On Paul Raja’s Anguished Anger Towards Crony Capitalism

Paul .A. Raja begins his reaction, indeed a welcome acceptable response by beginning “how do you treat a leader who behaves like a child? I don’t mean the one whom you describe above. But the one who throws his toys out of pram. He has raised a pertinent question: What if leaders, central bankers attempt to appease the business and banking community, which have behaved liked recalcitrant children and causing the global financial crisis. After speculating and squandering, after looting and plundering the nation’s wealth, these smart and idiotic children do not have any sense of shame in asking for more financial assistance .And for the sake of financial stability, the system has also responded in a more generous way. Paul Raja’s lamentation and concern over the current awkward situation, where the private losses are socialized and all the bailout packages only benefit a few crooks merit attention. His narration of the story in a few sentences touching upon Mr.Obama. Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown lending a all helping hand and looking like a savior, appropriately end with a poetic sentence , “ End game the angry upset children got their end while we look on haplessly. To console his wounded soul and comfort many , who are equally worried like Paul . Raja, let me share insights given by Paul.A.Samuelson before his death at the ripe age of 93, in one of his interviews.

“The whole history of capitalism has had up-bubbles in real estate and down-bubbles after something different. This time the new fiendish Frankenstein monsters of financial engineering blinded the eyes and the minds of everybody. The CEOs and the chief financial officers are the most surprised people. Nobody learned any lesson from Long-Term Capital Management. And what happens with this “new financial engineering” is an incredible “super over-leveraging” and you don’t even know you’re doing it. You know, it’s as if you’ve been blindfolded. And nobody learned any lesson from that. … And this all could happen only because Bush, with his “compassionate capitalism” appointed incompetent people …
This is a new crisis because if you look at its bottom it says, “Made in America” (laughter). It’s not Thailand. It’s not Mexico. It’s not Argentina. It’s America. And, of course, it spread from there. Could you believe that the whole country of Iceland is bankrupt? Icelanders were the happiest people two years ago. They’re the unhappiest people today. …”
I want to make use of this opportunity to dwell more on the attitude of a good child. At a fundamental level, children every where, whether they are here or else where are the same. If they feel like crying, they would. Or if they like to laugh, they would neither control nor conceal it . Have you ever seen a child laughing or crying? There is tremendous rhythm, grace and splendor packed into laughter or crying. Indeed we can’t describe that attribute and their appearance will be like a poem or a painting which we cannot fully appreciate.
Children don’t have fear, envy, cruelty, wickedness, cunning nature, evil thought and for that matter any great disappointment. A child is always a child. Pure, innocent, caring, sharing and profusely loving with all smile radiating on the face . No evil ever take a shelter in Child’s mind or memory.
Children do ventilate their feelings with all their innocence and freedom, whenever they want to, without any inhibition: But after the outburst, their hearts are unburdened and without any ill will or embracement they move on for the next adventure in life. We have to learn a lot from them. Especially a leader must internalize the true spirit of innocence, benevolence and all stubbornness of a child, to do some thing good instead of indulging in acts of crookedness and wickedness in the name of power and authority. I wish and pray that the champions of market fundamentalism as also the Keynesian interventionist philosophers devoted more attention to the problems of the majority poor in any crisis situation rather than getting concerned with crooks and fraudulent elements.

To register beauty, grace and style in the prolonged run:

“No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently”. Says Agnes de Mille. When I look back and ruminate over my life I am amazed and thrilled to find the wisdom contained in this quote. So many important events/ decisions have taken place in my life in a more subtle and a silent way. I know that I should have done many things in a different way as every one would like to think .Bu I guess there must have been a reason for every thing I did. Although I want to set some modest goals to streamline the academic files and write something substantially and more significantly, still I am so sure what I want to be any more. Being displeased and disappointed with my own academic output, now I want to keep the frustrations to myself. I know I have to stay focused in order that I will finish what I had started. Sometimes many things happen even when you do every thing right. That is precisely the time where you have to have more faith and move on , so that you can get out of the hellish situation .People go through life wondering what they are suppose to do, when it always right in front of them. The tendency not to notice it is the main reason for not doing many things in life. We should do what we are good at. How do we accomplish the task an whether or not it is good or bad, right or wrong, shallow or rich, let the posterity decide .I know I will never be as strong as my father and mother but they gave me enormous amount of intellectual capital and therefore a moment will definitely come and some thing will click with me as was the case in the distant past .I cannot run faster to win the race. But I must run the race in such a way that others must see a beauty, the style and the grace in the art of running .During day time I had slept more than warranted. I had not slept well and go the usual quality sleep at night: the disturbed inadequate sleep meant that it was shallow. Now it is clear that I have to make a clean break from the past and catch up with the new spirit of great moderation in sleep and run faster, without skipping minimum diet and walking, which are very badly needed to register that beauty in the prolonged run which eventually make the heart beat with a sense of academic solace and joy to register beauty in the prolonged run.

“Too Late Now.I will never make it” goes a saying : Too late now I know but still I will make it .

“All changes in miracle to contemplate: But it is a miracle which is taking place every instant.” says Henry David Thoreau.
After many months I attempted to clean the messy environment of the hall. It was a small change, more like a miracle that I could accomplish. Despite my best intention I could not go the temple . This is either because God did not want me to come or by sheer habit I had my allergy in going to temple. Be that as it may, I worshipped my parents at home and I did lot of physical work, thereby internalizing the spirit of my parents.

Now let me go back to my dateless dairy. There is a reason for all of us to be here. All of us may not be very clear about it but each of us is destined for some thing, which also we don’t know very clearly . In my case, purpose often seems to be more muddy or clearly vague.

I know very well that I don’t have any right to be unhappy. Because that is against the very nature of our creation. I have read long ago, “Be happy. That is one way of being wise.” I want to be wiser, despite all the failure on many sides of life because I will try to attain happiness. We may not know or discover many great things in life but if you are patient or still long enough, we will catch all the miracle in fleeting glimpses . I know I need to change in many areas of life. I will be careful with diet .I must do more walking than merely writing about its benefits. More than the diet and the exercise, quality sleep during night is very much important to rejuvenate our health and restore normalcy during waking hours. Still I am not able to take the first step. Bit I know that all the necessary changes will come across my highway of life .

There is more pain in life than I have bargained for . But in the end there will be peace, joy and harmony . That is what we optimistically hope for . An interesting quote “Too late now . I will never make it.” Seem to fir into my mood and character. I will not meekly submit to it. Better late than never . I know before the day exit comes, I should exist each moment of life to be engaged with something . To some extent that neglected domestic side must get predominance over everything else. This is not only for me but also for others who have forgotten to fine-tune the domestic side of life in pursuit of professional infatuation .All the action packed events and incidents of life – the setbacks in life –some times the loss of life itself, I have enjoyed it some thing like a thriller movie. All of us are in one way in a perpetual battle field and we should know how to be happy amidst all chaos.

Dear Mr. God! Who are we to question your wisdom?-part two

Long ago, while I was
Working at Karaikal College
I had to travel
Every week at the early hours.
I used to imagine and fantasize,
“My bus is just a dot on earth
Rotating in the cosmos,
And how it would be, if some other
Planet in the galaxy would come nearby?”
Now Choudhry writes:
Galaxies, seen through a telescope
“Would appear like a cloudy haze
With millions of dots,
The earth losing its individuality
In every sense of the term”

Like economist Joseph Schumpeter
Innovative concept of creative Destruction,
Which is the hall mark of Market economy
God has his own plan of
Creation and destruction
To keep the Cosmos
In a disorderly orderly way
Who are we to question his wisdom?

Dear Mr. God! Who are we to question your wisdom?-part one

For quite some time,
I have been philosophically musing
Over death,
Writing about it
And occasionally mentioning it,
In the class room, too,
Especially after I saw my
Aged, healthy mother,
Exiting the world after a great fall
For which I was
Inadvertently responsible,
A cruel act done through me
By the Almighty.

And watching her 45 days ordeal
That she underwent,
And that last breathe
She sighed, first louder and then
Shallower and gentler
All are etched in my green memory.

But the sudden demise of
Our Amanullah,
In a distant land, at midnight
In a gruesome Car accident,
In a very casual manner,
At the prime of youth,
We can’t just wipe out
That hard truth of his
Non- existence here, on Earth

I thought I am a loner
Talking and thinking about
This subject. Thank god!
I have a companion,
A Journalist from Business Line,
To feel and write about this subject
And all about the fault lines of life.
The other day I read
The major fault lines in macro economics
Now Ranbir Ray Choudhury’s
Reasoned, poetic and philosophical
Reflections on death and life
By revisiting YSR Reddy’s and his
Co-travelers tragic demise,
In a more unpredictable way.

Quite understandably,
In his characteristic fashion as a typical writer
With all Creative genius,
This crash reminds him
Of the Twin Tower’s
Savage fall by educated
Terrorists act meticulously planned
And intelligently executed
Where are they now?
Our friend asks

“Like a hypothesis waiting for Proof”
“And a number of stars in the
Firmament”, just wandering there
And each one is trying for explanation
We’ll cry for an answer
I know, you know,
All our friends and relations
Of yesterdays and tomorrows would know

The purpose of existence,
Arrival and departure time,
The good and bad we indulge in,
The search for mate, job and home
And eventually saying good bye,
At young, median or old ripe age,
All have been programmed already
With some flexibility in order
Like an arrangement
Under classical macro model
My Journalist friend
Is eager with imagination
To seek guidance and assistance
“From fellow human being who are wiser”
In order that
The mystery will be unraveled
He is right,
Spending too much time to think about it
And exploring all about death and life
Even while finding answers
Are going to be very difficult
Nevertheless it’s worth it,
And could hardly be termed as escapist

Dear Mr. God! With all our anger we don’t quarrel

What did Ammanullah Think?
When the Lord crushed him?
Did he wage a war
To survive?
Was he conscious or hopeful?
Why is he not coming in my dream?
How could he go just like that?
Abandoning his duty here
How could he yield to
His command and decree?
So meekly.

Today I met his friend,
Who is also closer to Kamaiah
I recollected my cumulative
Experiences with Amanullah to him
Especially in the summer days before his exit.

Amanullah is remembered
Not merely for his scholarship
Accomplishment in subject,
But mainly for his soft-spoken
Refined, cultured and polished
Behavior as a human,

He was an embodiment of virtue and
All the good things under the sun
He was more like a son to me
A charming, innocent,
Clumsy, bright sun.
That charming face
Neatly trimmed beloved face

And all the fun he had concealed in
That mischievous smile,
Will linger in my memory for ever
Entrenched in my computer memory
Never to be corrupted
By any virus,
Or breakdown in hardware.
His life is a classic case of
Illumination and illustration of
Human values, ethics, honesty
And gentlemanly gesture andBehavior.

The gruesome death is a reminder
Even God can commit a
Grave error,
Falter in his judgment, rather
Inadvertently
He snatched away his beloved son
So soon
Unmindful of the
Injury inflicted into many hearts.

Oh unmerciful god! We can only
Lament and cry
Ordinary mortals, short lived we are,
Uncertainty of this kind
We should always expect
And yet, your madness in methods
Without any forewarning
In taking your disciple,
Make us angry and unhappy

Dear God,
Forgive us for our misplaced anger
Should not we live a little longer
To praise your glory
Of maintaining this international disorder
The complexities and chaos
Pushing the good and honest
Away from circulation?
Keeping Srilankan Tamils and Palestinians
In perpetual humiliation/deprivation

Forgive us Lord,
We are grateful to you for
All the good that still
Envelopes the Earth
A small request:
Give some bonus time for
Those who take their own time
To accomplish and fertilize the earth
Through green manure
And green technology

All great souls
Bharthi, Vivekananda, vallallar
And others,
Go early, after turning out
A torrential output
If you put Ammanullah
In that bracket, of saints and stalwarts
Then no quarrel, my dear Lord!

Thinking of Death; Its both Intimidating and Enchanting –From My Dateless Diary (mid 2009)

Today for a few minutes,
I ruminated over death
How I would feel,
When it embraces me
And what would happen
‘To me’, thereafter
The solid fact that
One day, we would kiss this world
And say good bye,
Is both terrifying and refreshing

Will all our restlessness and uneasiness
At long last come to an abrupt end
Or will it be a new and another
Beginning for another round of
Blissful experience and despair?
A series of cycles of birth and death.
Thank god,
Excepting the saintly souls,
Ordinary mortals like
Are deprived of this knowledge
It’s better to be ignorant than intelligent
In this arena

But going back to death,
Is it either an intimidating or
A kind of enchanting game?
What did my mother think
At the time of death?
A sight I couldn’t bear
And a kind of suffering that should not
Have visited her.

My father had all the feelings
And remembrance about me
On that fateful night,
Fully unaware that
In the next few hours,
He was going to dissolve
Into cosmos

At the time of Father’s death
I didn’t cry and weep for days
As I did when my
Mother left me.
She was all solidity
And lived for long.
Nearly two decades after my dad got delinked from us
With moistured eyes,
I can only feel more about my lapse
For my parents now.
Where are they now?
They come in my dreams
Very rarely,
Will they interact, when
I exit from here?
I long for it
Fully knowing that
That is an impossibility.