Beautiful pic

Melodious song

Josh Ritter Come and find me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdcT9iO43CA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

What governance measure do we want from our political parties?

Kejriwal formally launches Aam Admi Party
A big bet against our caste based politics. 

I am thinking
What governance measure do we expect from his party (that other parties are not doing) to enable a better way to exercise our vote in democracy ? 

P.S.> There is something about a man, when the government digs up 9 year old events to bring him down. :)

Excellent work

Excellent work by Parliamentary standing committee:-

I do not often get the opportunity to praise our elected representatives but I wouldn't miss a silver lining in the clouds.

Parliamentary committee has recommended study of loss to Exchequer due to decline in production by Reliance based on a note submitted by Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Dasgupta.

Kudos to Mr. Dasgupta!

Mr. Dasgupta’s note estimates that replacing cheap domestic gas from the Krishna-Godavari fields with imported gas will cost some Rs 43,000 crore in 2012-2013, and another Rs 48,000 crore in 2013-2014.

Details: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/parliamentary-panel-orders-ministry-study-of-reliance-gas-production-row/article4099032.ece?homepage=true

The increasing debate on such issues make me optimistic that We are living in one of the most best times for India since independence.

To use the famous words by Charles Dickens ("A tale of two cities")
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times 

It is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, 
It is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, 
It is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness, 
It is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair,
We have everything before us, we have nothing before us,
We are all going direct to Heaven, we are all going direct the other way! :)

हम तो मसरूफ थे

हम तो मसरूफ थे अपनी तन्हाईयों में 

मुदत्तों बाद किसी ने पुकारा हैं 

एक पल तो हम रुक कर सोचने लगे 

क्या यही नाम हमारा हैं ...
-अज्ञात 

Two Songs of a Fool

I

A speckled cat and a tame hare
Eat at my hearthstone
And seep there;
And both look up to me alone
For learning and defence
As I look up to Providence.

I start out of my sleep to think
Some day I may forget
Their food and drink;
Or, the house door left unshut,
The hare may run till it's found
The horn's sweet note and the tooth of the hound.

I bear a burden that might well try
Men that do all by rule,
And what can I
That am a wandering-witted fool
But pray to God that He ease
My great responsibilities?

II

I slept on my three-leged stool by the fire,
The speckled cat slept on my knee;
We never thought to enquire
Where the brown hare might be,
And whether the door were shut.
Who knows how she drank the wind
Stretched up on two legs from the mat,
Before she had settled her mind
To drum with her heel and to leap?
Had I but awakened from sleep
And called her name, she had heard,
It may be, and not have stirred,
That now, it may be, has found
The horn's sweet note and the tooth of the hound. 

William Butler Yeats

Literal Interpretation:

Just like the pets viz. hare and cat look to man for sustainance, The man looks to god for his sustainance.
The man feels responsible for his pets care and prays to god to enable him to discharge his responsiblities.
2nd: The man blames himself for his hare running away.

Try reading the poem as if the pets were not animals but friends of the poet.

जड़ की मुस्कान (Jadd ki muskaan) by Harivansh rai bachchan

One day all the parts of plant start talking and begin to boast about themselves:



Interpretation:

Stem starts to boast and derides root saying: Root has been hiding forever in the earth. I grew out and became strong

One day Branches say: Why is stem so proud.Stem has been forever where it was.It is us who have spread out in all directions, swayed with the wind.Hence we are superior.

One day Leaves laugh at Branches and say: Although branches spread out and swayed in wind But have they ever spoken? We have spoken with the wind, renewed ourselves every year, provided shade to the travelers. It is us who are truly superior.

On day  Flowers mock leaves saying: What have they actually done? They have just spawned all over. They rely on wind to speak. We have bloomed with colors, nectars and pollens. We are so much loved by bees. It is us Who are the best.

Finally, Root which has been listening all along smiles quietly.

Central Idea: People often forget the base of their success just like all parts of plant forget that root is the base of their existence.

Politics: Tera "emotional" atyachaar part 2

There is one profession which consistently garners poor rankings in opinion poll of public?
I wonder How come they maintain their low ranks, Even sex workers, today are viewed more favorably than politicians.My guess is, Perhaps The profession itself is not attracting the best people (150 of our esteemed MPs have criminal records).

So Why does the profession not attract creme-de-la-creme of society?
 I read somewhere :"It would take an extraordinary fool who takes the responsibility of solving everybody's troubles and that too for free".

But come to think of it. We have similar expectations from our politicians.
I believe the false assumption starts with the view that Politicians are for ridding the society of  all evils:  poverty, discrimination etc.. I understand we all want a developed society But Why put the onus on one man's shoulder? It is not only too much to ask but also a man empowered with such authority will be disposed to ridding his next generations of possible poverty. Like they say "Charity begins at home" ;).

What actually happens is :
The generous men go around preaching Doing 'work' for the sake of "aam admi" while themselves reaping (Or should i say plundering) benefits of discretionary powers to become a 'khaas admi'.

An interesting solution:
Why not see politics as profession like "Managers of a company who should take care of shareholder's wealth and earn profits " In this case the company is the government and its shareholders are the voters ,profits are net social benefits.

Of course, For this We would have to be an enlightened citizenry, the next time we exercise our vote. After all "People get the politicians they deserve".

P.S.> Enlightenment consists of knowing section 49 O while voting, not taking or giving undue favors.

Reference:  http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/blogs/work-in-progress/its-a-matter-of-trust-20110708-1h555.html

Beautiful words

♥ Don't stand by my grave and weep,
for I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond's glint on the snow,
I am sunlight on
ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
Don't stand by my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die ♥
♥ Unknown Native American ♥

Why do we not love our politicians?

You might be wondering at my naivete to ask such a stupid question, but a survey got me thinking.

Readers digest survey revealed people have utmost respect for army,respect for doctors, engineers. Even sex workers outrank politicians who rank among the least 3 trusted people (along with car salesmen and telemarketers).

Since I had nothing better to do I gave this issue some thought. Let us hear a story:

There is a nice neighborhood fellow. Who offers to help you once with some household work. You thank him and offer to incentivise him but he politely refuses, just asks for your blessings.
You find that the next day, as you are walking to the market. He again offers to help you carry your bags. You again thank him for his help and again try to pay him for help, again he politely refuses and asks for blessings.
This becomes a daily sequence.
After some time you are really irritated by this next door do-gooder-at-no-cost but you still manage a smile and allow him seeing no harm
Some time passes
One fine day you realize some shop items are missing in your bag. You see the previous purchases and find that strangely after the good* guy's help your purchased items don't last as long as they previously did.
To top it all. He shows up at your doorstep smiling, hands folded and reminds you of How he helped you and asks you to vote in his favor for the residential Committee.
You are angry and perplexed (at his gall, after he has swindled you) to still come seeking your support.

Moral of the story: "Beware of people who run favors, Not only does this deny the rightful their share , They will also ask back for much more than the favor itself."

If we replace shop items with public money, do-gooder with corrupt politician.
I guess this is What our politics profession has become! a pack of swindlers claiming to do it all selflessly for our betterment. (Ofcourse it does not apply to all politicians)

Once upon a time we equated politics with a devotion service. Those were dangerous times when being nationalistic was in itself a crime and taking up politics was not a profession but a calling to serve our enslaved nation, But as we have turned to capitalistic society Politics has lagged behind it is still a vocation and not a professional service.
It's time we shifted gears from the 'favor' culture of governance to see politics as a profession of managing public funds Just like we see role of a manager in a corporation.



Reference:http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/blogs/work-in-progress/its-a-matter-of-trust-20110708-1h555.html

Hell hath no scorn than a government cornered

Govt to consider multi-member CAG:
Battered by various CAG reports on alleged scams, government says it is “actively” considering a proposal to make the official auditor a multi-member body.

Why?
Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V.Narayanasamy says Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has become “more impatient”
Well, Now here is a 'patient' government with no convictions so far in any of the major scams: 2G,CWG,Adarsh, Coal mining scam.

An interesting suggestion
"If we go just by the CAG report being made final, no chief minister will continue" Mr.Narayanasamy said.

What does this mean for CAG?

Now a committee would be taking a decision in CAG. It is meant to hinder the decision making process in CAG.

Like they say

If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a committee working on it. 

-Charles Franklin Kettering

Or in this case

If you want to kill an effective CAG , get a committee in it.

With all due respect, we are seeing the farce Public Accounts Committee has become. :)

Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-to-consider-multimember-cag/article4087541.ece?homepage=true

Will we , Won't we?

CBI investigation in 2G scam runs into hurdles! Probe delayed due to one gentleman in Malaysia

The CBI submitted that overseas probe was important to track the money trail as the funds for the deal had come through Mauritius.

“We have to go into the source of fund. Information is that the money came through Mauritius,” the CBI counsel said, adding that “we want to show the link on the source of money to show the quid-pro-quo involved in the deal.”

“We have completed the domestic probe and have to complete the investigation about the deal in Malaysia and Mauritius. Letters Rogatory have been sent to those countries.

“The gentleman in Malaysia who is involved in it is economically powerful and he is also powerful politically,” the agency’s counsel K K Venugopal submitted without taking any names.

The submission was made by Mr Venugopal, who was reading the relevant portions of CBI’s fresh progress report on its investigation into the 2G spectrum scam.

Mr Maran has been accused of “forcing” Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm Maxis Group in 2006 owned by Kuala Lumpur-based business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan.

When the bench wanted to know “why there was a delay in probe in Malaysia and Mauritius,” the CBI said those countries are repeatedly seeking clarification on one or the other issues.

The bench also said if there was any effort by powerful or influential or CBI was working under any influence then “this must be stopped”.

The Hulk in Malaysia: The department says:
“The gentleman in Malaysia who is involved in it is economically powerful and he is also powerful politically,” the agency’s counsel K K Venugopal submitted without taking any names.

Just 2 questions for the government:

1. How good does it look when nation's top investigation agency makes such excuse for delays?
2. Will we get timely information from Malaysia OR See a repeat of Abu Salem extradition failure (Remember!)?

Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/prima-facie-nexus-in-aircelmaxis-deal-involving-maran-sc/article4074558.ece?homepage=true

Tera "emotional" atyachaar

Funding of news media by Political parties:
Recently Congress admitted it had given a Rs. 90-crore interest-free loan to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) to help it revive the now-defunct National Herald


Congress further said: The party came to the aid of the newspaper for “emotional reasons” 


If it is legal for a newspaper to source funding from political parties.Let us trash the concept of "independent media" and have an ipl like auction for all media publishing houses with political parties bidding (Prior Experience of horse trading would come in handy).

We can read the Views News according to  the political parties we like. Thus "Molestation of women in pub" (Remember Shri Ram Sene attacks) can be covered by Shri Ram Sene as "Government launches moral reforms, volunteers make handy contributions" While Samajwadi Party can cover it from a philosophical angle of  "IT Companies and Computers driving women folk to drink, ruining the nation". Attack on Prashant Bhushan can be covered by somebody as "Pakistani Operative foiled from speaking".

One thing for sure, It would generate humongous returns for the shareholders of media publishing houses. Country be damned! 

Reference News : http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/congress-lifts-the-veil-on-young-indian/article4062016.ece?homepage=true

Twilight or Tubelight

How Films mirror reality
Yesterday, I was watching Twilight series (I could hardly get through part 1). I couldn't stop being amused at twisting of reality to create romantic movies.

As the sombre protagonist enters the college, the editor team is dancing around her to feature her in the school magazine.Boy! Is the editor enchanted with her sad looks? and Here I thought - Smile.It adds to face value.

Then the gazes of the girl and boy meet and Voila! Instant love.

As the boy misses school, the girl obsesses over it.Maybe nothing better to do.

Then when they are together.Everybody stares at them and the girl feels "We are the hottest couple".Again maybe nobody has anything better to do.

Writing in mother tongue

When was the last time You wrote with a pen on paper something not related to financial transaction or to do list.
When was the last time you wrote in Hindi

I did a few days back and my hand trembled.Would I be able to write beautifully even write all letters. I did and it felt great to write in my mother tongue Ideas I cherish.

Costly Elections

Costly elections have been known to be a justification of corruption.However egregious the justification sounds It would be impractical to ignore the fact that a representative democracy is fast becoming a plutocracy.

Society and rules

"There are no absolute rules.A society decides the rules."

Often what has been forbidden at one time has come to be accepted as common later.
For example: In the land of liberty viz. America For 75 years after independence only land owning white male could vote (a measly 16% of American population)
For nearly a 100 years slavery was legal.

A society is a union of members in their self interest

So what kind of people do we wish to be and What kind of future do we want?
Do we want a society to live in a society based on merit and transparency OR a system with inherent leverage to some, which will affect us and our future.This needs pondering and I believe will create a better future.


P.S.>
 Why for 75 years it happened? :
The law was justified saying "as property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community"
 Why for 100 years slavery happened ? :
It was justified with the argument
"Slavery was good for the slaves; the slave owners took on the burden of caring for the interests of inferior beings, seeing that they would be fed, clothed and given religious instruction. "
Actually slavery provided almost free labour and nearly 60 percent of U.S. exports of this era were cotton.So the lifestyle of the rich was supported on the slavery of the blacks.

Stuck on a song

Sometimes I get hooked onto a song and it keeps on playing in my  mind.
Has this also happened to you ? :)

The curious case of gullible people

The other day One of my friends posted this "heart tugging" message on facebook

Out of curiosity and respect for bird intelligence (Birds are quite intelligent They can count, create tools out of sticks and twigs, Cuckoo even  tricks other birds by hiding the original birds eggs and replacing them with her own)
So I searched on google : do birds eat gum
and found the following link
http://www.backyardchirper.com/blog/bird-myths-gum-on-the-ground-kills-birds/
This does not mean we should litter the streets with gum, But we should at least check new facts for logic instead of just accepting them blindly and sharing them.


The ill effects of this gullibility:
Exodus of north east indians due to rumour mongering by some people.

Just For fun: Here is a cute pet bird that likes to chew gum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o26NSs2Rkk

A Comprehensive Guide to: How to make a fool out of oneself ?

Actors of the play:
Mr Subramanian Swamy (President of Janata Party)
Mr Janardhan Dwivedi (Congress General Secretary)

Mr Subramanian Swamy said:
Ms. Sonia and Mr. Rahul had floated a Section 25 company called ‘Young Indian’ each with a share holding of 38 per cent, which acquired Associated Journals, founded by late Jawaharlal Nehru, that published the National Herald and Quami Awaz.
Dr. Swamy said Associated Journals obtained an unsecured loan of over Rs 90 crore from AICC which he claimed was illegal under Income Tax Act because a political party cannot give loans for commercial purposes.

Mr Janardhan Dwivedi:
Yesterday He said:  “In every society and country, you have some characters.
The person you are referring might be one of them who could speak anything, anytime,” AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.

Today He said:
“The Indian National Congress,” party general secretary and media chairperson Janardan Dwivedi said, “has done its duty in supporting The Associated Journals Limited to help initiate a process to bring the newspaper back to health in compliance with the laws of the land.”
He also acknowledged that this support was extended by the Congress “in the form of interest-free loans from which no commercial profit has accrued to the Indian National Congress.” Party sources said it was not known whether the paper would be revived as National Herald or given a new name.
Mr. Dwivedi, interestingly, made no reference to Young Indian (Is it an error of omission?)

Meanwhile, what is known thus far is that Young Indian, according to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, was formed on November 23, 2010 and registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. It lists its address as 5A, Herald House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi, the office of the now defunct National Herald. While Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Gandhi hold 76 per cent stake in the new venture, the remaining shares are owned by Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, who is also the chairman-cum-managing director of Associated Journals Limited, and party general secretary Oscar Fernandes.

Commentary:
In view of an intelligent citizen, It makes for little horse sense to go over the top and lambast others without verifying the allegations.

References:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/swamy-targets-sonia-rahul/article4054779.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/congress-to-revive-national-herald-challenges-swamy-to-take-it-to-court/article4058571.ece?homepage=true

Approach: Logic versus Tradition

Today is Karva Chauth
It is a day when traditionally Hindu women fast for long life of their husbands.Husband helps the wife break her fast by giving her the first sip of water and morsel of food.

But men are rushing madly to their homes to help break their wives fast. They have been hollered by their wives (on mobile) as Moon just came out.Some women are restless throughout the day. It looks more like a restriction imposed on them and the Moon liberates them from the punishment.

Which brings me to my question: Which is more important logic or tradition?
The logic behind keeping the fast is a strong relationship involves some adjustments and Keeping fast for a day gives a feeling of  making a little sacrifice for your partner.Thus strengthening the relationship and appreciation for each other.

While the blind following of tradition says : "This has always been done. So we do it whatever the discomforts"

Which approach is better?
You choose!

P.S.:This is just intended to analyse motives for our actions. The author has healthy respect for all people.