DK Kapila The Oracle

When will we ever learn. In North West India. A Punjabi by roots (and proud of it) I have written subtly about the ingrained need in many of us to some how bring up the issue of wealth or possessions or status, it could be rudely or straightforward or indirectly but say it we must. This quality I find in our brotherly state of Haryana too. Today a friend of over twenty five years came to meet us. He is settled in Canada and we chatted away on children and the antics.of a.certain section of migrants there. Around  830 pm a couple of his friends came to pick him up. Our goodbyes took some time. We went out to see him off and got introduced to them. I remembered we had met briefly once and said cordially you could have just.walked in. I meant it. So did.the wife as she said the same. The lady responded " actually this is not our actual car, this we will dispose off, our actual car is a sedan parked.at our old house while we have moved to a new larger house".  I saw a.perfectl...

GM. As we endeavour to move to card based transactions or rather digital transactions, I am still thinking how it will be implemented, specially the card based systems. The card based systems run on a fees levied by Banks on merchant establishments.  At Chandigarh I find that many establishments levy a 3 % charge if a card is used. At some it is 1.5 % to 2.00 % with maybe a smaller fees for using a debit card. Any discount is off the table if a card (debit or credit) is used. Just as an example I had to pay a doctor the consultation fees  and certain specialized medicines (I am fine, for someone) and the doctor said 3 % extra for the credit card. So I took out the debit card. It was still 3 % as the banks charged 3 %. I tried my skills in explaining the use of cards and it's benefits in the larger context but found it was being met with irritation. It was a large amount and I went out to an ATM to draw cash. I have had retailers state the same, specially discounts are at ti...

A few centuries ago we wanted peace. So we lost what is today Baluchistan. We really  eloved peace. So we lost Sind. Then we lost Afghanistan~ and lakhs were butchered. We so loved peace and the belief that it was a sin to fight that at Somnath Temple the priests and others threatened the invaders with the wrath of God. Everything was looted. Then as inherent peace loving people we became slaves. In this age we lost half of Kashmir and Ladakh as peace loving people. Then as peace loving people we accepted all the terrorism from across the border at a tremendous cost to ourselves (economically and human lives) and in addition loss of national morale. Now even a small sharp riposte is being debated endlessly and breathlessly as though mountains have moved. And the DGMO indirectly or directly~ alongwith the JS MoEA portrayed as liars or economic with the truth. Infact BBC is the reference~ forgetting it's the Brits who supported Kashmir and contributed to the problem. In any case o...

Fear                          Dinesh K Kapila Years ago, there were how many, let me count, yeah, ten of us cousins (all guys) walking down to my maternal grandfather’s mansion in Jalandhar late at night. It was a short walk from my grand uncle’s house post a wedding.   We came to a narrow alley opening onto a square. An old building, with windows open on the first floor, once a small hospital, overlooked the alley. We walked past, till one of us said that people who died in the hospital came out as ghosts (Bhoot) at night and that the place was haunted.  We ridiculed the idea, after all ten of us were walking down. Then one of the windows creaked, (surely the wind, but it was not windy, that much I remember still), it moved slowly outwards, we ran, just ran. We were from class six to class ten or eleven or so. Well, all ran, rather sprinted, and s...

Financial Literacy~ The local  papers carry a story of a farmer being duped of Rs 1.47 crore by conmen promising to double his investments.through insurance policies, well the guy stays in Sector 2 Chandigarh, so he would be more of a landlord. One would not expect a man of this position to be so unaware but then that is being  financially illiterate. There are many such.misinformed individuals looking for assured high returns with safety and trusting slick paperwork and apparently wealthy owners. Another newsclip is of investors demanding their money back in the Pearls Group ~ said to be an only Rs 45000 crore scam. Again what could be the.so called assured.returns, I don't know but seems to have been doubling in five years or less. The con in chief and his lieutenants had deep links obviously to the political and administrative echelons and benchmarked their so called returns.above the Bank FDs.and Small Savings Rates. Now would it not be better to invest in Mutual Funds ...

A friend asked what should the main political parties in Punjab state in a line in the run up to the elections. My stance. As I belong to this state. Congress ~ We promise to stop infighting and focus on governance and the economy only. Akalis~ Five years more needed to undo the undue interference of our local incharges in districts  and focus on the economy and employment. AAP ~ we assure a healthy relationship with the Centre and a well governed state with a focus on progressive policies BJP ~ An enduring partnership with Akalis to focus this time on reviving industry and agriculture with progressive governance Communists~  The time of the oppressed and the deprived to rise has come. Hopefully all will keep Religion for the home and home only. And minimize  interference and.advise in the State  from NRIs or rather more correctly citizens of other nations with origins in this State. I only hope less influence of the clergy and a deeper understanding of the e...

Thank You, 17 th Punjab . Dinesh K Kapila I entered the General ICU at a local reputed hospital just last week to meet my mother. She had collapsed at home due to a diabetic complication and for us it was touch and go till the ambulance got her to the Emergency Wing and subsequently moved her to the General ICU. Thankfully she has recovered quite well and is now recuperating at home now. But to go back to the General ICU, I saw my mom lying quietly on her bed and walked towards her. This was the second day of her stay. As I bent down to greet her, she smiled, asked about me ( a mother is a mother) and then gestured to the elderly tall lanky Sikh gentleman in the next bed. She said with a sense of familiarity, he is Major Jagtar Singh from 17 Punjab. I moved towards him, so did Major Jagtar Singh, he insisted upon getting up and embracing me. My mother said, my eldest son, and as we embraced, I wished him and said thank you. We had never met, my mother had never met him, but it w...

I helped dad in this, liked it, so publishing. A detailed account later.  Performance of the 45 Cavalry Regiment during the Bangladesh War – December 1971 - specially A Squadron.                               by Major General Rajendra Nath, PVSM (Retd)                 The 45 Cavalry fought fierce and successful battles during the  Bangladesh War in 1971 and earned a very good name for itself as a fighting unit. The 45 Cavalry was placed under the command of 2 Corps, which attacked erstwhile East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) from the Western side. 2 Corps had two Divisions, 4 Mountain Division and 9 Infantry Division which were to attack East Pakistan from the Western side. The main objective was to advance towards Dacca. The 4 Mountain Division consisted of the 7 ,41 and 62 Mountain Bri...

Will She ? Won’t She ?!!                                                                                        By Dinesh K Kapila Now I am going off on a tangent here. I maybe in all probability drawing a parallel here which has been playing out in my mind. Let’s see where it goes. Many a Hollywood Movie has a suitor proposing with the scene including the mandatory going down on one knee (by the proposor) and the lady proposed to (the proposee) saying after a breathless pause “not yet”. Please do note and observe, she does not say a definitive No, it’s alway...

Happy Valentine’s Day She was a vision in red and flashed past my eye. On a very cold, windy. sunless day she stood out. Young, fair, waif like and from a distance looked young, ever so happy and pretty as she clung to the arm of her hubby (I presume!). She was dressed in a red shirt, short sleeves and with a light pink stole thrown around her shoulders. This was set off against what seemed like light black well styled trousers. The hubby atleast was in a blue cardigan though I really don't recall  the colour except that he wore something warm. And the photographer was clicking away, I glanced back and remember thinking atleast she is certainly oblivious to the world around her. Changing positions for the photographer around her hubby, she seemed to be smiling away happily, lost in the moment and focused on her husband . It was all so sudden and it just registered within me. It's certainly imprinted in my memory bank as having watched a moment of absolute bliss in someone...

We Bat Below our Potential. (NO ONE LOVES A WARRIOR TILL THE ENEMY IS AT THE GATE) This is a fact and Good Morning on that. This applies specially to our effete elite. The last 70 odd years we have only been tip toeing around matters of strategy, that explains why we have our neighbours having a go at us.   I am linking the second snap to it because it's of Mauritius in the late 1970s. Mauritius is quite well developed now. This proves there is a route forward. But we can only argue endlessly and forever. Action is for later or will happen if its in our karm a. We consistently bat well below our actual potential.   This is the sad part of our being endlessly argumentative and being in love with status quo. I thought this affliction of being soft on action but long on verbosity affected a certain region only but now it's spreading.   How do we evolve from here is the question. By the way the two soldiers who died at Kupwara are Naik Shankar Chandrabhan Shinde Age...

The Crafts of Kashmir This thought today morning flows from what Mrs   Suparna Tandon   posted on appreciating and valuing the vibrant traditional arts. These crafts are essentially us and represent where we come from. In Kashmir I find a similar situation. The craft of Papier Mache is on the decline, perhaps irreversibly. As per businessmen in the line, barely 40 to 60 skilled artisans are left now. The wood carving and engraving craft seems to be going the same way but it can still revive as per them. As regards Carpets, the craft of weaving woolen carpets is just about finished and it's the craft of weaving silk carpets only which survives thanks to exports. The handloom craft of pashmina shawls is again impacted by the powerloom trade selling similar products at lower prices. The copper inlay work is also just about surviving. Embroidery work, delicate and an art by itself is also facing problems. There are many factors which go into it. Changing trends need to be i...

My Earthquake Indicator ~ Kashmir Region has been having of late repeated earthquake related episodes. One newspaper says this region has undergone 27 such episodes in the last six months, some were not felt even. One was very very scary and spun my world around. A couple of shocks were enough to scare but not scare me enough to motivate me to run like mad out of the building. The chandelier as seen in the snaps below is in my bedroom at Srinagar, kind courtesy my landlord.  The glass crystals hanging from it make a lovely sight at night. It has three light modes and I switch it around depending upon my mood and requirements. I have to come to realize that every time the strands of glass vibrate, the news channels have inevitably announced after a time gap that tremors from earthquakes had been felt in Kashmir. Now checking out this aspect has become a habit.  This chandelier is dependable and is my earthquake indicator. In a strong shock it shakes and the decorative gla...

Management lessons to learn from the Bihar Verdict ******(Posted Late, I know, Got Lazy) 1) First and foremost never overstretch a brand. This is the core of branding. Mr Modi brand is good. But even that has limitation. Lux cannot be Lifebuoy 2) Making just noise does not help any more. People want to see content. Excess advertising only helps a bad product sink faster. In Bihar without local leadership, the product was bad. Sushil Modi was not seen as clean but corrupt, that’s what a section of the media stated but on balance a leader from the local set up was required. . 3) Always develop leaders. Hire people better than yourself. Mr Modi,may need to  hire someone better than himself. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh are proof of this principle. Victory will step in only when there is a team to receive it. Individual performance alone will be always be found wanting. Teams like South Africa and Sri Lankan have been stunning performers despite lacking i...

Glimpses Stolen.                     Dinesh K Kapila I saw him as he entered the coach. Tall, well built, close cropped hair. Wearing a blue shirt tucked into well fitting trousers. After placing his medium size tan coloured  suitcase and bag on the luggage rack, he happily helped two couples and a lady place their luggage also on the rack. To their profuse thanks, he just nodded shyly. Then he looked outside the window as though looking for someone. I was seated atleast six to eight rows away, on the side opposite to where he sat. I just followed his glance.  A middle aged lady stood on the platform, leaning against a pole.  She looked alone and tired, saw him and started waving to him. He waved to her, as if to say, I am OK, then nodded quietly to her to go. She just stood there, all alone, touched her eyes for a moment with her duppatta, and beckoned him to come out. ...