Crap

On poor journalism, pathetic politics, shoddy Indian attitudes, and well, bull-shit.

53 passengers go without food, water in Paris airport; allege racial discrimination.

Exquisite hospitality (wtf?) was apparently meted out to Indian passengers on an Air France flight, a few days ago. The Indian Express carried a report on the same, and so did several other newspapers. And i can provide no better take on it, than this [:D] – Overrated Outcast.

And then, along-came-sicko : the Mumbai Mirror. Read the rest of this entry »

A tiny thought. In reply to this comment. But mostly a random thought.

Nosey Sparker stated that, in a Democracy, we should let the people vote on an issue and let the majority decide.

Oddly though, i don’t think i can agree with the notion of “decisions taken on the basis of a majority vote”. Yes, Democracy is essential, for, it makes the voter believe that he has a proactive role in the running of the nation. He believes.

Unfortunately, that is not how any system can function. Because most people are too unaware of the issue at hand to really cast a good vote. That is mostly why we narrow down the whole Democracy to the elected representatives, who are supposed to keep abreast of the issues that the common man can’t, and use their powers to vote in the Houses of the Parliament, on behalf of the general public.

It is unfortunate to see that Democracy is taken for granted by Newspapers and News Channels and TV Soaps alike, in the form of voting drives. This is diluting the true notion of a Democracy. Because people are casting their votes on flimsy topics, purely on the basis of their emotions, and at the click of a the ’send sms’ button of the cell phone.

A democracy is essentially one  that allows for multiple votes, representing the public, to count towards governance. Every issue can not be thrown open to the public, for, as i said previously, the people are largely unaware of the nitty-gritties of the issue and often driven by emotions and knee-jerk reactions.

In much the same way as how India’s response to the November Bombay attacks could not have been along the lines of what the public at-large wanted. Back then, almost everyone demanded the blood of every pakistani alive, and war sentiment was ripe. But better heads prevailed. Thank whosoever thatpolicy is not framed by such demands.

I’m not against polls. Quite the contrary, i think that they give us a lot to think on, providing us with an idea of what the people want, and what the leaders must do to assist the lay-folk. Infact, once i’d actually sketched out a nice new way of collecting poll data quickly and more efficiently. Maybe someday i’ll launch it as a nice business. So, for now, the idea’s a  secret.

Yeah, as if anyone even wanted to hear it. :P