It's about time we start taking charge of our ownership of India.

If you read the newspaper regularly, you too might be disturbed with the regular news which aim to create disharmony and unrest in nation. Forget about them, they are irrelevant and unimportant. Lets talk about something more important today.

Let's talk about "us" and our ownership of the nation. Yes, you and me, citizens who have the ability and willingness to do something for India. Let's understand that we own India, and as the joint owners it's our responsibility to take it to the top. Just like a CEO or a proud worker would want his company to prosper. Well, let's consider PM Modi as the CEO, who is doing a very good job I must say. I am not sure if you and I are doing a good job as proud workers, as proud Indians.

Our motherland has made us so capable that we can now do well for ourselves. Now its our time to do something for her. I feel sad that some people take no sense of pride in the well-being of our country, India. We have forgotten our traditions, we have forgotten about our heroes. We are always particular about our fundamental rights but never care to perform our fundamental duties.

You should realize that - India is on its way to the top and, as citizens and patriots, we need to help our motherland become the best place to live. This has to happen in our lifetime. To make this happen, we need to work together. Little drops make the mighty ocean. If all of us do just one thing everyday to make India a better place, then I am sure, we will be able to see remarkable difference soon.

I think a good starting point will be to take a note of our fundamental duties first. Let's observe and perform our duties before demanding our rights. Let's help those who can't help themselves -like, help those who have met with an accident, and those who are suffering or in need. Let's keep our home and surrounding clean, and motivate others to do so. If you find
someone throwing a chocolate wrapper on the road, humbly urge them not to do so. Let's not drink and drive and be polite with others. There are a thousand things we can do. Let's start today.
Let's make our country a more livable and lovable place.
Let's make India a better place to live. ______________________________________________

For your convenience, I have listed the fundamental duties in the Indian Constitution here, please take two minutes to
read and understand them.

to abide by the constitution and respect its ideal and institutions;
to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so;
to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional diversities, to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women;
to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;
to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wild-life and to have compassion for living creatures;
to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform;
to safeguard public property and to abjure violence;
to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement. Further, one more Fundamental duty has been added to the Indian Constitution by 86th Amendment of the constitution in 2002.
who is a parent or guardian , to provide opportunities for education to his child, or as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.

I am sure that most of you will, at some point in time in your life,
get a chance to settle abroad. What I wish is - just like most Indians wish to settle abroad, in future, people from the developed nations wish to settle in India.

Jai Hind.

And they call it Freedom

The Indian constitution has listed seven rights, one of which is right to freedom. Although I am against the idea of democracy altogether, but for the time being I will not talk about it. I will just like to write about the Right to Freedom which is a fundermental right of citizens of India.

By definition:
Right to freedom includes freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality), right to life and liberty, right to education, protection in respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

First of all, I find the definition flawed in itself. I don't think anyone has the authority to grant freedom to someone else. Now, even if you grant a right to freedom, there can be no exception to it. Freedom doesnot come with any chains or chuches. It is absolute. Freedom is the independence to do anything one wishes, whatever be the consequences. Obviously, absolute freedom can be disastrous because world is full of psychopaths and anti-social elements. But this doesnot changes the definition of freedom. If you grant freedom to someone, you can't put conditions on it. Freedom, if not absolute, cannot be called freedom. It can be anything but it.

So now, even if you can't grant unquestioning freedom, atleast fulfill what you claim to grant. You say one has freedom of speech provided it doesnot infringe the National security. But then you ban individuals from Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook for instance. You ban people from protesting peacefully. Again, not that I care too much about the protests as they almost all go in
vain and are fruitless means of fulfilling ones demands. But even then, if one wishes to protest and feels that by protesting and rallying like this, he will get what he wants, then why block him. Why is he locked behind the bars for a peaceful procession. Aren't they trespassing the rights they have granted themselves?

Right to freedom cannot be granted by anyone. No one has the authority to grant this particular right to anyone else. Be it the government or parents. One is born with it and if it is compromised in any sense then one must fight till he dies for it. Because if you are not free, then life is worthless.


My inspiration for writing this article is the song 'Aazaadiyaan' from the movie Udaan.

I - FREE

In continuation of the previous article I talked about different dimensions of independence. Now I'd proceed further with the concept of financial independence which I consider to be the most important from the perspective of an individuals ego. 
Financial independence is the ability to live a healthy life fulfilled with the basic necessities without any financial help from any other human being or institution. 
I always find it acceptable and rather valid, the comparison of human beings with jungle animals. I find plausible the similarities between the two. The animals take care of their young ones, teach them to earn their food and the art of sustainability during their early ages. In the same was a human being is taught, throughout his childhood and adolescence to try becoming capable of earning a living and sustaining in this world. However after a certain age, when the young ones are able enough, the adult animals leave them to sustain on their own. 
My motive of showing such a contrast might be clear. If not, let me help you. Human beings are also animal-like in most respects. So, if one fine day, when an adult animal sets free the young one, isn't it possible and also natural for human beings to follow suite. Is it not the way human are meant to live. 
Well, what i am describing here might be unorthodox and not many will like my idea, I know. People will argue about man being a social animal. Social, i am unable to understand it enough. 
The point I want to state is- Once an individual starts earning, he/she should start preparing to be financially independent. From the day he/she earns their first wage/profit, they should begin their journey towards independence. If the goal is not reached by the time you retire(if at all you wish to retire ever) then alas, you have never achieved this one kind of independence ever. But, again I'd like to say what I had already said earlier (in my last article): During the process of being financially independent, one must not forget his duties and responsibilities. 
I'd further discuss about the same in my next article where I'd talk about real life practices to be followed to achieve this goal- Financial Independence-the most important one for an individual's ego.        

Independence

This article has been written keeping in mind the retired individuals. I am going to discuss a different dimention of independence and not the usual kind of independence as we have always perceived it to be. Independence is the most importance criteria of an individuals existence. I have always beleived in independent living and I think most of us do. But what is independence is what we fail to define. Some say we are independent because India is no longer ruled by Britishers while others have a completly different conception of independence where they live in jungles independent of any other human being's intervention. Well, my definition of independence is rather closer to the latter's conception of independence than former's.
Independence to me is the capablity of an individual to live without the help of another individual in any from what so ever. Here I'd like to further explain that help from others is different from the exchange or trade of values or materials such that both the parties benefit. Help is done without selfish motive but trade is done for mutual benefit. So being independent essentially means that you are not helped by others but trade and exchange of benefits is taking place for mutual benefit. Independence is not limited to Financial independence but has more parameters as Emotional, Social and Spiritual. I'd explain these in my next articles.
Being independent means to be ready to face the worst nightmares alone. It means to have the confidence and capability to live independently without any other human beings intervention. The point I want to state here is that if there comes a day when an individual has no family, no friend to give him a shoulder, he should not be heart-broken, instead he should prepare himself, everyday of his life for such an eventuality. He should always be ready for the day when everyone else would relinquish him and he has to live all by himself. He shuold prepare himself for the day when he need not depend on any other individual for his existence. When that day is achieved, I'll say that he has achieved independence.
But there is another side of it that I'd like to point out. In the process of being independent, one must not relinquis his duties and responsiblities rather he himself must help others dependent on him to attain independence. I'd restate that independence is the most important criteria of one's existence and should not be compromised at any cost.

Prepare your own Retirement Plan

The retirement planning industry is starting to get matured in India or well it has already matured enough with the presence of more than 10 players which offer umpteen products related to retirement planning or pension funds. What surprises me is that how did an industry flourish in a field where none is needed. Yes, precisely none is needed. 

Before getting into the details I would first like to brief about the functioning of these funds:

You pay monthly installments for years till you retire and after retirement they pay back the money. There are two modes of payments offered: 

1) They pay a lump-sum amount after your retirement or 

2) They pay small amounts till you die depending upon the terms and conditions.

The main reason I am writing this article is to make you aware that the preposterous funds like pension and retirement planning funds are not required and unnecessary. Are not we self-sufficient in planning for our own retirement. How can some third person plan for our retirement better than ourselves.

Keeping apart the theoretical part, lets move on to the practical application.
I'll show you how these funds are not actually more profitable then a Fixed Deposit.
Let me explain with the help of a real life example:

There is a fund which asks for 4K/month till your retirement and pays back 1Crore at the time of your retirement. So for investing in this fund for 40 years, you'll have invested approx. 20 lakhs and will get 1Crore in return. Well, looks fair enough. Isn't it?    

Lets check it out: 

Investing 4K/month @ 10%/annum for 40 years compounded annually will give you: 

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2Crore 68Lakhs 31Thousand 8Hundred and ninety rupees.

So in fact you loose more than 1 Crore rupees.

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This was an ideal scenario which never exists. Taking a practical scenario:

Investing 4K/month @ 10%/annum for 32 years compounded annually will give you:

1Crore 2Lakhs 6Thousand 8hundred and 88 rupees.

You lose more than 2Lakhs.
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I have taken the interest as compounded annually but actually it is compounded quarterly. So the interest amount will be further more. Also most of the time the rate of interest offered in not 10% but around 9.75%. So the effect will be negated. But the facts and figures are before you. 

Further there are other risks related to investing in such schemes and until we read the offer document completely and miss out few important clauses, these risks will persist. Some of these funds have market based risks which can never be eliminated. And after all aren't we smart enough to plan for our own retirement.

Should India Inc. be apprehensive about a Double - dip yet?

Not much seems to be going right at the moment for India Inc. as such. Be it the value of rupee against dollar or the industrial production growth rate. The stock-market seems to be taking a dive, although the slope doesn't seems to be as steep as the last one. Among this tumult we find the government passing The Food Security Bill amidst the tight fiscal situation. We have news about EU nations on the verge of default which further aggravates the condition. The interest rates are doing no good to the economy than the inflation. Everyone seems to have tightened their fists at the moment, be it the governments or corporates.

I believe this is what should not be happening in the economy. Cutting the costs and spending will exacerbate the situation and will lead to the development of a vicious cycle which might further lead to a double-dip indeed. The market already seems to have stagnated due to the above mentioned reasons and now if we cut the costs/spending then cash will be further sucked out from circulation. The market needs to be eased  by adding surpluses to increase liquidity which can be achieved by lowering the interest rates. Although this might hamper the inflation a bit but in the long run it would be advantageous, I believe. Radical measures should be taken by the government and industries as well to regain the lost faith of investors (both local and foreign). There is light at the end of the tunnel, but length of the tunnel cannot be estimated as yet.
 

Helpless UPA

Slightly digressing from what all i used to write, this time i thought i would write about the government.
Its already been over an year or the second term of UPA in power. The frist term had been a mixture of success and failure. Well, mostly success. But the coalition government ha been totally helpless in resolving some issues of the past whereas new issues have also coe into existence. I would like to cast an eye on four major issues in which the UPA had been totally unsuccessful.
     First and the most important issue is hunger. India has the highest number of malnutritioned people in the world. It is shameful for a country like ours where 70% population is involved in agriculture. The problem is not the lack of food but the government's inability to store it. The farmers produce enough to feed every citizen of the nation, but because of the lack of adquate storage facilities, it all goes waste. Steps must be taken by the Center as well as the State govt. to look into the matter before the  condition further exacerbates.
     Second is the Kashmir issue. The issue which enraged two months back has already taken over 70 civilian lives and the government is still clueless and helpless on what needs to be done. According to me the govt., instead of imposing curfews, should reach the people, the stone pelting youth, talk to them on one-on-one basis and understand their problems. The outrage which is possibly incited by local politcians who fill the people with hatred against the government.Such politicians need to be identified and punished.
     Third problem which the government faces today is naxalism. It has been present with us for years and is going to be if the government doesn't act smartly. Besieging their territory and killing them is no solution. The naxals needs to be talked with and their issues needs to be adderessed and considered. The Center and State govt. of C.G., Zharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Orrisa and A.P. should coordinate their actions and work collectively to find aa solution of this problem. In this context i would like to appreciate to action taken up by Bihar govt to hold talks with Naxals.
    The last but the most important is the problems of UPA within itself. The coalition govt formed by Congress and allied parties are not confortable among themselves. They first need to resolve their internal issues only then can they solve he problems of the nation.

Jain Hind.
 P.S. There is yet another issue which needs to be resolved: Inflation. Well we can just hope that the government gets its acts together before its too late.

Its time India Inc. calls for the second Green Revolution

After writing some book reviews i decided to write on a serious topic so i picked up the most important and yet the most ignored subject among the people : Agriculture.
India is the home for a forth of the world's population and of it the 65% has agriculture as their main occupation or rather their only source of employment. But it is surprising to see that only 15-18% of our GDP is contributed from agriculture and the share is constantly plummeting. On one hand millions of people sleep hungry every night whereas on the other hundreds of tonnes of wheat gets rotten down because of lack of adequate storage facilities. I suppose its time for India Inc. to divest some of its energy and resources to this field , before the conditions aggravates any further.
The aggressive industrialization and urbanization policies will do no good if the people still die out of hunger. Further more, if India wants to increase its GDP, then the first priority should be given to the field which employees the highest percent of people : agriculture.
A lot needs to be done in this field which includes proper and adequate subsidizing of fertilizers and seeds, providing the farmers with proper markets to sell their crops and get the right price for their work, educating them and industrialization of agriculture.
However the conditions are not completely grave as some private and govt. aided companies have emerged as the savior like Reliance and ITC and also some entrepreneur. But the government should rise up to help before its too late.