Bet on Betting- To combat inflation....

After months of joblessness, endless hours of idling,frittering eons watching some nonsense on tv and researching on why namibian tribals like ping pong, i finally decided to something that ideally i should have done approximately an eon ago, revive my blog. and what better way to do it than talking bout the topic that is currently everyones favorite, Inflation.

Like it or not, Inflation affects us all.From the price of the latest shade of lipstick, to the latest mobile phone accessory, it has affected everything.(Hell it costs two bucks to pee in tamil nadu, call it inflation in deflation). And anyone who has a beard, sports a pair of glasses and who knows some complicated economic terms, (PLR,CRR,ROY etc etc, sometimes aayo naga poetry sounds more familiar) is suggesting ways to combat this monster, on the idiot box. Hiking loan rates, reducing the flow of currency in the market, analysis of cost expense graph, makes them sound like intellectuals, and give an impression that govt is doing something to combat inflation(Trust me, they are doing their bit). But then for the mungeri lal on the street,only when tomato starts costin 10 bucks a kilo like good old days(and for some desperates, it takes only 50ps to pee) he will believe that inflation has gone southward. I am not manmohan singh to suggest how to achieve this goal, but try to give some out of the box methods that might just work.(Inspiration is Freakonomics, so if u find this post shit u know who is to blame).

Just for starters, theoretically, reduction in price will reduce inflation.And simple logic suggests that reduction in prices of oil will have a cascading effect on prices of all other commodities.It is because Oil plays a part in everything today, and i mean everything. Oil is needed in the cars that carry us to the trucks that carry our daily needs.Oil is there everywhere, from electricity generators to the latest shade of Elle 18. Reduce the price of oil and u have the mantra to reduce all prices,and in effect curb inflation. Sounds Very simple, Isnt it. But the moot point is how to reduce the price of this useful demon, when global prices resemble a lamborghini which has had its brakes disabled?

Oil,crude or whatever it is called is priced in a very complicated manner. And as India is a land of complications, the problem is more acute than the rest of the world. Sales tax, central excise, for our beloved central government, and then the state excise and VAT to ensure the survival of our state governments( and to help our beloved netas to trade in Mps, go on jaunts and and to buy gucci footwear costing a small matter of 50k). Add to all this, the profit component for the oil companies, and then the petrol bunk owners, fuel in India ends up costing twice or almost twice the global prices(Hell it costs 30 bucks a litre in Pakistan). Common sense says, all the government has to do to reduce inflation is that it has to reduce the price of oil. But then if it does, government argues that it will lose revenue. Agreed that it is important for our animal husbandries minister to visit Interlaken in Switzerland,loss of this major source of revenue cant be tolerated, and so this reduction will never come in our lifetime. Is there a way, where, government will get the revenue as it used to get, and at the same time, reduce the price of the black gold? yess there is, a bit wacky, a bit freakonomicky, but it can just work.

What i told above aint form an economic textbook, but plain logic. Its as simple as saying if u want water, dig a well. And sometimes answers to lifes problems are simple, but it is we who make it compicated. And the answer to the question of increasing revenues, well i quote Rahul Gandhi from Parliament, is diversification. We need to find more sources of income, more places where money can be generated. And most importantly, where the money is significant and substatntial. Agreed the ways and methods i suggest may attract the wrath and ire of the moral police, but when there is money, there is no time for morality, honey.

India, As i said is a land of complications, complications that are so complicated that it will be very complicated if i begin to explain the complications. Amdist these complications, there is one inherent quality in indians(well most of the indians), that is, everyone wants to earn money, without working hard(including urs truly). and we are willing to take a few risks, and we do try to seduce lady luck. What i am suggesting, is that we play on this attitude and encourage this seduction. What i am looking at is betting...legal betting.

Betting is a part of our culture, its a part of our philosophy and hell, part of our psyche.We have fought wars over lost bets, leveraged ourselves and our wives(Mahabharata my friends) on a wager. Agreed times have changed, but betting still remains firmly engraved in our minds. What i am saying is not new, and it is not news either. we hear random figures in papers, 400 crores riding on last weeks, parliament tamasha. And 4000 crores on the IPL final. And remember my friends these are unofficial and conservative. Truth definitely lies on a point that is higher than that mark. All i am saying is tap into that amazing amounts of cash, that today is completely illegal, and never gets to the government(though few govt employees see a part of this cash). All i am saying is legalize it.No harm in legalizing somethin that is already happening right.

Betting is this huge gravy train, that the government can ride on. And in India, there are dime a dozen events which u can bet on. From the monsoon to the parliamentary elections, everything is fair game to the bookies. They even take bets on Us election primaries, let alone the main presidential elections. And i have not even touched sports. 54 IPL matches, international matches, champions league, everything, is bettable and is betted upon.(And when football takes root in India,well the picture will be bigger than the canvas itself). Figures and reports say, that the IPL itself had 5 billion dollars riding on it at current rates amounts to bout 21,000 crores, enough to distribute 1000 bucks to every bangladeshi, and still have enough money to buy the rest of the countrys land. And again mind you these are conservative figures. Sources say illegal betting in India amounts to as much as 400-500k crores in an year. To put it relatively, enough to convert every running automobile in this country, into a Lambhorghini Gallardo
(now u know which is my avourite automobile), and buy a million more of them. And all this money is waste and goes into the hands of the elite few, whose lifestyle, is better left unsaid.

Legalizing betting is a complicated process, but can be done effectively. The model exists in Uk and Us where betting is completely legal and heavily taxed. We can invite the pioneers from Uk(Our foster parents after all) like betfair, ladbrokes to name a few, to come and set up shop n India. Let them evolve the rules and systems to deal with the Indian market, and more importantly Indians. And i am telling you they will be very happy,coz as i said there is a huge market here. Systems like online betting, real time betting(Betting on the next ball, Who will score how many apart from who'll win or lose) will make betting more of a science than something that is a lottery. We will have special analysts, pondering over technical aspects of the game and situations(Huge employment opportunity there for armchair critics, hey thats is one more problem, unemployment). Betting from home, will make the system so accessible that even a casual better can try his luck.Best part of all this is that the odds are arrived scientifically, using past 10 years data,so out goes ur fav bookie. And simply extrapolating the figures above, if bettings legalized, the stakes will zoom.Tax it, and u have a proverbial El dorado in the making.And the best part is, all these betting firms are registered companies, who have annual balance sheets, so the systems are transparent, no chance of foul play.If there is any inconsistency, strict action, including expulsion, should be a deterrant enough.As i said,only a fool will want to leave El dorado.

And what bout the tax structure?I ll leave that to the IRS guys, don wanna be a reason for unemployment yo see. But what i suggest is a very heavy tax structure, wel if u can earn easy money, might as well give some to the government. And it will work because the ocean is so vast, there will still be plenty left for the companies to make a profit(which is what they are established for). And these companies will keep striving for improving their product, so theyll put their money back into the country or their cash cow(invariably sports). So u can count on better facilities for athletes, better infrastructure and environment for sportsmen and better avenues and sources of entertainment for us.And undoubtedly, more innovative ways to make money. And the some part of the money that the government will get, will be written in the revenues column because of which the bottom line there will reflect a massive surge. Which will enable the government to reduce the taxes on the item that is taxed heaviest-read oil. This will reduce the prices, bring it down to global levels, and in the end reduce inflation here. Cant believe it, here is a small illustration,for guys who pay upto sixty bucks a litre for petrol, imagine one day u just pay 30 bucks, just think bout how much money u will save,or rather how much more u can spend. Just ponder, and u will find my idea tenable.

Not that it is not been tried before.Lottery constitutes upto 80 percent of the income earned by the states that are commonly called as seven sisters. And its no coincidence to note that the prices of fuel there are the cheapest. And it is not that betting firms arent interested, ladbrokes came to set up shop in mumbai, but was refused over moral grounds. All i am saying is, let us shed our cloak of morality, and legalize this awesome source of income. It will reduce prices and make us all happy, and isn't this what Mahatma Gandhi said Live and Let live....Let these betting agencies live and let the common man live..in peace and prosperity.

Old wine in a totally new bottle

The title of the post must surprise you, intrigue you and might create an element of doubt over my character. Trust me, i am a total teetotaler and this post has nothing to do with the things mentioned in the title. As i am writing this post after an eon, I thought I might write about something that everyone talks about, knows about and gives a resigned look whenever there is a discussion on this with the most popular opinion being "Nothing can be done". Yes people i am talking about a relevant issue that has been done to death, discussed threadbare, and hung out to dry. I am talkin about a major problem called "The Brain Drain".

Why brain drain at this juncture? Well, i come from a very reputed community and a respectable known for having an assembly line of brainy and talented people(sumtimes manufacturing defects do creep in inadvertently) whose academic grades look like scores of Sachin Tendulkar at his peak. And invariably, our community has been one of the most affected(some say benefited) by this brain migration syndrome, coz almost every cousin of mine is in the uncle sam, or aspiring to go there. It is but natural for me have my own thoughts on this happening, and this is the right window for me to express them. What follows is a very hard hitting and a strong article, and might create divergent opinions. But The constitution of India says i have total freedom of speech,and n one can stop me from expressing them.

I have been a fierce patriot since i was a little boy, and i have always looked at brain drain as a serious issue. I have always wondered why people leave this beautiful country of ours, to go to some unknown lands, and trying to adapt to an alien culture and adjust to a totally new and sometimes hostile environment. Financial gains, a new window to exhibit their talents, a new horizon to explore their capabilities or simply a drive to explore new places, these were the reasons that a young mind of mine gave to satisfy my inquisitiveness. And of course the greedy side of me told that the brain drain was beneficial, coz it got me video games, t shirts ,shoes for free and things that were unheard of India those days.

As i grew older, came into contact with many people, read a lot of books, articles addressing this issue, i started getting some answers.It is the lack of opportunities some said, others opined that it was financially less viable in India. Some said the industrial infrastructure was absent, that left todays professionals in limbo, forcing them to seek greener pastures. Four years ago, these answers would have satisfied me. But i am not the same guy anymore and it is very difficult to convince me with the above arguments today. Coz I have actually lived and experienced the transition that the Indian economy has gone through and have been a first hand beneficiary of its spin offs. (Me writing this blog in an Adidas tracksuit and a nike t shirt illustrates this the best). Economic packages in our country have gone from a pittance to extravagance(a half baked engineer like me gets offered 3 and a half lakhs says it all), and opportunities have grown from insignificant to enormous tremendous. But still so many of our engineers are not coming back worst not even thinking of coming back, and the applicants for a us green card have never been more. All leads us to this one question WHY.

There are many answers to this question, and if u ask every nri , his replies will differ. I as a boy who is staying here, who has left so many of his us going relatives in the airport, biddin them all the best in their pursuit of their dream,try to present my own view here. Again i tell u it can be a very hard hitting read, and i may be wrong. But i am completely within my rights to express them, opinion be damned.

In India, we have been brought up in a gurukul culture, a culture placing great importance in the values of honesty and obedience. And since childhood, our parents have played a very important part in our lives, which they should, influencing our every decision and playing a part in whatever we have done. It was never left upon us to take our decisions, what we wanted to do. It was never our choice in what we wanted to pursue. Our creativities were stifled and our opinions were eclipsed. The word of our parents were the final, and if we used our discretion and went against them, it was considered blasphemy. And it was not that the parents opinion reflected the current trends and scenarios. It was based upon the life that they led, and the events that they experienced. Theirs was a separate generation, but they refused to acknowledge that. They were obdurate and stubborn in their thinking,unyielding in their beliefs and immovable on their decisions. They refused to see India in a post liberalized era, they could not see that they country they lived had changed.They never ever felt that youth could decide on their own,and they had to seek their suggestion.And this suggestion, was an extension of their view, a view totally out of sync with the life and times.

50 years ago, mebbe this was all right, coz the youth then were afraid to spread out their wings and take on the world.But the youngsters in the post liberaliztion era were not. They were restless and ready to grab any opportunity that the world afforded them. It came to Indian shores too, but no one was ready. Whoever joined the multinationals had only one aim, to get out. And i do not blame them. Which talented brain can work in such a stifling atmosphere. A place where one cannot be on your own, a place where you cannot be yourself. Every decision you took, was scrutinized, and you were badgered not only by your parents, but by all and sundry in your family. Risk taking was strictly forbidden and you had to play the game by the books. Security in your life was primary, and you had to sacrifice your wishes to protect a non existant family(and i am not discussing the jamboree of an arranged marriage). You could never express your individuality nor your talents in this forbidding environment.Even a three sensed bird would have flown away given the circumstances, these were after all geniuses.

Everyone who went abroad in this exodus, prospered were successful. But the benefits that came back home took time. Of course parents gloat in pleasure when they say their kid is in the US, but trust me every one of them has in one corner of their heart, wants them to return. But this they do not realize that it was their narrow mindset that made them leave the Indian shores in the first place. And it was this inability to adapt to the changing times, that led to the lost generation of geniuses, setting back the pace of development of our country. Their adamant nature, and belief that they know everythin, has according to me led to what we call Brain Drain.

Times are changing though, with the parents of my times, know that children have their space, and have adapted. and trust very few of us will be a part of the brain drain..more on this later.

A Parallel Universe

Mumbai, city of dreams, its India's proverbial El dorado. It is Where millions of people , come from the smallest of corners of the country, chasing their destiny and the never ending search for, what we call " The Good life". Few succeed and as in a game, there are a few losers too. Some make it big, some stay contented, and some live in their rundown shanties, always craving for more. But in this complicated matrix of the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, there is a common factor which governs them all. A factor which is ingrained in the fate of every mumbaikar, a thing that none can escape and it is something on which Mumbai's very existence as a financial powerhouse rests. Its mumbais very lifeline,The LOCAL TRAIN.

Technologically, the rail network is centuries behind its western counterparts, and it will fail every safety test that we are all so used to talking about. But the fact remains that it is the only thing that is capable enough to carry crowds of the magnitude that is common in mumbai. I mean can the london metro, so proud of its efficiency(barring stray bullets that may come at u, shot by the 'excellent' metropolitan police) carry crowds five times the mandated capacity, and u will know the beauty of mumbais local trains. I read it sumwhere, that the number of people standing at DADAR ,a very important junction on the mumbai rail network, at 7.00 pm, exceeds the population of Belgium, which itself testifies the wonderful mumbai locals. the very fact that they can carry one european country as if it they were born to do it, and still run on perfectly on time,speaks volumes. I mean which rail network, can boast on facts like these.

AS i said previously, Mumbai is a land of great disparity and differences. But such differences hold no water when it comes to a local train. Here a hindu or a muslim, an iyengar or an iyer, a millionaire or a slum dweller, all are reduced to the same group of scrambling individuals, trying to find a toe hold of a space in it's cramped environs. Adjustment is an understatement here, coz 5000 people cram into a train meant for 1000. And inhuman is an euphemism,if someone has to describe the conditions that these people have to endure for, a mumbai local train will make hell seem like a suite of a five star hotel. From the morning fisherman,to the afternoon dabbawala and the occasional dead body, the local trains serve every aspect of the society prevalent today.

And it is in these ghetto like atmosphere of a rail compartment, that u find the real human spirit coming to the fore. Given the tremendous hardships and hell like conditions that a , it takes more than just a human being to help others, and from my experiences in these trains,a mumbaikar towers upon his compatriots from the other parts of de world. No matter how crowded a train is, no matter the numbers exceed that of france and are nearing germany, a mumbaikar will always make space to accomodate one more of his kind, that too wid a big smile. And his understanding of others difficulties is unparalleled, coz if sumone runs after a moving train on the platform in danger of missing it, a mysterious hands always comes from inside the train, and pulls him aboard, and holds on to him until the poor fellow manges to get a toehold.That hand does not bother bout the caste, religion,sect or the social status of the person concerned. It is only concerned that the poor fellow does not miss his train, coz he understands the ramifications that it may have on him.And it is this generous and the caring spirit that mumbai has, ensures that the city runs at its peak at all times. Floods and messers terrorists, go to hell.

I have heard from others, that mumbai is a capitalist city, where people run only after money and are not bothered bout other human beings.All i ask these doubting thomases, to have a look at mumbais local train. Its the ultimate symbol of co existance, one which cannot be found anywhere else on dis planet. And whenever i see the people hanging from the footboard(and that sometimes include urs truly) with the secure knowledge that the the man behind him wont let him down, i know that Mumbai is a city of men, real men......

Crazy little thing Called CRICKET: Part one

hi guys, this is my first blog, and what better way but start writin bout a thing closest to your heart.Its actually funny, u know , when there are so many things and so many people around you, but the thing that is closest to your heart is a silly game. Speakin as an Indian,it goes by the name LAMBDANDAGOLPINDADHADPAKKADPARTIYOGITA. a real toungue twister isnt it, its also known as cricket for the ignorant.Here, One guy tries to throw a round thing with as much power as he can, and a guy wid a woooden stick tries to hit it as far as he can. and ten others try to stop him from doin the same. but nothin comes even close to an Indian heart as close as this. You may have guys boastin bout Manchester United, or swearing loyalty towards Michael Schumacher, But deep inside their hearts, they know the one game that they'll not miss for anythin is Cricket. I Mean which other game will allow them to sit in front of tv, give them an excuse to be away from work, and spend countless hours on analyzing the nittie gritties but cricket. Every shot is debatable, Every Ball can be discussed, And every decision can be hounded for an eternity. Football gets over in a jiffy, an hour and a half is too little. A race has become too mechanical, A driver today is simply an additional device in the already overcomplicated car. And except maybe basketball, American sports were invented by idiots, and are watched by millions more. No other game, comes even close to being contested by humans.Its the only game where the players, even today can make a difference. It'll never be overmanaged or overcoached,like football is . Nor can it be changed by some crazy fool, whos sits up in a cozy room, and passes instructions thru some device .And it also gives legions of jobless people like me, somehting to watch, appreciate and enjoy action for varying periods . 3 hours, one day, or even 5. the option is mine......