The unknown Ruchikas and Rathores

Hi,

I was thinking the whole week of writing about a different topic, since for now media is giving full and due importance to Ruchika Murder case . I am knowingly calling it a murder case, because, its really unfair to her and her family to draw the boundary just with molestation, secondly Ruchika is not the only victim and Rathore is not the only criminal here. You and me are too. Why?

Some months back I made a post by the title 'Our Girls'. There I had mentioned that we need to really create an environment of equality and safety and these girls would do us proud. To be frank, people like Rathore are able to play their dirty games and minds because of our failure to do our duty. If the citizens of this country are even close to pro active this family would not have had to fight for justice even after 19 years.

I am really happy that the media is taking her cause up. Of course, their capitalist bosses are making money and they are gonna focus on it as long as they have headlines from it. The family ought to be careful and not give the whole story at one go or else Rathore will get away again.

But what is going through my mind is that, there are hundreds of Ruchikas in this country, there are thousands of Rathores in this country. What about them? Media does not focus on unknowns, they need a villain and they need a victim. We need a new way of life, new thought process in each and every citizen that will force the keepers of the system to do their job. ie. to ensure that there are no such victims and no such villains.

Just as suggestion, you might wanna take a look at this blog if you are concerned with women rights and issues across the globe.


My last post, I still have to say is the reality in this country right now. We have to fight it or live with it.

May be that is a worthy new year resolution that we all can take.


Happy new year.

Sathyameva Jayathe

Today morning, when I landed on Times of India homepage, I saw a really revealing interview under the headline

"Ex-CM Chautala shielded molester cop: Ruchika's dad"

Curiousity led me to reading the article and I found to one of my greatest shocks, that after the sentence was pronounced by the court, Ruchika's dad got a call from some anonymous guy asking "Ab tuney kya kar liya (what have you achieved)?" followed by "Kuchh mil gaya kya? (did you get anything?)" , quoting the news article "Laughing at the quantum of punishment (six months and Rs 1,000 fine)".


Yes, if you are really surpised to hear that, that's the truth. Welcome to the greatest nation on the face of earth that give value to words and exists by the motto "Sathyameva jayathe", a great nation whose largest parties fight their campaigns by saying 'India Shining' and "Congress ke haath Aam Admi ke sath". Yes BJP, India is really shining is it not? Is the Congress really with the common man?

Just a tip. If your daughter gets molested or raped, just try and live with it, take some money from the rapist and may be go on a holiday, because if you are gonna fight for justice you are gonna cry for 19 years, you will loose your daughter and the all powerful molester will live his life out and that our justice is gonna serve up is 6 months jail term and 10,000 rs fine. Hey, don't forget the free gift at the end. An anonymous phone call wishing you the very best for your future endeavors.

Really, if India's 'Sathyameva Jayathe' really means something. That is it. The truth that how ever hard you try you are not going to get justice or achieve your dreams.

I dunno why I should be proud of my justice system. We are demonstrating the trial of Qasab for the world media to see as if its a Hollywood movie for killing lots of people in 15 mins, where as a man who is supposed to protect us, not just fails, but misuses his powers (causes death of a young girl, gives a family pain for rest of their lives) and walks free for 19 years, then pays 10,000 bucks and takes a break of 6 months and the goes back to his normal life.

All I can say is , 'Sathyameva Jayathe'. Thats the truth for you my friend.

ps: For my International readers(if any , lol) , 'Sathyameva Jayathe' is the national motto of India, which means 'truth always triumphs'

Pradhan committee Report

I was really surprised to see the kind of buck passing that the Pradhan committee report has revealed. We are not even entitled to see the complete report (as per stated in the house by home minister R. R. Patil for security reasons). Even the small glimpse we have got through the media leak has revealed what amount of co-ordination (or should I say lack of co-ordination) exists between Police force and even the Home ministry. The very ministry that controls the force.

The bureaucracy has lied a number of times as per the Pradhan committee report itself. The Home secretary and the chief secretary have said there was no intelligence input when to the same committee, the then DGP A. N. Roy has furnished even documents of such intelligence input. Can any kind of action, if not criminal proceeding be initiated against the bureaucrats? R. R. Patil has been crying foul for a long time over his sacking. His ministry has lied to the committee , plus his ministry failed to defend the people in number of ways. Does he take moral responsibly and resign? I have absolutely no idea, while there is no or why there cannot be no criminal proceeding against them. The chief of Police force has given in writing that there was unnecessary red tape in procurement and resource management. R. R. Patil once said, the never thought there would be an attack from the sea. Can't he or his men even see these red tapes that are right in front of his eyes?

Why just blame Mr. Patil, what about other people. Hassan Gafoor has been openly implicated by the report. He in turn has made allegation in the media against some very senior officers (some of whom did speak negatively of him to the committee). Is it not clear that there is some amount of dirty politics being played out here? Why is the government, which is bound to protect us, protecting the culprits. I am simply wondering. Does Qasab deserve to be hanged? Are there not greater culprits in our own society? Is it not a larger crime to not even try to do your duty? Are there any 'Few Good Men' in our governing system?

Our wishes for our nation would easily be on hollywood-bollywood storyboards than on the canvas of reality.

Human Trafficking

I just watched a video from ted.com on human trafficking. This young lady Sunitha Krishnan, tells her story. How she was gang raped by 8 men. She tells about kids as young as 3 and 4 how they were raped by men. And she said one fact. These men are not uknown devil's children. They are part of our society. Fathers, brothers, uncles. And they abuse.

Every single man on this earth must really watch this video, and ask himself. Will he do this? Will he allow this to be done?

Human Trafficking

Our nation has one of the highest rates in human trafficking. Just 10 km away from my home. A pretty well to do locality in Mumbai, there is a brothel. We can see prostitutes every night right by the side of the Ghatkopar station as the trains chug out towards Kalyan. What a shame? We are talking about 8-9% growth. We are taking about education. We are talking about borderless Kashmir. We are not talking about this. Its still taboo.

Just a few buildings away from my house, i got to know from one of my cousin that her friends, as young as 16 and 15 drink, abuse drugs and smoke. Just two blocks away from my house. We feel we are safe. Our family is safe. Are we?

Watch that video, she tell story of even an IAS officer's daughter getting trafficked. She tells story of close friends who donate money to her cause, but don't want to come in contact with any of them. What a shame?

They are part of our society. They are actually the true victims of our 'liberal' society. As the rise of this nation dawns , is there at least a ray of hope for them?


Jai Hind

26/11 - one year after mumbai terror attacks

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Today is eve of 26/11. Last year, 26/11/2008 as the drakness of night this beautiful city, Mumbai was attacked by 10 terrorists who killed at will. Some brave men came forward and put their lives on the line, without asking questions, pointing fingers or saying a word. They came forward for you and me. So that you and I can still fell the breeze in our face, enjoy a cup of coffee and laugh and sing as if there is no tomorrow. This blog, is a tribute to those brave souls and an attempt to keep the memory of that day alive. For a better tomorrow, so that we will not forget to our war. A war to clean this nation of the rot that is eating into the system. A rot that is making you and me complacent and most importantly a war to make this nation more and more prosperous one.

I have written a lot about a lot of things in my last one year, when I have posted every week in and out about a lot of things. Today I am gonna just talk about one or two articles Times of India and The Hindu , revolving around the 26/11 martyrs.


The first article is about what Kavita Karkare and Vinita Kamte have said in the last few days. The bullet proof jacket that Hemant Karkare was wearing went missing under unknown circumstances. Well, some (including me) believe that somebody is being protected here. Otherwise there is no need for it to go missing. Secondly, Home Minister Of India says "Sorry" to the martyr's wife for this. Just a sorry after he gave his life to save our asses! I believe, the state and Union home ministers should take it upon themselves to find the same and if they fail, then resign. If you can't find a jacket how will you find our security blanket?


Ashok Kamte's wife Vinita Kamte has gone to the extent of writing a book (Book's name is 'To The Last Bullet')about the unanswered questions surrounding her husband's murder. We know that Ashok Kamte was a man with iron balls. He once arrested a rowdy MLA on the street infront of glaring cameras and flash lights. This man has cleaned up a lot for us. A bold man's bold wife has put out some tough questions. Its a duty of you and me to help her find the answer. By the way, when somebody writes a book and asks some valid pointers can we investigate this? Can the courts take a suo-moto. The allegations are not simple, the event ain't simple and the person who is saying this is a martyr's wife. Don't we owe her at least that much respect?

As my strong support for her, I would be honoured to post some of the questions that she is asking.
1) Rakesh Maria (joint CP, crime) feign ignorance to then police chief Hasan Gafoor about ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s location at 00.56 am when the call log clearly indicated that he was at the Cama rear gate at 11.24 pm and the fact that he and Ashok were injured?’’

2) “Why did Maria deny calling Ashok to Cama despite the wireless log showing this?’’
3) “A police Jeep passed by the three vehicles with injured officers without stopping. They lay wounded for almost 40 minutes.”
4) “The control room did not send reinforcements despite Karkare’s orders.’’
5) “Where were the 200 cops that Mumbai police claimed to have sent to Cama hospital?’’

I would like you all to read this article from times of India about Tukaram Ombale's family

Daughter of slain assistant subinspector Tukaram Ombale, spoke at a school function on Tuesday. She refused to accept the Rs 3 lakh cheque that students of the Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institution had collected. “My father’s soul will not rest in peace if I accept this. He loved children, please use the money for their sake,’’ she said. Incidentally, the Ombales have never claimed any financial assistance, and have donated the money they get to poor and abandoned kids.


And a snippet from 'The Hindu' just prove a point that we still have Few Good Men Out There

For assistant police inspector Sanjay Govilkar, that was a night he does not wish to remember.

A bullet from Ajmal’s AK 47 grazed his waist and he was in hospital for a few days. It was Mr. Govilkar who stopped the policemen from beating up ‘Kasab’ as he lay there injured. All the adulation has not gone to his head.

“Success is the journey not the destination,” he says. “I did my duty that day and we all worked as a team.” He had just finished his duty when he went home and saw the breaking news on television.

“I was prepared for gangsters but I never imagined that we will confront terrorists directly one day,” recalls Mr. Govilkar, who was unarmed that night. “I always wanted to be a policeman and that day I was wearing my uniform, it gave me a unique courage.”

“I feel all this talk of ‘Kasab’ and our heroics is enough. We should go beyond this and learn to come together and live as Indians,” he concludes.

After that last sentence he has left me with nothing to to say. I paid a bribe to a policeman once. I don't regret it now. I will never bribe a bureaucrat, but a policeman? Its a totally different thing. When duty calls, there will always be one of them to answer, and I will sleep through a good night.

I salute the brave men irrespective of whether they were from the NSG, Mumbai police or firemen. Who ever they were, they saved us. One word to the politicians and the bureaucrats and the lobbying IPS officers and intelligence teams. There is still time, change.

JAI HIND

Intervew of R. R. Patil in Times of India

This is an interview of R. R. Patil from 'Times of India' , published last week. The Interviewer didn't have the balls to ask him questions in the face. I felt it was more of an interview to protect the Minister . I strongly believe that there was dereliction in executing his duties and it needs to be investigated. He was unable to keep the Police force ready, prepared and engaged for such a situation. Even now the police force cannot handle even a simple bomb blast, forget a fidayeen attack. The minister is answerable. So I have posted some in-line questions in blue. If some day somebody could ask the minister the same questions I would be really grateful.

‘There was no dereliction of duty on my part’

Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN

Fifty-three-year-old senior NCP leader R R Patil is not only back in the cabinet, but his political mentor, Sharad Pawar has again rewarded him with the home department. Post 26\11, with the Democratic Front government at the receiving end for inept handling of the situation, Patil, then deputy chief minister, quit the cabinet on moral grounds. In an exclusive interview to TOI, Patil spoke at length on his agenda, preparedness of the law enforcing agencies to tackle attacks and coordination between state and central intelligence agencies. Excerpts:
Q A month after the worst teror attack on the city, you quit the cabinet. What prompted the step?
A I resigned on moral grounds. My intention was to tell the people of Maharashtra we are accountable, we are alive to their feelings.
My Q. Where you not pushed out so that they have something to show to the people?
Q A year later, you are not only back in the cabinet, but you have been entrusted with the home portfolio. How you justify this gesture of NCP president Sharad Pawar? Is the period of accountability over? A There was no dereliction of duty on my part. Then no one visualised that terrorists will enter Mumbai from the sea, since so far, most terrorists had chosen Jammu-Kashmir to enter India. I think it’s a fresh opportunity for me to serve the people. We have learnt lessons from the past.
My Q. Did you show the same interest in stopping terror attack as in shutting down those dance bars and pushing a lot of girls into prostitution ?
My Q. Did you get enough funds to get proper arms and armours for the police force, and ensure they got only quality check material?
My Q. Why did you not order an investigation on all the top cops in the role they did on that night?
My Q. Was there any dereliction of duty by brave men like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar or Tukaram Ombale? Why are you getting rewarded and giving an 100 mm smile while their families are sobbing even today? Even before the first anniversay your are back as home misister, what happens to accountability?
Q What’s your agenda now ?
A We have modernised our police force. Now there is more manpower and weapons. Funds will not a problem. My top priority is to restore the confidence of the people and enhance the morale of the law-enforcing agencies. Intelligence reports received from the Centre are dealt with properly at higher levels. Senior IPS officials have been instructed to ensure even minor information is taken seriously.
My Q. Really, The SRPF men are making slums out of Gateway of India, they sleep on the road and have to wake up to bath at 4.00 am while you are fast snoring on your exchequer paid double bed, what about that? Those cops have to fear speeding cars more than bullets from terrorists. What say mate? You don't believe me, check out the same copy of Times of India that printed the interview.
Q Kavita Karkare, widow of Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the attack on November 26, has launched a frontal attack on the government...
A I have read her statements in a section of the media. From preliminary reports, it appears the bulletproof jacket used by Hemant Karkare is missing from the J J Hospital. It’s a serious matter. I have asked the crime branch to
probe the entire episode.
My Q. Missing? or was it made missing. Does it not become your responsibility to see justice is served as the state's home minister?
Q Was there a dereliction of duty at any level, in handling the terrorist attack ?
A I don’t think so. No one in the government, both at the Centre and state, visualised terrorists will attack via the sea route. But now, while the Coast Guard has been put on maximum alert, establishments on the sea shore have been asked to be more vigilant.
My Q. Actually I don't have any question. I just wanna say. Only dereliction of duty seems to be from the people who are electing you again and again. what a Shame
Q After the attack, you are back in home, then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is now a Union minister, officials dealing with the situation have been rewarded with plum posts. Is accountability over ?
A Prima facie, it appears we were unable to visualise the magnitude of the terror attack. Under such circumstances, it will be wrong to single out an individual for dereliction of duty.
My Q. Really . so two questions, Since a sea route attack has happened once can you assure that there will be no more sea route attacks? Secondly, now if somebody carries out an Ariel attack are you going to say, this is the first time and we could not visualise? Just a tip: If our ancestors thought the same way and lacked visualisation our civilization would not have reached here. So instead of taking Hindi lessons take some visualization lessons. for a better India.

Many people have told me that R. R. Patil is the cleanest man in the current government. May be yes. But he failed in his duty, and the cost we paid was dear. 58 lives, including some brave sons of this nation, who could have served this nation more and better. Not just R. R. Patil, but lots of politicians and policemen and officers of both state and national government. If Mumbai police or the CBI investigates this, we will never know the actual facts as they or their masters have a stake.

We need some other capable state or the judiciary itself to investigate and make people accountable. If there is another 26/11, I believe it will be the greatest sin we will be committing to our elder and future generations. Our politicians have a larger say in this. Will they for once love our country? Time will not tell, it will just record and it cannot be reversed.

Jai Hind

Marketing patriotism

I was just listening to one of our local FM stations on the way back home. The station was just about to play a very old patriotic song and i was really amazed at the way the RJ talked about the new generations remembering the nation in bits and pieces as if it was a piece of joke or as if an enemy is just rubbing it in. Also, the station had a contract with a Mobile company and was also trying to market that song to be set as the caller tone by referring to 26/11/2008. They have some award show on for 26/11 heroes, were the people are to nominate finalists (and what then? are we gonna have an SMS poll to choose the winner?)


Its really a shame how our corporate and media world treats the love for our nation and accuses us of not being patriotic enough. What respect are you giving to this nation? When Sachin Tendulkar made a very strong and patriotic comment there were some political leaders who tried to gain mileage from what Bal Thackery had to say. If you really care about this country why are you even giving these petty attentions seekers the bandwidth?

And after all this we complain about US asking China to play a role in Indo-Pak relations. When you are not united how can you face such a might?

I have just one thing to say. When you point finger remember that other four fingers are pointing at you.


Forget Patriotism, at-least lets do our job and make this country safe and prosperous.

Children on this day

[I was dumb enough to think that i clicked on publish button after clicking save on the 14th and was thinking that this got posted! lol ]

Hiya,

Another week is fast gone, and today is childrens day, and the first anniversary of 26/11 is very close too. This is a great time for introspection on what kind of world our next generations are coming into or growing up in. I am not talking about just the terror attacks, the torture and trafficking. Even in the day to day life, the kind of pressure the young minds are put into in their day today life is huge. The class works, the home works, projects , vivas, karate lessons, music lessons,etc, etc. It some times seems that they are busy than us. They argument is of course, getting them ready for the competitive world. Are we not making the world even more competitive by this.

Most of the time I have seen, the project works, the drawing works etc., being done by the parents. I just went through the Google's doodles on 'my India'. I was really amazed at the thoughtfulness of the young kids and the explanation they have given for their doodles. I was amazed to the extent that I could not believe that it was done by these kids alone. It seems in most cases that there were involvement of adults at some point. Especially by the reasons given for many of the doodles. From my experience of unholy involvement of adults in the kids interests

I am not really surprised at the good work done by the kids. My point is this, should this unholy involvement be made? Is it fare to the kids? Is it fare to make it so difficult for them first of All? Is the pressure that the previous generation has put on the next increased the intolerance in the society as a progression?

I cannot verify facts stated here, but still thought provoking

I got this as a fwd today. I cant comment on this, i cant verify the facts and I cant just believe this. So i will just keep quiet.

Politics is not a SERVICE anymore but a PROFESSION!!!

An Important Issue!

Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)

Monthly Salary :

Rs. 12,000/-

Expense for Constitution per month :

Rs. 10,000/-

Office expenditure per month :

Rs. 14,000/-

Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) :

Rs. 48,000/-

(eg. For a visit from South India to Delhi & return : 6000 km)

Daily DA TA during parliament meets :

Rs. 500/day

Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train :

Free (For any number of times)

(All over India )

Charge for Business Class in flights :

Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P...A.)

Rent for MP hostel at

Delhi : Free.

Electricity

costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units.

Local phone call charge :

Free up to 1, 70,000 calls..

TOTAL expense for a MP

[having no qualification] per year : Rs.32, 00,000/-

[i.e.. 2.66 lakh/month]

TOTAL expense for 5 years :

Rs. 1, 60, 00,000/-

For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years :

Rs. 8,54,40,00,000/-

(Nearly 855 crores)

AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS ASKING THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED, OUT PERFORMING CEOs TO CUT DOWN THEIR SALARIES...... This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities.........

And this is the present condition of our country :

855 crores could make their lives livable!!

Think of the great democracy we have…

Commonwealth games

Commonwealth games. Read this link and think. Quite Interesting

Election Won

Hiya,

So we have good news for somebody, bad news for some and no news for the common man. :) Congress is back.


Well, I put that line on the day elections results were announced. I did not post last week. I was quite busy. But that ain't an excuse. I made a promise to post once a week and I missed again.

Why this confession? I have tears in my eyes. I just finished watching the movie "Rang De Basanti". I dunno, the last time I watched this movie I ddnt feel so depressed. I don't this I have ever felt so depressed after watching/reading anything.

May be I have grown up from that young boy when I saw this movie the last time when it got released in theatres. May be I have started seeing the real world and started understanding it. I have to now agree with the majority, there is nothing that's gonna change in this country. Nothing.


The election results came. The undeserving and corrupt congress came back to power. Well the opposition, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine had nothing to offer too for the people to go for them. So we can't really blame the people. But the big story was the MNS. Raj Thackarey really deserves a pat on the back for accomplishing what he set out to do. ie. Not the well being of marathi manoos (which has lots to be wished and can't be reached by beating up rest of the Indians), but the under cutting of shiv sena and establishing himself.

But after watching this movie I feel like asking. Is anything that's gonna change after this election? Nothing. Nothing at all. Chagan Bujbal many news papers have said muscled his way to the Dy. Chief Minister's office (calling him the champion of OBC). Ashok Chavan successfully kept the CM's post and talked about 5 year test match and not 20-20 , about his new govt. No comments on development, security and well being of people.

Shiv Sena is gonna throng the streets 'Shiv Sena' style to rejuvenate itself . I will wait before I comment on MNS. Irrespective of what he has said and done before elections even Raj Thackerey deserves one chance. Shobaa Dee wrote out a valid letter to him in yesterday's Times of India issue.

Motor men struck work to press for demands and to show solidarity to their 'brother' , the deceased motor man Ramachandran, who courageously saved so many lives. What a noble way to show respect to a brave man- by keeping mothers away from their infant children, from keeping families apart and making even the old and the children walk and throng the buses and live hours of 'might is right' life. I don't understand how that brave man's soul will rest in peace when his so called 'brothers' are doing such dastardly acts in his name.

It's just a month away from the anniversary of 26/11/2008. How much has our country or even our city changed in this one year.

Rang De Basanti is just a movie. I surely have to conclude.

But still I will try to do my part. Will you?

Jai Hind

My first Voting experience

Today was an important day in my life. I voted for the first time. It was an awesome experience. For the first time in my blog I am going to write only about my personal experience and my thoughts about it.


Today morning I woke up at around 7.45. I had actually planned to wake up and go vote at 7 in the morning. But I slept late. Ok, its better I start from yesterday night. After coming from office at 10 in the night. I checked out Election commission's various websites, jagore.com and many other sites to find my polling booth and also the details of my candidates here. I could not find my polling booth, but in Maharashtra CEO's website I found information of my candidates. There were only 3 working links (each on a candidate of my constituency) of the 8 provided , of which all the working links were scanned copies of their application and 2 where in English and the other in Marathi. EC could not take the pain of getting the transcribed to soft copies or even post multiple Language versions of the applications. So I hit the sack at 1 in the night, not even a little bit more educated about the candidates.

In the morning as soon as I got up at 7.45 I just brushed and decided that the first thing I am gonna do is vote. As I was locking the door, I was thinking of 49-0 as I can't decide who is best for my constituency. I just know that the BJP guy is a semi builder (and Mulund is a gold mine for real estate business). The MNS wants people like me out of here and I dunno anything about the congress candidate other than he is an Advocate. I don't even know his name (Congress campaign was literally 0 out here). kewl!

So, now the mission was to find my polling booth. I first went to the nearest polling booth, who redirected me to my actual one. In-front of the booth I tried to find if my name was in the list with two parties who had set up stalls there. Nobody could find me in their electoral roll. Then one of the ladies there suggested me to go in and she was sure the electoral officers will find my name in the list. So after wasting almost an hour I went to the polling booth. There right near the entrance gate there was a huge crowd around a table. I thought that this was the official electoral table to find you booth and number, but before I could enquire somebody redirected me to the polling room.

Now this is where the fun starts. I went in, nobody was there ahead of me, my number was found in less that 2 seconds (Actually I noticed it on the list first). Now my name was called out aloud. All the representatives of various parties ticked my name in their list. Now, I declared 'I want No Vote'. There was sudden silence. Everybody started staring at each other. Nobody first understood. Then I said ' I want no vote as per 49-0 rule'(of course, in Hindi). Then the lady who called out my name said 'oh Ok' and said to the presiding officer that mine is a no vote. Now the problem was that nobody has come across anybody who wanted to cast a no vote. My name was put on register and remarked no vote. I was asked to sign.

Then the presiding officer asked me to wait there for a minute. People started coming in, all staring at me as if I just came out of zoo. All the party guyz were staring at me with those wryly smiles and that expression saying, if the cops were not here, you would have been dead meat.

I also smiled back in my typical 'I just f****** you' style. Then the presiding office checked all the documents he had, and since he could not find anything he called up his boss and asked "what's to be done if somebody wants to vote 49-0'? He was told that signing in the register is enough. Another lady , an electoral officer also crossed checked in their records and said that's enough. (Actually I had found this information on EC's website yesterday night on a 100 page pdf file). The officer said to me that I am free to go(by now it was 5 minutes since I had signed the register), I thanked him, shook hands and walked out. For the first time, I felt proud of myself after a good number of years. Borrowing words from Mrs. Obama . I am for the first time in my adult life proud of my country. Proud of my country because, how ever worse the condition is there is scope for improvement and that it can be done.


But, one point I would like to make is, what about the victimisation of such voters. One party member each of n number of parties was there, what if I am attacked or some kind of revenge is taken? I am not afraid, I am mentally prepared for any such thing. But, is that a reason for deterring people from going to vote and not asking for 49-0 even if they want to? We need to think. Also, is it not illegal to reveal my vote , even a 'No Vote' is a vote. So I have to reveal my vote at the polling booth? Is that not contradictory?

But, I am proud that I did the right thing for my constituency. I know, this does not change anything in today's election. But I am hopeful that in the long run it will. How? I have done 49-0 no vote. Till now we knew that only from forwards and orkut scraps. Well, here is the real proof. It is there. If you feel that there are no right candidates in your constituency, then use this weapon. Not for you, but for others.

(PS: two things, 1. I could not find any document on candidates being disqualified if majority votes are 49-0. 2. My criteria set for a good candidate was just three things. a. educated b.bipartisan and no criminal records c. who has managed to run a proper campaign - nobody was good enough).

We need to make an educated choice for this country and spread awareness. That's what we can do, to repay the martyrs of this great Nation.

VOTE FOR INDIA, VOTE FOR OTHERS.

VOTE IS NOT A RIGHT, VOTE IS A DUTY.

MUMBAI 26/11/2008 , Lets be prepared. Lets choose the right leaders.

JAI HIND

Chinese game of intrusion

Hi,

I know I missed last week's deadline. I am making this a habit. But I am trying to break it too. It was due to my inability to access to internet. Anyway my last week's post is here below.


There is a major security concern rising in our north eastern border. I am talking about the Chinese intrusions and diplomatic pressure tactics (Protest on Dalai Lama visit to Arunachal Pradesh). But I would like to first of all state that I am not concerned about a full blown war with China. There is lot at stake for China to risk, as much as India. I believe that the Chinese ploy here is intimidation, distraction and finally gradually extension of borders.

Let me take last line in the reverse order.

gradual extension of border: Chinese cannot just walk into India with million bullets and hundred bombs as they did in the 1960s. Now there is lot more international attention towards this part of the world, India is better equipped to resist and give good fight, if not win. Most importantly economy and international relations will be at stake. Of course, there is a possibility of nuclear war too(which i close to 0). Most importantly if a full out war takes place and that India bashes them, the whole concept of communist China will come into question. So I believe that This full out war is not probable. But to extent its strategic strong holds and to have better and easier land access to Pakistan and Afghanistan it needs to extend its borders. So while the Indian administration sleeps they just walk in paint rocks, send shepherds and after a few years claim that they have been there for decades. Wallah!

distraction: We know of many circumstances where the Chinese have been party to anti - India activities and propaganda. Latest example is the attempt to block the NSG waiver for nuclear agreement with USA. The Chinese might be just trying to have a distraction tactic for some other bigger scheme, may be to be carried out by somebody else. It might be just that they are playing the dummy. (If so then they deserve a Oscar). This might also be to distract their local population, where there is loads of resentment regarding the financial situation. Might be they need a reason to put patriotism to the cards and there is no neighbor who would even attempt to stand up to the Chinese other than India (Of course Taiwan and Hong Kong are there, but Chinese claim that to be part of them. So it will be harder to sell to the people.)


intimidation: Well, they are just pushing us to see who will blink first. That might give them another opportunity to prove to the international community who is bigger and who is stronger. We need to be concerned about this and should not take even a single wrong step. I believe that in this front our current govt is doing a good job. While the political leadership and the bureaucracy is sending out the 'everything is good' signal, the defense forces are preparing and making assessments. I believe that will be for the good.


Overall, I feel we should not over react, We should not give them an opportunity to corner us. Keep it simple. Officially play it down, be prepared and seal ever single inch of the border that can be done. Most importantly, don't pull out the troops from any other border (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal especially). Raise troops as per requirement. But reducing troops against any other border might just be what they are looking for.

We still have brave young men and women, ready to lay down their lives for this country at the blink of an eye.

26 11 2008, Lest we forget.

Polygamy in India

Today i read an eye opening article in 'Times of India'. It was on polygamy. Its said that in India more Hindu men practice bigamy than muslim , when the law does not allow the Hindu men to do so. The Muslim men are allowed to do so by law. Yes, you might remember that I once had blogged saying that this should be repealed and that all men are equal should be treated equal by law. Also, the article does not talk about Polygamy practiced by women, or if it does exist.

Also there were much more split ups like South Indians are more in practicing the same , adivasis are another dominant group. All these facts made me think a little bit about this polygamy thing. Where is this leading us to? In Hindu mythology there were polygamy quoted in many places. Ironically, the most famous one is of course of of Draupadi who had 5 husbands. Also, of King Dasharatha, Shri Rama's father who had three wives. The first one where Draupadi has 5 husbands, in reality each husband represents a separate quality eg: Yudhishtira represented truthfulness and so on for other 4 brothers. In the second case, the Kind did not have a child to rule his kingdom after him. Similarly the Quaran says that a man can have upto 4 wives when in a state of war (and similar instances where women may out number men).

So basically no religion promotes polygamy, its us that are misrepresenting them for our vices So I believe we need to do two things. 1) Blanket ban on polygamy 2) Heavy price for somebody who practices it irrespective of reason.(including the silent spectators).

Elaborating my point. We should make Polygamy or bigamy completely illegal. People should not be just allowed to convert to Islam and just remarry.(famous Fiza Chand case and many more). No Indian citizen should have the legal right to marry again when the first wedlock is still on.

Secondly, If some body is involved in Polygamy, the should pay a heavy price for it. Not just them but other involved, but who did not blow the whistle. Example, there was this Indian engineer who died in Afganistan who had a second wife. She did not get anything from the compensation of the govt. Well, I would say, she should have got some amount of it , but both her and the first wife should have been heavily penalized. Well, it might sound a bit rude. But thats the fact, we need to take that kinda actions. We should penalize, the involved parents, the witnesses and most importantly the person who conducted the rituals.

But then the question is, what if the next generation (my generation) the way it is, just decided 'we don't care'. They just decide that they will live together and not marry. Well, I believe in that case the law cannot do anything unless the first spouse complains. Will that happen in our society where social stigma is more feared than AIDS? May be my suggestion will force the next generation to pass of the the institution of marriage. Somebody, when Article 377 (stigmatizing Gay and transsexuals)was scrapped by HC Delhi said to me, "what are they going to do next? legalize orgies?". Well, I believe my suggestion is better than legalizing polygamy. It will at least make the message clear to the citizens. "We don't allow it, but you practice its your problem, and hey, if somebody blows whistle mate, you are screwed".

Its a serious problem that I believe is eroding our cultural values, especially sending out a misrepresentation of our culture to the rest of the world and to our next generation. Institution of marriage is not just about needs and satisfaction. Its much more than that and first one is commitment to be number 1 to somebody in their life and make sure that they are number 1 in ur life. Not just that they are number 1, but that there can be no other number.


People who are shouting about our cultural values eroding, may be they should re align their priorities. It will help this country much more.

Indian Parties and democracy

Well, there is loads of stuff happening with regard to BJP. Lots of people shouting loads of things while their rivals are having field weeks than field days. I was gonna write about BJP and how things are not working in its favor. That's when two things struck me

1) Is this attention working in favor?
2) What's so different from other parties?

Lets look at these questions one by one. Taking the first one, actually in the long run this controversy if properly handled (some say it is being stage managed) , will be in the best interest of BJP. If BJP in about 6 months or 1 year down the line portray itself as a survivor and as party that is growing then this whole controversy happened in its favor. Simple, when an economy grows fast compared to other economies we say its doing best. We never actually consider whether the economy that grew was from 1 million to 10 million where as the one compared to is growing from 50 million to 55 million. Basically, we never give credit to the existing size. The same logic applies here.

So the point is, any publicity is good publicity in politics (if u can use it to vantage). BJP is right now the most talked about party in this country. In fact, this controversy even though has nothing to do with Hindutva (all it has to do is with partitioning of India and BJP's poll debacle) has put it on the top of the list. Especially with RSS getting involved and all the talk about tradition and history, it seems the the road is leading to Rome. lol

But, if BJP's top leadership is sensible enough, they would rather make a attempt to realign Hindutva ideology to an inclusive hindutva. They should by now have a clear idea that they won't be able to break into the new generation with exclusive agendas.


Coming to the 2nd question that I put up. I should rather say that every party in India has a super body. So Congress and other parties who are accusing BJP of being RSS run and BJP accusing Congress of being a family party holds no ground. Look at this

BJP - Sangh Parivar
Congress - Nehru Gandhi family
Communist - Russian policy, China and 'Adarsh' (of which some really defy logic)
BSP - Kanshi Ram and now Mayawati
SP - Mulayam Singh
DMK - Karunanidhi

And its just the toppers list. Every single party needs a super body. If its a single leader when that person passes away and don't find a proper replacment they either merge with somebody or live as a shadow and in history. Of all these lot, the communist seem to be better, but with some senior leaders manipulating the party or the party protecting them even from prosecuting(eg: Pinaray Vijayan) its going the same way. Not a single party has a proper transitional ability or interdependency. All are either hard bound to ideology or to some people. Its one of the reason why bringing change seems to be impossible in this country.


If we don't change for good, it will be the greatest disrespect to our Martyrs.

Mumbai, 26.11.2008. Always in our memories.

I am sorry that I could not post for last two weeks. Its not that I forgot or missed. I had written the 2 blogs, one of which i thought was too small a post and the other was not verified. So the last two weeks posts are still pending. I will post them soon


Coming to our this week's to post, as expected I am going to talk about the Jaswant Singh's book on partition and the whole hoopla surrounding it. First of all, I would like to say that everybody has the right to express their opinion. Jaswant Singh did just that by saying that Jinnah is not the only person to be blamed here.

But on a deeper thought, why is it that we are reopening the wounds of partition unnecessarily? There is a school of thought that believes that this is a strategy from within BJP to project itself as nationalist and to hog the lime light by firing Jaswant Singh. But I would say that again that they are on the wrong side, since the current generation strongly believes in free speech.

If somebody is showing us a different point of view we should give him/her a chance. We are intelligent enough to decide if we do want to take that point of view or not.

If we are going to fight on each and every book written then we will never be able to overcome partition. If we don't we , we won't be able to prevent further attempts to break this nation.

Our martyrs will never forgive us if that happens.

Past and Future. Are they tense?

Its yet another week on. I have always spoken about politics, social activism, security and lot more. But today I am gonna start of with something different. Something that may seem nothing but is really important.

This Sunday i was on a one day picnic to a beautiful waterfall near my city. The group I went with consisted of families working with a govt agency. I was the only guy from my age group. People elder than me were at least 10 years elder and the younger once were at least 8 years younger. We did all the stuff that most of us do in a picinic. Sing dance etc. But when the day was coming to the close, on our way back in the bus, the High scool and college going kids started a debate. I joined. Lot of issues, starting from NSG to killing stray dogs. It was fun. But it was later on my way back home in a taxi that i thought about it. 5 or 6 years back, when we used to do the same kinda trips we never had debates. We never spoke on social issues. It was simply out of bounds.

Yes, that's when i really felt good about the trip. Our next generation is more aware, much more ready to ask questions and most importantly ready to step out and make a difference. One thing that we all (yes, including me) wanted to do , but never had the balls to. These kids need support and guidance and am pretty sure they will make a difference.

The past at the same time is not living up to the expectations. Yes, I wanna continue from where I left last week. P M Manmohan Singh, gave a speech yesterday on the now christened 'Egyptian Blunder'. He was yet again 'not convincing'. I really do not understand what he is saying. We have nothing to hide so we can let Baloch be on the statement. Damn it, they are now gonna use it to internationalize the issue. We have to prove to the whole world that we are not involved. Congress has been in power for most of the last 60 years of Indian existence. But we never allowed it on any official document. Why? And haven't this one document undone everything?

About the NSG, he says there is no consensus b/w 45 nations in the NSG on new G-8 adopted document. Mr P M , how much time does it take to come to consensus? In how much time did they come to consensus that they should allow us to import nuclear technology? Also, about NSG having to consult us. Last time the U.S. administration was on our side. The famous Bush-Jiabao phone call that allowed the deal to go through. This time the U S is on the other side.

I am absoluty not convinced by the debate yesterday. Secondly, the congress second line of defence (Aiyar, Tharoor, etc) are henpecking us to believe what the PM said. Doing something the Americans used to accuse the Russians of, during the cold war era- 'Tell a lie 100 times and it turns to truth' . I dunno whether the Russians really did that, but hear at least, these guys are twisting the facts and saying it 100 times if not telling lies.

Diplomacy La Riducle!

The ridiculous title for this post explains completely what I am gonna talk about here.

India's diplomats are supposed to be one of the best in the world. Well educated, experienced and grown through a strong hierarchical structure. Also the kind of selection procedures they come through they should be the best in the world.

The politicians who make it big as Ministers also the same can be said. The kinda of under cutting, backstabbing and partisan stuff that happens in India , they should be be brilliant.

But last one week this two groups joined together and committed a series of blunders.

First at the G8 summit , they didn't get even the wind that the Obama Administration is gonna push for an agreement on not selling ENR parts to non-NPT signatory nations. They simply sat there smiling while the whole thing got accepted. Then came out with a statement that it does not concern them. Oh ya, it does not concern ya , bcz u all are retiring in an year or so. rite?

But, to be frank though we are not back at square one we still have taken quite some steps back. But basically it has negated one of the major agreements of the nuclear deal. In Anil Kakodkar's words 'It s a breach of trust', and what our diplomats and politicos are doing about it ? Oh ya! they are coming out with statements like 'Its not aimed at us ' and that kinda stuff. Really? If its not against us, is it against the Romans?. Its clear even to a common man that, we are the only non NPT signatory nation that has an NSG exemption. So basically its just for us.

Then our PM made the biggest possible blunder of Baluch being mentioned in the joint -statement, and his reason. Oh ya! we ain't got anything to hide. So why worry? Are you mad. Even I, without any diplomatic or Political experience know that this gives Pakistan an opportunity to equate Baluchistan to Kashmir. That's ridiculous. When there was Pakistan's army fighting in Kashmir, in disguise, we have nothing to do in Baluchistan. We have never had anything to do there. But now, we are giving them a stick to beat us with. Yes, if there is any Indian involvement or has ever been, we need to investigate and put a stop to it. Also ensure it never happens again. But damn it! you are putting that on a joint statement?

Also, in the same statement came this, action on terrorism not to be independent of composite dialogue process. Oh ya! Last week u were telling me over the news papers that unless we see some real action on 26/11 perpetrators there ain't gonna be a talk. So whats this whole de-linking thing out here? Also the foreign secretary says it might be bad drafting. Oh really, then whats the difference b/w my small time engineering degree and all ur Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge and what not degrees. Next time when your on an diplomatic mission gimme a call. I will ask one of my Alma-mater 's English teacher to accompany you. Actually my History teacher would have done a better draft. Absurd!

Then we signed an end user inspection agreement with the Americans. Yes, when Madam Clinton was here. So basically the Americans get full access to our military installations? Oh yea, we have a special agreement on hand rite, we get to choose where they are gonna inspect! Oh ya. we are gonna move the whole rocket launcher system out of the actual location for the Americans to inspect and then put it back? And that too just because we use a bulb whose tungsten was manufactured in America? Somebody please knock on the heads of the diplomats and find out if anybody is in there, plz! Guess what, the govt is saying, such an agreement was on since 1997. So the Americans get a free tour of our Military installations, that too since 1997? Then I am paying tax every year. I wanna see what guns you are buying with my money. Show me the guns baby.

May be I am sounding a bit too angry, but guys really! We have made some blunders and we need to ensure that we fix them.

Infrastructure , the new game

Infrastructure has been the name of the game for quite some time now in India. The union government has it as one of the topmost priorities. That 's really good. But is it materializing? Well, I am not so sure. The red tape and the politicians have been accused for all the delays, in-activeness and what not.

There are very few projects that are completed on schedule within deadlines in this country. why?

1) We have the long red tape. which because of its length and thickness cannot be called a tape anymore ! lol

2) The contractors, sub contractors, the developer nexus, labor problems

3) Non co-operation from citizens

4) Stay orders from court after court.

5) Gimmicks for vote banks from various political outfits.


and many many more!

Lets take the example of Bandra Worli sea link. It too soooooooooooo long! I read in a paper that the idea was first mooted some 40 years back! If that true! Damn!


There is a reason for me to write this post. This week began with a pretty bad news! a double accident at a Delhi metro construction site. Well, the politics has already started. The communist leader DasGupta says that "Labourers are slaughtered like Pigs". That is too much of a comment I would rather say. At the same time, I would say that the second accident was clearly avoidable. When you know that you have had an issue then why not be a little more serious about it? The company that has contract for construction at that site is supposedly having a history of accidents. They had some issues in Hyderabad metro construction. This Monday night, I heard, there was a small accident at Mumbai metro site managed by the same contractor. We should have better procedure for identifying and blacklisting contractors for their faults.

Also, we saw clearly on T V, that even after the second accident when three fourth of a huge crane was up on air, people were standing right under it and staring up. There was no safety procedure.

I think we need a commission right now , to create a standard operating procedure for all infrastructure projects at national level. It should have authority to decide on everything starting from budget to working environment. It should not be creating a set of rules, but a protocol and skeleton on all aspects of project and finally there should be strict law to ensure that the SOP is adhered to at all circumstances, across the country.

There should be strong penalties for over shooting budget, time frame and flouting of employee safety conditions. There should also protection for projects from political interventions, strikes for vote banks and unnecessary and repeated injunctions and stays from court. I feel that loads of infrastructure projects are delayed by the court injunctions for years.

We should rather have a cooling period b/w declaring a project and actual start of work. That is, between a project finalization and actual start of work, there should be time gap of 30 to 60 days, by when if there are any objections against the project should be raised in a court of law or with the designated commision if any. There authority (court of law or commision), should be bound to give a verdict in at most 90 days and appeal and verdict in high court should be completed within 6 months. So Basically, we can ensure that external and un foreseen forces don't delay the projects.

Infrastructure is very important for nation building, any nation.

Even when 26/11 happened, better infrastructure would have helped to clear more people or may have allowed the forces and govt to respond at a faster pace. We know that the NSG stationed in Delhi had to get a flight from Chandigarh to come to Mumbai. They reached almost 9 hours after the first strike and by then the damage was done.

Better infrastructure might have changed the results for better. Will we learn and speed up? Time will tell.

We have a landmark judgment rendered last week by the Delhi High Court. That criminalization of gays is illegal. I welcome the order.

We need to understand that even gays, lesbians and trans genders have a right to life and most importantly a right to pursuit of prosperous and happy life. Their sexual preference must not be road block to that. What their sexuality is , is there private thing. As long as they don't thrust it upon us, its ok.

Already many religious leaders have started protesting. Most vocal, is a member of All Personal Muslim Law Board. Its just a matter of time before some Hindu radicals also joins them. There is one positive thing. For once they will be on the same side! lol

But the most Important thing that we have to understand here is that, we should not get blown away by all the hoopla. The message should be this 'Being Gay is ok'. If somebody is gay. Its ok. The have a problem and they are dealing with it(or living with it) in their own way. Its ok to speak to them, know them and hang out with them. But its should not send the wrong message to the next generation that being Gay is something glamorous. They are watching. The message we have to sent out is, 'Its ok if you are gay'.

But this opens up a lot more of issues. Like right to Marry, right to adopt. I personally feel that they should be nothing that stops them from marrying and living a life of their own. But when it comes to adoption I am totally against it. Simply because , when adopting another life comes into picture. A life that is not yet in a position to decide for itself whats good and whats bad for it. In such a case I would prefer that life to grow in a normal environment. Lets not try to be politically correct here and be frank. Being gay may be natural, but its not normal or common. The child should grow up in an environment where its can grow up with all possible opportunities and all possible normal influences.

This judgment will also allow social workers better access to the community. It will give them a sense of security to open up and most importantly help us tackle diseases like AIDS easier. That is absolutely the best thing that I see in this judgment. I would seriously hope that the government is not arm twisted by the religious groups into challenging this order. I think the government sees an opportunity here to fix the law while holding the High Court order as shield from religious groups. If i borrow the words from Times of India 'shooting from High court's shoulder'. lol. But Times got it right and its for good!

But I think, this a landmark judgment with a lot of repercussions, its for a better good.

For once, Gay Ho! lol

Anyway, This makes our society stronger and more inclusive. One more reason for being patriotic.
One more reason to thank Martyrs that we could see this day.


Mumbai 26/11/2008. Let there be no repeat of that day.

Our Girls

Well, there is a lot of talk about women empowerment these days, and i could not keep away from the topic. Well, there is an immediate cause for this post of mine too.

SAINA NEHWAL. This girl has done wonders to the image of Indian women in a positive way. The media is yet to accord her a super star status. But she is really one of our best women achievers. Today I read in Times of India there was this 3 column interview of Saina where she said that she was more famous in Malaysia and Indonesia than in India. That's a matter of shame for us, i believe.

When our parliament is mooting 33% reservation for women, this girl has got there with most of the odds against her. She has done us proud and the govt has even forgotten to give her the prize money promised. She has to be the real face of Indian women and an inspiration for many of our Indian girls.


Forget Saina, Indian girls have done us proud across times, we have but always forgotten them. The Indian women's cricket team did us so proud in the last 50 over world cup and the recently concluded T20 world Cup. But we are still cribbing about what the boys did. The girls did not make it to even the first sports page, forget the front page in many news dailies.

We remember our women only for their mini skirts and deep necks, and that's a real shame. Many guys can swear on good lord the skirt size of Sania Mirza , but never her highest ranking. That's the state of our support for our own girls. Still these girls are making it big, again and again and again. Still we find it very easy to forget them. Today our girls have grown so strong and open minded that they are joining the armed forces. They don't have strong bodies as many men, but many men don't have their strong minds or resolve.

Another lady who comes to my mind is Nirupama Rao, our ambassador to China. I read, she was summoned early morning around 2 am by the Chinese foreign office and she replied to the call of Duty.I saw a photograph in Times of India during the just completed general election , where i saw the pic of a young police girl , white, not too tall, well dressed in her cop uniform, holding a auto rifle giving a million dollar smile as she guarded a polling office. My chest swelled with pride to say the least.

I recently saw an add of the Dove soap. I was just thinking, if we were to portray our real women. It should not be women who win elections because her husband is somebody big, or because of her caste. It should not women who went places because she knew people in high places.

We have loads of schemes that are already up and are on anvil for women empowerment. But the real need is for an action plan and targets. People of quality don't need reservations, all they need is support. There are hundreds on Saina, Nirupama and that young copgirl. We don't need to find them. We just gotta create an environment where they get a change. They will FIND US.

That will take us one step closer to beautiful, peaceful and prosperous India.

FOR what many martyrs have give their life.

Pradhan Committee report is coming

Media is going berserk. Yup, I still in the sports page and I am still with my anti- media ramblings. Its not that i really hate the media or something(I owe a lot to media, especially the newspapers). But what they are doing right now is simply absurd.

Yesterday, Avantika Singh on Headlines Today said , when Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and Laxman have all been role models, the current Indian captain is 'arrogance personified'. Many media houses took pot shot at the Indian team. I agree that team did not do well, may be they did not try hard enough and all. But that does not give you the right to settle scores. The more these media houses are gonna go after the team, the more easily the fans will forgive the team. Well, who gives a damn when u can make a quick dime. right?


Anyway, the more important topic is the Pradhan Committee report on Mumbai terror attacks. It's being alleged from various quarters that The Mumbai Police Commisioner, was transferred because of some text against him in the report. Well, if its because of the text, then why is he being given a promotion transfer? Well need to kick him out. Also, what about the others. Why only the police is being investigated and why the political establishment is not under the scanner? I would like to see some text on political and bureaucratic establishment too on the report.

But more important information(that i felt) was that The ATS chief Hemant Karkare was lying on the floor near cama hospital, very close to the police quarters for almost half an hour. May be he could have been saved? Already, Mr. Kamte's wife has alleged that there are many things that have gone wrong and that she should be heard. Also, the Committee's purview is only limited to what happened that night and suggestions, but what about what has happened after that night? Does the Committee have the right to investigate how the Police , bureaucracy and the political establishments have changed themselves since 26 11 2008 ?

All I can say is that , I am eagerly waiting to see whats on the report when its tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly later this week.

Also, It will be great dishonor to our brave boys if we don't learn from our past mistakes. The biggest in my personal opinion.

I hope another 26 11 2008 never happens.

Support for Dhoni

Just in my last post i talked about media being high handed and see what is happening. Dhoni is literally being assaulted. First of all, there were not even the slightest indications of a tiff within the Indian team. Secondly, a captain has the right to be angry with a player of his. There are 15 individuals out there. There can be personality clash. If two persons have a go at each other, you can't just say that , they are not in speaking terms.

There could be tiff, but when no media house in this country is ready to come forward with proof i feel that they should hold their silence. This is typical yellow page reporting. The Indian media is literally manufacturing news. Headline Today showed the Dhoni and a media person having a go at each other during the press conference. But they comfortably showed only that part and skipped the build up. Well i should say, irrespective of competitive spirits, cross cutting and undercutting one thing that we all need to learn from Indian jurnos is the way they close ranks when one of them is being proved wrong or credibility being questioned.

I liked the way Dhoni handled the issue. He came out and made it clear , now more than once , that he ain't gonna take any nonsense. Especially, when he asked the jurno "am i leaking the news", "All of you are here, if u feel I am leaking, stand up and say now", conspicuously, always questioning media did not have an answer. I read in Times of India, saying the way the press meet was held and the team stormed out (the show of unity meet) was unbecoming of an Indian team and unprecedented. They also said this was never done by a previous captain. Well, two things. One, There is always a first time. Second, you asked for it.

The Indian media is unnecessarily distracting the team's attention, by creating a mountain out of a mole hill (even if there are some issues). Instead of focusing on a Dhoni Vs Shewag tiff, if they media could concentrate more on, why a player was allowed to fly to a international tournament of highest grade, when he was not even close to passing the fitness test. Why there is no pre-travel policy for inclusion of players, and if captain wasn't briefed before flying about injuries, then why?. If Indian media concentrates on these issues, it will do greater good for Indian cricket and may be even contribute for a better Indian team.

If there is a tiff, media has to report. It has to tell the fans. But, timing is even more important. Indian media is now doing greater damage to the team and the reputation of the nation with this shallow reporting at this juncture. Dhoni's in your face attitude really deserves good comments. Indian media needs to understand that they can't get away with this every time. This time they have taken on cricket, which is religion for our people. This time they are on the wrong side. I still haven't found one person who ain't on Indian Team's side.

Media Gehetto

I personally believe that media plays the most important role when it comes to nation building, national integration and educated population. By educated, i do not mean literate. Even if we look at our history, the Independence movement was inspired and fed by the media. The strong media , without any fear of the administration had inspired the masses. It helped great leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Azad, Tilak and many more to capture the imagination of the people.


But today the same national media that has such a colorful history has lost its plot completely. Journalism today is still a service, but not a social service but a commercial service. I really feel that the major reason for the misdirection of main stream media is a direct capitalist influence. Its more like , 'don't cast a news if you can't sell the news' and lack of quality. Take any product range, there will be quality products and not so good products packaged hi-fi. Same is for the news today in India 'Amitabh Bachan ne cheka' and that too in a 16 point bold lettered breaking news.

Let me break down on what i feel our media needs to improve.

1) Language quality- I read 'Times of India' every day. The number of spelling mistakes and grammatical mistakes the paper makes is really appalling. Its not the only paper, I have found the same in many major dailies like DNA, Hindstan Times etc. Times of India is supposedly one of our flagship newspaper, giving us a sense of pride. It carries really good articles too (I never miss a Jug Surraya article), including about English language (One of the best articles i have ever ready in any news paper comes from the same one which delt with importance of comma in English language)

I make a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes, but there is a difference between me making a mistake and Times or any other major media house making a mistake. Infact i would say, lot of us readers are influenced by the articles, we pick up words and spelling from papers. If they are gonna screw up then its not good.

2) Presentation quality - This is something I found common in most TV Channels like NDTV, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today and a lot more . eg: "Market went up by 200 points. The BSE shot from 12800 to 13000. 200 points is what the market gained. The day opened in 12800 and closed in 13000'

Well, could we not have finished that in a max of two sentences 'Market opened at 12800 and closed at 13000 shooting by 200 points'. Many presenters complicate things, repeat or rephrase a lot confusing the normal viewer. I some times feel like laughing at these guys. These same channels cut their guests to go into commercial breaks. Can't we reduce this Mumbo Jumbo and show ADVs there. Also, the viewer is not a computer, she is gonna lose interest and go for the remote.

3) Commitment to National Interests - This is something I found lacking in most mainstream media. 26 11 2008 mumbai terrorist attacks really proved that our media gives more importance to commercial interests than to national. Well, the defense team had specifically requested the media to not show any operational activities live and guess what may media houses delayed relay by few minutes. Some Jurno's even tried to interview officers in action.

There was this great article in Times of India where a female jurno describes what she saw on that day and how one of the jurno from a channel crawled to soldier who had take position and tried to interview him. NDTV's Barkha Dutt even issued a note saying NDTV delayed relay by 10 minutes. Well, for NDTV 10 mins may be life time but for national welfare it ain't. All the main stream media houses went live that day with the action thriller right out side our windows.

Media houses should act in a more responsible way , not showing live means, not give out any details that would help the enemy to change the outcome of our defense action. Now think abt the delays provided by media houses ? I even posted a reply to Barkha's post on NDTV website, but never saw my reply posted for next two days. I then did not follow up any more.

Another interesting case is that of CNN-IBN and the cash for vote scam. CNN-IBN took the video, did the sting operation, but did nothing from its side to stop a national tragedy from happening and then we saw wades of notes in the parliament and a national shame was broadcast live, replayed and again by many mainstream media houses.

4) Ethics - This is some thing really missing in today's media. There is nothing but sensationalism in there. 'If there ain't a story, lets manufacture one' seems to be the mantra of today's media. I can think of a lot of specific instances but will mention two to prove my point. One, the news report that Sehwag and Dhoni are having a tiff. After the strong statement from Dhoni, no media house has had the balls to speak of that story again. None is coming forward and providing proof for what they reported. I strongly back Dhoni in the way he responded.

Another case of Poonam Yadav, who was a strong contender in the show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa of Zee TV. Some gossip column reported about an alleged affair of this young girl with her mentor Ismail Darbar without any proof and just because she was hospitalized they said she had gone through abortion and tried suicide. Well, where is proof. When Editors allow this kinda story they should ask for verification to their journalists. She is an easy prey also since she is poor and the media house knows she can't afford to take them to court. I did a Google search on this girl to see how her career has shaped after the show (since she was my fav contender of that year) and I could find no website with the Info, instead all fed me with this news and that's how i came to know of this. The girl came forward to clear the air and call this character assassination. I also remember a Delhi teacher being maligned by a Hindi news channel sting.

Well,I feel we need stronger laws against such indecent publications. In Italy, you can't publish a person's photo without his permission. Well, I won't go that far, but still believe that we need to protected the common man more.

5) Follow ups - Our media never follows up on any issue. They write when an issue is hot or when it has a element of sensation or sting or any thing. But never follow up unless they get some really good sound bytes that will re sensationalize the issue. I completely dis agree with this attitude. Even the American Media acts in a more responsible way when it comes to follow ups.

I can think of a lot more, but i will stop this here since this post is getting too long. Will continue in another post.

I hope that our media will be more responsible at the face of another 26 11. Self restraint has been show by citizens, can media do the same is a very important question.

Back in action

Well, the title goes for both me and congress. Bfr explaining that let me just say "Congratz Congress".

Well, about the title. I had made a promise to make a post in this blog every week at least once and for last few weeks I haven't kept it. It's not because I forgot or smtng. It was just a simple thought that , when the political storm is on high, there will be loads of people in the virtual world passing their both educated and not so educated comments. I just wanted to take a break in the meanwhile and just shut up. I believe that a a whisper to a silent audience is more powerful that a 100MW speaker to a boiling Mob. So i just waited so that everything settles down.

Leaving all those out. Lets come to the core. I have been heavily critical of congress like many other blogger and critics and all. But there is one difference between me and many of them. Just because congress won I aint gonna go singing glory songs for congress. I still have many apprehensions about congress rule and I still believe that PM Manmohan Singh is a weak PM. If you cant get the benefits of your hard work across to the people , you should be ready for that tag.

I find it difficult to disguise my doubts on how congress is going to handle National Security with their horrible track record. Many analysts say that Mumbai by electing all its MPs belonging to the UPA has trashed the BJP's claims on National Security. Thats not true. I believe MNS played a huge role. I believe that if MNS was not there in the picture it might have been a reverse sweep.

But one advantage of having congress back is with regard to the economy. There is no better party in this country right now who can handle economy better, even though Pranab Mukherjee is political choice. I believe that somebody more educated and well versed with the economy should have been given charge.

The PM has said that this govt has to perform and the people are watching them in his first cabinet speech. But let me categorically state "Congress has fumbled in the first step". It has made some poor choices when it comes to ministerial berths. I am very sad that Sashi Tharoor did not make it as External Affairs minister. PM said, talent and experience was the major criteria. Well it does not seem so. If it was, I cant think of any other person having more international good will than Sashi Tharoor in the current parliament. His vast experience with the UN is not being fully utilized. Also , A. Raja had come under serious criticism for squandering the opportunity with regard to the 3G auction. Still he is back. I feel, congress has not faced arm twisting by allies in a bold way. Congress could have said a blunt no to A. Raja and DMK would not have been able to do a damn thing about it. If it does, it would have to sit out of power for next 5 years as there are a lot of parties outside the congress Gate to offer support. Also , no party would have the balls to go to a second Round General Elections. The Good Will for congress would alone have routed them all. The choice of the new speaker also seems to be more of a Photo-op rather than an educated selection. Of course, congress is well known for Photo-ops.

As far as the swan song singers for Rahul Gandhi is concerned all i gotta say to them is "Shame on You'. I have read some really critical statements about Rahul Gandhi and some real praises for Priyanka before elections. 80% have turned around to sing for Rahul. If the so called Rahul's strategy in U P, had back fired I just can't think of what comments would have come out on him. I still believe Rahul Gandhi has a long way to go before taking up a ministerial position and a lot to learn. I hope he learns that real India is not just a cow shed but also the jam packed Mumbai local and Delhi's fast track blue line buses.

Anyway, I wish the very best to congress and our country. The people have given a strong mandate to the Congress and a strong warning to divisive forces and Regional Parties. I really hope that congress would shun its pseudo-secularism and be really secular in all aspects of the Indian Government. Also, I hope they give due Importance to national security and not put a old man with a turban on T.V. to say "We wont bend our back to these attacks" without even a blink(few more blasts and we won't have a back to bend). I hope that they are able to revive the economy faster than expected with some quality and bold decisions keeping all its citizens aspirations in mind.

Hope a 26/11/2008 never happens again.


JAI HIND

BJP Vs Congress

So another week is gone. Today we had the first phase of elections. Its great news that we had 60% voter turnout. The bad news is the Maoist attack on some polling booths. Its regrettable that we could not stop it. But such incidents are expected, considering the number of antisocial elements in the country. I should salute all the polling officials and the security personnel who are ensuring a smooth election. They are the real keepers of this democracy. Even the EC, which has come under severe criticism(including me) deserves due credit for the efforts it is putting in. But we have a long way to go, 4 more sessions. All the Best & Thanks to all of you guyz.


Well, Politics is really high steam right now and there are some nasty comments on the air. First of all, Security. I still believe that Congress is weaker than BJP when it comes to national security. I don't think congress has the balls to protect this country, especially with there vote bank pseudo secular agenda. Well the nastiest of the comments has been made by congress too, when it comes to national security. They are implicating the BJP for releasing terrorist when AI plane was hijacked to Kandhahar. I think they are being unfair to the BJP. Any Indian government would have done that to save its citizens. Congress would have done it even faster. I personally don't agree with releasing terrorists, but any govt would have done that. The congress comment that they had instead killed the 10 terrorists in Mumbai. Let me ask, "Mumbai is inside India. You did not ensure that they never entered, where as neither Nepal nor Afghanistan is inside India. Also You killed 10 terrorists after they killed 168. It took 3 days to clean 10 guyz from our own city. You could not even raise a finger against Pakistan. Your home minister changed suit three times, your PM could not even console us forget inspire. What happened to the other dozen blasts? Have u been able to arrest even one of those bombers?" National Security, i believe BJP would do better. The provocative action after the parliament attack was a clear example to this. where as the PM could not even inspire us, or console us after the mumbai attacks. If there is one more attack and if i survive, i want a PM who can at least give me hope of another day. Though I am not confident Advani will be able to do that, but i am sure he will be better than Dr.Singh.

But when it comes to economics, I think congress is way ahead. I really don't think BJP is even in the same league. Congress not only has really good economists, but also a good strategy till now. Though they have committed blunders and even politically motivated moves, still they have been better that BJP. So for finance my vote goes to the Congress.

Education is another major factor, where neither the congress nor the BJP has been able to impress me. I personally feel that both of them try to push their ideologies. Having done education from a communist state i actually think Communist is better. But with them will come more politicizations of campus. So i will not choose anybody. (SP guyz- if u are ready to ban education and not just English may be i will think of voting for u. lol)

Industries - Again, I think congress has done better than BJP here. But with somebody like modi in the ranks i think BJP is catching up very quickly in this front.

Agriculture - No vote. absolutely no vote. Other than declaring perks and giving free bees no government or party has really made an attempt to solve the problems in this front. Actually, the response of our political fraternity to this field proves that our political and overall administrative system is reactive and not proactive. This sadly, has been inherited from our colonial masters. They had this kind of system because they were not answerable to the people they were ruling, also we were just instruments for profit for them. This interpretation of how the system works has to change, and this has to start from the agricultural sector.

Corruption- All the parties are in the same boat here. But still i would rather go for the BJP, because congress has a notorious ability to infiltrate the not yet infiltrated government institutions. Starting from EC to the President's office are clear examples. What are the credentials of Pratiba Patil to be Indian President? Gifted a shawl to congress president? The so called Hindu Nationalist Party the BJP put A. P. J. Abdul Kalam a Muslim on the president's seat. My vote is for BJP here.

Youth- I would rather go for the congress here. They have been able to push some young blood in like Rahul Gandhi, Milind Deora, Jothiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot etc. But the common thing among all these guys is that they are all belonging to political dynasties. But BJP looses the plot here miserably, calling Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi young. Arun would be close to retirement if he was in a govt service and Modi would have already retired. They are not young. Of course they are young if you compare to Vajpayee and Advani. But they are not the bench mark. So here i vote for Congress.

I am not considering any other party here because, no other party can form government. Neither does any other party have the resource to run such a huge and fast moving nation. Any one of these parties has to be in the govt. If not, the people who ask now "What can be worse?" would be saying "Oh! it can be worse". If not these two parties, then the communist should be the largest party in the coilation that forms the govt. That would at least have some intellectuals to run the country, though it would be like a car moving in reverse gear on the main road, that too on the wrong side.