Sai Baba's one real miracle that no one can question

  I am not a follower of Sathya Sai baba, or any baba, or Pope or any other religious man or Godman for that matter. I may be spiritual, but I am not religious. I never visit temples or churches or gurudwaras or mosques or any other religious place unless accompanying friends of that particular faith, or the place has some historical or cultural significance that interests me. So, I would visit the cathedral at Chartres or the Golden Temple at Amritsar or any temple anywhere, just for the reasons mentioned above.

I remember when I visited the holiest site of Hindu pilgrimage – Kailash-Mansarovar – a few years ago, while the sundry swamis and gurus and all others were totally overawed by the occasion, I remember getting overawed by the prospect of trekking in the region and the natural beauty alone, with zero religious overtones. It is with that background that I now begin the real reason of this post.

  In the reams written about Sathya Sai baba's life and death and the millions of followers he has/had, I have honestly been unmoved. I agree with the rationalists that if he were indeed God and had supernatural powers, why would he die like a normal human being, after being supported by life-support systems for almost a month? There are then tons written about his so called powers that would conjure up material goods out of thin air and also how several rationalists call him a trickster or a fraudster who merely indulged in magical tricks to impress and win the confidence of the gullible. I agree with that too.

But just as I doubt the miracles attributed to him, I hold the same view on miracles attributed to all other saints and godmen and godwomen, of all religions. Having said that, however, I still have no hatred or ill-will towards them. On the contrary, I hold them in high esteem.

  First of all, I think there has to be something that all these people possess that makes millions follow them blindly. It is something that cannot be wished away. And when you dig deeper, you see the reason and that is the reason I respect them.

  The faith of the millions comes from the genuine philanthropic work that these guys undertake. In the case of Sai baba, for example, he transformed a small village into a hub of education and health facilities. He brought water to some of the most water starved areas of the state, paying for it from his trust.  All this is something that the state could never have achieved by itself. A fellow cyclist in my group is now a General Manager with a top BPO firm in the country. He studied at the university set up by Sai Baba.

  Like him, there would be millions who benefited from what Baba's trust set up. It is the lives of such people that he touched, millions of them through his life that treat him as God. To them, he brought about unimaginable improvement to their lives and irrespective of what rationalists like me may say, baba was a God to them.

  To me, this is test enough as a citizen. We need more doers like him. Even if some brand them tricksters or fraudsters, I would rather have them benefit all segments of the society than having to grapple with crooks who masquerade as our rulers and resort to nothing but cheating.

Silver lining to Silver sky

  Silver prices have run up on buying from all sectors. What started as catch on rally to gold has led to one way frenzy in the white metal. The Prices have run up from $39 to $49 in one single run and in Indian markets from Rs 42000 to Rs 73000 in pretty much the same way, gaining a surprising rs 1000 to 2000 pre kg on most days in month of april.

  There is shortage of physical silver in global markets. There have been reports from various mints of insufficient supplies. US mint has been quoting several weeks of waiting period of for delivery. US also has reported of coins selling at premium of near 10%.

  The Indian physical market also is facing a crunch after prices hit all time high above Rs 73000 / kg. The traders cite a waiting period in Indian markets of near 2 weeks with a premium quoted of 2-3%. And the traditional Indian sweets have the silver foil on them missing! But not all silver shops are showing profit.

  Indian investors this time around are not going for silver showpieces or cutlery as has been the cast till couple of years back. This time it is strictly coins and bars which have seen a strong uptick in demand.

Talk to couple of jewelers in Zaveri bazaar Mumbai, and they will tell you how retailers are buying small quantities on weekly basis , and housewives coming in to sell gold to buy silver as everybody is talking about silver inching to Rs 1 lakh per kg by this year end.

  But there is caution as well at these current levels, as silver is technically overbought on the charts. The gold-silver ratio is at decades low. And the market has history of collapses after sharp spikes that move too fast too soon. Last time silver touched $50 in 1970 it has fallen to $12 in 8 weeks !

  There is lot of speculation on iShares holdings, on whether it does hold the amount of silver it claims it does. As for every share that gets bought , the trust has to back it up with equal amount of physical silver. But is there that much easily available?

  The panic demand or the rush to make money in silver has taken prices up because if you look at the genuine demand supply figures as compared to 2010 or 2009, nothing justifies a 60% jump in 4 months. The industrial demand , fabrication industry or the ornamental demand for jewelry ,coins , silverware has not run up significantly.

  But the investment demand has run up on this relatively low priced commodity. The weak USD, now at 3 year lows Vs major 6 world currencies has led to money flowing into precious metals. The safe haven buying due to geopolitical crisis in middle east and Africa also has made the case stronger for investment in Silver.

Silver lining to Silver sky as they say!

The attack of dirty-tricks department

  The anti-corruption movement that seemed to start with a lot of promise is now in the danger of being obliterated by the state-sponsored dirty-tricks department itself. Not that one hadn't expected this. I myself have maintained that politicians — of all hues and shapes and parties — can never accept the clauses contained in the draft, for it affects their very survival, but the ferocity of attack from all flanks on those who are spearheading the campaign is unbelievable.

  The shameless manner in which the ruling party has gone about discrediting the non-political members of the committee has shocked almost everybody with a semblance of civility. I was, honestly, surprised at the ease, and alacrity, with which the government agreed to Anna Hazare's demand for a joint committee. It should, if anything, have been a dead giveaway.

  The government clearly had its reasons to nip this in the bud. With a relentless media glare, Anna was fast becoming an icon that the TV-watching class, filled with angst over repeated scams, was waiting to lap up. His frequent, no-nonsense statements and sound bytes would have become increasingly difficult for the government to handle later. Of course, the crafty politicians/lawyers in the ruling class must have already thought through by then the shape this 'nipping in the bud' would take.

  Instead of debating the issues in a civilised manner, in line with their reconciliatory statements to the media during the hunger strike, what started from every flank was the character assassination of some of the committee members. As Anna wrote to Sonia Gandhi a couple of days into character assassination attempts, some senior persons from the ruling party were behind the baseless allegations and it seemed that they had the party's backing. It did not stop with leaked stories to a pliable media alone, every dirty trick in the trade that would do some of the corporate houses proud, was used. To top it all, they also roped in the patron saint of “all that is good” with our politics, Amar Singh.

  Without going into details, the so-called Shanti-Prashant Bhushan tape too had Singh as a protagonist and the judge they refer to is the one at the forefront of the 2G investigations. Now, the ruling party, which is currently under fire for countless scams, is not the only one hurt with this particular scam, a very prominent corporate that has close links with Singh is deeply involved too. So, for the ruling class and the affected corporate, it was like killing two birds with a single shot.

  What the dirty tricks department achieved in one shot was to discredit some of the prominent faces of civil society, so that the general public once again throws up its hands in despair with the common refrain being — they are all the same. In addition, it pitted the anti-corruption icon with not the bigger protagonists who will go unnamed, but a willing Singh whose own political survival is at stake now that he is not part of any major political dispensation. And most importantly, it immediately diverted attention from the task at hand to allegations and counter-allegations. And please rest assured, if the Bhushans were to be replaced with other members in the drafting committee, they would be subjected to the same slander campaign.

  When Anna, in the same letter to Sonia mentioned earlier, wrote in his blunt style that this character assassination is bad for the anti-corruption movement and that the politicians and the political members of the committee indulging in this should be careful for they themselves are at a far greater risk of being exposed than the others, several from the intelligentsia reacted saying Anna is a crybaby. It's a different matter that Anna was being naive with that threat, for he forgot that unlike most in civil society, the corrupt politicians are thick-skinned.

  And this was another flank that the dirty-tricks department unleashed — the so-called intelligentsia. While one can have differences over what all should be contained in the anti-corruption bill and also who should be part of the committee from civil society or on what basis were the members from civil society chosen, the way the hallowed 'educated' class reacted was sickening. When there was some clamour for civility in discussions, these people termed the anti-corruption movement itself as being blackmail, almost telling them that it is like the pot calling the kettle black.

  The way such people manipulate opinions is amazing. It is almost as if those who do not agree with their point of view are morons. So effective are they with their campaign that I have often seen some right-thinking people change their point of view only to be seen as belonging to their exalted camp.

  Anyhow, this was, as I said, expected and I expect the ferocity of attacks and counter-attacks to increase. I have seen how the slander campaign has affected some of those involved. They have spent more time this past one week in fighting off these imaginary allegations than concentrating on the task at hand. This is exactly what the dirty-tricks department wants. Tire them to an extent that they compromise and also lose the buzz among the public by then. The onus is on us, 'the right-thinking people' to ensure that we don't lose focus and provide unstinted support to those fighting for the cause. Our support and demands have to be so relentless that the corrupt tire themselves out.

Manmohan Singh ends China visit, leaves for Kazakhstan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today left for Kazakhstan, completing his three-day stay here during which he attended the BRICS Summit and held bilateral talks with the Presidents of China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

   Singh will be in Kazakh capital Astana for two days during which both the sides will sign an inter-governmental framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and some other pacts.

   Attending the third BRICS summit here, Singh pushed for closer cooperation, particularly in the field of economy among the five fast emerging nations.

   BRICS (India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa) took a significant step towards enhancing economic cooperation when the members countries signed an agreement under which they will be able to provide credit to each other in local currencies and collaborate in capital markets and other financial services.

   The summit also discussed the volatile situation in West Asia and North Africa, particularly developments in Libya and the impact on the BRICS counties. They collectively voiced their opposition to the use of force in Libya and pitched for a central role for the UN and regional organisations in resolving the matter.

   In Sanya, Singh also met Chinese President Hu Jintao during which it was decided that India will send a military delegation to China later this year, marking resumption of high level defence exchanges, which had been suspended in last July.

   India had put high level defence exchanges on hold after China denied proper visa to the then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen B S Jaswal.