Metamorphosis

Sensex goes to 19000!
I may be writing this at a weird time...weird because The sensex might have crashed to 18000 or less....However,since we have to be positive,I will consider that the sensex will keep on rising.Yesterday was scary,but then all's well that ends well.

19000!!

Man,what a figure....This figure is supposed to show the world that India is a rapidly developing economy,[which It is!]
I am a commerce graduate...but I am embarassed by the fact that being a commerce student,My knowledge in the Stock Markets is very less as compared to some of my friends who are regular 'players' in this game.
I keep reading how the sensex boom has been the topmost topic being discussed in Mumbai[or Bombay,I still love the name 'Bombay'!]
There are people who ask,
~"Arrey what boom???My concern is the rising cost of groceries!"[this must've been asked by a lady,no doubt!]
~"Inflation!Deflation...what a tension!!!I just want to know when the cost of petrol will come down..."
~"Don't show us the graphs...show us the money!!"etc,etc,etc.....
The common man...who probably may not have even one paisa invested in the stock market...some one whose bank balance hardly balances his life...for whom even a 5 Rupees increase in vegetable prices will mean him going hungry for 5 days...someone who works in a mall,yet can't buy stuff from there....coz its damn costly...whose contribution to globalisation is stitching the latest 'Versace' outfit[and at the same time wondering,"people pay big bucks for this???aisa toh apna Raju Tailor sahi hai!!"]...
The common man,who these days,does not look like Anupam Kher and/or Amol Palekar,but looks just like any other person....
This common man must be saying"Sensex is now worth 19000...so??"This boom reckons that India is growing...and growing very fast!Yes,I think I agree too...but,we ain't growing taller...we are growing wider....I mean,instead of growing healthy,we are actually getting obese..!!

Tell me,dear reader....rather answer these questions[in random order;but all of equal importance]:
1.Is India's literacy rate 100% or even near it?Can every child read?Can every child write?Leave alone children,can every single adult in India read and write?Is our Education system good?

2.Have the majority of the Indian people got homes which they can actually call a 'home'?

3.Apart from the fashion week models,do 100 % of the people in India have a decent set of clothes?

4.Has India eradicated hunger?

5.Is poverty at the lowest in India?

6.Has India managed to curb its population growth?

7.Does India have the best facilities in heathcare?If not the best,at least 'decent' health care facilities?Have we completely eradicated diseases like:

a.AIDS

b.Cancer
c.TB
d.Polio
e.[Put any other disease by which ppl are affected]

8.Has Oppression against women reduced/become nil?Are there absolutely zero rape cases pending in the whole of India?Has the dowry system ended?Can a woman walk down an empty lane in any part of India feeling very safe?

9.Has India sorted out its energy problems or at least has a long term solution which works?

10.Have the farmer suicides stopped?

11.Is the visa line at the Indian Embassy in the US longer than US Embassy in India?

12.Has India resolved the J&K issue,which directly and indirectly determines the security of India?

13.Are all people happy with the politicians?

14.Have you actually skipped all these questions?

If you have answered 'Yes' to atleast one of these questions,You have been blinded by Illusion...The Illusion that everything is fine in India....If you get the questions' drift,add more questions if you like...

As you can see friends,we are all walking the tightrope..and not doing a great job at that...

If you have answered 'No' to majority of the questions[which,sadly,is the case],You may start thinking.."Hell,India has nothing to offer...lemme move to the US OR Australia or somewhere!"That would be the easiest way out of course,but then,would you be a slave in a foreign country than a free man at home?

I have no problems actually with people wanting to settle abroad or even serving other nations...It is their choice ultimately.Their hard earned money which they saved,lost and earned again...I ain't gonna force ppl to be patriotic or something or say "Let us pledge this and that"....

And this makes me come back to the very point which I started at the beginning...The Stock Market!People,if they have the money,will definately want to see it grow...even I would,actually ;)You can't blame the stock market players for India not progressing as it should.They are doing their own job,trying to do something that might eventually benefit a few;if not many.

In fact People who criticise the rise of the stock market and other similair things/events,I feel,should be the ones to be questioned!
"WTF have u done apart from just criticising everything and everyone who does something???"

Now I put a cliché "Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country"...JFKYou would have heard this innumerable times,on TV or anywhere!But clichéd it is,it also stands valid.
If one can't contribute in some way,then he/she has no right to criticise what is going on.This reminds me of DJ's dialogue in Rang De Basanti :

"Its easy to crib, but difficult to do something"

I write this,because we don't realise that we are silently digging our own graves even in the midst of being fearful of graves.

We tend to have "The Crab Mentality"[especially Maharashtrians!] wherein if someone is going ahead,people(like crabs) will pull that someone down.The crabs,however,don't do it on purpose...But we people do!!

I ain't gonna advise anyone now to join the IAS or the Defense or anything a la Rang De Basanti....but I am gonna say this:everyone should realise that each one of us have choices...What choices we make determine how we live.No choice is good or bad...its just what we do with the choices and use them,that determines the final outcome.So the next time you have to,say for example,vote for someone....make sure you choose someone that you are going to be proud of...and not vote for someone just because any Ram,Rahim and Randy tell you to...
Cheers then..I would love to hear your comments and criticisms for any point...coz if we don't ask each other questions and discuss issues,our society will be the loser...and remember,we are the 'society'!

Peace 'V'

P.S.Has it occurred to anyone,that ever since the reforms took place in 1991,Mumbai has:
1.Been Somewhat Apathetic
2.been Disdainful
3.Become A Terrorists' hot spot
4.become Greedy
5.Been Lacking Environmental Awareness
6.Been Lacking a CEO[Who's actually from Mumbai/Bombay and not Latur or Baramati!]
7.A lower population of Parsis[whom we Mumbaikars love very much!]
8.Disregarded Kolis,who are the original inhabitants of Mumbai.
9.Marathi has almost become extinct in some parts of Mumbai.etc etc...Food for thought??

lol ;)

Cheers!