Audacity means Didi

Audacity - Can be defined as any of the below

1. The willingness to take bold risks
2. Rude or disrespectful behavior

Didi is how most know Mamata Banerjee a politician in India. Currently she is the Chief Minister of West Bengal a state in the Indian Republic. Over the last few days (2nd week of June 2012), she has become very famous for being the king-maker one day and ending a big loser in the next two days. 

It started with Mamata despite being a key ally of the ruling UPA Govt, deciding to go her separate way when it came to arriving at a consensus on the next UPA nominee for the next President of India. I was amazed when i read various news items, when she tangoed with another party (SP) and decided on announcing the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh too to be a candidate for the Presidential election. Something that has been never heard of. It sparked so much commotion and the media went into a frenzy, as they got so much fodder to talk & discuss about the audacity of Didi and also how the PM is being jettisoned. Oh boy !, it sure caught every man on this soil un-aware and totally lost for words and obviously put the Congress led UPA in a very slimy slate

Normally when you are sinking, people try to catch a tree branch or anything thats available to keep you afloat. Here Mamata was safely in the coalition and was always being kow-towed to, even when serious fiscal related policies were being stopped by her objections.... so obviously no one could imagine why didi would jump everyone's shoulder and go berserk and cobble up a quick coalition just for this Presidential election.

Didi did many things right and boldly to get the 3 decade old Communist rulers overthrown, in her home state election. She led a strong fight against land grabbing / land acquisition, due to which Tata car makers could not setup the Nano factor in Bengal....this is all known and was a very bold move

You can take bold steps, expecting a good result and you can very bold move while ending up in despair. The latter is what happened this time around with Didi, when the UPA announced Pranab Mukherjee to be the nominee for the Presidential election, to which most other parties in India have now concurred including the SP, which means Didi has been left alone on the island and not even a boat to come back to main-land

So was it Audacity, that was too bold but had huge over-tones of dis-respect ?

Pay to use plastic, but it’s a Go-Green tax !

To Go-Green is the latest fad, at-least in the many shopping centers or what we call malls.  I will definitely, say this has been largely forced down their throats by the ever so vigilant (well they just woke-up now) Bangalore City Corporation. BBMP or the City Corporation suddenly realized that plastic covers which are thin in nature are causing some problem now, or will cause problem later to the environment, hence they ordered that all shops must use polythene bags that are over 40microns thick. For years, all knew it, but the corporation bosses of this great city never thought, it’s a must to have this rule implemented. Anyhow, the managed to implement and the Shops & Establishments are now pressed to follow it

So coming to what I had to say… I have been since the inception of this rule paying at every shop to get a plastic bag. Some or  most shops charge a nominal 1 Re, but the charges vary 3, 5, 2 etc. I asked a Showroom that sells branded clothes, as to what this money is helping them with, the cashiers reply was ‘Sir, its to discourage usage of plastic bags’. Did I need to know more ?, ah well of-course the answer is a profound No, but leaves me to think that ‘ Did I help the cause, by paying a charge but still use the plastic ‘. Really speaking, none of us are helping the Go-Green cause by paying 1 Re to 5 Rs for continuing to use a plastic bag. The bags are still around, they are being widely flaunted around, largely distributed by the shops… so what’s the fun

In all, what was once free, is now charged, which means the stores have passed on the burden of a plastic cover totally onto the consumer. The bags were always flashy and it still is, they were always of the same size and it still is. So the Corporation’s green rule has become good for the stores, they rake in additional money.

We pay and use the plastic, but its for a Green cause !

UnChartered Territory - Don Moen

Disastrous surplus

This year Indian agriculture scenario is facing a disaster of a different nature as it seems, from various news items. The moment one hear there is a crisis in this sector, immediately our thinking goes in the direction of a shortage in agricultural output… well this year however, its not shortage but its all about the abundance. Yes, farmers are expecting super duper bumper crops or yield and its causing them some sleepless nights.

Its interesting that we are getting worried about, what ideally should’ve been a happy situation. India – Our country – is abundant with people and there is no shortage of them who desperately need food. It’s a unfortunate reality that a developing country with such a high GDP growth story has people who don’t get a square meal a day. Govt’s after Govt come to power claiming that they will do something different to what has hitherto been done, to make a difference to the starving populace in India…. and we all know in this country how much that has made a difference, really speaking not much

So the question of what’s this surplus worry… or why the surplus output is causing a worry. Well, its really because we in India don’t have any kind of well-working storage systems that can keep these agri produces safe thereby not getting spoilt. The warehouses in our country aren't networked well nor are they well equipped, infact there is not many warehouses that be boasted about. FCI – Food Corporation of India, the Govt owned entity that’s responsible for stocking our food produces, does a very poor job. They were recently picked on for not having done enough during the rainy season, thereby letting grains rot. The roads & railway infra, they are the much needed transportation mechanisms that can mass transport our produces… its in a very poor form too. Roads are in such bad shape, most pot-holed, poorly lit, have no support system for the many drivers that needs to use it. They don’t criss cross our country in a way that would be helpful, time to ask where is the Golden Quadrilateral system that was to changed the shape of our nations roads. Railways, well there is not much space to run the passenger trains, so obviously freight gets lower priority and that means, no ways can railways be depended upon in toto

All said, potatoes, onions are a bumper crop this year… however a consumer in India will not get a great benefit from the surplus, because these extra output is sure to perish at the growers compound or nearby markets…. it will never reach the many millions who need it desperately. Its really time for our Government machinery to take charge and bring happiness in surplus…let some more of us Indians rejoice and have a good aloo paratha or french fries, may a change come that will help us eat onion dosas cheaper than what its now

Peacock and the Eagle

US President Obama during his visit to India, made a statement in the Indian parliament that India should stand-up and be counted as the leader by its actions. Well for sure he meant, that India should support US in all that they do be it war, blockades or sanctions. Most of us indians would never want such things and hence its quite un-likely that uncle Sam will ever get indian support and accordingly Obama’s US will take time to recognize this country as a leader, may be even not be fully supportive of the indian demand to be a permanent council seat holder in the UNO

We really have to stand-up, yes its important and where else but for our own nation’s cause/ belief. Over the last couple of months, there has been some instances where Indian people were mistreated in US or Indian law not duly accounted for. Here are few which i thought that our nation should raise its voice and be counted

Radio tagging students  - pictures of those unlucky students walking around with radio collars on their legs was very saddening. While the US Govt says that students are likely to violate rules if they are not tagged, what went forgotten is that people cant leave the borders of that country without their visas or passports, which were already confiscated. Education scam is a big pain and the US should do something about stopping these scamster places. Adding more fuel to the fire was when the US embassy official in india said that those collars looked ‘ fashionable ‘. Can the Indian govt work out its way to see that these students are not humiliated anymore?

PF in India – Recently the Provident Fund Org in India changed a rule that no more expats can withdraw contributions made to EPF unless they turn 58 or so.. immediately after this, there was pressure from US to change it… wonder why when indian expats in the US also cannot withdraw their savings made into the US social security framework

Yellow Mellow !

 

What’s in a yellow colored public carrier, have you ever thought ?

There is some relation, apparently Yellow or its related colors, gets attention very fast and more than other colors that we usually see. Its said, that we will notice yellow objects first amongst a lot of others. According to science, "Lateral peripheral vision for detecting yellows is 1.24 times greater than for red." So during misty conditions or in low visibility, drivers will spot yellow cars or any moving vehicle fairly well.

This is probably why, we have a School bus in Yellow color. Indian Govt very recently made it mandatory for all school buses to be Yellow in color… we sort of caught up with what was started in North America during the late 1930’s. These days you find school buses yellow and also many machines that are used in construction like Bulldozers, JCB, Cranes etc.. just to make it easier to spot the danger that comes with these machines

So if its a Yellow then be mellow !

Supply & Demand

 

India is on a race to be the most populated country in this world. Its literally an Abundance …err.. of people though. Most HR people will only be more than happy to see more heads around

Last week i had to take a print of some documentation and since my home printer wasn't working, had to get the prints from a cyber cafe. The dingy little place and its smaller cubicles was least to say crowded. Many youngsters waiting for their turn… privacy was lost for some and i could see a lady jeering at a person standing beside her. The best thing i liked about this cafe was that, all their PC’s were so outdated by looks, but the Operating System was the latest Windows 7. The monitor was a 14’ CRT … 100% of zoom on the screen made the fonts look huge size on them. I finally managed to get my hand on a PC after about half hour wait, my prints were fired onto a printer that was connected to the WLAN (!), the printer was a HP Laserjet. Print per copy was charged only at Rs 3

As i was walking out of the shop, i was thinking to myself the way population has outstripped supply in this great country of ours ‘India’. A railway station, bus stand, auto / taxi stand.. .its all filled with people. Railway stations even in a cosmo city like Bangalore are far short of space for the crowds that it was meant to operate with. A city bus is something that you cant step into during peak hours… well you may think the Volvo buses that are operated on premium by the bus corporation has space… no longer are they spacious, regardless of the premium fare collected on them

The cyber cafe when it started was meant for those who knew computers only… now there is hardly any grown-up person who doesn't know computers, so you will find this place always crowded. That's the way India has grown… we have absolutely lost our handle on the resources that need to be to support such a large population

Will a we 2 ours 2 revival help ! ?

Oh yaaro ! an ear sore

 

Oh yaaro, yeh India bula liya ! thats the theme song of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth games. The noise that Suresh Kalmadi and Co built up was so much that i was very anxious to hear it. ‘It would even beat waka waka – said Kalmadi. Finally it was launched on Aug 28th again at a gala event because money is in no short supply for the CWG organizers – they repeatedly are proving this. The launch was no short of any political gimmicks with both Haryana & Delhi CM’s throwing their support behind the messed up organizers

My expectation were belied when the song was presented and by Rahman himself. It lacked any kind of genius music that this man is so capable of. Oh yaaro, sounded like too much of hindi and mix of some pop and loud guitars, in short a convoluted song… not amusing that so far the organizing has been nothing short of confusions and corruption. I would have imagined a theme song to give some patriotic feeling to the host country at the same time convey a message of oneness, pride, motivation & bonding to the athletes above all energy !!. It should’ve contained more of music atleast.. rather than those jarry tones. Given that the launch of this song was delayed and more changes requested by the organizing committee in its first review, rahman saab should’ve put in more work.

Oh yaaro…do you know, it cost 5 crores for this theme song. This is why we call our desh mahaan

Mallu or Malayali

This is a dilemma that i am in, caused by no specific theorem that proved the case in either of the sides

 

Personally I have never found the word mallu a great moniker, but for the sake of it considered it a short form of Malayali. That said, my feel is that most of the malayali’s call themselves a mallu and that is what would’ve given the buy to others who use it. What best example – see the blog by an IBN writer ‘Mallu’s musing’ on www.ibnlive.com.  The word seems to be in line with calling Gujarati a Gujju & Bengali a Bong. Makes me want to ask, is calling a Tamilian a pandi apt ? No one in tamilnadu will take it lightly if you call him a Paandi

 

Although i have always been averse to this word, the first time i decided to be really against the usage of this word is when i got a mail that said a mallu in hindi means a monkey. The mail has not given any basis but just that, once a malayali told his Bihari friend that he is a mallu and the Bihari man started laughing. On enquiring the reason, the monkey meaning was bought out

 

What next, Google the word … no there didn’t seem to be any major listings that pointed to the monkey. Shockingly most of the links were about aunties who apparently were ‘hot’ … coming back to the monkey relation, there did seem to be one link that said Mallu = Ape {noun}  See the link here - http://en.bab.la/dictionary/hindi-english/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%82

 

Its quite evident, that most of our people are addressed in a slang and that may be Okay with few and not with the rest. In this case, mallu doesn't sound very attractive to me and hence discourage using this word…. let it be a Malayali

Will food be affordable

In a week Elakki Baleh hannu [ Banana ] has become costlier by 10 Rs. This is constantly the rate at which this particular commodity has been increasing in its market price. The inflation rate is also on its upward path and today its at 16.75% and is almost 10% more than what it was last year same time

The sad part here is that salaries aren't growing at this great rate and companies obviously aren't willing to give anything better. It remains to be seen where we Indian's are headed in terms of our basic food needs. How long can we keep paying and i am sure with the kind of rise we are seeing… many people are shrinking their consumption

 

The chart should be a ready reckoner… wonder where we are headed.

 

Is it time that the Govt start investing into making more farmers, so that at least food items remain available readily

Presidents …. only from the North

Nitin Gadkari takes over as the President of BJP, the main opposition party in India, replacing Rajnath Singh

Yet again, there is another north Indian who is at the helm of a national party. I have never understood the real reason behind this choice. It may be because the party is largely based in the North, because after all north India is more populated than South and hence party follower ship also is likely to be more

Isn't it time that parties like the Congress and BJP think about getting people from the South to also lead it. Gadkari apparently was bought in to show the changing face of the party, its willingness to get young and in the process reach out to the growing constituency of a growing young India. This claim of the party is definitely good and for this reason, i would then like to know, why Mr Ananth Kumar a stalwart amongst its ranks wasn't considered. Gadkari is relatively new to the national scene and also quite unheard amongst its own people i am sure. Where as Ananth Kumar has been on the national scene for long, have held cabinet ranks and has been one of the key figures in the parties national arena

Congress we all know, cannot think of anyone – currently at least – to get someone other than the Gandhi’s to lead it. If there was a scenario, i am sure they are also going to get a person in charge that hails from the Hindi belt

60 years of polity in India and very few leaders at the helm from the South, time to get this trend reversed … let the change begin i wish

17 yrs on… an un-repentant BJP

Today in the Indian Parliament, the Justice Liberhan commission’s report on the Ayodhya carnage of December 1992 was tabled and debated upon by the Members of Lok Sabha. The Ayodhya issue has been one of the most heated events in Indian history which was also unfortunate.

The Liberhan commission has at last published a report of findings, which to every common man in India was a known thing for these many years. Now its upto the elected members to debate it and then for the elected government now in power to act on it. I sat watching the debate on TV and it was quite evident from the speakers that they were waiting for such a long time to be able to speak on this topic

Its but obvious that any accused would only try to shout out accusations against him, in self defense. The case as i observed on TV was no different. Non BJP speakers were constantly hassled by the BJP members and they were bringing up Point of Order as well against Jagadambika Pal a Cong MP, since his name featured on the report. Though this Point of Order was invalid, they kept on harping on until it was told by Rajnath Singh that the Jagadambika pal on the report was indeed a Karsevak and it wasn't the congress MP.

Rajnath Singh belted out his defense of the party and his tall leaders in chaste hindi. The man i needs an appreciation, that he stuck largely to faulting the technicalities of this report which most others didn't do. However, he spoke in no terms that would showcase a re-think on BJP’s part about this incident and what it has done to country thereafter. ‘ Ram mandir they, Ram madir hain aur Ram mandir rahega ‘ was what he affirmatively said as part of his speech. This is clearly what keeps BJP out of the people and they are yet to understand it i guess. We all know that Advani started this as a philosophy to shore-up the BJP’s prospects but what they didn’t, was to realize this claim when they were in power. That was clearly a double padded approach on their part.

The report was about ‘What circumstances lead to the demolition’ and that was getting debated by the members, however Rajnath went far too deep into stating that Babur demolished a temple there in AD 1528, to build a mosque there and additionally that since many decades this mosque has been dis-used. What if this mosque wasn't used would be a question that you may ask, but Rajnath babu feels that its a disused monument and Muslims should not bother about its demolition. What he probably doesn't understand is that with this act many a questions are being raised against his party men and also we as a nation have spend loads of time & money trying to quell this needless fire. It did also destroy faith on a secular India, that which has made our country far, far worthy than other countries in our neighborhood.

Justice Liberhan says in his report that for once this act doesn’t seem to be an instant reaction but something that has been in the planning. This is a fact that Rajnath and his co are conveniently trying to cover out. Kar Sevaks, - a word hitherto not known to the larger India – were mobilized and they bought bricks to built the temple. Leaders like Advani, MM Joshi pepped up the frenzy, who can forget the rath yaatra of Advani. All this was lost in the speech of Rajnath Singh, he instead blamed the police and the other law enforcement agencies of not having foreseen and pre-empted this attack. Even after all these years, Rajnath doesn't like to think that the forces were almost blocked out by these people.

Rajnath still holds LKA, ABV & MMJ in high esteem, well that’s good, for these trio did a lot to bring name albeit a negative name to BJP. Their communalist stance for sure got them a government at the centre. BUT why did they not get a temple constructed then…? who has the answer to this. Today this party is out to prove that Liberhan commission’s report is doctored… well why did they not get the commission bring out its findings when Vajpayee was the PM… ?

I don't think they still want to put the Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid incident behind them and look forward. The Triumvirate of Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi are soon fading, age getting the better of them, will this at least cause a change in its stance, not really i guess since BJP is closing in on being the pseudo face of RSS !