Right Angle

Fooseball

2007-05-24T08:07:00.001-07:00

I have a new addiction now. Its called Foosball. It has become sort of a routine for me to have a game or two post - lunch in our office cafetaria. But a game or two ain't enough. So i try to squeeze in another game or two before i leave for home everyday.
This tell two things. Even after crossing the psychological age of 30 i am still enthusiastic about sports. Indoor or Outdoor, doesn't matter. Secondly i can pick up a new sport fast; though not as fast as i used to do earlier.

And that is a worrying point for me. Earlier, i used to get in the groove of the game very soon. I would pick up the finer points, the tricks etc of a sport naturally within a few games. And would start beating a supposed expert fast.
But not with fooseball.
Foose - ball requires quite a bit of hands-eye coordiantion. It needs good reflexes and nice anticipation. I thought i had all that since i used to be a decent close in fielder in cricket. Or even table tennis i picked up rather fast.

But with each passing day i am finding that i am not as quick as i used to be. Secondly, i have started giving up soon. I am not fighting hard enough. And i am worried that i am becoming more matured now. I used to like winning. Now i think i am not working on my wins hard enough.

All these are not good signs. Or may be they are. The obsessive need to win everything in life may not be a very good sign after all. Who knows.

Right now i am enjoying my fooseball. Analysis about me getting older, can wait.

The UP Election Analysis overkill

2007-05-15T09:58:00.001-07:00

"Aur Caravan chalta raha...."

The Lady in Pink, Mayavati without making a single media appearance quitely [well not exaclt quitely, but still..] conquered UP. On her own.
The 24 X 7 *anaylsts* still are not able to figure out what went wrong for others and what went right for Mayavati. I don't know why it was so difficult to accept the UP election's results? It was in the end quite simple. It's not Rocket Science for crying out loud.

Here's my take. A simple and neat , point by point take. I can kick Sardesai's and that irritating wanabe sauve Yogendra Yadav's ass any day.

Why Mayawati won?
1. The Dalit vote stuck to her
2. The upper cast vote joined her
3. 2+2 it is, ass-freaking-hole !!!

Why Mulayam Lost?
1. He retained his votes. But it became more two cornered than three this time. 1+1 > 1.5. One of the corners shrunk, damn it, its that simple!

Why BJP Lost?
1. It lost UP in 1999. and not in 2007 as we think.
2. This is what remains of BJP in UP. Neither hardline hindutava, neither caste appeal. Its neither here nor there.
3. UP either knows cast or muscle or both. BJP has neither.

The top bullets were what the UP Election was all about, you freaking psycho 24X7 analysts of IBN and NDTV !!!!!

Prius Rocks

2007-05-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

I have become fond of my new silver Toyota Prius. I was concerned initially with the 45 mpg mileage it was showing. But last week i took the car for a longer drive in the city and man, that car ROCKS
It clocked 55 MPG.
The best part is you can monitor the average on the screen and adjust your driving according to the display. On the down side, if you become too obsessed with the mileage and keep monitoring the screen you may end up bumping someone in the front :)

Toyota off course claims a 60MPG in cities and 50MPG on highways. [Yes its inverse in Prius and not a typo on my part]. On highways and high speed it uses more fuel, on the other hand in cities, it uses lesser fuel and more electricity.
The current gas price at my place is 3.30 $/galon roughly. Last week i refilled my gas tank to full and guess what? I got that click sound in just 8.8 galons. Obviously for fuel efficient car, the gas tank has to be smaller. And smaller it was.

Gone are the days when i filled 15galons in my old SUV and still managed no more than 300 miles per full tank.

Coming back to Prius. I like the interiors too. The drivers seat has enough leg room apart from the control it has on the wheel. The front view is not all that great from the driver's seat as my reference point is still my old SUV which gave me a clearer view. The pickup is not that great either. But that would be expected trait.
Also the smart key option helps. I can keep the keys in my pocket and not worry.

Here's my small little contribution to Going Green. Well not *little* really, as it cost me over 22K in greens. But as long as i can help make this world less dependant on the Middle East oil, i am ok :)

Hoping for a day when we are totally independent of the oil that funds 7-11.

test

2007-05-08T12:44:00.001-07:00

testing email blogging

Ekya revisisted

2006-09-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

CNN-IBN reported today that Rahul Baba suffered a sprain in his leg.

And that should be a matter of concern for me and you because ?

Well because we are all his subjects. He is the prince of the Monarchy called India. And we the lesser mortals need to keep updated about his day to day health. So if his tender body is affected by lets say a mishap as BIG as spraining of leg, it's IBN-CNN's duty to report. Off course IBN-CNN being the news agency of international standards and also it is apparently secular,liberal and progressive, needs to report all this.And that makes it doubly important to read and follow.

I remember during college days there used to be a small local daily called "Ekya" which routinely splashed such BIG news items on the front page. Like a neighbour's girl seducing the father's boy or two police men taking bribe. These news items would be splashed on front page with so much ado, so as to seek bystander's attention. We used to make fun on those news paper's and were very proud of ourselves for reading Times of India. [We as in college going young under-grads]

Not sure if we were priding ourselves with the right thing. Times Of India and now IBN-CNN don't seem to be too far away from Ekya, do they?

Secularism ki Jai

2006-08-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Nehruvian brand of secularism prevelant in India has now taken much firmer root than it started with. The Hindutatva brigade after some delayed protest , starting early 90s has caved in.
The combination of Leftist media + Congress + Communists + Socialists + ISI finally won.

I realised this when Mulla Mulayam Singh, UP's CM, stopped short of calling SIMI a patriotic organisation in his speech to UP assembly. The other Yadav, Lalu prasad, routinely pokes fun at Hindus. He even asked his appointed judge - justice chatterjee - to call the Godhra massacre as an accident.

For all practical purposes Shiv Sena is a dead organisation now. And so are Bajrang Dal and VHP. BJP may continue to have political relevance for a few more years, winning some states here and there. But if it is not dead already, it will be soon.

Must congratulate all the BJP haters for contributing to this win. This includes a lot of my friends and relatives too and other social aquaintances.

By and large, brand Sonia has remained unaffected and so has brand Manmohan and brand Rahul. If at all they are on a rise.
While brand Advani,Vajpayee,Jaswant etc have taken a beating.
For a right-wing conservative like me, these are certainly not happy times. When you are loosing battle from all ends, even the foot soldiers of BJP [like me] have very frustrating times motivating ourselves to fight the battle [in whatever form we do fight].

I do not want to sound Cassandra-ish when i say that these people - meaning the Barkha Dutt,Rajdeep Sardesai,Mahesh Bhatt ilk - will be largely responsible for the dire consequences the next generation of Indians face at the hands of the Lalus,Sonias,Mulayams of the nation. For they had the power to drive the nation's opinion in right direction. Or atleast convey the views of the "right" side.That they only promoted the Congress/Left views and suppressed the counter points will almost always be never known to anyone.

As the nation continues it's downward slide, I can only hope that Dawood Ibrahim and Abu Salem do not get a Padmashree some years down the line after Baba Rahul Gandhi becomes the PM. That would be like salt rubbed vigourously on the wounds of Mrs. Joshi who lost her only son in the Mumbai train blast.

Vijay Diwas

2006-07-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

I salute the heroes of Kargil war today and i confess i feel shallow and inadequate in relation to their spectacular sacrifice.
They were real Men. True Heroes. Possibly the only heroes remaining in this nation of one billion eunuchs.
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/26sld1.htm

What's the point?

2006-07-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Very funny

Body blow to Economy

2006-07-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ever since the "economist" sardar was "allowed" - nay permitted - to be the nation's PM, two things have clearly gone for a toss. The nation's security and the nation's economy.
Only a blind man or an ardent Sonia/Manmohan fan or a prejudiced BJP hater will not see this.

With the announcement of the sixth pay commission, the economist has just made us enter the red-zone.The already good-for-nothing babus of the government organisations, flushed with money from fifth pay commission and arrogance from the backing of the unions are a huge burden on nation's economy. Most states in the nation today shell out 90% - yes 90% - of their revenue for paying these babus. In the year 2000 some states did not have enough money to pay the PF for retirees.

Naturally Prakash Karat and Co are happy with this decision. Isn't something bad for the nation - by default a good thing for the pinkos?
Congress has a history of playing with nation's economy. The depressed periods India witnessed during the dynastic rule and now under the shadow of Sonia, we are witnessing or will witness a steady decline on economic front.

The stock markets and GDP are not telling the true picture. This will be proved once the government completes 5 years. It's been only 2 years since this rag-tag coalition came to power to keep BJP away. Yes just 2 years. A time good enough for extraordinary damage.

By the time these idiots complete 5 years India would be on a brink. I hope not since I have invested bulk of my money in India.

It is likely that UPA will come back to power. They are an expert in winning elections. In india, unlike in other democracies, a parties popularity is not directly linked with who wins. It's a different ball game out here. It's more maths than chemistry.

Two people; Two stories

2006-07-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

One Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Hamas in Palestine last week. Israel waited for three days. It negotiated and asked upfront to Palestine authorities to release the soldier. When nothing worked the 4th day Israel attacked the Palestine's PM office with missiles. And now this

No talk of "peace" and "brotherhood" and other abstract stuff. Just hard core action. On ground. No long speeches on tolerance and resilience. Only one language was used by Israel. Tit for Tat. Well more than a Tit actually.

The Hezbolla of Lebanon kidnapped 2 Israeli soldiers. Israel bombed the Beruit airport
The message from Israel is plain and simple. You want to talk peace with us? Sure why not? We are all for the peace process. But don't piss on my legs. I'll throw shit on your face if you do.

Come back to India. 250 people bombed in one day. Mother's lost their sons, daughters lost their fathers and sisters lost their brothers.
Our humble and gentle PM comes on national television and in a sombre message says "we won't kneel down". What melodrama? Sonia Gandhi "visits" the people in distress, so does Lalu. Thats it from the government side. Business goes on as usual. Sonia is back with her family enjoying Italy's WC victory.

But here's the best news. UP chief minister Mulla Mulayam Singh is planning to withdraw all the cases against SIMI, an organization suspected to be in forefront of these attacks. Almost as if rewarding the criminal for the evil doing.

Hindustan Times, a Congress party run newspaper is more worried whether the ICC cricket series will be affected because of this minor irritant

Some columnists in Indian media have already started legitimatizing the incident by calling it a "retaliation against the Gujarat riots" by muslims.

So for India, it is important that the "piss process" and circket matches should not be affected by these "minor" events of people being bombed. That's ok. The fabled "mumbai spirit" will take care of bombing etc. What's important is Muslims should not be offended. After all "All muslims are not terrorists"..as though it is a big favour that all of them are not terrorists.

And the Lion roars ........!!!!

2006-07-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

I once commented some where that our 'alleged ' PM will pee in his pants if his Goddess Sonia even shouts at him. So i was a little suprised when this tender man roared like a lion
in his message to the nation.

OK so let me get this straight again. "We will not kneel down before the jihadis" he says.. Ok no sorry he did not call them jehadis... let's not forget the tender hearts of these people.. [Muslims i mean].. it will be broken if they are called what they are... So just call them "militants".. ya that sounds more politically correct..

So our Singh Sardar Manmohan finally comes of age and breaks his silence. And roars on the national television. Oh yes, i am sure after hearing his very "strong" message the "militants" , all of them will be shivering in their pants... !! What a strong message they got..

Oh yes and Mr. Singh is also very generous in his compliments for the Mumbaites.. ok now they feel happy? Forget the sons and fathers lost.. we are mumbaites and Sonia and Singh are congratulating us... so let's forget everything.. We are happy!!!!

Singh is media's darling.. so it will be business as usual at Indian Express, Times of India, The Hindu etc. Why that? He will even be hailed as a "Statesman" for his bold statements. How many people have the guts to say "we won't kneel down"?

Teesta,Kuldeep Nayar and Praful Bidwai are waiting for the dust to settle.. Infact in India, moreso in mumbai the dust settles very fast after devastation. It is more or less routine for us. Obviously these guys are contemplating a "conspiracy" theory behind this. I will not be surprised if Justice Banerjee of the Godhra conspiracy fame will be asked to "probe" another "accident". Off course Banerjee on behest of Lalu Yadav will investigate everything from his air-condtioned room in Kolkatta and pass final judgement on this.

But people already know what his judgement will look like. It will tell us that it was coincidence that 8 bombs blasted at the same time. It was 8 accidents which happened because the trains in India are self-combustible. Banerjee might add that all these trains were very old and hence susceptible to such mishaps.

And all will be forgotten , if it is not already.

Another Day Another Blast

2006-07-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

I am putting my money on the notion that this will be "just another" blast for Mumbai and India.
By now India is immune to such events and not only Mumbai, which famously went on with it's routine after the 93' blast, but also the entire country including the Bal Thackrays and the BJPs and RSS and othe Hindu fundamentalist organization will go on with their work.

After the token statement of condemnation by our STRONG leadership of manmohan and sonia and company India will move on.

I think the jehadis need to invent a new weapon of terror now. The shock factor from the blast has diminished over the period of time. The jehadis should understand that Hindus are "dead" inside anyways. They attacked Varanasi; probably the most Hindu of the Hindu temples and yet there was not a wimper of reaction from Hindus. So I am not sure what jehadis are really looking at.

In the meantime the Congress and other party's who need to keep the Muslim population in good humour will make statements so has not to "hurt" the oh-so-sensitive soul of the Muslims. Their condemnation will be measured.
The Communists will off course blame all this on the "fundamentalist' forces - aka Shiv Sena and BJP.

So, let's get this straight. India gives $25 Million to Pakistan on the same day Pakistani backed organization with the help of Indian locals merrily kill 200 odd people and permanently disable thousands. So let's just say Pakistan had a blast with that donation !!!

I am sure Vinod Mehta and Mahesh Bhatt must be more worried about whether India-Pak piss process will be affected by this. For these two gentlemen nothing is more important than a peace process with Pakistan. Mumbai local crowd be damned.

For all you know, they should not be worried. The niceities between the two countries will go on without any hindrance. They can have their biryani and goshth on the nice lawns of Pakistani embassy.

Praful Bidwai and Kuldeep Nayar must also be more worried for the "poor" muslim terrorist who will be "unjustly" tried in India courts. They might already be exploring the legal means to keep the "innocent" terrorists out from the Indian police's reach. I think they too need not worry. First of all UPA has revoked POTA. So the Indian police cannot put them behind the bars for too many days anyway. And after UPA coming to power the Indian police anyway does not have much motivation to go after the culprits.

So bottomline, everything will be back to normal. Infact nothing will be abnormal to come back to. Life will go on as usual. For mumbaikars and for India in general.

How sad is this?

2006-07-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

A Patna unit of Congress party organized a yagna to pray for Italy winning the world cup. Portraits of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were placed in the yagna ceremony.
And you thought you haven't seen the worst of the Congress yet? Link here

This is a new low.

The Azzuris did it!

2006-07-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

So it was in the end Italy. I am sure the Australians must be feeling uncomfortable with the images of the celebrations by the Italians. Were it not for that stupid penalty call against them in round 2 match against Italy, the Aussies might have made the Italian journey much much shorter.

But luck is important in sports. Like in any other thing. The Italians have been on the wrong side of luck as well, earlier. Specially the last 3 world cups. They were booted out on penalties. So it is only fair to them that luck should favour them once. Law of averages if you will.

I followed this world cup for most part. These are my thoughts ..

Zinedine Zidane was a class act against Brazil and Spain. These two teams will always fear the name Zidane. But the two most outstanding players for me as far as France is concerned were Henry and Ribery. According to me they are the most under-rated players of their times. Ribery's equalizer against Spain stands out for me as one of the topmost goals of the World Cup.

Spain added to their own woes to the endless list of under-performance this WC. They are the perpetual chokers. Feel sorry for them.

Brazil again showed how inconsistent and unpredictable they are. They were just too overconfident. The problem with Brazil is that they have 11 super stars. Someone needs to do the dirty work in the back ground. And they lack the defense and professionalism inside their own half. But it still was the best team in the WC, as far as pure footballing skills is concerned. Good that Fifa awarded them the "fair play" award.

Italy were scrapy at the beginning, but in the end their defense won them the WC. Buffon was awesome in front of the net. All of 6'4" , he was like a wall too high to climb for the opponents.

Australia was a revelation. The quintessential minnows of the game were in no way pushovers. They were plain unlucky not to reach further. But i am banking on Australia to make it big in soccer soon. Their display in this WC was a tribute the the great Australian spirit in any sport.

USA was dissappointing considering the high fifa ranking they had before the Cup. And so was Korea and Japan. They were harmless and pushovers.

I have never liked the African brand of soccer frankly. I was never ever impressed by Cameroon and Roger Miller's histrionics in previous cups. But thought Ghana was better than Cameroon. They deserved to move to round 2, which they did.

In the end the one moment that will probably stand out in the WC will be red card given to Zidane. Technically he deserved it. But i thought the Italian player Materazzi deserved a rebuttal from someone for doing what he did. In the end Zidane proved he was a human after all.

Some other moments from this WC were - the Argentina-Germany post-match brawl, the almost "violent" match between Portugal and Netherlands, Henry's goal against Brazil and Ribery's goal against Spain, Wayne Rooney's red card, the booing of Chritian Ronaldo by the crowd, Figo and Zidane exchanging jersey's, Germany's awesome performance......... and a crying Brazilian supporter.

The greatest show on the earth came to an end. It was the greatest gathering of humanity where one sixth of world's population was glued by one single event.

The tears , emotions, joy all came out of the closet and was in it's most colourful display for a whole month. And we soaked in every color possible.

Another WC where the favourites did not make it and the teams from whom not much was expected came out triumphant.

Thats cruel

2006-07-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

England and Brazil both kicked out !!! I can't take two blows in one day.. isn't that really really cruel? I was rooting for both these teams and they lost on the same day. And that too to the teams who were at best round 16 teams. Both Porugal and France must have done some real good karma to reach semis.

It would be most insipid world cup from here on.

Just what is it in France that brings the worst in Brazil. Brazil it seems have just not come out of that quaterfinal loss in 1986. They continue to be overwhelmed by France.

The first half was totally dominated by france and Zidane was totally dictating the terms. It's as if Brazil had lost before the match even started - dito - 1998 finals.

From here on whoever wins the world cup, it won't be the best team to win. But if i have to choose from these four undeserving teams, it would be Germany.

But knowing my judgement, it will be anyone but Germany. Whichever team i have supported has lost in last most matches i remember.

What a shame it will be if either Italy, France or Portugal wins? I will loose faith in talent a touche further

Flattered to decieve

2006-06-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Spain flattered to decieve again for the nth time in a FIFA world cup. They always start with a bang and choke at crucial times. I often compare them with South African cricket team that often chokes at crucial moments on big stage.
Probably this is what differentiates great teams from good teams. Big stage brings out the best in great teams.
I was hoping that Spain beat France simply because France has a psychological advantage over Brazil in world cups. Brazil being my favourite team, i want its journey smooth.
Having said that, it won't be easy for France this time, unless Brazil messes up big time. France have been lucky to reach this far. They, with Italy, are the two most undeserving teams in Quarters. But am sure they won't ride their luck very far. Hope Brazil can show them their place.

A great finale would be Brazil-Argentina and an even more great result will be Brazil beating Argentina in final. This is a mouth watering scenario. But if Brazil exits then i would hope for England reaching the finals with Germany. That again will be a classic. Such combination make a great difference. Whatever may be the situation i a hope it is not the repeat of last WC finals , i.e Germany - Brazil. I hope for a unique combination this time around.

"Impossible is nothing"

2006-06-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Adidas's new ad with the tag line - 'Impossible is nothing' - has caught my imagination. The ad actually has two latino kids "imagining" a dream football team each. They toss and select a player each. They not only select players from different countries but also from different generations. At one end they have Zidane,Beckham and all and at the other end one guy selects Platini and Beckenbeur. And then they start playing till one of them is stopped by his shouting mom to stop playing and come back home.

The ad instantly touched my core. I could relate to it since when we were kids we used to do the same for cricket. For example me and my cousin in the backyard of the house would make two imaginary teams and select a player each and start playing. I would chose australia or england and he would choose Windies or India. And then we would select players and play a 10 wicket game between just the two of us.

After seeing that ad i was reminded of those innocent days. In that sense the ad is so universal. Telling us that sports has a universal aura. And kids all over behave the same.

If an ad is all about sending a message, this ad has conveyed one too many. I must say i was Impressed !!

Ciao

2006-06-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day at 200 South Wacker. Our office is moving to a new building in downtown. I liked this place a lot. The building itself, all of 30 floors, is sandwiched between Sears Tower on one end and Chicago union station on the other. Both great landmarks of this great city.
Sears Tower was off course in the news today for the wrong reason.

Just next to this building and between union station and 200 S Wacker is the Chicago river that contours through the Adam and Monroe Streets. It is a beautiful sight, specially in summers, and my wife and me have had lunch along the river side every week-day since summer dawned. I guess we'll be missing that as i won't be walking all the way from my new building to the river.

Hoping that the new building is equally swank, though.

Visa denied? Good.

2006-06-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Javed Akhtar's visa was denied by Pakistan I say good. People like Akthar, Mahesh Bhatt,Shabana Azmi et al form the bulk of the loud mouths in India. They present themselves as the flag-bearers of "secularism" and what not. Their holier than thou demeanour, and the good actors that they are, help them present to the TV audience a face of super-liberals and bleeding hearts.

It has now become a fad amongst these limousine socialites to comment and opine about everything under the sun. Javed Akhtar, the crusader of the "poor","hapless","victim" who are being victimised by the "villians" of the nation - namely - RSS / Modi / Bal Thackrey etc.

Truth be told. These liberals live in world of richess and high class that neither Modi or Thackrey has seen. They, in their air-conditioned palaces, procure the good-will of people by their high-handed comments and impress the ever-guillible populace of the nation.

That Pakistan, a nation so much a favourite of these bollywood asses, has denied a visa, is a welcome piece of news.
All that punjabiyat and biryani talk of these bleeding hearts deserve exactly this kind response from Pakistan.
Yes they want relations with pakistan to improve, by "cultural" exchange; whatever that means.I say thanks but no thanks, we do not want their culture. You can bring it to your homes if you love them so much. [BTW the only culture I know that exists in Pakistan is AK-47 and Terrorism]

Don't know but somehow got a kick from this news. Though Akhtar and Pakistan both are not worth talking about.

Gooooooooooooal !!!

2006-06-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

The 18th world cup was kicked off in Germany last friday. For more than a month, more than a billion people will be emotionally involved in this mother of all events. I cannot think of any other sport or for that matter anything that gets so many people come together.

Arguably it is world's greatest show. Millions of hearts will be broken. Millions will cheer. And still millions will feel let down.

USA is a part of the world cup finals, yet you do not see much in general in terms of talk in the media or otherwise. Baseball, NBA are dominating the media space. It is an irony that India which is ranked 117th has more media coverage of Soccer than here in US.

Anyways , considering that most US citizens owe their lineage to Europe, it will surely catch up, specially if US performs well.

I am rooting for Brazil (as always), though i wish England well. They were very unlucky in 2002 and 1998.

The initial round has gone to Germany,England and Argentina. Sweden let it fans down by coming up with a draw with minnows Trinadad and Tobago. It was a moral victory for T & T.

I am sure as we move on their will be many more surprises. Hope this sporting spectacle comes as a welcome break for all who have been depressed by constant bad news coming off in the media otherwise.

Tight Slap !

2006-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

What a stinging rebuke this ! The President seems to have come of age in his role as the saviour of our constitution, finally. Just when you loose all hopes from this nation, something comes back to you saying , yes, we are still alive.

Kalam's returning of the bill of the Office of profit back to the parliament may just be that miniscule ray of hope. Just to save one lady's parliament seat, the entire government machinary was used to twist the Constitution. The shameless speaker who so brazenly refused to resign in wake of opposition to his holding an office of profit and the rest of the "ruling class" were riding a high horse thinking no one can pull them up. Just then the President struck.
The bill may pass finally, but not without an egg on the already battered Congress face.

Wonder where the clerk [Manmohan Singh] is in all this. He is, as always, INVISIBLE.

Musings

2006-05-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kerela did not let me down. My recent "official" trip to Kerela was some sort of a personal landmark. I enjoyed every bit. From the royal treatment at the Taj Residency, Ernakulam to the extra-ordinary hospitality of our vendor, i was floored by all the largesse.
I should have planned my trip a little better though. I did go to Kumarkom 'back-waters' and Alleppy, but in hind sight a trip at Wayanad to meet my friend Sunder would have been more fruitful. I did meet Sunder though, but at Anand-Ashram in a place called Kanahangad [for some strange reason it is pronounced Kanjangad]
Sunder Iyer was a revelation. And so was Kerela's spicy food. I always thought hot food was not an issue with me until i landed in a "soup" quite literally at the Taj. I just could not complete my hot and sour soup. It was so spicy.
The city of Cochin left much to the desire. It's non-existing infrastructure left a bad taste. Off course the fact that Kerela has been ruled by Communists for many years did it make it obvious to me after seeing the total lack of civic amenities at a place of such high importance.
It is a tribute to the hard work of Kerelites that Kerela not only survives but thrives inspite of Communism [ and not because of it, as Arundati Roy would like us to believe].
Also, the petro-dollars from middle-east have played a major role in Kerela's economy, a fact that not even Amartaya Sen can deny. [Sen usually alludes to Kerela model to buttress his thesis]
The progress made on human index in Kerela, though cannot be denied. And here one should complement the Communists, or the work done by them in earlier days. The literacy level is way higher than any other state. Even my driver, who came to pick me up every day, was so well spoken and educated. One of the waiters who served me at Taj, told me he was pursuing Computer courses parallely. He had just completed his MCom. It was good and bad. Good that even a waiter was so educated, bad because he was still a waiter.

Cochin airport was nice and very decent. Also very clean, unlike the Delhi airport. I thought some bus depots in Mumbai were cleaner than Delhi airport. That airport really needs a face lift, and can do without Sitaram Yechuri's interference.

My handy cam really came handy. I shot Kumarom,Alleppy,Cochin and Kanhandgad. The Antherepelly water falls were grand so was the royal bathing of the elephants at Kakkanad. Brian, who was with me for first few days, could not have enough of that fun.

On the whole Kerela scored very high on food, hospitality and relaxation. I wouldn't blink if i am asked to go again.

Infosys goes to Shanghai

2006-05-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

In what seems to be like signs of things to come, Infosys may not be the only one setting shop in China.

The current dispention is hell bent on destroying talent and merit. It is likely that reservations will come into play in private sector as well. This could mean trouble for companies like Infosys. Atleast in China they may not have to give a job to someone just because he is from OBC.

India's lose is China's gain. Though there may not be any corelation with reservations and Infosys going to China, companies like Infosys are clearly worried with power-hungry politics of Sonia Gandhi and Co. [arjun singh is just a pawn in this big game]

Who knows?, if Indian companies are forced to employ people with less talent and skills they may be forced to seek alternate avenues , even if it means setting up shops elsewhere.

Reservations is clearly an assault on the Indian middle class. 'The Hindu' newspaper, a known China supporter today carried an article on how Chinese universities are attracting Indian students. The timing of the article could not have been more effective , looking at the desperate situation Indian students find themselves in. The Hindu might have pulled up a good PR thing for it's masters in China. It has struck when the iron is hot.

There has been a pattern of sorts in last few years and if my guess is not too inaccurate China has something to do with that pattern.

It should be common sense to assume that a weak India is good news for China. The fall of NDA and the extra-ordinary rise of Left in India has a link somewhere to China. The Left is flushed with cash inflow and if you are an Indian you know how much part money plays in elections.
Since Left's big win, many policy decisions taken in the country have been aligned with Chinese interests. The development work of port in Trivandrum being awarded to a Chinese company is not a mere coincidence in the bigger scheme of things.

Middle Class Blues

2006-05-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Life will become touche difficult for the middle classes across the country. UPA is pretty firm on vote-bank politics and has decied to go ahead with its favourite mantra - RESERVATIONS.

The Gandhis and Arjun Singhs do not need reservations. They have earned enough wealth to keep sending their kids to Harvard and Cambridge and "buy" out certificates and degrees, for several generations to come.

This really has hit the middle classes the most; right under their belts. But to be honest they should have seen this coming. If they were expecting anything better than this from Sonia and Co, they were living a dangerous dream.
Most middle class people in last elections did not venture out to vote. They still won't do that. It is likely that UPA will return to power with a thumping majority next time around and Gandhi parivar will firmly be in the saddle. The reservation thing will certainly boost Congress's tally in the lower house.

It will either be Rahul or Sonia taking over the PM's post soon.

The Gandhi parivar,quite remarkably, has again fooled the public here. They have maintained a studied silence over the issue. The media has once again shielded "Her Highness" from any uncomfortable questions. Sonia only shows her face or makes a statement when things are going good. When the Congress is on the back foot, she simply refuses audience.

There is a pattern to most of this. Volcker, Quottrochi, and now this. Gandhis would keep themselves away from spotlight when under scrutiny. They come back with a bang when the going is good. It's a good lesson for wannabe politicians. Also they are hugely supported by the media during these tough times. This cannot be ignored.

Speaking of media, NDTV has again started applying it's own spin. They have blacked out the police lathi charge news. Instead they are focussing on the "plight" of patients. One of the correspondents at NDTV stopped short of blaming the doctors for this entire issue.
Even their opion poll carries this question - "Are the doctors justified in carrying out strikes against reservations?".
NDTV never questions strikes in West Bengal and Kerela.

They are also trying to manipulate statements made by leaders from their bete noire, the BJP.
Luckily no-one from BJP has given out too much till now. BJP leaders would do good to stay away from NDTV for sometime now.

The need of the hour really is for the middle class of the nation to come together and create a solid vote bank against the Gandhis and Lalus and Singhs.

Looking at the apathetic response to the nation's issues , the idea of middle class coming together, can only be my pipe dream.

A Telling Tale

2006-05-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

How Pakistan treats its rape victims

Makes you throw up. Our liberal elites of the punjabiyat and biryani types [Vinod Mehta, Burkha Dutt and Co] have great respect for this rouge nation. Not a problem. Except that they want others to share the same feeling vis-a-vis that pathetic state. And if we do not concur with their views , we are at best "Communal" and at worst "fundamentalists".

Loving pakistan is one of the important benchmarks against which you are judged as far as secularism in India is concerned.

Ain't good this

2006-05-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

The news coming out from the 3 states that went to polls is not good. Left was expected to sweep Bengal and Kerela, but i was hoping that Amma returns to Tamilnadu. Not that i like her. Just that she is a better option than Karunanidhi who has promised reservations for muslims in TN.

West Bengal election results is a foregone conclusion. I wonder why the election commission even goes through the hardship of having polls in Bengal. I think it is time this formality of having elections be stopped and some tax-payers money saved.

Kerela again was a mere formality i think. Congress should have simply placated and given the reigns to Commies. Anyway they were not fighting the elections. As what Shekhar Gupta said on NDTV yesterday - "They want to save the center. They were just not willing to put up a fight against the Left"

So except for TN elections the others were simply of academic interest. With Amma going the dominance of Left will be much higher now. It will be interesting to see how things unfold at the center.

India's economy will be the first victim of these results. Also the jihadi terrorism will get a filip in Bengal and Kerela and also Assam thus further endangering the national security.

This ain't good time in India. I also believe stock markets are going to crash in days to come. Anyone invested heavily would do good to come out fast and may be re-invest again.

Obsession with arguing

2006-05-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

We indians have a staggering appetite for arguing,discussing and debating. Sitting in my hotel room, scanning the various news channels in hope of some sensible news, i have figured out one thing that is common to all the news channels. DISCUSSIONS. The mantra is to keep discussing to death the smallest of issues.

For example yesterday i saw a discussion , which later became a debate, on Sachin Tendulkar's fitness. Still a couple of days back i saw some so called analysts discussing to death the issue of aiports privatisation, even after Delhi airport had already gone into the private hands.

Just because we are democracy doesn't mean we need to have an opinion on everything. The sad part is, the people who really have knowledge about these things are never a part of discussion.

You start getting a feeling that there's way too much of time at disposal in India. But then you also figure out that people who really matter do not discuss. They go on with their work.

Endless and aimless debating is a culture being brought into Indian homes via satellite. Only one news channel appeared to be quite sane amongst all this hoopla. The Headlines Today, which appeared to be objective and balanced and bereft of all the cacophony of other news channels.

I am sure it is the least watched of channels amongst the English audience. Yet it has left a mark, as far as i am concerned. I guess in long term it will pick up when the fad for hopeless arguing ends.

Tragic

2006-05-04T03:43:00.000-07:00

The death of Pramod Mahajan is a blow for the BJP. Ever since it lost the last elections in 2004 there has only been bad news for the party. Mahajan's death is like a bolt from the blue, for the BJP, which was looking for a turn around in it's fortune, lately

Can't think of any one person now in BJP who can replace Mahajan.

Born to a poor family in remote village of Maharashtra, Mahajan's meteoric rise in Indian politics had very few parallels. He was according to me one of the best minister's we ever had. The strides that were taken during his tenure in telecom and IT are still spoken of in India Inc.

He was almost like the glue that was holding all the strings of the party from falling apart. His backroom manouvers and his ability to keep his ego aside and help resolve issues were legendary. BJP is a party full of ego riders. Mahajan was a little different in that sense and was a true and loyal worker.

This is more or less the beginning of the end for BJP now, even though it is ruling majority of the states in north and central india.

Though one might argue that party is always bigger than a person, Mahajan was certainly larger than life as far as BJP is concerned.

To keep the balance of Indian politics right, BJP will need to be strong. And someone from BJP will have to step into his shoes soon. Sooner or later.

A tribute of some substance

2006-04-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Unlike the arm-chair critics of Sachin Tendulkar who fart off their mouths, sipping on cocktails in their AC rooms, Wasim Akram is someone who has had the [mis] fortune of throwing that red [or white] leather to the little master. Any sane follower of the game of cricket will always consider a comment by a man as prolific as Akram to carry certain amount of weight.
And so when he speaks, one sits up and takes notice. In this most beautifully worded commentary by Akram as a part of tribute to the master blaster on his 33rd birthday [even today he is just 33 !] Akram dwells briefly on Sachin's current situation.
It's only fair that it comes from Akram, who himself in his home country faced a similar situation not too long back. If anyone can relate to what Sachin is going through at this moment, it would be Wasim Akram.

Sachin is unbowlable batsman

Critics be damned. Two of the greatest cricketers i have known [Bradman and Akram] have certified Sachin's ability. Doesn't matter if pygmies shout and fart. It's their problem.

They won't speak

2006-04-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

In another bizzare case related to islam [what else?] a muslim couple has been asked to live seperately , just because the husband in his sleep mutterred talaq.

The mullahs of the community have asked the poor wife to stay away from her husband and re-marry after a year. But what's worse is she is being asked to stay with another man for that period of time.

Now, we are not talking of a village in Taliban controlled Afghanistan, but a situation very much under our "democratic" and "secular" society, where there's no dearth of self-proclaimed, chest thumping liberals right from Barkha Dutt and Shabana Azmi and Teesta Setalvad.
I am sure this news has not reached them, as the plight of Imrana was not conveyed to them by our very pro-active and socially aware media.

As usual , like in previous cases, this has come with a defeaning silence from these candle holders of the society.

Though i do not have a great love for this community, I still feel someone should take up the cause of poor muslim women. These Shabanas and Barkhas won't speak up when it matters most. Counting on them, if at all muslim women are, will be foolish on their part.

Ya Right

2006-04-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

Sonia Gandhi says she has only 20,000 /- in cash . I'd say , Ya Right !

And how about she not owning a Car? Also according to the political Saint of the nation, and Buddha and Jesus re-incarnate, she is worth only 1 Crore.

Aham.. or is it 1 Crore per week. Not worth spending an effort even puncturing this claim. It is way to easy to do that.

Whatever be the case. One should hand her this. She is the most confident lier on Indian political circus. Ever.

Sounds fair to me !!

2006-04-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

The British media says that there should be "Heat Rule" for cricket matches. Considering that their gora chamdi cannot take the Indian summer in strides, what they say , sounds about right to me. And why not? If we can have stoppages and no-plays for rains, why not apply same rule for extreme heat?
I will even go to the extent of applying the same rule for extreme cold - "Cold Rule" i.e. I remeber how the indians routinely dropped catches in a series in New Zealand few years back when they played in conditions that could well qualifiy as extreme. It's a different issue that Indians , then, dropped catches any which way.

Kill the brand

2006-03-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

Congressmen have a great knack of destroying prosperity. This time the Congress henchman Arjun Singh has set his eyes on IIMs and IITs. Possibly the only two institutes in India recognized the world over for the quality of their alumni.

But if something good resides in India, will UPA like it?

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rurl=http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story3%2Etxt&counter_img=3?headline=Quota~may~unseat~half~of~IIM,~IIT~merit-listers

[Link from Pioneer - copy pasted ]

Quota may unseat half of IIM, IIT merit-listers

Rajeev Ranjan Roy/ New Delhi
After introducing a bill for reservation of seats for SC, ST and other backward classes in educational institutions, the Human Resource Development Ministry has initiated a move to increase the quota in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The move has evoked sharp reaction in academic circles, and is bound to generate a major controversy as the Ministry is planning to raise reservations from the current 22.5 per cent to as high as 49.5 per cent.

Currently, IIMs and IITs have 15 per cent seats reserved for SC students and 7.5 per cent for ST students. Ministry sources said the Government aspires to extend reservation facility to OBCs including Muslims as identified by the Mandal Commission.

"By increasing the percentage of reservation in IITs and IIMs, Human Resource Development Ministry is out to do a great disservice to meritorious students. We have seen during our days at IIT-K how the students from SC/ST having got entry through reservation used to suffer from inferiority complex. There used to be extra crash courses for them to ensure they cope with the syllabus," YPS Suri, secretary, IIT-K Alumni Foundation, said.

"Instead of compromising on merit to accommodate others at the centres of academic excellence like IIMs and IITs, the Government needs to provide effective primary education to students from deprived sections of the society. This will enable them to compete with others and carve a niche for themselves in the competitive world," Mr Suri added. non-SC/ST students in IIMs and IITs by taking the ceiling to 49.5 per cent. Reacting to the ministry's move to increase reservation levels in IIMs and IITs, a director of IIM told the Pioneer that while they are aware that such a decision is on the anvil, the Government has not yet communicated anything to this effect to them. "The move would certainly kick off a fresh bout of debate across the country. Every affirmative action should ensure merit is not being compromised. It has serious repercussions," he added.

"IITs and IIMs are brands symbolising quality education that India offers. This has been possible not because these institutes have quality faculty members, but also because of the fact that they get meritorious students at the entry level. You cannot make the sub-standard stuff excel. You pick up meritorious students from the weaker sections of the society, and prepare them for competitions," a senior researcher at IIT, Delhi, said.

Commenting on the reservation in IIMs and IITs, former Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) president Dr SS Rathi said: "The Government should ensure the merit is not compromised while admitting students in top class professional and technical institutions."

HRD Minister Arjun Singh has already written to States to frame laws in the light of the 104th Constitution Amendment, passed in the winter session of Parliament, which gives States the right to take steps that would ensure advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, SCs and STs in private educational institutions as well.

Ministry sources said increased reservation for backward categories in these premier central institutions is possible only with increased intakes.

Yes. Let's talk peace with them

2006-03-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

http://www.samachar.com/newsasia/fullstory.html

74 Indian PoWs lodged in Pak jails
Reuters

New Delhi: At least 74 prisoners of war (PoWs), besides 386 Indian fishermen and 162 civilians, were lodged in Pakistani jails, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The Pakistan government had not acknowledged the presence of any PoW in its jails, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said in a written reply.

Pakistan had acknowledged the presence of only 377 fishermen and 156 civilian prisoners, he said.

The Minister said the government was persistently pursuing the matter with Pakistan through diplomatic channels and high-level talks from time to time for the release of all the Indian prisoners.

There were 59 Pakistani fishermen in Indian jails, he said adding no Pakistani PoWs were in Indian jails.

Media insensitivity

2006-03-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

A day after the blast in Varanasi, Media has [as usual] started playing a cruel game on Hindus. It did the same thing after the Godhra roasting.

Congress-man Rajiv Shukla made a joke on BJP - 'saying leave Hanuman alone now'. Only a Congressman could have stooped so low at such a tragic moment. But our media men were not too far behind.

Indian Express played the Congress joke in the Headlines - Advani to undertake yet another yatra, Cong tells him to leave Hanuman alone

In another related article the Express "journalist" and a known BJP-baiter Manini "Sources" Chatterjee played her own little spin analysis. Even before the blood of the tragedy has dried, the Express team is in an overdrive to defend it's masters in Dehli.

Here's the quote from Manini's article - " Sangh Parivar insiders view the latest development as an opportunity. Their calculation is that the BJP, which has declined considerably in UP over the last few years, would benefit from a communal polarisation in the state.

Manini usually uses the "insider" term a lot, to quote unknown faces in the BJP.

How could NDTV be far behind. After all they manufactured this concept [of spin journalism] in India. "An aggressive BJP sensed the opportunity for resurrecting the Hindutva agenda, and accused the UPA government of going too soft on terror and minority appeasement." says the article.

I never for my life understand what the much maligned "Hindutva agenda" really is? NDTV has manufactured such terms in last 10 years of it's existence and the guillible Hindu middle class which is so impressed by NDTV , cannot even read through this politics that NDTV plays.

Leaving aside the real issue of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, the English languauge media has been busy, nay , have been in an over drive to cover "secular" Congress's butts.

How long are they going to dodge the real issue? Will they not be affected by the same terrorism at some point, if not today? Do they think that by not calling spade a spade they can buy peace with jihadis? Ok they may win handsome praise for their "secular credentials" from a handful of readers, but will that be good enough for long run?

The media's short sightedness and it's allergy to Hinduism both have contributed to this rot. The candle-lighting-liberal-fashionable-brigade led by Arundati Roy will as usual respond with a defeaning silence on this tragedy. They feel sorry only for the Taliban. But what about the "neutral" commentators of the media? Don't they have the minimum sense of outrage at such a horrifying tragedy?

How long are they going to keep giving dozes of "maintaining peace and harmony" without even acknowledging the fact that the real culprits belong to one particular community, whose actions all these years have been detrimental to India and Indian nationalism, to put it mildly.

Outlook applies its own little spin

2006-03-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Varanasi, one of the holiest places for Hindus was attacked by terrorists today. The "Sankat Mochan" temple was part of the attack.

I am sure Hindus do not care for all this. They will go on with their lives as they have done so far. Infact most Hindus will be blaming BJP/VHP/RSS for these blasts. The philosophy being - 'the Muslims attacked because Hindus might have done something wrong.'

Whether Hindus are shameless or cowards or both, does not matter. The fact is the community really does not need enemies.

Look for instance this article in Outlook. Not even 24 hrs have passed after the blast and Outlook [a jehadi lover] has already started applying it's own spin to this tragedy.

Check this unneccessary comment in the article - The BJP was quick to make political capital by upping the communal tension --

As if more "upping" is required. So what is BJP expected to do now? Not even condemn the blasts?

In another heading Outlook says that "Muslim organisations have condemned the blasts". Don't worry, they are not condemning muslims who carried this out. On closer look - Here's what they are saying - "the political designs" behind these blasts and other recent incidents of violence in Uttar Pradesh "must be defeated."

Got the dirft? Yes, they are suggesting the blasts was carried out by a political party [read BJP].

You know what? I do not even feel sad for the Hindus anymore. With Hindus like Vinod Mehta and Prannoy Roy we anyways are a people, doomed to miseries. I am not too sure what Jaichand did during the Akbar era. But am sure he was not too far from what these guys are doing today.

I am not even sure why ISI/Jehadi/Muslims need to kill so many people to get power. They already are in power. Hindus anyways are second class citizens, right Sonia? Why do they bother to carry out so much of logistics to kill people? UPA is doing a good job. But then aren't these people fools by birth?

Oh and by the way, if you have lost count of number of Hindus killed in blasts after the UPA came to power, don't worry. One day a consolidated report will be prepared by an "educated middle class" Hindu like me for your preview.

Masters of Brazen-ness

2006-02-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

BJP must really learn the art of being brazen in face of accusation from the Congress Party. If a finger of criticism is ever pointed towards BJP it immediately withdraws into the shell. On the other hand Congress party reacts quite the opposite. It becomes more shameless in the face of accusations. I guess this is important political difference between the two.

Offcourse it helps the Congress that the media is partisan. Just how much noise would Times of India had made or how incessantly NDTV would have damned the BJP if they had done what Congress did recently is anybody's guess. NDTV is not even discussing these issues is just an obvious indicator of who's mouth-piece it really is.

By the way i was talking of Congress's blatant involvement in CBI's functioning and it's doublespeak on the same subject.

No point in elaborating on this as is evident from the reports that i am just about to paste here.

That Congress is shameless is taken. But just how smoothly they operate in the Indian democratic context is something someone should seriously consider studying. When it suits them they talk of big words like Democracy and Constitution and all that. When it hurts they simply show the middle finger.

Way to go !

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/showarticle.htm?rediffid=http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=118520

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rurl=http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story1%2Etxt&counter_img=1?headline=Storm~over~Govt~letter~to~CBI,~Parliament~adjourned

24-Karat crap

2006-02-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Prakash Karat says CPI(M) is making efforts to form a third political front as an alternative to the Congress party and the BJP.
This third [class] front will have parties like FB,SJP,RJD,TDP,DMK et al. Big yawn!

Hasn't this been tried several times already? And look at the names of all those parties. Those TDPs and SJPs and DMKs and I guess all possible alphabets of English language have been exhausted by these political parties. I guess since more and more political parties are coming into play there will be a shortage of acronyms soon and may be we will have parties called XYZ or PQR or something of that sort, soon.

Third Front , ya right! How about making some positive contribution to Indian economy for a change Mr. Karat?

George Fernandes

2006-02-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

I have chosen George Fernandes as my second unsung hero for multiple reasons. It would be clear why i consider him as a hero in the first place, or at all, in the following passage.

We are in a media-driven era where media houses like NDTV and 'The Hindu' decide for us who should be the Heroes and who should be damned as villians. Naturally if we go by NDTV's judgement, George Fernandes will be India's biggest villian after Narendra Modi. And by the same judgement we should consider Sonia Gandhi as India's greatest person since after all NDTV decided that she was the -"Indian" of the year.

But leaving aside for the time being what Prannoy Roy wants us to believe or what Vinod Mehta feels about George Fernandes or for that matter all the (pseudo) social-fashionable-intellectual-liberals combined have an opinion about Fernandes, let's just focus on the individual himself. Let us analyse his journey from a rebel-bomb-throwing-socialist to being the defense minister of India.

Fernandes was born in a poor Christian family in Karnataka. There are stories of how he was a born rebel and how at some point of time he even went against the Church's priest. Stories of how he was responsible for orchestrating India's most devastating Railway strike and how he was detained by the Indira Gandhi government for carrying explosives. How he went underground during the Emergency and how he started a campaign against Coca-Cola.

All these legends about Fernandes that occured when my generation was not even born, tell us something about this person. It tells us about Fernandes's passion and about his convictions. That he is fearless in his acts. Some may call it foolish or non-pragmatic but Fernandes has always been called that. Specially by people sipping juice on their arm-chairs in air-conditioned rooms.

When George Fernandes, a christian by birth, joined hands with the "right-wing","communal" BJP many were surprised. Specially the NDTV kinds who always painted BJP as a pervert/vulgur/fundamentalist outfit. NDTV studios became uncomfortable with the idea of the two joining hands. NDTV ensured that whatever came out from George Fernandes mouth would be twisted out of context and thus Fernandes over the period of time was labelled "controversial". And off course the [Congress sponsored] Tehelka "scandal" ensured the taint forever.

Notwithstanding NDTV's prejudices, Indian Arm Forces had after a long gap got a man of substance who they could count on. Fernandes , during the Kargil war, personally went to the battlefield and met the soldiers, a gesture that won him iconic status in the hearts of jawans. He's arguably the most popular defense minister till date. It's a testimony of his integrity and honesty that Vajpayee continued to restore faith in him even after the Tehelka episode. His integrity was never in doubt amongst the soldiers, and i guess in the end that is what mattered.

Facing relentless onslaught by the media outside the parliament and gross humiliation by Congress and Marxists inside the parliament , George continued doing his work with unaltered passion. He never used short cuts to gain favours with the media. Like Modi he was on media's hotlist all the time. But he woudn't budge. Not an inch. By completing his full term and quite successfully at that he single handedly scored a major moral victory over his adversaries.

Today Mr. Fernandes is keeping the fight against the monarchy [read Gandhi family] on. The flame is burning and he is not stopping at 76. Even at this age his passion and energy can give younger politicians a run for their money.
Fernandes was instrumental in dislodging Lalu from Bihar. And if not for anything the people of India owe him big for this effort of his.

The media created "coffin scandal" and the Tehelka damaged his reputation beyond redemption. But people of conviction and strong will power do not give up. They keep on going. And GF continued.

I always believe in a simple thumb rule. If Communists hate something than it must be good for the country. They hate privatisation. They hate economic reforms. They hate America. They hate Indian army. They hate Infosys/Wipro/TCS. They hate IT boom and they hate that Indian government is giving tax benefits to middle class.

And yes. They hate George Fernandes.

Sadly like Narsimha Rao, George Fernandes won't have many positive tributes written about him, since most of the media commentators follow [blindly] the unwritten diktats of NDTV et al. But that is what makes these two people so special. Just because Indian media houses painted a sad picture of these two men, I personally would do my own two cents of "rebellion", if you will. And yes, flow against the conventional wisdom.

George Fernandes is not the most conventional hero one can present to any audience. But ask an Army men what he meant and you'd be surprised. And that was what his job was. He was responsible towards the army men. And that job, he performed like no one.Like a true Hero.

References - 1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1223625.stm
2] http://siafdu.tripod.com/fernandes.html

What's hot and what's not

2006-02-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

This is February 2006. And Ipod Nano is hot but Bush policy on Iraq is Not. BrokeBack Mountain has 8 Oscar nominations and Steelers just won their first Super Bowl in more than a decade. The Communists are making life hell in India and Mulayam and Amar can't handle Raj Babbar's tantrums. Desperate Housewives is the new Sex and the City and Ekta Kapoor still holds sway over the Indian cable skies.
Techies cannot have enough of BlackBerry.
Cartoons and protests are making headlines. New York Times has just refused to join issues with it's European friends.
Indian cricket team is more or less resigned to it's defeat in it's tour of Pakistan. India's 5th series defeat at it's arch rival's hands.
Mani Shankar Iyer has been kicked off from Ministry and BJP has made a back-door entry in Karantaka power house. Communists continue to pursue privatisation in their home state of West Bengal while opposing the same for India.

just mindless musings for nothing.!

Left with nothing

2006-02-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

It was dual shock for the Leftists this week. The Airport employees called off their strike after "assurances" from the PM and India voted against Iran in Security Council. What does left have to say now ? It will be interesting to note. But my guess is they will eat their humble pie. They will make some token noises but nothing much. They cannot afford to loose this government. This is their golden period where they can make noises and yet remain unaccountable. They are are a masters of nuisance.

Swapan Das Gupta - brilliant as he is - smacks the left wonderfully well in this article in Pioneer

Embarrassing Leftovers

Swapan Dasgupta

Judged purely by inches of column space in newspapers and minutes of footage on television, the past seven days has been truly momentous for the Left. From the kerfuffle over Iran's nuclear programme to the stinking lavatories in India's airports, the Left has intruded into the public consciousness more effectively than at any time since the Chinese invasion in 1962. And what interventions!

It began with the Karats and Yechuris threatening socialist retribution if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh succumbed to US pressure and voted at the IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council. In the backdrop of the outrage over US Ambassador David Mulford's indiscretion, the Government was understandably nervous and anxious not to be seen as an American supplicant. It didn't matter that India's national security would be horribly jeopardised by Iran conferring an Islamic depth to Pakistan's rogue nuclear programme. It was the stability and coherence of the UPA Government that was deemed paramount. By that incredibly short-sighted logic, there was just no way India could be seen siding with the US and the European Union.

Then the miracle happened. A meeting of the five-member nuclear club (P-5) in London decided the twaddle of the bit players was becoming insufferable and it was best to deal with the Iranian crisis through the UN Security Council. That way international diplomacy could devote its energies attending to the problem rather than having to lend an ear to either a dithering India or a completely insane Venezuela.

For the Prime Minister, the news from London came as a breather for his non-eventful press conference last Wednesday. However, it left the Reds stupefied. How could the Communists be seen to be opposing an arrangement that had been sanctioned by China? Emerging from what was billed as a make-or-break meeting with the Prime Minister, Sitaram Yechuri could only blabber incoherently about Russia still insisting on a dialogue with Iran. Gone was the fire and missing were the threats. It could well have been a throwback to August 1939 when Stalin unexpectedly negotiated a non-aggression pact with Hitler. Then, the relentless war against fascism abruptly became the "imperialist" war.

The Communists have repeatedly disclaimed their extra-territorial loyalties. Yet, if anyone took their pronouncements of patriotism seriously, they have to merely look at the way the Red guns in India were silenced on the Iran issue to judge for themselves. If it was in India's national interests to keep the Iran issue in the bureaucratic muddle of the IAEA, things should not have altered because China changed tack. Whose national interests were the Comrades upholding?

The battle in the airports was a convenient diversion, with Comrades simulating the war on barricades. Privatisation not now, never, became the chant of the public sector aristocracy, led by the Communist unions. As a dress rehearsal of a genteel insurrection, the harassment of passengers was quite effective. Coming as it did at the height of the tourist season, the Left managed to give Incredible India a new, unexpected meaning.

The timing was also perfect because it provided a smokescreen over a brazen act of crony capitalism. Since highlighting the manipulative bidding process ran the risk of being seen to be opposed to the much-needed modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the non-Left parties preferred silence.

Ultimately, it was all-round public outrage that forced the Left to eat humble pie and relegate a political strike against privatisation to a pedestrian issue of seeking assurances against retrenchment. Those Airports Authority of India employees who struck work with such enthusiasm must have by now gauged that were used as cannon fodder in a game of extortion. After the strike collapses, we would probably have seen the last of trade union belligerence at the airports for a long time. Has anyone heard a squeak from Gurgaon after the Left cried hoarse over the police beating of Honda workers last July?

The conclusions are inescapable. Left politics in India doesn't stem from conviction; it flows out of collateral considerations.

UPA vs NDA

2006-02-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

Growth Rate
NDA - 8%
UPA - 7%

Infrastructure Development
NDA -Massive
UPA -Miniscule

Read this report card of UPA and judge for yourself. The best part of this report is it states the facts as they are and lets the readers judge for themselves. The report card does not anaylse anyhting. And yes, do not try to get this report card from Times of India or The Hindu. They are Sonia's fans. They won't let this government to be exposed.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/02mspec.htm

The Government of India's report card

George Iype | February 02, 2006

The United Progressive Alliance government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to power in May 2004 with a plethora of promises.

It promised to protect the interests of the common man, reduce poverty, generate employment, prevent farmer suicides, end labour exploitation, boost the economy and accelerate the pace of reforms.

Has it delivered? You judge.

Promise 1: Take the economy to at least 7 per cent growth per year.

Reality: In the period between July and September 2003, India's gross domestic product growth rate was 8.4 per cent. It dipped after that. A few months after the UPA came to power, the GDP rate plunged to 6.9 per cent. Now, it stands at 7 per cent.

India Inc confident of 10% GDP growth

'Eight per cent (economic growth) is perhaps the ceiling for the current year, given the current level of investment as a proportion of gross domestic product,' Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, recently.

'But if we can ramp up the investment to GDP ratio to say 30 or 32 per cent, then 10 per cent (GDP growth) is possible,' he added.

Promise 2: To introduce a National Employment Guarantee Act to provide at least 100 days of employment -- to begin with, and on asset-creating public works programmes -- every year at minimum wages for at least one person in every rural, urban poor and lower middle-class household.

Reality: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was notified on September 7 last year. The Act guarantees 100 days of employment in a financial year to every rural household. The Act is being formally launched on Thursday.

Hundred and forty five districts have been selected for the first phase: 23 in Bihar, 22 in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in Jharkhand, 19 in Orissa, 18 in Madhya Pradesh, 13 in Andhra Pradesh, 12 in Maharashtra, 11 in Chhattisgarh, and seven in Assam. Within four years, the Act will cover the entire country.

Column: Can rural job quota scheme succeed?

But does that mean every villager will soon be employed for at least 100 days a year?

"Not yet," says a rural development ministry official.

"The law is in place. We need to create a system to ensure that public works programmes are created to provide jobs to the needy," the official adds.

Also, Opposition parties argue that the millions of poor, educated, unemployed people living in the urban areas have been kept out of the purview of the Act.

Promise 3: To reduce trade deficit and increase exports.

Reality: On the contrary, imports are increasing and exports decreasing.

In the first five months of the current financial year -- April to August last year -- the trade deficit reached the figure of Rs 783 billion. The imports went up to Rs 2,389.5 billion, as opposed to Rs 1746 billion during the corresponding months in the last fiscal year.

Promise 4: To repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Reality: The UPA government abolished POTA in September 2004. It was the Manmohan Singh government's first major policy decision.

The government argues existing laws are sufficient to check terrorism. Cracking down on terrorists' funding tops the government's agenda.

Promise 5: To pursue an independent foreign policy to promote multi-polarity in world relations and oppose all attempts at unilateralism. Particular attention will be paid to regional water resources, power and ecological conservation projects. Dialogue with Pakistan will be pursued systematically and on a sustained basis.

Reality: Has embarked on the 'soft border' initiative with Pakistan. Has accelerated the pace of developing friendship with China. Has accorded priority to building closer ties with its neighbours in South Asia and to strengthening the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

Column: Beyond the bus service

Last and far from the least, it has further cemented the foundation for better relations with the United States with the nuclear agreement. The deal, however, is on a sticky wicket now.

Promise 6: To introduce a model comprehensive law to deal with communal violence.

Reality: Has gone ahead with the proposed legislation -- Communal Violence (Suppression) Bill, 2005 -- to check communal violence.

The Bill is currently under the consideration of the Prime Minister's Office and the National Advisory Council chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Opposition leaders say it is a draconian and potentially dangerous piece of legislation as it gives extraordinary powers to the Central and state governments to deal with communal disturbances.

Promise 7: To accelerate the pace of economic reforms.

Reality: Under pressure from its Communist allies, the Manmohan Singh regime has virtually gone slow on the plans to sell stakes in public sector units to strategic investors.

Analysts say this is one of the major dangers that can derail the government's promise of economic reforms. Bowing to pressure from the Left, the government has abandoned plans to sell stake in 13 firms, including HPCL, Engineers India Ltd., Shipping Corporation of India and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Column: Why reforms are slow in India

The UPA government has gone ahead with the privatisation of airports plan, but met with stiff resistance from Leftist unions and airport employees, who are now on strike.

And with the Leftists opposing a host of reforms in foreign investment and the banking industry, the reforms progress has been rather slow.

Promise 8: Develop and expand physical infrastructure like roads, highways, ports, power, railways, water supply, sewage treatment and sanitation.

Reality: The government has not announced or undertaken any new major infrastructure project. It is continuing with the projects that the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had envisioned, like the ambitious river linking project and the Golden Quadrilateral.

The government says it is planning to expand the network of hospitals and educational institutions all over the country, undertake extensive irrigations projects and other developmental projects.

Promise 9: To ensure more public investment in agricultural research, rural infrastructure and irrigation. The rural cooperative credit system will be nursed back to health.

Reality: The rural cooperative credit system continues to bleed in most states. There has not been any dramatic increase in investment in rural infrastructure.

According to the Farmers Relief Forum, a Hyderabad-based farmers initiative, on an average 10 Indian farmers commit suicide everyday.

Why Andhra Pradesh is jihad's new hotspot

In Andhra Pradesh alone, nearly 2,500 farmers have committed suicide in the last 20 months.

Promise 10: To accelerate fiscal reforms and eliminate the revenue deficit of the government by 2009. To introduce the value-added tax, strengthen the Stock Exchange Board of India for the orderly functioning of capital markets and encourage foreign institutional investment.

Reality: The fiscal reforms are on, but the pace is doubtful. The government has introduced and implemented the value-added tax. The new fringe benefit tax has irked India Inc. SEBI seems to have been strengthened, and FIIs are continuing to pump in money into the capital markets in the country, taking the stock markets to historic highs.

Indians Loose

2006-02-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

My prediction unfortunately came true. India lost the final test and the Test series to Pakistan.

I guess Tendulkar will retire after the World Cup. I think he should. Ganguli will stick around for sometime till he is finally bundled off once the UPA government goes.

In the end the pressure of facing Rawalpindi Express did the trick. We are no match to his histrionics. I am sure Indians do not mind the pace as much as they mind his on-field stunts. The meek Indians just cave-in to his mind games.

Greg Chappel must be feeling uncomfortable in his pants. He knows so well how the Aussies tackle the Pakistanis. The Aussies just go on an all round offensive and make Akhtar fret and fume till he is finally taken off the attack. I clearly recall how Adam Gilchrist once hammered Shoibh Akhtar out of the attack so badly that Akhtar actually feared balling him.

But then you cannot accept the Indians to be aggressive, can you ? We need to keep Gandhi's name shinning. We are the good boys of the class. And good boys always come last !

The Jee Huzoor PM

2006-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Read this editorial below along with The Unsung Hero to get a fuller view

A servile PM

http://www.samachar.com/features/010206-editorial.html

Back in the 70s when Mrs Gandhi was putting artificial clamps on economic growth in the name of `garibi hatao’ and implementing her own peculiar brand of socialism, it had become second nature for her followers to dub anyone talking economic sense as an agent of capitalists. Dhirubhai Ambani had yet to make his first million.

Invariably, it were the Tatas and the Birlas who were caricatured on the stump by Congressmen and Commies as if they were carnivores feasting on the cheap labour of toiling Indians. Of course, the crazy imagery was meant only to fool the great unwashed masses into keeping the corrupt rulers in power indefinitely.

Therefore it was poetic justice when in the early 90s under the intense pressure of the IMF-World Bank combine the same party was obliged to abandon its socialistic straitjacket and embrace the cause of economic liberalisation, nay, pragmatism.

Manmohan Singh as an economic bureaucrat had rather enthusiastically tightened the screws on corporate India in the name of socialism, impeding its growth potential. He had been a senior economic bureaucrat in successive governments in New Delhi. And done everything to raise the socialistic content in state policy at the behest of his political masters.

Now in his new avatar as Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao Government he was made to dismantle a good part of the very license-quota regime he had himself helped put in place. While keen observers noticed the sharp U-turn he had taken in first enforcing strict production and distribution controls and then removing them in the post-90s phase, he himself seemed blissfully unaware of the inherent irony in his professional career.

Only weeks before he became the Finance Minister of India, and in that capacity felt obliged to embrace the path of reforms and liberalisation, he had argued forcefully in favour of socialism at a South: South seminar.

Amazingly, he did not protest when they sought to make him out as if he was the real father of reforms. He wasn’t. He was merely following the dictates of his latest masters who this time were in Washington and not in New Delhi. Economic bankruptcy had stared India in the face in the early 90s. The Fund-Bank agreed to rescue provided India opened up its economy.

In other words, Singh can be relied upon to do the bidding of his masters, whoever they might be. Therefore it was not surprising at all that be it Goa or Jharkhand, Bihar or Quattrocchi, the gentleman Prime Minister did not bat an eyelid, dutifully doing the bidding of those who had catapulted him into the prime ministerial `gaddi’.

Since even his worst critics concede that financially he stood to gain nothing from monkeying around with the constitutional law and norms in pushing the partisan interests of the Congress leadership in all the above cases, it is clear that he has a strong `jee-huzoor’ trait in his mental make-up which makes him obey blindly his masters of the day. Thus everything Sonia Gandhi wants him to do, he does without a murmur of protest.

After all, as Finance Secretary under Charan Singh he had slapped high duties on soaps and toothpaste and such like items of daily use only because the late BLD leader wanted him to attack what he had perceived to be the urban constituency of the BJP. Singh willingly enforced the late PM’s diktat because questioning his superiors is not part of his character.

The latest reshuffle of the Cabinet further underlines a complete lack of vertebrae in the prime ministerial body. He was well aware that Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj had caused him much embarrassment, but he could not, would not, move them out of their current ministries for fear of annoying their real boss in 10 Janpath.

As Home Minister, the blame for Jharkhand, Goa, Bihar, et al must be laid at the doorstep of that colourless and clueless Patil. As for Bhardwaj, it is public knowledge that he went to great lengths to ensure that Rs 21 crores of the Bofors loot was finally delivered to that Italian fugitive from the Indian law.

Dropping Bhardwaj from the Cabinet was never on the agenda of the helpless PM. But the spineless PM could not even replace the crude Bhardwaj as Law Minister with an able and well-regarded Kapil Sibal. L. K. Advani has a point when he insists that Manmohan Singh is the weakest PM the country has had.

This can only tarnish the image of the country and hold it back from attaining its full economic, social and political potential.

An amazing story

2006-01-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

If i would have been a movie director i would have been tempted to make a movie about this.

An Italian fugitive, a Queen and a God-mother who rescues the fugitive from the laws of a nation of one billion dodos. What a deliciously attractive plot !

Quotrochi was let off in 1993 by the government of India and allowed to leave the country. In 2005, when the same government came back to power, his account worth 23 crores (coming from Indian tax payers like me and you) was defreezed on the orders of Indian government and within couple of days the entire amount was transferred to Quotrochi's italian account.
Neat.
(Wonder which government would do that ?)

And here's the best part. The Queen remains unaffected. Her "popularity" remains intact. Infact people actually love her. Her party man actually fall over one another to lick their "Godmother's" feet. (I would have liked to use a different word instead of feet here) And the media is uncharacteristically mum. Infact one of them, what's its name, oh right NDTV, gives the "Queen" its "Indian of the year" award.

One wonders how apt that song from one of Govinda's movies- "It happens only in India", is.

We may have "freed" ourselves from the British raj. But guess what, we still are slaves to a mentality. A mentality which says - the Dynasty can do no wrong. A nation of one billion dodos is taken for a royal ride by the Queen, all along portraying herself as a political victim and a widow who is so great that she "sacrificed" and "renounced" the Prime Minister's seat because she apparently heard her "inner voice" - whatever that means.

I am sure Congress will win next elections with a thumping majority. The scion of Gandhis and the prince-in-the-waiting will take over his "rightful" chair as the PM of this unfortunate nation where it's people actually love the nation's biggest culprits. And the Queen will rule again - this time not through her puppet but through her own blood, her own son. And then many more Quotrochis and many more Volckers later the Indian people will wake up. !!!
No just kidding. We will never wake up. We will never have our own French revolution against a shrewed Queen- thats just a mirage.

Which by the way reminds me. This movie will never have a hero. The slaves will continue to remain so...
Amen !

Refer the articles - The Family Does no wrong and Q marks dent the halo around a ‘renunciant’

While you were sleeping

2006-01-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

While the nation was sleeping and waking up only to criticise Gujarat and it's CM again and again, slowly a miracle was unfolding in Kutch. Another of the innumerable success stories of Gujarat which have been (intentionally) kept away from Indian public.
For the politically correct media nothing positive about Gujarat/Modi should be reported. Else they will face the wrath of their secular masters in Dehli,Calcutta and may be even China, who knows ?

Signs of danger

2006-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

This is not a good sign. Hamas has won a landslide victory in Palestine elections

Since we are staying in a closely interactive global village so to say, such events, however irrelevant and distant from us they may seem will some day indirectly affect us. A hard-code jehadi group forming a government in Palestine is a clear sign of danger for India which offically acknowledges Palestine as a free nation. Now India will have to deal with Hamas at an official level. Its like dealing with Taliban at an official level. Doesn't make sense, does it ?

Anyways our current government is bending backwards to keep the muslim population in good humour, often forgetting the national interest in its pursuit for naked vote-bank politics. Now with Hamas/Musharraf et al in power and more aggressive alien leadership to deal with for our soft leaders, it will further complicate domestic policies.

Off course the Leftists will be quite happy today as they relate to the Hamas doctrine of killing and terrorism very well. With their jehadi brothers in power leftist will see this as a "sign of victory over imperialism".

UPA's Extended Honeymoon

2006-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

Recent surveys/polls carried out by some Indian media houses give Congress/UPA an edge. Apparently if elections were to be held tomorrow, Sonia will lead Congress to "another victory".

Now i am not surprised by this finding. And here's why.

1] Positive media spin : The Congress government and specially Sonia has still been able to maintain that (media created) halo of hers. Volcker/Bihar/Quotrochi et al has not affected her image much, thanks largely to the shielding provided to her by Times of India/The Hindu etc. Come to think of it, the combined readership of Times of India, Hindustan Times,The Hindu, Outlook, Asian Age,Malaya Manorama, NDTV all of whom are avowedly Sonia fans, have provided her the much needed protection from accountibility. She has been smart enough to keep mum on all of these issues as she was never probed by these houses and thus effectively cutting any chance of meaningful debate in national discourse.

2]Apathetic Youth : The BJP is loosing ground amongst the young urban of the nation. And this is clear from the general apathy I see amongst today's generation towards anything that relates to Nationalism. We are too swayed and busy with the success of BPO and IT. Apart from that, that the BJP has arguably the poorest marketing skills, is not helping. With 65% of electorate expected to be less than 30 years of age in next elections, it is going to be a cake walk for Rahul Gandhi in next elections. BJP has no answer to his (again media created) charishma. Something that is so important for the (shallow) voters of this nation.

So lets just say that next general elections Congress will come back to power and the half-educated-prince-of-the-worlds-most-pathetic-dynasty will take over his "rightful" place as an Indian PM which the current one is keeping warm for him.

India will again be officially handed over to the Gandhis. We lesser mortals, who are forever enslaved in our mental thoughts as the subject of high and mighty will bow down to the power of dynasty. Monarchy will prevail back over Democracy which did have, in all fairness, a chance to survive a few years under NDA. The Czars of this nation led by "young Gandhi" will take their "rightful" places and decide our fate for the next decade.

Google's googly

2006-01-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

While Google is fighting the Bush administraion against giving it more freedom for searching and peak into the google database, it has surprisingly conceded to Chinese government's demand and has agreed to censor its results in China, adhering to the country's free-speech restrictions in return for better access in the Internet's fastest growing market.

Difficult to fathom what can lead someone to oppose its own nation and bow at an alien entity for some cheap rewards. May be we should probe the Communists back home. We might get the right answers !

Yankees suck at saving

2006-01-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

Americans are the world's worst savers says CNN headline.

Having stayed in this country for sometime now, I can vouch for that personally. There are so many avenues , some might say tempting avenues, to spend that its hard not to go that way. Apart from that, Americans are undoubtedly the world's best sales-people. Me and my wife in past three years have brought so many things that we had no compelling reason to buy. We just got sucked into that.

But isn't that precisely the reason why Americans have such a huge economy ? The money is always circulating and not stagnant eternally in banks of a few (unproductive) individuals. It keeps changing hands and spirals into growth.

I know of individuals in India and some in my own family who have accumulated millions in wealth just by SAVING and SAVING. To a large extent they compromised with "materialistic pleasures" and kept themselves happy looking at their bank accounts.

I am surely here not making a case for abusive, exhorbitant spending. Just pointing out to some facts about my own family.

Americans have enjoyed success largely because of this attitude amongst its citizen, that of letting money roll in the economy. And the best part is bankruptcy is not a social taboo here. As some might say even Enron can go bankrupt.

The interest rates are so low that nobody bothers to keep money in banks if ever that was the motivation. People would rather buy stuff and repay in installments. And even the installments now come at 0%; while some even go for deffered payments as far as by three years.

Wonder why Americans shell out so much than ?

Stinging Rebuke

2006-01-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

Sandipan Deb is a self-proclaimed Leftist and hence would qualify as a friend of the Congress under the present circumstances. But even he could not take what's going on in Congress Plenary in full public view. The absolute and perverse show of sycophancy by Congressmen, young and old, experienced and new, falling all over each other to touch (metaphor) the feets of (their Highness) Rahul and Sonia can almost lead one to, as Deb says, PUKE.

Link Courtesy : Indian Express

Congress leaders and Cabinet ministers were in competition on how much praise could be showered on the Gandhis before they puked. (I am assuming that this collective Uriah Heeping induces some nausea in the bellies of the Gandhis. I sincerely hope it does.)

We saw the same cravenness two years ago when, after the UPA won the elections, hundreds of Congress politicians queued up to implore Sonia Gandhi to be prime minister. This disgusting spectacle of grown men and women — and many of them quite well-educated — debasing themselves shamelessly would have made any decent man’s skin crawl. I remember wondering, as I watched MP after MP jumping through hoops to prove their devotion to Mrs Gandhi, what Manmohan Singh, sitting next to her, was thinking. Because with every ringing eulogy to Mrs Gandhi, every promise that they would slit their wrists right then if she did not agree to be prime minister, they were also insulting and rejecting Dr Singh. Mrs Gandhi was, as usual, inscrutable, but the primary emotion any person with any sensitivity at all would have felt in her situation is contempt for these toadies.

Such a stinging rebuke even if it comes from a Left winger is always welcome.

A Consortium of Otiose

2006-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

Congress planery session currently in Hyderbad is nothing short of futile excercise of packaging the hopeless. Brand Gandhi is on display and Rahul-baba is being portrayed as the saviour of our Nation..(Give me a break !). While Mamaa Gandhi channelizes her herds to new levels of sycophancy,Rahul Baba is busy polishing his image in presence of shallow media men who like bunch of idiots keep pasting his portrait in our newspapers day in and day out. In the din the voice of our alleged PM is not even heard. Invisible he truely is. Can't think of time when the PM of our country was so irrelevant. Even the sleepy Gowda commanded greater respect than this PM.

In the meantime the Congress session has come up with announcements that will blow you off.
1] It says that it will go against the SC judgement and bring minority status back to AMU.
2] It says it will not privatise the Navrathnas (PSUs)
3] It says that to keep BJP away from power it will go to any lengths.

Great ideas aren't they? I mean what more can a nation ask for. With all the above pronouncements all the ills facing the nation will be gone forever, isn't it?

Hail this country and its people who elected these bunch of morons to rule us.
And in the meantime if you want to witness some mind-numbing action and have a laugh, visit Hyderabad. You won't be dissappointed.

Hopelessly Inadequate

2006-01-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

I read with great interest this column by Chandan Mitra of DailyPioneer - Editorial

This link may not work as Pioneer is notoriously careless on web pages management.

There are some startling facts reported in this column by Mr.Mitra and one wonders how hoplessly inadequate we as a democracy are to deal with this. For example it seems to be a common knowledge that West Bengal has more ration cards than the actual population! And check this out- Mitra claims that our “honourable” Speaker’s constituency had 93% voting in last lok sabha elections.

Just the idea of a handful of communists, who have won elections over and over again by stifling every norms of Democracy and who have been for so many years keeping the entire nation hostage to their whims, is so suffocating.

Makes me wonder if ever we needed Dictatorship more?

'We and They' revisited

2006-01-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

In one of my earlier posts -We and They-, i mentioned how "we" - as in conservative nationalists- have become the "they" of the nation. In yet another example of how deeply the hatred for the nationalists is entrenched in the Communist's doctrine, take a look at this article on rediff

The author, allegedly an expert on comparative politics and political theory, who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University (where else can all this crap come from ?), gives us a glimpse of the tons of hatred the commnuists carry for "us".

Look at statements like - "But the Congress and Left know they have to work together, against their common and powerful enemy, the BJP-led NDA." or "Left has always considered the BJP a fascist force,"

The professor tries to put up a facade of articulate analysis and objectivity initially, but looses it towards the end and shows his true (RED) colours.

But Communists have always hated what is good for India and so their hate for BJP-which gave us the most development pro government till date - is of little surprise.

Ridiculous

2006-01-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

A royal salute to the highest level of perverse sycophancy. An Emir dies in Kuwait and India declares a day of state mourning. Oh wait a second, didn't we have a state mourning for Yasser Arafat as well ? Ya, the best known international terrorist ?

And believe it or not, The Hindu, the leader of the "secular" gang puts this news item right on the front page.

Ridiculous or what? Next, they will have a state mourning for Dawood and Salem.
Crapy stuff this.

Balochistan

2006-01-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

The foot is squarely on the other one this time. Pakistanis are facing a similar situation like we are in Kashmir. The Balochs are demanding freedom from the shackles of Punjabi controlled Pakistani regime.
Worse. Pakistan is doing the same (bloody) mistake it did in 1971. It tried to crush the rebellion in what used to be East Pakistan with utmost ruthlessness; thus losing in the process any moral bearing it could have encashed. Though it is too early in the game today, it might not be entirely misplaced to say, Baloch is going Bangladesh way.
Pakistan surely has not learnt its lessons well. Talk of dog's tail.

Pakistan and Musharraf may be putting up a brave face, but they know too well that the situation may not be entirely under control. The danger for India is that ISI and Musharraf may try to do something funny in desperation to divert the focus from Balochistan's problem. And the best way to divert attention from domestic problem is to create problem elsewhere. Sadly that elsewhere happens to be India. In the days to come Pakistan will up its terrorist activities in India just so that the media attention remains away from its excesses in Balochistan.

In the meantime the BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army), a pool of young Balochs, is giving a hard time to the Pakistani Army. What more the struggle has got a well rounded shape with women and children joining it. It is being said that they are using M.K Gandhi's weapon of non-co-operation. We all know how hopelessly ineffective that weapon is. But what the heck, they are standing up against a ruthless dictator.
BLA off course faces an uphill task and they may not achieve anything substantial. But by bringing this rebellion out in open they have done some service to world politics.
India would do good not to burn its fingers by doing anything fancy, but may be use the same WE-WILL-GIVE-THEM-MORAL-SUPPORT-CRAP to Pakistanis and return with thanks what they have given us all along.

India can do one more thing. As B.Raman says in his article. It can embarrass the dictator's regime by asking them to involve the Baloch's in the tripartite (India, Iran and Pakistan) exploratory talks on the gas pipeline from Iran. This could really make that General red in face.

But that would be expecting too much from our Government, wouldn't it?

Siachen

2006-01-14T15:44:00.000-08:00

The word "Nationalism" has a diminishing value today. Don't know why but somehow nationalism gets attached with "Hinduism" and than "communalism" and all this gets convulated. But beyond all these political terms are people who wear the badge of nationalism with pride.The real people. Our jawans. The real and probably the only heroes still remaining in the country after 50 years of independence.

Today loving your country is no more fashionable. Debunking your culture is; thanks to NDTV and TOI.

Beyond the world of ipods and gadgets and malls and latest reality shows and amar singh's phone tapping and rahul gandhi's latest girlfriend is a different world. Its called Siachen. The world's highest battle ground. A world beyond the purview of Times of India or NDTV or any of those "progressive,secular,trendy,modern" news presenters. Beyond IT and BPO. Beyond Ganguli and Pawar. Beyond Bush and Iraq.

A world where our soldiers brave artic conditions just so that they can fulfill an unwritten , non-verbal commitment they gave to our mother land. A commitment to keep her immune from the danger of predators from North West. When our celebrities and showbiz guys talk of cricketing ties with Pakistan, of Gazhals and biryani, of the Punjabiyat and all that, these young lads, some sons and brothers, some husbands and fathers, some friends and relatives of someone back home are holding their grounds in sub-human conditions on peaks higher than Vinod Mehta or Kuldeep Nayar's imagination and braving all this just so that the one billion (mostly thankless) Indians on the ground can feel safe in their cozy comforts of their homes.

Holding on for us , what is a prestige issue between the two nations. While they are there on the top, atleast 20,000 feet above sea levels, they are cut off from everything's thats happening below. They do not even know whether half the country even cares about their effort. Forget care. Whether 80% of the nation even know if they are up there.

The word Siachen actually means - the place of roses. In reality it is far from it. Even more horrendous than bed of thorns. It is one of the longest,highest glaciers in the world. It lies at a point where borders of India,Pakistan and China meet. And there lies its real significance. For India it is important to keep an eye (birds-eye-view) on the passage that connects Pakistan and China; both being harmful to India's security. Pakistan's strategic route to China- the Karakum Highway- and the activity on this highay can be orbserved from this glacier.

Its easier for Pakistan to maintain troops on Siachen because it is connected by road to Pakistan main-land. On the other hand the only way India can connect to Siachen is by air. By a conservative estimate India has to spend around 5,00,000$ / day to maintain its troops over the top.

It is important for India to keep a control and if possible an upper-hand in Siachen. For the starters, China has high stakes in that region. It is anyone's guess that if India decides to pull out of Sichen, who will be the real "occupier" of that region. For our marxism infested English media, China may not be India's enemy, but for those who have little knowledge of the way world works, know how dangerous China can be for India.

Strategic Importance of Siachen

There have been reports that India and Pakistan have been having talks of settling this issue peacefully across the table. I guess this excercise will not reap much. Pakistan has time and again played mischief with Indian trust. It has always stabbed us in the back and it is fully aware of our soft belly. No meaningful solution can ever be reached with Pakistan on any issues till it continues with its bleed-India program.

In the meantime however thankless job our brave Jawans may be doing for us, they will have to continue with it.Notwithstanding Indian people's general neglect of their heroic efforts, they will have to keep coming up triumphant for our mother land.

Hindus belive that we have another life to live after we die. If thats true, these brave ones have already ensured them of a First class compartment in the next journey.
I feel shallow and inadequate when I even think of them.

This writer salutes these bravest of the brave heroes for doing what they are thanfully doing for our country. No words can be good enough to thank them. I also salute and bow to their mothers and wives and sisters and daughters and fathers and brothers for giving us these rare gems.

Such a pain

2006-01-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Such a pain this guy is. Why doesn't he go back to his Kolkotta and give some time to his restuarant?

If this news item is true , Sharad Pawar should be sacked. First of all Pawar, who's "also" our Agriculture Minister had no business becoming BCCI's president. Agriculture needs him more than cricket does. And even if he has forced himself onto cricket he has no freaking right to indulge in politics all the time.

Gosh , everything just sucks out there !

'Q' let off

2006-01-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ottavio Quottrochhi has been let off by the Sonia led UPA government. Not surprising, considering that Sonia and Mr. Q are related.
Lot of water has flown under the bridge since Bofors first erupted on the scene. And now with VP Singh himself, the Left and the media firmly in pocket of the Gandhis, no one dare question this move.

Corruption is more or less an expected norm in the nation. So one would feel stupid at raising questions related to corruption.
One feels sad for those MPs "caught on camera" for taking "bribe". Small frys, they were. The big guns are always too powerful to be caught. Right Sonia-ji ?

Gujarat is Galloping

2006-01-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Gujarat is not walking or running. Under Modi it is jet-skiing, galloping at a rate faster than anyone. When we hear that India's GDP is growing at 8% we feel good. Well, than how about 16% ? Gujarat is growing at 16%.

Media won't be telling us all this. But its time we listen to Modi and Gujarat now.

1] 24 Hour uninterrupted three-phase electricty - (Vilasrao Deshmukh are you listening ?)

2] Only state to have a private railway company

3] Agriculture output growing at 11.2%

Check this

Timeless

2006-01-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Who else but a person from my favourite political party could have written such an interesting and thought provoking essay. I think Indian Express has done itself a world of good by including Sudheendhra Kulkarni in its columninst's list

Read this scholarly article

Welcome change

2006-01-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

I am noticing a welcome change at Indian Express, though it will be far fetched to say that it has changed all its colours. Indian Express still remains a pro-UPA outfit. But it seems it is increasingly feeling uncomfortable with itself having so aggressively defended UPA so far.
In his OP/ED Shekhar Gupta takes on the Sonia led govt - here

Only a few days back after Banglore was attacked Shekhar Gupta made a scathing attack on the Home Ministry.

I don't care if every one hates BJP. But atleast some one from the media should expose this current pathetic government. If its IE so be it.
I only hope people of India get the complete picture before judging. So far they have seen only BJP-bashing coming out from the media.

UPA may not deliver

2006-01-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Bibek Debroy says UPA may not deliver much in 2006

Thanks Mr. Debroy , we are enlightened !

Qualification and Politics

2006-01-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ashok Singhal is amongst the most hated men in India (read media). He is supposed to be communal,hate-monger,castist person. He, according to the media spreads "venom". Now get this, he is a qualified Electrical Engineer from Banaras Hindu University (One of the most prestigious institutes in country). He got his degree at a time when most wouldn't even clear their matriculation.
Praveen Togadia is far worse than Singhal according to the media and guess what - He is a Cardiologist (MD), heart surgeon.
Arun Shourie who belongs to the communal BJP is a Doctorate in Economics and has to his credit a tenure with the World Bank. Arun Jaitley is an honours from University of Delhi where he also completed his Law Degree. Lal Krishna Advani, the diabolical face of BJP is a qualified lawyer from Bombay University though he cleared his pre-Engineering exam during those days and couldn't pursue because of lack of money. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an MA from University of Gwalior. Remember during those days completing education was a huge thing and doing Masters in a subject was usually a mile stone is someone's life.

I had read with great interest a survey counducted by India Today on the eve of General Elections few years back. I have forgotten the details but i recollect clearly the message of that survey.
The more you are educated the more likely you are to vote for BJP.

Lets for the time being presume that what the survey says is incorrect or plain blank made up. Lets take a general snapshot of people around us, those whose column we read or those whose view we know. We know that following people either support the BJP or are in tune with its ideology directly or indirectly.

Swapan Das Gupta - a pro-BJP writer has a PhD from England. Rajeev Srinivasan is an ex-IITian and a Management Graduate from Stanford, add to this list of Pro-BJP writers and you will get Rajiv Malhotra,Subash Kak,B.Raman,Bramha Chelleny,Kanchan Das Gupta etc in the list, all of whom are extremely qualified and well educated individuals who have consistently by their articles shown their prefernce for BJP.

So the question is, does your educational background has something to do with your general preference or general inclination towards a particular ideology? May be it is or may be it isn't. Lot would argue that even the communists have a wide range of lumanaries who are highly qualified. I am not sure on that. Most communists that i know of have had their degrees from London where like Jawaharlal Nehru, they were brainwashed into the concept of communism and socialism. Point being they all or atleast most belong to the same school of thought (literally). I mean i don't know of any IITians or MBA's or Doctorates amongst the Communists.

So now let me go further and add another variable to this discussion. Does, not only the degree, but the kind of degree matter in a person's preference? It would be far fetched to say that all Engineers would support BJP and all Arts or Commerce guys would supprt the Congress. But i would stick my neck out and say , well, most Engineers would support BJP and most Arts guys would support the Congress. I'll also add this here, most qualified people who have had education from really really good institutes such as IITs would find them closer to BJP.

So that explains why Congress has consistently been in power in this country for so long. Except for Nehru none of the Gandhi-Nehru family completed their education. Indira,Rajiv and now even Rahul, have dropped out from their courses. Sonia Gandhi's educational qualification has always been suspect though she may claim otherwise. So we as a nation voted en-bloc for the Gandhis who have enjoyed for more than half-a-century, a life that can be compared to any of the richest Kings and Queens who ever ruled in the world. I doubt they would have been in power for so long had Indian population been even 50% more educated than it is today.

The rise of BJP in India is consistent with the growth of literacy in the country. And that off course is a bad sign for Congress which has so far successfully kept India poor and uneducated - a gaurantee to vote bank. Congress had high stakes in keeping the country poor and uneducated. This ensured its survival thus far.
India has very recently breached the 50% mark in the literacy rate. Thats an ominous sign for Congress, though i may add that literacy and education are two very different things.

Its a poetic justice that the first IITian to be a Chief Minister of any state in the country belonged to the BJP. His name is Manohar Parrikar who was reforming Goa like no one. It was only Sonia Gandhi's lust for power that stopped him in his tracks.

There are a whole lot of educated guys in Congress, no doubt. But if we take a cross-section of Congress and another Cross-section of the BJP, we will see the difference very clearly. And we will see a greater difference when we take a cross-section of their supporters.

Vinod Mehta is a Congress supporter and he is blatant in his love for the Gandhis. I am sure his educational qualification is no match to his counter-part and rival - Arun Pourie of India Today who keeps a low profile.

By the way,what is common between Vinod Mehta,Mahesh Bhatt, Teesta Setalvad, Shabana Azmi, Barkha Dutt,Rajdeep Sardesai, Pamela Phillipose, Javed Akhtar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Somnath Chatterjee etc etc...
All of then are loud mouth,hate the BJP,love Pakistan, and are pretty much from a similar educational background.

What is common between Swapan Das Gupta, Rajeev Srinivasan, B.Raman, TVR Shenoy, Arun Poorie, Kanchan Das Gupta et al. All of them keep a low profile, are highly qualified, logical and very neat in their approach and well they hate ... err... sorry, dislike the Congress.

Got the drift ?

Ya right :-) I belong to the good company !!!

Duh !

2005-12-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

Rediff's most read articles of 2005 makes a sad comment on Indian readers choice.
Of the top 10 articles that were read almost 6 belong to "Entertainment" and only one or two concerns nation's situation.
And rediff.com being an online journal you would think it is read by "educated" , IT savy folks.
One fails to understand how (some chap) Abhjit Sawant's interview or the movie Salam Namaste's review could even be ranked amongst the most read ?
The "educated masses" of the nation truely suck. No wonder Times of India has the highest readership.
Duh !

Kings of Entertainment

2005-12-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday night on NBC's Jay Leno, i had a rare chance to see two of the finest entertainers come together. Jerry Seinfeld was on Jay Leno's show. Though Jerry might have been on this show several times before, i saw him for the first time.

There mutual respect was pretty palpable. I guess real talent commands respect even from a contemporary or even a competitor.

Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld may not be in direct competition with each other but are surely within the same domain of entertainment.
So as Jerry performed in front of the audience, Jay Leno quite gracefully took the back seat on his own show and let Jerry enjoy his moment. Truely a mark of a great entertainer. I guess Jay Leno is far to secured and confident about himself and thats what that proved.

Sonia Bhakti in style

2005-12-29T15:29:00.000-08:00

Not sure if Sonia-Bhakt and editor of the Outlook magazine Vinod Mehta makes an effort to be obnoxious or is he truely gifted (in that)? In his year end op/ed he says that
"BJP will pin blame on troublesome italian. "

Now now Vinod ji, we know you can be a sucker. You still have that Debonair hangover. But spare us "Hindu, communal, right wing, nationalist rogues" some respect.

Anyways a qualified waitress who now lives as a queen with a Prime Minister under her service couldn't care less for your bhakti.

Go get a life !

That sinking feeling

2005-12-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

Another day, another attack.

As IT/BPO guys prepare to shell thousands on partying for new year, one might want to ponder about the latest terrorist attack on IISC Banglore.

Institutes like IISC Banglore are not mere universities. They are the very temples of Intellect in the country. IITs and IISCs are the reason why Indians are (if at all) respected outside. The guys from these institutes prepared the groundwork in earlier days in the International arena for midgets like us to earn money in dollars. We (as in IT guys) owe atleast a part or our success, if not our entire success, to these institutes.

When IT/Software was not big, only people from such universities or researchers would land in US (unless off course you had other means and reasons to). They were young and bright graduates who created a positive image of India in international business and government houses. I am sure that most industries would have tested Indian waters with these guys before hiring others from India.

Nevertheless this latest attack is another reminder (as if we needed one) of the danger lurking within our country.

To expect anything from the current establishment will be stupid. It is too steeped in appeasing the perpetrators of the crime. I guess time has come when the nationalists of the nation need to device means and methods to independently defend ourselves. We cannot keep on arguing with bleeding hearts and "secularists" forever. Doesn't make sense any more. If need be, create private armies and get in touch with other victims of jehadis, like for instance Israelis and learn an art or two of tackling them.

IT industry will be in a soup if more such attacks are carried. Our so called economic boom is IT centric (services form 70% of GDP). If nations loose confidence in our security we will loose on important clients and business. And even before we realise we will be in a midst of a crisis.

Clearly the attack was symbolic more than it was meant to be violent. IISC and Banglore together represent a brand, if you will. The attack (by ISI) was on the brand more than on the unfortunate professors. ISI wants to create a fear psychosis within the nation. And one must say it is doing a good job at that.

The first thing UPA government did after coming to power was to remove the law of POTA just to garner a handful of muslim votes. While UPA and Sonia Gandhi are at luxury of playing vote-bank politics , same cannot be said of the nation. We cannot afford to loose this battle against ISI.

Curse of Populism

2005-12-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

The UPA government may have gone by 2008. But not without doing infinite damage to the country.
Shankar Acharya, former Chief Economic Advisor and a professor at ICRIER explains this in his short but to the point article

There are still a few stable heads in Congress too. Wonder what Jairam Ramesh is still doing in Congress ? Anyways sooner or later he will move out, i am sure.

As for Manmohan Singh and Chidamabaram, i do not see them to be people of great authority. They are mere pygmies who flow along with the direction of their mentors (read Gandhi family). They may (or may not) possess skills as economists, but they lack the ability to force through with their ideas as they are totally dependent on one family for their survival in power.

Shameless Congress

2005-12-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

Its a sad day for India. With reservations now coming to Private and un-aided institutes the rot has set in completely. Whats worse is that only institutes run by Hindus would be subjected to Reservations. The minority run institutes would enjoy the privilege of managing and admitting the way they want. Lol ! thats secularism for you Congressi ishtyle .
Minority institutes will be free to mint money money and no prizes for guessing what they will use that money to finance.
Jehad, Convserions any one ?

Gandhi family's lust for power notwithstanding, we are doomed eternally.
One shudders at the thought of imagining India 25 years from now.

Whats with labelling?

2005-12-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

Manoj's engagement date was almost coinciding with Sandeep's marriage date. This was some four years back. Both Manoj and Sandeep were my friends from my workplace. Both north Indians; Manoj being a marwari from Rajasthan and Sandeep a punjabi from Dehli. As i had never personally attended any north Indian wedding i thought it was an opportune time. I first went to Jaipur to attend Manoj's engagement and then attended Sandeep's wedding in Dehli. Both events were case of contrasting lifestyles.

"Kanjoos Marwari" has been a phrase that we have used since childhood. Anyone remotely stingy promptly acquired this label. And Punjab was always associated with spending and extravagance. If you have seen Mira Nair's movie "Monsoon Wedding" you'd realise what i just said.
So when we went to Jaipur i was expecting a simple ceremony with limited quests and stuff. And basically Manoj was a very simple guy and never flashy. So only when we saw his engagement ceremony we realised how (filthy) rich he really was. We (the guests) were checked in a 5 start hotel and the treatement was as royal as it gets.
On the other hand Sandeep's wedding was pretty simple and conducted in a very subdued environment.

After this event one small reality struck me. Never go by "labels". We generally associate pre-concieved notions with a cast or a race or a religion or a nationality or even a political party. Thats not always the case.
From my own personal experience i can tell you that i have never seen a kanjoos marwari or a kanjoos sindhi etc in my life. If at all, all the marwaris and sindhis i have befriended have been pretty benevolent if not extravagant. On the other hand i have seen the worst possible stinginess in some of my Maharshtrian friends and South Indian friends; both of whom have not been labelled so.

Point being, there's more to it then labels.

When we came to America we had pre-concived notions about its culture. We were bombarded with its 'liberal' image via TV and movies. When i started working here and got to know more about my colleagues i realised they were as conservative, and in certain areas even more, then Indians.

Also one of the more common myths i find amongst the desis staying in US is that Bush administration is anti-India and that Clinton administration was good for us. If you observe closely our ties with US improved with NDA at the center and Bush in US. Infact we hit a nadir in relationship when a certified anti-India hawk Madeleine Albright was at the helm of affairs under the Clinton Administration.

But people generally go by what is fashionable, isn't in? So i was not surprised when Massachusetts Democrat (and hence supposedly "pro-Indian") Ed Markey introduced a resoultion in Capitol opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal. Again a good example of the myth about Democrats in US.

We have Sardarji jokes in India (like how they have blonde jokes in US). But frankly i have seen more intelligent blonds and Sardars then not.

So whats really about all this labelling. I guess we as human beings enjoy judging and labelling others. We think its our divine right to sit on a higher pedestal and be judgemental.

Indian politics is a classic case of Labelling. Specially for people who take English media news on face value.

I had written an article on Bombay after it was hit by floods in last July. I made a mention about BJP/Sena's rule saying -

The BJP-Sena government ruled Maharashtra for only 5 years. But what they gave Bombay was priceless.Imagine, had it not been for the initiative taken by the dynamic PWD minister Nitin Gadkari during their rule, would we have seen Bandra-Borivili connected so well? Would we have seen those innumerable number of flyovers which now hang over the city landscape and which in effect removed so many traffic bottle necks.

Lot of anti-Sena people will argue that it was the previous Congress governments plan. The hard fact is, it requires political will and foresight to carry out such major investments in infrastructure,and not just plans on paper.
Sadly the anti-BJP media never focused on this achievement of that government and far more tragic is the fact that the same mumbaikars who should have been thankful to this government, voted them out.

Thanks to newspapers like TOI and channels like NDTV which most "educated" middle class follow, what Sena/BJP achieved in those 5 years was never putforth for public knowledge. Shiv Sena was labelled as a "fascist", "rogue" party who's only achievement (it seems) was changing names. (In the meantime Calcutta became Kolkatta and Madras became Chennai, but thats irrelevant, because according to The Times of India, Communists are "progressive,secular and educated")

So only Sena was associated with name changing sydrome while the "progressive seculars" had a ball with name changing elsewhere. It became a permanent label, like how BJP acquired a permanent label of being a "hindu communal party" - the fact notwithstanding that it was the best 6 years of governance India had ever seen in its political history - financially, administratively or other wise. Infact the word "Governance" became a routine phrase in India's political lingo after NDA's rule. It was unheard of before.

Take another example of Gujarat. Its NOT a common knowledge that Gujarat is doing great under Modi - who by the way is English media's bete noire . Apart from the fact that Gujaratis love him (BJP swipped all the elections in Panchayat and Municipal Corporations recently) it was also acknowledged by Rajiv Gandhi foundation as being the best governed state . Its a different story that one of its director Mr. Bibek Debroy was asked to resign under duress from (mother saint) Sonia Gandhi.

Thanks to the likes of Mahesh Bhatts and Teesta Setalvad and NDTV,TOI,IE et al Gujarat is still and will always be associated with riots.

I guess people who do not have the capacity to think or analyse beyond headlines and labels will be perpetually doomed in their limited knowledge and understanding of any subject. And that sadly is the majority of the readers i am talking of here. The masses, if you will.

Newspapers like TOI who target the young breed (yea that explains its semi-porn nature) cannot be taken infinitely seriously as far as real political analysis is concerned. Until the time it comes out of its obsession for India's longest running soap opera - The Gandhis - it will always play mischief with journalism.

Its not an irony that after the "progressive, secular" government of Congress came in Maharahstra, it got the worst power problems ever. The infrastructure development is at a stand still as power woes continue for once the most industrialised state of the country. Barring Bombay, there's power cut for as long as six hours every day in Maharashtra. Budget deficit is at an all time high. No significant highway was built in last 7 years of its rule after Pune-Bombay expressway was built almost 8 years ago under Sena-BJP govt.

But yea we will have to live with this. Because the collective intellectual bankruptcy of our country will always favour the wrong guys.

Communists are labelled as pro-poor , may be that explains why West Bengal is amongst the poorest of all States. Yea it does suit communists that it remains poor for ever.

Gandhi family is labelled as "secular", "sacrificing" band of people who would do anything for the country. Yea right - Bofors, Volcker et al explain that.

Yea right, Sena government "only" changed the names and Congress governement was reponsible for all the development in the state. Yea right :-) Power supply anyone ? Roads anyone? Bombay floods ? what was that ?

I should really bow down to the Indian "intellect" and its "mastheads" in journalism. I did not have to go too far to discover mediocrity of staggering proportions at one place. :-)

Point Taken

2005-12-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Are NDA ruled states better governed? Find answers on this nice article that appeared pseudosecularism blog.

Link...

Dampening note

2005-12-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

Devangshu Datta makes a dampening observation in rediff.com 's business news.
Our PM says we need $150 billion worth of investment to be made in next five years in infrastructure. Yea right ! And your partners will allow you to do that Mr. PM ?

Making grand statements has been customary in India as far as political parties and especially Congress is concerned. Congress has been plain lucky (or is it manipulative) that media buys its statements on face value, unlike the step-motherly way it treats the BJP.

Anyways one can only hope that Congress can do something about infrastructure development and take out sometime from its busy schedule of appeasing the minorities and demonising the BJP.

The difference is Rajeev.

2005-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

The one thing i like of Rajeev Srinivasan's brand of articles is that they are almost never without backed up details. I think the reason might be his educational background. He comes from IIT and Stanford, both very sound institutions in their own right. Apart from that he is not a regular journalist like the one's who adorn the (semi-porn) Times of India or the shabby Indian Express. Most of the journalists that write articles in these two dailies have pure journalism knowledge that they generally get from instistutes like Jawaharlal Nehru University etc.
Rajeev gets into the skin of the issue and presents it in the most compelling form possible. There's no fickle argument here. It's almost always backed up to the core.

Let's take for example his latest article in rediff.com - The Value of Hindu Life

He formulates his position by giving step by step details of each component of the argument with proper dates and links and other details. While most journalists will write a story with heavy dose of high-handed vocabulary, they forget to back it up with substantial details. Rajeev on the other hand is precise and neat and one cannot doubt is vocabulary either.

I enjoy reading his articles and believe that people like him or Arun Shourie or Bramha Chellanney have set different standards in journalism , in India. And what more , they are not pure journalists. Its an irony today that the best articles and the most informative pieces come from people who are not professional journalists.

Pervert Minoritysm

2005-12-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

Congressman Arjun Singh displays an exemplary lust for boot-licking minorities. As if it was not enough for a snub from HC in Andhra Pradesh and even SC for reserving seats in Aligarh University, our honourable minister now wants reservations in every private institute of the country for minorities.
So much for SECULARISM. ! Gosh Congress man will even convert to Islam and get their dicks sliced for one small smile from Imams.
Arjun Singh wants reservations in premium institutes like IIM and IITs for the minorities (read muslims) and our so called "economist" and "educated" PM sits comfortably on his seat while all this is happening right under his nose.
Or is it ?
Does Singh know who's really upto what in his team of ministers ? Or is it that every minister is an island.
As India moves further on capitalism these breaks applied by Congressmen can only be a cause for concern all the right thinking Indians (And trust me, there are'nt many of us)

Daily Pioneer carries an interesting report on Arjun (Mulla) Singh's latest histrionics.

Arjun Singh's minority fixation has Govt in fix

Santanu Banerjee / New Delhi
The UPA Government's controversial decision to go for amending the Constitution to provide quota in unaided private professional institutions and keep the minority institutions out of its purview, bears the unmistakable signature of Human Resource Minister Arjun Singh, whose overzealous 'minorityism' has repeatedly landed the Manmohan Singh Government in troubled waters.

After the Supreme Court struck down quota provisions in unaided minority and private institutions, an all-party consensus had emerged for amending the Constitution and the HRD Ministry was assigned the task to work out the nitty-gritty of a new legislation.

But the HRD Ministry sprung a surprise by sneaking in an exemption to the minority institutions, which was opposed by the law ministry, but ratified by the Union Cabinet. However, it opened a Pandora's box with the BJP and the Left sharply opposing the 'minority' clause and OBC MPs latching on to the opportunity to demand quota for their own castes.

Continued ....

Sachin surpasses Gavaskar

2005-12-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

When Sachin hit the cricketing scene some 17 yrs ago, many had already predicted that he would surpass Gavaskar's century count. So when Sachin finally achieved this feat i am sure many were not surprised. To expect from Sachin is very much a norm in India. It is a granted assumption that he will deliver. In fact it becomes an issue when he doesn't.

Still one must say that by the standards that he set for himself, he took a wee bit longer to achieve what he finally achieved. Off course if you take a closer look at his career you might realise that it was not a cakewalk.

Comparison with Gavaskar would always be natural. Both were short, belonged to Mumbai and were openers. But the comparison should ideally end there.

What Sachin gave to India was priceless. He gave India the hope of winning every match. With Sachin stood the entire nation's desires. Its very purpose of watching a match.

Its one thing to deliver when you are not under focus and another thing to come up triumphant when you are carrying the extra baggage of a nation's hope. And a nation as big as India and as emotional as it is, with every Indian feeling his birth right to pass judgement on every thing Sachin does.

What amazes me about Sachin is his level head. There's never a tinge of arrogance or show of pompousness on this man. I think what carried Sachin through all these years inspite of sometimes nasty criticisms and at times even smear campaign by his baiters was that he truely loved his job.He was so involved in cricket that he never realised that people were making an issue out of every move of his.

Besides, Sachin's stature in world cricket had attained such great heights that he commanded respect from every team in world and every cricketer in the international arena. And when you get a compliment from a person as great as Sir Don , you have already got a certificate that every cricketer worth his salt can ever dream of. If Al Pacino tells you that you are one of the greatest actors you do not need an Oscar.

Compliment's are due to his wife Anjali and his family who, one presumes, provided the neccessary support of moral framework for his histrionics. As Sunny Gavasker wrote in his congratulationary note to Sachin - Congratulations are also due to his family who have helped him to stay focused. They deserve a big round of applause too for their part in his success

Someone said that when you love your job you do not have to work. That's what has happened with Sachin. He loved his game so much that he was always hungry to contribute. If not by bat then may be by getting some wickets or may be even on the field. I have always seen him 100% involved in the game at any point of time.

There will be many great articles written on this man as have been written in the past. And beyond doubt he deserves every bit of this praise. Critics be damned. They do not have to carry the load of one billion individuals everyday of their lives. Passing judgement on cricket, sitting on their arm chairs, in front of TV is the easiest thing to do. Anyways all great men have been criticized time and again.

It takes only a Sachin Tendulkar to keep on producing results continuously for 16 years non-stop. There won't be many like him and there weren't many like him either.

This great but humble character of Indian cricket will forever remain my all time favourite cricketer. For every time i will switch on my TV to watch India play, somewhere in my heart there will always be a call to God to let keep Sachin going. With so many prayers with him everytime he goes to the crease, even God will have to budge.

Sachin's records may not tell the full story, neither the staticians will never be able to do full justice to his contribution to the game. They will only tell part of the story. The other part of the story we all, i.e all of Sachin fans know. We do not care what critics blabber. We know and know it for sure that till Sachin's there we have hope. And that is what makes the game worth watching.

He is one cricketer from India who took the fight to the opposition's camp. Whether it was hammering Abdul Qadir for 3 sixes in a row in front of a bi-partisan crowd in Pakistan or taking poor Kasporowich out of attack or making Richard Hadlee wonder in pain what to bowl next, this man has done to others what most Indian cricketers did not. I see traces of Sachin in young Sehwag. But he has a long way to go. Let us talk after 16 years.

In the meantime our guy continues to torment the opposition, though not so regularly now. Lets grant him the age factor puleez... and the fact that he started so early. There's also something called fatigue. Ask Sampras and Graf !!

Thank you Sachin Tendulkar (hope one day you would be called Sir) for entertaining us for all these years. You gave something to look forward to every game of cricket for last decade and a half. If for nothing else, we thank you for just the pure pleaseure of watching you bat.

Volcker Report

2005-11-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

Some hard facts that come out in Vocker's damning report.

1] A Congress delegation headed by Natwar Singh visited Iraq in January 2001. Jagat, Singh's son accompanied them in the capacity of youth Congress party worker.

2] Four allocations of one million barrels each was made to the Congress but no individual is mentioned.

3] The delegation handed over a personal letter from Sonia Gandhi expressing solidarity with Iraq regime (get the drift here)

4] "Natwar Contract" as its called in the report made roughly around 12.05 crores profit. "Congress contract" made another 2.93 crores INR.

5] Andaleeb Sehgal a close friend of Jagat was present in the meeting and acted as middle man.

Source : India Today

From above it is clear that the smoke is not without the fire. It is not proved conclusively though and may not be even be proved considering that only limited privileges have been given to Justice RS Pathak committee which is inquring into this scandal.
But that is expected. As it should be expected of a Congress run regime. Congress and corruption have a very healthy relationship and this marriage is now generally accepted by the people of India. People actually expect Congress to be corrupt and such exposes have become more or less mundane in India.

But thats not the point at all. If i recollect correctly , during the NDA rule, the media went out of the way to put the Government on the mat whenever a scandal was discovered. Indian Express carried a seperate link on its website for several days ( i believe more than a year) for what it called the "petroleum scandal". (Which btw pales in comparison)
The Times of India carried editorials after editorials demonising NDA and George Fernandes. The Hindu , off course , as one would expect was hitting Vajpayee below the belt at every opportunity.
Apparently they were doing their duty as a vigilant entity of the society and democracy. Fine.
But where has that virtue of the fourth estate vanished all of a sudden. No hard hitting article, no dedicated links on website, no nothing ! No one barring India Today dared to question the government on this ?

Volcker Report is another classic example of how badly the media in India is skewed in Congress and Left's favour. Unless we have a balance in the media there will never be a possibility of objective analysis of nation's problems. Congress will always be spared and BJP will always be the villian.

Sadly most readers take the journalists on their face value. Whatever is written or spoken by TOI/NDTV is taken as a gospel truth.
As educated individuals we should have the ability to recognise the bias in the media reporting. Sadly even people with good education lack the ability to look beyond the obvious. Most actually do not care and go along with what is fashionable.

Newspapers like TOI and organisations like NDTV are according to me the biggest culprits of our generation. Sadly they also are the market leaders. But India always had wrong heros, didn't we?

The burden of Left

2005-11-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

India Today carried a very interesting report last week, on how the Left is constraining the growth of the country.
I cannot recreate that article here but there's a small little information in tabular format that tells the big picture.

[..]COST OF LEFT
What does loss of 1% of GDP growth add up to? For instance, in 2004-5 the GDP in nominal terms was Rs 28,38,000 crore. If it had grown by 1% more, it would have been Rs 31,80,700 crore. That's a loss of Rs 3,42,690 crore, over 10 times the money spent by the Centre on health, education.[..]

WHAT'S ON HOLD UNDER LEFT PRESSURE

-BHEL disinvestments

-49% FDI in insurance

-Interest rate cut on EPF

-Labour reforms

-FDI in retail sector

-PSU disinvestments

-Pension reforms

Can you do the math for the number of years lost and are expected to be lost because of the "curse" called Left policies?

10% Growth

2005-11-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

The rediff.com headlines reads in bold - PM pitches for 10% growth.

There's this comic character in India called Shikari Shambu. Now this hunter (shikari) is actually a nervous reck who bumbles and fumbles but somehow becomes the hero in the end because some of his mistakes actually cause the wild beast to die or being captured.
He invariably becomes the hero in the eyes of unsuspecting villagers by default. And then Shikari Shambu smartly carasses his moustache in the end of each comic strip and conviniently claims the honour and badge of a hero.

When i see Sonia Gandhi's clerk , Manmohan Singh give sermons on economics i remember Shikari Shambu.

This was the man who became our FM in 1991/92. The country had by then mortgaged gold to World Bank against loan. There was this brilliant man called Narsimha Rao running a government. And there was this weak opposition. There was also a huge pressure from IMF and other external bodies to liberalise (or good word is liberate) our economy. In fact it was a precondition for the loan that could bring India out of the mess it was in.

A great PM, a weak opposition and a huge pressure-nah condition- from IMF to free the economoy. And what the FM did? Yea you guessed it. Take the first steps to liberate.

And bang. The entire Indian media, the entire indian middle class hails this fella as the Hero of Free Markets. Bang !. One shot this shikari shambhu is branded the saviour of our nation's economy.

Much like how Gandhi/Nehru are attributed for our independence from Britishers. This Sardar has become the icon amongst the Economic Times readers. That the British left the country on their own will and because ruling India was no longer profitable to them after the WWII is lost on many innocent souls; similarly no one realises that irrespective of whoever would have been the FM at that point of time would have done the same darn thing i.e free our economy from the prison of Nehruvian socialism and license quota raj of Indira Gandhi.

Nevertheless this man today stands as the father of modern economy. Its his brand. Like Gandhi or a Nehru... this guy is now married to a brand now. You just have to live with it.

I have this thing about brands. For example i never liked Sunil Gavaskar as a batsman. I know his brand was bigger than him. But no. Somehow i am rebellious in nature. I think he was not a team man. I do not recollect him coming at crucial times and winning a match for the country.

OK so now our alleged PM says that we must target 10% growth. Thanks a lot ! Tell us something new Mr. PM. You inherit the best possible economy from your predecessors and than talk like a champion.

And how does our "economist" PM plan to achieve this ? Well don't ask that ? Don't even bother.

He says there won't be any dis-investments in PSU (navratnas), he comes up with an economic blood bath called "social spending" (free jobs and stuff) , he does not have time to invest in infrastructure and make a compelling case for FDI, he cannot stop pinkos from unionising the two most promising sectors in service industry viz IT and BPO and yet he comes up with grand statements.

But you know what? He's right. Actually India is on an economic juggernaut now, and that is unstoppable. So not because, but INSPITE of this rag-tag government at the centre India will hit the 10% growth rate. And Mr. Singh our own Shikari Shambu will be crowned for the second time by the Economic Times and its lesser siblings in the media as the baadshah of Indian economy.

Singh may be a good man. I do not abhor him. He's a good man. My problem is with the undue credit he gets all the time. His lovers either portray him as a "simple", "honest" person at one end or the champion of free economy at the other.
He's neither. He's the king of defaults.

Sonia chose him as PM because he was the most harmless of em all. He does not have a mass following that can challenge Gandhi family's dominance. Neither does he have connections within the party. He was the best bet to keep the PM's seat warm until Rahul saheb was ready to take on. And Sonia the great "sacrificing" bahu of the biggest melodrama in India called Congress party has hit the bull's eye by making him PM. She need not worry of a rebel as a faithful dog will never bark at his masters. Singh will never grow beyond his madam's shadow. He cannot dare to.
So now as the queen prepares her son and prince for the much coveted crown the rest of the media simply waits for this lame duck to deliver.

India is at a threshhold of becoming a super-power. If not super, atleast a very formidible force in world politics. If we miss this chance we will never know when it will come. We have been mere pushovers till now. But we have a chance; if only like an opportunist we encash it.

Sadly with the current disposition i do not see it happening. Our policies are too much tilted on the Left to make considerable progress. There's no substatial backing to PM's optimism. His roar lacks bite.

With Left as your partners you can only go a certain distance. You can only push so much. Alas if keeping BJP away from power was not the only glue holding our parties together we could have achieved a whole lot.

Right wing politics has its own problems no doubt. But atleast on economics front right wing is great. The Soviets were constantly put on their toes by the conservative Reagan regime during the cold war; a great steam was lost by Russia during that period. Similarly Margaret Thatcher years of rightwing policies was a golden period in UK's history, economically.

By ousting NDA, the people of India deprived them of an extended conservative regime and broke the cycle mid-way of a potentially healthy period of stability and growth. With policies now taking a left turn again or in due course likely to take a left turn again, it will be back to square one.

Good take by Bhalla

2005-11-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

Surjit Bhalla has a good take on relations between economic performance of a state and subsequent elections, in India.

You guessed it. There's no relation at all. No surprises here.
Check this out....

http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/nov/26guest1.htm

NDA finally conquers Bihar

2005-11-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

After the 1999 general elections Arun Jaitely of the BJP had this to say of Lalu after the huge RJD debacle-
"You can fool all the people sometimes; You can fool some people all the time; But you cannot fool all the people all the time"

This quote stuck with me for long. Arun Jaitely has been working hard ever since. Arun Jaitely is the smartest of em' all as far as BJP goes and sadly he's in minority in that party. There are some real dumb asses in BJP.
Nevertheless Jaitely and Co managed to pull up something improbable this election season in Bihar. They actually were able to route out this sick man (read Lalu). And emphatically.

Our lame duck Cabinate Secretary, oops! sorry Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had the balls to call Lalu a "Vikas Purush". just before elections. :-)

Well we know Mr. Singh, you are just warming the PM's seat for "laadla" Rahul to take over and you are a stop gap arrangement at best, till Rahul "jee" is packaged completely by Congress and Messrs TOI, NDTV et al as our next PM. But don't you Mr. Singh as an educated, "honest" man
have the minimum sense of understanding vis-a-vis Lalu's reputation?

Lalu Prasad Yadav is anything but Vikas Purush. He has often scoffed at journalists for raising the issue of vikas or development, bluntly letting them know that Vikas is not an issue at all.

A free and fair election in Bihar has atleast undone this myth that Lalu created - that of Biharis not wanting development. Hopefully the Election Commission can someday conduct a fair election in West Bengal too and destroy the myth that Bengalis are a great fan of Communism.

Coming back to Lalu. Lot of people feel that Bihar was already at its pit bottom. It couldn't have gone worse. Under Lalu it was at the bottom of most surveys conducted by India Today. Whether it was education, health, infrastructure etc. Bihar probably epitomised everything that was wrong with India. Whether castism, corruption, terrorism etc. Hence hopefully from hereon it will only be upward movement for this sad state. And Nitish Kumar, a qualified engineer, is just the right person , i feel, for this job.

The real winner of these elections has been the Judiciary who very rightly castigated the UPA government in general and Buta Singh in particular for playing mischief with the system after the last election results. That was a classic example of the amount of vulgarity and crudeness accompanying this current establishment.

Anyways. Everything happens for a reason. Had Congress and Sonia not shown so much of lust for power the people of Bihar would not have rejected them so strongly. In a way the people of Bihar have answered in the best possible manner.

The Bihar elections are likely to have an impact on the working of UPA government at the centre. Frustrated Lalu and Communists would make life more difficult for the Congress, i feel.

I was reading a piece by TVR Shenoy in rediff.com and realised one very crucial thing. Congress is a spent force in two of the most crucial states in the country today. UP and Bihar. Both together sending more than 100 MPs. If Congress is (day) dreaming of making it alone the next election i think it has its work cut out. The Sonia/Rahul/Priyanka charishma may be limited to a few pockets aftter all.

I think in a way it is sad. A weak Congress is not good for the nation. Ideally we should have a two party system like, lets say, in US or UK, with Congress representing the left and BJP representing the right. That would stabalise the nation to a very large extent. Unforntunately the Communists and the Mulayams and Lalus are quite a force and have a high nuisance value.
They can go to any extent to destroy a system. Best example being West Bengal and UP.

We can just live with hope that these elements will cease to exist someday. I know that is being too optimistic. But whats wrong with hoping.

Meanwhile some anti-nationals like Praful Bidwai have already started blaming the EC for conducting a free poll. Apparently, and this is what Mr. Bidwai feels, conducting a free and fair elections caused the so called weaker sections (read muslims) of the society to remain away from booths and hence he feels Lalu lost so massively. If you want to have some comic relief read his column on rediff.com

Most of us know by now that West Bengal elections are rigged scientifically. If that does not explain single establishment ruling that state for over three decades, nothing does. I know Bidwai wouldn't like a free poll in West Bengal as well, going by his argument above.

In the meantime its time for rejoice for all the right thinking individuals in the country. Bihar sans Lalu is good news. For Bihar and for the nation. Here's hoping that India can someday free itself of Monarchy (read Gandhi family) , passivism (read pseudo-secularism) and terrorism (read Communists).

Railway accidents in 2005

2005-11-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is straight from dailypioneer.com

2005's 11th mishap

November 9: Six persons killed and 25 others injured when a coal-laden goods train rammed into the middle of the Gomoh-Shaktinagar passenger train as it was pulling out from a loop line at the Barwadih station in Jharkhand's Lathehar district.

October 29: About 125 killed when bogies of a Secunderabad bound passenger train is washed away in a flash flood at Valigonda near Hyderabad.

October 3: 17 killed as Varanasi-Gwalior Bundelkhand Express derailed and crashed into a railway cabin near Datia station in Madhya Pradesh.

August 18: Two Toy trains collide at the stretch between Gayabari and Tindharia near Darjeeling denting the records of 125 year old history near Darjeeling.

July 28: 12 killed in a blast aboard the New Delhi bound Shramjeevi Express near Jaunpur in UP.

June 19: 32 passengers injured when the Puri bound Purushottam Express collided with a light engine on the same track near Gamharia in Jharkhand.

June 6: Two persons were killed and 30 injured when the engine and four bogies of Chittod-Mhow Shuttle derailed near Ratlam station in Madhya Pradesh.

April 21: 17persons died and 92 others injured when the Ahmedabad bound Sabarmati Express collided with a stationary goods train at the Samlaya railway station.

April 4: Several injured in a major fire in three coaches of the running Udayan Abha Toofan Express near Darauli station on Mughalsarai-Buxar section.

February 3: 52 people killed and several injured when a tractor-trolley carrying a marriage party was hit by a passenger train at an unmanned railway crossing at Kanhan near Nagpur.

January 23: Five persons were killed when they were pushed out of stationary Farakka Express by troops of Rajputana Rifles, near Shikohabad in UP.

Compiled by: Deepak Kumar Jha

11 accidents in as many months. Lalu Prasad Yadav, whom our "Economist Prime Minister" calls "Vikas Purush" :-) , is the railway minister.

Lalu is going to be the railway minister for atleast next 4 years, ie nearly 50 months. You do the math.

Amen !

Radical Tourism

2005-10-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Swapan Das Gupta is a commentator par excellence. In this OP/ED in daily Pioneer he deals with the bleeding heart types of the country with an in-your-face punch.
The bleeding hearts industry in India is replete with the pseudo-liberals who warm the chairs of NDTV studios in Dehli. They're always up on the roof tops proclaiming there undivided love for Pakistan. For them every indian should leave his work and commit to "loving pakistan", full time.

Kuldeep Nayar, Mani Shankar Iyer, Mahesh Bhatt are the leading lights of this movement. They claim to represent the majority of Indians, who it seems, are dying to hold the Pakistani hand.

For them massacre of Hindus by tacit or at times even direct support of Pakistani establishment and also its people is irrelevant. All they want is to keep 'loving' Pakistan. And if we do not concur with their views we are at best communal and at worst fanatics.

And off course for them NDTV happens to be haven. A god send gift where they can preach and blabber endless on their love for Pakistan.

Read on this wonderful OP/ED by Gupta in his own words...
- link here -

Post-quake tips for radical tourists

Till the mid-seventies, it was routine to encounter a breed of humans who went all gush-gush and gooey-eyed at the mere mention of either China or the Soviet Union. They were not all Communists.
Indeed some of them would balk at the very idea of living in dreary Moscow or spending more than a day in some make-believe Fanshen. They were the Fellow Travellers, the noble intellectuals who worshipped socialism from a discreet distance. Leon Trotsky had an even better description for these deeply gullible souls who saw salvation in evil. He called them the "radical tourists".
The Berlin Wall has crumbled and the mythology surrounding Chairman Mao has been well and truly demolished, but the fellow traveller and the radical tourist have not been put out of business. In India, they have been reborn and reinvented to further another trendy cause and propitiate another ugly icon.
"It is such an unnecessary controversy", rued NDTV's star reporter from Uri last week, after the earthquake. She was referring to the wave of indignation in both India and Pakistan at a report that Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Control to rescue Pakistani soldiers who were trapped under the debris of a collapsed bunker. It was suggested that the Indian jawans subsequently helped the Pakistanis rebuild the bunker.
The story was subsequently denied by Islamabad and modified in New Delhi. The Indian Army says its jawans did cross the LoC in response to an SOS and rescued trapped Pakistani soldiers. There was, however, no question of helping reconstruct a Pakistani bunker.
To the radical tourists nurtured by the sadbhavna industry, it was an "unnecessary" controversy because Indians rebuilding a Pakistani military bunker seemed the most natural thing. To them, last Sunday's earthquake was not merely a natural disaster; it presented an opportunity to embrace Pakistan even more tightly. For them, it was not merely a case of contiguous regions being united in grief; it was an earthquake of peace. Their body language, their lachrymose tone said it all: This tragedy was special because it also touched Pakistan.
We have all decried the tendency of politicians to feast on human suffering. What the media-driven sadbhavna groupies have been attempting over the past week is more despicable. Under the smokescreen of human compassion, they have attempted to exacerbate capitulationist tendencies within India. The argument that Kashmir is a contrived dispute and that what matters is human suffering is calculated to whittle down Indian determination. It is a tacit encouragement to our Kashmiri separatists. The humanitarian agenda of the bleeding hearts conceals a deeply political agenda.
Let us never forget that neither Pakistan nor their sponsored terrorists have been taken in by this sentimental drivel. The throat-slitting of Hindu families in Jammu remained uninterrupted by the tremors on the ground. Worse, Pakistan took advantage of the Indian Army's preoccupation with rescue work to push in armed infiltrators across the LoC. President Pervez Musharraf cited "political sensitivities" for keeping Indian assistance at token level. There is no evidence to suggest that the earthquake forced a mindset change in either the Pakistan establishment or society. The hatred of India still determines Pakistani existence. We can pity this perversion; to deny its existence would be dangerous.
India must continue to offer all possible humanitarian assistance with absolutely no strings attached. If Pakistan is not interested in our help, it is no skin off our back. This is no time to get wistful over the destruction of terrorist camps at the epicentre of the earthquake. Musharraf will attempt to leverage the natural disaster to secure international advantage. There will be pressure on India to be more accommodating but it will be in national interest to let Musharraf stew, like Yahya Khan stewed in the aftermath of the 1970 cyclone in East Pakistan. To assist the process, our radical tourists must be encouraged to travel to Muzaffarabad, report the mess and devastate the enemy.

Money and Happiness

2005-10-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Was reading an article on CNN money today morning. There was a survey carried out in which a group of people was asked the following question.

Option A] You are given a salary package of 100K but your contemporaries get a salary of 120K.
Option B] You are paid 90K but your colleagues get 70K,

what option will you choose?

What option would we have chosen? It is interesting to note that most of us, as in the survey , will choose option B even though it is almost 10K less than option A.

The point that article was trying to prove was the relation between happiness and money. If money was directly related to happiness most of us would have chosen option A.
Bottom line- We are not looking for happiness. We are actually looking for relative happiness. We are not looking for salary. We are looking for relative salary. We are not looking for careers. We are looking for relative careers.

Most of us chose IT (Information Technology) as a career not because we were interested in IT. But because we did not want to be left behind others. Hence there was a factor of relative unease.

I guess one of the greatest needs of a modern man is to be better than others- not better in absolute ways.

Why men? Even countries. They are not happy enough if they are self-sufficient. They want always to be ahead on all fronts than other or neigbouring countries.

May be that's what drives a man. Always to be ahead. Not happy but ahead. So next time anyone asks me, do I want to be happy, my answer should be NO. N,O No. Because I do not want to be happy. I want to be ahead. And if I am ahead of others I will be happy.

How difficult is it to detach ourselves from the rat-race? I would say very difficult. In fact impossible. If we want to remain socially acceptable we need to be on our toes constantly.

I really appreciate those who stay committed to their convictions. Not follow the herd. And stick back with what they really want to do. It takes guts, trust me.

I think most of the success stories of this world will tell you one common thing. The hero never followed the masses. He followed what he believed was the right and the only route. But it is easier said than done.

We can't help but constantly compare ourselves with others. We even sometimes get vicarious pleasure out of others failures and often get uneasy with others success.

The last time I was really happy was when I got a better offer than my colleague's in my previous company. But soon that happiness fizzled out when I came to this new company. I realised I had not negotiated well enough to compare my salary with my new colleagues. So my happiness was short lived.

So if you want to be happy , make friends who earn less or are likely to remain below you as far as career, knowledge and money go. Or keep yourself updated all the time and remain in the rat race for ever. -:)

Awesome Bhonsale

2005-10-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

This article is a cracker. I have been in awe of Varsha Bhonsale's writings since long. This aricle that appeared two years back in rediff.com is awesome.

I have no idea why she stopped writing for rediff.com May be she's was too hot to handle for the "politically correct" management and also the readers of India.

I still have a reply to my email that i sent to Varsha two years back, that i have kept as a precious piece of byte in my hotmail inbox.

Read on.

http://im.rediff.com/news/2003/may/12varsha.htm

My country, periodMay 12, 2003

I want to tell you a story about a British woman called Melita Sirnis. Melita was born in 1912 to an English mother and a Latvian father, a bookbinder who had once been part of the Leo Tolstoy-inspired anarchist/egalitarian movement. Politics was in the family's blood: Her mother was a member of the Co-operative Party; an aunt was one of the first female trade unionists of Britain. Naturally, they all were advocates of Peace. As Melita later said, "Ah yes, they were anti-war all along, the pair of them, father and mother. I suppose I absorbed some of that too."
When Melita finished school, her mother, a staunch advocate of women's education, urged her towards university. She attended Southampton University, where she studied Latin and Logic. But we're talking about a Britain under the Slump of 1929-1932, when more than 3 million people were unemployed: Melita had to leave the university after a year because the family was forced to move to London in search of work. There, she was radicalised by her "poor end" experiences and joined the Communist Party. She also got married to Hilary Norwood, a comrade who'd been commended for his work in the trade union movement as a member of the National Union of Teachers.
In 1932, Melita Norwood got a secretarial job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London and thereafter lived a completely unremarkable suburban life – till 1999. That was the year when Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin, the former chief archivist of the KGB's foreign intelligence section, published The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. After decades of passing on State secrets to the Soviet Union, and 54 years of living a clandestine life, Mrs Norwood was finally outed.
Actually, the MI6 had known about her treason since 1992, when Mr Mitrokhin had defected to Britain with six trunks of KGB archival material, but had chosen not to confront the octogenarian spy. Perhaps, the secrets weren't vital enough to invite prosecution...? Correct! Mrs Norwood only gave away information that enabled the Soviet Union to build the atom bomb...
David Rose, the first reporter to locate and interview her, obtained "a full-blown confession within approximately 15 minutes." He writes: "The material she supplied was literally earth-shattering: crucial information which fuelled the Soviet ENORMOSZ nuclear espionage programme. By the beginning of 1945, the non-Ferrous Metals Association director, GJ Bailey, had joined the coordinating committee of the top-secret tube alloys project – the British project to design and build an atomic bomb. Most of this research was pooled with the parallel US project based at Los Alamos... [KGB] documents suggest they regarded her contribution as of the highest value, and that it played a significant part in enabling the USSR to detonate its own bomb in 1949 – a few months before a CIA assessment claimed it would not be ready to do so until 1954."
Which explains why Mrs Norwood was awarded the KGB's highest decoration, the Order of the Red Banner. Though supplying the A-bomb plans was the highlight of her espionage career, she continued for 27 years more, providing a steady stream of secrets to her handlers, and recruited at least one more spy...
But, why did Mrs Norwood spy for the USSR?
She says: "I did what I did because I expected them [Soviets] to be attacked again once the war was over. Chamberlain had wanted them attacked in 1939: he certainly expected Hitler to go east. I thought they should somehow be adequately defended because everyone was against them, against this experiment [Communism], and they had been through such hardship from the Germans. In the war, the Russians were on our side, and it was unfair to them that they shouldn't be able to develop their weaponry." Mrs Norwood said that, if she could, she'd do it all over again because "The various countries of this rotten capitalist system with its unemployment, its wars, and making money – I hope it will come to an end."
Ok, forget the espionage thing and focus on Mrs Norwood and her family: A pacifist, liberal, educated, hard-working, progressive people with nothing but the good of their compatriots in their hearts. They fought for the exploited workers and actively worked for an egalitarian world order. And, of course, they were dead set against war. Like most of the "secular," liberal Indian saints we know, they did everything without an eye on personal gain. As Mrs Norwood told a BBC television interviewer, "I did what I did not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had at great cost given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, good education and a health service."
Ideology, pure and simple. A belief system that postulates that the good of the "ordinary people" is supranational; that the needs of the "ordinary people" are paramount to national security; that sabotaging one's government at the behest of another is acceptable; that revolt against one's government during an external attack could constitute patriotism. That's why Stauffenberg was a German patriot. That's why Mrs Norwood is a patriot. Think of this: It's only because she didn't adhere to the crumbling wasteland of "my country, right or wrong" could she enable the USSR to stand up against the Imperialists and deliver the ordinary... WHOOPS! But that system now exists only in Cuba and West Bengal!
Oh shoot, I've to look for another analogy...
Ok. Read the following excerpts, from the deposition of a man who was hanged in the early hours of a cold November morning of 1948 in Ambala prison. Clutching a map of undivided India in one hand and the saffron flag in another, he walked to the gallows chanting an invocation to his motherland. A few hours later, his body was cremated outside the prison walls and, immediately afterwards, the whole area was ploughed and planted with grass so that no one could identify the spot and build a shrine:
On January 13, 1948, I learnt that Gandhiji had decided to go on fast unto death. The reason given was that he wanted an assurance of Hindu-Muslim Unity... But I and many others could easily see that the real motive... [was] to compel the Dominion Government to pay the sum of Rs 55 crores to Pakistan, the payment of which was emphatically refused by the Government.... But this decision of the people's Government was reversed to suit the tune of Gandhiji's fast. It was evident to my mind that the force of public opinion was nothing but a trifle when compared with the leanings of Gandhiji favourable to Pakistan.
...In 1946 or thereabout, Muslim atrocities perpetrated on Hindus under the Government patronage of Surhawardy in Noakhali made our blood boil. Our shame and indignation knew no bounds when we saw that Gandhiji had come forward to shield that very Surhawardy and began to style him as 'Shaheed Saheb' – a martyr – even in his prayer meetings...
...Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogans of truth and non-violence which he ostentatiously paraded before the country... I could never conceive that an armed resistance to the aggressor is unjust... Ram killed Ravan in a tumultuous fight... Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness... In condemning Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind as 'misguided patriots,' Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit... Gandhiji was, paradoxically, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and nonviolence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever...
...By 1919, Gandhiji had become desperate in his endeavours to get the Muslims to trust him and went from one absurd promise to another... He backed the Khilafat movement in this country and was able to enlist the full support of the National Congress in that policy... very soon the Moplah Rebellion showed that the Muslims had not the slightest idea of national unity... There followed a huge slaughter of Hindus... The British Government, entirely unmoved by the rebellion, suppressed it in a few months and left to Gandhiji the joy of his Hindu-Muslim Unity... British Imperialism emerged stronger, the Muslims became more fanatical, and the consequences were visited on the Hindus...
The accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhiji should be brought to an end immediately... he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was the final judge of what was right or wrong... Either Congress had to surrender its will to him and play second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality... or it had to carry on without him... He was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement... The movement may succeed or fail; it may bring untold disasters and political reverses, but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility... These childish inanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character, made Gandhiji formidable and irresistible... In a position of such absolute irresponsibility, Gandhiji was guilty of blunder after blunder...
...The Mahatma even supported the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency and threw the Hindus of Sindh to the communal wolves. Numerous riots took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Shikarpur and other places in which the Hindus were the only sufferers...
...From August 1946 onwards, the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus... Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with mild reactions in the Deccan... The Interim government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them...
...The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us... This is what Gandhiji had achieved after 30 years of undisputed dictatorship, and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom'...
...One of the conditions imposed by Gandhiji for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan government...
Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it... The people of this country were eager and vehement in their opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people...
...I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time, I felt that Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan...
...I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus... There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book, and for this reason I fired those fatal shots...
...I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me... I did fire shots at Gandhiji in open daylight. I did not make any attempt to run away; in fact I never entertained any idea of running away. I did not try to shoot myself... for, it was my ardent desire to give vent to my thoughts in an open Court. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled of against it on all sides. I have no doubt, honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.
Absorbed all that? Now consider this:
Stauffenberg died because he sought to rid his country of the disease of Nazism; recognised the mortal danger of defeat into which Hitler had led Germany; anticipated the disgrace and punishment that the iniquity of Nazism would bring to his countrymen in its wake. Stauffenberg's motives, therefore, were patriotic.
Nathuram Godse died because he sought to rid his country of the disease of Appeasement; recognised the dangers inherent in Gandhiji's Ahimsa-cloaked despotism; anticipated the capitulation to the whims of Pakistan that Gandhiji would force upon an elected Indian government, against the wishes of the people. Godse's motives, however, were vile...
Vile because the ideology espoused by the likes of Mrs Norwood deems so. The same ideology championed by her contemporaries Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, John Cairncross, Klaus Fuchs - all of whom sold their country down the Moskva River...
Stauffenberg and Godse targeted the leader of their respective countries. Both were infuriated by the deaths of thousands of their countrymen. Both did it only to strengthen their countries... So who decides when the sabotage of one's government is justified? The Opposition parties? The historians of the conquering countries? The "ordinary people" who pour into the streets to kick at fallen statues and celebrate by looting museums? Or the people who become "the rabble" during communal strife...? Oh puh-lease, spare me the lecture on patriotism: You wouldn't know it if it bit off your nose.

Costner's JFK

2005-09-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

I don't take my knowledge of English movies too seriously. I am at best a casual watcher and at worst a nominal self appointed analyst/critic.

There isn't a particular genre of movies that i have an affinity for. Yes i love comedies and spoofs. Action thrillers are great. Sometimes dramas are fine.Sci-Fis are great if made well. Can't say that about all Sci-Fis though.Romantics ... mmm.. not sure.

But four Hollywood movies which shook me from my core and which affected me for some time were 1] Pulp Fiction 2]Godfather I and II 3] Shwashank's Redemption and 4] JFK. And not necessarily in that order.

Pulp Fiction for its "casual" violence and style, Godfather off course for its grand setting and almost intoxicating story line, Shwashank's.. for its brilliant ending and JFK for its absolute commitment to details.I have not seen a movie script more glued to details than JFK. It was an epic made to depict a monumental event in the American history. That Oliver Stone would have walked a very tight rope making that movie shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

I am not sure if many republicans would have hated that movie. If you make efforts to separate the movie's political overtones, you get , what i should call a Master-Piece.The story is based on Kennedy's murder and follow up on its investigation. Its a period movie based in the 60s.The film is an essay on how the vigour and dedication of one man and his team of associates can rise above the highest powers. For me nothing symbolizes this film's excellence more than Kevin Costner's closing speech to the Jury. It was spotless. Almost impeccable work of fine acting. You just stop and listen to this man speak, endlessly.

Apart from Costner's acting, the Director's brilliance in gradually building up the story and along with that the emotion, is an education in film-making itself.Writes a critic."The subject matter is incredibly controversial and subjective but Stone's delivers it with such emotion and raw power that his alternate myth to the Warren Report seems factual."

The movie is also a salute to this nation's true democracy. A democracy where a politically uncomfortable film is allowed to not only be produced but released without hiccups even during the rule of the government which is at odds with the movie's views. In India especially, politically incorrect movies have little or no place at all.
(A point in case, "Aandhi"-which was banned)

When Americans talk of liberty and freedom of speech they mean it. But in some ways the movie's story tells a paradoxical situation regarding exactly that. That is , freedom of views.

Kennedy was a liberal at heart. He had already made enemies within the CIA because of his diametrically opposite views apart from others,on Cuban Missile issue and racial tolerance. His views were not in synch with the higher ups in the most feared Intelligence office of the world.

As the movie shows at the start, Kennedy had it coming.

Kennedy had snatched an improbable victory in elections. He with his wife had grown into iconic figures in a very short span of time. The Kennedy's symbolized power,glamour and style for the 60s America which was flushed with money and power.The Kennedy's lifestyle, their hollywood connections, their good looks was what would qualify as the "talk of the country".

The conservatives surely were'nt impressed. And Kennedy might have 'crossed the line' a few times on a few issues for CIA to take the extreme step of eliminating him. (The movie without naming CIA, makes it more than obvious that CIA was behind his murder).

The best part of the movie is that it is very subtle in its presentation. There's an understated aggression but the blame is not squarely pushed in CIA's direction. A lot of questions are kept hanging intentionally, i feel, to keep the viewer in state of perennial intrigue.

But as i mentioned earlier, Costner's closing speech is a class act. An act of a helpless lawyer who is too small to fight a huge system by himself. Costner looses the case, but makes the point. He does not loose without a fight and thats what the movie is all about. That Costner is going to loose the case is known all along, but his effectual verbal advocacy of what he stands for and case itself is the movie's highlight.

JFK for me remains a collector's item. I have seen this movie a couple of times and may watch it some more times (probably when it flashes back on the cable). I haven't seen Kevin Costner's other movies except for "Bull Durham". But doesn't matter. JFK proves his acting credentials way beyond anybody's doubt.

All in all, JFK takes the cake for story-telling and presentation. If you got 5 hours to spare on a week-end, one of the ways to use it would be to get this DVD. You won't be sorry.

O'Reilly has some explaination to do

2005-09-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

Phil Donnahue stumped Bill O'Reilly totally on the anti-war debate on "The Factor" program, day before yesterday.
When he asked O'Reilly - "whether he will send his own kids to die" for the Iraq war, Bill lost his cool and what followed was not what we can call a Television debate. It turned into an acrimonious name calling, free-for-all cacophony.

To start with, the question itself was not correct. How can Bill decide whether to send his children for war or not? In a country where the child leaves his house as soon as he is a teenager , how much control does the Father really have on his sons/daughters career decision?

Bill's best answer could have been - "If he wishes to go i won't stop him. But i cannot force him or for that matter anyone to go for war". That would have been the best answer. This would have taken some steam out from Donnahue's verbal onslaught.

Anyways Bill lost it yesterday. He has tried to do some post-match anyalsis on his column at
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170223,00.html

Not convinced Bill !

Sycophancy Unlimited

2005-09-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

And you thought only Jim Carrey was crazeeeee...

Some 300 Congress workers in Tamil Nadu to show their unflinching loyalty towards the Gandhi family have tattooed Rahul Gandhi's name on their hands.
The reason being - ""Sonia Gandhi is our supreme leader, but Rahul represents emerging youth leadership of the country. That is why we have tattooed his name".

Oh my Gawd!!! The emerging leader ? The Supreme leader ?

God ? How do these people live with themselves ? Ain't this really sickening?

You even have temples of leaders. (I guess J Jayalalitha has a temple in her name).

What is wrong with these chaps ?

I dread the day this college drop out, stinking rich and good-for-nothing Gandhi becomes the PM; who by the way has nothing to show for his credentials other than Venezulean/Columbian girlfriends.

When will just being born in a powerful family be enough for any one to become PM? When will we have a PM who has earned his position by his hard work, talent and leadership qualities?

With His Highness Mr. Rahul G waiting in the wings to take his "rightful" place as the PM of the nation, it seems unlikey for atleast next decade or so.

Anyways read on for more nausea at http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/23tattoo.htm?q=np&file=.htm

Aryans who never invaded

2005-09-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Before i begin, i must confess that i have not been a very good student of biology. I almost hated that subject in my schooling days; so much so that after my Xth grade the moment i got a choice of excluding it from my courseware, i gladly took that option.

Hence when i read a paper by Dr. Chandrakant Panse titled - "DNA, genetics and population dynamics", i kinda found it tough in relating to the excruciatingly difficult jargons and "chromosomal" language so to speak.

But what really intrigued me about his paper - (which i found from Rajeev Srinivasan's blog) was the title. The relationship between genetics and population dynamics.

Since our childhood we have been taught the 'Aryan Invasion Theory'. Lets call it AIT. Lot of proponents of AIT use the colour of skin analogy to back their argument. It is often claimed that people who reside in the North of the country and are "fairer" in complexion than their southern counterparts have Aryans as their ancestors. Also we have been made to believe by the proponents of AIT that the people from south who are a little darker in complexion have their roots in their Dravidian legacy.

Obviously this theory was first proposed by the British historians (for their own reasons) and later lapped up by their Indian counter-parts without much ado. This AIT theory went unchallenged for so long that it became a part of the regular history syllabus in our school books. (Ramola Thapar and her ilk and the other "famous" historians of our country still continue to breathe this theory down our necks)

One of the important thing to note of AIT was that it was never a theory based on any scientific finding. It was never really backed up by any concrete evidence. It was more of a hypothesis and conclusions were loosely based on the probability of some Europeans having travelled to India thousands of years ago via the north gate.

I have read three papers in recent past which debunk the Aryan theory. If not categorically; atleast provide a counter argument and much more rational argument against the AIT.

Thankfully bio-technology has made great strides in the human DNA and genetics to come up with some really solid propositions on population dynamics.

The first paper/article on this subject that caught my eyes was the one by Subash Kak on rediff.com. (Subhash Kak is a professor at Louisiana State University. He is also a commentator par excellence and his columns routinely appear on rediff.com)

http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/08kak.htm

Professor Kak goes on to say in this article ...

[..] in recent years, the work of archaeologists and historians of science concluded that there is no material evidence for any large scale migrations into India over the period of 4500 to 800 BC [..]

...thus debunking the Aryan theory at the very root. But more importantly he refers to Oxford University scholar Stephen Oppenheimer's theory and book - The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey out of Africa (New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2003),

[..]recent advances in studies of mitochondrial DNA, inherited through the mother, and Y chromosomes, inherited by males from the father; Oppenheimer makes the case that whereas Africa is the cradle of all mankind; India is the cradle of all non-African peoples. [..]

Oppenheimer makes some "extraordinary conclusions" according to the author that are more interesting when you read the article completely.

In author's own words... [..] This synthesis of genetic evidence makes it possible to understand the divide between the north and the south Indian languages. It appears that the Dravidian languages are more ancient, and the Aryan languages evolved in India over thousands of years before migrations took them to central Asia and westward to Europe. The proto-Dravidian languages had also, through the ocean route, reached northeast Asia, explaining the connections between the Dravidian family and the Korean and the Japanese [..]

There was a second article that i read that again threw some light on this subject, and the link to which i lost. It appeared in NYTimes recently. I still have the link but it does not work. (It is lost in the NYTimes archive)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/science/13migrate.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1116180255-HCwNSux1xetEdoSaH/eLpA&pagewanted=print

Basically this is what the article wrote...

[..]The geneticists say there was only one migration of modern humans out of Africa; that it took a southern route to India,Southeast Asia [..]

[..]
Because these events occurred in the last Ice Age, when Europe was at first too cold for human habitation, the researchers say, it was populated only later, not directly from Africa but as an offshoot of the southern migration. The people of this offshoot would presumably have trekked back through the lands that are now India and Iran to reach the Near East and Europe.
The findings depend on analysis of mitochondrial DNA, a type of genetic material inherited solely through the female line.

They are reported today in Science by a team of geneticists led by Dr. Vincent Macaulay of the University of Glasgow.
[..]

In effect telling us that the reverse of Aryan theory was true and more likely.

And finally Dr. Chandrakant Panse's paper recently presented at the Third Annual Human Empowerment Conference at Houston, Texas between Sept. 16 to 18, 2005

Dr. Panse says "Science now conclusively rejects any notion of any Aryan invasion of the Indian subcontinent."

He goes on to say that.."Extensive sequencing and statistical analysis of a part of mtDNA which has sustained mutations (the mitochondrial hypervariable region I, HVR I), from reasonable sample sizes, has shown that certain sequences dominant in Europe are uncommon in India, and when found, are almost equally divided amongst the North and South Indians. Conversely,there are sequences common to both the North and South Indians which are uncommon in Europe"

He concludes with this.

"The stark lack of similarities in the gene pools of the Indian subcontinent and Europe, vividly evident in the mtDNA and the MHC complex, destroys any Aryan invasion notions, and confirms the genetic uniformity of peoples of the Indian subcontinent."

His presentation is based yet again on the mtDNA based research referred earlier and the full text of that research can be found at http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/full/13/7/1607

All the three articles comprehensively undermine the AIT. All the three are based on pure science and very limited probability.

It will take time for Indians to grown on this new concept; soaked as we are in the Aryan Invasion Theory.

As for the colour of the skin, well, I have seen some very fair coloured south Indians and some very dark coloured North Indians. And as they say color is only skin deep.It should certainly be. The "skin colour" argument for backing the Aryan Theory is really very fickle, even idiotic so to say.

Whenever a new theory gains currency the people who follow old school get a little uncomfortable. A classic example being that of Galelio.Galileo was put under house arrest for coming up with the Copernican System (Sun is at the center and other planets revolve around it) more than five centuries ago.

The great progress being made in Bio-Technologies will certainly go a long way in once and for all shutting up the Romila Thapar factory of lies.

Chatterjee is unstoppable

2005-08-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Leaving aside all his work, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and his cronies in the Parliament are busy passing 'privilege motions' against some article that appeared in the newspaper Daily Pioneer.

Tells us how busy this speaker really is !!! In my last post i mentioned Swapan Das Gupta's brilliant article which teared down the current Speaker's deeds. Chatterjee is oh-so sensitive to criticism. The hindi saying 'Chor kay daadi mein tinka' sounds apt for this situation. (One who's guilty will always be sensitive to criticism)

Read On.. how a small OP/ED can be such a big deal for these intolerant pinkos... who by the way do not leave anything for imagination when criticising others.

http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/18somnath.htm

Speaker Chattttttttttterjeee

2005-08-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

Unsuspecting Indians,some 20 years ago, went to play a cricket series in Pakistan where they were not only welcomed by unruly and partisan audience, they had a blatantly partisan umpire called Shakur Rana to reckon with. Later Shakur Rana became singularly responsible for International Cricket Council to propose a neutral match refree for international Test matches.

His name became synonomous with brazenly partisan decisions. By the end of his career he had already maligned the "Gentlemen's game" by some of the most horrendous decisions ever given in cricket.
It's a miracle that the then Indian cricket team returned without loosing a Test match in that series.

The Indian Parliament today has its own Shakur Rana. His name is Somnath Chatterjee. Such has been the conduct of this mercural bengali, he can even put a Shakur Rana to shame. As a parliamentarian his frequent heckling of the opposite benches was legendary. He was also known to use the most venomous attacks on his opposing sides.

But now as a Speaker conducting the proceeding of the Parliament of the World's biggest democracy, he was expected to stand aside on politics. As a match refree or as a monitor of a class he was expected to stay above petty party politics. But the Comrade has shown his true colours, which is different shades of Red. His "Red" affiliations are starkingly visible even in
his role as a Speaker.

As Swapan Das Gupta put in his column recently in the Daily Pioneer-

"Certainly, Speaker Chatterjee has done nothing to foster the belief that he is economical with his opinions. A great heckler during his distinguished tenure as the leader of the CPI(M) in the Lok Sabha, the Speaker hasn't lost his facility with interjections. What the Leader of the Opposition called the "running commentary" has become a feature of Lok Sabha
proceedings. In the thrust and parry of partisan exchange, the Speaker does not share the conventional belief that it is his job to listen."

Not only has he played mischief inside the house, he has taken liberty with the Indian Judicial system as well which goes far beyond his jurisdiction as a Speaker of Lok Sabha. For example he had no compelling reason to join issues with Supreme Court judgement on governor of Bihar or passing unsolicitated advice on IDMT judgement of Supreme Court.But like the other systems in India's democracy, even the Parliament is a farce.

This whole big drama enacted every few months in Lower House has become a nauseating routine. The Speaker has more than once tried to brow-beat the NDA/BJP members and tried to corner them.

Last week Somnath Chaterjee played the same game with Mamta Banerjee who herself is quit temparamental. His partisan conduct forced her to resign in disgust.

The growing domination of the Left in various areas of the country does not augur well for the country's future. With a leftist speaker at the helm of parliamentary affairs the day to day parliament activities have become meaningless. The media is as usual blaming the opposition for the ruckus and shielding the deeds of Congress and Left and their man on the Chair.

A crushing defeat of the Communists in Bengal, from where they really gain all the false strength and confidence, is the need of the hour. For the sake of India and West Bengal all the parties need to come together and not only expose these Communists but beat them at their own game.

Even if that requires backing Mamta Banerjee who is fighting a lonely battle on the East front.
Not many people know that the combined vote share of all the communist parties in India is barely 6%. Almost quarter of the BJP's share. Its unbelievable though, how much clout these leftists have over the key estates of the country. Whether its media or parliament or judiciary, their say is disproportionate to their popularity in the country.

They have always been master hijackers. They hijacked the education system right from Nehru days. We were made to believe that Akbar and Aurangazeb were great rulers thanks to them. Today our children are being taught that Shivaji Maharaj and Prithviraj Chauhan were no great warriors.

Media has been traditionally on their side and always portrayed the right-wing parties such as BJP and RSS in bad light. RSS today is youth's object of contempt, thanks largely to media (mis) reporting.First Judiciary and now Parliament has been totally pollutted by the leftist hue.

Somnath Chatterjee is from the old school of Left, who are probably the most intolerant ideologes.Mr. Chatterjee has given a bad name to a Speaker's position, a much decorated positon held by greatest of thinkers and statesmen.

Alas, Somnath Chatterjee is only a reflection of the sad polity of Indian Parliament today.If we can have Lalu Prasad Yadav as a Railway Minister and Taslimuddin as a Cabinate Rank minister, why should Somnath Chatterjee be a problem?

Aussie Rock

2005-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

England beat Australia in the second test match last Sunday.

You cannot but praise the Aussies for bringing the match to that stage. How many teams in the world would have actually even bothered to think of a win with just 2 wickets in hands and more than 100 runs required for a win? Surely not India.Neither of the other test playing nations would have come close of that chase.

Whatever ! England's win has opened the Ashes wide open. More importantly it has brought a new lease of life to cricket whose fans all over the world had become habitual to mundane Australian victory over England and thus were becoming dis-interested in England-Australia series. England's victory this Sunday has opened the flood gates of interest for cricket lovers all over.

As the gutsy Australian opener Justin Langer wrote in his column in BBC.com...

[..] in the bigger scheme of things it is one of the best things that has happened in
international cricket for a long time[..]

No kidding. It takes a lot of self-confidence to say so, Justin !

As a cricket lover i have seen the Australia rise from 'ashes' (literally). I guess it was Bob Simpson and Alan border who built that formidable Australian side of 1987 which went on to win the Reliance World Cup in India. Thereafter there was no looking back. There was off course a minor dip in Australia's fortunes when Australia failed to reach even the last four of 1992 world , which incidently was played in Australia. Barring that brief period Australia never looked easily beatable. I guess except for South Africa under Hansie Cronje, none of the teams really stood up to Australia's professionalism on the field. There mental toughness has been un-matched ever since.

It takes a lot of foresight and planning to build such a temparament and attitude. Bob Simpson almost redefined the way one-day cricket was played. He gave a lot of weightage to fielding and physical fitness and discipline.No wonder teams like Windies,Pak and India who depended largely on just the batting and bowling skills of their players started looking increasingly inadequate .

The Australians ooze a silent confidence with their body language. Aggression is their second name. They play hard. But all this was not procured overnight. They actually build this step by step.
Remember the tied match at Chennai when Ravi Shastri almost gave us victory. That word "ALMOST" has been our bane. The same word was applicable when we "ALMOST" beat Australia in 1992 world cup; when Steve Waugh even after dropping a catch of last ball had the cools to make an accurate throw at the keeper and run the sloppy lazy out.

But to be fair to India, we have given Australia a run for their money from time to time. Whether the famous VVS Laxman series where he turned around a lost match into a win or when Tendulkar bull dozed Wagh's team out of Sharjah.

Neverthless the Aussies have seldom failed to live upto their reputation. They have the last two world cups in their pockets and are likely to be the favourites for 2007 with their current form.

But as like in every sport and every team the downfall of Australia will come. The West Indies seemed indomitable and unbeatable not so long ago. They were the kings and rest all the other teams competed amongst themselves to come distant second. Their domination over the game was absolute. It was complete. I always argue that Clive Lloyd's team of late 1970s and early 1980s was the best cricketing side ever.

But as with Lloyds team when the key players started retiring one by one leaving a vaccum, the same fate is likely to hit Australia. The key might be a gradual phase out.Warne and McGrath are likely to retire sooner than later and Australia might need to build a second-rung of players who will fit in their shoes. Thats easier said than done. Off course Ricky Ponting is still young and very able skipper.

I am happy with the result of second test purely because it has kept the interest alive in series. Also since cricket is dying a slow death in the country of its birth, it is heartening to see England beat its arch rival at home. This will,God willing, give the required filip to English cricket.

I would like to see England,South Africa and West Indies build up a formidable challenge to the Asians to see a balance in cricketing world. Cricket was much better when these teams were playing well. Today somehow it has become more asian and lost some of its lustre.

Not sure what affect the new rules will have on its popularity. Hope it manages to raise the sagging interest in cricket overall.

Great games and great sports are always marked by great rivalries. I lost interest in watching tennis when every year a new face came to centre court of Wimbledon finals. Tennis was great when McNroe fought Bjon Borg and Becker fought Edberg and Sampras fought Aggassi each year. It was great when Chris Evert and Martina or Steffi Graf and Monica Seles were arch-rivals and each of us had their prejudices and favourites to back up.

Similarly soccer is fun to watch as long as Latinos have a serious competition from Europe or even amongst the latinos, Brazil and Argentina have a India-Pak like rivalry.

Arch-rivalries bring out the best and the most exciting games.

Thankfully English cricket is reviving and Ashes still has some meaning. Hope Andrew Flintoff can do an Ian Botham on Ashes for the sake of English cricket :)

Analyse That

2005-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is a good analysis by Sushan Sareen in rediff.com.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/06guest1.htm

Its a fact that no muslim in the world has ever come out strongly against islamic terror. There's always a tacit justification provided after whatever cosmetic condemnation is,if at all, done by any muslim leader.

Sareen goes on to say

[...] the implicit justification offered by the so-called moderate Muslims to acts
of Islamic terrorism by pointing out at the 'root causes' begs the question: does
the 'root cause' of Islamic terrorism lie in social, political and economic
conditions in Muslim societies or do they lie in the religion itself? Do the root
causes lie in 'grievances' of Muslims or do they lie in the way Islam is
perceived, taught and imbibed by its followers?

Terror apologists like Sayeed Naqvi,Arundati Roy, Praful Bidwai invariable point the fingers to Israel or Afghanistan or Iraq or somewhere in the middle east whenever a terror strikes , as if to tell us that 'root-cause' lies there.

Every time they mention 'root causes' in the same breath as they condemn an act
of terrorism they effectively end up providing a tacit justification for
terrorism. What is more, this state of denial prevents a deeper soul searching
within the community on the direction the religion is taking and prevents any
course correction.

How very true.

The moderates want us to look the other way and i believe they want us like them to run away from the problem. The only way to end terror is to crush it. No amount of "peace talks" and reasoning can be of any good. You cannot reason with someone who says he's doing it under God's command. What possible argument can you provide to counter it.
The great bleeding hearts and the liberals like Arundati Roys and Kuldeep Nayars seldom shed a tear for Hindus,Jews,Christians killed by these jihadis on a daily basis. But always remind us of Palestine and Iraq as the 'root-cause'.

The hard fact is, these jihadis, will always find a 'root-cause', if not in Israel than in Somalia, if not in Somalia than in may be Kashmir to justify all their actions. There's no limit to their 'root-causes'. Even if you give them Kashmir and Palestine away, peace will not return. Because they will invent new roots and causes.

The Unsung Hero

2005-08-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

I would like to start a series of articles on the personalities/people whose achievements went unnoticed or they were, as they say, Unsung.

I would like to start with the man who according to me was singularly responsible for affecting the lives of the entire Indian middle class, a class which i proudly belong to.No its not (the oft repeated) Manmohan Singh, but the real force behind him and the political will behind all his measures - Mr. Narismha Rao.

While reading through the tribute by rediff's Amberish Diwanji on Narshimha Rao, i realised what this man had achieved with such paper thin majority. Agreed that he used all the means (good or bad) to achieve what he finally achieved. But look at the results.

I will always prefer a leader who is corrupt but gets results for the people rather than a non-corrupt 'progressive' socialist who only speaks and plans and does nothing concrete. Ideally i would like a leader who's non-corrupt and result oriented. But leaving idealism aside i woudn't mind, lets say, a leader who builds roads, hospitals, schools and infrastructure and also warms his pockets on this path.

Narsimha Rao may have been corrupt and there's been lot of mud on his dhoti right from Jharkhand MPs to Harshad Mehta, but what he did for India during those turbulent times has been un-matched in Indian political history.

Before we judge Mr. Rao from these isolated events, lets take in perspective what was the state of the country when he became PM.Firstly lets get some facts.

He was the PM of India from 1991 till 1996. Just preceding his rule, there had been two failed governments. One of VP Singh and the other of Chandrashekhar. Owing to VP Singh's Mandal the nation's social fabric was in a state of disarray. The so called OBC's were the new Czars. To counter the potential divide within the larger Hindu family L.K Advani had to embark upon his rath yatra to Ayodhya which in turn polarised the Hindus and Muslims further. A divided Hindu family was what VP Singh was looking at as he wanted to become the messiah of the Muslim-OBC vote bank. Thankfully Advani was able to consolidate atleast a chunk of Hindus behind him, specially the Hindu middle class. That probably saved a much larger divide along the caste lines, which was VP Singh's real intent. (I say thankfully; but for now i will leave that discussion to another day)

Lets say finally neither Advani nor VP Singh succeeded completely in their mission. VP Singh in fact became a spent force almost immediately.But these two also left the country in a state of uneasy disturbance by their actions.

But the real issue facing the nation was the economic crisis. The Gulf war had just ended and the oil prices were at all time high. The previous government had already taken loan from IMF keeping Gold as mortgage. Something that was unprecedented in the history of Nehru's socialist India. Thanks to Nehru and Gandhi family whose "socialism" had the tacit support of the communists in all those years, the country was on a brink of economic and social disaster. All those years the Indians had been fed with stories of how self sufficient India was and how good was Nehru's socialist policies and how PSUs would be enough to make India productive. It was only a matter of time before the socialism's bomb exploded in the face of Indian policy makers, who all those years, were just avoiding to confront this issue.

In this context i would like to quote Dr. Ramesh Thakur of the United Nation's University..
"Fascination by Jawaharlal Nehru [...] with the state's occupying the commanding heights of the economy and with planning as the instrument of choice for economic growth -- at the cost of a free-market price mechanism -- grew from an admiration of what at the time seemed to be impressive achievements by the Soviet Union, one of the two superpowers. This produced compromises with liberal democracy. The result was the greatest pogram of poverty multiplication and persistence in human history."

And the bomb did explode, the day the news came of India surrendering gold to World Bank in return to a loan.

So basically Rao came in at an unenviable time. Also since he was not a Gandhi family member it was not going to be easy for him to have the backing of the Congress MPs who are eternally intoxicated in sycophancy of Gandhi-Nehru clan. He was always going to walk a very tight rope.

But he had one big advantage. BJP after loosing the 1991 elections was not at its combative best. It was always going to be a weak opposition. Also it was pro-liberalisation. But its biggest handicap came when Babri was destroyed. In one stroke that event galvanised the entire non-BJP force of the country. In one way it might also have been Rao's master stroke.
By being soft on BJP and in some ways allowing Babri to get demolished, Rao gave the entire "secular" polity a permanent handle to beat BJP with.

Babri demolition sent shock waves across the country. More importantly it tamed BJP and its off shoots. A weak opposition was Rao's best bet during those days. And he got that in exactly one year of his rule.

With oppositon on the back foot, Rao now had to rein in the even more vocal opponents of practically everything - the Left. One must credit Rao of handling them well by playing them against BJP. He was able to divert all the left's negative energies towards BJP while silently under taking the reforms. He gave Manmohan and his team a free hand to handle economics. A free hand without political pressure is probably every Finance minister's dream. And Singh made full use of it.

It must not be forgotten by all who are always jumping in giving Manmohan Singh all the due for liberating the economy that as a part of the deal with IMF in 1992, India HAD to liberalise its economy. There was no going back on that. Manmohan Singh JUST HAPPENED to be the Finance Minister at that time. I doubt any other finance minister (whether Jaswant Singh,Yashwant Singh,P.Chidambara or any other) would have done anything different.

Lot of people today give all the credit for economic reforms to Manmohan Singh. But that at best is only partially true. Today Manmohan Singh is just the face behind the real power. 13 years ago the story was not different. He was playing his innings when the real game was played else where. Rao had the political will and the guts to carry on with what he thought was right for the nation. Without much fuss and hype he brought some sweeping changes in India's economic thoughts and ideas. Behind the scenes he manufactured deals and applied his political skills to keep the communists and socialists from making too much noise. While Manmohan Singh got all the praise showered upon him , specially by media and the middle class, Rao silently worked to see that all the bills are passed smoothly.

In his essay "The political economy of reform", management guru Gurcharan Das wrote,
"Narasimha Rao deserves credit for his deft handling of the reform process, especially in sequencing the acts in a politically shrewd manner. Hence, India has avoided the political damage – or even collapse, as in Russia’s case – that many countries have suffered after the economic reforms"

Rao's tenure was qualitatively different than that of Rajiv Gandhi's. One must not forget that Rajiv Gandhi, the poster boy of Indian politics, had things on platter. He had more than three fourths of Parliament members solidly behind him. He had the world at his feet. He could have done anything with a snap of his finger.The media was behind him and there were no private channels to probe his dealings and breath down Rajiv's neck for every decision he makes.
(Its a different thing that he wasted all those years in playing a celebrity rather than a serious leader and frittered away all the good will and advantage he started with).

Rao's style, as Shekhar Gupta of IE puts it, "was so hopelessly understated as to amount to self-denial". As he gave free hand to Manmohan Singh for handling nation's economy he was also equally benevolent towards the home affairs. The Punjab problem, one of the worst faced by India, post-independence, came to an end during his tenure.
And most likely it ended because even though Rao was fully aware of KPS Gill's strong arm tactics he did not interfere; on the other hand he created an intellectual base in the media to justify Gill's actions.

"The end of terrorism in Punjab without conceding any of the demands of the terrorists and the successful termination of many hijackings without conceding the demands of the terrorists, were some his achievements on home front" - B.Raman (Author of many articles on International Terrorism)

His foreign affairs acumen was never a question. Hence his bold decision in 1992 to bring into the open India's relations with Israel, which had been kept secret since they were first established under Indira Gandhi's orders in 1969 and to permit Israel to open an Embassy in New Delhi, was nothing short of a master stroke.

Israel which had been a victim of terrorism for long was a perfect partner for our counter-terrorist program. Rao saw that India could learn a lot from Isreal in many areas of tackling terrorism.

In a country where the Nehrus and Gandhis are worshipped, there was this political pygmy who by his actions brought more positive changes within the country than those brought in by the entire rule of the Nehru Gandhi family.

Right from handling Foreign affairs to internal matters to economics to politics, Rao showed that you can drive the nation out of problems rather than take it towards it.

His own party, the Congress (shamelessly) never really acknowledged his contributions and achievements.Congress men feared a backlash from their goddess Sonia, if they ever uttered anything positive about Rao.

Unfortunately Rao's political career ended in humiliation. He was being dragged from court to court in various cases even as his own party men were looking the other way or looking to hold the fingers of Madam Gandhi.

I guess we are too close to Rao's history to really fathom his greatness. It is really sad that we have made heroes out of unqualified and ill deserved people today and we have consistently forgotten the contributions of the real heroes.

Rao, knew more than 18 languages, he was a qualified lawyer and had great knowledge of world history. He used all his knowledge and experience to drive India out of those tough times. Frankly today's new generation leaders are not a patch on this man.

For me he was probably the only Congress PM , who i will ever see in positive light.

Bombay

2005-08-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

What happened to Bombay last week was incomprehensible. Was it just incessant rains that did that?Or is there a larger story?

I am not a mumbaite myself. But I have some connections with that city. For the starters most of my mother's side relatives stay there, and we being a pretty close family, I spent a lot of my child hood vacations in what used to be 'Bombay'. Also I worked in Bombay for around 4 years so was pretty much a part and parcel of the system.

My wife is from Bombay. So that makes the full circle and makes Bombay almost my second home. But I carry mixed feelings about this great city. Its not my favourite but I feel like admiring and appreciating a lot of things about this city.

If you really ask me Bombay is the only truly cosmopolitan metropolis of India. Rest all the so called Metros are merely overgrown villages. There's no city till date in India which can compare Mumbai's professionalism.

Hence it is sad to see the state of this city today, which fills the nations revenue coffers with 40% share, in such shambles.
One can go on and on blaming governments and system for Bombay's plights. But aren't the real mumbaikars themselves to blame for this? Haven't they voted the wrong people again and again? Aren't the people who did not vote at all in all these
elections equally to blame?

The BJP-Sena government ruled Maharashtra for only 5 years. But what they gave Bombay was priceless.Imagine, had it not been for the initiative taken by the dynamic PWD minister Nitin Gadkari during their rule, would we have seen Bandra-Borivili connected so well? Would we have seen those innumerable number of flyovers which now hang over the city landscape and which in effect removed so many traffic bottle necks.

Lot of anti-Sena people will argue that it was the previous Congress governments plan. The hard fact is, it requires political will and foresight to carry out such major investments in infrastructure,and not just plans on paper.
Sadly the anti-BJP media never focused on this achievement of that government and far more tragic is the fact that the same mumbaikars who should have been thankful to this government, voted them out.

With Congress back in the game its back to square one.

(I seriously feel that were it not for improved roads on the western express highway, the situation in Mumbai would have been far worse today.Bombay should atleast thank Gadkari for that)

For a city which is now (somehow) sustaining a population of more than 1.5 crores the real issue is not these rains. The real issue is unchecked immigration to this city and its effects on city's already stressed infrastructure. Again here the
mumbaikars have failed to come together and support the leader who was ready to stick his neck out and give a call against Immigrants.

His name happens to be Bal Thackray. Sadly not many Mumbaikars (including Maharashtrians) have come out in his support on this issue.

Mumbaikars take great pride in their resilience. But this very trait of Mumbaikars is today costing this great city bad.If all the Mumbaikars unite and take a stand against immigration there's a possibility of some salvage even now.

Its Utter Pradesh's problem that it does not have enough jobs. Its not Bombay's problem that Bihar cannot sustain itself economically. Its not Bombay's problem that West Bengal has 70% industrial units declared sick.If Bombayites do not realise this now, it will be too late.

I fear that a lot of good families who really value quality and honest life will be leaving this city in coming days. Unfortunately they will also take away the productivity and skills along with them. The lifeline of Bombay.

It would be foolish to write off this great city so soon. But surely the decay has set in. Its not of question of 'will this happen' but now its a question of only 'when will this happen'. I give Bombay two decades tops.

I mean off course people will be staying there and all that. But by then it would have lost its prime position as India's commercial capital. I think the economic's weight is shifting southwards.

The Chalta Hai attitude is going to kill this booming region. You get a feeling that something is not right with Bombay when you see that an honest man like Ram Naik is voted out for a non-serious entity like Govinda.
You realise that future is not safe when Underworld is all over real estate and bollywood and ready to strike in more lucrative businesses anytime.

The hijack of Bombay has begun. The pseudo-intellects who speak for and on behalf of Bombay have got it all wrong when they blame everything on Shiv Sena. No, Shiv Sena is not a problem. If at all, today it's Bombay's only hope.

The Spin Doctors !

2005-07-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

And you thought only Shane Warne and Murali could spin !

Well, if you are an avid current news follower like me who happens to spend a good amount of time traversing through the HTML pages of the right wing "Daily Pioneer", to the Left Wing New York Times & Indian Express, you could possibly relate to my first sentence.

Yes we live in a world where Spin Doctors galore. This phrase 'The Spin Doctor' has now become a global phenomenon much like anything else. And no, you do not need a college degree to have this doctorate. This doctor is pretty much a person, who by his ability to apply spin, can convince you that what he believes is the actual fact.

Subtlety is her forte. She packages her news,views and ideas in a certain manner so as to buttress her claims or her ideology.

There are spin doctors on both the sides, i.e Left and Right. Its from who's prism you see the world that makes all the difference between you agreeing or disagreeing on a certain subject.

Bush's "war on terror" has been the most argued subject in my recent memory. Right from the New York Times to the "Navakal" of Pune,India, would have debated this war for almost 3 years now. Each newspaper providing its own little spin to this war which has come to stay with us and possibly affecting all of us.

Right from Arundati Roy's rabid leftist views on this subject to Bill O'Reilly's equally strong and intense views, a common reader is witness to the best spin doctors in the game each day.

And the higher up you are on the celebrity chart the better spinner you are.

So Arundati Roy to buttress her 'liberal' views will tell you how 1,00,000 innocent people have died in this war and add more examples where American troops have been involved in killing what she calls and wants us to believe as 'innocent' victims. Off course for the likes of Arundati Roy, even Saddam Hussein is innocent. And so is Osama. Thus Arundati Roy will always be very selective in her examples. She will never tell you that Osama's cohorts have killed more than 60,000 Kashmiris. She will not tell you that Saddam Hussein butchered 100,000 or more Kurds. She will not tell you that in China there have been more human rights excesses than the excesses of all the nations put together. She will instead give only positive examples of China.

But if Left wing is full of spinners the right wingers are not behind. Though they are late in the game, the right wing is soon catching up on this art. They are doing pretty good in US. With FOX news leading this bunch that is ably aided by the blogsphere where right wing conservatives have made a mark.

In India sadly the balance is highly tilted in the Left's favour. May be 10 years down the line the situation will change. Who knows?

For now except for the "Daily Pioneer' of Delhi, most Indian newspapers give a lopsided picture of a story which can be seen only through the left's prism or from the Gandhi family's prism.

For all practical purposes the Indian democracy is a farce.
If its not, please give me one example of a democratic country where one and only one family has been voted again and again for more than 40 years. If committing the same mistakes again and again is an art, well, Indians have mastered that.
When the same family rules again and again, you call it Monarchy.

The Indian spin doctors have a huge advantage over their US counter parts. They have no opposition.They are never questioned. Nobody can tear their theory apart.

Times of India in recent times has become the Gandhi Family mouthpiece. The way it is packaging Rahul Gandhi, it can put the best of ad-makers to shame.
So if Times Of India runs a subtle advertisement for Rahul Gandhi, showing how dynamic he is or that how he celebrated his birthday privately, only few people do not miss the fact that the Congress run newspaper has its spin doctors working overtime. This image building excercise undertaken by the nation's 'best' newspaper tells a story unto itself.

How does it really matter to country fighting poverty and looking for social equalities how this Gandhi family member celebrated his Birthday? But "Times Of India', the nation's premier daily comes up with such irrelevant features on front page, and far worse, gets away with show casing a dumbo as a potential PM. Infact ever since Rahul Gandhi has exploded on the Indian political scene, no other newspaper has made us hear the bang more than Times Of India. I think TOI wants us to believe that Rahul G is the best thing to have happened to India after the green revolution or economic liberalisation.

But if TOI today symbolises scycophancy, Indian Express is not far behind. There's been so much of pro-establishment spin in the newspaper these days that someone actually made a web site called
spindianexpress.
It is tough to believe that this Goenka owned newspaper was at some point of time forefront in anti-establisment views. There was a time when Indian express really had its money where its mouth was and it backed its tag line 'Journalism of Courage' by bold actions and views, whether it was Bofors or Emergency.

Today it has become Sonia and Manmohan's B-Team. You just have to visit its Editor-in-Chief, Shekhar Gupta's columns once in while to realise how shallow it has become.

'The Hindu' happens to be the worst of the lot. It is now promoting marxism pretty blatantly. And at times it does not even bother to apply spin but brazenly demonstrates its subjective journalism.

In a country where all these newpapers tell you that how Modi is the biggest villain of the century and how Sonia Gandhi is next only to Mother Teresa, there are very few who bother to read the other end of the spin doctors array.

The 'Daily Pioneer'. Its the right wing's answer to Indian Express. Its BJP's answer to Congress' TOI and Hindustan Times. But again Daily Pioneer has a neglible readership. So by and large Congress is way ahead in this game of Spins.

The art of spin is not what you tell, but its what you DO NOT tell to the gullible reader. So to make you believe that Narendra Modi is the biggest villain, the Times Of India wants us to believe that more than '2000 muslims were killed in riots in Gujarat spanning number of days'. A 'truth' it was able to stick by repeated assertion (of lies). What it does not tell you though is that not 2000, but 700 muslims and 300 hindus died in riots and that the riots were not spanning days, but only 3 days to be precise.
Also Times Of India will not compare these figures with the far worse violence nation ever suffered. The 1984 Sikh riots, where even by official figures, more than 3000 sikhs were butchered by Congress workers (some of them are MPs now) and the riots went in for months.
The Indian Express will tell you that Modi government is full of corrupt officials but will never tell you that the Gujarat government under Modi, clocked 15% GDP growth this year against the national average of 7%.

Not telling something definitely is a part of spin. Or tell only so much so as to enforce your view point. You take the reader to a point where he's convinced and than leave him right there. If the reader is really interested in the story he will dig further. But 9 out of 10 will not dig further and the newspaper and the view point will win.

So if Arundati Roy does not tell you about the excesses done by the Taliban in Afghanistan (or even if she does, not with the same intensity as Bush's war on terror), be rest assured that its her spin doctorism at work.

The large number of people who take the views represented in TOI as the gospel truth are in danger of never having known the other side of the story. Similarly all the BJP supporters who have never read anything beyond 'The Daily Pioneer' will never know the follies committed by BJP.

Objective journalism has been a victim of this Spindoctorism. If at all it existed, that is.

We live in a web of lies and only we can apply some common sense to really understand this spin. For most though, news is irrelevant and hence truth is only incidental to the event.

When Kishore Kumar died a hundred deaths

2005-07-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

"There are still 8 chapters remaining.I think i will night out today."
"I haven't even tried out any 'problems' as yet. App-Mech really sucks."
"Can i leave those last 2 chapters in option. This year they might not come.What say?""What did they ask in your Viva? Is the external strict ?"
"Forget it. Lets have a fag. Is Ganpat's tea stall still open?"

Flashback to the world of irrelevance. Flashback to the hostel life.
A virtual universe of 24 X 7 chaos, where events waited for mid-nights to occur - nay explode.

If you have ever seen a hostel life, then it's hard to believe, you have not been a part of these seemingly mindnumbing conversations.

For the unitiated,these coversations may sound silly or hollow, but they meant a world for a hostelite. For example , what if the Viva external was really strict? Would that person skip the orals altogether? Or what's the point of having a fag & a cup of tea ? Would it have solved the problem of last 2 chapters? But i bet you listened to these questions as a religious routine every semester.

Those conversations were worth every unsuccessful smoke ring coming out of your lips.
Every tea stall owner fancied his chances of making big, thanks to the relentless customer line all through the night at his stall for a tiny cup of tea - the lifeline of every hostelite. As a rule who has to be awake all night, before the exam.

But it was fun. Fun that everyone from the topper to the repeater would some how find himself in those fruitless conversations before every exam.

Then off course those visits to the temple , asking God for somehow clearing this exam and promising him of being sincere the next time. "Just this. Just this exam, please. !!!". The cry of the "inner voice" bigger and louder than Sonia Gandhi's.

By the time we were in the final year, the "beer" was the defacto thirst quencher relegating water to distant second place. Even during the exam period some of us were audacious enough for going to have drinks in the evening just a day before the paper.Yours faithfully,included.

"Phir bhi theek nikle yaar"... those priceless words from one of characters of the movie "Hyderabad Blues" says it all.Yea,we just managed to squeeze through those years & yea some of us even came out with flying colors.
(One might blame it on the paper checker or the examiner. Oh Whatever !)

And dig this;There used to be a study room in the college premise where all the sincere amongst us would come over to study. Believe it or not,i too visited them often. Not because i was sincere or something.Those four years i had divorced sincerity.
It was just that the canteen (cafetaria for the US walas) was very close to that room and hence i could frequently go for my regular dose of wada pav & tea.

Barring those 15 days of exams & some part of the so called 'preparation' leave (where nothing really got us prepared), the rest of the life in college was bliss. It was divine. Oh yea, also there was a brief "submission" period preceding every semester exam and it had its own share of ordeal.But atleast during the submission period, the window glasses, the bulb and the bucket came in handy. Also the journals of the sincere ones could be used.

Do i miss that? You bet i do. But like all phases of life, that carefree phase of life had to come to an end. A phase where you never knew who would be lying on your bed when you entered your room.
Or a phase where someone would wear your well ironed shirt for playing a game of cricket; a shirt that you had carefully kept in your trunk for some special occassion.Your sleepers would be found under some distant bed in a hostel room just because one of your friends did not want to wear his shoes in the morning before leaving your room.

If your room mate made an impromptu decision of cleaning the room, there were two possible reasons. Either his female friends are paying a visit or someone's parents are expected. Else the room will be a dumping yard, for all those who cared to live in it.
But yea, the definition of cleanliness was limited to all the clothes being dumped temporarily in the shelf. It was all about 'pushing under the carpet' literally.

The girls were a constant and only reliable source of revenue during those economically tough times; needless to say they were given special treatment. And yea they were particularly helpful during the days of submitting journals, as their journals were always up to date.

During hostel days,clock or watch was an entity people did not bother much of; almost as much as that journal itself. It meant very little. So if you happened to visit your food mess at let's say 00:00 am after watching some non-descript hindi movie in an equally shady theatre, you were more worried about someone being in the mess at that time, rather than whether any food was left. Because food was always left. We practically lived on 'left overs'.

There was neither a routine nor a road map. You could have your lunch between the time range of 10:30 hrs to 16:30 hrs and dinner between time range of 17:30 hrs to 2:00 hrs. No questions asked.It was an accepted norm. It was a natural way of existence.The only issue that bothered us about the mess was the bill. Because every one felt that he did not eat enough in the mess to justify that payment. The auditor of the mess owed greater explaination than the defaulters.

Self analysis was a futile excercise. You are just what you are. You are taken as you are. Even if you try to put a facade and impress some crowd, you fall flat on your face and get exposed pretty much within a short span. Practically no one's interested in what you are as long as you join him in having a fag and share a bottle of beer.

You are not known by how well you performed in your last exam (and mind you lot of them perform well), rather how many times you have had drinks this season. Or were you able to befriend a girl from your class. Then even if you have had three ATKTs (back logs) in your cart you were still a hero. Career be damned. You can always recover.Those days you were judged by very different parameters. The rules of the game were different.

Of all the phases that i have encountered in my life and I am likely to encounter in future, this phase, which constitutes and represents four continous years of nonsense (as in things not making sense at all), stand out as the most enjoyable.

I would like to re-live those moments and days, when i was making no positive contribution to the society or my family for that matter. Atleast now when i am earning, i am sort of directly helping my family and my employer and may be indirectly helping my country's economy. Whatever !

I have enough money today to have beer everyday but I still miss those days when i needed to take loan from my friends to join my other drinking friends and have a blast. I miss calling my father for sparing some extra money, 'only for this month'.
I miss those songs that we sang, bereft of any inhibitions, the whole night, intoxicated more by the camaraderie than by the beer itself.When Kishore Kumar died a hundred deaths and when Jagjit Singh was the demi-God of every broken heart.

When smoking was not about making hole in your lungs or pocket, but a neccessary evil to have your rightful place under the Hostel sun. When a game of Flash could extend well into the early morning hours.

Those four years when vices were your friends and decency was delt with contempt. Those four years when you did not need to plan to meet your friends and could hijack one's privacy without giving a call, because privacy was a concept , alien to us.

Those years when our parents merely lived on hope rather than any concrete evidence that their son will somehow get on the career road. Those years when abusive language was not so much of a pariah, but the defacto lingo.
A phase when bordering insanity was not an exception, it was almost a virtue.

Those years when nothing worthwhile or fruitfull was achieved, yet life gave so many reasons to live for.

Mein hu traitor number 1

2005-07-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

India has a history of worshipping the false gods , and thus it ain't surprising to me that people like Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan are accepted as 'heroes' in our country.
In any other country, they might not only have faced extreme humiliation but also extraordinary punishment. (after what has been found about them)

But in India,Salman Khan will be let off the hook and soon everything will be forgotten. Why that? He might even be lured by Laloos,Mulayams,Amar Singhs,Sharad Pawars to campaign for their party and who knows he may be offered an election ticket as well.

Don't be surprised if you hear a statement coming from him in next few days - "I am a muslim & hence the police is targtetting me".

Phots courtesy: rediff.com

If this sounds like a deja vu, google to what Mohd. Azaruddin said when he was grilled by CBI.

But Salman ain't the problem really. Neither are Salems & Dawoods. They are merely taking advantage of the soft laws available in India. With POTA & TADA gone, its celebration time for all the anti-nationals. There's basically no fear of law.

There's a snail-paced judicial process, than there are those frustrating laws and clauses one can fall back upon and off course the short-lived public memory which forgives & forgets the hardest of criminals.

If you happen to be a muslim or belong to any other minority community, you can always claim like Nadeem and Azharuddin that you have doubts about the prosecution and judicial process and question the fairness of your trial.
So basically you can get away with treason,murder,rape... anything as long as you can prove the police as guilty of targeting the "innocent" minority community.
I think you do not even have to prove. Just one small statement is enough for all the "secular" parties in the country to come to your rescue.

The leftists who have mastered the art of romanticising terrorism with their prompt justification of any anti-national activities, the media which keeps mum when it is expected to speak out, the blissfully ignorant middle class of the country, have according to me, to share the blame for the ills facing the country today.

When a terrorist is caught after months of painful investigation by the police & taken to courts, the praful bidwais & kuldeep nayars jump in to provide the moral support to him. He is provided with the neccessary resources to let go.
When 57 Hindus get killed in one shot and roasted alive, do not bother, the media will trivialise the whole situation by calling it an accident.

Atleast till few years back, people would take pride in carrying their patriotism on their sleeves. It was a matter of pride to love your motherland.
Now, thanks to the leftist media, patriotism is equated to communalism and nationalism is equated to fascism. Truly, patriotism is out of fashion now. You are guilty if you happen to love your nation.
Who knows, a day will come when being anti-indian will become fashionable. Or has that the day already come?

Counter Naqvi,Frame by Frame

2005-07-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

This article appeared in Indian Express (where else) on July 08 2005

http://iecolumnists.expressindia.com/full_column.php?content_id=74019

The celebrated columnist, Sayeed Naqvi, has time & again made efforts to sanitise the ugly doings of the terrorists. Previously he linked the Godhra train killings to UP elections (as if to say that VHP was responsible for that ) and now he insists that BJP has something to do with the Ayodhya issue.

(Apparently BJP is desperate for issues, and so is killing innocents) .

These fifth columnists, i feel, are as dangerous as terrorists themselves,if not more. They provide the terrorists the neccessary moral support and at times even the required sanctity for their actions.

Read on.. what this smart ass has to say about Ayodhya....

Ayodhya, frame by frame

The terrorists got into the Tata Sumo at Akbarpur, which is near Kichaucha village, where lots of Muslims live. Since lots of Muslims live in Kichaucha they must be “fundamentalists”. At Faizabad, they abandoned the Sumo and hired a jeep driven by Rehan Alam who drove them past a temple — indeed they guided him to the temple — where they “prayed”. Muslim fundamentalists praying at a temple? Let us not forget they were pretending to be pilgrims. But where was the audience for the benefit of whom this drama was being enacted? The audience was Rehan Alam, the driver. But the driver was only to drive them up to a point, after which he was to be forced out of the jeep. After getting rid of the driver, the “terrorists” would enter the Ramjanmabhoomi campus.

If this indeed was the predetermined script, the driver would live to tell the story — as indeed he did — including the detour he was forced to make to visit the temple where the terrorists “prayed”, making them out to be Hindus.

Does not quite add up. Conspiracy theorists smack their lips like they have seen jam. To enter the compound the “terrorists” bang the jeep against railings protecting the sensitive area where the Babri masjid, the “disputed structure”, once stood, the spot now adorned by Ram Lala idols.

Mr. Naqvi, it is driver Rehan's statement that the (rightly called) terrorists (and so no need of quotes) went to the temple. If you are basing your theory on his statement, which by the way is changing every minute, you are not even close.
And it is entirely possible that these terrorist did go to the temple, which could be the place they would regroup themselves before one final assault.What better place can you have in Ayodhya, than a temple to make a last minute prep?

When the jeep is detonated to create a passage in the railing, one of the terrorists is blown to bits. Next day the dead man’s family recognise the watch-strap and chappals as belonging to Ramesh Pandey. What was Pandey doing with terrorists”? Pandey was some sort of freelance panda, a guide for pilgrims. Seeing a jeep full of “pilgrims” moving towards the holy place, he presumably trailed it, soliciting custom. One Mohammad Sharief, a part-time undertaker,buried the five terrorists. The day after the burial there was an official “leak” that all four were circumcised. They were separated from Pandey who was cremated.

Meanwhile, Rehan Alam has been detained in the Ramjanmabhoomi area. He is being taken to places on the route the “terrorists” travelled. His passport indicates he once worked in Dammam, an oil-rich region of Saudi Arabia. I suppose Saudi intelligence will furnish details on his contacts in Dammam.

In a country where people can be bought for peanuts, why does it surprise you Mr. Naqvi that a hindu called Ramesh Pandey accompanied them? And what does it prove anyways?

So the breakthrough on the identity of the terrorists officials claim to be in possession of, is that they were circumcised. For this detail, too, they have presumably fallen back on data furnished by Sharief, the undertaker.

Its ok if you go by driver Rehan's statement, but the police should not heed to the undertaker Sharief's statement. And nowhere does it come out that police "just" believed Shareif's statement. It just comes out that Sharief "also" told the same.

The media’s imagination fills in details officials cannot furnish. No official has yet given an indication of the identities of the “terrorists”. But every channel, including DD, has conducted ponderous discussions on Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish. Graphic routes were drawn from Nepal.

Please remember oh Sherlock Holmes that UP is governed by 'Mullah' Mulayam and his police. Mulayam will be the last person to let officials declare the attackers as muslims, even if he had the slightest doubts.

The winners in all of this confusion, have been the people of India who have kept their calm. TV screens were filled with baton charges, tear gas, the pushing of barricades — but only for a day. That the events at Ayodhya coincided with the last day of the RSS conclave in Surat is about as significant as Shankarsinh Vaghela’s allegation that it was a set-up job.

Yea smart ass ! Every job is a setup job done by Hindu fanatics. You also doctored a theory not too long ago when you "coincided" the Godhra train killings with one of VHP's conclave. Yea right ... Muslims are all so innocent.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who should be busy managing floods in the state, chipped in with his clarion call: the terrorist attack was as important as 9/11. That the embattled BJP president L.K. Advani referred to Modi’s speech in his protest meeting at Jantar Mantar may be a pointer to his quest for allies in the intra-BJP battles ahead.

Mr. Modi has managed Gujarat situation well. Thank you very much. That does not mean he cannot have access to news items and incidents happening around. And he is within his rights to acknowledge the brave police men, if that's what you meant by 'clarion call'.

And than he continues with his never ending blabber on his pet obsession ..... the Sangh Parivar

blah blah blah....

The BJP’s attitude towards the Ayodhya incident brings into sharp focus the party’s desperate search for an issue. Clearly,reverting to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement is not seen by the party as a political booster. The party has therefore confined itself to attacking the Centre and Mulayam Singh Yadav for security lapses. Advani alone has picked up the refrain,“Mandir wahin banega” (Ram temple will be built on the exact spot) but with a caveat. His ideological U-turn in Pakistan earned him the wrath of the RSS-VHP. Since the Ayodhya incident has brought the issue into focus (very temporarily, in my view),he has extended a hand to the conclave in Surat by pitching in for the temple.

Since a full blown temple movement appears now to be out of the question, he has left room for his new secular avatar. He says he will reach out to the Muslim ulema to let him build the temple “on the spot”. He probably imagines the Muslim ulema will entertain his plea because of the new garb he acquired in Pakistan. The flaw in this approach is that there are no Muslim ulema the 150 million Indian Muslims listen to, except in bits and pieces, here and there. The good news may be that the Muslim community may, through repeated trial and error, have moved ahead of communal politics.

Oh my Gawd.... snooooze....

And the award goes to..

2005-07-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

And the award goes to the blatantly partisan jury. Saif Ali Khan (??) got the national award for his role in the movie - dig this - Hum Tum !!.
Now i know the younger nawab has come a long way from his earlier non-descript roles in Bollywood. But National Award ? You must be kidding me.
It seems a little far-fetched for someone like Saif Ali Khan to get a prestigious award like this. Agreed that he has done well in cameo roles earlier, but seldom has he shown promise in carrying the entire movie alone.

In one of my earlier posts i had mentioned how the entire media was up in arms when Raveena Tandon was awarded in 2001 in the Best Actress category.
The jury was charged for being partisan,un-professional and even political.

Now with Sharmila Tagore on the Censor Board and her son getting an award for a performance that most would describe just about average, the hypocrites in the media are conviniently dozing off in their arm chairs.

What a farce these awards are becoming each passing year ?
And it is not helping that the media who is expected to expose these things in the system is shamelessly pro-establishment.