Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Mahasangram Maharashtracha

Love him or hate him, ridicule him or praise him, if you are in Maharashtra you just can't ignore Raj Thackrey. He has managed to get the Maharashtra assembly elections revolve around him and in doing so has garnered immense publicity for his nascent party. Only in its 3rd election and MNS finds itself mentioned in speeches of leaders across the political spectrum. One look at the election manifesto of both the major alliances and you see the Raj footprint on it.
What Raj has done would make any army general proud; make the enemy fight on his terms. Whether it converts in electoral success is something that needs to be seen, but then we are in the thick of action and another 3 weeks time we will see if Raj Thackrey has managed to extend his clout which results in electoral wins and not just good runs.
If one believes his intentions are honest (only time can tell that), then he has achieved the first goal that is of getting the problem recognized, whether any action happens only time will tell, but for now, Marathi language has become the focal point. Why have we reached these state of affairs is something which Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, BJP all should answer.
Also on the anvil are the issues of Farmer Suicides and Load Shedding. Over 28,000 farmers have committed suicide in state in last 10 odd years, who is responsible? Who benefited from the massive loan waivers which GoI declared last year - well not the farmers but the co-operative banks run by political honcho's. How was the farmer supposed to benefit when over 70% of loans are taken from Money Lenders. Loan waivers are not the way, I would like to believe no one wants a free lunch, what they want is an opportunity to make their daily wages through honest means - it translates into cultivable land, assistance to retain the fertility of land, irrigation water, assured electric supply, a free market for its products where the farmers benefit and not the intermediaries.
It’s been over 10 years since a power plant was commissioned in Maharashtra. Once a power surplus state today we are deficient to the extend of 30%. Yet there is no news of a new power plant being set in the state. Planning as usual is to address current needs, in 5 years time when the plants are ready the demand would have again outstripped production.
Yet both the manifestos talk about Maharashtra free of load shedding, but how are they going to achieve it. Considerable policy changes are needed, generation of power for that matter all infrastructure cannot be just left to state and centre - local civic bodies should have a greater say and control in developing in primary infrastructure. Today everyone is sharing a vision, but no action plan on how to achieve that vision.
On this backdrop, what Raj Thackrey talks (no not the bashing of UP and Bihari's), a need to have control over government - ways to hold government responsible for its duties and promises makes sense. Will he be able to deliver, who knows - does he deserve a chance - probably yes.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Remembering Gandhi

To commemorate 241 miles which Bapu travelled during the Salt March, Mont Blanc has released a limited edition pen called – ‘Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241’, only 241 of these pens are made and each of them costs a cool 12 lakhs. What a way to remember Gandhi whose whole life was about simplicity. Who used to make a point to write on both sides of a page so as not to waste paper.
Is this a sign of a greater decay, where we remember the symbol but not what it stands for? Its time to learn Gandhi all over again, for he is more relevant then ever in present times.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The changing face of religion?

In a much welcome move, Akali Takt has asked Sikh's all over the globe to spend the money / resources on cleaning on natural water sources rather then on building new Gurudawaras. The takt directive encourages Sikhs to make sure natural water resources in their areas are clean rather then building new Gurudawar.
Isn't that a welcome move? The purpose of any religion is to make people's life better and what better way to make sure that you give back to the society, god and nature in general?
If only all religions can follow the path. Every day we see new temples coming up around you and yet there are n number of social problems plaguing our society. Why is it so easy to collect money for a temple for a puja then for a social cause?
And yes, the same should apply to a certain CM who is busy building her statues all across the state. Instead of statues she build water tanks, wind mills and give them her name, won't that stay more in posterity?
वाहे गुरूजी का खालसा वाहे गुरूजी की फतह

Monday, April 27, 2009

All the Kings men are not able to put KKR back on track

Once there was a shopkeeper who was worried about the safety of his shop in the night when the shop was closed. So after much deliberation he hired a security guard. He rested well for few days but then again started worrying that what if the security guard goes to sleep on duty and his shop is looted. So he hires another security guard. Now he starts to worry what if these guards keep chatting within themselves so he hires a supervisor to look over them. Handling the salaries and times of guard become an issue so he goes ahead an hires an accountant to manage this. With 4 people to look after he doesn’t have enough time to look after the shop, so he hires a manager to look after the people.
Then one day he realizes the profits are dropping. He checks and sees the expenses and realizes that there are far too many people on security, so he calls the manager for deliberation. After a lengthy discussion they arrive at a decision to fire one of the security guards.

KKR finds itself in the similar position, it has an entourage of people to help the players traveling with the team to South Africa and have send back a couple of players. These players don’t fit into the scheme of things and to keep costs down they are been send back instead of they just lugging along with the team.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Need another fake IPL player

Well KKR has been bugged by this http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/
He claims to be a KKR players and gives inside dope on things happening in KKR camp
What will it be like to get another fake IPL player this time for "Indian Political League", someone who gives all the dope on whats happening in Congress and BJP camps.
How does Advani react to the criticism unleashed on him by Congress? Looks like while Advani can dish it out on others when the tables are turned on him, he is simply not able to accept it. It will be amusing to find out.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Mahatma's Legacy ??

Isn't it amazing that government of India had to take help of a liquor baron to get back Mahatma's items from the auction?
Bapu's soul must be in agony :-
1) Spending about 9Cr which could have better utilized on helping someone really needy
2) Add to it the insult of engaging the services of a liquor baron
Such are the times we live in, where its not about ideology but about symbolism, and in trying to retain the symbolism we go against the very ideology the symbol stands for.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

And the great Indian Comedy Circus begins

With the Election Commission finally announcing the dates for the 15th Loksabha elections, the Great Indian Comedy Circus is truly on its way. Thankfully with the code of conduct in place we will be spared from the government ads.
But as India gets ready for the largest exercise in democracy the point to reflect will be do we have the right choices? Will be voting for something or voting against something?
Can the two major political parties find 1000 odd good men in a nation of billion?
How will the election be this time around - will it focus on national issues or local issues?
Will the regional parties still hold sway?
Few things which are certain -
We will have a fragmented parliament. It will be a big surprise if any single party gets over 200 seats.
Money spend on elections will be most effective stimulus the economy will have for all the 10000 odd crores will be utilized unlike other government welfare schemes which are mostly on paper.
Well the first bell has just been sounded. So the show will start soon, lets hold on to our seats as the circus unfolds.