karma

Too poor to acknowledge poverty?

2013-02-26T03:36:00.000-08:00

Who is a poor in our country? This may sound like a very rhetorical question, which everyone in the country has an answer to, but never the less needs to be brought into light again and again, because so is the condition of this new age that we have the retention level of a five year old.

Poverty, according to the World Bank; Poverty is pronounced as deprivation in well being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. In simpler terms it means the inability of a person to access to the basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter.

And according to the World Bank, a person must earn approximately $2 per day, if he is to call himself above poverty line, and according to this, an approximate 60% of India’s population is below poverty line.

However if Indian economic ‘scholars’ are to be believed $2 per day is a very steep amount, and on the contrary all you need to survive in this high growing rate economy and with an ever so fluctuating inflation index, is Rs 28.62 per day and that too if you are living in urban areas of the country, but in case you live in rural part of the country (where mind you, most of the population of India lives) you only need Rs 22.42 per day, well that is, at least what the Planning Commission of India thought was needed to survive.

But what people fail to realize is that these small numbers matter big when it comes to defining policies, a decline of even Rs 2 in the minimum amount needed to survive means migration of millions of people from the BPL families to those that are above it.

And over the years all that the various governments, in order to promote themselves and to show the tremendous amount of work that they have done to uplift the poverty stricken people, have done is play with the numbers. That is the reason why the poor and poverty in our country does not depend on the money, an individual earns, rather it depends which government is in power.

This is the situation of poor in this country, he may not be able provide his family with food, but because he earns a little over than Rs 30 per day, he does not fall under the category of BPL families.

And if the Planning Commission coming out with these reports was not enough, there are other prominent Political leaders who try to justify these reports.

But if mocking the poor is the main aim of the Planning commission, why do they stop here? Why not make these people who are above the poverty line pay taxes, hey if they can lead a sustainable life in Rs 28.62, they very well contribute in the development of the country.

Well certainly for a country in which only 2.77% of the people pay taxes, it is rather criminal to believe that only about 29% of the population is below poverty line.

If the only work of these reports is to try and hide the actual number of poor in the country, then why come out with a number at all, why not go out and say that the country is free of poverty and that no one dies of hunger and malnutrition.

For at least then the reports could be called totally biased and not be in the limbo that they today stand in.

The governments must understand that the numbers can be played with, but the ground reality remains that even after 65 years of independence poor still remain poor, but depending on the government.

The Planning Commission would be soon coming out with its new report in a few months and it would be rather interesting to see, how many poor people would the Commission find fit to be called poor.

Thank god it’s a Democracy

2013-02-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

The last two years can best be described as Protest years; there have been a rather unusual rise in the number of protest that have taken place in our country. The count of protest began with the Anna Hazare’s, anti corruption campaign that saw thousands of people coming on the streets in the various parts of our country and showing their anguish against the sudden outburst of scams that engulfed the administration of the country. And probably the biggest protest that the country has seen in the recent times came last December, viz a viz the Delhi gang rape, which I must admit as a human being, shook me.

These protests saw the youth of the country taking part with immense motivation and in huge numbers. This was perhaps the first time in a long time that such a huge number of the population stood up for something. It was probably the first that the greater chunk of the society realized what it is like to live in a democracy, something that has to be actually experienced in order to realize.

But what they seem to have forgotten is that although they have the right to protest, sit on agitations, or strike, they can’t hold this right as a tool for blackmailing the government. People must understand that the population of India is not in a few thousands or millions; rather it is more than 1.2 billion. So it not possible for the law to be changed every time a few thousand men and women sit on a protest to change a law (which was made to cater the needs of a nation) which has been serving for more than 65 years. As much sad and biased as this may sound, this is the ugly truth that people must grasp if we as a country are to progress. The Supreme court’s decision that as many as 90% of all the dowry cases in India were wrongly filed is one the best examples how laws can be easily misused in our country. This is the reason that any law before passing through, has to go through severe scrutiny. This is the reason that any law made is crafted in such a manner that it caters to a large number of people.

The people must understand that just like they have right to protest, the government has some rights too, a wrong or a flawed law can do much more harm to the society than the reason it was made for. They must try to understand that it’s not just the law that has to be changed with the changing times, but the attitude too needs to be changed. The law can be changed nth time but it does not guarantee less offenses, for they can be misused if not implemented properly, rather it is the attitude of the people that has to be worked upon and is due for a change.

The PM who never spoke

2013-01-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

Dr. Manmohan singh, the prime minister of India, is perhaps one of the best politicians to have ever been born in the country. The top most economist who helped India overcome the crisis it was facing in 1990-91 would have never realized that he would be ruling the country he saved then.

The soft spoken, finance minister, of the Narsimha Rao government, was highly appreciated when he first came to power. Although at the same time it was seen by some, as a strategy to win the sikh votes, after the 1984 riots, and hence the criticism fell onto Congress led UPA, and ultimately on Sonia Gandhi.

The petty Prime Minister in spite of being criticized for his walk, talk and been called a puppet in the hands of Mrs. Gandhi, did appreciable work during his term as the prime minister. One of the most celebrated act, which also led to him winning the second term also as the Prime Minister was the Right to Information or the RTI as it is usually called, is perhaps his something for which he will always be remembered (most of the scams that you read in the newspapers today, are out in the open because of this RTI). The RTI over powered everything and made sure that the Congress led UPA came into power once again.

But this is where it all begins, the second term, has somewhat been a bumpy ride for UPA- II, with the RTI back firing and that literally meaning backfiring. The biggest scams in the history of free India came into light because of the RTI and had a direct or indirect connection with the UPA. Hence bringing all the negative attention that it could possibly need and to further degrade the matter Anna Hazare, a nationalist and Gandhian started an anti corruption campaign (which is kind of ironic, "a Gandhian on a campaing against Gandhi’”), and started to demand for Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed in the Parliament. It must be admitted, that his agitation did stir up things a little bit, with the people joining Anna in his campaign. But like everything in this country, the movement too died down.

Next came, to increase the problems of the UPA-II, the increment of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail sector and if the problems inside the party were not enough, the opposition and various NGO’s too started to disapprove of the decision. Although, one very radical thing took place during this resistance, the Prime Minister spoke, yes he spoke, in a national wide addressing; he listed the positives of the FDI in retail sector.

The last criticism which came very recently to the UPA, was the growing insecurity of women, in India, and specially in the national capital. With huge outcry over the Delhi gang rape victim, it was thought that the Prime Minister will speak, and he did, but his speech made it to the centre of all jokes.

During the time between these big events, there was always, Trinamool Congress to threatening to pull back its support, and Ministerial comments to increase the problems of the UPA, however one thing remained constant if you would have realized, that the Prime Minister never spoke. The fact that India did not face as big as problems because of the economic depression in the world and its credit should have gone to Dr. Manmohan Singh, did not go to him only because of his keeping to himself attitude. While there is no doubt that he is an excellent scholar, who has the ability to run this country, must try to be more expressive, because he may be the Prime Minister but he does enjoy the same right as the people of this country (freedom of speech). The country is eagerly waiting what the Prime Minister has to say, for, all the work he has done he might just be remembered as the Prime Minister who never spoke.

International Film Festival of India

2012-12-12T03:16:00.002-08:00

IFFI which was recently held in Goa, is perhaps one of the best places where you can see movies which have been critically acclaimed and interact with actors, producers and directors. The ten day festival which takes place in the city of Panaji in Goa, is almost situated at the coast, in fact one of the theatres has the beach in its premises. The festival is not only of Indian acclaim but it also receives appreciation from a worldwide audience and the guest list includes directors and actors of international national fame. This year was no different with stars like Amitabh Bachan, Akshay Kumar, Amir khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Ilyana D’cruz, Imtiaz Ali, Muzzafar Ali, Vinay Pathak and many others attending the festival from India and the likes of Ang Li (world premiere of his Life Of Pi took place here), Suzane Bier ( Oscar winning director), Jacob Switzer, Jakub Tarkowski and Tomasz Leniask ( Polish directors) were among a long list of other international guests who attented the festival. Although the approximate number of movies screened during the 10 day long festival was 250, one movie which remained the centre of attraction was Ang Li’s “Life Of Pi” which had its world premiere during the same time. The International Film Festival, remained true to its words, with it telecasting movies from around the world and celebrating world cinema in its true form, and once again allowing people to come close by giving them a platform to meet and know the world as seem through a camera lens, for it is said “that movies are the mirror of society.”

Spitting glory !!!

2012-10-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

We all, over the years have come across, the periodic discoloring of walls, buildings, stairs and mostly all of the public property that we see daily, but what we fail to grasp is that, this excellent piece of modern art and graffiti is not one of the projects undertaken by the government. Rather it is the excellent work of some men amongst us, who achieve a sense of glory when they recolor the public places. But sadly this art of theirs is not a dying one, although tobacco still continues to be hazardous to life and is being banned throughout the country, the art of spitting still continues.

This is, I guess, the dedication of these men that makes sure that this, no good; danger to life, art form, is still prevailing. The reason that this art form is still prospering is because it gets the support of the educated, urban class with much status and dignity, how else do you explain it exceedingly doing well in the metropolitan cities. I mean for a country to prosper, it is essential that it continues to believe in its culture and spitting has over the years become our culture. But as a nation is this what we want us to be seen as, a bunch of HOMO SAPIEN SAPIENS, who can walk, talk, eat, and most imp of all, have power of endless spitting.

I know that my saying all these things won’t stop people from spitting, but I hope you do think about it for a minute, I mean if you won’t do it in your own house, why do it outside it. Yes I understand that this has become a habit and old habits die hard but they do die, change is inevitable no matter how big or small, things change and that is the hope with which I am writing this article. Hope this brings some change and for some good.

karma: Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”

2012-10-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

karma: Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”: Neil Armstrong, he made to the text books of every child but what really made us remember him was the landing that he perfected on the mo...

karma: SC: Tourists go back !!!

2012-10-15T21:45:00.001-07:00

karma: SC: Tourists go back !!!: The Supreme Court in July, in reply to a petition filed by the Central government, imposed a ban on tourism in the tiger conservation area...

SC: Tourists go back !!!

2012-10-15T21:40:00.004-07:00

The Supreme Court in July, in reply to a petition filed by the Central government, imposed a ban on tourism in the tiger conservation areas. But what it seems to have completely ignored is that tiger tourism is a 10 billion rupees industry in India. The Centre soon realized this error and also the fact that many states opposed the ban, saying that it would create a lot of unemployment and since then it has been trying to seek a review on the petition. Although this saw the Apex court being critical of the Centre’s petition as to on what basis did it seek the ban in the first place.

All this is what has happened in the last six months, from trying to ban the tourism as a whole to imposing a restriction of 20% on it but the final result is still to come. While all this has been happening, what seems to be missing is the core issue, the conservation of tigers and no one seems to care about, because had it been the scenario people would have realized that the tiger population has actually risen, from 1400 in 2006 to more than 1700 today and all thanks to the funds that the forest department generates from tourism. The Centre while seeking the ban to preserve this royal animal seems to have forgotten that people need to be made aware of what they are trying to protect, for if they don’t know what they are protecting they actually might not protect it. The ban on tourism seems to have not gone down well with the various states and thus they have opposed it leading the Centre to reconsider its petition.

The Supreme Court, which is yet to give its final decision on the subject should consider the various aspects and the appeals of the various NGOs and societies working for the revival of the tiger population before it bans the tourism altogether. The ban might just help in the extinction of the royal animal from the minds of the people and the nation and reduce it to just being a chapter in the children’s books.

Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”

2012-09-20T01:28:00.003-07:00

Neil Armstrong, he made to the text books of every child but what really made us remember him was the landing that he perfected on the moon. The real moon walker of the world. The guy who walked the walk is sadly no more in the world. Mr. Armstrong, who captained the mission TO MOON in 1969, rose to fame even quickly than his rocket reached the moon. Being an idol of all those who dream to be astronauts, he paved the way for generations to come. Although what used to be the single most celebrated event in the history of mankind, got lost somewhere.

He, who was a household name in the 70’s and 80’s ended up becoming a question in history and G.K. text books. A phenomenon reduced to articles and questionnaire. Although what really made him different from others was the modesty, his simplicity, his down to earth attitude and the most important capability he had his quotes. How can we forget his good luck Mr. Gorsky, or “this is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But the best example of his modesty was seen when he came to India and apologized to Mrs Indira Gandhi, when he came to India during his world tour after his return from the moon. He come to know that the then Prime Minister had stayed up late, just so that she could see the landing on moon, he very humbly said “I apologize for the inconvenience we caused you, Madam Prime Minister. Next time, I shall make sure that we land on the moon at a less unearthly hour” that was the greatness of the man who is no longer among us. Although his absence will always be felt, for the things that he did and the future that he left for the rest of us, but it is certainly good to know that he is in a better place now and his name will always be immortal , even though only in text books, but still it’ll remain immortal. Neil Armstrong farewell to you may you explore heaven in the same way you explored the moon.

PARENTS : THE BORN KILLERS

2012-06-13T09:08:00.002-07:00

The worst thing that could happen to a child is that his parents don’t have faith in him.yes it happens at times But it took me time to realize it till , when it happened to a friend, who thought that ending the life was all she could do. By saying that “he is nothing but a failure “, you have already killed him. This method of teaching might have worked on you, but is it necessary that it would work on every child as well??? The constant need to do what your parents did to you is nothing but a way to transfer your child hood issues onto them. You need to realize that they are children, your children and should be treated likewise. The feeling of losing support when you wanted it the most, at a time you needed it most, can be the most fatal mistake that you ever make. everything a child dreams of, from his parents, when that comes crashing down, they want to live can often shatter .you should try and realize that everyone in this world is not a genius and for that matter neither are you, then how can you fail to accept that the child has the same blood as you, the same DNA as you .to think that he can be something, you could never be makes you an abuser of the child just like a pedophile. I mean is that what children are for, just to fulfill your wishes, wishes that you couldn’t fulfill by yourself. If that’s the scenario then you don’t need a child, you need a paid laborer, who can do your daily chores and the same time manages to recapture your goodwill in the society. It’s good enough that children are your means to flaunt pride, but to make them your trophies to achieve a fake sense of status in the society, just brings shame to the relationship of a parent and a child. The sacred bond of a parent and child, dented by the sole fact that he couldn’t give a sense of glory is nothing but an effort to make them do something that you couldn’t. Do well …..the words that started everything seem to lose their meaning , the words which initially meant hope you do well , somewhere in between change into you have to do well, for our sake .Although they seem to be your friend , the truth is that , they can never be . The fact that they have been through the same situation doesn’t make s them ease out a bit; rather it makes them do the same thing to their children. I must say that I read somewhere that parenting was hard, but what they forgot to mention was, it was because of children that they became parent, yes a parent which is not a title, nor a position rather a bond which is so easily that it sometimes leads a child to take harsh measures, which often makes parent regret their decisions.

I must say that when these things happen to someone close to you, it makes you realize in what agony that person must have been living in. But that’s it no more shall this continue, my friends , my readers if you are facing the same problems , I advise you not to take harsh steps rather talk to somebody and if you have none then mail me , I’ll be there for you ………

This blog is dedicated to you ....

Ten reasons why British rule "ROCKED"

2012-06-11T04:59:00.002-07:00

1. No petrol problems ……..we didn’t have enough cars…..all we needed was some cattle fodder and we were all set for the day….no one cared If there was a price hike

2. No TV…….even if there was a petrol price rise , people couldn’t come to know

3. No schools ……people were not educated enough …..You could do whatever you want …..No one would care, if no one knew about it…..but I don’t think that we are educated now ……ehhhh who cares……. RIGHT???

4. No law and order problem……people were actually scared of police …..therefore thought ten times before going against them….not like these days , when it’s the other way round

5. No money, no problem ……..money was not a problem…the British took ‘em all …thus all our problems too….but I guess our ministers are doing their jobs these days.

6. No racial discrimination …….no matter where we came from, we were all treated as “BLOODY INDIANS “(remember the old movies)……therefore no chance of discrimination …..No north eastern …..No south Indian …..no north Indian ……just plain old “BLOODY INDIANS “

7. No match fixings ……there was no IPL …..No ODI …..Just plain old simple Cricket …..Also the fact that they had robbed us of everything, might have moved them, from the match fixing ….it is also possible that they had not met cricketers from Pakistan …..

8. No listening to anyone ……it was a typical monarchy style rule ….no one was allowed to say anything …..come to think of it ….Mamta Banerjee seems to be inspired by them

9. No tension of food price rise ......whatever the price was people couldn't afford it.…they couldn't afford then ....they can't now

10 No scarcity of electricity ……we did not know what electricity was hence we did not want it…therefore there was no scarcity of electricity ……just like in most of India , today

But the point is , that do you really need 10 reasons to realize that nothing has changed since the last 65 yrs in India ……it is a matter of immense shame that we are still in the same position and fighting the same things that we were fighting 60 yrs ago……I guess British rule did ROCK India in way that it is still trying to come to its senses.

This article was not written to demoralize anyone rather to raise questions and try to bring about a change that has yet to come.

No to meter …..Yet somehow the first ones to say no to corruption

2012-05-31T11:30:00.001-07:00

Probably the makers of dictionary and the word “hypocrisy” had been to India, when they first thought to coin the term “hypocrite”. the meaning of the term can be at best understood In the case of India and especially in the case of the auto rickshaws (wallahs), which were initial started keeping in mind that these would improve the condition of public transportation, but all they have managed to do is form an union and support anything that is not in their favor or anything that is against the government. Perhaps it’s this ruffian characteristic of the city auto wallahs that any political situation that arises in the city, manages to get their support so fast (in some cases even before the members of the political group who started the whole thing). But what is surprising to see here is that these auto wallahs have absolutely no problem in torching the buses, creating a chaos situation, damaging public and private property …..Yet would never stop rather have any problems in charging extra (well actually everything is extra what they charge especially because they never seem to travel by meter). they supported Anna Hazare’s movement in Delhi with full enthusiasm , making sure that it was a good show but they contradict their own morals and beliefs when a passenger is sitting in their vehicle , they themselves charge more than the actual fare , that my dear friends is also a type of corruption . Yes corruption the same thing which you fought over in the Anna Hazare against corruption movement. the 31^st of may 2012 was another perfect example of the double standards they set for themselves and us , the so called common man , fighting against petrol price hike , they gave full support to BJP called “Bharat bandh” ( that too in a case where they run on CNG in Delhi and on diesel in the rest of the country , whose price is yet to increase though but hasn't happened so far ) which can be justified up to an extent but how in the world do you justify the chaos they caused on the streets of the entire country . From charging double the fare to in some cases demanding it as much as four times high, creating a havoc on streets to getting in fight with those who did not believe in the “bandh”, it was a day when they could get away with anything because they knew that they had the support of the one thing that could save them “a political party”. Though it should be duly noted that it was a protest for raising the voice of the common man , one who has struggled the most , but wasn't this style of protest just adding fuel to the fire , adding to his miseries , for in no way can the destruction of public and private property be in the interest of the people.

They say that alcohol kills but personally I think LOVE does a better job

2011-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

I thought u were my friend but u continued the trend , i thought u were unlike others but u did everything that bothers , i thought that i knew u too well but its just that u knew what to tell ,

I thought u loved me just like i did u all along but in the end it turned out that for u it was just u , u and u and u knew it was wrong , i thought that u were everything i'd ever need but now it seems like something that i could only plead ,

I thought that u were my life and could have been my future wife but it seems that i was too dumb coz i can hardly feel my heart its freaking numb ,

I thought u were above from the rest but how can i forget that i was no best , i thought that i was loving but it seems that u were not ready for my caring , i thought that one day off your feet i would sweep but now it seems that all i can do is weep ,

I thought that we could be friends forever but how is it possible when we don't even talk ever , i thought that u were different , a little less but u turned my life into a huge mess , i thought that u loved me from heavens to hell but it seems that there was never any heaven coz u became the devil and succeeded in making my life a living hell .

Have Anger ,Frustration and Rage , must be a Delhite

2011-12-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday someone asked me ( jokingly) that why are Delhi men so aggressive , the someone obviously being a friend for many years who had just returned from England , had already had a close encounter with the aggression of Delhi men , where her cab driver accidently nibbed another car and then started a scene of a lifetime , over a scratch no bigger than a pen's cap . Although while telling the entire story she seemed to be light hearted about it , (but one can imagine the what she must have been through because this is an incident that we've all experienced) it did got me thinking and yet i couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for it . After long hours of thinking of an answer and being a student of history , it struck me that the past of Delhi had always been ' Bloody' . From the earliest of times Delhi has been fought after for , for its prime location and political importance . Maybe that's the reason for the aggression that comes to delhites naturally . Though we don't fight wars any more now , but we do have our own battles , be it an accident on the road or an accidental shoulder push . but do not make the mistake of taking these incidents lightly , as more than often these can result in someone's death . And while referring to these instances how can one forget one of the most used cliches of all time " tu janta nahi hai main kon hu " ( don't you know who i am ?) as if my friend you knowing the answer to this question was not enough that everyone in the country has to learn for you .

Well so it seems that the only logical explanation for this rage , that i could think of was the bloody past of Delhi . but then how can we manage to forget the good things from the past and hang on one bad thing . It seems that i am not indeed the best person to answer this question but i do hope that is , because i must admit that for a country with such a huge population we seem to lack one very small thing like patience.

what is wrong with the govt.

2011-07-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Price rise , Corruption , Incompetent laws are just some of the best words to describe the government . It is to my despair because i have always been an avid congress enthusiast but the current situations have forced me to rethink . They tell us to pay our taxes on time , not to engage in anything illegal but isn't it the contrary of what they are doing themselves . I have seen my father struggle through life and then pay his hard earned income to the govt. in the form of taxes and it makes my blood boil when i see the same money which has been acquired with by the same people as my father go into the pockets of some politicians whose main aim in life as it seems is to acquire as much wealth as he can , and even when caught it hardly seem to matter to them because the money is never returned and they often get bail within hours of being arrested after all they still have the money that they have literally robbed us of . To top all of this the govt keeps on increasing the prices of almost everything we know , and further increasing the burden of life with all this going on i just have one question for our respected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , Madame Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi , that if this is what is going to happen to our hard earned income then WHY SHOULD WE PAY TAXES ?????