Visiting Dense Forest will make our Life Healthier/Happier

Recently, one Yazhini Parvatham from Chennai sent a few poetic lines to one of the popular weeklies in Tamil- the lines which appealed to her heart. Those lines are from Baltimore Khurotta, which she must have translated into Tamil, I guess. The poem resembles like a truncated autobiography of the trees in a dense forest, giving vent to their feelings. I am trying to capture those lines in Tami into English again in my own way as they also appeal to my heart. Now the lines.

If you want to take away

Anything from this forest,

Kindly capture them in your camera lens

Or through film rolls.

If you desire to leave behind

Something substantial here,

Please leave your footprints alone here,

And nothing else.

If you feel deleting something in life,

Spending away anything,

Please spend your precious time here

In this dense forest.

How many of us have the heart and mind to wade through the dense and dark forest and drink the air of fresh oxygen. Do we have the physical and mental stamina, including the financial wherewithal to undertake the trip. Will family and friends give adequate company or will prove to be a nuisance and going alone is better. Compared to concrete jungle, the forest is still clean and green and we miss all these treasure while living, if we don’t bother to spend our precious time there.

I can never forget the cool breeze fused with droplets of water in the coral island while marching towards Mayabandar from Andaman Islands. While thinking and ruminating over it, I now feel and smell those precious moments of life.

Despite all adversities and cumulative humiliations heaped on life, I must say that I am one among the luckiest to travel to many places, particularly when I touched the threshold of Sixty- the sweet sixty, the period when the life has really begun for me.

Every day I feel that I am living on bonus time. I feel incredibly bad and sad that I could not read more and write more in the last sixty years of my life. But I taught more and lectured more by reading the subject in a more disorderly way without any target or goal. I only know how much I studied Economic Thought .Now, where are they in my subconscious layer of mind, I don’t know. In the remaining part of life to feel young and also to render some academic contribution I must read more and write more. I should, I can, but will I? Let it not remain the question. I have the goodwill of many and more important, strong parental genes which will help realize all the essential things which needs to be done, before saying a temporary goodbye to this planet which has become Flat, Hot and crowded. Until then, I will live and labor, besides loving fellow human.

Academic Goodwill Trip to Srilanka-Part One

Right from my Paris Trip, towards the close of 2009, I have been travelling to different places in the country on official and personal visits in 2010. To keep the passport alive, I made a trip to Dubai and Abudabhi and while returning back, there was a transit halt at Srilanka and we spent a few hours in the capital, Colombo city and took afternoon lunch in a star hotel opposite to the Sea, unmindful of the fact that Srilankan cricket team wicket keeper sitting by my side and eating the buffet lunch. In the hot Sun I went near the beach, which was neat and clean and felt that I was in a typical Kerela Sea environment .

On many occasions, a colleague of mine in the parent department also accompanied me. Some of the memorable trips are the second visit to Andaman Islands and my long dreamt trip to Mahe near Telicherry, the place where I started my career. It is my misfortune that I didn’t carry the camera to recapture my old college, which was housed in school building then. I also could not spend more time near the park which was coming up around the backwaters of Arabian Sea. The Tirupati trip was neatly planned by one of my PhD students, hailing from the region in consultation with his professor, a retired professor now associated with IIPA activities. By divine intervention, my one time MIM student, Santosh also came over there to spend time with Lord Venkateswara and me.
In my sixtieth year and while completing my fortieth year in teaching, I had a rare privilege and honor to address in the campus of Sri Venkateswara University and the next day in old S.V.Arts College , Tirupati. Santosh and Ramesh made the travel to the hill temple and stay there, a comfortable one and I was just wondering how there has been a great deal of transformation in my approach and attitude towards Lord Venkateswara in the last forty years.I still vividly remember my first trip tp Tirupati when my eldest daughter was just eight months old and while going with family I was mildly scolding the God because of the heavy rush and the lengthy queue.

The first LTC trip to Kashmir and the most recent visit to Madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Kutralam Falls and Papanasham hills was the most unforgettable experience. I do fully realize that life had really begun at sixty and I fully understand the opportunity cost of my time which is simply hijacked by some routine administrative duties and many other unpleasant side effects of the position.
The New Year 2011 began with my preparation for one week lecture trip to three universities in Srilanka. The New Year day had its own sense of excitement for a different reason too. Seduced by one of my PhD student’s casual observation that French beard could be tried, I had my own uneasiness and discomfort while going to the nearby Saloon. I was also slightly scared of my first son-in-law, given his traditional and conservative mindset what would he think of my experiment. At long last I overcame my shyness and all the uneasiness. When the job was finally done I looked like a replica of Director Mani ratnam of Tamil movie industry. As there are many visitors, colleagues and former students, virtually the time was running out and I could not assemble the things needed for travel. For the first time my youngest daughter helped me in putting things into the travel bag.
The academic goodwill trip to srilanka was first conceived by my colleague in the parent department in a different context altogether. But later it was hijacked by another colleague, formerly head in another department, through a series of networked relationship via phone calls and e -mails in two , three universities in srilanka. The tickets were booked in advance even before the finalization of the tentative lecture schedule.
To catch the morning flight at Chennai on 2nd January, we had to leave puducherry around one hour past midnight and virtually my sleep was gone the whole night. The driver was fine and we reached airport quite early and with the usual customs clearance and security checking, we had ample time to dream and ruminate over the one week trip to the island country .

Radio Talk on WTO in the Early 2000s – Part II

It would be rather instructive to remind that many developed nations have already chosen the FDI route to counter the threat of cheap imports. For example Japan is investing mere there to sell at competitive price by taking FDI route-relocating their manufacturing base to China to capitalize on the cheap lab and cheek the latter’s competitive edge in the Japanese market.


U.S. and Europe may also take Japan’s FDI route by investing more in China which has emerged as an attractive destination for international finance. Thanks to the massive FDI, China’s production base has become more technologically advanced. The role of foreign firms is more of an engine for China’s hi-tech exports.

In its decade of liberalization, India has failed to provide a competitive manufacturing base to Multi National companies-neither for their export nor to meet the needs of middle class. Focus had been laid on the software sector. There was no effort to use India as their production base for exporting to their own countries.

The decade old economic reform, has not improved India’s competitive position to any significant extent, huge depth of rupee notwithstanding. The Commerce Ministry’s target of raising India’s share in global export to 1% by 2003 from the current level of 0.7% will at best remain a pipe dream unless and until the bottlenecks in foreign trade arena are cleared.

In an age and environment, where global recession has hit many, the challenges confronting India are also many. The problems are not merely confined to low productivity, poor quality, weak and inadequate infrastructure, meager FDI, technology gaps and poor marketing tie up and so on, but also related to narrow export base as also the diversification of destination of exports. Though India can hardly emerge as an example of export led economy given its inward economic orientation for ages, it’s time that foreign trade was not simply treated as a residual category of correcting imbalances between domestic demand and simply; core export competence must be identified, nurtured and developed with all the policy and financial support needed for it.

There is growing evidence to suggest that China, the European union, South Korea, followed by Japan, the U.S, Russia and Taiwan have been trying for a larger slice of the Indian market, often undercutting prices for chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals steel and consumer goods.

Over the years, India’s export performance has been dependent more on the growth of the world economy and trade rather than the country’s inherent competitive strength in World market. Another stimulating factor that often contributed some semblance of respect to Indian export basket is the secular depreciation of rupee vis-à-vis our major trading partners particularly in U.S. this has also inevitably led to lost escalation of crucial imports that go into our production process, again undercutting export competiveness. Depreciation of rupee cannot be the perpetual instrument to boost exports and restrain imports.

While most direct export subsidies will have to go under WTO regime there is no problem in extending institutional and infrastructural support to exporters. In this context, it may be pointed out no country has left the export competitiveness to market forces alone. Recent strategic trade theories also clearly advocate the compulsions of using specific policy based support mechanism for encouraging export activity from the stage of production upto marketing abroad.

While formulating India’s trade strategies in the forthcoming ministerial meeting of WTO, government must persist with efforts to work towards introducing greater equity and balance in the Agreement on Agriculture and dismantling of the trade distracting measures, while simultaneously ensuing the fulfillment of the twin objectives of domestic food and livelihood security for majority of population living in developing countries. The unwinding of many concessions in Palm oil trade to Malayasia and recent freeing in wheat trade to Iraq are pointers that foreign trade challenges are indeed great and WTO cannot be blamed for all the ills and evils plaguing our performance in foreign trade.

India as a dominant leader and emerging power in South Asia must insist in the forthcoming WTO meet that industrial countries must honor their commitment to provide necessary financial assistance, including the technical expertise and transfer of the environment friendly technology on favorable term to developing countries. Attention must be also focused on greater North-South co-operation to take advantage of existing and potential complementarities in these economies.

India should take sufficient care to see that the proposed new round of trade talks not only recovers the lost grounds of LDCs, but also address the needs and priorities of developing economies, demonstrating thus that the trading system can also respond and promote sustainable development.

Radio Talk on WTO in the Early 2000s – Part I

I do not remember when I gave this Radio Talk on WTO at Puducherry. Accidently I stumbled upon this write up and felt that it shall be posted in blog. I am trying my level best to capture my reflections on the recent Srilanka Tour. In a few days I must post lest all those reflective mood might evaporate into thin air. Now the Radio Talk

I am here to discuss about some implications of WTO on India’s Economy. This talk has an immediate relevance and contextual significance for two reasons. First, after lifting of the final phase of quantitative restrictions (shortly called QRs) on imports, the vulnerability of Indian economy to the growing forces of globalization has increased in a more heightened degree. The continuing hue and cry for a level playing field is an indicative of trend towards a calibrated globalization as against the path of indiscriminate globalization and conferring of unfettered freedom to Multinational Corporations suggested by WTO’s rules and provisions to all the member nations, regardless of their stages of development and population pressures.

Secondly, the U.S. and the European Union are too keen to launch an ambitious new round of multi lateral trade negotiations at the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha scheduled to take place in November. They seek a fresh round that will lead to both, further liberalization of world trade and to clarifying, strengthening and extending WTO rules so as to promote economic growth. Having understood the intensity of anti-globalization protests at Seattle meeting in 1999, the leaders of these world’s two largest trading partners more like two elephant of world trade, are working continuously to go ahead with further liberalization of trade in order to support and stimulate growth.

Against the backdrop of these action packed events and sentiments surrounding World Trade Organization in a more stagnant phase of global economy at present, I am here to examine and analyze the implication of WTO regime on Indian economy.

Unlike, Communist China, which commenced economic reform as early as 1978, with well thought out strategy, the reform process that began in our country with the inevitable two stage devaluation of rupee was more of an historical accident and certainly not be choice.

It is an irony of fate that Indian Economy had very little time to adjust and adapt itself to the forces of globalization and reform process, as internal liberalization had been not yet effectively administered then. As if to add insult to the economic injury, while India was in the mid way of reform process, it was engulfed by Uruguay Round of GATT Negotiation which ultimately culminated in the establishment of World Trade Organization, acquiring on all encompassing role of world policeman to regulate and monitor traffic in the arena of world trade and investment, including international finance.

The essence of WTO agreements, ultimately boils down to rapid global integration, which in turn means development of borderless production to cater to the needs of both the domestic and export markets. The consumers all over the world can have access to quality products at affordable prices. The opening up of the market does not pose any serious problem to those producers who are cost effective, quality conscious and thus internationally competitive.

For instance, following the removal of quantitative restrictions and gradual reduction in tariff, the dumping of Chinese goods on India has emerged as a serious threat. India has responded by taking anti-deeming measures and also hiking tariffs to protect its domestic industry. Thus, for the time being, the prospect of Chinese bicycles swamping the Indian market is far-fetched thanks to 40% duty and freight expenditure

The prospect of Chinese bicycles swamping the Indian market is farfetched, thanks to 40% duty and freight-however in the fancy bicycles segment, they may prove competitive. It’s not easy to stop a chain of dealerships-well established brands are there already.

Combined with Chinese inability to set up a chain of dealership might give some further relief. But the brutal truth is that china with all the pressures of huge number, has adapted its economy to cater to both domestic and export market, acquiring the comparative advantage in a variety of trade segments, thanks to cheap labour, technology upgradation and judicious involvement of Multi National companies in their exports effort. But kindly remember, china has a tremendous competitive edge over a variety of goods which we cannot prevent from entering into our border by erecting tariff walls perpetually.

To meet the challenges of the opening up the economy and the renewal of quantitative restrictions on imports, it is not merely sufficient to negotiate them through the route of tariffs, although there is provision for it. In the coming years, India will be confronted with heightened competition in not only pushing exports but also growing threat of cheaper imports from countries such as China.

In the changed economic circumstances, if India wants to complete with more efficient producers like China, it will have to strengthen its manufacturing facilities but also relocate them, if necessary.

The Social Cost of Flattery, Pomposity and Manipulative Politics-Part-II Need for cultivating some sensitivity towards common man

The social cost of this shameless flattery and the influence of manipulative politics and money power is indeed very high and the long term damage caused to higher education is least understood. The existence and operation of Gresham’s Law (bad money drives out good money from circulation) in both real and academic world has serious implications for the long run development of the country.

Simple living and high thinking have taken a backseat and manipulative politics and money power have come into prominence. Members belonging to the Treasury benches vie with one another to shower praises on their leaders in and outside the Assembly to get the short term benefits of pelf and power. Even the level-headed scholar economist-our Central Finance Minister has unconsciously fallen a prey to temptations of flattery when the dedicated his maiden budget to the departed leader under whose regime only the fiscal and budget deficits reached an alarming, menacing proportion, the adverse consequence of which people are now experiencing in the form of payments crisis and two stage devaluation.

Time has now come for the modern rulers to develop some sensitivity to the problems confronted by the common man or man in the street. The common man does not know how to read or write. But he thinks that his children should learn and prosper. He lives in a hut or a pavement. Protected and safe drinking water is a scarce commodity for him. He can hardly afford minimum conveniences of life as he does not have a secure job or any worthwhile mode of production or means of livelihood. A frontal attack on poverty and unemployment can be launched only when our rulers are cured of all pomposity.

They must be made to realize that life at Parliament/Assembly and also outside can be lived without royal escort of a thousand cars, illuminations, statues and outward splendor to which our rulers have been accustomed. It is high time that traffic was not diverted or blocked to facilitate the speedy mobility of VIPS. Their manner of life can be brought almost, to the level of a private gentleman’s without destroying the prestige that goes with leadership. The hero worshipping tendency on the part of the common people in our country especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh must go. If no effort is made in this direction, some film star by his or her charisma and the consequent non-sensical popularity will stay claim to adore the political chair of Chief Minister as if it is a musical chair competition. Notwithstanding some salient economic benefits in the form of the establishment of social and economic order, Nehru’s command model failed miserably to tackle poverty and inequality.

The excessive exchange of control regime established under Nehru dynasty, has resulted in a high cost economy and we have already started initiating measures to free the cobwebs of controls and the nexus between politicians and the bureaucrats. It is also high time people realized the social cost of manipulative politics and money power, increasing sycophancy and shameless, rampant flattery. With all the greed, ambition and violence that are so widespread these days on both social and academic life of the community, how can we resolve the tragic problems of poverty, hunger, disease, malnutrition and misgovernment? The only chance to overcome greet and violence lies in the people becoming self confident and assertive by re-organizing their inner strength and learning to work together for the benefit of all and stand on their own legs, without expecting too much relief from the side of the government which for all practical purposes maximizes its own welfare function. They must also come out of the habit of always saying “heartening things” to leaders in all walks of life and cultivate the critical spirit of enquiry.

“The Social Cost of Flattery, Pomposity and Manipulative Politics”. – Part IThe Pleasing game of marital life and shameless flattery in concrete corri

Pleasant tributes and occasional well-merited words of praise add warmth and pleasure in human relations. The eternal kural says: The use of harsh words in the place of sweet ones is like plucking an unripe fruit when a fully ripe one available. Oliver Wendell Holmes description of friendship “as the pleasing game of interchanging praise” has contextual relevance in marital relations too.

A well informed, reasonably educated and highly cultured housewife turns the noisy rattle of married life into pleasant music. Her sweet words, to quote a Biblical proverb will serve as a ‘honeycomb’ and provide “music to the soul” and “health to the bones”. The same line of reasoning also holds good for the husband who must be always alert to understand the emotional side of his life partner and say consoling words. This will help release the pent-up feelings of the better-half.

There is thus a reasoned case of moderate flattery in family life. While the necessary condition for successful marriage is that the husband must continuously love his wife and have a better understanding, the sufficient condition is that continually he must tell her that he loves her. The institution of marriage must enable human beings to find emotional fulfillment and ultimately discover their own real self. Under the circumstances, the marriage becomes a soul stirring experience.

A husband (or wife) who exercises utmost restraint in the face of provocative statements from his life partner (husband) and is prudent enough to say pleasant words, obtain optimum satisfaction and buy domestic peace at home which in turn generates beneficial externalities to the family members and the society at large. Flattery, blended with a sense of humour adds colour and festivity to the insipid and meaningless life and provides lift from time to time.

But alas, the institution of marriage has evolved into a complex mechanism in this sophisticated, dehumanized age, leading to inexplicable tension and irreparable frictions. Prejudices and suspicions, inflated ego and arrogance continually infiltrate into the family and cause havoc; fortunately they are negotiated successfully by the wisdom of grown-up children. The tired and experienced couple also begin to fully realize that they must behave like coalition governments and establish a semblance of unity with a minimum understanding-more like a common programme that they must live together to see the children get settled in life.

Mark Twain once said that he could live on praise for two months. While there is a rationale behind well merited words of praise in both personal relations and social contacts, the blatant abuse of it (or misuse of it) has reached an alarming proportion in Legislative Assembly corridors and academic institutions. Those who conduct an exhibition in the art of flattery by their seemingly polite outward behavior with all the malice in the heart, shallowness and crookedness in the mind, have no sense of shame, no moral fibre to cloth their physical frame with and no social commitment to advance except their own personal aggrandizement.

With the art of flattery fully perfected, aided and abetted by the influence of affluence, their minds work in a typical criminal fashion to the economic detriment and social ills of the society. The stock phrases such as Prolific writer, ardent scientist/ economist, passionate lover of nature, brilliant orator, a committed patriot or democrat are lavishly showered on people in academic and literary meetings, conference and bogus seminars to obtain some favours and win some titles or designations. This rampant intellectual prostitution indulged in by some unscrupulous, usurious, teacher-politicians, spoil the work environment and degrade the standards of education and research so much so that even very ordinary and worthless books are extolled to the skies-by writers of introductions/forewords.

A letter from (dated : 08/11/1991) Prof. Lenin Thangappa –A scholar par excellence in both Tamil and English

My dear Sambandhan,

I went through your article. It is good. It exposes the widespread hypocrisy and sycophancy of our society. You have rightly pointed out how shameless our politicians and intellectuals are, drawing attention to sycophancy in the higher levels also. Your must also add literary people to the list-you know how authors and their worthless books are presented as “gems of literature ornament to Tamil etc! It is an article relevant to the present situation in this sub-continent.

It is good that without bluntly coming to these hypocrisies you have started with the family first, pointing out the necessity for pleasant words there. It makes pleasant reading.

Though you have asked for comments only, I have taken the liberty of touching up the article here and there. A few words are altered and errors of spelling which your daughter must have made while copying corrected.

In general, you have a love for words. I had it once. (Even now I don’t know whether I am completely free of it. In your enthusiasm to say things effectively you use words in abundance and big words too. And your sentences are very long and complex. In the place of a complex sentence, you can write two or three short, simple sentences. In the choice of words also, simple and direct words are to be preferred. For instance, instead of saying “generates beneficial externalities” you can simply say, “brings good” though your style is closely connected with your personality (which is always bursting out in anger against hypocrisy and falsehood). You can still try to write more simply.

However, unlike some of our young friends who write without any feeling for English, you write readable English.

You must write more articles of this kind-about our hallow and long-winded platform oratories, waste of precious time, lack of punctuality, indifference to social evils etc,

The hero-worshipping tendency found equally among our educated and uneducated people deserves one full article. How much public money-the sweat and blood of common people is spent for the personal comforts of our rulers! We allow everything without protest-looking upon the leaders as gods instead of regarding them as paid servants of the people.

I have been thinking for a long time of organizing meetings where without becoming merely intellectual or ideational, kindred souls must come together to think over the problem of living-understanding life and living it meaningfully; but I don’t know whether it is my laziness or my deeper understanding that makes me hesitant. At times it strikes me that all intellectual activity is meaningless and that the only activity which matters is to make ourselves good and loving human beings. However, it will be good if we meet occasionally. So please make it a point to come over here some day.

With love,

Thangappa

This was the letter written by Prof. Thangappa in response to my request to make some corrections/comments on my article entitled “The Social Cost of Flattery, Pomposity and Manipulative Politics”.

This was written in early 90’s and he was quick enough to respond by making stylistic changes in my article. Before you read the article, a few words about the Prof.Thangappa. Prof. Lenin Thangappa is a great scholar in Tamil in our region and he is equally proficient in English also. He has a lot of scholarly volumes both classic poems and poetic prose to his credit. Very rarely we would come across a poet of his caliber. He has also done a lot of translation of Tamil literature encompassing love (recently published by Penguin) and also some sacred text like “Ramalingaswamigal” also called as “Vallalar” in Tamil speaking world.