Friday, March 26, 2010

Why Will Mayawati Never Be Questioned About Her Currency Garland?

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Why is Ms. Mayawati focusing on showcasing her wealth and power amidst the poor, needy people of her state instead of even trying to pretend that she is doing them any good? The logic is a golden old rule followed universally - people are always happier to see 'their own people' getting the success that they think is beyond their scope!
Let me substantiate what I say by a few examples:

  1. Ambedkar v/s Gandhi:
    Gandhi dedicated a major part of his life towards the upliftment of the 'harijans' and other people who were being shoved into the darkness through generations of casticized underdevelopment. Ambedkar, on the other hand, was one among the oppressed who was able to break free and emerge as the brightest 'harijan' of India (of perhaps all times!). His contribution toward the upliftment of his own people while notable is nothing compared to the efforts of Gandhi. It is not uncommon to find the reference of Gandhi missing in 'Dalit rallies', etc. but Ambedkar's garlended picture gone missing would cost the leader his position and respect.

  2. Amitabh v/s development of Allahabad:
    Amitabh contested elections in Allahabad way back in the times of Rajiv Gandhi. Won by a tremendous margin of votes and all that he did after that was to disappear from his constituency altogether! While no development was done by this Superstar, 'ganga kinare ka chora', in his own City, people of Allahabad never miss a chance to mention the origins of the Big Boss of Bollywood and have easily forgotten the wasted 5 years of the city's history. The pride of someone growing up in those same dusty roads and reaching such great heights lets people ignore the dusty roads forever!

  3. The Mittals and the other genius Indians settled out of India:
    There is immense intellectual and material wealth resting with people of Indian origin who have settled outside India. We are content with the regocnition that India gets with the reference provided by their origins. Not many people question thier intent of coming back and contributing in the development of the nation.


The fact is that when the Sahara becomes big the Bengali community rejoices, when a Mayawati wears a 15 cr garland the 'Dalit' community congratulates each other, when Dhoni drives his bike beauties on the dusty roads of Jharkhand or when Sachin asks for a tax relaxation to bring his expensive gifts home the fans look at them with awe, the pride in 'owning' these celebrities is just too big to be drowned away by the want to question any motive which is hindering in their own development.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Education Franchise - Foreign Educational Institution Bill

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What did McDonald, KFC, Subway and the like bring to India? Well, a lot of good food, business for the local businessmen, work for the local lads, money for the Indian economy. The franchise model of business has worked wonders in the food sector in India. Relatively easy to set up, an instant brand recognition and invaluable assistance in terms of knowledge makes it an instant hit in booming economies like ours. Many other sectors have tried the franchise model as well - the hospitality industry for example.
If everything goes right in the next few months in the Parliament we may see the same franchise business model in the education sector as well. "The Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of entry and operation) Bill" is all set to be tabled in the parliament for discussion soon. The cabinet has cleared it and Kapil Sibal is confident that though parties like BSP, RJD and SP would oppose it, the bill would get acceptance in BJP and other sorted out parties and should get cleared without much ado. The Left is expected to rattle a little but they have been disarmed in the recent times by the UPA government's massive numbers.
The bill, when passed, would be a big boost to the education system in India. If Universities like the Harward, Oxford, Stanford and the like start to show interest in Indian education market we may soon move towards a standardization in the education sector which is the need of the hour. The education system in India in present times is raked by malpractices across all fields of study. Unification of education metrics has been echoed a number of times by the education minister and few other government bodies and this bill can do just that in an indirect fashion. A number of universities have had similar successful experiments in countries like Singapore specially in fields of technology, fashion and other contemporary fast paced cources.
Education franchising would bring better education to the people of India, more robust education system may evolve and more than anything else it would create a respect for Indian education scenario in the rest of the world. According to the current trends the Indian student is in high demand in the global market but the Indian education is looked down upon, this Bill may change the attitude of the world.