Friday, October 09, 2009

Buddy, it's time to act

A flurry of events leading to shifting bases, work, more work, studies, extra work - I haven't posted here in 10 months. Now that we are back, lets start with what is doing the talk all over the place - Nobel Prizes.

I understand the flak Obama is taking about his Peace Prize. After all, he sent more troops to Afghanistan prompting voices of "Nobel Prize for Violence" from there. Let's try looking at the other side of it.

This prize comes with a very high premium. Obama and the USA will now have to act more responsibly and live up to expectations and set new standards. Had he graciously refused to accept the award accepting that there is lot more to be done, he would have been an instant hero. Now that he hasn't, he will be the cynosure of all eyes in the days to come. Honestly, the award has done no favour to him. Rather, it has put him in a spot. He is now a messenger that the Nobel committee has sent out to bring in peace and a cooler climate in international relationships.

Every action of his will be watched and USA can no longer think that the world starts at California and ends in New York. This is why I love this decision of the Norwegian committee.

And looking at the fact that the Economics prize has gone to a first year grad student, we can see a pattern of things - much more is expected from the winners to contribute to the wellness of humanity. I asked my friend if Mr. Pfuffnick also said "Yes, We can".

But, thinking holistically, this year has brought about the most significant set of awards among all. Kudos to the committee for ushering in a new approach to make this world a better place to live in.

I end this piece with Jay Leno's brilliant one liner

This week, the Nobel prize for economics went to a highly intelligent economist whose theory is a little hard, I think, for the average person to comprehend.

He determined that it was bad business to give loans to people who can't pay them back!