That's all, your honour! : Oct. 24-30

1. Even before we recover from one scam, another one crops up. Like noted caroonist Sudhir Tailang said today - "VVIPS seem to be looting the nation as if there's no tomorrow !". Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan offered to resign in wake of the latest controversy. Army land, on which a 6 storeyd building meant for the widows of Kargil war martyrs, was inexplicably transferred to a civilian housing society - Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society. Now, further more, once this transfer happened, the 6 storeyed building now becomes a 31 storeyed building ! Needless to say, allotments of apartments have been made to relatives of politicians, bureaucrats - and more shocking to three Chiefs of the Army ! While one of them, Gen. N.C.Vij has now surrendered the flat alloted to him, the other two have not yet responded. An RTI application filed revealed that many concessions for the apartments were sought under the pretext that this was meant for Kargil war heroes and martyrs. Also, turns out that Ashok Chavan's mother in law, along with two other relatives, owns a flat in this complex! The murk gets dirtier and dirtier too. Union Ministers seem to be involved, not to mention most state ministers seem to be involved in easily one of the most shameful scams. In a most unusual manner of defense, Ashok Chavan asks what is the problem if "distant relatives" of his get flats!

2. Finally the umpteenth time, the "nataka" in Karnataka seems to have come to an end. The thrid Judge, who was asked to deliver the final judgement agreed with the Speaker's decision to disqualify the 11 BJP MLA's before the vote of confidence. The court is yet to hear the case of the 5 Independent MLA's who have associated themselves with BJP. Even if that judgement goes against he Speaker, the government still has the numbers to survive. Meanwhile, the Income Tax department, has raided some BJP MLA's homes and offices and also some close people of the Reddy brothers (no prizes for guessing who ordered these raids!). Anyways, given that this whole sordid drama has come to an end (atleast it seems so!), it is time for BJP to get back to governance and ensure it doesn't lose it's hold on the sole southern state it is in power.

3. A couple of weeks back, the Central government has appointed interlocutors to talk to all sections of Jammu & Kashmir. Now, the guy heading this group said something like Pakistan's view must also be taken. Also, he asked the students of some university to prepare a road map for Azadi. Now, when political parties got to criticize them, Congress party asks us not to criticize them in "national interest"! Remember that time, when Manish Tewari said that criticizing Rajiv was unpatriotic? Well, seems like we now have new definitions for patriotism and national interest, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : అక్టోబర్ 24-30

హైదరాబాద్ వాసులకి తెలుగు లలిత కళా తోరణం సుపరిచితమే. ఎన్టీఆర్ కట్టించారు. విశాలమైన ప్రాంగణం లో వివిధ ప్రోగ్రామ్స్ అక్కడ జరుగుతూ ఉంటాయి. మన కలల్ల్ని ప్రోత్శాహించే మంచి వేదిక. గౌరవనీయులు శ్రీమాన్ టి. సుబ్బిరమరేద్ది గారికి ఒక వినూత్నమైన ఆలోచన వచ్చింది ! అసలు ఈ ప్రాగణం పేరులో తెలుగు ఎందుకు ఉండాలి ? దాని బదులు గా, శ్రీమాన్ రాజీవ్ గాంధి గారి పేరు జోడిస్తే కాని, దీనికి సార్ధకత లేదు అని నిశ్చయించారు. లలిత కల తోరణం ని తన డబ్బుల తో కొత్త రూపం ఇచి, దానికి రాజీవ్ లలిత కళా తోరణం అని నామకరణం చేస్తునట్టు ప్రకటించారు. రాష్ట్ర ప్రభుత్వం కూడా సమ్మతించింది . అయితే, తీవ్రమైన వ్యతిరేకత ఎదురు అవ్వడం తో, సదరు పెద్ద మనుషులు కరుణించి, రాజీవ్ తెలుగు లలిత కల తోరణం అని నామకరణం చేసారు ! ఇంకా వ్యతిరేకత ఆగకపోవడం తో, రాజీవ్ పేరుని కూడా తొలగిస్తునట్టు సమాచారం !

మాకు చరిత్ర చెప్పే మాస్టారు ఒక సారి ఇలా అన్నారు - చరిత్ర ని గౌరవించకపోతే, నువ్వు చరిత్ర హీనుడవి అయ్యిపోతావు ! ఈ రాష్ట్ర చరిత్ర లో ఎందరోమహానుభావులు , భాష కోసం శ్రమించిన పూజ్యులు ఎంతో మంది ఉన్నారు. కళల అభివృధి కోసం కష్టపడిన కళాకారులు చాలా మంది ఉన్నారు. వీరందరినీ విస్మరించి, ఇప్పటికే మన రాష్ట్రం కోసం చెప్పుకోదగ్గ పని ఏమి చెయ్యని శ్రీమాన్ రాజీవ్ గాంధి గారి పేరుని , తమ స్వామీ భక్తీ చాటు కోవడానికి జరుగుతున్న ఈ ప్రయత్నం అత్యంత గర్హనీయం. కాని, మన నేతలు ఎప్పటికీ నేర్చుకోరు - వాళ్ళ భక్తీ ని ఎలా ఎలా ప్రదర్శించాలో ఆలోచిస్తూనే ఉంటారు ! అదన్నమాట!

“The Harm Principle”

First - some must read links that counter Arundhati Roy's arguments

By Faking News - http://blog.fakingnews.com/2010/10/an-open-letter-to-arundhati-roy/

By Great Bong - http://greatbong.net/2008/12/16/the-algebra-of-infinite-fundamentalism/
By Offstumped - http://www.dailypioneer.com/292729/Intellectually-dishonest.html
By Kanchan Gupta - http://kanchangupta.blogspot.com/2010/10/privilege-of-being-arundhati-roy.html

This post however is not about Arundhati Roy and her rants/ramblings/literature/rhetoric etc. The above 4 posts sum up the feelings of "millions" of people aptly (given that "millions" is a word that can be used freely, am taking that liberty too!).

Given her penchant to associate herself with "movements" that are "anti-India", her joining the chorus of "azaadi" seekers came as no surprise/shock to anybody. However, the media's attempts to view her comments in isolation and not as a continuation of her past rhetoric on other violent agitations in the country is very disturbing. The media has once again been succesfull in trivialising this entire issue and also in diverting it from the madness of Arundhati Roy. TV media had debates on whether the debate over Arundhati was an over-reaction! CNN-IBN's Sagarika Ghose went ahead and classified Arundhati's utterances as "creative freedom" that are being curbed by the state! Ofcourse, when asked by what stretch of imagination do her remarks constitute "creative freedom", we get no answer!

And then we have this editorial by The Hindu. Sample this line (emphasis mine):

"In his classic defence of free speech, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill laid down what is known as the 'harm principle.' It postulates that the only justification for silencing a person against his will is to prevent him from causing harm to others."

Small deviation - The emphasised line is common sense. Calling it "harm principle" to make it sound theoritically uplifting and supremely intellectual sounds somewhat funny.

Anyways, let's come back to the emphasis. So The Hindu quotes some author, who says a person can be silenced if his/her utterances are causing harm to others. Now, let's understand this statement in the context of A.Roy's statements. She has been a strong vocal supporter (CNN-IBN has a list of some her statements) of the Maoists - the same guys who go about blasting school buildings, government offices, railway tracks and also occasionally kill policemen. In my, and surely yours, dictionary, these constitute "harm". Now, are we to believe that these thugs are not emboldened by the support receieved by the likes of Arundhati Roy? By so strongly advocating their murderous cause, isn't Arundhati Roy causing "harm" to the civil society? Is it so unreasonable to assume that by her constant complaints against the "Indian Democracy", she is not causing "harm" to the system? By openly encouraging the stone pelters in Kashmir, she is not causing "harm"? In her fetish to write prose, she talks about "graves of Dalit Jawans", as if the other graves are of less significance. Is this not causing "harm" to the families of those who sacrificied their lives for this country? If not, what would you classify as "harm", Mr. N.Ram? If yes, should Arundhati Roy be "silenced", Mr. N.Ram ?

I do not wish to get into your bashing of the BJP and quoting of non-existence of some laws in certain countries (am quite used to both these styles of yours, and hence don't see a need to seek a clarification from you).

My next grouse is the quality of letters you published in your news paper today. Incidentally, none of them criticize your editorial. Most of them glorify Arundhati Roy. Those which don't are way too mild in their criticsim (if it can be called that). Are we to assume that your newspaper has recieved no sane criticism of either Roy or your editorial? Or have they not been published because they might cause "harm" to the newspaper?

Particularly, the 8th letter in this link is very disturbing. The writer (who is from Hyderabad) compares the beauty of Srinagar's natural wonders in the 1950's to the dirtiness surrounding them now, and reaches a conclusion that this "indifference" by the Indian state is the reason for the anger. Seriously Mr. N.Ram - that logic is what you found worth publishing in the newspaper? Shall I now try and compare Hyderabad of the 1950's to the Hyderabad of now, rue about the "indifference" and throw stones on the secretariat? Which Indian city has retained it's beauty from the 1950's? So, now all metros should start agitations I guess.

Freedom of Speech - the one that you so passionately espouse - is complete only when you publish alternate views and clarify your ambivalent stands. Else, it will "harm" the reputation of your newspaper.

Sincerely,

That's all, Your Honour! :Oct. 17-23

1. Post that "nataka in Karnataka" episode last week, some sort of sense was expected to be restored this week. However, the High Court bench, which was supposed to decide on the disqualification of the MLA's delivered a split verdict. While the Chief Justice agreed with the actions of Speaker, the second Judge did not. The matter thus posted to another Judge, who after listening to arguments for 2 days, has reserved the verdict! So the wait continues. Not to lose any opportunity during this wait, the rival camps have begun to make sure their numbers stay intact. However, 2 MLA's of the Congress resigned their seats, causing a turmoil in the party. The opposition's strength has now been reduced to 98 (BJP's strength is now at 106). The suspense will continue till the High Court delivers the judgement. If it is in favour of the Speaker, a mini-election is what we will witness given that about 18 seats will have to go for by-polls in six months. If it is not in favour of the Speaker, a drama in the Assembly is what we will witness. Either way, a thrilling drama awaits us in Karnataka. In the other words, the Nataka has not yet ended!

2. If events in this week are any indication, slowly, but surely, we are going to witness the acquital of all those involved in the Corruption Wealth Games. While the media went gaga last week over the "snubbing" of Mr. Kalmadi by Her highness Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Delhi CM, Sheila Dixit, this week it has slowly begun to ask us if we are too immune to corruption - thereby shifting the discussion towards a "societal and system" failure, rather than pinpointing those guilty. It all started when Mr. Kalmadi hit back at Shiela Dixit saying that she should not point fingers at him and instead set her own house in order. He also reminded us that whilst his budget was Rs. 1650 crores only, her budget was Rs. 16,500 crores! A day later, the president of BJP, Nitin Gadkari held a press conference and questioned the PMO as to why and how it approved all the inflated budgetary expenses. Did the PMO know about the corruption then? Did it verify properly the claims made while these estimates were submitted? These and many such pointed questions were put forth. However, in a pre-emptive move, the IT department raided the house of a BJP leader in Delhi, accusing his relative of grabbing a contract! NDTV promptly reported this "raid" and went on to describe a similar raid on Kalmadi's office as a "visit" by officials! This news overshadowed the press conference. Slowly, it was made out to be a "apolitical" thing. And now the discussions are about our immunity towards corruption! In the meanwhile, CVC is all set to probe 22 agencies involved and in 3 monts a report will be submitted it seems. Let's mark today's date and discuss this again in 3 months time!

3. The National Advisory Council headed by Her Highness Sonia Gandhi has decided to place 80 crore people of this country in the "food security" net. At various levels, these people will be gauranteed of 35 kgs of rice at subsidised price. The draft was released just yesterday, and more reading is required. However, please note your honour - Her Highness has decided to place 75% people of this country in the "poor" bracket and make sure the rest 25% pay up for earning more! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your Honour! : Oct.10-16

Warning: This is a very longgg post :). Essentially because am documenting the entire K'taka saga that happened this week, before speaking about the Common Wealth Games. Thanks in advance for reading :)

1. The "Nataka in Karnataka" caption lived upto its expectations this week! Not sure who the hero was, but was crystal clear who the villian was. That honour has been bagged by the Governor of the state, His Excellency Hans Raj Bhaadwaj! The Speaker of the assembly disqualified 11 rebel BJP MLA's and also 5 Independent MLA's (and hence strength of Assembly came down to 208, and BJP had 104 MLA's in its fold). He was quoting the Anti Defection Act, but many were of the view that this act can be applied only after the MLA's actually vote in the assembly. However, since the Speaker has decided, the matter can only go into the court. However,our villian decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots of a letter to the Speaker asking him to retain the original configuration of the house! What business he had writing to the speaker, only he knows! Anyways, te D-Day came. On the morning of 11th October, these 16 MLA's barged into the assembly, broke windows, one MLA even tore his shirt and dared policemen/marshals. For the first time, policemen entered the floor of the house and had a scuffle with the MLA's. And since the doors seemed open for all, MLC's MP's etc etc all walked into the house. It was a literal free for all !

And amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government won the trust vote, by a show of hands! Yep, amidst all this confusion, the Speaker declares that the government wins through a voice vote. And this infuriated the governor even more! Without even waiting for a report from the Speaker, His Excellency H.R.Bharadwaj sent a report to the Central government recommending President's rule !! At a time when all were focussing on the legality of the action of the Speaker, our villian gave the perfect twist, thus hogging the limelight all for himself again. Quite obviously this was a stupid move, evident from the fact that the Central government (whom he wanted to impress in the first place) was not too keen. BJP was in a battle mode now, seeking the Governor's recall citing all his stupid actions.

And then our villian, as is his wont - gave us a new twist! He writes to the Chief Minister the next day (12th Oct) saying he is willing to give him "another chance" to prove his majority on the 14th of October! After recommending that the government be suspended, he now talks about another chance! And what is the legality of this "offer"? Was he advising? Was he ordering? What about his earlier recommendation then? Whatever he writes and recommends has lega connotations, why behave like a school principal? And come to think of it, this guy was the Law Minister of India in UPA 1 ! Why was he in such a hurry? Whom is he trying to appease? Just when we were trying to find answers to these questions, comes the new twist!

His Excellency holds a press conference and starts speaking like the opposition leader of the state! He says there is no development in the state, there is lot of corruption etc! That's right - instead of just talking about the confidence vote (which he had no business talking about,in the first place) he goes on and on about governance, BJP leadership et.al ! H.R.Bharadwaj finally succeeded in proving that he is just a stooge of the High Command of his party, with little or no respect to the dignity of the post of Governor. It is not hi business to comment upon aspects of development, governance etc. The people will get to decide all that - the Governor is just he titular head of the state and has to come into the picture only when there is a constitutional breakdown. Quite evidently, this man doesn't care for such etiquitte.

Anyways, the CM accepted the "offer", and won the floor test with a 106-100 majority. The High Court is yet to rule on the suspension of the 5 Independent MLA's though. Even if the court cancels their disqualification, there is no danger to this government.

The Governor's actions and the attempts by another Excellency H.D.Deve Gowda to cash in on this whole episode aside, this trust vote is a huge eye-opener for BJP. These dissent activities seems to have become a regular happening, thus hampering governance and good will. If no serious attempts are made by the party to address these issues, it sure will take a long time to recover from these losses!

2. All this week, the Commonwealth games fever gripped most of us. Indian sportspersons put up an excellent show this time. After a gap of 52 years, we won a gold in the track events. The women's relay team won the 4x400m gold, another team won he 4x100 bronze medal. India also won the Gold, Silver and Bronze in the women discuss throw event! More than the medals, the stories of almost all the medal winning sportspersons made for very inspiring reading. How children of auto drivers, tribals made it to this place, after going through unbeliavable road blocks is stuff of legend. Men and women from small towns that we have never heard of, heralded a whole new beginning to the sports chapter in the country. We won 38 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze medals. Each of these 101 winners are the new inspiration for us to aspire for better heights the Asian Games and the London Olympics. Hats off, to the real winners!

And since the games have now ended, time has also come to turn attention to the Corruption Wealth Games! For the record, a commission has been set up to probe everything related to the conducting of the games. It is becoming increasingly clear that Suresh Kalmadi will be made the sole culprit of the whole muck. All other leaders will be let off, and our ever compliant media led by NDTV, has already begun to acquit Sheila Dixit, for starters! And apparently, both the PM and Sonia Gandhi have met only the medal winners and not Suresh Kalmadi, and the media is hailing it as if this is the most exemplary "punishment" meted out ever! So much for accountability, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : అక్టోబర్ 10-16

రైతుల ఆత్మహత్యలు గురుంచి మనం వింటూనే ఉన్నాం.కాని, అప్పుల బాధ లో ఉన్న ఇంకో వర్గాన్ని పూర్తీ గా విస్మరించాము . రాష్ట్రం లో సూక్ష్మ రుణ సంస్థలు వారు ఇచ్చిన అప్పు ని తీర్చమని ఒత్తిడి పెంచాయి. బెదిరింపులకి దిగాయి. ఇవి అన్ని తట్టుకోలేక, పేదలు ఆత్మా హత్యలు చేసుకోవడ మొదలుపెట్టారు. రోజు రోజుకి ఈ వార్తలే బయటికి వస్తునాయి (ఎన్ని వార్తలు వచినా , సాక్షి మాత్రం ఓదార్పు యాత్ర మీదే ఫోకస్స్ ఉంచింది లెండి !). విపక్షలకి ఈ ఆత్మహత్యలతో ప్రభుత్వం పై దాడి చెయ్యడానికి ఒక కొత్త ఆయుధం దొరికింది ! ఇంకా అవి చెలరేగిపోయాయి. కాని మునపటి లాగ ప్రభుత్వం రుణ మాఫీ చేసే స్థితి లో లేదు ! అందుకే, స్వీయ సహాయ గ్రూపులు కి ఈ సూక్ష్మ రుణ సంస్థల అప్పులు తీర్చడానికి గాను ప్రభుత్వ బ్యాంకులు తక్కువ వడ్డీ కి ఋణం ఇస్తాయి అని ప్రకటించింది ! ఒక అప్పు తీర్చడానికి ఇంకో అప్పు అన్నమాట !

That's all, your honour! : Oct. 3-9

1. "Kashmir was an outstanding issue which needs to be resolved. It is a political issue and cannot be addressed through development, employment or good governance only" Now, it is but natural to think that such kind of a ridiculous statement can come only from some vague guy not interested in practical solutions. Agreed it is a political issue but to brush aside development, employment and good governance is little too childish. Now what do we have make of it when this statement comes from the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir? Not just this, he went on to say "J&K acceded to India in very unique circumstances and did not merge. Had we merged with India, we would not have had a special constitutional position". Yep, you read it right. The full speech is not available anywhere for download. The entire media has only reported parts of speech here and there and almost all headlines were talking about the protests by opposition members! Yep - the Chief Minister says all this stuff and we are interested in reporting how the opposition reacted. This blog piece by "i_panchajanya" gives an excellent summary of how the media covered this shocking speech by the Chief Minister. He goes on to "assert" that his government is not a "puppet" (sure, why would we think so - given his timely "action" for all the crises, it is a sin to think his govt. is a puppet!). Just playing to the galleries and to the separatists ideas will help solve your problem, Mr.Chief Minister? And please don't keep wondering how this man is still holding this job despite so many deaths - that's how immune we have become to inefficiency. Even if it is costing lives.

2. Finally, it is about the games and not about Shiela, Kalmadi et.al. The Commonwealth games have finally begun and the opening ceremony recieved wide kudos for a majority of audience! The event was excellently choreographed, showcasing the rich cultre and heritage of India. Right from the beginning wherein drummers from various parts of the country started their to the "swagatam" dance by the kids, to the yoga performance, to the dance forms of India - everything was way beyond anybody's expectations! Also, we have had a very rich medal haul so far. We have won golds, silvers, bronzes in archery, weightlifting, wrestling and shooting. So far we have even won bronzes in swimming, gymnastics and even in the 10,000m race! This is the first time we are winning medals in the swimming and gymnastics category. The muck and the controversies surrounding the games will only be refreshed after the games are over. Till then "come out and play" !

3. BJP seems to be having a fascination for the "natak" in Karnataka (pun not mine :D). After some recent fiascos, this time it all began when dissent started brewing after a recent cabinet expansion by the Yeddyurappa government. And within no time, 18 MLA's withdrew their support to the government! BJP has a 5 MLA majority in the assembly and this move has put it in a minority. As it happens in such cases, all MLA's first went to Kerala, and then to Chennai and finally to Mumbai! Hectic negotiations (read "how many crores would suffice" stuff) are on, and so far 4-5 MLA's are back into the BJP fold. The Congress has categorically said it will not support the JD(S) now. However, all this muck is bringing in instability in the state thus removing the focus from governance issues. The confidence vote is scheduled for the 12th of this month - need to see how this crisis will play out.

4. So Rahul Gandhi has spoken again. This time, he has enlightened us by saying that there is no difference between RSS and SIMI. He thinks both encourage "fanatics" and are "fundamentalist" in their views. Just so that readers know, SIMI is a banned terrorist organisation. One might have huge differences with views of RSS but to equate them to a banned terrorist organisation speaks volumes about the intelligence of the Enlightener. That's all, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : అక్టోబర్ 3-9

మేస్త్రి అనే ఒక అత్యద్భుతమైన చిత్రం ఒకటి కిందటి ఏడాది విడుదల అయ్యింది. శ్రీమాన్ దాసరి నారాయణ రావు గారు అందులో ప్రధాన పాత్ర పోషించారు ! ఈ సినిమా చిరంజీవి రాజకీయ ప్రవేశం మీద వ్యంగాస్త్రాలు సంధించడానికి తీసారు. ఇలా వచ్చిఅలా వెళ్ళిపోయింది సినిమా. కాని మన నంది బహుమతల కమిటి ఆ సినిమా ని మర్చిపోలేదు ! శ్రీమాన్ దాసరి నారాయణ రావు కి ఆ సినిమా లో నటించినందుకు, ఉత్తమ నటుడిగా ప్రకటించింది ! ఇంత వయసు, హోదా వచ్చాక కూడా ఇంకా దాసరి గారు ఇలా అవార్డ్ కోసం పాకులాడటం ఎంత వరకు సబబో మీరే ఆలోచించండి !

మాకు ఓదార్పు ఏది ?

గౌరవనీయులైన శ్రీ జగన్ మోహన్ రెడ్డి గారికి నమస్కరించి రాయునది ఏమనగా..

మీ అధికార దాహాన్ని దహించి వేసిన అధిష్టానం ని ధిక్కరించి మీరు ఓదార్పు యాత్ర చేపడదాము అని నిర్ణయించినప్పుడు, "అబ్బో , మన దగ్గర ఇలాంటి కాంగ్రెస్స్ నాయకులు కూడా ఉంటారా " అని ఆశ్చర్యపోయాను. ఆ తరువాత యాత్ర లో భాగంగా, మీరు వరంగల్ వెళ్తున్న సందర్భం లో, వెళ్ళదు వెళ్ళదు అని ఎన్ని బెదిరింపులు వచ్చినా, ధైర్యం గా బయల్దేరితే, ఎట్టకేలకు ఈ తెరాసా నడిపిస్తున్న చెత్త రాజకీయాలకు నిలబడే ఒక వ్యక్తీ ఉన్నాడు అని కొంచం (కొంచమే !) సంబరపడ్డా. జిల్లా కి వారం చొప్పున కేటాయిస్తూ, అడపా దడపా కొన్ని కుటుంబాలని ఒదార్స్తు , విచ్చలవిడి గా మీ తండ్రి గారి విగ్రహాలని ఆవిష్కరిస్తూ వెళ్తుంటే, ఒకే దెబ్బ కి రెండు పిట్టలు తరహ లో మీరు యాత్ర చేస్తున్నారు , ఇది అధిష్టానం ని తప్పక ఇబ్బంది పెడుతుంది అని విశ్లేలించా.

ఆ తరువాత సాక్షి టీవీ లో, మరియు పత్రిక లో మీరు ఎంత గొప్ప వారో, మీరే చెప్పుకుంటుంటే, వినడానికి భలే వినసొంపు గా ఉండేది!. మీ నాన్న గారి కన్నా గొప్ప వ్యక్తీ మరొకరు లేరని, ఆ తరువాత అంతటి గొప్ప వ్యక్తీ మీరే అని , మీరు జీతాలు ఇచ్చే యాంకర్స్ చెప్తుంటే, విని ఆనంద పరవసితుడనైయ్యా ! సరే పోన్లే, నెల లో ఒక వారం రోజులే కదా, మూడు వారాలు ప్రసాంతంగా ఉండచ్చు లే అని సర్దుకుపోయ !

ఇలా మేము సర్దుకుపోతునాము అని మీకు సమాచారం అందినట్టు ఉండి , మమల్ని ఇంకా భాదించాలి అని మీరు గట్టి నిర్ణయం తీసుకునట్టు ఉన్నారు ! ఒక్కో జిల్లా ని మీరు వారల తరబడి "ఒదార్స్తూ" ఉంటె, ఆఖరికి టీవీ 9 కూడా "జగన్ యాత్ర మీద జనాలకి విసుగు వచ్చిందా " అని అడిగేసాడు!

మీరు సా...గిస్తున్న ఓదార్పు యాత్ర ని చూసి చూసి బాధపడుతున్న మాకు ఓదార్పు కావాల్సిన పరిస్థితి వచ్చింది ! అమ్మో, వద్దు లెండి. ఇంకో ఓదార్పు యాత్ర చేసే సామర్ధ్యం మీలో ఉన్న , తట్టుకునే శక్తి మాలో అస్సలు లేదు. కావున మా యందు దయ ఉంచి, మీరు ఓదార్చడం ఆపితే, అత్యుతమం గా ఉంటుంది అని భావన!

ఇట్లు, మీ భవదీయుడు
సుంకర సుధీర్ కుమార్

The irony of “moving on”

"The verdict itself was not in tune with the aspirations of a modern, democratic, young nation."

This line,written by her eminence Vidya Subrahmaniam in The Hindu today sounds so emphatic that you will be led to believe that she has done some extensive interviews covering a wide range of "modern" and "young" people, pieced together enormous data and finally arrived at that conclusion. However, a cursory (or a indepth) reading of her article doesn't point to any numbers. Now, then we begin to wonder how exactly this conlusion has been arrived at!

Ignoring this fascinating conclusion, we move on to read the article. A couple of paras are dedicated to the peace that was prevalent in the country. For the whole of last week, The Hindu through various articles kept on reminding us that there is peace but there is discontent. And now it is beginning to sound like as if they are unhappy with the peace despite the discontent! (Note: This is only my feeling and not of all "readers of The Hindu").

And then there is a cursory mention of this - "The Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid used the Friday prayers to deliver a fiery, rabble-rousing speech". No condemnation of this speech, just a mere mention.

She then goes on to mention how she picked up "unbiased, untutored" muslims. Now, I wonder what does "unbiased" mean in this context? Having an opinion implies being biased towards the opinion. Now, is she to say they are unbiased because their thought process is in sync with her? Untutored makes sense, but unbiased, really? Who is really unbiased in this world? Don't we all have our biases? Why should the likes of VidyaS keep talking like this?

Sample this - "
However, most people added a caveat: This did not imply unreserved acceptance of the verdict. I reminded them of the Muslim promise that the community would honour the verdict, no matter how it went."

Why was that "reminder" needed, Vidya? Did they say they are not honouring the verdict? Did anyone say "You know what, we ain't care a hoot about the verdict, what follows is pure violence"? They just said they don't agree with it. Now, from when did that become a crime? They are well within their rights to disagree with the judgement, and yet decide to move on. They are well within their right to feel strongly either way about the verdict, and yet decide to move on. Why should you and your ilk make this sound like some simmering discontent in the entire "young muslim" community?

Last question. VidyaS says - "Did India's Hindus, all 80 million of them, believe that Lord Ram was born at the same, precise spot where the mosque's central dome once stood? The verdict implied so,...."

Rhetorically, here's a question to VidyaS - "Have you spoken to all "young muslims" (in millions again) to get the title of your article? The title implies so..."? :D.

This article is not an isolated piece at all. The electronic and print media, to a very large extent has not been able to come to terms with the verdict. And as an attempt to showcase and flaunt their "intelligence", they are coming up with pieces like this on a daily basis. TV media spilled vitroil for almost three days (multiple debates, talk shows - all of which, incidentally, have been derided by the print media for their instant journalism!). Print media continues to publish such ill-informed pieces (too many examples to link them up here).

At one end, they exhort that India has moved on, but at the other end, these people refuse to "move on"! Talk about irony!

"Official" Media partner of the family!

Most movies these days have official media partners. Likewise, today the Gandhi family (not that of Mahatma Gandhi, but of Feroz Gandhi) has an "official" media partner. No prizes for guessing which channel runs away with this honour! NDTV.

On it's website today, the "Big Picture" is this: "Watch Priyanka Gandhi at Golden Temple: Along with her husband, Robert Vadra, she paid a private visit to Amritsar." That's right, a private visit to which the "official" media partner exclusive access. At a time, when so much in happening in the country, this national channel found it fit to have this news as "Big Picture". Also a slide show has been put together for user friendliness too. Slide no.5 has a picture of the Golden Temple and the following accompanying text "Golden Temple is one of the most revered religious sites of Sikhs.". And then slide show goes on to talk about how she resembles Indira Gandhi (that slide show was put up earlier too, and a blog on that is here. The current slide show was just added to the previous one by NDTV, lest we forget!)

And this is not the first time, the "Big Picture" featured the family! Happened once before, and when questioned, I was shooed away! Congratulations NDTV on your new contract with the family.

Dr. Subhas Mukherjee ...

Yesterday, the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine was announced. Robert Edwards, a British scientist whose research led to the birth of the first "test-tube" baby in the world will be the recipient. The colleague with whom he worked, Patrick Steptoe has died and hence is not eligible for the prize. And while reading up this editorial today, I came to know the world's second test tube baby was born in India! That too, just 67 days after the first baby was born! This is really a stupendous achievement, which has been sidelined inexplicably.

A google search for Dr. Subhas Mukherjee took us to this site of his - http://www.drsubhasmukherjee.com/index.html

"Mukherjee along with Sunit Mukherji, a cryobiologist, and Gynecologist Dr. Saroj Kanti Bhattacharya, worked on a method of in-vitro fertilization that was used successfully on patient with damaged fallopian tubes. On 3rd October 1978, the team announced the birth of the world's second test tube baby, in Calcutta"

This site is a must read for all of us. It details his research, how it is different from what Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe used, how he was not at all supported by the government here and more. Not just about the support, but a government enquiry even rubbished his research (this after the baby was born!). So much was the harrassment by the government, that it drove him to commit suicide.

Also, it was only in 2002 that the Indian Council of Medical Research finally recognised his research. Am not sure whether any government has officially honoured him, but can't really think of anyone else who deserves a state honour.

The site also says this - "1991: Renowned film director, Shri Tapan Sinha, directed a Hindi film "Ek Doctor ki Maut" based on a story written by Sri. Ramapada Choudhury, an eminent journalist. The story was based on the events in the life of Dr. Subhas Mukherjee. The film received a National Award."

What an irony, a film based on the life of the doctor recieves an award, but not the doctor himself.

That's all, your honour! : Sept.26 - Oct.2

1. Before we go into "the" news that the entire electronic media has been concentrating on, here's some really distressing news. First, the Naxals kidnap 4 policemen in Chattisgarh and place some idiotic demands in front of the government. Then they put up a 48 hours deadline, which they extend by another 48 hours. Thankfully, they release all 4 of them without killing them. Police were suspecting that some low level group must have resorted to this act, because their demands were not too strong! Elsewhere, the PSJBC (some Naxal org) has called for a bandh in three disctricts in West Bengal in protest against some killing. As a result, night trains were suspended which means normal life was affected very badly. And elsewhere in Orrisa, 3 policemen and 10 Naxals were killed in an encounter. The crooks also set fire to a hostel and the panchayat building. While these murderers and looters were busy with their work, we had Her Eminence Arundhati Roy shower her enlightenment on us thus - "War on Naxals is a conspiracy to grab tribal land" !

2. The saga of the Corruption Wealth Games is continuing this week too. The high level of confusion in organising of the games still continues. The Games Village was finally ready only on Thursday! And the CM is now rushing to take credit for the quick turnaround !About 10,000 volunteers haven't turned up, the caterer screwed up big time and they had to go in for 5-6 new caterers at the last minute (as a result of this screw-up, about 4000 security and volunteer personnel had to go without food for a day), media personnel are being made to undergo hardships and so on! Also, there was this confusion on whether the President of India or the Prince of Wales should open the games! Yep - even that confusion was not cleared till last week! The Games begin today, and here's hoping that the next 10 days will be about the sports and not the games played by the organisers.

3. And now let's come to the Ayodhya verdict. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has given its verdict on the title suit case. The court decided that the disputed land will be divided into three parts. 1 part will go the Hindus (curiously no Hind group petitioned, those who petiotioned claimed Lord Ram to be the petitioner!), 1 part will go to Nirmohi Akhadas (a sadhu group who have been doing prayers on this site for a long time) and 1 part will go to the Sunni Wakf Board. The bench has ruled that this was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The full judgement (that runs into 8000 pages) can be accessed here. It is 8000 pages long! Without reading into it fully, our "secular liberal" media was quick to pounce on the High Court Judges. "Eminent historians" poured out their grievances and some even got prime space too! NDTV was disturbed beyond comprehension. Infact, the reverred Owaisi "saab" ( as Barkha Dutt calls him) was so agitated that he went belligerent! Kanchan Gupta's blog is an excellent articulation of the bogus claims by Owaisi "saab" and Sandeep's blog is a masterpiece on dissecting why these "eminent historians" are reacting in this way! More on this next week.

4. Curfew was relaxed in Kashmir earlier this week, only to be clamped again towards the end of the week! Schools re-opened and despite "warning" from Geelani, parents sent their kids to schools. Meanwhile, the CPI (Maoist) otherwise known as Naxals, called for a bandh in six states to protest the killings in Kashmir! That's all, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : సెప్టెంబర్ 26 - అక్టోబర్ 2

ఈ వారం లో మొదటి మూడు రోజులు ఏమో మళ్ళి అదే సోది ... తెలంగాణా అంట, ఓదార్పు అంట ! అసలు ఈ ఓదార్పు యాత్ర ఏంటి అండి బాబు.... ఎంతకి తరగదు ! ఒక్కో జిల్లా కి ఒక నెల రోజులు పాటు ఒడార్స్తున్నారు జగనన్న గారు. దీనికి తోడు ఆ సాక్షి ఛానల్ ... ఎంత తక్కువ మాట్లిడితే అంత మంచిది ! ఇక పొతే మిగతా మూడు రోజులు అయోధ్య లో బాబ్రి మసీదు ఉన్న స్థలం రాముడు జన్మించిన స్థలమే అని అలహాబాద్ హై కోర్ట్ ఇచిన సంచలన తీర్పు ! ఆ మసీదు ఉన్న ప్రాంతాన్ని మూడు భాగాలుగా విభజిస్తూ హై కోర్ట్ తీర్పు ఇచ్చింది. ఒక భాగం హిందువులకి, ఇంకో భాగం సాధువులకి , మూడో భాగం ముస్లిం లకి ఇచ్చింది. దీని పై సుప్రీం కోర్ట్ ని ఆశ్రయిస్తాము అని గౌరవనేయులు శ్రీమాన్ ఒవైసీ గారు సెలవు ఇచ్చారు. ఈ తీర్పు తో ఆయినా అత్యంత బాధ చెందారు. ఎందుకు ఏమిటి అని అడగద్దు - అదంతే!