Ganesh Chaturthi

 He is a great example of how one can be imperfect in looks and yet be immensely loved and respected. Ganesh, the God who is remembered each year on this day, I mean. He is pot-bellied, elephant-headed, and gorges on modak- a food item made and eaten on the day. He also rides a mouse, and is supposed to be a good luck charm, and therefore before any major endeavour, people pray to him.

One of the earliest Artis I remember is dedicated to him- Sukhkarta, dukhharta vaarta vighnaachi..are the words.

Hope everyone is safe, and celebrates this day in the spirit of everything that's good about humanity.

Festivals- Private and Public

What exactly is the purpose of a festival? I am not really a religious guy, but this is not about religion anyhow. It is about the festivals, traditionally celebrated by us.

To my mind, it is to bring joy and peace to ourselves, and maybe to others. Whatever we want to practice in terms of rituals and diet etc. is our business, and no one else's. Similarly, what other people practice at home as their rituals, diets, etc. is their business, not ours. That is not only fair, it is also a sensible, common-sensical approach.

Why the State wants to get into this and muddy the waters for people, giving a chance to all kinds of strife, is what beats me. The State must endeavour to maintain peace rather than stir things up, in my view. If it is not doing that, it is a failure of Governance, however small. Something to think about.

Ideas for GDP Growth

Who says India cannot grow at 10% a year? We just have to re-align our economy to what is right for us, instead of looking at it through jaundiced Western paradigms (ha, managed to use this word). In other words, we have to reposition our economy as The Festival Economy. Dubai has something called festival city, so why not a festival economy out here?

All the nation's resources must be concentrated on the festivals. We can easily count around 300 festivals, so that'll keep us buzzing almost year-round. All products and services, supplies, and infrastructure should focus on the festivals. And there should be no shortages, to ensure that the Gods don't go crazy and punish us. So we have to have power for all, roads for all, sugar and oil for all, and so on. The people who have to produce these get fined if they don't produce enough to supply to all the festivals. Those who do, get rewarded with more festival orders.

Everything would be hunky dory, because who can compete with us on the number of festivals, and each one longer than the last one?

Uff, just got another problem off my back. Enough work done. Now let me go join the festivities..

Can You or Can't You?

The French have invented a can with a suffix. It's known as Cannes. Not a plural, or mis-spelt. It's just 'can' with a suffix. So if you go there and win a Lion, you can. If you don't, you can't. Simple.

'Can' also has a pejorative meaning, like the cooler (jail). If you end up doing illegal things, you can end up in the cooler, sometimes also called the can. So whether you 'can' in this case depends on your ability to go outside the bounds of legality. Can is also a 'slanging' term for the toilet.

I believe there is also a dance form known as the can-can- apparently, French in origin. This dance form was apparently looked down upon by respectable society, when it first appeared, for taking liberties with decency (as defined then-it varies with time, and is almost extinct now).

A cantilever is a paradox. Not sure if it can or can't- give you leverage.

Celebrate Every Day

Why do we wait for a festival or an occasion to celebrate? Is every day not good enough for it? Do we need Britannia (a brand it sells) to tell us to have a good day? Why can't we have it anyway?

I am fairly certain, you have something to celebrate on a given day- if you discount going to work, I mean. Even going to work has its celebratory areas- like socialising with a few people, meeting visitors, and getting satisfaction out of doing some good- I am assuming here we don't smuggle anything for a living.

I did research the happiness topic a bit over the years, and I find lots of people are unhappy when they stop working, and many actually die soon after they retire- men, in particular. That may be because work gives them an identity, and because they have never learnt to immerse themselves in other activities, or the community around them.

Anyway, it makes immense sense to celebrate your daughter's little achievement, your parent's good health, or your friend's new dress, or the spouse's cooking, or whatever it is you want to. At the very least, the chirping of the birds, the swaying of the trees in the breeze, and the colours of flowers you see around you- again, I am assuming you don't live in Dubai where there are none.

Try it, and see if it makes a difference. Might just take your mind off both Obama and Romney!