Dedicated freight corridor of India

Finally, a much needed transportation reprieve kicks off in India. The much awaited dedicated freight corridor, DFCCI initiative of the Indian railways. As the name suggests, the corridor is strictly for freight trains ( aka goods trains ) and will mostly consist of double tracks having a maximum travel speed of 100 kmph. The gains in transportation and logistics resulting out of this endeavor is humungous. In addition, the vast majority of the trucks that will go off road will help reduce pollution levels. Initially the corridor will connect the eastern and northern parts of India followed by the western link between Mumbai and New Delhi. I hope they expand this coverage to link Mumbai with the Indian east coast ( may be Vizag ) and provide the much needed impetus to cargo movement in India.

The allure of finance

Of late, I've been terribly upset at the gross imbalance between the rich and the poor. By poor I mean, those below the poverty line as per the WTO standards. The rich are getting richer and poor, evidently are becoming poorer. This phenomenon is more concentrated in densely populated areas. Be it Chicago, Hong Kong or the entire country of India. Going by what little financial fundamentals I know - densely populated regions should be the epicenter of business diversity, giving every individual a chance to earn his/her bread. When such is the case, I wonder why there is so much poverty in India and the third world. Poverty, that's unimaginable. Forget 3 meals a day, even potable water is a scarcity in some of these regions.

I had always shunned away from finance. Not exactly sure why, may be because studying finance and commerce was not considered 'happening' during early 90s. The era was a technology craze in Bangalore, especially. Computer Science or bust. Commerce - is for those who can't make it into a technical field. Now, when I sit and come across the rich-poor divide, and get terribly upset and how people suffer in poverty - my technology oriented skills don't take me anywhere close to a solution. I'm convinced that the answer lies in learning finance and economics. I'm also convinced that charity and benevolent measures are no solution to poverty. Socialism is definitely not the answer. Can capitalism resolve the poverty crisis ? Can the hunger for profit help alleviate the hunger for food, water and clothing ? I guess so. Why not. After all, all the powerful economies have been capitalist economies and they have been quite successful in eliminating poverty.

My ways of thinking these days are very focused around issues that I was not even cognizant about a few years back. I have absolutely no idea why and I don't have an answer. If someone were to come and ask me 'ok .. you cant to learn finance - why now and why didn't you think about this 2 years back' - I don't have a concrete answer. All I can say is I'm quite convinced that learning finance and economics could be lead me to some answers about poverty elimination.

It's a well known fact that - elimination of poverty is the road to further development and in densely populated regions, the business opportunities that could arise with just the volume of buying power is unimaginable. Everyone knows about this, talks about this and yet poverty sticks out as a sore thumb in this world and helps type cast certain regions as 'slums', 'third world' , 'developing world' etc etc . The opportunity is huge, no doubt. How to tap this opportunity is the big question. Learning finance might open up some doors. We'll see.

Ringa Ringa

Of course I'm referring to the song from Slumdog Millionaire. The poetic element of this song is just so beautiful. On the surface, the song sounds like a cheesy dance number. If one pays a little attention and listens to the lyrics, Gulzar's magic can literally be felt.

Metaphors are nothing new to Indian poetry. Kalidasa, who in my opinion is probably the world's greatest poet mastered the art of metaphorical usage and earned the adage
"upama kalidasasya' Upama in Sanskrit translates to metaphor and 'Kalidasasya' translates to 'of Kalidasa'.

This song reminded me of similar metaphorical usage. A lover (the singer) sings about her surrender to the seduction of a bed bug (Khatmal). On the outset, it seems very illogical and very cheesy. I mean how can one even compare her lover to a bed bug, but that's the magic of metaphors. Deriving such a meaning from this song is however, contextual. Someone who listens to this song when they are in a different mindset or mood might interpret it differently.

I'm so glad to see the resurgence of such excellent lyrics, and when such lyrics get fused with the musical mastery of A R Rahman, bollywood dance numbers rise to a different dimension altogether.