Prajwala

A week or so ago, I read an article on Prajwala, a non-profit organization working toward rehabilitating women and their children rescued from the sex-industry and also pursuing the sex traffickers. I decided to pay a visit and finally today, I was able to meet Dr. Sunitha Krishnan as I wanted to do some service to Prajwala and very soon I found that I could render some help. Here is a picture of me along with her; the honour is all mine.

The RD article is a good read. Anyone who wants to make a difference to this world by helping people either directly or indirectly should, read the article and also visit the Prajwala website.

why we should pay our taxes

http://www.betterthanpants.com/don-t-forget-to-pay-your-taxes.html

The difference is- in India, we have more than 12 million and they are mostly our own countrymen.

image, superstition or political satire?

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy is worried about the voodoo dolls being sold!

Are people using those dolls as stress busters and to vent their feelings? Is this a kind of political satire? Are the citizens of France using this to express their thoughts about his policies and actions?

Personally, I think the President should ignore such phenomena and it will help project the view that he is a serious kind of guy and not someone who can be rattled easily. He should simply get on with his business of governing the country.

Moon, here we come.

Yippee!, I feel proud that India has launched Chandrayaan-1.

resource cut or wage cut?

Aren't all the corporates chanting the mantra- 'people are the most important resource'? I guess that is the case when times are good. As Roosevelt said, "When the sea was calm, all ships alike showed mastership in floating."

So now that these big corporates are not doing good, probably because of their own bad decisions and policies, they start retrenching people. I guess the companies are in trouble because of fattening during good times and now that times, are bad and going to worse, they find retrenching the easiest way to limber up. All those at the helm of companies always throw jargon like innovation, collaboration, creativity, etc. So what happened to all that when it is badly needed? Why can't they stand up to what they say?

Wouldn't it be smarter and also more humane to pass a wage cut across the company rather than throwing employees out on to the street? Maybe the company can also ask employees who have leave stacked up to take leave at a lower wage with a possible recompense at a later time. Maybe it can ask departments to get their teams together to look for innovative ways to improve their in-house processes and procedures to beat the crisis. Companies can cut down costs by using natural light instead of artificial lighting, asking their employees to work from home, etc.

economic power

I couldn't stop thinking about the google video I had watched earlier. It struck me that for 200 years, the British ruled India and how?- they basically came to India to do commerce and slowly set up their base and looted India of its resources and most importantly, its freedom. Today, the picture does not seem to be much different. I get the feeling that super-rich and rich countries are doing the same to developing and poor countries.

I believe that even today economic power is more important than anything else and I bet some would go to great lengths to increase their power at the cost of many others. Isn't military aggression, under the guise of help, a way to control a region's economic resources?

financial crisis - voices

A good friend of sent me this google video link (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4343898391323537541) with a forewarning that it is an hour long. After listening for a couple of minutes, I got hooked.

Mr. Venkatesh seems to have hit the nail on the head. I could understand him well because of his simple examples using even simpler language strewn with interesting commonly used phrases and noticeable absence of financial jargon.

I have always believed that America always does what is in the best interests of its people. I think this is what every nation's/household's/individual's policy should be. Though this policy is very good, the policy needs to change and consider the other countries/households/individuals in the rest of the world/community/family because we are all living on one planet. Though it is obvious that each nation's/household's/individual's actions have impact on the remaining nations/households/individuals and also on the planet, most of us do not seem to want to acknowledge it. I can't seem to understand why. Mr. Venkatesh has subtly and succinctly put forth the stature and great contribution of the Indian housewife and the Indian familial tradition.

It felt good to see that I was not the only one with such thoughts- only after the standard of living of all citizens improves will a nation improve and Mr. Venkatesh's example of the different problems faced by people at different strata at Chennai is genuine. Improve the standard of living and the economic status of the citizen will have improved and thus will increase domestic consumption and efficient production of goods.

My gut feel is that the current financial crisis (though I do not understand it completely) will take a few years to be resolved but after listening to Mr. Venkatesh, I feel I am being optimistic though I would love to be wrong.

ramblings of a citizen : why people evade tax?

A visit to the tax office prompted this...

I read some stats sometime ago and I was unpleasantly surprised- 3.15 crores paid income tax in 2006-2007. This is after a healthy growth from 2.85 crores in 2002-2003. I know what you are thinking- aren't we supposed to be the second largest populous country in the world and for a population of 114.7 crores (July 2008 est.), 3.15 crore taxpayers seems like a drop in the ocean. Another interesting statistic from the CIA fact book is that the labour force in India is about 51.64 crores (2007 estimate). Another fact- the highest tax payers list does not have names that one would expect to see- why is that?

I know I am not providing answers. Is tax evasion in our blood? I don't think so but at the same time I cannot ignore the status quo of the salaried and those at and below middle class since a long time. I believe all this points to growth-impairing economic policies, high taxes, poor enforcement, bureaucracy, corrupt government and complex and rigid laws and procedures. All this seems to have sown the seed that paying taxes is only a waste since the monies are not being properly utilized for public welfare. I believe this is also the reason behind the apathy of the citizen.

Maybe lowering taxes, giving incentives to people who contribute to community, etc. will increase the national wealth without spending monies on administering and collecting taxes. All that extra funds can be spent on public welfare. Wouldn't that be great?

Anyway, I have to admit it- I still don't know why some people evade tax.

P.S. To keep matters straight-  I am not a tax evader; just an ardent fan of Nani A. Palkhivala.

education or literacy

A few hours ago, I was talking to an IT officer(the taxman) who commented that most financial scams are perpetrated by educated people. I could not resist myself and said that he is probably referring to the literate and not the educated.

There are quite a number of literates in the world but few educated. However, there are also a few educated who are illiterate. Interestingly, it took me a while to understand that difference especially since everyone was always talking of literacy and not education. Even our government does little about education and does only a tad better about literacy. I know of many literates who are uneducated and at the same time many illiterates I consider more educated than myself.

The IT officer nodded his head in quick understanding of the subtle distinction.

Now I am awaiting another meeting with the tax officer.

jago re!

Many moons ago when I first saw the 'jago re' ad for a tea; I was impressed. I appreciated the creativity in the ad, the message being conveyed and the manner in which it was conveyed. Yesterday, I saw the second 'Jago re' ad and I immediately fell in love with it; not just for the creativity but mainly for the purport behind it. I consider it to be an extremely thought provoking ad- the provocation coming more from the behaviour of the people interacting. I do not remember which tea was being advertised and I do not consider this a failure on the part of the advertising team. On the other hand, this is a brilliant way to arouse the peoples of India toward their stagnating present and bleak future.

It is already late and we all need to wake up real fast- there is too much violence in the name of religion and too much discrimination in the name of caste. India seems to be regressing especially since we are breaking it up geographically and politically. Not long ago, MP, UP and Bihar were divided creating three more states. If this divisive process continues and the centre buckles to the clamoring of the secessionists then India will soon be back at the point in time when Sardar Vallabhai Patel was trying to unify the 565 provinces in post-independent India and pave way to a unified nation

I think the youth need to shift their focus to politics; educated youth should join mainstream politics. We have seen enough bumbling babus and party politics. The politicians seem to content themselves protecting their party rather than their country- blaming each other whether there is social unrest, violence perpetrated by antisocial elements, party workers going berserk or a small incident resulting in loss of life of an individual due to negligence.

soft drinks?

Every time I see someone with a parched throat they go for a soft-drink that unfortunately is neither soft on the body nor does it quench thirst. It is surprising how the 'soft-drink' or 'soda' or 'pop' as it is known elsewhere, has slowly spread its tentacles and become an integral part of most peoples' lives. Even more surprising is the nonchalance you receive if you question the drinker about it. Most soft-drinkers connect with it rather than the real fluid that constitutes almost 70% of our body - WATER.

As if to testify the stupendous stupidity of the people, we have companies that spend billions on churning gallons, of this sweet poison, by the second. There is more to it - Our great celebrities, most of who are worshipped by the masses, provide that stamp of certification on these products that eat away our insides. They only prove that being a celebrity does not exclude them from being stupid. However, the bigger problem is that they insult our intelligence. They look stupid when they drink on screen, and worse, I pity the people who think - 'If XYZ is drinking or endorsing it, it must be good'. I do not want to question their values because most of us, in this world, have committed mistakes in our lives. What happened to our own faculty of thinking, questioning and discrimination ? I guess we flushed it down the toilet. I guess we do not want to wake up and see the mess we are getting into; which reminds me - Ignorance is Bliss.

Note : Just so my brethren understand me, I am no hypocrite because I dislike being one. I too was caught up in the tentacles of "soft-drinks", when, I was in the US and I chugged gallons of this sweet liquid. After 5 years, when I came back to India, I realized that my body had become weaker because of all those drinks. Yes, they had made my body soft. This article is just an outburst of my system after I abused it for some time with these so called soft-drinks.

snuffing out freedom, the smoker or the cigarette?

Putting into effect the legislation to ban smoking in public places has not won my vote though it is for a great cause because I am a proponent of freedom for everything, including freedom to follow vices. Man should be educated so that s/he is able to make the decision- to smoke or not to smoke. We elect the government so that it channels the energy of a billion individuals to bring about improvement in society thus elevating the population to a higher standard of living and not allow a select group of individuals to force their whims down the throats of the citizenry.

Once upon a time, I was an avid smoker and I admit I enjoyed every second of it. Time passed, I changed and now I have been a non-smoker for more than 10 years. I was not addicted to it; I just enjoyed a great smoke after a meal, when sitting with friends, thinking about a problem or simply gazing at the stars. I quit because I quit. No one coerced me and neither did I try to quit smoking. Both smoking and quitting smoking were very natural to me and I did not struggle with either.

Why am I feeling the pain inflicted on the smoker by this ban? Upon pondering, I found out its cause lies in my love and respect for freedom at all costs. Why do some people smoke and others not? Did Mr. Ramadoss dwell on this? I doubt it. His behavior seems to tell me only one thing- I will do whatever strikes my mind; I will bulldoze through all opposition(sometimes a good thing); I will overlook the adverse impact to the populace; I will not plan for implementing an exercise of national purport. He reminds me of a stubborn child. I guess Mr. Ramadoss is not a smoker and hence does not understand everything involved in the process of smoking. Some people smoke for the sake of smoking, they are not addicts; some are occasional smokers and lastly, some are addicts. Many people smoke because they enjoy it. The smoker is not the culprit; it is smoking that needs to be curtailed and not the smoker.

The problem is not with the smoker; it is the smoke that is annoying and poses a major health-hazard to smokers and non-smokers alike. However, the government cannot impose its will upon the public. The Minister should have spent some time with the industry that feeds the smokers, enforcement agencies, NGOs and other affected groups and come up with a plan rather than suddenly putting the ban into effect. His actions are likened to those of a person who has seen a nightmarish dream. Smoking has been extant for quite some time in our society and it cannot be eradicated with the wave of a wand. It requires education, awareness, diligence and cooperation from the citizens. The public cannot change its habits immediately and nor can the industry. After all, we are all humans and we are all resistant to change.

Laws without clarity and awareness only increase corruption in a society that is already mired in it. The specific places where smoking is not-allowed/allowed should be stated clearly without ambiguity. The infrastructure in the country, currently, does not discriminate between smokers and non-smokers. The hotels, bars, workplaces, cinema halls, public buildings, etc. should have separate areas where they can enjoy a smoke.

The industry and the public should probably be given a timeline of 25-30 years in which they slowly phase out harmful tobacco products and replace them with other products to still sustain their livelihood. This will save the companies and ease the pain on both the investors, the farmers and the general public. The companies should be motivated to find alternative uses for tobacco. The farmers should also be given incentive to switch to producing other cash products. The health ministry should get funds allocated so that it can drive educational programs on a large scale. To replace the hunger of the smoker, the smoker should be educated to resort to fitness programs like yoga, martial arts, aerobics, etc. Time will fly by and one fine day, everyone will realize that we have a cleaner environment and people freed from the vice of smoking.