Life

You think you have figured it out and know what you want. Well, hard luck son, it never is that easy!

A succinct summary

of what happenned wrong since 2004 in a very well written piece by Raghuram Rajan here

Some excerpts

In the years after the BJP’s loss, with a few notable exceptions, India’s political class decided that traditional populism was a surer route to re-election. This perception also accorded well with the median (typically poor) voter’s low expectation of government in India—seeing it as a source of sporadic handouts rather than of reliable public services. 

For a few years, the momentum created by previous reforms, together with strong global growth, carried India forward. Politicians saw little need to vote for further reforms, especially those that would upset powerful vested interests. The lurch towards populism was strengthened when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance concluded that a rural employment-guarantee scheme and a populist farm loan waiver aided its victory in the 2009 election. 

But, while politicians spent the growth dividend on poorly targeted giveaways such as subsidized petrol and cooking gas, the need for further reform only increased. For example, industrialization requires a transparent system for acquiring land from farmers and tribal people, which in turn presupposes much better land-ownership records than India has.

Some good words as the day begins

Some nice words from Michael Lewis (Link via tgs) ... do read it in full!

This isn’t just false humility. It’s false humility with a point. My case illustrates how success is always rationalized. People really don’t like to hear success explained away as luck — especially successful people. As they age, and succeed, people feel their success was somehow inevitable. They don’t want to acknowledge the role played by accident in their lives. There is a reason for this: the world does not want to acknowledge it either. 

Life’s outcomes, while not entirely random, have a huge amount of luck baked into them. Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with  luck comes obligation. You owe a debt, and not just to your Gods. You owe a debt to the unlucky. 

you are the lucky few. Lucky in your parents, lucky in your country, lucky that a place like Princeton exists that can take in lucky people, introduce them to other lucky people, and increase their chances of becoming even luckier. Lucky that you live in the richest society the world has ever seen, in a time when no one actually expects you to sacrifice your interests to anything. 

All of you have been faced with the extra cookie. All of you will be faced with many more of them. In time you will find it easy to assume that you deserve the extra cookie. For all I know, you may. But you’ll be happier, and the world will be better off, if you at least pretend that you don’t. 

Never forget: In the nation’s service. In the service of all nations.

 

 

 

So true

is all we can say!

The political lesson that can be learned from the celebrated rise and ignominious fall of Dr Manmohan Singh is that India cannot be led by prime ministers who are prime ministers by appointment. Sonia Gandhi must accept that her experiment in enjoying political power without a modicum of accountability may have worked the first time but has failed miserably this time around. And, India is paying the price.

 

Full piece here

I promised myself

not to get caught up with all the hustle bustle of my job. But over the last 2 weeks I failed to keep my promise. It comes crashing down on you very quickly. The foremost thing is for me to be happy. I need to remember that. The negativity spreads everywhere, especially more so on to the people you care for. I hope I can control the pressure better!

What more can you say?

Finally, this government lacks the willpower to deter potential tax evaders—the big fish that is. The surest way to do so will be to disclose the names of evaders that are available with the government. Given that our politicians are sure to figure on such a list, confidentiality of agreements with other governments and, hold your breath, human rights of tax evaders (page 68 of the white paper) come in the way of public disclosures. This is difficult to believe.

The ridicuoussness of India's ruling class and their arguments! Full piece here

An interesting article

on Mike Proctor part of the great South African side during the time South Africa was banned. 

Most interesting excerpt!

Is it hard for you to reconcile yourself to the fact that you lost what may well have been a fantastic career as an international cricketer?
Not, it's not. Yes, I lost a Test career. But what is a Test career compared to the suffering of 40 million people? Lots of people lost a great deal more in those years, and if by missing out on a Test career we played a part in changing an unjust system, then that is fine by me.

Thats quite nice!