When you say "My life stinks" - 3-b

Gaza: Children of conflict - 2

When you say "My life stinks" - 3-a

Gaza : Children of Conflict - I

When you say "My life stinks" - 2

Darfur

When you say "My life stinks" - 1

This is a new series of videos that highlight or (is it lowlight) the plight of the people affected by conflict in different parts of the world. Hopefully this will put us in the place on a global perspective and remind us how much better our lives are the next time we say "My life stinks!"

Starting with Srilanka

Celebrating Gandhi

"I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men. We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India of my dreams"

This is the Gandhian Pledge that the Prime Minister of India took on Oct. Sixty years after Independence and we are still pledging. Take a look at his dreams. We have got started on, forget about achieving, NONE of them. Why kid ourselves when we care the least about what he said?

We have to be honest to accept that

1. we know very less about Gandhian ideals and hence lose the right to fallaciously admire him or judge him
2. even a great man like Gandhi cannot be correct in *all* his ideals and *all* his ideals need not apply transcending time.

So, if we are interested in celebrating his birthday, we have to read about him. Read about his ideals at least to the point that we find at least one of his ideals that we disagree with. And we find at least one of his ideals which we feel will not be applicable to the present day.

Now that would be an honest celebration of his greatness on his birthday. At least better than the false idol worship we indulge in. What do you say?

Quota: Centre gets it right in the ass!

New report:

"Inclusion of a caste in the list would mean that it was previously socially advanced and did not figure among the backward class communities. But with time, their social status deteriorated and they had to be included in the list. This means more and more castes are getting backward as there are only inclusions and none being excluded from the list," it said.

Vahanvati said as per the procedure before NCBC, a caste could be excluded from the list only if someone filed a complaint alleging that a caste had become socially advanced. "No petitions have been filed seeking exclusion of any caste," he said.

The Bench replied, "Merely because there is no complaint, NCBC cannot abdicate its duty to conducta periodic review of the social status of castes included in the backward list."

Referring to the swelling number of castes in the backward list, the Bench said, "This means for 60 years, people who were disadvantaged continue to be backward. If this is so, then what is the meaning of the arrangements for social advancement of backward community for all these years?"

Times of India, 26 Sep 2007,

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Why_is_no_group_ever_excluded_from_quota_SC/articleshow/2402984.cms

This reminds me of Kevin Verbal Kent's (Kevin Spacey) narration in the movie "The Usual Suspects" about how he felt when he along with his "usual suspects" busted The New York police's involvement drug racket.

"They got it right in the ass. It was beautiful"

So is the message "Sunita achievied despite a being of Gujarati origin"?

...so, the news tells me that Sunita Williams is a celebrity in India! She has won the Prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award. Great! But before we talk about it any further, a brief life history of this successful astronaut.

Born: Euclid, Ohio
Father: Dr. Deepak Pandya, Indian
Mother:Bonnie Pandya, Slovenian
Education:

• Needham High School, Needham, Massachusetts, 1983.
• B.S., Physical Science, U.S. Naval Academy"U.S. Naval Academy, 1987.
• M.S., Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology, 1995

Marital Status: Married to Michael J. Williams, a Federal Police Officer
Occupation: Commander, US, Navy
Recent Achievements:

- Unprecedented 3 spacewalks in 9 days
- Cumulative total of 29 hours, 17 minutes in four spacewalks, highest spacewalk time for a woman.

Now these sure seem to be commendable achievements. But to put things into perspective, as the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj (VGS) claims this award is conferred "to well-known Gujaratis recognizing their lifelong services/contribution to the cause of Gujarat".

If the point is to recognize people who have served Gujarat, where does Sunita William's marathon fit in? Or if it is to recognizes her achievements, why was it not given to the person who has achieved the same feet earlier? Because she is not a Gujarati? From what I see, the only thing that connects Sunita to Gujarat is her father who was a practicing doctor there before moving to the US and she owes the plaudits and accolade not to her perseverence, but to her father.

For our own sake, why don't we refrain from quoting one's origin (place or community) as a reason for conferring an accolade to someone? It appears to send a specious message to the world, "Sunita could break the space walking record despite being a Gujarati." Would you like that tag on you Sunita?

Sources: Wikipedia

Tribute to a soul that entered and departed 100 years ahead of its time

மஹாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார்
டிசம்பர் 11, 1882 - செப்டம்பர் 11, 1921

"Mahakavi" Subramania Bharathiyar
December 11, 1882 - september 11, 1921

'மாதர் தம்மை இழிவு செய்யும்

மடமையை கொளுத்துவோம்'

We will destroy the idiocy
Of denigrating womanhood

நெஞ்சு பொறுக்குதில்லையே - இந்த
நிலைகெட்ட மனிதரை நினைந்துவிட்டால்

"கொஞ்சமோ பிரிவினைகள் - ஒரு
கோடியென் றாலது பெரிதாமோ ?

'My blood boils to think of these idiotic men!
How many divisions within us, they are more than a crore!…'

Calling for answers

Source: Artswithoutborders.com

This is an "infamous" M.F. Hussain painting's The question I have is simple and straight.

"Why is Sita naked here?"

I can possibly find a fairly simple and straight explanation for Hanuman's nakedness. He is a monkey. He is great, strong, cool, adorable and admirable monkey. Clothing him up may be just euphemism on our part. But I don't understand Sita's nakedness.

I made a quick, short search and was flooded with opinions tangential to my question.. like "freedom of expression" and "naked goddesses in Hindu temples" and "nakedness implies purity" and all that. So, just gave up. I just want to know the answers, I would hope, from M.F. since he has created this and he is the only one who can come up with the *real* reason. But anybody's direct, unprejudiced view is invited.

Traf**king

Family

"I am really amazed at how she has changed. She is so mature now. I am glad I that sent her out for her higher studies. I think that experience changed her for the better!"



It is a well-establised fact that venturing outside instills a lot of value to one's character. When parents see the difference when kids come home after a prolonged absence, they are always delighted. But there is one thing parents more often miss to give a thought about. What is the primary factor that has contributed to the change? The answer, independence, though simple, actually has more questions to explore. Is "the outside" so out of reach it so miserably fails to have an impact on them when kids stay with parents? Why does one have to step in to the outside to learn from it? With correct parental mindset, the answer is "Nothing!".



Sure parents are protective. That is presumably part of the parental DNA. But protection and love are only part of what a parents can offer. It is high time that one more thing gets included in the list to ensure that their kids need not wait to get out to live to make that "jump". Independence. With the observational knowledge I gather that one easy way to nudge kids towards independence is Delegation.



Parents can offload some work on your kid and let him/her handle it. While reducing work-load on themselves, this can offer priceless lessons on soft-skills like team-work, say when siblings work together while helping to clean the kitchen. More crucial point of time is while the correcting errors, when parents tend to "spoon-feed" or "just get it over with". A little patiece and a nudge towards "self-correction" in the form of questions like "What do you think exactly went wrong?"..."and how do you correct it?" should help a great deal in improving reasoning ability".



Small initiatives like giving a larger denomination of money to buy something will help in applying simple, mental mathematics and instill negotiation skills early. Morning newspaper may be a good time to teach how to look-up a dictionary as well as impelling reading, contary to watching TV, as a primary source of entertainment. When dinner time discussions are confined to relevant and progressive subjects and kept on a positive tone, it will be a good source of insight, inspiration and consequently bonding and respect.



Come to think of it, nothing that is mentioned so far is really new or insightful. How come, then, these points go out of the window at the moment of truth? Honestly, I have had a taste of being over-protective and over-reactive with someone I care about. I guess, I will learn the resit only when I step into their shoes. But I guess that is the interesting challenge that parents should acknowledge and rise up to face it.



To conclude, I can recall a plenary of adage that I have known for a while without really understanding their meaning. For now, the list reduces by two..

- நல்லதொரு குடும்பம் பல்கலைக்கழகம்.

(A good family is a university)



- A family that eats together stays together.



Disclaimer: This is not "Parenting for dummies", but a feedback for the oldies.

Demographic Dividend

India has a "Demographic Dividend" says the Economic Times

What is Demographic Dividend?
The presence of a large number of citizens in the employable age group (15-59 ). Currently about 54% of them are under 24. But such a large pool is an edge over competing Asian countries (most importantly China) only if they are skilled and hence are capable of contributing to the productivity of the labour work force.

Is the employable age group a "dividend" now?

No!

- 70% of the current labour force is either illiterate or educated below primary levels.
- 5 million college graduates each year are not skilled for direct employment.
- Outdated curriculum in most of the engnieering and other technical (diploma, ITI) educational institutions and poor quality teachers
- Low skill level among women causing increase in unemployment rates among women.

How does it affect to have people of employable age with little to no skills?

It backfires! A large pool of skilled and employable labour means adequate supply in terms of quantity and quality for meeting the rising demand of labour due to expanding economic activities like manufacturing. Large pool of unskilled youth, not only decrease productivity, but also tend to consume without contribution, thus pulling the ends apart rather than converging.

What the government has to do?

Explore all avenues of skill development.

- Massively improve literacy for long-term benefits, identify sectors where currently illeterate can be employed for short-term benefits.
- Improve quality of education (update curriculum etc) at all levels, most importantly at the mid-level - those who complete higher secondary education, but do not enroll for graduate-level courses - by increasing visibility and quality of vocational education. (this initiative helped post war USA and Japan and a lot of asian countries that do better than India today!)

Other interesting points to note:

A figure to corroborate the low skill-level in India compared to other developing countries.

- 5.06% of Indian Youth are single-skilled (vocationally) trained. The number is 95.86% in Korea, 36.08 Mauritius, 27.58 in Mexico.
- BIMARU states, which lack most of the facilities to realise the dividend, will contribute about 150 million (about half) to the population of working age in the next 20 years.

source The Economic Times


- What do I think?
If the governement is serious (and there is no question it isn't), instead of lowering the cut-off and reserve seats in engineering colleges and medical colleges, it can upgrade its vocational courses, make them more accessible to the inner regions of the country and accomodate all those "low-scoring socially-backward" and "low scoring but socially forward" at the mid-level. Afterall these graduate-level courses are over-heated, but offer little to nothing in terms of employable skill. This move will give more importance to vocational courses, reserve the professional courses for the high-scorers, hence shutting down useless colleges and evince skill-development in the true sense.

Two hours worth re-living

Saturday November 4th was a day apart in my life. To see my 3-month long planning, co-ordination, team-work and transform into productive result was a totally new experience. On that day, aided by inputs from all directions and all kinds of people, starting from my brother to a colleague who I have met just five times in my year of service, my team of five, responsible for community relations demonstrated chosen fundamental concepts of physics to students of a local government school called Zilla Parishad High School at Rasoolpura.

Located at the centre of a slum, the school was doomed to serve as a garbage dump yard for sometime, with no government appointed teachers. Then Bhumi, an NGO adopted the "school" to ressurrect the school within. Now, with the classes going on regularly, it presented an apt time for some hands-on experience.

We waited for the regular classes to complete, at the principal's office adorned by the portrait of iconic national leaders like Nehru, Gandhi and Sarvappali Radhakrishnan. We pointed our digital cameras at one another in an attempt to kill time, at the sight of which the Bhumi volunteer who escorted us was visibly disgruntled.

Shortly thereafter, a teacher called us to take the centre stage. We had everything chalked out. Who conducts the demo, who takes care of the logistics, who video tapes the show (that part was mine!), and who aids the person conducting the demo. To conduct the demo was all that was left to be done. For a moment, the whole thing seemed to have come to a standstill. Not too long ago, it was just a distant dream to create awareness, the lack of which, I was totally convinced, is the real handicap of the Indian society. Every other malady is only incidental. Now we are seconds away from turning the dream into a reality.

As the proceedings began with student-introductions wherein they convey their future ambitions, I realised that this is the first and only action of my life a direct and sole of my core belief. Nobody prodding, no peer-pressure, just the purpose. My team is directly addressing the fundamental problem of the society. I remembered the lines from the prayer we used to chant at school without sensitivity to its meaning.

Asato maa satgamaya....
Thamaso maa Jyothirgamaya....
Mrutyour maa amritamgamaya....

(Lead us from untruth to truth...
Lead us from darkness to light...
Lead us from mortality to immortality..)

I was fast losing the grip on myself as a sudden surge of emotion embraced me. It was hard to focus as I watched the proceedings through the LCD of the video camera. The wall opposing the black board had a painting of a map of India, not perfectly drawn to scale, but embedded on to the national flag and topped with "I love my India". I turned my camera on to it and focussed my mind.

As I got back to reality, the modest ambition of one to be a teacher caught my attention. The reason she gave was captivating. She wanted to transfer whatever she had learnt without which, she averred, her knowledge would be of no use. As the focus shifted from introductions to the demonstration of the concepts, some of my long-held specious notions melted away. The intensity with which they focussed on the demonstration, the detail with which they took note of key points and the approving nod when they understood the concept are all the demonstrative of the dream already being slowly fulfilled, the purpose already being served. I experienced the true sense of accomplishment for the first time.

When the demonstration was over after a two hour marathon and the geometry instrument boxes were distributed as an incentive to show interest in such demonstrations. I went up to the the Bhumi volunteer, who was earlier disgruntled at the photo session, with some hopes of mollifying him and said "Thank you very much for the opportunity!"

He said, "I work at an MNC too and I was always disillusioned at the fact that how less MNCs concentrate on social responsibility. What your team has done is very pleasantly surprising. I should be the one who should thank you."

There is a lot of things that I have learned. To name just one, working at the grass-roots level rewards richly, but focuses on very few. Hopefully this effort will gather momentum, grow in stature and address more concerns on awareness (other than science like First-Aid, hygiene, social responsibility to name a few). Then the challenge would be to characterise this team as the institution built by Gandhi. He inspired peoples of different walks in millions. Yet he was accessible to a common man. All his initiatives addressed the grass-roots.

A lot was taught, a lot was learnt and a lot of emotions experienced. Truly, it was two hours worth re-living.

What a Tamilan won't admit to a northie..

Tulip Manohar Hotel, Hyderabad
There was an employees party in our company within weeks of my joining the company. A group of us, all non-Tamil speaking were chatting in Hindi as a few of us waited for our cab to arrive. Another Tamil speaking colleague of mine came over to me with something in mind that clearly bother him. He asked,

"What were you doing before taking up this job?"
"Studying...", I said.
"How did you know Hindi then?" was his immediate reaction.
I said, " I studied Hindi at school and I have a handful of Hindi-speaking friends from my Master's"

Satyam Theatre Complex, Chennai
I was standing in queue to buy tickets for Mask of Zorro II talking with my friend Srivatsan . Two Hindi-speaking guys behind us were hurriedly discussing on deciding a movie.

"Garam Masaala ka ticket miltha hai kya?" said one.
"Patha nahi..age poocho!" said the other.
He patted my shoulder and asked "Bhai saab....Garam Masala ka....um...are they issuing tickets for Garam masala in the counter?"
I scaned the counter for sometime and said "Abhi jo ticket Kharid ke gaya tha, woh wohi tickets kharid raha tha. Tho...shaayad tickets hai" and gave him a smile.
Even as he looked at me as though he just witnessed a day-light murder, the guy in the next queue (with tamilian written all over his face with vibooti) quickly flashed an instinctive surprised look at me before he turned away pretending not to have heard me speak Hindi.

My own close friend says "Hey cool man, you speak such a fluent Hindi though I studied Hindi for longer than you did"

These are just a few of the numerous instances of what tamilians truly feel at the bottom of their heart about Hindi as a language.

A Tamilian envies another Tamilian who can speak fluent Hindi.

A Tamilan has a bad opinion about the Hindi-speaking community. But given a choice (not a compulsion), he is more likely to learn Hindi than not.

These are two facts that no tamilian will admit to during a war-for-self-respect against a hostile hindi-speaking foe.

Innovation in cellular phone

I used to have a classmate at college from the middle-east whose name goes like this...Abdullah-bin-juma-bin-ali-al-mashrufi! Phewwwww (Now I don't know about the spelling, but that is phonetically correct!). Now it is implied that he is one filthy rich fellow. He was the only guy to flaunt a cellular phone. It was way back in the previous century you see..(1999). (God know how many girls he pocketed with that glittering useless piece!).

I still remmeber that day when my professor, in his resplendent oiled, bald head and three parallel lines of vibooti across his fore-head was going about his mathematics like a bullet train speeding towards Tokyo, when all of a sudden there was a deafening "HELLO" from the back of the room brought him to a screeching halt. The whole class skipped a heart-beat on what it saw next. Abdullah walked right across the class towards the exit, one hand holding the cellphone to his ear and the other hand showing a "excuse-me" to my professor without even waiting for his permission.

Its not secret that, since then the growth of cellular phone has been phenomenal! I can only imagine what my poor professor would have gone through after that. If he has not yet retired, I am sure this is a very good reason to hang is old, worn-out boots!

Features like FM radios and built-in cameras are pointed for the increased the price (over those that don't have them). But they are classic examples of nuisance value (thanks to Sadhu Agashe (Ab Tak Chappan). One pays at least a Rs1000 extra to get a built-in camera that takes very low quality pictures that she can't really transfer if she doesn't buy a transfer cable for another thousand and odd rupees. FM radios are not as bad, but pose a serious traffic hazard.

Ask anybody who has headed a meeting or delivered a presentation before "What irritates you the most while you are yelling at the top of your lungs", the answer will be "cell phones". Isn't it time for the cell phone makers to do something about this? Well, cell phones have built in calendars and I am sure people set meeting reminders about 10-15 minutes before the start right. So, it can't be that hard to set an auto-vibrate mode. Isn't it a good marketable feature, and unlike the earlier additional feature, useful?

கீர்த்தி பெருசு...

1980. வெங்கட்ராகவையா, 56 மற்றும் சிவானந்த், 55. ஊழியர்கள், கனரா வங்கி, பெங்களூர்.

அருகில் இருந்த மின் விசிரி அயராமல் வெங்கட்டின் கரிய, அடர்ந்த தலைமுடியைக் கலைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்க, தன் முன் இருந்த ரெஜிஸ்டரில் அவசரமாக ஏதோ எழுதிக்கொண்டே தன் எடது கையைப் பார்த்தார். 12:30 இருக்கும் என்று தன் வயிறு காட்டிய மணியை 12:38 கை கடிகாரம் சரி செய்தது.

"ஸ்ஸ்ஸ்" என்றப்டியே பேனாவைக் கீழே வைத்துவிட்டு சிவானநத் இருக்கும் இடத்தை நோக்கி "சிவா!" என்றார். சிவா அவர் வழக்கமான அழைப்பின் நோக்கத்தைப் புரிந்து கொண்டு

"இன்னிக்கி நான் lunch எடுத்துட்டு வரலை. ஹோட்டலுக்குப் போய்தான் சாப்பிடணும்" என்று ஒரு புது அரட்டையைத் துவக்கினார் வெங்கட்.

"அட! நானும்தான்! வா போகலாம்"

ஹோட்டலில் இரண்டு "மீல்ஸ்" சொல்லிவிட்டு "அப்ரம்" என்றர்போல் எதிரே உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டு சில நொடிகள் ஒருவரை ஒருவர் பார்த்துக் கொண்டனர்.

"இந்த காலத்துப் பசங்களுக்கு கொஞ்ச்ம் கூட பொருப்பே இல்லை." என்று அமைதியைக் கலைத்தார் சிறிது கவலையாகக் காணப்பட்ட வெங்கட்.

"என்ன விஷயம்?" என்று சிவா நோண்ட,

"எல்லாம் என் பையன் விஷயம்தான்" என்று சலித்துக் கொண்டார்.

"அவனுக்கென்னன? IITல படிப்பை முடிச்சு ஒரு நல்ல வேலைல இருக்கான். கல்யாணமும் ஆகிடுச்சு. பேரன் ஒண்ணுதான் பாக்கி! இன்னும் என்ன கவலை? குழந்தை விஷ்யத்துல எதாவது முரண்டு பிடிக்கரானா?"

"இல்லை அதைப் பத்தியெல்லாம் என் பொண்டாட்டிதான் கவலைப் படுவா. நான் இல்லை"

"பின்ன?"

"நல்ல வேலையில் இருக்கன்னு சொன்னியே, அதுல தான் ப்ரச்சனை! அதை விடப்போரானாம்!"

(ஹோட்டல் "தம்பி" வநது இலையைப் போட தண்ணீர் தளித்து விட்டு சாப்பிடத் தயாரானார்கள்)

"என்னது வேலைய விடப்போரானா? நல்லாதானே சம்பாதிக்கறான்? அப்ரம் என்னவாம்? வேற வேலை கிடைச்சுதா என்ன? (செர்வரிடம்) போரும்பா!"

"சம்பளத்துக்கொண்ணும் குறைச்சல் இல்லை! 5000 ரூபாய். ஆனா என்னமோ computer business பண்ணப்போறானாம்"

"computer business-ஆ? தனியாவா?"

"இல்லை! ஏதோ ஒரு உதவாகரையோட. அவன் மொதல்ல இங்க அஹமதாபாத்ல எதோ computer தட்டிகிட்டுருந்தானாம். அப்ரம் france போய் அங்க கொஞ்ச நாள் குப்பை கொட்டிகிட்டிருந்தான்! இப்போ அதையும் விட்டுட்டு இங்க வநது company start பண்ணப் போறானாம். அதுக்கு நம்ம ஆளு மண்டையாட்டி இருக்கார்."

"(ஏப்பம்) அய்யோ! இப்படி ஒரு இடத்துல நிலையா இல்லாம யாராவது தாண்டுவாங்ளா என்ன? சரி business-கு காசு?"

"அதை ஏன் கேக்கரை? அவன் wife பணம்! வெக்கமில்லாம கடன் வாங்கிருக்கான். கஷ்ட்டம்!"

"அடக் கடவுளே! இது எங்கயாவது பார்த்ததுண்டா?"

"அவனை விடு! என்க்கு என் பையனைப் பத்தி கவலை. இவன் முடிவா இருக்கான். என்ன IIT-ல படிச்சு என்ன ப்ரயோஜனம்? மூளை இல்லயே? இன்னும் கொஞ்ச நாளில் இவன் friend இதையும் விடப்போறான்! இவன் தெருவில் நிக்கப் போறான்! அதுதான் ஆகப் போறது"(தண்ணீர் குடிக்கிறார்)
(செர்வரிடம்) "கொஞ்சம் மோர் ஊத்துப்பா! "

"இந்த காலத்துப் பசங்க.....(யோசிக்கிறார் சிவாநந்த்) "நான் வேணும்னா பேசிப் பாக்கறேனே?!"

"அவன் கேக்கமாட்டான்! எதுக்கு வீணா?" (ஏப்பம்)

Bill வந்தது. நான் pay பண்றேன் என்று சிவானந்த் purse-ஐ எடுத்து பணம் செலுத்தினார்.

"போலாமா?"

வெங்கட் மண்டையையட்ட, ஒருசேர எழுந்தார்கள். ஹோட்டல் வாசலையடைந்ததும், திடீரென்று வெளிச்சம் மார அரைத்தூக்கத்திலிருந்து எழுப்பப் பட்டவன் போல் சட்டென்று பேசத் தொடங்கினார் சிவானந்த்"

"இல்லை நான் பேசறேன் உன் பையனிடம். இந்த sunday வீட்ல இருப்பானா?"

"ம்ம்ம்"

"அப்போ அன்னிக்கே வறேன்!"

"ஏதோ! உன் இஷ்டம்!"

"நீ அந்தப் பையனை பாத்தியா?"

"யாரு அந்த Business idea கொடுத்தவனையா? ம்ம்ம்ம். ஒண்ட்ரை கண்ணும் அதுவுமா, பார்த்தாலே நம்பிக்கையே வரலை!" என்று வெங்கட் அலுத்துக்கொள்ளவும், இருவரும் office உள்ளே நுழையவும் சரியாக இருந்தது. வெங்கட் "சரி! பாப்போம்" என்றார்.

"ம்ம்ம்...." என்று கூறி, பிரியும் தருவாயில் ....

"அந்தப் பைய்யன் பெயர் என்ன கேட்டியா?" என்றார் சிவா.

"ம்ம்ம்ம்....நாராயண மூர்த்தி"

Why should a politician be selfless?

During the last monsoon season, tamil magazines and newspapers carried baffling pictures displaying flood playing havoc all over Tamil Nadu, especially in southern regions. One carried an overflowing Cauvery with a message saying that, the last time it was this full was about 5000 years ago! I to read the number twice or thrice to believe it.

The temple town of Srirangam, sandwitched between the overflowing Cauvery and Kollidam rivers, was in all danger of being submerged fully due to incessent rains and unprecedented flood in Cauvery. The only apart from the eventual subsidence of the rains is Jayalalitha's quick and proactive measure to save the city. That her measures, not just in Trichy, but all over Tamil Nadu was commendable is an undisputed fact substantiated by neutral and reputed news sources like NDTV. Barely six months later, AIADMK bit the dust in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elecitons when its coalation won less the half the number of seats than DMK. For what reasons? Karunanidhi offered TV sets and reduced the price of rice if people voted to him!

There is something to think about. The common man has so much to complain about the government. Corrupt politicians, innefficient administration, lacklusture infrastructure development are common-place in a such discussion. The question is, what about the things that the government does? Are people sensitive enough to appreciate it with the same conviction as they complained? Honestly, I don't say that Jayalalitha is any more righteous than Karunanidhi. I don't say that the people should have brought her back to power. But I can definitely say that when a government does a good job, it can guarantee itself almost nothing.

I can say that Jayalalitha would have learnt her lessons well. She would completely to me when I say that show-biz techniques and impossible assurances a month before the election gets you vote - the incentive for a political party to work for the people - better than genuine, decisive and proactive efforts. More likely than not, DMK's time will come, if they have not learnt that from AIADMK's loss.

People are not only dumb (as exemplified by the fact that they voted for DMK simply because Film Actor Rajinikanth commented against Jayalalitha in an earlier version election), they are also suffer from insensitivity, selective amnesia, and - like the politicians themselves - greed for personal incentives rather than a long-term social vision. Everybody works for an incentive. Everybody works better if the work is appreciated. Why should a politician be any more selfless?

Weighing democracy against autocracy

I am just thinking aloud here. One thing is clear. A country's status (std. of living, economy...etc) almost solely depends on the entity in control. So, hypothetically if a country with a well-educated mass is ruled by a not-so-educated military ruler or an autocratic king, chances are the country will digress, simply because the well-educated simply don't have a say. On the other hand, if the government is democratic, there are more opportunities for the well-educated to participate. One crucial element for good participation is the collective cognizance of the need to participate and the will to take a stand. But when the will is there, the passage is easy in a democracy than dictatorship or autocracy, since the only way for an autocracy to progress is the will of the entity in power and not the mass.

What if the mass is not so well-educated? Here things are going to get messy (like it is in India?). I gather that in a democracy the society finds an equilibrium at a certain level (mostly very low). But if the rule is going to be stable, the society is bound to progress at its own pace. Slow or fast again depends on the will of the mass. But the condition in an autocracy is likely to be worse, because the entity in rule is going to make the most out of the limited resources and, with nobody to oppose (political party or "free" press) will likely just sit pretty. It will take a "revolutionary" like Su Kyi for instance to go through hell and the rest is left to chance.

It looks like I will choose a stinking democracy to a stinking autocracy. What if the country is rich? What would I choose then? Probably democracy. What would happen to Pak. if Musharaf is killed? Scary! Democracy, I think, has the cushion to take the shock.

And communism:
1. My friend who fled Vietnam to US narrated how difficult it was to purchase a TV there. They had to fill out a an application book rather than a form to seek government's permission (and pay the bribe, of course!) and keep your fingers crossed for a month or two for approval. It sounds more like waiting for IIT-JEE results. Well, may be it was the communism of yester-years. How about today?

2. I read a centre-page article in The Hindu today. It basically said, China is aging fast. So, the government is thinking of "allowing" people of certain well-developed cities Shanghai and people above a certain economic status to have a second kid. The government decides on how many kids I can have and is thinking of increasing it by one! How magnanimous!

Democracy is what I will choose. For if the rule is bad, there is still hope. If the rule is good, nothing like it. I doubt if I can say that about an autocracy or communism.

Right To Information

When I saw the movie Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi), I loved the movie inspite of me. The elegance of a grim-faced Arjun leaving the place after removing an erring government officer on the spot and the sense of purpose with which he announces the introduction of "complaint box" irresistibly touched my what-if-it-happens-for-real sentiment. But I was under no illusion about the tenacity of the Indian govt. officials and their ability to stick to their strength. They always win and walk away with the money they didn't earn. Our money. I really wished for a Senapathi (Kamal Hassan in Indian) clad INA uniform with a knife on hand to walk in front of them. Movies! They always falter to deceive.

But after being trapped in this dark cave of corruption, Indian people have possibly found a crack through which filters the ray of hope! I got to know about the Right To Information through NDTV and looking at the reports it seems to be working at least for some! Most of the revolutionising changes in the society occur due to evolutionary measures. The key for RTI to succeed in a society full of corrupt officials and submissive citizens like ours is awareness. So, here is my two cents (paisas rather!)

What is RTI? Thanks to the sincere efforts of a fellow blogger
RTI Blog: Reports and success stories influenced by RTI.

What else is left? The only thing that has been left for so long. For us to know our rights and exercise them. This is a good chance to redeem ourselves from our own servants. Oh! Before I forget.... Well done NDTV!

Media Exposed: Rakhi Sawant case

I know! You guys are thinking "As if the media is not enough, here is another blogger who is wasting his time and reader's time to come up with the crap about Justice to Rakhi Sawant". Hey, I am one of you too! Rakhi doesn't deserve the air time or the page-space because she managed to show-off her assets in discotheque-targetting "item songs" and she ended up getting molested. But there is another angle that I am trying to see.

Allow me to start from the beginning. I have a sensation-stuck room-mate who sticks to Star-News and its totally irrelevant and senstionalistic news reports for his worldy no-ledge (thanks to D.N.A.). As a surprise to nobody, Star News dedicated its prime air time to this. It showed footage of Rakhi offering a friendly kiss to Mika on his cheek as a split-screen along with another footage of Mika returning it to her on her cheek in a slow motion to let it sink into the audience. I thought "And she is filing a molestation charge against him?".

But the opinion in equally sensationalistic Outlook magazine along with the pictures published exposes (better than Rakhi herself!) the collective media irresponsibility. As claimed by the article, the media (CNN-IBN, Star News...) neither published the photograph published in Outlook, nor clearly indicated that the footage shown on TV was the one that Rakhi was complaining about.

The reason may be many things, plain want of time dedicated to news, predetermined notion on part of media that Rakhi is after cheap publicity (as claimed by Outlook). But the reasons don't matter. The fact remains that the news report has given a biased angle to viewers.

Again, the specific news report by itself is insignificant since it doesn't affect the greater good of the society. But this fact is only more concerning than relieving. What about all the issues that do concern the society and the public opinion does matter? How am I to expect objective and accurate news.

My hopes are already dampened by The Hindu Group .It abased itself by heaping up tonnes of totally biased pro-reservation views in all its publications, but not finding space for single article on its down-sides.

Media: Shame on you!

Further:
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/fullbvideo.php?id=12722