Another case of a drunk driver killing some people in Mumbai greeted me as I opened the morning newspaper today.
Although the Mumbai Poilce have been cracking down on drunk driving for 2 years now - there are still some nuts who think they can drive after downing some drinks.
The Mumbai Police should also crack down on use of mobiles while driving - whether with handsfree or not. It is an established fact that use of mobiles distract us so much that we can have a serious accident if we drive while talking on the mobile.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Learning about Indian History
Recently I bought three books - The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (Sri Aurobindo's commentary), Dasavatara and Sanatana Dharma. I have started reading Sanatana Dharma by Annie Besant and Bhagwan Dass. Good that I did - else I would not have known that Dr Bhagwan Dass was the first receipient of the Bharat Ratna.
I tried to recall my days in school and tried to recollect whether we were taught about the Gita, Sanatana Dharma or the Dasavatara. Save some chapters that mention of the ancient Indian scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads and the Puranas) and the Gita, we were not taught about our rich heritage of the Sanatana Dharma - which is unique to this part of the world and has no parallel. The only other place where there was a serious attempt to enlighten us with our heritage was in my higher secondary class at the Ramakrishna Mission.
As parents, we are duty bound to teach our children things that are not taught in schools. But to teach them we need to know the subject ourselves!
I tried to recall my days in school and tried to recollect whether we were taught about the Gita, Sanatana Dharma or the Dasavatara. Save some chapters that mention of the ancient Indian scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads and the Puranas) and the Gita, we were not taught about our rich heritage of the Sanatana Dharma - which is unique to this part of the world and has no parallel. The only other place where there was a serious attempt to enlighten us with our heritage was in my higher secondary class at the Ramakrishna Mission.
As parents, we are duty bound to teach our children things that are not taught in schools. But to teach them we need to know the subject ourselves!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Planning Infrastructure
In most Indian cities, a familiar sight is that of what can be loosely termed as "construction". Flyovers, road, bridges, transit railways, parking lots, new residential and office buildings - every city seems to be playing catch up with the lost time of the first 50 years of modern India.
It is good! It is good for the economy, for creating jobs at every stage of the value chain, for creating infrastructure to service the needs of an ever increasing population.
There are some key elements missing from these infrastructure construction activities:
1. Planning for future capacity
2. Concern for pedestrians
3. Creating green spaces
4. Ease of use
1. Planning for future capacity: in most infrastructure projects the planners seem to plan for immediate rather than future capacity. Witness the construction of flyovers across busy intersections. Why not create flyovers over all the intersections at one go - instead of coming to a breakdown situation and then deciding to build?
2. Concern for pedestrians: in no project the planners factor in needs to pedestrians. How does a pedestrian get to cross the road? How does the pedestrian alight from the bus? Is the footpath wide enough to carry hundreds of thousands of pedestrians who walk every day for short or medium distances? The true test of a civilised nation is how it treats it's less priviliged citizens. In this respect India has a long way to go - at least in its treatment of pedestrians.
3. Creating green spaces: after all the construction has ended and the dust died down, what will leave for our children to inherit? Endless concrete stretches? The scenario is scary. In all our infrastructure projects - where is the planning for creating green spaces?
4. Ease of use: ease of use was never a priority for our planners. We create skywalks for pedestrians because we cannt give them footpaths. Fantastic, but anyone thought about the ease of use of skywalks which are as high as a three storey building? What about the mandatory escalators on all sides? When the pedestrians finally have to get off the skywalk - do they spill on to the road or the footpath? Why dont we have escalators from all platforms of all railway stations which have more than ten thousand passengers transiting every day?
Who will teach these to well educated planners? The best way would be to make them pedestrians and users of public transport for such a time till they improve planning and delivery.
It is good! It is good for the economy, for creating jobs at every stage of the value chain, for creating infrastructure to service the needs of an ever increasing population.
There are some key elements missing from these infrastructure construction activities:
1. Planning for future capacity
2. Concern for pedestrians
3. Creating green spaces
4. Ease of use
1. Planning for future capacity: in most infrastructure projects the planners seem to plan for immediate rather than future capacity. Witness the construction of flyovers across busy intersections. Why not create flyovers over all the intersections at one go - instead of coming to a breakdown situation and then deciding to build?
2. Concern for pedestrians: in no project the planners factor in needs to pedestrians. How does a pedestrian get to cross the road? How does the pedestrian alight from the bus? Is the footpath wide enough to carry hundreds of thousands of pedestrians who walk every day for short or medium distances? The true test of a civilised nation is how it treats it's less priviliged citizens. In this respect India has a long way to go - at least in its treatment of pedestrians.
3. Creating green spaces: after all the construction has ended and the dust died down, what will leave for our children to inherit? Endless concrete stretches? The scenario is scary. In all our infrastructure projects - where is the planning for creating green spaces?
4. Ease of use: ease of use was never a priority for our planners. We create skywalks for pedestrians because we cannt give them footpaths. Fantastic, but anyone thought about the ease of use of skywalks which are as high as a three storey building? What about the mandatory escalators on all sides? When the pedestrians finally have to get off the skywalk - do they spill on to the road or the footpath? Why dont we have escalators from all platforms of all railway stations which have more than ten thousand passengers transiting every day?
Who will teach these to well educated planners? The best way would be to make them pedestrians and users of public transport for such a time till they improve planning and delivery.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Liberate us from Liberals
In India - LIBERALS are a strange breed.
In their world, LIBERALISM is all about rights of Muslims. Hindus be damned. This, in a country of overwhelming Hindu dominance. Someone famously said - Liberals will exist in India till Hindus have their way. If ever, God forbid, India becomes a Muslim dominated country - that will be the death of Liberals. What Liberals forget is that Islam is a patently orthodox religion that does not brook dissent. For a Muslim a non-Muslim is an Infidel. For a Muslim salvation lies in eradicating Infidels. If a non-Muslim converts to Islam, it is of course divine intervention. If a Muslim converts to any other religion, especially in the fount of the religion Saudi Arabia, the result is the death penalty. I think Indian Liberals should go and stay for sometime in a Muslim dominated country. They will soon realise the difference between Muslims and Hindus and come running back with their tails between their legs.
When I read about the fracas in Chennai around a painting exhibition that depicted Aurangzeb to be a killer and destroyer of Hindus, I was amused to no end. The painting exhibition abruptly closed because some character called the Nawab of Arcot protested and said that it hurts Muslim sentiments. As usual our Liberal Brigade has not uttered a single word in protest because they are SCARED of Muslims and the Muslim backlash. Since Hindus will not necessarily come onto streets in hordes shouting Allah U Akbar for the slightest provocation, it is good for Liberals to defend M F Husain or any other charlatan who merrily insult Hindus and Hinduism.
The painting exhibition in Chennai depicted the truth. Aurangzeb WAS a bloodthirsty ruler whose main ambition was to convert everyone in sight to Islam. He brutally murdered Hindus and Sikhs (including one of the Sikh Gurus). If a painting exhibition depicts the bloody truth, why do Muslims get sensitive? Why does the Nawab of Arcot get sensitive? Do they still believe that they are destined to rule India? They have to accept the fact that Muslims were invaders. They ruled over the Hindu subjects for ages and Hindus resented it. The Mughal Emperors were not Indians but they were invaders. Many Hindus converted to Islam because of the terror unleashed on them, and not ONLY for the caste inequities as is made out to be by Marxist historians.
But this is India. It is therefore a matter of shame that there is a prominent road named after Aurangzeb in New Delhi.
In India Freedom of Speech is not enshrined in the Constitution as a Inviolable Right like the United States. Even newspapers are propounding the use of Sec 153A of the IPC to curb "hate speech". We need Freedom of Speech. It cannot be conditional. It should apply to all equally without fear or favour. Only then we can say that we believe in the rights of people. Will the Liberals dare to fight for this? I don't think so. The Liberals in India are Liberals only in their eyes. They do not and cannot accept different points of view; especially if it is the Hindu viewpoint. It is a national shame that such people are occupying powerful positions in Government and Media. We need a freedom movement to liberate us from Liberals.
Jai Hind.
In their world, LIBERALISM is all about rights of Muslims. Hindus be damned. This, in a country of overwhelming Hindu dominance. Someone famously said - Liberals will exist in India till Hindus have their way. If ever, God forbid, India becomes a Muslim dominated country - that will be the death of Liberals. What Liberals forget is that Islam is a patently orthodox religion that does not brook dissent. For a Muslim a non-Muslim is an Infidel. For a Muslim salvation lies in eradicating Infidels. If a non-Muslim converts to Islam, it is of course divine intervention. If a Muslim converts to any other religion, especially in the fount of the religion Saudi Arabia, the result is the death penalty. I think Indian Liberals should go and stay for sometime in a Muslim dominated country. They will soon realise the difference between Muslims and Hindus and come running back with their tails between their legs.
When I read about the fracas in Chennai around a painting exhibition that depicted Aurangzeb to be a killer and destroyer of Hindus, I was amused to no end. The painting exhibition abruptly closed because some character called the Nawab of Arcot protested and said that it hurts Muslim sentiments. As usual our Liberal Brigade has not uttered a single word in protest because they are SCARED of Muslims and the Muslim backlash. Since Hindus will not necessarily come onto streets in hordes shouting Allah U Akbar for the slightest provocation, it is good for Liberals to defend M F Husain or any other charlatan who merrily insult Hindus and Hinduism.
The painting exhibition in Chennai depicted the truth. Aurangzeb WAS a bloodthirsty ruler whose main ambition was to convert everyone in sight to Islam. He brutally murdered Hindus and Sikhs (including one of the Sikh Gurus). If a painting exhibition depicts the bloody truth, why do Muslims get sensitive? Why does the Nawab of Arcot get sensitive? Do they still believe that they are destined to rule India? They have to accept the fact that Muslims were invaders. They ruled over the Hindu subjects for ages and Hindus resented it. The Mughal Emperors were not Indians but they were invaders. Many Hindus converted to Islam because of the terror unleashed on them, and not ONLY for the caste inequities as is made out to be by Marxist historians.
But this is India. It is therefore a matter of shame that there is a prominent road named after Aurangzeb in New Delhi.
In India Freedom of Speech is not enshrined in the Constitution as a Inviolable Right like the United States. Even newspapers are propounding the use of Sec 153A of the IPC to curb "hate speech". We need Freedom of Speech. It cannot be conditional. It should apply to all equally without fear or favour. Only then we can say that we believe in the rights of people. Will the Liberals dare to fight for this? I don't think so. The Liberals in India are Liberals only in their eyes. They do not and cannot accept different points of view; especially if it is the Hindu viewpoint. It is a national shame that such people are occupying powerful positions in Government and Media. We need a freedom movement to liberate us from Liberals.
Jai Hind.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
The curious ways of English media in India
SOLD OUT - thy name is English media in India.
How else can I describe the almost fawning treatment the English media (print and TV) accords to the current Central Government (also known as the UPA Government; UPA = Ultimate Pusillanimity in Action :-)).
Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav is now accorded the same status as one would to Jack Welch or Azim Premji or NRN or Mukesh/ Anil Ambani. He is credited with turning around the Indian Railways. I do not grudge him one bit - may he perform his job even better. However when you see half baked analysis of the Railway Budget on the front pages of prominent newspapers and see positively fawning "celebrity" anchors falling over each other to congratulate the Minister without any critical analysis, you wonder whether Media in India is free and fair anymore.
The Minister announced fare cuts in various categories. What the media failed to highlight was the many ways in which the Railways overcompensated for these fare "cuts" - some of which are listed below:
Reservation and cancellation charges have increased
Many old trains have been converted to "superfast" trains; there is now a superfast surcharge payable when a passenger travels by these trains. Superfast trains and broadband speeds are similar in India - they are superfast or broadband on paper only. The average speed of any superfast train in India is 60 kmph; a non-superfast train runs at 50 kmph!
Reservations for trains open 90 days in advance - up from the earlier 60 days - an additional months of revenue is good for projecting great numbers.
The tamasha did not stop with the Railway Budget of course. The Finance Minister's budget was an exercise in populism gone to the extreme.
Rs 60,000 cr loans to be written off - sounds too good to be true. One wonders where the money will come from? One wonders what happens to the farmers who took loans from money lenders instead of banks? One wonders how much of the Rs 60,000 cr to be written off actually benefits the sugar barons of Maharashtra - who take loans from their own cooperative banks and almost never pay them back on time? One wonders what happens to farmers now that they need working capital to start their lives afresh? One wonders why Muslims should get special treatment in a country that is not only overwhelmingly Hindu but professedly secular? The UPA Government is the most communal Government we have ever had because of its hatred towards Hindus and its undying love towards Muslims and Christians.
Have you seen any of these questions being asked in the Budget specials of any newspaper or TV channels? One channel posed such questions to the Finance Minister and he chose to walk off (albeit briefly). So you can't take tough questions Mr Finance Minister?
The next day, there was no mention of this episode in most newspapers. I was thinking of the day when Mr Narendra Modi walked off Karan Thapar's show and the way media pounced on Mr Modi and gave lenghty sermons on why he should not have walked off. I did not see such sermons for Mr P Chidambaram.
Have the media owners sold themselves out to the UPA Government? I would really want to watch the fun when the BJP Government comes to power!
How else can I describe the almost fawning treatment the English media (print and TV) accords to the current Central Government (also known as the UPA Government; UPA = Ultimate Pusillanimity in Action :-)).
Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav is now accorded the same status as one would to Jack Welch or Azim Premji or NRN or Mukesh/ Anil Ambani. He is credited with turning around the Indian Railways. I do not grudge him one bit - may he perform his job even better. However when you see half baked analysis of the Railway Budget on the front pages of prominent newspapers and see positively fawning "celebrity" anchors falling over each other to congratulate the Minister without any critical analysis, you wonder whether Media in India is free and fair anymore.
The Minister announced fare cuts in various categories. What the media failed to highlight was the many ways in which the Railways overcompensated for these fare "cuts" - some of which are listed below:
Reservation and cancellation charges have increased
Many old trains have been converted to "superfast" trains; there is now a superfast surcharge payable when a passenger travels by these trains. Superfast trains and broadband speeds are similar in India - they are superfast or broadband on paper only. The average speed of any superfast train in India is 60 kmph; a non-superfast train runs at 50 kmph!
Reservations for trains open 90 days in advance - up from the earlier 60 days - an additional months of revenue is good for projecting great numbers.
The tamasha did not stop with the Railway Budget of course. The Finance Minister's budget was an exercise in populism gone to the extreme.
Rs 60,000 cr loans to be written off - sounds too good to be true. One wonders where the money will come from? One wonders what happens to the farmers who took loans from money lenders instead of banks? One wonders how much of the Rs 60,000 cr to be written off actually benefits the sugar barons of Maharashtra - who take loans from their own cooperative banks and almost never pay them back on time? One wonders what happens to farmers now that they need working capital to start their lives afresh? One wonders why Muslims should get special treatment in a country that is not only overwhelmingly Hindu but professedly secular? The UPA Government is the most communal Government we have ever had because of its hatred towards Hindus and its undying love towards Muslims and Christians.
Have you seen any of these questions being asked in the Budget specials of any newspaper or TV channels? One channel posed such questions to the Finance Minister and he chose to walk off (albeit briefly). So you can't take tough questions Mr Finance Minister?
The next day, there was no mention of this episode in most newspapers. I was thinking of the day when Mr Narendra Modi walked off Karan Thapar's show and the way media pounced on Mr Modi and gave lenghty sermons on why he should not have walked off. I did not see such sermons for Mr P Chidambaram.
Have the media owners sold themselves out to the UPA Government? I would really want to watch the fun when the BJP Government comes to power!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Soft State India?
Another bomb blast case; yet more homilies on how the Government is putting all measures to ensure the safety of citizens - when you look at our Hon'ble Union Minister for Home saying all this on TV - you know that this country is truly a soft state!
Contrast this to President Bush after 9/11. The fact is that the US has bludgeoned its way into Afghanistan and Iraq. The fact also is that after 9/11 no one has dared to take on the US. The countries which have been targets of terror attacks like the UK and Spain have been far more ambivalent about their national security.
India of course is in a different league altogether in terms of ambivalence about its own security. I think our heads are wired all wrong - else how can we demonstrate so much masochism? There is an enemy to take out - it is called "enemy of the state". The enemy is Islamic Terror and Naxalite Terror - both needs to be taken out.
Yesterday while flipping channels, I landed up on CNN-IBN. Sagarika Ghose (I hope I have got the name right) was on a discussion with Colin Gonsalves and another person whom I missed out. What really irked me what what Mr Gonsalves was saying - that terror laws do not arrest the incidence of terror - hence there should not be any such law! He went on to give the example of the doctor who was helping Naxalites in Chattisgarh and was subsequently arrested. I did write in one of my previous posts that indeed the doctor should have been arrested for helping the enemy. This is war Mr Gonsalves and the rules of engagement are remarkably different from that of televised discussion.
We need a terror law that should strike fear in any enemy of the state - enabled by its implementation. Implementation will have its first hurdle in the executive since all politicians care about are votebanks. B Raman had a nice article in today's Times of India in Mumbai.
"Politicians more worried about votes than lives28 Aug 2007, 0040 hrs IST,B Raman
Large sections of the nation shed tears on July 11, 2007 in memory of the 190 innocent Indians who were killed a year ago in a series of explosions in suburban trains of Mumbai by jihadi terrorists. Just as millions of Americans shed tears on September 11 every year, just as Indonesians and Australians shed tears on the anniversary of the Bali bombing of October 2002; just as Spanish people shed tears on the anniversary of the Madrid bombing of March 2004; just as the British shed tears on the anniversary of the London bombings of July 2005. But there was a significant difference between the observance of the anniversaries of these great human tragedies in other countries and in India. In India, our so-called secular political class and elite kept away from the observance of the anniversary of the Mumbai tragedy of July 11, 2006. There was not a single expression of solidarity by the PM with the relatives of the victims. Why not? Because he was worried that any public expression of sorrow for those blown up by the jihadi terrorists might be misinterpreted by Muslims? The governor of a major state reportedly turned down a suggestion to observe a two-minute silence in memory of those killed in Mumbai a few days after the attacks. Why? Lest Muslims misinterpret it as stigmatising their community. Jihadi terrorists can go on indulging in one act of mass casualty terrorism after another. But, according to our so-called secular political class and elite, we should not talk about it or even cry about it. How many acts of jihadi terrorism we have had in India since the present government came to power in Delhi in 2004? Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Bangalore, Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad. In the past, our police might have been criticised in some instances for its inability to prevent acts of terrorism, but it had generally received high praise for successful investigations. Why is there a perception now that investigations are not as good as in the 1990s? In the 1990s, they received full backing of the political leadership, which took active interest. The political leadership of today gives sermons and no leadership. It avoids active monitoring and supervision of investigations lest Muslims misunderstand. Let us shed tears for ourselves today for having the misfortune of having a government for which the feelings of some are more important than lives of innocent civilians.
The writer is a security analyst"
Contrast this to President Bush after 9/11. The fact is that the US has bludgeoned its way into Afghanistan and Iraq. The fact also is that after 9/11 no one has dared to take on the US. The countries which have been targets of terror attacks like the UK and Spain have been far more ambivalent about their national security.
India of course is in a different league altogether in terms of ambivalence about its own security. I think our heads are wired all wrong - else how can we demonstrate so much masochism? There is an enemy to take out - it is called "enemy of the state". The enemy is Islamic Terror and Naxalite Terror - both needs to be taken out.
Yesterday while flipping channels, I landed up on CNN-IBN. Sagarika Ghose (I hope I have got the name right) was on a discussion with Colin Gonsalves and another person whom I missed out. What really irked me what what Mr Gonsalves was saying - that terror laws do not arrest the incidence of terror - hence there should not be any such law! He went on to give the example of the doctor who was helping Naxalites in Chattisgarh and was subsequently arrested. I did write in one of my previous posts that indeed the doctor should have been arrested for helping the enemy. This is war Mr Gonsalves and the rules of engagement are remarkably different from that of televised discussion.
We need a terror law that should strike fear in any enemy of the state - enabled by its implementation. Implementation will have its first hurdle in the executive since all politicians care about are votebanks. B Raman had a nice article in today's Times of India in Mumbai.
"Politicians more worried about votes than lives28 Aug 2007, 0040 hrs IST,B Raman
Large sections of the nation shed tears on July 11, 2007 in memory of the 190 innocent Indians who were killed a year ago in a series of explosions in suburban trains of Mumbai by jihadi terrorists. Just as millions of Americans shed tears on September 11 every year, just as Indonesians and Australians shed tears on the anniversary of the Bali bombing of October 2002; just as Spanish people shed tears on the anniversary of the Madrid bombing of March 2004; just as the British shed tears on the anniversary of the London bombings of July 2005. But there was a significant difference between the observance of the anniversaries of these great human tragedies in other countries and in India. In India, our so-called secular political class and elite kept away from the observance of the anniversary of the Mumbai tragedy of July 11, 2006. There was not a single expression of solidarity by the PM with the relatives of the victims. Why not? Because he was worried that any public expression of sorrow for those blown up by the jihadi terrorists might be misinterpreted by Muslims? The governor of a major state reportedly turned down a suggestion to observe a two-minute silence in memory of those killed in Mumbai a few days after the attacks. Why? Lest Muslims misinterpret it as stigmatising their community. Jihadi terrorists can go on indulging in one act of mass casualty terrorism after another. But, according to our so-called secular political class and elite, we should not talk about it or even cry about it. How many acts of jihadi terrorism we have had in India since the present government came to power in Delhi in 2004? Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Bangalore, Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad. In the past, our police might have been criticised in some instances for its inability to prevent acts of terrorism, but it had generally received high praise for successful investigations. Why is there a perception now that investigations are not as good as in the 1990s? In the 1990s, they received full backing of the political leadership, which took active interest. The political leadership of today gives sermons and no leadership. It avoids active monitoring and supervision of investigations lest Muslims misunderstand. Let us shed tears for ourselves today for having the misfortune of having a government for which the feelings of some are more important than lives of innocent civilians.
The writer is a security analyst"
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Child Rights
Everyday when I go to office, I see children, clothed or otherwise, at the many "signals" of Mumbai.
All of them belong to destitute families, and you cannot look at them without a strong subliminal feeling of guilt overcoming you.
I think about my own son and thank God that he has a better life.
Then I realise that in India there are no real child rights. If there were child rights then we would have questioned whether any family can decide to have children? That shoule be based on the family's capabilities to bring them up well. This sounds like a "spartan" idea - but then why bring children into this world if they cannot be given a minimum standard of living?
Why have these unfortunate children begging at signals? Why bring them into the world in the first place?
Think about it!
All of them belong to destitute families, and you cannot look at them without a strong subliminal feeling of guilt overcoming you.
I think about my own son and thank God that he has a better life.
Then I realise that in India there are no real child rights. If there were child rights then we would have questioned whether any family can decide to have children? That shoule be based on the family's capabilities to bring them up well. This sounds like a "spartan" idea - but then why bring children into this world if they cannot be given a minimum standard of living?
Why have these unfortunate children begging at signals? Why bring them into the world in the first place?
Think about it!
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