Matter of shame: Will the guilty be punished

What happened in the assembly yesterday was shameful. It raised some basic questions in my mind. How does it matter which language is used during oath-taking? Does the language matter more than the actual oath itself? Will we ever evaluate whether a MLA/MP ever delivers on his promises or will we be judge them by the language they use? Are we really a democracy or are we doing a lip service to democracy? Will the goons who cause shame to India ever be brought to book?

I am no fan of Mr. Abu Azmi nor am I an enemy of these ‘goons’ who caused havoc in the assembly. What bothers me is the shame that such an action causes to India and its image across the world. We are a country rich in talent and have a great potential to be one of the best in the world. Some of the best scientists come from our motherland, we’ve discovered water on the moon, our engineers work on the best bridges/buildings…

Such actions shake the roots of a democracy. Aren’t we free to think ahead of time? Aren’t we free to wear what we want? Aren’t we free to choose the language we want? Aren’t we free to share our views openly? We need to move forward. It is better to take oath in a language one understands rather than mutter some other language without understanding it. What we should question is the performance on the promises made? What we should question is the corruption after oath? What we should question is the sanctity of the oath?

Lastly, should we allow some ‘goons’ to cause unrepairable damage to a democracy like ours. Isn’t it time that these goons are sent in exile for life? Isn’t it time for our media not to report behaviour of these goons? Isn’t it time we stopped reporting any ‘riot’ caused by these goons in the name of ‘marathi manoos’? I am sure that the very ‘marathi manoos’ for whom they are raising hell, is embarrassed of these goons. If we really want to punish these goons, we should not report even on word/sound byte of their ‘riots’ in our newspapers or on TV. Because the fact is, they are unimportant and an irrelevant part of our society. Our media should take high moral ground and not report any thing that these miscreants do or say. By reporting their act, we are playing into their hands. We have made a mistake by voting for these goons. Lets use our right to vote wisely. Most importantly, lets vote!

Cheers,

Niraj

The Gullible Indian

One of my favourite con stories is that of Aijaz Mehboob Khan.   Mumbai mirror covered the story in August. It goes something like this –

Con man, Aijaz Mehboob Khan, convinced people that he had personal ties with Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Subhash Chandra Bose. He proved his famous affiliations with a fake Times of India cover story- a picture of him standing besides the Father of the Nation. The date of the fake times issue is July 12, 1945, while our con man himself is just 29 years old. Khan – a computer engineer and a resident of Mumbra – managed to dupe at least 10 people to the tune of Rs 50 lakh with his so called ‘freedom fighter’ connections! The people who blindly believed his claim, eventually ended up shelling out lakhs of rupees, which the con man assured them, would be invested in government contracts.

I could not stop laughing at the audacity of the con man and the gullibility of those who invested. We Indians can be a bunch of emotional fools. May be years of conditioning on superstitious beliefs and traditions have made lots of us to take things at face value. Or, may be a lack of proper education. Even the education at primary level (municipality schools) is so bereft of free and logical thinking that we end up not questioning too much in life.

Or take the case of Conman Munir Khan, who is evading arrest in several cases registered against him. Another Mumbai Mirror cover story, Munir Khan apparently developed a wonder drug called Body revival which according to his website-(http://healthreactive.com/index.asp )- is an Micro-Herbal, 100% plant based formula which dissolves the harmful deposits and flushes out the toxins (Mala) through urine and stool. It also maintains and revives the tissue cells in their state of excellent health by clearing all the channels of circulation in the body, thus, bringing the body in the state of equilibrium and forcing the disease to abandon the body in the form of various excretions (Mala)

The above instance is a clear case of imagination gone wild. As per the report people slept on the steps his clinic to be the first few people to get the medicine.

I think one of the biggest hoax was Ramar Pillai and his herbal oil (though Ganesh drinking milk was the most popular). Hailing from Tamil Nadu in India, he claimed he had an herb that can turn water into a virtually pollution-free diesel fuel or kerosene. Unruffled by allegations that Pillai’s venture is a hoax, scooter owners were queuing up in hordes to buy the cheap fuel. Pillai later confessed that he was buying hydrocarbons from the market. The most hilarious incident was someone trying to give a plausible explanation of getting Petrol from thin air- http://www.skepdic.com/herbfuel.html

If he is not using trickery, how is Pillai doing it? One theory, is that atmospheric carbon dioxide is sucked in during the reaction. The carbon dioxide combines with hydrogen liberated from water and forms the hydrocarbon fuel.

Now comes the ironical bit.There is indeed a plant which is now hailed as the future of non fossil fuel. Was Raman right ?

More of this in the next post.

Cheers

Prithwish

Monkey Business-Swinging through the wall street jungle

Monkey Business-Swinging through the wall street jungle by John Rolfe and Peter Troob

Initially I was sceptical about the book. My experience with Indian bankers turned authors has not been great and I had read enough and heard enough accounts of life in a B school and long hours in investment banking jobs to read another book on the same subject. Fresh out of Wharton and Harvard Business Schools, the authors got employed with investment bank – DLF (Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette). The book is their account of how the business is run and their experiences as an associate banker albeit in an extremely entertaining narrative.

“We realized that the compensation levels and the perks weren’t in place because being an associate in investment banking was a great job. They were in place because the job sucked”.

The book is a pleasant surprise. Written in an entertaining, sarcastic and brutally honest fashion it lays down in amazing detail the impersonal way in which an investment bank works. Though there are parts which are slightly exaggerated, accounts of the relentless meaningless work, boredom, sycophancy, huge ego and machismo running wild , endless meetings, bureaucracy and excess money is something which many of us in the corporate world can related to though in various degrees.

“Investment banking is a profession characterized by extremes. Whether it’s money, booze, food, sex, or work hours, the typical banker believes that more is better”.

The details are uncensored and not moderated to sugar coat it. It’s the ugly truth or the naked trust as you might call it. The narration is interesting where each author in turn writes about his experience. Through personal stories and anecdotes the authors expresses the boredom and drudgery of their daily lives—which is far from the glamour that led them to apply in the first place.

Investment Banker or not, the book is a window into the meaningless excesses, idiosyncrasies and stupid competition which marks corporate life. Its strictly recommended for those who can face these difficulties realising the irony of it all and still maintaining some sense of humour.

Prithwish

Half Truths

Book Review

THE DRUNKARD’S WALK-How Randomness Rules Our Lives-By Leonard Mlodinow

The doctor told me I had a deviated nasal septum and had to get the same operated. He asked me to get all the possible blood tests done, including tests for Hepatitis and AIDS. And though I knew my chances of both were almost zero, I could not stop worrying a couple of times before the report. What if I had tested positive? What are the chances that I will be tested positive for AIDS when I don’t have the virus (also known as False Positives)? Is there a difference between the chances that I would test positive if I was not HIV positive and the chances that I would not be HIV positive if I tested positive? What is the role of false positives in the world of medicine?

Well, it so happens that knowledge of conditional probability will tell us that the chances that someone does not have HIV Virus if he tested positive and the chances that someone tested positive even thought he did not have the virus are different. The author explains this in details in the chapter -False Positive and Positive Fallacies.

I had promised that I would shortly write a review on the book- The Drunkard’s Work.  The epilogue is so interesting that I was immediately hooked to the book. The author narrates the story of a man who won the Spanish lottery-

A few years ago a man won the Spanish national lottery with a ticket that ended in the number 48. Proud of his “accomplishment,” he revealed the theory that brought him the riches. I dreamed of the number 7 for seven straight nights, he said, “and 7 times 7 is 48.” Those of us with a better command of our multiplication tables might chuckle at the man’s error, but we all create our own view of the world and then employ it to filter and process our perceptions, extracting meaning from the ocean of data that washes over us in daily life. And we often make errors that, though less obvious, are just as significant as his.

The Drunkards book is a fascinating account of how randomness rules our lives and how often we interpret the random events erroneously. We look at the world around us, we filter a lot of data and interpret what is happening around based on our intuition and we come up with certain results. And the results are often wrong because when it comes to questions involving uncertainly and randomness we often misinprepret the world around us. We have our own directions and goals but we are also bombarded continuously with unpredictable and uncontrollable events that have a very great influence in the direction we take. For those of us who have seen a pollen grain in water moving in a zigzag fashion, there might not be an apparent direction in its movement, yet over a period of time it goes from Point A to point B. Hence while at hindsight we might think that the pollen moved from point A to point B as part of a deterministic trajectory (on purpose), it went in a totally random fashion. So even though the movement of the pollen grain looked totally random with no apparent preferential direction it did actually over longer period of tome move in a direction. Thus extrapolating it to life, even if we have no direction we will get somewhere.

The last line requires more elaboration as it an important thought which author builds on. He talks about our biases and illusions arising from randomness and the illusion of causality and the law of small numbers (there is actually a law of large number; law of small number denotes to wrong use of the law of large numbers for smaller numbers) are important ones. We often attribute more importance to success and failure than it is due. In a span of 5 years we judge a CEOs performance when mathematically speaking the probability that a CEO with a certain success rate will demonstrate that success rate in a 5 year period is only 1in 3. Also the author questions the fact that how come someone treated as a genius business manager change overnight into a dumb one.  The book is interspersed with calculations on why using small numbers for prediction may be fallacious and how certain random processes are viewed erroneously.

The author’s objective is not to declare everything as random but to tell us that the usual attributes of success and failure, of genius and mediocrity are premature and not totally a matter of effort but also have an element of random luck thrown in. Given that there is no denying the role of effort. Even JK Rowling got rejected for her novel 9 times before she became a world renowned author. The authors quotes a former IBM executive, Thomas J Watson -If you want to succeed double your failure rate.

The latter chapters of the book also look into the psychological reasons of why we make mistakes around randomness. Borrowing from some of the experiments of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and Tversky he points out how for human beings being in control (what the author says as illusion of control) is an important need and hence we don’t like to believe that we don’t have control over life and environment.

The book is filled with interesting life accounts of mathematicians who have contributed to the development of probability (you will have to read the book to find out if all of them were mathematicians or not), interesting problems in probability (Monty Hall problem) and statistical concepts like regression towards the mean (which also has implications in Biology).

For me the book is a crash course on probability, statistics, psychology and randomness and how they affect our daily lives.

Prithwish

Pieces of the Green Puzzle

Maldives is an island country in the Indian Ocean-a perfect natural combination for the ideal tropical holiday destination. At just 4 ft 11 above sea level it is also the lowest country.

World meat production has more than quadrupled in the past half-century to some 220 million tons annually. The increase has been driven by rising incomes, population growth and urbanization particularly in the emerging meat markets of East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. ¹

Tata Motors Ltd announced the launch in India of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, the marquee brands it bought from Ford Motors last year.

The truth is that falling oil prices and the deep recession are directly related. When this worldwide recession ends and economies begin to grow again, oil prices will again become a burden on the economies of all nations. Thus we are really talking about a sleeping giant that will eventually awaken and attack us again.²

For those of you who are still wondering what connects the above, you have to read on. For those of you who have already connected the dots, my objective is to open your eyes and ears to the environmental challenge.

Environmental change is in the news. It looks as if everyone’s “going green.” So what is going green all about? Is it about reducing artificial lighting at offices, making it a habit to turn off the lights when you’re leaving any room, switching off your computer when not you are not using it and wasting less paper for printing?

While going green is all of the above, it is actually much more. Have you considered for example that today, e-waste is the fastest growing component of waste. That’s because people now upgrade mobile phones, computers and televisions more frequently than before. I am not being judgemental about how to lead one’s life. But being open to multiple points of view is an important criteria for an evolved society.

Environment today is still a back seat for most policy decisions in developing countries. One might say that developed countries have had their share of growth and now they can’t bully the developing counties into accepting strict environment norms. Developing countries, including China and India, believe it is the responsibility of wealthy industrialised nations such as the UK and US to set a clear example on cutting carbon emissions. For example, the rapidly growing Chinese economy has recently overtaken America as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Yet America has historically emitted far more emissions than China, and on a per capita basis Chinese emissions are around a quarter of those of the US.³The Chinese government argues that it has a moral right to develop and grow its economy — carbon emissions will inevitably grow with it. Another interesting point is that most of the emission related activities are outsourced to developing countries.

But who is suffering?

Maldives, a small Asian country, is just 4 ft 11 in above sea level-the lowest country on the plane. If global warming proceeds apace, sea levels around the Maldives will rise 60 cm in the next 50 years, swallowing large tracts of the country.

Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed correctly points out –

We need shared responsibility. You can’t ask countries like India to stop consumption. We might be the victims but there are millions and billions of others. I shouldn’t be so selfish to push for that. Countries like India should invest heavily in renewable energy and maintain lower emission levels and higher energy consumption. I think the winners of the 21st century will be those who are bold enough to venture into new technology. We are on the verge of a technological breakthrough, a revolution again that would have more impact than the industrial revolution perhaps.

He is very correct to point out that people are still not that concerned about environment. Countries still don’t have climate change as a major election issue. Until it becomes an election issue, politicians aren’t going to take notice. But it will become one in the next five years.

Let’s look at another point largely ignored -meat consumption. Meat demand rises strongly as countries grow wealthier and urbanize. What if the key actors in climate change are…cows, pigs, and chickens? argue Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang , in World watch Magazine.

They point out that whenever the causes of climate change are discussed, fossil fuels top the list. The life cycle and supply chain of domesticated animals raised for food have been vastly underestimated as a source of Green House Gas (GHG-carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and in fact account for at least half of all human-caused GHGs. They estimate that livestock and their by-products actually account for at least 32,564million tons of CO2e per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions .If this argument is right, it implies that replacing livestock products with better alternatives (Soya Milk??) would be the best strategy for reversing climate change.

We will be forced to research and develop alternative energy sources. Our current rate of fossil fuel usage will lead to an energy crisis this century. Take automobiles for example. American obsession for oil and it being one of the cheapest liquid available in the US led to the development of oil guzzlers like Hummer. A normal Hummer gives around 500 meters to a litre of diesel. But the next generation of cars will be Hybrid cars- a vehicle which combines an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors. The company which comes out with an economically viable car in the alternate fuel segment will emerge a winner. So where does Tata, one of India’s largest manufactures of cars comes into the picture. Swami Ankleshwar Aiyar in his article Swaminomics makes a very good observation-

“I cheered when Tata Motors acquired Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR), two global luxury brands. But that acquisition has poisoned your balance sheet, and threatens your whole future……

JLR dragged Tata Motors into a net loss of Rs 329 crore in the April-June quarter, following a whopping Rs 2,505 crore loss the previous quarter. You hope JLR will turn the corner in 2010-11. But this assumes a return to business as usual, and that may not happen. The luxury car market may have changed forever – in the direction of electric vehicles. You ignore that change only at your peril.

Six years ago, the world auto industry talked of hydrogen-powered cars, using fuel cells, as vehicles of the future. That turned out to be a passing fad. Actual market fashion moved in a different direction – toward huge sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The biggest of these was the Hummer of General Motors. Every big auto manufacturer shifted to SUVs.

However, the market was transformed when oil crossed $100/barrel in 2007 and touched $147/barrel in 2008. Simultaneously, the Great Recession arrived. Demand for SUVs crashed as buyers switched to more energy-efficient vehicles, and the switch drove General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy…….The era of cheap oil is over…..

So, Mr Tata, let’s hope we hear soon from you about JLR going into hybrids and electric plug-ins. The aim is not to save the planet, just to save JLR – and maybe even Tata Motors – from extinction”

Any discussion on environment cannot end with 1000 words article. I will conclude with our obsession with Oil and how it affects our political, social and cultural lives. And though the dwindling oil supply may not be as ecologically catastrophic as global warming, it is likely to start having an almost immediate impact on every aspect of our daily lives and the luxuries we have come to take for granted. Charles Dickens begins his novel, the Tale of two cities, with the most memorable lines- it’s the best of times, It’s the worst if times. May be while we are enjoying the fruits of human advancement, technology, limitless supply of energy, it’s time to stop and ponder if all this is going to last forever or are we living with borrowed resources from the next generation ?

Prithwish

References

1. http://atlas.aaas.org/index.php?part=2&sec=natres&sub=meatfish
2. http://www.centerforajustsociety.org/press/forum.asp?cjsForumID=1168
3. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~src167/Copenhagen.htm
4. Documentary- A crude Awakening, the Oil Crisis

Umbrella Morals

I was in a training programme and one of the topics for discussion was our internal value system- those ideals and beliefs which are important for us and which we hold as special and non negotiable. It is good to have a strong value system. I mean for me fairness is a very important personal value. However the important question here is -how good are we at deciding what is right and what is wrong? Do do we have an internal value meter which tells us what is wrong ( in absolute terms ) or do we have some sort of a convenient value meter which is more of a relative adjustment-my action compared to something which is more seriously wrong or grave in nature. And is it not true that sometimes we let ourselves off the hook for those small transgressions. Is there something called the absolute value system or do we get our judgement into deciding our right and wrong deeds? Let me explain.

If we take the first point of the argument –regarding how good we are at making absolute judgements, we are in fact quite poor. Those who find the argument quite intuitive, I will give a couple of more examples to reinforce the same point. Those who find the argument fallacious or misleading, I would strong recommend them to read the book – Predictably Irrational ( by Dan Ariely ) -the first few chapters are devoted to our error in absolute judgement. I was helping my friend to buy a lap top and my point of reference was different laptops and their price and features. My evaluation was very relative. At no point did I look at the feature and the absolute price. Dell does give us a feature and a corresponding price. Even in that case we started comparing between two models. At no point did I know what I really want in the absolute sense. In fact this relative comparison is a very important aspect of human decision making process. In the book Dab Ariely goes on to explain the importance of a coy being introduced to facilitate decision making.

To give an example from the book (http://lateralviews.wordpress.com/2009/04/26/book-review-predictaby-irrational-by-dan-ariely/)

“So let’s run through the Economist’s sleight of hand in slow motion. As you recall the choices were:

1. Internet-only subscription for $59
2. Print-only subscription for $125
3. Print – and – Internet subscription for $125

When I gave these options to 100 students at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, they opted as follows-

1. Internet-only subscription for $59—16 students
2. Print-only subscription for $125—zero students
3. Print – and – Internet subscription for $125—84 students”

The author then goes on to prove how the second option is a decoy aimed to shift the preference to the third option. This is such a strong example that it sets the momentum for the remaining chapters. In fact the role of decoy is further extended to discuss their importance in deciding whom to date and marry.

Going back to the training, I asked my group if we did think of our values while picking up a pen from  the table and carrying it back with us when it was intended for use only during training . In fact we never think of this act as stealing. Or take the case where we do not return the book we borrowed from our friends. In fact research (again Dan Ariely) says that when it comes to dealing with non – cash item (it seems we are a bit more conscientious when dealing with cash) our morals are kind of relaxed and we end up easily rationalising our decisions.

The point is we do not understand ourselves as easily as we proclaim to. Neither is our behaviour always rational and in sync with that we claim to believe.

So, why umbrella morals? Well I am producing verbatim an essay of the same name (and from where I picked up the heading of my article) by A G Gardiner. His book ‘Pebbles on the Shore’ has essays on other interesting topics like falling in love, reading in bed and cats and dogs. This essay was recommended to me by an office colleague and I found it appropriate to produce the article here. She had read the essay as part of her school or college curriculum. Those interested may read it online from Google Books.

ON UMBRELLA MORALS by Alfred George Gardiner

A sharp shower came on as I walked along the Strand, but I did not put up my umbrella. The truth is I couldn’t put up my umbrella. The frame would not work for one thing, and if it had worked, I would not have put the thing up, for I would no more be seen under such a travesty of an umbrella than Falstaff would be seen marching through Coventry with his regiment of ragamuffins. The fact is, the umbrella is not my umbrella at all. It is the umbrella of some person who I hope will read these lines. He has got my silk umbrella. I have got the cotton one he left in exchange. I imagine him flaunting along the Strand under my umbrella, and throwing a scornful glance at the fellow who was carrying his abomination and getting wet into the bargain. I dare say the rascal chuckled as he eyed the said abomination.”Ah,” he said gaily to himself, “I did you in that time, old boy. I know that thing. It won’t open for nuts. And it folds up like a sack. Now, this umbrella….”But I leave him to his unrighteous communings. He is one of those people who have what I may call an umbrella conscience. You know the sort of person I mean. He would never put his hand in another’s pocket, or forge acheque or rob a till–not even if he had the chance. But he will swop umbrellas, or forget to return a book, or take a rise out of the railway company. In fact he is a thoroughly honest man who allows his honesty the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he takes your umbrella at random from the barber’s stand. He knows he can’t get a worse one than his own. He may get a better. He doesn’t look at it very closely until he is well on his way.Then, “Dear me! I’ve taken the wrong umbrella,” he says, with an air of surprise, for he likes really to feel that he has made a mistake. “Ah,well, it’s no use going back now. He’d be gone. _And I’ve left him mine_!”It is thus that we play hide-and-seek with our own conscience. It is notenough not to be found out by others; we refuse to be found out by ourselves. Quite impeccable people, people who ordinarily seem unspotted from the world, are afflicted with umbrella morals. It was a well-known preacher who was found dead in a first-class railway carriage with a third-class ticket in his pocket. And as for books, who has any morals where they are concerned? I remember some years ago the library of a famous divine and literary critic, who had died, being sold. It was a splendid library of rare books, chiefly concerned with seventeenth-century writers, about whom he was a distinguished authority. Multitudes of the books had the marks of libraries all over the country. He had borrowed them and never found a convenient opportunity of returning them. They clung to him like precedents to law.Yet he was a holy man and preached admirable sermons, as I can bear witness. And, if you press me on the point, I shall have to own that it_is_ hard to part with a book you have come to love. Indeed, the only sound rule about books is that adopted by the man who was asked by a friend to lend him a certain volume. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but I can’t.” “Haven’t you got it?” asked the other. “Yes, I’ve got it,” he said, “but I make it a rule never to lend books. You see, nobody ever returns them. I know it is so from my own experience. Here, come with me.”And he led the way to his library. “There,” said he, “four thousand volumes. Every–one–of–’em–borrowed.” No, never lend books. You can’t trust your dearest friend there. I know. Where is that _Gil Blas_ gone? Eh? And that _Silvio Pellico_? And…. But why continue the list…. He knows. HE KNOWS. And hats. There are people who will exchange hats. Now that is unpardonable. That goes outside that dim borderland of conscience where honesty and dishonesty dissemble. No one can put a strange hat on without being aware of the fact. Yet it is done. I once hung a silk hat up in the smoking-room of the House of Commons. When I wanted it, it was gone. And there was no silk hat left in its place. I had to go out bareheaded through Palace Yard and Whitehall to buy another. I have often wondered who was the gentleman who put my hat on and carried his own in his hand. Was he a Tory? Was he a Radical? It can’t have been a Labour man, for no Labour man couldput a silk hat on in a moment of abstraction. The thing would scorch his brow. Fancy Will Crooks in a silk hat! One would as soon dare to play with the fancy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in a bowler–a thought which seems almost impious. It is possible, of course, that the gentleman who took my silk umbrella did really make a mistake. Perhaps if he knew the owner he would return it with his compliments. The thing has been done. Let me give an illustration. I have myself exchanged umbrellas–often. I hope I have done it honestly, but one can never be quite sure. Indeed, now I come to think of it, that silk umbrella itself was not mine. It was one of a long series of exchanges in which I had sometimes gained and sometimes lost. My most memorable exchange was at a rich man’s house where I had been invited to dine with some politicians. It was summer-time, and the weather being dry I had not occas ion for some days afterwards to carry an umbrella. Then one day a sensation reigned in our household. There had been discovered in the umbrella-stand an umbrella with a gold band and a gold tassle, and the name of a certain statesman engraved upon it. There had never been such a super-umbrella in our house before. Before its golden splendours we were at once humbled and terrified–humbled by its magnificence, terrified by its presence. I felt as though I had been caught in the act of stealing the British Empire. I wrote a hasty letter to the owner, told him I admired his politics, but had never hoped to steal his umbrella; then hailed a cab, and took the umbrella and the note to the nearest dispatch office. He was very nice about it, and in returning my own umbrella took all the blame on himself. “What,” he said, “between the noble-looking gentleman who thrust a hat on my head, and the second noble-looking gentleman who handed me a coat, and the third noble-looking gentleman who put an umbrella in my hand, and the fourth noble-looking gentleman who flung me into a carriage, I hadn’t the least idea what I was taking. I was too bewildered by all the noble flunkeys to refuse anything that was offered me.”Be it observed, it was the name on the umbrella that saved the situation in this case. That is the way to circumvent the man with an umbrella conscience. I see him eyeing his exchange with a secret joy; then he observes the name and address and his solemn conviction that he is an honest man does the rest. After my experience to-day, I think I will engrave my name on my umbrella. But not on that baggy thing standing in the corner. I do not care who relieves me of that. It is anybody’s for the taking.

(The Article can be downloaded through the Gutenberg project)

Cheers

Prithwish

Lateral Views: Inglorious Basterds 1.0

One of the wall hanging in my sister’s room says “Take time to give, for it is to short a day to be selfish”…Though it’s picked up from a street-walk hawker, but the quote is a million dollar. The Bible preaches to help even ones enemy, you’ll find even the most sinful worshipper helping others by feeding/giving away in front of gurudwara, mosque, temple…Prima facie, one of the most exhibited virtue across all section of societies, caste, color, creed and religions would most probably be HELPING others. The debate for WHY is going to be unending and inconclusive, but one thing for sure is that “HELPING” is prevalent in this un-HELPING world.

Just as there is an underlying code of conduct for every transaction…there ought to be some underlying mutually consented code of conduct here as well.

Would altruism go hand-in-hand with arrogance? Do you think anyone would take a gift with an insult? I’m sure even a beggar, off his begging hours would not receive a gift if given in a condescending tone. Just as the same way, the recipient also has certain deemed duties – Thanking is at the basic level, moving up the duty chain – one should not try to take advantage and con the good man for more, if something needs to be return then they ought to be in time. 

Being in an unsecured credit industry and being melted down by the sub-prime crisis, somehow this phenomenon of “giving” and “returning/giving back” has off late hooked me to titillate some lateral views again…

Consumerism is fine, but don’t you think consumer coning corporate is as much a crime as well? That’s the reason why banks are going slow on providing credit because there are huge bunches of un-trustable junta. Sub-prime loans (small ticket personal loan) or two wheeler loans are almost a thing of the past, all because of NPA (People not payback their EMIs) going uncontrollable. Your loan/credit limit eligibility goes down even though you’re general well being is intact, the interest rate shoots up and you no longer get easy access for credit, irrespective of  you are the good one who pays on time, because of those bad ones who infracts - the music is faced equally by everyone. Is this fair?

Well, there will be aberration such as –  

• Where banks have wrongly charged or wrongly timed because of which wrong outstanding are accrued to customers.
• Customers is not well informed.
• Fraud cases.

Let’s park aside these deviations for another post and anyway they would not form significant part.

If you listen to some of those collection calls, it’s funny to know that there are lots of educated and responsible citizens just giving a blind eye to paying back the money they owed. They think that the loan for which they have consented for in writing was an inheritance from their rich forefathers. I know of few colleagues (as educated as me) who just ignore paying back the loan because they know banks no longer have their contact details or they just don’t care to pay back. 

Well these bunches of turncoats are called DEFAULTERS, and hence they will find it hard to get loan anymore with the advent of CIBIL (Credit Bureau of India Limited).

What about those within you’re immediate circle who thinks it’s their birth right to borrow from a buddy but thinks it’s a favor done to that Good Samaritan friend incase he pays back?

Everyone knows that it takes just a casual request to a friend for some money. Going by this quick casual request, don’t you think, there is a strong underlying moral code of conduct that the repay also have to be quick and simple?

These are few observations (not necessarily my experience) which at times baffled me: 

• You pay him some money out of your safety stocks, he in turns re-lend it to his well wisher who wants to buy some white elephant. He never brings up the topic of paying back, you feel demeaning to remind him, the inertia continues, so you finally sums up all you’re courage…and you know what, it doesn’t bother him at all. Worse, he offers you in bits and pieces over a period of time…Worst of all you’ve got to know that he has enough savings in his account …???
• He owes you some money. After exhausting all you’re patience because you were waiting for him to proactively pay up, when you go and ask for it he told you that he has just bought a music system so you have to wait for some more time…???
• As always the chivalrous being, you pay up for the expensive night out. Muusic is long gone, no signs of discussion on how much to pay or when to pay. If you remind him, he’ll direct you to a third person who supposedly owes him some money…???
• You voluntarily pay up for a team party. With the number of people, the chek obviously is substantial, but the individual contribution might be nominal. It took months for you to sum up all those bits and pieces, because, according to him it’s just a couple of hundred bucks and hence not worth bothering, but for you its about 300*30 bucks…??? 

As a transcended soul, you kind of learn to live with avoidance …and somewhere miracle strikes and he pay you up. You thanked him for getting back you’re money sans the compounded addition, and worse of all, that thick skin wags his smug smiles as if he has done favor to you. 

INGLOROUS BASTERDS is what I can think of…!

 P.S… I’m yet to see the movie.

Adios!

Boi