After the general elections earlier this year, there was a huge hue and cry about voter turnout. In Mumbai, it was as low as 35% in some constituencies. A laundry-list of reasons were given- summers, holidays, heat, no leave in the private sector etc. So, the authorities are trying to address this issue by proactively taking steps to get voters at the election sectors. While it is impressive that the authorities are tackling this issue head-on, why has this issue come up in the first place? Some pretty obvious causes come to mind – continue

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I am amused by the post-poll punditeering. Everyone – from chai-wallahs to twittertotters – seems to have the some idea of what exactly happened. I wish I had that kind of intelligence or ‘fore’sight. But that’s not why I am writing this.

Let us begin with thinking about the classic debate between market-timing vs. (say) old-fashioned buy-&-hold investing. The former assumes that an investor can consistently earn superior returns by timing the market i.e. knowing buying & selling at undefined points of time. There is nothing wrong with that assertion except that it fails to consistently & conclusively beat its less-fancy ‘buy-&-hold’ cousin. [The MBA-types, investment managers et al swear by the former – and one can’t really blame them as Upton Sinclair said (quoted in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient truth) “You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it ”] In simple words, forget following stock-markets daily, invest through a simple SIP and carry on with your life. As this conversation is not about investments or finance, lets take the juice and pause the debate for a moment. continue

As all the hyperbole about Elections 2009 recedes (It is amazing to see stock markets stop trading because of election results), I think it is appropriate to objectively discuss the elections. Some of the things that are interesting are the failures of the BJP and the Left  (seemingly parties with committed voter bases) to enthuse the voters, the inability of psephologists and markets to predict the results and the decline of regional parties. I intend to write about this in the next few posts of mine. I think no person is (or should be) politically neutral, it is necessary to have a stand as long as the stand is not dogmatic and as long as one is upfront about this and does not pretend to be unbiased. (I support the BJP, so readers can look at these posts in that light. I assure you this will not deter me from being rather critical of the BJP in later posts) continue

Sugeet in his post alludes to fraud and misappropriation of money by the private sector in the United States.  Being  close friends we share amongst ourselves a lot of good reads and this article that he gave is what one would deem to be a real eye opener. continue

Just a couple of weeks ago, before the elections, most of the Indian Websites were full of Google Adsense Advertisements. These ads were in full flow by the political parties of India. BJP started online campaigning initially like a full fledged campaign but were soon followed by Congress as well. The entire Indian webosphere was covered by these ads and after a while people even became quite sick of them. continue

Today is the fifth and last phase of Loksabha 2009 polls. Election results are due on May 16. This post serves as a countdown to the election results coverage and the exit polls that will be a feature of all media coverage for next two days.

Countdown to Results-'09!

I voted yesterday and it was a great feeling. It actually felt like probably the only moment when the politicians are at your mercy rather than vice-versa (now I also know how do professors feel while checking student papers). Armed with my voter ID card and a slip which stated some details, I went to the polling booth. It was quite hot and there was no queue. In almost no time I was able to find my name in the voters list and was able to cast my vote. Pressing the button I felt great! I am a part of the election revolution! continue

These days, its rather difficult to miss the mostly noisy, rarely insightful election time debates in India (specially in the 7.5 minute “strategy” break during IPL matches). Couple of days ago, I heard a new phrase: “Political Entrepreneur”. The term was used in a rather condenscending, almost derogatory manner and never defined. Though I think the term was used to describe politicians who have carved out new vote bases on the basis of caste, region; or formed new caste alliances; often without the real possibility of winning too many seats, but enough to gain some nuisance value by playing a spoiler to somebody else’s chances. The one thing that is conspicuously absent from the description is ideology (more on that later…) continue