तुम और हम.......एक नयी सीख.

तुम  देर तक रोती रही हो ......और अगर मैं कोई हंसाने वाली हरकत कर दूं तो तुरंत ही हँस देती हो.

और हम, अगर किसी पर ग़ुस्सा आ जाये, तो ग़ुस्सा उतर जाने के काफी देर बाद तक ग़ुस्सा होने की एक्टिंग करते रहते हैं.

बचपन कितना सरल होता है.

Random Thoughts

सब झगड़ों का मूल है, अपने मन की सोच.

सोच बदलकर देख लो, मिट जायेगा रोष.

ग़लती हो ग़र मुझसे तो, हर दंड स्वीकार है,

पर आपका चुप रह जाना, ये तो अत्याचार है.

अपेक्षा और उपेक्षा ....

झगड़ों के प्रमुख कारण हैं.

दूसरों से आदर्श होने की अपेक्षा,

और दूसरों के मनोभावनाओं की उपेक्षा.


लोभ, निराशा, क्लेश, द्वेश,
आलस्य तुझी पर निर्भर है.
क्यों औरों पर क्रोध करे है,
दुश्मन अपने भीतर है.

Few Random Thoughts

सबसे भीषण रोग  है,  अगर   लगे  आलस्य.
सब गुण, सुविधा, ज्ञान भी, हो जायेगा व्यर्थ.

क्रोध   दूसरों  पर   करे,  शांति  भस्म  हो  जाय.
जो अपने पर क्रोध कर, तब improvement आय.

Some couplets for my little one

तुम आयी हो जीवन में, बन मेरा अभिमान,
छोटा  सा  आकार  है,  प्यारी  सी  मुस्कान


हँसना, रोना, जगना, सोना, मुस्काकर आ जाना पास
मूल्यहीन   है   सारी   पूंजी,  जो  पाया  है  ये  एहसास

तेरे छोटे-छोटे हाथ पकड़कर
सुकून पाता हूँ मैं,
तुझे तो सिर्फ चलने का सहारा मिलता होगा
पर ..... तेरे साथ फिर से,
बचपन जीता हूँ मैं

तुम्हारी तोतली भाषा के ये शब्द,
निरर्थक नहीं हैं मेरे लिए
तुम तो जानती हो कि.........
मैं समझता हूँ इन्हें.

 

 

नन्हे-नन्हे दाँत तुम्हारे, नीचे दो हैं ऊपर चार,
हंसी तुम्हारी देख-देख कर, मैंने पाया है संसार


छोटे-छोटे हाथ तुम्हारे,  मुझे  दिखाते  स्वप्न  बड़े,
जीवन जीने की अभिलाषा, पहले इतना कभी न थी


तुम्हारा, बिना किसी बात के हँस देना, बार-बार, दिन भर, किसी आश्चर्य से कम नहीं. मेरे लिए. और तथाकथित समझदार लोगों के लिए. हम तो किसी हंसने वाली बात पर भी नहीं हँसते....आसानी से. हमें हंसाने के लिए तो कोई विशेष बात होनी चाहिए. serious रहने कि आदत,  चार किताबें पढ़े होने का अंतर्भिमान, या शायद चिंतित रहने कि आदत. ये सब रोक लेती हैं मुझे दैनिक व्यवहार में तुम्हारी तरह हंसने से. पर जब मैं तुम्हारे साथ हँसता हूँ........सब कुछ भूलकर........बच्चा बनकर......तो ऐसा लगता है कि .....ये संभव है......मेरे लिए भी.

 

किसी शायर कि बात याद आती है......

 

बच्चों  के  नाज़ुक  हाथों  को,  चाँद  सितारे  छूने  दो.

चार  किताबें  पढ़कर  वो  भी,  हम  जैसे  हो  जायेंगे.

राखी का सूत

राखी का सूत हूँ मैं

मृतप्राय मानवता का

विशालकाय दानवता का

पतितता के विजय का

पावनता के पराजय का

वस्तुत्व के उद्भव का

व्यक्तित्व के पराभव का

पूजनीया के पतन का

शक्तिस्वरूपा के दमन का

जीवित सबूत हूँ मैं

राखी का सूत हूँ मैं II

संस्कृति के विस्मरण का

सहृदयता के छरण का
भौतिकता के विकास का
प्राचीनता के परिहास का
संबंधों के समापन का
मिथ्यावादी अपनापन का
भोग के उर्वरण का
त्याग के मरण का
बिलखता सबूत हूँ मैं
राखी का सूत हूँ मैं II

तब से ......... अब तक.

तब मिलने की व्याकुलता थी
अब बिछुड़न की यह ज्वाला है
तब जीवन रंग गुलाबी था
अब तो वह दिखता काला है
तब मन लगता था प्रियतम में
अब तो दिखती मधुशाला है
इस क्रूर काल के कटु कदमों के
नीचे दबता जाता हूँ
तब से अब तक के जीवन के
स्मृति चित्रों को दुहराता हूँ ll

सरि तट की रेती पर हमने
जीवन के चित्र बनाये थे
उन चित्रों के सच होने की
तब मन में आस लगाये थे
अब वर्तमान में चित्र वही
जलधारा के आहार बने
अपने विचार वह स्वप्न वही
पीड़ादायी तलवार बने ll

तब जीवन पीयूष कलश सदृश
अब यह लगता विष प्याला है
मेरे मधुवन की क्यारी में
किसने विषधर को डाला है ?
निश्चय ही समय तुम्हारी ही यह
कष्ट दायिनी क्रीडा है
तब से अब तक की स्मृतियों से
अंतर में उठती पीड़ा है ll

असंभव का विशेषज्ञ - Specialist of Impossible

चिर समय से जो अंधेरा
इस जगत से जा न पाया
कोटि सूर्यों के किरण को
जिस तमस ने है हराया,

बुद्धि बल से युक्त मानव
के गमन को रोकता जो
स्वप्न पंछी की उड़ानें
भुवन में अवरोधता जो,

आदि युग से प्राणियों को
जिस विषय का ज्ञान न था
हर सपने को सच करने की
सक्षमता का भान न था,

हर पराजय की वजह के
ग्रंथ का सर्वज्ञ हूँ मैं
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,

भाग्य रेखा भाग्य को
अबतक दिशाएं दे रही थी
भाग्य रेखा को दिशाएं
दे सके वह शक्ति मैं हूँ,

स्वप्न जो देखा कभी पर
प्राप्ति का साहस नहीं था
कल्पना वो सत्य करने
का अटल संकल्प मैं हूँ,

राह जो अबतक नहीं था
स्वप्न सच को जोड़ता जो
मार्ग वह निर्माण करने
का अनत उत्साह मैं हूँ,

प्राणीमात्र की सीमाओं का
विस्तार कारी यज्ञ हूँ मैं
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,
असंभव का विशेषज्ञ हूँ मैं,

It’s Indian railways again!!

I have expressed my fondness for Indian railways in the past. I have fond memories associated with railways. And browsing the web, I find that there are many fellow Indians sharing the same feeling.

However some suggestions this time:

Should we have a separate railway budget?
A railway budget separate from the general budget started in 1924 because the railways then formed more than a third of the budget. Many people argue that now since the size of Indian economy has increased a great deal, why should we just follow history? Why have a separate rail budget??
I have a counter argument. We should have separate budgets for all important ministries. Let the Rail, Highways, Power, Higher Education, Urban Development, Agriculture …. ministers present the annual budgets and future plans of their ministries and the Finance minister should just cover the remaining expenditures and allocations at the end. This way, all the ministries will come under public scrutiny and be more accountable.

Now something about making money.
Assume you have a 1000 kgs of Gold. And you know that the gold prices are at the peak. What will you do? The obvious choice is to sell it off and cash in. Our rail stations and trains have several lakhs of feet-fall daily. Is it not a great place to earn money from advertising? We see some ads but there is potential for a lot more. And only additional money can solve the problems with Indian railways.

Here is a workable solution: Lease out the ad space to different advertising agencies zone wise. Let them be independent to sell the ad space and finally railway ministry can pay them a certain percentage of the money made by them. Different agencies in different zones will ensure competition and the contract can be reviewed based on performance.

Here are some pics to end the blog:-

The Good:





The Bad:

Media

I often hear people complaining about irresponsible media.
I just now opened Times of India website to get some examples of the above and I got plenty. Here are some:
After headlines about Lalit Modi, Sania-Shoib marriage, we have the following:

You're irresistible!
Singles prefer dating hotties
5 dating charms that won't fail
Can suspicion kill a relationship?
Bebo turns a teacher
Salman, the new Mogambo
Where's Maanyata, Sanju?
Juhi prays for brother
Pics: Uber hot Neetu Chandra

And I did not copy all such links.
This is the newspaper having largest daily circulation in paper and one of the largest hits on the web.

We talk about how there should not be any “guidelines” and “regulations” in a free market economy. Let the organizations do what is best for them financially. But India is NOT a free market economy. We have laws censuring TV and media. Why, then we allow our media to be so irresponsible about nation. Do the above listed items qualify as news?

In my opinion the media should “repeatedly” show various poverty related news, farmers suicide, un-education, un-employment, condition of schools and colleges, why the colleges are producing so many not-fit-for-employment graduates, national security related issues and so on. There are no dearth of issues. The media should remind the public again and again about such issues so that people will be aware. And if that happens, there is a good chance that many of them will keep that in mind while voting.

I am not saying that only problems should be highlighted. The media should also have sections featuring achievers – not only Nilekanies, Birlas, Ambanies but thousands of small scale achievers. Why don’t they have articles by a school teacher or a small time businessman sharing there experiences and difficulties faced. But they will not. Because they are “financial” institutions whose sole aim is to make money. That is why most of the news published these days are “paid news”.

I hope a revolution happens by bloggers, at least for the net-savvy Indians highlighting the “real news” and “real issues” of the nation. Amen!

Election Manifesto: The Missed Points

The most “important” way for “inclusive growth” and “upliftment of the oppressed” in India is Reservation. All political parties believe so. But in spite of all pro-quota parties and their luminary and visionary leaders, there are still many areas “untouched” and I think they also should be considered for reservation. Here is a list:

1. Seats in Indian railways and Air India should be reserved for (15% for SC, 10% for ST, 30% for OBC, 20 % for Minority). After all, these casts have been oppressed by the "upper" casts for centuries. Isn’t it?
i. Any train passing through Maharashtra should have 50% seats reserved for “Marathi Manoos”.
ii. Similar thing will be considered for other states in due time depending on the level of voilent protest they do.

2. How about a reservation in Indian cricket team with the following rules:
i. The posts of captain, coach and vice captain will be alternately held by SC, ST, OBC, Minority and General category player.
ii. No two people among captain, coach and vice captain can be of the same cast at any given time. (This is to ensure that “proper representation” is given to all sections of society.)
iii. The playing eleven MUST consist of 2-SC, 2-ST, 3-OBC, 2-Minority and 2-General category players. In addition, BCCI will file a petition to ICC to increase the number of on-field players to 12 so that another player from ex-defense personal or ex-freedom fighter son category can be accommodated.

3. The planned man on moon mission of ISRO MUST take people from all casts & sections of society in the above mentioned percentage.

4. The posts of PM and ministers should be reserved.
PM – OBC
President – Minority
Defense Minister – ST
Finance Minister – SC
HRD Minister – General (So that Arjun Singh can hold this post to "ensure" proper implementation of the above “policies”)
Etc.

You can add many more points to this list. I just started it. Now we should make sure that all our political parties include this in their election manifesto.

Is Raju Running the Govt. of India?

Govt's aam aadmi bill may be inflated: CAG

Who says Satyam’s fraud was a one-off case and it is not a representative of India or India Inc? Today’s headline in ToI says:

Punching a hole in the UPA government's campaign of Bharat Nirman and other flagship schemes, its official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report released on Friday that the government had been overstating the expenditure.

The news of Rs 7,800 Cr scam by Raju & Co. made such a hue and cry across media, and rightly so. But this news of over 51,000 Cr rupees was not discussed anywhere. Within 1 hr the news was buried in the archive pages of ToI website. This shows that the difference of expectation of public and media from the govt. is so low even in the election year. Even a fraud of 51,000 Cr rupees does not get enough attention.

The report further goes:

Over Rs 51,000 crore was allocated for these flagship schemes in 2007-08 which got transferred to the bank accounts of NGOs, autonomous bodies and district authorities. However, the government has told CAG that it was not aware of the actual expenditure by these organisations.

Raising an alarm, the CAG said money often remained unspent in the accounts of these implementing agencies. Kept outside government accounts, they were beyond the purview of any checks and balances of the Centre.

The report also pointed out how the Social and Infrastructure Development Fund (SIDF) — created in 2006 for funding initiatives such as the employment of physically challenged, insurance cover for rural poor, etc — was diverted to unspecified programmes like celebration of 150th year of the First War of Independence and towards grants to various cultural organizations.

The government had transferred Rs 6,500 crore in 2007 and Rs 6,000 crore in 2008 to the SIDF. An examination of Rs 3,500 crore expenditure under this account by the CAG revealed that at least Rs 1,500 crore in 2006-07 and a similar amount the following year was diverted to celebrations and giving aid to NGOs and other expenditure rather than creating infrastructure.

Pointing out how the government had been diverting funds intended to provide subsidies to the rural “aam aadmi'', the CAG report said of the Rs 20,000 crore collected under the Universal Service Obligation Fund between 2003-08 towards subsidising rural telephony, only Rs 6,000 crore was spent; the remaining amount was not there in the fund.

Surely, our government is taking lessons form corporate India.

A Response to Media

Here is my response to the article SATYAM SCAM - POLITICS, MEDIA & LIES by some Ahmed Ali Shaik at the IBNlive.in.com.

Ahmed,

After reading “your version” of Satyam’s story I strongly feel that there should be “specialized” media people to cover specific issues rather than, say, asking a fashion journalist to cover a sports event.

I least bother to reply to you as an individual, but since you have published this blog at a public website, it is likely to be read by many. So here is my reply:

Note: I have quoted Ahmed in Italics and my responses are in regular font.

Disclaimer: I am a Satyam employee. But this reply is in the capacity of an individual, this is no way an official reply from Satyam.

Interestingly, Jan.11 was a Sunday and both the press conferences were held at the same time at 12 noon. This may be just a coincident.

I do not find anything “Interesting” about the press conferences held on Sunday as It was a hasty situation. It may be an off day for you guys but FYI people working in an emergency situation do not take off on Sundays.

This raises a suspicion that either DGP SSP Yadav lied to the Chief Minister or YSR was lying to the media. Whatever is the truth, the statements about the Satyam case started with lies?

Aren’t we used to politicians lying in our country. So another common thing, noting “interesting”.

The new board members too were not behind making tall statements about the Satyam Computers. Soon after their appointment, they started giving an impression that Satyam was a genuine company, with genuine employees, genuine clients and genuine revenues.

I find you as the first person doubting whether Satyam is a genuine company, with genuine employees, genuine clients and genuine revenues. It is not a difficult task for a media person to establish that with around 53000 employees available to testify. But it will require little bit of work and will kill the scope of your “sensational” comments.

If they are right, then there should be no doubts that Ramalinga Raju siphoned off Satyam's money from company's accounts. But sometimes their tone matched with Raju's claims.

It is sad that I have to remind a media person that it is not the question whether anybody or Satyam board has doubt or not, but no official comment can be made when the matter is under investigation.

On the day when Public Prosecutor told Nampally Criminal Court that Satyam's headcount of 53,000 was not genuine and there were over 10,000 fictitious employees, Ramalinga Raju issued a statement through his lawyer saying that the headcount figure of 53,000 was correct.

I can understand the lack of information of the public prosecutor in this matter in the first few days. But now that the issue has been confirmed by the board, that there is no inflation of the headcount and it remains close to 53000, there should be no reason to keep raising it. Can’t Raju, as an individual, make a statement if he has not done that particular thing?

This statement raises a question as to why did the board confirmed that 'prima facie' headcount was correct without even waiting for the reports of 'independent investigation process'. Are they trying to defend Raju? There are several other questions that deserve answers.

Simple, because negative media coverage hurts the employee moral, stock value and customer confidence. So the board can not wait. Was it that difficult to understand Ahmed?

Within a week after their appointment, new board members started praising Satyam. Deepak Parekh even claimed that Satyam has receivables of Rs.1700 crore. Exactly three days after his appointment, Parekh claimed, "The company on its book, as of today, has a large amounts of receivables due, if these receivables come on time, on due date, the company has adequate liquidity, the loans against these receivable are minimal. But we have to get the numbers authenticated and verified." How did he know about it within three days after his appointment and after spending just 6 hours in Satyam's campus?

It may be difficult to understand to you. But for a competent and empowered board it is possible.

In the last one month the new board met six times and to my understanding, it did not take any major decision.

Oh, really? I sincerely advice you to start reading news papers. That will help.

There were some reports saying that Satyam has added 15 new clients in January.

Wrong. To my knowledge, it was not about addition of new clients but about signing of new contracts with the existing clients.

The board has also appointed some independent auditors to restate the company's accounts. But the question is how will those agencies do the restatement? All the documents, even computers, related to Satyam's finance and accounts departments have been seized by the CID, SFIO and SEBI and nobody on behalf of Satyam approached these agencies for a copy of seized documents. No body knows since when the accounts were being fudged. So what will be the basic criteria that will be adopted to restate the accounts? On what grounds, the company's assets and liabilities would be ascertained? How this company would be valued which would facilitate its sale?

That is not impossible. Though I do not know what is actually happening, I will give you two examples:
i) The sensitive data are not saved only in a few local computers but there are provisions of data replications, to avoid accidental loss of data. So I do not believe that the new auditors do not have or are not allowed the access to data.
ii) Anybody aware of the business model of IT services companies knows that the accounts can be re-stated with the help of the clients who paid to Satyam for their products and services over the years.

There are many more points on which I differ but cannot clarify due to lack of time and patience. However, I agree with you that the fraud is one of the most serious in our history, the culprits should be punished what they deserve but not sure whether they will be due to the blunt criminal justice system in India, our politicians are most opportunistic in nature, there is a possibility of political involvement etc. But this, in no way discounts the professionalism Satyam employees have shown in two decades. Satyam employees are no different than employees of other IT companies. And by the way, Satyam’s new CEO is AS Murthy and not VS Murthy as repeatedly mentioned by you.

Slumdog is Trash

I fully agree with the views expressed by Amitabh Bachchan and director Priyadarshan about Slumdog Millionaire.

I do not comment about its cinematic value, but this movie is poised to do a lot of damage to the Indian image globally. With all the awards and nominations, it is sure to get a lot of international audience. And all those who do not know India will believe that India is like the way it is shown in that movie. It took two decades to change western perception that India is the land of Sadhus and snake charmers. And this movie will wash some of that efforts.

Why do we need to change west’s perception about India? Because we need business, collaborations and nevertheless the global education. We were under developed, and we still are. But there is a lot of difference in India of 50s and 60s and India of 21st centaury.
But I wonder why is that westerners like the poor and slum image of india and not the better (realistic) one.

Here is what Priyadarshan has to say about this movie.

Some excerpts:

' 'Slumdog Millionaire' is nothing but a cheap trashy mediocre version of those commercial films about estranged brothers and childhood sweethearts that Salim-Javed used to write so brilliantly in the 1970s. And please quote me clearly on this. If the Golden Globe and Oscars committees have chosen to honour this trashy film it just shows their ignorance of world cinema,”
'I saw the film with a mixed audience at the Toronto Film Festival. The Westerners loved it. All the Indian hated it. The West loves to see us as a wasteland, filled with horror stories of exploitation and degradation. But is that all there's to our beautiful city of Mumbai?'

A Thought

"Mind is an attribute of an individual. There is no such thing as collective brain. There is no such thing as collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act – the process of reason – must be performed by each man, alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breath for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared."

--Ayn Rand “THE FOUNTAINHEAD”

Hope

"Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend, hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."

-- Red, in "The Shawshank Redemption"

It indeed, can drive a man insane, but is not it a good thing? I have seen many talented people living in mediocrity. All because they have lost hope that something great will happen in their lives. Whereas, a person with hope of a good future will WORK towards that good future. And chances are s/he will reach the destination.

So, any day I would prefer being or behaving insane for working towards what I hope rather than being disappointed and hopeless. Whether I achieve what I want or not is something I can not control alone. There may be other factors. But one thing is sure, work, like energy never gets destroyed.

And by the way, watch “The Shawshank Redemption” if you have not already done so.

Dollar, Economy and Wars

Till now I have never posted a forwarded email on my blog but I could not stop myself from sharing this one with you all. (I don't know if I have many readers :-)

This was indeed an eye opener for me. I had never thought of this acpect of economy and wars.

Here it goes:

Why the Dollar Bubble is about to Burst?

The Voice (issue 264 -) ran an article beginning, ' Iran has really gone
and done it now. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub in to the
Persian Gulf . They are about to launch something much more deadly -- next
week the Iran Bourse will open to trade oil, not n dollars but in Euros'
This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the
US people, indeed all for us all, than is imaginable.

Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through
exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are both
US-owned.

The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War
II. During that war the US supplied provisions and munitions to all its
allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.

By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar
became the one undisputed global reserve currency -- it was treated
world-wide as `safer than gold'. The Bretton Woods agreement was
established.

The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like
there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars, paying
for ever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many
wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the world over. You see,
this did not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well,
maybe for a forest or two.

Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more
and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends
many more dollars abroad that at home. Analysts pretty much agree that
outside the US , of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in
gold and all currencies -- that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in
US dollars!

In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of
their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics
at Ohio University ) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its
payment on August 15, 1971 . While popular spin told the story of
`severing the link between the dollar and gold', in reality the denial to
pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945
Breton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.

The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929.
The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have
faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petrodollar.
The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for
dollars only -- it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep
dollars to buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the
world, free of charge. What a Houdini for the US ! Oil replaced gold as
the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.

Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad.
The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world's
products for next to nothing. More vaults were built.

Expert, C¨®il¨ªnn Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de facto world
reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two thirds of
all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign
exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in
dollars. In addition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.'
Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the
US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demand
for the dollar `artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out
printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased
military spending and consumer spending on imports. There is no
theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as
the US has no serious challengers, and the other states have confidence in
the US dollar, the system functions.'

Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western
Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe .
French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and
people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free cake
too.
Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999
against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe , especially from
Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded.

Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was
switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only -- breaking the
OPEC agreement.. Iran , Russia , Venezuela , Libya , all began talking
openly of switching too -- were the floodgates about to be opened?

Then aero planes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this
another Houdini chance to save the US (petro) dollar and the biggest
financial/economic crash in history? War preparations began in the US But
first war-fever had to be created -- and truth was the first casualty.
Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil
in euros.
In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros.
A few months later, the US began their invasion of Iraq .

The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in
the first oil currency, or petro-dollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in
March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in
August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in
Baghdad not bombed was the Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many
people are murdered -- for the US , the petro-dollar must be saved as the
only way to buy and sell oil - otherwise the US economy will crash, and
much more besides.

In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly of
selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US ). On
12 April 2003 , the US-supported business leaders and some generals in
Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against
this and the Army followed suit. The coup failed. This was bad for the US
.

In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever,
and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro
dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in
euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched
trading back to dollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In
August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries
and the euro rises sharply. In the winter of 2003-4 Russian and OPEC
politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and
the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made no decision to turn to
the euro -- and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran
announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York , and
again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.27 and has been climbing of
late.

But matters this month became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May
Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling
oil in euros from abroad -- they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a
global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil!

In Chavez's recent visit to London ; he talked openly about supporting the
Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about
the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela , Chavez
prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.

Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New
York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London's International Petroleum
Exchange.
Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars.
The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe , which buys 70%
of Iran 's oil. It makes sense for Russia , which sells 66% of its oil to
Europe . But worse for the US , China and India have already stated they
are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.

If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on - deja-vu - `weapons of mass
destruction' in Iran , who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and
more, being bombed too?

And worse for Bush. It makes sense for Europe , China , India and Japan--
as well as all the other countries mentioned above -- to buy and sell oil
in Euro's. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they
will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the
debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic
difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US-- there is no way
out.

The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults
full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many
countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a
chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's
dollars -- it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with
it, especially Britain .

To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US ,
needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it
can't.'
This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery,
to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this
will not happen.

What will happen in the US ? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution,
but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a
re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement
will emerge...

Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to
stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US ? Their vaults are
full to the brim with dollars.

The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of
the world since 1945.. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every
dollar in every vault in the world.

Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into
the war in Iraq , behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now
with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the
Sunni v Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war.
However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know
that this would be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will
establish a euro-oil-exchange, perhaps in Brussels .

There is one `solution' -- scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency
for the US . This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's
savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the
desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street
and Pentagon.

Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The
Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany , to win hearts and
minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam. So, how is the US
going to escape this time? The only global arena of total superiority left
is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead. A new world war is one tool
by which the US could discipline its `allies' into keeping the dollar in
their vaults.

The task of socialists today is to explain to as many as possible,
especially our class, that the coming crisis belongs purely to capitalism
and (dollar) imperialism. Not people of other cultures, not Islam, not the
axis of evil or their so-called WMDs. Their system alone is to blame.

The new Iranian Oil Bourse, the IOB, is situated in a new building on the
free-trade-zone island of Kish , in the Persian Gulf . It's computers and
software are all set to go. The IOB was supposed to be up and running last
March, but many pressures forced a postponement. Where the pressure came
from is obvious. It was internationally registered on 5th May and supposed
to open mid-May, but its opening was put off, some saying the oil-mafia
was involved, along with much international pressure.

In 2007 Crude was trad ed around 60 usd. Everyone kn e w dollar was
getting weaker and weaker day by day. Th e n US with the help of their two
NYMEX & IPE exchange started rising the price of crude by Future trading
on crude( called speculation). Today crude is around 140 usd. It means
whole world who were paying 60 usd, are now paying 140 usd, which means
demand of dollar has gone upto 230% and dollar start ed rising again.

-----------
Looks like this was written 6 months back.
Thanks Sandeep for sharing this article.

Dancer

I used to think that no one can dance like me, but there are others too.

Indian Ocean: The Music band

Came across this band called Indian Ocean. Liked their music a lot. Here is a sample. You can get other songs like BHOR, JHINI etc in youtube, if you have not already seen those.

Defeated India

Over the last 40 hours, when the news channels are as hit as they can be my heart is full of sorrow, eyes wet and mind full of rage. I, like many fellow Indians, am in the same state of mind as the protagonist of the recent movie The Wednesday. I mean, a handful of terrorists could literally take a country of over a billion people hostage. Yes, it is an attack on Mumbai, on India, on Indian pride, on Indian intelligence, on Indian military, on each Indian. And the terrorists could not be more successful. We are a defeated nation.

The external affairs minister of India Mr. Pranab Mukharjee again warns Pakistan against letting its territory used for terrorist activities. Hello Mr. Mukherjee, YOU ARE the one letting your territory used for terrorist activities. Gone are the days when Pakistan was the only major source of terrorists. Have you forgotten the evidences of terrorist training camps in the forests of Kerala, Karnataka and elsewhere in India? Yes, all planning, training and execution is happening in India and done by INDIANS. Funding may be from outside. And this is no secret to anybody. You do not need an intelligence force or a high level inquiry to know this. Ask a street kid and he will tell you the fact.

In India, there is no preventive detention law, and prosecutions can take years. The Wall Street Journal blames our politicians for this.

And rightly so. Now the pathetic situation of training and equipments of our elite forces like NSG and ATS is an open secret. Whose responsibility is it to make sure that our forces are well trained and equipped? Who will provide required money and international collaborations to do so? Any answers Mr. Singh, Mr. Mukharjee, Mr. Patil or Mrs.Gandhi?? The poor brave soldiers are just giving their lives for us. The poor public is giving their lives.
On the other hand, half of the cops are busy planning the security of our politicians. Mayawati's security apparatus has 350 cops, 34 vehicles.

Nothing is happening which could give us hope of a better future. Worse is a realistic possibility. I have no faith left on political leadership in India.

Good Bye JUMBO…Cricket Will Be Poorer Without You.

It has been quite some time since I last scribbled here. And I thought I would pay my tributes to my all time sports icon Anil Kumble aka JUMBO.

Kumble has been my favorite Indian cricketer since about 10 years, so I can say that I belong to his longest serving fan-club. 

I know that India is full of cricket pundits, and many of them may not agree when I say that Kumble has won more matches (particularly the Test matches) for India than ANY other player EVER. That is why I think he is the GREATEST Indian cricketer ever.
A few points about his personal life I copied from Wikipedia:

Anil Kumble was born in Bangalore.

His family, of Kannadiga origin, takes its name from Kumble village situated in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, close to the Karnataka border: his paternal great grandfather hailed from this village while his maternal family hails from Karnataka.

He is married to Chethana Ramatheertha. Anil has 3 children - daughter Aaruni (from Chethana's previous marriage), son Mayas and the youngest Svasti (daughter).

Kumble began playing cricket on streets of Bangalore and joined a club called Young Cricketers when he was 13 years old. Kumble did his primary schooling at Holy Saint English School and his high schooling at National High School, Basavanagudi. He got his Pre-University College education from National College, Basavanagudi. Kumble graduated from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering in 1991-92. Anil's studious dispensation is not without a basis in fact. Prior to his selection for the England tour, he did exceedingly well in his academics passing mechanical engineering with distinction in the top of his class.

He has a nickname Jumbo not only because his deliveries, for a spinner, are "as fast as a Jumbo jet", but also because his feet are quite big or Jumbo as observed by his team-mates.

It is rare to find a sportsperson who is so good in studies, that too the person of the sporting excellence of Kumble.

For a person who gave up fast bowling because of a jerky action, it is amazing to be so successful as a spinner. Since he did not have the turn of Shane Warne or Murali, I think he had the best mind of a bowler to outthink the batsmen.

On top of that, his discipline as a player was second to none. I have never heard of any penalty or disciplinary action against him ever. He has been a 100% team player. Never cared more about personal milestones over the team cause. While all the players say so about themselves, we all know that many of them actually do the reverse.

Dear Jumbo, wish you all the best for your future. And now that you will have some free time, I hope to meet you someday in Bangalore. 