Mr. Tharoor, why tweet when you can write?

How will one feel about a company whose senior executives give conflicting statements in press release or discuss important company related issues on social networking sites. I am sure an action will be taken against them. Running a country is very similar to running a company. Taking that analogy, I don't find it surprising that Shashi Tharoor's latest tweeting has again landed him in trouble with his party colleagues and own ministry. Tharoor had questioned the tightening of visa rules in the backdrop of the David Headley case by tweeting. He was reprimanded for his gesture by India's external affair minister, SM Krishna.

There is nothing wrong with one expressing his/her opinion in a democracy like India. But being the Minister of State for External Affairs of a country comes with a huge responsibility. The demography of media has undergone a sea change today and social networking site is a gadget that needs to be used carefully. Most of the companies do not allow access to social networking sites in their office as it hampers productivity and nor are the employees allowed to discuss company's decision on Facebook or Twitter. To be fair to Tharoor, he was just voicing his opinion and trying an out of box method to change the system. The issue here is not Tharoor's opinion but the medium and language of expression. Being a seasoned journalist, he could have used the power of his pen to write a column justifying his reasoning or used his excellent oratory skills to do the job. Why make a callous remark in short forms on an informal media which stands exposed to any form of misinterpretation? Now, the valid reasoning behind his remark is somewhat lost and the whole focus has shifted to a non consequential issue.

Did Sacred Heart teach a lesson that we don't need to learn?

A lot has been written about Ruchika Girhotra, the 17 year old who committed suicide, three years after she was molested by the then Inspector General of Police S P S Rathore. Most of it makes us shameful of the existing corrupt system of India that protects the rich and powerful at all cost. But the silver lining comes in the form of the media pressure and the civil movement that has brought this case in limelight and is determined in making Rathore a social outcast and punishing him for his misdeeds. The conviction in Jessica Lal case has given an inspiration that will hopefully change the age old adage of public memory being short. The media has ensured that we don't forget Jessica, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Ruchika, at least, until the culprits are brought to the hook.

Many people and institutions have been accused of abetting Rathore's crime, but the most glaring for me is the school from which Ruchika was expelled. School is almost sacred in our lives because it is hugely responsible for shaping the minds of young lives and defining the future of our society. Sacred Heart, which is one of Chandigarh's most prestigious schools expelled Ruchika, driving her closer to her end. A school is supposed to help its students in distress, give them the emotional support and teach their other students the right value of fighting against injustice. The so called prestigious school has done exactly the opposite. What kind of lesson the students would have learnt in an institution which supports the hooligans and expels a hapless victim?

The definition of a good school has changed today. Parents want to send their kids to these prestigious schools most of which are convent schools, because they think these will mould their children into fine human beings. But do an English sounding name, over charged fees, great infrastructure, having celebrity children, teaching to rote to become high scorers in board exams, is all that makes a fine school? What happened to schools that cultivate creativity, teach harmony and not always competition, empathy towards your fellow classmates, drive to fight against injustice? Rabindrath Tagore's Shantiniketan taught us that maths, science, history, geography does not make a school. Hopefully the new age schools today will take an inspiration. I have a dream that one day I build a school where we can teach our children subjects beyond the boundaries of board exams. And when I realize that dream, I hope to take an inspiration from the right places.

Humara Bajaj - An end or a new beginning

Bajaj Auto announced this week, that it will exit the scooter market and stop producing its iconic Bajaj scooter. They plan to focus only on manufacturing motorbikes as they believe that the middle class symbol has changed from scooter to the bike. Bajaj Chetak and the jingle, 'humara bajaj' symbolized the Indian middle class of the 70s and 80s. The middle class has a come a long way since then and looks like the scooter brand could not catch up.

For me, Bajaj scooter is also a symbol of the license raj which did not permit the Indian households to own a luxury like a scooter or telephone or TV for a long time. Its also a symbol of the middle class wanting to break free from the shackles of the pseudo secular and pseudo social governments of the years post the independence. A look at the 'buland Bharat ki buland tasveer' may bring a lump in the throat of the generation that fought hard against the administration then, to realize their dreams. My father, being a part of that generation, to date considers owing a Bajaj Chetak then as one of his greatest achievements.

I see the end of Bajaj scooters as the beginning of a new era where the Indian middle class will hold the key to a better India tomorrow.

Saluting the Big B!!

I was never a Big B fan. Rather liked his son more than him. Of course like the entire world, I regard him has the biggest superstar India has produced. Add great acting skills to that and you have a living legend. Yet my not liking him had nothing to do with his acting or super stardom. Firstly, I have not grown up on his movies, so don't have that aura about him. Secondly, I was always put off by his diplomatic stance and the whole diplomatic front the whole family puts forth. Not being a big fan of diplomacy, I rather like people who say as they feel than ones who always put on a holier than thou mask.

But I can't help being super impressed with Mr. Bachchan after watching his superlative act in Paa. I haven't yet watched the movie and will catch it soon. But even during the promos, you can feel the effort this 65 year old man has put into this role. He has removed all traces of a superstar and has worn the mask of Auro like never before. Even in Black, in which his performance was hailed, I thought he was quite over-the-top compared to the natural subtleness rendered by Rani Mukherjee. But here, I can't help applauding everytime I watch the promos of Paa.

He clearly shows why he is the one and only one of the Indian film industry. After watching some of the stupid, inane, obnoxious ( and all the synonyms included) movies this year that have passed off as hits (Wanted, Ajab gajab whatever, alldbest...), I am sure Paa will be a welcome change if not for anything else, atleast for the performance of the Big Boss!!

More than a year to hang Kasab!! Is it something that we should be proud of??

Last week I saw an interview of our home minister P.Chidambaram in the wake of the anniversary of 26/11. He mentioned that he is glad and proud that Kasab was not punished hurriedly and it shows that what a great democracy India is where no one is above the law and even Kasab will be punished as per the judicial procedure. The whole world is watching that how India treats all the citizens equally.

I completely disagree with his viewpoint. The whole world is watching how it takes more than a year to punish someone in an open and shut case and that too in a fast track process. Will the Congress government ever understand the gravity of the situation and wake up from its sleep of complacency. The entire nation wants Kasab hanged at the earliest.

Also, this week marked the 25th anniversary of the most tragic incident in the lives of the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. 25 years on, we are still discussing whose fault it was and how the nexus between the then state government of Congress and Union Carbide managed to brush off the issue under the carpet. I am sure 25 years down the line we would be discussing the same thing. And the then Home Minister also will mouth the same words, that all are equal in eyes of Indian law. Probably that's why we have committees after committees to discuss 84 Sikh riots, 92-93 Babri demolition, Gujarat riots, n number of scams by politicians and absolutely no conviction.

Is it surprising that someone who was convicted for the Gujarat riots was Zaheera Seikh( I am sure most of us have forgotten her name, the scapegoat made by the Gujarat govt and NGOs ), who saw her family being burnt in the infamous Best Bakery. She was convicted for perjury and for changing her statements in the court due to outside influence. Yes she probably was guilty of influence but was she the only one who ought to have punished? Or was it because she did not have a strong political clout like the others.

Its shameful that our country has such an abysmal track record of never ending court cases and judiciary influencing politicians.

Religion - a big question mark??

Its all over the media. The anniversary of 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai is still fresh in our memory. It wasn't the first or most gruesome terrorist strike in India but it was definitely the one that held our nation to ransom for the longest time. It was also the one that made us all introspect our own systems. Media is full of the brave stories of those who sacrificed their lives, those who were innocent victims, those who had a miraculous escape, those who are left behind and the agony of each overwhelms you with grief.

What gives birth to such heartless, ready to kill themselves terrorists? Could be oppression, could be poverty, could be the greed of power, could be the anger out of seeing your community being tormented but can definitely not be religion. Which religion in the world advocates such a bloodbath? Which religion says not to respect other religions? Yet why do most of the religious leaders advocate such strong jingoistic ideas? Only because they can benefit from the power they achieve by such means?

I can understand a poverty stricken Kasab joining a terrorist group for money but I cannot understand a well educated, well to do Headley doing the same. What possibly can be a motivation for him? How can anyone who has read a Koran ever think that it is Allah's will to kill innocent people? Same goes for any other religion and religious groups. Which Krishna or Ram tells Bajrang Dals and VHPs to kill innocent nuns? Which religion advocates forcible conversions?

When will people stop being blinded by a handful of leaders who just want to gain power by using the name of God. I read 2 heart whelming stories of a waiter of Leopold Cafe and a taxi driver both killed in the 26/11 attacks and both leaving behind a widow and 5 and 4 children respectively. The first thought that crossed my mind was that how could a waiter or taxi driver raise 4 children? Should not the religious leaders be teaching that first. Rather they do exactly the opposite. Preach people to multiply so that their folk can increase. But what kind of community are you going to breed if you cannot afford to raise them.

I am upset because I only have questions. I don't have any answers. I feel helpless that why I cannot change things and why the leaders who can change do nothing about it. Why the whole saga of religion and humanity has just become a long question paper that no one can answer? And tomorrow if I want to become a leader then will I also have to take a similar path for making people listen to me? A path which preaches hatred towards other community.

Impotent Maharashtra govt and terrorization of Shiv Sena rocks the Mumbai boat!!

I am a proud Mumbaikar but these days I have to fight hard to defend my city. Sweltering weather, poor roads, overburdened infrastructure, lack of open spaces, the incompetent administration and the war of 2 Senas. The list is endless. Shiv Sena attacks IBN's offices in India. After Shiv Sena burnt effigies of Australian PM after the attacks on Indian students, one had to think of ways to defend that kind of reaction. Sena has proved once again that defense is not required. They time and again demonstrate that this is their basic nature and Australian, M.F.Hussain, Sachin, journalists all are equal to them when it comes to venting out their frustration.

Cannot help drawing parallels between Shiv Sena and any terrorist group. A terrorist group recruits dirt poor youth and brainwashes them to become suicide bombers while Shiv Sena recruits unemployed Marathi youth and uses them to drive fear. Both exploit a community's vulnerability to strengthen their hold. Both try to justify their means for what they think will lead to a good end.

Another question that comes to my mind is why no terrorist attack has taken place on American soil post 9/11 and why Shiv Sena behaves periodically bad in Mumbai? Answer is a good administration and a pathetic administration respectively. The impotent Congress govt in Maharashtra does nothing while the Thackerays of the world continue to hold Mumbai at ransom. If a Shiv Sena MP challenges a media house' right to criticize Bal Thackeray, he should be suspended from the Parliament for challenging the fundamental right of freedom of expression. As usual the government will not take any action and we will continue to be burdened with a spineless govt because of the lack of a better alternative.

Meanwhile the common man looks for excuses to defend the behavior of its leaders as the world watches the quality of men/women we chose to lead the nation.

Sachin's new sport - the great Indian tug of war

Sachin Tendulkar must be preplexed. While he should be enjoying completing 20 years in the world of cricket and setting a record, he is busy becoming a target for all politicians. His innocent remark about his being an Indian first and then Maharashtrian (weren't we taught that in school) has invoked response from all quarters of politics. The current scoreboard reads like this, Congress and BJP in favour of Sachin, Bal Thackeray (I wonder which school he went to) led Shiv Sena against him and Mr. Raj from MNS yet to declare. Raj must be contemplating that whether his remarks against Sachin will aleinate or bring together his Marathi folk. (And after his win in elections, even I think these things are of utmost importance.)

Sachin has definitely bowled a googly and Bal Tackeray struck it without thinking about the consequences. You can even be pardoned for speaking against Amitabh Bachachan in Maharashtra (no thanks to the way he associates himself to Amar Singh) but when it comes to Sachin its a different ball game altogether. Though this sounds amusing to me that because Sachin is a Maharashtrian his comment cannot be contested when he says India first but because AB is from UP his comment can be contested.

Its good to see Sachin rise to the occasion though. When any faction of Muslim does anything wrong, prominent Muslims are expected to publicly speak against them to show their patriotism towards India. I see an analogy because now prominent Maharashtrians are also expected to speak up against the so called Marathi Manoos gang.

For now it looks like that the great Sachin Tendulkar is also not spared in being made a scapegoat. Am sure he is not very ecstatic about being supported by some parties and them making an example out of him because he doesn't want to play political favourites. And while this happens, the whole nation watches our politicians playing the tug of war with the great man.

Why no politician protests about Manu Sharma being granted parole?

Firstly, I was not aware that convicted criminals could be granted parole because their mother was sick. Thanks to Manu Sharma, the convicted murderer of Jessica Lal, I know that now. A little research informed me that, "under Section 3 of the Temporary Release Act, 1988", the State Government has the authority to release prisoners temporarily on some basic grounds as stated in jail manuals. We all know that Manu Sharma's father is a Congressman and its Congress government in Delhi as well as centre. So it didn't come as a surprise that he was granted parole for visiting his supposedly 'sick' mother who looked quite hale and hearty.

But what took me by surprise was why I did not hear a murmur of protest from any politicians about this move. Obviously the move was a standing ovation to the corruption in India. Then why no MNS, SS, BJP came forward to create a ruckus over it and raise slogans? Manu Sharma was quietly released on a parole, right under our media's vigil nose and we didn't even hear a whisper until the reports of his late partying surfaced. And yet no politician thinks its a worthy enough topic to be raised in parliament. Probably it doesn't evoke sentiments of emotional Indians like religion and linguistic issues do.

Is religion losing its appeal?

I recently watched a CNN-IBN debate on the fatwa issued against Vande Matram by Darul Uloom. The supporter of the fatwa insisted that bowing to one's nation is unIslamic as one can bow only in front of Allah. The one against fatwa (also a Muslim) accused the Darul Uloom of misinterpretation of Vande Matram. Then there were accusations that it was Shiv Sena - BJP who triggered the fire by making Vande Matram compulsory, knowing that it was against Islamic principals. Few argued that when Muslim children could sing Prayers to Lord in Convent schools then why not Vande Matram. Suddenly the debate shifted to how innocent Muslims are made victims of police terrorism hunt. The role of Home Minister Chidambaram was also debated because he had gone to Darul's convention as they had passed a fatwa against terrorism too. Poor HM was accused of pseudo secularism and by the saffrons and not doing enough for Muslims by the Islam hardliners.

And all this made my head reel. I don't want to take sides because I don't have any opinion on this. The whole debate seems pointless. Didn't religion originate to civilize people? To give them sense of right or wrong and make them love their fellow humans. If this is what religion has transcended to, do we need a religion? If it teaches us to only look at the negatives in other religions and has just become a tool in the hands of the leaders to manipulate the naive, hasn't it lost its original purpose?

Yet history shows us that anarchy mostly prevailed in countries that didn't follow religion and civilization came earlier to the ones that did. But sadly a handful of leaders at the top have changed the course of religion. I thought the whole debate was pointless when there was so much that needs to be done for the upliftment of poor in the society, when everyday number of Muslims are being killed by Islamic militants and Hindus by Maoist militants. Ultimately the terrorists will unite to form a religion of their own, one that will terminate the world contrary to the religion that helped the human evolution.

A song about 26/11....how about hanging Qasab first?

Indians are an emotional lot and many a times we look like emotional fools in the eyes of the world. The following news items does makes us look foolish. A song is being prepared which will be sung by Sonu Nigam and will also have the voice of Amitabh Bachchan, dedicated to the victims of the 26/11 terrorist attack at a day long function commemorating the victims. Now, I am not against the song or dedication but the fact that Qasab is still alive and kicking and has made our judiciary look like a circus is much more crucial issue to be resolved that making a song.

Many innocent lives are lost in terrorist attacks every year. Be it Maoism or Islamic militant groups or LTTE or ALFA or any other group, we as a nation have not been able to do much about tackling the menace. Should we then go around making a song for every attack or make it a yearly process dedicating to all? Making a song, lighting a few candles, giving an emotional lecture and making a few speeches looks silly when the accused is still not convicted. Its similar to making an emotional video when our cricketers go for the World Cup and playing it again and again on air while India gets kicked out in the Prelims itself. Its very irritating and just highlights our incompetency even more.

Won't our police look foolish while arranging a function when the main assassin is asking for mutton biryanis and deodorants?

Why dont we have good roads in India?

Recently, on a car journey in Melbourne, I was admiring the roads of Australia. Being a Mumbaikar, I am not used to smooth roads devoid of potholes that are not dug every few centimeters. Australia, is the first country I have traveled to outside India and hence I have only the Mumbai roads to compare with. Seeing the poor conditions of the roads in our country, I always thought that probably it was a soil issue that supposedly good quality roads were full of potholes during rainy season and that most of the roads were forever going through repair work.

This time I was traveling with a civil engineer who has worked on road construction projects in US, Pune and now in Melbourne. I asked him is corruption really the reason for our roads to be so bad or it has something to do with the texture of our soil or any such technicality? I always like to give a person the benefit of doubt and though I know that road construction projects involve huge kickbacks between contractors and politicians, I still believed that probably something was naturally wrong with our roads. He said that corruption is the only reason for poor roads in India. He says he was exasperated with the corruption while working in India and didn't want to continue in such an environment. In most of the cases, there are under the table deals while rewarding the contracts and probably the contractors lose so much money in bribing that they compensate by using sub standard material for building the roads. And more repair work means more revenue for them, so more the number of repairs needed, better the business.

Other than this, I think there is no reason that why Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India should have such a poor infrastructure and be challenged by rains year after year. Its sad that corruption takes away so much of the taxpayer's money and we have to forcefully accept such conditions. Sometimes I wish I would have done law. I would sue the government and contractor for every poor road in Mumbai and for causing irreversible damage to my back by traveling on them.

Deciphering Arundhati Roy

The list of causes that writer and activist Arundhati Roy supports goes like this, against Narmada dam project, support of a separate state of Kashmir, supports the Maoist struggle, supports not hanging of Afzal Guru(man convicted of attacking the parliament, anti India's nuclear weaponisation, blames Mumbai 26/11 attacks on Gujarat 2002 riots and ongoing struggle in Kashmir etc. Undoubtedly she has remarkable credentials as a writer and activist, but she looks like a rebellion without a cause to me.

She comes across as a hardcore socialist and idealist with noble intentions at heart for the poor. But she also has an outlook and opinion that take more prominence over the interests of the people she is fighting for. Many a times she looks like a self indulgent activist who is hell bent on imposing her thoughts on the poor in her fight against the state. Looking at her current diatribe against the government and in favour of Maoists just illustrates the point.

Roy holds the government responsible for the rise of Maoist movement in the backward states of India (which is true) and also supports the violence adopted by the Maoists as she terms it as their last resort. She accused the government of taking active interest in these areas because it has signed deals with corporate houses to vacate the land and wants to remove its local habitants from there.

Firstly, no one becomes terrorist for fun. If Maoist are justified like this for taking up arms, then so should be Islamic terrorist. Oppressed and poor are always easy targets for recruitment by terrorist groups but that cannot justify killing of innocent people. Every terrorist is fighting for a cause and has a tale of oppression behind him/her. If you justify one, you justify all. Secondly, government is undoubtedly to be blamed for the backwardness of these states. But isn't industrialization necessary for development of these areas? Its equally important to keep a check that naive locals are not cheated by the nexus of politicians and corporates, as has been the case in the past. Here is where activists like Roy can play a major role. Instead of fighting against every development activity that the state undertakes, why can't they use that energy in ensuring that every such development activity is inclusive of the growth of local people? Yes, India needs activists like Roy to take up the cause of oppressed but not someone whose ideologies overshadow the core purpose of upliftment.

Dynasty Politics......Congress has company

Congress versus BJP has always been a topic of hot debate between my grandfather and myself. He, being a strong BJP supporter, and me being a Congress supporter. Over the time I realised that it was not true. He was actually an anti Congress man and me an anti BJP woman. His stand aroused from his anger against the Congress during partition which made him leave his land in Pakistan (erstwhile Punjab in undivided India) and my stand was largely due to the unsecular stand of BJP. There were many points on which we fought, but one of his points often stopped me in my tracks. The accusation of Congress being a dynasty party. I had to agree with it because it was always shamelessly demonstrated by the party.

But nowadays I do have a counterpoint. BJP itself is turning to dynasty for finding leaders at state level and it is absolutely clueless at the centre to find a heir. If one looks at the recent elections in Maharashtra, every single party boosted of family connections. The Congress CM, Ashok Chavan is the son of a former CM, BJP is a family affair with the Munde family, Shiv Sena of course is a party split up between two brothers, NCP is a stronghold of the Pawars and Bhujbals. And ironically Rahul Gandhi, the poster boy of dynasty politics, is trying to usher in the era of democratic elections within the party(so says the media atleast).

Coming to Maharashtra elections, I feel Congress has not won due to good governance (that would be the understatement of the year) nor due to the MNS factor but because of lack of formidable opposition to the ruling party. Over the years I have realised, that most of the people don't vote for a particular party but against one. No wonder that most of the elections are won due to anti incumbency factor. One of the few bucking this trend in India is Narendra Modi. You may hate the man for a variety of factors but you cannot deny that he has been voted again and again in power because of his good governance in Gujarat. That is a vote in the favour of good governance not the one just rolled out in Maharstra.

Parvez Rasool - A victim of the new media obsession of our Police??

A hot debate has ensued in our country, on whether Parvez is a victim or not? Many like me agree that the police was just doing its job. They received an information which they had to check out. When the nation is under security threat, this doesn't look like a big deal. But this doesn't justify the police's dance in front of the camera terming Parvez as a terrorist. I havent seen any of the TV reports (thankfully am spared of the 24/7 inane news onslaught) but after reading about Karnataka Police's eagerness in branding Parvez as a terrorist, I feel that Police does owe an apology. Not for arresting Parvez for investigation but for trying to show off their media suaveness.

I remember the Aarushi murder case and each time the police/CBI arrested some one under suspicion, the whole media circus would start playing. It would start with police's declaration in front of the camera about branding the suspect as almost a convicted criminal, then media further pronouncing their verdict and showing stupid role plays to demonstrate how the suspect killed the victim. To date CBI has not found a shred of evidence to implicate any of the suspects, but the media has almost branded each of them as accused. I can only imagine the kind of ignominy the accused and their family have to go through due to the media circus. Whatever happened to the old fashioned way of letting the court giving the verdict? With the courts taking eons to decide on a case, the media trial seems to be the new way of serving justice (rather injustice) to most of the accused. Parvez is thus, a victim of the new media savvy brand of policemen and politicians our country has developed.

Next in step, I can imagine police following Shashi Tharoor footsteps and twitting away to glory each time they catch a suspect. ( @2P.M.4 men arrstd, think thy r terrorists......@4P.M.No thy r not......@5P.M. V found rdx traces, thy r....... @6P.M......m/c faulty, thy r not, request sent for new m/cs & new terrorists.......)

Its 3 Boos for Bollywood this Diwali

3 blockbuster Bollywood movies released during the Diwali week and it seems none will be able to make the mark. Blue, a supposedly underwater action film with Akshay Kumar in the lead, should be a mascot for teaching how to squander money in Bollywood. Rs 100 crore spent on a brainless, scriptless, waste of money called Blue. Main aur Mrs Khanna, vindicates my stand of Kareena being a PR actor and Salman Khan having lost it( if he ever had it). All the Best, made by the director of Golmaal and Golmaal Returns (supposedly funny movies) seems to have notched higher ratings than the other two. All I can say is all the best to those who will spend their fortune to watch the movie in theatres.

Its sad to watch Bollywood still being riddled with the age old formula of making movies and not taking scripts seriously. And the so called coming of the age movies like Wake up Sid are far from reality. I was bored during the first 50 mins of the movie itself, especially after watching Konkana Sen's character Aisha, land up a job immediately after arriving in Mumbai, renting up a sea facing flat in town without having a job. Aisha keeps claiming that she is from a small town and yet has no qualms in roaming around on the streets of Mumbai in the middle of night with a stranger. Apart from our Bollywood movies, I have never seen anyone in Mumbai painting their own flats. If you believe Bollywood movies, painter bhiayyas in Mumbai would be soon running to their towns in UP , Bihar. And all this in first 50 mins of a coming of age movies which is hailed by critics. I adore the masala movies of Bollywood because atleast they abashedly claim that they are masala movies and dont pretend to be some great piece of art.

It seems Kareena's character in Main aur Mrs Khanna, lands up at Melbourne airport alone, decides to stay back, gets a job and owns a plus home too in the city. For someone who is trying to get a foothold in Melbourne for past 6-7 months, it makes me cringe. Most of the B-movies are far from reality which is ok with me as long as they are entertaining. But the movies being churned out these days, are made on lavish budgets, praised to galore during their irritating promotions and stick out as sore thumb later. When will the B-producers understand that a few song and dance, toilet humor, bikini heroine, designer costumes are seasonings added to the main dish of a script and not the other way round.

J&K cricketer demands apology...For what??

Everyone must be aware of the recent news about Parvez Rasool, a under-22 cricketer from J&K, who was detained and later released ( due to lack of evidence) after detectors found traces of RDX in his kit bag. Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association is now demanding an apology. And I am sure he will be given one due to pressure from political circles. But I dont understand why should he be given an apology? It was a routine check, suspicious items were detected in his bag and so he was detained for questioning. Any other player or human being would have gone through the same process. That he is a Kashmiri Muslim, is a co-incidence in this event.

But his being a Kashmiri Muslim gives perfect ammunition in the hands of politicians and extremists who will now use this incident to showcase harrassment by Indian police to Kashmiri Muslims. Which is clearly not the case here. Should the police have let go the man even if they found RDX traces in his bag? Is this what they want? Hundreds of people are arrested by the police in Maoist hit states as suspected terrorism for interrogation. But not much noise is made about them. But each time, after every terrorist attack, when Muslims are detained for interrogation, the police is always blamed for being biased. Isn't the security of the country and establishing ourselves as a safe sporting venue a bigger subject of national importance than such petty secular politics.

This is why the American security system, though under criticism for discriminatory practices, is respected also to some extent. For them their country's security is of utmost importance. You maybe India's biggest superstar but if you are under suspicion, you will be checked thoroughly. Looking at our fragile security network, its high time we stop treating individuals ( and this includes countries top politicians) with hand in gloves. The Indian law is supposed to be impartial towards its citizens, so lets respect that.

Why Raj Thackeray is an intelligent man?

Raj Thackeray did manage to comb out a controversy during the elections. His party MNS, tried to close down the screening of Wake up Sid because it referred Mumbai as Bombay. I have a few more suggestions for them. How about Bombay House ( Tata's headquarters)? Ratan Tata must be missing being harassed by Mamata Banerjee so Raj can fill the space. And also the famous restaurant chain, Bombay Blues. How did that miss Raj's eagle's eye? I am sure there might be a dozen more options, that Raj can explore in his quest to create a ruckus to garner Marathi votes.

Now, I would think that its so clear that Raj is playing petty politics and who would adhere to his silly tactics. But I am so wrong. If that would be the case, he would not have managed to build a strong enough base for fighting elections. I have heard Maharastrians defending him as they think of him as championing their cause. Once I was driving in Mumbai and had a small skirmish with an autorickshaw which had an old Maharastrian man as his passenger. The man started cursing me in chaste Marathi saying that my days are over and Raj Thackeray is soon going to drive me out of the city. I was dumbstruck, also because the driver was a 'bhaiiya'. And this man looked like an educated, middle class, well to do citizen.

So even if we might argue that Raj is being stupid, he is intelligent enough to know his target audience and know that he is hitting the nail on head. Many argue that his ways of doing it may not be noble, but what he says makes perfect sense because Maharastrians do feel left behind in Mumbai's progress. Now I would not agree to this, but I do agree that people get the government they deserve. Whether it is Mayawati or Raj Thackeray, they are in that position because people support them. As long as we let them exploit our feelings, they will happily oblige.

What's wrong with China?

Everyday the Times of India headlines screams about some or the other non friendly news from the other side of the Chinese border. With one inauspicious news after another, I had almost started overlooking TOI's overzealous coverage of Chinese animosity. But this one really takes the cake. It opens your eyes to China's instigating measures towards India.

China has decided to issue “separate” visas to Indian passport holders from Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier too, it did the same thing for citizens of Arunachal Pradesh but this one clearly proves that China is hell bent on antagonizing India. The Ministry of External Affairs of India has threatened China that it will adopt a tit for tat policy for Tibetans if China didn't change it discriminating visa rules.

I feel its high time India goes ahead and does that. Firstly repeatedly Google does the 'mistake' of showing Arunachal Pradesh as a disputed territory or a Chinese territory. If AP is a disputed territory then how come Tibet is shown as a province of China? We need to assert ourselves in global arena if we want the world to take us seriously as an upcoming superpower. Otherwise we will be left issuing angry statements which no one cares about.

Are we a rich country?

Morgan Stanley is about to launch its prestigious Private Investment Club in India. It will only include individuals having a minimum investible surplus of $1billion. India is only the fifth country where Morgan Stanley is launching its club. Its existing only in US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. So should we feel privileged on behalf of the rich in the country? At first I did feel proud about the fact, but then I read a series of articles on the farmer suicides in Vidarbha.

According to Stats, a farmer in India commits suicide every 30 minutes(source: Rediff). Majority of these are in Vidarbha, which is part of one of the most prominent states of India. Relief packages have come and gone but nothing seems to end the woes of these farmers. We see a large number of articles in media on the fate of Vidarbha widows but do we see any action by the local politicians? Climate changes resulting in poor monsoons are resulting in failed crops, increasing the debt burden of the farmers, leaving them with no other option other than taking their own lives in hope of getting some compensation from the government for their kin.

So, next time we gloat over the increasing number of Indians in the prestigious lists of Forbes, Fortune, etc, lets spare a thought about the widening income gap between the rich and poor in India.

Rahul Gandhi becomes the target of a new sport played in India - stone pelting

Rahul Gandhi, on his recent austerity drive in Shatabdi Express, encountered an amusing incident which involved stone pelting on the coaches of the train near Panipat. The stones were not pelted by any terrorist organization or workers of a rival political party, but playfully by some children in the age group of 10-12. He would have now experienced the real woes of 'Aam aadami'.

Even though people maybe surprised by the new sport of stone pleting that 'youngistan' is practicing, me and people like me who travel frequently in Mumbai local trains are not. Children of slum dwellers who live adjacent to the railway line, frequently throw stones at the passengers travelling in trains as a source of entertainment. We have seen innumerable cases of commuters being hurt, especially during the Holi festival. A few commuters have also been blinded or seriously injured on their face causing them irreparable damage. But the authorities have done little to move the slum dwellers away from the railway line. Slums and politics go hand in hand in India and there is little place for the plight of daily commuters vis-a-vis electoral gains.

Hopefully, this incident will bring this matter to the forefront and put an end to the nuisance faced by millions of travelers daily. Next, I hope Rahul Gandhi travels in Mumbai or atleast lives in Mumbai for a week during peak rains. I am sure he will get a closer peek to 'aam aadmi's' life.

Austerity Drive by Government. How about Tee shirt and shorts for Ministers??

Few days back there was a funny forward making rounds which mocked the first day of Nandan Nilekani in the parliament. It was written as a mock blog penned by Nilekani after his first day at Parliament. The blog described how Nilekani was amused when he was chided by Azahruddin for wearing a suit in the parliament while others wore the Indian kurta pyajama. Azahar then offered Nilekani the services of his Italian designer who designs his Indian attire for the parliament. This may be a mock anecdote but fits so perfectly with the pseudo austerity psyche of the ministers.

The recent call by Sonia Gandhi to Congress ministry for austerity highlights this point. Tharoor and SM Krishna have been asked to vacate their 5 star accommodation to move to more humble dwellings. Tharoor immediately tweets that the money he spends is from his own pocket. As a Gen Y Indian I don't find anything wrong if Tharoor or anyone lives royally at their own expense. But what I hate is the show of austerity our netas display even when in reality they follow a immodest lifestyle. It demonstrates hypocrisy at its height. Also, lets not kid ourselves when they say that its their own wealth. We all know how their 'own' wealth is created.

The call to austerity is praiseworthy but I hope it encourages the ministers to change their way of living rather than treat it as a branding exercise.

A modest lifestyle looks real when ministers like Pranab Mukherjee and our PM Manmohan Singh follow it but looks like a publicity stunt when most of the others use it as a tool to enhance their public image. Just like ministers wearing khadi makes no sense to me. As long as they conduct their duties, I don't care if they wear a tee shirt and shorts in the Parliament. Its cheaper too!! Any takers for that??

IT project in Bengal gets scrapped

Go to any quiz competition in India and you will find that most of the winners are Bengalis. When I was a kid my mother used to coerce me into eating fish by saying that Bengalis are so intelligent and have a fine memory because they eat fish. During the British ruling era, Kolkata was an important city for East India company and many 'babus', scholars and barristers were Bengalis from Kolkata. Its ironic that a state that was known for its intellectual wealth was left behind when India marched towards liberalization in 1990's. Left behind in the industrialization era due to the communist rule, it also missed out the IT train.

Its extremely sad to know that due to the shady deals of real estate developers and politicians, the people of West Bengal will be deprived of the information technology township plan at Rajarhat in Greater Kolkata. The IT park could have led to generation of atleast one lakh IT jobs in Bengal. All this because the WB government wants to wash off its hands from any land acquired by Vedic realty, a real estate company, which has come in limelight because of its shady deals. Instead of dealing with the issue, the government has gone ahead and scrapped the project, in which Vedi realty was also a partner, fearing the unraveling of the scam may create a controversy. Why face the controversy when its so easy to dunk and run away?

A big hurray for Kapil Sibal

Mr Kapil Sibal, India's Human Resoruces and Development minister and a Harvard Law graduate, is trying to reform our archaic educational system and three cheers to that. The Educational reforms and the Right to Education Bill led by him is a welcome change after the ex HRD Minister Arjun Singh managed to mess things quite a bit. It is rare to see a minister make noise about the right things and it deserves applause.

The decision to scrap the Class 10 exams in all CBSE affiliated schools from next academic year and introduce a grading system will bring respite to the cramming that most of the students have to endure starting from their summer vacations. (I guess it's a bad news for the coaching classes as an assured money minting scheme will be taken away from them.) A process of comprehensive evaluation throughout the academic year and an optional online test for students who want to change schools will be established.Though the Class 12 exams remain atleast one bottleneck is removed. I have always preferred the objective entrance tests pattern of exams rather than the cramming sponsored subjective ones. Across the year evaluation of students will also encourage them to pay more attention in their classrooms rather than in the coaching classes which act as an additional burdern both to the students and their parents.

His other important initative is the Right to education bill which has provisions like, schools being set up by the govt in every neighbourhood within 3 years, private schools to reserve 25% of seats in Class, no failing a child till Class VIII, insistence on having a national curriculum, etc. Though it is not very elaborative on the cost that will be incurred for this mission, it's is definitely a step in the right direction.

The decision that the CBSE experience will be examined before State Boards take the plunge a year later, is also prudent as it demonstrates a good business pactice of testing the market befor taking the plunge, rather than going big bang and then rolling back. Kudos to him and he certainly gets my vote.

 

 

 

 

 

Shivaji for solving drought in Maharashtra

If you thought that only Mayawati was spending crores on her statues then you are sadly mistaken. The breed of politicians always follows the herd. Close on heels of UP statues, comes the news that the Maharshtra government is erecting a mammoth statue of Shivaji in the sea off Marine Drive, which will cost Rs. 350 crore of rupees.

It's supposedly an election promise that the state government had made during 2004 elections and as the politicans are so eager to always keep their promises, they intend to fulfill the promise before the next assembly elections of Maharashtra which are due shortly. They obviously know better than anyone else that the voters of Maharashtra are more interested in the statue of Shivaji than the increasing food prices.

The government thinks that next time the drought stricken farmer wants to commit suicide, he will atleast come to Marine drive, pay his last respects and then take a dive in Arabian Sea signing off his life. Also, the harried commuters who are stuck in traffic jams will have something to gawk at while they dwindle their thumbs in the sweltering heat. Plus, the statue will be taller than the Statue of liberty. Finally the Maharshtra politicians are going global, rather than competing with each another for vada pav stalls. And this is also a topic that will finally unite politicians of all the parties. No one can ever say no to a Shivaji statue in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile like UP, Maharashtra continues to ask central government for thousands of crores as help for fighting drought. It does not make sense to me though. Shouldn't building a statue take care of the problems? Surely Shivaji will be so happy to go higher than Statue of liberty that he will definitely make a recommendation to rain gods and all are problems will be resolved.

Related posts : The White Elephants of UP

The BJP saga – Winners and Losers

The whole BJP saga comes across a game in which the real winners and losers are not the participants of the game but the spectators watching the game from sidelines. The game players are the senior leaders of BJP who are whiplashing the party one after another and getting expelled, being serviced notices and are everywhere on your TV screen and daily newspapers. BJP has expelled Jaswant Singh for his book which apparently praises Jinnah and describes him as a secular leader. Its not possible that before making a decision, the BJP leaders might have read the saga considering the humongous size of the book. Arun Shourie and Vasundhara Raje are other leaders who have revolted against the BJP leadership (read BJP President Rajnath Singh) and are awaiting their respective decisions.

The winner in this game is clearly the publisher of the Jaswant Singh's book, which is selling like hot cakes throughout the country and I am sure the sales in India will be outpaced by ones in Pakistan. The runner up is Pakistan, who must be enjoying oneself looking at the imbroglio their father of nation has created in India's main opposition party. Where their current leaders were not successful, the dead have come to the rescue. Closely followed by them is the Indian television media which must be enjoying a gala time broadcasting Arun Shourie running with a lose toungue like a mad man and Jaswant Singh firing salvos at LK Advani. Time to earn good advertising revenues.

The biggest loser is definitely the Indian public. It's imperative for a nation like India, to have a strong opposition and to have atleast 2 big parties fighting election against each other rather than to have a monopoly like situation which existed during earlier Congress regimes. If the BJP cracks, we will be deprived of a formidable opposition to the current government. Also, with the country facing drought and challenging economic conditions, we would be better off with leaders fighting against these conditions rather than among themselves.

(P.S.Just read that ex-RSS chief Sudarshan has also come out in supprt of Jinnah and against Gandhi. I believe that as a party, BJP stands more united in their stand against Gandhi and Congress than Pakistan or Jinnah. So as long as BJP has enough ammunition to fire against Congress, the minorities need not worry.)

News that I have blocked

Some news items get such extensive and non deserving media coverage, that seeing a mention of them anywhere automatically switches off my mind towards them. Here are 4 such news items currently in circulation that I have learned to ignore.

The Ambani War

The country is facing a severe drought, price rise in value of basic items, a difficult GDP target to achieve and in midst all this we have a multi billionaire brother who wants to earn more billions than his richer multi billionaire brother. And we also have daily ads by Anil Ambani launching a scathing attack on his brother, Mukesh Ambani and the government, and we have editorials and talk shows about the war. Do I care? The earlier public war between the two split the company and made the brothers a few notches richer and now there is another war to go a few notches higher. It has absolutely nothing for you except if you have invested in Reliance shares and it turns me off completely.

SRK's USA treatment

I maybe a big fan of SRK but all this media frenzy is making me cringe. You go to a foreign land to celebrate India's independence because it's your biggest NRI market and you get paid in dollars for it. So, you have to obey the laws of the country, good or bad. If you think USA has no business treating other communities the way it does, please stop going there or else accept that there are greater pleasures involved. More than SRK, the media needs to understand that and stop analyzing inane news.

Economic revival and not so revival

One day we have the newspapers reporting revival because the industry results are good. Second day, the not so good unemployment data is out and markets tank. One day you have news about major economies coming out of recession, next day you read about China's poor economic data and Sensex plunges. Until I get a job in Melbourne or any of my friends who have lost their jobs in India, get a job, this see-saw of recovery has no meaning for me.

Jinnah politics

As if digging the grave of dead Indian leaders was not enough, that our politicians have taken interest in their Pakistani counterparts now. How can a party lead a democratic nation, if there is no democracy within the party? Does a common man on street really care about BJP expelling or retaining their leaders who have an opinion on Jinnah? Only BJP, other political parties and media seems to care about them.

It’s a dog’s world – and now Indian dogs too!!

"It's a dog's world out there", I understood the meaning of this phrase when I landed in Melbourne. Back in India, I wondered how this could be a dog's world. One look at the malnourished, pelted by kids, often left to die on road kind of street dogs, and you know that dog's life cannot be easy. I am not against dogs, but am not a big fan of theirs either. They are the only ones I am scared off when I come home late in evening. In Mumbai, a girl might not be scared of men when she comes home after 12 at night but she definitely needs to be vigilant about the street dogs surrounding her home turf. That and being a victim of some ferocious, non obedient pet dogs of a few relatives made me an ardent non dog lover. (To put it in mild words to avoid the wrath of PETA)

But my opinion definitely changed when I saw the treatment meted out to the dogs in Melbourne. Firstly there is no species like street dogs. Most of the ones that you encounter are of the poochie variety that to me looks like the Barbie doll version of a dog. Furry, cute, small and often dressed in cute jackets they scurry around speedily. (The owners of such dogs are generally very fit. Not surprising understanding the running around they must be resorting to.) Most of the times, the daily news has some report on a dog being lost and found by the owners, the owners risking their lives for saving their pet's life, etc. And by the way, they are not dogs, they are PETS. At first, news about dogs, ads on pet food, lifestyle shows on dogs (I watched a show dedicated to how dogs can lose weight!! I once read about a treadmill for elephants in Germany, I guess the dogs don't want to be left behind) amused me no end, but now I find myself looking for dope on dogs in the Indian newspapers. And that's where I read this interesting bit of news.

Two entrepreneurs in India, Himanshu Bhasin, 27, and Abhishek Kapoor, 29 have started a dabba service for dogs in Delhi delivering healthy homemade food for your dog. And this is not the first Indian venture of this kind. It was first started by Wasiff Khan as Home Care Foods in 2006. These gentlemen obviously have some great foresight, because, if India is on a growth trajectory and if Indians are following the lifestyle of developed countries, then soon Indian dogs will follow suit too. Three cheers for dog power – Woof Woof Woof!!

Who ever called Laloo to IIM must be squirming now

Our politicians deserve a salute because nowhere I have seen such amusing characters. Had this incident not being a serious matter of life and death, I would have thought it was some stand up comedian joke. Bihar is one of the worst affected states from drought. The farmers heavily dependent on rainfalls are now using guns to protect their water. Some areas of Bihar like the Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts, had to face a situation of floods due to the overflowing Bagmati river. Admist such natural crisis, one would think that the state leaders would be engaged in serious planning to cruise the affected public towards a life of normalcy. Alas! This is India and we are talking about Bihar. Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, the prominent leader from Bihar and the ex Railway Minister of India who is often credited with the turnaround of world’s largest employer, the India Railway, is more worried about arousing the wrath of Sun God. He is accusing the current Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar of eating biscuits during Solar Eclipse. The poor people of Bihar may even follow him owing to the low literacy rates in the state. This is the same man who was invited to prestigious platforms like IIMs to narrate his success story of a historical turnaround. Encouraging such blatant superstition in a crisis like this, is something that only our politicians can get away with.

Rajiv Gandhi Setu or Worli Bandra Link – What’s in a name?

Rajiv Gandhi: That makes my count to 561. I am coming close to you Gandhiji.

Gandhi: Son, Whatever you do, you will never be able to beat my record. I stand at 1000000.

Veer Savarkar: This is just not fair!! I am still crawling at 201. Rajeev, you should have given this one to me. You or your mother takes all the ones at Delhi and I face tough competition in Mumbai from Shivaji. I thought I had a chance for this one.

B.R.Ambedkar: You guys just wait till Mayawati becomes the Prime Minister of India. I will soon become the new father of the nation.

I guess the politicians of this country think that the great leaders of India must be having this conversation in the heaven (presumably). They would be fighting over and trying to make and break records with relation to how many monuments of them are being made, how many roads, airports, bridges are being named after them etc. I can think of only that as the reason why our politicians behave in such manner.

Shiv Sena is hauling Congress for naming the Bandra Worli Sea Link after Rajiv Gandhi, as they believe that, its construction was started by the BJP – Shiv Sena combine and they should get the credit for it and hence, want it named after Veer Savarkar. Mayawati objects to money being spent on Rajghat and the stature of Mahatma Gandhi in the nation and believes that she and Ambedkar deserve better. Never mind that Ambedkar might be turning in his grave when he sees the dire condition of Dalits in the country even 60 years after independence.

To deal with our over zealous politicians, I propose that we have a separate ministry for the purpose of naming and renaming of public property and places, the ‘What’s in a name’ ministry. Then we can have a commission set up for each property that needs to be named, have proper debate and channelize our public resources for such important activity. After all we don’t want a war to start in the heaven and we should give equal opportunity to each ‘neta’, dead or alive.

Return of Sarkari Naukri and Sarkari Babus

A couple of years when all was hunky dory in our recession free lives, my mother had found a reason to get worried about. To somehow get her only daughter married and according to her friends, a NRI working for an IT firm would be the best match. My mother often told me that how the world has changed topsy turvy since her days. During her marriageable days, getting your daughter married to someone working in a private firm was not opined to be a good watch. Parents were also wary of sending their daughters to a faraway land. Where as public jobs were supposed to be the safest, well paid and ensured a life long guarantee. IAS cadres had the highest rate in the dowry market followed by boys working in PSUs.

And how all that changed three decades later. Most of my school/ college gang, were settled in USA with either green card holders or IT NRI’s. I was the only one left and often asked by dozens that when will I get lucky like my friends. To top that my IT employer didnot even think me worthy enough to be sent on an onsite assignment. So I had to live with those additional queries about why I am not being sent abroad when ever far flung relative of everyone else is. Somehow, I managed to escape the NRI’s or you could say the poor NRI’s were saved from me when I met my husband. (prospective husband then!!) Atleast he was from IT and had been a NRI for 2 years, so I wasn’t that off the track.

Now, when I read about IIM grads going for public sector jobs and fathers looking for PSU working grooms and saying a definitive no - no to IT (and if you are a NRI especially in US – dude you have some serious chances of not finding a bride at all), I wonder that I didn’t even had to wait for my daughter’s marriage for the world to turn topsy turvy again. I read interesting news lately, wherein a man asks the court to reduce the alimony that he has to pay to his wife, as due to the recession he has to take a pay cut. So, even for a healthy divorce you now need a PSU working husband who can ensure a lifelong alimony with assured guarantee.

In a matter of few months, like the Sensex, the dowry market has turned upside down too. Sarkari Babus are back in demand with increased price of their shares and my poor IT brethren have become like penny stocks. The economic cycle had given rise to a new eligible groom cycle and I propose that we should also have a groom index now to track the eligibility of bachelors with respect to changes in economy. How about a Groomex??

Railway Budget 2009-10 or a Boxing match

If you have never seen a boxing ring match between a former champion and a challenger, you can view the recent video of the Railway Budget 2009-10 of India being presented in the Parliament. The former champion was our ever entertaining Lalu Prasad Yadav, erstwhile Railway Minister, and the challenger, our ‘didi’, Mamata Banerjee, the current Railway Minister. I can’t tell you who won which round and the whole match, as I don’t think we have seen the end of it. The match will definitely go on.

Laloo was roaring like the lion who has enjoyed an excellent regime but now has to accept defeat and give way to the new king ( or shall I say Queen) of the jungle. Not to be outdone, the lioness roared back with an equally big roar. At the onset, the Queen challenged her predecessor’s claims of enormous profits and revenues, by stating that she has to reduce the estimated revenues for current fiscal at Rs 8,121.48 crore from Rs 10,876.48 crore as presented in the interim budget, as the Railways had failed to meet the target in 2008-09. She has also stated that ministry would come out with a white paper on the organizational, operational and financial status based on the last five years’ performance. This is seen as a direct challenge to Laloo’s claims of running a good ministry in the past 5 years as Mamata is now trying to verify his claims.

Now if you think that by the above actions or by announcing a popular budget, Round one is won by Mamata, then our Laloo is not far behind. How can you expect him to not provide fodder for entertainment? He has gone on the record of alleging that his successor in the Rail Bhawan was a “complex-ridden” person who was trying to prepare her “Vision 2020’’ for the ministry on the basis of his “achievements.’’ He has also accused her of purposefully ignoring Bihar, as Patna is not on the list of the to-be world class stations, only 4 news trains have been proposed in Bihar and it has been ignored in the non-stop point-to-point Turant list of trains.

I can imagine people of Bihar feeling left out, as they are used to being pampered by the Railway ministers who have been from their state since the past few governments. Also feeling left out are states like Tripura, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Orissa whose MPs and Chief Ministers have shown their disapproval for the budget as they say that their respective states have been left out. I guess it pays to have the Railway Minister from your state and irrespective of which minister won the round one, the people of West Bengal surely look like the current winners.

Mumbai versus Delhi

The Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils will meet for their IPL match today. While the fate of this match is yet unknown and odds are in favour of Delhi, there is another front on which Delhi has already beaten Mumbai and that too with a shamefully big margin. The front I am talking about is the voting percentage of the 2 cities. While Mumbai set a target of just a measly 41% even after the huge hoophulla, Delhi managed to beat the target by posting a cool 53%. This is supposedly Delhi’s highest voting percentage in the past 20 years and ahead of other Indian metros like Mumbai and Bangalore.

Though am a Mumbaikar, I am no stranger to Delhi too. With almost 90% of my relatives residing in Delhi, my yearly trips to Delhi have made me fairly accustomed to the manners of Delhietes. Right from my childhood I was always a part of the Mumbai versus Delhi fight between me and my cousins and vociferously defended Mumbai and launched offensive attacks at Delhi. I took great pride in the independence and opportunities I enjoy in Mumbai, the great public transport and the spiritful Mumbaikars am surrounded with. Though often I had to cut corners while comparing the 2 cities on grounds of cleanliness, good roads etc, I managed to come out triumphantly from the debate by using my trump card of ‘the great Mumbai spirit’.

But no longer can I do that. Like the failing public transportation, increasing crime against women, poor infrastructure hammered every year by the feisty Mumbai rains, the great Mumbai spirit also looks on its way downhill. I often accused Delhiwallas to be arrogant and brash, always picking up a fight and Mumbaikars as ever accommodating always ready to adjust. Sadly, now my interpretation of these behavioural aspects has started to change. The Mumbai spirit has made us complacent, live with this chalta hai attitude, not striving to bring changes in our crumpling society while the brash Delhietes have gone ahead and raised their voices and brought about changes like the meticulous Delhi Metro, clean and wide Delhi roads. It may have its share of vices like the high crime rate against women, bad traffic sense among people, non systematic way of doing things in almost everything but still it has managed to brought about a change for the better.

And though am still a proud Mumbaikar and can write down a 100 things in which we fare better than the Delhiwallas , I admit that we have lagged behind in that killer instinct of changing things for better. As far as the improvement parameter, am ashamed that Delhi has managed to beat us.

The White Elephants of Uttar Pradesh

Wikipedia describes a white elephant as a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness. In financial terms, maintaining a white elephant is just a cost centre which will never incur any revenue. And in political terms, it means running the current government in Uttar Pradesh by Mayawati.

Our dear Behenji is on a memorial inauguration spree in Lucknow. Even though there is a PIL filed by a lawyer against the alleged misuse of UP government funds on the memorials, 15 memorials were inaugurated last week so that a Supreme Court order would not be able to spoil the Memorial party. I read in article that as per the Lucknow Development Authority, the statues of Mayawati and Kanshi Ram at various places in Lucknow cost an enormous Rs 6.68 crore and marble elephants at Ambedkar Memorial cost Rs 52 crore. Also, an amount of Rs 90 crore was allocated for the beautification of Kanshi Ram Park. I won't be surprised if UP will soon borrow the title 'Land of Elephants' from Thailand or rather it will be the 'Land of White elephants'. For those who came in late, elephant is the symbol of Mayawati's party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

So acute is the egocentric behaviour of Mayawati that she has reportedly pulled down as her statue at a public place as it appears dwarfed by the figure of her political mentor, Kanshi Ram standing alongside. And now she intends to reconstruct it again. So we are basically doling out huge amounts of tax money for feeding the egos of our boisterous politicians. Mayawati argues that Congress has spent a lot of money building roads and memorials after the Gandhis and Nehrus, so why are they making an issue when the poor Dalit wants to do the same? So while the Congress and BSP engage in an competition to dump our nation with gigantic white elephants we can just pay for their maintenance.

We get the government we deserve

Long protest marches for the 26/11 victims, diatribes on national television against politicians, awareness campaigns by celebrities and yet one of the lowest turnouts in city of Mumbai. I thought it would be just the opposite. But Mumbaikars have definitely sprung a surprise for everyone by churning a voter turnout of just 49%.

I have never seen any election with such a wide campaign, urging people to come out and vote and yet we failed. No one knows what went wrong. I see a lot of articles saying that people are so disillusioned by the government that they have lost faith in governance and politicians. All hogwash I would say. I feel the root cause of this is the great Mumbai spirit that we all are so proud of. This chalta hai attitude which makes us think that how does one vote of mine matter? Let anyone come nothing is going to change. I am happy with the way my life is, so let it go on. Another root cause is clubbing the election day with a long weekend. Now if our smart election commissioners thought that people would deliver their constitutional duties before going on their weekend holidays, then they were obviously proven wrong. Knowing how we Indians feel about voting and how motivated we are about casting our ballot rights, I don’t understand what made our EC to club the election holiday with a long weekend.

I don’t know who said it but he obviously hit the nail on head when he/she said that the society deserves the government they get. And this is so true in a democratic nation like ours. How many politicians are fighting the elections raising issues like economic, rural development etc? The political parties have released their manifestos. However good or bad they maybe, how many of us have actually gone through them? We can only curse the government but when it comes to doing something about it we so easily chicken out saying that all politicians are bad, whom do we vote for? This time there were some prominent personalities like Meera Sanyal standing for elections in Mumbai. Are they going a chance to prove themselves or given a chance to prove things if we chicken out this way?

I read that battle in Rajasthan is mainly about the castes there with great divide between Meena and Gujjars and with upper castes with BJP and lower castes and Muslim votes with Congress. Why blame the parties for proliferating caste divide when the society themselves is ready to lap it all up. We need real leaders who make these people understand that we have to rise above these caste and religion issues and vote for development rather than just becoming a guinea pig for the power hungry. Else we will keep getting the kind of politicians we deserve and as the present lot shows they aren’t that great.

It’s election time once again !!

Will Mayawati succeed in becoming the Prime Minister of India or would Sharad Pawar manage to pull a coup? That’s the million dollar question doing rounds on the dinner table of most of us Indians. Unlike earlier, elections are no longer about Congress versus BJP, they are more about coalitions versus coalitions. Mergers and Acquisitions are what the political doctors have ordered for the aspirant PMs of the country.

So you have the BJP-BJD marriage breaking up in Orissa, Shiv Sena getting back together with BJP after threatening to file for divorce while it still continues to flirt with NCP. NCP acting like the Casanova, that has reserved Congress as its back up, but still has a roving eye and is eyeing all the possible political permutations and combinations. BSP is of course playing the hard to get temptress whom everyone is trying to woo. CPM is like the dumped spouse who is trying to take revenge from its former spouse (Congress) by forming a third front and trying to steal any possible mates that Congress is looking for. Trinamool Congress is looking like the cat that has whisked the milk as it has managed to make Congress bow down to its charm. And of course grand daddy Amar Singh is still making schemes to get Mulayam Singh somehow closer to the throne.

Poor BJP and Congress look like the grand old Patriarch who in their old age are trying to ward off attempts by the new kids to send them to old age homes. What with their own homes on fire with a lot of infighting going on. Election Commission, the Sarpanch (Village leader) is trying to get the whole house in order. No wonder saas bahu serials are taking a major hit on prime time. Even Ekta Kapoor’s team of writers cannot compete with such heavy duty real life political drama and are nowadays seen watching news to draw inspiration.

Anyways experts are now looking at the elections to boost the Indian economy as more money will be circulated (read buying votes, giving money to goons for booth capturing….etc). Hopefully, they will keep providing food and fodder to the news channels and keep the fire burning in their kitchen and set the ad revenues on fire. Many unemployed youth will get temporary jobs of filling as crowds during electoral speeches. Sale of SUVs, Bikes etc will be on rise as our public servants make their once in 5 year rounds to their constituencies. And so hopefully elections will help us beat China in the last quarter as the country with fastest growing GDP. So, three cheers to the political landscape of India that will provide some excitement in our dull lives!!