My 101th post: this one is for Mother Nature

Alright, my blog is 101 posts old. I completed a century with my last post on the Bombay blood group. What began impulsively in 2005, has now become some sort of a passion. My blog allows me to thrash, trash, praise and do all sorts of things without caring too much about the results. That's probably because my blog isn't influential enough to stir some heads.

So, I thought, I should dedicate this post to Mother Nature, who has been unrelentingly providing us with everything we need, asking nothing except to care for her and nurture her, so that she can continue with her largesse. And don't be mistaken. I'm not smitten by the "Go Green" brigade. Rather it is frustrating to hear those guys, who keep on proposing incremental changes but nothing path-breaking.

The inspiration for this post came after hearing and reading all the talk about why bio-fuels are expensive. Most people say that bio-fuels are expensive, because the process of breaking down complex carbohydrate compounds, present in the feed-stock like corn, sugar cane, into smaller alcohols is difficult and contributes significantly towards the final cost of the fuel.

This is what happened with fossil fuels too. Today's petroleum based fuels have come about due to anaerobic decomposition of dead organisms. The process of decomposition has been going on for over hundreds of millions of years and was undertaken by Mother Nature. But, we haven't paid her anything. Instead, we are recklessly consuming these fuels and causing an irreversible harm to Nature. If there was some mechanism, to pay the Nature, the charges of breaking down dead organic matter into fuels, probably we would have seen more sensible use of fossil fuels. We are currently enjoying free fossil fuels, that are provided to us by Nature herself. Perhaps, this cost of conversion should be charged to the user, and the money put to use in environmentally beneficial activities.

Of course, we humans do not have the patience to allow nature to do its job. These fossil fuels have been formed over hundreds of millions of years. But we want to produce maximum amount of fuel in a given time. Therefore, we have to pay the cost of accelerating the decomposition process. This is a water-bed effect. Increase the time of production, cost will reduce and vice-versa.

So, when people talk of costly bio-fuels, remember that we are freeloading on the fuel that Nature has converted for us. She isn't charging us the conversion cost, but, on the contrary, bearing all the collateral damage.

Anil Ambani, fight your own war

People fond of the limelight can never stay away from it. Anil Ambani was always Reliance's media man. He is very comfortable with the media and for very long, people didn't know how Mukesh looks like. All the while, Mukesh stayed back in the field quietly building the Reliance businesses. Of course, Anil too contributed, otherwise Dhirubhai would have booted him out. But Anil was very comfortable and fond of the limelight.

Even during the split of the Reliance empire in 2005, it was Anil who was ranting off statements in the media, while Mukesh kept silent all through out. Of course, it was a casual statement by Mukesh that triggered the entire chain of events. Even now, both Mukesh's and Anil's companies are taking pot-shots at each other. Things like blocking Reliance Communications' MTN bid, or Anil's infrastructure company disputing the allotment of the Sewri-Navi Mumbai sea link have been happening. At the receiving end has been the customer, the shareholder and in some cases, the general public. But while Mukesh's companies have stuck to legal arguments, Anil, the lime-light seeker has tried all weapons in his armour. He has used emotional arguments, allegations, and now, he has begun to play with public emotions. Check the latest series of advertisements that his company is issuing in newspapers, albeit on behalf of its shareholders. Well, the largest of all shareholders happens to be Anil himself. The company is trying to do a Ram Jethmalani on the Government of India. During the Bofors' scandal, Ram Jethmalani sent a similar series of questions, published through newspapers, that he wanted the government to answer. But, while Ram Jethmalani didn't have any business interests, ADAG certainly stands to benefit if the government forces RIL to change its decision.

While the advertisement shown here doesn't mention NTPC directly, tDAG is definitely using it for its purpose. That is because like ADAG, RIL is charging higher gas prices to NTPC too. The question is formulated to strike an emotional appeal with the readers. Who would want a higher power tariff? Readers are bound to react against RIL. But, why is ADAG using NTPC as a proxy to fight its war? Like Arjun used Shikhandi to defeat Bhishma in the Mahabharat war. But, ADAG is not Arjun, neither is NTPC Shikhandi, nor is RIL like Bhishma.

But here is another side of the coin, which might not see the light of the day, given the poor circulation of my blog. If gas prices had fallen to below $2.5 per mmBTU, which was promised to ADAG and NTPC, Anil would again have cried the same way, asking prices to be lowered and brought in sync with the global prices. At that time, RIL would have fought to maintain the sanctity of the contract. Then too, ADAG would have come out with advertisements, asking people to vote in national interest. Then Anil would have said that family MoU should not come in the way of national interest. All arguments that ADAG is making can be turned around to suit their interests if gas prices fall below $2.5. To sum it up, this isn't a case of national interest at all. If ADAG were to import the gas, they would pay the price that was asked for. It all boils down to economics and profits that companies stand to lose or gain depending on the pricing of the gas. The common man is again a pawn in the hands of the power-players.

But Anil can surely be man enough to fight his war, not relying on NTPC, which along with profits also has social objectives, because of it being a PSU. Nor should he play with human emotions and manipulate them to get them on his side.