The ambiguity of Indian politicians

The recent spate of protests by farmers in Uttar Pradesh rocked the whole country. They protested violently against the government's policy of forcible acquisition without giving adequate compensation. Some reports suggest that the UP government paid 45 lakh rupees per acre and sold the same for  more than one crore rupees. In addition, the protests by farmers took an ugly turn recently when the policemen retaliated by trashing the villagers. Today, the Congree MP Rahul gandhi defied the UP state police and went on to meet the farmer's families. Good job Rahul Gandhi!!!!! But, think about these too.
Congress Government is in power in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Andhra police had violently dispersed the farmers in Sompeta, Srikakulam district. The farmers protested the acquisition of fertile marsh lands for the power projects. Rahul, where were you then. Why did you not reach these farmers???
Congree rules Maharashtra. They want to acuire fertile land to build the largest Nuclear Power plant in Jaitapur. Same old story. Atleast, the UP government paid some money for the farmers. the congree government just exploited the people. Rahul, could you go and meet these farmers too???

Sai Baba: The GOD

I am deeply affected by the sad incident on auspicious Easter. My beloved mother Sai left the mortal body to further enhance our faith. i say this because of the outpour of devotees from all over the world. The state machinery is just over whelmed to handle the heavy influx of devotees. I am one of the unfortunate ones who can not physically make it to parthi.
however, I am one of the fortunate ones to have basked in the Glory of say as a student from 1998 to 2003. the fives years changed my life drastically. These five years were very hard for me due to severe family problems. In spite of all these problems, I had peace. Its possible only by SAI.

The Canadian attitude?

I read with great interest and shock about the treatment of Canadian Embassy in India. funnily, it describes border security force (BSF), a paramilitary force fighting the militants in different parts of the country as a "dangerous organisation". BSF is protecting millions of Indians from animals which are known as terrorists sponsored by "friendly neighbours" who are tempted to heaven after death where they can enjoy some virgins (not clear about number). I feel that Canadian officials in India should not be let off easily. they should get the taste of their own medicine. let them go to one of our militant-infested areas without BSF protection.
The Canadians should never give visas to people associated with "dangerous organization" especially those associated with Guantanamo bay and Abu-Gharib tortures.they do not have balls to say that as their own land will be eliminated in the name of searching for weapons of mass destruction like that happened to Iraq. being mean with friendly people can have bad consequences for future!!

Green Zone: A reality or a myth?

This weekend, I watched the movie "Green Zone" starring Matt Damon. The story revolves around the possible intelligence failure regarding the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programme of Saddam Hussein government. The US army is unable to find the so-called  accurate locations of the facilities involved in WMD programme. It shows how some intelligence people distort the facts so that US government gets a reason to invade Iraq. The film ends with the chaos about the formation of new Iraqi government.
I should say that this movie is an eye-opener for me. One Iraqi general says that the US government never verified the facts before invading Iraq. It shows one chracter, a journalist from Wall Street Journal, who first reported the presence of WMD programme. However, the film shows the blame on the journalist and the intelligence agencies as the culprits. It fails to touch any aspect about White House.
The media should be careful when reporting any news. They should verify the facts before blindly publishing it. I am eager to see the media facing the music it normally gives to others. The so-called journalists who extoll the values of freedom of expression should be tried in media for their personal short comings. Unfortunately, media is a very strong weapon to shape public opinion and is indirectly controlled by political big-wigs and business interests. The public should read different opinions in the media before coming to a conclusion.
Seeing this movie, I feel that no country has the right to occupy the other country it feels a threat to others. Imagine country like India attacking the countries harboring terrorists. Does the so-called world police man allow it? Of course, our Indian politicians are more worried about the internal politics of money and sleaze than the security of the country.

The employees and the employers

I just was amazed to see the news about Infosys employees and their frustration using social networking sites. Since ages, the employees were not given much rights and conditions favored the employer. During the slave trade era, the slaves were the property of their masters even according to law! The abolition of slavery put a burden on the masters in terms of money and rights. Thanks to modern age, with the advent of communism the formation of trade unions is the key to protect the interests of the employees.
I was reading the comments of this article in the message board. Surprisingly, I could not see one positive aspect or comment about that company. The so-called "mentor" of Infosys, Hon'ble Narayan Murthy always preaches values and things that do not fit into the way Infosys treats it's employees.I was surprised how this company grew inspite of such frustration amongst the employees. I had the chance to interact with some software professionals. I still wonder how you can earn so much salary in spite of having average intelligence. I rarely find people who are really qualified for the job. The so-called "Best Employer Award" given by a media house needs to reconsidered in wake of such allegations.
I still wonder how the so-called founders of the company can live with such guilt and preach moral values!

The maturity of Indian politicians

Indian politics is dominated by two dominant parties: Congress and Bharatiya Jantha Party (BJP). Though Congress dominated most of the time for first 40 years post-independence, BJP emerged in the last few decades. I was upset seeing the behavior of Indian politicians over the period of time. Way back in 1980s Jayalalitha was physically handled by the opposition members in the Tamil Nadu assembly itself. Indian politicians are renowned to use the mikes in front of their benches as missiles!!!
Now coming to the maturity of politicians. During the Bangladesh liberation war in 1970s, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee praised the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of Congress Party for her courage. Recently, Women's reservation bill was introduced in the Indian Parliament to ensure 33% reservation for women in parliament and state assemblies. Luckily, both Congress and BJP came on same side, while the parties such as Rashtriya Janta Dal, Samajwadi Party etc vehemently opposed it. I should appreciate the maturity shown by BJP in supporting the Congress with respoect to passage of Women's reservation bill. (During Kargil war, however, the then leader of opposition, Sonia gandhi of Congress,  gives a word of caution to the then BJP prime minister not to take credit for the success of this war, but lies with the people!!!!)
In response to the "Dantewada Massacare" in which 72 CRPF paramilitary jawans were ruthlessly killed by red terrorists "Naxalites", the Indian home minister Mr Chidambaram, offered to resign claiming moral responsibility. I was impressed with the maturity shown by the opposition BJP which asked him not to resign. They felt that  the resignation by home minister is like accepting defeat in the war with terrorists.
I hope the politicians become more mature and keep the interests of the people in mind rather than their politicial ideologies. I hope the red terrorists do the same.

Does awards really matter?

Getting a nobel prize is a dream for many scientists. It is also a recognition for "peace". but, when Nobel peace prize was awarded to Barack Obama recently, I lost all the respect I had for Nobel prize. If I were a billionaire with lots of political clout and lobbying capabilities, I could even get nominated for a Nobel Prize!!! Probably, Osama Bin Laden should consider lobbying for Nobel peace prize as he is fighting the "holy war" for muslims!!!
I was surprised that Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. Nobel committee will have its own explanations. But, non-westerners know the fact that Sweden or Norway do not want to insult the colonial power of the time, Britain. It would have made mockery of the British colonial empire and have given impetus to the ongoing Indian Freedom struggle. Thankfully, Gandhi's own country men gave him the honor of "Father of Nation" (though they killed him themselves). Anyway, how can they award a peace prize from the money which is the profits earned due to the discovery and sale of substance that killed many people in the world: dynamite. The people accepting Nobel prize for peace should think about this before accepting the award.
Now for the film awards. The so called Oscar awards have a category for best foreign film. Hindi film Lagaan was nominated to Oscars in that category in 2001. It failed to win it. In 2009, another India centric movie "Slumdog Millionaire" got nominated and won couple of Oscars. While Lagaan shows the victory of Indian villagers over colonial Britishers, The Slumdog Millionaire shows the slums and their conditions in India. It is for the readers to judge the attitude of the so called western media. They still see India as slum filled country (even developed countries have it!!).
Thankfully, Aamir Khan does not go to such award functions (he's been to Oscar anyway) stating that they do not have credibility. In India, after the success of "Taare Jameen Par" he was awarded Gollapudi Srinivas Rao Award in 2007 which is given to best debutant film director in memory of the young director who passed away during the shooting of his first film. Type "aamir khan crying"  in you tube. You will see this function where he is felicitated by K. balachander, Anupam Kher and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. I believe awards should have such importance. This award I feel is the right one. Not the usual annual awards for the paparazzi and endorsements.