The Austerity gimmick and "Fat Tax"

Its fun for the politicians to travel by trains, once in a while, austerity or what ever name given to the jaunt. But its a different ball game all togather if they were to burn their fat.

The "fat tax" method if implemented Sharad Pawar may not find it funny to say that he does not fit in to the economy seat and hence is forced to travel business class.

Sunday Mumbai

Cricketing Mumbai









South Mumbai - Lazy Traffic Free Sunday










Scoring in the Midst Of High Rises











The moving Numbers that Create Wealth

















The Oberoi Trident - much after the terrorists struck

Mooing With the Crowd

When the crowd is mooing you are supposed moo too.

Shashi Tharoor found that out the hard way when he bleated, errmmm... tweeted.

Then the bleating sheep was found to be black too, and hence in all fairness those on the high pedestal (from where probably they have been guarding the dignity of the poor cattle-like people for many decades) all are for shearing its wool.

Its was a total mayhem when a groomed and perfumed (a tad snobbish too?) minister started smelling like shit to his colleagues because he seemed to be taunting their leaders. Sycophants don't like that and smell an opportunity to exhibit their talent at such junctures. Cattle and poor of the country are just a means to the end. As for the poor of this country they would actually grin through a hundred abuses for a 10 rupee note in exchange. So much so for protecting the dignity of the poor.

If one man has got the hang of things right it was M. J. Akbar who aptly pointed out the linguistic disconnect in the episode when he said -

"The first law of democracy is that what you say is less important than what the other person hears."

It is this insensitivity, probably arising out of staying long periods abroad and then rising to be a minister immediately on returning which caused the humorous / in bad taste (depending on who heard it) tweet.

His tweet coming after his unceremonious eviction from the five star accomodation makes it more suspicious as to being a verbal retaliation on the austerity gurus of the government. The raw nerves were further aggravated by his comments being secretly interpreted as an open denounsal of the milk -less udders of the 'austerity measures holy cow'.

Grabbing the opportunity of the journalistic query, if Tharoor was clandestinely tweeting about the hollowness of the current dramatised austerity drive, he probably was true- its all hat without cattle. After all no MP nor minister is going to continue travelling in the economy class or by shatabdi. Once the GDP growth improves from 6.8% to 6.805% they will throw austerity to the winds and will talk business and travel business class. Austerity probably is a synonym for successful assembly elections which incidentally are around the corner. Tharoor and SM Krishna were probably caught in the cross fire of election politics after some deep thinker in the party discovered the importance of recession and austerity in assembly elections. Then comes Shashi trying to puncture the election balloon knowingly or unknowingly with the cows horns. That's blasphemous. Afterall Tharoor was supposed to be the meek sacrificial lamb and not the tweeting black sheep fighting the cow.

What ever the reality, one thing is sure i.e to avoid contracting the 'foot in the tweeting mouth disease' Tharoor may have to bring in all the diplomatic skills he learnt at the UN. That is certainly required of him atleast to keep the self appointed guardians of the dignity of the poor and courtiers of the kingdom of sycophancy out of work.

Grave Truth About Quota!!

Till death does us apart......., said someone in the throes of love.

But even death has showed its inability to wean away caste from humanity in India.

In bangalore the government decides to extend reservations to the grave yard too.
Death is said to be a great leveller - but thats for the dead.

The living still continue their fighting, over the dead too.

Not a Bounce Back Yet, But Stopped Going Down.

That's a much needed confirmation coming from Warren Buffet after Bernanke talked about end of the gloom time.

Warren Buffet clearly says - We may have seen the bottom unless something catastrophic happens. But we are yet to see a bounce back.

Thats quite reassuring.

A Testoterone Problem

The Castor Semenya controversy is getting debated all over the place. The South Africans are rallying behind the allegedly hermaphrodite athlete. The athlete and her family are feeling victimised and humiliated. The world athletic body is deliberating and the general public is confused.

On one side I can ask , "Can't the transgenders be allowed to compete?

On the other side, the other female athletes will feel aggrieved in being sexually challenged in a hermaphrodite athletic sort of way.

So what to do? Add another transgender event?

Semenya herself says - "I see it all as a joke, it doesn't upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself."

What ever the outcome, the differential testoterone level is creating a lot of head aches across te athletic kingdom.

There is no such confusion in the animal kingdom. Tuscan Abbe was found to be a hermahrodite too, internal testes and all. She is barred from participating in all mares and fillies championships since carrying testes (internal or external) is quite un-lady like.

Tuscan Abbe shook her mane, not in protest but out of habit and went back to munching the green grass. Afterall unlike Semenya the medal goes to the jockey and Tuscan gets only her grass.

You Could Be Jailed For Owning A Share!!

Now don't panic and start selling off all your shares. The markets may come down and I might be branded a market manipulator.

This is going to be a law in Russia actually. This news item in moscow times says that the executives and share holders of companies will be held liable and punished suitably for unpaid wages. The clause about share holder being a limited liability partner may be ignored. One has to be careful in buying even one share of any company and should be venturing out only after ascertaining the levels of unpaid wages. The moment one gets wind of any unpaid wages everything should be sold - lock stock and barrel. Afterall while your shares might be running huge profits in your portfolio you might be cooling your heels in Siberia.

I wonder what treatment will be given to sacked employees accounting? - salaries that should have been paid but instead employee sacked and hence share holders to be jailed? Again what if the executive's salaries are not paid? Who should be jailed? The employees?

Now I know why share holders/promoters interest are closely linked to that of the employees. Infact all are togather in a big mess with the introduction of this great accounting principle.