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Diwali - should we celebrate it with crackers?

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Given an option, I always chose window seat on the flight. reason being, I take childish delight in looking over the scenery, the snow white clouds, the ground where everything is minuscule, and far off objects. Thus it was no wonder that I found myself occupying a window seat on my return flight from Calcutta to Delhi last Tuesday, after having celebrated Diwali at home. Flight from Calcutta to Delhi is especially pleasurable as for a large part of the flight, you can look snow capped peaks of Himalaya jutting out of clouds at a distance. The view, for me, is breathtaking and spellbinding. I also like to look at the ground, whenever there is a break in clouds, and try to figure out farms, towns etc. I have noticed the landscape change over the years, from being pre dominantly green, to predominantly brown - the shade of soil. I am always disappointed at the pace with which green seems to be disappearing. This flight, however, had another surprise in store for me. My flight had to ...
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Microfinance In a Spot Of Trouble

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I am keen on Microfinance and try to follow related news / articles as much as I can. Last year I had gone on a research project with some fellow students and stayed in villages for about 10 days. From the discussions we had with villagers and MFI operating in those villages, I got a feeling that though there are many MFIs now operating in India, they do not yet have a clear structure or system to operate with. Villagers further showed a tendency to recycle loans, and often waited for the government to waive off loans. Though life style of some of the villagers seemed to have improved, I did not see Microfinance making major impact on their means of income. If income was stagnant, improved lifestyle could mean only one thing - that loan was being used to meet household expenses, and not as working capital. It was thus no surprise when I came across this article: "Ketaki Gokhale in the WSJ: ' A credit crisis is brewing in Microfinance ' Here in Ramanagaram, a silk-ma...
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Sachin - 1 of 100 most influential in 2010..Really?

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We, the Indians, never cease to amaze me with our gullibility. We are very easily swayed by our hearts, and all rational flies out the window at slightest opportunity. And this holds true for even the well educated people, and not just those who don’t know any better. During US Presidential elections majority of Indians rooted for Obama , even though his policies were in no way pro-India! In the long run his policies would’ve hurt the Outsourcing industry, which is on a boom in India . Later, when this same Obama was awarded Nobel Peace Prize few months into this Presidency, we severely criticized Nobel Committee, as Obama had done nothing to deserve the prize. Well, for a change we were right in our stand. Obama had not deserved the award by any stretch of imagination. And similarly, I say that Sachin does not deserve to be called one of 100 most influential people of 2010! Let me first say that I admire Sachin. Unreservedly. And have done so for as long as I can...
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