Jazeem's Blog

A Cup of Tea -Short Story

2011-09-18T18:22:00.000+04:00

Every progressive step in the life of a child is a moment of joy for the mom. The mother from a small time town in this story was not any different. She felt the tears when her son took his baby steps, went to school, graduated, got the first job... A few days back it was another moment of 'Joy' for her. Her son made the 1st cup of tea in his life.

He is now in his youth but has never tried to make a cup of tea in his life. In other way, his mother never gave him a chance... She never made him wait for the food, nor gave the chance to see the soiled cloths he throws up in the corner of his room getting piled up. She very occasionally used to complain about treating her favors to him as his rights and ignoring her requests to accompany her to the doctor for the check ups, but never stopped doing things for him.

She was reciting Quran after the Fajr prayer as usual on that weekend too. He usually comes to her room in the morning to asks her for the morning tea. Since it was a holiday she was not expecting him to get up so early. It was the sound of the vessels that prompted her to come out to the kitchen. It was a strange sight for her, he was making tea. She offered her help, but he refused. She went back to the room with out showing out her surprise. It was only a few minutes back she wished if some body had come to her with a cup of tea as the thought was so dry. Right now her own son is making tea in the kitchen on a Sunday morning.

The old age has weekend her knees. Even standing for a short period hurts the knees and in the mornings it is really bad. She often ignored her pain to make tea for her son. In the previous night she had mentioned to him about the knee pain and tiredness due to the old age and how the rest of the people in the house should lend her a helping hand in the house holds. But she had not expected it to have a quick affect.

He came out of the kitchen with two cups of tea. The joy was over flowing in her mind... then suddenly she heard the shout from his room ... HONEYYyy... It was his newlywed wife 'Yes, it is ready I am coming..." he shouted back. He sped up the walk and went past his mom. She felt the joy quickly settling down way below her feet.

Muslims Celebrating Onam

2011-09-12T23:59:00.000+04:00

When I called up my friend on last Thursday, he was shopping at one of the popular Malayalee super markets with his family. According to him, the super market had the best fresh vegetables in town. He was picking up vegetables for the 'Onam (Hindu festival) Sadhya (feast)' he was planning at his home next day. No, he is not a Hindu, but a Muslim.

Same day a Muslim colleague of mine had told me how he was going to celebrate 'Onam' on Friday.

Yesterday when I logged in to my facebook account I saw a few pictures posted by my cosine which were apparently taken at the Onam celebrations he had with his Hindu friends. To my surprise, in the pictures he was wearing the Onam traditional dress and spreading the traditional onam flower carpet besides the lighted up Hindu worship lamps.

Today morning another Muslim colleague of mine told me how he celebrated the Onam this time and made up for 3-4 previous missing Onams which he was not able to celebrate due to the reason that it fell in the month of Ramadan.

I am sure there were many more similar stories out there. You my click on the following wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam to understand about Onam festival and the belief behind.

Though it is a pure Hindu festival it has been promoted and taught (especially at the schools) as the festival of Malayalees of all religion. But to all my Muslim brothers and sister who keep the similar views, I would like to mention that you are committing a serious sin, the sin which does not stand any chance of forgiveness from Allah(unless you repent sincerely and never commit it again). If you want to show the love for your non Muslim friends, do it by passing them the message of 'Lailaha Illahlla' and not by participating in their religion and customs. If any of you are worried about the displeasure of the people when you turn down their invitation to join their celebrations, be aware that Allah's displeasure is much verse than that. Convince them that it is not personal, it is about love for Allah the adherence to his laws. Tell them that you would not do anything against Allah and the teachings of Prophet (pbuh) even if the insistence comes your own parents though the love and respect for parents taught in length in Islam.

You must have heard about the following hadeeth many a time. Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that Muhammad (pbuh) said,
"Whoever imitates a people(of other religion), then he is one of them." Please try to under stand the seriousness of it. Don't love anyone more than Allah and the prophet (pbuh)

Following is in extract from www.islamqa.com

Imitating or resembling the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) and others with regard to worldly matters is permissible only when the following conditions are met:

1 – That should not be any of their traditions or rituals by which they are distinguished.

2 – That should not be part of their religion. A matter can be proven to be part of their religion though a trustworthy source, such as an aayah of the Qur’aan or a hadeeth of His Messenger, or via well-established reports, such as the prostration of greeting which was permitted to the previous nations.

3 – That should not be anything in Islam which refers specifically to that matter. If there is a specific reference in Islam, either approving or disapproving of it, then we must follow what our religion says about it.

4 – This resemblance should not lead to going against any of the commands of sharee’ah.

5 – That should not involve celebrating any of their festivals.

6 – The resemblance should be only according to what is needed, and no more.

Sai Baba - The con man is dead

2011-04-25T21:57:00.000+04:00

The demon faced con man died. He possessed nothing more than the skill of a street magician. He combined his magical and managerial skills to con the world to build an empire worth $9 billion. In 2004, BBC exposed him in their program called 'The secret swami'. They exposed his cheap tricks and sexual exploitations. They established his mafia links. Some medias exposed the murders in his ashram(more precisely in his bedroom) and his own behavioral disorders. But his blind devotees just ignored and rejected all of them. From top scientists to top bureaucrats and politicians queued in front of his ashram awaiting the turn to fall on his feet. Baba's trust secretary K Chakravarthi who is a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official, when he assumed the job would have thought 'baba' would be the quickest way to amass wealth.

Two days back when the official report came that his heart was struggling to beat (read it as dead few days back), the former Director General of Police of Andra Pradesh told the media stationed outside his hospital that Sai Baba was God indeed and he would not die until he turned 96 as Baba predicted to the world. Now he is dead but his followers are awaiting his next avatar which sure will come in thousands in this 'Maha...bharat'. In India con men (or women) have legal channel which is divinity, and the whole system of the country support that. I have never felt so ashamed of my nationality, but feeling so superior as the believer of the true God. Alhamdu Lillah(praise to Allah).

'There is not God but Allah and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon was his messenger'

Joseph's Car -A short story based on a real story toled by my dad

2011-01-03T21:10:00.003+04:00

Mr. Joseph was the only Malayalee (popularly known as Malabaree in UAE) who was having a car in his office. Holding a UAE license and owning a car were big deal among Malyaliees during those days (I am talking about the late 70s), so it earned him some admiration and envy from among his friends. He had no problem in helping his fellow mallu colleagues who used to live close by his residents, in commuting to office and back. He not only helped his friends to commute to office but always took one or more along with him when ever he went out in his car. Good hearted!.. Yes!, not Joseph but the ones who used to ride with him. It was not that Joseph loved helping, or the company of people, but he wanted their help when ever the car stopped on the way, and his car used to stop in the mid ways very often. The car that he was driving was an old Toyota car which had far exceeded it's life line and always needed a manual push to start. It was because of this reason, some of his colleagues used to hesitate to accept his offer to drop home, though they all enjoyed the car rides (in a good car) other wise.

Soon Joseph's status as a 'car owner' changed to 'crap owner'. His car stopped working for good. The 'expert' mechanics gave up on the car and advised him to discard it. But he realized that 'getting rid of a dead elephant was as pain full as maintaining one'. The 1st option with him was to call the municipality to take it away from its resting place, but since it required paying the authority, he did not go with that options and all the other natural options involved money so he did not consider them. If you are wondering why he did not think of selling it to a scrap shop, you should know that that kind of business did not really exist those days. He later came up with a 'well thought' solution to get rid of the car which served him as well all it's previous owners for a few decades. It was to 'dump it in the sea' (Something unimaginable in the present times). For that, his car needed one last help from his colleagues. He was living close to the beach. The plan was to push the car to the sea from an isolated area of the beach. If the police seas the act, he would be in trouble. He and his friends chose a relatively quite time to carry out the operation on a holiday. Shortly they were on their way pushing the car to the destination, but plan did not work well, they spotted cops on the beach from a distance. They decided to stop and wait till the cops leave the place.

His friends thought the time was perfect to make the, not so generous Joseph to spend for them. They had stopped right in frond of an ice cream parlour. They demanded Joseph an ice-cream treat as a token of appreciation for their noble service. Soon they all started enjoying the ice of their favourite flavour except Mr. Joseph, who was in deep a thought. In fact he was counting the accumulating cost of his 'dead elephent'.

Then suddenly a loud sound woke Joseph, the sound was laud enough to wake up any one in nap in one kilometer circle. Joseph and friends quickly came out to see the cause of the sound. They could not believe what they saw, Joseph's car had transformed to a pile of metal. The car had hit by a big SUV. The driver of the SUV who was a local Arab came out of the vehicle. What happened after that gave Joseph's friends a revelation about Joseph. Joseph was 'smarter' than what they all thought he was. Joseph started crying loud like child who just lost his favorite toy. 'Oh my God.... what do I do now.....? I lost my car....huuu ... huuu... 'The Arab tried to apologies but Joseph was not listening. The Arab went back to his car. He picked up his car phone and made a few calls, they heard him mentioning 'Toyota corroal' in his talk. He came back to Joseph. He offered him a cheque and, with out waiting to see Joseph's reaction he left in his damaged SUV. The amount written on the check was sufficient to buy a brand new Toyota corolla.

few days passed, the check changed Joseph's life. The way he moved around changed, he preferred to drive alone.

The One Eyed

2010-06-25T01:32:00.001+04:00

What would you do if you come across some body who claims to be God? I know that, being a Muslim you would just ignore him!... What if the claimant can also perform some illusions and tricks? you would still ignore him because he is familiar to you. You hear about these kind of guys very often. They are infamously called God men! and available in plenty in countries like India. Some small time illusions and magic are the skills they use, to make the people fall for them.
But what if you come across somebody who not only claims to be God but also perform extraordinary feats like making the clouds rain at his will... splits a person in to two and bring him back to life...make people who don't follow him starve etc? In all the likely hood, you would believe and follow him! He would be the one eyed Dajjal(Antichrist)! He will perform Illusions and tricks and evils like no other has performed on the face of earth. If you think that your iman (Belief) is too strong to withstand any such tests, you might want to read the following Hadith(teaching) of prophet (peace and blessing be upon him):

"Those who hear about Dajjal should stay far from him. By Allah! A person will approach him thinking him to be a Believer, but on seeing his amazing feats he will become his follower."

It is important for a Muslim to believe in the emergence of Dajjal as it is the One of the major signs of Qiyamah (Doomsday) which is one of the pillars of faith in Islam. We should prepare our self and our kids for the times of Dajjal as his emergence could be any time.

The scene before his arrival

Before the emergence of Dajjal there will be three years of drought.

Where he comes from?

He will emerge between Shaam and Iraq, and his emergence will become known when he is in Isfahaan (province of Iran located in the center of Iran) at a place called Yahudea.

His characteristics

Maseeh-ud-Dajjal will be short and his legs will be crooked. The hair on his head will be extremely twisted. He will have one eye, while his other eye will be flat. It will be neither deep, nor protruding.There will be a thick fingernail-like object in his left eye. The letters "Kaa" "Faa" "Raa" will appear on his forehead which can be read only by Mu'mineen (Muslims) regardless of them being literate or not. He will have a wheatish complexion.

Who will follow him?

The Yahudis (Jews) of Isfahaan will be his main followers. Apart from having mainly Yahudi followers, he will have a great number of women followers as well.

His feats and claims

He will claim to be God. He will have with him fire and water, but in reality the fire will be cold water while that what appears to be cold water will in reality be a blazing fire. He will travel the entire world at amazing speed. He will send down rains upon those who believe in him, which in turn will cause good crops to grow, trees to bear fruit and cattle to grow fat. He will cause drought to those who disbelieve in him, resulting in starvation and hardship for them. During those trying times the Mu'mineen(Muslims) will satiate their hunger through the recitation of Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah (God)) and La'ilaha Ilallahu. (There is no God but Allah). A hidden treasures will spill forth at his command. He will stay on this Earth for a period of forty days; the length of the first day will be one year, the second day will be equal to one month, the third day will be equal to a week and the remaining days will be normal.

Dajjal's Killing

Prophet Jesus(Peace be upon him) will descend to the white Minaret (Nawwas-b-Samaan/Muslim) in the east of Damascus, wearing two garments died with saffron, placing his hands on the wings of two angels.

The Dajjal on seeing Prophet Jesus (Peace be upon him) among the Muslims will begin to dissolve like salt in water and will begin to flee. Prophet Jesus (Peace be upon him) will say to him, ''You will remain alive until I strike you with my spear, ''He will catch up with him at the Eastern gate of Ludd (Ludd is a mountain in Syria. Some say that it is a village in Jerusalem, and some say that it is a village in Palestine) and then Prophet Jesus(Peace be upon him) will kill him with a small spear.

How do you protect yourself from Dajjal?

Reciting of Surah - Kahf- The recitation of Surah Kahf is a safe guard from the Dajjal's turmoil

Seeking refuge in Allah- Whoever seeks Allah's refuge and protection from Dajjal's fitna(trials) especially in Salah, Inshallah will be protected.

Staying miles apart- When the Dajjal appears one should stay as far away from him as possible.

Safe Haven of Makkah and Madinah- One should try to migrate to Makkah or Madinah, as he will not be able to enter these two holy cities.

Knowledge of Allah's Attributes- One should seek Islamic knowledge especially knowledge of Allah's attributes. By possessing knowledge of Allah's attributes one will not be misled by the Dajjal.

Further Reading: http://www.inter-Islam.org/faith/Majorsigns.html#dajaal

The Exam

2010-06-07T15:09:00.003+04:00

CBSC Class 10 results were out a few days back. My cousin's son got through with 72% mark. The result was excellent for his standards. Cousin was overjoyed, she invited us over to her house for a lunch to celebrate her son's extra ordinary performance.

She was very nervous and tensed when I spoke to her in the previous night. Though I knew it all, she was narrating all the hardship and pain that she had gone through in preparing her son who has got a casual attitude towards his academics. He attended special tuitions for most of the subjects for two years, some of them were costing as much as AED 70 per hour. My cousin could afford it but what she could not really afford was the ordeal and stress in motivating a de-motivated kid for one of the most important exams of ones life (as the society see it). A below par result would have put her in great depression and the future of her son in uncertainty. But Alhamdu Lillha(All praise is due to Allah) he got through.

Board and University exams are big things in our lives, it stresses the kids as well as the parents. The society perceives that the performance in those exams decide ones future.

My friend and colleague Naveed too talked about an exam on the previous day. He talked about the toughest exam any human being will face in his life and after. Pass mark is nothing short of centum. It can be called an 'open exam' as the questions and answers are already published and widely circulated. It is an oral exam of three short answer questions. But unlike any other, for this exam you have to prepare with your heart rather than the mind. Brother Naveed was referring to the questions of the grave. The three questions, one will be asked by the angels in the grave, viz; 1, Who is your Lord 2, What is your religion and 3 Who is your prophet.

Who is your Lord?

Allah!

Allah said in Quran(Chapter 112): Say, "He is Allah , [who is] One, Allah , the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

What is your religion?

Islam!

Allah said in Quran (Chapter 5 verse 3): This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.

Who is your prophet?

Muhammad (Peace be upon him)!

Allah said in Quran (Chapter 33 verse 40):

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of ALLAH and the last of the Prophets

So these questions and answers are very simple but answering them at the right time will take living the answers in the life before death. We have to hold on to the Quran and the teachings of the prophet(peace be upon him), whatsoever is the circumstance of our lives.

The Reward

So what is the reward of passing this exam?... it is nothing less than The Paradise!

Allah describes Paradise in Quran (Chapter 2 verse 25): "And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit there from, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.

The Punishment

Unlike any other exam, you will be punished if you fail, and the punishment of failing this exam is The Hell.

Allah says in Quran (Chapter9 verse 63): Do they not know that whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger - that for him is the fire of Hell, wherein he will abide eternally? That is the great disgrace.

A Serous Issue

So this exam is a serious one but in spite of knowing the punishment and reward, why are we still not really preparing for it? Why are we not really stressed or worried when we see our kids not preparing for this exam... Brothers and sisters, we have a serous issue in our hand...

Seasoned Stock Trader

2010-03-14T13:28:00.003+04:00

''A seasoned stock trader does not get disheartened by the losses, but he does by the lost opportunities to make profit" -Me :)

Two impressive quotes from yesterdays news paper

2010-02-17T14:33:00.007+04:00

I was really impressed with two quotes in yesterdays news paper, 'The National'

Quote 1

“If the law of the jungle is the system for some countries, in the UAE it is rule of law that governs us, and if leaders of some countries give orders to their intelligence services to kill, this practice is rejected and is a crime in our laws, religion and Islamic traditions,”
-The Dubai Police Chief Lt General Dubai Khalfan Tamim, from his talk after releasing the pictures of the suspects of the murder of Hamas leader Al Mabhouh's in Dubai. Giving a strong message obviously to Israel whose role is very clear in the killing.

Quote 2

“We wanted to take her and have the privilege of raising a child, it is an honor for Muslims to raise an orphan".
-Sultan Abdulla, a man from the Jazirat al Hamra village of Rasal Khaima, UAE in his 60s, after the villagers found an abandoned 7 days old baby out side a mosque in the early morning.

Prostitutes in Naif

2010-01-31T11:29:00.009+04:00

My hart beat increased when the lady walked up to me on my way to the grocery shop on the Saturday morning. She helloed me in a Chinese accent with a pleasant smile. She appeared like one of those... I was worried that I would be watched by people known to me. The unusual approach style and time surprised me.

It is quite unlikely that a prostitute go unnoticed on the streets of Naïf (part of Deira district of Dubai), and for your eyes to ignore them will have to over come a strong satanic whisper. The name of their profession is written all over them. Their dressing and body language will tell you that they know the basics of their trade well. These women are mostly from Russia, China, and Turkey etc. In some seasons you will see some African nationals also trying their luck on the street. Deira has a big bachelor population so the place is right for their business. Though they try their best to get noticed by the males on the street they know how to be out of the notice of the cops who often roams the streets. It is some time fun watching those Malloos(Malayalees), Pattans (from Pakistan) and Bangladeshis who can't afford them, watching them and drooling.

I often wondered how these women entered Dubai. Those visa lobbies would have arranged their visas for a good sum, mostly under the categories like 'tourist', 'house made', 'cleaner'. etc. But, I guess, now a days with the tightened restrictions, getting visa under those categories are not easy for women who travels alone. That must be the reason they have made their 'business' more organized- They started massage parlors!. Getting visa becomes very easy with the shift in 'business strategy', as the authorities do not do much check before issuing visas to proprietors and employee of an establishment with a trade license. I see lot of message parlors mushrooming in and around Naïf now a days. What happens inside is anyone's guess.

The lady who approached me handed a business card, she was on 'business promotion'. The card was poorly laid out. It had a punch liner, a few types of massages, and the location of the parlor printed in very poor English.

Afridi, "Nothing Personal, Just Business!"

2010-01-20T09:50:00.014+04:00

"The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country by treating us this way" -Shahid Afridi's reaction after getting snubbed at IPL(Indian Premier League) auction

Dear Afridi,
Don't take it personally, it is just business. I can understand your feeling of being rejected. We know that you guys are extremely talented, especially you, who is arguably one of the best T20 player in the world, who single handedly won so many matches for 'Deccan Chargers' in the last season. But you should understand the recently hardened political sentiments against Pakistanis and Muslims in India. You guys are both Pakistanis and Muslims. So your association will bring in bad image to the franchisees and that will result in reduced fan base. In IPL, fans means business. They spent penny like water on these franchises, now they have to get back all of them and more. They don't want to take any risk. Once gain It is nothing personal but just business.
Regards,
Jazeem (Your fan from India)

Honesty

2010-01-13T12:40:00.007+04:00

The 28 year old Mohammad "Mukal" Asadujjaman from Bangaladesh who drives a cab in New York to pay his collage fee, did just what a Muslim had to do, when he found a lost purse with $ 21000 and some jewelries in his cab. When any average youth of his age would have already headed for his/her destination to enjoy the fortune, Mohammad headed to the 50 miles away address in the purse to return it.
Later in a press conference at his small apartment he said:
"I'm broke, but I'm honest," "I'm needy, but I'm not greedy," "It's better to be honest." He also said he owed his values to his mother and his Muslim beliefs. Well said brother.

I thought it is worth mentioning about another little hero here, though he could not hold a press conference in his apartment. He is my 14 year old nephew, Fariz Naeem in Dubai. Couple of months back, on the way to his tuition class he found a lost Dh1000/- ($275) note on the road. As a 14 year old, he could have used the money to have some of his long wantings which his tiny pocket money is not able to taken care, but instead he decided to inform his parents about it and gave the money to them. Since his parents couldn't find the owner of the money they gave it off to charity.

Honesty is part of Muslim identity. The moment one becomes dishonest he defies him self and his religion.

The original news can be read at the following link:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9539399

Arabtec Deal - no big deal!

2010-01-10T08:53:00.006+04:00

Beyond doubt Aabar is on a bargain hunt. With the pile of cash they are sitting on, they want to buy all those post recession potential companies which are looking for some cash at the moment to survive the last patch of recession. Aabar's offer to buy Arabtec is giving strong indication of their intentions. Arabtec stock had a good run in the past one week based on the some inside information, but all those flippers who bought Arabtec stock based on the market grapevine would have never thought the deal would be this tricky.

The offer is "to acquire 70 percent of the share capital of Arabtec by way of a mandatory convertible bond to be issued by Arabtec Holding to Aabar Investments at a conversion price of 2.3 dirham ($0.626) per share." the deal is worth Dh6.4 billion. The offer in plain sense means pay the price of the shares now but get them transferred in their name only after 3 years.

There are two issues with the offer 1st is the offer price it self, which is 20% below the closing price of the stock on Thursday and 2nd is the future stock dilution that will lead to value loss for the share holders. Let us try to understand the effect through a simple example. Let us assume that Arabtec has 210 fully paid shares at the moment, which means at Thursday's closing price (Dh2.89) Arabtec has a paid up capital of Dh 606.9. Let us also assume that after three years all goes well with the market as well as Arabtec and share price of Arabtec becomes double, that means the price reaches Dh 5.78. When the price reaches 5.78 the paid capital becomes Dh 1213.8 but then company has to issue additional shares to full fill commitments to Aabar. that means they will have to issue 490 additional shares (to have 70% to be transferred to Aabar). now the paid capital remain the same (1213.8) but number of shares increases to 700. That means the price of share will fall to adjust against the extra shares in the capital. so the new equation will be 1213.8/700 and stock price becomes Dh 1.734.

The justification given by the Arabtec management while accepting the offer are that it will improve the working capital, avail cash for future acquisition and give stronger access to the projects in Abu Dhabi.

I am convinced with the 3rd point but not with the 1s and 2nd. I think it is better to borrow from the market to help the working capital which is better than surrendering the shares at the throw a way price. You don't need 6.4 billion to hedge against any short fall, that must be the reason they came up with the 2nd excuse of fund for future acquisition. Don't forget that Arabtec is still a profit making company and they are not in a very bad financial state. (at least according to their published books)

Any acquisition with out considering the interest of share holder are bad. If the share holder realize the impact of the deal, they would never approve the deal. Today when the market open they will give a big thumps down. I am expecting the Arabtec stock price to go down today.

Please read the news at the below link:

http://gulfnews.com/business/aabar-offers-to-acquire-70-of-construction-firm-arabtec-1.565827

The Mother Thief

2009-12-31T11:17:00.012+04:00

The restless boy wants to go to the play area of the mall but his mom insists to hang on for a few minutes. She quickly tests some deodorant from the rack while her son is cribbing about making him stay on. She finally chooses one and gives to him and asks him to keep it in the pocket of his baggy jean and cautiously get out of the store. The kid runs out of the store like a squirrel as he is in hurry to get to the play area. The mother goes to her husband and the younger child who were checking out some other stuffs in the store.

I and my family happened to be right near them while the mother and son were indulged in shop lifting, my wife though did not notice it and came to know only when I told her about it later. We were at Carrefour in Century mall on a relaxed Thursday night (Week ends on Friday in this part of the world). It is one of the most popular hyper market chains in Dubai. Their stores are so vast and that makes t easy for shop lifters. The child seemed to be in his approaching teen and his mom appeared to be in her early thirties. I have to mention that she was an attractive lady in her color full Chooridhar (North Indian attire) and with some clean make up. They spoke Hindi.

I have witnessed shop lifting before but this time It kind of shocked me for the sheer reason that the parties involved in the act were a mother and a son.

It is said that, to a great extend, it is the way the mother up brings the child decides the character of the child. The above mentioned incident might be an isolated incident but mothers encouraging children to err, knowingly or unknowingly, are not very uncommon now a days. My suggestion (not advise, because I hate advise) to the guys who are yet to be married and care for having well behaved and good natured kids in life is that to try...to see beyond what your eyes could see while choosing your life partner.

The Convict Speaks

2009-12-23T15:33:00.018+04:00

S P S Rathore who was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of Rs1000 ($21) for molesting a teenaged girl (Ruchika) who later committed suicide, speaks... (Imaginary)

“My dear fellow cops,...

...didn't I tell you that molesting is not a big deal in India especially when it is a cop like me. Now that my case has proved that you can get away with a very little punishment, you should go head and take your chances. Don’t listen to the crap that you are a police officer and you are responsible for preventing crime etc. In fact our crimes and criminal instincts are our merits. Two of my promotions, both after starting the investigation of the case in which I was convicted and the retirement as the Deputy General of Police proves that theory. My dear friends, go head and just unleash the beast in you...it is our country and we... (the criminals and bureaucrats like him) own this country so no element of fear should pull you back from your intentions. Target the under aged and weak like I did, because that is more convenient and interesting, but be a bit more care full than me in leaving a witness...."

"My like minded civilians,...

...being a cop I got just this and that too after 19years...for you they might make it even lighter, who knows you might even get rewarded for molesting. so, take inspiration from my case"

"I wish all the perverts of this country good luck…”

Click here for the news link: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ruchika-molestation-6-months-jail-rs-1-000-fine-for-exdgp/557617/1

December Rain

2009-12-16T11:40:00.010+04:00

It was raining while we came out of the flat in the morning. The water log on the road suggested that the rain was heavier before the dawn. It was a typical week day morning, we were late! I and my son had to run to his school bus pick up point while I was struggling to hold his school bag and our lunch bags with one hand and his hand with other. My son was a bit hesitant to come out in the wet. After he got in his bus I had to brisk walk to my car park area. Though it was a little heavier than a drizzle the atmosphere was fantastic. It was wet, dark and cold. I saw a small group of people (of course Malayalees) enjoying the site of the rain on my way to the car. The feel of rain drops on the face was good but I was still a bit worried about getting drenched before getting office. I had forgotten about my umbrella which I had brought from home (India) to use in the summer. Two decades back when my father was working in this country he used to bring home umbrellas from here. Umbrellas were one of the popular gifts from the people coming from Dubai. Those days, back in India, especially in my state (Kerala) we did not have umbrellas of good design and quality. As the time passed some guys realized the potential of modern umbrella business in a state where it rains for 6 months in a year. The rain there is so beautiful. People had stopped using the village umbrellas made of palm leaves and areca nut husks long before the age of modern umbrellas. I should conceder myself lucky to have seen workers at the fields with those umbrellas in my child hood. The umbrellas used at the fields are history now so as the fields.

Rain in December is not unusual in Dubai. It is an indication that the winter will become colder in the coming days. It is the same with Chennai City. The city receives rain in December but there it indicates that life will be miserable in the coming days. In fact I was not a big fan of rain in my home state until I came to Chennai in the late nineties. Chennai is part of the rain shadow region of south west monsoon so it does not receive rain when the rest of the country does. But the rain it receives during the last part of Monson creates havoc. Some of the memories of rain days in Chennai that come to my mind are walking on the Eggmore Kennath lane in the knee deep rain water (mixed with drainage) and riding bike while it was pouring, mostly to and from office. The rain coat was sufficient to protect from the rain but not from the splash the vehicles on the road make. By the time I reached office I would be fully trenched and chapels (it was ok to wear chapels in office when it was raining) would be muddy. I had to straight away go to the rest room and clean it up and remove the shirt and dry it up using the hand dryer. To dry the pants I had to use my body heat though :) Chennai’s drainage system was very bad but not every were. Places like ‘Poes garden’, ‘Boat club’ would never have problems during the rain times. Your guess is right, some powerful people live in those areas.

I just love riding in the rain. But here in Dubai I would not dare to do that. In Dubai I am blessed with a car, only thing I have to worry about is poor traffic and mistakes others make due to the unclear road lanes. The rain was heavy for Middle East standards. It was from the news paper that I came to know that the rain was heavier than that I had imagined. The over night rain fall was equal to the average rain fall Dubai receives in the whole of December. Two people killed in rain related accidents and thousands got home very late in the night due to poor trafic.

Pirate's Stock Exchange

2009-12-07T10:30:00.014+04:00

Somali pirates started their own stock exchange with an intention to fund the capital intense pirate business and spread the ‘benefits’ to the masses. Anyone can invest in any of the listed 'Companies' (Gangs) by cash, equipments or weapons. The details of the news can be read at the below link. http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSGEE5AS0EV

The news exposes the lawlessness of the country. Neither UN nor the ‘world police’ (US) is hardly concerned about the state of the country, so I am not concerned either.

The idea of the exchange might look a bit ridiculous, but on a second thought I feel it is not that bad an idea and kind of interesting too. I did not expect these pirates to be so economically wise. If you are raising your eyebrows in furry of my sober comments (about the pirate exchange), I would ask you to think… again. I agree that piracy is all about stealing and occasional killing so their business is totally immoral and criminal but we have companies with legal status in our country as well as in other developed courtiers engaged in business which are verse than piracy. The stocks of some of such companies are traded in the legally incorporated stock exchanges as well. If you have not guessed those businesses yet… they are cigarette, alcohol, gambling etc.!

Dubai Crisis

2009-11-30T19:18:00.006+04:00

The epicenter of Friday's world wide stock market crash was Dubai. To be very specific 'Dubai World' which controls about half a dozen companies and each one of it having about half a dozen to one dozen companies under their control.The news that chorused by the world media and sent shock waves across the financial world was that "Dubai World intends to ask all providers of financing to Dubai World and Nakheel to 'standstill' and extend maturities until at least 30 May 2010, Dubai World has $59 billion of liabilities, which is a large proportion of Dubai's total debt of $80 billion." -Reuters.

But are they trying to judge the book by its cover? let us see...

Breakups of the debt

What I tried to do was that to get the break ups of the $59 billion debt of Dubai World and its due dates. I did not get it in spite searching on the net for some time but the news paper (The National) which I have subscribed to at home had some details about it on their Friday addition. According to them Following are the maturity dates of the outstanding bonds issued by Dubai world and it subsidiaries:

14th Dec 2009 Nakheel (Dubai world subsidiary) US$3520million (Sukuk-Islamic Bond)
13th May 2009 Nakheel US$980million
1st Jan 2010 Nakheel US$ 750million
19th Jun 2011 Nakheel US$ 2100 million
19th Jun 2011 Nakheel US$450million (Sukuk-Islamic Bond)
Nov 2012 Nakheel Us$2100 million
2nd July 2017 Dubai ports world (Dubai world subsidiary)US 1500 million
2nd July 2037 Dubai ports world US$1500 million.

The above amounts sums up to 12.9 billion out of which only 7.8 billion is due over the next 12 months. I would not bother about the dues of remaining 3billon at the moment as it is only due after 2017. So how did Deute bank arrive at $58Billion debt of Dubai World? I would say it was just a rough guess that includes out standing bills payable. I don't know how they came up with the figure with out having access to the books?

The actual piece of news that caused the panic?

The actual piece of news that caused the panic was that Dubai world was planning to request a term change to it is providers of the 3.52 billion Sukuk which is due in the next few weeks. Is it a big deal? What I meant to ask you was that whether this piece of news is worth causing stock market crash across the world and put a fear in the mind of people about the ongoing recession getting deeper?

Whey the world should not be panicking?

the news was not so significant mainly because, at the moment the concern is only 3.52 billion which is not a big amount considering the size of the Dubai World. Another reason is that Dubai's oil rich neighboring emirate Abu-Dhabi has always helped Dubai when ever it required in the past. Abu Dhabi is sitting on a US$980 billion of sovereign fund at the moment.

Another reason why the actual news was not so significant was that the expiring bond is not a conventional bond but Sukuk (Islami Bond, we will discuss about it in detail later) Its principles are based on the Sharia rulings so there is no interest but sharing of profit and loss. Asking for an extension of term was not quite abnormal here.

What a smart investor would do in such situation?

I think the most smartest thing an investor would do in such situation is that instead of considering the situation so bad (like Argentina defaulting the sovereign fund some years back) and trying to square all his position, try to make some arbitrate gains.

Mint Street Market Becomes History

2009-11-26T08:47:00.011+04:00

Few weeks back my brother in-law had to close down his plywood shop in Chennai. It was an old shop which was started by his late father. No, it had nothing to do with the economic recession but the decision of the city corporation to demolish the shop building. They pulled down about 35 shops of similar business in the area. Corporation wanted the land where the shops were situated for city developments. The land belongs to the corporation and was long back leased to the shop owners but the buildings were constructed by the shop owners. These shops were part of a timber market at the ‘Mint’ which is a very crowded area in Chennai. I heard that corporation is planning to build a bridge there. The country has started focusing on the infrastructure development, isn’t it?. The association of these shop owners had hired one of the most famous (you may read it as infamous) lawyers of the country to save their lively hoods. The association made the lawyer richer by 1.8crore (18 million) rupees ($ 390000) over the past one year but he still could not successfully defend the case. A few shops in the market are yet to be harmed. There are about 17 of them saved for the next phase of demolition.

It was a very sad story for the owners and employees of those shops. Corporation offered the shop owners a stretch of barren land way out side the city as an alternative to the current market location. They were not interested in the offer, as it was almost like relocating the business to mars. I heard that some of traders switched to some other lines of business which do not require big showroom space as the construction material business do. Some of them shifted to some other areas where rent is low or affordable. But as far as I know, no one could relocate their business any were with in the city limits as the high city rent makes this low margin business economically unviable. Most of them like my brother in law are still looking out for their options in panic.

When my brother in-law called my wife (his sister) to tell about the news as it happened, she felt very sad. She felt sad for two reasons one was that it affected her brother whose financials were anyway bad. The second reason was that the shop was started by her dear late father. This shop was the sole source of her family when she was a kid.

Last week I had some updates of the issue from my brother in-law, and I guess, that was the anticlimax of the whole issue. I told you about the few shops which were not demolished. As a last attempt to stay in the market, the association had sent a mercy petition to the Mayor of the city. In the petition they pleaded not to take over the land of the remaining shops (the shops those were not demolished) and proportionately re-allocate (re-lease) the land to all the affected shop owners. Mayor agreed to grand the request …yes! He agreed… but there was a twist, he wanted a small favour in return. That is a donation to his party fund. And the amount should not be less than 2 crore (20 million) rupees ($ 430000)!

My First Post

2009-11-25T18:58:00.004+04:00

In The Name Of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful