Bringing in the New Year by relating a bad experience has never been my way of doing things.
However, I can neither manage an ostrich act. Which is why I am going to tell you about one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.
I was driving down to Jaipur and my car needed a re- fuel. Routine, I thought and got the driver to stop at a petrol pump. Neither did my debit card work at the pump, nor did I have any cash with me to pay. I borrowed `200 from the driver to buy enough fuel to take us till the next petrol pump where we finally managed to swipe my card and get the tank full.
Clearly, as we usher in the New Year, I don’t think we are ready to go cashless because unlike digital network, cash is dependable. As one progresses to the interiors, network becomes less dependable and cash is the only way to get through the day. But my troubles fade in comparison to the plight of the common man. Workers are out of jobs, tanneries short of hide, plants shutting down. With the leather industry in Uttar Pradesh hit hard by ‘note bandi’, let’s go back to the age where people walked barefoot.
But we need not worry because the government has reassured us that spending is not going to be an issue. So, while I-T raids have uncovered undisclosed income worth `3,185 since demonetisation, the budget to build a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji is `3,600 crore! The country’s economy has been hit for two months and our economists have predicted that our GDP would come down by 1 to 5 per cent. It is well known that more than 100 people have died in the wake of the demonetisation drive, but all we have to show for it is a statue!
A rumour has been making rounds on several WhatsApp groups that the statue is made up of Amorphous Silicon, Cadmium Telluride and Copper Indium, the same material used to make solar cells. In other words, the statue has the capability to generate enough electricity to power all the government offices in Mumbai!
What a positive feeling to enter the New Year knowing that the problems of power-cuts in the financial capital has been taken care of! There are even talks that a radar would be linked up with the statue that would spot terrorists across the Arabian Sea and avoid attacks like 2008. As I am contemplating the marvellous functions of this statue, I think that perhaps `3,600 crore is not bad!
If we go by the predictions of Gartner, then the year ahead is going to cement the presence of the avid shopper in virtual space. According to the aggregate, over 100 million people will be shopping online, in augmented reality. Astrologers predict that India is going to see great economic growth because great reserves of gold, diamond and coal will be uncovered on Indian soil. If this happens, India will outstrip the Chinese and US economies.
However, instead of depending on astrological predictions, one wishes that we find a way to reverse some of the damage that we have done to our environment. In 2017, agriculture should become a point of focus for the Indian economy.
Poor farmers will be given priority over those who are already thriving in our economy. In 2017, I wish corruption comes down and taxes are cut to accommodate the losses faced by the common man following the demonetisation drive. We are glad that 2016 is over because it was the year that sucked. We should prepare for March 2017, since it’s not going to be an easy ride.
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