Presidential Musings(..and more)

The election of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as the thirteenth President of the Union of India now appears to be a foregone conclusion, and the twenty fifth of July promises to be a good day for the people of India, not so much because the Indian Union will get a new president, but because we shall finally receive deliverance from the cow who currently reigns as the sovereign of this country. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, perhaps the most endearing politician(the heavily laden bengali accent is nothing short of legendary.) from the ruling Congress Party, seems set to sail through the presidential elections slated to be held on the nineteenth of next month, and the only other contender, a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha from the tumultuous nineties, Mr. P.A. Sangma, is hardly a worthy candidate for the Presidency. Though a man of probity, Mr. Sangma's behaviour over the past month, canvassing for himself and hopping around from one state capital to another proclaiming his own suitability is nothing short of disgraceful.However, far more portentous than Mr. Sangma's doomed campaign is the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party(early disclaimer: my antecedents compel me to sympathize with these buffoons.), has decided to endorse Mr. Sangma's independent candidature, an act which in my eyes is symptomatic of the lack of leadership that pervades this party of somnolent old men (and an exceptionally disgraceful fat lady.); and despite all the wistfulness on the writer's part it serves as a reminder(like we needed one) that the party will not be anywhere close to in a position to form the government after the next general elections in 2014, and that the equally perverse Congress Party will see it through in a fractured mandate, with the populace further being blessed with another five years of indecision, corruption, and 'policy paralysis'(the term sounds cool, you have to admit?).
This is particularly depressing for a young, reasonably aware individual who itches to ensure the progress of his people reeling in deprivation and abhors the form of dynastic rule that the people of this ostensibly democratic civilization have willfully chosen for most of their modern existence. However two years ago, I was more than willing to swallow these reservations and partake in the sanguinary mood that had enveloped the nation, primarily fueled by the high rate of consistent economic growth the country had witnessed for the past ten years or so. However, things could hardly have gone worse for the economy since, the growth rate of the GDP for the first quarter of 2012 slipping to a despicable 5.7% from the 8.5% of last year. There can be no doubt that some of this is the fallout of the eurozone crisis, but there are certain indicators that there has been a sharp contraction in the rate of private investment and a gradual drying up of FDI. Symbolic of the causation of the investment-weariness is the much-reported case of the retrospective taxation imposed on Vodafone by the Government of India, an act which is likely to scare away already cautious prospective investors. Coinciding with this economic crisis is the freefall of the Indian Rupee, which even crossed the psychological barrier of 57 rupees to a dollar earlier this week (its lowest ever.). As if things couldn't get worse, Standard and Poor reviewed its fiscal outlook in the long-term for India to junk status. This has to be the nadir of the Indian economy; and far more portentously, inflation still remains high at 7 percent, making it impossible for the Reserve Bank of India to ease lending rates or for the government to ease the appalling fiscal deficit.
A significant reason for the downturn has to be the populist over-subsidization of several commodities. Several prominent Indian and Western economists have argued for the cessation of these subsidies, often quoting the preponderant share of these subsidies on the national budget. However, the ground reality remains that no government can even think of easing these subsidies as long as there remain a billion vulnerable and poor people in this country. What needs to be done immediately though is to bring the misdirected intermediate fuel subsidies of diesel and LPG to an end (Why the hell has the government not done it already?). Maybe I'm being a little extreme here, but I would even consider banning every damn SUV as long as affluent Indians driving them continue to drain the Indian economy by guzzling unintended subsidies the way they do.
This might seem unrelated to the earlier part of my post, but there is a tenuous but critical link here. The duties of the Finance Minister will now be temporarily discharged by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (of L.P.G. fame.), and the optimistic should expect a fresh round of reforms that would stimulate economic growth again. There are already visible baby steps to a recovery and the Sensex has already gained over 550 points in the first four days of Manmohan Singh taking over as the FM. However, much remains to be done and the jury is still out on the future of the economy.

Also, our beloved Deutschland lost to Italy in the semis of the European Championship and consequently exited the Euro on Thursday night, as it gets unbearably hard to not break the television screen seeing Mario Balotelli play like that. Indian cricket ofcourse is going through a much needed languor and the only real Indian cricketer in the news is Sachin's fourteen-year old son Arjun(No, Yuvraj Singh no longer counts.), though last heard he had started training again at the NCA in Bengaluru, and a not so little bird tells the author that he is now only a shade of the player he once was, and that his cricketing career is all but over. However, there is some good news too, Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Wimbledon mid-week losing to unseeded Czech Lukas Rosol, and there still remains some hope that Federer might equal Pete Sampras's record of seven Wimbledon singles' titles, though the writer predicts the 'roof' at the Central Court will play a few more surprises before the end of the tournament.
That's all for now.

-Ac.

The Piecemeal Diaries

It's been a long while since I initially thought of starting a blog, this blogspot account itself has been in existence for over a fortnight now, and after mindlessly wrangling with myself for over a week about the title I have come to the inevitable: started writing the introductory message I've been led to believe is protocol. First things first, I have a presentiment that the success of this venture will be severely hampered by the lack of the writer's technological prowess(the account itself was created by a best-friend, pro bono ofcourse). It's only fair that I acknowledge the invaluable support given by the old lady in this little endeavour of mine. After all, it was her constant admonitions that have forced me to finally quit procrastinating. One of the reasons that impelled me to start writing was the increasing proliferation of blogs by friends and acquaintances: a trend I knew I couldn't resist for long. I have always fancied myself in the mould of and old-fashioned writer (typewriter and scotch in cue, you get the idea don't you?) and I was initially a mix of suspicion and contempt for this upstart form of virtual dissemination. But before long, I realized that this was an idle conceit and that my fledgling literary career was very much in decay. The only thing that could revitalize it was a medium that I had no prior experience(and hence failure) with, and 'blogging' seemed oddly apposite. So, this is my admission of finally bending with the wind, after all there's no loss of dignity in admitting loss well in time and this is my attempt at a graceful transition.
Implicit in this project is also the realization that I need to write more. I hardly ever put pen to paper, and my regular wrestling bouts with the empty word document are invariably futile. In my defence, I have been writing on and off for the past six years of my life (hence the 'piecemeal' in the name); but that stands to change now. The very objective of the blog remains to defy the title, to give myself a vehicle for expression and also something that will shake me up from my scholastic languor, and I promise to annoy the reader with less than sporadic annotations on everything from existential philosophy to the oppressive heat of New Delhi. I've also been told that I don't write bad enough to give up just yet, and the aim remains to give the reader something new to read, notwithstanding the ubiquity of blogs by teenage Indian writers. Most of my earlier articles have been for publications in high school (though I feel like ducking beneath the sofa each time someone brings up the fanciful prose and poetry I dabbled with a couple of years ago.) and my primary areas of interest are restricted to politics, history, philosophy and foreign affairs, and most of my musings will ofcourse be on the same, albeit I intend to apprise the reader with the perspective of an individual who has lived most of his life in a small city and someone who has great sympathies with the vast multitude of Indians suffering daily from the pangs of privation and disaffection. My nationalism also necessitates that I love cricket, and I'm more than an enthusiastic cricket fan, as I intend to evince in some of the subsequent posts.
This is hoping that you will bother to read more from the writer.

Welcome to the Piecemeal Diaries!