The facets of YSR

For long time I believed that defeat of TDP and rise of congress in Andhra was due to resilence of rural mass.
But here is something to shatter the myth.

Some think that only Biharis and other North Indians are naturally violent, and that South Indians are meek and mild. The exploits of YSR show otherwise (as do the exploits of Prabhakaran in Sri Lanka).

Propaganda of congress in the media is particularly noteworthy. Check out the moron-giri here and here.

In 2003, YSR undertook a three month long paadayaatra, of nearly 2000 kilometer across the state. That helped him to become Chief Minister.

Shocked by the sudden and tragic end of their leader, 14 people died in different parts of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.

Award shward

I was reading about the Iron Man of India when I noticed that he was given Bharat Ratna in 1991, 41 years after he died. Isn't it ironical that man, who is the reason India stands today as united India, was given this award 41 years while Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi got Bharat Ratna in their lifetime.
And apparently Sardar Patel is not the only one.

Free Electricty and earth water

As long as this happens:
The free electricity was offered as an election gift to the farmers across state. The decision has been condemned in the past by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

that will also continue to happen.

War and Terror

In India I hear 'Hang kasab' from people, I don't hear 'Bring kasab to justice'.
What is so differetn over there at Uncle Sam's?

Delhi Female Births

This is the news in BBC: Delhi female births rise hailed.
>>The news has been hailed as a gender revolution in a country that has been struggling to get >>the balance right.

Calling it a 'revolution' and 'being hailed' is height of exaggeration, as calling it a news(for Indians) itself is too much. I am yet to see this news in any major Indian newspaper or on news-websitee. Indian media believes in 'ignorance is bliss' for every kind of news apart from which concerns gays or Bollywood.

On top of that mere growth in female births doesn't coclude anything. Any conclusion on behavioral change of people's mind related to female birth would also need percentage change in female foeticides happened in that year compared to previous year. And to become 'revolution' the trend would have to continue for a few years more. It could be a mere chance that in year 2008 newly-wed males were abundant in X chromosomes.

The Ugly Indian

"You will feel like sitting in DTC Bus in this flight", humored one of my co-passengers before boarding the flight who himself was an Indian. It was same flight third time in that year and is mostly packed with Indians. I can not deny the fact that Indians indeed are bad travelers.
And no its not a cultural thing as Jason seems to suggest:

“It's a cultural thing,” said Pankaj Gupta, part-owner of Outbound Travels, a New Delhi-based travel agency. “In India, we have servants to do everything in everybody's houses mostly, so people are just sort of used to getting stuff delivered to them.”

It could have been a cultural thing if middle class also would have the same luxury of keeping four maids and five servants. In my travels I have come across mostly middle class Indians or business visitors like me who come from IT industry and mind it, both of them are not affluent enough to have servants who could deliver every little thing at master's bedside.
I guess the hurry, the absence of courtesy, the greed for free stuff - all arise from the fact that India is horribly populated and there are limited resources. Any Indian has to become extremely competitive to survive and live a good life. Whether it's entry into educational institutions or fighting for jobs, Indians need to be fighters of first grade above all. Indians are not born competitive but over time their tendency to competition is fortified by the environment the live in. And this tendency to compete, and to extract every bit of value for one's money is what drives an Indian passenger.


The commercial aspect of Jason's solution will not work in this context:

What's the multicultural secret to a tranquil flight, you ask?
Five dollar whiskeys.

Because 'yeh pyaas hai badi, bhaiaa'

परदा

परदा था तो कभी वो भी मुस्कुरा के चले जाते थे
हसरत ए मोहब्बत ने परदा गिराने पे मजबूर कर दिया

अब वो भी देख लेते हैं तो कतरा के निकल जाते हैं
बेबाक इश्क़ ने हमको ज़माने की जागीर जो कर दिया

परदा था तो कभी वो भी मुस्कुरा के चले जाते थे...

Wretched State

First this(Kargil) and now this(Lal Bahadur Sashtry) , and I thought my jokes were bad...
Could any rant justify the wretched state of Indian diplomacy?

Strategy of an Economist

Perhaps ypu remember when the chocolate hero of INC saga gave the proof of his intellectual shrewdness when he called the Kandhar Hijack drama - buckling in front of terrorists. Perhaps lives of 178 people on the board didn't seem very crucial for India's future.

But then who cared that foreign strategy is not very much a game of an economist. Putting the whole nation's reputation and strategy at stake could be termed as strength of decision making, isn't it?

Or maybe sometimes it becomes difficult to understand simple things.
"A country does not become great by engaging other countries on their terms, particularly when those countries are waging war against it."

Rifts in Religion

The recent violence in state of Punjab once again has resurrected the issue of internal clash between sikh sects. Just two years back there was huge riot situation due to the controversy of impersonating of Guru Gobind Singh by Sacha Sauda leader Gurmeet Singh.

I believe the basic problem is the political influence on religious institutions and vice versa. The religion itself has never promoted caste or favorism to one kind of people over other. But then again, the influence of religious doctrines has been until the religious line; the doctrines were not successful in impacting the social and economic aspects of religion.[link - Sikhism as a ‘caste less’ religion] There was gap in Sikhism preachings while defining the socio-economic aspects of doctrine. Over the time, this gap has given rise to politcs and power-play between the different sects.

The attempt is to monopolise the master narrative of Sikh tradition, to eviscerate its diverse imaginings, and to concentrate power in organisations like the SGPC. You take all of these aspirations, and align them with religious politics and you will get the combustible mix that we are seeing in Punjab. [link]

The solution to the problem lies in the root of problem itself:

It is a truism that the conditions for generating an enlarged and liberal outlook are less a function of the doctrine of a religion, but more a product of the fragmentation of authority. When any tradition is comfortable with the idea that there is no monopoly over authority, over interpretation, it is more likely to be comfortable with internal dissent. [link]