Where are WE Heading??

The rising inflation in our country over the past couple of months has created a panic amongst all of us. The soaring oil prices (latest being USD132/barrel) and the slowdown of the US economy have been attributed as the major reasons for the same. Every second day I read about a new measure being announced - ban on export of essential commodities, increasing CRR rates etc. In spite of the various monetary and fiscal measures that the Government has embarked upon, it hasn’t been able to curb the rising inflation.

This led me to do some research on the inflation rates around the world and the various steps countries are/have been taking to keep it under control and I stumbled upon a mind-boggling fact. I got to know about the country with the highest rate of inflation. Guess which one is it? I was pretty sure it had to be some African country and sure it was. The country is Zimbabwe. Now you might wonder what’s mind-boggling about this finding. The inflation rate of the country as of February 2008 was 1,00,000% !!!! Yes, you read it right – ONE LAKH PERCENT!! Can you imagine that??

A loaf of bread would cost you between ZWD 80,000 – ZWD 110,000 (ZWD = Zimbabwe Dollar) i.e. around 80 US cents. A carton of orange juice costs about ZWD 500,000 and a kilo of beef up to ZWD 1m.

The currency rates of the country are as of 7^th June 2007 are:

1 US Dollar (USD) = 574,556,500 Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD)

1 Indian Rupee (INR) = 13,452,937 Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD)

About 80% of the country's population lives in poverty and it is estimated that three million people have left the country for a new life in South Africa. Business quotations in the country are valid only for 48 hours as prices keep doubling every moment. The Central Bank of the country has started issuing currency notes in denominations of 10 million!!

The corruption rate in the country is alarming. The country has the highest number of people suffering from HIV / AIDS. Moreover, the inability of the government to gain control over the economy and has led to a tremendous rise in social evils like robbery, thefts and murders. The Government clearly lacks a vision, a foresight, a dream for its nation, for its people. Moreover, the situation is going from bad to worse due to the global slowdown.

All this sounds very scary and we should be happy that in spite of all the corruption and red-tapeism in our country, we are pretty well. India is still the second fastest growing economy and the most preferred destination for foreign investments. This truly re-enforces the fact that we are a fundamentally strong country.

But what do you think? How long will we be able to sustain this kind of growth? Don’t you think there is a lot to be learnt from the crisis in Zimbabwe? Aren’t there a lot of similarities between the condition in Zimbabwe and the way things are going in India? We are one of the most corrupted nations, our politicians lack the vision and far-sightedness, the crime rate is increasing and so is the number of people being infected by life-threatening diseases like AIDS / HIV. These facts are enough to send jitters down my spine.

Myopic decisions such as reservations and quotas, non-consummation of the nuclear deal etc. are sure to affect our Nation in the long run. The rising level of corruption and red-tapeism is another critical aspect. Weird decisions like installing a statute of Shivaji Maharaj in the middle of the Arabian Sea (Marine Dri) for crores of rupees and destruction of public property to drive away certain sections of the society from particular regions, squabbles over the Ram-Sethu project.… Whew!! The list may never end……

On one hand we want our nation to be the best in the world and on the other, we don’t want to let go of your selfish (evil) intentions. And when I say “WE”, I am not talking about our great politicians (way to go Mr. Arjun Singh, at least someone’s ready to share the responsibility of your decisions), it’s we the citizens!! Now I know this sounds completely clichéd, but it’s a thought that has been riding in my mind (even more fiercely), ever since I learnt about Zimbabwe.

We are proud of the abundance of natural resources and the intellectual property in our country. We are also proud of the fact that majority of the employees in companies and institutes like NASA, Microsoft and Google are Indians. A major chunk of the GDP of the United States is contributed by Indians.

I feel, these are just self consoling gimmicks. If we really want to be proud of our achievements, it should be achieved for our beloved nation and by our beloved citizens rather than serving another and sitting there in a nice cozy home, complaining about the state of affairs in India.

We are a great country – God’s own Country as we like to call it – but we have a long way to go. It’s not just the jawans at the borders who need to show patriotism, it’s We, the People (as said by Mr. Kalam). Let’s strive to make India a better country in whatever small way possible, it may be by even refusing to bribe the Traffic Hawaldar when we hop a signal.

Cycle Trip: Wadala - Nariman Point – Wadala

My hectic MBA schedule for the past four months had made life really monotonous with lectures, assignments, presentations and assignments taking a toll on me. To beat the monotony and set my adrenaline pumping again, I and friend from college – Chirag – were planning an adventurous activity for quite some time. Inspired by the ‘Bombay Bikers Club’, we decided to go on a cycle trip. It had been ages since the both of us had cycled. But the idea was intriguing and got us riveted.

So after a week of planning, we decided to go for this adventure trip on Sunday (4 May 2008). Chirag arranged for a couple of cycles on Saturday evening. We were a bit apprehensive to go ahead with the plan as we hadn’t planned well enough – no spare tyres, no practise, nothing. But as I mentioned, we were riveted to the idea and were determined to set our adrenaline pumping again.

At around 4.15 AM, I reached Chirags’ house at Wadala and we started our journey fifteen minutes later – 4.30 AM. We decided to take the Central Mumbai route i.e. Wadala - Dadar - Parel - Chinchpokli - Byculla - Mohammad Ali Road - VT - Fountain - Churchgate – Nariman Point. The pleasant climate early in the morning and our enthusiasm helped us reach Flora Fountain (now Hutatma Chowk) in exactly 45 minutes. We halted here for some time for a sip of water and off-course some photographs!! After that we headed towards Churchgate station where we had some tea and bun-maska.

We then headed towards Nariman Point and were there at around 5.30 AM. Both of us cheered and admired the beauty of the city at dawn. We sat on the promenade for around half an hour, discussing our trip and places in Mumbai that we need to explore. As time passed, a number of joggers and other fitness enthusiasts arrived and guess who was one of them – Anil Ambani!!

We decided to head back home and took the Western Route this time - Point - Marine Drive - Peddar Road - Haji Ali - Worli - Prabhadevi - Shivaji Park – Wadala – However, the long break at the sea face made us realize that our hamstrings were sore. Moreover, this route had a long stretch of an incline, making it really difficult to pedal. So we walked for around a kilometre and then resumed cycling. We were tired but were also determined to complete the journey. Though it took longer to reach back, WE DID IT!!

The experience completely revitalized us and we already have a couple of more cycling adventures in mind. So we are looking for better cycles and even more people to join us on our future trips. The experience has added a new hobby to my list – CYCLING!!