PROTECTING ABUNDANCE

Back from a short holiday with nature in its breath taking awesome splendor.
Makes me wonder why we humans remain stuck in petty matters involved with low end of existence in the midst of such abundance!!
A three and half hours drive to our destination (Thekkady is only accessible by road) from the rail head after an over night journey from Bangalore gave an instant sense of liberation as we alighted at the resort in the midst of blue skies full of oxygen rich greenery and pleasant sound of birds.
Kerala is famous for back waters but Thekkady is a different jewel tucked away on the high ranges of the Western Ghats offering unique taste of beautiful landscape amidst fascinating natural wildlife with the man made Periyar Lake created by the British in 1895 from the Mullapperiyar River depicting a harmonious blend with nature.
Can we resolve to ensure that EARTH remains protected from the catastrophic abuse we hurl at it disrespecting the unconditional abundance we receive?

CORPORATE SOCIAL IR-RESPONSIBILTY

We live in the neighborhood of a Tech Park (imposed upon us by corrupt politicians being hands-in-glove with real estate sharks!!) – and silently tolerate a whole lot of nuisance and abuse of the environment on 365/24/7 basis associated with an influx of more than 12,000 persons directly employed by the who’s-who of corporate world aside from hundreds of support staff who make a living from the tech park.
The EARTH HOUR initiative last evening should have been an opportunity for the huge multi national companies (mostly of US and Foreign origin) to show solidarity with the cause in their adopted overseas location by at least switching off non essential lighting on their sprawling premises for an hour. Sadly, nothing transpired and the thousands of lights remained glowing oblivious to the more than urgent need to get involved to protect the very future of their own cash flows!!
It is distressing to realize that we are at the mercy of people who manage companies and enjoy a lot of privileges (some times undeserving) but are so blatantly IRRESPONSIBLE towards the impact of their behavior on the environment. This ‘don’t care’ attitude is all the more devastating when they ignore well publicized efforts (apparently small) like the EARTH HOUR especially since the chosen hour was on a Saturday evening.
May be the bosses were too busy with their single malts and sushi in designer dresses at some well lighted week-end venue relaxing after a hard week’s abuse?

V - ('OTER CARD) DAY!!

On Sunday 22nd March around 20:00 hours obtained the much anticipated VOTER IDENTITY CARD on the Fifth visit to the designated office of the Election Commission!! Considering the level of frustration earlier experienced the fact that the card matured on the FIFTH TRIP became an anti-climax for which I must thank the flawed system. It prepared me for not expecting any thing to happen when I walked into the issuing office – but to come out with a sense of achievement with the treasured card in the pocket!!
There’s a lesson in this for those who want to get things done when inter acting with any agency of the government. Go about the procedure in accordance with the mostly cumbersome system and DO NOT EXPECT ANY OUT COME. The most important aspect is to approach matters with a sense of resigned perseverance!!
By the way, the government also has adequately provided for outlets to vent your emotions. They have a plethora of e-mail IDs with a disguised message which gives the impression that you can approach the senior most Civil Servants to resolve problems encountered while dealing with the system – but they will ignore your mails and complaints/grievances, by the time this realization strikes, the job gets done. This practice works splendidly as a punching bag for your anger, frustration and other negative emotions. E-Governance at its best!!
So next time have a bit of consideration for the subtle manner in which we the citizens of India are protected by the State from the build up of negative emotions which are deceptively destructive for the well being of the Indian!!

THE SIEGE WITHIN - BY M J AKBAR

Sharing the reality check stated in this article published in TOI.
Tale of two nations: Indian order, Pak disorder.
The most dangerous kind of lie is the one that has a tiny bit of truth mixed inside.
As maxims go, that is not very well known. Liars do not advertise their wares, and the truthful are easily seduced. The broad space between honesty and deception is occupied by the gullible. To prey on the gullible is the politician’s art.
Politicians in power have an advantage. They can segue the clout of office with the credibility of the medium to make a sale. The transaction is propelled by a primary rule of advertising: hearing is believing. Shoddy goods are packaged in the glamour of power. There is a catch, though. Those in power lose their capacity to notice when they have become stale, let alone putrid. Asif Ali Zardari has long crossed his sell-by date.
There is striking, albeit accidental, similarity between Islamabad and New Delhi. Both have governments on their way out without any certainty about what is on the way in. The difference in the transition is the story of the subcontinent.
The process in India is natural, orderly and bubbling with excitement of many ambitions. Sharad Pawar is quite correct when he says that every political party can have its own candidate for Prime Minister. There is no divine right in democracy. Pawar is too astute a professional to have made his bid unless he was confident that the present coalition would need radical restructuring, starting from the top. The Congress has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will continue; Pawar does not think so. Many hearts are beating more quietly, including within the Congress.
The contenders have been encouraged by the sight of NDA dropping a chunk from the side like an iceberg caught in Orissa heat. Every satrap is keeping all options open. Naveen Patnaik may have left the BJP but he has not joined the Congress or the Third Front. Sensible politicians know only one thing, that no one knows what might emerge when the verdict is read out by the greatest jury in the world, the Indian electorate. The array in India is in sharp contrast to the disarray in Pakistan.
Zardari has always used the dangerous lie to great effect. He used it to reach the President’s office and then upgraded a non-executive post into an authoritarian outpost. The same tactic was used with Delhi over Mumbai terrorism; a little truth was fed into a massive cover-up to protect the Lashkar-e-Taiba. He bluffed Nawaz Sharif by promising an independent judiciary and then turned judges into a row of poodles on morphine. They obediently dismissed an elected government in Punjab, triggering off the long march of lawyers and opposition parties on Islamabad and the crisis that woke up the only Uncle still sending Pakistan Christmas gifts. A phone call from Richard Holbrooke in Washington diluted the crisis by reversing Zardari’s orders and castrating his role in government. It also indicated the degree to which Pakistan has compromised its independence. America has become the principal arbiter of its internal affairs.
Leaders depart when their moment is over in any nation, but in a democracy they depart with dignity. Delhi has, in my estimate, the largest collection of ex-prime ministers in the world – and given the likely evolution of politics in the next few years, more are on the way.

It would be dangerous if the victors and the losers of the long march forget that the real danger to Pakistan still comes from the short march. The Taliban is only a short march away from Islamabad. The Taliban did not take Afghanistan in one swoop, but city by city. One is not suggesting that Pakistan is as vulnerable as Afghanistan was in the winter of 1994, or that wars between politicians resemble pitched battles between the various claimants to Kabul. But the fall of the Swat is not a solution; it has become the fortress of a dangerous problem. Shopkeepers in Peshawar selling ‘modern’ clothes for women have begun to get the message and are fleeing to other cities. But is there sufficient space for retreat? Peshawar is less than 90 minutes from Islamabad.
A compromise that keeps Zardari in office but out of power is the application of band-aid when the disease is cancer. Power abhors a vacuum. If it has left Zardari’s grasp, then it can only gravitate back to where it has always been more comfortable: in Army headquarters.

CHAPLIN'S "CHRISTIAN' GHOST

Charlie Chaplin, considered the funniest artist of world cinema, has become the latest subject of abuse by the ‘goon brigade’ of culture police (a.k.a. HINDU TALIBAN) – courtesy BJP activists, opposing the installation of his statue because it will hurt Hindu sentiments since Charlie was ‘Christian’.
How much more absurd can politics become in Karnataka before such nonsense is stopped? Condemnation and disbelief are the only possible reactions but how does the common man get over this developing problem is the larger question?
Chaplin also could not have scripted an episode to reflect this sorry state of affairs in his quest to mock at prejudices and fascist tendencies through his brilliant performances. It remains beyond the realm of sanity that he could have imagined such a situation.
Outrage against communal intolerance now urgently requires a platform to counter the spate of shameful events unfolding in Karnataka under the political cover of the party in government. The regularity and increasing absurdity of issues that are being targeted by the ‘goons’ in the name of Indian culture has hit the bottom of any civilized behavior.
A huge law and order time bomb is ticking while the protectors of constitutional rights look the other way. The constant instigation by the self appointed extra constitutional minority is bound to hit a road block sooner than later when the majority will be forced to take the law into their own hands to protest against the hooligans leading to mayhem and loss of life and property. Decent behavior and tolerance of the common citizens cannot be assumed for an indefinite period while his dignity and self respect continues to be abused by such lumpen elements backed by their political masters.
The reaction of Home Minister Acharya adds fuel to the fire after every incident when he faithfully tries to justify the wrong doings. It is indeed sad that in the name of democratic rights selective amnesia by elected representatives adds to the outrage.

MEDLEY OF HUNGRY POLITICIANS

On Friday the 13th of March a bunch of power hungry politicians were hosted by a wily old man whose claim to fame is of being an ex-PM by default, to announce the formation of the THIRD FRONT (TF) as an alternative to the UPA and its main challenger the NDA in the forth coming elections.
The array of ‘Leaders’ on view at the launch of the TF currently representing ten parties (likely to increase) is a sad depiction of the starvation of values that has become the norm of political parties in their hunger for power.
Coalition governments to administer the country has become an unacceptable fact, but the desire to achieve narrow vested interest at the cost of the nation touched an unimaginable low at this so called coming together of disparate political groups.
All niceties of moral behavior have been buried to project “HUNGER FOR POWER” cleverly disguised as TF.
The citizens have been presented with a sad state of affairs in the political arena and it has become doubly important to ensure that the identity of India is salvaged by voters on a war footing.
Too many contradictions have been swept under the carpet by this coalition whose medley is based on a narrow anti-Congress, anti-BJP agenda to fool voters with emotional and material blackmail based on lies and half truths.
The parties and more importantly their leaders have been at one another’s throats on umpteen occasions but ‘convenience of unholy assembly’ has now over taken the past in their ‘grab power’ calculations to seek votes in the hope of sharing the spoils of governance at the centre including various claimants for the PM’s chair. God help the nation if any one of these devils were to occupy the high office.
The worst culprits in this script are the left parties led by Karat (rhymes nicely with corrupt!) of CPM. Their holier than thou image has been over exposed to be a farce built around negative agendas while marketing itself as the savior of the common man. Their appetite for playing the role of spoiler on economic and other national issues cannot be reconciled with most other constituents but they have decided to sleep with them to collectively rape the country!!

APATHY - EPISODE TWO

In continuation of my previous piece titled APATHY I now sadly realize that it was the “TRAILER”!!
Here is the subsequent episode (to be continued for how long I’m not so sure?) though I promise that I will see it to the end when the VOTER CARD IS FINALLY PROCURED.
As usual (we are early risers) reached the designated office no sooner than the gates and the shutter opened but an unscheduled load shedding greeted us!!
The guys who operate out of this office, for whom our tax money is utilized, announced that we will have to wait till the power is restored. Computers and other equipments cannot boot without power. Remember – we are a poor country administered by a corrupt government so cannot afford power back up systems unless some Minister can strike a deal to steal more money!!
Around 0900 hours after an hour’s wait some one announced that there is a register at the back office which will allocate a number to indicate that the system (when activated by electricity) will accept to photograph us for the card. I'm still trying to figure out why this procedure was indicated after an hour of waiting?
Surprise and frustration awaited us in the filthy back office where a chaotic situation prevailed because all of us rushed to obtain the number from a tired looking government employee (can’t blame him - there is no electricity for the fan!!).
There we patiently awaited our fate while this person fished for our names in a well worn out dirty odd sized fat register (repeatedly sucking his fingers - you know why?) and mostly announcing that the name is missing because the register has not been updated and casually announcing that we can check next week – no specific date to look forward to!!
We realized that the desire to vote has turned into a “Game of Chance” at the mercy of a failed system.
Returned home fuming and cursing to be an aspiring Indian Voter – wife declared that she will no more accompany me and that she has no desire to vote – another wasted franchise initiated by our failed system.
I am however determined to obtain the card and will try to convince my better half to support the project for an important venture.
So, till the next episode remain focused and determined to vote!!
JAI HO!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Meanwhile I have sent two mails to the office of a higher officer in the hierarchy of the Election Commission stating the facts so far (typically none of them have been acknowledged.)