To Jump ..or not to Jump.. On Skydiving and in Life.

"I Did it" my 11 year old daughter gleefully runs, looking for her friends, as soon as her tandem harness is released .. Have just seen a quantum of joy in those few nano seconds, as my camera shutter closes .. and the moment is captured. The sense of pride, achievement immediately radiates... From her to me.

"I DID IT " Rehane Gleaming after her Jump

We're on the beach at Senegambia (in The Gambia) where she has just jumped for the first time of her life.  Skydived from 14,000 ft! Egged on by her close friends Pranalee, Disha and little 7 year old Garv, who have just completed the jump a few minutes ago. My hearts been beating, progressively faster, ever since the telephonic discussion the previous night with Garvs father, Manish. "We've managed to get Rehane a slot too" he says! Wow.. I happily, but reluctantly hear the news. I'm giving my daughter permission to leap off an aircraft.  Jamila, my wife, is far more visibly concerned & reluctant. We have a little argument, which I half-heartedly want to lose, but habitually invoke that terrible, all powerful fatherly VETO and walk away from the inconclusive discussion.  Tomorrow we will decide whether we let her or not be a part of this skydiving madness. In the back of my mind, I un-trasnparently hope there's no place on the list. I believe I am successful in not letting my real emotions show. I am, after all, that modern, brave father letting my darling daughter do equally modern and brave things.

Tomorrow, will expose me.

Tomorrow comes. We are a nervous wreck of a family..arguing on virtually everything :  appropriate skydiving clothes, using more obvious as ever, arm twisting method to raise objections. Loose shirts out, shoes with laces, clothing colour - all matter! I scream that were late, trying to disguise all nervousness with a loud voice.  Jamila, opts to stay at home and follow later. I ride the bike with Rehane to Senegambia.  Hidden within my helmet, my thoughts get juggled all the more. I fear we're late only to find that everyone is as late as well. All are arriving as we do. A long walk to the beach and we find that all skydiving slots are pre booked.  Slight relief and disappointment are the immediate respective emotions emerging from the two of us.  But then the ever friendly Belgians, speaking a heavily accented English, countering my efforts to impress them with my French, say they will try and find a slot for Rehane. Emergent emotions reversal  is evident.

But its now time for the first batch to head to the Airport.

The First Group : Pranalee, Disha Garv and Manish

I accompany the first group of four to the airport.  I ride the bike intending to follow their bus, but in a brief jiffy, lose sight of them in my helmet encompassed eyesight.  Accelerating, I eventually reach the Airport well before them, and spend a few long minutes in confused thought. Manish, Disha Garv and Pranalee, the first batch of Indian friends doing the jump soon arrive and are quickly briefed, strapped up. They make a few calls from my phone and then before I ride back quickly to Senegambia,  I see them walk a spacemanish walk to the aircraft. A brief glimpse of the Cessna Caravan on the Tarmac has already taken me back to my aircraft maintenance engineering days. I remember Victor Golf Sierra  (VT-EGS), our own 172 and memories of joy with friends like Javed  and Sree ... Thoughts drift to HIET days with classmates Zohreh n Reza, Theo, Robert, Mohammed .. Mazi...And Ofcourse the wonderful meetings at the reception with John, Swaroop, Joe, KT, Marianne, Kalyani and Bhama... Nice thoughts whiz past, as I zip back to the present and reach Senegambia.

I thought I was quick on the bike, but as I reach Senegambia and briskly walk to the Beach, I see that they have already jumped.. Pop pop pop pop four orange chutes open after a few other coloured ones... And reality sinks in. They've actually jumped! Did we hear anyone scream "PUSH ME..." The dialogue from Farhan Akhtars film "Zindagi ne Milegi Dobara" flashes in my head, as I imagine one of the four friends having to be pushed out of the aircraft...and I see the whole film in a flash in my head.

This was the film that actually started the trend .. the want, for a group of friends to taste adrenalin rushing fantasies of the others. Three friends scoot off to Spain for a Pre wedding bachelor party , each one having to give a go at a sport chosen by the others.. Deep sea diving, skydiving and the Bull Run are their chosen sports. An interesting love story with adventure of the nouveau riche .. Makes great watching with great songs and locations. ... We've been planning an adventure trip to Spain ever since.. Manish has already got himself a Landrover Discovery.. mine is on its way .. A beautiful 4x4 car that features in the film.  The stage is set.....  And then one Sunday at Coco Ocean, we see this Belgian team of skydivers land on the beach in front of us. And theyre advertising Skydiving here in The Gambia. Right  here in The Gambia....!!! The first proposal comes from Manish. Bhavishya, Vipul's bubbly, energetic and fun loving spouse is the first to say YES. The kids are thrilled in unison. Prachi and I have subtle smiles.. I guess we share similar thoughts with Vipul...We'd rather watch. If everyones going to jump, whos going to watch and be impressed?? We joke and laugh (in relief) as we now stand armed with cameras, watch their descent.

The 2nd Group Ronit Rehane Bhavishya & Sachin

Garvs gleeful touchdown

• Whooshing away, the first lot begin touchdowns.... Expecting to see wide open, scared eyes.... am surprised to hear gleeful screams of joy as Pranalee Garv and Disha land first. I capture in amazement, 7 year old Garv gurgling in excitement, wanting to jump immediately again. Pranalee runs to Rehane ..and the two engage in rapid chatter at would've made monkeys or even an AK 47 jealous.  Rehane is all over me.. "Papa, please, please, please..."... and I trudge, confused, to the registration desk.  The next batch, save for Bhavishya, is not yet there. They need to leave for the airport after filling up the registration as well as signing a declaration .... The form says that the maximum insurance they'll pay out is 15,000 Euros... We joke about who's going to benefit, laugh a bit, and then the thoughts get more serious when the lady at the desk says, that if the next lot is not here, and asks if we have anyone else from the remaining bookings.  No one else is there. My heart sinks while Rehanes leaps with joy as her name gets taken down onto that list. Mahesh and Neha quickly volunteer their sons, Sachin and tiny 7 year old Ronit. They will all jump with the leader, Bhavisha.  Rehane opts to ride with me on the bike to the airport. This time I know I can't wait till they've left for the aircraft to leave. My phone once again makes the round. Everyone wants to speak to the family waiting back there at Senegambia. But then as I leave, I realise that my phone is with Ronit , being spoken to rather that peaking to his parents.. . 

The Leap

Free Fall

Touchdown

I rush to the gate and get my phone back and then drive like the devil to the Senegambia. 21 kilometres whiz past.. I don't stop running as I lug my bag, Rehanes helmet and my weighty feelings ... 100 metres short of the beach I hear the aircraft ...and the orange and other coloured parachutes open. No thoughts here and I struggle with my breath to yank out the camera and start shooting pictures .. Not wanting to miss my daughters heroic jump. Now that the parachutes are open, so do my thoughts of worry now change to pride and exaltation. Rehane is the last to land. Bhavisha is loudly screaming and thanking her tandem instructor as well as the camera woman and quickly pointing out that the other cameraman is her husband. I try to rush forward to get a frontal view of Rehane landing but trip on the sandbags and fall into the water. Cricketing experience helps me keep the camera above. I get up and run towards the spot where Rehane is landing. I reach her all excited saying 'awesome, awesome'... Hugging her instructor, running ...  Vipul too gets a gleeful hug, I get an armful bundle and then she runs to spread and share the joy with Pranalee....

It's been a few days and several others have jumped. Ponchy too, egged on by his sisters and cousin. He does it with a slightly humorous belly landing, but is up in a jiffy smiling.  Everyone I know has jumped .  The Evenings are spent at homes watching photographs and the videos.  All posted on Facebook ..mailed to friends and relatives.

I boast that letting someone close to you jump is as difficult as jumping.

Real life decisions make a parallel. To do it or not to do it.

I try to analyse the mindset.. Sitting at the edge of the aircraft door... Why is it that you think, not of the beauty and joy, but of impending disasters ?

Will we ever break this negativity that encompasses us?

My daughter has.. as with the others who jumped. 

Will I be able to overcome this fear?  

I'll never know until I do it. 

The end song of Zindagi ne Milegi Dobara rings in my head and I subconsciously hum it...'Sooraj ki baahon mein... Ye mera Zindagi...' (In the arms of the sun, this is my life....)... And I realise that's it's absolutely true...

I Look around.. I smile. "I've done it" I say to myself.

Re-discovering my African "roots"

My African Roots? ... am not trying to do a Kunta Kinteh here. Alex Haley wont have grounds to sue me for plagiarism :-)
Well, Neither have I ever thought that I don't belong here!
But guess calling it "Roots' may be a bit far fetched..

Well, a few months ago, on a two night transit halt at Addis, enroute from a meeting with old friend Prakash Nainani in Nairobi, Kenya, I decided to take a trip down "memory lane". Not much a 1 to 3 year old would remember I guess... But if you had a dad like mine, who photographed virtually every moment that we lived in Ethiopia ( and elsewhere, until we , the kids took over his cameras , used and abused them and finally lost them too!! ), then youd have something to remember. And his prowess was not just taking photographs. It covered the somewhat painful task of converting them into slides and thus "slideshows" in the old fashioned original sense. Every party that we had at home, involved the somehow, initially exciting yet painful petite task of first arranging the slides, taking care to ensure they were straight, into those plastic trays called magazines.  Then watching these beautiful pictures over and over again, each exercise making us slightly more reluctant volunteers for the task. Every slide that appeared reverse or upside down would bring about the accusatory groans from the viewers. But the pictures gradually became imprinted in our memories. I guess , that built a kind of "factoidish" memory.. to a large extent making us all believe that we actually remembered those photographed events. As we grew, we'd continue to recount stories of African life in Ethiopia. Recount them with a conviction that we were really there and remembered every vivid moment.

And those memories came out all the more vivid today as I drove through the streets of Addis. Each monument matched those amateur professional looking pics that Dad took with exacting clarity.

Fekadu Hailu with his Mercedes Taxi

"You were ONE year old"!!! my hired taxi driver-cum-guide, Fekadu Hailu, disbelievingly asks me if I could really remember??

Ras Hotel

The Lion in fron of the Commercial Bank

HE Haile Sallassies "Indian" Throne

A Slightly out of focus Plaque on the Throne

One of my first stops , after driving past Ras Hotel, the Commercial Bank and its Lion statue that was typical of anything to do with Haile Selassie, is a visit to the LUCY Museum. I run through the museum, quite more out of nostalgia than historical interest.  But Haile Selassies throne in the "Lucy" museum catches my attention. Not for its size and state of wear, but a little plaque on it.  This is one that Dad didn't photograph. But its the sign that calls for my attention. Gifted by the Indian Community to Emperor Selassie in 1935!! Stolen by the "fascist" Italians ( Berlousconis ancestors were not much different in character) and returned in 1972 ( Guess the Berlousconis had shifted their attention to 'other' stuff by then.

Lucy herself is not there, but a copy ( not clone) is theree for unsuspecting visitors like me. Who and where (*** ****) is Lucy?? Shes apparently travelling around museums all over the US of A. Mental images of Lucille Ball float past. I mentally smile, while my museum guide tries to figure out what he said to make me smile. Australopithicus ..he continues giving me the genus of the oldest fossil ever found ... Resembling us humans.... .. Guess a lot of it all started here... The parallel betwen Lucys beginings and mine make me smile.

It started for many of us here in Ethiopia. My begining of an African sojourn and the entire Human race as well. The blogger in me gets that tingling feeling. I share something in common with humankind.

A lot of our history is here in Ethiopia, as is mine.

For humankind it's being eked out out of fossils. For me, from fossilised photographs!

St Georges Beer, Injira, Fresh Meat with Me

Alex Haley would have been proud of me. Both as a hunter of my roots and my efforts to write.

Ram
in Addis, Ethiopia

Why does Obamas Election Mean so much to Me?

On why Obamas election was so Important to me.

I am neither American nor involved in Politics.

Yet I followed the US Election as though it meant more to me than the Elections back home in India. While not wanting to be seen as dis associated with Politics in my own country, I'd like to clarify that the difference between an Indian election and the US Election, is that in India, while externally which ever politically party wins, their policies are never diametrically opposed, and thus doesn't really matter to an everyday citizen like me. However, in the US and especially this election, the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats (or rather should I say Obama) would have a paradigm shift on world issues of peace and safety and thus economics too.

A US President who has any of the tendencies or ignorance of the George Bush era, in today's world of mayhem and madness, could easily affect lives of people living elsewhere. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may not have been entirely necessary - or their objectives could have been achieved in a far more sensible manner with someone like Obama at the helm.

The chain reaction of years of Bush Policies with madmen like Cheney and Rumsfeld running amuck has created the evil that we see in our daily lives.

Mistrust of the non radical Muslim, the ever growing hatred against the Jewish state and the combined effect of these, have made the world an unsafe place to live. Photographs and images of Muslims being massacred in Burma, most of them morphed, results in bloodshed all over the world.

The reluctance of the Republican regimes to sanction madmen who instigate religious hatred and harmony has led to further hatred.

Obama on the other hand has not hesitated to call a spade a spade. He distanced himself from the radical outbursts of his own mentor, yet without being radical himself. 

A very human Obama, with tears in his eyes, thanks his campaigners for their effort. The only thing that brought Romney close to tears was the shock at his own defeat. A moment that was quite poignant, emotional, yet an event that has left me with hope that the world can after all become a safer place.

The Ping Pong Politics of Tennis.. And other Unsporting Sportsmen

The lure of limelight and power is probably what makes our Politicians hang on to Chairs of the various sporting Federations in India. I was struggling to figure out why a Minister was spewing out solutions for the shameless public forehand and backhand slurs being thrashed about between two of our finest, yet now, unsporting tennis heroes! The penny dropped. Of course, this Minister is also the Chair of some Tennis federation! And of course, who else knows what's right for Indian Tennis. Obviously an Unsporting Politician. Someone who knows how to lobby better than any Lob a Vijay Amrithraj or Borg could ever attempt. Tennis players play with guile, grace and raw power too. A Politician doesn't need to camouflage stokes. They rarely hide their greed for power. What happens to the sport is far away from their thoughts. And that is what surprises us sports lovers. How these two or three tennis players of world repute, have brought about a shameless power play right out into the open. Sportsmanship, a word derived from the very ethos of a sportsman has been poisoned, crucified, decimated and will soon be cremated. FairPlay and Gentlemanship, words that used to be synonymous with Tennis greats like Vijay Amrithraj and Indian tennis, are no longer applicable.


Why this venom? Why this hatred?

And the only answer I can find is in the way the Federations are run by our politicians. The same way most of them run their shamelessly open corrupt lives. The BCCI is wealthy and thus powerful and by constantly doling out cash awards, they're able to silence and stifle out aggrieved whimpers of players who didn't toe their line. But the other federations, the Olympic and other Sports Associations - each one has a Chair and numerous other power posts - occupied to the best of my layman knowledge by a politician. These positions give them access to a world body, where quite often their allegiance to a particular international candidate could have remunerative incentives. FIFA is a classic case. Less importantly, each federation has a budget, procurement tasks and least importantly travel options. Thus Federation heads are able to travel, offers tickets to events for favours, exposing our Sports to a vy unsporting unethical trait. And it is very easy for this cancer to spread. In our democratic nation, we believe that two terms in offices of appointment should be the norm. Yet some of our Federation heads have been in these seats for decades. Tainted in other forms of public life, they shamelessly continue to fight to remain in those seats.


When the head of a Fish is rotten, the rest of the fish rots too.

And when we say public exhibition, I must say that the change in media formats and a blatant need for TRPs causes our news media to push for more public statements.
Reporters harassing a personality to make a faux pas in public too is a cause of this. I'm sure if a Hesh or a Lee had a day or two to think before making public statements, this would quite likely have resolved their differences. But would it have resolved the media thirst. Would it have resolved a Politcians thirst? I doubt it.

And this is why we have a public shameless fight between two of our most successful and famous sportspersons. Shame on them. But shame on the politics that has led them to this shallowness in character.

End Note: I don't believe that all our politicians are greedy and blind. We have some very dedicated ones - but then the disease does not stem from the few good corpusceles in your blood. It stems from the overwhelming virus!

Incredible Discrediting Credit Ratings of Incredible India and other follies!

Reading Fitch and Standard and Poors downgrading of Indias credit ratings, may have caused sufficient stress and worry to economists and planners. But to a layman like me, I wonder! Seriously wonder.

I announce, " I hereby am downgrading Fitch, S&P, and all those credit rating agencies.

They're Blind or Shortsighted. They're ignorant of new world situations. They couldn't see the disasters of the failure of Western economies. They never did see the emergence of a new world economic order. They didn't see the Euro crisis or the disasters of the US Wars. And they downgrade an economy that works and survives purely by itself. Just on local consumerism! Duh?

We don't deny that corruption hurts growth. That it needs to be weeded out. But India has been growing at over 5-6 and even at 8% DESPITE all these anomalies for years. The local markets are the ones that drive an Economy like India. .. If anyone has noticed, eventually our system roots out the corrupt... The Satyam scam brain is behind bars, the Mining dons, Reddy bros are in " tole" as the French would say it, a Yeddyurappa is out of office, a Lalit Modi is on the run....etc etc. Even an ex PM, the true founder of modern economics in India couldnt escape the law - having been proved corrupt, spent time in Prison - despite the fact that he did it only for the party. Thus corruption eventually surfaces in India. the guilty are punished most often. The governemnt moves on. Year after year.

S&P speaks of a silent PM,a strong Sonia and thus a government not moving leading to a downgrade of our rating. Howeverm, Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan that cost the US exchequer more than just a couple of Billion US$ a day, never did seem to catch their attention. Yet a brief dip in an Indian economy ( while the rest of the world is reeling in dire straits), immediately triggers the alarm. "Indian growth is shrinking" . "The Indian miracle is failing" - Headlines read "S&P and Fitch downgrade Indian credit rating to Negative from Stable!!!"
Eeekkkks . Heelllp.

"Hello. I live in India. I am Indian. ..and I am unable to see this catastrophe happening" Says the average Indian, reading these critical "Doom of the Indian Boom" headlines. As I look around, the Chai kada wallah, the Vada Pav wallah, the Dabba wallah, the Panwallah, Rickshawwallah....and the several millions of Indian business "wallahs", who don't import, who don't export...
Nothing, for them seems to have changed. Certainly not for the worse.
Oh! Ofcourse, Ask them and complain they will for sure!!
Is it the end of the road for them? Is it doomsday for them? No way" they've seen worse.

And I thus think - Does India need this credit rating. I think foreign investors have been hypnotised that they need a rating to go in and invest. Do the real investors heed the ratings. Markets are what investors look for. The biggest and most vibrant market is IN INDIA. Despite S&P, despite FITCH,mdespite MOODYs' moods... those who look for markets will come.

The ones that stay away from an emerging India, could be the losers.
What if S&P stayed out of India. I would wonder that they would survive.

Our economy may dive, but will survive without a bailout. We may just need our population to take in a whiff of air. And our economy will thrive and not just survive. I don't think theirs will.

NOTE : I'm neither an economist nor an expert.... and neither am I qualified to comment on world economies and policies. However can say this- what I've said above is what I and a number of normal people around the world feel about specialists from the WB, IMF , credit rating agencies .... They're quite incapable of looking at a truly global world. The new world financial order involving India, China, Brazil and Africa will have different parameters to rate economies of the world.

Guinea Bissau: Frying pans, Fires.. Where Next?

It seems quite paradoxical - we've got so used to the phrase "From the frying pan into the fire"! The situation in Guinea Bissau is beyond the fire now!! I had blogged a couple of years ago on Sanctions : Called it "A Death sentence for the dead" - that was when Obama continued the Bush governments policy of excluding Cuba.. (http://dustbin-by-ram.blogspot.com/2009/03/sanctions-death-sentences-on-dead.html). Now, far closer home, after the failure of talks between the Military Junta from Guinea Bissau and the Ecowas Head of States task force on Mali and Bissau, we hear that sanctions are likely to be imposed on Guinea Bissau. While if this means sanctions on the running Junta alone, it would be a welcome means of trying to resolve the political situation in Bissau. But Sanctions on the Country and it's people, and I'd probably disagree. The people of Guinea Bissau have not imposed the Junta over the seemingly elected government. They probably did not have an option either to elect their government - am not suggesting that the election was rigged, but if you know the history of Guinea Bissau, little has changed for the common person since the last 40 odd years. People survive irrespective of governments. And it is not an impoverished depressing survival. Music, Drink, dance, sex and discussions on fin de semanas (weekends - have a special role in Bissau Life) - have not changed. Though in the last two years there was seemingly some drive towards development - re-structuring of its main road, improvement of the electricity situation ( thanks to a benevolent gesture from the late Ghadaffi), little else changed in Bissau. And virtually nothing changed in rural Bissau.
How would one tackle the current situation then?

Are Sanctions a workable option?

I would suggest the extension of dialogue with the Junta. Firstly because the Chief of the Army who is calling the shots was there as the Chief of the Army under the elected government. Many would suggest that this is ridiculuous as they have not been able to reach an agreement with the Head of States of Ecowas in the discussions of the last few days. But if you delve deep into the Bissau military psyche, it needs a paradigm shift in the thought process - and this can and will take time. If we try to impose our point of view, we're immediately alienating the Army and it's faithful Guerilla In-doctrined majority of Balantas. The Balantas as I know them are a people that rally behind their leaders, irrespective of social or political leaning. Despite the fact that they have led a life that carrys very little trait of development ( as we know it) they seem content. I constantly suggest that they have achieved Nirvana at a very basic level. The Buddha suggested that the end of want or desire, was in itself the Begining of self tranquility or peace. The Balantas of Bissau would qualify quite easily in Buddhist doctrine.
On a more serious note, a Military solution or invasion, would probably resolve some short term dis-obedience issues very easily, but would create a greater divide within Bissau. It would more importantly disrupt the already disrupted lives of Bissau Guineas people. And more importantly, remember the Cashew season is on , and this is the 4-5 month period when a majority of Bissaus population are able to earn their annual livelihood. Cashew is the sole earner for a large part of Bissaus population. Disruption or instability dring the cashew season is like declaring Tea harvesting illegal in Darjeeling during the plucking season!!

But then what did the democratically elected government do last season. They imposed a 50 CFA(100USD)  draconian development tax over and above a 120 USD Tax already existing on the Cashew trade. The earlier tax went to pay Goverment salaries effectively reducing the farmer earnings. This new tax, ownership already in doubt, about 17 Million USD lying unused for over a year (if it hasn't been plundered or whisked away), has squeezed the earnings of the Bissau Guinean farmer even further. A farmer in Senegal , Ziguinchor today earns 300-400 CFA for his produce, while just a few kilometres across, the Bissau Guinean farmer earns 250 CFA since two heavy taxes that sustain the government. ...

A farmer virtually sustaining the government rather than the other way around.

The point I'm making here is that the ECOwas mediation should insist on engaging and remaining within Bissau to support its people rather than going after the Junta. The head of the Army was there within a democratically elected structure. We did nothing then to limit his authority. Now we must Engage positively rather than disengage. It will not be easy. But deadlines will probably not work. The next few days will see what future Bissau has... Where will they head.. They're already in the fire. Perhaps a good time to coin a new phrase..
From the frying pan into the fire? From the fire, where?
Any suggestions?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other tainted figures

Someone just asked me a few days back what the GDP of The Gambia was? And I wondered while responding that it was in the range of 800-900 Million US $. And the rhetorical question was immediately how that compared to that of India... And my mind wandered further. Do we include the Rs. 25,000 Crore (6.25 Billion USD) 2 G scam, the 20-50,000 Crore (6-12 Billion USD) Reddy brothers mining scam... Or the fodder scams or the land scams.... And suddenly these figures don't make any sense any more. Don't make any sense as to the ignorant rest of the world wondering what Lakhs and Crores are.(to the newly inducted into Indian economic figures, a Lakh is a 100,000 but with the separator positioned like this: 1,00,000. A hundred lakhs makes a Crore with the separator positioned like this: 1,00,00,000!!! That's why we are a special country. You will often hear of figures and aspirations. People aspire to be Lakhpatis or Crorepathis! ( do note that you may hear of Corrode-pathis too , but that has only to do with regional pronounciations... Nothing to indicate the deep rooted corrosiveness of our corrupt society!!

I recently set out to buy a house in India and found that the best bet was to drive 70 KM out of Chennai and look at a property just beyond the famed IT Corridoor. 8 lane highway on the OMR ( Old Mahabalipuram Road - an old highway, leading to the historical town of Mamallapuram ) ... the advertisements of this super highway painted a pictue of a Dubai like modern city. As we reached the TOLL booth to enter this famed highway, I realised that neither was the Toll booth like anything I have seen in lesser developed nations than India. And more horrifying was the drive on this toll highway... Traffic was a mayhem. Potholes everywhere. This could have been Mount road or Rangaswami Street in T Nagar. Cattle, cycles, pedestrians, overloaded autos, three-on-a-bike for two wheelers was the norm and of course honking was the icing on the cake. Worse was the filth on the sides of the roads. Plastic bags, bottles, litter, people defacating anywhere.. And one wondered: is this the India Shining story.

Realisation then gradually strikes you (despite the cacophony of the traffic, my thoughts are enlightened) : Despite our politicians, despite the corruption and they mayhem, despite our overflowing population, despite everything negative, we are able to show a substantial growth in our economy. Imagine our GDP if we were able to get rid of these politicians and the corruption that goes with them.

Indias figures could soar if we put an end to the corruption. But how does one do it. An Anna Hazare started it only to be hogged out of the lime light by a hoard of self-heat-seeking-missiles like politicos, yogis, activists and socialites.

A twitterer responded to one of my twits : suggesting that change had to start within. And arm-chair activists would not be of any use she added. But then if I am willing to change myself and am able to convince another arm chair activist to straighten our own figures, how long would it take for change on a nationwide scale.

May be a few hundred years. Or will we have to refer to years in lakhs and crores too, before we see some sense in our figures - GDP or otherwise.

The Gambia
February 2012
In bed feeling Sick ... Partly due to a little bug and of course Also due to political irritants.
P.S. The world bank suggests that the GDP of India is "environ" 17.3 Trillion US$ ... Or should I say about 7,00,00,00,000 Crore Rupees. ( I may have missed out a few zeroes ..but guess that doesn't matter. As Birbal ( the witty jester and advisor in the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar, once retorted when asked about the number of Crows in the capital. He came back with a figure of 1,34,54,787 crows. When asked to prove it, he smiled and replied, Emperor, please get your Ministers to count them and disprove me. If there are lesser, they may have gone to visit relatives and if it exceeds my figure, they may have relatives visiting them. In our case of the exact GDP a few scams more or less.....