Two weeks ago, we were in the holiday mood, everything was slow, people were in hibernation. As soon as the calendar showed January 1st, things have picked up fast as if somebody has turned on a switch. People are coming out of slumber and lots of events have happened. Today is the seventeenth day of this year only, but so much has happened so far.
To start with there was Satyam Fiasco. We thought we are through with the frauds after the Madoff one, but we were in for a rude shock. No one ever expected such a big company to be in the bad news. Satyam like so many other Indian companies was one of the reasons why India and Indians are being recognized and respected all over the world. This fiasco has taken a huge beating on India's image. I only wish that the companies do not paint India with the same brush as Satyam.
I was also reading about some other ponzi scheme in US, though I do not have much details. I think India Inc. as a group should treat this as their problem and work towards repairing our country's image. If you think about it, it is not just Satyam's problem, it is every Indian's problem.
On the India-Pakistan front, there has been a huge diplomatic effort by India to deal with Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks. Even before when people were debating whether we should go for war, I supported diplomacy over war. And I think our government is doing the right thing. But the pace has been slow. I think the governments should not communicate thru the media. One day we feel like there has been a movement in the process and someone from India or Pakistan gives a controversial statement and we start fighting over it. The governments should communicate thru their diplomatic channels.
Finally it looks like the war in Gaza is coming to an end as both the parties are talking about a ceasefire and the number of rocket launches have come down. In America, there is a lot of enthusiasm about Obama's inauguration. Obama took the ceremonial train ride from Philadelphia to Washington, DC emulating Abraham Lincoln's historic train journey during his inauguration.
While on the topic of enthusiasm and hope, we Indians had a moment of joy, pride and hope when AR Rahman won the golden globe award for Slumdog Millionaire. Shah Rukh Khan was invited to introduce the movie and the movie won four major awards. This is a very good sign for India because I think more and more people will make movies about India, using Indian technicians and probably one of our movies will get a Best Film award. At least the door has opened. Major American studios have started investing in Indian movies. Warner brothers have invested and are distributing "ChandniChowk To China". That means this movie will be released in the regular American theaters. As more and more studios start distributing our movies, very soon we will be able to watch an Indian movie near our house. I am waiting to see that day.
