Mudson & Hudson!

There are politicians & politicians.....if Winston Churchill was one our own HD Deve Gowda is another!

Today on my drive back to the city campus of ABS from the central campus at Anekal, I noticed a huge hoarding by the wayside. Curious, I lowered my window & had a look.
It read ' Welcome to Shri H.D.Devegowda, Farmer Indian Prime Minister of India'. I was puzzled & ruminated about the 'farmer' for quite a while. Was it a slip & should have read as 'former' or was the farmer intentional, as HDG always claims to be a farmers man & likes to be called as 'Mannina Maga', loosely translated as 'Son of the soil' in Kannada.
HDG was always a maverick, said to have slept his way through parliament, after becoming default prime minister. He always associated himself with farmers & projected a pro poor image.
There is an apocryphal story, which bears no proof and runs as follows:
Gowda is no great lover of cricket and was once invited to a India/South Africa tie, wherein he was introduced to both teams. The poker faced HDG, showed little interest till he arrived at SA batsman Hudson. HDG is said to have got all excited & embraced the surprised Hudson! Why? Because it rhymed with mudson ( mannina maga ).
Though, apocryphal it is indicative of HDG and his politics.
Recently, a belegeaured Gowda, was in the news, when he is said to have called the incumbent CM of Karnataka, Yeddi, as Blxxxxy Bxxxxxx, sparking off a wave of protest & the BJP questioning HDG's mental health. The cornered former PM, eventually apologized & laid the matter to rest.
I could never relate to the man or his politics & remember him for a potholed & power deficient Bengaluru........
As to the Farmer Prime Minister, I intend to have a closer look ASAP,at the hoarding, as who knows I might have got it wrong & only time will tell if many of us got this doughty politician wrong!

Boom or Bust?

In his presentation of the budget for 2010-11, the FM made a passing reference to the Port Sector and development of new ports. An allocation of about 16000 Crores has been made to fuel this endeavour.( http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100227/jsp/business/story_12157959.jsp )

One of the areas that our arm chair planners are looking at, to set up a new port is at Sagar,just short of where the Ganga ( Hoogly ), eventually melts into the Bay of Bengal.Should this happen, the river Hoogly, would then have three ports on her banks, at Kolkata, Haldia and now Sagar.

Kolkata and Haldia are in deep ( pun intended ) trouble because of the lack of navigable depth, caused due to rapid silting of the river, preventing large ships from sailing up/down the Hoogly. River maintenance is costly and time consuming.

The port at Sagar could preclude, this problem, but are there other issues.........

1. Sagar is an open sea area & would have little or no protection from storms & Tsunamis.
2. What would be the fate of Kolkata & Haldia, considering that crores of rupees ( of tax payers money) has been spent in setting up these ports.
3. Sagar Island is location for the famed Kumbhmela & considered holy by many Hindus.........would this be reconciled in the name of development.
4. What would be the ecological damage of port development, at a new site.

One such ambitious project has drained immense funds but failed to see completion is the 'Sethu Samudram Project', where a shipping channel is being created between Sri Lanka and India. The situation has turned into a political cesspool with a stand off between politicians in Delhi, Tamil Nadu & the BJP, on how a bridge constructed by Lord Ram, could be destroyed......................while many experts cry out in frustration that the project per se is not technically feasible & even if it does go on stream would require huge annual maintenance expenditure.In other words, a collosal waste of scarce national resources!

I hope the Sagar port project does not meet a similar fate, considering the shortsightedness that politicians can display......after all its my money as a tax payer, you see.

Why Hillary did what she did?

A concept from OB that has often made me think ( I agree, that I'm found wanting in this area on occasion ) is that of 'Emotional Load'. Emotion load is an interesting manifestation of growing consumerism,customer focus and hype. Emotion load comes into play, when you can get that smile on to your face at the flick of a switch and make it disappear at short notice. When the smile does not reach your eyes and you smile because it is good to be seen smiling. Folk who made this an art, were of course the Americans ! The air hostess, in airlines to the store lady at Walmart are all trained and trained again to be super cool and flash a 1000 $ smile, when they bump into you. Makes everybody feel good to see that smile. But then think again, does it really make everybody feel good ? You are in a really miserable mood and you have to put on an act for people who you do not know, or maybe even care about. You have had a blazing row with your spouse and have to be nice to customers, who are queuing up with complaints. How does it work ? The first to rebel were the Europeans. The French Will have nothing of it and so when you saunter in to the little shop selling perfume not far from the Eiffel Tower, you may receive a cold welcome from a not too friendly sales person. If you feel aggrieved then it is you problem. While being uber cool and poised does have its, plus, the down side is that, people suffering from emotional load, place themselves under severe stress and even tually breakdown and many suffer prolonged bouts of depression. When Walmart imported their famous 'Walmart Jingle' to Germany, many German's found it ridiculous and apparently hid in the wash room, rather than take part in this bonding ritual which is an integral part of Walmart America. The point is where is this little piece leading? Yesterday, one my favourite ladies, gave it to our neighbors the Pakistanis. On a four day visit to Pakistan, Hillary Clinton, Secerary of State, USA ( I wish we could have ladies like that governing us ) found herself hemmed in by hostile journalists at a power lunch gave it to them right where it mattered. The lady shed her load and told the Pakistanis where to get off. In effect she said that the Pakistani leadership was dishonest and that Pakistanis should cease, to expect to be pampered any more. The message was loud and clear, and left both the Americans and Pakistanis squirming. Attaboy Hillary!!!!!! Emotional load is on the rise, in our over the hill business ventures and many a time you can see the hollowness. The most consistent act that I saw was in the shopping malls in Taiwan. The pretty girls,with even prettier clothes would make you feel special. The effect of all this is that, these days when I see a genuine smile that reaches the eyes, it warms my heart and leaves me floored. That is why I'm glad I teach youngsters, because you can see genuine joy in the young on occasion's when they flash that big uninhibited smile and forget to be politically correct.