All The Best, "Barfi"!

It is really so thrilling to know about "Barfi" getting nominated for Oscar. 

While it is always great to find an Indian movie to Oscar nomination, what made Barfi's Oscar nomination so thrilling for me is the movie's close connection with two places that I am so obsessed with - a.) Darjeeling (in the North Bengal region, i.e. the picturesque region that was once the home for my family), and b.) Calcutta/Kolkata, the magnificent city where I grew up. 

All the best, Barfi!

NB - However, I am aware of the controversy that "Barfi" has imitated a number of scenes from a Charlie Chaplin movie. Well, I am not aware of to what extent the imitation has been made. But it is certainly not appreciable if the movie owes the acclaim it is enjoying to the scenes that it has imitated from other movie/movies. 

Hiking The Diesel Price - A Laudable Step

Congrats to the Central Govt for showing the courage to hike the diesel price and curb the subsidy on LPG. These are two crucial decisions that were long overdue. 

It is very stupid to expect that the Govt will indefinitely put on hold a hike in diesel price when the international price of the commodity is on the rise. India has to import a huge quantity of oil from the international market, and the Govt is understandably bound to hike the diesel price if the international scenario forces any such decision. 


And as far as curbing the LPG subsidy is concerned, we should have the common sense to realize that subsidy is not an ideal way to keep price under control. Rather it is Counter Productive. Imposition of subsidy on a commodity might give us a temporary relief, but it is not sustainable and is bound to be withdrawn at one point of time. And significantly, more time is taken to withdraw the subsidy, more painful is the post-withdrawal impact. So it is always better to withdraw the subsidy at the earliest (if at all it needs to be imposed in the first place), right? I suppose we should have the maturity to opt for long term gain rather than momentary relief.

I know some of my friends will not like my view. Well, I have due respect for their opinions, but at the same time I am confident about my view.