‘Band’ karo ye tamasha!

Why do people turn into intolerants? Why there are so many instances in last 2-3 years, where damage was the keyword for many? Why should the common man suffer?

These questions again surfaced last week in Pune. The provocation and consequences were entirely unnecessary.

Some fringe groups indulged in obnoxious orgy of dirty political affairs. And response to it was devastating.

In the name of political activism, how is all this done, so brazenly?  I don’t know.  

One fine morning someone says/does something. And then there is Newton’s law – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This keeps going on and on for countless years, especially in India! Just pause for a minute and think of this absurdity - Rs 130,000,000,000 - that's the cost of Bharat band and resultant destruction. For Maharashtra, estimated economic loss is Rs 1,000 crores, per day.

There is so much of knocking down that we see around! We have become almost indifferent.

There is nobody/no organization that is doing something constructive. Sometimes it is all too frustrating for a few ones who do genuinely nice work.  Just look at the level our political involvement has degraded to. 

When the last time was any organization has done anything to improve living conditions of citizen (rural or urban)? Does anybody bother to concentrate energy, time, and money on solutions to the civic/environmental/economical/ social problems? And there are so many.  

Sometimes I wonder are we worthy of calling India, the biggest functioning ‘democracy’? You never know who will smash you just for opening up your thoughts. 

And certainly we are not in medieval era, this is 2011!

Almost all the parties do horrible things, thinking that they will churn out votes. But we need to be more careful and vigilant.

We need a majority of ‘real’ literates and liberal Indians.

Is it all about making money?

It was a chilly morning. However it was pleasant and refreshing. Thankfully the abnormal rains were not there. 

I had received my salary the day before. So I was happy and satisfied. That sense of fulfillment usually lasts for a week! 

I was about reach my office. On the corner of the road leading to my office I saw a very old lady begging. She was pleading to onlookers to give some amount of money. 

That area is considered to be a prime and high-class destination of Pune. Ironically there are slums in close vicinity also. 

I was taken aback for a moment. I was so much in my thoughts about expenditure plans. I was in ‘I-me-myself’ mode. It occurred to my mind that I was so self-absorbed! Or was I exceedingly sensitive for that moment?

I could not make my mind up.

It was disturbing. It is a sort of recurring eye-opener for me. I mean I have experienced this kind of soul searching on various occasions. But this was something else.  

In a country where the divide between extremely rich-middle class-poor is so very noticeable, there are two possibilities. You gradually become indifferent. This is majority. Otherwise you tend to do your bit and help the needy in your very, very small role as an individual.   

Coming back to the story, what did I do in this particular instance? I gave a two-rupee coin. On other such occasions I have given beggars things to eat. This was possible as there are many roadside eateries in Pune. 

Does it matter? Will that make any difference to the beggar?  

What is the solution to all the disparity in our big cities? What can be done to alleviate poverty? 

 

I don’t know. And certainly, there are no easy answers.     

World needs a prosperous India!

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in India recently; he followed Obama, the great! Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, it seems, are in queue to visit India. 


Obama visit generated a rosy picture about India-US relationship. However if recent wikileak's exposé  is anything to go by, it is not all that great. USA is pragmatic and wants India and its ever-expanding market of middle class.  


Obama focused more on job creation; Sarkozy came in with businessmen to ink multi-billion dollar deals. Areva, a French state-owned firm, would help construct world's biggest nuclear power plant in Maharashtra. 


With a GDP of $3.75 trillion (by purchasing power parity), India is already the world`s fourth largest economy. We have advantage of young work force and that would remain a crucial factor for many years. 


Just remember the fact that most of Europe is aging. Same is the case with Japan. 


Investment in infrastructure - housing, roads, bridges, power plants is the key. And the field is open for every country worth its might.


There is no need to be a spoil-sport. However we need to fix our governance. Urgently. 


And more importantly we need to concentrate more on ties with Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, China, Sri Lanka, and last but not the least Pakistan.


Terrorism, Naxalism, J & K, Urban-Rural Divide, Agriculture are topics for home work! And like an intelligent student India needs to solve these problems!

Balancing Act of an Extremist!

We need more such people! How many Indians were actually fully aware of a ministry called Ministry of Environment and Forests?

Irrespective of allegations that he is anti-development and accusations like he is staunch opponent of Maharashtra, Jairam Ramesh has truly given a well-balanced clearance.

The proposal was to set up and run 9900-MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra. The green signal came with 35 stringent conditions and safeguards, out of which 23 specific conditions would have to be fulfilled within a year's time. A comprehensive biodiversity plan has to be prepared. A monitoring committee of outside experts and institutions would have periodical reviews.

And this is certainly not an isolated instance of his tough and much-needed action. Clearance for second airport for Mumbai has its share of roller coaster rides, endangering Congress' alliance with NCP. He has done good job in letting people know what is Ministry of Environment and Forests all about.

Some of the lobbyists and people with vested interests say the minister is an extremist. Others felt he is perpetually overreaching. But fact remains that he has brought about change in the thought process of businessmen, industrialists and general public.

Gone are the days when big industrial groups could get away with their sins and environmental blunders.

Without sounding very optimistic, this is a decent and reasonably good phase as far as environment management by government is concerned.

It would be necessary to go ahead on fast lane of development with matching measures on preservation of nature!

Relevance of Bihar and Nitish Kumar!

So why is Bihar important to India? What is significance of Bihar's overall development? Answers are self-explanatory.

First and foremost it is 3rd largest by population. Almost 85% of the people live in villages. And more importantly 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India. The land is fertile. Bihar has significant levels of production for mango, guava, litchi, pineapple, brinjal, and other vegetables in India.

Bihar was the state of lowest GDP per capita in India for many years. Despite being great center of education historically & home to ancient universities, the literacy rate is below 50%.

Bihar's image suffered a lot because of lack of law and order along with caste based politics.     

There was a time, not in distant past, when being Bihari was enough to invite indignation, insult and even hatred in some cases.

On a brighter note, there is remarkable economic revival driven by good and clean administration by a person called Nitish Kumar with the help from BJP. The old timer entertainer Lalu Prasad seems to be irrelevant. Ironically even Rahul Gandhi cannot produce any results for Congress! 

Today Nitish Kumar would comfortably continue his rein to have better law and order, improved administration and a new influx of industry in second term as CM. For a change a Modi of BJP - Sushil Modi is not in any controversy and would also remain to serve as deputy CM possibly.

This spells good news for India as a nation. Along with Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, AP the two important states UP and Bihar should also progress.     

We would require every state developed and happy to succeed as a country!

Congress, Corruption and Control

How does one react to recent events? A Chief Minister of one the most important states is out of job. A Union Cabinet Minister had to leave despite the coalition blackmail his party indulged in. Two associates of the IOA Chief are arrested!

So does this mean finally there is beginning of the end for evil of corruption in India? We cannot conclude that, however somewhere there is a good way of commencement of the biggest overhaul and clean-up operation in history of India.

The value of the telecom scam alone is estimated by the CAG by various methods goes up to Rs 1,70,000 crore. The inquiry in to both Aadarsh scam and CWG shame is still not finished.

Wall Street Journal based on a report by Washington D.C. research group Global Financial Integrity on 17 Nov 2010 says India lost $462 billion in illicit and unaccounted assets from 1948 to 2008 as a result of tax evasion, corruption, bribery and other financial crime.

That money could have been used to have a 'tax less' budget for 30 years! And there could not have been need to get loans from World Bank and IMF.

The opposition is doing its best to corner Congress-led government. And rightly so! Sometimes I wonder in all these events, how come PMO did not act swiftly & avert consequences.

This does not necessarily mean BJP and other parties are clean. Cancer of corruption has spread everywhere. Congress is targeted more simply because it in power for more number of years!

Nobody can question personal integrity and character of PM, however fingers are pointed towards role of PMO increasingly. Supreme Court's intervention is the case in point.

People demand that CBI should be made autonomous and free of political interference. There is no political will to do so. 

Media bashing is common but media played an important role in all these instances of exposing frauds. Lets continue this struggle against the system.

India's place in International Politics

Not long back India was characterized as a country of poor people, snake charmers, saints, and the holy places among other things. Today there is drastic change in that point of view. This is a combined result of good economics, free press, democratic process in place and mostly secular environment.

Now Mr. Obama is visiting and there is mixed air of anticipation. Some say he is no good for us, based on previous experience. Others feel he can do wonders! Howsoever difficult it might be to digest but the realty is that this is a unipolar world with U.S. being in driver’s seat for a long, long time to come.  

 

The rise of India is well chronicled these days. The progress made in Infrastructure, agriculture, managing the foreign exchange reserve is good. There is scope for the improvement. But the situation is better than a time in 1991 when there was a need to use gold reserves for meeting the need of the hour. This along with fact that we are strong and one of the largest democracies, one sixth of the human race on planet earth, strategically located in an important place in South Asia increases the importance. 

On the flip-side there are long-standing issues such as J & K problem, Naxalism and Inflation to be resolved. 

There are two most important relationships, which will play a significant role in shaping the stature of India on world stage. Those are Indo-Pak and Sino-Indian relationships. These are the problems of nearly 60 years that are sooner solved the better. Obviously this will require a lot of good statesmanship and leadership measures on part of India leaders. 

 

The boundary problem with China is moving towards the solution very, very slowly but steadily. Again this will require good and mature thinking on part of both the countries. The relationship of India with China is of special significance because ultimately this involves two competitors- dragon (China) and the elephant (India). Whether this turns out to be not competition but co-operation and possible collaboration from economic and trade point of view between two countries is something to watch out for in forthcoming 15 years.   

  

India-Russia relationship and India-Japan relationship are also important for the fact that Russia is considered as our friend from last 50-odd years. The defense, trade, support at U.N. are important factors in case of Russia. In case of the other the attitude of Japan towards India was not encouraging in past. But the new Prime Minister of Japan has high hopes for transforming the India-Japan relationship. Recent visit of PM Manmohan Singh was very positive. 

 

All in all, forthcoming years will play a crucial role in the process of emergence of India as a responsible Nuclear Power, as fastest growing economy and a true world power. We will hope for the best.

Slap on the face of communal elements!

Such a welcome relief! This is something I would want to happen again and again. Just pause and think - a Muslim officer hell-bent on building more and more Hindu temples in MP-UP borderline area. Group of Sikhs building a mosque in Punjab. Sounds far-fetched and unreal?

Very true and tangible, nonetheless!

Generally Indian media (both electronic & print media) tend to offer an ugly and negative picture of our great nation. Ironically they are supposed to deliver factually correct news, we read & see 'mirch masala content' instead. They just deprive us of something positive and progressive! 

However I am biased about print media, I have highest regards and respect of Indian print media. I came to know about above mentioned news in print.
   
A person named Mr. S. S. Mohammad works for Archeological Survey of India and after coming across dilapidated condition of hundreds of temples in areas close to UP-MP border, he actually started working on refurbishment.

He fought and destroyed gradually the opposition from various people including local Gujjar gang of outlaws. He coaxed state and central governments and eventually PM intervened! Interestingly his aim is to restore 500 temples.

There is a group of old Sikh people in Sarwarpur in Punjab. They actually built a mosque and handed over keys to local Imam. The mosque was demolished during 1947 mayhem. It took healing spread over 63 years to arrive at this gesture and step.

Both these incidents have potential to become milestones in long journey towards real communal harmony.

I sincerely believe in the collective wisdom of 120 crore Indian people. We are too strong ultimately to get divided on communal lines. This is 2010, and we need to move ahead with peace and prosperity.           

Desirable Side Effect

Finally there was some typical Indian jugad and Common Wealth Games were declared as success. The grand opening itself would suffice for International Media to hail the management of sports in India!

 

It is amazing the way we handle such tricky situations with almost no hint of inelegance. What more we have remarkably performed on the field, a welcome relief from off the filed instances of shame and discomfiture.

 

It was supposed to be a grand event catapulting India into league of 'big world powers'. However it came with its rather large share of controversies. Prime movers in this show were - politicians (who else?!). We do not have sportsperson as administrators, our neta perform the duty. Now we have side show of cleaning up the corruption mess. Delhi CM & Mr. Kalmadi do blame each other & squabble often and how!

 

The encouraging fact of the matter is that India was second in the medals tally!! We actually won 38 Gold medals, 27 Silver & 36 Bronze medals - total of 101 medals. Can you believe that?

 

I do not really remember the last time we had won so many medals. I feel rather than the number of medals, that wining streak, that thought power & confidence of doing something extraordinary in these sporting events is significant and incredible.

 

It was good to see athletes wining the games and shooters claimimg all the gold medals possible.

 

Even if you want to concertrate on the positive outcomes, the point is not to be missed. We have to go ahead and demand accountability of Rs 70000 crores.

 

It is a 'rainy' warning!

The signs are already there. Writing is on the wall for everyone to see. It is just that what we do, what our politicians do is more & more significant henceforth.

Last Monday it rained heavily in Pune. In a day downpour was measured 183 mm, which is actually a record - highest one day rains ever in Pune. There are instances of cloud burst in as far area as Leh and as close as Nanded in Marathwada region. Yamuna swelled so much that New Delhi and Commonwealth Games preparation were in danger a few days back.

Scientists and people who study environment say there could be more such natural events, this day and time forward. 

The encroachments on places of natural flow of water in city areas are ever increasing. There is construction on places where once small rivers & ravines were flowing. Builders in Pune are crazy and money minded to the extreme. 

Consequence was devastating! Water logging, fall of trees, electricity cut & destruction.   

Our urban planning and construction need a major overhaul. There is something very wrong. It takes just a spell of 3-4 hours of heavy rains and entire city comes to standstill, not only Pune but almost every major city in India. The drainage systems are age old and need improvements urgently.

It is as if rains are warning us!

As common citizen I feel we should form groups to coerce civic authorities to abide by laws & to act and deliver results fast. Media could play effective role of watchdog.

Watching the 'decay'

It is interesting and disgusting at the same time. And people earn handsome money in crores! I am referring to integral part of our life - Television - or Idiot Box!

I read somewhere that society ultimately gets kind of governance & entertainment, it deserves. Sometimes I wonder this is true.

It is obnoxious to see new edition of 'big boss', so say the least. What is on offer? Whatever happens in that house for over three months. Who are there in the house? You name it we have it!

A lawyer who worked for lone terrorist ajmal kasab, a super robber, a bandit queen, a small time flop actor, all these along with some supposedly decent guys! Whoever is the brain behind this line-up would get a pat on the back. They are concerned with TRP ratings and hence money generated in form of advertisements.

It is quite amazing, the way TV has evolved from those Doordarshan days to now hundreds of channels. There are technological advances. So many shows, news, serials & sundry dull programmes are on offer. There are dedicated channels for education & knowledge, I doubt anyone really see those.

On the flip side though, increase in use of remote control is increased! People generally do not spend more time watching a show for long. Children become inclined towards consumption of junk food, as there is a lot of promotion on the television, and there is obesity to deal with right from teen-age!  

Spending too many hours on television, eats up the valuable time that can rather be used up in productive and healthy activities like exercise & reading. But that is so old-fashioned! 

It is time to move on!!

Going by the standards of Indian Judicial system, I always thought there would never be any result on babri-ramjanmbhoomi dispute. First and foremost it is indeed great news that there is some sort of closure.

However, the anti-climax is that both the sides (hindu & muslim) have decided to approach the Supreme Court!

Essentially what Allahabad High court has done is that it ruled in favour of prevalent Hindu faith - the disputed place is indeed ramjanmbhoomi.

The land is divided and given one-third each to Nirmohi Akhara, Hindu Mahasabha & Sunni Waqf Board. The court gave verdict based on ASI report and other pieces of evidence.

The reaction to verdict was rather surprising to say the least. No one wants to revisit the bloody phase of 1992-93. In fact that reminds us, almost 18 years have passed.

Even BJP and Congress have reacted in restrained manner.

I was a student of 9^th standard at the time when all riots & subsequent bloodshed took place in 1992. There was curfew imposed for many days.


With my limited knowledge and study of Indian society, I must say those days distorted Indian society, mindset of people & communal harmoney forever.

This time around it was differnet story altogether. It was a show of lots of maturity coupled with self-control by general public.This is 2010 and we are growing as nation and as an economy.

There are certain encouraging facts of life here in our country - India.

And there should be no unpleasant and dangerous speedbrakers.

On the other hand negetive factors do curse our overall advancement.There is very fresh, major embarassment of Commonwelth Games to deal with. And longstanding issues such as J & K, Naxalism threat & Inflation have not met their solutions and hence logical conclusions.

I strongly believe that if this opportnity, accidentally provided to us by the court verdict, is utilised sensibly and shrewdly we would have real peace and communal harmoney. Now that is a big ‘if’!

Disintegrating state of ‘food’ affairs

India is extraordinary and incredible things do happen. Over 30 lakh tons of grains are rotten. Reason? There is no 'sufficient place' to store. Astonishingly the value of the rotten grain is estimated to the tune of Rs 58,000 crore. 

This is sheer criminal negligence. Moreover it is certainly 'national shame'. With this kind of governance we should forget competing against Japan, China, USA, and UK for coveted tag of 'world superpower'. Mind you this is level of administration of one the most basic necessity of life.

It is widely believed that Supreme Court of India is one of the most powerful courts in the world. It is institution of last recourse in matters relating to malfunctioning of the executive. 

Supreme Court reprimanded the central government that it is not suggesting to distribute food grain to poorest of poor free of cost, it is actually 'ordering'. Article 21 of the Constitution compels the government to protect the right to life of all Indian citizens.

This invited might of Prime Minister to intervene and tell the honourable court to stay out of 'policy making'.      

All said and done we should not forget that with these food grains almost 250 lakhs of families could have been fed for 10 years!

What is the solution? PM says nothing comes free - especially food! And this would affect farmers and they will be de-motivated in long term. Less said the better about our public distribution system.

If there is proposal of right to education, why not right to food. At least something would be done in right way. In a country where more than a third of total population live below the poverty line and millions go with just one meal a day, right to food is required!
   

health is harmony, disease is discord!

It is shocking. A recent survey has found out that the now people are getting diseases such as blood pressure and heart attacks in their early 30s. It was after 50 usually, in good old days.  

A college student in Pune died because of cardiac arrest last week. Can you believe that? This is as bad as it can get. 

Reasons were familiar and not hard to discover. Tensions, career stress, smoking and to top it all, drinking! I know this is 2010; every one needs to be winner at all the times in every aspect of life. But what is the 'cost involved?' In any case you must be able to savour your success.

Every one wants to run in the rat race and 'compare' his success and money with those of friends, colleagues and relatives. Worse, then some of them actually want to show off and sing praises for themselves.

With the help of technology we have gadgets and machines 'working' for us. Physical work has reduced. And we have TV sets to look at for three hours per day. Has anyone realised that amount of money you have to pay to doctors and hospitals due to health issues is increased many fold.    

Is it very difficult to eat properly, do some exercises and sleep at least eight hours a day? Doing this your heart, mind and brain will be rejuvenated.

I believe, one should have one's priorities clearly set. It is better not to indulge in overestimating your capabilities. At the end of the day it is all about satisfaction and peace of mind.

Success is all about being able to do what you want to do in life and trying to be excellent in whatever you do. Money, name, stability will follow.  

the great indian loot

So what is your opinion on great Indian loot?  anger, frustration, or plain ignorance, or how-does-it-matter-to-us type of reaction?

The Union Cabinet approved a hike of Rs 10000 for constituency and office maintenance expenses for our Members of Parliament. This was in addition to salary hike of Rs 50000. Now every Indian MP earns Rs 61 lakh/year with extraordinary perks for doing rashtra seva and janata ki seva!

Cool package, and what is the accountability? It is our hard-earned money in form of various taxes. You can not ask such uncomfortable questions.

It was disgusting scene. Some MPs were actually quarrelling for this pay rise and it was live on TV.

Now just pause and consider the fact that out of 547 MPs 357 are 'officially' crorepati! And they required more rise but 'settled' for this much. Original demand of Lalu & company was salary of Rs 80000 and equal increase in perks! And the unity of all the politicians was not to be missed.

There are issues like deteriorating J & K situation and Naxalism which need urgent attention. There is ever rising inflation. Rich are becoming richer and the poor people poorer.

What can we do? Wake up to the situation. Raise our voice against this obnoxious state of affairs. Still better file some Public Interest Litigation!

relevance of 15 august

Independence is indispensable and absolute prerequisite to prosper. This year, 15 August celebrations have become rather repetitive and lost some sheen.

Have our sensibilities become so dull? Do we take independence for granted? Do we require Kargil war-like situation to realise our Indian identity? I think yes.

I know some of friends cursing the calendar system, as it was Sunday this year and a holiday is wasted. Still some others feigned ignorance.

Sir Winston Churchill had predicted that independence of India would wither away rapidly as there would be states breaking away from the Union. Fortunately that forecast is proved to be wrong time and again since last 63 years.

No doubt there are so many issues starting from troubled J & K and Northeast region to increasing divisive nature of chauvinist regionalism. People in general have lost faith in Government, and that is equally dangerous if not more.

Concerns such as corruption, unemployment, urban-rural divide, farmer suicides have still not seen any sort of concrete solution.

So to protest and do something meaningful we need independence. To succeed in our personal and professional spheres of life, we want independence.

We have 31 states, almost 1618 languages and dialects, six major religions and 29 national festivals and one sub-continent size democracy. That is called as 'Unity in Diversity'.

I believe glue of unique 'Indian identity' is stronger than anything else for us to remain one country forever. It will help us conquer all the evils.

I hang about it, audaciously optimistic as always.

umar pachpan ki dil bachpan ka?!

So how do you react when a college going kid calls you uncle? Do you feel flabbergasted? Or do you simply ignore? However it is not very easy to overlook such observation from a third person's point of view.

I wanted to go home and there was no company provided car available. So got an auto for half the way to home and then boarded a city bus. And surprisingly it was a Mercedes-Benz AC bus. (Surprised because going by PMT's standards, this is 'height' of what they can achieve!)

There were two young students in the bus. One of them, casually, without any hint of being mean, asked me to move forward so that they can get decent place. He just said - uncle thoda sarko. Other guy questioned him on 'uncle' part. The first one said - arre yaar uske to dadhhi me bhi safed bal hai, uncle bolega to kya hua? And they were talking with addition of laughter. I just overheard their conversation.

Recently a survey was done and it was found out that 40% of men actually fear of grey hair. Am I scared same way? No certainly not. It is nothing to be 'unhappy'.

Traditionally seen as mark of distinction and somewhat respect, going grey is a reality of life. It's just that grey hairs are now in early thirties and not after forty-five! It is believed that previous generation went grey in their forties.

I feel age is in the mind. It is not about being young and old, biologically. Age is determined by the enthusiasm and passion for life.

it happens only in India!

There have been times when India has established the fact that it is emerging super power and 'can do and achieve anything at the world level'. Still there were many occasions when it was reaffirmed that there is much more way to cover to reach that destination.

Commonwealth Games scheduled in October this year in New Delhi mirrors the second type of instance. There is so much of chaos now, one just can't help but doubt whether everything will be in order and as per itinerary.

First and foremost, there are reports of high level corruption and irregularities in the funds utilisation. This is serious issue as we are talking of sum of rupees in the range of 30000 and 50000 crores. Initial estimated budget was 345 crores!

Next concern is that the construction work is still on and still lots of good quality finishing are to be done at different places.

And we have two senior Congress leaders bickering in full media glare. One of them almost praying that Games would be a flop show - Mani Shankar Aiyar (he is credited with many such foot-in-mouth incidents embarrassing Congress Party). Other presiding over the administration says Mr. Aiyar is anti-national - Suresh Kalmadi (MP from Pune and Indian Olympics Association Chief for nearly 20 years).

Meanwhile, image of India takes a beating.

Remember there would be almost 50000 players from 72 countries and there are terror threats also. So can India manage such events with finesse? Or would there be show of typical clumsiness? Big questions - we will get answers only after Games are over.

I strongly feel that if managed properly, this event will be foundation of change in our mindset and our sporting culture.

punishment for 'punishment'!

Parents and Teachers, be aware! Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued a set of guidelines to ban physical punishment of students and children. This ban entails one year of jail or a fine of Rs 5000 or even both, for first instance of punishment. If someone thinks this is not enough, imprisonment could be extended to 3 years in jail and additional fine of Rs 25,000.

This is a welcome step taken by the Government. I got to read that Govt. committee is working on final draft of the Prevention of Child Offences Bill where even parents, relatives and neighbours could be prosecuted for hitting children.

While drafting the law concerned people have also studied the other aspects such as verbal abuse, molestation, ragging and even sexual abuse.

I strongly believe that such measures will reduce chances of parents beating child for silly reasons. Subsequently trauma a child goes through will reduce slowly and steadily.

Some of the parents, I have seen, are adamant and want the child to do what they could not do themselves. There is immense pressure on the child to 'perform constantly in all the spheres of life'.

This is ridiculous and uncalled for in the first place. I am sure now there will be space for children 'to grow without fear'.

Rarely Central Government does something so nice!

phir bhi dil hai hindustani?

Some of my friends and colleagues laugh at me. The reason? Nothing special, just that they strongly feel that I am incurable emotional fool. Why? Because I am 'extra patriotic', or so they think.

It was a nice post lunch session on a cool Friday with pleasant environment. We had some time to spare, all the work was complete for the week. So as usual, we started chatting casually. And the discussion veered towards brain drain, immigration abroad, money, foreign infrastructure, current status of India, and so on. Most of the guys felt passionately about 'leaving India' and they want to settle abroad at first given opportunity.

After some time it turned out to be heated debate. Suddenly I realised I am almost all alone supporting my wish of staying here and my thinking of India as land of opportunities. They even asked sarcastically 'what are you proud of? - slums, population, poverty or corruption?'

I just told them that I believe India and China and their interrelation and international relations are the future of next hundred years. Politics aside, personally I don't see need to migrate to any other country.

This is the place I belong to and I shall do whatever I want to here. Money, name, fame, stability or whatever will come, it's just that you have to work hard and work smart along with another variable component - luck factor. (Some friends said - you did not have chance to go, so I informed that I had an opportunity to go to Dubai and settle there. but I prefer India!!!!)

Also I tried to tell them about their 'identity', they will be known as Indians only, wherever they go. Foreigners will call and treat them as Indians, irrespective of profession. 'And that can NOT be altered'.

Am I a fool? I don't know. And I don't care. All I know is that I will build my life in India. No two ways about it!

don of dawn

hi,

this is ganesh kulkarni here on my blog. (so?) 

What will I write?

Do I know technological advances to operate a blog? 

Will anyone actually read this?

Why will I write in the first place?

There are so many blogs, so why someone should read my blog?

What will be the overall quality of content?

Does it really matter that ‘I’ have started my blog?

In this time and age of internet, frequent power cuts, growing ‘I-me-myself’ tendency, very individualistic nature of life, who will bother to comment and read this blog?

Is this self doubt? Am I scared of failure and blog being completely inconsequential? 

So many questions. Plain and simple answer –

I don’t know. I really don’t.

All I know at this point of time is that I want to write my blog. ‘I feel like writing’. And I have a medium to express. That’s it.