Vardah and Digital Economy

The Central Government wants us to go towards a #Cashless economy. Sure .. great idea!

But let's see some very valid points from Chennaiites against going towards completely digital economy.

(1) Before #Vardah, we were very patient taking only 2000 rupees a day max, even though we had to pay our rents and the landlord is refusing to take online payment.

(2) Before Vardah, did you see how orderly the entire state of Tamilnadu was, even while mourning for the loss of our CM Ms Jayalalitha? We did not hoard cash during that time also.

(3) After Vardah, there is no power supply for four days now. Er ... how do we pay our bills online?

(4) After Vardah, petrol bunks and even water lorries are not accepting cards because their bank networks are not working!

(5) After Vardah, cell phone networks are still getting up on their knees even after 4 days and there is no data connectivity most of the time. Paytm options are gone ...

(6) It is only the 50 & 100 rupees that our mothers & wives had saved in kitchen boxes that is helping us run the day now.

This is a harsh reminder that unless the critical #infrastructure, including electricity / water / road / bank networks is set right, all the talk about going Cashless is just big BS. Hope the Government (both State and Central) sits up and takes notice.

We have been very supportive of #Demonetisation and #DigitalDrive so far.

Now our patience is really running thin, since we are onto our bare minimal survival and this state cannot continue for long. Hope the State government and PMO India are listening.

Demonetisation and arm-chair critics

Unfortunate attitude of many Indians now-a-days:

(1) Why should I pay my #taxes in Chennai? What has this Central Government done to me?

(2) Why should I pay my taxes in Coimbatore? That money is being used for feeding somebody in Rajasthan.

(3) Why should I suffer from #demonetisation when I am not hoarding any black money?

(4) Why should I declare my income and pay my taxes in Andhra? That money goes to laying of roads in Assam!

Let's just assume everyone starts doing this - violating all rules set by the Government.

Can you imagine a 'ruleless' life? Would you even feel safe to venture out in the streets? 

Let's remain sensible. Rather than questioning everything from "me, me, me" perspective, let's start giving constructive suggestions to the government as to what can be done better for society as a whole. 

There are enough forums made available by this Government at least! If we are not contributing to our own governance in a constructive manner, we have no right to complain - for it is us who have forsaken our democratic responsibilities.

If this post strikes a chord within you, it is meant to be :)

Tree plantation drive: Some truths

This is my response to the mockery of tree plantation drives:

One needs to understand that nobody is planting 'trees' - they are only trying to grow 'plants'.

How many plants do you think survive in each tree plantation drive? The maximum percentage reached is about 70%. So, if you grow 100 plants, maximum of 70 would only survive and that too only if great care is taken.

Just take a look at this article:

http://indianexpress.com/…/2-cr-trees-plantation-drive-buo…/

To reach merely 33% forest cover, we need "400 crore" trees. So, all these tree plantation drives are actually not sufficient enough to cover that. We are not even talking about 50% forest cover, just 33%.

Everybody can plant tree saplings. One very important factor most of us conveniently forget is the rate of deforestation:

http://time.com/4019277/trees-humans-deforestation/

We have 400 billion trees of which 15 billion trees are cut every year. This means, if nobody plants anything, we will be out of trees in the world in just a few years - within our lifetime! The plants that you grow today will not become trees by tomorrow - they take their own time.

So, my request to such people who mock is that if you don't plant trees, it is fine. Please stop making fun of people who do! This is not just for our generation but for our children as well that such tree plantation drives happen and flourish successfully.

I offer no proofs, just complaints!

Breaking my blog silence after a long, long time! It has been 7 days since the controversies have been raging around Isha Foundation.

If a sane person looks back at these events, avoiding all the media hype created and emotional drama, let's see who has actually complained?

(1) A parent whose daughters have become monks against their wish
(2) A parent whose kid was expelled from Isha Home school for bad conduct
(3) A parent whose son has become a monk against her wish
(4) A police officer whose elder kid was again asked to be taken off by Isha Samskriti management

In all 4 cases, there is a clear vested interest. One may argue that anybody who opposes some XYZ organization will have a vested interest. Let me ask you a couple of questions:

"How many times have you changed your job because you did not like the manager? In that case, did you become dead against the organization as well? If so, would an otherwise emotionally balanced person call your anger against the organization professional or unprofessional?"

"How many times did you take your kid off the school because his / her teacher scolded them for some mischief they did? If you did, would an otherwise emotionally balanced person call your anger against the organization professional or unprofessional?"

If in both cases your answer was that it would be called 'unprofessional', why is the same logic not applicable to these allegations against Isha Foundation as well? Just because their sons or daughters did not listen to them or could not be controlled by them, they have turned against Isha Foundation.

Mind you, all of them have based their allegations only on their supposed personal experience but have not produced any proofs for it!

What the media has done with it though is take the allegation, blow it up several folds with emotional drama and made it all appear like facts. People need to understand and separate facts from fiction, before coming to a conclusion.

Once all the dust settle from the hue & cry raised by media, hope thinking minds and sanity prevail!