Why we all love Underdogs

 

Ms Word no longer highlights the word "Slumdog" as typo in my system. This word truly deserves a place in the dictionary. The Slumdog has had his twenty millions. The entire couple of hours transcended me from a reel to real life. Jamal Malik the protagonist in the movie was about to be  reincarnated in real life. AR Rehman is on the brink of making history. He was never an underdog but to a billion Indians, he is about to achieve something that none has ever. After all the uproar and raucous created, it required a foreign director to catch the essence of the slum life and bring out the heroes in these slum kids. Why have we remained blind to all these until now? We all look upon slums as a blotch in the face of Mumbai. Be it the politicians or any bureaucratic machinery, everyone has ignored the need to address the real issue and look at solving the larger problem. Still today, the traffic signals are beaming with scores of beggars asking for pittance. We all know that there is a larger power at play as has been depicted in many movies, still hardly is anyone ready to rectify the problem. It is amidst these apathy and insalubrious atmosphere that aspirations germinate and fructify. These underdogs are considered to be the last rung of any societal hierarchy and stereotypical to the black side of Mumbai life. Any success or victory achieved by an underdog has always been applauded more than that achieved by the obvious ones.

The same is true in case of Resul Pookutty the young sound graduate who has also been nominated for an academy award. None ever thought these guys would make it to the Oscars or at least be a part of the team that received 10 Oscar nominations. I guess it has to do with the simple human nature, that the happiness is maximum when the expectations are the least. What's adorable is that these guys always raised the bar of their performance. There is a lesson in it for all of us. Under expect and Overachieve !!

Inflated Heart in a Deflated Economy !!

5.24 it is for this week. Now a days this figures don't bother me as much as it used to 5 months back. From an exponential curve it has nose dived into what it is today. Much has already been deliberated and talked upon. Is the 0% inflation anywhere near the horizon. Look closely, and it seems very likely. I have never had the opportunity to live in a nil inflation economy. What would it be like to know that the prices are not rising. It definitely is a very good thing but the money chasing commodities would reduce. This would mean less money in circulation and this definitely will not bode well for some. Hold on. Well, I am not an economist nor am I someone with a degree in Economics. I am just speaking what my stupidity asks me to. Let me exemplify my stupidity by this , Oh God Had it been true , scenario. If I have 10 girlfriends then my heart would definitely beat faster, with the heartbeats increasing with every increase in the number of girlfriends. On the other hand, if I always have these 10 girlfriends then, I am bound to get used to it and there wouldn't be anything in for me then. Life would be the same. Hence my heartbeats would start falling eventually a day will come when I will get so bored that my heart beat would tend to zero. A state of nil inflation. Definitely not good for me ! Now what if the number of girlfriends I have start reducing? Seems to be really bad. Though , now I can pay more attention to each girlfriend , it is not something that would resemble my heartbeat moments during inflationary years. If the prices of all commodities start falling together, we will see a rise in the consumption initially but if the negative inflation or deflation persists, then over a period of time, consumption would start dropping. Neither extremes are good for us for they will hamper our economic growth badly. I from now onwards, would start valuing each girlfriend more than the entire group. For this shall be my only way out of trouble. In a Deflated Economy am going to keep an Inflated Heart.

72 Hours of Horror, 195 lives and still counting..

It has been the most dreadful 72 hours of my life. No, I wasn't an eye witness to the event but I was glued to my television set uninterrupted. As I watched the event unfold, I was initially shocked and later numbed by the gory news that came in every passing minute. Today, 3 days later, the crisis has ended, thanks to the sacrifice of the brave men who have laid down their lives in the line of duty. It is because of them, I am able to write this blog sitting at the confines of my home. What else, can I do as an ordinary citizen? My heart burns out seeing the way our soldiers brave it out. Being an Indian first and then a Mumbaikar, I have known the city in and out. We have witnessed many terrorist attacks, but this time around it was different. Yet, there was no letting down as the politicians continued their divisive political histrionics over the event. There is anger and frustration over the way innocent lives were lost . To me, I never felt so helpless before. Sitting at home and watching the news pour in all the major news channels, I could only pray for them. I hope and I hope that atleast this time around some concrete actions are taken to secure the lives of the innocent countrymen. Enough of verbal rhetoric, and enough of the symbolic resilience. Its time for accountability and commitment from everyone. My prayers to all those who helped save the lives of the people. They are the real heroes.

The City Under Siege

9/11, 7/26, 11/26....No we are not talking of any mathematical series. Those are the most bloodiest days in the history of mankind with the last one being the watershed and waterloo for our system. A brazen, dastardly, almost unthinkable terrorist attack, carried out by the perpetrators, on CST, Leopold Cafe, TAJ , Cama Hospital, Trident, Oberoi and Nariman House. It all started with the firing at CST on 26th November night around 9:30. Couple of heavily armed terrorists barged their way across to CST and opened fire indiscriminately. As the situation worsened, news poured in of attacks at Cama hospital, TAJ and Oberoi. Within an hour all these major centres were under the control of the terrorists. Armed with advanced ammunition, enough to sustain for a week, they lay siege on the hotels. The location turned out into a battle zone within minutes. NSG Commandos were called in to handle the situation. As the number of reported deaths increased, the world turned its eyes on India. The country lost one of its very best officers in the line of duty. With NSG, RAF, CRPF and MARCOS in, it took almost 2 days , 195 lives and trauma, that would last quite a long, to clean up the terrorists. The city and the country had to pay a very dear price. Be it the foreign nationals or the common man on the streets, no one was spared. In 25 years of my life, after the riots in 93, I have never seen the city held back for so long. All major news channels including NDTV and IBN covered the crisis for an unending 72 hours. Clearly, the city wants to send out a message. It wants to do away with the resilience, which it had been carrying with it. I just pray and hope, instead of fighting amongst ourselves, our so called real politicians of the soil, show some real conviction and dignity to protect the very people who have made India what it is today. News channels are quick to term this as the 9/11 of India. But the question is, will we be able to call a terrorist a terrorist in stead of worrying over the votebank politics? India today is not because of any polical party, it is a self sustaining economy and what drives it today is the sheer will and determination of the people. I won't harp on what is right or what is wrong, who is responsible or what could have been done. For me, as an ordinary citizen, I never felt so helpless ever before in my life, seeing bodies being brought out one after the other. Tears have stopped dropping but the anger is just building. I hope at least this time around, our honourable leaders put aside their differences and unite to prove that they deserve the very post they are holding.

Inflationary Wows & Woes.....

These days the only news that seems to grab almost half the entire screen of all major National News Channels , in the form of Breaking News , is that we are reeling under the ominous slope of the inflation Index . With the index soaring week after week and all the efforts put in to contain it going for a toss, it is high time we do some time travel and find out the exact reason for the unnerving phenomenon for most households. Why is that even after all the measures taken in the form of imposing duties to control exports and reducing or shedding off import duties we are still unable to contain it ? Even the fiscal measures have not shown any tangible results as of now. Maybe in the forseeable future it might show signs of frutition , but it might not be significant enough for our banks haven't touched upon the repo and the reverse repo rates. Looking at the way the crude is behaving we can do little from our side to contain the losses. Where have we slipped or what is it that we are not following here ? To admit frankly I am a simpleton when it comes to economics and statistics. I am definitely not a good commentator on our economic policies and nor am I judging any one's decision. From a common man's perspective I feel that somewhere we are to be blamed for what's happenning .With changing times we have had more money coming into our hands .Which means the purchasing power per capita is rising with times. Looking at the way the Gen Next is throwing of money at each and everything the others have sooner or later started following suit. People have gone in for more of spending and less of saving . This means we have more money chasing goods . Inflation indeed !! Today we can't do with 3 ACs and still complain . Earlier we used to adjust with things. Has someone ever thought that if we were to live more judiciously , understanding the value of things we probably would have spent money where it is actually required . Splurging the extra money is what is kindling this inflationary tendencies. We clearly ought to contain our spendings and learn to save things rather than getting extra and wasting things . This would solve most of our problems. With many billionaries created every passing minute our nation is unshackling all its limitations and raring to grow . Such things are common with a developing nation .With time , this knowledge and rationality would definitely creep into our minds . Maybe this is a learning phase for our nation. With this learning we surely would go a long way in scaling out our economic superpower status.

Extracting the essence of Life

A Bonfire of Vanities . Thats what Life is . Peering into its never ending abyss , we can only derive more out of it . That might be the reason why many a philosophers , saints and scholars gave life the sobriquet " Infinity " . Seems impossible and sounds too preposterous. Our limited life is full of limitless possibilities and events . Rationality would speak otherwise and so would science , but Life is something beyond the realms of our shunted and stultified rationality. William Blake had rightly described Life when he penned down “Auguries of Innocence.” He says

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”

Each event in our lives is multifaceted in itself , throwing endless possibilities for us to grab onto. It is only the human eye which takes only what it wants . We have become so engrossed with our latitudes that we hardly bother to look beyond the periphery of our existence. Life is a strand of infinite events . Happiness and Sadness add vibrance to it , resulting in a beautiful fabric that is invaluable and can't be replicated . Few days back, while standing at a bus stop and hurling invectives at the lack of proficiency of our governance , something caught my attention and gave me a reason to smile . The sight of two little puppies canoodling each other rekindled my thought and set me thinking about looking beyond the periphery. I am no philosopher but as far as I am concerned I would definitely try to beautify the fabric of my life . Spend the life is "Pursuit of Happyness " . There are always opportunities hidden even during the darkest hours . Most of us give up on our pursuit and fight just before we reach our goal. We just need that extra zeal in us to cover the last lap . Rather than getting entangled in the deadly maze we should persist and persevere towards reaching our goal . Life may not be always about Winning but it is definitely about Having that insatiable tendency to Win .