Begar Menace in India

A friend of mine once narrated an incident from his home town Angul, a mid sized city in central Odisha. Not so long ago he was there to attend a marriage ceremony in his family. Following the normal custom, at the end of the reception they summoned the local beggars, asking them to help themselves with the leftover food. But this time the beggars sprang a surprise by politely refusing to take this offer. The reason, they have formed an association and have specific territories allocated to different groups as franchise. Now my friend's house belonged to another group. So they didn't want to step on the toes of their sorority fraternity by encroaching upon their territory, lest they face the Beggar Union's wrath. Nobody ever turned up. Not waiting any further and let the food perish, they dumped it outside to the delight of the pariah dogs, who did not have to consult any association and gladly feasted over it.

 

Who says beggars can't be choosers? These days they won't take anything less that 1 rupee. In some big cities due to inflation nothing less than Rs. 5 is acceptable. I know someone being rebuked by a beggar BHIKHARI SAMAJH RAKHA HAI KYA ( do you think I am a beggar), when offered a 2 rupee coin. We know how begging has been commercialized, becoming some kind of organised mafia. Do certain scenes from the movies TRAFFIC SIGNAL and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ring a bell ?

In a scene from the former movie, a guy sympathizes and slips some changes into the hands of a beggar at a Traffic Signal. The same evening he had a surprise in store. The beggar, whom he saw earlier was standing next to him in a Multiplex Restroom (toilet). To his astonishment followed by chagrin, the well attired beggar started whistling while relieving himself and winked at him. Arguments ensued and the public watching the drama took the side of the beggar, admonishing the hapless fellow for his unsubstantiated accusation.

Another close buddy of mine narrated a funny event from years back in Bhubaneswar. His family used to give a liberal dosage of food and money to a lame beggar. For years he has seen him limping around. One fine morning he saw the beggar at another place, this time walking straight without any sign of limp. No sooner than their eyes met he started running, my annoyed friend giving him a chase. The beggar, now no more limping, scooted away sprinting at a lightning speed, melting inside the crowd. My poor friend unable to catch him, returned like the gasping Cheetah on National Geographic after a failed chase to catch its pray. 

How to stop this menace ? I might sound rude, but the only way is just STOP giving alms, period. Unless you are personally convinced that the recipient is in dire need of some urgent help, you are throwing your money down the drain. Once the source of money dries up, it won't take long before they face drought, leading to the inevitable desert of their profession.

India on a roll in this World Cup, a few hiccups notwithstanding

India juggernaut is on a roll so far in this World Cup, walloping it's opponents as it chugs ahead. It has not only remained undefeated, has convincingly put away their opponents (barring few hiccups in their game against Windies though the final score lines suggest otherwise). Other high profile teams, Australia and South Africa have already faced defeats and New Zealand almost one. The rest of the teams are wobbly and look inconsistent.

Yet team India needs to be cautious as not everything looks goody goody. The Cup of glory is far away and cup of woe are not over yet. Staying too long in the land Down Under has tempted our batsmen to treat the pitches as their counterparts in Rajkot or Vidarva Cricket Association ground in Nagpur back home. The perennial Achilles Heels against moving, rising deliveries isn't a thing of past. No wonder they say bowlers win matches. So far our bowlers have done a wonderful job.

I am tempted to draw parallels from the 1982 Soccer World Cup. The star studded Brazilian team with the likes of Zico, Socrates, Falcao breezed into the quarters. The legendary Pele boasted "Playing like this we are going to win the Cup". The Quarterfinals was in a league format with Argentina (with a rooky 17 year old Maradona in their side), Brazil and Italy clubbed together in one group.

In the all important match Brazil, the overwhelming favorite needed a draw and Italy a win, to qualify for the semifinals. Paolo Rossi crashed the Brazilian dream as Italy narrowly won the match and later went on to win the Cup. If we learn something from history, I would keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Bibi goes Ballistic against US-Iran Nuclear Deal

The Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu gave speech in US Congress, targeting the Iran Nuclear deal currently negotiated by US. He was rather addressing his audience back home, a few days before their general elections. Obama and his administration are fuming at his behavior. The moderate but influential Jews in America, e.g., like Tom Friedman think this time Netanyahu has gone little too far. Israel is the unofficial 51st state of America, but Netanyahu should stop behaving like the senator of a state who by sulking against Obama can win his reelection in his state. Obama is still the Commander-in-Chief of USA and will be so till January' 2017. That's almost a couple of years and antagonizing him at this point can only hurt the Israeli cause, in spite of the powerful Jewish lobby in America.

 

In many ways I find Iran admirable. Though a theocracy they have some semblance of democracy unlike their surrounding nations. They elected their leader in 1950s when democracy was a distant mirage in the deserts of Middle East. But America spoiled their party of democracy by dislodging the people's choice by a dictator Shah Raza Pallavi, whose regime was followed by a decade long war due to attack by their megalomaniac dictator Saddam. No wonder their insecurity has led them towards the quest for Nuclear Weapon (the same reason India got its nuclear weapon due to the insecurity led by its restive neighbors). But unlike the Saudis who are champion hypocrite (they fund Palestinians but harbor secret relationship with Israel to checkmate their Shia rival), Iran's open antagonism to the Jewish state is well known.

 

Iran like India has a history of not attacking any other nation. They have good number of engineers, doctors and scientists unlike their neighborhood. Many computer hackers (you have to agree that the hackers are tech smart are from Iran, I can't imagine any brainy techie, hacker or otherwise from the rest of the Bedouin nations). So they are certainly different from their restive neighborhood. The Obama administration is on the right track. All politics are local and all politicians can go to any length to get elected. I am sure Netanyahu will be a lot quieter and less belligerent, after his upcoming elections at home.

Mayweather vs Pacquiao - The brutality of boxing

The much awaited Boxing match between Mayweather and Pacquiao will take place in May. Irrespective of the results, they will split a cool $200 million. (Wish I could be one of them, passing out after one punch is worth $100 million). This game will be the single most highest paid Sporting event in the world. The tickets are going for a staggering $10,000 and above. The pay-per-view on TV would be $95, for an event which could be over in minutes. (Once Mike Tyson handed a knockout to Leon Spinks in 90 seconds. Those who paid close to 50 bucks on pay-per-view channel complained of their money getting washed into water).

 

Professional Boxing is a wham-bam sports, with hardly any sporting spirit involving between the opponent. During the final years of my Engineering we used to do mock GD (group discussions) in hostel on random topics in preparation for MBA and job interviews. One such subject was "Sporting Spirit". A friend of mine (later made it to IIM) opined that a sporting duel enhances bonhomie and brotherhood between the parties involved, challenging the rest of us to contradict him. I retorted back "When two folks hit one another in a boxing duel, there will be anger and animosity rather than fellowship and camaraderie, unless the persons involved are Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy". All broke into laughter.

 

The basic human nature has not changed over the centuries. Gladiators have been replaced by Boxers. Then it was the turn of the wild animals to tear away each other's flesh and douse the Roman soil in blood. Ages later, its the Bullfighting Madators in Madrid, albeit a shade less gorier in the veneer of modernity. The ignominious venue of the ancient era was Roman Coliseum. It's modern era counterpart ? Where else but a Boxing ring in Las Vegas, the Sin City, where two Human Matadors will punch each other on their way to share a record $200 million. 

We all harbor an inherent sadistic tendency. Barbarism is well ensconced within us. Only a veil of civility in form of hypocrisy separates between our real us and unreal self. Our basic instincts, stupidity and carnal desires come out as and when situation demands. It yet vindicates that despite all the strides made in education and technology, sermons from seers and prophets, we human beings are basically intelligent animals in the guise of civility. No more, no less.

Australia's gritty fight versus New Zealand in the world cup

Australia's fighting loss to New Zealand reminded me Winston Churchill's famous quote " NEVER NEVER EVER GIVE UP". From 9/106 they crawled to 151 and almost defended it, losing by just 1 wicket. Any team whose opponent were 40 for no loss in 2 overs chasing 151, would just leave it and let it go. But not this Australian side. hats off to them.

During the World War II, London was facing incessant bombing and V2 rocket raids from Nazi Germany. One day a bomb fell very close to Churchill's 10 Downing St residence, destroying a portion of it and nearly killing him. Words of this attack spread like wild fire. Without heeding to his trusted advisers to leave the building, Churchill went to the basement. Sitting there he made the famous address to the nation on Radio "We will fight in the air, we will fight on the land and we will fight on the sea, but we will NEVER NEVER EVER GIVE UP".

It depicted the legendary gritty character of the English. But this attitude was not seen by the English team when they gave up defending their paltry score of 123 against the Kiwis. But their descendants, the so called English convicts who landed up in the Kangaroo land thousands of miles Down Under certainly retain this character. New Zealand won the match, but the Australians my respect.

Indian Began well in the World Cup 2015, still unpredictable

India began its World Cup campaign with couple of impressive back to back victories, first against their arch rivals Pakistan, followed by South Africa, one of the tournament favorites to win the Cup. based on this some in media, social or otherwise, are visualizing Dhoni lifting the World Cup second time in a row, glistening under the lights of MCG. It's still premature and preposterous. Being an ardent Indian fan, I want the Cup back on our soil. But it's way too early to pop up the Champaign, or munch on the Chili Chickens before they are hatched. DILLI DOOR AST, "Delhi is long way off ".As goes the frequent monologue delivered by the lawyers arguing in a court scene in a typical Bollywood movie "YEH POINT NOTE KIYA JAAYE, your honor", these points need to be noted.

 

1. Our champion batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikar Dhawan don't score century in every match. Lack of consistency in batting is not yet a thing of the past, even after couple of 300 plus scores.

 

2. Our bowling attack is at best mediocre, in spite of our recent victories. Consistency or rather lack of it, is still a factor. Not all of our bowling woes have been ironed out.

 

3. Many have written off the English team. Don't forget that, not so long back, in our last couple of encounters they have defeated us. It's not on the English soil, but in the land Down Under. That doesn't mean that they will defeat us again, yet it just takes a few bad overs to get eliminated.

 

4. One sparrow does not make a summer. Peaking too early and mounting expectations are bad for the sporting health of a nation. Jeez, it's those couple of bad overs can always gotcha. Well begun may be half done, but can be fully undone. Ask the teams from West Indies (1983), India & Pakistan(1987), New Zealand (1992), South Africa(1999) and many more.

 

The finals on 29th May is solid 5 weeks away. Many ships would have ventured in and out of the Sydney harbor by that time. Anything can happen between now and then. I am optimistic, but very very cautiously optimistic.

Money the great

Money certainly can be a great leveler, the proof I have seen in my own eyes. Like every tax season, last year I was doing my Volunteer Tax Preparation for low income people a couple who as usual where seating across me, while I prepared their taxes. As I was busy going through their documents, entering them on the IRS website, the couple were busy bickering among themselves.

Their verbal cat fight ( a ritual amongst all married couples) was reaching zenith. Tax Preparation needs utmost focus and the couple's rambling was an irritating drag on my work. My cup of patience was full. I was about to mildly reprimand them when all of a sudden their Refund Amount popped up on the screen. They were getting around $3600 back which was a hefty amount in proportion to their income.(The so called low income folks here come to file taxes driving cars, smoke Camel, stand in line until the door opens and wait patiently when their turn comes).

 

I interrupted their bickering, announcing the Refund amount which is going to land up in their Bank Account in 2-3 weeks once I e-file their Returns.Their face suddenly glowed, words turned sweeter. The husband now started calling the wife Sweetie. The wife reciprocated with calling her hubby Honey. They high-fived and praised Good Lord for being generous to them that morning. (Little they understood that it's their own money they are getting back from IRS who holds on to more than a year with 0% APR). The animosity that existed between the squabbling couple only moments ago, was now gone. With a smiling face they warmly shook my hands and bid adieu. No question, Money certainly can be a great leveler. Their reaction made me remember the good ole rhyme

 

"Money money money.
Brighter than sunshine,
Sweeter than Honey".