It probably took less than 3 minutes for BJP top brass to communicate to Jaswant Singh that it was great to work with him for 30 years and now he is sacked from the party for his views on Independence that contradict with party's ideology.
Is BJP too intolerant? Is this against our culture, custom bla bla...... well how can we treat someone like this? he has put in 30 years of his life, was a cabinet minister himself and one who's contribution to India's growth is unquestionable.
Well over 60 years of Independence and we still talk and argue over such worthless issues. I believe that our history, both pre and post independence is manipulated. Lots of facts are not mentioned or are inferred wrongly/ politically. We probably would never know some facts. We respect past, but it's dead. We just cannot keep doing postmortem over and over for proving our points, right or wrong.
So, I am happy that we Indians, individuals, parties, organizations etc are getting aggressive, and getting intolerant towards nonsense. The Jaswant Sing episode must be a learning for all of us that India cannot effort to focus on issues that matter least today. Anyone who speaks other than, economy, infrastructure, social justice, law and order, security & safety, fundamental rights and democracy should be out of the parliament. Today we cannot effort anything other then what I just mentioned and yes we must stop non-sense today.
Now, how do I see Mr. Jaswant Singh's contribution and his story. I see him as a batsman who is playing a Test Cricket Match, who has batted for long hours and he is now at 199. He then plays a lose shot and lose his wicket. No discounts whatsoever. It was a great innings, we are proud of you but you cannot be given a second chance to complete your 200. And this applies to all.
Thanks Mj. I am proud of your association with BJP, your contribution is great and we shall remember you as a great leader. India, let’s move on.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
SRK Detained at Newark - Why I don't care?
SRK was detained at Newark airport in United States and was question for over two hours. This hit the headlines in all national news channels in India, and upset the fans and government. But why I don't care, and why should I care for SRK. This happens with thousands of Muslims who enter the United States every year. Government and media don’t react then, so why so much hue and cry for SRK. It has happened with celebrities and politicians on number of occasions in past.
If United States believes that Muslims are threat to them and Indian government don’t protest for ordinary Indian Muslims who enter United States then why trust SRK and worry so much for him. He is a Bollywood Icon – so what? Prime Minister of Australia was accused of spying, this has happened with many leaders in past. So, if it is matter of security, no discounts, detain, question everyone, when common Muslims are harassed that way then please no discounts for SRK. If government believe this is the not the way to treat SRK then so is the case with hundreds of other Indians who enter United States. Detain, question and harass just because he / she belongs to a specific religious community has been a general practice at US airports.
9/11 was a failure of FBI and other security agencies (of USA), which they now are trying to cover-up with such indecent and unfriendly manner. This can be debated but the topic I am writing is on SRK detained on arrival at Newark. I hope incidents like this brings some sanity to governments across the world and they unit to protest against such discrimination, but for SRK, I really don’t care.
If United States believes that Muslims are threat to them and Indian government don’t protest for ordinary Indian Muslims who enter United States then why trust SRK and worry so much for him. He is a Bollywood Icon – so what? Prime Minister of Australia was accused of spying, this has happened with many leaders in past. So, if it is matter of security, no discounts, detain, question everyone, when common Muslims are harassed that way then please no discounts for SRK. If government believe this is the not the way to treat SRK then so is the case with hundreds of other Indians who enter United States. Detain, question and harass just because he / she belongs to a specific religious community has been a general practice at US airports.
9/11 was a failure of FBI and other security agencies (of USA), which they now are trying to cover-up with such indecent and unfriendly manner. This can be debated but the topic I am writing is on SRK detained on arrival at Newark. I hope incidents like this brings some sanity to governments across the world and they unit to protest against such discrimination, but for SRK, I really don’t care.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Court sets the tone right
Another Landmark judgment from Karnataka high court. However, this time it was Court Vs PIL seeking stay on statue of Tamil poet Thiruvallavur near ulsoor lake in Bangalore. This is what the division Bench headed by Chief Justice P D Dinakaran has to say on the PIL;
"Peace and tranquility should be maintained at any cost. If any third party holds bandhs and agitations, the state is at liberty to deal with situation in accordance with the law"
It's up to we Indians to understand and appreciate that the only way forward is with unity and respecting each other. We live in different states of India, and not different countries. Respect is earn by means of love and friendliness and cannot be forced by someone.
"Peace and tranquility should be maintained at any cost. If any third party holds bandhs and agitations, the state is at liberty to deal with situation in accordance with the law"
It's up to we Indians to understand and appreciate that the only way forward is with unity and respecting each other. We live in different states of India, and not different countries. Respect is earn by means of love and friendliness and cannot be forced by someone.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Humiliating the Heroes
In 1956 summer Olympics which were hosted by Australia, Indian football team qualified for the semi-finals along with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and USSR (eventual winners). India defeated Australia in the quaterfinals booked the spot for semis. They were one win away from earning a medal when they lost the bronze medal match against Bulgaria 3-0. This probably is the best performance by Indian football team till date. Neville D'Souza scored a hatrick against Australia in quaterfinals to become the first Asian footballer to score a hat trick in Olympics, he was also the top scorer of the tournament.
Almost 75 years now, very few remember this great achievement by an Indian football team. And this year All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) decided to go a step further (rather backward). They decided to humiliate the forgotten heroes by paying them petite amount of Rs. 25,000/- (approx 500 USD). And when the heroes tried reaching the AIFF offices / secrateries etc no one bothered to take the call.
Tired of this ghastly attitude, the Melbourne squad skipper Samar Banerjee and other 8 surviving members decided to return the chequest to AIFF. You can read the full story on following link:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/humiliated-indian-soccer-heroes-return-cheques/98599-5.html
Well. What a day it was for sports in India. Somdev Burman wins a match against world number 15 and Haryana state imposes additional tax on Golf (they consider it as entertainment and not sport). God bless old aged bureaucrat and thankless politicians.
Almost 75 years now, very few remember this great achievement by an Indian football team. And this year All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) decided to go a step further (rather backward). They decided to humiliate the forgotten heroes by paying them petite amount of Rs. 25,000/- (approx 500 USD). And when the heroes tried reaching the AIFF offices / secrateries etc no one bothered to take the call.
Tired of this ghastly attitude, the Melbourne squad skipper Samar Banerjee and other 8 surviving members decided to return the chequest to AIFF. You can read the full story on following link:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/humiliated-indian-soccer-heroes-return-cheques/98599-5.html
Well. What a day it was for sports in India. Somdev Burman wins a match against world number 15 and Haryana state imposes additional tax on Golf (they consider it as entertainment and not sport). God bless old aged bureaucrat and thankless politicians.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Television - killing your vision
Television (TV) are commercial available since 1930s, though in India they became available only in 1980s. Ramayana, Mahabharata (Indian epics) and 1982 ASIAN games in Delhi made it popular among the masses. Almost three decades since its inception, from one single channel "Doordarshan" to more than 200 channels now, from a boon to curse, TV has travelled a long distance. It has become the single largest reason of us losing our ability to think and develop vision.
From 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Indians spend most of their time watching TV, be it news, sports, daily serials, cartoons or be it whatever. A friend of mine who returned / shifted back to India about 2 years back often complain that his parents are most busy watching TV. "They just keep watching the idiot box, for anything between 6 to 10 hours a day", said he. He is now worried that how his kids are getting addicted to this idiot box. What's going on, where we are putting our energies on. On an average, 6 hours a day, we park our brains, decide not to think beyond what's shown on TV and forget the real world. The damage is not limited to the time when we watch TV, but gets extended to hours when we don’t watch TV, discussing what we see. The damage is not just limited to individuals or families but to health of society in large.
Obama recently appealed to the American kids to spend more time with books and less in playing video games. The increasing influence of Indians and Chinese in corporate world in US is growing concerns among US diplomats. Don’t we need to worry on similar lines, isn’t TV eating up our ability to think? Are we as a society losing our ability to have vision for coming generations?, and all this damage by choice and not by force.
It nips me when I see the way we as a society are losing our ability to have vision. We cannot think beyond what we choose to cover our eyes with. The next great Indian revolution will be when we Indians learn to distinguish between entertainment and addiction and then decide to dump this addiction, and when we start having vision for self, family and society.
From 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Indians spend most of their time watching TV, be it news, sports, daily serials, cartoons or be it whatever. A friend of mine who returned / shifted back to India about 2 years back often complain that his parents are most busy watching TV. "They just keep watching the idiot box, for anything between 6 to 10 hours a day", said he. He is now worried that how his kids are getting addicted to this idiot box. What's going on, where we are putting our energies on. On an average, 6 hours a day, we park our brains, decide not to think beyond what's shown on TV and forget the real world. The damage is not limited to the time when we watch TV, but gets extended to hours when we don’t watch TV, discussing what we see. The damage is not just limited to individuals or families but to health of society in large.
Obama recently appealed to the American kids to spend more time with books and less in playing video games. The increasing influence of Indians and Chinese in corporate world in US is growing concerns among US diplomats. Don’t we need to worry on similar lines, isn’t TV eating up our ability to think? Are we as a society losing our ability to have vision for coming generations?, and all this damage by choice and not by force.
It nips me when I see the way we as a society are losing our ability to have vision. We cannot think beyond what we choose to cover our eyes with. The next great Indian revolution will be when we Indians learn to distinguish between entertainment and addiction and then decide to dump this addiction, and when we start having vision for self, family and society.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Mumbai tears flood Delhi
July 28th, post noon when Delhities were praying for monsoon they would not have realized that how painful the blessings of Indra (God of Rains) would be. Later that evening clouds pour and poured like hell. It rained cats and dogs, temperature went down by 10 degree within few hours, and before the capital city could realize the magnitude of pour all major roads were flooded with water, traffic started stacking up and Delhities experienced what Mumbikars have always been complaining off for ages. It took 4 hours to travel a distance that otherwise in normal circumstances would not have taken more than 40 minutes. Buses went off road, no shades for bikers & pedestrians and cars move inches. Welcome to the monsoon of Mumbai in Delhi. Not that my heart did not felt for Delhi, after all I too was a Delhitie and have praised it’s infrastructure for long.
However, there are definitely few points to understand. For the city that pay more tax than Delhi, Pune and Bangalore put together pays faces this grilling situation every monsoon. While monsoon brings smile for most part of the country, for Mumbaikars it is also a matter of twinge concern. The age old drainage system clutches within few hours of rain, and the city, which pay thousands of corer as tax comes to standstill. Schools are shut, offices have lowest productivity and business is at its nadir. And what city gets to manage this flood like situation are pea nuts. Sad, but its fact that the financial capital of India does not have appropriate funds to keep its gutters clean.
Delhi on the other hand enjoys zenith of infrastructure. Probably (my guess), Delhi has more flyovers than what rest of the metros put together has. Delhi metro received more attention, and higher priority than what Bandra-Worli sea link. While Delhi metro set new standards of quality and speed, Bandra-Worli sea link continued to be at mercy of filthy politics.
I understand that the national capital deserves the attention and priority it gets but I also protest against the lewd attitude our politicians and bureaucrats demonstrate when it comes to funding infrastructure projects in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country.
I hope that the experience of July 28th would make politicians at center little sensitive towards the situations elsewhere in the country and would understand the pain that Mumbai goes through each monsoon. If they earn sanity, Mumbaikers would definately enjoy next monsoon.
However, there are definitely few points to understand. For the city that pay more tax than Delhi, Pune and Bangalore put together pays faces this grilling situation every monsoon. While monsoon brings smile for most part of the country, for Mumbaikars it is also a matter of twinge concern. The age old drainage system clutches within few hours of rain, and the city, which pay thousands of corer as tax comes to standstill. Schools are shut, offices have lowest productivity and business is at its nadir. And what city gets to manage this flood like situation are pea nuts. Sad, but its fact that the financial capital of India does not have appropriate funds to keep its gutters clean.
Delhi on the other hand enjoys zenith of infrastructure. Probably (my guess), Delhi has more flyovers than what rest of the metros put together has. Delhi metro received more attention, and higher priority than what Bandra-Worli sea link. While Delhi metro set new standards of quality and speed, Bandra-Worli sea link continued to be at mercy of filthy politics.
I understand that the national capital deserves the attention and priority it gets but I also protest against the lewd attitude our politicians and bureaucrats demonstrate when it comes to funding infrastructure projects in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country.
I hope that the experience of July 28th would make politicians at center little sensitive towards the situations elsewhere in the country and would understand the pain that Mumbai goes through each monsoon. If they earn sanity, Mumbaikers would definately enjoy next monsoon.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Court Vs Government
A Landmark judgment from Karnataka state high court today. Justice N Kumar today declared entry tax levied by state on vehicles as unconstitutional and asked state government to refund the tax collected during specific time frame. The tax varied from 4% to 15% depend on type of vehicle and age of vehicle. Thanks to about 150 petitioners who challenged the provision. While the story for extra tax burden for vehicle owners ended here, the statement from High court is send out impressive message to law makers and people with narcissism interest.
Here is extracts from what honorable Judge has to say in this case.
“The objective of our Constitution makers was free movement and exchange of goods throughout India. It is essential for the economy of India and for sustaining improving living standards of its people. It should ultimately lead to one-country one-people concept and economic benefit of the development should reach every citizen wherever he lives. The people of the state must sink and swim together. The long-run prosperity and salvation lies in union and not division. Economic unity is the main force for achieving cultural and political unity and stability and progress can be achieved only be demolishing artificial boundaries and barricades and should be sidelined”.
Justice N Kumar
“Shot circuit measures of imposition of tax will not work in the longer run. They are against the principles enunciated in Article 301 of free movement of goods and articles 304(a), which is against levying of any discriminating tax. A state cannot exercise legislative power contrary to constitutional scheme and take away the benefit accrued to common man”.
Justice N Kumar
Here is extracts from what honorable Judge has to say in this case.
“The objective of our Constitution makers was free movement and exchange of goods throughout India. It is essential for the economy of India and for sustaining improving living standards of its people. It should ultimately lead to one-country one-people concept and economic benefit of the development should reach every citizen wherever he lives. The people of the state must sink and swim together. The long-run prosperity and salvation lies in union and not division. Economic unity is the main force for achieving cultural and political unity and stability and progress can be achieved only be demolishing artificial boundaries and barricades and should be sidelined”.
Justice N Kumar
“Shot circuit measures of imposition of tax will not work in the longer run. They are against the principles enunciated in Article 301 of free movement of goods and articles 304(a), which is against levying of any discriminating tax. A state cannot exercise legislative power contrary to constitutional scheme and take away the benefit accrued to common man”.
Justice N Kumar
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tai-Chi
Tai-Chi is a soft form of martial art that originated in China. Tai-chi has a history of about 5000 years and is integral part of Chinese culture. Unlike other forms of martial art like Karate, Taikondo that uses more of muscle power, Tai-Chi focuses on internal energy for performing its moves.
Tai-Chi is art of self defense and a form of meditation. Self defense without weapons and meditation in motion. Since Tai-chi uses internal energy the practitioner experiences no physical or mental stress while performing these moves. Actually it is a good stress buster that not only helps you remain cool but also is improves concentration, patience and fitness level. Tai-Chi professionals claims that Tai-Chi also helps in ailing some of the critical illness.
The Yang style Tai-Chi has 85 moves that takes about 50 class (one hour each) to complete. The movements are slow and easy, making it feasible for people of all age group (from 7 to 70) to practice it. What more, unlike some of the hard forms that requires matted floor and physicians consultation, Tai-Chi can be performed on any floor and has almost zero risk involve in it. Tai-Chi moves are combinations of physical exercise, breathing techniques and meditation. The fun is when one starts practicing the moves. The hand and leg movements when performed in complete coordination displays flowing, graceful and relax moves.
In India Tai-Chi is catching up fast in metros. You will find good number of Tai-Chi masters. However, if you wish to learn the authentic Yang style Tai-Chi then I would recommend you to visit the website of Tai-Chi academy in India. Visit: http://www.taichiacademyindia.com/
Tai-Chi is art of self defense and a form of meditation. Self defense without weapons and meditation in motion. Since Tai-chi uses internal energy the practitioner experiences no physical or mental stress while performing these moves. Actually it is a good stress buster that not only helps you remain cool but also is improves concentration, patience and fitness level. Tai-Chi professionals claims that Tai-Chi also helps in ailing some of the critical illness.
The Yang style Tai-Chi has 85 moves that takes about 50 class (one hour each) to complete. The movements are slow and easy, making it feasible for people of all age group (from 7 to 70) to practice it. What more, unlike some of the hard forms that requires matted floor and physicians consultation, Tai-Chi can be performed on any floor and has almost zero risk involve in it. Tai-Chi moves are combinations of physical exercise, breathing techniques and meditation. The fun is when one starts practicing the moves. The hand and leg movements when performed in complete coordination displays flowing, graceful and relax moves.
In India Tai-Chi is catching up fast in metros. You will find good number of Tai-Chi masters. However, if you wish to learn the authentic Yang style Tai-Chi then I would recommend you to visit the website of Tai-Chi academy in India. Visit: http://www.taichiacademyindia.com/
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tips to Win IPL
In season 1, Rajasthan Royals (RR) took everyone by surpise by not only topping in the league but also winning the final. In Season 2, the Deccan chargers (DC) who finshed last (8th) in session 1 won the tournament. Hyderabad winning IPL from where it was in season 1 can only be compared with Lalu's turnaround of Indian Railway.
So What is the X factor that wins IPL for you? Ask shane or Gilli, aha.... well if that's not working for you then call Dada and Mccullam. They are equally desparate to win an IPL troph, and if are don't have answer, give them these tips, TIPS TO WIN IPL.
TIP NO. 1: Dress BLUE. You got to have Blue in your team dress. Both RR and DC won with Blue. Sachin....u listening...think u have a chance next year....read next tip then.
TIP NO. 2 : Rest your icon player (there u go sachin, dravid, dada & rest). VVS Laxman first lost his captancey and then place in playing 11. DCwon title after they dropped VVS, RR had no ICONs.......bangaluru, mumbai u listening.
TIP NO. 3 : Hire a retired Aussiss legend who was a successful deputy to a another legend in Aus. team. Shane for RR and Gilli for DC did it. So next would be .............Clark?
TIP NO. 4 : Guest are Best. Trust me, for both RR and DC, domestic players from other parts of the country performed better than localities....national integration bhai..
RR: Yusuf Pathan, Jadeja and Asondkar performed better than any Rajasthan player.
DC: RP Singh, Rohit Sharma and Ojha were top domestic performers.
TIP NO. 5 : Have Darren Lehmen in your team. In Inaugural IPL, he played for RR and in 2009 he is coach for Chargers....
TIP NO. 6 : You got to have purple cap in your team, and this dude must be a left arm swing baller. Shohail Tanvir and RP Singh did proud to respective teams, Zaheer, Irfan you can be next.....
TIP NO. 7 : Fenchise Owner, hell with film stars....Shilpa, Prety, Katrina, SRK grrrrr..... keep out of IPL. This is not for you. So Frenchise, make sure you dont appoint any bollywood stars and if you already have one.....know what?? kick them out.......LAAT.
That's it. Teams now know how the mantra to win IPL. Hope next year we will have even better tournament.
Abhay.
So What is the X factor that wins IPL for you? Ask shane or Gilli, aha.... well if that's not working for you then call Dada and Mccullam. They are equally desparate to win an IPL troph, and if are don't have answer, give them these tips, TIPS TO WIN IPL.
TIP NO. 1: Dress BLUE. You got to have Blue in your team dress. Both RR and DC won with Blue. Sachin....u listening...think u have a chance next year....read next tip then.
TIP NO. 2 : Rest your icon player (there u go sachin, dravid, dada & rest). VVS Laxman first lost his captancey and then place in playing 11. DCwon title after they dropped VVS, RR had no ICONs.......bangaluru, mumbai u listening.
TIP NO. 3 : Hire a retired Aussiss legend who was a successful deputy to a another legend in Aus. team. Shane for RR and Gilli for DC did it. So next would be .............Clark?
TIP NO. 4 : Guest are Best. Trust me, for both RR and DC, domestic players from other parts of the country performed better than localities....national integration bhai..
RR: Yusuf Pathan, Jadeja and Asondkar performed better than any Rajasthan player.
DC: RP Singh, Rohit Sharma and Ojha were top domestic performers.
TIP NO. 5 : Have Darren Lehmen in your team. In Inaugural IPL, he played for RR and in 2009 he is coach for Chargers....
TIP NO. 6 : You got to have purple cap in your team, and this dude must be a left arm swing baller. Shohail Tanvir and RP Singh did proud to respective teams, Zaheer, Irfan you can be next.....
TIP NO. 7 : Fenchise Owner, hell with film stars....Shilpa, Prety, Katrina, SRK grrrrr..... keep out of IPL. This is not for you. So Frenchise, make sure you dont appoint any bollywood stars and if you already have one.....know what?? kick them out.......LAAT.
That's it. Teams now know how the mantra to win IPL. Hope next year we will have even better tournament.
Abhay.
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