Thoughts on Diwali

Ah, Diwali, the time when the PC class gangs up to complain about child labour, pollution etc. I am getting tired to hearing the same bull repeated year after year. Consider the arguments against the festival

Child labour in Sivakasi: I am no expert and don't know the current situation. This has been highlighted a lot over the years and I have seen reports of action being taken against the culprits. Child labour, if it still exists, is a symptom, not the cause. The children work because their parents are too poor to continue to send them to school. The solution is to lift the families out of poverty AND educate them about the importance of keeping their kids in school. Accomplish that and watch the problem go away, if not the people will just send their children to work elsewhere.

Noise/atmospheric pollution: This argument has more merit as the increase in the SPM count and other gases cause problems to those having respiratory issues. The other constituent that suffers the most are the animals that are mortally scared of the loud noise. Some steps have been taken in this direction by banning really loud crackers. I've also seen a gradual shift towards the visual aspect of fireworks over the years.

There are quite a few positive aspects of Diwali

Awareness of tradition: Diwali is one of the fun ways to get children to understand about Indian culture and tradition

Boost to the economy: The spending that happens during Diwali may seem vulgar to the PC masses. But, it is this kind of spending that stimulates the economy and creates jobs for the poorer classes.

Let's put this bullcrap aside and celebrate Diwali in the traditional way. Happy Diwali everyone.

Goodbye Kimi?

After months of speculation, the news is finally out. Fernando Alonso is moving to Ferrari for on a 3 year contract. I am excited as I see Alonso cast in the same mould as Schumacher. Maybe, he is not as complete or as fast as Schumi, but he will get the maximum out of the car every single weekend. Kimi, on the other hand, has never been as consistent, there are days where it seems like he is on a different planet and days where he never shows up on the track.

There is a lot of speculation that he is going to Mclaren. I hope that is true, for losing him would be a big loss to F1.

I don't know what makes me support a particular driver. There are examples like Prost, Schumacher, Kimi, Heidfeld who I liked from day 1 and have looked to support them through their career. I think it is a combination of their performance with reports in the media that make me form an opinion about an individual. There have been only two cases where I changed my opinion, the first was Senna, who I hated initially but became a big fan of later on. The other is Alonso, who has really won over me over the past two years.