The REAL %@$#@^&$!!!

I'd spoken earlier about prices of groceries & real estate not coming down, despite inflation having come down wonderfully well.

The basic reason is obvious to everyone: Greed. One of the Seven Deadly Sins. If only these guys were devout enough... but their god is made of bank note paper.

Let's focus, for now, on the real estate prices joke that we've witnessed for the past few years.

One can understand the scarcity of space in Bombay & it's status as India's premier city, therefore one can understand rising prices there. But not to the degree that they rose to!

Beyond a point, the fault lies with people who're willing to buy at whatever rate is being quoted. The fault lies with the so-called investor (I prefer to call them gamblers), and the unawakened customer. They should just refuse to buy beyond a price point!

The first category doesn't do that (despite them not needing the damn houses at all!) because they're greedy gamblers. They want to speculate on rising prices, in order to sell to the next idiot who is willing to buy it at a substantially higher price, either out of more greed, or because the idiot is a customer who needs a house to live in, but doesn't understand the logic of not giving in to the seller's price!

The unawakened customer is the one that I seek to address through this post.
Jaago Graahak Jaago!
The money is YOURS! Unless buying a house is an absolute necessity (& to understand necessity, please put yourselves in the shoes of a homeless person who sleeps on the cold footpath!), don't part with the money at a rate that doesn't make sense!
The problem is that today we have access to loans. The bank is willing to give us money. So we make the mistake of believing that we have the money, we can afford it! THAT is not your money!
Imagine if banks weren't handing out loans. What would we have done? Looked at our meagre bank balance & postponed buying of a house till we had enough. And when we had enough, we'd just look for options that fit our budget.
With no one spending easy money in the real estate sector, the sector would behave itself! We wouldn't see the kind of imagined pricing that we see today!

I have a few suggestions, apart from the one above & the link above:

1. Start a non-profit, non-aligned, price regulation body. It can be a real-estate consumer rights NGO, that will survey every locality in every town & publish what the buying rate should be.
And no awakened consumer should buy above this recommended rate!
To ensure incorruptability, a panel (of 12?) should decide the prices instead of 1 or 2 people.

2. With price control in the real estate market, it will also become a less lucrative investment for goons, the underworld etc. A cleaner industry, with less arm twisting, less black money, more transparency is what we will get!

Reader thoughts solicited.

Maine kahaa thHa naa!!! Part 2

It feels GOOD to be CORRECT!

Looks like I'm not the only one exposing the lies. I've provided data, anecdotes & analysis, linked to reports; I've linked to leading newspapers saying the same thing.

I'm just SO thrilled that I'm not the only one! Churumuri, Mr. Gupta, Ms. Banerji etc. are saying exactly the same thing...! May your tribe increase!

Dipankar Gupta & Ranjona Banerji both point out (as I too have, I'm in august company!) how gujarat was always a prospering state, full of industrious business-minded folk; and how modi's is just a despicable PR attempt to take all the credit for himself! (Of course there'll be the usual small-minded, uninformed, biased, ignoble, ignorable folk who will call them all kinds of names, like opportunistic, leftist etc.; in the process revealing nothing except their own intellectual vacuity.)

Telling indictment of:

• modi's dishonesty
• people's gullibility or obdurate refusal to acknowledge the truth
• people in PR

---------------------------------------

Am also fairly disappointed with Symbiosis Institute of Mass. Comm. & Pune Mirror.

SIMC invited modi for a talk. What could he have to offer to mass comm students...? a man who cannot even communicate in the preferred language of the audience was seeking to address? anyway... he lied to them about the development that he didn't bring about in gujju-land. And Pune Mirror dutifully gave him full coverage.

The next day Anand Patwardhan spoke at the seminar. Now here's a documentary film-maker, with the credentials to talk to audio-visual mass. comm. students! At the end of his talk, one terribly misguided youth (& there are enough of that type going around since times immemorial) stood up & asked him whether he couldn't see the development that modi had brought about. The moderator stepped in to say that Mr. Patwardhan didn't need to answer that question as it didn't have anything to do with documentary film making; but Mr. Patwardhan insisted that he wanted to. He told the student (& others) that he wished he was present yesterday, or modi today, because he would've told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't ever vote for mr. modi's blood-stained hands.

Did Pune Mirror cover this the next day? Nope. I don't recall seeing it. Why Pune Mirror? Why?

Also see: Maine Kaha Tha Na (Part 1)

The TRUTH seems to be POURING OUT!!!

Woke up this morning to a very pleasant sight in the papers.

The Indian Express reported that Report by own Govt punctures modi's Gujarat hype.
The newspaper says:

"A state government document accessed by 'The Indian Express' says that out of
the proposed total investment of Rs 633,829.9 crore during the VGGIS melas of
2003, 2005 and 2007, only Rs 130,354.36 crore materialised. This works
out to 20.5 per cent, as against the 61 per cent modi
announced. But for even this rate, all of some Rs 1,030 crore worth of
projects, which the document says are still at a “planning stage”, have to
fructify."

It also says:

While Modi projected 25 lakh new jobs from the over 8,500 MoUs signed during the
fourth VGGIS last fortnight, the document indicates that Gujarat actually got
just 12.3 per cent of the 13,23,452 jobs promised in the 760 MoUs signed during
the three VGGIS from 2003

Haven't I always maintained that it was all a lie, a sham, a PR exercise waiting to be exposed?

Inflation anyone...?

Last year, there was a lot of ho-hulla about rising inflation.

the bjp & their followers went overboard with joy & gave soundbyte after soundbyte to the media.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram & Montek Singh Ahluwalia all quietly said that this was a temporary phenomenon, affected by inflated oil prices; and that it would come down shortly.

A downtrend has been in place almost since the day they said this. I can't hear even one voice praising this! I think it makes sense for me to at least applaud the bjp (& it's supporters') hypocrisy. They're making such an effort, being so consistent... Great show guys! Keep it up!

Dr. Singh, Mr. Chidambaram, Mr. Ahluwalia... Congratulations! You're doing a fine job sirs!

One question remains though... why despite inflation being so low are the prices of fruit & veggies still so high???
Or worse, why aren't real estate prices being lowered by the developers?
More on that in a separate post!

The TRUTH about gujarat's "development"

There's more to it than meets the eye. Heard of this one before?
Or of, scratch the surface, digging deeper for the truth etc.?

Apparently, we're all content to believe what suits us. I'm not. And therefore here's my little expose of truth about gujarat's so called good governance & development.

What comprises good governance? I've heard terms like corruption free state etc. being thrown about. I quote here from a random search on the web:

“Good governance” is a relatively new term that is often used to describe the desired objective of a nation-state’s political development. The principles of good governance, however, are not new. Good governance is, in short, anti-corruption whereas authority and its institutions are accountable, effective and efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented, and equitable. These are the major characteristics of good governance as outlined by the United Nations.
The World Leaders at the 2005 World Summit concluded that good governance is integral to economic growth, the eradication of poverty and hunger, and sustainable development. The views of all oppressed groups, including women, youth and the poor, must be heard and considered by governing bodies because they will be the ones most negatively affected if good governance is not achieved.

Or you could refer to Wiki. Says almost the same thing.

NOW tell me whether the state of gujarat qualifies for the good governance that it is touted to provide?

• Bootlegging (the illegal liquour trade) is rampant despite Prohibition being in force. There's one example of Corruption!
• Transparency too seems to have become a victim, pointing towards a dishonest, corrupt Gujarat administration.
• And there goes Equitable!
• 6 years after the 2002 riots in the state, we're still wondering whether the perpetrators will be brought to book. There go all claims of an effective & efficient, accountable, transparent, Executive & Judiciary in the state!

Is THIS what Good Governance stands for???

Development:
I will present whatever facts & figures I have here:

• I grew up in Rajasthan & we regularly drove into Gujarat to visit Ambaji or Palanpur or en route to Bombay. On my first trip as a 9 year old, being excited about driving into a "new State", I remember asking one of the local uncles in the minibus, "Uncle, Gujarat kab aayega?". And Uncle replied, "Jab iss bus ki khidkiyaan khad-khad bajne band ho jayengi toh samajh lena Gujarat aa gaya!", in an obvious reference to the condition of roads in Gujarat. That was 1984. modi or the bjp weren't in power then. How then is this modi responsible for the excellent roads in Gujarat?
• Reliance set up Petro in Gujarat. Half the Pharma companies are in Gujarat. And this too has been happening for as long as any of us can remember. Gujarat has always been a prosperous state. It's been among the top contributors to India's GDP for longer than this man has been in power. HOW then does he get credit for developing Gujarat???
• And I'm not the only one pointing this out! If you don't want to take my word for it, I'm fairly certain that you will take Dr. Manmohan Singh's word for it. Even if you're not a fan of his (which makes you very, very strange!), you can't deny that the man isn't given to lying in public! Read the 4th para from top here! And onwards of course. :-)
• Do you know of the 489 farmers who committed suicide in Gujarat over a 4 year period? Is this the development that we are celebrating in Gujarat??? vilasrao deshmukh deservedly drew flak for farmer suicides in Maharashtra. Why not narendra modi???
• Take a look at the per capita income gross state domestic product figures in this table that I obtained from the planning commission website. A smaller state like Goa has TWICE the per capita GDSP income of Gujarat!!! Goa registered an improvement of 21% in 2004-2005! Jharkhand was at 35%! When then is only the Gujarat CM in the news & not Goa's CM??? Or Haryana's which is also close in the averages? There has to be a reason! Essentially PR. Presumably to cloud the 2002 sentiment? Good job on the PR though! Have to hand them that! Mooh mein Raam/development, bagal mein churi!

That's all I have for tonight! Will be back with more later if the readers want to know.

Here are a few more links that you may want to browse through in order to decide on what really gets the bjp it's vote in gujarat. These are from around the time of the last assembly elections in gujarat.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/14sheela.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7132034.stm (last section, last few paras)

So was their unfortunate 2007 victory:
a) Due to the immense polarization of the electorate (of which 89% are Hindus)?

OR

b) Was the election closer than we think?

Oh! And if it's possible to tag someone on a post of this nature, I'd like to tag Sagarone, Trailblazer, Kislay and Vinod Sharma.

Questions for ratan, sunil & anil

Good Afternoon ratan, sunil & anil.

Nice to see that you put shareholder interest above everything else. You're in it to make money. That's what your chosen field is, that's your area of expertise is. Ethics, Equality, Social Issues are an SEP (Somebody Else's Problem). If they were your primary motivators, you'd have been in Baba Amte/Medha Patkar/Teesta Setalvad's place, right? And yes... Corporate Social Responsibility can be taken care of by financing a few education/technical training institutes & a few research grants. Everybody wins right?

WRONG! I disagree. You have displayed a gutlessness, a spinelessness that will spawn businessmen jokes the way America has lawyer jokes! (Can someone contribute a few good ones?) And ensured that you will not be remembered as a few good men.
You have further cemented the belief that businessmen are hard-nosed, cut-throat and not to be relied on. It's a telling comment on our money-minded society that only Ramalingam Raju is drawing flak for having poor moral fibre.

I'm not the only one who disagrees of course. Rahul Bajaj & Jamshed Godrej disagree with you.
Anjan & Zig disagree. IHM disagrees.

So I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. In fact I've already started.

1. When I want an Internet connection, I'm not going for the broadband services your companies provide. I will look for an alternative. BSNL, MTNL, Hathway etc!
2. I will switch cellphone providers from airtel to Vodafone, BSNL etc., but tata, airtel or reliance are not getting any of my business!
3. My cousin was looking to buy a second-hand indigo. He asked me for advice. I dutifully pointed out to him that tata cars are after the first 2 years, high on maintenance, and their service centres have probably no idea of what customer satisfaction means. I also pointed out of course that ratan tata was the same man who was seen hugging narendrabhai. Ever seen him hug a customer?
4. I will buy sunglasses from Life (a less expensive, but equally stylish brand carried by Shoppers Stop) instead of fastrack.
5. And I would rather throw away good money on a Tissot than on your watches!!!
6. I've anyway switched to Saffola Salt (pending Mr. Mariwala's views of course), and if necessary will make my own!!!
7. Needless to say, no more shopping at westside.
8. And if I'm looking to move to a set top box, it'll be DISH TV for me.

One parting question for you guys: Despite all the hugging, would you offer a non-English speaking, non-internationally acceptable, possibly partisan candidate with a dubious secular record, a job in any of your companies?

Such hypocrisy.... tsk tsk...

Sincerely,

Iconoclast

Disappointment & Hope-II

While the existence of one non-blinker-wearing blogger gives one hope that openly partisan apologists for murderers aren't the only people populating my country, the decidedly premature celebrations of the aforesaid apologists is a sad occurence.

Why do I use words like blinkers, partisan, premature etc., one may ask.

Let's see why:

• If you can see faults in everyone else, but not in narendra modi, it isn't because you're blind. You're just partisan or wearing blinkers. Please forgive the Raja Bhoj-gangu teli (respectively) analogy, but how else can one find faults with Dr. Manmohan Singh yet not give him his due for bringing India to where it is today economically, yet be totally forgiving of modi's complicity/inaction during the 2002 riots?


• How easily they forget the earlier toast of IT, AP, certain sections in the press, Chandrababu Naidu (apparently the longest serving CM/CEO of Andhra Pradesh)! This is why I say premature.


• They don't even have all the facts at hand, yet they celebrate! Good Governance did I hear? I guess offering security & a dignified living to it's citizens isn't part of good governance... No Corruption did I hear? I guess they don't know the real truth. Maybe they can compare PCI stats with other states before they rejoice prematurely? Do they actually believe no one else is watching? That no one else knows? That no one else will speak up? That the voices will not gather momentum? Blind? Nay... Blinkers!


• And for every ratan tata, sunil mittal & anil ambani, there is a rahul bajaj & Jamshedji Godrej to take into account! Hopefully the media is only keeping modi alive in public memory, so that the voices for him to be brought to justice become louder & louder!


• And how does the backing of those industry-wallas (with the obvious vested interest of making more money) hold good at all? Since when are industrialists as a group known for rectitude or ethics? They're known for protecting their own interests!


• Now this bit is purely conjecture, but anil ambani is close to Amar Singh, and he may only have backed modi in public to further widen the rift (vajpayee-advani-shekhawat-modi-rss factions) within the bjp! (Gleeful Grin!)

And since vinod sharma has taken to hurriedly deleting every comment that I put up on his posts, I'm refuting some more of his silly claims here:

1st reply:
Right Time???

He was on Karan Thapar's show & walked out when asked to express regret? Was that not an appropriate time?

He's just milking the sentiment of those hindus who're extremist. And similarly with the money that comes in. Forgotten so soon why sonal shah was embroiled in so much controversy? The funds come from hindutva sympathisers living abroad.

2nd reply:
You wish Vinod.... The recurring skirmishes/riots in India doesn't suggest that we're a different people.

3rd reply:
Amit,

There is no unhealthy obsession with 2002. The obsession with 1984 still continues till today.Both you & vinod have brought it up in this form & others do all the time. It isn't forgotten. Nor should it be.
Nor should 2002 be forgotten.
And just because we weren't able to fix problems in the past is no excuse to not cry out for justice now!
That's all one is saying.

And can you please stop berating the English media? They're the one's who raise the cry for justice. Read this Tehelka piece.

OPEN your eyes!!!

The other 2 pieces of rubbish that vinod claims in the latest post on his bog...

at a scorching pace that even now seems impossible in any state except
Gujarat

&

**** has become the beacon that has illuminated the truth that an honest,
competent and visionary leader

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Joke of the century vinod!!! Really good one!!! LOL!!! And I thought phoenixritu was the funniest blogger I knew!!! :-D

I really hope you went through the links to the PCI GDSP pdf & the prohibition news article, that I provided above. This making false claims vinodji... tsk tsk... aapko shobha nahi deta...

Stop being an apologist for modi. Otherwise people will remember you like they remember hitler supporters. Heard of the slur "nazi"?
_________________________

Related Post

Please look forward to 2 posts, one on the Janus-facedness of modi supporters
& the other that analyses the truth about gujarat.

Shame on you Ratan Tata

I wonder what kind of a world Ratan Tata lives in. He didn't read this???
Or on a more serious note, this?

While my faith in Tata products had been dwindling for some time, my faith in the group, their legacy, what they stood for, had remained. With one move, Ratan Tata has totally shattered that! And brought disgrace to the Tata name.

I guess Mr. Tata has just proved that business comes above everything else, that money matters more than anything else, that the alleged blood on modi's hands doesn't matter to him (it would've to his predecessors), that in his chase for the glory of the Tata group, he has shamed the India that we (& our forefathers & his!) have been fighting to build!

To me & to others like me, he will be remembered not as the man who revolutionized (read debased) India's car market, not as the man who salvaged the fortunes of the Tata group, but as the man who sold India's soul for the sake of his business.

Airtel Indictment!!!

Link from a post that I put up on the Mutiny.
Mutiny uses Wordpress, which has some amazing features, but it's pro-tech-savvy approach sometimes makes the most simple tasks like linking to a photo extremely difficult. So here's the original photo in a more viewable format. Enjoy!

Spread the good word!