CWG,10: A Test of Character for the Largest Democracy

If you want to kill a tree, don’t cut it, just curse it! The same seems to be happening with CWG.

Friends, successful completion of CWG is a must for INDIA’s image….there has been so much negative publicity about it….let’s support the games now, and for sure it doesn’t mean that we support the corruption involved with it!!!!

Naxal Menace

Some of my earliest memories while growing up are those of my villagers carrying rifles on their back and preparing for their imminent fight against the naxals. Our village was one of the first targets of the Naxals in the region. It was way back in 92-93 and these were still the early days of Naxal terror.
I remember two fierce encounters between Naxals and my villagers and that includes my family members too. So, I can't keep myself from expressing views on the current war that PC has launched against them.
One of the encounters is still afresh in my mind, I used to study in 4th std at the village school and with 100 odd strength of the school, all students knew each other quite well. One day, I saw one of my classmates (who belonged to basti where mostly labour class families lived) holding a pamphlet and on reading, I cud see the name of my great grand father on it. Probably, the naxals came to that basti last night and distributed these pamphlets. Dadaji was asked to handover a large part of his land holdings to this naxal group or face dire consequences. In the lunch, I took this pamphlet to him, reading the contents to him. He was 90 year old then and I was amazed why they would target such an old guy. Later, on growing up, I realized dadaji was merely symbolizing those who holded bigger plots of land and hence was the choosen one :) .

After sometime, I dont really remember how much, it was the harvest season of paddy crops and I was playing in the khalihan alongwith my friends when we heard some gun shots. The sounds were coming from across the canal flowing by, it was at this place that most of our harvested paddy was kept. Naxals had declared a war on us, they came in huge numbers and planned to take away the harvest. Man, what a moment it was, I could see the whole village up in arms against them. I never saw such a unity in my village apart from those times.A long encounter, probably for 6-7 hours followed, resulting in the death of one of the Naxals. There were a dozen policemen too,but they happened to be mute spectators as they neither had the will nor the fire power to take on the might of Naxalites. Finally, the naxalites backed off, gradually they dispersed in the night after the death of one of their colleagues.

The positive outcome of this encounter was that during the dreadful era of 96-97 when almost whole of Bihar (at that time Jharkhand too was a part of Bihar) was burning under the terror of Maoists,PWG and Ranvir Sena, our village and neighbouring areas enjoyed total peace. Atleast there were no killings on this account.

For the government, I believe , they should have acted much before. Its been here for two decades and could have been stopped by exercising a proper mix of force and developmental activities. I dont totally buy the lack of development theory as is being propagated by some of the Maoist empathisers. Its true that poor people are found in large numbers in such groups, but its because they get easily influenced. They are exposed a perfectly oiled machinery of maoist brain wash with audio,video and literature.
Those who are sympathising with Maoists (read Arundhati Roy and co) are doing no service to the nation. Nepal is already paying the price of not taking these insurgents seriously and it should be a lesson enough for us.

At Last Some Sense..

Needless to say, I am very happy the way RSS and Rahul Gandhi have criticised the anti North-Indian campaign being run in Maharashtra.
In India, at the moment only the two power blocs remain, one is Congress running the government and the other is RSS who can script a regime change in the largest opposition party without even a murmur.
The fact that both these blocs have came out openly on this issue is evident of the fact that the political system of India is very strong. Long Live democracy!!!
I believe it was more important for RSS to come out considering that their headquarter is based in Nagpur,Maharashtra and BJP-sena have a political alliance in the state.
If it would have been any other organisation, I am 200% sure that sena-mns would have
made it difficult for the organisation to function in Maharashtra.But this time they too know that RSS is not an ordinary organisation. The commitment of RSS workers is undoubted and the organisation is based on very very strong principles.
To put it simply, I am happy.
Back in Melbourne, I am enjoying my stay fully :). No updates for this weekend because I was in office this weekend :) . A few more friends have arrived from India and we might plan for some outing this weekend. The biggest hurdle we are facing is the lack of a car driver among us who also has a Driving Licence. :(.
Hopefully we'll find one..

OZ Attacks : Deja-Vu??

This is going to be a little harsh on us.Bear with me..

MNS must be a very happy outfit these days.I guess so,because they have found some unsolicited support in the form of those unknown aussie junkies who have happened to script quite a few headlines in India as well as OZ.Thakreys' support base is increasing,from a tiny belt of maharashtra,it has extended well into the unchartered territories of Australia.

I wonder how strikingly similar, the attacks in Australia are to the attacks on North Indians a few months back in maharashtra.I shall better enumerate them :

(1)Indian students went to Australia in search of better oppurtunities and good life,in the same manner as people from UP & Bihar landed in Maharashtra.Both bear the burnt of some local rowdies for eating up into their share of development.Both end up getting thrashed. :)

(2)I dont have any matrix but if there was any,then I would propose a equation like this :

Development(AUS):Development(IND) :: Development(Maha):Development (North India)

In words,The way we Indians see Australia as a developed nation and hence a land of oppurtunities,in the same manner Mumbai\Pune is perceived by people of North India wrt to their own states.

(3)The way we Indians consider ourselves more intelligent,smart than our aussie fellow,quite similarly, people from Bihar and UP think about themselves on comparison to the ones from western India.

(4) Inspite of our Indian diaspora being everywhere around the globe and considered hardworking and Intelligent,we have been unable to pull India out of poverty.Perhaps in a similar manner,North Indians, despite of making it in largest chunks to IITs\IIMs every year,topping Civil Services and having spread almost everywhere in the Nation, could not lift their respective states out of the clutch of backwardness.

(5)None of the culprits were booked in Mumbai that time and none have been caught this time too in Melbourne.

So remember,you reap only what you sow. Dont cry your heart out on watching those footage of an Injured shravan Kumar in Melbourne or a nephew of harbhajan been killed,it was same scene in Patna on watching Rahul Raj being murderred live in Mumbai.But then many of you choose to remain inside the comforts of your AC room,sipping a nescafe and watching news on your TV set.
Dont stage a demonstration now,for you didn't do any then.We are calling the recent attacks racist,were the similar attacks on North Indians not of same nature? How can you accuse Australian people of being racist,when you yourself don't have the courage of standing against racism in your own backyard?

Someone said 'Charity begins at home',I would like to add 'Racism too'.

Mandate 2009: A Move Towards Maturity

After the elections were over,a few of my friends asked me to write a piece about the mandate and its consequence on Indian polity.Many of us were surprised the way congress gained a clear majority,but i believe there were enough indications of it already.Deep inside,I had expected that either BJP or Congress will emerge too stronger to be dictated terms by their allies in the day to day functioning of the government.I had expressed the same views two months back in a blog post and I am happy that I have been vindicated by the Results.(The Link is http://ashutoshdubey.blogspot.com/2009/03/is-our-multi-party-character-at-its.html)

Now coming back to the Election results.The way I see it:

The election has proved beyond doubt that Indian Masses want national parties to call the shots at North Block.Its not that regional parties will loose their importance,they will be important, but only in case of Assembly elections.From here onwards,we can see a clear trend of Regional parties getting comprehensive victory in assembly elections only to be kept out of picture in general elections.Yeah,Indian democracy is showing its first signs of maturity and moving towards a state of federal equilibrium.

One very important outcome of this mandate has been that all the hitherto immensely powerful regional satraps have been left either bruised with defeat or severely dented in their capacity to arm-twist the government.Even if they have respectable numbers as DMK,Trinamool,Sp,BSP,NCP, they are in no position to negotiate with congress and will have to be content with whatever compassion Singh & Sonia show on them.Those outside the UPA as Nitish,Naveen Patnaik will also find themselves totally out of the scene from the national politics.Others like Lalu,Bal thakrey,Ramvilas Paswan find themselves in the most vulnerable of situations in their entire political career.(More on these later)

The rise of Gandhis is one phenomenon that has been blown out of the proportion by the Media.Remember,the Trio (Rahul,Priyanka and Sonia) has been fully concentrating in the UP for more than 5 years, yet they manage to get only 1/3rd of total seats and we call it a victory.The fact is,it has more to do with the distraction of people from regional politics at National level.The real strength of Congress in UP will be seen at the time of assembly elections.

Bihar,never in last two decades,Lalu was so vulnerable and I am happy he is.Lalu trying to snatch a moment so that he can shake hands with Priyanka is a story that tells it all.Any other day,he would not have even cared for where even Sonia is,but as someone said 'Time is a great Leveller'.Leaders like Lalu Yadav,Mayavati,Bal Thakrey thrive on power & power only to maintain nd increase their support base.A few years out of power and their magic wanes.Nitish in all these years has made some severe dent in the support base of Lalu and the maverick politician will have to come up with something fresh to counter the Person who in political circles is often called as 'Chanakya'.

Overall,this is a government which looks committed to deliver.Somewhere,I get a feeling that they will deliver too.As of now,there are so many hot items waiting on the platter for the government, turmoil in Pakistan,tamil crisis in Sri lanka and political crisis in Nepal to name a few.

Election Trivia

Here's an interesting bit of election trivia. The Valsad Lok Sabha seat is unique. The party that wins this seat has invariably been forming the government at the Centre since Independence. Until 1997, the Congress won this seat and formed the Government. In 1977, the Janata Dal candidate won and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister. Again in 1980 and 1984,the Congress won this seat, and formed the Government. When the BJP (NDA) came to power twice, the BJP candidate won the Valsad seat. And then in the last General Elections, the Congress candidate won the Valsad seat. Needless to say, the UPA formed the government. This may be just political coincidence, but both the BJP and Congress candidates are telling voters to elect them, so that their party can form the Union government.

Modi enters UP and colour of his Shirt changes from White to Saffron,that's the kind of psychological trick he plays.Though,he has not used his famous Hindutva dictionary in his speeches so far,but the colour does have an impact.Message is still the same,just he is displaying it and not speaking.Model code of conduct??




Shivraj Singh Chauhan : A refreshing break from the hate preachers, corrupt, inefficient, communal or secular politicos. Shivraj Mama, as he is fondly called by his people,is one politician to look for.Combines Integrity,Honesty,efficiency with
the astuteness of a politician and that makes him a robust leader.In for a long run.

Dear Prime Minister Sir

11th April,2009


The Prime Minister,
Republic of India


Ram Ram,

(I know this salutation will make you a little uncomfortable,but as u know,this is how our rural folks use to greet each other).Today in newspapers, I read your statement about yourself,so I assume you must be telling truth as you are known for your Integrity.Quoting you, "I am not a good speaker, but I take decisions.I believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating." Unquote.

Dear Sir,in a democracy as large and diverse as India, being a good communicator is the first requirement for anyone vying for the top post.Army officials all over the world are known for their decisiveness or for that matter our corporate honchos are second to none,do we make them our prime-minister?

If you mentionn any great ruler\leader in any democracy,you'll almost always find that one thing that sets them apart is their ability to communicate.In Indian Context,whether be it Mahatma Gandhi,Jawahar Lal Nehru,Indira Gandhi or Atal Bihari
Vajpayee ,all of them have been known for their distinctive style of communication.Even in international arena,great leaders have always been a cut above the rest in the art of public speaking.

A prime Minister is supposed to be the representative of the whole nation.He needs to be aware of peoples' aspirations and feelings in order to take policy decisions.He is expected to communicate to the whole nation his policies and views through mediums as parliament(which are a forum of public speaking).I believe, your self admitted 'poor public communication skills' makes you critically dependent upon
your advisors for a pulse of the nation.

Dear sir,sorry to say but we expect our Prime Minister to be aware of what we think.we expect him to have his own independent views on matters of public policy and not that of a borrowed one from his advisors.If decisiveness and academic
skills would have been the sole criterion then Union Public Service Commission would have been the ideal body to select our Prime Ministers.Rather,We would be having a national level aptitude Test on skills as decision making or other such inter-personal skills in the place of General Elections.

But sir,our constitution makers instead decided to elect our Prime Minister through elections,one who would represent people.One who can communicate to the whole nation and eventually to the larger world what a particular group of people think,however small they may be.

Sir,I would like to wish you all the Best for your 2nd prime Ministerial pursuit.But please do give a thought to joining a crash course on public communication before taking oath.

Regards,

Ek Voter

A Mock Election for Real

Venue : Village School,Khairadeep,Aurangabad,Bihar
Date : A Month of April Probably,Year 1993
Time:Classes Resuming after Lunch Break

HeadMaster : We shall study the The Chapter of Bal Sabha today.
(Bal Sabha is a concept that was introduced by Bihar State text Book Corporation to make primary students familiar with election process in a playful manner.)

As was the custom,students read one paragraph each followed by Master Saab explaining
the paragraph.The concept of bal sabha was thrilling enough for these 4th standard Kids who were not even in there teens.Mohan,a student of the class was feeling restless to say something.He was the topper of his class and a favourite of Master saab.

Mohan : Master saab,can we organise Bal Sabha in our School?

That's how it began,the kids were about to have their first tryst with something called election.Excitement was in the air.Hurriedly,whole of the school was summoned inside
the only hall or room in the school.Kids were happy to have got relieved from studies for the remaining day.The process was explained to everyone,everybody had to write the names of the candidates they wished to endorse.

Master saab asked for candidates to come forward.Mohan being the one who proposed was the obvious choice,a girl surabhi also came forward and the process kicked off with 100 odd voters and two candidates for the post of Prime-minister of Bal Sabha.
Counting was done by master saab himself and mohan emerged winner.

HeadMaster:Boy's a prime-minister is helped by his cabinate in carrying out his duty.We'll have our cabinate too.

Some posts were created by Master saab for the cabinate and he himself handpicked the post-holders too.The posts were :
Bagwani Mantri
Safai Mantri
Prarthna Mantri etc.

Surabhi was Made Bagwani Mantri and Bal Sabha started funcioning from next day onwards.Surabhi,being the bagwani mantri ensured that she collected all the varieties of flowers available in the small village and get them planted inside the school premises.Safai Mantri took care that school campus was properly groomed every morning and ensured the participation of each student.He also proposed "Leepai" every thursday for the campus(Leepai is done with a mix of cow-dung and water on the bare soily surfaces,considered auspicious).This was the most popular move,as every student
involved in leepa got a official permission from master saab to have a dip in canal flowing by so that the students could get themselved cleaned of cow-dung on their bodies.Swimming in canal was always a popular activity among those school kids.

With flowers blooming and the campus cleaner,the mood in school was festive.The kids found their first encounter with the democratic process called election more than good.However,they were told by Master Saab that it was a mock election and they should see the real ones too.

A few months later,assembly elections took place in Bihar and the same school was choosen as polling booth for a couple of neighbouring villages.The kids having grown a little older were eager to watch this 'real election' with the memories of the
'mock election' still fresh in their mind.

A few gun shots,hooliganism and extremely tense faces,this is how the real election marked their first impression on kids.As they grew older further,more of such 'real elections' were held. The memory of Bal Sabbha\Mock elections gradually got replaced by that of Real Elections.

After some 16 years later,on the eve of another real election,one of the kids
remembers his first encounter with election(though a mock one) and wishes
"If my first impression could have been the last too".

P.S. : Mohan ---> The Author

Is Our Multi-Party Character at its Peak?

Never has it been that we have so many wannabe PM's going into election all at a time.This election is probably the Local Maxima of India's Multi-Party Democracy and I sincerely think that 2014 will see a much more consolidated fight between two projected PM candidates.
From 1989 onwards multi party democracy has seen a steep rise of influence with many regional satraps playing a major role in deciding who occupies the coveted chair at North Block.We have seen many maya,mamta or jaylalitas causing tremors across delhi with just a sneeze.But now I believe that this all will end,not immediately but over a course of time and we'll see the trend catching up in 2014 elections.Well 2014 is 5 years away and I'm not predicting this on the basis of planetary postitions either,I have some reasons to say so....

(1) The two national parties over the past few years have worked on their Second Generation Leaders and probably it's the last time that Advani will decide who's who at BJP or Sonia Gandhi will play Rajmata.In all probability,Rahul Gandhi will take on the baton from her mother and Narendra Modi from Mr. Advani.Both of them have mass national appeals and them participating against each other will see a strong polarisation of votes.

(2) Don't you think,it's too much of uncertainity over who will be our next leader?
The public after having been perplexed by so many choices will finally zero on to two or three(The Rule of Three :)).This I see as a gradual evolution of Indian Democracy into a matured one.Indian Public after having been disappointed by National Leadership looked on to Regional Leaders and as is clear,the aspirations are still unfulfilled barring a few exceptions(eg Uttaranchal) so once again the mandate will move to national leadership.

(3) Unlike National Parties,state based parties are still nascent ones and rely heavily on Individuals for their existence.Once the Magic of Bal Thakrey or Lalu Yadav wanes,their votes are likely to be up for Grabs and with national parties gearing up so well,I think they'll have this chunk.

(4)The betrayals at Bhuvaneshwar and Patna is a lesson enough for both BJP and Congress that alliances can't be a long term solution and already we can hear talks that going alone this time in some states will prepare them well for future elections.
Though a bit shocked,BJP in Orissa and Congress in Bihar & UP is relieved to go alone and test the waters.

(5)A likely fractured mandate this time will see further distraction of public from regional politics and I rely heavily on the our Democratic Intellect when I say that 2014 will see a reversal of fortunes for regional parties.

With Thakreys fighting a battle for survial and Lalu being in the most vulnerable state this time,we can see the signs of future to come.
We'll have to wait till 2014 to know whether I have been correct or not,but for Now we have a very interesting contest going on and let us savour it as India has never seen an election as chaotic as this one...

General Elections and Prospects for India

Taking a leaf out of my last post,I thought about an array of leaders whom I can mention as 'better than the lot',alash!!none could I find.
Someone had shown immense capabilities as a statesman taking his state on a path of prosperity,but his sheer disrespect for Human Lives has made me nauseating to say the least,the other has a nice little chocolaty, dimple wala face,but has shown no capabilities as a politician so far, other than using his surname.So on and so forth,I could find none whom I could admire from my heart,except the one I mentioned in my previous post.
Probably yes,our politics has stooped to such a low level that we hardly have any National Icon from among our politicians.The irony being,inspite of all this,you'll find many living iconic figures hanging from the walls of secretariat and ministries.

Make no mistake,coming time is going to test our character as a nation and we need a strong government to steer us through this chaos.


All of our neighbours are facing major national crisis.

Pakistan: The state is imploding and the very idea of pakistan is in danger.Politicians are fighting among themselves,army is being a mute spectator watching talibani mullahs dictating the way of lives to general public,and a large part of the nation in under the effective controle of fundamentalists.

Bangladesh : Already having seen a revolt by Bangladesh Rifles,the nation is slowly moving to disintegration.The Goevernment being so weak as to take the help of a foreign agency for probing their home grown mutiny.That tells the whole story.

SriLanka : Though at the moment facing a civil war.But I think we have light at the end of tunnel.We may well see the end of 20 year long civil war in the Island Nation.However,we may also see a large number of tamil refugess flocking our southern coasts and this may augur further problems to us.

Nepal : Though peaceful for sometime now,the goverment has clearly shown its inclination towards china.this doesnot bode well for India.

With economic recession deepening further,going by the indications of world bank and IMF,we need more economic stimulus and this requires some strong decisions politically.

All thess make a strong case for a Stable and Decisive government at the centre.We don't want the situation of 97-98 where PM's were changed sooner than cloths.

Having said that,recent political developments refuse to provide any such signal,rather the opposite.NDA is in tatters,UPA is still not in a position to form a government,third front is rising from its ashes only to make the scene more chaotic.
A fractured mandate by us will see horse trading at centre.Ministries as Railway,Home,Finance,Defence will be distributed to placate many wannable PM's and we shall have a goevernment with the only aim to spend as much time in the office as possible.

Let's hope some miracle happens and we have a stable government at the centre.otherwise...Pray for India..

The great Indian Festival..general Elections 2009

With general elections so near,I can't resist my political views and will be putting some blogs related to politics.
The one about Narendra Modi and Taliban is already for you to see..
Today I shall be discussing about some politicians who I think are better than the lot.




The first Person coming into my list is Omar Abdullah,The CM of J&K and the political scion of Abdullah family.Though coming from a political dynasty,he has shown extra-ordinary maturity the way he has handled the Affairs of state So far.And it's this quality that puts him far ahead of many babalog(read Rahul Gandhi,Jyotiraditya schindhia) of his time.Probably it's his defeat from Gandarbal Constituency in 2004 that made him more sensible and practical politically.At least he does not look for a safe nest unlike others.He contested from the same constituency from where he had tasted defeat and went on to become the CM of his state.
Finally the terror torned J&K had its Bout of Luck in the form of Omar Abdullah becoming the Chief Minister.Probably,destiny decided that for a state like J&K which is always under the glare of International attention and ravaged from terror, none other than a Omar would do .Good Luck to Omar and J&K.

will keep adding to this list as and when I get time...

Bring in the Man..

Among the current generation of Veteran Leaders,I like Lal Krishna Advani the Most..Among the likely probables of PM ,we don't have a better choice than him.

But i feel,BJP this time is loosing a big oppurtunity by not bringing in the Man whole of India is waiting for i.e. Narendra Modi.Though of late,BJP has started a aggressive campaign reaching out to ppl, specially youth .But all in vain,being a youth myself I can testify to this.Instead,given a choice youth of India will choose Narendra Modi by a massive margin.
Having been heaped on tons of praise by the corporate leaders,he is the one leader our younger population can look forward to for a better and secure future.

However,there is something else that has prompted me to go for this piece.Thinking from the BJP's point of view,the current happenings in pakistan may have a massive impact on Indian General Elections than anticipated.Provided,the leader in question rises to the ocassion.
If he can make a daemon of 'Miyan Musharraf' out of literally nothing and use it to his advantage,he can use the current takeover of swat valley by Talibanis in a way that'll leave other parties handcuffed.This time we have a real and a far more dangerous threat looming around in our neighbour in the form of taliban.This makes an ideal setting for leaders like narendra modi who in the past have effectively used the fear wave to further their politicial ambitions.Pakistan in the hands of taliban is making indian public apprehensive and this makes for an ideal batting pitch for narendra modi.Public in such a time is looking for a strong leader who can gaurantee them safety as well development.

With economic crisis deepening further,unemployment & economic development is going to be a major issue in the forthcoming elections and again the one leader that comes to my mind is none other than Narendra Modi.

So.in my view with Narendra Modi as the Prime-ministerial(which is highly unlikely) candidate and Terror & Unemployment as major election issues BJP is going to make it.

Mumbai Under Siege..Test of Character for Indian Democracy?

Without doubt, we have witnessed one of the most gory incidents of terrorism in India.Some prefer to call it India's 9\11 which is likely to prove a turning point in india's atitude towards terrorism and its foreign policy.I believe such an incident is also a time to introspect and cut down the local "resources" terrorists are using to carry out such acts.Let's not forget that terrorists couldn't have carried out such a meticulously planned attack without the help of locals and the first step towards meeting the challenges thrown by terrorism should be to cut down this local supply of "resources".

Indian establishment must ensure that our own population remains out of the ever encompassing ,mammoth reach of radicalism, be it hindu or muslim.Though late,Indian authorities do agree that domestic fuel to terrorism is increasing and this poses a threat that's very difficult for security agencies alone to counter.We need a cordinated effort from everyone concerned, political parties,army,intelligence,police and aam public to counter this menace.

Perhaps our major political parties have been unable to feel the pulse of a large chunk of the population be it BJP or Congress.The solution lies in formulating a policy which takes into account the grievances of that part of the population as well as a strong anti-terrorist law.

First of all we need strong support of the public to be able to weed out terrorism.
This can't be done with the help of a strong law only,we need to know what people want.Fiery speeches against a particular section would only work in favour of terrorists.

State elections are going on and General Election is round the corner, at this time,it's very natural for political parties to pick up the issue of terrorism and start a never-ending blame game.I believe that our political class has to be more mature and should be ready to sacrifice their narrow political gains in favour of the larger interest of the nation.It remains to be seen how mature our 61 year old democracy is,and perhaps no better time than now to test that.

नवनि नीच कै अति दुखदाई...

So all the hush bush of Nuclear Deal is almost over now.India has got the waiver and the government,experts,diplomats and the aam public seem to be very happy. The deal in some sections of media is being touted as a recognition of a growing stature of India.STOP.

The deal wouldn't have been possible without the relentless arm-twisting by US.The fact is, NSG is a creation of US and if the deal couldn't have got the waiver ,it would have meant a loss of reputation for US.

But the central question of the piece is not what the deal symbolises but the fact that deal is too sweetened for India.Comeon..We as a nation have not attained a status that would have got a deal that has stuck at the heart of international nuclear non-proliferation(atleast by western standards).India is the only country in the 40-odd membered nuclear supplier group that has obtained a waiver without having signed CTBT/NPT.Isn't it too great a status for a nation which faces opposition from the smallest of its neighbours including Pakistan,nepal,bangladesh.The nations who don't heasitate starting shelling across the border at their fantasy.Nations which keep infiltrating illegal citizen,goods and arms across the border inspite of the strongest of evidences against them.Nations who don't mind bombing our commercial and political hubs inspite of international criticism.
True,we have been a rising power and I would love to see India as a central player in global arena.But the fact is,portraying the deal as the rising status of India is simply a overstatement.

But why would US support India to such an extent,out of the box way?The news is,even the mandatory rule of 30-day period for which the US congress has to be in session for the deal to make through, is being relaxed.US has been too friendly to believe in recent days.At this point of time I can't help but recall a doha(poem) from Ramcharitmanas which goes like this..

नवनि नीच कै अति दुखदाई। जिमि अंकुस धनु उरग बिलाई।।
भयदायक खल कै प्रिय बानी। जिमि अकाल के कुसुम भवानी।।

I think ,a little explaination of above would certainly help.It says,when a bow bends-it releases arrow,goad has to go back in order to hit,when a cat retreats it's a certain sign of an upcoming attack and a snake first goes a step back in order to inject its poison in your veins.In the same way when a mean creature becomes too meek for you,be cautious something may be in surprise for you.ALso when flowers blossom out of season it signals famine ,in the same way unexpected friendliness of a villain has to be treaded cautiously.

US is being too close to india and anyone having a little glance over newspapers of 90's would certainly awe,given the villifying campaign of those days that US headed against India while it supported Pakistan unconditionally.It's time when diplomats have to take steps thoughtfully and when politicians should speak judiciously.US would definitely ask a price for the deal and in a way it has started already,asking for its companies to be preferred while awarding contracts related to Nuclear Power Plants. These are business demands,diplomatic and political ones would follow pursuit soon.
When friendship goes beyond a certain threshold of intimacy ,you stand a constant chance of spoiling the relation unless the two are very clear about each other and they share a cohesive chemistry.US and India are far from reaching that level of understanding and it'll always help if we can restrain ourself from smooching each other so soon.The deal radiates to a domain that engulfs not only nuclear arena but political and economic too..

The potential prices that we may have to pay include:-
(1) US wants India to stand against the massive chineese economic and diplomatic clout and thus balancing the power in the subcontinent.Agreed..It helps to keep a neighbour in check for growing out of control and but it also helps to have cordial relations with it..We have to follow our own judgement..before going on a collision path with beijing.

(2) Iran...this is where any na-nukur would almost certainly lead to frowned eye-brows of Uncle Sam.Iran has traditionally been a friendly nation to India and perhaps a progressive Islamist State.It's in our interest that Iran progresses economically,technologically so that Islamic world has role-models like Iran and not Pakistan.This issue is going to test Indian Diplomacy to the core and let's see how our seasoned diplomats handle this.

There may be many more for example on trade WTO meets,UN sessions and Cases like Georgia too.We have to ensure that we don't just end up being another Tony Blair for George Bush/Obama/Mccain.

As an adage says,"Nothing is permanent in Politics,neither friends nor foes".US seems to know this principle more than anyone else.Initially it was Pakistan against a friendly nation to erstwhile USSR i.e. India.Now it's India pitted against a communist China which threatens the Gold of US be it at olympics or Economics...

Joining The Dots..

Here are a few news items,which happened in recent weeks\months..The aim here is not to keep you abreast of current events but to indicate something...please use your own logic to interpret these and try to join the dots..
(1)Nepal,the only official Hindu Nation in world found itself in the clutches of
communism.The same people that killed the army & people of Nepal were now a part of the ruling combination and all this in the name of democracy!!!!!

(2)Cabinet Minister visits the family of a alleged SIMI terrorist and demands for his immediate release and also to revoke the ban on SIMI.The Irony being,it was the central government(of which the minister is a part of) only which has sought a ban on SIMI in the wake of strong proofs of the outfit being involved in recent bomb blasts in the country.

Add to this,The same minister asks for legitmising the Illegal Bangladeshi Occupants which are creating law and order problems in many districts of Bihar bordering Nepal..

(3) The governor of Jammu & Kashmir takes back a decision which sought to provide a piece of land aimed at creating suitable amenities for lakhs of Amarnath pilgrims.
Why would a secular Indian government take back such a noble decision..only under the pressure of separatists of hurriyat??..Think Aloud..there is more to it..

(4)A Mahant known for his charitable institutions and for helping underpriviledged among the tribes of orissa, brutally killed along with his four associates.Wait... this is not supposed to be a news item in a 'Secular India' so this is not.Who'll speak even a single line against this killing and risk himself being labelled "Communal" and belonging to RSS,VHP.The mahant must have done something bad to have invited his killings..

Join the dots...


And Finally..here is a link to a very thought provoking article by Tarun Vijay,the editor of "Panchjanya"...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Tarun_Vijay/The_Right_View/The_Totalitarians/articleshow/msid-3455424,curpg-1.cms

Hollywood Bollywood

Well, I have just watched the movie JUST LIKE HEAVEN and I find my fingers are already moving anticipating a new blog[:)]
This certainly is not about love or such feelings what I am going to write about is Movies..yeah, more precisely romantic movies.

After watching scores of bollywood movies and a few of Hollywood's ,I feel that movies made in india lack the kind of intensity or creativity that hollywood boasts of.
Talking about Romantic ones,Hollywood movies like Serendipity,If only,Little Manhanttan,50 First Dates,Just like Heaven,Love Actually and many more(List goes very long) take you to a very high level and you keep thinking about the characters,the theme long after the movie.This kind of effect is found missing in hindi Movies ,Even if you name the best ones like Devdas,Heer-Ranjha they stand nowhere against the names mentioned a few line above.
Hollywood movies of all type have one thing in common,they are intense,even if it's comedy it's an intense one,you get the best of the kind you are watching.In Romantic movies, they are very rich in content whether be it emotional or physical which probably our hindi directors probably never cared to provide or in other words they never went that extra step forward to defy the conventional limits.They never innovated enough .Even if you watch other type of movies like The troy,Alexander,Kingdom of Heaven,Star wars,Lord of the Rings you are left your breath gasping by the magnanimous scale of
men and materials involved.

Globalistion is the hue and cry these days and it's the time our film industry also goes global,which can only come when you respect creativity and keep Innovating.