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%

Dosas and paranthas made the breakfast surreal,
Now the entire focus is on the cereal;
Chai was drunk with glass or tumbler,
Latte has transformed it to cup and saucer;

All that came with the meal was a pickle,
Now a missing salad deems you fickle;
A sumptuous dessert followed the meal,
Calorie counting now just gives the look-and-feel.

The scooter of choice was a Bajaj,
Now everyone’s thinking of a two-car garage;
The whole household had one telephone,
Cell phones are now being handed down.

Sharing photos was by showing the picture,
Now it’s all done using the Flickr;
Letters used to be mailed from the post office,
Using the e-mail will now suffice.

Fashion and style were last on the mind,
Now ignoring it won’t even make the wife kind;
Bermuda was only known as an island,
Not owning one will banish you to no man’s land.

Buying a TV was a big discussion,
Now the size of LCD is the main contention;
How did you buy it was never a question?
The credit crisis has changed the equation.

Image Credit: Sashwat Nagpal

Popularity: 15%

Till just a few years ago, we used to hear stories about how people in the US and in Japan used to throw away ‘electronic items’ like TVs, calculators, washing machines and God knows what not. It was so unbelievable! How could someone throw away something so valuable? Born and brought up the way we are (and thankfully so), Indians could have been some of the best conservers and re-users in the world … even if it meant we were completely wrong once in a while…

Take for example the soap. The last part of which would never be thrown away – it would be ‘attached’ to the next bar of soap to ensure full use, or even miraculously dissolved in water to make ‘liquid soap’. Then Eureka! One of the wiser ones came up with soap saving devices… strange shapes of steel and plastic that would stick to the bottom of the soap so that it would stay ‘dry’ and last longer.

Manufacturers got wiser and created soaps with a U curve that would no longer use these miraculous devices. Then an amazing thing happened – one of the dish-wash soaps decided to ‘dissolve’ less even when it was in contact with water…

The world was fuelled by invention. And we for conservation! It was well known that completely dead batteries when kept in the sunlight would ‘recharge’ and give some extra life. A cycle tube could easily run another year even if it had just 20 punctures. Your old clothes could be exchanged for new ‘Aluminum’ vessels. Your old vessels could be made new and shining thanks to men with ‘kalai’ (I always thought they were alchemists).

A bus was meant to carry as many passengers as could be stuffed inside and loaded over the roof too. Milk packets could be cleaned and saved to be sold to the ‘raddi-wala’ for some money along with the old newspapers. You could repair your umbrella every year thanks to the ‘chatri-repairwala’, who surprisingly never seems to carry his own umbrella. Chappals and shoes had typical lives of several hundred kilometers thanks to your cobbler, who could almost refit a new part from somewhere everytime (and finally finally use your footwear for spare parts for someone else). Cow dung and coconut had a thousand uses.

Televisions would be draped in the finest of cloth to prevent it from dust, not to mention the intricate wooden shutter boxes for the more privileged ones. The rare Mixer-Grinders would be kept in their boxes under lock and key when not in use. Almost everything could be ‘repaired’ and reused… glassware, furniture, shoes, clothes, used tyres, rope, wires, broken switches, fans, buckets. The list sure seems endless…

Today we are perhaps surrounded by plenty. Many of us don’t even think before we throw away tons of garbage including electronic and on bio-degradable waste. Think of the countless plastic covers each of us would have thrown over the years. Don’t get me wrong here – it’s not about being stingy.

In what our earlier generation did, there was a message. A message to conserve and reuse – in ways they thought best. Something they perhaps unknowingly did. Or maybe out of need. Either way they seem to have led a more environmentally aware and mature life.

Fortunately, some of these funny practices still exist. I don’t know for how long… but I sure hope we all find newer and better methods to get environmentally friendly, even if it means crude, but effective ways Share your whacky ideas in the comments…

After all, that’s what makes India Special!

Popularity: 8%