Inflation: An Evil?

We have always made inflation appear as an evil to society. All the pro-poor governments in India try to keep it under control and tame it. Te recent market movements got me thinking if Inflation was really that bad a thing in Indian context.

We are a country where at least 60 per cent of the populace still depend on agriculture for their living. And for time immemorial, food prices in India have stayed at ridiculously low levels. You can get virtually everything for less than a dollar. The road side Vada Pav sells for approximately 10 cents, whereas a similar thing in any developed nation would not cost less than 100 cents. One can get a whole day maid for less than 200 dollar a month, and I'm speaking only about Mumbai.

So, whereas the salaries for elite class and white collared workers are approaching the levels seen in developed world, the lower classes barely keep up with Inflation. So, rich are having a party with higher and higher income, and lower or stable expenses. Inflation is one of the way in which this anomaly can be removed. Let the prices of all food items double, an automatically we would have house maids and drivers asking for a raise.

In the short run there would be pain, but in the long run we as a nation may be better off with high inflation.

Apple's India Connection

As much as I like Apple's products, I really hate it as a company. While this may seem like a dichotomy, it isn't. Its similar to liking a forbidden fruit - its nice, but I can't touch it. 

Apple has the most racist of product introduction calendar - and most of the products are introduced in India (and many other poorer countries) after they have almost run their life cycles in US and Europe. And when there are newer versions to be introduced in those markets - it takes all the older versions off the shelf, and introduces the same in India. Much like iPhone 2 which came to India after 3G was introduced in US (and that too at a price higher than 3G). And now, the same story is being repeated with iPad. Months (if not weeks) away from the introduction of iPad 2 in US and Europe, they start shipping the old version to India. And market it as an event next to Big Bang Theory in importance for the nation. 

Its high time we do not lap up their products this way. That they should be forced to introduce the products at 'around' the same time with other markets, and not dump useless inventory at us. I just wish our government was active enough to control the foreign corporates, just like China does. 

Cricket World Cup 2011

I have been a cricket fan since my childhood days, like most other boys in India. And even though I follow a little bit of other sports as well (mostly Tennis and Football), Cricket is and would always remain the top priority. 

I don't know what it is about the game that has the whole nation hooked to it - may be it was the world cup victory in 1983. A nation tied down by bureaucracy, and the perennial underdogs came out as the World Champions. May be it was that one moment - mind you, it was at the venue of our previous Lords, that transformed the sports landscape of the nation. Hockey was relegated to background, and cricket became a national obsession. 

Another interesting thing about the game was it is an individualistic team game - you have teams, but most of the time its individual brilliance that wins you the match. You don't need passes like in Football or Hockey, and if you are good, you will play well. Add to it the plentitude of numbers - there are just too many statistics - runs, wickets, fours, sixes, 50s, 100s, etc. This game is a statistician delight, and can easily employ half of graduates from Indian School of Statistics every year (with so many IPL teams coming). 

Coming to the present, the World Cup is about to begin in a few days, and I'm really excited. Its been a long time since we had a all-nations tournament, and given the form of teams, this one promises to be really interesting. Of course I would be supporting India, but am mindful of the challenges as well. SA and England are dangerous as well, though they haven't really played in India recently (which is a different 'ball' game altogether. 

Atonement & King Arthur

This has been a movies week - and saw a couple of interesting ones. I had seen King Arthur earlier as well, but didn't remember much about it so gave it another run as well. 

Atonement is a classic, in every sense of the word. Usually the Oscar nominated movies are not really to my liking, but this is different. The story is set in 1930s and 1940s, and first part deals with an English household. I wouldn't detail the storyline here, but the cast is superb in their performance. Both James McAvoy and Keira Knightley are perfectly cast in their roles, and the young actress (who plays the little sister to Keira) is awesome. The basic premise of the story is how an act can change life of many people, and it may be impossible to rectify the mistake at a later point in time. 

King Arthur is very different in treatment, and even though it wasn't much of a success, I liked the movie. In fact, I tend to like most of the grand historical movies with battle sequences. They make for such a perfect viewing - with larger than life sets and dresses. This one is set in 5th century England, and deals with the folklore of King Arthur. Though the story is not historically accurate, with many a historians doubting even the existence of the King, its an honest treatment. Over the course of the movie, the Knights (Arthur and his friends) discover that they have been fighting a wrong battle, and their conception about ideologies of their empire is misplaced. 

Three Months

I am on a long leave, lets call it a sabbatical. It was not exactly pre-planned or my choice, but I got it nonetheless. And almost a month has passed as well. Now I have to decide what I can do over the remaining 8-9 weeks. 

Firstly, it gives me some time to catch up on some classy movies - I have long wanted to watch the IMDB Top 100 movies collection, and it might be time to give it a shot. If not all, then at least half way through the list. Over the past few weeks, have really saw a lot of stuff I had kept on my to-do list for long. 

Secondly, there are serials which I always post-poned for future viewing. There was OC which I had left mid way, and there are plenty of others as well - 24 and Lost among them. 

Thirdly, I am catching up a little on my picture management - learnt a few things about iPhoto today. Its really cool, specially the latest version - would upload a slideshow tomorrow featuring a few of my recent albums. 

Finally, I need to learn a few things about photography - and how to take good pictures under different conditions. I will spend some time on it tomorrow, and then try to go through the camera manual. I had bought a really cool camera last year (Nikon D90), and have been using it mostly in point-and-shoot mode.