MOVE OUT WHATSAPP. ARATTAI IS HERE. From Zoho, India.
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Govt of India is already moving to Zoho, the local desi software, from Microsoft in an attempt to push MIGA (Make India Great Again because we were great for straight 10,000 years not 300). Already our central IT minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw switched over to Zoho office suite and set the trend. Slowly but steadily the nation is to follow.
Who is running the silicon valley in America. Without H1b no Elon Musk, no Sundar Pichchai, no Satya Nadella, nobody out there in America. Imagine retaining such a talent in India not doing charity to America. Indian parents sell property/pledge property to send their kids to the US for their masters or research programme. Fees could be over 100,000 $ already leave alone the living expenses. Not everyone can find in-campus jobs to sustain themselves. It is illegal to take up out-of-campus jobs. One US$ = nearly 90 INR . So imagine what a sacrifice Indian parents are doing to send their children to the US. Finally when the children get their H1b, they are going to buy house in the US not in India. They are going to invest in the US not India. Indian children are well bred, disciplined kids. Not spoilt like the regular American. So why should Indian kids now go to the US at all. Japan is inviting Indian kids for their masters. Germany offers tuition waiver 100%. UK, Australia, everyone is throwing red carpet to have Indian kids for masters and give them PR (equal to green card). If there is no job guarantee , there is no need for Indian kids to invest so many thousands of dollars in the US. Next year will see 90% drop in Indian kids going to the US for higher studies that some American universities or departments would have to close permanently.
Thank you President Trump for making India realize our potential. Slowly we want to ease out Google, Microsoft, Amazon everything from India and replace everything american with homegrown Indian. Already we had Flipkart, Jabong, Myntra etc., before Amazon came to us. I am still an Amazon customer – for the only reason that my future generations are going to be American. I care for America but my friends have forsaken the American brands already. People stay away from Mcdonald and don’t get Pepsi or Coke anymore. I have never seen such a public anger in India before, for America. But this is all for good. It will help India become more self sufficient and self reliant.
If America levies 100% tariff on medicine imports from India, again loss is theirs. Already I have seen how medication is unbelievably expensive in the US. My heart goes out to the middle class families who will have to go through tough times in near future.
As for me, I use only the free Excel and Word versions of Microsoft that come with ad. I was planning to buy later the package this year, but I will now buy Zoho, the Indian version instead. Thank you Trump ji for helping me make up my mind.
But I will continue to buy American products because of family connection. Other Indians have no such a binding reason to shop for anything American.
Not yet moved over to Arattai from Whatsapp. But looking forward to. Arattai in Tamil literally means ‘banter.’ Arattai is seeing thousands of downloads already and is replacing Whatsapp by gusto. Many of us have moved out of Facebook already. Facebook is out of fashion!
President Trump is the reason we Indians got GST cut from 18% to 5%. I shopped well this Navratri/Diwali season thanks to the price drop. Trump ji is the reason India is looking forward to MIGA. ‘Atmana Nirbhar Bharat’ ‘self reliant India’ is the election motto of BJP/PM Modiji for last 15 years. Nothing new. Finally it is truly implemented now. Thanks to President Trump India has diversified trade and is NOT suffering the tariff impositions. Even H1b fee hike is a blessing in disguise, the best gift from Trump ji to India. Thank you Donald Trump Ji, you are giving bitter pill to India to cure our malaise and make us strongest. You are the best. If not for you, we would never be adapting to Zoho this way. We would never have had the GST cut that has gone down well with the masses. Already BJP could be winning half the next elections. You made it easy and simple for us.
I wish the Indian enterprises all the success in future. Let us do it one step at a time. Let all of us prosper. Even American farmers hurting is bad. Humanity is one. Nobody should suffer that’s all.
During Covid, I did wait for China to apologize to the world at large for the damage the Wuhan virus did to every single nation on earth, from loss of precious human lives to the national economies coming to a complete standstill. That is what a nation with a CONSCIOUSNESS would have done. How many billion, trillion dollar worth of productivity was lost because of the virus that emanated from China. The kind of tragedy that we witnessed we cannot forget for a lifetime. I was in India with my husband caught up in middle east. We did not see each other for over one year. How many families got divided in this period. People went in clusters, in bunches like a bunch of grapes. In Chennai alone how many even medicos lost their lives. Bodies were given mass cremation. In modern world history, after the second world war, the covid must be the greatest pandemic/global event to register this kind of monumental loss in every sphere. Yet there was not one word of regret from China in the media. Theirs is an affluent economy. But how did they compensate the weaker vulnerable nations that got afflicted worse. The smaller nations were totally crushed. Their economic machinery ground to a complete halt overnight. The poorest who lost their daily bread suffered the most. No society was spared. But did the Chinese PM even once get on to the world stage to a single ‘sorry.’ I am not sure whether I am the only one to nurture such a sentiment.
Over the decades, China has completely destroyed many many economies especially the smaller, poorer, vulnerable ones, plying them with their cheap plastics. The disposable culture is now prevalent in the world thanks to mass chinese productions. Local factories and cottage industries shut shop wherever the chinese goods entered the market. Jobs were lost in millions. China even bombarded India with cheap plastic Lord Ganeshas and took over our Diwali with their fancy fireworks. Indian industry suffered all around inspite of Indian government putting in place a protection policy to safeguard the economy from the relentless Chinese invasion. One can imagine what could have happened to vulnerable small nations with fragile economy. SOLD OUT TO CHINA virtually with surrendering their natural resources such as harbours/ports, precious minerals and metals and mines, airspace, water, etc., etc. Many African and Asian countries continue to be neck deep in debt to China. Modern day Shylock. Just ask the Sri Lankans. Or even the Pakistanis who are quietly applying balm to their economic wounds from the chinese stabbings.
In the social media, the chinese fought a shadow war with us Indians everyday almost, ridiculing us for our sluggish growth. Through all these years, it looks like the chinese were focused on LIVING FOR AMERICA AND WORKING FOR AMERICA, not for themselves really. Whereas we have kind of self-sufficient economy in India. We can do without exports completely if it comes to that. Still we can survive. China had to erase Tiananmen square from the public memory. They have generations now who know nothing about the historic event. This is how China functions. India is a time tested democracy of 1.4 billion plus and counting. Just let China hold her first democratic elections and see what happens. You will have 100 pieces of China overnight. Already the joblessness must be stirring the masses into restlessness. What kind of skill is theirs? Repetitive job that can get the population nowhere if laid off.
India is the spiritual capital of the world. The kind of materialism you see in US and China, India will NOT even aspire of. Our ways and goals are different.
Although I was surprised by the chinese’ sense of humour when they flooded the social media with their MAGA memes, I must admit that what they said therein may also be ironically true. But not something that cannot be changed. Americans became fat and lazy probably because of losing their work culture to China. They can change but that can take time. Its still the best to happen to America, although they could have enforced the tariffs by phases. America is world’s No.1 economy and therefore the world expects the US to be a little more responsible. Implementation of tariffs could have been in stages and in dollops gradually increasing over years. Sudden deathly blow of very high tariffs and the ego war between world leaders seem to crush the weaker nations with even the mighty China not spared, as we can see. I still think about the chinese factory workers. What do the innocent middle class folks have to do with all this powerplay?
Then there is the question of India becoming dumping grounds for the tonnes of goods meant for export to US, piling in chinese ports. Modi governments needs to be extra vigilant and keep away the chinese manufacturers trying to gain a foothold into India through backdoor diplomacy. Next to America, only India can absorb that volume of useless cheap chinese production. Give them a toe hold – and then down the shutters on Indian industry for good.
Can status quo be restored? Precious trust has been lost between America and China. China has learnt a valuable lesson from the US. Once bitten, twice shy. They will have to reprogram their economy completely after this unforeseen disaster. The next time may they build a viable economy that is self-focused.
How the chinese mocked our PM Modi for flying to the US to meet president Trump without an invite. Even I was kind of irked when I saw my PM swallow his pride in front of the whole world. It hurt us deeply when social media made us a laughing stock. Now we get it that, its more important to take care of OURSELVES, our masses and our average factory workers and peasants and valuable exporters than boosting our national ego. Vishwaguru for a reason! As PM Modi was greeted and escorted by Saudi airforce planes as his aircraft reached their airspace this evening, and as the US VP Vance spoke in the business forum in Jaipur at the same time, after months of chaos, finally we can see some clarity emerge. Modi and Jaishankar are an awesome team. This is what we call Chanakya Tantra. Rare wisdom. Its prudent to choose our battles – what to fight and what not to fight. We can change any situation into ‘win-win.’
Chanakya in Artha Shastra said, before the birth of Christ, that we have to use the political tools of Sama, Dhana, Bedha, Dhanda when it comes to diplomacy. Same is making a treaty or friendly pact with the aggressor. Dhana is giving up something for the mutual benefit. Bedha is using a discriminatory policy to achieve a result. The last resort is to punish or wage a war. Hindus avoid the last option always.
What about China. Useless war inflicted on hapless unprepared India in 1961 with Indian territory illegally occupied by China even today. India was taken by surprise because this came just months after the Mao’s visit to India. Even my granny used to say that, when Nehru presented him with a gold finger ring with India map, he said, ‘now India is in my hands.’ Tell me now China, what is betrayal of trust? China with India in 1961 or America with China in 2025? India secured UN security council seat for China but it is China that now prevents us from getting in there. The China occupation of dharmic country Tibet is history. China joined hands with Pakistan arming their terrorists to teeth to fight a proxy war with us in our borders. Nonstop headache is China. President Trump may consider this: having China as your next door neighbour. That is what India is suffering from. Imagine having China and Pakistan for neighbour. You are lucky to have Mexico and Canada as neighbours. Please be kind to them! And now we have this same China begging India to become their ally , issuing 85,000 visas to Indian tourists to go shopping in Beijing. (Given a chance, I may hahaha. What to do, our husbands are kanjoos.)
China will have to do a lot of restructuring and reorganizing from the insides. My heart still goes out to their masses. Lives ruined. But world just has had a covid. I am sure that experience can help China overcome this crisis. Building skyscrapers and highways that are not needed is not essentially growth. Sometimes slow and steady growth can be healthy in the long run. It can make you less dependent on others. But China must have an enormous surplus. They must be able to come out of this situation. Barring exports, China is doing great in other sectors. America is only the icing on the cake. Extra something.
A nation’s wealth lies in their culture and heritage. Even if the democrats may return to power tomorrow after Trump, neither China nor America are going to like to be in this spot ever again in future. America will start becoming an industrial nation once again with local productions, and China may start slowing down and build an economy (based on local consumption and demand mostly) (they already have that and are self sustaining). America may take its own sweet time but I got the feeling there that they are serious this time. They want their jobs back. This is why India is a nation of idlis and samosas and biriyanis and Ganga aarti and temples and satsangs and gurus and ashrams first. This is enough. What we have is enough. We are happy. We don’t have to become the next China. I am a Hindu housewife who never worked in an office from my 27th year. I enjoy life and I spend 2-3 hours everyday in puja/meditation. Can you imagine a chinese woman doing that. This is how and why are different. Invite the chinese to visit the hundreds of thousands of temples throughout the length and breadth of India where masses spend hours. That shall show them how India is growing holistically than materialistically.
What is this race for? Who wants to reach the Mars first? I was reading this from someone who is a local who stated that in last 17 years, he managed a mantra japa chanting to a Hindu deity to the tune of 51 crores. Of course he is an astral traveler. India has thousands of yogis that way who casually travel out of their bodies to the multiverse. You are comparing this punya Hindu bhoomi to mechanical robotic China that has no soul? Well, quantum physics… Hindu Spirituality begins where quantum physics ENDS. Period.
Finally my concern is about the Outlet Malls in American cities that are my favourite shopping places! I don’t shop much -not easy to shop under the unwavering gaze of an Indian husband who counts every penny! Still I manage to do a little every year and I love their Outlet Malls the most for their stunning range and brands and best prices. Now I am wondering whether there will any outlet Mall left surviving at all in the US in future.
Having said that, equations can change overnight. But something invaluable between China and the US seems to have been broken. Will China trust America ever again. Can America survive without China at all?
DEAR CHINA. DEAL WITH AMERICA DIRECTLY. LEAVE US INDIANS OUT OF THIS MADNESS. PLEASE KEEP YOUR FACTORY GOODS AND WE DON’T WANT THEM IN INDIA. DO NOT DUMP CHEAP CHINESE MAKE IN INDIAN MARKETS. THANK YOU.
I am a Hindu nationalist who aspires for a Hindu Rashtra. I never mix words about that. I equate nationalism with loyalty and gratitude.
We in India have 10 million plus illegal muslim Bangladeshi immigrants, Rohingya muslim immigrants from Myanmar added to that. Hindu population is increasing at a decreasing rate. Muslims still have large families with upto a dozen kids. At least one state in India, Kerala, has already gone Hindu minority. This is where Bhagwad Pada Adi Shankara was born. Now whether this is Arab state or Indian state is a big question mark. Once Hindus become minority anywhere, their very security is endangered.
With poor literacy rates and fed thoughts from their madarasas, imagine the damage the increasing muslim population can wreck upon Indian union. Already this is happening. If we are not 1.4 billion, India can take immigrants. We already have millions of Nepalis working in our country, some of them illegal. India too wants to get rid of especially the muslim immigrants from Bangladesh who are nothing but trouble. These illegals have already taken over villages hoisting the islamic flags there. India too needs to flush out the illegal immigrants. They have the potential to disturb the precious equilibrium we have in our society for keeping peace. India’s democracy is incumbent upon India’s demography. So how do you flush the illegal immigrants out? The problem in India is that, the illegals can easily acquire fake documents and Indian muslims are hand in glove with them in this covert operation to legalize the Bangladeshis. This is because we have corruption prevalent in our country given our poverty conditions. Its a very tough job to rout out illegal muslim immigrants but not something that BJP at the center cannot handle. After seeing the American model, we can do something about the illegal immigrants but in our own way.
I will say:
India can give a timeframe of 1 month for the illegal Bangladeshi muslim immigrants with or without fake documentation to leave India on their own. Give the amnesty of surrender to nearest police station.
India can extend the deadline by 1 or 2 months after that
India can finance their travel back to Bangladesh and even fund them for a restart in their home country that we can afford.
India has to seal the border with Bangladesh completely. NOT A SINGLE EXTRA MUSLIM IN INDIA PLEASE. WE HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE ALREADY IN OUR MIDST.
No more medical/education visas to Bangladeshi. No tourist visas to Bangladeshis.
I am someone with open mind but I still WILL NEVER trust ann Indian muslim sorry. Only a muslim will want to harm the mother country – NO HINDU SHALL EVER. For us Hindus, our mother and mother land and God are one and the same. Our Bharatha is such a punya bhoomi to me. Our bloody Hindu history leaves no hope in me to trust either the muslims or the west.
India can give the option of leaving India for Indian muslims too and help them settle down in Pakistan or Saudi or wherever they may choose to migrate to. The Khans of Bollywood can lead the pack and leave with their billions!
India has to seal the border with Nepal. Even if Nepal is majority Hindu, they are hostile with their connect to China. We have millions of Nepali servants in India already. We don’t need more. Its time to send back the illegal Nepalis as well.
Delink the rail routes/bus routes to Nepal and Bangladesh. Allow only air routes. With Nepal, this can be tough as Nepal is a landlocked nation with access from very few countries such as India. The Himalayan kingdom however needs to be disciplined and taught some life lessons.
I wonder what stops Modi from dealing with muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh with an iron hand. Its because, the border state Bengal is communist that want illegals so that they can counter BJP.
Rahul Gandhi whose only achievement in life is having been born with a Gandhi surname reportedly was linked to George Soros funded by USAID as the president of US himself suggested at fundings aimed at disturbing the Lok Sabha elections in India in 2024. This is a serious anti-national offence that can be equated to waging war on India. This is how it must be dealt. Rahul also reportedly traveled to China, India’s major adversary. What for? These are very grave allegations that must be thoroughly investigated. ‘Breaking India’ forces are at work here.
I want to know how many Palestinians have been given Saudi citizenship or UAE citizenship. Dubai gives golden citizenship to Indian celebrities. Numerous Bollywood actors have been offered the gold citizenship that made them invest in real estate in Dubai. Many Indians own palatial villas in Dubai. But there is no place for displaced Palestinians and Syrians in Dubai? No citizenship for fellow muslims?
There are 190+ countries in the world today. We have over 50 Islamic countries, 100 Christian countries. But you all want India, the cradle of Hindu civilization that is the only continuous existing culture for 10000 years to become Islamic/Christian and CEASE TO BE HINDU? Why should India remain secular at all.
I am for changing Indian constitution to ‘Hindu Nationalist Republic’ where Christians and Muslims too can live in peace but where the Hindu interests will be safeguarded. After all we have nowhere to go. A Hindurashtra is every Hindu’s dream and you can’t blame me for wanting to have at least ONE HINDU NATION BY CONSTITUTION ON EARTH. Its sick on the part of world media and foreign governments to want us to be secular.
I cannot talk about illegal immigrants because, I see this issue in my own country that is eating into our social fabric. We have very violent muslim immigrants who are illegal in our midst and their numbers exceed 10 million. 10 million is just a ballpark figure.
As for tariffs, India does HIGH QUALITY EXPORT be it manpower or material. At the same time we get back stuff like Mcdonalds, Coke, Pepsi, cosmetics from America that we can do without, can’t we? We do have their I phones and electronics as well. We are paying through our nose already for the imports, being a third world nation. If they become a tad cheaper with lowered tariffs, the masses won’t be going for them.
Even in Indian budget, this category of consumerist items of local manufacture are taxed heavily. Are you aware of the GST applied to local produce sold in Indian markets. Its very steep. Our manufacturers face tough local competition first. We are happy with our Indian local production of cars Mahindra and Tata that are world class with highest safety ratings over many renowned international car makers. Why do we need American cars in our roads? Our highways are not American standards. American cars will look out of place in my country. If I am booking my next, it shall be the Tata Nexon NOT A FOREIGN BRAND CAR. It fits my budget and the Indian road perfectly. The fastest selling cars in India are India-made by Indian manufacturers, not foreign. Next to that I trust only the modest Japanese make.
Why do we need more fighter jets for a war that we are not going to fight. Book the Rafales from France instead. Didn’t Indian air force pilots shoot down Pakistan’s F16 supplied by America ?? From what? An aged Russian MIG over 20 years old !! See ITS THE SKILLS THAT MATTER NOT THE MACHINERY. Truth can be as simple as that. How do you expect both those governments to admit to such a grand failure.
Who got to Mars orbit in the first attempt? ISRO. Who landed first in the dark side of the moon? India. On what? On the third world shoe string budget, a fraction of what NASA or SpaceX may be spending. Our budget is less than that of a Hollywood picture. Where did our engineers and scientists graduate from? From 3rd tier engineering colleges of India in rural towns with no proper lab facilities. Who are the world’s best physicians? Our Indian doctors. I am someone perfectly happy with India’s slow pace of INCLUSIVE GROWTH. I don’t like some toxic elements in our society, that’s all. If we are not such a small country, only one seventh of American geographical territory, with burgeoning population of 1.4 billion already, I would never want the illegal immigrants out of India. Turning down someone who comes to our door with hunger – it is unimaginable for me personally. Its because the security of my motherland is threatened that I want them out.
Indian mangoes are the best in the world and if you cannot pay the price, go without it America. I am only highlighting one produce from India which is the king of the international market: mangoes. Indian visas in the middle east get exhausted quickest. Indian produce are known for quality unlike the Chinese manufacture of low quality. The world at large will be more than happy to pay India the asking price. Indian mutton wins hands down over Australian mutton. Indian electronics and Indian cars and motor bikes are gaining inroads into international markets only by quality. Domestic consumption in India is healthy and it will benefit India a lot to have more of export quality produce being sold right in Indian markets instead of being exported. India must diversify the export market. We in India are 1.4 billion. You want the finest silks, cottons. You go to India. You want the best of diamonds? You go to India. Even the best cuisine is ours. You simply cannot obliterate India. We export only after WE CONSUME FIRST. America can never replace Indian produce or Indian manpower with an equivalent and economic option. Whereas I have NEVER in my life seen Russian products in Indian market. No Russian car in our roads. There is only defence cooperation and oil & gas deal with Russia. Its a big relief to note that our relationship is not dictated by business deals. This is why Russia matters to India.
We do require US investments in the IT sector. In technology, world follows American standards. But we in India can do without battery factories, car factories, Coke & Pepsi plants etc., that will drain our ground water table completely. China may look good on surface. But the air, land and the water in China must already be beyond redemption, worse than India. China must be toxic beyond imagination. Remember their infant formula was found containing melamine. AI consumes massive massive energy. Its a reason California fires happened at all. Sometimes, it will benefit us in the long run to grow slowly. Solar is viral in India for years now. I get 50% subsidy if I install the panel. But since we are NRIs I am delaying the installation until after our retirement. Most of my friends have gone solar already. India is going big on solar energy for a decade now.
About going solar, I have blogged on this. I have to look it up. You can only transfer/transform energy not create something new. How do we do with hydel power. How do we create power from burning coal. Same about desalination. On this too I have blogged. You desalinate, you increase salinity in the ocean/territorial waters that will completely kill the marine eco system within a few years. Managing the limited scare natural resources will be the only ultimate solution that will work forever.
I have American water heater and washing machine in India. But we have great Indian equals/replacements as well. Many of us opt for local manufacture mostly because replacing spare parts is easier. How can tariff wars be fair between mangoes and air conditioners. This is an uneven game, the Americans must know. Our PM Modi ji must prepare India to fight the tariff war and its okay if we lose out to the US. That shall force us to boost local production and not keep all our eggs in one basket.
1.4 billion in my country still leave LEAST CARBON FOOT PRINT in the world compared to Americans or Europeans. I don’t care if we are polluted or sluggish in growth in India. At least we are not expediting Planet Earth’s death.
Chinese products of many categories got banned in India. Soon we lost access to duplicate remote controls, lightings etc. But we adjusted well with that. India exports vital life saving medications to foreign countries. If the tariffs are raised, just imagine who will be the most affected. I see chinese plumbing materials in middle east that don’t last more than a couple of months. I am using plumbing in India that is over 12 years old. The metal lost its lustre but I am retaining it as middle class families do typically. Made-in-India, it still works perfect. Chinese iron & steel is low quality but is flooding India and our local manufactures stand to lose out. Sometimes its better we DON’T have international trade agreements at all.
Who needs the red carpet. Our prime minister is shaking hands with both Russia and Iran at the same time. He must be applauded for how skillfully he is maneuvering these troubled waters. Shame on the Indian media which is bought over/owned by the Christian church with fixed agenda against BJP government. India needs everyone’s friendship. In International scene, there are no friendly countries, only business partners. Kudos to PM Shri Narendra Modi ji and our external affairs minister Shri Jaishankar for walking this tightrope with the best interests of the country in the mind. Modi ji is in politics lifelong. He has seen every single disrespect and dishonour and ups and downs. If he is going to take everything personally, he wouldn’t be our prime minister for 15 years now you bloody fools.
Nobody is going to be there forever. Governments change. Heads of states change. Policies change. India can bide the time. Modi haters in India must remember that, especially the church sponsored media in India (Times of India included). So who was funding the Congress before BJP? The same business communities switch loyalties with change in governments. Are these guys implying that Sonia Gandhi or Indira Gandhi had no Swiss accounts? Or that the Gandhi family was ‘clean?’ Why can’t the TOI group talk about Bangladeshi muslim immigrant security threat to India?
I have all respects for America and Middle east. They take care of their own interests. I want India to do the same as well than cow down to superpowers. We are not here in last 300 years. We are here for over 10000 years not without a reason. We are not the flash in the pan. We are THE PRESENCE, CONSISTENCY AND HOPE.
ANYDAY I WILL CHOOSE TRUMP OVER OBAMA. Some people are brash but we can deal with their honesty. If we don’t like their tariffs, we can deal with that. I am wary of smooth talkers whose actions inflict us with huge irreversible damage to our national security. We know how middle east got disciplined in a single DAY on republicans winning the election and their president wasn’t even sworn in. Unfortunately I can’t openly talk about what transpired! We have to look at the long term interest of nations. Democrats are a threat to Indian national security because they fund separatists and movements to break India. All rogue elements get encouraged under them. You can break India when you are ready to break your own country to pieces, that’s all. You dare not try to influence the general elections in my country. You cannot be sponsoring our anti national rallies and protests and movements. You cannot create a Khalistan out of India. But you are welcome to create a Khalistan as a full fledged country within the boundaries of Canada or UK. I welcome the present US administration’s ‘no interference’ policy in our internal matters. These matter to India more than the tariffs or H1Bs understood?
vijiravindran's 