Life from Running to Stairs

Stairsmaster, Stairman, OMG…these are the few names which I have been given to me in the last few months after people saw a transformation in my body. And it is quite obvious because now I am a completely changed person internally and externally, thanks to my training which included running, stairs climbing, Abs, SuryaNamaskars and Kick Boxing. I don’t know how I got addicted to these but these are entirely my inclusions.

So, how I started? I have been running for a long time but with no focus on timing; however, I always thought improving my timing. In one of the many articles, I read stairs climbing as one of the core training of all successful runners. Meanwhile, Sharad, an IT entrepreneur and my running fellow did few sessions of stairs in his building which inspired me to do stairs in my building but I found it boring, may be due to non-circulation of air and closed four walls. Parsik Hill was one place where I remembered one small patch of stairs (110 stairs oneway). Next day, I ran to Parsik Hill (PH) and did 1,100 stairs (5 times of stairs run cum jog, 220 stairs up and down). It was an amazing experience for me though I was tired too. In my next run to PH, I did 7 times of repetitions completing 1,500 stairs which went to 3,300 stairs in next two sessions. Meanwhile I realized that I started feeling light due to stairs and my calves were becoming stronger. This made me to include stairs as my permanent training plan. So, instead of mixing running with stairs, I focused on doing stairs only. I landed on PH with my loads of carbohydrates, water  and other stuffs and did my first dedicated stairs jog and ended up doing 5,500 stairs in 1:10 hrs. My other core plans like SuryaNamaskars, Abs, Plank etc were on. I increased my stairs count from 5,500 to 8,000 to 11,111 and then 15,555 stairs in a span of one month. Yes, initially I felt tired but later on, it was perfectly fine except on the day when I did 15,555 stairs, my feets were paining. On an average, I did 5,500 stairs an hour.

These trainings helped me a lot; first, it gave me a discipline and direction how to target and achieve it and at the same time, it made my body strong, rather I would say super strong. I accomplished my sub 2 target of completing ADHM 2014 in 1:53 hrs followed by Emidar Navi Marathon Half Marathon in 1:50 hrs. Because of these trainings which included stairs, I finished Bangalore Ultra (50 km) in a reasonable time (5:40 mins). Believe me, I never ran beyond 21 km but I ended up doing 50 km without any hassles. Yes the last 10 km was tough but I managed to finish strongly. Recently I participated in Stairs Everest Challenge organized by Skyscraper Dash where we had to run 43 times up and 42 times down of Kohinoor Square (52 floors), Dadar equivalent to 106,500 stairs in a team of 6. We ended up doing 109,000 stairs where I contributed 18,750 stairs and rest by my team members. We took an average time of 3:00 hours and beat Bangalore record by a cool 13 mins.

I read a lot of articles on stairs and kick boxing and read few histories of some of the great runners of the world. Two things were common in all – Stairs running/Hill running and Boxing/Kick Boxing which are part of my training plans currently.

I strongly recommend all runners to include stairs, abs and other core exercises in their training plans which will definitely improve their running pace.

My life changed very fast in the last two years, especially in the last one year; everything looked positive to me, personally met so many wonderful and determined people, most of them runners of different ages but in different professions. I am blessed that I am surrounded by positive people, friends and bosses who always supported me in my dreams. God bless everyone!

Happy stepping!

18 Half Marathons, 2 Ultras and 1 Tower Run – The journey is on

“When you make yourself as your role model, nothing is impossible for you, especially when you are putting your efforts 100%.”

It all started with my participation in Dream Run of SCMM 10 and later in SCMM 11. I was amazed to see the whole Mumbai coming on roads and running their respective category runs. Though I was upset that I didn’t go for Half Marathons in these two seasons, I was determined to participate in HMs in future runs. The year went by and as determined, I registered for SCMM Half Marathon 2012 through my then employer. I promised to train myself but it never happened except few (2-3) practice runs of 5-7 kms. I managed a net finish time of 02:50:20 hrs without any preparation. I didn’t know if I should be happy or pat myself on my achievement. The next two days was horrible for me; my calves and legs were paining.  

The next run happened at Airtel Hyderabad Marathon on Aug 26, 2012 with a net finish time near to SCMM Half Marathon 12. Life went on and my passion for running grew stronger. I did few practice runs but not any serious runs. In 2013, I registered for SCMM HM 13, Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon 13, Airtel Hyd Marathon 2013, Vasai-Virar National Mayor’s Marathon 2013, Pune International Marathon 2013 and Zendurance Nashik 2013. With marathon after marathon and few practice runs, I managed to finish 2013 with the best timing of 02:14:42 hrs in Zendurance Nashik 2013. It was a major boost up for me as I managed to improve my timing significantly after 7 HMs and 2 Dream Runs by almost 35 mins.

At the end of 2013, I joined a running group, Navi Mumbai Runners (also known as NMRs) at Navi Mumbai and became an active runner with no proper focus on training. I just kept on running and running. Meanwhile I realized that running changed my life, my thinking and my perspectives towards the world. From an aggressive person, I became a calm person, a good listener and started giving other people their space and time. In nutshell, running became the biggest detoxifier in my life.

The target was set for 2014, nothing less than sub 2 hours for Half Marathon. Though many fellow runners asked me to upgrade to Full Marathon, I never thought to give it a try without achieving my sub 2 hours in Half Marathon.

Year 2014 started with SCMM Half Marathon 2014 on Jan 19, 2014. Though I didn’t have any fixed target, I had a soft target of finishing in 02:10 hours. I started my run with my fellow runner Sweta Jayaram and ran together till 12 km after that she gave up with my pace. I managed to finish the run in 02:11:34 hrs. Though I missed my own target, it was a real booster in my running career. Yes, you heard it right, somehow running became an important career of my life. I can not imagine my life without running. It made me disciplined; it allowed setting my target and achieving it with proper planning and training. I became so addictive to running that I started looking for event runs wherever I visited – be it a personal or an official visit. 

The office was planning an offsite in Jaipur in 1^st week of Feb 14 and it happened to coincide with Ambuja Jaipur Marathon 2014 on Feb 02, 2014. And to my surprise, I managed to finish it in 02:07:42 hrs, my personal best (PB) and better than SCMM 2014. The addiction to running became so strong that I carried my running gears wherever I travelled. My target of sub 2 was still not achieved. I kept on participating; added Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon 2014, Durshet Forest Marathon 2014, Airtel Hyderabad Marathon 2014, Satara Hill Marathon 2014, Mussoorie Half Marathon 2014. All above mentioned marathons of 2014 have their own stories, deadlines and beautiful moments. I would make a special mention of Mussoorie Half Marathon 2014. It was the toughest hill half marathon so far in my life, even tougher than Satara Hill Marathon; I struggled for breathing at 8,000 ft but managed to finish it in 02:21 hrs. I still could not finish sub 2 in any of these marathons. So, my hunger still remained on.

 

Meanwhile, in Aug 14, I changed my training plans. I started doing stairs, joined Kick Boxing and concentrated on core exercises apart from routine practice runs. I followed a tough training plan, did lot of Abs, Planks and Hill runs. I controlled my diet and avoided overeating; brought down sugar intake to almost nil. I started practicing a lot on stairs; increased the nos from 1000 to 2000 to 5000 to 8000 to 11,111 to 15,555 all at one go individually. Believe me stairs’ training brought wonders in my life. It made me so confident that my dream of sub 2 looked not too far as I had been eagerly waiting for Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2014. Since I had become an active runner, I had been aware of runs – easy and tough both happening across the country. Bangalore Ultra was one of them where there were categories like 12.5k, 25k, 50k, 75k, 100k and 24 Hours run; heard many good stories about it. I was very clear that I didn’t want to go for 12.5k and 25k and I never ran beyond 21k in my life. So going for minimum 50k was out of my sight. But I decided to plunge in the sea and registered for Bangalore Ultra 2014 under 50k category two weeks before the run date. I didn’t have any training and strategy in my mind but I decided to go for it as I was mentally prepared. On Nov 08, 2014, I ran. The first 10k, I did in 59 mins, 21k in 1:59 hrs, 25k in 2:27 hrs, 42k in 04:35 hrs and 50k in 05:45 hrs. I struggled a lot in the last 10k; I thought, had my training been fine, I would have achieved it easily. Nonetheless, I managed to finish 50k in a comfortable time of 05:45 hrs, a feat which I dedicate to my commitments to hard training and strict diet. This boosted my confidence so high that I was sure to finish ADHM 2014 scheduled on Nov 23, 2014 within sub 2. I took the next few practice runs easily, focused more on core training and practiced few sprint runs.

Delhi on Nov 23, 2014 had a wonderful weather, perfect for any runner. The gun was shot and runners set their pace at their respective speeds. I managed to finish it in 01:52 hrs, my first sub 2 Half Marathon after a year wait. I was so happy that I started crying at the finish line.

It would have been unfair if I would not have finished 2014 in style. I participated in Skyscraper Dash Everest Stairs Challenge (involving 1 lakh plus stairs in a team of 4-6 members) on Dec 21, 2014. Our team, “The Unstoppables” did a remarkable job of completing the challenge in an average time of 3:00 hrs per person beating Bangalore record by 13 mins. The total stairs climbed were 109,000 out of which mine contribution was 18,750 stairs. Hindustan Times acknowledged our effort and put a congratulatory note on their newspaper on Dec 25, 2014. Dec 25, 2014 was another running day; I participated in EMIDAR Navi Mumbai Half Marathon. The management was horrible with no active support. Most of the runners ended up stopping early or ran more; I ran 22.63 km more than my scheduled 21 km. Though I got my PB (1:50 hrs), I was upset with their poor management.

Now the focus has shifted to few other Half Marathons like SCMM 2015 (scheduled on Jan 18, 2015), Thane Hiranandani Half Marathon (schedule on Feb 15, 2015) and two biggies Ultras – RuntheRann Ultra, Kutchh (100 km, scheduled on Feb 06-09, 2015 at one of the most hottest and toughest conditions of Kutchh) and Twilight Ultra Challenge, Singapore (scheduled on Mar 29, 2015). I hope to do better and much better than my past runs. For the moment, my target for sub 2 is 100 mins and I hope to achieve it in 2015 along with two ultras which I am determined to finish it strongly.

My earnings over the last 3 years, most of them in the last 1.5 years – 18 Half Marathons and 2 Ultras. I don’t know where this madness will stop but I plan to make it 100 over the next few years.

1)     SCMM 2012 – Half Marathon – 02:50:20 – Jan 15, 2012

2)     Airtel Hyd Marathon 2012 – Half Marathon – 02:50:58 – Aug 26, 2012

3)     SCMM 2013 – Half Marathon – 02:45:03 – Jan 20, 2013

4)     Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon 2013 – Half Marathon – 03:15:45 – Feb 24, 2013

5)     Airtel Hyd Marathon 2013 – Half Marathon – 02:29:25 – Aug 25, 2013

6)     Vasai-Virar National Mayor’s Marathon 2013 – Half Marathon – 02:32:16 – Oct 27, 2013

7)     Zendurance Nashik 2013 – Half Marathon – 02:14:42 – Nov 17, 2013

8)     Pune International Marathon 2013 – Half Marathon – 02:16:07 – Dec 01, 2013

9)     SCMM 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:11:34 – Jan 19, 2014

10)  Ambuja Jaipur Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:07:42 – Feb 02, 2014

11)  Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:15:40 – Feb 16, 2014

12)  Durshet Forest Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:07:35 – Aug 10, 2014

13)  Mumbai Ultra 12 Hours Run 2014 – Ultra Marathon (65 Km) – 09:30:30 – Aug 15, 2014

14)  Airtel Hyd Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:10:46 – Aug 24, 2014

15)  Satara Hill Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:07:34 – Sep 14, 2014

16)  Mussoorie Half Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 02:21:25 – Nov 01, 2014

17)  Perfomax Bangalore Utlra 2014 – Ultra Marathon (50 Km) – 05:48:34 – Nov 08, 2014

18)  Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2014 – Half Marathon – 01:52:38 – Nov 23, 2014

19)  Skyscraper Dash Everest Challenge 2014 (109,000 stairs in a team of 6) – 3:01 hrs per person – Dec 21, 2014

20)  Emidar Navi Mumbai Marathon 2014 – 1:50:21 – Dec 25, 2014

21)  Powai Run 2015 - 02:21 - Jan 04, 2015 (Paced my friend, Dr Bhavana Diyora to get her PB)

22)  SCMM 2015 – Half Marathon – 01:46:02 - Jan 18, 2015

Life changed very fast in the last two years, especially in the last one year; everything looked positive to me, personally met so many wonderful and determined people, most of them runners of different ages. I am blessed that I am surrounded by positive people, friends and bosses who always supported me in my dreams. God bless everyone!

Happy Running!

From Sky to Ground

From sky, it is another pile of stones,

With green vegetation and jagged patches,

With few houses and few stray dogs,

With few plateaus and few fickling slopes,

With few birds perching on trees.

It’s one of the mountains of Navi Mumbai,

It is the Parsik Hill.

On ground, it is a paradise for old timers cherishing their past,

It has boulevard for hill runners, a training ground for endurance,

It has a tree filled oasis, creating an incredible green archway,

It is a hotspot for love birds having tête-à-tête banter,

It owns a Shree Krishna Temple hymning “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna”,

It is the veloscope for Navi Mumbai providing panoramic view,

It’s the refurbished Parsik Hill.

I wish there will be enough people,

To mesmerize its beauty till the lane ends at both ends.

O, Parsik, my Parsik, you remain forever in my heart.

I have a passion for you

Embarked on with ‘me too’ approach having no targets and no destination,

but ended with desolation and frustration.

Felt like I lost my battle, a battle aimed to conclude contentedly.

A year went by with no clear mind and no bump,

crashed into another destination with a slender progress.

It opened my mind, my passion with a submission for an explicit target.

Harder I went through like tunesmith for their melodies,

The more, it shaped my credence with a new aspiration.

My taste for new places went up, so my ardor with anonymous epic,

with each destination added, a new target laddered.

The gap between the stance and the swing narrowed, ensued a new swiftness;

conquered mountains, burnt road and sailed rivers.

They became my first love, my first home;

Yes, I have a passion for you, “Ms. Running”. 

Dare to be Different – Behave/Invest Unconventionally

In investment world, the experts are convinced that a portfolio needs to be diversified especially when you are managing public money. It is better to follow conventional behavior rather than to feel sorry later which may have many repercussions like compensation cuts, job loss, embarrassment, unpleasant headlines et cetera. However, when you set a path where you dare to be different rather than a part of the herd, you are supposed to take a different route with Unconventional Behavior for Favorable Outcomes.

Howard Marks, one of the World’s most renowned Portfolio Manager and Chairman of Oaktree Clients portrays a similar story in his latest memo, “Dare to Be Great II” (the first memo on “Dare to Be Great”, he had written in mid 2006). He says if you want to be an outstanding wealth creator, you need to be different with different outset. In his words,

“The real question is whether you dare to do things that are necessary in order to be great. Are you willing to be different, and are you willing to be wrong? In order to have a chance at great results, you have to be open to being both.”

He says that an investor can’t take the same actions as everyone else and expects to outperform. It ought to be different – you have to assemble a portfolio that is different from those held by most other investors.

He suggested a two-by-two matrix along with a rationale.

 

“Only if your behavior is unconventional is your performance likely to be unconventional…and only if your judgments are superior is your performance likely to be above average”

For those who define investment success as being “average or better,” three of the four cells of the matrix represent satisfactory outcomes. But if you define success strictly as being superior, only one of the four will do, and it requires unconventional behavior.

So, what needs to be done to act different? He says, 1) being active in unusual market niches, 2) buying things other haven’t found, 3) don’t like or consider too risky to touch, 4) avoiding market darlings that the crowd thinks can’t lose, 5) engaging in contrarian cycle timing, and 6) concentrating heavily in a small number of things you think will deliver exceptional performance.

Noted but they look nice on paper…

Few points mentioned above may not be applicable in many developed countries as the efficient markets hypothesis comes into picture and there is hardly any known arbitrage. However, in India, where the equity market has still not found its depth despite many years of its existence provides the perfect place to replicate all unconventional behavior. The word of caution is for investors who are not willing to take risks and are happy to take home an average return. But for investor or portfolio manager or those who has some sense in financial market can play different to get above-average results with favorable outcomes.

Is it easy to be different?

Howard quotes from Pioneering Portfolio Management by David Swensen of Yale (also my favorite Asset Allocator; you can listen his one of his lecture on Portfolio Management and Asset Allocation)

“Establishing and maintaining an unconventional investment profile requires acceptance of uncomfortably idiosyncratic portfolios, which frequently appear downright imprudent in the eyes of conventional wisdom”

Non-consensus ideas need to be alone, if you want to achieve above average results.

For kissing success, you need to witness a fail

If you are on a path where you have not tasted any defeats or have not committed any mistakes, then you may not get extraordinary results. You have to give yourself a chance to fail; learn from your mistakes.

The above matrix says that since the conventional behavior is sure to produce average performance, people who want to be above average can’t expect to get there by engaging in conventional behavior. Their behavior has to be different. And in the course of trying to be different and better, they have to bear the risk of being different and worse. Superior skills can increase the expected benefit from concentration and leverage.

He further states that superior investment results can only stem from a better-than-average ability to figure out when risk-taking will lead to fain and when it will end in loss. There is no alternative.

Dare to Look Wrong

He states, “This is really the bottom-line: not whether you dare to be different or to be wrong, but whether you dare to look wrong.” In order to get results, investment manager accept that they will make mistakes to make correct investment decisions. However, the real challenge is few people expect to find a lot of sure things or achieve a perfect batting average.

In a nutshell, we have to believe that you need to behave differently with unconventional behavior to achieve above average results. Unconventional behavior is the only road to superior investment results, but it isn’t for everyone. In addition to superior skill, successful investing requires the ability to look wrong for a while and survive some mistakes.

Rightly said, it isn’t for weak heart investors who can’t see losses.

Empower the women, Listen to their voices

Empower the equality

No wonder India witnessed many struggles pre- and post- independence which helped in shaping the country what we see today. However, we fail to recognize the contributions made by women and tried to depress it to make sure that man bastions remain in limelight. To name few eminent personalities right from the pre-independence era like Rani Lakshmi Bai, the Queen of Jhansi, Begum Hazrat Mahal, the co-ruler of Awadh and the Begums of Bhopal who led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 to modern day personalities from different walks of life like Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Lata Mangeskar, Kiran Bedi, P T Usha and many others who helped in shaping in Indian economy.

World Women Day, celebrated on 08^th March every year is not a day to celebrate one day of enthusiasm and show the praise for the wives, sisters, mothers, colleagues, co-travellers et cetera; it is the day to celebrate their independence with our clean mind. We often hear that women can’t cope up the pressure in all fields of life; so, it is the best if they manage household activities well and help their men grow personally. But are we creating a balanced social life? We are sitting on dynamite where we are witnessing a gradual decay of female-male ratios which have made many villages and towns in India barren. The society has been pursuing the glee hopelessly and the social lives have seen a slow death in those areas.

So, the question arise – how can they grow? Should we put them in a different area or barricade their movement? Or should we not clean our minds? We witness many horror stories like Khap Panchayat allowing killing of girls, Gang Rapes, Eve-Teasing and many more. Everywhere we charge them of behaviors which incite males to molest them or sometimes kill them. But I understand our society requires a deep retrospective thinking on what wrong we have done in the past which have led to creation of this kind of mind sets. Even in our offices, we fail to give equal opportunities to female co-workers with a view that they won’t adjust. Yes, they take time to adjust as they need to balance their work-home life and once it is in shape, they roar back like anything. We have many leading examples like Chanda Kochhar, Kiran Bedi, Swati Piramal, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw et al who have demonstrated their skills and fought in uneven times to come at the place where they belong to. The one thing was common among them – they dared to think and act.

So, the society must encourage the grooming of their girls and for that, education is must. Today, there are many government sponsored programmes for girls but somehow they never reach to 100% of the beneficiaries. A world bank study found that enabling girls to be economically active as boys would boost annual GDP growth in India by 4.4 percentage points. Yet girls continue to be overlooked and underrepresented.

The time has come and we have to select our choice – either accept the status quo where millions of girls continue to be deprived and killed due to our ashamed behavior or support a girl revolution, enabling girls pursue their dreams and empowering them which will help in reducing poverty, fuel prosperity and drive progress.

So, let us take a pledge, a pledge where we must empower them and start listening to their voices. Let us bring equality amongst them. Happy Women Day!

World’s Largest Unpaid Mockery Show – Target 272

The idiot box fever says that people are on for it. Yes, Indians are swilled in the General Election mood. So are the allegations and counter allegations by different parties in the country. Though India never belonged to two party nests until few years after the independence in 1947, it is sure that the real political fight in 2014 is between Congress (UPA) and BJP (NDA). Though the media talks about the Third Party Front, it never stood on the dice together to see its fall as experienced in the past.

India stands at a very dicey situation. The policy paralysis and a series of scams during the UPA tenure made India’s political map on all leading news and media of the world. At least these leaders are making sure that India should be on the front for whatever reasons – good or bad. The NDA government led by Shri Atal Vihari Bajpayee lost in 2004 after completing a full five years term. The campaign, “Bharat Nirman” could not incite the inertia of the people to vote for them and the country saw the emergence of United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Few partners supported wholeheartedly, few were forced to support on CBI’s baton and few had no choices (as their party leaders’ love for beacon lights always made them change their loyalties frequently). The 9.5 years tenure had been very tumultuous in the name of few real achievements and many scams. The country saw many super powers like RTI which made many scams surfacing on the street. But it also led to death of many activists as the leaders got afraid of their pasts’ acts and deeds leading to killing of many activists. It also saw MNREGA, a social security programme promising 100 days of employment to unemployed people which later became a vote catching tool. The show continued and we are again back to the most sacred process where the franchises choose few electorates out of 1.25 billion people. This is a marathon exercise but thanks to the Election Commission of India which helps us in choosing a pack of few leaders (who suck people’ blood) amongst the mango people of banana republic.

Mini Election in Nov 13

2014 is going to see a different color in election and parties are readying themselves for the opening exercise due in Nov 13 in few states which will decide the flow of the air in near future. All parties are betting strongly but the real statistics would be counted between the BJP and Congress. Though it is very early to react on outcomes, the poll surveys favour a winning verdict for BJP in 3 states out of 4 states going for state polls. BJP with its star campaigner and its nominated PM candidate, Shri Narendra Modi has been rallying along the length and breadth of the country and is seeing a strong turnout on the ground. On the other hand, the young scions, Rahul Gandhi and his ailing mother, Smt Sonia Gandhi are the star campaigners for Congress and are campaigning across the country.

Are parties scared or confident?

Yes, we are seeing a different view on the street. People are empowered as communications have made information at the tip of a button. We knew few actions in Delhi – Anna Hazare’s Aandolan, Nirbhaya’s rape protests, Jessica Lal’s murder case etc. Thanks to social media tools which made the banana republic so powerful that the government at one point of time contemplated to axe the social media rules. Among all actions, India is forgetting one thing – 25 Cr new electorates will add in 2014 and it’s important for the parties to tap them. So, suddenly the focus has shifted from the rural population to the new cosmo-urban and new cities’ residents. The intensity is likely to intensify as we enter into the final phase of the election. The new population is demanding, educated and looking for actions on the street instead of staying put.

Who will dive out of the troubled pond?

Initial projections say that BJP is having the upper hand as their coveted star campaigner, Mr. Narendra Modi with his bespoke oratory skills is all out against the UPA government. However, the ruling government’s Prince and Princess (I believe naming them would be an insult on their popularity) with SPG security cover are also throwing their hats to put their government and their family members’ sacrifices for the current mock situation of the nation.

Youths need to decide a new path

It is very clear that people are aware and very provocative in terms of their demands and rights and we have seen it in many protests which rattled the government. The new 25 crores franchise along with the rural voters will decide a new stream in the country and all eyes are focused on them. Let us do a fair judgment and decide the future Prime Minister of India.

Vote – It is the most powerful tool in a democratic country. We should be proud of it.

How MMS-nomics failed in India?

Nine and a quarter years are not a small period for any individual to show his/her credibility and presence especially when you are running a country and know the nerves of the nation as you had been an economist in the past. You can gauge it easily and come out with a discreet plan to change the fortunes of a nation currently under the hammer from all sides.

Yes, I am talking about Man Mohan Singh (MMS), the current Prime Minister (PM) of India who we all admired when he was taking an oath under the constitution of India. It was a proud moment for all of us as MMS (please excuse me; it is not the live MMS. He followed only dirty politics) had been the RBI Governor cum Economist for 2.5 years in the early eighties and then the Finance Minster in the early 1990s when he had the credit of reviving the ailing economy from the slump . Unfortunately, the MMS-nomics could not work in India in his 3^rd stint as the Prime Minister of India and India saw the fall of her dignity along with the economic growth which is staring at the Hindu growth rate, a term coined when the GDP grows at 3.5 to 4% per annum.

MMS, since his elevation as PM has been construed as a puppet in the hands of the glorified dynasty run by a foreign born lady converted into India’s citizen due to a wicked past from a young and charismatic leader who is no more on this earth. We all hope the proverb “History repeats itself” does not prove true for the son who prefers eating at a Dalit’s home but never speaks on key national issues. Nonetheless he is still aspired for the post of PM. Despite getting a 2^nd term in 2009, MMS could not turn the mandate into an opportunity and a series of scandals followed for all past sins committed by his ministers including him when they handled different portfolios. Some scams are so prominent that the sums involved are just wild guesses and run into trillions of rupees. MMS-nomics failed at all fronts, be the foreign policy, home policy, finance policy or social security policy. Nonetheless, to a certain extent, MMS is not responsible for the apathy brought to the country in the current economic situation as he is not given a free hand and not allowed to take decisions as the power still lies in the hand of the UPA Chairperson. Unlike other countries where the Head of the State played an important role in formulating and announcing the economic policies, in India under MMS’s rein, all key decisions were hijacked by the ministers like PC and others who had murky pasts (some have been proven but others are yet to be proved) as per different media publications. All ministers worked in favor of their near and dear turning India’s vicissitudes to losses only. Scams ruled the nations and thanks to Media, it got uncover ed in a very short period of time. Imagine what would have the scams’ size involved in the past among the beneficiaries when there was only one news channel and few limited print publications. Some of the famous scandals of the past are the Telecom Scam in 1993, Bofors’ scandal and many more which never got exposed.

The series of scams and scandals involving trillions of rupees dented India’s image and it led FIIs to withdraw money faster than they pumped in. Thanks to hawked eye review of India’s sovereign rating by all leading rating agencies where they turned bearish, India turned unfavorable for FIIs. The statement by Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman of the USA that they would reduce the pumping of cheap money in the system progressively also led to unrests across the world especially emerging countries like India. India got hit hard and due to absence of any other policies protecting its burgeoning CAD, the partially convertible currency, Rupee got hit harder. As I talk, it has already become a ‘Senior Citizen’ and is sitting at all time historic low. All other assets except real estate have already seen extended losses or staring at negative growth. In a few pockets of the country, Real Estate has already seen few defaults and if it spreads like a jungle fire, it may give a scathing attack on the economy of the country.

Thanks to media and people’s awareness, if the government does not respond in a constructive way very soon, they are going to see its own funeral. They will try their luck after they enacted Food Security Bill into a law by passing an ordinance but at the same time, it would also burden the state’s exchequer significantly.

Rise MMS Rise! Let others sleep peacefully! Jai Ho!

History Repeats in Politics!

Blogging has been very slow in last few months. Generally I avoid topics related to Politics but in last few days, many developments in Indian Political Circle have forced me to write. BJP, a National Party which started its journey from 2 MPs in 1984 to 182 seats in 1999 saw an unexpected mutiny by its patriarch and founding leader, L K Advani, also called as “Lauh Purush”. He resigned from all parliamentary boards and other committees in BJP seeing the elevation of Narendra Modi as the Poll Panel Chief for the general election 2014. Despite many efforts by all party leaders, he didn’t agree to withdraw the resignation. The cat and mouse game ended after 36 hours when he decided to stay put in BJP after RSS intervened. I will discuss repercussions on BJP by this drama by a person who portrayed himself rightly called, Mera Naam Joker.

JD(U), an ally of BJP in Bihar and a major party, had been eying an opportunity to corner Narendra Modi for his alleged role in Gujarat Riots (so far not proved in Indian rule of law) and the current elevation provided an opportunity to sever ties with BJP which may end 17 years of alliance in Bihar. The Cat and Mouse game in BJP led JD(U) leaders spreading the grapevine of breaking its alliance in Bihar. The reason – the unsecular characteristics of Narendra Modi and his elevation to Chief Campaigner in BJP which may ultimately be converted into Prime Minister’s role. Nitish Kumar fears that his party may lose Muslim Votes in Bihar if they accept Narendra Modi in the current form. Please note that Nitish Kumar fought election with BJP accepting Narendra Modi and sharing dias with him in many campaigns. All fail to understand how all of a sudden Nitish Kumar changed his mind to corner him in National Politics. 

Today all hell broke lose when their many leaders announced their willingness to snap ties with BJP in near future. In my opinion, Bihar’s electorate voted for NDA (a combination of BJP and JD(U)) and if any break in alliance happens, the electorate may not favor the decision by Nitish Kumar. 

Let me take you all to 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan broke from JD(U) and founded Lok JanSakti Party (LJP) with three of his loyalist MPs including his own brother Ram Chandra Paswan and fought subsequent elections with Congress and then with RJD. We all know his current status; he lost his election in Hazipur where he once won by a record margin (entered into Guinness Book of Records) and his party didn’t manage to win a single Lok Sabha seat in 2009. He changed camps many times. Ditto may become the story with JD(U) and its star CM Nitish Kumar. He should not forget that the electorate never forgets the past and the story of caste and religion is behind. The people of Bihar also want development which he delivered but it was not done in isolation. No wonder, he may face the same fate as his counterpart, R V Paswan faced after 2000. History repeats itself!

NaMo, an acronym for Narendra Modi will elevate further and the time will say whether India’s electorate will vote him to Race Course Road in Delhi or he will confine himself to newly created spacious North Block in Ahmedabad at the project cost of Rs. 150 Cr. Let there be euphoria for development.

Among all developments, Congress is smiling and someone rightly said that Congress have dug the well for themselves so far but other parties including BJP are falling into it due to lack of decisive union. And we all know where the country headed in last 10 years bringing GDP growth from 9% to less than 5% under UPA leadership. Now the party (in fact the Italian converted Indian Madam) is in rush to pass Food Security Bill by bringing an ordinance as it is the only chance to secure votes no matter what the impact would be on Indian Treasury (approx Rs. 2 lakh crore worth of additional borrowing). 

BJP on other hand should stand united and there should not be a single instance of blackmailing as done by its old patriarch L K Advani. Hope he retires soon. Sometime, we don’t require the old wisdom as they become liability.

We all are watching; Indian Electorate is watching. We are silent now but may not be in future. Let us vote for the best of India. 

Incredible India! Let us vote!