** Deepawali Greetings **

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I WISH YOU & ALL YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS A VERY HAPPY DEEPAWALI

எனது உளம் கனிந்த தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்

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** கடை தேங்காயும் வழி பிள்ளையாரும் **

ஜம்மு காஷ்மீர் மாநிலத்துக்கு கோடையில் ஸ்ரிநகர், குளிரில் ஜம்மு ஆக இரு தலை நகரங்கள் என்பது யாவரும் அறிந்த உண்மை. வருடம் தவறாமல் இந்த வைபவம் நடத்துவதற்கு எத்தனை கோடிகள் செலவாகிறது என்பது ஆண்டவனுக்கே வெளிச்சம். ஜம்மு காஷ்மீர் மாநிலம் பெற்றுள்ள பல அரசியல் சலுகைகளில் இதுவும் ஒன்று என நினைத்து விட்டாலும், இந்த இரண்டு நகரங்களில் ஒன்றை நிரந்தர தலைநகரம் ஆக்க என்ன தடை என்பதை எண்ணாமல் இருக்க முடியாது.

ஆனால், இத்தகைய கூத்து, மஹாராஷ்ட்டிராவிலும் நடை பெறுவது, பலர் அறியாத செய்தி. கோடையில் மும்பை மற்றும் குளிரில் நாக்பூர் ஆக, இரு இடங்களில், சட்டசபை கூட்டத்தொடர் நடக்கிறது. இதில் குறிப்பிடதக்க அம்சம் என்ன எனில், மும்பையை விட அதிக குளிர் காணும் நாக்பூரில் குளிர் காலக்க் கூட்டம் நடப்பதுதான்.

இப்படியாக, வருடத்துக்கு இரண்டு மூன்று நாட்கள் மட்டுமே நாக்பூரில் நடக்கும் பைத்தியக்காரத்தனத்துக்கு - வண்டி வாகனங்கள், போக்குவரத்து, அலுவல் நடைமுறை செலவு, அரசியல்வாதிகள் மற்றும் அவர்களின் எடுபிடிகள் தங்கும் செலவு இத்தியாதி இத்தியாதி என, எத்தனையோ கோடிகள் விரயம் ஆகிறது. இந்த தேவை அற்ற முட்டாள்தனமான நடைமுறையை மாற்ற எந்த கட்சியும், ஆட்சியும் இது வரை முயன்றது இல்லை என்பதுதான் வேதனை.

சரி வீணாவது என்ன அவர்கள் கட்சிப்பணமா அல்லது தலைவரின் தந்தை வழி சொத்தா - மக்களின் வரிப்பணம் தானே ?? கடை தேங்காயை எடுத்து வழிப் பிள்ளையாருக்கு உடைப்பதுதான் கைவந்த கலை ஆயிற்றே !!!

** A nice poem **

அடுத்து முயன்றாலும் ஆகு நாள் அன்றி
எடுத்த கருமங்கள் ஆகா - தொடுத்த
உருவத்தால் நீண்ட உயர்மரங்கள் எல்லாம்
பருவத்தால் அன்றி பழா.

2009 - A Love Story

Villainous roles portrayed in recent films and serials, in which the bad ones go to great lengths to get their wishes fulfilled, were at times unbelievable. Well…. Not any more! One of our great politicians is showing that he can do much more!

Haryana EX deputy CM- Chandra Mohan, while holding the prestigious office, went into hiding in Nov 08, with a high profile Govt attorney Anuradha Bali, deserting his wife and three children. Both resurfaced in Dec 08 as man and wife, with new religions and names – Chandra Mohan became Chand Mohammed as Anuradha changed her name to Fiza.

Later (?!?!) he was removed from his post of Dy CM and his father EX CM Bhajan Lal disowned him. Media went berserk and enjoyed every moment of this religious ridicule, which was aptly annotated with published love letters and exchanged kisses and much more! Within weeks, he suddenly left Fiza’s house and went underground again, later to be traced in London. Following that, he suddenly ‘divorced’ Fiza over phone (talaaq x 3 times) and through SMS in Feb 09. Then in July, he returned to Hinduism in front of religious (?!?!) leaders.

What a lovely way to lure and later dump a woman! This feat, in which nothing is religiously illegal, is achieved by a person holding a constitutional office and looked upon as a role model by many! In the present political scenario, he may soon contest elections again and become PM or CM. There should be some ruling to make such people ineligible to contest elections or to hold any constitutional office in future.

Meanwhile, Fiza seems to be totally isolated, and is getting ready to face a legal battle against her ex-husband. Having said that, most will agree that she deserves such agonies after spoiling the life of Mrs Seema Bishnoi Chandra Mohan, and her three children.

Reckless Reality shows

“Cheap publicity” has always been used as a tool, by many, for gaining popularity – to market their ‘otherwise not so attractive’ products. John Buchnan’s recent book is another example of that trend. Make one or two observations about Indian Players, and selectively leak them, and the book will sell hot - this is the formula followed by many others too.

TV is another section of this spectrum, which uses such methods to the optimum. Most of the so called Mega serials – which are habituated to showing extramarital affairs, violence of all kinds, murders, conspiracies, rape, abduction, suicides and details of last rites on a dead body – do not have a proper story line, and bank heavily on cheap publicity tactics to prop up their ratings.

‘Reality show’ is one such nuisance, which do not care a bit about the traditions, customs, social values, family relationships, responsibilities and, most important of all, the future of the children watching the show. They never think about consequential damages, and want to fill their coffers by fooling the people.

There are many such shows. Some shows deserve a mention here.

Rakhi Sawant’s swayamwar (NDTV Imagine) – tops the list. The concept is to select a suitable groom for Rakhi- all by herself. Rakhi, a side actress, who shot to fame portraying her “assets” in several “item numbers” – (Tamil equivalent- Record dance), which are tailor made for such exhibition, irritates as much as possible. The show drags on, better to leave the scenes of the show unsaid.

Another one is “Sach Ka Saamna” (Star plus) – In simple words, it is a lie detector test. But more often than not, words are deliberately put or thrust in to the mouth of the participant. There was some debate in parliament (which didn’t bring any result) and another PIL against it, but the court has declined to intervene, saying they have more important job at hand than all this petty issues, which is acceptable.

One show, earlier known as ‘’candid camera’ {Aaditya Tamil Channel}- in the name of comedy – invades in the privacy of unassuming children and other people at some public places. They don’t even spare aged people from their stupid acts. It may take a serious injury or even death, to stop this nonsense show.

It is high time for I&B ministry to take note of such shows, and stop this menace. They should soon appoint some kind of regulatory authority, to take care if such issues. The sooner the better.

Democracy In Danger

The worst thing which can happen in a democratic country – more than all the other damages continuously being caused by our eccentric politicians put together – is the denial of free and fair elections, and cheating in the electoral process. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), largely hyped to ensure free and fair elections, are under the scanner now.

I recollect making two observations in my earlier blogs. In the first, regarding the election results, I have mentioned that the good results might have even surprised many in congress party. And the second observation questions the fair election of our union home minister. Both these observations gain significance by the news of tampering in EVMs.

Of course, EVM tampering was continuously on news after the elections. There is now a PIL filed in one of the High Courts. The biasing media did not highlight this news enough, and as a result, such news was always confined to back pages, among less interesting news. Had the election results been in favour of BJP, I am sure that the media must have raised a lot of hue and cry, instead of the mysterious silence they maintain now.

Our Honorable Chief Election Commissioner cum senior congress leader, Mr N Chawla, -instead of taking necessary measures to ensure a proper solution- is simply making statements that EVMs are tamper proof. Government, not surprisingly though, did not even bother to clarify about this serious issue. Opposition parties are creating a lot of noises, rightly so, and asking to revert back to old methods. The old but another failed system of ballot paper method, will not only increase the expenditure in multiples of hundreds of crores, but also render these EVMs useless.

Recently, there was a demonstration in Nagpur, by a computer software firm, to show how the EVMs can be tampered. The demonstration was witnessed by large number of people, and leaders of political parties. This surely was not the first demo of its kind, and certainly not going to be the last one. When will this fall into the deaf ears of Govt authorities and Mr CEC? God only knows!

Honest assessment of home minister's constituency

Do you believe in “KARMA” If YES, your faith will be strengthened, and if NO, you may change your mind - at the end of this report.

How else can we explain the plight of the people, for none of their mistakes - and their representative, who did nothing for them, lives in ever increasing luxury for the past 25 years or more.

Yes! I am talking about, Sivaganga constituency, from where our union home minister P Chidambaram has been elected for a sixth consecutive term. Not to mention the fact that he is a mainstay in the union cabinet for many years now. He has served as a minister of state in Rajiv ministry too. Over the years, he has grown to one of the political bigwig of the country. Yet, I should sadly admit, his constituency remains as a true picture of neglect.

Well! I have nothing personal against PC, and I haven’t conducted a survey. By virtue of my extensive travelling through the constituency, and the resultant inevitable comparison with other parts of the state, I could come to such a conclusion. It may be hard to believe or accept- but I am not exaggerating. Absolutely nothing has been done for the people for many years ( I contemplated writing ‘Very little’ instead of ‘Nothing’ – but with what I have seen, ‘Nothing’- would only be appropriate)

I interacted with people with various backgrounds, I kept my eyes and ears and more importantly, the mind open to observe things. I categorized my research under the following agenda:
i) Signs of growth
ii) Basic Infrastructure
iii) Living Conditions
iv) Employment opportunities
v) Development schemes/works

If you want to see a place where no growth could be noticed for decades, you should choose Sivaganga constituency. Things are in their places, just by the will of god, (Bhagwan Bharosa)- just as they were decades ago.

Infrastructure is invisible. Roads, buildings, bus stops, schools, hospitals are in very bad shape. Roads are terribly damaged except for Sivaganga City, where roads ceased to exist long back. Needless to add, other Infrastructure too is just as pathetic. Better not to write about the living conditions in the villages, which form the major part of this constituency…


There are no employment opportunities within the constituency. The trend of people migrating to other parts of the state/nation/world in search of a decent job/living continues. A considerable number of people (min 01 per family) work in Malaysia/ Singapore/ Brunei/Gulf Countries, fetch good money and survive here. A large Granite facility, advertised to have a potential for 5000 direct and indirect employments, is dumped after much deliberation, for reasons and economics known only to Mr PC.

Not so surprisingly, there are no development schemes/ Works at any place I visited. Recently there was news about MPs not utilizing their funds to their constituencies. Hold on! PC’s name did not feature in it. Only thing, there no sign of that utilized fund.

To sum up, PC has nothing to show, other than opening branches of various branches, in and around Karaikkudi and Sivaganga. The changes and growth I got to see were of individual efforts. For example, A famous entrepreneur from Trichy, has provided bore wells throughout his native village and surrounding villages. He is said to be helping people in many other ways. Also the hard earned foreign money of the people,who remain in a foeign country for years together and do all sorts of physical work, help in sustaining the economy in villages.

When individual efforts are able to provide solace to people, much could have been done by PC but he never lived up to the expectations. People can’t be blamed. It is widespread news with in the area that PC was voted out this time, but he barely managed to cling on using his “techniques”- and became home minister again.


If this is not KARMA, then……..?

A FORGOTTEN PROMISE

After the implementation of VI pay commission, there were many issues raised by the Armed Forces. The following two were very prominent, and in that order.

i) 70% weightage in pensionary benefits.
ii) Placing Lt Cols and equivalants in Pay Band –4 (instead of 3)

Both were accepted as core issues, and the Govt conceded to the demands. Six months down the line, Lt Cols and their counterparts, enjoy the elevated status of Pay Band-4, got their arrears and happily counting their fortune. But no news about the other proposal and subsequent approval. Authorities “haven’t received any correspondence about 70%’ , pension Office “did not get any any specific orders”, and JCDA “do not have anything in black and white”. On the whole, whole thing is safely forgotten.

But who is really bothered?
The other central Govt staff, not going to be benefited, they need not be bothered.

Govt has to cough up extra dough, so……, a majority Govt need not honour the promise made by a desperate minority Govt before elections, that too when no state elections are looming large over the horizon.

The Armed Forces top brass may have got a “fair deal”- to sweep the 70% appeal under the carpet, as soon as PB-4 is sanctioned for Lt Cols, and they are not bothered.

Defense Officers, irrespective of their capabilities, end up in PB-4, in just 13 years, and they don’t have enough place to store their "hard earned" money- and they aren’t bothered.

The real Mr Bechara is the PBOR, (Personnel Below Officer Rank) who can not actually do anything in this regard, other than venting feelings in a blog.

So, it is very difficult to get the 70% proposal/approval to be implemented. The issue is now ready for a silent burial. I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.

DEBACLE OF DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

India knocked out in the super 8 stages of T20 world cup. Well, none surprised. Because this format of the game doesn’t allow any team the luxury of being hailed as clear favorites, or for that matter – underdogs. The reason for such scenario is the fact that no team has come up with clear-cut strategies on how to approach the game, like the mighty (may not be any more) Australians often do for tests and one dayers. Teams are to be blamed because, despite the fact that T20 is going to be future of cricket, they haven’t taken this format seriously. Younis Khan openly admitted that T20 is a time pass game and created a flutter. In a game where two wickets or two sixes in an over determines the result, and very little chance of revival when the game starts slipping away, captains, more often than not, just go through the motions and hope things happen.

As far as India’s premature exit is concerned, the batsmen were the culprits- Except for an occasion when Bhajji gave 10 in wides (2 balls out side the legside, beating keeper to boundary) and India lost by 3 runs. Their shot selection did them in. Most of them were in the IPL mode, at lofted the balls at will only to be caught at the deep. Significantly, in IPL a ball hit for 70-75 meters, sailed to the galleries, whereas, the same distance hit ended up safely into the hands of fielders. The sixes hit in long on, long off were measured to be 90 meters.

Next reason is their soft approach. When fielding they don’t pressurize the batsmen by accurate throws, and while batting - by quick running. Instead of converting singles to twos, they converted twos to singles, and sometimes got run out in the process. Such approach pushed them deeper in to the hole from where they never managed to get out. Better luck next time.

ELECTION REULTS-A MIXED BAG

Election results, this time, threw no big surprises. The congress led UPA managed to hang on to power. They are very experienced to hang on as they have been doing so for the last five years, but this time the mandate allows them to hang on more firmly.

For many, (like me) this outcome could be very disappointing one, because of their hope against all hopes to see BJP in power this time. LK Advani as PM was expected to make India stronger and safer by taking tough decisions on all fronts especially on cross border terrorism. That did not happen. And in TN segment, AIADMK was expected to do better but they managed only nine seats. Of course nine seats- is lot better than zero which they managed in last edition.

More or less, the same trend of voting has been followed in the centre and TN. The votes against ruling party were split between various opposition parties and ultimately helped the ruling combine. In TN, DMDK and BJP split those votes which could have gone for AIADMK. And in the centre, too many regional parties and some last minute clashes within in the party took the votes away from BJP and marked a significant gain for congress.

The fact that the congress in the centre and DMK in TN got the major vote share can’t be denied. At the same time neither can be termed as the overwhelming favorites of the people, as hyped by the media. One can be sure that the congress and DMK leaders themselves wouldn’t have expected to win this many seats.

Some good things which happened in this election are
i) One national party got enough number of seats, to dominate the alliance and not to dance to their tunes.
ii) Numerous candidates with criminal records have been shown the door.
iii) Many so called powerful Ex-ministers, to name a few, Lalu, Paswan, Manishankar Iyer-failed to retain their seats .
iv) Parties known for creating constant troubles- DMK, SP, BSP, TMC, JMM- will have less say in this govt.
v) Congress had been generous to government employees, and hope they continue in that same mode.


Tail piece:

As far as TN is concerned, Karunanidhi is already in Delhi, with his ration card in hand, so as to get a ministry for each member of his family. We can hope to see 8-10 ministers from TN, and Azlagiri, Kanimozli, Maran in the cabinet for the bright future of Tamil Nadu.

IPL-INTERNATIONAL PREMIER LEAGUE??????

IPL, basically an Indian event, seems to be slowly getting into the clutches of foreigners. Last edition had only one foreign captain but this edition has four in Warne, Mccullum, Gilchrist and Peterson. Almost all teams have foreign coaches and support staff. If there are no restrictions on number of foreign players in the playing XI, one can’t find an Indian face in the teams. Above all, IPL too has moved out of India. What next?

Tail piece

There was a news about IPL, which is a separate body, is evading taxes using loopholes in the law and that has the blessings of BCCI. I don’t know the technicalities of the issue and the genuineness of the news. But, this trend is troubling. The cash rich BCCI is setting a bad precedent.

CRICKET AND CONTROVERSIES

I thought of writing this even before the beginning of IPL-II, about a controversy – but never managed to do so. In the meantime, another controversy started in the name of “fake IPL player”. That sounds interesting but I should admit I haven’t gone through that blog yet.

Cricket and controversies are like politics and corruption, can’t be separated. The recent one, other than the previously mentioned item, is the ‘ MULTI CAPTAIN THEORY’ floated by John Buchanan. This move – as seen by many- was clearly aimed to diminish the strong hold of Sourav Ganguly from the KKR setup and to ease him out, at least for the next edition of IPL.

John Buchanan’s credentials touched a new high after he coached the mighty but arrogant Australians. Frankly, coaching Australians of his tenure- must have been the easiest job in the world, simply for the fact that there was none in their team who needed coaching. Steve and Mark Waugh, Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Martin, Gilchrist, Warne, MgGrath, Gillespie formed a formidable side, which functioned like a well oiled machine. “Bang-Bang…..huge score…..pace –spin…..opposition bowled out” was the order of the day.

Coming back to Mr Buchanan, on his part, he never played International Cricket and that not necessarily mean that he was very successful in domestic cricket. Somehow he got into coaching, and ended up with the all conquering Australians but his contribution to the Australian outfit and their phenomenal success was very little or less than that. On top of everything, many Australian players openly questioned his role or lack of it in their scheme of things.

Indian media played a big role in creating so much hype about the -so called- extraordinary coach. Such buildup is unnecessary for a coach and JB doesn’t deserve that. Shane Warne, another controversial cricketer and the best captain Australia never had, demonstrated time and again that winning is all about man management.

Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, who never minces words while criticizing Australians and the Englishmen, has pointed out, in one of his regular column, how Mr John has brought many others from Queensland into the KKR setup in various capacities and nicely milking the franchise owner. But that comment has not gone down well with the affected owner SRK. He has asked SMG to purchase his own franchise and then comment. Rubbish!

Mr JB once opined that T20 is only for youngsters. That theory has already gone for a –‘Yusuf Pathan’ six. So far, seniors have performed in IPL II. Sachin, Dravid, Kumble, Ganguly, Jayasuriya, Gilchrist, Warne, and Hayden have proved their might.

Personally I am very happy about KKR so far, because despite the dominating presence of a miraculous coach, they are losing every match. Their new captain hasn’t totaled fifty runs in 8 matches he played so far. Mr JB, What are you doing? Filling your bags with your foolish owner’s cash or formulating new theories that has no takers?

** PAK players must be crazy **

The recent decision of ICC to shift Cricket World Cup-2011 is on the expected lines. But some bigwigs of PAK cricket have reacted strangely to that decision.

To quote a few, Rameez Raza , Ex CEO of PCB was shocked where as Moin Khan was very surprised. Rashid Latif feels that the security situation in India is just as bad and Zaheer Abbas says WC to be shifted out of Indian sub continent if not held in PAK. Miandad, who is fired and reinstated into PCB scheme for the umpteenth time cries foul that PAK cricket is being isolated and Salim Altaf expresses great disappointment.

No meaning can be derived from such statements except that they all are mere formalities. One can’t be so stupid to expect a global (?!?!) event such as WC is to be conducted in PAK. When India rightly decided not to tour PAK, Sri Lankan board - (then headed by Ranatunga, and subsequently dissolved) –which was locking horns with the BCCI over selection of ICL players for domestic matches, thought touring PAK was the best chance to diminish India’s dominance in world cricket. Their players did well there but had to hurry back to homeland with their tails between their legs. While one can’t envy their position during direct attack by terrorists, the foolish decision by SL board to send them there can not be undermined.

The situation in PAK has ‘definitely changed’ in recent times, yes, it has gone from bad to worse. Taliban is breathing under the nose of government (if any govt. is there). Suicide attacks and bombings are a daily occurrence. The deteriorating state of affairs in PAK is known world wide. In this backdrop, those reactions by Ex pak players appear to be very funny.

Tail Piece: As far as security is concerned, the Indian Govt’s decision to say NO to IPL during elections is praiseworthy; whatever may be the real reasons. Instead of making a mess of it, they at least said NO.

HOW SAFE IS SAFETY IN RAILWAYS

Fortunately or otherwise, I have been traveling in Chennai-Vijayawada- Warangal section of Indian Railways since 1991. All along there have been many changes, but one thing that never changed is the constant threat of theft in running trains. Even though I haven’t lost anything, I have been a witness to many such scenes where passengers lost plenty. The most recent one was in 2621 Chennai-New Delhi Tamil Nadu Express which left Chennai on 22/03/2009. A passenger, according FIR lost nearly 45 sovereigns of gold, and cash.

It can’t be denied that the onus of safeguarding the luggage lies with one’s self, but a passenger can’t be expected to guard it all the way through the entire journey- which in any case is believed to be safe under lock, chain, key etc.

This is not an one off incident to be neglected or ignored. This is continuing occurrence in all trains crossing that section, despite the safety surcharge- which is paid by each passenger, in train- amenity forces and other tall claims made by the Railways. Also it is not very difficult to conclude that these things can’t go on happening like this without the blessings of concerned authorities.

Most of the cases are reported in other states (other than that in which the theft occur), which is understandable because nothing much can be done in a moving train. This makes the follow up much more difficult. Such scenario is working nicely to the advantage of those culprits. How many losers actually report the loss, how many among them care to follow up and how many following up losers get something back? In my experience I haven’t come across any one who got back some valuable lost like this.

On the other hand, according to a railway official with whom I happen to converse, you can afford to lose anything if you are a high ranked Govt official, high profile politician or someone equivalent. The official recollected some occasions, when lost items were traced, and dispatched to the destination by air, to join the owner when he reached there.
But that is not too surprising, because in India, Safety and security is not for the common man. It is only for those ‘privileged’ people

** ஜனனம் **

28 Mar 2009 - 19:00 - சுப ஜனனம்.