Costliest Slap

This week we saw how much a slap can cost someone. Or, we just witnessed the costliest slap ever ! Rs. 3 crores.


Our cricketer Harbhajan Singh slapped a fellow cricketer Sreesanth after an IPL match, and (as the camera caught him slapping and Sreesanth crying after that), he has been banned from the rest of the IPL matches. This, it seems, will result in Harbhajan losing about Rs. 3 crores.

As a fellow Indian is in the receiving end, the country is burning effigies of Harbhajan now. And, some people even venturing to think, 'may be, he was wrong in Australia too ...'! Some even saying, 'Harbhajan is wrong. But, there is nothing wrong in slapping Sreesanth for what he has been doing all along.'

Cricket is becoming murkier and uglier. And, no one is talking about the silver cut, touch of genius or gentle roll of the wrists etc. Almost the entire coverage is about lakhs and crores, TRP ratings in television, cheer girls, brutal force .. And, many of them predicting that IPL is a success and is here to stay !

Ugh ! Once upon a time, it was called gentleman's game ...

Karunanidhi - Our Chief Minister

The popular perception about politicians in India is only about their narrow mindedness or corruption or sychophancy or incompentency etc. There are a few exceptions of course. But, we don't know much about their interests / skills outside politics.

But, I am constantly amazed by Karunanidhi, our Tamilnadu Chief Minister. He as a politician is no different from others; but, his literary pursuits and some extraordinary skills are terrific. His sharp memory, meticulous preparation on any subject before any meeting or function and above all, his wonderful comments - I am a big fan of all these characteristics of Karunanidhi.


Yesterday, there was a function in Chennai organised by Kamal Haasan, the actor for the audio release of his next film. He had invited the hollywood actor Jackie Chan and bollywood hero Amitabh Bachchan for the function. It was presided over by Karunanidhi. To the amazement of everyone, he read out so many details about Jackie Chan that none of the other organisers even knew - for example, "Kamal and Jackie Chan were born in the same year, 1954.", "I admire Jackie Chan, because in spite of being a world popular action hero, he has once said that Fire Service personnel are the true heroes of our world" ! This preparation before coming for the function is the hallmark of Karunanidhi.

There was a press conference sometime back, when one of the senior leader called Jyothi from the rival party joined his DMK party. When the newsmen asked for his comments, "the opposition party leader has always been saying that there is power shortage in my government. Probably, that is why, she has sent Jyothi to my party !" (Jyothi means light or illumination in many Indian languages !) Just on the spot.



Then, recently there was a controversy over the Hogenekkal drinking water scheme announced by Tamilnadu. The neighbouring state of Karnataka objected to it saying that it is a Power Generation project. This is a time when Karnataka is facing elections.

When newsmen asked Karunanidhi's views about the objection, he said, "yes, this is for power generation". Everyone was surprised and they thought, it is a slip of tongue. But, he smiled and said, "Karnataka is going to have elections. So, the politicians there are saying this for their 'power generation' - to get to power ! But, for Tamilnadu, it is just a drinking water project."

Can you imagine, he is already 83 years old ? Three months ago, he recited the dialogues from a play he wrote more than 50 years ago - word by word from a public stage.

Amazing Person.

Apples, Strawberries and Maths

A teacher teaching Maths to a seven-year-old asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Within a few seconds, the boy replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "now, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"
The boy had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four…"

The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that this student liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, the young boy calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile, the young kid enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Promptly, he answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How boy, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.
In a voice that was low and hesitating, the boy replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

"When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect. Don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion."

Sajan sent this nice one. I remember one of R.K.Narayan's articles, where he has written the same, but in his usual style. His mind used to be on the Mangoes and not on Maths - what sort of mango, whether it will be sweet or sour, why should I give one mango to Balu, whether I should give a big one or a small one, etc. ! Wonderful article it was.

Italy

Next to Nepal, the other surprising electoral result is in Italy. My political views do not like Berlusconi winning the elections; but I guess, Italians know better !

The collapse of the previous left wing coalition in Italy and people electing Berlusconi again are things from which our new revolutionary leadership in Nepal should learn. Revolutions, philosophy and all that is okay; but, you should deliver also - as quickly as possible.

First Sarkozy in France, now this result in Italy. French people are already disillusioned with their 'young' president; and I am sure, Italians will also be failed by the 'young looking' 71-year old President.


By the way, came across a very funny video about the Italians. Wanted to upload it in YouTube, but it was already there ! Click to see the video.

You can just replace Italy with India, everything will be alright with the video !! The flag too looks very similar ...

Nepal : Welcome to Democracy !

The remarkable electoral revolution has happened in Nepal, our tiny neighbour in the north. I have been keenly watching Nepali politics for the last ten years or so; along with that of Sri Lanka.


From the time, the Maoists there offered ceasefire and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) took on the King in the streets for more than two months of continuous, intensive demonstration, I was amazed at the spirit of the people there. That roller coaster has now finally reached a stage where the till-now-armed Maoists have been elected by the people to rule them !

Amazing and I never expected that they will sweep the elections as they did. Here is the Maoist Chief voting in the elections - not seen in public for more than fifteen years till recently !


I was already coloured by the reports in our magazines during the last six months about how the erstwhile revolutionaries have become used to the luxuries of living in Kathmandu etc. There were articles mentioning Prachanda, the chief of the Maoists is very fond of food and wine and what not; that he has put on weight; that his vehicles are posh; and all that stuff.

Probably, it was true, and our past experience with revolutionary leaders has not been good either. But people of Nepal thought that their party is better than the other so-called democratic political parties.

Common man's judgements are often very difficult to understand for outside moralists. Read this news item below for example :

Among the winners was Baban Singh, who is in the Police's "most wanted criminals" list. Singh secured 9201 votes while his rival Gupta got 6588 votes. Singh has been living underground after police began hunting for him for his alleged role in the Kathmandu bomb blast of September 2, 2007. Three persons died in the explosion.

Singh is still underground and had filed his candidacy through his representative.

And he won. How he campaigned and what hopes people had on him ?

I am also thrilled to read their unadulterated aversion to the King; that they will abolish monarchy immediately ("within a month" to quote Prachanda); and if the King resists, he will be "punished". To have Kings with executive powers in this modern day is absurd, to say the least.

But, I am keeping my fingers crossed about the future prospects. Democracy is a double edged weapon as well. The small States of Goa and Pondicherry, which were Union Territories for long and became full fledged states recently, are witness to the chaos our democratic leaders can cause. Till the system matures. In any case, this is better than the Maoists cadres and the Army on behalf of the King fighting each other and killing whole lot of people.

Let us pray for the peaceful future of Nepal.

Tamil Blog gets a co-author

It was wonderful to hear from Bala in Chennai after a long gap. That too with an interest to start writing in Tamil - about Tamil stories. He is planning to review the nice short stories he has read, write about them and the authors.

So, I invited him to be a co-author of my Chuvadippookkal and make it a Joint Venture. As a start, he has written about the wonderful story of கடவுளும் கந்தசாமி பிள்ளையும் by Puthumaipithan about fifty years ago. Brilliant story. You can read his post here.

Welcome Bala.


I too read about a very nice book by Muthulingam, the Sri Lankan Tamil writer now settled in Canada. A book full of his interviews with currently famous English writers. A terrific book. My review of this book is also there in the latest post in the blog.

Hope more of my friends will start reading Tamil and, importantly, writing in Tamil.

Reverse Colonialism ?

Ford says TATA to Jaguar

India's Tata Motors announced its entry into the international luxury car market with some style as the company snapped up two of Britain's most famous names in automobile manufacturing, Jaguar and Land Rover, in a $2.3 billion deal the Ford, their american owners.

Shekhar Kapur, the film director from India now living in Britain, noted on his blog in January, “Like all Indians, I too walk a little prouder in London with the Jaguar and Land Rover brands almost owned by Tata.”

Seen as another indication of Indian companies' global ambitions, this acquisition is considered as a poetic justice to the colonial past. An Indian company owning the two top brands of luxury cars of its past colonial master.


We are soon going to lose any national identities, I feel. Globalisation means free flow of capital across national borders without any restrictions. Money is the most important criterion in many things today. So, soon it does not matter which country we belong to.

Earlier years, I might have felt happy if an 'Indian' company succeeded. But, today, which is Indian and which is not is too difficult to say. Tatas may be surely Indian. But, I won't know the colour of many of the Indian companies. The headquarters may be here, but the majority shares might be by non-Indians.

So, I don't think there is anything to feel proud about an Indian company acquiring big companies in Europe. In any case, what did I do for this growth in Tatas or Mittals to feel proud ?

What is this ?

Got a cute puzzle by email. Unfortunately, this can be solved only by the great Tamil people, who only can think of such terrific things.

What is this ?

I had given you a clue. That only Tamil people can solve it. You would have guessed that it is something to do with some direction as well ... Still couldn't get it ?

OK, click on the picture above and you will get the answer !!

Lawyers have feelings too (allegedly)

After coming to Gudalur, I had a few brief interactions with some advocates here. Then, I read Gandhi's views on Lawyers ! And, then recently saw Lage Raho Munna Bhai, where there is a terrific scene where a lawyer tries to convince the herione and the 5 old men that they should 'fight it out' legally against the villain.

All in all, I am extremely wary of doing anything to do with lawyers. Though any sane person is better off without any professions, I think the last thing I would choose is to become a lawyer. This is not to offend anyone, but there is fundementally something not nice about the legal profession - where we have some people trying to interpret a written word and decide what is good and just !
Anyway, they make up by giving lots of opportunities for some good jokes. So, thought of just sharing some gems in this blog :

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.


When attorneys die, why do they bury them 600 feet underground?
Because deep down, they're really nice guys.

A new client had just come in to see a famous lawyer. "Can you tell me how much you charge?", said the client.
"Of course", the lawyer replied, "I charge Rs.200 to answer three questions!"
"Well that's a bit steep, isn't it?"
"Yes it is", said the lawyer, "And what's your third question?"

An engineer dies and reports to hell. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey things are going great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."

God replies, "What??? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake -- he should never have gotten down there; send him up here."

Satan says, "No way. I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him."

God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue."

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right. And just where are you going to get a lawyer?"

I hope, no lawyer reads it - and sues me !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Given my official responsibilities (and inclination, of course), my New Year starts on April 1st. No, no, not the April Fools day...

As the Financial year starts today, we accountants start fresh books; start numbering of vouchers from 1; probably, get new pens and pencils; pray to god that the new year should bring receipts and payments in equal measures (unspent amount is more a problem with Income tax fellows looking) and that money should flow smoothly like water - both in and out !

During the last five years, I have made more resolutions on April 1st than January 1st. Exciting plans for the next year; taking stock of the year that went by; and some common goals and resolutions with the entire team.

Having different New Years for different professions or occupations is an interesting concept. The education team's school year starts probably in June. When I was working in National Dairy Development Board, we used to talk about Milk Year; and, when I was with the Edible Oil Market Intervention Operations Group, our Oil year started in October 1st every year.

Closing every thing about the old year, Drawing a thick line and starting afresh is a wonderful idea.

Happy New Year to all you accountants. Let your Debits and Credits tally; and there isn't any missing paise in your statements !!