Kshetrajna

Puzzles

2006-04-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

In a recent literary review, an author was described in the following gushing manner. Who is the author thus described?

History provides us with personalities who were equally at ease with words and lethal weapons.

Each time his performance is impeccable because he activates different aspects of his complex personality. Quite uniquely, he was endowed with boundless curiosity, an acute eye for detail, self-knowledge, logical thinking, and candour that is both disarming and moving.

Equally varied is his style, which ranges from the Pinteresque to the Bollywood script.

Almost invariably, he is economical with words. His sinewy and lucid prose is on a par with the best writing of Ernest Hemingway or Scott F. Fitzgerald.

Anybody who has been in love would identify with the prose and poetry of X. That in short is the greatness of X, an accomplished wielder of both pen and sword.

Hint:
The Sikh Guru, Nanak, wrote a series of complaints against X in the Guru Granth Sahib, claiming X "terrified Hindustan" and was a "messenger of death". He also claimed that women with braided hair "were shaved with scissors, and their throats were choked with dust" and that "The order was given to the soldiers, who dishonored them, and carried them away."

"Complex personality", "Hemingway", "Fitzgerald", "Pinteresque", my foot!

Leave your guesses as comments.

Who is X may be a difficult question to answer. However, the more difficult question to answer is why is the reviewer so in awe of X?

UPDATE:Please see comments section for the solution to the puzzle.

A Man and A Spoon On A Jet

2006-03-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I found the time today to blog about this incident. Here goes ...

BEGIN STORY

I am on a flight, in an aisle seat (requested it, in fact. An aside: it's quite funny how things change when you grow up. As a kid I would have given up the world (figuratively speaking, of course) for a window seat, but here I am, all grown up, requesting aisle seats, so that I can avoid having to inconvenience others in case I wanted to walk up or down aisles (literally speaking, of course) in search of toilets!). The middle seat is free, and the window seat is occupied by a middle-aged (40-50 years old) man in a fluorescent green shirt.

A quiet three-quarters of an hour had passed when the stewardesses starts distributing the snack trays. Fluoro-Man and I request our preferences and start wolfing down non-veg. and veg. snacks, respectively. The snack is about as good as one can expect on airlines: a decent cutlet, two other items I don't know the names of (one looks and tastes good, the other looks and tastes bad) and chocolate mousse. The stewardess comes back to serve us coffee/tea. And here is where things get interesting.

For some reason Fluoro-Man is bristling. He points his spoon at the stewardess [I know, I know, I tried to rewrite it, but didn't succeed] and the conversation (monologue) goes like this.

FM: What is this?
S: A spoon, Sir.
FM: No, it is a knife.

[I can't resist taking a sideways peek at the spoon. I had to agree with S's verdict on the object's nature. There was little to dispute: as far as I could see, the object was most certainly a spoon, not a knife.]

S: Sorry, Sir?
FM: It is a god-damned knife. Look how sharp these edges are.

[By now I can no longer afford a sideways peek, I nudge my head imperceptibly to get a fuller view of the implement. FM was pointing to the edges of the spoon's bowl.]

FM: This thing cut my lip!
S: Sorry, Sir. Can I get you anything?
FM: No.

[I have a tough time controlling my grin. It's quite funny: a man cutting his lip with a spoon, while eating chocolate mousse, and blaming another person for it!

A few minutes pass. S is serving other passengers in front of us.
]

FM [shouting very loudly]: HEY, THIS SPOON CUT MY LIP! DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID EARLIER? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
S: Sorry, Sir, what can I get you?
FM: SUGAR!
S: Here, Sir, two packets of sugar.
FM: NO! ONE PACKET!
[FM takes the packet, opens it, applies sugar to lip.]
FM (as an afterthough): I WANT YOU TO THROW THAT SPOON OUT! YOUR AIRLINE SHOULDN'T BE USING SUCH SPOONS!
S: Yes, Sir.
FM: WHERE'S MY TEA?
S: Sorry, Sir. I thought you won't be able to drink it with your cut lip.

[S says it with such a straight face, that I almost guffaw!]

FM: NO, I WANT MY TEA!

I let out a snicker. The other passengers are either disturbed by FM's ranting or find it tremendously funny and turn their eyes to my row. I exchange mental laughs with a few passengers through smiles and eye-rolls. And go back to staring at the seat in front of me.

When the stewardess finished serving FM with tea, sugar (more) and tissues (for the bleeding lip), I ran down the aisle and locked myself in the toilet. I haven't laughed out that hard and loud in a long long time.

The rest of the flight, whenever I got bored of reading newspapers and magazines and needed some entertainment, I turned to my left to get a glimpse of FM smothering his lower jaw with tissues and cursing the spoon.

END STORY

There are plenty of discussion points in this incident regarding behaviour in public places, customer service etc., but we will leave all that for later. For now, let us amuse ourselves by picturing a self-righteous middle-aged man wearing a flourescent green shirt cutting his lip on a spoon eating chocolate mousse and making a fool of himself in public.

The Cost of Elections in India

2006-03-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

A couple of days back I wrote a post that dealt briefly with the tremendous costs of conducting elections in India. I wrote how developing countries such as India cannot afford throwing valuable resources (time, energy, money, human resources) into conducting frequent elections (brought on at the whim of our thin-skinned politicians). At that time I had completely overlooked another aspect: the mounting cost of the freebies promised (and delivered, in part at least) by our imagination-deficient politicians during election time. I have to sincerely thank The MuKa for bringing this humongous lapse of mine to attention.

I quote from a report of The DMK Manifesto for the 2006 TamilNadu Elections. Read and weep, denizens of other states! Either move here (TN) or home-grow your own versions of The MuKa, so that you too can get these benefits!

Quality rice at Rs. 2 a kg on ration cards, free colour television for every family "for women's recreation and general knowledge," a maternity assistance of Rs. 1,000 a month for six months, wavier of all cooperative loans to farmers and free electricity to weavers in addition to farmers, were some of the highlights.

The DMK has promised free gas stove to all poor women, a monthly financial assistance up to Rs. 300 to unemployed youth, assignment of two acres to landless poor families, restoration of all concessions withdrawn to government employees and teachers and reservation for Muslim and Christians.

In case you are wondering why the above quote is all in bold, here's the explanation. I started out highlighting "promises" that included the terms "free" or "waiver" or can be construed as a sop by a reasonable person, but soon realised it might be handy to just mark the whole thing in bold! I dare say that what this ~~basket~~ shipload of freebies costs the treasury will dwarf even the regular expenses of elections!

I am surprised why they didn't promise employment to all employable people? Oops, sorry, that falls under the domain of the UPA Govt.

Wait, The MuKa adds an important caveat to one of the sops.

Karunanidhi said the free colour television sets would be given to families after ascertaining whether they had a TV or not.

Phew ... that's a relief! And here I was thinking that this is just going to be a reckless waste of public money. The MuKa is going to give free CTVs only to those who don't have one. I'll say it again: that's the hallmark of responsible economic policy!

I am quite disappointed that The MuKa hasn't promised free Internet (DSL, of course), free set-top boxes (oops, that'd affect the profitability of Maran's Sumangali Cable Vision, so that's a no-go), free transport, free education (for girls only) in State Board of Education schools (a la what the Clueless Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) tried to do, but eventually reversed) ...

Indeed, the Vision of The MuKa is quite glorious. While educated folks like us can only dream of free-trade zones, ~~primary-school dropouts~~ self-educated geniuses like The MuKa aspire to make TamlNadu a Free-For-All-Nadu! With everything free in the not-so-distant future, money will have no place in TamilNadu! By money, I mean cash, cheques, credit cards, banks, the whole shebang! What a revolutionary state that will be! A Giant Leap Forward to The Stone Age!

Such are the Tall Leaders we, the Indian people (and especially, the Tamils), are blessed with!

Wasteful Elections Brought on by Sonia: What Can We Do?

2006-03-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

Last week we were subjected to Mahatma Sonia's resignation and the subsequent drama enacted by her minions in her party and the media, portraying an act of shameless selfish self-preservation as one of high scarifice.

The New Mahatma had declared that she was resigning because it was the right thing to do. The right thing, since she did not want to be found out and sacked by the Election Commision, not because of any new-found sense of probity.

We also heard from Sonia that although she had resigned her post as a Lok Sabha MP, she was going to contest elections AGAIN to become the MP from Rae Bareilly AGAIN. And we heard from her various stooges that the people of Rae Bareilly would deliver the verdict, absolving her of all (alleged) guilt, and The One could return to Parliament for our sake.

Now as easy as it seems for the Congress party (the UPA Govt.) to call elections at will against established constitutional norms (e.g., Bihar, now), it is extremely difficult for the rest of India to be subjected to frequent elections. Understandably, since elections cost our developing country a lot of resources: money, time, energy, people - resources that could otherwise be devoted to bettering public welfare. Now to the Congressi, 'public welfare' may mean the welfare of the First Family (no, not that of Prime Minion Manmohan Singh). But to most sane Indians, the appeasement of Sonia's easily-bruised ego is not a good enough reason to call for elections.

And what exactly will the elections achieve? The expected result is obvious: Sonia will win and become the MP again. How does this absolve her of the unconstitutional act of holding offices of profit while being an MP? Or by then will the unprincipled alliance that passes for Govt. have already passed a law exempting Sonia? And are the congressis hoping that the EC will not rule on the current petition filed against Sonia because she has resigned her MP position?

I can understand if mid-term elections are held because the sitting MP has had to resign because he/she cannot hold office any more and SOMEONE ELSE will be elected as the new MP. But this is ridiculous!

Have you ever heard of elections being brought on mid-term by an MP to elect his/her own pious self again from the same constituency? Oh wait, let me take that back: we are talking about Indian democracy, where the egos of the politicians are larger than the public treasury ...

At least from now, can we stop wasting public money on frivolous elections?

How about putting together a petition that can be the basis of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) preventing MPs/MLAs (and their families) who have resigned their offices from contesting elections brought about by their resignation?

C'mon, Indian blogosphere, let's bring about a change for the better in India's sorry political scene ...

Rediff's Sheela and Sonia's Resignation

2006-03-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

More biased (pro-Sonia, of course) coverage of the sham of Sonia's resignation: this time, courtesy Sheela Bhatt writing on "How Sonia cut her losses".

Given how the Congress' witch-hunt targetting Smt. Jaya Bachchan has boomeranged against itself, a more appropriate title for the report should be "How Congress cut its nose to spite its face"!

Enough of that! Let's proceed to the text of the article.

There is much of the usual tarring of the BJP, e.g.:

The BJP's shrill propaganda ...

Without losing a moment, Leader of Opposition L K Advani and other BJP leaders revived fears of the June 1975 Allahabad high court judgment that was the catalyst that led to the imposition of Emergency.

There are the visions of sacrifice, probity, sainthood, all that's good in this world, e.g.:

Sonia Gandhi, who had told the nation convincingly on May 18, 2004, that her "inner voice" compels her to forsake the prime ministership, now faced a test where the depth of her inner voice was being doubted.

There is anger at how the Congress can be so stupid to mess things up for its leader, e.g.:

The stupid thing about the whole episode is that the entire mess was of Congressmen's own making. And the only way out of the mess was for Gandhi to resign.

The villiain [sic] of the piece once again was Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, who mishandled the internal discussion among members of Parliament over some kind of changes in the Members of Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act of 1959.

And back to the gushing praise of and awe-struck wonder at the stature of The Saint of Sacrifice:

Some would term her decision to quit as as a panic reaction but Mrs Gandhi is not one to mess around with the family's credibility to which she herself has hugely contributed since May 2004. Since the last two years she believes that she is above politics and that she has a special role to play in India's public life. By default the BJP gave her a chance to prove this point once again.

What Sheela says is if you (dear reader) think that Sonia panicked, you are wrong. St. Sonia is above panic, she is above Indian politics (and law, if only the Constitution would allow it). Seriously, when such things (above, special role in politics) are written about (and proclaimed by) The Saint (herself), aren't you reminded of missionaries who claim they are here and in it only to save our wretched souls?

Mrs Gandhi has once again projected her moral edge against the existing lot of politicians.
...
Before and after her resignation Mrs Gandhi remains the most powerful person in the government and outside. So what's all the fuss about?

What's all the fuss about? Well, how about the fact that Sonia has illegally run the country for 2 years from a spurious council and there will be no punitive action against her and her cronies (including Manmohan)? If a corporate officer resigns when his financial crimes have been uncovered, won't the law still go after him? What action can we expect against Sonia? Let's see, how about: NONE!

You know what I am eagerly awaiting? The sacking of Somnath 'Minibar' Chatterjee! It's about time someone deflates that pompous balloon.

The Puppeteer Drops the Strings (For Now, Apparently)

2006-03-23T04:50:00.000-08:00

The Saint Puppeteer has resigned!

[Congress president] Sonia Gandhi today announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and as chairperson of the National Advisory Council [NAC] ...

Although this resignation gives me much glee, it's not yet time to call for full-fledged celebrations. After all, what difference will it make to governance? Manmohan and the rest of the Congress (and much of the media) will continue to be the serfs (puppets) of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The NAC is but a mechanism to convey a sense of legitimacy to the puppeteer-puppet relationship of the Sonia-Manmohan duo. If it's a problem for Sonia to head the NAC and be an MP, just do away with the NAC, or her MP-status or devise another mechanism. For a lady who was once the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party without even being an MP, it won't be a stretch manipulating Manmohan and the rest of the puppets of the UPA Govt. without being in Parliament.

Oh, but wait, she plans to contest elections again. So how is the Congress going to deal with the situation then? When ~~she wins the elections to become an MP again~~ burns more public money, will she head the NAC again? Or does the Congress hope that, by then, everyone will have forgotten about the office-of-profit issue? [Natwar Singh who? Quattrochi who? Buta who? ... And, what's with this whole "should not hold an office of profit while being an MP" business? The office of the MP itself is an office of profit!]

The script that Madame Puppeteer reads from is straight from the I-am-doing-it-for-you-not-for-me spirit that characterizes the Nehru-Gandhi family.

'I have stated earlier also that I am in politics and public life not for my selfish ends,' [Sonia] said. 'I have taken a pledge to serve the people of the country and to protect secular ideals. So, in keeping with my public life and political principles and according to my own belief, I resign as member of the Lok Sabha and chairperson of National Advisory Council. '
...
She said she would contest again from the same constituency.

Arun Shourie wrote brilliantly in 1998 in The Asian Age:

The first and second halves of the 20th century hold three lessons. These are: all the sacrifices made were made by the Nehru-Gandhi Family, and it is because of those sacrifices that the country has risen to the heights it has, second, that no one else has made or makes sacrifices, and that is why the country is on the verge of breaking into fragments. Third, and most important for the future, that everything the Nehru-Gandhi Family does is a sacrifice.

If they do not accept the prime ministership, they are sacrificing the comforts, the pomp and show that go with the highest office. If they do accept it, they are sacrificing their own inclinations, they are sacrificing their personal interests and promising careers. If they accept security, they are sacrificing their privacy. If they do not, they are sacrificing their lives.

The fanclub is in full swing, simultaneously proclaiming a moral victory for The Puppeteer, begging her to reconsider her resignation, burning effigies and making asses of themselves. Here is a sampling:

Taking the wind out of the Opposition's sails ... [Rediff]

This is her second act of giving up a politically important position, the first being her refusal to take up the prime ministership soon after the Congress-led UPA was voted to power in May 2004. [Rediff]

Hailing her 'sacrifice', Congress supporters refused to disperse saying they will not go back until Sonia took back her resignation.

Girish Gupta, youth Congress leader from Indore, said, "Our leader has again made a supreme sacrifice. We are with her in the struggle."

Manmohan Singh, making a statement on Sonia Gandhi's resignation as a Lok Sabha MP and also as the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, said: "Sonia is the tallest leader. She is a leader of rare committment to moral values."

Tell me something new, guys: don't recycle these tall tales of morality. It gets tedious after a while. The "tallest leader" had absolutely no qualms about violating the Constitution for 2 years. She discovers her moral sense (a.k.a the inner voice) only when the EC is on the verge of disqualifying her and when the UPA's brazen attempts (at specifically passing an ordinance for her benefit) could not get off the ground!

Before I forget, here's the headline of an earlier IBN-Live news report (not an editorial): BJP, SP out to rob Sonia of LS seat. Media neutrality: what's that?

Happily, this is my 75th post!

March 16: The Hindu Wipes The Pages Clean

2006-03-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

Of ANY news item on the Varanasi bomb blasts.

The only mentions of the bomb blasts in the Chennai paper edition (dated Mar. 16, 2006) are in the Letters to the Editor, where there are two letters: oh wait, these are letters cribbing about Advani's yatra. So does that count?

IT'S NOT BEEN TEN DAYS SINCE THE BLASTS, YET "INDIA'S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1878" HAS COMPLETELY WIPED ITS PAGES CLEAN OF ANY MENTION OF THE BLASTS!

Life goes on ...

Meanwhile 8 Shia Muslims call on Governor Barnala. For what?

Led by Prince of Arcot Mohammed Abdul Ali, the delegation, on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Shia Muslim Convention, presented a resolution to the Governor, which criticised the publication of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper, and the demolition of the holy shrine at Samarra in Iraq.

The delegation requested the Governor to forward the resolution to the Governments of Iraq and Denmark and to use his good offices with the Union Government to lodge its protest with the Iraqi Government for not adequately protecting the shrine at Samarra.

Yeah, that's right. The Indian Govt. should protest to the Iraqi Govt. that the latter is not adequately protecting the shrine of Samarra. Are these guys for real? When the Indian Govt. cannot protect its OWN citizens from terrorists, they want it to haul up Iraq for not protecting shrines ... High expectations, indeed!

Economics of Plying Autorickshaws

2006-03-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

On an autorickshaw ride yesterday I gleaned info on the economics of driving autorickshaws for a living.

Take a case where an autorickshaw driver hires his vehicle from someone on a daily basis (rather than owning one of his own). Here are typical numbers for expenses (I have indicated within brackets whose responsibility it is to pay):

Daily Rental: Rs. 130 (Renter)
Daily Petrol: Rs. 150 (Renter)

Maintenance:
Any expense under Rs. 50 (Renter)
Any expense over Rs. 50 (Owner)

Yearly insurance for the vehicle: Rs. 2000 (Owner)
Fuel efficiency: 25 KMPL (Even 30 KMPL for new vehicles)

The auto-stand works on a queue basis.
With the above expenses, a "good day" is one which brings in revenues of Rs. 500 or more (for a profit of Rs. 200 or more).

My driver mentioned that he works daily, except when he is ill.

Dilbert and The Prophet

2006-03-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

The internet is an incredible roller-coaster in the dark (like Disneyland's Space Mountain) for the mind: you never know what's next. Today morning I was reading the wonderfully funny Scott Adams on Dilbertblog and within a few minutes I was inexorably drawn to another link on The Prophet. No, the link didn't have to do with The Cartoons (enough of them already!): it had to with Kahlil Gibran's work "The Prophet".

I had heard of Mr. Gibran before, but had never read him. Today I took the chance to read a couple of chapters from The Prophet and was completely awestruck by the thoughts expressed and the manner of expression. Here is a sample, the chapter On Marriage:

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

And from the chapter On Children:

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

And the following section, Mr. Kahlil Gibran seems to have directly observed India's moral-policers and law-makers:

But to whom life is a rock, and the law a chisel with which they would carve it in their own likeness?
What of the cripple who hates dancers?
What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things?
What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?
And of him who comes early to the wedding-feast, and when over-fed and tired goes his way saying that all feasts are violation and all feasters law-breakers?
What shall I say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, but with their backs to the sun?
They see only their shadows, and their shadows are their laws.
And what is the sun to them but a caster of shadows?

Brilliant, isn't it?

Wikipedia tells us that

The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in 1923 by the Lebanese artist and philosopher Khalil Gibran.

In the book, a prophet who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years is about to board a ship to carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, to whom he speaks about issues of life: love, marriage, hate, etc. Considered one of Gibran's best selling books, Gibran followed it by a book called Garden of Prophet, and was due to produce a 3rd part when he died.

What Mr. Gibran does on paper via sublime poetry, Mr. Julian Beever does on the sidewalk with chalk. Human creativity at its wondrous best!

Brinda Karat and Maxim

2006-03-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hardly had it recovered from a Rs 3 crore lawsuit for doctoring and publishing a skimpily-clad photograph of South Indian actress Khushboo, that another storm has come its way. And this time, the magazine is in for a 'dressing down' from Parliament.

The UPA Government is contemplating issuing a notice to the magazine for allegedly creating morphed pictures of CPI(M) leader general secretary of All India Democratic Women's Association, Brinda Karat.
...

The photograph, that showed Karat dressed in skimpy clothes and boxing gloves, had created a storm and the magazine offices were reportedly raided by the Delhi police.

Hmm, what about freedom of artistic expression? You know, the excuse that is used to defend pervert M.F.Husain when there is outrage against his lewd paintings of Hindu deities? The Congressi and Left pseudo-seculars can't really allow freedom of expression when that expression is used to caricature them.

More delight follows in the same report:

"The Minister of Information and Broadcasting shall not sit with his eyes shut if the honour of the Indian woman is compromised. I can issue notice to such magazines," the Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said.
...
"I strongly condemn this. We are quite aware of the matter and watching it closely", Dasmunsi said.

Heh, looks like the Minister is quite the voyeur!

Indian pseudo-secularism: reading material

2006-03-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

1. Secular Myopia: K.P.S. Gill in Outlook

Please read this brilliant article of Shri. K.P.S. Gill in Outlook. Excerpts:

The Indian politician, it appears, is entirely uneducable, incapable of learning from history. Today, virtually all the parties in India are divided into two broad camps - the 'communal' and the 'secular'.
...
But the 'secular' parties are, in fact, anything but that; they practice an insidious and opportunistic 'reverse communalism' that has historically done incalculable harm to the nation, and continues to undermine India's progress, security and stability.

Shri. Gill does not mince words when it comes to the champion of the pseudo-seculars, Gandhi. Read on ...

This blindness [in recognising Muslims are not a monolithic block] has afflicted Indian politics for decades, and the affliction has extended to some of the nation's greatest leaders. Gandhi, the Mahatma on so much else, was utterly wrong in his orientation to the Muslims and this was abundantly clear even in his first major and disastrous intervention in the country's politics, the Khilafat Movement.
...
In the wake of the collapse of the Khilafat movement, the Moplah Rebellion broke out in Kerala, with Muslim mobs inflicting untold savagery and rapine on Hindus. Gandhi first denied these atrocities and later, confronted with incontrovertible evidence, described the Moplahs as "god fearing" people and declared that they "are fighting for what they consider as religion, and in a manner they consider as religious".

It is these double standards that created India's eventual partition. Regrettably, they survived that catastrophe, and continue to dominate India's 'secular' polity even today.

2. The BJP's Shri. Pramod Mahajan asks why the Left were opposed to India's nuclear program (when the NDA was in power) but are now supporting Iran's nuclear program.

Simple: the Left in India (please note that I do not say "Indian Left" since that might be misinterpreted to mean leftists who are Indian in spirit) will oppose any action that is in India's interests, will support any action in China's interests, especially if it hurts India's interests.

3. PM to hold talks with Left, Muslim leaders (IANS)

From Khaleej Times online 5 March 2006

NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet Left leaders and Muslim scholars shortly to explain to them the benefits that will flow to India from its nuclear deal with the US and dispel any apprehensions they may have about its ramifications or American intentions.

High-level cabinet sources said Dr Singh has expressed concern to his alliance and Congress party colleagues about the widespread protests around the country against the visit of President George W. Bush. He feels the need to reach out to the Left, which supports the alliance from outside, and Muslim intellectuals to tell them that the deal was in the overall benefit of the country.

Hey, Manmohan, why are you specifically meeting Muslim "intellectuals" to convince them of the deal? Why not Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians? Don't others also need to be convinced?

Dear reader, aren't you disturbed by the UPA Govt.'s blatant pandering to Muslims? Have you heard of dhimmitude?

Varanasi bomb blasts

2006-03-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Varanasi: Three bomb explosions ripped through this holy city, killing at least 21 persons and injuring 62 others at a crowded temple and a railway station.

The police found two other bombs near the city's main cremation site on the banks of the Ganga.

Bombs exploded:
a) inside the Sankat Mochan temple adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple around 6.30 p.m. when the temple was teeming with devotees during the evening pooja. An eyewitness said a marriage ceremony was in progress at the temple.
b) minutes afterwards, in the holding area of platform one of the Cantonment railway station.
c) in a crowded coach of the Shiv Ganga Express just before it was to leave for New Delhi. The compartment was packed with people going on vacation ahead of the Holi.

The Pioneer also reports that

Seven bombs were later defused, including four that had been planted on the Gowdolia-Dasashwamedh Ghat Road near the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also expressed dismay at the way the political parties are playing with the security of the people.

"Today, Hindus feel completely unsafe in India. Terrorists are attacking especially the Hindu community. First it was Diwali, and now it is on the eve of Holi."

The systematic murder of at least 21 people and the maiming of 62 others will receive the usual treatment from the Indian government and the media: copious breast-beating, crocodile-tearing, awards of money, lectures on maintaining "communal harmony" et al. for a week or ten days, after which life will go back to normal, till the next set of bomb blasts, ad nauseam, ad infinitum.

A few years ago the NDA government was quite prompt in reacting to the Parliament bomb attack by amassing troops on the border. I remember thinking then that only when the elite (in that case, the political elite) are threatened do we see any action (or atleast, the impression of action) from the government. If the common man, woman and child are exploded or hacked to pieces or burnt beyond recognition while they are praying, shopping, playing, travelling, working, it really doesn't shock the Indian (government's) psyche anymore.

I bet you that the Indian government's response will be substantially different if and when the elite (political/economic/social) are targetted.

Until then, say a prayer for the common man ...

The foreign-press is already licking its lips in anticipation of communal rioting. Before the explosion's shockwaves have subsided, the Times reports of "revenge fear"! And who is doing the reporting for the Times? Something called "Raekha Prasad" ...

It (Raekha) writes:

INDIA was on high alert last night after a series of explosions tore through the country’s holiest Hindu city, sparking fears of renewed communal violence.

[Sankat Mochan] temple, which is one of India’s oldest and dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman.

In July gunmen stormed Ayodhya, a city sacred to both Hindus and Muslims ...

Where does the foreign press find these losers? How come there are SO MANY PSEC LOSERS in journalism in India? I guess, in the Indian context, journalism is the first refuge of PSEC LOSERS.

Nehru-Gandhi Bootlicking at Rediff Continues ...

2006-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

A while back when I had written this post lamenting the low standards of Rediff, I received a comment from someone who goes by the self-proclaimed epithet "Non-partisan". I reproduce the comment below.

Sad. Very sad... To excoriate something/someone without providing all the facts calls for some blind hate and/or wilful misunderstanding.
An excerpt from a book about a powerful, if tyrannical, Indian leader is perfectly legitimate, one would think. Even if it is written by a sycophant.
Indira Gandhi is pariah enough in media circles - given her censorship among other things - that few of its members would risk extolling her. And rediff has often discussed the excesses she and Sanjay Gandhi indulged in, without reducing the exercise to a witchhunt.
To make it sound as if publishing the excerpt means rediff supports Indira Gandhi is worse than just unfair behavior, it's the sign of a mind that wants to lean reality its way.
Regards,
Non-partisan

Now, the N-G bootlicking at Rediff has gotten so pathetic that the portal is observing the day that "thirty-eight years ago on February 25, Rajiv Gandhi wed a shy, Italian girl, with warm, doe eyes, at 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi in a simple ceremony".

Dear "Non-partisan", hope you start recognising your mind's tilt before you find fault with others'. Perhaps your "non-partisanship" is much like India's self-styled "secular intellectuals" whose only claim to secularism is declaring others as non-secular.

Please excuse me while I go puke ... Perhaps when I return I will have the physical poise to dissect the piece ... the retching takes a violent toll on the body ...

A chance meeting with a prospective MLA candidate

2006-02-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

Today evening while I was waiting at a photo studio for some photos to be printed, I struck up a brief but interesting conversation with the owner. He seemed to have quite a profound interest in politics and was even contemplating running in the upcoming state elections as a candidate of a national political party.

How much would it cost to contest? Somewhere in the range of Rupees Ten Lakhs!
Would the party help him with the funds? No, he would have to finance the run himself! Imagine an investment and a risk of this magnitude for a studio owner!
Wasn't there a limit to the spending? Oh, yes, all on paper, but flouted with impunity in practice.

Collecting my photos, I wished him all the best and bid him farewell.

Reading "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

2006-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks I have been reading (in fits and starts) the book "Life of Pi". The plot is pretty interesting, indeed quite unlike any other that I have come across: "Pi Patel" is on his way to Canada (from Pondicherry) by ship along with his family. The ship sinks in a storm, leaving behind Pi and four other survivors in a lifeboat "bobbing on the wild blue Pacific". The four other survivors are a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger. Intrigued? Go read it!

I didn't much appreciate the rather artificial writing describing how Pi, born a Hindu, also becomes a Christian and a Muslim. I wonder why Pi stopped at that and didn't become a Buddhist, Sikh, Jew, Parsi etc. Indeed, in the few hundred pages that I have read till now, I haven't seen much of a need for this forced amalgamation (you know, like the "Ishwara Allah Tere Nam" line grafted on to the "Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram bhajan"). Perhaps the plot requires it later on. Let's see.

However, there are a few lines in the author's preface that really resonate with me.

I would settle in a hill station and write my novel. I had visions of myself sitting at a table on a large veranda, my notes spread out in front of me next to a steaming cup of tea. Green hills heavy with mists would lie at my feet and the shrill cries of monkeys would fill my ears. The weather would be just right, requiring a light sweater mornings and evenings, and something short-sleeved midday. Thus, set up, pen in hand, for the sake of greater truth, I would [write].

What a compelling vision!

Apologies for the lapse in blogging!

2006-02-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

Dear regular(!) readers of this blog, please accept my apologies for the lapse in blogging. I was away from the computer for some time, so couldn't post as often as desired. Hopefully things will improve from now on!

Mohammad Cartoons

2006-02-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

I had written a post a few days back on this topic, but due to some problems at Blogger, that post is now irretrievably lost! Let's hope at least this post is retained!

My view on this issue is quite simple:
a. The cartoonists have the right to portray Mohammed.
b. The Muslims have the right to protest peacefully. (Say, by writing letters, boycotts etc.)

The right to protest peacefully however does not include: setting fire to embassies, damaging property, rioting, threatening people and nations with death ... you get the idea ...

The silence of the Indian (pseudo)secular-fundamentalist brigade is quite deafening, yet not inexplicable: either way they speak on this issue, they will be exposed. For instance, if they support the cartoonists, they will be targetted by the Islamic fundamentalists; if they support the Islamic fundamentalists, they can no longer assume the self-righteous airs that goes with being the self-proclaimed "defenders of artistic freedom" (you know, the (pseudo)secular-fundamentalists who rose as one to the hypocrite M F Husain's defence when he produced obscene paintings of various Hindu deities?)!

Nevertheless, even in such situations one comes across fantastic explanations of Islamic fundamentalism in The Hindu. Tabish Khair writes:

As a reaction to European imperialism and, later, a political development of the west's fight against communism and socialism, Islamic fundamentalism is a quintessentially modern phenomenon.

Wow, this is breath-taking inanity, blissful ignorance at best, and willful white-washing at worst! Hey, Mr. Khair, why don't you read about what Islamic fundamentalists have been doing to India since the early days of Islam?!

This has got to be the I-F APOLOGIA of the century!

Please also head over to the following websites:
a. Atanu's Deeshaa: Excellent analysis of the need for freedom of speech
b. Do a google search for Muhammad Image Archive, and you will be led to an archive of images of Muhammad (duh!) over the past centuries. Go have a look before someone takes the site down! The site's author brings up an important point:

While the debate rages, an important point has been overlooked: despite the Islamic prohibition against depicting Mohammed under any circumstances, hundreds of paintings, drawings and other images of Mohammed have been created over the centuries, with nary a word of complaint from the Muslim world.

What's more important?

2006-02-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

What concerns you more:
a) the length of Sania Mirza's skirt? or
b) the promise of equality before law?

If you were anyone other than an Indian Express editor, I would expect your answer to be "b) the promise of equality before law".

Although I am glad to hear that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) rubbishes the fatwa on Sania's short skirts, I would be much more interested in knowing what the AIMPLB's opinion is on the Uniform Civil Code! The Indian Express, however, presumes otherwise. Thus, the Indian Express headlines a report on the meeting of the AIMPLB with the latter's opinion on the critical issue of the length of Sania's skirt.

What does the AIMPLB think about the Uniform Civil Code?

Following the meeting of its 'Islah-e-ma'ashra' (reforms in Muslim society) committee yesterday, the board also demanded abolition of Article 44 of the Constitution pertaining to uniform civil code.

"The uniform civil code was against the spirit of the Islam and hence it should be abolished," Maulana said.

"As long as this article remained in the constitution there would be a possibility that it could be enforced one day. It should either be abolished or Muslims should be exempted from it," he said.

Nizamuddin said the Muslim personal laws were governed by the 'shariat' and no one could make any change in them.

Dear Maulana, what is the point in having a Uniform Civil Code and exempting Muslims from it?

The report goes on to say:

Maulana said that the meeting was attended by 70 odd participants who expressed serious concern at the social evils that had crept in the Muslim society.

The issues that came up for discussion at the meeting included lavish expenditure during 'nikah' (marriages), demand for dowry, divorce and girls education besides others.

Maulana said the board would launch a programme to eradicate the social evils from the Muslim society.

I hope and pray that the issue of "girls [sic] education" is not a social evil to be eradicated from the Muslim society!

Argh - Blogger lost me some posts!

2006-02-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Inexplicably, Blogger has lost two posts of mine! One of which dealt with the Mohammed cartoon controversy (and took quite a long to compile)! Luckily I have a copy of the other one, so I'll post that again.

I don't see how Blogger expects to hold onto its bloggers if the latter is in constant fear of losing their precious posts!

Quiz!

2006-01-31T08:02:00.000-08:00

Every now and then you read something that makes you sit back and re-visit some of the assumptions (euphemism for prejudices!) you carry along. You wonder what ever drove you to view someone with such lenses, and having corrected said lenses, you begin to wonder if these lenses need further correction.

Here is something that I read from TSR's book that made me think about one person in a new light.

Question for the reader: can you identify who X is? Please provide your answer in the Comments section! Hint: X is a substantially prominent politician today.

TSR writes:

That year, X ... was the chief guest and [X] addressed the 200-odd IAS officers who had gathered at the meeting. What [X] had to say made me sit up indeed. [X] spoke on these lines: "You all have such excellent minds and education; some of you are scholars; some of you have Nobel prize minds; you will all succeed in any walk of life, wherever you turn your attention to; you have good jobs; you can educate your children well; and you are all respected by society; - (and then the clincher, raising ... voice) - Why do you come and touch my feet? Why do you come and lick my shoes? Why do you come to me for personal favours? When you do so, I will do as you desire and then extract my price from you.

I will disclose who X is after I have 10-20 guesses. Does what X say give us an idea why governance is what it is today in India?

Nehru-Gandhi Sycophancy at Rediff!

2006-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, is this pathetic or what? Since when do we observe sundry anniversaries of every assumption of Prime Ministership? Or is this because the event is associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family? Congrats, Rediff: you have set a new low in journalistic standards! A slide show, a 'report', a message board for this "major" event - must have been a slow news-day!

From the report:

Indira Gandhi was a leader like none other in India's post-independence history.

Usha Bhagat ... recalls those heady days, when Indira Gandhi took charge, 40 years ago.

[Indira's] face had a glow of an inner radiance.

Never mind that every leader is like none other! Further in an intro to the message board:

In 1971, she broke the back of Pakistan's army, and carved out Bangladesh on our eastern borders, thus giving the lie to the two-nation theory.

In 1974, she exploded the Bomb, and risked international pariah status for India despite deciding to use the atom only for peaceful purposes.

Readers, please note media policy:

When an N-G family member is ruling the country,
He/she broke the back of Pakistan's army ...
He/she exploded the Bomb ...

When similar creditworthy events occur under the NDA government,
The Indian army defeated the Pakistani army in Kargil (not Vajpayee) ...
India's scientists exploded the Bomb in 1998 (not Vajpayee) ...

[Please note: I do not mind our army/scientists being praised - all I am doing is lamenting the double-standards of our media!]

Of course, the opposite also holds true if there are problems. Thus, if there is a scam or riot during the rule of a non-N-G PM/CM, it is the fault of the non-N-G PM or CM for not preventing it. However if the scam or riot occurs during the rule of an N-G PM, it is a "systemic" problem.

Great work, Rediff! You have set a new standard in stooping to please. Hopefully other media outlets will take the cue! Some suggestions for future stories:

"Reports" observing/celebrating 1st, 2nd, 3rd ... anniversaries of Rajiv starting school/college, flunking out, meeting an au-pair, Rahul's first step, his first date etc.: after all, anything to do with the N-G family is an event worth celebrating! Imagine, if Rajiv hadn't met Sonia in Cambridge on that glorious day, would we be able to observe anniversaries of grand "renunciation", or entertain dreams of Rahul (and/or maybe his Colombian girlfriend) ~~lording over~~ sacrificing their lives for our country? Shudder!

News-picks - Jan 23

2006-01-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

1. So we hear that Q has withdrawn funds from his de-frozen British bank accounts, thanks to the largesse of Bharadwaj/UPA. What a shame - the Bofors case is well and truly closed now.

2. One must give credit to Deve Gowda's sense of politicking. He seems to have learnt from his earlier lessons at the Centre. A couple of days back he pretended to be all upset and shocked that his son had betrayed him by eloping with the BJP. Now he's praising his son for saving his party (from the Congress and its insults)!

Robert De Nobili - The Roman Brahmin deception etc.

2006-01-23T04:44:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I came across this report in The Hindu.

CHENNAI: The Jesuit community in Chennai will come together on Saturday to commemorate three important events in the history of the mission in South India: the 450th death anniversary of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the movement, the 400th founding year of the Madurai Jesuit mission (the first such mission in this part of the country) and the 350th death anniversary of Robert De Nobili, the founder of the mission.

The mention of 'De Nobili' and Madurai in the article rang a bell - although a slightly muffled bell. Surely I had come across Nobili somewhere in my readings. It wasn't too long before I made the connection with the story of the 'Roman Brahmin' deception. Please read Sri. Arun Shourie's article on the hoax perpetrated by De Nobili on Indians in his quest to harvest converts. (Aside: This site contains a host of brilliant articles by Sri. Shourie that expose the chicanery of the pseudo-secularists in various contexts.)

Some excerpts from Sri. Shourie's article (emphasis is mine):

A missionary, De Nobili came to India in 1608. In Church lore, he is credited with having secured among the largest harvest of converts for Jesus.
...
De Nobili put out the fiction that he was a "Roman Brahmin" -- Romaca Brahmana was the title he gave out. Francis Ellis, in his contribution to the 1822 Transactions of the Asiatic Society, explained, "Nobili, who was looked upon by the Jesuits as the chief apostle of the Indians after Francois Xavier, took incredible pains to acquire a knowledge of the religion, customs, and language of Madura, sufficient for the purposes of his ministry. But this was not all: for to stop the mouths of his opposers and particularly of those who treated his character of Brachman as an imposture, he produced an old, dirty parchment in which he had forged, in the ancient Indian characters, a deed, showing that the Brachmans of Rome were of much older date than those of India and that the Jesuits of Rome descended, in a direct line from the god Brama.
...
It turns out that forgery was a regular industry with de Nobili. He produced a "fifth Veda" into which he had smuggled notions which would help inveigle people into Christianity. Ellis found the original forgery in the possession of Catholic missionaries in Pondicherry. He found that our artful missionary had similarly produced versions -- with convenient alterations and interpolations -- of the Rig, Sama, and Atharva Vedas too. And several other "scriptures"!

To deceive people into conversion, de Nobili not only altered his own appearance, he disguised rites such as baptism, the service etc. And he asked his disciples as well as the new converts to retain Indian appearances: "....His converts retained the 'Shendi' or tuft of hair which marked the caste Hindu," Ogilvie writes, "they wore a sacred cord indistinguishable from that of their Hindu neighbours, and they bore an oval caste mark on their brow, the paste composing or being made of the ashes of sandalwood instead of as formerly the ashes of cow dung."

When his rivals in the Church charged de Nobili with dissimulation, he argued that what he was doing was in accord with the prescription of Saint Paul: for had Paul not advised missionaries to be sure that they became "all to all"?

What Sri. Shourie wrote then about the deception in the context of Sonia (see below) is equally applicable to Rahul:

The dissimulation is on display on the public platform every day. In the beginning, the recluse. Then the carefully planned public exposure. The daily audiences to the privileged few. The central claim of being the "Roman Brahmin". The stout denial to being European. The falsehoods which are put out on behalf of, and for the advancement of the Romaca Brahamana....

Sigh, we Indians never learn ...

TSR's book: Anecdote 1

2006-01-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

I have been completely absorbed in the reading of TSR Subramanian's book the last few days. Although I have wanted to post regular updates while reading the book, I find it incredibly difficult to put down the book, making it difficult for me to share some anecdotes from it.

I would heartily recommend the book to you if you are interested in India and how her administrative structures have served her since independence.

Here is one anecdote that really moved me:

The Azamgarh elections were conducted in the peak of summer when, under the broiling sun, the temperature often reached 120 F in the open. On polling day, I was in my jeep, with my armed escort, criss-crossing the constituency, and visiting polling stations, to observe if the proceedings were smooth. At mid-day, I stopped the vehicle on a side road, under a tree, to have my sandwich lunch, which I had brought along.

In the far distance, I could see through my binoculars a field where a peasant clad only in his loincloth, was tending to the land in preparation for the planting, in advance of the approaching monsoon rain. I soon also saw his young wife, carrying a small basket containing his meal, accompanied by her two children. From a distance, I could observe the children bounding ahead to embrace him as they approached him. I also could see the affectionate greeting that the woman gave him, in a loving yet dignified manner, without even coming close to touching him. I could sense a certain restful peace in that rural scene, under the fierce mid-day sun in one of the most backward parts of India, among rustic folk who lived barely above subsistence level. I looked at this sight, contemplating the tranquility that the good Lord had bestowed on those who are content with the most elementary things. I thought of the politicians and the bureaucrats and the industrialists and the professionals who extract from such people the last bit of juice for their own luxury and their own narrow ends. Had the man not heard of the election or if he had, could he not perhaps spare the time to further democracy? He was immersed in his own simple routine with its minimal needs. His fortitude and inner strength are what have prevented a bloody revolution in India, despite the deprivation and exploitation of the class he represents."

TSR's wonderful experiences - the diversity of roles he has played, the locations he has been posted in, the people he has worked with - leave me awestruck at the wonder of my country, India. There is such a wealth of experiences in my country that it would perhaps take a million janma to understand, if not, experience even a fraction of them.

For a while in secondary school I had a wish to be a part of the IAS (the Indian Administrative Services). I have been a good student through my life and I am sure that if I had made an attempt I could have been part of the services (despite the gruelling exams and interview).

What turned me off from the civil services was a "Career Day" at school when I was in the tenth or eleventh grade. Among the various professionals invited was an IAS officer. She spoke quite engagingly about her work. When it was the time for students to ask questions, I explained to her that I wanted to be a technocrat - get an engineering degree (say, from the IITs) and afterwards work with the IAS (in a managerial sense), and in this context would it be a good idea to take the IAS exam after an engineering degree?

Her response completely put me off the civil services track - she said that it would be an absolute waste of an engineering education to join the IAS afterwards, and that there are much better career options (even of the technocrat-sort) after an engineering degree. She was also quite disappointed with her own experience at the civil services, and strongly discouraged considering the IAS as an option. I remember thinking then: wow, if this is the view from the inside, I don't really want to go there.

Later, during and after my studies at IIT-M, I never revisited the idea of taking the IAS exam, opting instead for the well-worn route of graduate studies in the US (although I must say that I did certain things differently).

Now when I read of TSR's experiences, I wonder at what might have been ...

Nevertheless, I have had some excellent experiences along my own journey and will share these with you over the next few years ... :)

NGO = No-Good Organisation

2006-01-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

NGOs show concern over Imam's fate

[Mumbai's] so-called elites are at it again with their petitions. This time Mahesh Bhatt and company have come up in support of the arrested Imam of Mosque at Haj House. They say that the Imam arrested by the Mumbai Police's Anti Terrorist Squad should not be projected and publicised in the manner he has been.

At a press conference, the NGOs showing concern over media reports said that while the Government, NGOs and all concerned are struggling to ensure sustenance of communal harmony in Mumbai and at all other places, instances such as these damage the spirit of mutual faith and even though belonging to different religion trust among people who live together as brothers.

It was argued that whenever a person is arrested for his alleged involvement in a serious crime he need not be identified and projected as a person representing any religious community. The wide publicity of the arrest and his relation with the Haj House has only created undesirable sense of fear, hatred and condemnation towards Muslim community as a whole. On any occasion when a priest from any faith is required to be interrogated in relation to any crime, the sensitivity and delicacy of the situation requires a very proclaimed approach. In this case it is projected as if the holy Haj House is a den of criminals.

I don't recall a single call for "sensitivity and delicacy" when the poor Kanchi Shankaracharya's were hounded by a state government hell-bent on jailing them and seizing the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam funds! One set of guidelines for the Hindus, another set for the minorities - this is the practice among the Indian state, the NGOs and the media!

What's up with Mahesh Bhatt and terrorism? This man is set to make a movie on (the London 7/7) terrorist attacks with a sympathetic view of the terrorists, and now this rallying to the support of an Imam charged with harbouring and conspiring with terrorists!

It would have been nice if the NGOs had been named in this report - it helps us keep track of a rapidly proliferating species. A common leftist/communist tactic is to have multiple organisations made up of essentially the same members - the benefits are many:
a) people can be easily fooled when a leftist cause claims the support of "numerous" organisations (as opposed to the support of 1),
b) the multiple organisations, all being linked, provide for an easy way to "lose" funds,
c) the members themselves can feel proud of serving multiple causes.

And, finally, I don't think "the sensitivity and delicacy of the situation requires a very proclaimed approach". Last I checked, "proclaim" means "declare" or "praise" - I don't think one would want to proclaim anything when you are dealing with a sensitive matter.

Round-up: Jan. 19

2006-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

1. View from across the border

Oh-so-appalling Indians

Thousands of Pakistanis including the enlightened citizen convey their gratitude to Mr. Iftikhar Rashid, Chairman (PEMRA) Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority for banning foreign channels (Star Plus) which was negating the basic values of social/religious sentiments of Muslims in Pakistan. One is appalled by the social life style of Hindu society, where all married couples have illicit relations, encourage illegitimate children and ladies indulge in nothing but conspiracies, while their men folk stand like deaf and dumb stooges. The ban may have dismayed thousands of viewers but in the overall scenario such condemnable social evils must not be allowed to be aired. -MAJ (Retd) FATEH ALAM SHEIKH, December 27.

This is a Major's view! Published in The Nation - one of the leading newspapers of The Land Of The Pure! Note that the deranged Major does not refer to Indian society - he writes about Hindu society.

Think about it - will a bigoted rant like this about Pakistani Muslims ever be featured in one of the leading English-language papers in India? "NO" - why?

2. The Usual Suspects are at it again!

The headline for the article in the web edition is "Concern over personalised attack against Brinda Karat" while in the paper edition in Chennai it is "Groundswell of support for Brinda". Wonder why they chose different headlines?

Nothing to worry, though, the groundswell is made up of - hold your breath - 150 (yes, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONLY - no more trailing zeros) "scholars, academicians, artists, health practitioners and social activists"!

And the release contains the usual shrill phrases - examples:
"hate campaign"
"obscurantist forces"
"a high-pitched and personalised attack targeting [pseudo of the day]"
"right to critical and rational debate"
"untenable view"

Among those who have put their signatures to the statement are Jean Dreze, Armaity Desai, Prabhat Patnaik, C.P. Chandrasekhar, Githa Hariharan, Uma Chakravarty, Tanika Sarkar, Zoya Hassan, Utsa Patnaik, Molayashri Hashmi, Subhashini Ali, Indira Jaising and Sohail Hashmi.

There are 13 of the usual suspects in the above. What happened to the regulars like Bidwai, Azmi, Akthar, Roy? I suppose they do this on a rotation basis - after all, every one needs publicity every now and then, right? Publicity is the oxygen for these secular terrorists!

3. End "jungle raj" in Delhi: High Court

Unfortunately, the High Court is not talking about the UPA "Non-government"!

Hitting out at unauthorised builders, violators of building by-laws and encroachers on public land and extending further the scope for demolition of unauthorised constructions in the Capital, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to demolish all commercial properties on "Lal Dora" land and raze those properties first ``whose owners are in power and authority''.

4. If I had more energy I would comment on the daily dose of platitudes that we are subjected to, (like those below), but I don't. So more later!

"Zero-tolerance for corruption",
"No political interference in the CBI",
"Terrorism is the biggest threat"

Currently Reading: TSR Subramanian

2006-01-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

I have recently begun reading Sri. T.S.R. Subramanian's "Journeys through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India" (Rupa & Co., 2004). The author began his journey in 1961 as a joint magistrate in Moradabad (U.P.) and after 35 years of service, was appointed Cabinet Secretary to the Govt. of India (the highest civil service post).

So far, the reading's been quite engrossing. I will try to post key learnings (TSR's or mine) as I go along.

An excerpt from the preface:

The bottom third of our population is invisible when the curtains are drawn ... it does not exist in India for all practical purposes. All the policy initiatives and developmental actions are taken by the top half of the population, for their own benefit; and all the moves are driven by the group interests of the major players: the politicians, bureaucrats, professionals and the judiciary. There is an unspoken conspiracy that India belongs exclusively to this ruling class, with the middle classes being the beneficiaries of the leftovers; and the poorest on-third left behind. This is the post-independence dharma of India.

Serious monkey-business!

2006-01-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

MCD has a challenge!

NEW DELHI: Slamming the city's civic authorities for failure to tackle the simian menace plaguing the Tis Hazari courts complex, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday told the MCD: "If you cannot catch monkeys, then close down."

A Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma gave the MCD four weeks' time to rid the complex of monkeys, in response to a PIL filed by a practising advocate, Nirmal Chopra.

The petitioner had complained that the monkeys attacked lawyers, their clients and court staff and even snatched eatables.

What is the 'MCD'? Is it the 'Municipal Corporation of Delhi' or the 'Monkey Catchers' Department'? Which monkeys are to be caught? ;)

Meeting Mr. B.

2006-01-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to another part of the town the other day when I ran into Mr.B., a fellow-traveller:

Mr.B.: Here, sir, please read this (hands over a book and pamphlet).
Me (thinking): Aiyo Rama! Not another missionary!

Mr.B.: Read the book and pamphlet! Keep yourself occupied.

As I glanced at the b. and p., I noticed that they were in Tamil. Further, I was pleasantly surprised to see a picture of a Swamiji (rather than JC or hell-fire! :)) on the cover of the book. Reading further, I noticed that the b. and p. were on the merits of vegetarianism, the health problems associated with a non-vegetarian diet, and the unethical nature of killing animals for one's food. Being a vegetarian myself, I was familiar with all of this. So I set aside the b. and p. and started chatting with Mr. B.

Me: I am already a vegetarian, so you don't need to convince me. How did you get these books? And why are you giving them to me?
Mr.B.: I am one of numerous disciples of this Swamiji - we are interested in preserving vegetarianism in India. During my spare time, I go around slum-areas and tell people to give up meat.

Me (thinking):You should probably go to middle-class areas or even agrahara's, given how even traditional vegetarians are crossing over. (aloud) Do people listen to you?
Mr.B.: Sometimes. The problem is that when we speak of our Hindu culture, the ideals of vegetarianism etc. in slums, we are working against the "Hallelujah-gumbal".

Me: The who?
Mr.B.: "Hallelujah-gumbal" [To reader: gumbal is 'crowd' in Tamil], sir. These people who come chanting Hallelujah, convert the people living in slums to Christianity. These H. people have a lot of funds - they get them from foreign countries. Once the slum people convert to Christianity, they do not want to listen to anything that I say or Swamiji says! They even ask me to convert!

Me: Yes, I am aware of this. So what do you do?
Mr.B.: I persist, hoping that my message prevails in the end! There are at least 20 people who have become vegetarians.

Mr.B. then branches off vegetarianism, moving onto threats to India and her culture - in the form of missionaries, conversion money, rapid population growth of minority communities (Muslim+Christian) and how Hindus will become a minority community in India within the next 100 years.

I reassure Mr.B. that if we Hindus are vigilant and are strong in our faith and culture, we will be able to withstand all threats.

Mr.B. complains that Hindus are short-sighted. None thinks beyond his/her own family - everyone obsesses about becoming an engineer or doctor and moving out of India, to the USA. No one thinks of what India will be if the Hindus become a minority.

I agree with him on the myopia and the dangers of an India where Hindus are a minority. By this time I have reached my destination, so it's time to part ways.

I ask Mr.B. not to worry, do his work well and wish him the best in his efforts.

Mr.B. thanks me for talking to him, and gives me his contact details. He receives the auto-fare, and drives off, looking for his next passenger.

Now, reader, were you surprised that Mr.B. was an auto-driver? Why?

Subsidy to Haj pilgrims "un-Islamic": Prince of Arcot

2006-01-17T00:50:00.000-08:00

Prince of Arcot Mohammed Abdul Ali has appealed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consult ulemas, religious scholars and intellectuals in Muslim community before offering Haj subsidy to pilgrims.

In a letter to Dr. Singh, he said subsidy for Haj pilgrims was un-Islamic and against the principles of Shariat. "Haj pilgrimage is one of the obligatory duties to a Muslim, who can only afford it, but not acceptable on somebody's obligation." No country in the world, including Muslim countries, offered the subsidy. Clerics of Saudi Arabia, Muslim high dignitaries and intellectuals had objected to the subsidy.
...
"There is a need to create opinion among Muslims that going on Haj pilgrimage with Government subsidy is against the tenets of Islam," he said in a press release.

The Haj subsidy is one of those unique features that distinguishes the Indian Government's practice of secularism! In what was probably an attempt to show Muslims (in India and most importantly, Pakistan) that it was more Muslim-friendly than Pakistan, the GoI instituted the Haj subsidy to allow Haj-pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia for a discounted fare (the 2005 discounted fare was Rs. 12000 - I'll try to find out what an undiscounted fare might be!). Now, the irony is that this subsidy itself is un-Islamic!

I wish the Prince all the best in his attempts! Indeed, let not the Govt. of India be guilty of inducing apostasy in devout Muslims! Then it would be in the unenviable position of neither being secular nor pseudo-secular!

Time to own up: Individual and Collective Responsibility

2006-01-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

There is no question about it: Law Minister H. R. Bharadwaj has to go! He is guilty of failure: coming to the defense of Quattrocchi is at best an act of servitude to Sonia, and at worst an act of brazen illegality! Savour the delicious irony of the episode: a law minister doing his best to help a criminal and working against the government's investigative agency! We hear that the Additional Solicitor General of the Govt. of India specifically went on a trip to London to defreeze Q's bank accounts - and pay out Q to the extent that was available in the accounts! [See below: from IBNLive]

The CBI director was also forced to agree to the proposal mooted by the Law Ministry, which resulted in Additional Solicitor General (ASG) B Dutta's visit to London last month.

ASG Dutta met officials in the Crown Prosecution Service and told them to move court and defreeze the operations in two bank accounts of Ottavio Quattrocchi in the BSI AG bank in London.

Interestingly, ASG Dutta's visit to London was sanctioned on November 25, 2005, in a letter from the Department of Personnel and Training, a ministry that comes directly under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The most incredible part of the story is that our [increasingly dis]honorable PM-ji was "unaware" about the minister's and the ASG's shenanigans!

Let's see: every time the UPA Govt. has been caught with its pants down, the PM-ji has done one of the following: a) claimed he was unaware, b) dissembled with sanctimonious stories, c) not offered a reaction, or worse d) spouted platitudes.

Dear Manmohan-ji, you have let us down. We had high hopes that you might bring a breath (or two) of fresh air to governance when you were anointed PM. But it is clear that you have absolutely no control over your Cabinet colleagues - they are running amok, serving themselves and their mistress.

It is all too well to invoke the culpable minister's individual responsibility whenever the minister has been caught red-handed. However, when these acts become commonplace, it is time to own up collectively! The UPA government (in its current form, at least) can no longer govern India: it must go! Perhaps, PM-ji, you can start by tendering your resignation (at least, threaten to resign, like you apparently did last November)!

Update: Swapan Dasgupta is much less polite about Dr. Manmohan Singh, calling him A shamefully, clueless PM (via SomethingLikeLife). Excerpts:

The identity of the all-powerful friends of Quattrocchi is not exactly a secret, although it is being disingenuously suggested that even they were unaware of what Bharadwaj and Pachauri were up to.

The delight of an extra-Constitutional authority is that it cannot be pinned down. There are no tell-tale notings in the files that can be unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act. Nor does anyone have the gumption to say that they did what did in the belief that it would please the invisible hand that controls the government.

The Government of Britain works on the quaint principle that the Queen can do no wrong. In India, there is no formal monarchy but here too the Queen can do no wrong. To uphold the principle, even the Prime Minister has to end up openly proclaiming that he is a cipher whose writ doesn't run in his own office. Even honourable men should not be devoid of shame.

Antics Arundhati

2006-01-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

~~Celebrated writer~~ Publicity Hound Arundhati Roy on Saturday refused to accept the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in protest against the Indian government toeing the United States' line by 'violently and ruthlessly pursuing policies of brutalisation of industrial workers, increasing militarisation and economic neo-liberalisation.'
...
"Even today, this government shows a continuing commitment to these polices and is clearly prepared to implement them ruthlessly and violently, whatever the cost," she said.

She further noted that, in the last few months, apart from the growing number of farmers' suicide and the forcible eviction of people from their lands and livelihood in thousands, the country had witnessed police brutality on industrial workers in Gurgaon, killing of a dozen people protesting against a dam in Manipur and the killing of another dozen people protesting their displacement by a steel plant in Orissa.

This is incredible: when I thought that the UPA government couldn't go any lower by offering Arundhati this award, I hear that she has snubbed it by refusing the offer! If the offer was an act of pseudosecular-patting-pseudosecular, the refusal was one of unadulterated sanctimony!

Note that Arundhati doesn't emote concern about the numerous people killed in jehadi terrorist attacks in India (Ayodhya, New Delhi bomb blasts, Bangalore IISc, apart from J&K, to mention a few) over the past few months!

[Aside: You ask why I call her sanctimonious? Well, despite the pro-environment image she has assiduously built up for herself, she doesn't tell us she had constructed a resort (for herself and other "progressives") in an ecologically sensitive and protected area - a wildlife sanctuary in Panchmarhi (Madhya Pradesh)! Apart from the self-righteousness which serves her well in her publicity stunts, Arundhati has also a tremendous ability to conjure up dramatic stories and pass them off as truth in her media releases - recall her concoction about the "daughters" of Jaffri being burnt alive in Gujarat, when in reality there was only one daughter who was in faraway USA!]

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN ACTION!

2006-01-15T07:16:00.000-08:00

N Senthil Kumar was overjoyed in February 2005 to have topped the entrance test for the prestigious Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry. But to his shock, he could not find a seat in the PG course.

Reason: 50% of the total seats were filled through an entrance test conducted by AIIMS, and the rest was filled by students from the reserved category.
...
Appearing for the Medical Council of India, counsel Maninder Singh said it was an injustice to a student who topped the entrance test only to be told that no seats were available in the open general category.

He suggested the 50% quota policy be made applicable to total number of seats available after filling half the seats from the all-India quota.

If this isn't perverse, what is? "Secular progressives" will shrug and say that this devious policy of quotas is the only way of dispensing social justice to the "oppressed"! How many more Senthil Kumars will be turned away at the doors of education and employment in the name of "social justice" ("secular progressive" Orwellian for "anti-social injustice")?!

Happy Pongal!

2006-01-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Here's wishing you and your families a VERY HAPPY AND BOUNTIFUL PONGAL FESTIVAL!

Regards!

To learn more about Pongal, visit PongalFestival.org!

Round-up: Jan. 11

2006-01-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Let's begin with this egregious write-up in The Indian Express.
1. Marketing Guru by VRINDA GOPINATH

Is Swami Ramdev a 21st century Swadeshi Jagran Manch groupie and Jane Fonda, all rolled into one nationalist-yogobic-cosmic package?

Is this the standard for writing about a Swamiji who has brought about a profound transformation in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Indians? 'Groupie', 'Package'? 'Yogobic' (this one really gets me!)?! If this was coming from a foreign journalist, one might excuse it on the grounds of cultural insensitivity, but from an Indian (and ostensibly Hindu) journalist? Macaulay couldn't be prouder!

His DIY Yoga, beamed on millions of television sets every morning through a religious channel, promotes the practice of pranayaam or breathing techniques for healthy and pure living, is perhaps the only next thing after the hysterically popular 1980s Jane Fonda aerobic workout regime.

Why this obsession with Jane Fonda? Don't you tire when these journalists describe practically every phenomenon in India in terms of phenomena abroad (read, USA)? Who are these journalists writing for that Swami Ramdev is compared to Jane Fonda? For readers in India or abroad?

The Swami understands the power of technology, selling his spiritual wares ...

'Spiritual wares'? 'Wares': articles of commerce!

SWAMI Ramdev would have continued on his astral-marketing journey uninterrupted, had it not been for Communist leader Brinda Karat, who had a bone to pick with him.

Leaving aside the awful pun on picking bones, 'astral-marketing journey'? Clearly Vrinda has by now slotted all that Swami Ramdev has done in business/commercial terms: so, never mind that he is helping hundreds of thousands improve their lives through meditation, it has to be seen as marketing!

Wait, don't puke yet! Hold it and puke the whole lot out in one go - read on:

Naturally, his screaming followers hurled abuses at Karat and burned her effigies, and accused her of being an MNC stooge. It is perhaps not spiritual indignation but a keen corporate sense that has propelled Swami Ramdev to unleash the protests and agitations. After all, he was only protecting a vast cosmic empire that was now threatening to collapse under this incriminating heap.

Such are the standards of Indian journalism!

2. Phone tapping follow-up: Amar Singh vs. Delhi police

a. Police gives clean chit to the government

The Delhi police on Tuesday gave a clean chit to the Government in the telephone tapping allegations made by Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and said it was a "case of forgery and cheating."

Delhi Police Commissioner K.K. Paul, in a report submitted to Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, ruled out the involvement of the Government as alleged by Mr. Singh.
...
Police believe that one of the two detectives had forged letters seeking permission to intercept Mr. Singh's telephone.

OK, fine, the documents were forged by the detectives! But, the important question, dear police commissioner, is 'at whose request' (did the detectives set out on the forgery and tapping)?! It seems unbelievable that these detectives would decide on a whim to tap the Samajwadi Party leaders! What of the reports of these detectives being paid Rs. 5,00,000 every week for months together for the tapping? Who is behind the tapping conspiracy?

b. Amar Singh: miscreants tried to enter my house

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police, saying that some miscreants, purportedly belonging to the Youth Congress, forcibly tried to enter his Lodhi Estate accommodation on Tuesday. However, the police denied that there was any such attempt.

Around 4-30 p.m., Mr. Singh went to the police headquarters to file a complaint to Police Commissioner K.K. Paul. Though Dr. Paul was not present, the complaint was accepted.

Mr. Singh said that in the past several days he had been maintaining that there was a threat to his life from the Congress, but no one had paid any heed.
...
A police officer said about 70 protesters gathered outside Mr. Singh's residence on Tuesday. They were detained and brought to the local police station in a peaceful manner.

As of now, no action on Mr. Singh's complaint was being contemplated, he added.

I remember that several years back the police had refused hospital privileges to a prominent industrialist who was charged with some crime. The poor industrialist died due to the police's refusal. I hope Mr. Amar Singh has adequate police protection.

3. We'll continue to violate the Constitution, says Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh!

Or something to that effect! Never mind that the Supreme Court threw out acts of a previous Congress Govt. according minority institution status on Aligarh Muslim University and the current UPA Govt's discriminatory reservation of seats for Muslims on grounds of constitutional illegality! Arjun Singh still wants to violate the constitution!

General Musharraf gives leadership tips to PM Manmohan

2006-01-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

From Karan Thapar's interview of Musharraf on IBNLive:

President Musharraf: Yes it is because of the history. But history changes. I have said I trust Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, because I see sincerity in him. But I know that there are organisations within your government, agencies who work against this. I know that.

Now, if a leadership cannot be in charge and give their ideas and not allow the ideas to be dominated by organisations and agencies, then I am afraid we will never move forward. The agencies and organisations must be dominated by the leader and he must dictate the way forward.

Thapar: That’s the message you are giving to Dr Manmohan Singh, “be your own man, don’t be dictated by the agencies”?

President Musharraf: I am giving this message to all leaders including myself. Leaders have to dominate organisations. Ideas have to flow from them and the agencies and organisations, everyone goes along with those ideas. Otherwise he is no leader.

If the ideas come from others and the ideas that the leader or the thoughts that the leader has are dominated by the old hackneyed ideas of organisation and agencies who do not see anything in a flexible manner.

Musharraf has given our PM-ji what must be the diplomatic equivalent of a resounding slap.

PM-ji, enough is enough!

More analysis later!

Mulayam's latest bombshell: Unbelievable, any way!

2006-01-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

Cong. hatched plot to kill me: Mulayam

Close on the heels of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh alleging the Congress tapped his phone lines, UP chief minister Mulayam Singh dropped another bombshell and said on Monday that the same party and a leading industrialist had hatched a plot to assassinate him.
...

"Prominent politicians who were not part of UPA were on the hit list of the Union government, which was willing to go to any extent to harass these leaders," he said.

Alerting Lohia Vahini — his army-in-red — he cautioned the party to remain on guard and urged them to turn up in large numbers during the January 29 rally in Lucknow "against the Congress deeds".

Unbelievable, any way you consider it! If what Mulayam says is true, the audacity of the conspirators is unbelievable; if what Mulayam says is false, his audacity is unbelievable! Has the Indian polity sunk to such abysmal levels that these politicians think they can get away with such stuff? A hit list? What is the Union Government - a mafia?

Speechless!

2006-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

"I'm speechless. Speechless. I am without speech. I have NO speech."
- George Costanza

When I didn't feel quite in the mood to say anything serious today, I was reminded of the above quote from Seinfeld. So I'll post some thing light-hearted today: a few quotes from Seinfeld (one of my favorite sit-coms (the other being The Cosby Show); aside: my favorite TV-serial: most likely The Mahabharatha by B.R.Chopra).

Hope these bring back some fond memories for you!

1) "The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli" - George Costanza

2) "Pity's very underrated. I like pity. It's good" - George Costanza

3) "If you look annoyed all the time, people think you're busy" - George Costanza

4) "To the idiotmobile" - Jerry Seinfeld

5) "I have airbrushed photos before. You know that picture of me and Gerald Ford? I took it to the photo place and got that Ford right out!" - Cosmo Kramer

6) "I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about them!" - Frank Costanza

And, on that note, did you know that Festivus has a Wikipedia entry? Go read it - there's some amazing stuff there!

Towards a Backward Nation, we strive!

2006-01-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

Central nod for OBC list modification

Union Cabinet on Friday approved inclusion and modification of certain castes and communities in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The new communities, which have been included, are located in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry and Uttar Pradesh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
...
The new castes and communities included in the Central list of OBCs are: `Sikligar' and `Siddula' in AP, `Bakho (Muslim)' and `Thakurai (Muslim)' in Bihar, `Rai-Sikh (Mahtam)' in Delhi, `Bhandari-Naik' in Goa, `Dhangar' as synonym of Bharwad and Jagri, Khavas and Sagar castes/ communities of Gujarat.

They also include `Aryakshatriya' and `Sarige' as synonyms of Somavamsha Arya Kshatriya and `Hindu Sadaru' castes/communities of Karnataka, Twashta Kasar, Kansar as synonym of `Tambat', `Kurmi' as synonym of Kunbi and `Yellam/Yelam' castes in Maharashtra. In Orissa, `asini patara/aswini' and `aswini patara' as sub-castes of Patara, `rangini hansi' as sub-castes of Hansi/Tanti, `Kapala Velama, Kapulu Elama, Koppala Elama, Kappula Elama, Kupala Elama, Kapala Elama, Kapala Elaga, Koppala Velama and Tamuli have been included in the OBC list. `Barai' and `Chaurasia' as synonyms of Tamoli, `Kurmi-Sainthwar' and `Kurmi-Mall' as sub-castes of Kurmi and Unai Sahu have also found place in the list.

By the looks of it, more and more people are becoming backward! The term 'Backward Class' is now a badge of honour, something for communities to aspire for! I don't see any community being removed from the Central list - indeed, why would any community want that, given the host of privileges they would lost!

A suggestion for the Central Govt.: why maintain lists of backward classes? Given that the length of this list is always increasing, wouldn't it be easier to maintain a "forward classes" list whose length always decreases? One day, having declared all communities backward, there wouldn't be any need for a list! That is the day towards which we strive!

SP phone tapping: Amma wades in, Congress + Laloo evade!

2006-01-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

Press statement of Jaya, after meeting Amar Singh

It is shocking and outrageous that the Central government has misused its power in tapping the telephone of a respected political leader citing all kinds of baseless grounds, which would apply to a dreaded criminal affecting the internal security of the country.
...
While this specific instance of tapping of telephones of political leaders has now come out into the open, I have all along felt that my telephones are being tapped by the Centre.

I have so far refrained from making this public because I knew that there would be a flat denial by the Centre.

Now, Shri Amar Singh has furnished solid proof that the Centre has organized the tapping of the telephone of an opposition political leader.

Good stuff, this being tapped all along, but not making it public!

What I dont get in this story is why Reliance Infocomm has been involved in tapping the Samajwadi Party leaders. Given the Ambani's strong links to Mulayam and Amar Singh, it's almost unthinkable that Infocomm would tap the latter - at whoever's behest. Unless, of course, the political equations/realities have changed or Anil Ambani had no clue about the tapping.

Laloo, who is not a big fan of Mulayam (I think it's got to do with the issue of which Yadav is the 'true representative' of the Yadavs), has stepped into the fracas in support of Sonia, and told reporters that Sonia was being wrongly blamed for the tapping.

Besides, he said the nation should know the content of the tapes and so there should be ‘public demonstration’ of its contents within a week. The RJD leader’s comments come a day after AICC General Secretary Ambika Soni felt that there was “something very serious in the tapes, which would cause them (SP leaders) dear in public”.

“The honourable Chief Minister and his fund manager Amar Singh are very tense and very agitated over what they are apprehending has been recorded ... Is it like operation Majnu,” Soni remarked on Wednesday.

It's remarkable that Sonia's chamcha Ambika Soni and Laloo are trying to distract us from the key issue. Unless there is a justifiable police/intelligence case for the tapping of Mulayam/Amar (say national security), it does not concern us what the latter spoke over the phones! And to hint cheaply at Operation Majnu shows the level to which Sonia and the Congress will stoop!

Meanwhile, Amar Singh declares boldly that he is not afraid of blackmail! That's the way, Amar, stand up to Sonia!

Under Congress attack in the phone-tapping issue, embattled Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh on Friday demanded that the tapes purported to show him in poor light be made public and alleged that a big industrialist and a journalist-turned MP were involved in the "conspiracy".
...
He claimed that at least 60 tapes involving leaders of different political parties, including that of BJP and Congress were in the possession of Sonia Gandhi and said he would be meeting non-congress leaders to caution them.

The mind boggles at the implications if it turns out that Amar Singh is speaking the truth!

Time for an independent inquiry commission to find out and tell us the truth!

Swami Ramdev vs. The communists and The Indian media

2006-01-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

Sandeep has a couple of excellent posts on the controversy raked up by communist Brinda Karat over the Ayurvedic medicines produced by Swami Ramdev's organisation, and the manifest bias of India's media against Hindu leaders like Swami Ramdev. Please visit Sandeep's blog to read more.

Following up on Sandeep's second post, I present more examples of media bias against Swami Ramdev. IBNLive seems to be the leader for now.

IBNLive: Swami's cure or animal remains? by Smitha Nair

There are lakhs of people who swear by yogic guru Swami Ramdev's medicine but the man himself is now under scrutiny.

A health ministry letter made available to the media by the CPI(M) alleges that the Swami's herbal medicines contain animal parts and powder from human skulls.

So be careful the next time that you take an Ayurvedic pill for epilepsy as it might contain animal matter or powder of human skulls.
IBNLive: Bone traces found in Swami's drugs by Hemangini Gupta: This is a good example of proclaiming one thing in the headlines, and revising it in the actual text.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has said that they have found animal residue in samples of Ayurvedic medicine purportedly manufactured by yoga guru Swami Ramdev’s Divya Yog Mission.

The samples were submitted to the Ministry by CPI-M leader Brinda Karat who alleged that the medicines and contained bones and animal residue.
...
The Health Ministry will now check whether the samples submitted by Karat are those actually made by Divya Yog.

Hmm, so we dont know whence Brinda got the drug samples, yet we can proclaim that the bone remains were found in the Swami's drugs. Very interesting!
Swami Ramdev: Yoga does it

Swami Ramdev reportedly had a portrait of the late Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar as the backdrop for one of his television shows, which are beamed live to 170 countries. For the Bharatiya Janata Party and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar, Ramdev holds a special status.

In one of his camps, which are attended by hundreds of people, Swami Ramdev claimed Vice-President Bhairon Singh Sekhawat had asked him to hold a camp for patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

What the heck does "Yoga does it" in the title mean? And see how the reporter links the Swami to the secular media's pet hates - Golwalkar and his RSS! You don't see Karat being linked with communist liars and mass-murderers like Che Guevara, Stalin, Mao in this report, do you?
NDTV used the well-known trick of reporting unrelated criticisms of Swami Ramdev so as to do a hatchet job on Swami Ramdev and hurt his standing in the currrent issue. (This is a well-known trick - it was used unsuccessfully by Tamil 'news' channels against Kanchi Sankaracharya.)

So NDTV wrote up a report saying Swami Ramdev was criticised for 'selling' yoga. I accessed the report at this link some time back:

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Ramdev+criticized+for+%91selling+yoga%92&id=83372

However, the strange thing is that this report no longer exists at the above link! Even a Google-search did not yield the report. So my guess is that NDTV retracted the report. The above link now results in a story about the Dal Lake encroachment! Strange are the ways of the Indian media!
UPDATE: Hindustan Times fares a bit better than the others. Although it was guilty of the the same bias, it reports on readers complaining of its bias in this report. Funnily, although the headline says "Just shut up, Brinda" - it would be more appropriate if it said "Just shut up, Hindustan Times" but that's asking for too much, perhaps!

It's quite clear they [readers] are extremely angry with both the MP and HindustanTimes.com.

Almost all felt Karat was working at the behest of the MNCs who are angry with Ramdevji for advocating against their wares.

The surfers have accused us of being partisan because they thought we gave a 'misleading' headline.

In our story 'Ramdev's medicines have animal matter: Ramadoss', they said that the Health Minister stated very clearly that the samples were not collected by a Government department, but were provided by the MP herself. So, how could we presume that they were true, they screamed?

It's great to see irresponsible and biased reporting being pulled up!

More later.

India's Judiciary socks it to the UPA Govt.! Again!

2006-01-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Following on the heels of yesterday's Supreme Court ruling against the Andhra Pradesh Congress Govt.'s discriminatory quotas for Muslims, the Allahabad High Court threw out the UPA Govt.'s illegal quota for Muslims in Aligarh Muslim University!

The UPA Govt. is amassing tons of egg on its face in the past few weeks! Yet, it shamelessly carries on in office, disregarding all notions of morality in governance! If so many major laws passed by the UPA Govt. are deemed UNCONSTITUTIONAL by our judiciary, what legal or moral authority does the PM-ji and President-ji and super-PM Sonia Gandhi have to continue in office?

Excerpts from Quashing of quota for Muslims in AMU upheld

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed the Central law, which gave Aligarh Muslim University its minority status, and held illegal the reservation of seats for Muslims in its postgraduate medical courses.

A Division Bench confirmed a single-judge order holding that the AMU Amendment Act, 1981 was unconstitutional and that the university was not a minority institution. The single judge also quashed the February 25, 2005 Union Human Resource Development Ministry notification, permitting AMU to reserve seats for Muslims in postgraduate medical courses.

The Bench, comprising Chief Justice A.N. Ray and Justice Ashok Bhushan, passed the order on appeals filed by the Centre and AMU challenging the single-judge verdict delivered on October 4, 2005. The Bench said the 50 per cent reservation being extended to doctors in postgraduate courses was illegal and incorrect.

However, the 'limited relief' joke continues:

Granting limited relief, it said students who were admitted earlier under a quota system would continue to study in the university.

Consider the following case. X hires Y to work for your company, contravening morality and legality - e.g., by accepting a bribe (cash or kind) from Y or in an act of nepotism. If you discover this fact, what would you do?

Fire X only
Fire Y only
Fire both X and Y
Reprimand them and allow them to continue in your company

Suppose you discover that this is not the first time that X has done this - he has hired several people illegally. How would you react?

Supreme Court quashes Andhra Govt.'s job quota for Muslims!

2006-01-04T23:05:00.000-08:00

In a welcome move, the Supreme Court of India upheld the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to strike down the legislation that provided a quota for Muslims!
The Hindu, meanwhile uses legal terms to confuse the readers on what the Supreme Court did, headlining the article "Quota for Muslims case for Constitution Bench".

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh Government suffered a setback on Wednesday with the Supreme Court refusing to stay the operation of the judgment of a full Bench of the High Court, which struck down the legislation providing for a five per cent quota for Muslims in public appointments and admissions to educational institutions.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice C.K. Thakker and Justice R.V. Raveendran said: "We are not inclined to stay the operation of the impugned judgment and make operational a law, which has been invalidated by the High Court."

What prompted the Congress party to go in for this blatantly discriminatory legislation?

Senior counsel K. Ramakrishna Reddy, who also appeared for the students, said the law was enacted pursuant to a Congress "election promise." The Government went ahead with reservation for Muslims though earlier attempts failed.

Meanwhile, Y. Samuel R. Reddy, Congress Chief Minister, is determined to not let the High Court and Supreme Court rulings come in the way of his prejudices, see Guarded reaction by Chief Minister!

Reacting to the news, he said: "I just came to know that the issue was struck down. That is all. Let the Government go through the copy of the judgment. We will explore further ways and means."

Our friend in staunchly-secular-because-they-are-a-Muslim-party MIM provides a suggestion to Samuel Reddy.

[Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM)] Party's floor leader in the Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi, asked the Congress to take up the question of Constitutional amendment providing reservations to Muslims at its plenary here.

Yeah, that's the right attitude: if something is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, make it constitutional by amending the constitution! This is Indian democracy in action: learn from it, dear readers!

I also don't like the Supreme Court when it granted a limited relief, ordering that admissions already made or public appointments made by the Government be not disturbed.

This is not the first time - even recently, when it ruled on the UPA government's dissolving the Bihar assembly and calling for elections, the Supreme Court said that though the decision was UNCONSTITUTIONAL, they wanted the elections to go ahead! What's the logic?

[How can we have a Prime Minister and a President continuing in office despite the Supreme Court ruling their acts unconstitutional? Don't the PM and President take an oath to uphold the constitution? More examples of Indian democracy!]

[Update: In this online report, The Hindu still doesn't talk straight, headlining it "Apex court upholds HC order on Andhra Muslim quota"]

Phone-tapping story - the watch continues!

2006-01-04T22:25:00.000-08:00

The phone-tapping story is gaining some momentum now, what with Amar Singh trying to rally other political parties behind him, while Mulayam Singh pushes for an independent probe (The Hindu report).

The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday sought to mobilise political support for its case against the Congress and the Centre in the phone-tapping issue, with its leader Amar Singh calling on Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat here.

Soon after the meeting, Mr. Karat told the media that the issue was "serious'' and demanded an investigation.

He told The Hindu that the party had always opposed tapping of telephone lines of political leaders. This development raised the larger question of "assault on civil liberties.'' The CPI (M) had also cautioned the government against opening up the telecommunications sector to private companies or to foreign capital.
...

Mr. Amar Singh plans to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.

It's not unexpected that Karat uses this issue to rail against privatisation and liberalisation of the telecom sector (never mind that his wife Brinda's sister Radhika and brother-in-law Prannoy run one of the premier privately-run television networks in the country - NDTV!). "Whatever problem arises, blame it on privatisation/liberalisation" seems to be the motto by which the Left dinosaurs still run their parties. Again, never mind the fact that in those glory days when the Govt. of India was the only one running telephone exchanges, it used to tap the ruling party's (read: Congress') adversaries' phones left, right and center!

Sandeep also comments on the Left's behaviour in this post.

Meanwhile, our PM-ji weighs in with his usual profundity that doesn't bother with responding to questions asked:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said tapping of telephones was a ``serious matter'' and it should be ``given a thought.''

``There are no two opinions that there should be no tapping of telephones,'' he said when asked to respond to the demand of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh that a special task force be constituted to look into tapping of phones.

Keeping updown the image: courtesy, Somini Sengupta at NYTimes

2006-01-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

Much has been written about the "caste, curry, cows" syndrome that plagues much of reporting on India in the Western world. (If you are clueless about this, please read the scholarly analyses of Sri. Rajiv Malhotra of the Infinity Foundation. Google it - I am not going to provide you the links.) Add the 'Kamasutra', 'Hindutva', 'Sati' or 'Dowry' to the 3 C's when reporting on India (on any topic, mind you!) and you have a heady mixture that misrepresents and exoticises India to readers around the globe.

No, it's not just Westerners who are guilty of this dishonest style of reporting - our Indians routinely excel at this. Sample: Somini Sengupta writing for the New York Times on the recent police action against publicly romancing couples in Meerut (see Is Public Romance a Right? The Kama Sutra Doesn't Say
).

I have a problem with this article, right from the start! Why drag the Kama Sutra into the title of this 'report'? Somini, you write as if the Kama Sutra is the governing/constitutional manual for us Indians! Reporters usually bring in the Manusmriti when it comes to Hindu laws ...

Somini then sets the scene with

"[couples] ... sat together on the benches of a well-groomed little park named after the country's most famous champion of nonviolence: Mohandas K. Gandhi."

The idea of bringing in Gandhi is to contrast the police violence with the actions of the "most famous champion of nonviolence". Let us set aside the fact that parks, roads, colleges, laboratories, barber shops, people - any thing that can be named in India (pets, toilets, also?) - have been named after Gandhi, so, Somini, don't try to shock us that violence occurs in places seemingly connected with Gandhi!

Some samples from the article:

"This [raid] is a basic infringement of our right to freedom," cried Vikas Garg, 21, a master's student in mass communications at the local Chaudhry Charan Singh University, a couple of days after the raid. "We are free to sit where we want."

Heh, Vikas, a reminder: even the "freedom to sit where you want" is limited.

What is more, Priyanka said, the policewoman slapped her and called her a "chamari," a slur based on her caste. (Ms. Gautam denied making the remark.)

Yep, the police in India are a casteist lot (I am sarcastic, for the sarcasm-impaired!). Too bad for Somini that it was a policewoman (and not a policeman) who had slapped Priyanka, otherwise it would be a "typical" case of a casteist male chauvinist assaulting a helpless downtrodden lady.

From the political right and left came condemnation of the police action. Brinda Karat, the most prominent woman representing a coalition of leftist parties in government, denounced the police for pouncing on courting couples while violent rapes remain unsolved. Sushma Swaraj, a legislator from the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, took the podium in Parliament and called it a product of "a sick mind."

Note the dynamic "denounce" vs. the passive "took the podium and called"! Somini, why bring in the "Hindu nationalist" when talking of the BJP with reference to this incident?

Even so, the reprimands did not stop Hindu radical activists here from storming Gandhi Park three days after the episode and, taking the law into their own hands, beating up the small handful of couples who had dared to return.

Now I see why you brought up the "Hindu nationalist" description of the BJP! In your very next line, you write about "Hindu radical activists storming" - for your readers to make the connection between the BJP and these activists. Very clever, Somini!

Thanks to "Hari Kumar", another Indian (going by his name), for his stellar contribution to Somini's article!

Terrorist attack at IISc: Indian PM responds, and how!

2006-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

[Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that] "no force on earth could weaken the resolve of Indians to emerge as a great and modern nation."

"It is a symbol of success of Indian science and technology, of our emergence as a knowledge power, that the symbols and temples of our knowledge society are today being targeted by terrorists," he said referring to the killing of Prof. M.C. Puri at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Speaking at the Indian Science Congress here, Dr. Singh said

This should have those jihadi terrorists quaking in their boots! Bring on more suicide bombers, you jehadis, kill more of our innocent people, we Indians don't care because our beloved PM-ji has said that our resolve cannot be weakened!

Yes, and we can use this terrorist attack to be pat ourselves on the back! Heh, the terrorists are targetting our academic institutions because of our emergence as a knowledge power!

Next, when the film studios, cinema theaters are attacked, our PM-ji will wax eloquent that the jihadis attacked them because our emergence as a phillum power! What, did you not know that Aishwarya Rai was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey? And that Rajinikanth is famous in Japan?

The jehadis will target our country where ever they can - schools, colleges, temples, musical institutions, conferences, trains, planes - because they know that they can get away with it!

Aren't you sick and tired of the Govt. of India, my dear fellow citizen?!

Gurcharan Das on Indian commies vs. Chinese communists

2006-01-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

A guide to clear thinking

A must-read, with gems like:

Indian communists give fish to the hungry; Chinese communists teach them to fish.

Indian communists stall labour reforms, defend an unviable public sector, and advocate high interest on pensions. Chinese communists work hard to build exports and create an investment friendly climate.

India's communists fight for Ganguly's inclusion in our cricket team. More to the point, India's Leftists sacrifice merit in advocating reservations in education and jobs.

Hence, China will not only win gold medals at the Olympics, but it will create a society based on merit and excellence.

The only problem with the above is that Indian communists do not give fish to the hungry. They keep the fish in the name of the hungry.

Private sector jobs quota: UPA Govt. starts twisting arms

2006-01-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

Get set for quota, India Inc told

Flashing the law ministry’s stand that the Centre can extend job quotas to the private sector even without amending the Constitution, the ministry of social justice has started pushing reluctant corporates to act on their own to ward off state intervention.

The point is learnt to have been conveyed by social justice minister Meira Kumar to Infosys chief NR Narayana Murthy and Thermax boss Anu Agha.

In both the cases, the minister was learnt to have told her guests that resistance would leave the government with no option other than bringing in a law to push the quota jurisdiction to private sector.
...
[Meira Kumar], however, said that the government was making a renewed pitch for voluntary action on the part of the industry.
...
The social justice minister also made it plain that the government was not satisfied with the offer of the industry to provide training to the target categories.

Narayan Murthy's silence on this issue that has a massive impact on Indian industry (Infosys included) is baffling! Given his recent penchant to rail against politicians (and their non-performance in sectors that mattered, and their interference in sectors beyond their scope), one would think it natural for him to object to this brazen arm-twisting by the UPA govt. Let's keep an eye on this story as it evolves.

Chetan Sharma: Javed Miandad :: Rajdeep Sardesai: Sonia Gandhi

2006-01-02T06:04:00.000-08:00

If the title needs explaining, you are probably not familiar with the notorious Sharjah cricket match. Allow me to explain: faced with what was once a near-impossible task of scoring 4 runs off the last delivery to win the match, Javed Miandad is treated by Chetan Sharma to a full toss. A full toss that is smashed for a six, handing the game and the championship to Pakistan.

In this case, it's not so much that Sonia Gandhi is Javed Miandad - indeed she is a Courtney Walsh (or a McGrath) with the bat. It's that Rajdeep is SO Chetan-like that even Sonia cannot seem to be anyone other than Miandad (for the most part). Sonia's government has been in office for nearly 2 years now - a period where they have excelled in various acts of constitutional violations, pompousness, pusillanimity, corruption and administrational incompetence. So you would think Sonia would have a real tough time explaining her government's performance, but think again - you haven't reckoned on Rajdeep coming to the rescue!

In what is billed to be the "first major interview since turning down the PM's chair" Exclusive: Sonia's interview Part I, Sonia is lobbed so many full tosses that it seems more like a promotional public relations exercise by Rajdeep's organisation! Even then, we hardly get any response of significance from this sphinx! What a low our country has sunk to that this lady is (for all practical purposes) the Prime Minister, and the media has nothing to say other than this apology of an interview!

Rajdeep gushes, starts by calling her "arguably the most powerful person in the country", and then proceeds with laughable questions and some times setting up responses for Sonia that she can readily agree with, such as:

So India will not be thwarted by terrorism?
Yes, we saw that after the Volcker Report you took action. So that is a clear message [any one found guilty of corruption will be held accountable] you are sending out. (My comment: Wow, really? How long did it take for the ministry to be prised out of Natwar's vice-like grip?)
So will the money go to the needy in the Rural Employment Scheme?
Will this government last a full five-year term?
Have you thought of any role for him [Rahul]? Or have you always left it for the party to decide?
PM Manmohan Singh rated his performance as a six on 10 in a private conversation to me. How would you rate him? He is a man who doesn’t like to trumpet his own achievements.
[Secularism]'s an issue which your family over the years has fought for, right from Jawaharlal Nehru. Do you believe that that concept is under threat in India today? Like in the case of terrorism?
Are you saying that if Sonia Gandhi makes a resolution, she keeps to it?
When you look at yourself today and you look at the Congress Party, do you look at it as furthering Rajivji’s legacy?

What can be more annoying than the questions that Rajdeep asks? The responses from Sonia! This lady does not go beyond the most worn-out cliches: there is no depth, no analysis! I shudder at the thought that this is the lady responsible for running the country!

How does Rajdeep sign-off?

Well, Mrs Gandhi, if you’re not the most powerful person in India, I don’t know who is! But thank you very much for joining us.

This analysis has been interrupted due to a sudden bout of gagging experienced by the author ... the program will be resumed when the author has recovered!

On New Year Resolutions

2006-01-02T00:46:00.000-08:00

Barbara Ellen has this terrible article on New Year Resolutions in The Hindu.

Don't read it if you get easily discouraged or depressed! :)

Lots of psychobabble in this article - examples:

Are we "butterflies (waiting to happen)" or "snakes" or "snails"? (For those dying to know, Britney Spears is a born "snake".)
The human soul is a boomerang that always comes back exactly the same shape, however hard and far away we try to throw it.

What an awful metaphor this "boomerang-soul" stuff! If you drop a boomerang ("throw it down") does it come back to you? Clearly, the direction of throw is important - not just the force of the throw! And the shape of a soul? Since when do souls have shapes? Why doesn't she just say "unchanging soul" rather than impose on us the boomerang metaphor?

The Music Academy Sadas on Jan. 1, 2006

2006-01-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

I attended the Sadas of The Music Academy (Chennai) yesterday. It was an excellent function: punctual, well organised and well attended. The speeches were appropriate to the occasion and most importantly, not rambling. Smt. Vedavalli and Sri. Ramachandran were outstanding examples for felicitatory speakers - they delivered very clear, crisp, sincere speeches.

Sri. M. Chandrasekharan received the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi title. The Sangeetha Kalanidhi title is verily a life-time achievement award for contribution to Carnatic music and is by far the most coveted honor in Carnatic music. Sri. Chandrasekharan is indeed a most deserving recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi title. When one thinks of the various factors (e.g., politics, timing) that have in the past led to some deserving musicians not being awarded the title, one is gladdened by the thought that such factors did not play a part in this instance!

Sri. Chandrasekharan's musical journey and achievements are all the more remarkable, given his visual handicap!

The Hindu has a report on the proceedings The Music Academy Sadas.

[Mr. Mahalingam, the industrialist who presided over the function] appealed to the academy's new team of office-bearers to make efforts to hold music festivals in other cities and towns including Madurai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Thanjavur.

I like the idea - it's important for us music lovers that Carnatic music blooms in other cities in TamilNadu (and elsewhere). Apart from finding musical talent in these places, the music festivals can promote understanding and appreciation of Carnatic music.

P.S.: I couldn't help noticing like everyone else that Sri. N. Ch. Krishnamacharyulu had a very difficult time on stage. As an award winner he was seated on stage for a long time - near 2 hours - and given his age and condition, he had to frequently go off and back on the stage or beckon the help of others. Perhaps the Academy should have insisted on his presence on stage only during the main award ceremony, given his condition. Luckily, for him and the organisers, he (or his helpers) decided to leave soon after he received the award!

Watch on the phone-tapping story!

2006-01-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

Recall that Mulayam had alleged that the GoI was tapping his and other Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders' phonelines! The GoI had dismissed the tapping orders as forgeries.

Now, the GoI has apprehended and started interrogating the owner of a detective agency in Delhi in connection with this case. I will try to follow this story as it unwinds the next few weeks.

The Special Cell of the Delhi police is interrogating the owner of a South Delhi-based detective agency, who was arrested on Saturday, to track down the person at whose instance he had allegedly been tapping the phones of some Samajwadi Party leaders using forged documents.

It is learnt that the accused, Bhupender Singh, had been running Metro Intelligence Agency at South Extension for the past one year. The police arrested him from his office on Saturday after technical investigations revealed that he allegedly forged documents in the name of Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Crime Branch) Ranjit Narain and Delhi Principal Secretary (Home) R. Narayanswami to illegally tap the phones of certain Samajwadi Party leaders.

Govt. of India and spine ...

2006-01-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

Balochistan: India defends comment

When I read the following quote, I was led to believe that the Govt. of India (GoI)may actually have a spinal precursor, if not an actual spine!

``Why should there be inhibition on our side to say something on what is happening in our neighbourhood? A serious situation has been developing in Balochistan and when a reaction was sought, the MEA spokesman gave it,'' a senior government official said responding to Pakistan's objection.

However, such hopes were dashed when I read the following in the same article!

New Delhi insisted that the reaction it gave was ``quite restrained and reasonable'' and did not mark any departure from its policy on Pakistan.

Fantastic, this means that the GoI will continue with its peace-talks, bus-rides and "people-people contact"(1) policy of kowtowing to Pakistan!

Footnote:
(1) The "people-people contact" policy: India sends its liberal elite by the cartloads to Pakistan to meet Muslim elites there, while Pakistan reciprocates by sending its Islamic-fundamentalist terrorists to gun down Indian children, women, men.

Coming soon this year is the visit of the Indian cricket team to Pakistan. Watch out for those press plants touting and spouting "they are just like us ... they eat the same food ... they watch the same "Bollywood" ~~trash~~movies ... they look like us ..."!

Greetings for 2006!

2006-01-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing you "A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2006"!

News round-up: Dec. 30

2005-12-30T06:01:00.000-08:00

Lots of things happening towards the end of this eventful year:

1. Monkey and Man

No, this isn't about evolution vs. intelligent design!

A monkey bit at least 25 people in a residential area of Akola district in eastern Maharashtra, forest department sources said on Friday.
...
Forest department officials rushed to the area soon after they were alerted on Thursday and administered tranquilizer shots to the monkey.

It was later caught and released into Shahanur forest, they added.

What's missing in this report is the crucial aspect of the story! Did the monkey bite 25 people in separate incidents or was it a single incisive rampage?

At the end of the report:

Meanwhile, a wild boar bit a person in another part of the city on Thursday, hospital sources added.

The "meanwhile" at the beginning of the above sentence is simply delicious (no pun intended!).

2. So Spake Salem ...

Salem speaks out on underworld activities during narco test

Extradited gangster Abu Salem gave a wealth of information on underworld activities and even revealed details of incidents that happened 15 years ago during a narco-analysis test in Bangalore Friday, sources in the Forensic Science Laboratory and Anti-Terrorist Squad, Mumbai, said.

Salem was "unstoppable" during the three-hour test conducted at the Bowring Institute in Bangalore and has "given all the information that police wanted", the sources said.

The gangster, in sub-conscious state, also elaborated on the statement he made before the Mumbai police in which he disclosed the names of certain persons who were part of his financial chain of collection and distribution of money.

Great work done by the staff at the Bowring Institute, the Forensic Science Lab and the Anti-Terrorist Squad!

However, beware of "human rights/secular watchdogs" who will protest against the use of narco-analysis and say that such evidence is inadmissible in court!

3. Tapping Mulayam

Mulayam has accused Sonia of ordering tapping of telephones of senior Samajwadi Party leaders (including him) in Uttar Pradesh, with a view of toppling his government! (See Sonia tapping our phones: Mulayam Singh )

Some particularly interesting comments/allegations from Mulayam:

The intelligence bureau was being used for the purpose, as it had earlier been 'exploited' during operations Duryodhan and Chakravyuh in order to 'divert people's attention' from Volcker Committee report issue.
"Congress' history has proved that it could go to any length to defame its adversaries," he said, adding that former foreign minister, Natwar Singhm has been sacrificed to save the name of a particular family.
A similar campaign was also on against the other non-Congress chief ministers. The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, however, was their first target.
The move reminded him of 'Italian mafia culture'.
A core committee consisting of Pulak Chatterji, the private secretary of Sonia Gandhi had also been set up to oversee phone tapping operations.

And how does the Congress-led govt. respond to these serious allegations?

Joint Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry L C Goyal said the allegations were baseless.
...
[T]he Union Home Ministry on Friday conducted an immediate in-house probe and registered a case of criminal conspiracy and forgery against 'unknown persons'.

How quick these probes can be conducted, forgeries detected and unknown persons held responsible! Such is the efficiency of the UPA GoI!

4. California textbook controversy: counsel Suhag A ShuklaRediff Interview with Hindu American Foundation

Ms. Shukla provides a superb articulation of Hindu sentiments! A must-read!

Explosives missing near Mumbai! Be careful!

2005-12-29T01:57:00.000-08:00

In another scare-the-living-daylights-out-of-everyone incident, a consignment of over 100 tonnes of explosives has gone missing from a merchant ship off the coast of Mumbai! (See Explosives missing)

Complete report:

Mumbai/New Delhi: A consignment of over 100 tonnes of explosives meant for use by the Border Roads Organisation in Afghanistan has gone missing from a merchant ship, which set sail from Mumbai on December 22.

The captain and six crew members of the Iran-bound ship have been detained and are being questioned.

The explosives were meant for blasting rocks and mountainsides for the highway being built by the BRO to link Delaram with Kanadhar. Officials said the ship, sailing for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, where the consignment was to be offloaded for being taken to the project site, had gone missing 10-15 nautical miles off Mumbai.

The Navy and the Coast Guard located the vessel just off the Mumbai coast on December 23 and towed it back under escort.

The captain claimed that the explosives, in five or six containers, had sunk in the sea in rough weather, the officials said.— PTI

This incident seems to be straight out of a Frederick Forsyth novel! The ship sets off from Mumbai on Dec. 22, the Coast Guard finds it still near Mumbai on Dec. 23 and the captain brings up the oldest saddest excuse that the containers were lost at sea!

Carrying such sensitive cargo, aren't the captain and his crew expected to notify the buyer/seller if it is lost in transit? Did they?

My guess is that the captain and his crew passed the explosives onto some terrorists off the coast of Mumbai. And now that the explosives are probably back in India, I don't think they are going to be used as fireworks for New Year's celebrations! Is something big (think "serial bomb blasts") being planned?

Watch out, people!

Terrorist Attack in Bangalore! Professor killed, 5 others injured!

2005-12-29T01:19:00.000-08:00

By now, you must have already heard about terrorists attacking delegates at an Operations Research conference in the Indian Institute of Science campus at Bangalore! A professor was killed and five others injured in this deadly attack. Is this the first attack on an educational institution in recent history?

The Hindu, in a bold display of political correctness blames "intruders" for this act in the following report Scientist killed as gunman opens fire in Bangalore).

OK, "gunman opened fire and killed scientist". That's like describing the events of 9/11 saying "boxcutter-men took control of planes and didn't land them properly, killing people"!

Narayana, please give us a break from this political correctness!

Further:

Security agency sources told The Hindu that they suspected the attack was the handiwork of a militant group, probably from Kashmir. The police found five magazines, believed to be from an AK-47 rifle, a used grenade, a live grenade and spent bullets in front of the auditorium.

Why "militant"? Why not "terrorist"?

Also, in the report

"Neither the IISc. Registrar nor the organising secretary of the conference informed us that there were 56 foreign delegates and 250 Indian delegates. They did not ask us for security," [Director-General and Inspector-General of Police B.S. Sial] said.

...

In view of threats from terrorist groups to attack vital installations and information technology firms in the city, the police had tightened security at important places.

What this shows is that it's important that both parties - the protector and the protected - are aware of the threats from terrorists! Although the police knew of threats to vital installations, the conference organisers were not aware and did not inform the police of the scale of their conference. But then, have we come to such a PATHETIC state in our country that we view academic conferences as terrorist targets?

P.S.: The Times of India rag has an interesting headline describing the terrorist attack:"IIT professor gunned down the day Salem was in Bangalore" . Bah, I will not even dignify that headline by deconstructing it!

Jaithirth Rao in Indian Express: "Poor, little, rich protestors"

2005-12-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

Jaithirth Rao talks about the anti-globalisation protestors in his column in the Indian Express (see Poor, little, rich protestors). Although the column appeared more than a week ago, I got to see it only now.

Some gems from the column:

The real grouse of anti-globalisers at WTO? Free trade isn’t helping leftist PhDs make money.
...
It is the basic law of capitalism that a pot-bellied pan-chewing businessman who wears safari suits and who is in the “import-export” business will on average take more risk and on average will make a lot more money than a PhD in multi-cultural anthropology from JNU. And this is from the perspective of the left-wing intellectual both unpalatable and unjust.

The intellectuals of communist China don’t seem to have a problem with this. It is only the leftist elites of the West and their counterparts in India who seem to feel this way!

Diplomacy at its best!

2005-12-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from

'Rice a mad woman, US govt a circus'

Cuban President Fidel Castro called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "mad", after having condemned the head of the US diplomatic mission in Havana as a "little gangster".

The communist leader's latest tirade against the United States has been in response to Rice's meeting this week with a US government Commission intended to prepare for a democratic transition in Cuba after Castro.

"I am going to tell you what I think about this famous Commission. They are a group of s[*]-eaters, who do not deserve the world's respect," Castro told the Cuban parliament.

The Hindu does it again! Don't just read the headlines!

2005-12-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

"Special Correspondents" at The Hindu are really special, in that they can cook up headlines that have nothing to do with the underlying articles.

For an example, click the link below:
BJP-RSS differences to the fore

On reading the headline, one might expect to read about heated debates between the BJP and the RSS. But, if you go beyond the deadline and read the article, you can see that NOT A SINGLE DIFFERENCE has been highlighted or written about!

Indeed, there is mention of the strong ties between the RSS and the BJP, and how the RSS wants the BJP to be strong!

RSS joint general secretary Madandas Devi, who presided over the function, said RSS activists had no axe to grind, and all that they wanted was the BJP to be strong in the interests of the country.
...
The RSS, which did not want to join any political party, allowed some of its members to work for the Jan Sangh. "I am one of those functionaries," Mr. Advani said. He said the BJP was proud of its RSS links.

How low can The Hindu go?

Moral of the story: Read the whole news article. Don't just go by the headlines!

Michael Witzel and his racist remarks

2005-12-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

If you have not already heard of Harvard University's Michael Witzel and his racist remarks on Hindus and Hinduism, please go here:
Prof. Kalyanaraman's Article or Vivekajyoti blog.

Witzel is part of the clique comprising Romila Thapar and the "secular academics" who believe in and peddle the much discredited "Aryan Invasion Theory". You can see these "secular academics" writing about "Hindutva" quite often in the pages of another red-rag of The Hindu group, the "Frontline" magazine.

Of course, there's not a peep of this story that appears in The Hindu till now. Why would The Hindu publicise that one of its own is the hate peddler?

Leading Questions: An illustration from R. Krithika of The Hindu

2005-12-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

First, let us see what is meant by "leading questions". ChangingMinds.org has an excellent description of "leading questions" and provides several examples.

One way of influencing a person is to ask them questions that are deliberately designed to make them think in a certain way. Leading questions either include the answer, point the listener in the right direction or include some form or carrot or stick to send them to the 'right' answer.
...

Ask for agreement
A very direct leading question is where they are closed questions that clearly ask for agreement, making it easier for the other person to say 'yes' than 'no'.
"Do you agree that we need to save the whales?"
"Is it true that you are happier now?"

Let us now see this how these were put to use by R. Krithika in a perfectly asinine "e-mail interview" published in The Hindu Sunday supplement on Dec. 25 (An unusual epic).

Sample questions from the interview:

Your introduction says you chose the Mahabharata because it was "evil". What is your definition of evil?
Despite Draupadi's fearlessness in voicing her opinion, would you agree that she was actually oppressed ...
Krishna is, as you have said, a very complex character. Would you agree that he is perhaps the most open character in the entire epic; that he does what he has to?
Do you agree that the Mahabharata was an internal family feud and that the epic's current form was not the work of one man?

Please read the interview. Although faced with such pathetic questions, Samhita Arni doesn't fall into the trap but provides quite reasoned and mature responses overall. An example follows:

There are no hard and fast classifications of good and bad in the Mahabharata. Comment.

That's what makes the epic come alive for me. It resembles reality in the murkiness of the decisions and choices that the characters have to make, and the complexity of cause and effect.

Dec. 24: Malladi Bros. at German Hall

2005-12-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

I attended my 3rd Malladi Bros. concert in as many days today at German Hall. I was hoping for a repeat of y'day's Mylapore Fine Arts performance - indeed, the brothers were accompanied again by Sri Nagaraj and Sri Sivaraman (and Sri TV Vasan replacing Sri EM Subramaniam on the ghatam), so I wasn't being overly hopeful!

Let me first list the krithis/compositions rendered:
1. Mohanam Varnam
2. Palukavemi Na Deivama - Poornachandrika
3. Samayamu Telisi - Asaveri
4. Parandhamavathi - Dharmavathi
5. Anathudu - Jingala
6. Endhuku Nirdaya - Harikambhoji (Main)
7. Mayamohamu - Jog
8. Vagaladibodhanalaku - Behag
9. Bhaja Govindam

The concert was quite good - but nowhere near the levels of the previous day. However, this does not reflect on the artistes. There were numerous other factors: the hall had poor acoustics, the Mridangam's microphone level was not set right, there was a time limit (the concert started at 5pm, and the next one was to start at 7:30pm - so it was always going to be a race against time, like at The Music Academy). The thani was over 20 min. in length - which is too long for a 2 1/4 hour concert. However, the final mohra/korvai in thisra nadai was out of the world, for the speed at which Sri Sivaraman played them. (However, there were quite a few errors during the thani avardhanam, which did detract from the whole experience.)

There was a most unnecessary and annoying interruption after the thani (around 6:55pm). One of the organisers felt he had to share his "expertise" in music - so he shared with us some very basic insights - like how the brothers had to be careful in singing Harikambhoji without transforming it into Khamas, and other trivia like how he arranged this concert, and how grateful he was to the artistes for agreeing to perform. The organiser ate up a valuable 7 min. (although it felt much longer), and to make things worse, he requested them to finish the concert with the Behag javali. What was the tearing hurry to finish?! Who knows - we might have had an express ragam-tanam-pallavi, but for this interruption!

Highlights for me:

First time I listened to "Samayamu Telisi" krithi of Sri Thyagaraja. I like Asaveri.
Fantastic alapana and kalpana swara for Parandhamavathi (although the korvai was the in the same pattern as the one they sung in Academy).
Simply loved how the brothers rendered "Maya mohamu" krithi of Annamacharya. The tune was composed by their father, Malladi Sri Suri Babu.

That the concert was not perfect only goes to show that the Mylapore Fine Arts concert was special, perhaps even magical. You can't put together geniuses and expect a masterpiece every time - there are times when factors converge, and times when they don't ...

Operation Duryodhana: MP expulsions - good news for the UPA

2005-12-23T22:43:00.000-08:00

As predicted earlier, Parliament expels the 10 Lok Sabha MPs caught in the sting operation conducted by AajTak and Cobrapost.

Parliament expels tainted MPs

This expulsion helps the ruling UPA government in at least a couple of ways: 1) removal of 5 opposition BJP MPs, 2) public relations - they can fool the people that they have promptly and sternly addressed corruption (although their handling of the Natwar Singh episode, and the continued prominence of stalwarts like Laloo in the Cabinet would scream otherwise).

In a related report Government will not control media: I&B minister, Dasmunshi of the Congress(I) pontificates

Dasmunshi, who took over the reins of the I&B ministry recently from Jaipal Reddy, said, "Any regulation and control is contrary to fundamental rights of the media."

"Any kind of operations which can expose the politicians is welcome," he added.

Perhaps realising he has given too much leeway, Dasmunshi backtracks ...

However, he made clear that if any attempts were made to breach sensitive security zones, the government could consider taking action.

Delightfully vague "sensitive security zones" - which can be used to prevent any attempt that might bring the government itself under scrutiny.

I will ask these questions again:

Given that those in power in governments are more likely to indulge in corruption, how come we dont see these media-driven "sting operations" targetting the ministers and MPs of the UPA - the Congress and the Communists, for starters?
Aren't there guidelines as to who can conduct such sting operations?
Isn't offering of bribes punishable under law?

What if a government bankrolls a compliant media to conduct "sting operations" targetting the opposition? Can we have Parliament conducting its own investigations into the "sting operations" and OK-ing the findings, so long as they serve their purpose? For what purpose do we have law enforcers and the judiciary?

Isn't it surprising that during the NDA rule, the media was conducting stings on the ruling NDA, while during the UPA rule, the media is conducting stings on the opposition NDA?

Further, compare how quickly this issue has been "resolved" by the UPA with the long drawn-out treatment of the oil vouchers scam that implicates the Congress and Natwar Singh! The latter issue is practically buried now.

An Incredible Experience: Malladi Bros./Mysore Nagaraj/UKS/EMS at Mylapore Fine Arts on 23/12/05

2005-12-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's not often that one experiences a sustained and heightened state of ecstasy for 3 or more hours. A state where one has simply transcended hunger, thirst, other internal and external reminders of a human existence. I was fortunate to experience such a state on Friday, Dec. 23, 2005, thanks to what must be the best concert I have attended in my life - Malladi Brothers Sreerama Prasad and Ravikumar with Mysore Nagaraj, Umayalpuram Sivaraman and E M Subramanian at Mylapore Fine Arts.

I had attended the Brothers' concert at The Music Academy the previous day. Although their performance at the Academy was overall excellent, I got the impression that their planning and coordination could have been better. So it was with a little apprehension that I ventured into the premises of the Mylapore Fine Arts. However, that apprehension was dispelled soon, when they launched into Janaki Ramana, one of my favorite krithis (I got hooked onto this krithi after listening to a recording of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer's rendition (in a 1950s Music Academy concert). I have since listened to the recording a few hundred times - I keep coming back to it, drawn by the haunt of the raga and his kalpana swara at Raktha Nalinadhala Nayana Nripala). There was no turning back after that krithi: the concert rose to higher levels with every krithi that followed. The choice of compositions (raga, composer) and their presentation (alapana/neraval/swara/timing/duration) was as perfect as could be. The coming together of musical geniuses, adding to and in the process elevating each others brilliance, what an effect!

Song list:

Kedaragowlai varnam
Janaki Ramana - Suddha Seemandhini
Kalaharana - Suddha Saveri
Ni Chitthamu - Dhanyasi
Nagagandhari - Nagagandhari
Sri Kanthimathim - Hemavathi
Ma Kelara - Ravichandrika
RTP - Begada - Chathusra Jathi Ata Thala (Pallavi: Karunajoodave Thripurasundari Parameswari Shivasankari Kathyayani Kalyani)
Sevika Vendum Ayya - Andolika
Padam - Saranga
Akativelala - Revathi
Ramachandrudithadu - Dwijavanthi
Marali Marali Jayamangalamu - Madhyamavathi

Sri Sivaraman was outstanding: he showed how he could make the Mridangam sing. He egged on Sri Nagaraj, after the Brothers had finished the korvai for the main piece - he was relishing the experience too, and that made it that much more special for us in the audience. He was so charged up, so involved that when the Brothers requested him to do the tri-kalam for the pallavi (even before they started kalpana swara for the pallavi), he launched into an express thani! Not that there is anything wrong with that. His "accompaniment" for Ma Kelara was out of the world.

Of course, this is not to say that the concert could not have been better. For instance, it could have been a couple of hours longer! :) And the mind boggles at the thought of the genius of the late Harishankar complementing that of the Brothers, Nagaraj and Sivaraman on this day. What an experience that would have been!

I hope this concert has been recorded and will be released unedited for the public.

This concert was what music is all about!

No more tinted glasses to hide

2005-12-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Hehe ..., when I saw the headlines of this article No more tinted glasses to hide , I thought this would apply to Mr. Karunanidhi, but alas, it wasn't to be! Go find out yourself to whom/what it applies.

Garish (Red) Khare in The Hindu

2005-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

In an op-ed (see Party time in Mumbai and Hyderabad) that stands out for its bias against the BJP in a style perfected by The Hindu writers, garish Harish Khare shows why he is the master of double-standards.

Towards the end of December, the BJP proposes to stage an elaborate celebration in Mumbai to commemorate the organisation's survival for 25 years. Then, in the third week of January, Congressmen are scheduled to congregate in Hyderabad for the party's plenary session.

See how masterfully he inserts the loaded word "survival" when he talks of the BJP's meet, yet talks about the Congress in matter-of-fact terms.

... the turmoil within the Shiv Sena has brought out the party-as-a-family-jagirdari dimension

WOW, this is unbelievable! Apparently we know of the "party-as-a-family-jagirdari" syndrome in Indian politics only from the Shiv Sena's recent troubles. The history of the Congress - Jawaharlal "I wanna be an Englishman" Nehru, Indira "is India" Gandhi, Sanjay "Freedom to have a family? No way!" Gandhi, Rajiv "Mein Banana" Gandhi, Sonia "I have been Indian all along, except for the citizenship part " Gandhi, Rahul "I could have been PM when I was 25" Gandhi; Laloo and Rabri; Farooq Abdullah and Omar; Mufti Mohammad and his daughter; Karunanidhi and Stalin; NTR, Parvathi, Chandrababu; ... my God I could go on and on. Harish Khare is either clueless or thinks we are clueless!

I was surprised, indeed a bit worried, that don't-Khare-if-I-sound-so-prejudiced had not mentioned his patrons the Commies so far into the article, but my worries were laid to rest when I saw the following soon after ...

The octogenarian Marxist from West Bengal remains an icon and a respected voice but he has becomingly allowed a new generation to take over the leadership role in the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Heh, he "allows" the new generation when he is more than 75 years old! How graceful!

Later on, probably realising that such biased tripe (about the Shiv Sena highlighting the p.a.a.f.j. dimension) cannot escape even the editors at The Hindu, he concedes the problems that dynasty poses for the Congress, but only so far as to say that the party will suffer in local elections! Oh, how sad! Nothing about democratic principles figures in the analysis of the Congress!

And the finisher:

... the two parties [BJP and Congress] are happy to be mired in the quagmire of a nine per cent growth rate ...

"Quagmire of a 9% growth rate"! This is fabulous stuff!

TN Politics - At its worst!

2005-12-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

1. More on the stampede

Today morning when I read the newspaper I felt vindicated, as well as really angered. My gut feeling that the stampede (in which 42 poor souls were killed - see earlier post) could not have happened without an external agent provoking it was vindicated by this report in The Hindu. I had said earlier that I was inclined to believe JJ that miscreants were behind this ~~tragedy~~MURDER.

Vindication transformed into anger when I saw that it was a DMK councillor who had provoked the whole episode. The report says

It revealed that Mr. Dhanasekaran and others allegedly spread rumours and were responsible for the tragedy.

A senior police officer said early on Sunday, Mr. Dhanasekaran, along with a few others, went round the streets in MGR Nagar announcing that Sunday was the last day for receiving flood relief tokens and that the distribution would start at 5 a.m

Of course, at the time of writing this, everything is still in the realm of allegation/suspicion, but the deafening silence from the DMK leads me to believe that there is much more behind the story than an allegation.

This dastardly murder of 42 people was planned and executed solely for political gains (see my post y'day regarding what the opposition in Tamil Nadu are gunning for). I hope ALL the people involved in this murder, from the ones who hatched the conspiracy to the ones who executed it, are punished severely - public execution will be too soft a punishment for these scoundrels!

The most annoying part of the report linked above is towards the end:

He [Dhanasekharan] was a heart patient and required treatment. The court told Dhanasekaran the grounds of his arrest. His counsel sought `A' class facility for him in prison.

2. Meanwhile, in bizarro world ...

See CPI(M) blames AIADMK activists, but The Hindu sugarcoats the CPI(M)'s stupidity

The State unit secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday urged the State Government to arrange long-term relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction measures in flood-affected areas "without shirking its responsibility." It also asked the Government not to attempt to divert people's attention by blaming Opposition parties for the tragedy.

Further, ~~magnanimity~~fiscal irresponsibility from the CPI(M):

The party called for enhancing the solatium for the next of kin of the deceased to Rs. 5 lakh, apart from providing a Government job to a member of each of these families.

Demanding crop loan waiver and the disbursement of crop insurance in affected areas, the party asked the Government to provide 1kg rice and Rs. 25 a day to farm workers, besides implementing the food-for-work programme.

Rs. 25 a day for how many days? Blanket demands ...

3. Problematic Party Propaganda Philm

See DMK to seek court permission to screen party film

In his petition, Mr. Anbazhagan said the Government of Tamil Nadu, represented by the District Collectors and Superintendents of Police, was preventing the screening of the film in most of the districts. Only Nagapattinam district administration permitted screening of the movie, with a condition that it should not hurt the feelings of any individual of a community.

What a delightful condition (to block the screening) - the film should not hurt the feelings of any individual of a(ny) community!

Awesome post by Atanu: A must-read!

2005-12-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

I have been a fan of Atanu's writing ever since I came across his posts on the usenet group soc.culture.india. Atanu has an amazing talent for writing about profound ideas in clear, crisp, level-headed terms. And the best thing is that he doesn't mince words - he truly calls a spade a spade!

Please do read Atanu's thoughts on Lee Kuan Yew's Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Lecture in Delhi on Nov. 21, 2005. Your time will be well invested.

Atanu's Analysis

News round-up: Dec. 18

2005-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

1. Who's responsible for the death of 42 people at a relief camp?

I was shocked and angered when I read about the senseless and entirely preventable death of 42 people in a stampede at a relief distribution centre in Chennai (see The Hindu report: 42 killed in stampede at relief distribution centre in Chennai).

I am inclined to believe Chief Minister Jayalalithaa when she states that some miscreants had spread rumours on the timing of the distribution to bring a bad name to her Government.

Consider the following:

relief operations on a massive scale have by and large been going on smoothly, except for an earlier stampede in November and this one,
the chorus of calls for her resignation from the assorted local opposition outfits that differ in name by a few letters but are united in their greed for power,
Karunanidhi's statements
"Where is law and order in the State? The question of failure [in law and order] would arise only then?"
Link Karunanidhi statement.
Assemby elections coming up in the first half of next year, and
Dayanidhi Maran saying he will submit a report to the Central Government

Is the ground being prepared for the imposition of Governor's Rule through Article 356 in Tamil Nadu before the elections so that some can get the extra edge? How easy it is to exploit a tragedy politically!

2. Keep your hands off the private sector, UPA!

I read that the UPA govt. is planning to further its "social justice" agenda through the politician's favored approach to sow social distrust and discord - the quota system (see Times of India link UPA govt. plans job quota in private sector).

Of course, given ToI's standards of journalism (see my earlier critique of CP Surendran's op-ed) and its well-known inclination to fill pages with gossip and innuendo masquerading as news reports, can we put much stock in this report?

Indeed, the report itself seems to contradict itself, when it initially states:

Sources say government, which had so far maintained that it would leave it to the private sector to consider introducing job reservations, is now bringing both an amendment to the Constitution, as well as enacting a new law for the purpose.

but later,

Unlike the law officer who felt that government would’ve to amend the Constitution to satisfy the clamour for pushing the quota frontiers, the ministry has held that the purpose can also be achieved by enacting an ordinary law and placing it under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution for immunity from legal challenge.

Clearly, the latter quote implies that one doesn't need both amendment and law to introduce the disastrous idea of reservations in the private sector. And, given our MPs tendencies to shirk work, why would they do tow things, when they need to do only one?

Leaving aside the merits of the report, what on earth is the UPA govt. thinking by introducing reservations by law in the private sector? Why now? Is this an admission that public sector quotas are not doing their job (no pun intended)? Do the following come under the private sector - a start-up of 10 people, retail stores (ranging from potti kadai to the Big Bazaar-types), small scale industries, massive corporations? Can you imagine the hassles of recruiting to the quota, when you are trying to start-up a company?

If the law comes in to place, the govt. would obviously be in charge of enforcing these quotas. You can be sure that this leads to more corruption, declining productivity, and our country becoming an economic wasteland.

3. The Left and BPOs

With increased economic and career opportunities beckoning youths nowadays, thanks to the rise in business process outsourcing to India, the Left is becoming more and desparate when it finds that its conventional recruiting bases are no longer yielding sufficient recruits. Of course, by recruiting bases I mean the millions of fresh-out-of-college graduates who had no prospects and hopes, in the era of government-~~controlled~~strangled economies.

As a result, the Left, through its outfits like the trade unions is desperate to enter the BPO space and wreak havoc there, under the guise of "improving labour conditions". Regulate BPO sector, says CITU

As predicted in my news round-up of Dec. 17, the Left is using the gory murder of Pratibha as an excuse to make another attempt into interfering with the BPO sector.

What thrilled me was the following statement:

Despite their efforts, trade unions have not been able to make any headway in unionising BPO workers, mainly due to a lukewarm response from the workers themselves.

Hope the Left is continually rebuffed in its attempts!

"Carapace of riverine traditions" etc., courtesy Surendran of ToI

2005-12-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

First, thanks to Nanopolitan for alerting me to this pathetic op-ed on ToI.

I was disturbed on a leisurely Sunday afternoon by the writing of Mr. Surendran who shares his thoughts via the venerable rag of India, the Times of India (ToI), in this trashy op-ed Urban Lexicon. Readers - please read the article before proceeding.

My goodness, Surendran - your article itself is a veritable lexicon of words. Did you write your article with a thesaurus or dictionary open so that you can pick up strange words and force them into your article to sound learned? Or do you think and speak like that always? "Carapace of riverine traditions" - wow, that's a mouthful! I had to look up all these via dictionary.com while reading your article.

Surendran, I am sorry to say that using such strange words in an article does not automatically make the said article sound intelligent. You should first think (see, I didnt use 'cerebrate' in place of 'think') before writing.

Surendran, I find such wonderful examples of poorly-thought-out and even-more-poorly-written-up "ideas" in your article:

" ... computers and English. Indeed the two are really one. Click is an English word.
"As a matter of fact, in 2001 alone, the number of Indians flocking to the US was 70,290, making India the second largest source of legal migrants in the world. Clearly, Young India wants to be colonised."

Surendran, please don't get me wrong, but next time, try to think through your ideas and then express them through simple sentences.

OK, that's enough advice for Surendran.

Now, back to you, readers:

I seriously doubt we can change/educate the likes of C.P.Surendran or ToI. At least, let us change one of CP's sentences in the op-ed piece to "With what agility this article escaped the logic of the Times of India editor!"

FYI: Surendran has stated on record his egregious viewpoint that "there is no future in India. Money, fame, satisfaction, everything is in the West…. . See Disgusting Interview with Surendran.

I wish he would follow his own advice: "Write well or die. If you can't write well, go commit suicide. But keep your sanity while you write or die."

How do these nutcases get published in main stream media?!! What does this tell us about our main stream media?

A finer example of Macaulay's child you cannot see!

News round-up: Dec. 17

2005-12-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

1. Safety and BPO sector

The kidnap and murder of Prathiba is a deplorable incident (see link below).

However, a staff reporter at The Hindu tries to use this incident to hype up the dangers of working at a BPO company. This is not unexpected: the reds have a ~~God~~Marx-given inclination to derail (in the guise of questioning) any venture that moves India forward from its overly-regulated-licence-permit-raj-characterised-by-rife-unemployment economy. (See the same tactic used in another area - Privatising airports- but I digress)

Beginning with a poorly-worded sentence (see below) that seems to promise plenty of juicy questions, the reporter gives an account of the gruesome kidnap and murder, and then finishes with what are perfectly sensible policies followed by the company involved.

The opening statement: The chilling details of how a criminal kidnapped and murdered call centre employee Prathiba have raised a number of questions with regard to safety in the time of business process outsourcing and the logistic challenges involved.

Link: Account of Murder

Now, what are the numerous questions, dear reporter? Can we have an inkling, at least? Let me try to finish your article, by providing some basic questions that I would ask as a parent, before sending my daughter/son to a BPO that works at night:

List of questions:
A. What are the safety policies/procedures governing:
1. transit to/from the workplace: e.g.
a. badges/uniforms for drivers/security-personnel?
b. seatbelts in vehicle?
c. conduct in the vehicle?
d. use of cell-phone while driving?
e. employees not allowed to stand in moving vehicle?
f. availability of escorts/security for walking from office to vehicle?
g. security personnel in the office vehicle?

2. at the office (campus): e.g.
a. the environs well-lit and patrolled by security personnel?
b. how can employees signal an emergency when inside the office, when on campus?
c. are there self-defence training classes provided to employees?
d. emergency contact information provided to/by employees for family, office, police?

B. Who is responsible for ensuring adherence to the safety procedures?
C. What is the safety track record of the company? (E.g., reported incidents of theft, harassment etc.)

Please feel free to add to this list in the comments section.

Let us resolve that:

We will use this as an opportunity to improve the safety systems around us (wherever we work, wherever we play)! Safety is paramount!

We will not be manipulated by mainstream media (MSM)! (The Hindu article has a disgusting picture of MSM vultures are hovering around poor Prathiba's poor husband. Sickos, don't you have feelings?)

We will not get manipulated by political parties/unions into protest marches (against BPO's)!

More later.

P.S.: I do not work for or invest in any BPO.

2. Sports and Politics:

Ganguly Issue and the Lok Sabha

Excerpts: Mohan Singh (Samajwadi Party) wanted a discussion on the manner in which Ganguly was dropped. He lamented politicisation of sports in general and cricket in particular and said this trend would demoralise good players.

In Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said Ganguly's exclusion was an insult to the player "as well to all of us." The decision was "unjust." He said he had told Mr. Pawar that none could accept it. "Let's see what happens."

Someone please explain to me how a discussion of Ganguly's sacking by our esteemed MP's (who are the quintessence of politicking) does not contribute to further politicisation of sports!

When communists such as Buddhadeb are hovering over the issue, be sure that the issue will not go away soon.

Excerpt from The Hindu:
Bengal Protests

Protests continued across the city and suburbs for the third successive day against the former captain's exclusion from the team. Suburban trains were disrupted at several places in the Sealdah section of the Eastern Railway. Roadblocks led to traffic diversions at several places.

I support Pawar's comment:

Excerpt: "If people start using Parliament to say who should be in the team, it would cause irreparable damage to cricket and cricketers."

Taking this a little further, can you have people using the Parliament to say who should be in your (private) company, because it could cause irreparable damage to your company and it's employees? Of course not. Then why do we encourage discussions on reservations in private sector companies? What's next, the government dictating who you should marry, in the interests of "communal/caste harmony?"

News round up: Dec. 15

2005-12-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

1. Can you legislate common-sense?

Anti-superstition Bill introduced

Excerpt: "A Bill seeking to punish those making false claims and taking advantage of people's superstitions was introduced in the Maharashtra Assembly on Wednesday. Maharashtra is the first State to propose such a law. ... [check cheating by quacks.]"

Although I support the government when it comes to punishing fraudsters for their false claims, I am wary of the presence of the word "superstitions" in this report. One human's superstition is another's faith. Also, does the bill cover only financial aspects of cheating? What about the emotional costs? Opening up the bill to cover emotional cheating would be a lawyer's dream!

Warning: Long sentence ahead! Indeed, if the bill becomes a law, can newspapers be hauled up for their "astrological predictions", "vaastu", "fengshui", for their claims such as "love is in the air today. You will meet someone ..." or "Move the ceramic pot such that when it is viewed from underneath the sofa, it is in line with the dustbin, the printer and the TV-stand, while when viewed while suspended 2 feet above the sofa, it is enclosed by an equilateral triangle containing the aforementioned items ..."?

In our country, entrusting a government with the right to define "superstition" and implement a law based on it is as dangerous as (if not more than) allowing them to sneak in an ill-defined (and hence much distorted and abused) "secularism" in the constitution.

On the other hand, if passing the bill results in the cold hands of the law landing on the likes of the charlatans advertising mass healings at their prayer meetings ... dream on, it's never going to happen!

2. On missed calls

You can't miss them

The write-up generally extolls the utility of missed calls in several situations, prominent among which is the following:

Excerpt: "Whenever I want to convey to my fiancé that I miss her, I love her, or I am thinking of her, all that I have to do is send a buzz and the message is conveyed. Since she is into research it is not possible to disturb her while she is in her lab, to convey my love notes. So this works perfectly for us and she reciprocates in a similar way. Hats off to this feature in mobile phones," says Shameem Mustafa."

I have a serious problem with this.

Now, don't get me wrong, dear Shameem, but isn't the feature that really helps you the SILENT MODE feature of the mobile phone, and not the "missed call"?! Presumably, you can send all the messages you want to your beloved fiance and she can receive them with the mobile in the silent mode! The only message you are conveying is that ... you are CHEAP! And going by your story, looks like your fiance has also accepted your specious argument! :)

Further, I can't (under)stand it when someone asks me to "give a missed call"! Please understand, people, that I can only "give a call", it's usually up to you or the telephone company to miss it! Of course, being practical, I am not going into the theoretical possibilities of dialling a number, waiting for the number to show up on the recipient's mobile and then disconnecting the call. If that's what you mean by "giving a missed call", I'm OK with it. There, I just figured out something by writing about it ... this blog has a purpose, you know ...

News round-up: Dec. 14

2005-12-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some interesting items from the paper edition of the Chennai edition of The Hindu dated Dec. 14, 2005:

A. Photos:

Looks like Reuters had a fantastic day y'day taking photos!

1. Manmohan "Daler Mehndi, who?" Singh arrives for dinner at the ASEAN Summit in KL

If there's one picture you should clip out from the paper and save for posterity, it has got to be this! PM-ji, with all due respect, what were you thinking? I know we Indians love gold, but isn't this a little overboard?

For readers: I searched on the web for a soft-copy of this image, but couldnt locate it! If I do find it later, I will link to it. Priceless stuff!

2. Troubled Waters: A protester afloat at the Victoria Harbour [after jumping in to protest against globalisation]

Who comes up with these ~~nutty~~ wild ideas? And where do they find people willing to follow-up on these ideas? How can jumping into the sea help?

B. Ad

On pg. 24, I saw an ad for Superstar's Sivaji The boss. I was quite surprised that they had released the movie so soon after the muhurth (launch) and went off on a train of thought whose premise was the technological prowess of the Tamil film industry (I will not call it Kollywood!). I came crashing down to earth when I saw the "SHOOTING STARTS TODAY" caption on the left.

Wow, is this the first time that an ad has been released to mark the first day of shooting? Can you imagine the amount of pre-release hype there is going to be?

C. Expansion of the phonetic alphabet (The link is actually to the New York Times, whence The Hindu has sourced the article.)

My attention was arrested by a very suggestive article on a very mundane item, thanks to the words "labiodental flap", "buzz ... capped by a faint pop", "... lower lip moving backward and forward ...". However, the flap is far less exciting than what one would believe. Go hear it - I certainly couldnt make out any buzz or pop. Can you?

Operation Duryodhan - some questions

2005-12-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, there's much hoopla about 'Operation Duryodhan', but I would love to know the answers to these questions, even if some of them may seem rhetorical ...

- Are you surprised that our venerable neta's can be bribed? Or that they are bribable for anything and everything, including asking questions? Given our glorious history of scams - Bofors, Harshad's suitcase, Laloo's fodder, the PVN era of urea, pickle and JMM, JJ's, Karunanidhi's, Laxman's, and the more recent oil-vouchers, why should be we surprised at bribes and MP's being in the same sentence (or camera footage)?

- Why is the list of 11 MPs so heavily loaded with BJP MPs (6 out of 11)? How were the MPs selected as targets for the sting?

- Why aren't our dear communist MPs in this list, if indeed the operation was aimed at all parties? Is it indeed true that our red brethren are beyond reproach when it comes to graft? Or is it that they were beyond approach?

- Who is allowed by law to conduct such sting operations? What are the guidelines governing such sting operations? If anyone can conduct a sting operation (against anybody), then under the guise of a sting, anyone can bribe with impunity, with the confidence that if caught, one can always claim that he or she is in the process of a sting operation!

- Who benefits most from this sting? If the MPs are dismissed by their respective parties, will bye(buy)-elections be held? Presuming that the voters vote out the incumbents, it would seem that the UPA will be very comfortably placed with the ouster of the BJP MPs.

- Timing-wise, the media-release couldnt have been better for the Congress, could it, given the heat it's facing regarding the oil-vouchers scam?

- When can we expect a sting operation on the media itself? How we would love to know what goes on behind closed doors in our "secular" media offices when they put together stories to suit their prejudices!

- Is there room for hope in that the bribed MPs delivered on their contracts with the bribe-givers? :)

Vijay Siva concert - 12/12/05

2005-12-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

I attended a good performance of Vijay Siva, Sriram Kumar and Neyveli Narayanan at Brahma Gana Sabha in Alwarpet. I missed out on probably a couple of the opening compositions, but was all attention for the rest of the kutcheri. The pieces rendered were:

Amba Vani Nannu - Kiravani - Muthiah Bhagavathar
Raghupathe Rama - Sahana - Thyagaraja
Chede Buddhi Mannura - Atana - Thygaraja
Kathaya Kathaya Madhavam - Kalyani - Narayana Theerthar
Sarasadalanayana - Khamas - Muthuswamy Dikshithar
Muripemu - Mukhari (Main) - Thyagaraja
Sharadha Bhujangam - Ragamallika - Adi Shankaracharya
Other items like Meera Bhajan, Thirupugazh

The highlights for me were:
- the Neraval for Muripemu at the charanam Ituleni Malaya Marutamuce.
- the Sharadha Bhujangam of Sri Adi Shankaracharya. Each stanza contains a raga name that was used in the ragamallika.

Vijay's jnana (depth and breadth) and his passion for perfection have amazed me ever since I first listened to him in Music Academy over 15 years ago.
Sriram's himalayan vidwat and his disarming down-to-earth attitude are instantly endearing.
Narayanan was simply phenomenal in his accompaniment and thani avardhanam.

MP Sting Operation - Rediff can't count

2005-12-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

The news report at the link below opens with "... 54 [MP's] were shown taking money for raising questions in Parliament ...", but later says "Only 10-12 MPs have been caught on camera accepting bribes."

I cannot reveal details of operation: Bahal

Which number do we believe? 10? 12? 54? 11?

Onkar Singh/Rediff - please be specific! It's not as if there was a mob of MPs caught in the act on camera and you couldn't count how many were there!

More on this later!

Idea for Airports

2005-12-12T04:17:00.000-08:00

Chennai Airport. 1:30 am. Waiting for the delayed arrival of dear relative A on flight xyz from the US. Four layers of people between me and the barricade that separates the onlookers from the security and the arrivals.

Almost everyone's on their toes, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of akka or appa or amanji returning from Tallahassee or Cologne or Dubai after a year or a week or a decade ... but thanks to the layers of people who beat them to the coveted position at the barricade (either by getting in earlier or by just barging through extant layers), none of us can see who's exiting through the airport gate.

Why doesn't the airport authority put up a large TV screen (plasma welcome) above the gate so that people (from a comfortable distance) can see who's exiting (and thus, arrived) without the hassle of a pre-Olympic-sprint stretch routine? How much more relaxed can we make things!

Don't judge a paper by its name ... "The Hindu"

2005-12-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to do this for long - set up a blog that picks apart and showcases the ideological bias that underpins "news reporting" in "The Hindu". Perhaps this post marks the start of that journey where I collect and showcase examples of bias ...

I grew up with The Hindu through my school days - I used to devour those "Slice of Life" write-ups of Gangadhar, the Friday reviews of Carnatic music and cinema (no, not Carnatic cinema! :)) , the sports section (when I was an avid cricket and tennis fan), the sundry other supplements (science, education) ... and generally had a positive impression of The Hindu as a media establishment.

It was not until much later - the end of the 1990s that I started noticing tinges (then shades and then lashes) of red in its coverage of events.

It's not too difficult to see why the detection of bias wasn't until much later. As a school boy, one's not (Ok, at least I wasn't) really very interested in political events (unless these have a direct impact on school or college prospects - such as school holidays due to the demise of "national leaders" or the reservations issue), so it's not unusual to skip much of the newspaper and head straight for the sports section and the supplements. And, it would take a considerable deal of effort for even diehard reds to indulge in dialectics over cups of filter kaapi, pitch reports or a review of Smt. Karpagambal Sabesan's rendition of "Sriman Narayana" in GK Hall.

The late '90s saw me in the USA for graduate study, and when one is that far away from the homeland, trust me, one gets interested in much more than accounts of filter kaapi and cricket news (the modern version of 'bread and circus', if you will). The politics of the homeland at once becomes vital to your existence and you find yourself analysing late at night why Sunil Chaudhury won over Suneel Choudhri in the recent Mayurpur bye-elections (did I spell that right, or is it buy-elections?), often with a group of five other similarly enthu grad students ...

Thus, with the power of the Internet at my disposal and an increased interest in the political climes of our country, I would scour cyberspace for reports or opinion pieces on the same events across different newspapers. And would typically find The Hindu contorting itself into awkward positions, very far from commonsense - based on an undefined/ill-defined/hazy/nebulous concept it likes to call "secularism", which in India means "the principle to uphold double-standards".

I wrote quite a few letters to The Hindu (during the Sep. 11 attacks on the US, the Gujarat elections) deploring the double-standards and shoddy analysis of the journalists, and unsurprisingly, none of them was published.

I then gave up trying to correct the newspaper, and thought that it might be a better idea to publicise the bias via the internet (I drew inspiration from spindianexpress on the web). After much procrastination, I have finally got down to it via this blog.

Satyameva Jayate!

To Vigneshwara

2005-12-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

Vakrathunda Mahakaya,
Kotisurya Samaprabha
Nirvignam Kuru Me Deva,
Savakaryeshu Sarvada