`Story of Pi`: A life time joyful Film experience.

On hundred years of Indian Cinema, it is a perfect treat to recommend a new adventure film where India grabs the global window called `Life of Pi`. Global theaters have been promoting the trailer of this eagerly awaited film from some time in the past.

Back in India on festival holidays, it is very difficult for any speechless audience to search new words to describe the new compelling excellence this craft succeeds in delivering. For the global audience and cinema lovers it is definitely a holistic feel good treat that knocks your eyes and compels them to meditation. It enters as a new unique visual once a life time experience via eyes first without allowing them to shut and close during the entire two hours 8 minutes entertainment. It sucks inside therapeutically to announce a Wow ! A new feel to the body organs that shall wake up and say let swim once more. All the past cast away and shipwrecked  rescue films appear old and outsmarted in many ways for the new 3D TV monitor and users enjoying this film.

Pi grows up into a liberal Hindu Business household that runs a Zoo in the French colony and Pondichery culture of India during recession after World War. As a learner Pi finds himself being taken over by the three religions –Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. He adopts the three faiths in his wish to love God and see the sole creator from the point of each of the said religions. Much to Pi’s disappointment, his family decides to leave India in search of a better business venture.Family decides to go to  Canada to settle and to sell their Zoo animals. With a twist of events that puts new challenge of experience before education, Pi’s ship gets sunk in the Pacific Ocean, leaving him behind on a small raft with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker.

What may impress the audience most is the unique benchmark in shape of story telling experiment with unique multi-choice in the menu of the climax thrown by Oscar awarded winner Director Ang Lee. The film released in several languages has a universal appeal for any 8 years to 80 years old. Craft provokes self interpretation of God, fear, ecology,perception and destiny.

Film zooms around the 16 year old  teenager who is shipwrecked and crawls against all odds for self discovery in his destiny. During 227 day rescue journey in a life boat and a raft on the stormy sea and at times a calm Ocean is a masterpiece of modern cinema. Survival relationship between the angry ocean, a Bengal tiger and the unknown new Indian star who does not know how to swim but is eager to discover self awareness adds a new deeper meaning to life in the world`s deepest Pacific Ocean.

“You don’t know the strength of your faith until it’s tested”-This dialogue weaves the entire plot from the point when Pi fights for survival in Pacific Ocean. Aim and compulsion of the victim Pi is to train and to tame the ferocious tiger and finally sleep with the enemy in the lifeboat. Be it the time when Pi has to deal with the ferocious big cat and train it to obey his orders, or the time when he has to eat raw fish to kill hunger while violating his faith of a strict vegetarian. Pi’s faith although never inherited from his strict father is tested in every sense of the word which helps in developing his code of conduct. Pi finds him encouraged by his mother to test his faith instead of blindly embracing rational thinking. Hunger, says the desperate shipwrecked lone survivor hero in Life of Pi, “can change everything you think you knew about yourself.” This is a milestone dialogue that shall be remembered by learners for many reasons.

Pi overcomes the challenges against all odds with his minimum sea survival kit and resources. Overcoming his initial fear against the royal big cat ready to grab him as his supper is commendable. Departing emotions on loosing the trained tiger in the jungle does tease the pet animal lovers. Tiger finally chooses freedom in the jungle and this depicts the brilliance in the climax of the film which may annoy few pet lovers of the animals. Richard Parker the tiger decides to have independence with his own code of conduct then being an assistant and a slave to the superior skills of his young master and companion who had trained him to obey the orders and has saved his life by feeding him with fish and meat each day.

The plot questions about life and death, religion and science while delivering messages put simple. Film provokes the business of spiritual management and splits open the investigating terms and conditions of the insurance company after the shipwreck. Holistic business tag gives a hug to life and its survival with another legendary leaf to the old story of the award winning novel with new 3D vehicle . The 3-D presentation in theaters adds value to the memorable craft and supports the audience to joyfully invest each and every cent during the 128 minutes show which is definitely a life time journey.

Rakesh Manchanda,

B-5,Gharonda Apartments,

Shrestha Vihar,Delhi-92.

Phone:011-22145369, +917351772038.

rakeshmanchanda65@gmail.com.

Rakesh Manchanda- worked as a Director in Zimbabwe, Mali in Grafax Cotton Pvt. Limited and is now in Zambia.

Zambia Budget, Silent taxes, Schema, English Bread and Squeezed pockets

Zambia Budget, Silent taxes, Schema, English Bread and Squeezed pockets.

By: Rakesh Manchanda.

(Analysis of Zambia Budget-2012-13 and effect on majority)

Folk tales reminds us all about the impact of the good governance process called tax collection in the ancient royal budget systems. `King`s soldiers should be as silent as a bee collecting honey from the flower and should not disturb and hurt the public`. Today the silent impact of indirect taxes, high prices and micro finance loans together leads farmers and producers towards burning their crops in Protest. Policies in past were made as complimentary to environment and ecology. Silence of ancient tax collection is compared with the Sun silently converting the water to vapour creating the rain clouds with thunder. Rain feed greenery must show that the money taken as tax is put back to the public welfare in the cycle controlled by Rich-poor divide with the participation of the people. Today the discussion in modern Zambia is how much to reduce or why to retain the subsidy on maize and wheat ?

 

Market survival unlike annual budget is not simple. One shinning- other suffering is a common site in a market. Market never delivers the win-win for all. When someone is spending, someone else is gaining. Budget presentation in developing country is a zero sum game. You may apply Einstein formula e=mc2 to understand it better.

Budget is the only regulatory tool or a safety valve that can make the presence of the caring Government felt in the market for a fair distribution of wealth.Terms like Budget, Taxes and subsidy used by policy makers to calibrate and audit the governance account do not make much sense to majority. People are engaged day and night to earn a better standard of living. Better purchasing power of the people and more jobs is the only way out as put forward by the Finance Minster in his budget theme capped as “Delivering Inclusive Development with Social Justice.”

Indian finance minister, perhaps under pressure of foreign investors’pressure, in his budget speech, quoted from the Shakespeare’s Hamlet.”I must be cruel only to be kind”-This Shakespeare quote from ancient European culture was perhaps picked up by Indian FM to motivate the majority in India. To prepare the middle class and the poor for more sacrifices with failure of subsidy delivery system. The Zambia Finance Minister on the contrary is found more practical by directly touching and kissing the people. Finance Minister packs his K 32.2 Trillion budget activity as a new Project that promises, “More Money in More ZambianPockets.”Result ? You find people glued to radio and Television during the budget presentation like another football match. Finance Minster Alexander Chikwanda does it. By reducing the cost of doing business.VAT is reduced to Zero on bread. This master stroke by a risk makes Zambia lose more then K100 billion of indirect tax collection.

How the finance minister can protect his risk only the future shall tell ? The challenge certainly requires a new and additional set of work inspectors and Anti Corruption officers to ensure that this gift of Zero tax on Bread and wheat reaches well to the last voiceless Zimbabian who stays away in villages or in bushes and is not connected with road and communication. Let us see an interesting twist via budget on the eating habits. Encouraging Zero tax on English bread made in a bakery from wheat and oil means an option for rural worker to eat more, pay more at a better speed with less washing and with increase the real productivity. Eating Schema is still ten times less expensive but needs cooking with water and lots of utensils. Preservation life of Bread is more.Bread can be easily eaten mobile while travelling even after a week.

Since majority have a hand to mouth income the possibility to use direct income tax to squeeze them does not arise. Direct Tax collection in Africa and Asia is unpopular as the corporate put political pressure for favours while the poor buyer of say a candle and a match box has to pay the indirect tax against his wish even if it does not match his squeezed pocket in his daily survival.

In the past Tax system as studied in Ancient India was simple. Direct taxes from all at the rate of around6% in shape of crop was collected and deposited in the temple/church ware houses. Indirect taxes hidden in the cost of goods as seen today in the industrial/agriculture output was missing. If the tax payers in ancient times resisted they were expected to stop the King`s horse and fight the soldiers a part of revenue generation politics. If the rain gods were kind enough then the recovery of the tax was cent percent.

 

Who pays more and how much for inclusive growth in Zambia ?

 

In a Governance system which survives on city-slum, town-village divide let us see the impact of Budget in Africa-India. Majority fails to understand the difference of ten times in the direct-indirect taxes direction and recovery. How much is the direct tax and indirect tax collection in Zambia is still not clear to common man via media. You need not be a student of Economics to see that indirect taxes are a huge burden on the majority people, while the low direct tax rates are a relief for the rich. In Zambia budget the money collection via Income tax focused on upper middle level and rich is only K 12.8 billion. Value Added Tax which is the indirect tax includes the common man. This VAT is pegged at half the amount i.e.K4.7. In actual the gap between rich-poor pockets is not double of half but much more.

 

Common Man calculates the risk in his survival with his decreasing hard work value vis a vis his standard of living. In India when the price rises every month it hurts 99% as the money in the pocket as earnings do not match and remain freeze. With no sale of goods in the market, no wage security, no job security and no social security the market recession stands teasing.

 

Budget in Zambia fails to see and help the fall in wages of agricultural workers unlike industrial workers who gain double in their wage this year.Due to fall in say international price of cotton yarn to almost half this year,it demands balancing of budget beyond the pockets of majority. As the cost of cotton of cotton selling by farmers is reduced to half and if we calculate by saying every seventh person in Zambia is a farmer then by cotton industry standards the country becomes poor seven times because of the American driven recession where even this goodnational budget fails to rescue.

In ancient days, a loan seeker used to avail the opportunity of advance money called loan by producing more wealth in a period of time and then used to return the loan safely. A clear transparent connection between the saver, the lender, the borrower and the utiliser of the loan plugged the risk. Today governments world over take a risk and a loan from the Public savings- with a business sense to utilise this money in making more money, more production, more jobs faster then the interest amount. It is a well accepted norm to talk of fiscal deficit as the gap between the income and surplus expenses of the nation. In Zambia the External Debt is 2.4 Billion USD while local debt is 13.7 Trillion.

Zambia Daily Mail says the finance minister had to bite the bullet. It seems the Government has been able to learn from the India and Euro crisis and played the financial nuts and bolds well although the scope to serve the people is limited in a global village challenge.

Released as original text By :

 

Rakesh Manchanda- worked as a Director in Zimbabwe, Mali in Grafax Cotton Pvt. Limited and is now in Zambia.

 

Rakesh Manchanda,

5,Mutankaclose,Roads Park,

Lusaka-Republic of Zambia.

Mobile:0978278371.

 

Animal Spirit Revival in Corporate : Impact on Common Man-revised version.

Impact on Common Man

Two bulls always fight in our mind: Negative and Positive . Do we know which one wins always ? Between Animal and Human Spirit? A new poster “Animal Spirit”, is seen in media today with stories on good governance getting dressed up. Capitalist system today is in a panic mode. We don’t need a laboratory to analyse as to how crony capitalism is the killer of E.E.- Ethical Entrepreneurship. It grabs out the animal spirits of an enterprise to show case it as a necessary evil. This is the `holy spirit` since stone age that worries the ruling class. This is the issue which the US economists, Presidents in their debates, Indian PM, CEOs and ministers all are so fond of talking about. Spirit promotion helps to hide the real sufferings while ordinary people are left to fight their own battle of survival reduced like a gladiator.

Animal Spirit Roots :

Catch the wild character DNA. It shall be fruitful to see the rule of the Jungle to understand the spirit behind.

No one including any Jungle drum beater formally nominates and crowns the Lion as King of the Jungle. He earns the position through his calibre, strength & attitude. When a lion runs to kill- he runs for food. When a deer runs he runs for life- to protect his daily work. It is only the Lion who knows the hidden team work that helps him survive. According to discovery channel a lion does not kill more then 32 times in a year unlike animal greed and animal spirit of few that kills the rest.

		Ancient respect for animal spirits : Term was first coined by J M Keynes in his economic books, “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money”. The term “animal spirits” is used to describe emotion that drives a consumer confidence. According to Keynes, `animal spirits` also generates human trust and a positive action. This was true in 1936. Animal sovereignty it appears was born in response to growing conflicts in unfair wealth distribution during the great Depression of 1930s.Relation between a man-machine, production- its means and its ends all have taken a sea change since then. Information Technology is the new game changer. Resurgence of interest in the idea of animal spirits in recent years of crisis is evident. Several books and articles are published on this topic. In the sports arena it is transformed as the `killer spirit` charged up in a team for a win. Witch doctors and magicians used this term in ancient times, to monitor business control over humanity. Guide to modern animal spirits: Pizza reaches home faster than the Police and the Ambulance. Many are seen walking miles and miles. We live in an unexplained world where poor walk miles to get food and rich walk miles to digest food. `Greed` does the animal trick : It trains, it protects and generates wealth for few using more. It cheats the human spirit which desires the team participation. Reform with an animal spirit not only succeeded in Africa but prospered in India for decades. Success was visible. It was cheered by a wide section of our people. Why has the picture then changed-dirty in India ? Why reforms are de-forming now ? Could it be just a consequence of the global commodity boom fired by easy investments ? It has created speedy windfall-billionaires all over the world, including in India: the Reddy brothers of Bellary are one example. To go back to our original query, the economy stands shattered today. Markets have flip flopped not because governance is pro- or anti-business, but because it has been so secretive about the spirits-animal and human. About private economy with a private and hidden rules. Humanity today is locking horns with the animal spirit. The demand is for Human Rights, better wealth distribution, better share, work regulations and for a basic minimum survival kit. Look at some of the new corporate class as the real masters instead of the usual suspect, the government. Animal sprit unlike the modest human spirit is demanding. Animal spirit needs favours, demands elite care, twisting of laws, weak regulations, no civilized competition, ownership of natural resource at a peanut price and a freedom to steal capital to put in speculative market for a fake but fast growth. Many of these spirits quickly get listed on the stock markets in boom times. Animal Spirit also provides a permanent do-nothing excuse of the Governance. Investors spend their time at golf course sipping bear. Football a team game seldom suits their temperament. Worst of all, it is a fast ruining public opinion for businessmen; as it confirms the worst old fears of all of them being the hidden spirit controllers: controlling the destiny of millions with hidden profits in tax havens. Big collateral losers in the animal spirit process are the strugglers as the daily wagers. Human spirit sluggers are forced to be called as lazy, suckers and robber barons as we see in Greece crisis. We live in system where capital is worshipped as a God but human capital involved is treated as dirt. A broken link in the system needs to be understood, re-connected and corrected fast. We see a clear global disconnect among powerful ruling elite and the 99%.Majoirty wish to have a better civilized systems with participation and fair justice.Squeezed between the animal and human spirit lies the helpless spirit of the political delivery system which stands as a referee.Hope is the magic oxygen. Animal spirit need to sacrifice more. It needs to be accommodative for human governance world order by allowing flow of more money in more pockets. Growth in the real market can only help to save the `animal spirit` from getting extinct or thrown out of the game of survival. Lion, Tiger and Rhino today in African Jungles are vanishing and getting killed fast in spite of Government best efforts to invest in wild life and care for the animals. Protection of “animal spirit” may be a necessary evil but not at the cost of humans. Rakesh Manchanda, 5,Mutankaclose,Roads Park, Lusaka-Republic of Zambia. Mobile:0978278371.