Bunch of Thoughts

I must admit , I have no respect left for our former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Here are 3 reasons why I doubt his honesty, integrity and character as well.... 1) Large scale loot - A loot is something taken away from its rightful owner by force to be enjoyed by a few. De-monetization has not taken anything away from honest people. Any honest person can deposit or exchange money. The benefits of monetisation are not be enjoyed by a few but will benefit society in the long term. 2G and Coal scam are two examples of large scale loot wherein rules were made and changed so that a few people would get to own strategic national resources for a pittance. Dr Manmohan Singh who presided over the largest loot in the history of mankind should have known what large scale loot means. He clearly is not being honest with the people of India. 2) Monumental Mis-Management - Management means the organisation and co-ordination of teams, people and processes. De-monetiations was one of the ...

The strength of a nation is seldom determined based on its military and/or economic might. The strength of a nation can be estimated by the ability of its people and society to organize itself to achieve a shared goal. A nation can only be as strong as its citizens allow her to be. I can remember of 3 occasions when the citizens of India and our society was truly tested.. 1) Food crisis under Lal Bahadur Shastri - India faced an unprecedented food crisis under Lal Bahadur Shastri. With rising demand and prices and lower production, India was at the mercy of US for food. A prime minister before Shastri agreed to de-value India's currency by 30% for the sake of food. Lal Bahadur instead asked the people of India to fast on Mondays. A national rallied to his appeal and every citizen did their bit. 2) Wars with Pakistan - Living in Mumbai at the times of war is tough. With a few hours from Karachi, Bombay was the #1 target. Citizens were asked to go 'lights out' i.e. no ...

Death is an inevitable part of life. Most of us must have lost a near and dear one at some time. As we struggle to come in terms with our loss, an eco-system of vultures appears to the make most out of our misery. It begins with the mortuary staff which needs to be tipped to make sure you get the body on time, then the ward boys to help you carry the body to the ambulance, the ambulance driver who will charge thousands for a few kilometres, the priest who will deliver moksha, the babu who needs to be bribed to get the death certificate... This eco-system of vultures cares little about your grief and pain. They are good at spotting someone in a vulnerable state and are happy to exploit them for the own benefits. Some years ago, our media also joined this eco-system of vultures. This media would shove a mike to  face of a parent of gang rape victim's family and ask if they had a message to give. Media would shamelessly intrude into the life of a grieving family looking for a sou...

Bengaluru is not known for its historians. Yet in this beautiful city lives an 'award' winning historian who once authored a book called the 'Makers of Modern India'. This historian identified 19 individuals who in his opinion shaped our modern day India. The list of leaders who shaped modern India include Rajaramohan Roy, Gokhale, Tilak, Gandhi, M S Golwalkar, Rammanohar Lohia , Jayprakash Narayan etc. As I finished reading the book of this Padma Bhushan awardee, I felt something was wrong. I re-read the book to find that this historian had little idea of the role Sardar Patel played in shaping the geopolitical landscape of India . What made it even worse was that there was a chapter dedicated to Jinnah !! It surprised me how this international award winning historian missed Sardar Patel completely. Last month, the same historian published an article full of hate to malign M S Golwalkar and his book 'Bunch of Thoughts'. You can read his article here Whil...

I write this blog as a shareholder of many listed companies owned by Tata Sons. Leaving the technicalities and legality of the meeting that fired Mistry , here are 3 reasons why I have been disappointed with Mistry as a Chairman ... 1) Lack of Imagination - What is the one new idea that the Tata group came up with in the last 4 years under Mistry ?  I could not think of any. For the most trusted and global Indian brand operating in the fastest growing economy in the world , this is disappointing to say the least. With major economic and social transformations underway - MakeInIndia, Digital India, Swach Bharat etc, Tata's point of view on these transformations is not even known. 2) Managing Balance Sheets - Last 4 years has been about managing balance sheets to look pretty. It looked like a bunch of glorified accountants had take over. Every move seemed to be based on some excel sheet modelling than what customers wanted. 3) Staying true to Tata's purpose - Tata business...

India has fought 4 wars with Pakistan. From a military standpoint , India has comprehensively beaten Pakistan every time. We marched into the heart of Pakistan, had a big part of their army as POWs. But we could not convert these 4 spectacular military victories into a meaningful outcome for India. Our political leadership has been so weak that they snatch defeats from the jaws of military victories. We ended up conceding land to Pakistan after every victory. Fact is that the land mass of India has shrunk by 40% since the British arrived while our population has multiplied. Till 2016 , Pakistan freely attacked us at will , mocked us at international forums. India was more interested in sacrificing its own interests to uphold values of peace and humanity. We were a soft and a weak state. The surgical strikes has changed the entire geo political landscape. For the first time the political leadership took the initiative. Taking Pakistan head on , India marched into Pakistan,  t...

A lot of people including fans of Narendra Modi seem puzzled on Narendra Modi's strategy to take on Pakistan ... To understand NaMo's Pak strategy one need to understand the raison d'être of Pak's existence as a state 1) Network of friends - Pakistan is a failed state that acts as a mercenary for other other foreign powers for its own survival. 2) Non- State actors to protect sovereignty - Pakistan relies on bunch of non state actors to maintain it own territorial integrity. From Pak occupied Kashmir to borders with Afghanistan, its the non-state actors that maintain the territorial integrity of Pakistan 3) Hatred for India and the quest to annex Kashmir - Hatred for India which his often expressed as a quest to annex Kashmir binds the Pakistanis. A a state Pak is not bound bound by any ideology but a few artificial hinges that keep the state together. NaMo's Pak strategy is to is strike hard at roots of Pakistan 1) Isolate Pakistan - With only one fr...

In 2012 a movement was born with a promise to fight corruption and de-centralize governance. Swaraj and Lokpal were the words that defined the movement. The movement did well to awake the conscience of the country and its political class. Every social movement ends up with a political avatar to monetise its gains and thus AAP was born. Many expected that Swaraj and Lokpal would define the ideology of the party. The first Kejriwal government was defined not by Swaraj or Lokpal but by Opportunism & Anarchy. Kejriwal joined forces with the Congress for the sake of power; instead of governance we got anarchy and in-experience. Chaos and confusion were the hallmarks of the first Kejriwal government. Opportunism got the better of AAP and they ditched Delhi to pursue their own ambitions. The country punished AAP and they lost deposits in most of the seats that they contested elections in 2014. Kejriwal apologised and begged for another chance. Having invested so much in the movement ...

Most liberals are still in shock; the shock of a 197-0 verdict handed down by the Rajya Sabha. In the history of independent India, it would be rare to find a bill as transformational as GST being passed without even a single member opposing it. What makes the 197-0 verdict even more shocking is that the BJP is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha. BJP is led by a man who many believe cannot even take his party along. Bringing all national and political parties on the same page in a very divided and fragmented Rajya Sabha by a leader often portrayed as 'dictatorial, authoritative, divisive and polarising' was least expected. Even the Congress which had an absolute majority in both the houses for 10 years could not even come close to getting the bill passed. So how did this change come about.... the means are simple, known and are practised in 60,000+ RSS shakhas across India.  As a pracharak , Narendra Modi would have honed these skills for decades .. 1) Sampark - Sampark ...

Navjot Singh Sidhu was a good cricketer, an average commentator and a very over rated politician. It comes as a surprise to me why any party would even think of pandering to his tantrums ... 3 reasons what Sidhu will be a liability to any political party 1) Not a Team player - All his talk of putting Punjab over self, family and party is just hogwash. When Siddhu walked out from the tour of England abandoning Team India , the message was clear - Siddhu puts himself before anything else. Actions speak louder than words and no matter how loud his Siddhu-isms may be,  his actions betray his words. 2) Missing MP - Siddhu has spent more in the studios doing comedy shows than his own constituency. This is very apparent by the repeated protests about his absence from Amritsar. There is very little Siddhu has to show for for his performance as a MP. For his lack of performance he either blames the Congress or the Badals. 3) Item Number - Every political party needs a player who ca...

As Narendra Modi did a re-org of his government, many newspapers are still grappling to understand the drivers behind the re-jig. To me Narendra Modi's performance management mantra consists of 3 parts. All ministers and their outcomes were evaluated on 3 counts 1) Reform - Given the 10 years of UPA mis-governance, virtually all ministries needed a short term reform to get India back on track. 2) Transform - An aspirational India needs a long term roadmap. Ministers are expected to provide a long term visionary roadmap for their ministries 3) Inform - Ability of ministers to convey to the masses their policies and short term wins. Ministers who met or exceeded expectation on all the above 3 counts retained their places or promoted. The rest were dropped or moved around. Lets take the case of Smriti Irani , she had to go about reforming education system in India which is being neglected for the last 7 decades and is infested with Marxist termites. She went about the refor...

One would wonder why scholars, academic institutions (Columbia/Harvard) and Hindu intellectuals are involved in a high profile global battle for Sanskrit, a language spoken and written by a very small minority globally. Rajiv Malhotra in his book ' The Battle for Sanskrit ' decodes the academic 'mumbo-jumbo' of western Indologists  to reveal a well networked global ecosystem which is working hard to take charge of Sanskrit with one motive - to take charge of our Sanskriti or culture. The modus operandi of this ecosystem super headed by Sheldon Pollock of Columbia University is very clear .. 1) Establish Sanskrit as a source of violence, oppression and a means of promoting atrocity literature. Ramayana is cited as an example of atrocity literature that encourages violence and oppression by the likes of Sheldon Pollock who claims that the caste system of India as well Hitler's concentration camps have their roots in Sanskrit. Sheldon Pollock also claims t...

There is no good reason why India is being denied a membership of the NSG. A nation with a perfect record on proliferation, a nation which has always stood for peace,  a nation which is the fast growing economy in the world. a nation with the most young people .... India should ideally walk in to any club of its liking ...but was shown the door. So what are the takeaways from our loss at NSG 1) Rising stature of India - The loss at NSG confirms India's rise and the makes China's fear of a rising India very apparent. China was not acting at the behest of Pakistan but in its own interests to keep India out of NSG as long as possible. Beijing is worried and scared and its nervousness was apparent as it went all out to block India.  2) Decline of US - NSG was a bigger loss for the US. The decline of the US is very evident. While China snubbed US diplomacy even smaller allies like New Zealand openly defied it. This visible weakening of US influence is now evident on wo...

International Media and fans of R3 are predicting doomsday for India... rupee will fall, FDI will exit, inflation will rise and for many the sun may not rise .... 3 reasons why R3 should have been fired a long time ago .. 1) R3 has been an advisor to the UPA government since 2007 in one capacity or other. Economic policies of UPA have been shaped by R3 since years. For some reason, after every failure R3 gets promoted. He career in India is no different from Rahul Gandhi. Every failure leads to a promotion. R3 wants to take credit for the last 2 years but what about the mess since 2007 ... like Rahul Gandhi that is the work of other mortals ... 2) Killing Jobs & Growth - Small and Medium enterprises are primary drivers of job creation. With interest rates kept high, its very difficult for a SME to raise any capital. Old India which has a bank balance and a home likes high interest rates. A young India needs loans ... to study , to buy a bike , to provide a good living ...

Narendra Modi's speech at the US Congress was loaded with messages for one and all. Leaving aside the humour, wit and sarcasm, here are the Top 3 messages for the world 1) If there is any country in the world that has the potential to match the political, cultural and economic clout of the US , it is India. The future of US is linked to how well its treats India. With examples of Yoga v/s baseball, Gandhi and Vivekanand's influence on US history and more than anything the rise of the economy in India .........India has and will continue to influence even domestic US culture and how well its economy does. 2) Larger role for India in the geo-social politics of the world - India no longer shies away from playing a leadership role in world affairs. From peace keeping to disaster management, from climate change to protecting the global seas, from solar clubs to space , India has point of view which we will assertively communicate and drive our agenda.... 3) Narendra Modi e...

As the Narendra Modi government completes 2 years in office, his development and governance model is becoming clear. There are 3 key principles that drive Narendra Modi's governance and development model ..  1) Integral - Governance has always been driven by a 'either-or' paradigm. A government is either pro-middle class or pro-poor, either capitalist or socialist , either urban or rural focussed, either pro-industry or pro-agriculture. Modi's government seeks to integrate these so called bi polar opposites. Modi talks of taking electricity and roads to our villages in the same breadth as smart cities. Startup India is spoken in the same breath as Stand Up India. Increase in FDI comes with a record outlay for agriculture spend. It is for the first time in the world that a development model does not make one part of society compete with another. It is integral in nature.  2) Digital -  India for the first time has a 24x7 government with a wide digital presence. P...

There cannot be a better way of celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the founder of the BJP - Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Today in India, there remains only one truly national party i.e BJP, the rest are best strong regional players who existence is limited to a few states. Lets first analyse the results state by state before looking back at the national picture 1) West Bengal - Left paid a very heavy price for the JNU episode. Those who were chanting to break India in pieces, found themselves in pieces. Not only did Mamta win despite the corruption scams and lack of performance, even an un-organisesd Congress won more seats than the Left. Today the Left is not even an Opposition Party in Bengal. The people of Bengal gave a fitting reply to the JNU styled politics. BJP peaked in Bengal with 3 seats and best every performance. 2) Kerala - What saved the Left in Kerala is that it distanced itself from the Left in Bengal. A growing BJP with their partners left a big enough d...

Attending a Maha Kunbh is truly a once in a life time experience. There is a lot of folklore around the Kumbh ... the stereotypical Bollywood brothers who get separated, naked sadhus smoking pot etc. My experience has been anything but the image created of the Kumbh .. Lets start with the myths ... 1) Naked Sadhus - The most common image of the Kumbh projected by the media is that of a crowd of armed naked sadhus rushing towards the river bank. The sight of ash smeared, trishul/sword wielding sadhus may lead one for believe that the Kumbh is not a place for a family to be. As I made my way to Ram Ghat in Ujjain, I saw around me extended families who had come together to take a dip .. there were kids, grand parents, uncles, aunts ... the great Indian extended family dominates the demography at Kumbh. There were no naga sadhus with weapons roaming around the streets. The naga sadhus are a very small minority who are largely confined to their own camps. 2) Dirt & Hygiene - ...

As the Narendra Modi government completes 2 years in office, I attempt to look back at he efforts underway to ensure that Modi does not win again in 2019. Connecting the dots leads me to a vary scary conclusion- pushing India towards a civil war or an un-rest seems to be the strategy to win 2019. Given India's demography, there are only 2 ways a party can win elections 1) Consolidate the minority vote and split the Hindu vote. 2) Consolidate the Hindu vote. A 30% consolidation gives a simple majority. A 35%+ consolidation of Hindus give a 2/3rd majority. 2014 was won thanks to personality of Narendra Modi which lead to the consolidation of 30% of Hindu vote. A three point strategy is well under way to defeat Modi in 2019 1) Stroke Hinduphobia - Hinduphobia has 2 benefits - its keeps the minorities united and against the Hindu community and makes a Hindu ashamed of his own identity. News of attacks on churches ( which turned out to be cases of arson), the beef controvers...

My book Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's Roadmap for India  outlines the purpose and principles of an economic policy.  As there was mixed and often confusing opinions on Budget 2016,  I have used principles outlined by Pt Deen Dayal to evaluate the budget. Purpose of any economic policy is to provide a life of dignity to every citizen. A close look at India's macro environment will reveal the following 1) Corporate or the business sector has benefited from the falling prices of commodities. With lower input costs and relatively stable inflation, profits are on the rise. Profits from the last two years are being used to address debt and improving balance sheets. Corporates are not re-investing their profits. They claim that both world and domestic demand is flat which can be well served by their current capacity. 2) On the consumer side, there is a big divide. Employed salaried class has benefitted from lowering interest rates leading to lower EMIs and a relatively stable...

First of all let me be honest; I am no follower of American politics. As I spent the last week in US , one question that grapples most Americans was 'What is behind the rise of Donal Trump ? " Based on my limited knowledge and what I learnt from talking to Americans in Texas, there are 3 key reasons 1) Obama is the Manmohan Singh of the US. Despite the promise and the potential, there has been very little in terms of performance to show for. Obamacare is turning out to be the MNREGA of the US - a socialist scheme with an incomplete implementation. Most of Obama's policies are confusing to say the least - Obama's stand on most issues be it immigration, ISIS, Putin remains very un-clear. In terms of economy or foreign affairs there is nothing new or innovative being done. No one can dispute that Americas position as a global leader is very much on the decline. 2) Rise of the extreme right wing. One cannot miss the growing anger among the right wing Americans. Thei...

Two forces are at play in India - Making India and Breaking India.  As these 2 forces take each other head-on, tensions are natural to rise. As one force gets stronger, the other gets more and more frustrated. Let's analyze these forces... Making India - The purpose of politics is not power but to bring about social and economic changes in a peaceful manner. Ever since the Narendra Modi government has taken the oath, there has been a relentless focus to bring about social and economic changes.  Swach Bharat focusses making India clean and healthy. Jan Dhan brings aims to bring about financial inclusion. Pension and Insurance schemes aim to provide financial security to every citizen. Digital India aims to make governance transparent, accountable and accessible to all. Make in India aims to change the fundamentals of our economy by making manufacturing as important as services and agriculture.  Making India is about laying a foundation of a strong natio...