The Hope

Tomorrow, Barack Hussein Obama. the guy no one knew four years back will be the 44th President of USA. For some he is a savior, for some the ultimate ray of hope, some feel he will bring the change they always wished! Personally I don’t know how he becoming the President changes my life or anyone I know!!

Anyways on late night Saturday, I was having a similar discussion with my friends and our discussion moved towards two points. A) Would US have voted for a Black president in the Eighties; in other words has average Joe’s perspective against Black changed in the last 20 years and B) Will educated American look at Black’s in a different perspective.

As usual, there was a healthy discussion with all the quotations from CNN. MSNBC and FOX and most of us believed nothing has change or will change.
At this point “the intellect” who is always a healthy participant in discussion, but has moderate views, and never gets exited to a point where words start coming out faster than normal conversation gave an exciting speech which turned the tables.
His view- passionate,
His choice of words- articulate
His belief - truthful
In a way his argument had the same effect what Obama’s speech in 2004 had on Americans. No one could oppose it!!

I will not divulge in his views on question (A) but will jump to the second question… “Will Obama change the way people look at Black's ?"
He believed that Americans will give Black’s a chance because of Obama. The reasoning was, we generally don’t know about other culture(s) and have a pre-conceived thought about them. However if we come in contact with someone belonging to the other culture our pre-conceived thoughts are broken and we see the whole community in a different perspective. For example today as an Indian, We know very little about Mexicans. What we have pre-conceived is that the community is a cheap labor force in USA and most of them are illegal immigrants! (How much of that is true we don’t know) Now let's say tomorrow we have kids, and they go to school, and have Mexican friends, who visit our house, then we will learn something about them and not see them only as a three bucks an hour labor force.
Using this example he explained that most Americans will give blacks a second chance. Learning about their president they will learn something about the other community and will break their pre-conceived ideas.
I know, my writing does not do justice to his argument, but if you had listened to this guy you would agree with me that there was no opposition.
It was a speech, which for a blink made me believe “Change has arrived” and maybe tomorrow with Obama taking the oath somehow my life will also be affected!

God Bless America!

-Purvin

Waiting

Horizon across the wild sea,
I imagine you waiting for me.
The sun streaks in the sky,
Reminds me of our good times.

Distance between us kills me,
I wish, You were with me.
Time tests every love,
We are bound to be one!

Staring at the horizon I think of you,
Close my eyes and picture you.
This sunset makes me smile
We are one day closer sitting side-by-side.

-Purvin

Walls

Year ago I landed in you,
With uncertain future to pursue,
Never did I dream you will be my closest,
Today as I write, I say, you were the best I had.

Several memories are attached with you,
I shared my best and worst with you.
From engagements to break-ups you have heard all,
For me you were always more than 4 walls.

With time you grew on me,
So it’s tough to leave you finally.
But as always good things come to an end,
Hence, I shall move ahead.

The future’s bright where everything I own,
But trust-me, I will remember you lifelong.

~Purvin

Bring it to me!

Bring it to me,
I wanna see,
What’s left in me!

Bring it to me,
Drown me deep down!
Where rising be the only path!

Bring it to me,
Drag me into darkness,
Where the light of hope is the only road!

Bring it to me,
Run tears down the cheeks,
Where smiles of time will fade away the salty liquids!

Bring it to me,
Break my heart!
But hey, there’s no way you break my soul!

So, bring it to me,
Bring it to me,
And I shall see
What’s left in me!

~Purvin

White Fumes

He was 19, young and restless,
Girls were crazy, he needed them to impress.
Out he went, bought his first pack,
Life was great, smoking cigarettes!

Time passed by and confidence grew,
He believed, smoking would never affect his roots.
Slow and steady he worked his way up,
He doesn’t remember when he became a chain smoker!

Now it’s a decade old habit and he feels he is correct,
While smoking he does not regret!

Then one fine day he met a pro,
20 years smoker had let it go!
That man ignited a spark in his mind,
He decided to change his lifestyle.

News of him quitting spread like wildfire,
He was left with no option but to follow his word.
Family supported, girlfriend stood by him,
His determination paid off, he quit smoking!

Now it’s a decade of non-smoking life,
He is healthy than ever,
And runs marathon in record time!

One fine day he saw a kid,
Trying to buy cigarettes to get a kick.
Looking at the kid reminded him of himself,
Without wasting time, he explained the kid what was ahead.

That fine day he felt great,
He saved one more life for the evil of cigarettes!!


~Purvin

Budget-2007

Yesterday, India’s honorable finance minister P. Chidambaram (I suppose he has earned this respect) presented the fourth budget of the first Congress led collusion government. I am neither an economist nor have any formal background in finance, my sole link to Indian economy is that I am a regular reader of economic times (www.economictimes.com). So while the experts evaluate the budget, I will take my pick on it.

To start with, I feel there is nothing out of the box in this budget. No big eye-catching changes, no new policies, neither are there any great disappointment. However when our country is growing at 9.2% GDP, everyone did expect some path-breaking changes. Personally, I would have liked some inputs or change in policies related to Infrastructure development (unfortunately nothing of that sort can be seen). Money is pumped into education and healthcare, however I do feel money for education is never managed efficiently. Yes, comparing Indian healthcare system with the rest of the world, this was badly needed money. The major talk in pre-budget analysis was on the 6.77% inflation on Feb3rd, 2007 and some analysis shows that the way Indian inflation is calculated its not entirely correct and the real number is somewhere around 9%( I read this in The Economist magazine, though did not understand the details of it). I did not see any changes made in the budget, which would say the inflation, will be tackled via this or that policy.

On personal front the increase of 10,000/- in the IT-exemption limit is a good figure. It’s a rise of 10% in exemption from the previous 1,000,00 exemption limit. Thus the raise in exemption higher than the inflation rate is a good feature. IT-exemption limit of 1,45,000/- for women and 50,000/- for HUF if not great but definitely a good figure. From my last trip to India, I found out that service tax of almost 12% on all goods is a big deal and speculations were for raising the bar, however FM left the 12% untouched so its good for “aam aadmi”.

As I am talking of Budget would like to present my views on the railway budget. The Business School Poster-boy, “Shri. Lallu Prasad Yadad”, has done exceptionally well. I believe, the profits over 20,000 CR Rs in last fiscal year and a growth of over 15% is truly one of the biggest turn-around stories for almost bankrupt Railways. I feel the 4% cut in AC trains fares and 1Re cut in unreserved compartments fares will go well for Lallu’s political career. Also the dispersion of ticket counter with introduction of e-tickets, TC’s having handheld device and converting all super-fast train Wi-fi will help in improving railways image. Once again, with my limited knowledge on this subject I did like the approach taken by railways, and I wish the year 2007 as declared “The year of cleanliness” by Railways brings about some drastic change in its overall look.

To sum up my views Lalu did good but for Chidambaram I feel it’s a so-so budget where the FM did nothing, but let the things run the way they are. So it’s more like a low risk approach. Is it good or bad? We will find it out next year!

Perfect World

I like you, you like me,

I adjust you, You adjust me.

I comfy you , You comfy me

In a perfect world, everyone's Happy.

Friend's are friends, relatives are family,

No one cry's and everyone's merry.

Thoughts never clash, voices never raised,

In a perfect world, Harmony prevails.

Satisfaction is sort; you are on top of world.

People believe, in what you believe.

Praises are heard with no jealousy.

In a perfect world, you have a King's identity.

That's a world everyone longs for,

All your life you work for one.

But let's not forget

The perfect world Is a Fantacy!