Crap

It’s like a bad case of a gloated bladder. I just want to say all this, but well…obviously, can’t. Thank who-so-ever that blogs were invented. :)

[1] Mamata Banerjee : Your speech today (about not wanting a Ministerial Seat, and working purely for the development of WB) blew me off. Must eat my words. I do hope what you said was not a stupid political gimmick. And if not, then well, open a school…and teach our bluddy political class a thing or two :P

[2] Lalu Prasad Yadav : I love the way you give speeches, and well, you do have a brazen-yet-classy personality. But well, suck it dude. You shuttle back-and-forth even better than those (ex-)trains of yours – apparently you’ve offered unconditional support to the UPA now – seriously? Eat dung man. O wait, u already do, don’t you?

[3] Prabhakaran : Ur dead. Sorry. Words would prove futile now :) Even so, does tata sound good?

[4] Indian Stock Markets : Did Lalu’s bulls run free today? Did he lose them too? First his seats, then his dignity, and now this? shucks…

[5] Arjun Singh : Yeah yeah oldie, ur party won. But seriously, haven’t you considered retiring. Or better, dying? Think long and hard on it. Maybe hell has reserved some seats for you. In-fact, i’m sure it has. If not, maybe you should go there and fight for your cause!

[6] Bombay Traffic : You’re too bad…Ruined an otherwise perfect day for me !

[7] Rahul Gandhi : Nice tricks dude…You sure know how to play it smoooooth…But seriously, the i-don’t-need-no-ministry trick, rocks!

[8] Varun Gandhi : Erm… (No comment) :P

[9] Varun Gandhi’s silence : You look good. Stay that way.

[10] LK Advani : Why so serious?

[11] Myself : Shut up, you jerk.

“I see no reason why we can’t make a London out of Kolkata. We have the Hooghly, the forest, the mountains, the sea… What else do we need?”

-Mamata Banerjee, Leader, Trinamool Congress, here-in

Ummm…let me think.

You need Brains. Friggin’ Brains.

And well, here’re a few more:
Common Sense. Time. Effort. And a Vision.
All of them, you obviously lack.

And most of all,

We Don’t need bluddy narrow minded leaders who know only how to ape the West.

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

The penalties are just not high enough. Is that why people blatantly go about doing their corrupt activities with little worry?

When there is no chance of danger, men don’t care. But throw-in a little danger, or blend-in a little risk, and men actually enjoy doing something that goes against the rules. I mean, we wouldn’t care to shatter a window on an empty shack, no? But throw a mallet-weilding old hag into the scene, who will surely come kareening out – and there’ll be a line of boys willing to dirty their hands with the prank.

India faces a similar problem. There is a risk involved, but it is of just the right size – so the corrupt guys experience the thrill of toeing the line. At most times, they can go really far and never even get caught, since the penalties are often doled out without any real conviction. Or, in several cases, the law turns against the very person who tried to catch the crook.

…They arrested me when I sought the information (under the RTI act). If I pursue it, something worse will happen…

We desperately need an iron fist, don’t we?

Incited by : Gandhi’s monkeys 1 & 2

They elected One. From among 300 million people.

We have to elect a few more. No, a lot more. From among a billion.

Sure our elections will cost more. It doesn’t take n in-depth study to understand that. O wait, that’s exactly what it took.

A survey conducted by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) back home pegs the estimated amount to be spent on the Lok Sabha elections at about Rs 10,000 crore (about $2 billion).

This does not include the cost of holding Assembly polls in States like Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

While the cost of US election was spread over a year, India would see the massive spending in a matter of months.

The estimated Rs 10,000 crore cost for the Lok Sabha elections includes about one-fourth or Rs 2,500 crore being spent through “unofficial money” or the cash to be paid to voters by the candidates, the CMS survey says.

To think of the furore that the INR 60,000 crore relief package had created, and now, to stare at this latest number. This is what P.Chidambaram, then the Finance Minister of India, had said when declaring the package.

…according to estimates, three crore marginal and small farmers would benefit from the government’s amnesty…

Sure, the elections aim to serve over 1000 crore people, from all possible walks of our society. Surely INR 10,000 crore is justified? Or is it?

For 5 years the UPA has ruled the nation. For 5 years the NDA have opposed them blindly. These are parties/alliances that have a nationwide prescence. In the constituencies under their rule, they ought to have done sufficient good, had they been responsible rulers. And people would have gauged whether to elect them or not. Why must they only now awaken to the plight of the people? Why is only election-time the period when they come down to the common man and speak of 5 ensuing years of bliss?

The 10,000 crore is not money spent in mobilising propoganda, to get elected. Instead, this is money spent to create ruckus – ruckus that drowns the failures and the sloppiness of the past 5 years, and to temporarily drown the spirit of the common man. To befuddle him. Throw so much money around, that a modest and well-meaning person gets crushed under the weight of his own limitations. And, crestfallen, he turns around and searches for hope in the ruckus all-around him. And then he latches onto whatever little promise the leaders scrap around, and falls prey for yet another 5 year period.

This is 10,000 crore spent to dupe us all over again. This is 10,000 crore, spent by those very men who intend to misuse, abuse and thoroughly rape us for another 5 years. And crush us if-and-when we try and stand up against them.

Bloggers, Journalists, and all the others of our kind will think, write, scream, and rant all-we-want, and believe that we’re making a difference. Believe that we’re helping awaken a sleeping nation. Believe that finally India will awaken, and demand from it’s leaders some shred of righteousness.

That belief is hollow.

For, these blogs are read only by others like us. There’re far too few, out there in the country, who even read the newspapers. And those who do, are too overburdened by their worries, inflicted upon them by poor governence, to even spare a moment and think about the Zeroes behind the ‘1′.

To the common man, it’s just a whole lot of Zeroes. Zeroes, that he shall never hold. Zeroes, that are earned, spent and minted by a bunch of men we are compelled to vote for, out of want for better choice. For, if we stand up against their might, we shall be blown away. And if we silently bear their rule, we shall survive, albeit as beggars.

But we shall survive. Survive. That’s all the Indian poor hope for. And amazingly, our rulers provide that exceptionally well.

They allow survival. But no more. Sometimes, less. But NO MORE.

Here’s to our elections. here’s to a nation of 1 billion, whose biggest, and probably only success, is the size of it’s vote-bank. On all other accounts – be it sexual equality, religious freedom, feminism, wealth distribution, law, agricultural growth or per capita income – it has been a runaway tale of mediocricy. Mediocricy, that has been so meticulously embedded into our very psyche, that we can hardly bother. We ape the West, and look up to it; but back here, we only frown, look down, and walk around.

I won’t blame the leaders. When i see IITians around me – incapable of using dust-bins, incapable of treating women as something other than sex-objects, incapable of seeing beyond thier own selfish futures – what can i hope to expect from the remaining destitute in my nation?

I won’t blame those leaders.

For, atleast they stood up and tried to manage us. Unlike so many of us, who speak and demand better governance, but, if asked to stand up and be counted, scorn and hide their fear behind well-crafted words. What the learned are unwilling to do, the sly and the crooked have taken up. And if they make a shoddy job of it, what right do we have to complain?

What right do we have? Except wonder, “How many Zeroes?”

Shut down all Police Stations. Disembow the policemen. Put them in the Police Vans and let them earn livelihoods by using the vehicles as Taxi and Tourist Vehicles. Turn the Guns over to the terrorists. (What difference, the terroists get the guns anyway..Atleast this way, we might partially know who has how many guns.)

I’m not talking shit. Okay, maybe i am. But hear me out. It actually makes sense.

Read the rest of this entry »