What is creativity?
They say it’s thinking outside the box,
It’s a shining torch to help you when you are desperately lost.
It’s like the magic wand,
Giving you the instant solution to the problem at hand;
Seems like a very instantaneous process,
Almost a master work of a genius…
In short it’s that elusive term for which we seek to find a definition, without a proper explanation!
Creativity is one of the most misunderstood words… no one knows what it means, how it works! What we only see is a creative person coming up with a solution at the time when all fails, and we think, “Oh, my! What a genius!” missing the fact that there has been a lot of cognitive effort which has been dedicated to.
We must first realize that creativity is not something that you have or not have; it’s only a more organized way of thinking! Just by thinking right you can use creativity to your advantage. All you need is a problem to solve and the dedication to follow the 4 Simple steps to Creativity:
Preparation:
This involves collecting the relevant data or information pertinent to the problem. We often underestimate the importance of this process and want to find solutions to our problems without knowing much about them…this in all possibility leads to disastrous consequences!

Incubation:
Considering that you have taken a lot of pains to gather the relevant facts and figures, you’d know that its’ quite a bulk of information which you have gathered… (If not, check again- you might be missing on something!). This information needs some time to be assimilated and understood carefully, and you need to give it some time, before you can come to any logical conclusion. It is also in this stage, that as you are getting and understanding the information provided to you, the process of finding the effective solution begins, where you explore the different options which can be used, or choose the one which is best suited.

Illumination:
In the previous stage, our mind is working simultaneously on gathering information on the problem as well as finding effective solutions to it; therefore it is obvious that getting a solution would not be as easy as thought, and might take a considerable amount of time. This may be quite frustrating at times, and there may be a moment where you just want to ‘shut off, and take a break’, or simply not think about it. It is at this time, where one has the “Aha-Eureka” experience of getting a solution.
The reason this works is because, when you are consciously shutting yourself from the problem, the process still continues into the undisturbed chambers of your unconscious mind, to give you an effective solution. Our mind has the uncanny ability to process and form connections between pieces of information even without our awareness, encouraged by the structure and the neuronal networks.
Since the revelation is sudden, having a notebook and a pen to note down the solution is advisable

Verification and Implementation:
After having found the appropriate solution, it needs to be tested to see if it satisfactorily solves the problem. Frequently the insight turns out to be unsatisfactory, and the thinker is back at the beginning of the creative process. In other cases, the insight is generally satisfactory but needs some modification for it to be a really “good” idea.

So there you have it! Four simple steps and you are a creative person, and an effective problem solver. These steps are not mutually exclusive of each other, and neither do they have to follow the same order. They can be repeated in the entire process, and there are no rules how long a particular step should take.
Summing up the entire process; it’s rightly said, “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” -E. L. Doctorow
Creativity is no longer an elusive term now, and with a little effort, almost everyone can be a genius at it!

- Heena Sharma

Japanese are painfully aware of how far their nation has fallen. Economy Minister Hiroko Ota told her countrymen in January that Japan can no longer be considered a first-class economy. Japan, she said, had fallen to 18th among the top 30 industrialized nations when measured by gross domestic product per capita. Among the G7 countries that make up the core of that club – the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada – it has fallen from first in the early 1990s to last today. Meanwhile, its share of aggregate world income has fallen below 10 per cent for the first time in 24 years.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, the Japanese economy benefited from a special Cold War relationship with the United States. This relationship allowed Japanese firms relatively easy access to American technology and American consumers. In addition, the Korean War and the Vietnam War provided Japan with an unusual external fiscal stimulus from American procurement spending that poured billions of U.S. dollars into Japanese firms who supplied the American war effort. During the Korean War, over sixty percent of Japanese firm’s hard currency earnings were related to this procurement spending. These funds helped to fuel investment by Japanese firms in new plants and equipment. The multiplier effects of the external stimulus, coupled with the access to American markets for Japanese exporters, helped to create the conditions for an investment boom in Japan, as well as a speculative bubble in Japanese land and financial markets.

Easy money, open access to American’s pockets and technological inventiveness, careful planning by the Japanese bureaucracy (in particular, the Ministry of International Trade & Industry) and Japanese firms, and extraordinary achievements in quality control and productivity within Japanese manufacturing were among the reasons for the rapid growth in the Japanese economy during this period. These successes, however, led to overconfidence. Overconfidence is, by definition, the catalyst for a speculative bubble. Investors in Japanese assets began to project what would prove to be unsustainable growth rates in exports and domestic demand (exports are actually less important to the Japanese economy than most people recognize) into the foreseeable future, bidding up asset values (both real estate and Japanese financial securities) to unrealistic levels. Investments in brick and mortar — new factories, new equipment, expanded research and development programs, etc. — were also driven, in part, by the optimism that Japanese firms would be able to continue their mastery of cutting-edge technology and concomitant rapid market share growth rates.

Japanese banks joined in the speculative bubble by not only financing the overinvestment boom of manufacturers but also financing real estate projects that depended on the aforementioned rapid rates of output and market share growth to generate the incomes that would make these real estate ventures profitable. Bankers expected that economic growth would generate more demand for office space, keeping occupancy rates high and generating growing rental incomes. Everybody seemed to be expecting the same thing — that somehow Japan would keep growing both domestic demand and exports until the world was awash in Japanese goods and there would be little room left for American or European or any other manufacturers but the Japanese. The domestic side of this calculus did not seem to take into account the rapid aging of the Japanese population and the impact such aging would have on domestic demand curves. As for export expectations, in order to satisfy the earnings growth that seemed built into market valuations of exporters would have required the complete capitulation of American and European (and, perhaps, other Asian) firms to the Japanese corporate behemoth. Among other things, this growth would have required that Japan continue to produce the most advanced products in a wide range of sectors, including consumer electronics, computers and semiconductors, and automobiles, and do so (profitably) at prices well below that of their competitors. Whether this was a case of irrational judgments about the future or rational calculations of irrational numbers, in the end it comes out the same way — a speculative bubble (not unlike what is happening to internet related equities in the current period). History tells us that pure optimism can drive up asset values only so long before someone begins to ask — where’s the underlying value? The reality was that Japanese firms could not possibly generate enough cash flow from exports and/or the domestic economy to justify the values of either real estate or financial securities that prevailed by the late 1980s (with Tokyo real estate worth more than all the real estate in California and the Nikkei average knocking on the door of 40,000).

Indeed, Japanese manufacturers recognized that they would have difficulty maintaining export growth. Unfortunately, this recognition was only partial. The manufacturers thought the only serious impediments to continued rapid export growth was the high cost of manufacturing in Japan and the need to open up more “emerging markets” to Japanese exports. To alleviate these problems, Japanese industrial enterprises had expanded their off-shore manufacturing, particularly in Southeast Asia. Japanese banks happily provided the loans for this expansion. Cheap labor, ready access to certain raw materials, relatively cheap currencies (given the yen’s strength against the U.S. dollar), and cooperative (even if often dictatorial) regimes would guarantee the Japanese firms low-cost outputs that would remain globally competitive, provide immediate entre to Asian “emerging markets” for the products of these (and other) Japanese firms, and make it possible to stay on the rapid export growth path.

The Japanese banks bought into this story-line and even expanded their loans to non-Japanese firms in these “neo-colonies” on the belief that the multiplier effects of Japanese investment in economies like Indonesia and Thailand, along with the growth in more indigenous exports from those countries, would guarantee that the loans would be repaid. And in the meanwhile Japan would gain a foothold in these “emerging markets” before their U.S. and European competition could make any such inroads. However, along with their failure to recognize the limitations of an export-oriented strategy (and the critical role of the Cold War in the prior effectiveness of such a strategy), the Japanese manufacturers failed to recognize that a dramatic shift of technological gestalt was well underway and the products demanded of this new technological gestalt had to be engineered in a completely different way from the “Fordist” systems the Japanese had mastered. The so-called high technological revolution was built upon a paradigm of very rapid technological change, invention, and innovation. Smaller more nimble firms are better at this process than the giants. And even in the United States, those giants that proved most capable of competing in this environment were those that found ways to decentralize decision-making internally and to foster what some call entrepreneurial activities (such as Hewlett-Packard and, more recently, IBM). Japan, Inc. had been so good at the manufacturing paradigm of the 1960s and 1970s that its leaders did not recognize the sea-change that had taken place in the 1980s. In addition, the very success of the Japanese system had led to the contradictory development of rapidly falling prices for certain consumer goods (e.g. consumer electronics) and growing real wages for Japanese workers. Japanese workers continued to be enculturated in traditional patters of savings and consumption. However, the shift to higher “value added” consumer goods did not compensate for the combination of conservative spending behavior, higher incomes and falling costs (and relative prices) for many consumer goods, not only new goods such as computers and electronics but even older consumer goods like textiles, and consequently there was a rapid increase in total savings in the Japanese economy.

The bursting of the speculative bubble had serious repercussions in the Japanese banking system. Banks in Japan used their holdings of stock and real estate as part of their overall capital base upon which they determined the size of their loan portfolio. As equity prices and real estate market values collapsed, so did the capital base of the banking system. The banks were forced to severely contract their lending. Hardest hit by this credit crunch were smaller, more aggressive firms that are often the catalyst for major technological and marketing innovations in an economy. In the United States, we can see this dynamic clearly. It has not been the corporate behemoths, like General Electric, that  have led the way into the new technologies, such as the internet, but smaller, more aggressive firms, such as Yahoo!, Amazon.com, and Netscape. The expansion into Southeast Asia, and other offshore areas, did not solve the problem of an intensifying global competition and built-in limits to how much foreign market share Japanese firms would be able to conquer in the “short term” given global conditions and their own failure to stay at the crest of the technological waves. In addition, the growth in indigenous firms in other Asian countries attempting to compete with Japan in a wide range of markets only made matters worse. A classic overproduction crisis, on a global scale, was rapidly getting underway and along with this overproduction crisis was to come a tidal shift from overconfidence to extreme pessimism in the Japanese economy.

The Japanese government’s concerns about a growing budget deficit and the future of social security in a country that is rapidly aging caused them to prematurely abandon attempts at fiscal stimulus. The Japanese government needed to stimulate those areas of the Japanese economy that have the highest “value added” or the greatest percentage of relatively advanced technology as inputs and outputs. Rather than construction spending, the Japanese government might have gotten more “bang for their buck” by spending on improvements in the high technology infrastructure of schools, colleges, universities, and the governmental bureaucracy; spurring increased research and development spending within Japanese firms  and on significantly reducing the environmental problems in the country. But no less important than doing a better job of targeting fiscal stimulus, the Japanese government needs to improve the lives of the Japanese citizens, to restore their confidence in the future, and by this approach to encourage more consumer spending and portfolio investments in Japanese equities.

At present, planned investment continues to fall in Japan, indicating that negative sentiment continues to predominant in the board rooms of Japanese corporations. Over the past eleven months, consumer spending has continued to show declines (year over year), although at a decreasing rate. The most recent results from the Economic Planning Agency showed three consecutive quarters of economic decline, with a fourth quarter (from July to September) certain to add to the streak. Economic agents in Japan and outside of Japan have come to view all policy statements from the LDP leadership with skepticism. If these were the only factors that needed consideration, then the future for Japan, and no doubt for the entire global economy, including the U.S.A., would be grim.

But the reality is that Japanese society is on the brink of a major shift in the way things are done, especially in business and commerce, despite the continued skepticism about whether the Japanese leadership is serious about changing its development strategy. Under pressure from a disgruntled Japanese citizenry at home and increased anger from other Asian governments about Japan’s role in the disastrous Asia-wide economic crisis, as well as their own failure to gain a majority of seats in the upper house of the Diet, the LDP has formed a coalition with the Liberal Party and is moving to make significant changes in Japan’s political and economic practices. The power of the old bureaucracy, in particular the Ministry of Finance, will be severely curtailed in favor of a more flexible and responsive system of governance.

As for Japan’s banking problems, they are not alone among advanced capitalist nations in facing a serious banking crisis in the second half of the Twentieth Century. Poor regulation, moral hazard, inadequate risk assessment, cronyism between banks and corporate borrowers, and go-go banking caused by unanticipated increases in liquidity have all been mentioned as problems in a number of banking systems, including the United States. The question is — are the authorities in Japan willing, as authorities in the U.S. were , to use public funds to bail out the financial core of their capitalist economy? After diddling around for much of the decade, the answer seems now to be yes. The half billion U.S. dollar bank bail-out is rapidly being accepted by the financial establishment, including the attached strings that require significant changes in management practices (including the overly cozy “amakudari” relationship between the banks and the Ministry of Finance) and transparency.

We are also finally seeing some movement on the political front (and in public expenditure and financing policies). The new coalition between the LDP and the Liberal Party is forcing a change in the traditional approach to fiscal stimulus, substituting spending and tax cuts that will likely have a larger multiplier impact than the old-style construction spending.

And we see changes in a wide range of other aspects of the Japanese economic system. Accounting practices and other practices necessary to improving the transparency of Japanese financial flows and the responsiveness of Japanese management are also being adopted, along with an increased use of economic value added management (complete with the use of stock options that link management compensation to stock performance). A computerized securities trading network — a Japanese version of the NASDAQ — is being created to provide a venue for initial public offerings for innovative firms that have traditionally had difficulty raising capital in Japan.

Historically speaking, the Japanese yen has proved to be a safe haven against global turmoil. Right now, however, Japan’s economy is among the worst hit of all the global powers. It is ill prepared to weather the global storm and it’s falling like a rock.

That’s why, this time around, as Japan’s economy falls away, I think there’s a very good chance the yen could drop as well.

Obviously, this would be very bad news for the huge numbers of speculators and institutions that have literally bet their existence on yen-based hedging strategies. But while a freefall in the yen would be a surprise to those institutional players, it would be about par for the course in my book, given the current state of the ongoing global financial crisis.

The strongest, while simultaneously abandoning the weakest – or even shorting them outright.

And they have in record numbers. According to the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the yen remains near the highest nominal trade-weighted level it’s posted since November 2001. And while you’d think there would be some reduction in this “safety first” view of the yen – especially given recent U.S. announcements regarding the stimulus package – the fact is that there really haven’t been any serious reductions in the net-long yen position.

Indeed, the latest data from Danske Bank A/S shows that, in recent weeks, speculative investors have only reduced net long Japanese yen positions to some $6 billion dollars. It also reflects that traders tracked by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) remain net short all other major currency pairs which directly contradicts what Washington thinks and is telling the public about a recovery.

The problem is that money is still flowing out of Japan and into foreign equities and bonds when it should still be flowing in. Consequently, some people like the institutional traders and speculators who have assembled the more than $6 billion in long positions in the Japanese yen argue that this is a temporary happenstance and one that, in fact, creates an even greater incentive to eventually repatriate the assets.

For one thing, the fact that “everybody” expects a stronger yen is the sort of contra-indicator that raises the hair on the back of my neck. Anytime the markets have such unified, blanket expectations, the unthinkable becomes possible, particularly if what everybody believes appears in print.

Then there’s the fact that the Japanese economy is suffering its worst economic contraction in 35 years, and a recession that may be the worst in 50 years. According to Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the country’s industrial production is tanking to the tune of 30% this year, while its gross domestic product (GDP) may plummet 12% in a mere 12 months.

While this is unfolding, exports plunged thanks to non-existent overseas demand for the cars and electronics that have long been the mainstay of Japan’s industrial might. Overall, shipments to the United States – long Japan’s trading partner of choice – have plunged a staggering 34%.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Japan is running its first trade deficits in a generation – five months in a row at last count. This is especially problematic because Japan and China – together with South Korea – are the world’s largest purchasers of U.S. debt.

So at a time when the United States is trying to save its financial system and jump-start its economy by pumping trillions of dollars into the world financial system – and desperately needs global buyers to buy this new debt so that it can forge ahead with its rescue plans – Japan may not have the financial wherewithal to help make this happen. And China and South Korea may simply elect not to buy any more.

The Japanese economy now stands at a crossroads as to whether it can move onto a self-sustained recovery path. Needless to say, a stable macroeconomic environment is important for the smooth progress of structural adjustment. We are fully aware that monetary policy is expected to play an important role under such circumstances. With these considerations in mind, we will maintain current monetary easing until deflationary worries subside.

Having said this, the three structural problems discussed here are determined by supply-side factors, and cannot be dealt with only by demand stimulus measures from the monetary and fiscal side. For example, in addressing the corporate balance sheet problem, to what extent firms tackle the allocation of management resources will depend critically on the way corporate governance is being implemented. Regarding the changes in growth mechanisms under globalization, whether new firms emerge to bring innovation to the productivity of existing domestic-oriented industries will depend on how regulations and traditional transaction practices change and how the capital market functions. As to the savings and investment imbalance and the provision of risk capital, much may depend on the future of pension, insurance, and taxation systems.

Since these supply-side measures work on the incentives of firms and households, it thus often takes time for effects to materialize unlike measures working on the demand side.

Even if it takes time, I am not pessimistic about the future of the Japanese economy. We should be
In fact, the government has been examining various measures to tackle unemployment and industrial revitalization. And, in the private sector, we can observe some signs of future changes such as the increase in business affiliations and mergers and the review of business areas. By promoting structural change, the Japanese economy will undoubtedly exhibit the potential to transform itself into an economy with vitality and high productivity.

In coming up with specific supply-side prescriptions, cooperation between the private sector and the government is essential in discussing such problems as how to guide incentives for firms and households in a desirable direction and how to minimize moral hazard.

- Gitanjali Singh

The colossal salary hike of MPs has resulted in a clamorous situation. A bill-seeking threefold rise in the salary from Rs.16000 to Rs.50000 and doubling of certain allowances has created public upheaval. In the current scenario where the common man is the victim of inflation, sky-rocketing food prices, and a majority of the Indian population is reeling under the poverty line, the MPs indeed seem to be very fervent in creating prerogative activities.

This situation really needs a pondering initiative, for a livid Indian to breathe the air insensitivity and cold -hearted behaviour. The situation of the present India is worsening day by day. The devastating cloudburst in the Leh region of Ladakh, floods in Northern India which left normal life out of gear and the plight of the ever-ending protests in the Kashmir valley and many other areas where the funds were to be diverted are left unaddressed to the desired extent. Despite the given scenario the extravagance of our very own MPs is soaring at an alarming rate. The new pay structure is designed in such a way that the value of salaries and allowances goes up to Rs. 45 lakh and is expected to rise further. This does not include their foreign jaunts. How can the people of their own country lead a luxurious life amidst the frenzied situation of their fellow-beings?

Let us have look at some whistle blowers who have raised their voice to bring the situation to public notice:

It is high time that the MPs get wiser and give away the shoddy management. When the country is grappling in a financial squeeze, it is the law makers who should come to its rescue rather than reaping the pecuniary benefits. India being notorious for its poverty and illiteracy on the world map also is in an outrageous situation for corruption. Therefore it is the time for our lawmakers to rise to the occasion and wipe out the tag of being corrupt and selfish and broaden their horizons to go for the public betterment. Else the age-old dogma that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer which has already taken deep-roots in our country will be nearly impossible to banish.

- Ankita Moghe

Recently, the MPs (Members of Parliament) have demanded a rise in their pay, followed by the MLAs and it created a big ruckus. But is it really an issue? How much an engineer in an IT company which has a turnover of Rs.100 crores get? How much the CEO of a Multi-National Company gets – and how much a public servant like an MP and MLA gets? Depending on the enormity and the responsibility that their job entails, they get peanuts. Mind you, it is not a demand for salary hike of some specific MPs – It was for all. In other words, anyone who will go to Parliament as an elected representative of the people will be paid – and why shouldn’t he or she be paid the salary? How many people  these MPs are representing? How many shareholders does one CEO represent? Even the smallest constituency in India has more people than that. The MPs, being part of the legislative process have the responsibility to run this country, which requires much more skill and patience than running a company. Shouldn’t the Managers of the Country be paid more?

Two objections are currently doing the rounds – One, the politicians are corrupt and criminals themselves. Yes, some of them are or rather majority of them are. No doubt about that. Who has sent them to Parliament? Is it not the people like us who by refraining from voting have indirectly helped the corrupt to get elected? Corruption is defined as Misuse of Power. What would you call the voters who think of election as a holiday and do not even bother to check who’s contesting the election from their area? Is it not a gross misuse of the power of voting given to us by our Constitution?

Objection No.2 is that already there are many perks that the MPs and the MLAs enjoy and they do not deserve more. The CEOs and Corporate Head Honchos enjoy much more privilege than that. Why no protest ever happens on that? When Mr. Mukesh Ambani gifted an aircraft to his wife, no newspaper or media organization ever published or aired an article or snippet saying that ‘How can he do it when so many people in India do not even have enough money to travel by a rickshaw?’ If extravagance and conspicuous consumption as a contrast to abject poverty is to be criticized, then it should be done in a fair manner – in other words, every form of extravagance should be under scanner – be private sector or public sector.

One last point – Politics is always treated by the people as a cesspool, a gutter – and it will carry an almighty stink if the sensible people do not enter it. Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels because the good souls choose to be on the fringe. It cannot become good unless good people enter and cleanse the Augean Stables. And if good people have to enter Politics, shouldn’t it be financially rewarding as well? Finally, if you pay peanuts, you’ll get only monkeys. If you want quality, it cannot come cheap.

-Omkar Patki

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Who says mainstream Bollywood is only interested in frivolous romantic comedies, with its usual run-around the trees monotony? Peepli Live takes a profound look at an everyday cataclysm and offers a witty facet that accentuates the pathos. Following the ‘Capra’ corn style of movie making (Peepli Live being reminiscent of a 1941 film by Frank Capra ‘Meet John Doe’), first time director Anusha Rizvi has taken a grave crisis, and then subjected it to sardonic inspection, pleaded to mainstream outlook and consequently enjoyed a larger sway than making a somber documentary on the issue. So, we have her taking the subject of the startling amount of farmers’ suicides in rural India as a result of India’s advancement in a developed nation. Selfish politicians at national, state and local stage have been both incapable and averse to do anything about it, turning the situation into a free-for-all tug-of-war between avaricious politicians and the resultant media circus that reaches a feverish whirl.

As we all know from daily headlines, with the prospect of Indian farmers is so desolate that the best path for them is to commit suicide, and a reimbursement of one lakh for the said act is like the proverbial cherry on top for them. In Peepli village, set in the hinterland of India, Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) is about to lose his land in an auction due to an unpaid government loan. He and his brother Budhia (Raghuveer Yadav) have lost their only means of livelihood and have the responsibility of an aged mother, a wife and three kids. Just when they are feeling down in the dumps, they come across a piece of information which promises to change the life of this poverty stricken family and in turn of the country as a whole.  To help save their land, they initially seek help from an apathetic local politician who suggests that the government has a program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. Natha takes the banter seriously and volunteers to which Budhia all too easily agrees. A correspondent for a local newspaper Rakesh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) happens to hear enough of the discussion to turn it into a sensational news bulletin. A ruthless national TV reporter Nandita Malik (Malaika Shenoy) rushes to the sleepy village of Peepli with her crew to cover this ‘event’ and leads a media charge into the muddy village of Peepli where dozens of reporters cultivate this story for ratings and soon catching up the national media in the chronicle of the farmer who swears to kill himself.

Since this event happens on the eve of national elections, what might otherwise have been another unnoticed event turns into a controversial topic of the week, with everyone wanting a piece of the action and various politicians also descend on Peepli each trying to be a part of the story for their own ulterior motive, but nobody is ready to or interested in solving the problem. Instead he is gifted a Lal Bahadur (hand pump) and a television set; both things which are ineffective in solving the actual problem that Natha is facing. So, now we have the politicians who see Natha’s announcement of suicide as a way to boost their political avail in the face of impending elections, the unconcerned bureaucracy eternally waiting for the court orders before taking any action, or contemplating over various government schemes to prevent Natha from committing suicide or the reporters who only see a sensational cover story in the defeated face of Natha. There is the media embellishing the topic and sensationalizing it and in the wake of upcoming elections, we have the politicians turning it into a saga thus making Natha the most talked about man in the country. In this scramble where everyone shoves for their piece in the pie, Natha remains a mute bystander. He is an impassive subject of everyone’s attention who in his heart just wants to run away from the greedy jackals out for his blood.

Peepli Live, though handled efficiently is not an original story line being at times reminiscent of another satire released earlier this year, Shyam Benegal’s Well Done Abba, which sneaked a quick look into the infuriating process of getting any governmental work done that involves approvals and the scam used to show the media and political system the mirror for the avaricious jackals they were.

The unconventional star cast is a plus for the movie. All the actors truly fit their part, but Omkar Das Manikpuri as the hapless common man is perfect as is Raghuveer Yadav as his elder brother is funny in a matter-of fact way. Malaika Shenoy as the merciless TV journo as also Farrukh Shaikh as Amma really stands out and have both done a truly commendable job. Naseeruddin Shah though perfectly cast as a conniving scheming politician, is wasted in what is almost a guest appearance.

Dialogues by Anusha Rizvi are real and hard-hitting and truly fantastic, at times laced with expletives (her erstwhile career as a journalist may have had something to do with it). The film’s raw and spirited music composed by many artists like Indian Ocean, Brij Mandal, Nageen Tiwari and others borrows heavily from traditional Indian folk music and forms the soul of the film. Cinematography by Shanker Raman is strictly okay. Costumes by Maxima Basu are apt as are the realistic sets.

The movie’s tonal beat is established early in the movie and becomes more pronounced as the film progresses. Rizvi efficiently orchestrates a media circus around what is in actuality a deathwatch, with the entire dispute dependant on Natha killing himself on live television. She is able to chalk out a story that reflects on India’s urban-rural split as much as it depicts the sensational hungry media’s ennui, the government’s ineptitude, the shrewd politician’s duplicity and the poor man’s vulnerability. Hence, after opening on a lofty note, the film slips into a rather banal tempo. And the entire effort falls flat as she is unable to pull off a full fledged satire and seems unsure about how serious the core message should be. In the end Rizvi is forced to leave the ending open.

We live in fraudulent times, period. Peepli Live reminds us of that and more. It reminds us of the extent, the inappropriateness and our compliance to the whole system. The film does have a sense of humor that helps you over the depressing parts, without ever being flippant about the subject. Peepli Live is a droll, penetratingly perceptive caricature of India’s political and media lackeys and offers a necessary veracity test in a country where celluloid evasion is too often the norm. The combination of the misfortune and the insanity of the state of affairs are not entirely incongruent and though the satire is a fitting weapon here, it’s the drama in Peepli Live that truly reverberates.

- Supriya Sanzagiri

When I say the word Muslim to anyone in India today the image that people will actually form is of a bearded and kurta and skull cap clad uneducated ill mannered ruthless individual  indulging in criminal and terrorizing activities or of hijab wearing women in black Burqas moving around Muslim neighborhoods who are regarded as backward, traditional and uneducated too. Is this image the true image of an Indian Muslim? I think not.

On this Independence Day I am writing on behalf of the minorities [read Muslims, the biggest minority] in India and the apparent freedom they enjoy in this country. I do not deny that Muslims in India enjoy a lot of freedom. But I have also noticed that they are on the defensive most of the time due to the above mentioned prejudices and perceptions of the general population. [Read other communities]

The woes of an Indian Muslim are:

The Muslims in India barring a miniscule minority belong to the lower middle class or poor sections of society. This economic disparity is due to their dogmatic attitude towards modernization vis- a – vis their religion and conservatism. This has led them to shun education which ultimately has led to less of upward social mobility and backwardness.

So much of the group is still reeling under economic backwardness but many have taken up education and are educated up to high school at least and are trying to improve their status. It is very interesting to see a group of college going students in a train compartment trying to ridicule and mock a burqa- clad Muslim woman through their display of fluent English which according to them will not be understood by the lady concerned due to set perceptions. When the lady in question retorts back to the ridicule in perfect English is where there is stunned silence and loss of face as well as realization that perceptions need to change as the people who may outwardly seem traditional may not be lacking in good education. But such instances are few and far between. The majority of the Burqa clad ladies and bearded and skull cap clad gentlemen are uneducated and uncouth, strengthening the set perceptions. Is this ever going to change? In this 63^rd year of our independence we need to examine the status of the Muslims in India their problems and woes and try to analyse the reasons for the way the majority within the minority behaves.

Let us examine the psyche of this great minority and the reason for them being what they are. The seeds of dissension between the two great communities as everyone knows were sown by the British alternately showing indifference and extreme favoritism as and when it suited them. This legacy is the one that Muslims have been living with right from the time of the colonial rule.

The leaders of this group from colonial times to the present have been either the moneyed class zamindars or businessmen or the deeply religious and rigid Maulvis and recently the so called brash underworld dons. If one makes a study of the leadership provided to the Muslims in free India it has always been people who have used the law for their own benefit and tried to get the support of the community for meeting their own ends.

Most Muslims are very rigid about their religion and therefore they at a personal front may not follow many of the laws and rules laid down by the religion [I am sure you know of many Muslims who think nothing of consuming alcohol or the ones who do not pray 5 times a day or the ones who do not mind giving and taking interest] but if anyone else [read majority] tries to interfere with their religion there is mayhem.

The Muslims in India have been relegated to certain areas [ghettos] in the metropolitan cities and various urban towns which are notorious as far as their reputation is concerned. The discrimination against the group in terms has led to difficulties for many astute and law abiding Muslims in acquiring homes, credit cards and admissions to reputed schools in cosmopolitan areas. If you are not aware about this I think most people need to find out this subtle discrimination is turning the Muslims from being defensive to getting on the offensive.

Politicians have always used them as their vote banks with the help of certain ambitious and manipulative Muslim figure heads who work hand in glove with politicians and get them elected from the Muslim dominated areas. Such individuals are opportunist and are old hands at how to dangle a carrot in front of the disillusioned minority to meet their own ends.  I do not call these people leaders as they never are available when the common Muslim needs them and many of them lead their own brethren astray by making them believe and support wrong candidates. The representatives thus elected hardly work for the community and are only seen around at the time of elections.

The reaction of the youth to all this is that they have become brash and offensive as means to get themselves noticed. The Muslim youth of today wants to make a fast buck by hook or by crook and that has led to rise in criminal and illegal activities in the so called Muslim areas.

So what do the Muslims need to do to shed the image they have created for themselves?

The need of the hour is first and foremost to educate the youth. This has already started. Till recent times there were a lot of schools where there were first generation learners now most schools have second generation learners in large numbers.

The second thing to do is for the Muslims to not just become literate but educate themselves and keep an open mind to change rather than just sticking to ideas which are outdated. By this I am not advocating not following the principles of Islam but rather understanding the religion and then following it rather than blindly doing what ones forefathers have been doing without questioning.

The development of the rational attitude towards religion will then lead to questioning the government and representatives for the bad decisions they make for the community. The Muslims then will be in a position to find good leaders for themselves rather than make do with whoever decides to fleece them every five years,

The next requirement is to learn to be law abiding citizens rather than ones who flout rules whenever they feel like. This will work a long way in shedding off the ill-mannered and uncouth image that has been associated with the community.

Last but not the least fight with the enemy within who is not letting you rise beyond your religion so that you stay the way you are and are not able to improve your lot and remain puppets in the hands of the moneyed class the maulvi or the politician. Anybody who is trying to stop your progress is the one that needs to be listened to but at the same time needs to be questioned and brought to book rather than followed blindly. Your religion will never stop you from achieving greater heights as that has never been the case. It is only that you have never given yourself the opportunity to rise above the rest and make something of yourself and your brethren and that needs to be tackled as soon as possible. The day Muslims in India realize this will be the true independence day for me.

-  Hawabibi Choonawala

“To become financially independent you must turn part of your income into capital; turn capital into enterprise; turn enterprise into profit; turn profit into investment; and turn investment into financial independence” -Jim Rohn

In today’s world, everyone wants to be financially independent, even if you are a child of age 12-15.  No one wants to ask money for some personal requirements even from the parents. So, to be financially independent, first you do not have to depend on your family and friends, and then you may plan to become a free-lancer or to start your own enterprise to get your livelihood and to provide others a chance to get their livelihood and become financially independent eventually.

First, let’s look at what financial security is not.

Financial security isn’t making or having a certain amount of money. There are many people who have made millions of dollars but aren’t financially secure. Stories about musicians, superstar athletes and multi-million-dollar lottery winners who end up as paupers are so common that they’ve become a cliché.

Financial security also isn’t limited to being independently wealthy, having servants bring you martinis by the pool, and flying your private jet to Monaco to party with heiresses, super-models, and rock stars. If that’s what you want, then go for it, but this is a very narrow definition of financial security.

I prefer a broader definition, one that puts financial security within the reach of anybody with a desire to improve their financial situation, and a little bit of discipline.

Financial independence is possible. Unfortunately, it is often never achieved – much like all of our goals and dreams – because we don’t desire it enough, believe it is possible, and work hard enough for it. Just as detrimental, we become comfortable with mediocrity, allow others to dictate our decisions, become unwilling to put in the effort required to achieve our dreams, and never learn and implement the necessary steps that result in financial independence, time freedom, passive income, and our full potential being realized. Desiring financial independence is perhaps the first step; but we also need to change our thinking and learn how to not only achieve it, but be willing to put in the work necessary to obtain it.

Thankfully, we can change! But even an understanding of the essential steps below is not enough – it is when knowledge and consistent action are combined that our goals, dreams, and financial independence will be realized.

1) Never Fall Victim to the Typical Employee Mentality: Stop thinking in terms of 9-5, manager and employee, weekends and holidays off, that is not my job or responsibility, etc. Doing more than you are paid to do will not only result in success on the job, but will undoubtedly carry over into other aspects of your life. But if you continually trade time for money, believe that job security is actually security, become content with mediocrity and being average, do just enough to keep your job, and actually think that a pay raise or promotion is the solution to your problems.  And by all standards, that is not my definition of financial independence (or happiness).

2) Leaving Your Job to Start a Business is Actually Not the Answer: Realizing that a job, being an employee, and trading time for money will not produce financial independence is the first necessary change in mentality we must obtain. However, do not fall victim to the thought that being the boss, starting or running your own company, or even being an entrepreneur is the solution. Financial independence is not defined by having more power or larger pay checks – it is measured by time freedom, no financial worries, being the manager and investor and not the boss, and especially creating passive income. The goal is not to become the boss, the goal is to be the owner and hire a boss to do the work. The goal is to not earn more to be able to spend more, but take the excess money and buy appreciating assets that make you money.

3) Passive Income is the Key: Job security is not the same as financial security. Independence within your job is not even similar to financial independence. And trading time and effort for money is the exact opposite approach as making money work for you. The goal in all of your pursuits, and the key to actually achieving financial independence (hopefully long before the age of 65) is to take every extra dime and invest it into assets that actually make you money on a continual monthly basis. Whether it is cash flow from properties, interest from accounts, or even profits from the work of others from your own businesses – the goal is to create and buy assets that continually bring in a monthly passive income.

4) Change Your Mentality About Retirement: Our culture’s unfortunate perception of retirement entails working hard for 40+ years, trading our time for money in hopes of promotions and pay raises, trusting complete strangers to manage our retirement accounts, and sacrificing pleasure now in hopes of living our dreams in years to come. Truthfully, I want nothing to do with this type of retirement. And because of this, I am thus willing to put in whatever effort necessary, take risks, change my mentality, and learn and implement the principles that will result in financial independence – long before I reach the age of 65.

5) Recognize What Keeps You from Achieving Financial Independence: There are multiple reasons why people do not achieve their dreams and goals in life, but they all can essentially be summarized into three categories: fear, mediocrity, and inaction. Do you fear taking risks, and possibly failing? Do you fear because you think you lack the necessary knowledge or abilities to be successful? Are you content with mediocrity and being average? Is ‘just getting by’ or ‘that’s good enough’ or ‘it’s not worth it’ common thoughts (and thus actions)? Are you unwilling to put in the effort required to achieve success? If so, then financial independence most certainly will be forfeited, and the result may be a good life – but good is the enemy of great!

6) Being Rich is Not the Same as Being Financially Independent: True wealth is not determined by the size of a bank account, the house we live in, or the car we drive. True wealth is a state of mind more than it is an actual dollar figure. The individual who has no financial worries or obligations, has assets and employees working for them, has created a continual monthly passive income, and has resources sufficient to create time freedom and be in a position to help others – this is true wealth (regardless of how much income or profits are actually made).

7) Understand That it is Achieved by Implementing the Laws of Success: As essential as all the principles above are, the reality is that no goal or dream in life is ever achieved unless and until we implement the laws that are foundational to all success. We must first desire financial independence, believe it is possible, have faith that we are capable of achieving it, change our mentality (as described above) and think big, overcome our fears and doubts, work hard every day in pursuit of our goal, and never quit until it is accomplished.

The goal should not be to get rich in life, it should be to enrich your life.

Financial independence is when you are able to fulfill your basic needs for living without depending on your family and relatives. But meaning for financial independence varies from person to person.

By not depending on your family, you have become independent in one way, but there could be a Boss on you, and it simply indicates you are still dependent financially on someone or on the company/organization with whom you work and associated with. So unless you are capable of fulfilling your requirements on your own without depending on one company, you are not completely independent.

Notice that the entire concept of Financial Independence is broken into six different categories that I have listed below.

We have not implied that you will become financial independent overnight, but it takes a great emphasis in the idea of breaking a huge goal, like becoming financially independent, into small manageable pieces, same concept you should use with any goal you have.

This is how you break into small pieces the huge goal of becoming financially independent:

1. Income: You are working for someone else, in a 9-5 job. You do not have real flexibility nor expecting a huge raise over the next years, but you can start saving some money to create the capital that you need to start a business. This capital could be anywhere from few hundred dollars to few thousands or more, depending on what type of business you want to start, your expertise, skills, education, etc.
2. Capital: Saved some income and got some capital, now you can start your own business, pay for the initial expenses; perhaps with your savings or with someone money from someone else (Venture Capital, Family members, Bank, Credit card companies). This Capital is going to be the foundation of your Enterprise or Small Business, which is the vehicle that will allow you become your own boss and the master of your time. It will also allow you to have more time to spend with your family and kids; which is an immense player when talking about anything independence.
3. Enterprise: Call it your Small Business, home based business, part time business to begin with; it does not matter. You are half way through the process of becoming financially independent, and your glass is half full and getting fuller every day. Hopefully you have a good team and mentors to make your enterprise such that will produce the profits that you are looking for. This Enterprise should also fulfill most of your needs in order to contribute to the ultimate purpose of your life: Happiness. This is why is so important that you do not elect a business for the money, but for the passion you have on it. The money will follow!
4. Profit: Once you find that passion and niche market to service, the profits will come. The profits should be such that you are able to not only run your business without debt, give yourself a salary and start saving again. This time the savings will be directed towards the investments that will secure your financial independence. Do not make the mistake of working for free for your business in the long run. Remember, the main financial objective of any business is to make profits for the owner.
5. Investment: There are several types of Investment you should consider, being the stock market the most commonly known alternative, and one that you should consider; but leaving it to the experts. Do not try to buy and sell stocks, rather get a financial adviser that will plan your retirement and will tailor your investments to your requests and needs. Another thing that you should consider is reinvesting in your company or another company. You know that the stock market will give you around 8% return per year (as per the historical return has been over time), but if you have a business that is giving you a return on investment of 13%, you perhaps should reinvest the money in your business. The same was with Real Estate when you were able to get those phenomenal returns, not to say that perhaps now is a great time to buy and get a great return in a couple of years. The key to knowing what and how much to put in each bucket, it is not a mathematical formula, and it will vary from woman to woman. Keep in mind that diversification is crucial to ensure you are mitigating your risks and whatever you do, make sure you know exactly what is that you are doing and feel comfortable with that decision.
6. Financial Independence: First key to achieving financial independence: Defining it! When my clients tell me they are setting a goal to be financial independent, the last thing they expect me to tell them is that they need to re-do their goal. The reason for this is, because becoming financial independent is not a specific and measurable goal, and therefore is not rewarding; not to mention it does not have a time line attached to it.

Take a moment to write down your goals the way they will empower you to achieve them. Define your goals as specific as you can, and make sure you have a strong reason behind them, because that is the only way you will have the driving force to push you towards your goals.

To me, financial security consists of four things:

1)  Being debt-free
Consider two women: Seeta  makes INR 350000 a year. She has INR 2500 in her savings account, and owes INR 10,000 on her credit cards. Geeta makes INR 350000 a year. She has INR 10,000 in her savings account, and owes INR 2500 on her credit cards.

Which woman do you think feels financially secure? Which sleeps better at night?

Certain debt is understandable. Few people have the money to write a check for a car or a house. Borrowing money for an education or to start a business may also be acceptable, but borrowing money for other reasons is probably a mistake.

How many of you are still paying off the credit card debt for:

• The vacation you took last summer?
• The elegant, romantic Valentine’s Day dinner last February?
• The pair of expensive Italian shoes you just gave to Goodwill?
• Christmas presents your kids no longer play with?
• Electronic equipment that has since become obsolete?

When you owe somebody money, they have power over you. You go to work, even if you don’t want to, because you have to pay back your debt. If you don’t pay, you can be sued, your car can be repossessed, or your house can go into foreclosure. That doesn’t sound like security to me.

2)  Being in control of your expenses
as I mentioned earlier, if you earn INR 500,000 a year, but you’re spending INR 600,000, you’re on your way to the poorhouse. If you control your expenses so that they are less than your income, you can save and invest the extra money, and you’re on your way to becoming financially secure.

3)  Consistently increasing your savings/assets/net worth on a monthly basis
Most people have little to show for years or even decades of hard work. For whatever reason, they can’t or won’t save money and they’re one paycheck away from being destitute.

We should focus on saving money every month. It’s a great feeling to watch your savings grow, especially because the interest compounds without any extra effort from you. Instead of you working for money, your money can work for you.

4)  Not being forced to work at a job you dislike just to pay the bills
Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck and are stuck at jobs they don’t enjoy because they have to pay their bills. If they quit their jobs or were laid off, it wouldn’t take long before they were in dire financial trouble.

Every family dreams of being financially secure. It means gaining the freedom to live without worrying about job cuts, redundancies or salary reductions. As bleak as it seems now, it is possible to build financial security.

Give Time to Build Wealth

Time will help families build wealth through compounding – the effect of reinvesting earnings from investments. Although the return may not be very significant in the beginning, over time it will grow faster and faster.

Be Disciplined in Money Matters

Discipline is crucial in money management. Start with saving early and regularly. Pick up some household budgeting tips to make sure there is money to spend and to save. When there is a decent amount to put into investments, resist greed and impatience, warns Warren Buffet.

He says that people invest in shares, bonds and managed funds because the value of the investment goes up over time, usually faster than inflation. However, many make the mistake of expecting a big return too soon, especially when they see friends and families making a lot more money in short periods of time.

Greed and impatience often step in here, causing many investors to abandon their well-thought financial strategies. Avoid doing that. Those who really want to be become financially secure need to remain disciplined and follow strategies that were already planned for their families, not listening to somebody else’s hot tips to get rich quickly.

Have Knowledge on Tax, Insurance and Investments

Tax-related matters often seem confusing to many people. But ample knowledge on tax will save the family a lot of trouble. Know the tax breaks and make use of them. Find out what the best tax deduction is for the family. See how income splitting can allow couples to enjoy lower income tax rates.

There should also be adequate insurance for the family. Adequate life insurance, income protection insurance and private health insurance are crucial, especially for families with young children and other dependents.

Before investing, do thorough research on prospective investments, if possible through a registered financial planner. Expect six to12 months before making the first investments. Also, learn to recognize financial cycles – a continuous process that can change suddenly, for better or for worse.

Device Firm yet Flexible Financial Strategies

Building financial security and wealth also requires firm strategies that can be revised when there is real need for it, Buffet points out.

He says, “Educating yourself about money should be the core of your strategy. You might start with the finance pages of the daily newspaper.” Financial magazines, financial programs on TV and analyst reports are good sources of reference too.

Financial security is something attainable for every family. To make it happen, allow time to build wealth and be disciplined about saving money and sticking to a well-planned financial strategy. Families should also educate themselves about tax, insurance and investments as well as read up as much as they can about money and finance.

Financial independence is an admirable goal for which we should all strive. However, it’s important to define financial independence so that it is achievable for us. Being debt-free, controlling our expenses, increasing our savings every month, and doing what we love can lead to happy, fulfilling, and prosperous lives for us all.

-  Gitanjali Singh

When at work, which is the most heartbreaking moment that you can ever face?

Though events such as being betrayed by a co-worker, not being able to perform up to your expectations, or realizing that you are being paid less than you deserve may make it to the list; none of them would match to that moment of sheer bewilderment, dismay and utter shock, when you realize that the project you had been working for, with all your sweat and blood, absolutely sure it’d be a major success, has somehow ‘royally’ missed the mark…!

With a sinking heart you wonder what could have possibly gone wrong when everything seemed so right and flawless. As the human mind needs answers to each of its questions, it goes on an unending quest to find the cause of this ‘failure’ without ever being too sure, that this quest would lead to new learning, or finding the correct cause.

Because of this attitude; everything in retrospect in magnified unduly out of proportions, and anything which seems ‘incorrect’ like a co-worker’s negative attitude, or a minor lapse on your part is to be blamed. So it’s either “because of me” or “because of them” that the project was unsuccessful. This approach to finding the root cause is quite incorrect to say the least, it’s no better than a blame game, if you actually see it.

It’s imperative to remember that when something goes wrong, while retrospection ‘things could have been done better’ should be the attitude. This always helps to learn and grow; rather than to blame and stagnate.

This, however is easier said than done, and is not possible to cultivate it unless you stop expecting what the results should be like. Don’t get me wrong here… I do not mean to imply that we stop considering the results while we work; but simply we should not work with an unconditional mindset stating “This is how it’s going to turn out.” An unconditional mindset limits our abilities to see any conditions which may affect our performance.

A flexible approach where results are concerned is needed… because no matter what you do, the turnout could be a pleasant surprise or a bolt from the blue! Why and how you ask? Read on…

When a particular action is performed, one often perceives as only one factor affecting its accomplishment- one’s effort which was invested in the performance of the action. Yet, this is not the case.

There are five causes to the accomplishment of any action; they are:

The place of action; the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor and the ‘Super cause’ (which maybe your fate, luck, destiny, God’s will or whatever you want it to be… it’s just one of those unexpected eleventh-hour moments which either make or break your project!).

Seen this way, it’s quite a possibility that even though you’ve given in your 100%  but the place where you’re working, the environment may not be conducive enough to help you raise the bar for you to meet your expectations; or that your hard-disk has to crash just when you were making a backup! (This is where your ‘super cause’ comes in!)

These five factors are actually the conditions which affect our results, and once you are aware of them, you no longer hold an unconditional mindset stating that “The results are going to be like the way I want them to be.”

It’s clear now that one’s effort in the entire creation and construction of the project or assignment is merely one of the factors which affect its outcome. One who considers only himself or others, to be the cause of the success or failure, of any particular project; oblivious of the other factors, is not being very wise.

Having understood the factors affecting our results, it is also important that one performs what is assigned, as a ‘Duty’. Here duty is not considered from the ethical or moralistic viewpoint; it’s simply a responsibility, which is free of any kinds of attachments or false ego (If I am good, I’ll make this a success- again it’s a fallacy, considering the above factors which were just discussed).

Consequently, one who performs his duty with enthusiasm and without wavering in success or failure is said to work in the mode of goodness. It is in this transcendental stage that one starts enjoying what one’s doing, as success or failure don’t matter too much, as they are simply stepping stones to progress; if you succeed-you learn what to do better, if you fail-you learn what to avoid; in both cases considering that all the other factors have also played a role.

So in the end, there is no success which is truly yours; and neither is failure. Having read through all this; now thinking about ‘success’ and ‘failure’ as loaded terms seems so futile!

Remember, the reason you take up a particular type of a job in a particular organization because you like it, your interest lies there, it is something that gives pleasure and is enjoyable. But, slowly, you get trapped in the vicious cycle of performance-success/failure and soon stop enjoying your job like you first used to. You soon enter into an impasse, where your job doesn’t feel fulfilling enough.

Breaking from this cycle gives a sense of freedom and independence, where you are no longer overburdened by the so called success or failure of your task, but are rather free to make new mistakes and learn from them; where you realize that you are after all human, flawed, but can always aim towards perfection; with every mistake you make, you develop the integrity to accept and admit while making amends. And you’re able to do this, without letting your enthusiasm for your job decline, in-fact you only fuel it further.

At the end of the day, no matter what the result is; performing to your fullest potential is all you can do, is the best you can do. As rightly said; “Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person- Dr David M Burns.

-Heena Sharma

Now China is officially World’s second largest Economy.

To Read More Visit : -http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/08/china_0