For some reason today I chose to begin my day by reading Bloomberg's Businessweek news. Big mistake. Page after page, line after line there was bad news. Unemployment at 9.5% steady and rising, double dips, consistent profits but decreasing revenues, alarming number of foreclosures, BP gas leak issues, low investment banking performance and then I came across this interesting article about how the government in Dubai was handling the real estate bubble burst. The concept was very interesting and seemed to work for Dubai. Effectively persons responsible for the crisis were arrested and put under strict supervision in crowded jails. The judge refused bail after bail and mentioned that the release would happen only when the person responsible would reimburse the Dubai government the losses it suffered. Infact in some case people held in jail were not responsible for all the amount mentioned but the government in Dubai did not seem to care. For them a partake in theft entitled the thief for torture and jail.
The mention of one of the individuals responsible for a loss of $250 million was scary. Seems like he lived in a cell meant for 48 with 250 people. What was worse was that the entire place had only two toilets and he was consistently denied food for days until he admitted his mistake. Sounds nerve wrecking but in his case it worked. His lawyers are busy selling or writing over his property to the Dubai government in order to get his ass off the jail and I am very sure once out in open he would not dare smell gold in someone else's pot or cheat others.
I wish the same could have been done in the US. But being so very democratic which I strongly support (after all we are supposed to be civilized not barbarians) can sometime end up being expensive. I cheer for free trial but if guilty then I do not see why the US government should not do what the Dubai government did? I mean its like the law of physics the money was in the market that is it must have moved from point A to point B. It has to be somewhere. It cannot have just possibly vanished into thin air.
Plus bailing out only gives solace to the wrong doer that there will always be a rescuer no matter how high the current. After paying close to 33% tax it pains me when I see people who do mistakes walk all the way away with a clean sheet. Its just not fair. People in Dubai do not even pay taxes and their government returns so much more to them in the form of good quality life. Women equality is an exception to the topic of discussion.
Nevertheless here we are in the US where Roubini warns about double dip and stresses on expansion of fiscal policy and literally snubs Ben Bernanke who according to me is doing a wonderful job of keeping things in check. Then there is another school of thought that yay's bail outs and others who think its socialism and its toxic and that our beloved president is a fascist.
Fascist my Ass! Ask people from Benito Mussolini's time as to what fascism is and they will help you get a rendevouz for now I can only say this much XXl to Kkr is for sale because the credit market is tight. People are not spending enough and the savings market refuses to perform. Treasury is buying notes followed by bonds and hoping that the market would absorb shocks if any. Europe is using carrot and stick approach with Greece and emerging markets are having a ball. For how long no one knows. Hope everything stabilizes and America once again becomes great and next time when I open Bloomberg's I hope I get to read more about 2012 dubious predictions which keeps the dumb and the dumber involved. Because if good or dumb does not replace the bad then trust me my friend America will sink no doubt but it will create ripples so bad that it will drown many more countries along with it and I for one am not ready for it. And I hope I never have to be!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Selfless or Selfish?
I remember seeing Sri Raghavendra Mahime as a kid and wondering whether what happened to Saraswati, Swami's wife was fair? Should she have put an end to her life? If Swamy had not taken sansyas and become a monk then the world would have been deprived of a treasure so precious that perhaps was invaluable. Who deserved more attention, THE WORLD or HIS WIFE?
Thinking from Saraswati's perspective imagine a woman who is illiterate and in her mid-twenties with a seven year old child. As a girl she was dependent on her father and after marriage her husband, and later probably on her son. For the time being she is dependent on her husband who practically takes care of all her needs. My guess is that in that age women did not leave the house unless they were expected to be in a function or bring water when the well dried up.
And now imagine that woman who knows nothing of the world being told her that her husband agreed to his teachers request to become a monk. Her decision making rationality all her life was zero because she never took any decisions and now she had to accept the choice of her husband. There was absolutely no scope of compromise on the basis of options. What was she supposed to do?
Of course come to think of it she was an adult may be she took her decision in impulse, maybe she should have discussed about her future with Swamy who was planning to pledge his life for the betterment of mankind. I am sure a conversation and patience would have helped her understand the situation better and rethink her strategy. Then the question that arises in my mind is that why did not swamy talk to her and wait till she gained confidence to live on her own and single parent her child? The truth is no one knows what happened and come to think of it I feel that Swamy was passionate about everyone around the world and he might have definitely tried to convince Saraswati. But sometimes decisions have fatal consequences.
This is where the thought that things would have had been way different if Saraswati were educated which again throws more light on the fact that education especially for women is power. It provides them with independence at all time and all places (except the US where visa problems never end).
Moving on towards the end when Saraswati did become a demon she was granted salvation by Swamy. She was forgiven mostly for the same reasons that I mentioned. Saraswati was too young and too inexperienced to bear any kind of responsibility in her life. Moreover she had already experienced too much poverty and pain in her life. She bore all the pain thinking that her husband was there with her. Swamy was her biggest support, her inspiration. And the thought that he would not be in her life anymore must have scared her. There is so much to think about Saraswati that I wonder if people give her their thought or take time to understand her pscyhe?
If she had been a little older or a little stronger she would have known that Swamy would have made sure that she was taken care of and provided for her. So much so that in the end she would have had been escorted to heaven. This way or the other she did get heaven and till date she is respected and revered for what she was and what she did.
As humans we all make decisions. Some rational and some irrational. Maybe if there were no heart in a human body then the world would have had made much more sense and would have had been way linear. But world is not linear and humans are not perfect. Saraswati's story made me ponder and think for almost a decade and I feel that all as a woman I can do is not feel sorry for her instead respect her decision. Swamy did then who am I to question it? She might have been selfish but she was helpless and lonely. And we all know what happens when people are helpless and abandoned?
Her life has inspired me to reach out to every woman I know is in distress or needs my help. My single goal of promoting literacy among women is growing stronger and stronger. Its not beauty, its not money. What gives women self confidence is education. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Women come in all shapes and forms some are good some are bad and some are exceptions. But at the end of the day they are someone's wife, someone's daughter,someone's sister.....
Saraswati was Swamy's wife and she cared for Swamy and Swamy cared for her. What happened, how happened no one will know. Selfless or selfish what matters is that Saraswati got salvation and a permanent place in heaven. If she had not done what she did she would still get salvation. And I for one want to leave the argument at that knowing and hoping that if I can reach out to even one Saraswati out there then it would be equal to serving Swamy and mankind.
Her life story tells me that sometimes its alright to be selfish and sometimes you have to be selfless. Selflessness would have helped her live and help her son but the means were not in place then and now with Swamy's grace there are means and resources and all of these can be put to use to serve one Saraswati and all Saraswati's.
Amen.
Thinking from Saraswati's perspective imagine a woman who is illiterate and in her mid-twenties with a seven year old child. As a girl she was dependent on her father and after marriage her husband, and later probably on her son. For the time being she is dependent on her husband who practically takes care of all her needs. My guess is that in that age women did not leave the house unless they were expected to be in a function or bring water when the well dried up.
And now imagine that woman who knows nothing of the world being told her that her husband agreed to his teachers request to become a monk. Her decision making rationality all her life was zero because she never took any decisions and now she had to accept the choice of her husband. There was absolutely no scope of compromise on the basis of options. What was she supposed to do?
Of course come to think of it she was an adult may be she took her decision in impulse, maybe she should have discussed about her future with Swamy who was planning to pledge his life for the betterment of mankind. I am sure a conversation and patience would have helped her understand the situation better and rethink her strategy. Then the question that arises in my mind is that why did not swamy talk to her and wait till she gained confidence to live on her own and single parent her child? The truth is no one knows what happened and come to think of it I feel that Swamy was passionate about everyone around the world and he might have definitely tried to convince Saraswati. But sometimes decisions have fatal consequences.
This is where the thought that things would have had been way different if Saraswati were educated which again throws more light on the fact that education especially for women is power. It provides them with independence at all time and all places (except the US where visa problems never end).
Moving on towards the end when Saraswati did become a demon she was granted salvation by Swamy. She was forgiven mostly for the same reasons that I mentioned. Saraswati was too young and too inexperienced to bear any kind of responsibility in her life. Moreover she had already experienced too much poverty and pain in her life. She bore all the pain thinking that her husband was there with her. Swamy was her biggest support, her inspiration. And the thought that he would not be in her life anymore must have scared her. There is so much to think about Saraswati that I wonder if people give her their thought or take time to understand her pscyhe?
If she had been a little older or a little stronger she would have known that Swamy would have made sure that she was taken care of and provided for her. So much so that in the end she would have had been escorted to heaven. This way or the other she did get heaven and till date she is respected and revered for what she was and what she did.
As humans we all make decisions. Some rational and some irrational. Maybe if there were no heart in a human body then the world would have had made much more sense and would have had been way linear. But world is not linear and humans are not perfect. Saraswati's story made me ponder and think for almost a decade and I feel that all as a woman I can do is not feel sorry for her instead respect her decision. Swamy did then who am I to question it? She might have been selfish but she was helpless and lonely. And we all know what happens when people are helpless and abandoned?
Her life has inspired me to reach out to every woman I know is in distress or needs my help. My single goal of promoting literacy among women is growing stronger and stronger. Its not beauty, its not money. What gives women self confidence is education. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Women come in all shapes and forms some are good some are bad and some are exceptions. But at the end of the day they are someone's wife, someone's daughter,someone's sister.....
Saraswati was Swamy's wife and she cared for Swamy and Swamy cared for her. What happened, how happened no one will know. Selfless or selfish what matters is that Saraswati got salvation and a permanent place in heaven. If she had not done what she did she would still get salvation. And I for one want to leave the argument at that knowing and hoping that if I can reach out to even one Saraswati out there then it would be equal to serving Swamy and mankind.
Her life story tells me that sometimes its alright to be selfish and sometimes you have to be selfless. Selflessness would have helped her live and help her son but the means were not in place then and now with Swamy's grace there are means and resources and all of these can be put to use to serve one Saraswati and all Saraswati's.
Amen.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Corporate Culture-WTF?
G was furious that R ordered wine for lunch. Well R did not know that the meeting was supposed to be official. For God's sake no one invited G. He tagged along to spy on the new people. He was insecure. Why I have no clue. Maybe because he was ugly or maybe he had a complex. Inferiority. Insecure that someone will one day over take him because he has no MBA and others do! Who knows what in any case he was fit to be M's favorite ass kisser. I do not know what's more appropriate or what's more stupid? Confrontation would have been nice but then G was a baby who went whining to his mommy/bitch at work. He also went crying to daddy and complained to big papa. He told E,"Man she has no idea about corporate culture? WTF?" R on the other hand had no clue. R outperformed everyone at work but G thought R was not fit to be where R was. R of course did not give a rat's ass. Turns out G chats with his equally horrible looking bumchum for hours when at work. So that's appropriate corporate culture? He also surfs internet, watches soccer with his new found buddy S sqaured and in facts yells from the top of his voice when R and others try hard to talk to clients over the phone. Where does corporate culture fly away then? What happens to manners and common sense? It is the rule of the world I guess. Ego maniacs such as G try to inflate their fake belief by putting others down and bitching behind their back. But they forget that what they are doing can also happen to them. That life is not about trampling people. That does not make one a leader or set a corporate culture. A leader is one who fixes flaws, bends to support his team. Why am I even talking about leaders. The analogy is incorrect. G is a f***** employee just like R to M and his minions. G has no right to raise his eyebrows and make his face look uglier. He has no right to act boss because he is only an employee and that too an underpaid one. Also a reminder that all that brown nosing did not fetch G anything. It just led him to another job where I am sure he will have his actions create fatal reactions.
His corporate culture and values is so f****** dependent on what he thinks is right or wrong that R ignores it, totally. And that annoys G. R thinks R's work speaks for R. What G took two years to do R did it in less than that.
More and more profit less and less G. So G can dig his long nose in his new job and think who's ass to kick next and then set a corporate culture that God Willing will be trampled by someone who looks and acts exactly like G. After all as once someone said--- KARMA is indeed a BITCH.
His corporate culture and values is so f****** dependent on what he thinks is right or wrong that R ignores it, totally. And that annoys G. R thinks R's work speaks for R. What G took two years to do R did it in less than that.
More and more profit less and less G. So G can dig his long nose in his new job and think who's ass to kick next and then set a corporate culture that God Willing will be trampled by someone who looks and acts exactly like G. After all as once someone said--- KARMA is indeed a BITCH.
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