Spare the road ..

Helmets were made compulsory from last week in Kerala ! Or else pay Rs.100.
My dad doesnt like to wear a helmet because it spoils his hair do ! He spends approxiamtely 3 minutes grooming himself before he walks out of the door. ( Which, I believe, is too much of a time for a guy ! )

Another catch to the law .. The person sitting behind need not wear the helmet .. Now people started abusing the law :) Creative thinking !

No Hug, No Kiss ; We are religious fundamentalists !!

Furore over display of physical intimacy?? has rocked the past weeks in Pakistan ( when the tourism minister, Nilofer Bakhtiar, earned a fatwa from radical Islamist mosque for her hugging a French parachute-jumping-instructor ) and in India ( right wing Hindu nationalist party,Shiv Sena burnt effigies of Richard Gere for kissing Shilpa Shetty during an AIDS awarenewss event in Delhi )

This is what the Islamist fundamentalist had to say about the minister hugging the instructor ... "Hugging is an illegitimate and forbidden act and and the minister has committed a great sin .. " .. and this is what Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had to say about the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty episode "not at all in keeping with our culture and tradition" (Shiv Sena has demanded the arrest of Gere for "hurting the sentiments of Indians ")

I thought our culture was a very tolerant one ?
Next stop : What will the rightist christian fundamentalist protest against ?? You guess ...

Latest development : (April 26 2007 ) : Arrest warrant issued against Richard Gere . ( court appearance on May 5, 2007 ... )

Who will look after your children Mrs. President ?

The 2008 presidential candidates are certainly unique in their own ways . No Macho Texan cowboy image , no heroic last action heroes and no powerful millionaire image.

Welcome to presidential elections 2008 . The year of change. This time the democratic candidates are certainly of a different built – either be the case , we would have a “first” of sorts . – The first woman president or a person from the afro-american roots.

A recent statistics showed that Mrs. Clinton had raised 26 million as election campaign booty for the party while Obama finished a close 25 million. Certainly if these figures could translate themselves into votes, Mrs. Clinton could well be on her way to be the next president of the United States .

But the battling question still remains – Are Americans ready for a female president ?

How is Mrs. Clinton perceived by the conservative Americans especially in the Mid West and Central parts of US ? When motherhood is an asset for a candidate, cold, calculative and ambitious ( often attributed to Mrs.Clinton ) are certainly not a trait that the electorate are looking for a in a woman. ( Though it is treated as a positive attribute when the person in question is a Man. )

What the Americans want is a strong Caucasian – arrogant , assertive , powerful and determined – flamboyant and intelligent MAN – who can carry forward the repressive image that United States today portrays itself to be. – Will Mrs.Clinton be able to wear that hat ? Lets wait .

And iam pretty curious to know what Bill Clinton would be called if Hillary is elected President ... First Gentleman ?

SEZ – to be or not to be ( Part 1 )

The recent row over SEZs have little to do with real concern for the poor farmers . As they say “its all part of a game – a political game”. A quick look at the pros and cons of the SEZ dilemma that India is facing today -

• Drawbacks

a) the compulsory land grabbings means lower selling cost for lands for the farmers. These low priced land acquired for “public good” exchanges hands into government agencies , real estate developers and then to private industrial institutions and in this journey, their prices multiply several folds. Undoubtedly somebody in this process makes huge profits. Its just a matter of common sense to understand how much of the cut in profit the farmers might get .

b) With all the investment benefits , tax holidays , import duty cuts and service, sales, center and state tax benefits, think who really makes the biggest benefit ? ( And how will the government (ultimately the public ) ever make a ROI ? ) ( Don’t tell me the increased FDI will eventually work out !! )

• Why are SEZs needed ?

a) We draw the example from the land policies / government acquisitions and the policies on SEZs in China which have resulted in very rapid progress and development , thrusting China to the super power status . Even after the 234 proposed SEZs come into being , it will take up only 0.1% of the farmlands .

b) These would attract ( mind the word – attract ) an investment worth Rs.300,000 crores and generate 4 million jobs.

With other factors which still need to be thought about and discussed – ( to be covered in a later part ) –have you made up your mind yet ? What is your stand today towards the SEZ ?? Go for it or go against it ?

50 years of Dravidian politics

Trivia : Which is the first democratically elected communitst Government ?

If you said … The EMS government in Kerala , 1957 , … WRONG.

We had British Guiana , 1953 , under Dr. Cheddi Jagan and even before it … San Marino, 1948 …. I used to take pride that I come from the place which had the first democratically elected Commie Government … now the myth is busted and my pride lowered.


However .. it’s the 50th year of the first democratically elected Communist Government in the Country. – Look back 50 years into the past – and you see EMS and the communist government – How ironic … in Gods own country the cimmunists prevail !

50 years of Thalaivar .

Another southern state which has come to limelight is TamilNadu with the DMK supreme K Karunanidhi completing his 50 years in the state Assembly … As always … this too doesn’t go without a controversy . The AIADMK head J Jayalalithaa has appealed to the president not to accept the invitation for the state-sponsored-celebration of the supremo’s 50 years in the state assembly saying “he has actually served only 38 years” … Now the President is in a dilemma .. to come or not to come ?
For the AIADMK it’s a direct question … Mr.President , Do you want a second term ?

My 'sweet' Jesus

Catholic pressure groups have come to picture yet again . This time in NY, to ban the exhibition of Cosimo Cavallaro's 6 foot chocolate statue (90.7kg , 485460 Calories ) of Jesus on the crucifix. ( no crucifix though )

Another similar incident on covering up of human anatomy - The US DoJ spends 8,000 to cover the semi-nude 'Spirit of justice' statue .

What ever happened to freedom of expression ??

Hoo Haa India !!

"The Indian team eats cricket , breathes cricket, talks cricket .. smells cricket ... they do 'every thing cricket' .. except play cricket."
- From an sms joke

Now that India is out of the Cricket World Cuppa, its time to relax and read better things in the news papers , see lesser of Mandira Bedi's skin and no more jingoistic ads featuring Indian team as tigers and other ferocious wild animals . ( Some ads even remotely resemble a scene from Gladiator .. the only difference is in real life ..they get busted )

Criket star look alikes all over India are having a tough time ... Is this a cricket crazy mob .. or an irrational outburst of "sportsman spirit" ?

I never thought loosing a game could cause an economic meltdown of sorts especially where cricket, bollywood and political chaos go hand in hand. ( sometimes out of hand ) . 600 crore loss in ad revenue, 30 crore loss for the travel industry and change in strategy shift for the electronics industry (now a lower target, and lesser number of TV sets to be sold ) .. Nobody knows how much money has gone into making the numerous "world cup specific ads' - Nike being the eye candy of all . ( Dont forget the stupid Loy-Shankar composed song -Mind and body, heart and soul - for Visa - What a tragic melody it turned out to be ! apt and sarcastic )

A group inAhmedabad has even gone to the extent of 'boycotting' anything thats endorsed by the indian cricket team ... that mean saying no to everything from Visa/Master card , to toothpastes , washing powders, lots of cola and even some wall paints !

Team India needs us more than ever . Now that sponsors will shun them .. its only us who can give them moral support and courage ( to come back and live in India )

Hey Raam

More "disturbing" progress towards the global village-ification . This time it comes with a religious touch ... from none other than the sadhu who taught us the fast disappearing art of levitation - Mahesh Yogi .. Read it and see it ;)

Best e-governed state !

Goa tops as the best e-Governend state in India in a recent survery conducted by IDC for Dataquest . Karnataka and Delhi follows ...

Few years ago .. one of my friend's sister (an IAS officer) , on her Discover India tour had been to Bihar to find the maturity of eGovernance in that state . Disappointed she was when she found there was no sign of even governance ... let alone eGovernance . !

I have a prejudice againt Bihar and was surprised not to have found it in the bottom list !!! ( UP "turned out" to be the worst ) ..