India; take a bow

The results of the world's largest elections are out... 60% of the 700 million people that voted have delivered a verdict that pundits cannot stop but call historic. The Congress-led alliance has been delivered a mandate to take the nation through this difficult time; with a clear majority at that. Thank God, we donnot have the disgrace of having Mayawati as our prime minister.Personally this election symbolises two things.

Indians are sick of polity that divides people on the basis of religion. Parties that overtly follow a polarising agenda have been shown the door. This is a stark warning to the future parliamentarian; what we care about is good governance, sufficient infrastructure and freedom of expression. If you cannot provide that, shut the fuck up. The voter has matured and moved on from limp issues like ram jamn bhoomi and minority pandering. Its time the politicos get this fact and change their strategies accordingly.

The verdict is also a thumbs down to retrograde economic beliefs, clearly visibile in the kick in the butt delivered to the Left parties. We had had enough of the drama these parties created for the last five years takeing the country hostage on every small issue. As one market analyst quipped; not seeing Prakash Karat itself accounts for a 500 point rise in the Sensex on Monday. Bye Bye Karat and Yechuri... time for rethink is here.

However I would like to see two other changes on the Indian political scene. The complete obliteration of caste based politicis. Caste is still strong in the Indian social system and has led to much social fragmentation. Secondly, for the largest democracy, its political parties are hardly democratic. Political parties are run as family fiefdoms, with little chance of merit making its way thru the heirarchy. This should change.

The election result is definitely good news and I hope the new government delivers on its promises.

On a lighter note, saw 99 today. A great movie, def worth a dekko.

Eight month catchup

It has been a while since I last blogged, and a sudden urge to pen my thoughts brought me here. A cursory analysis of this 'why this sudden urge' tells me that nearing the start of the fourth decade on this planet is taking its tool on my memory. The best way to deal with it is to keep something for posteriority (not that anyone contemporary cares about it).

The last time I was here, I was planning for my trip to the Swiss alps... hmmm those were the days; the Swiss were famous for their banking and secret keeping, the world would look towards the US to buy any crap that it produced, the Indians would do any back-office work that came their way.... and the Chinese would save like there was no yesterday. The world has changed a lot since then and looking at the degree of change you would not guess that only eights months have gone by.

Big names have fallen like a pack of cards... Lehman, Citi, GM, Chrysler, all perfectly sound companies last year, have gone nine two eleven (9-2-11 in Hindi) or have filed for chapter eleven. The economic tsunami has spread far and wide, resulting in a world which is desperately trying to get out of the mess which it has found itself in. Millions and billions are passé, all packages... be they rescue or fiscal are now measured in trillions. People are unemployed, deflations coming, governments are over-leveraged, banks under-capitalized, and the world generally nearing financial apocalypse. These surely are interesting times that we are living in.

The period has also seen the election of a new American President. It has been historic to say the least, with an African American with an unusual name being elected to the Oval office. America is now in a unique position, with its President and its number one enemy differing only in a single letter, with the Americans trying their best to not confuse them both. The rise of Obama in America has given hope to the political species in India, especially to a certain lady from the North, known for her fondness to build her own statues, who aims to emulate him in the elections in India. However she conveniently forgets that her agenda of dividing people on the basis of caste is in stark contrast to Obama’s agenda of racial harmony. However who am I to argue with symbolic similarities.
On a national level, this weekend will see the results of India’s general elections. With 300 parties and independents fighting it out for 500 odd seats, it will be huge surprise if any party comes out on top. The end result will be questionable alliances, horse trading and political maneuverings. A motley crew of parties with differing ideologies but a common goal of hoarding power will be forming the next government. The result; five years of indecisive and weak governance. God save our country.

On a more personal front, this has been my longest stint in India, in quite a long period of time. I have now shifted base to Pune for professional reasons and am not regretting it a bit. The city’s livelier than I thought it would be and there is no dearth of pretty young faces around. What more can anyone ask for?

The world has definitely changed a lot in the last few months. There are signs that the worse might be over and hopes that things might improve. Only time would tell.

To Swiss

The tickets are booked, the itinerary made ready after detailed planning, Hilton's awaiting me to use the hard-earned points... Yes baby, am off to Switzerland, to the land of cheese, chocolates, watches and banks, which is as neutral as its geographical location.

Having passed the two years of analysis-paralysis phase, the long cherished wish is finally coming true. Am totally kicked about this and the long weekend from work could not have come at a more opportune moment. These might be my last few days in Europe for a long time, and with my future location undecided, did not want to miss this opportunity. Anand's good company for the journey as long as he does not bring the stock market into the conversations. Nice way to unwind, before leaving for India... where another plan is in the making. More about that later.

India: The last bastion of communism

Communism is dead; long live communism. This is the motto of all the retrograde communist parties in India. When it has been unequivocally proved that Communism is a failed theory of social and economic organisation, and the world over governments are moving away from it (China is a capitalist state in a communist garb), these parties of septuagenarians is as ideologically dated as the age of its leaders. Acting as the "defenders of other India" (read poor India), they have no developmental policy, but to maintain the status quo (keep poor India, poor), oppose every change and propose nothing. This crew of political nincompoops should be as extinct as their ideology.

- India's well-wisher

Notes from economy class

Another travel through economy class, and I am looking forward to new experiences and acquaintances. The economy class of any self-respecting airline, offers unlimited opportunities to make life-long friends and if you are lucky enough meet your special someone. Its actually not quite surprising when you consider that economy class is a group of people hustled together in close physical proximity, giving a new definition to the phrase "personal space", sharing the same goal, getting out of it as soon as possible. This deadly combination of physical closeness and shared vision is what leads to long lasting bonds, asserts a survey conducted by the "Hitched in Air" group.

This feeling of being "different" starts with the boarding announcement. A considerate voice behind the speaker announces that economy passengers should start boarding according to their seat numbers. The elites in air, business class passengers can board whenever they want. That proves only one thing, whoever said that all men (and women) are created equal, has definitely not travelled economy. While boarding, you are always taken through the business class. I never understood this logic, why do you want to show your customers what they will not be getting. What irritates me more is the smug satisfied faces of business class travellers with their reclining chairs, legroom large enough to fit an economy class passenger and their personal LCD screen. Don't be too happy, you are losing on a opportunity to meet someone really special, I retort. But my warning is largely ignored.

After seeing all the space in the business class, you are suddenly taken to an enclosed space which, to put it mildly, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The number of seats have doubled, the aisle spacing has halved. First task, find a cabin that can take your luggage. You will never find a free cabin above your seat, so travel to the nearest free cabin, squeeze your bag in and find you way back to your seat, all the while braving through the steady stream of your co-passengers who are headed in the opposite direction. When you reach your seat, you have a new respect for your body for being oriented in ways that you thought were not possible. Next task, figure out where to place all the useless things sprinkled on your seat. After having invented space in the compartment on the front seat, you finally are able to place your numb behind on the seat. You heave a sigh of relief and anxiously await who is going to share the same breathing space as you for the next 12 hours. For all that is worth, the person better be a she and a pretty one at that. If you have an aisle seat, your co-passengers bladder control becomes critical, you don't want to excuse them too many times in the flight, do you. Another exercise in frugal use of space is having your meals on board. Its the ultimate test of your hand-eye-mouth co-ordination and your ingeniousness. The challenge, if you wish to accept it, is to eat without

• Hitting the person next to you.
• Staining your trousers

Till now I have managed to do one or the other, but not both.

The only saving grace of the journey are the pretty airhostesses. They are the epitome of selfless service, pandering to your every whim and fancy. How they manage to keep grinning in a job which is thankless and cloistering, is beyond my reach. I really want to stand up and salute them, but the space allocated to me does not permit me to do that. I sheepishly thank them as they move on to another ungrateful customer.

However as the plane lands and I make my way out of the economy class, I am sure some part of me is going to miss the faces with whom I shared the last 12 hours of my life.

India; The road ahead

Open any economic magazine published today and you may expect to find an article on the rising Asian giants and how they are going to overtake the American, European and Japanese economies. You may also expect to find a comparison between China and India, and how the two countries are following different paths to economic superpowerdom. Each article may predict a different year when India may catch up with the current powerhouses, but they all agree on one point, India is a country which has started late, underachieved and from which much is expected in the near future. So is India the seminal prodigy who will achieve what he promises, or is it the kid from whom a lot is expected and who doesn’t know whether he can deliver?

To understand the current economic state of India a quick historical catch-up is called for. India became a sovereign nation in 1947. It gained independence from colonialist control, harbouring a deep mistrust of western capitalist economics. This explains India’s predilection to socialism and the common good. The stress was on central planning and state intervention, state being the benevolent entity acting to protect the interests of an individual. The state’s penchant for commanding and controlling everything ensured that things were done inefficiently. From 1951 to 1979 India’s rate of growth remained around 3.5%. The economic reforms initiated in the 1990s saw the abolition of the Licence Raj and liberalisation of sectors. Today Indian economy is growing at a rate of 9% and has 211 billion $ of foreign exchange reserves, an impressive growth considering that most of this was achieved in the past fifteen years after four decades of dormancy.

The economic reforms gave the Indian economy the much needed air to breathe and paved the way for the next fifteen years of consistent growth. However to maintain the economic growth in the future and to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of its people, further reforms are necessary. Reforms will encourage foreign direct investment required to supplement domestic resources and boost employment generation. Reforms are crucial in hitherto neglected sectors of infrastructure and power. India has come to the realisation that without proper infrastructure, growth will be hampered. Recent decisions for the modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports, creation of national highways and development of ports show a political realisation of the problem. In February 2006, India passed the Special Economic Zones act with the objective of promoting foreign and domestic investment, encouraging exports, creating employment opportunities and providing world-class infrastructure. As of 2007, more than 500 SEZ have been proposed and 200 have already been created. Like infrastructure, India has also initiated liberalisation of the power sector. In 2003, the Electricity Act was enacted to introduce competition into the sector, protect consumer interests and provide power for all. Availability of infrastructure and power will provide the foundation for achieving sustainable economic growth in the future.

During the last two decades India has made considerable progress in IT and IT enabled services. This is due to the availability of an educated English speaking work-force. Vocationally qualified people are making their mark both domestically and globally. To ensure that India maintains its lead in the knowledge economy it is essential to create a sustainable pool of knowledge-workers. Achieving this would require steps to increase enrolment, attendance and retention of students in primary schools. The probability of getting a primary education in India still depends to a large extent on gender, caste and income. Efforts to improve the quality of public education and policies like provision of mid-day meals are proving effective in this regard. The education system also needs to be more flexible and demand driven to meet the emerging needs of the economy.

Another urgent need can be put in three words “India needs entrepreneurs”. Entrepreneurs are required to capitalise on opportunities and create wealth and jobs. India should focus on creating the right environment for entrepreneurship by making it easy for an individual to start a business. Entrepreneurs should have access to risk capital in the form of venture capital and angel investor funding and an opportunity to network and exchange experiences. This can be achieved by creating centres for entrepreneurship and a close association between the industry and educational institutes to actively assist entrepreneurs.

Social and political changes are concomitant with and necessary for economic transformation. The wealth distribution in India remains highly uneven with over 18% of the people still living below the poverty line. Increasing gap between the rich and poor will be detrimental to the social fabric. Creating employment opportunities in rural areas by encouraging industries to set base would be the right step in this direction. Corruption is another crucial issue stifling economic growth. Corruption is rampant in government where public positions are used for private gain. It takes the form of bribes, evasion of taxes and aggrandizement by public officers. On the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, India scores a measly 2.9, below China (3.7) and Brazil (3.2). While there is no panacea to this all pervasive and deeply ingrained problem, laws like the Right to Information Act, will go a long way in providing credibility to the public office and increasing the confidence of the common man. This should be accompanied by a transformation of the political mindset to put India strongly on the path to growth. There needs to be a shift away from the religion and caste based politics to the one focused on economic and social development. A political commitment to development and a strong social ethos will encourage private participation, domestic and foreign investment and the peace, so crucial for the economic upliftment of a country.

The social, political and economic changes will have an impact on another contentious issue, labour laws. India’s labour laws are archaic to say the least, hugely influenced by the socialist ideology and the job for life philosophy. The fact that the labour laws have not been amended after the mid 80s vouches for the case that reforms of these laws is long overdue. The increased assimilation of the Indian economy with the global economy would force the government on the path to labour reforms. Reforms would abolish trade unions and restrictive labour regulations. It would create a more dynamic labour market where people are empowered rather than protected and where government intervention is minimum. More liberal labour laws will attract foreign investment, stimulate industrial growth, create more job opportunities and make it easier for people to move between jobs, there by making stringent labour laws nonessential. To achieve this, the employees would need to keep themselves updated with new developments in their field and gain new skills while the employers would be required to provide on job training and employee development. Flexible laws and a mobile labour market will increase the demand for professional human resource consulting services as more and more industries will outsource their HR operations while concentrating on their core strengths.

To summarise, though India has made considerable economic progress, to become a true economic superpower and to contribute to the world economy in a sustainable way, India should further tread down the path of economic reforms, liberalisation of various sectors, abolition of restrictive laws and infrastructure development. This should be accompanied with social and political development particularly in education. Entrepreneurship should be encouraged and corruption should be routed. At the young age of sixty, India is at the right stage to let go of its inhibitions and boldly embrace the new global order.

This essay was chosen by a top business school in Europe as a candidate for their scholarship.

A pessimist's guide to great relationships

• Always praise your partner. People stay with you for what you show you think about them.
• Strike out the words loyalty, faithfulness and allegiance. These are words which humans have borrowed from a dog's dictionary and have no place in any relationship.
• Be pragmatic; do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Plan for a contingency and always keep people around so that you have someone to fall back on in case one relationship goes sore.
• Sharpen your skills to twist the truth (they are also known as lying skills). Always remember, every event can have different interpretations and reasons, you have to choose the one that will cause you the least amount of damage. Telling the truth never works here.
• Never introduce your current and prospective partners to each other.
• Your level of involvement in any relationship is extremely crucial. Get yourself involved enough, to convince the other person, but not too much that you will find it difficult to get out of it when you want.
• Always keep your exit strategy ready. Good relationships last forever, the greatest ones are ephemeral.
• Whoever says love is more important than money, has obviously never had champagne in a Mercedes-Benz convertible. Always find a partner with more greens than you.
• Make sure that the guilt of a broken relationship is never your burden alone. Either share it with your partner or dump it all on him/her.
• Always keep your magnanimous mask on and remember this eternal truth, if you repeat a lie regularly and consistently, you will see it metamorphocise into truth.

You can use the above, moralistically devoid, tips or strive for the utopia of eternal love and commitment. Either way, have a memorable ride.