Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ladies go for older men - N D Tiwari is an example!

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N D Tiwari what's next? A closeted Indian politician?
There are no undisputed kings as long as politics is concerned but the man of the moment, Mr. N D Tiwari, certainly is a contender for a top spot. There are not many 80+ years old politicians who can stir the politico-sex scandals jar easily but this man who has his roots in the beautiful mountains of the north of India (Uttarakhand) has undoubtedly achieved a feat most men (even the common man of India) can only dream of!
Is it the charged libido of the old politician or just the news making capability of Andra for the moment is a tough question to answer but this has been the perfect scandal to wrap up the (oh so eventful!) year 2009.
N D Tiwari (before this incident) has been considered a politician with a 'clean' image, a congress veteran and a really charming personality. Now, with the backdrop of this scandal, things might change completely for him. Incidents like these are potential killers when it comes to political careers, especially in India! I don't know what's with India and her apetite for sex-scandals! Almost everyone enjoys taking a pick at them, almost all tabloids give them preference over major issues of national importance yet there is a very delicately defined list of people who are allowed to run away with it and those who are not! Indian glamour people (read movie stars, models, people in the entertainment business) are almost never frowned upon, in fact a glamour celebrity without a sex scandal is almost a goner. People of the sports fraternity are allowed a few but not more (help me with examples please!), most Indian cricketers are appreciated for being good with ladies and their affairs with the flick-chicks are closely monitored but once they take their marriage vows any further 'cross-talk' is dealt with strictly. Then come the politicians (known for their appetite for almost all things evil!), they are never trusted with anything in India but are expected to keep only their tongues dangling out uncontrollably (though they often show good skills with their hands and the microphones in the Parliament too at times!). Any scandal involving the carnal pleasures is totally taboo and marks the end of a political career, even if it is a rather famed one.
But all said and done, with Mr. N D Tiwari showing such talents, the thing said about girls going for older men gets bolstered beyond doubts!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Indian Education System needs a rethink - BIG TIME!

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The root cause of almost all problems in India is the absence of a dependable education system. The presence of State boards is a damper to a dream of imparting quality education. The whole idea of State boards is to decentralize the mighty task of providing good education. But, the purpose is totally defeated when the quality of education is deplorable. Another impossible task is finding a way to align all these different standards into a common framework so that a comparative analysis can be done which is used in centralized examinations, etc.
Like most Indian firms, the focus of all the Governments in India (be it state or the centre) has been to highlight the achievements. The targets have to be met and in the process of meeting the targets the whole idea behind that target is forgotten. Take for instance the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojna (PMRY), under the PMRY scheme all educated unemployed youth are eligible for a loan amount of upto 1 lakh rupees. This is to help them become self employed and join the economy bandwagon. Like almost all policies the PMRY's focus is to be able to have numbers in the end of the year (rather 5 years) to show. The result of this number game is that the taxpayer's money is spent like water, there is no proper recovery mechanism followed in almost all states and no risk analysis is done whatsoever on the money given. Half the money given goes back to the babu's pockets and the rest in buying booze, paying debts incurred while gambling, marring off a sister or (in very rare cases) starting a business which has guaranteed no returns! Instead of just giving a loan the government needs to set up counselling board which can guide an individual on starting a small business which is honest, humble, manageable by the individual, realistic and at the same time adds value to the surroundings of the person applying for a loan (an example would be starting up as a guide if you are in a place like Nagaland - a state which has beautiful places to visit and one of the least recovery rates for PMRY loans!)

Currently, the focus of the government is to increase the number of 'educated' people across the country and trying to create jobs for them (one classic way of doing it has been sighted by CSR - create a new state by disrupting the Universities, promise government jobs to these 'educated' men and women!). The right thing to do perhaps would be to create a sense of purpose in the minds and hearts of these young people and give them pride in what they really want to do and are blessed to do! Even simple things like being a Librarian or something out of the box like a Stunt director, a Radio Jockey, etc. should be projected as viable career options and the education in the case of the student should then be focussed in this direction.
And above all the way the country works, how the various departments operate/function, how the state and the centre collaborate and yet have a separate identity should be 'taught' to each individual of the county. I would like to see this kind of an education being imparted in schools being run in slums, etc. instead of trying to feed the young minds some gibberish in a language their tongues can't pronounce and their eyes are not comfortable reading (mind you, I'm not against teaching English or any other language in particular - there are places in India where Hindi is taught (though completely unnecessary!) when the kids are more comfortable with English as a script!)