India has again seen a painful chapter of bombings. Over 20 bombs targeted the Indian cities of Bangalore and Ahmadabad and killed 10s of innocent civilians and injured 100s.
While I feel very sad and rattled by the developments, I also fail to make sense of them. I only have questions for the militants on a killing spree and also questions for myself and all Indians.
A new Pepsi ad has coined the phrase ‘Youngistan’ by combining Young & Hindustan. The actor in the ad claims to be an alien from the planet Youngistan. However is Youngistan really a planet in outer space or is India and Youngistan one and the same? I say this as I can’t help but note that India is being totally customized for the young, rich and the healthy. I certainly don’t have anything against the Youngistanization of society. The young definitely should enjoy the prosperity and the growing disposable incomes of new India, but not by steadily ignoring other segments of society.
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After extensive research at Oak Labs, we believe we have discovered the secret of success in politics. It revolves around the simple concept of “Us vs Them”. The key to getting a mass following, winning elections and being a popular leader lies in the ability of the politician to clearly define an “Us vs Them” pattern.So throughout history and in all walks of life, the successful politician always has a clear understanding of who ‘Us’ is and who ‘Them’ are. It is the ability of the politician to convey this understanding that decides how successful he or she is. Here are some examples of Us vs Them. Rulers vs Natives, White vs Black, Democracy vs Dictators, Indian Cricket vs Aussie Cricket, Locals vs Migrants, Secular vs Communal, Believers in a Faith vs Non-believers, Underdeveloped vs Developed Countries and so on.
The chiefs of the 3 armed forces were recently exempted from security checks at airports. In the build up to this decision, you got quotes like “It is a shame that India cannot accord a small privilege for those who guard the country”. Since anything related to the forces always gets linked to patriotism and national pride, so naturally references to the same were made from all corners. Finally the government gave in and extended the privilege of exemptions from security checks. The minister added that it was “absolutely appropriate” that the people who defended the country’s borders should not go through the security check exercise. So ended the matter. The VIP list for exemptions got a little longer for another service. “No big deal. All’s well that ends well. Right?”
Not really. The basic premise for this or any VIP privilege is that a certain person’s time or pride is more important than that of ordinary citizens like you and me. This goes completely against my understanding of democracy and people’s rule. VIP privileges for a chosen few cannot be a part of a democracy. It’s understandable if a dictator is a VIP, but in democratic India, no minister, politician, military officer or even the Prime Minister can be a VIP. He is just another citizen of India chosen to lead and not to rule. Privileges to bypass the queue is just one aspect of the mammoth VIP baggage that the nation carries. In a supposed equitable society, the time and pride of my cook, driver, my boss or the Prime Minister of India should have the same value, at least on paper. There cannot be a government sanction for discrimination.
Post the T20 world cup, Dhoni is said to be making crores more and every other cricketer is making lakhs more. Good for them and best wishes to them. However something that isn’t good for us, is how our tax money was blown by every government in the country during the post world cup money distribution ceremonies. I have nothing against good old Ajit Agarkar or the promising Rohit Sharma, but I think it was not right of the State government to dole out 20 lakhs of tax payer’s money.
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Everyday we read stories about protests in the country where buses are burnt, trains are stopped, public and private property is damaged and so on. However one often feels that the creators of these protests do not get due credit for their work. The government releases figures about the property damages in rupees. However these figures don’t quite convey the true impact that a protest had on the nation. How useful would it be if earthquakes were reported not in a Richter scale but just in terms of the monetary loss of property? Only when someone tells you the Richter scale reading of the quake, do you truly feel the power of the quake. Considering India’s need for a scale for protests, the researchers at Oak Labs have devised the ingenious “OakTyre” scale for measuring the impact of social unrests.
The basic unit of measurement in the OakTyre scale is a “Tyre”. Like we measure distances in meters, we measure protests in Tyres. So the measuring scale goes as follows
For several years I have been planning to use the Right To Information (RTI) to get information and facts on things that bother me in the city. I read up on the subject, talked with friends, blogged about it, but never managed to take the most important step, that of using the right and asking for information. I even explored every possibility in which I could get information without having to visit the Pune Corporation office. Unfortunately that’s not possible. If you want information you have to work hard for it.
So I picked a Saturday when I did not have much else planned. Picked some RTI form samples from the net and filled up three forms asking for information from the PMC. The first form asked information about footpaths / pavements in Pune. The second about parking provisions that commercial buildings need to make as per corporation rules and the third asking for information about the PMC’s e-governance initiatives. I will write details of the information I sought and the response I got, when I do get the information. For the time being I will stick to the submitting the form part. A friend of mine who has been complaining for years about the stray pig menace in Shivteerth Nagar, Kothrud accompanied me hoping to submit his complaint to the relevant department and to finally rid his locality of the pigs.
(Cont…Click here for the entire article). Published as part of my fortnightly column for the Maharashtra Herald
What’s the difference between the prime minister’s speech on 15th Aug 1947 and 15th Aug 2007? What’s the difference between the president’s and chief minister’s TV addresses in the 80s and those in 2007? The content and the speakers sure have changed, but there have been no changes in the medium of delivery. While technology and presentation mediums have improved dramatically, government and political addresses are still consistently delivered in a dry boring format. In their current form, these speeches would be watched only if the nation is going through some crisis and people are looking for direction from the leader, a la Mussharaf in a troubled Pakistan. However at other times, I wonder how many countrymen would watch for more than a few minutes….
(Cont…Click the scanned article image on the left). Published as part of my column for the Maharashtra Herald that’s published on alternate Saturdays )
Security today is big business in Indian cities. It’s perhaps the profession that has undergone the most change over the past decade. Not just shopping malls and multiplexes but even small shops, restaurants and housing societies today have an abundance of security staff. A housing society might not have proper water supply but it will have a team of uniform clad and baton brandishing security staff. Makes one wonder if it’s a need of the times or if we are just getting increasingly paranoid.
Security guards in most cases seem to serve more to boost egos than to serve any real security function. Private security men have become a modern day city nuisance. Not only do they often abuse whatever authority they enjoy but they also regularly go beyond the limits of their allocated domain. Has anybody ever seen a security personnel busy performing security related work? Parking management or just opening doors ends up being their primary activity. They naturally get bored and therefore seem to entertain themselves by making people like me perform crazy car maneuvers before they let me secure a parking space…
(Cont…Click the scanned article image on the left). Published as part of my column for the Maharashtra Herald that’s published on alternate Saturdays. )
An article about how and why city administration should use new age mediums like the internet to communicate with citizens and manage the city.
Also a quick look at the recent PMC scheme about including citizen suggested projects in the city budget for 2007-08.
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The PMC recently invited development project proposals from the public. These projects were to be considered for inclusion in the PMC budget for the year 07-08. I checked the PMC website egovpmc.com for the necessary form, but the site was a disappointment. I later attended a meet on the topic organized by the Grahak Panchayat. The team of enthusiastic oldies volunteering work for the Panchayat provided more information and the requisite form.
