Tag: Reflection

Even Scavenging Crows Don’t Sell Themselves Short

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One of my fondest childhood memories is that of me and my sisters feeding rice to sparrows and crows in the verandah in our grandparent’s house. It’s an age old practice that our grandparents had encouraged us to indulge in and enjoy. These days sighting sparrows in Chennai has become a rarity and finding time in our extra rush-hour life to feed the crows has been difficult. The problem is also aggravated by the fact that it’s very difficult to find a suitable spot to feed the birds in apartment complexes. Nevertheless in the last couple of years I have got into the habit of feeding crows.

The compound wall of our current flat is just an arm’s distance from our kitchen. As a result we place food for the birds on the compound wall from our kitchen. The convenience factor has made it easier to feed the crows. The sound of the crows around breakfast and lunch times also serve as alarm bells that remind me to feed the crows. I hadn’t given it much thought but of late I have started noticing that even crows have foods preferences. The scavenging crows are the last creatures that I would have expected to have preference in meals but they seem to have preferences. Crows prefer non-veg items; that’s a no brainer. They prefer chapatti over rice; that’s a surprise to me. The spot where we place pieces of chapatti will become empty within a few minutes whereas when we place rice it will take a couple of hours to get finished. Crows seem to hate dosas; they are kind of ok with idlis.

This Saturday morning, something even more interesting happened. My wife was not keeping well and my mother was at my sister’s place. I went to kitchen to drink water and on hearing the sound of crows I reached out to the loaf of bread lying on the kitchen table. I pulled a couple of slices of bread and tore them into smaller pieces and placed them at the usual spot on the compound wall where we keep food for the crows. Then I went to wash my hands at the kitchen sink and simultaneously peeked through the window to see what was happening.

Four crows descended on the compound and were shouting loudly. However none of them touched the bread. One of the crows even looked very closely at the bread pieces similar to the way a lab technician would look through a microscope. Even after a couple of hours the bread pieces were still lying on the compound wall.

As I was having my lunch I could not help but wonder about the optimism of those crows. Crows are mostly scavengers eating on left overs, living a kind of rootless existence (in the eyes of a human) with not much guarantee about the next meal. Yet the experience of their life time had taught them to be so optimistic about their immediate future that they were not willing to sell themselves short. Even a lifetime of scavenging has not dented their optimism.

I wish I had the same optimistic outlook about my own life. At so many instances in life I have sold myself short thinking that it was risky to forego what was in front of me. There have been days at a stretch when I had been pessimistic, cynical and grumpy. I have also known of so many people (with the best of education, jobs, health and family condition) who have had the same feeling and would go an extra mile in propagating their pessimism to others as well. And yet here we have bunch of scavenging crows that were more optimistic than people like us and were refusing to sell themselves short. Optimism is not something that you deduce from your immediate environment or situation but something that you inculcate within yourself. Life and Nature are indeed great teachers.

Sports Day at My Daughter’s School

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On Saturday my daughter’s playschool, ‘Eurokids – Kotturpuram,’ conducted their annual sports day nicknamed, ‘Health is Wealth Day.’ The event was held in another school’s ground in Adyar. Throughout the year for most days my daughter had been late to school because of me. However for the sports day we reached the venue well ahead of time. In the morning it was cloudy as if it was going to rain but when we reached the ground the weather was just perfect for a sports day.

As I entered the ground I was amused that the thought of the winds of change in my life. For the first time in our lives I and my wife were attending a school event as parents. Time just zips past us in a flash while we are barely aware of how far we have come in our life. It just seems only yesterday I was standing outside a delivery room in a hospital when the doctor showed my daughter to me and yet here we were after three years and eight months taking our daughter to her very first sports day.

The school’s official mascot was placed at the entrance of the ground. It was a fairly large ground for an event of a small school. I met many of my daughter’s classmates and their respective parents. Since it was school admission time most of the conversation was around which schools we had applied to and whether the kids have got admission in the schools that had completed the admission process as of now.

I have never seen my daughter so lively and happy and so were the other kids. The school had arranged for drills by age group and races (individual and team) by classes/ age group. My daughter and her age group kids had to wear the Eurokids official T-shirt for the drill and a theme T-shirt for the races. As we were helping our daughter wear the T-shirt meant for the race, we were pleasantly surprised to see her name printed on the T-shirt.

As for the actual event, the drills and the races went off without much hiccup. They were far from perfect but even imperfection is perfection when it involves kids. The school management, teachers and staff had done a tremendous job of putting together drills and theme based races and there were a mini quizzes to introduce each race. My daughter’s race was around bears competing to catch fish and trying to make it to the finish line first.

Like most schools conducting events for kids, my daughter’s school ensured that every kid participated. They also gave prizes for every kid. As there was no first or second prize it actually freed the event from needless judgements and complaints that would have been made by the parents. During the prize distribution ceremony the school head kept repeating multiple times that ‘this is the first prize that the kids were winning in their lives’ and at Eurokids ‘Every kid is a winner.’

As the event was progressing it was heartwarming to see some of the kids dancing even from the audience area for songs of all the drills. There were many a funny moment during the event. The only two problems at the event were not from kids or the school but from the parents group: In our enthusiasm to watch the kids perform, we were refusing to settle down in the seats and the applause from us was rather muted and lacking energy.

When the kids were not performing in the drills and races, they were conducting a parallel sports day in the audience area. As I watched the kids play I could not help but notice that so much group dynamics and personality traits were already on display even at such a young age. I also could see with my own eyes (as pointed out by researches) that even a couple of months of difference in age can result in significant difference in kids’ ability to understand and act. The kids were somehow lost in their own world oblivious to what was happening around them.

There were musical chair competitions respectively for the fathers, mothers and the teachers/staff. The school had thrown in another surprise element by arranging for pizzas for the kids which was a huge hit with the kids. Overall the event resembled a carnival more than a sports day and it was a welcome break to be spectator to the surprising world of tiny but sunny personalities. When it was to time to go home one of my daughter’s classmates was crying and complaining to her parents that she did not want to leave the ground and go home. What more can serve as testimony to the success of the event? Three cheers to the ‘Eurokids – Kotturpuram’ management, teachers and staff for making the sports day a grand success.

Pirates in the Ocean called Democracy

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“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy–to be followed by a dictatorship.”  ― Alexander Fraser Tytler (Scottish advocate, judge, writer and historian)

“Government! Three fourths parasitic and the other fourth stupid fumbling.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”–Albert Einstein

Hindi Saying: “Dhobi ka kutta, na ghar ka, na ghat ka’” which roughly translates to “Neither here, nor there.”

The political class of this country has to take care of the people at the bottom of the pyramid (at least once in a while) because they form the bulk of the voting population; these people basically sign the politicians’ appointment order to rule the country. The politicians worship the rich men of this country because they generously fund, albeit without much transparency, the political parties. The Tax paying population is actually in no man’s land with nobody to care for them. In fact the maxim for the tax paying population could be: ‘I Pay Taxes Therefore I Am.’ If a history book is to be written about Independent India’s achievement, the tax paying population would be mentioned just in the footnotes: ‘All the achievements of this country were funded by the country’s generous, unsuspecting and helpless tax payers.’ The only reason that we ever matter to the country is because we pay taxes, Period. Our true existence is for politicians to use our tax money to indirectly pay incentives to the poor people to elect them. It’s a good old carrot and stick approach: The politician get the carrot and the taxpayer gets the stick!

The tax payer is the poor soul caught between hell (inflation) and high water (government) that ensure that his or her hard earned money is used lesser and lesser for his or her own well-being with each passing year. The Indian Taxpayers are like the poor oxen used by a farmer to plough his barren land. The farmer (Politician) knows fully well that his land (Indian Economy) has been rendered barren (in bad shape) by his greed (rampant corruption) and nature (global economic situation), yet he expects that by making the oxen (tax payer) work harder (pay more taxes/ forego subsidies) he can get better returns (continued support from the voting population).

The Indian Tax payer is like the bonded slave of Colonial India. We are bonded for life to pay taxes to the government. We have an eternal duty to pay taxes but no right to ensure that the money that we pay as taxes is spent wisely. We pay taxes and travel in potholed roads but our tax money will used to provide free television for the Needy!!! We pay taxes and endure innumerable power cuts every year while our money is used not to build power plants or public schools or hospitals but in some arcane, utopian and symbolic public scheme that ensures the most votes for the politician who announces the scheme.

The first thing that we should be willing to keep open during our travel in this country using our personal vehicles: ‘Our Purse.’ Why should we, the tax payers pay toll duties at every toll booth? We already pay duties (taxes) to the government every month. And shouldn’t that duty (taxes) that we pay be used to build the roads. Shouldn’t the non-taxpayer who uses his own mode of transport be the one who should pay toll duties? In free India, the Indian tax payer is probably paying more duties/ tributes to the Indian Government Machinery than paid by Indians of Colonial India to their British Masters.

By the time we understand what one type of tax actually means and how much it will offset us, the government roles out yet another tax or cess. Income Tax, Professional Tax, Property Tax, Value Added Tax/ Service Tax, Toll Fees, Excise Duties, Entertainment Tax, Fuel Surcharge, Education Cess, Swachh Bharat Cess, etc., the list of assault on the tax payers income is endless. Just like the omnipresent microbes that threaten the physical well-being of individuals, the government imposed taxes and its bad policies threaten the financial well-being of the taxpayer. What is the success rate of various populistic scheme rolled out by the government? Shouldn’t the tax payer have some say in the way his or her money is spent?

What have successive governments done to broaden the tax net? What have successive governments done to catch hold of the tax evaders? What have successive governments done to bring back black money holed up in tax heavens? What have successive governments done to plug the leakages in the public distribution systems? What have successive governments done to roll back various privileges and subsidies being bestowed upon politicians and parliamentarians? The answers is an EMPHATIC NOTHING.

Politicians mask their incompetence by running media campaigns about how a Good Samaritan has to give up his or her LPG subsidy. The LPG subsidy to the taxpayer is just a drop in the ocean of government spending. The LPG subsidy to the tax payer is like ‘a pimple on an ant’s rear’: It is awfully small compared to various other spending by the government.  Lawmakers, ‘Please address the real issues that are setting back this country before you target the tax payer once again.’ I guess not only in kids’ stories but in real life as well, the greedy owner (government) is hell-bent on killing the goose (tax payer) that lays the golden egg (taxes).

Why does someone who makes above 10 lakhs of income have to forego subsidies whereas parliamentarians with crores worth of personal assets enjoy subsidies and privileges of various kind? Why can’t we roll back various tax benefits given to the largest of Indian companies? How about taxing super rich of the country on any money that they have not used in productive, job creating investments (holding idle) for more than a period of, say five years? Well parliamentarians of India, ‘Please lead by example. Please say no to all the privileges that you enjoy.’ Ultimately what is the difference between the pirates of medieval times who used weapons to loot ships in high seas for their own benefit and modern day governments that use the threat of the law to make taxpayers part with their hard earned money which these governments eventually spend as they wish with absolutely zero accountability?

Note: This post has been written for IndiSpire Edition #100: ‘Gas Subsidy has been ended for people with income more than 10 Lac and prices hiked. What is your take on this decision?’

 

The Wise Angel

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In the book ‘Springboard,’ Professor Richard Shell narrates the story of an elderly man (from working class background) who walked into a Wharton School seminar on income and happiness. After listening to what was being discussed, during Q&A session the elderly man described that happiness is just three things: good health, meaningful work and love. Professor Shell who was also present in the audience that day describes in the book that the aura of the academic world had for a moment fallen away under the weight of those simple words. Professor Shell goes on to describe that anonymous gentleman as the WISE ANGEL.

Today as I was lost in a stream of random thoughts, my mind finally came to anchor at the ‘WISE ANGEL’ island. I was thinking if I had met such a ‘WISE ANGEL’ in my life; or did I have the fortune of meeting someone who came at least close to the ‘WISE ANGEL’ – someone who was able to express a profound thought in a simple way.  For a few minutes my mind circling just like a man stranded in an unfamiliar woods on a foggy day.

After a few minutes I remembered of my visit to a Homeopathic Doctor at Mandaveli, Chennai – a few months back. I generally avoid taking allopathic medicine for recurring and nagging issues. I generally try to find some natural cure or take Homeopathic medicine. After repeated failures to locate a Homeopathic doctor near my locality, I found one near my sister’s place.

On this particular day, I had gone to see this doctor for a bout of common cold. He asked me for my age (35 years) and other details. He was trying to explore my medical history, allergies if any, family medical history etc. Then I started explaining about the issues for which I had gone to visit him. Before prescribing me the medicine he said, ‘You should realize that your first innings is over.’ Puzzled, I replied, ‘I don’t understand.’

The doctor went on to explain: ‘Till 35 years of age we are in the first innings of our life. From 35 years to 70 years we are in the second innings of our life. If we are fortunate enough to live beyond 70 years, we should consider it as super over. Since you are past 35 years of age, it is better to realize that you are in the second innings of your life and make modifications to your lifestyle accordingly.’  For a moment I was like thunderstruck.

Looking at the rather strange look in my face the doctor went on to add, ‘Our health is the most important asset that we have. We should do everything under our control to ensure that this asset remains healthy as long as possible.’ The doctor went to on to explain some of the food items that I can eat to increase my basic immunity. Then then prescribed medicines for me; I paid the fees and left the clinic. That day as I was riding back home on my bike, I had mixed feelings.

But over the next few days as I reflected on what the doctor said, I realized that the doctor only helped me realize the reality sooner than later. And as I think back on the incident today and associate the incident that Professor Shell narrates in his book I can clearly see that the Homeopathic Doctor is one of the ‘WISE ANGELS’ that I have encountered in my life.

The 5 Lessons 2015 has taught me

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As I look towards 2016 with hope and optimism for all the opportunities that lie ahead, I am writing this blog post about the five key lessons that that I have learnt in 2015.

Life is Fragile: The havoc caused by incessant rains in November and December 2015 in Tamil Nadu have shown the fragility of life. Nothing is guaranteed. We need to appreciate and be thankful for the good things in our life. The rains also showed the power of the human mind to bounce back after set-backs.

A Good Book is a True Friend: I realized how the saying ‘a good book is a true friend’ is actually true. I spent reading multiple, mostly non-fiction books throughout the year. The more I read, I realized the more there is to read. Books actually gave new perspective on a lot of issues that I have encountered in the past.  In this world full of noise and negativity, books can be a true lighting beacon for the mind.

Life would be just fine without Television: My TV viewing habit has been waning in the last few years. This year I almost avoided TV, viewing it only during dinner time (about 20 – 30 minutes per day). I realized that I did not miss watching television much. I realized that I did not like reality shows (too much artificial drams) and news (too much focus on negative news). I used the freed up time to read books that were of interest to me.

There is happiness to be had in pursuit: I started blogging in late 2014. 2015 was the first full year of blogging for me. As the year progressed I realized that writing is something that I enjoyed. I posted some of the articles that I thought were worth sharing. Finishing an article or journal entry, editing it and the posting it on the blog gave me a sense of momentary happiness. It was a nice feeling to reach these small milestones throughout the year.

It’s no shame to fall; to remain fallen is a shame: A friend of mine once told me a Tamil saying which roughly translates to: ‘It’s no shame to fall; to remain fallen is a shame.’ As the year 2015 progressed, this saying is something that I reminded myself on various occasions when things did not proceed as expected and I was slipping back on my goals. Each time I slipped back on my goals, be it writing journal entries or blogging or my morning walks, I used this saying to motivate myself to get back on the right track.

Note: I wrote this post for IndiBlogger’s IndiSpire Edition 98 topic ‘What are the 5 Lessons 2015 has taught you?’

Admiring the Sunrise on January 1, 2016

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In January 2015 I read the post ‘New Year: My One Word for 2015 and Why I Can’t Leave 2014 Behind’ by Lily Ellyn. Lily started the blog post by narrating a practice in Korea. Quoting from Lily’s blog: ‘In Korea people don’t stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year. Instead, they get up in the middle of the night and they hike a mountain. They climb through the dark, snowy pre-dawn hours and when they reach the top they stand with their faces to the sky to greet the first sunrise of the New Year.’

On reading this post I got inspired to not to stay awake until midnight on December 31st 2015 but wake up early morning on January 1st 2016 and witness the sunrise at Elliot’s Beach, Chennai. Somehow the thought stayed in mind throughout 2015. I have enjoyed viewing many a sunsets at Marina Beach, Elliot’s Beach (both at Chennai), Hussain Sagar Lake (Hyderabad), Pennar River (Nellore), etc. but have witnessed very few sunrises, being a late riser. I have been trying for quite some time to wake up early but have not able to implement it. By the second half of 2015 I was waking up early but not as early as I wanted to.

As the New Year approached I was doubly determined to view the sunrise on New Year’s Day. On 29th December one of my friend who is settled in Abu Dhabi called me and informed that he is in Chennai. We decided to meet for Dinner on December 31. Our families met at his place at around 7 PM and from there proceeded to a restaurant at 8.30 PM. Our respective families were meeting after more than 2 years and it was a wonderful get together. My daughter and my friend’s daughter enjoyed each other’s company very much. Post dinner as we were getting back home, the traffic jams due to mad rush of bikers proceeding to beach fronts for mid-night celebration ensured that we got back home only around mid-night. I think I slept around 12.45 AM but set the alarm for 5 AM but was not sure whether I will wake up so early.

However to my pleasant surprise I woke up at 5 AM, got ready and proceeded to Elliot’s Beach. A lot of morning people had already gathered at the beach front to witness the sunrise. But a thick blanket of clouds was playing spoilsport and ensured that there would not be a perfect sunrise. The sun which emerged from behind the clouds for a brief moment was very beautiful in reddish orange color. I took a few snaps at the beach front. Then I proceeded for my morning walk.

As I was returning home on my bike, I was determined to wake up early every day. When I reached home, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my wife had drawn a very nice New Year Kolam/ Rangoli at our flat’s entrance. I used a photo of the Kolam for my New Year Wish Blog Post. As the year progresses I am hoping to continue to wake up early and go for morning walks. Best Wishes to all of you for achieving all your goals and dreams in 2016. Have a Wonderful Year.

Note: I cam across a wonderful sunrise picture from January 1, 2016at Derwentvalleyphotography Blog. Enjoy the awesome sunrise photo.

A Time of Need and a Time for Greed

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‘The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.’ – Mahatma Gandhi

‘Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.’ – Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

As the rains receded on December 3rd, I and my brother in law ventured out to buy essential household items. It was around 11.30 AM and we had to go from one shop to another as there was stock out situation for some of the essential items. I had walk the entire Kottur area in search of Milk and Candles. Not a single candle was available in any of the stores. A solitary vendor was selling milk outside a big vegetable store in Kottur market. But instead of the usual Rs. 40 per liter he was charging Rs. 100 per liter, a full 150% mark-up to the usual price. Most people were buying multiple packets of milk from him and yet after walking a few feet from the shop complained that it was wrong on the part of the vendor to hike the price in that hour of distress.

After an extended period of incessant rains, the prices of some of the vegetables had reached the stratosphere. On this particular day these darlings of every household’s kitchen were not even available at even these extremely inflated prices. Bread and Rice were running out of stock too. A couple of days later as I was standing in line to buy milk at another milk depot, a woman was hoarding about hundreds of packets of milk in her tricycle. When one of the customers asked why the woman was siphoning off milk meant to be distributed through regular channel, she hurled abuses at the customer. The irony was that within a few minutes she was selling the same milk packets in a nearby street with a fat markup.

Though most of us complain about the greediness of opportunistic vendors, we are opportunistic and greedy too. A case in point was a trip a petrol pump on the same day. My brother in law’s two wheeler was almost at the verge of running out of petrol. By this time most petrol pumps were closing down as they had no more petrol or diesel to sell. The unending lines of people outside petrol pumps rivaled the queues outside places of worship on auspicious days. I went along with my nephew to one of the petrol pumps near Royapettah. Among the crowd to my disappointment and chagrin, there were a bunch of guys who had come with multiple 30 to 40 liter cans. Why would anybody need so much petrol or diesel? Clearly they were greedy arbitrageur who was planning to sell the fuel at much higher prices in suburban localities. Even people who were buying for their own use too were buying more than necessary.

Around the same time, another irrational phenomenon was unfolding across the city. There was a run on the banks, no actually there was a run on ATMs. With most of the bank branches in Chennai on leave due to rains, the cash balance in ATMs was already low. The situation was made even worse by a lot of anxious people (foreseeing more rain and bank holiday) each withdrawing up to their daily permissible limit. The anxious withdrawal pattern resulted in most ATMs going out of cash by afternoon that day and as result the entire city was indulging a real life treasure-hunt, running from one ATM to another. Only after bank branches opened the following day and some of the banks started operating mobile ATMs the situation limped back to normalcy.

While it is understandable that there were long queues at grocery stores, milk vending booths, ATMs and petrol pumps to everyone’s surprise there was queue in wine shops too. And contrary to ATMs and petrol pumps that ran out of stock, these wine shops were fully stocked and was buzzing with so much activity and life that one could have easily mistaken them for an ant colony or a beehive. It is billion dollar puzzle that how in a democratic country there is stock out for essential commodities but wine shops are fully stocked.

No amount of technology can serve as replacement for irrationality of human beings. No amount of rules and processes can check human greed. As I think back on the events that unfolded during the recent rainy spell, I get reminded of a dialogue from a recent movie: ‘By eating even a single mouthful of food after our hunger has been quenched, we are ensuring that another person remains hungry.’ This principle is very apt in situations of natural or man-made calamities like the recent rainy spell.