Tackling Corruption my way...

Yesterday was a very sad day. Just on 15th August we celebrated our Independence Day- a day when we got free from the harsh Colonial rule.

And the very next day we lost our freedom yet again. The Anna Hazare arrest has shocked everybody. Isn’t this bad...a politician can give derogatory speeches before election, but a 74 year old civilian cannot even protest in peace.  Are the laws different for common men and politicians? If yes, then why do we call India a democratic nation?

I never supported the Jan Lokpal Bill because somehow the idea of bringing the PM and Supreme Court under the scanner did not appeal to me. Also, the PM and CJI are not elected by the people of the country...we only choose a winning party. It is the winning party then, which decides who should be the PM and the cabinet ministers. So, basically we do not really have the right to prosecute them. There might be more loopholes too...which only my lawyer pal like Neha can explain.

So what should we do?

1.       Firstly, we must understand that we have the power to vote. But by voting...I don’t mean just standing in the long queue, getting your nail inked and punching the buttons against any party. By voting I mean studying the agenda that they present before you...checking their credentials etc. I know it is a very tough and time consuming task...but definitely a little research would not hurt.

Just check how the residents of Juhu had elected an independent candidate named Adolf as their corporator during the last BMC elections.  Needless to say, he has done a lot for Juhu. Now, other areas too are taking lessons from Juhu for the next BMC elections.

2.       Tata tea had come up with a brilliant caption two years back, which said ‘woh khate hain kyunki hum khilate hain’...isn’t that true? Stop bribing officials for everything. Getting a license, ration card or passport is our right and no one can deny it. I know it is a long battle, you may lose a lot...but in a way you are helping your nation in fighting corruption.

3.       India has an Act called the RTI Act. It means you have the right to seek information from the government bodies in case of delay/irregularities in their functioning. Again, the procedure is long and even the response is vague or delayed...but there is no harm in filing it. At least it would make the governing bodies sit up and do their work properly. I would suggest that you use the existing laws rather than just fighting without understanding a word about the bill.

Use the existing laws, try to be patient and fight the system with patience...bunking offices and colleges or mouthing anti government slogans will not work. Of course, now the government is scared of our anger...but still please do not disrupt normal life under the pretext of protesting.

Tell me honestly, don't we pay traffic police, telephone wala and god knows who all to get our work done? I know even if this law gets passed, people will not use it. We have never filed for a RTI or a PIL...do u think we will use this one? I am sure we won't. The best solution is what Narayan Murthy said...Legalize Bribery.

Happy Birthday Kishore Kumar

Today was the 82nd Birth Anniversary of my favorite singer Kishore Kumar. He has always been with me all the time. He croons zindagi ek safar hain suhana when I fear about my future...he sings rim jhim gire sawaan when it rains the first time in Mumbai every June...he advices me by singing kuch toh log kahenge logon ka kaam hain kehna when I lose my temper on narrow minded people. He echoed my sentiments when he sang din hain suhana aaj pehli tarikh hain...the first time I got my salary. He is always there with me during all my ups and downs.

He may have had plenty of affairs, may have married four times...he may have been short tempered and unpredictable but he always touched our heart. His versatile voice, his comic abilities and his famous yodling are still remembered by everyone.

I love almost every Kishore Kumar song...but there is one which I particularly love the most. I am sharing the video here...do listen to this song. Sad the songs that are made today are vulgar and thrash. Enjoy this song and get immersed in the beautiful lyrics.

And here are the lyrics:

kuchh toh log kahenge, logo kaa kam hain kehna

chhodo bekar kee bato me kahee bit naa jayey raina


kuchh rit jagat kee aisi hai, har ek subah kee sham huyi


too kaun hai, tera nam hain kya, sita bhi yaha badanam huyi


fir kyo sansar kee bato se bhig gaye tere naina

hamko jo tane dete hai, ham khoye hain in rang raliyo me


hamne unako bhi chhup chhup ke aate dekha in galiyo me


yeh sach hain jhuthe bat nahee tum bolo yeh sach hain naa

We shall not listen- Part 2

My brother who has just returned from his Bangkok vacation, was sharing his experiences with us when suddenly the topic shifted to how people in Bangkok follow traffic rules and how we are in India. He said people in Bangkok would never honk unnecessarily and would always follow the rules unlike us. This conversation turned out to be a perfect beginning for the second part of my series: We shall not listen.

Honestly speaking I myself am a very indisciplined person. I cross the roads even if the cars have not halted or would never follow the zebra crossing (actually zebra crossing lines have faded in my city, you can barely see it). So basically, I am not the right person to write about it. Infact once when I was in 2nd standard, I did not look at the rickshaw coming from the opp direction, I simply crossed the road. The rickshawala got down and slapped me hard across the cheeks for being negligent. Not that I learnt any lesson but yes since then I developed immense hatred for rickshawalas despite being a rickshaw addict ;-)

So note to myself: Cross the road only when the vehicles halt.Look aage peeche upar neeche and daaye baaye.

When we talk about following traffic rules, it is not just meant for pedestrians. Motorists infact have a greater responsibility because if they injure a pedestrian or a fellow motorist; the public would happily pounce and vent their frustration on the poor motorist.

My brother says every country has a stringent law for traffic regulation, which our country lacks. Give the traffic cop 100 rupees extra and you are left scot-free. Worse are the hit and run cases due to drunken driving (e.g. actor Salman Khan), you kill some innocent people and give some compensation to the family (in some cases not even a compensation) and you are left on bail. Would your compensation bring back the family's loved ones? The punishments are bad and ancient, so what do we do about it?

We can only follow the rules. Is it easy? No it is not. You are forced to follow the herd mentality, for example: you have a speed limit for driving in a highway, sea link, normal roads etc which needs to be followed, but how many of us follow it?. Ek ne tez se car kya chalaya everybody follows the same without even caring about the speed limit and incase some one follows the speed limit, they are showered with colorful verbal abuses for creating problems in 'smooth functioning of traffic'.

People are not the real problem, the problem is with the punishments, they need to be made really stringent, so stringent that people think twice before flouting the rules. For instance, make drunken driving a non bailable offence or if You exceed the speed limit, go drive your car in Kanjurmarg or Powai during peak hours for one whole year (you will forget what rash driving is). Kuch bhi karo but please ensure that there is smooth flow of traffic, you have no idea how scared senior citizens, physically challenged people are when they have to cross the roads.

More inputs are welcome.

Up next: Pressure to excel in life.

Fida over his art huh?

At any point of time if I sound like a Hindu Fanatic, please pardon me. Please do not tell the Mumbai cops to attack me with tear gas. Also please do not give my blog link to Digvijay Singh else he would accuse me of being a part of RSS. These are just my views and you have the right to agree and disagree with it. Phool aur Kaante accepted.

Ok now that I have made myself clear, I will start writing now. I know criticizing someone after his soul departs is a bad thing, but I could not stop myself from expressing my views after reading the opinions of (so-called) liberal people in the newspaper.

On thursday, India's Picasso passed away in London at the ripe age of 96.  

Now, honestly I never understood modern or abstract art. 

So obviously, since I never understood Husain's paintings; I never understood the hype made out of his paintings. 

For me-

1) The aunties who made rangolis and kolams outside their home were better artists. 

2) RK Lakshman's 'You Said It' was 1000 times better as compared to his weird creatures on the canvas.

3) Art is something which touches your heart or something that we understand. 

4)  Da Vinci's The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa were perfect work of art.

5) A random horse (which looks like a donkey) running across the canvas or nude goddesses were not a form of art.

Besides the fact that I never understood his paintings, I was also against all the hype created about his exile by the media and the so-called liberal people. He had committed a mistake- won't call it grave because he did not murder anybody. But yes, the mistake was unpardonable. 

India is a secular country, which means that everyone has the right to practice and follow the religion of their choice. One is expected to behave properly and not interfere or hurt the sentiments of the people belonging to other religions. Hindus are in majority and we worship every god and their manifestations devotedly. Obviously, no person would like to see their Goddess or Bharat Mata in nude. Saraswati Devi is goddess of knowledge and we have always seen her in white sari with a veena in her hand. Obviously, you won't like to see the devi in a nude form. Rationalists may argue that how do you know how Saraswati Devi looks, have you seen her? No, none of us have seen her but definitely none of us would like to see her nude. Call us regressive, but the truth is we cannot see our beautifully adorned devi in such a form. 

MF Husain, like every Indian citizen was bestowed upon with the Freedom of Expression. But he, forgot that there is a thin line between expression of thoughts and hurting the sentiments of people. You are given the freedom of expression but you must respect it and use it responsibly. He crossed the line and faced the wrath from the so-called Hindu fanatics. It is very easy to call some groups as Extremists or fanatics, but spare a thought and tell me: were they wrong in revolting against such paintings?  Maybe their way of revolting was wrong but certainly not their intention. Being resilient is a good characteristic, but allowing people to take your sentiments for granted is not good. I don't support fanaticism. But I don't know I did not feel as though India has lost a gem. I felt a great void when Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Uncle Pai passed away early this year (they were not my relatives but I felt we lost a gem) but did not feel so for Maqbool Fida Husain. 

But having said that, I would thank him because the beautiful song Chillama Chilakama would have not existed had he not made the movie Meenaxi- the three cities :). May his soul Rest in Peace. 

P.S: I remember that I had promised to write about traffic rules. Will come up with it within a week. Promise! Gentlewoman promise :)