Does Dr. Manmohan Singh deserve the tag Mr. Honest?

I could not restrain from writing a commentary on this topic. The Congress has been hiding all the scams that it has been accused of behind the face of our Honorable Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who as you would expect enjoys a clean image, as he is perceived to be. The UPA government has been very successful in doing so, the list of scams include but does not restrict to the Sashi tharoor and his IPL controversy, Common Wealth Games, Adarsh housing society, the much talked 2G and other issues of national interest like soaring Inflation, deregulation of oil price, Maoism, Chinese infiltration, Pakistani Terror Camps, so on and so forth.

All the scams and concerns were hidden behind a ceiling, which is nothing but our Prime Minister’s Mr. Clean, Mr. Honest image.  But considering the recent developments, unfolding of 2G spectrum outrage and the prime minister’s reaction, response to the Supreme Court has provoked me to write on the topic, "Does Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deserve the tag Mr. Honest?"  Read on..

Well, many of us feel that Manmohan Singh is a honest man, as long as he does not benefit personally, whether or not he allowed crooks like Raja to loot precious resources of the country like the 2G Spectrum. But permitting crooks to loot the nation’s resource is not the sign of any man who claims to be honest or clean and in my opinion he is culpable as well.

The Congress might put forth it’s defence that it has to stick on to it's Coalition Dharma to avoid elections mid way, but every right thinking man would adhere to the standpoint that no amount of coalition compulsion can justify permitting such a mammoth loot of nation’s resource.

It is not so that the entire misappropriation of the spectrum took place without the knowledge of the prime minister, time and again Raja has been claiming via the media that the PM is fully aware of whatever he has done. On November 1, 2007, the then Union law minister H R Bhardwaj replying to the Department of Telecommunications recommended an empowered group of ministers (eGoM) and getting legal opinion of the attorney general. The finance ministry had also recommended an eGoM. Raja wrote to the prime minister objecting to an eGoM stating it was not an inter-departmental issue. The PM kept quiet or rather batted for Raja ignoring Bhardwaj and the recommendations of the finance ministry.

On May 2010, when the PM made a rare public appearance while addressing a press conference marking the 1st anniversary of the UPA-II, Manmohan Singh gave a clean chit to Raja by stating that the minister had followed the procedures and everything was done in accordance with the rules. He said, “What the minister did was to implement a policy that was already in place. It would have been unfair to new entrants if a new yardstick is used. You have to look at it in proper perspective.” He said that the watchdogs — the TRAI and the telecom commission — had both approved the policy on the 2G auctions and since complaints were received, the CVC and the CBI were looking into it.  He added, “If I come to know that there is any involvement at any level, we will take action.” When he said this, spectrum corruption was very much within his knowledge.

Now looking at the CAG, it has clearly indicted Raja on several grounds, ineligible applicants, not fixing 2008 prices and ignoring recommendation for an eGoM are some of them.  Any individual with a rational, sound mind would know that several facts go against Manmohan Singh.  The most important of it is the petition filed by Subramanian Swamy in Nov 2008 seeking sanction to prosecute Raja (Please note that it requires the PM’s sanction to prosecute a cabinet minister).  The PM neither accept nor reject the petition filed by Swamy, he has been sitting on it all these days which is why the Supreme Court has questioned the PM for alleged inaction.

After all, what Manmohan Singh could do is to make the Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati represent him in the Supreme Court in place of Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium.

Secondly, the PM had the CAG interim report in his hand by April, 2010. The interim report, as Swamy says, is no different from the final report because CAG was not convinced with the answers given to their queries.

Thirdly the PM himself has been shielding Raja all these days. Raja has carefully built his defence. The PM has written to him in November 2007 suggesting that the entry fee be revised considering innumerable applications and auction be followed.  Raja replied to him on the same day that it was capricious to follow the auction method and that he preferred the 2001 price.  The prime minister has acknowledged the letter but did not write back opposing or supporting Raja’s views.  That gave Raja a strong handle to go about saying that the prime minister knew everything and he had informed Manmohan Singh the procedures he followed.  Why did the PM not stop the telecom minister? His own Ministry of Finance has objected to the price and the procedure. The high-powered telecom commission was not consulted at all.  Now, evidence of several officers having protested may surface but they were all within the knowledge of the people involved, and certainly in the knowledge of the prime minster.

Above all came the master stroke, PJ Thomas who has been facing corruption charges was appointed as the chief of the Central Vigilance Commission (The CVC) which is a watchdog agency. This yet again has attracted severe criticism from the Supreme Court.  The Apex court has asked the Government to explain the procedures followed for appointment of the CVC.

All the above cited reasons will make every right thinking citizen of this country to contemplate the question “Does Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deserve the tag Mr. Honest?”

Jai Hind.

As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome.

A Perspective on CASTEISM vis-à-vis Cultural Nationalism

I never wanted to write something on caste until a friend of mine was discussing with me that she isn’t able to convince her parents on her marriage plans as the one she wanted to marry belongs to a different caste. Well, to be very frank this is not something unusual in today’s society. Therefore I made a sincere attempt to understand how the caste system evolved over a period of time and how it is interpreted rather misinterpreted by today’s social order by and large.

Read on..

Although many Hindus subscribe to the belief that one is born into a certain caste, this belief is not supported by their scriptures (Holy Books). The caste system in India has degenerated into a system falsely recognizing men born in Brahmin families as Brahmins, even though they don’t exhibit the qualities of Brahmins. This has caused so many problems and I say with conviction, most of it is “Self Imposed”.

Let us try and understand the Castes’ i.e. “Varnasrama Dharma” as explained by Lord Krishna, the creator himself..

Brahmanas – Are the ones who possess and practice “Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness”.

Ksatriyas - “Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the ksatriyas”.

Vaisyas - “Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaisyas”

Sudras - Are those “who offer their labor and service to others”.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that “I created the castes, the caste system is created by me through the distribution of Gunas (tendencies, qualification or quality) and Karma (action, deed, work), meaning that according to what we do in this world here, so will our character be. Though I am the Creator of these things, do not think that I am partial, that I am taking sides, that I am performing actions; I am beyond the Gunas”.

According to Lord Krishna different people with different skill sets and qualification are categorized to perform their respective duties for the betterment and welfare of the society. But please note that the same lord Krishna mentions in the Gita that CASTE as explained above is not by BIRTH but by QUALIFICATION and WORK.

It was natural that a child born in a Brahmin family would be accustomed to the environment and naturally acquires the qualities to become a qualified Brahmin, likewise same was the case with Ksatriyas, Vaisyas and the Sudras. However no one could stop a Sudra from becoming a Brahmin if he desires to be so, of course after acquiring the necessary traits and qualification to become a Brahmin.

Let me try to explain this with a small example, let us assume four different professions in the society, Advocates, IAS officers, Doctors and Chartered Accountants. An advocate’s son or a Chartered Accountant’s son does not automatically qualify to step into their father’s shoes just because of their birth in respective families, if they wish so, they need to qualify themselves by clearing the necessary exams, internships, practice etc. The same way, a Doctor’s son can always aspire to become an IAS officer or a Chartered Accountant.

Now over a period of time, if all the IAS officers decide to make their children IAS officers, all the Judges decide to make their children Advocates and be obstinate that they would get their children married only to families which practice the same profession as theirs’ will that be fair? NO right, which is what, is happening in today’s India.

The qualities of a Brahmin are clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gita:

samo damas tapah saucam

ksantir arjavam eva ca

jnanam vijnanam astikyam

brahma-karma svabhava-jam

“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness–these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work.”

These days, the samskaras (Hindu Rites) are generally not performed or not properly performed and the gurukuls, the training schools for the boys, are no longer in operation. So there is generally no training or practice. Therefore these sons of Brahmins who have no brahminical training have to be called “dvija-bandhus” or friends of the Brahmins. Unless they actually have the qualities of Brahmins and work as Brahmins they can’t be called a Brahmin, the same is applicable to the other three castes as well. You may even be qualified as a lawyer educationally but if you don’t practice, if you don’t work as a lawyer, no one will accept you as a lawyer.

A self proclaimed Brahmin or a Ksatriya for that matter (Just because his or her forefathers were once Brahmins and Ksatriyas), who neither posses the qualification nor the qualities to become one, feels hesitant to get their children married to ones who belong to some other caste, say Sudra or Vysya for no reason. It’s nonsense isn’t it?

Even during the period of Vedas, there were no restrictions in inter caste or inter societal marriages, it was left to the discretion of the individuals and there are ample evidences to support this fact. Let us take our very own Ramayana, Rishi Vishrava, the father of Ravana who was born to the great Rishi Pulastya (who was one amongst the 7 Sapta Rishis) got married to Kaikesi, who was born to an Asura King Sumali. We know the story of Rishi Vishwamitra who was once a Ksatriya Emperor who later became a Brahmin sage, a Brahma Rishi in fact who are considered to be members of the highest class of Rishis. These are just a few well known examples from the Puranas, as there are umpteen of them.

Let us truly introspect ourselves; the self proclaimed so called Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vysyas, Sutras and thousands of communities which fall under these four categories, think that they are more sanctified than Rishi Vishrava, Brahma Rishi Vishwamitra or the Lord Krishna himself, If so, I am sorry to say, they must be making a complete fool out of themselves.

Mahakavi Bharathi, although born into an orthodox Brahmin family, gave up his own caste identity. One of his great sayings (Jathi irandozhiya verillai) which meant, 'There are only two castes in the world: one who is educated and one who is not. Once he said that he would be the happiest person on earth if his daughter gets married to a harijan.

We have very high regard for Mahakavi Bharathi and his poems; we sing his songs but neither understand its substance nor practice it in our lives. It’s high time that we wake up to the reality; it is not Lord Krishna or the Bhagavat Gita which says NO to inter caste marriages but our very own FEAR of rejection, dejection in family and societal circle which ultimately compels us to say NO. We are a part of the same Society which we fear to, be the change, the society would perfunctorily accept the change.


The concept of ‘cultural nationalism’ enjoins upon the adherents of different faiths in India to respect, and take pride in the common unifying culture of our ancient land while celebrating its many diversities.  Let us respect our rich culture and tradition our forefathers have left behind, let us take pride that we belong to this nation which is as diverse as the universe itself, let us esteem our rare and unique Vedas & Upanishads. Let us NOT get LOST by marginalized thoughts and emotions on castes which is relatively a recent development in our long standing history.

The need of the hour is CULTURAL NATIONALISM and not CASTEISM.

Jai Hind.

Note – I have referred to many websites, journals, blogs on Hinduism, Ramayana and the Bhagavat Gita, therefore I do not claim the above post as a result of my own, original thought process. This is just an expression of my perspective and how I look at the caste system.

Your comments and thoughts are most welcome.

Is the WEST on the Road to Recovery?`

Paul Krugman, the winner of the Noble prize for Economics in the year 2008, says “Much of the past 30 yrs of study in Macroeconomics was spectacularly useless at its best and positively harmful at its worst”..!!  

My concern is that, despite this fact, the WEST fails to recognize the failure of extreme consumerism and its largely appreciated spending driven economic model, more so because it is trying to correct its mistake by obligating the same mistake all over again.  

Well, now let us understand the economic model for growth and development the west has been relying and advocating for decades.  Shop for growth, spend for development was the sole mantra of the US government, the policymakers and the so called intellectuals were literally running a campaign “Shop for America”.

As an extension to this, the Fed started to cut down the interest rates to near zero levels.  In the 1980’s the US prime rate was as high as 21.50% which has dwindled to 3% for now.  The policymakers were encouraging the alarming trend of not just spending, but even went to the extent of propagating “borrow and spend”, it is with this intention the interest rates were curtailed and brought down to near zero levels. 

There is absolutely no incentive for the people in the US to park their savings in the Bank since his or her savings would yield a negative return (if inflation is taken into consideration).  The then Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan once in his speech said that people save in the 3^rd world Asian countries because of the reason that they felt insecure of their future and the government of such countries were not capable enough of providing social security to the poor, unemployed and the aged.  

Mr. Greenspan failed to recognize the fact that in countries like Indian and Japan unlike the west, it is the family and the society which forms the basis for social security and not the government.  In India, the father takes care of his unemployed son till he is on his own, the son takes care of his aged parents, and the disabled siblings are taken care of by the family, the orphans and the left alone oldies are taken care by the society.  

Therefore people in India SAVE, they do so not because they are insecure of their future but to support their family and the society.  A father saves because he has to fund his son’s education and daughter’s marriage; a son saves because he has to take care of his aging parents.  This family and society driven economic model is the structural difference between the West and the East.

In the West the families are disrupted, 51% of the 1^st marriages end in divorce, 65% of the 2^nd marriages end in divorce and a whopping 70% of the 3^rd marriage end in divorce, thereby there is no ownership or obligation for the citizens towards their family, neither a necessity to save. 

The savings to GDP ratio is a stunning 35% in India which is one of the highest in the world, whereas the savings to GDP is negative in the America.  There is absolutely no necessity for the Indian government to rely on foreign investments to fund its fiscal deficit or infrastructural, industrial development.  I would like to state the fact that it is a mere 2% of India’s investment which is funded by the FII’s and the FDI’s the rest 98% is generated from within the country by the domestic household savings, while the West is compelled to borrow money from India, China, Japan and other emerging economies to lend its citizens who are used to the trend of borrowing and spending.

With a national debt of $ 1 billion in the beginning of the 20th century, the federal budget deficit accelerated, topping out at $290 billion for 1992.  The total deficit for fiscal year 2009 was $1.42 trillion, a $960 billion increase from the 2008 deficit.  The US fiscal deficit is projected to touch a staggering $9.05 trillion in the next ten years forecasting the social security and healthcare commitments.

It is this attitude of extreme consumerism which is the prime cause of the current economic mess which the America has successfully exported to the world.  The consolidated Fiscal deficit of America runs to trillions and still growing, the US has been selling treasury bills and printing money to fund its deficit which is clearly an unsustainable model.  The US treasury bills which are considered the safest instrument in the world are not safe anymore as there are no real assets to back these bills.

Any rational economist would call for a structural change in the economic model to come out of the vicious cycle, now that would mean inculcating the habit of savings to its citizens, but the Fed and the policymakers don’t seem to even realize their mistake, forget rectifying.  That is why I said at the beginning of this post that the US is trying to correct its mistake by obligating the same mistake all over again.  

Trust me "the worst is yet to come", read on.

The US has been pouring billions of taxpayers money into the so called “Too big to fail Banks”.  Too much of fiscal stimulus does no good to an economy; rather it pulls down the sovereign rating as a result of increased Deficit to GDP ratio.  As a result people, banks, financial institutions and the world economy by and large would have lost faith in the US treasury bills and that would be the trigger for the 2^nd round of recession (well, not necessarily depression).

 I just burst into when Obama said that his Government had succeeded in stabilizing the US economy.  Nothing is going to change unless and until the people of the US start saving, they can’t go on a borrowing spree as the model in itself isn’t sustainable.  The government must incentivize savings by way of hiking the interest rates, now that calls for a paradigm shift in the way the US economy had been operating for decades.  Yes, it would lead to chaos in the short run as the consumption would take a hit, but it will be a blessing in disguise since people would learn to live within their means.

For decades the people in the US have been net borrowers, and to make debt available to its people the Fed borrows from other countries by way of selling treasury bonds.  When it comes to India, China or Japan the government borrows from its own people, it is the net savings of the people which funds the deficit of the government and not outside borrowings.

Therefore I am sure of the fact that the US is in deep trouble and the bubble can burst anytime, this time the reason for the muddle would be treasury bubble as it was the real estate asset bubble in 2008.

My words are highly influenced by Shri. Gurumurthy Ji, a charted accountant, economist, columnist and an investigative journalist.  

Your comments and thoughts are most welcome.

“Globalization” – Why is it a bad word in the West?

Once the Americans were propagating Globalization to whole of the world, all of a sudden after the recent slump in their economy and subsequent (Jobless) Recovery, it has become anti national which steals away high end American Jobs.

Globalization and Liberalization are not one and the same as many of us believe, these are two different phenomena which we mistook to be one and the same.. In 1991 when India was Bankrupt, what the country required was Liberalization i.e. the abolition of License Raj to encourage domestic entrepreneurs and industrialists, contrarily what the Narasimha Rao led Congress Govt introduced was pink Globalization which ultimately crushed many small and medium scale companies due to unfair competition by huge Multi Nationals which ultimately led to job losses across the country..!! We had to bear the human cost then in the early 90’s which was thrust on us.

The Americans advocated Globalization to India and other 3rd world countries in the 90’s so that they can expand the market reach for their products produced by American companies which were saturated otherwise. The same Americans resort to Protectionism by way of giving tax breaks to companies which doesn’t outsource, hike H1B fee to curtail Indian skilled professionals to work in the US, bans Govt projects being given to Indian companies.

So let us wake up and understand, the Americans imposed on us the so called growth engine LPG not to help us but to help themselves, to sell their products, to produce goods which they were tired and bored of producing so that they can happily consume. Since highly paid technology jobs are outsourced to India the same globalization has become a foul word for the Americans and they resort to protectionism..!! America is taking a different attitude. This is not a betrayal of an ideology. It is merely a re-definition of self-interest — and self-interest was always the name of the game anyway.

I might sound like a communist for my views but fortunately I am not :-), my point is that globalization is a great idea indeed, but all nations would do whatever furthers their own interests. Let us not get emotional and curse the Americans for their current policies or praise them as we did in the late 90’s for spearheading globalization, it’s better if we stick to our rationale and do what would best suite us.

Your views and comments are invited.

Just another Love story..

Mom, I have told you umpteen times, I am accepting this proposal only for the sake of you and dad, so please don’t bother me for heaven sake, do whatever you feel like, Rathi screeched and rushed to office grabbing her laptop bag.

At least see his photo Rathi, pleaded Kousalya (Rathi’s mom) from near the gate where Rathi was about to leave.  But Rathi had already started, mom, see it for yourself, if possible you marry him and do keep dad informed, after all he has been nice to you all these years hasn’t he.. don’t worry, I will surely attend your marriage, Rathi chuckled and left for her day’s work.

Kousalya came inside sighing, what is she up to asked Mr. Srinivasan (Rathi’s Dad), no positive response from her as yet, she is still the same, responded a visibly worried Kousalya.

She is not even willing to take a look at the guy’s photo, how could we go ahead with the arrangements? Asked Kousalya, at least she has given her consent for getting married, that too after long years of struggle, so don’t complain, she will be alright as and when things proceed told Mr. Srinivasan and left for office.

On the other side…

Mom, I have been asking for her number, it has been close to 3 weeks now, mumbled Krishna, resting on the couch, dressed in shorts and tee.  After listening to Krishna Mr. Prasad (Krishna’s dad) came down and asked Radhika (Krishna’s mom), hasn’t he left to office yet?  All his teammates are going for an outing it seems, he has informed them that he is not coming, he has decided to rest at home replied Radhika.

Hmmm, so what was he asking you, asked Mr. Prasad, we had met the girl’s family last week right, they seem a perfect match for our family, they conveyed their consent over the phone yesterday, we are going to fix them right? asked Radhika in her gentle tone..

Yes yes, there is no second thought at all, replied Mr. Prasad firmly.  That is the reason he has been pestering me to get that girl’s phone number, he wants to get introduced and talk to her it seems, Radhika conveyed Krishna’s interest to Mr. Prasad. 

Oh, is it, careful Radhika, make sure that this fellow does not spoil this engagement, told Mr. Prasad and started his car and left for the day’s work.

Oh mom, for god sake, I know how to go about girls, I have been moving around with them since I was a kid, now are you going to get me her number or should I approach her parents directly? Krishna asked irritable.  Don’t worry son, be patient, I will get you her number today, Radhika consoled Krishna.  The same day Radhika spoke with Rathi’s parents and got her number.

Krishna knew that Rathi would start from Mylapore metro station to reach her office that is located in Taramani, he wore his new UCB shirt and crushed jean, started his bike and rushed to Mylapore station to take the first glimpse of Rathi..

He got his ticket and sat on the first bench in the station, he was eagerly awaiting Rathi’s arrival, he had seen Rathi in photo but this was the first time he was about to meet her in person.  He was a little tensed and anxious about the fact that he was going to meet her for the very 1^st time.  A little fear, anxiety, expectation, happiness, a bit of all actually made Krishna a little nervous, who was otherwise an extremely confident youngster.

Krishna noticed a gorgeous girl climb through the stairs.  A blend of milk white and cyan blue was the color of her salwar, her loosely held hair that kissed her shoulders were a blend of black and brown shade, fine-looking round face, a cute dimple in her cheeks, she was so beautiful, even girls would envy her beauty and she was none other than Rathi…  Krishna understood why film directors chose foreign locations to shoot duet songs..  Yes, after having a glimpse of Rathi, Krishna felt as if he was in Switzerland surrounded by pure white snow all around..  She was walking through like an Angel who has been temporarily deputed on earth, straight from heaven.  The beautiful amongst the most beautiful was walking towards him, slowly she came towards Krishna, not yet recovered from the stun, the first word that Krishna uttered to her was “thanks”…

But the next very minute Switzerland became Mylapore metro station again, the scorching sun rays fell directly on his face, he kept glaring at the train with a gloomy face.  He did not even realize what happened to him that moment, reason being Rathi’s indifference; she did not even acknowledge the thanks expressed by Krishna.  She boarded the train as soon as she reached the platform.  A guy who was rushing to catch the train fell on Krishna and both of them fell down, only then he came back to his senses.  Immediately he took his mobile to call Rathi but her mobile was switched off.  Krishna was entirely exhausted.  Pushed to his limits, Krishna took his mobile out in the parking lot and sent a text message “Hi” to her and came back home…

Radhika was standing outside when Krishna arrived, where were you?, here only mom, I just went to recharge my mobile, told Krishna.  You have a postpaid connection right? Asked Radhika, not for me mom, it was for my friend, they have been to outing right, so he had requested me to recharge his mobile, told Krishna, before Radhika could shoot her next question Krishna requested for hot idly, as he was really hungry, needless to say, Radhika is known for her jasmine idlys (with coconut chutney).  He got inside his room and undressed his new UCB shirt and crushed blue jean that he had worn, of course with a sense of annoyance.  It could be so that she didn’t notice me at all, Krishna told to himself. Come and have your idlys, he could hear his mom…

Just while coming out of his room Krishna remembered his mobile, he ran to grab his mobile, he could not control his happiness as he noticed a message from Rathi…  He opened the message, it read “Who is this” he felt bombarded.  “This is Krishna.. My parents have met your family and I believe they have planned our engagement, today I came to Mylapore station to meet you, that is when I tried calling you.. I hope this intro is sufficient” Krishna sent a long message to her, after a minute Krishna got a reply from her which read “S”, after seeing the reply Krishna was highly discouraged, what the hell man, why is she reacting like this, probably she doesn’t like me?, she so egoistic just by looks man, this is not gonna work..  Krishna convinced himself and started playing games in his X-Box (supposedly his 1^st wife)..

Comfortably placed on his bed, he browsed through his morning memories of Rathi, his ego, self esteem and all other odd stuff took a backseat, again he sent her a message “Good Night :-)”, after ten minute he got a reply from her “GN”.. Nobody can cut short a good night message any further.  What the hell man, why is she behaving like a weirdo, from now on if I talk to her it is as good as insulting myself deliberately, thought Krishna, he threw his mobile and dozed….

Krishna got up the next morning, without even realizing what he is up to, he got ready and went to the metro station as if he is going to office and sat on the same bench expecting his women.  He noticed her while she was climbing the stairs, again Mylapore metro became Switzerland, he took his mobile out and called Rathi…  She was rushing towards the platform as fast as she could, she noticed her mobile ringing, “Krishna Calling” she took a 360 degree view around her and picked his call and said “Hello” there could be no one on this earth who is more beautiful than this gorgeous lady, Krishna told to himself mesmerized at her astounding beauty.. Again “Hello”, after a minute Krishna came to the present and told what he wanted to convey in the very beginning when he met her “Thanks”.  Walking towards the platform, puzzled Rathi asked “why are you thanking me??”  Now a day’s even average girls expect a NRI who is settled in the US or UK, that has become a basic filtering criterion, but you have decided to marry someone in Chennai, that too me….. Rathi interrupted even before he could complete..  Hello Krishna, are you a kind of a person who listens to parents and does not have a mind on his own??  Did your mom say that we both are getting married?? Let me tell you something, I am not at all interested in getting married as of now, I have even told this to my parents, but they are doing all this for their own satisfaction, in fact I have not even seen your photo… Go to office, do some work if you have one… while talking to him the line got disconnected as she boarded the train.  Krishna wasn’t able to get those last lines uttered by her, so he again tried calling her but she disconnected the call and sent him a message which read “Go to office, do some work if you have one” Krishna felt humiliated.  He was completely pissed.  No girl ever had behaved like this to him before…

But as soon as he reached office, Krishna messaged Rathi “When would you start from office after work?”, “Y” asked Rathi, “just to come and meet you in the station” replied Krishna.

“Krishna, don’t you have anything better in life to do? Or are you jobless” asked Rathi.  “What important job on earth could I have other than meeting you Rathi :)” replied Krishna.  But he never got any response from her the whole day.

Krishna did not take it to heart as he realized that it is her nature to be what she is, he did not go and wait for her at the station either.  But before going to bed he messaged her “Rathi, I need to tell you two things, I shall let you know by tomorrow morning.. Good Night :-)” after fifteen minutes he got a reply from her “GN”.  At the same time Kousalya came with the photos, at least take a look at his pics Rathi, me and dad would be satisfied and happy, she implored.  Please let me sleep mom, responded Rathi in an annoyed tone as usual..

Next day morning @ Mylapore Metro Station….

As expected, Krishna was waiting for her at the same place, the station began to transform to Switzerland, slowly, but gradually (as She was climbing the stairs)… her mobile started ringing “Krishna Calling”, yup, tell me Krishna, what are those two things which you wanted to tell, she asked..  Krishna took a deep breath and told “you are so beautiful” in a gentle tone, as if he was whispering into her ears.  What’s the 2^nd thing she asked in a livid tone.. “I don’t know whether angels exist but if at all they were, they would resemble you Rathi” told Krishna… He noticed a cute little smile on her face while she was boarding the train.  Each and every word uttered by Krishna showed a different dimension of Rathi to herself.  Krishna couldn’t control his happiness after seeing that smile on her round beautiful face, her cute little dimple just got deeper while she carried that smile, he jumped with joy without even realizing the fact that he was in metro station, the train had started by then, “I still have a lot to tell you Rathi” said Krishna over the phone, I am not able to hear you told Rathi and the line got disconnected.  She came and peeped out of the window to guess who could be Krishna in the crowd, this act of hers was being noticed by Krishna and he hid himself behind a shop.  With heart filled with tons of joy Krishna started from there.

After the morning incident, the whole day Rathi did not receive any message from Krishna, even without her consciousness she started to check her mobile to see if he had sent any.  She started to think how Krishna would look like. After reaching home from office she started to search for Krishna’s photo in her room, mom’s room, cupboard but she wasn’t able to locate.  What are you searching for asked Kousalya, nothing mummy, I was searching for my night suites, and she managed somehow and went to sleep.  When she checked her mobile “Good night :-)” it was from Krishna.  “Gud N8” she replied.  Much better this time, Krishna told to himself and went happily to sleep.

Next day it was already 8 30 in the morning, why hasn’t she reached station yet? Wondered Krishna and picked his mobile to give her a ring, she didn’t pick the call even after full ring; he was still starring at the stairs expecting his lady love.  All of a sudden his mobile started to ring, it was “Rathi Calling” while he said hello she could hear the train siren, “Are you waiting for me in the station Krishna” asked Rathi, yes I am, aren’t you going to office today? He asked, “Nope, I am on leave today” she replied, “Why what happened” he asked, “no, nothing happened, it’s just a casual leave, you please carry on Krishna” she told and kept the phone down. He too left for office.

Evening by around 4 30, Krishna received a message from Rathi “Busy??” immediately our hero picked his mobile and rushed to the coffee lounge.  He called her “tell me Rathi”, “what should I say, you must only tell, yesterday you told you need to tell a lot of things”, “yes I need to tell a lot of things indeed, shall I” asked Krishna with a smile on his face.

Hmmmm, replied Rathi..

“Do you know something, when I saw you for the 1^st time I felt as if my heart was in the midst of heavy snow, oh god what a ravishing beauty you are, I couldn’t feel the scorching sun, I wasn’t in a position to realize what was happening around, I just couldn’t afford to blink my eyes coz I would miss your face for a few micro seconds, I forgot myself..  I was astonished by that fact that  I was alone for so many years, do you know something, I have lost my shadow and not able to locate it for the past one week, finally I got to know that it has been following you all these days.. Flowers are blossoming from each and every cell of mine Rathi, and I could smell your sweet fragrance in them, my mind is completely occupied by your thoughts and you have taken complete control of my breath, to be precise, you have swept me off my feet Rathi.. I am living in a different world, how should I escape this tricky trap, I asked myself…  Some freak in my dream told me that if I hug you tightly and kiss you 101 times starting from your forehead to neck, everything would be alright..  What should I do now Rathi, please advise me” finished Krishna..

No sound or response from her side, “hello, you there” he asked…

“Hmmmm…” she responded..

“What should I do now Rathi.. Please advice…” he pleaded like a hungry child craving for milk..

After two minutes of silence “When are you going to marry and take me along with you Krishna” she asked..

Krishna could feel moist in his eyes, they were struggling to make it to his cheeks.. “I will tell you tomorrow when I meet you in person” he told and kept the phone down..

Night as usual before going to bed Krishna sent a message “Good Night :-)”… next second he got a reply from her “Good Night :-)” both of them were desperately waiting for the next morning, every passing second was like a year..

Next day morning at Mylapore Metro station….

Krishna had reached the station by 8 in the morning, he was wearing the same UCB shirt and crushed blue jean.  He had a white rose in his hand and was eagerly awaiting Rathi’s arrival; he could not take his eyes away from the stairs through which Rathi usually climbs to reach the platform.

Finally by around 8 30 Rathi climbed up the stairs, she was dressed in the same white and cyan blue salwar which she was wearing on the 1^st day when Krishna met her, it wasn’t deliberate though..  She noticed Krishna with a white rose in his hand, she couldn’t control her feelings for him, the whole environment was so sensational, she came and stood in front of him looking straight into his eyes, with her face slightly tilt and an adoring smile..

Without thinking for a moment Krishna bent down and stood on his knees before her and said “Hey Rathi, I am in love with you, truly, madly, deeply..  I will hold you inside me throughout, like how the eyelids carry and protect the eyeballs..  Will you marry me sweetheart, finished Krishna by handing over the white rose to her..

Tears rolled from Rathi’s eyes as she accepted the rose from Krishna..

They both hugged each other the very moment.  The entire crowd had their eyes on the beautiful couple…

God bless the wonderful couple..  :-)

Women’s Reservation Bill in my perspective

I write this commentary at a time when the entire Nation is celebrating the Woman’s Reservation Bill.  The women MP’s rejoice this proud moment by galloping sweets.  The other leaders term it as the “onset of a new era” and a “historical moment” in Indian politics.  The self proclaimed intellectuals go one step forward to say that the entire political system would undergo a radical change once the bill takes effect; the media is in all praise of UPA Chief Sonia Gandhi for having taken such a strong decision with conviction to make woman’s reservation in the parliament a reality.

Now let us set aside all our emotions for a while and critically examine what would be the outcome if the Women’s reservation bill is passed in both the houses of the parliament. There is no doubt that the parliament strength would comprise of 33% Women, which is what this bill is bound to facilitate, well, on the face of it, certainly looks great isn't it?  There are lavish, ambitious assumptions like politics would become cleaner, corruption would come down, the women would be empowered, the nation would march towards progression and so on and so forth.  But let us not jump into conclusions being carried away by emotions, I indomitably believe that reservation, be it any form, does not reach the deserved in this great country; I can quote numerous examples which are obvious but do not want to, since it would deviate from the current topic.  The Bill is a deliberate attempt to force women into politics which will never help us achieve the desired results; rather it would lead to nepotism.  Read on.

Do you think that the downtrodden and the unprivileged women in the society will be given tickets to contest the elections?  NOT at ALL, only daughters, sisters, in laws, nephews, grand children and great grand children (who happen to be women) of current corrupt politicians would be given tickets to contest the polls, now how the hell on earth is it suppose to change the fate of politics in our country? I fail to appreciate.

Source: http://cartoonistsatish.blogspot.com

In the atmosphere of politics without ethics, women’s reservation would only help our fellow politicians to nurture more politicians within their family tree and multiple their net worth by leaps and bounds.  Is this what we boast as women empowerment?  Please revisit your opinion for heaven sake.

If we, as responsible citizens of this great democratic country truly aspire to empower women, then all we need to do is to ensure a level playing field where socially conscious, capable, deserving women leaders can willfully come forward and participate in politics, without any fear to contest the polls which shall  be free and fair, to make their way to the parliament and lead this country to prosperity.  Rather, forcing women into politics by way of reservation would only lead to unworthy, contemptible women MP’s & MLA’s who in turn shall act as proxies for filthy politicians hiding behind the veil.

  Source: http://cartoonistsatish.blogspot.com

Some might brand me as a conventionalist or an orthodox cocoon who is no longer relevant for the present generation for my views.  I can only laugh at them as they would themselves realize the hard facts after witnessing a couple of elections, a handful of women MP’s, MLA’s and their activities thereon.

In the meanwhile, this Bill would serve as a very effective tool for the Marketing & Vote generation campaigns of the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance in the consequent elections.  Thanks to all sort of Reservations and Quotas which the Congress has achieved in their 60 years of post independence politics.

Views expressed are personal, you are free to contradict, correspond by dropping your comments.  

Jai Hind

Friend..

WOW, I got my friend back!!

It is not that I have lost something and have got it back; she, my friend, was within me all these days, it is just that I saw her reciprocate the feelings which I had for her. She is a friend of mine who has found a very special place in me, so deep to the extent that it is not possible even for me to dig her out, even if I want to.

Well, so much has happened in my life in the past couple of years, it has been more of my mistake and I have to confess.

I tried by various means to get in touch with her, now this is what irony is, I lost my mobile phone with which I lost her number as well. After being used to cell phones and phonebooks we have lost the habit of remembering numbers haven’t we? I wrote to her 5 to 6 times, all my mails went without a reply, how can she not reply to my mails? Wherein I had expressed how much she means to me and how much I miss her. Is her heart made of stone? I asked myself, NO was the answer given by the other me.

Somehow my instinct kept telling me that she is not such a cold-blooded person who is stonehearted who would not respond to my mails in which I had apologized a million times for all the blunders I had committed. Either my mails have not made their way to her inbox or she has not checked her mails or the mail id is no more active. I tried to reach her in Orkut, Facebook and thru’ other networking sites but all my efforts went in vain. Might be she had no account in these networking sites. It’s crazy that I could not reach out to my friend in the current era of Facebook, Twitter, etc! But that was the harsh reality.

It has been two years since we had an interaction, two full years have been wasted without my beautiful friend, let me tell you, its very hard in this self-centered world to get a selfless friend like her, I did get, but lost her in due course. It is like you own a BMW and you chuck it just because you didn’t know how to drive it!! Funny isn’t it?

Well, it would be bit of an overstatement if I say I thought about her every day, no I didn’t, to be frank enough, but whenever I spend time alone, whenever I think about my high school days, whenever I feel lonely, whenever I spend time alone at the sea shores, whenever I am at my terrace gazing the lighthouse, whenever I listen to Sathiya songs, whenever I roam around Kutchery road & Santhome, whenever I pass by Sankara Academy, whenever my friends ask about her, whenever I realized my mistakes, my mind would be occupied by her thoughts.

The time & days that I had spent with her were so beautiful to the extent that it would bring a small drop of tear from my eyes; the droplet of tear would stagnate inside my eyeballs and would struggle to flow through my cheeks, rather I would not let them flow.

One fine day, when I was preoccupied with her thoughts an idea struck my psyche. She had sent me a lot of forwards (Chain Mails); I searched my inbox for such mails and found one such mail which she had sent to a group of recipients. I was quite sure of the fact that the forwards were sent only to her near, dear, close ones, I could see their mails id’s as well. I drafted a mail to one such close friend of her asking about her whereabouts. Whenever I check my mails I would await a reply, this continued for quite a few days but my efforts failed to bear fruits :-(.

Months Later:

Months later when I was driving to my office, I received a text message, normally I do not read, reply SMS or pick calls while I am driving, not that I am geeky or something, it’s just that am not too comfortable handling mobile phone while driving. But on that particular day when I was stuck in a signal I picked up my phone from my pocket to read the SMS, WOW, I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was SHE, my lost treasure who had pinged me, the message read -

“Hi Hari, its XYZ here.. My friend told me about your mail last night.. Just tears are coming from my eyes.. My heart is fully loaded wid happiness.. Jumping.. No words to express my happiness :-)”

Any clues, the way I would have reacted after reading her SMS? Well that’s left to your imagination guys :-). I do not find enough adjectives to explain my state of happiness or pleasure at that point of time. In a traffic signal where I was waiting for a Green light, the Almighty had signaled GREEN light by bringing my beautiful friend back in my life. It was peak summer, the temperature was more than 35 degrees and I felt as if I am driving through the hills of Ooty, that too on a rainy day :-).

WOW, I got my friend back!!

Thus I realized that it is not just me who missed her; she was even more desperate to reach me, she had missed me more than I missed her. Later I came to know that she had even come to my home once in search of me!! Now I remember a saying “Everything is prewritten and nothing could be rewritten”. That’s the power of DESTINY.

Note – Since I do not want to make my friend’s name public, I have mentioned has XYZ in the write up; nevertheless she has got a beautiful name ;-)

MADras by Night - Funny Night out

It was a Friday night, the time was around 10 P.M and I had decided to spend the whole night with my best buddies. Thank god Saturday was not a working day!!!! Luckily the company where I work did not expect me to be working on weekends :-).

I called my friend Anand and conveyed (convinced) him about spending the whole night roaming in the streets of the Singara Chennai city, well he was reluctant in the beginning but was fine with it, cool I was able to convince him.

I was not really happy of the fact that just we two of us are going to spend the night around the streets of Chennai without any specific Agenda, so I decided to rope in Kishore as well; the first reaction from Kishore was ok machi, suthallam :-) (Ok dude, let’s roam) He is really an awesome guy, never says NO to such stupid attempts :-).

I was pissed of waiting in my terrace for these guys. Kishore works with an airlines company in the customer service cell, he has to come all the way from the airport to Mylapore after his evening Shift, I killed time by listening to music in my ipod, finally Kishore came by 12 sharp, and the other lazy one came by 12 30 after our continuous perusal in spite of the fact that his home is just a five minute drive from mine :-(

So all set, we were three of us with two bikes without any explicit plans. Finally we decided to spend some time in Marina Beach. Beach is one amongst very few places in Chennai where you could spend ample time without spending even a single buck :-). The beach was just 15 min drive from my place, we managed to find a good place to sit and get pleasure from the sea breeze talking all extraneous things :-) there was hardly any topic which we didn't browse through - movies, gossips, state, central, office politics, our funny bosses, and of course GIRLS and life in general.

All of a sudden we all started to feel hungry, the reason could be that we talked and laughed so much so that we had completely exhausted all our calories :-). So the hunt started for a good restaurant to have our midnight meal, I must be crazy to expect a good hotel, we would have been more than happy to see a roadside shop open by that time (It must be around 2.30 A.M).

Kishore suggested that we will manage to find some good hotels inside the Central Railway station, if not inside at least in and around the Railway station. He was so damn sure that Hotel Saravana Bhavan inside Central station would be open but I was not too certain. So we started our bikes and headed towards the Railway station. It was just a ten min drive from beach to the station; we parked our bikes outside the station in an unauthorized place to have delicious, mouthwatering, finger licking food in Saravana Bhavan, but as I had anticipated all hotels were closed and we couldn't even find a tea shop in the nearby locality :-(. I and Anand yelled at Kishore for being so bombastic, made fun out of him, pulled his leg for some time and started our bikes in search of a tea shop. We eventually found a small roadside teashop which was located in a place where people come to pee :-(, but left with no other choice, we asked the shopkeeper to prepare 3 cups of special tea, we relished every sip of the tea with a couple of biscuits to munch. The midnight special tea in a not so good roadside shop was indeed SPECIAL.

After having some fun, we started driving towards my home where all three of us had planned to sleep. Finally we reached home early morning around 4:30 A.M, well I was in no mood to sleep, so convinced the other two that we would play cards till 5 and they agreed (since they were left with no other choice) :-). So we played a couple of games (Rummy), enjoyed our game thoroughly since winning or losing didn't actually matter, it’s the spirit of the game which held us high :-)

We guys disbursed by 6:00 A.M to sleep at our respective places, of course with lots of memories to cherish :-). Madras by Night was filled with loads & loads of fun.