Nothing gets funnier and murkier than the trust vote on July 22. The D-day is just two days away. And it’s the best time to be a member of the Indian parliament. You get wooed by the ruling party and the opposition equally. Now, if you belong to a small or independent party, this is your day man!!! All your wishes will surely come true-old and new.
The human trafficking in the parliament that we have been witnessing in recent days has reached its own pinnacle. Members are being coaxed for anything and everything, right from ministerial posts to complying with their requests to rename airports (well money is the default option hence it doesn’t require a mention). And the reason for all these ‘deals’…TRUST, my dear.
Hey isn’t trust essential for the survival of any relation? Here the ruling party’s relationship with the parliament is at stake and the opposition’s yearning to have a second innings at the parliament is up for grabs. A single ‘trusted’ (or no-trust) vote can seal the fate of the Indian government. Oh! I love the principles of democracy…it’s a thriller-killer indeed.
The whole funda of trust vote is simply superb! Imagine this: A parliamentary session going on. All the members of parliament playing their version of the popular game show Deal Ya No Deal. A thumbs up by an MP and bingo you get your man. All you need to do is fix the deal with him well before and make sure he doesn’t tread back on his words. Didn’t I mention it’s a suspense filled emotional drama...because here the MPs play their own deals too. They might just tweak their votes and leave you in a crunch at the eleventh hour 59th minute. No wonder we are the biggest democracy in the world. Our MPs can horse around, conduct selling of honourable members of parliament to other honourable members even while other members try to break or make the same sale, change their trustworthy decisions at any time. And who dare stop them from doing this? Democracy rules, right?
Unlike other countries-say US who field just 2-3 candidates- we have a wide range and variety of choices and options to choose from. Talks, campaigns, discussions, debates are amongst the few things on the agenda on a US candidate in our case, who thinks of wasting time in all these things? Oh yes! Our candidates do campaign. Their campaigning is exactly a smaller scaled down version of the much hyped, ongoing trust vote and the strategies involved in it. Nothing new yeah!
At the end of the day masses’ trust is what matters the most. We, the Indian people have the complete authority to decide our government. But the idealism of democratic elections that attracted liberal voters now ceases to exist...its dead. So my friends, trust me, we may have thousands of candidates and hundreds of parties, but we just don’t have much choice to trust anyone.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
THAT's RUBBISH, WE INDIANS......Nah!!!
A few months back, a British MP remarked about the sick habit of Indians not knowing how to dispose of their garbage. Indians were termed as litterbugs. This accusation drew wrath from not only the British-Indians but also from our own homeland. We Indians creating a shit load of rubbish? Huh? WE!
Hmm….lets evaluate this. Well, well what do these people in the west do with their garbage- store it (as if they were some precious jewels) in a special container (read: dustbin) made for this purpose and kept in the kitchen. How disgusting! Store garbage in the kitchen, which is the second most sacred place after the puja room. How can we defy the rules of Vaastu-shanti? The best thing to do with your garbage is to throw it out of the window- what else is the window for, besides letting in air and light). Throw it on ‘your’ public roads (hey don’t we pay our taxes). The truth is we Indians are very particular about cleanliness. In fact we have clearly distinguished between our pure, pollution free personal spaces (i.e. our homes, offices etc) and the public spaces (i.e. anything and everything beyond our personal spaces) and have rightly used these public spaces for the purpose they have been designed for, basically to receive and collect our filth and rubbish (even our civic officials fail to have such well defined positions and jobs).
For us clean and quality things are extremely essential. We make it a point to buy footwear, clothes and things to wear from air conditioned shops (so what if we buy fruits, vegetables and things we eat from the roadsides). And lo! Who says that Indians always ape the western culture? Have we yet lost our obsession with ‘cleanliness’? Do we have dirt-free and sparkling roads like theirs? Aren’t our train compartments, lamp posts, bus-stops smeared with a foul smelling, red colored liquid, unlike theirs? Don’t we openly flout the bans on spitting and littering in public? They dare not disobey their rules and laws. In spite of all this we are often accused and ridiculed of mimicking the western life-styles and traditions. A big irony indeed!
As if all the torture wasn’t enough, these foreigners have now come up with a new phobia to harass us Indians. Global warming, carbon emissions, carbon foot-prints……Oh My God! Such gargantuan, incomprehensible names to the Indian mind. Ok! So it is not we who are eager to copy them , but they themselves wish to make puppets out of us and train us to optimize the use of garbage, make best out of waste, reduce, recycle, reuse……..use rubbish again!!!! They then carry on something about carbon emissions and how horrid carbon emissions (what’s that?) are. They educate us about the right and proper manner to deal with industrial emissions and all that crap. Oh! I am fainting. Someone please open up the window….
Hmm….lets evaluate this. Well, well what do these people in the west do with their garbage- store it (as if they were some precious jewels) in a special container (read: dustbin) made for this purpose and kept in the kitchen. How disgusting! Store garbage in the kitchen, which is the second most sacred place after the puja room. How can we defy the rules of Vaastu-shanti? The best thing to do with your garbage is to throw it out of the window- what else is the window for, besides letting in air and light). Throw it on ‘your’ public roads (hey don’t we pay our taxes). The truth is we Indians are very particular about cleanliness. In fact we have clearly distinguished between our pure, pollution free personal spaces (i.e. our homes, offices etc) and the public spaces (i.e. anything and everything beyond our personal spaces) and have rightly used these public spaces for the purpose they have been designed for, basically to receive and collect our filth and rubbish (even our civic officials fail to have such well defined positions and jobs).
For us clean and quality things are extremely essential. We make it a point to buy footwear, clothes and things to wear from air conditioned shops (so what if we buy fruits, vegetables and things we eat from the roadsides). And lo! Who says that Indians always ape the western culture? Have we yet lost our obsession with ‘cleanliness’? Do we have dirt-free and sparkling roads like theirs? Aren’t our train compartments, lamp posts, bus-stops smeared with a foul smelling, red colored liquid, unlike theirs? Don’t we openly flout the bans on spitting and littering in public? They dare not disobey their rules and laws. In spite of all this we are often accused and ridiculed of mimicking the western life-styles and traditions. A big irony indeed!
As if all the torture wasn’t enough, these foreigners have now come up with a new phobia to harass us Indians. Global warming, carbon emissions, carbon foot-prints……Oh My God! Such gargantuan, incomprehensible names to the Indian mind. Ok! So it is not we who are eager to copy them , but they themselves wish to make puppets out of us and train us to optimize the use of garbage, make best out of waste, reduce, recycle, reuse……..use rubbish again!!!! They then carry on something about carbon emissions and how horrid carbon emissions (what’s that?) are. They educate us about the right and proper manner to deal with industrial emissions and all that crap. Oh! I am fainting. Someone please open up the window….
Sunday, July 13, 2008
WORK, WORK HARD MY CHILD
A leading daily recently carried an article, which stated that the British fashion retailer Primark has dropped three of its Indian suppliers for sub-contracting companies that use child labour. The clothing, considered ethically-if not commercially- unpalatable to the British consumer, has been removed from Primark’s 170 UK branches. Isn’t this a national shame that India cannot protect its own children? We have to depend on outsiders to open our eye.
Majority of the child population in India still suffers from malnutrition, poverty, disease, cruel exploitation through forced child labour and beggary and on top of all, illiteracy. These children lead a wretched life, ill clad and hungry, sleeping on the pavements, picking rags, begging or allowing themselves to be exploited in different trades and occupations. Much against their wishes street children are dragged into mafia underworld, drug peddling, and prostitution. They are shunned by all: parents, society and government. Huge sums are spent every year in India to focus on the plight of the child, but millions of children still continue to live a miserable life. The only care they get is tonnes of lip-sympathy (sic).
The situation of child labour and child abuse is worse both in the rural and urban places of India. Poverty, illiteracy, social backwardness of parents, a lacklustre educational system, the indifferent attitude of the educated citizens, irresponsible government officials and other compelling factors force millions of children to carry a burden too heavy for their frail, tender shoulders. Child labour is necessary for the poor family’s survival, but the crux of the problem is not desirable in the interest of either the family or society. Child labour creates a work force, which is ill equipped in terms of skills to compete in today’s globalized economy, besides destroying and tainting the innocent and young lives.
Children are the responsibility of the home, the community and the government. None of us has any right to trifle with their future. Just as tender plants require liberal dose of sunlight, water, manure and proper fencing to protect them from stray animals, the children need care and congenial atmosphere and support to grow. If the future of the child is bleak, can we hope for a better tomorrow? So the next time you see a child working in a factory or under unhygienic and dangerous environment, make sure he/she works hard…NO not in the same working conditions but hard, trouble free and persistently in a school.
Majority of the child population in India still suffers from malnutrition, poverty, disease, cruel exploitation through forced child labour and beggary and on top of all, illiteracy. These children lead a wretched life, ill clad and hungry, sleeping on the pavements, picking rags, begging or allowing themselves to be exploited in different trades and occupations. Much against their wishes street children are dragged into mafia underworld, drug peddling, and prostitution. They are shunned by all: parents, society and government. Huge sums are spent every year in India to focus on the plight of the child, but millions of children still continue to live a miserable life. The only care they get is tonnes of lip-sympathy (sic).
The situation of child labour and child abuse is worse both in the rural and urban places of India. Poverty, illiteracy, social backwardness of parents, a lacklustre educational system, the indifferent attitude of the educated citizens, irresponsible government officials and other compelling factors force millions of children to carry a burden too heavy for their frail, tender shoulders. Child labour is necessary for the poor family’s survival, but the crux of the problem is not desirable in the interest of either the family or society. Child labour creates a work force, which is ill equipped in terms of skills to compete in today’s globalized economy, besides destroying and tainting the innocent and young lives.
Children are the responsibility of the home, the community and the government. None of us has any right to trifle with their future. Just as tender plants require liberal dose of sunlight, water, manure and proper fencing to protect them from stray animals, the children need care and congenial atmosphere and support to grow. If the future of the child is bleak, can we hope for a better tomorrow? So the next time you see a child working in a factory or under unhygienic and dangerous environment, make sure he/she works hard…NO not in the same working conditions but hard, trouble free and persistently in a school.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
POLITICS....chiii....yuck!!!
As I was reading today’s newspaper, an ‘interesting’ article came to my notice. The article gimmicked and contemptuously suggested politics as an option for students who had failed to make a mark academically. The writer of the article is at no fault because this is not cynicism, but disillusionment.
For today’s youth, politics is a dirty word. A career in politics is a strict no-no for the educated young of this country. For them politics is about all unruly parliament scenes, scams, cash-on-camera scandals, riots, bandhs and sneering of our laws and rules. I admit that innumerable examples of degeneration of principles in the arena of politics have prejudiced our outlook. But if we harbour feelings of self-centredness, it marks the death knell of youth….death of a young India.
Reaching out is the essence of youth. The best to clear the rot in the system is to step in and make a difference. If you love your country, you can’t cheat it. Let us be patriots by deeds. Let us step forward and get involved. All is not lost yet! We need young, dynamic leaders who have a foresight, who look beyond individual ambitions and dreams and work towards achieving the greater good. It is a clarion call to the youth to step in and purge politics and this time the call needs to be answered.
For today’s youth, politics is a dirty word. A career in politics is a strict no-no for the educated young of this country. For them politics is about all unruly parliament scenes, scams, cash-on-camera scandals, riots, bandhs and sneering of our laws and rules. I admit that innumerable examples of degeneration of principles in the arena of politics have prejudiced our outlook. But if we harbour feelings of self-centredness, it marks the death knell of youth….death of a young India.
Reaching out is the essence of youth. The best to clear the rot in the system is to step in and make a difference. If you love your country, you can’t cheat it. Let us be patriots by deeds. Let us step forward and get involved. All is not lost yet! We need young, dynamic leaders who have a foresight, who look beyond individual ambitions and dreams and work towards achieving the greater good. It is a clarion call to the youth to step in and purge politics and this time the call needs to be answered.
Monday, July 7, 2008
COME ON INDIA, BE HONEST
It’s been over 60 years of independence yet we struggle for a status of world dominion. Has the largest democracy on the Earth failed to make a mark?
Till date we have been led, governed and influenced by our political class. We remained, or rather chose to remain ignorant of our social and national affairs. We continue to play the game of ‘passing the blame’. We are often exploited for our lack of awareness and interest and this exploitation is in no way from an external source! Time and again we have come across incidents that portrayed our apathy and callousness towards our country. Oblivious to the changing world scenario, we have flaunted our traditions and culture. While doing so we have overgrown a stubborn feeling that makes us hard to accept our flaws and shortcomings.
But with lifestyles, technology, fashion……the world, all moving very quickly,
I wish...for My India
The Indian youth are a unique hybrid of global attitudes yet quintessentially Indian in almost everything else. What binds us with the rest is the sense of being an Indian. I wish to convey this powerful sense of Indian ness and aggressive nationalism. I wish to awaken all my brethren to our growing
Over a period of time the young Indian brigade has evolved to understand and think on their own. Never before has young
As we get pampered by our new shining and emerging economy, I wish to remind my fellow Indians of the myriad things in which we have to exercise a strong influence. Be it business, politics, sports, science or arts. We are the can-do generation. So c’mon lets groove in to make all the wishes of
Welcome...
…One and all to the abode of an anguished young Indian.
Youth in our country have largely been sidelined. We have been branded as extremist, immature, insensitive brats. But far from being a confused lot, the young Indians are truly a self-assured generation. The purpose of my blog is to profile this young Indian and his/her views on a range of issues.
No! It’s neither the anger nor the hatred that’s being displayed over here, but thoughts and views about my country- its present story and a sneak-peek into the future. It’s an attempt to show the real
But before I begin I do realize that am making a foray into a sensitive area and hence I wish to apologise beforehand in case I accidentally hurt anyone’s sentiments and feelings. Do forgive me for the same and feel free to post your comments. I’ll try my best to handle all the topics with care and respect.
-An Indignant Indian.
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