Coversations between 2020 and 2021 !!

 In Singam franchise of movies, Director Hari came up with new Heroines in every movie and had a story (?? ) to tell. Audience just had to assume the storytelling, similarly assume two characters called Mr.2020 and Mr.2021 which I have created exclusive for this blog. Here we go

 Mr.2020: Hi, How are you 2021 ?

 Mr.2021: I am doing kind of okay ..still couldn’t come out of the shock you 2020 had to offer

 

Mr.2020: I gave you lot of rest, lots of family time, much needed break from regular routine but still you complain ?

Mr.2021: When we Work from Home for one day/week that was nice but working from home right throughout the year was a nightmare

Mr.2020: Well just to rephrase the words – when you do household chores one day in a week it makes you feel better but when you share the workload with your better half right throughout the year it makes you feel overwhelming. Am I not right ?

Mr.2021: In a way that’s right but not exactly right

Mr.2020: Stop right there …Don’t talk like Kamal  ..be crisp like Mani Ratnam

 

Mr.2021: You didn’t have any marriages but now look at the mahals which are overflowing with bookings, caterers were sleeping last year and now they don’t get time to sleep, Photographers were taking pictures of themselves and their better halves last year and this year they had to upgrade their hard disk space

Mr.2020: When you have lots of marriages to attend you complain, when you have less events to attend you still end up complaining …don’t you think complaining has been a constant factor irrespective of the situation? We have just started 2021 ..now wait for the house warming, ear piercing, naming and betrothal functions to follow.

 

Mr.2021: You were too relaxing ...had no commitments

Mr.2020: Just because of lockdown things did not come to a standstill – Some of the Businesses still had to run, schools and corporate were forced to open on virtual platforms, Governments had to run quickly and efficiently, Bankers had to work on limited resources, whole Healthcare sector were on their toes and while everyone were inside the doors praying for pandemic to end families of doctors were praying for their own safety

 

Mr.2021: Talking about Healthcare sector, Yes they had huge role to play but why is vaccination taking too long ?

Mr.2020: Nothing will happen overnight, Thank god vaccine is not like fast food where it can be prepared and served immediately. It has to go through a rigorous exercise. Be happy if you have taken one but being vaccinated is by no means you are in safe zone. 

 Mr.2021: I see Corona as a reason for Hospitals to charge exorbitant rates, do you agree ?

Mr.2020: You have two choices - you can keep saying this as a layman or just reflect over what is going on. After Corona running a Hospital is becoming a very challenging task and to provide good medical care there are way too many factors to look into. First and foremost there is shortage on Physicians on some pockets, then supplies such as PPE Kit and Surgical masks has become mandatory not just for doctors but for everyone associated in a Hospital, Cleanliness and Sanitation has taken lots of importance, 24/7 care is need for elderly patients especially if their oxygen level is dripping which again requires manpower, Drug makers are in heavy demand since there is huge demand on Indian drugs in overseas market and with shortage on API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) from China market drug makers are forced to increase price on most of the Indian drugs. All this translates to $$$ and that is why Hospitals charge more these days. Moreover just like how Supply-demand scenario works in Onion price the same principle is applicable here too ....all VIPs and parents whose kids have settled abroad want to get admitted in Hospitals as they feel that is more safe environment than being at home and this in turn creates a demand. 

Mr.2021: Being inside one roof creates lots of arguments with family ?

Mr.2020: This is the time you have to look examples like Actor Vijayakumar and Mr.Karunanidhi; Apart from jokes it is incredible how they ran the family amidst the chaotic atmosphere that may prevail.

 

Mr.2021: Don’t you think Nature were harsh on people?

Mr.2020: Absolutely No, Nature gave so many warnings which we ignored so it took rest by itself – air got purified, no noise pollution, water pollution came down etc.,

 

Mr.2021: What is Corona upto ? I still don’t see light end of the tunnel

Mr.2020: Well you will not unless people are more disciplined. Tamil nadu will not get to see true picture till Elections. Not even one political party complain on the crowds that gather for their respective meetings because everyone does not follow social distancing. Look at Mr.Kamalhaasan who is knowledgeable and knows what he talks but even he does not follow safety precautions.

Mr.2021: Oh No …..again recliner chair, Work From Home, kids atrocities, wife as neelambari ??

Mr.2020: Yes sir …..back to Britannia biscuits, loading washing machine with clothes, refilling the ever ending cereals box, Prime-Hotstar movie watching etc.,

 

Mr.2021: I have learned some new things in the recent past, can you guess ?

Mr.2020: By now you know how to operate washing machines, you know where is mixie repair shop, you know to live without cinema theatres and finally got to know phone number of your own spouse/family member.

 

Mr.2022: Enna pa anga Sound ……My calendar is already getting booked from January to May 2022 from previous years spillover …..

Next Blog: C-A-S-T-E 

TN Politics - Big Players !!

 Let us look into some of the big players who are part of this coming Election. 

Vanathi Srinivasan Vs. Kamal haasan @ Coimbatore South

This is definitely a high profile contest since BJP bargained hard for this seat with ADMK and Mr.S.P Velumani who is the current MLA from Thondamuthur has done a decent job strengthening ADMK's position in Coimbatore region. All this makes Advocate cum Politician Vanathi Srinivasan mam a good contender. Mam attended one of our Rotary meetings and was super impressed with the way she handled QA session from public. Audience just grilled her with questions (mostly against BJP) which was even embarrassment for the hosts but the way she handled the questions I realized she will make it big one day. Kamal will his celebrity status, support from youth and literate society should win and that will earn him a debut seat in TN Assembly. The next few weeks are going to be a dream run for Kamal fans since he will make all his fans proud and known for different getups he may even sport Lee jeans and Under Armour T shirt for assembly sessions. 

Udayanidhi Stalin Vs. PMK's A.V.A Kassali @ Chepauk 

Since Udayanidhi is making his debut in Politics DMK wants to play as safe as possible by giving him a constituency which DMK can never lose and that is none other than Chepauk ....Answer is already out and he will be the winner. 

BJP's Khushbu Sundar vs DMK's Ezhilan @ Thousand Lights

Thousand Lights is basically a DMK bastion and MK Stalin scored hat trick here with three consecutive victories. Thousand lights is one area where we have people from all walks of life - upper, middle and lower class of people. This time both the contestants are new and contest is between a medical practitioner and a celebrity. Ezhilan is famous in the area due to his medical practice and Khushhu being given a chance to contest for first time (congress and DMK did not give her chance to contest) is definitely making her presence felt through aggressive campaigning. It could be a good contest but guess Ezhilan will win. 

ADMK's Kadambur Raju vs AMMK's TTV Dinakaran @ Kovilpatty

Minister Kadambur Raju has already won twice here and TTV Dinakaran contesting here makes this a good contest - basically TTV is eyeing for Mukkulathors, a community he belongs to. 

DMDK's Premelatha Vijayakanth vs PMK's Karthikeyan @ Vridachalam

DMDK and PMK are arch rivals and they both fight with respective Dravidian parties for seats. This time PMK has the upper hand since they had one great news go in their favor - TN government passed a bill to provide internal reservation of 10.5 % reservation to vanniyars few minutes before Election commission announced election date. PMK vote bank consists of Vanniyars and will play to their advantage. Premelatha wanted to contest from a place where Vijayakant won in 2011 and it will be interesting contest in Vridachalam. 

DMK's Mahesh Anbil Poyyamozhi vs ADMK's Kumar @ Thiruverambur 

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi is showing lot of promise and coming from IT background and being a youngster who is really hands on with his approach is winning lots of appreciation from locals; Kumar on the other hand has been working very closely in the Thiruverambur area, having won 2009 and 2014 elections and skipping 2019 elections sends a message to DMK how badly ADMK wants to capture this place by making Kumar contest against Mahesh. This area is basically the industry belt of Trichy which has got over 1000 registered MSME units where nearly 70% of the units are no more functioning. A good politician can tap the huge potential place has to offer. 

Buddy's Predictions:

*DMK has the upper hand 

*ADMK's alliance with BJP is making them less favorable (ADMK's governance overall has been pretty good )

*Since the election is a closely contested one, Postal votes will play a role on the final outcome. 

*Kamal's MNM will bag huge percentage of votes and will emerge as third biggest party in the state - next few weeks belongs to Kamal fans; As I said before torch will shine but how long is the question before battery is drained

*PMK will increase their vote percentage in the state

*NOTA may get more votes than many political parties which explains people's state of mind in this Corona period. 

My last and final post on TN Politics will be after the results are out in early May. 

Next Blog: Candid conversations between 2020 & 2021 

TN Politics - BJP vs Congress & Constituencies at a glance

 BJP vs Congress

BJP vs Congress is becoming more like comparing Virat Kohli to a district level cricket player. While BJP is gaining more ground and kind of saffronizing whole India Congress is losing teeth to even compete. Mr.Modi is not just a politician but a true leader since there has never been an instance in the past where a Prime Minister from India has got this much global recognition. One good thing with BJP is that they concentrate on building the party and on its bench strength - with demise of Vajpai, Sushma Swaraj, Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar in quick succession party did not go low instead they came up with emerging leaders in the form of Nirmala Sitaraman, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur. Modi-Shah partnership is grooming many youngsters and they test waters with young guns and they always look out for results. Now coming to Congress party which is a much older party is literally in ICU state where they neither have senior leaders to lead from the front nor young guns to carry the party forward. Party not just lacks leadership but also direction and intent which are the reasons for the massive setbacks in 2014 and 2019 elections. Congress really didn't prove to be electorally appealing mainly because of its ambiguous and inconsistent formulation to the lowest rungs of the society. Just like how a dummy villain brings down the overall standard of a movie, a weak opposition party cannot play a pivotal role in a democracy. For a vibrant democracy we need a strong and effective opposition. Tamilnadu is one state which is tough nut to crack for both BJP and Congress - unless these parties tie up with Dravidian parties they cannot make any impact.

Let us look into some of the key constituencies in Tamil Nadu

Chennai

Chennai has been DMK's citadel and DMK has contributed much towards Chennai's growth especially during Maran times. Slowly ADMK is capturing Chennai but this time Kamal ji is going to split DMK and ADMK votes. I will not be surprised if MNM wins 1 or 2 constituencies in Chennai and vote percentage of DMK and ADMK will come down due to MNM.  Udayanidhi stalin contesting in Chepauk is a big decision and will be interesting to see how he fares up to the big ticket. 

Coimbatore

With Corona outbreak one thing that political parties have understood is concept of decentralization. Rather than relying everything on Chennai, people have started to look into tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Coimbatore is rightly called as Manchester of south India. City is heavily influenced by Information technology, Industrial growth in engineering and textile sectors. With Saravanampatty emerging as the new IT hub city is going from strength to strength. Coimbatore has been ADMK's fort and once again Kamal's MNM will split votes between DMK and ADMK. After Chennai there is plenty of youth crowd who will support Kamal in Coimbatore and he himself is contesting in the area is a good decision. 

Salem

If at all there is one place in Tamil Nadu that has shown significant growth in the recent past then that has to be Salem and all thanks to EPS. Being part of the defence corridor, promotion of IT emabled services, proposed Chennai-salem highway, Aerospace park in Salem-Namakkal corridor and inaugration of Livestock research centre Salem has undoubtedly going to go to ADMK. 

Madurai

Madurai has also been ADMK's fort and 2011 and 2016 elections just shows that party has Madurai as its stronghold. AIIMS project not being started yet is a concern for Madurai residents especially since it has been two years since the foundation stone has been laid. But with Madurai-Tuticorin and Madurai-Coimbatore Industrial corridors, city will attract major business houses. ADMK should pretty much get hold of Madurai

Trichy 

Trichy has always been DMK's citadel and party always chooses Trichy to kick off proceedings before State elections. Mahesh Anbil Poyyamozhi is slowly but surely becoming a strong force in Tiruverambur area and he is one of DMK's promising candidates. City badly needs a good leader to take advantage of its geographical location. Sipcot Industrial park at Manapparai and renovation of Airport are some of the very few things that happened in Trichy. Last election DMK and ADMK almost got equal seats and with Thirunavakarusu as Trichy's MP who represent Congress it would be ideal if DMK can take over Trichy by that way they have members to represent both at State and Centre. 

Last week I said things are inclining towards with ADMK but with DMK's election manifesto which has over 500 promises they definitely did make a positive influence amongst voters. People are like even if 25% of the listed promises are made then that comes out to over 100 of them. Promises like 12 months of maternity leave, free government bus passes to women, one time financial assistance of 4000 INR to all ration card holders, reduction in fuel prices, LPG price, Aavin milk price all reached masses and suddenly all surveys are predicting DMK's victory.  

Next Blog: TN Politics - Big players !!

TN Politics - Parties at a glance !!

I would like to come up with series of four blogs on TN politics and in the first part would like to go over the Parties in General. I would like to go over the parties with SWOT analysis by that way we get a clear picture on some of the major parties. This election is the first one where stalwarts like Karunanidhi ayya and Jayalalitha mam are not present; They both had huge amount of experience and definitely had an impact at National level and some of Karunanidhi ayya’s moves in the past has fetched rich dividends for the state. While TN is cribbing about Jaya’s loss she was one iron lady who had to muster courage and kind of single handedly worked for the welfare of the state. 

DMK

For DMK, this is Do or die situation and with ten years out of power party is desperately looking to

reverse tables and the recently concluded Manadu in Trichy spanning across close to 300 acres,

parking for 400 acres and chairs being brought from Andra just endorses how badly they are

in need of victory.

Strength – Major political party in TN which has uncanny habit of extracting funds from centre, DMK won 23 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha Election, Support from minority communities

Weakness: Lack of leadership, lack of bench strength, DMK’s allies are not strong enough (Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League)

Opportunities: People of TN has this habit of shuffling between DMK and AIADMK and this may work towards DMK’s advantage as people may look out for change, MK Stalin comes with huge experience and is preferred candidate for CM post

Threats: Internal conflict within the party, party’s inability to contest all by itself in 234 constituencies, emergence of smaller parties 

AIADMK

I should say AIADMK has done fairly a decent job with good governance and is pretty much on the driver’s seat. The way party handled pandemic during March – June 2020 were incredible and definitely earned lot of respect from public. Chief Minister seems to be approachable and has definitely made lot of progress in upliftment of the state. 

Strength: There is no serious opposition for AIADMK is the ugly truth, Handling of pandemic, strong backing from BJP

Weakness: Being a puppet under BJP may work against the party in the long run, not having enough seats in the Lok sabha level hurts AIADMK

Opportunities: There is positive buzz on CM and if he can translate this buzz into the next five years then EPS will be a big force to reckon in Tamil nadu political circle 

Threats: TTV is definitely a threat to AIADMK and according to me he has good political acumen; Sasikala is out of the equation but she can create some noise at any time

MNM

With Karunanidhi ayya and Jayalalitha mam out of the race and Rajini opting out of politics and

with Vijayakanth not doing well in terms of health there cannot be a better time for Kamal ji to make

inroads in this election. I am super confident that MNM will bag good percentage of votes and may

even emerge as third biggest party in the state. 

Strength – Youth crowd and Thai kulam (women fraternity) support Kamalhaasan and Kamal may even end up winning in places like South Chennai, Coimbatore; Guy is smart and there is no doubt on it; People who badly want a change will opt for Kamalhaasan. Some of his interviews off late is like watching vintage Maniratnam classics and he is sure to get support from literate society.

Weakness: When a heroine is introduced into filmdom she does a heroine centric role and bags all awards with her performance but then she loses focuses after teaming up with commercial directors saying her role demanded skin show. I think this is going to be with the case for Kamal, he is going to make all people make a note of his party in this election and then join hands with parties in the name of allies and then his vision gets diluted. One other weakness for Kamal is people are curious to know who funds for his party operations? People also are skeptical if he cannot adjust with a lady under the institution of marriage how will he manage a state ?

Opportunities: Kamal has a vision and being street smart he may adopt institutional approach in politics and may inject fresh lease of life; 

Threats: As a small party it takes quite some time to climb up the ladder and his candidates can change minds and join opposition parties since power dictates where a candidate wants to join. 

Short Snippets from other parties:

*Personally I like TTV Dinakaran and if he is in the right place he can go places but as of now his party AMMK will not have much impact. Just like the way he handles media

*Sarathkumar’s All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi will make its presence felt in the state as they are teaming with Kamal’s MNM

*Pattaali Makkal Katchi is teaming with AIADMK and they made a smart move of requesting Vanniyar quota precondition

before the polls and now that AIADMK approved their request we may see PMK make its presence

felt as they would bag caste based votes

*Vijayakanth’s DMDK arch rival is PMK and since they have secured 23 seats it was asking atleast 23 seats to AIADMK and since AIADMK rejected the offer DMDK came out of the alliance and may most probably team up with Kamal's MNM

*Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Puthiya Tamilagam, Tamil Maanila congress all may have very minor role to play on the final output

*Seeman’s party is Naam Tamilar Katchi was constantly in the news criticizing Rajinikanth on his moves and now that Rajinikanth has

backed out Seeman and his party are no longer in the news. Classic example of negative publicity can

take you only certain distance and beyond that you have to prove your mettle.

*Vaiko’s MDMK is sure to give meme creators lot of work

As of today pendulum is sliding towards AIADMK

Next blog: BJP vs Congress, Elections & Constituencies 

Request to NRI

  Though this blog may be applicable to anyone reading my intent is to reach out to NRIs. For a NRI, request for donation back home may come from parents, siblings, Inlaws, friends, neighbours etc., and nature of the financial assistance may be for various reasons like Religious, Education, Marriage, Health, Environmental and Humanitarian basis (Need of clothes, construction of kitchen or rest room, old age home maintenance etc.,).End of the day it is hard earned money and NRI has the right to choose where he/she wants their funds to be directed. This is on top of the charity a NRI has to do locally on where they live. Since I have been on both the side of the spectrum I want to throw some light on areas where there is help needed in India which unfortunately doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

  I am not going to elaborate more on Religious and Education donations since these two are areas where people are well aware of the need and donors are equipped with more information. If you take temples for example, we have beautiful architecture with so much workmanship and in order to preserve culture and heritage we need to preserve our temples which demands so much of labor which in turn translates to funds. Also Education is one area people feel it will wipe away poverty of coming generations hence donate generously for Education purposes. These are areas where there is awareness in place.

 I would like to talk on two areas where there is help needed but unfortunately many times these are overlooked.

[1] Donations on Health: Health is wealth was merely a proverb in pre corona era but Corona has rewritten the rules and now Health is much more than wealth. 
If you take for Men some of the common Health issues and their costs are as follows (These are all ball park estimates and differs case to case based on age, comorbidities, gender, genes, Nature of the hospital, experience level of consultants, referrals, discounts, insurance coverage etc.,)

   (a) Heart issues: Open heart surgeries may be around 1.5 to 3 lakhs, In general heart surgeries may be around 1 to 2 lakhs
   (b) Kidney issues: Dialysis is around 2000, related surgery is around 15000, Kidney transplant is around 6 lakhs, Removing stone is anywhere between 60000 to 75000; Gall bladder stone surgeries are bit more and it costs around 1.5 to 2 lakhs
   (c) Cancer issues: Based on which stage patient goes as there are many packages based on case to case - it can start anywhere from 2 lakhs to 4/6/8 lakhs 
   (d) Stroke related ailments: It comes around 1 to 2 lakhs
   (e) Cataract surgeries: Anywhere between 20000 to 50000
   (f) Varicose related ailments: Surgery comes around 50000 to 80000

Common Health issues for women and its costs are as follows 

(a)    Breast Cancer: Based on which stage patient goes as there are many packages based on case to case - it can start anywhere from 2 lakhs to 4/6 lakhs
(b)    Thyroid: Mostly medication and consultation but if surgery is required then costs comes around 1 to 1.5 lakhs
(c)   Uterus removal: Beyond 45 years many may need this and costs comes around 60000 to 1 lakh
(d) Joint replacement: Ladies undergo this issue due to wear and tear of bones and it roughly costs 1.5 lakhs per leg and we are talking about 3 lakhs for 2 legs

Accidental injuries are common and based on the severity costs differs from case to case. 

 Now let us know about which group a particular beneficiary may belong to – Group A which comprises 25% of the population may go to Apollo Hospitals for treatment and if someone can afford to go to Apollo Hospitals then they may not need Health assistance from abroad so we can rule out this category. Group C which comprises of other 25% may visit Government hospitals for treatment and these days Government hospitals are much more equipped but still people always have second thoughts on their efficiency. People who get treated here fall under particular section and cost of treatment is zero (utilizing government schemes) with negligible expense for Blood work, lab results etc., so may not need assistance and we can rule out this category too. Group B which comprise of 50% are the ones who can neither go to Apollo nor visit Government Hospitals and they are the ones who approach NRIs for Assistance and this group forms major chunk of the people. 

 Now just for discussion let us take a person who has undergone a major Heart attack where Surgery has be done right away as per recommendation. Based on hospital, age, severity and other complications bill may come anywhere between 75000 to 2.5 lakhs (Discounts and Health insurance are not brought into the equation to make things simple). Let us take the average value which is around 1.25 lakhs; This person maybe salaried and may earn around 30K/month and with single breadwinner of the family this amount is a huge one considering the fact he is taking care of his kids education which extracts good part of your income. At this juncture the guy reaches out to NRI from his network circle. A guy who is a teenager gets funding for education but just imagine the person who underwent a surgery – His income is not much, does not have any backup from his parents/in laws, age is catching up and unexpected expense like these may eat up his savings which he had allocated for kids education and marriage. Banks may even give loan to a teenager citing education purpose (obviously may charge more interest if no collateral is provided) but a person who is in their mid 50’s banks do not even consider giving you loan. I would say person in their mid fifties badly need help. Kindly do not misunderstand that I am against educational assistance, in fact if you want to fix the root cause so that such instances does not happen in future then we got to help people who need educational assistance but the guy who is in his fifties does not have education for no fault of his since his parents stopped education for funding purpose. It is rude to ignore or question him and if he is hale and healthy then he can fulfil family commitments all by himself in whatever capacity. Health insurance is more prominent in corporate and people who can afford but many end up not having one. Personally I have seen many folks postponing surgeries citing cost reasons and stick with medication. 

 [2] Donation for Environmental purpose: Instances like Biden on his very first day at office as President signing back into Paris agreement, Narendra Modi during Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 stressing the importance of living in harmony with nature just reiterates how the World leaders see climate change and global warming. Infosys founder Narayana Murthy wrote a lovely letter to his Daughter and in the last paragraph he has mentioned "As you pursue your goals and live a contended life, remember that there is only one planet for us to live in and that planet is now becoming endangered. Remember that it is your responsibility to pass on this planet to Krishnaa in a better condition than you got it from us."  This pretty much summarizes the current scenario ....

My personal feeling is Corona is just revenge from nature towards mankind for being greedy. Flora and Fauna should coexist but in the name of Economic Liberalization we are just destroying everything and then we cry hell broke loose. Just look around and notice number of earthquakes happening around the world, soil erosion is happening as more and more number of trees are destroyed, we are losing forestland very quickly and if we lose forests then we lose wild habitats too, sea is contaminated by dumping all waste and fisheries are running a huge risk of being exploited, bird species is coming down drastically due to 4G/5G network antennas, water bodies like lakes, ponds and rivers are not maintained and groundwater level goes way too low etc., Environmental consequences of reduction in green cover has been wide ranging right from increase in air pollution, ground water depletion, frequent flooding and overall rise in temperature. Places like Chennai, Bangalore are becoming concrete jungles and according to Asthma allergy resource centre more young kids are showing asthmatic symptoms than ever before. I would like to consider Environmental projects like taking singles in a cricket match, it may not be fancy like hitting fours and sixers but taking singles and rotating strikes play a crucial role in final output of the match. Similarly environmental projects like planting trees, preserving natural water bodies like lakes, rain water conservation, Tapping energy efficient projects like Solar installation all are very important. So when a NRI is approached for these projects it may not appear as attractive or in other words as significant like other streams (You may tend to think paying semester fees is much more important than planting a tree whose benefit is realized only after 20 years). If everyone tend to think the same way we all may have jobs but may not have an environment to live for future generation. So not just back home in India even in the place they reside a NRI has to look into Environmental projects much more seriously and our mantra should be to live in harmony with nature.

   I have just highlighted these two areas to provide more awareness and if this is going to make you reflect more then I will consider my purpose of coming up with this blog is served. Once again I am not against donations on particular streams, it is your hard earned money and you have every right to direct where you want. As we strive to parent our kids by giving them good education we as a society and community should also come together to create a better environment in whatever capacity we can.