ExpertDabbler

The history beind the so called telangana movement and the supposed progress of recently created states notwithstanding, I am not so convinced with the whole idea that carving out a separate state from a parent state would entail benefits to the common man in a significant way in the long run.

Unlike a corporate spin-ff where shareholders invariably make more money, the citizens of the state are likely to end up paying the price for the politician’s ambitions.

Things to expect in future:

- River water disputes between Telangana and erstwhile Andhra;
- Power sharing disputes
- ‘Telangana land is for telangana natives, others get out of Hyderabad’ slogans.

These are my expectations. And politicians have always exceeded such expectations of mine.
What was more intriguing was the way this whole episode evolved and climaxed. The trigger event was a black-mail event (10-day fast).

The message that I understood was, ‘Please blackmail us, and we will gladly oblige no matter how unreasonable the request may be.’

If Kasab had gone on 10-day fast, he would’ve been exonerated of all his charges and safely sent back to Pakistan.

If you are one of those who think the present education system puts too much emphasis on specialties and too less on holistic general education, then you are with me. I firmly believe the current education system of lecturing, attendance, exams does not lend easily to a person who wants to know important ideas in all the major disciplines but who does not like to sit in class all day.

Well, some great minds have thought about that even as early as the 1930s and have come up with the Great books program. I think it’s a cool way to educate.

Needless to say, I’d love to have similar programs in India as well. We have too many folks who cram through a Balaguruswamy text in a hurry, get a degree in Comp sci. and start to take themselves too seriously. It may be good for Balaguruswamy, but certainly not good for the students themselves. What they definitely need is a good-inter disciplinary education. Personally I’ve think I’ve always had a multi-disciplinary bent of mind and that has held me in good stead till now, more than making up for my lack of formal educational qualifications.

I would recommend those who have college going sons and daughters in the US to consider schools like St. Johns College at least for undergrad studies. This makes lot of sense than getting a BS in some esoteric subject which at least in some instances is just that, a BS.

I hope many will remember the infamous ‘auction’ scene in Rajini’s Annamalai. Just to refresh your memory.

Dramatic and unrealistic it may seem. But the same model has more or less played out in the infamous ABG Shipyard vs. Bharati Shipyard battle for Great Offshore (asset).

ABG (symbolising Annamalai for the purpose of this post) entered the auction fray to make the deal more expensive for Bharati (symbolising Ashok) and in the very last moment backed out of the deal by selling its holding at a higher price. Not to mention it made some cool profit. SEBI is a mute spectator till now, it usually plays the role of the police jeep in tamil movies, coming into the scene long after the crime has occured.

ABG, being related to the Ruias (Essar group), is easily the mightier of the two in terms of financial strength. Bharati is already in debt. I’ll not be surprised if ABG tries to takeover Bharati in the next few years, corporate kuppai being what it is.

It is not for nothing that the wise man from Omaha advices people to stay away from open auction situations.

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