It’s a Catch 22 Situation today!

….22 years ago in Free India I lost my Independence !…I got married

….and Catch 22!?…well I can and I can’t !…I Love and I don’t….I…..

….and thanks to all who have wished “Happy Anniversary”…but just reflect !…’Anniversary’ actually means and breaks up into  ’Any-Ver-Sorry’!…’Ver’ is ‘Husband’ in Gujju Language

…..happily it’s been a huge multibagger already with great multibagger potential ahead too !

Cheers !

Cheers Son !…on your turning 21 in 2 0 1 0  

Cut out the 0’s and live the Positives as auspiciously Glorious Sunshine salutes you after Mumbai has experienced three continous Wet days….It’s got to be a promising sign !…..the Sun’s Rays are God’s Blessings being showered down on you

And you are my sure shot Investing Theme with record Multibagger Potential !….measurable  not just by Wealth of Money……

Remember that the Purpose of Life is to Live a Life of Purpose….and Live Fearlessly…all the Power to Achieve is within you…..Playing out Life and Blackjack 21 can be very entertaining and addicting…but Blackjack is Pure Gambling while Life should not be so,although you must roll the dice to get a  six and sail your ship on the Ocean rather than be sheltered always in the harbour ! 

Love you Lots….you are my vitamin..am always there for you….but if you ever message me ” Can’t afford a Girlfriend…No Mon,No Fun,Your Son !”….you know my reply ” Too Bad,How Sad,Your Dad !”

Cheers Son !….you can now get legally married without my consent !

So what’s a Double Dip ! ?….so I asked around and this is what I get…..

Young Daughter : It’s an Icecream, Dad !

Older Son : It’s when they serve starters with two types of Dips

My Tea-sing Wife : Darling, it’s what I do to make your ‘kadak’ Tea…Double Dips…Two Tea Bags in one cup of Tea

A Club Friend : It’s when I dive into the swimming pool twice in a single day

Ben Bernanke ,the US Fed Governor : USA is not facing it or causing it !

Clearly Individual Perspective influences the Definition

For those who really want to know….Double Dip refers to a Recession,followed by a short Recovery and then a more Deeper Recession than the previous one from which any recovery becomes more difficult….not good for the Economy and not good for Stock Markets….and USA is certainly facing the Possibility of a Double Dip Recession

So if the Dow goes Down bad,what shall be the fate of our Sensex !?

Let’s debate this over a Double Dip Tea ,shall we !

Cheers !

Life is certainly Lively !

Do you believe in Ghosts !?…. You would if you are frantically woken up at 3.30 am in the morning by your Wife frantically whispering that our Entrance Door was ajar and kept gently banging !

This happened to me a few hours ago….. and this is how it went….. Red denotes Fear and Blue stands for Calmness and it’s just a coincidence that Wife is in Red and Me in Blue… often the colour codes are reversed !

Wife at 3.30 am pulling my Legs frantically while I was just about to conquer Mount Everest : “Wake up ! Wake Up !”

Me murmuring :”Uhh!….!?”

Wife whispering frantically and agitatedly: “Our Front Door is slightly ajar and gently keeps banging”

Yesterday was Friday the 13th… many carry a Fear  of this Day…the phobhia is called ‘PARASKAVEDEKATRIAPHOBIA’…. that’s Greek..’ Paraskave’ denoting ‘Friday’ and ‘Dekatria’ meaning denoting ‘Thirteen’ and ‘Phobia’ standing for ‘Fear’….. Interestingly the Fear for the Number 13 is called ‘TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA’…… somewhere back of mind this thought lingers…. I had blogged on Feb 14, 2009 too on this Fear… check it out here Darr kay baad hee Jeet hai !.. Yesterday was ‘Fear’ful Friday the 13th.. today it’s ‘Love’ly Valentine Day!

Me jumped straight out of Bed to check : “But it’s Shut”

Wife : “I just Shut it…. but it was open like this”…. she then opens the Door to demonstrate

Me : “I came in last at 10.30 pm…. and you saw me close the door… so how could it be Open ? “

Wife : “Just Check the Living Room…is everything in place?”

Me :”TV is there… Music System is there…. Medals Showcase is intact… nothing seems to have been touched”

Me (in lighter vein): “And even you’re there…. must be a Ghost !”

Wife mumbles something inaudible under her breath

Me : “Go to Sleep”…. 3.30 am may be an ideal hour to relate and share true Ghost Stories…. but…….

Wife visibly less frantic, but yet deeply concerned goes off to Bed reluctantly… but lies awake

And I return to the Living Room and keep my gaze fixed at the Door…. I had seen ‘Ghost Hunters’ on TV and one scene, similar to our Door situation, keeps flickering in my mind

Suddenly I hear a Key Opening the Door !…. Ghosts don’t need keys I thought excitedly !

And in walks my 20 (soon to be 21) year old Son after a long Friday night out with friends ! and the first thing he exclaims when he sees me standing looking at him “WHY DID YOU SHUT THE DOOR ! ?”…..”I had walked in a few minutes earlier and gone back down again to give my friend his House keys that were in my pocket and I left the door slightly ajar so I need not have used the Keys to Open again”

“Huh….. How did I know you had kept it open ?”

As the Movie ‘Three Idiots’ has made popular this exclamation “Aaall is Well”  in the End….

But One thing I keep rediscovering even after 22 years of marriage and feel rather warm and kicked about…. is that My Wife, despite all her bravado, yet needs me to be there for her !…. and don’t anyone of you daresay it’s only because there was no one else she could turn to at 3.30 am !

Cheers… and have a Great Weekend !

Never Look DOWN on anybody unless you’re helping them UP

… an offshoot….. Always be Good to the People on your way UP for you’ll meet them on your way DOWN

Cheers !

PS: In lighter Vein, don’t look DOWN on our Sensex… just Help it UP !

Are you aware of the significance of August 9 ?

It was on this Day in

1942…. that the Quit India Movement began…. to gain Independence

1945…. that USA dropped an Atom Bomb on Nagasaki in Japan during World War II

1974… that President of USA, Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate Scandal

…. and also on August 9, 1962, my Mother decided that I needed to stop kicking her from within and begin kicking others on Planet Earth !

…. I’m yet kicking… because it is widely believed that unless Times of India in their ‘Personals’ does not greet you personally on your birthday, like they did BIG Lawyer, Mahesh Jethmalani and BIG Bazaar, Kishore Biyani this morning, you are not BIG !

A ROAR from a Lion to you’ll !….. and especially a BIG ROAR to those who wished on email, sms, skype, phone and Facebook !

…….. Like a close friend observing that a Hug is like a Boomerang… you get it right back…. I asked her if she had ever tried hugging a Bear !?… she said she would leave that to me !…. and I said I’ve already done this !… you see in my line of work, my Wife is the Bear and I’m the Bull !

……. Like another wishing me Many Happy Returns of the Day… and I tell her that unless I celebrate, I observe I don’t get Happy ‘Returns’… if you know what I mean

…… and my niece said “Mamu, Happy Birthday”… and I just saw ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ yet again on TV last night and so ‘Mamu’ was fresh in my mind…. but niece’s ‘mamu’ denoted a family relationship… so that’s alright

……. and one wisely wished me hoping that ‘May the Stock markets go up and up and up …..”… you see that we often corelate Happiness with an Up and UP and Buoyant Stock Market!… believing that these two are not inversely corelated !

……. and  Incidentally, one of my cubs thinks ROAR stands for ‘ Rights Of A Retard !’…. she’s not getting her Allowance this week !

Cheers !

Sinecure….. A Paid Job requiring little or no work

Now wouldn’t all of us just love a Sinecure !

Have come across this word several times and recently here in the Editorial of the Monday,August 2,2010 Edition of the Mumbai Tabloid, The Afternoon & Despatch Courier

http://afternoondc.in/afternoondc/editorial/higher-judiciary-too-cut-from-the-same-tattered-cloth-isnt-it/article_6327

It reveals that a few years ago, a Delhi High Court Judge, in what would appear to have to be a quid pro quo, was given a Sinecure, on retirement, in a quasi judicial body by the CM of Delhi because he squashed suo motu the Bofors FIR and lavished praise on our late PM, Rajiv Gandhi

The same article reveals that the Supreme Court Judge who signed the Order for CBI to close out the Shorabuddin Sheikh Investigation by a certain deadline was actually acused by the CBI itself for being a beneficiary of the Provident Funds Scam that rocked the Ghaziabad Courts…. seems he was exonerated just before retirement and CBI removed his name from the List of those who ought to be penalised for the PF Scam !….. shamming what the Congress Spokesmen have been ad nauseam repeating recently on Media News Channels that this is not a Vendetta against the Gujarat CM, Narendra Modi but this CBI Investigation is directed by the Supreme Court !… and Congress has nothing to do with it !

Mind you , I hold no brief for any one here….. No one’s a Saint here….. but I’ve always held that if it were not for our Judiciary and Media,our Politicians and Bureaucrats would have sold off even our Qutb Minar !….. Sadly and Dangerously too this View has been shaken in recent times

I’m sure there are many more instances of quid pro quo Sinecure !

“India is a Spiritual Mecca”…. Wow !… in just one brief observation, this Catholic Born, ‘Pretty Woman’, and  Hollywood Star, Julia Roberts, has combined Hindusim and Islam….

Roberts, now says she’s a “Practising Hindu”….. “I’ve been so spoiled with my Friends and Family in this Life. Next Time I want to be just something quiet and supporting”… she clearly wants to live a more Peaceful Existence in her next incarnation.

Just for the record, a few years ago, Roberts was the highest earning Hollywood Actress… she grossed over US $ 20 million in a  single year…. and just for the record it has just been announced that Sandra Bullock has grossed the highest for 2009… US $ 56 Million… beating Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz by a long shot

And Just for the record, and if it does interest anyone, I’m born a Hindu but am a ‘Practising Secular’!… and don’t earn such Millions !

CommonWealth Games but UnCommonWealth Opportunities

Really Sad…..Corruption refuses to recede…. again rears it’s ugly head…Now at the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee

It’s adding to this India’s Hall of Shame of Thousands of Crores….Defence Scams……Mining Scams….Telecom Scams….Sports Scams

Are we a Shameless Nation with no Conscience where Corruption is concerned !?….Patriotism and Pride confront Reality

I remember 1982…and the Asian Games ,New Delhi…..was a 20 year old in college in Mumbai….and 14 of us formed a Group….stood in shifts overnight in Lines for Tickets for various Games Disciplines…got a 50% Railways Travel Discount as Students…. and thoroughly enjoyed the Asian Games…it was great Fun…interacting with the Singapore Sports Team on Janpath……cheering the English in the Equestrian Events….interacting with a Host of other nationalities…..and ofcourse cheering our wrestlers,boxers,athletes,swimmers,tennis,badminton  and table tennis stars and  our Hockey Team at the Events…New Delhi was one Big Festive City….A single Bus Pass took us around all Stadiums…Security was tight even then…..it was an experience that I was fortunate to see in person,while most sat at homes at viewed it on TV,many on the ’in demand’ Sony Wooden Box Model 5052 ! 

That was New Delhi then…Only Congress…no BJP…..only Door Darshan TV Channel….no Hundreds of Channels,Public and Private….and so virtually no external TV Media Scrutiny….Sportsmen and Women Playing for Country’s Pride…Games that cost a few Hundreds of Crores

This is New Delhi Now……Congress and BJP and a Host of other Political parties with a selfish coalition running India…..and Hundreds of TV Channels….RTI Act and extensive External Media Scrutiny…..Leading World Sports Personalities Dropping out of the Commonwealth Games on some pretext or the other…Games that have ballooning Costs of over Rs 11000 crs directly and over Rs 30000 crs if one includes building up our Capital’s Infrastructure that will benefit beyond the Games

We are taught to think Big and think Scale…..So with such Mega Bucks involved in organising the Commonwealth Games,even Corruption is being uncovered on Scale !…so if aggregate direct and indirect costs to host this Commonwealth games are close to Rs 35000 crs or close to US $ 8 Billion Dollars,it can be safely assumed that there will be leakage of atleast US $ One Billion at the least…an aggressive guess would be close to US $ 3 Billion !…Phew !  

What’s Integrity to An Opportunity !

What’s the Point of Naming Names ! ?…..Tell me who is not Corrupt….who does not abuse their Position and Power in Bureacracy,Business and Politics ?….who does not have a nexus with Criminals to further their vested interests?….I’m not talking of Exceptions to the Rule !….I strain my eyes to spot any selfless and visionary in our Political Set Up….my vision is getting blurred  

I’m afraid,it looks like even the Judiciary is made from the same Cloth that drapes our Executive and Legislature Arms….A True Democracy can only Thrive when these arms function Independently of each other’s Vested Influences

With Political Leaders and Parties either being Mute Spectators, Passive Observers or even defending,often too aggressively, all the Ministers,Leaders and Bureaucrats that are suspected to be involved or instrumental in the Scams stating that these are only accusations and they are all innocent till proven guilty is nothing but creating  complicity in the Scams

India’s 1.2 Billion People are being shorted by it’s Political Leaders and Parties to further their own interests and those of their Party….’Aam Aadmi’ be damned !….Often Party Spokesmen stoop to such levels in their ramblngs on TV News Channels that methinks they need Medical Counselling……they may win Comedy Shows but will lose in IQ Tests !….and most of them are Practising Lawyers by Profession !….rest my case !

Just under Two Months are left for the Games to begin…….We must deliver a Fabulous Commonwealth Games…….Ideally this Organising Committe should be superseded immediately by People of the Highest Integrity and Propriety in India to ensure Full Transperancy and Accountability and Respectability and Credibility too……This Government owes it to all of us…….However the ‘Not Enough Time’ Argument may just save this Organising Committee….but methinks that if they should be allowed to complete the arrangements it should be under new supervison of a High Level Panel of Three Above Board Leading Luminaries….that much atleast should be done today itself !    

With such controversies we now definitely need Divine Intervention from all our Gods to make a success of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi 

Only Then can India be a serious bidder for the Olympic Games sometime early in this 21st Century and while I’m yet blogging!

Those who are involved in uncommonly privatising wealth in these Commonwealth Games surely will have to face their conscience…they live on a round earth and sooner or later their indiscretions and indulgencies will catch up with them full circle…either from serious Introspection or by Investigation….I’m sure of this   

Whatever….I love Sports…am a Sports Fanatic….and I’m going to enjoy the Commonwealth Games,New Delhi,2010…in full Spirit and Substance

Cheers !