Fallen From Grace

This year’s general election in India is going to be a landmark one.

One that will change the course of Indian politics forever. It’s also going to be one of the most hotly-followed, eagerly-anticipated and keenly-analyzed (microscopically dissected, I dare say) elections for some time to come.

First, the disclaimer! I am not an ‘expert’ on political affairs, I may not even be counted amongst the amateurs! But yes, I do have an opinion and that’s just what this is.

The reasons for all of this hype in these elections …are just two. Well, it was just one reason, till a few months back – for quite a while, the talk was only all about BJP’s Narendra Modi and the Gujarat success model (or failure model, depending on which side of the fence you were). Then in late 2013 along came Arvind Kejriwal who decided to dump (or vice versa) Anna Hazare’s style of activism and throw his own Gandhi topi into the fray.

I have deliberately left out Rahul Gandhi from this because I believe that he is a non-starter and secondly the anti-incumbency mood is likely to give him, and the degenerated Congress party, a sound thrashing at the polls.

Rightly so!

They have been ruling for the last 2 decades and whatever little progress we have made is definitely DESPITE the government. To add to it, he has been around as an MP for the past 10 years and to the best of my knowledge has done nothing noteworthy, considering the fact that he could have done so much more being so close to the seat of power..

Hey, his mother practically runs the country single-handedly and during this period, if he really wanted, he could have done much more. (Sure, he could have also abused his position like how Sanjay Gandhi did during Indira Gandhi’s reign. But for what its worth, Sanjay Gandhi at least stood for something, even though he was wrong on many counts!).

But let’s not digress.

This election is about Modi and Kejriwal and the aspirations of the common man (noticed how I consciously avoided the phrase ‘aam aadmi’ ??) Nowadays if you use the phrase ‘aam aadmi’ you get instantly branded with people having preconceived notions about your ‘type’. It’s ironical, because till now people used to do that only to those who were with the RSS or the Shiv Sena!!

But let me not take away credit where it is due. Kejriwal has done this country a great service – he has shown how the common man can rise up and shake the establishment. His victory in the Delhi elections is a modern-day version of the classic David and Goliath story – though both he and Sheila Dikshit are equally diminutive! His victory raised the hopes of the country. “Yes, things CAN change!” was/is the general feeling running through everyone’s veins.

Then he did two things which, in my perspective, were the worst he could have done. I’ll name them first and later elaborate each.

First, he formed the Government with the support of the Congress.
Second, he stepped down as Chief Minister.

Let me tell you why I believe that these two actions are the most damaging things he could have done.

Mistake No. 1 – forming the government with the support of the Congress.
When Kejriwal campaigned in Delhi, his pitch was consistent – Delhi was being governed badly. Three terms of Congress at the helm had ruined the City-State region. From mismanagement of funds to sycophancy to corruption, every act of omission and commission was blamed on the sitting Congress government.

The people of Delhi saw a ray of hope in him, booted out the Congress and voted for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with fervour. Unfortunately, AAP couldn’t get enough of a majority to form the government all on their own. They were staring at the possibility of either sitting it out or forming the government with the support of either the Congress, whom they had bashed so terrifyingly, or the BJP whom they weren’t really cosy with.

Kejriwal, in true ‘aam aadmi’ style, again looked to ‘his people’ and asked them what to do? India saw it’s first-ever SMS Text Message Referendum! Apparently, the people of Delhi asked him to form the government even if it meant doing it with the support of one of the other two parties. In this case, Congress or BJP.

Kejriwal says his party sent the same letters, of seeking support on predetermined lines, to the Congress and the BJP. He says that while the BJP didn’t respond favourably, the Congress, it appears, was okay with supporting him as the CM.

This strikes me as being extremely odd! The one party, who was bashed so viciously by AAP during the campaign, was actually willing to help it to form the government! I’ve heard of political scenarios making for strange bedfellows, but this one takes the cake!

At this point, I don’t want to get into conspiracy theories about how the AAP is a surreptitious ‘front’ for the Congress… neither do I want to get into the alleged funding of the AAP by foreign nationals with vested-interests. I’ll just leave all that to the politicians and they can continue to sling mud at each other.

Coming back to why I think this move was not just a mistake – but a BIG mistake – damaging his credibility.

I believe that Kejriwal has let down the people of Delhi. Badly. They believed in the dream he showed them. They reposed their faith and confidence in him and gave him a good number of seats. They looked to him to improve their lives.

I don’t think any voter of the AAP ever dreamt that Kejriwal would ‘sleep with the enemy’. What was he thinking when he ‘agreed’ to accept the Congress party’s ‘support’? Those were the guys he had wanted to boot out, right? Congress was the ‘bad guy’ and he was the ‘good guy’!

In my opinion, once he realized that he did not have the majority to form the government on his own, he should have done one of the two things:
a) Humbly folded his hands and sat it out in the opposition, or
b) Sought support of the BJP – not because they were/are better, but since his entire poll campaign and mandate was on the basis of booting OUT the corrupt Congress.

But joining hands with the Congress was a complete ‘no-no’ and in my opinion this was the first big mistake he made.

If Kejriwal and his team were so damn sure that Sheila Dikshit and the Congress were so corrupt, didn’t he stop and think what message he would be sending out to the people who elected him? Didn’t his advisers and seniors (where are they?) tell him that this was NOT to be done?

It’s also surprising that someone like Kejriwal had gone to the extent of swearing on his children that he would not take the support of the Congress – and that’s not enough.. having done that, he went back on it!

I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing when he finally accepted the responsibility and formed the Government. And then we witnessed high drama for 48 days before Kejriwal committed, in my opinion, the next big blunder.

Mistake No. 2 – stepping down as Chief Minister.
Having (reluctantly?) accepted the responsibility, he took a few key steps in following up on his promises to the people of Delhi. But that didn’t last long. A lot of noise was being made about the Delhi police not being in the control of the State Government and therefore his government was really ineffective and toothless to do anything substantial.

What I find hard to believe is that having been in the government for 7 years and based in Delhi for all of that time, didn’t Kejriwal know the administrative set up? Didn’t he know that Delhi, being the national capital would have overlapping security by the sheer presence of the Ministry of Defence establishments and Central ministries?

Did he mention this during his campaign? That the City-State police is not really under the control of the State government and therefore his government would really not be so effective.

The refusal of the passing of the Lokpal bill is being stated as the critical turning point that made him quit – unless I have got it wrong! While I agree on the importance of the Lokpal bill – it seemed like Kejriwal was ‘daring’ the Congress to pull the rug from beneath his feet.

Ok – granted that the Police was not really under the CM’s control. And that the Congress was looking for an excuse to pull the plug … but there was so much more that he could have done! What about education, schooling, water, sanitation, transport, health, sports… If he was smart (hey, this is my opinion), he could have maintained a low-profile and gone about quietly making a change.

He could have fixed so many small, small things that really would have really benefited the common man in Delhi – and I understand that they were even beginning to see a change in the attitude of the government officials. All he needed to do was stick around in power – probably, his mere presence would have made all the difference!

And the people would have really appreciated it. They were really, really hoping that their vote will be put to good use and that their decision of electing Kejriwal and then ‘supporting’ him to be the CM, even if it was with the help of the Congress, would be the right decision. During the campaign he did come off as being ‘genuinely’ concerned about the well being of the people.

It’s really sad that they may have to wait a few months and hope that he comes to power again – this time with a better majority. But what is the assurance that that will happen? Assuming that DOES happen, given his maverick track-record… what is the assurance that he will not pull another ‘stunt’ and sit outside his own office on a dharna – instead of going about making the much-needed changes in the lives of the people?

Personally, I believe that he has betrayed the trust of the people of Delhi – though some may still continue to swear by him. His rise gave every principled individual a ray of hope that they could also enter the deep, dark world of politics and clean it up (the ‘broom’ as the party symbol was pretty clever!)

Frankly, I’m disappointed too! Disappointed that he had a golden chance to make a difference – and chose NOT to! Maybe he has larger political ambitions and aspirations – or maybe he just doesn’t know how to govern – or maybe he has poor advisers (lame excuse!).

In any case, he has fallen from grace.

Well … and that’s how I feel …

Is MERC going to really allow Consumers a choice - a REAL CHOICE??

This post is excerpted (is there a word like that?) from my latest submission to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) of which I am an Authorised Consumer Representative for a few Cases pertaining to electricity distribution in the State of Maharashtra.

The issue in the present case is the CHOICE of electricity supplier, in the event that two distribution licensees are present in an area. This situation exists in the Mumbai suburbs where Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Power both have a license to distribute electricity.

MERC has severely restricted the choice that consumers can exercise. Both companies have elaborate setups, expensive advocates, humungous resources and are/have been throwing loads of paper-work and contentions at each other and at MERC ...and also at us, Consumer Representatives.

There have been numerous hearings in the matter and what I wrote to them, was more of an Appeal than a formal submission. An appeal to give us back our right to chose the electricity supplier of our choice - and to remove the unnatural (and illegal!) constraints that had been created. 

Here are the excerpts...

(For those interested in the Chronology of events, a very brief Background is given at the end of the excerpt)

==========
 

• The Case is governed by the ruling of the Supreme Court allowing Consumers (please note, there is no reference/definition of the word, Customer) to have the liberty of choosing their electricity supplier if two distribution licensees exist in the same area. The Commission cannot lose sight of this guiding Order, while deciding this Case. 
• The basic issue is that of CONSUMER CHOICE in a competitive scenario. The Supreme Court has clearly laid down not only a Strategic matter, but also, to some extent, given some general principles for Executive action. The Commission must not OVERSTEP (as it has done in the past, according to none other than the Supreme Court itself!) and distort the Order and its dilute its efficacy. 
• All other issues like laying cables, cross subsidy, regulatory asset charge, consumer mix, etc., need to be dealt with while keeping the end objective in mind. The Commission MUST not be guided (or driven!) by Licensees and their own constraints!
• I have read the numerous submissions made by both parties and the on-going charges and counter-charges and submissions and rejoinders and responses - this can go on ad infinitum (or should I say ad nauseum!) They are just seeking to further complicate the matter and delay the decision-making.  
• Both parties, RInfra and TPC are repeatedly referring to the Supreme Court order - but using selective phrases/passages/paras out of context to suit themselves. While they get to present their views ably supported by professional advocates, the hapless consumer has to depend upon people like us (who are not available to devote themselves full-time to this activity).  
• As a result, if a Consumer’s point is not put across forcefully (or even put across at all!) it is likely to be overlooked by the Commission who is drowned in the barrage of submissions made by both parties. It is therefore the prime duty and responsibility of the Commission to err on the side of the Consumer and not otherwise.
• It is likely that the parties are further going to divide Consumers into various groups and then advocate the benefits that one group is receiving (or likely to receive) and pit that against the dis-benefits accruing to another group.
• This artificial distinction has NOT been made out anywhere in the Law (the EA2003) or by the Supreme Court (which has upheld the principles in the preamble of the Act). When I request the Commission to uphold Consumer choice - it is WITHOUT bias to any group. Sometimes things need to be left to themselves and within the given constraints, equilibrium will be found. 
• Yes, there WILL be heartache and heartburn, but a Regulator needs to know when to step aside and let market forces drive the situation. Give companies a constraint - and see how innovative they can get! 
• The Reliance Group and the Tata Group have been at the forefront of innovation in many products and services and the Commission should back down and not try to ’protect’ one or the other. It should leave the two of them to fight for the winning the Consumer!
• The Order in Case 151 itself, severely restricted consumer choice and subsequent tariff Orders further complicated the calculations and is confusing Consumers. This Order has the potential to undo all the confusion and restore Consumer choice (for ALL Consumers, across various ’groups’ as selectively and artificially defined by the two parties) devoid of the various ifs and buts that constrain it. 
• The Commission MUST restore the right to choice of selecting electricity supplier. The methodology was already laid down in the earlier Interim Order and the scope of that should have been further widened - but it has been instead narrowed subsequently.

         The Commission must seriously ask itself....

• Does the Consumer REALLY have a choice? 
• The SAME choice that an Act of Parliament has granted it? 
• The SAME choice that the Supreme Court reaffirmed in its Order? 
• Or is the Commission again going to ’overstep’ itself - only to be censured later - at the cost of lakhs of consumers losing their right?? 

          The matter is in your hands.

==========

Background
In 2004, MERC has incorrectly passed an Order disallowing Tata Power from supplying electricity to consumers because its license precluded it from doing so. Reliance continued to enjoy a monopoly and the rates kept going through the roof. Tata Power eventually won the case in the Supreme Court, in 2008, which upheld its legitimate claim that it did indeed have such a license and censured both the MERC and the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity for overstepping their jurisdiction. 

The Supreme Court in its Order, clearly stated that the electricity consumer MUST have a choice and a right to exercise that choice - upholding the Electricity Act 2003 and its preamble.

Subsequently, in 2009, MERC finally came out with a methodology of effecting this switch/change and consumers were happy that they finally had a choice!Reliance consumers promptly started switching over to Tata Power, whose tariff rates were lower.

...and then things went downhill thereafter. Reliance played spoilt-sport and complained to MERC that Tata was indulging in cherry-picking of only higher end consumers. Tata could not prove(!) that it wasn't proactively doing the cherry-picking, but yes, it was true that the higher consumption consumers, obviously, stood to benefit the most! And so MERC put a constraint on the switch/change and said that only those with consumption BELOW 300 units per month could switch/change!

Thereafter, a series of hearings, spanning months, and a few tariff orders later, the equation seemed to now become skewed in Reliance’s favour and MERC called for more hearings and this has been going on now. For those inclined to have details - please refer Case 151 of 2011 (Order passed) and now Case 85 of 2013 (present case, hearings still going on).

APTEL stays MERC Order on CSS

The Appellate Tribunal has stayed (for now) the MERC Order on Cross Subsidy Surcharge being levied by RINFRA.

The Order was passed today (21st June, 2013) and is available online, here: http://aptel.gov.in/Dailyorder.html

In my opinion, this is an important Order even if simply from the perspective that ANY element of tariff CANNOT be levied without it being clearly discussed with the public/consumers.

Also the Commission needs to give SPEAKING ORDERS explaining their reasoning and the rationale behind it.

This is only an Interim Stay on collection of CSS and the status quo to be restored as what it was before the MERC Order. Merits of the case will be argued in the 1st week of August.

A few excerpts of the Order are given below for your reference...

"The R-Infra on 07.1.2013 filed a petition before the State Commission in case No.3 of 2013 i.e. the present proceedings, seeking for determination of Cross Subsidy Surcharge for Open Access consumers. In this petition, only the other distribution licensees and the Government of Maharashtra alone were impleaded as a party and only they were heard. In fact, on 7.2.2013 the Government of Maharashtra had sent a letter to the State Commission to de-link the trajectory for reduction in Cross Subsidy Surcharge from the determination of Cross Subsidy Surcharge." 

"When the prayer was made by the R-Infra in Case No.3 of 2013 seeking for the determination of Cross Subsidy Surcharge, the State Commission did not choose to issue notice to the consumers with reference to the said issue. On the other hand after hearing the distribution licensees and the Government, the State Commission has passed the impugned order dated 10.5.2013 revising the Cross Subsidy Surcharge applicable to changeover consumers by increasing the Cross Subsidy Surcharge to a great extent without hearing them." 

"We are unable to understand as to why the State Commission had hurriedly passed the impugned order with reference to this issue which is admittedly pending before the State Commission in MYT proceedings as well as in Appeal No.178 of 2011 before this Tribunal. No reasons have been given in the impugned order with regard to the urgency."

"It is also noticed that the State Commission has decided to determine Cross Subsidy in the present proceedings after getting the view of the Government of Maharashtra without hearing the parties who are likely to be affected due to the high increase in the Cross Subsidy Surcharge."

"We find that there is prima-facie merit in this contention. That apart, the balance of convenience also in our view lies in favour of the Appellants." 

"If the impugned order, with reference to the increase in Cross Subsidy Surcharge is not stayed pending adjudication of the present Appeals, the Appellants will have to pay Surcharge which is increased to 1000% and 400% respectively and this would cause grave prejudice to the consumers once such increase of Cross Subsidy Surcharge has been collected from the changeover consumers."

The Times…they are a changing

In the ’70s, when I used to wake up, the first thing I did was turn on the radio.

In the ’80s, the first thing I did was turn on my Cassette Tape Deck.

In the early ’90s, the first thing was my CD player.

In the early ’00s, FM Radio was my first choice.

Today, the first thing I turn on is… my Wifi Router!

Well, what next??

Interesting Sights – Part 2: Amsterdam

Here are some interesting sights I came across on my recent visit to Amsterdam.  Do let me know which one you liked the most! 

Enjoy…

Some fashionable legs & some not so fashionable,

and the latter have buried their heads in the sand ..oops, floor!

 

"Service(d)" like an Ace!

 

It's at the 'other' side, you idiot! Can't you read the board?

Okay ...this one needs no comment!!

 

The Doctor "feels" good! Yeah, right! Shouldn't it be the Patients who feel good?

The Original, Dr. Fish is going to do something fishy...

 

Just GO..it doesn’t matter where..even if it is, to hell!

Hehe...and these are the kind of people we were hanging out with!

Quickie ....BOOM! Yeah, man. Explosive stuff!!

 

Me? Who, me? Yes, you! Couldn't be!...

These chips are fried in ... Manneken's what? Ugh!

Just a few moments, so you gotta gulp it down! 

And to think this is place where you are supposed to do "wine tasting"!

Yuck! We're gonna eat the Vanilla ice cream that's already IN his tummy!!

 

'World Famous' ... in Holland!

 

We're the SOCIETY shop, but we do PERSONAL tailoring..

 

SurPRICE! If you wait long enough you can "take it out in a special way..." Huh, what?

 

We are doing all 'telephone activities' - seriously, nothing phony!

 

Open 7 days a week, eh? 11-11. Then why is the shutter down? Shhh....!

 

Err...what's inside?

All ye who enter here are ...Sissy Boys!

 

Look at those people doing "small talk"...

 

Well, the count down is over ...

 

Enter the Jackpot and you can be a Top...!

 

They'll "polish" you off! No wait, these are Dutch!

 

 

WILD...WHAT??? An this is not even inside the infamous Red Light Area...!

 

Well, which ones did you like the most? 

Stay tuned for more such “Interesting Sights” from around the world.

Interesting Sights – Part 1: Beijing

I saw a few interesting ‘sights’ on my latest trip to China. I guess these qualify to go up on Engrish.com too!

Well, what do we have here…Beauty Hair Nails Massage and… Golf!

Didn’t know Dewar’s sold Scotch WHISK in China!

Hello! This, I presume, precedes the FOR(e)PLAY…!

Err…just what is it that people do on this street??

OK, THAT’S where we are .. above the Recycle Bin and before the Toilets!

TOILET? TO-LET? …TOO LATE!

Stay tuned for more such ‘Interesting Sights’…

I used MS WindowsLive Write to prepare this post and it was fun doing it. Just hope that it turns out right!

NEWS: Users oppose RInfra surcharge

 I made a detailed presentation at MERC's Public Hearing at Rangsharda Hall, Bandra, Mumbai yesterday (2nd April, 2011).

The following news item appeared in today's HT.

Users oppose Rinfra surcharge
Dharmendra Jore, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, April 03, 2011 

City consumers have opposed Reliance Infrastructure’s demand that consumers who have moved to Tata Power Company (TPC) to avail of low-cost power pay the cross subsidy surcharge.

RInfra wants the surcharge to provide relief to its low-end consumers. The company has the highest number of domestic (below poverty line) consumers who are subsidised by high-end consumers. But, as one lakh high-end consumers have shifted to TPC, RInfra’s subsidy ratio has taken a big hit, which may result in low-end users paying more.

Consumer representatives, presenting their side at a hearing on Saturday on RInfra’s tariff revision petition, blamed RInfra for the crisis. They said consumers who shifted to Tata because of its low tariff should not be forced to pay more for RInfra’s fault.

“RInfra’s spiralling power purchase costs impacted suburban power bills. RInfra had not been prudent in securing long-term inexpensive power,” said MERC-authorised consumer representative Sandeep Ohri, at the hearing conducted by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).

Ohri said the company had not categorically shown how it would meet the requirement for its 28 lakh consumers from April, 1, 2011, because TPC has completely stopped supplying power.

The Mumbai airport complex that switched to TPC long ago, opposed the cross subsidy surcharge. “We have paid all charges to RInfra before migrating.” The airport is saving more than Rs 10 lakh per month by availing TPC power.

To this, RInfra representative said the company’s requirement had gone down because of the migration of one lakh consumers to TPC and hence it would not hike bills.

RInfra has not sought any hike for 2010-11. Tariff petitions for the current year are yet to be filed. But, the company demanded the cross subsidy surcharge.

Ohri, who made a detailed presentation, also questioned RInfra’s business model. “We have seen Rinfra doing all the wrong things.

Indiscriminate expenses, baseless growth rates, non-transparent functioning, inconsistent statements, unnecessary legal proceedings and a monopolistic attitude are to be blamed for the misery of consumers,” he said.

Some representatives spoke in favour of RInfra. They said the company should be allowed to recover cross subsidy surcharge to discharge its social obligation of providing cheap power to the poor.

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/Users-oppose-RInfra-surcharge/Article1-680707.aspx
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Hollywood Brothers!

This post is a result of a Twitter post by Kamla (@Kamla) regarding the contribution of brothers in the progress of Hollywood. She had named a few sets of 'brothers' who had made their mark. I added a few and then curiosity got me into thinking whether we had covered them all - or were the a few more out there.

So I did some 'research' ... Ok, I 'googled' a lot ...and came up with many articles and news items, but none that had listed ALL of them. After knocking off the duplicate entries, here's a list that emerged.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a comprehensive list, by any stretch of imagination.

These are in no particular order of importance, familiarity or (personal) preference. Also, a few of them have played important roles - but, off screen. Do feel free to comment and add a few more.

The Wilson Brothers: Luke, Owen & Andrew
The Affleck Brothers: Ben & Casey
The Stallone Brothers: Sylvester & Frank
The Coen Brothers: Joel & Ethan
The Wahlberg Brothers: Donnie & Mark
The Wachowski Brothers: Larry & Andy
The Baldwin Brothers: Alec, Daniel, Billy & Stephen
The Marx Brothers: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo & Gummo
The Farrelly Brothers: Bobby & Peter
The Dillon Brothers: Matt & Kevin
The Fiennes Brothers: Ralph & Joseph
The Penn Brothers: Sean & Chris
The Quaid Brothers: Denis & Randy
The Bateman Brothers: Jason & Justin
The Culkin Brothers: Macaulay, Kieran & Rory
The Phoenix Brothers: River & Joaquin
The Barrymore Brothers: Lionel & John

These guys had a famous Hollywood actor-father too!
The Estevez Brothers: Charlie (Carlos) Sheen & Emilio
The Bridges Brothers: Jeff & Beau

I was tempted to include the Brother-Sister combos, but left that for another day. Maybe one if you could do that!

More from Kamla here: http://www.kamlashow.com

Ok, Kamla, I kept my word :)

(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Is Indian Politics no place for the well educated?

“Why don't grads from our top notch edu instt get into Politics? Asks @ShashiTharoor in his article in The Week. Now there's a thought.”

This tweet of mine was re-tweeted by Shashi Tharoor and led to a huge response from about 30-40 people, in less than 10 hours!

The responses ran across the entire spectrum of thoughts. From expressing disgust at the framework and structure of Indian Politics, to the desire to participate in the process, but being unable to do so - albeit, because of the structure!

It seems there are a large number of educated youth out there who are genuinely interested in good Governance (Nation building, actually)!

They are intimidated by the fact that entering Politics means giving up their present (and, probably lucrative) career, being presented with an uncertain future, sucking up to the 'powers-that-be', dealing with hoodlums, thugs and goondas, being labelled (and themselves, becoming) corrupt and all the negativity surrounding Politicians today.

This makes it a complete No-No for 'aspiring' youngsters. As a result, we are losing out on benefiting from a wealth of ideas that can change the way we live!

This is unacceptable.

To change this, we must understand that the first step is to get rid of the 'chalta hai' attitude. We must be aware of this problem and acknowledge that the solutions are available, do-able, but would take time and a persistent approach.

First, grass-root level education is where we need to start. Ensuring that a solid, ethical foundation is built is getting a good headstart. We do not really need very highly educated post-graduates and double-graduates only, for this job.

Second, the political framework needs to be able to allow new people (read: people with no 'family' connections) to be given a reasonably level playing field to enter into the fray. A simple barometer to measure this is the success that such people have had - so if there are a few examples, this, should suffice!

Third, we should have a strong judiciary to ensure that if there are any transgressions, these are actioned upon quickly and firmly - impartially, at least to the extent possible. The judiciary needs to be strengthened at the grass-root level. The common man seeks justice at the Sessions Court level, he cannot wait for his matter to reach the Supreme Court and then be granted justice! He wouldn't survive that long!

Finally, while we go about doing this, we must make a start. We must ensure that the youth start getting involved. There HAS to be a sense of ownership and involvement - even if it is on a smaller scale. But the youth HAVE to be involved in Governance.

We seem to have forgotten what history teaches. Every country goes through a major change (revolution, would be a wrong word here) only when a majority of the youth have been involved. It is THEY who need the change, ask for it and go about getting it. Let me make one thing clear - when I say 'youth', I really mean those who are in their 20s and 30s!! Not like what some of our politicians would like us to believe - a 'young' politician according to them is below the age of 50!!!

I have noticed that it is the urban youth who are more disconnected than the rural youth. It is these boys and girls in the cities who believe that they can let the 'dirty work' be left to 'others'! Well, they should realize that if they do not take active part in governance, it will be sone other (probably, uneducated, sycophant) who will be making the Law that he/she will need to live by!!

The need of the hour is action - on the ground level. We have enough of arm-chair philosophers, activists, bloggers, tweeters and the like!

Let's go out and, if nothing else, just file at least ONE RTI or DO some good for Society. Let's make a start. I've made one, myself. You can do it too. A small one. At our level. Keeping it simple.

In time, with our persistence, we will see the change.

- Well ... and that's how I feel...
(Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Testing BlogPress for iPad

I have typed this using BlogPress for iPad. Just wanted to see if it appears on Blogger and Wordpress at the same time!



- Well...and that's how I feel... (Posted using BlogPress from my iPad)

Conflicting Proverbs and Idioms

As a child, in School, I was quite confused about quite a few things that we were taught! I guess that came with the territory. However, there is one part that bothers me even today and that is the part about conflicting Proverbs, Idioms and oft used phrases.

Since I really haven't been able to 'resolve' is, I thought I may as well pen this down (does anyone even use this phrase anymore?) for you all to see - and, if possible, help me to figure it out!

Here are a few of them that really have me confused!

1. We are often told to LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP, but isn't it also true that PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF OF TIME?

2.  Similarly, HASTE MAKES WASTE, but its only THE EARLY BIRD WHICH CATCHES THE WORM!

3. It is true that if we stay away from something for too long it is natural that ABSENCE MAKETH THE HEART GROW FONDER, yet it is known that FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT.

4. While OPPOSITES ATTRACT, we are also taught that it is always BIRDS OF A FEATHER WHO FLOCK TOGETHER!

5. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE, yet we are told that A BIRD IN HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH!

6. TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH, but if at the same time, MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK!

7. WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER, but ONE MAN'S MEAT IS ANOTHER MAN'S POISON!

Well, these are the few that have me (still) confused - and If my School English teacher is reading this, she'd wonder how come I got 91% in the 10th!

If you think of any more such conflicting ones, please feel free to comment and write in - so while we can AGREE TO DISAGREE we can still BE ON THE SAME PAGE :)

Well ... and that's how I feel ...

Eulogy of Sangeeta Ohri, my mother

This is the text of the Eulogy delivered at the Special Mass for our mother, on Fri, Oct 1 at Holy Cross Church, Kurla West, Mumbai. My elder brother, Sanjay, said this on behalf of the two of us...


Good Evening,

On behalf of our family, we would first like to thank everyone for taking the time out to attend this mass and pay your last respects to our mother and would just like to share a few words about her.

In addition to being a good mother, she was also our friend and guide with a very caring disposition and great courage. That one word "courage" was evident throughout her life because when she was born, her father had already passed away and when she was only 6 months old, her mother passed away. She was raised by her grandmother who had a positive influence on her life.

During her school years, she was active in dramatics, sports and dancing. For those who remember, in Thane,  she was also known as the "Galyan Sakhli" girl. Courage again surfaced when she had a love marriage with my father but against all odds, she raised us with the best of education, upbringing and values.

She was a very caring person and her style of showing appreciation and care was unique. It was this care that enabled her to look after handicapped, preschool and underprivileged children for almost 40 years selflessly (all volunteer work) in the capacity of a being a principal, organizer, teacher and mentor. She often referred to the kids she worked with as "my children" and she was well-loved by their families as well.

She was very humble when she received many awards for her social service and community work, including a recognition in Who's Who in the World / America / American Women (for the last 10 years) and an Award for Women's Welfare. But being a grassroots worker, she preferred to involve herself in her work quietly than seek any merit or publicity.

If one were to list her accomplishments, we would be here a long while and some of it included training teachers, conducting global workshops, seminars, conferences, courses in education and rehabilitation of normal/handicapped children, as well as underprivileged persons.

Some of the organizations she was associated with (and was an active member) were S.E.C. (Society for the Education of the Crippled) Day School, I.A.P.E. (Indian Association for Pre-school Education), B.C.J. General Hospital (Santa Cruz), All India Balkan-ji-Bari, Bombay Vigilance Association, O.M.E.P., Soroptomist International, YWCA, Poona Women's Council and many more.

Having lived in India and the USA for many years, she was an excellent communicator (fluent in over 7 languages) and had a sense of great understanding of different cultures and always served as a role model for  those who needed help in bridging the gap between East and West. She was a great cook as some of you know and it gave her great happiness to feed people. Needless to say, she was a very helpful person and if you ever needed help and turned to her, she would never refuse anyone.

She wore her heart on her sleeve and if she liked anything, she shared it with everyone and if she didn't like anything and she loved you, she felt it was better to tell you things that you need to know for your own good! But she never gave up her caring spirit till the end - which again surfaced when she was at Lourdes and she was so happy at being able to make this pilgrimage that she lit a candle for each of you that she knew and also prayed for all departed souls.

In the few days after she passed away, there were French, Italian and English masses offered in Lourdes at various churches by different international groups (including the Lourdes' hospitality organization that manages all the shrines at Lourdes). On October 17th, the Vatican has approved the canonization of Brother Andre to be a saint (he's the one who started the St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal – it’s the largest cathedral in North America). On that day in Rome, during his canonization to be a Saint, the mass will be offered in memory of our mother.

It's probably these silver linings that we can force ourselves to accept the reason of her departure from this world and we believe that she is in eternal healing of Our Lady of Lourdes. Maybe, God, destiny and Mom herself would not have had it any other way.

May her soul rest in peace and God give us all the strength to handle this irreparable loss. Incidentally, Mom made it a point that people never went hungry when they came to meet her, so today in spirit she has ensured the same. Please join us for some light refreshments after mass.

Thank you once again for all your support and God bless.

CWG 2010 - The Mess

There has been enough in the media, over the past few days, about the scams and the irregularities in the arrangements and preparations for the Games.

Relax. I am not going to enumerate any of those here, again. These are already being repeated, ad nauseam, in endless loops on select TV channels.

The point I would like to make is that this is not the first time that we have organised a major event. While I can understand that, as individuals, we are not consistent in learning from past experiences; it is shameful that as a NATION, we lack those skills!

The most important aspect of this situation is to DOCUMENT and LEARN from this entire experience.

These learnings must be made SHARED with the public, not from a perspective of sensationalising the scam, but from a perspective of ensuring that we have documented each mistake made, just so that we do not make it again.

Also, in order to ensure that we do not end up in such a situation again (or at least minimise such instances), we MUST PUNISH those who have found to have WILLFULLY committed such excesses.

Sending a strong message to all those who try to repeat this - that something like this will NOT be tolerated and will be dealt with severely.

Well, and that's how I feel....

Posted via email from Well... and that's how I feel...!!!

Simple Solutions for Kashmir

While everyone has a variety of reasons for the situation in Kashmir - and will swear by those. There are very few offering practical solutions.

I'm sure they DO know what are the possible options, but the prospect of implementing them seems daunting.

Well, like most others, I also have a 'solution' to easing the situation in the beautiful valley (I haven't been there yet!)

1. Get all the Politicians out of there - actually this is true for most 'troubled' areas :)

2. Get the Special Forces only to protect/guard the Border (ok, L.O.C.)

3. Equip the local Police with state-of-the-art Technology & Tools to protect the common people.

4. Promote industry - with a vengeance.

5. Set up Educational institutions - Primary to University.

Do this for 5 years and I can guarantee you this situation will 'dissolve'.

Feedback?

Posted via email from Well... and that's how I feel...!!!

Non-English Number plates - allowed?

I'm sure the RTO act does not permit License Number plates in any other language, other than in English. I recall reading a newspaper article where an RTO official had mentioned that they 'could not find' any such violation.

Well, here's one!

From heat wave to flash floods

We seem to be having extreme weather across the country. First there was an extreme bout of heat wave - with temperatures reaching 51 degrees C!

And here we are, less than 2 weeks later and we have news of the same cities & their neighbourhood area being submerged by flood waters!

The worst part of the situation is that the people have NO CLUE of what the weather is going to be like! We're still a country that's so dependent on the monsoon and yet we cannot get our weather forecast right!

Posted via email from Well... and that's how I feel...!!!

India's T20 World Cup Team

India's Twenty20 world Cup probables list has been announced. Check this list:

• MS Dhoni - Jharkhand
• Virender Sehwag - Delhi
• Gautam Gambhir - Delhi
• Suresh Raina - UP (?)
• Praveen Kumar - UP
• Ashish Nehra - UP
• Piyush Chawla - UP 
• Harbhajan Singh - Punjab
• Yuvraj Singh - Chandigarh
• Yusf Pathan -Gujarat
• Ravindra Jadeja - Gujarat
• Zaheer Khan - Maharashtra
• Rohit Sharma - Maharashtra
• R Vinay Kumar - Karnataka
• Dinesh Karthik - Tamil Nadu

Has anyone noticed how there are so many players from North India?
I don't want to take away any credit from those selected, even though some of them are 'injured' and their inclusion is really questionable. Not that I'm bigoted or racist, but I recall there used to be a time when players from West Zone and South Zone were almost dominating the India cricket scene.

If the logic for selection is recent performance, it can be inferred that teams from the North should have won all the Domestic cricket events - but is that so?

Check the winners of the past 12 months...
West Zone beat East Zone in Deodhar Trophy
TN beat Bengal in Ranji Trophy Final
Rest of India beat Mumbai in Irani Cup

But I guess these Selector chaps know more about cricket than I do - so I should just shut up and do my own thing, eh?

BTW, I've decided to make my posts shorter, so I can do this more often :)

Well ... and that's how I feel ... 

Posted via email from Well ... and that's how I feel ...