Archive for 2016
South China Sea issue: What will India do
We have an unprecedented global situation at hand. A UN backed tribunal has ruled against China’s rights over South China Sea. I call it unprecedented as China does not seem to be backing down and there seems to be no global power who overrules China. I call it unprecedented as unlike before US seems to be in no position to play Big Brother. I call it unprecedented as it seems to the pivotal moment in Asian history which just might crown China as the Asian leader.
What I make of it is China will not back down and Obama lacks political wherewithal to make China back down. World Order that we have seen since India’s Independence is about to change. There is no Papa of the world to run. I call it destruction of the singularity and entering into the plurality. US lead position is in danger and with it India’s security and foreign policy.
India has been backed by US to take on China. China being Pakistan’s all weather friends. What should India do now? India lacks global power to openly defy China. Also to become part of anti-China group will not bide well given that clout of any such group is itself in question. Pak will be brimming that is for sure.
I feel India will be a silent spectator on this. It will give a silent approval to China’s authority and in return bargain for NSG and UNSC support from China. This I feel Modi is most likely to do and this I feel is the best of the situation India can make.
I guess China also knows this at some level hence it has been holding out on India for NSG and UNSC bids. Now I feel is the best time for India to go for the kill and win some back room bargaining. It’s always good to make best of the obvious ending. Sense the result and back the “to be winner”.
Why Modi should take Arunachal Verdict Seriously
First Uttarakhand and now Arunachal; Supreme Court has set aside President’s Rule in these two states. This is a big blow to the credibility of the Central Government. Given the polarized political times we live in, I don’t think this will hurt the popular Govt much. More so, when we have supporters ready to justify anything and everything without merit. But as for the legacy of this Govt., this is real bad.
The pattern by which the President’s Rule was imposed was similar in both states. Ruling parties MLA’s rebellion followed by speaker taking action followed by dismissal of the Govt by Center. Both places Court ruled in favor of the erstwhile State Govt. Both places had Congress Govt. Modi is doing some good work, but criticism should be done where due. Even the ardent supporters of BJP should take note and should question this misuse of power.
This goes against federalism. Earlier Courts were subservient to the Govt and were wary to rule on such things. But after the dark days of Emergency, Courts have learnt and Collegium system has helped them to become more independent than any other country.
Setting aside the President’s Rule in Arunachal is another historic verdict after Uttarakhand. This is one of those landmark judgements which will act as deterrent to such proclivities in future. It to have happened under Modi feels bad. He has to preempt such negatives, given that his detractors regard him as autocratic and dictatorial. It gives them another weapon to attack him, and rightly so.
This would also strain good relations between President and Central Govt. Pranab Mukherjee would not like seeing his name being sullen in the annals of history. What was the political need for such hara-kiri by BJP? It takes away a lot from the good work being done. Hopefully there is some course correction done.
Animal Eating society agitated on Dog Attack. I mean really?
A couple of days back, a video went viral where a dog was flung off the building by a sick mind. To harm an innocent animal is not a good thing. But what I saw after, made me question my own sanity.
There was a hue and cry and call for the culprits to be arrested and put behind bars. Like always, media gave it airtime and discussed at length with experts. What amazed me was, the very same reporters who wanted the animal (Cow) be allowed to be killed and people be allowed to eat it, were the same people who were disgusted by dog brutality.
Maybe I am real dumb as I fail to understand how a society which kills and eats animals can raise such a hue and cry. Killing and eating is ok, but beating up is not? If this is not hypocrisy what is. I am not justifying the attack on the dog, it was wrong. But what I am against is the animal eating society talking high moral ground and singling out the culprits.
It is these dual standards that confound me and question my own sanity. How can the society as a whole be such hypocrite, maybe it’s just me who is insane. So if I throw a goat off the building, will it be criminal too? Or Hen for that matter? Or cat or mouse? And if I kill them and eat them, will the criminality go away. Is there some restricted list or while list?
I feel society of killers and animal eaters is trying to quench the morality by singling out few people. And I fail to understand this.
On Mallya’s friends: Suhel Seth and Harsha Bhogle
You might know Suhel Seth and Harsha Bhogle. I chose these two people coz first one is a self-proclaimed holier than thou and authority on calling out other people and second one has been playing victim card and has been hailed as a nice poor guy.
It amazes me how ‘scratch the back’ and ‘self-sustaining’ club these people have made within elite and media circles, that nobody is calling them out for what they are. They are aiders and abettors to the crony capitalism. In fact they are product of this very corrupt system that they seem to portray they are not part of.
First let’s come to Suhel Seth. He comes on TV debates and fakes authority on social and political issues. He gives gyan and lectures people how they should behave. He is a socialite and metro elite. Recently there was a controversy in London when Mallya attended the same event as Indian High Commissioner. You know what that event was? That was the Suhel Seth’s book launch. People like Seth who are in bed with people like Mallya, then come on TV and lecture others. What is sickening is they are allowed to let away due to the quid pro quo group they have created.
Next is the Harsha Bhogle, the nice guy. He played victim for being kicked out of commentary contract. First of all that was a temporary contract. Second he wouldn’t have got the contract renewed for so long had he not been part of the cozy club himself. He reaped the benefits of quid pro quo for so long and when he was at receiving end, he played victim and his friends carried that charade along. Anyways remember that video that went viral which Mallya’s son made in London, wishing RCB all the best for IPL final. There was guy sitting with Mallya in that video, you can hear Mallya junior calling out Bhogle’s name in that video. And then Harsha Bhogle is hailed as the poor victim. Really!
The least we can do is not hail these people and show them their real place. Else they keep exploiting the system and keep preaching us how not to do it.
Kudos to Modi and Where Smriti Irani fumbled at HRD
First of all kudos to Modi and Amit Shah for the cabinet reshuffle. After a long time reshuffle has been performance based. Not able to resolve Rajya Sabha logjam lost Venkaiah his ministry. Falling into one controversy after another and not able to take people along lost Smriti Irani HRD. I never imagined such a performance based axing was possible in India.
None of the pundits predicted even after swearing in that Smriti or Naidu could be moved to different ministries. Now they have nothing to criticize. Policy criticism aside, I applaud PM when it’s due and this is one such case. It shows he has not lost track of the pulse. After 10 years of entitlement politics and policy paralysis, I never thought such preemptive actions were possible in Indian politics.
Coming to the big news; Smriti Irani being moved out of HRD. I agree that not all controversies were Irani’s creation. There were vested interests at play. But where she failed was to quell those controversies in a calm manner. She went confrontational. It could have worked in political fights, but confrontation with youth was never a good idea. She did what perhaps I would have done, fight it out. But with HRD minister, there were different expectations. She should have played smart. Should have gone about making changes without herself getting in confrontational mode. She should have let her surrogates and proxies do the fighting.
Second was the women card. She played it a bit too far. She aped Kejriwal in that regard. It is correct that she was targeted by elites for her acting background, just like BJP has crippled Delhi Govt for last year. But playing victim can only go so far. After a while it shows lack of maturity and inability to handle things. With “Dear” thing she went a bit too far.
She has done some good things at HRD but failed to build her legacy. She has age on her side and with time she will learn how to act smart and take people along. I firmly believe that she has a bright future ahead. Her oratory skills, a key in politics, are next to none. When media talk about her being contender to entitled Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, I just laugh. I believe Rahul Gandhi will be the one who will have to fight it out in 2019 against Irani.
In Reply to Ravish Kumar, NDTV
This is in reply to Open Letter from Ravish Kumar.
Ravish Kumar ji, there was a time when I used to watch your show. It was within last 3 years. You see I am also an emotional kind of guy just like you. To watch a news show, I must be able to respect the news person at some level. I had respect for you and hence I watched your show. For the same reason I like to watch Kapil Sharma and not Comedy Nights Bachao.
Just as a proof that I indeed liked you, here is the link to the article I wrote on 10 Sep 2014. And another on Nov 26 2015. The way you grilled opportunistic Kiran Bedi, I admired you. I liked you as you brought with yourself a real thing, which has gone missing on News Channels. A phonyism has engulfed not just news but society in general; amidst that I saw you a glimmer of hope. Then the black screen happened.
I would be honest; I lost more than a bit of respect for you that day. It was more because the reason you chose to do that. The TRP race. It felt as if you were irritated with the fellow channel that got TRP’s and you wanted that TRP for yourself. I would have liked had you berated against the bad Govt. policies or phony politicians. But the reason you chose was as phony as it could have been.
Now you complain about online trolls. You know when people start complaining about online trolls, is what I call the ultimate stage of phonyism. When you refer to ‘change’ in last 3 years, I know you are referring to the current dispensation. I just want to tell that last 3 years have seen infinite increase in online activity, fake accounts, paid accounts and what not. It is the real reason.
There are stages for success. People get successful and then more successful and then they start complaining about online trolls. Karan Johar was also complaining couple of weeks back on NDTV website about twitter trolls. Any public figure can complain about that. You don’t think Modi gets any less abuse online than you do? Take any public personality, you would be better, I bet.
Today’s letter that you wrote to MJ Akbar, I didn’t like that much. I’ll tell you why. I like upright people. If you hated him becoming minister, you should have said so straight. You went about beating around the bush trying to mock him. The holier than thou attitude doesn’t help Sir.
I sympathize with you that your mother was called names on twitter and your channel name was abused, but that is how social media has grown. If you want blame, blame twitter for not controlling such accounts. Blame the IT policy for that. Blame courts for not censuring people online. But don’t play a victim card here Sir. When people with money start playing victim card to online trolling, it doesn’t seem nice.
It’s like a slap on the face of poor people with real problems.
How Manmohan Singh tainted his own legacy
Growing up in late 90’s and early 2000’s, I came to know about Manmohan Singh. Everyone talked about him with respect as the man who liberalized India’s economy. How he helped the nation out of a potential bankruptcy by his economic vision.
Then came 2004 and I saw Manmohan Singh accompanying Sonia Gandhi to meet the President to stake claim to form the Govt. Few days later, I saw Sonia Gandhi accompanying Manmohan, who became an unelected PM. Then came the swearing in ceremony, I saw a humble man who was thankful to Sonia Gandhi more than to the nation. It was understandable, as nation didn’t choose him, Sonia did.
UPA 1 went without major hiccups. Nuclear Deal was the first time people saw Manmohan’s political acumen. And he was rewarded by public with a second term. Though he did not choose to stand for election this time too. Amidst this, UPA 2 began and all hell broke loose. The scams of UPA 1 tumbled out one by one and Manmohan Singh cut a sorry figure. It was not his cabinet but UPA cabinet. He didn’t appoint the ministers; he himself was appointed.
The desire he had to stick to his chair (I can’t blame him completely, who wouldn’t want to remain PM of India), did him in. From the golden legacy, he became the PM of one of the most corrupt Govt. ever in India. His decision to remain silent was not his decision, it was his compulsion else he would have been thrown out from PM chair. He chose to remain in the chair. I agree that he didn’t make money out of it, but he catered to his ambition to remain as PM. This was his corruption. He sold his soul and shielded his corrupt cabinet.
When he said, “Compulsions of coalition politics”, he would have hoped to divert blame to the coalition partners. But he was himself the biggest culprit. It was not due to compulsions of coalition politics, he was being blamed due to his own greed for the PM chair. The devil in him was compelling him to continue to turn a blind eye to corruption and stick to the chair.
Who started out during my childhood as a man who liberalized India, ended up being head of the most corrupt Govt and a morally bruised soul. How the might fall!
7th Pay Commission: Why are Govt Employees not happy?
On an average pay commission hikes are done every 10 years. Thus 70 years since independence equals 7 pay commissions roughly. When I read that 7th Pay Commission recommendations were being accepted and it will cost Govt around 1lac crore per year (0.7% of GDP), I thought it was a bonanza for Govt employees. Average pay hike is 23.5%. But I am hearing about resentment among junior employees, non-IAS civil servants and defense personnel w.r.t the pay hike. Most of us would be confused as to the reason. Let me demystify.
- The resentment is always there as the union leaders want to give an impression that they are fighting for more for the employees.
- Govt. improved upon 6th Pay Commission recommendations in 2008. (And hence same was expected this time, given the fact that Govt. employees form the core of the vote bank for BJP.
- It was a wrong time for the announcement. Dal/vegetable prices are at all time high at this time of the year. Hence feeling is that pay hike would go mostly towards inflation. This is not the case in reality. Govt. could have chosen a better time when new crop came in and prices were down.
- Entry level basic pay has been hiked from 7000/- to 18000/-. Unions demand more. But it’s also unjustified demand. Commission concluded that entry level Govt. employees are already getting better than corresponding private sector ones. Hence entry level pay hike %age is not as high as was expected.
- Junior level employees (Drivers etc.) want more. But as commission concluded, a Govt. driver gets 30000/- now, while market cost of a driver is around 15000/-. How high can we pay for the same job? Hence it’s wrong to blame the commission and Govt. here.
- Resentment is that higher posts people (including IAS cartel) are earning huge as compared to junior and mid level employees. Their hike was highest, around 25%, while junior employees got the smallest 14%. This resentment can be justified to an extent. IAS lobby are the one calling the shots, the exclusive golfers club as some call it. But then these are the brightest people available. Even in private jobs, salaries are skewed towards top level jobs as agree to it or not, there is a fight to get best people, which are a scarce resource. Govt. could have done some parity to preempt this however.
- Defense personnel are left behind. With the pay commission recommendations, allowances for civilian employees have become more than defense personnel is few cases. This could have been avoided. For example, hardship allowance an army officer will get for serving in Siachen is less than that of a civilian working there.
Mostly the resentment is that hike is skewed towards the top. Govt. has form committees to address the demands, as is the norm. I feel once the employees will get increased salary in July, most of the anger will go away and smiles would be back. The fact is as salary base increases %age hikes get smaller. Same happens in private sector. So %age hike in 7th pay commission might look less than that of 6th. But 1lack crore bonanza is huge when compared to paltry 20k crore by 6th pay commission.
Salman Issue: Bollywood gets creative
Bollywood has been caught in a dilemma. Their track record of taking high moral ground has come back to haunt them. They can’t speak against Salman. It would hurt their financial interests. They didn’t say anything against Salman on hit and run and invisible man. However they have spoken when similar things were done by politicians. They spoke when similar things were done outside their Bollywood and social circle. They were chatty on social media and in press conferences. They are chatty no more.
They have decided to get creative on this issue. They have to interact with media on daily basis and when the question is posed, they have to say something. So below is the compilation of the creativity of Bollywood on this issue.
1.
Shahrukh Khan: “I myself speak such a lot (inappropriately), Who am I to judge him on this? Personally speaking, I don’t think I am anyone to comment on this. I am so inappropriate myself. I have said some really wrong things also”
2.
Varun Dhawan: “I do not want to join anyone’s agenda to further the controversy; I am close enough to Salman to tell him my view point in person. When one knows someone personally, why would they say anything publicly about them?”
3.
Nagma: “There was No way he meant it the way it sounded. He should not have made this comment in public”
4.
Subhash Ghai: “It is very disgusting translation by someone. He just said one thing that it is a human agony he went through. He was talking about a metaphor. He is just a child and I know he respects women like anything.”
5.
Priyanka Chopra: “First of all, you should be asking the person who made this comment. A lot has been said about the Salman issue. I don’t want to add to the noise. I would rather bring notice on real women issues.”
6.
Rakhi Sawant: “I promise you that Salman Khan hasn’t said anything like this. Salman has only done the lip movements while somebody else has dubbed on it.”
7.
Vikram Bhatt: Silence. Was disgusted with KRK for anti-women remarks. Now he says this, “Salman Khan makes one comment and the whole world chases him, What about KRK? He will perpetuate lies and continue to do so”
8.
Pulkit Samrat: “Actors usually remain unaffected with controversies. As an individual, it also teaches you how to be strong and bounce back. Salman Khan is the biggest example of being strong and truthful. He has always bounced back.”
9.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: “He used the comment metaphorically. The discussions on it are over and there is no point in repeating it and asking questions about it.”
10.
Aamir Khan: Silence. He was earlier hurt by intolerance. But when he himself used ‘balatkar’ for comedy in 3 Idiots. What else can we expect from him?
11.
Anushka Sharma: Silence. To her twitter trollers were misogynists, but sees no wrong in her Sultan co-star.
12.
Deepika Padukone: Silence. Times of India, cleavage controversy was bad. But now nothing.
13.
Kalki Koechlin: Silence. Nothing from women abuse crusader.
14.
Farhan Akhtar: Silence. Mard Farhan shared stage with him during IIFA.
15.
Karan Johar: Silence. Was deeply hurt when Udta Punjab was censored. Attends IIFA with Salman.
16.
Mouni Roy: ‘Naagin’ of small screen said this, “Every girl wishes to debut with Salman Khan”
How fast time flies
Recently one of my relatives gave me a call. Their son had got selected in JEE and they wanted some advice on which IIT/discipline to select. While in conversation, I recalled it’s been 12 years since I did the same exercise. 12 years. Seems like yesterday. But the figure 12 pointed to the time that has gone by.
Made me wonder how fast time flies. I was a teenager then and am 30 today. A dozen years. In those dozen years, I graduated, worked with 3 investment banks, got promoted, worked on 2 failed startups, fell in love, got married; went through myriad of emotions. If I reflect back I have lived a lifetime and an enterprising life in these dozen years. It seems yesterday when I clicked on computer to check my JEE rank.
How can I have both emotions together? How could I have lived a lifetime in the blink of an eye. I think the secret lies in living the moments. I have lived the moments that came by, and hence I treasure each and every moment, with limited regrets. These years went by so smoothly that I don’t feel the burden of the time went by.
A dozen years ago, I used to get overwhelmed by situations; I used to think a lot about circumstances; I used to take a lot of tension. Sometime down the line I made a promise to myself, I will not over analyze situations and will take as less tension as possible. It changed my life. I completely avoid people, situations that give me/have potential to give me tension. People don’t like that, but it lets me be happy and worry free.
Some might call it running away, I don’t care what it is called. I believe I have limited life. Why the hell do I run into everything? Like me you also have option of ‘not running into’ all and sundry. Chill and live your life with as less worry as possible. In next dozen years or so, I again want to look back to years as ‘lived a lifetime in blink of an eye’.
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