18/9/2011
So what does the number eleven bring to mind The end of a game of table tennis, the start of getting used to double digits, the number of players in a cricket team, an auspicious offering at an Indian temple, the time to place your last order in a Delhi restaurant or simply the current year?
Then what would number nine mean? The last single digit, the number of lives a cat has, the last digit of a price tag at a Bata store, the only number the sum of the digits of whose multiple equals nine, a representation of attainment for the numerologist, the number of Lord Brahma for the Hindus or for that matter the most common Indian male shoe size?
So then, two simple numbers with several harmless connotations. However, when the two came together in year two of the new millineum, it registered a date with terror. A date that changed America and the way the world viewed it. A terrorist attack that brought down the mighty twin trade towers and with it, the mighty image of the US. For some it was the fall of the mighty, for others it was a call of the almighty. For some there was no justification, for others there was only justice. What followed was phase of phrases from the doers ,the receivers and the onlookers–“nobody is unshakable”, “ there is always a first”, “what goes around comes around “, “the higher they go the harder they fall”. That was the American nine eleven.
Then there is the Indian nine eleven. The range at which inflation has been inflicted upon us over the last year – 9% to 11%. A time when control and delete become key words not just keyboard words, the rupee in India begins to look like the rupiah in Indonesia where even a lakh can’t fetch you much, the grocer’s bill shocks you more than your son’s report card, the easiest thing to own is a loan, your credit card replaces your debit card, cheap means less expensive and expensive means normal , when zero just keeps shifting place value and your bills expect you to be a billionaire or even a discount doesn’t count as you keep getting more of less.
When compared, both the Indian and American nine eleven come with many similarities and many more differences. For a start, both can be traced back to an American concoction of arrogance and complacency . The terror attack in the US was a result of the high handedness of American politics in the Middle East. The inflation attack in India and the world finds its roots in the financial scam in the US, which spread across the world an atmosphere of recession and inflation. The subsequent global slowdown and flight of investment capital to the relatively stronger developing economies like India and China pushed up demand and prices .
The American 9/11 took away lives, but the Indian 9-11 is taking away livelihood. Even as the first caused death, both shattered the living. The one significant difference is that US has moved on from 2001, admirably not allowing a repetition. India on the other hand, has been unable to overcome its 9-11 despite a series of interest rate hikes. The result has been counter productive. Growth and profits have come down while inflation and fiscal deficit has gone up. The rupee has begun to get weak when compared to other currencies and becomes weaker everytime we open our wallets to make a purchase. Hike in gas prices hasn’t helped . Combined with anti corruption, inflation has punctured the inflated egos of the current administration .
Often the same figures tell you a different story. Each story gives you a lesson but all figures (however much your maths teacher would try and convince you) don’t give you answers. So far the three PMs – post mortem, Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee have been found wanting even as they try and figure out a solution to the problem of the Indian 9-11.
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