Austerity - its now or never

Recently our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after the increase in the prices of petroleum products, addressed the nation. His message was about austerity measures, the steps each citizen of India should take to tackle the out of control inflation. The response from the people was mixed. While some welcomed the Prime Ministers suggestion others thought it was a desperate last resort effort by the Prime Minister, who is trying to shift the blame of rising prices from the policies of the government to the people.

Personally I believe that the Prime Minister’s speech is 2 years too late. To be quite frank, it doesn’t matter if the congress is in power or the BJP or any other party. Inflation would be the same irrespective of the government in power. The only reason why the opposition and various news channels are screwing the government over this issue is because it’s their job to do so.

Talking about austerity, I believe it’s high time that all of us understood the seriousness of the issue. The reason for the rising inflation is lack of supply. To put it very simply we are running out of goods. When we were in our schools (talking about the people who are in their 20’s) we used to learn about renewable and non renewable resources. We were taught that petroleum and other non renewable resources would get over in the next 1000 to 2000 years and the renewable resources would not get used up as the rate at which it is generated is much more than the rate at which it’s being consumed. Unfortunately the scientist miscalculated the rate at which countries such as India and China would develop. Something which we thought would not happen even in our great great grand children’s life time is only a few years away. We are running out of resources and that too at a very rapid rate.

We had a false sense of safety till now. The rate at which the world is developing has ensured that the dooms day prediction which was 2000 years ago, has been advanced by more than 1800 years. Rising prices is a reality and there is absolutely nothing any government can do about it. If there is not enough oil there is nothing any one can do to bring its price is down. If there is not enough food, no one can say hocus pocus and bring its price down. Right now we are at a critical point. What we do now will determine the future of mankind.

There is a need for alternate source of energy but we need to give the scientist some time so that they can develop and implement it efficiently. There is a serious shortage of fuel, food, power, water and various other resources. I agree that the answer to these shortages is to improver the technology we use. Until that happens, we the citizens of earth should ensure that we don’t run out of these resources. We need to take steps to decrease our consumption. I do not think that there is any reason for panicking and going psycho about conservation, but each of us can take small steps to ensure that the supply - demand imbalance, the cause of inflation, is rectified by decreasing the demand. If the demand is reduced, then the rate at which prices are rising can be reduced to a great extend. The only way to do so is to cut down on our expenses.

There is a general feeling among people that why should any one tell them how to spend their hard earned money. The answer to that is we live is a society and for its smooth functioning we need the cooperation of every one in it. Price rise is a serious issue which affects every one. Prices are rising not because people want to make profit but because they don’t have enough goods to supply. So to ensure that inflation is under control we have to reduce consumption. If we handle the situation properly now there is still hope for our future.

Certain steps which one could take to reduce inflation include:

• Decreasing fuel consumption buy reducing the leisure trips which we take, buying more fuel efficient vehicles, use bikes when ever possible, car pooling when ever possible, turning off you engines at traffic signals and when ever you stop your vehicle (a vehicle consumes more fuel when its stationary than when its moving), walk or cycle short distances, reduce the use of AC in cars, use public transport if possible, avoid traveling by planes for short distance.
• Avoid buying stuff just for the sake of buying.
• All the grand parties and weddings, a little decrease in the grandness would be nice
• Conserve water and various other natural resource, at lest don’t waste
• Conserve power by doing simple things such as switching off the fans and lights when no one is in the room, stop using the bulb, instead of switching off the tv buy the remote, turn off the switch, reduce using AC’s and heaters.

The whole austerity issues looks like an advertisement for global warming activist. At this moment both global warming and inflation are interrelated.

The ways through which we can reduce consumption is endless. Each one of us should try and set an example for others. Do we want a future in which when we are 80 years old, tired and worn out and we need to pay a fortune for electricity or we need to pay Rs 5000 for a 2km ride to the hospital? This sounds like exaggeration right now but this is going to be the harsh reality if we don’t take care of our resource now.

So I urge all of you to reduce consumption, be a responsible citizen, set examples for others, and spread the need for austerity so that we can have a tomorrow in which we don’t have to spend our life savings to get from one place to another, or feel cool in summer. If we act now we could still have all the little things that we take for granted tomorrow. Instead if we ignore all these warning, we would be having an uncertain future. Do we want our children, or for that matter ourselves, to live a life in which only if you are among the richest in the world you would be able to enjoy basic necessities such as electricity, food etc? If not, for your sake act now.

In the words of Captain Planet “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle “

Mathamillaatha Jeevan(Jeevan, the casteless)

For a while now I have been planing to blog. As i am through with my exams, thought it would be a nice way to kill my time. For days I have been writing about various topics, but just could not seem to finish them. Today after a long time started to read the news paper. While i was going through the editorial of "The Hindu", saw an article on the text book controversy in Kerala. Even though it had been going on for a while now, I only paid attention to it today. After reading it felt like it would be the perfect topic to restart my blogging.

The whole issues surrounds around a class 7 Social Science text book. Apparently a lesson in the text book "Mathamillaatha Jeevan(Jeevan, the casteless)" is meant for propagating communist ideology. The extract from the lesson is given at the end of the blog and you decide for your self.

I am by no means a communist. In fact i believe that the only way India can move forward is if the communist have less or basically no power.( "If the Left have a future in India, then India has no future left" just felt like quoting this, heard it on TV, don't quite remember who said it). But in this case i am strongly behind the education minister and the communist government. After going through the text one question came to my mind. What the fuck? I found the text to be extremely harmless. The reason for introducing the lesson was to promote religious tolerance and give the children a different perspective on the matter of religion. They just wanted the child to think.

Various religious groups and the opposition have been protesting about the text for a while now. Don't these policy makers and leaders of our state have any other job rather than reading class 7 text books? Even if they had read it, i can understand them creating havoc if there was some basis in their allegations. It just gives the student a different take on religion. Is their religion so weak that, if their children get anything which questions it, their faith would go? I know that religion is very important and sacred for many people, but does that mean that one should eliminate everything that questions it? The thing i love about the Indian constitution is that it announces India as a secular country and gives us freedom of speech. Just because a particular view is not agreed upon by a few doesn't mean that it should be suppressed (as long as no law is broken by the view)? Even though our constitution gives us the freedom of speech, I find that these days people cant use it as freely as they should. I think people should be more flexible to different views. I believe that India is a better country than China just because of the freedom that Indians enjoy. I do not think that we should take that for granted and ensure that it is not taken away from us.

I know the job of the opposition is to oppose. The communist did it when the UDF was in power and now they are giving it back to the Left. But of all the issues to make noise they pick this one(this is quite true with all oppositions). Our states economy is in shambles, there is a serious lack of infrastructure, crime is increasing, there is water shortage, power shortage the list goes on and on. But the opposition thinks that a text book is the most important problem in Kerala.

I see no reason for the text to be withdrawn, nor do I seen any communist ideology in the lesson. All text books will contain different kind of ideologies. I do not think text books will change the way a child think as much as real life situations does. All this is a vicious cycle. I could go on and on about the advantages of freedom of speech and the drawbacks of politics in India, but it would be quite pointless. I believe each individual should try and do something, as little as it my be, about the stuff he/she wants to change.

Irrespective of the government in the opposition such ridiculously issues will often pop up. I believe its high time that the political parties act more selflessly . Oppose something if they truly believe its wrong. They should put the countries/states interest first rather than their own selfish interest( i know i am asking too much of them).

This is the controversial text(source - The Hindu 26/6/2008)

After seating the parents, who had come with their ward, in the chairs before him, the headmaster began filling the application form.
"Son, what's your name?"
"Jeevan"
"Good, nice name. father's name?"
"Anvar Rasheed"
"Mothers name ?"
"Lakshmi Devi "
The headmaster raised his head looked at the parent and asked:
"Which religion should we write?"
"None. Write there is no religion"
"Caste?"
"The same"
the headmaster leaned back in his chair and asked a little gravely:
"What if he feels the need for a religion when he grows up?"
"Let him choose his religion when he feels so"