Do we need more, younger politicians?

I was listening to the usual rhetoric of a certain right wing extremist/ fundamentalist chief minister from a certain state in south India. It made me wonder if we needed more, younger politicians. Most of the political leaders we have are above 70. There are only a handful of young political leaders emerging. Then I thought about the various “elderly” politicians and realized that not all of them a maniacs. There are sensible ones and there are the insane ones. There are religious extremist, people who bring out regionalism, people who play cast politics. On the other hand there are many who are quite modern in their thinking, pro development, against fundamentalism.

Young or old, people are the same. Even among the youth there are extremist, fundamentalist. Good and bad are not just restricted to the old politicians. The same traits that are seen in the old politicians are seen in the young politicians, across the political spectrum. There are many examples of various young politicians create havoc against the so called “modern” life style of people. India is a unique country. Left, Right and Center, you have it all here.

So does the age of a politician really matter? I feel that age is a psychological thing, after all the whole world runs on sentiment. Perception matters a lot. If some one can instill confidence, it can make a world of difference. So when one sees a old guy who is about to collapse, heading a government, naturally confidence level of the people won’t be high. It can also affect how others view the government. On the other hand, if a young person with a lot of energy is heading the government, there will be a lot of positive energy surrounding him and it can rub off to others. Even if both the old and young do the same thing, a fresh face can make a lot of difference.

I believe that even if young politicians come, there will be extremist and religious fanatics among them. The only way such evils can be eliminated is though education and a change in mind set of the people. Even if a lot of young politicians come up, as there is illiteracy, poverty and various other issues, many of them would be tempted to exploit their sentiments for obtaining power.

In my book, young or old, it really doesn’t matter. It’s the person that matters. If a person can radiate energy, be sincere to his job and do the right thing, age wouldn’t really be a problem. Well to answer the question, “do we need more, younger politicians?” well of course we do, but youth doest necessarily mean, abracadabra and every thing is perfect.  

A month is a life time in politics

I remember a month ago saying how the congress is going to have a tough time in the coming elections and how the BJP is going to get a clear cut advantage. A month has gone by and the tables have turned 180 degrees. It seems that the congress is making all the right moves and the BJP is jumping from one mistake to another.

The people associate with the BJP all the right wing groups that are present in India and its justified. Unfortunately for the BJP many of these right wing groups with or without the BJP’s consent are creating havoc. The response the various chief ministers of BJP ruled states give isn’t helping matters either. Many instance of violence by right wing extremist have been witnessed in Karnataka for the past few months. In other words since the BJP came to power in Karnataka, a lot of right wing extremism has emerged. The various statements that the “esteemed” chief minister and the home minister of Karnataka have made, made me conclude that those two are right wing extremist and religious chauvinist. Well what else can be expected from a person who takes decisions on the basis of what his poojari says?

These incidents of right wing extremism do not help the cause of the BJP for the coming elections. People’s memories are very short and all these incidents are happening just before the elections, one can easily imagine what the out come of these incidents will be. On the other hand take the case of the congress. Last December inflation was at record high, prices of basic commodities are off the roof, the Mumbai attacks, and people were questioning the competency of the government. The situation has changed drastically. Fuel prices have come down by more than 7 rupees, prices of commodities are slowly coming down, inflation is supposed to hit 2% by March, the government is being very proactive while dealing with terrorism and Pakistan. The UPA government is making all the right noises. Credit must be given to the new home minister P Chidembaram. He might be doing the same job as what his predecessor has done, but his is able to connect with the masses. People get the impression that work is being done. He has managed to change the perception of the people to a certain extend. Even the Prime Minister looks twice as strong as he was couple of months ago.

General elections are going to happen in little over 2 months time. As we have seen for the recent events a lot can happen in 2 months. At this point I do feel that the UPA has an edge in the coming elections but then again 2 months is a long time. Any thing can happen. No one with full confidence will be able to say what the next government will look like. In fact I believe that even after the results are declared it will be quite hard to predict the core of the next government. As the saying goes there are no permanent enemies in politics. 

The value of life

I was watching the various award ceremonies that took place around the republic day. Various gallantry awards were given by the government and various other organizations. What I saw was that most of the awards went for the heroes of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. It was good that these heroes were given some recognition. Even though nothing can bring back to life the gesture of appreciation was good.       

This incident made me wonder. Are these people getting all the recognition and respect just because they literally died in front of us? Every year many Jawans die protecting our borders and yet we don’t seem to give them half of the recognition that we gave to the people who died in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. These Jawans also gave their life protecting the country, why should their death have any less value. I also have heard that all the people who died during the Mumbai attacks were not given the same recognition by the government. Some got a “higher” awards where as others got a “lower” award. How can one value one death more than the other. I am not saying that jawans who die in the border don’t get any recognition but many don’t. The terms of the awards they get are also different. 

Indian after independence had decided that all titles such as Sir would not be permitted in India as it will cause division in the country. Can’t a similar approach be taken on these gallantry awards? Surely the basis on which one classifies which person should get which award depends on the perception of the adjudicators. Is that necessary when it comes for people giving their lives for their country? I can understand various film awards, as it can be considered as a marketing gimmick. Is that needed for our gallantry awards? I am strongly opposed to putting a value on different lives. Doesn’t matter if it’s a constable or the head of the police department, nor does it matter if its fighting terrorist in Mumbai or Kashmir, the bottom line is they died fighting for the county. Even if a person didn’t die fighting for the country but put himself under danger, he should be given the same recognition as the martyrs. Even though these awards wont hamper national integration or anything similar, symbolically it looks bad when patriotic deeds are being rated. 

In a related incident I heard the pugilist who went for the 2008 Olympics were crying foul when they were not given the Padma awards. Personally I do not think they have any right to feel dejected. Its not as if they have been performing for a very long time and they are not getting recognized. True, they did the country proud, but surely they can’t be compared to a Abhinav Bindra. Bindra has been performing consistently for around 10 years or even more. I surely hope that they don’t think that they are as good as or better than Bindra. They also brought in the angle for the government being biased towards cricket. Even though harbajan might have had a few problems this year, he has been performing consistently since 2000. Other sports need encouragement, but lets not just be lenient on then just because they are not cricket. 

Slumdog Millionaire

You might say I was a little prejudice about the movies even before I saw it. If a movie is good rarely you see its cast and crew running around in circles going here and there. People will not go on yapping about the movie if it’s a master piece. So I was really circumspect about the movie. 30mins into the movie I felt completely justified.

If many people tell you that a movie is good, then it has to be good! If you say its not then you are not normal. I get the feeling this might be one of the reasons for the popularity of the movie or they might have paid the critics off. The western audience can be excused. They might have been under the impression that this was an “ethnic Indian” movie and we all know what purchasing power those two words have.

The problem I have with the movie is that for a realistic movie it chooses to be realistic when it pleases. I do not have any problem with the showing of the slums and slum life and the various atrocities surrounding it. If we want to be a developed country we need to address these issues. It could well be an eye opener for many. The thing that moved me the most was the love story in the movie. The lead character was in love with a girl who was literally raped by his brother and who was a full time prostitute, kind of put things in perspective for me.

I couldn’t understand what’s so great about the movie. The story isn’t that great. I do agree that India has many problems but it’s not as screwed up as the movie shows. Will any host mock his contestant about his life, in public? Will an overburdened Indian police officer even give a damn about a person who “ALLEGEDLY” cheated in a TV game show? Had it been made by some Indian director the critics would have definitely tore the movie apart. But as its not, it has to be good. God knows how the Hindi speaking children in the slum all of a sudden speaks English with an accent. It would have been much better if they had spoken English from start itself. The whole rise form the slum life was quite ridiculous.

The thing that bugged me the most was a line in the movie where a conversation broke out on the real Indian and the real America. That was way too condescending. I know that all of India is not developed but since when did the slums of Mumbai represent the real India? Am I also a part of India, aint I real? Don’t get me started off on the “real America”. 

I have never understood why we Indians feel that if anything is remotely associated with India, it’s Indian. The movie is not an Indian movie. We have many good Indian movies, embrace that. Are we that desperate that we have to find ridiculous connections and adopt non Indian movies as Indian? I wouldn’t say that this was an American or a British movie but it was more of an international movie. I hate it when Indians make something which is remotely associated to India as Indian. We are much better than that.  

The movie is definitely a good watch. Lets not over hype it!

Compromise or being realistic?

I have always wondered what is the difference between being compromising and being realistic or practical. We all say that one should never compromise in life, but what is a compromise? Consider this example; I say to myself that the next girl I sleep with should be Priyanka Chopra. Now if I sleep with another girl, am I compromising? Or am I being realistic and practical as I have a better chance of becoming India’s Prime Minister than sleeping with Priyanka. The reason why I chose this example is to emphasize on what is realistic and what is not.  

In life there are many occasions where we have to take decisive decisions. One of the main things that creep into our mind while taking a decision is whether we are compromising or not. Most of the time, as the narcissists that we are, we forget what is a compromise. Compromise happens when we set standards for ourselves and we fail to meet those standards. Now what if the standard we set for our self is too high? Now there is a point of view that nothing is out of reach. Now even if it’s true is it practical in this world. Is it viable for one to stick to a particular path, no matter what, even though there is another path which is more reachable?  Even if nothing is impossible should one spend way too much time than normal to get there? Doesn’t the amount of time spent chasing the dream make any difference to the dream itself? 

The answers to the above questions, I don’t know. The reason that these things came to my mind is because I am in a predicament. I had set a certain goal for myself (short term) and was not able to achieve it even after taking twice the "normal" or the preferred amount of time. Was my goal too unrealistic for me or should I postpone my goal or should I lower my expectations, well these are questions to which I guess there is no correct answer. Am I compromising if I alter my goal? Was my goal too unrealistic to be achieved at this point in time? 

People will have short term goals and long term goals. Short term goals might be the various steps that are required for reaching ones ultimate goal. A person might plan out on how he will reach his ultimate goal. I feel that the ultimate goal is more important than the various intermediate steps taken to reach it. The ultimate goal that a person has is the meaning of that person’s life. Ultimate goal may or may not be achieved, even if it’s achieved it will be towards the later part of ones life. To enhance ones chances of achieving his/her ultimate goal, I feel that too much unnecessary time and importance should not be given to various intermediate steps that are to be taken to reach the goal. If there are two ways of doing a task and if the first option doesn’t work, we should always be open to the second option (as long as there is no drastic decrease in standard) instead of spending more than the necessary time on the first option.  

Whether the conclusion I came to is right or not, I dont know. I might change my point of view a couple of months down the road. I guess no one will ever have a correct answer to the question. I guess all must judge themselves honestly and objectively and have a measure of ones ability. Its one thing to aim high at every point in life, but at the same time one must be realistic also. I feel that going for a wild goose chase is pointless. I also feel that every dream should have a realistic time limit. If the time required goes beyond that, one should always seriously consider plan B or C. Now am I being pessimistic or realistic is a topic for another debate.

Modi the great ?

I have been hearing a whole lot of crap about Narinder Modi these days. The whole story about how Gujarat has endorsed development. Modi’s modal of development etc.  A whole bunch of industry leaders proclaiming Modi would be an ideal Prime Ministerial candidate. Well you can not blame them for kissing ass, as they need to get their work done.

I was sitting in a seminar organized by a MBA entrance coaching institute in Trivandrum. I was listening and all of a sudden I hear about Modi. How the custodian of Hindutwa demolished many temples for the development of the state. That was the last straw! When such statements come from people in authority definitely it will have an impact on the innocent minds sitting and hearing it.

Let’s get things straight. In Gujarat the BJP is ruling with a huge majority. So it’s much easier to get things done. Hence they don’t have to worry about staying in power. Next comes the temple demolitions. When any thing related to the Hindu religion comes up, like the demolition of temples, the main organizations that take up the cause are the VHP, RSS and the Bajarang Dal (BJP too ). Now we all know what relation do these organizations share with the BJP. The whole temple demolition was pure politics.

The BJP wanted to be seen as a pro development party before the general elections. They also wanted to send a message that they are willing to do what ever it takes for the sake of development. So they came up with an agreement with these organizations that a certain number of temples will be demolished, after that these organizations can start raising their voice, get a little melodramatic, and then a few more temples will be demolished, then a few meetings will take place and in the end the demolition drive will be stopped. It’s a win-win situation. The BJP will be seen as a pro development party and the other organizations can take pride in that fact that they intervened in the matter.

Had it been any other party, I guarantee you that even before the first temple was demolished, these organizations would have created mayhem there. So let’s not give undue credit to people. I am by no means saying that BJP is the only party which does similar stuff. The same is true with the left in Kerala. When they are in power, the number of strikes is less and when they are not, strikes will be called for no apparent reason. For gods sake we had a strike when Sadman was hanged.

The problem with us is that we have a short term memory. Narinder Modi was responsible for the carnage in Gujarat. I do not care about the various state sponsored reports that give a clean chit to him. As the Chief Minister of the state he has to be held accountable for what had happened. Just because a few years have passed, it doesn’t mean that every thing is forgiven.

I do agree that a lot of work is being done in Gujrath. Let’s not blow things out of proportion. The reason why work cant be done in other parts of India is because of the opposition of various political parties. They oppose just because they are not the one who is implement it. Just take the example of the Ram Sethu project. The projected was initiated by the BJP and when they present government went forward with they, they had to face all kind of opposition.

The real problem is, various right wing and left wing organizations oppose everything that is not done by them and when they oppose they don’t hesitate in using any means that they can. So lets all have a reality check and think before jumping to conclusions. 

The right decision !

I have always wondered, is there anything such as a “right decision”. At different points in life, a person will have to make various choices. I often hear people saying, “that was the right move by him”, “it was a wrong decision”. Can anyone with complete confidence make such statements?

At various stages of life you will be forced to make tough decisions. You have to pick one way from several ways as the way forward. The way I see it, one should do what they believe is right. No one should feel any regret after doing what they thought was right at that point of time no matter what the outcome is. When I say choices, I do not mean to kill a person or not to kill a person. It’s more in the lines of which stream to choose after 10^th or which company to join or whether to ask a girl out or not. The reason why I believe that one should never regret a decision taken after listening to your hear and brain is because, we will never know what would have happened if we had gone for the second or third option. We might have ended up in a even worse situation had we gone for some other option. There is no sure shot way of telling if a decision was right or wrong. We certainly can not build a time machine, go back to the future, erase our memory so that we don’t remember anything that happened after we took the decision and then opt for the second option. There are far too many variables at stake. Even if a move you made turned out to be good initially, no one knows what will happen a year down. Never let any one tell you what is a good decision or what is a bad decision. One should definitely listen to what people have to tell, use your knowledge, weigh in the options and take the decisions in your best interest.

Once you take a decision you should stick to it. Good times and bad times will come and go. Life is full of ups and downs. We should always keep in mind that the main thing is to win the war not the battle. Tough time make a man strong. It gives us experience and confidence to come out of any situation. It will make you a stronger and better person. Do not regret a decision just because the going gets tough. Have faith in yourself and move forward. If the going gets tough, instead of mopping and regretting your moves, you should ensure that you do what ever it takes so that things work out in your favor. I would like to end by partially quoting one of my favorite sayings

If there is a problem and there is no solution for the problem, what’s the point worrying about it? If there is a problem and there is a solution for the problem, stop worrying and work towards the solution. 

Hypocrisy at its worst

Recently I heard the congress making a statement that if the LTTE leader is captured, they were looking forward for his extradition and charge him for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Hypocrisy personified!!

The main problem I have with this is that the congress government has been more or less silent about the whole LTTE issue.(the policy of other government were more or less the same, just mentioning congress because they were the one who maid the claim) They come out with the usual crap that only way to resolve this problem is through dialog, stop the violence etc. It might be true but India could have been much more proactive in dealing with the LTTE issue considering the fact that it revolves around Tamils. If they were seriously interested in capturing the people behind the LTTE and take them to task, India should have helped Sri Lanka a lot more in the form of military aid. Instead for narrow political gains there was constant diplomatic pressure put by India because of certain LTTE sympathizers in Tamil Nadu , whenever some action was taken against the LTTE. Of course, the government’s hands were clean as it was just “concerned” about the plight of the “Tamil Civilians” in Sri Lanka. Now when the Sri Lankan army has done all the hard work and the major LTTE strong hold almost captured we speak about extraditing Prabhakaran! Can there be any act more cowardly than this?

Let’s say that the Sri Lankan government due to some bizarre reason gives the LTTE leader to India, what are we going to do? Sentence him to death and keep him alive for no apparent reason like in the case of Mohammad Afsal, the man behind the parliament attack. The official explanation given my the government is that there are 27 or 26 people in death row and Mohammad Afsal is number 27, the President only after considering the clemency plea of number 26 can go to number 27. This may be true but it sounds absolutely ridiculous. A person who was the master mind behind the attack on the India parliament which epitomizes the India democracy is not punished because of a technicality. I do not think that the situation would have been any different had any other party were in power.  

India as a nation has a lot of problems. Why do we want to add on to these problems? Say that we got the terrorist leader of the LTTE and we are serious about hanging him. I am pretty sure that within no time we would have added one more enemy to our list. Along with LeT, HuJI etc we would have to worry about LTTE and related suicide bombings, not to mention the mood of the LTTE sympathizers in Tamil Nadu. We lost our PM because of the LTTE, but if we were remotely serious of capturing the master minds we would have done it a long time back. I am absolutely clueless why this is being brought up now, may be for some political gains to show that UPA is not “soft on terror”. It’s always better not to get into unnecessary problems