Words are Weariness

I am yet to come across an informative article in the mainstream media on what GST is and why is it an important milestone in the Indian economic history. The media, wedded as it is to sensationalism, hardly ever discusses it except in terms of skulduggery by Congress and BJP. Even when  it does , feebly or incompletely, as a result of the din it raises on other such banal issues around the affairs of a 'celebrity' murderess or about foolish acts like meat bans, people who want to maintain sanity tend to ignore them as a necessary mechanism of coping with life in present day India. What is more surprising is the quality of reportage in the pink press which should know better and try to create public opinion strongly in favour of GST. There is one from an economist in a premier national economic research bureau arguing that GST is being hyped up and it is not some magic wand that would boost our GDP numbers. There is another, more recent one in the editorial page...

Persistence of Memory - by Salvador Dali Last time when I went home, there was nobody there, except for him sitting in his cot as was his wont. There must be something about the cot which tied our Annan ( big brother ) to it, seemingly for ever. Through the window behind the cot, you could see the mango tree with its tender leaves and fresh flowers standing in dignified silence under the scorching sun. Two women underneath, in contrast, were in constant chatter moving about a clothesline wringing and hanging clothes to dry. As the women tied one end of a brown saree to a post to stretch it free of wrinkles, the sun shining thru it produced light of a different hue, our Annan was sitting there with an expression of contentment on his face, as if laughter had just prevailed and subsided. Our big brother was in the same state of stupor, till I asked him, “Where are the others?”.as I was keeping the bag down. “Welcome home Kittu” , he replied, “They have all ...

An artist depiction of sleep paralysis 13 lakh crores, that is the NPAs the public sector banks have accumulated. They are not showing no signs of turning good. 4-6 lakh crores is what that the PSBs require for recapitalization and to meet with Base III norms over next few years and it is a moving target, moving up that is. Bank after bank is reporting abysmal earnings. IOB takes the cake. It reported 1500 cross loss last financial year. At the end of First quarter of 2015, it has reported that its NPAs have risen to 16%.of its gross assets from the earlier 10%. RBI feels the asset quality norms are still too lax and are actually encouraging loan default! The Bank staff have long stopped considering themselves as employees of a commercial organization. They are outstanding specimens of what is called as 'rentier class' in leftist parlance. Right from comparing themselves to Central Government employees and seeking jobs for dependents on 'compassionate groun...

These days the happenings in the Financial Markets are more thrilling than any Hollywood or Bollywood block buster and more tear-jerking than the art films of Bengali cinema of yesteryear. Greece is teetering on the precipice of sovereign default of repayment of loan to IMF. Greece has been struggling for some time with its External debt standing at 177% of its GDP. As an economy it has not been growing and with the dollar strengthening against the Euro the debt has grown larger in the recent months in dollar terms. Greece has been living beyond its means, a small country which has about half the population of Mumbai had accumulated debt to the extent of 3 5 0 billion dollars. An aging population, more than liberal social benefits, retirement pension starting from 48 years, no manufacturing and high-cost tourism denominated in Euro characterized the economy of Greece. More shockingly, the country admitted that it has been falsifying its annual budgetary deficit...

A word smith from Srilanka I have seen from experience that best writing comes from the lands riven by contradictions and strife. You can see that in sub-continental literature, whether from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. One of my favourite Srilankan Tamil writers is S. Ponnudurai, generally known by the abbreviated name 'S.Po'. S.Po was born in 1932 in the Jaffna peninsula in a small village called Nallur. He studied in Madras Christian College, Madras and graduated in English literature. He went to work in Nigeria in 1962 as an English teacher and left that country when sectarian clashes convulsed the African state. He migrated to Australia thereafter. Frequently, he spent years in India where from he wrote and published novels and short stories. I have a special liking for his short stories. Often the stories will be entwined in strands of both hope and angst which will make you reflect on the irony of the situation. His 'The Elephant Story...