H D Deve Gowda –  That name rings a bell or two. Actually no..several .. I know Deve Gowda was the 14^th Prime Minister and all that stuff. But truly, I wouldn’t know much about him unless he kept himself in the news and for all the ‘right’ reasons …Yea right – RIGHT in Caps

Deve Gowda, to me, is The Go(w)d…Ask me why ?

Deve, in all the languages I know of, means God …and Gowd sounds like God, albeit with a twist ….of course – with a Twist…So here is The God – with the twist….and what more he acts like one too.

So, The Go(w)d, as I lovingly call him, is beyond the realm of my understanding…When I hear this name the one thing that comes to my mind is his ardent love for sleep…It appears that he has been deprived of sleep throughout his life- a la Kumbhkarn ! Everywhere he went, every word he spoke, every step he took – he symbolized senility, boredom, sleepishness etc etc..How long can one sleep, by the way? ….I’ve not sneaked into his bedroom…nor have I ever dreamt of, but yes the question lingers.

Deve Gowda – Tussi Go(w)d ho!….I mean Go(wd) of Sleep

That was the image that I had about him till about a few years ago…

..And then began the power struggle in Karnataka. We know how the Dharam Singh government was toppled. Although they say, it wasn’t without his blessing – it is quite in the open how much The God loved his children just like any other man on earth. The children a.k.a  The Prince & His Anna (Read Kumaraswamy & Revanna) were a victim of his nepotistic tendencies..or rather beneficiaries, should I say?. ..And they say his party is called Janata Dal which means party for the people, where all the people are his family members.

Deve Gowda – Tussi Go(w)d ho!….Really!

…And did I mention about his aversion to anything that is remotely called “development”.  No, I  wasn’t going to speak on that…Today he proved me right, in front of the media – Showering his blessings for the CM – Haven’t seen yet ?  See it here.

Not that I am a big fan of Yeddy, but these kind of showers does help The God’s cause in  enhancing his image as the “Biggest” Go(w)d of his times. And if that is not enough, his son – erstwhile CM, emerges and supports his dad.

Jaisa Pita, Vaisa hi Putr…..Oops! Suputr!

Yeah right – you say that the CM is a Ba@$%@#d and say later, this was said because he was stressed. WTF ?  And we speak of moral standard for ourselves, our politicians and the society in general. Imagine the plight of the millions of kids who would be idolizing The God….oops, The Go(w)d.

What lessons?!..Wah bhai wah! …Tussi wakeyi Go(w)d ho ji!

Surprised that this has not caused a furore yet on the Twitterati or anywhere else…So here is my contribution to the twitter world – my first of sort. I am creating a hashtag called #TussiGowdHo…

Popularity: 6%

Some people astonish us. So do some numbers. Take the case of Shashi Tharoor. When his candidature to the Lok Sabha election was announced in March 2009, lots of Indians were surprised. Many (inlcuding me) hoped for a different type of politician.

Many of them wrote him off saying that he is too sophisticated for politics and will not be able to handle the rough and tough of politics. He walked out of a political debate before the elections. This was telecast live and he had to draw a lot of flak for that. This only added to the perception that he cannot handle criticism. But he astonished us all with his landslide victory with a margin of close to 1 Lakh votes. Then again, he surprised us again by becoming the MoS for External Affairs.

Now, he has astonished us again with some “astonishing” numbers. I am talking about his number of followers in Twitter. He started to tweet on March 17, 2009 as part of his election campaign. As of June 2, 2009, his Twitter followers had grown to around 4500+. (I don’t remember exactly, but I was his Twitter follower number 2700 ( or so). By the end of that month, June 2009, his number of followers crossed 10,000.

He got a new title as he himself tweeted on June 24, 2009 “In Dubai my old friend Sheikha Lubna, UAE foreign trade minister, hosted a friendly lunch at which she greeted me as ‘Minister Twitter’!”

The progression from that point was quite interesting. Jacob Joseph, Tharoor’s Secretary, has been tweeting about the number of followers. Here is a sample of his tweets.

August 4, 2009 – Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor) has crossed 20,000 followers

August 5, 2009 – @priyankachopra has overtaken @shashitharoor

(Priyanka Chopra apparently had the most number of followers among Indian celebrities at that time and there was a race for the top spot)

August 22, 2009 – Pic of Dr. Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor) tweeting from the boat race http://myloc.me/p8rs

August 26, 2009 – Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor) adds 3000+ followers overnight on twitter

August 27, 2009 – Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor) crosses 36,000 followers on twitter!

August 29, 2009 – Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor) crossed 50,000 followers on twitter.

September 6, 2009 – RT @keralafarmer: 1 lakh followers @ShashiTharoor http://bit.ly/bl6ii

Astonishing isn’t it?

The secret of these numbers is that his untiring commitment to tweeting. His tweets are informative, witty and lively. He has tweeted 1235 times(as of September 7, 2009) at an average of 200 per month.

No wonder he is able to get such a fan following. What is next? 5 Lakh by the end of this year?

Will he ever overtake Barack Obama(20 Lakh + followers)? Or is it question of when and not “will he”?

Image Credit: Stuti

Popularity: 12%

Shah Rukh Khan, the pseudo demigod of Bollywood,  was detained at the Newark Airport. Reason – His name is Khan. Apparently he was questioned for nearly 2 hrs before he was let off, after involvement by the Indian Consulate.

Apparently, several Indian actors in the past have been so called victims of racial profiling including Aamir Khan, Irfan Khan, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh et al….and more recently our Ex-President, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

While I sympathize  with anyone for having to go thru this ordeal, strip search is a common practice here in the US port of entry for anyone who they think is remotely suspicious and I kind of agree. No wonder US did not have another 9/11

A rule is a rule is a rule.

Whether you are a celebrity, or the President, the King or an ordinary man- why should you be given a special status because of what you have achieved. Aren’t the law of the land supposed to be the same for all ? Why blame the security guards or officers ?? They just followed the procedure & protocols. They don’t know their own celebrities, let alone Indians…..and why should they ?

Don’t we say – Equal right to every one, equal opportunity to every one and all that jazz ? Why discriminate when it comes to celebrity ?

What irked me more was the rants from our own Soni Kudi : Tit for Tat, saying ” You’ve done blah blah to our celebrities, so we will do it to yours”…

C’mon lady, don’t you think before you speak out ?…

Give me a break!!!  Why don’t you look at improving the security procedures in the backyard before spelling out your vendetta. Why don’t you ask  Chidu bhai not to spare anyone who is remotely suspicious. On one hand you keep ranting at every opportunity, at the same time you don’t do enough to tighten your own belt. Look at how your administration allowed a man to breeze thru security with guns. Learn some lessons!!!

Coming to the point – That SRK had to go thru this ordeal was his misfortune, but I guess the rule applies and should apply to everyone. Celebrities are no exception!

For once, I agree with Salman Khan – No big deal!!!

Popularity: 20%

India, today, is one of the two hottest destinations for doing business. In fact this recession has shown the true colors of almost every country that was prospering. Every country except China & India have had negative growth. The growth in India is unparalleled with a near 6% GDP growth despite these testing times.

Hillary Clinton’s visit to India last week paved another path for bilateral ties. Defense deals, new trade agreements, joint ventures to fight climate change etc., are some of the key highlights of discussion during Hilary’s visit to India. Given the mandate that this election has thrown out coupled with Obama’s vision for India, the number of opportunities between India and US will only grow north.

If I were a business man and I had some innovative concepts or planning to expand my current footing, the first thing that I would do is to look at countries like India and China. Assuming I had a few million dollars to plan for a plethora of activities, my first few activities would include doing a survey, understanding the local requirements, hiring a team of experts locally, assigning them responsibilities, setting them targets and working with them to achieve my goals. Easier said than done, right ?

Now lets think practically – How many of us have a few million dollars to spare ? How many of us can afford to go to India often, stay there for a while and establish practically everything from scratch – A handful ?

A difficult proposition considering the effort required to set up your office, infrastructure, team etc., right ? So, what happens when you land in India – How will you be treated ? Will you be cheated ? How are the hotels ? Is everyone transparent enough ? What is your support level ? Who can you contact, in case you need help ? Do you need to take insurance ? How can you trust the doctors there ?

A million questions in your mind and you don’t have your answers. You wish there were answers to all these questions, so you could happily venture out in India without having to worry about individual and organizational credibility. You wish there was a helping hand to walk you through your road to success. You wish there was someone responsible who answered all your queries. You just wished !

Until about a few years ago, these wishes would have been mere wishes, with entrepreneurs and businessmen wading in the dark experimenting with the truth and reality of life in India. But now, things are different, way different than you can imagine.

A company called Entry India has made the life easier for Americans to start business in India. In their own words

Our Mission at Entry India is to Bring India Opportunities and US Businesses Closer.

The First Step towards this is to be aware of the ‘opportunity’. Our opportunity reports are specially designed for small businesses, start-up companies and investors to quickly size up the opportunity and get prepared to seize it. Our personalized approach to collect, organize, validate, and disseminate information is uniquely effective in overcoming entry barriers and ensuring successful outcomes for you.

India is beckoning U.S. companies. Let us take you there.

Entry India has recently completed their Delhi Travel Directory . Whether you are traveling to India for pleasure, business, study or medical care, the best way to ensure a successful and hassle free trip is to be thoroughly prepared for the trip. Delhi Travel Directory covers important information for planning your trip to Delhi and practical personal, business and government contact numbers and information you will need while in Delhi. It is a resource created by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) for NRIs to make their endeavors in Delhi successful especially when they visit Delhi for personal or business purposes.

Like Delhi, there are plans to come up with Directories for Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai etc. What more? Each of the associates/address listed in this directory are handpicked and qualified by Entry India LLC. It can’t get better!

Dr. Mahendra Pratap, one of the partners with Entry India, presented ‘Doing Business in India’ at the 14th BMM Convention’s US-India Trade Fair/Expo on July 04th, 2009. Here is a glimpse of the presentation.

Still thinking ?

Popularity: 26%

Living overseas! Something that a large percentage of Indians would love to sign up for any day – some for the lure of the money, some for the experience and some, for the quality of life that one can get living overseas. I am one of those that had this dream for a while. Having missed out on an opportunity to do my Masters degree in the States nearly 13 years ago for probably the most silliest reasons in hindsight, an opportunity to go and work overseas was something that I’d sign up to even in the deepest sleep.

My current employer presented me with an opportunity to move to London pretty recently. Having been there several times and spent a fair amount of time, this was something that I said yes to without a thought.

People who have been through the motions will tell you how the process is slow – the selection to the decision making and then the eternal wait for your paperwork. As frustrating it can get, I waited for what now seems like an eternity to get it all wrapped up. Jumping to catch the first available plane out, I showed up here with bag and baggage.

My first realization was the fact that I was on my own – a business trip where you can’t care less about anything material is very different to the fact that you need to fend for yourself for the word go when you are on your own.

Coming from home, we tend to take a lot of things for granted – A vehicle to commute on your own, often 4 wheels, large spacious houses, the value of which we hardly seem to realize back home, Family – how many times have we stopped to think about them when living with them?, last not least, the domestic help that we consider a given – from washing clothes to cleaning dishes, needless to mention, the houses too!

I started missing home in no time – I think it was less than 24 hours. Walking into work, you are in the midst of a place where you are met with “what are you doing here” kind of looks and conversations that go no longer than a “hello” however hard you try. If you have a new role to boot, welcome to the party!!

I can tell you that this concoction really hits you! I was hit and hit pretty hard too. There’s never been a time in my life when I’ve missed home ever so badly. Initial thoughts were pretty simple – which headhunter can I call to get back home now? Who are the old bosses that are hiring that I can reach out to? F@#$ this, I can get back home and find a job., 3 months – worse case, 6 months!

The search to find a place to live in is pretty interesting too! I’ve had pretty much every corner of London recommended as a place to live in and in literally 60 seconds being critiqued as a horrible place to live in too! Wow!! Is this a city that people live in?? With confusing views and conflicting opinions, you are left wondering why the hell did I move!!

Speaking to friends who have done this before, I realized that I was not alone in feeling this way. It’s that age old thing of grass being greener on the other side and being uprooted from your comfort zone that make you feel queasy. Every one that I have spoken to thinks this is just a phase, a phase where I draw a line on the sand to say here is what I felt only to change things around in 6 months time. Whilst time will tell if this in indeed true, here are my top 5 tips for those that plan to move overseas.

1. We never spend time preparing for a move overseas mentally – while the excitement gets the better of everything else, please spend time preparing mentally. Overseas moves are pretty stressful
2. Speak to friends about places to live in. Remember, every area is safe and equally unsafe. Doing some ground work ahead of time saves you a lot of stress
3. Overseas moves are not for the faint hearted and pampered ones – Washing clothes despite using a washing machine and pressing clothes are pains that a two rupee coin can ease back home.
4. I don’t know if feelings would have been different had I been single. If you are married, never ever move without your family. It’s cute to say I will move and my family will join me later, but on the ground, they can provide you tremendous support when you attempt to win small battles on your own and alone.
5. While we all know that “ change” is difficult and the only constant in life, going through that change is a lot more harder than what you think.

Cheers and happy moving! I’ll tell you if I feel any differently after 6 months!

Image Credit: wwarby

Popularity: 27%

When I was in India, every morning when I read newspaper, I would come across one or the other story involving a crime by or against maids. For some strange reasons, they continue to persist even though we Indians continue to progress as a civilized society.

More often than not the maids in India end up being the victims although there are times when they are on the erring side too. Sometimes they are accused of stealing petty household goods and at times they become cynosure of all eyes for all the wrongdoings. All said and done this so called “Maid In India” controversy doesn’t seem to die down.

The latest on the list involves a tinch of Bollywood masala. Long story short, the recent Shiney Ahuja rape case – one which shocked the nation, convinced us there is quite a bit of villain among the heroes too. I might be prejudging the case, but going what has been reported in the news it seems likely that Shiney will stop shining for a while. The point is the maids have become a victim of their own circumstances, like most women, in front of their own heroes.

Brings me to the point-Will we, in India,  ever get to a stage where we rely on professional maids for our saaf-safaai ? Can this unorganized sector be made more organised so that crime of this sort can be rooted even before they occur ? Will we, the middle class Indians, can ever live without a maid ?

Well, quite possible…if the government wills. May be its time for the government to step in and regulate that unorganized market  and show a ray of hope to the poor and downtrodden by bringing in professionalism, accountability and most importantly security for the server and the served.

Food for thought ?

Image Credit: Ahron de Leeuw

Popularity: 41%

In the brief moment it takes me to press the button of my choice on the voting machine, I become the master of our rulers and that feeling is exhilarating, though only in fleeting. Democracy above all forms of government is the most natural and enduring because in principle, every individual citizen is counted and respected.

Unfortunately, in our country, the power I wield is very ephemeral. Till I get another chance after 5 years at pressing that button again, the people whom I am supposed to have anointed to rule over my destiny run amuck. They amass wealth, plunder, and run rough-shod over the people on whose behalf they govern. During those 5 years, I become part of an amorphous, formless crowd. Let me tell you the sad story of Dr.Binayak Sen so that you may understand the other side of the dance of democracy.

Young Binayak wanted to be a doctor and he went to C.M.C, Vellore to do his M.B.B.S in 1966. He was a gold medalist and was selected to do M.D course in paediatrics. Here again he excelled and was among the top students. He then joined the faculty of the Centre for Social Medicine at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Though as a bright doctor the world was his for the asking, his idealism led him to join a rural health programme in Madhya Pradesh.

Later, he And his wife, Illina, a teacher, chose to go to rural Chattisgarh, to work with mine workers’ unions. The husband-wife team plunged headlong into various projects aimed at improving the rural health and education of the community. The tribal Adivasis lived in a world of abject poverty, injustice and a system that bred exploitation. He then worked for a salary of Rs.600.

Dr. Sen and his wife, Dr. Ilina Sen, founded Rupantar, a community-based organization aimed at training and supporting community health workers in several villages, fighting against alcohol abuse and violence against women. Dr. Sen has been involved in various other organizations committed to developing a low-cost, effective, community health programme in the tribal and rural areas of Chhattisgarh. He holds the postion as the Vice President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

It soon became clear to him that health of the community he sought to serve was linked to organized movement towards attainment of human rights. He raised his voice against human rights violations and the fake encounters involving supposed Maoists. He also spoke up against the war waged by the government of Chhattisgarh against the adivasis in Dantewara in the name of Salwa Judum which is an army of private citizens armed and supported by the government supposedly to fight the menace of the Maoists. What Salwa Judum initiative has achieved is to pit Adivasis against Adivasis and break their bond and unity.

On 14 May 2007 Dr Binayak Sen was arrested and thrown into a Raipur prison on trumped up charges of supporting Naxal activity in Chhattisgarh. He is charged under various draconian laws pertaining to sedition, waging war against State under various sections of the repressive Chhatisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 and the Unlawful Activities Act, 2004 (Amended) and various sections of the IPC. He has been denied bail though the case against him is very weak. To compound matters, Dr.Sen has a weak heart condition and he has been denied permission to get treated in Vellore Medical Mission hospital.

Two years of continuing sentence in jail is the price a non-violent, peace loving Dr.Binayak Sen has paid for giving three decades of his life for the sake of the poor and the voiceless. It is a shame that we in India allow a person like him to be sent to jail while carrying on our shoulders some elected looters and murderers masquerading as our leaders. Just as we celebrate the greatness of our democracy through these elections, Dr.Sen’s case should prick our conscience. In this case, the less said about the Indian judiciary, the better. It has repeatedly denied Dr Sen bail for two years.

Is it not frightening when the state wages a war against its own citizens and the rights of the individual is confined only to the constitution? What is even more depressing is that Dr.Sen is a non-issue for most of us Indians.

There is a nice quote from Martin Niemoller to wake us up. “First they came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me.”

At the heart of democracy is the right of the Individual. The rights of the individual should last beyond the act of voting. It should last a life time. We have a long way to go.

Image Credit: contact@binayaksen.net

Popularity: 36%

This boy was born and bought up in a slum in India. His family was poor and he had to struggle all through his early life. Even though there was lot of challenges, he believed in hard work and in doing the right things. Even while working hard to make a living, he never forgets his true love. He enters a quiz show and got all the answers correct. At the end of the show, he becomes a millionaire. But he is not satisfied. He longs for his true love. Then one day, he gets a chance to meet his true love.

Sounds familiar?

This is the story of Sarath Babu, the independent candidate for the South Chennai Lok Sabha seat. Sarath was born in a slum in Madipakkam in Chennai. He was born into a poor family with 6 members and his mother was the only breadwinner of the family. She raised them by doing multiple jobs that included selling idlis. Metaphorically speaking, Sarath enters the quiz show called life and gets all the answers correct. He worked hard and secured admissions to one of the top engineering colleges of India – BITS Pilani.

After completing his bachelor studies, he worked harder and got admitted to IIM-Ahmadabad. While at IIM-A, he gets high profile job offers but rejects all of them to pursue his passion of starting his own business and of helping young people by providing them employment. After some initial failures, his venture – Food King is a big success and has a turnover of about Rs.7 Crore and Sarath is a millionaire now.

But, is he satisfied yet?

No. His true love is to serve the people and bring about a positive change to people around him. So when the Lok Sabha polls were announced, he did not have to think twice before announcing his candidature for the Chennai South Lok Sabha constituency. This is his way of trying to bring change to the country.

What makes Sarath’s story outstanding is the courage he displayed at every turn in his life and how high he aims. There are other high profile independents contesting in different parts of the country but none of them have achieved so much in such a young age against so many odds. Remember he is only 29 years old.

Sarath is reaching out to the voters of South Chennai and he has a fairly large number of BITS and IIMA alumni volunteering for him and working round the clock. Now, it is an open question whether he will win or not. Most of the pundits have already written him off. But then, not many would have thought that he would succeed when he started his own food catering business. Irrespective of the result, one thing is certain. This guy never gives up and we will continue to hear about him more frequently in the future.

PS: Sarath Babu’s campaign website is http://sarathbabu.co.in/in/about/

Popularity: 44%

The D-Day for Bangalore is just around the corner – Thursday, 23^rd April is the day when we go to the polls and guess who’s competing from Bangalore’s most prestigious constituency?

Captain Gopinath

Known for enabling the dream of the common man to fly, this entrepreneur, who’s now turned as an independent had a very interesting blog on IBN Live. Explaining his rationale for going it alone, he made it amply clear that he didn’t have a fascination to compete the elections for power or money. With assets to the tune of nearly 50 odd crores, Gopi’s clear that he is not in this for the money. Detailing his vision for the country, he’s got the educated elite of Bangalore rooting for him.

Leading the charge is Mohandas Pai, the HR head of Infosys.

Pitted as the “battle” for South Bangalore, this independent takes on the big wigs – BJP’s Ananth Kumar, a traditional winner from this place and a rising young Congressman, Krishna Byre Gowda. It’s certainly going to be an interesting battle and I really look forward to this outcome.

As someone who will vote day after for this constituency, here are a few thoughts that come to my mind:

1. Being an election for the Parliament, the key outcome to my mind is who is going to be the Prime Minister. Choosing to vote for the BJP or the Congress will mean that I have a clear choice as the final outcome with the PM candidate. While I personally believe that one is better than the other (now don’t ask me who), how does voting for Gopinath make a difference to the big picture?
2. I’ve seen the state of several independent candidates in the past – while they somehow manage to make it, they get bought out. But knowing Gopi, I’m assuming he won’t, or will he eventually?
3. I love the value proposition that he brings to the table – India needs a change and some responsible politicians. Mindful of the fact that change is never an overnight thing, should I just kick start that change and vote for him?

The campaign trail has been a very interesting one though. I’ve not had a chance to catch much of this as I have been on the road myself. That said, I have been reading a lot about it on the internet. The big three ( BJP, Congress & JD(S) just love the dirty game of mud slinging. Having a bitter rival in the current CM of the state to come and campaign for him, Ananth tried to cover up the huge divide that exists in the party’s leadership. Not wanting to lose an opportunity, the grand old man of Karnataka, Mr. Deve Gowda used this opportunity to say what a mess that BJP was in, revealing a snippet or two about how some of the BJP top brass wanted to quit and join him! Not wanting to be left behind, the Congress caught on to the “young” India campaign, bashing the idea of having an 81 year old as PM. Interesting to say the least!

Elsewhere, someone has been going about the campaign with ease and class – drawing the educated class into closed rooms, Gopi’s campaign is a fact based & non emotional. Driving into work this morning, I heard this first time voter from an engineering college come on the radio to campaign for Gopinath. His message was very simple – we need change and we know what Gopinath can do – give him a chance! Even before I could get up to work, my phone goes off with an SMS from Gopinath. It goes like this – “The BJP is not winning!, Captain Gopinath”.

Thursday is a real test. Bangalore has sworn to vote and vote in large numbers. Will they vote for a change? I’m not guessing the outcome of this one, but know for a fact that I will vote!

Popularity: 36%

I do not understand politics, nor do I have any inclination to get to know it better. The most lavish and grandest festival of democracy – Elections are round the corner and so are the speculations about its outcome. Does it really matter who comes to power? What difference does that make?

Nothing, because all parties are the same at the end.

Many people think of voting as “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” but then known devil is always better than unknown. Some people actually do not vote thinking that there is no point voting as in the end all the parties get together. There are so many post election mergers that it is no point voting for anyone. But not going out to vote means giving the corrupt politicians a chance to use your vote. It is like giving in to their power.

But what makes a difference is a majority government. All parties are trying their best to woo the citizens. Free electricity, Color TVs, separate statehood, Ram mandir, Rice/wheat at Rs.2 and much more. As one of the promotional ads says all this is the price you get for putting your future in someone’s hands. If one party promises rice/wheat at Rs.3 per kg other one comes with a counter offer of Rs 2 per kg for rice and wheat within no time.

Where will all this come from at such a cheap price? Will they pay from their pockets?

Obviously not!!!

They will all increase the fiscal deficit again. The ruling parties consider increasing fiscal deficit as a trivial thing. They can do as they want, after all who can question them for 5 years once they are in the government.

While promising all this and while distributing money all of them are forgetting that our country has bigger and more urgent problems to solve. Getting out of this economic slowdown and fighting terrorism are more important than building a temple, a separate state, opposing English medium schools and usage of computers.

It is actually funny that some of them have manifesto saying computers are causing job losses and the jobs will be created by eliminating computers.

We the citizens have a bigger role to play in this election. We have the responsibility to choose better of the worst lot and get majority for one party. India cannot afford a political limbo at this point. Our economy needs a momentum, and we badly need foreign investments that would come in only if we have a stable government.

If various surveys are to be believed it is going to be a coalition government which is predicted to fall in 2 years. Unstable government means no concrete decisions, no foreign investments, and no genuine efforts to make a change. It’s going to be a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Parties will be busy fighting for ministerial posts instead of dealing with the problems being faced by the nation. They will play their favorite game of blaming it on each other.

Morality and ethics are at an all time low in Indian politics. Independent candidates are almost like blank checks. Post election the winning independent candidates are traded like IPL players (surely they get better rates than the players).

It’s the citizens of this country who have lost their loved ones because of terrorism or who have lost their jobs because of the financial crisis not the politicians.

Lighting candles doesn’t work in India neither do mass signature campaigns. It’s high time we choose the right candidates and question them when they do not fulfill their promises. Its time to question their promises and to ask them how they intend to fulfill their promises. They need to be asked why they are keeping regionalism and religion above security. A better solution will be the ability to recall a candidate who doesn’t do any work for his/her constituency.

We need to unite, question and choose the right candidate. Is it ethical on their part to fight elections from one party and join another after winning?

Every party now knows that they need not do good work to prove themselves and get majority. They can always buy the winning MPs or independent candidates. They have taken the youth and the salaried class for granted. That is why all the promises they have made are for the poor and rural people who can be easily duped.

We need to stand up for ourselves and for our country. We have to choose a sensible and accountable government and hold it responsible and answerable for whatever it does. Looking at the cost of each election we cannot afford election every two years. We need to use our heads and be the decision makers. We need to set our priorities right and choose a candidate who can work beyond free electricity or food.

Getting a stable government means a chance to make a change. Once we have a stable majority government we can take the next step of making it answerable and accountable for whatever it does and for all this to happen we need to go out and use our right to Vote.

Its time we stop blaming and start acting. It is our country and we are responsible to choose who will run it for us.

Image Credit: Ramesh Lalwani

Popularity: 28%

With elections around the corner, there would be many thoughts going through your mind.

Who will win this election ? Will Mayawati be a strong candidate for Prime Minister ? Or will Congress regain majority with the other UPA allies ? Or will Advani win the heart of the nation?

There are several of these questions that need to be answered. No one knows better than you do in your state or city. India Special is opening its doors to everyone who can contribute articles with primary focus on elections.

At India Special, are neither a pro BJP nor a pro Congress….and we don’t intend to be with the Third Front either. But yes, we do want to speak out, promote the right candidates, the right ideologies as much as we can.

At the same time, we would like to be of service to those who intend to speak their mind out.

India Special has a backend team of editors, publishers, technologists etc who are willing to support you in your analysis for and against candidates in each and every state.

If you are willing to participate in this debate and want your articles to be published, just write your thoughts and opinions to editor@indiaspecial.net

Please note that we do edit the articles to meet our quality standards. Also, some of the points that you may want to keep in mind while writing articles, analysis or opinions are

a) The article should be in the range of 500-800 words

b) The article should not have spelling and grammar mistakes

c) The article should not be communal in nature, promote hatred etc.

d) The article should not contain any foul language

You are free to express your opinion and we respect it. Please make all efforts to be a responsible contributor. Please take a look at some of the articles that we have published in recent times, just to get an idea

a) The Importance Of Being Earnest In Politics

b) Shashi Tharoor- A New Beginning?

c) Indian Politics – Change Is Coming Soon

d) Lok Satta – Powered By People, Driven By Actions

e) Meera Sanyal –The Hope For Mumbai

Looking forward for an excellent analysis of the coming elections. Get your thoughts published, initiate a debate and do your bit to make a difference. Please also spread the word around. Thank you.

You can email your articles to  editor@indiaspecial.net

Image Credit: Caitlinator

Popularity: 29%

The latest and most frequently used word in the world is “Recession”. Anyone and everyone is talking about recession.

Almost all the companies have cut down on onsite travels, administrative cost and other perks. There are no more free lunches literally. Companies are introducing Performance Improvement Plans and giving zero hikes or bonuses. Everything has only one reason. RECESSION.

From a middle class citizen’s point of view, Restaurants have become expensive, shopping malls are empty, and food prices have gone up too. The fuel prices have gone down by almost Rs10 and still the auto guys crib for more money as it is recession time. Even the local vegetable vendor blames recession for increase in the prices. (I wonder why it is only the recession that is affecting the prices and why isn’t the falling inflation causing any price falls.) Everything is going up except my income and I too blame it on recession.

Is India really going through a recession or is it just the cold we have caught because USA sneezed? Are we just projecting a slowdown as a recession? Of course it has affected India because of the outsourcing and we too had job losses. But can we call it a recession still?

There is a difference between recession and slow down. The dictionary meaning of recession is two continuous quarters of negative growth where as during slowdown there is growth but it is slow. And who says India has negative growth? The RBI is still predicting a GDP growth of about 7%.

Our banking sector is still very strong and the interest rates are still high compared to other countries. We can still pass through this recession in US without getting into it.

Of course the government is trying to make things better by reducing the interest rates, announcing stimulus packages and various other measures to pump money into the market. We can be hopeful that the various stimulus packages being announced by the Indian as well as global governments will give a boost to sectors like infrastructure, automobile, cement and metals. This will increase the business and also the ‘recession free’ politics ‘industry’ is ready to infuse money in the name of general election and that should be a boost to the economy as well.

Apart from all this we also have some responsibilities t improve the situation. We need to use our resources effectively and at the same time focus on innovation.

Recession forces people to spend less and save more for adverse situations but we Indians are not new to the idea of savings. We just need to chuck the extra credit card spending, check our expenses, promote the right things and viola we’ll be on our way out of this crazy situation. Being thrifty will surely help us get out of this slowdown earlier than others.

This is the time to capitalize on things which we are good at. Tourism is going to be hit because of global recession (obviously there will be less number of people visiting the Taj Mahal this year) but we can promote health tourism which is still a cheaper option in India with best of services available at cheaper prices compared to USA or Europe.

Agriculture is still the backbone of our economy. Let us make that stronger. We need to get the farmers back to the fields and the higher dollar value can get us more money for our agriculture exports.

Instead of worrying about losing outsourcing jobs we can start innovating our products. IT industry which has been worst hit due to dependency on US can start focusing more on product innovation and less on services. Once the situation improves we’ll be less dependent on US plus we can be a major player too rather than just being the back office of the world.

Remember how India tackled the bans that were imposed by the world especially US after the nuclear tests. We became almost self sufficient in the things that were banned by other countries.

When the next boom comes, we can reap the benefits of effective resource utilization and innovation and be ahead of other economies. We surely have the talent and means to get out this slowdown without slipping into recession.

I strongly feel this economic condition is just a wake up call for us to be more responsible and more cautious and to realize our abilities to drive away the recession blues. Jaago Re!

Popularity: 29%

Every morning I devour practically the entire Hindu and The Times of India and attempt at deciphering meaning out of the cacophony of our national politics. At night I worship the idiot box and sink in the theatrics of the likes of Professor Laloo, star struck Amar Singh, imperious Behn ji, of course our own Amma and countless others. At the end, I realize I am not any wiser having listened to their discussions. Like people crouching happily around a circle watching the gory fight among a few cocks and hens I allow myself to get titillated by the ongoing bawdy carnival. I resolve to wean myself away from these temptations in future. Invariably, the steaming tea the next day morning reminds me of the steamy headlines in the papers and I start all over again.

Having said this, I understand the grave implications of the elections. All the cocks and hens fighting it out in the middle have the power to make or break our lives.

Kandamangalm’s article on Ms.Meera Sanyal entering the fray as an independent MP candidate from Mumbai South was timely. I admire the idealism conveyed through her web site and I bet she wants to make a difference. But, I feel sad for Meera Sanyal. There is hardly any chance of the miracle win she is hoping for. She is surely a realist, why is she doing this to herself? Perhaps in politics the loser also wins in some ways. The number of votes a candidate gets is like the number of customers a business can boast of. And politics is all about leveraging with numbers.

I agree with Madhavan that Meera should have got into a political party and increased her chances of winning. At any rate, why is she contesting against Milind Deora who has already made a name for working with vision and dynamism? Tell me, what is the use of felling a good, sturdy tree? Are you against him just because he is his father’s son? May the forces be with you, Meera. And, don’t lose heart!

Kandamangalm’s suggestion to vote for the individual rather than the party is okay with me, but there is a part of me that rebels. If a good man stands from Raj Thackeray’s party in my constituency, I will not vote for that candidate. Nor will I consider a very good candidate from any of the archaic communist parties. A man is defined by his ideologies and thoughts.

That brings me to the topic of a very good man who is not necessarily in terrific company. I am speaking of Mr.Pandia Rajan who is the D.M.D.K (Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam) candidate from Virudhunagar constituency near Madurai. This party was started in 2006 by popular Tamil film actor Vijaykanth also known as black M.G.R or ‘Captain Vijaykanth’. Ever since he started his acting career in 1979, Vijaykanth has carefully nurtured his image in the mould of M.G.R, as a do-gooder and a champion of the oppressed. He has been very vocal about the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. In spite of overtures from several parties, D.M.D.K has decided to approach the people alone, without any alliance.

Mr.K.Pandia Rajan dived into the rough waters of Indian politics more than two years back. He first joined the BJP and after being with them for more than a year he became disillusioned with them and joined the party of Vijaykanth. Why is he in the company of a temperamental film star? Perhaps he loathes being a small fish in a big river. Being the risk taker that he is, Mr.Pandia Rajan smells some heady stuff brewing in Vijaykanth’s party. He is now a big fish in D.M.D.K and is now aiming for the stars. He is surely a person to watch out for in Indian politics.

Pandia Rajan’s story is the stuff of heroism and grit. Born in Vilampatti village in Sivakasi district, he was brought up by his grand father as his father who was a worker at a match factory died when Pandia Rajan was just three months old. After studying in the village school, he went to Coimbatore to study engineering at the PSG College of Technology. He joined XLRI, Jamshedpur for his MBA.

K. Pandia Rajan founded Ma Foi Management Consultants Limited in 1992 with an aim to make it a one-stop shop for all HR needs. With a capital of just Rs. 60,000, Pandia Rajan has transformed Ma Foi which now finds jobs for around 5,500 people every month. Today, its turn over is Rs.550 crore. Very soon, they are likely to provide more employment than all the Government employment exchanges in India put together. Ma Foi is now part of Vedior NV, a 6.85 billion Euro staffing company and the third largest in the world.

Pandia Rajan’s belief in giving back to society for what life has given him inspired him to create Ma Foi Foundation which works towards education for children, women empowerment, and capacity building for NGOs. Ma Foi Foundation, spear-headed by Mr.Pandia Rajan and his wife have made very good impact in several villages.

I have no doubt that Mr.Pandia Rajan has his game plan firmly in place. If he and we are lucky, we have another clean, effective and visionary politician in the making. Whether he makes it big in politics or not, he is another reason for all of us to be proud as Indians. He is a living example teaching us about the importance of being earnest in life and also in politics.

Popularity: 29%

Well, we have heard of Hung Parliament enough to know what a chaos that is going to be. When India had its share of hung parliaments in the last decade, the government did not last long and no one expected too.

This time around, Congress is facing an anti-incumbency factor in many of the states which it ruled – more so in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In both these places people have been tired of politics, the associated corruption and the countless instances of crime that was witnessed in the last year. Be it the Satyam saga, or the Nagarjuna Finance issue or the Siris Pharmaceutical case in AP or the Mumbai massacre in Mumbai towards the later part of the year, few of the Congress governed states have had extremely poor governance. This coupled with the fact that the economy is in a recession, will only add salt to the wounds of an already bleeding Congress. It will take a miracle for Congress to be reinstated to run the government and Dr. Manmohan Singh as India’s Prime Minister

BJP on the other hand had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. And in 2009, just when it needed to put in all the efforts to show a non-communal face and gulp up as many allies (or strategic partners so to say), it seemed to be going all wrong for the BJP- The month of January saw a BJP ruled state i.e Karnataka facing the wrath of the public when a few radical Hindu fundamentalists, closer to the Sangh Parivar, led by Pramod Muthalik attacked innocent women in a pub. BJP tried to distance itself from this party, but the effort did not seem to have paid off due to the Sangh Parivar connections.

Roll over to March, just when BJP needed all the support from its past allies, BJD (Biju Janata Dal) seems to have backtracked from its alliance – that will be a huge setback for this party considering the ambitious goals it had set for itself in Orissa. Advani’s dreams of becoming India’s Prime Minister at a young age of 82 seem to be a distant reality, unless some of the allies flip their wings in the opposite direction post elections.

That leaves us with an option called the Third Front. The followers of Lenin and the preachers of Marx had often called for a government that is Non Congress and Non BJP. While that seems to be the ideal thought, it might be wishful thinking for CPI or its namesake CPI(M) to form the government with the support of its regional allies.

This is an era of alliance and one man who knows how to play it at the right time is our erstwhile sleeping Prime Minister a.k.a Deve Gowda. He seems to be an extremely serious contender given the fact that he was instrumental in announcing The Third Front along with some regional superpowers including TDP, TRS, CPI, CPI(M), JDU, BJD, Forward Bloc etc.

Will he stand a chance ? Not unless Mayawati, Bhajan Lal, Nitish Kumar et al gives up their claim to Prime Ministership.

Speaking of Mayawati and her ambition of India’s first Dalit Woman Prime Minister could soon be a reality. is someone who knows how to play the caste card very well and whether you like it or not, Mayawati and her identity politics is a thorn in The Third Front’s nest. She could very well be the dark horse waiting and watching.

With a hung parliament in the offing, India’s Prime Ministerial candidate too seems to be hung .

It will be an interesting few months to watch the Indian political scenario turning topsy turvy with every passing day. The question still remains – Who will be India’s Hung Prime Minister ?

What’s your prediction ?

Image Credit: Alykat

Popularity: 29%

Abraham Lincoln once said “It is better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”

I always had a different idea about this statement until recently. My thoughts revolved around the fact that it is always to be on the side of the err than to be not on any side. Likewise, my father always preached and practiced this adage “Wrong decisions are always better than indecisions”.

Many a times in life you’d have across some incidents that changes your perspective about certain way of living. Sometimes you defy the common, sometimes you follow the herd and sometimes you are in a world of your own.

Mr. Vincent wrote an article on elections being bawdy carnival . In the article he focused more on Varun Gandhi and his histrionics, sometimes reminding India of the grim past that it had during election seasons – from Advani’s Rath Yatra to VP Singh’s Mandal Commission, from Gujarat Riots to Pilibhit, the hatred of politics and the politics of hatred growing in tandem, competing with each other and defying the youth of our country a chance to dream of a democratic and secular sovereign .

What Varun Gandhi said was totally unacceptable by any means. Even his so called claim that the video has been doctored, although, seems a bit too clichéd his latest stunt as he surrendered to the law enforcement agencies is nothing sort of a melodrama, causing a near riot and a few clashes of the saffron men with the local police.

I chanced upon an article in Indian Express, which further vindicated my thoughts on this Gandhi.

Apparently, in his writ petition Varun Gandhi submitted

“That the petitioner is a well-educated and peace-loving citizen and has done his BSc Economics from the London School of Economics in the year 1999 till 2002, and thereafter went on to do his MSc in public policy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in the year 2002-2004.”

Both LSE and SOAS have now said Gandhi’s claim is not accurate. This, if found true, would mean that Gandhi lied under oath and the court can initiate contempt proceedings as well as perjury charges which could lead upto 7 years behind bars. Phew!

If that’s not all, Varun Gandhi has been booked under National Security Act, attempt to murder and for inciting communal riots. This would mean a detention of at least one year.

The last couple of weeks Gandhi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. If he was in his sane mind, he would never have gotten into something as rotten as this. Such are the times, you do one bad deed and you knowingly or unknowingly get into the habit of doing bad deeds – one after the other and the end doesn’t seem to be in the horizon.

This is definitely a lesson for the youth of this country. It is also a message to the political sycophants of the communal minded that the politics of the hatred will soon see an end in the resurgent India. For once, the UP government has done the right thing. And all my kudos to Mayawati for not succumbing to political pressures. Some might call the arrest of Varun Gandhi as a political vendetta and others might call it being opportunistic.

Whatever said and done, what Varun Gandhi has displayed is the height of futility …an epitome of foolhardiness!

Now, I know why sometimes “Silence is Golden”

Popularity: 17%