Entheredey.. Some Keralaites who do not belong to Trivandrum mockingly say that Trivandrum has an extra day in a week.. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,.....Sunday, Enthereday.. Trivandrumites have a bad reputation primarily for their slang. Frankly, I have not found it to be odd. It is just another way of speaking malayalam..
My wife belongs to Trichur where they " sing "as they speak. A person who is not from the Trichur belt feels that they are conducting a ganamela. Fortunately, my wife does not sing that much. In the early days of my career , for a few months, I worked in Calicut and Manjeri.. The kind of Malayalam they speak there is totally different.. For everything they say " Kazhichillayi".. means that problem has been solved.. At first, I did not understand what they meant by that. When I used to go to shops and take out my stock of " entharu" , they used to laugh. When you go further north to Kannur, everything becomes " Enakku". Kasargode has a totally different version of Malayalam- MalKannada-- 65% Kannanda and 35% Malayalam. The only person from Kasargode whom I have seen speaking decipherable Malayalam is actress Kavya Madhavan. In Ernakulam, Alwaye belt they even call guys the age of their son " chetta".. " chetta ee auto poneyaana". The Achayan malayalam in the Kottayam, Pala, Pathanamthitta area comprises of " Oh Enna venam...".
I can agree to the fact that there are different slangs spoken in different parts of the state. I can also agree to the fact that Trivandrumites do not speak the text book malayalam. But what I cannot agree to is mocking of the Trivandrum version by others as if they are speaking some great Malayalam. Everyone claims that their version of Malayalam is the best. Trivandrum is the state capital and definitely the melting pot of different cultures. So we may have more words in our dictionary. Typical films have a version of Malayalam that is spoken in Palaghat-Ottapalam and people claim that it is the pure form of Malayalam. Personally, I don't believe so.
Only few Malayalam films have the Trivandrum slang spoken by the heroes and one we had recently, Rajamanikayam was the biggest blockbuster of our times. When I went to the theatre, I found some non Trivandrumites thoroughly enjoying the movie quite ironically for the slang.
Our media and filmmakers have painted Trivandrum Malayalam in such a way that any kind will laugh at us.
I hail from Trivandrum.. I am proud to speak my slang.. Of course I do not speak to a stranger in Thrissur with my usual phrases like " Entharadey", " povuve" etc etc not because I am ashamed but just because I am showing some courtesy.. I am not claiming that Trivandrum language is the best Malayalam version . But others should also realize that their version also have their defects.. But I would like to add what my wife says to me " Trivandrum language is the coolest version of Malayalam". Yup,maybe we are less formal...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Small things do add up
Recently, I was quite fascinated with Barack Obama's campaign. He is almost sure to clinch the nomination. In 2007, he was the underdog, looking at a long shot candidacy . How he became the front runner is not the crux of a fairy tale but a story of hardwork, meticulous planning and sheer determination. While the other candidates were concentrating their energies on bigger states ( those with the maximum number of delegates), Obama was spending his efforts also on a number of small states. At the end of the day, this was the main factor in his candidacy. This article is not about the Democratic Presidential race but about the state of affairs in Kerala...
Recently, we all have been swamped with the news that the foodgrain and other grocery prices are on the rise in Kerala. The inflation has been felt not only in Kerala but also in the rest of India and across the globe. There has been reports of civilian unrest in Bangaldesh and Haiti due to the shortage. But what sets Kerala apart from the rest is that this effect is felt significantly in the beautiful and fertile state. Why is this? We all know the answer to this. Kerala is the No. 1 consumer state in India with very few exports and importing even its principle staple food - Rice.We are heavily dependent on Andhra and Tamil Nadu on all our needs. The extent of dependence on our neighboring states is such that we should pray that there are no bandhs/hartals in these states- lest we will starve. The only crops that we produce are cash crops like cashew and rubber which do not require continuos monitoring.
Do you think that Kerala is a very rich state that we can enjoy the luxury of a consumer state? The answer is a simple "NO". Barring some investment from the expatriate population, the economy is in shambles. We are running a deficit budget for a very long period of time. Sometimes the Treasury barely has the funds to even give salary to the state employees.
Keralaites should change their attitude towards life to get out of this mess. We should not think of agriculture as a lowly profession. Many people in Kerala own land . Why can't they start cultivating some vegetables that could feed atleast one family. Lady's finger ( okra), spinach, tapioca are some of them that can cultivated in any house hold. Rather than idling time in "junctions" commenting on girls , the youth should do these simple things. Otherwise, a time will come when the vegetables become so costly that an average Keralaite can consume only fish.
Even educated people can do this. Agriculture is not a blue- collared job. Earning a degree doesn't mean that you should be allergic to taking a shovel. Being a doctor /engineer or a senior officer wouldn't make someone great. Every profession has its dignity.We should give due respect to farmers. The government should invest heavily in agriculture. IT is not the panacea for hunger. No economy can focus entirely on IT .Recently, I saw a news item about a man ( who after completing his engineering) employed his skills to cultivate high yield crops. He was making a profit of Rs. 30000 p.m. Not everybody can be a farmer like him..But, atleast we can contribute our bit. As I said earlier, small things do add up. Kerala really has to come out of this mess.
Recently, we all have been swamped with the news that the foodgrain and other grocery prices are on the rise in Kerala. The inflation has been felt not only in Kerala but also in the rest of India and across the globe. There has been reports of civilian unrest in Bangaldesh and Haiti due to the shortage. But what sets Kerala apart from the rest is that this effect is felt significantly in the beautiful and fertile state. Why is this? We all know the answer to this. Kerala is the No. 1 consumer state in India with very few exports and importing even its principle staple food - Rice.We are heavily dependent on Andhra and Tamil Nadu on all our needs. The extent of dependence on our neighboring states is such that we should pray that there are no bandhs/hartals in these states- lest we will starve. The only crops that we produce are cash crops like cashew and rubber which do not require continuos monitoring.
Do you think that Kerala is a very rich state that we can enjoy the luxury of a consumer state? The answer is a simple "NO". Barring some investment from the expatriate population, the economy is in shambles. We are running a deficit budget for a very long period of time. Sometimes the Treasury barely has the funds to even give salary to the state employees.
Keralaites should change their attitude towards life to get out of this mess. We should not think of agriculture as a lowly profession. Many people in Kerala own land . Why can't they start cultivating some vegetables that could feed atleast one family. Lady's finger ( okra), spinach, tapioca are some of them that can cultivated in any house hold. Rather than idling time in "junctions" commenting on girls , the youth should do these simple things. Otherwise, a time will come when the vegetables become so costly that an average Keralaite can consume only fish.
Even educated people can do this. Agriculture is not a blue- collared job. Earning a degree doesn't mean that you should be allergic to taking a shovel. Being a doctor /engineer or a senior officer wouldn't make someone great. Every profession has its dignity.We should give due respect to farmers. The government should invest heavily in agriculture. IT is not the panacea for hunger. No economy can focus entirely on IT .Recently, I saw a news item about a man ( who after completing his engineering) employed his skills to cultivate high yield crops. He was making a profit of Rs. 30000 p.m. Not everybody can be a farmer like him..But, atleast we can contribute our bit. As I said earlier, small things do add up. Kerala really has to come out of this mess.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Real Estate and some economics
( These views are not from a seasoned economist. I am a common guy working towards a business degree. So my views are from a layman's point of view and I use simple arithmetic to substantiate my argument).
For the past couple of years,most of us are hearing these advices- " Better buy some land now or ELSE........In the next two years you won't even get to buy anything close to that". Hmmmm.. pretty clever isn't it? A great way to trick somebody into buying some overvalued crap. For real estate brokers, times have never been brighter thanks to the hype generated by the media and the real estate mafia. People who own land boast of the property value and buyers fret when they hear the skyrocketing prices. This phenomenon is not concentrated in any particular region or country but is spread across. But these prices are definitely in for a downward correction- PRICES WILL COME DOWN SOONER OR LATER. I can bet on that..
Before we discuss the situation in India, let us analyze what happened in America. Since 2005, most regions in the U.S have experienced a 10-20% dip in prices, thanks to the overinflated value tags they carried. For example, in the place that I live one of my friends bought a house for $ 500,000. ( This is the median price of a house here). Two years hence, the value of the same house has depreciated to $ 375,000 ( and a recession has not even begun). This has happened in California, the hottest place on earth in terms of immigration and jobs. Now, my friend like many others were so enthralled looking at the positive sloped price graph that he decided to take the plunge. Little did he know that the saturation point has reached for that area.
The inputs that come into play that affect the price of land/house in any area are the following: The potential of the place, market speculation ( on say some projects that may be coming up), the general state of the economy and the buying capacity of the public. All these factors have to work together to affect the value of these assets.
Now, let us look at what is happening in Kerala. Take a look at the land quotes from at least two cities Kochi and Trivandrum. Even some well to do professionals that I know of cringe on hearing the land prices in these places. As i had mentioned earlier, the main factor that drives these prices are market speculation. Many places in Kochi fell vicitim to this " speculation". Kochi is a great port city. To this day, there is practically no IT industry there since 80% of the software exports in the State is done by Technopark. There is no solid industry at the moment in Kochi , only some market speculation. Though Smart city is being touted as a big project, a lot of hype is given to this project since this is mostly in the private sector. But the fact remains that Smart city , even when it happens, is smaller than the Technopark-Technocity IT corridor in Trivandrum and considerably smaller than IT parks in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. So, why this hype.. The answer is the real estate mafia.
From various sources, we came to know the role the media and the real estate mafia played in inflating the actual prices. How they works is like this.. They overhype any project through the media- both print and electronic to the extent that most of the general public falls prey to these tactics. By this time, the so called real estate mafia would have already controlled most of the land and people will be so overawed that they would want to purchase some land from these guys ( to sell at a profit later). Here is a classic example. Some agent will inform us ( the buyers) that they have 6 cents of plot close to some proposed XYZ project. The value now is 5 lakhs/cent ( though the actual value may be considerably lower) and they may also give an example of a transaction of an adjacent plot for 5.2 lakhs/cent. The point to note here is everyone including the buyer and the seller overstates the price of property. So you never get to know the truth of the actual transaction. The agent also says that in less than 2 years time, you can sell the same property for 10 lakhs/cent. WOW, that is a 500% return on investment. What other investment in the world will yield this? Now , this poor guy shells out 30 lakhs for a mere 6 cents plot in the hope of making 30 lakhs profit in 2 years( of course not considering the interest he pays in the meantime). COMMON GUYS, do you think this is a feasible transaction. No economist will say so. Do your math- 6 cents of land is the bare minimum you need to render utility to the land ( like building a house). So, now the base line is that you purchase the land for 60 lakhs plus you have to shell out another additional 35 lakhs for building a house. So you spent close a crore for a normal house on a mere 6 cents of land. Even if you imagine that an IT guys saves Rs. 50000 per month in India and considering the fact that he puts in the whole amount as EMI for this, he will take atleast 200 months to get off this debt.. That is roughly 17 years.. That too for a mere 6 cent plot plus house in a relatively small city in India.
Is this sustainable? No. The land prices are definitely in for a downward correction. When you get the feeling that even people with considerable disposable income cannot afford these prices, there is something wrong here. What has happened in California and rest of US will happen in Kerala also. Not only in Kochi but also in other cities including Trivandrum. But in the case of Trivandrum there is a flip side. The projects in Trivandrum do not get as much media coverage as those in Kochi. Why is this? Because, contrary to Trivandrum, most of the projects supposedly coming in Kochi are in the private sector. So they need the media coverage to sell their projects. I am a development oriented Keralite. I want all cities, towns and villages to develop equally- but not at the cost of the general public. Here is the scoop- Who are the clear winners in the whole episode- the so called real estate mafia.
For the past couple of years,most of us are hearing these advices- " Better buy some land now or ELSE........In the next two years you won't even get to buy anything close to that". Hmmmm.. pretty clever isn't it? A great way to trick somebody into buying some overvalued crap. For real estate brokers, times have never been brighter thanks to the hype generated by the media and the real estate mafia. People who own land boast of the property value and buyers fret when they hear the skyrocketing prices. This phenomenon is not concentrated in any particular region or country but is spread across. But these prices are definitely in for a downward correction- PRICES WILL COME DOWN SOONER OR LATER. I can bet on that..
Before we discuss the situation in India, let us analyze what happened in America. Since 2005, most regions in the U.S have experienced a 10-20% dip in prices, thanks to the overinflated value tags they carried. For example, in the place that I live one of my friends bought a house for $ 500,000. ( This is the median price of a house here). Two years hence, the value of the same house has depreciated to $ 375,000 ( and a recession has not even begun). This has happened in California, the hottest place on earth in terms of immigration and jobs. Now, my friend like many others were so enthralled looking at the positive sloped price graph that he decided to take the plunge. Little did he know that the saturation point has reached for that area.
The inputs that come into play that affect the price of land/house in any area are the following: The potential of the place, market speculation ( on say some projects that may be coming up), the general state of the economy and the buying capacity of the public. All these factors have to work together to affect the value of these assets.
Now, let us look at what is happening in Kerala. Take a look at the land quotes from at least two cities Kochi and Trivandrum. Even some well to do professionals that I know of cringe on hearing the land prices in these places. As i had mentioned earlier, the main factor that drives these prices are market speculation. Many places in Kochi fell vicitim to this " speculation". Kochi is a great port city. To this day, there is practically no IT industry there since 80% of the software exports in the State is done by Technopark. There is no solid industry at the moment in Kochi , only some market speculation. Though Smart city is being touted as a big project, a lot of hype is given to this project since this is mostly in the private sector. But the fact remains that Smart city , even when it happens, is smaller than the Technopark-Technocity IT corridor in Trivandrum and considerably smaller than IT parks in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. So, why this hype.. The answer is the real estate mafia.
From various sources, we came to know the role the media and the real estate mafia played in inflating the actual prices. How they works is like this.. They overhype any project through the media- both print and electronic to the extent that most of the general public falls prey to these tactics. By this time, the so called real estate mafia would have already controlled most of the land and people will be so overawed that they would want to purchase some land from these guys ( to sell at a profit later). Here is a classic example. Some agent will inform us ( the buyers) that they have 6 cents of plot close to some proposed XYZ project. The value now is 5 lakhs/cent ( though the actual value may be considerably lower) and they may also give an example of a transaction of an adjacent plot for 5.2 lakhs/cent. The point to note here is everyone including the buyer and the seller overstates the price of property. So you never get to know the truth of the actual transaction. The agent also says that in less than 2 years time, you can sell the same property for 10 lakhs/cent. WOW, that is a 500% return on investment. What other investment in the world will yield this? Now , this poor guy shells out 30 lakhs for a mere 6 cents plot in the hope of making 30 lakhs profit in 2 years( of course not considering the interest he pays in the meantime). COMMON GUYS, do you think this is a feasible transaction. No economist will say so. Do your math- 6 cents of land is the bare minimum you need to render utility to the land ( like building a house). So, now the base line is that you purchase the land for 60 lakhs plus you have to shell out another additional 35 lakhs for building a house. So you spent close a crore for a normal house on a mere 6 cents of land. Even if you imagine that an IT guys saves Rs. 50000 per month in India and considering the fact that he puts in the whole amount as EMI for this, he will take atleast 200 months to get off this debt.. That is roughly 17 years.. That too for a mere 6 cent plot plus house in a relatively small city in India.
Is this sustainable? No. The land prices are definitely in for a downward correction. When you get the feeling that even people with considerable disposable income cannot afford these prices, there is something wrong here. What has happened in California and rest of US will happen in Kerala also. Not only in Kochi but also in other cities including Trivandrum. But in the case of Trivandrum there is a flip side. The projects in Trivandrum do not get as much media coverage as those in Kochi. Why is this? Because, contrary to Trivandrum, most of the projects supposedly coming in Kochi are in the private sector. So they need the media coverage to sell their projects. I am a development oriented Keralite. I want all cities, towns and villages to develop equally- but not at the cost of the general public. Here is the scoop- Who are the clear winners in the whole episode- the so called real estate mafia.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Cell phones, beggars, coolies and India
I love cellphones. I am not a gadget freak. But, i can't live without cellphones. They are my lifeline. My heart literally pounds when I try to call my beloved ones and when they do not respond. I bet that that is the case with almost everyone who reads this. Just imagine this- In late 1999, when I got my first cellphone ( by default), it was a marvellous piece of equipment for me. " Equipment", because this an important component in my job. Once, while I was working in Manjeri, I remember some lads hooting at me when they saw me speaking on the phone . I got pissed off, but I should have remembered that owning a mobile phone then was considered to be a privilege of the bourgeosis class. Those were the times of Rs 8/minute mobile calls and nobody could even imagine a 22 yr old chatting away to glory for hours together.
2008- India overtook the U.S as the country with the second largest mobile phone subscribers, next only to China. India's teledensity is around 25, which means that out of every 100 people in India only around 25 have mobilephones. Considering that the saturation point is about 75, consider the potential India holds. No wonder all the international operators are making a beeline to the country which until recently considered owning a landphone as a luxury of thenchosen few. Beggars and coolies have mobile phones. Engineers and doctors own them too. So do toddy tappers, cobblers, blacksmiths etal. The Ambanis and Tatas use the same newtork too with no preference. It is no more a luxury but a big necessity. India has one of the cheapest call rates in the world and a youth population of more than 60%. SMS,MMS etc etc are keywords to any mobile user in India. In 2 years time, there will be a technological revolution with the launch of 3 G services. To those who are not familiar with 3G, it is a broadband connection on your mobile phones- of course on a 3 G ( UMTS) handset. That would mean using internet while on the go at speeds greater than 1 Mbps while on the go.
I am just mesmerised with how India has adapted considerably to technological changes. In telecom for example, it is way ahead of other nations-including many developed countries. Most of the handset manufacturers have set shop in India. The majority of the youth are gizmo geeks. I won't hoot back at those Manjeri lads if I see them again with their sleek gadgets.
2008- India overtook the U.S as the country with the second largest mobile phone subscribers, next only to China. India's teledensity is around 25, which means that out of every 100 people in India only around 25 have mobilephones. Considering that the saturation point is about 75, consider the potential India holds. No wonder all the international operators are making a beeline to the country which until recently considered owning a landphone as a luxury of thenchosen few. Beggars and coolies have mobile phones. Engineers and doctors own them too. So do toddy tappers, cobblers, blacksmiths etal. The Ambanis and Tatas use the same newtork too with no preference. It is no more a luxury but a big necessity. India has one of the cheapest call rates in the world and a youth population of more than 60%. SMS,MMS etc etc are keywords to any mobile user in India. In 2 years time, there will be a technological revolution with the launch of 3 G services. To those who are not familiar with 3G, it is a broadband connection on your mobile phones- of course on a 3 G ( UMTS) handset. That would mean using internet while on the go at speeds greater than 1 Mbps while on the go.
I am just mesmerised with how India has adapted considerably to technological changes. In telecom for example, it is way ahead of other nations-including many developed countries. Most of the handset manufacturers have set shop in India. The majority of the youth are gizmo geeks. I won't hoot back at those Manjeri lads if I see them again with their sleek gadgets.
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