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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

#AAP Effect: The Politics Of Denial In Delhi

Denial is not just a river in Egypt,  it is also a strong current of a sentiment flowing in the corridors of the established political class of India. For once we see the Right, Left and Center of India’s traditional political spectrum publicly uniting against motley group of ordinary people who neither have great legacies, wealth nor fame but still believe they can contest elections in a democracy!  The very idea of winning polls without exploiting identity-based issues whether fictitious or real, making hollow rhetoric or bribing, coercing voters would be the height of incredulity.

Posted By Danish 3:05 AM

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Can AAP's Broom Withstand Assault Of Vacuum Cleaners Of Corrupt Establishment ?

Let me begin this post with a little jingoism. Aam Aadmi Party's success in Delhi Vidhan Sabha polls is indeed victory of the common man and of the idea called new India. It is not a victory because of its seat tally in the state assembly but because of the fact that psephologists, analysts, columnists and even bloggers including, yours truly, could not predict the outcome even after the exit polls. Prior to this election smug educated, urban citizens often displayed antipathy towards political processes, one of the reasons cited is that their stake is diluted by "their claim of" votes are bought by candidates by providing liquor, cash and other freebies, to the poor. Time and again it has been proven that the weaker sections of population exercise their right to vote much more intelligently. After all voting is the only right they actually have, even in practice. Ironically, some of the people who held this view are now part of Aam Aadmi Party !

The cynicism around the impact of AAP on electoral results stemmed from the belief that the party was too idealistic, the electorate is swayed by more emotive issues and identity-based politics rather than less excitable issues such as availability of clean water. Arvind Kejriwal was not just threatening the ruling dispensation but the establishment as a whole. And now that the upstart has upset the establishment, it faces much bigger challenges than a national election. While Rahul Gandhi has gone on to say that he is willing to learn from AAP's approach to politics, other senior Congress leaders as well as leaders of the BJP and most established parties have been far less sporting or gracious in defeat. If at all, they have been far more vindictive. Before even the counting of votes over, a senior Congress leader (Digvijay Singh if I remember correctly), grinning from ear to ear, pointed out that the elected members of AAP would now have to face individual voters and supporters seeking favors such as getting their kids admitted to schools and the like.

As the counting came to close and the question on who would be form the government in Delhi was being discussed and AAP clearly declining to take or lend support to neither contenders, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad seemed livid at the naivety that the TV show host was expecting politics of jugaad live on television. Prasad's body language almost seemed to say, "Doesn't she know that these negotiations take place through back channels ?!" A hung assembly only means more bargaining power of the party that holds the key and the support could be always be bought, if not through money than through concessions and compromises - the two fundamental tenets of coalition dharma. However, as AAP stuck to its commitment to its voters of not aligning with either the BJP or the Congress, the outrage among established political class has become vitriolic. As it became clearer that AAP was not keen to form the government, it was read by opponents not as staying true to the commitment but as fear of being unable to deliver the promises.

However, far from being the new Left, that believes in only protests and not governance, AAP seems to be more pragmatic and result oriented. If the party says that water tariff can be decreased substantially, it also points out that according to Delhi Jal Board more than 200 million gallon water is lost due to leakage per day. If the water from leakage is being soaked in the ground it should raise water table and since this is not the case, that much water should flood Delhi ! Something similar applies to electricity tariffs too, if figures are fudged, just auditing DJB and discoms and taking appropriate steps should bring the tariffs down.  

 But that is not all. Both the Congress and the BJP are so thoroughly convinced that the traditional model is the only model of governance in India that they are not even pretending to take the mandate of Delhi voters seriously. The grins and smirks of Congress and BJP leaders seem to say that it is time Arvind Kejriwal and team do a reality check but perhaps the Old Order needs to do a reality check in the era of information revolution. Their decisions send out the message that they are not in the race to grab power, they seek to bring changes to act as catalysts  of a social transformation that Indian society must undergo at this juncture if it is to emerge as a nation that truly values democracy, human/civil  rights, openness and transparency of it institutions... 

Posted By Danish 2:24 AM

Sunday, November 17, 2013

A Tribute To Sachin

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Posted by: Danish 4:12 AM


I had reserved my 100th post to dedicate it to Sachin Tendulkar on his 100th centuries in International Cricket. But I could never start on it. Being a pucca Sachin fan, the odds are huge that once I start writing, my own admiration for him would lead to exaggeration, yet I wanted my tribute to be as impartial as possible, to try understand the man who changed the game of Cricket forever and the profound impact he had on the psyche of an entire generation of Indians. However, as Sachin bids adieu to Cricket I find no reason to refrain myself from completing it even if it means going overboard with every superlative I can recall. What is it about Sachin that an entire nation turn him into god of Cricket ? Of course, it is his almost supernatural skill with the bat and the game of Cricket but at least for me it is more than just Cricket.

Posted By Danish 4:12 AM

Thursday, October 10, 2013

TROPICAL CYCLONE 02B PHAILIN PATH -Updated

Path of Phailin (Cyclone 02B)



Legend
Speed: 1 Knot = 1.852 Km/hr
In 2013101212Z the two digits preceding Z indicate time.

2013101212Z
2013 Year
      10 10th Month
         12 12th Day
            12Z 12 Hours Universal Time
Data Source : http://www.usno.navy.mil

Helplines

Odisha Central Control Room0674-2534177
Puri06752 223237
Ganjam06811 263978
Gajapati 06815 222943
Nayagarh 06753 252978
Mayurbhanj 06792 252759
Keonjhar 06766 255437
Khorda 06755 220002
Jagatsinghpur 06724 220368
Cuttack 0671 2507842
Kendrapara 06727 232803
Dhenkanal 06762 221376
Jajpur 06728 222648
Bhadrak 06784 251881
Balasore 06782 261674

Here is a good resource providing info on #phailin (I will try to update but chances are I will be offline after the landfall !)
 http://aamjanata.com/cyclone-phailin-information-page/

Looking for someone in the region ? try http://google.org/personfinder/2013-phailin/

Posted By Danish 8:40 PM

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Juvenile Delinquent Or Psychopath Gone Lucky ?

The Juvenile Board’s decision of sending one of the key accused in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, to a reform house for 3 years, has left overwhelming majority of Indians outraged. The brutality, with which the victim was violated shook the nation's conscience, with this juvenile being the most violent of all, according to media reports. One cannot imagine how the family members of the victim would feel to first having seen the intense agony one's daughter goes through and then see the perpetrator go to a reform home for 3 years. In this case, justice itself becomes casualty as the outcome has been determined not by the merit or demerit of the case but by a mere technicality.

Posted By Danish 7:07 AM

Friday, April 26, 2013

Jungle Follows Its Law, Beasts Among Us Don't


The expression law of the jungle is often used to describe the unjust, chaotic world of violence where the weak perish and the stronger survive and thrive. It particularly refers to what happens in the wild, every animal has to kill something smaller than itself to survive. My favorite contemporary Indian author Devdutt Pattnaik uses  the Sanskrit phrase matsya nayaya to describe this, his illustration makes the concept a lot more clear to understand.  In human society this phrase is used mostly pejoratively to mean absence of law from the society. Yet recent event forces one to question if it at all we can condemn it anymore.


Posted By Danish 12:00 AM

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Herding Proles The Only Hope ?


Recently, Chetan Bhagat published an Open Letter to Indian Change Seekers on his Times of India column which I found quite out of sync with reality and to be brutally honest, completely absurd and insensitive if not diabolic. I did comment there but character limit prevented me to actually refute his "theory" though I had written it. What I ended up doing is criticizing without giving appropriate reasons which is not very mature thing to do. Further, attacking a person instead of his argument violates the rules of rhetorical logic so I am not even writing a reply,only refuting his argument.

Posted By Danish 2:00 AM

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Facebook Takes The Next Step With Graph Search #in

Graph Search Icon
Few hours back Facebook introduced Graph Search which could truly be the biggest innovation Facebook has introduced since its inception. Graph Search will provide a unique way to find information on people, places, photos etc. What excites me is the fact that it doesn't seem to challenge Google in a big way. Of course, the feature was introduced only few hours back and is not available to general users so it may be too early to make such statements but it is the respective motto of both the Internet giants that suggests it. While Google has always said its aim is to "organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful" Facebook says its mission is to make the world more open and connected. Of course neither is being truthful but the fact remains that Google has always wanted to organize information, Facebook wants to connect people, their interests, places.

Posted By Danish 3:00 AM

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Introspection On Gender-Equality In India

The mindset has to change,this has been repeated almost ritualistically after the heinous crime in Delhi that has left the nation ashamed. But how does it begin ? The underlying cause is the growing intolerance of independent women among a large section of people. From passing lewd comments,harassment in public place/transport/at work, the obnoxious custom of dowry, domestic violence and instances of honor killings are some of the other misdeeds and offenses arising out of the this misogynistic mindset prevalent which in worst cases leads to rape and brutalization of women. To ensure that such gruesome acts are never repeated it is necessary to find out the reason for the intolerance and a feasible solution to end it.

Posted By Danish 1:30 AM