Saturday, March 17, 2012

TOMORROW’S ASIA

Through the multiple crisis that have hit the world, Asia (and particularly the South East Asian part) has managed to pull itself together as a region. The major cause of this fructiferous return has been that, while countries such as the United States, France, Germany, and other European Countries thought more about their personal domains, Asian countries left ego aside and thought of a greater scale, the scale of countries, and the scale of a continent.

However, this expansive mindset of a “Broader Asia” has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Asian countries. During the breakdown of the Global Financial System, while countries like China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea showed soaring growth rates, there were countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan which were considered amongst countries showing the lowest development rates ever. One misconception that people have been living in is that developing economies such as China, India, Korea and Thailand will be able to avoid a deep recession even amid the global meltdown. It is a portentous rosy picture that has been painted of a region. Though it would be safe to say that China and India are still in the running to become the biggest economies in the world, the future of Asia looks rather frail. It is time that the rosy picture is put aside and we address the unexplored side of the crisis.
The fact that still stands is that this crisis for majority of the countries is an export oriented crisis. China has been hit obdurately, as its exports decreased by 25.7% in February 2012. If such massive slumps continue, the government would face loud demands from Chinese companies to depreciate the currency. The story of South Korea (a country which banks heavily on its software and hardware exports) pretty much follows the same lines. While IMF continues to reduce global growth estimates, and gives stronger warnings that the European crisis threatens to derail world economy, it is sad to see that the most authoritative force in the next 20 years (Asia) has learnt little from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis which endured considerable distress to many economies. These countries must soon realize that the recommencement of the export-dependent growth strategy after the slowing down of the crisis is not the answer. Instead, the balancing of their respective economies towards greater domestic consumption will ensure a more promising future and in fact may act as a surfeit which will prove to be a much awaited boost to Asia’s self-esteem.

Highly integrated with the global trading and financial systems, Asia is set to become the largest economic region in the world over the next two decades. The speed of that growth, and Asia’s economic openness, underline its increasing importance for the global economy. It is thus extremely essential that the major economies of the continent viz. China, India, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand must scrutinize every economic principium that they follow and build intellectual relations with the rest of the world. Given its rise, it is natural that Asia’s voice should become increasingly influential in global economic and financial discourse. This trend is already under way. Six of the Group of Twenty (G-20) major industrialized and emerging market economies are from the Asia-Pacific region.

With the hurdles that lie ahead in the rise of Asia, the continent has a perfect platform to convert criticism into something extremely productive, and for the Asian miracle to occur, an important countenance that the region must acknowledge is that it is not only about the emerging economies. For sustainable growth, competition among the well-off and uplifting of the under developed is of paramount importance.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Special Someone...

Often in life, one comes across a person who leaves a permanent mark on your heart and simply walks away. You get to know how special he/she is when every small thing they say or do, even the smallest of things which are unlikely of them - disturb you.

Whenever you go about a transition of change of place, people, surroundings and/or mindset, it is that someone who helps you go about all of it. When things are falling apart and hope becomes history,this someone not only is the backbone of your support but is also that one variable that gives you the courage to carry on. However, like everything else in life, your relations with this someone cannot be 'just perfect'. Your past experiences and incidents with that person not only get you 'this close' to him/her, but also show you the real picture of what you are. The future becomes detrimental and the ego just doesn't stop increasing. Jealousy becomes a matter of routine, hurting assumptions are like trains on railway stations - they keep coming ang going and desperation is as common as couples making out on the streets of Paris.
All this - jealousy, assumptions and desperation not only spoil your relationship with this 'special' person but also separates you from him/her.

The fault is not yours, nor is it of that person's, it's just how things work in this arena called life, where things are like a vicious circle that never stop, they are like a series of intersecting lives and incidents, cruel to the wants and needs of people. You go through the change, you separate from that person and then you go through another change and meet another one, until you spend the last few moments of your life with a someone in your arms and die with that someone,the person who is the 'special someone', the someone who has left a permanent mark on your heart and walked away.Forever.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cricket World Cup 2011 - As seen by Sonia Gandhi...





On the 30th of March 2011, the Mohali cricket ground was not just an ordinary ground where an ordinary cricket match was about to take place. As told and hyped by the media, the India-Pakistan semi-final, the battle of the century where the 2 arch rivals fought for a place in the final for the Cricket world cup. The fact that the match wasn't an ordinary one, but a fierce battle that went beyond cricket was acceptable. However, the awkward question that not only crossed me but also my friends and relatives was whether the cricket field at Mohali was just a cricket field or more of a political arena and glamour stage ?




The corporate boxes were not only filled with Indian film-stars ( who are pretty frequent at cricket matches ) like Aamir Khan, Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Preity Zinta and the sizzling Deepika Padhukone, but the dug outs also boasted of the Pakistani prime-minister and his Indian counter-part and the other cabinet ministers of the 2 countries. Cheering and waving the tri-color from one of the stands was whom the common-man more often recognizes as 'madam' - Sonia Gandhi, who with the help of her brilliant srategist is not only raising the figures of the balance sheet of her Swiss bank account but like a mean fox is also helping her parasites dothe same ( the other Indian Ministers & politicians ).




When this 'madam' of ours was celebrating India's world cup win, waving her flag looking out of the wind shield of her mercedes, some 800 km's from Mumbai 3 Pakistani cricketers- Shoaib Mallik, Mohommad Aamir and Mohammad Asif were going through the toughest times of their careers facing trials for alleged spot-fixing. The irony that has been involved for the past 2 decades in Indian cricket is why the Indian cricketers have never been accused of such allegations for not keeping the gentleman's game clean ? Is it because of the HUGE amount of money that the Board of Cricket Control India ( BCCI ) has on disposal, with the help of which they are not only ruling the game around the world but also the other developed test playing nations like England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand ? Or is it just pure corruption that is beautifully carried out and hidden from the citizens of India by none other than our very own 'madam' ?




The congress party headed by Sonia Gandhi today, is for long known for its power and prosperity. And this government is said to be one of the most corrupt ever, which very few would disagree with. The party at an estimate with its corrupt ways earns atleast a 1000 crores every year in the 5 states it rules. At a broad basis it comes to 50,000 crores a year (Just valid assumptions). Then what are 500 crores for Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to fix the cricket world cup,which would sideline the 6 scams that happened in 2010 when the UPA government was in power ? Was it these 500 crores that made not only the captain MS Dhoni the golden boy of the country, but also the other Indian cricketers and the coach Gary Kirsten heroes who have done not even half of what Kapil Dev's team did in 1983 to get the cup home ?




Is this what the sport has done to the country ? Is this sport worth being the nationa sport of the country ? Is this 'madam' really 'our madam', the 'people's madam' ?

Saturday, December 25, 2010

DESPERATION



Have you ever wanted to talk to someone close to your heart late at night, thinking it to be a matter of life and death? Or have you ever had the full desire to have just a bite from your favourtie ice-cream randomly at an awkward time? But, at the same time have you noticed how restless you get, if the person or ice-cream that you want so desperately isnt able to come to you? Yes,desperation is what it is, when your girlfriend's not answering your call, you are running out of balance and your phone is constantly beeping and reminding you that it needs charging. And then finally, when you realize that you have no other option but to live with the gruesome and irresistable feeling and have no choice but to wait and let the feeling pass, you come to a junction where you're struck by utter hopelessness and the only word that fits perfectly to describe your physical and mental state is reckless. However, a great poet once rightly said, "If winter is here, spring can't be far behind". Everything has positives to it, then be it theft or charity. So be it with desperation. Desperation is such an abstract that it helps us to overcome our fears, tells us our weaknesses and further gives us such an experience where we loose absolute control of our body. It shows us how impatient we are and how much can we attach ourselves to the things around us. Desperation is an essential ingredient to learning anything, or creating anything. If you are not desperate at some point, you are not interesting...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Delhi We Know...


I literally felt like banging my head on my study table when i opened the chapter of Mughal empire and 'tried' to memorize the names of the Mughal rulers and their so called 'achievements'.
We often think while studying history, that "How am i concerned if some Ud-Din Tughlaq made some fort in memory of someone ?". But what we don't realize is that without the architectural contributions of these rulers, we wouldn't have known the Delhi the way it is today.



Most of us acknowledge what Sir Edward Lutyens architectural skills that he used to design Delhi- The beautiful 'jalas', the location of 'Rashtrapati Bhavan' on the footsteps of 'Raisina hill' and of course the breathtaking 'Cannaught Place', what we today know as 'CP'. However, if we notice Lutyens skills would have gone in vain had he not been assisted by the fascinating architectural heritage that Delhi possesses- thanks to our once upon a time kings and rulers. Today a visitor to Delhi might be lucky enough to get his first glimpse of the city's architectural design from the window of a plane or train. That is the amount and variety of heritage that Delhi possesses.



The one thing that is common in all the monuments of Delhi is their architectural excellence. Be it the 'Red Fort' built by Shah Jahan or the 'Qutub Minar', each and every monument has its own architectural beauty that leaves the viewer mesmerized. Today, most of the delhites are proud of their rich heritage, that in itself attracts a phenomenal amount of tourists to the city.

The Jama Masjid which is one of the largest mosques in India , Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb which is a replica of the Taj, India Gate - often called the 'Heart of Delhi', which takes away the breath of every person who sees it at dawn, The Akshardham Temple- A wonder creation or even the Purana Qila. For all these monuments, just mere words aren't enough to describe their beauty. They have to be seen and observed with great appreciation, if one has to get out the essence of their creation. The appeal of heritage cities are not just their magnificent sights, but the inner cities and their quiet neighborhoods, that further enhance the appeal of these monuments.



I would like to conclude by quoting Frank Wedekind's words-

" Monuments are for the living, not the dead... "