“Will JaguaR Replace The Rose ?”

Well, that was  my Facebook status message a couple of days ago. Quite understably, no one understood why I put it out there and what was the context. Call it my overconfidence or pass it as yet another PJ (read Poor Joke), what I wanted to convey was this :

Will Jagan Mohan Reddy a.k.a Jagu-(a)-R replace our soft spoken septuagenarian Rosaiah a.k.a The Rose. I never imagined I’d have to explain my PJ all over again… Never mind – that gives me another subject to decipher..hehe!;)

It takes no brains to tell that I am talking of Andhra politcs. With the death of YSR, there is a sympathy wave amongst his loyal followers to make YSR’s son the next Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

On one hand Mr. Rose has taken over as the care taker CM, for now. He very conveniently portrays an image – I am a loyal party soldier, I will do what “madam” or our high command says, I have no ambition and all that crap.  Hard to believe, but so far the 70+ something Mr.Rose has portrayed a decent “I am not too keen” kind of an image.

On the other hand, JMR a.k.a. The JaguaR (according to me), is playing it safe – It is an emotional time for him having lost his dad. The odds are in his favour to become the next Chief Minister of AP. That he doesn’t have the requisite experience in politics doesn’t hold much water for now with his loyal fanbase- they are going by the same Indira Gandhi-Rajiv Gandhi logic.

Will “madam” budge in to the pressure tactics by Jag’s fans ? Can Cong afford to have an inexperienced CM to rule a state like AP ? Will it be fair to veterans like Rosaiah, Jaipal Reddy etc. who have served the party for so many years ?

On the same coin, this might be a great opportunity to bring in a fresh new face and take advantage of the situation. That JMR is a successful businessman, an upcoming media tycoon will play well for him – only if he plays his cards right.

My bet is on long time Cong loyalist -Jaipal Reddy who is not only experienced at the Centre but also belong to the Reddy community which is a significant force in Andhra politics today (although I hate to see caste-based politics, the reality is that this is what moves India, today – look at the Maya Memsaab!).

Jaipal Reddy, for now, is keeping silent and staying away from any controversies. Is that part of a larger plan, by the way ?

Either ways – interesting time in Andhra politics. Can’t wait to see what’s next…

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Popularity: 6%

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%

“Prediction, especially about the future, is quite hard” said the famous physicist Niels Bohr.

I am not sure if he referred to the kind of predictions the astrologers ilk make. Maybe he was referring to providing an insight into what tomorrow has in store for us in terms of advancements in science and technology, or just its general impact on day to day events. When people form opinions on events after they have taken place, there is always a tag attached – it is the oft used phrase in such circumstances: “in hindsight”.

Opinions in hindsight have the benefit of repeatedly analyzing the event that just happened, from various angles, and then putting forth an opinion that is based on logic which therefore can be explained away. Future events or predictions are just that – mere hypotheses about what is likely; maybe the odds are improved depending on the probability of certain events happening more than the other, or some sequence of events from the past guiding the future event in a specific direction.

Putting all the jargon around probability and its basis on prediction aside, for a moment, I am wondering how much attention the exit polls (that various news love to put out around elections) are getting. Would these exit polls or predictions, as to the results of the elections, end up biasing the common man that is the voter? The media is looking for an avenue to analyze and even over-analyze at times, each and every aspect of a particular event. The polls and the drama surrounding the predictions provides more than enough fodder for the media to have a field day around all the data that is thrown up. Whether there is any worthwhile benefit to these polls is beyond my mere comprehension.

It is amazing to note that without any data or useful inputs, there is nothing to debate upon. Where there is a plethora of data, the analysis surrounding the combinations of the very same data isn’t too far behind. This is applicable to every single aspect of our lives – if we take a moment to look at our everyday life, every logical action of ours is based upon weighing pros and cons, or in other words a very analytical approach to analyzing data.

So, in my opinion, the poll predictions are just that – a bunch of data that overzealous political analysts love to debate on live television in the fervor that everyday lives depend on it. It would be that much more beneficial to the common voter if these esteemed political analysts would instead pick up and analyze the past performance (yes, a performance review) of each and every meaningful politician that is worth his / her salt – this would at least help the voter make a judicious decision rather than be biased by the opinions of polls that already determine the winner or loser before the first vote is even cast.

Image Credit: Theresa Thomson

Popularity: 27%

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%

From being popularly known as the Indian Premier League to quickly becoming the Indian Problem League, the fall for the IPL has been rapid.

The money is something that cricket had not seen before. Money talks they say and so is it in this case!  From bringing in cricketers who the world thought was long gone back to stage, to helping another part of the world discover some amazing “young” talent, to entertaining all those cricket crazy fans every evening after work and last not least, giving kids around the country an extra reason to celebrate summer vacations, the IPL did it all in it’s inaugural edition. All good things come with controversies and IPL was not exception to this either. Accusing the league for pushing cricketers around the world into pre-mature retirement, choosing money over country and last but not least, not being inclusive, we saw it all.

I personally enjoyed season one. Choosing whom to support was an easy decision. Being a Bangalorean, I was disappointed to see a test team line up to play T20. My loyalty quickly swung to the best thing that’s happened to Indian cricket – MS Dhoni and his Chennai Super Kings. MSD played masterstroke with the team selection even before a ball was bowled. Getting a right mix of locals and expats, Dhoni ensured that he got along an uncut diamond, Raina along with him to stitch his team of the boys in yellow. The joker in the pack was of course the Rajasthan Royals. Acclaimed to have the greatest ever cricketing brain ever and blessed with exceptional skill to turn a cricket ball on glass, Shane Warne, up north, was putting together his team of underdogs. I wasn’t surprised to see these two teams do battle in the finals. I would have loved to see MSD and his boys win, but on a given day, the team that plays better cricket wins and right so, the Royals.

With time to kick start season 2 around the corner, the hype started as early as the New Year – the fallout of 26/11 meant that the Pakistani players didn’t want to come. For those that may argue this on who didn’t want who, the trading window and the money spent did its share to the share of ink. The nail in the coffin was the recent attack in neighboring Pakistan on a touring Sri Lankan team. While this was “outside” India, the event’s ripples traveled over 500 kms to the national capital for the administrators to sit up and take notice of potential security risks.

From an exchange of words to reading between lines, from the politics of power to the politics of money, in the name of democracy and elections, the home ministry showed who is the boss by having the IPL postpone it’s initial published schedule. Lalit Modi is a die hard and he went out saying this will happen with no change. Someone in the higher echelons of power asked him to backtrack and so he did, with a revised schedule – more cities and slightly different dates. This time around, the states came in to the party saying they were not staffed well enough to support security cover for these games and the proposed elections.

The issue of “security” in the sub-continent is being viewed at very differently by all the foreign players who were itching to come and get a game – life Vs money and we all know the obvious choice that these so called players from safe havens from around the world tend to make. With a couple of casualties in terms of big names dripping out for the fear of life, this storm is yet to blow over.

To me, the real issue on hand is the question of these two events co-existing. Elections are no doubt important and so too is the issue of security. A country of a billion people is suddenly faced with the issue of resources for security – what a paradox.

If I were Modi, I’d flex my financial muscle to hire SO many of those unemployed, semi skilled youth and train them to build up my own security forces for the IPL. Hiring or training is not an issue considering how much time is left. If you want to run and need shoes, you must go and get them! Waiting for someone to give them to you is not smart business. To me, this move is a great win win – strike a deal with the center to say that this newly built security force can be used as a potential resource to staff up national security services. Upskilling them to play a different game is easy and is doable if they clear hurdle one. Your cup of woes is filling up real quick Mr. Modi.. game to try?

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 16%

BJD, BJP, BSP, JDS, JDU, INC, AIADMK, TMC, CPI CPIM, TRS, DMK, TDP and the list goes on…

I was very bad at mathematics and don’t quite remember my permutations and combinations well. If you apply that technique to the 26 letters in the English alphabet with options of 3,4,5,6 lettered outputs, I don’t know what that number will be. That said, I know for a fact that the number of political parties in India may potentially equal that number of political parties. (Pardon me if the mathematical output is more than the number of parties – I’ve already confessed to being bad at math).

The 12^th of March 2009 saw the formation of a 3^rd front – Come papers report the number of parties in this alliance as 8, others say 10!  Assuming that the number is between 8-10, so many political parties with obviously very diverse interests coming together is for political gains! While they may claim to be a united face, I think it is just crap because a sheer look at the names and the nature of the people in there indicate that they will never stick together on ideologies.  Let’s take a quick sneak peek at the who’s who:

Deve Gowda:

Son of the soil and former prime Minster by chance, I distinctly recall his speech on the day of the vote of confidence when he said that “he would rise like a phoenix from the ashes to lead the country again sometime in future”.  To me, someone’s doing this just to fulfill his personal ambition. History is the best indication of how stable our great old man is and the Bangalore knows this more than anyone else. While I can go on and on, I rest my case here.

Jayalalitha :

The queen of the politics of vendetta, one can’t count the number of times she has decided to merge with a party and then break away. If there is someone who has a reputation of having had an alliance with the left, the right, the center, the top and the bottom, it must be her – yes! Except the DMK. Wonder if she will read this and think, why not merge with the DMK for sometime too?

Prakash Karat :

The CPI exec, LEFTIST is the simplest and apt way to describe them. My top of the mind recall for them was the way they threw the spanner into the works when we tried to get the nuclear deal through. I think they remain extremely conservative to date. Proof of their pudding is a look back into a state that they have ruled forever!

Mayawati:

If she was born south of the Vindhyas, she would have been Jayalalitha’s sister – . Elder or younger, I don’t know! There are two schools of thought from my friends from UP – One saying she has done a terrific job and the other saying she is no better than any other average politician. I can’t comment as I’ve never even set foot on that land, but I will however base my assumption on the recent scandalous birthday bash and the preceding hafta vasool. Welcome to the new world order.

Bhajan Lal:

Ex congressman who was dumped by the party after all his sweat and toil! Clear intentions on saying let me do something anti my mother ship. Selfish is the least that I can say!

Chandrababu Naidu:

Emandi garu? Meeru kooda join chesthunnaara?  In my broken Telugu, I meant to say, Et tu Brutus? If there was anyone in the political class that truly walked his talk and stood at the forefront of development, it’s him. I don’t care about the other aspects as I am trying to look for a needle in a haystack analyzing politicians. I don’t know why. If I were you, I will limit myself to regaining what I lost, look at getting back Andhra – there are too many local battles to fight, why go national?

Chandrasekhar :

Your only claim to fame is a separate state of Telangana. When I was in school, I was thought that India had 25 states ( I forgot if it was 25 or 26). I hoping my son is not taught of India having a 100 states! Can’t you just aim to value add in what we have? The solution to being Chief minister is not to say let’s create more states.. it’s what you can do as a value proposition for your state dude!

Who’s next? I don’t know as the list is not complete. Seems the parties are evaluating options – to join or not, to ruin or not!

God, please save us from this mess. I want to vote and be a good citizen. With so many parties and people around, whom do I vote for in this cesspool? I have no plans of supporting the 3^rd front, but how do we ensure someone doesn’t start a 4^th front day after?

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Popularity: 25%

Pakistan has been passing through chaotic times for quite some time. It was forced to cede some power to the Taliban and promulgated Shariat law in SWAT region. And a few days later, innocent Sri Lankan cricket players barely escaped being massacred in Lahore. The Times of India front page article of 11^th March suggests that Taliban is knocking at the door of Peshawar.

It is very intriguing that Pakistan which was created for people of Islam to live in peace has had a tumultuous history of chaos and terror right from its inception. It is estimated that in a population of 160 million there are 40 million firearms and 4 million drug users.

On the other hand, India which is a melting pot of all religions under the sun, basks in peace and brotherhood, relatively speaking.

Why is Pakistan which was founded on the basis of one religion, as a refuge for Muslims, going through such bleeding and pain?

Jinnah wanted all religions to flourish in his country. However, a few months after his death, vested political interests implemented their own agenda. The Basic Principle of the Constitution (Objective Resolution 1949) adopted in 1952 stated that the Quran and Sunnah were to be the sources of all laws in Pakistan, that it would be an Islamic Republic and only a Muslim could be the Head of state.

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 was a god sent opportunity for President Zia and the US for different reasons. The US wanted to create a Vietnam for the Soviets in Afghanistan. Zia seized the opportunity to further the cause of Islam and fight against the communist infidels. With the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) as its active collaborator, the CIA equipped the Afghan dissidents known as Mujahideen with billions of dollars of cash, weapons and explosives.

Meanwhile, thousands of young Madrassa students, known as the Taliban (Students), were recruited from Afghan refugee camps, brainwashed in Pakistani madrassas, trained and equipped by the ISI and were sent to Kabul.

These students are also sent to Kashmir or other parts of India to spread the Jihad. Some of them are now turning against their own government as suicide bombers or assassins.

On the social front, the government in NWFP in 2002 adopted the agenda of the Talibans and banned co-education, movies and videos, put women inside Burqa, and doled out harsh Islamic justice to the poor.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani ruling establishment and the military have become myopic, failing to see the wanton destruction of the country from within. Instead, they try feverishly to catch up with India in their army, air force and navy strength.

The fast moving and frightening events in our neighboring country offer very powerful insights and lessons for all of us and our country.

The Pakistanis and the Americans are now discovering to their horror that the Frankenstein they created in Pakistan and Afghanistan is now coming to haunt them. May be, poetic justice is catching up.

Minorities in a nation contribute tremendously to the internal gelling, enrichment and understanding among citizens. M.J Akbar wrote in his Sunday “Siege Within” column in the Times of India,

“A minority is the yeast that enables the national flour to rise.”

Flourishing nations in different parts of the world resonate with this truth.

The events in Pakistan should serve as a huge warning to all us to be weary of those who seek votes or divide people along religion lines. They have demonstrated time and again that such elements wreck the unity and peace in the country and their extremism has spawned many a terrorist.

The vision of founding fathers and leaders makes enormous difference to the destinies of nations. Vision based on human potential, aspirations and endeavor, goes to create prosperous nations while those based on past fears and limitations pave the way for failed states. We in India are lucky that we had visionaries like Gandhi and Nehru who only saw harmony in myriad cultures, religions and languages co-existing together.

In another article which appeared in the Times of India on March 8, M.J Akbar writes,

Every Indian Muslim should offer a special, public prayer of thanks to the Almighty Allah for His extraordinary benevolence – for the mercy He had shown by preventing us from ending up in Pakistan in 1947.

May our national flour continue to rise and rise.

Image credit: Meanest Indian

Popularity: 17%

On March 06^th, I read this news on IBN and it disturbed me hell of a lot

The Congress party may rope in child actors of Slumdog Millionaire – Azhar and Rubina – for Lok Sabha poll campaign, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Kripashankar Singh said in Mumbai on Thursday.

“We may use their services if they volunteer to campaign for the Congress,” Singh told reporters.

When I heard the name Kripashankar Singh, it reminded me of a news on him a few years ago for a wrong reason. Midday in Mumbai had published an article by Syed Hussain Zaidi on Mr. Singh. The title read “Kripashankar’s Guns to Goon”. This is the same guy who approved an unprecedented 349 arms licences in a month and that too just before the poll. Apparently, some were for his friends and some for criminals. Now you know why the news disturbed me.

Coming to the point – That it was Mr. Singh who was speaking to rope in the child actors was one concern, the other and more alarming concern was why are children being dragged into politics? Just because the film was a runaway success and half the population in that film are Indians and that too kids from slums, why are these 10 year olds and 12 year olds shown a world that they are totally unaware of.

Is it not exploitation of children by national leaders? What is wrong with Congress ? Is the Congress lacking in adult star campaigners that they had to rope in kids for their campaign ? Wouldn’t Anil Kapoor or Irfan Khan been a better representative for them than these poor kids ?

This is exploitation of children, of the first order. I have not heard the Children’s Rights Activists speaking out on this matter. Where are they ? Are they waiting for any Shubh Muhurtham to showcase their concern for children – or are they like the many reactive cells who do nothing but talk, talk and talk and when something noteworthy happens, their hearts suddenly starts pumping like nobody’s business.

And what is the Minister for Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury, doing ? I heard her talk well when Muthalik and his men attacked the pub in Mangalore and rightly so – I respected her for that. I haven’t heard her this time.

Oops!!! I forgot, she is also from Congress.

Of course, this is election time and the last thing you want on earth is a tug of war between a man and a woman involving the children, all claiming to be under the same banner – Congress!

There is no denying the fact that in the last 4-5 years Congress government has done a phenomenal job in positioning India in the global map under the able leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh and his very accomplished Cabinet.

However, in my mind, of late Congress seems to have lost it when it comes to making the right decisions, doing the right things, setting examples. How else can you explain their logic of picking up children for political campaigns ….children who don’t even know how to spell POLITICS.

“No Shame” is the name of the game!

Image Credit: Desheboard

Popularity: 17%

I had picked up this book 2 years back at the annual Strand book festival, and got to read it now. Tarun Tejpal is someone I had a curiosity to read. The first sentence of the book, made me raise an eye brow and doubt what was in the offering. First 150 pages or so, I was lost and now after completing the book, I think that part of the book could have been shortened. It was repetition of unnamed protagonist’s obsession with his wife and her body, and his inability to think beyond her.

But after about 200 pages the story picks up and that is when you find it difficult to keep the book down. The story travels from one plane to another, from one era to another, from one continent to another, from emotions to reality, from curiosity to mystery and finally lands up with truth.

Author has divided the book in five parts: Prema or love, Karma or action, Artha or money, Kama or desire, Satya or truth. And the chapters pretty much revolve around these broader themes.

It is a story of a writer, who makes several attempts at writing a great novel, but finally lives through one and realizes that you have to live a story to be able to tell it. By some stroke of destiny, he buys a house in lower Himalayas, and the house has a mysterious history and a story that no one is willing to tell. The author gets obsessed by his desire to unearth the story so much that he looses interest in his original obsession, his wife. Finally after following the story and my joining all the facts that he collects from all possible people, he feels a sense of relief and that is when he goes back in search of his wife, content that he, at last has a story.

The story has been woven very intricately by the author, it keeps moving back and forth in time and space. The descriptions of the places, events and people are excellent. I could specifically relate to it as half the story is set in the city that I grew up in and the author describes the city from all angles, including calling it a city with no past and no visible future. He talks about the city in such a way that you can almost smell the city and feel it. He describes the emotions also with equal ease, and you can feel what the protagonist is going through. He describes his house in Himalayas, and the visuals from its various angles in such a way that you can visualize the whole valley. He describes people in such a way that you would think of someone that resembles the character.

The story touches all the aspects that touch a usual human life-childhood, politics, history, mystery, relationships, love, lust, famous and common people, chance encounters, weird people and events, cross cultures, religion, lack and abundance of money, free spirits, traditional living etc. All this is neatly woven together in a web that may entangle you.

You would enjoy reading this intense and bold story, which is definitely different and original, especially if you are an intense person and like to lead an adventurous life.

Credit: Anuradha Goyal

Popularity: 20%

With India heading towards its 15th General Elections this year mid, the election fever has been at its peak. All the political parties (parties in the opposition and parties in power) are again playing their cards to woo the voters through traditional channels like commercials through television, campaign rallies etc. But this election we also see another way of promotion through the news media.

For instance when MNS created ruckus in whole of Maharashtra, it was something which was something unconstitutional. Similarly the Mangalore Incidents have been anti-social; with the way the women were treated and molested by the activists. Contrarily these activists belong to a party whose agenda was to “protect Indian Culture”, but they were openly molesting them and beating them

These parties know that they can’t make it big because they lack leaders and money that would be required for this kind of propaganda. So they start early and make sure that by the time elections come in the party becomes known to people. Ironically these kinds of publicity campaigns using anti-social means was started by one of the major political parties by bringing in a flavor of religion into it in the 90s. This party not only succeeded in the dastardly act of holding a whole nation at ransom, but also winning a subsequent election and running this country for sometime.

If these small regional parties are guilty of cheap publicity, so are the Media channels which show these pictures repeatedly. Being a news media channel, they should feel responsible as they can be a vehicle for change in the country, but instead they just go about showing the pictures and video clippings of what transpired repeatedly. By showing these, the parties normally achieve their objective of being able to promote themselves and their propaganda free of cost.

The problem with our country is that no government for past two general elections has got an absolute majority and they end up having a coalition with these small regional parties. Hence they are unable to arrive at a consensus in how to handle these kinds of rouge parties that enjoy some kind of support from these bigger regional who are the part of the national government.

If these are not curbed, then in the future most of the parties, which don’t have any mandate or an agenda, would start doing these anti social and anti national activities and successfully win their elections

Image Credit: Jijy

Popularity: 13%

Mohammed Azharuddin – The name needs no introduction.  A couple of days back he made his intentions very clear. He wants to enter politics and approached Congress high command for a party ticket. Congress seems to be happy to offer him a party ticket  to contest from Hyderabad.

Strategically speaking, this makes sense for Congress as it would be able to divert lot of the Hyderabadi Muslim vote from the traditional MIM votebank. Although Azhar ‘s reputation is tainted with the match fixing scandal that broke out in the early part of the decade, Congress seems to be least worried about that aspect.

So much for Sonia & Rahul Gandhi’s call not to provide ticket to individuals with bad reputation !

Agreed Azhar has not been convicted in the match fixing scandal and that a case is pending against the BCCI for its unilateral ban on him, but the fact is if Congress keeps promoting bad boys on one hand while singing Mahatma tunes on the other, it will only add to their growing reputation of showcasing double standard at various levels.

Not that the BJP or Samata Party is any different – nor the Mayawatis or the Senas. Everyone in politics have had their reputation of fielding tainted candidates.

With the recent appointments in the Jammu & Kashmir government, there was some  hope for good boys in Congress.  But that seems to be a utopian thought.

Like Azhar, Sanjay Dutt also is also considering to fight polls from Lucknow.

Why is that a majority of celebrities who has a tainted image is willing to make a foray into politics? Is it that they know they have been in bad books and now they want to turn over a new leaf ? Or is it that they want to continue their saga and snowball  the same into politics?  If it’s the former they should definitely be given another chance and if it’s the latter, someone has to make a call and stop them from contesting elections.

The key question, however, is how will we ever know what is the true intent ?  So, should they undergo a phased transition into contesting elections i.e. from a party worker to a secretary to a leader ? Not sure if they have the appetite for hardwork. Whatever be the method, high time that the so called good boys get a chance to serve the nations.

Can we ever see an Aamir Khan or a Shahrukh Khan fight elections ? If they can spread good messages through their films, I am sure they can carry the mantle into politics, as well.

From the cricketing arena, it will be heartening to see Sourav Ganguly or a Kumble take up politics – for a good cause. They have served the nation alright, but there is so much left in them – if not in cricket, in politics at least.

Similarly, Dhanraj Pillai, Baichung Bhutia, PT Usha, Prakash Padukone, Rani Mukherjee, Nandita Sen, Amol Palekar, Mohanlal etc are some names that come to mind if we really want to bring a systemic change.

If only the reverse were true i.e. the good boys in, the bad boys out !!!

Image Credit: Frankieb

Popularity: 7%

Dear Hyderabad,

Hi!!! How are you? I am doing well and I hope you are doing well too.  It has been a very long time since we met and had a very long catch up.

I wanted to apologise to you for not being in contact with you for so long. I am a little busy with the things happening in my life here in the UK. I would definitely tell you everything in person when we get to catch up. Any way, enough about me and tell me what is up with you?

I heard that there is a lot of political disarray going on in your life. What is it all about? Are you able to cope with it perfectly? I remember you telling me that you would solve this by the mid of this year. Well all the best Hyderabad. Hope you will solve it soon.

Also heard that one of your good friend from Satyam had been into shady transactions and now been arrested. Why did he do that? What went wrong? He was one of the best persons you were proud of. Sorry to hear that.

Hey what is your stand on prevailing traffic problems? Any luck in that case yet? Heard there are lot of freeways, highways and flyovers being constructed? Hope every thing will go well which is good for you and me as well.

London, my friend here in the UK, said ‘hi’ and wished you a happy new year. I have a great time with him. But, I cannot wait to see you. Convey my regards and love to my Mom and Dad. I am going to pay a visit as soon as possible. We can have fun as we always used to do and especially we can have your hand made biryani.

Miss you.

Love,

Bhaarath

P.S. Hey by the way, congratulations on your new airport. Few of our friends showed me the photographs. It is awesome.

Popularity: 10%

I started working about a decade ago and bumped into this pretty girl from a state in India called Gujarat. She was hired to work for me and I must clarify that I had no role in her selection…these were early days you see!!

We got chatting about our lives one day when I asked her the question, “What gets you to Bangalore?”. She didn’t pause a second to think and replied pat saying “I am looking for a bright career in the IT industry”.

I was real cocky those days – cocky about the fact that my city was considered the Silicon Valley of India and was a real magnet in terms of attracting all these young people from different parts of the country. I’ve had countless conversations when I’ve raved about Bangalore and ridiculed her state for being “under developed”. I’ve even gone to the extent of ragging her saying “do you guys have roads, public transport etc back home?”.

Gujarat’s transformation from being one of those under developed states about a decade ago to being a top draw for investments has been phenomenal.

How did all this happen?

One man and his desire to make things happen – Narendra Modi. Here comes a leader who like most of his counterparts says, I will do X, Y & Z and unlike his counterparts goes on to deliver all of them. The result – public loves them and want more. To do what he did with the Tata’s to bring in the Nano was probably the tipping point in this state’s ascendancy.

His leadership and the state are raved about today. And why not?

A recent corporate summit had Sunil Mittal and Anil Ambani suggested that Modi’s prowess should get him the big job in the country soon – being Prime Minister. What baffled me the following day were the reactions that were expressed for Industry leaders making that remark. The party that he is a part of, itself, was in arms, needless the mention the Congress and the other numerous fingers and toe parties that are around the country.

That gets me to ask the question… WHAT THE HELL?

Here’s a guy who has done what he said he will – that is the fundamental principle of good governance and people like it. All that they want is someone to focus on development and do what he/she promises to do. India over the last 12 months has clearly seen and recognized this – If Modi won a second term and Sheila Dixit a 3^rd, it’s just the fact that the work they do speaks volumes for them. It’s a known fact that no politician is clean and I don’t want to even go there.

What people want is good governance, tangible signs of development and keeping up of promises.

As leaders running businesses, it is extremely frustrating to see the lack of this across the country. Case and point to this is what’s happened to Bangalore over the last decade. While Gujarat was on it’s upswing, the Congress with Dharam Singh and the Son of the s(p)oil, Deve Gowda but Bangalore and Karnataka into reverse gear.

Bangalore bursts at its seams with little to no development in the last decade – the results here to see in the form of crippled infrastructure, no new industries coming in and of course, traffic jams turn this city to a standstill at pretty much any time of the day.

I consider myself fortunate for not having to bump into that pretty girl often these days – she must be dying to give back to me some of the hell that I gave her!

Is it unfair for the people of India and the business leaders to ask for someone who’s proven himself at governance and delivering on his promises to lead them? I think we’ve had enough of the days of Presidents who can’t walk and Prime Ministers who can’t talk (we’ve had exceptions alright, but the need is for exceptions to become the rule).

Come on… these requests are not unfair at all – it’s not about being favorable to one party or the other.. it is picking someone who is the right man to drive the bus, and drive it forward of course!

Popularity: 15%

Over the last few days, there has been so much of attention given to Satyam, Ramalinga Raju, his admission, his arrest etc.  The entire corporate world is speaking their heart out against Satyam and its founder.

One aspect that received less attention is the Corporate Political nexus.

This is very evident in the Satyam saga.  Although the politicians ,the Naidus and the Reddys of the world,  are trying their best to stay away from the Rajus, it is a well known fact that Satyam’s progress and the awarding of the various contracts in Andhra Pradesh and the other parts of the country could not have been  possible without  ”Under The Table” dealings.

A controversy not so long ago in rewarding the Hyderabad Metro project was brought to everyone’s notice and Mr.E Sreedharan had quite famously said about the rewarding of the contract as

“Making available 296 acres of land to BOT to Maytas consortium was like selling the family silver”

It is a known fact that without the politicians, the corporate honchos are helpless in getting contracts after contracts. And without the contributions from the corporate, large scale spending on elections and self progress can never be achieved. 

While it may be extremely difficult to prove, given the fact that everyone connected to the Satyam scam would have washed off their hands and destroyed all or any of the remaining evidence so, the existence of relationship between big businesses and the politicians can not be denied. This nexus has only seen the common man suffer.

So who are these sufferers?

The worst sufferers are definitely the employees and the shareholders of the company. 

Spare a moment also for the hundreds (if not thousands) of future entrepreneurs who would not even dare to start a venture in India, knowing very well what they will have to compromise on their ethics and morality to be rewarded contracts.

How often do you see the likes of a Narayana Murthy or an Azim Premji emerge victorious without actually paying heed to the politician’s demands.  And if you dare to be different from the rest, you are often harassed mentally and in some cases physically until you succumb to the political pressures.

Given such environment to do business, it will be indeed surprising that how many small businesses and entrepreneurs will be able to make it big in India.

A dream will remain a dream if the lawmakers in India do not make exclusive provisions to severely punish those politicians and the corporate who indulge in unfair practices. There has to be a fear for the law of the land.

Last decade saw India leaping after the economy liberalized.  Now that some of the moles are out, the government should take extreme measures to ensure that the future years will be profoundly remembered as an age of trust, honesty and transparency where a rejuvenated India will emerge and a common man can dream…and dream big!

Popularity: 17%