Take up smoking! And help children!

Yes, you read the title right.  Recently the US federal government raised the tax on cigarettes by $0.62.  The proceeds would go to funding childrens health care...so improving the health of one by harming the other? Read more here.There could be a lot of aruguments back and forth on why this is good or bad..but my question is - arent we betting those kid's health against someone's poor decision?

This tactic of tapping taxes from consumption of goods that breed "moral low ground" has been around for ages. It has been lovingly called the "sin tax". Link to history of it here. 

So is it ok to sin as long as you pay a tax on it? (pun intended). Plus, who has the moral authority to call out sins of various human beings?  Since smoking has been demonized (for all the right reasons) in modern society, it is easy to get away by raising taxes on some tobacco rolled up in a paper with a filter attached to it. The same may not apply to other "sins" that are not as infamous. It has been proven that sin taxes do work. Take a look at the "Economics of Sin Taxes". Under the guise of "encouraging those bad people to give up their bad habits", we as a society stand to gain from it's proceeds, which can then be applied to the betterment of all - especially the "good" people.

To apply an analogy, we are like the employees of a store that sits across the local whorehouse - 

as long as we dont visit the prostitutes and the prostitutes keep having customers, we ccan keep our morality and eat it too.

P.S - In interest of full disclosure, let me mention for the record that I am not a smoker and that I have never taken up smoking as a habit in my life. So if you were thinking - "he must be smoker; hence the anger" - ha!

The merryman cometh

Happiness has the mind of a maverick. Sometimes it plays hard to get, sometimes it plays hide and seek, and sometimes it is elusive. But when we find it, we try to hold on to it so tight that it escapes at the slightest chance it gets.

Rather than holding tight on to it, I usually just say hi and hello and keep a small distance so as not to break any private space that it deserves. Consider it as a motive to keep it a arms length to be called upon anytime. I don't give it a shape either (like if I do this, I will be happy), I just recognize it when I see it. I classify my happiness as the merryman, who meets me at various nooks and corners of my life and always leaves me wanting for more.

Some people like their merryman to be a short distance runner - achieving great happiness that has a short running time. This is usually not recommended as the means are often harmaful or borderline criminal. (Smoking weed, running ponzi schemes or indulging in blind ideology). Others like their merryman to be a marathon runner, slowly but surely gathering pace and lasting for a long period of time. (Hardwork, corporate ladder climbing, building up a profitable business). The merryman usually has long term relationships with them as well, but they usually don't make it into the celebrity list or the most famous person's list.

I try to meet happiness everyday - it may be in the slightest of event like a happy child or in a large dose like spending quality time with the ones you love most. At the end of the day if I think I have not achieved anything - I think - this is now, I am here and I am ready to take on another new day of my life! Ah, there it is - the happiness in sheer optimism! The merryman does take holidays though - during times when loved ones are lost and during times when serious health issues surface. I imagine him to be like a postman - drops in everyday (except on holidays as I mentioned before), drops envelopes big and small, and leaves me to figure out the value of each piece of mail my life has to offer.

So build yourself a merryman and try to meet him everyday. He has unpredictable timing, so keep on the lookout and if you think you have not met him today, think again - you might have missed him in the crowd of your other emotions - its just that he did not wear the bright red uniform today that usually gets him noticed.

When did I meet my merryman today, you ask? Just about a few minutes back when I was almost done with this post that I have been thinking of posting for couple of days now. How does he look? Well, I say he dresses up differently for everyone, so I am not going to spoil the surprise for you! You will have to see for yourself.

Procrastination: Cause and Effect

Friday, 7:30 pm - "Oh I have to stick the new registration tags on the motorcycle - will do it on the weekend"

Saturday 5:30 pm - "Hmm, I have to stick the registration tag, but I am late for my volleyball
game, maybe tomorrow"

Sunday 11:30 pm - "Oh forgot about the sticker again, too late now, will do it tomorrow"

Tuesday 9:15 am - "Oh Sh*#! Where is my motorcycle? Was it stolen? Or did somebody tow it? Better call the apartment office"

Well, turns out the apartment security had placed a notice under the license plate of my motorcycle about the expired registration tag. A week later, since no one had called, they had it towed. I tried to show my angry face at the apartment manager - but she showed a photo of the notice stuck to my motorcycle (I hate those smart phones!), so I had to back away from shifting the guilt (or the responsibility) onto someone else's shoulder. I called the towing company - their response justified every inch of prejudice I had about them - they are the best legally run mafia operation in these United States of America. Well, if you are wondering about the other ones, I will name a few - U-Haul, Parking Enforcement and the IRS. Getting back to topic, after the technical terms mambo jumbo, I deduced that if I got the motorcycle out of their storage facility (which is even worse than the footage of Iraq I have seen on TV) by the next evening, I need to pay only (emphasis on the only) a total of $260.

Now, I know on the list of bad effects caused by procrastination, loss of wealth comes only after loss of health and loss of family relations. But in the absence of the other two, I felt emotionally burdened by this impending financial loss. In the current economical climate, this is the last thing I could afford. After doing some quick calculations in my head, I figured out the other costs I could cut to make up for this towing company's moment of nirvana.

Slowly, the other repercussions dawned on me. How do I break this to my wife? How do I blame politicians for procrastinating the fixing of a health care crisis and economical crisis? Closer to home, how do I reason with my son for not cleaning up his toys because he had other things to do? Some wise man said - "Change the man in the mirror first before asking the world to change". Now, I am sure he was just postponing his occasional social visit, but he does have a point. Then again, another wise man said - "Hard work pays over time, but laziness pays now". I will leave it to you to figure out who was the wiser one. Or you can do it later.

A battery jump start from AAA and a ride from my wife later, I was lighter on accounts of my bank balance and self righteousness. In the near future, I may think twice before blaming my son, wife, colleagues and policymakers when they say - "I will do it, but now is not the time".

Since this experience has become an edifice of my procrastination aftereffect, you may think I have become better in getting stuff done by now. But consider this - I have been putting this post up for a week now. Thankfully, blogger.com does not tow unclaimed draft posts!

Days of our lives

Last weekend, my friends and I had a get together at my place. For the first few hours, our conversations kept going and we were having a lot of fun. The next day, after the hangover set in the horizon, I wondered - we were not talking about sports or girls or politics, but still the conversations were very interesting and engaging - how come?. Then it struck me - we had been talking about how we went about our daily lives. Dropping kids to school, making calls to the insurance companies, taking our cars for service et al. Also of note - none of us were leading particularly interesting lives. All of us called our lives mechanical, hated the daily grind and were of the opinion that life nowadays has become too robotic.

But is it really that mundane? If it were, how come ramblings about it are so interesting? How come it evokes so much laughter and excitement? Yeah, that's my point. Our lives are are not even close to mundane. By we, I mean the middle class, the working fabric of nations everywhere and people who by and large make up the biggest pie of the term "populace". We don't solve rocket science problems, do not hold bilateral discussion between countries or don't enact a scene that can get an Oscar nomination. Yet, for us, no day is like the previous, and what is to come is totally different from what was.

Can you imagine a favorite TV show or a movie that was not about ordinary folks? What would TV shows like Friends or Seinfeld look like if all of the characters were super rich? What would they talk about - How they lost money in the stock market? Come on, give me a break! The lives of ordinary people, in contrast, have lot more spice and flavor churned from their daily struggles to fix things and their effort to keep the wheels turning - kids education, insurance compliance, getting dates, figuring out when to get engaged (or get married) to their sweetheart etc. It's not that the wealthy don't have to do this, but they don't have to tie these to any successfully goal completions - like a bonus, a promotion or a tax refund.

Case in point - Before we call our lives too ordinary, robotic and mundane, let us reflect on it and recognize it for what it really is. It is the fuel that keeps us on the run, the tunnel that we keep building and the journey we keep on planning. In retrospect, we will find out that it was anything but boring - kind of like how we cherish our childhood and college days after we are done with those. So let us enjoy the day as it happens, take in the view as we drive through the journey, pause, and take time to smell the roses.

Flashbacks can never take you to the real thing, so enjoy the moment while you are in it and remember not to rush through the "Daily Grind". Just make sure you are armed with the best grinder available.

P.S. If you are a very rich person reading this, discard all of what you have read and contact me ASAP - I have a really good idea on how to start a great company with your money.

Shameless Self Promotion - Do we have a choice?

Scene 1: The camera zooms into my living room. Scrambled toys, a swing and an open shelf greets the viewer. Zoom out, pan and scan the hall. More scattered toys, and a a pair of kids shoes. The viewer is now sure that there are at least a couple of kids in this living space. Ah, finally, there is a shot of a room with some light. Wait, is that me sitting in front of my computer? Yes, it's me alright. Zoom in to the computer display - The words that are displayed in the computer monitor are clear now. It reads - "2008 Performance Objectives, Goals and Results".

There is a reason for the screenplay-style writing above. As I was writing the performance review for the past year, that's exactly what it felt like - a screenplay. I was trying to write the whole story of what happened at my job over the past year so I could prove to my manager that I am a keeper. So I penned it with care - my bread winning capability depended on this not being a tragedy, musical or a comedy. The story line needed to be inspiring, touching and "feel good" at the same time. Like "SlumDog Millionaire" - the target audience (in this case my manager) should feel that I have worked hard in difficult conditions and that I deserve more, and more often.

Now the mind wanderer that I am, I started thinking. Can we get by without marketing ourselves these days? Marketing oneself aggressively for the right job is a given, but what about other venues? On digging that thought-mine deeper, I realized that we end up doing it more often than not.

For a good insurance premium, we tout our sans accident driving record, years of driving experience and clean driving habits. For a good life insurance policy, we even praise our genetics - "no heart attacks on my mom's or dad's side - Alzheimer's maybe, but that was my uncle - Moreover, I don't keep touch with him that much anyway". When your kids complain that you never get them this or that or that you never take them out, your inner salesperson wakes up from deep slumber and fires back - "What about the days we went out to the park and I got you Cheetos and all that popcorn? Remember when I took you the cinema and you cried for Ice Cream? I even bought you two. Remember?" When your significant other notices that you are not romantic as you used to be, you immediately put on your mental suit and tie and the sales pitch starts - "Oh so the diamond means nothing to you now? What about our trip to Hawaii? And the flowers I bought for our anniversary- Your appreciation did not even last much as the roses did, Honey!" Bravo , you finely tuned selling machines, Bravo!

In the era of increasing "Me First" mentality, people who take notice of good actions, intentions and hard work are few and far between. If anyone had doubts about Darwin's theory of "Survival of the Fittest", now is the time to look around and see proof of it. Success is no longer measured in goodwill, but on how much you can afford to donate at GoodWill (the store). The world is increasingly being transformed into a multitude of ladders and each one of us have multiple ones to climb - in pursuit of prized possessions, stable relationships and towering finances. The yardsticks used for measuring a country's well being are the Dow and Nasdaq, not the quality of life being lived by its people.

So the world leaves us with no choice but to market ourselves as good worker bees, good parents, great lovers and loving sons and daughters. However, I don't remember the last time I had to market my ability to be a good human being; a person whose policy is "Live and let Live". I guess that would be up to the orphans, the homeless and all the charity institutions that serve the greater good. They have to pitch to me, the greedy and self indulgent common man, as to why they are in dire need of money I have saved to help me climb the selfish ladders of life. Benevolence has never been a great asset to market anyway.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that when it came to this blog, I did have a choice in not indulging in shameless self promotion. I went along with it anyway and judging by the traffic to my site, it looks like I would have to fire the salesperson for lack of skill and poise. I know what you are thinking - let me dismiss that thought right away. No, it does not have anything to do with the quality of posts. "Remember that time when you read the awesome post and said it was good? Remember?"

The Penn is mightier than the sword

No, the title does not have a typo - Read on.
It is a little too late to discuss this year's Oscars, but this year's event was not lackluster and there were some moments that deserve special mention. Usually I am not into Oscars, but this year, I was particularly interested since Slumdog Millionaire had attracted so much hype. For me the Oscars stood out for 2 reasons - The "Mozart from Madras" (as he is sometimes known) A. R Rahman's 2 Oscars and Sean Penn's acceptance speech.

Both men have immense talent riding on their shoulders, but they proved that their souls were oscar worthy too. They decided to use the opportunity of a center stage spotlight to voice their opinions - however unpopular they may be (Rahman's not so much). Sean Penn started off with "You commie homo-loving sons of guns" and I went "Yes!". He has been constantly criticized and ridiculed in public (and in the industry) for his support of equal rights - may it be among different classes (hence the name commie; for communist) and among people with diffrerent sexual orientations (hence the name homo loving). He could have easily chosen to be non political and walked away in the glory that the Academy bestowed upon him. But in my opinion, he did the right thing - used his opportunity to voice an opinion about a cause much bigger than himself. A.R.Rahman's speech was also directed at people who hate. "All my life I had a choice between love and hate; I chose love and I am here" - he said, and walked away to the music of "Jai Ho". That was magical. He used Hindi and Tamil in his speeches and proved that being humble never goes out of style.

It is a tough act to stand up for one's beliefs and opinions when you are pacing yourself up the popularity ladder. Your career and reputation is at risk and you may not know whom you end up offending. Take the example of Arundhati Roy, who, after winning the Booker prize in 1997 started voicing her opinions about War, poverty and capitalism thereby quickly falling out of global popularity charts.

Early on in my career, I did fake agreement with my manager's viewpoints and opinions since I did not want to lose a step in my career ladder. As my beliefs grew stronger, I realized that acting on principle may cost you dearly, but buys you a sense of righteousness and peace of mind which are never on sale at Walmart(or any other store). I do my best these days to voice my opinion to any audience I get (I rarely get any - makes it easier); and sure enough, I have rubbed some of my friends the wrong way.

On the other end of the spectrum, Governer of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal used his opportunity in the spotlight to voice his concerns on Obama's stimulus package. He too, quickly fell out of the popularity charts - but not for standing up for his beliefs. He showed us that just being a young and dynamic politician and being born to immigrants is not always president material. Being a computer programmer, I deal with logic all the time so there were a couple of places where I felt the logic was not adding up. Mainly, he was speaking up against government while holding publicly elected office. Oh, the irony! Also, in his speech he said that when he was young, his dad told him - "Bobby, you can do anything". Wasn't his name good old "Piyush" then? ( I know, I am being silly here , but hey, I always voice my opinion - remember?)

Remember, Stay true to what you believe - they are a result of what you have gone through in life. And when the world gives you a stage, grab it by the horns and make it yours instead of staging the world on it!

Let your little worries prevail...

This morning as I was sipping on my morning tea and browsing through my day-opener websites, the mental worry train started its journey. Why are my stocks dwindling? Why is the economy still plummeting? Why is my to do list getting longer? Why is life so hectic?

My wife then reminded me that we had an appointment with the doctor for our little girl. She had been getting some blue lumps on her body that kept appearing and disappearing - so we figured we should be getting some professional advice rather than just staring at those lumps and being intrigued.

While at the doctor's office, it was the doctor's expression that threw me off my emotional feet. He look puzzled and a little shaken. He then stepped outside the room to consult his colleague. His colleague came in after a while, took a look and said - "we are going to have a talk outside and will let you know what we think." As they were conferring with each other, my wife and I traded nervous looks. The doctor came back in and said - "We are going to order some blood tests, since we don't really know what it is." Now that the doctor did not have any answers, where do we go to find out? "Oh, it's going to be wait and watch game"; I thought - and it is going to be emotionally draining.

At the lab, they tried to find her vein, but in vain. With my wife waiting outside the room, I was forced to watch them pierce the needle into our three month old's arm and then search for a vein. It was like my heart being slowly cut with a butter knife. I was terribly worried, but helpless at the same time, so I stood my ground. The lab then referred us to another lab where they specialized in taking blood samples from infants. What? Couldn't you have told this before? Why does my baby have to be a statistic in your trial and error method? Those were questions in my head that never came out, given the circumstances that I was in. At the next lab, the technician went to get the blood sampling kit while I sat on a chair, holding my daughter tight and in position for the procedure. "Hey there Delilah" by the plain white T's was playing in the background, acting as a catalyst to break up my mental courage. This technician did a much better job, but he had to a drain a lot of blood for all the tests prescribed by the doctor. As the syringe came off, blood poured out into my daughter's arm, my fingers and onto my shirt. It was at that time that my tear ducts reacted to what I had been feeling all along; and a man-tear fell out my left cheek. Under different circumstances, my wife would have said - "Oh, I thought you never teared up". But today was different, I just could not handle it - my daughter was crying at the top of her voice, looking straight into my eyes and probably puzzled why I let this happen to her and I was worried what might come out of these blood tests.

We drove back and there was not a word spoken between us - I am sure our minds were still parsing through the Google results we had seen earlier - cancer forums, tumor forums and links to various types of child cancer. Around dinner time, the doctor called and said - "I got the first round of results and everything looks normal; I am so glad that it is not Leukemia that I had suspected." We had mixed emotions, but I think we felt lighter in our hearts.

The battle is only half won - we are still waiting for the second part of her blood results.

What does this teach me you ask? Well, I am happy with the small worries that I have in life and consider those a blessing now. The bigger ones, the ones that shake up my fundamental well being - I could do away with. So let your little worries prevail, since those are the thorns that support the sweet smelling, beautiful rose of a peaceful, happy and a healthy life.