Currency Demonisation

Currency demonetisation has perhaps become demonisation in the last three days. Whilst many of us welcome this move to curb counterfeit bank notes, this would remain as an excellent example of a master plan that went awfully awry.. thanks to lack of mindfulness and ill conceived unclear thoughts in execution by the officials and government.

One fine evening, the PM declared demonetisation of two high value currency notes - five hundred and one thousand rupees - in a televised address stating that it would eradicate black money and counterfeit currencies that are sources of terrorism. Naturally, everyone was jubilant by the mention of black money. Moreover, this time it came from the messiah of growth. Little did any of them know what it means for an individual, let alone the meaning of black money. Leaving us in no surprise, the PM took the next available flight to Japan to enjoy a bullet train ride.

The consequences - people standing in queues for hours to get old notes exchanged, banks working day and night with less or no cash to payout, cash points running dry and getting bored to displaying 'I am out of service'. Any sane administrator, or even a politician for that matter, who declares demonetisation of two high value currency denominations, would have thought about pumping the equivalent value back in for circulation soon after declaring it. Failing which, having cash in bank accounts doesn't necessarily give us the right to use it today without a bead of sweat or, if unlucky, a heat stroke.

Unfortunately, after all these, black money will not even be out of the system as only a part of black money is in cash. Most part is in gold and land. Hard to zoom in due to chaotic Indian administrative system. A logical step towards growth is to demonetise thousand and legalise two-thousand. Reduces burden on crooks that carry cash in black in future. A very futuristic and visionary approach.

It is very easy for the government to ask citizens to bear the burden for the country overall progress. However, why can't they do the difficult job? Educate them on how black money is created and how each of us contribute to its generation. Many of us will undoubtedly be awestruck when we learn the simplest way of black money generation: we buy something with cash and without insisting on a legal receipt. So simple.. isn't it?

India and Division

India is new to neither division nor divisive politics. We have had and are still having our fair share. Culturally, as long as something didn't happen to us we don't involve ourselves. The meaning of 'us' shall vary depending on the context. It could range between 'self' and 'religious community'. This is true even for democracy. All we need is to get fooled by an elite in the name of either religion or development. Many a times they don't go together. 

USA elections bring the original Indianess out in the open. Many Indians are emotionally down, thanks to Trump's victory. Parents are scared to explain to their kids how Trump was elected. Almost all of them underlined and emphasised the fact that Trump is divisive. He spoke badly about immigrants who live in the United States. Well, he did rightly so about illegal immigrants. Let us not blind the facts with emotions.

What I fail to understand - as someone who lives in India - is that how these Indians do not have any problems supporting wholeheartedly, if not worship, a divisive figure as a leader in India. People lost lives fifteen years ago in the name of religion. Sadly, in many cases, the religion wasn't even theirs'. We conveniently do not speak about the past that did not involve us. Or we are madly in love with a maniac. Or we are utterly selfish. Perhaps the Indianess is hidden somewhere. 

Men of straw with emotionally selective amnesia is arguably the winning combination.

Lessons Learned!

This post is a long due from my side. It was worth a wait. The wait let me watch my daughter grow into an extremely active and tenacious twenty months old. It is indeed fascinating to witness how a tiny human brain evolves “near” ideally in less than two years.

From the day of first vaccination to the day we got her ears pierced - along every step - I was worried whether she would be able to bear those pains. All it took for her to bear them was hardly a couple of minutes. She was always back to normal as soon as we were driving back from doctor’s office. This taught me a valuable lesson. There is no point in weeping over the pain. Lessons experienced are always powerful than those simply read.

During her first six months, she was very quick in rolling over to dragging herself ahead by a couple of feet. Later on, she developed vitamin deficiencies that led to a temporary slowdown in developments - at least that is what I thought. Her first tooth showed up only when she turned fifteen months. And still she didn't walk then. As new parents, looking at other kids in same age group, we were worried. By then, google had proved to be a trustworthy medical advisor. We learnt that this is common around the globe. Babies tend to take their own time. Today, despite our desperate attempts, we can not stop her from running around the house. My second lesson: Everyone is different and everyone is every one. Give people their time and space. They will grow even without us.

Mastering the art of influencing doesn't look very difficult for toddlers. My daughter exactly knows how to accomplish this herculean task and get things done. Her approach is simple. Divide and rule. Ask mom for something when dad is not around. She has a good second chance to shoot for what she wants through dad even when mom denies it. Many a time I become the victim when I turned the television set on without knowing that it was denied few minutes ago. My third lesson: Keep it simple and focused towards the goal whilst being aware of enablers.

Aren’t these the qualities of modern leadership? It looks like the myth “leaders are born and not made” is true after all.