The PM and Sonia have once again removed the gas from BJP's ballon, by wresting the portfolio from natwar and sent correct signals to other partymen by keeping natwar as a minister without portfolio proving that the party will not ditch them on the basis of allegations only.
It will do natwar good to wait for the probe to get over if he is not guilty, and if he is guilty he may well be out of sonia's favour forever.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
30 Things To Do To Change The World In 30 Seconds
Pick up the challenge to come up with your 30 things, read ahead and click the link below....
http://www.kamigoroshi.net/archive/2005/10/21/864
http://www.kamigoroshi.net/archive/2005/10/21/864
Think....
“I decided to acknowledge my fears and close off my exits.
Suddenly, my workplace became a place filled with people doing their best to either avoid deeper dilemmas or face them and grow.
The previous importance of titles and roles began to melt away before my eyes. . . . My own change of perspective led me to see a new organization without having changed anyone but myself.” — JEREMY FISH
Suddenly, my workplace became a place filled with people doing their best to either avoid deeper dilemmas or face them and grow.
The previous importance of titles and roles began to melt away before my eyes. . . . My own change of perspective led me to see a new organization without having changed anyone but myself.” — JEREMY FISH
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Happy Diwali....
Well the cricket victory made me RAP and blog it earlier...
See what cricket does to people...
See what cricket does to people...
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Indian Team Victory? Don't get carried away....
"The King is Back"
"Their [indian team] walk had a tinge of unity" [Y just a tinge i wonder..]
"The Wall has shown that he is a down to earth person and has all the makings of a great captain..blah blah blah.."
After the victory,
The Wall received a call...Boss says "dada is very much there - Don't get carried away",
The Wall received a call...Living Legend says "dada is the greatest captain - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...The King says "Tennis Elbow still not cured - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...Pathan says "Dunno how i did it, can i repeat it - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...Dada says "I could've added another hundred - Don't get carried away"
The Wall rumbles and mumbles "Don't get carried away"
"Don't get carried away - Says the Wall.." [Sudden APPLAUSE..]
He has is head on his shoulders, the statement proves it, gushes a beauty on tv...
"Their [indian team] walk had a tinge of unity" [Y just a tinge i wonder..]
"The Wall has shown that he is a down to earth person and has all the makings of a great captain..blah blah blah.."
After the victory,
The Wall received a call...Boss says "dada is very much there - Don't get carried away",
The Wall received a call...Living Legend says "dada is the greatest captain - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...The King says "Tennis Elbow still not cured - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...Pathan says "Dunno how i did it, can i repeat it - Don't get carried away"
The Wall received a call...Dada says "I could've added another hundred - Don't get carried away"
The Wall rumbles and mumbles "Don't get carried away"
"Don't get carried away - Says the Wall.." [Sudden APPLAUSE..]
He has is head on his shoulders, the statement proves it, gushes a beauty on tv...
Moral Policing at its worst....
Read the remarks below by elected representatives and curse yourself for electing morons...
'These women who are opposing the ban, we will make their mothers dance ... .' (The comments have to be translated into Marathi to gauge its impact.) During the campaign we had been asked, 'Will you send your daughter to dance in a bar?' But on the floor of the House, the situation had regressed, from our daughters to our mothers! They sniggered: "Isha Koppikar ... she is an atom bomb, atom bomb ... " This evoked great deal of laughter and cheer ... "The dancers wear only 20 per cent clothes" ... More laughter and cheering ... "These women who dance naked (nanga nach), they don't deserve any sympathy". A round of applause.
An esteemed member narrated an incident of his friend's daughter who had committed suicide because she did not get a job. He said it was more dignified to commit suicide than dance in bars. And the House applauded! The message for women is clear: If you happen to be born in a poor family, you are better off dead!
Check out the article...
http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue149/bardance.htm
'These women who are opposing the ban, we will make their mothers dance ... .' (The comments have to be translated into Marathi to gauge its impact.) During the campaign we had been asked, 'Will you send your daughter to dance in a bar?' But on the floor of the House, the situation had regressed, from our daughters to our mothers! They sniggered: "Isha Koppikar ... she is an atom bomb, atom bomb ... " This evoked great deal of laughter and cheer ... "The dancers wear only 20 per cent clothes" ... More laughter and cheering ... "These women who dance naked (nanga nach), they don't deserve any sympathy". A round of applause.
An esteemed member narrated an incident of his friend's daughter who had committed suicide because she did not get a job. He said it was more dignified to commit suicide than dance in bars. And the House applauded! The message for women is clear: If you happen to be born in a poor family, you are better off dead!
Check out the article...
http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue149/bardance.htm
Friday, October 21, 2005
Govinda Tapes
For nearly 2 hours, i saw govinda valiantly defend himself on TV.
The Tapes though a good find for the Intelligence Bureau, has nothing new to show.It's common knowledge that actors were bullied by underworld and made to attend shows and work in their films.
In fact what has been established by this interviews is that govinda was used by the criminals than, and now is being used as a pawn by the politician and the media.
Amarsingh requested him not to come to UP to campaign [the so called powerhorse from samajwadi was afraid of govinda...??].
Ram naik has the cheek to ask govinda to resign, i think we can cite many reasons for him to resign from an active life in politics.
Rajat Sharma does not think twice before threatening govinda live on tv "Hamare Pass aur bhi aise tapes hai aapke...hum chaahe to...", what journalism is this?
Instead of just presenting the tapes couldn't they have contacted the authorities and asked them whether they knew about it or atleast brought one current serving authority on TV along with a lawyer so that the public could be enlightened about what is criminal activity and what is not?
Bollywood is a soft target, show some guts Mr Rajat Sharma and show us tapes of Politicians and Police too who we know are not totally clean.....
The Tapes though a good find for the Intelligence Bureau, has nothing new to show.It's common knowledge that actors were bullied by underworld and made to attend shows and work in their films.
In fact what has been established by this interviews is that govinda was used by the criminals than, and now is being used as a pawn by the politician and the media.
Amarsingh requested him not to come to UP to campaign [the so called powerhorse from samajwadi was afraid of govinda...??].
Ram naik has the cheek to ask govinda to resign, i think we can cite many reasons for him to resign from an active life in politics.
Rajat Sharma does not think twice before threatening govinda live on tv "Hamare Pass aur bhi aise tapes hai aapke...hum chaahe to...", what journalism is this?
Instead of just presenting the tapes couldn't they have contacted the authorities and asked them whether they knew about it or atleast brought one current serving authority on TV along with a lawyer so that the public could be enlightened about what is criminal activity and what is not?
Bollywood is a soft target, show some guts Mr Rajat Sharma and show us tapes of Politicians and Police too who we know are not totally clean.....
Rape....by the Cops....
The police commissioner of mumbai was at pains to explain on tv abt what the police dept is doing to relieve the cops of stress by introducing them to yoga classes, counselling, mental relaxation courses such as art of living etc etc....
1. So does that mean that stress can be the only reason for a person to commit rape and that means he is different from other criminals or rapists and deserves a lenient approach.
2. If the above courses can be thought of and introduced by the top brass for the department, can it be made available to the prisoners too.?
1. So does that mean that stress can be the only reason for a person to commit rape and that means he is different from other criminals or rapists and deserves a lenient approach.
2. If the above courses can be thought of and introduced by the top brass for the department, can it be made available to the prisoners too.?
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Slow Dance...
This poem was written by a terminally ill girl in NY, as per a forward sent to me.
Read Ahead...
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over
Read Ahead...
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Indian Judiciary.....1
FROM TOI Dated - 23rd Aug.
10 yrs later, 2 get 3-yr RI for Rs-1500 robbery
Mumbai: A sessions court on Monday sentenced two men to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for stealing Rs 1,495 in 1994.
Suryakant Talkar and Anand Langde were both 29 years old at the time of the incident. The duo robbed a roadside vendor, Navnath Birje, selling boiled eggs at Kalbadevi Road on April 13, 1994 by threatening him with a knife. They robbed him of the Rs 1,400 he had earned during the day and also snatched Rs 95 from a customer S Patel. According to public prosecutor Ashok Deshmukh, when Talkar and Langde tried to flee the spot, they were nabbed by passers-by and handed over to the police. They were booked under the stringent sections for “voluntarily causing hurt’’ while committing a robbery. Talkar and Langde were identified in court by their victims and sentenced to undergo three years’ rigorous imprisonment.
==========================================
Just a few days back i was at the andheri court with a application to withdrew a case filed some years back. The application typed by a vendor at the court said the complainant wished to withdraw the case due to the long dates that he has been receiving for hearing. The judge on reading this asked me whether i would still like to go ahead with the case and he promised in 2-3 months time i can get the summons. I told him the accused [ the case was about bounced cheque ] is not available and is absconding than the honourable judge asked me to mention in the application later that i am withdrawing the case not because of the long dates of hearing but becoz the accused is absconding. The lawyer did the necessary.
After reading the above article, i am compelled to think that i could fend for myself and family but what about the people mentioned in the article above. They are daily wage earners, they have a family to support and can ill-afford lawyers. Is this justice.?
10 yrs later, 2 get 3-yr RI for Rs-1500 robbery
Mumbai: A sessions court on Monday sentenced two men to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for stealing Rs 1,495 in 1994.
Suryakant Talkar and Anand Langde were both 29 years old at the time of the incident. The duo robbed a roadside vendor, Navnath Birje, selling boiled eggs at Kalbadevi Road on April 13, 1994 by threatening him with a knife. They robbed him of the Rs 1,400 he had earned during the day and also snatched Rs 95 from a customer S Patel. According to public prosecutor Ashok Deshmukh, when Talkar and Langde tried to flee the spot, they were nabbed by passers-by and handed over to the police. They were booked under the stringent sections for “voluntarily causing hurt’’ while committing a robbery. Talkar and Langde were identified in court by their victims and sentenced to undergo three years’ rigorous imprisonment.
==========================================
Just a few days back i was at the andheri court with a application to withdrew a case filed some years back. The application typed by a vendor at the court said the complainant wished to withdraw the case due to the long dates that he has been receiving for hearing. The judge on reading this asked me whether i would still like to go ahead with the case and he promised in 2-3 months time i can get the summons. I told him the accused [ the case was about bounced cheque ] is not available and is absconding than the honourable judge asked me to mention in the application later that i am withdrawing the case not because of the long dates of hearing but becoz the accused is absconding. The lawyer did the necessary.
After reading the above article, i am compelled to think that i could fend for myself and family but what about the people mentioned in the article above. They are daily wage earners, they have a family to support and can ill-afford lawyers. Is this justice.?
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Indian Judiciary.....Hmmmph....
A single / sane man's life is ruined. he is in prison for 54 years without trial on the basis of allegation. he pays 1 rupee as a personal surety to be released now.
Would this be taken lightly in any other country? Forget the western world, where the judiciary and the police would be sued for millions, even the middle east would have been better than india.
You also realised why the north-easterners consider India as a foreign land....dont believe it ? Go for a trip there.....read the story in the link below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4712619.stm
Amit Varma of India Uncut also a link...
http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/08/54-years-and-one-rupee.html
Would this be taken lightly in any other country? Forget the western world, where the judiciary and the police would be sued for millions, even the middle east would have been better than india.
You also realised why the north-easterners consider India as a foreign land....dont believe it ? Go for a trip there.....read the story in the link below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4712619.stm
Amit Varma of India Uncut also a link...
http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/08/54-years-and-one-rupee.html
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Please DO it for Mumbai....
Dear All,
A public interest litigation is filed against the Govt; BMC, MTNL, Railways & Police for the blatant apathy of the Govt. & Civil admin towards our City. We have guaranteed that the citizens of Mumbai will not sit back this time and are determined to get 1 million signatures to reitrate our collective anguish. If you agree , SMS " jaag and your full name" to 8558 also send this to all those who wish to make India a true Democracy.
Please SMS to 8558 as it's good for us only.
[Eg: Jaag Raj Khanna]
A public interest litigation is filed against the Govt; BMC, MTNL, Railways & Police for the blatant apathy of the Govt. & Civil admin towards our City. We have guaranteed that the citizens of Mumbai will not sit back this time and are determined to get 1 million signatures to reitrate our collective anguish. If you agree , SMS " jaag and your full name" to 8558 also send this to all those who wish to make India a true Democracy.
Please SMS to 8558 as it's good for us only.
[Eg: Jaag Raj Khanna]
Friday, July 15, 2005
The Conspiracy Theory.....
Had a conversation with a office colleague...
Me: This Salman is a nut yaar...Cant keep his trap shut once drunk...His poor father has to write a open letter in the media to ask him to get married...
Pal: Yaar, yeh sab game hai, badi game...
Me: Game!!?
Pal: Is main salman, aish, police, government sab saammil hai...
Me: [Dumbfounded]
Pal: Dekh Salman ki picture release ho rahi hai, thode din main Rising bhi ho rahi hai...Varma ki James bhi ho rahi hai...islye Big Opening chaaiye....kuch naatak...kuch dhamaal...controversy is big money in bollywood...
Me: Accha!? But..[Interrupted]
Pal: Tum public log yeh sab real main le lete ho....Hindustan Times ka Launching pad kitna zordar raha yeh news ki wajah se....Paper wale ka faayda....picture hit salman ka faayda....Aish aise bhi bina hit picture ke news main rehti hai...uska bhi faayda....Government ka bhi faayda....
Me: Government ka kya Faayda??
Pal: Media busy rahegi - behind the scenes, shivsena ko todne ka game chalu rahega jo speaker ne kiya hai...samjha kar yaar....itna simple theory nahi samajte tum log....Chal Shaam ko kya kar raha hai....
Me: Kyu?
Pal: Salman ki MPKK ki do ticket hai....
Me: [Felt like banging my head...ouch still hurts...]
Me: This Salman is a nut yaar...Cant keep his trap shut once drunk...His poor father has to write a open letter in the media to ask him to get married...
Pal: Yaar, yeh sab game hai, badi game...
Me: Game!!?
Pal: Is main salman, aish, police, government sab saammil hai...
Me: [Dumbfounded]
Pal: Dekh Salman ki picture release ho rahi hai, thode din main Rising bhi ho rahi hai...Varma ki James bhi ho rahi hai...islye Big Opening chaaiye....kuch naatak...kuch dhamaal...controversy is big money in bollywood...
Me: Accha!? But..[Interrupted]
Pal: Tum public log yeh sab real main le lete ho....Hindustan Times ka Launching pad kitna zordar raha yeh news ki wajah se....Paper wale ka faayda....picture hit salman ka faayda....Aish aise bhi bina hit picture ke news main rehti hai...uska bhi faayda....Government ka bhi faayda....
Me: Government ka kya Faayda??
Pal: Media busy rahegi - behind the scenes, shivsena ko todne ka game chalu rahega jo speaker ne kiya hai...samjha kar yaar....itna simple theory nahi samajte tum log....Chal Shaam ko kya kar raha hai....
Me: Kyu?
Pal: Salman ki MPKK ki do ticket hai....
Me: [Felt like banging my head...ouch still hurts...]
Friday, July 01, 2005
Mind your business, say angry corporators
Read this one on http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=137138
Who are citizens’ groups to check and seek accounts of how we used our funds, ask over dozen corporators
I can’t do any work because of ALMs. Please get this harassment stopped
— Kavita Rodricks, Congress corporator
[ People getting organized and following up on community work is harassment !!]
Tell ward officials that ALMs are not MLAs’ men
— Waqarunnissa Ansari, Congress corporator
[ MLA ka aadmi ho to kaam karne ka kya? ]
Gang war. That’s the only word to describe their working
— Prakash Bobdi, Congress corporator
[ True, That is your domain [gang war], people should not encroach on it!!]
Are ALMs going to contest elections? Who are they to demand information on how we used our funds?
— Trushna Vishwasrao, Shiv Sena corporator
[ Kalyug hai yaar! Vishwasrao pe Vishwas nahi!! ]
=========================================================================
The fact is people are still not minding their business, if they had, you all would not have been corporators.
Who are citizens’ groups to check and seek accounts of how we used our funds, ask over dozen corporators
I can’t do any work because of ALMs. Please get this harassment stopped
— Kavita Rodricks, Congress corporator
[ People getting organized and following up on community work is harassment !!]
Tell ward officials that ALMs are not MLAs’ men
— Waqarunnissa Ansari, Congress corporator
[ MLA ka aadmi ho to kaam karne ka kya? ]
Gang war. That’s the only word to describe their working
— Prakash Bobdi, Congress corporator
[ True, That is your domain [gang war], people should not encroach on it!!]
Are ALMs going to contest elections? Who are they to demand information on how we used our funds?
— Trushna Vishwasrao, Shiv Sena corporator
[ Kalyug hai yaar! Vishwasrao pe Vishwas nahi!! ]
=========================================================================
The fact is people are still not minding their business, if they had, you all would not have been corporators.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
The Great BJP Circus....
TOI has reported that Fernandes has come out strongly in favour of Advani.
As given in the TOI - Maintaining that Advani had only placed a “historical truth’’ before the world, Fernandes suggested a “country-wide debate on those really behind partition’’.
So now the country will debate and try to find out who was responsible for the partition.
It doesn't matter that
- almost all the leaders from that era are dead.
- that India has more important and current issues that need to be looked at.
So switch on your TV sets and get set for a ride. Advani will be back in action and BJP will bend down on its knees to take him back, to hell with RSS, only advani has the charisma and the image of a national leader. Murli is no competition, Swaraj and Mahajan are kids.
Times also reported about Togadia's wish to be the CM of Gujarat. Forget it Togadia, forever, you shot yourself in the foot. You will know soon who is the big boss.
=================================
Hey Am I turning into some political forecaster or whaaat...??
As given in the TOI - Maintaining that Advani had only placed a “historical truth’’ before the world, Fernandes suggested a “country-wide debate on those really behind partition’’.
So now the country will debate and try to find out who was responsible for the partition.
It doesn't matter that
- almost all the leaders from that era are dead.
- that India has more important and current issues that need to be looked at.
So switch on your TV sets and get set for a ride. Advani will be back in action and BJP will bend down on its knees to take him back, to hell with RSS, only advani has the charisma and the image of a national leader. Murli is no competition, Swaraj and Mahajan are kids.
Times also reported about Togadia's wish to be the CM of Gujarat. Forget it Togadia, forever, you shot yourself in the foot. You will know soon who is the big boss.
=================================
Hey Am I turning into some political forecaster or whaaat...??
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
National Pride
Didn't get much time to blog, came across the following on net, yahoo groups....
I have used the same title.
====================================================================
Madhu Trehan wrote an article. She writes regularly for "Outlook" and in this she is replying to a letter by a reader. Both the letters are shown below.
A letter she received.
Hi Madhu,
I have read your articles ever since I was a kid and you were at India Today. You have often come across as a balanced person not prone to Gandhi nonsense, until now. I live in a White Nation (the US) and have never felt like a second class citizen. Only a blind and a deaf person can compare the pride of a US citizen with the indignity of being an India. A US citizen trusts his government, knows his/her death will never go unpunished, while an Indian solider is there to die. Elite is a bad word in India because 95% of our country lives in abject poverty. Next time ask the waiter in Taj who served you the Rs 400 drink, how much he makes in a month. The Durban who opens the door for you, ask him how much he makes? I bet his monthly salary will be around your dinner bill. Shame on you and journalists like you who have failed India in the past with colored reporting and are doing so now. They should feel ashamed. Rather than calling Bush names, maybe we should hang our heads in shame on PM's like Vajpayee who is too old to walk, too much of a coward to protect his people.
Maybe, just maybe, the day people like us (the English educated hence smarter) start feeling ashamed enough we will start making changes in India rather than just exploiting our servants and labor class. It anguishes me to read this national character articles. A nation that cannot feed its people (a la Orissa) has no character, a nation whose children move around naked (Mumbai) has no reason to feel proud, a nation whose elected reps call religious riots "opposite reaction" has no future. Once again, shame on you and all of India. I am ashamed to be an Indian and shame on you for suggesting anything else.
Chet (Chaitanya)
Madhu Trehan's response was:
Hello Chet,
I will answer your letter point by point. Your name. You can be Chet or Jet, stay away from the sun, fake an american accent, but you will never be able to run away from Chaitanya. He will always be there even though you hate him today.
Gandhi, whom you hold in such contempt, despite all his controversial behavior, is largely responsible for the fact that there is no white boot on a part of your anatomy today. You live in a white nation but you are not white and never will be. You can fool yourself to believe that you are not treated as a second class citizen. You choose to forget the Dot Busters, the Sikh who was killed because he looked foreign and rampant racism.
How many times a week do you have to explain where you are from and spend your time EXPLAINING India to Americans? I cringe to think what you say to them about India. We do not need spokesman such as you. You will never be able to share a good desi joke with any of your new friends. If you can’t laugh together; you cannot understand each other. You will always be an alien.
Yes, we are economically poor compared to US but we do not have to suffer the highest rate of teenage pregnancies, kids coming into schools and killing students and teachers, the highest rate of suicide among college students, alienated parents and children, lonely old people dumped into old age homes, drugs being offered to eight year olds (as my daughter was when she was in the UN school in New York), serial marriages and divorces. The US had a president who was senile and deaf (Reagan), one who turned out to be a serial sex offender (Clinton), and now you have one who didn’t know the heads of state of major countries and ignored warnings of a terrorist attack months before it took place.
The US is responsible for massacres in Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Chile and the list goes on. The rest of the world does not view America with the rose-colored glasses you have been brainwashed by the US media to see through. And, how much does a waiter in Jean Georges restaurant in Trump International Hotel in New York make compared to the price of the drink he is serving? The labor class is exploited all over the world.
You seem to very upset that I am pointing out we have a national character to be ashamed of and we should do something about it. Your insistence that we stay ashamed and do nothing about it is perhaps to make it easier for you to live in a country where the only religion is to hang out at malls and accumulate consumer items you don't really need but have been dictated by advertising to buy to keep the US economy going.
It is not by accident that Americans are flocking to yoga and meditation classes to buy happiness. You have done well to leave a country you are ashamed of. Call yourself an American but sooner or later your disguise and American Halloween costume will frighten you enough to get rid of it. I love America's energy and have good friends there. New York is a center for an enormous outpouring of creativity and imaginative thinking.
Every country has its own problems. It is for the people who belong there to take responsibility for change. If you are so far removed from India, ask yourself why you are so anguished with my article. Chaitanya is raising his head, Chet is in trouble.
Regards,
Madhu Trehan
I have used the same title.
====================================================================
Madhu Trehan wrote an article. She writes regularly for "Outlook" and in this she is replying to a letter by a reader. Both the letters are shown below.
A letter she received.
Hi Madhu,
I have read your articles ever since I was a kid and you were at India Today. You have often come across as a balanced person not prone to Gandhi nonsense, until now. I live in a White Nation (the US) and have never felt like a second class citizen. Only a blind and a deaf person can compare the pride of a US citizen with the indignity of being an India. A US citizen trusts his government, knows his/her death will never go unpunished, while an Indian solider is there to die. Elite is a bad word in India because 95% of our country lives in abject poverty. Next time ask the waiter in Taj who served you the Rs 400 drink, how much he makes in a month. The Durban who opens the door for you, ask him how much he makes? I bet his monthly salary will be around your dinner bill. Shame on you and journalists like you who have failed India in the past with colored reporting and are doing so now. They should feel ashamed. Rather than calling Bush names, maybe we should hang our heads in shame on PM's like Vajpayee who is too old to walk, too much of a coward to protect his people.
Maybe, just maybe, the day people like us (the English educated hence smarter) start feeling ashamed enough we will start making changes in India rather than just exploiting our servants and labor class. It anguishes me to read this national character articles. A nation that cannot feed its people (a la Orissa) has no character, a nation whose children move around naked (Mumbai) has no reason to feel proud, a nation whose elected reps call religious riots "opposite reaction" has no future. Once again, shame on you and all of India. I am ashamed to be an Indian and shame on you for suggesting anything else.
Chet (Chaitanya)
Madhu Trehan's response was:
Hello Chet,
I will answer your letter point by point. Your name. You can be Chet or Jet, stay away from the sun, fake an american accent, but you will never be able to run away from Chaitanya. He will always be there even though you hate him today.
Gandhi, whom you hold in such contempt, despite all his controversial behavior, is largely responsible for the fact that there is no white boot on a part of your anatomy today. You live in a white nation but you are not white and never will be. You can fool yourself to believe that you are not treated as a second class citizen. You choose to forget the Dot Busters, the Sikh who was killed because he looked foreign and rampant racism.
How many times a week do you have to explain where you are from and spend your time EXPLAINING India to Americans? I cringe to think what you say to them about India. We do not need spokesman such as you. You will never be able to share a good desi joke with any of your new friends. If you can’t laugh together; you cannot understand each other. You will always be an alien.
Yes, we are economically poor compared to US but we do not have to suffer the highest rate of teenage pregnancies, kids coming into schools and killing students and teachers, the highest rate of suicide among college students, alienated parents and children, lonely old people dumped into old age homes, drugs being offered to eight year olds (as my daughter was when she was in the UN school in New York), serial marriages and divorces. The US had a president who was senile and deaf (Reagan), one who turned out to be a serial sex offender (Clinton), and now you have one who didn’t know the heads of state of major countries and ignored warnings of a terrorist attack months before it took place.
The US is responsible for massacres in Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Chile and the list goes on. The rest of the world does not view America with the rose-colored glasses you have been brainwashed by the US media to see through. And, how much does a waiter in Jean Georges restaurant in Trump International Hotel in New York make compared to the price of the drink he is serving? The labor class is exploited all over the world.
You seem to very upset that I am pointing out we have a national character to be ashamed of and we should do something about it. Your insistence that we stay ashamed and do nothing about it is perhaps to make it easier for you to live in a country where the only religion is to hang out at malls and accumulate consumer items you don't really need but have been dictated by advertising to buy to keep the US economy going.
It is not by accident that Americans are flocking to yoga and meditation classes to buy happiness. You have done well to leave a country you are ashamed of. Call yourself an American but sooner or later your disguise and American Halloween costume will frighten you enough to get rid of it. I love America's energy and have good friends there. New York is a center for an enormous outpouring of creativity and imaginative thinking.
Every country has its own problems. It is for the people who belong there to take responsibility for change. If you are so far removed from India, ask yourself why you are so anguished with my article. Chaitanya is raising his head, Chet is in trouble.
Regards,
Madhu Trehan
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Treason..??
Mid-day has reported about a brigadier's treachery of selling the country's war plans for a measly 20000 in 1965 to satisfy his wife's needs for equipment for canning fruits. The source quoted is GoharKhan, son of Ayub Khan.
The immediate reaction of our fellow indians would be now of hauling the brigadier over live coals. We do not trust Pakistan but if they come out with such things our first instinct is "Yea it is possible".
We have still not learnt our lesson from the Samba Spy Scandal.
The immediate reaction of our fellow indians would be now of hauling the brigadier over live coals. We do not trust Pakistan but if they come out with such things our first instinct is "Yea it is possible".
We have still not learnt our lesson from the Samba Spy Scandal.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Indian Express - Choron ki Baraat
Why this article doesn't surprise me anymore....
================================================
MUMBAI, MAY 16: They talk of moderate consumption to tide over the severe power crisis in Maharashtra. But when it comes to walking that talk, the state’s ministers seem to have fallen short by miles—government records show that the Energy Minister and Rural Development Minister have run up electricity bills of around Rs 30,000 each.
All paid by the Public Works Department, from the taxpayer’s pocket.
The official bungalows of Energy Minister Dilip Walse-Patil has 10 ACs and that of Rural Development Minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil at least nine.
And this when their home constituencies—Walse-Patil’s Ambegaon near Pune and Mohite-Patil’s Aklooj down south—are reeling under nine-hour power cuts.
The Energy Minister’s power bills, records show, were Rs 28,789 in January, Rs 27,551 in February and Rs 29,201 in March. And the Rural Development Minister ran up bills of Rs 34,808 in January, Rs 30,870 in February and Rs 31,265 in March.
============================================================================
Lastly the minister says On his power bill, ‘‘I don’t pay. The government takes care of all that for ministers.’’
We know, Mr.Minister, We know we are to blame......we elected you.
================================================
MUMBAI, MAY 16: They talk of moderate consumption to tide over the severe power crisis in Maharashtra. But when it comes to walking that talk, the state’s ministers seem to have fallen short by miles—government records show that the Energy Minister and Rural Development Minister have run up electricity bills of around Rs 30,000 each.
All paid by the Public Works Department, from the taxpayer’s pocket.
The official bungalows of Energy Minister Dilip Walse-Patil has 10 ACs and that of Rural Development Minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil at least nine.
And this when their home constituencies—Walse-Patil’s Ambegaon near Pune and Mohite-Patil’s Aklooj down south—are reeling under nine-hour power cuts.
The Energy Minister’s power bills, records show, were Rs 28,789 in January, Rs 27,551 in February and Rs 29,201 in March. And the Rural Development Minister ran up bills of Rs 34,808 in January, Rs 30,870 in February and Rs 31,265 in March.
============================================================================
Lastly the minister says On his power bill, ‘‘I don’t pay. The government takes care of all that for ministers.’’
We know, Mr.Minister, We know we are to blame......we elected you.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The Young and the Jobless - NYT
Bob Herbert a columnist with NYT has written a nice article.
Some Excerpts:
"Whatever the politicians and the business-booster types may be saying, the simple truth is that there are not nearly enough jobs available for the many millions of out-of-work or underworked men and women who need them. The wages of those who are employed are not even keeping up with inflation."
"Two-thirds of this generation are not living up to their parents' standard of living"
"The economy is growing and real output is up," said Mr. Sum, who is also a professor at Northeastern. "But the distribution of income, in terms of how much is going to workers - well, the answer is very little has gone to the typical worker."
And lastly
..
Gains among recently arrived immigrants seem to have accounted for the entire net increase in jobs from 2000 through 2004.
Please note though the scenario seems very familiar, the article is about USA not India.
Click on Bob's name and read the article.....
Some Excerpts:
"Whatever the politicians and the business-booster types may be saying, the simple truth is that there are not nearly enough jobs available for the many millions of out-of-work or underworked men and women who need them. The wages of those who are employed are not even keeping up with inflation."
"Two-thirds of this generation are not living up to their parents' standard of living"
"The economy is growing and real output is up," said Mr. Sum, who is also a professor at Northeastern. "But the distribution of income, in terms of how much is going to workers - well, the answer is very little has gone to the typical worker."
And lastly
..
Gains among recently arrived immigrants seem to have accounted for the entire net increase in jobs from 2000 through 2004.
Please note though the scenario seems very familiar, the article is about USA not India.
Click on Bob's name and read the article.....
Mum-BHAI.....
Was too busy too blog. Man! I think i have become addicted to blogging, i sincerely missed it...:)
Since the marine drive rape incident, Indian Media [TV, Newspaper] is full of reports of rape, sodomy, etc. Its not that this were not happening. It was there all the time.
I saw a constable, trying to manage traffic at Lilavati Hospital, bandra.I and a few friends were having Cutting Chai nearby.
The poor constable was sweating and whistling out loud and running around to manage the unruly traffic.
There was this young chap buying a smoke, he shouted at the constable "Abe ae - phi phi kya karta hai". On this the constable came running towards him and said "Aapka problem kya hai". The guy just murmured something and walked away.
I think every policeman must be cursing Sunil More for what he did to the image of the police force.
Since the marine drive rape incident, Indian Media [TV, Newspaper] is full of reports of rape, sodomy, etc. Its not that this were not happening. It was there all the time.
I saw a constable, trying to manage traffic at Lilavati Hospital, bandra.I and a few friends were having Cutting Chai nearby.
The poor constable was sweating and whistling out loud and running around to manage the unruly traffic.
There was this young chap buying a smoke, he shouted at the constable "Abe ae - phi phi kya karta hai". On this the constable came running towards him and said "Aapka problem kya hai". The guy just murmured something and walked away.
I think every policeman must be cursing Sunil More for what he did to the image of the police force.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)