A pic from a recent trip to Janjira Fort.
EXIF:
Camara Model:Canon Powershot A720 IS
ISO Speed: ISO-80
Exposure: 1/1000 sec
Focal Length: 6mm
It’s apparent; the political parties in the current elections are short of election issues. Looking at the way things are being shown in the media, the main political alliances are simply busy pulling each others’ legs. While some months ago, an election in the United States had strong issues to vote for it led out in bringing out a new leader for America.
Is it that a country like ours does not have election issues? Definitely not! Terrorist struck like lightning in different parts of the country, killing many innocents; Mumbai was numbed due to a brutal attack that shook the world and there are explosions happening frequently in Assam. If terrorism was not enough, we had riots in Kandhmal, social moral policing in Mangalore, sky rocketing inflation and many more that a voter should take cognizance of.
What’s an interest to parties today is attacking the other party and re-tracking back. Parties and leaders rather than busy explaining policies to the voters are busy securing alliances for the future. History seems of more interest than present and future, we have a party that make ridiculous proposals of banning English schools and computers. While another still hopes the golden egg of “Ram Temple” issue will help gain electorates. We have an election wherein a person with no connections to politics becomes the General Secretary of a party, a scion of a political family is made a scapegoat of regional politics and a party finds a new mascot for its agenda in a young lad churning hate speeches. We have an election wherein pre-poll alliance partners do not want to part ways but still are contesting against each other while a party supreme attends a rally of an offshoot and still owes allegiance to its “former” ally. We have an election where three northern players ally with each other, one day owe allegiance to its former ally, the other criticize the same, are they heading any where?
We have an election, Can we have issues please?
The Nano from the Tata’s proved that small is big, the small gadgets like the iPod made big business, but Indian elections prove that not every time small is big. Small states like my home state of Goa, North Eastern states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim etc don’t seem to make it big in elections, for all the chatter is based around big “swing” states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra etc; because in elections numbers matter.
Smaller states are known to be better in managing governance, faster implementation of Government policies and schemes, good law and order coverage and all that leads to better development; but the fact that they contribute in a diminutive manner to the national politics is apparent. It is the big states that contribute more seats to the Parliament gain interests in national politics, obvious to the reason that more seats translate into larger population. These states (big) have a larger representation in the Parliament and thus grab all the attention and the election issues are always wobbling around them.
I wonder what would happen if the politicos give in to the demands of creating more states by dividing the existing, that would be an interesting time to watch, but for now big stays big.
The announcement of the General Elections India, have clearly shown up the interests of all politicians and what manifests their political parties’ allegiance. What has happened in Bihar, Orissa and the formation of Third Front has clearly exposed that there aren’t many who can think beyond their petty interests of regional politics and rather have a pan-India approach.
Be it the RJD-LJP fallout from the UPA in Bihar or the disassociation of BJD from an 11 year alliance with the BJP or for that matter, the formation or the formation of the Third Front; all have one basic statement underlying their activities i.e. to become king/ queen makers. It is obvious that if their plans work out then they could bargain hard for the likelihood of support to either UPA or NDA. Of recent the SP had its demands met before supporting the UPA while the Left withdrew support; the JMM had their man in the CM’s post in Jharkhand for the support and history books can give you many other examples. By contesting 50-60 seats out of 540 seats you do not have a chance to be the king, but of course the king maker, that’s what thinking is all about.
Can we have some one who thinks beyond the regional interests, beyond trivial personal interests.? Obviously what seems important for politicians is to get the numbers and the allies together rather than outlining the policies based on which the people will elect them, for winning is not a necessity for them. Losers will always have the Rajya Sabha route to the Cabinet.
Indian Memsahib, by Suchita Malik
The book Indian Memsahib by Suchita Malik is partly autobiographical of the author’s life. Again, I had taken up this book based on a review read on some website or magazine, which I don’t remember where.
The book is the story of Sunaina, who takes through her life as a bureaucrat’s wife. The tagline that forms the book title “The untold story of a bureaucrat’s wife” is actually a bit misleading for almost 90% of the book. It feels rather than her life it’s actually Raghu, her husband’s life being described for most of the book. Her feelings and emotions are described in snippets and pockets until the last few chapters of the book, rather descriptions soar on Raghu’s ways of working, his projects, bureaucracy hassles, political intervention in work etc. The author has followed a question and answer style of narration, like education books, as she learns about Raghu’s job. The pre marital phase feels so passé, with elements like cultural dissimilarities, urban versus rural India, introvert versus extrovert types; explainable by the year 1988 mentioned somewhat later in the book. However it goes unexplained why Sunaina, an ambitious woman, desirous of an independent career gives it up all and simply wants to follow her husband to village trips?
The book does bring out the different aspects of bureaucracy in Government agencies and the highlight being a woman’s life as a wife of someone in the limelight, however only in later stages of the book. The administration problems in India is known by all Indians, but what this book provides is an outlook though the bureaucrat’s wife, the problems faced by her and the family through transfers, social status as VIP’s wife etc.
It had been recommended to me by many in my friends circle, that this is a good book. I’d rather differ a bit; it’s a great book and makes it to one of my favorites. The book is a story of an Australian convict, who escapes from the jail and finds himself in Mumbai, via New Zealand. In Mumbai he lives in the slums, joins the mafia, gets addicted to heroin and gets off it, travels to Afghanistan to fight with the mujaheddin, acts in bollywood movies and so on. As many of you who have read the bestseller would know that this is autobiographical of the authors’ life.
The good part of this novel is the way in which the protagonist explains what he learns from life, about love and happiness in addition to others, and the author has kept it short rather not getting into a fable like writing. One of the many aspects I would remember of this book is a statement made by Abdel Khader Khan, a mafia don in the book, who justifies doing wrong things for the right reasons, or the philosophy about life that it tends towards complexity.
Why in the first place did the Sri Lankan Government have to send their prized sportsmen to a country like Pakistan? That’s a question all could be asking, and the Indian Government couldn’t have gone wrong by not sending our players there. What’s happened today is a grave incident defacing Pakistan’s claims on attempts to curb terrorism, it has happened right under their nose and they can’t claim that this one not being hatched on their soil. Who will they contradict now, whom they will blame: Stateless actors? It makes me laugh at Pakistan’s state of affairs and feel sorry for Sri Lankan cricketers and their citizens. The test match now stands canceled and the tour has been called off. The Sri Lankan government is going to airlift the player and move them to Dubai.
Time.com quotes Habib-Ur Rehman, Chief of Police in Lahore, Pakistan as
They came on rickshaws. They were armed with rockets, hand grenades, kalashnikovs.
Holy Shit!! You couldn’t detect terrorists roaming around in rickshaws!!, What kind of security do you mean to provide around a sports venue? The last time I attended a cricket match I wasn;t even allowed to carry a pet bottle of water, and cars and motorbikes were parked at least a kilometer away, leading to a long walk to the stadium entrance.
This incident goes on to prove on how powerless the Pakistan’s civilian government is. As Mr Chidambaram has said, this proves that the security provided at the venue would have been very insipid. If you are harboring evil then a day could come when it could strike against you, it could backfire on you. That’s what has happened today in Pakistan, by allowing terrorists to breed on their soil they now face an unexpected situation, the very same terrorists have caused damage to their state. One can barely calculate in what sense these attacks could affect sports and other businesses in Pakistan. Questions shall be raised on the 2011 Cricket World cup matches that would be partly held in Pakistan, including a semi-final match. Even in the meandering approaches Pakistan would be avoided by tourists and other travelers, leave alone sportsmen. Pakistan now has to take control of its nation for its own sake, if it wishes to live another day.
Just out of curiosity, I took some snaps at home with my Nokia 6500’s 3.2mp camera and I was surprised by the quality, as I generally do not use my cellphone cam for photography.
Who says you need to digital camera to take good snaps? Here’s one of them.
Just as the present UPA government completes its term in office shortly, it obvious that it would like to highlight the work done in its term. What I am seeing is that a government that criticized the NDA’s India Shining Campaign now has its own way of advertising government work called as Bharat Nirman. I see excessive ads from almost all the ministries in the papers showcasing what they have done in the past years. The one by Ministry of Civil Aviation has one or two inaugurations or foundation stone laying ceremonies everyday. On this I was surprised by an ad on the airport terminal inauguration of Goa’s airport. The depiction showed the airport lying adjacent to a beach, and the runway amidst the sands. How ridiculous?
I am rather not happy by the fact that government is using taxpayer’s money for advertising, to simpy put it which is to earn another term in office. At a time when revenue collections by the Government are severy hit by the recession and stimulus packages thus provided, it seems unnecessary to spend taxpayer’s money in this manner. This was the same government that won the elections by criticising NDA’s India Shining campaign, and I have read in some reports that the money spent this time is more than what was spent last time.
I do understand that the government would like to let the public know what changes they have brought to the country during their term, but then that’s just what the election campaigning is kept for. Election campaign time is given so that the ruling government showcases its efforts and the opposition finds faults in it. Why in this whole process has the taxpayers money has to be used and wasted for no use? This is legally looting country’s money for political gains. Couldn’t the airports be inaugurated a time before? Couldn;t the policies and schemes be advertised while they were launched and implemented? And all of this had to happen in the due days of a general election.
