Just some Limerick

I was sitting in the class when she moved,

I was looking but no one knew.

My mind raced, and my heart went boom.

I just jumped and ran out of the room.

But she was not to be there,

Now I had no idea what to do.

I thought I’d go back, but she was screaming

On top of her voice and I felt demeaning.

I was about to slap,

But it was not my back.

And I thought I would never do,

It wouldn’t have mattered

But I know you do.

I just made the slip,

It was the easier thing to do.

I should have done better,

But you knew I wouldn’t do.

So it happened all unplanned,

Like a concert going to doom.

It was not a shortcut to hell,

But nowhere was it down bell.

Forever and forever

When I met you for the first time,
There was nothing worth a dime.

But then something I found,
And it just came around and around.

I never thought it would be,
but like it was meant to be.

In no time it has all changed,
And all that is left is just a frame.

Everyday I look for something new,
so that I can be a different few.

But no its always you and you,
just coming back and telling me,
that I had something worth more than one life,
something more than this life,
that would never leave me.

Now that you are a part of me,
How do I lose that part of me?


I hope to have that again,
Just to be that close again
And be that forever and forever.

Future looks gloomy!

I recently read an article which went by the name “It’s over for dollar and euro; get ready for Sensex 60000” in Firstpost.com. Yeah you read it right, it is no typo it is Sixty thousand. The author clearly seemed to me high on a few gallons of Red Bull, if not smoking Marijuana. Before I go forward let’s get the facts straight. The GDP of US is close to around 14.77 trillion USD. And the debt they are holding as on July 31^st 2011 is 14.32 trillion USD. So that puts the sovereign debt at almost 100% of US’s GDP. And going by the US treasury’s website from December 2010 to July 2011, one can see that the debt has been growing at a rate of 5.48 billion USD per day. So that’s about US. I would not go into how it is posed to service its debt, because S&P clearly seems to disagree with Obama on that at least.

With the S&P lowering US’s debt rating has given clear cut signals that now that debt is more risky. And a more risky investment demands more returns hence higher interest rates. Higher interest rate makes it even more difficult for US to service its debt. Whispers if not clear cut speculations have already started about US going bankrupt. If investors panic and start selling treasury bonds, there would be a large supply of US bonds which will far outstrip the demand thus lowering the prices and hence investors might end up getting peanuts for their investments. Now another fear is that due to such factors Dollar will also weaken and that can lead to countries shifting their Forex to commodities such as gold. Now here is bit of a wild assumption, we are all clear about Europe’s position, specially the PIIGS economies and the apprehensions on Euro. So it might happen that Dollar and Euro as the world’s two universal currencies might crash and international trade might start using commodities such as gold in exchange for traded goods.

Another possibility can be the emergence of Chinese Yuan as the accepted currency for trade, but that will surely take its time as it not that wide used today. But here also lies a problem. China is holding 26% of US’s debt, so if the US goes bust and dollar crashes, it will surely have an impact on China and on the Yuan. So even this also looks like a problematic area.

The reason I thought the article was foolish, because the author said the flight of capital will happen from developed economies and investors will invest in developing economies such as India. But he forgot one thing that when US became a superpower it created a lot of wealth and when it crashes, it will diminish a lot of wealth with it too. The investors all will have their wealth mostly in US dollar and when it crashes; their wealth will also be eroded overnight. So from where will the capital come to take the Sensex to 60,000?

Whatever might happen, one thing is for sure, if another recession comes and hits US hard leading to it being bankrupt, its ripples will be felt much more in India than last time and future does look gloomy!

One Last Journey

   

It was time to say goodbye. It was time for that one last journey. I picked up my iPod, made a new playlist from my favourites, mostly old Punjabi songs ranging from Mohammad Sadiq to Kuldeep Manak to ever unforgettable Gurdas Mann.    

It was time to fuel up and I remembered that Autocar Question which used to go by “What would you do with that last litre of petrol?” I thought I was going to have that moment now. Kicked my Bullet start for one last time and it was time for a nostalgic experience. It has been 5 years since I fell in love with it. It has seen it all, all my relationships, all my memories good as well as bad. It even saw the change in me. When everything around was changing it stayed constant with me. It is very hard to forget that last peg of Old Monk that I sipped with my best buddies with the Monk sitting pretty on the rider’s seat or that ride with my first love or that drive back at 2 o’clock  with friends in first year after youth festival of 2006. So many moments which all were running in front of eyes like I was sitting in PVR.

I am being totally honest when I say that it felt very indifferent to part ways with you. Yes I thought I would be sad but I was not. Instead I relived a lot of moments which have become an inseparable of me, moments which can only be lived and not described in words. Finally it reached its destination, I handed the keys over, looked at it one last time smiled and moved on.

18^th July 2006 dad gifted me a Royal Enfield Bullet. 18^th July 2011 he is going to sell it off and life, it will just continue like it always does. As off now the Royal vehicle is gone, but royalty shall continue.  

If Poets can enjoy their poetry, Painters their paintings, why can’t rich their money?

I was really confused last month when Ratan Tata threw some jabs at Mukesh Ambani for him enjoying his wealth. I don’t want to go in the discussion that he has not earned his wealth, rather inherited it. But my focus here is on someone who has earned his wealth. To be fair to the elder Ambani, he should be given credit for some of his wealth if not all.

He has been praised, criticised, ridiculed for his house Billion dollar Antilla. But what I fail to understand is why? I have met a lot of people in my life, who believe that spending more than necessities is wrong and they don’t take it in a good manner, sometimes even frowning on it. The so called society has always taught me not to show off my wealth as wealth is not good. Rich people are evil and certainly sometimes a public display of wealth can leave a bad taste in many mouths.

But my question is, is earning money a science or art? I certainly consider it an art. If it is a science please tell me where they teach it, I would be the first in queue to learn. There are people from different backgrounds, different kind of upbringings who have made it into the wealthiest list. There are people from different backgrounds, different upbringing who have become great painters and great poets. They all show it and we all love it but when a man steps out of a Mercedes or a BMW in an Armani suit and Gucci suits, a certain reaction goes which is nowhere near praise.

I find it hard to digest why some still detest wealth, wealth creators. Why fingers are pointed at them. If we look up and appreciate art, I would say we need to appreciate wealth creators also. I’m not at all going for others reasons such as the amount of people found employment when Antilla was built or when a Buggati sold. My point is limited to the mindset and how differently we see, perceive and react to money. I just ask the question why different reactions, just because its money and accumulating money is considered as greed, while writing 10 poems in a day not. Perhaps we still need to broaden our mindset and see things in a different way to understand them better.