Are we equally complicit as our politicians in generating black money in the country ?

Before we give our opinion for or against demonetization (delegalization of currency) in the country, can we keep our right palm on our left chest over the heart and without any prick of conscience, boldly state that we have not been involved in any way in creating or transacting black money in the country (money on which tax has not been paid to the country) ?? (This is a question to our dumb politicians too, from all major political parties, who have played with black money heavily and brought so much discredit for the country ..)

This could have been at some point in our life while seeking a favour, bribing someone, buying gold or selling and buying land and buildings, high end automobiles or stashing in foreign bank accounts. We do these and go about in society as pious, respectable citizens, followers of that famous father of the nation, Gandhiji !! 

These avenues account for 94% of black money generated in the country which is not yet targeted and conveniently pushed aside !

Let us first clear our conscience and try to be sincere to ourselves. If we are guilty of wrong doing, do we have the right to comment or point fingers at others on this matter ?

Let the person who is blemish-free, cast the first stone ! 🙏🙏

I had a discussion with my 93 year old father this evening regarding this delegalization drive in the Indian economy. He may not be a great economist like Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, former PM Manmohan Singh, Jean Dreze etc who are opposing the delegalization of currency notes. My father who graduated from Sacred Heart College Thevara, Kochi, Kerala, 70 years back in 1946 in Commerce feels that this is the right time for all well-meaning Indians to support the PM in the currency delegalization move, by taking small pains and sacrifices for the sake of the nation.

The country is behind the PM is exposing black money. Even the PM cannot say that he has not stood by people who have generated black money in the  country at some point in time. He is very much guilty as are all the other black money hoarders in the country.

The problem is that our PM is very divisive, abrasive in his behaviour and discourteous in communications with other politicians. He wants to make it feel that he finally did the things himself.. He does not believe in empowering others, there  were many opportunities in the past few weeks to take the whole country with him in this great cleasing move. But bad leadership spoiled the move..

Many people doubt the ability of the PM to take the whole country together in its drive against black money and black money hoarders. He is unable to convince the countrymen that he is not hands-in-glove with the criminal elements in our society. 

By his repeated efforts to stay away from the Parliament, the temple of Indian democracy and unwillingness to take part in any discussion regarding the delegalization drive with the representatives of the people, he is either staying away out of fear of being exposed as he may have engaged in black money operations many times in the past or he does not care and is showing utter contempt for democracy and democratic institutions.

This is not expected of a PM who is moderately educated and knows how the Indian and global economy works .. Unless he takes the opposition also with him and leads the country from front in this war against black money in the country, his efforts are not likely to bear fruits.

Great Leadership finally is the question .. not everybody has it ..

Demonetization impact minimal ..

A contented lady vendor who admits a 30% drop in her daily sales because of delegalization of Indian Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes, looks for better times in the NS Palya area in South Bangalore .

Photo courtesy George Easaw.

Fidel Castro is dead at 90 ..

Fidel Castro (1926-2016)

Longest serving dictator of Cuba for 49 years.. 

A great family man who on demitting office in 2008 after ruling Cuba, a land of 12 million with an area of 110,000 sq. kms for 49 gears, gave absolute power to his brother Raul Castro, now 85 years of age.  

Eventhough Cuba had about 99.6% literacy, and produced many medical doctors for the rest of the world, Cubans were denied personal liberty for 49 years under Communist rule in Cuba. Literature talks of great violence he resorted to earlier in life to consolidate his dictatorship. 

Castro's terrible legacy from the Washington Post

Will he be trashed to the dustbin of history or handled lightly by posterity for the good that he has done to Cuba more than the damage ? Have to wait and see..

One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution, one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship - George Orwell

George 

New Director IIM Bangalore ..

Prof. G. Raghuram, Prof, Public Systems group, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has been appointed as the new Director of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Feeling good to have been taught by him at IIT Bombay.

George

If Pareto's 80-20 rule were thought of in India's financial surgical strike ......

Wilfredo Pareto, the Italian economist in  1896 proposed the 80-20 rule claiming that 80% of farmlands in Italy were owned by only 20% of his countrymen.

Prof Juran later extended this to many real-life and business applications, for example, 80% of a company's revenues come from 20% of its product line.

If our PM Modi were to take note of this 80-20 rule, he would have changed his action plan. Instead of concentrating on the delegalization of currency notes with all 100% of the population, he would have been more successful and saved his reputation.

Instead he applied himself too thin, became less effective, causing maximum strain to the official machinery, resulting in irreversible damage and loss of reputation to the system. Also the damage and pain inflicted on the society and population would go down as a black mark and failure of the administrative and regulatory machinery like Reserve Bank of India.

Pareto would have turned around in his grave witnessing this blunder when a little foresight in applying his findings would have made a big difference to the Indian monetary and economic scenario !!

Even now it's not too late !!

George..

Singapore model or India model ?

There is a thought going around - can and should India follow the Singapore growth model ? Possibly Modi with his limited thinking and exposure is pegging at putting India in the same growth trajectory as Singapore. 

Is democracy a drag on development in India ? I recently happened to read the RSS mouthpiece magazine Swarajya article on this topic praising how Lee Kuan Yew transformed   a small marshy land, 720 sq km area into a leading trading post of the world in under 30 years. Will Singapore be able to sustain it's growth now with the demise of Lee ?

Singapore is a nascent very small country, just area of 720 sq km, (27km x 27 km across) which came out of a fishing community with zero natural resources. It presently has a  population of 5.7 million.

Though on per capita GDP at PPP it stands #3 globallya0 at $85,000.00, it's total GDP (PPP) is only about $480 billion ..

Controlling a country as small as Singapore with an iron fist, single party, no democracy is easy and the country may perform exceedingly well in the short run. In the long run, will it survive ? After Lee Kuan Yew as PM, can his legacy of openness and uncorrupted development be sustained by his followers ?

Lee went on a big gamble and kept material economic development and prosperity as primary goals in a country with no culture and history.

Could India, one of the oldest civilizations of the world, and a population 240 times have been governed equally well ? Great doubts persist in a country culturally and ethnically diverse as India. In fact the multi-ethnicity is its greatest strong point too.

India and it's many kingdoms of yore have been very liberal and tolerant over millenia. Trying to contain it all overnight by a single beneficent ruler may not be an acceptable idea at all.

US' federalistic structure of administration has stood the test of time for more than 240 years and is helping in its growth.

India's federalistic structure as a union of states loosely held with enough freedom of executive, legislative and judiciary in the states, at the same time tied together for national goals and objectives (Federalism as propounded in Part XI of Indian Constitution) as of now remains India's best foot foward for Indian, Asian and global development.

George

Pareto's 80-20 rule in global wealth. .

In 1896, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto came out with a factual finding, the 80-20 rule (vital few and trivial many) said that 80% land in Italy is owned by 20% of its people, in the balance 20% of land owned by the rest 80% of the people.

Prof. Juran later extended it to many practical situations like 80% of sales in an organization come from 20% of its customers and so on.

The Global wealth report 2016 published by Credit Suisse yesterday  reveals a couple of startling points.

1. Top 10% of the world population hold 89% of global wealth which in 2016 is estimated to be $256 trillion, ie top 10% of global population (7400 million),  740 million hold $228 trillion wealth and the rest 6660 million people of the world own the balance $28 trillion of global wealth.

Pareto has been proved wrong yet again by global economic leaders and Pareto's 80-20 rule looks to be changing to Pareto's 90-10 rule !!

2. 96% of the global adult population ( > 18-21 years age) remains at the base of the wealth pyramid with wealth below $10,000 ..

https://www.credit-suisse.com/ch/en/about-us/research/research-institute/news-and-videos/articles/news-and-expertise/2016/11/en/the-global-wealth-report-2016.html

George..

Cancer incidence in developed and developing world ..

As per latest figures, the rate of incidence of cancer in the *developed world* is in the range of 338 per 100,000 (Denmark and France) 319 per 100,000 (US). Almost all European countries are in the range of 280 to 338 per 100,000 population.

http://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-cancer-frequency-country

While China hits app 200 cancer cases per 100,000 population, India is at the poor bottom at app 80 cases per 100,000 population ..

Humans in all folly thinks that it is worth taking this 400% more risk for a higher standard of living.

Ignorance cannot be an excuse ..

Kerala has 172 cases of cancer per 100,000 population, more than double the national average.

Human development and a higher standard of living is a costly and deadly choice !!

George..

Prof. MGK Menon is no more, RIP Sir !!

The country has lost a great scientist and a scientific administrator .. !!

Late Padmavibhushan Prof Dr. MGK Menon, FRS, was Director of TIFR Mumbai and Chairman ISRO. 

He was the  President Indian Statistical Institute, Vikram Sarabhai Fellow of ISRO , Chairman BOG, IIT Mumbai , Chairman BOG, IIIT, Allahabad.

In addition he has an asteroid "7564 Gokumenon" named in his honour in 2008.

I had the good opportunity to interact with him  at IIT Bombay during 1999-2000.

Rest in Peace Sir !!

George..

Gandhiji and charka ..

The half naked man who shook the world ..

On the 175th anniversary of photography and photojournalism, the only Indian photo in the top 100 photographs of all time, *Gandhiji with his charka*., by Margaret Bourkewhite at Sabarmati Ashram for Life magazine, 1946.

Kochi airport T3 ..

The swanky new 15 lakh sq ft Terminal 3 of the world's first and ONLY 100% energy-neutral solar powered International airport at Kochi, Kerala was completed in 2016 at a cost INR 1000 crores ($150 million)

The 58 lakh sqft terminal 3 of the IG international airport in Delhi was completed in 2008 at a cost of INR 13,000 crores. ($2 billion) ..

Delhi IGI airport T3 is only 3.8x larger in area, but is 13x, thirteen times cost of Kochi International airport T3, 

Kochi T3 was built after clean 8 years .. (forgetting devaluation of rupee over 8 years) ..

Are our big projects under careful financial scrutiny ? Was the IGI project a waste of money ?

Point to ponder !

(photo credits to manorama)

george..

Money laundering by our politicians .

Well planned structured money laundering was carried out by our politicians before banning 500 and 1000 denomination currencies ...

Last year ( May 26 , 2015) RBI increased the slab for LRS "Liberalized remittence scheme" upto USD 250,000 which means an individual from India can transfer upto two crore rupee to their overseas account in a financial year ..

Before our PM came into the power the LRS limit was just 75,000 USD.

He was elected as prime minister on 26 May 2014, RBI Increased the LRS slab to 125,000 in very next month Modi come into the power I.e Jun 03 2014 and also they increased the slab to 250,000 USD second time on May 26 2015. Can someone explain why this increase was done gradually in two steps and what was the immediate compulsion to increase this LRS limit without bringing to any one's notice ?

Please refer below link for this LRS slab from RBI

https://m.rbi.org.in//Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=10192&Mode=0

Due to this increase in LRS slab, there was a sudden spurt in remittance since June 2015. Approximately 4.6 billion USD (30,000 Crore rupees) has been transferred from India in last 11 months. This sudden spike in remittance almost 300% higher than historical average remittance. There is no clear explanation from RBI for this sudden surge.

Read this below article from economic times stated this sudden surge on May 17 2016

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/indians-sent-a-record-4-6-billion-abroad-as-outward-overseas-remittances/articleshow/52301330.cms

After parcelling this enormous amount to overseas , now our politicians are playing anti corruption , anti counterfeit and anti black money drama by banning 500 and 1000 currencies ....

Alibaba Singles Day 2016 ..

Alibaba in China sells INR 12,036,000,00,000 - 1,20,360 crores ( ie. $17.7 billion or $17,700,000,000) worth Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) yesterday, 11 November, in a single day on Single's Day in China and set the world record ..

Alibaba logistics on Nov 11, Singles day .. (2014 pic..)

Deliveries were done across China in less than 2 hours of order placement,  86% of which were mobile based ..

A supply chain nightmare nobody has ever attempted in the history of the world !

https://www.techinasia.com/alibaba-smashes-records-sells-billion-on-singles-day

This is 4.4 times (4.4x) what Flipkart sells in a year in India ..

Looking at it positively, it is also indicative of the tremendous future potential for e-commerce in our country .. 👍

George

Pres Trump and ignorance in American society..

Trump supporters and Trump himself are ignorant that as a whole community, including Democrats and other fringe parties, they are all unworthy and sick transgressors and descendants of uninvited, violent, diseased, uncultured immigrants to North America !

They are all as 

   a society equally guilty and complicit of    violence and transgression on the native    Indians and the actual owners of all land 

and other resources of North America.

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.-  Winston Churchill

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-president-supporters-attack-muslims-hijab-hispanics-lgbt-hate-crime-wave-us-election-a7410166.html

God bless America from the present predicament ..

george.

What Trump victory means for India ..

Donald Trump appeared very balanced and mature in his victory speech. In the fast changing global scenario, democracy has once again succeeded, giving voice to the unheard and sidelined in the American society who came in large numbers and voted for Trump.

Photo courtesy, The Atlantic..

Indians by nature look at Republican Presidents with great skepticism ever since Nixon Kissinger team consciously tried to pull India down in the early seventies resulting in war with Pakistan and birth of Bangladesh. (even Kennedy's silence in the '62 Indo-China war is highly debatable). 

Time and tide waits for none and much water has flowed in the Ganges over the years.

In the modern global scenario of changed economic and military equations and strengths, the one thing India can strategically benefit from the Trump victory is the fact that US, if need be, will fight the proxy war or otherwise for India against China, given Trump's innate hatred for China.

We just have to keep quiet and not disturb when Trump blows his ego out and opens his mouth. Strategically using Trump for India's benefit is the key !

Given that US defence and financial secrets are already heavily compromised by Chinese hackers, there is not much Trump can do against the number one global economy of China than mellow down his stance and buy peace with Xi Jinping.

In the modern global economic, business and technological environment, where control and influence  are gravitating more to the New Delhi-Beijing axis, finally there is nothing much Trump can do, than flex some weak muscles occasionally!

 

http://wap.business-standard.com/article/international/what-donald-trump-as-america-s-45th-president-means-for-india-116110900537_1.html

George

Chinese Singles day and Alibaba ..

Friday November 11 is Singles Day in China ..

The $480 billion annual sales turnover Alibaba, (more than half the GDP of Saudi Arabia), is the world's largest business organisation. It is planning sales of $20 billion in a single day on Nov 11 !!

This lrojected Alibaba sales of $20 billion in a day globally is ten times (10x) what Amazon India sells in a year !!

The magnitude of the sales requires the *coordination of 1.7 million workers using 400,000 vehicles, 5,000 warehouses and 200 airplanes* to deliver the ordered goods to the online buyers. This year, *Alibaba even promised to deliver goods in as little as two hours*.

This is the most ever complicated supply chain management exercise ever undertaken by humanity any where in the world and is indeed a nightmare !!

http://nextshark.com/alibaba-20-billion-singles-day/

George..

Simple exercises to kickstart innovation - non-conventional thinking.

> Creativity is thinking up new things and innovation is doing new things !

 
Yes, true, without creativity we cannot think of innovation. They are two faces of the same coin and go side by side. 

Conventional thinking looks at an existing product or process and for innovating, thinks of different ways of using it in different environments and by different people. Because we already know the product or service and are trying to be creative, it really does not open up lot of unthought and unimagined ways of doing using the product or service. 

Non-conventional thinking is a new way of imagining and innovating things and ideas. It is acting against the conventional ideas of thinking and acting. 

Stage I : Brainstorming with open-ended questions -  It starts by showing a product or service and asking the audience to come up with a minimum of 25 open-ended questions about it, probably through brainstorming. The reason for asking open-ended questions is to ensure they are not just yes or no questions, they involve some thinking of the other features / uses of product/service. Allow only the creative right hemisphere of the brain to propose open-ended questions and not to critique it. 

Stage II : Choosing the top 5 great ideas - involves allowing the rational left side of brain to be active and selecting the best five questions on the product/service that has some impact on 
  a. generating a new use 
  b. highlighting a new use for an existing feature  
  c. highlighting a new feature altogether which has been overlooked all this while
  d. serving a new customer segment 

Stage III : Test and fail Fast - Prototyping / testing the new idea / use / feature of the product / service as fast as possible as a workable product / idea. The main focus is on failing fast ! It helps to come up with the final workable product / service

Stage IV - Implement the idea - Taking care of the IP rights, release the product / service in limited geographies of the world, with proper marketing / publicity  efforts through media / social media / newsapers etc. 

An example is : innovating the use of a pencil ..

Some non-conventional thinking questions could be like this :

1.  Is the pencil really happy in doing ONLY the work assigned to it ? If yes, how can the experience be improved and if no, how can alternate uses of the pencil be thought of. 
2. Can we fill ink in the pencil to put to more use ?
3. Why should the pencil need to be sharpened all the time ?
4. Why cant we use the pencil as a bolt to strengthen constructions ?
5. why cant the pencil be fat instead of being thin ?
6. Why cant I use a piece of Carbon to write / draw, why to cover it with wood ?

These are some of the 25 brainstorming questions (stage I) which I can put up from which after allowing the left rational side of the brain to work, I can select the top 5 open-ended question that has the potential to generate new "INNOVATIVE" uses / features / customer segments for the product / service ..

Once I select the top 5 ideas, (stage II)  I need to prototype and fail fast (stage III) to come up with innovative product / service with mass use / appeal before finalising on the idea for mass production / customisation. (stage IV)

References : 
1. Baumgartner, Jeffrey, "A simple exercise in anti-conventional thinking", www.innovationmanagement.se, 9 December, 2015.
2. Klapper, Brian, "Free Yourself From Conventional Thinking", Harvard Business Review, May 6, 2013.
3. Medina, Carmen, "The ten habits of non-conventional thinkers", www.recoveringfed.com, 9 December, 2015.

Nehru's foresight in India's space journey and Modi's economic surgical move ..

India was very fortunate to have had great PMs like Nehru and Dr. Manmohan Singh who have done yoemen service to the economy.

Modi, good intentions, daring too ..

Nehru took India to the forefront of the world in Science, Technology, space science, nuclear energy, Management, Industrial growth, health care, food sufficiency, milk sufficiency and helped establish the famous Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management. His long spells in British prisons across India of about 3200 + days, almost 9 years, helped to visualise what was best for India and its people. He also visioned as to which areas should India concentrate and spend its energies on to make a mark in the contemporary world, leveraging on our strengths.

When the rest of the world had no clue as to what the Russians and Americans were doing in space, Nehru had the foresight to call Vikram Sarabhai and asked him to start the Indian space programme. What followed with the establishment of INCOSPAR in 1962 (before Nehru's demise in 1964) which later metamorphised to ISRO, is history. If there is one organisation which is doing India a sea of good and taking Indian pride across our shores, it is ISRO.  No other Indian PM other than Nehru was as intelligent and far-sighted to have ever thought of space as the next frontier for India to conquer ! Our scientists never failed Nehru for the trust he reposed on them !

Our Economist PM Dr Manmohan Singh in ten years from 2004 to 2014 took us to the forefront of global economies. No other PMs had the knowledge and statesmanship to take India to these great heights. No one in the history of India has helped elevated our country to this great extent.

After former PM Dr Manmohan Singh took the country from #10 to # 3 global economy, it is great to know that the succeeding PM is also focusing on the economy. Now we find, our PM Modi is trying to catch up with Nehru through an economic surgical move which he initiated on November 8, 2016. Modi may be incapable in any other area, but at least in the area of building and securing the economy, as a very concerned citizen, he has taken a bold step.

Hope Modi has the skills, knowledge and expertise to guide the Indian economy safely. Will Modi add to the greatness of Nehru's India ?

Even if he fails, he will be remembered as the first Indian PM who showed the courage to fight black money and black wealth in the country without any preparation or fear and willing to face the unseen consequences.

Anything good for the country is acceptable for the people..  Will Modi be able to cleans the system of black wealth not only in cash but in gold, real estate and swiss bank stashings ?

Can the anti national elements, the rich criminals, ever be ready to give up their ill-gotten wealth for the sake of the growth of the country.

Attacking just 6% of the black money in circulation, appears a bit immature, but at least an action has been initiated, which is great. The next move should be to identify the black wealth, not just black money !! The other 94% is more important.. The illegitimate gold reserves and real estate held by individuals and institutions need to be brought out along with the lakhs of crores that have flown to foreign banks.

The hollowness and unpreparedness of the move is very saddening and shocking. Hundreds of crores of new currency are being confiscated daily from across the country when the common man has to stand for hours together in front of the banks to collect money.

If Modi succeeds in this move to ensure economic and monetary integrity in the country, which is very unlikely, I am sure he will be remembered by posterity for  picking up where Nehru and Dr. Manmohan Singh left.

As a responsible Indian, the common citizen is pained at how the rich and mighty, political class and criminals from his own party too misuse the economy to make a quick buck, not worrying of the country's development.

As the servants of the public in the country, it is the duty of the politicians to set right the system, and we hope they will. Hope they don't take the people for a ride !!

http://www.thebetterindia.com/74283/first-rocket-india-thumba-vikram-sarabhai-abdul-kalam/

The ruling political party which was pointing fingers at the minority communities for every ill befalling the country, now only has itself to point fingers to, when a big monetary cleansing exercise is being held in the country .. When the world was saying that terrorism had no religion, these people differed, they now say these black money hoarders and criminals, (finding that 99% of them are from the majority community), have no religion ! How flawed were their thinking processes right from the beginning ?

It is a fact that all criminals, be they physical terrorists or monetary terrorists, who hold the state and our country to ransom, should be tried under the due process of Indian law and punished.

ge..

The middle East mess !!

When I read this Reuters report about how a 240 year old violent US culture destabilised a 4000 year culture, resulting in so much violence and unrest now, my heart weeps !

By physically attacking and destabilising Iraq for no reason and killing it's citizens, US paved the way for the current mess in the middle East, I feel pity for the ignorant Indians who have migrated to this violent country in search of jobs and a living. Is it far in time that US will have to pay a heavy price for its nefarious actions in  destabilising the peaceful middle East for selfish reasons, causing so much violence, bloodshed and unrest in the region (like the Nazis..) ?

The world does not care which devil will win the US elections, the damage they have already inflicted on humanity is so much, it will take generations of Americans to wash the blood stains off their hands, generations of Americans will carry a heavy conscience to bed every night for decades with them ..

I am reminded of a famous quote by Robert Ingersol which goes this way -

In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments, only consequences !

So let us be fully prepared to face the good and bad consequences of our actions !

http://m.firstpost.com/world/islamic-state-brutality-comes-to-light-after-military-advance-reuters-3093916.html

Rashtrapathi Bhavan Delhi

Some bare facts - 

The Rashtrapathi Bhavan in Delhi is the largest Presidential palace of any Head of State in the world. 

To give a comparison, let us compare it with other Presidential residences.

The Rashtrapathi Bhavan building is three times (3x) size of White House, US Presidential residence. Its garden is twenty times (20x) the size of the garden in the White House.

The US economy (second largest in the World) is double the Indian economy (third largest) ..

George..

Man's tryst with space and India's successful missions ..

On the fourth of October 1957, Russia for the first time (USSR) sent the 86 kg satellite Sputnik 1 to space. US launched its first satellite only after 4 months in 1958.

In 1962, then Indian visionary PM Jawaharlal Nehru asked Vikram Sarabhai to explore space and the rest is history. Aryabhata India's first satellite went to space in 1975.

Sputnik 1, the world first satellite from Russia, 1957, (USSR)

India now launches satellites for US. 60 US satellites among 83, will be launched by India on Jan 15, 2017.

Additionally, India landed on moon (the world waited patiently for 39 years from 1969  till 2008, for innovative and brilliant Indian brains to establish the presence of water vapour in lunar atmosphere).

India also was the fourth country in the world to do a 650 million km  interplanetary expedition to Mars and the first in the world to undertake it flawlessly in the very first attempt itself, perfectly and most efficiently, that the unspent fuel onboard for the six month Mars orbiting mission in all likelihood, will help it orbit Mars for another 18 years .. 

See the Sputnik here ..   

 george..

My paternal grandparents Mathai Easaw and Saramma Mathai ..

1971 photo ..

My paternal grandparents - Mathai Easaw and Saramma Mathai.

Idavoor Puthen Veedu, Chennithala, Mavelikara, Kerala, India.

My grandfather was a scholar and Malayalam Vidwan at Bishop Bodge's HS, Mavelikara and my grandmother was a high school teacher at MG School, Chennithala.

They can rest really proud of their grandchildren as all of them have done well in life academically and professionally.

George ..

Greatest Indian leaders .. ..

India is going through a great time leading the world in many areas. Were it not for the great leadership, democratic thoughts,  statesmanship and foresight of this great architects of Modern India, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the writer, thinker, philosopher, statesman, intellectual, freedom fighter and what not, India would have gone the way of the failed state of Pakistan, down the drain.

There is a concerted effort by a radical and communal organisation to downplay the efforts of these two great leaders who gave their lives in shaping a modern India.  Today's petty politicians out of total ignorance of world history and Indian history, abuse them much but sadly, they are not in a position to come out of the grave to defend themselves.  Sadly there is nobody in the contemporary Indian political system to match Gandhi's foresight and Nehru's intelligence and statesmanship. Nobody in India can claim to have the respect Gandhi and Nehru commanded globally then.

Were it not for them and their policies followed by successive governments, we would not have had our great public sector enterprises, the civil service, the great hydel power projects, our prestigious space program and ISRO, our nuclear establishments, the white dairy revolution which ensured self suficiency in milk production in the country, the green revolution bringing self-sufficiency in food grains, the world's pride IITs, the prestigious IIMs, transportation infrastructure, ports, public sector enterprises and what not !

The great contemporary historian Ramachandra Guha had great respect for Nehru and his global appeal and writes thus -  http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-commanding-heights-of-nehru/article4091296.ece

Proud sons of India who are being demeaned by petty, ignorant and silly politicians, both will rise from the ashes yet again ..

While Gandhi gave ethical leadership for India to come out of the yoke of colonial rule, Nehru gave modern outlook and vision to the Indian dream to be a great nation.

The petty minds who point fingers at these great souls are doing a great disservice to the country. I can only pray that God give them sanity and ability to think clearly other than through a tinted glass.

Even if you cannot do any good to the country, please do not damage the country's reputation and past glory ! We need your help and cooperation in continuing with the incomplete agenda for the country set by our former national leaders.

As true patriotic Indians, we should not be satisfied with excellence handed over by great leaders from the past, it is just part of India's growth story. Instead of pointing fingers at our great leaders of the past, please be part of India's great growth story, this time with our current PM, Modi. Let us help Modi to contribute to making a great India.

George..

Seeking one's roots !

*Seeking one's roots*

Being in Bangalore, India, I can feel how alienated our children are with Malayali and native Indian culture, missing the finer nuances and vibrations, blaming myself for my selfish professional ambitions and growth, I can understand how people who have migrated to other countries feel pained, if they are sincere to their own self, about the simple pleasures of their native culture that is denied to their children and grand children.

I understand culture, that has stood the test of time, is much deeper than development or intelligence ! Being able to go back to our roots and culture (knowing that it is the oldest and most peaceful in the world at 6000 years and the richest too) is one of the greatest satisfaction a human being has during his last moments.

My desire in life is to convince at least one of my friends of the ignorance and folly of migration and settling abroad, seeking momentary materialistic pursuits (and occasionally short-lived intellectual pursuits too) in an inferior cultural setting and instead *seeking one's roots* , being able to return and being one with earlier generations .. 🙏

George..

Worst carbon footprint individual ..

Even though heading the world's second largest economy, the President of the United States of America is the most secured and protected person in the world (ensuring protection from the large numbers of global and domestic enemies made over past decades). 

The President is also the worst global polluter individual as he is  the person with the largest Carbon footprint too !

George ..

Leaders of modern Kerala ..

The leaders who paved the way to unite Malayalis . .

TM Varghese (home), Pattom Thanu Pillai (CM) and C Kesavan (food), 1948 at formation of Tirukochi. 

george..