Is politics entering the blogging arena?

We had just about managed to get over the celebrity blog fanfare, when the media zeroed in on another blog… and this time it was Lalu Yadav. The blog too, on its part started on a fiery note. Commenting on the Gujjar agitation, where he squarely blamed Vasundhara Raje for the loss that railways suffered. The papers and all other news channel carried the story as if it was the biggest event in the world.

After the matter subsided, I was curious to see how Lalu’s blog was faring and hence I hit the road on mission ‘Lalu blog hunting’ –going obviously the google way! To start off with, it was a little difficult to hunt the blog. Next, when I hit the hyperlink to my dismay I was greeted with a ‘down for updation’ page. This had nothing to do with Lalu I believe. I think he should have picked a better platform for blogging or if getting Lalu to create a blog was a marketing gimmick on the part of www.popcorn.com, they should have atleast had some state of art technology that need not be updated in such a crude manner.

However I stumbled upon an article in the economic times with insights on the state of Lalus blog and I must say it was hilarious! People had actually turned his blog into a railway complaint box. Well, what can I say? Had he stuck to the topic he knows best, handling railways, probably his blog would have served a better purpose and would have been much more meaningful than ending up as a sloppy political tool used to strike back at opponents.

This made me realize the effects if all our politicians go the blogging way -


The politicians would publish individual videos or vlogs, that address the nation

The morning ‘Parliament session’ would be off air. Instead it would be converted into podcats and distributed across internet.

Their comments section would be filled with blame and retaliation against each other.

The common man on the other hand would be able to post complaints on the blogs.

These piling complaints would then be aired on the news channel that would make a story on how inefficient our politicians are even in this internet age.

The NSO rankings on search engine would be aired on channels the way stock prices are shown. This would determine the popularity of the politicians

In the election season, online polls would be run on individual blogs to gauge the politicians popularity and check what people want in terms of roti, kapada makan so that politicians can continue to podcast their address with those promises.

The public at large would still be at the same point – viewing the blog story on news channel and wondering how does it help them ! :)

The morning philosophy…

The moment I stepped out of the house, I was struck by the wonderful weather! Rushing off to office in my usual way I had no time to ponder about the lovely weather and as I drove and became a part of the maddening Bangalore prime time traffic I cursed myself for not stopping and enjoying the little joys bestowed by life!

Well if you are living in a city and have a boring routine of office- home-office, you would immediately second my thoughts about enjoying lovely weather! Coming back to the point, as I was busy cursing myself and veering myself away from taking off on a long drive, I was engulfed by swarming herds of people who were driving to office.

It stuck me as very strange - all dressed in almost similar attire, including me. I was reminded of Star wars- war of the clones or something similar. I am actually not a big fan of Star wars. We were all geared up in jackets with laptop bags or sacks, helmets and some of us even carried lunch boxes. Most of them were couples who went to office together.

All were busy thinking just one thing- ‘How can I overtake the guy before me?’ All were struggling to ensure that not even an inch of road remains empty. Many were even multi-tasking, talking on the mobile, while riding the two- wheeler and overtaking the one before- all at the same time. All of them were in a hurry and wanted to be the first to get out of this traffic bottleneck!

I found it ridiculous that people enjoyed doing this senseless thing day in and day out but didn’t have a moment to enjoy the lovely weather, be pleasant and have a peaceful ride to office. Everybody looked as if they were being driven by an invisible remote control that seemed to be efficiently managing their time.

All said and done, I can’t deny the fact that after brief rumination on this matter, I had no better alternative but to join the party! Be a part of this maddening traffic and fight to be the first one as I inch forward through the traffic maze!

It saddened me that I was being a part of this robotic world where pennies seem to shine brighter than the stars and stress seems to be synonymous with a happy life! Just awaiting my long break that would carry me away from all this- to a bliss that allowed me to experience the little things that create nature! Nature- a theater where magic is created every moment!

Xenophobic ‘junta’ the reason for Myanmar sorrow!

Yesterday the many military vessels and helicopters, loaded with relief material that had been camping close to Myanmar waters returned. The xenophobic Myanmar ‘junta’ refused to allow them entry and hence eventually, left them with no alternative but to return.

I fail to understand how a government can continue to be oblivious to the sufferings of its own people? The junta’s claim that this was part of US invasion plan and that US is eyeing Myanmar’s oil deposit doesn’t hold water. For heavens sake the UN is watching. All the counties understand the plight of Myanmar people and wanted to be of some help to them. Even if US did have such intentions I don’t understand the resistance Myanmar is showing to the help pouring in from other countries? Do they want to say that the whole world is conspiring against Myanmar?

It is unbelievable that even today oppressive governments can get off by setting some hoax alarm and unconvincing theories while their country men suffer! Why can’t UN, human rights agencies and other general bodies of the world take some stern actions against such oppressive governments? Something for us to ponder, I guess…

Oil price hike in India… a pinch impossible to skip

While the opposition party called it a ‘black day’ and ‘terror unleashed by the government’ and other fragments of the ruling party like the communist party calling it a suicidal move, the common man waited with bathed breath for the prices to rise!

The price rise that was enforced all over India was certainly not a happy decision for the government either but I think we as citizens of India need to look at the rise rationally rather than blindly following the political opportunists and take a shortsighted stand!

I applaud the PM’s unusual gesture of addressing the nation and explaining the price rise. It shows that our PM considers himself accountable for all the important decisions his government takes and he explained very clearly and precisely the reasons for the rise and the other steps taken by the government to soften the blow.

There were a few sections of media who said that the PM had not been aggressive enough in defending his decision! I don’t see a reason for him to be aggressive. This is an issue that is going to hit the common man directly and adversely, he believed he was accountable for this and hence presented his case to the public. I believe if he had been aggressive it would have given an impression of being defensive and trying to hide the real motive behind the move, which would have certainly not convinced many!

Lets face it, we have been hearing the oil prices skyrocketing in the world market over the last few years, it would be impossible for any government to share the entire burden while the consumer remained ignorant and enjoyed the bliss. Also with our booming economy we have been rather reckless in our fuel consumption. It is high time we become answerable to ourselves and share a fair share of blame.

A simple look at the monthly statistics of vehicle dealer would be enough to confirm that we have been responsible for higher oil imports over a prolonged period. Starting with simple ways of reducing fuel consumption would certainly go a long way.

Is it too little, too late for Aarushi?

After the Delhi double murder, also known as Aarushi and Hemraj murder case, Delhi police has been under the scanner and rightly so. The delay in discovering Hemraj’s dead body and the fact that the body was not even discovered by the police but by a well-wisher of the Talwar family and the numerous laps that happened during the investigation, raises some serious doubts on the efficiency of our country police.

The case was murky from the start, and the initial doubts were on the servant Hemraj. The police had nearly proved him the murderer when his dead body too was discovered. The fact that the parents slept in the adjacent room while two murders took place in their house also raises doubts. But what about the justice to the dead? As the days pass and police continue their haphazard investigation the killer is at large. It is evident that the police by trying to frame the father are trying to cover their faults hurriedly.

The police theory of father killing the servant and daughter because she was against his affair with his colleague doesn’t hold water as it was a well-educated upper middle class family. Even if that were the case how would it matter if his daughter was against the affair? His daughter can’t be such an obstacle for his affair to flourish that her elimination was the only alternative left for him! It is irrational. Now with CBI investigating the case, I hope that the dead finally get justice.

A similar case had taken place in Mumbai, in 2000. A girl was found dead at her residence- she had been hit by a hammer. The police reacted in a similar fashion and said that the father had an affair with the house maid to which the daughter objected to and hence father killed the daughter! It resulted in a fight for justice for 5 years before the court dismissed the grounds on which the father was booked and proclaimed that he was innocent.

The police were directed to reinvestigate the case. The case was then handed over to CBI for investigation, however in the meantime 5 precious years were lost and the killer is still at large. With such a huge time lapse in the case the CBI has very few clues to move ahead on the case.

Gladly, with so much media attention the case has been moving faster and has now been handed over to CBI for investigation. I hope atleast in this case it is not too little too late!