Proof I have nothing to do in office these days:

Child: dad, what is this talk of economic recession going on everywhere?

Dad: son, we're currently in the middle of a huge crisis. Something terrible. You know,
imagine no jobs, no opportunity to earn money to make a living.

Child: lol! that does sound terrible. But dad tell me one thing. How do jobs get created anyway?

Dad: okay, i'll try to explain.I start a company which intends to make money by shelling out a
product/service for the people. If you help me in this endeavor, I'll give you some share
of the profit. So, you just keep on doing what I tell you and get money in return.

Child: That sounds convenient :).. So how can everyone in the population manage to get a job anyway?
The probability that enough companies will be started to employ enough people so that not a single
guy remains jobless...that seems to be quite unprobable.

Dad: Yes. But in developed countries, that probability is high. Because those are highly
industrialized nations. So plenty of companies, plenty of work to do, so plenty of people required.
Also, since the population is not as huge as in our country, that takes the probability higher.

Child: Okay! Now I see! Why governments are so obsessive about growth. More growth basically means existing
companies are raking in higher profits. This translates to higher investment in future, more companies,
more work and thus, more employment.

Dad: Exactly! At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to provide a good standard of life to every citizen
of the country.

Child: And the way to do that is to make the atmosphere conducive to growth which in turn leads to, employment.

Dad: Yes. You see, early man was self-sufficient. He hunted for his food, made his own clothes and shelter. So
no complications. If you are capable to take care of yourself, you survive. Otherwise, you have to be
lucky if you find someone who can do these tasks for you.

Child: But why would someone do these tasks for you without any reason?

Dad: Not without any reason. Lets say you enjoy growing food but hate making clothes. You find someone who is
interested in making clothes but not quite in growing food. Thats a nice arrangement! You grow extra food
for that guy and he will make the clothes for you in return. You both are happy now with having to do only
the work you like. Similar arrangement with the shelter guy.

Child: You made it over simple dad! Its not that simple to understand these days!

Dad: We've only started kid!

Child: I'm listening.

Dad: Okay, then lets make it more complicated. Add a fourth human need to the list, say ornaments. Imagine men
and women 'like' to wear some ornaments. Please remember the word 'like' here. It signifies a desire, not
a need.

Child: Hmm, a desire but not a need. That means, it will be good to have but we do not desperately need it.

Dad: Yes. Now lets add our fourth guy who only likes making ornaments, into the system. So the arrangement is similar.
He makes the ornaments for the food guy, clothes guy and shelter guy and these three men provide him their
respective products.

Child: Okay, so we have a fourth guy added with his respective job.

Dad: Yes, but the difference here is, the other three guys can do without the product of this fourth guy.

Child: I see where you are getting. Suppose the clothes guy is tired of making three set of clothes for the other guys.
He decides to make only two clothes and abandon the deal with ornaments maker. He will be deprived of ornaments now,
but he can still live happily as its not a need.

Dad: He has the option. He can work more and have the ornaments too. But if he doesn't, the ornament-maker is in trouble.
Because the ornament maker has been deprived of the opportunity to work for the clothes maker and earn clothes for
himself.

Child: That's bad news for the ornament maker. So how does he survive without clothes now?

Dad: He has to convince the clothes maker. The decision of the clothes maker not to make extra set of clothes led to
reduced economic activity resulting in deprivation for both clothes maker and ornament maker.And it turned out real
bad for the latter as 'clothes' are his basic need.

Child: Hmm..So, because the ornament maker's product is really optional to have, he has to put extra effort in convincing
people to take it. So this is the way economy will be able to move.

Dad: Yes. In other words, a good economy is one where everyone gets the opportunity to work and contribute to society. In return,
everyone gets back the rewards. Its really a situation where human beings are working together to create good living
conditions for everyone.

Child: But dad, thats hardly the case. There is so much inequality! They say that 1% of the richest people own more than 50% of the world's
wealth!

Dad: Thats the sad part. Its a side-effect of the way humans decided to make this system of economics work. A huge side-effect
no doubt!

Child: Gaack! Mr. Wallet's son is a prime example. He's always splurging! He's always roaming around in a vintage BMW..wears the best
of clothes..goes in the primest retaurants in town..wtf!

Dad: That's not bad. He's playing a good role for the upliftment of our economy.

Child: What!

Dad: In our words, he's our clothes-maker who is giving opportunity to the ornaments maker to earn his living. It might be another
thing that he need not make clothes himself. He already has enough stock of clothes which he can distribute to people at free will
and take their services.So he's enjoying life no doubt but more importantly, he's keeping the economy moving.

Child: But that's so unfair. Unlike others he's not having to work hard to make clothes. How is that possible!

Dad: So that is the side-effect of the system we have today.We'll discuss that later. But remember, its important for him to give
away his clothes to improve other people's lives.

Child: But I insist. How did he get such a huge stock of clothes without having to work for it? Okay, he might have got that from his
dad. But is it, that his dad worked day-in and day-out to make clothes and collected such a huge pile in the end?

Dad: Well, technically yes. He would have imagined that there will be a lot of people waiting to buy clothes. So why not make as many
clothes as possible and keep them in stock. So that, in times of illness, he can conveniently give away the clothes in exchange for
people's services.

Child: Turns out he made more than enough. So much that his son can freely enjoy for his lifetime.

Dad: Yes, but his son must keep giving away the clothes. Otherwise people will suffer when they won't have clothes.

Child: Got it now. But I am imagining the ornaments maker doing the same thing. What if he made a huge stock of ornaments and.. there are
not enough people willing to take it!

Dad : Yes that would be terrible for him. But such a situation should not arise if there is prosperity around. However, imagine the food-
maker got ill and can prepare food for only two guys. He will obviously now abandon the deal with ornaments maker. His first priority
is to get clothes and shelter.

Child: Poor ornaments maker.Looks as if he's always the first loser. The one whose product has the highest 'need quotient' is emerging out
to be the happiest guy in all situations.

Dad: Lets take another example. Ornament maker 2.what happens if these guys get screwed to start with.
... to be continued

When I met Janardhan- the 77-yr old guy!

Ha! Another saturday..another opportunity for a nwzppr pic!!:) (shud hv written a blog bout sunfeast run bt pics were enough)
This time it was times cycle to work event!! Not as much hyped as sunfeast, but still a happening way to start ur weekend!!Human greed once starts..it never ends!! I wanted another nwzppr pic..and dis time in the times of india! And so, I was thr at the very front during flag-off,surrounded by pros, foreigners and Janardhan..in their fancy sport bikes and bright red/yellow colored clothes all in full glory(dude, wat the hell ws I doing here!)smiling at the reporters..who were of course capturing us ferociously in those big lens! And I made it sure to be standing next to the guy called Janardhan, who was getting all hype in the world for his amazing comeback in life! And he sure ws getting media attention!
This guy, when he was 64-yr old, had some scary medical condition and ws prescribed medication for life-time..But he didn't want to live like dat...living on medicines and depending on his relatives for his basic life activities( who wants to live like that even for a minute!)..so he took it light...cycling ws one of the activities he took up really seriously and full-time..
I can't believe I rode 83km today! today's weather played a big part in dat..but dat is serious distance! ur legs just can't take it anymore..they simply stop pedalling as if shouting...stop it dude!wtffff!!

And..Janardhan rode 111km today..77-year old guy!!! i mean srsly wtffff!! he makes u feel so lame! and he rides 50km everyday...he doesn't miss out on any marathon/cycling event in Bangalore..(I came to know thr are tonnes of events going out in Bangalore every now nd then, only if i'm a bit more alert!)

And then u think..I just hope I get a pic in tomorrow's nwzppr wid dis guy! :P :P