Archive for the ‘General/Society’ Category
Sick pleasure of our struggle
How the tide turns! I have read this phrase here and there, but never really understood the import of this, save for now. Suddenly all that was rosy turns to thorns. All of a sudden rain into downpour. Gentle breeze becomes tornado; a soothing wave becomes tsunami.
We humans struggle with ourselves all our lives. We fight the inner demons, wanting to be victorious. More often than not we lose. What are these inner demons? Maybe they are imbedded by the creator on purpose. To keep us in check. Or maybe just a for the purpose of some sick game he is playing. Pitting us against our inner self.
I feel we are not alone. Our single body houses us and a demon. It keeps us busy with a struggle so futile. This demon comes into its colors during crisis. A struggle we are destined to lose. A carrot of a hope, with a stick following.
Just when you are happy, the doom beckons. It comes in different avatars. It actions via different beings. It can make you harm yourself; make a loved one harm you. Without a prior warning, it jumps onto you. Catching you unawares.
Such is the tide of time. We feel we have a winning chance. But when have the puppets won. We are but at masters whims and fancies. Like a wicked child playing with toys. We do what makes the child tick. Hence our actions makes no sense most of the times.
We should give into the all-power. There is no point to struggle. It’s not our battle to win. Don’t give him the sick pleasure of your struggle.
Open Letter to Mr. MoneyHungry Goswami
If you are a dog, admit it and fetch a bone. Don’t pretend to be a tiger. You stand exposed. Today nation wants to know when would you admit, you sensationalize for ratings, for hunger of money. Nation wants to know when would you admit that you advertise yourself a crusader just to earn money. Nation wants to know if this low self-esteem that makes you do it or there is something wrong biologically?
Admit that you pick and choose news that suits your English speaking target audience so that you get TRP’s and money. You have no interest of nation at heart.
Admit it that if you feel there won’t be TRP’s you drop the news, no matter how important it is to the nation.
Admit it you are worst kind of hypocrite that can be as you cherry pick new under guise of media freedom.
Admit it you are just a self boasting thug and not a crusader as you project yourself. “We have broken all scams. We have broken all scams. We have highest TRP’s. We have highest TRP’s”. Why so much boasting?
Few examples Why I say so?
1. Where is round the clock coverage of 100 people dying by poisonous alcohol? Why not relentless reporting on it? Because you feel your English speaking target audience won’t care much of 100 poor people dying. Lalit Modi episode will give you more eyeballs. Isn’t that it?
2. Why no relentless reporting on VVIP racism when it comes to media. That media people are today’s worst VVIP’s is no secret. Be it toll plaza, be it quid pro quo.
3. Why no relentless reporting against Times of India when it abused Deepika Paukone. Why no “Nation wants to know and Times of India Shame” when TOI puts cheap headlines shaming women on its website?
4. Why no relentless reporting against Rajiv Shukla on IPL corruption issue? Coz he was a journalist, is that so?
5. Why only targeting the Govt? Why not people in opposition even on important issues? Since targeting Govt gives you ready audience of anti-incumbent people. The TRP’s. Huh! Is this true reporting. What else explains your silence on Pawar, Chibamram, Tharoor on IPL scandal? Though I agree BJP has lost it.
Mr. MoneyHungry Goswami, do things not for money and I will call you a crusader. Else admit you do things for eyeballs and TRP’s and don’t care about objective and balanced reporting. You have turned Investigative Journalism into Sensationalism Journalism. By blatant biasness due to lust for TRP’s, you have opened media to brickbats and have put independence of media into jeopardy, you foolish, TRP hungry, money lusting of a man!
Shallow Indians? Yoga Day Begging for International Approval
So Yoga day which reverberated with Made In India, was rejoiced by Indians for setting 2 Guinness World Records. Am I the only one to notice the irony?
See the image on the left, Ministry of Ayush being handed over the Guinness certificates by a foreigner. This celebrated image reeks of approval that we are seeking from foreigners. Continue Reading
Maggi: Misguided Finger Pointing
Okay, so Maggi is in the eye of the storm these days. My Maggi. Let me first do some prediction. Maggi will keep on being sold. Nothing will happen to it. The tide will stem, just like it happened with Cola’s. People will be paid and sweetened, and tests will pass.
The issue I want to discuss is News Channels questioning celebrities’ culpability in all this. The celebrities who endorsed the product. I agree, they should be to some extent, as they aided in fooling people to buy the product. But what these news channels conveniently forget is they too aired the same advt. And hence are equally culpable in fooling us.
If celebrities are made a party, then all the TV channels, news papers, each and every one involved in promotion and marketing should be made a party. Limit of absurdness, right? Well so is making celebrities a party. If they are endorsing an illegal product, I can understand the blame. But when Govt. agencies themselves certified it earlier, how does anyone, including celebrities, News Channels know? We all were fooled not by Maggi, but by our own system.
Why haven’t we created a system yet, which catches such crimes sooner. Everyone who earlier signed off on the clearances to Maggie should be the first one to be taken to task. Nestle is a Swiss company, What better to be expected of them than to leach on gullible foreigners?
Most important is to create a system which is not fooled ever again. Not so easily.
Internet Neutrality v/s Telecom Neutrality
OK, Lets take the much talked about topic of Net Neutrality head on. We have heard enough allegations, counter allegations and then some. Even for Computer geeks the concept of Net Neutrality is quite new, leave aside the mere surfers. Let me try and break it to bare bones.
Net Neutrality means bandwidth and airwaves are not partial to what data is flowing through. Also equal opportunity, which has led to a lot of innovation. There are two so called attacks on net neutrality. One is Airtel Zero or internet.org (facebook). Other is charging premium for whatsapp data usage.
My viewpoint on whatsapp premium is as follows. Telecom companies plead that they have paid heavily for Airwaves. They are also bound by rules and regulations. The new apps like whatsapp which have taken everyone by surprise provide services similar to sms/calls but are not bound by the same rules. What Telecom companies are asking for is a Telecom-Neutrality. For investment in telecom infrastructure, what we need is a healthy balance sheet of telecom companies. My view is since telecom companies have paid through their noses for airwaves in 2G/3G auctions, they have right to earn handsome. TV channels including news channels, ups the ad rates during IPL finals or such major events; Also tie the ad rates with TRP’s. Why are then telecom companies being targeted alone?
Well for one it’s easy to target someone who charges people money every min of the day for just uttering a word. I feel rather than targeting telecom companies, what we should fight for is level playing field. Rules and Regulations should be same for everyone providing same services. Whatsapp is no saint. They have already made 20 billion dollars. Who paid for it? You would say Facebook. I say no. I say Whatsapp has earned at the expense of the same telecom companies. We should ask Whatsapp a piece of that 20billion USD made out of next to zero investment, rather than berating telecom companies who have invested a lot.
Next is the issue of telecom companies partnering with selected websites and making them available for free. Well on the face of it I was enraged too. How can this be done? It means propagating few websites. Since people tend to choose surfing for free, it would also mean limiting the meaning of internet for the people.
Then I looked at the stats of internet penetration in India. It’s just 20% of population. Few people out of these 20% people are the one raising hue and cry. What about the rest 80% who don’t have access to internet. Don’t they have a right to internet? If they get internet for free in whatever shape, isn’t it better? No, say the high and mighty. Shallow moral arguments are put forward. Who cares for the betterment of 80%, when a small portion of the 20% who are on twitter/facebook rule the roost. I admit someone is going to too make money out of this zero/org initiatives but as long as 80% people get to access internet for free, I will be the first one to support it.
For all those who are against, I say this, you please find a better solution to take internet free of cost to the 80% and I will support you.
India’s Daughter: Phonies back in business
Controversy surrounded the documentary India’s daughter has brought all phonies back to action. With their opinions and commentary on various media platforms.
I read a piece by a self proclaimed eminent person, who was in news about controversial death of his wife till very recently. According to him, the ban embarrasses India. Cool! So a ban on a documentary by BBC embarrasses whole of India. No Sir, it’s you who feel embarrassed. You who feel economy class flight traveler are cattle. We can just imagine what you would think of Train travelers; Bus travelers. God forbid you meet a person who don’t have any money to travel, you would I am sure choke to breath the same air. You feel embarrassed as you would be asked questions by your friends across the world and probably in BBC.
Your phoniness knows know bound. Stop crying for British Broadcasting Corporation, come down to earth and do your bit for your mother India. But no, you would enjoy and feel embarrassed in the company of global elites, while we who are worse than cattle, are subjected to this torture of your blogs.
A lot of such his/her highness are raising voices across. Like all other issues in India are already resolved. Please work to make India a better nation, not to grab airwaves. I am deeply saddened by affairs of media. How have they fallen! The race for TRP has corrupted them beyond repair. I can understand actions by a foreign media channel, foreign reporter, who did things to make money at the expense of India. But why our own media wants to do the same to our own nation is beyond understanding.
I urge our national media not to fall prey to sensationalism. There are many issues in countries across the world. Find such issues and make equally outrageous documentaries about those countries. You will find me standing by you. For the sake of nation, spare your own country.
India’s Daughter: TRP Lust
Arguments, counter arguments and then some. This has been going on over the BBC documentary India’s Daughter. It has boiled down to the clash of two leading media houses. Both wanting to outdo each other in TRP race.
The media house who was to air the said documentary has begun rally in support. Rival news channel, has gone to town all bonkers against it. The sad part is, this war is not ideological. These channels could have easily switched places, and would have justified themselves too.
This is TRP race my friend. Documentary will get more eyeballs now, in this internet age. All those who didn’t knew about the details of interview, will know now for sure. So all the campaign against it will backfire. But who cares. As I said, it’s not ideological.
The flouting of norms and ethics has become a passe. What else could be expected of Radia-taped journalists. Why add to the horror of the victim’s family by airing the face and views of a monster. Who cares. As I said, it’s not ideological.
As long as the TRP’s are coming, it’s all good. Someone has the pressure to reach No. 1, other is under pressure to remain No. 1.
The irony is, I too seems to be in on the race somewhere, by writing this. Sigh!
The Apathy of General Class
This weekend I was travelling by train. I had a slight argument with train attendant. According to him, “Bedsheets don’t belong to railways, they belong to me”. I didn’t completely understand why he said so; have raised this query with railways, which I know would go unanswered.
Since rail budget is round the corner, I would like to touch upon a topic that has been neglected year after year. The General Class compartment. According to a news report around 2.3cr people travel by trains daily. Out of them around 1.5cr travel by General Class. Tectonic 65%, around the same as total voter percentage last General Elections.
Whilst train fares have been increased time and again, the situation of General Class Compartment has not improved. Wooden seats, People fighting a war to get inside. All of you would have seen long lines, manned by policemen, waiting to get inside the train. Those lines are to get inside the General Compartment.
Whenever you feel things are not going well in your life, imagine the apathy of people in General Compartment, you will stop complaining. 65% figure does not mirror Govt.’s priorities. I see hardly 3-4 General Compartments whenever I travel.
I would have expected 65% Compartments to be of General Class in trains, Alas! It’s not the case. Well, Democracy works differently in theory and in practice.
My Savior: Maharaja of Mysore
“Mysore finally has a new Royal Head”. Poof! I was near death in recent months, as to the future of Mysore. Now that we have heir apparent, I can put my worries to rest.
How shameless is our society that still celebrates such people. Bloodline who leeched the last drop off poor people. Bloodline who dined with British. Bloodline who slept in vast palaces, when people all around were dying of hunger. More shameful is to see Govt. representatives lining up to attend such ceremonies. Anyways from a nation which reveled in calling Nehru ‘RajaSahib’, what more could be expected.
In a nation that queues up outside foreign embassies for Visa; Where a NRI groom is a jackpot; Where Income Tax raid is taken as a status symbol rather than a shame; Where Damadji, Jijaji rule the roost; Where handful of political and industrial families have corrupted the system so beyond repair; Where Govt. change but farmer suicide continues; Where hunger forces common man to learn to live without self-respect, this doesn’t come as a surprise.
I would have loved to see such ceremonies being banned. If not banned then such people being publicly shamed and shunned. But no, we revel in royalty, pledge our allegiance to it and also feel good about it.
However when I see chaiwaala, mufferwaala as PM and CM, I feel all is not lost. My hope in the nation’s resilience stays alive.
Devil and the Deep Sea: Land Ordinance
Bachelors crave to get married; Married crave for Bachelorhood. Children want to be ice-cream salesman; Ice-cream salesman wants to be child again. People in India want to go onsite; Onsite Indians long to come back. To cut the analogy short, perspectives change when we cross over. This sums up the Indian Govt’s predicament. Tables seem to have turned.
While Delhi defeat was just a hindrance, the Land Acquisition ordinance is turning out to be real thorn in the flesh. I have no doubt that PM believes changes to the bill are necessary for long term growth, the problem is how to explain it to voters.
As per general opinion, newspapers, TV/Nukkad debates, Govt. is coming out as a villain in this whole episode. And who knows better than Modi that it is all about perceptions. It’s a fact that farmers of this country voted en masse for Modi during general elections (also during Haryana and Maharashtra). In a country like India which is in election mode round the year any misstep will lose you an election somewhere or the other.
Given the track record of successive Govt.’s on land acquisition, farmers are right in being sceptical. I read that even the people who lost their land when Bhakra Nangal Dam was build, haven’t been compensated fully till date. I agree that land is required to set up industry, which in turn provides job. But to do so by alienating people is not a way forward.
Instead of simply doing away with certain provisions of social impact study, approaching court and making the kisaan of India feel uncomfortable, what Govt. should have done is to incorporate such provisions which make farmers sell their land happily. Raising x2/x4 to x10 could be such a thing.
When a farmer sells his land for 100/- and an year later some industrialist re-sells the same land for 1,00,000/-, farmer has the right to feel cheated. Steps should be taken so that farmers earn dividend on the appreciation of the land price too. 25% share to the original owner of appreciation, if land is sold/sub-let by the acquiring party could be another such provision.
It’s too hard to predict how next few days will unravel, but one thing is sure, it is going to be mighty hard for BJP to convince farmers to vote for the party. At least for near future.
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