooth
planning should be correct
success can be sure
for God is love
and Love is God

OSHO downloads

http://rapidshare.com/users/BJXX8

very beautiful , most of them

Enjoy

Behold My Mango

July 9th 1990

Behold!, how sweet is fruit called the queen of fruit
it is my favorite fruit and is called the mango fruit

Fruit is of four taste
Ripen Mango is sweet taste
Green mango is of bitter taste
and it can be made into pickle of every taste

Some Mangoes are like the cheeks
Few Mangoes are like round face
Many Mangoes are like sharp nose
Mangoes make watering of mouth

July 8th 1990

I am a poet and my letters are poems
I am a Indian and my heart is India
I am a Hindu and my duties are important
I am a man and myself want to be chivalry

I am going to be a engineer and my future is bright
I am going to be a painter and my drawings are my soul
I am going to be a adult and my dreams are of youth
I am born great and my feelings are of pride


( just note these are poems written by teenager and produced here in Verbatim)

Mother Therasa ( July 14, 1990)

Oh! what a great resource
for how many beings you are the source
Dangerous is your course

for great is your cause
for only few knows because
you never care for your health


ofcourse,this land is blessed
Because of your love and sacrifice
oh blessed one,
blessing one

you should live for years
as your deeds

July 7th, 1990 - My first poem ( I think this is my 3rd one after 2 attempts)

This is my third poem
After the second and
First rhymes

All I want to say his that I want to PRAY.
What I want to pray is
Whom I want to pray to

Just began, I pray my God,
and to my lord , I asked
Oh Lord, help me
Oh God Help them ( -:)_
Oh Lord save me
Oh God, Help them
and just remember this is my first poem to be saved

I decided to post all my poems that I worte during 1990. I do not write much poems now. Hope it is enjoyable as it was for me at that time.

Do live your comments

Thanks
Sridhar

They are birds after all

They are birds after all

It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon. A flock of birds was spending great time searching for food and playing on the main road. Out of the sudden, a big truck sped through... sad thing had happened again.



Birds can feel too. Although this bird had already died, another bird flew over to her immediately, just like a family member, unable to accept the truth.




Not long after that, another car stormed in causing the dead bird's body to whirl with the wind. The spouse noticed the movement. As if she was still alive, he quickly flew beside her again.
He stayed beside her and yelled ... "WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING UP!?"


Unfortunately, she's no longer able to hear him. In the meantime, he's trying to lift her up.


He, of course, was unable to bear the burden. Another car soon passed by. He quickly flew off. Once the car had gone, he came down again.


Although other birds told him its useles, he never gave up. He was trying his best to lift her up to see her flying again. Another car passed by, her dead body whirled again as if still alive and trying to fly.

He had used all of his energy, however...

The photographer said he couldn't shoot any longer. The photographer was so worried that the living bird was going to get hurt by passing cars. So he picked up the dead bird and left it at the roadside. The live one still lingered at a nearby tree as if crying with his singing and refused to leave.

Do humans have the same feelings nowadays? I wonder

This is a Great Article on Mr.Oberoi in Rediff

On Leadership ,as Published by Rediff

A leader is an agent of change, and progress is about change. In the words of Robert F Kennedy, 'Progress is a nice word; but change is its motivator.'

Leadership is about raising the aspirations of followers and enthusing people with a desire to reach for the stars. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi created a vision for independence in India and raised the aspirations of our people.

Leadership is about making people say, 'I will walk on water for you.' It is about creating a worthy dream and helping people achieve it.

Robert Kennedy, summed up leadership best when he said, 'Others see things as they are and wonder why; I see them as they are not and say why not?'

Adversity

A leader has to raise the confidence of followers. He should make them understand that tough times are part of life and that they will come out better at the end of it. He has to sustain their hope, and their energy levels to handle the difficult days.

There is no better example of this than Winston Churchill. His courageous leadership as prime minister for Great Britain successfully led the British people from the brink of defeat during World War II. He raised his people's hopes with the words, 'These are not dark days; these are great days -- the greatest days our country has ever lived.'

Never is strong leadership more needed than in a crisis. In the words of Seneca, the Greek philosopher, 'Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.'

Values

The leader has to create hope. He has to create a plausible story about a better future for the organisation: everyone should be able to see the rainbow and catch a part of it.

This requires creating trust in people. And to create trust, the leader has to subscribe to a value system: a protocol for behavior that enhances the confidence, commitment and enthusiasm of the people.

Compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have high aspirations, self esteem, belief in fundamental values, confidence in the future and the enthusiasm necessary to take up apparently difficult tasks. Leaders have to walk the talk and demonstrate their commitment to a value system.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'We must become the change we want to see in the world.' Leaders have to prove their belief in sacrifice and hard work. Such behavior will enthuse the employees to make bigger sacrifices. It will help win the team's confidence, help leaders become credible, and help create trust in their ideas.

Enhancing trust

Trust and confidence can only exist where there is a premium on transparency. The leader has to create an environment where each person feels secure enough to be able to disclose his or her mistakes, and resolves to improve.

Investors respect such organisations. Investors understand that the business will have good times and bad times. What they want you to do is to level with them at all times. They want you to disclose bad news on a proactive basis. At Infosys, our philosophy has always been, 'When in doubt, disclose.'

Governance

Good corporate governance is about maximising shareholder value on a sustainable basis while ensuring fairness to all stakeholders: customers, vendor-partners, investors, employees, government and society.

A successful organisation tides over many downturns. The best index of success is its longevity. This is predicated on adhering to the finest levels of corporate governance.

At Infosys, we have consistently adopted transparency and disclosure standards even before law mandated it. In 1995, Infosys suffered losses in the secondary market. Under Indian GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), we were not required to make this information public. Nevertheless, we published this information in our annual report.

Fearless environment

Transparency about the organisation's operations should be accompanied by an open environment inside the organisation. You have to create an environment where any employee can disagree with you without fear of reprisal.

In such a case, everyone makes suggestions for the common good. In the end everyone will be better off.

On the other hand, at Enron, the CFO was running an empire where people were afraid to speak. In some other cases, the whistle blowers have been harassed and thrown out of the company.

Managerial remuneration

We have gone towards excessive salaries and options for senior management staff. At one company, the CEO's employment contract not only set out the model of the Mercedes the company would buy him, but also promised a monthly first-class air ticket for his mother, along with a cash bonus of $10 million and other benefits.

Not surprisingly, this company has already filed for bankruptcy.

Managerial remuneration should be based on three principles:

• Fairness with respect to the compensation of other employees;
  
• Transparency with respect to shareholders and employees;
  
• Accountability with respect to linking compensation with corporate performance.
  

Thus, the compensation should have a fixed component and a variable component. The variable component should be linked to achieving long-term objectives of the firm. Senior management should swim or sink with the fortunes of the company.

Senior management compensation should be reviewed by the compensation committee of the board, which should consist only of independent directors. Further, this should be approved by the shareholders.

I've been asked, 'How can I ask for limits on senior management compensation when I have made millions myself?' A fair question with a straightforward answer: two systems are at play here. One is that of the promoter, the risk taker and the capital markets; and the other is that of professional management and compensation structures.

One cannot mix these two distinct systems, otherwise entrepreneurship will be stifled, and no new companies will come up, no progress can take place. At the same time, there has to be fairness in compensation: there cannot be huge differences between the top most and the bottom rung of the ladder within an organisation.

PSPD model

A well run organisation embraces and practices a sound Predictability-Sustainability-Profitability-Derisking (we call this the PSPD model at Infosys) model. Indeed, the long-term success of an organisation depends on having a model that scales up profitably.

Further, every organisation must have a good derisking approach that recognises, measures and mitigates risk along every dimension.

Integrity

Strong leadership in adverse times helps win the trust of the stakeholders, making it more likely that they will stand by you in your hour of need. As leaders who dream of growth and progress, integrity is your most wanted attribute.

Lead your teams to fight for the truth and never compromise on your values. I am confident that our corporate leaders, through honest and desirable behaviour, will reap long-term benefits for their stakeholders.

Two mottos

In conclusion, keep in mind two Sanskrit sentences: Sathyannasti Paro Dharma (there is no dharma greater than adherence to truth); and Satyameva jayate (truth alone triumphs). Let these be your motto for good corporate leadership.

The author is Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies.