Variation of an Old Joke

 Don't quite remember the old one, but you might, after reading the following.

What will happen in the Russia-Ukraine war?

There are two possibilities-either Russia will win, or Ukraine will win.

A. If Russia wins, they may stop all exports to Europe, as revenge. B. If Ukraine wins, they will reopen all the ports that Russia has captured.

If A, then Europe will be starved of gas, and a few other things. If B, they will have to return all unused arms supplied by the west through those ports.

If starved of gas, European countries may colonise some countries which have sunshine, like they did once before. If arms are returned to the Western countries, the arms producers have to find new clients, maybe in the Middle East or Africa, like they did sometimes earlier.

and so on. The wars will continue, if not in the present sector- Russia-Ukraine, somewhere else.

So why worry? Produce arms if you can, and sell them too, and you will be fine.

Tragedy of Greek Proportions

Greece's crisis is of huge proportions, but it's not as if anything like it hasn't happened before. India in 1991, several South American countries such as Venezuela in the late 80s and nineties, and Russia in its post-liberalisation days, have all had such crises.

What is different here is that the government of the day is still playing a populist tune, with no ideas on how to get itself out of the economic crisis. It may be weaker on its own, and stronger with the Eurozone, if it allows a compromise solution to be worked out. It may help itself, and a few other countries in the process too.

Hope good sense prevails.

Global Events- A Citizen's View

As a global citizen, one keeps listening to and viewing news stories about various things happening all over. That the media allocate their time disproportionately to different corners of the world would be an understatement. But still, the conclusions that can be drawn from all these half-baked and distorted stories are somewhat disturbing, portending of worse things in key areas.

The urge to go to war is not abating. Whoever is right or wrong is not the point. Ukraine/rebels, Iraq/rebels, Pakistan/rebels, or Israel/Gaza residents, all may be right in their own way. The point is, do you need to kill innocents to prove it? If not talks, is there no dharma-yudh (gentlemen's war, for want of a better translation) possible without innocents being drawn into it?

All the well-meaning parties that spend time on TV debates, can't they do some positive social work that may transform some potential rapists in the society, or potential criminals, or even actual ones? I have yet to hear of too many such stories in any media, including social, that have been organised by a political party of any hue.

Why is there undue coverage of yatras (pilgrimages) to various places? Is it not an individual's choice if he/she wants to embark on one, without the state getting unduly involved?

Is the world going to be a better place if USA/Russia/China/India or any one country is supreme? Is there any evidence at all that Romans or Greeks or Mongols were better than the rest at this? What can make the world a better place- health, water, easy travel to understand other people, cultures, decrease in pollution, access to livelihood, seem to be taking a back-seat to hyped expensive products, that we are expected to consume in higher numbers in pursuit of happiness defined by someone else. And usually, the hype works.

Some Original Thoughts

Sometimes, an original thought enters your mind, without being influenced by your friends, colleagues, bosses, et. al. The media are exempt, because they influence everything from the food you eat to the deodorant you use (if you use one). The media also relentlessly enlightens you about the world's bad eggs, making you feel good that you are not one of them. However, I am digressing. Here are the thoughts- I admit they are small in number, but it is a start towards a new dawn.

1. If one were to write the complete story of the Italian Prime Minister, it would be titled 'The Full Monti' aka Full 2 Disclosure.

2. Some countries have had a 'meteoric' rise. But Russia is different.

3. CTRL-ALT-DEL refers to the Altitude which Dell once reached and fell from, with Michael (Dell) losing Control over his company.

Knowing Your Xis and Hus

It is getting exceedingly difficult to keep track of your Hus and Xis. I mean, it's one thing to know your Who's Who, but then, who is Xi?

World leaders, the least you can do is have easy names like Manmohan Singh, or Obama, or Karzai. It was even easier in the earlier, good old days, when we knew only three or four world leaders- Castro, easily identified by what he smoked- cigars, Bhutto, made easy to remember because of the resemblance of his name to the Indian name for corn - Bhutta, Bill, who was hard to forget because he was presented to you several times every month- for instance, when you ate out, and all the Russian leaders' names, because they were all same-looking and sounding, with a lot of consonants and no vowels worth the name in them. Only Polish names have more consonants.

Oh, yes, and Tito. What a simple name. Unfortunately, like the Yugo, a car from that country, he had to go, and then his country broke up into a few pieces-no one knows how many.

With Love to Russia

There was a James Bond movie titled From Russia with Love. I took the title and twisted it a little, but primarily, this is to express my surprise (pleasant one, of course) at the readership from Russia (for this blog) crossing the readership in India and that from the U.S. for the current week.

Not very clear about why this happened, but I am quite happy about the fact that it has happened in unexpected quarters. I only knew Raj Kapoor's films were popular in Russia some time ago.

Visiting Hyderabad on some work, met two alumni of early batches of KIAMS for a long chat. One of them had helped write a case about her company called Golftripz, which pioneered Golf tours for Indians wanting to play abroad. Hoping to eat some authentic Hyderabadi biryani as I am in close proximity to one of its major purveyors, Paradise restaurant.