Reservations

The reservation pot boils again. I have already written on this earlier so won't delve into the details at the moment again. I do have a suggestion though. Shouldn't our politicians set an example first?
Parliament should immediately enact a legislation to reserve equivalent proportion in both the houses of Parliament. That ways politically too the castes shall be empowered. Merely reserving seats in educational institutes is not enough. We must have reservations in Parliament, Cabinet, ministers, appointed chiefs of PSUs. Since there is a consensus in all parties on this, parties must also reserve the same proportion in its own office bearers. Until this is done, Mssers MM Singhs will always be viewed as mere devisive politicians, if they do this, I for one might believe they are doing this actually out of ideology.

Another con job

Kolkata couple buys a plot on moon screams a news item in expressindia. I am mildly surprized that people still fall for such a con, but greatly surprized that the expressed printed it as a news and not some humour item. Someone please explain to this couple that how will they ensure they actually have the plot and no other agency/government shall deny them the right.
For starters I suggest they go up there in a hurry and fence the whole area! I wonder what happens if some meteor strikes the area and they end up with a crator there? do they get a permit to live on the floor of the crater or do they get the whole lake-assuming that there is a lake there somehow?
Still maybe $100 aint that bad a deal when so many people get a free laugh in turn. cheerios dear couple, may your career get better.

Washout

Could never understand why must all cricket games be scheduled during periods of max rains? Another series washed out completely.
Not that I watch much cricket now. Just that India was playing a not so top of the form SriLanka, and I have been in an irrationally exuberant mood of late. There goes my chance of a doze of reality.

Something else

Feels good to be back after a long time. Its been almost 4 days since I put in a post and seems like forever. I stayed away not only because of work but also because nothing interesting seem to be happening. I did not want to post about politics again so soon and so stayed quiet.
Spent the last evening mostly home with a view to tucking in early for a change. As it turns out I ended up with an Odgen Nash in hands and so spent an evening reading poetry in his very unique style. There is something about poetry that I find perplexing. How do you define poetry. If its mere rhyming, then many a modern poet would fail. And I confess I do not enjoy many a modern poet. Then there is Nash who well just create words to rhyme (and with great effects trust me).
Haiku as a form does interest me. Maybe it is its simplicity that appeals to me. Basho was the poet I read first and truely enjoyed. A sample -
Clouds appear and bring to men a chance to rest
from looking at the moon. - Basho, Matsuo
Hand it to these Japs, both Haiku and Skodu - simple rules, great fun.

The tangled web we weave

German attempts world's most tenuous acronym screams the Rag. The story is that people keep coming with with phrases for projects to make the acronym come across as some common word at the expanse of ahem "decency".
I beg to differ. What's the harm in innocent verbal jugglery? Compared to that typical hacker speak -I believe employed more often by bored adolscents- this is almost a work of art. Hell Shakespeare made a name for himself by using the language in a very original way. After all, language is one of human kind's bigger achievements (and many a kid's worst but thats a separate posting).

Ah what games we play

" I will write to the Guinness Book of World Records. This is the only Prime Minister who has not even won a municipality election and has become the Prime Minister of India." - Natwar singh in as reported in The Hindu.
While I may doubt the motives of the man in saying this, am fairly confident he will deny, call it misreporting, once the government starts ensuring that the law does take its turn; this is an important question to raise. Should the PM or any of the really sensitive cabinet position, be a person not directly elected by people?
I was frankly shocked by the induction of Shivraj Patil as the Home Minister. An unsaid rule is the Home Minister is the 2nd in command of the nation after the PM. And here we had a person who has just lost a Lok Sabha election, being elevated to the 2nd most powerful post in India. A person, people in his constituency chose fit not to even make a member of parliament becomes the Home Minister of the nation.
That was probably the unkindest cut of 'em all. And somehow his performance explains why he lost. The only reason he is there in that position is because I believe he falls in that servents of the family group. Why should he work hard when his performance - leading to his re-election or not- doesnt really matter?
I now think that it might have been better if the lady has actually took up the chief chair. As it turns out she now has all the power and jilch responsibility. Always an extremely dangerous situation. That may explain why our supposedly upright and right thinking PM has actually signed on so many constitutional murders. Because it is he whom I now consider two faced, spineless politician and not the person who probably wrote that proclaimation.
And that folks indicates that the lady is the best politico of them all. Maybe she does deserve the chief's chair.

Now just what did I want to say?

I love George Bush, not for what he has done to the world, but for what he has done for India. I was in US during his re-election and having seen the opposition I had no hesitation in wishing for his win. His very streak of -rest go to hell, I am right - was what likened him to me. I could make out that this is one President who can actually side with India and make it work.
American (at least man on the street) ignorance of rest of the world is surprising and media is amazingly politically motivated. So any normal president would never have had the courage.
So here we have a President in Oval office who worked for nuclear deal, stuck for outsourcing etc, all domestically not too popular courses. Surprisingly many in India oppose the gentleman. I was surprised to hear of protests in India when he visited. Arguably what he is doing in Mideast is not correct, and I personally think the war was and is immoral. But he was in India more to cement India-US relations where I think we are heading in right direction. So those who protested forgot, or choose not to look at the real reason for visit. I am only guess at motives of the protestors.
Among those supporting the protests were the left parties. I find communisms basic philosophy tempting but I loathe the movement. I think the extent of human right violation in many of these erstwhile communist countries was probably the biggest after those of slavery. Conduct of most communist monopolistic movement is eerily similar to another one of modern world that troubles most of us.
The problem is not in philosophy of communism, which at equality of humans and distribution of wealth is so tempting (and that’s why so many innocent youngsters are tempted by it), it’s in human nature. If someone has power over others, sooner or later, that power will be misused to subjugate people. I think these parties are scared that if India really progresses, then people might actually start thinking what made them prosperous. It will do us all a lot of service if all kids were made to read and understand 1984.
The more I think about it, the more I find some sort of enlightened capitalism good. Yes it has its drawbacks, where a rich corporation can really became another of those powers we don't want. But then, that is why we have a government, to check the misuse of power by people. But by leaving people free to choose their own pursuits, it can lead to highest sense of happiness and control. Central planning cannot work. Look at a typical government. A Municipality in India these days does nothing except cleaning and road maintenance and it messes up both very bad. How can it ever manage to control lives of people and still leave them happy?

So knowing these left parties I am sure that if there is a clash between India and say China, I will not be surprised if Indian left parties work against India supporting China. Hence I understand leftist opposition to US and India coming closer because it has a potential to change some rules of the game. And when people feel confident about themselves, they hate control, and communist parties cannot survive that ways.
But what about people? Why do people, ordinary guys in street see that? I can only imagine a lack of knowledge, lack of understanding. And that maybe the reason why, government in power have never tried to reform the education system to make it effective for the masses. Because that drains their own lifeblood

On politicians and talent

Well another drama unfolding on the Iraqi oil scam.And as is usual morality is defined by which side of the political spectrum you are on. It really is a disgrace that otherwise erudite people, corrupted by power, twist an indictment which say they made a profit from an illegal activity as protests of innocent because the charge was not making illegal money but misusing position!
Incidently, our esteemed Prime Minister had given the gentleman a clean chit the moment press started on commenting this. Later when the real powers that be, got accussed the same guy our PM insisted was cleaner than a hound's tooth, was investigated and found guilty. Apparently prime ministers of India do not give clean chits based on truth and honesty. I used to really respect M M S now I just find him another two faced politician who will cling to power, morality be damned.
I have come to the conclusion that corruption will never go from politics. The real issue here is maybe that the people we choose are wrong. These are people who rose to top possibly not because of political competence but rather because of servility to a family. In my view, a politician who is actually good in politics as opposed to a boot licker or criminal, has a greater chance of being a good administrator because a politician by definition is a leader, and leader need only pick and motivate the right followers.
Look at Laloo. While he was doing the politics of poverty, he was a blot on nation. Booted out for same, he flipped like a good politician and now railways are toast of the nation. Yes, I do consider him a great politician even though I detest his brand of politics. The point here is that he rose because of his competence and once channeled in the right direction, the results are good.
Problem is that most of our current leaders rise either because of criminal links of family connections, and that is why we see so few respectable talents. What I do wonder is why we elect them (and yes I do vote in elections).
Maybe, we get what we deserve. Maybe we have such venal politicians because inherently we have lost our respect for good things in life.

Scarborough Fair

Just happen to listen to Simon and Garfunkel at Devil 's (of the tagboard). It was great listening to Scarborough Fair again. The first time I had heard this song was in La Luna - Sarah Brighman, a singer whose works I have adored for quite some time now. The lyrics are nice but I never though of the meaning.
The CD cover of Simon and G mentioned some dark meanings to the song. Well had no idea, so looked up, impresses me more as the usual love lorn than dark. La Luna I found dark. Heavy music, almost psychedelic singing, it is almost hallucinogenic.
While listening to S & G, I started thinking, why have I not really heard about rivalry between Simon and Bob Dylan. I mean why shoudn't there be rivalry between 2 comtemporary talent doing at times similar stuff? To confess, I have not really listened to Dylan or more importantly read him so this though is based on very superficial knowledge. Maybe I'll start now and figure out why is Dylan so important to the modern US poetry scene.

Moon and poets

Just read a news that Moon has a bulge, yes people it has, and its been perplexing all of us for a while. No more, they have found out the reason. Something to do with violence and a 100 million year run.
I wonder how would people on saturn find the night sky, assumming there were people on Saturn and interested in finding the night sky. So they might find a permanent dustRingBow, and some 15 moons all vieying for attention. Poets there would go crazy. Imagine Shelley of earth who said "The moon arose up in the murky east\A white and shapeless mass" saying something like - The moons, Tethys and Calypso, followed by Enceladus and Epimetheus but not Rhea nor Janus, shiny orbs, a few too many and shaped in a dustRingBow- not quite the same ring.
And Saturn kids couldn't play I-Spy-You in dark, with 15 moons, darkness would be a luxury. I shudder to think of plight, of folks in parks. Heck if I were I Saturn kid, I'd hate my geography lessons too. Maybe Golgafrincham's rocket scientists took mercy on the TV Producers and ad executives and crashed it specifically on a planet with 1 moon and only 1 moon.

Story Telling

Came across some stories from Panchatantra here. Reminded me all those happy times spent reading Amar Chitra Katha. Somehow stories like those in Panchatantra or Jatak tales always interested me more. Similarly the ones in Chandamama of those days. The stories will have quaint villages, simple people in non so simple situations and handling it by tact, luck or cunning as the case may be. No super heroes, no divine intervention.
Storytelling as an art form seem to be loosing its sheen. I hardly come across any modern work with the same charm.
Part of it is because I am looking for whats essentially passe as a style, but then so many of my friends also enjoyed those books then and enjoy them still, so there is still a market. Here again, i believe its easier to publish online and still make money, print, I wonder if it still makes money.