FC 176 on ‘reciprocation' was appreciated by the readers. A few comments are shared here:
Krupa Murthy says: “English as a language is complex, especially when it comes to responding which is, to thank back for what you receive in words, gestures or action. ‘Give back’ sounds harsher like, ‘tit for tat’, ‘an eye for an eye’ etc. Thank you for presenting the complexities of a simple word, reciprocation.”
Prasad Neginhal says: “Dear Pras, By quoting Bhagavadgita, you have said it all. I would like to add a third (hopefully) perspective on reciprocating. One might help a person selflessly and yet the recipient may harbour a suspicion as to the motives of the helper and ascribes motives of his imagination. This is true of the corporate sector, where your boss may suspect you have some motive when you volunteer to do something beyond the call of duty.”
Jayachandran says: “Pras, you have covered the subject so comprehensively in a delightful style. The piece de resistance is what you expect of the reader. So very natural, yet many a time ignored! Keep writing. God bless.”
🎨 NPA
This acronym stands for ‘non-performing asset’. The word asset does not always mean a physical asset. The asset could be an entity which has borrowed either a secured or unsecured loan from a financial institution. When the borrower fails to repay the principal and also the interest thereon, it is considered an NPA. The word non-performing is indicative of the inability of the borrowing entity to honour the repayment commitments. Banks have serious problems with NPAs and have difficulty enforcing repayment obligations.
Well, this post is not about NPAs or the financial implications of the ever-increasing NPAs. I am using this acronym in a social and familial context to point to a variety of NPAs that confront us or in some way affect us. As we discuss, we may find ourselves wondering why we ascribe the status of ‘asset’ to something which is ‘non-performing’. Well, the two are inseparable in the sense that the asset can be of value but its potential is either unrealised or is eroding.
Let’s start with something easy to comprehend. Acquiring a house for one’s residence may be justified as it is good to have a roof over one’s head. However, according to some advisers, investing in real estate is a ‘dead investment' Having incurred an upfront cost of acquiring the property, you are hopeful that the property will fetch good rent or the market will appreciate driving up the resale value. One can never be sure of how the market behaves. Many properties have remained without tenants and even if one finds a tenant one finds oneself in a ‘tenant-driven market’ and ends up getting a rent that could be less than the return that a bank or mutual fund house may give. It is then obvious that the property is an NPA for the owner. The matter can become quite complicated if the investment is augmented by borrowing.
There are many ladies I know of, apart from my wife, who feel that investing in jewellery is a dead investment. They concede that as the price of gold climbs, the value of the jewellery will appreciate. But is that enough to treat jewellery as a performing asset? Agreed, it can be collateral if one wants to raise a loan in distress. But, it does not fetch you any return periodically. Compare this with sovereign gold bonds (SGB) where you get paid some interest and, at the end of the terms, the appreciation is tax-free. In comparison, one can infer that SGB is more of a performing asset as compared to jewellery in the locker.
Some families believe in spending on leisure and travel. For them their earnings are fetching ‘happy returns’ and they see no need to put away money to be inherited by the heirs whether deserving or not. Besides ensuring that they have a roof and a reliable nest egg, they do not wish to hoard cash but would rather spend it on themselves. They consider stashing away money an unproductive exercise particularly when they have no financial obligations except to satiate the travel bugs in them.
Some families have non-performing spouses or children. Despite good education, they are diffident and unenthusiastic in pursuing leads given to them by well-wishers to get a steady job. they either over-rate themselves or consider any job offered to them not befitting their persona. When pushed they work for a few days but quit citing reasons that are befuddling. They are in a sense NPAs. Redundancy and downsizing may render a performing asset dormant. These are not NPAs but assets in hibernation.
All of us are familiar with performing arts. But do we all pause to think of NPA as standing for non-performing arts? You look at a picture or sculpture, or read a novel and you will realise that they are not performing for you but make you experience the deep-rooted purpose with which they were created. When you are engrossed in the underlying plot, you can feel the characters performing for you. It is a strange phenomenon that these non-performing artworks are actually about certain characters that come alive in your mind and you experience the performances through the medium of your mind. Interestingly. These non-performing arts leave a longer-lasting impression than those of performing arts which can be transitory.
Take for instance the famous sculpture of Michelangelo ‘Pieta’. He sculpted it from a single block of Carrara marble. He also claimed that he could ‘see’ the sculpture within the marble itself and that it was his job to merely remove the excess to free the image inside. The sculpture depicts the dead body of Jesus after his crucifixion, draped across the Virgin Mary’s lap as she looks down upon his body in grief. The sculpture emotes just as much, if not more, as would a mother on stage grieving for her son. Michelangelo was a master of human anatomy and this shows up in his sculptures and paintings.
Back home, the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, M F Hussain, and many other celebrated painters have stories to tell through their paintings. The discerning viewer will be able to get into the artist’s mind to figure out the picture’s narrative.
Right now, my wife and I are reading the famous book of Dr.Abraham Verghese ‘Covenant of Water’. I can vouch for the variety of emotions embedded in the excellent narrative. When you read it, the characters come alive and they seem as fallible as we are. They laugh at times making you smile and at other times make you agonise over tragedies that befall them and you find yourself resonating with their grief. If ever the book is made into a movie or a play, I doubt very much if it would be the same as reading it and transporting yourself to Parambil (the place where the story plays out) and being one among the many characters that make the covenant flow like water.
Authors and artists can make you laugh, make you feel sad or make you think. If you haven’t, I recommend you read: 🔗https://mrprasanna.substack.com/p/filter-coffee-063 to experience the trauma, emotions and agony that Frida Kahlo captured in her paintings. They tell you her story. If that is not performance, what else can be?
If you are a fan of John Grisham, you cannot deny the fact that he transports you to the court room and not just that, he leaves you rooting for the defendant. This is his way of making you one of the characters in his narrative and getting a ringside view of everything that unfolds as his audience.
I have not read any of the ‘Harry Potter’ books but from what I hear, they are very thrilling and full of worldly wisdom. The reviews say that they’ve reached the point in popularity that they’ve become classics that you have to read to understand parts of today’s society and it goes on to assert that if you haven’t read ‘Harry Potter’, then you’re not quite a full adult yet. This provokes me to reconsider my disinclination to read HP.
If you are a poetry buff, you will agree that your mind does not just appreciate the mastery of the poet over the language but will also marvel at how the poet transports you to another space where his stage is set and the characters are ready to perform, just for you and leaving a lasting impression. I recommend you read: 🔗https://mrprasanna.substack.com/p/filter-coffee-054
I would like to pose a question to my readers. Undoubtedly, stage plays. street theatre, and flash mobs putting up a show for you are all performers. Can it be said the same of Cinema?
Performance is about live performance before a live audience. Cinema is not a performing art in as much as the acting goes on for a few months and the film is shown in a cinema to a live audience which has preconceived notions about the film and expectations. Why can’t cinema be a performing art? It fails to qualify as a performing art because it is not performed live in front of an audience. Any views dear readers?
In a lighter vein: If thieves were to act on stage, they would steal the show!
Until next week, be safe & take care, Ciao!
If, the duration of impact is to be the criterion, then I suppose Cinemas, though not as a rule, will be be a performing art , for many a movie leaves lasting impressions in our minds , like books. If how ever duration of performance is to be the criterion, ie just transitory, then it will only be a performing art, though virtually before our eyes and not on stage in front o us by live characters.
The term HIBERNATING ASSET, till now not known to me is very interesting, and humorous to the readers, but I suppose can be debilitation to those affected .
A mixture of many interesting things this week. From NPA’s to ‘The Covenant of Water’ to Performing Arts and why cinema is not one. Pras, is a superannuated person an NPA if she gets a pension?