BJP murdered by her own!

A very common ailment when someone grows old is that of joint pains, caused by lack of flexibility and continuous friction between the interacting tissues, it not just announces the onset of old age, it also tells one that it is probably time to either get the aerobics classes rolling or to sit back and enjoy the scenery on TV!
BJP, one of the most progressive parties of India, has aged faster than anyone could have imagined. The receding hairline of her leaders also uncovered deficiency of agendas for the changing India and the defeat in the general elections was impossible for these old shoulders to carry, expectantly, they balked!
A number of analysis would be done, experts would be called to carefully do the postmortem but a few things are probably as clear as they could ever be. One, BJP completely failed to bring up new, young leaders to take up the positions occupied by the old. Every time a senior member of BJP left or retired, it always created a void which was not filled up by anyone who would look equally promising if not better. Two, not just the people but the ideology and the philosophy of the party was only aging by the hour. The top level leadership showed no maturity to adapt new ways, new agendas and new policies for the rapidly changing political scene. The old hindutva mantra still works in a lot of parts of India, but if BJP was not just after these 'parts' it was advisable to create a new holistic approach towards the sentiments of people and bring in new ideas and thoughts! Three, BJP suffered from a 'neglect-the-capable' syndrome since long! Right from Mr. Rajnath Singh (one of the worst CMs that Uttar Pradesh has ever seen!) to Yedurappa (the hindutva crusader of Karnataka) BJP has, somehow, always been able to reward the rogue while the real stars and gems like Arun Jately, MM Joshi (oh! there are so few of them!) were kept nicely hidden inside the closet!
Add to all these voes the troubles that Varun Gandhi and the likes brought to the party (and surprisingly, BJP just kept mum on the issue because it was already walking a tight rope and lacked conviction that forms the sanjeevani for any political party in such situations). Mr. Jaswant Singh is not an exception in BJP, he is the norm! Everyone in BJP is very self-centric, and as long as his 'story' is selling they don't mind selling the party off! BJP has been murdered by its own, stabbed right at the heart and now the same people are crying at the sight of blood!

Indian elections: Anticlimax but a perfect result

Most political enthusiasts often look at elections and politics as more than a significant event for their country, its also a source of entertainment for them! This year's general election provided enough 'masala' to the Indian folks. From Varun Gandhi's snobbish comments to Rahul Gandhi's incessant rhetoric that he would not be a PM candidate to Mayawati being touted as a PM candidate to Advani's election campaign on the lines of Obama's, everything was overwhelming. People expected a hung parliament at the best and had already made up their minds to get glued to the TV (there are no movies at the multiplexes anyways!) for the next one week at the least. However, the 'intelligent' Indian voter decided the other way round, gave a very clear mandate to UPA and even in my home the TV is playing 'Dhoom-2' and not CNN-IBN, Aaj Tak or NDTV!
This election result is spectacular in more than one ways. The way in which regional parties have been rooted out, the 'Left' left out, Congress gaining a stronghold in UP, Manmohan favoured over Advani for PM, Lalu wiped out of Bihar, everything has been unexpected and refreshingly pleasing (my personal opinion!).
I captured a few reactions for the readers of CnC, here they are:

Jadhvekar (before the counting began), "... last year the exit polls favoured us and UPA formed a government, we're hoping for the same twist this year ..."

Rajdeep Sardesai, " ... Indian voter seems to be getting far more intelligent than we could ever expect ..."

Some political expert, " ... Samajwadi Party and Congress was more than a one night stand ..."

Shashi Tharoor, " ... Left has to stop attacking other party candidates and start to work ..."

Guha, "...decline of the identity politics in Uttar Pradesh ..."

Someone, "...the Bengali voter always wakes up later..."

BBC correspondent, " ... BJP, the opposition Hindu party, is disappointed ..."

"What's your drink Mr. Patnaik?" "I'm very forgetful ..."

A reporter asked Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, "Madam would Rahul be a minister?" She says, "That is for the PM to decide" and looks at Manmohan Singh who turns the other side as if trying to find someone else who could answer that question!

India's best take to politics to fight it !

Its less than a fortnight to go, before India goes for poll and decides the party and its men who would form the next government.
There are those who are flooding blogs like CnC with 'vote-for-me' ads and getting mention in the national media mainly for pre-poll controversies and law disobeying rally. There are a few in the election arena this year who are already 'leaders' in their fields and are now in the fray to become 'politicians'. Here is a CnC exclusive of a few favourites:

1. Sashi Tharoor:

A writer and former U.N. under-secretary general, is rolling up his sleeves to contest as Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram in Left-ruled Kerala state.

Profile:
In 2006, he was the official candidate of India for the office of United Nations Secretary-General, and came second out of seven official candidates in the race. Tharoor served as the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information between June 2002 and February 2007, during the term of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The author, journalist, and fellow of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, has had his eye on a more local political role since his return to his home state.

Education:
Born in London, he studied at Montfort School in Yercaud and Campion School in Mumbai, attended High School at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in Kolkata and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi where he stood first in the University, graduating with a record score in History (Honours).
While at St. Stephen’s Tharoor was actively involved in the Debating Society, where he won every single debating prize available, the Quiz Club, which he founded, and the Students’ Union, of which he was the elected President. He then completed a Ph.D. at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, where he also earned two Master’s degrees. His Ph.D. was awarded when he was 22, a Fletcher record.
Tharoor will be contesting against P. Ramachandran Nair of CPI and P. K. Krishna Das of Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP).

Click here to reach Shashi Tharoor

2. Meera Sanyal:

Profile:
Meera is currently the Chairperson and Country Executive for ABN AMRO Bank (now RBS) in India, responsible for over 9,500 staff in 40 locations across 24 cities. Prior to this, she was the Chief Operations Officer for the Asia Pacific region responsible for the IT, Operations and Property services for 16 countries in the region. As an Investment banker she has worked both in India and within the Asian region on a number of Project finance, Advisory and M&A mandates.

Education:
· AMP Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School, Class Valedictorian October 2006
· FCIB: Fellow Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK, February 1996
· ACIB: Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK, February 1989
· MBA: INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France; Graduated with Honors on the Deans List December 1983

She will contest from South Mumbai, an upmarket locality and the main business district, as an independent candidate.
On a month’s leave of absence as she dabbles in politics, Sanyal will go toe-to-toe with Congress incumbent Milind Deora, the son of the oil minister, with Facebook groups and her husband speaheading her campaign. She said she found it difficult to align herself with the ideologies of the big parties.
She was apparently inspired to do so by the strong reaction of the general population after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, when the people poured out into the streets to protest the fact that they had been taken for granted for the longest time, demanding answers from the powers that be.

Click here to reach Meera Sanyal


3. Mallika Sarabhai

That thought is echoed also by Mallika Sarabhai, a reputed dancer, who is contesting as an independent in Gandhinagar in Gujarat state, taking on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani. Daughter of classical danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and the renonwned space scientist, Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika Sarabhai is a renowned Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.

Profile:
Winner of several national and international awards and accolades, popular being –
· Crystal Award by World Economic Forum, 2008 for recognition of her contribution in art and culture to promote global peace.
· Theatre Pasta Theatre Awards,2007
· Nominated as one among 1000 women for Nobel Peace Prize ,2005
· Indian for Collective Actions Honour Award,, 2004
· Kala Shiromani Purskar , Institute of Economic Studies,2004
· Woman of the Year , Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC),2003
· Knight of the Order of Arts & Letters, French Government 2002
amongst many others.

She studied at St Xaviers College in her home town of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state.
The multi-faceted Mallika holds an MBA and a doctorate from IIM Ahmedabad and has experience in acting, film-making, editing, and television anchoring.
She has worked with victims of the 2002 communal riots in which about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were hacked and burned to death. She has been vocal in her opposition to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, said she was against criminalisation of politics and wanted to bring the common man back into focus.
She also has support groups on Facebook, and a website, and while she is not expected to win, she has promised to fight.

Click here to reach Mallika Sarabhai

4. Capt. Gopinath

Profile:
The Managing Director of Air Deccan is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and has served the Indian Army. He is considered the father of low cost air travel in India. He created a whole new market when he launched India's first low cost airline, Air Deccan.
Gopinath, who made the common man fly, is taking off as a politician again. In 1994, Gopinath contested the assembly elections from Gandasi in Hassan district on a BJP ticket, but lost.
He feels, “None of the political parties represent the aspirations of a new, young and emerging India, who are frustrated with what they have.”
Many support groups have come up in Bangalore for Gopinath. Young citizens and professionals can be seen distributing 'tokens' and pamphlets in front of popular shopping malls with a smile on their faces and hope in their hearts.

Click here to reach Capt. Gopinath

Behenji-the queen of India?

The question has been raised many a times. “What if Mrs. Mayawati became the Prime Minister of India?” We all have our versions of answers to it. When I raise the question on CnC, I know that my readers are mostly above the poverty line, have access to the essential resources that are needed to sustain a healthy-happy life (the access to internet gladly a recent addition to the ‘essentials’ list) and can read and write English (which is still a ‘phoren’ language for most of India.
I want to ask another question here, “Why can’t ‘Behenji’ become the Prime Minister of India?”
A friend I was talking to suggests that it is a matter of shame. It is hard for the educated Indian to accept someone like Mayawati as the Prime Minister. I’m trying to explore the reasons that this ‘shame’ constitutes.
English: She has not been able to exhibit her command on the English language. Some argue that the Indian PM would need to convince a global audience on a number of issues and English is the language of the world. On the contrary, many ‘world’ leaders do not speak (or understand properly) the English language. The fact that Behenji addressing election rallies in Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh is testimony to the fact that she has indeed evolved into a leader of national caliber and language has not been a bar.
Vision: Many feel that Mayawati lacks a vision that may be needed for a person before she dons such a post. She has in fact shown a tremendous vision and has been able to unite the ‘dalit’ of India across the borders of states. And unlike the previous ‘dalit leaders’ she has slowly incorporated even the higher classes into BSP’s voting class and the contestants.
Corruption: Mayawati has been in the midst of all sorts of controversies related to issues of corruption. The Taj corridor, the expensive birthday parties, the personal wealth are all pointers of how funds have been mishandled by BSP in Uttar Pradesh. There are very few political parties or politicians who have a clean record in India. I’m not justifying her wrong with the wrong of someone else but it would be interesting to see how she reacts when she’s the queen of India!
‘Dalit beti’: The story of Mayawati is amazing. A girl child in a dalit family in Uttar Pradesh dreaming to become the PM of India is amazing in itself! But what adds to her achievements is how she has tried to evolve after each little step. The way she commands respect from all the regions of India (be it only ‘dalit respect’) is commendable. There are very few leaders who have been able to do such a thing. The ‘Behenji’ who spoke of ‘Tilak, tarazu aur talwar; inko maaro joote chaar’ is now talking of a political party which has broken the barriers of caste and creed in India. ‘Brahmin’ voters voting for the ‘dalit’ candidate and dalit candidate winning on upper caste populated constituencies is quite a feat.
Whether Mayawati does manage to become the PM of India in this election or not is something all of us would watch out for, but her emergence as a political authority across India is undeniable. It may take an ‘MGR’ to become an ‘Amma’ but it certainly takes much more than ‘Kanshiram’ to become a ‘Behenji’.

Congress Manifesto

On Tuesday, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi released a ‘low on reform and high on populism’ manifesto. Some of the Highlights of Congress manifesto are as follows:

• Enactment of a National Food Security Act ; 25 kilos of wheat or rice for Rs 3 a month to those below poverty line.
• Maximum possible security to each and every citizen.
• Highest level of defence preparedness and further steps for the welfare of the defence forces and their families.
• Accelerated process of police reforms.
• Increase in the daily wage paid under the NREGA from Rs 80 to Rs 100.
• Health security for all.
• Comprehensive social security to those at special risk.
• Quality education affordable to everyone.
• Nationwide skill development programme.
• Expansion of schemes for improving the well-being of farmers.
• Democratic and professional functioning of cooperatives.
• Greater impetus to empowerment of weaker sections of society.
• Control of communalism and caste atrocities.
• Sharp focus on the special needs of children, especially the girl child.
• Making elected panchayat institutions financially strong.
• Connecting all villages to a broadband network in three years.
• Special focus to small entrepreneurs and to small and medium enterprises.
• Maintenance of high growth with fiscal prudence and low inflation.
• Introduction of goods and services tax from April 1, 2010.
• A completely new look to urban governance.
• A new deal to our youth to participate in governance.
• Protection of India's natural environment and steps to rejuvenate it.
• Massive renewal of science and technology infrastructure.
• Judicial reforms to cut delays in courts.
• To continue to be sensitive to regional aspirations
• Energy security for the country.
• Steps to preserve and promote our heritage.
• To continue independent, pro-India foreign policy.
• To intensify the involvement of overseas Indians in development.

For the full text, click here

Interesting to note that, it doesn't focus much about the CHANGE as Obama's campaign did, nor does it mention a word about economic slowdown and revival strategy.

Jaspal Bhatti comes up with "Recession Party"

After enthralling the audience with his dance moves on Nach Baliye, one of our best-known comedians, Jaspal Bhatti has now decided to contest the elections from Chandigarh. He launched his own ‘Recession Party’ and would only aim to become the Prime Minister.

Some news items had I could collect, from various sources, about his first speech are as follows:
* He first declared that he would not spend a penny on elections and the crowd laughed at him. He immediately clarified that he just meant the spending out of his own pocket.
* Funds from any party that wants to cut their opponents' votes are welcome. Those wants to make pre-poll alliance deals with our party may also fund us.
* Recession fund would be created and those who are still insulated from the heat of recession would be requested to donate. Keeping in mind the world wide recession, our party will not put undue pressure on businessmen, builders and traders to collect the fund forcefully. They can donate us at their will.
* Those who support us now with their sweat, soul and money will be given ample chance to reap the benefits when we come to power.
* I make it clear that I am jumping into politics to beat the recession and improve my own financial health.
* We hope all jobless, out of business and underpaid people will create our solid vote bank.
* People in the past have voted in favour of Sat Pal Jain, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Harmohan Dhawan. I request you to try me once. I assure I won’t be more ineffective than any of them.
* Our Aim: we will create more slums in and around Chandigarh to win the parliamentary and more Oscars as well. The beauty of the city will stand out more shiningly amidst cluster of slums.
* We will not to divide the votes on the basis of caste, creed or religion. Instead we will create a wedge between the foolish and the intellectuals. We do not want the votes of so called intellectuals who after getting victimized in the hands of their leaders support them every time.

The supporters of Recession Party came up with loud cheers and number of slogans like : -

Tauba yeh recession, tauba be-rozgaar
Tera political atteyachaar
Ghar bikwa ke sadak pe la doon
Lakhpati se kangal bana doon
Recession ka nikle yeh dhooan
Seene mein jalti hai armanon ki arthi
Arre paanch saal mein dekho kya hoga
Sonia khele kursi se
Mamta se haath milaye
Maya maya karte sab par
Mayavati haath na aye
Rajnaath aur jaitli jhagre
Advani ko bhukhaar
Tuaba tera ....

Jaspal Bhatti also told the media that their party would soon release their party manifesto although it will only be a customary exercise and the public should not believe in what they say in the document.

I am wondering if our Political System has really become such a joke? or is it just that the man is doing what he does the best ?

Find out charges against MPs

Couple of days back, I was ashamed to see a report by Centre for Media Studies, which showed how Money is being used to lure voters and its phenomenon was spread across all demographic groups - young and old, poor and rich, urban and rural.
A shocking 47 per cent voters in Karnataka accepted money to vote in 2008 Assembly elections.

Today, the Election Commission has disqualified 3,423 candidates for not filing the details of the expenses incurred during the last Lok Sabha or recent assembly polls which they contested. Of them, a major chunk of 1,075 candidates are from Uttar Pradesh and 616 from Bihar who had contested the assembly polls in these two states respectively.

To know about charges against MPs in your area, you can send an SMS to 567678 typing NCPINCODE and you will receive a response regarding the criminal charges against the current MPs from your area.

Please spread awareness about this service by sharing it with others.

UPA Government's Report to the People

I am sure you would have come across people who associate themselves with Political Parties and vote loyally for the same party over the years.
Out of my curiosity, I happened to visit some of these Party sites to find out if there are any Principles set and followed by all the parties in India and how far do these parties stick to them.
And it wasn't surprising to note that, not all parties have a true philosophy and those who do, it is only on paper.

During this search mission, I came across something interesting. As as MBA student, we did check and analyze various companies just on the basis of their annual reports but here is the Report of UPA government to its people.

Even I felt the file to be bulky, but mind it guys its a must read..

Political parties trying to ride the youth wave

Within hours of taking the oath, the President of United States of America, Barack Obama, launched a new version of www.whitehouse.gov . The message was clear, the new president is tech-savvy and knows that so is the electoral college which voted for him. The new website has features like announcement about his government's policies, his government's opinion on important issues, the agenda, a peek into the administration side of things, etc. Besides these there is the presidential blog. One of the most amazing features of the site is that the users are allowed to vote and comment on important issues and their votes and opinions are taken into consideration while formulating any law for the land. The people of US also get to subscribe to their President's youtube channel, RSS feeds from his blog, streaming video of his speeches and a lot more.
This is an expected move from a young President from a country where the depth of Internet connectivity is such that almost all its citizens are touched by the Web 2.0 phenomenon and are using Internet not just for sending emails but in all areas of their lives.

Things are quite similar in India even when Internet penetration is nothing compared to the First world countries (we are the first democracy to have electronic voting machines remember?). The 'great India election' dates were announced just a couple of days back but the ads campaigns have started long back for most political parties. BJP has again emerged as one of the pioneers when it comes to leveraging the power of Internet to stir up the tech-savvy voters of India. Almost everywhere you point your mouse these days, Mr. Advani's face is just a click away! (He's been able to make a lot of visits to CnC as well). With Arun Jaitely again in command for the election campaign (or at least the tech side of things for now) we can only see more and more of 'Vote for Advani' ads floating in the cyberspace. With most political parties realizing that election this year would be won based on which way the youth on India swings, everyone is trying to give a 'fresh appeal' to his/her party. Congress has been projecting Rahul Gandhi (the cute dimpled, stylish and supposedly dynamic 'Rajkumar' of the congress) as the hope for the youth of India, though staying clear of any internal complexities and commotion of showing any inclination to project him as a Prime Ministerial candidate for the future. BJP, on the other hand, void of any major 'young' names as of now, is making the old (and may I add, just about one more general election left types) Advani run up to gyms and spas all over the country to pick up dumbbells. He has also been visiting colleges in BJP-friendly states like Karnataka to 'advice' them on how they can play a role in bringing about a change (by making sure that India does not 'change' its old customs, traditions and pre-conceived notions about women-in-the-pubs). In one such address here in Bangalore last week the college students were made to sit for the function who later decided to boo the 'national leaders' when they started giving out 'gyan' to the young minds; most of them opted out of the meeting to catch up with some shopping in the commercial street or a sip at the nearest CCDs.
The message is clear, all political parties are trying their level best to capture the attention of the youth of India. Many young leaders are being considered for tickets, entertainment taxes are being cut in Karnataka, in states like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi congress is conducting special recruitment drives to catch young talented political minds, BJP is flooding the cyberspace with flash ad blocks.
With campaigns like Lead India and JagoRe.com things do look better this time. If the elected Indian political scene again shows the weakness that it has long been associated with, it would be for lack of options and not a dearth of young voters. With 'Jai ho' fast replacing 'Jai Hind' in the young circles of the country, it may perhaps be time for a government that promises to do something at the grass-root level to improve the situation of the nation that is going to be and not just speak about the legacy of Indian culture and the power it used to be in the times when the world was not connected enough to know about it!

The Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionare: The Credit goes to ??

The incredible performance of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars brought in mixed reactions from world over. Some felt that the movie deserved it all, rest fought that it didn't..
But interested to note is the way the Indian politicians and British media are fighting to take credit of the success of movie. Here are some of the reactions:

Mr. Manmohan Singh:
"Congratulations, The winners have done India proud."

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi:
"They represent the finest traditions of our film industry and are an inspiration to all of us,"

Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi:
"a film of India, for India, by India" and also added that the "conducive atmosphere with emphasis on good governance contributing to an achieving India".
"We are celebrating it, not taking credit for the film". He referred to the first individual gold medal in Olympics by Abhinav Bindra, the Indian mission to moon, special status to India in the 123 agreement without signing the NPT, nine per cent growth rate and the country being the second fastest economy in the world, and of course the 8 Oscars for India-focused film as part of "Achieving India".

This seems to be a ploy similar to the one used by the NDA government before the previous general elections, just that the "Indian Shining" has now become "Achieving India".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
“I am incredibly proud of the Oscar success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Kate Winslet, and I congratulate everybody who has contributed to the success. Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world. I think we should be very proud of what are great British successes.
“It shows that Britain is leading the world not just in film but fashion, music and design - and long may that be the case - as a result of the great talent that we have,”
His reactions came in very quick, even before the Indians could snatch all the attention.

Here are different reactions from people more closely associated with the movie -

Danny Boyle

"There's one guy I should mention, we've mentioned a lot of people. I forgot a guy. The guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film. He's called Longiness. And I forgot him off the credits. And I only found out about it two weeks ago. I'm an idiot and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, Longiness. Thank you so much. Finally, just to say to Mumbai, 'Unending, inseparable, unborn.' All of you who've helped us make the film and all of you of those of you who didn't thank you so much. You dwarf even this guy (gesturing to the statuette). Thank you very much indeed."


Frank Boyle (father of Danny Boyle)
"I think it's reasonable,He is not making films for me. He is making them for younger filmgoers so I won't say anything more about it. I really liked the music I thought it was wonderful."

Tanay Hemant Chheda
"It's unbelievable, it's still not sunk in. We are on the red carpet. Wow!"

Any guesses for what did my favorite performer in the movie had to say ??



Anyways, I think we all Indians should realise the fact that Slumdog Millionaire is essentially an English production, made in India. Let's not go overboard and call it an achievement or recognition of "Bollywood" in the West. So, the credit goes to all the people associated with the movie the Director, Producer, All the actors, the technicians, and support staff. And not to forget here, Vikas Swarup and his book "Q&A" (chosen as "The Most Influential Book of the Year 2008" by Kingstone Bookstore in Taiwan, the biggest chain store throughout Taiwan)which made all this possible..

VOTE FOR ??

We will soon be hitting the Indian summers, the teams are getting finalized, the players are being auctioned, bought and exchanged, sponsorship deals are being signed, more investors are putting in their money, the venues are being decided, the dates are getting finalized and in no time we will get to see all action.
Well its not all sports here.. We all are getting so many updates about the IPL 2 scheduled somewhere in the month of April and getting ourselves ready for greater excitement than what it was last year.
But this time let us learn from our mistakes and not repeat them again.
Our next General elections are scheduled in May, 2009. The parties are nominating their candidates, the tickets are being allocated to various party men, people are switching parties, the alliances are being decided, the budget allocation has been done (a whooping 1,120 crores), the election manifestos are coming out, the advertisements and publicity are on, and campaigns are being held across the country.


Let’s be a little more responsible in deciding our priorities. Rather than analyzing on the IPL Teams and their strengths and weaknesses, let’s understand the leaders and their parties well. Let’s understand their principles and the election manifestos. Let’s be 100 % sure about the person before we allow him/her to make polices and take decisions for us. Let’s be clear in our minds about the person we are voting for, know his/her background, understand what he/she wishes to do, and how they plan to achieve the same, and then decide if they are capable of fulfilling all the promises or not.

Don’t be careless now and repent late. Let us all take an informed decision.

2008 - The year India got divided again and trying to reunite after being shaken

Last night I was watching the above documentary from BBC, talking about one of the most memorable moment in the history of South-East Asia - The Partition of India. A move that then affected more than 10 million lives and now it’s still counting. And the only reason behind it was of course, Religion and politics attached to it.
After watching this video, I could not stop wondering for long, “what if both nations were not divided”?? We talk of growth stories of India in the last few years and its future prospect of being the next superpower of the world, but, what if we had our neighboring country along with us??
After spending hours I realized that, Religion has had always been used as a “Weapon of Mass Destruction” and if I were to summarize all the events of this year, religion played a major role, or rather a devastating role.

The year 2009 started on a very positive note with the sensex booming, most Indian companies performing well, our international ties getting strengthened, our sportsmen doing well and so on. But slowly things faded, we were almost at war with terrorists who went on a spree and created havoc in all parts of the country. And now before we could control them, we have few more issues to address – the anti north Indian drive launched by MNS, the attack on Churches in Karnataka, rape of a nun in Orissa, formation of Hindu terrorist group and then came the biggest blow – the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Let me not talk much about the terrorist attacks as it been talked and written about all over, including CnC, so my focus would be more on the other incidents.

This year had attacks on Churches and Christian community in some parts of the country, viz. Karnataka and Orissa. But then I read an article by Mr. Francois Gautier.
The article coming from a Catholic Indian seems really convincing and it explains to a certain extent why and how the so-called secular India is turning violent and more shockingly the Hindu community.

What made Hindus angry in Karnataka?

Well I am sure many of you would have come across forceful conversions being promoted by some of the Christian missionaries in India. Even I myself had a firsthand experience, exactly five years back when I was travelling by a bus from Trichy to Thanjavur. We were heading for general elections that time and I felt that NDA did well and would be re-elected, but a man tried to explain me why he wanted me not to go by the financial growth and vote for party which is secular and unbiased. And slowly as the discussion progressed the man started narrating his own story. How he was in trouble, not able to meet his medical expenses, before a Christian missionary lent a helping hand by funding his treatment and now he is a convert and is promoting other to follow his steps by talking about his own emotional example and the benefits he derived out of it.
From my friends from different parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, I did hear about many more mass conversion campaigns and promotions, and I agree with the author on all figures he is quoting. Conversion campaigns were conducted even in places like Tirupati which is one of the most holy temples especially for South Indians.
But I never heard of the situation in North-East. Just now I googled it out and was shock to see some of the news items.
Assault on a Dalit couple for not converting to Christianity (Jalaun, UP, Oct 17 2007, Dainik Jagran)

Tripura tribal leader killed

Separatist group bans Hindu festivities

Hindu preacher killed by Tripura rebels

All this created a divide and brought in lot of disturbances between these two communities. No one was taking any action against such unlawful propagations, and it reached a level were none could act sensibly and come up with a non-violent and sensible solution.

For me, as much as terror attacks, it was shocking to see an Indian army personal being questioned for promoting communal violence. We have seen movies like Shaurya and even the blockbuster Main Hu Na where men in uniform were into malpractices based on personal grievances against a particular community but then I was always proud of our army personnel, who not only lay down their lives for the nation but also respect their enemies and treat them humanitarianly (independent of how they treat us). So I never expected as issues like Lt. Col. Prasad Porohit to come up. Sandhvi involved tried to justify her involvement by quoting the mishaps in her personal life, but then as far as I am aware, a Sandhvi one is supposed to leave all emotional ties and act in the best interest of righteousness. Now after the unfortunate demise of ATC Chief, Hemant Karkare I really wonder how the case would move forward and when it would reach the final verdict.

Now rather than talking about Terrorism and how the jihadi groups misinterpret religion and deceive people, I would rather like to talk about some moves made by Indian government to attack votes from the Muslim community in India.I remember that after Dewali I was coming back from Hyderabad and I note a building very brightly lit and well crowded, I wondered what it was and felt it must be some studio or building which is having an extended Dewali party, but then it turned out to be Hyderabad’s Haj House.
This year, we know how the airline industry is faring, but the Cabinet as usual has decided to increase the number of pilgrims availing the Haj subsidy and flying by the national carrier. For an airlines already reeling under Rs 2,000-crore loss and burdened with severe employee-related issues, a welfare measure like this puts undue duress on it.
Aircraft engaged in Haj duty have to first pick up pilgrims from the smaller towns which have been approved as part of the hub and spoke arrangement, and then after they drop the pilgrims to the final destination, they come back empty. Similarly, in order to pick up the pilgrims, the aircraft have to go to Jeddah empty, which results in an increase in expenditure. Any commercial airliner does not view huge aircraft flying empty favourably as it implies a loss in revenue.
The Cabinet kept the amount paid by the pilgrims for the round trip to Jeddah and Medina at Rs 12,000, as it has remained since 1994. In 1991, the amount paid by the pilgrims was Rs 10,000 as against Rs 14,056 per passenger paid to Air India by the government. This amount was then gradually raised to Rs 12,000 by 1994 against Rs 17,000 paid to the carrier. Last year, while 1,10,000 pilgrims availed the subsidy paying only Rs 12,000 each, the amount paid by the government to the carrier was Rs 47,454 per passenger. The total cost for Haj operations last year (for 1,10,000 pilgrims) was Rs 727 crore of which the subsidy requirement was Rs 595 crore. This year, in order for the pilgrimage of 1,23,211 pilgrims, the total cost estimated by the government is Rs 847 crore, of which the subsidy requirement will be approximately Rs 700 crore.
Now, even the learned Muslims are supporting the appeal scrap such funds, as Haj is a pilgrimage which one is supposed to complete under his/her own expenses and by not taking any financial help from others. Thus, providing subsidies and other moves taken by our politicians are just for vote banks and not for the best interest of the minority communities. For further reading go through :

‘Haj subsidy unIslamic, use that money on our education, health’

Then we had a heinous move by MNS under the leadership of Mr. Raj Thackeray, to kill the harmony in the commercial capital of India. Again to create a niche vote bank, problems due to immigration of North Indians into Maharashtra were blown out of proportions and created a sense of hatred among the Mumbaikars, who otherwise never associate themselves with their place of origin. Riots, strikes, murders, created tension all over and the politicians of all regions were also quick to react and fueled the case. But Mr. Thackeray who was proud to be arrested for this cause went underground ever since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, when the entire nation came together to fight against two major problems in India – Terrorism and Politics.

The horrendous ghost of terrorism to a certain extent helped in keeping aside all minor issues misused by politicians for election campaigns. Now the citizens of India would no longer listen to all the fake propagandas of political parties ahead of coming elections. One incident has brought people on streets, openly raise voices and revolt against the politicians.
Till now Ego, Revenge, Power, and Money are driving most thoughts and all good qualities and morals were on a standby. But now on I believe people would maintain high awareness level and would act with maturity, analyze, understand and then decide whats right and whats wrong. Until couple of months back everyone wondered who the other person is??
If it’s Mumbai, whether you are a Maharashtrian or a “Bhaiyya” ??
In Orissa, whether you are a Hindu or a Christian ??
In Tamil Nadu, if you are Tamil or Hindi speaking ??
Now people have stopped giving a damn about these religious, linguistic or regional divides. The meanings of love, brotherhood, unity, patriotism will now have a big difference from what’s being practiced over the years.
Enough is enough.. it’s high time that we overcome this situation and move ahead to form a truly UNITED INDIA.

Your vote counts

The recent political drama is just over. Nuclear deal or no deal, we wont at least have to share the burden of another premature general elections. And I'm personally happy to see that India is not going to have 'Behenji' as a PM, at least not now. I've written on a few posts on CnC sometime back that she is a 'good CM' for Uttar Pradesh and when I say this I also keep in mind that the choices that UP has other that Ms. Mayawati are people like Mulayam Singh. But as a PM, I don't think she has the charisma, charm or that-strong-an-opinion to represent our great nation, especially in the current world political scenario when the whole world is looking up to us.
We need dynamic people who are well-read, educated, honest and are capable to do good to India and her people. Many of us cannot be such people because we are too involved in our own lives, we're too busy making money, too busy fighting for our own niche in the society (trying to get a good salary, a good wife, a good house, a good locality (city) to live in, a good car on a good road). What we tend to forget so often is the fact that these 'goods' will never exist in a bad country. Surprisingly, to change the state of affairs we don't have to be superhuman, we don't have to act against the will of our parents or change our lives in a drastic way, we just have to do a simple thing, VOTE FOR A SENSIBLE PERSON. The least that we can do to save this nation is to cast a vote for a person who is politically upright and morally correct. Before casting a vote (which each one of us should cast) we just have to do a simple check on the candidate and vote for a person with a good will. And if we can make the people around us do the same, we've done a great deal of good for the nation.

Bravo Rahul

The above picture, as is seen, is the first advertisement to attract young talent to join Infosys. Over 1000 young minds got attracted to this fledgling company’s ad and some 16 were short-listed and joined Infosys. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now back to something that hit the news very recently. Rahul Gandhi, the future command of the Congress flagship, was quoted in the newspapers saying that he’s scouting the student communities for talented, young politicians. It was also stated that he’s taking personal interviews himself in order to find out future politicians with a flair for the trade. This is a positive thing for Indian politics which has long been plagued by the so called ‘experienced leaders’ who are too lazy to move out of their offices (and office chairs) to step into their constituencies. When the young guns of India are fast replacing the older generation in other affairs like business, science, etc. then why should the most important department of the nation still stall behind? It is very rare that a politician gets noticed before he or she reaches a ripe age (about 50 years). And this when 58% of India is younger than 25 years!
The notion that most ‘oldies’ have is that the new generation, as they call us, is intolerant, rude, uncultured, and is taking the country towards a dark future. Well, let me remind them that what we see today is the result of the things done in the past. The command of the nation, the people sitting behind the desks in government offices, the fame hungry coaches in the field of sports, the judiciary, the police, the man spitting on the streets, the people raping and killing minors, the dowry seekers (who even now are killing their daughter-in-laws), the ‘every second person you see on the streets’ is not the youth of this nation. The youth of this nation is yet to come. The youth of this nation is busy carving a future for themselves and their country. And the fact is that the things that we would do would start to blossom when it is our time to blame our next generation.

WHAT AN IDEA !!

It was a little tough for me to decide a topic which could continue the CnC style and at the same time do justice to the strong message conveyed by PJ in his previous post.
A few ideas came in but then I decided to wait a little longer until I found this one, and now I leave it for you to decide if this serves as an apt succession.
Even I am one of those who proudly call themselves as modern Indians and some of my friends go a step further and call themselves global citizens. The important thing for us to understand here is that we should realise that whenever we call ourselves by such titles we are also acting as a representative of union of a highly diversified society consisting of people from different castes, creeds, gender, religions, and colours.
But unfortunately, to create niche vote banks our political parties always promote divides, especially before elections. I needn’t start talking about Gujjar issue (caste based reservation) which just concluded, nor do I need to say much about Raj Thakre (promoting regionalism at the heart of Indian’s Commercial capital), Chandrasekhar Rao demanding formation of Telengana, Ghisingh seeking Gurkhaland and now Mr. Bal Thakre calling for the formation of Hindu suicide squads (religious divide) to protect themselves from minority aggressions. This is not all; every party selects a theme, even the bigger ones; remember last year Congress won many hearts with their Aam Admi slogan while BJP failed to impress everyone with their Indian Shinning Campaign.
Now its time for elections once again and I am worried that these powerful entities of Indian society might come up with more baseless promises and might divide the country even more on different grounds just for getting greater votes. And the most important aspect of national integration takes a set back.
But at the same time I think a good solution to this is also catching on our TV screens. Generally I am one of those to make sure that they surf through different channels whenever the TV programs are on commercials breaks. I don’t know how but yesterday I happened to notice an ad from IDEA mobile network where Abhishek Bachchan solves a feud by asking villages not to identify themselves by their surnames and instead use their 10 digit mobile numbers. All the villagers follow the words of their Sarpanch and live peacefully, even the names of roads get replaced by mobile numbers. To conclude a fellow villager comes to Junior B and acclaims “What an Idea Sirji”. And I could quite agree with it.

At a time when the country is heading to unnecessary discrimination, I found this ad very interesting. I was so very impressed that now I found the creative brain behind it. This ad is from an Ad Agency called Lowe India. This agency has had always tried to promote nation building messages through their ads. You might be able to recollect a few – Lifebouy (small kids cleaning their colony); Surf Excel (people saving 2 buckets of water and donating it) and the most recent Tata Tea (anti corruption campaign called Jaago Re!!)..
So if required once day this Ad might turnout to be a solution to most of frictions we face within our country. So it up to us to act matured and not getting carried away by the political gimmicks or else we might end up addressing each other by 10-digit codes. No Patels, No Khans, No Kapoors, No Singhs, only numbers will be the Kin(n)g.

Charity begins at home Mr Thakre

This is definitely the most depressing news I have ever come across. And I’m not just depressed, I’m actually rather furious. Mr. Bal Thakre announces in the Shiv Sena mouth piece, Saamna, that “Hindus should form a terror squad and suicide bombing squads to protect themselves …” (or to kill the non-Hindu citizens of India, or perhaps non-Maratha? Who knows?)
This comes at a time when there in unrest in the nation with respect to the rising oil prices, soaring inflation and the ever lurking terror attacks from ‘outside’ the country. Also, this comes at the time of yet another general election round the corner, but this fact would mostly be ignored by the ‘innocent’ people who would want to spice up their life by forming a terror group to attack the unarmed at various places of worship, markets, etc. or ransack, not the rich, politically influential members of the society, but those poor shopkeepers who would dare to open their shops on the day of some ‘bandh’ so that they can feed their children at home (impoverished, even after the government has announced so many ‘mid-day meal’ programs around the country).
What is more surprising is the fact that while the workmen of these monuments of hate would either die, be put in the jail or would be forced to live a life of misery after thus throwing away their youth towards the call of power hungry politicians, the real architects would be invited to talk shows on popular TV programs during prime time and would be honored on every occasion of ‘national integration’. The CBI tries to spy on emails sent by individuals sitting in desolate corners of the country’s towns and villages for a hint of terror, but such ‘grand announcements’ pass away unnoticed (no wonder the CBI and other agencies are busy solving the ‘biggest murder mystery of India’ since so many weeks now). The government has taken to a voluntary sleep considering the nearing general elections and the pulse of Maharashtra. BJP, the mighty opposition party, is sadly an ally of Shiv Sena, so they could only manage a half-mute press release from Mr. Vankaaiya Naidu, trying to keep a safe distance from the controversy (I wish it does raise some eyebrows and becomes a huge controversy).
I’m a Hindu. I’ve been proud of the calm and non-violent character of my race. With the changing times some ‘revolutionaries’ think that this centuries of patience should be ripped off from the culture we are so proud of. I would say, ‘charity begins at home’.
Please suggest, comment and support this notion. Don’t let democracy pass away so silently while we’re busy watching ‘pappu can’t dance saala’.

Politics in student's life !!

" Abstrain from politics...its dirty...it will lead you no where..waste of time...no gain "

Gone are the days when these words were common .. mentality has changed.Students are matured enough to know what is good & what is bad for them.

I am not talking about politics at state/national level or involving political parties.Rather,its on politics in schools/colleges.

Politics has become a part of student's life .It can be being the class-monitor, head boy, organizer or chairman of some student association...even in taking photocopy of notes for the class.There are fights for the power.

But why student gets involved ??
- For self... to prove their mettle... for personal gain...in search of something new....some are maniacs....to show themself superior....

Whatever,it gives the chance to develop their skills.It develops their ability not just to act but to act in concert.They learn to work in a team..bla..bla..bla ( but its true)

However,the following four situations will help one to grow and learn --

* facing the stiff competition from 'adverseries' and neutralizing their effect,
* listening the views of ur own 'friends' and accepting/dejecting them strategically
* crafting your own ideas
* Also there is 'third neutral party' who is always there for suggestions but for no work.

Planning the moves such that no one gets annoyed...Keeping people happy ...facing the allegations..balancing the adulations..bearing up your nagging team members..if ur adroit enough to handle all these ,then only you will survive and thrive.

Adverseries are the greatest motivators ,friends are the greatest strength....but one should be careful enough to differentiate between friends n foes

Some says that student should keep away from politics.But I dont whats the harm in it unless it doesnt gets dirty.Afterall,its a part of the learning process.

!!!

I wish to bring an observation to the notice of all. It is neither an opinion nor does it necessarily wishes to mould your opinions in any way.

I was sitting in the waiting room of Chennai's Egmore railway station having nothing else to do and too tired to do anything, this last weakend. I had had a long day and had walked a lot of Chennai trying to find out more about the city; my body had started complaining and my neck demanded a certain motion out of 'Baba Ramdev's lessons' to find its place. The moment I raised my wricking neck I found the most bedated person's picture in front of me in that big hall. Clad in blue and conspicuously decorated with fresh looking fake flowers, he did look like a man commanding the respect that everyone gives him and his ideas for the Indian society.

I panned the whole of the hall smoothly as my newly found doctor-cum-spirutual teacher, Mr.Ramdev, had instructed me to do. Something struck me after completing one full circle! I went again counter-clockwise and was amazed to find out one thing, the picture of the gentleman in blue was the only picture in the whole room! No other national leader (or shall I say, nation builder) found a place on those walls!

What this means is beyond my explainations, would love to get some opinions on that !!!

Students' Politics !!!

It is a troubled times for the people of Uttar Pradesh. The centre would not want to inturrupt in the dilapidating state of affairs in the state because the deteriorating conditions would mean a disgust created for the state government across the state's electorate which could be liquidated to massive vote support in the elections which are round the corner.

For the ruling state government, Samajvadi Party and its allies, its highly difficult to handle the situation without violent protests to which it is extending its full support. The burning of effigies of Lucknow University VC are a clear indication that the state government is going to use muscle power to overcome the crisis situation. Any person with a sane mind and a reasonable insight into the university politics would encourage the decision of the VC to with hold the elections considering the fact that the state government has been continually providing succour to the so-called (and self-proclaimed) student leaders. The ideological and moral assistance has now since some time advanced to making arms available to the students in a bid to silence their opponents. This disturbing fact has infact been justified by the self-styled students benefactors on the pretect that its a necessary measure towards their safety. The pictures of these 'student' leaders quite vocally convey their agendas. While most of them are in their late 30s, none seem to be fit enough to be called a student by any means.

There was a breath of fresh air provided by the Allahabad High Court on the issue of University elections some time back which incorporated some simple measures to ensure free and fair elections in the varsities. The ruling could also be interpreted as guidlines for a near-perfect student organization. The salient features of the ruling included important key points like, contesting students must be under 25 years of age, they must not have criminal records, the total expenditure on the election must be minimal, only hand made posters were allowed, etc.

The student fraternity has never been divided on the issue of elections, all are in support of it. The point of debate has always been the inclusion of goons and hard-core criminals and seasoned politicians in the student election arena under the candid disguise of a 'student leader'. The situation can improve only by the interception of the students themselves but, the big question remains, Who would bell the cat? With more and more of the current generation having a repulsive attitude towards the potent field of politics, it seems fit to question if the situation would ever improve.