New insights

Some people are happy with themselves.Happy with their mediocrity,content with their capabilities which are far outweighed by their limitations.Happy with their orientation,both social and professional.There is only so much you can push them.Hoping they will ever compete to win - is a waste of your own time.

Often such people show delusions of grandeur.When congratulated by another of their clan,their minds extend the applaud,as resounding from the whole world.Where is the need to do better,to question one's performance,when one is so sure of oneself?
When they are confronted with quality better than themselves,they attribute extrinsic factors to such greater successes.
For example,when a mediocre sweeper comes across a superior one ,he may attribute the superiority to the colleague's wife,who,he argues,creates a more peaceful household than his own.Or to the children ,who create lesser trouble than his own.Or to a happier childhood.Or to a better car than his own!Could be any reason,but one which falls outside the persona.

But middling,has its own positives.Such people live happier,longer,more satisfied with life's simple pleasures,of perhaps a football match on television,or an invitation at a neighbors.They are susceptible to far lower conspiracies.They have much lesser finances to manage by the time they are old.They usually brush off their own difficulties as they do to others,they usually teach lower mastery goal orientation to their children.Their philosophy is simple 'when you cant do it,just find an excuse outside your self'.
They have far lesser expectations from life.They are jealous of almost nothing,perhaps the only rare exception can be the man their wife is 'too friendly' with.There too, their jealousy will not cause greater damage than frequent grumbling.Plus they have great many number of friends.In a word such people are benign.Such people have fewer conflicts and lower frustrations to deal with.
Is this,then, the secret road to happiness ?

(series name - Already I'm so lonesome I could cry) - The Rains

We walked in the rain ,without a coat ,without an umbrella. We walked in the rain,on the roads,laughing,talking about everything else but the weather.
We walked as if it were bright sunshine.
The soggy clothes didn't matter.The slippery ground didn't matter.
When the buses ,the cars passed us by,spraying us many times over with dirty gray puddle,it did not matter.
The idea of catching a cold never occurred.We loved rains,at all times.
That was long ago.

Years later,we could afford a car.Once B drove us into an unusually rainy evening,when the windshield ,the windows,the rear view were all cut off by a thick screen of silver white.It was raining outside,but we were dry.
The car was parked on the side of the road.Visibility was poor.We felt stranded,worried.We wished the rain would stop.The car was quiet,except for the sound of raindrops on the metal roof.

Subtle impressions are lost in this city,either when you grow older or when you step outside your house into the daily struggles.

The frog and the raven (Series :Already I'm so lonesome I could cry)

I am fond of surprises - of giving and of receiving them.Gifts on special occasions are a norm - what's so surprising about those?
I had picked an ordinary day in April.

A Hot Evening In April
------------------------
At the time,we were both (Me and B) university students.The faculty of Engineering ran six hostels then.Four dreary ones for girls and two equally pathetic ones, for boys.
But our girls hostel had one respite,a nice garden in front of the house.Summer evenings were spent walking and chatting here.
On such a day ,me and two of my other class mates sat on a ledge in the garden when suddenly I felt a blob fall on my feet...
Instantly I gave a cry and the other two, a start...Goodness,it was a frog!

The Idea
-----------
'A frog's too tiny to fit all three of us into its tummy,now relax' ,I instructed all three,sternly.
Whatever is said about 'a moment's great inspiration' was true,I had had one right then.If only a box could be found!

The Gift
-----------
A box?Easily done.
Quickly,a friend hurried in and emerged from the hostel,proudly waving a nice ,strong medium sized one.

Surprise
------------
B was handed over a lovely bright wrapped box ,and a bag of sweets.I waved him goodnight and walked back into my hostel.

When he entered his hostel room with a colourful big thing in hand,he aroused some curiosity,plus the bag of sweets was enough to gather friends around the gifts.
One of them offered his Swiss-blade.They opened the box,the flap and out leapt the frog!

Though B never admits till date,I'm sure they all had a scare.
When he called me next morning,he didn't mention the box or its contents.He was willfully avoiding the topic - so I wouldn't feel victorious.
When I met him - we both kept a straight face- but I was bursting inside with laughter,picturing the frog jump straight onto them,and the boys struggling to get it out of their house.

A year and a half later
-------------------------
After the whole effort of planning and execution,the effect did seem like a bummer.The result was rather lukewarm.
A week later,when I asked him,how he had liked the gift ,he sounded bored and totally untouched by the event.He said -'o yes,it was a frog,nice plan'.
A year and much more had passed,with time,that incident had been tucked away in some remote corner of my memory.
One Sunday afternoon,B unexpectedly, came to see me at the girls hostel with a friend.Boys were not allowed inside,so they stood at the gate.
He held something behind him.When I walked up to the gate - they both smiled ,wished me a happy new year and handed me a large packet.

The Return Gift
----------------

I happily skipped back to my room.My friends too,couldn't wait to find out what that packet held,they gathered around me while I began to open it,and, as I unwrapped every layer of the colourful paper ,friends moved inches away,the packet was strangely smelly.

The Revenge
----------------

Not suspecting B of any foul play,especially on a new year day,I worked harder at opening the wrapping.Finally I ripped it open and we all peeped inside.
But,what is that?Is that a ......disgusting!!!
There lay a dead raven,rotting and covered with talcum powder..

Some of my friends had begun throwing up,some were making their way to the washroom...I quickly held the packet together,ran down the stairs and tossed it all over the wall into the bushes behind the campus.

It took five days before my room was rid of the nauseating smell..

(series name - Already I'm so lonesome I could cry) - Long ago me and B

We were once mistaken for twins.Yeah,that was original.
Our co-passengers on the train noticed how bitterly we were arguing over an article in the magazine,and must have decided - no dating couple is foolish enough to let precious stolen private eight hours of a train journey ,just pass away over some magazine news.
One of the boys sitting opposite,haltingly asked B - are u ....two...? B retorted - Are you..what? - an unusual spill-over of his classic annoyance from our fight.Generally he is very polite to strangers.
But he regained his cool,quickly and it turned out our co-passengers had a bet ,on whether we were a couple or just siblings.

Du belar montro (in Bengali)

Shey amakey boley,
tar amaye bhari proyojon.
Tai to ami nijer jotno kori.
Tai amar nityo proshadhon.
Tai ami ar borshatey bhiji na,
jodi brishtir jol hothat moron daakey!

(translated from Bertolt Brecht's 'To be read in the morning and at night')

Recent Economic Crises

I like Mrunal Patel's style of explanation - simple and no strings attached.So,in the following paragraphs I will present from his writings,with minimum handiwork by me.
If you have jargon-fright ,then this is just tailored for you.
He has intentionally skipped technical details.

Difference between Eurozone crisis and Subprime Crisis?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First you need to understand Mortgage, derivatives and Asset bubble.
Mortage :

You give me $10,000 loan and I sign on a paper that if I can't pay back the amount before 2045, you can take away my house. So my house is 'mortgaged' to you.

Subprime dude :

He is the borrower who is less likely to repay a loan,because his income is low or irregular.

Why would bank want to give loans to sub-prime dudes in the first place?

Bank can demand more interest rates from such people because of their bad credit history. Subprime lending can also mean the car-loans, credit cards etc that banks sell. Besides when the general manager gives 'impossible targets' to his probationary officer,what can a man do? Just give out loans to every swinging dude around.

Derivative:

You’re a big bank, you've given such loans or credit cards to lot of sub-prime dudes and you know well that they're less likely to pay you back. So after a while, you decide to cash in your investment before these dudes start defaulting, so you repack those mortgage papers and make a new paper - 'security paper' -which basically says “to anyone who gives me $50,000, I’ll give mortgage papers of 5 houses”,this is derivative product, because this security paper derives its value from those mortgage papers.

Asset bubble :

So now you sold such a derivate product to a second guy, he then re-packs it with other things and makes a new derivative product sells it to a third guy...thus the chain continues. Here, no new asset (property or something that can generate money) is created, basically all of you are playing games with the same five houses mortgaged, blowing the balloon with even newer derivates. Thus the asset bubble is created.
A point comes when people who took loans or did big shopping with credit cards refuse to pay back and say 'take our houses, we don't have the money'.
Now with so many people refusing to pay ,there are too many houses to sell.
Remember supply and demand determine market prices?So house prices hit a low.
Now you can't sell the house, real-estate has collapsed, no one is ready to pay even $5000 for that house, on which you had given $10000 as loan. Your asset bubble is burst, and what you've in your hand: that piece of trash paper is a 'toxic asset' or a 'non-performing asset' (NPA). This is sub-prime crisis. And technically it was contained, after American treasury bought all such NPAs worth $1 trillion (somewhere in 2009), but the aftershocks are still felt.American economy is not back on track yet, because that $1 trillion bailout money didnot fall from sky, nor do the dollars spend on military expenditure in Iraq or Afghanistan fall from sky.

Eurozone Crisis :
Also known as Sovereign debt crisis.In the Eurozone, Governments of PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) were spending way too much money on subsidies,handouts to the economically struggling (like our Indian NREGA stuff )and bank bailouts etc. They used to finance their spending by borrowing from the market.
These nations earn most of their money from export to America and tourism income from American travelers. But the sub-prime crisis and the recession in 2008-09 meant Americans lost income,jobs,houses and naturally many stopped going on vacations or buying imported items. So the airlines,tourism and export business declined, while the expenditure remained the same. Hence in a way, Eurozone crisis is an aftershock of the Sub-prime earthquake.

Little concepts:

debt to GDP (ratio) :
Suppose Debt to GDP is 96% this means if the country produced goods and services worth $100 in a year, they already had outstanding loan-repayment worth $96.
High Debt to GDP means investors lose confidence in your country.These PIGS had high Debt to GDP than other nations, hence they are in the crisis.

But why only PIGS: why they ran out of money? (along with Debt to GDP %)

Portugal:93%
Over-spending by Government, inefficient Public Sector Units with too much manpower (just like our Air-India).

Ireland:96%
Their banks were running the same asset bubble game like the Americans. When it collapsed, Government had to bail'em out.

Greece:143%
Overspending on Social schemes, overinflated staff in Public Sector Units. Misreported its official economic statistics, to fool the investors in buying the Government bonds. Later Caught.

Spain:60%
Socialist Government, so lot subsidy and social-security and assistance to its poor and unemployed (like our NREGA stuff).

Italy too may join the club with 116 %

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who choose to beg

I am intrigued by man's attraction to live by panhandling.
Why do able bodied people,who can live by labor,choose to live by begging?
Why is it so difficult to rehabilitate those who have lived long by begging?

"Like prostitution, begging is one of the two oldest professions on earth.Although varying by geography and the times, begging is universal. We have heard,even the richest countries like America and England have beggars in one form or another",a beggar in Kolkata sharply retorted back.
Where is their sense of self respect?Why is that not as universal?

The Indian government department responsible for elimination of panhandling,say that even after a prostitute or a beggar is sheltered and offered protection,in some form or another,she resumes her old habits.She cannot depart from her former way of life.
The social workers too have a similar opinion.Hence there is an immense amount of apathy on this issue.

Why is it so difficult to settle vagabonds?Why do slum dwellers,relocated to government housing,return to slums,eating,defecating,sleeping,raising children in the same area?Why don't the little tramps stay in school?

Reasons why people take to begging are numerous,often complex.

For instance,in India,poverty is real.But simple economics frequently falls short to explain begging. Very often,it is done in organized gangs,also,beggars here are very territorial.Breach of territory can lead to violent skirmishes.
Beggars have equality of sexes in their community.The woman can cohabit with any man and change whenever she so wishes.The children are independent and learn different trades like pick-pocketing,petty crimes,assisting professional thieves,acting as informants,peddling stolen goods etc,before they graduate to begging.
For some,begging is a family profession.For others, period of begging varies widely,from five minutes to a lifetime.
Sometimes needs can be very specific.Two little boys were begging for cigarettes on the Puri Beach once.When they were offered some money,they refused and ran away.
But many times the elderly, the disabled, and the destitute take to begging.

Beggars in India,have some degree of understanding of the human psyche.
When you step out of a famous restaurant,satiated,they realize you cannot refuse a hungry man.When you are walking in a park with your new girlfriend,they know you will yield,when pestered a couple of times.They crowd outside temples,because they are aware most people will give them money to score divine-brownie points.They can read faces well enough to target the right person who is sure to be moved by a story of a dying husband.The husband of course,could be in the next street begging in the name of his dying children and similarly the children could be in the third street with stories of dead parents.The transvestite gang-members can see that you will handover a 10 rupee note to avoid nuisance,especially in those long-distance trains.

But government organizations,reform houses,religious shelters,social workers,psychiatrists,psychologists and the whole of intelligentsia have failed to decipher the panhandler's psychology ,enough to be able to defeat it.

In Denmark,a prosperous country,I have seen beggars in the main streets and the city-center of Copenhagen.Their style of operation is very different from India.They approach you,stand very close,stroke your back and ask you to lend a coin as if they have known you for years!
A Danish colleague told me,all of them receive handouts from the government,but by the middle of every month - that cash is exhausted on drinks.Although this is an over generalization,her assertion reflects a common belief.Project UDENFOR researching on this phenomena in Denmark,attributes begging to foreign homeless migrants,many from Romania.They hasten to add that people who beg are from a mixed group.
A cross-country comparative analysis reveals Danish beggars are passive in their procedure while Russian beggars are more aggressive.
Though Begging is prohibited in Russia,it is not illegal hence it remains a grey area,coupled with Russia's corrupt administration,trafficking and begging remains a menace there.
In U.S.A,I have lived in a posh Boston suburb.Homeless people who beg there are very casual in their method of appeal.They live in shelters where they are fed,clothed,and all their basic amenities are met.But just like the Govt officials in India had said ,they find it hard to get over their old habits.

In the U.K,where I currently live,begging is illegal.The Vagrancy Act of 1824 makes it an offence to sleep on the streets or to beg.Although illegal,there is no associated jail sentence.
This Act was originally introduced in England and Wales but later extended to Scotland and Ireland.
Until recently it was believed that the Vagrancy Act 1824 had largely withered away through lack of use.But the sharp rise in the number of beggars in British cities and antisocial behavior of some aggressive beggars led to begging being made a recordable offence in December 2003, as part of the Government's initiative to handle crime.

Contrary to the public perception that beggars use the money for drugs or alcohol,researchers in the UK tell us ,begging here is driven by need.Charity organizations,civil groups and lib-dems had criticized the Government's move in 2003 as 'ineffective'.But the law remains today, at least on papers,and unsurprisingly,it has changed nothing.

Is there a universal solution to this phenomena of living by begging?Or perhaps it should be tackled on a case-by-case basis.Alas,I have only questions.The matter which I can unquestionably point out is the universal lack of political will to touch this job.

Rainy Days and Mondays

I have found a new love for Monday night comedy shows.Something was always needed on a Monday to beat the blues.As a kid,that 'something' used to be the sweets mom made for the family especially on Mondays.
Now every Sunday evening when friends sigh and complain about the work week ahead - I struggle not to get drawn.
I am not a T.V addict,except on Mondays,when the set is turned on as soon as I'm back home.
Something keeps playing in the background while I'm at my chores - before the Comedy show begins.
Just then,I leave everything and settle on the couch.That's also when he comes home,from his Monday evening after-work football practice.
He directly goes to the kitchen to cook dinner.In fifteen minutes I have a plate of steaming delicious food in front of me and him by my side.
We snuggle close and eat our food while watching the t.v.Sometimes the comedy falls flat,so what,it isn't just the show,but this whole ritual that keeps playing on my mind on Sunday evenings whenever I feel glum about the week to come.

A rather dry topic

I am perplexed to find some of my friends opposing Anna Hazare's actions.Upon probing deeper,I see those who oppose, dont realize why Anna Hazare protests over the government's Anti-Corruption Lokpal Bill.Why he insists that his proposals be drafted instead.
Well friends,he doesnt' like the Government's Lokpal bill,because that bill creates an Anti Corruption body with no teeth.
It is often said that when a fish rots,it rots from the top.So if ever you hope to see the corruption mechanism in your country fall apart,you must cut off its power supply,tackle it from top down.
If in your country,you send in elected members to the parliament,which is the highest governing body and then in the middle of their tenure,you hear they run scams better than ministries,next tenure you hear some of them have misappropriated resources and funds worth hundreds of billions of dollars,and then if you see them jailed for a while before running free and up for elections again,if year after year you see 'scam-stars' starring as ministers and Members of Parliaments well my friend,feel free to suspect that the head-men(or women) of these parliaments,who haven't probably been accused are in collusion with those who have.
Hence wake up call for another power check and balance.A body of men who can independently and effectively look into charges against the most powerful leaders and bureaucrats..Birth of Lokpal...
Sensing the popular mood the Government of India has drafted a Lokpal bill,but their Lokpal would just be a titular body with no real powers.
Here in this article I will list the differences between the government's bill and proposals of change by Anna Hazare and the Civil Society.

Comparison of the Government Draft Lokpal Bill and the Civil society draft bill
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.Government of India's Bill( Govt) :Lokpal will not have any power to either initiate action suo motu in any case or even receive complaints from general public.Public will complain to the speaker of the loksabha/chairperson of rajya sabha.Only those complaints forwarded by speaker/chairman will be investigated by lokpal.
This provides a tool in the hands of the ruling party to have only those cases referred to Lokpal which pertain to political opponents,since speaker is always from ruling party.

Civil Society proposal(CSP):Lokpal will have powers to initiate investigations suo motu in any case and also directly entertain complaints from public.

2.Govt :Lokpal has been proposed to be an advisory body.After an enquiry,
it will forward its report to competent authority.Competent authority will have final powers to decide whether to take action on Lokpal's report or not.
In the case of cabinet ministers,the competent authority is the prime minister.In case of Prime Ministers and Members of Parliaments the competent authority is LokSabha or RajyaSabha.

In the coalition era when the government of the day depends upon the support of its political partner,no PM is likely to act against her cabinet minister, based on the Lokpal's report,even if that cabinet minister is not from the PM's own party.
Likewise,if Lokpal reported against PM or MP (Member of Parliament)of the ruling party,will the house ever pass a resolution to prosecute PM or ruling party MP?Never.
(Remember a govt is in power because it has a majority in the parliament,and bills are passed by a simple majority)

CSP: Lokpal is not an advisory body.It will have the powers to initiate prosecution against any one after completion of investigations in any case.It will also have powers to order disciplinary proceedings against any government servant.

3.Govt:Bill is legally unsound.Lokpal has not been given police powers.It cannot register an FIR.
All enquiries conducted by Lokpal will tantamount to preliminary enquiries.
Even if the report of the Lokpal is accepted,who will file the chargesheet in
court,initiate prosecution,who will apoint prosecution lawyer?The bill is silent on that.

CSP:Lokpal will have police powers.It will be able to register FIR,proceed
with criminal investigations and launch prosecution.

4.Govt :Bill does not say what will be the role of Central Bureau of Investigation after this bill.Can CBI and Lokpal investigate the same case or CBI loses its power to investigate politicians?If the latter is true,then this bill is meant to completely insulate politicians from any investigations whatsoever which are possible today through CBI.

CSP : The part of CBI which deals with corruption cases,will merge into Lokpal,so that there is just one effective independent body to take action against corruption.

5.Govt: There is a strong punishment for frivolous complaints.If any complaint is found false and frivolous,Lokpal will have the power to send the complainant to jail through summary trial but if the complaint is found to be true,Lokpal does not have the power to send the corrupt politician to jail.So the bill is browbeat,threatens
and discourages those fighting against corruption.

CSP:Deterrence has been provided against frivolous complaints in the form of financial penalties against complainant.However,Lokayukta is empowered to prosecute the corrupt and take
disciplinary action against them

6.Govt : Lokpal will have jurisdiction only on MPs ,ministers and PM.It will
not have jurisdiction over officers.The officers and politician do not indulge in
corruption separately.In any case of corruption,there is always a dual involvelment.
So according to the govt proposal,every case would need to be investigated by both
Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.CVC for bureaucrats and Lokpal for politicians.Obviously the case records will be with one or the other agency and the way government functions,it will not share its records with the other agency.It is possible that the 2 agencies will arrive at completely different conclusions,this appears to be a sure way of killing the case.

CSP:Lokpal will have jurisdiction over politicians,officials,judges.CVC and entire vigilance machinery of government will merge into Lokpal.

7.Govt : Lokpal will consist of 3 members,all being retired judges.
There is no reason why choice should be restricted to judiciary.By creating so
many retirement posts for judges (human rights commissioner for example is the retired chief justice of the SC) the government will make the retiring judges vulnerable to government influences just before retirement as is already happening in the case of retiring bureaucrats.The retiring judges,in the hope of getting post retirement employment,do the bidding of the government.

CSP: The lokpal will have 10 members and 1 chairperson,out of them 4 need be
of legal backgrounds(not necessarily judges) others from any background.

8.Govt : The selection committee consists of vice president,PM,leaders of both houses,Leaders of opposition in both houses,Law minister,ome minister.Barring the vice president all of them are politicians whose corruption Lokpal is supposed to investigate.
Clearly there is a conflict of interest.Also selection committe is heavily loaded
in favour of ruling party.Obviously a strong and effective lokpal will never be appointed

CSP: Selection committee consists of members from judicial background,Chief Election
Commissioner,CAG and international awardees like Nobel prize and Magsaysay winners of Indian origin.A detailed transparent and participatory selection process has been prescribed.

9.Govt Lokpal will not have powers to investigate any case against PM wich deals with foreign affairs,security and defence.This means corruption in defence dea;s
will be out of scrutiny whatsoever.So in future,it will be impossible to investigate into any Bofors .

CSP: There are no such bars on Lokpal's powers.

10.Whereas a time limit of six months to one year has been prescribed for Lokpal
to enquire ,however,subsequently there is no time limit prescribed for completion
of trial.

CSP: Investigations should be completed within 1 year and trials should get over by next 1 year.

11.Govt : Under the present law,there is a small punishment for corruption.
Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years imprisonment.

Civil Society Prososal(CSP): Enhanced punishment.Minimum 5 years to maximum of life imprisonment.

12.Govt : Nothing has been provided in law to recover the ill gotten wealth.

CSP: Loss caused to government will be recovered from all accused.

13.Govt:Large number of people raising their voice against corruption are being murdered.Lokpal does not have any powers to provide protection to them.

CSP: Lokpal will have powers to provide protection against physical
and professional victimization of whistle blowers.

14.Govt :It does not talk about investigations of corruption against judges.
CSP : Lokpal will have powers to initiate investigations on complaints of
corruption against judges.

15.Govt :Speaker would decide which complaints will be heard by Lokpal.
CSP: Lokpal will not be able to dismiss any complaint from the public without
hearing the complainant.

16.Govt : It does not deal with bureaucrats or police personnel.Corrupt bureaucrats
can continue on their jobs without any action against them.
CSP:Lokpal will have power to direct disciplinary action including dismissal
of a corrupt officer from service.

17.Govt : Our entire governance system suffers from inadequate public grievance
redressal system,which force people to pay bribes.Lokpal bill does not
address this issue.
CSP: Lokpal will ave the powers to order redressal in atime bound manner.It
will have powers to impose financial penalties on guilty officers,which would be paid
to complainant as compensation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The civil society has envisaged a Lokpal with power.Any corrupt act will be stricken.Some fear that innocent politicians and bureaucrats may suffer too.Some argue,it is unacceptable in a democracy ,for a non-elected body to indict an electorally chosen minister,...But ,my friends,Lokpal will work on public complaints and public concern.Even 'suo-motu' is not just whim but based on some tangible report,whether from the media or the CAG .
Has the general public ever connived to nail honest politicians?Moreover,there are mechanisms of investigations and trials,so the innocent should have nothing to fear.

As a final word,I think corruption is the biggest threat to democracy in our country. Counter measure for corruption will serve to strengthen the parliamentary democracy not weaken it.

Lover (Translated from Premik by Joy Goswami)

Today I opened the book,
the one you had given me to bring home rain-clouds,
there I found water,waist deep.

On turning the page ,
I saw
that water gathered into a small river
and drifted afar.

On the book full of flora,
that you had once given,
I cannot take another step,
so dense the forest now.

The trees so high,
they wont let a single ray of light
to touch the floor.

That book you had given to learn fountains,
now has a waterfall ,
gushing all day long.

Even that book which held
the feather you had gifted as a book mark,
has many birds flying all over now,swimming,resting.

All those books you have ever given me,
Are now deserts and mountains

All those books you have ever given me
Are now the sun and the horizon..

But yet, today friends are coming to see my library.
Coming to see if I am well-read!
What can I show them?
How shall I face them?

(translated from a bengali poem 'Premik' by Joy Goswami)

Cynical

Our world believes in division of work ,so the state commits rights and people commit duties.In essence,this seems to me like the old tendency of pushing labour onto the other's table.
In this push and counter push,the thankless morality task has fallen on the common man's lap.It is his daily fight to keep integrated his body and soul,keep his moral world untouched from the price rise,corruption and degradation of the state's moral world.
On the other hand,the politician and his associates (read state) are free from this inhibiting moral business altogether.
In this country,only the powerful are the deserving.Otherwise how do candidates with grave criminal charges against them (murder, rape, kidnap) have the audacity to think of fighting an election?
In any other modern democracy,a politician merely suspected of embezzlement comes under fiery scanners.
But in India,the EC wont hear of debarring candidates with criminal charges,
I wonder exactly how many ‘innocent’ victims,falsely implicated by enemy camps,will suffer if such a law was passed?
Is it really so easy to charge an enemy with murder and rape ?If charging were so easy, why then do young women find it so difficult to even file a complaint of molestation or harrassment with the police?Recall the case of model Kirtana Krishna from Bangalore.
Ofcourse it could be,that police apathy is specially reserved for the common man,while the service is specially reserved for the 'deserving' again.
We on the other hand pay for both the police and the politicians ,to ensure firstly,that we commoners are well betrayed,and secondly,that they can serve each other in their times of need.
Our fish ,we know ,is rotten from the head down.That is why,tainted ministers,while lodged in jail,can spend days reading poems without a trace of tension in their demeanor.Our political elite has set very low standards of ethics for themselves,hence institutionalized corruption for the entire state machinery.

What can we do in times like this?Can the common man's moral world expand into the parliaments ,judiciary,police systems?Can 'deserving' mean cleaner candidates instead of cash rich ones?

Cupid's Coffee (Part 3)

There is something about loneliness that reminds her of him.Or perhaps he sends loneliness her way so she never forgets the runaway prince?
Our princess often visited coffee shops.In this distant land,she sat alone at some quiet coffee table for a while before retiring to her chambers for the night.Here in summer,the sun shines till late.After her duties were done for the day,she stole a moment or two to walk by herself or spend it over a cup.
Most days,she read colorful magazines ,watched the crowd through the glass windows of the shop,gazed at the pretty young waiters and waitresses and idly heard the boys arguing at the next table as she drank the hot stirring liquid.
But even as she looked kindly at a yonder couple kissing,she could hear her prince whisper into her ears from another time'Princess,I'll be your genie,your guardian angel.'
'That's a tough promise to keep.You will have to be at my beck and call'she had said to him,and they had both smiled.
She had believed in that promise,held on to it for comfort.It still kept her warm in those spells of solitude.And yet she knew in her heart,she would never call him,neither in her times of distress nor to test his veracity.She did not have the courage to see it proved to her,that she had meant nothing to him.
In truth,she knew,this was not love.Only a melodic theme of a prince and a princess ,though far away from each other, and busy in a thousand ways in their own world with other people,who were strongly under each other's enchantment of love.
Our princess was either a romantic,or too attached to her captor.

Hurray!

When film stars and obscenely rich businessmen along with their wives, wave the tricolour from the VIP boxes,I cannot help but wonder what their India is like.
Imagine,you live in a palace,step out in designer clothes,donning large dark sunglasses into the most luxurious expensive cars,temperature suited to your comfort,driven by courteous chauffeurs,or into your private jet served by your staff.Here,you are king(or queen),and a king can do no wrong.You will never need to slip a 500 rupee note into the greasy hands of a traffic police or queue up behind hundreds of cars to fill yours,before gas stations call an indefinite strike,or worry about your kids admission or sweat over your new venture,or wait for months before you get that call for a job interview.
You wave your hands and the crowds cry out in thousands,you smile at them before vanishing into your hotel guarded by your men.At other times,when you feel too bored to wave,you order your guards to shoo the large crowd away.
When you wish to have a quick ride to your meeting venue,across the city,your managers and advisors call up the 'right people' to ensure your car is not held up at some traffic congestion.Will you even have the time to think of another man,who may be battling for life inside an ambulance held up for too long?The country you were born in,loves you, and of-course ,you love it back.
You spend millions and buy a cricket team to show your love,and you open retail chains in sprawling shopping malls so common people can improve their taste in clothes and food ,jewelery.
You build schools,where the hapless returning NRI ,Senior Executive, Media mogul, Entrepreneur,or Politician parents,who suffer anxiety at the thought of the company their children gather at those public schools,can finally,peacefully send their kids!So,when they declare you a true visionary, and when newspapers call you reformer,you are glad to see your patriotism recognized.
Then the camera turns at the ordinary stands,where 'the crowd' paint their faces and wave placards ,jump up and down,shout and cry.I cannot see individual faces here,but a field of heads and shoulders.But I look more carefully today,I try to spot a friend who has bought a ticket from the 'blackers' at thrice the value,almost his entire biweekly pay.I think I did spot him,fervently swinging his tricolour at every direction,wasn't that him in a blue shirt?One cannot be too sure though!
My neighbour's son,who is quite a few years younger than me,practices the game religiously.He can answer any quiz on the game,now isn't that something?He cannot watch today though,there has been a power-cut in their row of houses since last night.So he keeps peeping from across the boundary wall to catch a glimpse of our TV.
The man who runs a tea stall just opposite where I live,has been saving up for the last few years.Finally he has bought his first TV just before the matches started,though he had to loan a few hundred bucks from his friend,the bus conductor.They both are watching the game over cups of tea and frenzied shrieks.Not too many customers came to drink his tea,today.Less sales ,means he will walk home ten miles on foot,to try and cover the day's losses.
The bus conductor,is a school dropout.He had to drop out after his brother,the only bread earner in his family,met with an accident and died.He was hired by the same transport company his brother worked for.
That company is run by a aging man who lives nearby.He has a tough time keeping the wheels moving,given the rising fuel costs and deteriorating conditions of the vehicles and the equally disparaging roads and traffic conditions.Today he has given the day off,so his 'boys' can watch the game.Most of them are at his place watching it on his colour TV,while his wife serves them chai and snacks.
The wife is a cheerful little lady who needs very little to keep her happy.Indeed she has very little left after her son has left for USA to finish his education.Her parents had left her a little piece of land and some gold which had to be sold off little by little, to pay for her father-in-laws expensive surgery and to buy her son's dreams.
Her son is a diligent boy,works hard and will surely make his parents proud.
Today,she missed him,he loved watching these games and played well too!He was a top class player,"he can go upto the state levels in a few years"the school coach had said.
His middle class parents were not overjoyed,they knew the probability of an assured paycheck even for a talented player like him,could be slim,since he had no contacts,no godfathers or billions to influence anyone,studies would give him a better chance!
Suddenly the thoughts are interrupted by cheers in the parlour.India wins the game.Everyone shouts out "hurray"!