A deal worth what? - I

In this world of google times, one of the main problems is, we have become only news consumers. On top of that, a person like me, who takes any news articles by any journalist with a pinch of salt, it's quite difficult to understand the truth of almost anything...

Indo- US nuclear deal is one such thing.
I hate being an armchair analyst.But i am going to leave this point aside and write a few posts regarding my thoughts on this deal.

I haven't completely followed this Nuclear deal in minute detail till last month...Thanks to the fiasco of Left pulling out, PM threatening to resign and the ultimate win of government in Vote of confidence motion that happened in July, i was forced to come out of the comfort zone and take a real look at the happenings of the nuclear deal.

It did take a considerable amount of time to read and understand the stuff.Still, at the end of the day, one's not sure as whether it's analyzed from all perspectives. Because, there are not many newspapers/magazines which seem to have the complete coverage of the whole deal events and behind the scene activities. Also, i simply donot seem to possess the complete knowledge of everything related. But then, one has to start somewhere...so here we go, with my 2 cents :)

One blog site had quite a good coverage of the deal. It was a blog, "Reality, one bite at a time",maintained by Siddharth Varadarajan, Deputy Editor, The Hindu.

So at the end of the day, what is my thought on the deal?

First of all, it is a point of proudness for Indians to realize that there are quite a few countries in the world who consider India as an important power, even if it's for their selfish reason ;)
As the BBC Correspondent said on Bush's visit (28 Feb,2006),

The true significance of this visit is not what comes out of it. It's not even really the deal itself.

The real significance of the negotiations about sharing nuclear technology is the fact of the negotiations.

By having them and coming here, to Delhi, the United States government is saying to India "we trust you, you're one of us, we want you to join our club".

A senior American official told me recently that the US wants to be "helpful" to India as it "emerges as a world power".

So, it is good to realize that we have strived on our own (to a large extent) to reach a point of importance in the world stage. But the thing which we often forget, like how NDA got illusioned and ended up losing the last elections with the logo of "India Shining",is the fact that we still have a long way to go to become a real developed nation!

From that perspective, I think the time isn't right for the Nuclear deal with US!!!

No, i didn't get influenced by any commies books :) Still, i want the deal to fail in NSG next week! Following is the 5 point reasoning behind this conclusion, which i will explain in the next post. (hope i write it this weekend itself)

1. Need to strengthen relations through economic means with neighbours and other asian countries first.
2. Lets look within ourselves.
3. Explore the scope of Thorium.
4. Nuclear Power Generation in US and worldwide
5. Impact or Opportunity for Indian companies.

So, let me finish this post with what Dr.Anil Kakodkar mentioned on India being forced to consider the amendments proposed in NSG.

"Should we allow ourselves to be pushed? Are we not Indians? Are you not proud of yourself and what you are doing?" Kakodkar said.

I only hope the PM and his clan of diplomats remember this while going through the revised draft now!
Just can never fully trust the congress!!

An intermediate result!

There are days or maybe moments when one feels so elated and suddenly everything seems possible/achievable in this world. One is really bubbling with confidence and happiness. One feels really light, smiles to himself/herself. Infact this is also quite infectious.

I just had one such evening today :)

For quite a different reason though!

I remember, once when i was talking to my friend, i was telling her that if god came in front of me and asked what is that one wish which i would like to be fulfilled, i would say that i would like to be slim...well, obviously that will not be the thing which i would ask now because suddenly one seems to have matured so much that one is willing to wish for something which is really quite not a selfish one :)

Still, that doesn't mean one doesn't have that old wish any longer...but it's just that one has realized that it's not something totally unachievable :)

It all started on the day when i received the interview call from ISB. If at all, i had prepared for the interview so diligently, i would have been in ISB now! Well, no regrets though because maybe it was a good thing not to end up looking for jobs amidst the global slowdown.

The thing that started on that day in December has continued till today, ofcourse with quite a few hiccups...there were quite a lot of moments of frustrations...but there was always a ray of hope or lets say, a slight 'never say die' attitude which helps one to be confident amidst the realistic thinking!

Ofcourse, there was an instructor, who stood beside along the way...There were also few good friends who were always encouraging...

Still there are moments where no one but the individual has to pull up together and get going! This is exactly the reason why i always feel that every individual is alone at the end!!

Now after 8 months, every individual who has seen me over the last 1 year never failed to mention the fact! Infact, i am eagerly waiting to meet one of my good friends because i am sure he's going to be completely surprised and inspired as well. One of the best moments was, when a colleague from US didn't recognize me for the first time when i waved at him near the lift. Later he came to my place and mentioned that he didn't recognize me...i was smiling because he was seeing me after a gap of 6 months and indeed there was a significant change!

Ok, it also doesn't mean that atlast i feel as if i have achieved the goal...hmm,i always seems to be pushing the goal post further...well,nothing wrong in that...as long as there is a scope for improvement, one should not quit trying...but i guess, it is equally important to savor the intermediate achievements as well...

Today my instructor mentioned that it's the day when i really need to treat myself. The first thought that came to my mind was a McD French fries with a large strawberry shake and the second thought was the calculation of the calories :) Guess, there is just no going back...One might eat all the junk food in the world, but the calculation will always be there in the back of the mind...

But didn't try McD today, guess this is one more moment where i miss my roommate :(

Nevertheless ended up in a BaskinRobbins with 2 double scoops (Bavarian chocolate+Litchee, Coffee + Papaya,Pineapple cream ) to go. (finished only one though!)

There is something addictive about chocolate icecream, that too the ones with a coffee twist...hmm...i miss the starbucks icecream.

Anyway, hope i have many more evening like this :) Well, isn't it all in the mind?!

National Anthem

Atlast, India has an Olympic Gold medal winner in an individual event!
Suddenly it looks like quite an achievement by all of us, although the complete credit goes to an individual and his family :) :)

Stayed awake till midnight to watch the repeat telecast of the Shooting Finals and Award ceremony. And frankly I never thought i will become so emotional about this. But when the Indian National anthem was played at the end of the award ceremony, god, it was quite a moment. Atleast for the sake of this moment, i really think we should win more Gold medals.
hmm...maybe the expectation bar has got raised already, because last month this time, there was only an expectation of atleast one medal of any color ;)
No wonder, this editorial is so true.

Interestingly, yesterday, award ceremony of the Marathon event was held as part of the Closing Ceremony and the whole stadium stood up for the Kenyan National Anthem.

While talking of National Anthem, there are very few National Anthems in the world without lyrics. Spain is one of them.
Infact, Spain is also a country where regional sentiments seem to run very deep mainly due to General Franco's tyranny in the past. Here is one article i read after Euro cup.

Fav ad

I keep wondering why i like this ad so much...is it because of the violin music or because of the guy in the ad? :)
Still remember the day when my friend was forced to watch this ad amidst my exclaimed explanation. All she was interested, was in the violin music and the violin...after all, she was(or is?) an emerging violin player ;)




Anyway, when many ads are trying to drown the viewers with so many words, this is one exceptional example!
hmm...while thinking about words, I am reminded of the song in Notting Hill, "You say it best, when you say nothing at all" :) (i wonder whether the song writer wrote it in a real sense or with a hope that his girlfriend might follow it ;) )

Are we really secular?

note: This is not a Polemic post. (thanks to one of my dear friend questioning me previously regarding "Polemic" posts, i am mentioning this upfront)

I had been really pondering over this question for the last few weeks, mainly after i started reading about Pakistan and happenings there...
Are we really secular or are we acting as if we are secular or are we trying to become secular by overlooking many factors and appeasing all the minorities?
Was Jinnah right when he said that One nation will lead India to destruction?

I think i am quite convinced of the answer now.

Today, i see the debates raging over the Jammu & Kashmir issue in different news channel. It was very saddening to see the altercation between Sajjad Lone and Ashok Pandit in CNN-IBN.
But what really hurt me the most was the arguments between Arun Joshi and Muzamil Jaleel in "The Nation Tonight" in CNBC. Atleast in the former case, the argument might be heavily influenced by individual experiences as one was a politician and other was a kashmiri pandit, the community which has faced the worst form of violence almost equivalent to Genocide in Kashmir. In the latter case, one was a Hindustan Times reporter from Jammu and other was an award winning Indian Express reporter from Kashmir. But the way they put forth their points, it was as if they were talking to their specific communities. It was really very depressing for 2 reasons.
1. Does this showcase a deep sense of distrust between the communities in that region?
2. If these journalists can get influenced based on the region from which they are reporting and their surrounding experiences, where are we, normal citizens, who get almost 99% of news from a second hand source?

Every sane individual is aware that there might be a high probability of political hand involvement in this blowup of the issue or why even creation of the issue in the first place...still, every single spark like this might really end up deepening the distrust among individuals.

Below are couple of articles i happened read today.

Somehow, i am not convinced with this author. I fully agree with the topic, but the content is the issue.
Appeasement is never good for a nation.

This is one of the saddest articles i have read in recent times. These are the remainders that we really have a long way to go, as a nation.
My lost country - Kashmir

Now, i really wonder what is happening on the North East region...

Expectation

There are many questions for which eventhough there is an answer, we can never really answer it because the answer is just not the way things work in a society. Now, it also doesn't mean that one is willing to accept the way things work!

Friend: Tell me one thing. Why is it that a mother expects her daughter-in-law to cook all the favorites of her son and serve him? Imagine, if my mother also feels in the similar way. What if my mother goes to her son-in-law and tells,"My daughter likes this food item a lot. Can you please prepare and serve for her?" ? Will he prepare and serve his wife?

Well, obviously he should! But, I didn't answer anything when she asked. I started wondering as how come she thought like this! It also shows how much she was affected by the first question.
Maybe, her mother was wise enough to avoid asking such question so that her daughter's favorite will always remain as a favorite ;)

I remembered one thing though...My Math professor mentioned once,"As a woman, we are always compromising in many indirect ways. So never compromise on your own". I never understood this in my college years...Now, after a few years down the lane, i think i am slowly understanding what she really meant.

Travel

A completely wrong post to be read on a monday morning! An individual wants to just dump everything and go away for a year. But the individual seems to be quite smart as the planning seems to have started a year ahead though.

On an another interesting note, it is quite impressive to see that a lady is considering "India" as one of the places to travel alone! As usual there are mixed comments.

Sibling!

One of the prominent memories of any individuals childhood is the bullying between siblings...ok, maybe, i might be wrong in generalizing this, as i have seen quite a few of my friends who seem to have had a very amicable relationship with their siblings from childhood.

guess, i was an exception...maybe because it was between a sister and a brother or maybe because of the middle class lifestyle. i still remember the days in 5th and 6th standard where the only mission after school was to formulate a plan as how to hit him or annoy him or irritate him...the fights between us used to be quite intolerable for my mother and we were always forced to sit on the different parts of the house. nothing got shared between the two of us without a fight. there were days when i had torn his book covers, spilled ink on the shirt and days when he had soaked my socks in water, hidden my shoes, ribbon :)

i still vividly remember one incident...it happened in 5th annual leave. it was the time when we had got a new cycle and the stupid brother already knew how to ride it...i didn't. In one of the best moods, he agreed to teach me how to ride the cycle. so, there we went with the cycle...after few minutes into the session, the cycle had fallen on top of me, some metal rods on the side had ended up scratching the left foot and i don't know what else happened...but within few minutes, whole left foot was covered in blood.This was enough for me to lodge an accusation against him and i was all prepared to walk back home,crying, threatening him how he had wounded my leg resulting in blood all over the foot. He was in complete panic...and he even made a promise that i could use the cycle how much longer i want and he was trying to cover my foot with sand to cover the blood. Still, this was one such moment which was too difficult to be passed on for any favours, so i did end up crying in front of my mother complaining and we both ended up getting the shouts and scoldings.

Then,somewhere down the lane, i realized blackmail worked better than direct complaining...so there used to be a list of things which were got done with blackmail :) (I would really suggest watching "Children of Heaven" to understand about blackmailing :)..that too the scene, where she gets a new long pencil from her brother :)) infact last month, even my brother confided that he hated me in schooldays :)

After so many years, this same guy on one fine day in 2004, lost 40k in a 30min trading of Infy shares and called me up to tell the same. It took me 2 hours to really come out of the shock and think in some sane manner...Eventually, i did pay that 40k extracting a promise from him to payback the amount through some good profits, which he did. Till date, the news is only between us :)

Last year, this same guy was talking about an exam called CFA and how great future would be for those who passed these exams. So here i was, all imaginative as usual, convinced him to write the exam so that he can payback to me in millions :) This week beginning, the results were out and he wasn't among the 35% applicants who cleared it! What was his response --a verse in tamil which means,"People who fail to try,die.So eventhough we fell, we will rise and try again" (or goes something like this)...so he's going to try again this Dec but with his own money...which did upset me slightly, as he doesn't seem to require my support, but i was quick to recover from this upset though, as i am free with less dependency :)

Today this same guy, when called up and asked what i was doing, i said,"i was looking at this IAEA approval for Indo-US Deal and i am trying to understand why US is hell bent on supporting India thru this deal. So, i am googling and trying to read frontline article dated 2005".
He continues telling that US is well aware that these guys will not stop with using the fuel for electricity but it is trying to make India an alternate power in this region against china.So the discussion proceeds as how cunning US is, which leads to the dollar dominance in the world, how bretton woods system started, how US cheated out of that system and how US fell to Saudi to make dollar as denominated currency for petrol thus creating the term petro dollar, how Iraq tried to fight against petro dollar, how now Iran is trying, who'll benefit from this nuclear deal...and eventually he started giving his doubts as maybe US is the real hidden creator of the current subprime crisis, how US is cunning and every successor is worse than the previous ones which finally concluded in blasting YV Reddy for raising interest rates as it will only halter growth as the credit used by people for day to day buyings is very less in india when compared to US, so the only people who'll get affected in the hikes is SMEs and how YVReddy seems to have acted on IMF's advice, for which he might be rewarded with a posting in IMF in some country after his retirement next month!!!
i ask,"so what exactly will happen with US?", he says,"It will get destroyed one day and with that many other economies including ours will collapse...see, these systemic changes are difficult to happen.maybe, a war should come to really change completely" and i ask,"so, maybe is it better if we try to earn more and have all money in gold...it might help us when crisis strikes, right?"...and he ends up saying,"it's all very confusing.you see at the end of the day, i really don't know why we are trying to work so hard, you, in particular. what is the use of all these worrying about office? why are we trying to work like this in the first place?", i reply, "because of the society". he says,"exactly.so at the end of the day, nothing is in our hand"...
and i am really stuck with knowledge fatigue at this moment, as already there are so many things to read about after this conversation...so we wish goodnight and end the call.
i am sure he might have slept peacefully...here i am, trying to read all the above stuff and also my latest awareness, Pakistan, as well as writing this post!!!

I really wonder, when did we really grow up, with the childhood hatred giving away to a mutual friendship and trust...guess, difficulties in life always help in mending and strengthening one's relationships!