Politically Incorrect

Political views-More Pawar speak

2012-01-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

“The person making the statements is under scanner and has questionable credentials.” This is how Pawar responded to the reports that Niira Radia had told CBI that Pawar could be controlling D B Realty. This is the issue of his involvement in spectrum allotment. Pawar made this statement as if his own credentials are not questionable. Shreyas Navare, in Hindustan Times of 16th instant has a wonderful cartoon on Pawar depicting a weighing scale where even a feather is shown heavier then Pawar’s moral stature. He has his fingers in every thing, Hazare has attacked him, Niira has blamed him, his name is in 2G spectrum scam, farmers’ suicides, food price inflation you name it. And yet, the great man talks of moral.

Then again, “I am not responsible for what people I know do.” Apparently not, Mr. Pawar, except the fact that people who know you do these things under your protection and blessings. For instance, Mukund Bhavan Trust which was given 326 acres of land inYerwada by fudging documents. Supriya Sule and her husband had 9 per cent share in it. Could this have been possible without Pawar’s knowledge? Is he not responsible for what his own daughter does?

Then there are allegations of his links with the tainted Balwa and opposition is demanding investigation against Pawar. BJP leader Khadse also accused Pawar for irregularities in the transfer of land to companies owned by Pawar family.

Niira Radia is no pure soul, we all know that. But Pawar, of all the people has no moral stand to question anybody’s credentials. He is the biggest hypocrite ever. He and his family should be thrown out of politics and people should put final nail in his political coffin. It will be a great service to the nation.

Indian politics-Bandit queen

2012-01-03T04:17:00.000-08:00

Mayawati, the undisputed bandit queen of UP, has not uttered a single word in the case of her MLA Shekhar Tiwari, killing an engineer, Manoj Gupta in 2008 and receiving life term in the process.

It is a known fact that Shekhar Tiwari was collecting money from all and sundry for the Bandit Queen’s birthday celebrations. The engineer’s refusal to contribute for such a deserving and noble cause angered Tiwari and he and his stooges killed Manoj. Tiwari’s wife was also involved in the gruesome deed, woman power in Bandit Queen’s Raj.

This incident reminds me of, not so similar yet identical, incidents in Calcutta years back. Though they seem minor now, in those days they were cause of concern. Every street (Para) in Calcutta used to celebrate Durga Puja (even now they celebrate) when I was young. A group of aggressive young lads from that particular Para or locality, used to collect donation (Chanda) from each family in that locality. It was called donation but it was compulsory, particularly for non Bengali affluent residents of that area. If you wanted to live peacefully through the year, you paid what was asked.

Similar is the case with our Bandit Queen’s birthday, only stakes are higher, to put it mildly. Where in Calcutta, it was a question of living in peace, in Mayawati’s case it is a matter of life itself. You pay with your life. If you want to live, you contribute, or else.

But what poor Tiwari got for his enthusiasm was that he was expelled from the party that year itself and was left in lurch to defend for himself. Mayawati had no further role to play and washed her hands off him. In the process Tiwari got a lifer and our queen in her wonderland continues to celebrate her birthdays year after year and people now pay without questioning the authenticity of the process of collection. That is Maya’s Maya.

Politically incorrect-Miracle man

2012-01-01T04:15:00.001-08:00

The death of Sri Sathya Sai Baba has spread gloom throughout the country and many parts of the world. Are these miracle men or god men for real, as they claim to be? The place of a miracle man has fallen vacant with the death of Sathya Sai Baba. Who will be the next to claim the post?

With all due respect to the departed soul, I wonder why these god men have to perform miracles to prove they have super powers. Why do they have to claim that they are incarnations of god? Why do they have to amass wealth that they know, is going to create chaos after their death?

Just give a thought to the sages of the past like Ramkrishna Paramhans, Shirdi Sai Baba etc. They never claimed themselves to be incarnations of god. On the contrary they considered themselves to be servants of the almighty. They never amassed wealth, lived in abject poverty and performed miracles only in utter necessity never boasting about their super powers. They lead a simple life and in spite of having large followings, always remained humble.

Now look at all the recent god men – Asaram Bapu, Baba Ramdev, Rajneesh, Chandra Swami, Mahesh Yogi among others. All are or were surrounded in one or more controversies. Even Sathya Sai Baba was not without one. All of them are exceptionally rich. They preach of tyaga (renouncement) and saiyam (control). But look at each one of them. They live in super luxuries, have large mansions, fleet of cars and several are involved in sex scandals. Bhagwan Rajneesh had 93 Rolls Roys cars. He was deported from US on charges of immigration fraud. Chandra Swami did more political activities then spiritual service. He was more like Niira Radia in the garb of a spiritual leader. And yet people follow them blindly, even educated ones. They have political patronage. They leave behind greed, chaos and internal quarrels. Do we really need them? You think.

Celebrity gossip-Kareena

2011-12-30T04:14:00.001-08:00

Kareena Kapoor is upset that Sonakshi Sinha is the most searched for celebrity on the web. Further she is unhappy that the website is pitting her (Kareena) against a much junior rising star. That is exactly the point, Kareena. People always like to see and weigh a new face, a new entrant and a new spirit against the old and established. Without doubt, Kareena is on the top at present and quite old at the game.

I am no fan of Sonakshi and have never seen her movies. But I fail to understand why Kareena of all the people, should get upset by Sonakshi’s presence. Is it a case of returning waters? It is amusing, to say the least, that even after being on the top for so many years, giving so many hits, she is concerned by mere presence of a new entrant. Being from a generation of top film family, she should know that one can go so far and no more, age and momentum catches up with you. She has played her innings, played well and still playing. But there is always place for a new entrant and a fresh face. Instead of getting upset, she would do well to show some grace, accept the inevitable that she is old in the industry, has done what she wanted to do, and now it is time to let others in and do what she has done and what they want to do.

Let me use an old saying: May be Saif likes to see her all the time, may be a few more people like to see her a few more times, but she cannot expect all the people to like her all the times. It is an old adage, a universal fact. Even Saif may like to search for a new face at times. A change is always welcome. Amen.

Politically incorrect-Royal insult

2011-12-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

Mr. Sandip Soparkar, our national choreographer, (if you don’t know who he is) has found ways and means to remain in limelight, a la Poonam Pandey.

Sandip has claimed that he and his charming wife Jesse had been invited to the Buckingham palace to perform at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding and that he could not attend the same due to an injured knee. How very thoughtful of the royal family. And here I thought that like me, the royal family wouldn’t know that a creature named Sandip is moving on this planet we call earth. And here again I wonder if Sandip would be invited by even a small Raja of a smallest Indian state, leave alone the British palace. Of course, his claim of the royal invitation has been denied by the press office of the Royal family. Last heard, Sandip is extremely hurt.

His Highness, Sir Sandip Soparkar, is known for his tall claims without ever substantiating them. He once famously declared that he had been asked to sort out personal problems between Madonna and Guy Ritchie, her husband. Well, well, have you opened a consultancy by any chance, Mr. Soparkar?

Earlier on, Sandip claimed that he had relationship with Britney Spears and that the latter was smitten by him and his charm, really? Don’t you think that the Spears girl is a little too big for your shoes? Yes, if you had claimed that some Hollywood hunk was smitten with Jesse, it was still believable.

Coming back to Sandip’s hurt feeling for the denial of the British Empire. On the contrary, the Royal family should have been hurt by a small time choreographer to have claimed to have been invited to the royal wedding. Knee injured or ego hurt? Last heard Sandip was to call a press and submit proof of the invitation when he gets well. Will he?

Celebrity news-Diamond queen

2011-12-04T00:29:00.000-08:00

Rani Mukerji, our self styled and self proclaimed queen of the film industry is not willing to play a married woman’s role any more, forget about playing a mother. The thirty three year old baby considers herself, too young to play a married woman.

The queen, in true sense of the word, had earlier declared that she would like to be proposed with diamonds, and diamonds only. Sure, why not? After all, one should aim high in life. She will find many sixty year olds who will gladly offer her diamonds, with or without proposal.

After giving flops with younger actors like Shahid Kapoor, Miss M has now decided to act as a young girl with young boys only. We think that the wait can be eternal. As it is, she is known to throw tantrums on the sets and even directing the director. Actually, it should be men like Shahid Kapoor who should decline to work with her as she is still a pony tail girl, not a woman.

Miss M, in her eternal quest for fulfillment (she is never satisfied), would do well to remember that by the time she decides to do a married woman’s role and a mother’s role a few years down the line, in real life she would be too old either to marry or to be a mother. She would have to be satisfied with playing these roles on the screen, if she gets them. She would do well to follow sensible actors like Balan and do what comes her way.

If she chooses not to, diamonds are always there.

Popularly unpopular

2011-12-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Kashmera Shah (now 40) has been in this glamorous film and TV industry for years but admits that reality shows in TV have got her more popularity than films. May we dare to ask which films? What popularity? If comments on her in papers and magazines are anything to go by, we would say she is popularly unpopular. Looking at her age, she is well past her prime and her career, if at all there was one, is over. Now she just sticks around like a sticking gum, desperate to hold on to anything.

“Bigg Boss made me realize that people love the ‘real’ Kashmera,” she asserts. Really now, if she thinks people love her, she lives in a fool’s paradise. Just shedding clothes, mouthing expletives and showing aggression where it is not required doesn’t make you popular, Kashmera. If at forty you have not learnt that, you never will.

Rakhis, Sambhavnas and Kashmeras are a spent lot. They are now desperate to remain in limelight and for that they will go to any extent. Kashmera is at disadvantage among this lot, age wise and otherwise. When she reveals, she reveals layers and layers of fat. One look at her picture in Hindustan Times of 18th April proves what we mean. Titled ‘wild folks on the loose’ Rochelle Pinto has this to say about Kashmera: “If Kashmera Shah was in a dessert making competition, we are pretty sure they would crown her queen of Tarts.” Pinto has put it mildly. Need we say anything more?

We can only say: at this age Kashmera should forget about peoples’ love, find someone with fat bank balance (she still has chance for that), ignore his age and settle down with him, if she knows how to settle down, that is. We can only wish her good luck in this endeavor.

Rouge's gallery

2011-11-30T00:18:00.000-08:00

Another news says that Mumbai’s police commissioner has created a rouge’s gallery of police men. Errant police officers will be put on the list along side criminals. Well, considering the attitude of most of our police men, I wonder if the list of errant officers will be much longer than that of criminals. Amen.

May I?

2011-11-29T00:17:00.000-08:00

Reports say that police stations across the state will have reception desks to guide visitors to the right officer. We do not whether the person occupying the desk will be a male or a female. But “may I help you?” could be the sentence you could hear when you happen to visit the exalted place in future.

Our police personnel are not exactly known for their courtesy. We all are used to their gruff and aggressive attitude. If the above scheme takes place and police men are taught lessons in the art of politeness, the future scene in a police station will completely change.

A man is summoned to the police station for beating his neighbor in a drunken stoop. He enters the place and looks around.

Officer: “Welcome sir, how may I help you?”

Offender: “I have been summoned here.”

Officer: “Oh, how sad, here, have a seat sir. I will find out the charges against you, while you are waiting would you like to have something sir, tea or coffee perhaps?”

After a while the receptionist guides him to the desk of one officer, Patil. Patil asks questions to the culprit very politely but the man (offender) does not agree to the charges against him made by his neighbor.

Patil: “Oh, very well sir, if you say so. Please sir, follow me.”

Offender: “Where are you taking me?”

Patil: “To our questioning room, sir. I have not been able to extract confession from you. Mr. Kamble in our questioning room will take over and do the needful. Here, follow me sir.”

Patil, all courtesy, holds the door open for the offender. Now, Kamble in the enquiring cell takes over.

Kamble: “So you don’t agree to the charges against you?”

Offender, now confident with all the courtesy shown to him: “Of course not.”

Kamble: “In that case sir, I will have to use third degree on you, May I?”

The offender comes out after a while having given full confession to the charges against him. He was disheveled from the beating taken.

Receptionist: “I am extremely sorry for what happened to you sir. May I guide you to your cell?”

Politically incorrect-Pawar speak

2011-11-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

Sharad Pawar, our Maratha warlord, what with food price rise and Maharashtra State Co.op. Bank issue etc. seems to have lost his marbles these days. Recently, in response to a question he retorted: “I do not get to meet my senior friend (Bal Saheb Thackeray) now a days and I would not discuss issues with kids (Uddhav).”

Thackeray, though much senior to Pawar, is still sound in his mind. He has done the right thing in refusing to see Pawar, who doesn’t look beyond his own interest. Lalit Modi’s is a case in point. When Modi was in his prime Pawar supported him in every decision Modi took, right or wrong. The moment things went wrong for Modi, Pawar dropped him like a hot potato.

Uddhav has strongly retaliated to his statement. Before commenting on Uddhav and his age, Pawar should have considered age of his own daughter whom he is promoting in politics. Pawar is a lice that is squeezing the country’s blood dry. Now he is joined by his daughter and his nephew Ajit in this venture, a joint venture if ever there was one.

If Pawar is not prepared to talk to Uddhav because of his age, why does he talk to and even obey, Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of the Congress and his boss. The answer is simple, it serves his interest.

Now the latest is, RBI has dissolved the board of Maharashtra State Co. Op. Bank and Pawar has not liked it a bit. It is a known fact that Pawar and his stooges have milked the Bank dry to the extent that that the Bank’s records have been manipulated to show that it is in profit, where as it is in loss. Most of the loans given to the sugar barons are bad debts, thanks to Pawar.

Pawar has made enough money in sugar cane, land and sports (cricket). Now it is time he shuts his shop.

Celebrity news-Tarzan Salman

2011-11-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

Now here is an interesting news item, Salman, the great actor, the great humanitarian, the great soul, is gong to play Tarzan in a movie, the idea of which was given by his brother Sohail. We on our part think he has already acted like Tarzan in Dabangg. For that matter he has acted like Tarzan in almost all movies he has done.

To us, Salman, the great Khan is the biggest fluke in the film industry. He plays double roles in real life, just like in films. On one hand he hunts rare Black Bucks, kills and maims people with his car under the influence of alcohol and has no compunction about leaving the place of the accident, leaving victims to their own devices. At times he acts like a hoodlum with media, has several court cases against him, has ego the size of Himalaya Mountain and walks as if he owns every inch of the ground he walks on.

On the other hand he runs “Being Human” foundation for the benefit of the poor. All these activities are just show offs and we believe he does all this to balance his negative actions, for he does very little and the publicity is a hundred times more.

Now back to Tarzan. Tarzan is also known as Ape Man. For this, Salman the great bhai doesn’t have to act, just be himself. Whatever he does is Ape like. Just be yourself Salman bhai, you will be the biggest Ape Man ever and people will forget Tarzan. Hence forth it will not be Tarzan the Ape Man instead it will be Salman the Ape Man.

On another note, Tarzan found his first woman Jane, married her & settled with her. Our Salman bhai has found several Janes so far and is yet to settle down with one. Here is sincerely hoping that this Tarzan movie will help him find the real one and settle down for good. Amen.

Politically incorrect-Double role

2011-11-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Reports claim: “DMK dumps Raja to save Kanimozhi.” The (in) famous Ram Jethmalani, who is reputed to represent criminal bigwigs, defended Kanimozhi totally putting the blame of 2G Spectrum on A. Raja. Later it was observed that Raja and Kanimozhi shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. One the next hearing, though Jethmalani kept hammering Raja with all his might, Kanimozhi and Raja were found sitting together and talking amicably as if the entire procedure was a farce, or was it?

This time around, Jethmalani has his cake and he is eating it too. This defense of Kanimozhi and attack on Raja seems to be an eye wash. Jethmalani appears to be in hand and gloves with Raja’s counsel. As it is Raja has nothing more to loose. He is stuck with all the charges and he is done with so far as his freedom is concerned, if not finance. We have no system in this country to recover scam money from anyone, leave alone a politician like Raja. So as mentioned earlier, he has nothing to loose if he lets Jethmalani bash him.

Jethmalani, the old fox that he is, must have counseled Raja’s lawyer on how to defend him (Raja). He fights the case in such a way that Kanimozhi comes clean or at least gets bail, at the same time Raja’s lawyer defends Raja of all charges made by Jethmalani with latter’s own guidance. This is common practice in India. Either both opposite lawyers are on the same side or both are on both sides.

We do not know the outcome of the case, what will happen to Raja or Kanimozhi for that matter. But we do know for sure that Jethmalani will be richer by a few millions

Unoque taste

2011-11-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

Ankita Rane, a resident of Thane, took photograph of a pani-puri vendor urinating in the same utensil he used to serve his customers in. Ankita did the right thing by exposing the vendor, one Rajdev Chawhan, doing this nauseating thing.

But one BJP leader, Raj Purohit, thinks otherwise. Purohit has questioned Ankita’s intentions for recording a video of the vendor while he was urinating. According to him, no girl has any business to take such photographs and has publicly questioned her motives. He also used inappropriate language against the girl and her character.

Purohit is only the one of his kind. No person in his right mind would question Ankita’s intentions and nobody has so far, except of course, Purohit. The fact is, people at large are thankful to the girl. Ankita has done admirable service to the society. Her only intention was to expose Chawhan and his deeds. The job which Purohit and his likes should have done, Ankita has done. Far from appreciating, he has challenged her character. Shiv Sena women have rightly protested Purohit’s statements and asked him to wear bangles. Even his own party has distanced itself from his remarks. Purohit, it seems has grabbed this opportunity to gain publicity. Gained he has, adverse publicity.

On a lighter note, one more explanation comes to mind. Raj Purohit is a regular and die-hard fan of this particular pani-puri vendor. He must have tried other vendors but found Chawhan’s item unique in taste. Now after trying everywhere, he has developed taste in Chawhan’s food item. Hence he doesn’t want anything to happen to the vendor. If he is arrested, where would Purohit get his taste? No body else knew his secret ingredient so far, now everybody knows, so Purohit should have no problem on that count.

Current affairs-Power Laden

2011-11-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

The most dreaded terror face on the earth is no more. Hats off to Barak Obama and America’s perseverance, that they relentlessly continued their search for Osama for ten long years and succeeded in eliminating him.

That said, it would be interesting to go into the other aspect of Bin Laden family. Osama was born in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, being sixteenth or seventeenth child of Muhammad, a self made man who was a millionaire, many times over. Muhammad had more then fifty children and if reports are to be believed, had seventeen wives. In comparison, Osama had four wives and has twenty four children. Like as they say: “Like father like son.” But Osama was a step or two ahead of his father as far as his family life was concerned. Osama’s father Muhammad had had fifty children from seventeen wives, that is, an average of three children per wife. By that count, Osama has twenty four off springs from four wives, that is, six per wife.

Now imagine, if Osama, like his father had married seventeen or eighteen women and had six children per wife (average), he would have had 108 children. I really wonder what the Guinness Book of world record would have to say about that. Even mighty Dhritarashtra, father of mythological Kauravas, had only a hundred children. In that event, Osama would have broken that record of almost five thousand years, a feat in itself indeed.

This record, if it had happened, would have been better, because Osama Bin Laden, busy in breaking Mahabharat and Guinness Book of world record, would have definitely refrained from terrorism and the world would have been a much better place to live in. America would not have to spend billions of Dollars looking for him, not to mention the manpower lost in finding him.

Last but not the least, Laden was not a cave man as he was made out to be, but was as much a family man as you and me, rather more so.

Indian politics-Dawoodabad

2011-11-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

Now that the US has killed Osama Bin Laden and showed us and the world that it is possible to penetrate Pakistan and get your target, there is a general opinion that India should also target at criminals like Dawood and Saeed, though Pakistan has warned us against any such misadventure.

But there is a small wedge that is, difference between India and the US. US has willing politicians whereas India has unwilling ones. Politicians are answerable to people in US, here in India even God cannot question them, for they behave like they are God themselves. US was not prepared to let go off their prey for ten long years. That shows their perseverance, we talk and forget or move onto the next incident in three months.

But just suppose that we show US like adventurism and try to get Dawood & Co. for the sake of the people, there is no question of killing him in Pakistan. We are not US and we cannott have the second-to-second precision plans. So the only thing we can do is, taking advantage of the current developments, pressurize Pakistan to hand over Dawood to us. They will never agree to part with Saeed as their government and ISI are involved in his activities.

Let us imagine that Pakistan agrees to deliver Dawood to us to stand trial here in India, what are we going to do with him? We will receive him with red carpet, the bigger the criminal, the bigger the carpet. What did we do with Kasab, nothing. If you look at the past record, our politicians were in awe of big and organized criminals like Haji Mastan, Yusuf Patel, Wardha and the likes. Dawood may be offered a film role at phenomenal price or offered a fortune for his life story publishing rights. We may offer him immunity, even give him land which will be known as Dawoodabad. Our future generation will learn “Here is where the noted and dreaded criminal Dawood Ibrahim lived and hence the place is known as Dawoodabad.”

Dawood can be sure of being defended by top class lawyer, Ram Jethmalani. After all according to Jethmalani, criminals are not criminals till they are proved criminals. Yes, we agree.

Culture of fakes

2011-11-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

The other day I happened to go to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. This hospital is considered among the most prominent and posh hospitals of Mumbai, and rightly so. While in the hospital, I noticed several life size boards in English and Hindi, placed at significant places, warning patients and public in general about “ FAKE” or duplicate medicines. There may be more in other languages on other floors. But the one I came across in the registration department read thus in English: “Do you know there are 10500 factories manufacturing fake medicines in India? Be aware from where you buy your medicines.” This is more or less the gist of the notice. Anybody can go read it and be aware.

Now when an institution of Ambani’s prominence declares something, one can be sure of some kind of basis, some survey of some kind. The moot point is, one can rely on the information shared by the hospital. It is noteworthy that they have mentioned 10500, not ten thousand or twelve thousand or so. There is no approximation here. That in turn means that they are sure of at least these many in existence. There may be more small units in rural areas. It is quite possible.

Simple arithmetic or simple commonsense tells us that a manufacturing unit, be it a fake or genuine, cannot survive on a single retail outlet. At a rough estimate, each unit must have at least three hundred retail outlets to supply. These 10500 units are having 3150000 (thirty one lakh fifty thousand) retail outlets selling fake drugs. Chances are every second outlet is a suspect. Where do you go then?

The question is if Kokilaben Ambani hospital is aware of this, so are other hospitals and doctors and so is the government or the administration. What is Food and Drug department or whichever department which is responsible, doing about it? In any other country, the culprit of such a crime would be hanged without delay. In India it is easy to play with health and life of humans, as it has no value.

Celebrity news-Ye dosti

2011-11-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Preity Zinta, co owner of Punjab IPL team was very happy with Yuvraj Singh when he hit maximum number of sixes. Nothing wrong with that except that Yuvraj, who had earlier captained Preity’s Punjab team now plays for Pune and Preity congratulated him and if reports are to be believed, even awarded him for that feat, quite a gesture that.

In the world of cricket, opponents are enemies, at least on the field. You only have to see Sreesanth’s behavior and his expressions to get the picture. But that is beside the point. The point is, even though Yuvraj is in the opposite team and giving headache to the Punjab team (to put it mildly), Preity chooses to be happy for him ignoring her own team.

Now she should learn something from Shah Rukh Khan. Even when the Kolkata team was in doom, SRK was at the team’s beck and call. Every time, he encouraged his team to do well, give their best, never mind the outcome. Even when Ganguly joined Pune team, SRK wished him well. He wished that Ganguli scores well against all teams except Kolkata. That is the spirit, rather team spirit. Team comes first. At one point SRK went on to say that however good or bad they play, they were his boys. He never ignored them.

But Preity’s case is different. She is friends with Yuvraj and a good friend at that, especially after Ness Wasia. Now as they say, a friend is a friend, whether in her team or opponent’s, no? That reminds me of a song in Sholay, “Ye dosti hum nahin todenge………..is team mein raho ya us team mein.”

Politically incorrect-Age limit for drinking in India

2011-11-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

So now you will have to wait till you are 25 years old to have your first taste of alcohol in India. In a time and age when children are getting matured earlier than we used to in our time, this is whimsical and ridiculous to say the least. A thirteen year old child today knows much more about everything (right from internet to sex) then what we knew at the age of eighteen. It appears that the state wants to find various ways and means for the regulators of this law to line their pockets, for the simple reason, it is impossible to implement this law. And if the powers that be think that they can, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Anyway, I am past sixties, so there.

What next, scam? You are lucky there. There is no age limit here. You scam as early as you can, in fact, sooner the better. Your eligibility to enter politics increases with each scam. Of course, if you are unlucky, you may be tried for these scams once in a while, like say, Kalmadi and Raja. But your ill gotten wealth will remain with you and your chances in political career will increase depending on how thick skin and stubborn you are. Sharad Pawar is a good example.

And then next, sex? The state may come with a law that you can’t enjoy sex till you are 25. You may well ask why. Population control. This is the easiest and surest way of delaying grand arrival of little angles on this fani duniya (retched earth). Of course you can get married at 21 or 18 as the case may be, no denying that. You may romance for the first four years of married life but you can’t have the bliss of consummating your marriage for which you have eagerly waited for 21 years of your life. Of course, you can go on your honeymoon. But the most you can do is to hold hands of your spouse or give him or her, a smooch now and then. That’s it. For the rest of the marital bliss you will have to depend on your imagination for four years. There is a couplet in Urdu which translates: after all there is more thrill in expectation then actual meeting. “Jo maaza intezaar mein hai, vo maaza vasle-yaar mein nahin.”

So be grateful. The state wants to give you more then you share of expectations.

Politically incorrect-False bravado

2011-10-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Only a few days back Kanimazhi, daughter of DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, who is involved in 2G spectrum scam up to her neck, had defiantly declared: “I shall come clean. It is not easy to touch me,” or something to that effect. Her utterances almost betrayed her involvement in the scam. But she was confident of her father’s influence and people around him to worry about anything. Moreover she was sure that many heads will roll if she was declared guilty and that the ruling party could not afford that.

It turned out to be a false bravado. Now that her passport is taken away, her movements restricted, her IT returns scrutinized, her transactions being checked, she lost all her confidence and so called defiance. Earlier she was sure of getting bail and the rest would be handled by cunning lawyers like Jethmalani. Not so now. She has been arrested and is likely to be there for a long time. Where earlier she behaved like a fighting man, now she wants bail on the ground that she is a woman and a mother.

How noble of her. Where was her womanhood and motherhood when she committed the crime? She is well aware that India is an emotional country. It believes in Mother Goddess. So if nothing works, the last thing she can do is emotional blackmail. But Goddess Kanimozhi forgets - that status is for women like Mother Teressa and Ma Sharda, not like Kanimozhi and Jaylalitha. Again if her claim of being a woman and hence the bail, is accepted, all female criminals should be freed on the same ground. The law has to be changed for that.

Kanimozhi would do well to let Jethmalani do his job and keep her own mouth shut. After all, she can rest assure, she won’t have to part with her scammed money, only a time in the clink at the very worse. There she can expect company of worthy VIPS cooling their heels.

Famous painter, Hussian-The Nomad

2011-10-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

The doyen of Indian art, Maqbool Fida Hussain left for his heavenly abode in London. It is a shame that the most revered figure in art, not only in India but throughout the world, had to die in exile. Though an Indian, he died a Qatari. India could not treasure its most valuable treasure.

Bursting with unexplainable energy even in his nineties, Hussain had childlike nature and his very own outlook in art. He liked to remain in contact with mother earth and that is the reason why he always went barefoot. His decision to go barefoot was not some kind of gimmick many people make out to be.

Hussain’s beginning was very humble, having painted hoardings for film advertisements. But he reached the zenith of the art world in a few years and that too globally. He made millions in the process. Today, even his doodle on a paper napkin of a restaurant would fetch a fortune. But he himself remained humble, simple, down to earth and more important curious.

When BJP was in power, Bajrang Dal went after him, for it had nothing better to do. As we Indians have mob mentality, anti-Hussain campaign gained momentum. And though an Indian by heart, as much as you and me, he was forced to go in exile. He frequently expressed his desire to return to the country of his birth. He yearned to roam the lanes of Grant Road and have tea and Maska Khari at his favorite Irani joint. It was not to be. It is a pity that the UPA govt. could not assure protection and make sure he spends his last years with dignity he deserved in his motherland. He died and was buried in London. In life our govt. did not lift a finger to ensure his safe return, in death it offered to bring his body back to India, what hypocrisy.

As Bahadur Shah Zafar had aptly said: “Do gaaz zameen bhi mil na saki koo-e-yaar mein…….lagta nahin hai dil mera ujaade dayar mein……..”

Indian politics-Anarchist

2011-10-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Baba Ramdev has called youth to join his so called army and has challenged the government of stern reaction if an incident like the Ramlila ground eviction is repeated. The Baba has plans to raise an army of 11000 strong military type men to deal with the government and security forces, just in case. Some Baba this, this is not only an open mockery of the government which left no stone unturned to appease him but also playing with the future of the youth he intends to recruit. Our administration is fully to be blamed for the situation to come to this pass because it lacks political will to confront a mere Baba.

From a Yoga Guru, then a sage, this Baba has now turned into an anarchist or trying to turn into an anarchist. His declaration of creating a parallel army smells of rebellion against the state and should be dealt with as such. In the present circumstances he can be called anti-national and a traitor. Baba has turned against the state which gave him so much.

Because this is India the government has mildly responded saying: “We will allow peaceful protests but will not allow anything that will trigger a conflagration.” In any other country he would have been behind bars and tried for treason. Even now the first thing the administration should do is to tame the so called messiah of the common man. All his Ashrams and other properties should be confiscated and closed. This will break his financial bone. All politicians supporting him should be taken to task. Make him a tiger without tooth. Ninety percent of his followers will desert him. Next, leave him to the UP government and Mayawati to deal with. Both will break each other’s head. That is as it should be.

Celebrity news-Salman the saviour

2011-10-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

Zarine Khan says she owes her career to Salman Khan. Don’t worry Zarine, many girls have said the same thing in the past. You are not the first. Right from Katrina Kaif to Sneha Ullal to you and many more in between and of course, many more to come. Salman takes equal care of all his protégés. He has famously declared that Katrina is part of his family and what he has not declared is that so are the others.

Salman is fond of new entrants and is keen to go out of his way to promote them, mostly girls. Ah yes, I forget Govinda. Govinda is the only male Salman has ever tried to promote, rest of them are female.

Salman has fetish for look a likes, it seems. Zarine dear, you are likely to have been dubbed a Katrina look a like. When Salman fails to get the original, he scouts for a look a like. Another case in point is that of ravishing Aishwarya, then Rai. When their relationship soured, Salman set about the task of finding her duplicate and came up with Sneha. That done, and considering his ‘now on now off’ relations with Katrina, he found you.

Now Salman’s next step would be to find Sneha’s look a like and then yours. And then look a likes of those look a likes. The cycle of look a likes will go on. So Zarine, don’t wait and depend too much on savior Salman. Go right ahead and take control of your career and life. Very soon and Allah willing, you will be in a position to find a look a like of Salman Khan and promote him. One good deed deserves another, so they say.

Cricketism

2011-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

The issue of playing cricket for India is directly attached to nationalism in our country. The matter of Gautam Gambhir is a case in point. It is pointed out that because Gambhir does not want to play for India (for whatever reason), he is not a nationalist. Every player worth his salt when plays well, dedicates his play to the nation.

The entire thought of nationalism in cricket is humbug and misleading. Nobody plays for the nation. There are only two kinds of players. One kind plays for the love of the game. Vinoo Mankad, Ramakant Desai, Bapu Nadkarni and more recently Sachin Tendulkar are a few examples. The second lot plays for money, fame and glamour connected with the game. Sreesanth, Yuvraj and innumerable others fall into this category. There is no nationalism in it.

Today cricket is a profession like any other. Like doctors and engineers earn, a cricketer also earns from cricket. Money is the main factor where as glamour and fame added perks. Nothing wrong with it, it is a career like any other. But to say or believe that one plays for the love of nation is hypocrisy. This preference for money is not a new phenomenon. It happened even in the time of genuine lovers of the game like Vinoo Mankad. In the year 1952, Mankad opted to play for a club in Lancashire league for money and money was the reason he gave. More recently, Gavaskar refused to play for India on the ground fatigue but played for Somerset all the same. Again money was the criteria. At no time ever, anybody started playing cricket for love the country, be it in India or anywhere else in the world.

But in India when a player rises above norms, is fast, performs miracles in the game like Tendulkar does, that he is placed on a higher pedestal and the question of nationalism or playing for the nation or making the nation proud comes into picture. Otherwise it is love for the game itself, then money, fame and glamour, in that order.

Politically incorrect-Boomerang

2011-10-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Charity should begin at home: an apt line for our dear Ramdev Baba. Baba’s crusade against corruption has boomeranged. His Patanjali Yogpeeth is alleged to be in possession of illegal 120 Bighas of land in Haridwar. There are also questions regarding his business empire. Baba Ramdev who hijacked the genuine issue of corruption from Anna Hazare, is in trouble now for corruption himself. His back is against the wall. After declaring fast against corruption, he can’t back out now.

The result is utter chaos in his camp. Baba has tried to circle the issue saying his earlier pronouncements and commitments were simply “tactical,” speak a lot about his wavering mentality. The very beginning of his so called crusade was on a false note. He booked the Ramlila ground on pretext of parting Yoga lessons to his devotees, whereas he intended to use it for political purposes.

The UPA government on its part, fully aware why and for what purpose Baba was going to use the ground, made a mockery of itself by sending four top ministers, an unusual step in itself, and spreading red carpet for the Baba. What the administration did, that is, throwing the Baba and his followers out of the ground, should have been done at the airport itself. Instead, four top ministers almost bowed to the Baba.

Ramdev has gulped more than he can chew little realizing that RSS and BJP are capable of washing their hands off him and leave in lurch and that is what they have done. Ramdev is a sinking boat as far as this particular mission is concerned.

Political views-Anna Hazare vs. Baba Ramdev

2011-10-19T23:09:00.001-07:00

Now Baba Ramdev has decided that he will go on indefinite fast from 4th June against corruption. It appears that of late, Baba Ramdev was not able to gain enough limelight, hence followed Anna Hazare’s footsteps and decided to hijack his cause in his flamboyant style.

Anna, on his part, didn’t take a month to go on fast until death. He decided that the government was not doing enough (if at all) to curb corruption and went on fast on the spur of the moment and was actually on fast for quite a few days. Ramdev has given a month’s notice in the hope something will crop up and he will not have to adhere to his decision. Anna didn’t wait for any followers to follow him in this endeavor whereas Ramdev wants lakhs of people to follow him.

From all this it is quite obvious that Baba wants to takeover and hijack Anna’s venture so to say. Baba may have been successful in his Yoga teachings, may have thousands of followers but has failed in his political activities in spite of having quite a few politicians as supporters.

Corruption in our country is not a new phenomenon. It is more than a half a century old. Where was Baba all these years? Anna has fought small and big battles against administration for years in favor of the poor in this country. Baba Ramdev has not lifted a finger for the underprivileged. He has affluent followers and is always surrounded by the rich and mighty.

It is said that the Baba is good or rather excellent as far as Yoga instructions are concerned. Let him stick to that. Any effort in politics or any other field, for that matter, won’t cut ice. When asked why he put his demands all of a sudden when Anna was already in it, he replied that he did not want to loose his own identity. That alone proves his intentions.

Politically incorrect-Return of Poonam Pandey

2011-04-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well well, now that our Indian cricket team has won the world Cup without feasting their eyes on the nude body of (now) celebrated Miss Poonam Pandey, has she dropped the idea of stripping all the way? No, she still wants to go nude and this time for the nation.

We do not know whether BCCI has considered her magnanimous offer, but we do know that Poonam suddenly disappeared from the scene ‘on & from’ the day of the World Cup final. After hiding for a few days, she resurfaced last week explaining that she had received threats from extremists and there were a few court cases against her. When questioned, now that the Indian team has achieved its goal without her ‘assistance,’ has she dropped the idea?

No, she still wants to shed her clothes. She wants to do it in private for the Indian team. But this time she wants to dedicate it to the nation. “I am stripping for the country”, that is what she has to say. Well then, what about doing it on national TV? If the act is for the benefit of the entire nation, why restrict it to one team of eleven persons? Why doesn’t she offer the feast to the entire nation?

We are not sure if the team wants to look at her, nude or otherwise. They have better things to look at and so has our nation. Miss Pandey would do well to keep her clothes intact. She would do a great service to the cricket team and our nation if she keeps her clothes on, all of them. But, may be, modesty is not her calling.

Last heard, her trick has paid off and now she is gainfully employed with the TV show “Khatron ke khiladi.” May be, as they say, Indian cricket team’s loss is Akshay Kumar’s gain. What say?

Just a thought…………….

Sreesanth-Spoilt brat

2011-04-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it so happens in life that you don’t like a person for no reason at all. Even if you don’t know that person he sends wrong vibes to you. And if you are a sensible type, you feel guilty about it. The same thing happened to me when I first saw Sreesanth’s pictures in newspapers and later, when I saw him on TV. “Here is one spoilt brat”, I remember to have thought. I had no reason to dislike him for he is just a kid and I am on the wrong side of sixties, matured enough to disregard such thoughts. But the feeling persisted.

I was right. From the beginning of his career, his body language was that of an arrogant child. His aggression and ugly gestures suggested that he thought himself to be in the league of Kapil Dev and Imran Khan. His behavior on and off the field left much to be desired. Sreesanth provoked even his own team mates, showed unnecessary aggression where it was not required. His own attitude has hindered his progress.

Earlier on, when on one occasion he provoked Harbhajan Singh and in turn got slapped by the latter, he cried on the field like a little kid. That is what a spoilt brat does. All the so called artificial aggression vanished like air from a punctured balloon.

In World Cup final also he was listless. One fails to justify why Dhoni gave him a chance against Ashwin who had shown his mettle in one game. However, I noticed that below layers and layers of sun cream, his cheeks were puffed and showed signs of tiredness. Perhaps he himself was not expecting a chance in the final and was having a good time with his food and beverages. There was no spring in his run and the fielding was listless, as if he was not interested in the game.

Sreesanth is lucky that he is still in the reckoning and I don’t think he will last long. For him it will always be “touch and go.”

Bad's the word

2011-04-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

With all due respect, noted writer-columnist Soumya Bhattacharya, creator of the column “Dad’s the word” in Sunday Hindustan Times has perhaps not heard of the saying “too much of anything is bad.” And that is what he is doing by giving details of his nine year old daughter down our throat week after week.

His daughter may be a cute little girl, intelligent even, I concede and she may be an apple of her parents’ eyes as it should be. But we, as readers of HT, specially the Sunday issue are not interested in details of his daughter. That his daughter is not interested in cricket, that her first love is foot ball (isn’t it of all Calcuttans, including Sourav Ganguly?), closely followed by tennis, followed by her father’s writings, followed by…………

A week or two or even a month of his daughter is OK, as we can understand a father’s love for his beloved daughter, but it becomes too much when Mr. B. wants us to read about what she thinks, what she draws, what she reads, how she curls, how she mocks her father, where she vacations. Mr. B. is a good writer (so I have heard), so we expect a good writer to utilize valuable Sunday space for topics other than his daughter like Karan does and Memon does. Every body may not be expected to take interest in the daily routine of his daughter. Of course, Mr. B. can very well argue that those who are not interested can overlook the column and not read the article. True, but Mr. B. it is Sunday and on Sundays we want to savor the entire paper with good and interesting articles in it. And “Dad’s the word” is not one of them. So please spare us.

No offense meant and God bless his daughter.

Fine leg

2011-04-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Our present cricket team is a lucky lot. Apart from being showered with crores of Rupees, two-wheelers, luxury cars, plots and what not, for the first time in the history of cricket, they are being offered nude view of a female body and a live one at that. What more could they ask for?

One Miss Poonam Pandey (who is she?), a model by profession, has offered to go nude in front of our cricketers to boost their spirit. I had never heard of this Poonam Pandey, as a model or otherwise. Now of course I hear of her daily and the whole world knows her. There, you know the secret of her popularity, “bare it all” if nothing else works.

Miss Pandey is, in her own words “ready and willing, at any time and place of Indian team’s choosing” to go nude to lift their spirit and thereby lift their performance. The kind lady has not specified whether she will shed her clothes backstage and come to the stage in her birthday suit or she will come to the stage fully clothed and perform a striptease for the benefit of our Indian team. In the second option our players may get some titillation, for, there is always an element of suspense and glee when a woman (any woman) sheds her clothes in front of you. But should she decide for the first option, the fun will be over even before it began. Nobody will give her a second glance, except perhaps, our naughty boy Sreesanth who will bare his teeth against her you know what.

Poonam further claims that the act would be a therapeutic treatment for our players. In that case, wouldn’t it be better if she chooses to give this treatment to each player individually? But that would not have gained her an instant fame, would it have?

I doubt if this now popular Miss Poonam knows what LBW means in cricket. She must have heard of the term “fine leg”, considered her legs are fine and decided to show them with other fine things she has and gain some popularity. Let me admit, she has scored there and how.

Current affairs-Lone ranger

2011-04-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

We are a nation of corruption, cricket, noise, and (over) population, in that order. The rate at which our population is growing, we are likely to surpass China in no time at all. Noise is our national pass time. Be it an occasion of celebration or gloom, we must make noise loud enough to break ear drums. Suffice to say that cricket is our religion and we follow it religiously. But it is corruption and corruption alone that we are expert at.

Right from our babus, ministers, corporations, educational institutes, sports bodies, railways, you name it, corruption is there. Of course, like every where, there are exceptions, but they are rarest of rare. We have our Mayawatis, Kalmadis, Rajas, Hasan Ali, Telgi and their ilk. These handfull of persons have scammed several lakh crores of Rupees between them. If you sum up the total amount of these scams, the amount will be mind boggling and if our administration recovers the ill gotten amount from them, prices of all commodities will come down like a falling Sensex.

Corruption and cricket go hand in hand and the biggest twister, Sharad Pawar has his grip in both of them. Pawar, the strong man and his daughter are grabbing land everywhere. One example is the Lavasa Township where Pawar’s daughter and his son-in-law are interested parties. Now even his nephew Ajit Pawar is involved in Maharashtra State Co.op. Bank scam being one of its directors. And such a person like Sharad Pawar is in Group of Ministers on corruption.

It takes a Gandhian like Anna Hazare, a Lone Ranger, to challenge such a person. Where the whole nation looked helplessly and suffered silently on account of these shameless politicians, it was Hazare alone who took up the issue against corruption and forced Pawar out of GoM, brave man indeed. Now of course the entire nation is with him. Tainted and selfish persons like Chautala and Uma Bharati tried to take political advantage of the situation and went to meet Hazare, but were made to bite dust and turned away by Hazare’s supporters.

The biggest misery is: these politicians and ministers are fleecing the country and thereby fleecing us, common people and yet they are being provided with biggest security cover and we, whom they are fleecing, are made to pay for it.

Now that Hazare is battling for us against corruption, let the entire nation support him and throw persons like Pawar out of power and out of reckoning forever, for the simple reason that we are not going to have Lone Ranger like Anna anytime soon.

Politically incorrect-Bad loser

2011-04-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi may be a good cricketer and according to some, a good captain as well. But he is nowhere near our Dhoni when it comes to keeping his cool and expressing his views in public. Dhoni is suave and always in control whereas Afridi is always babbling whether praising or criticizing India.

Gautam had just expressed his intense feelings for the loss of lives on 26/11, never intending to blame Pakistan for that. It is best left to politicians. But Afirdi, with guilt conscious that he has, and knowing who was responsible for the event, took it in negative spirit.

Then again, his comments to the effect that we (India) don’t have large and clean hearts like them don’t stand the test of time. He also claimed that Indian media is negative. What about the media in Pakistan? Look at their papers, TV, even madrasas, they always spit fire against India. The ‘hate India’ campaign is always on in Pakistan.

When in India, Afridi was all praise for us. He had good comments about us, congratulated our team on our success, enjoyed our hospitality, earned money here and displayed some sporting spirit when on our soil. We too praised him for his behavior on and off the field. But the moment he landed on Pakistani soil, negativity took over and he started to spit venom. What is more, the poor fellow doesn’t have guts to stand by his words because the next day he took a complete U turn and said he did not mean it. If so, his own media quoted him wrongly. His own people are criticized him for his foolish and untimely comments. We forgive him. Now he should decide whom Allah has given pure and large heart.

If at all he has some intelligence and a bit of decency left in him, he should take a lesson or two from our captain, for I am sure he (Dhoni) has a heart large enough to accommodate Afridi.

A bad loser that is what Afridi is.

Celebrity news-Deepika's dumb defence

2011-04-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dev Anand expressed his ire towards the remix of his eternal song “Dum maro dum.” An old timer and a gentleman that he is, he chose normal and decent words to convey his feelings for this sh*t of a remix. The fact of the matter is that the remix of this song smells like Pritam who remixed the song smells, like Jaideep who penned the song smells, like Anushka who sung the song smells and last but not the least, Deepika who defended the song, smells the most.

It is a pity that our censor board has passed this vulgar (and I am putting it mildly) song containing words like “potty”, “nanga” and what not, in the name of remix. It is not a song it is sh*t, real sh*t. I am unable to find proper words to describe this dirt of a song. Jaideep should be barred from the film industry and the less said about Pritam, the better. The likes of these are infecting the minds of our children in the name of modern songs.

But the most surprising aspect is that Deepika defends herself and the song declaring that some (?) consider the song vulgar, whereas she is overwhelmed by the positive response she has received for her performance and the song. And yet, I am yet to come across a single line of appreciation for this song in any of the film magazines or other news papers for that matter. The song is filthy and so are it’s producer, director, actor and all connected to the song.

Deepika further asserts that people have Zeenat Aman’s image in minds when listening to the number. Deepika forgets that most of today’s youngsters were not even born when Zeenat performed for the original song. And those (now adults), who saw Zeenat then, don’t care for the likes of Deepika. The fact is, Zeenat was far more dignified even with her clothes off than Deepika with all her clothes on, period.

Politically incorrect-To catch a thief

2011-03-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Congress/UPA government is in dock as the Supreme Court rules against the appointment of Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, our country’s watch dog for corruption, as he (Thomas) himself is involved in corruption in the past.

The penal appointing CVC had three members- Dr. Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram and Sushma Swaraj, opposition leader. In spite of the fact that Swaraj had given her dissent, the penal went ahead and appointed Thomas as CVC. Later, when there was public outcry against his appointment, congress came out with the lame excuse that they were not aware or they were not informed about the Palmolein case charge sheet against Thomas. Respected Sri Pratyush Sinha, a former CVC said that if someone had told them about the charge sheet against Thomas, that would have made them think.

The statement means that someone (anyone) should tell the penal appointing CVC that it should look into the past profile of the candidate. If somebody (anybody) doesn’t inform or instruct the penal, the candidate is granted to have impeccable character. The penal, of its own, will not make any effort to find an appointee’s past.

Anyway, the Supreme Court has quashed Thomas’ appointment and declared it as “illegal.” However, the Congress has made one grave mistake in declaring that they were not aware of the allegations against Thomas. They could have very well defended themselves by confirming that they were in full knowledge of Thomas’ past corrupt activities. And that was precisely the reason they had chosen him as CVC, to watch for corruption. His expertise in the matter of corruption would come handy in catching the corrupt. It is a pure and simple principle of “set a thief to catch a thief.” Who could object?

Just a thought…………

Indian Politics-Rane, keep quiet

2011-03-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

The person or the teacher, who taught our nano Rane to speak, didn’t teach him what to speak, when to speak and when not to speak. It seems Rane is in full swing these days. Sure, we all know that politicians have to speak, that is their first and foremost requirement. But at times, when and if the situation demands, he has to keep quite. Rane has a lot to learn in this regard from Dr. Manmohan Singh.

A few days back, Rane has alleged to have said in a function that “women should look after their children and work in their kitchen.” Quite true Mr. Rane, we also concede that women should look after their children and work in their kitchen. The only problem is Rane doesn’t practice what he preaches. For the same reason, his wife has left her children and her kitchen and is the president of some educational mandal (forum). Not only that, she runs a restaurant in place of education and earns decent income out of that, so much for dear nano Rane’s statement. Perhaps his speeches are for others to follow, not his own family. Or perhaps he doesn’t no his own mind.

But never mind, Rane being Rane, may well argue that in that restaurant too, Mrs. Rane looks after the kitchen herself. So in away she is involved with kitchen, here or there doesn’t matter. On the contrary, you may call it an extended kitchen. We are prepared to buy that, Mr. Rane.

But what about children? May we suggest she opens a crèche in that restaurant she is running? That way, both commands of Rane for women will be fulfilled. Mrs. Rane will be working in restaurant kitchen and looking after children in crèche, whether her own or others doesn’t matter. What say, Rane?

Politically incorrect-Nano Narayan Rane

2011-03-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Nano (literally) Narayan Rane, our state industries minister, is once again in limelight for his nano tricks. For a man who doesn’t talk nano when it comes to transparency and honesty of other government people, he himself doesn’t hesitate in using nano tricks when it comes to his own personal gain. This time, his nano wife Neelam, who is the president of Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, misused a plot given to her organization for educational activities by converting the same into a hotel and earning a nano income for her personal nano gain. The plot was allotted when our nano Rane was nano Chief Minister then.

Earlier too, nano Rane’s nano son, Nilesh was involved in a nano firing incident in which one of his own party worker was injured. It appears to me that all nano members of Nano Rane’s family are involved in nano nano scams.

Coming back to Four Bunglows, Andheri plot, where the hotel stands. It appears that in 1999, the then CM, Narayan Rane arranged for a plot for his wife’s organization within a month of applying for it (a jet set speed) at Rs. 9850 yearly rent. Later she applied for the same plot to be used for business purpose which was immediately sanctioned (naturally) at the revised rent of Rs. 24570 annually. The location of this plot would fetch rent in Lakhs otherwise. All this, with nano blessings of nano Rane, who otherwise preaches for honesty and transparency.

Now there is a nano PIL against the said Jail restaurant & Lounge, aptly named. For nano Rane it is a nano inconvenience which we are sure nano Rane will overcome using his nano influence. As Sri R. R. Patil would have said, “Bade bade shaheron main chhoti chhoti bateyn hoti rehti hain.”

Just a thought………

Indian politics-Amar's striptease

2011-02-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

Lok Manch leader Amar Singh has developed a new hobby, it seems-striptease. It is widely reported that Amar Singh publicly bared himself for the benefit of S P President Mulayam Singh Yadav. I wonder if Mulayam Singh has, besides normal, other preferences. And even if he has, I doubt if he would appreciate what Amar Singh, of all the people, has on display for him.

It is said that Mulayam Singh criticized Amar Singh at a rally for his (Amar’s) fighting for the poor on one hand and his luxurious living style on the other. In retaliation, in a press conference in Kanpur, Amar Singh pulled up his pyjamas showing his swollen ankles. It was OK so far. But be it in a moment of heat or his enthusiasm to prove his point, next he unhooked his pyjamas and pushed them down to show his bandaged knees. He then invited Mulayam Singh to see every inch of his body.

Now Mulayam Singh, once a ‘pehlvan’ (wrestler) in his own right, may or may not accept his invitation, depending on his sexual orientation. But I doubt if he would be willing to look at Amar Singh’s bulging, quivering and swollen anatomy. Amar Singh may think that it would be a pretty sight for Mulayam and he (Mulayam) might forget their animosity for a while but I am sure Mulayam has much better sights to look at. For Kanpur press people, this act of Amar Singh’s striptease was sudden and unexpected, hence they were helpless, but not Mulayam Singh. If at all Amar Singh dares, Mulayam can always frighten him with his rippling biceps. He need not bare anything. I am sure Amar Singh would be cowed.

Ever since Amar Singh has left Amitabh’s suave company, he has lost his way and appears to be in wilderness. He had maintained a certain amount of dignity till he was with Bachchan. Or Amitabh had seen to it that he maintains a minimum standard. Amar Singh would do well to join forces with Amitabh again.

Politically incorrect-Lesson from across

2011-02-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

LESSON FROM ACROSS

Pakistani singer, that too of the stature of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, nephew of legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, was caught smuggling more than a lakh of Dollars at our New Delhi air port. It is indeed sad that these Sufi singers too have stooped so low in life. However, Islamabad was in turmoil immediately and there were hectic diplomatic efforts to get Rahat released immediately. There was tremendous pressure from the Pak government to treat Rahat well. Quite credible that of Islamabad, never mind what their citizen has done, they are there to protect him.

We spread red carpet for Pak artists here in India. They come here at their free will, perform here, make money and are treated like celebrities. Artists like Gulam Ali, Nusrat saab’ Runa Laila, Mehdi Hasan, just to name a few, have earned name and fame in India. Take the case of Adnan Sami, a Pakistani national. He came here, performed, made money and even bought huge properties, which he is not supposed to, being a Pakistani national. Mind you, this is not to demean these artists. All of them are exceptionally talented and it is a privilege to listen to them perform. I am particularly fond of Gulam Ali and his variations. But that is a different issue. Show me a single case of an Indian artist, equally talented, perform, succeed and make it big in Pakistan. Not one, they will not have it.

To come back to the Rahat case, why should he be granted bail? Had one of our artists done that in Pakistan, Islamabad would have never shown any leniency, leave alone grant bail. New Delhi would have taken weeks to react in such a situation where as their reaction was prompt. There is a lesson here to be learnt from across the border.

Finally, is this another kind of anti India activity for Pakistan? Is this money meant for some undesirable organization in Pak? Is this another kind of economic terrorism from across the border? Any thing is possible where Pakistan is concerned. But the moot question is: “Will the Indian government get to the bottom of this?”

Current affairs-Signature tune

2011-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

“Government will not tolerate attacks on the officials and strict action would be taken against those responsible.” These are the utterances of CM Prithviraj Chavan in the aftermath of the killing of additional collector Sonawane who was burnt alive by the oil mafia. “Investigation is on and action would be taken” appears to be the signature dialogue of all VIPs who claim to run our government and our country and make mockery of it. It is only when somebody is killed, Sonawane in this case, that the state rattles, heads roll, that the administration decides to act, and that too, after investigation. There are arrests, investigations, committees, enquiries, court cases and what not, to show that action is being taken and then, every thing is “as usual” till the next horrible incident occurs.

The whole world knows that the fuel adulteration is happening right outside Indian Oil depot and it is happening for years now. It is a network of police, politicians, officials and all of it is too big of an underworld economy to be stopped by the death of a government official. All arrests are temporary noise and it will be “business as usual” in no time. In fact, the oil mafia has dared the government to act, if it can.

The truth is, nothing happened to A.Raja, nothing happened to Kalmadi, Mayawati, Lalu, Lalit Modi, Vilasrao etc.( Vilasrao, in fact, got a plum posting) and nothing will happen to oil mafias. There is open and rampant adulteration in milk, medicines, kerosene, petrol, cooking oil and other food products in our country and all successive governments have failed to check them or have no intention to check them. They know that public outcry is temporary and they wait for this outcry to die its natural death.

Till such time there is always the signature tune of “no body will be spared” to their rescue.

Just a thought………

Political views-Mayamemsaab

2011-02-20T06:28:00.001-08:00

“Security officer cleans Mayawati’s shoes,” and why not? It is his solemn duty as her personal security officer, or so he thought. This security officer, by the name of Padam Singh, is a winner of President’s Gallantry award and to many his act of cleaning Mayamemsaab’s shoes was a horrendous crime. But tell me, can there be a more gallant act then cleaning memsaab’s shoes? Poor fellow must be expecting another award for this chivalrous act, instead our media is hounding for his blood.

Another funny part of this low stooping story is that, according to media, Mayawati was “unmindful of the act.” That in turn means, that Mayamemsaab was not unaware of the act, rather she was unmindful and didn’t care that a human being, a Gallantry award winner at that, was stooping so low as to clean her shoes and chose to ignore it rather than stop him. Deliberate perhaps?

Mayamemsaab is Mayamemsaab, no two ways about it. Let the media and public opinion cry foul, be it the incident of garlands containing huge quantity of thousand rupees notes or erecting her own statues (while still alive?) at the expense of public ex-checker, she is unmoved and unperturbed. She has a thick skin, we all know that. But why did an officer of Padam Singh’s stature stooped so low as to clean her shoes? The answer perhaps lies in the fact that Padam Singh is a retired police officer, currently on extension and is responsible for Mayawati’s security. Perhaps further extension and continuity of his job depends on giving personal touch to his duty and hence the act, who knows?

Just a thought…………

Celebrity news-Being Human

2011-02-03T09:50:00.001-08:00

Salman is at it again, that is, being a brat. It is alleged that our great dude Salman Khan demanded and got the best actor award meant for Shah Rukh Khan for his (Salman’s) acting in Dabangg. Now as far as we the ordinary mortals are concerned, awards are awarded and not demanded. But who is to explain this simple fact to Salman aka Being Human?

Now Salman may be popular in his own right and has tremendous fan following, no denying that. But, as far as acting goes, he is nowhere near Shah Rukh, in fact, far behind him. The phenomenal success of Dabangg is not because it is a good movie or because Salman has acted well, but in spite of it. The success of this movie leaves much to be desired for our taste. Salman is alleged to have threatened the organizers with walkout and compelled them to award the trophy to him.

Shah Rukh Khan, on his part, fully aware what had happened back stage, kept a dignified silence as is his wont. He ignored Salman’s bratty behavior and didn’t make any fuss. He should have been given a special trophy for maintaining his own and the organizers’ dignity in such a situation, if nothing else. This one single virtue proves that he is a much better human being (again being human?) then his adversary. It was an ego clash of titans and Shah Rukh came out with flying colors. The less said about Salman, the better.

However, Salman did not go on the stage to collect his award. Instead, he chose to send his younger brother Arbaaz to receive it on his behalf. I wonder why, as he was keen on demanding the trophy, he should have gone himself to collect it, but didn’t. Felt guilty? Probably yes, because by the time the award was announced for him, all present there in the function, entire Mumbai, the whole country, the whole world and its distant cousins knew about Salman’s escapade, that he had demanded and had not been awarded the trophy. To me, he might as well have gone to any shop and bought one for himself. That would have been more dignified. Being Human, Salman?

Politically incorrect-illogical logic

2011-01-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Though I have no knowledge of Kapil Sibal’s carrier, political or otherwise, except that he is a minister and I have no respect for politicians in general, when I read about his comments on reforms in our education system when he was in the ministry of education, I thought: “At least Sibal is a thinking politician.”

What little respect I had for Kapil Sibal vanished when I read about his defense of A. Raja, the 2G spectrum culprit. The very fact that the government threw him out, in good words “compelled him to resign,” proves that he is guilty, and yet Kapil had to defend him, and how? Kapil’s remarks that CAG estimates (loss) are off the mark, is a gross statement, unbecoming of a person like him. At least CAG and other agencies took some months to investigate and come to the conclusion. Kapil blames them of overestimating the loss figures without any effort to investigate on his part. He declares that the loss is much less than Rs. 176000 crores and that CAG has done ‘grave injustice’ to the issue, as if cheating less than what is estimated is no crime.

Sibal also asserts that revenue sharing from license auctions under NDA
had also caused some loss earlier. Does this justify Raja’s actions? If previous government has committed some crime, does it mean that the next government is entitled to commit the same, only the extent of crime should be lesser then the previous one? Kapil’s arguments suggest so.

All politicians are corrupt or at least, silent spectators to corruption. All politicians are fleecing the country, the ex-checker and thereby the public and again thereby you and me. The only factor remains to be seen is “how little or how more” a politician fleeces. Some steal in lakhs and some in crores, but steal they will. According to dear Sibal, when a politician steals a little less than what is estimated he has stolen, it is a virtue. At least his utterances prove that. His arguments defy logic, to say the least.

Just a thought……

Politically incorrect-Mockery of Law

2011-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chhatisgarh government and judge Varma have sentenced Dr. Binayak Sen to life imprisonment citing section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, the law, in any case, about a century and a half old and has lost its relevance in these modern times. Even Nehru had spoken against this arbitrary law in his speech in 1951 and wished that the sooner we get rid of the law, the better.

This law was used to convict Sen for sedition. The sedition law says “whoever by words, either spoken or written, by signs or by visible representation, or otherwise, attempts to bring hatred or contempt, or excites disaffection towards the government…. is culprit.” By the same token, Vrun Gandhi, L. k. Advani, Uma Bharti, not to forget Arundhati Roy and score of others should be behind bars for life many times over.

Even former chief justice Rajendra Sachar has openly declared that there can’t be greater nonsensical judgment than this. And that he was ashamed to belong to a judiciary that delivered such a ridiculous judgment. He should know, being who he is.

Dr. Sen’s work with poor tribal people is appreciated through out the world. He has been awarded by many international institutions. Noble Laureates and intellectuals in India and across the world have applauded his selfless service to the poor. He has done what the government should have done. And for this, he has been given life imprisonment. It is a pity that persons like Rajas, Kodas and many others roaming free and open killers like Kasab and Afzal are enjoying our hospitality. Dr. Sen who probably doesn’t know how to hold a gun properly, is made to go through what he is going through.

This is a mockery of justice at its very best or worst and we, as Indians, as Justice Sachar says, should hang our head in shame.

Mera Bharat mahan-A different language

2011-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Janice D’Souza became a victim of road rage on the morning of 20th Dec. She was clever enough to click photograph of her attacker and also the car the accused was driving, using her mobile phone. She shuttled between two police stations, Powai police station and Park Site police station but failed to register her complaint at both these places. Powai begged excuse saying it was not their jurisdiction and Park Site insisted she did her medical first. The law clearly states that a police station has to register a complaint even if the incident has not occurred in their jurisdiction. But clearly, this law does not affect Powai police station as she was turned away. As usual, the senior inspector of the station was not aware of the incident whereas his post demands that he should be aware of, not only every movement in his station, but in his entire area. But he is senior and does not bother with such minor matters.

Five days after the incident and only after news papers cried foul, that this senior inspector called up Janice and promised help, very kind of him. But the question is, despite the fact that Janice had the attacker’s photograph and the car’s registration number, the police is yet to trace the car or the attacker till 25th Dec. This says a lot about their efficiency.

As for number 103, special woman and children helpline number, the less said the better.

Where did Janice go wrong, an educated lady like her, what with her being a corporate trainer and all? Perhaps in pursuance of her formal education, she failed to educate herself with methods and language of the police. A few changed currency notes would have put instant energy to both the police stations and the story would have been different then. This is the only language they understand and had Janice followed this language, she would be singing praise of police efficiency and the culprit would have been behind bars.

Only if Janice had known……. poor girl.

Politically incorrect-Planning ahead

2011-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

It is widely reported that even two months after completion of the Common Wealth Games, the venues, the stadiums and other sporting facilities remain out of bound of athletes and sportsmen. These stadiums and other facilities are, without doubt, the best in the world and it was decided (or did we assume it?) that after completion of the CWG, would be available to present and future sportspersons, for practice and to increase their prowess, thereby justifying thousands of crores spent on them.

But that was not to be. Sri Suresh Kalmadi and Associates have other thoughts. We, ordinary mortals, are not aware of what these thoughts or plans are, we can only guess. So, let us guess. There can be two reasons I can think of (for whatever I am worth) for the closure of the venues.

ONE: Kalmadi and Associates are expecting Olympics to fall in their laps after this huge success of the CWG. Naturally, the government will sanction another huge package of thousands of crores for Olympics. Now as far as CWG are concerned, M/S Kalmadi & Co. are allegedly blamed to have siphoned off thousands of crores and enquiries are pending against them. Kalmadi is waiting for the results of these enquiries which will take a few years to complete, with immense patience. If enquiries fade away, as is the practice in our country, by the time of Olympics Kalmadi has another heave package for him and his associates’ benefit. If not, he has ready venues, stadiums and facilities of CWG, to be used for Olympics and there by save government’s money. So the matter is quits and his conscious is clear.

SECOND: Last time, in CWG, Kalmadi and Associates were much, much behind schedule, inviting a lot of criticism from press and public. So much so, that our Prime Minister had to interfere. In fact, process and files started moving four-five years late. As a result, the work for completion of CWG arrangements continued till the last moment, till morning of the opening of the Games. By using the same facilities of CWG in Olympics, he can boast of being ready years in advance and can congratulate himself on his own abilities.

Politically incorrect-Advani's adventures

2011-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Advaniji, as is his wont, is at it again, that is, flaying our Prime Minister. True, Advani is in opposition and it is the job of opposition to oppose the ruling party whenever it fails to take proper decision or action, to maintain checks and balances. It is also true that this time our PM has hesitated to take any action or even make comments on various scams. But Advani, of all the people, who was found sharing sweets with Uma Bharti at the fall of Babri masjid, and whose one foot is on this sinful earth, and the other where both his feet should have been, has no moral right to criticize our PM. And as far as honesty and integrity go, he is nowhere near Mr. Singh.

Now let us imagine that both his feet are up there and Advaniji is at the intersection road leading to the hell and heaven. Surprisingly, the dwarpal (door keeper) of Heaven comes running forward and receives Advaniji with a smile: “Sir, our Lord, Indra Dev has invited you to our heaven, if you so wish.”

Advani surprised (as he was sure of his place in hell) that what he had done to deserve this honour, hesitated and said: “Aaaah, you must be mistaken, my friend. Perhaps it is some other Advani that Indra wants to invite. I am L K Advani.”

Dwarpal: “No Sir, there is no mistake. There is only one Advani in today’s list of invitees.”

Advani (still hesitating): “Err, tell me dwarpalji, is there an opposition party, sorry, opposition leader in heaven? And if so, who is your opposition leader?”

Dwarpal: “Sorry Sir, what is opposition party?”

Advani: See, it is like this. Your Lord Indra is your king, so your ruler and by virtue of that, he is a ruling party. Now there must be somebody to oppose him if he makes a mistake and correct him.”

Dwarpal (now indignant): “Sir, our Lord is the one and only (sarve sarva) power in heaven, has been so and will be so for all time to come. And Sir, our Lord doesn’t make mistakes.”

Advani: “What? That means you don’t have elections in there?”

Dwarpal (confused): “Election? Now what is that?”

Advani: “Look, every now and then, some other gods must want to occupy Indra’s chair, oh sorry, I mean His throne. The rest of the population of gods should vote for the one they want to see as their leader.”

Dwarpal was now totally confused and wondering at the sanity of his Lord for inviting this crackpot, remained silent.

Advani (after a while with enthusiasm): “Ok, at least you have some structures or houses or monuments which are in dispute so I can break them?”

Dwarpal (now sure of his ground): “No Sir, there is no dispute in heaven. Lord Indra’s word is the law. Moreover, all structures here are unbreakable and permanent here.”

Advani: “That doesn’t sound very interesting dwarpal, what about hell?”

: “Oh no sir, you don’t want to go there. There is all chaos in hell. Every one fights with every one else all the time.”

Advani (brightening): “Sounds interesting. Show me the way and lead me there.”

Current affairs-Just a thought

2011-01-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

It is reported that a letter found from Kalmadi’s residence during raid suggests that Kalmadi is being blackmailed by someone. According to sources, he is being asked to cough up Rs. four crores for a compact disc which allegedly contains some damaging information about the OC chief.

Ideally, if this is correct, the news should have been on the first page, in big fonts in every news paper. Instead, the news is on page no. 8 in Hindustan Times. So I am not sure what and how much to make of it. There is no news of the response of the doyen of the Common Wealth games to this so called blackmail letter.

What ever be the case, suppose, just suppose that Kalmadi is being blackmailed and is asked to shell out four crores, what is the big deal? What is four crore between two friends, sorry…. two enemies? Jokes apart, for Kalmadi who has been accused of siphoning hundreds and thousands of crores from CWG, four crores is peanuts. Again, what he must have done for someone to blackmail him is a mystery. His antics and escapades in CWG are known world wide. So there is no scope of blackmail there. Could it be something other than CWG? God knows.

Another point- the search party has found this letter without the sender’s name, that is, it is unsigned. Moreover, it is not mentioned in the papers whether it was addressed to Kalmadi, just a blackmail letter. If it is not addressed to him, it is just a guess that somebody is blackmailing Kalmadi. But, on the other hand, it could be the other way round. I won’t put it past Kalmadi. Either way, the million Dollar question is, why only four crores? The act of blackmail, either way, makes sense, the amount does not. Is it another silly ploy to divert public attention from the real issue?

Just a thought.

Crime-Hi flying thieves

2010-12-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

Times have changed, and how? I am from the old school and not very comfortable with this fast paced computer age. Till yesterday, I thought ‘thievery’ was a high risk and no investment business. All a thief required was nimble fingers and lot of courage, or so I thought. How wrong I was, is proved by yesterday’s news that four men from well to do families from North India would fly to Mumbai every week, stole or rob homes and flew back to their homes. Remember, they did this every week. I have never felt so strongly that I have been standing at one place and time has flown by.

Anyway, let us take business angle of this high flying occupation into consideration. Four persons flying in and out of this city would cost them at least Rupees one Lakh per visit what with hotel accommodation, transportation and such other expenses. That again means that they invested Rupees one Lakh every time they traveled into the city to steal and with no guarantee of success. That is investment and a high risk one, if you ask me. It is reasonable to expect that other legitimate ventures with little risk make profit of ten to twenty five per cent to survive, depending upon their nature of business. Now these four men’s business is that of high risk and also high investment, by all standards. So the profit should at least be a hundred percent, if not more to justify that risk and investment. For that, they probably have to scan the place they are going to do their ‘business’ in and make sure that the place has enough booty to justify the effort. Earlier, a thief used to enter any home or shop at random and took whatever was available to him, be it Rs. five, five hundred or five thousand, every thing was profit to him and the next day was another day.

Not so now. The house or the place they enter must be worth two Lakhs in terms of goods or cash available to steal. As such this business too has become sophisticated what with proper planning, proper scanning, proper investment, proper vehicles, proper clothes, proper equipments and may be proper education? What next? In times to come it may gain proper respectability, who knows.

Times have changed indeed.

Indian politics-Scamathon

2010-12-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Rupees one lakh seventy six thousand crore. To read, this is just a number in news paper prints. But just imagine the magnitude of this amount. Ours is a country of scams- Adarsh society scam, Common Wealth Games scam, Lalu’s fodder scam, Mayawati’s Taj corridor scam, Telgi scam, IPL Modi scam, Vedurappa scam, Harshad Mehta scam, 2G Spectrum scam, Justice Sen scam and now the latest in line, LIC and nationalized banks’ scam. You name it, we have it. In this marathon race of scams A.Raja of 2G scam wins the race hands down. Most of these scamsters are moving scot-free and even enjoying their ill gotten wealth.

Most of our politicians come into politics with the sole aim of making money. How they make it is of no consequence. There may be few, in fact very few exceptions like our PM Manmohan Singh. But he too is guilty of a blind eye. A coalition government is a compromise government. In order to retain coalition PM too has to remain silent on certain issues. So these rare few honest persons too are not entirely above water. Alas, gone are the days of Sri Rajendra Prasad and Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri.

But it is all very well for us lesser mortals to blame politicians, bureaucrats etc. The temptations of making quick bucks through scams and kickbacks are too huge to ignore. No more a few thousand or a few lakhs. It is now a few crores, not to mention a few hundred or a few thousand crores. We who criticize them are probably jealous of them that they are in a position to make money and we are left behind. If we were in one of their positions, would we ignore an opportunity to make a few crores? Our projects are too big, ambitions too high, development too fast. The result is, it is very easy to siphon money and our system is too lazy to punish the guilty. Few people would be able to resist such an opportunity. Frankly, I for one would not. I would be tempted. But the grapes are sore.

Imagine this picture. An ordinary person earning a decent amount of Rupees one lakh a month with smallest possible family, will not be able to save more then twenty five-thirty thousand a month, that is, three lakhs a year. It will take his life time to save fifty lakhs, if that. But if you are in the right position, you can make a few crores, a few hundred crores in a year or even in a month, too huge a temptation to ignore. It would take Swami Vivekanand type of mindset and determination to remain aloof. Sadly, Swami Vivekanand types are not born anymore and if born, are not accepted and appreciated. Even our God men, Gurus and preachers are basking in money, staying in air conditioned Ashrams and moving in air conditioned cars. Sure, I am jealous and so are you.

Seriously, in all this, you and I are made to compensate for these scams by way of increased taxes, direct and indirect. The need of the hour is not to find honest politicians. You won’t find any, in this day and time. The need is to find a system of checks and balances. The need is to find expert economists and such other persons who can suggest full proof and transparent system of government spending, like we use valve to stop liking water. The need is punish the guilty without any delay and that punishment should be exemplary. And last but most important – the perpetrator or even a suspect, should be crippled financially immediately. All his properties, bank accounts, lockers etc. should be sealed and frozen till the judgment and that judgment should be prompt and severe.

Politically incorrect-Quick fix

2010-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Our courts insist that nobody should remain head of different sports organizations for unlimited period. Delhi high court has slammed politicians’ monopoly on sports associations. The order means IOA president Kalmadi and such others cannot seek re-elections. The high court suggested age limit of seventy years and maximum tenure of twelve years for such persons. Now our very dear Suresh Kalmadi, the doyen of Indian sports has been in straddle of IOA for more then fifteen years and yet, aspires for Asian Games and Olympic Games to be held in India under his leadership. Don’t ever think that Kalmadi is after money. Money is to be made of course, but that is secondary, not primary. While remaining head of IOA and recently CWG, he has acquired new skills which he wants to utilize in Asian and Olympic Games for the benefit of our nation.

Think it over, while Shiela Dikshit had to pray to the Almighty for success of our CWG, Kalmadi had no such fears. He was sure of the Games’ success. While taking all criticisms in his stride, he almost willed the Games into success.

But that is not the point. The point is, our government does not recognize real talent when it finds one. Take the case of Kalmadi. He has this unique talent to turn tables in a jiffy. Bridge collapsed? No problem. Kalmadi snaps his fingers and lo and behold, there is your bridge, as new as ever. His magical powers are not utilized elsewhere by our administrators. The powers that be should look beyond sports. You want our sacred river Ganga cleaned? Suppose the budget of Ganga cleaning is a thousand Crores and time limit is two years. You can rely on dear Kalmadi and sleep over the project for twenty months. Just wake up after twenty months and take time of about three months to move files. Then call Kalmadi at your convenience. He will move his magic wand and your Ganga will be as pure as ever in no time. The only negligible issue is that the project cost will have doubled. A minor hitch that, if you ask me.

Consider our Five Year Plans. Not a single of our FYP have succeeded or completed so far. We have never achieved our targets here because we have never cared to call Kalmadi to help us. If we call him, seek his blessings, all our FYP would be roaring success and what is more, we won’t have to work for five full years.

That is the moot point. Ignore Kalmadi and you are in trouble. If our administration can find ten people like him, and I am sure there are people out there, equally talented if not more then Kalmadi, our nation will be a much better place to live in.

Political views-Exemplary Tower

2010-11-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

One meaning of ‘Adarsh’ is ‘exemplary’. In that sense Adarsh cooperative housing society in Colaba fits the bill. This society is exemplary of how a junior defense officer can build a tower on army land. Mr. R.C.Thakur has shown people of India, how a project meant for the benefit of war widows can be manipulated to benefit him as well as other bureaucrats. He has set an ‘Adarsh’ example of how to convert a project of six storey building into a thirty one. This ‘Adarsh’ project was cleared by two ministers- Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh. C.M. Ashok Chavan’s mother-in-law too has a flat in the tower. Shinde has shown us how to dodge inconvenient questions by just keeping mum when asked about it. Deshmukh teaches us with exemplary ease how to forget one’s own misdeeds for he claims he doesn’t remember anything about the said project. Sri Jairaj Phatak has gone a step further and has set an example of how to open ‘phatak’ (door) for construction of 104 mts. from a mere permissible 30 mts. if his son gets a flat in the ‘Exemplary’ society.

Above all our state and central governments and various other agencies connected with clearing such projects have set an example of how to sleep when the wrong doing goes on and how to wake up after a few years of the completion of an illegal project. Now our dear Mr. Thakur has been careful enough to allot flats to the who’s who of our country so that eventually when the cracker bursts, he himself will be defended by these big shots. Last but not the least, Mr. Thakur has set an exemplary example of how to remain unmoved, how to smile through criticism, how to remain confident, how to remain unaffected though a CBI enquiry is on against him in another case and how to ignore his opponents with a scorn they deserve, exemplary indeed.

To copy a cement manufacturer’s ad:

Public: “Ye illegal building toot ti kyon nahin?”

Thakur: “Tootegi kaise? Shinde, Deshmukh, Chavan, Phatak. Admiral Madhavendra Singh, Maj. Genaral T. k. Kaul jaison ke ashirvad se jo bani hai.

Mera Bharat Mahan- Indian Rope Trick

2010-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Now that our CWG was a success, magician Kalmadi has expressed his desire to organize Olympic Games. Only a few days prior to CWG, our very own, dear and beloved Sheila Dikshit was quoted as saying: “I pray every night for the games’ success.” How touching. The fact is, there was a time when there was nothing left for her to do, for she wanted the job that was to be done in seven years, done in seven days. Only God could help her and she knew it. And what is more, God did help her.

In many parts of the world it is believed that India is a land of snakes, naked sadhus, magic and magicians. Our Rope Trick is very famous worldwide. Indeed, ours is a land of magicians. We have magicians like Dikshit, Kalmadi, Gill and not to forget, Jaipal Reddy. Now this magician, Reddy, our Urban Development minister, is unable to stand erect on his two feet. He has to take support of not one but two walking sticks, is given responsibility of our Common Wealth Games. We Indians have great faith in ourselves and our God. I am not surprised that the Games went well. One of our honorable minister and magician, M.S.Gill had suggested that the CWG was just like an Indian wedding. There is chaos all around Indian marriages, but in the end every thing is hanky dory. Nothing to worry about the Games, bridges may collapse, flushes may not work, toilets may be filthy, beds may not have enough strength to withstand human weight, but Games will happen and successfully at that. He is right. If the Games’ village was not ready, there were always five star hotels at our rescue, like England team never bothered to visit our Games’ village. They straight away checked into five star hotels. Just like that other teams would have found their own way if they are not comfortable at the village. Of course, there will be extra expenditure of a few crores, but what is money compared to our nation’s image? Jerks like you and me will pay extra taxes and super jerks like ministers, officials will spend lavishly. But Games will happen. Like Gill suggested on another occasion that there will be disasters, confusion, chaos, but somehow it will work out in the end. It always does. This is our way of doing things-Indian style. Indeed, India is a land of magicians.

Current affairs-Once upon a time

2010-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

The bone in the form of Amit Shah is stuck in the throat of Narendra Modi and he is not able to either swallow it or throw it out. He is stuck with it. This reminds me of an old Panch Tantra story, “Once upon a time.”

Once upon a time there was this princess in a faraway kingdom, who was extremely beautiful. She was so lovely and fair that one could see water and milk slide down inside her beautiful throat. To her misfortune, one very ordinary tailor saw her and fell in love with her. He was so obsessed with her beauty and beautiful body that he lost his sleep, his hunger and his job and lusted day and night to possess the princess and her lovely body.

A skilled carpenter friend of the tailor took pity on him and made a wooden bird with his skill which could fly. The tailor prepared a dress for himself befitting God Vishnu. Now the tailor would fly himself on the bird at midnight and into the princess’s room. He introduced himself as God Vishnu and told her that he was highly impressed with her beauty and could not contain himself without seeing her. The innocent princess was beyond herself that the God himself was in love with her and so their affair started. They married secretly (Gandharvalagna) and the tailor made full use of the princess and her beautiful body.

But as it usually happens, rumor reached in the ears of the king that the princess was having an affair and somebody was visiting her bedroom daily after midnight. The king was aghast and asked his queen to find out the truth. The queen found all evidence of physical relations on the princess’ body. The king decided to punish his daughter severely to set correct moral example for his subject. Whereupon the princess declared that she had committed no sin and she was married to God Vishnu himself. The king was overjoyed that the princess was wife of the God and officially announced their marriage valid.

After a while the king thought that since the God himself was his son-in-law, he should extend his empire. Nobody can defeat God. So he asked all small and big kings to accept his superiority and pay taxes to him or face consequences. But some refused, so he set about the task of attacking such kingdoms and requested his son-in-law, actually a tailor, to lead his army.

The tailor thought that his days of pleasures were over. If he spoke the truth, the king would have his head cut off. If he didn’t, he would be killed in the war since he was not a warrior. With a heavy heart he bid good bye to the princess and proceeded for war.

Again luck was in his favor. God Narada told Lord Vishnu that people on earth thought that the tailor was God Vishnu that was you. People did not know the truth. Now if the tailor was defeated or killed, people would think that the God was defeated. So, Vishnu had to make this tailor win, otherwise nobody would worship him. Vishnu thought that Narad was right. So he entered the tailor’s body, fought the war and won all battles, though against his will.

Similar is the case of Narendra Modi. If Amit Shah is proved guilty and sentenced, Modi,s own image is at stake. So he has to defend Shah, like it or not. He (Modi) cannot afford to leave Shah to his fate, unlike Sharad Pawar who happily dumped Lalit Modi when the going got tough.

Indian politics-Haji Advani

2010-11-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

I admire Sri Advani’s perseverance. He would do anything, absolutely anything to remain in limelight. The latest news being: “Advani woos Muslims and assures them of impartial governance if NDA returns to power.”

This is the same Advani who was not only instrumental, but one of the main players in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition along with Uma Bharati. It has been accepted and proved almost beyond doubt that he was the main instigator in that ghostly episode. In fact Advani was there on the site itself coaxing kar sevaks to carry on with the demolition task and it is said that later, when the demolition was over, Advani and Bharati shared sweets on the site itself.

Now I have heard that politicians have thick skin or let us put it this way, if you have thick skin, only then you can aspire to become a politician. That is one fundamental requirement and Sri Advani takes the cake in that aspect. He has the thickest skin ever. This main culprit of the Masjid demolition should be ashamed of facing the Muslim community, instead now he is wooing them and begging them for votes. Thick skin and shameless indeed, this man can stoop to the lowest moral level if it serves his purpose.

Let us, for a moment, forget about Hindu-Muslim picture. Let us, for a while, think about historical importance of Babri Masjid, built more then four hundred years back by Babar. It was a place of tourist importance and all, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christians and others visited the place. It could have been there for five hundred years more, gaining further importance but for Advani. He has destroyed a place of archeological importance, he has destroyed history.

What next? What would he do next to woo Muslim votes? I will not put it past him or be surprised, if, like his Rath Yatra, he performs Haj Yatra, and calls himself Haji Advani.

Politically incorrect-India vs China

2010-11-07T23:48:00.000-08:00

A few days back, our papers’ headlines shouted: “P.M. steps in, sets 24 hours deadline to fix games. Delhi hangs its head in shame. Almost every thing that can go wrong has gone wrong.”

This only eleven days before the games (CWG) started and seven years after India got the games in 2003. No surprises here. What can one expect when outdated, over aged, outlasted persons like Sheila Dikshit. Suresh Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and M.S.Gill are given responsibilities of such a huge adventure. Even our P.M. (with due respect to him), is not familiar with workings of the games. All the people mentioned above are useless if you look at the answers they gave to the public outcry. They are all, without exception, past their prime. Kalmadi, in particular, kept saying everything would be fine but did not bother to explain how. Whatever little success the game had seen was because of the efforts of people other than this foursome and a little bit of luck. About participants’ facilities and hygiene, the less said the better. And Kalmadi is totally silent about half the money spent on CWG either gone down the drain or into the pockets of various officials and that too without doing their job. Dollar ninety a piece toilet paper is just but one glaring example.

One of my friends, who is a student of China and Chinese culture for years, has some interesting comparisons to offer:

• India was offered CWG in 2003 and set on files for four years. Work started only in 2007. China, on the other hand, had all files cleared in first thirty days for their 2008 Olympic Games.

• In India organizing Committee had to run after different departments to clear their files and getting various permits. In China, the concerned department is answerable to the government if the files are not cleared in stipulated time.

• In China, work started immediately upon receiving various clearances. They worked at steady and constant pace, verifying the quality of work every now and then. India, on the other hand, started actual work four years too late, at an unsteady pace, never bothered to question or verify the quality of work by their contractors.

• China too had its share of mishaps and delays, but they had ample time to rectify their mistakes and faults. India always worked on war footing, compromising on quality and time.

• China was ready for the games much before the scheduled date (six months according to some), had rigorous trials of venues. India had to be ordered by the PM, no less, to step up our speed when the games were a week away.

• Last and most interesting, guilty are taken to task immediately in China, no delay there. Action against guilty is prompt and severe. India promises to take action after the games are over and that too, at the pace at which preparations of the games progressed.

However, there is one major benefit in India which China cannot match. Quite a few people connected with the games have become rich overnight. No small feat t

Current affairs-Hall of fame

2010-09-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rajsingh and Mr. Desraj suddenly find themselves in the hall of fame. Now you will ask “who are they, politicians, actors, sports persons or comedians?” Actually, none of these, they are watchmen. So, what’s the big deal? There are hundreds and thousands of watchmen all around. They are the highest paid watchmen in our country. They get Rs. 30000 as monthly salary. I have seen watchmen drawing Rs. three thousand, five thousand, ten thousand and even fifteen thousand Rupees in some high end societies. But thirty thousand? I doubt even a bank clerk gets that kind of money to begin with. So, they must be celebrities.

But wait. The story doesn’t end there. There is a twist in the tale. Both these gentlemen are employees of the Sports Authority of India. Northern Centre, Chandigarh. Now they are made to guard the bungalow of our Sports Minister, M. S. Gill. They are paid by S.A.I. and that means tax payer’s money and that in turn means your and my money, but they watch and protect Gill’s house. Of course, they occasionally go to S.A.I office, randomly mark their attendance and hey presto, back to Gill’s house.

We all have heard and read about several types of scams involving the Common Wealth Games, but this is a new one. Want a watchman? Want a servant? Want a cook perhaps? Get one appointed by S.A.I. or any other government department, let him draw his salary from there and a decent salary at that, mark his attendance there, come to your house and work for you and your family. Quite a game, suits everyone. We are sure other people will follow suit, and why not? Look at it this way. New avenues of employment are generated, several unemployed persons will get employment. Have positive attitude.

The irony is, after exposure of scams and delays in our Common Wealth Games, Mr. M.S.Gill, along with our Prime Minister none less, is given responsibility of overseeing the working of the games which are to be held soon. This is a nice beginning: “you look after my house I look after your games.” I, for one, would love such an opportunity. But chances are nil, no harm in dreaming though.

Politically incorrect-Kaun banega Scampati

2010-08-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is the age of TV and computers. Eons ago it started with Stone Age, then Iron Age and then probably Plastic age. Now currently TV is in vogue. An average person with regular working hours spends four to five hours watching TV in a day. We have a choice of so many different shows that it is difficult to mention them all here. One of the popular subjects happens to be that of Quiz. In quiz programs also there are several variations, but let us not get into them. For the present, we will stick to “Kaun banega crorepati”, in which one question is asked on TV with three-four options in reply. If you SMS your reply correctly, you get a chance to play the game live on TV in Mr. Bachchan’s darbar. Here you are asked questions one by one by Mr. Bacchan in his inimitable style and you keep on winning higher amounts with your correct answers and the final reward is Rs. one crore, hence the title “Kaun banega crorepati”.

Now, this also happens to be the age of scams. You open any paper in the morning and you will find not one or two, but several scams perpetrated by ordinary and not so ordinary people. Just so you get an idea-Madhu Koda scam, Satyam scam, Lalu’s fodder scam, Mayawati’s Taj Corridor scam, mining scams, housing scams, the list is endless. You name it, we have it. But the latest is the Common Wealth Games scam. It is the current flavor of the season.

So we thought, why not a quiz on scams on TV? Questions asked will be about scams only. You don’t have to work your way to death as in open general knowledge quiz. Here is a subject with one thing to focus on-scams-, just like history, geography, psychology, one target. One question will be asked on TV with three options, for example:
“What was the amount involved in Madhu Koda scam? Your options are a) 4000 crores b) 2000 crores and c) 1000 crores.” The one, whose answer is quickest and correct, will continue with further questions.

And here is the master stroke. You will not get your bumper prize in cash if all your replies are correct. The bumper prize will be: you will be made a member of the organizing committee of the Common Wealth Games and that too in the department of your choice. Exciting, isn’t it? In previously announced prize, you get one crore at the most and the game is over. In this game, you get entry into several departments of the Common Wealth Games like sports equipments, transport, housing, catering, uniforms, gifts, medals, roads, the choice is yours. The game is scam, you scam as much as you want. There are thousands of crores to scam at your disposal. No questions asked. It all depends on your aptitude and intelligence. How is this quiz for a change? So, get set and go.

Indian politics-Burning Gujarat

2010-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Gujarat is burning, thanks to Mr. Modi. In his over enthusiasm of vibrant Gujarat, Modi has shaken and burnt Gujarat. Gujaratis, as a rule, are industrious and peaceful community, not prone to violence, but not our dear Mr. Modi. Apart from Sohrabuddin, Kausarbi and Prajapati, there are many skeletons in his cupboard.

Modi’s latest claim that the transfer of Sohrabuddin encounter case outside Gujarat is an insult to Gujarat judiciary, is dismissed by Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi as a ‘drama’, and rightly so. His chief right hand, left hand and what not, Amit Shah, whom he (Modi) had given a free hand, believed in removing (eliminating?) people who caused inconvenience. Now it turns out that several ministers were involved in extortion rackets, including Mr. Shah. One Mohammad Azam has claimed that ex-home minister Mr. Kataria had taken Rs. Ten crores from a marble trader to eliminate Sohrabuddin. Why? Sohrabuddin collected ransom for Amit and now caused inconvenience. So he was the first to go. Next, Kausarbi was picked up with Sohrabuddin, hence her existence was inconvenient. She went next. Then Prajapati was witness to the couple’s arrest and was the last inconvenience in this particular episode. He was eliminated and they thought the slate was clean. Now Azam too fears for his life. Right from Gujarat riots (worst in history), to this Sohrabuddin murder, Modi has dirtied his hands. His guilt of involvement is almost proved.

Yet, Modi is having a field day. How does he continue in the post is a million Dollar question and shame to our nation. However, I will give this to Mr. Modi. He has firmly stood behind Amit Shah, claiming his innocence, no matter what. Unlike Mr. Sharad Pawar, who backed Lalit initially when the going was good, but left Lalit high and dry at first sign of trouble, when warned by Congress. Not our Mr. Modi. Now the only thing left to be done by Mr. Modi is to accompany Amit Shah in jail on matter of principle.

That also reminds me that a few years back Mr. Modi considered himself a candidate for the Prime minister’s post. BJP too had him in mind and almost declared him a candidate. Had Mr. Advani, with his one leg in the morgue had not interfered, for he himself was yearning for the post, Modi might as well have. I shudder to think if the likes of Modis and Mayawatis enter the fray, God help our country, that is, if HE can.

Mera Bharat Mahan ...

2010-08-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

Mera Bharat mahan, 100 me se 99 beiman

I am not happy to say the above, but it is reality. India could have been developed country by now if our politicians and bureaucrats have not been corrupt and dishonest.

Though I am writing all this out of my frozen turbulence, I would like to pinpoint the exact problem and the solution for the problem.

The government of India has spent thousands of crores of rupees in many five year plans and other projects since independence for the common man and welfare of the people of India. But hardly 10% of this money has been actually used for the purpose it was meant for and rest went into the pockets of bureaucrats and politicians. If you add all this money and divide it by the no. of people below poverty line then each family could have been given Rs.5 lakhs and if this money have been kept on their name in a fixed deposit they would have received Rs.5000 as monthly interest and there would have been no poor in India.

No government work in India is done without corruption. Politicians and bureaucrats can behave as king (I always tell India does not have democracy but dynasty rule where it has many kings in form of politicians and bureaucrats). All this is possible because we have FAULTY SYSTEM of governance, laws and rules which can work only if office bearers are honest. So we need to change rules, laws so that accountability, time frame to complete work, punishment etc. gets well defined and described in each law and rule.And monitoring and punishment power to be given to the people for which the work is carried out.

Now the problem is power to change the system lies in the hand of these kings and and they will never change it because if they do so their income coming from corruption will stop and they will get punishment. So we all common man, NGO, media should focus only on demanding ‘SYSTEM CHANGE ‘, rather than doing patch work for each problem.

Media, NGOs and people together can highlight this and built great pressure on the government to change the system.

SOLUTION TO ALL PROBLEMS can be as follows :-

1) Media should never publish statements of politicians (there job is to lie continuously) on front page if it is not useful to common man. If they think it is important, they should publish it in inside page. At the same time any actual work done for the betterment of the people should be published on front page.

2) NGOs are doing good charity work but what they do is take donation from us, say for education, and give education to poor children. But each of us have already paid for this through government taxes. So focus of NGO should be to find out where that money has gone? E.g. on government papers expenses may be shown for building a school, repairing a school, paying salary to teacher but if you actually go there and check there will be no school or teacher. They can use RTI (right to information act) and take help of media to highlight this. Let the money we have already paid, go to right place.

I would also like to tell you that Britishers were doing administration honestly and intelligently. Take example of Mumbai city we are still using infrastructure which they have built (like railway line, drainage system, water pipeline), 100 years ago. Compare their honesty, vision with our politicians and bureaucrats. Our politicians and bureaucrats just have very high ego, they do only those work which pays them ransom (not bribe) and that (the work) too of poor quality. And they are not accountable or punishable because of faulty system.

3) People should demand and support SYSTEM CHANGE in all possible ways.

Hence it is my request to all of you on this independence day to pass on this to as many people as you can and raise your voice for SYSTEM CHANGE to really make Mera Bharat Mahan.

Politically incorrect-Dog's life

2010-08-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

The latest news or no news is: “Model detained after her pet urinates in the building. Model Rupali Suri is alleged to have been detained like a criminal.” So far so good.

Till now I was under the impression, may be I am wrong, that this pet creating such mischief business was being looked after by BMC. The police who are quite famous for not doing their duty now appear willing to accept this additional burden. BMC people must be relieved.

As the sequence of events go first, Miss Suri’s dog, Don, makes a puddle on the stairs of their residential building. It’s a residential building mind it, not a public property. Next, Miss Suri, as she should, wipes it clean with a disinfectant. I believe, as a man of common sense, that the matter should have ended there. But the thinking of police totally differs from mine. About an hour after the incident occurred, two police officials came and took Miss Suri to the police station. If you are robbed, the police are known to arrive after three hours, if a dog makes a puddle, they will reach pronto.

Anyway, Suri was made to wait and questioned for three hours. May be they were after information as to the size and shape of the puddle, its quantity, chemical formation etc. for reference. After that Suri was fined Rs. Twelve hundred for the crime she had not committed and to cap it all, the receipt did not specify what she had been charged for. The police said she had been fined under BMC act and not the police act. Now, the BMC act clearly states that in such cases if the owner of the pet clears the mess, he or she is not fined.

Here is the irony: if a human being makes a mess, and he is entitled to make a mess on road, walls, tracks, in fact where ever he wishes to, he is not fined, and goes scot-free. But a pet is expected to behave sensibly or is fined twelve hundred Rupees. Consider this, that a dog is more sensible, more disciplined and so it is expected to maintain some decorum or else is punished. A human being, on the other hand, is considered lesser then a dog and as such is not expected to maintain a dog’s standards, is pitied upon and allowed to spray walls or whichever place he fancies. He is not a dog after all.

Indian politics-Wild life photography

2010-08-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

I bow my head to the technology in its modern form, specially, camera footage in its frozen form. For, it denies opportunity to the perpetrator of an act later, in this instance, an ugly act like that of congress woman, Jyoti Kumari.

The photographer of Hindustan Times should be rewarded- no, he should be awarded- for the freeze photo of Gamla (flower pot) throwing Jyoti Kumari. In this photograph, words are not required, the expressions on her face say it all. I will not expect such wild facial features on the face of even a Shaki Kapoor, leave alone a lady. The expressions on Jyoti Kumari are those of a wild animal fully aware that the prey is weak and not going to be able to defend itself, in this case security guards of the assembly, poor creatures. The ferocity on her face alone should fetch the photographer an international award. Sure of her ground, she was breaking pot after pot and I suspect that she was screaming her head and thumping her chest like Tarzan, though I am not sure. But of course, one should not forget that it was Lalu’s Bihar. Anything can happen there. It is fortunate that she didn’t carry one of those pots inside the house and break it on the speaker’s head. Expressions on her face suggested that she was capable of doing just that. Form now on, helmets will be mandatory in the house.

Later, on CNN-IBN, she explained that her act of throwing those gamlas was in her own defense, never bothering to declare against what or whom. But what can one expect from a State in which Lalu’s brother or his brother-in-law, compelled an entire train to be shifted to the platform on which His Highness was standing ignoring that schedules of several trains would be affected and thousands of passengers would suffer. What is worse was Lalu’s reaction: “Such small things happen. It is nothing. He is in power. Kahe nahin karega bhai. (why shouldn’t he do it).” Well so another small thing has happened, courtesy Jyoti Kumari.

On a lighter note, I wonder if our respected lady Robin Hood Jyoti Kumari is married and has children. I pity her husband and children, for they must always remain alert and keep themselves out of her range lest she throws flower pots at the drop of a hat at jet set speed.

Finally and jokes apart, in all seriousness I bow my humble head to the photographer for that excellent wild life image.

Politically incorrect-Terrorism diversified

2010-08-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

Pakistan is playing with India like a cat plays with a mouse. That Pakistan is not interested in peace prevailing between the two nations is obvious. But still India prefers to play in their hands. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi equated our Home secretary with Hafiz Sayeed, the dreaded terrorist. Our Mr. Krishna could say nothing in response. It is apparent that Pakistan is going through the motions because of the pressure from the US.

Now it appears that Pakistan have found new ways and means to infiltrate information and recruit terrorists in India, in which even US can’t do anything. One of our lady IFS officers, by the name of Madhuri Gupta, spied for Pakistan for love. It is said and truly at that, that love knows no boundaries. Miss Gupta, an Indian, wanted to marry one Jamshed, her handler. And so she spied for him. While Gupta was lovelorn, Jamshed remained Jamshed, that is, just her handler. It is quite apparent that Jamshed was using her. This is also a kind of infiltration, only more dangerous. One Madhuri caught? Never mind, they will find others.

Next, one Hindu boy by the name of Subhash from Rajna village, has been converted into a Muslim and is renamed Wasim who has become a dreaded terrorist. It is said that this Subhash fellow fell in love with a Muslim girl much like Miss Gupta fell for a Muslim man. Hizb-UL-Mujahideen promptly saw opportunity and asked the boy to convert and join them, if he wants to set eyes on his lady love ever again. Subhash converted, joined them and turned against his own people and terrorized them. His fate, so far as his love and marriage is concerned, is not known. What is known is that his dread is more then those of Pakistani terrorists. So Pakistan has found yet another method of recruiting people. This suits them because earlier, they risked lives of their own people, now our people do their job for them.

While India believes in the policy of peace and negotiations, Pakistan continues to do what it wants to do only their modus operandi is different.

Celebrity news-Sachin's blood in a book

2010-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

“For Rs. 35 lakhs (75000 US$) get a book with Sachin’s (Tendulkar) blood on a page” scream news paper headlines. The titanic book weighs 37 kgs and has 852 pages in all. Titled Tendulkar Opus, it will have a ‘signature page’ with Tendulkar’s blood mixed with paper pulp. At a rough guess one page amounts to $ 88. Good business that.

It is rumored that ten people have already booked the mammoth edition. However it is not mentioned that those who deposited Rs. 35 lakh each are Indians or foreign nationals. However, this proves a universal point: “Fools are found everywhere.”

But let me make a guess. It is unlikely that any Indian would have bought the book, unless, of course, he is Vijay Mallaya or his ilk. It is unlikely that Reliance bros. would be interested. They are too smart for that. But suppose some Indian decides to have a copy, there is every chance that income tax people will go after him with a magnifying glass.

Anyway, that is for the super rich. But the publishers have not neglected us. For lesser mortals who are not so rich, but are rich enough to make fools of themselves, there will be an edition costing $2000 to $ 3000 a piece, and that, if your calculation is not up to the mark, let me tell you, will be around Rs. 1 lakh plus. I can’t afford that. Can you?

Let us forget ethics for the moment. What next? Tendulkar’s nails, both fingers’ and toes’ or hair from his body from which ever part you fancy, duly packed in sealed and temper proof packing, just like RBI issues proof coins in packing which can’t be pilfered and can be maintained for years to come.

Octopus Paul

2010-07-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

Our dear octopus Paul has done it again. Paul’s predictions through out the Foot ball World Cup turned out to be correct. In finals also, Paul’s prediction in favor of Spain was precise. Spain won. The sad part is that the Germans have declared Fatwa against the octopus and if the news is to be believed, they want to kill the genius. The fact of the matter is that Germans could not tackle the opponent team and want to take out their vent on the poor creature.

Our great country has a great tradition of giving great shelter to great and not so great souls in trouble, from time immemorial. Right from the early civilization when Lord Rama gave shelter to Vibhishana against Ravana’s wrath, to recent times when we are giving shelter to Taslima Nasreen of Bangladesh and many more in between. Now be a good sport and don’t ask why we could not protect or give shelter to our very own M.F. Hussain against radical elements and their Fatwas. The issue is politically complicated. Moreover, we have a tradition of giving shelters to outsiders and VIPs, insiders (our own nationals) and ordinary people, be damned.

However we have deviated form the point. We don’t know the present whereabouts of this phenomenon creature. We say phenomenon because we feel that in a manner, this Paul is superior to Nostradamus, the greatest future predictor of all times. Nostradamus predicted events to occur four hundred, five hundred years hence. A safe bet, I would say. Our dear octopus Paul predicts immediate future, within hours or days, easier to catch hold of him if he is wrong. So we can offer asylum to the octopus in our safe heaven against the German threat. But, we in India, have a tradition. If a snake is injured or killed, its lady snake follows the killer and takes revenge. I wonder if our dear octopus Paul has any beloved, Paulina in waiting. In this context I would certainly like to warn the Germans, of what would lie in store in waiting for them, should they still decide to harm innocent Mr. Paul. Let us be fair to opponents also.

Current affairs-High court's judgement

2010-07-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

The Bombay High Court has dismissed the petition filed by Adhishree, a class nine student against Vibgyor High school. The school had expelled her because her parents protested against a fee hike last year. And that too, after collecting fee from the student, a whopping Rs. 80000/-, quite arbitrary on part of the school, to say the least.

The High Court declared that the trauma and stress the child had suffered will only increase if she is readmitted to the same school. The decision has been taken in the interest of the student. The High Court further ordered that no school will reject the child’s application on the ground of delay. To which one of the trustees of the school Rustam Kerawala responded that there will be ambience at the school for all students and the verdict of the court was in the interest of the child and all other students.

What Rustomjee really meant was that the judgment was in the interest of ‘this’ and all other schools which wanted to act arbitrarily. One Arundhati Chavan, president, PTA United Forum rightly observed: “It is the end of the road for parents who want to raise a voice against the wrongdoings of the school managements.” As it is, there is very little say of the parents in the working of not only this, but any school, for that matter.

This article is not to say that the sentiments of the court are not right. They are fair and just, but only the sentiments, not the judgment. This decision to get the child admitted to another school should have been the decision of the child’s parents, not the court. The court should have continued the case against the school, considered all round sentiments of parents and the public and then given its decision. This decision of the court to get the child admitted elsewhere is pure and simple injustice. The court should reconsider the decision in the interest of, not only students of this particular school, but students and parents of all other schools as well.

Political views-Nationwide strike on 5th July

2010-07-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

The BJP-Shive Sena called strike on 5th July, Monday, was successful, that is successful for politicians, not ordinary people, ‘aam admi’ as they call them. I truly wonder if even ten percent of people and politicians alike, who called the Bandh and participated actively in it, understand mathematics of price rise or basics of petrol prices. I for one, don’t.

That is not to say that I support price rise. I too am affected by it. The point I want to drive home is, these people did not call the strike for the benefit of general public. Ordinary, law abiding citizens won’t benefit from it. They called this strike for their own purposes. From the Media showing news on several channels, it was apparent that none of the politicians was serious. I suspect if they knew or even cared for the gravity of this strike or price rise itself. They were laughing and calibrating as if this was some occasion to celebrate.

In one channel I saw Nitin Gadkari with his bloated, balloon like face addressing people about price rise. He was smiling ear to ear. Does it appear that the price rise has affected him? None of these so called well wishers of aam adami is affected by rising prices. Those who are affected, are further affected by this Bandh.

My contention is, let people deal with it. Let them show their displeasure en masse. After all, they dealt with the wrong judgment in Jessica Lall and SPS Rathod’s case, and successfully at that. None of these politicians showed their displeasure at those judgments or injustice meted out to the victims, leave alone declare a strike. People dealt with them and with striking triumph. If the likes of Mr. Gadkari, Mr. Advani and party are really worried about the woes of aam adami, let them sit on hunger strike against price rise and shed some kilos from their bulging bodies. This, I am sure will benefit both- aam adami and politicians. What say?

Politically incorrect-Pawarspeak

2010-07-21T05:03:00.000-07:00

“I will discuss with the Prime Minister about my responsibilities….. I may suggest having more hands to help me. I had asked for three more ministers but they have given me one.” Thus spake our honorable minister Sharad Pawar.

This is Pawar’s response to various all round criticism against his posting as the ICC chief. Now the surprising factor is, his own statement above suggests that so far, for all this time he was not aware of his responsibilities as Agriculture Minister. The Prime Minister will have to spell them out. Like when an employer employs a new employee, he (employer) outlines the employee his duties. So far Mr. Pawar was waiting for our Prime Minister to allot him his duties. Result? Price rise and total chaos in agriculture and food sector.

As if that was not enough, he is now appointed as chief of ICC. I always thought Pawar is thick skinned. I am positive now. If and when our Prime Minister outlines his responsibilities, Pawar does not say he will carry them out. He says he will suggest having more ministers under him. Yes, quite right, the number of the helping hands he will ask for, depends on the quantum of work he is asked to do. You, by any chance, do not expect him to work himself, do you?

Meanwhile, our dear Agriculture Minister has many a mile to go and many a mountains to scale. Now that he is in BCCI and ICC on top of being a minister, it is but natural that he expands his sphere. Why, there is football to capture as the sport is gaining ground next to cricket. Then there is hockey to look at, as KPS Gill is unable to do much, if anything for the game. And hockey being our national game, it may require Pawar’s immediate attention. Of course, next in line is shooting. Now that Bindra has shown us some hope, all that the game needs is Pawar’s push. And how on earth can he ignore badminton? Since Saina Nehwal has given us three consecutive wins, it is only fair Pawar gives the game due attention it deserves. Where do agriculture and food stand in the big picture? So much to do and no helping hands? ‘Bahut na insaafi hai.’

Politically incorrect-The Name game

2010-07-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

So, Mayawati has changed the name of Amethi, Gandhis’ constituency and strong hold, to Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, a dalit icon. It doesn’t matter that few, if any, outside Maharashtra know who Sahuji Maharaj was.

It appears that Lady Mayawati is done with the game of her statues. Little did she realize that the game of statues had limited shelf life and even more limited attention span, so she started a new game of changing names, those of places. This game, she probably thought, had unlimited time span, if the game is not limited to changing names of places only. It has a much wider scope if Mayawati uses her imagination.

Presently, she has changed the name of Amethi to Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj. What next? Plenty, if you ask me. To make this game more interesting, she can change the name of Delhi to Shahjahanabad. The Delhi administration may not agree. But, never mind. Mayawati can always pass state resolution that as far as U.P. was concerned, Delhi, hence forth shall be known as Shahjahanabad, for all intent and purpose.

To widen the game’s scope, she can change her own name from Mayawati to Mamata Banerjee and that of Mamata to Mayawati as far as the state of U.P. was concerned, though Mamatadidi may not agree. To take it further, Manmohan Singh shall be called L.K.Advani and vice versa in U.P. Make it more adventurous. Osama bin Laden, henceforth, shall be known as Barak Obama and Barak Obama as Osama Bin Laden. Don’t bother if those concerned do not agree, she can always pass state resolution.

The game is fun and the scope is endless. One can go as far as one’s imagination goes. One question though, if Her Ladyship decides to change the name of her state or of the country itself, what shall it be?

Any guesses? How about Mayanagari and Mayadesh?

Current Affairs-Full time job

2010-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sharad Pawar takes over as ICC chief, as reported in news papers. Good, no, rather excellent. Congratulations to Pawar. In this otherwise pleasant outcome, the only unpleasant aspect is the statement of Malcom Speed, to the effect that Sharad Pawar is the Minister of Agriculture which is a serious full time job, that he will be working part-time as ICC President and that he knows little about cricket administration.

The last part of the statement that Pawar knows little about cricket administration is significant. It shows how ignorant Speed is with Pawar’s ways. The counter question Pawar may ask is ‘what is there to know about cricket administration? It is same as any other administration like agriculture, NCP, Mumbai cricket, BCCI, you name it. You simply attend meetings, celebrations, support Modi and travel wherever the game goes.’ Right, Mr. Pawar, for administrative work, there are always lackeys. The trick is to know when to wash your hands off Modi.

Sharad Pawar, the sugar baron, NCP chief and now ICC chief laughs at Speed’s innocence. He knows nothing about agriculture, little about cricket, and very little about international cricket, except watch it, if that. But look here Mr. Speed, he is on top in all the fields of his choice. You think Mr. Speed that Pawar made his millions by working as a minister or a sports chief? You are naïve. His time is spent on flying here, there, and where. Yes, making sure that his kin and relatives get profitable portfolios and keeping adversaries at bay is a full time job.

Then how does he manage NCP, agriculture, BCCI and now ICC. Elementary, my dear Mr. Speed, quite elementary. Manipulation and that too, is more than a full time job.

Politically incorrect-Self obsessed KRK

2010-07-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

The previous article on Lalit Modi reminds me of yet another character, Kamal Rashid Khan, a small time actor, who thinks he is Clint Eastwood of the modern times. He calls himself KRK, walking on the foot-prints of Shah Rukh Khan, who is called SRK. The only difference apart from physical appearance is that in the case of Shah Rukh, media has put the tag of SRK, whereas Kamal Khan has opted to declare himself as KRK. At times it appears from his behavior that he is more talented than SRK, Amitabh and Aamir khan, all put together and has better physique then Salman and Hritik. He has never seen his face and physique properly in the mirror. Now, imagine his face without his neck and trunk. It is small and round. Draw three-four big black lines on his upper lip. You have a face of a cat, not a human.

This great Kamal Rashid Khan a.k.a. KRK famously declared on a TV show he was participating in, that other participants were jealous of him because he was so rich that ‘his water comes from France and milk comes from Spain.’ KRK forgot to declare where his food comes from. And what about air which he breaths? Air in India is supposed to be most contaminated. I suppose he gets it from Mount Kilimanjaro.

I keep wondering about his other daily needs. He should bath in Japan (Japanese baths are famous), to relieve himself he should grace the desert land of Dubai and one would imagine him squatting in Alps. The fact is that the great Kamal Rashid Khan a.k.a. KRK is a self obsessed, narcissist. People of Lucknow or Delhi wherever he stays, should kick his butt and throw him to the wolves. But, here too, he would prefer an American kick, I suppose.

Celebrity news-Maharaja Modi

2010-07-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

The news that our highly respected Sri Lalit Modi spent Rs. Forty lakhs on taxi bills during IPL.3 season, amounting to almost Rs. one lakh a day. Not much and not unexpected, if you consider the status of His Highness. His Lordship used B.M.W. and Mercedes Benz of certain class only. If news is to be believed, on one occasion, Modi went to Dharamshala by air and his car was sent ahead from Delhi to meet him at the airport. On another occasion, his car was sent from Hyderabad to Nagpur which took him to the stadium merely ten minutes drive away. We should thank our stars that His Highness did not ‘air lift’ his preferred cars where ever he went.

What do you expect from a man who, when barely in his teens was involved in kidnapping and drugs, that too on foreign land, and who married a woman who was his mother’s friend and more then a decade older then him? It speaks volumes for his character. A friend remarked: “He was saved because of the Modi empire tag. Left on his own, no body will employ him even as a watch man of a building.” Right, we got the picture.

This Modi episode reminds me of a book titled “Maharaja” written by Diwan Germaidas, years back. Diwan Germaidas, as the name suggests, was a Diwan of a Maharaja of an erstwhile princely state. He was witness to the habits and whims of several Rajas and Nawabs, he came into contact with, including his own Maharaja. Some were fond of collecting Rolls Roy cars, some wanted beautiful women in their Harem, some got their favorite fruits flown in daily from foreign countries, some spent astronomical sums on their pets’ weddings, some were legendary misers and some were generous to a fault.

Our Modi Maharaja chap is like them. He likes to travel in style, only in B.M.W. and Mercedes Benz. Never mind his personal class. He likes to travel in style, stay in style, of course, at the expense of the BCCI, not his own.

As they say: “Shaukh hon to Modi jaise hon,varna na hon.” (If you have habits, have them like Modi or don’t have them). AMEN.

Politically incorrect-Rest everything

2010-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

One little boy of around six presented a self made birth day greeting card to his Papa. Papa was very happy. Impressed, he asked: “How nice. You made it yourself?”

The kid: “Yes, Papa.”

Papa: “Thank you, son. This outline of the sky and cloud is beautiful. You drew it?”

The kid: “Mummy did it for me. Rest of the things I have done.”

Papa: “This ‘happy birth day’ is written very artistically. Did you write it?”

The kid: “Actually Rohan wrote it, but, rest of the things are done by me.”

Papa: “Fine, fine. I notice that the colors are done evenly. You did them, I suppose?”

The kid: “Didi did the coloring for me. I have done the rest.”

Papa: “And this message is so thoughtful. You thought of it?”

The kid: “Errr…. Papa, Manasi thought it for me, but the rest…………..”

Papa didn’t have the heart to ask the kid what remained in ‘rest’. Similar is the case with our B.M.C.

Public: “These Nullas are always full. Do you get them cleaned by employees of you own department?”

B.M.C.: “No, we have given this contract to a company to clean them. Rest of the things we do.”

Public: “Do your own supervisors supervise the cleaning process?”

B.M.C.: “Not really. We have outsourced this to a supervising firm. Rest of the work we do.”

Public: “What about the potholes? Did your own engineers lay these roads themselves?”

B.M.C.: “Actually we have given this contract to a very reputed company who are expert at this kind of things.”

Public: “But potholes are everywhere. Do your own people supervise?”

B.M.C.: “You see, it is cheaper to give supervising contract to outsiders. Rest of the things we manage ourselves.”

Public: “There are slums on B.M.C. land everywhere. Who will remove them?”

B.M.C.: “We have outsourced this work to people who were themselves land grabbers once. They are absolutely fit for this job. But believe us, rest of the things we do.”

Public: “And what are these rest of the things supposed to be?”

SILENCE.

I have the answer. They merely line their pockets. It’s a full time job.

Politically incorrect-Naturally

2010-06-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

According to our Finance minister, Sri Pranab Mukerjee, now that the issue of extradition (of Warren Anderson of Union Carbide) has come up, naturally he will explore the possibility of it (extradition)”. Hindustan Times dt. 14th June 2010, reference Bhopal Gas tragedy.

‘Naturally’ is the key word here and that too used quite casually. ‘Naturally’ the government is waking up after more then twenty five years of the tragedy. ‘Naturally’ the government is yet on the discussion stage of the issue. ‘Naturally’ a group of ministers is formed to find ways and means to compensate the victims. ‘Naturally’ the exploration of the process of extradition will last another twenty five years and by that time the government will ‘naturally’ expect Warren Anderson to have migrated to another planet, God knows heaven or hell.

Since we do not have any extradition treaty with either heaven or hell, the government will ‘naturally’ explore ways to get Anderson back from high above. And that will be the day.

The government let Anderson slip away or helped him flee our country. All successive governments slept on the issue for twenty five long years. It is only after mockery of a judgment was announced and there was a huge public outrage that the government is exploring ways means to punish the guilty. How very noble. ‘Naturally’, it is clear that all governments find lives of one Manu Sharma, one Koda and one Rathod more precious than fifteen thousand lives or deaths and lacs suffering, both born and unborn. It comes ‘naturally’ to the government.

Current affairs-Art of Love

2010-06-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Our very senior politician, one time aspirant of Prime Minister’s post, Sri N.K. Tiwari had to resign because of his sexual escapades. In this otherwise sad episode lies a boon in disguise. Tiwari, at 84 (or is it 85?) may not have lost his libido, but has certainly lost his mental prowess, otherwise he would have seen three opportunities in this sordid affair.

First- A certain God man in our country teaches ‘Art of living’ and has quite a few followers, not only in our country but elsewhere in the world. Tiwari can follow this God man’s foot steps and teach ‘Art of love’. His pearls of wisdom on this subject can fetch him many followers and he can rake in the moolah.

Second- Tiwari can take up modeling. He can be an ideal model for companies manufacturing medicines like Viagra. Here, both manufacturers and Tiwari, missed the bus. The companies manufacturing such drugs should have instantly seen immense opportunity in Tiwari as a model. Who else, but a man of 84, having it out with not one, but two girls, young enough to be his grand daughters, can be a better model for these medicines?

Third- Tiwari may be invited (almost certainly) to other countries for sharing his knowledge and expertise on this subject. He can charge a bomb for every lecture he delivers and make immense wealth. Wasn’t Lalu Prasad invited to disclose his wisdom for running railways? Then again, Ashrams teaching ‘Art of love’, on the lines of ‘Osho’ may not be far away.

Last, Even the God of love (Kamdev) may feel ashamed of himself and seek Tiwari’s advice on the subject for new tricks. Other Gods like Indra may make him their Guru and may want to learn why and how the law of ‘diminishing libido with age’, does not effect him.

There, inadvertently, I have shown him one more opportunity.

Political views-Sena awards

2010-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Not so long time ago, Shiv Sena was after Sachin Tendulkar’s blood for having said that he was an Indian first and Maharashtrian next and rightly so. These were simple words of a simple person having no interest in anything other then cricket, least of all politics. But the failing Sena these days tries to gain mileage from any and every thing.

This same Sena, upon Tendulkar having scored a double ton in a one day game, declared him a Bharat Ratna. Sena is after the government to confer Bharat Ratna on Tendulkar.

In fact, Sena is not at all concerned whether Tendulkar or anybody else for that matter, has Nationalist leanings or communal ones, whether Tendulkar scores a ton or a big zero. All it is trying to do is to remain in lime light and failing miserably. Even Maharashtrians are not impressed. Sena has failed to arouse interest of the local people and most of them are against Sena’s antics.

Here is a little suggestion. Sena should declare its own awards. That way, it will not have to depend on local or central government where awards are concerned. It has another advantage. If Sena is not happy with some one or let us say, if someone does not toe the line, Sena is free to bash him as is its wont. Next, if and when the same person achieves some thing, Sena can quickly award him with its own award. That way Sena may gain some ground.

How is that for a start?

Politically incorrect-Modigate

2010-06-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

We have been reading about IPL scam in various news papers for the past several days. It is interesting to note that these papers are naming these articles on IPL on the basis of Watergate scam in the United States. Some articles are titled Kochigate, some are IPLgate and some Tharoorgate. Finally IPLgate is more or less an accepted term. I wonder why.

While it is interesting to come across all these titles with suffix “gate” and while all the articles singularly blame Lalit Modi for this huge scandal, it is disheartening to note that nobody has thought of the scam as “Modigate”. I think it is insulting to Lalit Modi. It is an accepted fact that IPL is Modi’s brainchild. He made a success of it. It is also an accepted fact that he never consulted anybody on any decision, major or minor. He ran IPL as his personal fiefdom. Modi is bigger then the game itself, or so he thought. Why then any gate other then Modigate. At least, let’s give the poor fellow his due.

Modi is no stranger to controversies. Right from his student days he is involved in one or the other. He takes them into his stride and rides on them. May be he even enjoys them. So he deserves all the credit for this episode for which he has worked so hard, involved so many relatives, managed to get support of stalwarts like Sharad Pawar and I. S. Bindra. Let it be Modigate.

Celebrity news-His name is Khan

2010-03-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Shah Rukh has that boyish charm even at this age. He has tremendous energy which few people are blessed with. I don’t like to watch his movies. I think they are over emotional. But as a person I really like him. In an industry where one can survive without some body’s help, he has come up on his own steam without having any God father. Another thing I admire is his rock solid marriage. In film industry, relationships are formed and broken at the drop of a hat, Shah Rukh’s family life is solid. Not a whiff of a scandal. Quite admirable.

Shah Rukh, I thought, is a little arrogant. His comment somewhere that other actors were good, rather very good, but he was a little better then them, was, I thought, a bit narcissist. May be it was self confidence. He has a mass fan following and what is more, he knows it. So far I liked him but I never knew he has high moral values and guts to stand firmly for what he believes in. I now respect him for the stand he took against Shiv Sena. Where other stalwarts of the industry tumbled like a pack of cards, Shah Rukh stood his ground against threats from Shiv Sena, for what he believes in. Yes, he was sad and he was tired but not intimidated. He didn’t rush to Bala Saheb’s office for compromise to save his film. It is sad that no one, not a single person from his own industry openly stood with him. He faced the crisis all alone and came victorious.

Again, more appreciable, Shah Rukh apologized to his producer, Karan Johar for the mess and even offered to compensate him for his financial losses. And this is where he scored with me. How many actors can boast of this high moral standard? Not a single name comes to my mind. Earlier, I just liked him, now I respect him. He has what it takes.

He is a true Khan – his name is Khan.

Politically incorrect-Sharad Pawar

2010-03-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Our politicians are known to stoop to any extent in order to retain their chair and power. But no body ever expected Sharad Pawar, a man of stature and status to stoop so low as to invite and support Padamsinh Patil, suspended from his party’s primary membership following his arrest in a murder case. Pawar openly supported Padamsinh and appealed to people to support him.

Earlier, Pawar had visited Bala Saheb to request him to allow Australian cricketers to play in Mumbai. It may have been Pawar’s political strategy, but it didn’t go well with Congress or with public at large. What is more, it is reported that Bala Saheb had gall enough to tell Pawar to send him a request letter and he would consider the matter as if Pawar was applying for some loan for Thackery’s consideration. Does Pawar accept that Mumbai is Bala Saheb’s fiefdom?

Pawar should know that he is failing. Once a man, nobody dared to cross whose path, today, he appears to be failing what with his moves, food price rising and other things.

What next? I won’t be surprised if tomorrow he asks Ajmal Kasab for support. After all, both Padamsinh and Kasab are charged with murders. Only difference being, the former has killed one person and the later has to account for several lives. But that should be no big deal with Pawar. After all, it is said that one should always have second line of action.

Crime-Poetic justice

2010-03-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

According to one report in newspaper Gujarat Samachar of 20th Feb., Dawood Ibrahim, the noted gangster, has to pay protection money to extremist religious organizations for his own protection in Pakistan. What an idea sirji.

If the report is true, strange as it may sound, Dawood, that underworld don, who threatened and collected protection money from builders, traders, stars industrialists and others, has to pay for his own safety. This underworld goon, who has never lifted a finger in his life to make money and yet rolls in millions by just threatening and eliminating people, is helpless before fanatics. Pakistan, it seems, is not his safe heaven any more. He seems to be afraid that Pakistan will have to hand him over to India under international pressure. Since religious fanatics are very powerful in Pakistan and can influence government decisions, Dawood is paying these religious hardliners in millions to ensure his safe keep in Pakistan. I find it quite amusing. It is called poetic justice.

It is said that your deeds come back to you to haunt. You get paid for your deeds, good or bad, in this life itself.

On another line and on a lighter note, Dawood is needlessly worried about being extradited to India. Kasab has so far survived in India, hasn’t he? Kasab is illiterate, poor and a stranger in our country, and is still enjoying our hospitality. Dawood, on the other hand, has millions, along with many relatives to back him. He is sure to survive in India by paying one tenth of what he is paying to those fanatics, to our politicians and law keepers. Rather, he would be safer in India. Welcome Dawood.

Political views-Madhu Koda

2010-02-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ex-chief minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda has gone on record to declare that he is a poor tribal being unnecessarily harassed by the authority.

Rightly so. His counter part, ex-chief minister of Bihar, our very own Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav was involved in the fodder scam of Rupees nine hundred crores. That was years back. Considering the inflation since, this scam of four thousand crores is nothing. So Koda considers himself poor.

On top of this, authorities are keen to make him face economic offence directorate for questioning. How inconsiderate? He has two solid reasons not to face the enquiry. One, as soon as he was found to have bungled money, he conveniently fell ill. How can you question a person who is not well? Second, his wife is standing in elections. So, he wants to campaign for his wife. It is his solemn duty to stand by his wife. His wife is not involved in any scandal. Ours being a democratic nation, he has every right to help his wife in time of her need, scam or no scam.

In case his wife wins this election, government can make as many enquiries as it likes. Where is the harm? More then half of Koda’s ill-gotten wealth is already safe, invested in foreign countries. If nothing happened to Lalu Yadav, how can anything happen to Madhu Koda? That will be injustice. Even after proved guilty, Lalu enjoys one ministry or the other, so will Koda. More so, because he is a tribal. Even if there is a token trial and a token sentence and even if all his wealth in this country is seized, he can bank upon his investments outside this country when he comes out of prison, that is, if at all he goes to prison, which is unlikely.

In long and short: By all means get involved in scams. But they should be long scams. And in short, invest in foreign shores. You will be as safe as ever. Enjoy your scam.

Celebrity news-Life immortal

2010-02-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

So, Ray Kurzweil has predicted that nanotechnology will allow us to reverse our age and we can live life forever. This target, according to Kurzweil, can be achieved by year 2029. Too close for comfort. Kurzweil, who is considered by Bill Gates as “ the smartest futurist on earth”, has declared that nanotechnology will allow us to be free of all diseases and we will continue to live a healthy and happy life forever.
Now let us consider our very own and beloved Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav opting for nanotechnology. Already, he is blessed with two short of cricket eleven as far as his offspring are concerned and that too without any nanotechnology. With this new technology on his side and with no time limit, he will have as many dozens as he has singles now. The nation may have trouble feeding so many mouths but Lalu will have no such problem with fodder in his pocket.
If, the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai remains as beautiful and desirable with the help of this nanotechnology, the world will topple upside down. It is said that such beauty occurs once in several generations. If Aishwarya Rai retains her beauty through this reverse age technic, it is possible that great great great grandsons of say, Salman Khan or Vivek Oberoi may vie for her hand, instead of someone their own age. This is dangerous and outright amoral.
And in our cherished city of Mumbai, housing societies, instead of accommodating two hundred families in as many flats, will have only one in the entire society with generations of a single family staying together. The societies will not be known as Diamond Complex or Silver Complex etc. They will be known as Kapur Complex and Parekh Complex.
All that is very well, but, where will the food come for so many? Our nation and the entire world for that matter, is struggling with over population. Where will the animals go as we will be occupying all the land and forests? The world will be a fine place with this nanotechnology. So let us, all of us request Mr. Kurzweil to let the world be.

Crime-Dr. Pilani

2010-02-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

One more person, Dr. Pilani, is accused of illegal kidney transplants. According to news in papers, Hindustan Times of 18th Dec., he is supposed to have transplanted two hundred kidneys. Dr. Pilani was arrested in Oct. 2007 for this crime.
Strange are the ways of our councils, whether judicial or medical or any other for that matter. Even after committing and subsequently confessing his crimes, the present status is that, Dr. Pilani is out on bail along with his co-accused. Not only that, he is allowed to practice his profession as a general physician. Initially, his license as a medical practitioner was suspended in Aug. 2008. Later, in July 2009, it was revoked for unknown reasons. Strange indeed, for this Dr. Pilani out on the streets on bail, is more dangerous then any murderer. His act of transplanting kidneys tantamounts to attempted murders, yet, he is free and practicing.
Since Dr. Pilani promised Rs. Five lacs to his victims, it is safe to assume that he must have demanded and got at least four times that amount from his clients. It is a different matter that he paid pittance to his victims. So, at a guess, he must have earned 15 Lacs from each of his two hundred clients. That amounts to cool thirty crores, no less, at the cost of 200 labourers’ lives. God only knows how many of them have survived.
And the good doctor is out on bail, his medical license duly revoked to further his trade with the help of our judicial system and our medical councils. Strange are our ways indeed. Any other country would have put him in gas chamber pronto. But not India. Good luck to Dr. Pilani.

Indian politics-Telangana

2010-02-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

The government had earlier decided to form another state, Telangana, from Andhra Pradesh. Opposition parties were sour and were protesting against this move of the ruling congress party. Now the Congress says ‘no new state in haste.’

All very well for the opposition and coalition partners to protest. They claimed that the Congress did not take them into confidence. But what could the government do? It was helpless against fasting Chandrashekhara who declared fast unto death. How could the government let him die on them? Even while hanging a hardened criminal on noose, the authority asks that person about his last wish and tries solemnly to grant it. This was the last wish of dying Chandrashekhara and he is no hardened criminal. How could the government ignore his last petty wish of a separate state? It is a different matter that he didn’t die. It is a different matter that he is known as an utterly selfish politician who frequently changes parties. So what? It is the duty of the government to fulfill his last wish and it tried to do it. Now if others follow suit and try enacting this drama, so be it.

In long and short, you announce a long fast unto death for your wish to be granted by the government, but your fast will be short as the powers that be will grant your wish, any wish, before long. Rest assured.

Celebrity news-Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari

2010-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari sacrifices a goat daily in order to ward off the “evil eye” and protection from “black magic”. Since 2008, when he moved into presidency, hundreds of poor animals have been sacrificed.

Still, he is in trouble. In fact, more so then earlier, that is, prior to those sacrifices. Poor Zardari, the higher being has not accepted his offerings, so it seems.

Zardari is on the wrong track. To begin with, he should have offered ten percent of the ill-gotten ten percent he collected from every big deal, to the deity he believes in. If that did not work, only then he should have offered sacrifices. But, not of the kind he did. Instead of poor, hapless animals, he should have sacrificed his own limbs and organs one by one on daily basis. For example, one finger each day, then hands and so on. Two things could have happened. By this time, he could have successfully warded off the “evil eye” and gotten protection against “black magic”. Alternatively, he could have sacrificed his whole being and there by getting rid of all worldly miseries.

The result of the second possibility would have been much better. Pakistan, Zardari’s beloved country, would have been better off without Zardari’s own “evil eyes” and “black magic”.

Amen.

Politically incorrect-SPS Rathore

2010-02-16T05:58:00.001-08:00

Our public and our news papers are making hue and cry about the fact that former DGP. S.P.S. Rathore and his wife were smiling shamelessly while coming out of the court. Why shouldn’t they smile? Rathore has achieved so much in life, has been promoted and awarded for his distinguished services, by the government.

But, if you ask me, he has been awarded for all the wrong reasons. Our government has failed to honor him for his other much higher achievements.

First, Rathore successfully molested a fourteen year old girl, rather a child, of his own daughter’s age. Great success.

Second, he succeeded in throwing the girl out of her school for daring to make a police complaint against him.

Third, Rathore managed to threaten and compel Ruchika’s entire family to leave Panchkula and move elsewhere, thereby managing to destroy the family.

Fourth, he succeeded in getting Ruchika’s brother arrested and charged for car thefts that he never committed.

He managed to drive Ruchika to commit suicide.

Last, but not the least and most important: Rathore managed to not only continue in his job, and get promotions and awards, he relentlessly dedicated nineteen years to fight his case ( inspite of the fact that he had other police duties )and came scot-free out of the court.

Rathore’s achievements are greater than any Olympian winning gold medals. But the government has failed to recognize these super heroic deeds.

In long and short: Middle class families like Ruchika’s should be prepared for life time battle to fight the might of rich and influential. If we want justice, persons like Rathore should be given instant reward, by allowing public to lynch them, like some Muslim countries do.

Politically incorrect-Maya's criticism

2009-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

According to a report in Hindustan Times of 18-9-09, Mayawati, Bahujan Samaj party chief, famous for building statues across U. P., has criticized Maharashtra government’s plan to build a massive monument to honor the Maratha warrior king (Shivaji ), off the cost of Mumbai.
According to the report, Mayati spake thus: “ The austerity measures initiated by the Congress led UPA are a drama. Is spending several crores on the Shivaji memorial not misuse of public funds?”
Coming from a person who has built her own statues at the cost of rupees two thousand crores of public fund is rather daring, to say the least. If you ask me, it is a perfect case of pot calling kettle black.
What Mayawati actually meant was that Mumbai has no land for its population. So why waste this short supply of land on statues? U.P. on the other hand, being the biggest state, has ample space which is unused. And Mayawati being Mayawati, all the land she can see is hers. She is the monarch (ess) of all she surveys. May be she thinks she is using this excess land to better use, whereas, there is no land in Maharashtra to waste.
Another point- the warrior of Maharashtra is long gone, but the warrior (ess) of U.P. is still fighting it out with Congress-UPA. And of course, this battle which she is fighting is far more dangerous then what Shivaji fought.
Last but not the least, never mind if the majority of poor in U.P. have no food to eat, by looking at her statue, these people will realize that their saviour is here, still alive, good and proper. So they have hope.
I see children playing one game- STATUE- in which one child calls the other ‘statue’ and the other child freezes midway in whatever action he is doing. The second child de-freezes only when the first child calls ‘over’. I believe someone should play ‘statue’ with Mayawati, take her to a secluded hill, call her ‘statue’ and never call ‘over’. That will save U.P. and our nation a lot of trouble.

Crime-Manu Sharma

2009-12-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Is there a lesson to be learnt in Manu Sharma parole episode? Yes, there is. Don’t enter into any criminal activity if you are not Manu Sharma. If an ordinary mortal like you and me, ever gets into a fight with his neighbor and arrested, God help him. But, if you are Manu Sharma, you can get away with murder. Manu Sharma almost did. He was acquitted in 2003. It was only after tremendous public outcry, Manu got life imprisonment, of course with all possible comforts he would have in his own house.

Life imprisonment? Manu laughs. There is always parole. One month’s parole extended to two months, enjoying night club parties and if he did not have altercations and scuffle with another top lad, his parole would have extended further.

Meanwhile, his ailing mother, reason of his parole, happily moving around in her circles, enjoying her high status and merrily making some public announcements, all under the watchful eyes of the law, always sure of the invincibility of her family.

In short, there is a lesson to be learnt, if you want to indulge yourself in crime, first be rich and influential. How you become rich is not important. Just be rich, be Manu Sharma. End justifies means. Once you do that, once you are Manu Sharma, indulge yourself in any in any activity you like, criminal or otherwise. Every time there won’t be public outcry. And even if there is, you can expect help from top class lawyers, you can expect the trial to linger for life. After years of trial if you are sentenced, there is always parole. If you are Manu Sharma, you can replace yourself with a substitute after sometime. The condition is: you have to be Manu Sharma.

In long and short: The trial is long and punishment is short. So enjoy your crime and shoot whom you like.

Indian politics-Poor tribal

2009-12-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

Politically incorrect-Reliance

2009-09-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday, I came across a poster near my society’s main gate wherein, employees of Anil Ambani have demanded some explanations from their employer. The said poster is in Hindi. The poster claims that Anil has some six thousand employees working under him. There is a balance of only 4400=00 in their Provident Fund account. They have demanded to know from Anil, who is responsible for Rs. 150 crore fraud. There are other questions like why they don’t get ESIC facilities etc. The poster claims: “ ANIL AMBANI JAWAB DO. “

There can be no smoke without fire. Even if a fraction of the employee’s claim regarding their Provident Fund is true, it is a serious offence. If the alleged charge is true, leave alone employer’s contribution, even employees’ contribution which is deducted from their wages is either siphoned off or not deposited in their P.F. account. They claim not to have received annual P. F. sleep, which I suppose is mandatory.

How low can Anil get? It is said that even thieves and dacoits leave alone seven houses and villages surrounding their own house and village. Anil, it seems, has no such scruples. He is fleecing his Reliance Energy customers on whose strength he is having his fun. That is why consumers are now opting for Tata. Now it seems, he is playing with the future of his own employees on whose labour , he is running his empire. What is more, he has gone to court against his own brother for something that does not belong to either of them. And he is talking of honesty, moral and conscious?

The biggest question is: What is government doing about it? It is not possible that P. F. tribunal is not aware of this. Or people like Anil Ambani are above law? I understand his celebrated wife is connected with several social activities while the husband is busy in such unethical ( to put it mildly ) activities. Can there be a bigger example of hypocrisy?

Or is Anil’s empire another bubble like Satyam which can burst anytime? This poster is a awake up call for concerned authorities. Of course, if they want to wake up at all.

Political views-Tale piece

2009-09-21T22:42:00.001-07:00

So, the Supreme Court has halted the statue installing spree of the Mayawati government. The top court has blasted the U. P. government for wasteful expenditure of public money in the name of constructing memorials of Dalit icons in Lucknow. (Hindustan Times-September 9th , 2009).

Mayawati has installed her statues along with those of her mentor Kanshiram, Ambedkar and her party symbol elephant at various places in Lucknow and God knows where else, at the expenditure of more then two thousand five hundred crores of public money. News papers and media have been quite critical of her. And now this Supreme Court order.

Personally, I don’t think Mayawati has done anything wrong. Most politicians do it, that is, waste public money. That is why they are there in the first place. Only their modus operandi is different. So why lament?

To be fair to Mayawati, she has declared that though right now she has spent money, after some initial months, she will charge money form public who wish to enter the garden where her statues are installed. She is sure people will wish to have her ‘DARSHAN.’ Money thus collected will be spent on public welfare. See? How fair? She will collect money from public and spend on public. Nothing for her. Media has been unnecessarily critical of her. She has only public interest in mind. And this time she has given double benefit to the public. Here is how:

Those of us who want to seek her blessings have to travel quite a distance, thereby spending good amount of money on transportation as well as our time. She has solved this problem. Where ever you are, just get out of your house, walk a little distance, turn left or right as the case maybe, and there is your Mayawati: life size to bless you. No more distant travel, no wait. Money saved, time saved. That is one benefit. Now what little pay as entry fee is going to be spent on your welfare only. So your money is back in your pocket by way of welfare schemes. This is your second benefit.

Mayawati has just made one little mistake. She should not have erected statues of Kanshiram and others. Her own statue is alright, but it should have been without her purse. In place of other statues, she should have, instead, installed life size statue of her purse with ‘piggy bank’ hole in it, big enough to slide thousand Rupees notes in it and small enough so that no body can take them out. After the Taj fiasco poor Mayawati is left poorer. Just as she is thinking of public welfare, we should also think of her. Those visiting Mayawati ‘s statues after paying a little entry fee, which in turn will be used for their own benefit, should also put something in that ‘ Piggy bank’ suitcase in appreciation of Mayawati’s whole hearted efforts to save your money and time. So let’s reciprocate. One good deed deserves another.

Indian politics-Tale piece / Twist in tale

2009-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

L. K. Advani’s luck is running out, but not his cunning. The old man can still give a lesson or two in politics few can match, particularly to media. According to Karan Thapar, (H. T. 30-8-09 ), in 1990 he ( Advani ), first snubbed Karan and later apologized when he realized his mistake. Great. Karan may be right. On the other hand, it (apology ) may be a calculated political move. Advani is well capable of that. One cannot make Advani move even after exposure of his Kandahar fiasco. Here is how:

Scribe: Advaniji, did you have prior knowledge about Kandahar exchange of terrorists?
……silence…..
Scribe: Advaniji, Jaswant Singh says you knew about Kandahar exchange. But you denied it at that time.
Advani: I did not give my consent.
Scribe: Earlier, you denied having any knowledge of the exchange.
Advani: Words mean nothing. I meant I did not give my consent.
Scribe: According to Jaswant Singh, such a big decision was not possible without cabinet meeting and your approval. That means you were there in the meeting.
Advani: Let me put it this way, it did not have my consent.
Scribe: But you had to be present there in the meeting for you not to give your consent.
Advani: Not necessarily. I did not give my consent.
Scribe: But Sir, media…………
Advani: It’s all hype. I………..
Scribe: Sir, I want your specific answer in yes or no…. After Jaswant Singh’s claim, do you still insist that you had no prior knowledge of the terrorists’ exchange?
Advani: You are playing with words. It did not have my consent….

The scribe lost the game and patience.

Politically incorrect-P.M. Advani

2009-09-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Since Sri L. K. Advani was a Prime ministerial candidate, it would be interesting to anticipate how the man who declared Jinnah, a secular, (Jinnah was a nationalist), would have behaved as our top national leader. I have always found Advani inconsistent. He will give one statement this moment and deny it the next, saying he didn’t mean it.

On his next visit to Pakistan as our Prime Minister, he would have declared Musharraf as our only well wisher and Pakistan to be the only friendly neighbour India could have wished to have. Presently, He would have offered 10 percent commission to Zardari on all our government deals as a gesture of goodwill.

On to Bangladesh – He would have invited Bangladeshi refugees to India assuring them of residences, ration cards and voter’s rights, never mind our own overflowing population living in slums and shitting on streets. That would have ensured increased vote bank for him and would have earned that country’s gratitude.

China – Advani would have guaranteed import of all Chinese third grade products to India irrespective of their health hazards and expiry dates. To further strengthen our friendship, he would have gifted a few thousand square miles of our land to China to be used as burial ground for their bulging population.

Over to US – He would have declared Bush as our benefactor and would have accepted him as our guardian Godfather as Fontane had accepted Brando in Godfather.

In India, he would have ordered all government cars to be converted into chariots. Further he would have compared Narendra Modi with Mahatma Gandhi and declared Modi as father of Gujarat.

A man who could proclaim Jinnah a secular would be capable of these and many more things.

Current affairs-Hypocricy

2009-09-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

I am yet to come across a bigger hypocrite than Anil Ambani. According to Anil, oil ministry is partial to Mukesh ( Ambani ) and that the RIL is firing from petroleum ministry’s shoulders. (Hindustan Times – 29-7-09). Whatever Anil’s differences with Mukesh, he has just conveniently chosen to forget his own immediate past.

Ever since he took over from BSES Ltd., he has fleeced more then twenty lacs electricity consumers right from the start by way of fixed charges and reliability charges and what not which were unheard of in the times of BSES. The charges of electricity per unit have doubled since he took over. Didn’t Anil fire from the shoulders of MERC? It is only after much opposition from political parties and huge public outcry that the recent hike was put off.

I am not in favour of Mukesh and I certainly do not want to judge who is right and who is wrong. But if, as Anil says Mukesh is trying to fleece him ( If at all ),Mukesh is fleecing a person who deserved to be fleeced. Anil himself is guilty of the same crime.

Lastly, it is heartening to know that Tatas are coming to the rescue of common consumers.

Politically incorrect-Had Advani been P.M.

2009-05-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

Since Sri L. K. Advani was a Prime ministerial candidate, it would be interesting to anticipate how the man who declared Jinnah, a secular, ( Jinnah was a nationalist), would have behaved as our top national leader. I have always found Advani inconsistent. He will give one statement this moment and deny it the next, saying he didn’t mean it.

On his next visit to Pakistan as our Prime Minister, he would have declared Musharraf as our only well wisher and Pakistan to be the only friendly neighbour India could have wished to have. Presently, he would have offered 10 percent commission to Zardari on all our government deals as a gesture of goodwill.

On to Bangladesh – He would have invited Bangladeshi refugees to India assuring them of residences, ration cards and voter’s rights, never mind our own overflowing population living in slums and shitting on streets. That would have ensured increased vote bank for him and would have earned that country’s gratitude.

China – Advani would have guaranteed import of all Chinese third grade products to India irrespective of their health hazards and expiry dates. To further strengthen our friendship, he would have gifted a few thousand square miles of our land to China to be used as burial ground for their bulging population.

Over to US – He would have declared Bush as our benefactor and would have accepted him as our guardian Godfather as Fontane had accepted Brando in Godfather.

In India, he would have ordered all government cars to be converted into chariots. Further he would have compared Narendra Modi with Mahatma Gandhi and declared Modi as father of Gujarat.

A man who could proclaim Jinnah a secular would be capable of these and many more things.

Political views-Congress or Manmohan

2009-05-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

Congress – UPA has won. I too was as confused as others as to the outcome of this election. All political pundits failed in their assessments this time. Some said it would be a close finish. Some predicted fractured verdict. Some went for the third front. No body was near the truth. No body anticipated clear victory for congress.

In retrospect, I feel there should not have been any doubt as to who will win. The picture should have been clear as to congress’ victory. I never considered the third front had any chance. The choice was between Congress and BJP, or so it seemed. But I have a feeling that actually the fight was not between Congress and BJP, it was between Manmohan Singh and Advani. I think people have lost faith in all parties, even these two. People were not satisfied with the working of any party, nor were they satisfied with their election campaign which was without any agenda. No party has done enough of anything for the masses. This time around, voters chose to vote for individuals. And the choice was, or comparison was between Manmohan and Advani. Manmohan was bound to win and win he did, hands down.

If, individual personality was as any factor, there can be no choice between the two. Advani is nowhere near Manmohan’s sophistication. Advani is loud whereas Manmohan is grave. Advani believes in theatrics, Manmohan is straightforward. Advani changes stance at the drop of a hat whereas Monmohan is steadfast. Advani always talks about the past, Manmohan believes in the present and the future. Advani’s image is not clean but no body can point a finger at Manmohan. Hence Manmohan’s victory. This is my personal view, but the choice was never between Congress and BJP, and the result could not have been any thing otherwise.

Last, but not the least, let us consider age factor. If Advani at 81 hoped to continue for full term of five years, Manmohan at 76 has exactly double the time, that is, for two terms. Here also Manmohan scores. What do you say?

Political views-Lessons from Sri Lanka

2009-05-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

India has a lot to learn from Sri Lanka. I will not go into the moral issue of Sri Lankan government’s attack on LTTE. People may have different views on that. To each his own. But it is a fact that Sri Lanka has shown exemplary perseverance in dealing with LTTE that India should have shown while dealing with Pakistan and Taliban terrorists. India has been suffering from terrorists’ attack for the past more then twenty years. There have been heavy casualties including Parliament attack and Mumbai suffering on 26/11 among numerous others. Still we have not gone beyond “we will not tolerate, we will see” (humen dekhana hai, hum dekhenge). Pakistan and Taliban prompted terrorists make mockery of our threats, laugh at us, deny their involvement, reject our proofs, wait for a while and continue with their game. Not a single politician has guts and political will to control internal and external terrorists.

Sri Lanka too has been suffering from LTTE & Prabhakaran for quite sometime. There was truce and ceasefire between Sri Lanka & LTTE for quite a number of times. Every time LTTE broke the truce. But once the Sri Lankan government decided that enough was enough, they set about the task. They set a massive military attack on LTTE. There were casualties on both sides. They may be right, they may be wrong to have put lives of so many civilians at risk. It is a matter of individual opinion. But once they decided to eliminate LTTE, they set about the task with full force. They continued with their task even after international outcry for ceasefire. They continued because they believed in their mission. That required tremendous political will, which their President showed. They wanted Prabhakaran & LTTE eliminated eliminate they did. Prabhakaran is dead.

The result is there for everyone to see.

Politically incorrect-Traitors within

2009-05-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

How can India fight terrorists’ attacks from Pakistan and Taliban etc. when it has our own so many terrorists within our country? And that too in commanding positions? Take for example DMK chief Karunanidhi. He has openly declared that he was friends with Prabhakaran. He aptly meant in his statement that he supported Prabhakaran’s cause. That Prabhakaran, who was instrumental in assassination of our Prime Minister,
that Prabhakaran who was responsible for the murder of their own President. That Prabhakaran was Karunanidhi’s friend who committed innumerable murders in the name of Tamilians’ welfare. Karunanidhi is roaming free, fighting elections whereas he should be behind bars.

Jayalalitha has declared she is going to send army to Sri Lanka and see to it that the Tamilians get a separate Tamil state inside Sri Lanka. What a statement? It was simply made to get political mileage. But the question is, could she make such irrational statements and getaway with them? It looks like.

These are the leaders who are leading our country and even have followers of their own. That is the irony. India is a democratic country and everyone has the right of expression. But democracy comes with responsibility, which our politicians lack. That is our misfortune. As for Prabhakaran, I am yet to find a person who is more coward and mean then Prabhakaran was. He was always involving and hiding behind women and children. He called himself a warrior. His elimination is well deserved. In fact he should have been eliminated years back.

Flamboyant Feroze Khan

2009-05-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

With Feroze gone, an era has gone. I am yet to come across an actor or a person as good looking and as handsome as Feroze Khan. He had confidence and style and what is more, he was aware of it. Though I was not an admirer of his acting, his presence in a movie was formidable. There was pride in his gait and actions true to his Pathan ancestry. He acted as a sidekick for quite a few initial years, he had what it takes- a tremendous screen presence few could match. He acted with the likes of Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar and Vinod Khanna and I am sure they had to make extra efforts against Feroze’s screen presence. Few could carry off style, flamboyance and even arrogance, if I may say so, as he could.

He was the same in both reel and real life- proud, chivalrous and macho- a true Pathan. I had an occasion to see him at a couple of feet’s distance in a posh club in his much younger days (and mine too). He was strikingly handsome and good looking even without those paints, in fact, more so. He was talking to a producer in that club. In the course of their discussion, the producer said something that Feroze probably didn’t like. In his true fashion Feroze just raised his eyebrows for the producer to cower. A true man. Today’s heroes with six and eight ebbs, bulging biceps and broad chests stand nowhere near Feroze’s manly personality.

With Feroze gone, that breed has gone, style and poise has gone, chivalry and grace has gone and gone are the movies like Qurbani. May God rest his soul in Peace. AMEN.

Criminalization of our children

2009-04-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

The mindset. All schools want one hundred per cent result. As a result, a child is pressurized to work harder then it is good for him. Parents too are to be blamed. They have great expectations from their children. They are always after their children to fair well. These days children have no time for themselves or to play. They go to school, come back, go again to this tution classes or some other extra curricular activities. Plus there is always homework to do. No time for healthy activities like sports and other out door games.

Parents and schools forget that every child is not brilliant. Most children are of average intelligence. Very few are bright. Every child is different. Their grasp is different, their temperament is different, their power to concentrate and absorb is different. Brilliant students take pressure in their stride. Ordinary students can’t. This mindset of parents and schools instigate children to commit crimes like copying, procuring question papers, giving bribes to get marks increased and even go to the extent of kidnapping in order to get money for all these criminal activities. They are caught, punished, humiliated and thus, a criminal is born.

To sum up – today, a student of a class six or seven is more burdened and stressed than, say a grown up man like somebody working in a bank or a government office. These persons are stress free at least before going to office and after leaving it, whereas a child is under stress all day.

Commercialization of Education

2009-04-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

What is our education coming to? Schools no more remain temples of learning. Education, for the past few years has been commercialized and schools have become business houses. In our times school fees were hardly 10-12 Rs. Now even an average school charges Rs. 2000 plus per month. Education is given for hardly six months in a year or even less, considering 60 days of summer holidays, 20 days of Christmas holidays, plus nearly 100 Saturdays, Sundays and other public & private holidays. Six months gone. They charge fees for the entire year, plus some schools charge admission fees, term fees etc. It is a known fact that schools have arrangements with uniform suppliers, book-sellers etc. Now here is the cake. On an average, schools take around twenty thousand Rupees as refundable or non-refundable deposit. Schools have two or three shifts a day. Now consider this. If a school has 2000 students, then the deposit amount comes to 20000 deposit x 2000 students = 4 crores cool. Good business, I would say. Same is true for school bus service. Here too, they make good profit. Buses ply for six months but they charge for entire year and an exorbitant charge at that. On an average, cost of educating one child even in a small class comes to clean Rupees five thousand a month. An average middle class household earns twenty-twenty five thousand a month. Twenty five per cent of the income goes in educating one child. Good show. India shining?

Politically incorrect -Mercy

2009-04-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

This refers to the news in Hindustan Times dt. 12-3-09 about the residents who had paid their hard earned money in booking flats at Oswal Paradise and then finding it reduced to rubble in front of their own eyes, as the construction was illegal, while the builder went scot free.

When we were small boys, we often used to hear a story about “Puri Nagari and Chopat raja” from our parents and elders. This story fits here. How is a purchaser, an ordinary lay man to know who the land belongs to. Whereas the builder ought to know. Municipal Corporation should know. How did the registrar office carry out the registration? How did the builder get water and electricity connections? And how did financial institutions grant home loans if the title was not clear? Obviously, the builder stuffed pockets of all these people.

What kind of law and what kind of administration is this? Knowing fully well that the builder and permit givers are the real culprits, innocent buyers are made to suffer for no fault of theirs. Before demolishing the structure, the builder and his accomplices should be booked first. They should be made to fully compensate buyers including registration fees, stamp duties etc. along with cost of the flat. Then only the structure should be demolished.

Instead, the builder here is free to look out for another illegal plot, bribe concerned officers, tempt other innocent buyers, pocket the money and leave the hapless buyers at the mercy of our able administration and GOD. This happens only in India. Shining India?