Budget 2022 - Key Takeaways

Most of the predictions/asks by the industry pre-budget did not happen. Here are a few of the key takeaways from the budget:

Legitimizing digital currency:

The govt made 2 big policy changes to legitimize digital currency or cryptocurrency. 

1. Digital Rupee : The RBI will be issuing a Digital Rupee using blockchain. In effect this means that a blockchain ledger will be kept for the Rupee, but I do not think there will be any crypto mining. 

2. Digital Tax : There will be a tax of 30% on other virtual digital assets. Though the tax is very high, what it also means is that the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin , etherium etc will be legalized. You cannot tax something which is not legal. I also think that since they mention "virtual digital assets" this will also apply to NFTs. Further if you transfer the digital assets, there will be 1% TDS. Add to that - if you gift such an asset, the receiver will be taxed (which I think is not correct as the receiver may not be in a situation to pay the tax - e.g. in the case of a NFT gift) . 

Environmental impacts

1. Green bonds : A "Sovereign Green Bonds" scheme has been setup to fund "Green infrastructure". I just hope it does not end up like the Election Bonds where there is no transparency and there is just no idea who has given the money or where the money has gone. 

2. Solar cells and Solar modules are more expensive: This makes no sense as the govt is very bullish on renewable sources of energy and moving towards an Electric Vehicle future and reducing environmental pollution. 

3. Battery Swapping: Again I fail to understand why the govt needs to come up with specific policies. This should be just another item under the policies for green transport. Let the innovations decide whether it should be going towards the faster charging or battery swapping modes. If there was a need for policy it should be about standardizing the charging infrastructure so that all car chargers can charge any car. 

4. Anti-dumping duties on steel products revoked. This is a curious change as on the one hand the govt is talking about reducing pollution and on the other hand we will allow such dumping from steel imports (mostly from China).

5. Chemical free farming : This is such a mixed bag. On the one hand chemical free farming is a step in the right direction, but there is hardly any existing infra around it. I know a few enthusiasts are doing it - but that is. For a large scale push, there is nothing existing. On top of that, the fertilizer subsidy has been drastically reduced to a fourth of what it was last year. I doubt farmers are going to jump on the non-chemical bandwagon. I also wonder why the govt has reduced fertilizer subsidies - wont it have been better to say that subsidies will now apply to non-chemical fertilizers if that's where the govt wants to push the farmers ? 

6. Linking of Rivers : This budget saw another push in this direction. I am not sure why the govt is keen on doing this while experts have always pointed out that the risks in this case are more than the rewards which are being thought of. 

Infrastructure push

The govt has announced multiple schemes for infrastructure and connectivity.

1. 25,000 km of national highways. Point to note here is that the govt measures each lane individually. So say you are covering a distance of 250kms , but since its a 4 lane highway, the govt measures it as 1000kms of road building. As such, the actual distance connectivity will be much less than 25,000kms. 

2. 100 new cargo terminals. This will help the supply chains. 

3. 8 Ropeway projects. I assume this will be done at tourist destinations. Apart from this, there was nothing to help the Hospitality/Tourism industries to recover from the impact of Covid to their businesses. 

4. 400 new Vande Bharat trains. I am very iffy about this one. Do we have the railway line infrastructure to add new trains ? Or are these trains going to replace existing and aging trains ? 

5. Rs 19,130 cr allocations for metro projects

6. Rs 2,600 cr for Central Vista

Startups

1. Defense research will be opened up for startups. I think there should be a collaboration with the colleges also (I am not sure if there is). If you look at the USA, colleges get funding from the defense forces. 

2. There is a focus on drones. I personally think this is detrimental as most startups will start looking at drones. Instead the govt should be putting policies in place which help in the startup ecosystem as a whole. e.g. the Economic Survey calls out specifically the long time it takes to get the patents in India. Govt policy should be towards simplifying such things. 

Health

1. X Ray machines are costlier. Why ? Has the govt learnt nothing from the pandemic ? We should be improving our medical facilities by leaps and bounds. 

Others

1. Defense Sector : 68% of procurement budget of defense will be for the local industries. i.e. Buy/Build stuff indigenously. 

2. E-Passport to be introduced. 

3. 5G network : This will start to be rolled out in the next financial year. This is just catching up to the global networks. Even without mention in the budget it will need to be done. 

4. Archeological Survey of India budget increase: I am happy about this. We have some really great cultural artifacts from the years gone by and they are in shambles. A part of this budget should also go into training the ASI staff on how to properly restore buildings. Too often I have seen patchwork cement work done on buildings and that takes away all the charm of these magnificent structures. My only comment here is that historical structures be treated as historical structures from any culture/religion and be preserved as such. Deleting history to suit the political viewpoint should not be done. 

5. No new Taxes comment: Also out of sync is the statement from the FM that the PM was very clear about no new taxes, and yet the budget has many different taxes imposed on different things. 

6. No relief for the salaried class. 

New lingo from the Budget: 

• Amrit Kaal
• One Station One Product
• GatiShakti
• Kavach
• Parvatmala

Budget 2022 - Consolidated list of Expectations

Budget for the year will be on 1st Feb. I have been going through various articles on the net on what the expectations are from various people. Here is a consolidated list.

• Policy to boost liquidity support to NBFCs 
• Shachindra Nath, Executive Chirman UGRO
• Relieve traders of the securities transaction tax (STT)
• Puneet Maheshwari , Director Upstox
• Parth Nyati, Founder Tradingo
• Hike standard deductions from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,00 
• Puneet Maheshwari , Director Upstox
• Remove concept of Speculative Income
• Puneet Maheshwari , Director Upstox 
• Tax exemption upto Rs 1,00,000 lakh on short term capital games
• Puneet Maheshwari , Director Upstox 
• Tax exemption on dividends up to Rs 50,000 for senior Citizens
• Puneet Maheshwari , Director Upstox 
• Reduce TDS to 7.5% for all
• Gunish Jain, CEO BlueKaktus
• Reduce TDS to 2.5% for SMEs
• Gunish Jain, CEO BlueKaktus
• Revise GST on software services to 12%
• Gunish Jain, CEO BlueKaktus
• Reduce logistics cost from 14% of GDP to 8-10% of GDP
• Kushal Nahata , CEO FarEye
• Increase investments in AI, ML and Blockchain
• Kushal Nahata , CEO FarEye
• Puneet Gupta , MD NetApp
• Tackle high inflation
• Manish Aggarwal, Director Bikano & Bikanervala
• Rationalize GST rates
• Manish Aggarwal, Director Bikano & Bikanervala
• Reduce GST slab for CNG fuel from 18% to 5%
• Suyash Gupta, Director General Indian Auto LPG Coalition
• Reduce GST for LPG conversion system from 18% to 5%
• Suyash Gupta, Director General Indian Auto LPG Coalition
• Build a countrywide cycling infrastructure - 
• Pankaj Munjal, Chairman & MD Hero Motors
• Subsidize R&D to promote Make In India. Only 0.6% of GDP is allocated to R&D
• Ashok Rajpal, CEO Ambrane
• Sandeep Narula, Chairman Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council
• Mahendra Patel, Managing Director Lincoln Pharmaceuticals
• Compliance should be simplified and unnecessary legislation should be phased away
• Ashok Rajpal, CEO Ambrane
• Lowering of GST rates on raw materials for Electric Vehicles
• Uday Narang , Chairman Omega Seiki Mobility
• Transparent and progressive regulations that clearly differentiate games of skill from those of chance
• Sunil Yadav, CEO PlayerzPot
• Clarification on data privacy and third parties to safeguard user privacy
• Sunil Yadav, CEO PlayerzPot
• Increased investment towards boosting tourism infrastructure - 
• Pallavi Agarwal, Founder goSTOPS
• Hike 80C exemption limit
• CEO BankBazaar
• Reduce GST of 18% on health insurance
• CEO Bank Bazaar
• More support on education
• Sahil Sheth, CEO Lido Learning
• Taxation slabs and GST to be streamlined
• Adetee Agarwaal, CEO PinkAprons
• Remove import duties on cotton - 
• Apparel Export Promotion Council
• 
  

Sources : 

• Indian Express : Budget 2022 expectations
• Economic Times : Budget 2022 News 

A timeline of the Indian Empires

The Empires through the ages.

Link to larger version as Blogspot doesn't let me link the image.

So, over the last few weekends, I went over the various wikipedia articles to figure out the various kingdoms that were , which lead to the mordern day India. Part of this research was instigated due to the fake rehtoric nowadays about how our glorious past has been lost due to the Mughals / British etc.

As I started researching, the timelines kept reaching back. All the way to the time before Christ - the colloquial 0 AD date. We are so much caught up in the hate agendas focusing over the last couple of years that we forget that this land was always very diverse.

Much before the British. Much before the Mughals. Much before the Ashokas and the Akbars. Much before Chandragupta Maurya. Thats when the recorded history starts. Most of this is about the Mahajanapadas - and we owe it to the Buddhist and Jain texts which recorded it for posterity. Before that, most of the history is suspect as it is based on word of mouth. the long lines reaching back to 1500 BC are part of that - we really do not know when those empires started, and so these are best guess dates. More research is needed into them before we can for sure say that these are the actual timelines of these kingdoms.

Before the mahajanapas was the Vedic age. Since there are too many conflicting estimates of that age, I have left it out. Also it does not give any inkling to the various kingdoms that were there.

As you move forwards in time, you see that India was actually very fractured. Mutliple kingdoms existed. Backstabbing each other. Fighting for land. Having various treaties and marriage arrangements.

Fast forward a whole lot of years and you start seeing the first of the Islamic kingdoms - the sultanates. The ones in Green. At the same time, there were healthy and long lived other non-islamic kingdoms. No idea why most of the people forget to mention that, but if you look at the graph, you can see the interleaving of the black and green lines.

Forward a few hundred years more and the red lines - the British start to appear. And yet the black lines do not go away. They exist in different parts of present day India.

Finally, everything merges and we get India ( well, also Pakistan and eventually Bangladesh). The blue blip - that puts into perspective the small amount of time that the Republic of India has existed. Kinda insignificant in the grand scale of things so far.

PS : A lot of time went into preparing this chart. If you do share this - please do with proper attribution.

Link to google drive in case you want to download this https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6LzAV0_xl_2MnIyNUVoV2FTcDQ/view?usp=sharing

Email TRAI for Net Neutrality in India

You may have heard about net neutrality in the social media, or on news channels in the last few days. It is basically about unconditional access to the internet. Would you like to have to pay packs for accessing whatsapp or facebook over and above the data plan you pay ?

Telco companies think you should. TRAI has put out a consultation paper soliciting responses. Unfortunately, as with most govt papers, it is difficult to understand the questions and provide responses which are pertinent.

That's where the internet is working to save the internet. The folks over at savetheinternet have provided canned responses. All that I ask you to do is to to the website, copy the response in your email, and mail to TRAI ( email id given on the website). That's as simple as it can get.

I also urge you to read the answers to the questions as that will make more clear what is going on and what the save the internet is all about. If you have better knowledge of net-neutrality, I also urge you to edit the responses as you see fit.

#SaveTheInternet #NetNeutrality

URL: http://www.savetheinternet.in/

We are Martians

Today morning India's maiden mission to Mars was a success.

And I went berserk. A moment of feeling so proud of what our nation has achieved. A moment of vastness encapsulated in a moment of time. I can only imagine how awesome the Scientists at ISRO must have been feeling!

I got up at 6:30am in the hotel room. I did not even need an alarm to wake me up - just got up as if I subconsciously knew that it was Time. I am travelling now and unfortunately Hyatt does not have DD channel. However, ISRO is just one step ahead of everyone at this time and they had a livestream on their site ! Immediately switched to that and turned on the TV news channels ( which were using that same stream).

The whole event lasted for almost 2 hours. 2 hours glued to the laptop, tv, facebook and twitter. And at the end - the best clapping sounds I have ever heard.

MOM is in orbit !

There are some very interesting facts about this momentous event.

• India is the 3rd nation in the world to have a successful mission to Mars
• It is the first nation to have done it on the 1st attempt. 
• It is the first Asian nation to have reached Mars. 
• It is the least costly mission to the red planet. NASA's just reached MAVEN is about 10 times more costly. 
• It takes 12 1/2 minutes for the message to reach Earth from the orbiter. In comparison it takes about 8 mins for the light from the sun to reach earth. 
• Most of the maneuvers for getting in orbit were done automatically during the time that the orbiter was behind Mars - so no message from Earth would be reaching it when it was in the most critical part of the journey.  

Just take a step back and think about it. A probe launched in Nov of last year is now orbiting Mars. 

Man. That's a huge deal. 

Science has again trumped Superstitions. 

Post the confirmation that the process was executed flawlessly, there was some more awesomeness. The guys at ISRO are really into the social networks now. So, immediately after , we got our first tweet from the official MOM account : 

What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit? pic.twitter.com/HDRWjOcPus
— ISRO's Mars Orbiter (@MarsOrbiter) September 24, 2014

And then some more awesomeness followed.

Thats the ISRO Mars Orbiter talking to NASA's Curiosity rover :)

As the amazing feeling is still sinking in, I would also like you to go over to my friend's blog and read his views also ( ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission is a success )

Once again - Dear ISRO. /Respect

On Hindutva

In the recent months, I have been bewildered by the news channels and politicians giving a negative connotation to Hindutva. Their angst seems to be pointed towards Modi as they feel that he is a threat to their rule, but in the churn they are also sullying the image of Hinduism - in the birthplace of this grand old religion.

I came across the Article When Germany is Christian, is India Hindu? and it really puts the reasoning in a much more coherent way than I would have been able to. I strongly suggest you read the article. Here are a few points that strongly resonate with me.

I find hard to understand – for example why many so called educated Indians on TV discussion forums become agitated whenever ‘Hindutva’ is mentioned. The majority of Indians are Hindus. India is special because of its ancient Hindu tradition. Westerners are drawn to India because of it. Why then is there this resistance by many Indians to acknowledge the Hindu roots of their country? Why do some people even give the impression as if an India that values those Hindu roots was dangerous?

That is exactly my thought when I see these debates of anti-Modi. I just cant understand how the association of being a Hindu is something that is now being branded as being evil ?

Hinduism comprises a huge body of ancient literature, not only regarding Dharma and philosophy, but also regarding music, architecture, dance, science, astronomy, economics, politics, etc. If Germany or any other western country had this kind of literary treasure, it would be so proud and highlight its greatness on every occasion.

This is something that I am also ashamed of. Before the start of this year, I had not even gone through the Gita - one of the most popular pieces of literature of Hinduism. Somewhere around the later part of last year I realized that most people do not even know what the Bhagwad Gita is all about - though they espouse one or two famous shlokas out of it. A little knowledge is dangerous and thats when I started reading it - 2 pages at a time - everyday. I am in my 2nd reading of the book, and I think I do not still understand the underlying message perfectly.

There is a “Copernicus Marg’ in New Delhi and Indian children do not get to hear in school that the rishis of the Rg Veda knew already that the earth is round and goes around the sun – thousands of years before westerners ‘discovered’ it. (Rg 10’22’14)

Here, even I did not know that. And I do lament the teachings we have had which do not talk about these things. I have recently got a condensed book about the vedas which I hope to read this year. Unfortunately, these books are not easy to get. 

All in all, I believe we have been paying just lip service to one of the grandest religions either by ignoring it or being fanatical about the customs. It would be better if everyone with an iota of thinking capacity should do what the rishis of old did - think and esquire into the truth. For one, I am going to be reading all these immense literature ( apart from the Ramayana and Mahabharata ). The Challenge is getting copies of these which are not influenced by the translators dogmas. 

If you know of good books or links, please do leave them in the comments below, and I will add them to the main article here. 

Links: 

• When Germany is Christian, is India Hindu? 
• Quora : What are some mind blowing facts about Hinduism ? 

In Memory of the Delhi Braveheart

In Memory of the Delhi Braveheart

( Taken from the google page for India today)

India's Achievements ?

Tomorrow is Independence day.

Once more people will get drunk it being a holiday - oh wait ... its on a Saturday. Damn! One holiday gone ! WTF !

I though am thinking on other lines.

Its been 60+ years now since India gained Independence. And I wonder.

I wonder how. I wonder why.

There are almost no world class achievements.

I can only think of one achievement which puts India on par with other world powers. The Delhi Metro. I see that and think - wow ! This is something which the people have done which we can proudly say we are shoulder to shoulder with other countries.

I am sure there are other achievements, but I can't think of any.

Achiements like a gold medal in the Olympics don't count - for a country so vast and with so much potential, a single gold medal is like a consolation prize. I am thinking more on the lines where can say 'hum kise se kum nahi' .

What are your thoughts ? What achievements can you think of ?

The Heat is On

Its HOT.

Let me repeat that.

Its HOT. Really HOT. And its gonna get Hotter!

The screenshot shows the temperature today. The wind blows - hot. Its called लू (loo) in Hindi. It sucks you of energy, makes you want to find shelter out of the sun as soon as you can. The sweat dries off as soon as it forms, hardly giving any respite.

However, I have decided to figure out what can I do about it all. I am planning to start photographing the heat. What I want from you is ... give me your thoughts on what the heat brings to your mind. I will try to find those subjects and take pics and see how it goes.

Random thoughts on 2008

Just a meangerie of thoughts on the year that was. 

Bikes / Touring

My rides have gone down :( . Ridden only 2 overnight kind of rides this year. One to Guaghar and another to Dandeli with BN. BN now has grown to more than 800 people, and was featured on Yahoo group blog as well as bagging a most interesting group title at the Yahoo Moderators meet in Mumbai. 

BN calendar for the year getting delayed :( . Since all activities are volunteer activities, it all depends on the amount of time people have. This year, we ran short of time.

Yamaha made a huge impact in the market with the launch of the R15 and the ZF16 bikes. Both have amazing build quality and look great too! 

No new bikes in the highly anticipated 250cc sector. :'( . Bajaj was going to bring the Kawasaki Ninja 250, but with the worsening Economic scenario, those plans may never see the light of the day. 

Gaming

On the gaming front , Crysis is probably the only FPS that i finished in less than a week. Amazing graphics ( well, my 8800GT helps ;) ), and a gripping storyline. Getting my cousin to leave the comp so i can play was the bottleneck ;)

My world of warcraft character reached level 80, taking only a month after the release of the WoTLK expansion. Levelling has become easy in WoW , and the new quest storylines are quite involved. For the indian players out there, you can either join Deathwing (FTH) or Frostmourne (FTA). At 80 usually one starts to raid - the most amazing experience of the game. But with work and home activities taking up most of my time, I doubt I will be raiding. Which may finally mean bye bye to WoW. I also created a google group  wow-india , to find out if there are more nut-cases like me, and I was not disappointed.

Mass Effect looks to be like KoTOR saga. I have just played a bit - and it is nice. Not overly gripping. 

The game which was the most different one i have ever played has to be Patapon on the psp. Just the concept is amazing. You need to take your army of 'eyes' and make them attack, defend etc based on drum beats. I don't know who was goofing off so much, but it sure was a good goof! 

Politics

Obama became the first black president of the USA. It took them a lot of years to elect a black and they still haven't got a woman as president. Looks like the glass ceiling is still there. I don't mind , as long as the leadership is effective (which it wasnt in the last few years). 

In indian pre-elections, people voted mostly for politicians who had been performing. Shela Dixit in Delhi for example - she got another term. People were complaing that people are still voting for the same party, but having seen the changes in Delhi in the last few years, I am with the verdict. Best roads in India, a good mass trasport system with the metro, to just name a few of the achievements under her rule. 

Terror

The most graphic attack on India - at the Taj and Oberoi in Mumbai. It shook everyone up because , instead of being the usual bomb them and pick up the pieces, it was a long drawn out fight. It also showed that the police is quite ineffective , and the politicians will try to point the fingers anywhere. VilasRao was removed after public anger. Now the new minister is keen to keep out of sight. 

War clouds gathered for a brief hours, but nothing has happened. Pak is good at political rhetoric.

Movies 

Some good movies this year  : Quantum of Solace, Rock On! , The Dark Knight

Some forgetable movies this year : transporter 3

Gadgets

Apple launched the iPhone in india. Costing 31k for the 8GB model, it is just outside the reach of most people. The device has amazing responsiveness - better than any other phone I have seen. 

Google launched the first Android based phone. Waiting for this to become available in India. 

Work

Not much to write about my work. Somehow another year goes by. 

Economic situation crashed drastically. From the sensex being at 21k in Jan , down to 9k now. Major ripples due to the economic meltdown in the US. Hiring freezes almost everywhere. Which means that if you float your resume now, there is a slim chance of getting jobs, and the jobs that are tere , the big bosses squeeze you for the compensation given to you. 

What else ? Do you have a vivid recollection of any event which I don't ? 

Pics from a peace march on 3rd Dec at Gateway of India

Outrage against the politicians over the recent attack. I don't want to forward the emails I am getting, so I just uploaded it here.

At the end of it , I am not sure if all the demonstrations will help. Its just going to simmer down and die out.

Mumbai under attack

Another terrorist attack. 

But this time was different. 

While the earlier ones were about bombs going off by a faceless association, this time it was like an assault - where you can see the people who were spreading the terror. While earlier it used to evoke images of people in your minds, this time you were seeing their faces for real. 

My heart goes out to the people who died. They were from all walks of life - sucessful people to the waiters. People from all religions. My prayers for the departed. 

What angers me more - at par at the anger for the terrorists , is the people from the media. I also label them as terrorists - as they are also spreading the terror by their non-sensical view of the situation - whether it be showing gory images or interviewing like a moron the people on the streets. Here's what was happening on Star News Hindi channel :

"Sir , what has happened here " - asks the reporter. 

Are you stupid my mind screams. WhoTF made you a reporter. The building behind you is on fire. People have died. People are still hostages and you ask such a dumb question. 

/disgust at the news channels. 

Chandrayaan I

Amazingly, indian newpapers are not carrying this on their first pages. Where's the euphoria ? Is the scientist community so marketting starved ? 

Take both TOI and HT main pages, can you see at a glance that Chandrayaan is now in moon orbit ? 

This is a monumentous achievement for India. But instead of throwing the limelight on this, people are just not aware of it. Come on folks ! Cheer the mission ! 

And stop reading the stupid newpapers whose only concern is about what politics is going on or whats up in the Page3 space.

Indian : The sum total of religions

Install hindi fonts on Windows

Actually this started off as a search for the Indian budget. Over at the government site I found that the budget was available in the hindi version also. However, the instructions on how to use hindi fonts was minimal, and unless you are one of those people who meddle with the comps a bit too much (like me), it would probably be a bummer for you.

So, I thought a step by step guide will be good. Here's how you go about doing it. This is the windows version, I will come up with the linux version soon.

Step 1: Download the font from here, and unzip it to a convenient directory. I unzipped into a directory on my desktop. See the address bar location as you will need it later in the coming steps.

Step 2: Open fonts. Click the 'start' button -> Settings -> Control Panel. Locate the 'Fonts ' in the jumble of things there. Double click it to open the fonts directory.

Step 3 : From the file menu, select 'Install New Font'.


Step 4 : This opens up a new window with 'add fonts' (hmm... QA is not paying attention to the small details). Now, this box is a very old box and you will not see the paths like 'Desktop' etc. So, you will have to manually go to the place where you unzipped the fonts in step 1. Once in the correct directory, it should automatically select all the font files. Click on 'Select All'. This should select all the fonts. Click on 'OK' and it will install all the fonts.

Step 5 : Download the hindi version of the budget (It requires Adobe Acrobat to read so hopefully you have that also, otherwise just download). You will need to click on each link , go to download the hindi version. As a quick check the hindi version of Key to budget can be got from here.


That's it. Now you are ready to read it in Hindi ... unless you are like me ... who can read faster in English !

Happy New Year

Sikkim fog - pic by my sister

A very happy new year to you all !! The new year starts ... and another year rolls by.

What will this year have in store ? Lets do some trivia...

• The year of the bond. Many people link 007 to James Bond. I got a lot of sms's about it.
• This year is the year of the pig according to the Chinese Calendar.
• It is the International Polar Year. Actually the year continues till 2009...
  
• It is the International Heliophysical Year .. did not have enough time to read what it was.
  
• It ads to 9. This is nothing great, but causes a great deal of excitement in Hyderabad as the no 9 is supposed to be lucky here. People pay extra bucks to get number plates for their vehicles which add to 9, or has 9 in it.
  

Whatever the year is, have a blast.

Bombay, Zara Bachke

I got the following as a forward, about the spirit of Mumbai. Instead of forwarding it again and again, I thought I might just put it up on this blog . Forward this article or the link all you like.

Rude city? You bet, says Mumbaikar Jerry Pinto in defence of a metropolis too busy to mind its manners but always ready to help when trouble comes.

Reader's Digest, which interests itself in these things, tells us that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world. This is also the magazine that carried a story saying that global warming might be good for us.

I swear, they did this in May, when my cousins in Nagpur were reporting that the city was burning up at 52 degrees centigrade.

I come not to praise Mumbai, however. I come to ask whether the Reader's Digest editors really mean it when they say that New York is the politest city in the world? What is it to be polite? In London, a terribly polite city by my experience, a young woman refused to lend her scarf to be used as a tourniquet when a man was stabbed on the bus. He bled to death. I am sure, the young woman said, "I'm sorry but it's an expensive scarf." The person who asked for the scarf probably said, "Right. Cheers." Meanwhile, the blood pulsed on from the dying man's neck.

In Mumbai, my mother once was forced to go to a public hospital with a torn-up leg. In front of her, the poor waited in the way that the poor wait, endlessly, patiently, quietly. When she joined the line, they all assessed their need, assessed hers and stepped out of the way wordlessly. She went to the top of the line, protesting quietly all the way. She did not bleed to death. Perhaps, she even forgot to thank all those people. Perhaps, they did not expect to be thanked.

But since no one seems to have bothered about definitions, let's dump them too. Perhaps it is polite to be a city like New York where all the shop assistants say thank you and please and the doormen are ready to open the door for you but there are 55,000 violent crimes a year. And that represents a 10-year low. Perhaps Mumbai with its 122 murders in six months must be significantly ruder but less lethal.

But are we rude?

" My dominant image for Mumbai. I'm standing outside Mahalaxmi railway station, it starts to rain. A man comes out with an umbrella and starts to walk away. He notices another man getting wet, he pauses, and in an unspoken way invites him under the umbrella. Then they see me, and I get under as well. That's Bombay. Three men sharing an umbrella, all getting wet. There's less space under the umbrella now — too many people, too little infrastructure, but people are still sharing it. "

Sudhir Mishra
Filmmaker

Yes, we are rude. We are almost always rude. Cities are always rude. We are the only city in the country. Delhi is a bunch of villages held together by the politics of power and some nice roads. Chennai is a self-satisfied town which wants to be known for its culture. Bangalore looked like it might well grow up to be a city but now that it's got the opportunity to do it, it's choking itself to death. Calcutta had its moment of glory in the 19th century when they built lots of mansions and factories and set up the kind of intellectual atmosphere of a Cambridge debating society. Then they lost it, the Bangla babus and settled into making funny kurtas for their men to wear and selling Bankuda horses to the rest of the country.

Yes, we are rude. We don't have time for that. We're too busy dragging the rest of you into some semblance of wealth. We're too busy earning the money that runs the country. We're too busy paying for the Delhi and Kolkata Metros. We're too busy earning the money to pay the 75 percent of the income tax paid by the country. In Kolkata, they don't earn money. In Bangalore, they know how to hide it cyberwise. In Delhi, everyone's a farmer with agricultural income that's tax free.

" I think of Mumbai as a very cold but sensuous woman — it all depends on how you warm her up. In this city every kindness begets more kindness. Delhi's eyes literally undress you. Mumbai sees you first as a person then a woman. People do tend to keep their distance here, but if you try and do something nice, a sudden sensitive humanness peeps out. It's hardship city — it gets by on humour. "

Sarayu Srivastava
Writer

Land-starved Mumbai? The 14 million of us, we dream of the kind of space that young couples have in Delhi. We'd like a barsati too. We won't get it. But we'll work hard at it. The shop assistant who doesn't thank you probably goes home to his 'side business' and puts in another two or three hours. This could be anything from making papads to selling insurance to giving private tuition. It leaves him with very little time or inclination to say thank you.

But when trouble comes, he will do what he can. In the cataclysmic floods of last year, the average person did what the government could not. They threw open their homes. They left the security of dry land and waded into the water to rescue children. They formed human chains to take people off the buses. They made tea and snacks and gave it to people. Contrast that to the way Americans behaved when Hurricane Katrina struck. People went on the rampage. They shot at each other, even at their rescuers. They assaulted each other. They looted abandoned homes. In Mumbai, no violence was reported. No violence happened. Ask me, I walked home. Ask my sister, she walked home too. Together, we covered a distance of 30 kilometres that day and we only saw people helping each other, people offering support and solidarity.

" My idea of Bombay? A waiter serving in the Taj — during the day he might be serving Bill Gates and he'll carry himself with aplomb, be as cosmopolitan as anyone. At night he'll be taking the train to Dharavi, return to his slum, put on his lungi and baniyan, help his old parents, help wash dishes, and watch TV. You can be everything at the same time in Bombay. It's like that old Sinatra song — if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. "

Milind Deora
Politician

One of the most compelling images in Suketu Mehta's essay which Naresh Fernandes and I included in our anthology, Bombay Meri Jaan: Writings on Mumbai (Penguin India, 2003) … but read on:

If you are late for work in Bombay, and reach the station just as the train is leaving the platform, you can run up to the packed compartments and you will find many hands stretching out to grab you on board, unfolding outward from the train like petals. As you run alongside you will be picked up, and some tiny space will be made for your feet on the edge of the open doorway. The rest is up to you; you will probably have to hang on the door frame with your fingertips, being careful not to lean out too far lest you get decapitated by a pole placed too close to the tracks. But consider what has happened. Your fellow passengers, already packed tighter than cattle are legally allowed to be, their shirts already drenched in sweat in the badly ventilated compartment, having stood like this for hours, retain an empathy for you, know that you boss might yell at you or cut your pay if you miss this train, and will make space where none exists, to take one more person with them. And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or untouchable or whether you were born in the city or arrived only this morning or whether you live in Malabar Hill or Jogeshwari; whether you are from Bombay or Mumbai or New York. All they know is that you're trying to get to the city of gold, and that's enough. Come on board, they say. We'll adjust.

More links about the tragedy:

• Enough is Enough
• Light a Candle
  

And all the politicians can do is :

• SP trying to save muslim votebank

Dastardly Cowards

Update :

• List of dead and injured people

Yesterday there were 2 more terrorist attacks in India. One was in J&K , the other in Mumbai. Reportedly carried out by Jihadi's, these attacks show what kind of cowards these people are.



The Religion

Is Islam a violent religion ? Did Mohammed decree that his followers should kill other people ? Did the Koran talk about spilling the blood of innocents ? And yet these so called jihadis are doing everything that the founder of their religion did not decree. Mohammed was himself hounded by the Meccans - but did he retaliate by Killing their kids and wives ? No ! Then what religious fanaticism do these self proclaimed prophets follow ?

Some say its because muslims feel that the people who do not follow their relgion are infidels. But here's a translation of the Koran which states :

The Disbelievers

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
[109.1] Say: O unbelievers!
[109.2] I do not serve that which you serve,
[109.3] Nor do you serve Him Whom I serve:
[109.4] Nor am I going to serve that which you serve,
[109.5] Nor are you going to serve Him Whom I serve:
[109.6] You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion.

The Koran is tolerant. Then where do these dispicable people come from ? Who has given them the right to slaughter people in the name of the religion ? No, I do not believe these people are muslims. They have disowned thier own religion for delusions.

The Mumbaikars

I have deep respect for the mumbaikars. I think they should do away with any political party, mayors etc from their city. Cause the govt only keeps yapping and yapping and yapping. About how they will not let it happen next time. About how it was all the other party's fault. About how less funds they get from the centre. BUT they do not do anything about making life better.

And everytime, its only the mumbaikars who come to the aid of each other. Its always the mumbaikars who help people stranded in the rains. Its only the mumbaikars who help to take the blast victims to the hospitals. If mumbaikars are the only people who really put their foot forward and help each other out - who needs a govt whose only target seems to be to misuse the tax money.

I am sure , that if in a locality , all the tax payed is pooled and used to make the locality better - we will have much better cities than what the govt promises.

The Media Channels

Sometimes the media people make me sick. They revel in showing people crying , brused, bleeding and dead. Makes me wonder why ? Are they in cahoots with the terrorists that they are almost always at the site of a happening in a few minutes ( ya ya , they will talk about their response teams... but still the suspicion remains. After all, there are many unscrupulous people who would do anyting for their ratings - which translates to better pay).

I would like the media to showcase how the heroes in the people - not the whiners. I would like them to show how the people respond to the attacks and rebuild their lives and not how they are lamenting their faith.

For those who died, I do not know what to say. One part of me is angry that they got such a death. But another part of me - the philosphical part, thinks its not how they died that matters its how they lived.

For my Readers

For my readers, i would offer the suggestion - death is inevitable. You can die by many means. At the end - you die. Simple truth. And the only thing left is to live your life. So, live your life. Take risks. Dont life a safe life cause death can happen anywhere. You may life a very sheltered life and yet die young. Live your life the way you want to. Is there something you want to do - but are afraid to do so cause every one else says its dangerous - go with your heart. Travel around. Bungee Jump. Do anything - but do not live a safe life. Because when its your time to die - you will think - what have I done in life - and you will regret not doing so manythings.

One Life. Live It.

नमशकार

If you cannot see the text in this post, please check http://devanaagarii.net/ on how to get Hindi on your system.

नमशकार

यह मेरा पेहला पर्यास है हिन्दी मै लैख लिखने का ।

ईसे मैने लिनक्स पर ग्नौम मैं लिखा है । हिन्दी मै लिखे काफी अरसा हो गया है , ईस लिये मै ईस पोस्ट को छोटा रख रहा हूँ ।

विभू

For the Working Class

This is for all the smug working class people who sit in their plush offices, grumbling against the govt., forward all kinds of emails - and yet dont do anything. Well guys, you are just going to become victims of your own inaction.

Lets see what the latest machinations of the govt has got up. Yesterday Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar has said that "The Government doesn’t want to force the private sector to implement reservation and would prefer that companies do it voluntarily."

So - still sitting comfortably in your seats ? If you are the best of the best, I dont think you will need to worry. But if you are not - then it may just not be in your luck to keep the seat for long - as someone who knows less than you will take up your place.

And what about your kids ? TN has already passed a bill for 69% reservation ( hey govt, why dont you say 31% for general ?).

Are you still complacent ? Do you still think you are not affected ? Do you still need to be told that your livelihood is in danger ?
OR
Maybe now you will have some courage that your livelihood is in danger. Maybe now you don't want to see your hard earned seat go to someone who does not even minimally qualify for it ?

Do Something !

If you don't know what to do - join the YFE at least. Contact your local chapters and get out of the cocoon of your houses and offices. Stop waiting for someone to take the lead - be leaders.

OR else ... be prepared to loose everything you have worked hard for.