Mr. Irrelevant

(PS: No need to have knowledge of the American Football to understand this blog post.) 

The NFL (National Football League) of USA recruits 262 new players out of colleges each year. The last player chosen (262) is always nick-named Mr. Irrelevant. In the year 2022, the last player, Mr. Irrelevant, was Brock Purdy. The team recruited him was San Francisco 49ers. Brock plays the position as a Quarter Back. (A quarter back is responsible for a team's victory or loss.)

If you are the last player chosen, you might as well wish not in the League. Brock Purdy was taken as a Quarter Back. For 49ers he was in the bench as a 3rd quarter back. He will always be in the bench and almost never get a play time. 

In that year, on a Sunday, 49ers played a game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s Quarter Back was Tom Brady. He was considered as God of American Football. He led his teams win 7 Super Bowls. It is like winning IPL Championship 7 times. 

Brock Purdy’s parents were hard core fans of Tom Brady. They came all the way to San Francisco to watch their favorite player Tom Brady of Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They knew their son was a substitute player in the bench for 49ers. 

When the game was about to start, the spectators received an unexpected news. The first and second quarter back of 49ers were injured and the 3rd quarter back Brock Purdy will be the playing quarter back for 49ers.  The spectators were stunned.  The last player chosen that year Mr. Irrelevant going against The God of American Football!  The parents were very happy to see their son play his first game and that too against their hero Tom Brady. 

Want to know the score of that game? Purdy played like a savvy veteran quarter back and defeated Tom Brady’s team 35 to 7. Purdy’s parents were triple happy. They came to watch their hero, Tom Brady. They saw their son play his first professional game and that too against Tom Brady.  They saw their son beat the heck out of their hero. 

From that day Brock Purdy became the starting quarter back for the 49ers. In 2022, he took 49ers to Divisional Championship. In 2023 he took 49ers to the Super Bowl and lost it. 2024 Super Bowl will be played in February 2025.

Page from the Past

Once upon a time me and my wife went on vacation to Chennai. We were going to have extended stay for more than 6 months. In those days if you want to stay for more than 6 months, you have to register with FRRO (Foreigner’s Regional Registration Office). We were planning to register ourselves with FRRO. 

We went for a dinner at the residence of my brother-in-law. In that dinner party, there was a guy who was a local political leader belonging to the ruling party. Nice guy. My brother-in-law told him me and my wife are going to the police station to register ourselves for staying in India. He was half drunk. He said you don’t have to go to the police station. I will ask the SP (Superintendent of Police) to come to your home to register. Tell me which police station you are going. I told him the name of the police station in Chennai. 

I also told him not to ask the SP to come to the place where we were staying. We will go to the police station ourselves and register ourselves. 

The next morning, I and my wife went to the police station. The inspector in charge said that the SP is waiting for us. (That local political guy had called the SP and told him we were coming that morning.) 

We told him that we want to register for FRRO. He was a nice gentleman. IPS. Young guy. He said I will register you but lot of people do not know the problem involved. If you register with FRRO to stay in India for more than 6 months, when you want to leave you have to get the FRRO permission to leave the country. As bad luck would have it, you may have to go to USA on an urgent matter on a Friday evening. The FRRO is closed on Saturdays and Sundays and God forbid there will be a religious holiday in India on Monday and Tuesday, and you will not be able to get that permission until Wednesday to leave the country. 

He said he will suggest the following. You guys live in USA and must have money. At the end of 6 month why don’t you both leave for Sri Lanka in the morning and come back the same evening,  It is only a 50-minute flight.  A new 6-month duration stay will then start. 

We thanked that IPS Officer and came home. That is how we went to Sri Lanka and stayed there for a week.

Laddu Ladai

Read in the papers that Chandra Babu Naidu has complained that the laddus in Tirupathi Tirumalai temple is made out of animal fat instead of ghee. I will give you my thinking before you read the whole blog post. 

Bull Shit 

Let me write a rebuttal. 

To give a contract to a vendor, it has to be approved by the Devasthanam Board Members. There are 24 of them. All of them are Hindus. One is even a BJP member. Then it has to be approved by the Executive Officer and sent to the AP Government. So Jagan or his party is not involved in it. 

The Laddu making chief cook has been working for 26 years. There are more than 180 Undercooks & Assistants inside those vast kitchens who prepare Laddus, Pongal, Pepper Pongal, Puliohara and Curd Rice every day. 

Do you think no one has spotted the different fat for making the Laddus? 

Do you think none of the millions of devotees, from lay men to sophisticated intelligent educated people, who get the Laddu prasadam every day, has spotted the animal fat smell?

My opinion is it is all politics. This may backfire on Chandra Babu Naidu.

No Tax on Overtime and Tips

These 2 ideas – No income tax on overtime pay and tips earned by workers – was proposed by Trump. These 2 ideas will ease the tax burden of workers and put more money in the pockets of those working long hours. 

This will also encourage employees to work more hours and thus help the employers with extended labor force. 

Of course, there are people who oppose these ideas. I think they are silly arguments. 

These 2 policies will favor those who are able to work extra hours. But not favor those unable to work overtime, like working parents who are unable to work overtime, etc. These people continue to work their regular hours whereas workers who can do overtime would enjoy tax-free earnings with their extra hours of pay. 

I think this is communism. What is the problem if you are able to work overtime and get extra money? My thinking is if they are unable to work overtime now, then these 2 policies will have no change in their lives. 

Another argument is this will help working in the services sector. People working in the salaried position who may work long hours will see no benefit. This is happening today that they don’t get overtime pay now. So there is no change in their lives. If you want to work overtime and get tax free pay, then go and find such a job. 

I consider these are weak arguments. If I am in a position that pays me tax-free overtime pay and able to buy BMW and you are not in a position to work overtime or in a salaried position and able to buy a Toyota only, that is life.

To quote late President John F. Kennedy – There is always inequality in life. Life is unfair.

Ethical Dilemma

In the bustling city of New York, the headquarters of the global corporation ExoTrade thrived with ambition and competition. Each year, the company set sales quotas for its regional managers, calculated as a percentage increase over the previous year's revenue. The process was simple and fair—or so it seemed. 

Alan Carter was the regional manager for the Northeast, tasked with administering his area's sales quotas. Each year, Alan faced the daunting challenge of meeting the new quota, which was based on the previous year's performance plus a percentage increase. With the pressure mounting and the economic conditions growing increasingly volatile, Alan felt the weight of the quotas becoming an insurmountable burden. 

Alan’s office was a shrine to the fine art of strategy. His desk, cluttered with spreadsheets and reports, bore the marks of countless late nights. One quiet afternoon, as he scanned the numbers from last year’s sales report, an idea began to form in his mind. It was a devious plan, born of desperation and ambition. 

He struck up a friendly rapport with Martin, the IT guy who managed the company’s databases. Martin was known for his technical prowess but was also a bit of a tech geek who loved sharing tips and tricks. Alan, with a charming smile and a friendly demeanor, began inviting Martin for coffee breaks and small talk. 

As weeks went by, Alan subtly nudged the conversation toward the intricacies of the company’s financial databases. He learned how to navigate the system’s quirks and took note of the vulnerabilities. He used his newfound knowledge to orchestrate a clever manipulation of the sales figures. With Martin’s subtle assistance, Alan managed to make last year’s revenue report disappear by a staggering $2 million. 

The following month, when the time came to set the new quotas, Alan looked at the adjusted numbers with a smug satisfaction. The new quota was substantially lower than what it would have been, thanks to the artificially reduced figures from the previous year. Alan relished in the sweet relief of a more manageable target. 

The quarters passed, and Alan’s sales team exceeded the new, lower quota with ease. Alan was hailed as a brilliant manager, his success stories becoming the talk of the office. His superiors praised him for his exceptional performance and innovative approach to overcoming challenges. But behind the accolades, the truth remained buried. 

The manipulation was eventually discovered by another manager named P. But her protest went nowhere. Meantime Alan Carter got a promotion and transferred to another country.

Arasan anrey kolvaan. Dheivam ninru kollum. (King will kill immediately. God will wait and kill him eventually)

The Debate

I will give my result before going into details. 

Kamala Harris B Plus 

Donald Trump C Plus 

Now that I have given my result, I want to go into details. I may be biased. ABC News was hosting the debate. David Muir and Linsey Davis. My opinion is they both were pro-Kamala and anti-Trump. They asked favorable questions to Kamala. They even let her say whatever she wants instead of asking her to answer the question. (At least CNN, an anti-trump TV network, was fair when hosting the debate between Trump and Biden.)

For example, the very first question to Kamala from David Muir was: 

Are the Americans better off than 4 years ago? She replied: 

I was raised in middle class. I am the only person to lift the middle-class people. I have a plan to build an opportunity economy. I want to build homes for middle class people. My opponent wants to give tax cut to rich people. 

David Muir did not ask her to answer the question he asked. 

Most of the questions were easy on Kamala Harris and tough on Trump. He gave more time to Kamala to speak.

The mike was supposed to be muted when a candidate was not speaking. At one point, Trump did glance over when Harris attempted to speak into her microphone that was supposed to be muted but was not. David Muir was just quiet. 

The one plus-point for Trump was his closing statement. 

“She’s going to do this, she’s going to do that, she’s going to do all these wonderful things. Why hasn’t she done it? She’s been there for three and a half years. They’ve had three and half years to fix the border. They’ve had three and half years to create jobs.” 

Just FYI. If Kamala won today’s debate, all credit goes to Rohini Kosoglu, a Sri Lankan Tamil from Jaffna. She was Kamala’s debate coach. (Namma Thamizh ponnu) Our Tamil Girl did a good job.

Hunter Biden’s Alford Plea

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has been charged with 9 counts of income tax evasion. In the court house today, he admitted guilt to all charges via Alford Plea. 

An Alford Plea is “I am innocent but there is enough evidence with the prosecution to convict me and therefore I plead guilty to all charges”. 

(Here is another simple example: Husband comes home and the wife looks at the car. There was perfume smell inside the car. She also sees a panty lying on the front passenger seat. There is a lipstick mark on the husband’s cheek. The wife asks was there a woman with you in the car. The husband says I am innocent and there was no one with me in the car. But there is enough evidence here to tell there was a woman in the car. Therefore, I admit guilt.)

The prosecutors did not agree for this Alford Plea by Hunter Biden. But the judge said he will admit guilty plea if he replies to all 9 charges individually. The judge then read each charge and Hunter Biden replied “yes, guilty as charged” 9 times. 

Sentencing is scheduled for December 16. He could get a maximum of 17 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. 

But will he go to prison? My bet is he will not. Let us see the following 3 scenarios.

President Biden pardon’s him. (A President can pardon anybody for any crime.). While Biden was running for office, he said he will not pardon his son. But he is not running for office now. He can now say “heck with it. I am pardoning my son”. 

If Kamala Harris wins. She never said she will not pardon him. She can pardon him because Hunter Biden is her boss’s son. 

If Trump wins. An outgoing President (Joe Biden) can make a personal request to the incoming President (Trump). Trump will say “don’t worry Joe. I will take care of it”.  Trump could say I pardoned Hunter Biden to maintain peace between the 2 parties and in the country.

At high level politics, everybody is friends with everybody on a personal basis. Only the innocent public will think they hate each other.

Sleepless Night

Just read a news item that a Japanese gentleman sleeps only 30 minutes every night and wakes up with full energy. He believes this will double his life expectancy. He also said it will boost his work efficiency. 

Most doctors recommend 7 to 9 hours of sleep for a healthy life. 

I know a number of people have problem getting into sleep. They go to bed at 10 pm and are awake until 3 or 4 am and then fall asleep involuntarily. 

I have read that in the US Army they train soldiers how to fall asleep within 5 minutes after lying down no matter where they are – be it in their barrack or in the battle field. 

This reminds me of an Executive Vice President I worked for. His name is Ted A. (French speaking audience in New Orleans will know who he is). He is known for sleeping only 2 hours a night. Between 1 am and 3 am. Then feel fresh and start concentrate on his work. 

I don’t know how his wife felt about it. But it was a problem for his subordinates. He had 9 General Managers reporting to him. He had an immediate staff of 5 people. Whenever he calls an all-day meeting of all these 14 people, it will start at 8 am and end at 9 pm. He won’t allow anyone to take even a bathroom break. Lunch would be a working session. At the end of the 9 pm meeting, there will be lavish dinner with lots of drinks. But who wants them at that hour? Every one would wants to go home and sleep. 

But Ted is fresh like a fish. 

How is your sleep pattern?

American Girl Friend

I was watching a Malayalam movie. There was a scene: 

A girl waiting in the street to go to college. A guy was traveling in a motor cycle. The girl asks him for a “lift” to college. The guy refuses. The girl bad mouths him. Then he give her the "lift" to college.

I have lived all my adult life in USA. Therefore, I am not familiar with the boy-girl “stuff” in India. But I want to tell a few instances I have seen in USA. 

Long time ago, we were living in Lexington Avenue. (This is for the benefit of those French speaking audience who knew and familiar with that place.) 

Our (me and my wife and 2 small kids) next door neighbor was a young bachelor white guy. His girl friend used to come every Sunday and clean the entire home. Also, wash and iron all his clothes. He will sit, drink beer and watch her. 

He vacated. Another guy came. He was a long-haul truck driver. One night we heard big argument from their house and crying by a girl. Next day morning, we saw her. Bruises on her face and black eye. Since we knew her, we asked her what happened. She just smiled and said there was a slight argument last night and it was no big deal. 

We know a college student living 70 miles from his home. Living in a dorm (college hostel). Seven out of ten times, when he comes home for long weekends, his girl friend drives him, drops him, goes back to her home which is 100 miles away. Then at the end of the weekend, she drives 100 miles, picks him, and then drop him in his dorm. 

I told my wife (when she was alive) every guy should have an American girl friend. An Indian girl friend will never do these things.  My opinion is it is the other way around.  

My wife used to say “why don’t you marry an American girl”. I said: I never said about marriage. I said American girl friend and not wife. 

(I have heard of stories about how girls do their boy friends’ home work and project papers in colleges in USA.) 

Please tell me about happenings in India. Thanks.