It Is Better To Burn Out Than To Fade Away

India Against Corruption

2011-08-17T22:46:00.000+05:30

The atmosphere is electric. It has to be. After all this is our war cry against corruption, the first Satyagraha movement since Independence. We owe this to Anna Hazare, the man who has made us believe that change is possible. Or atleast is worth fighting for. “Why does he have to go through this at the age of 70? Why doesn’t he just sit at home ?” is what the cynics said. We say “When he can go through all the pain at that age, shouldn’t we atleast support him ?”. This fight against corruption is certainly going to be a long drawn battle and we understand it. We are not asking for immediate action. All we are asking for is freedom to voice our opinion and fight this battle through peaceful means. That Anna Hazare was pulled out of his house even before he started his fast and was sent to the same prison where the 2G scam accused are housed shows that anyone voicing for the Jan Lokpal will be crushed by the government and branded anti-government or anti-parliment.

This brings me to the next point. The government is framing this as a battle between the civil society and the constitution. This is pure mischief. The Jan Lokpal team has only voiced its opinion against corruption inflicted upon the government machinery and the constitution by corrupt officials and politicians. Not once have they brought disrepute to the constitution framed by our founding fathers or broken the rules of peaceful protest or disrupted public life. Neither did Baba Ramdev. The government succeeded in branding his protest as illegal and convinced the people of Delhi that his protest would disrupt public life. This time around the tactic has backfired on the government, after all we realize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight against corruption. This is not a media sponsored debate against corruption where 3 of the 4 honourable guests themselves lack credibility to speak on the subject.

This brings me to my final point about the Indian media. Sections of the Indian media (NDTV and CNN-IBN) are calling Anna’s movement a blackmail. I am not surprised one bit. After all, if the government is drunk with power so is the media. These media moguls considered themselves the torchbearers of modern India; the Harvard, Oxford graduates who would report fearlessly and bring about change. But power corrupts the minds of those who posses it. They eventually became power brokers. When election results were announced, they called on their preferred party spokespersons to the same show and helped them find a common ground. They are running a parallel government. Now that they see a crusader, an honest man capturing the soul of the nation, they are alarmed. Their only option is to discredit Anna and his movement. It is also disgusting that in the midst of this crisis, they report about Rahul Gandhi being the reason for Anna Hazare’s release. It seems as if the media has taken it upon itself to report about him favourably and strengthen his position as the PM in waiting. I would have been happy if Rahul himself made a statement about the crisis to the nation. After all, politics is not just about garnering votes but about being an able administrator.

This is a landmark movement for India. I am not sure what this would led to. I hope this leads to a corruption free India and a bright future for my countrymen. Hope as Andy Duffresne says,"is a good thing probably the best of things. And no go thing ever dies".

The Idea Of Small States

2010-05-17T20:05:00.000+05:30

This is one of my recent posts for "Youth Ki Awaaz". It is available here

Over the last few months we have seen the demand for new states to be carved out of existing states. Telengana , Vidharba and Bodoland are a few examples. Carving out new states requires the creation of a new state machinery . This is a cumbersome task, one that can however be overcome over a period of time. What is however a matter of concern is the stability of governments that are instilled in these states. The state of Jharkhand perfectly demonstrates this issue. Because smaller states carry a fewer number of seats in the legislative assembly, even political parties that win very few seats have a say in government formation.

Large political parties have some sort of an inter party democracy that becomes important while electing good and capable leaders. However smaller parties are akin to independents. Corrupt leaders thrive as independents or in small political parties. Only regional parties such the DMK are capable of having the tainted A.Raja and Madhu Koda could never survive in any political parties. Since any of the new states that would be created are more likely to have such smaller parties in the government, I see that they are more likely to be exploited by leaders who know that they have a small shelf life.

National parties such as the BJP and the Congress need to act more responsibly in this regard. The behavior of the BJP in the current Jhakhand crisis is shameful. What makes matter more complicated is the lobbying by members of the state unit to choose a particular leader. Jharkhand, one of the most backward states in terms of literacy rate and healthcare standards has not had a CM for 20 days. The people who have voted for the BJP deserve better. Similarly, a few years ago the Congress with the help of a couple of independent MLAs was involved in bringing down the BJP government in Goa. Such incidents do not bode well for the idea of small, well administered states.

The committees that are created for carving out new states need to keep in mind the lessons learnt from the crises that have erupted in Jharkhand and Goa. Strict rules need to be imposed to ensure stability for elected governments. Parties/independents that pull out of the government need to provide a valid, justifiable reason for their decision. A trivial reason such as “not voting with the ally in the Lok Sabha” is not acceptable. This would ensure political stability for the newly formed state and the society that fought for this change would have their faith reposed in the Indian democracy. Certainly, a student who is fighting for Telengana would not be pleased to see 4 chief ministers in 4 years.

My Posts for "Youth Ki Awaaz"

2010-05-02T09:58:00.001+05:30

I’ve recently started writing for an online news platform “Youth Ki Awaaz”. That is probably one of the reasons for fewer updates in my blog. In this post I am pasting the links to two of my posts that have been featured at “Youth Ki Awaaz”

The First Post is about my opinion on the second bidding of IPL franchises.

The second post is about my opinion on awarding the Bharat Ratna to extraordinary sportspersons.

One of the reasons I started writing for “Youth Ki Awaaz” is that it provided a great platform to reach out to a much larger audience. However, I will continue writing my personal blog as well.

Political Untouchability

2010-04-05T09:29:00.001+05:30

At a time when the Indian society is slowly overcoming the problem of social untouchability, a new form of untouchability - political untouchability is emerging. Yes. You read it right. Amitabh Bachchan, India’s biggest movie star was recently snubbed by the Maharashtra government during the inauguration of the Mumbai-Worli sea link. This treatment was meted out to him because Mr Bachchan recently became Gujarat’s brand ambassador. Everyone knows that Gujarat’s chief minister Mr Modi has been considered a political untouchable by the Congress party. Post Godhra, they would not associate themselves with him at any event. And since Mr Bachchan promotes Gujarat tourism, the Congress party believes that he is associated with Brand Modi and hence deserves the same treatment. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi says that since Mr Bachchan has associated himself with the Gujarat government, the congress party has every right to not invite him at a government function/event. It is after all the discretion of the state government to choose their invitees. I would like to remind Mr Singhvi that the people of Gujarat have a similar discretion to stay away from the Congress party. That does not augur well for his party and for our democracy.

Mr Bachchan’s role
The Congress party says that since Mr Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Gujarat, he must clarify his position on Mr Modi’s role in the Godhra riots. I didn’t know that a brand ambassador of a state had to have clear cut political views and state them when asked. As a brand ambassador, Mr Bachchan does not charge any money for his work in promoting Gujarat. Isn’t that in itself an excellent gesture ? I am sure he could have used that time to make movies and earn money but he instead chose to use his brand to promote Indian tourism. If Gujarat tourism improves, the ultimate beneficiaries would be the people of the state.

Is the Congress’ reasoning flawed ?
According to the Congress’ logic, Mr Bachchan should be condemned if he endorses Mr Modi. In that case what about the people of Gujarat who have elected Mr Modi as their chief minister ? If we apply the Congress’ logic, they must also be condemned/dammed/sidelined ? This is not a valid reasoning and in fact makes a mockery of the people who go out to vote and choose their representatives.

What about others who are investing their time/resources in Gujarat ?
Several activists believe that industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani , Ratan Tata etc who are investing in Gujarat need to take a clear stand on Mr Modi’s role in the Godhra riots. They believe that such eminent personalities need to voice their opinion because of the influence they have on the young minds of this country. This argument is flawed. I believe that Industrialists who prefer to not be dragged into the petty politics of this country should be left alone. They are doing their job of creating jobs for the people of this country and of contributing to our exchequer. Similarly it would be great if our activists do not base their arguments on false ideologies.

Where are the thinkers ?
Isn’t it possible for a person to praise Mr Modi for his brilliant economic politics and at the same time criticize him for poor governance during the riots ? Or should he be criticized all the time without any reason or logic ? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the congress party praised Mr Modi for his economic policies and infact replicated them in congress ruling states but continued to pressurize the Gujarat government on the probe. Similarly wouldn’t it be great if the BJP praised the UPA for the nuclear bill while criticized them for inflation. The women’s reservation bill was a landmark bill because our two national parties came togther on the issue. It would be great if they could find more common ground. To conclude, I think our country would be much stronger if we agree to disagree on issues and maintain our ethics/decorum while standing firm on our beliefs. I am sure Mr Bachchan would have received better treatment if we followed this.

Microfinance and RangDe

2010-03-27T14:35:00.000+05:30

This post is about “Microfinance” and my association with RangDe.org(www.rangde.org), a non-profit microfinance organization in India. I am a volunteer with the organization. The views presented in this article are entirely mine and do not represent the views of the organization or of its members.

What is Microfinance ?
Microfinance is the practice of providing loans to microentrepreneurs(owners of small time business) to help them setup/run their business. These entrepreneurs typically find it difficult to obtain the same loans from big financial institutions such as banks. This is because banks typically require a collateral or surety on which the loan is provided. This becomes a bottleneck for the microentrepreneurs who then go to the local money lenders(who charge exorbitant rates) to borrow loans. Another factor to be considered here is that since these are very small loan amounts banks find the overhead very high for a very small transaction. This is where microfinance helps provide low cost loans to entrepreneurs who need not shell out a major portion of their earnings as interest for the loans. I believe the average loan amount in India ranges between 5000 and 7000. You can read more about microfinance at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance .

Are all microfinance institutions non-profit institutions ?
No.I volunteer for RangDe.org , a non-profit institution. The whole objective of microfinance is to provide low cost loans to borrowers. An organization that doesn’t seek to gain profit from the venture can provide loans to borrowers at a much lesser rate.

About RangDe
Loan collection and Disbursal
As I mentioned previously, RangDe is a non-profit organization. It is an online platform to connect investors (you and me) with borrowers. Investors have an option of choosing the borrower at the time of investment. Typically more than one investor loans to a borrower. Say, I see that a milk businessman wants Rs 5000 to buy a cow, I would loan say Rs300 and another investor would loan some more and so on till the entire amount is collected. The total loan is then provided to field partners (NGOs) who provide the loans to borrowers. Borrowers use the money to establish/grow their business. It is important to remember that this would be unsecured loan.

Repayment
Borrowers repay the loan in parts over a period of time. The exact details are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RangDe.Org . So eventually the investor receives the entire loan amount with 2% interest.

Operating Principle
RangDe provides ensures that loans are provided to groups of borrowers. The advantage of this approach is that this ensures collective responsibility. Even if one member of the group defaults on the repayment , the others in the group would pitch in to ensure that the credibility of the group is not lost. This approach also fosters a spirit of competition among borrowers who would with all sincerity use their business acumen to grow their business.

Microfinance has the power to transfer rural India and would ensure the much talked about inclusive growth. People who can run a good business in villages and towns would no longer have to travel to cities for a livelihood. This in turn would help reduce the overcrowding in cities.

Another important factor to note is that microfinance has greatly helped women lead better lives. Most microfinance institutions would admit that women dominate their borrower base and women are also less likely to default in their repayment. While a man might spend his money in a village liquor store, a woman would save money to send her child to the village school.

You can learn more about RangDe by visiting the Official RangDe blog at http://blog.rangde.org/

Controversy surrounding the BSP rally.

2010-03-24T10:56:00.000+05:30

Most of us are aware of the controversy surrounding BSP leader Mayawati’s public display of wealth during the recent BSP rally in Uttar Pradesh. For those of you who don’t know, the BSP members recently celebrated the 25 year anniversary of the founding of their party and the birthday of founder Kanshi Ram. Roughly 200 Crore was spent for the event. During the event , UP chief minister and BSP’s tallest leader Mayawati was presented with a garland of 1000 Rupee notes. The value of the garland is estimated at 21 Lakhs. The question on everyone’s mind is – “Was this required and was it appropriate at a time when the Stage government citing paucity of funds even refused to compensate the families of those who died in a recent stampede”

Most political parties have condemned the incident and some have even gone to the extent of seeking a CBI enquiry to investigate the source of funding for the garland and for the event. All these parties have placed themselves on a moral high ground and members seem to indicate that they have a clean slate. I don’t buy the argument that only people who display their wealth have looted the country and the others haven’t. Everyone(well almost) is corrupt. Mayawati’s supporters were quick to retort that at least their leader does not hide her wealth unlike others who rob the country after dusk.

My argument is that at a time when the participation of the people in our democracy is at an all time low and when people have begun to give up on politicians because of the amount of corruption, Mayawati’s brazen display of wealth further strengthens their belief that Indian polity cannot improve. We need people to believe that our political system can improve. Such incidents undo any progress made by citizen groups to get people to vote. We must remember that corrupt politicians are elected by good citizens who choose not to vote. If we want our system to improve, we must make sure that participation in the electoral process improves. An argument that such a display of wealth by Mayawati inspires members of her community is flawed and mocks the intelligence of our people.

The irony is that Mayawati has done a fabulous job of improving the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. She has an amazing political acumen and as woman belonging to a community that has been oppressed for ages, has fought against all odds to reach her current position. She must not squander it all away. Uttar Pradesh is certainly the most important state for political parties in India. The state has given us the maximum number of prime ministers and it is very likely that UP’s current political leaders would in the near future play a greater role in Delhi. If Mayawati plans to play an important role at the center, she cannot afford to indulge in petty politics such as asking the police force to see if the beehive at the rally was part of a political conspiracy against her party!

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings – III – The Finale..

2010-02-05T11:58:00.001+05:30

This is my final post on this splendid book. It is a culmination of what would first come to my mind when I think of it.

In one of the first few chapters of the book ,Mr Tharoor speaks about the “soft power” of a nation. For the uninitiated, this means the bargaining or influencing power that a country has earned through its actions. For Eg :- India ,Mr Tharoor says has lost its soft power in speaking about the minorites in Pakistan or Sri Lanka because of Kandhamal , Babri Masjid, Godhra etc etc. Similarly he says that movies play a big role in influencing international perception. He gives the example of one of the Indiana Jones movies in which India is shown as a land where children are mercilessly killed to satisfy a deity and as a land of monkey brain eaters. Mr Tharoor says that this movie did considerable damage to India’s soft power in the eyes of the Westerners, who simply believed what they saw. I am eager to know what Mr Tharoor thinks of Slumdog Millionaire and all its worldwide glory. After all, the movie portrays several gory aspects of India.

The final essay in the book is about Mr Tharoor’s visit to the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Here he writes elaborately on the beauty of ancient Indian monuments. However he also takes us through the most common scenes in such tourist spots – young children trying to sell Camera film rolls , people providing palanquin service for elders and tourist guides providing great guided tours.

One of the highlights of the book is about the emphasis that Mr Tharoor has given to ancient Indian science. Essay after essay he reminds us that several concepts such as gravity , planetary motion etc were known to early Indians centuries before the apple fell on Newton’s head or Copernicus got a telescope in his hand. Although I remember reading this in my school, I never appreciated it much or gave much thought to it, because year after year, syllabus after syllabus we were reading the same thing and it seemed pretty normal. However at this point in my life, I am really beginning to appreciate the richness of Indian civilization; Maybe more so because I don’t have to worry about remembering these for an exam.

People who attacked Mr Tharoor for his cattle class comment should have read this book and the chapter on Political humour. It is clear that Mr Tharoor loves humour (of course those that are in good taste). While most of India would remember Sarojini Naidu as the nightingale of India, I remember her for her famous comment on Gandhiji’s austerity – “if only he knew how much it costs us to keep him in poverty”

I am pasting the link to one of ST’s article in Hindu where he speaks about Indians’ sense of humour and the lack of it.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/22/stories/13220466.htm

To summarize, I’ve had a great time reading this book. I am eager to follow up by reading several of his other books. I end this article with one of the best phrases I came across in the book – “

India

is not a developing country. It is a developed country in an advanced state of decay”.

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings - II The two sides of the Vindhyas..

2010-02-01T11:16:00.000+05:30

I’ll continue with opinions on ST’s “the elephant , the tiger and the cellphone”. Mr Tharoor several times in his book states that he sees only South India making economic progress. He feels that it is South India that is India’s economic engine and is carrying the baggage of the rest of the country! Mr Tharoor , being in the government must surely have his facts right when he says this but somehow my opinion on this issue differs from his.
North India has produced some of India’s finest businessmen. These business leaders have generated wealth and employment for Indians. This fact certainly cannot be ignored. It is widely accepted that Gujarat has contributed more to the country’s economy than any other state could even imagine. Gujarati’s have gone on to assume important positions in several countries. Gujarat contributes to a major share of India’s diamond exports. The Gujarati and Punjabi Community in the USA have contributed a great deal in improving ties between the US and India. That is one of the reasons we are seeing so many NRI’s being awarded by the Padma Bushan. The current government’s mantra is simple – Anyone who helps improve India’s standing in the world would be awarded. The Sikh community has a significant presence in the UK and have generated ample employment and revenue. It is after looking at these facts that I am surprised with the stand taken by Mr Tharoor.

Another fact that cannot be ignored is that people from the north of the Vidhyas assume significant positions in the government machinery. The enthusiasm to join the IAS is greater among the youth in Bihar than in any other state. So it is important that Mr Tharoor clearly defines a metric with which he measures a state’s contribution to a country. In my opinion, it cannot be simply measured by the number of jobs generated by the Information Technology Sector, something that Mr Tharoor does. After all , the IT sector only caters to a million jobs in a country of 1.3 billion.

Another fact that cannot be ignored is that India allows the free movement of people. Hence it is impossible to state that South India’s progress or North India’s progress is only fuelled by people of that region. The Reliance and the Tata empires are run by some of the brightest minds from South India while some of the brightest engineers from north India contribute to the IT sector growth in Bangalore.
If you have read thus far, you would assume that I am a person from North India and hence my opinions. No I am what most people would call a “Madarasi” and I call myself a “Bangalorean”.

It would have been very glad if the whole concept of North Indians and South Indians and their respective contributions to the country would not have featured in the book. After all we are all Indians first.

Our Republic Day Gift- Phir Mile Sur...

2010-01-27T17:53:00.000+05:30

In my previous post , I had mentioned that I would write a few more posts on ST’s book but I am going to break the continuity and instead write on the recent gift i.e “Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” that we have received on our Republic Day ! What a shame that this song is a pathetic sequel to the fantastic “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara”.

One set of people are fuming that megastars such as Rajinikant are missing from the video. I understand that the makers did not want to have the same cast as the original because this video also symbolizes the previous generation passing the baton to the current generation. But then the casting for the video is deplorable. Industrialists such as Narayan Murthy and Ratan Tata have been left out. So are the Ambani Brothers. If they don’t represent India then who does ? In sports how could they ignore Vishwanathan Anand, Rahul Dravid , Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly ! Instead of them we have folks from the film industry who haven’t even fully made their mark !

The second flaw with the video is that, there is no focus on the “national integration concept”. Why is each film star given separate screen time. It would have been much better if Shahrukh , Aamir and Salman all came and sang together. This is what the song would have represented, people coming together inspite of their differences. Imagine having Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi coming together in the video. The whole of India has lamented that their differences have cost India several Olympic medals. They could have atleast been cast together in this video. Or we could have had warring politicians come together to share screen space. All this to the common man symbolizes people coming together for the cause of our great nation. Instead we have an “Aamir Khan” singing in that horrible “Aati Ka Khandala tune” and Shahrukh doing his trade mark “Streched Hands”. All these stars have had their own solo screen time shifting the focus from the actual purpose of the song. Sportspersons have been pushed to the very end and have very little presence in the video. This reminds me of the time when all the bollywood stars were invited to Delhi to carry the Beijing Olympics torch and P.T Usha and several other eminent sportspersons were ignored !

The third flaw in the video is the lack of emotion in several of the actors. Ash with her trademark plastic smile is just one example. I appreciate these actors spending time for this video but the effort simply wasn’t good enough. I don’t think actresses need a 2 inch makeup all the time. Ash and Shilpa are you guys listening ?

After the Aman Ki Asha blunder on New Years day , TOI has successfully spoilt a legendary song on the eve of Republic Day. I shudder to even think of what they are planning for the next big event. The makes of the video should understand that “India is not just about Bollywood”.

Several years down the line I would be ashamed to show my children this Phir Mile Sur video and hence would instead show them the original.

To end the post on a positive note I would say that A.R Rahman starting the song is really nice. Our Oscar winner deserves all the accolades that he gets.

The elephant , the tiger , the cellphone and my musings - 1

2010-01-23T19:39:00.001+05:30

I am reading Shashi Tharoor’s “the elephant , the tiger and the cellphone”. The book is all about India, Indians and Mr. Tharoor’s experiences in India. I am not attempting a book review, for I know I would fail miserably. Just a few ramblings about some ideas expressed in the book.

Mr Tharoor speaks several times about India’s pluralism and Indians’ acceptance of this idea. He gives several crisp examples to prove this. I am arguing against one of them in this post. Mr Tharoor says that when Mr Deve Gowda, the “mannina maga” of Karnataka became India’s PM, his Independence day speech was in Hindi and this is an example of India’s pluralism. He goes on to explain that since Mr Gowda , who at that time couldn’t speak or read Hindi , achieved the feat by writing the Hindi script in Kannada , it showcases India’s pluralism ! I certainly don’t agree with this reasoning. I am proud that a person from modest beginnings worked hard to climb India’s political ladder and being a farmer, represented the whole of rural India. But I don’t agree with Mr Tharoor’s reasoning.

Now tomorrow if I read out a French speech in Paris by reading out from an English or Tamil script , am I showcasing my pluralist mind? We are forcing our PM to read something he does not totally understand. Just try writing a Chinese language script in English and reading the script in a public function in Beijing . Would you be comfortable with it? I am not a language chaunavist and I don’t believe in the superiority of one language over another. Neither am I propagating jingoism. Just trying to reason out. I would be glad if proved wrong.

Pluralism is all about allowing a wide range of thoughts, beliefs, languages ,customs, religions etc to flourish freely in a land and allowing a person to practice them freely. Had we appreciated our PM ‘s speech and his emotions whilst he delivered his Independence Day speech in his mother tongue , it would have showcased our pluralism.

For people who say that the rest of India wouldn’t understand , “ we could have always allowed a translator” or any other senior member of the cabinet could have re-delivered the speech in Hindi. Anyways most of the people don’t watch the Live telecast on TV. For rural India that still listens to the speech on the “All India Radio”, the AIR could have been provided the copy of the script and the speech can be delivered in the language of the land .

I am glad that Mr Tharoor’s book has provided food for thought. I am thoroughly enjoying the book. Several of my further posts would be my musings on this wonderful book.

About snubbing and making sound financial decisions

2010-01-20T15:13:00.002+05:30

IPL auctioned its players yesterday. As we all know, after the event everyone cried foul that none of the 11 Pakistani players was bought by any of the franchises. The Pakistani media has described this as an insult to their country and players. I found it really funny that the sports ministry of Pakistan has sent a notice to the Pakistani Cricket Board asking them as to why none of the players were bought, event hinting that the PCB is responsible for the fiasco ! It was the Pakistani govt that issued a security warning to Pakistani players for travelling against India for IPL2. The net result was the franchises that had Pakistani players suffered. KKR and their superb performance can vouch for that. :-) This has cascaded to the current scenario.

Our news channels really know how to rub it on an already furious Pakistan. They used the word “snubbed” in every sentence they used to tell this story. The Times of India went one step further and said that they suspect the Government of India asking the teams not to buy Pakistani Players. Ya rite ! Now why on earth would the GoI even bother about IPL, after all the security arrangements for players is handled by the IPL and not by the government. If anything, the govt would earn more revenue from tax in the event of greater success of the IPL. And when poor Mr Chidambaram and team are busy tacking the Naxals, they are dragged into a needless issue. Barkha Dutt of NDTV tweeted that Pakistani players should not have been invited in the first place instead of insulting them in such manner. I believe that such an action would have been very wrong on the part of the IPL. At least now, the players have a chance to being a part of the event. And if we understand the policy of IPL, the players sign a contract with IPL for which they earn a certain sum and then IPL sells them to Franchises. So in the current scenario, every player associated with the event would earn a certain base sum. Why snatch that away?

People who understand the event and the sport have rightly said that the entire event was a case people making financially sound decisions. Why invest on a player who is not sure to play? It is for the same reason that the Aussies who also are unavailable for most of the games, were not taken by any franchise. Because of immature reporting by sections of the Indian media , I am sure the Pakistani media would be printing statements such as “ The Indian media also suspect foulplay…. Sections of the Indian media have also sympathized with the ill treatment to our players….Our suspicion has been vindicated by reports in the Indian media that this was a well planned…” etc

I am pasting below one of the very few sensible tweets I read regarding this issue.

Suhasini Haidar of CNN-IBN tweeted – “I know many are upset with the IPL rejection of Pak players- but isn't that giving cricket too much leadership role in bilateral relns? “ This turned out to be one of the very few sensible opinions from the media.

The Legacy Of MGR

2010-01-17T20:36:00.000+05:30

Until now, I’ve never felt compelled to blog from a cyber café. But today after seeing the celebration of MGR’s birthday in Chennai , I am compelled to pen down my emotions before I lose them ! For those of you who don’t know about M.G Ramachandran (MGR), he is one of Indian cinemas most famous actors , or should I say tamil cinema’s ? I don’t know, you can decide for yourself. He is also the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. You can read about MGR here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._Ramachandran.

To me, he is a very important personality in Tamil Nadu’s politics because he moved out of the only Dravidian party, DMK and created the AIADMK. He thus gave an option to Tamils who weren’t very happy with the policies of the DMK but who also weren’t ready to vote for a non-Dravidian party! (I am disappointed that people here still believe in the Aryan theory and vote for only the Dravidian parties. Anyways that is for another post).

MGR is called “Vaathiyar” (means Teacher in Tamil) by his fans because most of the roles he played in his movies involved inculcating good thoughts and behavior amongst the viewers. In a country where movies greatly influence the lives of people, I believe this is his greatest contribution. He was also a philanthropist. There is a very famous saying in Tamil Nadu , any hungry man who goes to Vaathiyar’s house would come out with his stomach full. Several decades after his death , people still remember and celebrate his life. The highlight of the celebration is that young people who have never seen him but have only heard him and have watched his movies, are celebrating his life.

I was visited a couple of temple towns in the outskirts of Chennai and In the 100 Kms I travelled, I could see posters of MGR in every nook and corner , people garlanding his statue , his songs blaring out of every fan club meet etc. People seem to connect with him so easily. I guess that is the reason we see both the DMK and AIADMK claiming their association with him , during every election. Anyone who claims to have felt the true Madrasi spirit must know how it feels to walk on the street during Vaathiyar’s birthday.

Time to act human...

2010-01-15T00:25:00.002+05:30

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/cops_death_minister_refutes_charge_of_insensitivity.php
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/callous_ministers_show_no_remorse_stay_away_from_cops_last_rites.php

Please read the articles in the above mentioned links. This is the news of how Vetrivel , a police officer was attacked by a group of gangsters and who subsequently died on the street when onlookers(read ministers of the TN government , bureaucrats and a cameraman) chose to watch him die instead of saving him. Yup. It is shocking and shows how insensitive and cruel these onlookers have been. The incident has been handled in the most shabby and shameful manner. The policeman’s family deserves better and so do we.

I don’t want to speak about the role of the govt officials and bureaucrats in this case. Frankly speaking, I am tired of rambling about their attitude. May God save them and us. I instead want to understand the role of the cameraman in this case.

I totally understand that a cameraman sees the world through his lens. But does this mean that he fails to act when he really needs to. He seems to be keener on adjusting his lens to capture the right frame of the policeman’s suffering. What was he trying to show by capturing the video and what has he achieved .Did he want to expose the callousness of the ministers and bring them to shame ? Or was he trying to show us how people die? Why did he choose not to act? Did he think that we would appreciate his professional skills ? Didn’t we feel sick after seeing Kevin Carter’s 1994 Pulitzer winning photograph of the girl child and the vulture? He too was severaly criticized for having focused more on his photo than on the life of the child.

There is one message for the cameramen and the media – We the people know that there is lot of pain and suffering around us. We don’t want to see pictures or videos that lack a certain sense of sensitivity or humanity. That is not way to make us act. We are not thick skinned and in most cases, a slight nudge is sufficient. So when you see people suffer in front of your eyes, help them out instead of capturing a video for the rest of us !

Debate and discuss...

2010-01-13T09:38:00.001+05:30

“Unity In Diversity”. Any child who has attended school in India would be taught to use these words to describe India and appreciate her diverse languages , cultures etc. However it seems that we haven’t been taught to appreciate the diversity of thoughts and opinions of people. An opinion that doesn’t stick to the norm is often crushed and the person with any such opinion is made to retract.

Take the case of Shashi Tharoor and his latest controversy regarding his opinion on India’s foreign policy during the Nehru era. Sections of the media have rejected his opinion because it is against the policies of our founding father. However no one really thought of engaging him in a meaningful debate and discussing why he said whatever he did. I repeat in every of my posts that we need to think and debate if we are to grow intellectually as a nation. If we decide to suppress the opinion of the Shashi Tharoors and Jaswant Singhs we would end up much poorer.

I want to discuss the role of media in this case. First they seek out for an honest politician and when such a man does come, they drive him away. Mr Tharoor is an expert in his field and has served a countless number of years in the UN. He understands what he is speaking of and is not merely reading a speech prepared by his writer. While the US discusses Roosevelt and Lincoln, we simply seem to shudder at the thought of discussing the rights and wrongs of the Nehrus and Gandhis. The point to be understood here is the no one is out there to question the contribution of these leaders or lessen their historical importance. It is just a revaluation of our decisions that would help us avoid past mistakes. Since these decisions include several foreign policy matters , it assumes even more importance in the current scenario when in an every shrinking world , we need to carefully coordinate with other countries both politically and economically .These discussions and debates are also a means of learning for our politicians. Mr Tharoor himself would agree that he is not correct all the time and hence when we can influence him for the better through discussions , he would discharge his duties much better. Driving him away though smear campaigns certainly doesn’t help.

I also strongly believe that political parties need to be more tolerant to the views of their members. When they disagree with a member they can merely say that the views of the individual do not conform to operating principle or ideology of the party. We certainly understand that Mr Tharoor does not single handedly decide India’s foreign policy and the Ministry of External Affairs comprises of several people who would discusses the ideas with him. In my opinion , all Mr Tharoor was doing was to voice his ideas and opinion to the rest of us . We don’t want political parties to treat people like cattle and march them in a line. We want a set of people who agree to disagree and who at the end of the day can negotiate and chalk out the smartest policies and decisions.

When we are finally seeing good politicians enter the fray, we don’t want trivialities to drive them away.

My response to Chetan Bhagat’s article on "Fighting for a Common Cause”

2010-01-10T17:06:00.001+05:30

The original article can be found in the following link
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Ask-whats-our-cause-not-whats-mine/articleshow/5429006.cms#write

Chetan Bhagat in this article beautifully articulates that we have not been successful in introspecting about the targets we had set for ourselves a few decades ago. A very valid point and this is something we need to introspect on. After all, we cannot keep pushing the timeline by which we must achieve a measurable , sustainable growth.

The second part of the article speaks about what we must do in future to achieve the desired growth. Mr Bhagat speaks about voicing our opinions for a collective common cause to achieve a desired result. To a lay man this means that we need to voice our demands and opinions through a single channel or in another sense , vote on common grounds. Although this is a great idea ,this seems impractical in a country such as India. The reasons are mentioned below

- India’s economic growth has resulted in a skewed growth for certain sections. Now these sections that have already made some progress cannot blend their thought process with people from other sections of the society. For Eg : A man who has children studying in school and who has runs a successful business would be impressed by the thoughts and ideas of Kapil Sibal who wants to rope in Harvard and Stanford into India and might want him. Whereas I would rather want the government to provide goof healthcare insurance options to me and my family and might lean towards more of the leftist policies. The servant maid in my apartment would want a government that would provide better rice or what flour in the ration. She would be impressed with the policies of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. Now , how on earth would we get all of them on the same platform to speak , debate and conclude on a common cause ? An anology to this is what Mr Bhagat specifically mentions about various NGO’s targeting different causes and the need for them to unite together !

- The second reason is India’s land size and the sheer impossibility to get everyone on a common platform. Let us consider the decision to vote to achieve results as a linear equation with a certain number of variables- now the greater the number of variables (causes we fight for) ,more difficult and time consuming it is to solve the problem(achieving atleast something if not everything).

I would like to quote several other reasons but would stop at this point. I am thrilled that intellectuals like Chetan Bhagat and Shashi Tharoor are thinking really hard to solve our problems and I hope they do succeed. This article is not to condemn Mr Bhagat’s line of thought. It is merely a counter argument. I strongly believe that arguing and debating would make us more intelligent individuals. I am also not sure if this article would reach all the people I intend it to reach. I certainly hope it does.

My Solution to the Problem

The problems faced by an area (typically a legislative assembly )can be addressed by forming an Area Association comprising of really smart and hardworking people located in the area. They can understand the needs of the people. The landscape of the area would be uniform and the professions of the people would not be very diverse. For Eg : In an urban area we can elect a person who is ready to solve issues of sanitation and roads . Similarly in a village , a person who understands the minimum support price concept for crops and issues of fertilizer prize can be elected.

So the real solution is to group people by area or locality rather than by their demands. Why should a farmer in Maharashtra who is fighting (for or )against BT cotton lose his sleep over the issue of farm land flooding near the Cauvery Delta ?

I hope I am atleast partially correct :-)

Avatar - My Experience !

2010-01-09T19:32:00.000+05:30

I watched Avatar yesterday and boy O boy, I am yet to recover from the hangover ! I would have loved the movie even if I had watched it in 2D instead of 3D. I am not going to ramble here about the story because I know that most of you would have watched it. I am just gonna list things I loved about the movie
- I loved the fact that our protagonist continues to enjoy his life despite his disability.
- I loved the moment when he can feel his legs again in the body of the Navi man and shows us how thrilled he feels about it.
- We see a clear contrast of 3 personalities – the scientist Dr Grace who wants to understand the people and Pandora. It is her quest of knowledge that motivates her to stay. We see the mission director who is there for the valuable mineral “unobtanium” that would fetch him money back on earth. We see the Colonel Miles who wants to destroy the Navi people to avenge the scars on his face ! We see three clear contrasting human emotions, all well etched out and well portrayed.
- The scene when Neytiri, our “heroine” shoots an animal for food, releases its pain by killing quickly and then thanking the animal its flesh and life is sufficient to tell us about how the Navis treat the nature around them.
- The concept of a mental/emotional connection between the Navi people and the animals and birds that they ride on is clichéd. Reminded me of the several dragon movies in which the dragon rider has to have a connection with the dragon. Nonetheless the visual graphics made up for this and gave us a visual treat.
- Continuing with the visual effects – the Navi people , the hanging mountains , the machines used by the humans , Pandora’s animals and scenery are all breathtaking and would blow the viewers away.
- The fact that the protagonist seeks “divine” intervention and help to succeed and their eventual success thanks to help and guidance from their mother goddess “Eywa” makes us think about our belief in God.

I don’t enjoy movies that shout out a message to me. The directors of Avatar don’t want to teach us anything. The might want us to think. There is a scene when the Colonel shouts out to his soldiers “Lets defeat Terror” when referring to fighing the Navi people. Everyone would surely be reminded of a certain “War on Terrorism” when they hear that ! Like in any other movie, there are always good people even amongst the bad guys. Here we have a security force pilot who is pained when she sees the destruction of the Navis home tree and eventually abandons her duty to help our protagonist. This makes us think that we can do a good deed even if we live amongst criminals.
I loved the movie and would certainly watch it again to relive the “avatar experience”. Yup. It’s an experience , not a mere movie.
Movies can certainly be classified as being in 2 eras- “Before Avatar” and “After Avatar”

Glimpses of India’s politics – 2000 to 2009

2010-01-08T02:02:00.000+05:30

It’s a brand new year and also a brand new decade. This post is a compilation of what I felt were the most important events of Indian politics and matters that affected Indian politics in the previous decade.

- Flight IC814 Hijack
Certainly the most difficult time for the BJP led NDA govt. I still can’t understand how the flight was allowed to fuel up and leave Indian soil. Released terrorists have since then planned and executed major terror attacks against India. The incident came back to haunt L.K Advani in the 2009 general election.

- The Godhra Riots
I won’t take sides on a sensitive issue as this. But this certainly changed NDA’s composition. A lot of BJP’s allies deserted them citing this as the cause resulting in a very weak NDA fighting a strong opposition in the 2004 election. The riots also set the Indian media against the BJP. The BJP is certainly paying a price for this.

- The rise of the 24 Hour News Channels
I still remember the days when NDTV news was aired between 9 and 10 PM on Star Plus. I watched it regularly. The 24 hour news channels have ushered in a new style of news reporting. They added to the existing chaos of the 26/11 attacks ! We saw news reporters (famous ones !) troubling already grieving families , distracting the police with incessant queries etc etc . But at the same time , Ruchika’s family could have never got our support without the help of the media! Great job guys. We also see news channels favouring certain political parties ! So what has all this led to ? An overdose of information from which we need to intelligently select valuable and right information.

- Sonia and Rahul Gandhi revive the Congress party
The congress fought and won the 2004 election thanks to a super human effort from these individuals. Smart choice of alliance partners also helped. Can never forget 13 May 2004, the day when the result was announced and I was stunned to see the NDA lose. The media was harping on the loss and since I have been a big fan of Vajpayee never accepted the defeat.

- Pramod Mahajan Dies
The untimely death of Pramod Mahajan left a big void in the BJP. He was the man touted to be PM in waiting. The man who changed the shape of the telecom sector in India , forged a great alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra was no more. We certainly lost a great leader.

- Nitish Takes Over Bihar and Modi drives Gujarat
JD(U) and BJP rode to power in Bihar ending the Lalu Prasad era ! Nitish revived a state which was known for lawlessness. Kudos to the JD(U)-BJP government for having done a great job in Bihar. 11% growth is commendable. At the same time Narendra Modi rode BJP to a second victory in Gujarat. He was helped on the way by Sonia Gandhi’s “Maut Ke Saudagar” speech and by some excellent development measures that he implemented. I would certainly rate him as one of the most intelligent and hardworking chief ministers.

- PM Manmohan Singh drives the Indo US Nuclear deal
PM Manmohan Singh risked the life of his government to ensure the success of a deal that he believed was needed for the country. The country stood behind him and watched with awe a very intelligent man negotiate with his allies , convince his party members and wrestle his opponents to finally taste success.

- Birth of the MNS .
The birth of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has certainly changed Maharastra’s political scene. The BJP and Shiv Sena have a big chunk of their vote bank to the MNS. This change in dynamic ensured the victory of an underperforming government ! I still cannot believe that the Congress was never punished by the people of Maharashtra for 26/11/ They seem to be very benevolent !

- 2009 Elections and the end of the Advani Era
The BJP lost the 2009 elections and the party was at a crucial juncture. It was imperative that they next generation of BJP leaders took over the reins of the party and drove its growth. The BJP in the 90’s was the party of the Aam Aadmi and somehow they have managed to throw it away. It is important that they revive themselves. A true democracy needs a healthy competition among intelligent politicians with diverse ideologies. I look forward to this in the second decade !

- Shashi Tharoor and the entry of the intelligentsia into Indian politics
Successful and Intelligent men such as Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP and Shashi Tharoor of the Congress have entered politics. We always hoped that we are ruled by really intelligent people. We have made a beginning and I hope the trend continues in this decade.

- Telengana and the division of India
The decade ended with major protests for and against the creation of Telengana. This led to several groups voicing their opinion for the reorganization of several areas into new states. Ghorkhaland , Vidharbha , Coorg are some of the regions I can remember. A Chinese analyst wrote that splitting India into smaller states would ensure its deterioration. He must certainly be smiling !

India’s democracy is past its nascent stage. It is high time our political parties align themselves on an ideology rather than on religion or caste. This is imperative to our success and I hope we succeed.

Yet another loss

2009-10-07T08:55:00.000+05:30

Yesterday India lost yet another dutiful son to the guns of the Maoists. This time the killing was extremely brutal. The unarmed policeman was beheaded ! During such times I wonder if compassion and mercy really exists in this world or is it just in the fables. The media stormed the house on hearing the news and captured visuals of the bereaved family. A little kid whose age was probably 7 or 8 was interviewed! The sobbing kid says “When I grow up I am going to be a policeman” and then addressing the killers he says “You guys killed my father and I am going to kill you”. This visual will probably stay in my mind forever.
As I understand, the Maoists believe that the capitalist economy has denied justice to them. They have not been provided land or any means by which they could earn their living. Hence they are fighting for their share in the pie. Does economics drive away the feeling of compassion or mercy or during instances as these “the concept of humanity”. I no longer understand what they are fighting for!
I am also totally appalled by the response of the govt. Platitudes such as “I totally condemn this attack….” no longer make sense. It probably made sense at a time when such attacks were uncommon and the perpetrators of the crime were not known. This is a blatant inhuman act and the perpetrators must be hanged.
Probably the victory of the Maoist movement in Nepal gave their counterparts in India a new confidence. They however fail to understand that while there was popular sentiment against the monarchy in Nepal, we Indians love democracy. After all we can do anything and get away with it scot free! By committing such acts, the Maoists are going against the sentiment of the very people they are supposedly fighting for.
So what next ? Do we continue to mourn? No. All of a sudden we hear about a heroic act by a teenage girl in J&K who single handedly kills 2 terrorists. We forget about the dead policemen and star thinking once again “Life in Beautiful” and “there’s no country like India”. The govt goes back to its old ways, policemen continue to fight with lathis and we live our lives until the next Maoist attack when we mourn yet again.

King Roger

2009-06-08T00:59:00.000+05:30

"In an era of specialists - you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer" – Jimmy Connors

Roger Federer has just won his 14th grand slam. Ironically , it is the French Open where he has achieved this feat, a tournament that has eluded him for years now. Many of us believe that if not for Rafa , he could have achieved this feat a couple of years earlier. Anyways , its Roger’s time and we must speak only of him. Critics will continue to argue that had Rafa played the finals , the result could have been different. Well Roger can’t do anything about. He can’t choose his opponents.

All of us who have followed Roger’s game and have believed in his game have evolved as much as he did. First it was the time when Roger has to prove that he had the game to beat the best. As a youngster when he beat Pete Sampras , the World began to watch him. Then he had his many tournaments when he was still evolving as a player. This was also the time when no player could fill the gap left by Sampras. We had Roddick , Hewitt , Hass etc all trying to reach the top spot. We as tennis fans were also in search of the next Sampras. It was also the time when Roger started cementing his place amongst the finest players of the game.

Then came the era when Roger’s game was unbeatable. The backhands were punishing ; the ball from that backhand could go in any direction. The serve was big , the drop shots were added to his armour and suddenly we began to wonder if we are watching the most complete player the game has ever produced. This was the time when we watched his game munching popcorn and relaxing in a couch. After all he was bound to win. We were only willing to be overwhelmed by his game. This was also the time when we began seeing Roger chasing the French Open. All was still well, after all even Sampras never came close to winning the French Open. We always thought that if not this year then it could be next year. Rafa was still the player who could only play on clay. We were still chasing Roger because we know that we were witnessing something special.

Then came the 2007 Wimbledon finals. Rafa and Roger met in the finals. Roger had the game to beat Rafa but we realised that Rafa was improving his game by leaps and bounds and that there could be a player who would challenge Roger’s supremacy. Rafa in this match said that he would try and win the next Wimbledon. But how could he , after all our man was supposed to win the 6th consecutive Wimbledon and in his own way own the grass courts. The turning point was in the finals of 2008 French open when Roger lost the match and with it his confidence. We were suddenly alarmed because we knew that achieving a career grand slam would now be even more difficult and more importantly Wimbledon was at stake. We could no longer watch Roger’s matches munching snacks and with Roger’s victory on our mind. I think this was the first time, when as tennis fans , we began connecting with Roger. We cried when he cried during the Wimbledon finals , we skipped a beat when he missed an easy return of serve or was down a break. We were now truly Roger’s supporters and well wishers. When he lost his No 1 title , it hurt us more than it could hurt him. After all he believed that his No 1 title was not as important as the Wimbledon.

All this has made the French Open victory even more sweet . The reason is that we see Roger’s resurgence as the resurgence of a man who was cheated by destiny. Had he not gone through his ups and downs , we might have only have rejoiced on his victory and spoken about his greatness but we could have never connected with him.

The most important facets of Federer’s game according to me are his elegance in executing some of the finest shots and the variety of shots he can produce. Many a times I end up arguing with my friends who say that Federer does not chase the ball unlike a certain Nadal. That is true and I am happy about it. I don’t want to see him rolling on the ground trying to chase the ball. It shows the confidence of a man who know that if not this point ,he will win the next. Why bother running around the court like a sprinter !

As I write this today , I hope that I read it when I am old. At that time, I might want to recall how I felt when I was still young. I know that I will remember Federer’s tennis and my memories associated with his game. I will remember the 2009 Australian Open when all of us cried with him. And I will certainly remember the 2009 French Open when Roger achieved immortality..

I read the following article posted on the Roland Garros website following Roger’s victory. I am sure you’ll enjoy it. I certainly did.

“The tennis gods brewed up a storm around Roland Garros on Sunday afternoon as they prepared to welcome a new member into their midst. Roger Federer repelled the rain, thunder, and a certain Robin Soderling to take his rightful place among the immortals of the game.”

An Ideal time for the Women’s reservation bill

2009-06-07T15:24:00.000+05:30

The new parliament following the UPA’s emphatic victory has started its session. We will see the budget being presented sometime in July. We will also see the ministry of foreign affairs playing a key role in rebuilding Sri Lanka and overseeing efforts to ensure that the interests of the tamil minority population are not clouded amdist the euphoria of the government’s victory. At the same time , with Meira Kumar having been appointed as the Speaker , all of us would like to believe that the government is trying to send a clear message that it is serious about representation of women in India’s parliament.

The empowerment of women must begin at the grassroots level. It wouldn’t matter to a woman in a village if Meira Kumar is the LS Speaker , however instead if the Panchayat had adequate representation of women , it would be easier to solve cases of domestic violence against women. Many of these cases in fact go unheard. Reservation for women in the Panchayat is a welcome move and we have to see if the government indeed goes ahead and implements the bill. This brings me to the Women’s reservation bill.

This women’s reservation bill has been long pending. Neither the NDA not the previous UPA government was able to pass the bill. The RJP , SP and LJP have already said that they are against the bill and would do anything to stop it. We recently heard Sharad Yadav saying that he would kill himself if the bill was passed. The BJP has indicated that it is willing to support the bill. Its leader , Shri Advani has clearly indicated that the 15th Lok Sabha will see a new beginning in govt-opposition relationship. Parties such as RJP , SP etc which oppose the bill received a drubbing the election and cannot conjure enough strength to stop the bill . Added to this is the support from the BJP for the bill. The UPA cannot get a better opportunity than this to pass the bill.

The significance of the bill stems from the fact that women are considered the wiser sex. Added to this is their experience is running a family. They are also considered to be less corrupt when compared to men. More than anything , in a land where crime against women has been rampant for ages now , this is all but a small means of seeking forgiveness.

Elections 2009 – Yet another analysis

2009-06-05T22:46:00.000+05:30

It has been quite sometime since the results of general elections 2009 were announced. The dust has settled down. The new lok sabha session has also begun. So what can one conclude from the results ? We have all heard several knee jerk reactions to the results. We hear about the Left and the BJP facing an existential crisis. We also hear about Rahul Gandhi being the real winner in this election. We need a closer look at the results before we can conclude on any of these.

All of us heard news channels screaming loud that this was an issueless election. An election in which one cannot actually point a finger at the government for non-performance. Kudos to the previous government for having implemented the RTI and NREGS. The NREGS has certainly been the UPA’s flagship achievement. One must also take time to appreciate the state governments which have actually implemented the NREGS. States like Bihar and AP have certainly benefitted from this program. But we must also remember that Infrastructure projects took a backseat under the UPA regime. The telecom sector also did not see any technological advancement. The auction of the 3G spectrum was marred by chaos. The Nuclear deal’s success still remains doubtful in my opinion. India with its vast amounts of Thorium could use alternative techniques for meeting its energy demands. Nontheless , it’s better to wait and then comment on the Nuclear deal.

The BJP failed to highlight the failures of the UPA government. They instead chose to attack the mild mannered Manmohan Singh. The projection of Modi as the PM in waiting and the Varun Gandhi speech only added to the misery. The issue of India’s hiding their wealth in tax havens was raised a little too late. In addition to this, with the media strongly waging a battle against them , it was always going to be an uphill battle for the BJP. If not anything , they could have at least highlighted the incompetency of the Home ministry under Shivraj Patil, an inefficiency that gave us 26/11.

There is also another misconception that the new government without the Left would introduce a flurry of reforms in sectors like insurance and retail. People who think so fail to understand that the Trinamool Congress is more pro-left. The people of WB have only voted for a party which was more leftist in its ideology.

Rahul Gandhi has been declared as the unofficial winner of this election. It is true that his decision to go alone in UP has fetched a few more seats for the congress. This was always going to be easy in UP , where the people have always voted for the Gandhi family. The same charm did not work in Orrisa where Rahul Gandhi camped for several days.

It is not easy to analyse the results of any Indian election and pinpoint to a host of factors that have led to a result. However we can safely say that the NDA lost elections 2004 and theUPA won elections 2009.

Bridging the divide

2009-04-19T01:19:00.000+05:30

The recent election campaigning by the TN political parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections underlines the fact that the common man there is not able to relate himself to the aspirations of the rest of India. The ongoing war in Sri Lanka between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army has polarised the scenario there and we have more cheer when a leader accuses the Sri Lankan govt for crimes against the tamils than when he accuses the central govt on failure to deliver on developmental issues.

Tamil Nadu seems to have this problem right since the 1960’s when there was the Tamil movement reminiscent of the current activities of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS). This tamil movement replaced the rule of the Congress party in the state with the DMK. Regional parties have continued to rule the roost ever since.

Primary and Secondary education curriculum have enforced Tamil as a compulsory language. There have been campaigns against using English as a medium of education. Such campaigns are usually spearheaded by politicians who send the children to Harvard or a Yale to pursue their studies. Such hypocrisy I fear will alienate the people of TN from the rest of India.

But thanks to India’s phenomenal growth since early 2001, we have a lot of employment generated in TN ; Madurai , Chennai and Coimbatore in particular. The Services sector has been a major contributor to this. Such employment opportunities have attracted youth from across the country. The movement of people I believe is India’s strength and helps in bridging the divide between people following different cultures and languages. I hope and believe that such a phenomenon will end TN’s isolation.

But when a Vaiko speaks for the secession of TN from the rest of the country and speaks of a separate Tamil nation, all such efforts of bridging the divide seems wasted. The sad fact is that parties like the CPI have also started speaking this language. All this for petty electoral gains.

I recently read about the Governor of Texas speaking in a similar language. He was speaking of secession from the USA if Washington’s tax policies would not be reformed. He was using a much milder tone although.

2 Landmark Verdicts

2009-04-02T06:54:00.000+05:30

The supreme court of India came up with 2 landmark judgments yesterday. One was related to the petition filed by Bollywood actor and Samajwadi party candidate Sanjay Dutt , that his conviction in the Mumbai blast case be suspended and he be allowed to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The SC rejected the petition. With this landmark verdict, the SC has sent a clear signal to the parties that they should not field criminals in an election.

However, this judgement also raises a lot of doubts in our minds. Why was Navjot Singh Sidhu then allowed to contest in the Lok Sabha by-election considering his involvement in a hit and run case? Why do we have candidates in Bihar contesting elections from the Jail? Does the Supreme Court not ban such candidates? I know the answer only for the Sidhu case. He was a sitting MP, when he was convicted. He immediately resigned from the post. The Supreme Court considered this to be a great gesture and then went on to stay his conviction, when he appealed.

This also brings into picture, the role played by the CBI in this case. The CBI filed a petition in the SC seeking to ban Sanjay Dutt from contesting in the polls. Of late, many consider the CBI to be working in congress’ favour. So the supporters of Sanjay Dutt may say that it was a plot hatched by the congress and supported by the CBI. However, for a common man like me it is a symbol of hope. A hope that justice cannot be undermined to such a great extent in this country.
Sanjay Dutt might have played a charming role as Munnabhai and might have promoted Gandhigiri. Hell, he might have even reformed and inspired many with his roles. But does that change the fact that he was involved in a serious crime, a war against the country. The TADA court might have acquitted him but he is still booked under the Arms act. His confession to the crime has probably lessened his punishment. He has spent close to 18 months in Jail and has probably now spent a major part of his life in running to the court s. He looks like a reformed man now. But letting him contest the elections will set a bad precedence.

Another case is related to a petition filed by a student against his school. The student wished to follow his religious practice and wanted to sport a beard. When the school objected to this, the boy moved the Supreme Court. He argued that India being a secular country, an individual should be allowed to freely practice his religion. The Supreme Court dismissed his petition stating that the concept of secularism cannot be overstretched. It went on to say that the rules followed by an institution cannot be changed for the sake of one student and that he was always free to join another school which would not object to his sporting a beard.

I do not blame the school in this regard because any school would like to bring uniformity amongst its students. Not all the students of a school may be economically strong. That’s the whole purpose of a school uniform, to bring about uniformity and to avoid any feeling of jealousness. Similarly, in every other regard, a school might want to have uniformity and equality. Nothing wrong.

Bringing back India’s wealth

2009-03-29T17:16:00.001+05:30

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K Advani today addressed the media and addressed the issue of Indian’s saving their wealth in foreign banks. Now this issue has 2 aspects, it involves fraudulent money amassed by the people and also the money which people have genuinely saved.

This issue comes in the wake of the recent announcement of the foreign banks such as the Swiss Bank that they are ready to share their investor’s information with the govt if requested. The US government has promptly reacted to this by taking the necessary steps to obtain the required information. This issue becomes even more important in view of the recent economic crisis. Mr. Advani also said that he had written to the prime minister about this but no action was taken. This issue comes in the wake of the G-20 Summit to be held in London in the coming days.

So how important is this issue? There are 2 sides to this issue. First of all, it would bring about a lot of transparency to the political system in India. The wealth amassed by the political class in these tax havens would be out. All of us speak about the wealth amassed by Mr. X or Mrs. Y in these banks. Let us know the truth. It would bring about a political renaissance in India.

The second aspect to this is that the money which people have genuinely saved can be brought back to India and can be invested in the country. The estimated wealth of the Indians in these banks ranges from $500 Billion to $1400 Billion. This is huge money and would greatly strengthen the Indian economy if invested properly.

But is this really implementable? The political babus would never allow anyone to investigate their wealth, let alone passing a bill to legalize this procedure. This is because every political party has to then revealing the skeletons in its cupboard. At the same time, no party can openly oppose this law as it would show the party in bad light.

The RTI was implemented by the UPA amidst great fanfare. It has been implemented in several situations and has brought a positive change. But it is still plagued by the fact that its failures greatly outweigh its success. The Information officers as they call are mainly ex Government Officials. In such a situation we end up in a situation where in one corrupt man is trying to investigate the cases against another corrupt man. In most cases, the person who appeals is framed with criminal charges and the matter is closed.

We certainly hope that the RTI continues to evolve into a much more effective law. We have made a good beginning and we can’t afford to lose steam mid-way. Similarly, we need to make a beginning to get back India’s wealth and invest the money wisely. It will take a lot of political will to do so and it is achievable.

A Victim Of Diversity

2009-03-29T15:48:00.000+05:30

India has been the cradle of civilization. Several religions trace their origin to India. We have more than a hundred languages with about 30 of them being recognized as official languages. Great thinkers and philosophers, the several invasions of India and travelers from far off lands have contributed to India’s diverse religious beliefs.

In a land where people of different beliefs live together, there seems to be a fear in the minds of Individuals that their beliefs and customs would not find a place in modern India. There is a fear of isolation , an isolation probably not during their lifetime but during the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. The demography of India is constantly changing. That is because unlike China, India allows the free movement of its people.

The so called original inhabitants of a land , dare I say aborigines , fear a change in the demography of their land. We have seen such behavior in North East India where in there have been clashes between Muslim migrant workers and the native bodo population. We have seen Hindu Muslim clashes in Uttar Pradesh. Even outside India we know of clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The list is endless. It is not only religion. We have seen bihari and U.P workers being targeted in Mumbai, the tamil population being targeted during the Cauvery water crisis of the 1990’s etc etc.

So what we achieved with diversity? I would really want the people who speak so greatly of India’s diversity to answer this question. They might speak greatly about the art and literature in the various cultures. Fine valid point. But is that enough? More importantly has any culture taught people that they need to respect the other cultures equally ? Great thinkers who have started religions probably never felt the need to intellectually argue and amend the flaws of an existing religion instead of starting a new faith. I wish they had!

India has been the biggest victim of diversity in religion and culture. We might have guided the world with principles and religions. Every nation chose to keep one religion and prosper. We chose to prosper with many. Unfortunately we have failed in execution.

The problem is compounded by the fact that, we have a media which is focused only on the TRP’s. It is clear to them that an issue of religion would get them more viewership and they milk this concept. The result is that we end up focusing on personalities rather than real issues which the country faces.

The ghost of Nadal

2009-02-01T21:40:00.000+05:30

Alas. Federer has lost the Australian open and before this disappointment makes me lose my mind, I need to vent it out. During the presentation ceremony, when Roger federer spoke , he was crying and he simply said “ Its Killing me”. What else do I say , the emotion was simply overwhelming. When the person whom you idolize has been brought to his knees, you feel like you have lost a battle. I feel that and I am sure that many of you feel the same. What was most disappointing was seeing Roger being mentally drained out in the deciding set.

He looked crestfallen during most parts of the fifth set and when Rafa broke him in the fourth game of this set , it was evident that he was going for the kill. Incidentally, Roger lost this deciding game with four back to back unforced errors including a double fault. It was evident that Rafa had got into Federer’s psyche. If the match was physically daunting for Nadal after an epic 5 hour semi-final against Verdasco , it was mentally daunting for Roger. He needs to defeat the ghost of Nadal comfortably residing in his mind before beating Nadal the sportsman. It is clear that Nadal remains a roadblock in Federer’s road to greatness.

What differentiates the two in the the ability of Nadal to raise his game with every passing tournament. He started off 2007 as a player with a weak serve but as one would play incredible winners from the baseline. He has worked on his serve and has greatly improved it. He has added the top spin to his game and his uncanny ability to chase the ball to its death makes him a great champion. He now goes to the French Open as the clear favourite.

Skeptics continue to say that Roger would not be as great a player as Sampras. One should remember that Sampras was never able to reach the Semi-Finals of the French Open ! I am not trying to belittle Sampras and can’t dream of doing that either. It's just that Statistics speak for themselves.

So , what can Roger look forward to during the rest of the year ? He has a 7 – 12 record against Nadal and has lost his Number 1 position to him. He must realize that he nothing to lose anymore. He must get Nadal out of his mind. He must also realize that champions don’t break so easily. ( I am referring to the crying ! ).

So what do I predict for the year. Rafael Nadal will comfortably win the French Open.He might not even drop a set in the entire tournament. Roger has his best chance in the Wimbledon grass. The Wimbledon this year will for the first time be played under closed courts. So the wind factor which tormented Roger during last year’s final will no longer harm him As for the US open , if Roger continues to be intrigued by Rafa , then we will see Rafa win the US open as well making him the only player in modern era to win all four grand slams.

India's failed diplomacy

2009-01-18T15:55:00.000+05:30

The NSG and the security agencies played a vital role during operation “Black Tornado” and were successful in saving many lives. This I will call Phase 1 in coming to terms with the Mumbai carnage. Now Phase 2, is to get the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. Outsourcing of terrorist activities seems is very much favored by terrorist organizations. On the one hand, they have with them people who have already been indoctrinated and on the other hand escalates between the victim nation and the country of the perpetrators. Strong diplomacy is needed to handle such situations.

India faces a tough task in deporting the Pakistani nationals involved in the 26/11 carnage. We need intelligent people who can negotiate well with hard bargaining foreign nationals. We have sacked our incompetent home minister and in Chidambaram have a man who isn’t very keen to take this post. The external affairs minister on one day tells a local daily that it would be okay for Pakistan to hold trial for the 26/11 accused, and retracts his statement the very next day when quizzed about his statement.

I strongly believe that India lost the early advantage when Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation post 26/11 said that Pakistan was as much a victim of terror as India is ! Dr Singh might be an intelligent economist but his reactions and actions post 26/11 prove the fact that he is not prime minister material.

The recent visit of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his comments that about Pakistan’s involvement in the 26/11 carnage speaks volumes about the governement’s weak foreign policy . Miliband very clearly said that Pakistan had a very effective judicial system which can try the accused and that there was no need to deport the accused to India. He also went on to say that he did not believe in the involvement of any Pakistani agency in the attack. The government did not do anything to rebuff his statement. Instead, plans were made for Rahul Gandhi to accompany Miliband to visit Congress’s playground (Amethi) and stay in a village overnight. No government in any country would have reacted in such a lackadaisical manner.

Are we missing something here. Yes. Its election time and Congress is starting of its campaign with this political stunt in Amethi. Many a times when I feel helpless reading such news , I comfort myself by dreaming of the day when smart people like Arun Shourie , Arun Jaitley , T Parthasarathy etc play a prominent role in running the day to day affairs of the country.

Also important in the current scenario are the comments made by the new J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah , who feels that the West needs to intervene to solve the Kashmir Issue. The PMO was expected to issue a statement to condemn such remarks from an elective representative of the people. No such thing was seen.

India deserves better.

India brought to her knees

2008-11-30T09:02:00.000+05:30

A group of 20 terrorists have brought India to her knees. A country of 1 billion stood and watched and could do nothing about it. Wait a minute , that's not entirely true. India’s most prestigious anti-terror squad , the NSG toiled and fought bravely for 60 hours to save the hostages. The fire service department also did a wonderful job. Mumbai’s police force and their special wing , the ATS did the preliminary work of flushing out as many terrorists as they could. In the process we lost 3 top policemen among several others from the security agency . A railway employee who was announcing the schedule of trains at the Mumbai railway station played a very important role in getting the people move to the correct exit once he realised that the station was under attack. He surely saved at least a hundred lives. The readers of this might feel that as a nation everyone has done their duty. Nope wait a minute , we haven’t yet spoken about our political class.

Dr Manmohan Singh , our prime minister and Lal Krishna Advani , the leader of Opposition visited the site of terror attacks. They should have set aside their differences and should have visited together if there was a necessity. But they wouldn’t. They would show the world that the Indian political class would not stand united even at the worst of times. As a matter of fact , their visit to the site was completely unnecessary , as it was an additional pressure for the NSG to provide them with the required security. In no country does a politician visit a war zone when the security agencies are battling it out with their lives.

We also haven’t spoken about our media. They continue their “exclusive” and “live” coverage. They continue to pressurise the law enforcing agencies who take it up as an additional responsibility to save the lives of the media from any untoward incident at the site of the attacks. They also continue to telecast the operations carried out by the agencies giving the minutest of details ; without realising that the terrorists have the most sophisticated weapons and can easily intercept this information and nullify the attacks. They also visit the houses of the the slain policemen and fire questions to their family members. How would you feel if you lost your family member ? Even they feel the same ! So you got your answer.

For most people , resuming life after these incidents would only mean getting away from their television sets and continuing their daily schedule. But several others would start their lives after visiting the city’s morgues.

How many of you have spent a minute in silence praying for the departed souls ?

Think about it.

My experience with the Mahatma's truth...

2008-10-04T19:33:00.000+05:30

An autobiogaphy is a special part of an author's life and the reader has a unique oppurtunityto catch some special glimpses and unique experiences of his life. It was with the same zeal that I read Mahatma Gandhi's 'My Experiments With Truth'. However ,many a times it was difficult for me to agree with his views and sometimes even to digest them.

To start off with his principle of Vegetarianism.I believe that vegetarianism is only a way of life. A man's deeds does not change with his diet.If it does then it certainly shows his weak character. Gandhiji speaks about vegetarianism throughout the book and many a times even when the situation does not call for it. By speaking such a language does he mean to discredit the life of people having a non vegetarian diet ? I certainly hope not. Only he can answer.

The Mahatma's 'gift' to the world is the principle of nonviolence. Barack Obama says he has very high regard for Mahatma Gandhi and that he would follow the Mahatma's principles. However neither he has ever criticized the Iraq warnor does he speak of 'not invading Iran'. It is this same hypocrisy which I fear I see in Gandhi. The Indian army should have never been allowed to fight for the British Army during World War II. Gandhiji with his principles of nonviolence never seems to have strongly voiced a strong opinion against this proxy war which India was forced to fight. Where did he hide his principle of nonviolence at this juncture ?

Gandhiji never disapproved the death sentence awarded to Bhagat Singh and his men. He could
have very easily appealed to the House of Commons that the death sentence be reconsidered. But he never did. Such was his sympathy and compassion towards a fellow freedom fighter. His opinion was that Bhagat Singh's death would send a strong message to all those who followed
violent methods to achieve freedom. So much for Nonviolence !

Disappointments apart , I appreciate his support for the abolition of child marriage. Although he married at an early age he understood that child birth takes a heavy toll on the mother's body and hence delayed imposing this pressure on his teenage wife.

More than Gandhiji's principles, it his his attire which I believe struck a chord with the masses. I would also call Gandhiji a very shrewd leader. With a simple white dhoti,a shawl and a bare chest , he knew hecould win over the masses . He knew that the people would support a leader, with whom they could identify themselves.The Indian Freedom Movement desperately needed a leader would could unify the masses.

I would call my feelings after reading his book as some sort of a bitter sweet symphony.It taught me a lot about leading a simple life. It also taught me that a good leader is one who strikes a special chord with his followers.It has also taught me that its not enough to read about someone else's experiments with truth , even if that 'someone' happens to be 'the Mahatma'...

60 Years On - An unfulfilled Pledge

2008-03-16T07:10:00.000+05:30

The murder of Scarlett Keeling has brought to the forefront several aspects which children today face – the usage of drugs, a troubled home , an incorrect upbringing etc etc. The media around the world especially the Indian and British Media have highlighted all these issues which the poor murdered girl faced but isn’t it fair to say that all of us while discussing this ghastly murder have comfortable forgotten one issue – the safety of women in India.
Crime against women in India are increasing at an alarming rate and has always been very high. Delhi has an ugly record in this matter and Bangalore is fast catching up with Delhi. Lets not forget that acts such as acid attacks on women are as violent as a murder, then why does the former have a very mild punishment when compared to the latter! An acid attack victim has permanently disfigured body parts and faces the mental trauma of going through life with it.
All of us have been seeing the media bring up reports on the shabby home in which Scarlett lived, her mother’s past relationships with men and a jail stint etc etc. The Indian media has borrowed the same idea and cluttered its pages with such news reports. Even if the media is not ready to sympathize with the bereaved family , it can atleast avoid spitting venom at the family at such a sorrow time.
Fiona may have had a very turbulent past and may not have raised her children in the best way but is there any doubt that she is going through one of the saddest phases of life. If any one of us have been wronged we certainly believe in getting the man or woman who wronged us to justice. Fiona is trying to get the accused to trial and in the process get some justice for her daughter. Shouldn’t we first help her in getting justice coz its after all one of our Indian brothers who is the accused !
I was listening to Nehru’s Tryst with Destiny Speech yesterday and the words echoed in my head when he said that “at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity”. Every child should have a decent shot a life. Scarlett might not have had one but that does not mean that she does not have a decent shot at death. She lost her life on India’s soil in a gruesome manner and the law of the land should do justice to her and to several other women like her. After all India made a tryst with destiny 60 years ago and it has not redeemed its pledge even substantially if not wholly !

India's First Democratic Event

2007-12-24T00:42:00.000+05:30

Democracy produces leaders who possess one of the two fundamental qualities which make them what they are – intelligence and forethought about the political stage is one of them , possessing a mass appeal , which basically means getting the people to come out of their cozy homes and vote for them is the other.

A mature democracy will however produce an intelligent politician who initially starts of with a mediocre public appeal but wins them over with his/her capabilities. It would be a dream come true to see leaders like Kapil Sibal or Arun Jaitley to achieve such a feat. The capabilities of both the leaders are unquestionable. Sadly though is the population intelligent enough to realize that ?

What we proudly say as the largest democracy is a flaw in itself because the people do not understand the concept. We might be following all the rules in the book and get a government in place but does anyone understand the process of govt formation ? An illiterate politician who gets votes by hook or crook certainly does not understand it and the population which votes on the basis of caste or religion not only fails to understand democracy , but in turn kills it. When both the relevant parties do not understand democracy, who understands it ?

The educated understand it . But do they participate in voting ? The strategist of a party with several degrees in law or finance understands how to run a government but does he contest elections ?

Democracy can succeed only if the population is intelligent and broad minded enough to vote for the right ideology . Caste and religion certainly don’t have a place. For this ,educating every one amongst us is compulsory. This is no doubt a difficult task and requires several years or even decades. Probably after one such point in time if we have a free and fair election with political parties campaigning on a development platform and the population voting on the same basis , we can proudly mark it in our calendar as India's First Democratic Event !

Tier 2 Towns And Cities. Lets Plan Them.

2007-11-11T17:58:00.000+05:30

Cities like Bangalore , Mumbai and other cosmopolitan cities continue to choke everyday with the huge influx of vehicles. This is a very banal topic and much has been discussed about the remedies for thid scenario. There is a silent revolution going on in most Tier 2 cities and towns of India with tremendous economic development. Civic authorities continue their planning for these towns but in the process they’ve comfortably forgotten the problems elsewhere where similar planning for cities was done.Perhaps the only flyover in the world having a traffic signal is in Bangalore !! So much for their planning.
Architects of well planned cities and countries state that one of the simplest techniques for avoiding such traffic woes would be to have huge and broad roads with several lanes . Flyovers can also be planned at the early stage of development. However, such roads, the planners argue, are not needed as there would not be a proportionate high vehicular movement. They must however remember that we are already more than 1 billion in number and are marching towards the 2 billion mark. We need to plan our roads keeping in mind the huge uncontrollable population of the future . History is not kind enough to allow us to correct our mistakes at a future date. What we plan now stays forever.

In my opinion, all roads, be it a national highway or just a street in a remote residential area have to be constructed big and with a high load factor. The Chinese with the “Great Wall” have shown that thinking and planning big never hurts. Their planning of roads and cities follows the same mentality of think big. What I have stated here about thinking big while planning cities and towns is simply what has been followed in several developing and developed nations. We cannot afford to be left behind in this aspect.

Movies and Indian Media. What a shame.

2007-11-10T12:28:00.001+05:30

It is an important week for the film industry as two of the biggest productions of the year Saawariya and Om Shanthi Om hit the box office on the occasion of Diwali.For the film industry, it is extremely crucial for both or at least one of the movies to be successful. To achieve this, they must first draw the audience to the theatre with great publicity. So how do they achieve this? Simple: The actors of the movie use the Music and Dance shows of all TV channels as a platform for promoting their movie. This is a common phenomenon but of late News channels are being used for the promotion of movies.
The quality of a country's media speaks volumes about the intellectual level which the country has reached. As is write this , day in and day out news channels continue their propaganda for the two big releases and tend to ignore the emergency in Pakistan , the house arrest of Benazir Bhutto, the emergency in Georgia , the victory of the British Doctors for equal work permits in the UK etc. If the news channels argue that they are not interested in such international news, then why didn't anyone even report about the killing of 5 terrorists in J&K during which India lost five of her soldier sons?
Achieving a high TRP seems to have fogged the vision of the news channels. We need an intelligent media. As for glamour and glitz, well they can still be aired and propagated in news channels but probably for an hour or so in a separate section; not as a full time event. In a country where politicians have the least credibility, it would be sad it news channels join the same league. We certainly hope things change

A tribute to Pramod Mahajan

2007-11-09T17:27:00.003+05:30

The youth of my country show great pride when they state that they do not have an interest or inclination towards any political scenario or development which may make or break their country. It is during such times that a man or woman who is capable of stirring the souls of the youth is needed. Late Shri Pramod Mahajan was one such leader.
Pramod Mahajan came from humble beginnings and took teaching as a profession. As a member of the BJP, he rose through its ranks. He was the Telecommunication minister in the NDA government and is the man who changed the face of Telecom Industry in India. From being an instrument used by the rich and the privileged, mobile phone usage spread across all sections of the society.
In the Maharashtra political scenario, he was the chief architect of the alliance between the Shiv Sena and the BJP. The credit of forming a government in Maharashtra goes to him. He is fondly remembered for his speeches during election campaigns, wherein he spoke of overthrowing the Congress government; a belief for which he was mocked at many times.
He remained as one of those few leaders who was respected by members of all the political parties. Though he was never considered as a mass leader, it is a generally accepted fact that he was one of the more intelligent politicians India has produced, a leader who could have led us well in the 21st century. He was the chief architect of the India Shining campaign of the BJP during the 2003 elections. The loss of the BJP is many a times attributed to this campaign, however statistics clearly showed that it is anti-incumbency coupled with wrong alliances which led to the party losing the assembly elections. His role in the party was questioned many a times by his fellow party members after the loss in the elections. However one must remember that elections in India, where less than half the population vote and where less than 40 percent of the educated vote, is the most unpredictable democratic event in the world. The intellectuals of the party are not as influential as the politician who distributes money or uses the name of caste to garner votes. He was shot dead in his apartment and his brother is the prime accused in this case. The judgement is underway and we do hope at least after his death Pramodji gets justice, if not during his lifetime.
Leaders like Pramod Mahajan nourished the early development of young India. Such leaders cannot be forgotten and it is our duty to groom the next generation of leaders to follow people like Pramodji , so that we are rest assured that after our life, the country is in safe hands. India might have lost one of her most beloved and loving sons and we will continue to miss him. It is certain that a developed India with a poverty free society will ensure that his soul is at peace. We certainly pray that his soul rests in peace.