1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. “If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning”
2. My mother taught me RELIGION. “You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”
3. My mother taught me LOGIC ” Because I said so, that’s why.”
4. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. “If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”
5. My mother taught me IRONY. “Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”
6. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.”Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”
7. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM “Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”
8. My mother taught me about STAMINA. “You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.”
9. My mother taught me about WEATHER. “This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”
10. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”
11. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.”
12. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. “Stop acting like your father!”
13. My mother taught me about ENVY. “There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”
14. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION “Just wait until we get home.”
15. My mother taught me about RECEIVING “You are going to get it when you get home!”
16. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE .”If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”
17. My mother taught me ESP. “Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?”
18. My mother taught me HUMOR. “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me”
19. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. “If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
20. My mother taught me GENETICS. “You’re just like your father.”
21. My mother taught me about my ROOTS. “Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”
22. My mother taught me about WISDOM. “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”
And my favorite:
23. My mother taught me about JUSTICE “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you
March 21, 2007
Things My Mother Taught Me
March 19, 2007
SEZ
Mamata Banerjee, a fitness freak, finally had a small victory in West Bengal.
But this made me ask myself 2 questions.
1) Why on earth is the Government buying land and giving it away to industrialists free of cost?
2) Do we actually need SEZ? What is so special about SEZ?
I feel SEZ is nothing more than a massive scam. It is a nexus between the politicians and Businessmen to skim the government of billions of Rupees.
Why I think so?
1) Why can’t industry buy land for itself? Government can never pay a fair price…. it will either underpay (for which it is already taking the blame) or it will over pay (in which case government will have to subsidize the land when it resells it to the business.) Why should the government burn its fingers in a land deal? Also I see giving land free to industrial houses as a massive transfer of wealth from poor to the rich.
2) What is the size of a typical SEZ… a few tens of hectares???? Do you guys seriously believe that a few 100 people manufacturing something (which is not state of the art/latest technology) on this tiny spec of land can really transform the entire country? And if it cannot, then lets not waste our time on this trivial activity and concentrate on bigger issues.
3) Just look at the industrial cities of the country. eg: Jamshedpur is the pride of India…. It is the seat of one of the world largest Steel producer, an international automobile manufacturer. But in the past 60 years has it been able to bring even Jharkhand/Bihar out of poverty? Then how can I believe in a SEZ which is not even 1/10 of the size of this Industrial city?
If the government is really serious in giving a big boost to the industry, then mark an entire district or even a region/state as a SEZ. Do not give tax breaks, instead give an assurance that all taxes will be reused in developing the infrastructure of the region.
4) I was looking at the location of the SEZ, almost all of then are already connection by at least 2 of the 3: a national highway, a port and railways. Won’t it be better if you give tax holidays in regions which do not have any industry/infrastructure. So that there is an all inclusive growth of the nation? Why does the government move these Special Economic Zones to the most backward regions of the nation?
5) An island of prosperity in a sea of poverty: This is what SEZ has meant in China and rest of Asia…. They have become a state within a state… have special laws, rules and regulations…. the work permit is almost as hard to get as getting a US VISA. Does India want that?
6) What is so special/different about SEZ?…. Its the labor laws and the tax breaks. Lets discard Tax breaks, because a large portion of what the industry will save will actually end up in the pockets of politicians and Foreign investors and lets talk about Labor Laws. If everybody in the country agrees that they are outdated and are a problem… then change them. 3 years into the industry I learned only one thing: “If you see a problem, fix it ASAP. A work around will only bite you back in your ass” By creating special laws for SEZ, government is only creating a disparity between a worker outside the SEZ and someone in the SEZ.
7) What does an export oriented manufacturing industry require?
a) Uninterrupted power supply.
b) A port (air/sea) from which it can export goods and import raw materials.
“A chain is only as strong as the weakest link” Simple laws of economics say…. If you want to spur the economic growth, then invest in removing the bottlenecks and weak spots.
Does anybody know of a state which can say than in the next 10 years we will provide uninterrupted supply of electricity?
Or a Sea port/ Airport which is capable of handling all the traffic it gets?
Invest in these 2 areas and everything else will fall in place.
Productivity (of both land and labor) is higher in an factory as compared to farming. So building up of industry over farm land is not only inevitable, but also desirable (in certain aspects)
So I see the opposition arguments as: why should farmers make a killing by selling land, they should be allowed to live in eternal penury.
All said and done… please do not force the farmers to own shares against their land they give up. Nobody can predict the share market/future, and it will be really harsh if these poor souls loose not only their land, but also their savings. Give them employment, alternate land or just cash.
UPDATE: Today on 6th April Government finally mandated that its the onus of the SEZ developers and Industrialists to acquire the land for their own use.
March 17, 2007
Air Dhakkan
Ever wondered that 1/- airline ticket costs me 1200/-?
Why a 300/- dish at a 5 star costs me 400/- while a 10/- dish at a small restaurant/dhabba still costs me 10/.
At first glance, I really felt sorry for Captain G R Gopinath. I felt we are back in 70s where a common man had to pay 97% of his Income as taxes. Air Deccan is trying to enable the masses by selling them flight tickets at 1/- and my corrupt government is punishing it by levying it a 1000/- rupees fine. So I read the fine prints…… and actually felt cheated.
Here is the breakup of the airline ticket.
Mind you, no part of the fuel surcharge, web consumer fee etc. goes to the government.
I am a simple Man who hates convoluted and complicated things. I could never understand the concept of
* conditions apply
* hidden charges and taxes extra
If you are selling me something, tell me clearly how much you intend to charge for it. Please be a bit more honest and do not indulge in marketing gimmicks.
March 16, 2007
IAS officer (yeh baat kuch hajam nahi hue)
I was reading this article in Hindu
BANGALORE: Gold ornaments estimated at Rs. 4.50 lakh and Rs. 20,000 in cash were stolen from an IAS officer’s hotel room in Upparpet police station limits on Wednesday.
The police said Prathap Sinha, an IAS officer from Lucknow, had come here for his son’s admission into a professional college and was staying with family members in a Gandhinagar hotel. Around 9.30 p.m., Mr. Sinha found that a bag containing the cash and jewelery was stolen from the room. The Upparpet police, who have registered a case, suspect that a room boy who brought tea for Mr. Sinha and his family members, might have made away with the bag.
I had just one question to ask…. You are here for a college admission (not a marriage) of your son, but you have just 20k of cash and a few lakhs of gold? Why would a guy in his right mind carry 4.5 Lakh worth of jewelery anywhere?
March 14, 2007
Failure
This post is dedicated to my greatest tutor. Somebody who shakes me out of the cloud of over-confidence that I cushion myself in and brings me back to reality.
I will be on Hiatus for the rest of the month… or till I figure out where I am heading and what I want to do with life.
