Who's the Pawn

P.S.: To get your election candidate’s background check, visit the below link of Election Commission of India’s website: http://affidavitarchive.nic.in/DynamicAffidavitDisplay/FrmElectionAffidavit.aspx

Many years ago there was a house, a small house, of about 10 people living in it. They themselves managed the whole house. Right from doing the odd jobs to the complete maintenance was there day to day task. Flooring, cleansing, cooking etc., all managed peacefully and perfectly. Then came a time when the family size grew. It grew up to 30. Managing a family of 30 became tad difficult for each one as resources were limited. So they mutually decided to divide the house and family to distribute the work load. Idea was good. Everything was restored to good as earlier. But then again some years later, the family in each house grew big. Total number of members went up to 100. This is the time when all people together thought and decided to have a head elected amongst them who’s only task would be looking after the comfort and requirements of the people of the houses.  Idea was brilliant. So a person was elected who can perform the desired task as per his capabilities.

Initially all went better than the expectations. The elected person proved to be a great asset to everyone. Prosperity was restored. Slowly number of people and eventually the number of houses started to increase. Apparently, the number of elected members also increased and that fraternity of elected members chose a leader who can lead the group of elected members and has vision to help in providing services to the people of a much bigger society now.  And as legendary Toby Maguire aka The Spiderman had said, with great powers, comes greater responsibility; the same became applicable to the panel of elected members and to their Chief. But alas! The vision that the first elected person saw, to frame the structure of the society, could not be achieved. Power and authority made the elected hollow. Engrossed in self remuneration, the leaders forgot the intent of constructing a democratic and united society and instead manipulated it into a society of fickle minded commoners who think themselves to be a pawn of their master, completely reverse to the whole purpose of their existence.

 And today here we stand amidst this election again searching for our purpose, the sole existence in the society and a leader. A leader who can guide us to towards the mountain of prosperity, who can transform the fate of many; but has it ever occurred to anyone that we are supposed to elect a leader and not any crazy illusionist Genie who does AabraKaDaabra to make your wish come true. In the past few months, I have seen all combinations of craziness, a craze that I see after every five years.  To me, it is like a fifth year plan. And the plan is:

              1.       Do not do your part of good deeds to contribute to your society.

              2.       Do not engage yourself into horrendous activities like not helping the needy.

              3.       Do not respect each other’s individuality.

              4.       Do not say no to corruption done by the commoners but ask for no corruption                      done by the leaders and,

              5.       Do not involve oneself in patriotic activities unless,

                                                              i.           Its a cricket match

                                                              ii.         Its election time

                                                              iii.       Its Satyamev Jayate being aired.

People whom we want to be our leaders are no different from us. In fact they are our thoughts that have come to life. So if something is wrong, it’s with us. But as they say in the jungle, who cares. Yes, none cares. So why this shout about Modi, Rahul, Kejrival  or any random piece of our thought, when we have turned deaf to our inner voice. No leader can shape our future or guide us towards it. And a mere vote is not going to change your life. It will change only when the man which you have become will change. There is no man of steel standing out there. He is inside you. One has to decide what kind of man one wants to be. Whoever that man is; good character or bad, he's going to change the world, a quote from Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece.

Remember, this is our movie, our story. We are the protagonists, then why to make someone else your hero. Do Vote. But don’t just vote and expect, then forget and then start expecting again. Be a hero and drive your nation towards dignified glory. Be the good to witness the good.

                                                                       ab bhi jiska khoon na khaula,

                  khun nahi woh paani hai,

                  jo is desh ke kaam na aaye, 

                  woh bekar jawani hai

Fools are my theme

Ah... It feels so fresh to be here after months of distractions and all the so called liabilities. Coming back here is as cool as the morning breeze that I have always desired for. Well, when demand soars, supply has to be revamped. So here I am with some distorted and unquenchable thoughts.

Looking back into a not so distant past, I find lot of happenings over tea parties, inside Republican parties, outside political parties (there is nothing really fascinating to tell about political parties’ inside story, especially Indian), the Summit’s which are far from “good for us”, the border tussles, India’s rejection of stiff gender law and Ishant Sharma’s terrific performance spree. I mean I just don’t know whether I got lucky to be bubbled up with so many heart warming stints for me or this era is doomed; well this was bit harsher on Ishant Sharma though. Finally, I pick my topic up and move forward.

When I was 10; okay may be not that small. So when I was 15, marriage was an exciting affair or rather event for me. Girls and ladies giggling around, male friends and cousins trying for the best catch, the dancing and the romancing; everything under one roof, a typical Indian wedding, marvelous.  I used to enjoy every moment of that. Then I entered 24, about to finish my under graduation; I know a bit late to finish your undergrads but still. Marriage was no more an exciting event for me but rather, conspiracy by parents and relatives; of course I skipped the time when I was in love. So what I intend to say here is that marry only when you have your basics right. That’s what my coach and teacher told me, not for marriage but for Cricket and Mathematics; for marriage, its basics of life and people. Apparently, one gets this by age and experience. But baby Shano’s dad’s thoughts were otherwise, just like the Republican parties thoughts on Obamacare. He personally appealed to the Dr. MMS, India’s sick Prime Minister (he is not keeping well these days you see) on behalf of all the sick morons- literally, an adult with an age of 8 or 12- of India to keep himself and India away from signing the first-ever global resolution on early and forced marriage of children led by the UN. This resolution was one of the agendas of the UN Human Rights Council to provide a better social status to girls and women, globally.

 What, a better social status for girls and women of India globally, seriously?

P.S.: We do not provide social status to women in India, forget about on a Global level. It is against our formulated constitution of myths by the legends. 

Eventually an SMS was sent from Dr. MMS to the UN guys.” India’s stand remains firm on the women issue. No social status, only rapes, abuses and her freedom. Our woman matures at a faster rate than the woman of rest of the world for marriage. It’s like Sachin XI Vs World XI, no match.”

Well UN, you people don’t get it straight. India is a competitive market. We all learn this in our childhood and follow that until we die. Right now India is facing tough competition from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Guatemala, Honduras and Yemen in terms of women’s social status and we stand firm just above Yemen. Readers please. Dare not speak about the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) Council; it is for the economy market which has nothing to do with our women, so why to lose the cut throat competition.  

Well this is not sad; we have women in our political parties too doing other odd, err... I mean important jobs. Just the other day a teenaged boy was caught while doing that eve tease thing on a woman leader of some national party. Later people found he was trying to spit the gutka out. (For my non Indian sub-continent readers, gutka is one of our traditional edibles, an inclination to look elegant).  Nevertheless, baby Shano is now happily married to a man of her town. He is 35. A man, mature enough to take up his social responsibility; haven’t you heard, women mature faster than men.

Gaurav, a friend of mine came back from Zurich last Sunday, after 4 years. He said he was ashamed of being known as an Indian, back in Zurich. I don’t know whether he was right or wrong, but people in other countries have now started identifying India not as a land of Rama or Krishna or of Murgh musallam, Chicken Curry or Paneer Masala but as a land of licentious and cold-blooded people. It’s on us, and will always be on us to choose who we want to be. The good we make our today, the better shall be our tomorrow.  When wounded, you don’t leave the wound on time and people around you to heal it. You know what you do. Do the same to your society. Don't let the bamboozle capture you because once you give him the power to control you, you will never get it back. Apparently, taught in our Civics classes back in school; Democracy is for the people and by the people. make use of that.

There is an old saying in the jungle; We always do have a Choice.

Terror strikes, yet again!

On 13 February 2010, a bomb explosion at the German Bakery in Pune killed fourteen people, and injured at least 60 more.

Three explosions went off in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on 29 October 2005 killing more than 60 people and injuring at least 200 others. The high number of casualties made the bombings the deadliest attack in India in 2005. It was followed by 5 bomb blasts on 13 September 2008. 

Mumbai has been the most preferred target for most terrorist organizations, primarily the separatist forces from Pakistan. Over the past few years there have been a series of attacks, including explosions in local trains in July 2006, and the most recent and unprecedented attacks of 26 November 2008, when two of the prime hotels, a landmark train station, and a Jewish Chabad house, in South Mumbai, were attacked and siege.

On 13 July 2011, within 15 minutes, 3 bombs go off in Mumbai at three different places.

What's the message? What's the agenda? 

Peace/humanity/freedom. 
No religion allows us to take life at any expense. 

What's Security? 
-A word found in dictionary of ministerial fools, meant for long speeches to get vote bank. 

How to keep sovereignty of India?

-By having minimum $1000 million scam (at least) / year; letting rapists/murderers free, to give them another chance: "Guess, only God and government knows; chance for what!"

Today's common man is confined within day to day life pressure. In the morning, he wakes up with neighbours untuned comments. He is frustrated at everything. Right from his buildings hanging lift to the city traffic. In office, with his colleagues, boss... even the peon; all are the cause of his mental distress. And when a chance of tea break draws him out of his uncomfortable zone, a bomb blast takes away the rest. That he jeopardised his life for one cigarette and apparently one cup of tea could be a ministerial fool's point of view. But actually, this unveils the naked truth. Truth of our paralysed system. It's "How safe are we inside our own home". 

"Terrorist Attacks has been reduced to 99%, merely 1% is left"- Rahul Gandhi.

I need not to say any more on this. Readers are mentally balanced enough to infer from the above statement. Dr. Manmohan Singh is sorry for the mishap. Mr. P. Chdambaram- "A black day in Indian history". 

Mr. Prime Minister and Defence Minister respectively, merely feeling sorry and colouring the days blue and black won't let the grave grief go. Loss is something which is inexplicable. Support via words won't help. We don't need reasons. We don't want explanations. We want results. We all know that Kasab is still alive. Are we so incapable that even after 3 years, we are unable to prove the guilt? Isn't that a question on the constitution's competency? 

Such is the dreadful situation of our country in the 21st century that a girl cannot go out after 9 at night. Chances of being molested are high. A normal man can't go about anywhere in India because he is not safe out there. Either he'll be killed on the name of being a resident of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, South India, other part of India or will have to pay some heavy duty to get established in his own country. Is that what we want out of this so called civilised and balanced society? Ironically, we are United.

Common man doesn't fear the foe sitting outside, ready to hunt. But he does fear the disguised demon standing right beside him. If might is right, then shall we step out to change our world ourselves. What's stopping us to do the right? A bunch of 1000 morons can stop 1 or 5 or 10 or 100 mighty spirits. But can they stop millions. More than 50% of India's population is youth. It's only about self realisation. It's high tide, today or never. Let's not sit back and be a silent observer. Are we going to be the change we wish to see or be a resilient forever? 

And, We're Still Developing!

CENSUS: A nation of 1.21 billion; High growth, few jobs; Will milk fortification benefit the poor? Private sector wants to adopt public health bodies; Land acquisition! Is it democratically justified? India losing biodiversity hotspots ..

Well, these aren't thoughts of a stagnant mind. Such queries stimulate directly from the policies established by the Central Government. It's not about who forms the government; rather, it's about the righteous form of government. Nothing will sound strange or stunning, if I say that current policies of government are actually based on the one made in 1950. As a matter of fact, the same constitution was followed till 1991. Amendments were made in 1992. 2011, we follow the same with few more amendments. We don't need amendments in the constitution, only. Something greater must be done to revive the policies and laws. 

Violence and pace of land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh underscore serious flaws in the law. Fertile land is up for grabs in western Uttar Pradesh. Private developers are acquiring it to build apartments, industries, IT institutes, and even F1 race track. Farmers, who have known no profession other than agriculture, have nowhere to go. The landless are left with no farms to work on. On the contrary, government has quoted a pricing system to benefit the farmers. A Greater Noida farmer gets about Rs. 820 per sq metre for parting with his land. As the distance from Greater Noida increases, the amount decreases. In Tappal, a district near Noida, for instance, a farmer gets Rs. 570 per sq metre for his land. The amount a Greater Noida farmer gets translates to about Rs. 8.2 million per hectare. When the same land is developed into apartments, the cheapest rate the Authority gives to a developer is Rs. 35,000 per square metre or Rs. 350 million per hectare. So what is the agenda of Mayawati's govrnment in Uttar Pradesh? To make business by holding an office of no profit. 

We all know about the agitation by the farmers from May 7 2011 to May 12 2011. Urgency clause under Section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act was enforced. The clause allows government to acquire land without giving land owners the right to a hearing. There is no uniformity in the land rates offered to farmers. In Greater Noida, farmers got much more than what those in Aligarh received for the same project. Even if farmers on an average gets Rs. 0.75 crore, what about those who don't own any land and earn their living by working on other's land. In fact, a large section belongs to this fraternity.  

People in the villages around Ratlam are paying a heavy price for living near the industrial town in Madhya Pradesh. Their groundwater has been polluted by over 23,500 tonnes of hazardous waste dumped at two factory (Sajjan Chemical and Investment (pvt) Ltd and Jayant Vitamins which closed over a decade ago due to management problems) premises and other sites in Ratlam. The quantity of toxic waste lying at the defunct Union Carbide plant in Bhopal city—350 tonnes—is only a fraction of Ratlam’s toxic legacy. Another study by Madhya Pradesh’s State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) in 2007 showed the soil in the area has been contaminated with organic pollutants like naphthalene and binaphyle sulfone. More recently, in March 2011, a study by the PHE department found the total dissolved solids (TDS) and iron levels in groundwater were way beyond permissible limits. The TDS level in some of the samples was about 3,000 mg/litre; its permissible limit is 2,000 mg/litre. The water is red mainly because of iron, which along with other contaminants makes it unfit for consumption. And as usual, authorities have failed to act.

These are some of the issues taken out from shinning India's magic box. 

One quick question: Can we give Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad, his India @ 2020 in this scenario? 

• Number of people, in India, who are below poverty line = 30 crore approx.
• Number of people, in India, who are unemployed = 30 crore approx.
• JOBS which need to be created every year, to fulfil the aspirations of the people of India = 1 crore
• Number of people, in India, who are below 35 years of age = 70 crore

(http://www.wakeupcall.org/administration_in_india/poverty_line.php)

No doubt, that the growth has taken a formidable shape. But that won't bring India down from the top rank, among the corrupt nations. Myth or fact, $1.5 trillion of Indian money in Swiss Banks? 

And still the government isn't aggressive enough. Is that the change our forefathers dreamt of? Is this what we dream for our shinning India? 

Cause of worry for India

• Share of total employment in agriculture decreased from 63.3 per cent to 55.7 per cent between 1995 and 2008
   
• Share of employment in industry increased marginally from 11.2 per cent to 12.8 per cent between 1995 and 2008
   
• Share of employment in the services sector increased marginally from 21.3 per cent to 25 per cent
   
• Real wages in this period grew marginally from -1.8 per cent to 0.7 per cent

(http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/2242)

I would like development to start in the villages. It would be an incentive for people to stay. Development should be what you gain in the long run. It's like success, no short-cuts.

Black Hawk Down

My friend's father wants to be with his family. It has been 16 months since he went home. Uncle's father is ill, a heart patient. I got to know that after a long time the commanding officer gave a 10 day leave. Finally, Major Yashwant Pratap Singh will be with his family for a short span. But will Air India fly him to his native? Apparently no. He's posted near Ladakh, defending the frontier for his fellow citizen. What he's getting? Perhaps, a long wait to meet his beloveds. But such facts are mere a piece of daily news for his countrymen!
It's the 10th day of Air India strike. About Rs. 120 crore of national loss has been done. The national carrier has been able to operate only 10 per cent domestic flights and has been losing Rs. 20 crore per day for the last three days. The airline, as a result of the strike, has curtailed 90 per cent of its domestic flights till May 6. Rs. 3.65 lakh per month, salary much higher than the pilots of other flights. But their appetite seems to be malfunctioning. They want JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) to probe in and unveil airline's mismanagement. Being entitled for such a luxury, they can certainly go for strikes like these. Can Major Yashwant? No. Because he's there for a cause like the pilots. Instead of rescuing the sinking ship, more punches are appearing on our once called nation's pride. I too support calls against corruption, but won’t support any idea that brings shame and loss to nation. 

The management is against all their demands. It's not ready to reappoint the 3 sacked pilots. All stern and rigid. Each fraternity has its own agenda. It's about, who winks first. With no breakthrough in sight, the High Court slammed the pilots and the airline's management for the continuing state of affairs. It admonished the pilots' association, saying, "How much loss are you going cause to the nation? Who will foot the bill? There's a court order telling you not to go on strike. You've taken the law into your own hands. I don't understand what you'll achieve." 
For JRD Tata, Air India was his baby. Nurtured with love, care and affection. It is not without reason when he was the chairman (took only Re 1 as salary) Air India was considered among the top 5 airlines of the world. In his times, Air India was the nation's pride. 
He always said, “I don't believe in ideas that gives personal benefits, but one that generates national benefits". 
I unlike other cabinet ministers don't agree with our civil aviation minister Vylar Ravi when he says the pilots are only 10+2 and crying for more when they earn at least 3.65 lakh a month. There is no question of qualification. Even an ill-literate person understands national pride. Being an Indian, how can I forgive those professionals who fly everyday across the city and world, knowing all the realities at ground zero and still behaving like rogues?     
After a long time our country is taking a stand together against corruption. Let's not spoil the party. Have a proper and transparent inquiry over the corrupt. Put them behind bars. Let the Black Hawk fly. Money will flow.

Satyameva Jayate

Sometimes I don't understand The Great Indian Political drama. May be I lack the wisdom of a superhuman like

Khushwant Singh. How to show the anger or control the laughter on the statements given by the statesmen of India?

I just couldn't control those tickles and giggles of mine when a politician from Assam, Hemant Sarma quoted,” I am not God. So I cannot fulfil all the promises I made to the voters".

The point not being what these so called socialists make, but is that we are still following them and continue to put our burden of hope on these incompetent shoulders. "Mr. A. Raja told me that the auctioning was done in a fair and adjudged manner", quoted by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, indeed. I just don't understand the ridiculous media that always poke its nose in such reconciling matters. It would have been lovely to see friendship taking zenith.

Perhaps, this time I've thought of voting with a wish list of mine:

• Make J&K a state like other (Article 370, a scrap)
• No N DealTake more initiatives like NDTV for Saving Coastline and Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill
• Eradicate Mrs. Pratibha Patil (first ever President of India with a criminal background)
• Make JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) be more authoritative and sharp
• One civil code for all Indians, irrespective of their religion
• OOPS! aren't these points misleading today’s politicians (they were told something else when they joined the Political Industry)

Then I found to my amusement that people who vote too belong to another endangered species, "Do whatever you want, coz I’m fool by birth!” And that’s Democracy :), We the people, By the people.