Why not us?

After Abhinav Bindra won the gold in the 10m air riffle in the Beijing Olympics we all were in seventh heaven. The whole nation was celebrating. One of the first questions that popped up in my mind was, should we be jumping up and down when we got just one gold medal. A country with a population of more than a billion getting 1 out of the 1000 odd medals up for grabs, is it really something that deserve comments like, "we beat the Chinese"? At first my answer was a big NO. After a while the NO changed to " who am I kidding, as a sporting nation we are hopeless, celebrate every little success you get in the world stage."

After a while when i was watching TV, I heard a reporter asking, "is this medal the spark that India requires for being a world leader in sports?" The sports person in the panel replied, this is what was said about the silver that India won in Athens. All the hype and glory will died out within an year and everything was back to normal.

What he said was true and there was a good reason for that. The problem with these Olympic sports in India is that, after the Olympics is over, the telecast of such events is almost nil. So for people to follow various Olympic sports is quite hard and hence its natural the interest levels of people will dip after the Olympics(not that its over the roof during it). Another problem that we have is the role sports play in our lives. In the US and the various other sporting countries Olympic events are given a great importance in the grass root level ie the schools. A student can chose sports as a way of life. Achievers in various sports are given scholarships in all the universities and hence sports becomes a way of securing ones future. Unfortunately in India the people who take up sports and fail to reach the top are left with no option other than to beg. The sports people neglect their studies and pursue their dream and if it fails they are left on their own on the streets. Hence parents and children will have to think twice before getting into sports(excluding cricket).

For India to become a sporting power house, its not enough that we build thousands of stadiums and give people easy access to the facilities(I am not saying that we have thousands of stadiums fit for athletes to train properly). The government and various universities and schools should take steps to make sports a way of living. Even though we have sports quotas in colleges, a better plan needs to be there so that the people who step into sports feels save about their future. The problem with Indians is that we are afraid to take risks. Its quite hard for some one to do something which is a bit different. We copy a lot of stuff from the west, its high time that we take a leaf out of their book and implement a better sporting culture in our country. You can invest as much money as you want, but to get consistent results in sports you need a solid sporting culture.

Some of my favorite ads -PART 1

The first ad that comes into my mind is the ones released by Bank Of India with the tag line "rishton ke jamapoonchi"(excuse spelling). It conveys a message that even though one can get every thing done without physically visiting the bank, it doesn't mean that the customers shouldn't visit them. They try to portray the bank and the customer as a part of a family.

There is one more ad that I liked, I could not find it now, will be uploading it as soon as i get the video

Its official - I AM HUMAN

Yesterday night as I was reading the flaws in Barak Obama's election campaign in my grand dad's house, i got an sms from a friend saying " our joining date came, August 28th, Chennai". At first I was like, ok cool. After a few seconds I got this really sick feeling that i am losing something thing. After another few seconds I was back to being cool. Called my friend up, talked about leaving and stuff, as my cell phone didn’t have much charge couldn’t talk for long. Before leaving home for my grand dad's house I saw that my cell didn’t have enough charge, but as I don’t get that many calls I decided not to take my charger. As luck would have it, I got the most no of sms's and phone calls yesterday since I took my cell.

After hanging up, I read the remaining part of the news paper, did some math and by 1:30 decided to go to sleep. After a few seconds, I couldn’t believe it. Me, Ken John Koshy, of all the people in the world. Mr. Tough guy, Mr. No Emotions, the person who always thinks in a logical fashion, who knows about the uncertainties and realities of life, who is realistic to the core, started to weep like a child who can not find its parent. I hadn’t cried like this in a long time, In fact I haven’t cried for that long a time that i forgot how to stop crying. I couldn’t breathe; water couldn’t stop falling from my eyes. Apparently this went on for more than 2 hours. I think the fact that so much violence is happening in India these days might have added to my sorrow.

After a while I was happy that I cried. I never had I thought that I would cry because a friend is leaving, after all it’s an eventuality. I always thought of my self to be emotional detached but from the information collected till now, I am the only fucking person who cried till now on this issue. The feeling that I got yesterday was a feeling I always wanted to get. It proved that I was a human being with feelings.

When I thought about this, this person was a friend of mine from the start of college. We had a love hate relationship, more of hate in the early years and more of love towards the later part. Never in the wildest dreams had I thought that I would be so said about the person leaving that I would sit and mop for 2 hours. She has given me many new experiences (nothing naughty), and this is the latest one. I have never in my life cried because I would miss something so badly. I am not sure how I will be passing my free time after 28th. When people in my college said they would miss college life and their friends, I was like; I won’t be missing any one. It’s a reality; we all have to part ways. Such feelings are either childish or artificial. Today I am saying I will miss all my friends :-<:-<:-<:((:((:((:(( What the fuck is wrong with me:((:((

Indian Politics

One of the things I do not like about India is the Indian political system. I am not talking about the corruption and various other evils within the system; I am talking about the basic system itself. We have a multiparty system here in India, which means there is no limit to the number of political parties that can be formed in India (of course, there are certain rules for forming a new party). There are pros and cons for this type of a system. The main advantage is that the people of the country will always be in power. As there are many political parties they would try their best to ensure that voters vote for them and hence nothing that will adversely affect the general public will be or can be done. The disadvantage is that no work can be done in the parliament.

As there are too many parties representing different parts of the country, the chances of a single political party getting the majority and forming the government is next to impossible. Hence the new formula in Indian politics is "coalition politics". A few parties which will have a few ideologies in common will join hands and fight elections. The disadvantage of this system is that there will be too many egos. The various parties that form the government would want a share of power. Since these political parties who join hands have only a few set of ideologies in common, when it comes to the remaining issues there will always be confrontation. As a result political stability can only be ensured if the political parties find a middle path for all the issues, which is not always good.

Unlike in the US, where the leader of the country is directly elected by the people and is the most powerful person in the country, here the leader of the country is elected indirectly and is far less powerful. In the US the people elect a person and give him the authority to lead the country. As a result the president is directly responsible for the decisions that he/she takes. Here to get a bill passed is next to impossible.

The main advantage of our system as I mentioned earlier is that people will never lose power. The disadvantage is that the people views can be manipulated by various political parties so that the people will turn against the government. There is far less stability in the government when compared to countries which directly elect their leader. The term "dirty politics" is magnified here. It’s very easy for the opposition to mislead the nation. The constitution of our country is taken for granted. According to the convenience of the people they follow and break various sections of the constitution.

Even though our present system has quite a few merits I feel that very soon the demerits will over weigh the merits. Just consider the recent things that happened in the parliament. Now changing the constitution so that more stability can be attained in the country is not going to happen. I believe that serious studies and debates are needed about the political system in India and a solution needs to be found so that we can move ahead and be one of the leading nations in the world. Without political stability the prospects of development is dim.

Private Investment Crucial

The only way that Indian can develop is if more and more private players invest in the development in India. Private players can range from big institutions to individuals. To depend on the government alone for development is hoping for the impossible to happen. Its simply not possible, especially for a vast and culturally diverse country like India. Even if the attitude of the investors is not to do good for others, at least for their selfish needs they have to do so. Our country is faced with rising inflation, lack of resources, lack of infrastructure, reservations and various other problems. The only way that we can solve all these problems is by tackling it at the root, and to do that we must all pitch in to develop our nation. The various sectors that come into my mind where we can pitch in are

• Agriculture
• Non conventional sources of energy
• Rain water harvesting and various other recycling processes
• Education
• Public Transport
• Health Care
• Protecting national monuments and natural wonders

The main crisis the world is facing is the shortage of food. 62% of India's population is employed in agriculture. Unfortunately this 62% contributes only to 18% of our GDP. Our farmers still use less efficient methods of farming and they lack the proper marketing skills to sell their product. Private players should introduce scientific methods of farming to the farming communities. This should increase the productivity and profits of the farmers. They should be introduced to efficient methods of irrigation, cultivation and harvesting. I had read an article somewhere about organic farmers having to sell their products for low prices because of lack of marketing. I believe the farming sector should work like a proper organization with finance, marketing, HR, operations and various other sections.

Another important crisis that India and the world is facing is the shortage of energy and the harmful effects the production of energy has on the environment. We should use our large terrains to help reduce this problem. Private companies should invest in solar and wind mill farms in the desserts of Rajasthan and various other places. The farmers in Rajastan face a serious energy and money shortage. This can be eliminated by using its natural resources to our advantage. Private investors should explore funding various other sources of energy. They could even use these energy sources for their private use.

"Reduce, Reuse and Recycle ", it should be made the new hip thing to do. When i look around I see people burning their wastes, throwing it on the ground etc etc. The whole waste collection system should be made more organized. Awareness should be given to the people ensuring them that the small amounts of money they pay for recycling will benefit them in the long run. A more scientific approach to waste collection should be done.
Rain water harvesting is another important issue. In a country where every year we face droughts, it crucial we don’t waste a single drop of water. Implementation of water harvesting in houses and public places such as roads should be looked into more seriously.

Education is the most crucial sector in terms of development of a country. It is a breading ground for a new generation of inspired people who would do what it takes to make a change. Private players should try and give free and quality education to the poorer sections of the society. Even though government is trying to do its best to do so, they can not ensure that the students get quality education. Lack of funds should never be a reason for a student quitting his studies.

Public Transportation is a very efficient way through which the congestion in roads as well as fuel consumption can be reduced. Having an efficient, reliable and a comfortable public transportation system ensures that more people would use it. Public transportation also reduces the pollution level in cities.

Health care is something that India tends to over look. Private investors can invest there money into R&D for the cure of various diseases. They can also ensure that more hospitals are built with proper facilities and ensure that a person should not die because he cannot afford treatment. Enough no of ambulances and various other services should be provided so that emergency calls can be attended in time

Tourism is a way through which the private sector can make money off directly. They should try and take care of the various monuments in the country and various other tourist spots. They can have there products advertised in the region and even charge a small entry fee for the visitors. They could open up stalls near the place, have some food stalls, and do what ever that is necessary to get some returns, without damaging the tourist spot. By doing so we are ensuring that our national heritage is preserved at the same time the tourism industry gets a lift.

The sectors in which the private players can invest/contribute to is endless. When I talk about invest here, it is more or else giving money to ensure that our nation develops. As a token of appreciation, the government should give tax exemptions to the private players and various other perks such as giving priority in various tenders etc. After all it cannot be just one way traffic. People who earn more should give something back to the society so that their children or for that matter they themselves can live a more peaceful and less problematic life, with less inflation and adequate amount of resources.

There is an editor

The "cash for vote" scandal was caught on tape with the help of the TV news channel "CNN-IBN". Even though when the MP's flashed currency notes in the Parliament, the channel refrained from showing the sting operation on television, instead handed over the full evidence to the Speaker. The channel later gave a press statement saying that the reason for not showing the footage was that, there were loops holes in the video, the evidence they had on tape was not concrete enough to prove that MP's were offered money. They also said that they did not want to sensationalize the issue which was, to their assessment not 100% credible, at such a critical juncture.

The way the channel handled the entire issue was commendable. The respect I have for the channel has increased because of this decision. At a time when news channels do not even think for one second before airing a report, trying to over hype/sensationalize issues without even getting the entire facts right just to have a slight edge over other rival channels, without thinking of the consequences of their action, CNN-IBN truly stands out. If they had aired the footage, the whole nation would have been watching their channel and the audience for other news channels would be next to nil. The brave decision took by the channel shows that ethics in journalism is not something of the past. It shows that there are still editors who think about the larger picture instead of short term gains.

If they had aired the footage people would have got influenced for sure. Even if the scam was later on found to be a scam, the reputation of the ruling parties would have had irreparable damages. I do not think any other news channel would have taken such a bold decision. At times when news channels enact stories about which it has no information about, god only knows what they would have done if they had got a story with little information in hand.

All news channels should take a cue from the actions of CNN-IBN, especially the Hindi news channels and channels like Headlines Today and Times Now. Journalist should understand the consequence of their actions. They should understand that any report aired will impact the entire nation. Far too often we have seen the above mentioned news channels air reports and few days down the line we find them to be misleading or false. I do believe that these news channels when they air such reports, they just want to make a name for themselves and do not have any other bad intention in mind. It's high time they started to act more responsibly. They should understand that what ever they say the nation will believe. The job of any news channel is to bring the truth to light and I believe all news channels are working on that principle. If there is the slightest of chance that a story can be false or misleading I believe that news channels should pull it off keeping in mind the larger interest of the nation/humanity. If news channels do not start to self regulate themselves in a more organized way they government would be forced to step in, which is not something any one wants

Irresponsible politics

Recently Sushma Swaraj of the BJP said that the terrorist attacks that happened were part of a conspiracy of the congress to shift the attention of the people from the "cash for vote" scandal. That was an absolutely irresponsible and uncalled for statement from a relatively senior politician. That was a kind of statement that could create communal violence.

Well I am not going to question the validity of her accusation. It may or may not be right, but come on, give me a break. I don’t think any political party in India would put the citizens of the country at harms way for such an insignificant matter. With only a few months left for the parliament to conclude the chances of that scam to be solved/settled were very less. The reason why I felt that the comment was so outrageous was that, the logic behind that was so stupid and ridiculous. If she had said that the congress is behind the attacks because it wants to undermine the BJP lead state governments so that it can win the upcoming elections, it would have looked a bit more viable.

I am pretty sure that she didn’t mean to start any communal riots with the statement of hers. It was just plane old dirty politics to get more votes. People from the BJP have been making similar volatile comments in the past and party had faced a lot of criticism and embarrassment. I remember either Venkayya Naidu or Arun Jaitley saying in a press conference that the population of Muslims have increased a lot and the Hindu population has not increased correspondingly and hence Hindus should try to increase there population so that normalcy can be maintained. Similar outrageous statements were made by L K Advani on the Babri Masjid, and how can one forget Narendra Modi. The one positive that I found among these people were, even though they had done crimes for which they can never be forgiven, they have learned from their mistakes and have refrained from making statements that could lead to riots.(not included Sushma Swaraj). Even if Muslims still face a hard time in Gujrat, Modi is doing all that he can to clear his name and ensure that he is taking a comparatively more secular stand.

The antics of the BJP is nothing compared that to what Raj Thackery and the Shiva Sena do in Maharashtra. They have this obsession with the word "Mumbai" and everything Marata. They take up insignificant issues such as valentines day or westernization of the state and act as its moral police. Right now Raj Thackery is over shadowing the Shiva Sena in terms of violence caused. His aim is simple, to get more and more marata votes and for that he will use any means necessary, including violating the basic human rights and the Indian constitution. To a certain extend I can understand his point about Mumbai getting overcrowded with non Maratis, but Mumbai is what it is now because of such a culture. Not quite sure why he doesn’t have much of a problem with outsiders occupying other parts of Maharastra. Him being adamant over the word "Mumbai", ordering all films not to use the word "Bombay" and asking Bombay dieing to change its name to Mumbai dieing is quite outrageous and unconstitutional. The kind of hate he is spreading misguides his supporters. Even though i agree that the "marata" cause is important, to cause violence in that name is not acceptable. Raj Thackery is trying to eat into the Shiva Sena vote bank and for that he is creating all this havoc.

Getting voters on its side is what all political parties should do, but to adopt any means to do so is not right. Just like business ethics is given a lot of importance these days, lot of emphasis should be given to political ethics. I believe that the Indian voter get more mature and reject all unethical, immoral ways political parties use to come into power. Its quite sad that in the land of the Mahatma people find that only violence is the answer to any problem.